Modified 97 & 98 Jazz

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

The players start with the best qualities of their 98 and 97 selves combined.
Then I combine the best attributes of peak Mark Eaton and Ostertag into one player.
Then I combine the best attributes of peak Thurl Bailey and Gregg Foster into one player.
Then I combine the best attributes of peak Ricky Green and Howard Eisley into one player.
Then I combine the best attributes of peak Darryl Griffith, Peak Bobby Hansen, peak Jeff Malone and peak Hornacek into player.


Does this team beat the 1997 Bulls?
Could they beat the 2019 Toronto Raptors?

Bobby Hansen was defensively smart and bigger at 6’ 6”
Daryl Griffith was an elite athlete.

Ricky Green was very fast and a top tier point guard.
Thurl Bailey was a better scorer than Foster, a shot blocker and athletic.

All of these guys played with Stockton and Malone but the peak versions of Rickey Green and Daryl Griffith were before Stockton and Malone

[migya]

They win with ease. That's a talented supporting cast that fits well next to Stockton and Malone.

[Owly]

This is a team absolutely killed by bench lineups.

So disregarding for the moment luck, small samples of playoff series and focusing on quality ...

If we can get them to an 8 man rotation and have Sloan stop playing the rest, I think you've got a winner.

The starters are fine anyway but ...

Ostertag/Eaton ... the core strength in the same so maybe not a huge value add. But Eaton was a really poor scorer (-438.8 TS add off small usage) whilst Ostertag was circa neutral accuracy. It's not like we're getting spacing either way, but I suppose a healthy Frankenstein with the vertical size of Eaton and the bulk and relative agility of Ostertag is an upgrade.

Think Hornacek is far better than the field, but some liked Hansen as a defender, J Malone got to a higher volume ... maybe his movement off ball for screens?, Griffiths ... I guess must have had some athleticism (though the little I've seen, the nickname seems hypebolic for him).

'88 Bailey isn't anything special, but he's a competent, circa league average player - far, far better than Foster who I'm not sure belonged in the league. The hybrid might just be Bailey ... I suppose if you can add the size to defend Cs with compromising mobility?? Foster notionally had 20 foot range ... but same reporting goes for Bailey (and a better ft%). Might prefer to concentrate the goodness by combining Bailey (or better yet, Corbin) with Keefe (smart, scrappy, tough, able to to be part of effective units [at SF], but we'll take what we can get.

Don't have great read on Green. Know he was renowned for speed. Solid raw production in the pg categories (assists, steals). '84 stands out as getting a decent way above average for box production. If you don't think either (a) he's far worse than his box score or (b) the game changed too much then he's a substantial upgrade on Eisley who played big minutes even whilst Stockton still did.

Frankenstein-y process always feels a bit weird (how does he stay that strong but get that fast, how does changed leap affect their shot, how does mental side selected make choices in alien situations etc), but if we are imagining somehow no tradeoff we've added two at least solid players (Green probably better) from lowish baselines (Foster worse). Throw in '98 Keefe and we've got 8 men. As before hybrids get weird but if Ostertag can be a bit scarier, Hornacek even just younger legs (but if the D, athleticism and creation get kicked up a notch all the better), upgrading a 7.97 SRS team ... that should be pretty dangerous.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

This is a team absolutely killed by bench lineups.

So disregarding for the moment luck, small samples of playoff series and focusing on quality ...

If we can get them to an 8 man rotation and have Sloan stop playing the rest, I think you've got a winner.

The starters are fine anyway but ...

Ostertag/Eaton ... the core strength in the same so maybe not a huge value add. But Eaton was a really poor scorer (-438.8 TS add off small usage) whilst Ostertag was circa neutral accuracy. It's not like we're getting spacing either way, but I suppose a healthy Frankenstein with the vertical size of Eaton and the bulk and relative agility of Ostertag is an upgrade.

Think Hornacek is far better than the field, but some liked Hansen as a defender, J Malone got to a higher volume ... maybe his movement off ball for screens?, Griffiths ... I guess must have had some athleticism (though the little I've seen, the nickname seems hypebolic for him).

'88 Bailey isn't anything special, but he's a competent, circa league average player - far, far better than Foster who I'm not sure belonged in the league. The hybrid might just be Bailey ... I suppose if you can add the size to defend Cs with compromising mobility?? Foster notionally had 20 foot range ... but same reporting goes for Bailey (and a better ft%). Might prefer to concentrate the goodness by combining Bailey (or better yet, Corbin) with Keefe (smart, scrappy, tough, able to to be part of effective units [at SF], but we'll take what we can get.

Don't have great read on Green. Know he was renowned for speed. Solid raw production in the pg categories (assists, steals). '84 stands out as getting a decent way above average for box production. If you don't think either (a) he's far worse than his box score or (b) the game changed too much then he's a substantial upgrade on Eisley who played big minutes even whilst Stockton still did.

Frankenstein-y process always feels a bit weird (how does he stay that strong but get that fast, how does changed leap affect their shot, how does mental side selected make choices in alien situations etc), but if we are imagining somehow no tradeoff we've added two at least solid players (Green probably better) from lowish baselines (Foster worse). Throw in '98 Keefe and we've got 8 men. As before hybrids get weird but if Ostertag can be a bit scarier, Hornacek even just younger legs (but if the D, athleticism and creation get kicked up a notch all the better), upgrading a 7.97 SRS team ... that should be pretty dangerous.

I was not throwing away Byron Russel, Keefe and Shandon Anderson: I just was not upgrading them.

Eisley gives Rickey Green a better outside shot.

Thank you for playing Frankenstein with me.

[Owly]

This is a team absolutely killed by bench lineups.

So disregarding for the moment luck, small samples of playoff series and focusing on quality ...

If we can get them to an 8 man rotation and have Sloan stop playing the rest, I think you've got a winner.

The starters are fine anyway but ...

Ostertag/Eaton ... the core strength in the same so maybe not a huge value add. But Eaton was a really poor scorer (-438.8 TS add off small usage) whilst Ostertag was circa neutral accuracy. It's not like we're getting spacing either way, but I suppose a healthy Frankenstein with the vertical size of Eaton and the bulk and relative agility of Ostertag is an upgrade.

Think Hornacek is far better than the field, but some liked Hansen as a defender, J Malone got to a higher volume ... maybe his movement off ball for screens?, Griffiths ... I guess must have had some athleticism (though the little I've seen, the nickname seems hypebolic for him).

'88 Bailey isn't anything special, but he's a competent, circa league average player - far, far better than Foster who I'm not sure belonged in the league. The hybrid might just be Bailey ... I suppose if you can add the size to defend Cs with compromising mobility?? Foster notionally had 20 foot range ... but same reporting goes for Bailey (and a better ft%). Might prefer to concentrate the goodness by combining Bailey (or better yet, Corbin) with Keefe (smart, scrappy, tough, able to to be part of effective units [at SF], but we'll take what we can get.

Don't have great read on Green. Know he was renowned for speed. Solid raw production in the pg categories (assists, steals). '84 stands out as getting a decent way above average for box production. If you don't think either (a) he's far worse than his box score or (b) the game changed too much then he's a substantial upgrade on Eisley who played big minutes even whilst Stockton still did.

Frankenstein-y process always feels a bit weird (how does he stay that strong but get that fast, how does changed leap affect their shot, how does mental side selected make choices in alien situations etc), but if we are imagining somehow no tradeoff we've added two at least solid players (Green probably better) from lowish baselines (Foster worse). Throw in '98 Keefe and we've got 8 men. As before hybrids get weird but if Ostertag can be a bit scarier, Hornacek even just younger legs (but if the D, athleticism and creation get kicked up a notch all the better), upgrading a 7.97 SRS team ... that should be pretty dangerous.

I was not throwing away Byron Russel, Keefe and Shandon Anderson: I just was not upgrading them.

Eisley gives Rickey Green a better outside shot.

Thank you for playing Frankenstein with me.

Based on IRL number Russell was in my assumed useful players (as probable starter). Keefe was in as bench player. Anderson was the mostly scrap pile as he was part of the bench units that killed them (Jazz outscored with him on, double digit negative on-off for the two year span, career impact signals negative etc) though given that that's a pretty tough unit to improve and we do get his somewhat outlier box peak ('98) I think I'd be okay giving him a trial in the rotation and then if he's good enough (for playoff rotation) great, if not he's a regular season minutes sponge as required to keep better wings fresh.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

This is a team absolutely killed by bench lineups.

So disregarding for the moment luck, small samples of playoff series and focusing on quality ...

If we can get them to an 8 man rotation and have Sloan stop playing the rest, I think you've got a winner.

The starters are fine anyway but ...

Ostertag/Eaton ... the core strength in the same so maybe not a huge value add. But Eaton was a really poor scorer (-438.8 TS add off small usage) whilst Ostertag was circa neutral accuracy. It's not like we're getting spacing either way, but I suppose a healthy Frankenstein with the vertical size of Eaton and the bulk and relative agility of Ostertag is an upgrade.

Think Hornacek is far better than the field, but some liked Hansen as a defender, J Malone got to a higher volume ... maybe his movement off ball for screens?, Griffiths ... I guess must have had some athleticism (though the little I've seen, the nickname seems hypebolic for him).

'88 Bailey isn't anything special, but he's a competent, circa league average player - far, far better than Foster who I'm not sure belonged in the league. The hybrid might just be Bailey ... I suppose if you can add the size to defend Cs with compromising mobility?? Foster notionally had 20 foot range ... but same reporting goes for Bailey (and a better ft%). Might prefer to concentrate the goodness by combining Bailey (or better yet, Corbin) with Keefe (smart, scrappy, tough, able to to be part of effective units [at SF], but we'll take what we can get.

Don't have great read on Green. Know he was renowned for speed. Solid raw production in the pg categories (assists, steals). '84 stands out as getting a decent way above average for box production. If you don't think either (a) he's far worse than his box score or (b) the game changed too much then he's a substantial upgrade on Eisley who played big minutes even whilst Stockton still did.

Frankenstein-y process always feels a bit weird (how does he stay that strong but get that fast, how does changed leap affect their shot, how does mental side selected make choices in alien situations etc), but if we are imagining somehow no tradeoff we've added two at least solid players (Green probably better) from lowish baselines (Foster worse). Throw in '98 Keefe and we've got 8 men. As before hybrids get weird but if Ostertag can be a bit scarier, Hornacek even just younger legs (but if the D, athleticism and creation get kicked up a notch all the better), upgrading a 7.97 SRS team ... that should be pretty dangerous.

I was not throwing away Byron Russel, Keefe and Shandon Anderson: I just was not upgrading them.

Eisley gives Rickey Green a better outside shot.

Thank you for playing Frankenstein with me.

Based on IRL number Russell was in my assumed useful players (as probable starter). Keefe was in as bench player. Anderson was the mostly scrap pile as he was part of the bench units that killed them (Jazz outscored with him on, double digit negative on-off for the two year span, career impact signals negative etc) though given that that's a pretty tough unit to improve and we do get his somewhat outlier box peak ('98) I think I'd be okay giving him a trial in the rotation and then if he's good enough (for playoff rotation) great, if not he's a regular season minutes sponge as required to keep better wings fresh.

I liked Anderson’s defense vs the Bulls. You need multiple defenders vs Jordan to keep them out of foul trouble and I thought that Anderson defended Jordan better than Hornacek did.