RealGM

Round 2 is set (home teams determined by lower 1st round pick):

EAST:
Cleveland(AJ) at New York(randomhero)

Orlando(TmacUnited) at Miami(penbeast)

WEST:
Nuggets(Myth Breaker) at Golden State(TMACFORMVP)

Clippers(TrueLAfan) at Mavericks(ss_mav)


Please get your writeups up by Monday, judging starts Tuesday 9A EST
That gives everyone a weekend and a weekday.

penbeast, in this coming round, I will be starting Dennis Johnson over Adrian Dantley for matchup reasons. Just letting you know so that you can use this information for your write-up (since I don't have a general roster write-up).

Plus, when are the H2H write-ups due?

ATL Miami Heat v. Orlando Magic

For the Championship of Florida!

CLIPPERS v. MAVERICKS

Mavs Rotation:

Willis Reed/Bill Laimbeer
Karl Malone
Grant Hill/Billy Cunningham
Dale Ellis/Bill Sharman
Oscar Robertson

Spot minutes: Sam Jones, George McGinnis

Clippers Rotation:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Brad Daugherty
Buck Williams/Horace Grant
Bobby Jones/Tayshaun Prince
Joe Dumars/Michael Cooper
Gary Payton/Michael Cooper

Spot minutes/good cologne guys: Fat Lever, Jamaal Wilkes, K.C. Jones

Position Analysis

Gary Payton vs. Oscar Robertson. Oscar is a terrific player; in modern terms, he's around a 26-6-11 player. Fundamentally sound, high percentage shooter...there's a reason he's an all-time elite player. I expect Payton to do as well as he can on Oscar...GP is lighter, but not too far off in overall size. He can (and will) body up to Oscar. And Oscar's D is nothing to write home about; Oscar won't cut into Payton as much as Payton will cut into Oscar...although, since Oscar starts from a high point, he'll still be a more productive player. But it will be close enough...the range of Payton compared to many 60s players means Oscar will be farther out of his comfort zone on D, where GP can use his quickness to better effect. And Oscar was a difficult guy as the #1 player on teams...Oscar wasn't a trash talker; he was flat out mean to teammates. His teams underperformed until he went to the Bucks; the peak Oscar led his teams to, essentially, .500 records.

Joe Dumars vs. Dale Ellis. I'm loving this matchup. Dale Ellis is a pure scorer. He's not a good passer and he's a horrible defender. Ellis may outscore Joe D--although not by much, given that Ellis is being guarded by a terrific defender, and Dumars is being guarded by...Dale Ellis. And the Mavs offense will slow down or stop when Ellis gets touches; he gets more turnovers than assists. He's a black hole on offense. I'm counting on Joe D to not just light up Dale Ellis, but to make the smart passes when Ellis does try to play D on him. And Ellis can't look for much help from Oscar, who is not a top level defender himself.

Bobby Jones vs. Grant Hill. Grant Hill was a very complete player in his peak from around 1996 to 2000. But he was a little soft and wasn't a takeover type of player--hence the failure to make the playoffs or first round exit in every year of his career. His biggest strength is probably his passing...but that's going to be largely countered by two factors

1) He won't get nearly as many touches as he's used to
2) The length of Bobby Jones at SF

As I'll show, Grant Hill will probably only get to take about 13 to 13.5 shots a game for this team. Those reduced touches will cut his assists down--down by a good 10-15%. All of a sudden, Grant Hill is a 17-7.5-6 guy in 38 or 39 minutes a game. Compare that to Bobby Jones at 14-7.5-3.5 in 31 minutes a game. Jones scores as much per minute and rebounds better...with Jones playing elite D. I'm happy with Bobby Jones here.

Buck Williams vs. Karl Malone. Great matchup. I'm not going to tell you that Buck Williams is better than Karl Malone--he's not. Buck may be a slightly better defender, but that's a tough call (I personally feel Malone is overrated as a defender). Malone is clearly a superior offensive playwer. But Buck always played Malone well, cutting his scoring and rebounding. And since Karl will likely have to take a hit because he can't shoot as much, the difference between the players is going to be substantially reduced. The differecne between Buck and Karl in this series will not be bearly as great as the differecne between...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Willis Reed. Someone once told me, "Well, Willis Reed always defended Kareem well." And I asked..."When?" Reed's teams did better...did you know that in the Bucks 66-16 run, the Knicks hung four of the 16 losses on the Bucks? And there were three times that Willis outscored Kareem in their 16 meetings in 1970 and 1971. But then there were 13 times that Kareem outscored Willis. The Bucks lost to the Knicks in the 1970 playoffs...but look at what Kareem did in that series

Game one: 35 points, 15 rebounds
Game two: 36 points, 23 rebounds, 11 assists (how's that for a triple double?)
Game three: 33 points, 31 rebounds
Game four: 38 points, 9 rebounds

You look at that and go...wow. That's 35.5 points and 19.5 boards a game. Against Reed at his absolute peak--Reed was the MVP in 1970. (Keep in mind that the first three times the met in the regular season that year, Kareem averaged 31.3 and 17.) Here's the scary part...that's Kareem as a rookie. He got better.

Like the other starters on the Mavericks, Reed is going to lose some touches...and he's already outscored by 7-10 points a game, and outrebounded by 2 or 3 boards. Kareem is already considerably better; he's going to get even more of a boost.

Strategies/Miscellaneous

Team shooting: This is what I mean about running out of shots.

Dale Ellis (1987-91)--18.8 shots per game
Oscar Robertson (1961-5)--21.9 shots per game
Grant Hill (1996-2000)--16.6 shots per game
Karl Malone (1990-4)--18.9 shots per game
Willis Reed (1967-71)--17.0 shots per game
TOTAL--93.2 shots a game.

Well, that just won't work. I figure this team still has about 44 minutes of court time for its bench players...and if those bench players take only 14 shots in that time, the Mavs have got to cut more than 17 shots a game from their starters toget down to 90 shots a game. That's around 20%. Grant Hill, for instance, would go from 16.6 shots a game to 13.3 shots per game. Karl Malone goes to 15.5 shots per game; he averages 23 ppg instead of over 28. Willis Reed goes to 14 shots per game--he's now a 17.4 ppg player. Dale Ellis scores under 20 a game. And that leaves the bench players taking a shot every 3.2 minutes, which isn't a whole lot...so if you're expecting a lot of scoring punch off the bench, forget it. But what it really means is this...you have to change your views of the players. The shots have to come from someone. If you take three or four shots a game from Grant Hill...hey is that Grant Hill as good as Bobby Jones? Would Willis Reed at 17 points a game have won an MVP? How much does scoring 20% less and getting 10-15% fewer assists affect our views of players?

My team has, in effect, no changes. (Well, Payton shoots about 7% less.) My starters went from 74.3 shots to 72.1 shots per game. So the players you remember or read about are exactly the players I get. And that also means no issues with shooting, no potential chemistry issues. That's not the case with the Mavericks. The players they put on the court will not be the same. Keep that in mind.

We'll run, but when that fails, we'll "settle" for the skyhook. We're going to utilize our backcourt passing. Oscar is a passing wizard...but Payton 's tough man-D, and the length of Bobby Jones on the perimeter will make things tougher for him. The range of my guard trio of Payton/Dumars/Cooper will help with separation and keep perimeter defenders from doubling. The guard D of the Mavs is an issue here. Oscar was good, not great, on that end. Dale Ellis was, well, lousy. There's no other way to put it. We're going to exploit that in every offensive category.

The strength of the Mavs bench is their scoring punch. But they aren't going to have shots...so how good of players are Billy Cunningham, George McGinnis, and Bill Sharman with so few shots? I'll go with the top level D and defensive pressure of Coop, Grant, Tayshaun, and Daugherty.

Better balance, better defensive pressure, better playoff performance, better efficiency...better team. That's the Clippers.

ATL Golden Sate Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets


First off I'd like to say, best of the luck to you Myth Breaker and tell you, that you've built a fantastic team and I've always been a fan of your teams in previous competitions. Should hopefully be a good series and may the best team win.

Denver Nuggets(Myth_Breaker)

PG-Chauncey Billups/Alvin Robrtson
SG-Reggie Miller/Don Buse/Raja Bell
SF-Rick Barry/Marques Johnson
PF-Dennis Rodman/Amare Stoudemire/Vin Baker
C-Wilt Chamberlain/Mark Eaton

Golden State Warriors (me)

PG-Kevin Johnson/Norm Van Lier
SG-Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton
SF-Scottie Pippen/Eddie Jones/Toni Kukoc
PF-Shawn Kemp/Elton Brand/Paul Silas
C-Hakeem Olajuwon/Elmore Smith

Positional by Positional Analysis

PG-Kevin Johnson vs. Chauncey Billups

Key match-up to watch for, both PG's have strengths that can take advantage of the other. Billups can use his strong post game to post up KJ (though that goes away from Wilt which might not be the smartest option) and punish him in the post. On the other hand KJ can use his slashing ability/quickness to attack Billups who has been proven in the past to struggle against quicker guards.

Overall Billups is the better defensive guard because of his strength, but KJ isn't really a slouch in that department and more prolific in terms of getting into the passing lanes. Offensively Billups is a FAR better three point shooter, but KJ is better in every other aspect of the game by a pretty hefty margin. More efficient, gets to the line better, and a far better play-maker/passer.

I think KJ can use his advantages more-so than Billups can in THIS series, which would lead me to believe KJ gets the edge in this matchup. He really was one of the most underrated PG's to have ever played. I think if he were to play today, he'd be the best PG in the NBA and no less than #3.

Edge: Golden State

SG-Ray Allen vs. Reggie Miller

In the scheme of things both provide the same role, shooting. And nobody in the history of the league has done it better than both of these guys. Both are clutch and can shoot the lights out of the ball from ANYWHERE on the floor.

Reggie's Five Best Seasons (statistical standpoint)
Seasons-89-90, 90-91, 91-92, 92-93, 96-97 (combined)

Points: 22.4
Rebounds: 3.5
Assists: 3.6
Steals: 1.2
FG%: 49
three%: 39

Allen's Five Best Seasons (statistical standpoint)
Seasons 00-01, 03-04, 04-05, 05-06, 06-07

Points: 24.0
Rebounds: 4.7
Assists: 4.1
Steals: 1.3
FG%: 45
three%: 39

Scoring wise, they're similar accounting for efficiency and volume of scoring if not a slight edge to Reggie. Allen clearly has the better all around game and they're comparable defenders. Considering their play in the playoffs (where both players step up) but Reggie does more-so, IMO it's a push or the slightest of edge to Reggie

Again probably a PUSH, but if not possibly the slightest of edge to Reggie.

SF Scottie Pippen vs. Rick Barry

Let's get this out of the way, Barry is the better player, but I think in an All-Time league where scoring is easy to come by, Pippen is the comparable rebounder but far better defender, passer and just all around player. Pippen would definitely do a better job on Barry, then Barry would do on Pippen if they were to choose that matchup

Edge to Barry, but in the grand scheme of things Pippen might be a more valuable piece in terms of winning a series.

PF- Shawn Kemp vs. Dennis Rodman

Battle of different games. Rodman rebounder/defender SUPREME, Kemp an explosive offensive player with great finishing ability. Overall he'd definitely slow down Kemp but Rodman wasn't much to worry about on the offensive end which lowers his value since he can be left to go and either double or help. I honestly don't need his scoring as much, just focus on rebounding and don't make the differential TOO big.

Wash

C- Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Wilt Chamberlain

One word describes this matchup, WOW. Arguably two of the top three two way C's to have ever played the game, just absolutely dominant on both ends. Defensively, they're almost a wash if not a SLIGHT edge to Hakeem, but Wilt was better in every other category (passing, scoring, and rebounding). Hakeem would be a better option in the clutch though considering he is not a poor FT shooter like Chamberlain and is able to stay on the floor.

Looking at the stats, Wilt would trump any player in the league by a HUGE margin, but I honestly think factoring in pace, shot attempts (in the 50 point per game season, he nearly averaged 40 shot attempts per game and 17 FTA's per game, that's absolutely ridiculous!!) and minute distribution (where Wilt averaged one season OVER 48 minutes per game...) the stats and impact would be similar.

Anyways, no excuses, but factoring in all those accounts, Wilt would still get the edge, but Hakeem would definitely hold his own and it'd be a matchup of the century!

Bench

Tough comparison, comparable defensively with great defensive players on both sides. Buse, Bell, Robertson, Eaton and Johnson to Jones, Smith, Brand, Van Lier and Silas. Considering it's comparable defensively, I feel I have the edge offensively. Hamilton is a consistent 20 ppg option, as well as Brand (very unselfish so I'd see no reason why they wouldn't adjust) and Jones was a also a very good offensive player in his prime (4th all time in three point made). Even a guy like Kukoc can come off the bench and provide an all around offensive game and good play-making ability.

I tried to build a bench that'd be good on both ends and really give a spark off the bench, and I can see Myth had the same plan, but I think while we're comparable defensively off the bench, I definitely have the more offensive firepower which would give me the advantage in this matchup

Edge: Golden State

Defensive Comparison
Another tough one, Wilt-Hakeem is probably a wash, Billups and Rodman have the edge over their counterparts (but considering Rodman wasn't much of an offensive player, then it's almost irrelevant since Kemp is bound to outproduce Rodman on the offensive end) and where I feel I take the edge with the benches being near similar is the Pippen v. Barry matchup. Barry is not regarded as a good defender while Pippen is arguably the GOAT defender at the SF position, he was just ridiculous man to man and weakside.

My TWO best defensive players that are regarded as Top 3 if not the best at their respective positions defensively are covering HIS two best offensive players in Wilt and Barry.

Offensive Comparison
Wilt and Barry are probably the two best offensive players in the series, but like mentioned I have my two best defenders on both of them while I truly think KJ will create too many problems for the Nuggets with his speed and quickness, then Pippen should also have a big series offensively. Allen and Reggie would cancel each other out. Overall though Pippen and Hakeem can only limit Barry an Wilt to an extent which gives his starting lineup the definite edge offensively. But like mentioned above I think my bench in terms of all around offensive efficiency an output has the clear edge.

Overall Denver probably has the slight edge offensively due to having the most dominant offensive player, but in reality it's probably a wash.

Outlook

It honestly could go either way, both teams are very comparable both offensively and defensively, but due to feeling I can take more advantage of certain matchups compared to how much he can with my roster would give me the edge overall.

Warriors in 7 AT HOME.

Will add more later, kinda tired.

First of all, penbeast0, I wish you good luck. Hopefully, the winner of this Florida Bowl can bring home the O'Brien Trophy!!!

Miami vs. Orlando

Heat Roster
PG: Johnson/Harper
SG: Wade/Harper
SF: James
PF: McAdoo/Nance
C: Mutombo/Sikma

Magic Roster
PG: Kidd/DJ
SG: DJ/Dantley
SF: McGrady
PF: Nowitzki/Roundfield
C: Russell/Rollins

Johnson vs. Kidd
Both players are great passers with high basketball IQ and great assist/TO ratio. Kidd is a superior defender but Magic is a much better consistent scorer.

Advantage: Heat

Wade vs. DJ
Both players are similar in size but DJ is quicker with D-Wade being more stronger and more explosive. However, I can't deny Wade's ability to lead the Heat to a championship.

Advantage: Heat

James vs. McGrady
We're looking at a 5-year prime McGrady (starting from 00' season - 05' playoffs). Pen's argument is not lucid because his numbers include McGrady's CAREER number against LeBron and not just numbers during McGrady's prime. For the relevance of this matchup, one must compare the H2H matchups that took place between 03'-05'. I have seen most of these games, and I saw that McGrady and James did guard one another (played 5 games against each other but in one of them LeBron left scoring only 3 points in 17 minutes).

H2H matchup (03'-05')
James: 24.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.0 bpg, 4.5 topg, 43% FG, 41% 3PT, 73% FT
T-Mac: 35.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.5 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.3 bpg, 1.8 topg, .48% FG, 47% 3PT, 79% FT

While I think if today's LeBron went against T-Mac of 02'-03', the gap could be closer, but numbers have shown that prime McGrady doesn't fear LeBron and had played well against him.

As you can see McGrady destroyed LeBron in almost all aspects of the game. On the other hand, D-Wade has never guarded Prime McGrady. At least during that span, it's been Odom, Eddie Jones, or Caron Butler.

Advantage: McGrady

McAdoo vs. Nowitzki
As former MVPs, both players are terrific scorers with great outside shooting. However, Nowitzki is a considerably better ball-handler and a passer. Plus, while McAdoo averaged over 2 blocks in his prime, overall he didn't have a reputation as a defender.

NBA.com wrote:Extremely sensitive to criticism, especially about his perceived lack of defensive skills, McAdoo's withdrawn manner won him few friends in the media or in Buffalo.

McAdoo was criticized for his defensive efforts. But then again, despite his criticism, I don't think McAdoo was a poor defender. I just don't think he was great defensively.

Dirk is perhaps one of the worst defenders entering this league. Perhaps many of you guys remember when Dirk was called "Irk," because he played no D. However, the Dirk Nowitzki on my team is the one of the 03'-08' season and his early criticism is irrelevant to this discussion. Under Avery Johnson, his defense has improved significantly (especially his man-to-man defense) averaging 13.32 defensive win shares per season; not a great number but still respectable. I think Dirk and McAdoo was comparable defenders.

Plus, what I really like about Dirk is that he is extremely efficient without the ball, i.e.: he's a great catch and shooter. I also like Dirk's 3-point shooting in this matchup.

Indeed this is an intriguing matchup, while McAdoo is more of a dominant scorer, Nowitzki has proven that he is effective off-ball which doesn't interfere with the roles of his teammates. These two should off-set each other.

Advantage: Push

Mutombo vs. Russell
Agree with everything penbeast0 said. I think both he and I agree that Russell has the edge with his better man-to-man defense and passing.

Prime Russell has very few flaws. And when it comes to playoffs, the man had elevated in every aspect of the game: shooting %, FT%, ppg, rpg, apg, you name it. Moreover, his intangibles as a player can't be matched by anyone on the Heat's roster.

Advantage: Magic

Heat Bench vs. Magic Bench
If you are looking at talent and scorers as a whole, you will say that Miami has an edge. While Dantley is the best scorer off the bench (Roundfield will also see some action) in this series, but Miami has Sikma, Nance, and Harper (also reserves, Dandrige and Daniels), who are all great scorers. If you're looking at offense only, his bench kills mine.

However, my team is composed of role players who can impact the game without scoring: defense and ball movement. I also think my bench's defense is better than pen's. I am not saying that his bench plays poor defense, but I think mine's better. Overall, if you emphasis is defense and having players with well-defined roles, I'd say my bench is more favorable.

With regards to my team's defense. I want to expand on Rollins. I think Rollins was one of the most underrated defenders of all-time; maybe he wasn't well-recognized, because he didn't play a lot of minutes. I guess that makes him an ideal defensive anchor off the bench. Rollins had size and was a good rebounder and shotblocker; he finished top 3 in blocked shots 6 times. At the time of his retirement, he was fourth all-time in career blocked shots (behind Hakeem, KAJ, and Eaton). Sikma is one of the most cerebral players in the league who also grabs a lot of boards and plays great defense, but I think Rollins is slightly better defensively based on per minute production (which is important because usually bench players don't see a lot of minutes).

Nance has significant height advantage and is the better shotblocker. Roundfield in my opinion is a better rebounder than Nance as indicated by total rebounding rate % during their primes.

Battier will see limited playing time as a defender and a spot-up shooter.

Dantley is my main scoring threat off the bench and he is the best non-starting scorer in this series. His only purpose is to expose mismatch in the low post and provide efficient scoring off the bench. People see him as a mere post player which is false. In fact, he is an excellent open court player, a greater outside shooter and a terrific slasher to the basket. An outstanding scorer all-around, with 54% FG.

His mental approach to the game was very strong and his will to dominate on offense cannot be fathomed or put into words. In this series, I think he's an ideal explosive scorer off the bench.

NBA.com wrote:On the court, the athletic Dantley was as smooth an outside shooter as could be, a force on the inside with an explosive first step, and a master of psychology. Sometimes he intentionally allowed his first shot of the game to be blocked, and then, for the rest of the night, he used his patented head fake to burn his defender.

Dantley will NOT slow down my team's offense. Moreover, the Utah team that he played in was one of the fasterst teams in the league. Consider the pace factor of 81' - 85' Jazz.

80'-81' Jazz: 97.7 (23rd of 23)
81'-82' Jazz: 103.9 (3rd of 23)
82'-83' Jazz: 107.3 (2nd of 23)
83'-84' Jazz: 104.9 (3rd of 23)
84'-85' Jazz: 105.1 (2nd of 23)

And finally, Mookie will see limited playing time in this series. If he sees minutes, he'll be used to bring up the ball and initiate fast breaks. On the other end of the court, he's also a good defender.

Advantage: Push, but I like mine better.

---------------------------------------------
Pen has built an awesome team with a lot of players that I like: Magic, Wade, Sikma, Mutombo, and Harper. However, I do have a concern main and it's not about ego's colliding and an emergence of a headcase; I personally believe there aren't enough balls in his system.

I think Miami has too starters that dominates the ball, especially with guys like Wade, LeBron and McAdoo. Of course, for players who dominate the ball, high usage rate equates to high number of turnovers.

Usage Rate (considering players over 25%)
Miami Heat Starters
Dwyane Wade: 31.2
LeBron James: 31.2
Bob McAdoo: 25.8

Orlando Magic Starters
Tracy McGrady: 30.8
Dirk Nowitzki: 26.4

As you can see, as talented as they are, 3 of Miami's starters have high usage rate. My team only has two, and they are my main offensive tools.

Maybe a team can get away with having many high usage players. But now, let's consider the turnovers.

Turnovers
Miami Heat Starters
Dwyane Wade: 3.9
LeBron James: 3.3
Bob McAdoo: ? (TOs weren't measure prior to 78'-79' season, but McAdoo averaged 4.1 turnovers per game during 77' - 80'. Considering that his prime was in 74'-78', I assume it was higher.)

Orlando Magic Starters
Tracy McGrady: 2.6
Dirk Nowitzki: 2.0

Again, among Miami's starters who have a usage rate of over 25%, they also have a considerably higher number of turnovers per game.

While McGrady and Nowitzki have high usage rate %, their turnovers are considerably lower. That's because they can come off screens and perform as catch-and-shooters. While McGrady and Dirk both dominate the ball, there is a subtle difference and it's not to the same extend as to Wade and James whose TO numbers indicate that their biggest strength is shown when they possess the basketball in their hands.

With Magic being their primary ball-handler, I think having players like McAdoo, Wade, and LeBron makes the team appear "too crowded". It is often the case that having too many high usage players... - there aren't enough balls to go around the roster. More things can be said about Miami's bench, where almost every player takes at least 14 FGA and has a usage rate of 20.

I think pen's team looks best on paper in this competition with a wide variety of talented players. However, I honestly believe my team is more well-rounded, and gives a more balanced production on the court. My team offers more defense, more range that leads to better spacing, more defined-roles, and our center, Russell, is the glue guy that holds the entity of this team.

Dang, it's so much easier debating people who aren't smarter than you are . . . .

(1) You are right, in those two years out of each players 5 year peak, TMAC was better. Those are LeBron's rookie and second year; his defense improved tremendously and, as I said, when Dantley is in the game, LeBron will be on him and Wade on Tmac as much as possible to deny the outside shooting threat but the Head to Head matchups backfired on me.
(2) Dennis Johnson wasn't quicker than Flash. Sorry, great player, similar physical specimen, might even be the stronger, but DWade is the quicker and more explosive.
(3) It is hard to say your bench is the better defensive group when you are planning to use mainly two guys off it and one is Adrian Dantley who was a very poor defender. Roundfield was very good, Nance probably has the edge for his shotblocking combining with his excellent man defense but still Nance was good. However, our bench isn't just Nance, we go 8 deep (rather than 7) and Nance, Sikma, and Derek Harper (technically a starter because he was a good catch and shoot guy who could play off our other great starters, but Wade counts as the main player there who will get 30+ minutes) ALL THREE were All-NBA defensive team players. Our bench has a clear defensive advantage.

PS. Just going into the rotation issues again. Derek Harper starts for us like Michael Finley does for the current Spurs. Wade plays most of the minutes but Harper is also the main substitute for Magic Johnson and we sometimes go with three guards and Magic defending the 3 (at 6'8 250) so Harper gets 25+ minutes a game. Up front we start Mutombo but depending on matchups, we mix in Nance and Sikma . . . Nance for quickness, Sikma for outside shooting, Mutombo for his massive frame against low post threats . . . all three are outstanding defenders, but against Dirk, we use Nance as much as possible to make sure Dirk is facing a very quick defender (Dirk loves facing slower big men, hates long quick athletic defenders) while switching McAdoo over onto Russell who isn't a great scoring threat. This also has the benefit of forcing Russell away from defending the low post which is where he spent his career (there were few, if any, teams with true outside shooting threats at center in his day . . . there have been none in NBA history better than McAdoo at stretching the floor until Dirk who is also a great outside shooting big . . . but Nance is comfortable out there, Russell isn't).

Second round of the Western Conference playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets.

GENERAL REMARKS

I really like your team, TMACFORMVP. You