With a months work of drafting an 8 man roster. Clutchfans will now decide the winners of each match-ups. (match-ups were decided at random). There will be 5 days of open voting and the winner will advance into the finals. Please read the comments because each team may or may not make a case to why they should move to the 2nd round. BleedRocketsRed Pg-Jason Kidd Sg-Michael Cooper Sf- Larry Bird Pf-Elvin Hayes C- Dikembe Mutombo Bench Pg- Maurice Cheeks SG- Manu Ginoble C- Spencer Haywood VBG Pg-Magic Johnson Sg-Ray Allen Sf-Lebron James Pf-Charles Barkley C-Dwight Howard Bench Pg- Kevin Johnson C- Yao Ming Sf- Paul Pierce Authentic91 Pg-Isiah Thomas Sg-Reggie Miller Sf-Dominique Wilkens Pf-Kevin Mchale C-Shaquille O'neal Bench Sg- Joe Dumars C- Ben Wallace Sf- Paul Arizen
Offense - 7 seconds or less style Imagine Magic running the point with Lebron and Barkley running next to him on the wings, Dwight Howard trailing the play and Ray Allen spotting up for 3. Every time the other misses, we score. Late Game - Yao in for Dwight - Fresher Yao means I can take advantage of him over Dwight. Prevents hack a Dwight. Magic is again primary ball handler. Double screen for Ray Allen with Yao and Barkley spotting up. Lebron will cut to the basket. If all else fails, Magic and Barkley pick and roll. Yao gives good spacing. Defense - Switching - My whole team is of a similar height and we can switch. Lebron and Dwight have tremendous athleticism while Ray Allen and Pierce are smart. Magic is solid too. Barkley is a bit short but impossible to back down. He will play whoever is the more back to the basket player on the other team. Defense - Late Game - We take out Barkley for Dwight. Offense/defense substitution. With a front line of Yao, Dwight and Lebron, nobody is scoring near the rim.
why put top two teams in first round together? anyways, let me explain my team, and why it is hands down, the best team there is. pg-Isiah Thomas-21.2 pts, 2.3 steals, 13.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds- He will be the floor general, will back down from no one, and his highly regarded as the 3rd best point this league has ever seen(behind magic and O). Past first point guard and fits perfect for this team with his bad boy swag. SG-Reggie Miller. Need I say more? This man defines the term shooting guard. Kobe Bryant is quoted as saying "reggie Miller id the hardest player to guard" and he is just that due to how lethal of a shooter he really is. Best shooter this league has ever seen. SF- Dominique Wilkins- The human highlight reel. Will dunk on ANYBODY(including LBJ) and no body can guard this man. Perfect to run the break with isiah and reggie with reggie ready to catch and shoot and Wilkins ready to catch, drive, and dunk. PF-The man with he best post moves ever at the 4 spot. (hakeem was a 5) Absolute defensive force and beast of player. Put people through the torture chamber and could hit from inside and out. He pairs up to make the best front line in the game(imaginary) C-Shaq Diesel- Most dominant player ever. Him and Mchale, make up an absolute beast of a two way frontline. Each player was not only a defensive force, but was also incredible on the offensive end. Shaq would dominate any player in his prime, and that includes wilt. Bench PG/SG-Joe dumars- The best defender at the two guard ever. Atleast that's what michael jordan has to say about JoeD from when the two had epic battles back in the day. Dude could absolutely guard anyone and would slow/shut down the michaels and the kobes. Sg/sf-Paul Arizin- Absolute stud. can score and rebound when dominique needs a short breather. Pf/C- Ben Wallace- i can put this man in to stop anyone i needed and when either shaq or mchale needs a break. pulled down over 15 boards and 3 and a half blocks a game.
is it weird i think Yao in his prime > Shaq in his?? i just think Yao played in a more up tempo era instead of half court ball
I guess we got unlucky. As its close I will explain how my team matches up with Authentic's team. PG - Magic vs Isiah - Very interesting matchup but Magic's length should really bother Isiah if he tries to get into the paint. On the other hand, Isiah can't really matchup with Magic and Magic can just back him down and use his size to maximize court vision. SG - Ray Allen vs Reggie Miller - Very similar players. Knock down shooters. However, Ray Allen was actually slightly better than Reggie at everything. Scored a little more with a little more efficiency as well. SF - Dominique vs Lebron - Lebron is a much more complete player than Dominique. Lebron plays A LOT better defensively than Dominique. That's the main difference in the matchup. Dominique cannot overpower or outrun Lebron too. PF - PF - Charles Barkley vs Kevin McHale - McHale is great and all but Barkley outclasses him. Barkley is very strong so getting post position against him is tough. Barkley is a LOT better at spreading the floor as well C -- Dwight vs Shaq - Sure I know Shaq does everythign Dwight does, better. But, Dwight at least is strong enough to slow Shaq down just a little bit. He can also take advantage of Shaq's lapses and catch oops from Magic. He won't let Shaq bully him. I feel like Yao, Pierce and kevin Johnson give me more flexibility off the bench as well. Lastly, I feel my whole starting lineup is built to play together and at a fast pace. His lineup with his bigs, cannot run with my lineup. Prime Shaq is usually considered early 2000s Lakers Shaq who while still ridiculously athletic had already lost pure footspeed. McHale is not as fast as barkley as well.
Isiah vs Magic- While Magic is the best PG ever, He did not always outplay Isiah. Isiah won alot of the head to head match ups, and even beat two Magic twice on his way to the two championships he won. Magic>Isiah Reggie vs Ray- Ray is the poor mans Reggie. Reggie has 10 times more clutchness to his game, and way more toughness. Dominique vs Lebron- Wilkins is a beast and will not be overpowered by Lebron. No one has ever been able to shut down The human highlight reel, and Lebron wont be able to either. Lebron does how ever bring more playmaking ability to his team, but he wont have that opportunity with Magic on the team. Wilkins was also a better rebounder than Lebron. Wilkins=Lebron Mchale vs Chuck- Are you kidding me? Chuck will get thrown in the torture chamber real quick against Kevin. With Mchales size and post moves, Chuck wouldn't be able to hang. Both have equal range, while chuck is more mobile and a better rebounder. However Kevin had world class defense. Mchale > Chuck Shaq vs Dwight- Shaq at his prime, was by far, the most dominating force ever. Absolutely changed the game. No one, or two men could guard this man when he was doing his thing. Brought down rebounds, backboards, and the house. No body could mess with Shaq daddy. Dwight would get his jock handed to him, and he would most likely admit that. Shaq > Dwight So basically VBG, I think you would have the slight PG advantage, with that being it really. My team is far tougher than yours, and is a much better two way team. Also my front court would dominate yours in every way. I would have Wallavce to come in as back up since both Mchale and Shaq can score, so Ben can take time off for which ever one needs a breather and be a defensive stopper. Joe dumars could lock down Magic if need be, and also played the point position so would have no time playing backup. I feel my team has everything you want out of every position.
I think my team meshes a lot better. Saying McHale would dominate Barkley in anyway is a joke. Barkley will use his size and girth against McHale like he did against everyone else. McHale was never quite an MVP level player. Sure you could point to Bird and say that is why, but Barkley's production always was greater than McHAle. Ray being a poor man's Reggie is an urban legend. Ray has been just as clutch as Reggie and has a better shooting percentage than Reggie. Plus, your team and pretty much every other team (except perhaps the Jordan, Payton, Worthy team) has no chance against me when we run. Dominique was a subpar defender and that is what puts Lebron over him. Barkley was a machine on the break in his prime. Dwight is a crazy athelete. Ray unguarded with the defense collapsing (which it has to) is automatic. I like the way my team fits together. Two primary ball handlers to your one. A lot more height and flexibility. My team should win rebounding battle. Shaq and Dwight should cancel each other out. Barkley was better than McHale. Lebron and Dominique are about equal. Magic is a much better rebounder thanks to his size than Isiah though. Basically my team wins any fast break up tempo offensive posession. My team wins rebounding. Our halfcourt offense still has Magic, Lebron, Barkley with Yao coming off the bench. Pierce is great in the halfcourt too
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Haha this is fun- Just imagine this fastbreak, up tempo Showtime Offense <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/podmEIguecA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tUKDjfhMHSs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d93bROlbTzs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_v9XE7BijJA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> (There was a blow by and dunk on McHale there) <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9KsKvL6QBZ8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Lol I am the only person who voted for myself. Both of these teams are amazing in my defense. Guess I might as well campaign my line of thinking when building my team. I wanted Magic. I missed my pick and was autoed Wilt whom I traded for Larry Legend. I didn't go for best player available but best fit. Defensively my team should be tough with Deke in the middle and Kidd/Cooper on the wings. Plus Bird was crafty and Hayes was solid in that department. I feel that is my best shot of beating opponents. I also like my bench as Ginobili is a great 6th man, Mo Cheeks is a legitimate backup PG and Haywood is a great reserve big (you could even argue him starting over Deke but I really like Deke as a defensive force in the middle). Offensively, we pretty much rely on Bird/Hayes to do the scoring. Kidd/Cooper/Deke can get points here and there but the entire load is on Bird/Hayes (with Ginobili off the bench). And anybody who knows anything about those two guys know that they are capable of carrying an offensive load (hell, Bird himself can carry an offensive load, I do not think anybody on either of those teams would stop Bird). Both of these teams are amazing tho. I don't consider it insulting that nobody voted for me. I got ****ed by being placed in this bracket lol.
I think ya'lls teams comes down to the bench where VBG is going to be deadly. Aside from that it's very close. Magic > Isiah Magic is the best PG in the time, matchup nightmare. Allen < Miller Similar player but Miller is better. Did Allen ever take Mil or Sea to CF by himself? Lebron> Dominique Mchale = Barkley in my opinion just different skill sets. Maybe slight edge to Charles. Howard < Shaq but Howard could be one of the only people who can defend him at all. Aside from that you have the great wall who can come in and help out.
Wow. Authentic taking the narrow lead. I think there are some factors which aren't being completely looked at. McHale was never the greatest rebounder. Barkley is a fantastic rebounder. So if Shaq and Dwight, Lebron - Dominique, Ray Allen - Reggie, get similar rebounds, I'm gonna have a huge advantage with Magic and Barkley on the boards. Both teams ar egreat teams. I just think that Dwight matches up better against Shaq than any other player ever. He's the only other player with similar size, quickness and strength. My SF advantage is slightly overlooked. Dominique played NO DEFENSE. Lebron is a fantastic defensive player. I also believe I have a far superior bench and can go to offense/defense subs with Yao/Dwight/Barkley towards the end of games. I believe all these small advantages give me the lead. @RocketsRed, I think your backcourt is fantastic but your frontcourt isn't quite good enough.
I voted for your team, but you are way overestimating Howard in this matchup and not giving near enough credit to other centers, like, oh, Wilt for instance.
