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You need three superstars to win a title, right?

That’s why the HEAT brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh together with Dwyane Wade? And isn’t that why Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups joined Amar’e Stoudemire in New York? It might be the NBA’s most boring storyline ("Does your team have enough superstars to win a title?"), but many people around the country subscribe to that exact line of thinking.

Thankfully, not everyone is buying it.

The 76ers were without a marquee player when they hired Rod Thorn to be team president over the summer, and, unlike some other executives, he didn’t feel pressured to pull a blockbuster trade.  Instead the 76ers took what they already had, put it in the hands of coach Doug Collins, and watched it grow. The result has been a well-balanced, unselfish squad that could be poised for a major postseason upset.

"That’s what it is," power forward Elton Brand told HOOPSWORLD. "It’s a team. Thaddeus Young can have 20 [points]. I can have 20. Andre Iguodala can have 20. Lou [Williams] can have 20. Jodie Meeks can have 20. There’s six or seven guys that can score 20 points. That makes it tough on the defense. If you stop one thing, we have so many other weapons."

There is some precedent for this.

The 2003-2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons had seven guys averaging over 9.5 PPG, but their leading scorer—Richard Hamilton—finished the year with only a 17.6 PPG average.

Heck, even Thorn has had success blending the talents of a handful of solid, if not elite scorers. His 2001-2002 Nets team made it to the NBA Finals without anyone scoring more than 15 PPG. However, New Jersey had seven guys scoring over 9.0 PPG that season.

"We’re a little bit like the Nets were at one time," Thorn told a group of Nets beat writers before Philadelphia clinched a spot by beating the Nets, 115-90, on Friday. "Remember when we were really good, the high-scoring guy was like 15 [PPG]. We had a couple over 15 but we had six guys in double figures. Our high-point guy right now is 14.7 [PPG], but we have six guys in double figures. We pass the ball. We don’t have any superstars, but we have a lot of good players."

Brand has pushed his average up to 14.9 PPG, but there is no shortage of options on this team. Iguodala (14.1 PPG), Jrue Holiday (13.9), Williams (13.7), Young (12.6), Meeks (10.6) and even Spencer Hawes (7.4) have proven to be solid scorers this year while Evan Turner, Andres Nocioni and Marreese Speights have had their moments as well.

And unlike the previous years in Philly, this team can hit the occasional 3-pointer. They’re hitting 36% of their shots from range (13th in the NBA), which is a slight improvement from last season when they only made 34.3% (22nd). They’re only making 5.5 threes per game, but the 76ers have cut out a lot of unnecessary shots from long range (Young has abandoned the shot altogether), which is partially why they went from 20th in offensive efficiency last season to 15th this year.

"Lou Williams can get hot," Brand said. "Jodie can get hot. Jrue Holiday has been consistent. He’s consistent, but Jodie’s the knock-down 3-point shooter."

But the best thing the Philadelphia has done this year is to cultivate better ball movement. Collins doesn’t let the offense get stagnant. He’s allowed the 20-year-old Holiday the run the offense, but nearly everyone on the team is a good passer. Both Holiday and Iguodala average 6.4 APG and Williams contributes another 3.4 APG himself.

"This particular year and my first year, with Andre Miller, are definitely unselfish teams," Young told HOOPSWORLD. "With time, [Holiday will] definitely evolve and be one of those types of players. He’s doing a little bit more scoring than Andre Miller was. He’s dropping dimes and going in there rebounding."

Even the big men have proven to be good passers this season.

"There’s great balance," Turner told HOOPSWORLD. "We do a great job of ball movement. We drive the open court getting three on twos, two on ones. Our big men are capable of passing the ball as well. We’ve got a lot of capable players who can go off at any given night and be our leading scorer or passer. If you have confidence in the shot they’re going to find you. They definitely have a high basketball IQ."

"The offense we have puts the ball in the big men’s hands a lot," Speights told HOOPSWORLD. "That’s what we’ve been learning how to do the whole year. Elton and Spencer are really good at it. Thad is good at it. I’m just trying to get better at it."

The 76ers only get better on the defensive end, where Holiday already ranks among the best defensive point guards in the league.

"They hate Jrue," Young said of opposing point guards. "He’s definitely an aggressive point guard that’s going to give it to you on both ends of the court and that’s the great thing about him. He doesn’t slack."

Philadelphia currently ranks eighth in defensive efficiency and has held opponents to a 33.7% mark from 3-point range (3rd best in the NBA).

The 76ers currently occupy the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, but considering they began the year 3-13, it’s easy to see why they’ve been one of the best teams over the last few months.

"We’re improving a lot," Speights said. "Early in the year we were losing a lot of close games at the end of the game. Since the season has gone along, we’ve been improving. Everyone gets a little better every time."

"I think the teams around the league know how serious of a team we are, but the fans may not," Turner said. "But we play hard; we play tough. We bust our tails to get stops and turn them into buckets at the other end."

Postseason opponents may be able to shut down one or two 76ers players per night, but, over the course of a seven-game series, stopping everyone is going to be nearly impossible. Philadelphia has the third-best bench in terms of efficiency differential, rank 10th as a team in scoring in the paint and is third in turnover rate (percentage of possessions that end in turnovers). They do the simple things well and they never beat themselves. In other words, Miami or Boston is going to have its hands full in the first round of the playoffs.

"I like my team," Thorn concluded. "I think we have some good players. I think our coach has been fantastic. I think that Hawes has gotten better this last month of the season and that really helps us. We’ve got a good team. Maybe other than three games this year, we’ve been in every game. We’re there every night and our bench is terrific. Thaddeus and Lou, we’ve got the highest scoring bench in the league. That really helps when you have that."

Players Of The Week Announced

The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 28, through Sunday, April 3.

Anthony sparked the Knicks to a 3-0 week, leading to the team’s first playoff berth since the 2003-04 season. He averaged a league-best 34.3 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Anthony shot 35-of-70 (.500) from the floor and connected on 28-of-32 (.875) free throw attempts. He put together back-to-back 39-point, 10-rebound performances in a 113-106 win over Orlando and a 120-116 victory over New Jersey.

Randolph led Memphis to a 3-0 week that included double-digit victories over Golden State, New Orleans and Minnesota. He was the only player in the league to average 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Randolph is closing in on his third consecutive season averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds. On April 1, he tallied 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds and a season-high seven assists in an 83-81 win over New Orleans. This is the third time Randolph has received Player of the Week honors this season.

Hall of Fame 2011

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named the 2011 class today. Here’s the list: former NBA star and 1992 Dream Team member Chris Mullin; five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman; ABA/NBA legend Artis Gilmore and four-time NCAA women’s coach of the year Tara VanDerveer; in addition to four-time Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards; European star Arvydas Sabonis; all-time NCAA wins leader Herb Magee; eight-time NBA champion Tom “Satch” Sanders; coaching legend Tex Winter; and former Harlem Globetrotter Reece “Goose” Tatum, who will be honored posthumously.

Sabonis also played seven seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, from 1995 to 2003.

“We are pleased to welcome these 10 electees who will join the greatest in the game and take their rightful place in Springfield as a Hall of Famer,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in a press release.

“The Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011 is a true global representation of the game of basketball,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board.  “These distinguished players and coaches have made an impact at all levels worldwide and they have motivated, taught and inspired future generations to succeed both on and off the court.”

{AUTHOR_BOX}Miami’s Project Center

HEAT rookie center Dexter Pittman has seen all of two minutes of NBA action this year, so teammate LeBron James sees him getting interviewed after Sunday’s win over the Nets, he can’t contain his laughter.

"Come on man," begged the 6-11, 308-pound second-round pick.

Such is life as an NBA "project." Nobody really takes you seriously until you make your mark. And while Pittman won’t be making his this season, he worked hard in the D-League (14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.7 BPG) to warrant some consideration for next year’s team.

"It was great," Pittman told HOOPSWORLD of the D-League season. "I learned the patience of the game and the different pace of the game. The angles. It’s different from college. I got a little taste of the NBA game. 

"I’m just learning that it’s a grind season," he continued. "You’ve got to take it bit by bit. You can’t achieve everything overnight. These guys grind, but they accomplish their goals."

Pittman is ready to accomplish his.

He joined the Texas Longhorns out of high school, but had to work diligently to improve his conditioning before he could contribute as a junior and senior. His body wasn’t perfect when the HEAT took him in the second round of last year’s draft, but that didn’t stop the Celtics from taking Kendrick Perkins out of a Texas High School in 2003. The point is, NBA teams are patient with centers and now it looks like Pittman will have that same chance in Miami.

"Well I think I was in pretty good shape, but I see how it’s about patience," he said. "That’s my motivation. I love to work hard. There’s not a day that I don’t work hard. I think that’s why the vets respect me because they know hard I work. I’m just being patient like Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins. They had their opportunity, so one day my opportunity will come.

"He’s a more defensive center and I’m a more offensive center," Pittman said of Perkins. "But he’s a great fit for his team, and that’s what I want to be. For Boston, he’s one of the reasons they got as far as they got. Now he’s with Oklahoma City, so Oklahoma City is going to be a dangerous team."

Of course, Pittman is on a dangerous team of his own. He doesn’t mind sitting at the moment. In fact, he’s just happy to be learning at the moment.

"They’re like my big brothers," he said. "I couldn’t ask to be on another team. "I used to watch [Hakeem] Olajuwon. I used to watch [Charles] Barkley. But I also watched some [Zydrunas] Ilgauskas. It’s crazy because the guys on the team now, I watched. I watched [Erick] Dampier too."

Pittman considers himself a "traditional back-the-basket" center, but he pays close attention to how Ilgauskas stays active around the hoop and has a knack for getting a few tip-ins per night.

"The way he’s always active around the rim, tipping it in," he said, "I study that.

"Being a good offensive player, you don’t have one good offensive move," he continued. "You have to play off your instincts and that’s what I do. Whatever I feel, I shoot."

Pittman isn’t going to pop up in many newspaper clippings for the rest of the season, but HEAT fans should feel confident that he isn’t done working. He’s going to continue practicing against quality bigs like Dampier and Ilgauskas and this summer he’s going to return to Austin to work with Longhorns strength and conditioning coach Todd Wright.

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