(13) Chicago Bulls v (4) Boston Celtics

[bosoxlover12]

GM's, feel free to state your case as to why you should be chosen over your opponent.
 
Chicago Bulls
 
 C - Joakim Noah/Al Jefferson/ Joakim Noah

PF - Al Jefferson/Boris Diaw/Shawn Marion

SF - Thaddeus Young/Nick Young/Richard Jefferson

SG - Joe Johnson/Nick Young/Doug McDermott

PG - Ricky Rubio/Deron Williams/Deron Williams


I actually love this team, and here's why:
My starting five are as good as you'll see. My front court is led by the scoring of Al Jefferson and the passing and defensive ability of Joakim Noah. I realize that Al Jeff is a natural center but I believe with him and Noah on the floor at the same time we will dominate the boards and see good offensive flow between the two. On the wings I have Thaddeus Young who is a very capable defender and can get to the rim or shoot the ball effectively as well. Joe Johnson is at a point in his career where things are winding down but I believe he can still light it up beyond the arc and he plays the rest of his game like a savvy veteran should. The offense clearly flows through Rubio and his court vision and passing abilities and his scoring flaws won't be highlighted due to the ability to score of the players around him.

My bench unit is a team of it's own lead by Deron Williams and the bench mob can play a completely different style of basketball. While Deron can still shoot with the best of them I believe surrounding him with gritty defensive talent and shooting will allow him to shine and get buckets in transition as well as driving to the lane for the finish or the kick out to Swaggy P, R Jeff, Webster, or McDermott. I love having Marion and Diaw available as tough nosed defensive types that can still play their fair share of offense.

I think if I had to list some weaknesses they would be lack of front court depth and age, I feel that possibly too many of my players are over the hump and on the downturn of their careers i.e. Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson. But I also believe that the youth and spark from the younger dudes will help mask the declining ability of some past superstars.
 
____________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
Boston Celtics
 
C: Roy Hibbert (30)
F: Jabari Parker (27)
F: Kevin Durant (38)
G: Kobe Bryant (35)
G: Avery Bradley (26)

F Nene (21)
G Patrick Beverley (19)
F Kelly Olynyk (14)
F DeMarre Carroll (11)
G Nik Stauskas (11)
F Wayne Ellington (5)
F/C Bismack Biyombo (4)
 
 
START: 
Bradley/Bryant/Durant/Parker/Hibbert
BENCH:
Beverley/Stauskas/Carroll/Olynyk/Nene
BIG: 
Bryant/Durant/Parker/Nene/Hibbert
QUICK:
Beverley/Bradley/Stausaks/Durant/Olynyk
DEFENSE:
Beverley/Bradley/Carroll/Biyombo/Hibbert

3PT: 
Bradley/Stauskas/Bryant/Durant/Olynyk

 

[Pugz]

not huge on bradley at the point but i went with boston. the backup frontcourt of chicago is kinda weak imo

 

[bosoxlover12]

not huge on bradley at the point but i went with boston. the backup frontcourt of chicago is kinda weak imo

Its less of Bradley playing PG, and more of him just being a starter. Over his last 10 games, Bradley averaged 19.8ppg, with an 8pt outlier that makes it 21.1ppg without that game. Over the whole season, he averaged 14.9ppg on 44% shooting (and 39.5% from 3). Offensively, thats exactly what you'd want from Bradley. He's capable of bringing up the ball, and setting up the offense, but he wouldn't have to. We have Kobe and Durant for that.
 
And defensively, Bradley is one of the best in the entire league. Against Rubio, its not a huge factor, but against Derrick Rose, his defensive impact is extremely important. 

 

[dcpwner]

Yeah I had a feeling front court depth might get me...but at the same time one of Al Jeff or Noah is always on the floor and Diaw is the kind of guy I like to be the back up big man. Thad Young can also slide over to PF and Diaw at C if we play small ball.
Its pretty clear Boston has the advantage on the wings but I really think my front court would tear them apart. Roy Hibbert looks like he lost all desire to play basketball and Parker has no chance guarding Al Jeff down low.

 

[bosoxlover12]

Well against you, I'd start Nene, not Jabari.
 
And Nene+Hibbert can stop Noah+Jefferson's scoring a lot better than Thad+JJ can stop KD/Kobe

 

[dcpwner]

Doesn't change the fact that Roy Hibbert looks like he's ready to fuckin retire. Who knows what Kobe looks like now? I understand he still has the potential to be almost as good as he was but he has to have lost a step in every category, if not due to injury then at least due to age. Dude's been playing with no cartilage in his knees for like 3-4 years now...I love(d) Kobe, but I think he's done. That's not to say JJ is still in his prime but with this roster I think he works and I know he's still capable of putting in 18-20ppg, and Thad Young plays the style of ball to compliment JJ on the wing and I believe he can put in anywhere from 15-20ppg on this team. Although it is very hard to argue against KD scoring more than both of them combined on any given night but I think Thad is capable of defending KD well enough for me to win.

 

[dez]

This is how it's done..

Argue your point

 

[Mobruler]

Can you make a more enigmatic supporting cast to Kevin Durant?  A one-dimensional, straight defense PG, a SG who should be retired and may be Washington Wizards Jordan in the best case scenario,  a rookie starter at PF who not only has to deal with the fact that he's a rookie but also has to deal with the fact that he should be playing SF, and a C who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground 2 out of every 3 nights.  Sweet.

 

[bosoxlover12]

My Rebuttle:
 
1st off, the way I'd start my lineup, it would be, technically, Bryant at PG, Bradley at SG, Durant at SF, Nene at PF, and Hibbert at C. 
 
I still feel like Kobe can still score at a high rate. I probably should have taken Rose, but at the time of the draft, Kobe somehow had a brighter future than Rose. Either way, when Kobe played last year, he still performed very well. In the 6 games he played, half of them he put up over 20pts. One of the other 3 games, he dished out 13 assists, which could be very good for how I run the offense. And both Johnson and Rubio are not the best defenders, and I'd take Kobe in isolation versus one of them any day.
 
Bradley vs Joe Johnson. I thought about it, and I'd rather put my best defender on their best outside scorer. And the Bradley/Johnson matchup did occur last season. Using data from hoopsstats.com, Bradley started at SG, as did Johnson. And the results, are actually shocking. Johnson was 3-9 from the field, and scored 7 points. Bradley shot 50% from the field and put up 22 points. That matchup favored my roster pretty well. Obviously, that wouldnt happen every game, but it shows Bradley's scoring ability, as well as his defensive lockdown.
 
Thad played mostly PF with the Sixers, and rarely faced a player like Durant. The closest was probably Melo, who put up 21 on him. But Durant is a good bit faster than Melo, and is less post oriented, which doesn't favor Thad much at all. Getting Thad exposed on the perimeter would be the key, and Durant would be a safe bet to put up 25+ points.
 
You definitely have the advantage at PF, thats not really anything to debate. Nene would do better than Jabari at guarding Jefferson, but maybe Parker would help stretch Jefferson away from the post.
 
The main reason I drafted Hibbert was not for his scoring ability, or his rebounding. Despite his extreme slump last season, he was still arguably the 2nd best rim protector in the league, behind Dwight. His defensive presence, combined with intense on ball pressure from Bradley and Durant defensively, creates a good defensive environment. 
 
All in all, I am not nearly as scared as others on how Kobe will perform. I wouldn't have taken him if I didn't think he could put up 18-20+ a game. People are also sleeping on Bradley, who is a perfect 3&D player for this team. He absolutely developed an offensive game this past season, and is far from a liability. And a bench is a huge part of my vision. Jabari Parker is a great 6th man for this matchup, Beverley can come in and keep in the defensive intensity and not allow a lot of perimeter scoring. Carroll is a good defensive energy player, and Stauskas is a lights out shooter. 
 
***KEY POINT*** Not to mention, outside of Noah and Jefferson, they have no center. They have Diaw and Matrix, both 6'8" as their only other bigs. In 2K it might work for them, but in real life, they cannot play 48 minutes each. Both Noah and Jefferson averaged 35 minutes per game, which suggests that for 13 minutes, at least one of them will be out, maybe even both. If I play my small ball lineup, they'd probably get even more tired and play less than 35mpg. Their roster hurts when they have two guys over 6'8", where I have 6 of them 

 

[dcpwner]

Yeah I had thought about a minutes breakdown and came up with having Diaw play almost starter minutes at the 4 and rotate Al Jeff into the 5 role for the 15 or so minutes Noah takes off a game, and subsequently play Noah and Diaw/Marion/Thad while Al Jeff sits. This means at the 5 I'll always have a true post presence and rotate my other bigs in at the 4 where they're most comfortable. And it also means they would be seeing more like the 35 a game that they posted last year.

I'm also aware that Thad played mostly PF last year but I've always viewed him as a SF. He's decently athletic and I believe with the interior protection from Noah and Jefferson he could afford to take more risks on the perimeter where he has shown the ability to read passes and dribble moves and come up with steals. KD also likes his post game and I believe Thad has a good shot at cutting that out with his length and awareness.

Bradley is an up and coming player and I like what I've seen from him on both sides of the ball, but I still think that having a guy like JJ operating in a true SG role may be more valuable. He still kills it from the arc and he plays the rest of his game with a veterans perspective. Sure the matchup happened once and Bradley got the best of him but overall I value a guy like JJ over Bradley and I think most nights would be more even or lean in JJs favor.

Bench wise I feel like I have the upper hand. I like Nene but what I saw from Diaw in the playoffs was extraordinarily impressive. I like the veteran leadership I acquired in Marion and Jefferson and both are still very capable players and I'd even be willing to try putting the Matrix on Durant if it was clear that Thaddeus was being abused (which is possible, but I don't think as likely as you may think.) Having Nick Young and McDermott available to shoot opens up the game especially when the floor is being run by Deron Williams. Deron is definitely still a starting caliber PG and I chose him to run my bench crew because of his versatility in scoring and the way he sees the floor and will likely be able to find one of the shooters I've surrounded him with for open buckets often. I like McDermott>Stauskas, Williams>Beverley, Young>Carroll. I'll admit you drafted more big men than me and I even like the rotation of Hibbert, Nene and Parker but I think that a rotation of Noah, Al Jeff and Diaw is just better and more proven.