How's My Pick 2 Team?

[Roy H.]

One man's very subjective ratings and rankings:

Philly - Declined
NY - Improved
Boston -- Very similar, but better rebounding
Toronto - Improved
New Jersey - Improved

Chicago - Declined
Indiana - Slight decline
Cleveland - Much improved
Detroit - Improved

Miami - Slight decline, but more balanced
Orlando - Improved
Atlanta - Similar, but more fun style. 
Washington - Improved


OKC - Slight decline
Portland - Improved
Denver - Improved (starting next year)
Minnesota - Very similar.
Utah - Improved

LA Clippers - Slight decline, but better depth
LA Lakers - Declined, but better depth
Golden State - Improved
Phoenix - Improved, via Lebron alone
Sacramento - About the same

San Antonio - Improved
Dallas - Declined
Houston - Improved, but fit is a concern
Memphis - Declined
New Orleans - Improved



East:

1. New York
2. Miami
3. Orlando
4. Cleveland
5. Boston
6. Washington
7. Atlanta
8. New Jersey

(It was very tough leaving Chicago and Indiana off here, in particular.)



West:

1. San Antonio
2. Oklahoma City
3. Portland
4. Golden State
5. LA Lakers
6. LA Clippers
7. Houston
8. Phoenix

Third through eighth here are very, very close, and it's basically just random order.  There are lots of good teams that just missed, too, including Minnesota, Denver (wait until next year), New Orleans (wait until next year), Dallas (I'm probably crazy for leaving Dirk out of the playoffs), etc.

The West is a much more competitive conference, while the East is better in my opinion.


Eastern Playoffs:

1. New York vs. 8. New Jersey.  The Knicks take this, as Howard beats a fairly weak defensive front line.
2. Miami vs. 7. Atlanta.  Closer than expected, as the Hawks lock down on Nash and Wade.  In the end, Miami wins a grueling seven game series.
3.  Orlando vs. Washington.  Another tough series for the favorite, but Orlando advances.
4.  Cleveland vs. Boston.  Another seven gamer.  Boston's offensive breakdowns allow Cleveland to move on.

1. New York vs. 4. Cleveland.  Ah, this one would be fun.  The upstart Cavs are probably a year away here, but I do think Bynum causes Howard fits.  My coin flip says that New York wins.
2. Miami vs. 3. Orlando.  Which young big man shrinks less under the spotlight, Favors or Vucejic?  I'll say Orlando takes a close series.

1. New York vs. 3. Orlando.  Close one, but I don't think Orlando can stop Dwight. 

Western Playoffs:

1. San Antonio vs. 8. Dallas.  San Antonio is just too good for a thin Phoenix team, even with Lebron.
2. Oklahoma City vs. 7. Houston.  This is a nightmare series for OKC, as Houston is probably the one team they didn't want to see.  OKC's defense hurts them here, and I'm calling Houston in a huge upset.
3. Porland vs. LA Clippers.  Gerald Wallace proves to be the difference as the Blazers advance.
4. Golden State v. LA Lakers.  Kobe is just too much for a young Warriors team to handle.  Lakers in 7.


1. San Antonio vs. 5. LA Lakers.  San Antonio is just too talented up front. 
3. Portland vs. 7. Houston.  Portland has the defensive talent on the wings to slow Houston.  Portland goes through.

1. San Antonio vs. 3. Portland.  San Antonio's superior experience prevails. 


NBA Finals:

1. San Antonio vs. 1. New York.  Look at that, the two #1 seeds advanced.  I think Duncan and Bosh neutralize NY's bigs to a large degree, and Manu abuses their wings.  San Antonio wins.

(Ask me to do this again, with the same teams and the same rosters, and you'll see a totally different response.)

[StartOrien]

TP for the good work, Roy

EDIT: Forgot your TP situation. You're just a couple thousand of these away. Look out, 2046 - everthing's heading Roy's way

[Rondo2287]

Whoooh Houston to the second round.  You can't stop us, you can only hope to contain us.

[StartOrien]

Even though I hated the trade for the Bulls, I can't see them not making the playoffs. I had them as my third best team as of last evaluation.

[GreenFaith1819]

Is there a complete list somewhere to compare rosters?

I'm sure MEM gets in to the playoffs in this format.

I think that at the VERY least - we slightly declined, but have better depth.

We've kept Marc and Rudy..Joel/Nick/Cunningham are upgrades over the bench bigs that MEM had before (Arthur/Haddadi?)

My slight decline would be in my backcourt, but even with that my guards will compete night in and out.

DWest-ZBo? Vey similar games and stats..and perhaps the best compliment out there to Marc that I could draft.

Comparing real-world situations to the Pick Two here, there are about 2-3 teams that wouldn't even make the playoffs due to current injuries.

My team is currently healthy - at least in THIS format. Kidd is playing better, Redd is playing better - even though he is still getting his legs. My frontline is healthy and playing well, and my depth all-around is healthy.

We also have no potential headcases, lol...I took extreme care to draft who I thought were character guys.

Additionally, judging by the roughly dozen or so inquiries I've had about my Bigs and even a few of my backcourt players, I have some coveted guys.

[Roy H.]

Is there a complete list somewhere to compare rosters?

I'm sure MEM gets in to the playoffs in this format.

Rosters are here:  http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=53424.0

Give Who a TP for his great work in putting this together.

[Roy H.]

Even though I hated the trade for the Bulls, I can't see them not making the playoffs. I had them as my third best team as of last evaluation.

The East is just so dang good.

Here's Chicago's roster:

PG - Derek Rose, Jimmer Fredette, Eric Maynor
SG - Evan Turner, E'twaun Moore
SF - Omri Casspi, Al-Farouq Aminu
PF - Lamar Odom, JJ Hickson, Jon Leuer
C  - JaVale McGee, Jason Thompson, Aaron Gray

McGee is a bad basketball player, and Odom and Hickson are having horrific years.  Neither Casspi nor Aminu is a starting-caliber SF.  Turner is inconsistent.

Rose is an MVP, but I don't think he'd be able to lift that team over very good Atlanta, Washington, or New Jersey squads.  (I originally had NJ just missing, but if the rules are that all the teams are basically 16-16 right now, and we're doing a 30 game sprint to the finish, then I think the Nets make it.)

In terms of Memphis, who do they knock out?  Griffin and CP3?  Lebron?  The Rockets?

But anyway, as mentioned, these are far from definitive rankings.  I'd love to see the other 28 GMs put up their thoughts, so we can compare and contrast (and keep this thing going, so as to distract us from the reality of the Celtics season.)

[Rondo2287]

PG: Calderon/Nate Robinson/Reggie Jackson
SG: Dunleavy/JR Smith
SF: Carmelo/Luc Mbah a Moute/Ryan Gomes
PF: Kenyon Martin/Ed Davis/Craig Smith
C:  Al Jefferson/ Jeff Foster

I think this is actually a surprisingly deep team.  Pretty pumped I was able to pick up guys like Mbah Moute, Gomes, and Smith as late as I did.

[Who]

PG: Calderon/Nate Robinson/Reggie Jackson
SG: Dunleavy/JR Smith
SF: Carmelo/Luc Mbah a Moute/Ryan Gomes
PF: Kenyon Martin/Ed Davis/Craig Smith
C:  Al Jefferson/ Jeff Foster

I think this is actually a surprisingly deep team.  Pretty pumped I was able to pick up guys like Mbah Moute, Gomes, and Smith as late as I did.

I love your backup wings. JR Smith is one of the finest backup SGs in the league and Mbah a Moute is a very strong backup SF.

Not wild about Nate Robinson or Ed Davis though. I think both players are below average reserves at their respective positions. Jeff Foster is very talented but injuries are limiting his appearances in a major way so I'd have to rate him quite lowly too.

I think Craig Smith is an excellent third string PF and I love the contrast in skill-sets that he provides versus Kenyon Martin and Ed Davis. Great fit. Ryan Gomes is a quality third string combo forward. Reggie Jackson has struggled quite a bit whenever I have seen him this season but he is a nice one to stash away for the future.

[StartOrien]

PG: Calderon/Nate Robinson/Reggie Jackson
SG: Dunleavy/JR Smith
SF: Carmelo/Luc Mbah a Moute/Ryan Gomes
PF: Kenyon Martin/Ed Davis/Craig Smith
C:  Al Jefferson/ Jeff Foster

I think this is actually a surprisingly deep team.  Pretty pumped I was able to pick up guys like Mbah Moute, Gomes, and Smith as late as I did.

My biggest concern with this team would be them being able to keep up speed wise with other teams. And I'm not just saying your elite, fast break types. Even an average team should be able to get a lot of easy buckets if they just work to push the ball.

In this day and age, that is a remarkably slow bunch.

[Rondo2287]

PG: Calderon/Nate Robinson/Reggie Jackson
SG: Dunleavy/JR Smith
SF: Carmelo/Luc Mbah a Moute/Ryan Gomes
PF: Kenyon Martin/Ed Davis/Craig Smith
C:  Al Jefferson/ Jeff Foster

I think this is actually a surprisingly deep team.  Pretty pumped I was able to pick up guys like Mbah Moute, Gomes, and Smith as late as I did.

I love your backup wings. JR Smith is one of the finest backup SGs in the league and Mbah a Moute is a very strong backup SF.

Not wild about Nate Robinson or Ed Davis though. I think both players are below average reserves at their respective positions. Jeff Foster is very talented but injuries are limiting his appearances in a major way so I'd have to rate him quite lowly too.

I think Craig Smith is an excellent third string PF and I love the contrast in skill-sets that he provides versus Kenyon Martin and Ed Davis. Great fit. Ryan Gomes is a quality third string combo forward. Reggie Jackson has struggled quite a bit whenever I have seen him this season but he is a nice one to stash away for the future.

I think Reggie like any rooking taken in the middle of the first round has had his ups and downs, he had a game the other night were he dished out 8 assists I think.  

I think once he gets used to things in the nba he will be a slightly above average defender because of his athleticism and length for the PG position.  

His biggest problem offensively is that he is going from being the only one who can score on his team in college to being asked to run the show and distribute in the pro's.  I think he will get there though, the kid has shown serious ability to improve parts of his game when he focuses on them.  

For example, when BC went from running the flex under Al Skinner where players were told only certain guys on the team can shoot threes to running a motion offense under Donahue where the entire team had the greenlight to shoot the three Jackson went from a .291 3pt shooter to a .420 3pt shooter in a single season.

[Rondo2287]

PG: Calderon/Nate Robinson/Reggie Jackson
SG: Dunleavy/JR Smith
SF: Carmelo/Luc Mbah a Moute/Ryan Gomes
PF: Kenyon Martin/Ed Davis/Craig Smith
C:  Al Jefferson/ Jeff Foster

I think this is actually a surprisingly deep team.  Pretty pumped I was able to pick up guys like Mbah Moute, Gomes, and Smith as late as I did.

My biggest concern with this team would be them being able to keep up speed wise with other teams. And I'm not just saying your elite, fast break types. Even an average team should be able to get a lot of easy buckets if they just work to push the ball.

In this day and age, that is a remarkably slow bunch.

Luckily when you make as many shots as this team will, fast break opporunities will not be high

[Merovech]

What does everyone think of my decision and moves to build for two years from now?  I still might swing Carter and Davis, but for now, I turned Chris Andersen(33) + Mo Williams(29) + Shawn Marion(33) + Gustavo Ayon(26) into Patrick Peterson(22) + Ryan Anderson(23) + Baron Davis(33) + Ivan Johnson(27).

[Rondo2287]

To Who's point though, I do like Robinson and Ed Davis.  Nate is quietly having a good year for Marc Jackson out in Golden State and we saw that he is capable of playing good defense and being a team player with the second unit.

Ed Davis is a guy that I think has some solid upside, he can rebound pretty well and is a freak of an athlete.  I just hope he continues to work hard up in Toronto.

[Who]

To clarify, I like both Ed Davis and Reggie Jackson as prospects. I was only referring to my expectations for them for the remainder of this season.