Four-man core vol. 2, Round 1: parsnips33 vs durantbird*

[flaco]

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**

[durantbird]

PG: Derek Harper 90' - 14.2
SG: Ray Allen 01' - 16.0
SF: Paul Pierce 08' - 13.7
PF: OG Anunoby 20' - 8.2
C: Kevin Garnett 08' - 13.9

Bench: George Hill 13' - 11.5
Bench: James Posey 08' - 5.6
Bench: Kendrick Perkins 08' - 4.5

87.6/88

Derek Harper 34 / George Hill 14
Ray Allen 36 / George Hill 10 / James Posey 2
Paul Pierce 36 / James Posey 12
OG Anunoby 32 / James Posey 16
Kevin Garnett 40 / Kendrick Perkins 8

Vs

Gary Payton II / Bruce Brown
Jimmy Butler / Bruce Brown
Michael Porter Jr / Richard Jefferson
Aaron Gordon / Evan Mobley
Nikola Jokic / Evan Mobley

Matchup:
- Defensive assignments: Garnett vs Jokic, Anunoby vs Butler, Pierce vs Gordon, Allen vs MPJ, Harper vs Payton II.
- We match up well here. Garnett in his prime defensive years is the perfect counter against Jokic. With Payton II being a non threat offensively, we can double up their other attack focal point in Butler with Anunoby/Harper, two elite defenders who will make his life extremely difficult. While Allen on MPJ isn't ideal, he also faces defensive challenges with MPJ, Jokic and Payton who is too small to guard any of our lineup. Jokic is a solid rim protector, but Garnett will make him work hard and push him out of his comfort zone being a threat further from the basket.
- While Butler is a better talent than Murray, I'm not sure the overall chemistry here is better than real life Nuggets, also given the loss of KCP for Payton. With Payton, Butler and Gordon the spacing here is relatively weak for a Jokic team; and while Jokic is the main ball handler, part of the chemistry with Murray is him setting Jokic up, while Payton is a low end leading PG with no real replacement off the bench. Our team presents great spacing with everyone on our team expect Perkins being outside shooters, led by the dynamic wing duo of Allen and Pierce.
- We have a proven formula, with some clear upgrades, e.g. Allen in his prime years in Bucks, Harper/Hill as a great two way duo that are both an improvement over Rondo in my eyes being able to space the floor while keeping up with good defense, and Anunoby for added versatility.

[parsnips33]

19-20 Jimmy Butler - 13.1 FGA
22-23 Nikola Jokic - 14.8 FGA
22-23 Aaron Gordon - 11.2 FGA
22-23 Michael Porter Jr - 13.2 FGA
22-23 Bruce Brown - 9.3 FGA
21-22 Gary Payton II - 4.8 FGA
22-23 Evan Mobley - 12.0 FGA
10-11 Richard Jefferson - 7.9 FGA

Total FGA - 86.3/88.0

Gary Payton II (24) / Bruce Brown (24)
Jimmy Butler (40) / Bruce Brown (8)
Michael Porter Jr (32) / Richard Jefferson (16)
Aaron Gordon (36) / Evan Mobley (12)
Nikola Jokic (40) / Evan Mobley (8)

Writeup:

Let me start off by writing a bit about '22 GPII as I'm not sure others watched him as much as I did. This guy shot over 82% at the rim, over 65% from 3-10 feet and over 40% from the corner 3. Approaching 68% true shooting for the season. A preternatural feel for off-ball cutting. By all means, please double off of this guy - it's not like he's playing alongside one of the greatest passers in league history who's famous for finding off-ball cutters. This is all without even mentioning his defense which, on a per minute basis, rivals his own father. I have ZERO concern with Payton guarding Derek Harper or Allen or switching onto OG or Paul Pierce on a possession by possession basis - it's a cliche but the guy plays just way bigger than his size.

Now that I've defended his honor

We'll start off

GP on Harper
Butler on Ray Allen
Gordon of Pierce
MPJ on OG
Jok on KG

Between GP, Jimmy, and Gordon with Bruce Brown off the bench we can throw tons of ball pressure at his perimeter players. Think Jokic can do a decent job on Boston KG - much less of an athleticism disadvantage compared to peak Big Ticket.

Offensively, I think Jokic is just gonna pick this defense apart. KG obviously a great defender but Jokic easily has 40-50 pounds on him - I think he's gonna do a lotta damage inside and potentially put early fouls on Garnett. Maybe you adjust and bring Perkins in a bit more but that changes the offensive math significantly. More importantly than scoring on KG is just keeping him fully occupied and attached to Jokic - there's NO other rim protector on the court and Jimmy, AG, and GP are gonna run riot on cuts to the basket. You've got MPJ and Richard Jefferson on the wing who both shot well over 40% from 3 on volume and have no problem attacking the rim either.

Jimmy Butler has proven that he plays great with a passing hub big man working in PNR and hand-offs and cuts to the rim and can obviously turn up the intensity and pull tricks out of his bag when the moment calls for it. I actually think the fit with Jokic is about as good as you can get.

Ultimately, I think KG is just being asked to do too much here in trying to shut down Jokic and anchor the team defense.

Good luck DB, may the best team win

[Fadeaway_J]

Jokic can cover a multitude of sins as an offensive hub, but I feel like parsnips is asking too much of even him here. MPJ is his only reliable outside shooter - GPII and Gordon can't both occupy the dunker spot simultaneously, and the spread pick-and-roll with Jokic doesn't have any "spread" here (not to mention Butler isn't providing the pullup three threat Murray does). Off the bench we have Mobley (non-shooter) and Brown (OK at best on low volume), with Jefferson the only respite. Even Jokic can only do so much against prime KG with the rest of durantbird's team having the ability to shrink the floor liberally. Conversely, the Boston Big Three looks more formidable with a PG who is an actual scoring threat and a capable stretch 4. Parsnips does have an amazing defensive group around Jokic (no need to defend GPII in that regard, the guy is a menace), but durantbird's is also strong enough that his offensive superiority carries the day.

Vote: durantbird

[flaco]

Love db's small-ball lineup. They should give Jokic all kinds of problems: He cannot defend in space, especially against an elite roll man like KG. He cannot close out on wing shooters either. Jokic is unguardable in his own right, but KG should at least slow him down. I also think db has a more balanced lineup. While Payton was a useful role player, he was immensely benefited by the Warriors system feeding off the gravity of Steph and Klay. Highly doubt he'd be equally efficient alongside 2 interior-oriented players in Butler and Gordon.

Vote: durantbird

[flaco]

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Need votes please.

[Dr Positivity]

Don't love Payton II starting on a team with weaker shooters Butler/Gordon and durantbird's Celtics build is pretty strong. Vote durantbird.

[flaco]

Durantbird advances to the Semi Finals.