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

[Roy H.]

I still think it's a pretty big mistake playing Turk at PF -- he's gotten abused there in "real life" -- but he's probably match up better against Ilyasova than he would against Randolph or Boozer.

Question, though:  if Turk is playing as many as 20 minutes at the 4, what's the rest of your rotation look like?  Who is playing SF in those minutes?

[StartOrien]

I still think it's a pretty big mistake playing Turk at PF -- he's gotten abused there in "real life" -- but he's probably match up better against Ilyasova than he would against Randolph or Boozer.

Question, though:  if Turk is playing as many as 20 minutes at the 4, what's the rest of your rotation look like?  Who is playing SF in those minutes?

Going through these backwards. Admittedly, 20 minutes is probably an overstatement as far as minutes go for him, and I'm probably going to edit that. I think you'll probably see more like 10 minutes out of him, if that. Here's how the 2-4 would go, I'd guess:

Jamison (30), Turkoglu (10), Monroe (eight)
Salmons (22), Turkoglue (26)
Matthews (15), Salmons (15), Williams (13), Fernandez (5)

[Who]

Ilyasova can defend Jamison comfortably and do a good job on Hedo Turkoglu. He can also switch onto a wing player and defend them at an adequate level while allowing one of Chicago's wings to take Turkoglu should the Bulls so wish.

The Ilyasova vs Jamison matchup is a wash. An Ilyasova vs Turkoglu matchup may give Phoenix an advantage or may not depending on the remainder of the lineup. It's a small issue, if one at all, for the Suns though.

[Who]

Chicago should put LeBron on John Salmons. His defense and athleticism will completely take Salmons out of the picture offensively.

The Bulls have a huge advantage with LeBron vs I'm guessing Wes Matthews + an advantage with Mike Miller vs Wes/Rudy in overall contribution.

The Suns have an advantage with Dwight Howard but Joakim Noah can do a solid defensive job on Howard. No need to double team. Let Howard attack one-on-one and Phoenix can see where that takes them offensively ... which isn't very far.

[Who]

The Bulls starting lineup has been built more soundly around LeBron than the Suns around Dwight ... but their lack of depth gives the Suns a chance of making a series out of this (Suns have a very good bench).

[StartOrien]

Phoenix:  I assume you're going to run your offense fairly similarly to Orlando's.  However, are your starting shooters as good as Lewis, Turkoglu (or Carter), Pietrus, Nelson, etc.?  At the very least, your outside shooting at the PF and PG is a lot worse than "real life" Orlando's.  How do you compensate for that?

The offense will be more similar to the 2009 Orlando Magic:

Baron Davis = Rafer Alston
Wesley Matthews = Courtney Lee
"Hedo Turkoglu" as himself
Antawn Jamison = Rashard Lewis
"Dwight Howard" as himself

John Salmons as Mickael Pietrus. That team was able to defeat Lebron's cavs.

[Donoghus]

I have a feeling that if Chicago defends Howard with Noah one on one, Joakim will find on the bench quite often and Chicago will be forced to go to their bench.

I'm just not seeing how Chicago can hang if they don't double-team Howard.

[StartOrien]

Again, Chicago's big man rotation is Noah, Ilyasova & Armundson and that's it. 2 players haven't exceeded 25 minutes per game. In ANY game thats going to be relatively tough for them, but a best of 7 series after playing several rounds?

[StartOrien]

Question for Chicago

How many minutes do you expect out of Joakim Noah?

[Edgar]

Baron Davis = Rafer Alston < Jammer
Wesley Matthews = Courtney Lee < Ray Allen
"Hedo Turkoglu" as himself < Paul Pierce
Antawn Jamison = Rashard Lewis <  David Lee
"Dwight Howard" as himself all we saw what Perk do with this guy


consider this my last rant .... lol

[Roy H.]

Ilyasova can defend Jamison comfortably and do a good job on Hedo Turkoglu. He can also switch onto a wing player and defend them at an adequate level while allowing one of Chicago's wings to take Turkoglu should the Bulls so wish.

The Ilyasova vs Jamison matchup is a wash. An Ilyasova vs Turkoglu matchup may give Phoenix an advantage or may not depending on the remainder of the lineup. It's a small issue, if one at all, for the Suns though.

I think you're overrating Hedo.  Again, if he could play the 4, teams would play him there.  They don't, and they haven't.  He's not a physical enough player to thrive down low.

I think Jamison against Ilyasova is a bigger mismatch than you're letting on, as well (which is the primary reason I switched from backing IP to being on the fence).  In four games against Jamison last year, Ilyasova averaged a total of 29 points, being held to 4 points in two of those games.  Jamison also had 9+ rebounds in each game, with Ilyasova averaging 4.5 boards per game.  Ilyasova picked up 5 fouls in three of those games. 

I think there's a real question on whether Ilyasova can guard Jamison consistently, and whether he can keep him off the boards. 

(I'd love to see IP address this.)

[StartOrien]

But he hasn't really gotten the opportunity to play the 4.

He played alongside Rashard Lewis and then on a mess of a team that featured Chris Bosh & Andre Bargnani

[Donoghus]

But he hasn't really gotten the opportunity to play the 4.

He played alongside Rashard Lewis and then on a mess of a team that featured Chris Bosh & Andre Bargnani

I think you can get away with playing Hedo at the 4 in this series with the Ilyasova matchup but I don't think there are many matchups out there where playing Hedo at the 4 is favorable, especially in 2010.

[Roy H.]

But he hasn't really gotten the opportunity to play the 4.

He played alongside Rashard Lewis and then on a mess of a team that featured Chris Bosh & Andre Bargnani

I think you can get away with playing Hedo at the 4 in this series with the Ilyasova matchup but I don't think there are many matchups out there where playing Hedo at the 4 is favorable, especially in 2010.

Agreed.  Also, keep in mind that Hedo has lost a step; he averaged 11/4 last year.  Phoenix seems to be talking down Antwan Jamison at every possible step, and I think that's a mistake.  Jamison is a poor defender, but Ilyasova struggled against him last year.  AJ averaged 19/8 last year, and 19/7 in the first round of the playoffs.  On the offensive end, he's still a very good inside/outside player.

[StartOrien]

I don't mean to talk Jamison down at all, I think this is the series that we can really capitolize on his abilities. I actually meant to emphasize him in my argument. And apparently should do more of.

As far as Hedo goes,

I don't mean to keep harping him on the 4, it's really just meant to present another look for our offense. And another way IP has to strategize.

Also, his per 36 numbers don't really backup that he's "lost a step." He was 3 points below the year before, on 3 less shots per game and shot .004 worse from the field. His assists and rebounds were the same they were the year before. To me, this suggests more that he was in a bad situation as opposed to him losing a step.