Shammyguy3
11-06-2014, 11:38 AM
Here we go guys. The X-Men Conference Finals. Remember, only votes from the 13-member playoff committee will be accounted for. So even though GM votes won't count until then, feel free to talk and debate about who should win this series in your mind. Playoff Voting Committee: it is your obligation to explain why you vote a certain way, please do so.
Azkaban - Home Court Advantage
G: Russell Westbrook - Steve Blake
G: Bradley Beal - OJ Mayo
F: Thabo Sefolosha - Kyle Singler
F: David Lee - Thaddeus Young
C: Andre Drummond - Pero Antic
Westeros
PG: Ty Lawson | Mo Williams
SG: Kobe Bryant | Alec Burks
SF: P.J. Tucker | Xavier Henry
PF: Tim Duncan | Mizra Teletovic
C: Spencer Hawes | Jermaine O'Neal
Azkaban Writeup
Congrats on Westeros making it to the Conference Finals. However, I matchup far too well against this team to not advance to the Finals myself. First off, Russell Westbrook is easily the best player in this series. How in the world will Westeros defend him over 7 games? Lawson/Kobe? No way. They don't even have a defensive backup to guard him (Mo Williams and Alec Burks, ha!). Duncan can anchor their defense, but the pick & roll game of Westbrook/Lee will pull Timmy away from the basket, leaving Hawes to try and out-rebound Andre Drummond (arguably the best offensive and defensive rebounder in the game). That is not a recipe for success.
Then look at Kobe trying to guard Beal around all of those screens. And if you try to put Tucker on Beal, his quickness will still be there and then Kobe will be guarding a bigger player in Thabo who can outwork him with his athleticism on the fast break. Obviously Thabo isn't a threat offensively, but the rest of my guys will attack this Westeros defense and make an end to the legends' last hoorah here.
Now onto my defense. I have Westbrook guarding Lawson, severely limiting his penetration. I have Thabo guarding an older, slower, less effective Kobe Bryant (much like how he guarded Pierce in the last round). Beal will stay on Tucker and just close out on his open threes, not too difficult of a task for someone with his athleticism. Now it gets tricky because of their bigs, but Drummond/Lee on the boards will force Westeros to make their first shot, which sounds easier than it actually will be.
I will only make one mention about teams' benches: mine is tremendously far and away superior.
All in all, neither team here has an all-time great defense. We have defensive players at certain positions, but the overall defense has some questionable players. So I call the defensive side of the ball a wash. Which leads this game to who can be more efficient offensively, who can win in transition, and who can win on the offensive glass. My team has an advantage in all 3 of those aspects. My team has the best player. My team will win this series.
Westeros Writeup
Congratulations to Azkaban for narrowly making it to the conference finals! They have some really solid pieces, but lack several fundamental necessities to be successful in the conference finals and finals.
First off, Azkaban has no true leadership. Russell Westbrook is probably a big reason for a lot of OKC's success, but unfortunately, a lot of their failures too. It has been said that Westbrook is the only player in the league who can limit Kevin Durant to under 30 points per game. He doesn't have the mental maturity to get past a season and veteran squad, such as Westeros. The rest of Azkaban's squad are virtually inexperienced deep in the playoffs. No NBA team has ever gone to the conference fnals or finals without a true leader, leading the team there.
Secondly, Azkaban is way below average defensively. Their best defender is their PG! Yikes! Drummond might get block shots, but even Piston fans will tell you how much improvement he needs on that end of the floor. He is young and I genuinely believe he will be a good defensive center one day, but you can't expect him to be the defensive anchor in the conference finals or finals; He's just too inexperienced and he's still learning the game. Thabo Sefolosha was so bad defensively (and even more so offensively) last season, they decided to take him off the starting lineup for Caron Butler... ! David Lee will be destroyed by Tim Duncan in the paint. If Azkaban plans on using Lee to guard Hawes, Hawes will simply post him up and have his way with the smaller and shorter Lee. Bradley Beal's defensive is pretty atrocious. I suspect Azkaban will deploy Sefolosha on Kobe in a desperate attempt to slow him down, so perhaps Beal guarding PJ Tucker won't affect him too much in that match up. Overall, Azkaban doesn't have anyone remotely close as effective as Serge Ibaka to stop Ty Lawson, Kobe Bryant, Alec Burks, and Xavier Henry from attacking the rim at will.
Thirdly, Azkaban's offense has almost no spacing! In their lineup, they have one 3 point shooter! Azkban's 2nd best 3 point shooter shot 31.8% last year (Russell Westbrook), followed by Sefolosha's 31.6%. All Westeros has to do is play a zone, and it will not only limit Westbrook's scoring ability, but make it easier to defend Lee and Drummond. They don't have enough floor spacing to keep the defense honest. Westbrook has a .519 TS%, and would literally shoot Azkaban out of several games as he done with OKC, only this time, he won't have Kevin Durant (or anyone even close to Kevin Durant) to help take the pressure off of him. When Westbrook attacks, he literally only has Beal to kick it out to... that spells trouble for Azkaban.
Westeros has the veteran leadership, championship experience, and the perfect role players to get past Azkaban. Duncan will be taking Lee to school. Hawes will be on the 3 point arch, pulling Drummond away from the paint where he is uncomfortable and preventing him from grabbing the boards. Kobe is the secondary ball-handler to attack the rim, causing the defense to cave in, only to kick it out to Lawson/Hawes/Tucker for the open 3. Lawson's speed and agility will cause Westbrook to work hard on the defensive end, making Azkaban's leading scorer exert tremendous amounts of energy. Lawson's elite passing will create not only easy baskets for his teammates, but baskets in a half court setting, something Azkaban won't be able to do with their lineup. PJ Tucker is the ideal 3 and D guy, being occasionally assigned to guard Westbrook to slow him down, but primarily on Beal. His efficient 3 point shooting is comparable to Beal's, but is superior to everyone else on Azkaban's roster. Westeros in 5-6 games.
Azkaban - Home Court Advantage
G: Russell Westbrook - Steve Blake
G: Bradley Beal - OJ Mayo
F: Thabo Sefolosha - Kyle Singler
F: David Lee - Thaddeus Young
C: Andre Drummond - Pero Antic
Westeros
PG: Ty Lawson | Mo Williams
SG: Kobe Bryant | Alec Burks
SF: P.J. Tucker | Xavier Henry
PF: Tim Duncan | Mizra Teletovic
C: Spencer Hawes | Jermaine O'Neal
Azkaban Writeup
Congrats on Westeros making it to the Conference Finals. However, I matchup far too well against this team to not advance to the Finals myself. First off, Russell Westbrook is easily the best player in this series. How in the world will Westeros defend him over 7 games? Lawson/Kobe? No way. They don't even have a defensive backup to guard him (Mo Williams and Alec Burks, ha!). Duncan can anchor their defense, but the pick & roll game of Westbrook/Lee will pull Timmy away from the basket, leaving Hawes to try and out-rebound Andre Drummond (arguably the best offensive and defensive rebounder in the game). That is not a recipe for success.
Then look at Kobe trying to guard Beal around all of those screens. And if you try to put Tucker on Beal, his quickness will still be there and then Kobe will be guarding a bigger player in Thabo who can outwork him with his athleticism on the fast break. Obviously Thabo isn't a threat offensively, but the rest of my guys will attack this Westeros defense and make an end to the legends' last hoorah here.
Now onto my defense. I have Westbrook guarding Lawson, severely limiting his penetration. I have Thabo guarding an older, slower, less effective Kobe Bryant (much like how he guarded Pierce in the last round). Beal will stay on Tucker and just close out on his open threes, not too difficult of a task for someone with his athleticism. Now it gets tricky because of their bigs, but Drummond/Lee on the boards will force Westeros to make their first shot, which sounds easier than it actually will be.
I will only make one mention about teams' benches: mine is tremendously far and away superior.
All in all, neither team here has an all-time great defense. We have defensive players at certain positions, but the overall defense has some questionable players. So I call the defensive side of the ball a wash. Which leads this game to who can be more efficient offensively, who can win in transition, and who can win on the offensive glass. My team has an advantage in all 3 of those aspects. My team has the best player. My team will win this series.
Westeros Writeup
Congratulations to Azkaban for narrowly making it to the conference finals! They have some really solid pieces, but lack several fundamental necessities to be successful in the conference finals and finals.
First off, Azkaban has no true leadership. Russell Westbrook is probably a big reason for a lot of OKC's success, but unfortunately, a lot of their failures too. It has been said that Westbrook is the only player in the league who can limit Kevin Durant to under 30 points per game. He doesn't have the mental maturity to get past a season and veteran squad, such as Westeros. The rest of Azkaban's squad are virtually inexperienced deep in the playoffs. No NBA team has ever gone to the conference fnals or finals without a true leader, leading the team there.
Secondly, Azkaban is way below average defensively. Their best defender is their PG! Yikes! Drummond might get block shots, but even Piston fans will tell you how much improvement he needs on that end of the floor. He is young and I genuinely believe he will be a good defensive center one day, but you can't expect him to be the defensive anchor in the conference finals or finals; He's just too inexperienced and he's still learning the game. Thabo Sefolosha was so bad defensively (and even more so offensively) last season, they decided to take him off the starting lineup for Caron Butler... ! David Lee will be destroyed by Tim Duncan in the paint. If Azkaban plans on using Lee to guard Hawes, Hawes will simply post him up and have his way with the smaller and shorter Lee. Bradley Beal's defensive is pretty atrocious. I suspect Azkaban will deploy Sefolosha on Kobe in a desperate attempt to slow him down, so perhaps Beal guarding PJ Tucker won't affect him too much in that match up. Overall, Azkaban doesn't have anyone remotely close as effective as Serge Ibaka to stop Ty Lawson, Kobe Bryant, Alec Burks, and Xavier Henry from attacking the rim at will.
Thirdly, Azkaban's offense has almost no spacing! In their lineup, they have one 3 point shooter! Azkban's 2nd best 3 point shooter shot 31.8% last year (Russell Westbrook), followed by Sefolosha's 31.6%. All Westeros has to do is play a zone, and it will not only limit Westbrook's scoring ability, but make it easier to defend Lee and Drummond. They don't have enough floor spacing to keep the defense honest. Westbrook has a .519 TS%, and would literally shoot Azkaban out of several games as he done with OKC, only this time, he won't have Kevin Durant (or anyone even close to Kevin Durant) to help take the pressure off of him. When Westbrook attacks, he literally only has Beal to kick it out to... that spells trouble for Azkaban.
Westeros has the veteran leadership, championship experience, and the perfect role players to get past Azkaban. Duncan will be taking Lee to school. Hawes will be on the 3 point arch, pulling Drummond away from the paint where he is uncomfortable and preventing him from grabbing the boards. Kobe is the secondary ball-handler to attack the rim, causing the defense to cave in, only to kick it out to Lawson/Hawes/Tucker for the open 3. Lawson's speed and agility will cause Westbrook to work hard on the defensive end, making Azkaban's leading scorer exert tremendous amounts of energy. Lawson's elite passing will create not only easy baskets for his teammates, but baskets in a half court setting, something Azkaban won't be able to do with their lineup. PJ Tucker is the ideal 3 and D guy, being occasionally assigned to guard Westbrook to slow him down, but primarily on Beal. His efficient 3 point shooting is comparable to Beal's, but is superior to everyone else on Azkaban's roster. Westeros in 5-6 games.