Was the 2004 pistons the only team to win a championship without....

[Rake2204]

They didn't have a superstar, but they had legit pieces and a closer, thats all you need to win.

I think there's a lot of ways to build a championship team, but I think it's a very fortunate position to be in when a team finds themselves to be as deep as Detroit was. It seemed as if they had 10 players who all provided something significant. That's not to say they all always performed to their maximum abilities, but a lot of times they did.

One of my favorite moments watching that team came when Mike James and Lindsey Hunter would come off the bench. Then, as if he was still at Kansas, head coach Larry Brown would call for a half-court trap and James and Hunter would succeed in creating a turnover. It was not something I was accustomed to seeing out of an NBA club.

As always, I'm glad to see the legacy of this Pistons team live on. They caught an awful lot of flak back then. The low scores often led to charges of Detroit being a boring team. And in truth, I suppose they could have been, for I'm fully aware how teams are never boring when they're your team (and the Pistons were my team). But even then, I still feel like there was a lot of excitement. A lot of that defense came in the way of emphatic blocks or rebounds, leading to a fair share of transition buckets at the other end. Like so: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zI37g_7OWQ. I wish more full-length 2004 Pistons games were out there. I remember one particular contest against Denver (in Denver) that year where they seemingly had 20 dunks.

[fsvr54]

It wasn't a one time fluke though, they made it to the conference finals like 6 times in a row and made it to Finals Game 7 in 2005, which they should have won.

[D.J.]

Ben Wallace averaged over 12 RPG, 3 BPG, and was runner up for DPOY. How is that not top 100???

[Xiao Yao You]

Kobe's top 100 and his selfish play was the main reason they won.

[Freedom Kid7]

The '04 Pistons were an excellent team that did everything they did due to good coaching, good defense, good role players, and a pretty selfless environment. You could make a case for either Wallace being top 100 though. Both Sheed and Ben were excellent defenders. Ben was by far superior on defense though, and that makes him a top 100 player to most people.

[Shade8780]

That's because Ben Wallace is a better player than Mutombo though.

[COLOR="White"]See what I did there?[/COLOR]

[Punpun]

Don't use the Finger wave Ibaka uses on me bitch. Don't test me.

[ProfessorMurder]

That's enough.

Dikembe Mutombo from age 25-35, 1991-1992 - 2001-2002

840 / 870 games. Played in 96.6% of games, starting all of them.

11 season average:
12.4 ppg / 12.3 reb / 3.4 blk / 1.4 ast / .5 stl / 2.3 to
52.2% fg / 67.9% ft
----------------------------
Playoffs:
66 games - 28 wins / 38 losses

12.7 ppg / 12.6 reb / 3.3 blk / 1 ast / .5 stl / 2 to
51.5% fg / 69.9% ft
-----------------------------
8 time all-star
4 time DPOY
NBA all rookie team
6 all-defense (1stx3 2ndx3)
3 all-nba (2ndx1 3rdx2)
4 years grabbing the most rebounds in the league
5 years blocking the most shots in the league

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben Wallace from age 25-32, 1999-2000 - 2006-2007

628 / 656 games. Played 95.7% of games, starting all of them.

8 season average:
7.3 ppg / 12 reb / 2.5 blk / 1.6 ast / 1.5 stl / 1.2 to
47.4% fg / 42.6% ft
---------------------------
Playoffs:
103 games - 59 wins / 44 losses

8.6 pts / 12.9 reb / 2.3 blk / 1.5 ast / 1.8 stl / 1.2 to
47.8% fg / 42.6% ft
----------------------------
4 time all-star
4 time DPOY
6 all-defense (1stx5 2ndx1)
5 all-nba (2ndx3 3rdx2)
2 years grabbing the most rebounds in the league
1 year blocking the most shots in the league

- Mutombo came into the league as a lottery pick, instantly helping his team.
- Wallace was undrafted, and couldn't get off of the bench for 3 years.
- Mutombo put up better numbers, over a longer period of time, during a tougher era for centers.

Mutombo > Ben Wallace

[Punpun]

And Ben was the pillar of the best Defensive team of all time.

[StateOfMind12]

Ben Wallace is a top 100 player.

Literally the only thing Wallace did that Mutombo didn't do (or do better) was win 1 championship.

Wallace was the better overall defender. Wallace was the better pick and roll defender while Mutombo was the better post defender. They were about dead even when it came to shot blocking but I would give the edge to Wallace due to superior athleticism.

It's close though, Mutombo is better overall probably because he was an above average offensive player while Wallace was just average to above average.

[IGotACoolStory]

And Ben was the pillar of the best Defensive team of all time.

Not even the best defensive team in Pistons history.

[mrbigshot1]

Most people don't realize that Ben Wallace is only 6 feet 9 inches.

[Raz]

I think there's a lot of ways to build a championship team, but I think it's a very fortunate position to be in when a team finds themselves to be as deep as Detroit was. It seemed as if they had 10 players who all provided something significant. That's not to say they all always performed to their maximum abilities, but a lot of times they did.

One of my favorite moments watching that team came when Mike James and Lindsey Hunter would come off the bench. Then, as if he was still at Kansas, [COLOR="Red"]head coach Mike Brown[/COLOR] would call for a half-court trap and James and Hunter would succeed in creating a turnover. It was not something I was accustomed to seeing out of an NBA club.

As always, I'm glad to see the legacy of this Pistons team live on. They caught an awful lot of flak back then. The low scores often led to charges of Detroit being a boring team. And in truth, I suppose they could have been, for I'm fully aware how teams are never boring when they're your team (and the Pistons were my team). But even then, I still feel like there was a lot of excitement. A lot of that defense came in the way of emphatic blocks or rebounds, leading to a fair share of transition buckets at the other end. Like so: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zI37g_7OWQ. I wish more full-length 2004 Pistons games were out there. I remember one particular contest against Denver (in Denver) that year where they seemingly had 20 dunks.

[Raz]

Most people don't realize that Ben Wallace is only 6 feet 9 inches of terror.

Fixed

[Punpun]

Not even the best defensive team in Pistons history.

They played Real Defense. Not the "Bad boys" bullshit where they played dirty in order to hide their shortcomings on Defense.