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

[indeedproceed]

I think the knife cuts both ways. The draft encourages objectivity (or is supposed to) with regards to home team fandom. For some people, that means an open love affair with the guys you root against during the season while the play the celtics, and a real opportunity to hate on the things you don't like about he current guard.

At least it works like that for me...and trust me, losing in 5 games to the Heat really shook my faith in the Big 3. Still kinda mad about it. 5 freaking games.

[Bahku]

I have to say what is most likely very obvious ... this was a tough one. I think the structure of this draft ensures a lot of very good, very deep teams, but it becomes clear just how competitive it is the closer it gets to a finals showdown.

Each series became more and more difficult to vote on, and these two semis were very tough especially. Congrats to all these four teams who made it so hard to choose ... I think that's the best indication of just how good these teams really were, and how diversely the talent was distributed.

No losers in this one, and no one need hang their head ... these were incredible teams and teams that were thoughtfully and carefully put together. It's a shame that there's no way to see these teams in action, because it would make for an historic playoff series, and in many cases, a much more competitive series of games than in reality.

Great job, everyone ... you all had winning teams IMHO.

[Roy H.]

76ers in 6.  

IP wins the sentimental vote as a great GM and a greater Commish. However, we all know deep in our hearts that Amare can't close, and Wade can.   Plus, a vote for IP is a vote for "The Man", and who likes voting for The Man? 

[nickagneta]

The Kings couldn't wait to unveil our strategy of having Lebron guard Wade.

Lebron might be a lot of things but defensively, he really is special and without any real stats to show one way or the other who would win that matchup, we wanted to put the really complete hypothetical to the test.

Can Lebron shut down Wade and still score and did he have enough around him to say, if they are matched up offensively and defensively together does it really come down to who has the better supporting cast?

Sadly that won't happen. Would have been very interesting to know though.

I have to agree with Roy, Sixers in 6. As much as don't THINK Lebron can lead a team to a championship as a number one guy, I KNOW in my heart, Amare can't and never will. He doesn't have that inner drive to do whatever it takes to win it all.

Just one man's opinion.

[Rondo2287]

Let me say something that I said to IP in PM hours ago.

I didn't like my team.

I hate Lebron, I hate Brandon Jennings and Mike Miller. And I am not fond of Tyson Chandler's here one year not the next performances, Boris Diaw's lack of offseason conditioning or willingness to take the open shot, or Paul Millsap's defense.

But given where we were selecting, who we really had to take(Lebron) and having to try to build the best team around him that we could, I put my personal likes and dislikes of players aside and with Rondo, did the best we could to put together the best team we could regardless of my personal preferences for players.

TP to Rondo who caved to my whims more than I can say and was the best co-GM a person could have. His contacts in the game, ability to cut a deal, his tenacity to make a deal, and his keen eye to put players together is outstanding. His knowledge of the game and ability to bring up new and interesting ideas are unmatched in this game. It was a pleasure my co-GM, truly pleasure.

But you know what, sometimes, when you don't truly BELIEVE it shows. I didn't. I think Lebron will never win a championship in the CB Draft until he wins one in the real NBA. Too much dislike of him and too much belief in his mental inability to close. And that includes me.

I think the Kings are a better team than the Blazers, I do. But, if I was not the co-GM of the Kings, I wouldn't have voted Kings. I hate Lebron that much and truly feel he can't lead a team to a title as the leader of that team.

Funny thing is, I like Dwight Howard but feel the same way about him. He can't lead a team to a title either. So that's why when it came down to it, my vote in the Kings war room was to go lebron with the 2nd pick in the draft. Rondo agreed. Lebron was the right choice there. I just hated having to a part of making that choice.

Congrats to IP and mgent. Good luck gentlemen.

Cosign to all of this, I really didnt like our team very much either.  I mean I think it was clearly the best team, but I would have trouble rooting for the kings.  In the end there can only be one true king anyways.

[Who]

The Kings couldn't wait to unveil our strategy of having Lebron guard Wade.

Lebron might be a lot of things but defensively, he really is special and without any real stats to show one way or the other who would win that matchup, we wanted to put the really complete hypothetical to the test.

Can Lebron shut down Wade and still score and did he have enough around him to say, if they are matched up offensively and defensively together does it really come down to who has the better supporting cast?

Sadly that won't happen. Would have been very interesting to know though.

I don't think LeBron would want the Wade assignment for 48 minutes. Or Kobe for that matter.

He seems happy to defend either guy for a small stretch of time but not for a full game.

Would rather conserve his energy and put up points and assists on the other end of the floor.

[Fafnir]

The Kings couldn't wait to unveil our strategy of having Lebron guard Wade.

Lebron might be a lot of things but defensively, he really is special and without any real stats to show one way or the other who would win that matchup, we wanted to put the really complete hypothetical to the test.

Can Lebron shut down Wade and still score and did he have enough around him to say, if they are matched up offensively and defensively together does it really come down to who has the better supporting cast?

Sadly that won't happen. Would have been very interesting to know though.

I don't think LeBron would want the Wade assignment for 48 minutes. Or Kobe for that matter.

He seems happy to defend either guy for a small stretch of time but not for a full game.

Would rather conserve his energy and put up points and assists on the other end of the floor.

Yeah I agree, plus I think the above is probably the smart strategy anyways.

Better to give a guy multiple looks when he's an elite player. Whether that is, Ray/Pierce/Posey or LeBron/Matthews/etc...

[Edgar]

If this were Heatblog or some other blog I could see these teams being the Finalists. But on Lakerblog, or Cavsblog, or Magicblog, or Celticsblog I don't.

This is an interesting argument. I can say I was very surprised to see a strong Jazz team starting both KG and Pierce dumped out in the second round and the Thunder left out of the playoffs entirely.

Has a Celtic star ever led a CB Draft team to a championship?

Nope

Ray And pierce miss one with a full team behind them
even playoffs

sad

people hate pandas

[mgent]

The Kings couldn't wait to unveil our strategy of having Lebron guard Wade.

Lebron might be a lot of things but defensively, he really is special and without any real stats to show one way or the other who would win that matchup, we wanted to put the really complete hypothetical to the test.

Can Lebron shut down Wade and still score and did he have enough around him to say, if they are matched up offensively and defensively together does it really come down to who has the better supporting cast?

Sadly that won't happen. Would have been very interesting to know though.

I have to agree with Roy, Sixers in 6. As much as don't THINK Lebron can lead a team to a championship as a number one guy, I KNOW in my heart, Amare can't and never will. He doesn't have that inner drive to do whatever it takes to win it all.

Just one man's opinion.

Thank God I didn't have to play the Kings, I didn't have any strategies for them.

I was just gonna post a lot of these

[StartOrien]

Just catching myself up to things now - first of all congrats mgent.

But having a hard time understanding why people thought the Blazers could beat the Kings but not the 6ers. Is there anyone who voted this way who could explain?

[Roy H.]

Just catching myself up to things now - first of all congrats mgent.

But having a hard time understanding why people thought the Blazers could beat the Kings but not the 6ers. Is there anyone who voted this way who could explain?

The Sixers (to nobody's surprise) were, in my opinion, the strongest team in the CB-NBA.  I would have had them beating anybody, including both the Blazers and Kings.

In terms of the Blazers/Kings matchup, I picked the Blazers.  Perhaps this is unfair, but I picked against Lebron as much as I picked in favor of the Blazers.  The Blazers have a very good team defense, have personnel that will make it hard on Lebron going to the hoop, and have a star player to score on the other end.  In recent years, that's been the recipe for beating Lebron.  The teams that have beaten Lebron in the playoffs -- Detroit, San Antonio, Boston, Orlando, and Dallas -- have all followed that blueprint, and I think Portland would have, too.  

On paper, Portland is a lesser team, but I just don't believe in Lebron.  I also have some questions about Matthews after watching him in last year's playoffs, and Billups was really poor defensively last year.  However, those issues are secondary; if I thought we'd be getting Regular Season Lebron in the Conference Finals, I would have voted for the Kings.

I do, however, believe in D. Wade, who statistically has the 1st and 8th best Finals performances since the NBA/ABA merger.  Wade, coupled with the best defense in the CB-NBA and two complementary players in David West and Andre Iguodala, was going to be next to impossible to stop.

[mgent]

Just catching myself up to things now - first of all congrats mgent.

But having a hard time understanding why people thought the Blazers could beat the Kings but not the 6ers. Is there anyone who voted this way who could explain?

Could be that Wade has a ring and LeBron/Amare don't.

I know nobody values experience as much as I do (I'm the guy that drafted all champions in the historical draft, and everybody said "so what?") but a history of winning increases player value in my mind and a history of losing (LeBron, Eric Gordon) decreases value.

[indeedproceed]

So, who has the best 2k 11 team? I used the official rookies (the one that rates Derrick Williams at a 78).

And, I've been playing association mode on superstar level, and I'm 8-2ish (I forget). Bogut is an abodulte destoyer, 4 blocks a game, and when Lowry can't get into the paint, and when Harden can't get it going, Amare always can. But, when Lowry is hitting, and Harden is doing well, and morrow is hitting shots, and Bogut is working his 5th hook, and when Wiliams is just knocking down shots and drilling 2 foot dunks, its a thing of beauty.

[Kane3387]

So, who has the best 2k 11 team? I used the official rookies (the one that rates Derrick Williams at a 78).

And, I've been playing association mode on superstar level, and I'm 8-2ish (I forget). Bogut is an abodulte destoyer, 4 blocks a game, and when Lowry can't get into the paint, and when Harden can't get it going, Amare always can. But, when Lowry is hitting, and Harden is doing well, and morrow is hitting shots, and Bogut is working his 5th hook, and when Wiliams is just knocking down shots and drilling 2 foot dunks, its a thing of beauty.

How are the Jazz?

[indeedproceed]

I think the jazz would be a heck of a 2k team. They usually have a tough time qualifying wing defense and consistency, and that plays in your favor with bdiddy and Crawford. Plus; they rate of and Paul pretty well, and unless you've got a premier shot blocker, low post defenders seem to be pretty exchangeable, which helps with big al.