Two Rings or Less Draft : Round 1 - flaco vs uberhikari*

[Laimbeer]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes advances**

...

...

[flaco]

Rotation
PG: Damian Lillard (38) - Steve Kerr (10)
SG: Danny Green (35) - Shane Battier (13)
SF: LeBron James (26) - Shane Battier (22)
PF: Charles Barkley (36) - LeBron James (12)
C: Brook Lopez (36) - Dwight Powell (12)

Offense
LeBron and Barkley run the show. Lillard feeds off their gravity, but can also create shots either for himself or for his teammates. Brook, Green, Battier and Kerr stretch the floor. Powell sets picks on the perimeter for LeBron/Lillard and rolls hard to the basket. He never shares the floor with Barkley for spacing purposes.

Defense
Brook drops. Green / Battier are my primary POA defenders against Lowry / Penny. Barkley has the mobility to follow Sheed on the perimeter.

FGA
2016 LeBron James 18.6
1993 Charles Barkley 18.1
2021 Brook Lopez 9.1
2006 Shane Battier 7.7
2018 Damian Lillard 19.4
2019 Danny Green 7.9
1991 Steve Kerr 3.9
2021 Dwight Powell 3.3

Total: 88.0

Good luck, uber!

[uberhikari]

PG: 2018 Kyle Lowry: 16-6-7, 7.6 3PA, 39.9 3P%; All-Star
SG: 1996 Penny Hardaway: 22-4-7; All-NBA 1st, MVP(3)
SF: 2020 OG Anunoby: 11 ppg, 3.3 3PA, 39 3P%, 60 TS%
PF: 2003 Rasheed Wallace: 18-7, 4.1 3PA, 35.8 3P%
C: 1993 Hakeem Olajuwon: 26-13-4; All-NBA 1st, All-Defense 1st, MVP(2), DPOY

Bench
SG/SF: 2015 Kyle Korver: 12 ppg, 6 3PA, 49.2 3P%; All-Star
SF/PF: 2021 Robert Covington: 9-7, 5.1 3PA, 37.9 3P%
C: 2014 Steven Adams: 3-4, 54 TS%

Rotations
PG: Kyle Lowry (38) / Penny Hardaway (10)
SG: Penny Hardaway (28) / Kyle Korver (20)
SF: OG Anunoby (34) / Kyle Korver (7) / Robert Covington (7)
PF: Rasheed Wallace (36) / Robert Covington (12)
C: Hakeem Olajuwon (39) / Steven Adams (9)

Matchups: Lowry on Lillard; Penny on Green; Anunoby on LBJ; Hakeem on Barkley; Wallace on Lopez.

I have two major advantages: matchup and team synergy. While LeBron and Barkley are the more talented top 2, they have anti-synergy. Plus, both LeBron and Barkley are a bad matchup into Hakeem's rim protection.

On defense, the crucial matchup is Hakeem vs Barkley. The plan is to have Hakeem play off Barkley to deny him any access to the paint via drives or post-ups. This allows Hakeem to patrol the paint and wall off the basket. Moreover, Lowry, Wallace, and Hakeem are all high-motor, high-IQ players who can get back in transition and defend the fastbreak.

Another weakness of flaco's offense is the lack of passing/playmaking outside of LeBron which puts a lot of pressure on him to be both a scorer and a creator. This is made worse since Lillard is not a movement shooter like Curry or Klay.

On offense, I've re-created the mid-90s Rockets with much better complementary pieces. Peak Penny fills in for Drexler as a more dynamic wing scorer who's also a much better passer/playmaker. Green is not an ideal POA defender for someone like Penny. Green is more of a team rather than a lockdown defender.

Penny's passing/playmaking can target either Lillard or Barkley who are both weak defenders. The P&P with Wallace should be particularly deadly against the defensively inept Barkley. And even Wallace in isolation should be too much for Barkley to handle.

And the cheatcode in the middle is Hakeem. Put simply: Brook Lopez cannot guard peak Hakeem. That's BBQ chicken.

[Laimbeer]

Flaco has the best player here, and three stars to two. Barkley and Dame would be a challenging fit with a lot of stars, but LeBron isn't one of them. Sheed and Lowry can't really make them pay for Barkley and Dame's defense. Hakeem is uber's one big advantage, but I don't think he's enough.

Vote - flaco

[Fadeaway_J]

I actually think Chuck and his post-heavy, ball-pounding style is a pretty awkward fit with LeBron, even more so given that LeBron's jumper was all over the place during his first couple of seasons back in Cleveland. Dame less so, but his shooting ability seems to make people talk about him like he's a lot less ball-dominant than he really is. It's hard for me to just assume that trio will be additive in the way you want your stars to be.

Without that assumption, uber's advantages elsewhere start to add up. Lopez doesn't have the agility to defend Hakeem at all, and at the other end Hakeem is mobile enough to contest enough Lopez threes without conceding too much around the basket. The Rockets model with better shooting and an even more explosive lead guard is pretty compelling. That defensive frontcourt is a nightmare for a team built around LeBron and Chuck on the interior. I much prefer uber's depth as well.

Vote: uberhikari

[Dr Positivity]

I don't love the Hakeem/Barkley matchup decision, I think Lebron/Barkley with 3 shooters including the best 3rd guy in Lillard is pretty hard to guard anyways but especially with this matchup. Vote flaco.

[Fadeaway_J]

Didn't notice the Hakeem-Chuck assignment but it wouldn't have changed my mind (could argue it works better defensively).

[Snakebites]

Flaco’s team is a tough cover but I actually don’t mind Hakeem on Barkley, at least not relative to the other options available.

I agree with Fade about Flaco’s stars not being all that addditive, though he still has a talent advantage that makes this a more difficult call.

Overall I lean towards the balance and fit of Uber’s team.

Vote Uber

[Larry_Russell]

I am not a big fan of Lillard, Barkley and Lebron all together for the same reasons others have posted. I think Lebron and Chuck kind of get in each others way a bit,

I am going to Vote for Uber here. I think Having Hakeem on Barkley is great, as it keeps Hakeem close to the rim as a protector and that is bad for Lebron here.

Vote Uber

[Laimbeer]

Uber advances.