Redraft PLayoffs: District 5 Ducks vs. Space Force

[unleashthebeast]

District 5 Ducks (Homecourt Advantage)

PG: Mike Conley l Ryan Arcadiacono
SG: Joe Harris l Thabo Sefolosha
SF: Robert Covington l Thabo Sefolosha l Ignas Bradzeikaso
PF: Jamychal Green l Montrezl Harrell
C: Nikola Jokic l Montrezl Harrell l Jordan Bell


vs.


Space Force

PG: Chris Paul (35) - Luka Doncic (13) - Carsen Edwards
SG: Luka Doncic (25) - Kevin Huerter (23)
SF: Jayson Tatum (35) - Torrey Craig (13)
PF: Paul Millsap (31) - P.J. Tucker (17)
C: Robin Lopez (20) - P.J. Tucker (17) - Nerlens Noel (11)



*note this is not real. please vote on who you think would win. This is the culmination of a group of users on PSD drafting players in a snake draft. Please look at each team and determine who would win in a SEVEN game series. DO NOT VOTE ON TEAM FANDOM LINES.

[unleashthebeast]

There is a clear game plan here for a Space Force victory:

1. We will funnel our entire offense towards Joe Harris and make him defend CP3 and Luka on switches until he's played off the court. Joe Harris already has to defend Tatum which will be a disaster for District 5 Ducks, but getting Harris involved in every offensive action will be quite easy and there's no way in hell he is staying in front of CP3 or Luka. Harris will be a non-factor in this series.

2. Jokic is the best player in this series. He will probably score the most PPG, and will have a big impact. Lopez, Tucker, and Noel will all give him different looks offensively though, and our entire defensive attention will be on him. He doesn't have near the help offensively as he has in Denver, and with Conley getting cancelled out by CP3 that isn't an advantage for District 5 either. Not to mention, Jokic will get worked defensively and will be involved in many switches and offensive actions to tire out his pillsberry dough boy frame. The District 5 GM joked with me that Jokic would put up 40-20-10 splits in this series, and he would literally have to do that for his team to have any chance. But with every ounce of our defensive attention on Jokic, he will struggle and it won't be enough.

3. Where are the creators on district 5? They have the best playmaking Center in the league, and a good point guard too. But what is the rest of this roster? A bunch of average to below average role players, none of which being able to step up offensively when Jokic is getting slown down and Conley is getting defended by the Point Gawd. And don't even bring up the lack of playmaking when Conley or Jokic are off the court, that offense would be at an absolute standstill.

4. Conversely, Space Force's offense is able to do so many different things and has so many different offensive weapons. Luka as the top dog and shot creator, CP3 still doing his thing, Tatum able to create his own shot (especially over Joe Harris defending him), and Millsap as the fallback plan in the paint and the mid range. Not to mention the shooters we have spacing the floor for these 4, like PJ Tucker and Kevin Huerter. District 5 simply doesn't have this sort of offensive luxury, and like previously stated would need an all time God like performance from Jokic to have a chance in this series.

District 5 has the best player, Space Force has the better and deeper and more well-rounded team. Space Force wins.

[Killerjug]

There is a clear game plan here for a Space Force victory:

1. We will funnel our entire offense towards Joe Harris and make him defend CP3 and Luka on switches until he's played off the court. Joe Harris already has to defend Tatum which will be a disaster for District 5 Ducks, but getting Harris involved in every offensive action will be quite easy and there's no way in hell he is staying in front of CP3 or Luka. Harris will be a non-factor in this series.

2. Jokic is the best player in this series. He will probably score the most PPG, and will have a big impact. Lopez, Tucker, and Noel will all give him different looks offensively though, and our entire defensive attention will be on him. He doesn't have near the help offensively as he has in Denver, and with Conley getting cancelled out by CP3 that isn't an advantage for District 5 either. Not to mention, Jokic will get worked defensively and will be involved in many switches and offensive actions to tire out his pillsberry dough boy frame. The District 5 GM joked with me that Jokic would put up 40-20-10 splits in this series, and he would literally have to do that for his team to have any chance. But with every ounce of our defensive attention on Jokic, he will struggle and it won't be enough.

3. Where are the creators on district 5? They have the best playmaking Center in the league, and a good point guard too. But what is the rest of this roster? A bunch of average to below average role players, none of which being able to step up offensively when Jokic is getting slown down and Conley is getting defended by the Point Gawd. And don't even bring up the lack of playmaking when Conley or Jokic are off the court, that offense would be at an absolute standstill.

4. Conversely, Space Force's offense is able to do so many different things and has so many different offensive weapons. Luka as the top dog and shot creator, CP3 still doing his thing, Tatum able to create his own shot (especially over Joe Harris defending him), and Millsap as the fallback plan in the paint and the mid range. Not to mention the shooters we have spacing the floor for these 4, like PJ Tucker and Kevin Huerter. District 5 simply doesn't have this sort of offensive luxury, and like previously stated would need an all time God like performance from Jokic to have a chance in this series.

District 5 has the best player, Space Force has the better and deeper and more well-rounded team. Space Force wins.

1) I am curious as to how Space Farce plans on doing this and if this plan doesn't work I have 3 very good to elite defenders in Conley Covington and Jokic which will essentially will make it very difficult for Space Farce to score. I assume that he plans on having Tatum be his primary ball handler/screener to get Joe Harris involved since Conley and Covington will have Paul and Doncic locked up. First off with this, Tatum's role in the Boston offense is not set screens to get the ball. While he is obviously capable of doing so, it isn't what his game is. If he is going to pick and pop with Tatum let's realize that Tatum took 26.6% of his shots last season from the Mid-Range and only hit 36.6% which is average to below average. If Tatum iso's up Harris we also can see that Tatum was ranked in just the 17th percentile when it came to isolation plays. He also was only league average at the rim with a 61.3% so even if he does get to the rim he was average and will have Jokic waiting there. He also only averaged 2.9 FT's per game so it's not like he will be getting District 5 in foul trouble. My question then becomes who is going to score for Space Farce efficiently. Sure Paul and Doncic will get theirs, but it certainly won't come efficiently, Paul Millsap will essentially be a corner stander with 3 primary ball handlers, and he has very little post offense with Robin Lopez and PJ Tucker off the bench.

2) He also goes on to say that Jokic is the best player in this series and he is correct when he says that. Not only is he the best player in the series, he has easily the best matchup of the whole series. Space Farce has committed to playing Robin Lopez 19 minutes a game, who albeit is an average defender, but not someone who can really slow down the versatile game of Jokic. Then he has PJ tucker out there to guard Jokic. These minutes are going to be a complete disaster for Space Farce. PJ Tucker is a very solid player, but there is no way that he is going to be able to guard Jokic in the post. He is 6'6 and will be giving up a ton of size and strength and Jokic will be able to work at will against him. He then says that he doesn't have the offensive help that he has in Denver? Mike Conley is better than Jamal Murray, Joe Harris had a far superior offensive year to Gary Harris or Malik Beasley, Robert Covington is superior to Will Barton/Torrey Craig, and while Millsap is an improvement over Jamychal Green, the way my team is constructed, he won't need to do much other than hit open 3's which he did at a 41% clip last year.

3) So he is admitting I have 2 elite ball handlers and saying that is an issue? That is the great part about my team is that it fits like a glove and will wear space farce down, especially with my spacing. I can run the pick and roll with Conley and Jokic or Jamychal Green. Better yet, to stop Jokic, Space Farce is going to have to double team Jokic in the post which will allow my shooters open shots. Jymchal Green shot 41% from 3 last year, Joe Harris shot 47% from 3 last year, Covington shot 38% from last year, and Mike Conley shot 36% from 3 in a down year. Then if Jokic is off the Floor, Conley and Harrell will kill Space Farce in the pick and roll as they literally have nobody off the bench who can stop him. Harrell is being severely undervalued here in this series and we saw last year what he can do on a good team.

4) This ties into point #1 but he claims he can do all of this offensive work on Joe Harris, yet he has a similar defensive "liability" playing in Kevin Huerter so apparently anybody can set screens and get easy switches onto Kevin Huerter for any minutes that he is in the game as well.

5) Overall Space Farce couldn't be more wrong about my team. We have the best player and arguably the second best player at this point in Conley. We have elite spacing and will be able to score at will in the post. I have 2 ball handlers, 3 guys who know their job and that is to knock down shots, and elite 6th man in Harrell who can provide energy and efficient scoring off the bench. He has a bunch of good players that don't fit nearly as well as my team, and a team that will struggle to score with elite defenders at all levels of my defense.

[mrblisterdundee]

Covington can't slow down Tatum and Luka.

[mightybosstone]

Both GMs make good points. KJ is right in that he does have the best and arguably second best player in the series, and the playmaking with guys on the floor should be stellar. UTB makes a great point that his team has superior depth, and KJ's squad lacks playmaking off the bench. I disagree with UTB's take that Paul is going to lock down Conley—I watched Paul in-depth last season, and the dude has clearly lost a step in terms of lateral quickness. I disagree with KJ's take that Tucker is going to be "a disaster" guarding Jokic, especially with Noel off the bench to come in if Tucker does struggle.

Bottom line, both teams are really well-built. But I just think UTB's depth here wins out for me. They can stagger Paul and Doncic's minutes to always have an excellent playmaker off the floor, and having Tucker as that super defensive 6th man to defend against any opposing player from SG-C is so nice. Plus, Millsap and Tatum are competent offensive scorers.

I question what happens offensively when Conley and Jokic go to the bench for KJ's squad. The whole "playmakers surrounded by shooters and defenders" concept is great, and it looks fantastic in a vacuum if you're just looking at KJ's starting five. But you can't run an offensive set through Harris, Covington or Green in a pinch like you could Tatum or Millsap. That team just lacks offensive versatility.

Also, KJ's interior D with Doncic and Green is probably average at best. Not a huge hole, but with multiple playmakers and guys who can attack the rim, I do think UTB's team is going to score a lot in the paint in this series.

I'd take UTB's squad in six.

[The_Jamal]

Give me KJ here. I actually believe ARCI can handle an offense for the 10-12 minutes that one of Conley or Jokic wouldn't be on the floor (if even that long), especially when he'll get minutes paired with Trez. Not worried about the playmaking at all, especially with the superior team construction from District 5.

And yeah there's absolutely 0 answer for Jokic in this series on either end of the court. He doesn't have to worry about Tucker/Lopez on the defensive end and they don't have a prayer at slowing him down on the offensive end.

Elite shooting, elite playmaking, elite wing defense, offense with a clear hierarchy and home-court advantage.

[Jets012]

KJ's my #1 team personally. Conley and Jokic are a match made in heaven and RoCo is stupid undervalued. Like both teams, will go with KJ

[tp13baby]

KJ. I like space force depth but I totally disagree with point 2. Jokic embarrasses Lopez, Tucker or Noel. Millsap is the only one that stands a chance and 1-1 due to the spacing Jokic would eat.

I probably flip my answer if Space force had an elite down hill attacker or lane runner. They don’t. Jokic isn’t out of shape or a bad defender, he struggles against athleticism which I don’t think Space Force has enough of.

[GREATNESS ONE]

KJ. I like space force depth but I totally disagree with point 2. Jokic embarrasses Lopez, Tucker or Noel. Millsap is the only one that stands a chance and 1-1 due to the spacing Jokic would eat.

I probably flip my answer if Space force had an elite down hill attacker or lane runner. They don’t. Jokic isn’t out of shape or a bad defender, he struggles against athleticism which I don’t think Space Force has enough of.

Thanks for voting!

[TO Rapz]

KJs team is QUITE a bit lit