---DENVER NUGGETS STARTING LINEUP---
PG: Gary Payton
SG: Kyrie Irving
SF: Rip Hamilton
PF: Carmelo Anthony
C: Tim Duncan
---BENCH LINEUP---
PG: Steve Francis
SG: Raja Bell
SF: Glenn Robinson
PF: Draymond Green
C: DeMarcus Cousins
---DEEP BENCH---
SG: Danny Green
SF: Robert Covington
PF: Anthony Mason
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Strategy will be in my next post.
Ever thought of playing Green instead of Raja as your backup SG? I like Green's versatility on defence more. Would also try looking at playing Covington ahead of Robinson - I think Big Dog's lack of lateral mobility would be costly against a team that has wings who are great at moving off the ball.
I wasn't sure how Raja Bell compared to Danny Green. Bell was definitely before my time, and I think defense in particular relies much more on the eye test than offense does.
RoCo might be really useful in this series, so I may move him into the bench. It's a tough decision for sure.
From my impression of watching some SSOL Suns games, I think Raja was better as a man to man defender (whether on or off the ball), but Green can cover more positions and provide better help defence. But yeah he was ahead of my time as well and I didn't research him heavily (I was focused on analysing Nash/Amare/Marion when watching those games), so I'd appreciate guys who've watched extensive tape of him to give their opinion.
Raja Bell was a really good spot up 3 point shooter (fit so well next to Nash) and one of about 3 guys in the NBA in the mid 2000s along with Bowen and Batter who were reputable Kobe defenders. I'm probably missing some? Raja and Bowen were like the guys that made 3&D become a thing.
You are correct, Bell was really a strong 3&D player.
I really just don't like when people in these fantasy drafts try to play players out of position. I mean RP has 4 players in his starting lineup playing out of position i.e. Irving at SG, Hamilton at SF, Anthony at PF, and Duncan at C. I just believe that is a horrible idea. Players play their positions for a reason and trying to fit them outside of their normal positions/roles is just a bad idea. I understand trying to get matchup advantages, but it shouldn't be at reducing your own players effectiveness.
I'd honestly probably go with a starting lineup of Cousins, Duncan, Anthony, Bell, and Payton with my main bench rotation being Draymond, Rip, and Kyrie. I'd then use Big Dog, Franchise, Danny, Mason, Z, and RoCo for situational basketball. Like in this series with Shaq, I'd probably use Z a lot more for his size than I would in another series.