PC Board Fantasy Draft-Judging Over...Congrats Myth-Breaker!

[TMACFORMVP]

TMAC4MVP:
1. In your defensive matchups, you say Harris on Deron. While Harris is an excellent defender (and a flopper haha), I think he'll have quite a problem with Deron, who can and will outmuscle him IMO...Also, if you are sticking Deng on Carter, then you'll be forced to defend Hill with Wade...which is definitely a no-go. You only have to go to the last playoff series...where they defended Gordon with Posey, leaving Wade to deal with Deng...which was a huge failure. So yeah, while Hill isn't as offensively skilled as Deng, he will still give Wade pretty big problems IMO. Your 3rd defensive matchup with O'neal may also run into problems. O'neal really isn't known for his post defence...he's more known for his excellent help defence and rotating, which when he's in full flight, is DPOY worthy. Brand will definitely collect his 20+ points on good efficiency if he's iso-covered by o'neal for large parts of the game.

I never said they'd shut them down. I just said that I'd limit them better than he could limit Wade. Harris should have at least the foot quickness to limit Deron from getting out and running which makes it a more half-court game where I feel I'd have the advantage.

I'd rather have Hill beat me than Carter. And like you said Hill is not as good offensively from a scoring standpoint then Deng especially last season where his mid-range slashing game was as good as any player in the league. Not to mention it was painfully obvious Wade was hurt in that series, and not fully himself considering he had just come back from an injury to where he missed over a month to two months of game action. I'm sure a healthy Wade and what I feel much better help defense than what the Heat had last season should do a much better job on Hill than what the Heat did with Deng last season.

I also don't know where you got O'neal isn't a good man defender. He has great strength and athleticism to stay with anyone. His Dtrg is always one of the highest in the league and when healthy his defensive win shares is off the chart. He IMO is definitely one of the best man to man post defenders in the league and obviously then a tremendous shot-blocker.

Again, I never said I'd shut them down, rather make them work considering all the guys mentioned are above average defenders. And do a better job on his star players (mainly Wade) then mine.

[Myth_Breaker]

Just some points about Myth Breaker and TMAC's arguments...I'm kinda bored so I'll just make some points...

Myth:
Ricky Davis is exceptionally well known as putting up good stats on losing teams,

Were these teams supposed to be great and only his presence stopped them? If not, there is not much to speak of.

while being detrimental to team play.

Gross exaggeration. And this season Miami fans in majority support him.

Roy is almost exactly the opposite.

I've already said earlier I prefer Roy. But what conclusions exactly do you want to draw from comparing my BACKUP to opponent's STARTER? Was my backup supposed to be better than his starter?

Bynum is DEFINITELY nowhere near the offensive player that West is. West is a great slasher/penetrator type forward with a great jumper. Bynum...is still mostly putbacks/pick and rolls/dunks, with an occasional post move/hook thrown in there.

You are confusing having diversified offensive arsenal with being potent offensive threat. Rasheed beats prime Shaq by light years as to arsenal: does it mean Shaq is "nowhere near offensive player that Sheed is"? Of course not: and as a Laker fan you should know how much opponent teams fear Bynum in the post and how hard it is to stop him (#1 in NBA as to FG%!).

Also, IMO, Yao and West would definitely average more than 30 points..as mentioned before, West has a very good mid-range jumper, and won't take up the space that Yao needs in the post.

First of all, I said originally "closer to 30 ppg". Second, it won't certainly be 40 ppg; show me PF-C duo averaging so much during playoffs in the current NBA. Third, I didn't even touch in the initial post this problem from not only standpoint of Knicks offensive spacing/sharing the ball, but also from standpoint of my defense, much more efficient than my opponent's. Add this factor and I'm quite certain that NYK's starting bigs will average lower PPG than mine (it might be exactly 30, might be not); also while taking more shots, what will additionally hurt their team.

Your plan of shutting down passing options to Yao also won't work IMO. Parker can, and WILL torch both Tinsley and Hinrcih(whose lost a step defensively)

??? Where did you get this from that Hinrich (who's in his prime, just like Tinsley) lost a step defensively?
Wait, there's another problem I didn't touch before (thanks for making me
find even more arguments ): to what extent West is product of CP3's crafty passes? I hope you're not going to tell me that TP or Roy are even close to C. Paul as passers.

and get into the paint, and find easy buckets for all the players. Roy is one of the best playmaking SGs in the business, often taking PG duties at Portland...but he will be hampered somewhat by Bowen, yes.

Roy is not Kobe/T-Mac caliber playmaker, who's able to replace starting PG fully effectively. And "somewhat"?! Remember what happened to Kobe during 1998/99 playoffs vs. Jazz/Spurs - with Kobe being like thrice as talented as Brandon - and you'll have a picture of what my defense and team play can do to Roy, who did not play a single game in the playoffs before; but only approximate picture considering I have much better individual perimeter defenders than even those powerful defensive squads!
I may also put Bowen on Parker (it worked perfectly against Billups during 2005 Finals) and Josh on Roy, with Prince not being much of an offensive threat anyway. I have really MANY options.

[TMACFORMVP]

Hey guys, I'm finding these arguments interesting.
And don't think I'm being biased, I'll argue anyone who posts. lol.

TMAC:
1. Utah aren't really a running team anyway; Deron runs set offences like PNR with Boozer, and he's got a perfect replacement in Brand here.
2. Deng really isn't the fastest SF around...he could work for short bursts, but I think Vince has got the dribbling ability and speed to get past his man if he guards him for long periods of time...and Wade simply doesn't have the size to guard Hill...as I mentioned, Hill won't torch them as the same extent as Deng, but he will put up good points on good efficiency IMO...
3. I don't know what dtrg or winshares are, but when I see him play, he always takes the weaker post player, leaving Foster and co to take the stronger player...and its pretty painfully obvious watching this season that he's definitely lost a step and some athleticism...
But yes, I do agree your defenders do a better job on his stars than his on yours.

Keep the arguments going!

1. Nonetheless Utah has been running more this season and Deron though excellent in both systems also looks to push the tempo, and Harris I feel can do a good job of not letting him and get in transition to get easy bucket opportunities.

2. Again, I never said I'd stop VC but Deng has made Carter work every single time they've faced each-other from Deng's sophomore season. In the last 7 meetings, they've faced each-other, here are Carter's stats.

25 points on 8-25
28 points on 9-27
24 points on 10-23
21 points on 8-22
18 points on 7-21
21 points on 7-15
24 points on 6-21

So he's averaging 23 points per game on 35%. I'd frankly take that any day. Not to mention in the playoffs Carter's FG% averages take a pretty noticeable drop (41 and 35). Deng has done a great job in the past on Carter and I expect him to make him work real hard if he's going to burn me in the series. Not to mention I also have very good help defenders if he slips with two players that are generally 2 block per game guys.

And Hill is not really known for being a guy that uses his size. He's a terrific mid-range/slasher type player and that's essentially it. He does other things at times but that's his game. I don't think his size over Wade is such a dis-advantage especially considering Wade has a pretty large wing-span and what I feel even stronger. He should have a good series, but if you think that's enough to out-weight the series Wade should have, then I really don't know what to say.....

3.) That really doesn't mean much considering Foster is an above average defender as well. You don't see Kobe guarding the other team's best player the whole game, just in crucial moments/4th quarter. Doesn't mean he isn't a good man defender, when in reality he's one of the best. Same with Jermaine, he's a terrific man defender that has the strength and athleticism to stay with ANY big man in the NBA. Especially in this case where he's not looked to be a first option, or even a second option.

I really don't think he's lost a step either. It's just more that he's constantly injured. In December when he was relatively healthy, he averaged near 19 points per game, 8 boards, 3 assists, 2.6 blocks on 48%> Rebounds are a bit low, but when healthy (which this game counts as) he's one of the best two way players in the league and I don't think there's really anybody that can deny that.

And like you said at the end I feel I'll do a much better job on his big guns than he'd likely do on mine, which is the tipping favor in this series along with the defense and overall experience IMO.

[NO-KG-AI]

David West isn't really a product of a good PG, he plays well without Chris, he's going to score off of his own creation.

[Kosta]

I'll try to get my write-up in by sometime tomorrow.

Two evenly matched teams, neither side has any big mismatches, it's going to be a dogfight.

Thanks for the kind words TMAC, let the best team win.

[penbeast0]

TMAC, when do you want 2nd round judging to start?

[Warspite]

Pistons vs Wiz


PG:Mike Bibby/Antonio Daniels/Rajon Rando
SG:Manu Ginoboli/Josh Childress
SF:Lebron James/Renaldo Balkman
PF:Gerald Wallace/Boris Diaw/Craig Smith
C:Rasheed Wallace/Brandon Haywood

PG Felton, Barbosa, Ridnour
SG Martin, Crawford
SF Miller, Garcia
PF KG, Mays
C Camby, Bogut, Foster


Wiz: 3 blackholes, 1 guy that cant create his own shot and a C that doesnt rebound nor play inside for more than 10mins a game. No shotblocking and the best outside shooter is the starting C.

The 1st task when playing the Wiz is dealing with LBJ. IMHO the easiest way to slow down LBJ is make him play defense. The Pistons will run Miller off of screens attempting to wear down the King and make him reach in and foul. LBJ will also have to reb alot and he will get banged inside trying to rebound. Balkman is just a hustle guy with very limited skills. The contrast between the 2 is so large that any game LBJ is in early foul trouble the game can quickly become a blowout.

The Pistons on defense will trap LBJ and go after him with shotblockers. The object is simply to force tough shots and not give easy looks. The Pistons will then use there superior rebounding and outlet for the fast break. Forcing long jumpshots and then dunking on the fastbreak is the easiest way to win a game.

The Pistons attack the small Wizards team by posting up KG. Sheed will no doubt be gaurding him and KG is the best guy to get Sheed in early foul trouble and then tach on a tech or 2 and send him to the showers. This also creates a mismatch with Camby crashing the offensive boards over a smaller Wallace.

Kevin Martin and Jamal Crawford are 2 very underrated SGs. Martin is having a better yr than Redd, VC, Pierce and JJ all the while playing with no PG and little help. Crawford is having a great yr as well and one of the streakiest shooters in the NBA. Because hes a Knick hes considered trash but if he played for your fav team and was scoring 20ppg you would love him. Both are great shooters that stretch defenses and can knock down open shots that KG creates for them.

We all know how great Bibby was 3 or 4 yrs ago but hes slowed down and his jumpshot is not nearly what it used to be. Fleton and Barbosa are going to attack, attack and attack. With bad weakside defense or none at all (Frontcourt staying at home vs KG,Camby, Bogut) Felton and Barbosa look to wear down (foul trouble) and tire Bibby. Daniels is one of my fav players with his hustle but hes outmatched and will give up alot of quickness. Bibby is primarily a spot up shooter in this offense and hes rarely going to be able to take adv of Felton.

I believe Manu would be better served to be the 6th man to counter Barbosa. He needs the ball in his hands and Im not sure thats going to happen with LBJ. Manu will get his but hes going to be outplayed by Martin. Either way when Manu has the ball LBJ is automaticly being shut down. It coul dbe said the best way to shut down LBJ is to let Manu get his touches. IMHO whatever Manu/Childress score Martin/Crawford are getting +10-15ppg. Because the Wizards are so small upfront the Pistons can run a 3 guard offense for short periods and attempt the run the Wizards out of the building.


I believe the Pistons are going to win in 5 games for the following reasons

1. Size: The Pistons will outrebound and shoot a higher FG% as well as getting more possesions.

2. Conventional style: The Wiz are essentialy useing LBJ at PG, Bibby at SG and Sheed at SF on offense. Every 3pt shot that Sheed misses will be a dunk for the Pistons. The Pistons have clearly defined roles and its best player can play defense and score allowing him to lead by example.

3. Bench/Depth: Barbosa, Bogut and to a much lesser extent Crawford could start for the Wiz and are superior to the bench players of the Wiz. The Wizards have some great hustle guys that defend but there offense is very weak. Once a starter sits/foul trouble/injury the Wiz have to change there entire focus of there offense and sometimes have to play 4on5.

4. Frontcourt mobility: KG/Camby can get out and run the break beating there bigmen opponets down the court for easy layups.

5. Offensive Balance: The Pistons have 2-20ppg and 4-15ppg scorers in its top 7 players. The Wiz rely on LBJ and Manu to carry the offensive load and dont seem to have the balance with only 1 bench player avg +10ppg currently.

6. Sheed: Will he be a stud low post player or a 3pt bricklayer that melts down under pressure. Hes not getting any star calls vs KG and the likelyhood of a meltdown ala 07 vs Cavs grows with each passing game/loss. Once Sheed is neutered Haywood and Diaw are very poor substitutes.


In closeing

The Pistons attempt to force long jumpshots and funnel dribble penetration into Camby/KG. Def rebounding and outlet for the fast break.

The Pistons look to post up KG and play inside/out to open shooters (Mike Miller, Kevin Martin, and Raymond Felton). Felton/Martin attempting to get into the paint vs weak shotblockers and or frontcourt players that are not leaving there man for offensive rebs and alley-opps.

[VintaGe36]

A few things here:

How do I have THREE Black holes!?

Lebron Manu and Bibby!?
They have all been capable play makers on teams that reached the NBA Finals. Where do you get the notion that they are blackholes?

Bogut would NOT start on my team.

Haywood,Gerald Wallace and Rasheed Wallace are all better.

You underrate Haywood alot here. Hes a top 10 center defensively and top 15 overall.

How can you call LEBRON JAMES a black hole than say that Crawford is underrated and would start on my team? Thats a HUGE hypocritical statement if I've ever seen one.

The PPG argument is pretty weak too.

Do you really expect Barbosa,Miller, Felton,Martin,AND Crawford to all get their fair share of shots? ALL Those guys are used to alot of shots, PLUS KG? Good luck finding shots for all those guys. Your "depth" is overrated. During the playoffs, rotations are shrunk, and only 8-9 guys are really going to be needed.

[VintaGe36]

Wizards vs. Pistons


PG:Mike Bibby/Antonio Daniels/Rajon Rando
SG:Manu Ginoboli/Josh Childress
SF:Lebron James/Renaldo Balkman
PF:Gerald Wallace/Boris Diaw/Craig Smith
C:Rasheed Wallace/Brandon Haywood

PG Felton, Barbosa, Ridnour
SG Martin, Crawford
SF Miller, Garcia
PF KG, Mays
C Camby, Bogut, Foster



KG is KG, he will get his 20,10, with GREAT D. There really is no stopping that. My plan is to stop his shooters. Mike Miller is a GREAT Shooter, as is Kevin Martin, so by neutralizing them, and packing the lane, I can make things rather difficult for KG.

I'm gonna make KG bang for ALL his points, I'll have a defender in his face when hes anywhere outside the paint, and have weakside help on him.

WarSpite did have a point with Bibby, I don't know if he can keep up with Barbosa. So, to counteract that, I'm going with a less than conventional starting lineup.

Manu Ginoboli
Lebron James
Gerald Wallace
Rasheed Wallace
Brandon Haywood

This is an EXTREMELY good defensive squad. Rasheed and Haywood(and Gerald, one of the better weakside defenders in the league) will crowd KG all day.

I'll have Lebron and Ginoboli watching the perimeter with Gerald when hes not helping out on KG. Honestly, Kevin Martin and Mike Miller will not carry them this whole series. I look at their backcourt and dont see a guy who can carry them for a whole series, so basically, if I can shut down KG,(to a certain extent, it is afterall...KG) I can neutralize their team. In a 7 game series, KG will wear down if Warspite is going to be playing him as much as I think he is. His only backup is Sean May, a guy who cannot really seem to stay healthy.That PF rotation doesn't scare me at all after KG, so if I can get KG to wear down,(he will in a 7 game series, with that much attention on him, and with not a very reliable backup)I can take over the game. Camby is a GREAT defensive player, but using Rasheed to bring him to the perimeter opens up ALOT of space for Lebron and Manu to penetrate. Tell me, who at the 1,2 or 3 has the muscle and agility to keep up with Lebron? I don't see a single guy. Lebron IMO will punish those 2's and 3's.


I see NO REAL PG on that team IMO.

He has a bunch of finishers, so if I take KG out of the game, I make Kevin Martin, Mike Miller of Raymond Felton be the playmaker and it seriously downgrades their offense.

CHA fans will own up to this Felton is an ideal Combo guard, he has not shown he can be a prime time PG in the playoffs. I'll expose that. Whoever he guards,(Lebron,Gerald Wallace or Manu) its a mis-match. A mismatch I will expose. Barbosa is nothing to write home about when it comes to D, and we all know how bad Ridnour has been. Than at the 2, theres Kevin Martin and Crawford. Nobody screams "Stopper" on D to me, and I have TWO Guys who are going to need to get stopped. He has no answer for LBJ or Manu.

With my NEW lineup, I address ANY size disadvantages I once had.

Plus Mike Bibby can come in and be a scoring punch of the bench of need be.

Josh Childress is underrated here, and in his role( a sixth/seventh man type player) he can play effectively and chip in points with solid D.

Renaldo Balkman has no Jumpshot whatsoever, I know this, if I use him this series, it will be for an energy injection, and to bother Camby and KG.Balkman can guard the 4 and 5 relatively decently, but it is KG, so I dont expect him to be a stopper. He will just try to tire them out, and bring out the reserves, who are noticeably worse.KG and Camby have DPOY skills respectively, so in all honesty, inside points will be harder to get. Lebron and Manu, however have playoff experience and are BOTH very good slashers while being good shooters. If they attack enough, KG or Camby will get into foul trouble. IF either do, the drop off is substantial.
IMO Craig Smith is pretty comparable to Sean May, although Craig is a bit undersized. May really shouldn't be the ideal backup PF, especially in the playoffs.(rotations are shrunk, but how long can you go with a two man PF rotation with such a HUGE dropoff?)

So in conclusion.

1. Stop KG
2. Bully the Perimeter with superior size and versatility. Miller isn't a GREAT slasher, so Lebron will most likely guard him. Ill put Manu on whoever plays PG and let Gerald Wallace handle Kevin Martin.
3.Stop KG
4. Force Someone other than KG to play playmaker.
5. Tire out KG and Camby to bring out the reserves.
6. Bother KG
7.Let Lebron and Manu do what they do best. Take over series in the playoffs.

All in all, I think my gameplan is pretty sound, although maybe I could pay more attention to KG.

[TMACFORMVP]

TMAC, when do you want 2nd round judging to start?

Hmm I was thinking it could have started today but considering Kosta said he'd post his argument by today, we'll wait for him and any other arguments today and judging can begin tomorrow.

[randomhero423]

i'll post mine tonight.

[penbeast0]

Thanks

[Warspite]

Very good post


With LBJ at PG the Pistons defense doesnt change that much in that they still want to him to shoot the 17-20ft jump shot fading left or right off the dribble. Knowing hes at the top of the key, running the offense and bringing up the ball allows the Pistons to half court trap and try to force TOs w/o a true PG. I personaly like playing defense vs a team whos PG is a league leader in TOs.

Having LBJ guarding Felton or chasing Martin along the baseline is a postive and just maybe some fatigue will set in. Again no team outside of Myths can play great outside D in this 16 team league. Theres simply too many scorers and besides the object of the game is to score the most pts not play the best def. Do I expect to hold LBJ to 20ppg?? Absolutley not. The goal is 40%FG. I fully expect Manu to get 20ppg as well.

The Haywood move does help on defense but again hes not a great low post option and the Wizards are still missing that ability to throw the ball into the post and take a high % shot. The Wizards will rely on the refs to get them easy pts from the FT line. I just dont believe its a sound strategy that will work for a long series.

The Wizards have 1 great scorer and 1 very good scorer. They both are outside players. The Pistons use a more balanced approach and dont rely so much on 1 or 2 players to carry them. This Wizards does remind me alot of AIs 76er team in that he has some scrapy defenders and a great scorer. This team lives and dies on the jumpshot and LBJs athletic ability. LBJ will have to score 40-50 one game and avg over 30ppg. Im not a fan of a team thats PG is also its leading scorer and takes +25% of its FGA.

The Pistons want to play a 3 man rotation up front with KG, Camby and Bogut. 85-90 mins between 3 frontcout players is very doable. Mays when healthy is a player that puts up similar stats to Haywood who is a starter for the Wizards. Regardless LBJ will have to play longer than KG and he will be chasing PGs around the court.

It boils down to the belief that LBJ/Manu are a more dominate backcourt than KG/Camby is a frontcourt. It also assumes that backcourts are more important than frontcourts and that LBJ is a Magic Johnson clone. Will the help defense of G. Wallace be on par as that of Marcus Camby?

The Pistons will control the paint and the rebounds. They are also the faster breaking team and will have fewer TOs with better PG play.

The Pistons with better FG%, more FGAs (offensive reb) better 3ptfg%, more rebs and fewer TOs sound like a recipe for success IMHO.

The Wizards are the team with lineup changes and playing players out of position in an attempt to matchup.

VintaGe36
I enjoy reading your posts and respect very much what you think. I do not expect you to agree with me nor do I want you too. Im not trying to change your mind nor am I trying to be objective. please take nothing I say personal or as a personal attack. You and I drafted right after each other and I know better than anyone (just like you) how hard it was finding supporting players and a bench when we were drafting at the bottom almost every rd. That is the punishment for having a superstar player in that our teams dont look as balanced as others and so we had to make difficult choices and try to specialise in one area or another.

[VintaGe36]

Right back at you.

Lebron wont guard Felton though, he will guard Mike Miller.

I built my team on versatility. With Manu AND Lebron as capable ball handlers, I don't need the "ideal" PG. Don't think of my line up as
PG
SG
SF
PF
C

but as

Swingman
Swingman
Swingman/Forward
Forward
Forward

My idea the whole time was to use my versatility and multi talented guys to create mis-matches in my favor.

[randomhero423]

PG - Jamaal Tinsley/Kirk Hinrich/J.C. Navarro
SG - Bruce Bowen/Ricky Davis/J.C. Navarro
SF - Josh Howard/Wally Szczerbiak
PF - Tim Duncan/Antonio McDyess/Kwame Brown
C - Andrew Bynum/Theo Ratliff, Kwame Brown

vs.

PG- Tony Parker 35 /Derek Fisher 13/Randy Foye
SG- Brandon Roy 35 /Randy Foye 10/Derek Fisher 3
SF- Tayshaun Prince 32 /Shane Battier 11 /Matt Carroll
PF- David West 30 /Shane Battier 15/ Troy Murphy 3/Eddy Curry
C- Yao Ming 38 /Sean Williams 10 /Eddy Curry

I feel my team has the clear advantage in almost every category. I feel aside from Duncan/Howard they are lacking a real offensive threat.

Defensively, I will play a 2-3. I will dare them to shoot outside, as i'm not confident in their bowen (who's aging) and howard duo outside. I will have my middle man (Shane Battier/Sean Williams) shade towards Tim Duncan's side unless Bynum has the ball. Ming will always be on whatever side Duncan is on. West is too short to cover him, and Ming is my best big man defender. I feel a tandem of Ming/Williams can somewhat slow him down. I feel Tinsley/Kirk are overrated PG's and will not be effective in getting all of their players a effective amount of touches.

I feel offensively I'm far more superior then the team I am facing. Aside from Duncan/Howard/Davis (who's off the bench) they really don't have a offensive threat! I feel Bowen is slowing down and I don't think Roy will be that disrupted on offense where he is a non-factor (meaning a stat line like 8 pts, 3 assists, 5 turnovers). ROY does not need to put up big numbers, and he can penetrate very well and make his team better. I am going to make my team attack your bigs (bynum and duncan espically) for most of the game. Roy/Parker are great penetrators, and Battier/Prince/Carroll/Fisher (when roy is in they will platoon PG responsibilities) can all hit the open 3 easily and if not they are all high bball IQ players and keep the ball movement. West/Williams will be my garbage men again going for rebounds most of the time. When West is not double teamed with the ball, he will go staright for the basket and try to get Duncan and/or Bynum in foul trouble.

Ming will be matched up with Duncan throughout the game. I'm going to have Parker and/or Roy/Foye (foye if parker and foye are out..) and attack Duncan/Bynum. Depending on the shot, if they feel they can finish it, they'll go for it (all are good slashers) and if not they'll pass it down low to the open man. Ming is a good PLAYOFF player (well unless 25 and 10 isn't good enough for you). When Ming is standing around mid-range, I'll call for one of my guys to penetrate and this will cause either a easy layup or a wide open ming for a three.

I feel my team's vet expericence is just fine and can't be seen as a weakness!! Parker/Prince/Fisher have all won championships, and Battier/Roy are known has very high bball iq players. Ming is a superstar and will be just fine (unless 25 and 10 are "bad stats"). I think your stretching at that..

I think my team wins in 6 games.

[randomhero423]

the guy on playing on top will go to their side. and if they start draining them, we'll simply go to a man-to-man defense. where i feel matchups like battier vs. howard and prince vs. bowen can easily lean my way.

[penbeast0]

2nd ROUND MATCHUP JUDGING -- New Orleans at LA Lakers

I admit to being confused about one thing in the Hornet's writeup. The role of Zack Randolph is unclear. I am assuming he is starting and will be guarding Dirk and all the talk of Posey on him or Oden playing the 4 are second options when Randolph goes to the bench or if he is being abused (with Nocioni playing PF or Randolph guarding Chandler/Pryzbilla).

That said, let's break this down:

Big men. For all the talk, Dirk is considerably better than Randolph and they are the main inside threats here. Kaman and Chandler should be only a slight edge to Kaman and I don't see the inexperience Oden being a difference maker in this series nor does Nocioni or Millsap scare anyone. Advantage LA

Wing/PG play. Kobe and Billups have a solid edge on Rip and TJ; Artest and the stronger bench on LAL lessen this but don't negate it. Advantage New Orleans

Playmaking: Edge to New Orleans in the backcourt and to LAL in the frontcourt again. Overall, PUSH.

Rebounding: tough matchup, slight edge to New Orleans for their bigger backcourt but very slight.

Defense: Despite the whole Randolph thing, New Orleans seems to have the better defenders, again, particularly in the backcourt . . .both benches have some great defenders. Edge New Orleans

Depth: Posey will have his work cut out for him and be playing a lot of minutes. . . which isn't that good, Iggy is a much superior 6th man. Inside, I am curious to see how Oden plays, Durant looks great at times but awful at others, if Oden has the rookie learning curve, edge goes easily to LA Lakers.

Intangibles: Key here is the star play. Who will step up? Kobe and Billups are proven big stage stars, Dirk should have a great series, Artest and Randolph will sometimes be good but are knuckleheads. I like LAL's balance and teamwork better. WASH

Overall: Hard to pick against Kobe and Billups but I think Dirk has enough backup to pull this one off this time with the homecourt advantage. LA LAKERS for the win.

[penbeast0]

2nd ROUND MATCHUP JUDGING -- Philadelphia v. New York

Two very solid teams

Big men: This is the key matchup in this series as both teams are post oriented. Duncan and Bynum with help from McDyess facing Yao Ming and David West with Battier and Sean Williams coming in if needed. Yao will guard Duncan as I understand it which means West will be trying to contain Bynum. This isn't a good matchup, Bynum isn't a super skilled player but he's just too big and strong for West, they need to get him into quick foul trouble; if West gets in trouble and Battier comes in it will just be worse. Edge Philadelphia

Wing and Point scoring: Howard and Roy are a nice pair of wings, Bowen and Prince nice defensive complements. I'm not a huge fan of Ricky Davis, Szerbiak always impressed me more in a decent offense; Battier should be more effective with this level of talent but the real edge is Tony Parker at PG over Tinsley/Hinrich. With good shooters that can spread the defense up front, Parker should be a key to this series. Edge New York.

Playmaking: Duncan and Yao are both good post passers, but the guard edge for New York with Parker and Roy both being very smart passers gives New York the edge here.

Rebounding: Philly has the size up front to keep Yao from dominating plus Josh Howard on the wing and better bench rebounding. Edge Philadephia

Defense: The key matchups here of course Yao v. Duncan but also can Philly stop Tony Parker and whether Bynum can use his size/strength advantage. I see Parker being the bigger factor than Bynum offensively, but Duncan's help defense counters that. PUSH

Depth: I don't see Fisher as having problems but Battier and Sean Williams aren't an answer inside. Edge Philadelphia

Intangibles: Duncan, Bowen, Parker, and Prince have all starred in the finals but Duncan is the most influential. Tinsley and Bynum are the most likely to be inconsistent. Edge Philly (the Duncan factor)

Overall: I like both these teams and NY has the extra home game but I don't like their bench where basically Fisher and Battier are the only guys I'd trust. Close series, edge to Philadephia.

[penbeast0]

2nd ROUND MATCHUP JUDGING -- Houston v. Seattle

Big man play: JO, Gasol, and Haslem (+Bargnini) v. Brand, Ilgauskas and Collison. Very close, Brand is the best two way player here as Jermaine is quite inefficient for a player with his size. Gasol has a more versatile game than Ilgauskas but just isn't a dominating threat and the bench players aren't going to decide this. Edge to Seattle.

Wing and Point scoring: Both teams are terrific offensively with great shooting off the bench in the pair of Orlando forwards. However, Houston has better defense and Wade is the most likely to step up and dominate since we are assuming full health. Edge Houston

Playmaking: Deron has a clear edge over Harris, both teams have good passing wings. Edge Seattle

Rebounding: Very close. No clear edge anywhere. PUSH

Defense: Some fine interior defense with Ilgauskas and Brand having the edge over O'Neal and Gasol, but the difference on the wings with Wade and Deng gives the edge to Houston.

Bench: Hopefully Seattle will give Turkoglu a bigger role than they did in their first round writeup; he is the best bench player on either team this year. However, Houston has more solid players since I would hate to have to depend on Rafer Alston or Jason Maxiel in key moments. PUSH

Intangibles: Houston the finals MVP in Dwayne Wade, better defense and a deeper bench. However I think Deron Williams and Elton Brand will control the outside/inside play in a very very tight 7 game series that will come down to game 7 where Seattle has homecourt. I pick Seattle (with great hesitation).

[Myth_Breaker]

PG - Jamaal Tinsley/Kirk Hinrich/J.C. Navarro
SG - Bruce Bowen/Ricky Davis/J.C. Navarro
SF - Josh Howard/Wally Szczerbiak
PF - Tim Duncan/Antonio McDyess/Kwame Brown
C - Andrew Bynum/Theo Ratliff, Kwame Brown

vs.

PG- Tony Parker 35 /Derek Fisher 13/Randy Foye
SG- Brandon Roy 35 /Randy Foye 10/Derek Fisher 3
SF- Tayshaun Prince 32 /Shane Battier 11 /Matt Carroll
PF- David West 30 /Shane Battier 15/ Troy Murphy 3/Eddy Curry
C- Yao Ming 38 /Sean Williams 10 /Eddy Curry

I feel my team has the clear advantage in almost every category.

Really? So please list these categories since the ones I've listed before (man-to-man defense/rebounding/shotblocking/PG play) give the clear edge to my team.

I feel aside from Duncan/Howard they are lacking a real offensive threat.

See below.

Defensively, I will play a 2-3. I will dare them to shoot outside, as i'm not confident in their bowen (who's aging)

He hasn't shown that yet, remaining in excellent shape, so his age may be only theoretical argument here.

and howard duo outside.

Why? My outside shooters - Josh, Bowen, Szczerbiak and Navarro - are more efficient than yours.

I will have my middle man (Shane Battier/Sean Williams) shade towards Tim Duncan's side unless Bynum has the ball. Ming will always be on whatever side Duncan is on. West is too short to cover him, and Ming is my best big man defender. I feel a tandem of Ming/Williams can somewhat slow him down.

Yao is too immobile for that, while Williams - too short and inexperienced. Face it: you have nobody to guard TD with success. And if Ming focuses on Tim, who's going to cover Bynum?

I feel Tinsley/Kirk are overrated PG's and will not be effective in getting all of their players a effective amount of touches.

You presented no arguments to support this. Hinrich proved he's good enough to start for 50-win Bulls team. Tinsley started for even better Pacers team which went to ECF - and was feeding Jermaine and others just fine, what leads to conclusion that he'll do the same for Duncan and Co.

I feel offensively I'm far more superior then the team I am facing. Aside from Duncan/Howard/Davis (who's off the bench) they really don't have a offensive threat!

Excuse me, but how many FGAs do you expect to take realistically in a playoff game? Actually, total difference between our squads isn't even so big (my guys average 144,3 ppg combined in their current teams, while yours - 154,9 ppg), but it might be just as good 150 as 200 ppg: in playoff reality scores will prolly remain below 100 anyway. Now please answer yourself which team will be more efficient after reducing shot attempts: won't it be defense-oriented squad of mine?

I feel Bowen is slowing down and I don't think Roy will be that disrupted on offense where he is a non-factor (meaning a stat line like 8 pts, 3 assists, 5 turnovers). ROY does not need to put up big numbers,

And he won't. Yet I feel that a player like Bowen gives you more than Brandon if they both aren't putting up big numbers, with his defense, poise, veteran leadership and proven clutchness.

and he can penetrate very well and make his team better. I am going to make my team attack your bigs (bynum and duncan espically) for most of the game. Roy/Parker are great penetrators, and Battier/Prince/Carroll/Fisher (when roy is in they will platoon PG responsibilities) can all hit the open 3 easily and if not they are all high bball IQ players and keep the ball movement. West/Williams will be my garbage men again going for rebounds most of the time. When West is not double teamed with the ball, he will go staright for the basket and try to get Duncan and/or Bynum in foul trouble.

Ming will be matched up with Duncan throughout the game. I'm going to have Parker and/or Roy/Foye (foye if parker and foye are out..

?

) and attack Duncan/Bynum. Depending on the shot, if they feel they can finish it, they'll go for it (all are good slashers) and if not they'll pass it down low to the open man. Ming is a good PLAYOFF player (well unless 25 and 10 isn't good enough for you).

Nice, but Duncan in his playoff career was getting similar or even better numbers (even 25/15 during his best campaign!), while playing for more stacked team and registering far more games, what makes his stats doubly more valuable than Ming's.

When Ming is standing around mid-range, I'll call for one of my guys to penetrate and this will cause either a easy layup or a wide open ming for a three.

Ming for 3? Are you sure about that?

I feel my team's vet expericence is just fine and can't be seen as a weakness!!

I was talking specifically about Roy and his lack of experience. Other your guys are better at this aspect, but overall I have advantage here, especially as my leader is far more experienced than yours, and leaders' experience is more important than experience of bench players.


Parker/Prince/Fisher have all won championships, and Battier/Roy are known has very high bball iq players. Ming is a superstar and will be just fine (unless 25 and 10 are "bad stats"). I think your stretching at that..

I think my team wins in 6 games.

Sorry, Phila in 6.