Finals between VBG and TheThing will now begin. Remember to read the replies of the participants so they can have a say on why they should win and feel free to comment on why you think they should win. Good luck to VBG and TheThing. 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 TheThing Pg-Chris Paul Sg-Kobe Bryant Sf-Rick Barry Pf-Kevin Garnett C-Wilt Chamberlain Bench Pg-Derrick Rose Sg-Vince Carter Pf-Dave Cowens
When you view the results, VBG's number of votes does not match up with what is displayed. Both teams are quite good, but I voted for TheThing. I think his team would function better collectively than VBG's. VBG's has a couple of minor holes too... namely that LeBron's performance in clutch situations is highly questionable and that Barkley is a little bit of a liability on defense. I don't see any holes in TheThing's squad at all. Very well put together from top to bottom.
Thing's squad is pretty flawless and well thought. I just don't see VBGs team working together well. Magic and LBJ, who knocks down shots, both want to handle the ball. All are too relying on the ball too much on offense. Don't see them being great in transition with Allen, Howard and Barkley. This team has great individuals but lacks true team ball.
IMO TheThing has a better team built. I think collectively the team is quite a bit more cerebral and savvy.
I wonder the same thing about LeBron James with Magic Johnson running the point. I'd imagine that in real life, LeBron would stand around the perimeter with his hands on his hips waiting for a pass so he could brick a three. I've seen the players on The Thing's team play well as system players, so I tend to think they'd function better as a team.
Lebron James' three point numbers are actually not bad. He's shot at least 33% from 3 in both the regular season and playoffs the past two years. This past year Lebron and Wade shared ball handling duties and it worked out pretty well. I remember them making the finals. Here he actually has a great team around him. The other team has Wilt, CP3 and Kobe who all need the ball in their hands so I don't see how my team is as selfish? Also, Kobe and Wilt aren't as inclined to pass like Lebron and Magic. I'm gonna have to say it's the exact opposite. Firstly, Barkley and Dwight are pretty much the two best run the court big men in the game. I have no idea how you can say prime Barkley wasn't great in transition. That's just plain false. Barkley was a dunking machine. And Dwight is also ridiculously athletic and great at getting to the rim for easy buckets. You also can't have all 5 people go to the rim which is why I have Ray Allen spotting up for 3. If you watched the Celtics, most of Ray's 3s were in transition when Rondo would drive and look for him. Rick Barry and Vince Carter, are gonna get murdered by Lebron and Pierce. CP3 is about 9 inches shorter than Magic. Derrick Rose is fast but Kevin Johnson is just as fast.
That means the poll is open to guests, and guests can vote multiple times by refreshing their cookies. That causes issues with the results. I would also like to point out that VBG voted for himself, while TT hasn't.
Makes it easier to view the results. My team will again have a rebounding edge. Barkley > Garnett Wilt >= Howard Lebron > Barry Kobe >= Ray Magic > CP3 And then I have a lot more size of the bench with Pierce and Yao. His bench backcourt again is way more ball dominant than mine (Pierce is a great spot up shooter and KJ is just a speed machine)
VBG has a higher talent team. Chemistry can't be judged guys. Just like in the Heat's example. Nobody expected them to suck as bad as going 7-7 at the start of the season and then winning like 21 games in a row. It just comes down to raw talent, it all averages out.
I doubt there will be too many transition opportunities for VBG. My team will get back on defense. The biggest mismatch is Wilt vs Dwight or Yao. Yao is too slow to guard Wilt. Wilt has too many moves that could get past him. Dwight has nearly as much athleticism as Wilt, but Wilt is too skilled for him. Dwight hasn't faced anyone with that type of skill in the NBA, and when he faced someone like Yao, he got demolished. To guard Magic, I'll probably let Kobe guard him and let CP3 guard Ray Allen. Kobe loves to guard the other team's best player and I think he could handle it. Paul is quick enough to stay with Allen. He still would be a monster in the passing lanes. Lebron would not murder Barry. Barry is a very good team defender. He could stay with him on the outside, and nobody is scoring inside with Wilt and KG patrolling the lane. On offense the main strategy would be to feed Wilt. After the double teams start coming we have the passing ability to find the open guy, all who are extremely capable of scoring. Wilt was a very good passer and so are all the rest of the starters.
I think there actually would be a fair amount of transition opportunities. Transition offense comes primarily from long rebounds. Your team has Kobe, Rose, and Barry, and all of them are low percentage shooters. Wilt wouldn't be able to bully around Yao. And conversely, Wilt wouldn't be able to stop Yao from scoring. But Wilt is nothing like Yao. And you're talking about Wilt guarding both Yao and Dwight. Exactly how many minutes do you think Wilt will play? Nope. Remember, even Michael Jordan didnt have the size/length to contain Magic, and he's a superior defender than Kobe. Don't kid yourself. Lebron would murder Barry. Why are you assuming Wilt would have so much success against Dwight that Dwight would need help defense?
I don't think you have much knowledge of what Wilt can do. Q1. Yao has struggled against centers that have post moves. We haven't seen many of them nowadays, but Al Jefferson comes to mind. Wilt would be a nightmare for him. Q2. I was only comparing Wilt to Yao in that they are both high-quality centers with a good post game. Of course Wilt is on another level than Yao, though. Wilt only rests maybe 1 min per half. He can play basically the whole game. Q3. Again...do you even know who Wilt Chamberlain was? Dwight is overrated as a defender.
Do you know who Wilt Chamberlain played against? The average center in his era was 6'9. I've seen his highlights. Granted, there were a few post moves, but the majority of those baskets were the result of him being bigger and stronger than his defender. If you think Wilt will play the entire game, then you lose. Badly. There's no way you can expect Wilt to keep up with a fresh Dwight giving full effort and then keep up with a fresh Yao giving full effort.
The reason I picked Dwight is he can physically keep any center from dominating him. He's strong and quick enough to make Wilt not be his usual dominant bullying self. He's also athletic enough to keep up with Wilt for the entire game. He has great defensive instincts as well. Yao will be a nice change of pace from Dwight and he can use his length to bother Wilt. We can definately wear him down with our two centers compared to his one. My team can go small to give Barkley a break with Lebron at PF and Pierce at SF. That would pull Garnett away from the rim for stretches.
i couldn't figure out if there was an option for only members to vote. is there even an option to do that?
Wilt eats Howard for breakfast lunch and dinner. If Howard struggles playing against Yao, why would he do better against a more athletic, stronger Wilt. Who has Howard played against that's so great. Bogut? Brook Lopez? Perkins? Other than Yao (which he got dominated), and the corpse of Shaq. Howard played against mediocre centers/mostly power forwards his entire Career. Yet he has only managed to average 22.9 ppg in his best season.
He's still shot 60%. If you use that argument for Dwight then you should handicap Wilt even more. He also played Yao mostly before his real prime. I'm also asking Dwight to be mainly a defensive force which he is. Orlando with 4 subpar defenders is a top 5 defensive team simply because of Dwight. They don't have a single other defensive stopper on the team. Yao was efective because of his height combined with shooting against Dwight. Wilt was more of a physical player and should have difficulty in combating Dwight who is as gifted physically.
