CB Draft '10 Playoffs First Round Western Conference

[Fafnir]

So you're going to be starting Hedo at the PF against Horford?

I think that is just as much a mismatch in the Bucs favor as Antwan Jamison versus Horford is. Plus Wallace can guard Jamison if you're still starting him.

The rest of your post suposes that Horford will be forced to guard Howard, how do you think Phoenix will fair when that is not the case?

How will you handle Gerald Wallace?

[StartOrien]

I don't think WW has a choice but to play Horford on Howard. If he wants Cousins to cover him I more than welcome it.

I disagree as far as Turkoglu's mismatch, I just can't see Cousins-Horford stopping a Turkoglu-Howard pick and roll. Wallace can do a lot, but if we can chop away at this teams size I don't think they stand a chance. Jamison will start the game, but probably only 5-10 minutes.

We'll attack Horford similarily to how teams attack Rondo. He's going to get his numbers, but we want to take him out of his comfort zone.

EDIT: And again, having Howard able to roam greatly assists in the containment of Wallace.

[Fafnir]

I don't think WW has a choice but to play Horford on Howard. If he wants Cousins to cover him I more than welcome it.

I disagree as far as Turkoglu's mismatch, who while starting will probably only have a brief start there. I just can't see Cousins-Horford stopping a Turkoglu-Howard pick and roll.

We'll attack Horford similarily to how teams attack Rondo. He's going to get his numbers, but we want to take him out of his comfort zone.

So what is your starting line up?

[Roy H.]

Sacramento vs. the Lakers comes down to whether the Kings can contain Roy and Curry more than the Lakers can contain Boozer, Randolph, and Rose.

For a large part of the series, LA is going to be forced to have Bargnani and Michael Beasley guard Boozer and Randolph.  There's just no way LA can match up with that.

In terms of defending Roy and Curry, it's one of the best back courts in the league.  However, Rose is an underrated (and very good) defender, and both Courtney Lee and Francisco Garcia are good defenders, as well.  They'll slow down Roy and Curry much more so than Bargnani and Beasley will slow down Boozer and Randolph.  (Even for those who think that pick-and-roll defense will be an issue, who is LA going to run the P&R with?  Beasley?  We all saw how he choked under pressure last year, and how much Miami valued him by dumping him for peanuts.)

[StartOrien]

I don't think WW has a choice but to play Horford on Howard. If he wants Cousins to cover him I more than welcome it.

I disagree as far as Turkoglu's mismatch, who while starting will probably only have a brief start there. I just can't see Cousins-Horford stopping a Turkoglu-Howard pick and roll.

We'll attack Horford similarily to how teams attack Rondo. He's going to get his numbers, but we want to take him out of his comfort zone.

So what is your starting line up?

The starting lineup is:

Howard
Jamison
Turkoglu
Salmons
Davis

However Jamison will probably get the hook after 5-10 minutes where we'd switch up to either:

Howard
Turkoglu
Salmons
Matthews/Fernandez
Davis

or

Howard
Monroe
Turkoglu
Salmons
Davis

[Fafnir]

I don't think WW has a choice but to play Horford on Howard. If he wants Cousins to cover him I more than welcome it.

I disagree as far as Turkoglu's mismatch, who while starting will probably only have a brief start there. I just can't see Cousins-Horford stopping a Turkoglu-Howard pick and roll.

We'll attack Horford similarily to how teams attack Rondo. He's going to get his numbers, but we want to take him out of his comfort zone.

So what is your starting line up?

The starting lineup is:

Howard
Jamison
Turkoglu
Salmons
Davis

However Jamison will probably get the hook after 5-10 minutes where we'd switch up to either:

Howard
Turkoglu
Salmons
Matthews/Fernandez
Davis

or

Howard
Monroe
Turkoglu
Salmons
Davis

How many minutes a game will you be going small with Turk at the 4 is my question in the end. I'd like to see your minutes breakdown overall actually.

Because during those minutes your team is going to be out rebounded severely and also strugle to defend in the post without a ton of help from Howard. Which will hurt you by giving up open shots elsewhere.

I won't beat around the bush I think playing Hedo at the 4 is a major error that could cost you a game or two in the series.

[StartOrien]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

The minutes breakdown would be based on flow of the game, but I'd assume we'd see Hedo playing anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes per game at power forward

[Fafnir]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

Again, you're trying to make this all about Horford versus Howard. But Horford will be playing the 4 for much of the series with other players on Howard!

Gerald Wallace and Horford will rack up a lot more rebounds than their counterparts at the 3/4 positions. Even more so with Hedo getting 10-20 minutes there.

[Fafnir]

New Orleans how would you respond to lineups that featured Hedo at the 4?

[StartOrien]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

Again, you're trying to make this all about Horford versus Howard. But Horford will be playing the 4 for much of the series with other players on Howard!

Gerald Wallace and Horford will rack up a lot more rebounds than their counterparts at the 3/4 positions. Even more so with Hedo getting 10-20 minutes there.

Let's turn the tables. Why would I not make this about Horford against Howard? Horford is, in my opinion, the obvious matchup for Howard. Who else would be going up against him?

I re-stated the matchup comparisons because in contests against each other Howard has outrebounded Horford by EIGHT rebounds a game. In my opinion Wallace/Cousins instead of Josh Smith and Turkoglu instead of Rashard Lewis (their real life counterparts) doesn't make up for all of those eight rebounds.

[Who]

I think Horford is going to have a much tougher time defending Turkoglu than Turkoglu will defending him.

There is no way that Horford can contain Turkoglu off the dribble 25 feet from the rim. Hedo is going to break down their defense time and time again creating easy shots for every player on the Suns team.

[Fafnir]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

Again, you're trying to make this all about Horford versus Howard. But Horford will be playing the 4 for much of the series with other players on Howard!

Gerald Wallace and Horford will rack up a lot more rebounds than their counterparts at the 3/4 positions. Even more so with Hedo getting 10-20 minutes there.

Let's turn the tables. Why would I not make this about Horford against Howard? Horford is, in my opinion, the obvious matchup for Howard. Who else would be going up against him?

I re-stated the matchup comparisons because in contests against each other Howard has outrebounded Horford by EIGHT rebounds a game. In my opinion Wallace/Cousins instead of Josh Smith and Turkoglu instead of Rashard Lewis (their real life counterparts) doesn't make up for all of those eight rebounds.

The problem with your approach is that your counterpart has stated that he expects Cousins to play 28 MPG against Howard, and then McDyess for more minutes against Howard.

So instead of addressing that you're pounding a matchup that might not exist for you to exploit.

[Fafnir]

How will you handle Gerald Wallace?

I belive you still haven't addressed this point.

[Who]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

Again, you're trying to make this all about Horford versus Howard. But Horford will be playing the 4 for much of the series with other players on Howard!

Gerald Wallace and Horford will rack up a lot more rebounds than their counterparts at the 3/4 positions. Even more so with Hedo getting 10-20 minutes there.

Let's turn the tables. Why would I not make this about Horford against Howard? Horford is, in my opinion, the obvious matchup for Howard. Who else would be going up against him?

I re-stated the matchup comparisons because in contests against each other Howard has outrebounded Horford by EIGHT rebounds a game. In my opinion Wallace/Cousins instead of Josh Smith and Turkoglu instead of Rashard Lewis (their real life counterparts) doesn't make up for all of those eight rebounds.

The problem with your approach is that your counterpart has stated that he expects Cousins to play 28 MPG against Howard, and then McDyess for more minutes against Howard.

So instead of addressing that you're pounding a matchup that might not exist for you to exploit.

Cousins isn't going to manage 28 minutes against Howard. He'll be doing well to get to 20.

Al Horford will be defending Dwight Howard for about 15-20 minutes a night.

Unless,  New Orleans decides to stay big with Mosgov to keep Horford at the four. In which case, Dwight can defend Horford on the other end of the floor while Jamison, Turkoglu or Monroe defends Mosgov (all fine matchups).

Al Horford's advantage offensively will only be there for about half of his total minutes.

[StartOrien]

The rebounding is an overstated issue.

Again in 12 head-head contests Howard averages 16.4 rebounds and Horford averages 7.9. Turkoglu will often have his matchup on the perimter. There's a strong possibility that they could outrebound this lineup, but the difference isn't nearly as big as stated.

Again, you're trying to make this all about Horford versus Howard. But Horford will be playing the 4 for much of the series with other players on Howard!

Gerald Wallace and Horford will rack up a lot more rebounds than their counterparts at the 3/4 positions. Even more so with Hedo getting 10-20 minutes there.

Let's turn the tables. Why would I not make this about Horford against Howard? Horford is, in my opinion, the obvious matchup for Howard. Who else would be going up against him?

I re-stated the matchup comparisons because in contests against each other Howard has outrebounded Horford by EIGHT rebounds a game. In my opinion Wallace/Cousins instead of Josh Smith and Turkoglu instead of Rashard Lewis (their real life counterparts) doesn't make up for all of those eight rebounds.

The problem with your approach is that your counterpart has stated that he expects Cousins to play 28 MPG against Howard, and then McDyess for more minutes against Howard.

So instead of addressing that you're pounding a matchup that might not exist for you to exploit.

I'm only pounding on Horford because I think he's the most worthy adversary. Horford is the best equipped to take on Howard and Dwight has humiliated Horford consistenly.

I use this for emphasis. If these numbers are what Howard can do against Horford, the teams best post defender, imagine what he's going to do against a mentally fragile rookie who's defensive skills are often listed as 'lazy' and an 86 year old, undersized (at the center position), Antonio McDeyss.