Team White Chocolate:
PG - Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz
SG - Jrue Holiday / Devonte’ Graham
SF - Jayson Tatum / RJ Barrett / DeAndre Hunter
PF - Derrick Favors / Blake Griffin
C - Jonas Valanciunas
Team David Hume:
PG - Kemba Walker / Terry Rozier
SG - D’Angelo Russell / Josh Richardson
SF - Will Barton / Joe Harris
PF - Bam Adebayo / Kyle Kuzma
C - Joel Embiid / Andre Drummond
Team White Chocolate write-up:
First glance of both teams, I definitely have better players my starting line-up from 1-3.
Chris Paul > Kemba Walker
Jrue Holiday > D’Angelo Russell
Jayson Tatum > Will Barton
Kemba and Russell are really going to be able to guard Paul and Jrue for a whole series? That’s laughable at best. My starters are all good defenders.
Favors/Valanciunas pairing down would be enough to slow down Bam/Embiid.
Favors would have a role similar to what he had in Utah. Start at PF but would also be the back-up C.
Paul/Favors pick-n-roll would be pretty nice with Jrue and Tatum on the wing. I also have Graham off the bench as a 6th man who is easily the best 6th man in this entire thing. He averaged 18.2 PPG/7.5 APG this year and he’s coming off my bench. I truly don’t see how the other team would be able to stop my team from scoring.
Team David Hume write-up:
White Chocolate is an honorable colleague and he has put together an honorable team, but one that cannot survive this competition. Let’s start with Blake Griffin. He’s a shell of his former self. 10 years ago, a great player, but age and seemingly chronic, constant injuries make him an anachronism. He can’t keep up with a youthful Bam Adebayo. And ancient, declining Al Horford and Valancianus trying to slow down Embiid? Embiid will eat them alive. Even Favors has seen better days.
Chris Paul is aging gracefully and still has something to offer, but his best years are behind him as well. Kemba Walker should be at least as good. Colin Sexton is improving, but either De’Angelo Russell, or if I need stronger defense, Josh Richardson, should hold. During an earlier round someone commented that Kemba Walker and De’Angelo Russell would not make an ideal defensive pairing. Fine, I can always play Josh Richardson starters minutes because he is a true defender capable of guarding 3 positions. Bam can legitimately guard 5 positions (just ask Spencer Dinwiddie). And while I concede that Jayson Tatum is more talented than Will Barton at the wing, 538 (statistician Nate Silver’s website) has intriguing analysis demonstrating that Barton is very underrated and is in fact an excellent complimentary player on a winning team.
If White Chocolate’s team is forced to double team Embiid, Bam, and/or Drummond down low, Joe Harris (3-point Champion) and Terry Rozier are going to light it up with 3 pointers. Kyle Kuzma can do much the same.
In summary, White Chocolate’s team—Blake Griffin, Al Horford in particular, and to a lesser extent Chris Paul and Derrick Favors---is a team chock full of players on the decline and cannot survive a war with the likes of Embiid and Bam rampaging on the inside and Harris, Walker and Rozier providing long range shooting.
PG - Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz
SG - Jrue Holiday / Devonte’ Graham
SF - Jayson Tatum / RJ Barrett / DeAndre Hunter
PF - Derrick Favors / Blake Griffin
C - Jonas Valanciunas
Team David Hume:
PG - Kemba Walker / Terry Rozier
SG - D’Angelo Russell / Josh Richardson
SF - Will Barton / Joe Harris
PF - Bam Adebayo / Kyle Kuzma
C - Joel Embiid / Andre Drummond
Team White Chocolate write-up:
First glance of both teams, I definitely have better players my starting line-up from 1-3.
Chris Paul > Kemba Walker
Jrue Holiday > D’Angelo Russell
Jayson Tatum > Will Barton
Kemba and Russell are really going to be able to guard Paul and Jrue for a whole series? That’s laughable at best. My starters are all good defenders.
Favors/Valanciunas pairing down would be enough to slow down Bam/Embiid.
Favors would have a role similar to what he had in Utah. Start at PF but would also be the back-up C.
Paul/Favors pick-n-roll would be pretty nice with Jrue and Tatum on the wing. I also have Graham off the bench as a 6th man who is easily the best 6th man in this entire thing. He averaged 18.2 PPG/7.5 APG this year and he’s coming off my bench. I truly don’t see how the other team would be able to stop my team from scoring.
Team David Hume write-up:
White Chocolate is an honorable colleague and he has put together an honorable team, but one that cannot survive this competition. Let’s start with Blake Griffin. He’s a shell of his former self. 10 years ago, a great player, but age and seemingly chronic, constant injuries make him an anachronism. He can’t keep up with a youthful Bam Adebayo. And ancient, declining Al Horford and Valancianus trying to slow down Embiid? Embiid will eat them alive. Even Favors has seen better days.
Chris Paul is aging gracefully and still has something to offer, but his best years are behind him as well. Kemba Walker should be at least as good. Colin Sexton is improving, but either De’Angelo Russell, or if I need stronger defense, Josh Richardson, should hold. During an earlier round someone commented that Kemba Walker and De’Angelo Russell would not make an ideal defensive pairing. Fine, I can always play Josh Richardson starters minutes because he is a true defender capable of guarding 3 positions. Bam can legitimately guard 5 positions (just ask Spencer Dinwiddie). And while I concede that Jayson Tatum is more talented than Will Barton at the wing, 538 (statistician Nate Silver’s website) has intriguing analysis demonstrating that Barton is very underrated and is in fact an excellent complimentary player on a winning team.
If White Chocolate’s team is forced to double team Embiid, Bam, and/or Drummond down low, Joe Harris (3-point Champion) and Terry Rozier are going to light it up with 3 pointers. Kyle Kuzma can do much the same.
In summary, White Chocolate’s team—Blake Griffin, Al Horford in particular, and to a lesser extent Chris Paul and Derrick Favors---is a team chock full of players on the decline and cannot survive a war with the likes of Embiid and Bam rampaging on the inside and Harris, Walker and Rozier providing long range shooting.
