2011 CB draft: How does my team look?/division rankings

[StartOrien]

I don't think they were ever a title threat.

They were something like 11-3 before Rudy went down.

I think the Grizzlies developed an identity, and that's what's turned them into the squad we saw in the playoffs.

Also, I completely disagree that the Grizz weren't a serious title contender. People were pretty torn about how they'd do against the Mavs, and I don't think the Heat had any chance at beating them.

[Who]

The teams that impress me the most in the East -- Indy, Washington, New Jersey and Phily.

[Roy H.]

I don't think your team is separated from the pack, a good collection of talent but I'm not sure if a somewhat upgraded Grizzilies roster is the stuff of a champion.

That's kind of my thought, as well.  Very talented, and I like the majority of the individual pieces.  However, a very similar team (although not quite as good as thing one) was an 8th seed in a watered down 30 team NBA.  I don't think an upgraded version of that team would be a contender in a 24 team contracted CB-NBA.

Good team, though, and very entertaining to watch. 

Obviously, I disagree.

I think the difference between Parker, Lee/George and Rudy is significantly better than Conley Jr., TA/Mayo and Battier.

Well, you can't count Gay on one side of the ledger, and leave him off on the other.  When Rudy went down, the Grizzlies weren't exactly burning up the NBA.  In fact, arguably they were better without him.

Let's compare lineups:

Gasol vs. Gasol - Wash
Randolph vs. Randolph - Wash
Gay vs. Gay - Wash
Tony vs. Lee -- Advantage Real Griz
Conley vs. Parker - Advantage Fake Griz

Battier vs. Artest - Advantage Real Griz
_______ vs. George - Wash / slight edge to Fake Griz
_______ vs. Hayes - Wash / slight edge to Fake Griz
Mayo vs. ? - TBD

Now, Battier and Gay never played together, so that might not be a fair comparison, but I don't see your current team as a huge improvement either version of the real Griz (with or without Rudy).

[Fafnir]

I don't think they were ever a title threat.

They were something like 11-3 before Rudy went down.

The Houston Rockets of 07-08 won 22 in a row, small sample sizes like that don't mean a ton.

[action781]

Here ya go:

Tony Parker
Courtney Lee / Paul George
Rudy Gay / Ron Artest
Zach Randolph / Chuck Hayes
Marc Gasol

Oh. Well, thanks anyways. I guess.

Very Strong Squad. I like how we match up. It be interesting.

Chuck Hayes is a player I love and is a solid addition to the Grizzlies three man 4/5 rotation. His defense and underrated passing are both key. (Memphis is going to need Gasol and Hayes to keep the ball moving.) Paul George is also a great second week pick up, could and should beat Courtney Lee out at some point during the season for the starting spot.

The team's size is intimidating, and Grizz should be solid defensively and plenty aggressive offensively. Though I'd prefer a second three point shooter in the starting line up. Team's will be able to pack the paint, heck will have to. And I'm another GM that hates the Artest pick. At this point he's a low-reward high-risk addition, ring or no, who's not likely to quietly come off the bench. And why add another ball stopper behind Rudy Gay? Memphis may have some chemistry concerns; who's the coach?

Thanks WW.  By second 3 pt shooter, who do you mean in addition to?  We feel that Courtney Lee (40% 3pt last season) and Rudy Gay (39.6% 3pt last season) are both very good 3 point shooters.

We realize the Artest pick is going to be very polarizing. 

To expand on that I think the fake Grizzlies might end up being a different sort of defensive team than the real life ones. Their back court isn't the same aggressive type of defenders that Tony Allen/Conley are/were.

I'd have to point to Artest as being a very aggressive defender in our backcourt.  Even if he has declined, I don't think you can find too many defenders in the league more aggressive than him.  Ask Ray Allen.  I think Rudy has the tools to be very effective defensively if we allow him to play aggressively as well.

[StartOrien]

I don't think they were ever a title threat.

They were something like 11-3 before Rudy went down.

The Houston Rockets of 07-08 won 22 in a row, small sample sizes like that don't mean a ton.

I think it does if they went through an identity change that evolved them into a contender.

[KCattheStripe]

The teams that impress me the most in the East -- Indy, Washington, New Jersey and Phily.

[Kwhit10]

Denver Nuggets:

Pg: George Hill / Jose Calderon
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Dorell Wright
PF: Chris Bosh / Ed Davis
C: Nene

Still debating whether to have George Hill come off the bench as the 6th man.

I'd like to see you add some defense at the 3 spot, and move Wright to the bench.

Yeah.  Replace Wright in the starting lineup with somebody like...  Grant Hill.

People really think he's a bad defender?  He's 6'9 with long arms and while he isn't a stopper (neither is Grant Hill) he is an above average defender.

[The Walker Wiggle]

I don't think the new Grizz are as imposing size wise. Chuck Hayes is a solid player, but he's smaller and more of an undersized C than anything where as ________ is a PF.

But don't Parker, Lee, George and Artest all outsize their respective counterparts?

[The Walker Wiggle]

Denver Nuggets:

Pg: George Hill / Jose Calderon
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Dorell Wright
PF: Chris Bosh / Ed Davis
C: Nene

Still debating whether to have George Hill come off the bench as the 6th man.

I'd like to see you add some defense at the 3 spot, and move Wright to the bench.

Yeah.  Replace Wright in the starting lineup with somebody like...  Grant Hill.

People really think he's a bad defender?  He's 6'9 with long arms and while he isn't a stopper (neither is Grant Hill) he is an above average defender.

My vote goes to inserting Calderon in the starting line-up. Even though he puts significant pressure on the defenders behind him, he's in another class on offense. The Bosh and Nene tandem is going to be a handful to cover, the whole team will be. And Wright is a player that I like a lot, although so was Grant Hill.

One knock for laughing at that "center of attention" pun. Joe Johnson: his scoring average dropped for the fourth straight season, down to 18.2 ppg and among franchise players in the playoffs only an injured Amar'e Stoudemire posted a worst PER. Even hobbled Brandon Roy put up a better mark, 16.42 vs. 15.36.

[Who]

Denver Nuggets:

Pg: George Hill / Jose Calderon
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Dorell Wright
PF: Chris Bosh / Ed Davis
C: Nene

Still debating whether to have George Hill come off the bench as the 6th man.

I'd like to see you add some defense at the 3 spot, and move Wright to the bench.

Yeah.  Replace Wright in the starting lineup with somebody like...  Grant Hill.

People really think he's a bad defender?  He's 6'9 with long arms and while he isn't a stopper (neither is Grant Hill) he is an above average defender.

I like Dorell Wright as a two guard (his natural position) and/or as a first wing off the bench.

Not as a starting small forward. Too much of a lightweight physically and in terms of defense/rebounding to compete at high level in that role/position.

[action781]

I don't think your team is separated from the pack, a good collection of talent but I'm not sure if a somewhat upgraded Grizzilies roster is the stuff of a champion.

That's kind of my thought, as well.  Very talented, and I like the majority of the individual pieces.  However, a very similar team (although not quite as good as thing one) was an 8th seed in a watered down 30 team NBA.  I don't think an upgraded version of that team would be a contender in a 24 team contracted CB-NBA.

Good team, though, and very entertaining to watch. 

Obviously, I disagree.

I think the difference between Parker, Lee/George and Rudy is significantly better than Conley Jr., TA/Mayo and Battier.

Well, you can't count Gay on one side of the ledger, and leave him off on the other.  When Rudy went down, the Grizzlies weren't exactly burning up the NBA.  In fact, arguably they were better without him.

Let's compare lineups:

Gasol vs. Gasol - Wash
Randolph vs. Randolph - Wash
Gay vs. Gay - Wash
Tony vs. Lee -- Advantage Real Griz
Conley vs. Parker - Advantage Fake Griz

Battier vs. Artest - Advantage Real Griz
_______ vs. George - Wash / slight edge to Fake Griz
_______ vs. Hayes - Wash / slight edge to Fake Griz
Mayo vs. ? - TBD

Now, Battier and Gay never played together, so that might not be a fair comparison, but I don't see your current team as a huge improvement either version of the real Griz (with or without Rudy).

We were afraid owners would think this, but we think that this is putting the TA/Mayo issue on one side of the ledger and leaving it off the other.

Conley-Tony-Gay-ZBo-Gasol was not a lineup the Grizz had for long (and when they did, just before Gay went down, they were something 11-3 I believe SO said).  If you want to compare us to the lineup above and even say we are roughly equal, then we outta be roughly equal to an 11-3 team.  I do acknowledge that is a small sample size, though, so, I think the more accurate comparisons need to be made are our Pawnee Pacers to either the regular season grizz (with Conley-Mayo-Gay-ZBo-Gasol) or to the playoff grizz with (Conley-TA-Batter-ZBo-Gasol).

If you compare us to the reg season Grizzlies, I think it's difficult because there was clearly some bad chemistry in that lineup which caused their record to be .500ish.  There is no other explanation to how that lineup could be far more talented than the playoff Grizzlies, but underperform.  So, I conclude that either Mayo or Gay was a bad chemistry fit in that starting lineup which is why the team had better success when inserting less talented players as starters.  I won't impose anything on you and will let you make your own decisions on who you believe the poor chemistry fit was.

So, I honestly think the most accurate comparison to make is the Pawnee Pacers to the playoff Grizzles.  I think that our team is superior at 2 positions, the same at 2, and I think C. Lee provides good defense like Tony, but a different dynamic offensively by spreading the floor allowing Parker to drive and our bigs to work down low.

[action781]

Denver Nuggets:

Pg: George Hill / Jose Calderon
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Dorell Wright
PF: Chris Bosh / Ed Davis
C: Nene

Still debating whether to have George Hill come off the bench as the 6th man.

I'd like to see you add some defense at the 3 spot, and move Wright to the bench.

Yeah.  Replace Wright in the starting lineup with somebody like...  Grant Hill.

People really think he's a bad defender?  He's 6'9 with long arms and while he isn't a stopper (neither is Grant Hill) he is an above average defender.

My vote goes to inserting Calderon in the starting line-up. Even though he puts significant pressure on the defenders behind him, he's in another class on offense. The Bosh and Nene tandem is going to be a handful to cover, the whole team will be. And Wright is a player that I like a lot, although so was Grant Hill.

One knock for the "center of attention" pun sans any useful critique, Joe Johnson: his scoring average dropped for the fourth straight season, down to 18.2 ppg and among franchise players in the playoffs only an injured Amar'e Stoudemire posted a worst PER. Even hobbled Brandon Roy put up a better mark, 16.42 vs. 15.36.

I agree.  I think Calderon could really open up some good looks for everybody on your team.  George Hill is a good combo guard that can backup both 1/2 off the bench.

I do agree that Dorrel Wright would be a good bench player too.  But it will depend on who is left to draft at SF.

[Who]

I don't think there is any point in starting Calderon ahead G.Hill in the Triangle.

Calderon won't be in a position to create enough added value offensively to make up for what they lose defensively in the switch. Keep things the way they are.

Or fire Phil Jackson and hire a coach who will take advantage of Calderon's gifts (my preferred option).

[TheTruthFot18]

PG: CP3, Brandon Jennings
SG: Brandon Roy, Jason Terry
SF: Jared Dudley
PF: Al Jefferson
C: Javale McGee

I've gotten a lot of trade offers but I can't seem to break this unit so far. I have a pending trade for a new C but for now, any suggestions for my nexts picks (position, playing style). I have 8.2 and 8.8 with some people in mind but I'm open for suggestions. Feel free to comment/criticize my team as well.