Choose the Eras No Champs R1 - wackbone vs Dr Positivity*

[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.**

[Dr Positivity]

PG: Jason Kidd (2000: 12.8 FGA)
SG: Reggie Miller (2000: 12.9 FGA)
SF: Kawhi Leonard (2021: 17.5 FGA)
PF: Rashard Lewis (2009: 13.8 FGA)
C: Alonzo Mourning (1995: 14.3 FGA)

PG: Jameer Nelson (2008: 8.7 FGA)
SF: Brent Barry (2009: 3.1 FGA)
C: Isaiah Hartenstein (2024: 4.9 FGA)

79.3 / 88

PG: Jason Kidd (26) / Jameer Nelson (22)
SG: Reggie Miller (36) / Jason Kidd (12)
SF: Kawhi Leonard (38) / Brent Barry (8) / Reggie Miller (2)
PF: Rashard Lewis (36) / Alonzo Mourning (12)
C: Alonzo Mourning (26) / Isaiah Hartenstein (22)

GL wackbone

Defensive matchups: Kidd on Stockton, Miller on Jones, Leonard on Rice, Rashard on Malone, Mourning on Gilmore. We'll try some minutes with Mourning on Malone and Rashard on Gilmore.

- While we don't have a great Malone matchup, Mourning playing on a low spacing C allows him to play great help D on Malone to mitigate it, and we have a decent amount of Mourning/Hart minutes. Furthermore, it looks like Rice will be on Miller or something. So, while Miller is not as good as Malone, hopefully this cancels some of it out.

- We'll be taking advantage of Gilmore in transition with Kidd finding the younger version of Mourning running the break and overall if he could make good use of Kenyon Martin on offense he can Mourning. We have the stronger perimeter with excellent combination of Miller and Kawhi.

- Nelson (in an average prime season) and Hartenstein is a solid 7th man and 8th man and I'll take old Barry over the less expereinced J-Will too. Hornacek is a good bench piece but as his main backup playmaker his ability in that area will be stretched, plus he has nobody to guard Nelson.

- Kawhi helps close the series out while as #1 guy Malone's track record is more spotty.

[wackbone]

Karl Malone - 1998 - 18.2 FGA
Glen Rice - 1998 - 16.9 FGA - 43.3 3P% on 3.7 att
Eddie Jones - 1998 - 12.6 FGA - 38.9 3P% on 4.6 att
Jeff Hornacek - 1996 - 10.7 FGA - 46.6 3P% on 2.7 att
Artis Gilmore - 1981 - 10.0 FGA
John Stockton - 1995 - 9.6 FGA - 44.9 3P% on 2.8 att
Derrick Jones Jr. - 2024 - 6.5 FGA - 34.3 3P% on 3.1 att
Jaylin Williams - 2024 - 3.3 FGA - 36.8 3P% on 2.1 att
Total: 87.8/88 FGA

Rotation:
John Stockton (38) / Eddie Jones (10)
Eddie Jones (26) / Jeff Hornacek (22)
Glen Rice (38) / Jeff Hornacek (10)
Karl Malone (38) / Derrick Jones Jr. (10)
Artis Gilmore (36) / Jaylin Williams (12)

Writeup:

Helluva team as always Dr. P, best of luck.

Defensively we will start with Stockton on Kidd, Eddie on Kawhi, Rice on Reggie, Malone on Rashard, and Gilmore on Mourning. DJJ will also see some time on Kawhi or Rashard.

As was the case in the Playin, Karl Malone looms large here. Yes, him guarding Rashard isn't ideal, but Malone will more than make up for that on the other end. Lewis has no chance of slowing down Malone. Yes, Gilmore is more of a traditional C, but he does offer some legitimate offensive firepower, aka if Mourning helps freely on Malone I feel fully confident that Stockton will tear that apart and find the open man. Mourning can't simultaneously guard both Malone and Gilmore. On the perimeter, Eddie Jones again offers legitimate offensive firepower that Reggie won't do well to contain. So as defensively as Kidd/Kawhi/Mourning are, they have two defensive weaknesses to attack, and in a matchup of two supercharged teams, that could prove the difference.

Nelson and Hartenstein are both high-level bench pieces (Nelson should really get more burn in our games), but neither are at Hornacek's level.

[Fadeaway_J]

My team was probably too lightweight to fully take advantage, but I feel like this kind of shooting vs. physicality matchup at the 4 is very often more likely to favour the shooting, mainly because of how much space it opens up for everyone else. In any case, wack has much the same problem as he did against my perimeter, with no stronger wing to deal with Kawhi, and Rice being barbecued by whoever he's guarding. Beyond all that, I just prefer Dr P's team in a vacuum, primarily due to the resilience of Kawhi and Reggie as playoff scorers.

Vote: Dr Positivity

[wackbone]

1-0 Dr Positivity

Need Votes.

[Larry_Russell]

I am in much agreement with fades assessment here.

Great looking team for dr.p

[JimmyPlopper]

close matchup - Stockton, Malone, and Hornacek have already proven that they work very well together. I like wack's more balanced offensive attack which is less reliant on transition play. Kawhi's advantage over Rice is not as great as Malone's advantage over Lewis (in my view). I view Stockton more favorably than this version of Kidd, due his ability to stretch the defense, while getting the ball in the hands of his best scorers. Vote Wack

[wackbone]

2-1 Dr Positivity

Need Votes.

[durantbird]

This might be a personal preference but I like Dr P more and Mourning is nice against Malone. I prefer wack's bench but really like the starting five for Dr P with four spacers around Mourning, Kidd running the show, and Reggie Kawhi bombing threes. Wack built a great team as well.

Vote Dr Positivity

[durantbird]

Dr Positivity advances

[Dr Positivity]

GG, I was worried about the Malone/Rashard matchup.