BaNT 1st round: BOTTOM BRACKET - 24hr extension to break tie

[dockingsched]

This thread will be used for the bottom bracket of the first round. Please use this thread to create a post with your roster, offensive strategy, defensive strategy, and overall plan of attack against your specific opponent. Rebuttals are also allowed, along with inquiries from all participants (including top bracket players). Official votes may be placed after approx 48 hrs after the end of the 10th round. A specific time will be set later.


2. dcash4 v 15. deNIEd

7. Gremz v SamBone

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3. Poopdamoop v 14. bness88

6. Bringbackhoffa v 11. vincecarter4pres

[dockingsched]

Smillstown Homers

pg: Devin Harris / Monta Ellis
sg: John Salmons / Anthony Parker
sf: James Posey / Rashard Lewis
pf: Rashard Lewis / Al Jefferson
c: Al Jefferson/ Joel Przybilla

Reserve: Brandon Bass, Andris Biedrins

Offensive strategy: my team will spread the floor with four shooters surrounding al jefferson. camby is not a very good post defender and it will be very difficult for my opponent to double with lewis playing the pf spot. devin harris and monta ellis will get to the paint rather easily against a laterally slow davis and limited alston.

defensive strategy: i am able to get away with a lewis/jefferson froncourt because my opponent has zero post game, none. camby, jo, and lma are all jumpshooters and won't make me pay. their best player, melo, will be matched up against one of the better physical defenders in the league in james posey. harris' size lets him matchup with davis and make him settle for the jumpers that he's known to settle for.

overall plan: i plan to expose my opponent's lack of big man scoring in the paint by putting up an offensively devastating lewis/jefferson combo that he won't be able to make me pay for. harris will make davis become the chucker he's prone to becoming, and melo will get a healthy does of posey.

last thoughts:

melo shoots 43% against posey

lewis outscores LMA 21 to 15

davis shoots 43% and 30% against harris

jefferson scores at a 55% rate against camby

[bringbackhoffa]

Hoffa's Shaqaholics

Intro Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnoaj8b2bGM

Tony Parker(39)/Crawford(9)
OJ Mayo(37)/Crawford(5)/Arest(6)
Ron Artest(29)/Maggatte(19)
Kenyon Martin(34)/Birdman(14)
Shaq(30)/Kristic(15)/Birdman(3)

Reserve: Drew Gooden

VS

PG Gilbert Arenas/Rodney Stuckey/Eric Gordon
SG Mike Miller/Eric Gordon/Rodney Stuckey
SF Richard Jefferson/Marvin Williams
PF Kevin Garnett/Rasheed Wallace
C Nene/Rasheed Wallace/Javale McGee


Offensive Strategy

Shaqaholics is comprised of 10 great players who all have an ability to score 20+ a game on any given night (some more then others). This teams floor general will be Tony Parker who will be guarded by Agent Zero, and has had great success vs him in the past (see below). Tony will run the same type of offence he has in San Antonio where duncan has had great success playing with him, and i hope i can have the same with Shaq. We also have a great post presence in Shaq, who if not double/triple team will cause many problems for my opponent. If the double comes i expect shaq to pass it out and i am truly gifted with some great shooters and expect them too make the other team pay.
I also possess one of the games greatest young players, i feel he can take advantage of the slower Mike Miller, who is no longer an every starter. Mayo has gained great experience during his rookie season starting all 82 games averaging 18.5ppg and had a field goal percentage of 44 which is fantastic for a rookie.
Ron Artest is a great spark plug to have on the team as if the team is struggling he is not afraid to take over and bring the team back from great depths.

Kenyon Martin and Shaq i believe make a great offensive duo that can stretch the defense and believe KG and Nene will have trouble guarding them.
Shaq has dominated both Nene and KG (see below), he has always avg over 58% against them, an has met career avg if not exceeding them when facing the two of them.
Martin is a great veteran to have on the floor and i believe can be an offensive threat, as he has had great success when playing with a great pg ala kidd and billups.

Benches
Other then Rasheed Wallace i believe there is no threat off the bench for my opponent and imo he is getting old and losing his stride. Meanwhile i may have players that are trigger happy, but they have had some success, and are only playing limited minute in the game, and AT NO POINT WILL CRAWFORD AND MAGGATTE BE ON THE FLOOR At THE SAME TIME. Birdman is coiming off a fantastic playoffs and is coming off the bench more for defensive abilities. Kristic is a class act an NBA starter who i feel will be a great veteran to have off the bench and i cannot see him having any chemistry issues with the team.


Defensive Strategy

Ron Artest is one of the greatest defenders in the league and isnt afraid to commit a hard foul when it warrants it. He has always given RJ troubles, with RJ having sub par offensive performances in addition to just beaing RJ a majority of the time.

in 14 career games TP has held Garenas under 38% shooting, and this was when arenas was healthy, coming into this series who even knows if gilbert will be playing....

When i have the combo of birdman and shaq on the floor i will have them double team KG, and force him to get the ball out of paint or create turnover opportunities.
I know i will have some difficulty with my opponents front court but i belive they are evenly matched if i run a man to man coverage with some weak side help on special occasions


KEY STATS TO LOOK AT:

Parker VS Gilbert
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... =arenagi01

Artest vs Jefferson
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... =jefferi01

Martin VS KG
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... =garneke01

Martin has a better fg% as well as less turnovers then KG...

Shaq vs Nene:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... =hilarne01

Shaq vs KG:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... =garneke01

FInally
Shaqaholics in 5 would of been 4 however my owner wanted another playoff home game. As well i dont see both Gilbert and KG being 100% for this series as both are coming off injury plagued seasons.

[MadNESS]

Wisconsin Phantoms

PG - Andre Miller - Delonte West
SG - Ray Allen - Delonte West
SF - Hedo Turkoglu - Boris Diaw
PF - Chris Bosh - Boris Diaw
Cc - Ekeka Okafor - Brad Miller

Extras: Glen Davis / Shannon Brown (My Boy)

Coach/GM - Bness888
Assistant - Bcortell

Strategy:

Offense:
We will pound the ball to our main guy, Bosh. He has the ability to score from the post, score with his jumpshot, and create for his teamates. We will also rely on our ability to penetrate and dish to open jump shooters. The Millers, Allen, Turk, and West all have the ability to beat there man off the dribble and hit the open shot. We will be able to move the ball around and get good shots since you can't double off any one player on this team. I can not describe to you at how many three's we will get a game. Think RL Orlando, but better. EVERYONE can shoot the three.

Defense:
Man to Man with help around the bucket. Andre Miller, Ray Allen, Boris Diaw Delonte West are all above average defenders who can hold there own on defense. Altough they are not defensive "stoppers" they can all get the job done. Bosh and Okafor are great shot blockers and rebounders, so we love what they can do together, scary front court. Also, West can gaurd the 1's and 2's as well as Diaw can gaurd the 3's and 4's. With our veristility we can handle just about anyform of offensive players.


Sure, "Raps in 4" can score, and score alot, but will they be able to stop anyone or anything? NO! All of my players are 2 dimensional players while his team is just score score score. Other than Jax and Chalmers i dont konw who he has to stop me. THis will become a shoot out in a hurry, i can sense that already. But i have the ability to slow this thing down, with players like Bosh and Meka to throw the ball into and have them score in the post. He's gonna want to run, and that will not work. Miller will be able to get by Nash. Hedo is to much for the young Thaddeus Young to handle.
Bosh although similar in offensive games with Amare is a MUCH better defender. Okafor's bread and butter is defense and rebounding. Overall i think this would be a good series again, but i feel due to Okafor's game altering defense is the difference here. Phantoms in 7.

[vincecarter4pres]

Eddy Curry's Breakfast Blend

PG Gilbert Arenas/Rodney Stuckey/Eric Gordon
SG Mike Miller/Eric Gordon/Rodney Stuckey
SF Richard Jefferson/Marvin Williams
PF Kevin Garnett/Rasheed Wallace
C Nene/Rasheed Wallace/Javale McGee

Offensive:
This team can literally do anything. Garnett is a high/low guy and can initiate the offense himself from the high post to take pressure off Gil, and Mike Miller is a playmaker himself who can run the pick and roll, dribble drive or find spot up shooters. Nene can work down low, operating with the ball or cutting to the hoop for alley oops. RJ and Miller are excellent spot up shooters and will space the floor, but Gil can pull up off the dribble, as can Miller. RJ will do a lot of slashing without the ball through the lane, recieving back door lobs and the such.

During this matchup though we will look to exploit weakness and in it's simplest form, that being a steady diet of pick and roll. Parker is a bad defender and slight in frame, having trouble working through screens and picks and Shaq is just flatout terrible at defending the pick and roll. Garnett will swich up on screens and pull him out. Kenyon is a good helpside defender but he will have his hands full with one of Nene or Garnett. Artest might give RJ some fits one on one, but we aren't going to ISO him much and Ron Ron will have trouble keeping up chasing RJ around.

Again, Gil is great using crafty dribble moves and hesitations, so he will also simply break down Parker off the dribble, collapse the defense and kick it out to an open shooter for three, a cutting RJ or Marvin, or Nene or just draw the foul.
Then we get to the bench. When the starting unit is starting to tire, we will bring in Eric Gordon and Sheed, and one of Stuckey and Williams for intervals. If Kmart is locking down a guy, he will be pulled to the perimeter by Sheed and Shaq will be pulled out as well by Garnett, completely opening the lane for a slashing RJ or Williams and letting Arenas or Stuckey break his man down and take it to the hole, getting them in foul trouble, even Bird Man. Crawford, Maggette and Curly are all bad defenders and will get burnt and lit up as well, racking up many more fouls then steals and blocks and more importantly stops. All the while Eric Gordon is spotting up for 3's and blowing by his man for monster And 1's.

All this and defense is really a forte of my team as well...
Basically a matchup nightmare at every position and from every angle, almost unstoppable, at least versus this rag tage group of defenders he has, save Artest and Kmart.

Defensive:
This is where the magic happens. Before I even get into the individual matchups, I want to say that even though my team is quite comfortable in the half court, we will look to exploit the many turnovers we force into fastbreak points. The whole team can run and is quite comfortable in that role, playing straight run and gun off the misfortunes of the opposing team.
Nene is an excellent post defender and will do a solid job on Shaq, but the thing is, when he needs help, he has it. Garnett is one of the best help defenders in the game and Kmart is not an offensive threat, so save back door cuts he can be released for jumpers all day, matter of fact we will welcome it.

Miller is a solid perimeter defender himself and won't have much trouble keeping up with a relatively slow, especially laterally, Artest.

Arenas isn't what you would call a good defender, but he is not as bad as he seems, he does give effort. He is a solid pick pocket and also gets steals gambling and playing the passing lanes, igniting the fastbreak.
Even when Parker beats him, he will have all the help he needs.
If the bigs get into foul trouble, we have Sheed and McGee off the bench who are both excellent defenders and shot blockers.

His bench consist of some very good scorers, but in all reality they are chuckers who are not team orientated. Give then the open shot from deep and they will not hesitate, so we will until they prove they are nailing them. This puts a lot of pressure on the starting unit and the bigs.

OJ Mayo is also a gifted young player, but Miller will give him fits with his height and length and if need be we will switch the more physical RJ onto him until Artest is forced to create too much of the offense himself and starts going into save a team, blackhole jacking mode. We saw it in the Houston-Lakers series and we would see it again here.
Basically he would be banking on a one-two punch of Shaq and Parker to save him, along with his second unit giving some punch and I just don't see it.

Artest and Mayo are both really gifted overall players, but I just don't see a closer or an assasin on this team that can get a consistent 20 and the occasionally needed monster game.
I just don't see the guy that will get them the needed three in the waning moments of the game to keep them afloat on the road late in a game, nor the guy to drill the dagger to finish the opposition off at home.

Overall:
I just think the Shaqaholics are too thin and lack a true identity. They aren't a true scoring team because they have too many one on one and selfish chuckers.
They surely aren't a running team.
Shaq is too old to make them a low post team and Parker's outside shot is too suspect to make defenses pay and keep them honest even if they were.
They are masquarading as a defensive team, but Parker will get burnt off the dribble, Shaq is herrendous at defending the pick and roll and Kmart, Artest and Anderson will likely get into foul trouble early trying to help recover from their shortcomings.
They have no true lead scorer and no true closer.
The Shaqaholics are built for a 1st round exit and I don't think they stand a chance.

[SamBone]

The Boned Samuels

Rotation
PG- Rondo (30), Brooks (18)
SG- Pierce (30), Lee (18)
SF- Gay (31), Pierce (5), Green (12)
PF- Jameson (28), Green (8), Thomas (12)
C - Kaman (30), Hibbert (18)

Offensive game plan:

Paul Pierce is our guy. Our half court game will revolve around him. In the half court offense we will run a lot of pick and pops (with Pierce and Antawn Jameson). We also plan to spread things out and run some inside out pays to take advantage of Chris Kaman’s passing from the post. Jameson’s shooting and ability to create his own shot and Rudy Gay’s improved 3 ball and his ability to break down his defender should create a lot of space for our CLOSER Mr. Finals MVP himself Paul Pierce. His clutch shooting and range will also create even more spacing on the floor for dribble drive penetration from Rajon Rondo (what he does best. And add to that our stellar bench play what creates even more range, athletism and mismatches with Aaron Brooks (spark), Courtnry Lee (shooting), and Jeff Green (Mr. Do everything and matchup nightmare)



Team Defense:

We think that our overall team defense is very good. We have one of the best defensive guards in the game (Rondo 2nd team All Defensive), one of the top man to man defensive centers in Kaman. A long athletic good defending wing in Gay. All of them together will be able to help out Jameson (even though he isn’t a great defender, he is a great rebounder and still averages over a steal a game). All of this should lead to a lot of fast breaks with Rondo and Rudy Gay running up and down the court. And if that isn’t enough our 2nd unit has a wing stopper in Lee, an athletic versatile forward in Tyrus Thomas who is also one of the best weak side shot blockers, and a bruising shot blocking C in Roy Hibbert.

Gremz

PG: Mike Bibby
SG: Brandon Roy
SF: Josh Howard
PF: Carlos Boozer
C: Al Horford

PG: TJ Ford
PG/SG: Leandro Barbosa
SF: Travis Outlaw
PF/C: Troy Murphy
C: Jeff Foster

Rondo vs Bibby: Rondo has owned Bibby every time they have played, including in the playoffs 2 years ago. Rondo is simply to fast and athletic for Bibby to guard and Rondo has been know for shutting Bibby down including Rondo has held Bibby to a lowly 33.8% fg % while forcing him to make 2 turnovers a game during the 2008 playoffs when Rondo averaged 11.6 ppg / 4 reb / 7.3 asst and under a turnover a game.

Pierce vs Roy: One day Roy may be on the level of Pierce, Roy is super talented and shared a spot on the All NBA 2nd team with Pierce. And someday Roy may get into the finals to match PP’s FINALS MVP, but that day is not now. Paul is way to stronge for Roy, and always has been able to knock Roy off of his game when they have played head to head. Roy will struggle on both ends of the court with this matchup

Gay vs Howard: Howard is a solid defensive player when he decides to play, the problem is that Jho takes way too many possessions off and has such a low Basketball IQ that the Mavs often sit down the stretch in close games. The guy has million dollar talent and pennies for brains. (if he had the love of the game that he has for the grass he could be an elite player). Gay is the exact opposite. He gives his all every game (and I mean every game because he has only missed 8 games his entire 3 year career compaired to the 92 games JHo has missed over his 6 year career)

EDIT: I have been told that Gay is a chucker that doesn’t play D, and that Howard is a stellar defender. After looking things up, I could not disagree more.
-Offensively, Gay averages 16 shots a game as the #1 option, shoots 45.3% (35% from 3) compaired to Howard who is a 2nd option and averages 15.1 shots a game, shoots 45.1% (34.5% from 3), so I would say JHo is the chucker.
-Defensive, Jho the stopper has a Defensive Wins Share of 1.7 compaired to the so called weaker defender Gay’s 2.6 (yes gays defense wins one more game for his team then Howards. JHo has a defensive rating of 109 and gay has a ranking of 110 (just to compaire Ariza who people love, who has 3.5 DWS and a d rating of 112)

Jameson vs Boozer: well this will be the most interesting matchup of the bunch because neither guy can guard the other. Booz can not stay with Tawn on the perimeter and Tawn can not stop Booz on the block. Both are beasts on the boards. I can see a lot of offense defense switching from my team with Kaman picking up Booz on the block and Jameson switching off to cover Horford. I do not think Horford is offensively seasoned enough to take advatage of the willy veteran Jameson

Kaman vs Horford: down the road a few years this may be a different story, but today and now, I do not see this matchup working well for the kid. Kaman is simply bigger, stronger and more polished.

Bench
Brooks, C.Lee, J.Green, T.Thomas, Hibbert vs Ford, Barbosa, Outlaw, Murphy, Foster: To me this is the spot hat I end the matchup. I think my bench is superior in all aspects. My players will all get decent minutes and be well rested, and my team does not drop off much with the bench mixed in.

Summary:
My team is versital enough that the 1st and 2nd unit will always be mixed in during the middle portion of the game, to set up my main unit to close out the game. And considering I have one of the best “closers” in the NBA on my side, I feal good.

The Boned Samuels will take this in 5.

[dockingsched]

make sure you post up your roster and a team strategy. failure to at least do that will disqualify you.

voting will be pretty straight forward. each participant will vote for all other matchups (7 out of 8) by simply stating who they think wins the head to head matchup based on roster and strategy. voting begins friday at 9am eastern and 6am pacific.

before that you can argue for your team or ask questions of any other team.

[poopdamoop]

Raps in 4

Steve Nash(34)/Mario Chalmers(14)
Stephen Jackson(33)/Manu Ginobili(15)
Thaddeus Young(26)/Manu Ginobili(17)/Wilson Chandler(5)
Amare Stoudemire(35)/Joakim Noah(8)/Thaddeus Young(5)
Andrew Bogut(30)/Joakim Noah(18)

Strategy:

Offensively, we want to get out and run. Most of the main guys on this team have played in fast-paced systems before with great success, so we know that they can fit together and fill lanes on the break well enough. Nash pushing, Jackson/Ginobili/Young filling the lanes, and Amare trailing is a terror for opposing transition defenses. In the halfcourt, we feel we have the best weapon in the league with the Nash/Amare pick and roll. Jackson and Ginobili can also play the PnR or create in isolation, so we will always have at least two capable scorers on the floor in all situations, as well as one of the best scoring big men in the league in Stoudemire. Ginobili can provide his usual brilliance off the bench, and a crunch time lineup of Nash/Ginobili/Jackson/Amare can get any shot against any defense. I think I have the best offensive team in the league.

Defensively, we have Bogut down low to clean up whatever comes his way. He's one of the best defensive centers in the league, though he may not seem like a typical defensive anchor. He boasts a stellar 14.3 PER against at the center position (for comparison's sake, Dwight Howard is at 15.8 and Tim Duncan has a 17.5). It's not the perfect measure, but it shows his talents as both an anchor and a man defender. Jackson and Young are both good swing defenders, and should be able to deal with any wingman combo in this league. Off the bench, Ginobili is a pesky defender and can handle the non-elite swingmen as well as anyone, and Chalmers and Noah are both great defenders as well at the point and in the paint. I can mix and match guys to get the perfect balance of defense and offense, or go pure defense/offence depending on the end game situations.

Overall, my team is elite offensively and good enough defensively to take down any team. In bness' case, his weakness is a lack of perimeter defense. Hedo and Ray Allen are great offensive players and shooters, but they will be overmatched trying to keep up with Ginobili and Jackson, while my guys are good enough defenders to put pressure on his swings. Bosh/Okafor is a good frontcourt, but Amare and Bosh are relatively equal in terms of impact on the game, and Okafor's man defense won't be too useful against my fifth option. Nash vs Miller is another big advantage to me, and off the bench neither West nor Diaw are good enough to impact the game the way Ginobili can.

[Gremz]

PG: Mike Bibby (34)/Roy (14)
SG: Brandon Roy (24)/Barbosa (24)
SF: Josh Howard (34)/Outlaw (14)
PF: Carlos Boozer (34)/Murphy (14)
C: Al Horford (30)/Murphy (18)

Vs

The Boned Samuels

PG- Rondo (30), Brooks (18)
SG- Pierce (30), Lee (18)
SF- Gay (31), Pierce (5), Green (12)
PF- Jamison (28), Green (8), Thomas (12)
C - Kaman (30), Hibbert (18)

Offensive Strategy: Using the versatility that Brandon Roy brings to the table, we can employ a number of sets. Primarily, with the spacing we have, we will look exercise screens and focus a fair amount on attacking the basket and mid range offense. Roy, Howard and Boozer can all be extremely effective from both range and inside, which will bring a lot of diversity to our offense.

Depending on Boozer's matchup (Kaman or Jamison) he can easily switch it up and focus on work on posting up and working closer to the basket. Horford's offensive game will not be major, but is quite reliable at taking his chances, and if he's lucky to find Jamison against him, I fully expect him to be a decent threat on the offensive end. Howard will work as he always has, being an effective second or third option, in which he will thrive. Roy will be utilised in his normal fashion, and through controlling the offense he will be able to either attack the rim or focus on hitting his jump shots of set screens, there's no need to change a good thing.

Barbosa and Murphy are two guys off the bench who can add different dimensions to the offense. Murphy brings an extremely consistent outside game, while Barbosa's lightning speed will allow us to keep constant pressure on, and look to get ourselves to the line more frequently.

Defensive Strategy: We could struggle in a couple of spots, but generally speaking I'm not overly concerned about having a "Gremz like" funky defensive strategy in this outing.

Bibby will probably struggle against Bibby's quickness, in which I'm thankful he's not a prominent 20ppg player. But staying in front of him as much as possible, hopefully he won't be so free at getting inside as much. Roy possesses enough quality to stick with Pierce these days. His overall IQ is what will be helpful in ensuring Pierce can't take over like in the old days. Pierce will obviously get his points, but contesting and removing the flow from his game is what I expect to happen here. Howard, as in the past, should be able to do a rather decent job on Gay here. Gay is yet to hit a 20 point game against Howard, and I expect a similar outcome here. Boozer, while not being stellar on the defensive end, should be able to at the very least keep Jamison from getting inside, and force him to beat us from range, where as Horford has turned himself into a very solid defensive presence inside and given Kaman's recent struggles, I would imagine he would be quite limited offensively here.


Rebuttal:

Defensive Strategy:

We think that our overall team defense is very good. We have one of the best defensive players in the game (Rondo 2nd team All Defensive), one of the top man to man defensive centers in Kaman. A long athletic good defending wing in Gay. All of them together will be able to help out Jamison (even though he isn’t a great defender, he is a great rebounder and still averages over a steal a game). All of this should lead to a lot of fast breaks with Rondo and Rudy Gay running up and down the court. And if that isn’t enough our 2nd unit has a wing stopper in Lee, an athletic versatile forward in Tyrus Thomas who is also one of the best weak side shot blockers, and a bruising shot blocking C in Roy Hibbert.

There's not a lot here that addresses your defensive plan to stop my guys, so I won't rebuttal too much against it. But to me, calling Gay a good defending wing, and Kaman as one of the top man to man defenders are a couple of stretches. They're not up to their labels and in Gay's case, I think he will struggle a lot in keeping JHo at bay in this contest.

As for the bench, Lee and Tyrus do bring in certain defensive qualities, but Hibbert isn't what I'd call a bruising shot blocker. At least not yet anyway

Rondo vs Bibby: Rondo has owned Bibby every time they have played, including in the playoffs 2 years ago. Rondo is simply to fast and athletic for Bibby to guard and Rondo has been know for shutting Bibby down including Rondo has held Bibby to a lowly 33.8% fg % while forcing him to make 2 turnovers a game during the 2008 playoffs when Rondo averaged 11.6 ppg / 4 reb / 7.3 asst and under a turnover a game.

Rajon is indeed a good player against Bibby, however, I do think the unit I have put together will change a little of the factors.

Bibby will look to continue in the somewhat of same fashion. It's not that crucial for us that he looks to go for 20ppg. Unlike the Hawks unit, we actually possess three very capable 20ppg players which will ease the pressure on him quite a deal. He'll look to shoot less, but keep himself involved in the offense. As a 3PT threat that will be his main focus.

Pierce vs Roy: One day Roy may be on the level of Pierce, Roy is super talented and shared a spot on the All NBA 2nd team with Pierce. And someday Roy may get into the finals to match PP’s FINALS MVP, but that day is not now. Paul is way to strong for Roy, and always has been able to knock Roy off of his game when they have played head to head. Roy will struggle on both ends of the court with this matchup

I really don't think they're as far apart as you've mentioned. Roy has transformed himself into a top 10 player in this league for good reason. Just look at his recent playoff statistics and you'll see how much quality in brings to post regular season play, which is what this game is all about. .459 FG% .471 3PT % .870 FT% 26.7ppg 4.8rpg 2.8apg.

At this point his ball handling, scoring and slashing ability are probably passed that of Paul Pierce. While he leadership skills are perhaps on par.

It would be wrong to doubt Pierce's overall ability, but he has lost some quickness, and doesn't have his usual quality defensive frontcourt to help him out.

Gay vs Howard: Howard is a solid defensive player when he decides to play, the problem is that Jho takes way too many possessions off and has such a low Basketball IQ that the Mavs often sit down the stretch in close games. The guy has million dollar talent and pennies for brains. (if he had the love of the game that he has for the grass he could be an elite player). Gay is the exact opposite. He gives his all every game (and I mean every game because he has only missed 8 games his entire 3 year career compaired to the 92 games JHo has missed over his 6 year career)

Rudy is indeed a quality offensive threat. He has shown to be a very consistent scorer for the short time he has been in the league. Yet aside from the ppg numbers he can put up (in which JHo still manages to better him in Head to Head competition), he won't bring a lot to the table that can stop his opponents. With Josh you get a guy who can defend, make quality shot choices and fit in to a team rotation when he is not the primary scorer.

Jamison vs Boozer: well this will be the most interesting matchup of the bunch because neither guy can guard the other. Booz can not stay with Tawn on the perimeter and Tawn can not stop Booz on the block. Both are beasts on the boards. I can see a lot of offense defense switching from my team with Kaman picking up Booz on the block and Jamison switching off to cover Horford. I do not think Horford is offensively seasoned enough to take advatage of the willy veteran Jamison

Kaman picking up Boozer will work fine with me. Boozer, can quite easily operate from further away from the basket that a lot of PFs. In doing so, Kaman is taken out of what normal comfort he has on defense, and restricts his defensive rebounding. We're not looking for anything more than Boozer general 20ppg. Using his offensive skill set, it should be quite a reasonable task for him.

As for Horford against Jamison, I have no real concerns. Using Horford that close to the basket with no real defender on him will pretty much end with him having 75% shooting nights. Other factor I can see here is the amount of fouls that Jamison will accrue by playing Al so deep in the post. In either case I'm relatively happy, as it actually makes Horford quite the offensive threat.

Kaman vs Horford: down the road a few years this may be a different story, but today and now, I do not see this matchup working well for the kid. Kaman is simply bigger, stronger and more polished.

There's a reason that I feel you didn't spend much time on this one, and it's simply because your assessment is a little off. Not only is Horford probably more consistent than Kaman at this point, he's true to his position and as a defender and close to basket scorer, he's extremely solid. Even from mid range (12-15 ft) he is more than capable of contributing.

Kaman has dropped off from his "best" season rather dramatically, both through performances and injury. During his best season to date, he was part of a 23 win unit, not exactly a reliable factor. As a team option, and a more defined center, Horford wins out in this matchup.

Bench
Brooks, C.Lee, J.Green, T.Thomas, Hibbert vs Ford, Barbosa, Outlaw, Murphy, Foster: To me this is the spot hat I end the matchup. I think my bench is superior in all aspects. My players will all get decent minutes and be well rested, and my team does not drop off much with the bench mixed in.

Apart from Jeff Green, we have the far superior bench. We have the ability to bring on a double-double PF/C who can stretch you from range. The threat of 20ppg off the bench from Barbosa, which can be done at lightning speed, and the solid mechanics of Travis Outlaw who is a very underrated all around player. Running only an 8 man rotation, we will get a lot more chemistry and production than the 10 that opponent is using.

Vintage Cellars in 6 games.

[deNIEd]

Off Constantly

Roster
PG: B. Davis/R. Alston
SG: R. Hamilton/M. Pietrus
SF: C. Anthony/L. Deng
PF: L. Aldridge/D. Blair
C : J. O’Neal/M. Camby


Minutes against Smillstown Homers
PG: B. Davis (35), R. Alston (13)
SG: R. Hamilton (38), M. Pietrus (10)
SF: M. Pietrus (15), C. Anthony (20), L. Deng (13)
PF: C. Anthony (20), L. Aldridge (28)
C : J. O’Neal (25), M. Camby (23)

Offensive Strategy
Off Constantly is full of superior offensive players compared to the Homers. In this series, the team will exploit the offensive abilities of Davis, Hamilton, and Anthony.

Davis vs Harris
Proving time after time, Davis has always been able to score easily against Harris. Averaging 22.8 pts, Harris simply cannot defend Baron posting him up. The Homer’s falsely claim that Harris’ “size” will allow him to matchup against Davis, however they fail to neglect the 30 lbs of muscle difference between the two. Davis will post Harris and push him around like he has always done.

Hamilton vs Salmons
This will be one of the biggest advantages we will use in our favor. In the 16 times the two players have been matched up, Hamilton has been able to average 20.2 pts on 46.9% FG, compared to the feeble 5 points Salmons puts up. Salmon’s doesn’t possess the quickness or speed to guard Hamilton. Not much needs to be said in this match-up as the two talent and abilities differ so much in Hamilton’s favor.

Anthony vs Posey
While Posey is a great defender, he cannot come close to containing Carmelo. Yes, Carmelo is held to 43%, but he is still able to go for nearly 25 points with ease. The biggest factor is that, even with Posey guarding Anthony, Posey’s team loses 73% of the time, despite the fact that Posey is almost always on a better or equal team. (Biggest difference in Anthony’s favor was last year in which Denver had 5 more games won than New Orleans)

03-04
Memphis (50-32)/Denver (43-39)
04-05
Memphis (45-37)/Denver (49-33)
05-06
Miami (52-30)/Denver (44-38)
06-07
Miami (44-38)/Denver (45-37)
07-08
Boston (66-16)/Denver (50-32)
08-09
New Orleans (49-33)/Denver (54-28)

Carmelo is also one of the most clutch shooters in the game. Shooting a 48.1 percentage on game winners (compared to Kobe’s 25%, Lebrons 34%, and Wades 27.5%)

Looking at past history, Posey’s 73% losing streak against Carmelo really doesn’t help the Homers at all.

Pietrus vs Lewis
This was a matchup that the Homers did not expect. Pietrus is simply too fast for Lewis to guard. While Lewis has the height advantage, their strength is similar.

O’Neal vs Jefferson
Another matchup Homers did not anticipate. O’Neal was brought in against Jefferson due to his physical ability and his ability to play under the basket. While O’Neal has played as a jump shooter in recent years, primarily because he was required to help carry the scoring load, on our team he does not. O’Neal will simply be under the basket cleaning up rebounds and put backs.

Bench
Our scoring off the bench will come from Aldridge and Deng. Aldridge (a near 20 ppg player) and Deng will come in as extra bursts of energy and help fuel the scoring machine of Off Constantly

Defense Strategy
Pietrus vs Harris
Pietrus was brought to the starting lineup to handle Harris. Pietrus has the speed to keep up with Harris that Davis lacks. Pietrus has the advantage of size and strength. Capable of defending the best players out there, Pietrus will be able to ensure that we do not lose because of Harris. While no point guard can really be contained, Harris will not be the reason we lose.

Davis vs Salmons
Salmons has a height advantage, but Davis can match up in strength. Salmons has never been a consistent offensive threat in which we would need to worry about. Davis is an underrated defensive player, typically due to his lazyiness, however this is a team playing for the ring, and Davis wants the bling.

Hamilton vs Posey
Hamilton is a capable defender. Posey is old and a terrible offensive player.

Anthony vs Lewis
Anthony is stronger and quicker than Lewis. Anthony has drastically improved his defense in recent years, most notably his playoff run in ’09.

O’Neal vs Jefferson
O’Neal has the strength and size to stay with Jefferson. O’Neal’s sole purpose of this series is to stay with Jefferson. Once as one of the best defensive players in the league, O’Neal has been able to rest the majority of the season due to other players carrying the load. O’Neal has the experience and ability to match up against Jefferson On average, O’Neal has held Jefferson to 10.7 ppg.

Bench
Camby – One of the best defenders in the league, Camby will come in when Jefferson is moved to PF. Camby’s shotblocking ability will alter Harris and the rest of the Homer’s team.



Last Thoughts

I really should have wrote this out before I went out and gotten smashed, but oh well.

Ultimately,

Smillstown Homers will not beat Off Constantly.

[SamBone]

Howard, as in the past, should be able to do a rather decent job on Gay here. Gay is yet to hit a 20 point game against Howard, and I expect a similar outcome here.

There's not a lot here that addresses your defensive plan to stop my guys, so I won't rebuttal too much against it. But to me, calling Gay a good defending wing, and Kaman as one of the top man to man defenders are a couple of stretches. They're not up to their labels and in Gay's case, I think he will struggle a lot in keeping JHo at bay in this contest.

Rudy is indeed a quality offensive threat. He has shown to be a very consistent scorer for the short time he has been in the league. Yet aside from the ppg numbers he can put up (in which JHo still manages to better him in Head to Head competition), he won't bring a lot to the table that can stop his opponents. With Josh you get a guy who can defend, make quality shot choices and fit in to a team rotation when he is not the primary scorer.

REBUTAL: In the 4 games Memphis and Dallas played last year, these 2 went head to head twice (JHo missed the other 2 games)

Game 1
Gay had 16 pts / 9 reb and shot 43% with a 17 Efficenncy rating
JHo had 14 pts / 5 reb and shot 47% with a 8 EFF ADVANTAGE GAY

Game 2
Gay had 18 pts / 7 reb / 4 asst while shooting 53% and a 22 EFF
JHo had 12 pts / 2 reb / 1 asst and shot 42% and a 9 EFF ANOTHER ADVANTAGE GAY

where as Horford has turned himself into a very solid defensive presence inside and given Kaman's recent struggles, I would imagine he would be quite limited offensively here.

There's a reason that I feel you didn't spend much time on this one, and it's simply because your assessment is a little off. Not only is Horford probably more consistent than Kaman at this point, he's true to his position and as a defender and close to basket scorer, he's extremely solid. Even from mid range (12-15 ft) he is more than capable of contributing.

Kaman has dropped off from his "best" season rather dramatically, both through performances and injury. During his best season to date, he was part of a 23 win unit, not exactly a reliable factor. As a team option, and a more defined center, Horford wins out in this matchup.

REBUTAL: Both players missed sinificant time last season due to injury (yes Kaman missed more the Al). As much as I personally like Horfords game and skills (I think a poor man's Duncan) He is often over matched by true C's that are bigger and stronger then he is (ZaZa plays big minutes in thoses games as I am sure you would use Foster). And yes, Kaman has not been luck enough to play with the surrounding cast that Al has and Kaman has never made the playoffs. But if he did I am sure he wouldn't come up small like Al has in the post season (6.9 ppg / 5.8 reb / 0.7 blks on 42.4% shooting are his career playoff stats)

While kaman did miss most of the 2008/2009 season, he had his best career year prior to that and looks to be back to his old self in the preseason. And I know preseason does not mean much but compairing these 2 guys it looks like this

2009/2010 preseason
Horford is averaging 10 ppg / 6.3 reb / 1.2 blk while shooting 52% (playing 22 mpg)
Kaman is averaging 12 ppg / 8 reb / 1.5 blk while shooting 53% (playing 27 mpg)

I would say he is Back to his old self

I really don't think they're as far apart as you've mentioned. Roy has transformed himself into a top 10 player in this league for good reason. Just look at his recent playoff statistics and you'll see how much quality in brings to post regular season play, which is what this game is all about. .459 FG% .471 3PT % .870 FT% 26.7ppg 4.8rpg 2.8apg.

REBUTAL: The 2 players did not guard eachother when they went head to head last year because when Roy did guard PP in 2008 it looked like this

PP dropped 30 pts / 7 reb / 5 asst while shooting 85.7% from the field and had a 34 EFF
Roy struggled with only 9 points 1 reb and 1 asst and a 10 EFF

Apart from Jeff Green, we have the far superior bench. We have the ability to bring on a double-double PF/C who can stretch you from range. The threat of 20ppg off the bench from Barbosa, which can be done at lightning speed, and the solid mechanics of Travis Outlaw who is a very underrated all around player. Running only an 8 man rotation, we will get a lot more chemistry and production than the 10 that opponent is using.

REBUTAL:
Brooks vs Ford: I like Ford much better in this role splitting time because I think his best seasons were when he shared minutes at PG. Brooks showed last postseaon how dominant he can be at times. We think this is pretty even matchup

Lee vs Barbosa: as much as Lee is a solid defender, Barbosa is a proven scorer that can drop 20 at any time and is lightning quick. Lee will struggle in this matchup, and I agree Barbosa has the advantage

Green vs Outlaw: I agree that Outlaw is underrated, but he will struggle alot in this matchup. Bid advantage Green

TT vs Murphy: Murphy is one of my favorite players, he is a double double everynight (as a starter playing 30+ mpg) and is a great percentage shooter with range. TT on the other hand is way more athletic and a great shot blocker. Both players will have difficulty guarding eachother, But I question Murphy productivity getting the limited minutes he will be getting in this role, TT on the other hand has been and most likely will continue to be playing as a reserve and energy guy off the bench

Hibbert vs Foster: well this battle goes on everyday in Indiana practice. Foster is a willy vet that knows his game and his limitations. I think both of these guys are solid rebounders, I would say Hibbert has more of an offensive game then Foster, and is a much better shot blocker. Then main negative I have seen in Hibberts game is that he trys to block too many shots and often gets himself in fould trouble. But in this role on my team, that shouldn't be an issue because he isn't asked to log huge minutes, just to produce and guard the rim. I give a slight advantage in the present to Hibbert with a huge upside to increase.

[CellarDoor]

Sam, you might revisit your last post and fix the quotes. I don't see your rebuttal for the Horford/Kaman matter or the Roy Pierce matter even though you have them listed.

[SamBone]

Sam, you might revisit your last post and fix the quotes. I don't see your rebuttal for the Horford/Kaman matter or the Roy Pierce matter even though you have them listed.

thanks bud, it was a work in progress. should be fixed now

[dockingsched]

all participants can vote from now until monday night, midnight eastern.

jsut don't vote in your own matchup please.

[bcortell]

Raps in 4

Steve Nash(34)/Mario Chalmers(14)
Stephen Jackson(33)/Manu Ginobili(15)
Thaddeus Young(26)/Manu Ginobili(17)/Wilson Chandler(5)
Amare Stoudemire(35)/Joakim Noah(8)/Thaddeus Young(5)
Andrew Bogut(30)/Joakim Noah(18)

Strategy:

Offensively, we want to get out and run. Most of the main guys on this team have played in fast-paced systems before with great success, so we know that they can fit together and fill lanes on the break well enough. Nash pushing, Jackson/Ginobili/Young filling the lanes, and Amare trailing is a terror for opposing transition defenses. In the halfcourt, we feel we have the best weapon in the league with the Nash/Amare pick and roll. Jackson and Ginobili can also play the PnR or create in isolation, so we will always have at least two capable scorers on the floor in all situations, as well as one of the best scoring big men in the league in Stoudemire. Ginobili can provide his usual brilliance off the bench, and a crunch time lineup of Nash/Ginobili/Jackson/Amare can get any shot against any defense. I think I have the best offensive team in the league.

Defensively, we have Bogut down low to clean up whatever comes his way. He's one of the best defensive centers in the league, though he may not seem like a typical defensive anchor. He boasts a stellar 14.3 PER against at the center position (for comparison's sake, Dwight Howard is at 15.8 and Tim Duncan has a 17.5). It's not the perfect measure, but it shows his talents as both an anchor and a man defender. Jackson and Young are both good swing defenders, and should be able to deal with any wingman combo in this league. Off the bench, Ginobili is a pesky defender and can handle the non-elite swingmen as well as anyone, and Chalmers and Noah are both great defenders as well at the point and in the paint. I can mix and match guys to get the perfect balance of defense and offense, or go pure defense/offence depending on the end game situations.

Overall, my team is elite offensively and good enough defensively to take down any team. In bness' case, his weakness is a lack of perimeter defense. Hedo and Ray Allen are great offensive players and shooters, but they will be overmatched trying to keep up with Ginobili and Jackson, while my guys are good enough defenders to put pressure on his swings. Bosh/Okafor is a good frontcourt, but Amare and Bosh are relatively equal in terms of impact on the game, and Okafor's man defense won't be too useful against my fifth option. Nash vs Miller is another big advantage to me, and off the bench neither West nor Diaw are good enough to impact the game the way Ginobili can.

West has the ability to negate Ginobli's impact on the game. Also, when Ginobli plays SF, he will not be able to de-up our bigger guys in Hedo and Diaw.

[dockingsched]

short rebuttal to deNIED:

i'll let the judges decide if benching LMA so u can play JO "inside" and run your offense through baron davis is a good idea. i'll also let them decided if camby is a "great defender" and if melo gets his points "easily" against posey despite the really low fg%.

[deNIEd]

short rebuttal to deNIED:

i'll let the judges decide if benching LMA so u can play JO "inside" and run your offense through baron davis is a good idea. i'll also let them decided if camby is a "great defender" and if melo gets his points "easily" against posey despite the really low fg%.

> LMA is playing 28 minutes a game on an incredibly deep team. It's not he's not playing at all. It's simply a matchup move.

> Melo shooting 43% is so unbelievebly low, especially compared to Kobe's 45% career FG, or
Devin Harris shooting 43.7% last year
John Salmons shooting a career 44.8%
Posey shooting 33% against Carmelo
Lewis shooting 43.9% last year
Jefferson only averaging 10 points against O'Neal

> Marcus Camby
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (2006–07)
NBA All-Defensive First Team (2006–07, 2007–08)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2004–05, 2005–06)
Clearly he's a terrible defender


The matchups are clear
Harris can't guard Baron's post game.
Salmons can't flat out guard Hamilton
Lewis isn't quick enough for Pietrus
Posey's "great defense" on Carmelo, has led his team to lose 73% of the times they matched up

[SamBone]

when and how do we vote?

[bcortell]

What happened to the time period where we ask each other questions and then give rebuttals? That seemed like it didn't last that long (may have just been this bracket).

[BlackIce]

Its done I think