Structure vs Talent

The Introduction

Welcome to the Sports Microcosm. Telling you what this blog is all about will only take a few lines. Howard Cosell said, "Sports is human life in microcosm." So, this isn't a sports blog about X's and O's, it's a sports blog about the connections that life and sports have together.

Let's get started...

Structure vs. Talent

As I have watched the NBA and NHL playoffs, I have heard some discussions about teams who "have a system" and teams who "have top-tier players." For instance, a lot of people would say that the Miami Heat are a team of talent. They have the best player in the world, two other superstar talents, and a bunch of guys who are talented at shooting 3-pointers. The San Antonio Spurs have a system in place. They have structure in their system that can elevate B-quality players to a higher level. 

The structure vs. talent discussion reminds me of those kids in high school who get great grades. I'm talking Valedictorian level. Most of them aren't the kids with the highest IQ who are naturally gifted with intelligence. They're usually a kid who has a decent head on his shoulders, works really hard, studies for an hour every day, always remembers to do his homework and gets a 4.2 GPA because of it. 

The brilliantly intelligent genius doesn't spend all of his time studying. He usually isn't challenged enough by high school and ends up with a 3.6 or 3.7 because he slacked off here and there and knew it wouldn't matter because his SAT scores obliterate everyone. 

Structure always works if the effort is put in. If you have a system that is solid and structured and someone who is above a seventh grade intelligence level then you can sculpt them into a 4.0 student.  

Talent is talent. If you have the tools then you are going to pull that 3.5 with 10 minutes of studying a week and your natural ability carrying you the rest of the way. 

Is talent better than structure? Yes. Talent is better than having structure and here's why. 

If you have a system and rigidly follow it then you will have a great opportunity to be steadily successful. What about when you take a day off? We're all human and sometimes make mistakes. You don't follow the system for a few days and you're a little bit off of your execution. 

Talent doesn't worry about that. Yes, everyone can have an off day but raw talent is getting a 3.6 with minimal effort. Structure can get a 4.0 if it works really hard and adheres to all the components of the system. 

If structure doesn't execute then you have a middle of the road kid who doesn't have the common sense and critical thinking to execute and he gets a 2.8. Talent always has a 3.5 right there because it's not a system, it's inherent. 

Even though I say that talent is better, a system can beat talent and there is a perfect example of that within the past week. The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Boston dominated the Penguins and swept them 4-0, allowing only two goals in the entire series. The Penguins made trade deadline moves to add talent to an already talented group and easily became the favorite to win the Eastern Conference and most likely the Stanley Cup.

Jerome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, Douglas Murray, and Jussi Jokinen all came over to the Penguins close to the trade deadline. These four players joined the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Letang, Pascal Dupuis, and Chris Kunitz to put together one of the most talented NHL teams in recent memory. 

But, they never seemed to click. The Penguins struggled with the Islanders in the first round and that was chalked up to Marc-Andre Fleury not living up to expectations in the playoffs. Then, the Penguins cruised past the Senators but never looked like they played as good as they possibly could have. After over a week of rest while the other series were ending, the Penguins faced Boston.

Now, I didn't follow the Bruins nearly as close as the Penguins because i'm in Pittsburgh and get all of their games broadcast to me. But, I saw a system in Boston that was fantastic. My friend commented at how Boston made so many crisp passes to set up scoring chances while the Penguins struggled to make plays. "Why can't we do that?" he said. 

The answer is simple. Boston had a system in place. They had structure that put guys with professional sports talent together and built up chemistry to make plays offensively and defensively.

The Penguins clearly had more talent than the Boston Bruins and i'd have to question your intelligence if you said otherwise. Pittsburgh didn't have much else beyond that great talent, though. They were out-coached four straight games. They didn't have the positioning and chemistry needed to compete with Boston. Most of the time it looked like they were playing a pick-up game where one guy takes over and everyone else tries to guess where he's going with the play. 

The Bruins' structure beat the Penguins talent. I think the Heat's talent will beat the Spurs structure, though.

Why?

The Heat don't just rely on talent. They execute and make necessary adjustments. I've heard people say that they could coach the Heat to a championship with no basketball experience, but they couldn't. Erik Spoelstra has been around basketball his entire life and is a very capable coach. He made adjustments in game two that helped Miami dominate in the second half. He had the talented pieces on the court that made the adjustments work, but you need a mix of both. 

In order to win championships, you need to be that kid who gets a 4.5 GPA. It doesn't matter if you're mainly talent with a good enough system, or if you're a flawless system with capable talent. With all things even, talent always finds a way to win. But, a good system with capable talent can be an equalizer. 

Structure vs. Talent by Sport

NBA - In the structure vs. talent battle in basketball, I give the nod to talent. With only five players per side, and the ability for one person to take over a game, talent brings much more to the table than structure. You can get there with structure but you definitely need talent. LeBron had little talent surrounding him in Cleveland and not the best coaching structure, but his raw talent was able to take the Cavs deep into the playoffs several times. When he leaves, the team becomes one of the worst in the league. 

NHL - This one is the biggest mix to me. NHL is such a game of positioning and timing that I have to lean toward structure. You can have all the talent in the world (i.e. Pittsburgh) and if you don't execute properly then you're not going to win. If you have guys who are capable of being professional sports talent in hockey, a good structure will give you that extra lift. That's one reason I think the Chicago Blackhawks are so successful. They have some fantastic talents in Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane, add in great coaching by Joel Quenneville and they have a perfect balance of talent and structure.

NFL - With so much strategy and so many players on the field at once, I give the nod to structure in football. I will add that a transcendent talent in a skill position can make a huge change, though. Especially at the QB position. The Denver Broncos have a great system on all sides of the ball. Insert Tim Tebow at the helm and they make the playoffs, pull off an upset but never really scare anyone into thinking they were a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Add Peyton Manning and the Broncos become a hands-down Super Bowl favorite. Now, the result was the same in both years, the Broncos didn't make it past the second round. But, the upside for Denver was infinitely higher with a talent like Peyton Manning in control. 

MLB - Baseball gets a draw on the talent vs. structure discussion. There are so many minor details in baseball that a system must be in place for a team to have success. However, a Justin Verlander can come in every five days, throw the lights out of the place and give your team a win. Just as a superstar like Miguel Cabrera can come to the plate and get the big hit whenever you need it. In order to sustain success you need a strong system but when you have an athletic guy like the one that just blossomed in Los Angeles, things get much easier for you. 

Thanks for reading the first blog post on Sports Microcosm. Check back in tomorrow for the second post discussing why baseball is no longer America's pastime. 

- Tim Durr