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Props to Snakebites on a talented team. But I do want to know how I got stuck playing against Big Ben and Bob Lanier, the two best centers in Piston history, in my first two games.

But here goes…

Drummond 34 / Amir 10 / Rasheed 4
Rasheed 30 / Amir 18
DeBusschere 34 / Buechler 14
Afflalo 26 / Ford 22
Porter 36 / Augustine 12

Offense: Lanier is certainly a presence in the middle and can neutralize Dre, but the other positions all look like places I can make some hay. Sheed should have a good bit of success against Mills and Webber’s carcass. While a nice shot blocker, Tyler is too small to cover him on the post. DeBuss would be challenged by Tyler at the three, but should be able to take advantage of Aguirre when he’s platooning in. The guards I see getting most of their minutes, strangely, are point guards – Jackson, James, and Hunter. They’re fine players, but I like the size of my guys – Ford and Afflalo – at the two. They could really prove to be a load for those smaller guys. I can see mixing in some post ups from someone like Afflalo to take advantage and have given him some more floor time. Porter is a league leader in assists at the point and Reggie’s defense can run sparse at times so I’m confident I’ll get production there. DJ also provides a nice spark off the bench. As always, Buechler, Ford, and Afflalo can create spacing and give Sheed, DeBuss, Dre, and Porter space to work.

Defense: Lanier jumps out as the guy that has to be reckoned with. I do think Dre provides a unique counterweight who can give him problems. He’s got size, bulk, athleticism, and just as importantly - an ability to run the floor. I’ll be pushing the pace and have my bigs running the floor. You’ll see I’ve mixed in a bit more of Amir (11 boards and 4 blocks per 36 min) this time for that reason. No big is slated for more than 34 minutes. Push, push, push. Lanier has lots of attributes but fleet footedness isn’t one of them and playing a 94 foot game won’t agree with him. He’ll get his, but I think Dre’s physical tools allow him to defend him fairly well. Whenever Lanier goes to the bench there is a huge dropoff to whatever is left of Webber. Sheed has some bulk and low post defensive ability and could take a shot at Lanier for a handful of minutes. Mills is primarily a jump shooter, Tyler is no offensive threat, so I can’t see Sheed or Amir having a lot of issues. Aguirre is the other threat on the frontline and I’d probably tether Debuss, an all-defense player numerous times, to him while he’s on the floor. Nothing too frightening in the backcourt. Solid shooting and ball handling but I think my backcourt is solid defensively.

Position Capsules

Center: Lanier is the best center in this league, and the edge is no doubt his. But Dre’s physical tools, along with the plan to make Lanier play a 94 foot game should help neutralize him.

Power forward: My big edge, I think, with Mills and Tyler not really matching up with Sheed’s all-around game on both ends.

Small forward: Much of the time this will be an all-around excellent Top 50 player in DeBuss against a platoon of Aquirre and Tyler. They’ll have either offense or defense on the floor, I’ll have both.

Shooting guard: No great players and no stiffs on either side. Competent guys who can hit shots, play within an offense, and defend. But I like my pair better simply because they have the right size and aren’t points playing out of position. Bringing Curry in puts a big dent in their offense.

Point guard: I’ve got love for Reggie and his potential, but at this point in his career he’s not quite up to Porter’s level, a league leader in assists who’s more efficient.

That’s four out of five positions.

The Laimbeers advance to the Finals!

Lanier (36)/Webber (12)
Mills (30)/Tyler (18)
Tyler (16)/Aguirre (32)
Hunter (34)/Curry (14)
Jackson (35)/James (13)

Defensively: I'll be honest here, our team does boast a solid defense, with a strong defensive center and an array of perimeter guys who can cause various problems (just as they did in our previous series). We've got Terry Tyler, a versatile defender and shot blocker who can guard either Debusschere or Sheed- whichever is doing more. We've got Hunter, Curry, and James who can provide a variety of problems for anyone trying to score on the perimeter, and we're simply well balanced. However, Laimbeer's biggest problem offensively might not even be our guys- it might be his.

There simply isn't anybody on this team that can shoulder the weight offensively. Rasheed Wallace was always a supporting piece- never really a guy who could be the leading scorer/best offensive player on a strong team, at least not in his time with the Pistons. Unfortunately, he IS being called upon to be that here. Can he cause damage? Yes. Will it be enough? No. It certainly doesn't help that the inconsistent Rasheed Wallace is the ONLY player in this entire offense that can spread the floor, either.

Drummond can be efficient, but he's also such a liability at times that even on the current Pistons Van Gundy is reluctant to play him at crunch time. Debusschere is inefficient. No real scorers on the perimeter.

Offensively: Again, we're well spaced and well balanced. Mills and Hunter aren't all stars, but they are perfect fits in an offense that relies on Lanier scoring down low in the post and Reggie Jackson driving to the basket. Laimbeer has some defensive skill, but we've got a well spaced offense with slashing, 3 point shooting (something Laimbeer is woefully weak in, as I've mentioned before) and post play, which DESPITE Laimbeers strong front court, he really doesn't have.

Positionally: Lets take a look at how our guys actually fit in with one another compared to Laimbeer's team. We're also going to look at the benches. Laimbeer left this out because its something he as an overwhelming disadvantage in.

Lanier vs Drummond: Advantage Lanier. Easily. He's a better post player and overall scorer and the team we've built is tailored around him far better than Laimbeer's is around Drummond. We've also got veteran Chris Webber, who even at this age was a legitimate hub in the offense, against an inexperienced Amir Johnson off the bench. The advantage only grows.

Mills v Sheed: Advantage Sheed. I still don't think Sheed is going to be enough here, but yeah, I'll grant this. Again, though, Mills fits in perfectly with what we're doing and is actually a better shooter, Sheed's got the all round game.

Debusschere vs Tyler: What exactly is Debusschere's role here? Don't let the rebounding numbers fool you. Adjusted for pacing (the 60s had the fastest pace the league has ever seen), he's really not a better rebounder than the rather impressive Tyler. He was also a very inefficient scorer for the standards of today, and gets cred as a top 50 player because he was a supporting cast member on legendary Knicks teams that won multiple titles. I don't see a huge advantage here. I see a slight advantage in the context of what they're actually going to be doing out there that's completely undone and then some once we get to the bench (where I have an elite 6th man coming in and Laimbeer has Jud Buchler)

Hunter vs Afflalo: This isn't the Nuggets' Afflalo, Its our Afflalo. The one who barely played, who has very limited in game experience. Again, we're looking at two ,one of whom has a clearly defined role and a lot of experience, one of whom doesn't. Advantage Hunter. His role is to D up on whoever is giving us trouble (he could guard Porter at times too) and help spread the floor. Ford will come in and bridge some of that gap at 22 minutes per game, but it won't be enough, and he'll always have a strong defender on him.

Jackson vs Porter: Assist numbers are nice, but I really don't see enough well defined offensive weapons for Porter to pass to here, and he wasn't a particularly good scorer himself. He doesn't have anyone as reliable as Lanier. Heck, he doesn't even have consistent 3 point shooters to kick it out to. Jackson on the other hand has weapons all over the floor to pass to, and is pretty clearly the more effective scorer. He's a legitimate number 2 option in this game and will have more of an impact offensively than all of Laimbeer's players on some nights. Advantage Jackson.

Bench: You could make a case for a dogfight among the starters on these teams, some of those matchups are very close, but the bench is where the differences really get cemented here. We have Mark Aguirre, the best scoring 6th man in this game, on our team. He negates any advantage Laimbeer might have been able to have on the position. We've also got Mike James, defensive and shooting backup point guard on a world championship team, savy veteran Chris Webber who was still scoring, rebounding, and passing as our starting center.

Who does Laimbeer have? Inexperienced Amir Johnson (barely played for us), one dimensional Jud Buchler playing out of position at small forward, inconsistent DJ Augustine, and okay Chris Ford. I might even call that one of the weakest benches in the game, pitted up against one of the strongest.

Overall: Our team has superior depth and offensive balance, while Laimbeer's team will suffer more when the subs are out there and even with the starters suffers from a lack of shooting and offensive versatility. We'll carry the day here.

Laimbeer in 6 as Sheed continues his domination of weak defenders.

Not enough scoring from Snake either

Tale of the tape:

Lanier>>Sheed - one is in the HOF, the other is nowhere near.... Advantage, Snake
Jackson<Drummond - one is an All-Star, the other might get there.... Advantage, Lambs
Mills<<DeBusshere - George Foreman look-alike versus top fifty player of all-time? Advantage, Lambs
Hunter<Porter - close, but Porter was an assist machine. Advantage, Lambs
Aguirre>Ford - close, but Aguirre was a good player on a great team, Ford was not. Advantage, Snake
Tyler>Afflalo - I don't remember Afflalo doing squat as a Piston. Advantage, Snake
James>Johnson - Johnson didn't do anything either. Advantage, Snake
Webber>Buechler - Buechler sucked as a Piston too. Advantage, Snake
Augustine=Curry - both had value - call it a push
Singler=Butler - both had a few moments - push

So that's five for Snake, three for Lambs, two ties. Too close to call......

Let's go to positions......

PG - Jackson/James > Porter/Augustine - Jackson's comfortably the best of that bunch - Advantage, Snake
SG - Hunter/Curry >> Afflalo/Ford - Afflalo's going to play 26 minutes? He peaked at 17 for Detroit - Advantage, Snake
SF - Tyler/Aguirre < Debusshere/Buechler - Hold your nose during Jud's minutes, otherwise.... Advantage, Lambs
PF - Mills/Tyler = Sheed/Johnson - 18 minutes for Amir? He peaked at 15 for Detroit - call it a push
C - Lanier/Webber >> Drummond/Sheed/Amir - Lanier's the best, enough said - Advantage, Snake

So that's three for Snake, one for Lambs, one tie.

I think that there were better choices to be made to add depth than Afflalo, Johnson, and Buechler. Giving those guys valuable minutes (28 for Amir? He averaged 3 points a game as a Piston) is the undoing for Lambs in this matchup.

Snake in five.

How can Sheed/Amir be a push vs Mills/Tyler?

Sheed would eat them alive!

The Sheed would make life very difficult for Lanier, but I think there's a pretty notable disparity in talent between the two rosters. Taking pace, era and efficiency into account I don't think Debusschere and Porter are all that great (ditto for tyler on snake's squad), and rookie Afflalo was nothing special. The combination of Mills + Lanier + Reggie is enough to take the series I believe, in spite of how formidable a Drummond/ Sheed frontcourt would be.

Snakebites in 6.

Pharaoh wrote:How can Sheed/Amir be a push vs Mills/Tyler?

Sheed would eat them alive!

Because Amir's playing 18 minutes

This series is gonna do my head in since you guys voted Laimbeer's team over mine.

Sheed & Amir wouldn't destroy Mills & Tyler but apparently would destroy Cliff, JYD, Corliss & Illyasova?

Lanier, Mills & RJ are enough to take the series in 6 but Cliff, Corliss, Rip, BJ weren't?

I just don't get it

Coaches, we need you to weigh in.

Timmaytime wrote:...

Lionlifer wrote:...

Han Solo wrote:...

Warspite wrote:...

Sheed and Lanier are both mismatches here. Mills is pretty terrible defensively and Drummond isn't smart enough to slow down Lanier.

Ultimately i'm more sold on the rest of Snakebites team than Laimbeers when we get past that.

Vote: Snakebites

I think Aguirre is the wild card here, and will ultimately take snake to the series win in 6 or 7, probably 7. Plus Mills should feast as well with RJ running the point, they would be a great pairing in my mind.

Vote for Snakebites

Han Solo wrote:...

Warspite wrote:...

Need a vote, coaches.

This is a strength vs strength series with both teams weaknesses not being exposed. I'm most likely a much bigger De Buss fan than anyone else but Lanier is a beast. I believe Snake might have the worst backcourt in this league but Aguirre is a stud. Don't let those Pistons stats fool you.

Im taking Snake because I think RJ/Aguire/Lanier are too much. Both teams play great defense and neither can score 100pts so it comes down to eff and Ill take Lanier/Aguire over DeBuss/Sheed.

I vote Laimbeer

Congrats on a well constructed team, Snakebites. You may be tasting the champagne!