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).
In a pool fairly limited in top-end talent, we've managed to put together three MVP-level talents. Our backcourt of CP3 and Harden - both at their peaks - may not be a perfect fit, but they showed in real life the value of having two elite initiators on the court for all 48 minutes, and that was with a lesser iteration of CP3. As that Rockets team did, we can spam spread pick-and-roll with another lethal creator on the weak side. Reed slots in nicely as an unselfish play finisher who can roll to the rim or pop out for the midranger, as well as use his face-up game to create for himself. Bridges is a wildly overqualified fourth option. Tucker reprises his role on the Harden-CP3 Rockets as a versatile, hard-nosed defender who can stick the corner three. Our bench provides a little bit of everything: Ibaka is the athletic rim protector and finisher, Korver the movement sharpshooter, and Wright a solid 3-and-D guard. All should complement our stars well on both ends.
Matchup - Initial assignments are CP3-Steph, Bridges-Richmond, Harden-McDaniels, Reed-Draymond, Tucker-Porzingis. Tucker is the kind of fire hydrant defender that Porzingis will struggle to dislodge in the post, plus he has the mobility to step out and contest the three. We will cycle through CP3, Bridges, and Wright on Steph to show him different looks and keep everyone fresh. - Stan has a nice build around Steph but we have a clear edge in top-end talent in Harden-CP3-Reed, particularly the guards who can generate defensive panic and scrambling in the same way as Steph. We also make it hard to hide Steph defensively as both guards are capable of hunting and attacking mismatches, and our third perimeter option (Bridges) is also a legit scoring threat. - Reed should be able to eat on the glass against Porzingis, who isn't a very good defensive rebounder.
Honestly, I think these teams are pretty evenly matched, so I'll just go over a couple of areas where I think I have an advantage. Defensively, I have Dray/McDaniels/Richmond to throw at Harden, make him really work for his points on every possession. Offensively, I do think Reed is exploitable on defense, I can keep him out on the perimeter with KP, target him, and Harden, in the pick & roll with my guards, a situation I don't think would suit him well. I also don't see him getting much production from bench, so when Harden/CP3 go to sit, his team could have a difficult time producing points, while I have a near 20 ppg All-NBA scorer in Scrhempf to fill in the scoring gap and keep the pressure on the defense when my stars sit.
Again, I think it's pretty evenly matched, I just think my team is slightly built more cohesively than his, and his team has a few more exploitable weaknesses than mine does.
