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October 7, 2008 What does it take to win an NBA championship? Every team is trying to do it (or at least that’s what we assume), but there are many different methods. Some focus on offense and hope their defense plays tough enough to keep them in games (like Utah). Others start by building a strong defense and grind every game out (like San Antonio). Some teams go small (like Atlanta) while others go big (like Los Angeles this year). Some play fast (like Golden State) while others play slow (like Detroit). Some acquire veterans (like Boston) while others accumulate youth (like Portland). You get the idea. But which is the best way? Obviously any method that makes both your offense and defense as good as possible is the best method. However, to see exactly how it’s done, I’m going to analyze the past ten champions (the post-Bulls era) based on the following factors: offensive/defensive balance, size, pace, style, and age. Offensive/defensive balance Size Over the past six years (that’s as far back as the survey goes), the champions have on average ranked 15th in the league in height. Yes, exactly in the middle. Boston ranked 19th last season. Unless there are major problems with the data, being extremely big or small doesn’t seem to matter as long as you perform well on the court. Pace Style
On offense, the most important thing appeared to be converting a high percentage of your shots. Nothing else was especially important. On defense, not allowing a high eFG% appears to be the secret to success. Even the bad defensive team (the 00-01 Lakers) wasn’t terrible at this. Getting a high percentage of the defensive rebounds was also somewhat important. Surprisingly, creating a lot of turnovers did not seem to be a huge factor at all. This may be because championship teams don’t gamble and play safer and more solid defense, which would explain the low eFG% allowed. Age The champions over the past six years have had an average rank of 4.5 in terms of being the oldest team. Boston was not especially old, ranking 11th in experience. Based on these numbers, it appears that maybe all those traditional folks who love veterans are on to something. In conclusion, championship teams are strong on both offense and defense, with generally more of a focus on defense. They are not especially big or small, and they don’t have to play at a certain speed. Winning the field goal percentage battle is crucial for these teams. Finally, they’re old (or to put it nicely, experienced). I must give a lot of credit to basketball-reference.com. Without its multitudes of numbers and great accessibility, this article would not have been possible.
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