Scavenger Hunt Draft Winner: Sachmo!!!

[BigSlam]

jaruff, if you are out there and ready to pick, go for it.

Jaruff selects: Lefty = Darko

[fatlever]

waiting on paydro.... after he picks i will make the new thread.

[captaincrunk]

jaruff, if you are out there and ready to pick, go for it.

Jaruff selects: Lefty = Darko

Darko was already selected, no?

[Paydro70]

Sorry to keep you waiting. I select Baron Davis for sharpshooter.
Westbrook/Davis
T. Allen/Hill
Gay/Mar. Williams/Korver
Griffin/Millsap
Andersen/Monroe/Splitter

[TheKingofSting]

jaruff, if you are out there and ready to pick, go for it.

Jaruff selects: Lefty = Darko

Darko was already selected, no?

no

[Jaruff]

jaruff, if you are out there and ready to pick, go for it.

Jaruff selects: Lefty = Darko

Darko was already selected, no?

Nope, he was available.

PG: Rajon Rondo -- Gilbert Arenas -- Allen Iverson
SG: OJ Mayo -- Gerald Henderson -- Allen Iverson
SF: Dorell Wright -- Reggie Williams -- Gerald Henderson
PF: Amare Stoudemire -- Amir Johnson -- Elton Brand
C: Marc Gasol -- Elton Brand -- Darko Milicic

Who needs defense when you have a team of chuckers?

[fatlever]

great draft everyone.

rather than create a new thread for the team summary and voting, let just do it in this thread. that way we will have a historical record of the draft all in one thread.

TEAM SUMMARY

1. post your team depth chart - (list a player only once, even it that player will play multiple positions - you can break down your team rotations in your summary.
2. discuss the reasoning behind your team selection
3. describe your team's style of play, your go to players, defensive and offensive strategies
4. tell us why your team can win the finals

try to keep it fairly brief. no need for a 3 page rambling.

have your team summary posted in this thread by Wednesday night.

voting will begin on Thursday. each team will vote for a 1st place team, 2nd place team and 3rd place team.

[BigSlam]

- TEAM SUMMARY -

Depth Chart:
PG: Deron Williams - Shaun Livingston - Ricky Rubio
SG: Wesley Mathews - JR Smith
SF: Luol Deng - Martell Webster
PF: Kevin Love - Lamar Odom
C: DeAndre Jordan - Anthony Randolph - Ronny Turiaf

Discuss The Reasoning Behind Your Team Selection:
I drafted 11th overall - there wasn't a lot of reasoning, more just taking what was left over!!
Kidding. I wanted to base everything around my point and one big who could run the P&R in as many incarnations as possible. D.Will and Love can P&R, pick and pop, D.Will can go all the way and Love can step out and drain 3's. I wanted a high BBIQ wing player who played both ends (Matthews) with the other two positions being complimentry players (I managed to get a little more in Deng). The big thing for me though was depth. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of depth and by landing Odom and Smith I feel I got two of the best 6th men in the NBA right now. I also wanted guys who could play at least 2 positions - which outside of Jordan I got. Having a point with D.Wills size allows me plenty of options with line ups.

Describe Your Team's Style Of Play (defensive & offensive strategies):
Half court offense (lot and lots of P&R's from all positions) with some triangle work (having two bigs like Love and Odom easily allows for this with thier passing) and a suffocating half court trap type D.

Your Go To Players:
D.Will and Love in the 1st unit, Odom and Smith in the 2nd.

Tell Us Why Your Team Can Win The Finals:
A well balanced starting unit with very defined roles and awesome, awesome depth. Good leaders on the team with a mix of vets, young vets and young players. No real ego's on the team (just have to keep JR in check!!)

[fatlever]

Team Fatlever
PG: Steve Nash | Rodney Stuckey | Juan Carlos Navarro
SG: Kevin Martin | Jamal Crawford
SF: Andrei Kirilenko | Paul George | Mike Miller
PF: Zach Randolph | Chuck Hayes
C: Serge Ibaka | Channing Frye

Selection Strategy
- to select players who compliment Steve Nash both offensively and defensively, to score lots of points, to block lots of shots and to watch Zach Randolph eat everyone's lunch, literally and figuratively in the low post during crunchtime.

Team Philosophy
It would be easy to glance at my roster and think of the 2005-2006 Phoenix Suns and think I am simply trying to recreate that roster. You might think that by selecting Nash I was only interested in trying to create a team that could score 130ppg while giving up an equal number of points. That was not my intention. I wanted to build a team that did for Nash what the Suns could never do. Nash is more than just a run-and-gun point guard. He is still the best pick and roll point guard in the league and he is also one of the best at penetrating and dishing to open teammates for wide open jumpshots. I wanted to surround Nash with offensive players who would compliment these skills of his. The Suns had those things in Amare for the pick and roll and various shooters. This team has pick and roll/pop guys in Randolph and Frye and also has shooters in Martin, Crawford, Frye, Miller and George. What separates this team from those Suns teams is four things: low post offense, low post defense, shot blocking, and wing defenders. In the playoffs every team needs a low post go-to guy who can get baskets late. Amare was never a post up guy. Randolph is arguably the best low post scorer in the league, especially in the fourth quarter. The Suns never had any real shot blockers behind Nash. They never covered up his one glaring weakness, his perimeter defense. With Ibaka in the paint and Kirilenko playing help defense, suddenly Nash's perimeter defense is not a major issue. Also, Hayes is one of the elite low post defenders in the league and along with Ibaka, scoring in the paint against this team will be difficult. Kirilenko and young emerging wing defender George give this team two players who can slow down any hot scorers from the other team. My team will still be based on offense primarily. Martin can get to the free-throw line as well as anyone. Crawford and Randolph are assassins in crunch time and Nash, offensively, is still the best pg in the league. This team will score on anyone, even Sachmo's team of old defensive studs. However, this team will also defend well enough to get enough stops when it counts.

Go To Players
Randolph, Martin, Crawford and Nash

Why This Team Can Win
Over-the-top balanced offense, inside and outside, shooting, isos, free-throws, with enough defense to get stops. Nash cannot be stopped with a team that is built perfectly for his strengths and weaknesses.

[BigSlam]

I like your team Fats, I could see Martin knocking down uncontested three ball after uncontested three ball as Nash probes the lane then kicks it out to him.

But I do wonder what would happen if Ibaka got into foul trouble in games - or even worse, was injured long term. He's your only real defensive big when it comes to protecting the rim. Same with your on ball D. Short of an aging and well past his prime AK47 your wings might get a little lit up and without Ibaka there to bail them out, things might get hairy?

Nash and Z-Bo would be fun though. Has Nash ever played with a player with the low post skills as Z-Bo?

[fatlever]

@slam - well, if we are playing the "what if" injury game... if deron williams gets hurt your squad struggles to put up 90pts against a good defense.

blocks per 36 last year

ibaka 3.2
kirilenko 1.3
frye 1.1
hayes 0.7

certainly losing ibaka would hurt my shotblocking, but there are some other capable shot blockers on the squad.

[BigSlam]

Ya, but D.Will is a super star and one of my two best players, so of course losing him would hurt. Ibaka is just a role player though. You don't want to be that effected by losing a role player do you?

Besides, even if D.Will did go down, I would still have Livingston and Rubio to run the point - not to mention Smith and Odom who could facilitate a lot of the offense.

If Ibaka goes down you have Zach Randolph, Chuck Hayes or Channing Frye as your defensive anchor.

[fatlever]

dwill isnt just your point guard though, he is also your #1 scoring option. you put livingston/rubio in there and who is going to score?



anyway, we can do this with just about any team - take away one player superstar, leading scorer or defensive anchor - and all of a sudden that team is a wreck.

[doc.end]

Yup, that would be unfair, we picked first we would suffer the most. You just can't take Dirk away like that

[Paydro70]

I agree with Slam, the two main concerns with Fats' team are how dependent it is on Ibaka, and the fact that Nash is the centerpiece of the offense. He's going to fall off sometime, and at 37 it's already kind of a miracle he can play at the level he does. Should Ibaka be able to stay on the floor for 35 mpg, and Nash puts up a season as good or better than last year's, it's a squad that can contend. Certainly I think this team should be superb offensively.

Slam's, well... basically you'd better believe that DeAndre Jordan is the man, because he's got to be one of the weakest starters in this fantasy league. He's worthless on offense, has one of the highest foul rates in the NBA, and commits a ton of turnovers for so few touches and minutes. More troubling is that the two backups are both poor options. I'm not a fan of the backup point guards either, but the rest of the team is really excellent.

Anyway, time for my own TEAM SUMMARY

1. Depth Chart
Westbrook/Davis
T. Allen/Hill
Gay/Mar. Williams/Korver
Griffin/Millsap
Andersen/Monroe/Splitter

Roster Notes: -George Hill is the team's sixth man, he will be playing a non-trivial amount of time at the point as well as backing up Allen. Davis should be regarded as the third point guard.
-The big man rotation will be responsive to opponent tendencies... against smaller teams I intend to let Blake wreck havoc at center at times, against larger ones there will be more minutes for Monroe and Splitter at C.

2. Selection Strategy
It was clear after taking Griffin and Westbrook (whom I believed to be BPA) that I would have no place for a plodding or ball-pounding player on my squad -- everyone would have to be mobile. At the same time, I am aware of the skepticism of fast-paced offenses in the playoffs (which I believe to be unfounded, but c'est la vie), so I tried to balance the main scorers with players who are defensively sound and collect a few wide-bodies to deal with bigger squads. I also kept in mind that we are talking about NEXT year's NBA, so none of my players (besides Davis) will even be 30 at the start of the season and many are under 25. This team will only look better by springtime.

I believe Splitter was my biggest steal. Anyone who reads the General or San Antonio board knows that the Spurs fans are in an uproar over how little he was played during the regular season; he's a tough and effective defender who can score in the low post and get to the free throw line.

3. Team Philosophy
My team's athleticism is absolutely ludicrous; from 1-5, there is no squad that can match our speed, length, and leaping ability. As such, I plan to push the tempo, and hard. Especially considering I start TWO of the top-5 players in steals, as well as a pair of excellent rebounders, I believe that scoring in transition will be a reliable and effective part of my game. Frankly though, we'll also be running off of made baskets, and god help anyone trying to race this lineup down the floor. One answer, of course, is to stop crashing the boards, which can be a serious problem for some of these teams that will depend on second chance points and will improve my team's defensive efficiency.

Naturally not every possession will be a fast break, but I think the Westbrook/Griffin combination should make for a truly devastating pick-and-roll. I wish opposing defenses luck in simultaneously stopping one of the fastest point guards in the league coming off a screen and one of the greatest "rollers" of all time as he dashes towards the hoop. Regardless, it's worth remembering that Westbrook proved himself an effective scorer on a comical 30% usage rate (3rd in the NBA); that isn't done on breaks alone. Gay is quite capable of creating his own shot as well, but he's only going to have to be the THIRD option. The bench offense will mainly flow through Hill and Millsap, but as coach I would plan on playing Gay some minutes as a shot creator for the second unit as well.

The defense will be commensurate with the team's athletic abilities: aggressive and physical. This is a team that can afford to take risks, because its athleticism will allow it to make up for them, and to make the successful gambles pay off handsomely. Obviously we're going to force a LOT of turnovers (even Monroe is top 20 in STL%), and the defensive rebounding, good as is, will only be better as teams are forced to adapt to our fast break. Gay and Andersen are talented shot blockers, and while Griffin was no great shakes as a rookie, it's almost impossible for someone that athletic not to end up at least a competent defender. When we're forced to switch it up by bigger centers, Splitter and Monroe provide the strength on the low block.

All of that, of course, is without mentioning DPOY candidate (IMO) Tony Allen, who will be tasked with defending the opponent's best wing player each game.

4. Winning
I think it's pretty obvious that the central question regarding my team is its youth. On the one hand, the principal players have limited playoff experience; on the other, they are already all-stars or all-NBA (or close to it) yet have tremendous room to grow. I think mine is a team that when we look again in the fall of 2012 will seem dazzling in its array of talents... so keep that in mind when we're considering how the team will fare in the spring.

[Jaruff]

Team Chuck A Chucker Do

PG: Rajon Rondo -- Gilbert Arenas -- Allen Iverson
SG: OJ Mayo -- Gerald Henderson
SF: Dorell Wright -- Reggie Williams
PF: Amare Stoudemire -- Amir Johnson
C: Marc Gasol -- Elton Brand -- Darko Milicic

Gilly is the 6th man. Henderson would only be used in situations where a defensive presence is required. Ultimate Nellie Ball lineup is Rondo -- Arenas -- Mayo -- Wright -- Stoudemire.

Selection Strategy

Offense. Offense. Offense. Did I mention offense? I selected a group of guys that can run the floor for 48 minutes and rain buckets from anywhere on the floor.

Team Philosophy

Unlike Fats, I aimed for a team that could put up 130 (or more) each night. If Rondo thought the "Big Three" was fun to play with, wait until he's surrounded by a team of scorers. Like I said, offense offense offense. In 2K, this team would have a maxed out tempo and would take an ungodly amount of shots.

Defense? Well, who cares. Defense isn't fun. Hendo can provide some if necessary and there are enough bangers in the post to keep things locked down.

Guys like Wright and Williams excel in a high octane offense. Amare and Amir are high energy guys and the center rotation can provide beef in the paint. Depending on the opponent, Amare can slide to center.

There are a lot of "ifs" on this team. If Gilbert can regain his old form, he could be great. If Mayo can return to his starting numbers, he could be great. What can Iverson do in his old age in a limited role?

Go To Players

Amare, Mayo, Arenas, Rondo

Why This Team Can Win

The team with the most points wins. This team is a better version of the 2006 Golden State Warriors and aspires to rival the 1980's Nuggets teams.

[captaincrunk]

- TEAM SUMMARY -

Depth Chart (listing players only once):
PG: Ty Lawson - (other players playing multiple positions that cannot be named here)
SG: Monta Ellis - Manu Ginobli - Shannon Brown - Ronnie Brewer
SF: Danilo Gallinari - Corey Brewer
PF: Danilo Gallinari - JJ Hickson - Markieff Morris
C: Dwight Howard - Greg Oden - Robin Lopez

Discuss The Reasoning Behind Your Team Selection:
My plan was simple: Defense (obviously) while not sacrificing offense, and a very very deep bench.

Dwight has won DPOY three years in a row, and the Magic have been top 5 defensively over and over with him despite not having a very strong defensive team otherwise. I knew having Dwight would give me the freedom to pursue scorers like Monta Ellis, Danillo Gallinari, etc. He can clean up a lot of mistakes, and also score more than 20 points a night (without even having a dominant point guard). I've got plenty of backups for him in Robin Lopez (a quality backup C), JJ Hickson, and I took a risk on Greg Oden (who is scheduled to be healthy in time for the playoffs), meaning keeping him fresh and out of foul trouble will be a breeze. In addition, if Greg Oden pans out, starting both of them would give me the most suffocating backcourt in both the current NBA and in our forum game here. In addition, if the offense isn't working out well I can dump it to Dwight and let him carve out 30 points while getting the other team's bigs in foul trouble.

Once I had Dwight I knew I'd want the best bench in our forum game as well, so I selected Manu Ginobli with my second pick. He will play 30+ minutes at night at the SG and SF spots and carrying the offense when he's on the floor. Monta Ellis will be backing up the point guard slot as well as starting 2 guard and playing 35+ minutes a game. Shannon Brown has won championships backing up the 1 and 2 spot, and he'll do it nicely for me too, scoring in bunches some games (it's always nice to have that waiting in the wings as a possibility). I've got defense out the ass on the bench as well. Both Corey and Ronnie Brewer will shut down just about anyone, and I'd be willing to give one of them a spot start if necessary.

So the basic reason I chose the players I did was to have an extremely flexible team (every player but Lopez, Ty, and Oden can play multiple positions) that is very much injury resistant. It seems that every other finals, a team loses because of injury (KG, Perkins, Bynum, Manu this year). I didn't want that happening to my team. And my team will also score, a lot.

Describe Your Team's Style Of Play (defensive & offensive strategies):
This is where the flexibility shines. If we are playing a team that has a strong frontcourt (like the current lakers) I would start Dwight at the 4, Oden at the 5, and Danillo at the three. This would give me the defense to really take away their size advantage, in fact give me the size advantage in every frontcourt matchup (don't forget Danillo is 6'10"). That's how the Lakers killed for so long. Offensively, the plan for the first unit would be: Get the ball inside to Dwight and Oden, score on the break (ty lawson, monta, dwight, are all quite quick), and run a half court offense taking advantage of the massive screens my players can set to get guys like Danilo open for jumpshots (and the occassional drive) and to get the lanes open for guys like Monta and Manu. Every player who isn't a center also shoots well above average on their three point shots. It's pretty simple, malleable (can change on the fly) and will result in a lot of baskets. Not many teams will have the frontcourt to make this lineup necessary, but if it is necessary I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

Defensively with that lineup it would mostly be man to man with some double teams in the backcourt if the opposing team merited it. Having two huge bigs down low makes defense a lot easier, and you're more able to challenge shots because if they drive pass you they get clotheslined anyway.

And since I know people will ask, if Oden becomes injured I start Hickson at the 4 and have much the same success.

If I were instead playing a team with a less powerful 4 (but still good 5), like the Magic with Dwight and Rashard Lewis, I would start Danillo Gallinari at the 4 to spread the floor and Dwight would still score because they couldn't double team him. Corey Brewer or Manu would start SF, depending on the matchup. Manu is an underrated defender and is the kind of guy that would get LeBron in foul trouble from charges alone, and Corey Brewer is just a great all around defender. Keeping the floor open for 3s and Dwight would be easy, and there are enough guys on the team that can drive the ball (Monta, Manu, etc) that we wouldn't live and die by the three, like the current Magic. Markieff Morris is a solid 4 who can shoot the three as well, and I would incorporate him and his abilities where appropriate.

Defense would be a little more tricky than in the other lineup. Obviously Dwight would take the dominant post player (and get lots of weakside blocking in) and Danilo would take the less dangerous offensive player, or the one who scores more outside. He would not be guarding guys like Zach Randolph, instead more like David Lee or Chris Bosh. The backcourt would have a lot of help defense and double teams.

Your Go To Players:
Monta, Dwight, Manu, and Danillo. Obviously depending on the matchup, and I don't think I'd ever have all four of them in the game at the same time. The bench will be well manned. Either Manu or Danillo or Monta will always be on the floor taking shots and Dwight is one of the best guys to dump it to in the post. Scoring won't be a problem.

Tell Us Why Your Team Can Win The Finals:
Well, frontcourts win finals. The Heat couldn't handle Dirk. Without Perkins, the Celtics couldn't handle Bynum and Pau. With Perkins, no one could handle KG for the Celtics in 08. Shaq won 4 times. Duncan won 4 times. LeBron didn't lose because he didn't have Wade, he lost because Shaq was too old, and Big Z was too old. When Wade won he was the best player on the team but Shaq was still on top of the world as far as Bigs are concerned. Sure, MJ won without a dominant frontcourt, but no one in our forum game picked MJ, did they? Whether Oden pans out or not (and signs point to yes right now), my frontcourt won't fail me and there will always be scoring on the wings. That's a recipe for great success.

[captaincrunk]

anyway, we can do this with just about any team - take away one player superstar, leading scorer or defensive anchor - and all of a sudden that team is a wreck.

Not mine

Even taking away Dwight leaves you with an at least average frontcourt while still contending with my wings. And Dwight is probably the hardiest player in the league, he never gets injured. Looking at his games played, the least he's ever played was 78 games.

EDIT Whoa, sorry that got so long. If anyone wants a TL;DR I could write one.

[TheKingofSting]

- TEAM SUMMARY -

Depth Chart:
PG: Raymond Felton / Darren Collison
SG: Dwayne Wade / Jason Richardson
SF: Paul Pierce / Richard Jefferson / Matt Barnes
PF: Luis Scola / DeJuan Blair / Marreese Speights
C: Andres Biedrins / Shaquille O'Neal

Discuss The Reasoning Behind Your Team Selection:
I drafted 10th overall - It was evident I wasn't going to have a Super All Star team (outside of Wade and Pierce) picking in that spot. With that being said I decided to go with a defensive minded team, I feel I did that outside of Scola and I picked him as one of the BPA and for some offensive punch that he added in what he lacked in defense. Felts and Wade can get to the rack pretty easily on offense and Pierce can pull up and shoot, post up, or drive when he decides too, Scola is more than serviceable on offense as I feel his Great year last year is just scratching the surface of what he can become. Biedrins and Shaq are here for the dirty work, cleaning up the glass and defending the rack, Felts and D Wade and PP are also more than able to get the job done on the defensive end.

Notes: J-Rich will also see some time at the 3 in a scoring lineup and Speights will see limited minutes at the 5 as well.

Describe Your Team's Style Of Play (defensive & offensive strategies):
Run N Gun pedal to the metal high octane offense and a suffocating brand of half court defense. Biedrins and Shaq's job is to secure the defensive rebound and get it to the lead guard and Let's Go!

Your Go To Players:
D Wade and Pierce On the 1st unit, Collison and Richardson on the 2nd.

Tell Us Why Your Team Can Win The Finals:
Balanced starting unit with good leaders on the team who are flat out Winners that possess the IT FACTOR, decent depth (Good enough to get the job done.)

[BigSlam]

@ Paydro: That's the beautiful thing about my team - Jordan DOESN'T have to be "the man". He's just a small cog in the wheel. All I need him to do is rebound and protect the rim. If he throws down the occasional alley oop or put back jam - then that's just gravy. I'm also betting that him playing next to a super duper high BBIQ PF like Love who will general the front line and tell him where to go, where to be and what to do Jordan's game will flourish. As for the back ups - Randolph is an excellent help side defender who can do a little of everything (check out his last month of last season - http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/447 ... JuQzTZPaB4 when he got mins, he produced) and Ronny is a great glue guy, a real energy guy and fantastic at waving a towel on the bench.

Granted, Rubio is a bit of an unknown, but I think that Livingston fits well. He can play the point next to JR - who can play some point himself - and with Lamar so anything you lose with his playmaking can be made up for and his ability to score against smaller PG's is a huge advantage.