Not Loyal No Journeyman Draft - Play in #1 - MadNess vs uberhikari*

[durantbird]

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. Once the writeups are posted, I will add a poll, and the team with the most votes after 24 hours will advance. EACH MANAGER SHOULD ALSO VOTE FOR THEIR OWN TEAM IN THE POLL - IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU ARE SIMPLY GIVING AWAY A VOTE. If the votes are tied, we will decide the matchup via AI vote.

You are not required to state or explain your vote, but you are free to comment in the thread if you want to.

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).

[MadNESS]

PG: Kevin Johnson (40) | Paul Pressey (8)
SG: Clyde Drexler (39) | Matisse Thybulle (9)
SF: Julius Erving (38) | Matisse Thybulle (10)
PF: Charles Barkley (41) | Dwight Powell (7)
Cc: Karl-Anthony Towns (37) | Dwight Powell (11)



80’-81’ Julius Dr. J Erving 18.6 FGA
MVP | All NBA 1 | All Star

89’-90’ Charles Barkley 14.9 FGA
MVP (2) | All NBA 1 | All Star

90’-91’ Clyde Drexler 16.3 FGA
MVP (6) | All NBA 1 | All Star

88’-89’ Kevin Johnson 13.9 FGA
MVP (8) | All NBA 2 | MIP (1) | 12.2 APG

17’-18’ Karl-Anthony Towns 14.3 FGA
All NBA 3 | All Star | 42% 3’s

20’-21’ Matisse Thybulle 3.7 FGA
All NBA D 2 | DPOY (11)

20’-21’ Dwight Powell 3.3 FGA
Hustle | 12.7 / 8.7 / 2.3 / 1.3 / 1.1 Per 36

91’-92’ Paul Pressey 3.0 FGA
Floor Runner

Total: 88.0 | 88.0 FGA

Run. Run. Run. We’re going to run. KJ is a great table setter for our team. He can set up Barkley, Dr. J and Drexler running the floor, and he can set up KAT trailing for 3. He’s one of the most underrated PG’s of all time. Our team is so athletic and can run the floor excellently. My 2/3/4 are set up nicely to get to the rim and get open shots on the break. Picture the SSOL Suns but faster and more athletic. The crazy part is we can actually defend while doing so. We will be impossible to stop on the fast break. We will turn every game into a track meet. We push the pace, you try to keep up!

Try to tire out Uber. Klay, Love, etc. aren’t good transition defenders. We will push the pace and try to tire him out.

Dr. J on LeBron. KJ on Klay. Everyone else straight up. Trying to keep up.

[uberhikari]

PG: 2013 LeBron James: 28-8-7; All-NBA 1st, All-Defense 1st, MVP, DPOY(2)
SG: 2018 Klay Thompson: 20-4-3; All-Star
SF: 2019 Khris Middleton: 18-6-4, 6.2 3PA, 37.8 3P%; All-Star
PF: 2004 Andrei Kirilenko: 17-8-3, 1.9 stls, 2.8 blks; All-Star, All-Defense 2nd, DPOY(5)
C: 2018 Kevin Love: 18-9, 5.6 3PA, 41.5 3P%; All-Star

Bench
PG: 1993 John Paxson: 4ppg, 2 apg, 0.7 3PA, 46.3 3P%
SG/SF: 2023 Joe Harris: 8 ppg, 4.5 3PA, 42.6 3P%
PF/C: 2021 Robert Williams: 8-7, 1.8 blks, 71.9 TS%

Rotation
LeBron James (38) / John Paxson (10)
Klay Thompson (38) / Joe Harris (10)
Khris Middleton (40) / Joe Harris (8)
Andrei Kirilenko (38) / Robert Williams (8) / Lebron James (2)
Kevin Love (38) / Robert Williams (10)

Overall, MadNESS has the talent advantage, however, I still have the clear best player in the series with LeBron. Given the matchup, LeBron should be enough to win.

On offense, my biggest advantage is that my team's offensive fit/synergy is almost perfectly suited to exploit MadNESS's defensive weaknesses. LeBron + shooters is a tried and true method but in this specific matchup, there is no rim protection on the opposing team. KAT/Barkley is a very weak defensive frontcourt and neither should offer resistance against LeBron or AK-47 attacking the paint with shooters spreading the floor.

On defense, my job is made much easier due to the lack of spacing I'm against. KAT is the only reliable 3pt shooter which allows me to pack the paint and cut off driving lanes. While I don't have a traditional rim protector, my backline defense (LBJ/AK-47) is still much better than KAT/Barkley so I should be able to offer some resistance.

I don't think MadNESS can win this game with just a run-and-gun offense. At some point, his offense will grind to a half in the half-court with Barkley eating up back-to-the-basket post-ups surrounded by slashers and mid-range jump shooters who will inevitably step on each other's toes due to the lack of spacing.

[durantbird]

Matchup is open. MadNess and uber please vote for yourselves

[durantbird]

uberhikari advances