Auction/Keeper FINAL ROUND. PUBLIC JUDGING, NO EMAIL.

[TMACFORMVP]

so..

BI v. Riot
RR9 v. bryant08

TMAC v. SamBone
Snake v. Kees

WRITEUPS DUE SATURDAY 9 PM EST.

Writeups will have an 800 word limit; while rebuttals will have a 250 word limit.

VOTES WILL BE EMAILED TO tmacrgm@gmail.com

I'm also PLEASED to announce we will also be having Baller24 and Warspite as JUDGES who will send in their votes as well. Figure why not have two knowledgeable guys with previous experience and reliability to have an input on the matchups, especially when they're willing to do so.

[BlackIce]

The Kareem Team

vs.

Riot

Rotation:


Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(44)/Bill Bridges(4)
Jack Sikma(32)/Jim Brewer(16)
Ricky Barry(40)/Bob Love(8)
Jamaal Wilkes(34)/Dennis Johnson(14)
Slick Watts(24)/Norm Nixon(24)

KAJ - 71/72: 35/17/5, 57% FG, 1971-72 NBA MVP , All NBA 1st Team
Sikma - 77/78: 11/8/2, 46%
Barry - 74/75: 30/6/6/2.9, 46% FG, 1974-75 NBA Finals MVP, All NBA 1st Team
Wilkes - 75/76: 18/9/2, 46%, 1975-76 NBA All-Defensive (2nd)
Slick Watts - 13/5/8/3.2, 43% FG, 1975-76 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Defense:
KAJ will be covering Lanier, KAJ was at the height of his powers this season and will destroy Lanier on both ends. While KAJ can switch from power to finesse on a dime, he consistently anchored top defenses in MIL. He is the best defensive player in this series.

Sikma is young, and will struggle against Cowens. That being said he is extremely mobile and can stay with Cowens on most possessions.

Barry will hold the offensively limited (in this context) Sloan. Sloan was a slasher, and can't really space the floor. I'll get into the spacing advantage I have later on.

Wilkes will cover the "Iceman". Wilkes was All D 2nd team (as is my whole bench, minus Norm Nixon who is a good defender as well), and the lanky 6'6 G-F should matchup well against Gervin. Again Gervin isn't a range shooter, though he is money from midrange.

Watts will check Oscar. No two ways about it, Watts will struggle to keep Oscar out of the paint. He is an elite defender though that will stop dribble drive penetration and Oscar's ability to keep his dribble alive while posting and make quick decisions will be hindered. Oscar is a post player and Sloan is a slasher, meanwhile Gervin is by no means a traditional spacer. We will pack the paint to with our perimeter guys and force them to beat us from the outside.

Offense:
We have two exceptional passers outside of the PG spot in Barry and KAJ. We will run the offense through KAJ, pound it inside and let him abuse Lanier (who isn't a great defender in this context). Barry will punish Riots teams if they double down and he will also serve as our 2nd option. He is a Durant like player with better passing. He doesn't dominant the ball and can score with the likes of Jerry West when he needs to. Gervin doesn't compare to a peak Barry. Barry was a devastating scorer and with KAJ up top combined with Barrys passing...we should score efficiently. Wilkes played with Barry and should get his against the frail Gervin. Sikma is a spacer.

I'd like to highlight the Watts/Oscar matchup. Neither can guard the other guy. Oscar, like Magic struggled to check waterbug point guards. Watts is most known for his D, but he was very quick on both ends, and will blow by Oscar with ease.


Goodluck Riot.

[-Kees-]

PG: Lenny Wilkins 34 / Gail Goodrich 14
SG: Jerry West 38 / Billy Knight 10
SF: Lou Hudson 36 / Adrian Dantley 12
PF: Elvin Hayes 36 / George McGinnis 12
Cc: Swen Nater 30 / Spencer Haywood 18

I don't have a ton of time, but here goes a mini-writeup.

Snake's strength is easily his defense, led by Frazier and Russell, however, I feel that with my spacing and playmaking, I can counteract that enough to get the win. Both Wilkins and West are two of the better playmakers in the league during this era, and both can also stretch the floor. Adding in Lou Hudson on the perimeter, if any of my guys gets into the lane, it'll be trouble for them, because of how many options I have on the perimeter to shoot the ball and shoot it well. I also know that Frazier will only be on one of my guards, and the other one is very capable of running an offense. So not only will I use the drive and dish to help hurt Snake's D, but I will also push the ball in transition. It will be hell trying to get back with a few great ball handlers in West and Wilkins and all of my perimeter shooters. There will be too many spots to cover and too many guards who know what to do in the right situations for us not to be successful. A third option I will go to is Hayes against the smaller Unseld. Its not the biggest advantage, but he should have space down low and has a size advantage as well, so there may be something there.

Defensively, I will put West on Frazier to slow him down, and play team D to stop Snake. Russell was not much on offense (10 PPG, 43 FG% in 43 MPG for a center) and I think that we could use that advantage to help on drives and other things.

Sorry for the short writeup, I won't have much more time until Sunday afternoon.

[RiotPunch]

'68-'69 - 24.7 PPG || 9.8 APG || 6.4 RPG || 58% TS || All-NBA First Team

'71-'72 - 16.2 PPG || 8.4 RPG || 2.6 APG || NBA All-Defensive 1st Team

'77-'78 - 27.2 PPG || 5.1 RPG || 3.7 APG || 1.7 SPG || 59% TS || All-NBA First Team

'72-'73 - 20.5 PPG || 16.2 RPG || 4.1 APG || 48% TS || 9.9 DWS || NBA MVP

'73-'74 - 22.5 PPG || 13.3 RPG || 4.2 APG || 3.0 BPG || 53% TS || All-Star Game MVP


Lineup / Rotation:
Oscar Robertson (36) / Calvin Murphy (12)
George Gervin (38) / Jim McMillian (6) / Oscar Robertson (4)
Jerry Sloan (38) / Jim McMillian (10)
Dave Cowens (40) / Larry Kenon (8)
Bob Lanier (38) / Dan Roundfield (10)

Write-up:
Offense:
Scoring points shouldn't be an issue for my team, even with BI trying to adjust his lineup to supposedly make that difficult. We have a few match-ups to expose, the first one being Oscar Robertson against the likes of Watts/Nixon... Both were very good defensive players, but both are SEVERELY undersized to be slowing down The Big O. Oscar will shoot over them, post them up, use his strength to slash, etc... The second is George Gervin against Wilkes. Wilkes is a solid defender in his own right, but Gervin is too electric for him to keep in check. We expect big production here. We also like Sloan's ability to get 15-20 points on Barry. Cowens is another guy we really like here. Sikma is a great player, but he will have a hard-time guarding the league MVP. Lanier will do his best to use his strength/girth on Kareem around the basket, and we expect Jabbar to be needed as a help defender early and often, which should free up Lanier for open looks. Oscar, Gervin and Cowens are all great scorers, whole Sloan and Lanier are very solid there as well. Our backcourt off the bench are all great floor spacers/shooters who will run up the score nicely when in the game. Just too much firepower to contain.

Defense:
Here is where we will be tested, but we feel pretty good about the match-ups. At the 1, we will trust Oscar to stay in front of BI's smaller guards while trusting our team defense to assist him if the guards are able to penetrate. We will make those two beat us with the jumper, which should play to our favor.
We are going to put the Iceman on Wilkes. Gervin is not known for his defense, but he is no slouch-- he averaged 1.7 steals per game and 1.3 blocks per game in the year that I have chosen, and he has a length advantage on Wilkes. Gervin will be spending most of his energy scoring the ball for us, but we expect him to hold Wilkes in check on D as well.
A big challenge in this match-up is figuring out a way to slow down the unconscious Rick Barry. Our solution? Assigning our 4x All-NBA Defensive 1st Team, 2x All-NBA Defensive 1st Team G/F Jerry Sloan. I'm not sure if it is possible to shut down Barry, but if anyone can slow him down-- it's Sloan. Jerry will be in his face all night, hopefully getting him out of rhythm. Should be a great battle of offense vs. defense. They say defense wins championships.
Jack Sikma is one of my favorite players ever, but he is outmatched across the board by Cowens. When people think of Dave Cowens, they normally think offense... but they guy is a great defensive player as well. Not only was he the MVP of the NBA in the year that I chose, but he also had 10 defensive win-shares that year, which is incredible. He should fare well against a guy who doesn't expose his weaknesses much in Sikma.
Obviously guarding the best center of all-time in his greatest year as a pro is a tall order... but we feel like we have the other positions well-covered. Kareem will likely always get his, no matter what, but we will ask Lanier to do his best against him nonetheless. Lanier average 3 blocks per game in the year that I chose, and his one physical advantage over Kareem is his superior strength and girth. Bob will muscle Kareem around as much as possible, trying to make him uncomfortable in the post.

Final Word:
Plain and simple: BI's team cannot contain my offensive firepower, as we just have too much production coming out of multiple positions. On the other end, we have the defenders to slow him down. Sloan will makes things difficult for Barry and Kareem will be forced to take things into his own hands against a physical monster in Lanier. Jabbar is fantastic, but not enough to carry BI's team to the next round.

[SamBone]

will do my best to get something posted, but I am on my way to the beach for the weekend

PG: Gus Williams (23) / Pete Maravich (25)
SG: Sam Jones (32) / (Gus Williams) (8) / Louie Dampier (8)
SF: Bernard King (38) / (Louie Dampier) (10)
PF: Moses Malone (25) / Marcus Lucas (23)
C : Artis Gilmore (35) / (Moses Malone) (13)
situational : Doug Collins and Paul Silas

[Snakebites]

Walt Frazier (38)/Paul Westphal (10)
Earl Monroe (31)/Paul Westphal (17)
Bob Dandridge (32)/ Billy Cunningham (16)
Billy Cunningham (20)/Wes Unseld (28)
Bill Russell (38)/Wes Unseld (10)

Offense:

Simply put, our team works. It has a mixture of balance and firepower, coupled with a healthy level of efficiency. Placing Walt Frazier at the helm of our offense gives us a devastating offensive weapon. He can either take his man one on one and produce points directly or initiate plays for his teammates. He could shoot mid range, drive to the basket and get to the line, and was devastatingly clutch, famously putting up staggering numbers against none other than Jerry West in the NBA finals, in which his Knicks overcame the absensce of Willis Reed en route to an NBA championship. Our other two guards had the versatility to play either guard position, were terrific slashers and shooters, and could also get the offense going as passers. Monroe played with Frazier to form one of the great backcourts in NBA history, and Paul Westphal was the primary scorer and best player on very strong Suns teams.

These guards will be able to get in the paint, and Kees, lacking a defensive anchor (Nater didn't have the mobility or elevation to be a particularly strong defensive anchor or shot blocker), our guards with their slashing abilities figure to be the key to this series. The only great perimeter defender Kees possesses is Jerry West, and unfortunately, he can't be everywhere at once. Our guards will be able to cut past his perimeter defense to the soft interior for devastating effect.

Up front, things don't get much easier. Russell doesn't need to score points to be a factor in our offense. His directional blocked shots and elite level rebounding will lead to fast breaks (ably lead by our elite backcourt), and his passing (unmatched for big men of this time period with the exception of Walton), also makes him an extremely useful hub in our offense. Wes Unseld, when involved, will play a similar role. Billy Cunningham was an incredible offensive player with terrific post skills and outstanding all round scoring ability, and he gives us some valuable scoring up front. Bobby Dandridge, like the rest of our team, was a consumate team player and absolutely elite mid range shooter who stepped up his game in the playoffs and forms another critical part of our offense.

Defense:

Not sure what needs to be said here. As impressive as we feel our offense is, this team was built to defend, and presents a compelling case for having the strongest defense in the league. Bill Russell, even in his final year, anchored perhaps the best defense in the entire league, and his presence in the paint will make things extremely difficult for any team we face. Unfortunately for Kees, reprieve doesn't even come when Russell goes to the bench, as his rebounding and defensive prowess will be replaced by that of Wes Unseld. Swen Nater was an efficient scorer, but not much else can be concluded about his offensive game, and against our front court his impact will be minimal.

The only place we'll really concede difficulty here is when Billy Cunningham guards Elvin Hayes, but Hayes was a predominantly low post player which places much of what he does within range of Bill Russell and is help defense, which even at this stage in his career, was unmatched. Hayes also presents as many issues for Kees's own team as he does for ours.

There's another reason, besides the offensive ones mentioned above, why I was happy to shell out 23 million to ensure Frazier's part on this team. On the perimeter, he ANCHORS us, perhaps the best perimeter defending guard in the history of the NBA. In this series, he draws the formidable task of making life difficult for Jerry West, and we don't think theres a better man in this entire game for that task. Bob Dandridge also has the length and defensive ability to make things very difficult for their primary shooter, Lou Hudson.

We'll concede that the perimeter is formidable offensively here, but we think if any defense can put a limit on it, ours can.

Intangibles: The distinction between the two teams becomes more clear here. Our team is FULL of class acts and terrific team players. Cunningham and Monroe were both major scorers who proved they could adapt to supporting roles on when surrounded by other very talented players. Bill Russell, Wes Unseld, Bob Dandridge and Walt Frazier were all known as ultimate team players. This team was built to WIN as a group.

On the other side, you see some such players (Wilkins, West), but also a highly volatile mixture of personalities up front. Haywood, McGinnis, and especially Hayes were all players with known attitude troubles who expected a large number of shots. Chemistry, clearly, will work against our opponents and in our favor.

[bryant08]

bryant08:

Chamberlain (36) – Reed (12)
DeBusschere (20) – Lucas (20) – Reed (8)
Erving (38) – DeBusschere (10)
Davis (28) – Brown (20)
Van Lier (32) – Brown (8) – Bing (8)

vs.

RR9:

G: Tiny Archibald - 5M
G: Phil Chenier - 2.5M
F: John Havlicek - 14.5M
F: Elgin Baylor - 10M
C: Nate Thurmond - 15M

ROBERT Parish - 5M
Alex English - 3M
Gus Johnson - 1.5M
Dan Issel - 1.5M
Chet Walker - 2M

Wanted to start off by saying I think RR9 has an interesting team, plenty of talent present with Thurmond/Baylor/Hondo/Archibald. He’s got lots of scoring options and solid defensive pillars in Thurmond and Havlicek.

With that said, I have confidence in my team’s ability and feel we’ll win this matchup. Firstly, if RR9 does decide to go with the smaller lineup he posted in the Roster thread as shown above, I will have to counter by starting Dave DeBusschere for his defensive versatility. DeBusschere will be my best bet going up against a guy like Elgin Baylor. Here’s what TrueLAFan had to say about DeBusschere (I think we all have a certain appreciation and respect for his opinions):

"He had total respect from teammates and opponents because of his selflessness and willingness to do whatever was necessary for the team. When the Knicks played the Nets in a interleague game, DeBusschere guarded Julius Erving. When Willis Reed got hurt, DeBusschere guarded Wilt Chamberlain. He started out as a SG, and could still guard that position if necessary. He made teams better in ways that went beyond 16 and 11. DeBusschere was a winner. Great player, great man."

The major area of opportunity for my team offensively is in the paint. Nate Thurmond is an awesome defender but besides that, I don’t see much ability to guard the post (Gus Johnson too obviously, unclear how big a role he’ll play though). 75-76 Dr. J did most of his work getting into the lane and wreaking havoc from there. It’s unreal how good he was that season, doing his damage from mid-range, attacking the basket, posting up. The Knicks famous frontcourt of Reed/Lucas/DeBusschere could all score in the paint, while all 3 especially Lucas spread the floor very well. And let’s not forget Wilt, who’s still a force to be reckon with in the paint.

Whenever your gameplan is to pound the ball inside you need guys who can capitalize on open jumpshots, and that’s why I plan to use Fred Brown and Walter Davis extensively. Davis is someone I’ve had in the past and if you haven’t seen this guy play, do yourself a favour and watch the few Youtube clips of him that are available. This guy could flat out shoot, he had a silky smooth mid range game with the ability to score in transition. He loved the pull up jumper as well, a tool that is nice to have when pushing the tempo. Downtown Freddie Brown brings exceptional energy and deadeye shooter, perfect role off the bench backing me up at both guard spots.

One of my team’s other key strengths is rebounding, with Wilt/Lucas/Erving/Van Lier all noted as exceptional rebounders at their position.

Defensively, I love having an aggressive PG like Van Lier that can really dig into Tiny Archibald. It’s key to have two exceptional defenders at the point of attack and to protect the paint, and that I have with Norm and Wilt. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but 71-72 Wilt was a defensive monster. If you have a chance or wish to, read the 71-72 Retro POY thread (viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1046843&start=60). This is a dude who averaged 23 boards and 7.4 blocks in the NBA Finals. Just plain ridiculous. Dr. J was an all ABA Defender this season as well, and his ability to create turnovers should allow us to get out and push the tempo a little more, suiting the styles of guys like Walter Davis and the Doctor himself.

Overall, I think my team has the slight edge in a number of areas, rather than any one massive advantage. I feel my overall talent level is higher with guys producing at an elite level and the offensive/defensive combination of Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving will be too much for RR9 to contain. Best of luck.

[TMACFORMVP]

vs. SamBone.

Always cool playing against one of the best posters on the board. May the best team win.

viewtopic.php?f=340&t=1193811#p32672056
^
see roster page for further details.

I think our biggest advantage comes at PF, where McAdoo is the biggest mismatch in the series. He should draw Moses away from the basket, and use his quickness to blow by him if he were to come out and try to contest. He should literally be unstoppable in this series. I don't believe there are any other alternatives on Bone's team that can adequately defend him either.

I believe this is a similar case with David Thompson as well. S.Jones, at this point is in the last year of his career, and clearly not in his prime both defensively or offensively. Maravich or Louie Dampier provide below average defensive options as well.

I think this leads into my next point...

Defensively; the only above average defender on the entire team is Gilmore. We have a team that can absolutely exploit a below average defensive team...NOBODY on our team except Buse has an under .550 TS%. And our plan of attack, w/ Walton making everyone better, with high low offensive players that can move off the ball, shoot from the perimeter create an offensive attack that can exploit any defense.

And our defensive matchups are very favorable..

First of all Gus (.497 TS%), S.Jones (.481 TS%), Maravich (.492 TS%), and King (.511 TS%) are not particularly efficient players. Jones is in his last year of his career, Gus isn't in his prime, neither is King (who is a rookie; in fact, King's Nets team was the worst ranked offense in the NBA).

We have Buse to throw at Gus/Maravich, are comfortable with Thompson's athleticism on Jones, and have arguably the best non-C defender in NBA history (Bobby Jones) to throw on King. We're very comfortable w/ Walton on Gilmore too, as we feel he's the more impactful player on both sides of the floor.

Offensively, I don't think we can be stopped, and defensively we have the personnel to limit their offense as well.

Best of luck Bone.

[TMACFORMVP]

Send judging in NOW. tmacrgm@gmail.com

DUE MIDNIGHT EST TOMORROW.

[TMACFORMVP]

Need to get a few more votes, results will be posted tomorrow morning. And round 2 will begin will begin at the same time. And check Discussion Thread for a potential different sort of finish to these playoffs.

[TMACFORMVP]

Code: Select all

BlackIce over Riot. I thin Kareem and Barry with role players that fill their role lead them to victory.

BI v. Riot - I'll take Riot. Kareem is fantastic, but Cowens has a huge advantage at the 4, which somewhat offset's Kareem's advantage at the 5. Oscar and Gervin in the backcourt fits well and has tremendous talent, so I think Riot wins.

Riot

Riot wins. Toughest matchup. Riot has a few bodies to throw at Kareem, and big men that can also space the floor. Not enough size on Oscar is huge as well. Sloan won't stop Barry, but it's easier to help, and you can't get much better than Sloan, either. Not entirely sold on Wilkes guarding Gervin either. Kareem will dominate, and so will Barry, but I'm not sure the offensive output will be great enough. Seven game, flip of a coin series. Real tough, but the balanced attack does it.

Riot over BlackIce. Tough matchup, hate to go against Kareem and Barry, but Riot's team is more well balanced, and fits really well.

BlackIce wins versus Riot.


RIOT WINS 4-2

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bryant08 wins. Dr. J and Wilt is too much.

RR9 v. bryant08 - I think bryant's team defense can frustrate RR9's offense from all 1-5 positions, and Doc J was just crazy in his prime, which he is here. I also like the inside-outside of Wilt/Doc. Plus RR9 didn't do a writeup.

Bryant over RR9

bryant's team

Bryant

Bryant - Simply more balanced, and more talented.

BRYANT WINS 6-0

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TMAC v. SamBone

TMAC over Bone. Better defense and offense.

T-Mac - Moses will struggle, he wants to stay in the paint and Mcadoo won't let him. Gilmore is outmatched and Jones will slow down King.

TMAC over SamBone

TMAC v. SamBone - SamBone's lack of spacing and defense really do it for me here. King, Moses and Jones weren't a whole lot on D, and there is a lot of youth. Walton's all-around game caps this off for a TMAC win.

TMac

TMAC wins

TMAC WINS 6-0

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Snakebites over Kees. West and Lou are a devastating shooting combo on the wings, and Hayes should have a nice series against Cunningham, but Snakebites overall defense is on another level, w/ good execution as well.

Snake war

Snakebites.

Snakebites - West is surrounded by a good, but not great supporting cast. Snake has a dominant defense that will really get after West (Fraizer), with Russel waiting behind him.

Snake over Kees

Snake wins.

SNAKE WINS 6-0

[TMACFORMVP]

SECOND ROUND BEGINS NOW.

TMAC V. SNAKE
BRYANT V. RIOT

SAMBONE V. KEES
BI V. RR9

[-Kees-]

PG: Lenny Wilkins 34 / Gail Goodrich 14
SG: Jerry West 38 / Billy Knight 10
SF: Lou Hudson 36 / Adrian Dantley 12
PF: Elvin Hayes 36 / George McGinnis 12
Cc: Swen Nater 30 / Spencer Haywood 18

VS SamBone

PG: Gus Williams ‘78 (24) / Pete Maravich ’77 (24)
SG: Louie Dampier ’76 (32) / Doug Collins ‘76 (16)
SF: Bernard King ’78 (38) / (Doug Collins ‘76) (10)
PF: Moses Malone ‘78 (25) / Marcus Lucas ’77 (23)
C : Artis Gilmore ’75 (35) / (Moses Malone ‘78) (13)
situational : Paul Silas and Sam Jones

First I will address King. Rookie King was not a huge threat on offense. He did put up 24 PPG, but it was on the worst team in the league on the worst offense in the league. He also only put up 51 TS%, so it's safe to say that he wasn't all that great of a scorer, he just happened to get the ball the most on a bad team. He also only improved his team by 2 wins and less that 1 SRS when he came to the team, not a huge impact. We will also throw multiple defenders on him, from West to Lou to Dantley to see who does the best job on him. I am confident he will not be much of a threat, and if he is, it will be on very low shooting numbers.

Now Moses. First, he was not a good defensive player early on. He anchored a defense that was last in the league, and didn't put up any other good defensive stats. He also can't play PF. Sure, he was quick enough and big enough to play Hayes in the post, but on offense the spacing and fluidity of the offense dies. Moses, even in his prime was a guy who didn't play outside of 5 feet, and early in his career he was no different. He also was a black hole on offense. He put up 0.5 APG in almost 36 MPG, which is alarmingly low. His lack of shooting and willingness to pass will allow me to double anyone on the team who gets hot, because he provides such a minor threat when he doesn't have the ball, and when he does, he will be facing a bigger player who was All-Defensive 2nd team.

On offense, West, Wilkins and Lou should have their way. Both West and Lou have experienced long playoff runs and know how to win. Add in the fact that both Williams and Dampier were below average defenders should help my terrific guard play dominate even more. Hayes can fight with Moses down low, as Hayes was consistently a top rebounder, and also a terrific scorer down low and from mid-range, providing a bit of spacing.

Overall, I think my experienced and more talented team can dominate on both sides of the ball. Hayes, West, Lou and Wilkins provide a great core that fits together extremely well, where as a lot of SamBone's players have holes in their games or put up empty stats on poor teams.

[BlackIce]

Congrats Riot!

Rotation:


Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(44)/Bill Bridges(4)
Jack Sikma(32)/Jim Brewer(16)
Ricky Barry(40)/Bob Love(8)
Jamaal Wilkes(34)/Dennis Johnson(14)
Slick Watts(24)/Norm Nixon(24)

KAJ - 71/72: 35/17/5, 57% FG, 1971-72 NBA MVP , All NBA 1st Team
Sikma - 77/78: 11/8/2, 46%
Barry - 74/75: 30/6/6/2.9, 46% FG, 1974-75 NBA Finals MVP, All NBA 1st Team
Wilkes - 75/76: 18/9/2, 46%, 1975-76 NBA All-Defensive (2nd)
Slick Watts - 13/5/8/3.2, 43% FG, 1975-76 NBA All-Defensive (1st)


Good explanations guys, I'm cool with the result. It was going to be tough either way.

vs. RR9

*I'll try and keep this one short, Kareem is too mobile and his range will be too much for Thurmond. Kareem will be bothered a bit in the low post but on the other end he can play help D as Thurmond has no offensive game to speak of. Hondo isn't an offensive weapon either and will have his hands full with Barry. Our supporting casts outside of that are fairly close, but I'd say we will win this handily. Our backcourt defense will slow down Tiny, Slick is the perfect PG to put on him. Baylor is scary, he's a guy that can score and rebound at a high level but at the PF spot his rebounding is negated and his post game is as well.

GL RR9

[RiotPunch]

Fantastic team assembled by BI. We knew our match-up was the best one of round one-- just didn't know which way it was going to go. You'll steamroll your next opponent.

Riot vs. Bryant

[RR9]

tiny archibald was the best pg in his prime at least stats-wise, leading the league in BOTH assists and points in the same season!! he can penetrate at will and hitting hondo, chenier, and baylor on the wings whenever he wants. thurmond anchoring the defense is great as well.

kareem specifically said that thurmond guarded him better than anyone else had. this means KAJ will be limited as best as possible on offense, even to inefficient offense. baylor at the 4 creates a huge mismatch for sikma (actually a C) since he would have to guard baylor on the perimeter!! hondo is easily one of the best perimeter defenders of all time and will certainly limit rick barry. not to mention hondo has a solid offensive game as well (matching barry's production).

gus johnson was a beast rebounder as well and would make a great backup C. robbert parrish and alex english compliment my lineup from the bench very nicely. my team's defensive chemistry to individually and team-defend players makes mine a favorite to win this series - defense wins championships. my players' offensive game is great as well as many of them shoot particularly efficiently.

[bryant08]

bryant vs. Riot

Chamberlain (36) – Reed (12)
DeBusschere (20) – Lucas (20) – Reed (8)
Erving (38) – DeBusschere (10)
Davis (28) – Brown (20)
Van Lier (32) – Brown (8) – Bing (8)

vs.

Oscar Robertson (36) / Calvin Murphy (12)
George Gervin (38) / Jim McMillian (6) / Oscar Robertson (4)
Jerry Sloan (38) / Jim McMillian (10)
Dave Cowens (40) / Larry Kenon (8)
Bob Lanier (38) / Dan Roundfield (10)

Riot's got my favourite team in the competition besides my own. Just a really cool set-up and it makes for a great matchup. I think after getting Oscar he could've gone down a slightly dangerous path but he built his team extremely well.

Offense:

Nothing really changes in my offense against Riot. I'm assuming he'll use Sloan to try and defend Erving. Sloan was tough as nails, a great defender but we're talking about 75-76 Dr. J here. I'm still more than comfortable running the offense through him. What I love about Erving is that he rarely settled for jumpshots and manages to make things happen by getting into the paint. With other talented scorers and shooters on my team, Erving just opens up the floor which offers opportunities to exploit other matchups.

Another interesting matchup is at center, between Lanier-Wilt. Chamberlain in 71-72 focused much more on high percentage looks and finishing in tight, but I still feel Wilt's size can be a massive factor offensively. Wilt is another player who's presence makes life easier for his teammates and make no doubt about it, we will be making full use of his presence inside offensively. I do expect 18+ points out of Wilt going up against Lanier, who actually had this to say about playing Wilt Chamberlain:

Wilt's is a phenomenal, overwhelming presence. Tom LaGarde, who tops out at a mere 6'10", was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. He remembers being on court before a game in Montreal when Wilt strolled into the arena. Several people on the floor were as tall as Wilt, or nearly so. It didn't matter. Everything just stopped. Everyone just stared. Bob Lanier, 6'10", 270, one of the hugest men anywhere, filled out a questionnaire recently that asked him to cite the most memorable moment in his entire athletic career. Lanier wrote: "When Wilt Chamberlain lifted me up and moved me like a coffee cup so he could get a favorable position."

One other thing about Wilt is his presence on the defensive boards, along with guys like Lucas/Erving/Van Lier who I mentioned as excellent rebounders in my writeup against RR9. That presence on the defensive boards allows us to push the tempo, where guys like Erving/Walter Davis/Van Lier excel in transition.

Also don’t underrate my depth and options offensively. Having the trio of Lucas/Reed/DeBusschere allows me to throw different looks out there depending on the situation. Willis Reed gives me supplemental post/mid-range scoring off the bench in an MVP season, while Lucas brings that elite level of spacing which can be a big time factor with Wilt/Erving on the floor.

Defensively:

Defensively I definitely need to make slight adjustments for Riot’s offensive options. I’ve made the decision to go with Norm Van Lier on Oscar Robertson, two guys who are familiar with each other having played together during Norm’s rookie season. Oscar Robertson is one of the toughest assignments in this era, mainly because he used that size to his advantage and liked to back down a lot (for a guard). My decision to use Van Lier is because of his physicality, Van Lier is one of the toughest defenders in this era period. He was relentless and put constant pressure on the ball carrier, and that’s something I want out of my guards. If any of you get the chance, this article is absolutely brilliant at giving you more insight into the personality and style of play of Norm Van Lier, a must read:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ba ... oid=885111

Not to discredit Oscar or anything, but I think it’s important to note a few things about him (it seems many are giving him a superhuman reputation). Firstly, the 68-69 Royals just weren’t a good team, led by Oscar/Van Arsdale/Jerry Lucas. There’s quite a bit of heat on Lucas historically (mostly criticisms of playing too safe and passing up shots to maintain a high shooting %), and although the rest of the team is paper thin, you’d expect more of a team built around a superstar. The team was not defensively oriented and played at the 4th highest pace in the league, so you can also argue Oscar’s stats are slightly inflated. And the other concerns about Oscar are all personality related, he wasn’t a great locker room presence. (Take a look at the following quotes from The Book of Basketball http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/768 ... s-shoulder)

I plan to use Wilt on Lanier, and start by throwing DeBusschere at the very aggressive Dave Cowens (who also does a nice job of spacing the floor). This allows for me to put Dr. J on Gervin, a formidable defensive presence to go up against Iceman. I also like the idea of using DeBusschere in different sets to guard Gervin, allowing Dr. J to float around defensively and do what he does best.

[SamBone]

1st I would like to say that I am sorry for not getting something posted last round. Real Life things have been getting busty add to that the boys bdays and some shore visits and I slacked off more then I like, and the draft showed that. I will get something up tonight, sorry to TMac and everyone else, but I will do my best!

PG: Gus Williams ‘78 (24) / Pete Maravich ’77 (24)
SG: Louie Dampier ’76 (32) / Doug Collins ‘76 (16)
SF: Bernard King ’78 (38) / (Doug Collins ‘76) (10)
PF: Moses Malone ‘78 (25) / Marcus Lucas ’77 (23)
C : Artis Gilmore ’75 (35) / (Moses Malone ‘78) (13)
situational : Paul Silas and Sam Jones

Vs Kees (previous lineup)

PG: Lenny Wilkins 34 / Gail Goodrich 14
SG: Jerry West 38 / Billy Knight 10
SF: Lou Hudson 36 / Adrian Dantley 12
PF: Elvin Hayes 36 / George McGinnis 12
Cc: Swen Nater 30 / Spencer Haywood 18

Good luck, my man Kees!

The 1st thing I want to state is the notion that Moses can not play PF. The 22 year old Moses Malone (in his 4th season), did play PF. The young Moses was athletic and a freak of nature (hence the part that he was the 1st player to skip college). No, he was not a Kevin Love that plays around the arc, but he did play PF and would have no issues guarding other smaller shooting PF’s and a pity to see them defend him.

The other thing is that during the draft I did not realize we started in the 1969 season, and yes the 35 year old Sam Jones in the final season of his HOF career is not really a starting SG, so I will take him out of my lineup.

We will basically run our offense inside with our BIGS with Bernard King getting most of the looks in the midrange game. Dampier (ABA’s top 3 point shooter) will be used for spacing with Wizard and Pistol Pete running the point

I think the Moses vs Big E battle will be interesting, and fun to watch, hopefully the training staff has plenty of ice available

I believe Artis will have his way with Nater

Bernard King should have a trational high scoring game

I will admit I have no answer for the great Jerry West, he will do what he always did

I see the PG battle as an interesting battle, Lenny was a very good player, but Gus Williams and Pistol Pete will be very difficult matchup for him

Good luck Kees, but I do think I can squeak out this series

[RiotPunch]

'68-'69 - 24.7 PPG || 9.8 APG || 6.4 RPG || 58% TS || All-NBA First Team

'71-'72 - 16.2 PPG || 8.4 RPG || 2.6 APG || NBA All-Defensive 1st Team

'77-'78 - 27.2 PPG || 5.1 RPG || 3.7 APG || 1.7 SPG || 59% TS || All-NBA First Team

'72-'73 - 20.5 PPG || 16.2 RPG || 4.1 APG || 48% TS || 9.9 DWS || NBA MVP

'73-'74 - 22.5 PPG || 13.3 RPG || 4.2 APG || 3.0 BPG || 53% TS || All-Star Game MVP


Lineup / Rotation:
Oscar Robertson (36) / Calvin Murphy (12)
George Gervin (38) / Jim McMillian (6) / Oscar Robertson (4)
Jerry Sloan (38) / Jim McMillian (10)
Dave Cowens (40) / Larry Kenon (8)
Bob Lanier (38) / Dan Roundfield (10)

VS.

bryant08
Chamberlain (36) – Reed (12)
DeBusschere (20) – Lucas (20) – Reed (8)
Erving (38) – DeBusschere (10)
Davis (28) – Brown (20)
Van Lier (32) – Brown (8) – Bing (8)

**Props to bryant08 for building a very formidable squad. As he said about my team, bryant's was probably my favorite throughout the auctioning process as well. It's a shame he has to go down this round. Joking aside, good luck.

Writeup:

Offense:
My offense is pretty cut and dry, and I don't really feel that many adjustments need to be made here. The first match-up we will exploit here, similar to Slick Watts for BI, is The Big O being guarded by Stormin' Norman. Van Lier is one of my favorite players of all-time, and he is one hell of a tenacious defender-- however, Oscar's size advantage yet again will allow him to be a nightmare for Norm as far as trying to shut him down goes. He will get to the basket and use his exquisite post-up game to his advantage and will be able to shoot over Van Lier with relative ease. As hard as Norm will try, Oscar is gonna get his here.
Next is Gervin being guarding by Dr. J... With bryant relying so heavily on Julius' scoring on offense, asking him to guard the Iceman on D could prove to be problematic. Teams used to put their best defender on Gervin and be happy with holding him to 37-- he is just gonna get his points one way or another. With Sloan making Erving sweat on offense and Gervin making him sweat on defense-- I think you're going to have a pretty gassed Dr.
Cowens is the X factor for my team. He worked Sikma in the last match-up, and now he gets to face an undersized defender in DeBusschere. Dave was a phenomenal defender in his time, but he was much more effective at guarding more perimeter based 3/4 players rather than forward-centers like Cowens. Cowens will be able to get what he wants because of this 3 inch, 10 pound advantage. The league MVP should be just fine here.
Lanier has a load to deal with with Wilt-- and similar to Kareem-- we will just let the chips fall where we may. Bob will bang with the Stilt as much as he can and also feast on midrange jumpers when Wilt is forced to help protect the rim from the likes of Oscar/Gervin/Cowens-- and his midrange jumper was nasty. Also, we're not talking about a young Wilt here-- so Lanier should be able to pull Wilt out with his jumper and later on drive passed him with his superior quickness.

Defense:
We'll have Robertson on Van Lier, Gervin on Davis, Sloan on Erving, Cowens on Debusschere and Lanier on Chamberlain.
Oscar should be fine on defense, as Norm isn't much of a threat on that end. The size advantage won't hurt Oscar too badly as he was extremely quick for his size.
Gervin will have his work cutout for him here, as Davis was a scoring machine-- but I have a hard time believing that the rook Davis will get the best of the 25 year old Iceman, who was a very solid defender in his own right, putting up 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. His length should help him a ton here.
Sloan gets the big assignment once again. We will ask him to do everything within his power to slow down the Doctor. This is a task that very few could execute, but if anyone can come close to doing it-- it's the Spider. With Erving having to work on defense guarding Gervin, we expect Sloan's advantage to go up when guarding a tired Erving. Saying Sloan will shut down Erving would be ignorant and goes against history, but to say Sloan will cause headaches for Erving is very fair.
The big boys. Lanier has the second toughest match-up here. For once, Lanier's strength is his quickness and athleticism. No one in this era could match Wilt's strength, but if any came close, Lanier was in that club. I feel pretty good about Bob being able to do some things to slow down Wilt, such as time his blocks and have active hands. The 25 year old, in his prime Bob Lanier can hang with the 35 year old, slightly fading Chamberlain. Just a great match-up.

The Final Word:
The offensive barrage of Robertson/Gervin/Cowens paired with the fantastic two-way play of Lanier and Sloan, with a hint of our shooting ability off the bench will prove to be too much for bryant's team. Erving will score some points, and we suppose Wilt will get some too, although he only average 14.8 points per game that year, but his offensive production will not match mine, and it is as simple as that.

Again, good luck bryant. This is a really fun match-up!

[Snakebites]

Snakebites vs TMAC

Walt Frazier (38)/Paul Westphal (10)
Earl Monroe (31)/Paul Westphal (17)
Bob Dandridge (32)/ Billy Cunningham (16)
Billy Cunningham (20)/Wes Unseld (28)
Bill Russell (38)/Wes Unseld (10)

Defense: At this point, I don't feel a particularly strong need to talk up my defense excessively, as I believe it speaks for itself. Walt Frazier gives us an extremely interesting set of options here, defensively. On one hand, we could put him on the initiator (Buse) and disrput their offense right from the beginning. On the other, we could put Frazier on David Thompson, thus making life extremely difficult for TMAC's primary offensive perimeter option. If this series were to play out, I see Frazier guarding different players at different times, depending on the situation and how TMAC chooses to run his offense.

Bill Russell will fill an identical role to the role he held in the previous series, as a primary defensive anchor. Walton doesn't figure to be a primary scoring threat in this offense, but we expect scorers like David Thompson and Marques Johnson to think twice before driving the lane. We don't expect to stop TMAC's perimeter scorers, but we believe with Frazier and Dandridge out on the perimeter and Russell manning the paint, they won't find a more difficult time than they do against our team. Even in his final season in the NBA, Bill Russell anchored an ELITE defense, and with the usual cast of characters surrounding him, we don't have any worries about our defense performing its actions admirably.

The only place we'll concede particular difficulty is against Bob Mcadoo, TMAC"s best offensive player. He will certainly get his against our defense, and do so more successfully than anyone else on TMAC's team, but the general tradeoff is that he has to guard one of our forwards, too. Between he, Frazier, Unseld, and our stable of terrific playmaking guards, our offense will emphasize team passing and be staggeringly effective, like the Knicks teams of this era only considerably more devastating.

Offense: In this vein, we expect little to change here in terms of roles. We firmly believe, once again, that Frazier is the key. Buse, while a capable defender with respectable size, won't be able to hold him down. Frazier is simply too strong and too versatile in his talents, and given the magnitude of the stage at this point in the competition, we expect him, a player who's output and efficiency actually increase in the postseason, to truly shine here. Given that both of these rotations feature impressively high scoring and efficient shooting guards (we, in fact, have a pair of these) and super-role playing small forwards, Frazier tips the perimeter matchup decidedly and dramatically in our favor.

Up front, Russell, once again, will initiate our offense on the defensive end with rebounding and blocked shots while facilitating our offense with a terrific passing game, and Wes Unseld will fill that role admirably when Russell goes to the bench. If there is a big man in the league who is Walton's equal in the passing department, its Bill Russell.

Our duo of forwards is a real case of pick-your-poison. Dandridge was a terrific mid to long range shooter with excellent quickness, and Billy Cunningham was an extremely gifted athlete (nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid for a reason) who could pack a devastating offensive punch. We expect TMAC to put the highly effective Bobby Jones on one of these players, but he'll have to let the other go.

Overall: When looking at these two rosters, its only natural to look at the epic center matchup, but when I view this I can't help but note the similarity in role I anticipate Russell and Walton holding in this series. Given this, I'm inclined to argue that no player will have a larger net impact on the outcome of this series than Walt Frazier, given no player on TMAC's team can equal his impact on BOTH sides of the ball.

We have a team lead by two of the most bonafide winners in this game, Frazier and Russell, and the rest of the team is built to function around them. We have a balance of imposing front court talent and absolutely devastating perimeter talent, and we believe given this it will be extremely difficult for TMAC's team, impressive though it is, to gain the upper hand.