Decade 24 Minute Draft Play-In Game 1 : Sushi vs WLK

[Nosferatu]

SUSHI

1st & 3rd
PG - Russell Westbrook - 00
SG - Alex English - 70
SF - James Worthy - 80
PF - Arvydas Sabonis - 90
C - Yao Ming - 00

2nd & 4th
PG - Mike Bibby - 90
SG - Michael Jordan - 80
SF - Rick Barry - 60
PF - Dan Issel - 70
C - Walt Bellamy - 60

VS

WLK

1st & 3rd
PG - Tony Parker - 00
SG - Jerry Sloan - 60
SF - John Havlicek - 60
PF - Chris Webber - 90
C - LaMarcus Aldridge - 00

2nd & 4th
PG - Magic Johnson - 70
SG - Ray Allen - 90
SF - Scottie Pippen - 80
PF - Bob McAdoo - 70
C - Bill Laimbeer - 80

 

[Nosferatu]

SUSHI - 2
WLK - 5

VOTED - UK, Femur, WLK, Nos, Sushi, 500, Shane

 

[UK Cowboy]

Two solid squads, probably could have made a PF for C trade and help both teams. 1st and 3rd squads are pretty close, Sushi has a little more talent, but WLKs group fits together better. WLK has a clear edge in 2-4,,even with MJ on the other side

WLK

 

[femurov]

I agree. WLK's 2 and 4 win it for him.

 

[wlk3]

I agree... Wlk

 

[Nosferatu]

I didn't understand the Sabonis pick, good player but clearly not a PF, Jermaine O'Neal would have been a nice fit. I don't think WLK's 2&4 are clearly the advantage you all do but I still lean WLK here.

Sushi wanted me to vote cast his vote for himself here.

 

[wlk3]

I didn't understand the Sabonis pick, good player but clearly not a PF, Jermaine O'Neal would have been a nice fit. I don't think WLK's 2&4 are clearly the advantage you all do but I still lean WLK here.

Sushi wanted me to vote cast his vote for himself here.

I agree, I don't think it's lights out vs MJ but he has a huge problem vs Magic... No way Bibby can guard him so that leaves MJ or Barry... I don't think Barry has much of a chance either so MJ guards Magic... As we saw in the finals, Pip was the guy best suited to guard an old Magic... On the flip Magic can play Barry, Jesus can hold Bibby and Pip is on MJ... So offensively he's got a long excellent defender on defense he's got to deal with Magic in the post sometimes or on the push... With everyone being a shooter MJ gets no help and when Magic is in the post, Barry is going to have to hold Pip who was an awesome point forward... I think with all the spacing and Pip and more importantly Magic finds the right pass it's too much...

 

[Pack 500]

Sushi

 

[Shanemansj13]

Very close. Both great teams but I got Wlk barely in this one.

 

[Ritzarmy]

Very close. Both great teams but I got Wlk barely in this one.

I copy what Shane says

 

[tlance]

Yeah, Sabonis and Yao have a hard time chasing Webber and Aldridge while simultaneously clogging the paint for Russ on the offensive end. I think 2nd and 4th are close, but the edge goes to WLK.

 

[Mebert]

I think Westbrook would have been better served in the 2,4 group. He has the athleticism to make it hard magic.

I have wlk

 

[Shanemansj13]

I think Westbrook would have been better served in the 2,4 group. He has the athleticism to make it hard magic.

I have wlk

While I think it would be a little harder on Magic, I dont think he would fit well with MJ.
Overall IMO there is a lack of big men in this matchup but everywhere else I like both these teams.

 

[wlk3]

Good match Sushi... I thought for sure you'd have grabbed Billups when you still had the 90's pick left... Also didn't like the Yao and Sabonis pick, one or the other IMO...

 

[wlk3]

While I think it would be a little harder on Magic, I dont think he would fit well with MJ.
Overall IMO there is a lack of big men in this matchup but everywhere else I like both these teams.

I wanted to be able to give Magic the post if the break and secondary break didn't score... Magic passes to Pip and heads to the post all the while Ray Allen is zigzagging through the offense... McAdoo was a beast in the post as well... It's not a traditional offense but I think it allows me to max out Magic and Pips offensive abilities IMO... My 1&3 i tried to make like the Spurs... I know replace Timmy but CWebb is a good try IMO...

 

[CitySushi]

GG @wlk3

 

[CitySushi]

Sorry in advance for the essay and Kudo's to anyone who gets through it without shooting themselves in the head.

I didn't post my thoughts on the matchup because it was already decided, but I wanted to give it a go to justify why I thought the matchup could have swung my way.

The biggest thing I think people don't take into account is the continuity of the teams. Each of those squads is only allowed to play 24 minutes, meaning that most times they're going to have 1 or 2 focal points of the offense. If you judge just on overall talent, that's different than the realistic expectations of each squad based on their strengths.

For my 1st and 3rd, a lot of people thought it was a head scratcher for me to take Sabonis. From a talent perspective, there were lots of players out there who were better for their periods in time, but I went with him because of his prime. Sabonis is regarded as one of the best bigs ever from a skill set stand point. Had he played his entire career in the NBA, he would have been considered one of the greatest big men of all time. By the time he got to the NBA his knees had taken a major toll by injuries and was considered a slow and lumbering big man. Even so, judging by that standard, I thought he was a good fit.

Sabonis is one of the best passing big men of all time. I wanted to pair Yao, another very good passer, with two players who could play the high post in the front court. The reason being is that my team isn't a very good shooting outside team. We would need to rely on off-ball movement and getting things going towards the basket. By having two bigs who can stretch out, hit an 18 foot shot and are excellent passers, makes for more cutters and opportunities going to the basket. Sabonis, even in his brief time in the NBA was also a 32.8% 3 point shooter. Pairing a guy like Jermaine O'Neal wouldn't have been nearly as important to my team because passing is what I was looking for.

Russ, English and Worthy would be hell on the fast break. Add to that Yao and Sabonis leaking passes to them and letting them run up the court, would create problems in itself. There's no way Parker, Sloan and Havilcek could keep up with them in the open court. Russ is the most athletic guard the NBA has ever seen. English was part of the running Nuggets team who put up buckets and Worthy ran with the Showtime Lakers. All have a history of being great fast break players which would be monstrous for my team.

Defensively Yao and Sabonis wouldn't be at a significant disadvantage as people think. Yao was 7'6", and Sabonis 7'3. The biggest key to their defense would be that they could play off their man to allow for space, but still have the length to close on Webber or Aldridge if they shot. Webber and Aldridge were agile, but they weren't/aren't very fast. It's not like they would blow past either of my players, when they're playing at an arms length defense. Parker isn't a great perimeter shooter, so laying off them in the P&R would be advantageous to Russ who would have guarded him.

My 2nd and 4th quarter team, would just be run through Mike the entire time. Bibby was a career 38% 3 point shooter and would be a great secondary ball handler and play maker. Rick Barry is criminally underrated in what he could do with the ball in his hands. Bellamy was a physical beast who could body up on McAdoo and Issel would guard Laimbeer. Bibby would chase around Ray, Mike would guard Magic and Barry on Scottie. Magic had a height advantage but Jordan was one of the best defenders of all time. Scottie wasn't much of a threat from outside and his skillset becomes redundant with Magic on the team. I still think I would have the edge here.

 

[Mebert]

Sorry in advance for the essay and Kudo's to anyone who gets through it without shooting themselves in the head.

I didn't post my thoughts on the matchup because it was already decided, but I wanted to give it a go to justify why I thought the matchup could have swung my way.

The biggest thing I think people don't take into account is the continuity of the teams. Each of those squads is only allowed to play 24 minutes, meaning that most times they're going to have 1 or 2 focal points of the offense. If you judge just on overall talent, that's different than the realistic expectations of each squad based on their strengths.

For my 1st and 3rd, a lot of people thought it was a head scratcher for me to take Sabonis. From a talent perspective, there were lots of players out there who were better for their periods in time, but I went with him because of his prime. Sabonis is regarded as one of the best bigs ever from a skill set stand point. Had he played his entire career in the NBA, he would have been considered one of the greatest big men of all time. By the time he got to the NBA his knees had taken a major toll by injuries and was considered a slow and lumbering big man. Even so, judging by that standard, I thought he was a good fit.

Sabonis is one of the best passing big men of all time. I wanted to pair Yao, another very good passer, with two players who could play the high post in the front court. The reason being is that my team isn't a very good shooting outside team. We would need to rely on off-ball movement and getting things going towards the basket. By having two bigs who can stretch out, hit an 18 foot shot and are excellent passers, makes for more cutters and opportunities going to the basket. Sabonis, even in his brief time in the NBA was also a 32.8% 3 point shooter. Pairing a guy like Jermaine O'Neal wouldn't have been nearly as important to my team because passing is what I was looking for.

Russ, English and Worthy would be hell on the fast break. Add to that Yao and Sabonis leaking passes to them and letting them run up the court, would create problems in itself. There's no way Parker, Sloan and Havilcek could keep up with them in the open court. Russ is the most athletic guard the NBA has ever seen. English was part of the running Nuggets team who put up buckets and Worthy ran with the Showtime Lakers. All have a history of being great fast break players which would be monstrous for my team.

Defensively Yao and Sabonis wouldn't be at a significant disadvantage as people think. Yao was 7'6", and Sabonis 7'3. The biggest key to their defense would be that they could play off their man to allow for space, but still have the length to close on Webber or Aldridge if they shot. Webber and Aldridge were agile, but they weren't/aren't very fast. It's not like they would blow past either of my players, when they're playing at an arms length defense. Parker isn't a great perimeter shooter, so laying off them in the P&R would be advantageous to Russ who would have guarded him.

My 2nd and 4th quarter team, would just be run through Mike the entire time. Bibby was a career 38% 3 point shooter and would be a great secondary ball handler and play maker. Rick Barry is criminally underrated in what he could do with the ball in his hands. Bellamy was a physical beast who could body up on McAdoo and Issel would guard Laimbeer. Bibby would chase around Ray, Mike would guard Magic and Barry on Scottie. Magic had a height advantage but Jordan was one of the best defenders of all time. Scottie wasn't much of a threat from outside and his skillset becomes redundant with Magic on the team. I still think I would have the edge here.

I think offensively you are correct that Sabonis would kill it running the offense from the elbow. However defensively I still don't see how it works, not with the bigs you went up against with wlk's team. He has 2 of the great mid-range big man in the history of the game, and With Tony Parkers specialty of drive and kick it exposes the weaker points of the defense.

Westbrook is great at playing the passing lanes, but not for staying in front of his man, Parker in his prime got to the basket better than almost anyone. I felt your setup made an MVP out of Parker. He would get to the basket, if either of your bigs collapsed in time to stop him he could kick to either of those bigs and they are not missing from that range when they are open. Against a different team(Mine for example) your big man tandem would have won handily.

You built a fantastic team, you just ran into a bad match up for round 1.

 

[CitySushi]

One last thought on my 1st and 3rd squad, who on WLK's team could stop my team from going to the basket. Webber was a pretty bad defender and Aldridge isn't a rim protector, and neither was considered a physical player. Russ, English and Worthy would have a field day going to the hoop. Even if you think Sabonis and Yao would somehow clog the lane (they wouldn't because at least 1 if not both would rotate to the high post or wing), Neither Aldridge or Webber would be able to provide significant help defense.

 

[CitySushi]

I think offensively you are correct that Sabonis would kill it running the offense from the elbow. However defensively I still don't see how it works, not with the bigs you went up against with wlk's team. He has 2 of the great mid-range big man in the history of the game, and With Tony Parkers specialty of drive and kick it exposes the weaker points of the defense.

Westbrook is great at playing the passing lanes, but not for staying in front of his man, Parker in his prime got to the basket better than almost anyone. I felt your setup made an MVP out of Parker. He would get to the basket, if either of your bigs collapsed in time to stop him he could kick to either of those bigs and they are not missing from that range when they are open. Against a different team(Mine for example) your big man tandem would have won handily.

You built a fantastic team, you just ran into a bad match up for round 1.

This would have been exactly my game plan. Make WLK's team into a long 2 shooting team. With the length that Sabonis and Yao had, I don't need either of them getting up in Aldridge or Webber's grill to contest adequately. They wouldn't be lock down, but imagine those guys trying to shoot over the outstretched reaches of those guys, even from an arms length. It's not infallible, but it causes some shot disruption.

You're right that RW isn't a great one on one defender. That would take a lot on his part to stay in front of Parker. But by giving room on the screens by my bigs, it gives Russ an additional cushion.