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).
Category 1 - DPOY - Giannis Antetokounmpo - 2020 - 19.7 FGA Category 2 - 2 Teams in NBA Finals - Bill Walton - 1977 - 14.3 FGA Category 3 - Nuggets - Mason Plumlee - 2020 - 4.7 FGA Category 4 - Hawks - Kyle Korver - 2015 - 8.0 FGA - 49.2 3P% on 6.0 att Category 5 - 76ers - Matisse Thybulle - 2023 - 3.6 FGA - 36.5 3P% on 2.1 att Category 6 - Nets - Bruce Brown - 2022 - 7.0 FGA - 40.4 3P% on 1.3 att Category 7 - Rockets - James Harden - 2015 - 18.1 FGA - 37.5 3P% on 6.9 att Category 8 - Knicks - Donte DiVincenzo - 2024 - 12.4 FGA - 40.1 3P% on 8.7 att
Total FGA: 87.8/88 FGA
Rotation:
James Harden (40) / Donte DiVincenzo (8) Donte DiVincenzo (26) / Matisse Thybulle (20) / Bruce Brown (2) Kyle Korver (36) / Bruce Brown (12) Giannis Antetokounmpo (40) / Mason Plumlee (8) Bill Walton (40) / Mason Plumlee (8)
Writeup:
Helluva squad as always, Fade. Best of luck.
Defensively we will start with Harden on Billups, DiVincenzo on MJ, Korver on Battier, Giannis on Lewis, and Walton on Moses. Thybulle and Brown will both see significant time on MJ off of the bench.
Few main things to point out:
This is Nuggets Billups, who while still good wasn't quite AS good as earlier versions. Same thing goes for 1988 Michael Jordan, who again was already a great player, but quite arguably not AS elite as he would become a few seasons later. I think those distinctions matter.
We have a significant frontcourt defensive advantage with Giannis+Walton compared to Rashard+Moses. Our duo will impact MJ's drives to the basket.
DiVincenzo is far from an ideal MJ defender, but we also have both Thybulle and Brown off the bench to give MJ different looks.
We have a true big 3 in Harden+Giannis+Walton, whereas Fade has a true big 2 in MJ+Moses. I'd argue our core group can amplify each other a bit more than the generally iso-centric MJ and Moses. Both teams have elite spacing to compliment the stars, no real edge there.
24.5 ppg, 15.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.1 spg, 2.0 bpg, .501 FG%, .761 FT%, .578 TS% - Led the NBA in rpg, PER (25.1), ORB%, TRB%, WS (15.1), WS/48 (.248) - NBA Champion - NBA MVP - NBA Finals MVP - NBA All-Star - All-NBA First Team - All-Defensive First Team
PF - Rashard Lewis (2008-09)
Spoiler:
17.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.6 bpg, .439 FG%, .397 3P%, .836 FT%, 220 3P (2.8 pg), .580 TS% - Led the NBA in 3P - NBA All-Star
35.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, 3.2 spg, 1.6 bpg, .535 FG%, .132 3P%, .841 FT%, .605 TS% - Led the NBA in ppg, spg, PER (31.7), OWS (15.2), WS (21.2), WS/48 (.308), OBPM (8.8), DBPM (4.2), BPM (13.0), VORP (12.5) - NBA MVP - Defensive Player of the Year - NBA All-Star - All-NBA First Team - All-Defensive First Team
PG - Chauncey Billups (2008-09)
Spoiler:
17.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.4 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, .418 FG%, .408 3P%, .913 FT%, 162 3P (2.1 pg), .592 TS% - NBA All-Star - All-NBA Third Team
Bench F - Anthony Mason (1994-95)
Spoiler:
9.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.3 bpg, .566 FG%, .641 FT%, .599 TS% - Sixth Man of the Year
Rotations C - Malone (40), Mason (8) PF - Lewis (30), Mason (18) SF - Battier (30), Dudley (10), Lewis (8) SG - Jordan (40), Battier (6), Wright (2) PG - Billups (37), Wright (11)
FGA Per Player
Spoiler:
Michael Jordan - 24.4 [1] Chauncey Billups - 12.4 [3] Shane Battier - 5.9 [7] Moses Malone - 16.7 [5] Delon Wright - 3.5 [4] Rashard Lewis - 13.8 [2] Anthony Mason - 6.6 [8] Jared Dudley - 4.1 [6]
Total: 87.4/88.0
Obviously, this team revolves around the MJ-Moses pairing, and in particular the insane pressure they put on the rim. We've made them even more deadly in this regard by surrounding them with shooters like Billups and Lewis, who are able to not only match the volume three-point of Korver and DDV, but are also All-Stars who can create their own shot independently. Battier rounds out the starting five as the ultimate 3-and-D glue guy. SMOY Mase leads the second unit, with Wright and Dudley filling in the blanks as savvy vets who defend and hit the open shot. Defensively, we have no particular weak spots, with our wing pairing of MJ and Battier being the main draw.
Matchup - We'll start out with Billups on Korver, MJ on Harden, Lewis on Korver, Battier on Giannis, and Moses on Walton. This allows us to keep our best defenders involved in any Harden-Giannis action, and in any case Battier provides better mobility that Lewis to stay in front of Giannis. Moses drops to the rim to provide help. - DDV is a decent defender, but he has no business as the primary guy on MJ. Scarily enough, he's by far the best of those three wings - if MJ catches Harden or Korver on a switch, it's curtains. We will definitely attack that matchup relentlessly, and our shooting at the other positions allows us to hunt even more favourable matchups by using screens to force switches. - It will be tough to rely Giannis helping at the rim when his direct assignment literally led the NBA in three-pointers made in the chosen season. Walton is another matter, but that also opens up offensive rebounding opportunities for Moses. - Getting into these "non-peakitis" games can be dangerous. Statistically, 1988 MJ is certainly closer to his peak years than 2015 Harden for example. (In any case, I'd argue you have to get to Wizards MJ in order for DDV guarding him to be anything other than a colossal mismatch.) 2009 Billups had arguably the strongest playoff run of his career and led the Nuggets to the WCF). - I think our stars amplify each other more than wack's. Billups has the perfect mix of on and off-ball skills to play next to MJ, Moses is mostly an elite finisher who doesn't need that many plays run for him to be effective, and Lewis is an overqualified three-point sniper. By contrast, Harden and Giannis play wildly different styles, and where does Walton's usual function as a mid-post passing hub fit in here?
Hard to look away the DDV MJ mismatch, with Giannis also occupied by Rashard. Harden Giannis Walton is a lot of talent, but I don't particularly like the Harden Giannis fit to begin with, and Walton doesn't slot there naturally as well.
The only person that I think can sort of contain Giannis here is Anthony Mason who comes off the bench where it is not clear how much time he would get to guard a starter.
But for the overall teams, I see more one dimensional players surrounding the stars of wack's team, whereas the supporting players on fade's team are more well-rounded. To me, this makes it easier to scheme against certain players which in a matchup like this where the margins are razor thin, the overall talent level is the cherry on top for me to vote fade
The perimeter defense on wack's team is just too weak. Donte on Jordan is made worse by the fact that the potential help defenders are Harden and Korver. Walton/Giannis is a nice backstop but you're asking a lot from them if Jordan is going to be going through that perimeter like a hot knife through butter. Add to that the relative fit of the team (Giannis/Harden isn't an awful fit but adding in Walton makes it a bit confusing) in contrast to Fade's which offensively is nearly perfect, and I think it's a tough matchup.
