86 Shot Voting [2018]

[TACKS]

Everyone post your team here. You can include an explaination/sale pitch but please try to limit it to 3-4 non-Cormac length sentences.

Once all the teams have been posted here, everyone PM me a ballot ranking your Top 5 teams 1-5. You cannot vote for yourself. 1st place vote = 5 points, 2nd place vote = 4, etc. etc.

Top 4 point total advance.

1 vs. 4
2 vs. 3

Winners advance to meet in the Finals.


(People can make longer more thorough sales pitches for the team once they make it to the Final Four. Once we're in the Final Four everyone will vote just cast their votes in the thread.)

[comahan]

Clint Capela [9.1]

LeBron James [19.3]

Trevor Ariza [9.7]

Khris Middleton [15.5]

Kyrie Irving [18.1]


Jordan Bell [3.2]

Luc Mbah a Moute [5.7]

Andre Iguodala [5.0]

So the idea here is that I will always have a feature player (LeBron/Kyrie) surrounded by shooting or secondary playmaking/shooting wings (Iggy/Middleton/Ariza) who can switch onto anyone on D - LeBron and Kyrie will be staggered in a way that Harden and Paul were for Houston this year, with one of them always on the court; Iguodala will almost always play alongside Kyrie as a playmaker and ballhandler when LeBron is off of the court, letting Kyrie be a scorer; Ariza and Middleton are long wings who can switch onto anyone and shoot the 3 at a good clip; Luc is one of the bester perimeter stoppers in basketball.

Squad is built to be fluid and versatile, able to suffocate anyone on the perimeter with great wing defenders and protect the paint with two shot blockers - the adaptability of Capela and Bell to be able to switch out onto perimeter players is big, as I think Clint is the best big in basketball at doing that, which really limits the oppositions possible iso game whilst Jordan Bell allows me to do the same thing in a lesser way, letting me to keep up the switching pressure without deviating from the plan because Capela is out while also being a shotblocker at the rim.

LeBron is LeBron, and will be on the floor with three 3P shooters in Ariza/Middleton/Kyrie and an elite roll/lob guy in Capela - If I need more playmaking, I bring in Iggy; if I need a pure defensive stopper its Luc; Middleton gives me a little bit of everything as a 20/5/4 guy on good efficiency who can play good defense and guard 3 positions; and Kyrie in the iso is always an option: there arent many players in the league id trust to get a single bucket in a single possession more than him.

[scottyboy]

PG James Harden
SG: Bradley Beal / Marcus Smart
SF: Danny Green / Wilson Chandler
PF: Marvin Williams
C: Steven Adams / Jarrett Allen

So, I'mma follow Commie's lead and explain:

I took one of the leading bucket getters and playmakers and surrounded him with guys who can shoot, defend, and don't need the ball in their hands. Beal is a great shooter to take some of the scoring pressure off of Harden, but Green and Williams can both stretch the floor and Adams can work well downlow with such a spaced offense.

Smart can really play 1-3 (and even 4 if need be), making him a strong and versatile defensive presence off the bench. Chandler is another solid 3 and D guy who shores up both forward spots. Allen is a strong defender, shot blocker and rebounder who is good to spell Adams and catching lobs from Harden. My team is well-balanced and would gel very well on the court together, with both offensive and defensive potential.

[OSUGiants]

PG: Rajon Rondo l Jamal Murray
SG: Jamal Murray l Lance Stephenson l Alex Abrines
SF: Gordon Hayward l Lance Stephenson
PF: Draymond Green l Kyle Kuzma
C: Karl-Anthony Towns l Draymond Green

don’t vote for me

[Kyle]

Ben Simmons
Joe Ingles
Kawhi Leonard
Paul Millsap
Kristaps Porzingis

George Hill
Kyle Anderson
Daniel Theis

Simmons running the show on offense with 4 guys that can hit a jumper around him. Kawhi as a go to scorer and Ingles as a secondary ball handler to take the pressure off of him and Simmons. Porzingis is an elite rim defender to compliment all 4 other starters being at least plus defenders with Kawhi, Simmons, and Millsap being well above that. Simmons, Ingles, and Millsap are all fantastic passers for their positions.

Enough other ball handlers to the point that all George Hill has to do is play spot minutes, defend and hit wide open threes. Kyle Anderson was 3rd in the NBA in defensive +/- last year giving me another great defender who can guard multiple positions and handle the ball a bit. Theis brings energy, ability to play the 4 or 5 and another guy who can hit an open jumper.

[Brodie]

G Chris Paul, 13.8
G Damian Lillard, 19.6
F Robert Covington, 10.5
F Kevin Love, 12.4
C Rudy Gobert, 7.9

G Terry Rozier, 10.0
G/F Josh Hart, 6.0
C Bam Adebayo, 4.9

The starting lineup relies heavily on a consistent movement and a combination of pick and rolls with Dame/CP3/Love/Gobert movement. Gobert is virtually unstoppable in the paint off a screen and can roll off screens better than anybody in the NBA. Love is one of the better pick and roll men in the NBA, and Dame/CP3 can pass it around with ease while being excellent shooters themselves. RoCo would likely just move around and take threes, which is all he needs to do on O. On D, Gobert is the most punishing defensive weapon in the NBA and enables two borderline elite perimeter defenders (CP3 and RoCo) to move around more freely knowing they have protection. Love would just have to be his adequate self and Dame can take risks.

Rozier can roll in to give CP3 rest early and Josh Hart can come in to play SF to go small with Rozier/Dame/Hart/RoCo/Love. Dame would be able to go full bore with CP3 off the floor and shoot/drive at will. The defense wouldn't be as effective but the speed of the offense would be there and everyone on the floor is a shooter. The super small lineup would have Hart at PF, and he has had experience there at spurts. Bam would be able to come in to play very tenacious D and go full energy at all times.

I have 6 guys who are above average three point shooters, the guy with the best vision in the NBA, the best defender in the NBA, one of the better scorers in the NBA and a bench filled with energetic fucks who can provide endless versatility.

[TACKS]

russell westbrook [21.1]

jj redick [12.1]

og anunoby [4.7]

al horford [10.5]

anthony davis [19.5]

--

delon wright [6.3]

andre roberson [4.2]

kyle korver [6.6]

i think the defining qualities of my team is that it's really balanced (the pieces fit together naturally with everyone having logical roles where they can be maximized without much redundancy) and it has a dominant frontcourt led by davis & horford. brow and horford are special pairing and really what sets this team apart. together they present really difficult matchup for most teams by putting opposing teams and opposing bigs in exploitable positions while both being very tough to exploit themselves. so i got those two anchoring my team, and then there's a top 8 player/MVP who just so happens to be in the mix too and all 3 of those players have skillsets that unlock the best qualities in the other ones.

[SP]

PG: Stephen Curry / Shaun Livingston

SG: Gary Harris

SF: Otto Porter / Tony Snell

PF: Nikola Mirotić

C: Nikola Jokić / Montrezl Harrell

This offense is basically going to be unstoppable. The threat of on-ball Steph especially when being trapped (passing it off to the best passing big man ever) should create wide open shots for a bunch of consistent 40% plus 3pt shooters. It'll be similar to when the Rockets missed 27 3pt attempts in a row, but like the opposite. Pivot Jokic will also have a field day passing to a constantly moving/cutting backcourt, setting up a bunch of easy 2s. Otto (44% from deep the last 2 years) and Mirotic (43% from deep in the '18 playoffs, 38% during the regular season) can't be left alone, freeing up even more space for Steph and Harris to run around in. A fully healthy Steph is also the best player in the league and could always just do it by himself if he wants. I can't see anyone outscoring this team!

[Rob S]

PG: Kyle Lowry (12.1)
SG: Victor Oladipo (17.9)
SF: Klay Thompson (16.1)
PF: Jimmy Butler (15.6)
C: DeAndre Jordan (7.5)

BN: Fred VanVleet (7.2)
BN: Pascal Siakam (6.1)
Bn: Nerlens Noel (3.5)


Not doing a huge write up like you other nerds. This is the team, I think it is good. Vote your conscience.

Only think really worth calling out is that at least on defensive possessions, Siakam probably plays C in my closing lineup to avoid teams continually iso-ing DAJ.

[TACKS]

fenikz

PG DEJOUNTE MURRAY [7.5] - DARREN COLLISON [9.2]
SG PAUL GEORGE [16.9]
SF JAYSON TATUM [10.4]
PF KEVIN DURANT [18.0] - JOHN COLLINS [7.4]
C MYLES TURNER [9.8] - DWIGHT POWELL [5.4]

[TACKS]

PM your ballots with your top 5 teams ranked in order. Thanks.

[Brodie]

Also, Fernando...

PG - Jrue Holiday, 15.4
SG - Jaylen Brown, 11.5
SF - PJ Tucker, 5.4
PF - Giannis Antetokoumpo, 18.7
C - Joel Embiid, 16.8

Tomas Satoransky, G, 5.3
Larry Nance Jr, F/C, 6.3
Anthony Tolliver, F/C, 6.0

[TACKS]

So...in an unprecedented situation, one team got a 1st place vote from every single person except for one. The bracket might be fun but I might just award the skip the bracket because the outcome seems inevitable.

[Kyle]

Could do a bracket for second?

[Kyle]

Tacks we're gonna need to know who won.

[scottyboy]

Tacks ruined everything

[SP]

We need the rankings at least.

[Rob S]

Just give commie the win. Then we can either do a tourney for 2nd or just do standings via point total.

[Brodie]

I was voted first by Commie and thus I won.

[Rob S]

I went:

Commie
Brodie
TACKS
Kyle
SP