"The whole is always different from the sum of its parts." - Ed Smith, in Making Decisions
Red Auerbach said the goals wasn't to find the five best players but to find "the five that play best together."
The greatest talent assemblages don't always win championships. Teams need 'Lego', the glue guy that sticks people together. We know them as Shane Battier, Draymond Green, and long ago the sixth man version of John Havlicek.
That doesn't diminish the need for the Jordans and Kobes of the world. It recognizes that teams are fragile things; they benefit from anti-fragile elements.
Smith writes, "The best decision-makers discern more quickly what's needed and then move more decisively...the team is always developing, its needs change constantly."
He adds, "what are the needs of the team and how will individuals interact in shaping the whole collective?"
Coach Bob Knight understood this well. "Just because I want you on the floor doesn't mean I want you to shoot."
Consider NBA team 'concepts'. Erik Spoelstra reminds us, "there is always a pecking order" and "most players are role players." That doesn't decrease the value of role players. Consider one of the greatest role players of all-time, Dennis Rodman. Rodman is that odd-shaped stone in the wall, a necessary piece but peculiar nonetheless.
Does the team function better or less efficiently with a given player in the lineup? Player skill in one area (e.g. offense) may suffer as a liability to team performance in others (defense, resilience). A weakness in free throw shooting may require the player to be off the floor in key situations where opponents will exploit it.
The finishing lineup can differ from the starters. The 'pressure defense' lineup likely varies from the usual game play lineup. Dawn Staley explained her love of puzzles, finding the pieces to fit.
Lagniappe. "Toughness is a skill."
