West Cross-Era Duos Play-In #1 - uberhikari* vs. durantbird

[Fadeaway_J]

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. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

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.**

[durantbird]

PG: Terry Porter 91' - 11.7
SG: Eddie Jones 98' - 12.6
SF: Bruce Bowen 03' - 5.8
PF: LeBron James 20' - 19.4
C: David Robinson 96' - 16.8

Bench: George Hill 10' - 9.5
Bench: Robert Covington 21' - 7.3
Bench: Boris Diaw 13' - 4.4

Rotation:
PG: Terry Porter 38 / George Hill 10
SG: Eddie Jones 38 / George Hill 10
SF: Bruce Bowen 32 / Robert Covington 16
PF: LeBron James 38 / Robert Covington 8 / Boris Diaw 2
C: David Robinson 38 / Boris Diaw 10

87.5/88

Vs

PG: John Stockton (40) / Jason Terry (8)
SG: Shane Battier (32) / Jason Terry (16)
SF: Shawn Marion (36) / Joe Ingles (12)
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (38) / Joe Ingles (10)
C: Hakeem Olajuwon (40) / Bismack Biyombo (8)

Matchup:
- Defensive assignments: Porter vs Stockton, Bowen vs Marion, Jones vs Battier/Terry, LeBron/Covington vs Dirk, Robinson vs Hakeem.
- We got a great defensive unit where you cannot hunt anyone. I feel like our builds are pretty similar, with a leading frontcourt duo and pretty similar supporting cast, but I believe LeBron will bring out more from Porter and Jones who will shine in this series. LeBron tasked with Dirk isn't ideal but I believe he's up to it - he also got better in recent years as a post defender, and he's strong enough to match against him. RoCo will help off the bench. Our main advantage here is their backcourt is relatively shallow offensively and we got great defenders to throw at it, so they'll need to maximize their frontcourt. On the other hand, Dirk will be forced to the perimeter where he's less effective defensively and Hakeem will have his hands full with Robinson. Stockton is a great defender, but he struggled with guarding Porter in their matchups, and Porter excelled offensively there.
- Both teams have nice depth, our bench I feel is a little bit better, because Hill/RoCo are a better two way combo than Terry/Ingles, and Diaw is far more useful than Biyombo.

[uberhikari]

PG: 1995 John Stockton: 15-12, 3PA 2.8, 44.9 3P%; All-NBA 1st, All-Defense 2nd
SG: 2010 Shane Battier: 8 ppg, 4.2 3PA, 36.2 3P%
SF: 2007 Shawn Marion: 18-10, 59.4 TS%; All-Star, DPOY(4)
PF: 2011 Dirk Nowitzki: 23-7, 2.3 3PA, 39.3 3P%; All-NBA 2nd
C: 1993 Hakeem Olajuwon: 26-13-4; All-NBA 1st, All-NBA 2nd, MVP(2), DPOY

Bench
PG/SG: 2005 Jason Terry: 12 ppg, 3.1 3PA, 42 3P%
SF/PF: 2021 Joe Ingles: 12-4-5, 6.1 3PA, 45.1 3P%; 6MOY(2)
C: 2023 Bismack Biyombo: 4-4, 1.4 blks, 55.5 TS%

Rotations
PG: John Stockton (40) / Jason Terry (8)
SG: Shane Battier (32) / Jason Terry (16)
SF: Shawn Marion (36) / Joe Ingles (12)
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (38) / Joe Ingles (10)
C: Hakeem Olajuwon (40) / Bismack Biyombo (8)

Defensive matchups: Stockton on Porter; Battier on Jones; Nowitzki on Bowen; Marion on James; Olajuwon on Robinson.

Not only do I have the best player in this series (peak Hakeem) but I have 3 of the 5 best players in the series since peak Stockton is better than Porter. Moreover, my top-end talent is supplemented by Terry and Ingles which gives me additional scoring and passing.

On defense, I have elite covers for both of durantbird's best offensive threats. 35 y/o LeBron doesn't have an athletic advantage over prime Matrix, and Hakeem is probably the most physically suited player in NBA history to deal with Robinson's blend of quickness and strength.

I'm not sure how we judge scheme in these games but Stockton's problem when guarding Porter is that he would often lose track of him on the 3pt line because he would leave him to try and chase steals in the paint. I guess I just wouldn't have him do that.

On offense, my biggest advantage is versatility. Both Marion and Nowitzki have experience playing with a dynamic fastbreak passer in Nash, and Hakeem can also use his athleticism to attack the paint in transition.

In the halfcourt, I have a better version of what Dirk had in 2011 combined with the best of the Hakeem Rockets. Hakeem is surrounded by shooting from everywhere and the inside-out game of a Dirk/Hakeem frontcourt would be unstoppable. And Dirk has a better version of 2011 Kidd/Matrix with the real-life offensive synergy of Terry coming off the bench. Stockton simply has too many weapons he can optimize with my offense.

Overall, I don't see LeBron having a great series: He's guarded by Marion on one end, has to defend Dirk on the other, and has to score enough to compensate for Hakeem and Stockton defending Robinson and Porter.

[Snakebites]

I’ll buy Uber’s argument that this is a tough matchup for Lebron. Marion is a solid cover for him and Dirk is a brutal assignment for him on the other end.

Drob is a terrific defender but he had difficulties with Hakeem in real life, and here he’ll need to take him one on one. I don’t like reading too much into the 1995 series- I don’t think Robinson is getting destroyed here, but it’s enough to convince me Hakeem will be effective.

I don’t love Uber’s backcourt here but the matchup slants in his favor IMO.

Vote Uber

[Dr Positivity]

I think these were two of the stronger teams but Stockton is the difference maker here for me as he and Dirk should be pretty nasty together, also older Lebron has a lot of defensive responsibility in this series. Vote uber.

[Larry_Russell]

That front court is noice

Drobs worst ever cover was hakeem and lebron covering dirk is just bad here

Vote uber

[Fadeaway_J]

Uber advances