Voting criteria is just who you think would win a 7 game series. Based on current ability, not on some previous prime or future ability. Format is free. You can explain with a sentence why you vote how you vote, or you don't have to explain if you don't feel like it. Sometimes when a matchup is interesting I break it down a bit more, I go 1) talent; who has more talent, 2) fit; whose player fit better together, 3) matchups; who gets good matchups in the series. Or we also used to go 1)frontcourt, 2)backcourt, 3)bench, 4)offense, 5) defense, 6) chemistry (fit). Either way, format isn't gospel, some team might be slightly worse by 5 categories but still win because it dominates in 6th category.
Tell me about it lol... Da_juice vs jack slaw I'm going da_juice. Jack slaw just has too many ball dominant players IMO and his spacing looks bad. This seems like a really gritty 80s slow grind it out team and I just don't think it could keep up in today's NBA against da_juices players.
I feel the same way about Jack Slaws team as my boo Maloe does. I think he had one of the strongest first three rounds of any team. Favors Cousins down low would be a huge problem for most teams in the draft. The Rondo Tyreke pairing is what bothers me most. Both players excel as primary ball handlers. Both players dont really play well without the ball. Da Juices team will be able to clog the paint and make Cousins and Favors less effective. Id give the edge to Da Juice here.
Bumping LCA's kickass bracket to this page: Spoiler and adding the final brehs lineups post-trade deadline (sorry for being late): Spoiler
Not sure about DFB and BigM's matchup either. DFB has a really good cast around Lebron, but I also think Paul George and Nicholas Batum are the perfect combo to defend Lebron. Also going to go with da_juice. Jack Slaw has a lot of talent, but there is a lot of potential head-cases/fit issues/spacing problems with that lineup.
I'm going with: BigMaloe - Don't have an answer for LerBon (but who does?), but has more scoring options IMO Jack Slaw - I like his backcourt, could wreck havoc with the right mindset Btw, I feel like coaching would make a whole lot of difference in this tournament. Like Donatas has 3 of Pops players, but I just don't see them thriving without Pop today. So I just assume they're all coached by clones of JBB, which is basically no coaching, just pick-up ball.
So far: DonatasFanboy: 1 BigMaloe: 1 Jack Slaw: 1 da_juice: 4 I think some of you brehs only picked 1 matchup. Talked about the other, but didn't pick.
I cant decide between DFB and Maloe. Leaning DFB because Front Court to strong for Horford and Williams.
DFB - Not enough offense for Maloe. LeBron has great weapons around him, he will get the most out of them. da_juice - It's a closer matchup than people are making it out to be, but I just believe the fire power for da_juice makes more sense than Slaw, as Melo/Cousins would both be ball hogs. Not sure how they'd mesh to be honest.
Voting for myself and DFB. I like Maloes team, but I think DFBs team just meshes well. I like pairing Millsap with Lebron, and DeAndre there to pock up boards and garbage points. KCP gives some nice spacing.
I think Melo can be a number 2. He plays off the ball well. See team USA basketball.....Catch and shoot Melo is the best Melo.
You're not supposed to vote on your matchup as it's a given that each player would vote for themselves, so no vote shall count
Donatas, that frontcourt is insane, and his role players can all shoot, defend, and play as a team. Maloe has a great, well-rounded team too. PG13 matches up well with LeBron, as we've seen in the past, but I give the edge to Donatas for there being no answer to Jordan in the paint and on the boards, he's too physically imposing. Drafting someone like Ian Mahinmi instead of Garnett could've made a difference in this matchup. Regardless, if the bracket had shaken out differently these teams could've met further down the line. da_juice because of James Harden + shooters. Jack Slaw takes this one if it wasn't for the trio of guards that can't consistently space the floor in Rondo, Evans and Ellis. Besides Melo and Booker, there's no one to REALLY worry about from the perimeter, so just pack the paint and lock up Boogie. One more shooter that can D-up makes this team so much better. The Darrell Arthur pick holds juice's team back going forward, someone like Josh Richardson or another playmaker here would have been better. Harden and Korver are going to get torched on defense, and having four big men on an 8-man team seems like a bit much.
Thanks for doing this LCA. I was too busy the last few days. With my amnesty I drop Mo Speights and Festus Ezeli
Donatas - The front court is way too strong for this matchup. There is no way the undersized front court of Maloe can compete. I also don't see how the offense really works for Maloe. I understand the theme of spacing, however there is no one on that team who can consistently break down defenses in order for that spacing to be effective. The bench is heavily in favor of Donatas in my opinion. I have no idea why anyone would take Kevin Garnett at this juncture. Jack Slaw - Lots of ball dominant players here, however Dajuice has no one who can stop Cousins down low. Amir Johnson would get abused. Also, for anyone who followed Tryeke this year he shot 38% from three. I don't believe the spacing is as bad as people might think, especially with Booker off the bench but I understand the concern for the amount of ball dominant players on one team. Still that front court is brutal and Dajuice has arguably the worst front court in this league. I have to go with Jack Slaw here.
I don't see how my team would lose in a real-life matchup. We're talking about the best center in the league against a 2nd string player. Boston has been a cakewalk for the center position all season (20 ppg, 15 rbs allowed against centers on average). Ibaka is just bad now and coming off an embarrassing season. Harden and Middleton will be the main scorers, but still, that's a team with just 1 superstar. On pure offensive power alone my team would win. Pre-injury favors this season was putting up numbers similar to blake griffin, and he's got premier rim defense. I even have a player who averages a double-double per 36 coming off of my bench (thad young). You're really going to compare Capela and Arthur to Young? Don't know why those two players were even drafted given some of the talent that remained undrafted. Korver has had a very underwhelming season as well. Not sure anyone here was watching Tyreke play this season while he was healthy... 39% 3P% while averaging 18PT/8A/6RB a game. He can be a shooter and adjust if he needs to be. The you have rondo averaging 12 assits when basically Cousins was the only guy who could score for the kings. Put him with melo/favors/cousins and he will have 15+ assists. And as far as monta, you have to look at his stats after Janurary right after he had his knee drained. Instantly became a top option, even hit 46% of the 28 three's he shot in that time. I understand concerns with spacing/defense/usage, but we're comparing a team of 5 elite caliber players with bench depth versus basically harden and middleton.
For the other matchup I vote Donatas. Frontcourt is way stronger. Deandre would dominate Horford on the boards (as he and every other center did this year). Seems like Milsap could do some damage too. Both benches are weak imo (with the exception of collison). Actually Duncan off the bench doesn't sound too bad. Can give you defense with the minutes he's able to play.
