Own a Team - 2013 Playoffs - WEST - 1st round - OVER

[roc]

WELCOME TO THE 1ST ROUND OF THE
2013 NBA PLAYOFFS!


WEST

1. SEATTLE SONICS


vs

8. Anaheim Aresanol

__________________________________________________________________________________________

4. LA Lakers

vs

5. Minnesota Muskies

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2. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

vs

7. Phoenix Suns

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3. SAN ANTONIO SPURS

vs

6. Utah Rocky Mountains

[roc]

We are not going to wait around on write ups for this any longer than an hour before voting is open. So if you want to do one... get it in quick.

Good Luck!

[-Kees-]

I dont agree with my ranking of Utah under Minny, but ok. I'll try and do my writeup in a few hours, even though it isnt required, I would love if you guys allowed me to post a writeup on it.

Tony Parker [34] / Jason Kidd [14] / Norris Cole
Tony Allen [20] / Manu Ginobili [28] / Gary Neal
Shawn Marion [30] / Danny Green [18] / Moe Harkless
Josh Smith [36] / Udonis Haslem [12] / Hedo Turkoglu
Tim Duncan [30] / Chris Kaman [18] / Chuck Hayes

VS

PG: Derrick Rose (40) / Jarrett Jack (8) / Beno Udrih (0)
SG: Corey Brewer (14) / Gerald Henderson (34)
SF: Dorell Wright (30) / Carlos Delfino (0) / Mike Miller (0) / [Corey Brewer] (12) / [Al Harrington] (6)
PF: David West (30) / Al Harrington (12) / Channing Frye (0) / [Anderson Varegao] (6)
Cc: Anderson Varejao (28) / Ian Mahinmi (20) / Darko Milicic (0)

DEFENSE:

Rose on Parker
Brewer/Hendo on Manu
Wright on Green/Allen
West on Smith
Varejao on Duncan

Harrington will play at SF when Green plays at SF, and will stand in the corner with him when Spurs are on offense. Varegao will also play PF during this time, with Mahinmi at C.

I feel that my team can certainly slow down the Spurs, and their lack of a go-to-option. First, you have to remember that my coach is legendary Larry Brown, and he will not let the Spurs come close to what they are doing against LAC in RL. I really doubt any one player on their team scores more than about 15-17 PPG in this series.

I expect Rose to disrupt Parker's offense slightly. If the Spurs decide to run, Rose will beat Parker to the spot to draw charges and disrupt passing lanes. In the half court, Rose's long arms and quick lateral speed to stop Parker in the P&R.

I really expect Brewer to shut down Manu. You have to remember that this is another year later, Manu will be 35 years old, and slower than ever. He has already shown a drop in production, from 17/5/4 to 13/4/3, which is much less harmful. Expect him to drop further in production, and to be even less than a threat. Brewer has also shown to play great D against good SGs, such as Kobe, so I feel that Manu will have a very small impact on this game.

Marion has dropped in talent on O for quite a while. We don't expect him to do much but sit in the corner and miss threes.

Smoove seems to be our biggest problem. However, he will see three different defenders, AV, West and Harrington. Whoever does the best will be played on him the most. I am expecting that West will do the best, so we will leave him in if true. Smoove actually doesn't do a ton in the half court, and so I am expecting to limit him to a 15/12 type series, because the playoffs always play slower than reg season. West does have the size to body Smith up when he goes to the hole, and with AV waiting at the basket and Brown coaching, Smoove should be limited.

Duncan offers a big body, but will be yet another year older, now at age 37 and very old. The younger AV should be able to contain him and his jump-shot, just because Timmy will have lost even more quickness.

OFFENSE:

I have a very precise offensive game plan, in which I will explain soon.

[roc]

1. SEATTLE SONICS


ROTATION

Coach: Tom Thibodeau

Irving(30)/Chalmers(18)
Thabo(18)/Harden(30)
LeBron(30)/Rush(18)
LMA(30)/Faried(18)
Dwight(30)/Davis(18)/Seraphin


vs

8. ANAHEIM ARSENAL

ROTATION

Coach - Frank Vogel

PG: Rajon Rondo (34) / Sebastian Telfair (14)
SG: Kevin Martin (16) / Jordan Crawford (24) / Rudy Fernandez (8)
SF: Derrick Williams (32) / Dahanty Jones (10) / [Rudy Fernandez] (6)
PF: Andrea Bargnani (6) / Tyler Hansbrough (28) / Darell Arthur (14)
Cc: JaVale McGee (32) / Andris Beidrins (10) / Jeff Pendergraph (0) / [Andrea Bargnani] (6)

GAMEPLAN

The plan is to conserve energy for the next round by rushing out to early leads and allowing the bench more time on the floor. We don't expect any defensive pressure against us other than at the PG position and maybe an occasional block by McGee when he is actually in position to do so and not running the wrong way.

I don't expect this series to last more than 4 games and hopefully our starters will only need to play around 24 minutes per while our bench gets more playoff experience.

Our team has 1 Title under it's belts and have our eyes set on repeating. We plan to make a statement in this series.

[roc]

voting is open on all matchups

[Big_Mac79]

4. LOS ANGELES LAKERS


Lin/Hinrich/Mo.Williams
Bryant/B.Gordon/Novak
Deng/Ariza/T.Williams
P.Gasol/Diaw/Blatche
Bynum/Ja.Smith/Mozgov

vs

5. MINNESOTA MUSKIES


Rubio / Ridnour / Barea
Afflalo / Ellington
Granger / Pondexter / Maggette
Love / Evans / Sanders
Drummond / Asik / Mohammad

Guards
Ricky Rubio matches up favorably against Jeremy Lin. Both are similar in their playing style. However I feel that Rubio’s experience will help provide him with an advantage. Jeremy is a better player when he has control of the ball however having to give it up Kobe, Gasol and Bynum will limit his effectiveness. It is hard to argue against the offensive fire power in this position with Kobe and BG. However do not underestimate the defensive prowess of Afflalo. Also Afflalo is a deadly 3pt shooter with a career mark at 40%.

Small Forward
Luol Deng vs. Danny Granger. Luckily in real life the two have played against each other a multitude of times. So looking at career numbers for Granger against the Bulls he is a 18.8/5.5 so Deng’s strength of defense seems to be lacking against the likes of Granger.

Front Court
Everyone knows that you need a solid rotation of bigs to survive the playoffs. With a rotation of Love, Drummond, Evans, Asik, and Mohammad I see the potential to be dominant in rebounding. Better rebounding leads to extra possessions. Love is a dominant big man. Playing next to Drummond will only help him as he will have the help defense needed to be successful.

This team being younger and more athletic will be able to run the floor and catch the older Lakers sleeping. I feel the Muskies match up well against the Lakers and will be able to pull off the upset.

[Sun Scorched]

PHOENIX vs. PORTLAND

PG - Russell Westbrook/D.J Augustin
SG - Paul Pierce/Jason Terry/Jeremy Pargo/E'Twaun Moore
SF - Rudy Gay/Quentin Richardson/Matt Barnes
PF - Chris Bosh/Glen Davis
C - Roy Hibbert/Nikola Vucevic

vs.



PG - Goran Dragic (36) / Chauncy Billups (12)
SG - Tyreke Evans (32) / Klay Thompson (16)
SF - Grant Hill (24) / Harrison Barnes (24)
PF - Kevin Garnett (30) / DeJuan Blair (18)
C - Joakim Noah (36) / Marcus Camby (12)

Team Strengths
Defense - Our team excels at defense - PHX has three top 10 defensive players in the front court (Garnett, Noah & Camby) and Blair is a beast inside as well. PDX is going to have a tough time scoring anything in the paint - to PHX's benefit, PDX isn't very deep there either. Bosh will absolutely dissapear with Garnett on him.

Leadership - The combined experience and quality leadership from Billups, Hill, Garnett and Camby is amazing. All playoff tested professionals that can help turn the tide of a game in our favor. On top of that, both Garnett (20.4 PER) and Billups (18.7 PER) still compete at a very high level.

Depth - PHX has the suprior second unit. Anchored at the 1 and 5 by Billups and Camby, PHX enjoys both Thompson (18.8ppg since the middle of March!) and Barnes (amazing young rookie talent) off the bench for additional scoring. Blair is a rebounding monster, and next to Camby creates one of (if not the) best secondary front courts in the league.

Conclusion - Westbrook will get his, but Dragic will make him work for it at both ends. Turning Westbrook and Pierce into iso ballhogs will be our strategy - the team won't be able to function with no ball movement. PDX will get no penetration, and our perimter defenders will be able to play up on their assignments due to the defensive anchors we have in the paint. The last four times that Grant Hill has guarded Paul Pierce, Pierce went a combined 21-53 (39%) which resulted in a 1-3 record against Hill's Suns over that period. Our frontcourt dominates the paint in this series and the lock-down defense enables us to get out and run in the full court - scoring on transition baskets.

Finally, our bench wins this for us. A perfect mixture of vets and rookies, there is absolutely no weakness present when our second unit takes the floor - you have scoring, passing, defense, and leadership. Foul trouble will be an issue for PDX too, as sitting any starter almost ensures that PHX can win in a best of seven series.

[Blazer50]

Sonics - MN - Blazers and Spurs all advance.

[HartfordWhalers]

Sea, LAL (in a squeaker), Blazers (but there is no way Pierce can play sg), and Spurs.

[The J Rocka]

Sonics, Lakers, Blazers, Spurs

[Big_Mac79]

Sonics
Blazers
Spurs

[roc]

Sonics, Blazers, Spurs all advance in 4-0

Lakers lead Muskies 2-1 so 1st to get to 4 wins series

[-Kees-]

Lakers beat Muskies (who shouldn't be more than 8th seed IMO...) but it's not a pretty series for either team.

[Sun Scorched]

Lakers have the pedigree and have filled out their roster nicely. MIN is a great young team, but get's outclassed down low.

Lakers win, but not easliy.

[lukekarts]

Lakers beat Muskies

[roc]

Lakers join Seattle, Portland, Spurs in advancing to the 2nd round.

thanks for voting everyone