Scavenger Hunt Draft - finals - Fred Wins!!!

[Diop]

when we are done, someone should tweet this link to bill simmons to see if he will vote. seems like he would love this kind of thing.

Who has the most Celtics on their team?

They win.

I wanted to contact Bill last year for my team when it was getting no love as I based it largely upon his book/pyramid and I knew he would appreciate a team built around prime Bird and Walton.

[SWedd523]

I swear this part is harder than the actual draft.

I go through these teams and I'm thinking, "Dang they would we scary", then it's "Wow that team is nasty too", then it's "Holy crap imagine that duo". I think all of these teams have aspects that make them great and only have very small issues.

1st. Slam - I really, really like the thought of LeBron and Durant together with McHale and Zo handling the frontcourt. A guy like Nash might've been a better PG, but talent wins and I can't fault going with Deron.

2nd. Sachmo - Rondo on the same team as Bird, Dirk, and Dwight is just filthy. He would average at least 15 assists. Dirk and Dwight is a perfect pair and Bird is, well, Bird.

3rd. Fats - If it's possible to find a perfect fit for Iverson, he's done it. Magic and Mullin are going to make sure Iverson is successful. Having guys like Penny and Petrovic off the bench continue that dynamic perfectly.

[TheKingofSting]

1. Fred
2. Fat
3. Swedd

[fatlever]

i'll give jdw another day to vote, but seeing as how he has been MIA for the past week i wont wait more than that. we can use MKGs vote in his place.

[fatlever]

final vote tally (will add in jdw if he posts soon - i also included MKGs vote)

Fred = 14
Swedd = 13
Lamar = 12
Fats, Slam = 7
Sachmo = 5
Tayuka = 2

does everyone still want to do a four team playoff? if so slam and i will need to fight it out for the last playoff spot.

[SWedd523]

****, that's two years in a row

[fatlever]

Team Slam vs Team Fats (one game to get into the past playoffs spot)

Starter Matchups

Magic Johnson vs Kevin Durant
Allen Iverson vs Deron Willams
Chris Mullin vs Lebron James
Tom Chambers vs Kevin McHale
Patrick Ewing vs Alonzo Mourning

Key Bench Matchups:
Penny Hardaway vs Avery Johnson
Drazen Petrovic vs Jamal Crawford
Bruce Bowen vs Michael Cooper
Antonio McDyess vs Buck Williams
Ralph Sampson vs Andres Biedrins

My thoughts on the game:
Look for Magic and Durant to matchup on each other. Both players will try to slow down the other, probably w/out much success. Iverson and Deron will matchup vs each other. Team Fat will most likley play Bowen heavy minutes in this one to slow down Lebron, with Mullin playing more of a bench role where he will be matched up vs Cooper. Chambers and McHale will square off at the power forward spot. And Ewing and Mouring will reunite the master vs apprentice relationship in the post.

Team Fat will try to push the pace of the game from the tip letting Magic and Iverson run at the defense and trying to get Chambers, McDyess, Ewing and Sampson out running on the break. Team Fat will rotate starters and subs, playing 10 men, to keep them fresh and energized and taking advantage of a vastly superior bench. Team Slam will try to turn the game into more of an iso, slow down game with Durant Lebron and McHale going on vs on. Team Slam will keep their rotations tight with Lebron, Durant, Deron and McHale all play close to 40 minutes.

Both teams have good size. Team Fat can counter with Magic and Hardaway together in the backcourt if size is needed or move Chambers to small forward with McDyess or Sampson coming in to play power forward. Team Slam could also counter with a Lebron, Durant, Cooper, McHale, Mourning combination. Both teams have shooting. Team Fat has Mullin and Drazen while Team Slam has Deron and Durant. Both teams have great scoring and passing.

Keys to the Game
Which team can dictate the style of play? Can Team Fat turn the game into a track meet and take advantage of depth or will Team Slam be able to get away with slowing the game down and getting 40+ minutes from the starters (plus Cooper and Buck)
Can Magic's leadership will his team to victory? Will Lebron rise to the occasion and have a dominating performance?
Can Team Fat get away with playing Bowen on offense or Mullin on defense?
Can Team Slam get away with playing Avery Johnson, Jamal Crawford and either Biedrins or a short rotation of Zo, McHale and Buck?
If a fight breaks out will who wins? Anthony Mason and Dale Davis vs Buck Willams and Alonzo Mourning (that would be an awesome fight)? Or will Iverson simply go gangster on everyone?
If it comes down to the last shot who takes it? Lebron or Durant or McHale? Magic or Iverson or Mullin?

[BigSlam]

Team Slam vs Team Fats (one game to get into the past playoffs spot)

Starter Matchups

Magic Johnson vs LeBron James
Allen Iverson vs Deron Willams
Chris Mullin vs Kevin Durant
Tom Chambers vs Kevin McHale
Patrick Ewing vs Alonzo Mourning

Key Bench Matchups:
Penny Hardaway vs Michael Cooper
Drazen Petrovic vs Jamal Crawford
Bruce Bowen vs Avery Johnson
Antonio McDyess vs Buck Williams
Ralph Sampson vs Andres Biedrins

My thoughts on the game:
*Note the key starter match up change - LBJ to guard Magic, Durant to guard Mullin
*Note the key bench match up change - Cooper to guard Penny, Avery to guard Bowen
Reason for changes: Magic couldn't post up LBJ the way he could post up Durant and the length of Durant would bother Mullin's more. Plus there is no way Magic and Mullin could contain LBJ and Durant trying to defend them. Bowen is a total non-factor on offense.

Look for Durant to totally an utterly expose Mullin on the offensive end. LBJ will simply try and contain Magic as best he can and will double on Iverson when needed thanks to the ability to sag off Magic from range.

Team Slam will most likley play Cooper on who ever is hot and at times can run with a smaller line up with Cooper at the 2, Durant the 3 and LBJ the 4.

Team Slam will expose Iverson's height by posting up Deron on him again and again forcing Team Fat to double and leave open either LBJ or Durant for easy buckets.


Team Slam will look to play a slow down, half court set playing inside out (again either Deron posting Iverson, LBJ or Durant posting Mullin, McHale posting anyone the hell he wants) and then either taking high percentage shots or kicking out. Deron, LBJ, Durant, Vinnie, Crawford Kiki are all fixing to get lots of open looks.

Team Fat will be forced into low percentage, volume shooting and with very little post offense and very little offense off the bench likely will commit a lot of turn overs as they try to push the pace.

Both teams have good size. Team Fat can counter with Magic and Hardaway together in the backcourt if size is needed or move Chambers to small forward with McDyess or Sampson coming in to play power forward. Team Slam could also counter with a Lebron, Durant, Cooper, McHale, Mourning combination. Both teams have shooting. Team Fat has Mullin and Drazen while Team Slam has Deron and Durant. Both teams have great scoring and passing.

Keys to the Game
Can Team Fat not only keep the chucking down but can they also keep the turn overs and fouls down? I see, with all of the post offensive skill on Tea Slam that Team Fat will be reaching a lot, pushing a lot, hacking a lot. Team Slam has very solid free throw shooting and should pick up lots of bonus points at the line - again, something Team Fats can't rely on.

Can Team Fat try and break Team Slam's half court game and go small (Cassell, Iverson, Penny, Bowen. Magic maybe?).
Can Team Slam stick to the controlled half court game plan all game and can Team Fat play high octane SSOL all game?
Can Team Slam get away with riding McHale?
Can Team Fat get away with such a lack of offense?

[Diop]

Lebron is probably the best possible match up you can have for Magic. Right size, super athletic and a solid defender.

Fat's will be forced to play Bowen big minutes, and will probably need Bowen to injure someone, as who Bowen isn't guarding will go nuts.

Team Slam is my pick.

[MKG14]

Team Slam vs Team Fats (one game to get into the past playoffs spot)

Starter Matchups

Magic Johnson vs Kevin Durant fat wins this matchup
Allen Iverson vs Deron Willams fat wins this matchup
Chris Mullin vs Lebron James slam wins this one
Tom Chambers vs Kevin McHale slam wins this one
Patrick Ewing vs Alonzo Mourning fat wins this one

that's 3>2 fat right there.

Key Bench Matchups:
Penny Hardaway vs Avery Johnson fat wins
Drazen Petrovic vs Jamal Crawford fat wins
Bruce Bowen vs Michael Cooper fat wins
Antonio McDyess vs Buck Williams unsure
Ralph Sampson vs Andres Biedrins fat wins

i also read your rundown of the game and I think that unless LeBron guards Magic Johnson there's no hope for Slam's team at all. Even if he does, Magic will still perform and that leaves someone getting to expose Durant's average-above average defense.

[Diop]

i also read your rundown of the game and I think that unless LeBron guards Magic Johnson there's no hope for Slam's team at all. Even if he does, Magic will still perform and that leaves someone getting to expose Durant's average-above average defense.

That person would likely be Bowen. Would Bowen really be that dangerous? Good for a corner 3, thats about it.

[fatlever]

well, i was trying to be impartial when i made the initial post since i wasnt sure if slam would be around to defend his team, but he is. this is fun.

one thing that keeps being overlooked is that magic johnson is the 2nd best player in this league behind jordan. magic is the supreme leader and a guy who just knows how to win. he and iverson fit perfectly together. there will be no problems scoring from Team Fat. In fact, it might be the best offensive team top to bottom in the league (magic 24ppg, iverson 31ppg, mullin 25ppg, chamber 27ppg, ewing 27ppg). If mullin struggles with defensive assignment and bowen is a liability on offense there are still a lot of options due to the depth of this squad. team fat might consider playing magic, penny and iverson together with penny as the small forward.

team slam is the team that should be overly concerned with foul trouble. iverson is one of the best players of all time in drawing fouls in the open court. he will put enormous pressure on williams or whoever is guarding him. deron williams cannot check iverson. mourning will be in foul trouble trying to deal with ewing, sampson and mcdyess. mouring always had a habit of picking up stupid fouls. behind mouring is biedrins.

avery johnson is a complete non-factor in a game like this. he cant guard anyone on my roster and he cant score.

ewing will dominate mourning the way he always did.

lebron and durant will fight over who gets to iso as they both ignore mchale who gets pissed. deron williams will get injured by halftime.

team fats in a barnburner 145 - 138.

[fatlever]

i cant wait to see two guys arguing for the finals. epic.

[fatlever]

i am going to make a poll for this matchup. 11PM tuesday wins.

[fatlever]

slam, i am voting for my team, fyi. so go vote for yours.

[MKG14]

I don't think LeBron defending Magic would stop magic from doing what he does. Ron Artest was the only person to ever hold LeBron to 0 assists, and this was around the time he won DPOY, and he only did it one time. Magic Johnson is a rich man's version of LeBron offensively, and LeBron isn't as good of a defender as Ron Ron was then. So Magic still wins that matchup, in my opinion.

Also Fat has a much more interesting bench

[MKG14]

i also read your rundown of the game and I think that unless LeBron guards Magic Johnson there's no hope for Slam's team at all. Even if he does, Magic will still perform and that leaves someone getting to expose Durant's average-above average defense.

That person would likely be Bowen. Would Bowen really be that dangerous? Good for a corner 3, thats about it.

Mullin is on Fat's team as well and he's a good offensive player. Durant would be stuck on Mullin, who would get his points against Durant. Maybe not as easily as he'd score against my grandmother, but more easily than he would against LeBron. Durant is a decent defender but he isn't an all world defender by any means. He's probably their biggest liability defensively. I'd almost say to put him on Magic Johnson because Magic will get his regardless of who guards him, but LeBron could at least body him up in the post a bit.

[Diop]

Fat's admitted in his writeup that he would have to play Bowen more minutes because Mullin isn't going to be able to defend any of Slam's starting 5.

[MKG14]

Fat's admitted in his writeup that he would have to play Bowen more minutes because Mullin isn't going to be able to defend any of Slam's starting 5.

yeah but that doesn't mean Mullin won't be in at all. He'd probably take Mullin out if Durant was getting hot. But if Mullin is matching Durant in scoring, then he's taken durant out of the equation! So I think that Mullin will have big impacts in some games, and less in others. Basically, you can't just assume Bowen will be the guy instead of Mullin because Mullin is definitely a legitimate option as long as the scoring doesn't dry up.

[BigSlam]

slam, i am voting for my team, fyi. so go vote for yours.

I wont need to.