Take heed tought their is hope. I don't think the Mavs will win it this year, but in the future I think they have a shot. Granted some will say basketball was different in the 80s, but was it basketball that was different or the good teams played a slightly different style. Take a look at the shooting numbers of the NBA champs in the 10 years preceeding 1989.
1987-1988 Lakers: Scott 1248, Worthy 1161, Magic 996 (But he missed 10 games)
1986-1987 Lakers: Magic 1308, Worthy 1207, Scott 1134
1985-1986 Boston: Bird 1606, Dennis Johnson 1066, McHale 978 ( He missed 13 games)
1984-1985 Lakers: Kareem 1207, Worthy 1066, Scott 1066
1983-1984 Boston: Bird 1542, Parish 1140, McHale 1055
1982-1983 Philadelphia: Didn't take the time to look up, but I doubt they had 3
1981-1982 Lakers: Magic 1036, Kareem 1301, Jamaal Wilkes 1417
1980-1981 Boston: Bird 1503, Parish 1166, McHale 666
That takes us through the 80s. In that sampling 4 out of 8 times three players took over 1000 shots per game. On two other occasions players were right on the cusp, and if not for injury certainly would have surpassed that number.
Has the NBA trend changed to a single player, or duo taking the championship, yes. Can it revert back to the days of the trio (i.e Bird, Parish, McHale, and Magic, Kareem, Worthy). I hope so for the Mavericks sake.
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