ATL: New Jersey and Rio co-champions

[Sky]

New Jersey hosts Rio in game 1 of the best of 3 ATL Finals. Bill Russell squares off against his modern day equivalent in Tim Duncan as Doctor J and James Worthy have the clash of the titans at 3. Jamas coaches the Nets, Sky the Blues. Jamas calls the rules for game 1.

[jamas33]

Well this is it Sky... Lets Dance the Last Dance of ATL 2007.

RULES: Old School (fitting for two old school minded guy)
Starters:
PG - Tim Hardaway
SG - Latrell Sprewell
SF - Julius Erving
PF - Amare Stoudemire
C - Bill Russell
_________________

[Sky]

Old School, destiny.

PG - Baron Davis
SG - Raja Bell
SF - James Worthy
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Patrick Ewing

Best of luck J.

[Sky]

Game plans due midnight Monday October 8.

Judging deadline Saturday October 13 at 10 pm pacific.

[Sky]

Rio de Janeiro Blues


+ - Magic wand used for 100% health.

New Jersey Nets

[Sky]

Rio de Janeiro game plan vs. Oakland

1. INTRODUCTION – Nets scouting report

Bill Russell – A dominant shotblocker and a great rebounder, but not a good shooter or an offensive threat. As with Wilt’s 50 ppg season, Russell in this year is in the days of the 12-foot lane, so keep that context in mind for his stats. Even with a narrow lane he still only shoots .457. Now push the lane out to the current 16 feet and what does Russell shoot from the floor? He’s an offensive liability and we’ll focus on boxing him out not defending him. If Russell leaves the hoop he’s Dikembe Mutombo on offense, all screens, no jumpers.

Russell had 4.5 assists but that was on a team averaging 121 points a night. Tempo won’t be that high in this game Also keep in mind the game style played in 1961, this isn’t Shaq hitting cutters in the tri, it’s Russell low block kicking it out. Point being, you can’t just take the assist numbers and plug it into whatever offensive set you want. Would Russell be comfortable lifted high as a passer/screener from the elbow? He never played that game, and his boards would suffer.

Amare Stoudemire – Amare has had success against Duncan in recent years, but that’s Duncan 2007 slowed down by foot injuries. The Duncan in this game is from 2001 in a fully healthy dominant MVP season. Amare can hit elbow and face up. His back to the basket game isn’t that strong. He needs the ball on the move to succeed inside and thrives with an uptempo team of multiple 3 shooters that stretch the floor to give him wide cutting lanes. Crowd him, sink back on D and deny the pass on the cut and Stoudemire can struggle. Look at what happens to Amare when Nash sits, his game disappears. Defensively Amare isn’t much. Especially weak at denying inside position on the block.

Julius Erving – The Doctor was just killing people this year, but it was in the no-D ABA in a 112 points a game track meet. Regardless of competition the man was a freak. His game wasn’t as refined as it would become in Philly, he’s looking to make plays solely off his athleticism. No one in the ABA could match up with him, but a prime Worthy can. Big Game James could defend three positions (2,3, and 4) and has the speed and smarts to make Erving work hard on both ends. Clash of the Titans.

Latrell Sprewell – Spree was a one-man team on a 30-win club. Rick Adelman was running his motion offense as Spree got 6 apg hitting Chris Mullin and Mark Price for spot up 3’s. As with Russell, it’s important to note how he got the assists – finding spot up shooters. Spree was given the ball in space and told to create. He’s their leading scorer taking 800 shots more than Mullin, 6 assists but also 4 turnovers. Spree absolutely dominated the ball to get these stats. He won’t in this game.

Tim Hardaway – The Warriors have just dealt Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens (oops) and have gone microscopic with Owens at 4 and Chris Gatling at 5, forcing them to run to survive. Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Sarunas Marciulionis carry the scoring on a team looking to go uptempo all 48 minutes, scoring 119 a night. Half court for these guys was certain death. As a result Hardaway has 10 assists on a run and gun team. He’s listed at 6-0 but that’s widely accepted as myth, I was on the baseline for playoff games in this year, Hardaway is 5-10. At most he’s 5-11. He’s giving up at least 4 inches to Baron.

The Bench

Strong role players off the bench. Brilliant 3 shooter in Petrovic. Great speed with Tony Parker. The smart tough 4 in Buck. Aguirre gunning. Tayshaun defending. Jamas has specialists to come off the pine. Thing is specialists are one-way players. The backup guards are poor defenders, as is Aguirre. Petrovic is the only reliable 3 shooter on the team. Parker has a good 3 percentage but on just 0.5 attempts. Solid bench with focused, specialized roles.

Overall

Complementary talent on both ends, great athleticism. Depends on the stars on each end to carry them. Russell on defense. Erving on offense. Spree had stats but was a slasher/scorer not a shooter. Hardaway got the big assist numbers due to game pace, different player in the halfcourt. Amare is explosive but dependent on the 1 to set him up on the move and have 3 shooters around him to open the floor for cutting lanes.

Defensively Spree was solid man up, Erving can hold his own and Russell is legend. We will need to crack Russell a little bit to open the floor and the hoop, take advantage of Amare’s weakness in denying position and work the size mismatch with Hardaway on both ends.

1. MINUTES
1) Baron Davis 25, Gus Williams 15, Kenny Smith 8
2) Raja Bell 25, Andre Iguodala 15, Gus Williams 8
3) James Worthy 32, Andre Iguodala 8, Dale Ellis 8
4) Tim Duncan 40, Robert Horry 8
5) Patrick Ewing 40, Raef LaFrentz 8
Otis Thorpe – as needed if foul trouble hits

Inactive: Richard Dumas (injured for this game), Shane Battier, James Posey

2. SETS
Offense:
Percentages driven by who plays for New Jersey

Basic plays (about 70% of the time)
Hawk side screen 20%
San Antonio 4-down 20%
Spread ice 15%
Baron post-up/Raja three 15%

Specialized (around 30%)
Dual initiator spread (when Petrovic is in the game) 12%
Dale Ellis picket fence (when Aguirre is in the game) 10%
Bomb squad (3 minutes each half) 8%

Defense:
Man up 100%

3. OFFENSE

The offensive game plan looks to take advantage of Baron vs. Hardaway, set up Duncan vs. Amare, and slug it out in Worthy vs. Erving. In most of the sets we have both bigs high and a guard back, which will feed our transition defense schemes to make sure Jersey can’t run on us. We will be deliberate in the offense, looking to keep the game in the nineties.

1. Hawk side screen.

Hubie Brown;s Hawk offense looks to exploit a backcourt mismatch, we’ll use it at 1 with the 6-3 Baron Davis on the sub 6-foot Hardaway.

Whoever Bill Russell is guarding (Ewing/Duncan) sets a wing pick wide of the elbow to free Baron, who makes a circle cut into the lane. Raja is spotting up 3, Worthy is baseline and the other big spots at the elbow. The screener then rolls to the left baseline

Baron is a strong finisher and very adept at passing out of dribble penetration. Should create open looks consistently. If Hardaway goes under the screen Baron can pass quickly to Raja for the 3, or reverse left and work pick and roll left.

Core concept – whoever Russell is guarding Bill’s at the elbow and can’t protect the hoop. If he’s defending at 4 and closes on Davis, Baron gives it to the big for the uncontested elbow jumper. If anyone on the defense leaves their man Baron hits him. If the defense stays man up Baron can hammer it down over Hardaway.

2. San Antonio four down.

Duncan sets up back to the basket low block and can take his man inside, kick out to Raja behind the arc or hit Baron and Worthy cutting. 4 down spreads the floor and forces the defense to extend to the arc and baseline while still having to poretect the hoop against cutters and Duncan.

Core concept - 4 down forces the defense to pick its poison. Choose not to extend and Raja has the 3 or Worthy has the baseline jumper. Extend and the cutting lanes open for Baron. Also have to worry about Duncan taking it to Amare, who can’t deny position low block.

3. Spread ice

Standard play we’ve used throughout. Give Worthy the ball baseline with the bigs spread to the elbow and opposite baseline. James creates off the dribble in back down or face up. Drives to the hoop and Ewing can cut or spot up opposite baseline. Duncan can come down midpost for his money bank shot. Each member of the frontline gets plenty of open looks.

Variation will be for Ewing to set a high rub screen for Baron to cut middle.

Core concept – Worthy vs. Erving will be a case of each going at the other. Both will get theirs, both will make the other work hard on both ends. Russell is removed from the play.


4. Baron post up/Raja 3

Baron cuts down to the low block with Worthy baseline or Duncan elbow making the post entry pass. Baron then posts up Hardaway and shreds him. Worthy is available for baseline kickout, Raja at the arc, Duncan elbow, Ewing opposite baseline.

If New Jersey switches Spree to Baron, Davis is set up on an island wing with the bigs high and takes Spree off the dribble with Raja spotting corner or wing 3. Baron can finish on Spree and draw fouls, or he can pass out to Raja who can easily shoot the 3 over Hardaway.

Specialized

5. Dual initiator spread.

When Petrovic is in the game we switch to a Baron/Gus backcourt and play the bigs in an UCLA high post set. Duncan and Ewing screen for both guards. Baron or Gus takes the ball straight at Russell and forces him to commit, then pass out to the other guard to finish, or pass to Worthy/Ewing baseline as spot up shooters. Both guards are triple threats one occupies Russell, who can’t leave the penetrator since both Baeron and Gus are great finsihers. Gus also has a money floater.

6. Dale Ellis picket fence.

When Aguirre is in the game we’re forcing his lard [Swearing is not permitted at Clublakers. You must edit this post prior to submitting.] to chase Dale Ellis through a picket fence of screens for corner 3’s. Ellis was the best in the game at running off picks for 3’s and hit them at 45%.

7. Bomb squad

Some teams have three aces, but we have them at all five positions. A team of Kenny Smith, Raja Bell, Dale Ellis, Robert Horry and Raef LaFrentz will all set up on the arc. Any big that doesn’t extend, Raef or Horry works as a screener and also gets their uncontested 3’s. Smith has the record for most 3’s without a miss in a finals game, and Horry is the all-time 3 leader in finals history. Money money money monnneeeeey. Bomb squad gets 4 minutes in each half.


If/Then

If Russell takes Duncan then the 4-down will focus more on using Duncan as a passer. If Amare is on Duncan then we will tell Tim to go to work on the low block with the kickout and cut options as a lower priority. If Russell takes Ewing, Patrick will set up high post or baseline all night.

If Baron is punking Hardaway in post up and NJ switches Spree to Davis, then we look to set up Raja for 3’s when he is in, and Iggy for cuts and dribble penetration when he is in.

4. DEFENSE
Team D focus will be on shading Erving to funnel him into the inside help that can collapse on him, and shading Hardaway and Spree wide to cut off half the floor and force them into shooters where both are weak. We play off Spree to deny penetration, off Russell if he leaves the low block.

1. Russell. Focus is on blocking him out. If he leaves the low block we let him go and Duncan/Ewing call out the screens. If Russell is lifted to the elbow go ahead, keeps him off the O glass and he’s a fish out of water up there. If Russell is high or wide then Ewing will play as far below him as the man rules allow and immediately double screens and switch to cutters. He will be keying on Amare to switch as Stoudemire cuts and help on Erving penetration middle. Russell even with a 12 foot lane only shot 45% floor, we can leave him.

2. Amare. He needs the ball on the move. We’ll be in a weak side pack to crowd him, challenging the passing lanes and going for steals. Ewing is playing off Russell low and the weak side defenders will play on the edges of the lane off their man So when Amare has the ball elbow, the weak side defenders are on the edge of the lane and Ewing is keying on him. When Amare penetrates with the ball the weak side defenders will converge and Ewing will help if he is in position to switch. Amare is not a passer, just 1.6 assists. If Amare is cutting without the ball Raja will play off Spree and spy the passing lane looking for a steal.

3. Erving. Worthy will be shading Erving to funnel him middle. Ewing will be playing off Russell waiting to double. Duncan will stay home on Amare. Again weak side defenders are on the edge of the lane, conceding the wing jumper to the starters.

4. Spree. Raja will let him shoot wing and 3. Spree was nothing special as a shooter. 45% floor, 35% 3. He can pass, but it comes at a high turnover cost. So Raja and Iggy will both be looking to play off Spree for penetration and look to overplay passing lanes to get some steals. We will shade Spree to send him wide to deny penetration and encourage jump shots.

5. Hardaway. Baron has an advantage in height, length and power, with similar speed. He will challenge post entry and pick Tim’s pocket (3.3 to’s). Baron will shade Hardaway to force him wide and limit his passing options in penetration. Cut the floor in half and pack it in weak side.

6. Petrovic. Gus Williams will be defending Petrovic, his focus will be on overplaying the passing lanes to deny kickouts and get steals. He will play between Petrovic and the ball, rather than Petrovic and the hoop. Focus is on denying the pass, especially kickouts. Gus has the speed to recover off screens and stay with him.

7. Parker. Gus takes him unless Petrovic is in the game at the same time. Focus here is playing off Tony for penetration and having the speed to close on pullups and strip him in dribble penetration.

Jamas will no doubt have some brilliant offensive strategy and all I can say is we will hold to the basic defensive principles described above. Funnel Erving middle, collapse on Amare, shade the guards wide, play off Russell, and deny the pass to Petrovic. We have help where it’s needed on Doc and put the rest of the players into their weaknesses, Spree and Hardaway forced into shooters, Amare crowded having no cutting lanes.

Screens will be show and recover for Duncan and Ewing, with Ewing available to double if Russell is sent high.

If/Then
If he says we will run, I counter with this, the Rio offensive sets have at least one big high (oftentimes both) and a guard back. The transition D is already in place to challenge the outlet and have a high swat agile big back. San Antonio has the best transition defense in basketball, Duncan is a big reason why.

If he runs UCLA, we will switch it out. The big will hard show off the rub cut to deny penetration and play tight to deny the pass as the guard denies the passing angle to Amare. If Russell is setting the screen high we ignore him. Ewing is playing off him entirely if Russ is at the high post.

If he runs the cross offense, we show and recover off the screens. Duncan and Ewing are both exceptional in show and recover D.

5. DIAGRAMS AND VIDEOS

Hawk side screen



Baron circle cut off the pick with three spot up/cutter options

4-down

Duncan setting up lwo block with options around him.




Spread ice



Worthy with the ball on an island, floor spread.


Defensive concepts

Weak side pack



play at edge of key

Collapse on Amare



Guard covers the kickout, bigs collapse on the ball.


6. CLOSING
At 8 minutes the bomb squad comes in and makes the Jersey defenders chase. Dale Ellis best 3 shooting season ever. Horry and Smith money. Raef at 39%. All five positions can rain it down. On D Raef is the swat anchor. Raja is the perimeter stopper, and Kenny Smith shades Hardaway wide.

At 5 minutes we work Duncan and Baron, both have a track record of closing playoff games well. If he has Russell on Duncan then Tim takes him midblock and hits fadeaways and banks that even Russell can’t swat. If it’s Amare then Tim takes him on low block. In this year Duncan was 80% line so he’s not a liability in closing. Baron will post up Hardaway and work the side screen.

Defensively we sink back, jumpers will fade as legs get tired. We want to focus on denying cut and penetration lanes. If Russell gets the ball we’ll go into Hack a Legend and not let him get shots up inside. Just .595 from the line. Ouch.

7. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Old school rules shouldn’t lead to foul trouble, but if the bigs have trouble we bring in Otis Thorpe who averaged 18/10 at center when Hakeem got hurt. Slower paced game should allow Duncan and Ewing to play 40 minutes without getting winded.

8. WHY WE WIN

Erving and Worthy is epic but both get theirs. Duncan gets the better of Amare. Ewing outrscores Russell. Spree outscores our 2’s. Baron outscores Hardaway. Our collective 3 aces beat Petrovic. The only offensive matchup in his favor is at 2, and Spree is a low percentage shooter. Meanwhile we are getting open shots and high percentage looks. Duncan inside, Baron post up, Raja at 41% from 3, Ellis 45%, Ewing spot up.

To succeed on offense Amare needs the ball on the move but gets crowded inside without the open cutting lanes he has in Phoenix. Hardaway’s game is a shadow of what he’s used to, forced into halfcourt against a longer and stronger opponent with quickness. Spree is forced to shoot wide due to the traffic jam inside.

The Nets are a great team, but we can neutralize Russell somewhat on defense by taking him high and taking the ball straight at him with dual penetrators and lots of spot up shooters wide. We have higher percentage looks on offense. He has a team of scorers that can’t shoot. We force them to shoot on offense while funneling the penetrators inside as we collapse on the ball. We force New Jersey into their weaknesses and impose our strengths of Duncan inside, and Baron vs. Hardaway, as Worthy and Erving fight a war to the death with neither emerging a clear winner.

A draw for Erving is fatal to the Nets, they don’t get enough points from Amare as 2nd option, or enough high percentage looks from the guards. We have the talent to overcome Russell on D, our bigs are money shooters and our guards are great dribble penetrators that can finish or rain 3’s. Smart team D with dual shotblockers inside and an answer to Erving. Higher percentage offense backing down Amare and Hardaway. Rio’s balance holds the key to the win.

[jamas33]

OPPONENT: Rio De Janeiro
Old School Rules

INTRO:
Looking at Rio De Janeiro is like looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of ourselves. A very well rounded team with numerous weapons on the offensive and defensive side. A team that can match us up defensively and offensively. This will be a no gimmick games. Talent vs Talent, System vs System. We will count on the greatness of Russell and Dr. J vs. Duncan and James Worthy.
Scouting:
PG – Baron Davis – out of this world athleticism, Can take over a game but his numbers also reflect below average fg % and shooting .30% from three. He is their best playmaker but also averages 3.1 turnovers per game
SG – Raja Bell – Great defender and spot up shooter. He is their best three point shooter in their starting lineup.
SF – James Worthy – Prototype small forward, size of a power forward speed of a shooting guard. One heck of an athlete, but outside shooting is suspect as evident of his 3 pt shooting of .125%
PF – Tim Duncan – Hall of fame talent at PF. One of the most dominant PF to play the game. Great numbers about 24 touches per game and 3.7 assist to 3.2 turnovers per game. .History shows he has problems with guys that are as big or more athletic than Tim ie. KG and Amare
C – Pat Ewing – Great jumpshooting center and second team all defense with 4 bpg. Glaring number is his 20.4 fga and 7.9 fta. About 25 touches per game and only 2.2 assist and 3 Turnover. This is Ewing as a blackhole.

MATCHUPS
Baron Davis vs Tim Hardaway – Tim would not be able to stop Baron on defense and vice versa. Baron is bigger, while Tim is quicker and a better outside shooter. This boils down to the help from the backline. Baron has Ewing and Tim has Russell.

Raja Bell vs. Latrell Sprewell – Raja Bell is one of the best role player in the game. Spot up 3 point shooter and will take on the best offensive player of the other team on defense. Sprewell is an explosive SG that can score from anywhere on the floor.

James Worthy vs Dr. J – Battle of the athletic freaks. Two guys that have changed the way the SF position is played. Dr. J is a better outside shooter while Worthy is a better post up player.

Tim Duncan vs. Bill Russell – Arguably the greatest PF in the game vs quite possibly the greatest defender in the history of the game. Bball IQ is off the charts in this matchup. Tim is a multiple MVP and finals MVP vs. Russell, who just knows how to win.

Pat Ewing vs Amare Stoudemire – Amare’s athleticism vs Ewings plodding halfcourt style. In the 2005 Playoffs Amare averaged 37 ppg and 10 rpg vs a 7 time 1st team all defensive player in the 7 feet 258 lbs Tim Duncan and now he will be playing against a 7 foot 240 lbs Ewing. This is the Black Hole Ewing as evident of his 25 touches 2 assist and 3 turnovers.

MINUTES BREAKDOWN:
PG: Hardaway 28 Minutes, Parker 20 minutes
SG: Sprewell 34 minutes, Petrovic 14 minutes
SF: Erving 36 minutes, Prince 12 minutes
PF: Stoudemire 28 minutes, Buck Williams 20 minutes
C: Russell 38 minutes, Stoudemire 10 minutes
TOTAL MINUTES PER PLAYER:
Tim Hardaway 28 minutes
Julius Erving 33 minutes
Mark Aguirre
Buck Williams 20 minutes
Bill Russell 38 minutes
Amare Stoudemire 38 minutes
Latrell Sprewell 34 minutes
Tony Parker 20 minutes
Tayshuan Prince 12 minutes
Drazen Petrovic 14 minutes
Brad Miller


OFFENSIVE GOALS:
1. Keep riding the horse that got us here, Erving and Sprewell at the wings. Establishing the Doctor early.
2. Running Side Screens for Amare thru the various offensive sets.
3. Running Side Screens for Russell using the Boston Zipper offense.
4. Attack Baron by using the UCLA offense with the high post rub and giving Parker more playing time to maximize Hardaway and Parker at peak levels, Then proceed to use the Side Screen to free Amare and/or Russell in this offense.
5. Running various four down situations with Tim or Tony vs Baron. These penetrations will cause Ewing or Duncan to help resulting in Russell’s offensive rebounding skills to manifest itself.
6. Run whenever possible. Speed advantage in PF and C helps us.

NOTE: As evident by Amare’s (37 ppg) vs Duncan in the playoff, when given space to operate (various version of the sidescreen in the different offensive sets) He can be very dominant.

OFFENSIVE SETS:
The Power Offense 30%
Boston Zipper Offense 25%
The UCLA 25%
Four Down 10%
Fast Break 10%

POWER OFFENSE 30 %



1. Power offense creates isolations on the wings with the screens slowing the man to man giving Erving and Sprewell a slight advantage/opening.
2. If they switch on the picks, we see Amare or Russell on the blocks vs. Smaller guys. If their defense adjust on the picks then we run

The SIDESCREEN with Amare and Erving in a P&R situation


1. Sidescreen on the left with Amare and Erving (5 assist per game)
A. Erving has three option
a) Amare rolling to the rim
b) Hardaway/Parker/Sprewell/Petrovic Spotting up.
c) Take it to the basket.
B. Russell dropping on low blocks for rebound keeps Ewing/Duncan at home.
NOTE: There are a variety of options we can run off the Power offense.
Sidescreens can be run on either side. Amare/Erving or Russell/Sprewell.

BOSTON ZIPPER OFFENSE 25 %


1. Running the Zipper offense tries to create mismatches on the blocks and frees Sprewell at the elbow. Watch the backside where the Stoudemire sets a backpack for Erving. Hardaway (10 assist per game) makes a decision on where the ball goes in the initial set.
2. There are variations on how we start the Zipper offense. It could begin looking like the UCLA Offense (Auerbach “copied” from this offense)
A. Making it a Russellcentric offense. Russell and Hardaway showing a P&R then Sprewell gives a back pick for Russell (shown on the diagram below)


B. When Petrovic comes in, we can run it on the other side with Erving/Russell/Hardaway and Petrovic sets up for the three point shot on the weakside (this creates room for Amare to operate)
(shown on diagram below)



NOTE: We run the Celtic Zipper offense emphasizing Russell when they put their defensive emphasis on stopping the Amare/Erving side screen setup on one side.


UCLA OFFENSE 25 %



1. UCLA offense is about attacking Baron using the high post rub against him.
2. Weakside on the UCLA Offense sees the backpack coming from Amare to free Sprewell/Petrovic at the elbow or top of key for THREE! If they switch it leaves Raja vs Amare, if they don’t it gives Sprewell/Petrovic an open shot or an open lane.
3. A sidescreen variation on the UCLA Offense (diagram below)



A. Right Side Variation with Double Screen and Roll. Sprewell Clears out. Russell and Hardaway/Parker P&R with secondary pick for Hardaway/Parker


B. Left Side SideScreen with Double Screen and Roll. Erving Clears out. Amare and Hardaway/Parker runs P&R with secondary screen for Hardaway/Parker from Russell. We can bring Petrovic in and run the sidescreen off the UCLA on this side allowing Petrovic room for the three point shot.

FOUR DOWN OFFENSE 10%


1. We can run this offense with numerous possibilities.
2. Prince (.386% three) at 3 and Petrovic (.449% three) at 2 gives us three point threats. Parker is not a shabby .395% in threes and Sprewell at .361% is also a threat.
3. The matchup on the four down works like this:
a. Hardaway vs. Baron/Williams
b. Parker vs Baron/Williams


IF/THEN:
1. There are numerous options in all the above offense. From the regular sets to side screen Pick and Rolls. We can run what the defense gives us and puts them at a disadvantage.
2. If they run traps on Hardaway/Parker, We have Sprewell bring the ball up.
3. If they run halfcourt traps, Russell can always play the safety valve in the offense. Whenever they trap in the sides. By Russell starting at high post, he can help break a halfcourt press and creates backdoor opportunities for Sprewell and Erving.
4. With Foul Trouble, we feel our parts are interchangeable and we can run the offenses as it goes
A. Big Men rotation in case of foul trouble
Russell and Amare
Amare and Buck
Russell and Buck
Miller and Amare
Miller and Buck.
B. Wing Rotations:
Erving/Sprewell
Erving/Petrovic
Prince/Sprewell
Prince/Petrovic
Aguirre/Sprewell
Aguirre/Petrovic
C. Point Guard Rotations:
Hardaway and Parker



DEFENSE

Man to Man 60 %
Full Court Trap 15 %
Half Court Trap 25 %


DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY

1. Our philosophy will be to try to take the ball out of Baron’s hands. Force the playmaking to come from Raja Bell or James Worthy (as dominant as a force James is, he is not a playmaker but a scorer).
2. We will play a straight man to man defense with the matchups as follows:

1. Man to Man Matchup:
a. Hardaway/Parker vs Baron/Williams/Smith – Hardaway/Parker will play Baron for the penetration. Baron’s outside shooting is questionable and streaky (.439 fg% and .304 3pt %) if Baron gets hot, We switch Sprewell on him and puts Hardaway/Parker on off guard.
b. Sprewell vs Bell – Sprewell can cover Bell. Bell is a spot up jumpshooter, whose shots came courtesy of Steve Nash’s assists. Sprewell has the size and quickness to help out and be able to close in on Bell.
c. Erving vs. Worthy – Mano Y Mano. Two freaks of nature battling it out. Erving will get help from various spots on the floor. Gonna play Worthy for the penetration and give James the outside shot (.125 3 pt %) James’ size and speed combination is matched by Erving’s size and athleticism. We feel good about this matchup and if all else fails, Erving has Russell backing him up. We want to force Worthy to be a playmaker where he has a 4 assist to 3 turnover ratio.
d. Stoudemire vs Ewing – Stoudemire’s speed and explosiveness will work well vs Ewing’s jumpshooting style, and allows him to be closer to the basket than Ewing.
e. Russell vs Duncan – The best all time PF gets to be defended by the best defender of all time. Russell has the ability to cover a lot of ground. At high post, Russell will back off Duncan to help out, but has the ability to close on him when he gets the ball. History has shown that Russell can cover the best offensive player in the game and yet have the ability to help out his teammates. His defensive instinct can't be coach so we’ll let him do what he does best.
A. The Man to Man matchup helps us when he brings his outside shooters in the game. We will be able to stay on them with the man to man, knowing we have big men like Russell and Buck Williams to cover our back.
We can match up with Speed and Size from the Bench: Parker/Prince/Williams. With Prince and Williams being all defensive.

2. Halfcourt traps is implemented to take the ball out of Baron Davis’(or any of their point guard) hands and force Raja Bell or James Worthy to be the main playmaker.


A. Trap is by Sprewell and Hardaway/Parker. Erving plays ball denial on Worthy and forces the ball into Raja. NOTE: Russell covering top of key for possible steal.
3. If Duncan and/or Ewing gets hot on the lowblocks, we will implement the low post traps using Erving as the trapper leaving Worthy open on the three point line (.125 3pt %)


4. Full Court Press will be use to speed up the game. We feel that Hardaway, Sprewell, Erving, Stoudemire, Russell has a slight speed advantage over his starting five.
5.Substitution Defensive Matchups
A. If they bring in Horry to play PF or SF, we will match him with Prince and instruct Him to stay on Horry. Prince has the length to bother Horry. We will not leave him open for one of his patented Big Shot Rob.
B. If Ellis comes in at SG, We will keep Sprewell to match up with him.


CLOSING
Looking at the Rio is like looking at a mirror. A well rounded team that appears to have no holes. Baron is their main playmaker and Gus comes off the bench. We plan on taking the ball out of their point guards hand and make their guys that aren’t use to being playmakers be the main playmakers. We can match up with them in size, athleticism and speed from top to bottom. It’s the type of game that can go either way. A tweak here a tweak there. A run here a run there and it could go either way. So you will see a game where the starters are going to get major minutes and there will be minor adjustment throughout the game.


The last 5 minutes of each half will see the lineup of:
PG- Hardaway
SG-Sprewell
SF-Julius Erving
PF-Amare Stoudemire
C-Bill Russell

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Russell gets in foul trouble: Stoudemire moves to C and Buck Williams to PF
Dr J gets in Foul Trouble: Aguirre will get minutes. He is more than capable of taking the scoring load and increasing Prince’s playing time. Any of the guards get in trouble, Depth at PG with a Finals MVP as the backup if Sprewell gets in foul trouble, we will bring in Drazen for his murderous three point shot or Prince for defensive intensity.

CRYSTAL BALL
We feel the Rio will go with who got them here. Duncan and Worthy. Baron can affect the outcome but we will run the traps to force the ball out of his hand. He might bring in an athlete like Dumas or an outside threat like Ellis, By having someone like Prince, who has covered athletes like Kobe and outside threats like Reggie Miller, we feel we have this covered. If he post Baron Davis down on Hardaway, Russell is smart enough to know when to help. Remember this is a guy that had to cover Wilt and then help out on West and Baylor.

WHY WE WIN:
1. No Gimmicks. Our offensive gameplan that is simple, yet hard to stop. Simple screening and backpicks to free up and cause mismatches. It puts them on their heels.
2. Our gameplan emphasizes going to Amare in side screen situations, but it didn’t deviate from the strengths of our team, namely Erving and Sprewell at the wing positions. Everything was run within the context of the UCLA/Zipper/Power offense
3. Defensive gameplan to take ball away from their main playmaker and force guys that are used to be finishers to be playmakers.
4. Defensive matchup that put the Bill Russell on their best big man. For once Duncan will be played mano y mano.
5. The intangible of Bill Russell. Quite possibly the biggest winner in the history of the NBA.
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[Sky]

Good luck J.

Some edits were made for Rio to clean up formatting and juxtaposing Erving and Ewing in the writeup.

[jamas33]

good luck too, Sky... its been such a great year.. next year is gonna be a very good ATL, league.. start taking applications now because I'm gonna put up some great prizes.
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[Critter]

I wonder who won.
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[Sky]

Judging

1

Playoffs: Finals – Nets / Rio

Nets Plan: strong points
Solid tight 9 man Rotation
No Aguirre negates Ellis Picket Fence with Prince chasing
Spree takes away open Raja 3 which Rio relies on
Forcing Worthy to be a shooter works when Rio does not post him
Russell on Duncan is huge in limiting Timmy’s impact
Half court trap on Baron (who makes plays for Rio?)

Nets Plan: weak points
No real answer for Baron in the post
Gus takes Parker not Baron slowing Parker’s effectiveness


Rio Plan: strong points
Slow deliberate pace limits Nets strong running game
Baron posting Hardaway is ugly for the Nets
Funnel Erving in / Hardaway & Spree out on D
Strong setup for transition D

Rio Plan: weak points
Plan to box out Russell but not defend him allows him to dominate offensive glass (Russell was way too active and quick to be compared to Mutombo)
Bomb Squad plan brings in 4 players cold at the same time assuming all heat up
Closing relies on Duncan against Russell (Russell may not swat outside shot but will bother Duncan)
Raef LaFrentz on the floor for 8 minutes guarding Amare
Assumes Worthy will score as much as Doc
No posting Worthy?
11 Man rotation?

Overall:
Two solid teams with the two best coaches in the ATL. Congrats to both! Excellent gameplans by both at another level to the rest of the league. Rio’s plan relies on minimizing Russell’s impact by drawing him out of the lane. Russell is on Duncan and was quick enough to guard the elbow bank shot and still recover to the hoop on cutters. Duncan should be Rio’s #1 option normally, but he has never been guarded by the beast from the east before.

Rio also relies on Worthy getting as much as Doc. I love Worthy, but Doc was used to carrying the scoring load game in and out. Worthy was always the 2nd-3rd option. I can see Worthy getting as much as Doc if he posts, but all his points this game have to come from wing jumpers.

On the other hand, Baron will destroy Hardaway in the post and force Russell to cheat off Duncan leaving Timmy open for his elbow banker. Rio’s 3 ball also factors in off setting Net’s running opportunities.

These teams are flip a coin, so I have to go with which plan had fewer perceived weaknesses and the greater presence on D. First game to the Nets by 4.


2

Great gameplan for both teams.
This is a toss up if I ever saw one.
Both coaches anticipated well. Almost like mirror imaging each other.
THE BIG GUYS
Side screen being ran to open up their big guys.
Jamas did a nice move by moving Russell to Duncan and Amare to Ewing on defense, Sky countered by using Duncan as a passer on the four down offense. But this counter is gonna be used 20% of the time so on the other offensive sets featuring Duncan as go to guy, Russell's presence will be felt. Sky did a great job pointing out the lane change from 12 to 16 feet, but I think that lane change will far more effect an offensive player rather a defensive player like Russell. Either way the positioning of a smart defensive guy like Russell is based on the offensive player he is guarding. I was leaning towards a disadvantage for Russell on the lane size changed, until I really thought about it. Defensively he had to cover Wilt, Thurmond and other past NBA legendary big men with a smaller lane and now the lane is wider meaning the guy he is covering will be farther from the rim than him. Shouldn't this enhance his rebounding and defense?

Amare is gonna get his as evident of his performance vs Duncan in 2005 not 2007. The key for Sky is Ewing. Not a big fan of the jumpshooting center but he will deliver, except when it counts during crunch time. With Russell on Duncan, Worthy vs J (Epic battle that will drain both men), Ewing will have problems with Amare's speed and athleticism.

Sky bringing in the three point barrage guys gives him a slight lead. but damn, Jamas brings Petrovic and we enjoy the defenseless Drazen vs the Defenseless Dale. Battle of the Defenseless D! Can u say three barrages? Sky brings in Big Shot Rob, which Jamas covered with Prince, still a toss up. DAMN both of you guys.

Baron vs Tim - both get theirs
Sprewell vs Raja - edge to Sprewell, but Sky's sub pattern kinda evens this up too.

The bottom line I think is that these guys got great players that need to dominate and dictate the game, The only drawback I saw in Sky's gameplan is the minute allocation for his guys. Sky you should know better, that these players need MINUTES to really dominate and affect the game. Let your best players play, and Worthy at 32 min (means Doc gets to dominate someone for 4 extra minutes-this is crucial in a game this close) Baron at 25 isnt as bad since Jamas almost split his PG time with Hardaway and Parker.

This game is still too close to call. Double Overtime and not fair to both of you guys but I have to use the randomizer to pick the winner. Even numbers will be Jamas, Odd numbers will be Sky. I pick 7 numbers out of 99 and the numbers are. 9, 27, 2, 98, 35, 18, 4
Winner Jamas by one point in double overtime with Russell making a follow up slam of an Erving miss.

Damn great game, hate to pick a winner

[Sky]

Two judges said flip a coin, one went to the randomizer, a third who didn't submit a writeup said he went over it again and again and could not pick a winner.

Therefore Jamas and I have decided we will share the ATL crown as co-champions.

[KB24@CL]

there were really a bunch of tough games to call....and I too used the randomizer twice during the tournament...simply sometimes its impossible to pick a winner and also justify WHY you picked him...

sometimes you can make a case for both teams which makes it incredibly tough to call the game..this year it was a lot closer than last year...last year we had a few teams that walked though the rounds but this year there was more balance and definitely tougher to call...
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"It is not how big you are, it is how big you play"
"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"
"Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals"

[TIME]

Sounds fair to me. It was really really close based upon your gameplans and personel matchups. Congrats to the Co-Champions!
_________________
"Better learn not to talk to me," Bryant said of Smith's jabbering. "You shake the tree, a leopard's gonna fall out."

[jamas33]

Thanks everyone!!! What a great year... I was speaking to sky about this championship game and how its almost so bad to let someone choose a winner. I think most of the judges kinda just avoided making that decision and relying on the randomizer or a coin flip. I think that is hard and not fair to everyone just relying on luck.. BUT.. goes to show you how well prepared both teams are. So my retirement game and I'm co-champion... NEXT Year is gonna be hella fun!!! Might be an Ipod with the Lakers DVD in it for a prize.. I still havent decided.. but we will have a great prize for Champions, runnerup and 3rd and 4th place.. .
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[Perfecto]

Congrats.

Next Year, I'll go found horrible to pretty bad.
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The Perfecto O Damns! Alba l Cuthbert l Beckinsale l Spears
Johansson l Rihanna l Panettiere l Baird l Cassie l Tweedy

[KobeWanKenobi]

Congratulations guys. Really great job you both did. Ended up torturing the judges and pounding them to submission.
_________________


Fear leads to Anger.
Anger leads to Hate.
Hate leads to suffering.