Shaw66 Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago As I was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder take apart the Denver Nuggets, I could see the tangible realization of the formula Sean McDermott is pursuing with the Bills. I've seen it before from time to time, but what's happening in the NBA makes it hard to ignore. The formula: collect the most talented athletes you can find and ask them to do everything that their position on the field may require from time to time. Everything. That means: 1. Execute your assignment within the team concept. 2. Play - and fight - as hard as you can, all the time. It's easy to see in the NBA this season. The superstars can't carry their teams any longer. Yes, there were injuries, and yes some are past their prime, but whatever the reason, they're all gone from the final four: Lebron, Tatum, Curry, Durant, Jokic, Giannis, Doncic, and probably one or two I'm forgetting. Jokic is the really important name on the list. The guy is supremely talented, an exceptional, one-of-a-kind offensive talent. in his prime. In years past, including only a few years ago, having a guy like that on your team meant you were more or less automatic to make it to the conference finals. Not any longer. This year's final four teams each have a great player: Brunson, Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton, and Edwards, but those teams don't depend on them like teams depended on superstars in the past. These guys play within a team concept, especially on defense, team concepts that depend on relentless pursuit and extreme athleticism. They're stars, for sure, and there are times when they carry their teams, but their teams win because they're willing to play the style that their less talented teammates play - tough, tough in-your-face defense, team-oriented offenses that create opportunities for all the players on the floor, and a commitment to delivering when those opportunities arise. When the Thunder beat the Nuggets in game seven yesterday, Alex Caruso was as important as Gilgeous-Alexander. Caruso is by no means a star, but what the Thunder gets from Caruso (and from a half-dozen other role players) is intense execution, play after play. And what the NBA is realizing is that when you have a team full of intense, committed players, talented guys but not necessarily highlight-reel talented, and when they play a team concept on offense and on defense, they can be consistently better than teams who feature stars. For the best NBA teams this season, it’s not about having players who have raised their game over a year ago; it’s about talented players who do their absolute best, play after play. Who are these players, what's their profile? They are exceptional athletes, with speed, quickness, jumping ability, and highly developed basketball skills (shooting, passing, dribbling, protecting the ball). Those skills all are matches for what their expected to do on the court: Run fast, change direction fast, jump, shoot, pass, dribble, protect the ball. And they are intense competitors, willing to use all of their physical ability and skills, all of the time, in whatever way is necessary for the team to succeed on every play. As the Thunder's blowout of the Nuggets was playing out in the fourth quarter, the TV announcers filled the time talking about, among other things, what the Nuggets had to do to their roster to get better. They said the Nuggets need to find the right role players to team with Jokic and Murray. That's wrong. The problem with the Nuggets is that Jokic and Murray can't play with the speed and intensity that the stars on the final four teams show. They don't play consistently intense defense, they don't run the floor with amazing speed and quickness. The NBA is showing that five guys playing with speed and intensity will beat two stars and three role-players, all the time. It doesn't matter if some of those five have names like Hartenstein and Caruso, guys who sometimes make you wonder how they're even in the league. Those guys are dedicated, hard working athletes who thrive in a true team concept. The Warriors began the trend. Curry was, of course, the leader, but it was the dedication to the team concept by both Curry and the lesser players that made them special. Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson, Edwards, and Haliburton each are their team’s Curry, and their teammates are the Greens and Looneys and other guys. What does that have to do with McDermott and the Bills? McDermott is following the same formula. It’s most easily seen in everyone’s favorite punching bag these days: the wide receiver room. McDermott has a room full of high-quality athletes who never will threaten to go to the Hall of Fame (the same as all those role players on the NBA’s final four team this season). The Bills’ receivers are pesky; they keep coming at the opponent, and together they consistently to make the passing game work. Shakir is the model for the receivers: Intense athlete, competitor, works at his game all the time, consistently delivers everything he has, every play. McDermott has a defensive backfield that looks the same. McDermott’s defensive backs all run to the ball with intensity, in the same way OKC’s run in transition. It’s not a mystery why Dane Jackson is back. He has a defensive line that looks the same. Epenesa is the Energizer bunny. An offensive line too. His offensive players always use their very good but not necessarily great athleticism to make the block. Each guy does whatever he can to make each play work. Spencer Brown is not a classic offensive tackle, but his talent and his intense dedication to the team concept is one example. The reason the Cowboys never succeed is that Jerry Jones operates on the old NBA philosophy—get two or three or four of the best players you can, and then try to fill in the rest of team. That formula doesn’t work, for two reasons: First, as the NBA is showing, collective teamwork with good athletes beats the best players trying to carry their teams. Second, the dedicated role players on teams like the Thunder can be found all over the basketball world, and they can be signed without breaking the bank. Jerry Jones loves his stars so much he doesn’t have the money to pay the modest salaries of the no-name guys who drive success. Some will say, “yes, but each of the NBA final four has a legitimate star to lead them.” True, you have to have the star. And the Bills have theirs, a guy who meets all the requirements: Great athlete, intense competitor, never quits on a play. What the Bills have been doing, year after year, is collecting better and better role players around Josh Allen. It takes longer to assemble that roster than in the NBA, because you need 35 or 40 of those guys in the NFL, and only eight or ten in the NBA. People complain that the Bills have lost some big games—literally lost them—and haven’t won the big one. And that’s true. But the Bills are getting better each year, and the pro football world is noticing, even if all Bills fans aren’t. The Bills are now a perennial favorite to win it all. It’s noteworthy that the betting world has made the Bills the favorite to win each of its regular season games in 2025. It’s a sign of perceived dominance, a sign that McDermott’s approach, the modern NBA’s approach, is working. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team. 3 2 1 Quote
EasternOHBillsFan Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago 13 minutes ago, Shaw66 said: As I was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder take apart the Denver Nuggets, I could see the tangible realization of the formula Sean McDermott is pursuing with the Bills. I've seen it before from time to time, but what's happening in the NBA makes it hard to ignore. The formula: collect the most talented athletes you can find and ask them to do everything that their position on the field may require from time to time. Everything. That means: 1. Execute your assignment within the team concept. 2. Play - and fight - as hard as you can, all the time. It's easy to see in the NBA this season. The superstars can't carry their teams any longer. Yes, there were injuries, and yes some are past their prime, but whatever the reason, they're all gone from the final four: Lebron, Tatum, Curry, Durant, Jokic, Giannis, Doncic, and probably one or two I'm forgetting. Jokic is the really important name on the list. The guy is supremely talented, an exceptional, one-of-a-kind offensive talent. in his prime. In years past, including only a few years ago, having a guy like that on your team meant you were more or less automatic to make it to the conference finals. Not any longer. This year's final four teams each have a great player: Brunson, Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton, and Edwards, but those teams don't depend on them like teams depended on superstars in the past. These guys play within a team concept, especially on defense, team concepts that depend on relentless pursuit and extreme athleticism. They're stars, for sure, and there are times when they carry their teams, but their teams win because they're willing to play the style that their less talented teammates play - tough, tough in-your-face defense, team-oriented offenses that create opportunities for all the players on the floor, and a commitment to delivering when those opportunities arise. When the Thunder beat the Nuggets in game seven yesterday, Alex Caruso was as important as Gilgeous-Alexander. Caruso is by no means a star, but what the Thunder gets from Caruso (and from a half-dozen other role players) is intense execution, play after play. And what the NBA is realizing is that when you have a team full of intense, committed players, talented guys but not necessarily highlight-reel talented, and when they play a team concept on offense and on defense, they can be consistently better than teams who feature stars. For the best NBA teams this season, it’s not about having players who have raised their game over a year ago; it’s about talented players who do their absolute best, play after play. Who are these players, what's their profile? They are exceptional athletes, with speed, quickness, jumping ability, and highly developed basketball skills (shooting, passing, dribbling, protecting the ball). Those skills all are matches for what their expected to do on the court: Run fast, change direction fast, jump, shoot, pass, dribble, protect the ball. And they are intense competitors, willing to use all of their physical ability and skills, all of the time, in whatever way is necessary for the team to succeed on every play. As the Thunder's blowout of the Nuggets was playing out in the fourth quarter, the TV announcers filled the time talking about, among other things, what the Nuggets had to do to their roster to get better. They said the Nuggets need to find the right role players to team with Jokic and Murray. That's wrong. The problem with the Nuggets is that Jokic and Murray can't play with the speed and intensity that the stars on the final four teams show. They don't play consistently intense defense, they don't run the floor with amazing speed and quickness. The NBA is showing that five guys playing with speed and intensity will beat two stars and three role-players, all the time. It doesn't matter if some of those five have names like Hartenstein and Caruso, guys who sometimes make you wonder how they're even in the league. Those guys are dedicated, hard working athletes who thrive in a true team concept. The Warriors began the trend. Curry was, of course, the leader, but it was the dedication to the team concept by both Curry and the lesser players that made them special. Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson, Edwards, and Haliburton each are their team’s Curry, and their teammates are the Greens and Looneys and other guys. What does that have to do with McDermott and the Bills? McDermott is following the same formula. It’s most easily seen in everyone’s favorite punching bag these days: the wide receiver room. McDermott has a room full of high-quality athletes who never will threaten to go to the Hall of Fame (the same as all those role players on the NBA’s final four team this season). The Bills’ receivers are pesky; they keep coming at the opponent, and together they consistently to make the passing game work. Shakir is the model for the receivers: Intense athlete, competitor, works at his game all the time, consistently delivers everything he has, every play. McDermott has a defensive backfield that looks the same. McDermott’s defensive backs all run to the ball with intensity, in the same way OKC’s run in transition. It’s not a mystery why Dane Jackson is back. He has a defensive line that looks the same. Epenesa is the Energizer bunny. An offensive line too. His offensive players always use their very good but not necessarily great athleticism to make the block. Each guy does whatever he can to make each play work. Spencer Brown is not a classic offensive tackle, but his talent and his intense dedication to the team concept is one example. The reason the Cowboys never succeed is that Jerry Jones operates on the old NBA philosophy—get two or three or four of the best players you can, and then try to fill in the rest of team. That formula doesn’t work, for two reasons: First, as the NBA is showing, collective teamwork with good athletes beats the best players trying to carry their teams. Second, the dedicated role players on teams like the Thunder can be found all over the basketball world, and they can be signed without breaking the bank. Jerry Jones loves his stars so much he doesn’t have the money to pay the modest salaries of the no-name guys who drive success. Some will say, “yes, but each of the NBA final four has a legitimate star to lead them.” True, you have to have the star. And the Bills have theirs, a guy who meets all the requirements: Great athlete, intense competitor, never quits on a play. What the Bills have been doing, year after year, is collecting better and better role players around Josh Allen. It takes longer to assemble that roster than in the NBA, because you need 35 or 40 of those guys in the NFL, and only eight or ten in the NBA. People complain that the Bills have lost some big games—literally lost them—and haven’t won the big one. And that’s true. But the Bills are getting better each year, and the pro football world is noticing, even if all Bills fans aren’t. The Bills are now a perennial favorite to win it all. It’s noteworthy that the betting world has made the Bills the favorite to win each of its regular season games in 2025. It’s a sign of perceived dominance, a sign that McDermott’s approach, the modern NBA’s approach, is working. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team. There is something also unique about these playoffs though... not of the final four teams have THE GUY that has won a championship as THE GUY. Every one of them have stars, but nothing like the NFL. It is a transition year where the older stars of the past are showing signs of decline by injury or by age, and the new teams in the NBA in the ECF and WCF represent that. Three out of four weren't given nearly the press the other teams were in the Celtics, Cavs and Lakers. So in this instance, in this 2024-25 postseason, you have to have a team concept in order to win. This may change as one of those that are THE GUY break out and establish their name as great by winning a ring and start a dynasty, so we shall see. I need to see more before we proclaim the death of dynasties and say that "do your job" and "everyone eats" is in. Quote
Shaw66 Posted 2 hours ago Author Posted 2 hours ago 9 minutes ago, EasternOHBillsFan said: There is something also unique about these playoffs though... not of the final four teams have THE GUY that has won a championship as THE GUY. Every one of them have stars, but nothing like the NFL. It is a transition year where the older stars of the past are showing signs of decline by injury or by age, and the new teams in the NBA in the ECF and WCF represent that. Three out of four weren't given nearly the press the other teams were in the Celtics, Cavs and Lakers. So in this instance, in this 2024-25 postseason, you have to have a team concept in order to win. This may change as one of those that are THE GUY break out and establish their name as great by winning a ring and start a dynasty, so we shall see. I need to see more before we proclaim the death of dynasties and say that "do your job" and "everyone eats" is in. Good arguments. It's true, one or more of them may emerge as "the guy." But that would mean that by accident four teams emerged on top playing the same style. That's pretty unlikely. The "do your job" "everyone eats" concept (I wish I'd referenced those phrases) is what made the Warriors great, and I don't think it's an accident that several teams are playing this way now. What teams thought was the winning model a few years ago was to get three stars and just overpower teams. Heat did it with Lebron, Celtics with Pierce and Allen and whoever was the third. We're not seeing that now. Lakers thought they could do it with Lebron and Davis, now Lebron and Doncic. Trailblazers hoped to do it. Phoenix hoped to do it. You may be correct that this is an accident. However, my point wasn't that the NBA has changed permanently. My point was the philosophy that these teams clearly are following is the philosophy McDermott is running with. 1 Quote
stuvian Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago (edited) I'm glad to hear that defensive basketball is making a comeback. I have not been a fan of the era of designated defensive players in the sport. In the sports greatest eras, every player played defense. Sure there have always been selfish players who took defensive plays off but few of those won titles. I'm also tired of today's spoilt stars whining their way out of town and getting coaches fired. Watching the eastern European players succeed by taking free throws and rebounding seriously while the North Americans try and get on Sportscenter with an acrobatic slam dunk or gang thug signals is a marked culture shift. You're not a real basketball player if you don't play defense. Jordan and Lebron played defense at a very high level. Maybe that sounds like old man talk but scoring points in the absence of defense is meaningless. I grew up on the basketball of Paul Silas and Dennis Rodman and it was great! That said, I look forward to a return of defensive football to WNY. We haven't had much of that in the McDermott Beane era. A great franchise QB can make up for a lot. I get your point about team defense, Shaw. In theory, being able to bring pressure from anywhere allows you to keep the opponent off balance. But having a difference maker on D forces teams to double up on a single player which opens things up for the lunch pail guys. I don't doubt McDermott's knowledge of the game. He successfully shut down Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. I think it's time that Beane achieved the same personnel results as the Eagles and Rams who have stayed competitive while adding talent. We're closer than we think. If we get three starters on D from the draft and anything out of Bosa that might be enough. Edited 1 hour ago by stuvian Quote
uticaclub Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago (edited) 26 minutes ago, Shaw66 said: Good arguments. It's true, one or more of them may emerge as "the guy." But that would mean that by accident four teams emerged on top playing the same style. That's pretty unlikely. The "do your job" "everyone eats" concept (I wish I'd referenced those phrases) is what made the Warriors great, and I don't think it's an accident that several teams are playing this way now. What teams thought was the winning model a few years ago was to get three stars and just overpower teams. Heat did it with Lebron, Celtics with Pierce and Allen and whoever was the third. We're not seeing that now. Lakers thought they could do it with Lebron and Davis, now Lebron and Doncic. Trailblazers hoped to do it. Phoenix hoped to do it. You may be correct that this is an accident. However, my point wasn't that the NBA has changed permanently. My point was the philosophy that these teams clearly are following is the philosophy McDermott is running with. All the traditional superstars in the NBA have aged, and none of the younger players have taken LeBron or Kobe's place as the dominant faces of the league. It's laughable to suggest that the Warriors won simply because of team depth and not the Splash Brothers, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. Edited 1 hour ago by uticaclub Quote
Shaw66 Posted 1 hour ago Author Posted 1 hour ago (edited) 13 minutes ago, stuvian said: I get your point about team defense, Shaw. In theory, being able to bring pressure from anywhere allows you to keep the opponent off balance. But having a difference maker on D forces teams to double up on a single player which opens things up for the lunch pail guys. I don't doubt McDermott's knowledge of the game. He successfully shut down Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. I think it's time that Beane achieved the same personnel results as the Eagles and Rams who have stayed competitive while adding talent. We're closer than we think. If we get three starters on D from the draft and anything out of Bosa that might be enough. I've been in the difference maker camp for a long time. However, the other side of the argument is this. When JJ Watt was the best defensive player in the league, I heard Colin Cowherd say he asked a Las Vegas bookmaker what impact it would have on the betting line if Watt is out of the lineup. The answer was a half point, maybe a point. The best defensive player in the league! It seems to me that 11 dedicated good athletes playing an excellent team concept are worth more than a half point. 3 minutes ago, uticaclub said: All the traditional superstars in the NBA have aged, and none of the younger players have taken LeBron or Kobe's place as the dominant faces of the league. It's laughable to suggest that the Warriors won simply because of team depth and not the Splash Brothers, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. They won without Durant. Durant took them way over top. Green was always a role player, even in his best years. And it's not depth that makes the difference, it's team play. Team play is where you get synergies, and it was team play that made Green so valuable. And Kerr won in his first season with essentially the same team that Jackson couldn't win with. It was the team concept that did it. Edited 1 hour ago by Shaw66 Quote
uticaclub Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 5 minutes ago, Shaw66 said: And it's not depth that makes the difference, it's team play. Team play is where you get synergies, and it was team play that made Green so valuable. And Kerr won in his first season with essentially the same team that Jackson couldn't win with. It was the team concept that did it. Green might be one the best NBA players Izzo has produced. Would his career look much differently had he been drafted by another team? Absolutely, but now he's considered one of the best defensive players in the last decade. “Team concept” works better when everyone is in the Hall of Fame discussion. So sometimes you need a coaching change to get over the hump? Quote
blitzboy54 Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Can any of these NBA guys get open deep? Cuz if they can't we will be exiting the playoffs again this year. 3 Quote
SoonerBillsFan Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago, Shaw66 said: As I was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder take apart the Denver Nuggets, I could see the tangible realization of the formula Sean McDermott is pursuing with the Bills. I've seen it before from time to time, but what's happening in the NBA makes it hard to ignore. The formula: collect the most talented athletes you can find and ask them to do everything that their position on the field may require from time to time. Everything. That means: 1. Execute your assignment within the team concept. 2. Play - and fight - as hard as you can, all the time. It's easy to see in the NBA this season. The superstars can't carry their teams any longer. Yes, there were injuries, and yes some are past their prime, but whatever the reason, they're all gone from the final four: Lebron, Tatum, Curry, Durant, Jokic, Giannis, Doncic, and probably one or two I'm forgetting. Jokic is the really important name on the list. The guy is supremely talented, an exceptional, one-of-a-kind offensive talent. in his prime. In years past, including only a few years ago, having a guy like that on your team meant you were more or less automatic to make it to the conference finals. Not any longer. This year's final four teams each have a great player: Brunson, Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton, and Edwards, but those teams don't depend on them like teams depended on superstars in the past. These guys play within a team concept, especially on defense, team concepts that depend on relentless pursuit and extreme athleticism. They're stars, for sure, and there are times when they carry their teams, but their teams win because they're willing to play the style that their less talented teammates play - tough, tough in-your-face defense, team-oriented offenses that create opportunities for all the players on the floor, and a commitment to delivering when those opportunities arise. When the Thunder beat the Nuggets in game seven yesterday, Alex Caruso was as important as Gilgeous-Alexander. Caruso is by no means a star, but what the Thunder gets from Caruso (and from a half-dozen other role players) is intense execution, play after play. And what the NBA is realizing is that when you have a team full of intense, committed players, talented guys but not necessarily highlight-reel talented, and when they play a team concept on offense and on defense, they can be consistently better than teams who feature stars. For the best NBA teams this season, it’s not about having players who have raised their game over a year ago; it’s about talented players who do their absolute best, play after play. Who are these players, what's their profile? They are exceptional athletes, with speed, quickness, jumping ability, and highly developed basketball skills (shooting, passing, dribbling, protecting the ball). Those skills all are matches for what their expected to do on the court: Run fast, change direction fast, jump, shoot, pass, dribble, protect the ball. And they are intense competitors, willing to use all of their physical ability and skills, all of the time, in whatever way is necessary for the team to succeed on every play. As the Thunder's blowout of the Nuggets was playing out in the fourth quarter, the TV announcers filled the time talking about, among other things, what the Nuggets had to do to their roster to get better. They said the Nuggets need to find the right role players to team with Jokic and Murray. That's wrong. The problem with the Nuggets is that Jokic and Murray can't play with the speed and intensity that the stars on the final four teams show. They don't play consistently intense defense, they don't run the floor with amazing speed and quickness. The NBA is showing that five guys playing with speed and intensity will beat two stars and three role-players, all the time. It doesn't matter if some of those five have names like Hartenstein and Caruso, guys who sometimes make you wonder how they're even in the league. Those guys are dedicated, hard working athletes who thrive in a true team concept. The Warriors began the trend. Curry was, of course, the leader, but it was the dedication to the team concept by both Curry and the lesser players that made them special. Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson, Edwards, and Haliburton each are their team’s Curry, and their teammates are the Greens and Looneys and other guys. What does that have to do with McDermott and the Bills? McDermott is following the same formula. It’s most easily seen in everyone’s favorite punching bag these days: the wide receiver room. McDermott has a room full of high-quality athletes who never will threaten to go to the Hall of Fame (the same as all those role players on the NBA’s final four team this season). The Bills’ receivers are pesky; they keep coming at the opponent, and together they consistently to make the passing game work. Shakir is the model for the receivers: Intense athlete, competitor, works at his game all the time, consistently delivers everything he has, every play. McDermott has a defensive backfield that looks the same. McDermott’s defensive backs all run to the ball with intensity, in the same way OKC’s run in transition. It’s not a mystery why Dane Jackson is back. He has a defensive line that looks the same. Epenesa is the Energizer bunny. An offensive line too. His offensive players always use their very good but not necessarily great athleticism to make the block. Each guy does whatever he can to make each play work. Spencer Brown is not a classic offensive tackle, but his talent and his intense dedication to the team concept is one example. The reason the Cowboys never succeed is that Jerry Jones operates on the old NBA philosophy—get two or three or four of the best players you can, and then try to fill in the rest of team. That formula doesn’t work, for two reasons: First, as the NBA is showing, collective teamwork with good athletes beats the best players trying to carry their teams. Second, the dedicated role players on teams like the Thunder can be found all over the basketball world, and they can be signed without breaking the bank. Jerry Jones loves his stars so much he doesn’t have the money to pay the modest salaries of the no-name guys who drive success. Some will say, “yes, but each of the NBA final four has a legitimate star to lead them.” True, you have to have the star. And the Bills have theirs, a guy who meets all the requirements: Great athlete, intense competitor, never quits on a play. What the Bills have been doing, year after year, is collecting better and better role players around Josh Allen. It takes longer to assemble that roster than in the NBA, because you need 35 or 40 of those guys in the NFL, and only eight or ten in the NBA. People complain that the Bills have lost some big games—literally lost them—and haven’t won the big one. And that’s true. But the Bills are getting better each year, and the pro football world is noticing, even if all Bills fans aren’t. The Bills are now a perennial favorite to win it all. It’s noteworthy that the betting world has made the Bills the favorite to win each of its regular season games in 2025. It’s a sign of perceived dominance, a sign that McDermott’s approach, the modern NBA’s approach, is working. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team. #GoThunder! Quote
JP51 Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 25 minutes ago, Shaw66 said: I've been in the difference maker camp for a long time. However, the other side of the argument is this. When JJ Watt was the best defensive player in the league, I heard Colin Cowherd say he asked a Las Vegas bookmaker what impact it would have on the betting line if Watt is out of the lineup. The answer was a half point, maybe a point. The best defensive player in the league! It seems to me that 11 dedicated good athletes playing an excellent team concept are worth more than a half point. They won without Durant. Durant took them way over top. Green was always a role player, even in his best years. And it's not depth that makes the difference, it's team play. Team play is where you get synergies, and it was team play that made Green so valuable. And Kerr won in his first season with essentially the same team that Jackson couldn't win with. It was the team concept that did it. Difference makers make it easier, they cover flaws they make the players around them better... So Josh lets say is the ultimate difference maker.. I wonder what our WR core does with Mason Rudolph or Anthony Richardson or Jameis as their QB... I believe Josh elevates everyone around him... On defense... there are significant flaws... interior D Line and Secondary to be sure... If you were to obtain a game wrecker it would likely make those players better... and hide some of those flaws... To your point... that doesnt necessarily win you a championship but it makes your defense better... however, upgrading the DL from C- to B and the secondary from C to B can also win you a championship... I like the concept of elevation of talent as 1 single injury derails model A... now... A and B together would be nice. Quote
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