firstly, can i just point out that amongst team sports, basketball and in particular US basketball is a pretty special case. basketball in other countries is nowhere near as dominated by individuals and the successful teams at events like the world champs and the olympics are generally teams that stand as a group of players and not as support to a dominant individual as some US teams do (not always, i think the nets a few years back were a good example of a "team" team in the nba)... sure, some big men stand out but teams are generally only dragged to a title by an individual in the states.
for a look at how that approach fares when matched against more traditional team play the results at the olympics are always interesting... no-ones in any doubt that if the best of the NBA competed they would win, but it's interesting to see the young stars used to operating alone crash and burn against the likes of... was it argentina in athens that won? but this topic is huge and i will have to wait to be corrected by our resident americans on matters of american sport
it's very hard to find other sports where an individual can assert so much dominance... certainly not in football or rugby, netball etc. you can have the best/fastest/most accurate finisher on the wing/up front/under the net and if you can't get them the ball and support them they will count for nothing.
back to the topic, (and it's an interesting one tuck, you're right it's nice to have something else to ponder) i think in uwh individuals can be very powerful but in any game where the level of player is fairly consistent, individuals can only influence as much as their team can allow them to. which i also think is the way it should be.