2009 Celticsblog Draft: Voting Analysis : Team of the Future

[Rondo2287]

This is why Buckner

Brief look at a possible Matchup with Chicago. 
I love my matchups on the frontline as well as my matchup of Artest and Bell, Bell cannot cover a bigger artest, its as simple as that.  And on the Defensive end I plan on matching up Garcia on Bell since Bell really is only a threat from the Perimeter and matching up Artest on Martin. 

Garnett vs Pau
Garnett leads 15-6
Ganett-24 ppg, 13.4 Rpg, 5.1 Ass, 1.3 ste, 1.8 blk
Gasol- 18 ppg, 8 rpb, 2.6 ass, .7 steals, 1.6 blk

Camby vs Horford
Camby leads 2-1
Camby 11 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 4.3 Ass, 1.7 st, 1.7 blk
Horford 11.3ppg, 8 rpg, 2.3 ass, 2.3 st, 1.0 blk

Artest Vs Bell
Artest leads 8-7
Artest 16 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 ass, 2.7 st, .7 blk
Bell 9.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 ass, .9 stl, .3 blk

Martin and Garcia never played eachother because they are on the same team. 

Paul vs Miller
Paul leads 3-5
Miller 19ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.4 Ass, 1.1 stl, .3 blk
Paul   15 ppg, 5.4,    8.4 ass, 3.1 stl, .1 blk

So obviously chris Paul outclasses Miller with the Assists and Steals, but its not as much of a gap as people might think. 


But for An offensive powerhouse team, My team leads the PPG in the one on one matchups in 4 of the 5 starting spots.  A real testament to the Defense I have constructed here I believe. 

[Donoghus]

Just a reminder that voting ends at 11:59.59 tonight.

Both conference semi-finals will be held tomorrow.

[bucknersrevenge]

This is why Buckner

Brief look at a possible Matchup with Chicago. 
I love my matchups on the frontline as well as my matchup of Artest and Bell, Bell cannot cover a bigger artest, its as simple as that.  And on the Defensive end I plan on matching up Garcia on Bell since Bell really is only a threat from the Perimeter and matching up Artest on Martin. 

Garnett vs Pau
Garnett leads 15-6
Ganett-24 ppg, 13.4 Rpg, 5.1 Ass, 1.3 ste, 1.8 blk
Gasol- 18 ppg, 8 rpb, 2.6 ass, .7 steals, 1.6 blk

Camby vs Horford
Camby leads 2-1
Camby 11 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 4.3 Ass, 1.7 st, 1.7 blk
Horford 11.3ppg, 8 rpg, 2.3 ass, 2.3 st, 1.0 blk

Artest Vs Bell
Artest leads 8-7
Artest 16 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 ass, 2.7 st, .7 blk
Bell 9.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 ass, .9 stl, .3 blk

Martin and Garcia never played eachother because they are on the same team. 

Paul vs Miller
Paul leads 3-5
Miller 19ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.4 Ass, 1.1 stl, .3 blk
Paul   15 ppg, 5.4,    8.4 ass, 3.1 stl, .1 blk

So obviously chris Paul outclasses Miller with the Assists and Steals, but its not as much of a gap as people might think. 


But for An offensive powerhouse team, My team leads the PPG in the one on one matchups in 4 of the 5 starting spots.  A real testament to the Defense I have constructed here I believe. 

Point taken. And I like your bench a little better than Chicago's too. Tough deal. I wasn't expecting Chicago to see Toronto so soon.

[Rondo2287]

Any questions you got Buck? Any concerns about our matchup?

[Roy Hobbs]

Portland Trailblazers (Edgar)- Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, Rashard Lewis, Michael Redd, Mike Bibby, Manu Ginobili, Brad Miller, Delonte West, Ryan Gomes, Ronny Turiaf, Jrue Holiday, Quinton Ross, Jared Dudley, Fred Jones, Taj Gibson


Houston Rockets (The Walker Wiggle)- Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph, Grant Hill, Andres Nocioni, D.J. Augustin, Earl Clark, Dejuan Blair, David Anderson, Marcus Thornton, Leon Powe, Bobby Jackson, Dajuan Summers

Why Edgar wins this matchup:

A lot of people have picked Houston as a favorite for the Western Conference Finals (despite them earning a #6 seed), and I'm not quite sure why.  Their team has six rookies, two second year players, Leon Powe, a 37 year old small forward, and a bunch of guys who have never won squat.

Center:

Here's the biggest problem for Wiggle.  His centers are a combination of Anthony Randolph, Chris Bosh, and David Andersen.

Anthony Randolph:  6'10", 205 pounds.  He played 5% of the Warriors minutes at center last year.  During that time, opposing centers shot 63.0% against him.  Obviously, this is too small of a sample size, and there's a reason for that:  not even Don Nelson is crazy enough to give Anthony Randolph significant minutes at center.

Chris Bosh:  Another guy who isn't a center.  Last time he tried to guard Shaq one-on-one (after the J.O. deal), the results were absolutely disastrous for Toronto.  Shaq shot 20-for-25, scored 45 points, and collected 11 rebounds.  Here's what Bosh's coach said afterward:

"He's just so strong and pushes guys right under the basket and gets inside," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "We have no match for him."

Here's what Shaq said about the match up:

"I heard what Chris Bosh said, and that's strong words coming from the RuPaul of big men," O'Neal said. "I'm going to do the same thing (in their next meeting) I did before -- make him quit. Make 'em quit and complain. It's what I do."

If Toronto's coach in "real life" admits that Bosh can't defend Shaq, I'm not sure why that changes in fantasy world.  It's not like this game is ancient history; it was five months ago.

David Andersen:  "Andersen isn't a banging center, and is more of a finesse player than Yao."  Enough said.

None of those players can match up with any of Shaq, J.O., Brad Miller, or Ronny Turiaf (who won't see time, but still).

Power forward:

See, Center.  The other power forwards in this matchup are Rashard Lewis and Ryan Gomes vs. Andres Nocioni and Leon Powe.  Advantage, Edgar.

Small Forward:

Rashard Lewis is taller, much more athletic, much younger, and better than Grant Hill.

Shooting Guard:

People like to genuflect at the altar of Joe Johnson.  However, here's the thing:  he's not as good as Michael Redd.  In fact, Michael Redd has absolutely owned their individual matchup, especially recently.

Over the course of their careers, Redd is outscoring Johnson 20.3 vs. 16.0 in their matchups.  More importantly, going back to 2004, Redd has outscored Johnson in 11 out of 12 matchups. 

Also, of course, there's Manu Ginobili, somebody that Houston has no answer for.  Manu set his career high of 48 points when being guarded by . . . Joe Johnson.  He also had another game where he dropped 40 on Johnson's head.

Point guard::  This one isn't a great matchup for Edgar, but still, in their careers Bibby holds a 15.9 to 15.3 points per game advantage over Ellis.  However, to the extent that Walker Wiggle has an advantage anywhere, it's that Ellis is a penetrating point guard, and Bibby could have trouble with him.

As for Delonte vs. D.J., it's hard to say how the two match up, as they've never gone head-to-head.  However, Delonte is a good hustle defender who gives other teams fits. 

All in all, I could easily see this one being an Edgar sweep.  At worst, Portland in five.

I'll try to be back with my thoughts on the other Finals matchups.  I think Toronto will abuse Chicago.  The other two, though, could be barn burners.

[bucknersrevenge]

Any questions you got Buck? Any concerns about our matchup?

Yeah...who do I notify for next of kin!!!!!!!!!!

just kidding.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'd really like to hear from Rebus and Hoyo about the Buffalo vs. Seattle matchup.  That one seems to be a tough matchup for both teams.

[Roy Hobbs]

Toronto vs. Chicago:

I'm a big fan of Toronto here, even though they're going on the road.  I just think they're a better team defensively, and a much deeper team.  At this point in the season, Chicago's players will be exhausted by the effort it took to earn a #2 seed, and they're coming off a grueling series with Detroit.

Center:  I think Rondo made his case above, with the career numbers.  People might think Horford has more natural talent, but Camby has owned this matchup, especially on the boards.

Big Z off the bench is going to cause a lot of problems for Chicago, too.  Who is their backup?  Chris Mihm, is it?  No chance.

Power forward:  Kevin Garnett vs. Pau Gasol.  Advantage, KG.  Come on, we all watched the 2008 Finals.  I like Pau a lot, but he doesn't have the defense, intensity, or rebounding of KG.

Small forward:  Ron Artest vs...  a shooting guard.  Raja Bell isn't a small forward.  He hasn't played small forward, at least any time recently.  Crazy Ronnie is just a much better player.

Shooting guard:  Francisco Garcia can't really stop Kevin Martin, but he's decent enough to slow him down.  Also, it would make a lot of sense for Toronto to have Garcia guard Bell, and have Artest guard Martin. 

Point guard:  I was surprised by the numbers, but Miller has actually held Chris Paul in check.  If Toronto is getting more scoring from the point guard position than Chicago, this one will be quickly over.

Bench:  Huge advantage, Toronto, basically because Chicago doesn't have one.

I say Toronto in 6, if not 5.

[Rondo2287]

Thank You Roy, I agree with all the points, and Toronto will have Artest guarding Martin which he did earlier in the year and came out on top in the matchup.

Also, I see Finley and Warrick playing big roles in this series.  Warrick gives us a great deal of flexibility being able to play the 3 or the 4 with his length in athleticism and also having Finley who has championship experience and can give both Artest and Garcia breaks during the series. 

Because its the NBA, Fouls happen.  Sometimes 40 minutes per game isnt reasonable for this very reason.  We have backups willing to step in and contribute if they do.

[Kwhit10]

Philadelphia verse Orlando

While Orlando is the number one seed, this is just a fact of having LeBron James with decent surrounding players in the weakest division in the league (no other playoff teams).

Of course the main matchup in this series is the Melo vs. Bron.  Both these guys can score, and they'll get theirs. However, on defense Bron will also see a barage of Balkman and Brewer who have the size to both Bron all night.
For those who are interested ( http://www.82games.com/nichols1.htm ) Balkman is 3rd overall in Defensive Composite Score with a score of 99. (also for the record Okafor is 7th on the list at 98).

Outside of LeBron I don't see much on the Magics roster that would give our team any trouble.  We have the defensive wings to also bother Richardson all night as well.  I think Gasol verse Bynum is at worst a wash, with Bynums (14ppg, 8rpg) numbers being a little better than Gasols (12ppg 7rpg).
While Villanueva can hang around the perimeter, that's pretty much all he does.  I don't have any doubt that the weakside defense of Okafor will enough to bother who may be driving the lane.  Driving will not be an easy feat, Bynum and Okafor are great shot blockers and have the bodies to play post up D.

Our biggest advantage I think is at the PG position.  Davis has 25lbs on Hinrich and I can see him abusing Hinrich on both offense and defense. In 30 minutes against the Clips last season Hinrich had 2 points on 25% shooting.

With Villanueva in the game I can see our team attacking the post and driving the lane when the oppurtunity is there. 

Although Orlando has a good frontcourt bench help, I don't see anything else that can come in and score the points needed to help LeBron.  This is a team game and I don't think LeBron will be able to do it by himself.

[Rondo2287]

I do follow alot of your thinking Philly.  My only question is how do you feel about the Brewer J-rich matchup? since J-rich is probably gonna be the second guy Orlando looks to for scoring

[indeedproceed]

I do follow alot of your thinking Philly.  My only question is how do you feel about the Brewer J-rich matchup? since J-rich is probably gonna be the second guy Orlando looks to for scoring

I like that matchup for Philly.

I don't like Hinrich on Davis though. Hinrich works for Orlando because he hits the outside shot and plays tough defense. Its not like he negates Davis, but he'll play him pretty tough.

[indeedproceed]

Still toeing the "Andre Miller is better than you think" line, huh Rondo? Even against Chris Paul? Well you get a TP for consistency if nothing else.

[Rondo2287]

Yo man check the stats, I said, Paul outclasses him in steals and Assists, But in their matchups, Miller has outscored Paul and rebounding is consistant.  And I just think there was alot of talk about my team being weak offensively but when you line me up against one of the offensive powerhouse teams like Chicago, Toronto's starters have outscored Chicagos by 17 in head to head matchups


This is without Kevin Martin and Garcia, but I doubt with Artest Covering Martin he will be able to outscore Garcia by more than 17 and then you add in my bench on top of the starters....

[Roy Hobbs]

I do follow alot of your thinking Philly.  My only question is how do you feel about the Brewer J-rich matchup? since J-rich is probably gonna be the second guy Orlando looks to for scoring

I like that matchup for Philly.

I don't like Hinrich on Davis though. Hinrich works for Orlando because he hits the outside shot and plays tough defense. Its not like he negates Davis, but he'll play him pretty tough.

I agree.  Brewer can slow Richardson down.  Last March, for instance, he held him to 4 points.  In his career, he's held Richardson to 16.4 points per game, which is well below Richardson's average.  Of course, that's not all completely head-to-head, but if Richardson was abusing him, I think it would show in the stats.

I also agree on the Hinrich thing.  I thought Philly was a little too dismissive of Hinrich on the defensive end.  He's maybe the league's best defensive point guard, and when he gets hot, he can score.  He's the type of player who gets under opposing teams' skin.