How's My Pick 2 Team?

[Roy H.]

How about the Cavs?

PG: Kyrie Irving / Chauncey Billups
SG: Landry Fields / George Hill
SF: Luol Deng / Jeff Green
PF: Kris Humphries / Brandon Bass
C: Andrew Bynum / Nenad Krstic / Matt Bonner

Thoughts?  How far can this team go this year?  Can it contend next year?  Who should we target with 10.1?

Rough this year, lack of a bench will hurt. 4 players may missing games right now 3 of whom are missing the rest of the season. On the plus side that lands you in the lottery and you can nab a star SG for next year and then be absolutely destructive next year.

Even with a thin rotation, I think this team would be solidly in the playoffs, especially if we draft anybody remotely competent over the next two rounds.

[KCattheStripe]

How about the Cavs?

PG: Kyrie Irving / Chauncey Billups
SG: Landry Fields / George Hill
SF: Luol Deng / Jeff Green
PF: Kris Humphries / Brandon Bass
C: Andrew Bynum / Nenad Krstic / Matt Bonner

Thoughts?  How far can this team go this year?  Can it contend next year?  Who should we target with 10.1?

Rough this year, lack of a bench will hurt. 4 players may missing games right now 3 of whom are missing the rest of the season. On the plus side that lands you in the lottery and you can nab a star SG for next year and then be absolutely destructive next year.

Even with a thin rotation, I think this team would be solidly in the playoffs, especially if we draft anybody remotely competent over the next two rounds.

I don't think you can go through the season with literally 8 viable NBA players. Especially with how Bynum and Deng deal with playing excessive minutes. If you were gunning to be a playoff team this season, I think you went abut it wrong. If you were gunning to be a power, then you've set yourself up nicely.

[Roy H.]

Pick 2 Miami Heat:
PG:Nash
SG: Wade 
SF:Granger 
PF: Favors 
C: Gortat

Bench: Haslem. Mozgov. Livingston. The Jones Brothers James and Dahntay. Ben Wallace.

Concerns:  Granger and Haslem are having very poor years.  I'll be curious to see how a Nash / Wade offense works.  I'm not sure that Favors is ready for playoff minutes.

Overall, this is one of the top teams in the league, obviously.  I love Wade, and think that he may be the best playoff performer in the NBA.  I think Gortat is a stud center, as well, which is going to help.  If Granger bounces back, this team should be playing for a championship.

Compared to the "real" Heat, it's an interesting contrast.  Obviously, a Lebron/Wade/Bosh trio is more talented than anything on this version of the Heat, but your team is less vulnerable to opposing bigs.  I suppose I'd take the "real" team just because they're younger and are more dominant in their league, but it's closer than I was expecting. 

[StartOrien]

How about the Cavs?

PG: Kyrie Irving / Chauncey Billups
SG: Landry Fields / George Hill
SF: Luol Deng / Jeff Green
PF: Kris Humphries / Brandon Bass
C: Andrew Bynum / Nenad Krstic / Matt Bonner

Thoughts?  How far can this team go this year?  Can it contend next year?  Who should we target with 10.1?

Honestly, the more I think about it the more I think it could potentially be a fringe contender this season.

Logic says that a team build around a rookie PG can't accomplish much. So I want to immediately dismiss the team. But when I give it an honest look, I think more about it:

You've got a very strong defensive core. And even if Humprhies numbers are inflated, that's still a very strong rebounding team.

Offensively, there could be just enough - even if Irving doesn't perform like has in the playoffs, you still got Bynum getting more touches than he does with the Lakers, Deng would probably be good for 20 (but could get hot on nights), and there should be enough open looks for Humphries to get 15 or so. Fields is a bit of a wild card though.

The big obstacle, of course is the bench though. I think you guys got too cute there. To me, it doesn't matter where you got Billups (and this is true, because I don't know when you did) but I really hate the pick. I don't know where he's gonna get this minutes in the future, and it means that you absolutely need Landry Fields to perform.

[Roy H.]

How about the Cavs?

PG: Kyrie Irving / Chauncey Billups
SG: Landry Fields / George Hill
SF: Luol Deng / Jeff Green
PF: Kris Humphries / Brandon Bass
C: Andrew Bynum / Nenad Krstic / Matt Bonner

Thoughts?  How far can this team go this year?  Can it contend next year?  Who should we target with 10.1?

Rough this year, lack of a bench will hurt. 4 players may missing games right now 3 of whom are missing the rest of the season. On the plus side that lands you in the lottery and you can nab a star SG for next year and then be absolutely destructive next year.

Even with a thin rotation, I think this team would be solidly in the playoffs, especially if we draft anybody remotely competent over the next two rounds.

I don't think you can go through the season with literally 8 viable NBA players. Especially with how Bynum and Deng deal with playing excessive minutes. If you were gunning to be a playoff team this season, I think you went abut it wrong. If you were gunning to be a power, then you've set yourself up nicely.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying.  Keep in mind that we'd have four more players to fill out the roster, so we could rotate in some scrubs to stay fresh.

But yes, our goal was to get Irving some seasoning this year and to get the team used to playing with one another, before reloading as a contender next year.

[StartOrien]

I pose this question because I honestly don't know it:

Should Redz look to trade Brandon Knight?

Here's my thoughts - Knight's been really, really good. But I can't help but wonder if some of his talents would be wasted because I'd have to imagine you'd want to run this offense like Webber & Vlade. Through the high post, other excellent wing staying closer to the base line.

[Roy H.]

Well i'll put me up there too:

PG) Lowry
Sg) Rush
Sf) prince
PF) Millsap
C) Howard

Key bench Ridnour, k Thompson, c brewer, p patterson

3 picks tomm

I plan on playing rush and Thompson about 20 mins a piece on the 2, and giving ridnour some time there as well.

Concerns:  The wings, and the backup bigs. 

Obviously, you have the best starting bigs in the league.  Your team is going to thrive against the vast majority of teams in the league.  Yes, Prince and Rush aren't the best starting wings in the league, but they're not bad, either.  For those teams that double-team Howard -- i.e., most of them -- one of Lowry, Prince, Rush, or Millsap will be getting open jump shots.  That's deadly.

What New York should be concerned about is running into a team that can defend Howard one-on-one without him killing them.  Unfortunately, several of the teams that can do that -- Miami (Gortat), Cleveland (Bynum), Indiana (Chandler) and Boston (Varejao) -- should be playoff teams in the East.  For those teams, it's going to be a lot easier to close out on your shooters, and that can potentially really disrupt your offense.

Great team, though.  The Knicks should cruise through the regular season, before potentially hitting some problems in the playoffs.

[KCattheStripe]

Pick 2 Miami Heat:
PG:Nash
SG: Wade 
SF:Granger 
PF: Favors 
C: Gortat

Bench: Haslem. Mozgov. Livingston. The Jones Brothers James and Dahntay. Ben Wallace.

Concerns:  Granger and Haslem are having very poor years.  I'll be curious to see how a Nash / Wade offense works.  I'm not sure that Favors is ready for playoff minutes.

Overall, this is one of the top teams in the league, obviously.  I love Wade, and think that he may be the best playoff performer in the NBA.  I think Gortat is a stud center, as well, which is going to help.  If Granger bounces back, this team should be playing for a championship.

Compared to the "real" Heat, it's an interesting contrast.  Obviously, a Lebron/Wade/Bosh trio is more talented than anything on this version of the Heat, but your team is less vulnerable to opposing bigs.  I suppose I'd take the "real" team just because they're younger and are more dominant in their league, but it's closer than I was expecting. 

All of Granger's numbers, with the exception of shooting percentage, that have taken a dip are a direct result of his team having vastly improved. His rebounding numbers have dropped because Hibbert has improved and David West joined the team. The same with his assists, there's less pressure for him to create off the dribble for others when Collison can just dump it into the post for Hibbert or West to get easy buckets. The Shooting percentage is a concern, but it's such an aberration that I'm willing to attribute it to lock-out legs and for a 4th option, they're pretty respectable.

The PF spot seems to be giving people pause. You know who else was a second year player whom people weren't sure he would be ready to help a team compete for a championship? Rajon Rondo. Even less is expected of Favors on our team than was of Rondo. I'm confident in Haslem's ability to come back from this foot injury and be the player he's always been by the time the playoffs come around.

I actually like our chances against the real heat simply because they have no answer for talented bigs. I also think our Heat is better suited to deal with the current P2CBNBA Eastern Conference with y'all and New York.

[Roy H.]

^ Yeah, it's Granger's shooting percentage that concerns me.  38.9% shooting is rough no matter how you slice it.  However, I'm assuming that a lot of guys will bounce back as they shake off lockout rust.

[indeedproceed]

Wait your what? I've commented on teams as much or more than anyone!

Sigh.

Cavs: Irving looks like the real deal, Deng is having a career year, and Bynum is an absolute nightmare for teams without a legit center. However, Humphries was the most overrated forward in the league last year. He doesn't play good defense, he's a good rebounder on a terrible rebounding team, and he's a David lee type scorer (hustle, more than skill). Landry fields is having a turrible year, and nobody knows where he left his 3pt shot.

Because of the investment in 'next year' opportunities like Krstic, Green, and billups, I think that a lack of depth, along with some growing pains from Irving will likely keep these guys off the top of the hill, but they're gonna make it pretty far regardless. As long as this year is not an abnormality for Deng, they're a threat for a title next year.

[StartOrien]

I kinda like Chicago's roster the more I think about it - the flexibility it has is huge to me.

On the surface, Miami & New York appear to be clear beasts, but I think each of those team have a team or tow they wouldn't want to see in the playoffs. Not sure I feel the same about Chicago.

EDIT: Eh, evermind, just remembered they traded Noah.

[StartOrien]

You know hwat, let me finally throw my team on the ole choppin block

Jennings / Barea
P. George /
W. Chandler / Pietrus
D. Williams / Villanueva/ Maxiell
T Chandler/ Biyombo

I think we can give teams fits. It's not just a strong defense, but a really, really fast one and I absolutely love the length we have on the wings. As good as the 6ers are in getting into transition through their defense, I think this team could be even better.

Offensively, at least at this point, I think we kinda come and go with Brandon Jennings. Chandler's a strong scorer, P. George is a good shooter but inconsistent when it comes to creating his own offense and Derrick Williams is... weird... offensively. I like Jennings a lot, and would be interested to see how he'd perform with a lot more firepower around him, but I have some concerns about him being really the only creator on this team.

In the future I feel strong about this team, even if some of the younger players fall somewhere between where they are and their potential I think there's enough here that we could be a serious competitor 2 to 3 years down the line.

[indeedproceed]

Pick 2 Miami Heat:
PG:Nash
SG: Wade 
SF:Granger 
PF: Favors 
C: Gortat

Bench: Haslem. Mozgov. Livingston. The Jones Brothers James and Dahntay. Ben Wallace.

Nash and Gortat were a great haul for bron, and granger is a big name type that a few years ago ppl held above Durant.

But, with Wade's fragility, and Granger's struggles the past couple of years (last yr he was down too, right?) I wonder if the talent is as great as it looks on paper. Depending on who you talk to, Gortat is anywhere from a top 5 center to a top 10 center (a bigger difference than it may seem). Nash is solid but defensively he's way below par.

I think this team doesnt have any right finishing with less than 55 wins and a top 2 seed, but at the same time if Wade misses games, I think they go from super to ordinary, and Wade's prone to missing games. Plus, the defense is a bit suspect. Gortat is gonna have play top tier defense in a spotlight where he's used to getting a pass as a backup and in Phoenix where defense isnt the top priority (and expectation)

That's the negative stuff. The positive stuff is that this is a hell of a team and probably the class of the conference if Wade stays healthy and I'm not the one handing put awards.

[Merovech]

I accidently deleted my really long and nice speel about my team, so I'll just ask, "What do you think this team needs to be a real title contender (assuming that you guys don't agree with me when I say this team rocks)?  What should I have done differently?"

PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Vince Carter
SF: Chase Buddinger
PF: Shawn Marion
C: Tiago Splitter
Bench: Mo Williams(PG/SG), Willie Green(SG), Dorell Wright(SG/SF/PF), Gustavo Ayon(PF), Chris Anderson(C), Lavoy Allen (PF/C)

[KCattheStripe]

I accidently deleted my really long and nice speel about my team, so I'll just ask, "What do you think this team needs to be a real title contender (assuming that you guys don't agree with me when I say this team rocks)?  What should I have done differently?"

PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Vince Carter
SF: Chase Buddinger
PF: Shawn Marion
C: Tiago Splitter
Bench: Mo Williams(PG/SG), Willie Green(SG), Dorell Wright(SG/SF/PF), Gustavo Ayon(PF), Chris Anderson(C), Lavoy Allen (PF/C)

Really don't like it defensively and without overwhelming talent I don't like it.