The last NBA team to win a championship without a superstar offensive player was the 2004 Detroit Pistons. If defense still wins championships, the Orlando Magic could be a contender in 2017.
Ben Wallace played for the Orlando Magic back in the day, but he was not the player who would anchor defenses and win a championship when he wore Magic blue. Rasheed Wallace helped Ben Wallace in the Detroit Pistons front court, forming one of the greatest defenses in league history. He spaced the floor and added more defense to lock down the paint.
This was a winning formula for the Pistons in 2004. A unique one.
The 2004 Pistons were a team that lacked the prototypical superstar player but never lacked a willingness to defend. This Pistons’ team held a super team Lakers’ squad to 68 points in a Game Three Finals victory.
With a dominant center in Shaquille O’Neal and a Jordan-like player in Kobe Bryant, the Pistons’ knew if they were going to win it all, it had to start with their defense.
Few teams have been able to replicate this defense-first model successfully. Especially not with the current rush of 3-pointers.
The Orlando Magic right now seem willing to try.
The Magic built their team this offseason with defense as it anchor, first by hiring Frank Vogel. They then began reshaping the team with defense in mind.
Instead of Ben Wallace, they signed a lookalike after signing former Toronto Raptor Bismack Biyombo to a four-year, $72-million deal this offseason. Instead of Rasheed Wallace, the Magic traded Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka in this year’s draft, forming one of the NBA’s best defensive frontcourts with a big who protects the rim and is almost entirely defense and a shooting stretch-4 with good defensive chops too.
In that ugly 88-68 Game Three victory in the Finals, Wallace only registered seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Not a great stat line from Wallace, but Orlando is expecting a similar stat line from Bismack Biyombo this year.
Richard Hamilton scored 31 points in the same game and was arguably the best offensive player on the team, one could argue so is Evan Fournier on this Magic roster.
Hamilton averaged 17.9 points per game and shot a nice field goal percentage at 45.5 percent but shot only 26.4 percent from three. Fournier shot 46.2 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three and 83.6 percent from the free-throw line last year.
Tayshaun Prince was a young, athletic talented defensive player during the Pistons’ title run. It sounds a little like Aaron Gordon. Prince was a better shooter than Gordon, but was not jumping over any mascots during the Slam Dunk Contest by any stretch of the imagination.
Prince averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game that year. Gordon averaged 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per 36 minutes last year.
And Chauncey Billups won the 2004 NBA Finals MVP, something fans can only wish Elfrid Payton will accomplish one day. Right now, Payton could not shine Billups’ shoes in an offensive comparison. How can anyone compare a player with the nickname ‘Big Shot’ to a player who is still trying to find his shot?
But, if talking offense, it would be nice to note no player on the Pistons’ 2004 championship team were better offensively than Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic.
Rasheed Wallace never averaged 18 points per game while wearing a Pistons jersey, Vucevic averaged 18 points per game last year for the Magic.
The Pistons finished the season 58-24, third in the Eastern Conference and second in their division. Magic fans can only hope to finish with such a record.
The NBA has changed its style of play since the Pistons hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but no team has mimicked the Detroit Pistons non-superstar, defensive overload strategy like this year’s Orlando Magic seem to be committed to executing.
This year’s Magic are not the 2004 Pistons, but the narrative the Magic will have a defensive juggernaut in the front court and many offensive issues are similar to what the Pistons heard throughout their championship run.
Can this style of play win a championship in 2017? Has any team succeeded since the 2004 Pistons’ with this defensive strategy? Can the 2017 Magic live up to their defensive potential?
The Memphis Grizzlies seemingly fit this defensive style. Keep in mind, this style of play netted the Grizzlies multiple playoff appearances, but no championships. And just one appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
Similar to this Magic squad, the 2004 Pistons were not a lock to win a title at the beginning of the 2004 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers were the odds-on favorite.
There were doubters when the Pistons went up against a loaded Los Angeles Lakers team with Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the 2004 NBA Finals.
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The Pistons, and their defense, won in five. Defense certainly still can win. And sometimes win it all.