East Cross Era Duos - CHAMPIONSHIP - durantbird vs MadNess**

[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**

[durantbird]

PG: James Harden 21' - 16.7
SG: Danny Green 21' - 7.9
SF: Julius Erving 82' - 17.6
PF: Kevin Garnett 08' - 13.9
C: Al Horford 18' - 10.5

Bench: Mo Cheeks 81' - 7.2
Bench: Robert Covington 18' - 10.5
Bench: Rick Mahorn 93' - 3.0

Rotation:
PG: James Harden 24 / Mo Cheeks 24
SG: Danny Green 24 / James Harden 14 / Robert Covington 10
SF: Julius Erving 38 / Robert Covington 10
PF: Kevin Garnett 36 / Robert Covington 12
C: Al Horford 38 / Rick Mahorn 8 / Kevin Garnett 2

87.3/88

vs

PG: Penny Hardaway (24) | Jason Williams (24) | Joe Dumars
SG: Joe Dumars (32) | Penny Hardaway (16) | Paul Pierce
SF: Paul Pierce (30) | Matisse Thybulle (13) | Joe Dumars (5)
PF: Larry Bird (41) | Paul Pierce (7) | Matisse Thybulle
Cc: Moses Malone (38) | Aron Baynes (10) | Larry Bird

Matchup:
- Defensive assignments: Green/RoCo vs Penny, Harden/Cheeks vs Dumars, Horford vs Pierce, Erving vs Bird, Garnett vs Malone.
- I think we have a pretty solid matchup here, we got some good answers for them. Green, RoCo and Cheeks will all give Penny different looks, Horford and Erving are both good wing defenders who can handle Pierce and Bird, we'll try both of them on each. Pierce is about the same size as Horford, while Al has a height advantage they're nearly the same weight, and Horford has the quickness to stand against him. Nobody can stop Bird, but Erving was a tenacious defender who will give him a run for his money - I don't think either Pierce or Bird are better defenders for Erving either. Garnett will stay closer to the basket guarding Moses and he fits well as his defender with Moses being undersized. KG will help against Penny/Pierce/Bird. I also think MadNess struggles against KG - with Malone being more of a rim protector and he'll be out of his element against KG.
- MadNess has a nice starting lineup, but we give them a fight in top end talent with a leading trio of Harden Erving KG who fit well together, and prime Horford as fourth option. Older Dumars is still nice but a downgrade compared to his earlier seasons. Our main advantage is our depth with Cheeks-Green-RoCo as 5 to 7 options, which is a very significant advantage compared to his team. 24 minutes for this version of Jason Williams - who shot 46% TS and 25% from 3 in playoffs, and was later waived, is a reach. Mahorn is also useful, and like MadNess likes to say - will contribute his part in the game in hard nosed defense and "6 hard fouls".

Pointing out that MadNess writes nothing about how he matches up against us. And as said above he has some matchup issues, nobody can guard Erving or KG.

[MadNESS]

PG: Penny Hardaway (24) | Jason Williams (24) | Joe Dumars
SG: Joe Dumars (32) | Penny Hardaway (16) | Paul Pierce
SF: Paul Pierce (30) | Matisse Thybulle (13) | Joe Dumars (5)
PF: Larry Bird (41) | Paul Pierce (7) | Matisse Thybulle
Cc: Moses Malone (38) | Aron Baynes (10) | Larry Bird



Total: 88.0 | 88.0

85’-86’ Larry Bird - 19.6 FGA
MVP | All NBA 1 | All Star | Champion | FMVP

09’-10’ Paul Pierce - 12.2 FGA
All Star | 41% 3’s

82’-83’ Moses Malone - 16.7 FGA
MVP | All NBA D 1 | All NBA 1 | All Star | Champion

20’-21’ Matisse Thybulle - 3.7 FGA
All NBA D 2 | 3 & D Wing

95’-96’ Penny Hardaway - 14.8 FGA
MVP (3) | All NBA 1 | All Star

09’-10’ Jason Williams - 5.2 FGA
Creator | 38% 3’s | Back Up PG on 59 win team

96’-97’ Joe Dumars - 11.1 FGA
All Star | DPOY (6) | 43% 3’s

15’-16’ Aron Baynes - 4.7 FGA
Enforcer | 17.8 PER

Write up:

GL DB!

Over all, we have the best team in this draft game, a full 5 and a great 5!

Larry Bird is the best player here and will have the best series. He is what will win it for us.

Putting Horford on Pierce will really wake up play off Pierce and he will have a great series as well.

With KG on Moses he will have his hands full and won’t be able to cheat off Moses and play the paint, which will open Penny and Dumars drives.

Speaking of Penny, he’s got an mis match as well.

We plan to put Harden is tough spots defensively and make him try to guard us, which is something he doesn’t want to do.

We both have similar benches in terms of having a dynamic guard off the bench, a decent 3 and D wing off the bench, and a role playing big who’s really just there for 6 fouls.

Overall my starting 5 is just too much to handle for any team and that includes DB’s.

Vote NESS!

[flaco]

Both teams are very talented, but I think Ness has assembled an unstoppable team:

• 2 reigning MVPs
• 1 reigning All-NBA 1st teamer
• 2 former Finals MVPs

All these players have nice synergy as well which is even more impressive! It's relatively easy to grab 5 stars (let's say Dumars is a borderline star). It's very difficult to draft 5 stars who can all play next to each other. Props to Ness for drafting an amazing team! Db has superior depth, but I don't think it's enough to close the gap.

Vote: MadNESS

[Laimbeer]

The defensive matchups for DB are rough. Wrestling Moses isn't a good use of Garnett while Horford chases Pierce. I also like Ness' talent more.

Vote - Ness

[Fadeaway_J]

More or less agree with the above. The combination of offensive talent and synergy is too much to overcome, and durantbird is being forced into a couple of suboptimal matchups. The depth gap keeps things competitive but it's not enough.

Vote: MadNESS

[durantbird]

MadNess wins.

Pretty annoyed that Ness writes nothing about how he plans to guard us and nobody is bothered, but I anyhow thought Ness is winning here. Thing is, if I have to admit some non optimal matchups, feels like the other side should address the defensive aspect as well.

[Fadeaway_J]

MadNess wins.

Pretty annoyed that Ness writes nothing about how he plans to guard us and nobody is bothered, but I anyhow thought Ness is winning here. Thing is, if I have to admit some non optimal matchups, feels like the other side should address the defensive aspect as well.

To be honest, this was primarily an offensive win for me so I'm not sure that would have changed much. With that said, I didn't see any matchup as problematic as Horford guarding Pierce on his end.

[durantbird]

MadNess wins.

Pretty annoyed that Ness writes nothing about how he plans to guard us and nobody is bothered, but I anyhow thought Ness is winning here. Thing is, if I have to admit some non optimal matchups, feels like the other side should address the defensive aspect as well.

To be honest, this was primarily an offensive win for me so I'm not sure that would have changed much. With that said, I didn't see any matchup as problematic as Horford guarding Pierce on his end.

As written, I thought MadNess has a better team, but some matchups like guarding Erving or KG are problematic for him as well to some extent. I mean, I could have just avoided saying anything about how we plan to guard his team, but to me this seems like a requirement of something to address in writeup.

[MadNESS]

Back to Back

[MadNESS]

MadNess wins.

Pretty annoyed that Ness writes nothing about how he plans to guard us and nobody is bothered, but I anyhow thought Ness is winning here. Thing is, if I have to admit some non optimal matchups, feels like the other side should address the defensive aspect as well.

Noted

[Dr Positivity]

I would have considered voting for durantbird