kylepicklehead
Benchwarmer
Mavericks show Knicks should change 3-star plan
By MARC BERMAN
MIAMI -- Knicks owner James Dolan should fly to Miami, grab the South Beach three-star championship blueprint and toss it into the turquoise ocean.
It does not look like the way to go for the Knicks, who boast two stars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire and have contemplated adding a third, with the rest of their 2012 cap space, in Chris Paul. But at what expense?
America's Team -- the 2010-11 champion Dallas Mavericks -- proved during the riveting Finals that a deep, full-bodied team with lots of varied parts can overwhelm a club made of three players -- no matter how good.
IT TAKES A TEAM: While Miami relied on the Big Three, the Mavs won the title by surrounding Dirk Nowitzki (second from left) with complement players like Brian Cardinal (left), Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion.
The LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh experiment failed not only because "King" James choked, but also because the Heat had no supporting cast to perform the Heimlich. Whether Miami president Pat Riley can add solid complements without cap space is questionable.
None of the Big Three will be traded this summer, but if the star trio does not win the 2012 championship, the concept may be scrapped.
Late Sunday night, Riley's wife, Christine, approached a James confidant and whispered: "You learn more from losing than winning."
Knicks outgoing president Donnie Walsh has given strong recent hints adding Paul may not be in the plan, especially with the new labor agreement shrinking their 2012 cap space. Better to spend the cap room on three solid contributors.
"You really need all the pieces or roles filled to win a championship," Walsh told The Post yesterday. "Miami gave it a great run, though, with what they had."
In his conference call 10 days ago announcing his impending resignation, Walsh was prescient about the series while giving strong indications the Knicks need role players -- not Paul.
"The stars do what they do," Walsh said. "They score. But a lot of the basketball game is being won by the guys that fill in the blanks. We need to get those guys or find them if they're on the team right now. So that's the job now.
"We have the stars. They will do what they do. And we're lucky to have them," Walsh added. "But you need more than that. So that's the job. And that's how I've felt about this since the day we did the [Anthony] trade."
Miami's entire cap space went to the Big Three -- nothing left for established role guys. They had no point guard or center and a terrible bench. It was damning that starting point guard Mike Bibby received a DNP in desperation Game 6 on Sunday. Of the nine players who played in Game 6, three went scoreless -- starting center Joel Anthony, Mike Miller and Juwan Howard. Ex-Knicks castoff Eddie House played 21 minutes, taking big shots in the fourth quarter.
Yes, Dirk Nowitzki played better than any of Miami's Big Three, but the Mavs came at the Heat in waves. Sixth Man Jason Terry and guard J.J. Barea lit them up. Jason Kidd was poised and clutch. Center Tyson Chandler seemed to keep alive every ball in the fourth quarter.
After their Sunday collapse, Wade and Bosh got it. James? Not quite yet.
"Personally we all are individuals that become a team," Wade said. "Same with Dallas. They had to put pieces together to get a championship. They did great signing Chandler this summer, probably the thing that helped them get to this point. No matter what caliber of a player it is, everyone fits. It's like a puzzle. And their pieces came together a little bit better than ours at the end."
Bosh added: "They were the better team. I mean, there's no hiding. We've got a lot of work to do. We have to go back to the drawing board."
When James was asked what it will take to win a championship, he used the word "I" eight times in his response.
In the condensed version, James said: "I got close. Won two more games than I did in '07. And hopefully next time I get here, I'll win two more games than I did in '11."
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said the Mavericks' triumph was a vote for team basketball winning over superstar talent, talking up "the purity of our game."
"I'm so proud of what our team stood for," Carlisle said. "I kept having people come up to me the last three days, 'Hey there's billions of people rooting for you guys.' And we could feel it. We knew it was very important we won this series for those reasons. Because of what the game is about and what the game should stand for."
By MARC BERMAN
MIAMI -- Knicks owner James Dolan should fly to Miami, grab the South Beach three-star championship blueprint and toss it into the turquoise ocean.
It does not look like the way to go for the Knicks, who boast two stars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire and have contemplated adding a third, with the rest of their 2012 cap space, in Chris Paul. But at what expense?
America's Team -- the 2010-11 champion Dallas Mavericks -- proved during the riveting Finals that a deep, full-bodied team with lots of varied parts can overwhelm a club made of three players -- no matter how good.
IT TAKES A TEAM: While Miami relied on the Big Three, the Mavs won the title by surrounding Dirk Nowitzki (second from left) with complement players like Brian Cardinal (left), Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion.
The LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh experiment failed not only because "King" James choked, but also because the Heat had no supporting cast to perform the Heimlich. Whether Miami president Pat Riley can add solid complements without cap space is questionable.
None of the Big Three will be traded this summer, but if the star trio does not win the 2012 championship, the concept may be scrapped.
Late Sunday night, Riley's wife, Christine, approached a James confidant and whispered: "You learn more from losing than winning."
Knicks outgoing president Donnie Walsh has given strong recent hints adding Paul may not be in the plan, especially with the new labor agreement shrinking their 2012 cap space. Better to spend the cap room on three solid contributors.
"You really need all the pieces or roles filled to win a championship," Walsh told The Post yesterday. "Miami gave it a great run, though, with what they had."
In his conference call 10 days ago announcing his impending resignation, Walsh was prescient about the series while giving strong indications the Knicks need role players -- not Paul.
"The stars do what they do," Walsh said. "They score. But a lot of the basketball game is being won by the guys that fill in the blanks. We need to get those guys or find them if they're on the team right now. So that's the job now.
"We have the stars. They will do what they do. And we're lucky to have them," Walsh added. "But you need more than that. So that's the job. And that's how I've felt about this since the day we did the [Anthony] trade."
Miami's entire cap space went to the Big Three -- nothing left for established role guys. They had no point guard or center and a terrible bench. It was damning that starting point guard Mike Bibby received a DNP in desperation Game 6 on Sunday. Of the nine players who played in Game 6, three went scoreless -- starting center Joel Anthony, Mike Miller and Juwan Howard. Ex-Knicks castoff Eddie House played 21 minutes, taking big shots in the fourth quarter.
Yes, Dirk Nowitzki played better than any of Miami's Big Three, but the Mavs came at the Heat in waves. Sixth Man Jason Terry and guard J.J. Barea lit them up. Jason Kidd was poised and clutch. Center Tyson Chandler seemed to keep alive every ball in the fourth quarter.
After their Sunday collapse, Wade and Bosh got it. James? Not quite yet.
"Personally we all are individuals that become a team," Wade said. "Same with Dallas. They had to put pieces together to get a championship. They did great signing Chandler this summer, probably the thing that helped them get to this point. No matter what caliber of a player it is, everyone fits. It's like a puzzle. And their pieces came together a little bit better than ours at the end."
Bosh added: "They were the better team. I mean, there's no hiding. We've got a lot of work to do. We have to go back to the drawing board."
When James was asked what it will take to win a championship, he used the word "I" eight times in his response.
In the condensed version, James said: "I got close. Won two more games than I did in '07. And hopefully next time I get here, I'll win two more games than I did in '11."
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said the Mavericks' triumph was a vote for team basketball winning over superstar talent, talking up "the purity of our game."
"I'm so proud of what our team stood for," Carlisle said. "I kept having people come up to me the last three days, 'Hey there's billions of people rooting for you guys.' And we could feel it. We knew it was very important we won this series for those reasons. Because of what the game is about and what the game should stand for."
