Copying the blueprint for success

By John DeCosta Sports Central Columnist

We all anticipated what would happen when Phil Jackson signed on to coach the Lakers. We tried to deny it, or rationalize away our inner beliefs by proclaiming that without Michael Jordan leading the way, a Phil Jackson-coached team could not be dominant again. Ultimately, we all knew that Jackson, with his Zen Buddhist teachings and triangle offense, would successfully mold the talented, but wayward, Lakers into champions.

Before the arrival of their new coach, the Lakers had all the components that the master crafter, Jackson, required. They had the two superstars (well, Kobe Bryant was still a superstar in progress at that point), key role players, and your standard end-of-the-bench players that only a coach like Jackson could motivate into being productive.

The rest is just your proverbial NBA dynasty story. The Dynamic Duo, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, develop an unimaginable chemistry for two players of their caliber, Robert Horry and Rick Fox sacrifice personal statistics in a selfless what's-best-for-the-team manner, and Jackson finds a way to extract beneficial play out of Mark Madsen, Brian Shaw, and Devon George, while making an aging Mitch Richmond look like, well, nobody's perfect.

This year, the Laker Dynasty has yet to get rolling as one half of their superstar tandem is out with a toe injury. While the Laker-machine is hobbling along, the Orlando Magic, a team utilizing a similar format for success is flourishing (I began writing this before the blowout loss to the Warriors, so we'll just pretend that didn't happen).

After completing the 1999-2000 season at 41-41, the Magic found themselves already having two of the three key ingredients of the latest title recipe. They had a very deserving Coach of the Year in Doc Rivers, who led a team that was arguably composed of only effective role players, to a near playoff birth. With the coach and role players in place, the Magic went in search of two superstars.

They landed Grant Hill, the smooth, nightly triple-double threat, and targeted a player who dominated with fundamentals, Tim Duncan. They were unable to woo Duncan, despite the lure of Mickey Mouse, and settled for the rising talent, Tracy McGrady.

It is now two years later and Hill appears to be finally recovering from two season-ending injuries that limited him to 18 games since signing with the Magic. In his two-year absence, McGrady has emerged into one of the top-five players in the game, carrying the Magic to consecutive playoff appearances.

With Rivers at the helm, their two superstars intact and flanked by sharp-shooters in Mike Miller and Pat Garrity, along with hustle-players in Darrell Armstrong, Pat Burke, and Horace Grant, the Magic's dreams of contention may finally have come to fruition. Of course, they may be short a role player or two in the interior defense.

Now that the Magic have the Lakers' formula down, the question becomes whether or not this is the best way to compete with the champs. Others have tried their own approaches, but thus far, have experienced little success.

The Kings have a great coach, one superstar in Chris Webber, one player who makes a superstar's salary in Mike Bibby, an array of good scorers, passers, and defenders, but no one to hit the clutch shot that will lead them to the Finals.

The Mavericks have a good coach, one superstar in Dirk Nowitzki, and as much offense as owner Mark Cuban can afford, but not enough defense to make it to the Western Conference Finals.

The Nets have a good coach, great role players and defenders, but a superstar passer in Jason Kidd with not one star to receive his passes.

The Sixers have a great coach and role players, but a superstar who cannot play with other superstars.

Finally, the Celtics have a good coach, one superstar in Paul Pierce, a player with superstar ability in Antoine Walker, but were greedy this offseason when they traded two of their solid role players for former All-Star Vin Baker, obviously after watching game-tape from 1995.

All of these teams have tried and failed, so why not duplicate the formula that was the impetus for the Lakers to get where they are, and use it against them?

In a time where salary cap regulations and team expansion have made it unrealistic to attempt to assemble championship teams like the Lakers and Celtics of the '80s and the Bulls of the '90s, the current Lakers have drawn up the latest blueprint for dominance. But, with any great plan, there is always a weakness. As evidenced by the slow start by the Lakers, the Achilles heel is injuries. Injuries not to role players, as the more advanced coaches use these players interchangeably with great success, but to one of the superstars.

With a dominant tandem on the court each night you seldom see both players struggle, and when one has a subpar performance, the other star can carry the team. When both players play superbly, you have, well, the Lakers/Nets Finals. We have already seen a glimpse of what the Magic can do with both of their stars healthy, now will they get their opportunity to compete against their role models?

Article courtesy of Sports Central.