FGA Restricted All-Time Fantasy Draft Playoffs ECR1: (2) Colbinii vs (7) urnoggin

[ardee]

1965 Bill Russell
2015 Anthony Davis
2005 Manu Ginobili
2015 Andre Igoudala
1991 Clyde Drexler
2010 Metta World Peace
1993 Mark Price
1990 Mark Eaton

2017 Chris Paul
2017 Kawhi Leonard
2003 Ben Wallace
1992 Horace Grant
2009 Lamar Odom
2013 Thabo Sefolosha
2003 Tracy McGrady
2005 Fred Hoiberg

Contestants have until 4 PM EST on Sunday to submit their write-ups, that is exactly 48 hours. Then after that, hopefully judges can submit their votes in a further 48 hours.

[KobesScarf]

1965 Bill Russell
2015 Anthony Davis
2005 Manu Ginobili
2015 Andre Igoudala
1992 Clyde Drexler
2010 Metta World Peace
1993 Mark Price
1990 Mark Eaton

This is by faaaaaar the best team

[eminence]

.

Wrong version of Drexler, he has '91 (would put him over FGA limit otherwise). Not that it makes a huge difference.

[urnoggin]

Rotation:

PG: '17 Paul (38)/ '05 Hoiberg (10)
SG: '03 T-Mac (40)/ '13 Sefolosha (8)
SF: '17 Kawhi (38)/ '13 Sefolosha (10)
PF: '92 Grant (24)/ '09 Odom (24)
C: '03 Wallace (38)/ '92 Grant (10)

At first glance, our teams actually look quite similar with ATG defensive anchors and tons of versatility surrounding them. Here is why I feel like my team will win this matchup:

Defense: My main focus on defense will be to stop Clyde, Manu and AD and to limit Price's ability to shoot. I will use CP3 as the primary defender on Price and the gameplan will be to shadow him around the 3 point line. Inevitably, this will give some driving opportunities to him but I would rather that than him bombing away open threes. Kawhi will guard Clyde, which I think is a great matchup for me as Leonard is an all-time perimeter defender who will be able to make Clyde work extremely hard for his points. I also like the matchup of Grant on AD, as Grant is also a tremendous defender in his own right who has the necessary size and athleticism to keep AD from scoring easily inside while also being able to defend him well all the way out to midrange where AD likes to do the majority of his scoring. When Manu is on the floor, he will see a combination of T-Mac, Kawhi, and Sefolosha. All 3 have great length and quickness that will disrupt Manu's playmaking and driving. I'm also confident with Big Ben defending Russell while also providing elite help defense and rim protection. My bigs are all quick and athletic enough where I don't think any of them are a huge liability in the PnR. I also have two of the best ever help defenders at their position (Kawhi and Paul) who will make timely rotations and help my defense recover. Grant will also serve as my secondary rim protector (averaging 1.6 BPG in '92) and everyone on my roster (with the exception of Hoiberg), is able to wreak havoc in the passing lanes and create turnovers. Overall, I believe that defense is the strong suit of my team as I have 5 very good/elite defenders (CP3, Kawhi, Ben, Sefo, Grant), 2 average defenders (Odom and T-Mac, although both have great size), and one below-average defender (Hoiberg) who will only be on the court for 10 minutes a game. Also, assuming that CP3 can limit Price's shooting, your team only has one other above average 3pt shooter in Ginobili. Thus, your spacing might end up being an issue as I'll live with Iggy, MWP, and Clyde taking some shots from the perimeter.

Offense: On offense, I feel like I have the two best scorers in this matchup in Kawhi and T-Mac (although AD and Drex are no joke). Your interior defense in insane with Russell and Davis but fortunately, my team is not very reliant on inside scoring. All of my guards and wings do most of their scoring outside the paint, and all of them are elite 3-point shooters (CP3- 41.1% on 5.0 3PA/G, T-Mac- 38.6% on 6.0 3PA/G, Kawhi- 38.1% on 5.2 3PA/G, Sefolosha- 41.9% on 3.2 3PA/G, Hoiberg- 48.3% on 1.9 3PA/G). My floor spacing will always be great regardless of who's on the floor, which will eventually lead to some easy buckets at the rim despite Russell's presence. CP3, T-Mac and Kawhi are also excellent midrange shooters who can create their own space, so this is another way we can score with Russell on the floor. Also, I feel like your team's perimeter defense is not enough to keep up with my perimeter players. Assuming you will have Clyde on the court for the majority of the game, you will a weak defender at PG, an average to above average defender in Clyde, and a good defender in MWP (although not elite like peak Artest). Assuming CP3 is guarded by Price, he will take advantage by isolating on him or running PnR with him involved. Whoever Clyde guards (whether it be T-Mac or Kawhi) will have the green light to try and score as often as possible. By making Clyde work on defense, we will also be reducing the energy he has for offense. When Eaton comes into the game, we will just spam PnR with his man, as he doesn't have the mobility to keep up with my ballhandlers off screens. For the most part, CP3 and T-Mac will share the ballhandling duties with Kawhi playing mostly off-ball. Grant will be involved in PnRs and pick and pops with the occasional post-up as he is an effective scorer out to midrange. Ben's role will be to run the floor and to pound the offensive boards, while also setting screens and becoming available for dump-offs and alley-oops. Once Odom comes into the game, we have another versatile player who can handle the ball, make plays, and score for himself. He will be pushing the ball up the court as often as possible as I don't think there is anyone on your team that can pick up a 6'10 ballhandler full-court. Sefolosha and Hoiberg will primarily be spot-up shooters in my offense. With a point guard that has the distributive qualities of CP3, along with the two best scorers in this matchup and elite 3-pt shooting from 3/5 positions at all times, I believe my offensive firepower to be more than enough to win this matchup; even with the defensive GOAT on the other side.

Rebounding seems like a wash to me as all of my starters are above-average rebounders at their position. Even though you have Russell, I hope that Ben (who is also one of the GOAT rebounders) can battle him evenly on the boards. Overall, I believe that my defensive versatility and spacing will be too much for your team to overcome in this matchup. If and when the games get tight, I have confidence in T-Mac and Kawhi to get crucial buckets to lead my team to victory.

[Colbinii]

Great post

Hey man, I will be posting my write up without reading your post to make it fair. Then, I feel like each of us should make a rebuttal post. My first post will be up tomorrow morning.

Good luck Fam!

[urnoggin]

Great post

Hey man, I will be posting my write up without reading your post to make it fair. Then, I feel like each of us should make a rebuttal post. My first post will be up tomorrow morning.

Good luck Fam!

Sounds good mate!

[Colbinii]

First off, Congratulations to urnoggin for drafting a fabulous team. Chris Paul, Tracy McGrady, and Kawhi Leonard is going to be quite a backcourt/wing combination.

I would like to walk through my team before I dive deep into my team strategy.

Mark Price: Crafty, Quick, Great Shooter from everywhere, Great Passer, Pick & Role Guru
Manu Ginobili: Clutch, Crafty, Great Scorer, Great Passer, Energetic
Metta World Peace: Terrific on-ball defender
Clyde Drexler: High Flyer, Elite scorer, Good playmaker
Andre Iguodala: Fantastic man and off-ball defender, Good 3 point shooter, magical playmaker
Mark Eaton: Great post defender, Great Shot-Blocker
Anthony Davis: Elite Scorer, Great Shot-Blocker, Good Rebounder, Good Shooter
Bill Russell: G.O.A.T.

Rotations:
Mark Price (34), Manu Ginobili (14)
Clyde Drexler (38), Manu Ginobili (10)
Metta World Peace (12), Andre Iguodala (32)
Anthony Davis (38), Metta World Peace (10)
Bill Russell (42), Mark Eaton (6)


Defensive Philosophy:

Perimeter players: The goals that I have for Mark Price and Clyde Drexler are to funnel the opposing offensive players into the paint. Close out on shooters and don’t worry about letting the opposing offensive player past. I share a similar philosophy with Manu Ginobili, but I give Manu the freedom (and to a lesser extent Iguodala) to gamble a small amount on the defensive end. Andre Iguodala and Metta World Piece are my defensive stoppers on the perimeter. They are going to make life on the offensive end a nightmare for any perimeter player they face. They can body-up and be aggressive, because if they do somehow get beat, Bill Russell and Anthony Davis will be behind them.

Hoiberg and Sefolosha are solid shooters but don’t offer anything more outside of that offensively. We will look to exploit their offensive deficiencies by forcing them to make players for others.

Key Defensive Matchups:
Iguodala on Leonard
Drexler on McGrady

Big Men: I have the greatest defensive anchor of all-time and one of the longest Power Forwards to ever play the game. Bill Russell is the Quarterback of the defense, and Anthony Davis’ length is going to pester any player in the post; big or small. When Russell needs a break, Mark Eaton will come in to block shots, prevent layups, and grab rebounds at a height of 7’ 3’’. I will be putting Anthony Davis Grant/Odom and Russell and Eaton on Ben Wallace. This will allow Bill Russell to roam on defense, maximize his impact, save his energy, and prevent the the perimeter opponents from scoring in the paint if they get past by wing defenders.

Offensive Philosophy:

Offensively my team will play great team basketball with crafty, willing, high IQ passers all over the court in Price, Ginobili, Drexler, Igoudala, and Russell. I have plenty of spacing in Price, Ginobili, Drexler, Iguodala, and Davis while Metta World Peace can make corner 3’s. When Manu is playing Point Guard I will be running a lot of pick and roll, and to a lesser extent with the brilliant pick and roll artist Mark Price. Involving Ben Wallace defending the pick and roll is one of the ways to mitigate his greatness in the post.

As good as Tracy McGrady was offensively, his defense in 2003 wasn’t at the levels as it was from 1999-2002, where McGrady was a strong defensive player. Clyde Drexler will be able to exploit this on the offensive side of the ball, while providing playmaking, scoring, and rebounding from the 2.

Horace Grant was a solid, and often underrated player. However, at 6’ 10’’ and 215 he is going to get destroyed in the paint by Anthony Davis 6’ 10’’ and 253 even if you believe Russell/Wallace is a wash (which I don’t believe to be true).

Rebounding:

I feel like this is one of the areas where we mitigate the big men on the opposing team. Horace Grant was a fantastic offensive rebounder, but with Bill Russell AND Anthony Davis it should give us a way to manage. Ben Wallace is not going to offer anything on the offensive end, which will allow Bill Russell to shift his focus on rebounding (along with help defense).

Good Luck, and may the better team win.

[urnoggin]

The goals that I have for Mark Price and Clyde Drexler are to funnel the opposing offensive players into the paint. Close out on shooters and don’t worry about letting the opposing offensive player past. I share a similar philosophy with Manu Ginobili, but I give Manu the freedom (and to a lesser extent Iguodala) to gamble a small amount on the defensive end. Andre Iguodala and Metta World Piece are my defensive stoppers on the perimeter.

With Price on CP3 and Drex on T-Mac, I will run a lot of isolation and PnR sets with these two. Knowing how hard it will be to score inside against your team, I'm lucky that my starting guards are two of the best midrange shooters ever at their position. Thus, if they get funnelled inside, I'll gladly have them create for either themselves or their teammates from the midrange area. Making Drexler work on defense is also very important to my strategy, as it will reduce the amount of energy he has for offense.

I will be putting Anthony Davis Grant/Odom and Russell and Eaton on Ben Wallace. This will allow Bill Russell to roam on defense, maximize his impact, save his energy, and prevent the the perimeter opponents from scoring in the paint if they get past by wing defenders.

Davis on Odom will be a difficult matchup for you given how versatile he is. With Davis guarding him, Odom will push the ball up as often as possible looking to catch the D off balance. Also, with Russell roaming as much as you want him too, it will sacrifice his ability to grab defensive rebounds, allowing Big Ben and Ho Grant (two elite offensive rebounders) to create second chances for my team.

Involving Ben Wallace defending the pick and roll is one of the ways to mitigate his greatness in the post.

That is a good strategy but I believe that Ben has enough lateral quickness to corral your guards off the PnR. I also have Grant who is another very good shot-blocker who can protect the rim if Ben is pulled away from the basket.

As good as Tracy McGrady was offensively, his defense in 2003 wasn’t at the levels as it was from 1999-2002, where McGrady was a strong defensive player. Clyde Drexler will be able to exploit this on the offensive side of the ball, while providing playmaking, scoring, and rebounding from the 2.

Luckily, I have Kawhi to put on Clyde which will allow T-Mac to guard MWP and save his energy for offense where I need him the most.

Horace Grant was a solid, and often underrated player. However, at 6’ 10’’ and 215 he is going to get destroyed in the paint by Anthony Davis 6’ 10’’ and 253 even if you believe Russell/Wallace is a wash (which I don’t believe to be true).

Davis actually gained 12 lbs after the '15 season, so your version of Davis is actually 240 ish. Also, Grant is listed at 245 on wiki, so he was probably a lit bit heavier than 215. The weight advantage to Davis is less significant than 253 to 215. Also, '15 AD wasn't the type of player to do most of his damage in the paint; he actually shot 28.9% of his shots from 16ft to 3. With Grant, I have a versatile and quick defender who can cover AD out to this range as well as anyone while also having the size and length to not get destroyed down low.

Rebounding:

Although you have Russ and AD, I also have elite rebounding big men and above average rebounders on my perimeter. Kawhi and T-Mac will be able to grab a lot of boards with their length and size.

[penbeast0]

Couple of quick points. Having seen them both, Davis does not body Horace Grant. He may beat him with his athleticism and hops, but not by overpowering him. Defensively, despite his shotblocking, AD makes a lot of mistakes; just don't think Grant (or Wallace) gets enough touches to take advantage even without Russell to help. And, much as I loved the -fro, Ben Wallace isn't an ATG rebounder -- good one but not Worm, Russell, Moses level.

I think the keys here are Russell being allowed to roam will be extremely disruptive and TMac seemed to have a problem working with other great scorers when I saw him (others have disagreed so take it with a grain of salt). Russell had a talent for coming from people's blind spots to make plays and was extremely mobile; plus he (like Rodman and the other ATGs) had a talent for reading where a shot would come off the basket and getting to that spot. Ben Wallace can't punish him for this, Ben may have been the worst offensive player of all time. As for TMac, he was young in Toronto, but only seemed to go off when Vince was sitting or flat. Same in Houston; Tmac would disappear for stretches when Yao was playing well then Yao would go down and TMac would rip off his shirt and put on the cape and spandex. I don't see him being that effective on this strong a team.

Not going to post my final thoughts yet but those are my concerns.

[penbeast0]

OK, as long as I can change my vote if there are further explanations, vote for colbinii

[drza]

Alright. This one is fun. I've looked at it fresh several different times, trying to wrap my mind around how things might play out. I'm a bit stuck at the moment, because I think some of it depends on how much interpretation we're allowed to do as to how a player should be able to play vs how they actually played in the given year (plus, with allowances for how the coaches said they'd use them). In fact, my biggest question mark is where I'll start...

1) Tracy McGrady. 2003 TMac is considered universally to be his peak, and he did some amazing things as a ridiculous volume scorer that could also run the offense. However, he traded off the defensive ability he'd shown in Toronto to concentrate on offense, and he also was operating on huge usage. My thing is...if this team were really put together, I'd think that McGrady still had the athleticism at that point to be the defensive plug he was showing himself to be as of 2001 and he also had a much better spot-up jumper than jumper off the dribble. Plus, he was a great finisher, so given lanes and teammates that could set him up...shouldn't he do more slashing to the rim than he did in real life?

Essentially, I feel like 2003 TMac had the proven abilities to play in a mold somewhat similar to his teammate, Kawhi. If he did that, his team would be WAY stronger, considering the amount of talent and that Chris Paul would be running the show. But, if he has to play the exact way that 2003 TMac ACTUALLY played, his offensive focus would hurt given this set of teammates. Not sure if there's an official ruling for how to handle a situation like this, or what. For now, I'll just move forward based on how I'd think things play out.

2) The teams, overall. Colbini's squad seems, to me, to be a souped up, ideal-case-mash-up of the 1999 - 2007 Spurs. Russell and Davis give that inhuman twin towers defense that we got to see glimpses of with Robinson and Duncan, especially in their 1999 championship run. In their mid-2000s iteration, the Ginobili/Bowen plus guys like Barry, Horry, Stephen Jackson, Mike Finley, etc gave them strong wing play that included the ability for dynamic scoring/offense creation plus excellent wing defenders. We get an upgraded version of that here, with Drexler plus peak Ginobili as better offensive wings and Iggy/Metta giving the defensive/dynamic role players and veteran presence as well. And Price is one of the best pure point guards for this type of attack...he feels like a Spurs/Popovic type player, able to be an intelligent floor general that can shoot the lights out.

3) Urnoggin's team feels to me...and this is admittedly more of a stretch, but it's where my mind went...like a slightly modified version of what the late 2000s Lakers could have been had the Chris Paul trade gone through. TMac is the analog to Kobe in talent/ability, while Odom is himself. Kawhi/Wallace is a more defensive bent than Ariza/Pau, but overall team contribution could be similar. In the perfect fit scenario, this squad would be a nightmare because Paul could be his usual offensive maestro-self, with TMac/Kawhi as nightmare wing finishers (and TMac as a secondary offensive engine, when required), and the Odom/Grant/Wallace frontline providing a LOT of versatility that could be sculpted to the attack. Then, defensively, this squad quietly has GOAT defensive potential IF TMac can channel his inner Kawhi. Big Ben is a 4-time DPoY who had great help defense and rebounding as an anchor; both Grant and Odom are sneaky strong defensive power forwards that would play well off of Big Ben OR off of each other in a more modern NBA approach; Kawhi and TMac would give you TWO unfairly athletic, long, potential lock defenders with one more of a 1-on-1 stopper and the other (at least in his Toronto days) looking like a great help defender. And Paul is a plus defender, even at the PG. Best case, that's a well-oiled machine with upside on offense and a potential GOAT defense. Best case.

4) Worst case for Urnoggin...TMac plays like he actually did in 2003. He wants the ball at huge usage and to score at high volume. This takes the ball out of Paul's hands more than would be ideal for the offense, reduces Kawhi to more of a role player when he has such higher upside, and potentially causes chemistry issues on the team at whole. Plus, if TMac plays like he did in 03, he just didn't do much on defense. This creates a defensive weakness, and also a potential issue with a Ben Wallace that was the driving personality behind the lunchpail/Going-to-work/defensive Pistons. Also, Big Ben is such an offensive liability that I don't know how many minutes he could really play in this match-up. I actually prefer, in a lot of ways, the Odom/Grant frontline as it feels more like that Lakers-style squad I mentioned. But, without Wallace's GOAT rebounding, could Odom/Grant compete enough with Russell and Davis in the middle?

5) Overall, I feel like Urnoggin's team has great upside but some potential for downside. Colbini's squad, much like those Spurs, just feel like they would be a tough, strong, defensive juggernaut with "surprisingly" strong offense, that would just be ideal as a playoff team. I could see this series going either way on a given time, but that more times than not it would be Colbini's squad that found a way to win. They'll be my vote, unless someone comes in with a case that changes my mind.

[ElGee]

I keep coming back to this so I'll talk it out, as I'm trying to sort out how these teams would function:

urnoggin on offense -- I see CP3 pounding the ball here, agree that Mac will play more like upgraded-Pippen with weaker D (scary), both he and Kawhi are good spot up shooters, as it Grant. The issue on offense is then a combination of Wallace and the ceiling of Paul with those guys around them. Part of me could see something that's more like a RS 109-110 offense (low side). Part of me could see something like 112-113 (upside). There are redundancies, but all 3 wings are above average shooters when the ball comes back to them, and two are excellent finishes. This is a very athletic and physically strong team from top to bottom, and it might help that they embody Paul's personality off of that (with T-Mac and Kawhi being more reserved personalities). I like the Sefolosha and Hoiberg picks as role players off the bench. I agree with drza that offensively Odom at the 4 and Grant at the 5 is more compelling, and we'll get that for 10 mpg here. Plus, with Odom in the game, I think transition could be on the table, although that's a coaches decision.

Colbini on defense -- Matchup-specific, I think noggin's guys having to go against a ridiculous twin-towers that is in the realm of Duncan-Robinson. My instinct is actually that, even if Russell is the best of the group, that Davis is the weak defensive link -- he does make mistakes and is missing the footprint of those other guys despite great shot blocking. Don't remember his 2015 defensive data being on the same level as these other three, but it's still a ridiculously good back line -- not to mention the lateral coverage of both guys. I think running PnR's into them is going to be painful, and that's what CP3 wants to do. :/ Then Iggy at the wing position to boot. I imagine the best thing to do in that scenario would be force Price to switch and attack him there, but I imagine the combo of Davis and Russell lurking will block a lot of that. In other words, I don't love this matchup for this offense.

Colbini on offense -- The first thing that popped into my head when reading how Colbini envisions the offense is the 2011 Nuggets. So, I definitely buy drza's comparison the recent Spurs teams. Drexler was a very good passer, did a lot in the "point forward" vein but also moved well off the ball. There are no ball-stoppers there and boatload of high IQ guys. Everyone can run too -- surprised transition wasn't mentioned. With Price, Drexler and Ginobili the first number I thought of was a 112 offense, so lets say 111-113 range.

urnoggin on defense -- Matchup specific, Colbini goes against this ridiculous defensive trio of CP3, Leonard and McGrady. Obviously, I completely agree McGrady would be freed up to (a) get better shots and (b) focus on defense. That doesn't mean he would be as good as Kawhi, but I imagine he would be very good based on other seasons. While I think an offense like Colbini's is fairly resilient to most defenses -- hard to run through picks and hard to catch up with the ball -- urnoggin's guys are so physically strong and fairly long that I think there are issues. It's not smooth sailing when finishing around the rim with Wallace, and I think iso scoring possessions will be hard to come by when things break down, especially for the 22 minutes Ron Ron is in.

Very close. Leaning urnoggin.

[urnoggin]

Some things I would like to address:
-Yes, I think that Odom and Grant would create a much better offense for me but I don't think it's worth the downgrade in rebounding and defense to play this combo for more than 10 mpg. My team has a "defensive identity" with Ben+Grant+Kawhi as my frontcourt and I can't afford to let Russell kill me on the boards.

-T-Mac's ability to play a different role than he did in '03 is definitely a very important factor in this matchup. My intent is for him to share ballhandling with CP, and to be the go-to guy for my team when we need a bucket. I have little doubt that Kawhi will be effective off-ball, given that he's not much of a ballhandler for the Spurs irl. If Mac is able to do what I want from him in this matchup, he will be scoring significantly less than what he did in 03' but with much better efficiency given the quality of teammates around him and the reduction in volume. I also believe that reducing his usage will make him more effective on defense as he will have more energy to be the long, athletic, disruptive defender that he was in his Toronto days. Whether he is able to accept that role without hurting his ego and hurting the rest of his game is a question that can't exactly be answered as it is obviously a hypothetical in this case. I 100% believe that he has the ABILITY in his '03 season to fit the role that I wish him to fill; however, I don't know if his personality and ego would get in the way of operating within the system. I also think that Clyde defending T-Mac is a matchup that we have a clear advantage in (along with Price on CP). Although Drex is an average to above-average defender, he needs to expend most of his energy on offense, meaning that T-Mac will have the upper hand in that matchup.

-Both teams are defensive juggernauts. With either of our frontcourts, scoring will be hard to come by for the opposition especially in the paint. I think that this will be a relatively low-scoring series compared to some of the others. I think my advantage lies in having Kawhi and T-Mac as the two best scorers on the court and phenomenal spacing with 3/5 elite 3-pt shooters at all times (combination of CP3, Kawhi, T-Mac, Sefo, and Hoiberg) and terrific shooters and shot creators from midrange (Grant, CP3, T-Mac, Kawhi) who can get their own shot when the defense tightens up or when the pace is slowed down.

[Clyde Frazier]

I admittedly worry about Paul and McGrady right away as teammates on urnoggin's team, especially later career Paul. He has a very rigid personality at this point. If McGrady bought in to playing off ball enough, they could be truly devastating (especially with Kawhi almost being a mirror image to McGrady as a wing filling the lane). While I'm sure McGrady wanted more help in Orlando in 03, I still think he enjoyed being the #1 guy after deciding to leave Toronto. I'll get back to this as I further analyze the teams.

I see more overall synergy on colbinii's roster. They have a nice combination of unselfish playmakers and bonafide scorers, including a hyper efficient PG in price. With ben wallace not being an offensive threat, russell becomes more dangerous as a rim protector and help defender. Grant is obviously viable offensively, but is not going to do enough damage to really disrupt colbinii's front line in my opinion.

I'm ending up at a point trying to decide how big of a factor AD can be offensively in this matchup, and how much that batters. Between wallace and grant, they're going to give him a rough time. That said, he was pretty relentless even in 2015 not backing down from contact. Even if they neutralize his impact offensively, I think they have enough above average shooting and ball movement on the perimeter to survive. I just don't think Paul and McGrady figure out how to make it work over the course of a 7 game series. There are going to be some clashes there that are too had to recover from.

Vote: Colbinii

[ElGee]

I just don't think Paul and McGrady figure out how to make it work over the course of a 7 game series.

^^^ This is bringing up something new for me that perhaps Ardee can clarify -- my assumption is that these teams would play together all year. Clyde is implying that they are thrown together for a tournament a la the way USA basketball handles the Olympics.

[Clyde Frazier]

I just don't think Paul and McGrady figure out how to make it work over the course of a 7 game series.

^^^ This is bringing up something new for me that perhaps Ardee can clarify -- my assumption is that these teams would play together all year. Clyde is implying that they are thrown together for a tournament a la the way USA basketball handles the Olympics.

You know what? That was more so loose wording in the process of my writeup. It would still be good for Ardee to clarify, but my stance on Paul / McGrady having trouble figuring it out wouldn't change either way.

[ElGee]

Having a real hard time with this one. I like Colbini's team better in a vacuum. But my biggest concern is that noggin's offense might not work well enough to overcome the defensive force in front of him, and yet I think any Chris Paul offense has demonstrated that it's going to be OK. (119 ORtg on court this year). I also buy in that McGrady and Leonard will fit very well around him. Ben Wallace has always been an offensive negative to me, and I feel like a stretch big is ideal here against Russell. Russ also is so well equipped to defense PnR, and Paul doesn't really have an ideal PnR big. But I can't get over playing Manu the same amount of time as MWP. By a hair:

vote:urnoggin

[Statlanta]

Bump for outside votes