Best of Enemies Draft : Semis - durantbird vs flaco*

[Laimbeer]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes advances**

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...

[durantbird]

PG: Jerry West 71' - 16.7 - MVP (2), DEF1
SG: Eddie Jones 98' - 12.6 - All Star, DEF2, 39% 3
SF: Glen Rice 96' - 16.4 - All Star, 42% 3
PF: Rick Fox 01' - 7.9 - NBA Champion, 39% 3
C: Karl Malone 98' - 18.2 - MVP (2), DEF1, NBA Finalist

Bench: Bruce Bowen 03' - 5.8 - DEF2, NBA Champion, 44% 3
Bench: Tyson Chandler 11' - 5.5 - DEF2, DPOY (3), NBA Champion
Bench: Gary Payton II 22' - 4.8 - NBA Champion, 36% 3

Rotation:
PG: Jerry West (39) / Gary Payton II (9)
SG: Eddie Jones (36) / Bruce Bowen (8) / Gary Payton II (4)
SF: Glen Rice (34) / Bruce Bowen (14)
PF: Rick Fox (28) / Karl Malone (16) / Bruce Bowen (4)
C: Karl Malone (22) / Tyson Chandler (26)

87.9/88

-Defensive assignments: West vs Payton, EJ vs Tatum, Rice vs Cooper, Fox vs Bird, Malone vs Parish.
-We match up well here. We have different wing defenders in EJ, Fox, Bowen to give Tatum and Bird different looks, with some Malone as well.
-Our big advantage is having a perfect cohesion between West and Malone as a pick and roll duo which would be extremely though to guard with great shooting around them. He doesn't really match up well against Malone as he will bring Parish out of his element and force him for tough situations further from the basket, and Bird will also have trouble against him in the minutes guarding him.
-I think we also have better depth, with Chandler-Bowen-Fox-Payton as 5 to 8.

[flaco]

Best of luck, durantbird!



Rotation
PG: Gary Payton (38) / Michael Cooper (10)
SG: Michael Cooper (28) / Aaron McKie (20)
SF: Jayson Tatum (38) / Larry Bird (10)
PF: Larry Bird (28) / Robert Horry (20)
C: Robert Parish (36) / Andrew Bogut (12)

Offense
I fully understand db's decision to bench Chandler and go small. Problem is, EJ and Fox are 2 inches shorter than Tatum and Bird respectively. I'd argue both these defensive assignments are mismatches in my favor. Bird/Tatum would be shooting over their individual defenders all series long.

The big 4 of Payton-Tatum-Bird-Parish should complement each other well. The first three are 3-level scorers. Parish lacked 3pt range, but had a reliable mid-range jumper. Cooper, McKie and Horry stretch the floor. Parish sets hard picks for my ball handlers including Larry and Tatum. The screening action should create either an open 3 or an even bigger mismatch on the perimeter. Needless to say, Bird and Tatum can put the ball on the floor and attack mismatches. We know for a fact Bird-Parish had great synergy in real life having won 3 rings together, 1 of them in their selected season. When Payton rests, Bird-Tatum are the de facto PGs in the half court.

Defense
Parish/Bogut drop in the PnR. They stay close enough to Malone to contest the mid-range 2. Malone averaged 43.9% from long 2 throughout his career. That's nothing special in terms of efficiency. Worst case scenario, if he hits a couple of shots, we switch the PnP. On-ball D should be elite with 2 DPOY winners in Payton and Cooper. Those two plus McKie are my POA defenders. McKie was a terrific defender in his own right as evidenced by his DBPM of +2.0. We go over the pick against West and dare him to either shoot the long 2 off the dribble (with the POA defender trying to contest the shot from behind) or attack the basket against Parish/Bogut. Parish is widely considered a top 15 Center of all time. I'd argue Bogut is one of the best backup bigs in our games. He was a regular starter for a team that reached the Finals in his selected season and recorded a DBPM of +3.2. Wing D should be strong with 6 switchable defenders on the roster including Payton who can hold his own against taller opponents on switches.

FGA
1986 Larry Bird 19.6
2023 Jayson Tatum 21.1
1996 Gary Payton 15.8
1986 Michael Cooper 7.4
1999 Robert Horry 3.8
1986 Robert Parish 11.9
2016 Andrew Bogut 4.0
1997 Aaron McKie 4.4

Total: 88.0

[Fadeaway_J]

Can't argue with durantbird downsizing here, and I don't know how well Parish will do guarding Malone at the elbow with all that shooting around him. On the other hand, flaco does indeed have the size advantage now, especially on the boards where Rice and Fox aren't giving you much as a forward pairing. Both teams have good frontcourt depth without much perimeter creation beyond the starting five - those minutes could end up being a rockfight. I think I just about prefer the collective firepower of Bird-Tatum-Payton here, as I'm not so confident in durantbird's offensive group when the ball isn't in West's hands (or if Payton can hound him into some off nights).

Vote: flaco

[Dr Positivity]

Poor matchup for durantbird having to start Fox who Bird still goes off on, and him, Payton and Tatum big 3 is a bit too much of a big 3 to overcome here. Vote flaco.

[durantbird]

Poor matchup for durantbird having to start Fox who Bird still goes off on, and him, Payton and Tatum big 3 is a bit too much of a big 3 to overcome here. Vote flaco.

I actually drafted Fox specifically for a potential matchup against Larry Bird. I believe he's good enough to be a starter and a good defensive answer. I believe Parish on Malone is more of a problem but maybe that's just me.

[Snakebites]

There is a loss of rim protection that comes from swapping Flaco for Fox in this lineup, and it also does make db fairly undersized in this matchup, and while it does give him a pair of strong perimeter defenders, I agree with the notion brought fourth by flaco that they just aren't big enough to effectively guard Tatum and Bird.

I'm not wild about Glen Rice here either. He's a pylon defensively (part of the reason db felt the need to make this switch) and also wasn't a super effective off-ball player, which is part of the reason he never meshed all that well in LA.

I still think db has an edge talent wise here, but the matchup doesn't favor him, and I think his change creates almost as many issues as it solves.

Vote flaco

[durantbird]

GG flaco.

I was between Fox and Marcus Morris in my last round. Wonder if it would have helped in this matchup

[Laimbeer]

flaco advances.