Fake Playoffs are Here: Hype your Team/Matchup!

[indeedproceed]

So I looked it up, and it wasn't as big a difference as i thought.

Both Artest and Pierce are each about a point below their career averages, Artest at 15.3, Pierce at 21.3

I would've thought Artest would play better against Pierce.

[Rondo2287]

I mean starting Lineup PPG
Miller:16.3       Fisher:9.9
Garcia:12.7       Lee:8.4
Artest:17.1       Pierce:20.4
Kg:15.8            Brand:13.8
Camby:10.3        Wallace:12.00

totals
72.2                   64.5

and I know it doesnt really work this way, but at the same time I dont think that people should just assume that since my team is built on defense other teams are necessarily better offensively than Toronto because its just not true.

Question: How does Ron Artest usually do against Paul Pierce?

This year against Boston

Artest had 17 pts, 3 rebounds, 4 assists 3 steals 3 TO
and
           15 pts, 7 rebounds, 1 assists 2 steals 1 TO

So right around his season averages in points.  And they split the season series 1-1 Which means that all time Artest still has a winning record against pierce

[Rondo2287]

Also it should be known that among the top offensive players in the league, Kobe and Pierce are the most effective against Artest.  Artest still forces Pierce down in almost every category, but the differences are alot less against Pierce than most other players. 

[indeedproceed]

I think a place where Toronto has a big advantage here is Garnett over Brand.

in 26 career matchups, Garnett is 18-8 with roughly 22ppg, 12 rbs, 5 assts, 2stls, 2blks.

Brand is 18ppg, 9rbs, 2assts, 1stl, 2blks

[Rondo2287]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

[jgod213]

the Houston Rockets vs the Dallas Mavericks

Why might the Mavs have trouble w/ the Rockets?

The combo of Ellis/Johnson is tough for any team, nevermind a back court who's lists of strengths don't include pure speed.  Our strategy will be to put the larger Kidd on Johnson and put the smaller Terry on Ellis.  We won't win a points matchup here, but with the talented help defense of Smith, Marion, Dalembert, and Daneils off the bench, we feel confident that we can contain these two to a degree and force jumpshots.  Brandon Jennings off the bench will provide a better defensive matchup off the bench for us against Ellis for several minutes/game.


Why do the Mavs win this matchup? Let's take a peak at the frontcourt battles:

Chris Bosh '08/'09 averages: 49%fg, 22.7ppg, 8 free throw attempts/game, 3 offensive reobunds/game

Chris Bosh vs. NYK (aka David Lee) '08/'09: 42% fg, 17.7ppg, 4.5 free throw attempts/game, 1.5 offensive rebounds/game

The numbers indicate that David Lee (despite being my center, Lee will shift over to cover Bosh on defense) will play Bosh virtually even, meaning they pretty much cancel eachother out.  That leaves Houston with a combination of Anthony Randolph, DeJuan Blair, and David Anderson to throw against the combination of Josh Smith, Samuel Dalembert, and Al Harrington.  I really do like the potential of those bigs for Houston, but the key words here are POTENTIAL and PLAYOFFS.  

Randolph/Blair/Andersen combination: 63 combined games played, 22 career starts, no playoff experience.

Smith/Dalembert/Harrington combination: 1,604 games played, 1,191 career starts, 71 games of playoff experience

[Rondo2287]

these are Pierces stats: Top=Career  Bottom= Against Artest
so you can see how most stats go down but for the most part its alot less noticeable than the effect Ron has on guys like Lebron, Carmello, Dwade, Vince Carter
PTS 22.9 -- FG% .443 -- 3P% .366 -- FTA 7.8 -- REB 6.3 -- AST 3.9 -- TOV 3.1
PTS 21.3 -- FG% .436 -- 3P% .393 -- FTA 7.1 -- REB 5.8 -- AST 3.9 -- TOV 3.4

[ChampKind]

The case for Cleveland over Washington:

Cleveland presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30949.msg557131#msg557131

Washington presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30950.msg557777#msg557777

Why Cleveland wins:

1. Who scores in Washington's frontcourt against the Cavs?  Neither Scola nor Pryzbilla is an offensive threat, Pryz especially.  If Scola becomes a threat, we've got an efficient, lock down defender in Carl Landry to shut him down.  That's a big frontcourt edge to the Cavs, who start David West and Andrew Bogut, and rotate in Landry, Blatche, and Moute depending on defensive matchups.

2. Ramon Sessions is untested.  While he's looked good when given the chance to play, how will be do in a pressure situation when hounded by a great on the ball defender in Devin Harris?  Cutting off Sessions's ability to drive will either force him to shoot or limit his passing, though he is a solid distributor.  Harris will win this matchup on both ends of the court, since Sessions seems to lack great lateral speed - something Harris has in spades.

3. Where does Stephen Jackson play?  I'm not sold that he can defend the 2, and no matter what he does on offense he'll be hounded by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.  Our size on the wings allows for a very flexible defense, and in the starters scenario, we'll take our chances with Gerald Wallace scoring against Mike Miller. 

4. The Cavs offense is based around solid shooting and passing.  We can spread the floor and wear down a thin Boxers lineup.  If our starting lineup sags, we throw Jamal Crawford into the mix, who can explode for 30 in any given night.

5. While I believe we have an edge in the starting lineup, I think our bench vastly outplays DC's.  Compare:

Landry
Crawford
Sweet Lou Williams
Blatche/Rush/Bell (9th spot depends on lineup changes/foul trouble)

vs.

Milicic
Julian Wright
Morrow
Gadzuric/Hill/Lue

In conclusion, while DC's wingplay is strong, I don't think they are a complete enough team to win a head to head matchup against the Cavs.  I look forward to any questions, and I'll hopefully add more if work allows.

 

[indeedproceed]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

I dunno, Fisher did well against Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston. I think Fisher on Miller isn't as big a mismatch as you say.

[Rondo2287]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

I dunno, Fisher did well against Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston. I think Fisher on Miller isn't as big a mismatch as you say.

I think Fisher is gonna have a hard time guarding a slasher like Miller.  Jameer and Alston are more perimeter shooters(Alston more than Jameer).  I dont think Fisher can stay in front of miller when Miller decides to take it to the rim. 

[indeedproceed]

The case for Cleveland over Washington:

Cleveland presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30949.msg557131#msg557131

Washington presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=30950.msg557777#msg557777

Why Cleveland wins:

1. Who scores in Washington's frontcourt against the Cavs?  Neither Scola nor Pryzbilla is an offensive threat, Pryz especially.  If Scola becomes a threat, we've got an efficient, lock down defender in Carl Landry to shut him down.  That's a big frontcourt edge to the Cavs, who start David West and Andrew Bogut, and rotate in Landry, Blatche, and Moute depending on defensive matchups.

2. Ramon Sessions is untested.  While he's looked good when given the chance to play, how will be do in a pressure situation when hounded by a great on the ball defender in Devin Harris?  Cutting off Sessions's ability to drive will either force him to shoot or limit his passing, though he is a solid distributor.  Harris will win this matchup on both ends of the court, since Sessions seems to lack great lateral speed - something Harris has in spades.

3. Where does Stephen Jackson play?  I'm not sold that he can defend the 2, and no matter what he does on offense he'll be hounded by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.  Our size on the wings allows for a very flexible defense, and in the starters scenario, we'll take our chances with Gerald Wallace scoring against Mike Miller. 

4. The Cavs offense is based around solid shooting and passing.  We can spread the floor and wear down a thin Boxers lineup.  If our starting lineup sags, we throw Jamal Crawford into the mix, who can explode for 30 in any given night.

5. While I believe we have an edge in the starting lineup, I think our bench vastly outplays DC's.  Compare:

Landry
Crawford
Sweet Lou Williams
Blatche/Rush/Bell (9th spot depends on lineup changes/foul trouble)

vs.

Milicic
Julian Wright
Morrow
Gadzuric/Hill/Lue

In conclusion, while DC's wingplay is strong, I don't think they are a complete enough team to win a head to head matchup against the Cavs.  I look forward to any questions, and I'll hopefully add more if work allows.

 

Okay, if

Mbah a MOute plays Jackson, who plays Gerald Wallace? Mike Miller?

Also, you focus on your frontcourt advantage, but what about Scola and Pryzbilla's noticable defensive advantage? Pryzbilla is a better rebounder and defender than either Bogut or West, and Scola is so slouch on defense either. Do you worry that your frontcourt will be able to score efficiently if being compared to Washington?

Also, are we doing this as a H2H comparison, or as an overall season thing?

[indeedproceed]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

I dunno, Fisher did well against Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston. I think Fisher on Miller isn't as big a mismatch as you say.

I think Fisher is gonna have a hard time guarding a slasher like Miller.  Jameer and Alston are more perimeter shooters(Alston more than Jameer).  I dont think Fisher can stay in front of miller when Miller decides to take it to the rim. 

Maybe I'm just misreading the players, but I thought Jameer was a decent step quicker and faster than Miller.

[Roy Hobbs]

Also, are we doing this as a H2H comparison, or as an overall season thing?

That's my big question.  One way to think about it is, they finished with the same record.  The first tie-breaker would be H2H, so which team won the season matchup?

[Rondo2287]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

I dunno, Fisher did well against Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston. I think Fisher on Miller isn't as big a mismatch as you say.

I think Fisher is gonna have a hard time guarding a slasher like Miller.  Jameer and Alston are more perimeter shooters(Alston more than Jameer).  I dont think Fisher can stay in front of miller when Miller decides to take it to the rim. 

Maybe I'm just misreading the players, but I thought Jameer was a decent step quicker and faster than Miller.

No he is I agree, but he also wasnt at full strength.  And was coming off how many months off?  And he also isnt as strong to the basket as miller is.

[indeedproceed]

Yo dont think Miller against fisher?

I dunno, Fisher did well against Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston. I think Fisher on Miller isn't as big a mismatch as you say.

I think Fisher is gonna have a hard time guarding a slasher like Miller.  Jameer and Alston are more perimeter shooters(Alston more than Jameer).  I dont think Fisher can stay in front of miller when Miller decides to take it to the rim. 

Maybe I'm just misreading the players, but I thought Jameer was a decent step quicker and faster than Miller.

No he is I agree, but he also wasnt at full strength.  And was coming off how many months off?  And he also isnt as strong to the basket as miller is.

Yeah but Fisher is strong enough to handle Miller, isn't he? strength was never his problem