Pacific Division Draft v2 CHAMPIONSHIP - wackbone** vs. Colbinii

[Fadeaway_J]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes wins the championship.**

[Colbinii]

Player Year FGA
Kawhi Leonard 2021 17.5
Charles Barkley 1994 16.1
Michael Cooper 1986 7.4
Pau Gasol 2009 12.9
J.J. Redick 2016 11.7
Goran Dragic 2014 14.4
Kurt Rambis 1984 3
Gary Payton II 2022 4.8

Total FGA 87.8

Rotation
PG Goran Dragic (36) Michael Cooper (12)
SG Michael Cooper (18) J.J. Redick (30)
SF Kawhi Leonard (40) Gary Payton II (8)
PF Charles Barkley (40) Gary Payton II (8)
C Pau Gasol (38) Kurt Rambis (10)

Offense

We have an extremely balanced attack offensively. All of our starting line-up average 3.5 assists or more, with everyone but Gasol in the high 4 APG or more.

We crash the glass well with the combination of Barkley/Gasol in the post but both of them are good enough playmakers/passers to generate spacing.

Kawhi and Cooper are both 39% 3P shooters while Goran and Redick are both well over 40% [J.J. is 47.5% from 3P] while gives Kawhi and Barkley full court-spacing to operate.

Defense

Gasol is a good [not great] rim protector and positions himself well. We will be in a full drop-coverage scheme as we rely on Cooper/Kawhi to lock down our opponents best perimeter options.

With this in mind, we look to excel defensively on the defensive glass with Barkley/Gasol and Rambis off the bench

Dragic > Wiggins
Cooper > Nash
Kawhi > Klay
Barkley > Griffin
Gasol > DAJ

Key Points
-The opponents spacing is similar to ours with Barkley/Gasol vs Griffin/DAJ but JJ Redick is the best shooter off the bench who seamlessly spaces the floor without the ball
-Cooper's size will both Nash to the most Nash can be bothered by a defender while Kawhi will make Klay's mid-range and post-game non-existent
-Barkley is a significantly better rebounder than Griffin and has the lower body strength to prevent him from getting to the rim at will
-We have better wing-scorers with Kawhi while He/Barkley are the two best scorers in this series by a considerable margin
-We look to slow down Nash as much as we can with Cooper and then GPII off the bench, who is an excellent perimeter and on-ball defender

[wackbone]

Blake Griffin - 2014 - 17.0 FGA - 24.1 ppg
Klay Thompson - 2018 - 16.2 FGA - 20.0 ppg, 44.0 3P% on 7.1 att
Andrew Wiggins - 2022 - 14.0 FGA - 17.2 ppg, 39.3 3P% on 5.5 att
Danilo Gallinari - 2019 - 13.0 FGA - 19.8 ppg, 43.3 3P% on 5.5 att
Steve Nash - 2007 - 12.8 FGA - 18.6 ppg, 45.5 3P% on 4.5 att
DeAndre Jordan - 2016 - 6.6 FGA - 12.7 ppg
Alex Caruso - 2021 - 5.3 FGA - 40.1 3P% on 2.4 att
Festus Ezeli - 2015 - 3.0 FGA

Total: 87.9/88 FGA

Steve Nash (38) / Alex Caruso (10)
Klay Thompson (38) / Alex Caruso (10)
Andrew Wiggins (32) / Danilo Gallinari (16)
Blake Griffin (36) / Danilo Gallinari (12)
DeAndre Jordan (38) / Festus Ezeli (10)

Writeup:

Very talented team Colbinii, best of luck.

Defensively we will start with Nash on Cooper/Redick, Klay on Dragic, Wiggins on Kawhi, Blake on Chuck, and DAJ on Pau.

This is yet another series where neither team is all that loaded defensively. Both teams have some defensive weaknesses and will likely have trouble getting stops. Chuck is certainly an amazing rebounder but just looking at size we are the much bigger team. Colbinii has 4 true guards in his lineup (Dragic, Cooper, Redick, and Payton) whereas I only have 2 (Nash and Caruso) (Klay is listed at SG but I'd argue he's closer to a true SF). I think Colbinii is going to have a hard time matching up with Klay/Wiggins/Blake/Danilo(and to a lesser extent DAJ) when his only reliable wing OR big defender is Kawhi. Wiggins was a legitimate all star last year and was the second best player on a championship team. With Cooper on Nash and Kawhi on Klay, that leaves Dragic to guard Wiggins which isn't great for him. Blake and Chuck is mutually ensured destruction.

I think Nash leads a more potent offense than Dragic, elevating his teammates more. Blake/DAJ is a proven frontcourt, Klay/Wiggins/Danilo is a potent wing trio with shooting galore, etc. In a series where both team will struggle to get stops, I think we have some advantageous matchups and a more elite, structured offense.

[Dr Positivity]

I regret not looking at the season choices more in my matchup and the MadNESS one and seeing Colbinii is using 94 Barkley. That is not really a better season than peak Blake so I think that makes enough of a difference for me in an otherwise close matchup. I also think the Barkley and Pau frontcourt is a bad matchup on defense against wackbone's style, and I prefer wack's bench. Vote wackbone.

[Fadeaway_J]

Both sets of bigs have some defensive flaws, but Colbinii's face a tougher task dealing with Nash in spread pick-and-roll. The Kawhi-Chuck pairing seems more station-to-station which wack can handle better with two strong wings and a good rim protector in DAJ. This also looks like a good series for Gallo with Colbinii not having an optimal defensive matchup for him.

Vote: wackbone

[Fadeaway_J]

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[Larry_Russell]

Fade and Dr P have kind of said it all.

And I agree

Vote Wack

[Fadeaway_J]

Wackbone wins

[Colbinii]

GG Wack. Met my maker.

[Snakebites]

Well, at least I was beaten by the best in this one.

Nash is en vogue right now. I beat Shaq/KG/Wade with a Nash team. Glad he’s getting recognition.

[Colbinii]

Well, at least I was beaten by the best in this one.

Nash is en vogue right now. I beat Shaq/KG/Wade with a Nash team. Glad he’s getting recognition.

It's about time!

[Snakebites]

Well, at least I was beaten by the best in this one.

Nash is en vogue right now. I beat Shaq/KG/Wade with a Nash team. Glad he’s getting recognition.

It's about time!

Well, now the same thing will happen that has happened to others. He’ll start getting picked higher and then his results will go back to the mean as the quality of guys he is paired with drop.

These games have a strange way of balancing themselves.

[wackbone]

GG Wack. Met my maker.

GG! Happy to get this one. I haven't had Nash a lot but taking Nash/Klay early opened up a lot of front court opportunities in later rounds.

[Dr Positivity]

damecurry wept