Scavenger Hunt Draft - finals - Fred Wins!!!

[JDuaneWayne]

Im driving to FL today so I'll have to give the year later, but I'll go with a prime Jason Kidd for the Chucker Category

I'll go with 2002-03 Jason Kidd while maybe not his best season statistically, he displayed he was a true leader and that Nets team was his team. Had he not run into Shaq in his prime in the playoffs he would have been an NBA champion almost a full decade earlier. No need to worry about Shaq when we have "The Dream" this time around.

[Takuya Kimura]

haha very nice pick,esp for the category,even AI doesnt qualify as a chucker

[LamarMatic7]

With its second pick team Chris Mullin's Fade drafts Gary Payton, my all-time favorite point guard.

Now, I have perhaps the most devastating guard duo imaginable. Imagine Gary and Jordan going at your guards with their relentless defense and trash talk. Not to mention what a clutch duo they would be.

Yes, you can say that they might not like playing together, since both are alpha males and Payton snaps every now and then, but I think both guys would appreciate each other's work ethic and willingness to do everything in order to get the W.

Maybe I shouldn't have passed on some big men or guys like Steve Nash or Dwyane Wade (he wouldn't fit with my team though), but the thing is Gary the type of player who could absolutely destroy those two in their own match-up. And, in my opinion, there isn't a guard (besides Jordan) who was as complete as Payton. He brought everything to the table.

I couldn't decide which Gary Payton I want to pick. I thought about which Payton you would appreciate more and whether it actually matters that much and ended up with taking the 1995-96 Gary Payton. The late 90s Payton might have better stats, but do they actually matter on a mediocre team during a lock-out year when the team's other best player is the binge drinker Vin Baker.

I rather have the defensive player of the year (averaged 2.9 steals that season) at his best years from a physical stand point, so he and Jordan could engage in a killer press. Plus, I think that there isn't a big difference between the '96 Payton and the '99, 2000 one. If you put him on that future Sonics team, he could do the same things. His post game was already complete, maybe he's not yet that good from long range.

It's a grainy video, but this is one of my favorite mixes of all time, made by the legendary Kblaze. I hope he re-uploads it himself one day in better quality. The song by Pharcyde fits GP so well, for one - both the group and Payton are from Oakland.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6iRoNPa0-I[/youtube]

[LamarMatic7]

I have a feeling I know exactly who Lamar is targeting with his pick .

I have a feeling that you did not expect me drafting Payton.

[SWedd523]

I was wrong. I had you picking some other guy, but I can't complain about that duo.

EDIT: ^yeah I'll tell you who I had thought you'd go with when this guy gets picked

While you have to wonder about Payton's ability to play off the ball with average-ish perimeter shooting because there's no way you take the ball out of MJ's hands, you can't help but imagine them causing all kinds of havoc for opposing teams if they have weak minds/ball handing



Only a couple of surprises in the first 20 picks, and even those were just "eh, I see where you could go with that" ones. The teams look pretty good so it'll be interesting to see people cement their styles with their third pick.

Only half the teams have PGs but only 2 teams don't have a big man of some sort. Kind of falls in line with the typical mentality of "build with bigs"

[LamarMatic7]

While you have to wonder about Payton's ability to play off the ball with average-ish perimeter shooting because there's no way you take the ball out of MJ's hands, you can't help but imagine them causing all kinds of havoc for opposing teams if they have weak minds/ball handing
"

I really put some thought into this problem and came up with.. well, pretty much nothing. Michael Jordan loved playing with point guards who just took a step backwards and let him handle the ball. So is there a point guard decent enough I can even pick in this thing? I could go with an average guy who can shoot the ball and does nothing else or just accept the possibility of Jordan being alright with it if there was a tournament where 12 team owners could use a time machine to bring back any player who started out later than '76 in order to find out the best team. I think that in this scenario Jordan would appreciate Payton's skillset. He may have a tough time growing accustomed to it, but as the '91 Jordan did I think he would pout during the regular season, but when the real games would come he would understand that he needs to share the rock.

Bottom line: this duo might not work for a league of 30 teams, but most players would understand that they will get less FGA in a 12 team league with players from three and a half decades. I'm sure Jordan would rather go to war with Payton than someone like Steve Kerr as his starting point guard, if he were to compete in this thing. In hindsight, it's good that I picked the 90-91 Jordan. I have to say that the '88 version was tempting, despite his personality issues. But it wouldn't have worked with Gary... One thing's for sure - my small forward better be someone who doesn't need the ball ins his hands. Then I'll have a tough time convincing all of you and rightfully so.

[JDuaneWayne]

It was a tough decision between Payton and Kidd for me. Payton is my favorite PG of all-time as well but Kidd was a better fit with what I'm trying to do. Solid pick

[SWedd523]

With a guy like MJ, you could go pretty much any direction because he's going to do whatever necessary to win (I'm sure you remember him playing PG and going on a triple double frenzy), so it shouldn't be an issue.

I honestly think the lack of a team's perimeter shooting is overblown as long as your main guys (if perimeter players) are capable of getting to the rack, so to me, I wouldn't penalize the duo.

I don't really want to name any names because they haven't been picked yet, but you could've possibly taken a talented big now for parity and waited for a shooter later in the draft. Though it's really hard to complain about taking a top 5 PG if he's there on the board.

[LamarMatic7]

I don't really want to name any names because they haven't been picked yet, but you could've possibly taken a talented big now for parity and waited for a shooter later in the draft. Though it's really hard to complain about taking a top 5 PG if he's there on the board.

I just like Payton too much I guess and the idea of him and MJ was hard to pass on. It would be interesting seeing how far he dropped, but with some of the guys already having the 4 and 5 spot locked, he wouldn't fall down till me. Now, I'm pretty much relying on my prediction that not too many guys need bigs any more, so at least one great guy should be available after 11 more picks.

[SWedd523]

I don't really want to name any names because they haven't been picked yet, but you could've possibly taken a talented big now for parity and waited for a shooter later in the draft. Though it's really hard to complain about taking a top 5 PG if he's there on the board.

I just like Payton too much I guess and the idea of him and MJ was hard to pass on. It would be interesting seeing how far he dropped, but with some of the guys already having the 4 and 5 spot locked, he wouldn't fall down till me. Now, I'm pretty much relying on my prediction that not too many guys need bigs any more, so at least one great guy should be available after 11 more picks.

That's the same mindset I had going into my second pick. Too many PFs had been taken and only one PG was off the board so I passed on a guy like Dirk, who would've been an awesome match for Shaq, because I wanted in on the PG run before it happened and I knew there would be more bigs available since most teams already have one.

In that same vein, I'm really looking to see where Iverson goes

[Takuya Kimura]

08/09 Dwyane Wade ------ March Madness

"That season Wade led the Golden Eagles to the Final Four, the school's first appearance in the Final Four since winning the 1977 national championship." per Wiki

[LamarMatic7]

In that same vein, I'm really looking to see where Iverson goes

I think he'll drop way lower than he should just because he's such a controversial figure who at times showed no ability of playing team basketball. But at some point somebody will pick him just because he's way more talented than the other guys available.

[fatlever]

I have a feeling I know exactly who Lamar is targeting with his pick .


And I also noticed one of them knucklehead mods put 83-84 Isiah when I had him down for 84-85

that was also probably me.

[fatlever]

lamar - i can really close to picking payton with my last pick (once i realized malone was gone). i was going to pair payton with magic. let payton guard the pgs and let magic guard the sgs on defense. on offense, payton has to learn to work off the ball. in the end though i couldnt pass up the chance to land one of the last premier centers of the past 30 years.

[fatlever]

lamar - what category are you using for payton?

[amcoolio]

Wow, I can't believe the player I wanted fell to me again.

With the 22nd pick, I will select 1989-1990 Reggie Miller and place him in the 6th man category (hey, he averaged 10 points a game his rookie year despite starting just 1 game...I didn't make the category, fats did). Despite having better years Miller in his 3rd year shot a blistering 42% from 3 and 51% total for 24.6 points per game, also shooting 87% from the FT line. He is pretty much the perfect SG not named Michael Jordan in the NBA and can get you points from anywhere at anytime. Oh, and there's also this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSWE_Wbu80o[/youtube]

PG:
SG: Reggie Miller (24.6 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.6 RPG, 51% FG, 42% 3PT, 86% FT)
SF: Scottie Pippen (22.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5.6 APG, 2.9 SPG, 50% FG)
PF: Charles Barkley (25.6 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.6 SPG, 52% FG)
C:

[LamarMatic7]

lamar - what category are you using for payton?

sorry, forgot to write it down. I'm going with the "Journeyman" category.

[LamarMatic7]

He is pretty much the perfect SG not named Michael Jordan in the NBA

At first, I just wanted to say that he's overrated, but I did not expect you saying something like that.

[SWedd523]

Yeah I might be a little young to have watched him play his entire career, but I don't know that I'd call him the "perfect" SG

[MKG14]

He's more the "prototypical" SG in the way that stockton is the prototypical PG. Defines the role more than fulfills it entirely, if that makes sense.