All-time NBA Matchup 5!

Mark Price - 17 points 10 assists 2.6 steals
Iverson - 31 points 8 assists 4 rebounds 2.4 steals
Rodman - 10 points 18 rebounds
Tim Duncan - 26 points 14 rebounds 4 assists 2.5 blocks
David Robinson - 23 points 12 rebounds 3 assists 2.3 steals 4.5 blocks

Bench:
Alex English - 28 points 7 rebounds 5 assists 1.4 steals 1.5 blocks
Dave DeBusschere - 18 points 14 rebounds 2 assists
Ben Wallace - 8 points 13 rebounds 1.7 steals 3.5 blocks

Career Highlights and Awards:

Spoiler

Mark Price -
4× NBA All-Star (1989, 1992–1994)
All-NBA First Team (1993)
3× All-NBA Third Team (1989, 1992, 1994)
2× NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (1993–1994)

Iverson -
NBA Most Valuable Player (2001)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1997)
11× NBA All-Star (2000–2010)
4× NBA scoring champion (1999, 2001–2002, 2005)
3× NBA steals leader (2001–2003)
3× All-NBA First Team (1999, 2001, 2005)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2000, 2002–2003)
All-NBA Third Team (2006)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1997)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2001, 2005)

Rodman -
5× NBA Champion (1989–1990, 1996–1998)
2× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1990–1991)
2× NBA All-Star (1990, 1992)
2× All-NBA Third Team (1992, 1995)
7× All-Defensive First Team (1989–1993, 1995–1996)
All-Defensive Second Team (1994)
7× NBA rebounding champion (1992–1998)
Detroit Pistons #10 retired

Tim Duncan -
4× NBA Champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007)
3× NBA Finals MVP (1999, 2003, 2005)
2× NBA Most Valuable Player (2002–2003)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1998)
13× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2011)
9× All-NBA First Team (1998–2005, 2007)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2006, 2008–2009)
All-NBA Third Team (2010)
8× All-Defensive First Team (1999–2003, 2005, 2007–2008)
5× All-Defensive Second Team (1998, 2004, 2006, 2009–2010)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1998)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (2000)

David Robinson -
2× NBA Champion (1999, 2003)
NBA Most Valuable Player (1995)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1992)
10× NBA All-Star (1990–1996, 1998, 2000–2001)
4× All-NBA First Team (1991–1992, 1995–1996)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1994, 1998)
4× All-NBA Third Team (1990, 1993, 2000–2001)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1991–1992, 1995–1996)
4× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1990, 1993–1994, 1998)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1990)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1990)
NBA Sportsmanship Award (2001)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
#50 Retired by the San Antonio Spurs

Alex English -
8× NBA All-Star (1982–1989)
NBA Scoring Champion (1983)
3× All-NBA Second Team (1982–1983, 1986)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1988)
#2 Retired by the Denver Nuggets

Dave DeBusschere -
2× NBA Champion (1970, 1973)
8× NBA All-Star (1966–1968, 1969–1974)
6× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969–1974)
All-NBA Second Team (1969)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
#22 Retired by the New York Knicks

Ben Wallace -
NBA Champion (2004)
4× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2002–2003, 2005–2006)
4× NBA All-Star (2003–2006)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2003–2004, 2006)
2× All-NBA Third Team (2002, 2005)
2× NBA Rebounding Champion (2002, 2003)
NBA blocks leader (2002)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2002–2006)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2007)

 

Oh, come on now fallenphoenix. We know the stats and the players involved.
123Rockets don't get no advantage there.

But you got a midget backcourt my friend. Those two guys, Price and Iverson, who they gonna stop??

Actually Price was a very cerebral and crafty defender. And you put those guys together with one of the nastiest defensive frontcourts I can think of. So....defense no problem there. Duncan, Wallace, and Rodman in their primes on the same team???? Get out of town. Any team is gonna have trouble hitting 70 on those guys. That is some sick, sick, sick D right there.
And you got yourself another gunner (English) coming off the bench. And you also paired up San Antonio's chemistry (Timmy/DRob) with a couple of Detroit's nasty boyz (BigBen/Rodman).

This team makes me smile. I'd love to see those two guards playing passing lanes, daring the oppoent to beat them from distance and the opponent trying to pass and drive to the rim. Even though you got Rodman slightly out of position, he did play a lot of minutes at SF in his career. Dude was such a good defender though he could take most PFs out of the game altogether.

123Rockets:
You put together a fantasy stat team. But you only got one guy that can defend(Garnett). But he's not as good a two-way player as TimmyD. Sikma could play some D. But he wasn't great. And neither Garnett nor Sikma would be able to shut down Timmy. Timmy has always beat Garnett. Don't get me wrong. Garnett is a hall-of-famer. I think your whole roster is. But I gotta go with fallenphoenix. I'll probably be in the extreme minority here. But you can't measure D statistically.

The other thing is if you put these teams back in the 60's, you'd probably win. But from about 1980 on, when the NBA started letting these guys play more physical, fallenphoenix team is the much better team. I like big time D.

Fallenphoenix.

 

1 vote so far and you are already giving up hope :grin:

 

it's just one vote

 

i'd have to agree. he's doing a great job breaking down all these matchups

 

I can just feel how upset 123 is right now..

 

Team fallenphoenix, 4-1, after waiving Iverson

Iverson needs an entire team built around him to win. You need specialists like Aaron Mckie, Mutombo, Snow who hyperfocus on a few things but can't do it all, so they gladly defer to him all the time. I would start English over him and get the ball out of Iverson's hands. Once he's relegated to the bench, he'll cry, throw up gang signs and ruin team chemistry so you might as well waive him.

Fallenphoenix looks great defensively, but what can you honestly do with Rodman at the 3 on offense? It's really 4 vs. 5 if you keep him away from the paint and limit his positioning on the offensive boards. But with post players like TD and Drob, what other option do you have? Will be hard to create spacing with Rodman on the court, but I do remember him playing some minutes there and managing, so it's plausible.

Luckily, 123 is soft. I don't see any chemistry developing with poor outside shooters, no selfless playmakers and offensive skillsets that don't complement one another. Maybe I'm being harsh, but it's not a well put together team for playoff with a lack of closers and hard nosed defenders. They would be a great YMCA team.

 

Walt Frazier vs Mark Price
To close to call. Price was all world in his day, and so was Walt 'Clyde' Frazier. Both could score at will, Price was a dead eye from downtown and the line. I don't think he could stop Walt, but visa-versa.
Frazier by a whisker.
123Rockets

Earl 'the Pearl' Monroe vs Allen 'PRACTICE?' Iverson
Iverson by a mile. I love The Pearl, but Iverson could do it all, and put the opposition in foul trouble doing it. Pearl was a pure scorer.
Fallenpheonix

John Havlicek vs Dennis Rodman
As much I love Dennis Rodman, John Havlicek would eat him for breakfast. Rodman was a great rebounder and defender. He also learnt from Laimbeer how to get under the oppositions skin. He also used to upset his own team mates with his distractions. Hondo was a no nonsense type player, who played tough D, scored and would have chin checked Rodman if he felt disrespected out there.
8 time champion Hall of Famer Hondo gets my vote.
123Rockets

Kevin Garnett vs Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan...K.G.....
Tim Duncan is regarded as the Best Power Forward ever, K.G. Can't be too far behind. Both are winners, both are champions, both deserve respect.
Head to head they've faced each other 40 times. Garnett has out played Duncan statistically, not by much, but still enough to notice. Tim has won the more games head to head 23-17.
Too close to call
TIED

Ralph Sampson vs Robinson
I love Sampson, in his prime, he was unstoppable. But same can be said about David Robinson. Robinson was an awesome specimen. The Admiral dominated all opposition, except Dream!, and was awesome across the board.
Robinson wins. Just.
FallenPheonix

Bench:

SF/SG: Dale Ellis (28p, 4r)
SF/PF: Rudy Tomjanovich (25p, 9r)
C/PF: Jack Sikma (19p, 11r, 4a, 1b)
vs

SG/SF: Alex English
SF/PF: Dave DeBusschere
C/PF: Ben Wallace

The bench of DeBusschere and English is a potent offensive weapon to have, then Ben Wallace with his Rebounding and defence. Wow.

But Dale Ellis with his 3 point marksmanship Rudy T's heart of a Champion & Sikma's no nonsense play is also great assets to have coming off the bench.

Alex English used to torch Ellis when they played each other. He was a beast.
But Rudy Tomjanovich was also a beast.

Ben Wallace could rebound and defend, but is an offensive liability

Best Bench goes to...

123Rockets

At first glance you would think FallenPheonix with Tim Duncan and David Robinson would take it in a sweep, but after looking deep into it, the front courts cancel out each other in some respect. Rodman is an offensive liability, in more ways than one, Iverson is awesome...but can shoot you out of a game as quick as he can keep you in one; and Price is a midget that could hit the 3 very well.

The Alex English off the bench was the hardest part in deciding the winner. Jopatmc, I love defence too, but good offence always beats good defence.

Winner in 7 games

123Rockets

 

This is a great offense vs. defense matchup.

First of all, FP has 2 great perimeter scorers in Price and a prime Iverson while 123 has Clyde and Monroe to fill it up. Overall, I'd have to give the edge for the guards to 123 because I think that Frazier outshines Price more than Iverson would outplay Monroe. All 4 of these guys could pour on points when hot, but if Frazier or Monroe would hit a lull in the game, then there'd be no offense. I would also have Dale Ellis edge out English by a slight nod.

The Sf position is the toughest to judge in this matchup. How would Havlicek score on Rodman? You know you will not get much offensively from Rodman, so, as mentioned earlier, it will be like 4v5 on offense. Perhaps Havlicek could play some help defense due to the lack of Rodman's offense, but it would have to be on TD or Robinson, and these are both smart enough players to sense the help and find an outlet. I believe that Havlicek would obviously manage some points on Rodman, but the points will come with incredible difficulty making this position a wash. I hate doing that, but I really could not decide who to go with.

FallenPhoenix's frontcourt...wow. Two elite two way players in Duncan/Robinson who know how to play with one another. It seems like 123s points will all have to come from outside. And with more D coming off the bench with Wallace. I simply think that will render Garnett, Sampson, Sikma, and Rudy-T not helpless, but definitely will be a struggle for them to score with Rodman/Dunc/Robinson on them. I think the edge will go convincingly to FP for the frontcourt.

I think that because of how dominating FPs team is down low, the point has to go to him for this matchup. It will take some ridiculous perimeter shooting in order to beat him. I do like your team, 123, but this team is just a buzzsaw that will not be beat unless it runs up against an equally elite team down low in addition to reliable scorers. As the old cliche goes, defense wins championships, or at least this matchup.

 

Thank you

fallen: 3
123: 1

 

i was going for an inside out approach to my offense. duncan and robinson are way too offensively capable to not be double teamed. they are also great play makers, allowing them to make plays by passing to each other with great chemistry or pass it out to price who is one of the best 3 point shooters ever and iverson who is one of the best offensive players ever.

also, i know my back court is undersized, but i made sure that my guards were proficient in steals. with such great scorers all over my team, i felt that rodman wouldn't be needed much in the offense allowing himself to get prime offensive rebounding positions without hindering my scoring capabilities.

more of the same with the bench. i got one of the best scoring sfs in alex english who can also get some blocks and steals if i feel like i need an offensive option at the sf. with the extra scoring at sf, i can put in wallace to get those rebounds and some blocks. dave debusschere is a solid scorer and rebounder to throw into the mix as well.

 

Team 123Rockets
PG: Walt Fraizer (23p, 7r, 6a)
SG: Earl Monroe (26p, 5a, 4r)
SF: John Havlicek (29p, 9r, 8a)
PF: Kevin Garnett (24p, 14r, 5a, 2b, 2s)
C: Ralph Sampson (22p, 10r, 2b)
Bench:
SF/SG: Dale Ellis (28p, 4r)
SF/PF: Rudy Tomjanovich (25p, 9r)
C/PF: Jack Sikma (19p, 11r, 4a, 1b)

Team fallenpheonix
PG: Mark Price
SG: Allen Iverson
SF: Dennis Rodman
PF: Tim Duncan
C: David Robinson
Bench:
SG/SF: Alex English
SF/PF: Dave DeBusschere
C/PF: Ben Wallace

Full disclosure: Mark Price went to my high school for a year and I played ball with him a few times. Great guy.

Man, there is a lot I like about both these teams and little I do not like about both of these teams.

Mark vs. Walt in their prime and both wearing high-tech shoes would be a contrasting battle. I think this is as even as any of the matchups I've seen so far. Extremely small advantage to Walt.

Earl and Allen: I don't think Earl could stay with prime Iverson. Prime Earl probably beats up Iverson a bit, but the little guy is tough and comes out the victor.

Hondo vs. Rodman. On one hand, Hondo is by far the more complete player. On the other hand, Rodman was a difference maker when he was happily the 3rd, 4th, or greater option on a team, as he would be here. I'm also having a hard time deciding Rodman's prime. It's either Detroit or Chicago, but as successful as the Chicago teams were, I always got the impression that he wasn't wholly devoted to team, so I guess I'm going with Detroit, in which case he probably is slim enough and quick enough to play SF. All that said, I would pick Hondo before Rodman.

Duncan is a decent advantage over Garnett. Bigger and smarter, though not as passionate. Still, I'll take the first two.

The Center matchup is a good one. Prime Sampson was pretty damn good and prime Robinson was almost as good as regular Dream. I think when he's on O, Robinson takes advantage of Sampson's lack of ability to man up in the post and push on people. Ralph would mostly let you establish position and then try to bother the shot. Even with guys of similar size, he didn't bump and grind a lot. Thus, I think Robinson could get good position and draw some fouls on Ralph.

Team 123Rockets' bench has some great players, but Dale and Rudy are more more perimeter players and I'm not seeing the team passing needed to take full advantage of their talents. Sikma is a rock, which is a good thing and at times, a bad thing.

The bench for Team fallenpheonix has a pretty good combo of O, D, and grit. I really like English playing off the bigs.

In this matchup, Team 123Rockets will probably have to play Sikma at Center with Ralph and Garnett at the forwards for some portion of the game to deal with Duncan/Robinson. Speaking of matchups, it is going to be tough for Earl and Clyde to stay with Iverson, who is a matchup nightmare for most teams.

Which leads me to pick Team fallenpheonix. If you're making the other team respond to your players by changing what they want to do or playing people out of their natural position, you're probably going to win.