Shaq Franchises Draft - SF1 - parsnips33 vs Larry_Russell*

[durantbird]

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 wins the championship**

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Tim Hardaway (1996-97) 17.1
20.3ppg, 3.5rpg, 8.6apg, 2spg, 34.5% on 7.3-3pta
MVP-4, All NBA 1st, All Star

SG: Kobe Bryant (2007-08) 20.6
28.3ppg, 6.3rpg, 5.4apg, 1.8spg, 0.5bpg, 36% on 5.1-3pta
MVP, DPOY-5, All NBA 1st, All Defense 1st, #1 points, All Star

SF: Shane Battier (2012-13) 5
6.6ppg, 2.3rpg, 1apg, 0.6spg, 0.8spg 43% on 4-3pta

PF: Chris Bosh (2013-14) 12.1
16.2ppg, 6.6rpg, 1.1apg, 1spg, 1bpg, 34% on 3-3pta
All Star

C: Dwight Howard (2009-10) 10.2
18.3ppg, 13.2rpg, 1.8apg, 1spg, 2.8bpg
MVP-4, DPOY, All NBA 1st, All Defense 1st, #1 FG%, RPG, BPG, DWS, DBPM, All Star

PG: Brian Shaw (1999-00) 4.4
4ppg, 3rpg, 2.7apg, 0.5spg

SG/SF: Kyle Korver (2017-18) 6.6
9.2ppg, 2.3rpg, 1.2apg, 0.5spg, 0.5bpg, 43.6% on 5.2-3pta

PF/SF: Lamar Odom (2010-11) 10.9
14.5ppg, 8.7rpg, 3apg, 0.6spg, 0.7bpg, 38.2% on 2.2-3pta
6MOTY

PG: Hardaway (38) / Shaw (10)
SG: Kobe (38) / Korver (7.5) / Shaw (2.5)
SF: Battier (26) / Odom (14) / Korver (8)
PF: Bosh (28) / Odom (20)
C: Howard (38) / Bosh (10)

86.9/88

I have about the best that anyone can hope for when it comes to defending Lebron. I have 2 very strong guys, one an elite defender on the ball, and the other a very good defender in the post and underrated on the wing. This is all I can really hope for here. Make lebron work.

The rest of the team we are going to sag a bit off of and use our atleticism to close the gaps if they try to shoot from deep. Kidd wasnt a threat from 3 until his days in Dallas, many years from now, and Marion is a non threat from deep (31%) KCP only takes 7 shots per game.

The only switch from straight up man to man defense will be Bosh sticking with Love and Howard on Marion. Because of the lack of a 3pt shot, this lets me play off of marion and keeps my DPOY backbone closer to the rim. We want to muddy up the middle of the floor here so that my elite passing lane defenders Kobe and Timmy can pick off the ball.

Kidd and Lebron are both playmakers first, imo, and I think they might step on each others toes a bit. Lebron has to do all the heavy lifting on offense here and on Miami he was great, but he also had Wade and Bosh to help lift the scoring weight, which is something he doesnt have here.

I believe offensively I can dominate here. I have too many weapons and too much size to deal with. Timmy can score on anyone, Kobe really doesnt have a defender here that can contain him, and Marion and Love is far too small of a front court to deal with my size, athleticism and spacing.

Also have a superior bench here with great shooting and positional size.

[parsnips33]

r1: 13-14 LeBron James - 17.6 FGA
r2: 06-07 Shawn Marion - 13.4 FGA
r3: 98-99 Jason Kidd - 14.0 FGA
r4: 19-20 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - 7.3 FGA
r5: 17-18 Kevin Love - 12.4 FGA
r6: 10-11 Andrew Bynum - 7.6 FGA
r7: 08-09 Jameer Nelson - 12.6 FGA
r8: 11-12 James Jones - 3.0 FGA

Total FGA: 87.9/88.0

Jason Kidd (24) / Jameer Nelson (24)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (24) / Jason Kidd (16) / James Jones (8)
LeBron James (40) / KCP (8)
Shawn Marion (40) / Kevin Love (8)
Kevin Love (24) / Andrew Bynum (24)

Writeup:

Team is built around super aggressive defense anchored by the dynamic duo of Marion and Bron. Kidd and KCP can put loads of pressure on in the perimeter. Bynum off the bench gives an option of real size against bulkier centers and Love can suck up rebounds and initiate transition plays with elite outlet passing. This team will be absolutely unreal in transition with two genius level passers and a couple athletic stallions in Bron and Marion to finish at the rim. And with smart and athletic defenders up and down the roster, we expect to generate a ton of transition opportunities. Half-court offense can take advantage of Kidd and Bron's passing to generate looks, Love playing the pivot or playing the Pau role in the high-low with Bynum, and of course the break-in-case of emergency option of letting Peak GOAT go to work. Jameer is an all-star off the bench, averaging 45% from 3 in the selected season, and should be able to play a super effective 2 man game with any member of our super versatile front court (LeBron, Matrix, Love, Bynum).

Matchup Specific:

The formula more or less remains the same - extremely smart and athletic perimeter defenders forcing turnovers and missed shots to fuel an absolutely unstoppable transition attack lead by the Kidd-Bron-Matrix (all 3 avging multiple steals a game) 3 headed monster. We'll start out matching up straight up, but Kobe will see all 4 of Kidd, KCP, LeBron, and Marion throughout the game - we don't plan on ever letting him get too comfortable with the same look. In the halfcourt, it might not be pure "Beautiful Game" basketball, but LeBron is possibly the best ever at forcing switches and attacking mismatches and we plan on aggressively pressing that button when Timmy Hardaway is in the game. Love and KCP are obviously great 3 point shooters so they'd have no problem punishing the defense when the double inevitably comes. Kidd actually shot a respectable 36% on 3s in the selected season, but I think it's his genius level passing that makes him more of a threat attacking a collapsing defense than his shooting - there are many ways to skin a cat. Sagging of Marion with Dwight is probably the right strategy, but giving a freak athlete a big head of steam coming at the rim is gonna get you burned at least some of the time, especially when he's getting set up by 2 of the greatest passers ever.

Don't really see a huge talent advantage either way when it comes to the benches - Odom is great but so are Jameer and Bynum.

2 great teams, think this might just be a case where the best player decides the contest.

Good luck LR, may the best team win!

[Dr Positivity]

Larry has a bit more talent but I'm not in love with either Kobe/Hardaway combo or reuniting Kobe and Dwight, while parsnips team should have nice chemistry. Parsnips bench is better, along with having Jameer and Bynum I'd take my chances with James Jones over 2000 Shaw. Vote parsnips.

[Fadeaway_J]

There's a definite push-pull here with the "smaller" frontcourt for parsnips vs. Larry's two bigs. For those 24 minutes, Love definitely gives Dwight some problems with his outside shooting (although Dwight is at least a great athlete who should be able to contest some of those shots), but this is the kind of matchup where Dwight typically feasts using his athletic advantages. What hurts parsnips here is that he doesn't get the spacing boost you'd expect from downsizing, since Marion and Kidd are both erratic at best as shooters - Bosh (more of an orthodox 4) is a better floor spacer than Marion. I also tend to worry about Marion guarding a capable scoring big like Bosh, as in real life it never worked out well even against someone like Odom (who he's also facing here funnily enough). As far as Kobe-Dwight, I think a big part of their problems were contextual in terms of joining up at the exact wrong time on several levels. There isn't anything I see preventing them from succeeding in their peak years in terms of on-court ability and playstyle.

Ultimately, while parsnips has more frontcourt talent because of LeBron, I think Larry matches up well with him there, and he has the clear edge in the backcourt.

Vote: Larry_Russell

[durantbird]

I generally prefer Larry's leading trio in Hardaway Kobe Howard. I'm not a fan of Love having to defend against Howard.

Vote Larry

[lilroddyb]

Great teams guys

Similar in talent overall and both fit nicely imo. I think the matchup favors Larry though mainly because of kevin Love Dwight matchup. Dwight will have a good series

vote Larry

[parsnips33]

Well drafted LR

Had a lot of fun with this one