Team White Chocolate:
PG - Stephen Curry / Derrick Rose
SG - Klay Thompson / Kyle Korver
SF - Danny Green / Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF - Marvin Williams / Dirk Nowitzki
C - Andre Drummond / Greg Monroe
Team Eminence:
PG - Chris Paul / Marcus Smart
SG - Khris Middleton / Lou Williams
SF - Robert Covington / Andre Roberson
PF - Paul Millsap / Nikola Mirotic
C - Cody Zeller / Nerlens Noel
Eminence's Case:
Rotation (rough minutes estimate):
PG - Chris Paul (36) / Marcus Smart (12)
SG - Khris Middleton (24) / Lou Williams (18) / Marcus Smart (6)
SF - Robert Covington (30) / Khris Middleton (12) / Andre Roberson (6)
PF - Paul Millsap (36) / Nikola Mirotic (12)
C - Cody Zeller (30) / Nerlens Noel (18)
CP3/Middleton/Millsap as the 3 main guys, Williams/Covington/Zeller as the main support pieces, Smart/Roberson/Mirotic/Noel filling out the bench.
Offensive Strategy:
Give the ball to CP3 and watch him work, if he has decent guys around him he can lead a strong offense, the problems for his teams have always been bench/defense related. Team spacing will be solid, and Zeller/Noel will function great as mini DeAndre's, with solid defense and finishing. Millsap/Middleton/Williams will handle secondary creation duties, though none can lead an elite offense like CP3 I think they'll keep the offense afloat quite fine. Most of Williams minutes will be staggered with CP3, to have that pair function as the two primary ball-handlers. Specifically in regard to WC's team we feel good about whoever will try to match up on Millsap and think he could wind up having a great offensive series, additionally his bench guards (Rose/Korver) will have a tough time with Lou and he could really get cooking for a couple games.
Defensive Strategy:
Tried to build a balanced and strong defensive cast and think we did so successfully. Williams/Mirotic are the only two guys on the roster I'd classify as weaker defenders (I don't think either are horrible - Rose...), with the rest ranging from good to elite. Will try to keep the Williams/Mirotic duo off the court at the same time to minimize weak points (this should benefit the offense as well, as Mirotic should function better with more of a pass first lead guard like CP3). WC has a very interesting offensive team, but we do feel it lacks in secondary playmakers behind Curry, or the intelligent passing at every position required to really run a Golden State style system (looking at you Drummond). Behind Curry/Klay the offensive support feels washed up and solidly on the down slope of their careers (Rose/Korver/Dirk).
Key Defensive Assignments:
Thought about CP3 on one of his two lead guards (Curry/Klay), and am not worried about that matchup should switches occur, but feel in this series it might be better to conserve him a bit for offense and think we can afford to do so.
Curry - Middleton/Smart
Klay - Covington/Roberson
Can shift CP3 up to Danny Green/MKG and not worry about either of them punishing us with post ups or their own creation abilities (Williams will receive a similar assignment when he's in the game).
There ya go, vote for Team Eminence if ya please.
White Chocolate's Case:
I wanted to build a team that spaces the floor well and has multiple three-point shooters on the court.
Stephen Curry - 43.3% from three on 10.6 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Klay Thompson - 42% from three on 8.2 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Danny Green - 35.6% from three on 4.5 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Marvin Williams - 37.6% from three on 4.7 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
It's proven what the Steph/Klay combo have done together on the court and those two will create up a ton of open shots for Green and Williams.
In addition to these players I have the best rebounder in the league in Drummond to clean up their misses.
The league leader in double-doubles for the past 3 seasons is Andre Drummond with 163.
I don't see any way how I don't beat his starters 3-2 and possibly 4-1 (depending on how you feel about the Green/Covington matchup).
My bench is one of the best in this entire competition as well.
PG - Stephen Curry / Derrick Rose
SG - Klay Thompson / Kyle Korver
SF - Danny Green / Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF - Marvin Williams / Dirk Nowitzki
C - Andre Drummond / Greg Monroe
Team Eminence:
PG - Chris Paul / Marcus Smart
SG - Khris Middleton / Lou Williams
SF - Robert Covington / Andre Roberson
PF - Paul Millsap / Nikola Mirotic
C - Cody Zeller / Nerlens Noel
Eminence's Case:
Rotation (rough minutes estimate):
PG - Chris Paul (36) / Marcus Smart (12)
SG - Khris Middleton (24) / Lou Williams (18) / Marcus Smart (6)
SF - Robert Covington (30) / Khris Middleton (12) / Andre Roberson (6)
PF - Paul Millsap (36) / Nikola Mirotic (12)
C - Cody Zeller (30) / Nerlens Noel (18)
CP3/Middleton/Millsap as the 3 main guys, Williams/Covington/Zeller as the main support pieces, Smart/Roberson/Mirotic/Noel filling out the bench.
Offensive Strategy:
Give the ball to CP3 and watch him work, if he has decent guys around him he can lead a strong offense, the problems for his teams have always been bench/defense related. Team spacing will be solid, and Zeller/Noel will function great as mini DeAndre's, with solid defense and finishing. Millsap/Middleton/Williams will handle secondary creation duties, though none can lead an elite offense like CP3 I think they'll keep the offense afloat quite fine. Most of Williams minutes will be staggered with CP3, to have that pair function as the two primary ball-handlers. Specifically in regard to WC's team we feel good about whoever will try to match up on Millsap and think he could wind up having a great offensive series, additionally his bench guards (Rose/Korver) will have a tough time with Lou and he could really get cooking for a couple games.
Defensive Strategy:
Tried to build a balanced and strong defensive cast and think we did so successfully. Williams/Mirotic are the only two guys on the roster I'd classify as weaker defenders (I don't think either are horrible - Rose...), with the rest ranging from good to elite. Will try to keep the Williams/Mirotic duo off the court at the same time to minimize weak points (this should benefit the offense as well, as Mirotic should function better with more of a pass first lead guard like CP3). WC has a very interesting offensive team, but we do feel it lacks in secondary playmakers behind Curry, or the intelligent passing at every position required to really run a Golden State style system (looking at you Drummond). Behind Curry/Klay the offensive support feels washed up and solidly on the down slope of their careers (Rose/Korver/Dirk).
Key Defensive Assignments:
Thought about CP3 on one of his two lead guards (Curry/Klay), and am not worried about that matchup should switches occur, but feel in this series it might be better to conserve him a bit for offense and think we can afford to do so.
Curry - Middleton/Smart
Klay - Covington/Roberson
Can shift CP3 up to Danny Green/MKG and not worry about either of them punishing us with post ups or their own creation abilities (Williams will receive a similar assignment when he's in the game).
There ya go, vote for Team Eminence if ya please.
White Chocolate's Case:
I wanted to build a team that spaces the floor well and has multiple three-point shooters on the court.
Stephen Curry - 43.3% from three on 10.6 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Klay Thompson - 42% from three on 8.2 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Danny Green - 35.6% from three on 4.5 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
Marvin Williams - 37.6% from three on 4.7 attempts a game over the past 2 seasons.
It's proven what the Steph/Klay combo have done together on the court and those two will create up a ton of open shots for Green and Williams.
In addition to these players I have the best rebounder in the league in Drummond to clean up their misses.
The league leader in double-doubles for the past 3 seasons is Andre Drummond with 163.
I don't see any way how I don't beat his starters 3-2 and possibly 4-1 (depending on how you feel about the Green/Covington matchup).
My bench is one of the best in this entire competition as well.