2024-25 West Cross Standings Draft - Semis - GeorgeMarcus vs MadNess*

[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: Chris Paul (38) | James Harden (10)
SG: James Harden (28) Jimmy Butler (20)
SF: Jimmy Butler (18) | Shane Battier (22) | Kyle Anderson (8)
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (38) | Shane Battier (10)
Cc: Tyson Chandler (34) | Dwight Howard (14)



06’-07’ Dirk Nowitzki 17.2 FGA
17’-18’ Jimmy Butler 15.6 FGA
07’-08’ Chris Paul 16.1 FGA
08’-09’ Shane Battier 5.9 FGA
16’-17’ James Harden 18.9 FGA
06’-07’ Tyson Chandler 6.4 FGA
19’-20’ Dwight Howard 4.0 FGA
15’-16’ Kyle Anderson 3.8 FGA

Total: 87.9 | 88.0 FGA

Write Up:
GL GM

Offense:
Pick and rolls and pick and pops with CP3/Dirk or Harden/Dirk. If it is CP3/Dirk, Harden gets open to shoot the 3 ball. If its Harden, CP3 attacks the basket from the weak side. Butler always cuts. Chandler looks for lobs on the curls/picks. Basically pick your poison with match ups. Battier off the bench offers another knock down shooter, and Dwight offers another good roll man. He caught a ton of lobs from Rondo/LeBron in that finals run.

Defense:
Chandler on Malone. Dirk on KAT. Butler on Curry. Harden on Christie. CP3 on Amen. CP3 and Harden are on double team alert when Malone catches the ball. With KAT wanting to stay on the perimeter, this sets us up nicely with Dirk being able to stay on him. I really only see a Malone/Curry show. With Butler face guarding Curry, this will be a fun match up. Dwight will also see some time on Malone.

-GM doesn't have the wing's to contend with Harden/Butler.

-We have a good defender for Curry as well as 3 options to throw at Malone (Chandler, Dwight, Battier).

-I don't see how Amen Thompson is drafted in these games yet. He's not ready.

-My big 4 > GM's big 2.

VOTE NESS

[GeorgeMarcus]

Starting Lineup:
18 Karl-Anthony Towns ~ 14.3 FGA ~ NBA3
99 Karl Malone ~ 16.3 FGA ~ MVP, DEF1
25 Amen Thompson ~ 10.1 FGA ~ Soon-to-be DEF1/DEF2
03 Doug Christie ~ 7.0 FGA ~ DEF1
15 Steph Curry ~ 16.8 FGA ~ MVP, NBA Champion

Bench:
01 PJ Brown ~ 7.0 FGA ~ DEF2
95 Detlef Schrempf ~ 12.2 FGA ~ NBA3
96 Scott Brooks ~ 4.2 FGA

87.9/88 FGA

Rotation:
Towns (33) / Brown (15)
Malone (38) / Brown (10)
Amen (15) / Schrempf (33)
Christie (33) / Amen (15)
Curry (38) / Brooks (10)

Write-Up:
Defensive Match-ups:
Curry --> CP3
Amen/Christie --> Harden
Christie/Schrempf --> Butler
Malone/Brown --> Dirk
KAT --> Chandler

Our greatest defensive liability in KAT becomes less of an issue against a low-volume Chandler who scores almost exclusive in the paint. Our perimeter defenders are well suited to the task of slowing Harden/Butle while Malone/PJ will counter Dirk's finesse with physicality.

Offense we will once again feature the Curry/Malone PnR with highly efficient support scorers in Towns and Schrempf. Everyone on the team besides Thompson can shoot away from the basket, which is important if the defense collapses on the PnR.

I will say I disagree with Madness on his assessment of Amen! He's already demonstrated high level impact as the 2nd best player on the #2 seed in the west. His defense is a game changer while posing a constant threat in transition. He is also skilled enough to handle the ball and serve as a secondary initiator to offload pressure from Steph.

GL Madness and, per usual, awesome building!

[durantbird]

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Voting is open. GM and MadNess please vote for yourselves

[GeorgeMarcus]

GG Madness, I didn't think I was coming out of this one alive

[durantbird]

MadNess advances