r1: 17-18 Jimmy Butler - 15.6 FGA
r2: 19-20 Paul George - 16.3 FGA
r3: 12-13 Marc Gasol - 10.9 FGA
r4: 23-24 Jrue Holiday - 10.0 FGA
r5: 02-03 Ben Wallace - 6.0 FGA
r6: 20-21 Nicolas Batum - 6.1 FGA
r7: 13-14 Pablo Prigioni - 3.0 FGA
r8: 13-14 Kevin Love - 18.5 FGA
Total FGA: 86.4/88.0
Jrue Holiday (38) / Pablo Prigioni (10)
Paul George (38) / Jimmy Butler (10)
Jimmy Butler (30) / Nicolas Batum (18)
Kevin Love (40) / Ben Wallace (6) / Nicolas Batum (4)
Ben Wallace (20) / Marc Gasol (28)
Writeup:
Starting Big Ben here as I like his mobility better against Snake's spaced out front line.
To start, we'll have Jrue on Book, PG on KCP, Jimmy on Scottie, Love on Dirk, and Ben on Kristaps. As the one elite perimeter player, Booker will see all 3 of Jrue, PG, and Jimmy through out the game to keep him always thinking. Jimmy can be super active with help defense, especially when Dirk has the ball. I'm fully confident in Butler's motor and ability to help and close back out to his man, and it doesn't hurt that Pippen's shooting <33% from 3 in the selected season.
I admit, we don't have an offensive player as good as Prime Dirk. Last pick of the draft made it tough to pick up a bona fide offensive GOAT. But this team is set up perfectly to pull of upsets. Trio of elite perimeter defenders with a DPOY center manning the backline at all times. Can play super aggressive defensively and we have the skillset to force turnovers. In addition to forced turnovers, elite rebounding helps us win the possession battle. Just to compare starting front courts:
Wallace + Love = 27.9 combined RPG
Dirk + Porzingis = 14.2 combined RPG (less than Wallace by himself )We will beast on the boards to limit Snake's team to 1 shot every time down while generating extra possessions on the other end.
Offensively, I think Love should have success going at Dirk. Will play a lot of 2 man game with Jrue, Jimmy, and PG. When Gasol is in, the combined spacing and passing of the frontcourt will lead to lots of cutting and handoff opportunities for Jimmy and PG who are both elite off-ball. With playmakers up and down the roster, I think there's more than enough offense on this team given the elite collection of defenders.
May the best team win!