Best of Enemies Draft : Round 1 - Laimbeer* 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**

...

[Laimbeer]

Artis Gilmore ( 1975 ) 13.7 - Peak season (RealGM PC forum)
LeBron James ( 2013 ) 17.8 - Peak season (RealGM PC forum)
Jaylen Brown ( 2020 ) 15.6 - All-D Votes, 38.2% on 5.9 3PA
Ray Allen ( 2001 ) 16.0 - MVP (11), All-NBA
Alex Caruso ( 2023 ) 4.3 - DPOY (11), 36.4% on 2.3 3PA

DeAndre Jordan ( 2012 ) 4.9 - 10.9 rebs / 2.7 blks per 36 (2nd in league)
Austin Reaves ( 2023 ) 7.7 - 6MOY (7), 39.8% on 3.4 3PA
Dana Barros ( 1998 ) 7.6 - 40.7% on 3.1 3PA; 17.7 PER

87.6 / 88.0 87.6

Artis Gilmore (38) / DeAndre Jordan (10)
LeBron James (38) / Jaylen Brown (10)
Jaylen Brown (28) / Austin Reaves (20)
Ray Allen (38) / Austin Reaves (10)
Alex Caruso (32) / Dana Barros (16)

Good luck, uber.

We're pretty loaded offensively with the best player here and three high-level scoring threats around him in Gilmore, Brown, and Allen. This is young Gilmore who can thrive off lob passes and play from the dunker's spot effectively as needed. They are solid defensively, but this really isn't a good match-up for Garnett to shine. Trying to keep up with LeBron will be tough and take Garnett away from what he does best on that end.

Their spacing is pretty rough up front and the backcourt is sub-par offensively. Lonzo Ball leading the charge is not reassuring. We'll play straight up and have good answers where needed. LeBron has the frame to play KG pretty well and has enough help offensively to avoid being over-taxed.

I like our bench a lot. Barros is a borderline all-star talent offensively who will bring a Kyrie-type of boost. Reaves is excellent and Jordan was pretty much developed at this point. McHale is top drawer but, here again, does his thing down low. There is 48 minutes of two bigs with limited range.

[uberhikari]

Whoops. Completely forgot about this game. I'll have my write-up in about an hour.

[uberhikari]

PG: 2021 Lonzo Ball: 15-5-6, 8.3 3PA, 37.8 3P%
SG: 2017 Danny Green: 7 ppg, 4.6 3PA, 37.93P%; All-Defense 2nd
SF: 1973 John Havlicek: 24-7-7; All-NBA 1st, All-Defense 2nd
PF: 2005 Kevin Garnett: 22-14-6; All-NBA 2nd, All-Defense 1st
C: 2010 Dwight Howard: 18-13, 63 TS%; All-NBA 1st, All-Defense 1st, MVP(4), DPOY

Bench
PG/SG: 2005 Jason Terry: 12-3-5, 3.1 3PA, 42 3P%
SF: 2011 Keith Bogans: 4 ppg, 2.9 3PA, 38 3P%
PF: 1982 Kevin McHale: 14-7, 57 TS%

Rotations
PG: Lonzo Ball (36) / Jason Terry (12)
SG: Danny Green (32) / Jason Terry (16)
SF: John Havlicek (40) / Keith Bogans (8)
PF: Kevin Garnett (27) / Kevin McHale (21)
C: Dwight Howard (37) / Kevin Garnett (11)

Matchups: Ball on Caruso; Green on Allen; Havlicek on Brown; KG on LeBron; Howard on Gilmore.

Although LeBron is the best player here, Havlicek, KG, and Howard should be comparable to Allen, LeBron, and Gilmore. Brown gives Laimbeer slightly more top-end talent, but I have significantly better depth with Lonzo, Terry, and McHale.

On defense, I have a significant advantage because Caruso is a low-volume, unreliable 3pt shooter (30.2 % in 31 playoff games), and not an offense. Plus, I might have the best defense in this game with no weaknesses in my starting lineup + McHale. Green is a high IQ, off-ball defender, Havlicek is an elite on-ball defender, and Howard will patrol the paint vs Gilmore who can't shoot.

KG vs LeBron is the vital matchup, and I'm employing the Popovich strategy: go under every screen, allow him to shoot from 3, and wall off the paint. LeBron won't have fun trying to attack the paint against KG + Howard, and I'm also sending Lonzo to blitz him whenever he gets the ball to close off his driving lanes.

On offense, I have a balanced attack and firepower coming from everywhere: 3pt shooting and perimeter creation with Lonzo, Terry, and Green + scoring in the paint with KG, Howard, and McHale. My offense starts on the fastbreak with Lonzo playing to his strengths with his ability to push the pace and throw passes in transition to Green, Havlicek, KG, and lobs to Howard. In the halfcourt, I have fantastic synergy with Lonzo, Havlicek, and KG being +passers who can keep the ball moving.

Finally, when LeBron goes to the bench Laimbeer's defense should collapse. I have 48 minutes of KG and McHale at PF and the only person who can defend either is LeBron.

[Dr Positivity]

Neither team's starting PG is great, but Caruso being used like Delly beside Lebron seems more manageable than such a big role for Pelicans Lonzo. Dwight could have some trouble scoring on the bigger Gilmore. I think Laimbeer's team works more offensively. Vote Laimbeer.

[Larry_Russell]

Laimbeers team just seem to have a better fit and better overall talent level to me here.

Vote for Laimbeer.

[Fadeaway_J]

Great defensive team, but I don't think uber has the horses to keep up with Laimbeer. Dwight in particular I see struggling without elite spacing and a physical/athletic advantage over his matchup. Not wild about the minutes or the chosen season for Caruso, but Lonzo/Green is also a pretty limited backcourt, and Laimbeer has LeBron supplemented by Ray to shoulder the creative burden.

Vote: Laimbeer

[Laimbeer]

Laimbeer advances.