Tonight, our whole lot of people are scratching their heads and wondering why NBA's greatest player, Lebron James has been sent packing, again. Two weeks ago, I was going to write a post on why the Dallas Mavericks cannot win the NBA Finals. As a matter of fact, they can't even get back to the finals because of their flaws. Here, I will layout, what are the key ingredients necessary to win the NBA Finals.

First of all, let's look at the quintessential modern NBA team -- the Chicago Bulls of the early '90s. Michael Jordan transformed the game. He made the game faster, made it more athletic. He made more people play above the rim. Few people would argue against the fact that Michael Jordan set the bar pretty high. In my opinion, since Jordan's reign throughout the '90s, other people have been copying his formula on how to win in the NBA.

The Chicago Bulls won their second world championship in 1992. Michael Jordan was the star, of course. Scottie Pippen was Mister Versatility. He could rebound and he could shoot. He could even actually play point guard, sort of. He could play defense. Horace Grant was the muscle. He was the rebounder. He was the bruiser. BJ Armstrong and John Paxson were very similar guards. Their relatively small. They were quick. They both had an excellent jumpshot. They both were good training three-pointers. Finally, the big man in the middle was Bill Cartwright. That was the Chicago Bulls.

The other thing that one must understand is that the regular season is different than the postseason. In the regular season, defense is rarely played. There are two types of games during the regular season. The first are blowouts. One team gets hot and smokes their opponent. These are the games are over in the third quarter. The second type of regular-season NBA basketball game are those that come down to the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. In these games it doesn't matter what the score was earlier in the game; now, the game is tight. This is where the game slows down. This is where there are hints of defense. This is where all shots are contested. This is where officially running a set offense is extremely helpful in winning. In order to win these games consistently, you need a superstar who wants the ball. Your superstar must do one of two things on offense -- your superstar must have a move in which he will make a contested shot 90% of the time. Michael Jordan's shot was at the top of the key. Michael Jordan would make a quick move. He could move to his left or is right with equal versatility. He could then quickly elevate at the free-throw line. Michael Jordan, in his day, was quicker than most and could elevate super fast, which allowed him to get his shot off. In the unlikely event that a foul was called, then you have to make the free throws. Often, Michael Jordan was able to get by this first man and drive to the basket. Then the defense would collapse upon him. Jordan then passed the ball out to BJ Armstrong for a three-pointer, which kills a defense. (Say you have played good enough defense to make the greatest basketball player in the world give up the ball, only to have Paxson or Armstorng drain a three). Armstrong or Paxson had to hit that three-pointer. Points are premium at the end of the game.

This is how Michael Jordan won throughout the '90s. This is how you win basketball games today. The two most successful teams in the last 10 years are the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers. They use the same formula that Michael Jordan and the Bulls used in the '90s. With the Lakers, the superstar is Kobe Bryant and with the San Antonio Spurs the superstars are Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. The names are different but the formula is the same... use super defense to get your offense the ball. These are role players who know and understand their roles.

In the NBA playoffs, all teams discover defense. Therefore, in order to win you must limit turnovers and control the boards. You need to have the hustle guys to get the loose balls industry rebounds like Horace Grant. Look at the Dallas Mavericks. They suffer from not having a true superstar and they can't play defense. Dirk Nowitzki is a scoring machine. He can block shots and can do a great job rebounding. Unfortunately, he does not have one move with which he can consistently score. When challenged, he reverts to a fadeaway jumpshot, which will not draw foul and goes in less than 50% of the time. Therefore, he cannot be a go-to guy late in the game. The Mavericks haven't learned how to win in the NBA.

When you look at the Cleveland Cavaliers, you have to feel sorry for Lebron James. He really is doing his part. It is the other members of the team who are not doing their parts. (Remember that Jordan was great for many years and didn't win squat because he didn't have the right supporting cast.) Tonight, Lebron James had 19 rebounds, 27 points and 10 assists. It's hard to get a better game out of any single player than that. The shooting guard, Anthony Parker, had only seven points for the game. The point guard, Mo Williams, had 22 points but five turnovers. As a matter fact, he had 20 points in the first half. How can you only have two points in the second half when you're playing the Boston Celtics in game six? When you look at Lebron James's performance, you see that he was great but had some disappointing moments. He had nine turnovers. You cannot be a superstar and have nine turnovers in game six of the playoffs. For the last five years everyone has thought that Lebron James was one of the top two basketball players in the NBA. Everybody wants him to win the NBA championship. In order for him to win the championship, he needs to have the adequate supporting cast. Right now, he doesn't have it.