Four-man core vol. 2, play-in game: Dr Positivity* vs Colbinii

[flaco]

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**

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[Dr Positivity]

PG: Kyle Lowry (2019: 11.4 FGA)
SG: Manu Ginobili (2005: 10.5 FGA)
SF: Kawhi Leonard (2019: 18.8 FGA)
PF: Pascal Siakam (2019: 11.8 FGA)
C: Myles Turner (2023: 11.8 FGA)

PG/SG: Fred VanVleet (2019: 9.4 FGA)
SF: Bruce Bowen (2008: 5.3 FGA)
PF/C: Lamar Odom (2009: 9.0 FGA)

88 / 88

PG: Kyle Lowry (36) / Fred VanVleet (12)
SG: Manu Ginobili (32) / Fred VanVleet (12) / Bruce Bowen (4)
SF: Kawhi Leonard (32) / Bruce Bowen (16)
PF: Pascal Siakam (32) / Lamar Odom (10) / Kawhi Leonard (6)
C: Myles Turner (32) / Lamar Odom (16)

GL Colbinii

Defensive matchups: Lowry on Stockton, Manu on Murray, Kawhi on Jones, Siakam on Malone, Turner on Perkins

- I feel adding Manu to Raptors core (minus Gasol) is more potent than adding non-peak Jones to Jazz, in essence it's like my advantage is like having Manu instead of Murray. Murray was a nice non all-star talent to add, however the fit doesn't maximize him as he won't be able to run the pick and roll as much beside Stockton. We will also take advantage of him on defense, and Manu can score over Stockton if he tries to hide Murray on Lowry.

- We have major depth advantage. He has Ostertag playing 20 minutes on his roster page who would also be in an uncomfortable matchup against any of my bigs, plus Kleber is worse than any of my bench players, and Perkins is a worse 5th starter than Turner.

- Kawhi is the best player and a better closer than Malone.

[Colbinii]

Murray was a nice non all-star talent to add, however the fit doesn't maximize him as he won't be able to run the pick and roll as much beside Stockton.

Why not? Murray can still run the Pick and Roll for 20+ MPG with Malone who is an excellent P&R big man. The smaller Siakam is going to be destroyed in the post against Malone's size while Turner is spread defending the 3P line and Perkins.

Stockton can be used both on and off ball given his lights out shooting.

- We have major depth advantage. He has Ostertag playing 20 minutes on his roster page who would also be in an uncomfortable matchup against any of my bigs, plus Kleber is worse than any of my bench players, and Perkins is a worse 5th starter than Turner.

Greg Ostertag ranked 17th in RPM in 1997. He was a major reason why the Stockton/Malone/Hornacek/Ostertag was reaching +15 On-Court rating.

I'm also not sure Turner is better than Perkins. Perkins posted a 3.0 OBPM in 1997 and ranked 34th in RPM. I'm also not sure FVV is anything but marginally better than Kleber at this stage [Sub 40% from 2P shots on FVV is terrible] while Kleber plays less minutes than FVV.

Regardless, we have Hornacek playing a bulk of our bench minutes, and he is the best bench piece here.

It is also important to remember Perkins 3P% didn't drop after the 3P Line was moved back.

[Colbinii]

Player Year FGA
Jamal Murray 2023 16
Eddie Jones 1998 12.6
Karl Malone 1997 19.2
John Stockton 1997 9.3
John Hornacek 1997 10.4
Greg Ostertag 1997 5.3
Sam Perkins 1995 9
Maxi Kleber 2021 5.5

Total FGA 87.3

Rotation
John Stockton (37) Jamal Murray (11)
Jamal Murray (26) Jeff Hornacek (22)
Eddie Jones (37) John Hornacek (11)
Karl Malone (33) Maxi Kleber (15)
Sam Perkins (26) Greg Ostertag (15) Karl Malone (7)

Offense

-We have the two best P&R Ball-Handlers here in Stockton and Murray with a dominant P&R big man against a team without size.
-Siakam really stands no chance against Malone in the post, which will lead to double-teams without rim protection
-We have plenty of spacing to allow Malone to dominant a team without real rim protection and without actual size, which allows us to crash the offensive glass when Ostertag is in the game
-FVV lacks size to guard Murray/Hornacek

Defense
-Straight up while we look to be able to help off Fred Van Vleet for 24 MPG [We don't have anyone perimeter players can help off of]
-Bowen/FVV are limited offensive pieces which allows our defense to focus in on Manu/Kawhi/Lowry
-Pascal is more of a slasher at this point in his career with only 2.7 3PA/G [That's less than 1 per quarter] and all of his 3P shots were assisted, meaning Malone can sag off him when he has the ball to prevent productive slashing

Overall
-2008 Bruce Bowen and 2019 Fred Van Vleet are very weak back-court players compared to Stockton/Murray/Hornacek, which gives us a massive leg-up in the back-court in terms of talent off the bench
-Size advantage in Malone with no large big-men to defend him
-We should dominate the rebounding battle as Turner isn't a great rebounding big man and Malone is terrific in that regard
-We have good defensive pieces for our opponents best pieces while Manu is only playing 32 Minutes here?

[flaco]

I don't mind the Stockton-Murray backcourt on the offensive side of the ball. That said, it's a questionable fit on D cause neither Murray nor Stockton can switch on bigger opponents. Dr P runs a perimeter-oriented offense. Switching is the optimal way to defend the 3pt line. The same goes for FVV at SG, but he plays only 12 mins compared to 26 for Murray. I also think Ostertag is close to a liability on both sides of the ball. He isn't mobile enough to defend the perimeter against Turner/Odom. He's a hopeless PnR defender. He relies heavily on postups which are considered inefficient offense by modern standards. I think Dr P's team clicks a bit better. I like the small-ball unit with Odom at the 5. They'd likely run Ostertag off the floor.

Vote: Dr Positivity

[Fadeaway_J]

I just think this Jazz core is tough to fill out to the level you need; I'm lower on Stockton than most, and Malone is on the weaker side for an MVP. Colbinii did as much as he could to give it a talent infusion with Murray and Jones, but I don't see Ostertag as a viable 15-minute player at this level, and it's hard to get away with a skinnier wing on Kawhi.

Vote: Dr Positivity

[Snakebites]

I’m actually 100 percent fine with the starting lineup for Colbini.

The bench rotation feels a bit wonky, especially on the defensive end.

I also don’t see ideal counters to Kawhi or Ginobili.

Vote Dr P

[flaco]

Dr Positivity advances.