2012 'Pick Two' Draft Board

[indeedproceed]

And Dwight Howard's help defense is what makes him the best defender in the NBA, but I'd again point to his surrounding talent. He's gotta be an elite help defender, because he's not getting much help from the rest of his pathetic roster. Ryan Andersen is the only guy really bringing it on Orlando, but that's mostly on offense. He's not that great a defender either.

I can agree with this. Although he's not great at Pick and Rolls. Which makes Nash and Gortat excited.

Did I miss a 'dwight howard doesn't defend P&R's well' expose from Zack Lowe or something? I've watched a lot of Magic basketball, and I've never got the impression that Howard's got a glaring hole there, but its been mentioned like 8 times now.

You'll be happy to know that Synergy ranks Howard 7th best in terms of points allowed per possession on pick-and-rolls.

SYNERGY RULEZ!

[Roy H.]

What about Philly?

Andre Miller
Kevin Martin
Danilo Gallinari
Ekpe Udoh
Spencer Hawes

Kawhi Leonard the Flex man.

I'm not sure what to think of this team.  You've got one terrible defender (Martin), and a buncho of others somewhere in the average range.  I like the shooting from your wings (Gallinari is much better than he's shown so far), and I like that your team has the personnel to attack the basket from the wings.  At the same time, your bigs don't really scare me offensively.

I haven't done a detailed look at the East, but I know it's stacked.  I'd say this team is on the border between the playoffs and the lottery, and will depend a lot upon finding some good bench players.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

What about Philly?

Andre Miller
Kevin Martin
Danilo Gallinari
Ekpe Udoh
Spencer Hawes

Kawhi Leonard the Flex man.

I'm not sure what to think of this team.  You've got one terrible defender (Martin), and a buncho of others somewhere in the average range.  I like the shooting from your wings (Gallinari is much better than he's shown so far), and I like that your team has the personnel to attack the basket from the wings.  At the same time, your bigs don't really scare me offensively.

I haven't done a detailed look at the East, but I know it's stacked.  I'd say this team is on the border between the playoffs and the lottery, and will depend a lot upon finding some good bench players.

What if Leonard stars for defensive purposes?

[Roy H.]

What about Philly?

Andre Miller
Kevin Martin
Danilo Gallinari
Ekpe Udoh
Spencer Hawes

Kawhi Leonard the Flex man.

I'm not sure what to think of this team.  You've got one terrible defender (Martin), and a buncho of others somewhere in the average range.  I like the shooting from your wings (Gallinari is much better than he's shown so far), and I like that your team has the personnel to attack the basket from the wings.  At the same time, your bigs don't really scare me offensively.

I haven't done a detailed look at the East, but I know it's stacked.  I'd say this team is on the border between the playoffs and the lottery, and will depend a lot upon finding some good bench players.

What if Leonard stars for defensive purposes?

I don't think it will make a huge difference.  Leonard would help the defense, but he puts less pressure on opposing defenses, as well.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

What about Philly?

Andre Miller
Kevin Martin
Danilo Gallinari
Ekpe Udoh
Spencer Hawes

Kawhi Leonard the Flex man.

I'm not sure what to think of this team.  You've got one terrible defender (Martin), and a buncho of others somewhere in the average range.  I like the shooting from your wings (Gallinari is much better than he's shown so far), and I like that your team has the personnel to attack the basket from the wings.  At the same time, your bigs don't really scare me offensively.

I haven't done a detailed look at the East, but I know it's stacked.  I'd say this team is on the border between the playoffs and the lottery, and will depend a lot upon finding some good bench players.

What if Leonard stars for defensive purposes?

I don't think it will make a huge difference.  Leonard would help the defense, but he puts less pressure on opposing defenses, as well.

basketball wisdom at it's best. thanks sir Roy.

[Edgar]

KC es el calor de Miami

[Edgar]

Elite deffensive teams. Wins championships

[indeedproceed]

Elite deffensive teams. Wins championships

Gonna rely on how well Varejao comes back. He was playing pretty darn good when he left (a lot like Bogut without the passing skillset and a merely excellent, compared to elite defender), but when he comes back after a month who knows if he'll pickup where he left off or even regain it by playoff time.

That's the biggest 'if'. After that, you've got 'will S-Jax play well', which is also a huge if, and 'can felton get back to where he was in the first part of last season', which is also a big if.

If that all happens you've got a top-tier team offensively and defensively. Lotta ifs though.

[GreenFaith1819]

New Look Grizzlies:

C - Marc Gasol / Nick Collison
PF - David West / Nick Collison
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - Michael Redd
PG - Jason Kidd / CJ Watson

Thoughts?

Not sure if this was missed -

Thoughts on my team?

[indeedproceed]

New Look Grizzlies:

C - Marc Gasol / Nick Collison
PF - David West / Nick Collison
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - Michael Redd
PG - Jason Kidd / CJ Watson

Thoughts?

Not sure if this was missed -

Thoughts on my team?

Love 5-3, hate 1-2. Especially Michael Redd.

Frontcourt is nasty though, lots of talent. Rudy Gay is still Rudy Gay. CJ Watson should be a very capable backup, but that 2 spot is a huge hole, debilitating even. Need more athleticism there, especially since Jason Kidd rarely guards PG's effectively anymore.

[GreenFaith1819]

New Look Grizzlies:

C - Marc Gasol / Nick Collison
PF - David West / Nick Collison
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - Michael Redd
PG - Jason Kidd / CJ Watson

Thoughts?

Not sure if this was missed -

Thoughts on my team?

Love 5-3, hate 1-2. Especially Michael Redd.

Care to elaborate? Kidd's playing well right now.

Redd is playing better. For our lineup, I'm not expecting him to go for 20 every night. He's been playing better the last few games, too.

[nickagneta]

I know the owner of another team put out what they thought were the playoff teams in each conference, so here's another:

Eastern Conference

Miami - They have the superduperstar that can create his own offense and hit free throws

New York - They have the superduperstar that can't create his own offense or hit his free throws

Cleveland - the best collection of young talent in the league bar none is just a year or two away awaiting the maturation of their superduperstar

Chicago - There's a big drop off after the top three teams but this team has a superduperstar and interesting bigs. A lot depends on if Lamar decides he is a basketball player or a reality television star. The wings are a big problem

Orlando - This team has an identity crisis. They don't really have a starting center or SF. Instead they will plug holes with All-Star caliber players(Amare and JJ) playing out of position and hope it doesn't show. Long term it will.

Atlanta - one of the best defensive teams in the league but possibly the worst half court offense in the league

Indiana - their lack of experienced quality at the PF position is killing this team. I really like the backcourt and wings but think Jennings is not the best distributor and the team lacks passing in the other areas.

Boston - A lot needs to go right for this team to be successful in the playoffs but if they get it together they could be dangerous.



Western Conference

San Antonio - the most complete and kept in tact team in the conference adds Chris Bosh...nuff said

Oklahoma City - very close to beating out San Antonio as the complimentary talent around Durant is great except for the glaring hole at the center position

Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe and Pau get them here all by themselves, which unfortunately, they will have to because the surrounding group is lacking.

Phoenix - Lebron and good but not great complimentary parts might not have the best regular season record but will be the most dangerous playoff team in the conference

Los Angeles Clippers - Paul and Griffin get them this far but I don't understand the super deep depth at PF without a SF being on the team yet.

Portland - this team is almost an exact duplicate of the real Portland team and for that reason lands here below the difference making superstar teams in the west
 
Dallas - very old and a lot of players having down years but this is a proven playoff team, just maybe a little too long in the tooth

Denver - this team will struggle until Horford gets back but when he does they become a different team, one that might be much better than this 8th seeding

[indeedproceed]

New Look Grizzlies:

C - Marc Gasol / Nick Collison
PF - David West / Nick Collison
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - Michael Redd
PG - Jason Kidd / CJ Watson

Thoughts?

Not sure if this was missed -

Thoughts on my team?

Love 5-3, hate 1-2. Especially Michael Redd.

Care to elaborate? Kidd's playing well right now.

Redd is playing better. For our lineup, I'm not expecting him to go for 20 every night. He's been playing better the last few games, too.

See above. Kidd and Redd's defense will be a sieve because neither can guard a 1.

Honestly I think you'd be better off snaking a defensively oriented 2, and relying on Gay/West/Gasol for offense.

EDIT: Thabo would be great here, I wonder what it would take to pry him from LA

[nickagneta]

New Look Grizzlies:

C - Marc Gasol / Nick Collison
PF - David West / Nick Collison
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - Michael Redd
PG - Jason Kidd / CJ Watson

Thoughts?

The bigs are great but your backcourt is killing you. Kidd is a shadow of his former self and can no longer guard the PG position, can no longer run a team at a high efficiency and can't shoot. Redd is younger than Kidd but is playing older than him because of the effects of injuries over the last several years. Both are cooked and unfortunately render a great SF/PF/C group into a team that won't make the playoffs in a conference of teams that have Dirk, Westbrook, LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Pau, Paul, Blake, Melo etc.

[StartOrien]

Thanks for the write up, nick!