Customer Reviews

The Perfect Team: The Best Players, Coach, and GM-Let the Debate Begin!

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The Perfect Team, by Chuck Daly is a fantastic fiction book that puts some of the best players ever to play in the national basketball association like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Allen Iverson and plays out the games. They must win the world title, but can they? The protagonist in this ook is the team because they must win the title. The antagonist is also the team because they must overcome their needs to all be the best player on a star-studed team. this story mostly takes place in Los Angelas, California at the staples center.The conflict they face would be internal because they must overcome their own selfish needs like ballhogging to win. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars because it was really good and kept me reading, but got a little boring at times. The morale of this story would be through thick and thin if we combine our talents and work together we then can be unstoppable. This book is a perfect book for anyone who loves the game of basketball. It is also a pretty easy read, but it is very long. The players involved in this story are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'neal, Wilt Chamberlin, Jason kidd, Oscar Roberston, Jerry West, Bill Russell, Pete Maravich, and Kareem Abdul-jabar. Can htye win it all? Or will to all be the number one scorer make them lose? If you want to find out read The Perfect Team.

At last a basketball book has arrived with less emphasis on stats and more emphasis toward the intangibles and flow of the game.

Team related superstars like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, a healthy Bill Walton, John Havlicek, and Bill Russell can be included on this list of the perfect T-E-A-M without argument due to their styles of play and the minimal amount of drama they contribute over a season.

Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan in their respective primes both had tendencies to dominate the ball and both can be drama queens if they come across something they do not agree with. Therefore, their inclusion on this team can create disharmony on and off the court over the course of a season. Yet, due to the success of their respective teams, they should be on the team with little argument.

Oscar Robertson was truly the most efficient and fundamentally perfect mid-size guard the game has ever seen. Yet, similar to Jordan, he dominated the ball which can restrict the flow of the game and had no patience with his teammates. Also, his teams in Cincinnati had a questionable track record as well. Therefore, the Big O should not be automatically penciled in this team.

Jason Kidd is one of the greatest team-related players the game has ever seen. But his issues are strictly off-court in which he has a tendency to act like a diva with some of his teammates and coaches.

Jerry West is one of the four greatest guards who ever played the game. Yet, his abilities in the clutch are a mixed bag (like Kobe). Also, with a guy like Jordan who has similar abilities already on the team, having a guy like Jerry West is a bit of overkill.

Bill Laimbeer was a left field choice. I'm assuming the authors were suggesting him as the 12th man (e.g. Laettner on the '92 Dream Team) on this team with everyone else being first ballot HOFs.

Allen Iverson SHOULD NOT BE ON THIS LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who should have been on the team: Bird, Magic, Jordan, Russell, healthy Walton, the Big O, Shaq, and Havlicek should remain on team. The other players who should be on list are: Tim Duncan, Walt Frazier, John Stockton, Kevin Mchale.

Tim Duncan has to be on this team with his attitude and repertoire of skills. He should take Laimbeer's place. Walt Frazier should be included due to his defensive skills and ability to play either guard position. Also he has excellent off the ball skills. Therefore he should take Iverson's place. John Stockton is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) passers who ever played the game. Plus he was a great shooter and has absolute no B.S. on or off the court. Therefore he should take Kidd's place. Kevin Mchale is one of the greatest low post players who ever lived. Plus he was a great all-around defensive player and would have no problem playing on the bench. Therefore, he should take West's place.

Other notable players to consider: Rodman, Dumars, or Pippen would be great in subordinate roles. The only one out of these three who does not have off the court issues is Dumars. Wilt or Kareem can take Shaq's place as the dominant low post presence in the middle.

This was a pretty good book, with 12 writers from around the country picking 12 players that would supposedly form the "perfect" team. Nine of the 12 choices were fairly obvious (Bird,Magic, Jordan, West, Robertson, Russell...) but three of the players were, to put it mildly, absolutely ridiculous.
The book had Bill Walton, Bill Laimbeer and Allen Iverson as members of this perfect team. The only team that would be perfect for Allen Iverson to play on would be one will 11 other guys who were happy never to have the ball in their hands. So far in his career, Iverson has accumulated exactly zero championships.
Bill Laimbeer would have been better placed as a member, no, the captain of the all-dirty players team. To have this man on this hypothetical perfect team instead of say, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who won nine championships in college and the pros, causes the book to lose a ton of credibility.
The chapter on Walton focuses on what he accomplished during his career when he was healthy...which was about ten percent of the time. To place a guy on a so-called perfect team based on what could have been is a bit absurd, I would say. Space would not permit me to start listing players who would have been better choices that the fragile Mr. Walton.