The Best NBA Ballclubs that Didn't win the Title - AlexBrady's Blog

AlexBrady's Blog

The Best NBA Ballclubs that Didn't win the Title

Posted on June 1, 2017 at 01:53 PM.

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In response to last night's NBA TV Open Court episode that debated this very topic. I looked at the rosters, competition, and records to determine these rankings.

5. 1982 Boston Celtics

RECORD � 63-19 .768 (1st)
OFFENSE � 112.0 (4th)
DEFENSE � 105.6 (8th)

This team had a great front-line in Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell, and Robert Parish. The guards were Gerald Henderson and an older Tiny Archibald. Off the bench came Kevin McHale who abused the second-string opponents, M.L. Carr, Rick Robey, Danny Ainge, and Chris Ford. One of the deepest teams ever. They would go on to lose a hard-fought seven game series against the Sixers. How did it happen? Andrew Toney had the series of his life.

4. 2016 Golden State Warriors

RECORD � 73-9 .890 (1st)
OFFENSE � 114.9 (1st)
DEFENSE � 104.1 (19th)

This team mastered the small-ball game. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were the Splash Brothers. Draymond Green did everything. Harrison Barnes, Shaun Livingston and Andre Igoudala played tough wing defense. Andrew Bogut protected the basket. Leandro Barbosa supplied the speed off the bench. How could the Warriors have lost? Mainly because Draymond Green's suspension changed the the Finals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland's hustling defense then began to take hold as well.

3.1966 Philadelphia 76ers

RECORD � 55-25, .688 (1st)
OFFENSE � 117.3 (3rd)
DEFENSE � 112.7 (3rd

The most powerful ball club ever with a front-line of Wilt Chamberlain, Luke Jackson, and Chet Walker. Mini-tank Hal Greer was the two-guard with the solid Wali Jones at point. Billy Cunningham was a great lefty slasher off the bench. Other bench men were Dave Gambee, yet another banger and Al Bianchi a scrappy guard. How could this group have lost? They were rusty after drawing a bye as the first seed and had a two-week layoff. They would meet the Celtics in the East Finals and Greer and Walker lost their shooting touch. Youngsters Cunningham and Jackson were overwhelmed against the experienced Celtics.

2. 1967 Boston Celtics

RECORD � 60-21, .741 (2nd)
OFFENSE � 119.3 (4th)
DEFENSE � 111.3 (1st)

Bill Russell was still the most dominant force in the game. Bailey Howell handled the baseline scoring after coming over from Baltimore. Tom Sanders played the great wing defense. The Jones Boys were at the guards with Sam doing the scoring and K.C. the defending. John Havlicek was a whirlwind off the bench. Larry Siegfried was an energetic guard. Don Nelson was a nifty scorer. And Wayne Embry was one the strongest most physical players ever. This club tried to match power with power against Wilt's Sixers but it wasn't enough as they lost in five games to one of the best clubs ever.

1. 1968 Philadelphia 76ers

RECORD � 62-20 (1st)
OFFENSE � 122.6 (1st)
DEFENSE � 114.0 (3rd)

This was basically the same team as the '66 group that didn't win but it seemed like all the leading players had upped their games. Wilt Chamberlain especially was controlling everything. Hal Greer and Chet Walker attacked the basket with power. Luke Jackson was still banging people around. Wali Jones was steady. Billy Cunningham came off the bench to jump all over court. Matt Goukas was smart but average overall. Bill Melchionni was a spot-shooter who didn't do much else. Dave Gambee was gone which really hurt their bench depth. In the opening round against the Knicks their star bench guy Cunningham fractured his arm which ended up costing them against Boston in a tough seven game series. Philly simply couldn't make the shots as Greer, Walker, Jackson, and Jones all struggled mightily. It's a make or miss league.

Why the 1967 Celtics were better than the 1973 Celtics: Much more depth for the 67 group. The 73 Celtics had only Don Nelson as a reliable sub off the bench. Bill Russell would have out-played Dave Cowens.

Why the 1982 Celtics were better than the 1973 Celtics: Again, much more depth for the 82 squad who could go 10 deep. Cowens and Silas were only 6-9 and 6-7 respectively and would have been out-lengthed by McHale, Parish, Bird, and Maxwell.

Why the 1966 Sixers were better than the 1980 Sixers: More people to turn to for scoring from the 66 team. Chamberlain, Walker, Greer, and Cunningham could get their own shots. More board-power. The 66 team averaged almost eight more points per game than the 80 squad.

Why the 1968 Sixers were better than the 1980 Sixers: All the reasons above. Plus Wilt had improved his game by 68 adding ball-distrobution and more consistent defense to his act.