In 2008:

won in MTT prizes: $224,108
total profit: $138,322

Yeah, but how much have you lost?

regarding Haywood, he really came on this year...but you're getting him for 4 years before this year and he was most definitely worse for those 4 years.

man i just realized how fitting a nickname epeen is.

LINK


P.S. Yes I get that its a joke btw.

If by a ton you mean one with tbach and the usual epippen run ins then yes I have been getting in a ton of arguments.

Couldn't disagree more with the first part.

ePippen sure knows how to draw attention to himself

Round #6 / Pick 239 Bryon Russell

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dPCFRQs0XE4

Although famously (infamously in his case?) linked to Jordan, Bryon Russell carved out his reputation as a defensive stopper who was a pivotal piece on the elite Utah Jazz teams featuring Stockton & Malone. There was, afterall, a reason he was assigned to Jordan throughout the finals. This play is often cited as the greatest moment in professional basketball (Jordan, at the time, ending his career w/ that shot) but also the debate that ensued (did the great one push off or not?) helped propel this moment to such lofty heights. As a huge Jazz fan, clearly I feel it was a push off, but Bryon Russell was not going to get that call. That said, Bryon (no nickname, sadly) was a hard-nosed defender, a very durable player who enjoyed a long career, played in 3 NBA finals (Jazz x2, Lakers x1), was a great locker room presence, and was a reliable outside shooter. I'm going to do what I've done with Bryon that I've done with everyone else: List accomplishments, show stats, and explain his role.

Team BobboFitos:
PG - Terrell Brandon (5'11)
SG - Andrew Toney (6'3), Danny Ainge (6'4)
SF - Eddie Jones (6'6), Bryon Russell (6'7)
PF - Derrick Coleman (6'10)
C - Shaquille O'Neal (7'1)

*Will explain my starting 5 at the bottom.

Bryon Russell was a 6'7/225 lbs. SF from CSU: Long Beach. (Hailed from San Bernardino, CA) Bryon played 13 productive seasons, mainly with the Jazz (fills a need of having at least 1 member of the Utah Jazz on my team) but had a brief stint with the Wizards, Lakers, and Nuggets to end his career. Bryon never made any all-star teams nor did he get any all-defensive nods, which marks the first player on my team that does not possess any of these awards.

Bryon came into the league as a 23 yr old, where he averaged just 16.7 mpg. His following 2 years he got some DNP: CD (did not miss games because of injuries) and did not see consistent playing time until he was 26. Most of this time will get wiped away, but it's worth mentioning from 23-25 he averaged 13.5 mpg, 10.8 PER, and even his per 36 stats were unimpressive: 11.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2.0 spg. Beyond this, Bryon was consistent but never excellent, posting a 13.7, 12.9, 14.1, 15.1, 14.1 PER clip. As noted with Danny Ainge, outside shooting and defense are not as noticeable in PER, and thus players suffer from that metric. That said, rating wise Bryon posts excellent results: 109 career ORtg (above average efficiency) and 103 career DRtg (incredible wing defensive efficiency). Bryon posted 2 "116" ORtg seasons as well (as a 26/27 yr old, his peak) and had several stellar defensive seasons, but his "99" as a 28 yr old was his best. If I chose to start Russell w/ Eddie Jones, I think I'll have one of the best (if not best) defensive wing tandems.

Health-wise, Bryon was amazing. From 1996 to 2001, he only missed 3 games. TOTAL. Even in his 30s, he posted seasons of 70, 72, and 70 games played. During his stretch of missing only 3 games total, Bryon averaged more than 30 mpg as well (31.2, 27.1, 35.4, 35.4, 31.7, 30.3) - needless to say this is a huge "plus" for Bryon. Further, hitting off on intangibles, I linked the youtube above with his clutch shot in the 97 playoff run, so he is CAPABLE of taking (and making) a big shot, and also his teammates always spoke fondly of him. (Stockton/Malone loved having Bryon on their team) This was important to me that I avoid any locker room cancers, since DC has questionable issues I didn't want anyone else to confuse him or lead him to trouble.

Defensively, Bryon is best suited at the 3 whole, but since he's strong (225 lbs!) I can occasionally put him at the 4 if I want to go small. He's an adept shooter so either wing slot works out, but I don't think I'll play him very much at the 2, because I have a logjam of minutes available at that spot. For his career, as noted Bryon had a stellar defensive reputation and ratings, but also performed admirably in the "box-score" stats: 1.6 SPG per 36 (vs just 1.5 TOPG per 36, so he forces more TOs than he himself commits), 3.9 DRB per 36 (12.9% DRB%, which is slightly better than normal for a 3), and just 3.6 PF per 36. (A very low fouling rate, especially for a player who always had the toughest assignment)

Offensively, Bryon is not the focus of my team. He is there to spread the floor, as he has a career TS% of .545, which is much better when you start to analyze his peak years. (Obviously, but the point is that his early years he barely played and suffered from that lack of PT) From the age of 26 to 30, he put up seasons of: .600, .570, .572, .550, and .565. Very impressive numbers, especially when you zone in on his 3pt shooting (career 36.9%, hitting over 40% on 3s as a 30 yr old and 26 yr old). Also note he shot 2.2 a game, or per 36, 3.4 a game, which means he wasn't only taking "wide open looks," but rather consistently looked for his own shot. He's an average FT shooter for a 3 (75%) but did get to the line 2.3 a game. (or 3.5 per 36). Bryon's usage hovered around 16.1% for his career, so he was not a high bulk guy by any stretch of the imagination - in fact, he never had higher than 18.4%, which means he was happy sharing the ball (but could score when given the opportunity). This works for me since I don't have a ton of shots to go around, since Shaq, DC, Eddie, Tee Bee, and Andrew Toney are all guys who love having the ball. Note that since I will be running the Triangle offense, shooters to space the floor are of the utmost importance, and now I have a whole stable full of them: Eddie Jones, Danny Ainge, now Bryon Russell, not to mention Terrell Brandon and Andrew Toney were competent in this department, too.

Going back to my overall philosophy (balance) I think Bryon at this spot offers me an above average 3pt threat, a guy that can lock down his opposing man, and will be in my lineup night in and night out to log consistent minutes. Bryon does a very good job forcing TOs, so my defensive backcourt will be able to run off a TO when necessary.

*As I asterisked during my lineup, I only have 2 bigs thus far in DC and Shaq, so they're locked in as my 4 and 5. But I'm flirting with the notion of...

When Offensive: PG - Terrell Brandon 5'11, SG - Andrew Toney 6'3, SF - Eddie Jones 6'6
Standard Starting Lineup: PG - Terrell Brandon 5'11, SG - Eddie Jones 6'6, SF - Bryon Russell 6'7
When Defensive: PG - Danny Ainge 6'4, SG - Eddie Jones 6'6, SF - Bryon Russell 6'7

I have various ideas, but I like my team alot right now!

the problem is that he loves overrating his team, and then constantly defending himself when he gets called out, trying to get people to "prove" him wrong, and protracting an argument even longer and longer, until, as has happened in this thread, the argument is actually about HIM.

it's bull****.

let's get back to the picks, huh?

yeah, i agree. he overreacts when defending his team and i think at this point im just "used" to it and kinda ignore it.

so yeah - what do ya'll think of:
Haywood
Perkins
Malone
Russell
Barros
Xman
Dell Curry

I think:
Haywood is much better than Perkins, but not as good as Elden Campbell. The other Cs that went before him were Gman, Cage, and Tarpley, and I think I like Haywood better than Tarpley as well. (Tarpley = terridle pick)

Perkins went too high, but epi loves the Celts and Perk DID just win a ring. I mean, Malone never got a ring, therefore Perk > mailman, amirite? Seriously though Perkins would've been gone in 50 picks, I'm just surprised Epi felt the need to trade up (yet again)

I've looked at Jeff Malone for a while (I can't draft anymore SGs though! I love SGs!) and the thing that bothered me about him was that he had a .533 career TS, which for a guy known for his scoring, really isn't that great. He was good at not turning over the ball, which considering his usage rate (25.1% career!) was phenomenal. I really like the Usg%:TOV% number, as it shows "how often the ball is in your hands" type deal, and Malone performs great in that measurement. That said his defense sucks, he didn't get to the line enough given how often he shot the ball (and his FT shooting was a great strength he didn't get to showcase) and he couldn't shoot 3s. (I HATE SGs that can't shoot 3s; he was a career 26.8% on 321 attempts... Career! Yuck, just couldn't do it)

I can't comment on my own pick, I obviously like it, hope others do too. I needed a conventional SF, and I thought he was one of the best defenders available. This goes back to the arguments of "role players of yesteryear being underrated", but we'll see. He's certainly the first non-all star on my team.

Dana Barros is a nice pick. He bounced around alot though strangely. Great shooter, really good off the bench scoring, his all star season he put up .632 TS (WOW!). Can't believe I forgot about him.

I commented on Xman/Curry I think.

who is the best poker player who posts in SE alot? would be interesting discussion. my vote would be lapoker.

OK so Perkins is a good pick b/c Epip makes money at poker?

[ ] I get it

I won a 3000 player donkament, that makes me the best

Love the Jeff Malone pick. Was a finalist who lost out to Curry at my pick.

Not sure why all the love for Haywood. I mean, really? He deserves to get drafted, but I think this is a little early. Obv better than Perkins, but this is a guy who can't stay on the court enough to beat out Etan Thomas for several years.

we should have a se donkament.

lol THAT WOULD SOLVE EVERYTHING amirite?

I've never knowingly played with any of the SE guys, but I'm going to go ahead and just say I'm the best.

my list:
1. tbach42
2. doomswitchmeidareyou
3. clarknasty

gotta be the 1-2-3 of poker talent around this board AINEC

Doubt I make the top 10 let alone top 3.

no way man you are top 3, ALMOST as good as Tbach.

clark, u still beat up the live vegas games? does mirage still get games?

Haywood- Really surprisingly solid to me. Someone mentioned earlier that they thought he was going to be a scrub coming out of UNC and I remember thinking the same. I think he gets a little selfish in the post sometimes when he feels like he's not involved in the offense but he can definetly help on the offensive end and also rebound well.

Perkins- I'm still not really sold on him. It's been mentioned why he went here though and I'm not going to get into it further.

Malone- Somehow slipped by my radar and I don't really remember him TBH. Looks like a pretty good scorer though.

Russell- I remember him as being a do the little things kinda guy that succeeds on elite teams like those Jazz squads. In a league like this, I can see him doing very well. Needs to learn to take a charge better when people push off though.

Barros- +1 for completely forgetting about him. Great little shooter. Love him with Lebron. Doesn't he hold the record for most consecutive games with a 3?

XMan- Another guy I considered for my last pick. Remember him being a bit of a badass...coulda been some fun teams to see him on. Liked the pick.

Dell- Pretty atrocious defender but became great at the 3 ball as he aged. Plus he's got little Stephen.

I like the jeff malone pick

Russell pick seems redundant to me, you arleady have EJ, a good defender there. Even so Russell is great value this late. Do people here rank russell along with the posey bell bowen battier league ? or is he way below them.

Nice brag about being modest.

EJ is more of a 2 although he can play the 3, but I agree, Russell is very similar. Which is one reason why I like him Even though Russell is my pick I would rank him below Battier/Bowen obviously, but he's on par with the Poseys of the world.