2019 Historical: How Does My Team Look Thread

[Somebody]

Golden State Warriors - Pick 10

Starting Center - Bill Russell

Starting Power Forward - Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starting Small Forward - Kevin Durant

Starting Shooting Guard - Bruce Bowen

Starting Point Guard - Isiah Thomas

Starting 5 Synopsis -  Strategy - Overview


This is my pre-specific season pick, general overview and decision making philosophy.

I'll start with the most "interesting" inclusion in this group, the pick probably had more than a few of you wondering if I am sleep deprived, drunk, high and/or all of the three. I assure you, I am and was not. My decision to make this pick, which I admittedly . could have made later on, was representative of my consideration of useage, spacing, winning culture, team and individual defense. As many of you know, Bruce Bowen was a member of some San Antonio teams that embodied the team first moto. He is a career .440% shooter from the corners, a spot from which he took a staggering 80% of his threes. I considered this to be my greatest ally as it relates to both Isiah Thomas and Giannis. His ability to effectively defend 3 positions and 1 at an elite level while being an elite team player/team defender, is central to my usage theory. Bill Russell had similar players on his team that were asked to do more offensively. On this team, Russell orders Bowen around the perimeter with the intention of shepherding SG's into my other two perimeter defenders, Giannis and Durant.

While I feel I made a bit of a mistake and should have selected Gary Payton, I would ask Isiah Thomas to pick up full court and lead the other teams ball handler, if size is applicable, to the side of the court that correlates with their weak hand - yes I know these guys don't have weak hands, but much of this is a statistics game and it is proven, generally, when you force someone on to their unnatural side they perform, even at this elite-elite level, a tad less great. On offense id ask him to be 13 assist a game Isiah. Id run double pick and rolls a la 2008-11 celtics and force teams to switch slower bigs onto his with Durant and Russell. Id pop Durant most frequently and look for the biggest gaps created. I actually think this would create the most chances for Giannis with ball movement finding him coming downhill against an unorganized defense.

Durant is one of my three matchup nightmares. Because Durant is playing the 3 I think he is my biggest mismatch on BOTH ends of the floor. I firmly believe I have the only player in this game who can effectively defend Durant position specific. He can do it all on the offensive end and I would ask him to. He is my MJ on offense, an elite scorer, creator, ball handler, and mismatch nightmare. On defense, I would ask him to press higher up the court and deny as many post opportunities as possible.

Giannis is someone whom I feel is an absolute steal. His largest critiques are that he is unproven in the playoffs and has a small body of work. I think those crits to mitigated with the winners he is surrounded by. His transcendent talent is undeniable and his size/agility combo is, imo, the most extreme example since shaq. I think he is a bigger freak than Lebron, not saying he is better though, simply referencing their genetic makeup. Giannis would, admittedly have a difficult time defending some of the larger/more imposing PFs in history, but of those guys I don't feel any are capable of defending him. Defensively Id ask him to have a similar role to Durant and play relentless perimeter defense, frequently switch, and foul hard. Offensively, Id use Durant/Thomas to create movement and rotation in the opposing defense. Id look to get him the ball frequently with the defense rotating and attack opposite momentum any time he see a chance. That spin move is deadly.

Russell's chief responsibility would be to be the chief. He would quarterback our defense and demand us to play crisp offense. His responsibility would be to take on the other teams biggest threat, from a big stand point. Crash the glass, catch lobs from my 3 other playmakers. Do all the dirty work. Something tells me he would cherish the opportunity.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to everyone for being so patient, this week has been a freakin whirlwind. If anyone wants to come out to see a Notre Dame game this fall, let me know!

Isiah is a feisty defender, but I don't see him as a guy who can full court press an elite PG and then go 13 APG mode on offense. I love the Durant-Giannis-Russell frontcourt though, excellent defense and very efficient offense. I'd probably go for a point guard who can shoot more efficiently than IT, Giannis and Russell hurts your spacing quite a bit and you can use a point guard who can space the floor better.

[Somebody]

Detroit Pistons:

PG: John Stockton / "Pistol" Pete Maravich

SG: John "Hondo" Havlicek / Michael Cooper

SF: Kawhi Leonard / Bernard King

PF: Elvin "The Big E" Hayes / Al Horford

C : Alonzo Mourning / Dikembe "Mount" Mutombo

I have really dabbled back and forth with who to start. In a perfect world, I could have drafted players that can do it all, but such is life. In the end, I decided to start Hondo and Kawhi together on the wings. Their two-way play is just too good to not start with. Hondo's playmaking skill set also adds to the team's ball movement play. I'm just going to have to convince everyone that Kawhi can be a #1 scoring option, and I'm starting to compile some evidence to do just that. And with Alonzo Mourning being on the starting lineup instead of Dikembe Mutombo, scoring wouldn't be much of a issue compare to where the team was after five rounds. I envision him on the pick and roll/pop role with John Stockton, as his good mid-range game will cause issues against opposing bigs. Big E will be our #1 post scoring option.

Bernard King moves to the bench in a "microwave" role. If I will need more scoring, he will come in and shoot the lights out.

It might be blasphemous to say, but I really have NO IDEA what to do with Pistol. I have him as a backup PG for now, as a playmaker instead of a scorer, as King has that role. I would really want a backup PG who can make plays, defend, and not a heavy usage guy, so we'll see if I can find that within the last two rounds. God, what a luxury to have a Hall of Fame talent like Pete Maravich and tell the whole world that you have no idea how to use him. LOL.

Lastly, I am proud to say that this team can defend. 

I don't know how people will look at this team, and where they will rank it, but I'm extremely happy about how I was able to build my squad. I wanted a defensive team that will gel together, and I think I was able to do that.

I think your best starting 5 would be Stockton-Hondo-Kawhi-Horford-Alonzo. People may think that Horford can't guard the great PFs of the past, but that's just romanticising the past imo. Horford has shown that he's a top level defender in the modern NBA when it comes to players with bodies and/or skillsets like a traditional 4 (eg. he was our "Giannis stopper" in the past couple of seasons, he guarded more traditional 4s like Thaddeus Young and Sabonis effectively in our sweep of the Pacers, and he's our designated go to guy when guarding guys like AD/KAT, who would be 4s in the old NBA). His skillset is great for your team-low usage big man who can stretch the floor and pass to allocate the bulk of shots to Kawhi/Hondo/Alonzo and a good defender to help out Alonzo when the latter is matched up against the behemoths of the league.

As for the Pistol Pete situation I'd just play him in the second unit and get rid of the deadwood you have in the frontcourt (yes Hayes is pretty much deadwood at this point because he kills your offense) for lower usage defensive savants who can stretch the floor. Pistol is a decent enough passer who can coexist alongside King as long as you don't have any more teammates who demand the ball imo.

[Somebody]

The Blazers plan on running everyone to death.  We intentionally drafted players from high scoring teams and several real life teammates.  We also focused heavily on the same era to add a big level of familiarity and cohesion. 

PG - Magic, Parker
SG - Dexler, DJ
SF - Worthy, English
PF - Barkley, Wallace
C - Moses, Mikan

We are led by Magic, the 4th best player in NBA history per ESPN.  He is a 3-time MVP and 5-time champion. We are leaning towards 87 when Magic was MVP, Finals MVP, led the league in apg, and upped his scoring to 24 a game.  He is also an elite rebounder, making him the perfect man to build around.

We surround Magic with real life teammates ranked 15 and 18 all time.  Like Magic, Moses is a 3-time MVP and his 1st season in Philly led what many consider the greatest team ever to play (83 and the year selected). That year Moses led the league in rebounding by nearly 3 a game.

Sir Charles joined Moses a couple of seasons later and they had a tremendous chemistry together.  As we want a fast break team, we will select 90, an earlier Barkley season, in order to maximize his athleticism.  That year he finished 2nd in MVP voting to Magic (more 1st place votes), but led the league in 2 point % and essentially averaged 25/12/4 along with 2 steals.

Rounding out the starting 5 we have 36th ranked Clyde Drexler and 43rd ranked James Worthy.  Clyde showed great versatility throughout his career.  Easily serving as the #1 player on 2 finals team and also gladly stepping into the 2nd man role on his way to winning a title in Houston.  For this exercise we will select 92 when Clyde finished 2nd in MVP voting leading the Blazers to their 2nd Finals (with him), earning a slot on the Dream Team and generally just being awesome.

James Worthy joins his Showtime Lakers teammate on the squad and in the starting lineup.  The Blazers wanted to add someone on the wing who could defend, run, and didn't need the spotlight.  There are few better than Worthy in filling that description.  People also forget that James was the 1st pick in the draft and won a Finals MVP.  His talent was immense and real. The Blazers will use 89.

For the bench, the Blazers wanted to keep to the theme of great rebounders and fast breakers but also wanted to grab some defensive toughness.  We accomplished this goal and then some.  With our first bench selection we grabbed the 33rd greatest player of all time.  A man that essentially played 6 seasons and won 5 titles as the best player in the world.  Mikan was a monster on offense, defense, and rebounding.  He led the league in defensive win shares 5 times.  He has the 3rd highest win share season in nba history and has the 2nd, 7th, and 10th best offensive win share seasons in history.  He played long ago, making him harder to judge, but Mikan was an absolute monster and we are happy to have him anchoring our bench.  We have selected his 2nd year, 1950 for this exercise.

Joining him in the paint is the only man not in the top 84 all time on the roster, of course he is a 4-time DPOY and when adjusting for pace one of the greatest rebounders the league has ever seen.  Big Ben Wallace provides everything you would want on your bench.  We will take his 1st DPOY season, 02, when he led the league in both rebounds and blocks.

In the backcourt, the Blazers add uber versatile Finals MVP, Dennis Johnson, ranked 84, and Finals MVP, Tony Parker, ranked 58.  We like the hard nosed nature of both players, each of which won multiple titles with varying degrees of responsibility.  We will select DJ's Finals MVP winning season of 79, when he was just entering his prime.  For Tony, we will also select his Finals MVP season of 07 when his shooting was superb and he was still in his athletic prime.

Rounding out our bench and our top 10 is Alex English, the 62nd best player of all time.  Alex was the offensive anchor of the most explosive scoring team in league history (even surpassing the output of Wilt's Warriors).  Over the span of his prime 5 seasons English basically averaged 28/5.5/4.5 with uber efficient scoring.  We needed some top tier scoring pop for our bench and thus were happy Alex fell to us. We will select his best season of 83.

As indicated, we believe we will run teams into the ground and have crafted the team most capable of winning shootouts.  While the starting 5 may not be the best defensive team, we believe we make up for it by having the best offensive team, the best rebounding team, and the team with most unique positional challenges for every other team to guard.  When we need a stop we can go with the defensive unit of Mikan, Wallace, Worthy, Johnson, and Parker (or a yet undrafted player).  All teams in this our great, but we believe we are the greatest collection of talent coupled with the best chemistry and thought of actual team building.  We purposefully chose real life teammates and players that thrived playing with other great players.  We focused heavily on selecting players with extensive time in the 80's.  We have 3 Dream Team members.  We are Portland and we are the best.

I love your team. I think you picked the right path to build your team after the first few rounds-instead of cobbling a bunch of defenders to make your team average on both ends of the court, you went gung ho on offense in your starting 5 and built a strong defensive bench mob. One concern would be how (relatively) slow your centers are-other teams may spam the 1-5 pick and roll to match your scoring prowess if they have prolific PG/C combos, and you really don't have much help defense in your starting 5 to slow that play down imo, while they may have the personnel to slow your team's offense down just enough to eke out a win. Of course you have Big Ben as an option, but playing him would hurt your offense to the point where you'd lose the huge offensive edge your team is depending on to win games.

[Somebody]

The San Antonio Spurs

PG: Gary Payton ---Penny Hardaway
SG: Kobe Bryant --- Dale Ellis
SF: Jimmy Butler --- Hedu Turkoglu
PF: Dave Debusscherre --- Karl-Anthony Towns
C: Hakeem Olajuwon --- Yao Ming

i firmly believe that I have the most interesting team of all.
And I also believe that my team can cause a number of debates, which was kind of the point of it all.

First off, no ones team features the defense that mine has. DPOY and greatest defensive PG of all time, 9 time all nba 1st defensive SG, a tough hard nosed defensive SF, a PF who was named all nba defensive 1st team 6 times (the award wasnt a thing when he started playing) who is also considered one of the greatest defensive PFs ever, and the greatest defensive DPOY center of all time.

add to that lineup offensively, my PG is arguable top 5 of all time as a pg, my sg is second all time, my center is top 5 all time, arguable top 3 all time. and all three of them are polished offensive forces. My main trio are multiple time all nba 1st team we have MVPs, finals MVPs, scoring champs, etc. My team will dog you defensively, and expose your weaknesses offensively.

My starting lineup is going to create so many turnovers and fast break opportunities its crazy.


And my bench, my beautiful bench is littered with mismatches for other teams.

There is no bench PG that is going to be able to contain Penny, no one. The only guards that are capapble of slowing penny on the perimeter give up size and he will post them up. mismatch

My shooting guard is 6foot8 and has long arms and a deadly shot that he can get off over anyone, also very adept ball handler and a willing passer. he is also a bruiser that can post up. mismatch

My small forward is 6foot10 and has ball handling skill, is clutch, is a fantastic shooter and playmaker who can post up smaller guards and run circles around larger forwards. mismatch

My PW is a 7foot1 faceup/postup monster who shoots over 40% from 3 and grabs lots of boards. Putting someone small on him he will shoot over them, or post them up. someone bigger on him and he can speed past them. mismatch.

My center is a 7foot6 monster with a soft touch and great hands. he commands respect all the way out to 22 feet from the basket, can set massive screens, and can also make great passes out of the post. He forces teams to play bigmen on him opening the door for the other bench players to take advantage. mismatch

I also have ultimate flexibility as Penny can play 3 positions, Kobe 2 positions, Butler 2 positions, Hedu 2 positions, dave 2 positions, s 2 positions, KAT 2 positions and Hakeem 2 positions.

All this gives me huge matchup flexibility as I can move ny of Ellis, Penny, Hedu or Kat into the starting lineup easily and not miss a beat.

It's certainly interesting to me, although in a less rosy way. Payton was overrated defensively-great positioning when he really cranks it up, and had great hands, but was relatively immobile when covering quick PGs and gambled a lot. Kobe's accolades are just due to reputation-his defense fell off when he exploded offensively in his late Frobe years, and when he stabilised his game from 08-10 he was merely solid among the greats. Overall an above average backcourt defensively and probably one of the better ones among the 12, but not as good as the accolades would lead you to believe. The frontcourt's defense is excellent so your defense is definitely above average, but the man defense would be better than the team defense imo. I see spacing problems for Hakeem to work his magic too: DeBusschere was an inconsistent shooter who blew hot and cold, and Butler isn't exactly known for knocking down threes at a high enough clip to demand a player sticking tight to him when he's off ball, ditto for Payton. With Hakeem I think you really need to clear the lane completely for him to carry your squad: both of his championship teams rarely had clogged lanes for players to zone him without getting called for illegal defense (even without the rule, teams wouldn't zone Hakeem due to the outside shooting the Rockets had). I see your team getting by with great defense and a clogged offense that'll blow hot and cold, but I think you need some more stable 3 and D guys around Kobe and Hakeem. I like Ellis next to Hakeem and Kobe, but his defense is frankly subpar and I wouldn't want him and Kobe sharing the floor. Not much to say about the rest of your team, there's a lot of size and interesting pieces that could form a good team with some tweaking.

[Silky]

I disagree with the notion that kobe defemse fell off amd more so eith the notion that payton was an overrated defender.

And with my team incomplete I may still add both ellis and kat to the atarting lineup.

Not sure yet. Depends on next 3 picks.

[nickagneta]

Many TPs to everyone who participated. Many more to those that followed the rules and avoided saying their players were the best at anything, thereby comparing them to other players.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Detroit Pistons:

PG: John Stockton / "Pistol" Pete Maravich

SG: John "Hondo" Havlicek / Michael Cooper

SF: Kawhi Leonard / Bernard King

PF: Elvin "The Big E" Hayes / Al Horford

C : Alonzo Mourning / Dikembe "Mount" Mutombo

I have really dabbled back and forth with who to start. In a perfect world, I could have drafted players that can do it all, but such is life. In the end, I decided to start Hondo and Kawhi together on the wings. Their two-way play is just too good to not start with. Hondo's playmaking skill set also adds to the team's ball movement play. I'm just going to have to convince everyone that Kawhi can be a #1 scoring option, and I'm starting to compile some evidence to do just that. And with Alonzo Mourning being on the starting lineup instead of Dikembe Mutombo, scoring wouldn't be much of a issue compare to where the team was after five rounds. I envision him on the pick and roll/pop role with John Stockton, as his good mid-range game will cause issues against opposing bigs. Big E will be our #1 post scoring option.

Bernard King moves to the bench in a "microwave" role. If I will need more scoring, he will come in and shoot the lights out.

It might be blasphemous to say, but I really have NO IDEA what to do with Pistol. I have him as a backup PG for now, as a playmaker instead of a scorer, as King has that role. I would really want a backup PG who can make plays, defend, and not a heavy usage guy, so we'll see if I can find that within the last two rounds. God, what a luxury to have a Hall of Fame talent like Pete Maravich and tell the whole world that you have no idea how to use him. LOL.

Lastly, I am proud to say that this team can defend. 

I don't know how people will look at this team, and where they will rank it, but I'm extremely happy about how I was able to build my squad. I wanted a defensive team that will gel together, and I think I was able to do that.

I think your best starting 5 would be Stockton-Hondo-Kawhi-Horford-Alonzo. People may think that Horford can't guard the great PFs of the past, but that's just romanticising the past imo. Horford has shown that he's a top level defender in the modern NBA when it comes to players with bodies and/or skillsets like a traditional 4 (eg. he was our "Giannis stopper" in the past couple of seasons, he guarded more traditional 4s like Thaddeus Young and Sabonis effectively in our sweep of the Pacers, and he's our designated go to guy when guarding guys like AD/KAT, who would be 4s in the old NBA). His skillset is great for your team-low usage big man who can stretch the floor and pass to allocate the bulk of shots to Kawhi/Hondo/Alonzo and a good defender to help out Alonzo when the latter is matched up against the behemoths of the league.

Yeah, it's really very tempting to start Al, but at the risk of losing a vote or two, I'd start Big E. He's just too talented not to be starting. His defense is probably better than Al's would be against traditional, power style bigs. He gobbles rebounds like a mad man.

Yes, the downside to that is he's a high usage, high volume player to be effective on the offensive end. But I think I can make the case that if I use his 78-79 season, the year after he wont the title, I think he would fit in well. He had the most minutes played that year, but had the second most usage for the team. This is an Elvin Hayes that knows how to co-exist with other superstars at this point, having already won a title too, all while he's still be a force on both ends.

That was a fairly efficient year for him too, shooting close to 49% from the field, with a 52%TS rate. He still managed to average 21 points, 12 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1 steal per game. He also led his team in Defensive Win Shares that year. He was a 1st team All-NBA that year, and ranked 3rd in the MVP race.

He is kind of a hard fit, but he is a top 10 PF of all time. I have to find a way to fit him, or I'm wasting his value. 

[gouki88]

The Blazers plan on running everyone to death.  We intentionally drafted players from high scoring teams and several real life teammates.  We also focused heavily on the same era to add a big level of familiarity and cohesion. 

PG - Magic, Parker
SG - Dexler, DJ
SF - Worthy, English
PF - Barkley, Wallace
C - Moses, Mikan

We are led by Magic, the 4th best player in NBA history per ESPN.  He is a 3-time MVP and 5-time champion. We are leaning towards 87 when Magic was MVP, Finals MVP, led the league in apg, and upped his scoring to 24 a game.  He is also an elite rebounder, making him the perfect man to build around.

We surround Magic with real life teammates ranked 15 and 18 all time.  Like Magic, Moses is a 3-time MVP and his 1st season in Philly led what many consider the greatest team ever to play (83 and the year selected). That year Moses led the league in rebounding by nearly 3 a game.

Sir Charles joined Moses a couple of seasons later and they had a tremendous chemistry together.  As we want a fast break team, we will select 90, an earlier Barkley season, in order to maximize his athleticism.  That year he finished 2nd in MVP voting to Magic (more 1st place votes), but led the league in 2 point % and essentially averaged 25/12/4 along with 2 steals.

Rounding out the starting 5 we have 36th ranked Clyde Drexler and 43rd ranked James Worthy.  Clyde showed great versatility throughout his career.  Easily serving as the #1 player on 2 finals team and also gladly stepping into the 2nd man role on his way to winning a title in Houston.  For this exercise we will select 92 when Clyde finished 2nd in MVP voting leading the Blazers to their 2nd Finals (with him), earning a slot on the Dream Team and generally just being awesome.

James Worthy joins his Showtime Lakers teammate on the squad and in the starting lineup.  The Blazers wanted to add someone on the wing who could defend, run, and didn't need the spotlight.  There are few better than Worthy in filling that description.  People also forget that James was the 1st pick in the draft and won a Finals MVP.  His talent was immense and real. The Blazers will use 89.

For the bench, the Blazers wanted to keep to the theme of great rebounders and fast breakers but also wanted to grab some defensive toughness.  We accomplished this goal and then some.  With our first bench selection we grabbed the 33rd greatest player of all time.  A man that essentially played 6 seasons and won 5 titles as the best player in the world.  Mikan was a monster on offense, defense, and rebounding.  He led the league in defensive win shares 5 times.  He has the 3rd highest win share season in nba history and has the 2nd, 7th, and 10th best offensive win share seasons in history.  He played long ago, making him harder to judge, but Mikan was an absolute monster and we are happy to have him anchoring our bench.  We have selected his 2nd year, 1950 for this exercise.

Joining him in the paint is the only man not in the top 84 all time on the roster, of course he is a 4-time DPOY and when adjusting for pace one of the greatest rebounders the league has ever seen.  Big Ben Wallace provides everything you would want on your bench.  We will take his 1st DPOY season, 02, when he led the league in both rebounds and blocks.

In the backcourt, the Blazers add uber versatile Finals MVP, Dennis Johnson, ranked 84, and Finals MVP, Tony Parker, ranked 58.  We like the hard nosed nature of both players, each of which won multiple titles with varying degrees of responsibility.  We will select DJ's Finals MVP winning season of 79, when he was just entering his prime.  For Tony, we will also select his Finals MVP season of 07 when his shooting was superb and he was still in his athletic prime.

Rounding out our bench and our top 10 is Alex English, the 62nd best player of all time.  Alex was the offensive anchor of the most explosive scoring team in league history (even surpassing the output of Wilt's Warriors).  Over the span of his prime 5 seasons English basically averaged 28/5.5/4.5 with uber efficient scoring.  We needed some top tier scoring pop for our bench and thus were happy Alex fell to us. We will select his best season of 83.

As indicated, we believe we will run teams into the ground and have crafted the team most capable of winning shootouts.  While the starting 5 may not be the best defensive team, we believe we make up for it by having the best offensive team, the best rebounding team, and the team with most unique positional challenges for every other team to guard.  When we need a stop we can go with the defensive unit of Mikan, Wallace, Worthy, Johnson, and Parker (or a yet undrafted player).  All teams in this our great, but we believe we are the greatest collection of talent coupled with the best chemistry and thought of actual team building.  We purposefully chose real life teammates and players that thrived playing with other great players.  We focused heavily on selecting players with extensive time in the 80's.  We have 3 Dream Team members.  We are Portland and we are the best.

This team is one of my favourites. On a number of occasions you've nabbed guys I've wanted

I feel like you've surrounded Magic with some of the perfect people to have around him. Guys who have proven chemistry alongside him (Worthy) and really strong talents who have proven chemistry alongside one another (Chuck and Malone) who should be able to feast with Magic setting the table for them. Clyde was one of the guys you took that I really wanted. He had such a vast number of roles on his teams through the years that you can pick so many seasons and be really good.

Tony Parker and DJ is a really solid bench back-court IMO. Championships, different and complementary strengths, and both Finals MVP's. I also love the big-man duo. English was a steal too.

The only real concern I have on this team is 3 point shooting. There's not one lights out shooter on your team. But given your defensive prowess and the physically imposing nature of your team, I think you'd be alright! Definitely a scary team

[greenrunsdeep41]

Golden State Warriors - Pick 10

Starting Center - Bill Russell

Starting Power Forward - Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starting Small Forward - Kevin Durant

Starting Shooting Guard - Bruce Bowen

Starting Point Guard - Isiah Thomas

Starting 5 Synopsis -  Strategy - Overview


This is my pre-specific season pick, general overview and decision making philosophy.

I'll start with the most "interesting" inclusion in this group, the pick probably had more than a few of you wondering if I am sleep deprived, drunk, high and/or all of the three. I assure you, I am and was not. My decision to make this pick, which I admittedly . could have made later on, was representative of my consideration of useage, spacing, winning culture, team and individual defense. As many of you know, Bruce Bowen was a member of some San Antonio teams that embodied the team first moto. He is a career .440% shooter from the corners, a spot from which he took a staggering 80% of his threes. I considered this to be my greatest ally as it relates to both Isiah Thomas and Giannis. His ability to effectively defend 3 positions and 1 at an elite level while being an elite team player/team defender, is central to my usage theory. Bill Russell had similar players on his team that were asked to do more offensively. On this team, Russell orders Bowen around the perimeter with the intention of shepherding SG's into my other two perimeter defenders, Giannis and Durant.

While I feel I made a bit of a mistake and should have selected Gary Payton, I would ask Isiah Thomas to pick up full court and lead the other teams ball handler, if size is applicable, to the side of the court that correlates with their weak hand - yes I know these guys don't have weak hands, but much of this is a statistics game and it is proven, generally, when you force someone on to their unnatural side they perform, even at this elite-elite level, a tad less great. On offense id ask him to be 13 assist a game Isiah. Id run double pick and rolls a la 2008-11 celtics and force teams to switch slower bigs onto his with Durant and Russell. Id pop Durant most frequently and look for the biggest gaps created. I actually think this would create the most chances for Giannis with ball movement finding him coming downhill against an unorganized defense.

Durant is one of my three matchup nightmares. Because Durant is playing the 3 I think he is my biggest mismatch on BOTH ends of the floor. I firmly believe I have the only player in this game who can effectively defend Durant position specific. He can do it all on the offensive end and I would ask him to. He is my MJ on offense, an elite scorer, creator, ball handler, and mismatch nightmare. On defense, I would ask him to press higher up the court and deny as many post opportunities as possible.

Giannis is someone whom I feel is an absolute steal. His largest critiques are that he is unproven in the playoffs and has a small body of work. I think those crits to mitigated with the winners he is surrounded by. His transcendent talent is undeniable and his size/agility combo is, imo, the most extreme example since shaq. I think he is a bigger freak than Lebron, not saying he is better though, simply referencing their genetic makeup. Giannis would, admittedly have a difficult time defending some of the larger/more imposing PFs in history, but of those guys I don't feel any are capable of defending him. Defensively Id ask him to have a similar role to Durant and play relentless perimeter defense, frequently switch, and foul hard. Offensively, Id use Durant/Thomas to create movement and rotation in the opposing defense. Id look to get him the ball frequently with the defense rotating and attack opposite momentum any time he see a chance. That spin move is deadly.

Russell's chief responsibility would be to be the chief. He would quarterback our defense and demand us to play crisp offense. His responsibility would be to take on the other teams biggest threat, from a big stand point. Crash the glass, catch lobs from my 3 other playmakers. Do all the dirty work. Something tells me he would cherish the opportunity.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to everyone for being so patient, this week has been a freakin whirlwind. If anyone wants to come out to see a Notre Dame game this fall, let me know!

Isiah is a feisty defender, but I don't see him as a guy who can full court press an elite PG and then go 13 APG mode on offense. I love the Durant-Giannis-Russell frontcourt though, excellent defense and very efficient offense. I'd probably go for a point guard who can shoot more efficiently than IT, Giannis and Russell hurts your spacing quite a bit and you can use a point guard who can space the floor better.

Yea, I was initially concerned about ITs shooting, but when I looked closer I found that he is a career .346% from 3 In the playoffs and shot 47% during one of his championship runs on 3.5 attempts per game. I think that is fair precedent to more than suggest he would be an average to above average shooter in today’s era and more than capable of filling a role as an outside shooter. Couple that with people making agreements that many of these bigs would be better outside shooters today and using that speculation to reinforce their own teams values - I would argue that it is fair to say he is a league average + three point shooter in the playoffs. It is my stance that my teams makes the playoffs in this context.

[nickagneta]

After 10 rounds, the Philadelphia 76ers are looking like:

Jason Kidd / Tiny Archibald
Paul Pierce / Sidney Moncrief
Larry Bird / Mark Aguirre
Karl Malone / Jerry Lucas
Patrick Ewing / Bob Lanier

My back-court starters in Kidd and Pierce both have size and some elite skills. Kidd is a great passer and rebounder, and could score when he needed to. Pierce was one of the most deadly all-round scorers of the 2000's. Both were good defenders.

My starting forwards are Larry Legend and the Mailman. Not many forward combos I would rather. One of the best shooters ever, who also happens to be one of the best passers and rebounders for his position, alongside one of the most dominant scoring presences in NBA history.

Anchoring the center spot is Pat Ewing. Not as good as some of the other 90's big men, but he's still for me a top 10 center of all time. Good defence, good scoring and good rebounding.

My bench is led by my back-court. Amazing scoring and passing from Tiny, one of the best back-court defenders in Moncrief, a strong scoring wing in Aguirre, one of the best shooting bigs of all time in Lucas, and a really solid all-round big man in Lanier.

Love to hear anyone's thoughts. I'll return the favour to anyone who has something to say on my team, assuming I don't say anything before!

I really like this team. I think a very good chemistry and balance has been struck in the starting lineup with three excellent scorers and very good defense(not elite). The bench have a couple of excellent defenders in important positions and a couple of guys that can light it up. Team passing is excellent all around.

And I like that the players off the bench have different elite strengths to call on as tools in key situation. Some owners went for certain type players and limited the bullets in the gun that their coaches would have.

[nickagneta]

C: Wilt Chamberlain, Robert Parish
F: Dirk Nowitzki, Ralph Sampson
F: Grant Hill, Marques Johnson
G: Paul Westphal, George Gervin
G: Walt Frazier, Terry Porter

So my idea for the team was to play through Wilt Chamberlain. I have chosen his 1967 season when he averaged 24ppg 24rpg and 7.5apg. Everything revolves around him on both ends of the court. His job is to be the facilitator on offense. To get the ball in the post (inside the defense) and share the ball with his talented teammates.

In order to play this style, I wanted a PG who could play both on and off the ball. I avoided ball-dominant PGs and prolific playmaking PGs because I wanted the ball to work through Chamberlain in the post rather than from a ball-handling PG. I also wanted a big guard to help on defense and choose Frazier over Kidd for the role due to Frazier's superior scoring prowess.

I liked how the early 70s Knicks and Lakers played. Two teams with combo guard type configurations alongside a skilled shooting SF. I did not get the shooting SF (Pierce was my target) but got a do-it-all type in Hill instead. And went with Paul Westphal as my SG. Westphal was to add more scoring punch next to Dirk and a secondary playmaker on the perimeter next to Frazier.

Dirk and Westphal are the two main scorers in the starting lineup. Wilt is probably 3rd. Frazier 4th and Hill likely 5th. The team will play a Triangle type offense (post orientated offense) based around Wilt's passing and facilitation (like he played in with Philly and later in LAL during his two title winning campaigns). I wanted to go with offensive balance to make best use of Wilt's passing.

I wanted to have 4 shooters around Wilt in the paint. Dirk at PF was a key part of that plan. Frazier and Westphal fill the roles in the backcourt. Hill didn't offer the three point shooting I wanted but he has a good long 2 and a very good midrange game. A lesser shooting threat.

Onto the bench:

George Gervin is my main scorer. He is close to unstoppable. Not sure whether he should start instead of Westphal or come off the bench. Terry Porter is another combo guard in the backcourt with a terrific jump-shot, strong D, good scoring and good playmaking. He played PG and SG during his career which makes him an ideal fit for how I want my guards to play.

Marques Johnson is a rock solid SF. Well rounded player who could shoot, drive, pass, post, defend and rebound. He had some excellent years early in his career and terrific playoff performances.

I went with the twin towers off my bench. I wanted speed. Parish was one of the best running centers in the league as a younger player. He also has a good jump-shot (which I wanted in contrast to Wilt) and great size / length defensively around the basket with good rebounding. Ralph Sampson was the 2nd best player on a team that finished runners up for the title. Highly skilled 7-4 player who liked to play like a guard but had interior skills too. I loved the idea of Sampson alongside Wilt in a super-tall lineup making it difficult for opposing teams to score inside.

Last two picks = I'll probably draft a true PF and take BPA on the perimeter.

An extremely strong team, well thought out and built around Wilt's strength.  I have to be honest, I have never been a fan of Hill and found people severely over rating his good years. I am also not high on Terry Porter and didn't have him on my top 120 list. I think there is at least one better PG still available that would be much better. I also think, a team that is Wilt-centric needs proven 40+% three point shooters surrounding him and I just don't think you have enough.

On the positive side, when Wilt is in I think his dominance carries the team. Few will be able to slow him as long as everyone else can spread the floor. Gervin off the bench for instant offense is superb. Dude was putting up 30+ nightly for 4 years without a three point line. He was nigh impossible to hold down offensively.

Overall a team that will cause major headaches but I am not sure will take the very, very loaded and tough Eastern Conference.

[nickagneta]

The San Antonio Spurs

PG: Gary Payton ---Penny Hardaway
SG: Kobe Bryant --- Dale Ellis
SF: Jimmy Butler --- Hedu Turkoglu
PF: Dave Debusscherre --- Karl-Anthony Towns
C: Hakeem Olajuwon --- Yao Ming

i firmly believe that I have the most interesting team of all.
And I also believe that my team can cause a number of debates, which was kind of the point of it all.

First off, no ones team features the defense that mine has. DPOY and greatest defensive PG of all time, 9 time all nba 1st defensive SG, a tough hard nosed defensive SF, a PF who was named all nba defensive 1st team 6 times (the award wasnt a thing when he started playing) who is also considered one of the greatest defensive PFs ever, and the greatest defensive DPOY center of all time.

add to that lineup offensively, my PG is arguable top 5 of all time as a pg, my sg is second all time, my center is top 5 all time, arguable top 3 all time. and all three of them are polished offensive forces. My main trio are multiple time all nba 1st team we have MVPs, finals MVPs, scoring champs, etc. My team will dog you defensively, and expose your weaknesses offensively.

My starting lineup is going to create so many turnovers and fast break opportunities its crazy.


And my bench, my beautiful bench is littered with mismatches for other teams.

There is no bench PG that is going to be able to contain Penny, no one. The only guards that are capapble of slowing penny on the perimeter give up size and he will post them up. mismatch

My shooting guard is 6foot8 and has long arms and a deadly shot that he can get off over anyone, also very adept ball handler and a willing passer. he is also a bruiser that can post up. mismatch

My small forward is 6foot10 and has ball handling skill, is clutch, is a fantastic shooter and playmaker who can post up smaller guards and run circles around larger forwards. mismatch

My PW is a 7foot1 faceup/postup monster who shoots over 40% from 3 and grabs lots of boards. Putting someone small on him he will shoot over them, or post them up. someone bigger on him and he can speed past them. mismatch.

My center is a 7foot6 monster with a soft touch and great hands. he commands respect all the way out to 22 feet from the basket, can set massive screens, and can also make great passes out of the post. He forces teams to play bigmen on him opening the door for the other bench players to take advantage. mismatch

I also have ultimate flexibility as Penny can play 3 positions, Kobe 2 positions, Butler 2 positions, Hedu 2 positions, dave 2 positions, s 2 positions, KAT 2 positions and Hakeem 2 positions.

All this gives me huge matchup flexibility as I can move ny of Ellis, Penny, Hedu or Kat into the starting lineup easily and not miss a beat.

I love Hakeem and think Penny Hardaway was a great get. My problem is my Kobe hatred bias is tough to overcome. I always thought his defense was majorly over rated and that he was too inefficient. But he was a great player.

Unfortunately, I don't really like most of the rest of the team. I think you took way too many players way too early leaving much better players on the board, eventually severely hurting your overall quality of team. Two players I didn't have on my top 120. One I would not have had in my top 200. Picks like that cripple teams in this exercise if those players are rotation players.

But the starting defense could be elite and will keep you in games as long as they gel quickly. The Laker team that had Payton and Kobe had zero chemistry, so I wonder how much hard headed people like Kobe and Payton would have while in their primes.

A tough team with the best two way center in the game but not enough elsewhere to turn this team into one I would like in this game.

[nickagneta]

This is the lineup I think I’m going with:

Oscar Robertson/Bob Cousy/ Sam Jones
Elgin Baylor/Mitch Richmond/ Sam Jones
Scottie Pippen/Dan Majerle/ Sam Jones
Tim Duncan/ Rasheed Wallace
Willis Reed/Rasheed Wallace

I believe I have the best starting 5 and incredible length in that lineup.  Additionally the ball movement my team will have from starters through the bench is unmatched.  Defensively I love my chances to contain the stars of the other teams.  Bob Cousy and Sam Jones have the bench synergy from their championships together.

I liked your team before the trade with Duncan at center, McHale at PF and Baylor at his natural SF position. I am not sure Baylor, who was not known for his outside shot, should be now be playing out of position. It hurts the team. I don't find Willis Reed to be a starting caliber center in this exercise.

Before the trade you had one of my favorite teams. After the trade and tinkering with the lineup, it's not anymore. Yes you helped your starting defense on wings by grabbing Pippen but I think the trickle effect at what it did to your overall team synergy hurt.

That said, I have loved the Oscar/Duncan from the get go and think they could be one of the best duos in the game. Pippen is a proven winner who is happy being a second banana. And I am loving the old school Celtic back court of Jones and The Couz, though, you might have some trouble selling them in this game, especially Cousy.

A team I had as one of my faves I now think needs to fight hard to claim Eastern Conference dominance.

[Silky]

The San Antonio Spurs

PG: Gary Payton ---Penny Hardaway
SG: Kobe Bryant --- Dale Ellis
SF: Jimmy Butler --- Hedu Turkoglu
PF: Dave Debusscherre --- Karl-Anthony Towns
C: Hakeem Olajuwon --- Yao Ming

i firmly believe that I have the most interesting team of all.
And I also believe that my team can cause a number of debates, which was kind of the point of it all.

First off, no ones team features the defense that mine has. DPOY and greatest defensive PG of all time, 9 time all nba 1st defensive SG, a tough hard nosed defensive SF, a PF who was named all nba defensive 1st team 6 times (the award wasnt a thing when he started playing) who is also considered one of the greatest defensive PFs ever, and the greatest defensive DPOY center of all time.

add to that lineup offensively, my PG is arguable top 5 of all time as a pg, my sg is second all time, my center is top 5 all time, arguable top 3 all time. and all three of them are polished offensive forces. My main trio are multiple time all nba 1st team we have MVPs, finals MVPs, scoring champs, etc. My team will dog you defensively, and expose your weaknesses offensively.

My starting lineup is going to create so many turnovers and fast break opportunities its crazy.


And my bench, my beautiful bench is littered with mismatches for other teams.

There is no bench PG that is going to be able to contain Penny, no one. The only guards that are capapble of slowing penny on the perimeter give up size and he will post them up. mismatch

My shooting guard is 6foot8 and has long arms and a deadly shot that he can get off over anyone, also very adept ball handler and a willing passer. he is also a bruiser that can post up. mismatch

My small forward is 6foot10 and has ball handling skill, is clutch, is a fantastic shooter and playmaker who can post up smaller guards and run circles around larger forwards. mismatch

My PW is a 7foot1 faceup/postup monster who shoots over 40% from 3 and grabs lots of boards. Putting someone small on him he will shoot over them, or post them up. someone bigger on him and he can speed past them. mismatch.

My center is a 7foot6 monster with a soft touch and great hands. he commands respect all the way out to 22 feet from the basket, can set massive screens, and can also make great passes out of the post. He forces teams to play bigmen on him opening the door for the other bench players to take advantage. mismatch

I also have ultimate flexibility as Penny can play 3 positions, Kobe 2 positions, Butler 2 positions, Hedu 2 positions, dave 2 positions, s 2 positions, KAT 2 positions and Hakeem 2 positions.

All this gives me huge matchup flexibility as I can move ny of Ellis, Penny, Hedu or Kat into the starting lineup easily and not miss a beat.

I love Hakeem and think Penny Hardaway was a great get. My problem is my Kobe hatred bias is tough to overcome. I always thought his defense was majorly over rated and that he was too inefficient. But he was a great player.

Unfortunately, I don't really like most of the rest of the team. I think you took way too many players way too early leaving much better players on the board, eventually severely hurting your overall quality of team. Two players I didn't have on my top 120. One I would not have had in my top 200. Picks like that cripple teams in this exercise if those players are rotation players.

But the starting defense could be elite and will keep you in games as long as they gel quickly. The Laker team that had Payton and Kobe had zero chemistry, so I wonder how much hard headed people like Kobe and Payton would have while in their primes.

A tough team with the best two way center in the game but not enough elsewhere to turn this team into one I would like in this game.

But its a fun team. Lol.

The all arrogance team.

I think i am going to make a lineup swith for a bit of better balance with putting Ellis as starting sf and KAT as starting pf.

Payton/penny
Kobe/butler
Ellis/hedu
KAT/Dave
Hakeem/yao

[nickagneta]

Golden State Warriors - Pick 10

Starting Center - Bill Russell

Starting Power Forward - Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starting Small Forward - Kevin Durant

Starting Shooting Guard - Bruce Bowen

Starting Point Guard - Isiah Thomas

Starting 5 Synopsis -  Strategy - Overview


This is my pre-specific season pick, general overview and decision making philosophy.

I'll start with the most "interesting" inclusion in this group, the pick probably had more than a few of you wondering if I am sleep deprived, drunk, high and/or all of the three. I assure you, I am and was not. My decision to make this pick, which I admittedly . could have made later on, was representative of my consideration of useage, spacing, winning culture, team and individual defense. As many of you know, Bruce Bowen was a member of some San Antonio teams that embodied the team first moto. He is a career .440% shooter from the corners, a spot from which he took a staggering 80% of his threes. I considered this to be my greatest ally as it relates to both Isiah Thomas and Giannis. His ability to effectively defend 3 positions and 1 at an elite level while being an elite team player/team defender, is central to my usage theory. Bill Russell had similar players on his team that were asked to do more offensively. On this team, Russell orders Bowen around the perimeter with the intention of shepherding SG's into my other two perimeter defenders, Giannis and Durant.

While I feel I made a bit of a mistake and should have selected Gary Payton, I would ask Isiah Thomas to pick up full court and lead the other teams ball handler, if size is applicable, to the side of the court that correlates with their weak hand - yes I know these guys don't have weak hands, but much of this is a statistics game and it is proven, generally, when you force someone on to their unnatural side they perform, even at this elite-elite level, a tad less great. On offense id ask him to be 13 assist a game Isiah. Id run double pick and rolls a la 2008-11 celtics and force teams to switch slower bigs onto his with Durant and Russell. Id pop Durant most frequently and look for the biggest gaps created. I actually think this would create the most chances for Giannis with ball movement finding him coming downhill against an unorganized defense.

Durant is one of my three matchup nightmares. Because Durant is playing the 3 I think he is my biggest mismatch on BOTH ends of the floor. I firmly believe I have the only player in this game who can effectively defend Durant position specific. He can do it all on the offensive end and I would ask him to. He is my MJ on offense, an elite scorer, creator, ball handler, and mismatch nightmare. On defense, I would ask him to press higher up the court and deny as many post opportunities as possible.

Giannis is someone whom I feel is an absolute steal. His largest critiques are that he is unproven in the playoffs and has a small body of work. I think those crits to mitigated with the winners he is surrounded by. His transcendent talent is undeniable and his size/agility combo is, imo, the most extreme example since shaq. I think he is a bigger freak than Lebron, not saying he is better though, simply referencing their genetic makeup. Giannis would, admittedly have a difficult time defending some of the larger/more imposing PFs in history, but of those guys I don't feel any are capable of defending him. Defensively Id ask him to have a similar role to Durant and play relentless perimeter defense, frequently switch, and foul hard. Offensively, Id use Durant/Thomas to create movement and rotation in the opposing defense. Id look to get him the ball frequently with the defense rotating and attack opposite momentum any time he see a chance. That spin move is deadly.

Russell's chief responsibility would be to be the chief. He would quarterback our defense and demand us to play crisp offense. His responsibility would be to take on the other teams biggest threat, from a big stand point. Crash the glass, catch lobs from my 3 other playmakers. Do all the dirty work. Something tells me he would cherish the opportunity.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to everyone for being so patient, this week has been a freakin whirlwind. If anyone wants to come out to see a Notre Dame game this fall, let me know!

So, at first I didn't like the way you were starting to build your team. I thought you reached on a few early picks. But the end product turned out well as you nabbed some high quality value later in Thomas, Cunningham, Heinsohn and Thompson.

The fact you call Bowen and "interesting pick and go hard trying to sell him right off tells me you know it's not the best way to go. I am not sure Bowen is well suited for this game and, as I said in another review, I think these type picks really hurt teams, especially if the owner is committing a major role to that player.

I think if you remove Bowen from your rotation, use a starting lineup of Russell/Giannis/KD/Harden and Thomas you maximize your use of talent and still have great tools off the bench to sub in to compliment the team as a whole.

Really, really top notch Western Conference team, if you use the talent differently, IMO.