The Dusty Banner Draft - R1 - GeorgeMarcus* vs Larry_Russell

[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).

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Gary Payton (1995-96) 15.8
19.3ppg, 4.2rpg, 7.5apg, 3spg, 41% on 4.8-3pta in playoffs (21 games)
DPOY, MVP-6, NBA-2, DEF-1, AS

SG: Andre Iguodala (2011-12) 10.2
12.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 5.5apg, 1.7spg, 0.5bpg, 39.5% on 3-3pta
DPOY-7, Missed All Def due to position, AS

SF: Scottie Pippen (1995-96) 15.8
19.5ppg, 6.5rpg, 6apg, 1.7spg, 0.7bpg, 37.5% on 5.2-3pta
MVP-5, DPOY-2, NBA-1, Def-1, AS

PF: Paul George (2018-19) 21
28ppg, 8.2rpg, 4.1apg, 2.2spg, 0.5bpg, 38.5% on 9.8-3pta
MVP-3, DPOY-3, NBA-1, DEF-1, AS

C: Joakim Noah (2013-14) 10
12.6ppg, 11.3rpg, 5.4apg, 1.2spg, 1.5bpg
MVP-4, DPOY-1, NBA-1, Def-1, AS

PG/SG: Nate McMIllan (1993-94) 5.4
6ppg, 4rpg, 5.3apg, 3spg, 39% on 2-3pta
DPOY-7, 6MOY-2, DEF-2

SF/PF: Vince Carter (2018-19) 6.2
7.5ppg, 2.6rpg, 1.1apg, 0.6spg, 0.5bpg, 39% on 4.2-3pta

C: Steven Adams (2024-25) 3
4ppg, 5.6rpg, 1.1apg, 0.5spg, 0.5bpg



PG: Payton (38) / McMillan (10)
SG: Iguodala (38) / McMIllan (10)
SF: Pippen (38) / Carter (10)
PF: George (38) / Carter (10)
C: Noah (38) / Adams (10)

87.4/88

Defensive matchups

Straight up able tonswith on everything.

My defense is gamechanging here. We can pressure non stop, switch everything. We have no weaknesses.

And with limited shooting with Oscar, greer and jones its going to be even worse for GM.


Offensively we have elite playmaking, insanely high IQ and multiple guys capable of taking over and scoring a bunch. We have great size and the ability to hunt all mismatches.

George and pippen will do some of the heavy lifting with Payton providing a spark with his awesome playoff 3pt shooting.

In short ridiculous defense, superbalanced balanced high iq offense.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Starting Lineup
21 Joel Embiid ~ 17.6 FGA ~ NBA2, MVP-2, DEF2, DPOY-7
83 Bobby Jones ~ 6.2 FGA ~ NBA Champion, DEF1, DPOY-3, 6MOY
04 Peja Stojakovic ~ 17.1 FGA ~ NBA2, MVP-4, 3pt Champion
63 Hal Greer ~ 13.8 FGA (16.2 * .85) ~ NBA2
69 Oscar Robertson ~ 14.5 FGA (17.1 * .85) ~ NBA1

Bench
92 Charles Oakley ~ 4.9 FGA
95 Mario Elie ~ 6.0 FGA ~ NBA Champion
98 Hersey Hawkins ~ 7.8 FGA

87.9/88 FGA

Rotation
Embiid (38) / Oakley (10)
Jones (28) / Oakley (10) / Peja (10)
Peja (28) / Elie (15) / Hawkins (5)
Greer (28) / Hawkins (20)
Oscar (40) / Greer (8)

Matchup Notes
Primary Defensive Assignments:
Embiid/Oakley --> Noah
Jones/Elie --> PG
Peja/Hawkins --> Iggy
Greer/Jones --> Pippen
Oscar/Hawkins --> Payton

Our multi-faceted offensive attack starts with the nearly unstoppable duo of Big O and Embiid. Joel will feast in single coverage (something he NEVER dealt with in a playoff series) or, if they choose to double, Oscar will attack the weak spots relentlessly as he was known to do. Featuring 10x AS & HOFer Hal Greer + peak Peja (4th in MVP voting) as "secondary" scoring options guarantees offensive firepower at all times. For those unfamiliar with Greer, his strengths were well rounded: defense, scoring, running the offense... you name it. This is a guy who averaged 27.7ppg during the '67 Sixers Championship run, the most on a historically great team by a good margin. He was an impressive athletic specimen who flourished in transition and developed a reputation for elevating his game in the playoffs.

Defensively, the presence of Noah/Adams grants Embiid the power to float around the interior, disrupt ball movement, and protect the rim. We have 6 very good defenders to make up for a relative weakness in Peja and meh defender in Oscar. In particular, "secretary of defense" Bobby Jones is an ideal counter to the likes of PG and Pippen.

Our bench is rock solid, offering offensive spacing and defensive toughness/switch-ability across the board.

While our opponent's defense is undeniably stacked, the offense lacks a clear identity and truly reliable scorer to take over in crunch time. Our offense has too many weapons to account for, and this is what ultimately sets us apart in this series.

GL LR and nice building!

[durantbird]

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Voting is open, LR and gm please vote for yourself

[durantbird]

GeorgeMarcus advances