2013 CB Draft: Eastern First Round: Indiana(1) vs Milwaukee(8)

[nickagneta]

Indiana Pacers vs Milwaukee Bucks


Indiana
Guards: Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Rodney Stuckey, Jeff Taylor, Shaun Livingston
Forwards: Kevin Durant, Luis Scola, Marvin Williams, Andrew Nicholson, Markeiff Morris, Michael Beasley
Centers: Robin Lopez, Elton Brand,
Coach: Lawrence Frank

Presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=67439.msg1546428#msg1546428

Milwaukee
Guards: Mike Conley, J.J. Redick, Jerryd Bayless, Wayne Ellington, Willie Green
Forwards: Paul George, Ryan Anderson, Trevor Ariza, Reggie Evans, Alonzo Gee
Centers: Emeka Okafor, Greg Smith, Tyler Zeller
Coach: Marc Jackson

Presser: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=67439.msg1546453#msg1546453


Polls open at 12 noon EST Sept. 9th. Close 11:59:59PM  Sept. 9th. Here are the voting guidelines for this round:

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=67476.msg1547496#msg1547496

[KGs Knee]

The Underdogs

If ever there was a team built to take down a #1 seed, this is the squad.  All-American good guys Paul George and Mike Conley lead this squad with their uber-elite defense and grit.  Manning the back line of the defense is Emeka Okafor, a very legit defender in his own right.

On offense the supreme atheleticism of George, complemented by the shooting of the guards, wings, and ever under-rated PF Ryan "the Ryno" Anderson will provide the scoring necessary to keep the pace.

The players

Yep...We Got this!!!

[dark_lord]

to the bucks.....u said in another thread your a perfect matchup for the pacers.  i dont see it at all. they are pretty much better than you at every position. how do you figure?

[Rondo2287]

Indiana Pacers

Minutes / Rotation

PG: Deron Williams (42) / Rodney Stuckey (6)
SG: Jeff Taylor (15) / Ray Allen (25) / Rodney Stuckey 8
SF: Kevin Durant (43) / Marvin Williams (5)
PF: Luis Scola (30) / Elton Brand (10) / Andrew Nicholson 8
C:  Robin Lopez (35) / Elton Brand (15)

Bench that won't play other than foul trouble/ strange situations.

Shaun Livingston, Michael Beasley, Markieff Morris

[KGs Knee]

to the bucks.....u said in another thread your a perfect matchup for the pacers.  i dont see it at all. they are pretty much better than you at every position. how do you figure?

Ummm

Starters
Okafor>Lopez
Anderson>Scola
George<Durant
Redick>Taylor
Conley<Williams

Bench
Smith/Evans>Brand
Ariza>Williams
Gee=Allen
Bayless>Stuckey



Seems pretty darn even to me.

[Rondo2287]

to the bucks.....u said in another thread your a perfect matchup for the pacers.  i dont see it at all. they are pretty much better than you at every position. how do you figure?

Ummm

Starters
Okafor<Lopez
Anderson=Scola
George<Durant
Redick>Taylor
Conley<Williams

Bench
Smith/Evans<Brand
Ariza>Williams
Gee<Allen
Bayless<Stuckey



Seems pretty darn even to me.

Think I fixed it.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'm leaning Indy on a tough series.

To me its a matter of George and Conley trying to contain Durant and Deron. And I don't think they can.

[AB_Celtic]

This seems like it could be a super high-scoring series.

To Milwaukee: your best players are at the PG and SF spots, where Indi also has its best players. However, Indi's PG and SF are better than yours. What's your gameplan to take Indi down?

To Indi: I view Okafor as much more of a defensive anchor than Lopez. Explain to me why you claim "Lopez > Okafor." Also, how does Scola keep up with Ryno?

[nickagneta]

to the bucks.....u said in another thread your a perfect matchup for the pacers.  i dont see it at all. they are pretty much better than you at every position. how do you figure?

Ummm

Starters
Okafor<Lopez
Anderson=Scola
George<Durant
Redick>Taylor
Conley<Williams

Bench
Smith/Evans<Brand
Ariza>Williams
Gee<Allen
Bayless<Stuckey



Seems pretty darn even to me.

Think I fixed it.

Gotta say, I think I agree with Rondo's modifications here. I think Indy pulls this out in a close series but my mind is still undecided and I want to hear why it should be changed.

Really think Redick could be a major difference maker in a series like this if he finds a way to get his shot off and he gets hot.

[Rondo2287]

This seems like it could be a super high-scoring series.

To Milwaukee: your best players are at the PG and SF spots, where Indi also has its best players. However, Indi's PG and SF are better than yours. What's your gameplan to take Indi down?

To Indi: I view Okafor as much more of a defensive anchor than Lopez. Explain to me why you claim "Lopez > Okafor." Also, how does Scola keep up with Ryno?

I think Okafor is a better rebounder than Lopez, but I think they are equivalent in man to man defense and Lopez is better defending the pick and roll.  I also think that Lopez is a more skilled offensive player at this stage of their careers and is also much more active offensively. 

Finally, Scola and Anderson are very different players but in the last 3 matchups Anderson got the better of Scola once, (while playing about 20 more minutes) and they played eachother to a draw in the other two match ups.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=anderry01&p2=scolalu01

Historically they have played eachother very even when both playing starters minutes.

[KGs Knee]

My strategy in this series is going to be quite simple (maybe difficult to execute though).  My perimeter defense is quite extraordinary.  Conley and George are two of the better defenders in the game right now.  When you add in Ariza's solid defense, those three will make Durant and Williams job as difficult as can be.

Let's also face the facts here, outside of Indiana's two best players, Ray Allen is really the only other player that can be counted on to provide consistent scoring.

My main rotation will consist of my starters, with Ariza seeing heavy minutes, Evans and Gee getting time as well.  The rest will only see situational minutes.

Primarily, my rotations should look something like this:

Okafor/Anderson/George/Redick/Conley
Okafor/George/Ariza/Gee/Redick
Evans/Anderson/Ariza/Gee/Conley
Evans/George/Ariza/Redick/Conley
Okafor/Anderson/George/Ariza/Conley

Smith and Bayless will get time if other have foul trouble.  Ellington and Green are there mostly just for shooting.

[ronaldo943]

I don't think this series is close at all. Head2Head George has a hard time scoring against Durant and Durant also has a bit of a hard time, but his FG% isn't as bad as George's.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=georgpa01&p2=duranke01

[Rondo2287]

Though I admittedly hate the, this guy is better than this guy analysis.  I  will be posting up some strategy tomorrow morning most likely.  I am knee deep in addressing "save the dates" right now.

[Rondo2287]

I don't think this series is close at all. Head2Head George has a hard time scoring against Durant and Durant also has a bit of a hard time, but his FG% isn't as bad as George's.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=georgpa01&p2=duranke01

Whoah that is a pretty dominant history.  Though I think the games before this past season it was most likely Durant on Granger

[KGs Knee]

Though I admittedly hate the, this guy is better than this guy analysis.

I don't dispute this.  Strategy is obviously more important.  I was simply using those comparisons as a starting point.

But for the record, Okafor is hands down better than Lopez.