CB Draft Finals: Q&A, Video, and Trash Talk Thread!

[KCattheStripe]

Did anyone else notice that Roy couldn't miss one last chance to hype up the Kings on the front page. 

[Rondo2287]

Man this post is bothering me.

This year, a year in which LeBron QUIT on his team in the playoffs and was knocked out of the playoffs one round earlier, in the CB Draft he is on a team surrounded by a seriously worse collection of players going up against a team that kind of mirrors the 2008-09 Magic and people are considering voting Chicago through to the championship simply because of Lebron not being able to be stopped?!?!?!

Maybe it's me but that makes zero sense.

If my team, with a better post defender than Cleveland had in 08-09 (Joakim Noah over Varejao or Big Z), better shooting guard (Mike Miller over Delonte West), and a comparable of not better PG (Brandon Jennings over Mo Williams, but people seem to disagree about that), how is my team not better?

here's the thing, I agree with none of this. Zero. And there lies our difference.

While i like Noah better than AV, I really am not sold on Miller, I like Anthony Parker as a better player than Miller.  Parker has been more consistent over the last few year. I think Mo Wiliams is better than Jennings, and I think Jamison is a better secondary scorer than Anybody Chicago has. 

That said, im not sure exactly how much Phoenix mirrors the 08-09 magic, i think they arent anywhere near as good as that team.  that team had a significant ammount of depth especially up front where they had gortat.

[Rondo2287]

Im in a similar position to Lucky17 least round.  I voted against both teams that advanced,  I think Sac and Mil are the most complete teams in the league and im really not sure which way im gonna vote here.

[Roy H.]

I finally have made up my mind.  I've flip-flopped about four times in the past 24 hours on this pick.  

Reasons to vote for Phoenix:

1.  Howard has abused Noah, and Noah hasn't been able to keep from fouling him.

2.  Ilyasova can't exploit Jamison's defense, and Jamison is a very underrated player.  The guy is a very good shooter and rebounder, to the point where Chicago can't double-team in the post.

3.  Between Salmons and Matthews, they can probably at least cut down on Lebron's penetration.  Also, Dwight Howard is defending the post.

4.  Chicago isn't deep enough to take advantage of Phoenix's depth problems.

5.  Davis has more experience than Jennings, which will probably be a factor among two otherwise fairly even players.

6.  Phoenix has better playoff experience.

7.  Have I mentioned foul trouble?

Reasons to vote for Chicago:

1.  Lebron is the best player in the game, and even after he supposedly "quit" he put up a line of a line of 27/19/10 against an elite defense.

2.  Lebron had no problem scoring against a Dwight Howard-led defense in 2009, scoring something like 38+ points per night.  His teammates let him down, but Lebron was amazing.

3.  StartOrien admitted that three of the top five defensive players played for Chicago.  A defensive lineup of Noah-Ilyasova-Lebron-Allen-Jennings would severely limit Phoenix's offense.

4.  I don't have any confidence in John Salmons.

5.  An offense centered around Dwight Howard needs shooters, and Baron Davis struggles in that regard.

6.  Phoenix doesn't have the pieces to exploit Chicago's lack of depth.

7.  Jennings and Ilyasova should both be better next season, while Jamison and Turkoglu should be a little worse.

8.  Chicago has home court advantage, and a coach I like better.

[indeedproceed]

I don't have the internets except on my phone until time warner makes some moves.

in any case, ask questions if you got em.

[Who]

I went with Phoenix in the end.

Earlier in the day, I was inclined to call the PG battle between Jennings and B.Davis neutral but the more I thought about it the more I liked Baron.

I liked his size advantage over the much smaller Jennings + I liked his big game experience and performances + his success against tough defenses + I liked Byron Scott as his coach. His PGs have had a lot of success, lot of freedom ... I thought he'd get the best out of Baron. 

I was also a bit worried about Jennings ability to finish around the paint with Dwight Howard hanging around the rim. He is a dodgy enough finisher already.

Other reasons: I preferred the Suns depth and multiple scoring options.

[indeedproceed]

Ah well Who, I know you came at it with an open mind. I can't get mad about that.

Here is the thing that I think seals it for me:

1) Antawn Jamison is absolutely terrible defensively, truth.

2) John Salmons and Hedo Turkoglu are both terrible defensively as well.

3) The backup center for Dwight Howard is Greg Monroe. The third center is Ed Davis. Neither one can defend either of my starting front court.

If you accept 1, 2, and 3, then I don't see how the following is not true:

LeBron James will be able to penetrate the defense at will. There is no defender outside of Dwight Howard that can consistently force LeBron into an uncomfortable shot around the hoop. Dwight Howard will either have to let LeBron have his baskets, or he'll have to help in the paint. There is no defender on the wing that can begin the task of defending LeBron. If Dwight helps in the paint, he is as much of a foul liability as Joakim Noah, if not more-so.

The reason why Howard is more of a liability is that without Noah for long stretches of time, LeBron James could still carry the Bulls to keep the game close. LeBron is my best player, and I can choose if/when to sit him. He won't get into foul trouble.

Howard however could get into foul trouble, and when Howard is off the floor for Phoenix and my starters are in, there is no excuse for a non-blowout from Chicago. That's how poor defensively this team is.

That's my schpiel. Either you buy it or you don't. I believe that because of Phoenix's team construction, they will not be able to mount any kind of defense against LeBron, due ironically (if you've been reading the posts) to the two rookies behind Howard. Since Howard will either have to run the choice of being non-aggressive or running the risk of getting into early foul trouble, Chicago should be able to jump out into early leads in most of the games. From there Chicago has the personell to

Without Howard there is no recourse for the Phoenix. With Howard they can't stop LeBron because of the other weak defenders.

[StartOrien]

Ok, way late. But I'm back. If anyone hasn't voted yet, I just won my softball championship, my dad was on my team. It would really complete a perfect night if I won the C-Blog championship.

Vote for Phoenix if you love your father.

[indeedproceed]

Ok, way late. But I'm back. If anyone hasn't voted yet, I just won my softball championship, my dad was on my team. It would really complete a perfect night if I won the C-Blog championship.

Vote for Phoenix if you love your father.

Ouch.

Ummm.....my internet just came back. Vote Chicago if you love....celticsblog?


lol..and congrats on the softball championship.

[StartOrien]

Ok, way late. But I'm back. If anyone hasn't voted yet, I just won my softball championship, my dad was on my team. It would really complete a perfect night if I won the C-Blog championship.

Vote for Phoenix if you love your father.

Ouch.

Ummm.....my internet just came back. Vote Chicago if you love....celticsblog?


lol..and congrats on the softball championship.

'vote love your father' was the last bullet I had loaded. Straight desperation.

[StartOrien]

Since we're near the end, class it up haters. I hear so many people now complain "I can't believe these two are in the finals." Get over yourselves... The #1 seed in the East is taking on the #1 seed in the West.

You might not be able to believe it, but democracy does.

[indeedproceed]

Since we're near the end, class it up haters. I hear so many people now complain "I can't believe these two are in the finals." Get over yourselves... The #1 seed in the East is taking on the #1 seed in the West.

You might not be able to believe it, but democracy does.

Preach.

[StartOrien]

Is Faf and/or Roy around tonight? I'd like to stay up for the results, but if we're going to have to wait for tomorrow morning i could REALLY use a good night sleep

[indeedproceed]

Fafnir hasn't missed one yet.

[indeedproceed]

Annnnd Fafnir is back. I beleive we have results.