Minutes
PG: Mookie 35/Terry 13
SG: Carter 34/Afflalo 14
SF: Pierce 28/Artest 10/Rodman 10
PF: Bosh 28/Rodman 20
C: Hakeem 42/Rollins 6
My strategy will not differ too much from what's been working so far. On offense I pound the ball inside, where despite his excellent overall defense, Bruh Man has no one really capable of stopping Hakeem. Hibbert has never faced a big in the same league as Hakeem in the post, Nene is just okay, and KG has never been known for his post defense. The rest of my team (outside of Rodman and Rollins) is composed of very capable shooters who will make Bruh Man pay for any doubles he tries to throw at him.
Hakeem's range will be a factor here, since he can drag Hibbert out of the paint and clear the lane for anyone who feels like driving. In particular, this will mean Carter, as Bruh Man foolishly has Miller, Prince and Mitch spending time on him. None of these guys are really equipped to handle rookie Carter, honestly. Miller and Mitch are not the caliber of defender needed to stop him, and Prince will not be fast enough to keep up with pre-injury Carter. He'll demolish them, plain and simple.
On defense, the plan is equally simple. Stick close to the shooters (Miller and KG) and try and force them to drive into the wall Hakeem makes around the rim. As for the others (Kidd, Blake, Nene) let them shoot those jumpers, which they are terrible at. Since Hardaway was not yet a good shooter, and Mitch blew in the playoffs, his spacing with be terrible when the bench plays, which will be a lot. I'll just clean up the boards and deny them second chances. I will not be playing Bosh at center at all this series, so with Rollins and Hakeem I'll always have an excellent paint protector and shot blocker turning people away from the rim.
Bruh Man has chosen to play Kidd very light minutes, which is odd to me, especially considering that he was used to heavy minutes. Mookie will have much less trouble guarding Hardaway, and this being the younger, TO-prone out of control version, Mookie will be forcing plenty of turnovers (Tim turned the ball over nearly 5 times a game when facing Mookie's Hawks over the years selected BTW). Tim was also an unspectacular shooter over the years selected, shooting only 34% from 3, so if he doesn't provide much better spacing, why bother playing him over Kidd?
In fact, he's playing everyone light minutes, which I think is simply wrong of him. He's got an advantage with KG over Bosh, but as opposed to pressing it, he give KG light minutes and has him trying to check Hakeem some, which he is not capable of doing. KG's floor spacing and defense, so valuable to what Bruh Man does on both sides of the floor, are completely reversed with Blake on the floor. He's got a big size advantage with Kidd, but he instead chooses to play into Mookie's strengths by giving Hardaway relatively heavy minutes. I've got pretty much no answer for Miller but he plays the inferior Richmond (awful in the playoffs, BTW, shot only 33% from 3 in the years selected, and only 30% for his playoff career) nearly as many minutes anyways. Pip is better than Prince at everything bar 3 point shooting, but as opposed to keeping Prince glued to the bench and playing Pip the minutes he can handle, he lets him see the bench plenty. Heck, he's got Miller playing SF, I'd love to see him stop Pierce. After having the long-limbed Pip and Prince on him, he'll be overjoyed getting to beat Miller's brains in. This is the playoffs, when you shorten your bench so that your best players can have the biggest impact on the game, but
When Rodman is on the floor, Bruh Man might think he's getting an advantage here, but that isn't the case. While he hurts spacing, Rodman cannot be left alone on offense, as he will dominate the glass. Heck, even being face-guarded, he'll dominate the glass and allow me to extend possessions. On the other end of the floor, he provides some of the greatest forward defense in history, allowing him to essentially take KG or Pip out of the game for periods at a time. I've got the perfect blend of Rodman selected here-he's still going to lock down either forward, but he's discovered that he can clean up the glass better than anyone in history.
Matter of fact, it seems that Bruh Man is giving me the boards anyways. He's got two piss-poor rebounders at center, but as opposed to countering this with good rebounders in KG, Pip and Kidd, he isn't playing any of them heavy minutes. With my frontcourt, I'll have a decisive rebounding advantage, even bigger than I usually would.
Overall, I've got a perfect fit of talents on offense, and a sound defense that will clean up the glass and avoid giving up easy buckets. Hakeem and Carter will dominate, while Bruh Man's best players will be seeing enough time to get in a rhythm, or will be facing a strong enough of an individual defender that they won't be able to get in rhythm anyways. My spacing will always be very good, while Bruh Man's spacing will be poor for much of the game, with Miller and Prince being his most reliable shooters in the playoffs. I'll kill him on the boards. Bruh Man has done little to press his advantages and seems to be hoping that he'll win by wearing me out as opposed to pressing his actual advantages. None of my guys are particularly fatigue prone and won't be hurt by the minutes they play, so this will fail. I've got the best player in this series, and he'll dominate. I will press my advantages in every case, and as a result I'll win this series.
Now, to address his write up directly.
Bruh Man wrote:Miller in his prime vs a young Vince which includes his rookie year is another advantage as Miller is much more savvy and much more efficient.
Yeah, I kind of disagree. A guy who peaked as a 3rd team All-NBA guard who's only exceptional skill was jumpshooting, vs. Half-man Half-amazing? Carter, even taking into account his rookie year being averaged into the other 2 years, has a sizable advantage here.
Bruh Man wrote:Kidd vs Mookie is another obvious advantage in everything from leadership, skill and size.
Mookie's clearly got Kidd in two categories: jumpshooting and having a cool name.
Bruh Man wrote:Also when it comes to the bench my team has another big advantage. Afflalo probably shouldn’t have been drafted. Metta is well past his prime and by 2011 he was basically a liability on offense while not even being All-D worthy. Rodman is nice but redundant with Metta and then you have Rollins which then gives you 3 players that will give you practically nothing on offense. While Tim/Mitch/Tayshaun/Blake/Nene is everything you need in a bench and can be a contender in the league today compared to Rollens/Rodman/MWP/Afflalo/Terry who would give you the best chance at Embiid..
Metta was past his prime by 2011, but thankfully, we're not going by single years. Just like this isn't rookie Carter, this isn't 2011 Artest. You've got to take into account his excellent year with the Rockets and first year with the Lakers as well. Additionally, Artest was a solid outside shooter over the years selected, averaging 36.5% from 3. Rodman is more than nice, he's excellent, but more on him later. I wouldn't trash Rollins too much considering that he's just as good as you're starting center, who's reputation is inflated by feasting on this era of centers, and he'd hardly have any hype if he didn't play the center-less Heat in the playoffs last year.
Bruh Man wrote:In the half court my team will have no trouble running an efficient offense. Hakeem is an exceptional defender but he will mostly be on Hibbert while KG sets a screen for miller to get an open shot, or Kidd/KG run a pick and role against Mookie/Bosh, or Pippen attacks the paint and takes flight against a wingless Pierce.
Yeah, you can run PnR's all you want too, but Kidd is going to struggle finishing over Hakeem, and he's an awful shooter. Meanwhile, you can trust Bosh to stick to KG and force him to try and drive too. Neither is going to have any easy time scoring at the rim. So long as Bosh stays close and takes away KG's jumper, he'll struggle to score. Same deal with Pippen, he's not facing your average interior defender.
Bruh Man wrote:Kidd with his significant size and strength advantage will have no troubles orchestrating against the smaller Mookie and Pierce will have a hard time keeping up with Pippen who is bigger, stronger and much more athletic.
You aren't giving Mookie enough credit. He was a tough and pesky defender. Since he doesn't have to respect Kidd's jumpshot at all, he can do everything he want to to bother his attempts to drive the ball. Mookie is a tough cookie. Pierce, inundated with the teachings of the all-knowing Thibbs, will certainly put up a fight as well.
Bruh Man wrote:Prince is anther solid outside shooter at 38% along with exceptional D.
I feel like you made a mistake here with Prince. As a Pistons fan, I remember all of his flaws well. His exceptional defense disappeared as he memorably offered no resistance to LeBron in 07, as the entire team was resting on its laurels. His offense devolved, spawning the nickname "Isolayshaun Prince", as he basically refused to pass the ball to anyone but Rip Hamilton. His outside shooting was always a joke, as he seemed to refuse to take 3's over long 2's at every occasion, to the extent that he it was a surprise when his feet were beyond the ark. His feet were always at least on the line.
Bruh Man wrote:Blake is an athletic freak who can give you a bunch of points without dominating the ball, he’s also a solid ball handler and very good passer with range close the 3 point line.
You're joking about the bold, right? I mean, I know we are supposed to talk up our own teams, but Blake is a terrible shooter. You can look it up on BBall Reference. He's hitting like 33% of his jumpshots. That would be what I call 'not good'.
) was talking about how close it was, but at first glance the hard facts , ie. the results indicated that it was a blowout.
