69-78 Dynasty League Playoffs (ERA OVER)

[TMACFORMVP]

WEST
Miller4ever
MJallday59
Gremz

TMAC
lukekarts
CellarDoor

EAST
BlackIce
bryant08
SamBone

Keeslinator
Warspite
Snakebites

[BlackIce]

PG: Dennis Johnson(28)/Charlie Scott(20)
SG Charlie Scott(18)/World B. Free(30)
SF: Julius Erving(38)/Don Nelson(10)
PF: Jerry Lucas(35)/George McGinnis(13)
Cc: Caldwell Jones(35)/George McGinnis(13)


Dennis Johnson: 77-78 - 13/4/3
Charlie Scott: 70-71 - 26/5/6, Rookie of the Year, 1970-71 ABA All-ABA (1st)
Julius Erving: 75-76 - 29/11/5, 1975-76 ABA MVP, 1975-76 ABA All-Defensive (1st)
Jerry Lucas - 68-69 - 18/18/4, 1967-68 NBA All-NBA (1st)
Caldwell Jones - 74-75 - 19/14/2, 1975 ABA Allstar

World B. Free: 77-78 - 15/4/3
Don Nelson: 69-20 - 15/7/2
George McGinnis: 74-75 - 30/14/6, 1974-75 ABA MVP, 1974-75 ABA All-ABA (1st)


vs. Sambome

In their selected seasons, a young Moses Malone and Caldwell Jones are comparable, I can't see Jones getting bullied off his spots by this version of Malone. The rookie Sikma will be crushed by Lucas pure and simple. Lucas will have his way with Sikma. On the wings you will see Dr.J and Scott handling the ball mostly allowing DJ to concentrate on attacking the rim instead of distributing. Bobby Jones will be able to slow Dr.J a bit but the lack of wing production on SamBones team will be what wins the series for us.

*also see Dr.J vs. Bobby Jones in the ABA finals. Dr.J killed him.



vs. Bryant08

This is a tough matchup. Again we are able to get away with playing SG version of DJ because of the incredible playmaking of Scott and Dr.J (11 assists combined). Wilt will be tough to stop, Jones was a very good defender and offensive player (he out scored Wilt by 4 points in their selected seasons). McAdoo vs Lucas is a match-up for the ages. Lucas is an elite shooter that will space the floor for Dr.J, and an elite rebounder (18rpg). McGinnis, my 6th man will insure the PF battle goes my way.

SF is where I have my biggest advantage. Dr.J will work on the skinny Dandridge. Dandridge was a good defender but Dr.J was an elite one who will lockup his counter part and score at will on the other end.

Scott is my secondary creator, his job will be to space the floor, and attack the rim whenever possible. He should have the advantage against Walter Davis who was a very good player in his own right.

DJ, even a young DJ was a great defender with great size (6'4) and speed. His job will be to disrupt Lenny Wilkens and disrupt their their offense. He will be able to attack at will and not worry to much about his PG duties because of my wing players.

[-Kees-]

(I'm going to keep this one short, because this is the era I don't know much about )

My Team:

Perimeter:
My team on the wings is highlighted by a few of the all time great. Tiny and Oscar both are amazing ball handlers, scorers and shooters. Oscar led the league is FT% twice in his career, his TS% was always one of the top in the league (top 3 in the league for 10 straight years), he led the league twice in AST%, APG 7 times, and was top 3 in PER for 10 years. Basically he was one of the best players in the league from 1960-1970. In the year I picked Tiny, he was top of the league in basically everything a PG can, APG, PPG, AST%, MPG ect. He had a solid TS% (.555) and FT% (.847) which proves that he can be an efficient scorer. Tiny is 24 when I picked him, a little young, but with Oscar on the team with him, they will mesh well. Oscar is the "old vet" (30 years old) with Tiny being the "trainee" (24 years old) as of sorts. In reality they are both very talented and in the years I chose them, they will work well together because Oscar at that point is very settled with his career and will be able to play off-ball a bit more.

Putting Oscar an Tiny together is a GOOD idea. I see it as a LeBron/Wade combo in the current NBA. Oscar has played 8 seasons by the time I have him, and is 30 years old. He is mature enough to play off-ball, and will a lot. He was a great shooter, and with his high IQ, he will find ways to play off-ball and help the team. Also, having 2 "PGs" on the floor at the same time will help ball movement a lot. With both having great vision AND passing skills, the offense will run very smoothly and a lot of our points will be wide open shots or layups, because we really have 2 floor generals, who can find my bigs wide open.

I haven't even mentioned Lou Hudson. He is a great shooter with a very pure shot. He will work PERFECTLY with our 2 PG offense. He will be able to move without the ball, and do what he does best, which is shoot and score the basketball. My bench includes the likes of Slick Watts and Dick Snyder. Watts is one of the best defensive PG's ever, and will backup Tiny. He can stay in front of anyone and shut them down. Snyder is a great glue guy, that kinda does everything pretty well.

Post:
My post rotation is very balanced. Keye is a very underrated and unknown player IMO. He was all-defensive 1st team twice in his career, and was one of the best shot blockers in the ABA. Near the end of his prime, he averaged 2.7 BPG (during his prime they didn't record blocks), so during the height of his prime he could've easily reached into the 3.5 BPG range. He was an amazing offensive rebounder, and that's where he got most of his points from. During the year I chose him, he averaged 17.5 RPG, and him mixed with Mel Daniels creates quite a duo. Julius is a scrapper and a great defender that I really like. Daniels is my starting C. The year I chose him he was the MVP of the ABA. He can do everything for me, score, rebound, play good D, and he will be the main post option for our team. Between Keye and Daniels, they combined averaged 35.5 RPG, so we will NOT be out muscled dow low by any team. Also, a lot of bigs in the 70's were shorter players (6'7 and such) but mine are 6'9, 6'10, 6'11 and 6'8, so we have length down low.

My bench include 2 players that also compliment each other nicely. Wicks is a great offensive PF. He has above average passing skills (5.5 APG) is a very dynamic scorer, and can beat defenders in multiple ways. Next to him off the bench is Billy "The Whopper" Paultz. One of the premiere shot blockers of the ABA in his time, and he led the league in blocks the year I chose him (3.0 BPG). He is long and tall and with him and Keye, we will be able to shut down any combo of players in the league. Also in the year I took him, he had a career year passing the ball with 4.1 APG as a C. With both of my bigs off the bench combining for almost 10 APG, the 2nd string offense will run as smooth as silk.


Keeslinator VS. Snakebites

PG: Tiny Archibald (32) | Slick Watts (16)
SG: Oscar Robertson (40) | Dick Snyder (8)
SF: Lou Husdon (34) | Dick Snyder (14)
PF: Julius Keye (34) | Sidney Wicks (14)
Cc: Mel Daniels (38) | Billy Paultz (10)

VS

Randy Smith '75-76 (36)/Lionel Hollins '77-78 (12)
Earl Monroe '69-70 (36)/Mike Riordan '72-73 (12)
Jamal Wilkes '75-76 (35)/Mike Riordan '72-73(13)
Elvin Hayes '76-77(38)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (10)
Kareem Abdul Jabbar '70-71 (40)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (8)

When I look at Snakebites team, I see KAJ and Hayes and not much else for scoring. If 2 of our 3 great post defenders (Keye, Daniels, Paultz) can slow them down, I don't know where else they will get points. Guys like Monroe and Smith were solid on offense, but nothing great, and guys like Oscar and Slick Watts can easily slow them down. True that they have good mid range games, but a mid range shot and a 3 PT shot are 2 very different things. When KAJ and Hayes kick it out, the few steps difference between a mid range shot and a 3 PT shot will be huge.

Although it is true that Snakebites has a lock down defense, there are openings. The backcourt of Monroe/Smith isn't particularly good at defense and stealing the ball. With our team running a lot of 2 PG offenses, there will be lots of ball movement. Having a weak backcourt (compared to the rest of their team) will be where we attack. Both Tiny and Oscar can drive and dish very well, and Lou will be there to hit the open shot. We won't be shooting very many close shots with KAJ and Hayes both being great shot blockers, but the drive and dish method will be one of our attacks and the other is in transition. Once they miss a shot, Mel, Keye, Paultz and Wicks will kick it to one of our PG's and they will run it up the floor and beat Snakebites team before their bigs can get back. Also, anytime both 2nd units are in, I believe we have the advantage. Mel and Paultz are both excellent scorers, and anytime Dan Roundfield is in the game, we will attack him down low. He is a decent defender, but not near KAJ and Hayes. One of those 2 bigs will always be on the floor, and sometimes both at the same time. That is when we go after Roundfield and are able to beat Snakebites down low.


Keeslinator VS. Warspite

PG: Tiny Archibald (32) | Slick Watts (16)
SG: Oscar Robertson (40) | Dick Snyder (8)
SF: Lou Husdon (34) | Dick Snyder (14)
PF: Julius Keye (34) | Sidney Wicks (14)
Cc: Mel Daniels (38) | Billy Paultz (10)

VS

Bing (73)/Goodrich (72)
Thompson (78)/Birdsong
Tomjanovich (74)/ King (78)
Robinson (78)/ Edwards (78)
Lanier (77)/ Nater (77)

Just a few things about my matchup with Warspite that I want to point out. He made a very good offensive team, but weak on the defense. With our 2 PG offense, we will spread the ball around and beat their team like nothing. Because of the great ball movement, and lack of defense from Warspites team, we should be able to find guys wide open places to hit open shots/layups. On defense we will have a hard time slowing them down, but Watts, Keye and Paultz are all AMAZING defenders, and Mel and Oscar aren't bad either. They may beat us a few times, but we believe we will make up for that against their defense.

[SamBone]

THE BONED SAMUELS
PG: Gus Williams (26) / Ernie DiGregorio (22)
SG: Billy Knight (30) / Alex English (18) / Dunleavy
SF: Bobby Jones (34) / (Alex English) (14)
PF: Jack Sikma (35) / (Moses Malone) (13)
C: Moses Malone (26) / Sam Lacey (22)

PG’s
Gus Williams (1977/1978)
18.1 ppg, 3.2 reb, 3.7 assts, 2.3 steals, .451 FG%, .817 FT%

Ernie DiGregorio (1973/1974)
15.2 ppg, 8.2 assts, 2.7 reb, .421 FG%, .902 FT%

I am going with some youth at the PG position, I think both of these guys compliment each other perfectly. Gus is entering his 3rd NBA season and was a great scoring PG, and solid defender (3rd in league is steals). Ernie was “NBA Rookie of the Year” and led the league in assist and FT %.

WINGS
Bobby Jones (1975/1976)
14.9 ppg, 9.5 reb, 4 assts, 2 steals, 2.2 blks, .568 FG%, .698 FT%
All-ABA (2nd team), ABA All-Defensive (1st team), All Star

Alex English (1977/1978)
9.6 ppg, 4.8 reb, 1.6 assts, .542 FG%, .727 FT%

Billy Knight (1975/1976)
28.1 ppg, 10.1 reb, 3.7 assts, 1.3 steals, .494 FG%, .40 3pt%, .828 FT%
All-ABA (1st team), All Star

These 3 guys will get all the minutes at SG and SF, so I decided to list them together.

Bobby is one of the leaders of this team, and will be leaded on a lot! In 75/76 he had an amazing season, were he ranked 10th in rebounds, 10th in assists, 4th in steals, 4th in blocks, 9th in Efficency rating, 2nd in TS%, 7th in Offensive Rating, 4th in Defensive Rating, and 1st in FG%. The dude did everything very well.

Billy Knight will be one of our leading scorers. He was a premier scorer who also averaged 10 rebounds per game (ranked 6th in offensive rebounds) with great shooting percentages and range.

Alex English was very efficient but is also very raw. He will backup both wing positions. And finished 5th in the NBA in FG%

BIGS
Moses Malone (1977/1978)
19.4 ppg, 15 reb, 1.3 blks, .499 FG%, .718 FT %,
All Star

Jack Sikma (1977/1978)
10.7 ppg, 8.3 reb, 1.6 assts, .455 FG%, .777 FT%
All-Rookie (1st team)

Sam Lacey (1974/1975)
11.5 ppg, 14.2 reb, 5.3 assts, 2.1 blocks, 1.7 steals, .427 FG%, .754 FT%
All Star
Ranked 10th in MVP voting, 1st in Defensive rebounds, 7th in blocks, 2nd in rebounds, 5th best defensive rating, 3rd in Defensive Win Shares

Moses is our Anchor. Coming off a season were he was traded and still finished 6th in MVP voting, Moses is about to explode! 20 /15 while shooting 50% is pretty beastly in my book.

Rookie Jack Sikma is a solid compliment to Moses. He has a great touch and solid defense and rebounding.

Vet Sam Lacey rounds out our BIG rotation and will allow Moses to slide over to PF for spurts giving use 2 low post beasts. Sam was a great defender, rebounders and superior shot blocker.

SPECIALISTS[/b}
[b]Mike Dunleavy (1976/1977)
4.8 ppg, 1.1 reb, 1.8 asst, .414 FG%, .756 FT%

Mike is a sniper off the bech that will only see spot minutes if shooter is needed.

-----------------------------------

vs BlackIce

PG: Dennis Johnson(29)/Charlie Scott(20)
SG Charlie Scott(18)/World B. Free(30)
SF: Julius Erving(38)/Don Nelson(10)
PF: Jerry Lucas(35)/George McGinnis(13)
Cc: Caldwell Jones(35)/George McGinnis(13)

This is a pretty interesting matchup

ICE has build a team around a group of guys that have played for the Sixers, and I appreciate that!

Our PG’s actually match up very well. DJ (who actually played SG back in 1978 since the Sonics starting PG was my man GWill). That being said, I believe the 2 matchup very well and since GWill was the starter at point over the young DJ, I gotta give me the advantage here!

Charlie Scott, I gotta admit is a guy I know very little about, but I can not find any info anywere that suggests that he could play the point, but maybe this SG/SF had slkills that my sources did not know about. That being said, he seemed to be a very good player who also ranked 4th in turnovers during his select season.

World B Free vs English is another interesting matchup, both players have yet to develop.

Doc vs Bobby Jones is an awesome matchup. Yes Doc’s Nets did win the title in 6 against Bobby’s Nuggets. Doc was the premier offensive player and Bobby was the premier defensive. So it should be great to watch!

Moses vs Caldwell (players that were later traded for eachother) is a nice matchup, but Moses should still have a very good series against C.JONES

George McInnis and Jerry Lucas will be very hard to contain. Moses will be forced to guard one of these guys and the equally stellar defensive force Sam Lacey will take the other. But I do agree that the young Jack Sikma will have his hands full

------------------------------------

vs bryant08

C: Chamberlain (38) - Smith (10)
PF: McAdoo (38) - Sanders (10)
SF: Dandridge (36) - Walker (6) - Sanders (6)
SG: Davis (32) - Walker (8) - White (8)
PG: Wilkens (32) - White (16)

Really can’t argue much with what Bryant said. He has put together a very good balanced team, I am really a big underdog in this series, and would hope my guys could win a game or two. I do think he is selling Billy Knight a tad short. He is a guy I think could have a very good series in this matchup. But I agree on the other points, While Moses will be able to play with Wilt and play well, McAdoo should eat up the young Sikma and even when Sam is in the game, McAdoo was a beast. Dandridge vs Bobby Jones is another good matchup

[lukekarts]

lukekarts' D-Team

Rotation

PG: Don Buse [36] / Kevin Porter [10]
SG: Pete Maravich [24] / Phil Smith [24]
SF: John Havlicek [40] / E.C. Coleman [8]
PF: Dave DeBusschere [38] / Paul Silas [10]
C: Willis Reed [38] / Paul Silas [10]

Meet the team:

Starters

Don Buse 1975-76 - 12.5 points (45.1%), 8.2 assists, 1.9 TOV, 4.2 steals. All Star. All ABA 2nd. All Defensive 1st.

Pete Maravich 1976-77 - 31.1 points (43.3%), 5.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists. All Star. All NBA 1st. 3rd in MVP.

John Havlicek 1973-74 - 22.6 points (45.6%), 6.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists. All Star. All NBA 1st. All Defensive 1st. Champion.

Dave DeBusschere 1969-70 - 14.6 points (45.1%), 10 rebounds, 2.5 assists. All Star. All Defensive 1st. Champion.

Willis Reed 1969-70 - 20.9 points (46.2%), 13.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists. MVP. Finals MVP. All Star. All NBA 1st. All Defensive 1st. Champion

Bench

Kevin Porter 1977-78 - 15 points (46.9%), 10.2 assists, 1.5 steals. All Star. Assist Leader

Phil Smith 1975-76 - 20 points (47.7%), 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists. All Star, All NBA 2nd, All Defensive 2nd

E.C. Coleman 1976-77 - 8.6 points (46.2%), 7.1 rebounds. All Defensive 1st

Paul Silas 1973-74 - 11.5 points (44%), 11.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists. All Defensive 1st. Champion

Beating CellarDoor

Beating CellarDoor's team will not be easy, but I feel my team's stronger defence will be the decisive factor. Buse, Havlicek, DeBusschere and Reed were All Defensive 1st players in their selected seasons, a feat Dampier, Gervin, and Johnson never achieved in their entire careers. To highlight their ability, Havlicek, DeBusschere and Reed played Championship winning basketball in their selected seasons. The fit is perfect here too, with my backcourt offering lights out shooting from 3; Havicek offering a nice compromise, and DeBusschere and Reed banging it in down low. Chemistry will also be a huge advantage, with DeBuscshere and Reed anchoring the Knicks Championship runs together and locking out almost every award between them; and they’re the kind of guys that will put their body on the line to win.

Notably, Reed is the only MVP winner in the group; and the wealth of experience between my starters - close to 10 rings at this point - should make it easy to close out the series. Cellar's lineup lacks experience - Marques was talented but likely to suffer under pressure from Havlicek; and 'winningness'. For all Gervin's individual accolades, he was less of a team player than Maravich, and at this point a less impactful scorer too. I can't fault Lucas and Cowens as a front court, but their individual stats are likely to be lower when they play together - see: Reed & DeBusschere.

Beating TMAC

Sadly, Walton and Reed never matched up; had they done, I think it would have been a great matchup. I can’t fault either in their prime, but needless to say, I don’t think this matchup will define the series.

The series will be decided from SG to PF, where I’m comfortable my team has the advantage. In particular, it’s worth noting that when DeBusschere went head to head with Gus Johnson in the conference finals, he won 2 of 3 matchups, including in his selected season. Red Holzman, Knicks coach at the time, noted, "DeBusschere was our Holy Grail." The advantage Havlicek possesses over Wise is perhaps greater; though Havlicek was not the rebounder Wise is, he was the better defender, passer and scorer. He also won far more, and his place in the All Time list is well documented.

As for Maravich, I’ve done some reading and several sources suggest that he shot, on average, 13 3 point range shots per game in his prime (before the 3pt line existed). If that’s the case, then his TS% would increase dramatically, as would his points per game. Either way, as an all round player he’s regarded as more talented and accomplished than Brown.

If it comes down to chemistry, I can’t be beaten. Reed, DeBusschere, Havlicek and Buse are all great characters and some of them have already played together. If it comes to defence, I can’t be beaten. Collectively, my team have far more defensive accolades. If it comes to offence, I can’t be beaten, I have the best shooters and scorers, and proven Finals MVP’s.

[Miller4ever]

Miller4ever vs. Gremz

QB John Lucas '78 (30)/Norm Nixon '78 (18)
Wing Joe Caldwell '70 (36)/Adrian Dantley '78 (12)
Wing Rick Barry '75 (42)/Larry Kenon '77 (6)
Big Wes Unseld '75 (30)/Larry Kenon '77 (18)
Big Walt Bellamy '69 (36)/Wes Unseld '75 (12)/Robert Parish '78 (spot)

Gremz has gathered a defensive team that doubles as bricklayers, with the obvious exception of Artis Gilmore. If you take the A train out of the equation, this team combines for a career shooting percentage of less than 43%. That's worse than Steve Francis. That FG% is worse than Ray Allen's 3P% last season. Wes Unseld will check Artis Gilmore, and that will doom this team offensively.

Meanwhile, our offense will be able to overcome Gremz'z'ses defense. John Lucas has one of the most underrated court visions of all time, and with Rick Barry stealing the show this year (note the Bulls series when he defeated Sloan and Van Lier) the defense will have its hands full. There are no offensive liabilities on this team, just efficient cogs in a machine. Unlike my opponent's lineup, I have 3 starters over 50% shooting and the two that are under that outpace their opponents in shooting percentage. Higher assist rates also clinch the efficiency argument in my favor.

Miller4ever vs. MJAllDay

QB John Lucas '78 (30)/Norm Nixon '78 (18)
Wing Joe Caldwell '70 (36)/Adrian Dantley '78 (12)
Wing Rick Barry '75 (42)/Larry Kenon '77 (6)
Big Wes Unseld '75 (30)/Larry Kenon '77 (18)
Big Walt Bellamy '69 (36)/Wes Unseld '75 (12)/Robert Parish '78 (spot)

MJAllDay presents a team that has old Jerry West and the oldest possible Bill Russell and Sam Jones. While these guys had their heydays, Rick Barry, Joe Caldwell and Walt Bellamy hold the edge with one year peaks. The real matchup is Spencer Haywood against Wes Unseld.

[Snakebites]

Randy Smith '75-76 (36)/Lionel Hollins '77-78 (12)
Earl Monroe '69-70 (36)/Mike Riordan '72-73 (12)
Jamal Wilkes '75-76 (35)/Mike Riordan '72-73(13)
Elvin Hayes '76-77(38)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (10)
Kareem Abdul Jabbar '70-71 (40)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (8)

In both matchups.

Will fill this in with writeups addressing both opponents later, but I thought I'd give my opponents the rotation to work with.

I’ve always tried to build teams that have a general sense of balance in terms of offensive and defensive abilities. In this case, I feel I’ve been very successful in building a team that can dominate on both sides of the ball, and both in the front court and out on the perimeter.

OFFENSE: Our most potent offensive weapon, who will get a high amount of useage in our offense, is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was damn near automatic inside the paint and also an effective mid range shooter and passer. He could take over games and play unselfishly as well. Surrounding him is an impressive supporting cast of players. Elvin Hayes was not only at his peak efficiency but was an extremely difficult cover throughout his career due to his diverse set of offensive skills. He should also get plenty of opportunities with the emphasis opposing defenses will be forced to put on Kareem.

On the perimeter Wilkes, Riordan, and Roundfield are all exceptional mid-range scorers. Randy Smith and Earl Monroe, together with backup point man Lionell Hollins, will ball handling abilities admirably, and Smith and Monroe were also deadly scorers from any different locations on the court.

VS Warspite: Warspite built a supremely talented team top to bottom. Unfortunately, that talent is not on the defensive end. Lanier, talented though he was, was consistently outplayed by Kareem throughout his impressive career. Looking at this lineup, I don’t see any players known for playing great defense.

I think our guards will be able to break down their perimeter defense consistently and inside they have no response to the tandem of Kareem and Elvin Hayes. We should be able to get what we want offensively against this team.

VS Kees: Perimeter defense, despite the efforts of backup point guard Slick Watts, will be a recurring issue for our opponent. Though potent offensively (if perhaps a little ill constructed, more on that later), none of his starting players were noted for playing any particular amount of defense. This means my diversely talented perimeter threats will not be challenged in getting their shots, nor in facilitating for other players.

Though his team certainly gets better defensively as we move to the front court, Mel Daniels, who dominated the early and thinly talented ABA, and Julius Keye, will be ultimately outmatched by my Hall of Fame front court.

DEFENSE: No sense beating around the bush here. We’ve got 6 players (Kareem, Hayes, Wilkes, Roundfield, Hollins, Riordan) who made All Defensive teams on or near their selected seasons, and we have no notable defensive liabilities. We’ve got arguably the most impactful defensive player in this entire game anchoring our defense. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at his peak, had phenomenal defensive instincts, shot blocking, and ability to rotate. Overall the total package, and the man who made an absurd number of All-Defensive teams. He alone would make our interior defense imposing, but Elvin Hayes was also a terrific defensive presence at his peak. With this pair down low, an opponent’s entire offense is going to be disrupted.

Off the bench, we don’t lose a huge amount defensively as well, as Roundfield was a noted defensive stopper throughout his career. Ours is the most imposing front court defense in this game. On the perimeter, we have players to stand up to just about anyone. Both Wilkes and Riordan are all defensive level defenders on the wings who will be tremendously helpful in curtailing our opponents’ biggest scorers. Randy Smith was also a strong defender who got little appreciation because he didn’t play on great defensive teams. Of course, Lionel Hollins, in addition to giving us another playmaker, was drafted for his tough defensive ability. Our rotation is literally chalked full of strong defensive players and has no real liabilities.

VS Warspite: What his team lacks in defense it has in an imposing offensive arsenal of scorers. There’s only one ball to go around, however, so diminishing returns when it comes to scoring talent is inevitable. Our interior defense will make it hard on anyone he has who likes to drive to the basket or score down low (guys like Thompson, King, and Lanier will be particularly damaged in this regard). We’ve also got perimeter defenders to disrupt the other aspects of their offensive game. Overall, we’ve got at least one great defender at every position, so we simply think we can limit this offense a lot more effectively than our opponent can limit ours.

Overall, our impressive stable of All-NBA level defenders will prevent this impressive collection of scorers from determining the outcome of this game. Should the game be close, we can kick our defense into higher gear with a purely defensive lineup (Hollins, Riordan, Wilkes, Hayes, Kareem, for example), while retaining our ability to get baskets when we need them. Our opponent cannot.

VS Kees: Kees’s team has one fundamental question offensively. Who dominates the ball? Oscar, or Tiny? The obvious answer here appears to be Oscar, but Tiny at this stage in his career simply wasn’t used to playing off the ball at all, as can be seen by his incredibly high level of useage in selected years. Whoever has the ball will dominate it, leaving the other to be potentially lost in the fray. Add that to the defensive presence we have available on the perimeter (we will have at least 2 very strong perimeter defenders on the court at all times) and this is a bumpy ride for Kees’s talented perimeter. Inside, the picture gets even shakier.

With Mel Daniels being the only offensive force starting at the 4/5 spots, it gives us the option to put one of our two starting bigs on him while leaving the other relatively free to help out on the defensive end. Off the bench, Wicks was a talented but often difficult to coach/play with player who I’m not sure fundamentally changes the equation enough to alleviate the sitation for Kees’s team offensively.

Rebounding: 4 of our starters: Kareem, Hayes, Wilkes, and notably Randy Smith (6 rebounds per game at pg) are above average rebounders at their positions. We also have a double digit rebounding backup big man in Dan Roundfield. Hayes’ feat is doubly impressive given he played with another dominant rebounder in Wes Unseld, while Wilkes managed nearly 9 boards per game despite playing on the wing.

VS Warspite: First of all, you have to force misses to grab many rebounds, and War’s defense will have a hard time doing that against this offense. Beyond that, looking at the general rebounding picture on these two teams, I see an advantage for team Snakebites. Though Warspite has strong rebounders up front, ours our stronger, with Hayes and Kareem being two of the best rebounders in this game in their selected years.

On the wings, we each have strong rebounders in Rudy T and Jamal Wilkes, while I also have Randy Smith grabby between 5 and 6 per game. I realize that looking at rebounds per game is not always the most reliable way to evaluate teams, but given all of these players played in the same era and many of them played in similar years to their counterparts, I don’t see the sort of night and day pacing discrepancies there that would be necessary to sway the rebounding battle to Warspite.

VS Kees: Oscar Robertson had by this point come down to human but nonetheless impressive rebounding output for a guard, but looking at the overall rebounding picture for the rest of this team, I don’t see a whole lot of outstanding output.

I also think this team has similar difficulties forcing misses against my offense, and I think my front court (where much of the rebounding battle will be fought) compares favorably against the abilities of this front court as well, particularly given the difficulties of translating early ABA numbers into a game full of 70s NBA stars, particularly two such as Hayes and Kareem. The only standout rebounder on the perimeter is Oscar (Hudson is decent as well, but bested by Wilkes), and Randy Smith is actually a comparable rebounder to him in selected years.


Conclusion: Our team is balanced and overbearing on both offense and defense and is balanced in its abilities throughout. Because of this, there are any number of ways our team can beat you, inside and out. We also have, by what we feel is a considerable margin, the best overall player on the court in either of these series, with a soundly contructed team of rock solid competitors surrounding him at all times. The rebounding and defensive battles favor us in both matchups, and we feel our offense is efficient and powerful enough to help us power through any obstacles these two opponents can throw at us.

[Warspite]

Bing (73)/Goodrich (72)
Thompson (78)/Birdsong
Tomjanovich (74)/ King (78)
Robinson (78)/ Edwards (78)
Lanier (77)/ Nater (77)

VS Kees

I love Oscar and Tiny but not together. They each need a off the ball shooter and neither can do that for the other. Tiny is relgated to a spot up shooter and thats not his strength. Hudson is a SG playing out of position. With the small size of our opponets we simply make the game a half court game and we pound in inside with Lanier and Truck. WIth no shot blocking Thompson can drive the lane and no guard can play with him on the other side. Control the boards, FT adv and veteran leadership (Bing, RudyT, Lanier) is how we control the game and pull out a victory.

VS Snakebites

Showing the versitility my team puts on the after burners and runs, runs, and then runs. We are the younger more athletic team with a backcourt adv. We have the C to play KAJ 1on1 and his mid range game will force KAJ to come out and not guard the rim. Rudy Ts great shooting stretches the defense and Thompson attacks. The higher the tempo the better the chanxe of victory. No doubt this is a very fun game to watch.

[TMACFORMVP]

I'd like to say Cellar and luke have built terrific teams, and it's always fun to try to take on the challenge. May the best team win, which my team fully intends to do so (x2).

I'll try to keep it short-er.

Defense

Our defense is anchored by two of the most dominant defenders at their position. Bill Walton, in a one year peak, is an absolutely incredible player. He was - everywhere - so to speak. He ran the floor like a SF, rebounded as well as any center to have played (look at his rebound totals - then look at his minutes, and 21.2 TRB%). He would run the floor, block the shot, bang inside, switch on the pick and roll, and get his hand on seemingly every play. The Blazers in 77' had by far the best playoff defense, and a Top 5 defense in the regular season. You want to talk about impact? The Blazers in 77 were 6-12 without Walton, and 43-21 with him. If you include 78' as well, the Blazers were 61-21 with him, and 31-51 without him over the course of those two seasons. Sticking with the chosen season, the Blazers scored 113 PPG with Walton, and gave up 105 PPG to opponents. In those games without him? It was literally flipped, giving up roughly 111 PPG, and scoring 105 PPG. That's a remarkable difference, essentially the difference from a lower tier lottery team, and an NBA champion.

On the perimeter, we're anchored by Frazier. I emphasize the word 'anchored' because the most dominant perimeter defenders are disruptive ones that affect the entire way the offense is played. Frazier does this, arguably greater than any guard in NBA history. He had terrific size, strong and quick hands, and was a menace in the passing lanes. He's another one like Walton that would be able to recover and get his hands on the ball from seemingly impossible angles. Then you factor in his aggressive man defense, Frazier is IMO undoubtedly the best PG defender of all time (with Payton only having an argument) and one of the best perimeter defenders of all time, period.

With Walton, and Frazier alone, you're already guaranteed a trapping defense with elite help and man defense - that's likely to be one of the best in the league.

Then we add Wise, and Gus Johnson? Willie Wise from numerous SI articles was heralded as the "best all round" forward in the ABA. Aside from his potent offensive game, he was most recognized for his stellar defensive game. He had the versatility to guard 1-4's (don't believe me, check out the quip on how LOCKED down McGinnis to seven points, and numerous turnovers during his MVP season). He was similar to Frazier in that he covered alot of ground in a short amount of time. Gus Johnson was another athlete, a high flying jumper that came out of nowhere to block shots, get in the passing lanes, and use his deceptively strong frame to become a dominant rebounder, and strong post defender. With his quickness and athleticism, we feel he gives us a perfect compliment in the post to cover any sort of PF.

We have three game changing elite defenders in Frazier, Wise, and Walton. Then add in more athletes like Cunningham, and All-D athletes like Johnson, there's no weakness defensively for my team. We can cover the likes of any player with the versatility, have elite perimeter man defense, and ridiculous help defense with Johnson and Walton. We force turnovers, run the floor, and are stifling in a halfcourt setting. Even Brown has shown he could step up to the challenge, and successfully limit some of the teams best offensive players as well. He also showed he could play the SG position when McGinnis joined the team, and it obviously proved successful with an ABA championship.

And most importantly, aside from the terrific individual ability of our defensive players both man to man and on the weakside - we have defensive leadership as well. Walton was always communicating defensively, telling players where to go, and Frazier has always been an extension of the coach on the floor. Again, I'll repeat, we have a DOMINANT defense, which lacks absolutely nothing.

vs. lukekarts
On defense, we like the matchups we have with luke. Frazier will be on Maravich, we'll let Brown cover Buse who serves as a spot up shooter, Wise on Havlicek, and the big men match up with eachother.

I think the best thing to do with lukes team is have Maravich shoot. And considering, he's likely the option 1A-C), with Frazier covering him, we feel we will do exactly that. I think it's interesting to note that Maravich never led New Orleans to the playoffs during his entire tenure there, and he led the worst offenses in the NBA consistently every season. He was an exciting player to watch, but a guy that didn't make others around him better, was high volume, very inefficient, and poor defensively. There has to be a reason with Maravich having the ball so much that his teams finished among the worst offensively, and among the worst in the NBA period.

(Also interesting to note, in one of the few seasons Maravich did make the playoffs, it was in his rookie season with the Hawks - against a Frazier led Knicks team - he shot 37% in the series).

We won't really stop Hondo, but the best we can do is for him from going off. With Willie Wise, the best perimeter defender in ABA history, we think we can put him in positions that are less efficient to score, especially with a trapping help defense of Frazier, Walton, and Gus.

DeBusschere will be covered by Gus, and while it's true the Knicks got the edge in the series, the Knicks were also a much better team. We feel he can keep him off the glass, and use his athleticism to contest his shots.

Walton/Reed is interesting. Reed is predominately a mid-range jumpshooter, that had good size, but was a bit undersized. Walton will have the size advantage, the quickness to recover on his jumpshot, and the bulk to take away his banging in the post.

Ultimately, while lukes team is solid offensively, it's rather inefficient, and being covered by elite defenders from our side. Then factor in there's no second de-facto superstar that can truly hurt my teams defense, we feel comfortable with the defensive scheme and versatility our players provide.


vs. CellarDoor
We'd put Walton on Cowens, and stick Gus on Mo Lucas. If there's a player that can match Cowens intensity, grit and constant motor, it'd be a prime Walton. That would be a terrific matchup to see, Walton has the height advantage, and helpside defense edge, and should ultimately limit Cowens from doing anything out of the ordinary, similarly with Gus on Lucas, who wasn't the sort of player to kill you with his offensive game. It's also worth noting that Cowens and Lucas weren't the most efficient big men either.

On the perimeter, it'll basically be a rotation of guys that are hot. Initially, we'll start with Frazier on Gervin, and Wise on Marques as those are the two biggest players on Cellar's team. Brown will cover Dampier, as he also serves as a spot up shooter in this series. We also have the versatility to stick Brown on Johnson, and switch up Frazier to guard Dampier, and Wise to guard Gervin.

Ultimately, again, I don't know if Cellar has enough firepower to overcome the stifling perimeter defense, with inefficient big man, and lack of another true 20 PPG scorer next to Gervin.

Rebounding

In addition to our defense, another huge positive we have with our team is our rebounding. Walton leads our core as one of the best rebounders of all time, along with Gus Johnson in his best season as a pro (pulls down just a little over 17 RPG). Wise during his peak was an exceptional rebounder, in fact a double digit rebounder in the ABA in the chosen season. Brown is also a terrific rebounder at the G position, and Frazier is among the greatest for a PG. Off the bench, Cunningham provides another hustling rebounder that pulled down nearly 13 per game, and always shown supreme rebounding ability with other terrific rebounders as well.

I don't think there's much more to be said about this, since it's apparently obvious about our rebounding prowess. Here are my teams TRB% numbers (I adjusted for minutes, but realize that's not the most accurate way to do this, but I was bored, and figure it'd be easier (nonetheless the raw TRB% should prove our team is better on the boards):

Bill Walton (76-77) - 21.2 TRB% x (34 mins) = 720.8/100 = 7.2
Gus Johnson (70-71) - 19.6 TRB% x (32 mins) = 548.8/100 = 5.5
Willie Wise (71-72) - 12.3 TRB% x (34 mins) = 418.2/100 = 4.1
Roger Brown (69-70) - 8.0 TRB% x (30 mins) = 240/100 = 2.4
Walt Frazier (71-72) - 8.0 TRB% x (40 mins) = 320/100 = 3.2
Billy Cunningham (69-70) - *best rebounding season, however not recorded. Posted numbers above 14 in post seasons, yet wasn't as good a rebounder. I'll be generous and say, 14.2 TRB% (likely more, but too lazy to use true's formula) x (34 mins) = 482.8/100 = 4.82
Paul Westphal (77-78) - 3.4 TRB% x (26 mins) = 88.4/100 = 0.9
Zelmo Beaty (70-71) - 17.4 TRB% x (14 mins) = 243.6/100 = 2.4

TOTAL: 30.52

vs. CellarDoor
Dave Cowens (75-76) - 19.8 TRB%
Maurice Lucas (76-77) - 16.2 TRB%
Marques Johnson (77-78) - 16.2 TRB%
George Gervin (77-78) - 7.1 TRB%
Louie Dampier (74-75) - 3.7 TRB%

Tree Rollins (77-78) - 16.7 TRB%
Brian Taylor - Don't know the season, but doesn't matter, won't likely change the outcome.
Bob Love (71-72) - 7.9 TRB%
Red Robbins (69-70) - 18.6 TRB%. Don't know how many minutes this guy is playing, but it's a double sword either way, IMO. I'd expect it'd be less minutes anyway, considering Cellar has much better options available than an often unheard of Robbins.

Nonetheless, we still have the most dominant rebounder in the series, with better rebounding across the board for major minute players. This is a nice rebounding edge for our team as well.

vs. lukekarts
Willis Reed (69-70) - *TRB not calculated, but similar rebounding total next year, one minute less, so I'd presume it'd just be a little higher, we'll be generous, and say - 16.5 TRB%. x (38 mins) = 627/100 = 6.27.

Dave DeBusschere (69-70) - *TRB not calculated, but actually slightly better rebounding numbers the next season, but in less minutes, would be a fair to assume it's the same - 14.2 TRB% x (38 mins) = 539.6/100 = 5.39

John Havlicek (73-74) - 7.6 TRB% x (40 mins) = 304/100 = 3.04
Pete Maravich (76-77) - 6.0 TRB% x (30 mins) = 180/100 = 1.80
Don Buse (75-76) - 4.3 TRB% x (36 mins) = 154.8/100 = 1.55

Bench
Paul Silas (73-74) - 17.0 TRB% x (20 mins) = 340/100 = 3.4
E.C. Coleman (76-77) - 11.2 TRB% x (10 mins) = 89.6/100 = 0.9
Phil Smith (75-76) - 6.4 TRB% x (18 mins) = 115.2/100 = 1.15
Kevin Porter (77-78) - 3.7 TRB% x (10 mins) = 37/100 = 0.37

TOTAL: 23.87

Simply said, there's a huge advantage for the boards for our team.

Offense

Picture this. Bill Walton, the best rebounder on the floor, grabs the rebound, and outlet passes it to Frazier even before his feet touches the ground (this was what Walton was most famous for, would grab the rebound, contort his body in midair and throw the outlet pass to ignite the offense). Frazier, being one of the best decision makers in the league would have the opportunity to pull up for his patent mid range jumper, or dish it to the other athletes running the floor such as Cunningham, Brown, Wise, or Johnson.

In the half-court, we have Walton set up in either the high or low post. With his vision, and versatility on offense, he could play both as equally effective. And around that lies our offensive attack, cutters and slashers like Cunningham and Westphal attacking the rim. Brown stationed on the perimeter with his shooting, and the the ability to break down the defense to either create for himself or his teammates. Walton setting the pick to free up Frazier for his mid-range shot or throw it to Walton on the roll (this was predominately the Blazers offense - setting screens to free up the jumpshot, and finding cutters inside).

Our efficiency is ridiculous considering our volume:

Code: Select all

Frazier - 23.2 PPG on .571 TS% (.512 FG%)
Brown - 23.0 PPG on .572 TS% (.498 FG%) 
Wise - 23.2 PPG on .558 TS% (.505 FG%)
Johnson - 18.2 PPG on .494 TS% (.454 FG%)
Walton - 18.6 PPG on .563 TS% (.522 FG%)
Cunningham - 26.1 PPG on .524 TS% (.469 FG%) 
Westphal - 25.2 PPG on .565 TS% (.519 FG%) - IN ONLY 31 MINS
Beaty - 22.9 PPG on .612 TS% (.555 FG%)

So how do you stop an already efficient offensive team, with players that make others around them better, specifically Walton whose best trait was bringing out the best of his teammates offensive capabilities?

vs. lukekarts
I think this also goes with more about the team philosophy opening up easy basket, and scoring opportunities. Frazier has outplayed the likes of West in the Finals, I'm not sold on how much an effect Buse will have on his overall game. Walton, in the WCF of the chosen season got Kareem in foul trouble for two of the final games of a sweep. Reed, being shorter, and a worse defender wouldn't be able to contain him either. Check this out, all our players, or our best players can create for each other, Westphal, Frazier, Walton, and Cunningham being terrific passers at their respective position. I'd also like to add that Cunningham is one of the more underrated players of this era, he developed a nice jumpshot, was very athletic in attacking the rim, a relentless rebounder, and an awesome play-maker. He often even got first team nods over even Hondo himself!

vs. CellarDoor
Similar to what I said above with luke's matchup, we're in love with the offensive execution and efficiency of our team. In this case however, Cellar's defense comes from his front-court, however in the backcourt, where predominately most of our scoring comes from (with Walton's play-making), Cellar lacks in perimeter defenders. Johnson was a solid defender, but not spectacular, and Gervin/Dampier were frankly not that good. Brown, Westphal, and Frazier should have their way.

Final Points
Check out our players playoff #'s. Almost everyone on the team were BIG game performers, and I'd expect that to translate here. Overall, I think in both matchups, we have offensive matchups we can exploit, and defensive matchups that we feel we have the edge as well. Add that with a tremendous rebounding edge, our team should come away with two hard fought victories.

[lukekarts]

I'll approach rebuttals basically in order of the points each opponent has raised, so here goes.

vs. TMAC - Rebuttal

Defence - I can understand the assignment of Frazier onto Maravich, and that's fine by me. I added Maravich to this team as a bit of a gamble; and that's why my best backup (Smith) also plays at SG. You can throw all the 'chucking' comments his way and that's also fine. The thing you've got to remember, is that in 1977 his best team-mate was Nate Williams or Jim McElroy, two forgotton players and for good reason. It's akin to Dwyane Wade a couple of years ago, playing alongside Mark Blount, Udonis Haslem & Quentin Richardson. Not a pretty sight. Hell, the teams' leading rebounder picked up little over 7 per game - how bad is that? When he did finally find himself playing with talent, he found success- here, he's playing with talent in his athletic prime. If it doesn't work, I'll just have Don Buse stop feeding him the ball, or bench him in favour of Phil Smith. Buse and Havlicek are too smart to let Maravich chuck the game away, he won't become a liability!

Walton/Reed is interesting. Reed is predominately a mid-range jumpshooter, that had good size, but was a bit undersized. Walton will have the size advantage, the quickness to recover on his jumpshot, and the bulk to take away his banging in the post.

Reed, being shorter, and a worse defender wouldn't be able to contain him either

This, I think, seems to be a common misconception about Reed. People always bring up his size and his scoring range in order to discredit him, but he was supremely effective (Finals MVP no less) against a stacked (West/Baylor/Chamberlain) Lakers team. That Lakers team was better than your team.

Take a look at these numbers from the 1970 Finals (sadly,detailed numbers aren't available)

Game 1 - Willis Reed - 37 pts / Wilt Chamberlain 17 pts (Frazier DNP)
Game 2 - Willis Reed - 29 pts / Wilt Chamberlain 19 pts
Game 3 - Willis Reed - 38 pts / Wilt Chamberlain 21 pts
Game 4 - Willis Reed - 23 pts / Wilt Chamberlain 18 pts
Game 5 - Injured / Wilt leads LAL in scoring (23 pts)
Game 6 - Injured / Wilt leads LAL in scoring (45 pts)
Game 7 - Reed hobbles back onto the court, Wilt no longer leads LAL in scoring (18pts)

If that's not good enough evidence that Reed was a dominant playoff performer at both ends of the court against elite size (just look at the differential when he didn't play!) I don't know what else I can say. Wilt was a 4-time MVP and 10 x All Star at this point, whose 22/22 statline that year was still far better than Walton, whom Reed faces in this matchup. He also overcame a Bullets front court of Johnson (in this matchup) and Wes Unseld (no slouch) supported by Earl Monroe, and Kareem!

Then factor in there's no de-facto superstar that can truly hurt my teams defense

I think I answered that above. Also, see Havlicek, who is a better playoff 'superstar' than anyone else on both our rosters. Supremely efficient 28ppg in the Playoffs.

it's rather inefficient

If we look at the transition across era's, particularly as 2 of my starters were playing in 1970, we will see that Reed, DeBusschere and Buse were all actually very efficient for their era; particularly Reed who was getting 10 FTA per game in that Finals run. And, when all these guys line up in a team, it's hard to say whether these FG%'s will be anywhere close to their statlines in selected years - playing with good players often (though, not always) results in improved efficiency.

and being covered by elite defenders from our side.

Your defenders may be elite, but my front court held the league leading Opp PTS/G -105.9 - in 1970. That's elite, and the chemistry is there already.

Here are my teams TRB% numbers:

That's all very nice, but really, TRB% isn't especially useful. You can make a case that DeBusschere and Reed's TRB% is pretty low, but they played together, and RPG / TRB% are heavily influenced by team-mates rebounding ability, and doesn't factor in overall team-rebounding. It's worth noting that Reed overcame the Bullets front court of Johnson/Unseld (whose TRB% was higher), and the Lakers of Chamberlain (whose TBR% was higher), and the Bucks of Kareem (whose TRB% was higher), in their selected year.

[Gremz]

GREMZVILLE FIGHTING GEESE

Starters

PG - Norm Van Lier
1973-74 14.3ppg 6.9apg 4.7rpg 2.0spg .406 FG% .778 FT%
All-Defensive 1st
All-NBA 2nd

SG - Jerry Sloan
1971-72 16.2ppg 8.4rpg 2.6apg .444 FG% .660 FT%
All-Defensive 1st

SF - Elgin Baylor
1968-69 24.8ppg 10.6rpg 5.4apg .447 FG% .773 FT%
All-NBA 1st

PF - Nate Thurmond
1970-71 20.0ppg 13.8rpg 3.1apg .445 FG% .730 FT%
All-Defensive 1st

C - Artis Gilmore
1971-72 23.8ppg 17.8rpg 2.7apg 5.0bpg .598 FG% .646 FT%
ABA MVP
All-ABA 1st

Reserves

PF - Connie Hawkins
1969-70 24.6ppg 10.4rpg 4.8apg .490 FG% .779 FT%
All-NBA 1st

PG - Mack Calvin
1974-75 19.5ppg 7.7apg 2.8rpg 1.9spg .485 FG% .896 FT%
All-ABA 1st

SG- Dick Van Arsdale
1973-74 17.8ppg 4.2apg 2.8rpg .500 FG% .853 FT%
All-Defensive 2nd

Kermit Washington
1977-78 11.6ppg 10.8rpg 1.3apg .487 FG% .691 FT%

Rotation

PG - Van Lier (40)/Calvin (8)
SG - Sloan (28)/Van Arsdale (20)
SF - Baylor (40)/Sloan (8)
PF - Thurmond (20)/Hawkins (28)
Cc - Gilmore (38)/Thurmond (10)

The Gameplan

Defense

This roster was setup with a simple plan in mind. Elite defense paired with specific offensive flair. I was rather surprised that I was able to construct a team of this nature, albeit thanks to a couple of rather fortunate drops, but still it offers the perfect design to run deep into this competition.

First and foremost, it's built on defense. A defense like any other in this competition. Consisting of four prime defensive stoppers in it's starting unit, this squad is capable of stopping any offense in this era. In fact, the only concern from a defensive perspective as a starter is one Elgin Baylor, a man who while no slouch defensively, is more than capable of making up for any of these concerns on the offensive end, where he is a formidable threat.

Twin towers of Thurmond and Gilmore are the foundation for our lineup. With both being such forces on defense, we have the luxury of working Gilmore on the low block to not only hold off any positional advantages from opposing scorers and stat pad his block numbers, but to also ensure he operates as the most dominant rebounder on the court. Close to the glass he is an absolute monster.

Thurmond will operate as the high post man, where he is more than comfortable. Primarily having two large individuals to operate defensively together would prove difficult, but the veratility of Thurmond should disperse that concern fairly quickly. Operating the perimeter we have two dogged, old school style defenders to disrupt any threat from range and also prevent fluent passing inside and out.

Both Gilmore and Thurmond are helped by the quality reserve play of Connie Hawkins and Kermit Washington when required. Our fluent Big Man rotation provides an incredible physical defense, the like of which have never been seen.

Van Lier and Sloan are notorious in the passing lanes and provide enough size and man on man defense to prevent any looks or penetration, which will especially help to stop the more aggressive guards from getting to the line at will. Depending on the lineup we are facing, Sloan may guard either wing position, depending on the bigger threat, being helped out in reserve by another great man defender in Dick Van Arsdale.


Offense

I'm not going to pretend that I have the ultimate offense, it's plainly obvious that I don't. What I do have however, are two phenomenal #1 scoring options, both of which in this environment will flourish like never before.

Generally speaking, it's usually tough to incorporate Elgin Baylor into an ATL style team with his volume mannerisms, however, considering the lack of scoring needs around him, he is free to operate at his highest level without the constrictions of hurting his teammates.

He's our catalyst, our main guy and the offensive will flow through him. Primarily, with his strength he will post up as much as possible, operate as close to the basket as he can getting him the most optimistic of looks thus putting exceptional amounts of pressure on the defense and bolstering that FG% in a dramatic fashion. With no need for out of place range offense, he will dominate.

His partner in crime will be Artis. Having no problem operating as a second option, he will be dominant on the low block, providing to be both a devastating individual weapon, or as a facilitator which he is more than comfortable of providing. His size, strength and offensive prowess will provide us with a devastating 1-2-combo. Up front, Thurmond will primarily look to operate from slight range, something he did for a number of years. Although his numbers aren't exactly flattering, he is more than capable of keeping defenses honest with his ability to find ways to score.

Van Lier will obviously operate as the main facilitator, pushing the ball to find room for his main scoring options to operate, Sloan will play off Van Lier, stretching to find his open looks.

The bench is where we get our major scoring boost from. Hawkins is a big time scorer. Someone who can take over games on his own, and with his major minutes he will prove to be an exceptional part of the offense and ultimately win us a few series'. Van Arsdale and Calvin are another two great options from the bench for us. Van Arsdale will be a solid thread with his mid range game, while Calvin offers a way to split through defenses to create better looks for not only his teammates, but himself as a capable scoring option.

VS MILLER4EVER

There's really not a whole lot that needs to be addressed here in reality. I think this is a pretty straight forward case of defense being too much. Sure there's reason to be concerned with the volume offense, but Barry's success wasn't tested against a prime Thurmond, let alone with a monster of a defensive partner in Gilmore. Even against just Sloan and Van Lier they only scraped through to the finals, and up against a more formidable defense with a one dimensional offense a similar result is a big stretch of the imagination.

The biggest concern is with Barry's ability to take over games. In wake we have Sloan to take him on as a man defender, the main reason being to restrict any freedom he has. We don't want him to be able to have his way on the court so locking him down via solid man defense is what we have in mind. Caldwell isn't what we consider a major threat, and Baylor should adequately provide a solid size coverage to restrict those open looks.

Van Lier will be a huge factor on defense here. Lucas, a guy who wasn't immune from turnovers, will find the pressing nature of Van Lier exceptionally difficult to manage. Specifically, the underrated court vision of Lucas that M4E suggests will struggle to be in effect with such a dominant defensive threat looming over him constantly. Van Lier's ability to manufacture steals is legendary, pair that with an equal threat in Sloan and it's hard to see any way that a smooth passing game will exist from the backcourt. This is another big advantage to us, considering they will rely upon heavy amounts of ball movement to create enough open looks to threaten the scoreboard. Let's face it, it's not like they'll be getting any easy looks inside.

I'll keep going back to it, but there's not enough range threats to worry about for us here. It's theoretically the only way an offense will succeed against us, and you'd need ammunition in bucket loads, which is simply not present here.

Gilmore and Thurmond have little immediate threat offensively from an aging Bellamy and a less than dominant scorer in Unseld. The best part about this is how it will reflect upon the dominance on the boards, and the pressure they can apply to the guards who attempt to get into the paint (which I give them credit for IF they even try it, big if). With such a prominent big court we will be more than capable of stopping any easy hoops, effectively forcing M4E's team to a jumpshooting team, which will certainly not end well.

Offensively our two main guys will get theirs. With Unseld "holding" off Gilmore he can simply use his length to shoot over him. I'm not worried about his ability to get easy baskets this way. Gilmore is phenomenal at getting to "his spot". Not only that, but his playoff offensive numbers are on par with the greatest of all time, and were up there before he was injured and needed to be closer to the basket. Unseld can try all he like, but Gilmore in this season is unstoppable.

The other main point is of course Baylor, and if he's being looked after by Barry, it's essentially big trouble here. I won't go as far as saying Barry would act as a swinging gate against Baylor, but he's not far from it. Baylor's strength will be a major factor here, and ultimately I think the pressure here and from Gilmore are where we take down this series.

When you add in the effectiveness of a dominant scoring 6th man like Connie Hawkins and the useful scoring from Van Arsdale, we provide more than enough capable scoring options to get the job done here. It's not like we need to score 100 points with a defense like ours.

M4E might rebut that he has a great passing system, but I assure you looking at our number that we are as good if not better as a team at ball movement. Everyone of our guys are nothing short of quality in terms of distributing the ball.

In terms of rebounding, normally you'd look at Bellamy and Unseld in awe, unless they're up against the dominance of Thurmond and Gilmore. In fact, across the board we have the rebounding edge, which will be huge to prevent all those second looks for a solid offensive unit.

Pretty straightforward series win for us here.

VS MJALLDAY59

The biggest dilemma here is the obvious duo of Russell and West. I'm kind of thankful for a couple of things. First is that West is the primary PG here, another being the aging bodies of Same Jones and especially Bill Russell, but most importantly I'm really thankful for the lack of chemistry that this team possesses.

We could waste time talking about the overall factors such as my dominant defense and his very capable one, or that West is the best offensive player in the series by fair, better than Baylor, but I think overall when you piece the squads together you can theoretically say that they balance out (I'll be nice), even though we possess the more rounded of the two benches.

I'm thankful for having a quality defender to man up against West. Sloan is a big luxury here. The Baylor offensive game will again be a big part of this series. He'll be used as I always do, and there's little to suggest that his game will be hindered this time around either.

The most telling part will be whether Gilmore can prove to get his against and elderly Russell. It's pretty clear that he'll be a handful, and at the very least demand full attention, so I assume it's safe to say he'll be a legitimate threat on offense. The same can't be said for MJ's frontcourt, which will have an incredibly tough time trying to get any consistent offense going.

This is why I think the chemistry problem will ultimately play into our favor. With little meshing to be seen between West and Greer, I just can't see a fluent offense here. If we're led to believe that West alone is to carry the offense then this team will be in for a major shock. Considering our defensive backcourt, I am more than confident of their scoring options being very much restricted here.

There's also something about the starting bigs that doesn't sit well with me too. I'm not exactly sure they're the best of fits together, and that's something exceptionally hard to say when one of the guys involved is Bill Russell. I just don't think you get enough well rounded production having Spencer next to him.

Let's not also forget the fact that Haywood is a renowned headcase. Without resorting to new links, let's just say he has a pretty big problem listening to advice from authority figures, which in this league will be exceptionally costly.

If it's Greer who it to hold the offensive key, then it's safe to say that a disjointed offense will come up short against a defense manufactured to prevent easy looks. I understand the threat that West possesses from the outside, but once again, turning a decent team into a jumpshooting one will certainly lead them to hardships and ultimately failure.

The seem to feature a similar problem with lack of offensive #1 options (something that I think in most ATL's and especially in this era will be sorely overrated) but it's the way that these two teams are built that is the deciding factor. Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry.

Pretty confident about both matchups here.

[MJallday59]

Coming soon!!!

[bryant08]

Apologies for my writeup/rotation going up so late, been busy with some family matters the past few days.

Roster:

C Wilt Chamberlain (71-72)
- 14.8 points, 19.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 65% FG
- 1972 NBA Champion
- Finals MVP
- 1972 All Defensive 1st Team
- 1972 All NBA 2nd Team

PF Bob McAdoo (74-75)
- 34.5 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.1 blocks, 1.1 steals, 51% FG, 81% FT
- 1975 NBA MVP
- 1975 All NBA 1st Team

SF Bob Dandridge (70-71)
- 18.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 51% FG
- 1971 NBA Champion

SG Walter Davis (77-78)
- 24.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 53% FG, 83% FT
- 1978 Rookie of the Year
- 1978 All NBA 2nd Team

PG Lenny Wilkens (71-72)
- 18.0 points, 9.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 47% FG, 77% FT

PG/SG Jo Jo White (75-76)
- 18.9 points, 5.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 45% FG, 84% FT
- 1976 NBA Champion
- 1976 NBA Finals MVP

SF/PF Tom Sanders (69-70)
- 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 44% FG

C Elmore Smith (73-74)
- 12.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.8 blocks, 1.8 assists, 46% FG

SF/SG Chet Walker (71-72)
- 22 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 51% FG, 85% FT

Rotation:

Chamberlain (38) - Smith (10)
McAdoo (38) - Sanders (10)
Dandridge (36) - Walker (6) - Sanders (6)
Davis (32) - Walker (8) - White (8)
Wilkens (32) - White (16)

Strategy vs. SamBone
I think it's clear SamBone's built a young team in this era that's ready to dominate the next. While a team that has Malone/Jones is still pretty solid this era, I feel my roster has too much depth and talent not to win this matchup.

On offense, I plan to attack rookie Jack Sikma quite heavily with Bob McAdoo who was nearly unstoppable offensively in his MVP season. Beyond that matchup specifically I feel my starting lineup has balance, with everyone being able to play their part. I picked Lenny Wilkens to facilitate the offense, Davis simply for his scoring/shooting ability, Dandridge due to his ability to score and fit the team dynamic (which he did excellently in Washington), McAdoo for his talent level in the selected season and Wilt to be my focal point. I feel my guards have a significant advantage in this matchup simply because of their talent level and ability to score the ball. Wilkens is a solid creator off penetration and Davis can space the floor with his shooting ability. Off the bench, Jo Jo White brings a championship pedigree and Chet Walker brings the ability to break people down one-on-one.

Defensively, Malone is really the only major concern but with Wilt, I'm sure his effectiveness will be limited. And the positive is that I feel in this matchup Malone can still get his offense, but my squad will have success defending the rest of SamBone's lineup.

Strategy vs. BlackIce
BlackIce has a built a team full of talent, but I feel he's got another team that's better suited to go after a title in the next era.

Looking at the squads right away, the centrepiece of BlackIce's squad is Dr. J. I feel Erving would have to be MASSIVE for his team to have a chance at winning this matchup (and I think most would agree). And while on paper it's easy to assume Dandridge (however much of a solid defender he was) would get outplayed by Dr. J, he's proven he can defend Dr. J in the past. The following is an excerpt from Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball:

You could call Bobby D. a cross between Caron Butler and Big Shot Brob, someone who did all the little things, drifted between three positions, defended every type of forwards (famously outdueling Julius Erving in the '78 Playoffs) and routinely drained monster shots (like the game-winner against a triple-team in Game 7 of the '79 Spurs series, which happened after he had been switched to a scalding-hot George Gervin and shut down Ice for the final few minutes).

Game 3 of that series was a pure statement by Dandridge, holding Dr. J to just 12 points and scoring 30 himself, giving the Washington Bullets a 3-1 series lead on the Sixers. Now I don't expect Dr. J to be shut down in this series, but I do expect Dandridge to make him work, and that's all you can ask. If Dandridge just have some trouble with Erving anyways, I have no problem going to my bench and Satch Sanders to provide lockdown defense on Julius. Sanders is the definiton of the ideal team player, doing whatever it takes to win and his defense on players such as Elgin Baylor in this era is what made him such a great player.

Beyond Erving, BlackIce's main threats are Jerry Lucas, Caldwell Jones and Charlie Scott. I'm very confident in McAdoo's offensive abilities against Lucas. McAdoo's provide a threat from anywhere on the floor with his array of moves both on the perimeter and in the post. His mobility is also an asset defensively as Lucas is a great shooter and less likely to put the ball on the floor. McAdoo's quickness and ability to close out will limit Lucas's effectiveness. I feel I have the edge on both ends of the floor with the Wilt/Jones matchup, and although Charlie Scott is an effective scorer I have a few scorers in Davis/Walker who can easily give him a run for his money.

The bottom line is I have faith in my team to take advantage of matchups and play 2 way team basketball. A lot of teams are built with a few great offensive players and then a few great defensive ones, but I feel that I will achieve success in this era due to my team's cohesion and harmony as a unit. Wilt/McAdoo/Dandridge/Wilkens were guys that were extremely talented on both ends of the floor.

[TMACFORMVP]

REBUTTAL

Nice rebuttal luke. I'm glad you did one.

When he did finally find himself playing with talent, he found success- here, he's playing with talent in his athletic prime.

Where did he find success? In his rookie season with Atlanta where the team won 36 games to qualify for the playoffs. The same Maravich that also shot 37% against a New York Knicks team in a sweep? Or the next season, where it was virtually the same thing, another 36 wins? 73' was the only good year for Maravich in terms of team success, but they still lost in the first round, and he wasn't even the best offensive talent on his team, yet he took the most shot attempts per minute.

And with the last point, that's exactly what I mean. If they're smart enough to keep Maravich in check in terms of shot attempts, he doesn't do anything else to justify him being on the court. He's not helping his teammates, he's not playing defense, and doesn't have any extra intangibles outside of exciting the crowd. I was honestly extremely surprised to find that Maravich led teams were in fact among the worst in the league in ORTG. Phil Smith doesn't possess these same negative qualities in a team setting, but he also reduces the overall firepower of your squad - something I personally think lacks in quality when compared to the squad we've put together.

If that's not good enough evidence that Reed was a dominant playoff performer at both ends of the court against elite size (just look at the differential when he didn't play!) I don't know what else I can say. Wilt was a 4-time MVP and 10 x All Star at this point, whose 22/22 statline that year was still far better than Walton, whom Reed faces in this matchup. He also overcame a Bullets front court of Johnson (in this matchup) and Wes Unseld (no slouch) supported by Earl Monroe, and Kareem!

a.) I didn't really say Walton would shut down Reed, rather that he wouldn't go off in this series, and that's all we need.

b.) The Wilt example is interesting, but also mis-leading. Wilt, while a terrific defender, both man to man, and on the weak-side, he often didn't come out to guard outside the paint. Walton was more versatile in this regard, as he's more able to contest Reed's perimeter range jumpshot, while still having the strength to challenge him in the post.

c.) Reed was a bruising inside sort player in the post defensively, but what we were really trying to accomplish with our last post was that there's no real way to slow down Walton. Even if he isn't scoring, the sort of impact he has on the floor with his passing, rebounding, defense, and movement is ridiculous. I don't think we could say the same about Reed. And my example of how he battled Kareem head to head was merely pointing out that Walton has done it against better, so it wouldn't be too far fetched to think he'd perform well against Reed.

Bill Walton in 77' was a transcendental player whose peak was considerably better than Reed's IMO.

Here's a post quoting TrueLAfan's in a thread involving Duncan v. Walton:

Bill Walton was kind of a "you had to see it" sort of thing.

Comparing his quickness and mobility to the young KG is interesting. I think Walton was both faster and quicker. One primary point...Walton played in a faster paced period, so his speed and quickness shouldn't have stood out as much. They did. He ran like a SF.

He ran the floor like a SF and rebounded like Dwight Howard or Bill Russell or Wilt. All of those guys have rebound rates well over 20--more like 21. Dwight Howard, in the last four years, has rebound rates of about 21. Wilt has a career rate in the mid-20s. Same with Russell. Walton? Career rate of 19.8...about 21 in his peak seasons. So you have a big man that ran the court better than anyone else who rebounded better than anyone else.

The passing. My God, the passing. Walton assist numbers do not reflect what an amazing passer he was. If I had to bet on which part of his body would fail when he was in college and in his first couple of years, I would have gone with his back. He would get the rebound, twist his body in mid air, and throw the outlet pass before his feet hit the ground. This was not a highlight reel play; this was something he did naturally all the time. His passes were not slow or inside-out passes; they were quick, fast thinking passes from a player that saw the court like a PG. I was too young to see Wilt's big assist years. The best passing big man I have ever seen--and it's by a lot--is Bill Walton.

Walton had range--not Jack Sikma range--but good, 15-20 foot range. He could easily play at the top of the key, and your offense would not slow down. He shot 52% from the field. He scored better than a point every two minutes he was on the court as a starter. He was not a primary scorer type...but he could score well and, if called on (*cough*NCAAfinals1973*cough*) would murder you on offense.

Bill Walton's desire to win was second to none. He played with total abandon and passion. We make fun of Walton's commentary because he brings that abandon and passion to his TV statements. But Bill Walton is not a natural speaker (in fact, he had a speech impediment). At basketball, he was a natural...John Wooden--who knows from big men--said Walton was the most fundamentally skilled big man of all time. Combine that with his passion and abandon. That's terrifying.

Case in point...Walton's comments about his college career. Bill Walton has said repeatedly that he regards his college career as a "failure" and that he feels "shame and embarrassment" to this day as a result of it. Walton won the Naismith Award three times, was the AP player of the year twice, and won two titles. He is on the short list (of three) for best college basketball player of all time. His game in the 1973 finals is probably the most dominant college basketball game of all time. He won titles twice. And yet, he feels shame and embarrassment and thinks of himself as a failure. Why? Because his team didn't win every game. That's how competitive Bill Walton was. He honestly thought he should have won every time he stepped on the court, and has never gotten over his inability to do just that.

The player I most liken Walton too--it'll sound weird, but hear me out--is Magic Johnson. Walton's rebounding is like Magic passing...absolutely elite. Walton's passing was like Magic's rebounding...if not the best ever for his position, close. Both thrived in upbeat play, but were terrific halfcourt players because of their astonishing fundamentals. Both were good scorers--not huge--but strong, and could score very well if called on to do so. Both played with joy and fury. Both helped their teams in ways that simply didn't show up on the stat sheet. That's the type of impact Walton had. When Walton won his second title with the Celtics, Kevin McHale said: "You watch an old, old guy like that, with the most hammered body in sports, acting like a high school kid -- it's both funny and inspiring at the same time. Every game was a challenge, and he didn't let any of us forget that."

Tim Duncan has been so amazing for so long--Duncan is my personal top ten--that we kind of lose track of how wonderful he is. I think we will miss it more when he is gone. Walton was like a comet--short period of dominance, and echoes of it afterwards. But, for me, I'll say it like this. If I had a choice between Walton's best years and Duncan's best, I'd consider going with Walton--even knowing that he'd miss 15-20 games a year. Walton was that good.

I don't think Walton v. Reed should be brushed off as more or less equal, since I think Walton definitely has the advantage during their respective peaks. He was better in nearly every aspect of the game, outside of volume scoring, but still had more an impact on the offensive side of the ball IMO, while being a considerably better defender.

If we look at the transition across era's, particularly as 2 of my starters were playing in 1970, we will see that Reed, DeBusschere and Buse were all actually very efficient for their era; particularly Reed who was getting 10 FTA per game in that Finals run. And, when all these guys line up in a team, it's hard to say whether these FG%'s will be anywhere close to their statlines in selected years - playing with good players often (though, not always) results in improved efficiency.

I think what I meant from my prior statement was that our team was much more efficient. Buse was efficient, but I've already stated his volume of shots, nor production warrants the extreme defensive attention outside of recovering to contest the perimeter shot. We've already gone over Maravich, and how we'd love for him to take 28 shot attempts per game - while shooting 43% from the floor, and not helping any of his teammates along the way. DeBusschere is similar to Buse in that his volume wasn't outstanding - which should imply higher efficiency, yet he shot 42% from the field in the chosen season during the post-season.

Reed, and Hondo were good, but their efficiency still don't compare to the sum of all our parts. And I agree with the idea that efficiency should go up because of a faster pace, and superior teammates, but then shouldn't that make my team even more efficient - especially considering Walton was terrific at bringing out the best of his teammates offensive abilities?

Your defenders may be elite, but my front court held the league leading Opp PTS/G -105.9 - in 1970. That's elite, and the chemistry is there already.

It's worth noting that Frazier was on that team as well. And I hate to pile the hate on Reed, but I'd argue that Frazier was the more impactful player on both ends of the floor. "Reed would provide the inspiration, while Frazier provided the devastation." It's also worth noting that in 72, without Willis Reed, and an out of position Jerry Lucas being his replacement, the Knicks gave up an opponents 104.7 PPG, and held teams to 42% shooting in the playoffs. And that Knicks team STILL made it to the Finals without Reed. Many parts moved around that Knicks team, but Frazier was the most consistent anchor for Holzman's Knicks.

That's all very nice, but really, TRB% isn't especially useful. You can make a case that DeBusschere and Reed's TRB% is pretty low, but they played together, and RPG / TRB% are heavily influenced by team-mates rebounding ability, and doesn't factor in overall team-rebounding. It's worth noting that Reed overcame the Bullets front court of Johnson/Unseld (whose TRB% was higher), and the Lakers of Chamberlain (whose TBR% was higher), and the Bucks of Kareem (whose TRB% was higher), in their selected year.

I don't get this comment. You do know that Walton played with Maurice Lucas, right? And that Gus Johnson played with Wes Unseld, correct? And Kareem in his career has never had a TRB% higher, or even in the same ball-park as Walton at his absolute peak? Even Chamberlain in his selected season had a lower TRB% as well - and Unseld hasn't even come close to the TRB% Walton put up in his chosen season. TRB% estimates the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed when he was on the floor - and IMO, the most effective way to compare rebounding over different seasons, because too many other factors negate the value of rebounding totals. Perhaps you're confusing raw rebounding #'s and TRB%.

But I don't think there's any mistake that our rebounders were much better, played with even better rebounders while getting those totals, and play a huge factor in this series.

[MJallday59]

Mjallday59 vs Gremz & Miller

Starting 5
PG: Jerry West [69-70]
SG: Sam Jones [68-69]
SF: Hal Greer [68-69]
PF: Spencer Haywood [69-70]
Cc: Bill Russell [68-69]

Key Reserves Archie Clark, Rudy T, Dan Issel


Matchups with Miller and Gremz

Jerry West [31.2 PPG 49.7%] Spencer Haywood [30 PPG 19.5 RPG] and an aging Bill Russell [9.9 19.3 RPG] lead the charge against Millers promising young team. Even with an aging Sam Jones and Bill Russell, there's no reason why my team shouldn't dominate from the front.

Back Court:
Jerry West in his prime was a devastating guard to deal with. His ability to torch opponents inside and outside will prove to be too much for the 2nd year John Lucas and Norm Van Lier.

Sam Jones shooting touch is what makes him the perfect fit next to West. Even as an aging player, he still manages to shoot at 45% a clip.

Front Court
"Do it all" Hal Greer rounds out the three man weave with his ability to defend and score from anywhere on the floor. His primarily role in this series is to relieve the playmaking pressure from West and punish Rick Barry or Elgin Baylor when they attempt to double team West.

Spencer Haywood and Bill Russell vs ----

The best PF-C combo in the game. Russell's aging but still putting up ungodly numbers and Haywood's coming into the league averaging 30/19. In short the comp is just too inexperienced to matchup.

[Miller4ever]

VS MILLER4EVER

There's really not a whole lot that needs to be addressed here in reality. I think this is a pretty straight forward case of defense being too much. Sure there's reason to be concerned with the volume offense, but Barry's success wasn't tested against a prime Thurmond, let alone with a monster of a defensive partner in Gilmore. Even against just Sloan and Van Lier they only scraped through to the finals, and up against a more formidable defense with a one dimensional offense a similar result is a big stretch of the imagination.

The biggest concern is with Barry's ability to take over games. In wake we have Sloan to take him on as a man defender, the main reason being to restrict any freedom he has. We don't want him to be able to have his way on the court so locking him down via solid man defense is what we have in mind. Caldwell isn't what we consider a major threat, and Baylor should adequately provide a solid size coverage to restrict those open looks.

Van Lier will be a huge factor on defense here. Lucas, a guy who wasn't immune from turnovers, will find the pressing nature of Van Lier exceptionally difficult to manage. Specifically, the underrated court vision of Lucas that M4E suggests will struggle to be in effect with such a dominant defensive threat looming over him constantly. Van Lier's ability to manufacture steals is legendary, pair that with an equal threat in Sloan and it's hard to see any way that a smooth passing game will exist from the backcourt. This is another big advantage to us, considering they will rely upon heavy amounts of ball movement to create enough open looks to threaten the scoreboard. Let's face it, it's not like they'll be getting any easy looks inside.

I'll keep going back to it, but there's not enough range threats to worry about for us here. It's theoretically the only way an offense will succeed against us, and you'd need ammunition in bucket loads, which is simply not present here.

Gilmore and Thurmond have little immediate threat offensively from an aging Bellamy and a less than dominant scorer in Unseld. The best part about this is how it will reflect upon the dominance on the boards, and the pressure they can apply to the guards who attempt to get into the paint (which I give them credit for IF they even try it, big if). With such a prominent big court we will be more than capable of stopping any easy hoops, effectively forcing M4E's team to a jumpshooting team, which will certainly not end well.

Offensively our two main guys will get theirs. With Unseld "holding" off Gilmore he can simply use his length to shoot over him. I'm not worried about his ability to get easy baskets this way. Gilmore is phenomenal at getting to "his spot". Not only that, but his playoff offensive numbers are on par with the greatest of all time, and were up there before he was injured and needed to be closer to the basket. Unseld can try all he like, but Gilmore in this season is unstoppable.

The other main point is of course Baylor, and if he's being looked after by Barry, it's essentially big trouble here. I won't go as far as saying Barry would act as a swinging gate against Baylor, but he's not far from it. Baylor's strength will be a major factor here, and ultimately I think the pressure here and from Gilmore are where we take down this series.

When you add in the effectiveness of a dominant scoring 6th man like Connie Hawkins and the useful scoring from Van Arsdale, we provide more than enough capable scoring options to get the job done here. It's not like we need to score 100 points with a defense like ours.

M4E might rebut that he has a great passing system, but I assure you looking at our number that we are as good if not better as a team at ball movement. Everyone of our guys are nothing short of quality in terms of distributing the ball.

In terms of rebounding, normally you'd look at Bellamy and Unseld in awe, unless they're up against the dominance of Thurmond and Gilmore. In fact, across the board we have the rebounding edge, which will be huge to prevent all those second looks for a solid offensive unit.

Pretty straightforward series win for us here.

No, cause no.

[Gremz]

VS MILLER4EVER

There's really not a whole lot that needs to be addressed here in reality. I think this is a pretty straight forward case of defense being too much. Sure there's reason to be concerned with the volume offense, but Barry's success wasn't tested against a prime Thurmond, let alone with a monster of a defensive partner in Gilmore. Even against just Sloan and Van Lier they only scraped through to the finals, and up against a more formidable defense with a one dimensional offense a similar result is a big stretch of the imagination.

The biggest concern is with Barry's ability to take over games. In wake we have Sloan to take him on as a man defender, the main reason being to restrict any freedom he has. We don't want him to be able to have his way on the court so locking him down via solid man defense is what we have in mind. Caldwell isn't what we consider a major threat, and Baylor should adequately provide a solid size coverage to restrict those open looks.

Van Lier will be a huge factor on defense here. Lucas, a guy who wasn't immune from turnovers, will find the pressing nature of Van Lier exceptionally difficult to manage. Specifically, the underrated court vision of Lucas that M4E suggests will struggle to be in effect with such a dominant defensive threat looming over him constantly. Van Lier's ability to manufacture steals is legendary, pair that with an equal threat in Sloan and it's hard to see any way that a smooth passing game will exist from the backcourt. This is another big advantage to us, considering they will rely upon heavy amounts of ball movement to create enough open looks to threaten the scoreboard. Let's face it, it's not like they'll be getting any easy looks inside.

I'll keep going back to it, but there's not enough range threats to worry about for us here. It's theoretically the only way an offense will succeed against us, and you'd need ammunition in bucket loads, which is simply not present here.

Gilmore and Thurmond have little immediate threat offensively from an aging Bellamy and a less than dominant scorer in Unseld. The best part about this is how it will reflect upon the dominance on the boards, and the pressure they can apply to the guards who attempt to get into the paint (which I give them credit for IF they even try it, big if). With such a prominent big court we will be more than capable of stopping any easy hoops, effectively forcing M4E's team to a jumpshooting team, which will certainly not end well.

Offensively our two main guys will get theirs. With Unseld "holding" off Gilmore he can simply use his length to shoot over him. I'm not worried about his ability to get easy baskets this way. Gilmore is phenomenal at getting to "his spot". Not only that, but his playoff offensive numbers are on par with the greatest of all time, and were up there before he was injured and needed to be closer to the basket. Unseld can try all he like, but Gilmore in this season is unstoppable.

The other main point is of course Baylor, and if he's being looked after by Barry, it's essentially big trouble here. I won't go as far as saying Barry would act as a swinging gate against Baylor, but he's not far from it. Baylor's strength will be a major factor here, and ultimately I think the pressure here and from Gilmore are where we take down this series.

When you add in the effectiveness of a dominant scoring 6th man like Connie Hawkins and the useful scoring from Van Arsdale, we provide more than enough capable scoring options to get the job done here. It's not like we need to score 100 points with a defense like ours.

M4E might rebut that he has a great passing system, but I assure you looking at our number that we are as good if not better as a team at ball movement. Everyone of our guys are nothing short of quality in terms of distributing the ball.

In terms of rebounding, normally you'd look at Bellamy and Unseld in awe, unless they're up against the dominance of Thurmond and Gilmore. In fact, across the board we have the rebounding edge, which will be huge to prevent all those second looks for a solid offensive unit.

Pretty straightforward series win for us here.

No, cause no.

REBUTTAL:

[penbeast0]

TMAC asked me to throw out some opinions as an outside judge. Not quite sure how to do it from the explanations so I will rank each group of 3 from first to last:

BlackIce v. Sambone v. Bryant

Bryant has the best team here with Wilt controlling the paint, McAdoo and Davis scoring, and Dandridge and Wilkens providing two way supporting talent plus JoJo White and Chet Walker off the bench. Great balance. My only critique of this well put together team is that Chet Walker wasn't much of a SF but was a combo forward. . . and have to like a running team with TWO starting wings both known as "the Greyhound"

I give 2nd to BlackIce over Sambone though it is much closer. Gus Williams was a terrific scoring point but not a great distributor, and he is playing next to Billy Knight and Bobby Jones who weren't much as passers either (prime Alex English would help but this is little used rookie version). Sikma and Lacey were both good passing bigs but Moses was awful. Ice has two combo guards though, as said, Scott was turnover prone, but also Julius and Lucas who were both willing passers. Add to that Julius is the best player here (Bobby Jones is one of my favorites but Doc could take even him as he proved) and Jerry Lucas is a wonderful complement to him with his outside shooting and rebounding.

1. Bryant
2. BlackIce
3. Sambone

[penbeast0]

Keeslinator
PG: Tiny Archibald (32) | Slick Watts (16)
SG: Oscar Robertson (40) | Dick Snyder (8)
SF: Lou Husdon (34) | Dick Snyder (14)
PF: Julius Keye (34) | Sidney Wicks (14)
Cc: Mel Daniels (38) | Billy Paultz (10)

Going to have some personality problems. Oscar demanded that the team fit around him, he isn’t going to be a happy off guard nor would Tiny, probably Oscar will demand the ball most of the time and Tiny will accommodate. Perfect spot for Lou Hudson to shine. Similarly Wicks, while undoubtably talented, was a headcase who will cause some problems about playing behind Julius Keye who was sort of a rail-thin Ben Wallace type – though I agree with your starting Keye. This lineup doesn’t need any more shooters. A bit of hyperbole, Billy Paultz was a serviceable two way center but neither an “excellent scorer” who could take advantage of Danny Roundfield nor an “AMAZING defender.”

Snakebites
Randy Smith '75-76 (36)/Lionel Hollins '77-78 (12)
Earl Monroe '69-70 (36)/Mike Riordan '72-73 (12)
Jamal Wilkes '75-76 (35)/Mike Riordan '72-73(13)
Elvin Hayes '76-77(38)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (10)
Kareem Abdul Jabbar '70-71 (40)/Dan Roundfield '77-78 (8)

Speaking of issues, Elvin and Kareem were both difficult personalities and had always been pitted against each other. They also both like the same area to set up in the post and both are less than forgiving of people who don’t throw them the ball when they get their post position. However, the rest of this squad are class acts and have probed willing to defer and if Wilkes can play with Rick Barry, he can play with these bigs though his post-up game will suffer a bit. Wilkes’s rebounding was never this high playing wing, he was playing 4 in GS next to Barry at this point. Three guards who are combo guards rather than point guards, when two are in the game should work fine but might have trouble with a press when Riordan and Wilkes are on the wings.

Warspite
Bing (73)/Goodrich (72)
Thompson (78)/Birdsong
Tomjanovich (74)/ King (78)
Robinson (78)/ Edwards (78)
Lanier (77)/ Nater (77)

AS everyone has pointed out, a tremendous scoring team but with no players who focused on defense, Otis Birdsong is probably the best defender on the team (maybe Thompson if he is really focused defensively which he rarely did). Lanier and Bing anchored a lot of great offense/weak defensive teams in Detroit and will have to count on outscoring their opps here. Good spacing and slashing both do make the starters a tremendous offensive force (the front court reserves not so much).

No stats to work with so I have to go with my impressions. I think the combination of Kareem and a bunch of solid two way players makes Snakebites easily the most impressive of the three. Kareem was the man in the 70s and here he has arguably the best talent around him too. In the Warspite v. Keeslinator matchup, Lanier and Truck will outscore the Kees crew and Truck’s rebounding edge over Keyes will cancel out Mel’s power on the boards. I am curious who Warspite puts on Oscar . . . Rudy T would probably be the best choice so that Thompson can chase Hudson around the perimeter. Tiny, Oscar, and Sweet Lou don’t exactly scare anyone defensively either. I think Warspite gets the shootout he wants here and takes the second spot from Keeslinator.

1. Snakebites
2. Warspite
3. Keeslinator

Late note. While doing the Mjallday59 writeup, I notice he has Rudy Tomjanovich on his team and double checking I saw him drafted 26th (listed as RudyT) -- that means he isn't available for Warspite to have picked up in the freeforall round. Thus I will change the order unless/until this gets cleared up.

1. Snakebites
2. Keeslinator
3. Warspite

[penbeast0]

With no writeup, I can’t fairly judge Cellardoor so I’m going to put him 3rd. Thus it comes down to lukecarts v. TMAC.

Inside, Walton in his sole healthy for the playoffs season as a starter, was great. Better than prime Reed. DeBusschere and Gus Johnson were both quick, strong, undersized combo forwards with excellent rebounding and defense . . . DeBusschere adds outside shooting, Gus monster dunking (when healthy, starting either Walton or Gus on a more than 1 year basis was a big risk). At the wing, Havlicek beats Wise in another matchup of strong defenders, but unless there is some reason to think Maravich will suddenly be Ray Allen, even an out of position Roger Brown will be able to match him – not in playmaking (though Maravich threw a lot of bad passes) but as a scorer. And Frazier was a lot better than Don Buse. I can’t find any real reason to pick against TMAC except the “rings” and the chemistry issue doesn’t seem to be a major factor here.

1. TMACFORMVP
2. lukecarts
3. CellarDoor