Well, after both No. 1 "seeds" got eliminated, it's time for the 2-7 matchups. I had some time to think of my strategy for this one. I am not sure how to link directly to my post in the Playoffs thread with the explanations for each of the picks I made but it can be found on this link:
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1299878&start=30Now to the particular matchup:
Depth chart:
Shaq (36)/Muresan (12)
Oakley (20-28)/Mason (20-28)
Hill (26-30)/Kukoc (13-16)/Mason (2-5)
Roy (26-30)/George (18-22)
Westbrook (33)/Conley (15)
On defense I will play the opponent’s team straight up. He has too many good shooters and scorers and doubling is not worth it. I don’t wanna leave anyone open. Shaq can guard Ewing 1-on-1 down low; Westbrook will look to stay in front of Penny, and the 2 and 3 positions will be somewhat interchangeable. Initially Grant Hill will defend Durant but Paul George will be the secondary defender for Durant and in those moments I could put Kukoc on a 2-guard, or play Roy and George at the 2 and 3 for some spot minutes. I will also play a little Anthony Mason at the 3 to wear Durant out with his physicality. I will wait for my opponent’s rotations and minutes for all players to give more detailed defensive assignments or rotations.
Offensively I will run things inside-out. My team will play mostly a half-court offense (but not an ultra-slow tempo). I will try to get the ball to Shaq down low as often as possible and let him make a move. He can take anybody 1-on-1 offensively or he can make the right pass as the double-teams come. I guess he will be seeing mostly Ewing but that doesn’t bother me as Shaq at his best can take any center in history 1-on-1. Shaq is bigger and will give Ewing lots of problems, even if Ewing was an excellent post defender. Shaq will also play Ewing 1-on-1 on defense as his strength will help deny Ewing a deep position. Thus, Ewing will be forced to take a jumpshot or make a move. Even though he could hit a jumper, I will live with that. I also rely on Shaq’s physicality to bother Ewing and tire him. I will definitely not send a help defender as I don’t wanna leave a shooter open and give up an easier shot. I’d rather have Ewing score if his shot is falling. Shaq will also protect the paint with his size and shot-blocking. Him and Oakley/Mason should discourage too many drives to the rim and change a lot of shots.
I will try to implement some sets from the triangle offense as the ball goes down low to Shaq. I can rotate my perimeter players on the strong side, with Grant Hill or Westbrook cutting to the rim, and Roy looking for a spot where he can get the ball and shoot or take his man off the dribble. Oakley/Mason will stay strictly on the weak side, positioning for the offensive rebound. Oakley in particular was a great offensive rebounder who can use his body to get an inside position on Sheed even though Sheed is much taller than him. If the ball gets to Oakley, he could hit a mid-range jumper while Mason could put the ball on the floor and use his body and strength against smaller defenders or his quickness and wits against a bigger defender.
When the ball is not going down low to Shaq, or my team is forced to attack from the perimeter, I can rely on Westbrook’s penetration where he can get past his man, draw contact or go all the way to the rim, or pass out to the shooters. Grant Hill is also an excellent creator and will be my secondary ball-handler.
I will use Brandon Roy as a spot-up shooter at times, but he will also be always on the floor whenever Shaq is resting. Basically I want to have either Shaq or Roy on the floor. I will try to rest Shaq and Westbrook simultaneously, so that Roy plays with Conley in the back-court. Conley will play a lot off-ball and move to the corner for a spot-up 3. Toni Kukoc is another excellent shooter and can create off the dribble so he can help Brandon Roy keep the defense guessing. Kukoc will be the secondary shot-creator in such situations.
Grant Hill will be my primary defender for Durant. Hill can keep up with Durant and will not tire quickly. If I have to, I’m content with limiting Grant Hill’s role offensively to play mostly off-ball, cut along the baseline and not exert too much energy on this end so that he has the energy to defend against Durant. Paul George will be the secondary defender for Durant but I can also throw in some Anthony Mason at the 3, just to try and bother Durant a bit more. It also helps that this boosts my rebounding even more. I expect Durant, Joe Johnson and Penny to be put in a lot of pick-and-rolls and will try to switch everything on the pick-and-rolls as I respect their shooting a lot. I think I have enough length at all perimeter positions to be able to bother their shots.
Actually, I have the option to play George extended minutes on Durant on a given night if he has the better matchup. Hill can always guard the other perimeter player (2-guard), or I could go for the kill with a better offensive combo in George and Roy.
I want my team to be defensive-minded and very tough on that end of the floor. That’s why I have Oakley and Mason playing all 48 minutes at the 4. They will be my defensive leaders. They are very vocal on defense and will dictate the mindset for the entire team. Shaq is without a doubt the paint and rim protector but it helps that I have two all-NBA defenders next to him to set the tone. On the perimeter Grant Hill, Paul George and Mike Conley are excellent defenders and Brandon Roy, Westbrook and Toni Kukoc can also play the passing lanes and create turnovers. I imagine a Westbrook/Conley-Hill/Kukoc-Roy/George fastbreak will be a nightmare and an automatic score. I will also play sometimes Anthony Mason at the 3 for even more toughness against Durant. Mason played several seasons at the 3 and I expect him to make my defense even more stingy. I am not worried about my spacing on the other end with Mason at the 3 as he was a good creator off the dribble, could move well without the ball, and was a very good passer and will likely be a mismatch for whoever is guarding him.
In end-of-game situations I could go offensively with 4 perimeter players and Shaq, as all 4 are a threat to score – Conley, Roy, Kukoc, George. Defensively I can sub in Oakley and even Mason or Grant Hill (depending on the opposition) for Kukoc and Roy. I could also use Westbrook even though if I wanna run a set play, he may be benched for Conley.
I wanna focus specifically on my selection of Gheorghe Muresan. I don’t want the other team to rest even for the limited time that Shaq is on the bench so I got a guy who is even bigger than Shaq. On the other hand, I don’t wanna take minutes away from Shaq so I couldn’t accommodate a center like Daugherty (who was available) because he would have to play around 12 minutes.
Muresan will definitely be a factor defensively with his 7-7 height and block or alter a lot of shots. I don’t worry about racking up fouls as he is not expected to play more than 15 minutes at most (could play a lot less if I decide to play Shaq 40+ minutes). Offensively, Muresan will be even more of a nightmare. He was very mobile for such a big man and you could literally not prevent him from scoring. He led the league in FG% 2 straight seasons (was 2nd in EFG% in both seasons) and did it while playing against the most stacked center position with legitimate 7-footers like Shaq, Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Mutombo, Mourning, Smits, Daugherty, etc. playing against him. I trust Muresan to score whenever he gets the ball against whoever is guarding him. Noah is an excellent pick-and-roll defender but he will be overmatched by Muresan and if Muresan doesn’t put the ball on the floor, Noah can’t bother his shot. Muresan was also a relatively good FT% which is also a good thing for me. It’s not like I will run my entire offense around him so it helps that he can finish whenever his number is called. By the way, he was a very good rebounder and in limited minutes I expect him to use his length to rebound the ball. He will be particularly useful to get offensive rebounds and putbacks which was something he did very often.
As a whole, I expect to have an advantage in rebounds and I want to focus on that a lot. Obviously O_6 has great offensive players so I wanna keep them to 1 shot every possession. Oakley and Mason may be undersized but were better rebounders than Sheed and McDyess, and were excellent when it came to boxing out. Shaq was also a better rebounder than Ewing. I want to get some offensive rebounds as well. This is where Oakley will be very useful. It also helps that among my perimeter players I have guys who have a knack for rebounding, particularly Grant Hill and Westbrook.
I will also try to use Mike Conley as a pest who pressures the opposing PG full-court and that’s why I am not getting him more minutes. I want him to shorten the shot-clock for them, possibly get some steals. I will have him almost exclusively off-ball offensively so he will not be worn out too quickly. But in end-game situations I will also rely on him as he is an excellent spot-up shooter and has an underrated knack of getting past his man 1-on-1 and scoring.
For now I will not comment on my opponent’s team as I do not know his strategy or how he will use most players. I only assumed that Durant and Ewing will play key roles and I focused a lot on them; I will respond when I find out how he utilizes the rest of his players.
). It will be interesting to see whether a correalation between draft position and team success would be found eventually... As a #6 seed, my impression was that life was really hard in the 2-4th rounds. 
That "bonus" "B" sequence in the crucial 3rd round was hard to bear. 
Let's wait and see...