Derrick Rose Draft R1 - Laimbeer vs MadNess*

[durantbird]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes advances.**

[MadNESS]

PG: Chauncey Billups (37) | Kirk Hinrich (11)
SG: James Harden (34) | Kirk Hinrich (14)
SF: Shane Battier (35) | Jaden McDaniels (13)
PF: Larry Nance (36) | Jaden McDaniels (12)
Cc: Hakeem Olajuwon (40) | Anthony Mason (8)

Total: 87.6 | 88.0

11’-12’ James Harden - 10.1 FGA
6MOTY | 39% 3’s

05’-06’ Chauncey Billups - 12.5 FGA
MVP (5) | All NBA 2 | All NBA D 2 | All Star

05’-06’ Shane Battier - 7.7 FGA
39% 3’s | Elite 3 & D Wing | DPOY (10)

93’-94’ Hakeem Olajuwon - 21.2 FGA
MVP | DPOY | All NBA 1 | All NBA D 1 | All Star

23’-24’ Jaden McDaniels - 8.7 FGA
All NBA D 2 | 3 & D Wing

88’-89’ Larry Nance - 12.6 FGA
All NBA 1 D | All Star | MVP (13)

94’-95’ Anthony Mason - 6.6 FGA
6MOTY | 10/9/3/1 on a 55 win team

08’-09’ Kirk Hinrich - 8.2 FGA
41% 3’s | 6MOTY (14) | 1.3 SPG

Category 1 - Hakeem Olajuwon
Category 2 - James Harden
Category 3 - Kirk Hinrich
Category 4 - Anthony Mason
Category 5 - Larry Nance
Category 6 - Jaden McDaniels
Category 7 - Chauncey Billups
Category 8 - Shane Battier

Write Up:
GL Laimbeer.

Defense: Straight up. Billups is a good cover for Kyrie as is Hinrich off the bench. Harden will be fine on Bane. Bane is an overrated player always has been to me, and always will be. Battier on Iggy. Nance on Non MVP KG or Non Celtics KG. Hakeem on Robinson.
Our defense as a whole is nasty. 7/8 players are good to great defenders. Harden can hide on multiple different players in this match up. We have the big men to defend these versions of KG and Robinson.

Offense: Pick and rolls and pick and pops with Billups/Hakeem or Harden/Hakeem. We will play inside out in the half court, with Hakeem touching the ball on every possession finding shooters when necessary. Having a dominate back court with a strong front court will make things difficult for anyone to score. Elite Level Hakeem with defense and shooters everywhere is a great combination.

First - Laimbeer doesn't have a MVP on his roster. He chose different seasons of KG and Robinson.
Second - 39 year old Knicks Kidd? John Salley? Really?
Third - Our bench is great with Kirk, McDaniels & Mason. 8 deep to his 6 deep rotation.
Fourth - No off peak seasons, No off peak players

Vote Ness

[Laimbeer]

David Robinson ( 1996 ) 16.8 - MVP (2), DPOY (4)
Kevin Garnett ( 2005 ) 16.6 - PER (1), W/S (1), BPM (1), VORP (1)
Andre Iguodola ( 2015 ) 6.4 - Finals MVP; 6MOY (4)
Desmond Bane ( 2022 ) 14.5 - All-D votes; 43.6% on 6.9 3PA
Kyrie Irving ( 2015 ) 16.5 - All-NBA; 41.5% on 5.0 3PA

John Salley ( 1990 ) 5.0 - Key reserve on Champs, 2.9 blks per 36
Kyle Korver ( 2012 ) 6.3 - 6MOY (10); 43,5% on 4.2 3PA
Jason Kidd ( 2013 ) 5.4 - Starter on ECS, 35.1% on 4.3 3PA

87.5

David Robinson (38) / John Salley (10)
Kevin Garnett (38) / Andre Iguodola (6) / John Salley (4)
Andre Iguodola (30) / Kyle Korver (18)
Desmond Bane (38) / Kyle Korver (6) / Jason Kidd (4)
Kyrie Irving (38) / Jason Kidd (10)


We're pretty loaded offensively with this crew. Kyrie will run a lot of pick and roll with DRob and as always KG will get his. Bane moves well without the ball and creates for himself. He will feast against Harden's lazy defense.

DRob and Garnett are a ferocious defensive interior. The perimeter matchups are very solid as well. Just not seeing a place where we come up short. Should put a dent in their offense. Harden and Chauncey don't really maximize one another.

Our bench is solid, led by Korver lighting it up. Salley was one of the better reserve big men in the league as shown in his advanced stats. Kidd was praised as a heady vet leader and is well suited to his role.

[Fadeaway_J]

Starting Andre Iguodala just so he can guard another 3-and-D specialist instead of Bane is just bizarre to me, regardless of how overrated you think Bane is. With that said, I've never been high on Kyrie as a lead playmaker, even less so the early Cavs iteration. If I'm betting on one of these teams to find reliable offensive production against these insane defensive frontcourts, it's the one with Hakeem as the #1 option and Billups running the show.

Vote: MadNESS

[ardee]

Vote: Laimbeer

These are the two best teams, crazy they meet in round 1.

That being said, Laimbeer had this draft won by the end of round 4 in my mind. Adding Iggy to the other four guys is just overkill, it's kind of like how Ness gave no one else a shot in the Choose an Era draft.

KG/Robinson is an insane frontcourt even in less restrictive draft, but in one like this? Then add Kyrie, Bane and Iggy as your perimeter guys?

Just too much talent that also fits like a glove. Ness would need peak Rockets Harden to compete here.

[durantbird]

I'm not high enough on OKC Harden to bridge the offensive gap. Hakeem is required to do a lot here in terms of scoring and he's facing a deadly frontcourt combo.

Vote Laimbeer

[JimmyPlopper]

Went back and forth on this one. Feel like the teams have some of the same build characteristics. With that being said, the only thing that very slightly puts this one over the top is the version of the best player, and the type of player they were in that role. Hakeem at his best, led to NBA Championships. Robinson earned a title, but it would be difficult to say he specifically led his team to that achievement. Hakeem's competitive nature, go to player on offense while being an elite defender. Robinson is excellent but in my view he's a shade below Hakeem for the required purposes. Vote Ness

[MadNESS]

2-2 now

[Snakebites]

I really didn't want to vote on this one because I really like both teams and thought they both should go farther.

Overall I think that Ness has the size and the skill to stand up to Robinson and KG, and I also think that he has a more reliable source of perimeter playmaking with the Billups/Harden combo compared to young Kyrie- who wasn't quite ready for prime time IMO.

Vote Ness

[durantbird]

MadNess advances