RealGM

PG: Gilbert Arenas(05-06)-38-/Stephon Marbury(04-05)-10-
SG Dwyane Wade(08-09)-42-/Raja Bell(06-07)-6-
SF: Eddie Jones(99-00)-38-/Jalen Rose(02-03)-10-
PF: Chris Webber(00-01)-40-/Al Horford(08-09)-8-
Cc: Dikembo Mutombo(00-01)-40-/Memhet Okur(05-06)-8-



vs Cellar


Overview: Simply put, apart from SF, I'm better at every position. Rebounding is a wash and my bigs are significantly better.

Offense: As per usual we will run the team through our best player. Wade is a tenacious two way player that will limit Carter on one end and exploit him on the other end. I watched Carter growing up and he is one of my favorite players but Wade in 08-09 was on a different level. Wade was a much better playmaker and worlds better as a defender. I won't get into how Arenas will dominant the likes of Devin Harris and Ben Gordon. I don't think there should be any issue of sharing the ball Arenas is a combo guard, as is Wade really. Both are excellant playmakers who can play off each other. One is primarily a long range shooter (who got to the line 10 times per game) and the other is a primary a mid range shooter and slasher. My backcourt should dominant. Eddie Jones will be corner 3 guy that will play a rich mans Bowen on my team offensively and..well Bowen on defense.

Webber should dominant Brand. Brand is 18/12/2.5 and Webber is 27/11/4.2. Webber is in a more comparable to Dirk then he is to Brand. Not much to say about this matchup. Mutombo will be able to roam since Chandler isn't really a huge offensive threat (and vice versa). Mutombo is a HOF defensive big who can alter games with his defense. Chandler isn't quite on that level. Mutombo is a a much better man defender, a better team and help defender, a better rebounder and shot blocker.

Defense:
Arenas on Harris
Wade on Carter
Jones on Hill
Webber on Brand
Mutumbo on Chandler

Harris is the Cellars 4th option and Arenas shouldn't have to much trouble with that matchup. Harris is quick but Arenas in his prime was pretty quick as well. Wade and his amazing 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks from a guard will be on Carter. Wade is one of the few players that can keep up with Carter and make life difficult for him. Jones (1st Team All Defense) will be on Hill who was still an amazing player in his chosen year. Jones was a very good defender, but Hill is an elite player. We can only hope to keep him to his averages which we are sure Jones can manage. Especially with Mutombo behind him. Webber isn't the greatest defender in the world but we feel he can handle Brand. Finally Mutombo will be defending Chandler and helping quite a bit.

PG: Gilbert Arenas(05-06)/Stephon Marbury(04-05)
SG Dwyane Wade(08-09)/Raja Bell(06-07)
SF: Eddie Jones(99-00)/Jalen Rose(02-03)
PF: Chris Webber(00-01)/Al Horford(08-09)
Cc: Dikembo Mutombo(00-01)/Memhet Okur(05-06)



vs. Kees

Offense: My backcourt should dominant this matchup. Arenas is a 29ppg guy and Wade is at 30ppg. Gilbert will have his way with Iverson, he has a significant size advantage and Iverson is a notoriously weak defender. If Kees chooses to put Artest on Wade and Hughes on Arenas that leaves the 6'0 on the 6'6 Eddie Jones who was a capable scorer himself at 20ppg. In this series depending on the matchup Wade will be the primary ball handler and playmaker and Arenas will be the secondary ball handler and playmaker with Webber as the 3rd option up top. Wade will shred through Hughes and find Arenas and Jones for the open 3.

Webber was a very good passer, 4apg, and a surprisingly good scorer in his one year peak at 27ppg. He will matchup with Duncan very well and should hold his own. With Yao clogging the lane Duncan will be forced to stray out of the post and Webber will exploit him. Mutumbo will get his off of put backs and easy lobs.


Defense:
Arenas on Hughes
Wade on Iverson
Jones on Artest
Webber on Duncan
Mutombo on Yao

Kees has a big weakness and it is one that may be his downfall. Spacing. He will have trouble spacing for his bigs imo, and will elite man defenders on Iverson/Artest/Yao and great help and team D we will make it tough for Kees to score. I see Duncan having a big series but not enough to contend with all the offensive options I have.

Fighting Gremzes:

Harris(28)/Gordon(16)/Bowen(8)
Carter(40)/Bowen(8)
Hill(40)/Bowen(8)
Brand(40)/Davis(8)
Chandler(32)/Anderson(16)

vs.

Kees
06 Allen Iverson (42) / 02 Andre Miller (6)
05 Larry Hughes (34) / 02 Michael Finley (14)
04 Ron Artest (36) / 00 Scottie Pippen (12)
03 Tim Duncan (38) / 02 Antoine Walker (10)
08 Yao Ming (36)/ 09 Andrew Bynum (12)

Defense:

Kees sports an All World Scorer in Iverson as well as Duncan/Ming. He also sports next to no floor spacing. Iverson isn't a catch and shoot player and isn't a great shooter to begin with. Hughes, again, is more comfortable shooting with the ball and his hand, and he can't shoot from deep either. Ron Artest, same story. We'll give Hughes and Artest all the room in the world to create with their 51 and 52% TS's and double Kees' big 3. Obviously you don't stop AI or Duncan, but you mitigate them and make them work. Lets not forget that for 24 minutes of the game Iverson is going to be going up against Bowen. Bowen can and will guard anyone from point guard to small forward. He'll see his time against Kees only worriesome perimeter threat in Iverson.

On Duncan, I was trying to figure out why Kees was so specific as to use only one year (5 games). The reason for that is because over 31 games in their careers, Duncan barely outplays him.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... =brandel01
More often than not Duncan will win out, but he won't dominate (I also forgot to change the year to 05/06 as I had planned, but I'll play this one out as if it's 02 since Kees is under that impression)

On Yao. There's a reason I picked Chandler. He's tall, he's long, and Kees isn't giving him the credit he deserves as a defender. Chandler is an excellent man defender, especially as his career goes on to 06-07. He'll control the defensive boards from Yao, and he'll hold Yao to his normal efficiency, at max. Most of the time, Chandler is used to being left on an island with the big time players (Duncan in the playoffs comes to mind). That won't be the case here. We'll use Hill and Carter to press the issue, and with all the mediocre shooters on the perimeter and no true point guard we'll sag off and make the entry pass impossible. Long story short, Yao is going to be severely limited thanks to the team make-up.

Offense:
We're facing a team with A lot of defensive credentials. Some of them underrated, some overrated.
The underrated: Tim Duncan. The guy never won a DPOY, which is criminal.
The overrated: Larry Hughes. As a Bulls fan we know first hand just how bad this guy actually is overall, but as a basketball fan, everyone knows. He gambled and got a ton of steal, an abnormally high number one year, and was awarded with an all defensive selection. Kees trys to sell him as an all defensive selection. Just for fun, here's Carter's numbers against hughes:
25 points, 49%, 40%, 81%. Not satisfied and think Hughes was magically better one year?
27 points on 54% shooting. Larry Hughes can't and won't slow down VC. Especially in his physical peak.
Harris will be Harris, occupying defenders and drawing fouls. He's our fourth option when the entire starting unit is there. When the benches clear, Harris will attack, and he'll be attacking a foul prone, inexperienced Bynum and Antoine freaking Walker. He'll pick his spots.
Hill has his work cut out for him. I wish we could've seen these two go up against one another in their prime. Since they didn't, let's use Scottie Pippen. Obviously they're different defenders, but Pippen, Bowen, Jones, and Rodman are about your only comparisons to Artest. Hill shot 49% against Pippen and Jordan's Bulls. Artest will make him work offensively, but he's not going to slow him down much.
We've already covered Brand's match-up with Duncan. He'll do his third option thing when Duncan is in for the 8 (or more) minutes he's being guarded by Antoine Walker...well, he'll go off. We'll also use Brand in pick and pops with All three of our perimeter guys at different times.
Chandler will pick his spots. Mostly alley oops and putbacks, the one thing we know is that when he's left alone he has the athleticism and the hands to be effective shooting over 64% in the playoffs. He's not an offensive option, but when left alone on a team full of good passers, he'll get his 10 points on 6 or 7 shots.

Benches:
Kees undersells my bench. I don't WANT an offensive bench. They're playing limited minutes and two of Brand, Carter, and Hill will always be on the floor. Additionally, I have another two 20 point scorers in Harris and Gordon. I don't think a team sporting Gordon, Harris, Hill, Carter, and Brand as it's primary five scorers is going to have many issues, especially when it's two other high minute guys (Chandler, Bowen) occupy a defender either at the 3pt line or the basket. His bench, on the other hand, sports such defenders as Walker and Finley (Miller's no all world defender).

Turnovers: My team's primary ball handlers (Hill, Carter, Harris) take care of the ball much better than Kees' (Artest, Iverson, Miller), so any advantage he has in the steals department is pretty much negated by his team's higher propensity to turn the ball over.

Rebounding:
I presume he won't argue my advantage here. If he does, I'll revisit the numbers. Anyone can see this one though.


In conclusion: We've got the rebounding advantage, and extremely efficient unstoppable wings to put the ball in the basket. Kees' lack of spacing will be a huge issue for Ming (think about the time's he's fronted, now imagine he doesn't have shooters to keep things spaced). Duncan will get his as will Iverson, but so will Hill and Carter along with Brand and Gordon, who has never let a taller guard stop him before, so Iverson sure as hell wont.

06 Allen Iverson (42) / 02 Andre Miller (6)
05 Larry Hughes (34) / 02 Michael Finley (14)
04 Ron Artest (36) / 00 Scottie Pippen (12)
03 Tim Duncan (38) / 02 Antoine Walker (10)
05 Yao Ming (36)/ 09 Andrew Bynum (12)

Subject to change

VS BlackIce

PG: Gilbert Arenas(05-06)/Stephon Marbury(04-05)
SG Dwyane Wade(08-09)/Raja Bell(06-07)
SF: Eddie Jones(99-00)/Jalen Rose(02-03)
PF: Chris Webber(00-01)/Al Horford(08-09)
Cc: Dikembo Mutombo(00-01)/Memhet Okur(05-06)

Hughes on Arenas
Artest on Wade
AI on Jones
Duncan on Webber
Yao on Mutumbo

Hughes VS Arenas:
Hughes was All-defensive 1st Team in the year I chose him. Arenas was only All-NBA 3rd Team. He was a very strong scorer, however, Hughes was amazing on the D end this year. His long arms will really change this matchup. Arenas was usually covered by smaller guards, and one of his major advantages was his size and strength. Hughes isn't smaller, so these advantages will be limited. Hughes main skill was man-on D, which is how Arenas scored. Also, Arenas is very much a ball hog. He was never a great passer, and only averaged 6 APG, and was 30th in the league in AST%. Another thing about Arenas is his lack of off-ball play. Either you give him the ball, let him try and get passed Hughes, and have him not include others because his lack of passing, or you give Wade the ball and have Arenas doing nothing, because his whole career and prime was all about him having the ball. He simply couldn't play off-ball effectively.

On O, Hughes is highly underrated. Arenas doesn't play D. He saves his energy for his insane volume of scoring and getting steals, not on moving his feet and playing good D. Hughes was one of the best off-ball players in the '00's. He played next to Arenas in RL, and Arenas was extremely ball-dominant. Hughes was an excellent slasher, and also could beat people off the ball (he was the #2 scorer in Washington). With Arenas often taking off nights on the defensive end, Hughes could have a big series on the offensive end, which I think BlackIce is underrating. He also had a very solid AST% in comparison to his USG% and the fact that he is a SG.

Iverson VS Wade: (On O)
I don't think putting Wade on AI was a good move on BlackIce's part. In the season I chose, Iverson simply couldn't be stopped. Just to prove this to you, I took the top wing defenders of the 05/06 season (Bowen, Artest, Kobe, based on AD1T), and put his stats here when the 76ers played these teams. AI's worst game, in points, was 29 PTS, and it was against IND (big defender in Artest on him), otherwise he never scored less than 30 PTS in a game against the best defenders of 05/06. In addition to that, all season (out of 72 GP), he only scored less than 20 PTS 8 times. If this doesn't prove that he will get his no matter what, I don't know what will. Not to mention that he was A) a vet who understood the game at the age of 30, B) it was his highest PPG in his career and C) it was his 3rd highest FG% of his career at 45%.

I don't see how Wade, who also has to worry a lot about the offensive end, is a better defender than guys like Bowen and Artest and others in the league who focus their whole game around defense. He also had his 2nd lowest TOV% of his career, so that counters any argument that Wade will get steals on him. In the league that year, he was tied for 11th in TOV% for players who had a USG% over 25, and #3 for players who had a USG% over 30.

Just to put the icing on the cake on how AI will dominate this matchup, he had his 2nd highest AST% of his career, while not having a really high USG%. Plus, AI was 8th in the league in AST% that year, only to Nash, Davis, Knight, Billups, Kidd, Paul and Miller, and ahead of guys like Calderon, Ford, Parker, Wade, Dwill and Hinrich, who we tend to think are better distributors than guys like AI.

Iverson VS Jones: (On D)
The main reason I put my worst perimeter defender on Jones, is because he isn't, and never was, a volume scorer. In his selected season, Jones was the leader of PPG on his team, but that's not saying much, as there were 6 (!) players on that Hornets team who averaged at least 11.5 PPG. Also, his best scoring outing of that year was a 34 PT performance against a bad defending NY team (Houston/Sprewell were the wings), so even against a bad defending team, with great spacing (2 other starters shot at least 35% from 3PT), he still wasn't able to go off for a huge game. Another stat, he only had 7 games of 30+ PTS, and he also had 7 games of 10- PTS. This means that out of 72 games, 81% (58/72) of the games he scored between 11-29 PTS.

Now with a team where he will mostly play off-ball, and having bad spacing (neither Wade nor Arenas is used to playing off-ball, and Arenas was just horrendous at it), he shouldn't be able to do much.

If, for some reason, BI decides to put the ball in the hands of Jones, he will be making a mistake. Arenas is crap at off-ball play, and Hughes will be able to help a lot in stopping Jones. Wade was ok, but this was a few years ago (hasn't played with LBJ yet) and he won't be as useful as if he had the ball in his hands. Plus Yao will be able to help with everything on D, as Mutombo has no offensive game.

Moral of the story: Jones will be forced to be an off-ball shooter, and Iverson can and will be able to follow a guy around screens, or be put in a corner to catch and shoot.

Artest VS Jones: (On O)
Not gonna say too much here. My only real point is that Artest will be the 5th option, which depletes putting Jones (lead the league in steals, good on ball defender) on Artest. Artest will become a slasher (something he was great at) and focus on his D. If, for some reason, Jones plays bad, Artest will use his strength to post him up, but we won't force it. Jones's good D is put to waste on someone who will mostly play as a slasher/shooter 5th option.

Artest VS Wade: (On D)
As I just mentioned, Artest will not be wasting his energy by trying to score. He will be a slasher, and score when it's there, but won't force it. This leaves tons of energy to face the scoring champ in Wade. Artest was the DPOY, and an absolute monster on D. He has insane physical strength, to keep Wade from doing his signature turn around J. He has the quickness to keep him away from the basket. Artest is also famous for denying the ball. If Arenas is playing with the ball, and decides to pass it (which isn't often) he will have a very hard time getting it to Wade, as Artest will be all over him because of his great denying skills.

Even if Wade somehow got passed Artest, he is facing a front court of Yao and Timmy, who both averaged over 2 BPG in their selected season. Plus, Mutombo is a liability on the offensive end, so Yao will be able to help more than normal. In addition to having Yao and Duncan help, if Wade is handling the ball, Hughes can help a bit because Arenas doesn't move well without the ball. And this is all hypothetical, because the chances Wade even gets passed the DPOY are very low.

Tim Duncan VS Chris Webber:
This is a great matchup, I love both of these players. However, as I've mentioned in the past, Duncan is the best PF in his best season. There is simply no one better than Timmy at PF in the history of the game. Now, after saying that, Webber is still a challenge. Good scorer (efficient as well), above average passing, and a good fit with Mutombo. With that said, there are plenty of holes in his game. His rebounding is inflated because he's playing with a C who's strengths were everything but rebounding (Divac) and an average rebounding SF (Peja). Playing next to Mutombo, I think we will see his true rebounding skills, which, are at best, above average. He will also have trouble as Duncan is much bigger, and also a much better proven rebounder.

Another problem in Webbers game is his defense. He was never a great defender, although he was quick. The thing is, is that Duncan's offensive game was extremely diverse. He could post up, face up, shoot the ball, bang down low, just about everything, and did it every efficiently. Webber, on D, is no match for the GOAT PF, Duncan. Another thing to mention is that he was a great passer. If BlackIce decides to double him, he was one of the best at finding the open man, cutting to the basket, or sitting on the 3PT line, wide open. We will run our offense through him.

Yao VS Mutombo:
This is a tough matchup for Yao. He does have the height advantage, but Mutombo was the DPOY, and we aren't expecting Yao to do great things here. If it's there (like Artest), he'll take it, but won't consistently go to it if it isn't working.

One thing that is interesting here, is that both players have a huge advantage on D. Mutombo is a great defensive player, but a horrible offensive one. This gives us the opportunity to provide help defense. And we will. With Wade and Arenas often trying to drive to the hole, Yao will be able to stop them in their tracks, because Mutombo doesn't understand offense. Also with this, he won't have to try and stop his man on D, so he will have more energy for offense, so there is a decent chance that Yao could score consistently against Mutombo.

My Bench VS BlackIce's Bench:
My bench is very diverse. We have Finley, who was a very effiecent scorer/defender who had a great TOV%. Pippen is a vet at this point, but still All-Defensive 2nd team and a stat line of 12/6/5. Miller was one of the best distributors of that year (lead league in APG) and both of my backup bigs were great at posting up. Walker had a key part in the Celtics offense and title run and was a great passer (22/8/5). Bynum anchors my 2nd line D, and can also score a few for us.

BlackIce has a very solid 2nd line, but Horford isn't what he is today, and Okur was never good at rebounding, so we should have an advantage there. Marbury and Rose won't be able to guard Miller and Pippen, too. Pippen will be able to shut down Starbury to almost nothing, and they have no answer for Walker, so we aren't to worried about the 2nd line.

Bigs:
Just one point about my starting bigs. Both can play inside or out, so if BlackIce brings up that he'll play Mutombo on Duncan, fine, then Yao will go off for big points. Both Duncan and Yao can hit the 15-17 footer, and whichever one Webber covers, will go for a big series.

Offense:
Our offense will run through Duncan (or Yao, whichever Webber covers). Duncan is the GOAT PF playing in his best year, so, naturally, we go through him. Our 2nd option goes to AI. As we explained earlier, he was unstoppable on the perimeter. Hughes/Yao will be our 3rd/4th. Yao could go off for a big series if things work out right. Hughes will have Arenas on him, which is a big mismatch. Hughes was a great scorer off the ball, and could beat guys with the ball, off the dribble. Arenas doesn't try much on D, and even when he does, it's not great. We will try to exploit that. Artest will mostly save his energy for the defensive end, but will score if given to him.

Defense:
BI's team has major issues on the offensive end. Here are the options that BI's team has, in terms of who handles the ball.

1. If he has Arenas handle the ball, he gets slowed down a bit by Hughes (scoring less) and also the ball doesn't move because Arenas was always concerned with his own scoring, and that is shown by his low APG and ASG% numbers. Jones becomes a shooter, and one thing AI can do on D is anticipates passes and pick them off, and that's what he can do (If Jones can even get the ball with Arenas keeping the ball to himself).

2.If you give the ball to Wade, Arenas becomes useless because he is sssooo used to playing with the ball in his hands. Hughes can then become a help defender because Arenas doesn't move well without the ball. Not to mention that Wade is going up against one of the best perimeter defenders of the past decade, in his best season. Jones again becomes a shooter, which is something that doesn't exploit AI.

3. If you put the ball in Jones's hands, it REALLY limits the offense. Wade and Arenas become a lot less useful (especially Areans) and we will be able to double him. Even if we don't, Jones was never an amazing volume scorer (which I address earlier), and couldn't carry an offense.

Webber was a solid team player, and they will have him in the post to go to. However, Mutombo was a liability, so that creates yet another guy that can help out if Arenas drives to the hoop, Wade somehow gets passed Artest, or if (for some odd reason) Timmy needs help on C-Webb.

Overall:
BI has built a talented team. But it doesn't fit well together. Arenas is only succesful in a system that has just shooters around him, and where he can do all the scoring. This is not that system. That is the main problem. Plus, we have enough offensive options to exploit the defensive weaknesses of BI's team.

Good luck to BI, and may my...I mean the best team win

Writeup on MJ

Chris Paul '09 (38)/Terrell Brandon '00 (10)
Brandon Roy '09 (38)/Michael Jordan '02 (10)
Danny Granger '09 (36)/Boris Diaw '06 (12)
Kevin Garnett '04 (40)/Nene Hilario '09 (8)
Chris Kaman '08 (32)/Nene Hilario '09 (16)/ Brook Lopez '09

MJ has the anchor in Alonzo, but his bigs are going to have a tough time sharing while his bench is thin and his perimeter at a disadvantage.

Chris Paul vs. Steve Nash

Paul is the better point guard in this matchup. Nash may be getting the MVP's (questionable in the first place), but as a player with in a less flattering pace and system, Paul's versatility makes him the better point guard. Nash has better efficiency shooting, but also at a lower volume. Paul rebounds better, defends much better, takes care of the ball better and even has a higher assist percentage. Paul has straight-up the best point guard season of the era.

Brandon Roy vs. Joe Johnson

At first glance, these two have always seemed to be on equal footing. However, in his prime, Roy had that #1 status that Joe Johnson could never quite grasp. Roy is the more efficient player in both shooting and taking care of the ball, and defense?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Tb1_AY3RM[/youtube]

Neither of these players is known for defense, and I'm sure the default would be to give it to Johnson because of "size," but Roy is actually the better defensive player, it's just not always apparent except when it's more important.

Danny Granger vs. Gerald Wallace

Had this competition been about 2010 Granger vs 2010 Wallace, I'd give the edge to Wallace. Unfortunately for MJ, this Wallace is not in his prime, and is more of an athletic defender a la Trevor Ariza than the complete player Granger is in his respective year. Granger was the more efficient shooter at a higher volume, and his defense was underrated this year while Wallace came in with stats. Wallace was a good defender, but he wasn't lockdown and wasn't very smart man-to-man. Granger will be able to put the brakes on Wallace's limited offense while his perimeter play will draw Wallace away from the passing lanes and the interior action, where he gets most of his defensive plays. In fact, playing against Gerald Wallace actually makes Granger even more efficient while Wallace posts 45%. Granger also blocks more shots when playing against Wallace, while Wallace fails to get an even 1.

Kevin Garnett vs. Amare Stoudemire

This is a battle against an MVP and an amazing offensive player. Garnett doesn't have the same firepower as Amare, but his impact outweighs Amare on the glass, in distribution, and most importantly, on defense. At the same time, 24 points a game is no slouch. He doesn't need to generate as much offense as he did as the only good player on those Minnesota teams, so his efficiency will be closer to his first year in Boston. Amare will get his, but between him and Zo, one of them won't be as effective, as proven by the Shaquille O'Neal experiment.

Chris Kaman vs. Alonzo Mourning

Kaman is no slouch this year, but understandably, Zo is going to have a better series. However, Kaman is a better defender, and with Amare in the mix, the offense for MJ is going to slow down considerably when it gets inside.

Benches

This is another area where we really jump out ahead. Terrell Brandon is good enough to be a starter in this era, with 17-9-2 and 40% from deep, he is an efficient PG option that definitely holds an edge against Eric Snow. Eric Snow is an inefficient shooter with only 10 ppg. After that, MJ might not have been lights-out, but Latrell Sprewell makes old Jordan look like young Jordan in terms of efficiency and production. Boris Diaw and Battier bring different things to the table as role players, and Nene is better than K-Mart. Brook Lopez is better than nobody, which is exactly what MJ has at backup center.

Writeup on Luke

Chris Paul '09 (38)/Terrell Brandon '00 (10)
Brandon Roy '09 (38)/Michael Jordan '02 (10)
Danny Granger '09 (36)/Boris Diaw '06 (12)
Kevin Garnett '04 (40)/Nene Hilario '09 (8)
Chris Kaman '08 (32)/Nene Hilario '09 (16)/ Brook Lopez '09

I think talent-wise, luke has a pretty good team, but I think his weaknesses are many and his team fit is not very good. The gameplan is to use our bigs to set picks and create some massive mismatches for Paul and Roy against frontcourt players to maximize with their penetration, shooting, and passing against a weak frontline. Granger will be open with all the rotations and be able to drain threes or draw fouls and convert at high rates. KG will do everything, and together with Kaman will form an imposing, physical post presence. Against the best defenses this offense will be able to disrupt early and often, and luke's team is by no means the best defense.

Jason Kidd vs Chris Paul

Jason Kidd is just as good distributing the ball, and is a more versatile defender, but Paul is the better scorer, and he turns the ball over less. He also is a better ballhawker, and his speed is the kind of thing that gives Jason Kidd at any age fits. Since Kidd is only a major threat on the break and from far away, it really limits the kind of pressure he puts on Chris Paul. Plus, Paul rebounds very well this year, enough to make Kidd's advantage in that area a moot point when considering the rest of the team. Kidd's game will be setting up spacers, while Paul will be hitting higher-percentage rollers and slashers in the middle.

Brandon Roy vs Rip Hamilton

I know Iggy starts, but he's not the player that's going to be featured (28 minutes to Rip's 30). Roy will be featured mostly against Rip, who cannot defend Roy. As much as Rip can score, he's not able to keep up with a scoring option like Roy, and after scoring, Rip doesn't have enough versatility or weapons to match up with Roy in any other area. Roy is the better rebounder, the better passer, and his ability to slash straight through a paper frontcourt will make him the more effective player in this matchup.

Danny Granger vs Paul Pierce

The Truth is very good. He sees his best finals appearance and is no doubt the leader of this team. However, Granger is not far behind in his selected year. He has 40% shooting from deep for 25 points per game (59% TS). He matches Pierce in rebounding and while he isn't the best in the passing area, his defense makes up for it. The last two seasons Granger's defensive abilities have taken a hit after injury, but in this year he was up there with the likes of Gerald Wallace. His defense is better than Pierce's in the selected year (Pierce wasn't bad, but he had lost a step and needed Perk and KG to bail him out on several occasions). Granger's abilities to shoot off the catch stretch the floor is a great compliment to Paul and Roy and their quickness and distribution.

Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh

Here is where we establish some serious advantage in the matchup. MVP do-it-all KG could score from anywhere within 22 feet of the basket, defend, rebound, and distribute it like a point guard. As a pick setter in this offense keyed by Paul, he becomes impossible for Bosh to defend because he can pick or slip, pop or roll, pass or score, spin or post. His strength is better than Bosh's and his mobility is better than Bosh's. Meanwhile, Bosh can score, but not as well against KG's defense, and Bosh cannot rebound anywhere near as well as KG, and he can't stop KG. The Big Ticket on our team is better than the Truth for luke's team.

Chris Kaman vs Rasheed Wallace

Sheed will score, score, and score some more, and defend pretty well. However, this is the year of Kaman. He put up more than 15 points, 12 boards, and 2 blocks. His role on cleanup is perfect. His ability to catch and finish around the rim will highlight the passing abilities of Paul, Roy, and Garnett. Rasheed will stretch him out on defense, but that's fine as the battle of the boards is much more important. Whatever the jailblazing Sheed brings to the table, it's not enough of an edge to make up for the large gap between the overrated Bosh and the overdue MVP Garnett.

Benches

Terrell Brandon is up against a PG that he's taller than. He also shoots better, passes better, and defends better than Jameer. Michael Jordan and Boris Diaw bring defense and versatility to the table. Jordan is not being asked to do a lot and Diaw was the ultimate utility player, so Iguodala will have his hands full. Nene and Lopez bring better rebounding, shotblocking, and offensive production than David West (CP3 beneficiary) and old Patrick Ewing. I think the backup battle goes to me as well.

06 Allen Iverson (42) / 02 Andre Miller (6)
05 Larry Hughes (34) / 02 Michael Finley (14)
04 Ron Artest (36) / 00 Scottie Pippen (12)
03 Tim Duncan (32) / 02 Antoine Walker (16)
05 Yao Ming (32)/ 09 Andrew Bynum (10) / [Tim Duncan] (6)

Subject to change

VS CellarDoor

Harris(28)/Gordon(16)/Bowen(8)
Carter(40)/Bowen(8)
Hill(40)/Bowen(8)
Brand(40)/Davis(8)
Chandler(32)/Anderson(16)

Harris, Gordon VS Iverson:
Harris is a decent defender at this point in his career. He never made any all-defensive teams, but he could cover the AVERAGE offensive PG. This is not Iverson. In, '06, Iverson averaged 33.0 PPG, including a .543 TS%, .323 3PT% and .447 FG%. These are mostly the highest numbers of his career. He was unstoppable on offense, and a solid defensive PG like Harris won't be shutting him down a bit. A young Harris (under 25) won't be able to stop the vicious crossover that we all know AI from, nor the insane mid-range game he has, nor the drives to the hoop. Not to mention he also average 7.4 APG and only 3.4 TOV (one his best TO/AST ratio of his career). He also got to the line 11.5 times a game, which is also a career best. Combine all of that, and he is pretty much the most versatile offensive PG there is.

Gordon is even less of a defender than Harris, and has no advantages on D. AI got about 2.0 SPG, which creates 2 more possessions for us on O. He is very fast, and also should be able to get a hand in the face of BG who is primarily a shooter.

Carter VS Hughes:
This is a very interesting matchup. Carter was at his peak, not denying that. He shot well from the field and 3PT range, got to the line, could rebound well and was extremely athletic. However, if someone can put a bit of pressure on him it'd be someone like Hughes. Good DRTG for a perimeter player at 104, led the league in steals and STL%, creating possessions, and also was on the All-Defensive 1st team, and a great on-ball defender.

There are 2 things that Carter struggled with. One was his defense. He wasn't a very good defender when he tried, and he often didn't try, looking to get a fast break dunk or the defensive rebound. Hughes had his best scoring year the year I chose him. 22.0 PPG on a 26.6 USG% and an average TS% for him (.523%) but what people sometimes fail to see is that he played off-ball a lot. He was the 2nd scorer on his team, to a scoring PG in Arenas. Arenas and AI have very similar styles, and if Hughes was able to find success with Arenas, he should with AI. This will cause a lot of problems for a star in VC who wasn't particularly good on D.

The other thing that Vincanity wasn't good at was vision/passing. For his USG%, he had a VERY low AST% compared to other top stars. Tmac, Kobe, Wade and LeBron in multiple seasons all had a higher AST% with similar USG%. This leads to a lot of 'black hole' possessions. He wants to get his, and will keep the ball and take a bad shot instead of finding the open guy. With a very good on ball defender in Hughes on him, he should have a lower FG%, leading to more missed shots, leading to more possessions for us which results in more points for us, all because VC wasn't open/capable of passing to the open man consistently.

Artest VS Hill:
At this point in Hill's career, he was a great scorer, passer and rebounder. 26/7/5 is a great stat line. He was a good defender, very quick in his pre-injury years, but he was never an extremely strong and big guy. He's going up against the 20 LBS. heavier, DPOY, Artest. Artest was one of the strongest players in the league, and could bully the lighter, quicker, Hill down low.

Artest was a beast on the block. He had a very nice post up game, and could often beat people off the dribble, but he won't try to with Hill guarding him. We know we won't be able to get passed Hill, but we can back him down and go that way, and we will with Ron.

On D, Artest will face Hill. Artest is the DPOY, had a 96 DRTG ( ), 2.1 SPG, 0.7 BPG, and 5.2 DWS. Hill was a very versatile scorer and passer, but Artest might be too much here. His long arms, outstanding defensive awareness and pure size and strength should slow down Hill to well below his averages.

Duncan VS Brand:
I'm going to start by posting some head to head stats in 2002 (2nd half of Brand's selected year, 1st half of Duncan's)
Brand: 13.8/11.2/1.2/2.0/2.0, .431 FG% (28/65), 3.8 fouls per game
Duncan: 25.6/13.8/3.4/0.2/2.4, .520 FG% (53/102), 2.4 fouls per game

Basically, head to head, Duncan dominated. Brand's stats fell in almost every category, and Duncan's didn't change much from his season averages.

But head to head doesn't tell the whole story.

Duncan has a big size advantage (6'11 VS 6'8) and that helps a lot on O and D. His length can allow him to block more shots, steal the ball, get in Brand's face, and disrupt the passing lanes. On the other end of the floor, his size allows him to get off his signature bank shot, and allows him to post up successfully more often. Not to mention that he was MVP that season, the season before, and in the finals.

One thing I imagine Cellar will bring up is the high ORB% that Brand has. I'm not doubting he will get his boards, but i think that a prime Duncan will limit him a lot. He also is next to a super tall dude (Yao) who gets a bunch of defensive rebounds, so I'm not too worried.

Yao VS Chandler:
Interesting matchup here. Chandler was a beast on the rebounds and blocks, but wasn't a spectacular man to man defender. He had a DRTG of 103, which isn't that great for a C, while Yao, who most see as a mostly offensive C, had a lower DRTG of 99. Yao also had more BPG. Plus, a lot of the scoring that Chandler produced was because of Paul giving him ally-oops.

Yao has the size to beat anyone. In the season I chose, he shot 55% from the field. He shot a lot of mid-range jumpers, but also had a wicked back to the basket game. Chandler is a good matchup against Yao, because of his size and jumping skills, but I still think that Yao, with his efficiency, size and passing skills, will be able to score at will.

My Bench VS Cellar's Bench:
Cellar's bench is lacking in scoring. The only true scorer off the bench is Gordon. Bowen, Davis and Anderson are all defensive players. So when the 2nd lines come in, I have a big advantage. Walker is an amazing big. He was 22/8/5 in the selected season, and was a very versatile, offensive PF. Bynum, although the stats don't say (because he is always deferring to others on the Lakers), was an offensive force and also a defensive anchor. We also have Finley, who is one of the most efficient, least turnovers guys in the league at this point, and a savvy vet in Pippen, who can do it all for me. Miller will come in for 6 MPG and run our team in a more traditional fashion.

Offense:
#1 option will be Duncan. He is efficient, can handle being the #1, and is also very selfish. Playing against the shorter Brand should only increase his production. The #2 will be AI. He will blow past Harris and Gordon, as neither of them are great defenders. He was at his best scoring in the year I chose him, and he should score the lights out of anyone, especially Harris and Gordon. The 3rd option is Yao. He has a very good post game, and we will run it through him when Chandler isn't playing well, or my #1 or #2 options is not playing well. Artest and Hughes can both create their own shots, and matchup well against Cellar's wings.

Defense:
We know AI isn't a good defender. But that's where the bad defenders end. Duncan is a defensive anchor at the 4. Yao is a defensive anchor at the 5. Artest anchored the Indy defense from the 3. Hughes can shut down anyone 1 on 1. Even though AI might get beat, the guy who is beating him (Harris) isn't a solid shooter, so with Duncan and Yao blocking shots, we shouldn't have a problem with help defense.

'03 Jason Kidd / '09 Jameer Nelson
'09 Andre Iguodala / '06 Rip Hamilton
'08 Paul Pierce / '09 Andre Iguodala
'07 Chris Bosh / '08 David West
'01 Rasheed Wallace / '00 Patrick Ewing

* lineup subject to change

vs. Miller
vs. MJ

The outlook of this team is simple - to suffocate the opposition defensively and attack with a diverse and balanced scoring lineup.

Jason Kidd will be my primary playmaker, and in the early 00's he really excelled. His league-leading assists per game is not truly reflective of his excellent court vision and ability to dictate the tempo. Whether he's running the fast break with Pierce and Iggy, the pick and roll with Bosh, the team should transition from defence to offence exceptionally well.

Pierce and Bosh will naturally assume lead scoring roles for the team, with Bosh at this point of his career more focused on working inside (41% of his shots), getting to the line for 8.6 attempts per game; and Pierce able to operate from anywhere on the court to great effectiveness. Back in 2001, Sheed was far more efficient and rarely moved out to the 3-point line; here he will be encouraged to work his post-game and utilise his turnaround jumper that wowed so many at the time.

My bench also offers a deep range of scoring options, with Jameer Nelson able to shoot lights out from 3, Rip one of the best off the ball scorers for a championship team; and West proving he could be a leading scorer working with an elite point guard.

Defensively, my team is more than capable of matching up with anyone. Kidd and Iggy are elite perimeter defenders capable of bodying up anyone from point guard to small forward; playing the passing lanes and in the case of Kidd, stealing the ball at a league leading rate. Pierce too is a capable defender; whilst in the interior, Sheed has the size and strength to matchup with any big man, and Bosh rotates well.

Guys like Kidd, Rip, Pierce, Bosh and Sheed have proven they're very willing to adapt to a team culture, all unselfish players with a great work ethic and a willingness to pass, which will create exceptional ball movement and a highly cohesive defensive unit.

In particular, with focus on trapping perimeter players and forcing turnovers, this will create plenty of fast-break opportunities which my team has the tools to finish efficiently. It will also disrupt the flow of passes into the interior for my opponent, forcing late shot-clock passes and reduced offensive efficiency.

vs. Miller4ever

Firstly, best of luck to Miller. Nice to meet in the final round.

'03 Jason Kidd [38] / '09 Jameer Nelson [10]
'09 Andre Iguodala [28] / '06 Rip Hamilton [20]
'08 Paul Pierce [38] / '09 Andre Iguodala [10]
'07 Chris Bosh [38] / '08 David West [10]
'01 Rasheed Wallace [36] / '00 Patrick Ewing [10]

Defensive Assignments

Jason Kidd on Chris Paul
Andre Iguodala on Brandon Roy (28), Rip Hamilton on Roy (10)
Paul Pierce on Danny Granger
Rasheed Wallace on Kevin Garnett
Chris Bosh on Chris Kaman

Jason Kidd will humiliate Chris Paul, I am confident of that. Back in 2003 Kidd was much quicker than today, still a shade slower than Paul but his defensive awareness was outstanding, as was his total impact. To emphasise the point; his final year at PHX, the team DRtg was #2 and they won 51 games; when he left they won just 36 games and the DRtg dropped to #12. Conversely when he joined the Nets, they jumped to 52 wins (#1 DRtg) vs. 26 wins and #23 DRtg the year before. Whether it's his individual defence, leadership or influence on team culture, Kidd is by far the biggest impact point guard defender this era.

More of interest, in the year selected, Chris Paul totally failed in the playoffs. It was abysmal. His 16.6 points (39%) and 4.8 turnovers in a playoff setting; including 4 points (28%), 6 assists 6 turnovers in the 121-63 demolition. Embarrassing. And that was against Chauncey Billups. By all accounts, this series vs. Miller will be a playoff setting, and I trust Kidd to do as good a job on Paul.

Iggy vs. Roy

And that mentality will spread throughout the team. Iggy has proven in recent years he's a lockdown defender, routinely assigned to the opponents best wing. Here, he will see much of Roy and a little of Granger. The key thing to note, is in 2009 (year selected by myself and Miller), when Iggy faced Roy, Roy's stats were something like this:

- 19.5 points (43% / 14%), 3.5 turnovers

whereas Iggy's were like this:

- 27 points (56% / 66%), 2.5 turnovers

Pierce vs. Granger

Pierce against Granger should also be a landslide in my favour. Pierce has been the better scorer throughout his career, the better shooter, the better rebounder, the better defender, the better passer. A quick look at their career matchups shows that Granger has shot less than 40% vs. Pierce (8% difference), scored 6 less points, assisted 2.2 times per game less, turned the ball over more.

Sheed vs. KG

This is the matchup I concede defeat on, but it damn well won't be easy for KG this series. Both these guys matched up 40 times over their careers, defended one another, beat each other 20 times apiece.

KG - 19.0 points (47.1% / 16.6 FGA), 10.4 rebounds, in 39.7 mins
Sheed - 15.7 points (46.7% / 39.3% / 12.9 FGA), 7.1 rebounds, in 36 mins.

It's not a landslide to KG; TS% advantage goes to Sheed, and KG took an extra 3.6 shots and 3.5 minutes to score an extra 3.3 points. He did rebound and pass more, but also turned the ball over more.

This is the kind of defence I expect Sheed to play:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nvtPGwpNoY[/youtube]

Bosh vs. Kaman

Bosh on Kaman. Some may question this but Bosh defending Kaman makes a lot of sense. Kaman has never been a great offensive player, and understanding his lofty elevated stats in 2008 is quite simple - the team won 23 games with him scoring 15.7 ppg. Brand's injury goes a long way to explaining Kaman's elevated across the board numbers, and through the rest of his career he's never really been an effective scorer. Bosh has the mobility and length to match up well with Kaman, and he won't get overpowered like he would vs. some Centers. Bosh will also match up well on the boards

Bench vs. Bench.

Neslon will shoot from 3 for fun, because in 2009 he was statistically the best 3 point shooter in the league. Rip as a 6th man for me was at the time, a better player than old Michael Jordan; notably also providing winning experience from the league's best defensive unit. I question Miller's notion that Nene and Lopez will outrebound West and Ewing, or out-defend them. West's peak & career RPG numbers exceed that of Nene; and Lopez can only dream of grabbing 9.7 boards per game like Ewing. In 09 Lopez had a lot to learn, and even an old Ewing will teach him a thing or two about defence.

Summary

Miller always talks about his special formulas for success.

Better defence + Better rebounding = more possessions
Better playmaking + better shooting = more efficiency
More possessions + more efficiency = winning.

I've already demonstrated - and very specifically with head to head matchups; that my team's supposed 'suffocating defence' from the earlier post would create havok for any opponent; and I'm certain it will here. We all forget just how bad Chris Paul was when under defensive pressure in 2009's playoffs, and we all remember just how good Kidd was at defending anyone. Iggy will strengthen that, he's one guy who has constantly had the better of Roy and in 09 it was no different.

Miller's backcourt will not only be far less efficient than their reg. season stats suggest, but they'll also turn the ball over close to 8-9 times per game; and Kidd, Pierce and Iggy will absolutely thrive on the fastbreak.

In terms of rebounds, cumulatively I expect there will be little difference; shooting-wise Miller has nobody that can match Pierce in terms of effectiveness shooting from anywhere, either off the ball (as he's demonstrated with Rondo) or creating his own shot. Equally, Bosh and Pierce will spend far more time at the free throw line than anyone from the opposition, further enhancing my team's efficiency and potentially getting Miller's squad into foul trouble.

Overall, it will be a close series for sure, but I feel my team's signficant advantage in defence will really stagnate ball movement for Miller's team and make them really inefficient.

Writeup vs Miller

06 Steve Nash /03 Eric Snow
06 Joe Johnson / 02 Latrell Sprewell
06 Gerald Wallace /07 Shane Battier
08 Amare Stoudemire /04 Kenyon Martin
00 Alonzo Mourning /








Key Reserves

Eric Snow

Latrell Sprewell

Shane Battier

Kenyon Martin

Andrew Bogut

Writeup vs Luke

RR9:
Rajon Rondo(28)/Sam Cassell(14)/Monta Ellis(6)
Kobe Bryant(37)/Monta Ellis(6)/Kevin Martin(5)
Josh Smith(22)/Jamal Mashburn(22)/Rudy Gay(4)
Dirk Nowitzki(36)/Zach Randolph(12)
Ben Wallace(30)/Vlade Divac(18)
vs
TMAC:
[PG] - Billups (36) - Ginobili (12)
[SG] - Ginobili (22) - Christie (20) - Prince (6)
[SF] - Stojakovic (30) - Prince (18)
[PF] - Gasol (26) - Robinson (22)
[Cc] - O'neal (38) - Gasol (10)

Rajon vs Chauncey: Chauncey wins the offensive battle here because of his shooting, but Rajon will keep Chauncey in check with his lock down on defense.

Kobe vs Manu: Kobe wins in every facet. Other than MJ, Kobe is the best shoot guard in all facets of the SG game.

Josh Smith vs Stojakovic: Smith will have trouble guarding the 3, but his athleticism will dominate peja, on any driving and inside shots, smith will outrebound and drive by peja with easy, and his dunks will be undefendable.

Dirk vs Gasol: This is a great matchup - I see Dirk winning the shoot out, but Gasol getting a couple more rebounds.

BWall vs Oneal: Ben will lock him down on defense as DPOY, easy.

Tmac has a good team, but mine's just overall more athletic and I have too much firepower - if I put in monta ellis/sam cassell at point, kmart at the 2, and slide kobe to the 3 with dirk at the 4 and vlade at the 5 - that's an ALL-offense team. I will shoot lights out easily. If i want defense, i'd use rondo, kobe, smith, vlade, bwall. with my starting lineup, i love the balance of defense and offense.

Offense: rondo can drive and has absurd court vision: he could hit kobe and dirk for open shots, josh smith for alley oops, and big ben for the flush. kobe will be kobe. dirk will be dirk. josh smith is such a versatile wing he could cut in whenever kobe or dirk drives. big ben will provide plenty of offensive rebounding! with kobe and dirk together, both will require double teaming at least. while the other 3 starters can't shoot well, they can definitely hit open shots or simply CUT TO THE BASKET. All 5 of my players know how to finish at the basket extremely well.

Defense: rondo has the 2nd highest steal rate to cp3. kobe is the best 1on1 defender i have, and at his peak, probably a top 5 man-on defender. josh smith and big ben will have the biggest block party ever. dirk is quite a solid defender. I have the DPOY in big ben, and he will certainly anchor the defense in the PAINT against O'neal.

Good luck, tmac!

vs bryant08

PG: Tony Parker (30) / Tim Hardaway (18)
SG: Ray Allen (33) / Brent Barry (15) / Matt Carroll
SF: Caron Butler (30) / Glenn Robinson (18)
PF: Karl Malone (33) / Troy Murphy (15)
C : Dwight Howard (33) / Marcus Camby (15)
Situational: Chris Mullin

This team is still Karl Malone’s team, but I believe he is surrounded with an awesome cast of star players that compliment him well. This team is well balanced on both ends of the court. I have a STUD defensive anchor in Dwight Howard, a FINALS MVP floor general in Tony Parker, the best 3 point shooter in NBA history in Ray Allen, and a do it all great two way player in Caron Butler to round out my starting 5. My 2nd unit will be mixed in and all offer very valuable assets to my team. Marcus Camby was also a DPOY, and has the ability to also play next to D12 if needed. Troy Murphy is a great rebounder and had one of the most amazing seasons shooting the ball in the history of the NBA in his selected season. Brent Barry also had an amazing season shooting the rock and can do a little of everything and is very versatile. Tim Hardaway will be used as a floor spacer shooting some 3’s, and Big Dog was a do it all scorer in his prime. My boy Matty will not really see many minutes, but if I need a 4 point play, or some FT’s, he will get the call.

OFFENSE
We still will have a pick and roll/pick and pop style offense. We think that style is very similar to the style that TP plays in SA and think at this stage the positions that Karl Malone gets the ball is pretty similar to how TP used Duncan. Ray Allen is our 2nd option and Dwight will own the offensive glass and is dominant in his own right. All of my players are very efficient and almost all can stretch the floor.

Mailman (.582 TS%), who is coming off his 2nd MVP season, is still a dominate force in the paint as well as having a great shooting touch and solid passer. He is 2nd in Offensive Win Shares

Ray Allen (.610 TS%) on the wing was one of the best scorers in the NBA. He has awesome range (.433 3pt%) as well as the ability to take his defender off the dribble. He also was 1st in Offensive Win Shares

Dwight Howard (.600 TS%) is a dominant low post presence, even though he really has not yet developed a jumper. He scores 20+ ppg on 57.2% shooting and was the best offensive rebounder in the NBA

Tony Parker (.572 TS%) is as good of a floor general as there is. Besides his FINALS MVP performance, he as efficient as they come and will fit in our offense like a glove. And if left open he can also hit the 3 (.395 3pt%) when someone kicks the ball out from the post.

Caron Butler (.558 TS%) rounds out our starting 5. He can do a little of everything, and also stretches the floor (.357 3pt%) and is a solid rebounder and passer
Our bench players can also contribute, Troy Murphy (.614 TS%, 45% from 3), Brent Barry (.652 TS%, 42.4% from 3), Glen Robinson (.534 TS%, 36.3% fro 3), Tim Hardaway (.513 TS%, 36.6% from 3) and even Matt Carroll (.580 TS%, 41.6% from 3). As you can see I have piled up some amazing, efficient shooters that all space the floor and are deadly if left open to help defend the post players on my team.

DEFENSE
This defense is lead by the most dominant defender in the NBA in Dwight Howard. All my other starters are solid team defenders. Camby (also a DPOY) will guard the paint when Dwight takes a rest, and I also can see him and Dwight on the court at the same time. My team also is filled with some great rebounders, and I should own the glass.

1) vs Snake……………

2) vs War ………………

GP 32/Bibby 16
Durant 16/Redd 30/GP 2
Marion28/ Durant 20/Miller
Dyse 32/Jefferson 10/Marion 6
Dampier 28/ Miller 20

DEFENSE
My guys will match up true to position. My guards/wings will have there hands full, but have Dwight Howard to help them out iof there man takes the ball to the hole. In his selected season, when KD was playing SG, he struggled in the games that he was guarded by Ray Allen. KD averaged 16.5 ppg in those 2 games, I know it is a small sample, but considering he averaged almost 10pts higher in that selected season, I would say Ray did pretty well. The fact that Dwight will really not need to guard anyone, his shot blocking will be a big difference maker. The Dyse/Mailman matchup should be fun, but I truly believe that Mailman will hold his own.

OFFENSE
Mailman will still get his. Dwight should have an awesome series against Damp. Ray will light up KD. My BIG 3 all have great series here. My strengths are just too much for war to overcome. I do not see any reason that my offense game plan will not work against this lineup.

OVERALL
War has a very good team, with some awesome wings, I just think the strengths of my team are going to be too much for him to overcome. Mailman, Dwight and Ray Allen all have great series. Damp had solid numbers in his selected season, but there is no way he will last against Dwight. Dyse will have his hands full, and KD will not be able to slow down a prime Ray Allen.

I'm going to use this rotation for both match-ups.

David Robinson (33) - Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15)
Lamar Odom (22) - Carlos Boozer (26)
Carmelo Anthony (36) - Lamar Odom (8) - Anthony Mason (4)
Reggie Miller (32) - Stephen Jackson (16)
Deron Williams (36) - John Stockton (12)

Offense:

My offense is very team oriented as I don't necessarily have a definite number one option, but I do plan to run a lot of my offense through Melo. His offensive game is incredibly versatile and with a PG like Deron running the show, he'll get a lot of opportunities to put his finishing ability work. But it's not just those two when you consider the off-ball movement from Reggie Miller, Carlos Boozer's inside game, DRob's mid-range and inside games as well as Odom/SJax/Stock providing supplemental playmaking. My calling has to be my offense in these matchups, as I have elite offensive options that I need to get the most out of to win.

Defense:

The key to my defense is David Robinson, supported by length, quickness and physical strength from my other key players. What I want to emphasize is that DRob is still a fantastic defender at this stage of his career which is excellent in a weak centre era. I also want to stress that although guys like Odom/Melo/Deron aren't characterized as elite defenders they all hold their own and have different strengths. Odom's length and mobility especially will be valuable in different ways in both match ups. Stockton/Mason/SJax provide interesting defensive bench options that can play depending on the situation.

vs. RR9

Kudos to RR9 for building one of the most dynamic duos in this era with Dirk/Kobe and surrounding them with 3 very good defensive players. But I think there's a constructional flaw here that can be exploited greatly. With Rondo/Josh Smith/Ben Wallace all starting, I have no problem laying off those players and using plenty of double-teaming on Dirk/Kobe. This even allows for DRob to roam more, which is a key of my defense succeeding. I think by working on beefing up his defense significantly, RR9 left his offense with more to be desired.

Offensively I feel Josh Smith will have his hands tied with Melo, and I always have to bring up Reggie Miller and his constant movement tiring out defensive players (in this case, an unbelievably valuable offensive piece in Kobe). While the 2000 NBA Finals was an earlier point of Kobe's career, Reggie Miller had some interesting production in that series. He had one terrible game, game 1, but on the whole produced very well throughout the series, including 33 and 35 point performances in games 3/4. I think its also clear Deron would hold a distinct advantage over a Rondo (pre-2009). Head-to-head stats are never a great indicator but they do have some minor merit, and Deron produces well against Rondo (17/9/4 shooting 47%) while Rondo hasn't done as well (10/7/4/2 shooting 42%).

I also believe in terms of bench production, while RR9 has great offensive firepower in Ellis/Mashburn/ZBo, Ilgauskas/SJax/Stockton are guys who are better suited to their roles. I exclude Boozer/Odom in this since they're practically both sharing that last starter's minutes. I consider John Stockton's experience invaluable off the bench in a series like this.

Lastly I just want to clarify that I feel there isn't a significant difference between Dirk/Melo in terms of impact since this era's last season is 08-09. I think much of the hype around Dirk has obviously built with his performance in 10-11 and throughout the playoffs/Finals, but I think it's important people think back to the selected seasons to recall how impactful these guys were.

All-in-all I want to keep these short since we're all the way at the last era and I think everyone's read enough essays. Best of luck to RR9, should be a very interesting series.

vs. TMAC

TMAC's obviously assembled another gem of a team. Great outside shooting/ball-handling to go with the most dominant force this era. He's obviously very tough to beat but I do think it's possible.

David Robinson is still one of the most capable defenders in this era and someone I'm happy to have to go up against Shaq. It won't be easy, but my advantages lay in a few key areas in this series.

I'll start with Carmelo Anthony. Melo has an incredibly versatile offensive game and frankly I don't see anyone being able to stop him. Peja doesn't have the defensive ability to do so, and although TMAC will certainly claim Melo will have an issue defensively I don't see it as that large. Melo is in the prime of his career and has great overall athleticism. The key of guarding Peja is just doing your best to get a hand in his face and not give him too many options (with other guys like Ginobili/Billups in the starting lineup this is extremely important).

Next I think my versatility and the set-up of my team lends itself to a difficult situation for TMAC. Starting Odom takes away a lot of his defensive flexibility. Shaq will be forced to guard David Robinson, who loves the pick-and-roll and mid-range game. Drawing Shaq out of the paint opens things up for slashers like Melo/Odom/Deron and creates opportunities for my team offensively. Boozer also provides some valuable post scoring off the bench.

Finally, like I mentioned before I'm a huge fan of my bench and their ability to play their roles. TMAC has excellent talent and while guys like Cliff Robinson are valuable for spacing/defense, being able to cope with Boozer is no easy task. I also really respect the defence of Christie/Prince but I also feel the more minutes they spend the floor, the lighter the load on my offensive perimeter players in Melo/Miller.

And of course, when in doubt, hack-a-Shaq and hope that in close games, those missed free throws end up being the difference.

Best of luck to TMAC, definitely a series I'm looking forward to.

Bone crushers

GP 32/Bibby 16
Durant 16/Redd 30/GP 2
Marion28/ Durant 20/Miller
Dyse 32/Jefferson 10/Marion 6
Dampier 28/ Miller 20


Moving into the current era the Bonecrushers are changing. No longer built around B King we have added a new group of players but we look to continue with the theme of

1. Great PG play
2. Out Rebounding Opponets
3. High eff scoring wing players
4. Great interior passing

and adding 3pt shooting to stretch todays neo zone defenses. With Durant, Redd, Marion, Bibby, Miller we have ample outside shooting to go with GP/Dyse who will be playing in the post. Miller gives us the interior passing and his outside shot is able to stretch defenses. This unconventional inside out attack (GP in the post kicking out to the C for a jumpshot) should confuse and baffle defenses. This confusion will allow slashers like Marion and Durant that sec to back door or cut to the hoop.

Offense:

Posting up Dyse/GP/Dampier along with running base line double screens for Durant/Redd will be the primary focus of the offense. Yes we will look to run with GP running the break and Durant/Dyse/Marion on the wings. We wont be Showtime but we are looking to lead the league in fast break pts yet again.

Defense:

Defense is built around GP/Marion/Dyse and the lane clogging of Dampier. Damp in his carreer yr avged 2bpg. We have all def player at guard, wing and solid defenders in the post. Our rebounding again is huge this era with Dampier 20.3 (led the NBA) Dyses 18.2 and Marion 16.3 reb rate and the rebounding of Payton, Durant and Redd. We should control the boards in every game.

We look to create TOs with GP and Marion and then convert those mistakes to easy baskets.

VS B. S.
Our mismatches are with the young explosive PF vs the old tired K Malone and the lack of offense in the paint. D Howard can score on dunks and putbacks but he wont be able to clean up the garbage vs the frontcourt rebounding of my team. Conversely Dampier who is a 53% FG and 16.1 offensive reb rate will feast on the offensive boards with Howard running and chasing my shooters. I also believe my bench is quite superior. I just dont feel Howards defense comes into play with Durant .422 Redd .395 and Bibby .405 shooting from 3pt line. Howards impact can only be felt when Dyse blows past Malone, Marion beats Butler and Durant abuses Allen. Even then Marion and Dyse are just too athletic and Durant has a size adv on Howard.

Ray Allen having to face the guy that essentialy made him expendable but Redd is a backup on my team. GP posting up Parker ought to be good for 4-6 baskets and 6FTs alone. I think Howard very well could be in foul trouble having to try to clean up after his teammates get abused. I see GP having a huge series and moving us onward.


VS Snakebites

if theres a team that can slow down Snake its going to be us. Marion and GP along with the size of Durant and Redd allows us to switch on pick and roll or fight through the screens. Our 3 best defenders are guarding there 3 best players but conversley Snakes teams defense doesnt show that same ability. Ratliff is a great shotblocker but doesnt control the paint and O Neal is good help defender and a good man defender. However neither is a shut type guy and both tend to play bad in crucial games. Ratliffs lack of offense allows us to play 5vs4 and double team O Neal. Unlike most teams we want ball movement because it disrupts the offense, allows us to use our length to get steals and we rotate/switch better than anyone in this league. Im not even going to go into the possible chemistry issues with Tmac and LBJ. I expect LBJ to want to defer in big games and TMac to want to take all the shots and shoot his usual 42%.

On paper Snakes team is pretty good. However ONeal, LBJ and TMac are proven big game no shows. I see Durant haveing a great series and moving us on.

My hats off to Snake and Sam. I honestly think we have 3 of the best teams in this era and I look for which ever wins to continue to move onward.

vs. MJallday

Going with the same lineup for this series...

'03 Jason Kidd [38] / '09 Jameer Nelson [10]
'09 Andre Iguodala [28] / '06 Rip Hamilton [20]
'08 Paul Pierce [38] / '09 Andre Iguodala [10]
'07 Chris Bosh [38] / '08 David West [10]
'01 Rasheed Wallace [36] / '00 Patrick Ewing [10]

Defensive assignments:

Kidd on Nash
Iggy on Johnson
Pierce on Wallace
Bosh on Amar'e
Sheed on Mourning

MJ has assembled a well balanced team but I am fairly sure I can limit his offensive capabilities, particularly on the perimeter.

Assessing Key Matchups

Firstly, Nash vs Kidd will be a great matchup. I feel to a certain extent Kidd will be wasted guarding Nash. In Nash's selected year, Kidd held him scoreless (0-5; 5 assists) on one occasion, but in the other two matchups Nash's numbers looked pretty good. Still, if I can limit Nash to 1/3 awful games, I'll be pretty happy. In ALL other aspects of basketball, rebounding, defending, stealing etc; Kidd has always been miles ahead of Nash. Most importantly he brings great leadership and defensive mentality that MJ's team will otherwise lack.

Once again, I'm gonna point out the great defensive job Iggy always does on perimeter scorers. In Joe Johnson's selected year; Iggy held him to an average of 16.6 points on 44%, way below his season averages. In my selected year for Iggy, he held JJ to 33.3% shooting on one occasion, 38.9% on another, and 37.5% on another. I'm happy with that, as by 09 JJ hadn't declined but Iggy had most certainly improved. Importantly, there's no statistical evidence to suggest JJ limits Iggy, as AI has shot 49.3% vs JJ in 20 matchups.

Onto the wing and Pierce will completely outplay Wallace. We're talking a future HoF talent vs. a borderline All Star. MJ may point out that Wallace is a good defender and rebounder, but what's of particular interest is Pierce's dominance in all areas in head to heads. In the year MJ selected for Wallace, Pierce dumped 35 pts (55%) and 35 points (57.1%). Interestingly, Pierce pulled down 11 and 13 rebounds in those two games. For his career, Pierce averages 5.7 rpg in head to heads vs. Wallace's 4.2. Over 25 games.

Bosh vs. Amar'e I guess will be a good spectacle, if only because neither can defend one another and both average similar numbers. We selected the same year for both but sadly they only had one game. In 20 career games, Bosh's efficient 23.5 points 10.6 rebounds, to Amar'e's 25 points 7.9 rebounds is as close as you can get.

Sheed vs. Zo is perhaps MJ's only real advantage throughout the series. I'm a big fan of Zo and he brings a couple of extra rebounds and much better interior defence than Sheed. Offensively, although he was a steady 20ppg player he never quite succeeded as a number one option so Sheed's focus will be to make him work for those 20 points; and at the other end, Sheed's midrange jump shot will draw Zo away from the paint, allowing my guards to penetrate more easily. MJ has to make the decision on whether to leave Sheed open for mid-range jumpers or leave the paint unprotected, both of which we will punish him for.

MJ's strengths

MJ will point to his chemistry, rebounding and interior defence as his strengths, but I don't feel they represent any real advantage over what my team has. From PG to PF my guys have continually outrebounded my opponents whenever they have faced; and if Sheed needs to up his rebounding numbers for the good of the team I'm sure he will. Zo's presence will be somewhat negated by following Sheed to the perimeter, which makes a real mismatch; and for the 10-15 minutes Zo is out of the game, MJ DOES NOT HAVE A BACKUP CENTER. I can't stress enough how important that will be.

Summary

Offensively, I'm really not too worried about controlling MJ's team. Amar'e will get his, Sheed will make Zo work; but on the perimeter, Wallace and Johnson will be severely limited by their counterparts, and we can hope Kidd continues to pester Nash and limit him to 1/3 bad games. Executing offensively will be much easier for my team given the head-to-head advantages and lack of any real perimeter stopper. Kidd faces his easiest matchup defensively, Iggy has never struggled vs. Johnson, and Pierce has dumped 30+ on Wallace on numerous occasions.

Pierce will most likely be key to this series, as whilst the matchups elsewhere remain relatively close, MJ doesn't have anyone who can guard Pierce to great effect without limiting his team offensively.

Rebuttal vs. Luke

luke's defense is not as good as he's making it to to be. Pierce is at best above average, Rip is at best average, Bosh is at best poor, and Sheed is at best good. I don't see that frontline stopping Roy's drives and I don't see it stopping KG in the post and I don't think the older Pierce can keep up wit Granger as well. In my selected season, Granger held Pierce to below 35% shooting while dropping 20 points in each contest.

Our defensive talents may be equal, but my team's size and athleticism will give us the edge.

Saying that no one can match Pierce's shooting effectiveness when Granger had both more points and a higher TS% is erroneous. Also, Paul had more points and better TS%. Also, Roy had more points and better TS%.

And I don't know where the claim that my backcourt will have 8-9 coughs comes from. Paul takes care of the ball really well as does Roy. Roy has a better TO rate than Rip, and Paul has a much better TO rate than Kidd. Unlike Chauncey who actually had an offensive game to punish Paul with, Kidd is a poor shooter with 3.7 turnovers a game. I think it will be Paul who takes advantage of Kidd in this series.

Brief rebuttal from Miller so I'll keep mine brief too.

I wasn't suggesting my defence would be amazing; but individually the matchups work quite well, particularly the effectiveness of Iggy at limiting Roy (I selected Iggy for his stellar defence which has been somewhat off the radar until last season), and Kidd on Paul. KG on Bosh was my vulnerability, which I've tried to address with defensive assignments and Sheed will make him work; I don't fear Kaman so much as an offensive threat.

You mention older Pierce struggling to match up with Granger, that I'm not to sure. Pierce (30) was no slower in 2008 but he was more conservative with his style of play, perhaps at times cruising as the Celtics dominated. But he was nonetheless able to step up to an elite level in the Finals; I recall his defense on Kobe, particularly when KG fouled out, that earned him a lot of plaudits; offensively he can play in ISO situations or catch and shoot and is far more versatile than Granger, hence making him harder to defend.