PG
Chris Paul/Kyrie Irving/Hondo
Vs
Kidd/Lowry
People forget the impact Hondo could have at every role from 1-3. One of the best playmakers gives me an extra PG on the floor in almost every lineup. Kidd and Lowry are solid, but just solid. Paul easily matches Kidd, Irving is far ahead of Lowry, and the X-factor pushed be over the top.
Advantage: Paul/Irving/Hondo +++
SG
Petrovic/Hornacek/Hondo
Vs
Dumars/Gervin
Again the Havlicek presence has an impact. No he will not play all 48 minutes, but he averaged over 40 MPG for more than 1 season and at a very high level of play, so he could if needed. Also, I have 2 of the best pure shooters in the game. The perimeter impact will be strong.
Dumars is a strong defender, but he will need to help on Paul in the starting group, and Gervin was never known for D, nor is he a strong outside presence. In this case, we have a push in the starters, and advantage Gervin just for his offensive gravity off the bench, but Hornacek in his prime demanded an individual defender and it is questionable if Gervin is up to the task to work on both ends of the court.
Do the Dumars/Gervin combo eeks this one out, but not by a ton.
Advantage: Dumars/Gervin ++
SF
Havlicek/Johnson/AK
Vs
Erving/Mullin/Worthy
Here I have solid defenders with strong offensive ability. Hondo again shines in his starting role, capably defending against Erving, while demanding his own defender. Johnson easily negates Mullin. The X-factor is Worthy, who pushes this group ahead. But again, AK was a very capable individual defender and was all over the court, one of the few players to put together a 5x5 game, and he did it more than once. This will be a tougher matchup than you might think.
Advantage: Erving/Mullin/Worthy +++
PF
Malone/AK/Johnson
Vs
Gasol/Worthy/Love
Not much to say here. There is no one here who can stand up against Malone. Worthy is undersized for a PF, normally a SF. Love is a negative defender. Pau will give him a bit of trouble but there is no way he can go 1 on 1 against the mailman, who played stellar against much better defenders than Gasol. On the flip side, Malone was one of the best post defenders in the NBA, AK is self-evident, and I have him coming off the bench at the PF where he felt most comfortable, and Johnson was a versatile player at both SF and PF in spot minutes.
Advantage: Malone/AK/John ++
C
Gobert/Embiid/Malone
Vs
Robinson/Gasol/Love
There is no way Robinson can take on this 3-headed beast, and that is what it will amount to. Gasol cannot be both the starting 4 and the primary backup 5. That leaves Love, who is not a plus defender, especially against this group. Imagine Love subbing in on Malone. Or Embiid for that matter. I can also switch it up and move Malone to C, where he logged plenty of minutes, and go small and strong, or run out Embiid and Gobert together. Not a tough decision here, just too much for the Admiral to handle basically on his own.
Advantage: Gobert/Embiid/Malone ++
So just add up the plusses:
Troat: +++++ (5+)
Log” +++++++ (7+)
Notes:
I honestly do not see how Kidd/Dumars/Erving is that far ahead of Paul/Petrovic/Hondo. The bench skews in Troat’s favor for sure, but not that much. Match up for the back court is pretty even actually if you really look at it, and how the players work together.
Troat has too much mid-range, not enough floor spreaders. AK will have a field day on defense, not to mention trying to get anything up in the mid-range against Malone/Gobert/Embiid. Mullin and Lowry are really his only true 3-pt threats, maybe Gasol, while I have Paul/Irving/Pretrovic/Hornacek/Johnson/Embiid to spread the floor. Mix that with the extra strength I have in the post and this will be a very tough out. Give Malone and Embiid all the space they need and they will go to town.
Troat put together a good team, but his lack of floor spacing, inability to contain the post players, and over-loading of his best players on D will be the downfall.
Advantage: LogGrad98
