So, I was going to post a bunch of stats and fancy numbers and what not, but frankly I just don't have the time. As such, I'm just going to make my point simple.
Indy obviously has the bigger "star". I can't deny that. Williams is also a much "sexier" name than Conley, but whatever. My team isn't about relying on one player to carry the load. To be honest, I hate teams like that and am not impressed (no offense to Rondo2287). I'd much rather have a well built, fully cohesive group of players who all complement each other nicley. It's just more fun to watch, and can be darn competitive too.
As for game strategy, I plan to play it pretty straight up. On defense I won't be double teaming either of Indy's stars. I think it would be much to my advantage to force Durant to have to play hero-ball all day while my defenders make sure to lock everyone else down. This has proven to be a winning formula against many of the bigger stars in this league.
George and Ariza are about as good of defenders for this job as there gets. Will either "win" this matchup, no, but that's not the point. Without much else for help around him, besides DWill, he's going to need to shoot a high FG% to keep his team in the game. If Durant or DWill are taking 20-25 shots each, I'd say that plays right into my plan. The other players will simply be out of rhythm for when the game gets tight, and that can be problematic, and if either star has an off game, that would spell doom.
Meanwhile, on offense, I plan to spread the ball around, never letting Indy's mediocre defense focus on any one player. Conley has proven himself to be a capable floor general, and is coming off a playoff run in which his he averaged over 17ppg and 7apg while eliminating bot CP3 and Durants teams from the playoffs. Paul George also had a very nice playoff run, taking the "king" to 7 games in the ECF. Not too shabby. And let's be clear, Durant is no Lebron.
I plan to use a number of ball-screen and pick-n-pop plays for my shooters. Ryno and Redick, in particular, are deadly 3pt shooters. If the defense focuses on the ball penetration of either Conley or George, my shooter will be there waiting to "let it rain". Also, I fully plan on utilizing a lot of small-ball, and playing at a high pace. This will likely lead to a number of steals and easy fast break points for players like George, Ariza, Gee and Conley.
In the front-court (outside of the already much discussed Okafor/Anderson vs Lopez/Scola matchup-which I will most assuredly have the advantage in due to rebounding prowess and shooting), Indy's bigs will partly be neutralized by my small-ball rotations (seriously-Indy has no likely answer for when I run out my shooting lineup of Anderson/George/Ariza/Redick/Conley). Brand and Evans are likely to be the bigs off the bench seeing the most minutes (guessing) and while Brand did outscore Evans in their two most recent games this season by a meager 12 to 4, Evans out-rebounded Brand by a whopping 33 to 7. And while Greg Smith may not see much time, he did average 4 pts and 3 rebounds in 11mpg this past playoffs. I don't see a fourth big on Indy's roster who can provide even this amount of production.
As for guard/wing bench units, and their respective contributions, I feel I have a fairly sound advantage in this department. Indy has really only one bench player of note, Ray Allen. While he can be as deadly a sniper the game has seen, he doesn't really contribute much else. To counter, Alzono Gee will be getting most of the minute in the back-court. In the four games these two played this year, this matchup was essentially equal. This is in addition to the obvious impact Ariza will have on the game (discussed above), which isn't something my counterpart can match. Durant better play the full 48 or there could be real trouble.
As for my deep bench, Bayles, Ellington and Green may get time if there is foul trouble, or to provide even more long range shooting if necessary, with Baylees being the most likely to see time. This likely won't have much of a factor, admittedly, but Bayless did average 9pts and 2ast in 20mpg in last years playoffs as Conley's backup.
In conclusion, while I expect a tough series, I see the Bucks winning in either 6 or 7, due in part to being a more complete team.
Topic: 2013 CB Draft: Eastern First Round: Indiana(1) vs Milwaukee(8) (Read 86261 times)