Western Conference Finals: Portland Trailblazers vs. Houston Rockets

Discussion in 'GM Draft 1' started by DynastYWarrioR6, Sep 20, 2008.

?

Winner?

Poll closed Sep 23, 2008.
  1. Portland Trailblazers

    11 vote(s)
    55.0%
  2. Houston Rockets

    9 vote(s)
    45.0%
  1. DynastYWarrioR6

    DynastYWarrioR6 JBB SmurfY

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    Pretty simple, vote for the winner of this matchup. Winner advances to play the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals.

    Portland Trail Blazers - lukewarmplay
    C: Yao Ming / Spencer Hawes / Aaron Gray
    PF: Rasheed Wallace / Jason Thompson
    SF: Hedo Turkoglu / Danilo Gallinari
    SG: Delonte West / Wilson Chandler / Daequan Cook
    PG: Mike Conley / D.J. Augustin

    Houston Rockets - DynastYWarrioR6
    C: Marcus Camby / Robin Lopez
    PF: Carlos Boozer / Sean Williams
    SF: Rashard Lewis / Andres Nocioni / Jarvis Hayes
    SG: Kyle Korver / Aaron Afflalo / Devin Brown
    PG: Jason Terry / Javaris Crittenton
     
  2. DynastYWarrioR6

    DynastYWarrioR6 JBB SmurfY

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    With a 7-game series, Houston (ironically) will exploit Yao Ming’s endurance and stamina issues. We have seen through playoff experience that Yao Ming cannot handle the physical toll that a 7-game playoff series can have on him. Now, evidence supports that Yao actually does well against teams like Utah and Dallas in the playoffs, but what about if he played a fast-paced offense? We’ll see. I think my big men are pretty mobile and will take advantage of a slow and tired Yao Ming this late in the playoffs (after two previous series of the same 7-game grueling series) and an aging Rasheed Wallace. We will attempt to run the Portland big men tired.
    Guard-wise, I have shooters to spread the floor, and force pick and roll issues because most of my players have pretty deep range or great mid-range shooting capabilities. Hedo excels at what he does because he shoots over smaller SF’s and now he is matched up with a taller defender on him in Rashard Lewis, who was his teammate. Rashard may not be a great defender, but has great length to guard an offensive player who is dependent on his shooting. Terry vs. Conley is the battle of experience. Terry has playoff experience and is the veteran who has played more minutes in these games than Conley ever has. That kind of experience can make a young man crack, and trust me I acknowledge Conley’s skill, but not in his first crack at the Conference Finals. Korver and Delonte is a wash, two different style players who excel at two different things. They are even in my mind if you take their respective skilled fields into account.

    When we compare the benches, I think overall my bench is better. Portland’s frontcourt is a slightly better version of Memphis’s frontline (from this draft, not the real Grizzlies) and I still think my frontcourt is better. Lopez, while unproven, merely asked to play D, provide energy, and rebound, which is the same that I ask of Sean Williams. Crittenton is a guard who has shown flashes of high level of skills to score and pass the ball, still a risk, but the man has been solid when given minutes. He also brings a lot of energy off the bench. Afflalo is a great energy player who plays solid D, and don’t think that he has forgotten how to score, the man can still play offense, and I’m not asking for 20pts, just consistency, which he can provide. Nocioni is the X-Factor and I think one of the main deciders of this series. I have a passionate, energetic player coming off my bench who has proven that he is solid enough to be a starter. He is a great player, a great scorer, and a great defender. If I wanted to go small ball, I can even run him at PF at times. I’ll even add that I have suitable third stringers who can backup my weakest positions, which are the two guard positions. Devin Brown can score, and Hayes is a solid backup, especially as a third stringer.

    I may not have a playmaker, but I don’t believe this team needs a godly playmaker to score. Simple, fundamental passing coupled with great shooters all around are key to this offense. Speed is also key to this offense and those sentiments are echoed from the starters to the 12th man. I may not have a great one man defender who can stop Yao, but I have 5 big men, and swarming seems to do fine, although I still believe that my speed and his own body are going to be the biggest defenders on him. Yao will be tired by this time of the playoffs, third seven game series. Same applies to Sheed. Both are very foul prone as well, look at Yao’s career and look at Sheed in last year’s playoffs (Celtic series: 5 games with 5+ fouls).

    I also want to end this on a different note. Although I think that I can win this series, I want to say that I have a formidable foe and a great, quality opponent. I want to say good luck to lukewarmplay, and I hope you do well.

    (TOTAL SIDENOTE: How the HELL did I make it this far???)
     
  3. pegs

    pegs My future wife.

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    San Antonio Spurs
     
  4. lukewarmplay

    lukewarmplay Hired Goons

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    But my team was clearly better as shown by my decision to cast a completely unbiased vote to break the tie. :snorkel:

    Alright, now that we're past the spurs, it should be clear sailing, but I totally wouldn't mind losing to the guy who's put so much work into this.

    That said, I match up really well here. Houston's got very little defense up front, and I've got a fairly decent frontcourt. Yeah, Rasheed's been described as aging by my opponents so much I almost believe he's playing with a wheelchair, yet somehow he was still an all-star last year. And described by Barkley as the most talented player in the league. And even though none of that counts for squat, he still managed to do pretty well, and he'll be able to defend Boozer on his lonesome- he did have a high average for fouls last season against the C's, but that was against Garnett, and he still averaged over 32 minutes. Turk was much better last season than his counterpart, $110 million teammate Rashard Lewis. Conley probably doesn't measure up to Terry, but Terry's playing out of position. I'm of the opinion that Delonte is more versatile and a better defender than Korver.

    I think our benches are for the most part very similar, relying on another year of development from promising players (but you've got settle on a rotation, DW- can't play 10 or 12), except that he's got Nocioni. If Noc's injuries are a thing of the past, which I suspect is the case, I think that gives his bench a decent edge. Obviously I don't think that puts his team close to over the top, but I am only completely unbiased. So we're going to do the same thing that got us this far, which is play through Yao and habitually feed the shooters, because he's going to have trouble defending that.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2008
  5. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Both teams have extremely good front courts, but are questionable in the back court. I voted Houston because even with Terry playing out of position, its back court and bench is a cut above.
     
  6. cpawfan

    cpawfan Monsters do exist

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    I went with Portland because they have actual point guards and then don't have Camby
     
  7. ghoti

    ghoti A PhD in Horribleness

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    The Rockets' big men are weaksauce. They don't have enough depth and that means their bench is not a "cut above".

    The guard rotation is a collection of non-starters and unproven players.

    The overall man defense is really poor, and there are so many key players who are poor individual defenders that I don't see how this team will stop anyone.

    I like a lot of the players on this team (and the GM, too!) but I think it's constructed poorly and would not pick them to make the playoffs. The fact that they are in the Conference Finals illustrates why voting in these polls is pointless.
     
  8. DynastYWarrioR6

    DynastYWarrioR6 JBB SmurfY

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    Hey hey, I did what I could with whatever Lava started with :(
    and I like you too :D
     
  9. Kid Chocolate

    Kid Chocolate Suspended

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    I honestly can't bring myself to call either of these teams Western Conference champions...and that's not being butthurt.
     
  10. DynastYWarrioR6

    DynastYWarrioR6 JBB SmurfY

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    You are being honest, we all respect that.

    About the unproven guards and non-starters, I think the same can be said about his guards as well. My third string players, who aren't your traditional sit on hte end of the bench third stringers are more than capable to step in for the players. if Afflalo or Crittenton struggle, Devin Brown can fill that role of a SG. Same for Hayes. About my team not having guards, I realize that, but I'm not asking for any spectacular play from these fellas, just your fundamental ball movement. Also regarding my defense, I never said I'd win with D. I win with offense. My best defense is my offense, and I've said that so often before in most of my series. I tihnk this late in the draft, with Yao's extended leave from the past year and his usual problems, I think he'd be tired by now. And the same can be said for an aging Wallace. This is not great D, it's just playing on people's weakness, which is their big men stamina and endurance. That can also be an effective way of playing.
     
  11. ghoti

    ghoti A PhD in Horribleness

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    I don't disagree with you. I doubt KC does, either.

    That's why he didn't vote for anyone. These are not Championship level teams.
     
  12. DynastYWarrioR6

    DynastYWarrioR6 JBB SmurfY

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    I like to play pretend.
     

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