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).
11.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.1 bpg, .473 FG%, .312 3P%, .768 FT%, 53 3P (0.7 pg), .549 TS% - Sixth Man of the Year
G - George Hill (2019-20)
Spoiler:
9.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.1 bpg, .516 FG%, .460 3P%, .842 FT%, 81 3P (1.4 pg), .659 TS% - Led the NBA in 3P%
Rotations C - Jokic (40), Andersen (8) PF - Marion (38), Battier (6), Andersen (4) SF - Battier (30), Thompson (10), McKie (8) SG - Thompson (28), McKie (15), Hill (5) PG - Lillard (38), Hill (10)
FGA Per Player
Spoiler:
Nikola Jokic - 14.8 Klay Thompson - 16.2 Shawn Marion - 13.4 Shane Battier - 6.2 George Hill - 6.4 Damian Lillard - 17.5 Aaron Mckie - 9.4 Chris Andersen - 3.8
Total: 87.7/88.0
We've taken a similar approach to the real-life Nuggets in building around Jokic, with a dynamic lead guard who can also play off ball some, and lots of shooting and defensive versatility across the roster. Marion is pretty much a rich man's Gordon, and Battier/Klay are significant upgrades on the KCP/MPJ archetypes at the wing spots. Dame's off-the-dribble game and deep shooting make him a deadly pick-and-roll/handoff partner with Jokic. Marion will thrive off Jokic's passing, both as a cutter in the halfcourt and catching outlets in transition. Klay and Marion slot in perfectly as third/fourth options who don't need the ball. Hill and SMOY McKie bring additional shooting, defense, and secondary creation off the bench. While we won't play at a high pace overall, we have some great transition weapons in Dame, Klay, and Marion, plus Jokic as an outlet passer, so when we do run our efficiency should be sky high. Defensively, the wing rotation of Klay, Battier, Marion, McKie, and Hill is rock solid, helping to mitigate Dame's flaws on that end. Birdman gives us elite shot-blocking and rim-running for a few minutes a night.
Matchup - Initial defensive assignments Klay on D-Rose, Dame on Bell, Battier on Ariza, Marion on Dirk*, and Jokic on Robinson. With two like-sized wings who are both strong for their positions, we'll try some switching on Dirk/D-Rose actions, as we don't want to risk D-Rose getting downhill easily or Dirk popping out for a practice jumper. Battier will also guard Dirk for stretches. (*Before anyone invokes the 2006 WCF - it was mostly Diaw and Tim Thomas guarding Dirk, not Marion. ) - The primary plan of attack is to draw D-Rob out into space with Jokic-Dame actions, as well as having Jokic screen and play the handoff game with Klay. D-Rob remains an excellent post defender and shotblocker, but guarding this kind of action against shooters with the range and quick trigger of Dame and Klayis a tall task for a 34-year-old, not to mention having to deal with peak Jokic as a scorer. - Dirk and D-Rose is an eye-catching duo, but I think we've got more offensive depth. Jokic is already the best player in the series, so adding Dame (who wasn't quite at his prime level, but still averaged 31.3 ppg on 64% TS in the first round before he got hurt) gets us in the ballpark of Snake's top two. Beyond that, Klay and Marion are comfortably above 2000 D-Rob and Bell as third and fourth options, especially since they can a) maintain their impact without needing a lot of touches or play calls and b) masquerade as second options for stretches when the need arises, as they did in real life on high-level teams. I'd also give McKie and Hill the edge over Barnes and Livingston in this regard.
I think I’ve got two MVPs in this game who should play off of each other extremely well, with DRob as an excellent role man third option here. Derrick Rose was an absolute monster in the chosen year, he and Dirk both lead teams without any other stats to 60 plus wins in the chosen year. Jokic may be the best player in this series, but these two are the next two and I think there’s a sizable gap after that.
Bell and Ariza are both volume three point shooters and terrific wing defenders used to taking on tough perimeter assignments (Dame and Klay in this case).
Rose’s slashing should absolutely thrive here with elite spacing from my 2-4 positions. Dirk and Robinson can both play off of his penetration well, but Dirk also takes a lot of the shot creation pressure off of him given how elite he was at creating his own shot. I’ve heard some make the frankly bizarre claim in these votes that Dirk needs a p/r point guard to be effective. 2006-07 proves that isn’t the case- it’s his best regular season and came post-Nash but pre-Kidd. He doesn’t need someone to set him up, but he’ll have it sometimes in this tournament.
Overall I don’t really have any nitpicks about Fade’s team approach, I just think I’ve got enough to overcome Jokic. I don’t think post-prime Dame is quite enough here, even though he did have one good playoff series this past year.
I'm a big fan of Snake's top three. Robinson should be highly effective as a Jokic defender. Dame should generally be pretty effective feeding off Jokic, but I just don't think too highly of this year's version of him as compared to peak Rose. Fade has better depth, but the top end talent for Snake decides this for me.
I had a hard time with this one but I'll go with Fade for having Marion as by far the best guy outside of the big 3s and in a perfect spot with Jokic. Vote Fade.
It's going to be a glorious day... I feel my luck could change
Snake not selecting a better Dirk year is the flaw here. In 2007 he didn't have the mid-post game yet and was troubled by smaller quicker defenders like Marion, who is honestly the perfect matchup for Fade. I also disagree with durantbird that Robinson will be a good Jokic defender. I have great respect for the Admiral but in his wildest dreams he's never even imagined a player like Jokic existing. He's going to be pulled away from the rim and put on skates worse than anything Hakeem ever did to him.
The rest of the rosters are close, but I just trust Fade's best guys to be in better positions to make an impact than Snake's.
I'm sorry I didn't vote. It was a really close matchup and I couldn't decide. but if its any consolation, I thought it was a very clever build around MVP Rose which we don't often get to see
Some truths are spoken for closure. Others are recognized privately for peace.
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