This is team basketball, the final pinnacle of it.
From the Pistons Five Tigers in 2005 to the Civilian Spurs in 14 years, although the league at that time has entered the era of superstar hugging, but relying on the excellent system to build team basketball, will still lift the championship trophy from time to time, until the 15th Eastern Conference Finals, as the first eagle in the division was swept by the Cavaliers, team basketball was also like the "bad habits" of the old era, completely abandoned in the trash can by the world.
Next, let's talk about this top team that was forced to disband after only 1 year of peak.
In the offseason of 2013, Mike Budenholzer was invited to become the coach of the Hawks, and in the second season, he built this midstream team that could not go up and down into a top team with 60 wins and 22 losses, suppressing the Cavaliers at that time, ranking first in the East, and it must be admitted that Budenholzer, who has followed Popovich for nearly 20 years, really learned the old man's housekeeping skills.
Although the Eagles at that time did not have superstars, but relying on a strong offensive and defensive system, Budenholzer still coached this all-grassroots team into a well-trained, disciplined, offensive and defensive iron army.
Inside Horford + Millsap, 2 are technical players, not only can project, but also organize and respond, single-soldier defensive ability may not be so good, but the auxiliary defense ability is first-class;
Forward DeMare Carroll, a well-known 3D player in the league at the time, could shoot 120 three-pointers with a shooting rate of nearly 40% of the time;
Teague and Korver in the backcourt, one is good at ball-holding organization, one is good at shooting without the ball, and the style of the ball is very complementary;
Under the skillful cooperation of these 5 people, the Eagles also spread their wings and flew high, breaking many NBA historical records, such as 17 wins and 0 losses in a single month, and the starting 5 people were all selected as the best of the month, etc. At the 2015 All-Star Game, in addition to Carroll, the other 4 people announced the selection, at that time, they were very hopeful to become another "Piston Five Tigers", becoming another team that won the championship by team basketball, but the result?
In the first two rounds, the Hawks were not too hindered, successively eliminating the Nets and Wizards 4:2, but on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals, they were shaved bald by the Cavaliers, it is worth mentioning that in that round of the series, the Cavaliers lacked Love, Irving only played 2 games due to injury, and the Big Three only had one LeBron James left, but even so, the Hawks still lost, and lost very thoroughly, they let James hand over a report card that averaged nearly triple-doubles per game, 30.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 9.3 assists.
After the end of the tiger tail, the outside world also sees the future of team basketball, at key moments, you always need someone to stand up and take responsibility, such as the Pistons' Billups, spurs' Tony Parker, or Ginobili, the hidden core behind their team basketball, the key is, and the Eagles, they have a pair of skin bags, but there is no such soul character, coupled with the success of the superstar model, it is far easier to imitate and copy than team basketball, and gradually, people have given up this egalitarian way of playing.
As for the Eagles and Tigers, after the fall of them, Horford and Millsap are fine, after all, the Celtics and Nuggets system is similar to that of the coach, while Carol, Korver and Teague are not so lucky, especially Teague, he has not been able to play the main force since last year, after winning the championship with the Bucks last season, he disappeared and has not found a job so far.