Franchise Draft Lockdown SF2 - Larry_Russell vs. flaco*

[Fadeaway_J]

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. Once the writeups are posted, I will add a poll, and the team with the most votes after 24 hours will advance. EACH MANAGER SHOULD ALSO VOTE FOR THEIR OWN TEAM IN THE POLL - IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU ARE SIMPLY GIVING AWAY A VOTE. If the votes are tied, we will decide the matchup via AI vote.

You are not required to state or explain your vote, but you are free to comment in the thread if you want to.

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).

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2023-24) 19.8
30ppg, 5.5rpg, 6.2apg, 35.5% on 3.6-3pta
MVP-2, DPOY-7, NBA-1, AS

SG: Eddie Jones (1997-98) 12.6
17ppg, 3.8rpg, 3.1apg, 2spg, 39% on 4.6-3pta
DEF-2, AS

SF: Paul Pierce (2007-08) 13.7
19.6ppg, 5rpg, 4.5apg, 1.3spg, 0.5bpg, 39.5% on 4.6-3pta
FMVP, NBA-3, AS

PF: Kevin Garnett (2007-08) 13.9
18.8ppg, 9.2rpg, 3.4apg, 1.5spg, 1.3bpg
MVP-3, DPOY, NBA-1, DEF-1 AS

C: Marc Gasol (2012-13) 10.9
14ppg, 7.8rpg, 4apg, 1spg, 1.7bpg
DPOY, NBA-2, DEF-2

PG/SG: George Hill (2019-20) 6.4
9.5ppg, 3rpg, 3apg, 0.8spg, 46% pn 3-3pta
#1- 3pt%

SF/PF: James Posey (2007-08) 5.6
7.5ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.5apg, 1spg, 38% on 3.8-3pta

C: Sam Perkins (1998-99) 4.2
5ppg, 3rpg, 0.5apg, 39% on 2-3pt


PG: SGA (38) / Hill (10)
SG: Jones (38) / Hill (10)
SF: Pierce (38) / Posey (10)
PF: Garnett (38) / Posey (10)
C: Gasol (38) / Perkins (10)

87.6/88

Defense
Pressure and speed

SGA will be going up against Jrue
Eddie Jones will get the start on Lebron
Paul Pierce will take George
Garnett on Tatum
Gasol on Horford

I have some pretty dope defense, honestly. Anchored by one of the best defenders of all time in DPOY Garnett and supported by a couple of elite wing defenders in SGA and Eddie and another DPOY Bigman in Gasol. Off the bench having Posey and Hill are excellent additions as well.

Jones and Posey will be taking on Lebron all game long and honestly they are both great defenders at forcing lebron to have to work for everything. I dont have any weaknesses defensivly that can be exploited.


Offensively I have the speed and size to really work over Flaco's team.

As much as I love Jrue, his one weakness last year was keeping up with super fast guards, and SGA is going to put the burners on and Jrue is the only one that can come close to keeping up to him

Eddie Jones is another option for me here as either George or Lebron or Tatum is going to have to cover him, and I am not sold that any of them have the foot speed to keep up with prime eddie.

Garnett and Gasol will be able to play some offensive bully ball against the much undersized front court.

Like Flacos team, the offense can be initiated by any of my starters as all are able to create for themselves or others. All can shoot, all can roll and all can initiate transitions off turnovers that my ELITE defense will create.

[flaco]

Best of luck, Larry!



Rotations
PG: LeBron James (14) / Alex Caruso (22) / Jrue Holiday (12)
SG: Jrue Holiday (24) / Paul George (16) / Hersey Hawkins (8)
SF: Paul George (20) / Jayson Tatum (16) / LeBron James (12)
PF: Jayson Tatum (22) / Al Horford (14) / LeBron James (12)
C: Al Horford (22) / Ben Wallace (26)

Offense
Jrue/Caruso bring the ball up the court. LeBron takes over PG duties in the half court. We run a 5-out, PnR/PnP-heavy motion offense forcing Gasol to defend in space. All starters can put the ball on the floor and create shots either for themselves or for their teammates. All of them are volume 3pt shooters. Lebron and Tatum are the primary PnR ball handlers. Horford can either roll to the basket or pop from 3. Gasol was a terrific rim protector, but he was effecive only in a drop scheme. He'd be out of his comfort zone trying to defend the perimeter. Heat LeBron and Pacers George explode on the open court at every opportunity.

Defense
A whopping six players on the roster have made the all-defensive teams in their selected season including DPOY Ben Wallace. We have the option to switch everything. Horford is mobile enough to meet SGA at the level of DHO and deny penetration. All starters are between 6'4'' and 6'9''. Oversized guards, undersized bigs and a bunch of wings are the perfect mix for a switch-heavy scheme. That said, none of SGA, KG or 2013 Gasol is a volume shooter from 3pt range. We have the versatility to try all kind of schemes such as hedge and recover, blitz, drop and fight through, you name it. Larry portraying SGA as a ''super fast'' guard is inaccurate. Just like Luka, he relies on BBIQ rather than athleticism. Always plays at his own pace. Can't speed him up or slow him down. I'd argue we have loads of wing defenders who can give him a run for his money.

Versatility
Both teams have similar builds. That said, we can switch 1 through 5, whereas Larry can switch 1 through 4. We also have 5 volume 3pt shooters, whereas Larry has 2, plus SGA who's more of a volume mid-range shooter. Marc was averaging 7.1% from 3 on 0.2 attempts per game in his selected season. Our ability to adapt to various situations might prove to be the deciding factor in a close series. LeBron is arguably the most versatile player in basketball history. I'd argue an uber versatile team would allow him to maximize his effectiveness on both ends of the floor.

FGA
2013 LeBron James 17.8
2024 Jrue Holiday 10.0
2014 Paul George 17.0
2024 Jayson Tatum 19.3
2018 Al Horford 10.5
2023 Alex Caruso 4.3
2001 Hersey Hawkins 3.0
2002 Ben Wallace 6.0

Total: 87.9

[Fadeaway_J]

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Ready for votes. Larry and flaco, please vote for yourselves as well.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Really close- I voted LR but now think perhaps I should have gone flaco instead. I would have liked to see some KG on LeBron action as I think he'd actually be a really good counter defensively, at least for stretches. Despite the size differential KG/Marc aren't exactly suited for bully ball IMO.

Depth is good on both teams. No glaring weaknesses as far as defense or spacing goes. I am super high on SGA and like the build around however, if this is allowed, I think I might trust in LeBron and change my vote to flaco.

[Fadeaway_J]

Really close- I voted LR but now think perhaps I should have gone flaco instead. I would have liked to see some KG on LeBron action as I think he'd actually be a really good counter defensively, at least for stretches. Despite the size differential KG/Marc aren't exactly suited for bully ball IMO.

Depth is good on both teams. No glaring weaknesses as far as defense or spacing goes. I am super high on SGA and like the build around however, if this is allowed, I think I might trust in LeBron and change my vote to flaco.

Sorry, not opening that can of worms in the middle of the draft. I'll consider enabling that poll option for future drafts.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Really close- I voted LR but now think perhaps I should have gone flaco instead. I would have liked to see some KG on LeBron action as I think he'd actually be a really good counter defensively, at least for stretches. Despite the size differential KG/Marc aren't exactly suited for bully ball IMO.

Depth is good on both teams. No glaring weaknesses as far as defense or spacing goes. I am super high on SGA and like the build around however, if this is allowed, I think I might trust in LeBron and change my vote to flaco.

Sorry, not opening that can of worms in the middle of the draft. I'll consider enabling that poll option for future drafts.

That's fine, just wanted to be transparent

[JimmyPlopper]

Really close- I voted LR but now think perhaps I should have gone flaco instead. I would have liked to see some KG on LeBron action as I think he'd actually be a really good counter defensively, at least for stretches. Despite the size differential KG/Marc aren't exactly suited for bully ball IMO.

Depth is good on both teams. No glaring weaknesses as far as defense or spacing goes. I am super high on SGA and like the build around however, if this is allowed, I think I might trust in LeBron and change my vote to flaco.

Sorry, not opening that can of worms in the middle of the draft. I'll consider enabling that poll option for future drafts.

I appreciate how this interaction took place as well as the ultimate decision. I'm pretty big on upholding integrity and consistency as much as possible, and then immediately after - applying flexibility and empathy as much as possible. If outlined in future games, could be interesting. Although, I sort of like the one and done because of the potential gamesmanship that may take place after seeing the results unfold

[Fadeaway_J]

Flaco advances