Assemble a starting 5 that can defeat this lineup.
- Thread starter Elim Garak
- Start date
Warriors in five.
Wade
T-Mac
Pippen
Durant
Hakeem
T-Mac
Pippen
Durant
Hakeem
Pistons were never able to do anything close to what I'm talking about because they didn't have the personnel, and what do you mean it didn't work?
a. Pistons had no three-point shooters. In the 1988 series Laimbeer led the Pistons by hitting just TWO threes in five games. The team was 3-13 for the whole series.
In the 1989 series they made 3 threes/game at a 24% clip, in 1990 it was 4 threes/game at a 29% clip, in 1991 back down to 2 threes/game at a 30% clip, Running defenders through screens is only fatiguing if you force them to do with it urgency. If you can't make them pay with the three-ball, the urgency is diminished because you don't have to defend sideline-to-sideline and you have time to recover when they get the ball. Chasing Steph/Klay through screens and chasing non-shooters through screens are two completely different things.
b. What do you mean it "didn't work"?
Pistons beat the Bulls 4 games to 1 in 1988 with MJ averaging 27ppg on 49% shooting.
Pistons beat the Bulls 4 games to 2 in 1989 with MJ averaging 29.7ppg on 46% shooting.
Pistons beat the Bulls 4 games to 3 in 1990 with MJ averaging 30ppg on 47% shooting.
The Bulls finally won in 1991 but that was the year Isiah got hurt, missed half the season and was a shell of his usual self, Vinnie was on the edge of retirement, and Aguirre, Laimbeer, and Edwards were all aging and well past their peak - the Pistons weren't nearly as good that year and were never good again.
With the team I constructed, you'd happily see Kobe and MJ both score 30ppg shooting 45-50% on mostly twos.
You have Curry/Klay/Durant who are going to be shooting at least 40% from three, and 40% from three is like 60% from twos. You really think that MJ and Kobe are going to be running around screens all day never giving Steph and Klay the one inch of room they need to launch a dozen threes a game at a 40-45% clip? And who is gonna keep Durant from getting his?
Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
Not enough shooting in any of these lineups. You're not going to beat them any other way.Easy...
Michael Ray Richardson or Gary Payton
Scottie Pippen
KD or Julius Erving
Tim Duncan or Akeem Olajuwan (80's Akeem)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
All these players in there prime are definitely beating that team, bar none, Michael Ray or GP are the wild card that will go off but also defend against 6'9 Magic or JOrdan, who is going to defend Kareem or Duncan 2 of the most dominant post players that know how to play the right way
Field Marshall Bradley
Veteran
Obviously you just glanced thru the thread
Field Marshall Bradley
Veteran
NOBODY IS BEATING THAT TEAM.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that....
Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
I'd take someone like DRob over both of them - he's a better perimeter scorer than Wilt (will provide necessary spacing from the 5) and has more experience around defending offensive play in the modern era, and he's a greater defender than Kareem. I think it's a necessity to have a mobile defender at the 5 who can guard every position and is a legitimate scoring threat.
1-4 has the best combination of shot creation and perimeter defense/switching to me. I don't see Bron-Kobe-MJ-Magic-Shaq losing anyway outside of Kobe and Mike fighting over shots.Not enough shooting in any of these lineups. You're not going to beat them any other way.
Someone said Wilt but we've seen Hakeem do well against Shaq so that's why most are taking him. He's also more agile/switchable than at least Kareem. But KAJ nor Wilt would be "wrong" picks.
TrebleMan
Superstar
Curry
Kawhi
KD
Dirk
Hakeem
The other team probably still wins though, but this would be the best matchup.
They'd need 2011 Dirk, 2016 Curry and 2017 KD to be at their full potential and absolutely in the zone to keep it close.
Kawhi
KD
Dirk
Hakeem
The other team probably still wins though, but this would be the best matchup.
They'd need 2011 Dirk, 2016 Curry and 2017 KD to be at their full potential and absolutely in the zone to keep it close.
EVERY PLAYER IN THAT LINE UP
IS TOO PHYSICAL
FOR WHO EVER TRIES TO GUARD THEM
AND THEYRE ALL GOOD PASSERS.
PEAK MJ, KOBE, BRON
CAN LOCK DOWN THE PERIMTER ON DEFENSE.
IS TOO PHYSICAL
FOR WHO EVER TRIES TO GUARD THEM
AND THEYRE ALL GOOD PASSERS.
PEAK MJ, KOBE, BRON
CAN LOCK DOWN THE PERIMTER ON DEFENSE.
Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
You're not going to beat a Magic/Kobe/MJ/LeBron/Shaq lineup trading 2s, no matter what "shot creation, perimeter defense" combination you think you might have. The only way to win is to aim to maximize production through the possessions you're going to get, and you can only do that by taking high-volume 3s, which is why you need shooting from 1-3/4.
You need players like Curry, Allen and/or Reggie (and Durant) who can hit from behind the arc at 40%+ on high-volume, which would force that team to have to make 60+% of their 2-pt shots. It's the only way.