2013 CB Draft: How's my CB Draft Team look?

[Roy H.]

Funny, Gerald Wallace has gone from overrated by Celtics fans to extremely underrated by opposing GMs. 

Wallace is still a good defender.  Time will tell if his offense bounces back (he's been gradually declining, then seemed to fall off a cliff).  If it does, Cleveland gets a nice bonus.  If it doesn't, they have a very nice 3/4 defender off the bench, who is still a good rebounder.

In the playoffs last year, Wallace seemed to find himself.  I certainly think he can handle a bench role, and can easily handle starting minutes against teams with elite SFs / quick PFs.

It's also weird to me that some of the folks throwing tomatoes at Wallace are counting heavily upon Trevor Ariza and Lance Stephenson, both of whom are well below average offensively.  Wallace is the worst of the three, but he's also not being counted on to start against most teams.

[rondoallaturca]

LA Lakers
Calderon | Barea
Matthews | Delfino | [Pondexter]
Mbah a Moute | Pondexter | [Delfino] | [Matthews]
Nowitzki | Davis | [Mbah a Moute]
Gasol | [Davis] | Olynyk

I think this a really well balanced roster. The talent on 1-3 is pretty average, but no players who look like they're gonna bottom out next season or anything. Obviously the teams success hinges on Dirk and Gasol. I think Gasol's annointment as DPOY was in error, but he's a very good defensive player. Elite. LRMAM is also the defender that metrics forgot, and fits because of Dirk's range and scoring acumen. Gasol plays the Tyson Chandler role here, and isn't a liability on offense, being on of the most skilled 5s in the league. If I was gonna have a axe to grind here, it'd be with there being no legitimate defender at the 1 on the roster. Teams with shooting 1s who can score in volume should feast on Calderon and Barea alike. There are viable defenders at the 2 and 3 though, so teams without a guy to make them pay will have a tough time making due otherwise.

Good team, don't think they're really top of the crop , but I don't think you can rule them out of anything.

I think defending the 1 is an overrated issue in general.  Rondo (who many call one of the top PG defenders in the league) can't really slow down the top offensive PGs.  Another great defender, Mike Conley, couldn't really slow down Chris Paul or Tony Parker in the playoffs.

It's just too hard to defend PGs on the ball.  The way to defend them is to have great team defense in place.

I think that's true and not true at the same time. With PG's who need to rely on penetrating to impact the game will have a tough time with this roster, but guys like Curry, Irving, Paul, Parker, they're going to have their way here, because their game is reliant on being able to circumvent the help defense. Some of them are shooters, some are scorers who can get it at will because of mystical floaters and flip shots, but if you can score easily without needing to finish at the rim, this roster is in trouble.

First, thanks for your earlier analysis, IP. Regarding the PG issue, you say that guys like Curry, Irving, Paul, and Parker will have their way against Calderon, but who WOULDN'T they have their way against? Rondo's probably the best defender among these star PGs, yet I recall Kyrie having some of his best games against Boston. Off the top of my head, the only guys who do have a shot frustrating opposing PGs are Avery Bradley and Tony Allen, neither of whom can competently play the PG position.

Furthermore, some of these PGs are atrocious defenders themselves. From the four you named, three of them are below average: Curry, Irving, and Parker. Continuing on this point, Golden State's defense still managed to be in the top half of the league despite having David Lee behind Stephen Curry.

More and more it seems like the only reason people are writing off the Lakers as a top tier team is because of our PG defense, but I'm just not buying it at all. In terms of stopping the Curry's and Parker's of the world, you simply don't. What you can do is limit the damage, and that's by surrounding your defensive liability with a solid defensive supporting cast, and that's exactly what we have done. Matthews and QP are both very above average defenders on the wing, and we can also bring in LRMAM who is probably one of the best defenders in the league alongside Tony Allen. Most importantly, Dirk/Marc are two of the most cerebral players in the league and both of them are excellent help defenders, and that'll go a long way in masking Calderon's defensive deficiencies.

[rondoallaturca]

If the Lakers had a more balanced small forward  and PG, I'd rate them so much higher but The Prince is just too one dimensional and Calderon couldn't guard a chair bolted to the ground.

Thanks for the input. Since I addressed the PG issue already, I'll talk about the SF.

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland. That being said, LRMAM is there to match up with the elite wing players in the league. Otherwise, we have Quincy Pondexter (and even Carlos Delfino) as solid 3&D players who will make our offense even more deadly from deep.

[AB_Celtic]

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland.

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the entire world, though. LRMAM is not.

[rondoallaturca]

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland.

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the entire world, though. LRMAM is not.

I have TA on my DKC team and even I beg to differ. Allen's the best lockdown defender with respect to guards. LRMAM is the best lockdown defender with respect to wings. If you're going to call Allen one of the best defenders in the entire world, you have to do the same with LRMAM.

[BleedGreen1989]

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland.

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the entire world, though. LRMAM is not.

I have TA on my DKC team and even I beg to differ. Allen's the best lockdown defender with respect to guards. LRMAM is the best lockdown defender with respect to wings. If you're going to call Allen one of the best defenders in the entire world, you have to do the same with LRMAM.

Agreed. The difference between the two is not as enormous as people make it out to be.

Also, as RA noted, they guard different positions but both do it at an elite level.

[AB_Celtic]

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland.

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the entire world, though. LRMAM is not.

I have TA on my DKC team and even I beg to differ. Allen's the best lockdown defender with respect to guards. LRMAM is the best lockdown defender with respect to wings. If you're going to call Allen one of the best defenders in the entire world, you have to do the same with LRMAM.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=allento01&y1=2013&p2=mbahalu01&y2=2013

DWS, DRTG, WS/48 (and multiple All-Defensive selections) begs to differ.

Also, TA can lock down wings no problem. He made Durant look like a fool in a game last season.

[indeedproceed]

It's also weird to me that some of the folks throwing tomatoes at Wallace are counting heavily upon Trevor Ariza and Lance Stephenson, both of whom are well below average offensively.  Wallace is the worst of the three, but he's also not being counted on to start against most teams.

Lance Stephenson on the court: 109.9 PP 100 Poss
Lance Stephenson off the court: 99.8 PP 100 Poss
+10.1

Gerald Wallace on the court: 110.1
Gerald Wallace off the court: 108.4
+1.7

Lance Stephenson FG%: 46%
Lance Stephenson TS%: 53%
Lance Stephenson ORTG: 106
Lance Stephenson OWS: 1.5
Lance Stepehson WS/48: .115

Gerald Wallace FG%: 39.7%
Gerald Wallace TS%: 53%
Gerald Wallace ORTG: 101
Gerald Wallace OWS: .6
Gerald Wallace WS/48: .072

Lance Stephenson doesn't score all that often, but he got better as the season went on, and was, if the numbers indicate correctly, much more critical to his teams' offensive success than Crash was. And, he's 22, so he projects to improve. Crash does not. Very comfortable throwing shade at Crash. 

[KCattheStripe]

If the Lakers had a more balanced small forward  and PG, I'd rate them so much higher but The Prince is just too one dimensional and Calderon couldn't guard a chair bolted to the ground.

Thanks for the input. Since I addressed the PG issue already, I'll talk about the SF.

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland. That being said, LRMAM is there to match up with the elite wing players in the league. Otherwise, we have Quincy Pondexter (and even Carlos Delfino) as solid 3&D players who will make our offense even more deadly from deep.

Yeah, but my point was The Prince is one dimensional defensively and Calderon is one dimensional offensively and that's too much. For example, in Memphis, TA has Conley Jr who is a very good to great 2 way player and Tayshaun is crafty at both ends. There's not that kind of versatility in your perimeter squad.

[rondoallaturca]

I'm not really seeing LRMAM's one-dimensionality as too much of an issue right now. No one is saying the same thing with Tony Allen on Cleveland.

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the entire world, though. LRMAM is not.

I have TA on my DKC team and even I beg to differ. Allen's the best lockdown defender with respect to guards. LRMAM is the best lockdown defender with respect to wings. If you're going to call Allen one of the best defenders in the entire world, you have to do the same with LRMAM.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=allento01&y1=2013&p2=mbahalu01&y2=2013

DWS, DRTG, and WS/48 beg to differ.

Also, TA can lock down wings no problem. He made Durant look like a fool in a game last season.

Last year LRMAM was coming off an injury. Towards the end of the season and in the postseason, he really rounded into form. Anyone who bothered to watch MIA/MIL saw how effectively LRMAM contained Lebron, and I believe (although cannot confirm) that Lebron called LRMAM his toughest matchup in the league.

LRMAM is so good at defense that Milwaukee bloggers have undertaken an in-depth study on LRMAM's defense despite him not even being on the team anymore:

http://www.brewhoop.com/lebron-james-kevin-durant-luc-richard-mbah-a-moute

I'm not sure if they're the same videos, but a collection of LRMAM's defense can be found on this channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/UdohntUnderstand/videos

[rondoallaturca]

Yeah, but my point was The Prince is one dimensional defensively and Calderon is one dimensional offensively and that's too much. For example, in Memphis, TA has Conley Jr who is a very good to great 2 way player and Tayshaun is crafty at both ends. There's not that kind of versatility in your perimeter squad.

I understand that, but that's why I talked about Cleveland. Allen is one dimensional defensively, and Butler is one dimensional offensively. That's the same as LRMAM/Calderon on our team. Plus, like action781 and I have covered, you can argue that PG defense is overrated.

[rondoallaturca]

Last year LRMAM was coming off an injury. Towards the end of the season and in the postseason, he really rounded into form. Anyone who bothered to watch MIA/MIL saw how effectively LRMAM contained Lebron, and I believe (although cannot confirm) that Lebron called LRMAM his toughest matchup in the league.

LRMAM is so good at defense that Milwaukee bloggers have undertaken an in-depth study on LRMAM's defense despite him not even being on the team anymore:

http://www.brewhoop.com/lebron-james-kevin-durant-luc-richard-mbah-a-moute

I'm not sure if they're the same videos, but a collection of LRMAM's defense can be found on this channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/UdohntUnderstand/videos

Adding to this, you say Allen can cover wings, which would make him able to cover 1-3. LRMAM can do 1-4. LRMAM has covered everyone from Westbrook/CP3/Rose to Kobe to Lebron/KD/Melo to Bosh/Dirk. You can't say the same for Allen.

Just because Allen has had postseason exposure in recent years doesn't mean he's automatically superior to LRMAM.

[RebusRankin]

Washington Wizards
Pg:John Wall/Devin Harris
SG:Klay Thompson/Kyle Singler
SF: Evan Turner/Mike Dunleavy
PF: Amir Johnson/Toby Harris
C: Joakim Noah/Spencer Hawes

[Lucky17]

Washington Wizards
Pg:John Wall/Devin Harris
SG:Klay Thompson/Kyle Singler
SF: Evan Turner/Mike Dunleavy
PF: Amir Johnson/Toby Harris
C: Joakim Noah/Spencer Hawes

I'm biased, but I do love the sum total of these parts. While the team may lack big name/sex appeal, it's full of smart, versatile, two-way players. No knuckleheads, locker room issues, or prima donnas. Strong defensively, and capable offensively.

Team should gel well together, and play well for years to come. Haven't done a dedicated survey of the Eastern Conference, but this has to be a playoff team that could potentially last beyond the first round.

[indeedproceed]

Patrick Beverley calls himself 'Mr 94 Feet', because he only has one speed, and that's intensity.