Why no team will win 70 games this year.

Dear Kobe-Pau-Odom-Artest, Duncan-Parker-Jefferson, LeBron-Shaq, & Pierce-Garnett-Allen-Rondo;

70 isn't going to happen.

But I'll tell you what: it doesn't have anything to do with how the above tandems stack up relative to the threesome of 23-33-91.

No, no -70 is something different. 23-33-91 won championships. The above players (almost) have all already done that. 70 isn't about who would win a game of 1-on-1, 3-on-3, or in a 6-game series. The question at hand is could any team could win 70 games this season. The Lakers? The Spurs? The Cavs? The Celtics? Nope.

Why? See the list below:

Randy Brown

Jud Buechler

Jason Caffey

James Edwards

Jack Haley

Ron Harper

Steve Kerr

Toni Kukoc

Luc Longley

John Salley

Dickie Simpkins

Bill Wennington

Winning 70 is about those guys. 70 is too big for any 1, 2, 3, 4, or even 5 man lineup to wrangle in. 70 takes 15 guys. It's slow cookin'. It's slow, boring, sweaty, grungy work. And as good as all the guys I named at the beginning are, they're not good enough. Over the course of a season a lot gets thrown your way: Young teams looking for respect and older teams trying to keep it; big injuries which cause you to sit out multiple games and little nagging injuries which make it increasingly difficult to stand up for one; jumpshots that falter for a few days and opponents whose jumpshots happen to catch fire. There are just too many variables for a few guys to handle.

I know that all the above teams are deep and with the Celtics, you have a bench which actually is gaining a bit of notoriety.

But there is a difference between having a good bench, a bench with any player who can plug in the system, and a bench who you can believe in, a bench who believe themselves. They have to be able to get out of situations too tough for the big guys sometimes. Who doesn't remember some of those timely Wennington chippies off the glass, a Randy Brown steal, or a Jud Buechler jumper. Without Toni draining 6 threes in a half, the Bulls lose to the Lakers. Without John Salley, I bet you a few of the younger guys would stiffen up too much before games.

Your best players will always get your championships. They do every year. There is only one guarantee in sports: that some team will end up winning the championship. It's not a possibility -it's a mortal lock.

But rather than chasing for something you see at the end of the line, what about pushing that very line forward? When you're not looking to take what is yours to take, but instead looking to make something new for others to chase, now that's really something.

And I just don't see that happening this year.

Why? Well, because I don't believe that any of the 'others' on the good teams of today believe the way this guy did.