All Time Fantasy Write-ups

[Miller4ever]

Funk Train vs. Snakebites*
*Possibly NSFW depending on the conservativeness of your workplace

LINEUPS



Years can be found in the roster thread.

Walt Frazier(36)/Don Buse(12)
John Havlicek(42)/Eddie Jones(6)
Eddie Jones(30)/Carmelo Anthony(18)
Horace Grant(30)/Amare Stoudemire(18)
Bob Lanier(36)/Jeff Foster(12)

So I would like to point out that Snake's starting lineup possesses an impressive 7 total championships. Mine has only a measly 14 to their name. But I've never really liked to use rings as a comparison, cause then Horry would've been one of the 9 GOAT players disqualified from this draft.

THE FORMULA





BETTER DEFENSE + BETTER REBOUNDING = MORE POSSESSIONS
BETTER EFFICIENCY + MORE POSSESSIONS = MORE POINTS

If you ask the great John Madden, more points results in a victory, usually.

BETTER DEFENSE



Frazier is the best defensive PG to ever live. He negates the advantage Chauncey usually enjoys, which is his strength, and his offense as a larger guard also challenges Billups' defense. Havlicek is the best wing defender to ever live, and he beats out Bob Dandridge not just on credentials, but because he has infinite energy, playing 40+ minutes a game on 1st-team defensive tilt for 5 years; and we're reserving him, so to speak, at 42 minutes a game (he played 45 minutes a game in this stretch). His offense didn't suffer at all. Now here's where it's interesting.

Eddie Jones against a prime Clyde Drexler is seemingly in Drexler's favor. In head-to-head matchups where both started, Eddie Jones shot 46% from the field, and this is when Drexler's improved defense kicked in for the Rocket's title run. Eddie Jones' defense held Drexler to 35% shooting. Drexler's average was around 43% at the time, so that's an 8% drop in FG%. Meanwhile, Drexler's defense did not put a dent in Jones' scoring output and efficiency. This is before Eddie Jones' prime and after Drexler's prime, with some crossover in that respect.

Then there's Pettit and Grant. Pettit was the master PF, but that was before the age of Wilt, Russell, and Kareem. Against shorter and less talented players Pettit shot 43% for his career. That's half of Grant's job done for him. Additionally, Grant has the strength, quickness, and athleticism advantages over Pettit, and he knows how to use them, as they netted him all-defensive team selections.

Obviously, the Admiral has better defense than Lanier, but not by much. Lanier blocks 2.6 shots a game in his two-year span, and led the league in defensive rating (beating out contemporaries Elvin Hayes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dave Debusschere, just to name a few). In fact, his defensive presence was largely underrated, as he had all-defensive talent, getting beat out by Kareem, Thurmond, and Cowens. So he can hang.

Off the bench, it may seem that Micheal Ray Richardson anchors a better off-the-bench D. I have somebody better. Don Buse led the different league in assists (to be revisited later) and steals in consecutive years, just 4 years before Richardson posted his career-high of 3.2. Buse's numbers his two years were 4.1 and 3.5 steals a game, not to mention Buse's 6 1st-team defensive selections (4 for the ABA) to Richardson's 2.

Paul Pressey was on the all-defensive 1st team twice, with one 2nd team selection. Tayshaun Prince has 4 2nd team selections. Pressey may have been overrated next to Moncrief, and Prince may have been overrated next to everybody he played with. Carmelo and English are both average defenders, and Amare and Tom Chambers are not going to lock anybody down. Rasheed Wallace and Jeff Foster both move their feet and defend well in the post and the perimeter. Wallace is a shotblocker while Foster denies post position. Wallace is more well-known, but Foster is a hustling workhorse. The most striking part is that Foster's offensive rating to defensive rating difference for his career is a 13 and Rasheed Wallace's is 9.

Also, my team averages way more steals. Frazier steals more than Billups, Buse steals more than MRR, Jones steals more than Drexler, Havlicek steals the same as Dandridge, Melo steals the same as English, Grant steals more than Pettit, and Lanier steals just a little under Robinson. Amare and Foster steal more than Sheed. It's just statistical fact.

BETTER REBOUNDING



Balls. My players can get them when they are up in the air. Grabbing balls. That's what this team is all about. Putting bodies on you, getting in position. Like Chinese girls.

AHEM.

David Robinson's rebounding numbers are impressive. His rebound rate is 16.2% and 18.4%. Bob Lanier's rebound rate is 18.1% and 16.8%. So if we're nitpicking, that's .3% in my favor. But I'll call it even.

Bob Pettit's numbers are inflated because of pace. If adjusted, he averages around 12 rebounds a game in the Jordan era, with a per-36 adjusted 10.8 rebounds per game in his best year. Grant earned 10.2 per 36 minutes in his better year. Both suffered the same decrease in rebounding in their other years (about 6-8%, with Pettit's being larger), so this rebounding battle is pretty close.

I also have more balanced rebounding. Hondo can hold his own against Dandridge. Eddie Jones and Walt Frazier combine for an advantage over Clyde and Chauncey.

Where the advantage becomes clear is off the bench. Carmelo outrebounds English slightly (11.25% rebound rate to 10.3%), and then Amare and Foster outrebound Rasheed Wallace by a lot. My players have rates of 17%, 15.2%, 20.6%, and 20.9% to 12.8% and 12.9%, so even Amare can outboard Rasheed. With Rasheed playing half the game, the rebound advantage goes to me, with no weak rebounders at the bigs.

BETTER EFFICIENCY



Here we get into the logistics of my gameplan and matchups. After trying a few different calculations (adjusting for minutes, assigning less shots to Pettit, etc.), the two FG% are neck-and-neck. The ball is in Frazier and Lanier's hands. Grant sets screens for Havlicek and Eddie Jones, both great off-the-ball players. For those of you who don't know, Havlicek is one of the few pre-3-point era players who has undisputed 3-point range, taking many of his shots from outside of 25 feet. He was a prolific jump-shooter and his efficiency would only rise if he came into the league today because his half-court offense is like Reggie Miller with an inside game.

So Frazier is piloting the offense. He is driving and creating, using his height to find other people. He is the leader on the offensive end, taking charge and directing flow. It earned him more rings than Oscar, Kidd, Payton, and Billups. Lanier can play very well in the low post and very well in the high post. Eddie Jones and Havlicek can cut inside or pop out for the long range shots and Lanier can find them, as one of the best passing centers of all time (the Dobber averages more assists per game than Robinson over their respective two years, at almost 4.5 a game). Horace Grant fills in the spaces with his ability to crash the glass or deliver an efficient jumper. You cannot double team anyone on this team because the best offensive options can pass.

The bench is primarily a running unit. Buse, Havlicek/Jones, Melo, Amare, and Foster will push the tempo. Amare and Foster are both great runners and we all know what Amare does to finish breaks. Foster is also a good finisher at the rim, and I'm not just saying that. He's not just your average white hustle center. He has a dependable jumper to 15 feet, and is deceptively athletic. He is one of the few white free-throw line dunkers out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2wbkrWJIp0

As you can see, he's also a good pick-and-roll finisher. So with Buse, a 36% 3-point shooter and Carmelo and whoever is playing SG as spacers, Amare has room to work. Carmelo plays the role of off-the-ball scorer. The two seasons I have chosen are his best (pre-trade-request) in this regard. They also have an easier time defending the range-less bench of Snakebites; the only 3-point shooter off Snakebites' bench is Rasheed Wallace.

In the starting lineup, Chauncey is the only consistent 3-point threat.. He also does not benefit from having multiple long-range threats to swing the ball to him. Drexler is shooting 24.3% in the selected seasons, attempting less than one a game. Dandridge is a good midrange shooter, but cannot space like Havlicek and being guarded by Havlicek also throws off your game.

Bob Pettit is not scary at all from an efficiency standpoint. He was fearsome back in the day, and he is easier to argue for than George Mikan, but 45% shooting against lesser talent cannot translate well against Horace Grant.

So we get to focus on the David Robinson. Prime Lanier can hang with Robinson like prime T-Mac can hang with Kobe. This isn't some total domination by any means. Robinson is slightly the better of the two, but one man doesn't make a team. With the offense all hanging around within 20 feet of the basket except Chauncey, the inside becomes congested and screens becomes less effective, and it becomes easier to help on defense and recover since no one's going to be a 3-point threat. In fact, percentage-wise, Robinson is the 2nd-best 3-point option in the starting lineup.

So with the definite spacing advantage, I would like to clarify the passing advantage. It's slightly better in the starting lineup, but the bench really changes this thing.

Frazier/Billups
Frazier is more prolific in one of the years, and they are even in the other. Frazier is more of a threat to score, which makes his passing even more dangerous, while Billups is mitigated with the lack of three-point options he's used to (Prince, Sheed, Melo, JR Smith, etc.).

Havlicek/Drexler
Adjusting for the minutes, Havlicek gets half an assist more per 36 minutes than Clyde. That would probably be about even when adjusting for pace (~15 years difference). Clyde turned it over 2.9 times per 36 while it's impossible to tell how much Havlicek would be turning it over, but I imagine it would be about the same as well.

Jones/Dandridge
Dandridge has a 1.4 A/TO ratio. Eddie Jones has a 1.6 A/TO ratio.

Grant/Pettit
Pettit is slightly better until you adjust for pace. Then he's a shade under Grant in assists per 36 minutes.

Lanier/Robinson
Lanier gets 4.1 per 36 minutes. Robinson gets 2.8 per 36 minutes. Lanier has had inconsistent turnover rates across his career, but even with 4 TO's per 36 minutes, he would have an equal A/TO ratio with the Admiral. I don't find that likely, so for these years, Lanier is the better passer than Robinson.

Buse/Richardson
With a CAREER HIGH of 1.9 TO's a game, Don Buse posted a 4.3 A/TO ratio. Micheal Ray Richardson's ratio is HALF that.

Anthony/English
English definitely has the advantage here. 1.5 A/TO ratio to Anthony's 1.0 A/TO ratio.

Stoudemire/Wallace
They are both black holes, so screw it. They have basically the same averages.

So in total, the starting lineup is better by a bit and the bench, just on Buse/Richardson alone is enough to outweight the advantage English has and increase my advantage in passing and taking care of the ball.

THE INTANGIBLES



The formula proves on paper that I will win this battle. I can defend him better than he can defend me and my offense is better than his. I have better rebounding. I have better passing. I create more turnovers. But in case you need more convincing, there's always this to consider:

My star players step it up in the playoffs. Frazier became an assist leader, increased his rebounding average and thrived in clutch situations. Havlicek had his great moments, but his stats increased across the board come playoff time, and he was also a clutch shooter. Bob Lanier dominated the boards and dished out 6.3 assists a game before getting eliminated because Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan shut down his teammates. It's the kind of situation David Robinson is facing now.

[penbeast0]

Penbeast's "Superfriends"


Gilmore 39/Daniels 9
B. Jones 34/Bosh 12/Daniels 2
Marion 37/Mullin 5/Wise 6
Moncrief 38/Mullin 8/ Harper 2
Paul 38/ Harper 10/ Moncrief 0



Our team is based on the 4 factors identified by APBR analysts as correlating most strongly to winning teams.

(1) Offensive efficiency. Every player on our team can score and what’s more, can score at an extremely efficient rate. Our offense is built around Chris Paul’s playmaking – his 08/09 seasons are the greatest statistical season ever by a PG – and he made the NBA All-D team both years too! At the other end of the spectrum is Artis Gilmore, the NBA’s all-time efficiency leader and with Shaq and Wilt out, probably the strongest player in NBA history manning the low post inside. Filling out the lanes are Bobby Jones, one of the highest BBIQ players ever and a 3 time FG% leader who excels at the midrange jumper, moving without the ball, and keeping the ball moving while on the weakside are Sidney Moncrief, our second playmaker and another superefficient scorer together with Shawn Marion, who combines 3 point range with his spectacular finishing ability. As a whole, our starting five combine for a true shooting percentage of very close to .600 with good playmaking from both guards, great post play from Artis, and good movement without the ball and offensive rebounding from both forwards!

Off the bench we bring in great outside shooting and additional playmaking in Chris Mullin, efficient high post scoring in Chris Bosh whose outside shooting is matched by his ability to draw fouls, another playmaking big guard in Derek Harper, plus the physical inside play and pick setting of Mel Daniels and the athletic wing play of Derek Harper. Again, super efficient from 1-10 with a good mix of playmaking, post play, and guys who don’t need the ball in their hands for a super efficient offensive team. And, 8 of our 10 starters had 20ppg seasons while the other two had seasons of at least 15ppg.

(2) Defensive efficiency. Similarly, our defense consists of 5 great defensive starters and a mix of top defenders off the bench. It starts, of course, with the great post defense and shotblocking of pre-injury Artis Gilmore, who was clearly the best defensive player in the ABA from pretty much his rookie year on. On the ball, Chris Paul earned a 1st and a 2nd team All-Defense with his pressure, while Sidney Moncrief at the 2 is the greatest man defending wing to ever play. Bobby Jones up front has 10 1st team All-Def awards in his 1st 10 years, only Kareem has as many (in almost twice the years). Our 5th starter is Shawn Marion, another player known for his great defense and athleticism and Jones and Marion can both defend either forward spot though Jones usually will handle the PFs due to his blocking out and post defense skills.

Defensively we use both a man to man offense, particularly against teams with post scorers who will have to face Artis Gilmore inside; and a zone, particularly against teams that like to bring their bigs out and exploit the driving lanes, allowing Artis to maximize his shotblocking while our super intelligent and athletic front four cover the zones. Of course, we mix both in so teams can’t find a comfort zone easily.

Off the bench, Bosh and Mullin are average defenders though both have high BBIQs, while Derek Harper, Mel Daniels and Willie Wise are also widely known for their defense. Thus we are also tremendously deep defensively as well as offensively.

(3) Turnover differential. Our players are superb at this also. Our playmaker, Chris Paul, has always been a league leader in A/TO, Sidney Moncrief and Shawn Marion also have quite low turnover ratios for their offensive games, while only Artis is above average for his position. However, where we really shine is defensively with 3 sick ballhawks in Paul, Marion, and Jones plus 3 outstanding shotblockers in Gilmore, Jones, and Marion; our incredible shotblocking allows players like Paul, Harper, Marion, Bobby Jones, and Wise to gamble knowing their teammates are great help defenders. Gilmore blocks 3.5 to 4 shots a game, Jones blocks and steals 2 a game at one forward while Marion is good for nearly as many at the other. Moncrief is more about denying his man the ball but Paul led the NBA in steals both in 08 and 09 while Mullin and Harper were both nasty ball hawks too (block/steal numbers aren’t available for Daniels and Wise). So, we create turnovers which creates even more high efficiency offense and more havoc on defense.

(4) Rebound differential. Finally, our rebounding is also very good. Again, it starts with 7’2 strongman Artis Gilmore, who was surprisingly athletic in his ABA days before the knee injuries. Jones was known more for his intelligence and blocking out but Marion is one of the great rebounding SFs and the quickness and athleticism of our team allow us to get to more long rebounds and loose balls than most squads. If we need extra rebounding, Mel Daniels is available on the bench; he is one of NBA history’s great warriors and one of its most physical bigs.

5. Playoff Performance
Additionally, there is one more factor that must be considered in a single elimination tournament like this, player’s ability to perform in the playoffs. I will post a quick look at how our players in the playoffs. “During the championship series, the 7-2 Gilmore reaffirmed his claim as the ABA’s premier big man to such a point that ‘awesome’ was almost becoming his first name.”
“We tried everything to contain Gilmore but we couldn’t and that was the series,” said Indiana assistant coach Jerry Oliver

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Artis Gilmore          
18/3/24 on .602ts%
15/2/24 on .652ts%

Bobby Jones
9/3/13 on .576
9/5/14 on .614

Shawn Marion
12/2/20 on .561
10/1/17 on .558

Sidney Moncrief
7/4/19 on .610
4/5/23 on .697!

Chris Paul
5/11/24 on .565
4/10/17 on .505

BENCH
Chris Mullin
7/3/24 on .647

Chris Bosh
Played in Toronto

Mel Daniels
18/2/21 on .549
16/2/19 on .547

Derek Harper
2/8/13 on .588
3/7/17 on .620

Willie Wise
12/3/25 on .594
8/4/25 on .575

NEXT, OUR OPPOSITION ANALYSIS

C Mikan/Ilgauskas
PF McAdoo/Boozer
SF Pippen/Josh Smith
SG Manu/Iverson
PG Stockton/Maravich

With no writeup to look at for Calderon’s Crew, we will just look at his team briefly.

The big keys are George Mikan/Big Z at center and the Iverson/Maravich combo off the bench. These aren’t going to cut it in this level of competition. Mikan was a dominant player in his day, but his day was an all-white league of slow, walk-it-up play before the 24 second clock. Centers did not need much in the way of mobility and when the 24 second clock came in, Mikan was basically finished – he couldn’t adjust to the running. With his era rules, he might be a competent ATL player; with modern rules he is a major liability.

Also, Iverson and Maravich were among the worst of the all-time high volume, low percentage, no defense gunners to ever play. Iverson combines this with a level of ego that, even in the late stages of career, created problems with every team (Detroit, Memphis) that tried to use him off the bench. And the ego issues were worse when he was younger (“Practice? …”)

I like much of the rest of his team. Stockton, Ginobli, and Pippen are terrific complementary players to any team, McAdoo and Boozer are great scorers if weak defenders, and Smith and Ilgauskas are solid fits at the end of the bench. With both weak defense and lousy shooting efficiency at the center and backup guard and a questionable locker room presence in Iverson being used as a reserve, Calderon has too many problem areas to compete with the Superfriends. Veddy Interesting . . . but not so good.




C Artis Gilmore 7'2 (7'5 with Afro) Career NBA ts% leader (the A Train)

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75 KEN 84g 41.6m 16.2r 2.5a 4.1b 23.6p .580fg .696ft  .615tf 1st All-ABA, 1st All-D
76 KEN 84g 39.1m 15.5r 2.5a 3.5b 24.6p  .562fg .682ft .595ts 1st All-ABA, 1st All-D
Playoffs
1975 15g  45.3m 17.6r 2.5a 24.1p 2.1b .539fg  .772ft .602ts Playoff MVP, ABA Champ
1976 10g  39.0m 15.2r 1.9a 24.2p 3.6b .608fg  .757ft .652ts

PF/SF Bobby Jones 6'9 tied for most 1st team All-Def with Kareem at 10 each (in only 12 years)

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75 DEN 84g 32.2m 8.2r 3.6a 2.0s 1.8b 14.8p .604fg .695ft .626ts 1st All-D, 1st in fg%
76 DEN 83g 34.3m 9.5r 4.0a 2.0s 2.2b 14.9p .568fg .698ft .597ts 2nd All-ABA,1st All-D, 1st in fg%
Playoffs
1975 13g 32.9 8.5 2.9 13.0 .535 .775 .576ts ABA Finals
1976 13g 33.2 8.6 4.5 13.7 .583 .732 .614ts ABA Finals

SF/PF Shawn Marion 6’7 (the Matrix)

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06 PHO 81g 40.3m 11.8r 1.8a 2.0s 1.7b 21.8p .525fg .331x3 .809ft .594ts 3rd All-NBA,3rd DPOY
07 PHO 80g 37.6m 9.8r 1.7a 2.0s 1.5b 17.5p .524fg .317x3 .810ft .591
Playoffs
2006 20g 42.5m 11.7r 1.6a 20.4p .489fg .314x3 .889ft .561ts
2007

11g 41.4m 10.4r 1.2a 16.9p .500fg .353x3 .667ft .558ts
SG/PG Sidney Moncrief 6’3 -- won the 1st TWO DPOY awards ever given (the Squid)

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84 MIL 79g 38.9m 6.7r 4.5a 1.4s 20.9p .498fg .848ft .591ts 1st All-NBA, 1st All-D, DPOY
85 MIL73g 37.5m 5.4r 5.2a 1.6s 21.7p .483fg .828ft .565ts 2nd All-NBA, 1st All-D
Playoffs
1984 16g 38.6m 6.9r 4.3a 19.1p .518fg .791st .610ts (less than 1 3pa/g)
1985 8g 39.9m 23.0p 4.3r 5.0a 23.0p .556fg .400x3 .933ft  .697ts 1st in playoff ts%

PG Chris Paul -- 6'0 the two greatest statistical seasons ever by a PG together with All-D selections

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 08 NOH 80g 37.6m 4.0r 11.6a 2.7s 21.1p .488fg .369x3 .851ft  .576ts 1st All-NBA, 2nd All-D, 1st in assists & steals
09 NOH 79g 38.5m 5.5r 11.0a 2.8s 22.8p .503fg .364x3 .868ft .599ts% 2nd  All-NBA, 1st  All-D, 1st in assists & steals
Playoffs
2008 12g 40.5m 4.9r 11.3a 24.1p .502fg .238x3 .785ft .565ts 30.7PER!
2009 5g 40.2m 4.4r 10.4a 16.6p .411fg .313x3 .857ft .505ts

SG/SF Chris Mullin (so ugly people won't defend him close)

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90 GSW 78g 36.3m 5.9re 4.1a 1.6s 25.1p .536fg .372x3 .889ft .643ts 3rd All-NBA
91 GSW 82g 40.4m 5.4r 4.0a 2.1s 25.7p .536fg .301x3 .884ft .618ts 2nd All-NBA
Playoffs
1991 8g 45.8m 7.3r 2.9a 23.8p  .527fg .692x3 .860ft .647ts 1st in playoff 3pt% and ts%

PF/C Chris Bosh 6’10 (yeah, he talks like a punk but he can play)

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09 TOR 77g 38.0m 10.0r 2.5a 1.0b 22.7p .487fg .817ft .569ts
10 TOR 70g 36.1m 10.8r 2.4a 1.0b 24.0p .518fg .797ft .592ts

C/PF Mel Daniels 6’9 2xABA MVP, 3xABA Champion

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71 IND 82g 38.7m 18.0r 2.2a 21.0p .514fg .679ft .549ts MVP, 1st All-ABA, 1st in Reb
72 IND 79g 37.6 16.4r 2.2a 19.2p .505fg .703ft .547ts ABA Champion
Playoffs
1971 11g 41.5m 19.2r 1.5a 21.4p .485fg .746ft .530ts 1st in playoff reb
1972 20g 37.2m 15.1r 1.4a 15.3p .480fg .753ft .529ts

PG/SG Derek Harper

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86 DAL 79g 27.2m 2.9r 5.3a 1.9s 12.2p .534fg .747ft .580ts  off bench for ½ of season
87 DAL 76g 33.2m 2.6r 7.9a 2.2s 16.0p .501fg .358x3 .684ft .561ts 2nd All-D, Top 10 in 3pt,ast,st
Playoffs
1986 10g 34.8m 1.9r 7.6a 13.4p .533fg .571x3 .750ft .588st
1987 4g 30.8m 3.0r 6.8a 16.5p .500fg .222x3 .800ft .620ts

SF/SG Willie Wise 6’5 (generally acknowledged to be the ABA's premier wing defender)

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72 UTS 84g 39.3m 10.6r 3.4a 23.2p .505fg .725ft .558ts 2nd All-ABA
73 UTS 83g 37.7m 8.2r 3.3a 22.0p .479fg .784ft .545ts 1st All-D
Playoffs
1972 11g 41.6m 11.6r 3.0a 25.3p .563fg .675ft .594ts
1973 10g 41.4m 8.3r 3.8a 25.0p .508fg .783ft .575ts

[Snakebites]

Snake vs. Miller

Unlike Miller's writeup, you'll be able to read this one from work. Substance versus, um, skin....

Billups (32)/ MRR (16)
Drexler (36)/ Dandridge (8)/MRR (4)
Dandridge (24)/English (24)
Pettit (36)/Sheed (12)
Robinson (37)/Sheed (11)

vs

Walt Frazier(36)/Don Buse(12)
John Havlicek(42)/Eddie Jones(6)
Eddie Jones (30)/Carmelo Anthony(18)
Horace Grant(30)/Amare Stoudemire(18)
Bob Lanier(36)/Jeff Foster(12)

This is the first time I think I’ve ever squared off against Miller in an ATL format, and its an opportunity I’m definitely looking forward to.

Firstly, a few key points about my offense and defense:

Offense: Some of the particulars here will have to be saved for my rebuttal as I am unsure of Miller’s defensive game plan (decided to do the fair thing and write this before reading his writeup). Our team has absolutely deadly weapons both up front and off the bench. I would like to discuss a few things in particular:

1) Clyde Drexler: Regardless of who Miller has chosen to guard him, lets make one thing clear. Prime Clyde Drexler was as close as you can get to unguardable as you can get this side of Michael Jordan. It didn’t matter what you threw at him, he was a guy who was a threat to drop 30-40 points on you at any given night. He was primarily a post up/slasher player, and when he got going he was frightening to behold. Even the dynamic defensive duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (sometimes they took turns) could not stop Drexler with any degree of consistency when he was at his peak. In short, he will get his, and that’s pretty much regardless of who my opponent puts on him. Furthermore, we intend to put him on Eddie Jones, so a relatively easy guarding assignment will allow him the energy to cause maximum damage against my opponent’s defense.

2) David Robinson: David Robinson was a nightmare. Devastating in transition and also with a terrific jumpshot that makes him well adaptable to half court sets as well. His athleticism and mobility coupled with this talent will make him an absolute handful for Bob Lanier. Bob Lanier wasn’t a weak defensive center by any means. Indeed, in a single season format he works very well. In this game, however, the demands upon defensive centers are much larger, and that is perhaps never more true in these games than it is against my team. Lanier’s defensive abilities are decidedly second or even third tier compared to other centers in this competition, evidenced by his conspicuous absence on any All Defensive teams and the relative inconsistency of the 70’s Detroit Pistons teams on the defensive end. With so much of his time and energy devoted to guarding David Robinson, his capacity as a general defensive anchor will be greatly diminished as my team continues its relentless and balanced attack.

3) Bob Pettit: Bob Pettit was a do-it-all type player in his hayday. He had a terrific mid range game and the ability to score near the basket as well. Horace Grant was a nice defensive enforcer for the Chicago Bulls, but he wasn’t someone you could expect to shut down star caliber power forwards, particularly not ones with the variety of weapons Pettit had in his arsenal. Bob Pettit was also a legendary playoff performer, leading his team to victory over Bill Russell’s Celtics in the finals and posting staggering numbers in the process. He will be a primary weapon for this team and gives it the balance it needs. More importantly, he will take immense amounts of pressure off David Robinson, and neither will ever face a double team (something I am confident Miller’s team will wish they were able to do throughout the series).

4) The rest! Billups and Dandridge are the 4/5 options in this offense in terms of scoring. Billups is a terrific floor general who rarely turns the ball over, and with the help of Clyde should do extremely well in that capacity. Both Billups and Dandridge will help generate space for the rest of my players too, as both are heavily reliant on jumpshots on the perimeter to generate their offense. Miller will have to put a defender on each of them, and that defender will be less available for help on the other players (and with Drexler wreaking havoc, that help would be sorely needed). We also have the best bench player in this entire competition, Alex English. We fully expect him to flat out outplay his counterpart Carmelo Anthony. Both players exist primarily to score, but English was simply better and more efficient, and was also better defensively (not that either will lock the other down by any means). Rasheed Wallace will help out offensively with his outside jump shot, and MRR with his passing and general ability as well.

Defense: We feel that our defense stacks up extremely well against our opponents. Firstly, we have the most impactful defensive player on either team, David Robinson. His toughness, mobility, shot blocking, and general presence make him arguably the best defensive anchor in this competition. Watching him play in the mid-90s, he was a guy who literally felt like he was everywhere at once in the paint, and we are confident that he can not only handle his man (the capable but definitely second tier Bob Lanier) but also make an impact on our opponent’s general offensive scheme. We also like the fact that Bob Pettit has the easiest cover job of the night, as this allows him to save his energy for devastating the offensive end. Rasheed Wallace ensures that we lose little defensively when we go to our bench up front. He played an absolutely integral role in turning a great Pistons defense into one of the best of all time. While Big Ben was the general anchor down low, Rasheed was the man defender who would usually guard an opponent’s best big man. When Ben Wallace left, the Pistons remained a solid defensive team largely due to his efforts.
On the perimeter, our defense is equally formidable. We intend to put our two All NBA Level defenders, Chauncey Billups and Bob Dandridge, on their two best offensive weapons, Walt Frazier and John Havlicek, respectively. Billups is a large, strong point guard who has proven repeatedly that he has the ability to hold his own against larger guards, and we believe he has the tools necessary to impede Frazier’s drives to the basket, which will be made further problematic by the interior defense of David Robinson. Dandridge has the terrific combination of size and quickness, along with elite defensive ability, to create problems for Havlicek, and while we don’t doubt Hondo will get his volume, our defense should be able to limit his efficiency. Eddie Jones’s role on this team should be as unclear as it was on the Shaq/Kobe Lakers before they traded him away (and got better in the process), and appears to serve primarily as a spacer. We feel Drexler will be able to capably handle him and maybe force him into some unnecessary turnovers.

Other notes: Our opponent Miller has done a great job building a perimeter that is balanced, but his front court has some very serious weaknesses that our team is more than set up to exploit. Firstly, his best big man is Bob Lanier. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Piston fan and think Bob Lanier is a great player, but he may be just the third best big man in this game, and is a clear cut below the likes of David Robinson. He could never be the defensive presence of a David Robinson and was never one you could expect to take over a game offensively either. Furthermore, he’s looking at serious foul trouble throughout this series. Both he and Grant are guarding players who will be getting the ball a lot in this offense and are VERY prone to getting to the line, both to the tune of taking over 10 free throws a game. Unfortunately for Miller, this means his starting front court (already at a marked disadvantage in terms of talent and athleticism) will be in foul trouble early and often, meaning he will be forced to turn to his bench. Jeff Foster was a decent starter and elite backup in the context of the big man-weak era of the early-mid 00s, but he is probably the most limited overall player getting minutes in this competition. And Amare, while potent offensively, leaves a gaping hole defensively that my team is all-too prepared to exploit. The lack of depth in this front court will ultimately prove to be disastrous when facing my free throw line prone front court.

Overall: I simply think that the advantage my big positions have over Miller’s is a fair amount larger than the one his perimeter has over my perimeter, particularly when factoring in the bench (English and MRR, the best offensive and defensive backups in the series, respectively). I think my defense matches up better with his team than vice versa and David Robinson’s presence on the court will be a critical tipping point there, and I also prefer my team’s balance over Miller’s extremely talented perimeter coupled with a shallow front court.

[lukekarts]

Luke vs. Warspite

Rotation

PG: Oscar Robertson [36] / Derrick Rose [12]
SG: George Gervin [36] / Bruce Bowen [12]
SF: Kevin Durant [30] / Bruce Bowen [18]
PF: Dirk Nowitzki [36] / Kenyon Martin [12]
C: Willis Reed [34] / Mark Eaton [14]

The Gameplan

The method is simple - my starters are the most efficient scorers I could find, and to a certain extent, have been 'immune' to good defence - freeing up my bench players to all have a defined role - Derrick Rose the 6th man scorer, with Miller the shooter, whilst Bowen, Martin and Eaton will use their tough defence to frustrate the hell out of their opponents. I could have taken more talented players for my bench, but a team only needs a handful of key scorers - having guys like Eaton and Bown grants my lineup fantastic flexibility and versatility.

Offense

I built my team based on scoring efficiency & balance. All five of my starters have been no. 1 options on winning teams, and four of them have posted TS% averages around 60% whilst being the primary focus of opposing defenders. Here, I can pick first option depending on matchups (in this case most likely Robertson or Gervin) and work with a wide variety of schemes. More notably for this matchup, I have excellent mid-range games in both my bigs (Reed / Dirk); so where Warspite concedes his only way to handle Robertson and Gervin is by driving them inside towards Deke and Sikma, he will be exposing himself if he does so. Do Deke and Sikma move away from the basket to cover Dirk, Durant and Reed? Or do they stay inside to block the drives of Gervin and Robertson? Either way, he's fully exposed, and you can rest assured my guys have the ability to pick the open man when they drive inside, and teh open man will ruthlessly punish.

Defence

Collectively I have a well-balanced defence (more below), but more importantly I have the ability to - should the time call for it - run a scary defensive lineup that will crush the hell out of any opponent.

Robertson / Gervin / Bowen / Reed / Eaton.

Seriously, if I find myself needing to close out a tight game, I could not possible thing of a more balanced defensive lineup in this game, from the monstrous inside presence, to the lockdown perimeter and general size advantage over almost every team. Plan B: Brute force defence.

Core Matchups

Going down to individual matchups, I'm confident I've got the upperhand.

Robertson vs. Kevin Johnson

I won't bore you with statistics on this one. If you want you're welcome to look them up here http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/roberos01.html where you'll be blown away by just how dominant Oscar was during his time, and the years selected. Top, or close to top on points, assists, TS%, rebounds, winshares... Robertson dominated in the era of all time greats, and has a massive size advantage over Kevin Johnson. I don't know how KJ will possibly guard him - the best defenders of the 60's were routinely assigned to, and dominated by Oscar. Possessing the strength, length and athleticism to match KJ defensively, and the elite passing, rebounding and scoring skills to surpass KJ offensively, it will be a very one-sided matchup. I concede the only weakness here is against KJ's first step, but if that becomes an issue I can move Robertson to SG and insert Rose into the lineup... Advantage: lukekarts

Gervin vs. Miller

Again, this becomes a one-sided battle. An elite scorer vs a good shooter. Gervin dominated in the years selected, leading the league in points at alarming efficiency (~54% FG%, ~60% TS%). Sure, Reggie was efficient, but never quite achieved the dominance in scoring of Gervin.. and at the other end, I have utmost confidence Gervin's shotblocking skills (all time leader for guards) will force Reggie to the perimeter, whilst he will absolutely torch him at the other end. Warspite's only hope here is channeling my guards towards his bigs, but then that's where Dirk/Durant come in...Advantage: lukekarts

Durant vs. Erving

This is a pretty close matchup, despite the obvious credentials Erving has over Durant. We're yet to see the full heights of Durant's career, but what is very clear is that he's emerged as the best scorer in the league, and statistically is not too dissimilar to Erving. Both effecient volume scorers (Durant has the edge in TS%), both good rebounders (though Erving is 3% higher in TRB%). Whilst I fully expect Erving to be the primary offensive weapon for Warspite, and that he'll have his way offensively, I also think he will struggle against Durant defensively - Durant has a significant (4 inch) advantage over Erving and a polished set of perimeter moves to work with. If Erving does become a nightmare for KD, I can always rely on Bowen to come and put him straight. Slight advantage: Warspite

Dirk vs. Sikma

An interesting matchup here. There's no denying Sikma is a solid inside presence, but he's also a more of a Center by trade and that will definitely count against him when trying to defend Dirk. MVP during his peak, Dirk is probably the hardest PF to guard in the league, due to his limitless range, and this will become a real weakness for Sikma who is more comfortable inside against more physical players. Whilst Dirk will also struggle to guard Sikma, I'm not too worried here - Dirk is by far the more efficient volume scorer, and will visit the free throw line far more often. I can also see the rebound argument being thrown in here, but would like to point out Dirk's playoff rebound % is just 1% lower than Sikma's during these years, and that ability to elevate his game on the bigger stage makes Dirk far more dominant. Advantage: lukekarts

Reed vs. Mutombo

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqeJp7OoPys[/youtube]

Reed was Champion, MVP, Finals MVP, All NBA 1st, Defensive 1st, All Star, All Star MVP during the seasons selected. He was the anchor in the league's best defensive team (holding opponents to an NBA-low 105ppg); the heart and soul of the team, and the guy who shone on the biggest stage. He beat Chamberlain in the Finals. He got an MVP in an era dominated by Russell and Chamberlain. Sure, Mutombo is a great defender, but Reed matched up with Russell on a regular basis. His solid inside game, brute strength and one of the tidiest 15 foot jumpers means he will be comfortable drawing Mutombo away from the basket, and his superior mobility, athleticism and timing means he will likely outrebound Mutombo (his peak TRB per game is higher). On the defensive end, Mutombo should be less of an issue - his offense is far more limited, and up against someone similarly adept on the defensive end as himself, he will struggle. Advantage: lukekarts


Bench

Warspite argued not a single player on my bench would make his. I respectfully disagree.

Firstly, Mark Eaton. This guy was a DPOY, All Defensive 1st and All Star in 1989, and his career BPG is similar to Mutombo's career high! He may get overlooked due to his less polished offensive game, but his overall impact on a game of basketball is far greater than Ruland's ever was. Secondly, K-Mart is not too disimilar to Cummings in overall impact, Cummings the better scorer, K-Mart the better defender. Thirdly Bruce Bowen, arguably one of the best perimeter defenders of all time, the glue guy on a triple championship winning team. I could go on, but all we will establish is Warspite's bench is more scorer driven, whilst mine is full of players with defined roles. And on a stacked team, I feel it's massively important to have a balance of scorers and role-players, so that some players can focus on defending and spacing, whilst others can focus on the scoring load - after all, only one player can score at a time! There's no such versatility on Warspite's bench, that's for sure.

AOB

A couple of initial counter-arguments.

1. Warspite suggests "they use there length to shut down the passing lanes". Whilst this might be true, I'd also like to point out I'm bigger at 3 of 5 positions, so I also possess this advantage, particularly on the perimeter, where most passess will come from.

2.Warspite suggests his bigs will 'contest everything in the paint forcing the opponets to shoot outside jumpers'. As I've already pointed out, he has conceded Robertson and Gervin will drive inside past his guards, if that's the case, who better to sit unguarded and shoot open mid-range jumpers than Dirk Nowitzki, Willis Reed and Kevin Durant?

3. 'My team has a huge adv in rebounding'. I disagree. Reed is better than Mutombo, or at the very least, his equal. Whilst he does possess the advantage over me @ both forward positions, my guards have the edge - I have a guy who averaged 10 rebounds per game over his first 400 NBA games starting at PG. Ouch.

[SamBone]

Boned Samuels vs BNess

Boned Samuels years and stats are listed here
( viewtopic.php?f=340&t=1085038&p=26451695#p26451695 )

rotation (may change)
PG: Joe Dumars (20), Terry Porter (28)
SG: Sam Jones (33), Joe Dumars (15), Jerry Sloan
SF: LeBron James (38), Detlef Schrempf (10)
PF: Jerry Lucas (28), Shawn Kemp (20),
C: Dwight Howard (32), Ralph Sampson (16)

vs.

Minute to win It
ROTATION:
Jason Kidd (36) / Steve Francis (12)
Kobe Bryant (36) / Stephen Jackson (12)
Dominique Wilkins (24) / Stephen Jackson (24)
Elvin Hayes (24) / Jermaine O'Neal (24)
Robert Parish (30) / Marcus Camby (18)
*Peja to get specialty minutes when a 3 ball is needed

YEARS:
Kidd: (98-99, 99-00) 15.6 PPG, 10.5 APG, 7 RPG, 2.2 SPG
Kobe: (06-07, 07-08) 30 PPG, 6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.6 SPG
Wilkins: (85-86, 86-87) 29 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3 APG, 1.6 SPG
Hayes: (69-70, 70-71) 28.1 PPG, 16.75 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2 BPG*
Parish: (80-81, 81-82) 19.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.8 APG, 2.5 BPG

Frachise: (01-02, 02-03) 21.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.4 SPG
SJax: (07-08, 08-09) 20.5 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.75 RPG, 1.4 SPG
Peja: (02-03, 03-04) 21.7 PPG, 6 RPG, 2.25 APG, 1.1 SPG, .400 3PG %
J.O.: (02-03, 03-04) 20.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2 APG, 2.4 BPG
Camby: (05-06, 06-07) 12 PPG, 11.RPG, 3.3 BPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.7 APG

I want to start off by wishing my friend ness luck in this matchup. I believe this may be his 1st ATL matchup and I think he made a few rookie mistakes which I plan to take advantage of him. Unlike the GM a TEAM team that he put together, I think this team is very beatable.

The Awards

M2W has a total of

15 All Star appearances
5 All NBA (1st team), 4 All NBA (2nd team), and 3 All NBA (3rd team)
4 All Defensive (1st team), 2 All Defensive (2nd team)
1 Championship
1 MVP
1 DPOY

The Boned Samuels

14 All Star appearances
6 All NBA (1st team), 6 All NBA (2nd team)
8 All Defensive (1st team)
4 Championships
1 Finals MVP
2 MVP’s
2 DPOY’s
2 6th Man of the Year Awards
1 ROY award

OFFENSE

I think my team is well balanced and is built to take advantages of mismatches and my opponents weaknesses. My team is build around one of the most difficult players to defend in the history of the game in LeBron James. He has a combination of size, speed, strength and quickness that has never been seen in the history of the game. I have surrounded him with an equally as athletically dominating freak of a player in Dwight Howard and shooters galore.

Guards
My guards are simply WINNERS, there is no other word that I can use to properly explain Joe Dumars and Sam Jones.

Joe D is going to split his minutes on offense between the 2 guard positions, like he did during his playing career. In the selected seasons he won 2 World Championships (a Finals MVP). He was a clutch and deadly shooter with great efficiency and shooting percentages (averaged 49%) and did not need a lot of shots or plays run for him to get his points. In my offense, he is going to be playing both on and off the ball, and is shooting and range (averaged 44% from 3 in selected seasons) will make doubling player very painful for my opponents.

Sam Jones was the #1 scoring option on World Championship teams in both of his selected seasons (the 7th and 8th of his 10 rings) and finished in the top 5 in MVP voting both seasons. When discussing his style of play with a few other GM’s I was told his game was a “very very very rich mans version of Rip Hamilton”. While the 3 pointer was not used when Sam played, he was known as “The Shooter” and had great FG% and TS % during his selected seasons, and scored with great efficiency .

My 3rd guard is Terry Porter. Terry was a great passer and deadly 3 point shooter (averaged 40% from 3 in selected seasons) with amazing FG % (49%) and TS% (61%). My favorite thing about my 3 guards is that they can all play together and all can shoot and none of them can be left to double team

I assume Kobe (or Jack when he is playing SG) will spend most of his time on the court guarding Joe D, with both Jones and Porter being guarded by JKidd and Francis. There really is no advantage or disadvantage here, but the defenders will need to stay with there man, or get burnt. I will be running some baseline double screens (especially if Kemp and D12 are on the court together) to free up some jumpers off of curls (using LBJ as the passer). But for the most part whatever guard combo I have on the court will be used for spacing, especially since most of the offense will be coming from the low post in this match up for me, so the inside/out game will be deadly.

Forwards
LBJ being guarded by Capt Jack or Nique will be very fun to watch. During Jack’s selected seasons (who never was an All Defensive player at any stage of his career)
LBJ and jack matched up twice (once each season with Jack not playing in the other 2 games, most likely because of suspensions). LBJ averaged 28.5 ppg, 7reb, 5.5 asst, 3 steals, against Jack (which is basically he average over those seasons) so basically Jack was able to contain LBJ to his averages. Nique was never know as a defensive player at all during his career. To think he can guard a guy that is more athletic, bigger, stronger or quicker is a joke. He was not called “the human highlight film”(greatest nickname in professional sports history) because he could “D” up. LBJ will have his way in this match up.

Jerry Lucas was an awesome player. He was a great scorer and an unbelievable shooter. His range will make whatever PF he is matched up against come from under the basket to out on the perimeter and open up the lane for my other BIGS to work one on one. Lucas may be the best shooting BIG in the history of the NBA.

Shawn Kemp will basically be playing half the game at PF. During this time he was basically unstoppable in the post. He had that rare combo of speed and size that defenders could not handle, plus he could jump out of the building and run like a deer. I do not think a thin JO (who was a good defender, but is much weaker and slower then Kemp) or the less athletic Elvin Hayes, will be able to contain him. Hayes was a good rebounder back in his day (not as good as Lucas) but would struggle a lot against a dominant athlete like Kemp.

Detlef will get a few minutes to give LBJ a break. He was the 6th man of the Year in both of his selected seasons, so I am pretty sure he will handle this role without a problem. He was an amazing shooter (efficient, high % and had 3 point range) and rebounder

Center
D12 is a beast, an athletic freak that has never been seen before. He will simply tear apart The Chief and Camby. Parish was an average defender at best during his career, and Camby (who did win a DPOY) was never considered a decent man to man defender at all. The Camby’s selected seasons (Dwight was very raw pup, not even close to the offensive player he is in his selected seasons) they matched up 3 times and the Dwight averaged 18.3 ppg, 12.3 reb, with a 60.6 FG% (dwights season averages then were 16.5 ppg, 12.4 reb, 56.7 FG%). And in the selected seasons for Dwight they matched up once with Dwight going for 23 and 22 boards.

Sampson will get the backup C minutes and I think he will have pretty good success as well

DEFENSE
On D I will have Joe D guard Kobe for every minute he is on the court. Kobe is as offensively talented as any player in the game and that is OK with me. Joe D was one of the best defensive guards to ever play the game. During the selected season, he was credited for being one of the few players in the history of the league to shut down the GOAT Michael Jordan in the eastern conference finals. If he could do his best work against prime MJ, I am pretty sure he will be able to keep Kobe from going off


The other guard on the floor (either Sam or Porter) will be guarding JKidd. Both my guys are very good defenders and both have the size and weight to prevent JKidd from backing them down which is basically his only offensive move. We will most likely use whoever is guarding JKidd as our help defender (if needed) because we are not afraid of his (42.6 FG%)

LBJ was 1st team All defensive in both his seasons and will have no trouble containing Nique. He will not need any help. Nique was a volume scorer/slasher with no range (23% from 3) and got almost all of his points in the paint, and never had a high FG%, while leading the league in shots. He does not have the strength to deal with LBJ in the paint. I really do not think he will have a good series, nor would he get the touches he is needed playing next to Kobe.

Capt Jack will be getting a lot of minutes in this series. While he too was a talented scorer, he will not have a good series while being guarded by LBJ (or Joe D when he is playing SG)

Both of us, plan on splitting our minutes at the PF position. Lucas was a solid defender, an awesome rebounder and a good shot blocker. I will be doing my best to get him matched up against JO since both have similar style of play. No matter who he is matched up against, he will hold his own on defense and dominate the glass. Kemp was a great defender and will have very little problem defending whichever player he is forced to guard. I really don’t think a player like Elvin Hayes would do well in a game like this. His numbers are very deceptive and BIG men back when he played are no where near what they are today. Elvin is does not have the size or weight to play with todays BIGS. Add to that that he got his numbers while jacking up 20 shots a game (the most in the NBA). He will get not even close to that many looks and his numbers will not be anything like the numbers he put up in the early 70’s. But I am pretty sure his .44 FG% will not change, which is pretty brutal for a post player without range.

As on offense, I believe that our C position will also dominate on the defensive end. Parish had a solid mid range jumper and was one of the best running centers to play the game, but he is matched up against someone that can out run him. And Sampson is also very similar to The Chief if not more athletic and just as good running the floor. Check out some of my clips on my roster page. My C’s are both more athletic and will be able to run the floor with the Chief. Camby will not be respected on the offensive glass, he really has no offensive game and as long as we keep him off the glass, he will do very little if anything in this series

OVERALL
I think ness made some mistakes building his team. I totally understand selecting his favorite player and one of the top SG’s to ever play the game in Kobe, but I think he made some mistakes putting players around Kobe. Kobe has a few rings and Finals MVP awards, but for some reason ness tried picking statistical seasons over winning seasons, which is a HUGE mistake. In the selected seasons Kobe did not have a dominate POST player (kind of like the team ness built), and one of those seasons, Kobe did not even get out of the 1st round of the playoffs. And ness stresses he wants to run run run to play to the advantages of JKidd, Nique and Parish ignoring that his best player is better suited playing iso in the half court and he really does not have the defensive stoppers or dominant rebounders needed to create fast breaks. He really has no spacing at all when in the half court and has no shooters around Kobe at all. I basically have the exact opposite. My #1 option is LBJ who is a dominate offensive force as well as a great passer. I gave him a pair of post dominating BIG men in Dwight Howard and Shawn Kemp. I placed some of the best shooters to ever play the game in Joe Dumars, Jerry Lucas, and Sam Jones (also Porter) all who will not be able to left to help defend. I think my team can do damage in multiple ways, as is shown in this matchup were I will dominate in the post. And all my main players are great 2 way payers.

Sorry for being a tad long with this 

[Warspite]

Warspite vs Luke

Oscar/Gervin/Durant/Dirk/Reed VS KJ/Miller/DRJ/Sikma/Deke

PG KJ 34mpg/Lever 14mpg
SG Miller 28mpg/Rip 20mpg
SF DrJ 36mpg/Cunningham16mpg
PF Sikma 26mpg/Cummings 20mpg
C Deke 28mpg/Ruland 18mpg

Offense: My offense is being run by Kevin Johnson. The offense will basicly consist of

1. KJ dribble Drive: KJ useing his quickness to break down the defense and get around the slower footed Oscar Robertson. Since the Lukes have no shotblocker in the starting lineup KJ will attempt to draw help defenders to dump off for easy baskets or to attack the rim and score Like this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVcSndz52DE[/youtube]

2. Double Baseline Screen for Reggie or Rip: Useing Sikma and Dekes wide bodies to free up Reggie or Rip for curls or fades. With a very bad defender in Gervin they both will be able to get wide open looks. The results will look much like this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD41mGEhgU0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ZJnBp0-8w&feature=related[/youtube]

3. Pick and pop: Having Sikma set a pick and KJ atatcking teh rim will force Dirk to collapse the defense and leave Sikma open for the elbow shot of which he could knock down.

4. Give the ball to DRJ and get out the way: What is it like for Durant guarding DrJ? Well it looks something like this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7njB1T-Xjk&feature=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stiAd7W45yE&feature=related[/youtube]
Defense
This team uses the best def frontcourt in thsi league. With Dekes 4bpg Sikmas tough man defense and DrJs 2 steals and 2 blocks per game they use there length to shut down the passing lanes and contest everything in the paint forcing the opponets to shoot outside jumpers. Since the Lukes have no plow post scorers this is easily taken care of and the defense can extend and only has to challenege long range shots and back door cuts.

Matchups:

On defnese I fully expect Oscar to play well and to get into the lane and find some easy baskets for his teammates. I fully expect him to shoot well and since hes the best low post player on the team he should get some baskets for himself and others. The player that concearn me is Gervin. I fully expect Gervin to go off. My defnese will try to funnel him into Deke or force him to take tough jumpers. the goal is to make them a 1 man team and force Gervin to score 50pts every night.

Bench:
My bench should destroy his bench. There is not a single player on Lukes bench that could make my team. Every player on my bench was a allstar in the yrs selected and Cunningham was the MVP of the league.

Rebounding: My team has a huge adv in rebounding.

[Gremz]

.

[dan_atko97]

Very sorry about this guys but i didn't realise how long the game would go for and now that i have school and sport on i don't have much time, so i'm going to keep this very, very short and sweet.

C: Wes Unseld (30)/Bill Laimbeer (14)/Maurice Lucas (4)
PF: Kevin Garnett (38)/Maurice Lucas (10)
SF: Shane Battier (20)/Bernard King (28)
SG: Ray Allen (36)/Allan Houston (12)
PG: Steve Nash (34)/Alvin Robertson (14)

vs.

Dennis Johnson(34), Gilbert Arenas(14)
Tracy Mcgrady(36), Gilbert Arenas(12)
James Worthy(35), Gerald Wallace(5), Antonio Mcdyss(8)
Karl Malone(36), Antonio Mcdyss(12)
Nate Thurmond(34), Vlade Divac(14).

Wes Unseld/Bill Laimbeer
Kevin Garnett/Maurice Lucas
Shane Battier/Bernard King
Ray Allen/Allan Houston
Steve Nash/Alvin Robertson
<<<
Dennis Johnson, Gilbert Arenas
Tracy Mcgrady, Andre Iguodala
James Worthy, Gerald Wallace
Karl Malone, Antonio Mcdyss
Nate Thurmond, Vlade Divac

[MadNESS]

Minute to win It VS. Boned Samuels

ROTATION:

Jason Kidd (36) / Steve Francis (12)
Kobe Bryant (36) / Stephen Jackson (12)
Dominique Wilkins (24) / Stephen Jackson (24)
Elvin Hayes (24) / Jermaine O'Neal (24)
Robert Parish (30) / Marcus Camby (18)
*Peja to get specialty minutes when a 3 ball is needed

YEARS:

Kidd: (98-99, 99-00) 15.6 PPG, 10.5 APG, 7 RPG, 2.2 SPG
Kobe: (06-07, 07-08) 30 PPG, 6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.6 SPG
Wilkins: (85-86, 86-87) 29 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3 APG, 1.6 SPG
Hayes: (69-70, 70-71) 28.1 PPG, 16.75 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2 BPG*
Parish: (80-81, 81-82) 19.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.8 APG, 2.5 BPG

Frachise: (01-02, 02-03) 21.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.4 SPG
SJax: (07-08, 08-09) 20.5 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.75 RPG, 1.4 SPG
Peja: (02-03, 03-04) 21.7 PPG, 6 RPG, 2.25 APG, 1.1 SPG, .400 3PG %
J.O.: (02-03, 03-04) 20.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2 APG, 2.4 BPG
Camby: (05-06, 06-07) 12 PPG, 11.RPG, 3.3 BPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.7 APG

THE GAMEPLAN:

Run. Run. and Run. We feel that we can run against almost any team in this leauge. All of our starters are able to remain undercontrol while running. Obviously Kobe and Kidd are great in the open court, as well as Wilkins, but what some dont know, is that Hayes and Parish are great big men running the floor. Parish is considered the greatest running center ever. We will look to get quick steals, easy baskets in transition, and create havoc for the other teams. While pushing the ball, we would look to get Dwight into foul trouble early, which he does frequently, and take advantage from there on out. Lebron will have fun guarding 'Nique, which will keep him busy hopefully for the majority of the game.

OFFENSE:

I built my team around Kobe, who some (including me), veiw as the 2nd greatest player ever. We feel between Kidd and Kobe we easily have the best back court in the game. We also feel we have the proper complimentary peices around these two dominating guards. We will look to run on offense first, but if we get into the half court offense, we will look to play great pick and roll play with just about everyone getting involved on every play. Kobe is also great in the open court, which is one of the most underrated parts to his game. When we run, he will still dominate, unlike most would think.

DEFENSE:

The only player who really isnt a good defender on my team is Peja, who will only play specialty minutes for 3 balls anyways. Everyone else is a good to great defender. Everyone averaged at least 1.3 steals per game, and have quite a few GREAT rebounders. I feel that my team is sound on defense, not great, but good enough.

STARTERS:

I dont believe in head to head match ups as most people do. The game is most deffinately a team sports not a head to head game. I feel my starting 5 have good balance on both ends of the ball and posses alot of intangables. We can run, we can post up, we can play inside and out, we can rebound with the best of them. We feel we can compete with any team in this leauge as well as the Bones Samuels.

BENCH:

We love our bench. Sjax, JO, Cambyer all bring a defensive, punch you in the face vibe off the bench. Francis was a good player in his time being able to do it all. Peja was a great three baller but he had so much more to his game than that. We feel our bench is one of the best, even though most people dont think so.

OVERALL:

This is my second ATL leauge and most likely my last. These games are not my style. Im a GM a TEAM kind of guy. I like the team i built, but mostly no one else does. I said it before and ill say it again. Todays players are much stronger, faster, bigger, and much more athletic. I feel todays players are light years better then the players of the past. I know there is this perception around these ATL games about rules helping out players now a days, but thats all B.S. players adapt to rules. Thats why they change them. Sambone, you made a great squad. I made a team i like, and think would be great. Thanks for your time.

[TMACFORMVP]

I. Opening/Rotation

PG - Deron Williams (36) - Mookie Blaylock (12)
SG - Ron Artest (22) - Drazen Petrovic (26)
SF - Rick Barry (38) - Ron Artest (10)
PF - Dave Cowens (23) - Larry Nance (25)
Cc - Bill Walton (35) - Dave Cowens (13)

vs.

PG - Gary Payton/ Tony Parker
SG - Mich Richmond/ Latrell Sprewell
SF - Dennis Rodman/ Glen Rice
PF - Kevin McHale/ Lamar Odom
C - Yao Ming/ Brad Daugherty

I'd just like to say first, that I'd like to thank Bruh Man for being prompt with nearly all his picks, and because of that he's built a terrific team with a very good blend of everything from offense to defense, etc. I fully expect a good series, and may the best team win. Which my team fully intends to do so.

II. Bill Walton v. Yao Ming

Normally I do not like to do position by position sort conclusion (ex. Jordan > Roy) since that's not an accurate way to determine a series, but I do feel when two players are likely going head to head, it's critical to see who will be able to take advantage of each other. In this case, I think this matchup is won at the center position. I've seen Yao long enough to know the strengths and weaknesses of his game. He's got a terrific touch on the turnaround fade, and underrated impact defensively despite lower-than-expected block #'s. However, he does have his weaknesses, and can be exploited both defensively and offensively. I have to reiterate, probably more than once, the dominance of a two year peak Bill Walton, who make no mistake, will absolutely take over in this series. Yao's disadvantages are as follows:

a.) Limited offensively when fronted - I think nearly every Rockets fan can attest once Don Nelson employed the strategy to front Yao Ming using Al Harrington, more teams began using this strategy, and it nearly worked every time. The Rockets then tried going over the top to beat the front, or put him in quick hitting situations in which he'd be able to get the ball with his back to the basket. In order to guard perfectly guard Yao, you need a couple things; constant energy and desire to front, and the ability to body up. Bill Walton not only possesses both qualities, but the ability to play him one on one in the post. I mean this is a guy, Walton that is, that went head to head with Kareem in his prime, and many would argue actually got the BEST of him. We also feel, our backup C, and other line of defense, Dave Cowens share similar strength's in constant energy, proven ability against arguably the best center of all time, and of course the desire to do whatever it took to win.

Bill Walton's desire to win was second to none. He played with total abandon and passion. We make fun of Walton's commentary because he brings that abandon and passion to his TV statements. But Bill Walton is not a natural speaker (in fact, he had a speech impediment). At basketball, he was a natural...John Wooden--who knows from big men--said Walton was the most fundamentally skilled big man of all time. Combine that with his passion and abandon. That's terrifying.

- TrueLAfan

He'd create havoc for Yao, denying him position in the paint by fronting him, and also have that ability to play him straight up, and have the strength to push him off the block, and the size to recover on his hook, or fade.

One final point...the 1986 Finals. Hakeem had a great series...mainly at the expense of Robert Parish. Walton, on the other hand, gave Hakeem real problems. Even an old, greatly slowed Walton was a handful.

He was a terrific defender, and should have no problem in making Yao a near non factor on offense. Again, this is a guy that gave Kareem problems, and an even older/past peak Walton gave trouble to a young Hakeem Olajuwon. If that isn't enough, if you're a fan of DRTG (defensive rating), then Walton in the currently chosen season had one of the ten greatest of all time. Walton in his peak was among the greatest defensive and offensive centers of all time, would have no doubt been apart of the "Immortal 9" that we've crossed out had his peak not been so unfortunately cut short due to injuries.

(I also do think injuries, a.) do not have as much bearing, since the rules state as long as you meet the game requirement, they should be assumed to play in every game, and b.) Yao in fact plays the same # of games as Walton in each of their respective two year peaks).

b.) Yao's inability to come out on the shooter

In 06-07, the Rockets were matched up with the Utah Jazz. Van Gundy decided the best strategy was to put Chuck Hayes (Rockets PF starter) on Okur, because Yao wouldn't be able to go out on Okur, who is/was primarily a three point shooter. But almost little did the Rockets realize was that Boozer would be the one to kill the Rockets, not from the post, but primarily from mid-range jump-shots on the pick and pop.

After Game 1 of that series, Boozers stats were as follows:

Code: Select all

Game 2: 41 points, 12 rebounds on 17-30
Game 3: 22 points, 12 rebounds on 10-18
Game 4: 15 points, 10 rebounds on 7-16
Game 5: 26 points, 8 rebounds on 12-23
Game 6: 22 points, 9 rebounds on 9-16
Game 7: 35 points, 14 rebounds on 13-23

Total: 26.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG on 68-126 (.539)

Now to quote TrueLAfan again (!), Walton not only possessed the post game, but had a deadly mid-range jump-shot as well.

Walton had range--not Jack Sikma range--but good, 15-20 foot range. He could easily play at the top of the key, and your offense would not slow down. He shot 52% from the field. He scored better than a point every two minutes he was on the court as a starter. He was not a primary scorer type...but he could score well and, if called on (*cough*NCAAfinals1973*cough*) would murder you on offense.

He'll take advantage of Yao's inability to come out on the offensive player, and tire him out with the way he runs the floor. Yao can easily get fatigued, especially when on offense he has to fight for position on a front. Then ask him to run the floor with Walton, and defend him in the post, or come out to contest the mid-range shot? Yao has NEVER, and I repeat never faced a center like Bill Walton.

He ran the floor like a SF and rebounded like Dwight Howard or Bill Russell or Wilt. All of those guys have rebound rates well over 20--more like 21. Dwight Howard, in the last four years, has rebound rates of about 21. Wilt has a career rate in the mid-20s. Same with Russell. Walton? Career rate of 19.8...about 21 in his peak seasons. So you have a big man that ran the court better than anyone else who rebounded better than anyone else.

While I might feel some of this is more obvious, I feel it's important to show the type of advantage we have in this particular matchup and emphasize that because people will tend to underrate how good Walton was in his prime, discrediting him because of his various injuries when many other players that still just met the 120 game limit don't get the same double standard.


III. Dispelling Payton/Rodman. And Offensive Execution

I'd presume the main argument Bruh Man would use against my team is that against two of my top three offensive options, Bruh Man has GP, and Rodman covering Deron and Barry respectively. While I do admit, they are two of the greatest defenders of all time, especially Rodman whom I have great respect for, but ultimately will not do enough to affect the outcome of this series.

As I've said before in prior competitions, I'm starting to feel Payton has gotten a tad bit overrated. In a matchup with Deron, Payton's so called post game is negated, since Deron himself is a big guard that's fully capable of dealing with him in the post. I say "so called" post game because for a guy that's heralded as a post player, he only gets to the line 3.4 times per game for his career, with a career high being just over five per game. Unfortunately, there's not many players that were similar to Deron during GP's prime, but I've heard many comparisons that he's a Jason Kidd sort player (due to the size) that could shoot/score better. Not the defender, nor rebounder, but that's obviously the trade off for significantly better scoring ability.

So, in the following two examples, admittedly not the best examples, but similar in the respect to show that GP didn't do much to stop Kidd's playmaking, or Iverson's scoring ability.

Jason Kidd (96-99)

Code: Select all

22 P / 8 R / 8 A on 9-24 from the field. 1-7 from three.
36 P / 9 R / 8 A on on 14-22 from the field. 5-8 from three.
12 P / 7 R / 15 A on 4-9 from the field. 2-5 from three.
19 P / 7 R / 16 A on 7-13 from the field. 1-2 from three.
11 P / 5 R / 8 A on 4-9 from the field. 2-4 from three.
5 P / 8 R / 13 A on 2-13 from the field. 0-4 from three.
6 P / 2 R / 14 A on 2-7 from the field. 0-2 from three.
12 P / 5 R / 9 A on 5-12 from the field. 1-5 from three.
7 P / 7 R / 19 A on 2-10 from the field. 0-2 from three.
30 P / 7 R / 10 A on 11-19 from the field. 4-4 from three.
15 P / 4 R / 11 A on 4-16 from the field. 1-6 from three.
25 P/ 7 R / 14 A on 10-18 from the field. 4-5 from three.

(12 GAME SAMPLE SIZE) - 16.6 PPG / 6.3 RPG / 12.0 APG on .430 FG% and .388 from three.

Allen Iverson (97-02)

Code: Select all

23 P / 5 R / 10 A on 10-16 from the field.
8 P / 4 R / 3A on 3-9 from the field.
14 R / 4 R / 5A on 4-13 from the field.
37 P / 9 R / 3 A on 14-29 from the field.
34 P / 6 R / 6A on 12-30 from the field.
41 P / 3 R / 2 A on 15-30 from the field.
22 P / 3 R / 3 A on 8-21 from the field.
38 P / 3 R / 3 A on 14-25 from the field.

(8 GAME SAMPLE SIZE) - 27.1 PPG / 4.6 RPG / 4.3 APG on .462 from the field. ONLY 2.6 turnovers.


Deron is a guy in his two year peak who averaged over 10 APG, scored 18 PPG, on terrific, near 60% TS. As you saw with Kidd, his offensive numbers, in fact every number went up across the board, the same result with Iverson. Again, they're all different players, but it's fair to note that he did little to affect them in terms of statistics. This is not to say Payton won't have an impact defensively in this series, but Deron who's crafty in many similar ways to Kidd should have a big offensive impact in this series.

On my main offensive option, Barry, Bruh Man will likely employ Dennis Rodman. And admittedly so, there's not many perimeter defenders as a Pistons Rodman. He will no mistake harass Barry throughout the entire series, but this is the advantage where I feel is the biggest edge in this series. No, not necessarily Rodman checking Barry, but the fact we HAVE Barry. In any game, it comes down to star power.

On Bruh Man's team, he has a lot of very good players, but I don't feel he has "that" player. When I say that, I mean a player regardless of the sort of defense imposed on him, you'll still trust him in the end to get his. Rick Barry is that sort of player, a guy that averaged 26-30 PPG, generally dished 6+ assists and rebounds and led his team to championship. The only other player in NBA history to have done 30/5/5 and win the championship was Michael Jordan (who did it three times, lol). Kobe has done it last year if you reduce the # to 25/5/5. Rodman will harass him, but with Walton anchoring the offense, and Deron knowing where to hit guys in their spots, I have no doubt Barry will still get his, and have a big series.

On offense, fueled by the rebounding and passing from Cowens and Walton, Barry and Deron will also thrive on the fast break. To quote the great TrueLAfan again, he raves talks about how Walton might have been the greatest passing/initiating center to have ever played the game.

The passing. My God, the passing. Walton assist numbers do not reflect what an amazing passer he was. If I had to bet on which part of his body would fail when he was in college and in his first couple of years, I would have gone with his back. He would get the rebound, twist his body in mid air, and throw the outlet pass before his feet hit the ground. This was not a highlight reel play; this was something he did naturally all the time. His passes were not slow or inside-out passes; they were quick, fast thinking passes from a player that saw the court like a PG. I was too young to see Wilt's big assist years. The best passing big man I have ever seen--and it's by a lot--is Bill Walton.

Picture this, Walton grabbing the rebound, throwing a quick outlet pass to Williams, with Barry and Artest/Petrovic to his right and left. And then right behind them is the trailing Walton and Cowens. Either two things happen, a.) because of the quick outlet, we either get an easy score in transition, or b.) put the defense in a position in which they're scrambling, and forced to read and react to a sharp half court offense. Deron can run both pick and roll and pick and pops with the both of our big men, and that includes Nance off the bench as well who could knock down the mid-ranger. Cowens was tremendous at setting picks, and would do as good a job as anyone as trying to stop Rodman from getting around the screen to free up Barry for the shot. Even the slightest of disturbance and Barry can burn you. Deron can easily play off the ball as well (as he's had in Jazz fourth quarters), in which he can spot up and drain the three. With both of our bigs being so versatile offensively, we have the flexibility to run a multitude of plays, Barry isolations giving him space, coming off screens, potential Artest post ups, pick and roll and pick and pops with Cowens/Walton, or just a traditional inside/out offense with Walton initiating everything from the post. Passing is the key to beating a good defense/defender, Walton and Cowens are terrific passers, Barry became one by the time I'm using him, and Deron is obviously exceptional.

Bottom line, Walton, Deron and Barry will be apart of every play, and while Bruh Man's team has disruptive defenders, it won't be enough to stop the offensive output and overall efficiency of playing through our bigs. I feel even if Payton/Rodman did their jobs adequately, which I as stated already, do not believe, we have too much more firepower offensively to overcome, especially when we have the defensive options to attack Bruh Man's top offensive players.

IV. Defensive Execution

In order for Bruh Man to win this series, he needs larger than normal performances from four of his top five starters. In this scenario, whom some might say is our weakest defender in Rick Barry can do what he does best, and that's being able to roam freely and get into the passing lanes. While steals aren't truly indicative of defense, Barry is still among the best to have ever played, even leading the league at nearly three per game. He can come cheat off Rodman who isn't an offensive threat to provide some weakside defense.

We've already gone through how I feel Yao's effectiveness will be in this series, so now we draw to the backcourt matchup defensively. Richmond and Payton, both all be it very solid offensive players, aren't exactly the type to truly dominate a series offensively. As we've noted before, we like Deron's size to matchup with Payton forcing him to the perimeter, and putting a hand up will be something we live with granted Payton's jumper is very streaky. I mean, for a guy that doesn't get to the line too often, and size won't be as big as an advantage as normal - this is already a guy that takes roughly 28-30% of his shot attempts as threes (nearly the same as a Jamal Crawford). We'll take our chances with Payton trying to kill us from the outside.

On Richmond however, we are very comfortable with putting Artest on him.

Artest finished the 2003-04 regular season ranked third in the league in steals (2.08 spg) and successfully held his defensive assignments, including some of the league’s top players, to 8.1 points per game on 9.3 shots per game and .426 shooting.

(In that same two year stretch, he held Bryant, McGrady, Pierce, Allen, Carter, and Iverson all under a respective field goal percentage of 40% - the same can be applied to just McGrady and Bryant, both of whom were considered the two top two, potentially with Iverson scorers of the game).

Artest in his DPOY season was special, and this is the sole reason we drafted him, to put a clamp down on the oppositions best offensive player. If he's defended these players so successfully, I'd expect similar results on Richmond, who was one of the more underrated players of this era, but again, nothing real close to the players Artest has had to deal with.

Any time there’s a loose ball or a ball around him, he’s going to come up with it 90 percent of the time. He has the strength and the ability to put guys in positions they don’t want to be in. But I wouldn’t mind taking a shot at him - 20 years ago." - Larry Bird

“As a perimeter defender, I rank Ron Artest up there with (Michael) Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen and Gary Payton,” said Coach Rick Carlisle. I think (Artest) is among the very best to have played the game. He’s a little different from those guys in that he’s more rugged and plays with a little more force. That’s one of the things that makes it tough. Another thing that makes it tough is you’ve got to try and score on him on one end and then try to stop him on the other end. That weighs on a guy who’s a scorer, trying to deal on both ends of the court with Ron.”

“He’s quick. He’s strong. His anticipation is probably the best I’ve ever seen,” said Miller of Artest. “On top of all those three things, he takes it upon himself as a challenge. He really looks forward to guarding the best perimeter player on the opposing team, no matter who they are, whether it be a point guard, a shooting guard or a small forward. I’ve played against, in my eyes, two of the best defenders in Joe Dumars and Michael Cooper and Ron has those guys blown away. His combination of strength and speed, especially with him weighing 250 pounds is a hard match for anybody.

On McHale, we elect to put Cowens on him. Some might say Cowens is undersized, but that was merely for the center position, and YET he still was able to hold his own in the paint against Kareem. McHale poses a similar, obviously not as great challenge in that he's a post player with an array of moves on the inside. Cowens however will not back down, he'll use his quickness to try to beat the positioning of McHale, and we'll send Barry down to double. If there was a negative in McHale's game, it would be the label of being a black hole at times. While I do not necessarily agree with that notion, it is true that McHale is a.) a reluctant passer, and b.) not a very good passer. If we have one of the best steals artists in this matchup roaming from the weakside, and Cowens already tough man defense, we feel we can limit McHale offensively in this matchup and force him to shoot less efficient shots, and turn the ball over.

Defensive execution is critical, we feel we can force Payton out to the perimeter, have one of the greatest defenders guarding Richmond, and help side D, and a perennial All-NBA defender on McHale. Walton will dominate the matchup with Yao, and Rodman isn't one to worry about as long as recover in time.

V. Bench Play

It's sort of hard to do this when I'm not sure of the actual minute rotation of my opponents team, but I'd assume since most of the players are primarily one position players (aside from Odom), then it's a general 10-man rotation with each bench player playing 12-18 minutes. However I will say that he has a strong bench, but one that's more primarily offensive minded.

I think both Drazen and Rice have similar roles, and that's to come in and completely change the game from a shooting aspect. However, Drazen will likely have a bigger role considering he should be playing bigger minutes. Artest is the backup SF, and Mookie is the backup PG, so there's likely always going to be a very good perimeter defender next to Drazen when he's in the game. Daugherty is more a finesse center off the bench, which is a fun contrast to a more aggressive Cowens (who will slide in as the backup C). My backup PF is Nance, who's criminally underrated as both an offensive and defensive player. Here's a guy, the only NON-C in the top 20 of shots blocked for a career, a decent rebounder, and a very good offensive player, that scores over 20 PPG, with 3+ assists on over 55% from the floor! It's arguable that he is the most impactful player coming off both teams benches, especially considering he will likely be playing near double the amount of minutes as anyone as Bruh Man's bench.

I think that brings up another sort debate. The advantages of a sort of 8 man v. 10 man rotation. On one hand, there could be more contrast in a 10 man rotation versus more consistent/greater production with a set of eight players playing consistent minutes. Now it could be entirely possible that he isn't running a 10 man rotation, but I feel the way the team is constructed, the most effective way is that. The only other way to run less than a 10 man rotation would be by benching Rice, which wouldn't be a wise move to make. But anyways, I do feel we have the most impactful bench player in Nance, and a guy in Drazen that's similar to the impact a guy like Rice will have off the bench. It will also be noted that when Rice is in the game, expect to see Barry in as well, or for our offensive gameplan to attack whatever matchup that is there.

VI. Conclusion

Overall, Bruh Man has built a terrific team, but I feel we have the pieces to take advantages of his weaknesses to go along with the best players in the series. Couple that with a sound offensive and defensive gameplan, I just think our team has too much firepower to overcome. Best of luck in the series Bruh Man, and truly, may the best team win. I'd also like to thank TrueLAfan for being such a boss in his posts, that he essentially did half of mine.

[Warspite]

Rebuttal:

1. Rebounding adv:

RPG is a flawed stat to use because of pace. Reb rate or reb% is the best way to measure because it simply goes by how many rebounds a player gets out of the total possible rebounds. Oscar Robertson is a prime example. He avgs 10rpg but plays in the fastest paced era in the history of the league. He also plays in the worst era for FG%. His reb rate takes that into effect and shows that although he avgs 10rpg hes getting a smaller % of the total rebs and that translates into about 5rpg today. So if we look at reb rate this is what we see

Deke 18.9/19.9 Sikma 18.5/17.8 DrJ 13.6/13.6 Miller 5.4/5.4 KJ 5.7/5.3= 62.99%
Reed 16.2/16.1 Dirk 14.2/14.8 KD 11.0/9.4 Gervin 7.3/7.3 BigO 8.1/8.1= 56.25%


2. I fully concede that if My 5 starters played Lukes in 5 differant 1on1 games that my guys would lose 4of5 and that my 5 bench players would win all 5 games in blowouts. However there is only 1 basketball and its a game of 5on5. My team simply has better balance, ball movement and plays much better defense. Luke uses 5 blackholes and 3 bench players that cant score. A team of 5 jumpshooters isnt going to beat a complete team. Lukes best post player is Oscar the teams PG.

3. Game adjustments: Lukes offense is to draw out the defense which is ok with me since the opponets dont have anyone that can score in the paint. Def rebounding of course will be much easier with Dirk, Durant on the 3pt line, Reed at the elbow, Gervin on the opposite wing and Oscar in the low post. Those easy rebounds will ignite my fast break and with KJ/Lever and DrJ/Cunningham I should little problem running the break. Miller makes a terrific trailer for the spot up 3. I also plan on attacking the offensive glass with my bigger stronger bigmen.

My Defense is going to force the Lukes in long range jumpshots. Since the bench has no post scoring they realy dont have any redress in this matchup. My offense is going to put pressure on Durant, Gervin and Oscar. Bringing in Bowen to guard DrJ/Miller just gives me someone I can double off of when Im on defense and takes a major weapon away from the Lukes. I believe Durant would be better suited to the 6th man spot and instead of Miller/Martin Luke drafted a post playing PF/C like Dan Issel or a psot playing SF like Adrian Dantley his team would have a low presence to go with its outside shooting.

My spacing on offense I believe is adequate with KJ on top, Miller on the 3pt line, Sikma at the elbow and DrJ in the low post and Deke on the far side of the paint. Sikma and Deke can then set up screens for Miller/Rip and force switching. This confusion simply gives KJ the oppertunity to use mismatches and find the open guy. I dont know what Luke is going to run to get open looks for his guys. Oscar and Gervin are both ball dominate. I simply dont have a problem with either of them driving into Deke or pulling up for a long jumper. I simply dont believe I have to double team with Mutombo guarding the rim. I dare the Lukes to shoot 30 3pters a game and Ill live with the results knowing that everytime they brick we are off to the races.

4. Bench play:

My starters are playing more mins so they get some time to pad there stats or rest on offense. That being said when Lukes bench players are in they have to change there offense with Bowen, Martin or Eaton. They cant afford to have more than 1 bench player in for any extended mins without risking a blowout. Conversley My team doesnt change anything with the addition of bench players. When DrJ goes out hes replaced by MVP Billy Cunningham. When Miller takes a breather or is in foul trouble Rip steps in and runs the same plays to get him open. Rip is as good at running off of screens and getting open as Reggie is. Cummings has a great midrange game and can score on any PF and take them into the post. Ruland isnt the shotblocker Deke is but hes a 20ppg low post monster with a 56%FG game. Eaton wont be able to leave Ruland when hes in to guard the paint and Deke/Ruland wont have to leave the paint and can gaurd the lane much easier when Eaton is in the game.

The only way to bring balance to Lukes team is to start Eaton and Bowen with Dirk, Gervin and Oscar. Useing Durant and Reed as super subs would give them better balance. That however makes it so much easier to guard the paint and force them outside. Every change Luke does to counter creates a mismatch somehwere else.


In Conclusion: I expect my team to win in 5 or 6 games. The jumpshooters will eventualy tire and they will struggle to get easy baskets. Lack of a low post game will be damageing and the porus defense of every wing player not named Bowen will lead to a huge FT adv and just too many dunks/lay ups. My benches ability to dominate will give me double digit leads or preserve leads and force lukes starters to try to play to hard and try and do to much.

[lukekarts]

lukekarts vs Warspite

Rebuttal:

"RPG is a flawed stat to use because of pace"

I'm not disagreeing, I was simply pointing out that I'm still better than you in my backcourt and Dirk has a tendency to elevate his game for the playoffs. I could make it closer if I played two Centers, but I don't think that's practical. I expect more of my possessions to end up at the free throw line anyway, so I'm less worried about rebounding.

"Oscar Robertson... He also plays in the worst era for FG%."

Won't disagree with this. All the more remarkable then that Oscar averaged 48.2% FG% when 42% was the norm. Assuming Oscar remains a similar level above the rest, in today's game that would translate to something like 54%!

"However there is only 1 basketball and its a game of 5on5. My team simply has better balance, ball movement and plays much better defense. Luke uses 5 blackholes and 3 bench players that cant score. A team of 5 jumpshooters isnt going to beat a complete team. Lukes best post player is Oscar the teams PG."

OK this is pretty incredible.

1. My team might be a lot of things, but 5 blackholes they are not. Reed is a much better/more willing passer than Deke, for instance, Dirk is every bit as good as Sikma, so your only real advantage comes at the SF position. I'm not to worried about that, as I can always throw Bowen at him to frustrate as much as possible.

2. Basketball is won by individual talent. I have more talent, as you rightly admit.

3. A team of Jumpshooters? I strongly disagree. Whilst I have a team who can all hit a jumpshot, Robertson, Gervin and Reed are fantastic inside, very efficient scorers with a variety of ways to finish an attack. Being able to hit jumpshots consistently is an advantage though, as with two Centers in your lineup it will help spread the floor immensely. I don't think it is an issue, it simply gives me more offensive options.

4. Better defensively? I disagree again. You have a better interior presence by virtue of playing two Centers, but my guards will use their size and athleticism to completely negate the impact of your perimiter players. It was never an issue for MJ so I doubt it will be an here. Willis Reed also anchored the league's best defence when he won titles...

he was tough; tough minded and physically tough. He beat you up all night long, nudging, pushing, bumping and throwing elbows with reckless abandon. Willis Reed made the Knicks, a losing or at least disappointing franchise every season he was not on the roster, believe they could win.

5. Post moves? What about Willis Reed's up and under and drop step, which he could finish with layups or dunks? Check out the video above. This was enough of an offensive repertoire to propel the Knicks past Wilt Chamberlain's Lakers, so I don't think I have any worries. Oscar Robertson having a great post-game is also an asset not a hindrance. Look at Kobe Bryant - you could argue at times he's been the Laker's best and that's never been a problem. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter where the points come from - it's about scoring more points more efficiently and my players use their game to do just that. You can call Dirk a jumpshooter but I'll take Dirk's jumpshots on a 60% TS% over Sikma's 56% close to the basket.

It's also somewhat a silly criticism as I'm hardly concerned about the combined offensive games of Sikma and Mutombo - neither is a prolific offensive threat so for all you achieve defensively you can't punish me on the interior at the other end. I certainly hope for your sake you're not going to be relying on those two for any more than a combined 25ppg, anyway.

"Lukes offense is to draw out the defense which is ok with me since the opponets dont have anyone that can score in the paint."

Not true at all. Reed, Durant, Gervin, Robertson are all great finishers around the basket.

"I also plan on attacking the offensive glass with my bigger stronger bigmen."

Reed concedes size but not ability, he's more mobile than your bigs and had no trouble against bigger Centers of his era. If this does become an issue, I can make adjustments - bringing Eaton in at Center and moving Reed to PF.

"My Defense is going to force the Lukes in long range jumpshots."

I have no issues about this. If you're right and my team is full of jumpshooters then I'll happily shoot them all day as my team full of jumpshooters win the battle of scoring efficiency 3-2 in the selected years.

"Since the bench has no post scoring they realy dont have any redress in this matchup."

I address the matchup by exploiting it relentlessly. Either Sikma and Deke move outside to cover - giving free access to the basket for Oscar or Gervin, or my 'jumpshooters will be left wide open. Your call.

Bringing in Bowen to guard DrJ/Miller just gives me someone I can double off of when Im on defense and takes a major weapon away from the Lukes.

Bowen is exactly the kind of guy that thrives off being left open. In the years selected he shot 40.4% from 3. Leave him open he'll punish. It worked for the Spurs on their route to three titles so he should be ok here.

"I dont know what Luke is going to run to get open looks for his guys. Oscar and Gervin are both ball dominate.

Both were primary ball handlers to a degree, but that was due to necessity not selfishness. What it gives me are two players who can control the ball effectively and make plays. Either should work well with Reed or Dirk on pick and rolls and Reed was pretty adept at setting up screens and creating space.

My offensive schemes will be very simple - just basic fundamental basketball: set screens, physical play, beating players off the dribble, creating open space for shots.

And given my teams tendency to get to the free throw line - I'm pretty sure Deke and Sikma will have to worry about committing too many fouls.

They cant afford to have more than 1 bench player in for any extended mins without risking a blowout

I wouldn't say a blowout is on the cards but rarely will more than one of my defensive role players be on the court together. And even then, the additional defensive pressure will offset any offensive advantage you have.

Conversley My team doesnt change anything with the addition of bench players.

And that's the real weakness of your bench - if the going gets tough you don't really have a plan B to slow my guys down. You can't play more physical defence, you can't shut down the perimeter or cut off the passing lanes. I have that versatility. If there's one thing my role players can do, it's frustrate. Bowen has a pretty good knack of doing that, Kenyon Martin has a pretty good knack of doing that.

Summary

I'm confident my team has the talent level to win a series. The recurring theme from Warspite is that my team is a jumpshooting team. It's not really, but it is a team full of great jumpshooters who are great basketball players. I think the range of my frontline is actually Warspite's biggest concern. Make no mistake, there will be plenty of cuts to the basket but if Warspite's gameplan works I have absolutely no concerns about Dirk and Durant hitting the jumpshot.

Reed will have a greater impact at Center than anyone else in the game, he's the most complete big in this series and proved his worth, twice, on the biggest stage. Oscar Robertson meanwhile is by far the most talented player in this series, and his fantastic all round game will create plenty of opportunities for my supporting cast. Gervin meanwhile is an elite scorer, and shotblocker, and his adept finishes around the basket will create space for Dirk, who ruthlessly punishes anyone, whether they're leaving him open or shoving their hands in his face.

In 6 games the series will be over. There will be blood and bruises, maybe the odd injury along the way, but ultimately Reed will lead this team to glory.

[Bruh Man]

Gary Payton(95-96/96-97)
95-96 DPOY, ALL-NBA 2nd team, ALL NBA Defensive 1st Team
(19.3ppg, 7.5asp, 4.2rpg, 2.9stl) .484/.328/.748
96-97 ALL-NBA 2nd team, ALL-NBA Defensive 1st Team
(21.8ppg, 7.1asp, 4.6rpg, 2.4stl) .476/.313/.715

Mich Richmond(93-94/94-95)
93-94 ALL-NBA 2nd team
(23.4ppg, 4asp, 3.7rpg) .445/.407/.834
94-95 ALL-NBA 2nd team, ALL-Star Game MVP
(22.8ppg, 3.8asp, 4.4rpg) .446/.386/.843

Dennis Rodman(90-91/91-92)
90-91 DPOY, ALL-NBA Defensive 1st team
(8.2ppg, 1asp, 12.5rpg) .493/.200/.631
91-92 ALL-NBA Defensive 1st team, ALL-NBA 3rd team
(9.8ppg, 2.3asp, 18.7rpg) .539/.317/.600

Kevin McHale(86-87/87-88)
86-87 ALL-NBA 1st team, ALL-NBA Defensive 1st team
(26.1ppg, 2.6asp, 9.9rpg, 2.2blk) .604/.836
87-88 ALL-NBA Defensive 1st team
(22.6ppg, 2.7asp, 8.4rpg, 1.4blk) .604/.797

Yao Ming(07-08/08-09)
07-08 ALL-NBA 3rd team
(22ppg, 2.3asp, 10.8rpg, 2blk) .507/.850
08-09 ALL-NBA 2nd team
(19.7ppg, 1.8asp, 9.9rpg, 1.9blk) .548/.866

PG - Gary Payton(36)/ Tony Parker(12)
SG - Mich Richmond(37)/ Latrell Sprewell(11)
SF - Dennis Rodman(34)/ Glen Rice(14)
PF - Kevin McHale(36)/ Lamar Odom(12)
C - Yao Ming(37)/ Brad Daugherty(11)

vs TMACFORMVP's line-up

PG - Deron Williams (36) - Mookie Blaylock (12)
SG - Ron Artest (22) - Drazen Petrovic (26)
SF - Rick Barry (38) - Ron Artest (10)
PF - Dave Cowens (23) - Larry Nance (25)
Cc - Bill Walton (35) - Dave Cowens (13)

Good luck to my opponent TMACFORMVP who has assembled a solid team around the great Luke Walton's Father . This I believe is a great match-up with 2 balanced teams, who each bring something different to the table. I will explain though what separates the two teams and why I think my team will prevail.


Offense

Kevin McHale has arguably the best post moves in the history of the NBA.

"He became the most difficult low-post player to defend -- once he made the catch --
in the history of the league," contended former NBA coach Hubie Brown in the Boston Globe. "He was totally unstoppable because of his quickness, diversification of moves and the long arms that gave him an angle to release the ball over a taller man or more explosive jumper."

Post scoring is one of the most important aspects of basketball and with McHale I have one
of the greatest if not the greatest post scorer in NBA history. During the 86-87 and 87-88
seasons McHale shot an astonishing 60% from the field, and he was also a solid FT shooter
(84%, 80%). With his solid mid range jumper he will also help stretch the defense. McHale had
solid footwork and a dizzying array of moves and counter moves for whatever the defense
throws at him.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm5cbbDtFbs[/youtube]



Yao Ming is another solid post player on the team, at 7-6 he is the tallest player to ever play
in the NBA along with Manute. At that height, Yao is a tough cover for anyone even the great
Bill Walton. His baseline fade-away jumper is virtually unstoppable, and if he gets the ball in the low block you almost have to double because he will spin and shoot his patented hook shot. Yao also has a solid mid-range jumper so he can spread the floor and let McHale operate when needed. Teams tend to front Yao to deny ball entry and though that does have some success for opponents I believe that's mostly due to incompetent teammates. Gary Payton is an underrated passer, and if fronted the lob will be available everytime.


Michael Jordan once said Mitch Richmond was the toughest oppoenent he ever faced, which is a high complement from someone who always got the best of his opponent. Artest like's to harass his match-up by playing tough physical defense and getting up in his opponents face, and Richmond is known for his slashing. If Artest does give him space then Richmond should have no trouble knocking down the 3 being the best 3pt shooter on the court.

Though Rodman isn't a scoring threat, if my opponent elects to roam off of him then it would be a huge mistake on his part. When you lead the league in Offensive Rebounding year in year out every coach is going to be aware of this and instruct their players to always keep a body on him or pay the price. For comparison, Rodman in his 91-92 season averaged 6.4 offensive rebounds while Artest during his DPOY averaged 5.3 total rebounds. If anyone is going to be left open occasionally this series it will be Artest who is a very inconsistent shooter.

Payton is the best point to play in the 90's while Deron is constantly being overshadowed by
CP3, and Nash; even Rose, Westbrook, and Rondo at times. Payton/Kemp created one of the most exciting duo's in the 90's, with this team though Payton has much greater offensive options to work with. Though Deron is a strong PG, Payton still has a 3 inch height advantage which he will use to his advantage either on the perimeter or in the post.


Bench

Brad Daugherty is a solid back-up for Yao, a legit 20 and 10 player. Odom is the perfect team
player, he brings everything to the table. At 6-10 he is a mismatch because of his ability to handle the ball like a guard, combine that with his excellent court vision and you can see why he is a constant threat especially if he initiates the fast break. Glen Rice is a solid shooter who will complement Rodman nicely and make Barry/Artest work on the defensive end.

Sprewell will see limited minutes, he is a solid defender who can knock down the open shot. Tony Parker will be a nice change of pace, you know you have a special player when he is among the league leaders in assists and points in the paint. Using his speed, Parker gets to the paint at will. He is also a very efficient player shooting over 52% from the field during the selected seasons.

Defense

My team has the height advantage at every position except for Artest being 1 inch taller than Richmond, Barry and Rodman are both 6-7 but that's a whole other story. My starting line-up consist of a 7-6 C, 6-10 PF, 6-7 SF, 6-5 SG, 6-4 PG and all players take advantage of their size. 2 of my opponents main scoring/playmaking options in Williams and Barry are each being defended by a DPOY. Gary Payton is the greatest PG defender ever and the only PG to win DPOY in 95-96, he also lead the league in steals that year. I fully expect him to slow down Williams while having his way on the offensive end since his opposition isn't really known for his defense. The other DPOY Dennis Rodman will have the assignment of guarding the main scoring option in Rick Barry, I don't expect Rodman to shut down Barry but he will make him work for his points and will likely hold him to a below average percentage from the field.

Yao may not have made an All-Defensive team but he is a solid defender and has played like the best C in the league when healthy. His 7 inch height advantage will surely help in this match-up. Kevin McHale made All-Defensive 1st team 2 times, a smart defender that used his insane wingspan to bother opponents. Though not known for his defense, Mitch Richmond was solid and should have no trouble staying with the offensively limited Ron Artest.


Rebounding

Yao may not be the rebounder Walton is but he grabbed a respectable 10 rpg during the selected seasons. McHale was also a solid rebounder averaging 9.9 and 8.4 during the selected seasons playing alongside Parish and Bird(who averaged 10rpg for his career). Payton is a slightly better rebounder than Williams while Artest is a slightly better rebounder than Richmond and I would say that both bench's are a wash.

The major difference in rebounding though is Dennis Rodman, Rick Barry isn't bad but Dennis Rodman is on a completely different level. Perhaps the greatest rebounder ever Rodman grabbed 18.7 rpg in his 91-92 season the highest since Wilt, I doubt we see another season like that for a long time. At 6-7 Rodman lead the league in rebounding for almost a decade in an era known for it's great big's like Shaq, Hakeem, DRob, Malone, Ewing, Mutombo, and Mourning. For you stat geeks, TRB% (Total rebound percentage) is an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the floor. Out of all the available seasons, Rodman has the top 6 seasons and 7 seasons in the top 10.

Summary

I have the best post scoring option in Kevin McHale, it is no surprise out of all the players in this match-up McHale had the most efficient seasons, shooting 60.4% in the selected years. I have better spacing also, both my C and PF can step out and hit the mid-range jumper. Having the best 3pt shooter in Mitch out of both starting line-ups also helps. I also have the better floor general in Payton, who has lead the Sonics deep into the playoffs all the way to the finals playing both sides of the court and even holding players like Michael Jordan below their season averages. Last but surely not least I have the greatest hustle player/greatest rebounder to ever play the game in Dennis Rodman.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dudpk_7slVY[/youtube]

[poopdamoop]

PG: Mark Price (1991-1993):
17.3/7.2/2.4 - 49/39/95 - All NBA 3rd
18.2/8.0/2.7 - 48/42/95 - All NBA 1st

SG: Dwyane Wade (2008-2010)
30.2/7.5/5.0/2.2/1.3 - 49/32/76 - All NBA 1st, All Def 2nd
26.6/6.5/4.8/1.8/1.1 - 48/30/76 - All NBA 1st, All Def 2nd

SF: Vince Carter (1999-2001)
25.7/5.8/3.9/1.3/1.1 - 47/40/79 - All NBA 3rd
27.6/5.5/3.9/1.5/1.1 - 46/41/76 - All NBA 1st

PF: Charles Barkley (1988-1990)
25.8/12.5/4.1/1.6/0.8 - 58/75 - All NBA 1st
25.2/11.5/3.9/1.9/0.6 - 60/75 - All NBA 1st

C: Ben Wallace (2002-2004)
7.6/13.4/1.4/1.7/3.5 - 53/42 - DPOY, All NBA 3rd, All Def 1st
6.9/15.4/1.6/1.4/3.2 - 48/45 - NBA Champion, DPOY, All NBA 2nd, All Def 1st

Bench: Dave Debusschere (1968-1970)
16.3/11.7/2.5 - 44/70 - All NBA 2nd, All Def 1st
14.6/10.0/2.5 - 45/69 - NBA Champion, All Def 1st

Norm Van Lier (1973-1975)
14.3/6.9/4.7/2.0 - 41/78 - All NBA 2nd, All Def 1st
15.0/5.8/4.7//2.0 - 42/79 - All Def 2nd

Walt Bellamy (1961-1963)
31.6/19.0/2.7 - 52/64
27.9/16.4/2.9 - 53/67

Doug Christie (2001-2003)
12.0/4.6/4.2/2.0 - 46/35/85 - All Def 2nd
9.4/4.3/4.7/2.3 - 48/40/81 - All Def 1st

Rotation:

Price(32)/Van Lier(16)
Wade(36)/Christie(12)
Carter(34)/Barkley(14)
Barkley(22)/Debusschere(26)
Wallace(32)/Bellamy(16)

General Strategy:

Offensively, we'll try to take advantage of our superior firepower. The two main options will be Wade and Barkley, arguably the two best offensive players in this series. My opponent proposes to put Ewing on Barkley, yet when the two matched up during the seasons I've chosen for Chuck, Barkley exploded every game. He never once shot under 50%, and only 3 times shot under 60% in 10 matchups with Ewing's Knicks. Charles put up lines like 38/13/4 on 93%!!shooting. Playing Barkley at SF allows me to switch up the matchups, as he'll punish Pierce or Majerle if they try to guard him down low.

Wade has a great defender on him in Cooper, but I'm confident he can still excel and create for his teammates. The beauty of this team, however, is that both Carter and Price can step up if Wade is somehow held in check. Carter, in his youth, was a 25-30 point scorer every night and more explosive than his counterpart Pierce. Price is a fantastic 4th option in this series, being one of the best shooters of all time. Both players are proven 3pt marksmen, and should feast on open looks created by Wade and Barkley, two of the better passers all time at their positions. Off the bench, Walt Bellamy should wreak havoc on whoever is put on him. He put up absurd numbers during the chosen seasons, and managed to still finish top 5 in TS% both years.

The remainder of my rotation are mostly defensive specialists. Ben Wallace's offensive shortcomings are obvious, but he can still finish open dunks, and the rest of my starters are so gifted offensively that he'll be given plenty of open shots to hit, as well as contribute with his 4 offensive rebounds per game. Dave Debusschere, my 6th man, is also a capable scorer from the 4, and Norm Van Lier is quick enough to penetrate past either Cooper or Thomas. Doug Christie is another capable 3pt shooter, and will also be the benficiary of many open looks.

Defensively, our main concern is the frontcourt of Gasol and Ewing. We give up some height, but Wallace is strong and quick enough to handle either of them. Barkley will likely start off on Gasol, who won't get enough shots as the 4th option to do much damage, but even if he does Chuck's defensive shortcomings are overblown, and he's also athletic enough to make up for his height disadvantage here. Debusschere will take over Gasol duties when he comes in, and will do an excellent job, being a 6x 1st team defender.

On the perimeter, Wade will start off on Cooper. Since he's not a big threat, Wade will be relatively free to roam as a help defender, where he has excelled the past few years. Pierce will be a tough cover for Carter, but when committed he has kept Pierce in check over the past decade. Price will also have his hands full with Isiah, but should give back just as much offensively. In fact, Price arguably outplayed Isiah in 1989, beating him out for an All NBA spot. And that isn't even one of the seasons I've chosesn for him.

Off the bench, David Thompson is their main threat. Wade will guard him when both are in the game, but Norm Van Lier and Doug Christie will also take turns on him. All 3 players are All NBA caliber defenders, which should slow him down. Van Lier will also harass Isiah when both are in the game, and Christie will get a turn on Pierce if Carter should struggle.

Overall, I possess both the offensive and defensive advantage. I have the best offensive players in this series, as well as the best defenders. The only thing my opponent has on me is a frontcourt height advantage, and even that is negated, since my big men are better rebounders than his. Baller has built a solid team, but I have too much firepower and overall talent at every position.

[Baller 24]

Team Baller 24 v poopdamoop

Thomas ('88, '89)
Cooper ('86, '87)
Pierce ('08, '09)
Gaosl ('09, '10)
Ewing ('93, '94)
Thompson (''75, '76)
Oakley ('93, '94)
Marjerle ('93, '94)

Rotation: Isaiah Thomas (36) - Michael Cooper (12)
Michael Cooper (16) - David Thompson (3
Paul Pierce (36) - Dan Majerle (12)
Pau Gasol (24) - Charles Oakley (24)
Patrick Ewing (36) - Pau Gasol (12)

Offensive strategy is to maximize size and the height advantage in the low-high post using Gasol and Ewing both 7 footers, against Ben Wallace and Charles Barkley, both of whom are severely undersized and incapable of keeping up. Ewing throughout his seasons had a very effective face up jump shot playing in the high post, while Gasol will play the low post ( a position he's excelled), as there is proper spacing, which will create defensive mis matches, as whom ever Barkley will be guarding will get burned, considering Wallace's defensive impact that is.

Thomas and Pierce are the two primary perimeter options on the floor at all times, as they have showen that they can effectively close out basketball games and flat out dominate in the biggest moments (Finals MVPs). Price and Carter WILL have a tough time slowing these guys down, with a wide array of moves, and with range absolutely not being a factor for Pierce (effectively shooting the three that is with a TS% of 61). Cooper's role offensively is to simply knock down open shots and create. First option offensively however is to absolutely take advantage of the height advantage in the front-court, while letting Pierce and Thomas take jabs consistently throughout the game to slow down both of their defenders, while also effectively closing out the game. David Thompson is coming in for an instant offensive boost, and I feel my rotation set to 8 players is enough to hold it's own against this team.

Defensive match-ups:
Thomas on Price
Cooper on Wade
Pierce on Carter
Ewing on Barkey
Gasol on Wallace

Ewing anchored a 90s Knicks defensive team that was statistically on par with some of the greatest defenses of all time, and possibly one of the best modern day defense we've seen ('08 Celtics), while playing physically under the old rules. Ewing is capable of defensively suffocating a team, one of the only teams to take Jordans Bulls to a brutal 7 games. Gasol's defensively impact is spoken, his height advantage on the championship Laker teams was a significant impact, and WE effectively saw him limit Boozer (FG% 38 in '08 playoffs), Duncan (FG 42% in '08 playoffs), Garnett (FG 43% in '08 Finals), and Howard (48% in '09 Finals). Things will only get tougher for the opposing teams front-court with Oakley coming in as his defensive value and impact can certainly help limit the front-court.

Cooper will be on Wade at almost all times when he's on the court, that may not completely shut down a player like Wade, but it can certainly limit his ability to do some things, and maybe effect some parts of his game. Marjle and Pierce will take turns on Carter (both solid defenders), and while Thomas will have his hands full with Prince, it will be vice-versa.

Overall I feel like my teams serious advantage defensively and offensively in the front-court is certainly good enough overcome this team, while guys like Wade and Carter can be a problem on the perimeter, my team too has players and former Finals MVPs to simply take over and close out a game if necessary. My team has the overall defensive tools, key match-ups, and enough offensive arsenal to overcome a series long win.

[studcrackers]

team studsy

C: Wes Unseld (30)/Bill Laimbeer (14)/Maurice Lucas (4)
PF: Kevin Garnett (38)/Maurice Lucas (10)
SF: Shane Battier (20)/Bernard King (28)
SG: Ray Allen (36)/Allan Houston (12)
PG: Steve Nash (34)/Alvin Robertson (14)

vs.

Dennis Johnson(34), Gilbert Arenas(14)
Tracy Mcgrady(36), Gilbert Arenas(12)
James Worthy(35), Gerald Wallace(5), Antonio Mcdyss(8)
Karl Malone(36), Antonio Mcdyss(12)
Nate Thurmond(34), Vlade Divac(14)

I'm looking at his team and i'm just at a loss for words as how he's built his team. nobodies style seems to mesh well with anyones. For instance, Worthy needed somebody to create for him, this team doesnt have any great creators when he needs a great point guard. karl malone thrived on the pick and roll or pick and pop mid range, the problem is he doesnt have a true point guard on this roster but a mixture of combo guards.

dennis johnson did best as a 3rd option or when he was on a team that featured multiple options to mask the fact that he couldnt hit a jump shot. the problem with this team is nobody has a jump shot and the closest thing resembling one is tmacs (who in 1 of his prime years used for this shot a woeful 41%) and the same could be said for gilbert arenas (again who in one of his prime years shot less than 42%. you could really make a case that karl malone is the teams best shooter. it's not so much that this isnt a talented team but it's a talented conglomerate put sloppily together and will be constantly fighting spacing issues (did i also mention that the starting C nate thurmond shot 43.7 and 41.1% in his prime years) and whose team wont have a large enough defensive impact to mask it's offensive deficiencies

where as you look at my team, which can beat you in a variety of ways. i feature the best passing front court (garnett and unseld), arguably the best passing point guard (nash), the best shooting point guard and shooting guard in this league (nash and ray allen) and arguably the leagues most explosive bench scorer (bernard king).

i have an offense that features the best offensive point guard in this league, he can play half court or full court, my big man wes unseld can start the break with his outlet passes whose only comparisons draw the names of Russell and Walton which leads to easy buckets on the other end from nash/allen/king or battier (be it by layups or open 3's) or perhaps wes will free up one our players with one of his legendary bone jarring picks to spring ray allen for a 3 or a pick and roll with nash for an easy bucket (nash thrives in mismatches in the half court, he can shoot it over anyone and make the most ridiculous off balance shots, while on the other hand you have to worry about him being able to pin point a pass right in the hands of his big men)

keep in mind while you're shifting focus on nash i can also run the offense through the high post with KG (or the p'n'r or pick and pop w/he and nash) and malone is no match with garnett in terms of foot speed, and dont even think about doubling him, i got guys set up at the corners (battier or perhaps allan houston) or nash up top, and maybe if bernard king is in the game he'll get easy buckets by streaking to the basket should you decide to double down. or maybe if it's the starting 5, battier is in one corner and allens in the other so you have 2 40+% shooters and nash at the top of the key, pick your poison but you will lose.

defensively KG will be the anchor the defense down low while battier and alvin robertson will take the tough assignments up top (did i mention that robertson is a steals wizard and defensive player of the year?) ray allen over time has proven to be a more than adequate defender (see his defense in the 08 and '10 finals on kobe) especially when having a defensive stalwart behind him to help mask his deficiencies. all my big men are phenomenal man defenders, either anchoring legendary defenses (see bill laimbeer on the bad boy pistons who was also legendary for getting under peoples skin) or were notorious enforcers (unseld and maurice lucas who kicked artis gilmore's ass) who would take no guff from the cheap shots of karl malones and would make you think twice about driving the lane on them.

rebounding wise i again feel i have an edge, kevin garnett was 2nd and 1st in rebounding in his prime years chosen but did also lead the league in rebounding 4 times, and unseld was another who at one time led the league in boards (he was a wizard of the defensive board which would be quickly zipped up the floor on a frozen rope, but was no slouch on the offensive glass to notching over 3.5 a game) bill laimbeer led the 80's in defensive rebounding too and mo lucas was in double digits as well

crunch time scoring. should you decide the game will be close just think on his team who will be the person on his team taking the last shot? you could say karl malone but as scottie pippen once famously said, 'the mail dont deliver on sundays' as he clanks another free throw. do you really trust a tracy mcgrady or gilber arenas to step up and take the shot? 2 players who between themselves have amassed a whopping total of 1 trip to the 2nd round. you could say james worthy or dennis johnson but again they always need a facilitator to set them up for that final shot, these guys were never counted on to do it themselves.

whereas i have 2 of the most deadliest shooters to ever play this game on my side, one who's also a top notch distributor while the other strikes fear in every road stadium he goes to any time he's given even a sliver of day light all the while you see a horrified look on their face as the ball swishes through the bottom of the net. (need i mention that ray allen in the 00-01 playoffs shot 47.9% from downtown in 18 games which if not for some shoddy officiating likely resulted in a finals trip?)

also should my team need to clinch the game with free throws, i have the #1 and #5 leaders all time in free throw percentage (allan houston is #25) also bill laimbeer shot an astonishing 86.6% from the line, mind you this is from a center. the only 2 sub 75% ft shooters on the team are wes unseld and shane battier

in conclusion i feel ive put together a team of perfect cohesion and balance, people that know when to take over and know when to tap the brakes, i dont see a real feasible way to be stopped on offense and defensively we're pretty solid too. i hope you make the right choice





Starting 5
C - Wes Unseld (77-78, 78-79) Finals MVP (77-78) NBA Champion
(77-78) 33.1 mpg 7.6 ppg 52.3 fg% 11.9 rpg (3.6 offensive boards) 4.1 apg 1.2 spg .6 bpg
playoffs - 18 games 37.6 mpg 9.4 ppg 12 rpg (4 offensive boards) 4.4 apg 17 steals 7 blocks

(78-79) 31.2 mpg 10.9 ppg 57.7 fg% 10.8 rpg (3.6 offensive boards) 4.1 apg .9 spg .5 bpg
playoffs - 19 games 38.7 mpg 10.3 ppg 49.4 fg% 13.3 rpg (4.7 offensive boards) 3.4 apg 17 steals 14 blocks

PF- KG (02-03, 03-04) 1st teams All-NBA and 1st team All-defense both years 03-04 MVP
(02-03) 82 games 40 mpg 23 ppg 50.2 fg% 75% ft% 13.4 rpg (3 offensive boards) 6 apg 1.4 spg 1.6 bpg
Playoffs - 6 games 43 mpg 27 ppg 15.7 rpg 5.2 apg 51.4 fg% 10 steals 10 blocks

(03-04) 82 games 39 mpg 24.2 ppg 49.9 fg% 79% ft% 13.9 rpg (3 offensive boards) 5 apg 1.4 spg 2.2 bpg
Playoffs - 18 games 43.4 mpg 24.3 ppg 45.2 fg% 14.6 rpg 5.1 apg 24 steals 41 blocks

shane battier (05-06, 06-07)
(05-06) 35 mpg 10.1 ppg 5.3 rpg 1.1 spg 1.4 bpg 48.4 fg% 39.4 3 pt.%

(06-07) 36.4 mpg 10.1 ppg 4.1 rpg 2.1 apg 1 spg .7 bpg 44.6 fg% 42.1 3 pt.%
playoffs - 7 games 10.3 ppg 45.1 fg% 44.2 3 pt.% 2.6 rpg 2.1 apg 12 steals 7 blocks

ray allen (00-01, 01-02) 2 time all star 2001 3rd team all-nba
(00-01) 38.2 mpg 22 ppg 48 fg% 43.3 3 pt.% (2.5 makes per game) 88.8 ft% 5.2 rpg 4.6 apg 1.2 spg
playoffs - 18 games 42.7 mpg 25.1 ppg 47.7 fg% 37.8 3 pt.% 91.9 ft% 4.1 rpg 6 apg 24 steals 57 3's

(01-02) 36.6 mpg 21.8 ppg 46.2 fg% 43.4 3 pt.% (3.3 makes per game) 4.5 rpg 3.9 apg 1.3 spg (led nba in 3 point makes)

steve nash - (04-05, 05-06) 2 MVP 2 all stars 2 all-nba 1st team led nba in assists both years
(04-05) 34.3 mpg 15.5 ppg 50.2 fg% 43.1 3 pt.% 88.7 ft% 11.5 apg 3.3 rpg 1 spg
playoffs 15 games 40.7 mpg 23.9 ppg 52 fg% 38.9 3 pt.% 91.9 ft% 11.3 apg 4.8 rpg 14 steals

(05-06) 35.4 mpg 18.8 ppg 51.2 fg% 43.9 3 pt.% 92.1 ft% (led league) 10.5 apg 4.2 rpg .8 spg
playoffs 20 games 39.9 mpg 20.4 ppg 50.2 fg% 36.8 3 pt.% 91.2 ft% 10.2 apg 3.7 apg

bench:
bernard king (83-84, 84-85) 2 time 1st team all-nba (2nd in MVP voting '84) led nba in scoring ('84-85)
(83-84) 34.6 mpg 26.3 ppg 57.2 fg% 77.9 ft% 5.1 rpg 2.1 apg 1 spg
playoffs - 12 games 39.8 mpg 34.8 ppg 57.4 fg% 6.2 rpg 3 apg 14 steals

(84-85) 37.5 mpg 32.9 ppg 53 fg% 77.2 ft% (10 attempts a game) 5.3 rpg 3.2 apg 1.3 spg

bill laimbeer (83-84, 84-85) 2 time all star led league in total rebounds (83-84) 2nd in trb (84-85)
(83-84) 34.9 mpg 17.3 ppg 53.0 fg% 86.6 ft% 12.2 rpg (4 offensive boards) 1.8 apg .6 spg 1 bpg
playoffs - 5 games 33 mpg 15.2 ppg 12.4 rpg 2.4 apg 4 steals 3 blocks

(84-85) 35.3 mpg 17.5 ppg 50.6 fg% 79.7 ft% 12.4 rpg (3.6 offensive) 1.9 apg .8 spg .9 bpg
playoffs - 9 games 36.1 mpg 14.7 ppg 10.7 rpg 1.7 apg 7 blocks 7 steals

alvin robertson (85-86, 86-87) Defensive player of the year (85-86) Most improved player/All NBA 2nd team (85-86) 2 time all star 2 time all defense (1 1st and one 2nd team) led league in steals both years
(85-86) 35.1 mpg 17 ppg 51.4 fg% 79.5 ft% 6.3 rpg 5.5 apg 3.7 steals per game .5 bpg

(86-87) 33.3 mpg 17.7 ppg 46.6 fg% 5.2 rpg 5.2 apg 3.2 steals per game .4 bpg

Maurice Lucas - (76-77, 77-78) 2 time allstar All-NBA 2nd team, 1st team All-NBA defense, World Champ
(76-77) 36.2 mpg 20.2 ppg 46.6 fg% 76.5 ft% 11.4 rpg (3.4 offensive boards) 2.9 apg 1.1 spg .7 bpg
playoffs - 19 games 21.2 ppg 51.9 fg% 9.9 rpg 4.4 apg 28 steals 23 blocks

(77-78) 31.2 mpg 16.4 ppg 45.8 fg% 9.1 rpg 2.5 apg .9 spg .8 bpg

allan houston - (99-00, 00-01) 2 time all star
(99-00) 38.6 mpg 19.7 ppg 48.3 fg% 43.6 3 pt.% 83.8 ft% 3.3 rpg 2.7 apg .8 spg
playoffs - 16 games 40.9 mpg 17.6 ppg 43.8 fg% 50.0 3 pt.% 86.2 ft% 3.3 rpg 1.6 apg 19 steals

(00-01) 36.6 18.7 ppg 44.9 fg% 38.1 3 pt.% 90.9 ft% 3.6 rpg 2.2 apg .7 spg
playoffs - 5 games 37.8 mpg 20.7 ppg 59.4 fg% 54.5 3 pt.% 1.8 rpg 1.4 apg 5 steals

[Snakebites]

I'd like to clarify a few points in a rebuttal if I may:

Firstly, the spacing advantage:

I fail to see where there is a "clear" spacing advantage for Miller's team. Billups and Jones, respectively, are the only players in either starting lineup who shoot the 3 ball to the extent that they could be considered "spacers". Furthermore, we have a small forward who gets all of his points in the mid-long range (stopping just short of 3 point range), a center who scores on nice mid range jump shots considerably, and a power forward who can score from everywhere midrange and closer. We have one great shooter off the bench in Rasheed Wallace who can force big men out onto the perimeter as well, which is one more shooter than our opponents have off their bench.

If anything, I'd argue that spacing favors our team.

Next, his alleged defense advantage:

Defense is not something that can be looked at in a vacuum in terms of individual abilities. One MUST look at how the teams actually match up together.

Unfortunately, there are some fatal flaws in Miller's defensive setup. Firstly, his decision to put Eddie Jones on Clyde Drexler based on frankly flimsy evidence. When Drexler and EJ played one another, there was nearly a decade of age difference between them. Drexler had lost a step and did not have anything approaching the explosiveness he did in his absolute prime. In his prime, even Jordan and Pippen couldn't stop him with any real consistency. I rather doubt EJ has magical powers defensively that those two great wing defenders did not.

Secondly, he has his two best defenders (Hondo and Frazier) guarding my 4th and 5th offensive options. While I don't doubt they'll do a fine job there, given the range of Billups this means his best defender will almost NEVER be in a position to have the maximum possible impact. Hondo guarding Dandridge also limits his ability to guard Drexler.

As you can see, the gap between the two perimeter defenses is made smaller by the matchups (Clyde will get his against EJ, and his best defenders are on secondary options), and is made further smaller by the presence of Michael Ray Richardson.

Lastly, you must factor in the centers. No position is more important defensively than center, and while Lanier wasn't an awful defender by any means, he will have his hands full guarding David Robinson and is simply not anywhere near Robinson's level defensively either. I believe this factor tips the defensive battle in my favor, and any doubts about my teams' defensive advantage are also made easier by the presence of Rasheed and Michael off the bench.

As great as Miller's team looks on paper defensively, the matchups here do not favor him. Pettit will get his, particularly in the playoff position. A prime Drexler, guarded by the capable but unaided Eddie Jones will still be effective. DRob outmatches Lanier. And his two best defenders are out on the perimeter guarding secondary offensive options and aren't where Miller needs them to be most of the time. The defense is an advantage to my team, which has capable defenders on Frazier and Hondo and a vastly superior anchor down low.

As I've said before, my advantage in the front court is not something I think Miller will be able to contend with. Lanier and Grant are not only overmatched, but will find themselves in early foul trouble, and the mismatch only gets worse when the bench has to come in earlier. I realize Foster is a nice role player in a single season standpoint, but I simply don't believe he can compete with lineups of bigmen at this level. And if Foster can rebound at this level (I'm not sure that rate holds true at all) the slight rebounding advantage he gives Miller is more than canceled out by the consequences of his other limitations.

I simply believe the balanced build of my team will overcome Miller's perimeter-heavy talent load and prove itself on both ends of the floor to be the better team.

[TMACFORMVP]

Voting can now begin. For those who have not completed writeups, or rebuttals, I'd normally ask for some lenience, but we've had roughly a week, so whether you want to wait for them, or judge right now on their series is entirely up to you. I'd hope that we can wrap up the first round by late tomorrow, let's not make that wishful thinking!

[Miller4ever]

Furthermore, we have a small forward who gets all of his points in the mid-long range (stopping just short of 3 point range), a center who scores on nice mid range jump shots considerably, and a power forward who can score from everywhere midrange and closer.

Dandridge's range is out to 20, maybe 22. Havlicek is effective out to 25. And as for Pettit, he's a jump shooter like Jermain O'Neal. Inefficient. If you want to rely on 45% from a big, that's fine by me.

We have one great shooter off the bench in Rasheed Wallace who can force big men out onto the perimeter as well, which is one more shooter than our opponents have off their bench.

So Carmelo Anthony's better 3-point percentage doesn't count?

Unfortunately, there are some fatal flaws in Miller's defensive setup. Firstly, his decision to put Eddie Jones on Clyde Drexler based on frankly flimsy evidence. When Drexler and EJ played one another, there was nearly a decade of age difference between them. Drexler had lost a step and did not have anything approaching the explosiveness he did in his absolute prime. In his prime, even Jordan and Pippen couldn't stop him with any real consistency. I rather doubt EJ has magical powers defensively that those two great wing defenders did not.

That's oversimplifying defense into a single aspect, when effective defense is just as varied as effective offense. Proof of this was the season Artest played next to Battier, and they had varying results against different players. Some ways work better on Clyde than others. I'm sure that rookie Pippen would have some trouble against him, of course. What is for sure is that a young, pre-prime Eddie Jones could bottle up post-prime Clyde Drexler in Michael Cooper fashion (who in the two years we have, Drexler shot less than 43% on Michael Cooper). Eddie Jones' defense is more comparable to Michael Cooper's than it is to Jordan's. Jordan was about mirroring and stopping. Michael cooper was more pesky and aggressive on defense, and that's the style Eddie Jones plays with. And it's the style that works on Clyde.

Pettit will get his, particularly in the playoff position.

Totally, because he shoots en even worse percentage in the playoffs.

btw, Jeff Foster can rebound with the best of them, including a 20-board performance against the Pistons' loaded frontcourt.

Furthermore, Snake has not addressed how much more turnover-prone his entire team is, especially from the bench. We have much more opportunities to run as a perimeter-able team, while limiting his opportunities to do so. Additionally, my team looks like the 2004 Pistons, and his look like the 2004 Lakers. It's also much easier to defend a team that has to just stick everything inside the 3-point line.

[TMACFORMVP]

Round 2 Writeups can BEGIN!