Degree of Separation SF2 - Flaco -V- MadNESS

[Larry_Russell]

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

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

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

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

**First to 3 votes advances.**

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[flaco]

Best of luck, Ness!



Rotations
PG: James Harden (36) / George Hill (12)
SG: Bruce Bowen (36) / George Hill (12)
SF: Paul George (36) / James Posey (12)
PF: Kevin Garnett (36) / James Posey (12)
C: Joel Embiid (36) / Matt Bonner (12)

Offense
I'd argue this series is all about mismatch hunting. It's relatively easy to hide one weak defender. It's rather challenging to hide 2 weak defenders, especially against 4 legit scoring options. At least one of my big 4 will always have a mismatch to attack. Not to mention, Embiid vs Chandler might be a mismatch in its own right. In any case, we regularly set picks to generate mismatches by involving Nash/Dirk in our offensive plays. Option 1A is the Harden-KG PnR. Harden is unguardable as a lead PnR ball handler. KG is likely the best roll man in basketball history. They should have perfect synergy. Harden sets up KG and vice versa. Option 1B is Embiid either creating his own shot or being set up by Harden in the PnP/PnR. Paul George is the ultimate 4th banana. He would thrive feeding off the gravity of 3 MVPs, but he can also put the ball on the floor and create his own shot if given the opportunity. Everybody else spreads the floor including my backup Center who's a volume 3pt shooter. George Hill led the league in 3P% in his selected season at 46% on high volume (46.8 3PAr).

Defense
Embiid drops. Chandler cannot force him to step outside his comfort zone. KG has the size and mobility to slow Dirk down. Bowen and Hill are my POA defenders. We go over the pick against Nash to deny the 3 and dare him to either take the long 2 off the dribble or attack the basket against Embiid. Wing D should be strong with plenty of switchable defenders on the roster. Paul George led the league in DWS in his selected season. Harden pre-switches and peels off to the corners. All teams have a shooter lurking in the corners. Harden's job is to contest the corner 3. If his opponent attacks him off the dribble, Embiid got his back in the paint. While Harden and Nash are weak POA defenders for both teams, at least Harden at 6'5'' has the size to close out on shooters. Unlike Nash, he can aslo provide some semblance of resistance if forced to defend in space against wings.

FGA
2008 Kevin Garnett 13.9
2008 James Posey 5.6
2013 Paul George 14.9
2018 James Harden 20.1
2021 Joel Embiid 17.6
2020 George Hill 6.4
2004 Bruce Bowen 6.1
2013 Matt Bonner 3.4

Total: 88.0

[MadNESS]

PG: Steve Nash (36) | Alex Caruso (12) | Kobe Bryant
SG: Kobe Bryant (38) | Alex Caruso (10) | Jimmy Butler
SF: Jimmy Butler (36) | Trevor Ariza (12) | Kobe Bryant
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (37) | PJ Tucker (11) | Trevor Ariza
Cc: Tyson Chandler (34) | PJ Tucker (14) | Dirk Nowitzki



06’-07’ Dirk Nowitzki - 17.2 FGA
MVP | All NBA 1 | All Star | 42% 3’s

05’-06’ Steve Nash - 13.4 FGA
MVP | All NBA 1 | All Star | 44% 3’s

07’-08’ Kobe Bryant - 20.6 FGA
MVP | All NBA 1 | All NBA D 1 | All Star

08’-09’ Trevor Ariza - 7.3 FGA
Champion | DPOY (16) | MIP (17) | 1.7 SPG

19’-20’ Jimmy Butler - 13.1 FGA
All NBA 3 | All Star | MVP (11)

18’-19’ PJ Tucker - 6.4 FGA
38% 3’s | 3 & D Swing | Enforcer

11’-12’ Tyson Chandler - 5.7 FGA
DPOY | All NBA 3 | All NBA D 2

22’-23’ Alex Caruso - 4.3 FGA
All NBA D 1 | DPOY (11) | 37% 3’s

Total: 88.0 | 88.0

Write Up: GL flaco!

Offense:
Nash picks his poison, which will be whoever Harden is defending (not clear in write up) and whoever has the hot hand. Plenty of pick and roles, pick and pops. Kobe and Dirk were elite scorers and we plan to get them the ball. He cannot defend all 3 of my perimeter studs. 12 minutes of Matt Bonner will be feasted upon, useless 8th man. My 3 point shooting (spacing) is elite with Kobe, Dirk, Nash, Caruso, Ariza and Tucker.

Defense:
Nash will guard Bowen. He’s only a corner three shooter and useless on offense otherwise. This allows Butler to clamp down on Harden and Kobe to clamp down on PG. Dirk will check KG, but he will also see some Tucker. Chandler on Embiid. Chandler was an excellent defender, literally won DPOY. He can literally defend Embiid. KG and Embiid is kind of redundant on offense as their talents overlap. Both want the high to mid block, both can stretch it out at times but were never really 3 point shooters. Ideally we shut down Harden and force him into a clunky game with two low post bigs. We will cheat off Matt Bonner for 12 minutes and double others. We have the perimeter defense to defend his team.

Another thing I want to make clear is Tyson Chandler was a very smart player. He will not fall for the bait fouls Embiid tries to get all game. Tyson loved this bruise em up games. He would thrive getting in Embiid’s head.

George Hill is playing too many minutes.

Overall, I have 3 true MVP’s to his 2. I don’t have any useless players on my roster. We abuse Harden on offense and force him to defend… Kobe? Butler? Nash? I don’t think so….

Vote Ness. Because a great fit always beats a collection of talent that overlaps.

[durantbird]

"All teams have a shooter lurking in the corners" - I don't think this sentence applies to Ness team. So I don't understand the Harden defense strategy which is the biggest mismatch for flaco here.

With that said, I think flaco's defense is a bit better overall, and with the clunky Kobe Butler fit, I prefer his team overall here, though Nash Kobe Dirk is certainly a superior trio.

Vote flaco

[ardee]

Vote: MadNESS

He has 3 of the 4 best players in the series and arguably the three best offensive weapons. Both sides have some defensive frailties in Harden and Nash respectively (I think Dirk is a pretty solid post defender and KG isn't the type of guy who can really take advantage of him), but Ness has more guys to hunt Harden with than flaco has for Nash.

I expect a series would be Ness in a comfortable 6, maybe even 5. Nash/Kobe/Jimmy/Dirk are all proven Playoff killers who will show up big when needed, meanwhile Harden/Pandemic P/KG/Embiid all have the earned reputation of shrinking when the stakes are highest.

[Fadeaway_J]

Without Dirk's gravity, I think the Butler fit would be challenging, although Butler is underrated as an off-ball player. As it is, it seems more problematic that there's nowhere to hide Harden, while Nash can just chill on Bowen in the corner (and it's not like you can credibly use Bowen as a screener to force a switch). Ness's team seems like the type that goes absolutely bananas if it clicks, and I don't quite see that level of ceiling for Harden-Embiid-KG-PG. I also prefer Ness's role players.

Vote: MadNESS

[Snakebites]

I didn't want to vote on this one because I'm currently involved in the other semi-finals. But it's been 24 hours since this matchup has seen a vote and I'm not sure who else is gonna do it. I'm not necessarily convinced that Ness has "3 of the 4 best players" in the series, but that might actually be true in the playoffs.

In the battle between two of the mega-talented teams in this game I think I'll go with the one that has guys I trust more in the playoffs, even if the fit, while passable, isn't perfect.

Vote Ness

[JimmyPlopper]

NESS has just enough of a talent differential to offset what I view as a more complementary build for Flac.

Vote NESS