Post#3 » by JimmyPlopper » Tue Oct 15, 2024 11:07 pm
Regarding Rasheed Wallace at PF for all of his minutes here:
This was the 33 year old version of Wallace who played 98% of of his minutes at center that season, as it was his penultimate season as a Piston before finishing his career with stints in Boston and New York. He's not equipped physically to keep pace with DPOY Draymond who seemingly never loses energy or determination. I like this version of Wallace as a center - not as much as a power forward after his quickness was no longer there.
Regarding my 7th/8th men - JaMychal Green is an equivalent to Jon Barry (and I'm being generous to Ness here) but actually hits threes and rebounds with solid defense. Barry is a sieve on defense and does nothing more than simply shoot.
I'm not sure if you had a brain hiccup or didn't realize that Tree Rollins was all-defense, holding up the team defense in the ten minutes that Kareem rests from picking on poor Olajuwon. And that Kenny Smith was a proven leader and sharp shooter, a starting point guard for NBA championship teams. All that to say - I have a bench advantage in both fit and quality.
Moving onto the starters:
In my view: Frazier's mid range game and scoring ability sets him apart from Kidd - but both are high quality starters
Michael Cooper and Danny Green as three and D specialists. Cooper with some playmaking ability - probably has a slight edge over Green. But in the role they need to play, that's irrelevant here - and Green has more size to take primary coverage on Dr J on defense. Allowing Barry to cover Cooper, and save his energy for offensive production.
Barry vs Dr J - I'll give the advantage to the Dr here but not by a lot. In the context of our teams, Dr J's lack of outside shooting, combined with Jason Kidd, and a Hakeem, could lead to a crowded paint area. So Dr J is higher caliber on his own, but his fit with Hakeem and Kidd is more questionable to me.
Draymond vs Sheed - covered in the first paragraph.
Kareem vs Hakeem. Two great players, but Kareem is a cut above here and serves his role perfectly as a go to - post scorer, with an unstoppable move, and a much shorter defender. No slight to Hakeem, but I have never heard anyone put him on par with Kareem.
Matchups on defense are straight up with a switch on the wings - Green focusing on Dr.
PG: Walt Frazier (1970) - 12.8 FGA/G
SG: Danny Green (2021) - 7.9 FGA/G
SF: Rick Barry (1971) - 19.4 FGA/G
PF: Draymond Green (2017) - 8.6 FGA/G
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971) - 19.1 FGA/G
B1: Kenny Smith (1995) - 7.3 FGA/G
B2: Tree Rollins (1983) - 6.4 FGA/G
B3: JaMychal Green (2021) - 6.4 FGA/G
87.7/88
Walt Frazier (38) / Kenny Smith (10)
Danny Green (25) / Kenny Smith (23)
Rick Barry (40) / Danny Green (8)
Draymond Green (38) / JaMychal Green (10)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38) / Tree Rollins (10)
Good luck Ness
Intentions never mattered if they weren't accompanied by effort. Trying mattered, even when it didn’t work.
