Dream Team Draft Finals --- Team Never-Lose (1) Vs. The Team (3)

[SLAB]

SLAB (1)
1: Wilt Chamberlain --- C
2: Bob Cousy --- PG
3: Chris Webber --- PF
4: Dominique Wilkins --- SF
5: Joe Dumars --- SG
6: Rick Adelman --- Head Coach
7: Chauncey Billups ---PG
8: Gerald Wallace --- SF
9: Brandon Roy --- SG
10: Pete Carrill --- Asst. Coach
11: Bill Laimbeer --- C
12: James Posey --- G/F
13: Carlos Boozer --- PF
14: Hasheem Thabeet --- C
15: Team Never-Lose

Vs.

kingsnation (3)
1: Michael Jordan --- SG
2: Dirk Nowitzki --- PF
3: Steve Nash --- PG
4: Rick Barry --- SF
5: Tony Parker --- PG
6: Willis Reed --- C
7: Robert Horry --- F
8: Michael Cooper --- G/F
9: Mark Eaton --- C
10: George Karl --- Head Coach
11: Mike Budenholzer --- Asst. Coach
12: Anthony Mason ---F
13: Jason Terry ---G
14: A.C. Green --- C/F
15: The Team

 

[Spike]

Why I voted for "The Team":

If it's a close game, there are many players on his team who can successfully hit a game-winning shot. I think Team Never Lose needs to build up a big lead early, because I don't think they can play well from behind in this matchup. Tough call, good teams, both of you.

 

[VF21]

Why I didn't vote for The Team: Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash.

I think Bob Cousy could and would have Nash for lunch and Webber in his prime would wipe the court with the puny little Dirk Nowitzki.

As far as some of the other matchups, I don't think Rick Barry could take Nique and the Chamberlain-Reed battles would be a lot of fun to watch.

Sure, Jordan at the 2 is a mismatch no matter who tries to guard him, but one guy does not a team make.

SLAB did an excellent job of balancing a team with old-style and newcomers, and his choice of Rick Adelman with Coachie as his assistant was truly inspired.

All in all, this has been an informative, interesting and nostalgic draft for me. I got a chance to look back at a lot of years of basketball, not only with my own picks but with some of the others.

Thanks to all involved. It's been a lot of fun! No matter who wins, I'd love to see their team actually take the court...but not like the "Old School Players as They Are Now" concept in the Charles Barkley commercial.

 

[Bricklayer]

Why I voted for "The Team":

If it's a close game, there are many players on his team who can successfully hit a game-winning shot. I think Team Never Lose needs to build up a big lead early, because I don't think they can play well from behind in this matchup. Tough call, good teams, both of you.

The Team remains a crew of finesse shooters without any post play to speak of and the annihilation on the boards and inside here would not be pretty. So how does it stay close?

 

[VF21]

Maybe we should have had one more round? You know, to take care of things like that? Draft an official to make sure things go your way.

 

[Emma]

Never lose is a team I could root for. It kind of reminds me of a mix of those Rockets teams that won when Jordan took a break, and the Detroit teams that whooped up on the NBA in the late 80's. Then again Jordan IS on the other team.

 

[SLAB]

The Team is built around Micheal Jordan. I have the original Jordan stopper. The defensive whiz Joe Dumars gave MJ fits, and that's what he'll continue to do. MJ won't be shut down, but when he gets limited that's all that is needed to build the lead.

Prime Webber always ate Dirk for breakfast. And I don't even want to think what Laimbeer would do to him! Let's give a quick visual for the miind.

Cousy and Billups take Nash out easy. Simple. Look at the NBA Finals hardware my two have together. Does Nash measure up? I think not.

Wilt will be a monster based on size alone. When Mark Eaton gets put in to play D on Wilt, what do I o? I put in Laimbeer to shoot some threes making Eaton have to vacate the paint, opening up the middle for the court vision of Webb and Cousy to exploit mercilessly.

 

[VF21]

...Prime Webber always ate Dirk for breakfast. And I don't even want to think what Laimbeer would do to him! .

Ohhhhhhhhh. I do... in fact, that might be my mental movie of the week!

 

[kingsnation]

Our team has enough outside shooters in the starting 5 alone to open up the basket for MJ, Barry, and Parker.

A lineup with Dirk and Horry would spread any big man out to the perimeter and let our drivers do their thing.

As far as the benches go, the only one that strikes even a little fear on Team Never Lose is Laimbeer and possibly Billups. Roy, Wallace and Boozer would get absolutely manhandled by Cooper, Horry, Eaton and Mason. And I won't even comment on Thabeet.

 

[kingsnation]

The Team is built around Micheal Jordan. I have the original Jordan stopper. The defensive whiz Joe Dumars gave MJ fits, and that's what he'll continue to do. MJ won't be shut down, but when he gets limited that's all that is needed to build the lead.

You are right, MJ can't be shut down, especially in a game of this magnitude. This is Jordan in his prime, meaning 6 titles. No one can even slow him down. And if you do happen to, one thing about our team is we have enough scorers to pick up his offensive slack. And know this, MJ will shut Dumars down for sure.

Prime Webber always ate Dirk for breakfast. And I don't even want to think what Laimbeer would do to him!

Yeah but Prime Webber never played against Prime Dirk. You have to take that into effect as well. And if you do put Laimbeer on Dirk, you have to think about the awkward defense your team will have to play as Laimbeer would be chasing around Dirk, and we could even use Dirk as a decoy at that point.

Cousy and Billups take Nash out easy. Simple. Look at the NBA Finals hardware my two have together. Does Nash measure up? I think not.

Don't forget about Tony Parker, you know that other PG on my bench. He and Nash is a deadly duo at PG and Parker does have the rings.

Wilt will be a monster based on size alone. When Mark Eaton gets put in to play D on Wilt, what do I o? I put in Laimbeer to shoot some threes making Eaton have to vacate the paint, opening up the middle for the court vision of Webb and Cousy to exploit mercilessly.

Why would I leave Eaton on Laimbeer in this circumstance?

 

[SLAB]

Why would I leave Eaton on Laimbeer in this circumstance?

Because the second Eaton comes out so does the size. Wilt then comes in and abuses your team with his size. Yes you have Willis Reed, but Wilt is just to big and to talented to be slowed by him. He would overpower anyone you throw at him. My bigs will be a matchup nightmare for you. Willis can't guard Wilt and Eaton can't guard Laimbeer.

Then you could try Mason? AC Green? Robert Horry? Dirk?

No one is guarding Wilt in this series. And Eaton is made almost useless by Laimbeer.

Matchup hell.
And I have the coaches to exploit it.

 

[Spike]

The Team remains a crew of finesse shooters without any post play to speak of and the annihilation on the boards and inside here would not be pretty. So how does it stay close?

Michael Jordan. In a one game series to win it all, I have to go with Jordan. His team does lack size, but I think they should be able to score early and often. That, and I always appreciate the underdog.

 

[Bricklayer]

Michael Jordan. In a one game series to win it all, I have to go with Jordan. His team does lack size, but I think they should be able to score early and often. That, and I always appreciate the underdog.

I think if we ever do one of these again we're going to have to do it without Jordan -- his myth has gotten silly. I watched him play his entire career, watched him walk off the court at the end of the season a loser more often than a winner. I've seen him beat, and by mere mortals. This whole MJ is on the team so the team = automatic win is just too easy.

 

[Spike]

I think if we ever do one of these again we're going to have to do it without Jordan -- his myth has gotten silly. I watched him play his entire career, watched him walk off the court at the end of the season a loser more often than a winner. I've seen him beat, and by mere mortals. This whole MJ is on the team so the team = automatic win is just too easy.

Aye, I hear he's over seven feet tall and shoots lightning bolts out of his arse!

I remember the losses too, but if you're looking for an argument for why that team deserves to win, that's what I've got. You just KNEW that he would end the Utah series, you just KNEW he would beat the Cavs (Oh, no, duck Ehlo!) That's what I remember more than the Pistons routinely roughing him up...which is ironically what team 1 has...

 

[SacKings7]

I think if we ever do one of these again we're going to have to do it without Jordan -- his myth has gotten silly. I watched him play his entire career, watched him walk off the court at the end of the season a loser more often than a winner. I've seen him beat, and by mere mortals. This whole MJ is on the team so the team = automatic win is just too easy.

I agree that SLAB has the better overall team, but if you stop this mindset on Jordan, then we have to stop with the mindset that Wilt is gonna put up some crazy stats like he did in the 60's. I'm not convinced he'd even be a top 5 center all-time if he played against bigger competition his whole career like Kareem, Dream, Shaq etc. did.

 

[SLAB]

I agree that SLAB has the better overall team, but if you stop this mindset on Jordan, then we have to stop with the mindset that Wilt is gonna put up some crazy stats like he did in the 60's. I'm not convinced he'd even be a top 5 center all-time if he played against bigger competition his whole career like Kareem, Dream, Shaq etc. did.

Im not expecting him to put in 50/25 a game, but his size alone makes him dominate this team.

Yes he never played against other greats, but he isn't going against Kareem, Dream, or Shaq in this matchup.
He's going against Willis Reed (Great to be sure, but he'd be oversized and overpowered), Mark Eaton, AC Green, and Horry.

Again, there is no Shaq or Kareem or Dream in that bunch.

 

[Bricklayer]

I agree that SLAB has the better overall team, but if you stop this mindset on Jordan, then we have to stop with the mindset that Wilt is gonna put up some crazy stats like he did in the 60's. I'm not convinced he'd even be a top 5 center all-time if he played against bigger competition his whole career like Kareem, Dream, Shaq etc. did.

The two issues are not really related, as throughout these drafts all kinds of classic players have been routinely marked down relative to current ones on just that theory and nobody is claiming Wilt would average 50-20...although 25-10 given that he's matched up against precisely one of his undersized contemporaries would not be out of line (and actually I do think Wilt would be top 5 -- he was clearly a modern megacenter just playing decades before their heyday, and probably a better athlete than any of the other greats). But Jordan is not rated as a player. He's rated as a mythological brand -- Jordan = always wins! Which is silly -- he was just a player. The best I ever saw. But just a single player in a team sport.

 

[bozzwell]

It's borderline, but I voted for The Team. At first glance, I thought - not enough there besides MJ to go against SLAB's team, which is much more balanced, much better team if you like. Then I thought better of it - Nash, Nowitzki and co are much better suited as second, third and N-th bananas to a superstar like MJ. The more I think about it, the more I like it. As we've seen with a number of Dream Teams, stacking team with talent not equal to winning championships. Giving MJ sidekicks = championships. If this is one and done finals, SLAB might take it. If it's 7 game series, by the time game 2 tips off, Nowitcki is sporting a black eye and everyone has fallen in line behind Jordan. The Team can go to their superstar and he can beat teams with great centers (Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq all played in the 90's). The only problem with my theory is how do you get those guys on The Team to all play defence, but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Thats just how I see it.

 

[SacKings7]

The two issues are not really related, as throughout these drafts all kinds of classic players have been routinely marked down relative to current ones on just that theory and nobody is claiming Wilt would average 50-20...although 25-10 given that he's matched up against precisely one of his undersized contemporaries would not be out of line (and actually I do think Wilt would be top 5 -- he was clearly a modern megacenter just playing decades before their heyday, and probably a better athlete than any of the other greats). But Jordan is not rated as a player. He's rated as a mythological brand -- Jordan = always wins! Which is silly -- he was just a player. The best I ever saw. But just a single player in a team sport.

I guess not, I'm just venting I guess. I voted for SLAB, so we're really not even arguing the point about Jordan. Just wanted to throw my $.02 in about Wilt.

 

[SLAB]

This is all the interest?

Let's get some more votes in!

 

[kingsnation]

BUMP! It's time for MJ, Horry and Reed to step up! Let's get out the vote for the most clutch team in NBA History!

 

[SLAB]

The last day of voting!

The "Game Seven" of this entire draft!

27 total votes needs to be upped!

Lets get it ON!

 

[Bricklayer]

The last day of voting!

The "Game Seven" of this entire draft!

27 total votes needs to be upped!

Lets get it ON!

Sigh -- you have taken your lumps learning the commissioner ropes SLAB, so let me help you one more time with another little trick I learned. This is how its done:

Now feel free to go out and find and post your own additions, and if you'd like I can change the title of the thread to say "pics of hotties included". Your traffic will fly right off the charts.

 

[SLAB]

Too little too late Brick...

However, I am the champion of The Dream Team Draft 1.0!

Team Never-Lose = An Indestructible Machine!
My sig will forever encase my first and probably only TDOS Draft Victory!

Thanks to all that voted for the machine that was me!

...
...

and for those waiting for Pain and Misery, I will start that fresh ASAP!

 

[kingsnation]

Congrats SLAB! Next time I will remember to draft 3 of the most popular Kings of all time.

haha, I'm kidding. You had a very strong team anchored, IMO, by Wilt and Dumars more so than anyone else.

 

[SLAB]

Thank you, Thank you all!

Maybe next TDOS we could do this like the Music Draft and make team excluding everyone that was picked this year.

Then you would definitely have to focus on 'Team' and wouldn't have the "I have so and so, and he averaged such and such, so I should win by default!"

That would be pretty interesting, IMO.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Congrats Slab. I think the Webb pick sealed it for you. I was kicking myself, I took the chance that he might get back to me! If I had taken him, I think an inside outside passing game of Magic/Webber would be the most beautiful thing ever seen...

 

[Emma]

Oh, it would have been, I would have been glued to my T.V. and youtube forever watching rerun reels.