Common Theme Pairs Draft 2.0 - R1 - parsnips33 vs GeorgeMarcus*

[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. 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).

[parsnips33]

Round 1: Kevin Durant (Thunder) & Andrei Kirilenko (Jazz)
Round 2: Jayson Tatum (Celtics) & Isaiah Hartenstein (Knicks)
Round 3: Alex Caruso (Bulls) & George Hill (Bucks)
Round 4: Russell Westbrook (Thunder) & Mark Eaton (Jazz)

'16 Kevin Durant - 19.2 FGA
'04 Andrei Kirilenko - 11.9 FGA
'24 Jayson Tatum - 19.3 FGA
'24 Isaiah Hartenstein - 4.9 FGA
'23 Alex Caruso - 4.3 FGA
'20 George Hill - 6.4 FGA
'16 Russell Westbrook - 18.1 FGA
'90 Mark Eaton - 3.7 FGA

Total: 87.8.0/88.0

Westbrook (34) / Hill (14)
Tatum (10) / Caruso (34) / Westbrook (4)
Durant (18) / Tatum (30)
Kirilenko (26) / Durant (22)
Hartenstein (24) / Kirilenko (14) / Eaton (10)


Matchup straight up on defense. This team is ridiculously long with 7 foot wingspans up and down the roster. This comes especially handy against a (young) Giannis team as we'll need to shrink the floor and build a wall to bottle him up. On top of length, we have a ton of athleticism so helping and recovering should be easy. Tatum/KD/AK all bring big man size in a wing body and they serve as the athletic nucleus of the defense, covering holes all over while Russ/Caruso/Hill focus on applying pressure up top and Hart/Eaton do their thing at the rim.

Offensively, we've got three guys that can be top dog on any given night. KD and Tatum are the perfect huge off-ball threats to play off Russ, and both can score at ease in isolation on second actions. Floor will be super wide open for Russ to attack when we go "small" and Hartenstein is the perfect center for Russ when they play together - super soft hands and touch on floaters and push shots.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Starting Lineup
80 Jack Sikma - 12.1 FGA - All-Star
19 Giannis Antetokounmpo - 17.3 FGA - MVP, 1st Team All-Defense
08 Paul Pierce - 13.7 FGA - Finals MVP, 3rd Team All-NBA
15 Jimmy Butler - 14.0 FGA - All-Star, 2nd Team All-Defense
21 Mike Conley - 12.5 FGA - All-Star

Bench
92 Charles Oakley - 4.9 FGA
19 Tony Snell - 4.9 FGA
09 Kirk Hinrich - 8.2 FGA

87.6/88 FGA

Rotation
Sikma (33) / Oak (15)
Giannis (38) Oak (10)
Pierce (38) / Butler (10)
Butler (28) / Hinrich (12) / Snell (8)
Conley (35) / Hinrich (13)

Write-up
Our Giannis-centric team complete with All Stars at every position is filled with players who've succeeded at the highest levels in similar supporting roles. Our perimeter players all shot the 3 effectively in their chosen seasons with Butler at 38%, Pierce at 39%, Snell at 40%, and Conley/Hinrich both at 41%. While not being 3pt snipers (mostly an effect of era) both Sikma and Oakley were very effective shooting away from the basket. In addition to spacing we feature high IQ playmaking in Conley/Butler/Sikma/Hinrich to capitalize on Giannis' physical prowess early and often.

Defensively, we will roll with the following primary assignments:
Conley --> Westbrook
Butler --> Tatum
Pierce --> AK
Giannis --> Durant
Sikma --> Hartenstein

Good luck parsnips and nice building!

[durantbird]

Voting is open. parsnips and George, please vote for yourselves

[parsnips33]

I'm sure this has been argued to death already but the poll is so anti-climactic. All that time in the draft, and nobody has to even pretend to consider what you did

[Fadeaway_J]

I'm sure this has been argued to death already but the poll is so anti-climactic. All that time in the draft, and nobody has to even pretend to consider what you did

Unfortunately, the previous method just wasn't working. A lot of people didn't like the voting process, and it was a struggle to get enough participation once the draft was finished.

[Dr Positivity]

I have mixed feelings on the polls but one thing nice is the amount of voters compared to 3-2 or even 2-1 wins.

[Fadeaway_J]

I have mixed feelings on the polls but one thing nice is the amount of voters compared to 3-2 or even 2-1 wins.

Especially given how much work it took to get those wins

[parsnips33]

I'm sure this has been argued to death already but the poll is so anti-climactic. All that time in the draft, and nobody has to even pretend to consider what you did

Unfortunately, the previous method just wasn't working. A lot of people didn't like the voting process, and it was a struggle to get enough participation once the draft was finished.

Yeah I totally get that, and I appreciate trying different things rather than just sticking with something that's not working

Just wanted to give my 2 cents

[migya]

So good seeing Eaton and Sikma. Studs for their teams.

[Snakebites]

I have mixed feelings on the polls but one thing nice is the amount of voters compared to 3-2 or even 2-1 wins.

The old method was also dramatically skewing the outcomes of games- the very meta of drafting was evolving to appease the 4-6 people who were voting on every matchup. It wasn’t sustainable.

In this case I find myself at odds with the apparent consensus. I voted for parsnips.

[Fadeaway_J]

I have mixed feelings on the polls but one thing nice is the amount of voters compared to 3-2 or even 2-1 wins.

The old method was also dramatically skewing the outcomes of games- the very meta of drafting was evolving to appease the 4-6 people who were voting on every matchup. It wasn’t sustainable.

In this case I find myself at odds with the apparent consensus. I voted for parsnips.

I just voted parsnips as well, but I had a hard time with this matchup. I can understand GM's more orthodox Giannis build being a safer choice for most people.

[Snakebites]

I have mixed feelings on the polls but one thing nice is the amount of voters compared to 3-2 or even 2-1 wins.

The old method was also dramatically skewing the outcomes of games- the very meta of drafting was evolving to appease the 4-6 people who were voting on every matchup. It wasn’t sustainable.

In this case I find myself at odds with the apparent consensus. I voted for parsnips.

I just voted parsnips as well, but I had a hard time with this matchup. I can understand GM's more orthodox Giannis build being a safer choice for most people.

Yeah I get it being close. Valid to vote either way. The landslide surprises me.

[durantbird]

GeorgeMarcus advances