RotationPG: Walt Frazier (40 mpg)/Michael Cooper (8 mpg)
SG: Sam Jones (35 mpg)/Michael Cooper (13 mpg)
SF: Adrian Dantley (33 mpg)/Michael Cooper (10 mpg)/Happy Hairston (5 mpg)
PF: Happy Hairston (30 mpg)/Chuck Hayes (18 mpg)
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38 mpg)/Nate Thurmond (10 mpg)
Offensive strategyThis is a sure thing that my offense is built around Kareem post game. I really like my center matchup because Mourning isn't a good option against 1977 Kareem. Zo is a tough, physical defender but he lacks size to contest Kareem shots. You can't defend skyhook when you are 6'9, no matter how strong and physical you are. Kareem faced similar defender - Willis Reed - when he was younger and although Willis did decent job Alcindor had remarkable series against Knicks as a rookie. My verison of Kareem is much stronger and more polished offensively. Clifford Ray is another player similar to Mouring and he couldn't guard him at all in 1977. Of course Mr Spaceman doesn't have anyone better to throw at Kareem. Zaza is a poor option and I don't think he will play that much in this series. I think Draymond won't guard Kareem even for a few possesions (not counting switches of course). Otherwise, I'd be even happier because he won't be effective and it negates all of Draymond's defensive impact.
I expect many double teams against Kareem but Jabbar is great passer out of the post. With Sam running and cutting without the ball I'm sure Kareem will create many easy baskets for him. Jones will also spread the floor (along with Cooper) . Micheal is also very good finisher so all double attempts on Kareem will end up shooting easy baskets. Jabbar fare very well against many defensive schemes and again, Dr Spaceman doesn't have great option to guard him straight. Mouring is also foul-prone player and I'm sure he it will be a problem for his team.
I have excellent ballhandler in Walt Frazier who know how to play with dominant low post bigman. Of course my team is talented enough not to rely on Kareem all the time. Clyde can play against anyone. Billups and Harper are good defenders and I don't want to see many Frazier isos against them. Instead, he will play many P&Rs with Hairston (and Thurmond) and he is very good in that situations. Walt is one of the best shot creators in midrange area I've ever seen so he won't take away space from Kareem. You can't sag him off because he's deadly midrange shooter and he's good, creative slasher. He's not ball dominant but in tough situations he can be my go-to guy (although I'd rather see him playing more as a playmaker). He's also very important for my offense because he can create turnovers as good as anyone. When he steal the ball, the basket is a sure thing. I'm comfortable with him running my offense and you can't throw too much help against Kareem when he has the ball because he will make you pay for that.
As I said before, Jones is my off-ball threat. Many may not believe that he's a threat from a 3 point line, but I know how gifted shooter he was. There is no way a player with such a good shooting touch can't shoot 3 at decent rate. I've seen him shooting from far away and he looks comfortable taking shots like that. What makes him so important for my team is that he's so good at cutting to the basket. He'll make Hayward work on defense. When he has to, he can also bring the ball to halfcourt but I'd rather see him running without the ball. He's also very good transition finisher. After all, he played in Auerbach's Celtics. With Clyde creating turonvers I'm sure he will score many easy baskets in tranistion. Cooper will play similar role when he will play with Frazier. He's very good 3 point shooter which is important for Kareem. Amazing in transition, good finisher under the rim. With Clyde on the bench, he will play more dribbling the ball and creating for others. He's decent playmaker who can run some P&R actions with Happy and give-and-gos with Kareem.
Happy Hairston is my hustler and garbage man. He'll play mostly as a screener and offensive crasher. He's one of the best rebounder's I've ever seen and will give me many second chance points. I don't believe Green/Bird/someone else can sag him off, because he's not only rebounding threat (similar to Rodman) but he's actually good shooter from midrange. That makes me more comfortable with Frazier running P&R actions with him. This guy is the ultimate role player.
Thurmond won't play many minutes in this series because I don't need his amazing defensive presence. Offensively, he's mostly for crashing the boards and playing some two-men actions. He can also pass from the post which gives me another dimension (but I won't do it much), He's very good at setting screens which will help Jones and Cooper become wide open. Chuck Hayes will play similar role, but with less attacking the boards. He'll be sure that Dr Spaceman won't have easy fastbreaks. Chuck is another great screen settler and he can play very well in two-men actions. He can play pick and pops and playmake from this postion (instead of shooting like Happy). I know both guys limitations but I hope it won't make my team unsuccessfull on offense. I'll try not to play both Dantley and Hayes because it'll hurt my spacing. Chuck will play mostly with Coop and Hairston.
Finaly, the most important thing - how to use Adrian Dantley? We know that he played with Jabbar in late 70s and it didn't work well. My strategy is slightly different. Dantley will play every minute when Kareem will have break and for this ~10 minutes he will be my go-to guy. We will play during that time similar to 1987 Pistons - creating isos opportiunities for him. With Kareem on the floor, he won't post up. I don't want to take away space from Jabbar. Dantley is still a huge threat from faceup situations. You can't leave him wide open because he's good set shooter. I know that he can play in a flow, this is a myth. He played good with Edwards who was post up player. He created many easy opportiunities for Mark Eaton. Now, instead of one of the worst offensive centers ever he has Jabbar. He'll be good in situation when he has the ball and Kareem fights for position. When defender come down to help against Kareem, AD will score easy points either from midrange or driving hook. He's also another great finisher in transition which makes me very dangerous with Frazier and Cooper creating turnovers.
I don't know how Dr Spaceman will defend him, but Bird is very bad idea. Dantley could score against Larry at will. Hayword is even worse option because Dantley will just post him up, which is the worst thing you can do against him. I think Draymond is the best suited to guard him. He's long enough to contest his midrange shots and he's quite strong so he won't be destoyed down low. The problem with Dantley is that he's not only a post player though. Draymond isn't quick enough to defend his first step. Green is alos very physical defender and this is not a good way to stop Dantley. AD loves drawing fouls and he's the best ever in that. Also, when Green will focus on defending Dantley he won't be as effective as a help defender which is a big plus for me.
I know my team has flaws on offense and the fit between Kareem and AD isn't perfect but I can satisfy both and the rest of my team doesn't need many touches (outside of Frazier who will dribble the ball create for others). I think my team can exploit many missmatches against this paritcular team (Kareem vs Zo/Zaza and Dantley vs Bird/Draymond) and Frazier is talented enough to handle the strong pressure of Billups/Harper). I have big advantage on the boards too which can be very important.
Defensive strategyThis is the most important thing in this series: how to defend Larry Bird? I'll focus on this later, let's start with guards.
Billups is not a huge scoring threat. He's very good shooter and playmaker, but I'm sure he won't play one on one basketball. I decided that Sam Jones will guard him. He's quick and athletic and he's also bigger than Billups which may alter his shot a bit. I'm sure Jones as a capable defender will do nice job. Anyway, I don't have to shut down Chauncey, just make him work. Besides, I'll use full court press quite a bit and Jones played in a team famous for that.
Frazier will guard Hayward. Gordon is much taller than Walt and this can be a small problem. I'm sure Clyde will do very good job though. Hayward isn't quick enough to blow him away and he's not great ballhander which may be problem against Frazier. When he will be forced to bring the ball to halfcourt, it'll be tough task for him. Frazier is really good at stealing the ball. When Sam will rest, Frazier will move to Billups and Cooper will defend Hayward. This will be even harder for Gordon as Cooper is real lockdown defender. Even though he has size advantage over both, he's not that great in using size to create for himself. I'm sure both Frazier and Cooper will do at least decent job and I believe they will make him much less efficient than usual in fact.
Kareem will defend Mouring and Zaza. Same with Thurmond, centers won't guard forwards - it's not good choice in this particular matchup. Althoguh Kareem isn't the greatest man defender I'm happy with this matchup. Mouring isn't that remarkable offensive player and I doubt Dr Spaceman will play him in the post that much. P&R actions can create some problems, but I can live with that. Kareem isn't as bad as Shaq in that aspect. Of course when Nate will play, Mouring will be useless as a scoring threat. Thurmond really made some similar players (Reed, Bellamy, Lanier, Hayes) look painful.
Then we have the toughest part - Bird and Green. Such a unique and good combination. What can I do to make Larry inefficient? The truth is that really nothing. Bird could destroy any kind of defenses. What is my gameplan against him? I'll try to guard him straight. Help will come only when he establishes deep position against Cooper in the post. Otherwise, I don't want to double him because it's not a good idea. I'd rather have Bird shooting and even scoring than playmaking and destroying my defense. I decided that Dantley will guard him. He did actually remarkable job against him in both ECFs. Dantley has a reputation of poor defender but he's actually good man defender and Bird isn't quick enough to exploit his average lateral quickness. Of course, Bird is much taller and he will shoot over AD but I can live with that. Another interesting, but good choice in my opinion will be Chuck Hayes on Bird. He's well suited to defend guy like Bird - he's stronger and will take away rebounding opportunities from him. Bird will have very tough time down low against him and Chuck is quick enough to stay in front of him on perimeter. Copper will also defend him when he will play as a forward. He has the whole history of guarding Bird and did better job than almost anyone. Overall Dantley/Hayes/Cooper combination is quite nice against Bird and I can also throw at him Happy Hairtson in some situations.
Green will be guarded either by Hairston or Hayes (in a lineup with Cooper at SF). They are both capable of doing that as they are both quick enough to defend him on perimeter. Green's spacing effect become less important with my defenders. Also, Hairston is good P&R defender and it's very important when you play against Green. I really think my forwards will fare well against Draymond as both are quick, versatile, strong and tough. I can't see Draymond making trash of Chuck Hayes, that's not possible.
His bench isn't very important in a sense of gameplanning. Fox is mostly a shooter and Harper isn't much of a threat. I already mentioned Pachulia.
One last thing is possibility of him playing smallball. He can play with a lineup like that:
PG - Billups
SG - Hayward
SF - Fox
PF - Bird
C - Green
When I have Kareem on my lineup, it will be tough to defend but I don't believe Dr Spaceman will play Green at C against Kareem much. Green is not amazing shooter and spacing effect isn't enough to overcome missmatch on the other end of the floor. When Kareem will have a break, I'll play with Hayes at 5, with Hairston/Cooper and Dantley. I can respond to this move quite well.
In the end, I want to congratulate Dr Spaceman. He created really good, balanced team. Some of the missmatches he has (mostly Hayward at SG) will be tough to overcome. He's great analythical mind and it won't be easy to win this battle. I believe that my team is well bulit to play against teams like that though and I hope judges also will consider all aspect I mentioned in this post.
Can't wait to see your write-up and good luck
