Ellis269
Jeff Teague - Dante Exum
Monta Ellis - Giannis Antekounmpo
Lebron James - Aaron Gordon
Kenneth Faried - Taj Gibson
Greg Monroe - Nerlene Noel
QSH
Derrick Rose - Jrue Holiday
Kobe Bryant - Caldewell-Pope
Trevor Ariza - Jamal Crawford
Pau Gasol - Boris Diaw
Marcin Gortat - Al Jefferson
Ellis269's case:
Key Matchups for my team. . .
LeBron James vs. Trevor Ariza = 25.1 ppg vs. 8.2 ppg (LeBron kills Ariza)
LeBron James vs. Boris Diaw = 26.1 ppg vs. 8.9 ppg (LeBron kills Diaw)
Kenneth Faried vs. Pau Gasol = 16.0 ppg vs. 18.1 ppg (Nearly even)
Greg Monroe vs. Marcin Gortat = 10.6 ppg vs. 10.0 ppg (Almost dead even)
Kobe Bryant vs. Monta Ellis = Will Kobe even be healthy enough to finish the season?
Knee? Ankle? Wrist? Achilles tendon? Something new?
Derrick Rose vs. Jeff Teague = This is the matchup that is rough on me. . . if Rose if fully healthy and playing up to form, he wins this matchup handily. . .
Ultimately, this matchup will come down to LeBron James (and role players) vs. Derrick Rose (and role players). LeBron James has had the clear edge in this matchup, even before D-Rose blew out his knee and then messed up the meniscus - basically costing him two full seasons.
In twenty-one Head-to-Head matchups between the two, LeBron James has averaged 28.5 points per game, with 3 games of 40+ points and 8 games of 30+ points, plus he never scored less than 15 points in a single game, while Derrick Rose averaged 20.7 points per game, with no games of 40+ points and only 2 games of 30+ points. . . oh. . . and he was held to under 15 points five times, with games of 14, 13, 12, 3 and 2 points - ouch! D-Rose only outscored LeBron 3 times out of those 21 matchups.
In those 21 games, LeBron won more than twice as many of them as well, 14 - 7 total wins, with an impressive 8 - 2 playoff record.
QSH might have the better bench (at this point) but ¾ of his team is either getting old or frequently injured (or both). My team is younger, more athletic and ascending, while his team is much older, much (much, much) more injured and several are descending in their careers. My reserves are untested, but they’re all extremely athletic, young kids who have solid defensive potential. The Greek Freak, Noel, Gordon and Exum would make a solid young core for a defensive-minded team down the road. They still need a shooter, but they can cut and slice through the defense to get to the basket and/or draw fouls. The trick is to mix in their minutes with four of the starters, so they’re not overwhelmed.
I lack outside shooting, but so does QSH’s team. None of his players are more of a threat to go off from downtown than any of mine. I have the best player in the game and an athletic group to support him. My team would have to play fast basketball with an emphasis on points in transition. If my opponents can slow it down to a half-court game, we switch to P&R with the idea to get the ball into LeBron’s hands as much as possible. Defense is more suspect than I’d like, but not downright awful either.
Looking at QSH’s team, the thing that jumps out at me is that he has so many oft-injured players that he can’t count on consistent performances from his group as a whole. Look at what the injury situation in L. A. did to the Lakers the past two seasons (count both Kobe and Pau as part of that problem). IMO - that’s the kind of team that he’s looking at. I’d get my young, athletic players to play rough and foul the hell out of his old or injured players. I’d force them to keep up with that for the whole series. I think that it would allow LeBron and company to play fast and mean, while guys like Kobe, Pau, Rose and Holiday would possibly be tentative to avoid getting injured yet again
Jeff Teague - Dante Exum
Monta Ellis - Giannis Antekounmpo
Lebron James - Aaron Gordon
Kenneth Faried - Taj Gibson
Greg Monroe - Nerlene Noel
QSH
Derrick Rose - Jrue Holiday
Kobe Bryant - Caldewell-Pope
Trevor Ariza - Jamal Crawford
Pau Gasol - Boris Diaw
Marcin Gortat - Al Jefferson
Ellis269's case:
Key Matchups for my team. . .
LeBron James vs. Trevor Ariza = 25.1 ppg vs. 8.2 ppg (LeBron kills Ariza)
LeBron James vs. Boris Diaw = 26.1 ppg vs. 8.9 ppg (LeBron kills Diaw)
Kenneth Faried vs. Pau Gasol = 16.0 ppg vs. 18.1 ppg (Nearly even)
Greg Monroe vs. Marcin Gortat = 10.6 ppg vs. 10.0 ppg (Almost dead even)
Kobe Bryant vs. Monta Ellis = Will Kobe even be healthy enough to finish the season?
Knee? Ankle? Wrist? Achilles tendon? Something new?
Derrick Rose vs. Jeff Teague = This is the matchup that is rough on me. . . if Rose if fully healthy and playing up to form, he wins this matchup handily. . .
Ultimately, this matchup will come down to LeBron James (and role players) vs. Derrick Rose (and role players). LeBron James has had the clear edge in this matchup, even before D-Rose blew out his knee and then messed up the meniscus - basically costing him two full seasons.
In twenty-one Head-to-Head matchups between the two, LeBron James has averaged 28.5 points per game, with 3 games of 40+ points and 8 games of 30+ points, plus he never scored less than 15 points in a single game, while Derrick Rose averaged 20.7 points per game, with no games of 40+ points and only 2 games of 30+ points. . . oh. . . and he was held to under 15 points five times, with games of 14, 13, 12, 3 and 2 points - ouch! D-Rose only outscored LeBron 3 times out of those 21 matchups.
In those 21 games, LeBron won more than twice as many of them as well, 14 - 7 total wins, with an impressive 8 - 2 playoff record.
QSH might have the better bench (at this point) but ¾ of his team is either getting old or frequently injured (or both). My team is younger, more athletic and ascending, while his team is much older, much (much, much) more injured and several are descending in their careers. My reserves are untested, but they’re all extremely athletic, young kids who have solid defensive potential. The Greek Freak, Noel, Gordon and Exum would make a solid young core for a defensive-minded team down the road. They still need a shooter, but they can cut and slice through the defense to get to the basket and/or draw fouls. The trick is to mix in their minutes with four of the starters, so they’re not overwhelmed.
I lack outside shooting, but so does QSH’s team. None of his players are more of a threat to go off from downtown than any of mine. I have the best player in the game and an athletic group to support him. My team would have to play fast basketball with an emphasis on points in transition. If my opponents can slow it down to a half-court game, we switch to P&R with the idea to get the ball into LeBron’s hands as much as possible. Defense is more suspect than I’d like, but not downright awful either.
Looking at QSH’s team, the thing that jumps out at me is that he has so many oft-injured players that he can’t count on consistent performances from his group as a whole. Look at what the injury situation in L. A. did to the Lakers the past two seasons (count both Kobe and Pau as part of that problem). IMO - that’s the kind of team that he’s looking at. I’d get my young, athletic players to play rough and foul the hell out of his old or injured players. I’d force them to keep up with that for the whole series. I think that it would allow LeBron and company to play fast and mean, while guys like Kobe, Pau, Rose and Holiday would possibly be tentative to avoid getting injured yet again
