Nineties Players Redux Draft - R2 - Larry Russell vs durantbird*

[durantbird]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes advances**

[durantbird]

PG: Mark Price 1993 - 13.1
SG: Clyde Drexler 1991 - 16.3
SF: Paul Pierce 2008 - 13.7
PF: James Posey 2008 - 5.6
C: Hakeem Olajuwon 1993 - 19.5

Bench: Ron Harper 1997 - 5.3
Bench: Rashard Lewis 2010 - 11.2
Bench: Kurt Rambis 1984 - 3.0*

Rotation:
PG: Mark Price 38 / Ron Harper 10
SG: Clyde Drexler 38 / Ron Harper 6 / Paul Pierce 4
SF: Paul Pierce 34 / Rashard Lewis 14
PF: James Posey 30 / Rashard Lewis 18
C: Hakeem Olajuwon 39 / Kurt Rambis 9

87.7/88

Vs

PG: Magic (38) / Smith (10)
SG: Dumars (38) / Williams (10)
SF: Mullin (38) / Williams (10)
PF: Barkley (38) / R. Wallace (10)
C: R. Wallace (28) / B. Wallace (20)

Matchup
- Assignments Price vs Dumars, Drexler vs Mullin, Posey vs Magic, Hakeem on Barkley, Pierce vs Rasheed. Posey also see some Barkley minutes, especially when Hakeem gets to guard Ben, and Pierce/Harper see some Magic.
- Our defense is built around Hakeem and I think he can stay close to the basket in the bulk of the minutes of the series having non shooters like Barkley or Ben on the floor. He'll be highly effective against Barkley and Magic. Players like Posey, Harper, Drexler and Pierce add another layer of versatility.
- I think we built an highly effective Hakeem offense with shooting everywhere around the proven Clyde Hakeem duo. Rashard off the bench is a large x factor. While players like Rasheed and Dumars are ahead of their time in terms of spacing, they're not as reliable as shooters like Price Pierce Rashard, with Rasheed specifically being pretty streaky as one of your best shooters.

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Magic Johnson (1986-87) 16.4
24ppg, 6.3rpg, 12.2apg, 1.7spg
MVP, FMVP, NBA-1, AS

SG: Joe Dumars (1996-97) 11.1
14.7ppg, 2.4rpg, 4apg, 0.7spg, 43.2% on 5-3pta
DPOY-6, AS,

SF: Chris Mullin (1989-90) 16.3
25ppg, 5.9rpg, 4.1apg, 1.6spg, 0.6bpg, 37.5% on 3-3pta
NBA-3, AS

PF: Charles Barkley (1989-90) 14.9
25.2ppg. 11.5rpg, 3.9apg, 2spg, 0.6bpg
MVP-2, NBA-1, AS, #1 2p%, TS%, ORtg

C: Rasheed Wallace (2007-08) 11.3
12.7ppg, 6.6rpg, 1.8apg, 1.2spg, 1.7bpg, 35.5% on 4.1-3pta
MVP-14, DPOY-12, AS, 22nd All NBA, 12th all defense

PG: Kenny Smith (1996-97) 5
6.3ppg, 1rpg, 2.4apg, 0.5spg, 43.7% on 2.8-3pta

SF/PF: Walt Williams (1998-99) 7.2
9.3ppg, 3rpg, 1.7apg, 0.8spg, 0.6bpg, 43.8% on 3-3pta

C: Ben Wallace (2001-02) 6
7.6ppg, 13rpg, 1.4apg, 1.7spg, 3.5bpg
MVP-10, DPOY, NBA-3, DEF-1

PG: Magic (38) / Smith (10)
SG: Dumars (38) / Williams (10)
SF: Mullin (38) / Williams (10)
PF: Barkley (38) / R. Wallace (10)
C: R. Wallace (28) / B. Wallace (20)

87.8/88

Magic on price
Dumars on drexler
Mullin on pierce
Barkley on Posey
Sheed/ben wallace on hakeem

I match up well enough defensively here and even though magic and mullin will get hated on for their defense they were adaquate in seasons chosen.

Sheed and wallace are awesome dedenders for hakeem

Offensively are are running.

And with Hakeem defending Barkley he is going to be caught away from the rim at every chance. Mullin and dumars are elite level shooters and with magic penetrating and kicking with hakeem stuck outside the paint he will feast

[lilroddyb]

Both great teams and I like the fit on both teams

I like DB's team more overall despite really good talent on Larry's team. In the end I think Hakeem ( I'm really high on Hakeem ) is the best player in the matchup and think he will have good series with great spacing around him and proven duo with Clyde Drexler and he is facing older version of Rasheed Wallace.

I think the offense will be around even but DB has stronger defense imo

vote DB

[Fadeaway_J]

Looking at this matchup makes me think Larry went too far in the direction of offense when he already had Magic and Barkley to start with. Magic having to guard PGs is a problem, but it's unavoidable because the other options are Mullin and 33-year-old Dumars. Pierce and Price are going to get wherever they want to go, and the Wallace Bros can only do so much when they're also occupied with Hakeem. Durantbird has plenty of firepower of his own but far better two-way balance.

Vote: durantbird

[Dr Positivity]

Both teams are fairly offensive driven so I'll go with the one I like more on that end in Larry with Magic/Barkley+spacing. I also like the Sheed and Ben minutes. Vote Larry.

[wackbone]

Both teams have several defensive holes for the other to exploit. And both teams have potent offenses. db has Price/Drexler/Pierce/Rashard/Hakeem while Larry has Magic/Mullin/Barkley. While I prefer Larry's big 3 over db's best 3, having an additional 2 legitimate offensive threats makes the difference here.

Vote: durantbird

[Larry_Russell]

My dominating winstreak with Magoc continues