[TyroberParticipant]

Whats the most important position to win an NBA title?

PG- All great teams have a great point guard. Whether its amazing play or just great leadership and sometimes both, its a must have.

SG- A great guard can put you over the top and carry a team by himself. Kobe, Wade, MJ

SF- Having a guy that does it all certainly wouldnt hurt. Lebron, Melo, Granger, Pierce.

PF- One of the most talented positions in the NBA along with point guards.

C- Big men win championships. Russell, Wilt, Duncan, Shaq

[MkadozaParticipant]

Post defense is the key between the good ones and the great ones. Getting a collection of guards who can score is way easier than finding a big man who can not only neutralize post players but driving perimeter players. If you have a player that can handle the post single handedly (or a big man who commands attention offensively) you free up a lot of room for your perimeter players. My vote goes to center.

[SlimParticipant]

MJ> Shaq

[RickyRubio9Participant]

Blocks, Rebounds, Intimidation, Scoring Downlow. You need his defense, and his offense helps. Only way a Guard wins a Championship if his name is MJ. Kobe? Needed Gasol. Wade? Needed Shaq? LeBron? Shaq is there. Dwight? He got there last year. Parker & Ginoboli? No chance without Duncan. Paul Pierce? Needed KG. Almost every team that’s won a Championship has had a dominant Big whether it be a PF or a Center.

[tuck243Participant]

Regardless if he plays Center or PF it’s the most important…. Can’t think of the last team that won a championship without an all-star in the low post BUT Jordan’s Bulls and of course it was MJ… That was another thing that made him so great, without a post presence in an Era of Big Men, HE DOMINATED… Can’t say that now… Celtics had KG, Spurs had Duncan, Miami had Shaq, Lakers had Gasol and Shaq, Pistons had Lamibeer, Celtics had McHale and Parrish, Lakers had Kareem and so on and so forth….

[tuck243Participant]

Ricky you took the words right out of my mouth…

[RickyRubio9Participant]

Yes Sir…If you check the past Champions there is only Jordan’s Bulls and Maybe the Pistons and even then Rasheed Wallace & Ben Wallace were pretty good at that time. Rockets had Hakeem It was so obvious ’cause the two years Jordan went out guess who was in the Finals, Patrick Ewing vs. Hakeem, and Shaq vs. Hakeem. Heck, Barkley couldn’t win by himself and Karl Malone and Stockton couldn’t beat out Olajuwon and when they did they ran into MJ. In this league, you need that dominant big man.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

Rubio said it perfectly, A dominant big man can take you places that guards cant….

[JoeWolf1]

The last 5 NBA Finals winners points, rebounds and assists playoff averages per position of the starting lineup

C- 8.8ppg 6.2 rpg .7apg

PF 19.5 ppg 10.1 rpg 2.8 apg

SF 10.3 ppg 4.7 rpg 2 apg

SG 21.2 ppg 4.7 rpg 3.9 apg

PG 13.1 ppg 2.9 rpg 4.6 apg

The thing I noticed most about looking up those stats was, the overall balance of the championship teams. At center you have guys from Nazi Mohammad to Shaquille O’Neal. It’s not one particular position that is more important, but how teams play together and what roles people fill. In every starting lineup for the Finals winners of the past 5 years there was 1 consistant, mean defender/dirtywork player in the starting lineups, from Bowen, Garnett, Haslem, Ariza. From a strictly statistical standpoint I pick the power forward, but for my answer I choose an alternate answer of the defender. Teams don’t win championships without a shut down defender, Bowen, to Rodman for the Bulls in the late 90’s, its a team game and not to sound too old school, but DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

[RICO 1981Participant]

In college the most important position is PG, but in the NBA its got to be a great big man. All the champs besides 2008-2009 Lakers and the Bulls of the 90’s had great big men. I know some one will say the Pistons, but they had a couple of good big men that made up for not having one great big man.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Not all great teams have great pgs. Recent winners have had Derek Fisher, a younger Rondo, and Jason Williams, although on that team Dwayne Wade did a lot of the ball handling.
All great teams can rebound, defend, and score in the post. Those are the most influenced by big men.

[JNixonParticipant]

Rico 1981 summed it up best: In college, PG is most important, but in the NBA, a dominate big man will get you a chance at the title much more likely than any other position.

[Author]

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