2
RevisIsland
Artis Gilmore
Pau Gasol
Kevin Durant
Kawhi Leonard
Gary Payton
Wes Unseld
Blake Griffin
Paul George
Raja Bell
Kyrie Irving
Coach: Mike Budenholzer
Spoiler:
RevisIsland wrote:I don't plan to write an exhaustive post for seeding purposes. Here's a general outline:
G - Gary Payton (96-98) / Kyrie Irving (13-15)
G - Kawhi Leonard (13-15) / Raja Bell (06-08)
F - Kevin Durant (12-14) / Paul George (12-14)
F - Blake Griffin (13-15) / Pau Gasol (09-11)
C - Artis Gilmore (72-74) / Wes Unseld (76-78)
Coach Mike Budenholzer
Coach Budenholzer is a disciple of Greg Popovich and it shows in his coaching of the Atlanta Hawks. He has led a team with little star power that is 26th in the NBA in payroll to the number 1 seed in just his second year as Head Coach. The Hawks are an "extra pass", "dirty-work" team. They win through communication. Does anyone doubt that Bud would win championships if he was blessed with the same roster Scott Brooks has disappointed with?
I did not draft role-players. I absolutely believe that talent wins out in the end. I built this roster to capitalize on incredible length and athleticism without sacrificing skill and actual basketball ability. A 2/3 rotation of Durant/George/Leonard means that I either have 2 7-foot wings playing together at all times or one of them is paired with the most terrifying defensive wing since Scottie Pippen. Gary Payton is a 6'4 DPOY at point guard who guarded Michael Jordan in the Finals and held him to some of his worst playoff performances of his career. Artis Gilmore is a 7'2 monster in the middle who immediately transformed the Colonel's defense into the best in the ABA from his rookie year onward and is generally regarded as (aside from Wilt), the strongest man to play the game of basketball. He set ABA records for blocks and rebounds and won MVP as a rookie over prime Julius Erving. Raja Bell is an All-NBA defensive player off the bench. Wes Unseld is one of the greatest rebounders ever. Pau Gasol was a very good defender with the Lakers in his prime. My defense IS elite. I was, however, able to select very good defensive players who don't give up anything on offense. I have no players like Rodman or Ben Wallace. There is no one on my roster that is one-dimensional, but there are players on both sides of the ball that are game-changers.
My offense clearly runs through Kevin Durant. It's arguable that his 2014 MVP season is the greatest scoring season ever. He's unstoppable. There is no defender that can mitigate what he brings offensively. I can line him up as a 2-guard and laugh as a he shoots over the top of any 6'7 SG that is tasked with "defending" him. Between Irving, Bell, George, Leonard and Durant, I have 5 players that are capable of shooting the ball at a very high level and 2 of them will be on the court at all times. Add to that the fact that Gasol and Griffin are both very good midrange shooters, my spacing will be excellent. At all times, I will have 3-4 players capable of creating their own shot, unnasisted, on the floor. There is no one you can ignore on my offense. The center in my offense is primarily tasked with setting hard picks and rolling to the basket. They are there for dirty work. Offensive rebounds and putbacks. It's good that I have two of the strongest, hardest-working 5's in basketball history. Listen to any of their peers speak about Gilmore or Unseld and you will first hear about their strength and how they physically beat you up during the course of the game. Gasol, Griffin and Unseld are all phenomenal passers. The ball will not stop when passed to a post player. However, if left one on one, Griffin and Gasol will take their man to the basket. Kyrie Irving is on this team to be a shot in the arm off the bench. He will come in and play limited minutes, typically with Durant sitting, and be asked to simply score the basketball. My favorite aspect of my team is their ability in transition. Watch a couple of videos of Payton and Kemp in transition, then imagine that with a superior player in Blake Griffin. Now imagine that with a famous Wes Unseld outlet pass. Now add the length and speed of Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. Now add the scoring prowess of Kevin Durant. No one is stopping an Unseld -> Payton -> Durant/Griffin/Leronard/George break.
TLDR version:
Game-changing defenders = Payton/George/Leronard/Bell/Gilmore
Unstoppable scorers = Durant/Griffin/Irving
Bone-jarring picks = Unseld/Gilmore
Elite rebounding = Gilmore/Unseld/Gasol/Leonard/Payton/George
Great passers = Payton/Irving/Gasol/Griffin/Unseld
MVPs = Durant/Unseld/Gilmore/Leonard (FMVP)
Run, run, run, pass, pass, pass. Score. Defend.
10
lilroddyb
Marc Gasol
Anthony Davis
Shawn Marion
Mitch Richmond
Penny Hardaway
Vlade Divac
Elton Brand
Robert Horry
Brandon Roy
Sam Cassell
Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich
Spoiler:
lilroddyb wrote:Sorry guys for late response
Team
Marc Gasol / Vlade Divac
Anthony Davis / Elton Brand
Shawn Marion / Robert Horry
Mitch Richmond / Brandon Roy
Anfernee Hardaway / Sam Casell
Offense:
Penny, Mitch and Anthony will be the main scorers and they can create for themselves. Brandon Roy and Elton Brand will be the sixth/ seventh man off the bench and Horry and Cassell spacing the floor with their clutch shoots. Marc and Vlade will be in the same role: spacing the floor and passing the ball.
the offense will be balanced. With Anfernee at pointguard he has lots of options: slashing and 3pt shooting in Mitch Richmond ( who michael jordan has said was one of the most difficult to defend), shawn Marion spaces the floor a bit and good with his floaters, putbacks and lops. Anthony Davis is an excellent scorer and scores very efficiently, through putpacks, midrange shot and he can create for himself. Then Marc Gasol spreads the floor and is a great passer
Modern basketball is all about spacing. If you lack spacing it can be easy to defend so I tried to have at least decent shooters at every position
Spacing 3pt %: penny is about 36 - 40 %, mitch richmond is around 40 % Shawn Marion is decent, in 2005 he was actually shooting a little bit over 40% in the playoffs, So all of them are good/decent 3pt shooters. Sam Cassell and Robert Horry are good 3pt shooters coming of the bench.
Everyone else on this team are good midrange shooters.
Defense:
The team has an excellent length and few players who can guard different positions so this team should be good at playing zone defense.
Marc Gasol is a rimprotector and was a defensive player of the year.
Then I have Versatile defenders who can guard few positions
Anthony Davis is great shotblocker and quick enough to guard several postitions for short stretches.
Shawn Marion is really strong and long, can guard several positions. From pointguards to power forwards
Anfernee Hardaway is big for a pointguard he is maybe not the best defender but so he should be able to guard from pointguards to sf
Mitch Richmond is a decent defender.
the bench also has some solid defenders like Vlade Divac who has excellent rapm stats and Elton Brand
Penny and Anthony are both low on turnovers so it should help be reducing the fastbreak points from my opponents
I might edit this later.