The Third Basketball Fantasy Draft - SF: Akshay/Syrian vs Skizzo

With players at peak, who will win the game?

  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .

Edgar Allan Pillow

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TEAM AKSHAY

PG - Chris Paul, John Wall
SG - Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Butler
SF - Scottie Pippen, James Worthy
PF - Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Millsap
Center - Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo

Chris Paul, CP3
- 7 time All Defensive First Team and 9 time All Star
- Led the NBA in assists 4 times and in steals 6 times
- Averages almost 10 assists with only 2.4 turnovers per game
- Can drive to the basket, score from mid-range or beyond the arc
- One of the best perimeter defenders

Kobe Bryant
- Most Valuable Player of the Year 2008 and 18 All-Star appearances
- One of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, having led the league in points twice
- Lockdown defense, especially come playoffs time, making the All Defensive First Team 9 times
- Clutch player, leading the Lakers to rings with finals MVP performances in 2009 and 2010

On Chris and Kobe:

eading up to the back-to-back, both players gave thought to what could have been and believe they would have formed a dominant backcourt duo. “It worked for the Olympic team and stuff like that,” Paul said. “I played in a lot of All-Star Games with Kobe. I don't know how many, but I remember one of them, we said, 'As long as we're both on the same team playing this game, we're not going to lose,' just because we both know how competitive we are.” Bryant agreed. “When we played together in every All-Star Game, we never f—– around,” Bryant said. “It was like, 'Listen, the guys have their fun, but now let's do what we do.' I knew how competitive he was, and I knew it would be a perfect fit. We just kind of talked about what we're going to do, how we're going to scheme to get things done. Unfortunately, it never happened.”
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Scottie Pippen
Lockdown defense, supremely unselfish play-making, and versatility in scoring is what you get from arguably the greatest supporting star in NBA history. He was capable of guarding any position, making the All Defensive First Team 8 times. His athleticism made him valuable in transition in both attack and defense, and his slashes to the basket earned him many high percentage scoring opportunities. Over his career he also honed a mid-range jump shot and developed his perimeter shooting.

Dirk Nowitzki
The best big shooter the game has seen, and a member of the 50-40-90 club. An incredibly efficient scorer, and can score off his dribble as well as a very quick catch and shoot. His unique shooting technique features a release point above his head which combined with his 7'0 height makes it very difficult to block. He always raised his game for the playoffs, with higher point production and rebounding in the post season. Dirk was the Most Valuable Player in 2007 and led the Mavericks to their franchise's only championship with a finals MVP performance in 2011.

Patrick Ewing
The best player the Knicks have ever had, Ewing was versatile on offense and dominant on defense. He had a wide array of post moves and also a reliable mid-range shooter, averaging about 25 points per game in his prime. On the other end he anchored the best defense in his time and was one of the best rim protectors in the league, featuring strong rebounding and frequent blocks.

Bench
John Wall is a quick and athletic 4 time All Star who averaged over 10 assists for the past 3 seasons
Jimmy Butler is a quality two way player who can come in for either Kobe or Pippen
James Worthy is a fast and versatile defender with a strong post game
Paul Millsap can come in for either forward, and is a versatile scorer and defensive leader
Dikembe Mutombo is 4 time Defensive Player of the Year and one of the best interior defenders of all time

TEAM SKIZZO

Point Guard- Steph Curry 36 mins / Derek Fisher 12 mins - Steph Curry is one of the best players in the NBA currently, and arguably the greatest shooter of all time. Playing on the Warriors, he's shown both his ability to lead the team, making big shots when needed, but also to facilitate the offense and find players with an open look. He's no stranger to playing against CP3.



Shooting Guard- Reggie Miller 35 mins / Damien Lillard 13 mins - Reggie Miller will be mostly looking to come into this game and use his shooting ability and threat from deep to create space for Curry, and also spread the floor to allow other players to find good looks in and around the paint. Having him as an option from deep besides Steph means neither of them have to be solely relied on to spread the floor, and neither can be left open.

Small Forward - Kahwi Leonard 34 mins / Chris Bosh 14 - Arguably the best two-way player in the NBA, Leonard has that "team first" mentality that the Spurs thrive on. He'd look to use his athleticism, reach, and tenacity to disrupt the flow of the offense, while being a vital cog in moving the ball on offense to find the best looks.

Power Forward - Paul Pierce 34 mins / Anthony Davis 14 - While Pierce seemed to be a rather polarizing figure when playing the game, when looking back at his career, its hard not to admire what he brought to his teams. For the Celtics, he helped drive them forward and was a vital piece of the puzzle with Garnett, Allen and Rondo. He knows when to take over the game, and when to look for an alternate. He's had some great matches with Kobe, and would be a joy watching them both in full flight.



Center - Hakeem Olajuwon 32 / David Robinson 16 - Replacing Robinson wasn't going to be something i strongly considered after making him my first pick, but when Hakeem was available, it made sense. He's had success against both opponents, but him and Ewing have had some great matches, and would be both willing to slug it out in the trenches for their teams. Hakeem's ability to score in the paint, off the jumper, or also find an assist for a teammate is crucial to how we'll look to play, with everyone able to put up the big shots.



After starting the game and hearing the jeering from the crowd, Danny "the tinkerer" Skizzo contemplates his life choices up to this moment. He calls a timeout and is seen frantically scribbling on his notepad and whiteboard, with the players looking around at each other in somewhat of a confused state.

"Now get out there and do what you're supposed to do!" Skizzo is heard yelling...with the players wondering if it was any different than what they were supposed to be doing in the beginning...

It looks like they've shuffled the pack and the players are rotating spots, and it seems to be looking like:

PG - Steph Curry / Fisher off the bench
SG - Reggie Miller / Lillard off the bench
SF - Kahwi Leonard / Pierce off the bench
PF - Hakeem Olajuwon / Bosh off the bench
C - David Robinson / Anthony Davis off the bench

Robinson has had success against Ewing, and they should have a good back and forth



and here's a look at Hakeem's ability to play inside and outside the paint, as well as rim protection and ball movement.



and his general ability to put the ball in the net. He's a trouble for most of the center's he's matched up with, he'd be a nightmare for his opposition here

 
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WTF? Paul Pierce starting at PF? Christ start Hakeem at his favorite position which is the PF and start Robinson at C and this game is done. Sorry Skizzo, you have a very unbalanced starting AND bench lineup. A SF starting at PF and on the bench a PG at SG, another PF at SF.
 
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RDCR07 said:
WTF? Paul Pierce starting at PF? Christ start Hakeem at his favorite position which is the PF and start Robinson at C and this game is done. Sorry Skizzo, you have a very unbalanced starting AND bench lineup. A SF starting at PF and on the bench a PG at SG, another PF at SF.
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That's what you get with someone who doesn't watch much basketball and goes solo when doing research in a rush ‍♂️ :)
 
Skizzo said:
That's what you get with someone who doesn't watch much basketball and goes solo when doing research in a rush ‍♂️ :)
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Curry/Fisher
Miller/Lillard
Leonard/Pierce
Hakeem/Bosh
Robinson/Davis

That looks better balanced.
 
RDCR07 said:
He is better at the PF in my opinion. His teams didnt have good options at the C, they moved him there and was easier to find a replacement at the PF like Horry.
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Even Sampson moved to PF when Hakeem was drafted because he preferred to play center. He played his entire NBA career at center, doesn't make sense to suddenly say he's better as a PF.
 
Akshay said:
Even Sampson moved to PF when Hakeem was drafted because he preferred to play center. He played his entire NBA career at center, doesn't make sense to suddenly say he's better as a PF.
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When you have David Robinson, its better to move Hakeem to PF to balance the team so Bosh and Pierce can play at their true position as well. In terms of balance for this team, its better to play at PF.
 
RDCR07 said:
When you have David Robinson, its better to move Hakeem to PF to balance the team so Bosh and Pierce can play at their true position as well. In terms of balance for this team, its better to play at PF.
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Yeah, that might be the better balance for his team, but it's really not Hakeem's better position. It's basically a question of who to play out of position.
 
Akshay said:
Yeah, that might be the better balance for his team, but it's really not Hakeem's better position. It's basically a question of who to play out of position.
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He literally has everything in his pocket to play to the PF position - the footwork, the height, the body, the power, the size, the movement, capable of stretching the play. Duncan and Garnett are 6'11'' and 250 and play the PF forward. Hakeem is 7'0" and 250. Easily matchable.
 
RDCR07 said:
He literally has everything in his pocket to play to the PF position - the footwork, the height, the body, the power, the size, the movement, capable of stretching the play. Duncan and Garnett are 6'11'' and 250 and play the PF forward. Hakeem is 7'0" and 250. Easily matchable.
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I've never heard of Hakeem play PF for any stretch of time in NBA. If we strictly by NBA peak, then he needs to be rated as C.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
I've never heard of Hakeem play PF for any stretch of time in NBA. If we strictly by NBA peak, then he needs to be rated as C.
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NM won last round by playing LeBron at SG. Hakeem at PF is a better fit than LeBron at SG. This is all about a debate and how you can convince voters.
 
After starting the game and hearing the jeering from the crowd, Danny "the tinkerer" Skizzo contemplates his life choices up to this moment. He calls a timeout and is seen frantically scribbling on his notepad and whiteboard, with the players looking around at each other in somewhat of a confused state.

"Now get out there and do what you're supposed to do!" Skizzo is heard yelling...with the players wondering if it was any different than what they were supposed to be doing in the beginning...

It looks like they've shuffled the pack and the players are rotating spots, and it seems to be looking like:

PG - Steph Curry / Fisher off the bench
SG - Reggie Miller / Lillard off the bench
SF - Kahwi Leonard / Pierce off the bench
PF - Hakeem Olajuwon / Bosh off the bench
C - David Robinson / Anthony Davis off the bench

Robinson has had success against Ewing, and they should have a good back and forth



and here's a look at Hakeem's ability to play inside and outside the paint, as well as rim protection and ball movement.



and his general ability to put the ball in the net. He's a trouble for most of the center's he's matched up with, he'd be a nightmare for his opposition here

[/QUOTE]
 
RDCR07 said:
NM won last round by playing LeBron at SG. Hakeem at PF is a better fit than LeBron at SG. This is all about a debate and how you can convince voters.
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That's why I hate draft threads. It's so often just coming up with anything that suits your side and arguing it to death. NM's side got severely criticized for playing LeBron out of position and rightly so, despite how multi-functional a player LeBron is. The same applies to Hakeem at PF.
 
Akshay said:
That's why I hate draft threads. It's so often just coming up with anything that suits your side and arguing it to death. NM's side got severely criticized for playing LeBron out of position and rightly so, despite how multi-functional a player LeBron is. The same applies to Hakeem at PF.
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I have a bit of an imbalance regardless, so its about managing it the best way I can :lol:

Hakeem brings more to my team with playing him at PF and Robinson at C, then having Hakeem at C and having Pierce out of position. It was my fault for overlooking it in the first place, and rightly got hammered for it :lol:
 
Skizzo has some great 3 point shooting, with Curry leading the way plus Miller and Kawhi contributing. With Pierce the spacing would have been incredible, and Hakeem got very good later in his career at kicking the ball back out when double teamed to an open teammate on the perimeter. It's still very good, though. When Curry gets hot he's just unstoppable, and with proper refereeing (which I assume we have this match) it gets harder still. His shooting from deep also opens up the floor for his teammates and just makes the game a whole lot easier for everyone.

Hakeem is the best center in the draft imo (I'm still hoping Skizzo will relent and move him back to where he deserves). Incredibly skilled and varied post game with the renowned Dream Shake, and a tremendously athletic defender as well. Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, all have gone to study how to improve their low post footwork with The Dream and came back better for it. The guy was the consummate professional once he got over his hotheadedness earlier in his career. Another player who never got a fair shake from the refs and would be much better for it.
 
Skizzo's frontcourt is better than Akshay's. The backcourt battle is interesting and is what will decide the game.
 
Akshay said:
Skizzo has some great 3 point shooting, with Curry leading the way plus Miller and Kawhi contributing. With Pierce the spacing would have been incredible, and Hakeem got very good later in his career at kicking the ball back out when double teamed to an open teammate on the perimeter. It's still very good, though. When Curry gets hot he's just unstoppable, and with proper refereeing (which I assume we have this match) it gets harder still. His shooting from deep also opens up the floor for his teammates and just makes the game a whole lot easier for everyone.

Hakeem is the best center in the draft imo (I'm still hoping Skizzo will relent and move him back to where he deserves). Incredibly skilled and varied post game with the renowned Dream Shake, and a tremendously athletic defender as well. Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, all have gone to study how to improve their low post footwork with The Dream and came back better for it. The guy was the consummate professional once he got over his hotheadedness earlier in his career. Another player who never got a fair shake from the refs and would be much better for it.
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That's the thing, with Hakeem able to take up positions both around the rim and in the paint, both defensively and offensively, it causes a bit of a defensive issue for your team. You have some monster defensive players in your line up, and forcing one of them to match up with Hakeem creates more of an isolation for each of our players. With Robinson forcing Ewing to give him his full attention, it means Hakeem can take up positions to best utilize his skills and create openings he wouldn't necessarily be able to by sticking close to center. It also creates more of an issue for you offensively with both Hakeem and Robinson being great shot blockers and rebounders on both ends of the court.

I don't mean to sound critical of your team at all, because obviously it's full of some of, if not the, best players of their generation. Kobe was incredible, and if I didn't upgrade my defensive players I think he'd have run right through me on his own (not to say he still wouldn't if he was in full Mamba mode) but with Robinson, Hakeem, and Leonard all on the court, it certainly limits options in players getting easy looks at the basket.

Of course I'm not a basketball guy, so cue someone coming in to tell me I'm talking out of my ass :lol:
 
Akshay said:
Skizzo has some great 3 point shooting, with Curry leading the way plus Miller and Kawhi contributing. With Pierce the spacing would have been incredible, and Hakeem got very good later in his career at kicking the ball back out when double teamed to an open teammate on the perimeter. It's still very good, though. When Curry gets hot he's just unstoppable, and with proper refereeing (which I assume we have this match) it gets harder still. His shooting from deep also opens up the floor for his teammates and just makes the game a whole lot easier for everyone.

Hakeem is the best center in the draft imo (I'm still hoping Skizzo will relent and move him back to where he deserves). Incredibly skilled and varied post game with the renowned Dream Shake, and a tremendously athletic defender as well. Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, all have gone to study how to improve their low post footwork with The Dream and came back better for it. The guy was the consummate professional once he got over his hotheadedness earlier in his career. Another player who never got a fair shake from the refs and would be much better for it.
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Akshay said:
Surely Curry and Kawhi give him at least an equal backcourt thus giving him the advantage?
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Wait whose side are you on?:lol:
 
Skizzo said:
That's the thing, with Hakeem able to take up positions both around the rim and in the paint, both defensively and offensively, it causes a bit of a defensive issue for your team. You have some monster defensive players in your line up, and forcing one of them to match up with Hakeem creates more of an isolation for each of our players. With Robinson forcing Ewing to give him his full attention, it means Hakeem can take up positions to best utilize his skills and create openings he wouldn't necessarily be able to by sticking close to center. It also creates more of an issue for you offensively with both Hakeem and Robinson being great shot blockers and rebounders on both ends of the court.

I don't mean to sound critical of your team at all, because obviously it's full of some of, if not the, best players of their generation. Kobe was incredible, and if I didn't upgrade my defensive players I think he'd have run right through me on his own (not to say he still wouldn't if he was in full Mamba mode) but with Robinson, Hakeem, and Leonard all on the court, it certainly limits options in players getting easy looks at the basket.
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Kawhi is an excellent defender, so if he's who you've got locking down Kobe I think he can definitely slow him down. I think Curry's defense gets underrated and he vs CP3 should be an interesting match. Tbh I'd give Curry the nod here.

Hakeem and Robinson are definitely going to be a tough chore in the post for Ewing and Dirk. If one of our perimeter defenders has to drop back for the double team that leaves one of your 3 shooters open. The spacing created by Curry also opens lanes for Miller and Kawhi to drive into. We do have solid lockdown defenders of our own though.
 
Akshay said:
Kawhi is an excellent defender, so if he's who you've got locking down Kobe I think he can definitely slow him down. I think Curry's defense gets underrated and he vs CP3 should be an interesting match. Tbh I'd give Curry the nod here.

Hakeem and Robinson are definitely going to be a tough chore in the post for Ewing and Dirk. If one of our perimeter defenders has to drop back for the double team that leaves one of your 3 shooters open. The spacing created by Curry also opens lanes for Miller and Kawhi to drive into. We do have solid lockdown defenders of our own though.
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I've watched some of the videos of Kobe against the Spurs, and even Kahwi struggled to get anywhere near him on his fadeaways and pull up jumpers. Honestly I think this game could come down to whether Kobe can turn his usage into efficient points. If he struggles, then I'm not sure the other guys will get enough of the ball to make up for it. If Kobe can default some of his "ok" looks to Dirk for good looks, then it will be a different game, and if Kobe goes on a tear, then it'll be end to end stuff.
 
Skizzo said:
I've watched some of the videos of Kobe against the Spurs, and even Kahwi struggled to get anywhere near him on his fadeaways and pull up jumpers. Honestly I think this game could come down to whether Kobe can turn his usage into efficient points. If he struggles, then I'm not sure the other guys will get enough of the ball to make up for it. If Kobe can default some of his "ok" looks to Dirk for good looks, then it will be a different game, and if Kobe goes on a tear, then it'll be end to end stuff.
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You'd have Hakeem on Dirk presumably? Hakeem was actually a pretty decent perimeter defender when he got switched into that position (as he normally guarded centers who'd pretty much never in that era take 3 point shots themselves).
 
Skizzo said:
I've watched some of the videos of Kobe against the Spurs, and even Kahwi struggled to get anywhere near him on his fadeaways and pull up jumpers. Honestly I think this game could come down to whether Kobe can turn his usage into efficient points. If he struggles, then I'm not sure the other guys will get enough of the ball to make up for it. If Kobe can default some of his "ok" looks to Dirk for good looks, then it will be a different game, and if Kobe goes on a tear, then it'll be end to end stuff.
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Kawhi today is a much better defender than he was two to three years ago. I mean he aint gonna shut down Kobe but he will the increase the odds of Kobe taking stupid, low % shots and my God Kobe is more than capable of putting up those.
 
Skizzo said:
I have a bit of an imbalance regardless, so its about managing it the best way I can :lol:

Hakeem brings more to my team with playing him at PF and Robinson at C, then having Hakeem at C and having Pierce out of position. It was my fault for overlooking it in the first place, and rightly got hammered for it :lol:
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Yeah that's why having a pure pf ie Nowitzki alongside a pure C like Ewing ie is more balanced and better.
 
RDCR07 said:
But Hakeem wont have any problem following Dirk over the floor. He is more agile and mobile than his counterpart.
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So what you're saying is, Hakeem is a better pf even playing out of position than one of the top 5 pfs ever arguably?
 
syrian_scholes said:
So what you're saying is, Hakeem is a better pf even playing out of position than one of the top 5 pfs ever arguably?
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Oh absolutely, especially when he has someone like Robinson playing next to him. He is better than Dirk both offensively and defensively. If he has a shit center playing next to him, then its a problem but with a top notch center, its a no brainer.
 
RDCR07 said:
Oh absolutely, especially when he has someone like Robinson playing next to him. He is better than Dirk both offensively and defensively. If he has a shit center playing next to him, then its a problem but with a top notch center, its a no brainer.
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Okay :lol:
 
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