All-Time NBA Draft Review - the15hunter - st0rmb11's Blog

st0rmb11's Blog

All-Time NBA Draft Review - the15hunter

Posted on December 26, 2011 at 05:30 PM.

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the15thunter
c - bill russell, wes unseld, ralph sampson
pf - elvin hayes, bob mcadoo
sf - elgin baylor, james worthy, shane battier
sg - kobe bryant, pete maravich
pg - dennis johnson, mahmoud abdul rauf

Offense - You have very little scoring at the center position. Unseld & Russell were great outlet passers, so that will spark some solid fastbreaks. Sampson was a decent all-around offensive player, though his post game was lacking. Elvin Hayes, Pete Maravich, Kobe Bryant, & Bob McAdoo are all-time great scorers. Worthy will greatly benefit from the fastbreaks that Russell & Unseld start. Dennis Johnson could score with the best of them during his Seattle days, and he could run an offense with the best of them during his Boston days. Abdul-Rauf was a tremendous shooter who will also benefit from a running game. Shane Battier - decent..Elgin Baylor was a great slasher with an average jump shot, but I don't know if he was quick enough to slash against the likes of Jordan, Moncrief, Wade, James, Bobby Jones, etc. Your 4 best scorers can put up points in bunches - but your lack of any true inside presence is a bit worrying...and, the game is only played with one basketball, so you can't get shots for all of those guys. 8/10

Defense - Bill Russell - the greatest interior defender ever. Unseld - banger, but wasn't much threat to the bigger centers. Ralph Sampson - at 7'4", he somehow only blocked 1.6 shots per game for his career, and only topped 2 per game twice. Hayes, McAdoo, Maravich, Baylor, Abdul-Rauf, & Worthy - all ranged from bad to good God, why is he on the court defensively? Battier is a world class defender. Kobe, while overrated as a defender, is great at timing passes and jumping passing lanes. DJ was a great defender, who could guard positions 1-3. I guess your best defensive line up would be Sampson, Russell, Battier, Kobe, & DJ. but if you plan on holding down a good offense, that's the only line up you can put in there. If you put out a line up of Unseld, Hayes, McAdoo, Baylor, & Maravich - you may allow 130 points per game. You lack any defensive depth; still, you have Bill Russell anchoring the paint, so I can't go lower than 8/10

Chemistry - One word to describe this potential chemistry - disaster. Kobe Bryant, Pete Maravich, Bob McAdoo, Elvin Hayes...again,..you realize the game is played with only 1 basketball, right? Bill Russell had a strong will, but he's too outnumbered. You & your coach may walk into practice one day and see that Russell & Baylor have murdered Kobe, Maravich, McAdoo, & Hayes (and that's if they hadn't killed each other, already). Worthy, Sampson, & DJ wanted their shots (when they were young), but all were solid teammates for the most part.Abdul-Rauf was such a proud Muslim after converting, that he refused to stand for the National Anthem before games..I have to think his "anti-USA" attitude would be a problem with several of his teammates. I know you told me that with Kobe being your go to offensive option, he'll be happy with his role - but you let me know how you're convincing Hayes, Maravich, & McAdoo to play second fiddle to anyone...sorry, not happening. Not to mention the alpha dog battle that could ensue between Kobe & Russell. Still, Unseld, Baylor, & Russell MAY hold this team together, so 6/10

Durability - Sampson got wrecked after his 3rd season, and never played more than 50 games again. Unseld played most of his games, sans one season. Kobe has never had terrible injury issues. Bill Russell rarely missed games. Maravich only played over 70 games five times, and wrecked his knee in his 7th or 8th year. DJ rarely missed any games. Abdul-Rauf had some years where he missed several games, but he played over 80 a few times. Baylor missed his share of games, though he often topped 70 in a season. After his first 4 seasons, McAdoo missed A LOT of games. Elvin Hayes missed like 10 games in his entire career. Worthy stayed pretty healthy throughout his career. Battier hasn't missed many games in his career. So, with so many of your best guys (Hayes, Unseld, Russell, Kobe, Worthy, & DJ), I can't penalize you TOO much for Maravich, McAdoo, & Sampson. 9/10

Depth - You have solid center depth, though none are very good scorers. You're great at PF, SF, & SG. Your point guard position is also very good. I like the potential for your "big" line up - Sampson, Russell, Hayes, McAdoo/Kobe, & DJ. You can pretty much sub anyone in for anyone else since, for the most part, your team is the same size (outside of Sampson & Abdul-Rauf). You never lose much scoring, regardless of who you put in because, while your centers won't score much, your other positions can score on anyone. Your defensive depth is non existent. 9/10

Total - 40/50

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