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Pick any CURRENT starting five

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Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#1 » by blueadams » Sat May 9, 2015 4:30 pm

C: A. Davis
PF: L. James
SF: K. Leonard
SG: K. Korver
PG: C. Paul

To pick this team.. I took the top-50 WAR players in the NBA season, I looked into their statistics - 3pt%, FT% (for non-3pt shooters), Defensive Real Plus Minus - and I combined that with what I've seen on the court.

PG was a tough pick for me. I didn't consider players who had a negative defensive real plus minus rating. So.. R. Westbrook(-.7), D. Lillard(-.34), K. Irving(-.59) and T. Lawson(-.2.26) were all out. I didn't consider players who shot less than 35% from 3 either. So.. J. Wall(30%), E. Bledsoe(32%), K. Lowry(34%), E. Payton(nq) and J. Teague(nq) were out. And that left me with only two players. S. Curry and C. Paul. Curry has a defensive real plus minus rating of 1.36, and a 3pt% of 44%. Paul has a defensive real plus minus rating of 1.02, and a 3pt% of 40%. FWIW, Curry also had the 2nd highest WAR ranking in the NBA, and Paul was 3rd. So.. the statistics I'm looking at all support Curry in favor of Paul. But, not my eyes, I guess. DRPM statistics aside, I think Paul is a vastly superior defender. I think he's a better passer, play-maker, pick-and-roll point man. I guess I sort of like him more from an experience, competitiveness, intangibles angle as well. Might be wrong, but he seems a little better at creating space inside the 3pt arc, pulling up, and getting to the basket too. If it was one game, or one series, or one season, I think I'd go with CP3 here.

SG/SF was tough too. Again, I didn't consider players who had a negative DRPM rating. So.. J. Harden(-.38), K. Thompson(-.37), T. Evans(-.63) and L. Deng(-.31) were all out. Again, I didn't consider players who shot less than 35% from 3 either. So.. M. Ellis(29%) and T. Allen(nq) were both out. That left me with 11 guys..

-K. Leonard(#8WAR)(35%-3)(4.61-DRPM)
-K. Middleton(#9WAR)(41%-3)(4.11-DRPM)
-K. Korver(#11WAR)(49%-3)(1.32-DRPM)
-Da. Green(#13WAR)(42%-3)(2.16-DRPM)
-J. Butler(#15WAR)(38%-3)(0.69-DRPM)
-G. Hayward(#16WAR)(36%-3)(1.21-DRPM)
-W. Matthews(#37WAR)(39%-3)(2.27-DRPM)
-M. Barnes(#39WAR)(36%-3)(1.59-DRPM)
-T. Ariza(#40WAR)(35%-3)(2.43-DRPM)
-C. Parsons(#45WAR)(38%-3)(0.05-DRPM)
-B. Beal(#48WAR)(41%-3)(0.63-DRPM)

So.. your best two shooters are: K. Korver(#11WAR)(49%-3)(1.32-DRPM) and Da. Green(#13WAR)(42%-3)(2.16-DRPM). Who doesn't defend at least as well as K. Korver? J. Butler, G. Hayward, C. Parsons, B. Beal. I guess I should probably remove W. Matthews at this point too, given how serious his injury was. So.. they're all out. New list to pick from:

-K. Korver(#11WAR)(49%-3)(1.32-DRPM)
-Da. Green(#13WAR)(42%-3)(2.16-DRPM)
*
-K. Leonard(#8WAR)(35%-3)(4.61-DRPM)
-K. Middleton(#9WAR)(41%-3)(4.11-DRPM)
-M. Barnes(#39WAR)(36%-3)(1.59-DRPM)
-T. Ariza(#40WAR)(35%-3)(2.43-DRPM)

Statistics sort of go out the window for me at this point. Korver is far and away the best shooter of the group. He's not bad defensively. I want him out there. He's a pick. The second pick is a little tougher.
-Middleton and Da. Green are about the same shooting, but Middleton is a much better defender. Da. Green's out.
-Leonard, Barnes and Ariza are about the same shooting, but Leonard is a much better defender. Barnes and Ariza are out.
-Comes down to Leonard or Middleton for me. I guess just going with my gut, I'd go with Leonard. DRPM aside, he just looks like a better defender to me than Middleton. Plus, he's proven... experience, intangibles, etc. I'd go with Leonard.
-All that being said, there's still a lot of good debate here. Kevin Durant is out there recovering. Matthews. You could go straight defense with Leonard and Middleton. You could go straight shooting with Korver and Da. Green. Really, 5 good options to consider.

PF wasn't quite as tough. I was looking for someone who shot at least 35% from 3 here, so Dr. Green and Mark. Morris were out. Left me with S. Ibaka(38%-3, 3.51-DRPM), K. Love(37%-3, 1.46-DRPM), P. Millsap(36%, 2.48-DRPM), L. James(35%, 2.30-DRPM). Ibaka's got the highest 3-pt% and DRPM of that group, so, statistically speaking, he's the choice. But just going with the eyes, I'd take LeBron. What he brings as a handler, passer, attacking off the dribble, etc. Just unmatched from anyone in the NBA. And I don't think he's at all at a disadvantage when guarding almost any 4 in the league.

C really wan't that tough, either. Ruled out guys who shot less than 70% from the stripe -- indicative of mid-range prowess. D. Jordan(40%), D. Favors(67%), A. Bogut(52%) all out. A. Davis had the second highest FT% among the group (81%), and a DRPM of 4.23. L. Aldridge had a higher FT% (85%), but a meager defensive rating of 0.37. Only Cousins (78%/4.75) and Duncan (74%/4.71) had higher defensive ratings than Davis. Of those three, statistics aside, I'd just go with Davis, and I'd feel good about it. Duncan I guess I'd consider just because of his experience and leadership. But I'd go with Davis.
*Just for the record, the other big men in the top-50 were.. M. Gasol, T. Chandler, Z. Pachulia, M. Gortat, A. Horford, Z. Randolph, B. Griffin, P. Gasol and G. Monroe.

C: A. Davis
PF: L. James
SF: K. Leonard
SG: K. Korver
PG: C. Paul

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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#2 » by MrBigShot » Sat May 9, 2015 4:44 pm

PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Jimmy Butler
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis

I feel pretty good about that team against anybody in the NBA currently. If not Durant, I'd put Leonard at SF. Could probably switch Jimmy Butler with Klay but I personally prefer Jimmy. More playmaking & rebounding, less turnovers committed, more turnovers created and he gets to the line more than 2x as much.
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#3 » by whitehops » Sat May 9, 2015 5:18 pm

Reggie Jackson
Brandon Jennings
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Stanley Johnson
Andre Drummond



PS if center wasn't that tough for you to pick then why didn't you pick a center lol? Davis played a whopping 3% of his minutes at center this year.
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#4 » by sc8581 » Sat May 9, 2015 5:59 pm

M.Gasol
A.Davis
Durant
S.Curry
Bron
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#5 » by princeofpalace » Sat May 9, 2015 6:37 pm

Curry
Thompson
Lebron
Davis
Gobert

Elite defensive team that can rebound and score
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#6 » by tmorgan » Sat May 9, 2015 7:37 pm

I enjoyed reading the analysis, but the best team is probably simpler than that. Build from strength, so I'd pick up these guys in this order:

LeBron -- best player in the NBA, can start at the 3 or 4 (or 1 or 2 or almost 5, really).
A. Davis -- best young player in the NBA, should probably be the 4

Unless I want to go really small, those are my forwards. I could take Durant and not take a real center, but that's probably a bad idea. I could also take KD and play him at the 2, but that's also probably a bad idea defensively.

K. Leonard -- love this guy. Not the best shooter, but the best defender unless I want to give up all offense for Allen. Can definitely play the 2 defensively.

My guard pairing is a matter of choice. If I want Leonard, the PG should probably be a shooter, thus Curry. If I take more of a scorer at the 2, then Chris Paul. As I prefer Leonard over Butler or any of the other wing choices...

Curry -- impossible to stop and not a bad defender.

As for the center (if I choose to have one, which I do), the most talented guy in the NBA is definitely Cousins. We do already have enough offense already, so Gobert or Drummond is tempting, too, just to dominate defensively and on the glass respectively. Jordan is a solid choice as well. I'm going to go with the most talent, though.

Cousins -- makes our offense unstoppable, and is a solid defender at this point.

So, there you go: Curry/Kawhi/Bron/Brow/Boogie.
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Post#7 » by Pharaoh » Sat May 9, 2015 8:20 pm

And we completely disregard chemistry with these teams...

If you pick Lebron he's said ge doesn't wanna play PF all season, so pick him at SF and keep him happy.

Davis doesn't like playing C (almost zero minutes at the 5 all season) so pick him as the 4 and keep him happy.

Pick Curry at PG cause what he lacks as a playmaker Lebron makes up for and with Lebron/Davis at F you need a killer shooter.

Middleton is the SG role player over Danny Green.

Ibaka the C due to shot blocking and shooting. He's used to not getting much ball do won't whine:

Ibaka
Davis
Lebron
Middleton
Curry

Quality on both ends, should be able to gel as a unit with a leadership group that can't be questioned
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#8 » by DBC10 » Sat May 9, 2015 9:17 pm

Curry
Butler
Lebron
Davis
Boogie

Spacing for days inside as Davis and Boogie can shoot the midrange and slam it inside. Lebron can do his thing to drive and kick. Butler can iso post up from 18 feet out. And Curry provides secondary ball handling and pnr handler. Curry also is the best offensive player in the league so there's literally no pg that can lock him down with his 3 ball gravity and elite playmaking. His defense is average to slightly average too, he can be easily masked and or won't be a liability.
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#9 » by AussieAsh13 » Sun May 10, 2015 12:55 pm

I would go with:
Curry
Butler
Durant
A. Davis
Drummond

Going with Butler and Drummond means I need a bit more shooting so went with Curry over CP3. Durant over Bron for me. And gave Drummond some love, as it was him, Cousins or DeAndre for me. For me Davis can spread the floor enough with Drummond. The PnR combo of Drummond and Curry is enticing, with Durant spotting up and hitting shots.

Just to humour everyone, lets go for a bench also.

Here's mine:
Paul
Harden
LeBron
Ibaka
Cousins
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#10 » by ImHeisenberg » Sun May 10, 2015 1:19 pm

How many of these "pick your starting 5" threads are you going to pollute this board with?
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#11 » by hoophabit » Sun May 10, 2015 3:06 pm

ImHeisenberg wrote:How many of these "pick your starting 5" threads are you going to pollute this board with?


Honestly, what harm do they do? If you don't want to participate just ignore them. Some seem to enjoy them and that's what these forums are about. Tolerance is kindness... :lol:
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Post#12 » by Pharaoh » Mon May 11, 2015 2:06 am

I think it's interesting to see how people build their teams.

Some people just pick the best individuals at each spot, some think about fit and skill sets, some think about character...

I'd like to see a "perfect 4" surrounding Dre. Would be interesting to see who we all think would best compliment him
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#13 » by mercury » Mon May 11, 2015 3:22 am

C- Jordan
PF- Davis
SF- Bron
SG-Durant
PG- Curry
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#14 » by The Penguin » Mon May 11, 2015 1:59 pm

Forwards - Anthony Davis & Lebron - Outside of people throwing Durant into the mix, seems to be pretty much consensus in these two. Picking Lebron over Durant because it means we'll be getting the calls from the refs and he's got the defensive edge.

PG - CP3 - Most people going with Curry, but CP3 is better defensively, has more experience playing with Lebron on the National team and has the relationship with Lebron to have more effective communication with regards to the ball handling.

Center - Marc Gasol - He's not afraid to do the dirty work and has passing skills to help facilitate the offense. I worry about Cousins needing to be involved heavily in the offense to keep his head in the game and Drummond/Jordan/Dwight are simply too much of a liability in the "Hack-a" world.

SG - Klay Thompson - I need a guy in this role who can space the floor and still able to play defense. Thought about Kwahi and Butler, but Thompson's spacing is much better and with Gasol-Davis-Lebron-CP3 our individual and team defense should be good enough a true stopper isn't needed here.

Bench

6th Man - Kwahi - My X-Factor, you can put him in for any of my starting 5 and go big with him subbing for CP3 and running Lebron at the point or small ball with Gasol going out. He seems to "get it" where he wouldn't get too upset with a bench role. Plus if he's on my team, he won't be on someone else's to throw at Lebron.

3rd Guard - D-Wade - Going off the reservation here with him as the backup PG, but Lebron & CP3 are there to help him ease into a bench role and I love what he'd be able to do saving up his energy for 15-20 minutes a night.

Backup Big - Ibaka - I'm worried about him accepting a bench role, but he's got a strong relationship with Gasol and he's an interesting pairing with either Gasol or Davis.

Realistically I can't see a guy good enough to crack this top 8 rotation and still be willing to accept ~10 minutes or less of burn, so we'll fill the roster out with young unproven guys who'll be star struck or vet guys who get it and want hardware.

Ray Allen - Bringing him out of retirement to space the floor in a pinch and we can let him save his legs plenty.

Patty Mills - Another guy who can shoot and he's been brought up in the Spur's "team first culture". I don't foresee too much of a problem with him taking a 3rd PG type role as I'm sure there should be plenty of time for him during the 82 game season. (This team will have the #1 seed on lock by mid March, so time to rest guys).

Kendrick Perkins - He serves the same role here as he does with the Cavs, simply to come in and use his 6 fouls as effectively as possible when a situation calls for it.

KCP - Gotta have a Piston on here, there's not going to be a lot of burn for him, but he'll have Lebron/Wade/Kwahi working on him in practice to turn him into a true stopper.
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#15 » by pistontr » Mon May 11, 2015 5:41 pm

M.Gasol
A.Davis
Durant or Lebron
Curry
Butler
Sorry for my poor english
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Re: 

Post#16 » by Cowology » Thu May 14, 2015 4:06 am

Pharaoh wrote:I think it's interesting to see how people build their teams.

Some people just pick the best individuals at each spot, some think about fit and skill sets, some think about character...

I'd like to see a "perfect 4" surrounding Dre. Would be interesting to see who we all think would best compliment him
My interest in piqued.

Starting with the assumption that if I'm building around Dre I'm committed to developing him as a legit post-presence and focal point offensively. Surrounding him with Curry, Harden, LBJ and KD defeats the purpose of the exercise.

So I begin with who get's my bigman the ball? CP3 seems ideal... but he's already 30 and I want my tandem to grow together and be dominant for the next decade. Wall vs. Curry then? True playmaking ability or dead eye shooting? I'm pulling a wild card here and going unconventional with Westbrook. He's my Kobe/Harden/Wade. My elite perimeter player who will break down the defense and close games.

Because I shied away from the obvious choice in Curry, I really need shooting from the 2 spot which makes snagging up Currys counterpart an easy choice; Klay all the way. Solid defense, dead eye shooting. No further justification necessary.

Having already snagged up Westbrook & Drummond I'm gonna go ahead and rule out both LBJ and Durant. Mebbe I'm a big fat idiot for doing so... but I'm gonna follow the Spurs model here and snag up Kawhi. Another versatile 2-way player who can check his ego at the door. We're all about winning here.

1 spot left; the much debated PF compliment to Drummond. Despite his down year KLove always looks tasty. Great rebounding, great shooting, what's not to like? Other than his defense, ugh! On the other hand Ibaka looks almost perfect. Outstanding defensive compliment, great shot blocker and can make a mid-range J. Working under the assumption that Dre is going to become a dominant 20/14 type player inside this would be one hell of a front court. But what can Ibaka do that the Brow can't do better? Honestly, just don't know how I could pass up the opportunity to have a Davis/Drummond frontline.

PG: Westbrook
SG: Klay
SF: Kawhi
PF: AD
C: Drummond

I still really wanna plug in Curry for Westbrook. Somehow that just looks better on paper and clearly Cu rry is the flavor of the month. But for whatever reason my gut is telling me roll with Russ. Historically I'm actually not a big fan of his, but I think he'd play very well with Dre. I like my ability to break down a defense, spread the floor, rebound and defend. Should have solid chemistry with no glaring character issues or to many Alphas. Not the most "talented" 5 I could roll out there, but I'd put this team up against anybody and like my chances.
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Re: Re: Re: 

Post#17 » by Pharaoh » Thu May 14, 2015 1:24 pm

Cowology wrote:
Pharaoh wrote:I think it's interesting to see how people build their teams.

Some people just pick the best individuals at each spot, some think about fit and skill sets, some think about character...

I'd like to see a "perfect 4" surrounding Dre. Would be interesting to see who we all think would best compliment him
My interest in piqued.

Starting with the assumption that if I'm building around Dre I'm committed to developing him as a legit post-presence and focal point offensively. Surrounding him with Curry, Harden, LBJ and KD defeats the purpose of the exercise.

So I begin with who get's my bigman the ball? CP3 seems ideal... but he's already 30 and I want my tandem to grow together and be dominant for the next decade. Wall vs. Curry then? True playmaking ability or dead eye shooting? I'm pulling a wild card here and going unconventional with Westbrook. He's my Kobe/Harden/Wade. My elite perimeter player who will break down the defense and close games.

Because I shied away from the obvious choice in Curry, I really need shooting from the 2 spot which makes snagging up Currys counterpart an easy choice; Klay all the way. Solid defense, dead eye shooting. No further justification necessary.

Having already snagged up Westbrook & Drummond I'm gonna go ahead and rule out both LBJ and Durant. Mebbe I'm a big fat idiot for doing so... but I'm gonna follow the Spurs model here and snag up Kawhi. Another versatile 2-way player who can check his ego at the door. We're all about winning here.

1 spot left; the much debated PF compliment to Drummond. Despite his down year KLove always looks tasty. Great rebounding, great shooting, what's not to like? Other than his defense, ugh! On the other hand Ibaka looks almost perfect. Outstanding defensive compliment, great shot blocker and can make a mid-range J. Working under the assumption that Dre is going to become a dominant 20/14 type player inside this would be one hell of a front court. But what can Ibaka do that the Brow can't do better? Honestly, just don't know how I could pass up the opportunity to have a Davis/Drummond frontline.

PG: Westbrook
SG: Klay
SF: Kawhi
PF: AD
C: Drummond

I still really wanna plug in Curry for Westbrook. Somehow that just looks better on paper and clearly Cu rry is the flavor of the month. But for whatever reason my gut is telling me roll with Russ. Historically I'm actually not a big fan of his, but I think he'd play very well with Dre. I like my ability to break down a defense, spread the floor, rebound and defend. Should have solid chemistry with no glaring character issues or to many Alphas. Not the most "talented" 5 I could roll out there, but I'd put this team up against anybody and like my chances.


Since you took my idea and ran with it here's my 5 Cow:

Drummond obviously. Making him the dominant post presence means I can't pick Davis. I chose Ibaka for the reasons you mentioned and because he won't take post ups iff my main guy.

PG I went with Curry

SG was Middleton

SF was Leonard

I'm all aboard the Middleton bandwagon. Want us to sign him this off-season
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#18 » by Cowology » Thu May 14, 2015 4:06 pm

Can't fault any of those choices. Solid lineup. AD/Dre just has a KG/D12 feel to it. Since my wings aren't ball dominant I think enough touches for the twin towers. Some nice hi-low action, but Ibaka certainly works too and does make Dre a bit more of a focus. Nicely done.

Also hoping we can somehow snag Middleton back. Giving him away hurts as much as Afflalo and I was a huge AA fan.
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Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#19 » by The Penguin » Thu May 14, 2015 7:08 pm

Cowology wrote:Can't fault any of those choices. Solid lineup. AD/Dre just has a KG/D12 feel to it. Since my wings aren't ball dominant I think enough touches for the twin towers. Some nice hi-low action, but Ibaka certainly works too and does make Dre a bit more of a focus. Nicely done.

Also hoping we can somehow snag Middleton back. Giving him away hurts as much as Afflalo and I was a huge AA fan.



Off topic but kind of on topic

Putting Amir / Middleton / Afflalo / Knight around Drummond could be pretty interesting (especially with KCP, Reggie Jackson, Noah Vonleh & #8). Not "title winning" interesting, but a hard nosed team who could play some very solid defense.

Hard to believe Joe straight gave that away in the interest of giving Villaneuva / Smith / Gordon / Jennings a combined $150+ million.
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Re: Re: Pick any CURRENT starting five 

Post#20 » by Pharaoh » Fri May 15, 2015 8:17 am

Cowology wrote:Can't fault any of those choices. Solid lineup. AD/Dre just has a KG/D12 feel to it. Since my wings aren't ball dominant I think enough touches for the twin towers. Some nice hi-low action, but Ibaka certainly works too and does make Dre a bit more of a focus. Nicely done.

Also hoping we can somehow snag Middleton back. Giving him away hurts as much as Afflalo and I was a huge AA fan.


Same mate! Can't believe we gave AA away to clear enough cap space to sign Chris Wilcox! That'll do me!

Started that off-season with Chauncey, Stuckey, Rip, AA, Prince and Maxiell under contract - obviously we needed to go after Niva and Gordon!

We fired Joe waaaayyy too late lol

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