BadBaronRudigor

Anaheim Amigos (kflo)

Oscar Robertson(31) / Mark Price(17) / Penny Hardaway
Michael Jordan(29) / Tracy McGrady(19)
Chris Mullin(26) / Paul Pierce(20) / Michael Cooper(2)
Tim Duncan(24) / Shawn Kemp(24)
David Robinson(29) / Patrick Ewing(19)

v.

Phoenix Suns (Filo.kid)

Walt Frazier(22) / Dennis Johnson(26) / Kevin Johnson
Reggie Miller(40) / Joe Dumars(8)
Larry Bird(24) / James Worthy(24)
Kevin Garnett(29) / Dennis Rodman(19)
Shaquille O'Neal(29) / Dikembe Mutombo(19) / Bill Laimbeer

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If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk

kflo

jordan's obviously the centerpiece for my team, but i arguably field the greatest pf and the greatest pg to go alongside the greatest sg of all-time. oscar obviously proved he can effectively defer if necessary. duncan and robinson don't need to dominate the ball to be effective. duncan creates opportunities in the post. robinson is at his most effective just moving and hitting open shots. mullin moves the ball well, and is a deadly shooter. defensively 3 studs in the starting lineup, including a very long front line in robinson and duncan, and they obviously can coexist particularly on the defensive end. the backups compliment each other extremely well, with kemp not dominating the ball, tmac and pierce creating offensively, ewing an effective post player and pop out jump shooter. price is deadly from 3, and can create his own offense as well, and penny can give solid minues at 3 positions and was a dynamic force. cooper is the spot shut-down defender. matchup wise here, duncan and robinson provide interior defense against shaq and penetration, although this suns team doesn't have great penetration. jordan can defend miller, and oscar has an edge on clyde. bird will obviously be a matchup problem, but he has to work mostly on the perimeter against this defense and with his team makeup, and the help defense can make things harder on him. while i think my starting unit has an advantage, i think the bigger advantage is the bench strength, where the suns can't match the offensive firepower, and lose the individual matchups. with all due respect.

PauloCatarino

I am somewhat undecided on this one...

A backcourt of Oscar and Jordan would never work out. They are both ball-hoggers with a shoot-first mentality. Althought kflo put up a great frontline of guys who don't demand the ball to be effective and are great defenders... Mullion and Pierce would get torched by Larry or James...

I would like to read filo.kid's strategy for his starting 5, for it's a very interesting line-up: you have a jack-of-all-trades in Clyde, the designated shooter in Reggie, the facilitator (and offensive threat) in Bird and a strong frontcourt in KG and Shaq. I think this could work: Clyde moves the ball up, gets it to Bird, and he and Shaq would provide a magnificent tandem...
I also like how filo managed to get some defensive-stoppers in his second unit, as the likes of Deke and Worm, who will cover 3-to-5.

Like i said, i would like to reak filo.kid's strategy, but his sqaud seems a little more "complete" than kflo's...

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(...) we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender (...)

kflo

well, i know you're not the biggest jordan fan, you're a magic/bird nutrider , and you still harbor resentment over me beating you in our one-on-one all-time draft battle, but certainly you're aware that oscar completely subverted his game and willfully deferred to big lew when it was in his team's best interest.

fact is, oscar/jordan is a devastating backcourt duo, insanely physical, deadly midrange games and matchup nightmares who knew how to play the game. oscar easily becoming jordan's pippen (not trying to disrespect oscar here), albeit a much better one offensively at that.

Filo.Kid

Offense:

The offense will primarily be half court based when the starting line-up is on court. The advantage of this team is in their defined roles and spacing.
Frazier will bring the ball up and let Bird be the primary facilitator. A great shooters in Reggie and Larry will open up the court for Shaq and Garnett. Even then, Garnett will take Duncan out of the low post, preventing double teams and leaving Robinson to cover Shaq one on one.

For a change of pace, I am able to roll out my fast break team.

PG: KJ
SG: DJ
SF: Worthy
PF: Rodman
C : Shaq

KJ in the open court was a destructive force and will recieve the outlet pass from one of the bigs. Worthy will be the primary option on the break and a trailing Shaq will ensure that in transition, we are a sure thing to score.

Filo.Kid

Defense:

Our point guard rotation is outstanding defensively. Walt was described to be one of the greatest defensive point guards of all time and will give Oscar difficulty. Jordan will be handled by committee. Reggie will see limited minutes in favor of DJ's and Dumar's superior man coverage. Bird on Mullin will not be a significant problem. Known as an average man defender, Bird was a great team defender and will be able to stick with Mullin on the perimeter. Duncan and Garnett have always battled to a stalemate. D-Rob does not have a size or quickness advantage on Shaq (think shaq circa 1995).

However, the bench is where the true defense resides. Being able to put Rodman and Deke, both DPOYs on their opposing front line will be more than enough to limit their bench scoring. Worthy was an athlete and would be able to stick on Pierce decently. Dumars will do a decent job McGrady and DJ will handle Price.

Overall, though the Amigos have superior talent, I belive the team oriented/defensive construction of the Suns will be more than to compensate.

BadBaronRudigor

Bird won't be successful chasing Mullin and Pierce on the perimeter, he was better guarding postups than chasing wings outside, his weakness in doing so got him his bad defensive rep after starting with a very good one early on. And Shaq is career average which means DRob will have a quickness advantage. Worthy can handle the three too (good because Bird plays only 24 minutes) and your backup guards KJ and DJ will do a good job subbing for Oscar who plays only top reserve minutes (22). Your biggest sub problem is that Deke is a huge dropoff from Shaq (well, most people are) and Shaq is another guy playing less than 30 minutes.

On kflo's side, Ewing and Pierce give production nearly as good as the starters. McGrady and Kemp are big dropoffs as is Price, though Oscar at least plays 31 minutes a game.

This one is by far the closest I have to judge, two of the best teams in the tourney. With it so close, I give the advantage to the team with the better depth and that to me is Filo.kid's Phoenix Suns.

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If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk

kflo

i'm puzzled by the depth issue as i believe my team has a significant bench advantage. particularly as a well rounded unit. to me price and penny give equivalent production as kj and dj, but also fit better with an all-star type lineup with their skillsets. i think offensively my teams 2nd unit is pretty far superior, while still being strong defensively. putting rodman and deke together just makes it hard to keep up, particularly without bulk scorers to complement them. tmac may be a big dropoff from jordan, but he still has an advantage over dumars (or even reggie when he's in the game).

BadBaronRudigor

I think I rate defense more highly and volume scoring less highly than you. This could easily have gone either way.

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If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk

kflo

i'm saying in context of his team he could use more of a volume scorer to make up for the complete lack of offense from 2 positions.

PauloCatarino