Dikembe Mutombo Draft Playin - Larry Russell vs durantbird*

[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. 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: Chris Paul 18' - 13.8 (Houston)
SG: Ray Allen 01' - 16.0 (Multi-Franchise Finals)
SF: Jimmy Butler 19' - 13.9 (Philadelphia)
PF: Al Horford 16' - 12.8 (Atlanta)
C: Willis Reed 70' - 14.5 with multiplier (New York)

Bench: Dennis Rodman 90' - 6.0 (DPOY)
Bench: Royce O'Neale 24' - 6.8 (Brooklyn)
Bench: Christian Braun 23' - 3.8 (Denver)

87.7/88

Chris Paul 38 / Jimmy Butler 10
Ray Allen 39 / Christian Braun 9
Jimmy Butler 28 / Royce O'Neale 17 / Dennis Rodman 3
Al Horford 28 / Dennis Rodman 20
Willis Reed 39 / Al Horford 9

Vs


PG: Payton (40) / Childs (8)
SG: Elie (38) / Carter (6) / Childs (4)
SF: Carter (32) / Batum (16)
PF: Millsap (38) / Batum(10)
C: Shaq (40) / Andersen (8)

Matchup:
- Defensive assignments straight up. Butler on Carter should be a huge advantage, with O'Neale/Rodman being able to guard him for portions as well. Reed excelled in an era of great bigs like Wilt and Kareem, he should be effective against Shaq while Horford/Rodman can help double up. We are in a great position to both slow down Shaq and force VC into an inefficient series, which should hit hard on Larry's team. I think our offense is harder to stop as a collective.
- We have the depth advantage with legit 6 All Star/All NBA level guys rotation. Paul Allen Butler should work great together, as well as Horford and Reed. Larry's fifth and sixth guys are Elie and old man Batum. Playing a guy like Elie for 38 minutes is evident for low depth. Our 7th and 8th guys are also useful three and D guys.
- Carter won't be able to hide here as well against our very capable backcourt.

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Gary Payton (1995-96) 15.8
19.5ppg, 4.2rpg, 7.5apg, 3spg, 33% on 3.7-3pta
DPOY, MVP-6, NBA-2, Def-1, AS, #1 spg

SG: Mario Elie (1994-95) 6
9ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.3apg, 0.8spg, 40% on 2.5-3pta

SF: Vince Carter (2004-05) 20
24.5ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.2apg, 1.4spg, 0.6bpg, 40.5% on 4-3pta
MVP-13, AS

PF: Paul Millsap (2014-15) 12.7
16.7ppg, 7.8rpg, 3.1apg, 1.8spg, 1bpg, 36% on 3-3pta
AS, All NBA votes, All Defense votes

C: Shaq (1999-00) 21.1
29.7ppg, 13.6rpg, 3.8apg, 0.5spg, 3bpg
MVP, FMVP, DPOY-2, NBA-1, Def-2, AS, MIP-10

PG/SG: Chris Childs(1999-00) 5
5.3ppg, 2.1rpg, 4apg, 0.5spg, 35.5% on 1.5-3pts

SF/PF: Nicolas Batum (2023-24) 4.3
5.3ppg, 4rpg, 2apg, 0.8spg, 0.6bpg, 39.5% on 3-3pta

C Chris Andersen (2010-11) 3
5.5ppg, 5rpg, 0.5apg, 0.5spg, 1.3bpg

PG: Payton (40) / Childs (8)
SG: Elie (38) / Carter (6) / Childs (4)
SF: Carter (32) / Batum (16)
PF: Millsap (38) / Batum(10)
C: Shaq (40) / Andersen (8)

87.9/88


Defense will be sttaight up.

Dpoy payton is going to be someone that paul shrinks against. A notorious chocker when met with a great defender Payton is the best at it. Going ot be a rough match for Chris.

Elie was a great defender garnering dpoy votes a season or 2 later. Great positioning, fadt feet and long arms...an ideal defender for Allen.

Carter on Butler. Butler is be8ng very overrated here. This is philly butler. 34% from 3. Not all defense, not all nba, not an allstar. Vince on the other hand was dominate and against great defenders of the day including guys like ak47, bowen, artest, marion, pierce, kobe, eddue jones, iggy battier, howard. To say that Philly butler would a huge advantage is bonkers. Vince was dominate.

Paul millsap is a criminally underrated player. Size and defensive ability to cover horford.

Shaq on reed is fine for me. Shaq if far stronger, more athletic and was runner up dpoy. Reed will not be able to do what he liked.

Offensively I have a dominate team. I have a point guard who finds the open with an gigantic athletically dominate center, 2 three point shooters and the previously mentioned Carter.

Shaq is going to dominate the 6-10 240 lb willis reed here. Shaq has height, length, athleticism and bulk over reed who just cannot compete here.

Millsap is a perfect pf for shaq with 36% shooting as he forces a potential double team away from the rim leaving reed on am island.

Carter as mentioned earlier is dominate, inside, outside, game winners, alley oops, defense. In NJ his first year was special.

Elie is a great 3d guy who makes crucial shots and was a key contributor on a championship team making over 40% of his threes on volume and playing awesome defense.

And Payton. A competitor through and through with an elite first step and a great eye for the pass to cutters.


My bench is also very solid with role players who I can plug in. Andersen a rim runner shot blocker, a 3d guy in batum and childs brings rim attacking and playmaking as well as spacing.

[JimmyPlopper]

I think Payton is better than Paul, but outside of that, I see an advantage for DB in overall talent level that will be difficult to overcome.

Vote durantbird

[Fadeaway_J]

The Shaq factor looms pretty large here (no pun intended), with no-one on durantbird's roster having enough size to guard him. While I don't agree with Larry's assessment of CP3 at all and I find his 2017-18 season very underrated, I don't quite see this version being a consistent advantage creator in a matchup against Payton. Durantbird's bench is stronger due to Rodman, but he also has some issues there as I don't trust post-Utah O'Neale at the highest levels (I actually prefer even Philly Batum), and 2023 Braun was very much hit-or-miss as you would expect from a rookie.

Vote: Larry_Russell

[wackbone]

Tough one here, but overall I just prefer db's squad by a smidge. The Ray Allen-Mario Elie matchup seems particularly impactful.

Vote: durantbird

[Snakebites]

I like both of these teams. I’ll vote on this tomorrow if I must.

[wackbone]

Need votes here

[Dr Positivity]

I like Larry's big 3 but I think Reed can do a good job no Shaq and his team is a bit more complete with all 5 starters being good plus Rodman. Vote durantbird.

[durantbird]

durantbird advances