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. Line-Up RocketsRed14 Pg- Steve Nash Sg- John Havlicek SF-Tracy Mcgrady PF- Nate Thurmond C- Hakeem Olajuwon Bench PG- Hal Greer SF-Bernard King PF- Dave Debusschere Roxsquad Pg-Gary Payton Sg- Michael Jordan Sf- James Worthy PF- Dirk Nowitzki C- Patrick Ewing Bench SF- Ron Artest C- Alonzo Mourning PG- Rajon Rondo Rimrocker Pg- Oscar Robertson Sg- Sidney Moncreif Sf-Connie Hawkins Pf- Bob Petitt C-Arvydas Sabonis Bench Pg- Nate Archibald Pf- Bob Mcadoo C- Artis Gilmore
Should've made it a public poll. Rimrocker will be hurt b/c his team is comprised of old-school players, and the perception is that the overall talent of that era was inferior to today's. I would've liked Roxsquad's team a lot more if he had Terrell Brandon or Billups instead of Rondo. RocketsRed14 has McGrady on his team. This team won't make it past the first round.
I guess I don't know as much NBA history as I thought I did... I only recognize Oscar Robertson on Rimrocker's roster.
What on earth were the restrictions for your draft? No Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, or Wilt? No Shaq? Or Even Yao?
Yao was one of the last picks. Roxsquad's defense is ridiculous. Gary Payton, Jordan and Worthy with Ewing inside and Mourning + Artest of the bench. I'll vote once I see what everyone was thinking with their team but definitely leaning towards Roxsquad.
OK, so I've got a bunch of players nobody has ever heard of so how am I going to win this? Let me break it down for everyone. Guards: At starting point guard, I have Oscar Robertson, The Big O. he averaged a triple double for an entire season (30.8/12.5/11.4). He led the NBA in scoring one season and assists in 6 seasons. He's 6'5", an MVP, an NBA Champion, an 11-time All NBA selection, 12 time All-Star. He's extremely durable and is still ranked 14th in NBA history for total minutes played.Co-Captain of the 1960 Olympic Team, which was perhaps the most dominating amateur team ever, even the College Player of the Year Award is named the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Oscar can also play the SG, providing me with versatility in the backcourt. There are two absolutely great PGs in the history of basketball who warp the floor with their game. Oscar is one of them. At the shooting guard, I have Sidney Moncrief. Moncrief is here because he was a two-time DPOY and 5-time All Defensive Selection. He was also an all-around player, routinely hovering around 20/5/5. He has 1 First Team All NBA selection and 4 second teams. Since I wasn't able to pick one of the premier SGs, I needed someone who could D them up without hurting my offense. Moncrief is the man. My guard off the bench is Tiny Archibald. He can run point with either O or Sid. Tiny had one of the greatest seasons in NBA history when he won the Scoring Title and the Assists Title (34/11.4). He's fast and a good change of pace for the second unit. Looking at my three guards, 2 have won scoring titles, two have won assist titles, one won DPOY, and one averaged a triple double. Looking at the competition in my bracket, Oscar will obliterate Nash and is too strong for Payton and Rondo. Greer was more a SG/SF type. Sidney's going to play Jordan as well as anyone (Jordan once said Moncrief makes you work at both ends). Also, note that MJ is the only true SG on his team (and unless you count McGrady, there's not a true SG on RocketsRed14's team). MJ will be exhausted after being guarded by Sid and Oscar without a break. I'd probably let Sid hound McGrady and guard Havlicek with a forward. That would mean no easy drives and lots of long jumpers for Tracy. When Oscar's resting, the opposing PGs can chase Tiny around and watch him dish or score. In this bracket, I fully expect the MJ fans to give the guard matchup to him because he is MJ... but if you look at the way the guard rotations are structured, mine is the best and while many think MJ is the best ever, the difference between him and Oscar is not that great if it is there at all... MJ may score a few more points, but Oscar will still go for 30 and grab more rebounds and dish more assists. Plus, I have a 2-time DPOY guarding him. (I'll do forwards and centers in a bit after real life quits interfering.)
Since these players are suppose to be consider in their prime My team is obviously built around hakeem so with Steve Nash, because he is a great scorer and passer, he will work great with hakeem in a pick and roll as he did with amare. My only hole on defence but i'd like to see any point run past nash and run into Hakeem and thurmond. Havlicek is a great perimeter shooter who can score with the best of them. He is also a great defender and will serve the team as the lockdown defender of the other great SG and SF. Mcgrady in '03 was amazing, great athleticism, speed, and scoring ability can slash to the basket or pull up with a jumper. He is not a total liability on defence and can play some. Nate was an aggressive rebounder who can play the PF position as he did with chamberlain or play center. Hakeem with excellent post moves can score the ball on most players and if he were to get double teamed can kick it out to any perimeter players. As the greatest shotblocker in nba history can prevent baskets from anyone. Bernard king as my 6th man provides a great off the bench scoring spark. If it weren't for his injuries he would be high on the all time scoring list. Hal greer is a great scorer who can replace nash if needed. also a defensive liability but my what i said about nash is the same with greer. Debusschere though 6'6 was a great defender and rebounder who was also a 6 time defensive 1st team.
Continuing with my forwards... (the OP is wrong... I'm starting McAdoo and Hawkins with Pettit off the bench. Starting at SF, I have the original highlight reel, Connie Hawkins. Hawkins was the foundation for Dr. J and everyone else. He's a Top 20 talent, but the reason people don't know about him is that he was got rolled up in a gambling scandal in NYCity bball. Even though he was innocent, he was kicked out of Iowa and the NBA Commissioner banned him from the game. He had to sue to play in the NBA and eventually won the case and became a rookie at 27. While he waiting to play in the NBA, he played for the Globetrotters, won a championship in the short-lived ABL for 1 year where he was MVP as a 19 year old. He later played in the first year two years of the ABA, winning the scoring title, MVP, Finals MVP, and Championship. His second year in the ABA he had major knee surgery, but also won his case against the NBA and got picked up by the Suns. Even after major knee surgery, he still averaged 25/10/5. He was 6'8", strong, had huge hands, and could play inside and outside. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D_r8EfLXHZE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> My starting PF is Bob McAdoo. Most may remember him coming off the bench for Showtime, but he was on his downward arc at that time. At his peak, he was an MVP, won the scoring title 3 straight years, led the NBA in rebounds, and he had 7 years of 12 or more rebounds per game. He's 6'9", wingspan of 7'3", great inside/outside game. Big enough to post up smalls and quick enough to take bigs outside. At his peak, he was unstoppable. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Dt378hRXuj0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> My third forward is the original PF, Bob Pettit. He defined the position yet he also has a solid inside-out game and can play SF with McAdoo. He's a 2 time MVP, 4 time All Star Game MVP, Scoring champ, Rebounding champ, 10 time First Team All NBA, and beat the Celtics for the championship during their great run, hitting 50 in the clinching game. His best year was probably when he went for 28/20. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PTIrG1Xn1Jk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> So, looking at my forwards, all three are MVPs, all three are scoring champs, two are rebounding champs, all three played on championship teams, and all three can score low or on the perimeter. In looking at the competition in this bracket, Nate and Debusschere should pose little problem for prime McAdoo. He'll go through Dave and around Nate, constantly keeping the big guy out of position. He's strong enough and crafty enough to cause Nate a few problems down low. McAdoo was Nowitzki before there was a Nowitzki, so that should be an interesting matchup. Dirk will get his, but I don't see him guarding Bob very well. Plus, Dirk is the only PF on that team, though I suppose you could play Worthy and maybe Artest there is needed. At SF, I like Hawkins over McGrady and Havlicek. Connie will intimidate McGrady and is long enough to really bother him, while he is just more athletic than Havlicek. The battle against Worthy would be a pleasure to watch, particularly if Connie was in his pre-NBA, pre-surgery prime. I like his chances there. King will score on anybody, but Hawkins will score over King. Artest will pose some problems, but he also creates them. Pettit is by far the best third forward in this group and could easily start for any team. By having him as a reserve, I get instant scoring and increase my rebounding. Along with Oscar, the forwards are the strength of this team.
Centers. My starting center is Arvydas Sabonis. Most remember him as a 32 year old rookie with bad knees in Portland. However, in his prime, he wrecked shop as a 7'3" mountain who could score, rebound, and pass with the best. Walton called him a tall Larry Bird. In 1988, he led the Soviets to a Gold Medal destroying David Robinson in a game that paved the way for the original Dream Team. Since he is a great shooter and a great passing center, I can run a high post offense and let the guards screen their man on him and have the forwards posting up where they have the advantage as Wilt, Dream, and other will have to stick with Arvydas out top. On D, he may be the only guy who in his prime would be as strong as Shaq (yes, he shattered a backboard too). He certainly wouldn't back down. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RBdxARINWok" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> (watch the pass at 5:35.) My second center is Artis Gilmore, the A-Train. he's a 25,000/16,000 career guy, 5-time rebounding champ, and for 13 years he averaged a double-double. In his younger days, he was an excellent shot blocker, averaging 5 per game one year in the ABA and is the all-time ABA leader in blocked shots. His best year was probably 24/15. 5 years on the All-defensive Team, he's 7'2", strong, and has one of the highest shooting percentages in history, leading the league 6 times and ending with a career average of .582. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/227FWcC9ETI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Looking at the competition, Dream is easily the best Center in this group, but he's also the only one on his team. The Ewing/Mourning tandem is a good one, but my guys are bigger and stronger. On O, Sabonis will pull Dream and the Georgetown boys out and let my forwards post. When A-Train is in there, he can serviceably man the low post against Dream equal or maybe better the other two. So, we have one team who has strength at center (Dream), one team that has strength at guard (MJ) and my team that is well balanced with an advantage at the forward spots... and we have Oscar at PG. In this bracket, we are not being outscored or outrebounded.
Here's a great Sabonis pass... <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OZSuksGMJY8?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OZSuksGMJY8?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object> And another... <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mxE6bKdehUA?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mxE6bKdehUA?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>
Jeez, I knew I'd lose to the MJ fetishists and Dream did build this board, but less than 10% for a team absolutely loaded with MVPs, scoring, rebounding, and assist champions all led by the only guy who averaged a triple-double for an entire freaking season? Are you kidding me? Respect the game people. Basketball didn't start when MJ joined the Bulls. **** it. I'm going to bed.
LOL i voted for you. I actually don't think the MJ team is that good. Too many one way defensive players compared to two way players. I've never watched any of your players to be honest. But I have read about most of them.
I wouldn't mind seeing this team rock up and play the other two squads. A good job on describing the strengths and achievements of your players. My only question who is going to take the last shot?
