Offensively, I do like his team. The only problem is that they don't have a great one-on-one wing player for last second shots or to force up(and make) tough shots when the shot clock is winding down. Moreover, I think that have a lot of guys that need the ball to be effective. Glen Rice wasn't just a spot up shooter, but with all of the touches that Hakeem/Strickland/Odom(and even West to some extent) are going to need, thats pretty much what he'll have to become on that team, and that sucks when you drafted him with your 2nd overall pick.

Defensively, I love Hakeem and think the rest of the team is below average.

If you said that they were top 5 offensively, I may disagree but I wouldn't care to argue as I think its close.

Defensively, probably not even top 15 though.

So overall I think they're probably above average, but I just don't see them as a top team.

I'lll stay out of it to avoid bias, but I'd be interested in seeing you include Duncan on these lists as a center and placing him somewhere.

Also I think Mutombo>Mourning, but I agree its close. Mutombo was just so good on D.

Also it's been over 24 hours since tdarko picked, so tbach should be skipped and it's vanexelfans turn

To state your point simply: Most times, the "open man" off of a double team is the guy receiving the SECOND PASS out of the double team.

This is because when executing a double team, the defender near the top of the key has the responsibility of guarding whomever gets the first pass out of the double team, and this is usually a fairly easy responsibility. However, the 2nd pass must either be another defender rotating over or the guy who was doubling, whose responsibility is to run and chase the 2nd pass once the offensive player has passed out of the double. And these responsibilities are a bit tougher to recognize and react to.

As an aside, it drives me absolutely crazy when playing pickup games to be on offense, one of us gets double teamed and kicks it out, and the guy just catches the ball and holds onto it for a few seconds(or dribbles around going nowhere) instead of rotating the ball which will nearly always produce a wide open look against unorganized pickup defense.

The problem is that you're using a ridiculously small sample size for your entire point, and it could easily be explained as simple variance.


I actually would rank Hakeem>DRob, but I think its much much closer than most people think.

I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I disagree. Players were less athletic back then, so Lebron's athleticism advantage would be even bigger. You think freakish body types like Tayshuan Prince have trouble guarding Lebron??? Just think about what he'd do to 1985 guys. Duncan, on the other hand, doesn't really rely upon athleticism and would produce similar results as he did in real life imo.

which years had the short 3?

I know you were. I wasn't disagreeing with your point, so why would I address it? I specifically quoted that single sentence for a reason, so as to avoid confusion and not make it seem like I disagreed with the fact that MJ had some solid 3pt threats in his time. I was just sharing some knowledge that many seem to overlook (the short 3 era in general). You wouldn't get so annoyed all the time if you didn't think every single reply to you is an affront to your intellect.

Assani,

Doesn't everyone think it's razor-thin close? I always have.

'94-'95 through '96-'97

In my experience, 90+% of people rank Hakeem above DRob without really thinking about it or adding in "actually its really really close though and could go either way."

Overall I'd put Duncan at #2 behind Shaq. Defensively #2 behind Mutombo. Offensively he's probably in the middle, but for the purpose of this draft, with deeper 10 man rotations, he might be even more valuable since he's such a great passer.

Mourning is tough to rate because of his injuries...

Oh and add me to the camp that has Robinson ahead of Hakeem.

Yeah, I think this is right. Plus, you have the whole "Robinson's a puss" reputation (deserved or not).

Yeah, that possibility didn't even occur to me. If I was drafting, looking at the available players, I probably take Mullin after Dirk (no idea if I'd take Dirk first, haven't even thought that through), and that changes the whole makeup of the team from there.

I def. reached for Calderon but he was the guy I wanted and I didn't think he'd be available when I picked next (in hindsight I was probably wrong). I remember Majerle being better than his #s too but he is a good defender and I needed someone who could actually shut down a wing.

Thanks.

Defensively, I think our plan is to outscore other people. Nothing on this team remotely resembles an elite collection of defenders, so we're gonna do our best to try to slow them down and to just score every time we have the ball. For the most part I drafted hyper-efficient offensive players with this in mind. flyingmoose said my team looks like it plans to win by scoring 140 every night, and that's probably not too inaccurate.

Also, depending on how Calderon and Brewer develop, this team could be a real beast in 3-4 years.

Speaking of Mullin -- what a sick 67th pick.

It makes me a little sick to think about the sleepers I passed on. If I had been a little less ******ed and taken Ewing/Mullin with my first two picks, I might have the best team right now without having to draft differently elsewhere.

I digress. If you had taken Mullin over Boozer your team would be leagues better but I'm curious -- how would having Mullin have affected your future picks?

I don't think Robinson ever really got his due as an offensive player. A lot of Hakeem's value comes from playing forever and not missing that one year Admiral missed.

tbach and sergsz skipped, AC-Cobra up

I actually have no idea. I feel like I would've tried to grab a strong big man sooner, but they were flying off the board so fast anyone would've been a reach. It might not have affected anything at all... Christ, what an offensive insanity a Calderon / Majerle / Mullin / Dirk / Donaldson starting five would have been.

Now I wish I'd done this from the get-go. I didn't because I didn't think I knew enough about basketball for me to be of any use, but the whole thing has been a tremendous learning experience.

The day of my second pick I got my once-a-year, super horrible cold. I just absolutely couldn't think straight and despite really wanting to pick Vlade, I somehow talked myself into choosing Boozer. I really handicapped what could have been a very good team.

I really was out of my depth anyways, something I realized when Larry Nance (who?) was picked.

My Steve Francis hate aside, I like what you've done with the team, Nath.

seriously. Wasn't even on my radar's radar.

I like both these picks, particularly Stoudamire, a guy I was surprised fell this far.

After this current draft is done and all the debate as to who wins and what not.

there should be another draft with different years specified. Like 95 and later or 00 and later. Current enough so that everyone would have seen everyone play.

Some people are not getting enough credit for their picks because no one has seen them play.

If you wanted offensive insanity, you could've gone:

Dirk
Mullin
Kevin Martin
Monta Ellis
Donaldson

Monta is on the block !

anyone confirm/deny if I am now up?

yea u are up xorbie is skipped