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6/28/12

Draft Pick Tournament Finals


Tonight is the NBA Draft, so we will be wrapping up our Draft Pick Tournament. We’ve spent a few weeks looking at the best picks over the last twenty years for the top 16 picks in the draft.  The first two round were covered here: Draft Pick Tournament Round 1 and Draft Pick Tournament Round 2.

In today’s matchups, we are looking at the 1-Seed against the 5-Seed and the 2-Seed against the 3-Seed. At the end, the winners will play each other, and we will determine the champion of this whole tournament.

5th Pick vs. 1st Pick

5th Pick Roster
Center- Kevin Garnett, 1995, Minnesota Timberwolves
Power Forward- Kevin Love, 2008, UCLA, Memphis Grizzlies
Small Forward- Vince Carter, 1998, North Carolina, Golden State Warriors
Shooting Guard- Dwyane Wade, 2003, Marquette, Miami Heat
Point Guard- Ricky Rubio, 2009, Minnesota Timberwolves
Sixth Man- Ray Allen, 1996, Connecticut, Minnesota Timberwolves

1st Pick Roster
Center- Shaquille O’Neal, 1992, LSU, Orlando Magic
Power Forward- Tim Duncan, 1997, Wake Forest, San Antonio Spurs
Small Forward- Lebron James, 2003, Cleveland Cavaliers
Shooting Guard- Allen Iverson, 1996, Georgetown, Philadelphia 76ers
Point Guard- Derrick Rose, 2008, Memphis, Chicago Bulls
Sixth Man- Dwight Howard, 2004, Orlando Magic

Winner: 1st Pick in six games

Reason: It doesn’t look like anyone will be able to stop the team full of top draft picks, as everyone expected. The team full of 5th Overall Picks has Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love inside to help combat the overall dominance of Shaq, Duncan, and Howard, but there is still overwhelming talent inside for the 1st Overall Pick Team. Dwayne Wade and Vince Carter are able to create some offense for the 5th Pick Team however, as Lebron is only able to shut one down at a time. The main problem, and the tipping point from the series comes in the backcourt, where the 5th Pick Team has no chance of stopping the dribble penetration from the 1st Pick Team, James, Iverson, and Rose will be able to get to the rim at will.


3rd Pick Roster
Center- Al Horford, 2007, Florida, Atlanta Hawks
Power Forward- Pau Gasol, 2001, Atlanta Hawks
Small Forward- Grant Hill, 1994, Duke, Detroit Pistons
Shooting Guard- Anfernee Hardaway, 1993, Memphis, Golden State Warriors
Point Guard- Deron Williams, 2005, Illinois, Utah Jazz
Sixth Man- Carmelo Anthony, 2003, Syracuse, Denver Nuggets

2nd Pick Roster
Center- Marcus Camby, 1996, Massachusetts, Toronto Raptors
Power Forward- Alonzo Mourning, 1992, Georgetown, Charlotte Hornets
Small Forward- Kevin Durant, 2007, Texas, Seattle Supersonics
Shooting Guard- Steve Francis, 1999, Maryland, Vancouver Grizzlies
Point Guard- Jason Kidd, 1994, California, Dallas Mavericks
Sixth Man- Tyson Chandler, 2001, Los Angeles Clippers

Winner: 3rd Pick in seven games

Reason: This matchup has the potential to be the most entertaining of the whole tournament, as both teams styles match up well against each other. This matchup would feature the inside scoring of Al Horford and Pau Gasol against the superior interior defense of Marcus Camby, Alonzo Mourning, and Tyson Chandler. Scoring savant Kevin Durant would be matched up against do-it-all Grant Hill on the wing. At the point, two players who have played for the New Jeresey Nets would serve as the floor generals for their respective teams in Jason Kidd and Deron Williams. At shooting guard, Anfernee Hardaway and Steve Francis could provide an entertaining matchup that could potentially serve as the X-Factor in the series.

However, the tipping point in the series is Carmelo Anthony. While the 3rd Pick Team is able to throw Grant Hill at Durant, the 2nd Pick Roster has nobody to cover Anthony as long as Anthony stays on the perimeter. If Melo’s outside jumper is falling, it is incredibly likely he will dominate a game. In a seven game series, I would bet that Melo alone could win 2 or 3 games for his team, add that with some solid pick-and-roll offense from Williams and Gasol, and I think the 3rd Pick Team comes out on top. However, there will likely be a few performances from Durant that make your jaw drop.

The Finals 3rd Pick vs. 1st Pick

3rd Pick Roster
Center- Al Horford, 2007, Florida, Atlanta Hawks
Power Forward- Pau Gasol, 2001, Atlanta Hawks
Small Forward- Grant Hill, 1994, Duke, Detroit Pistons
Shooting Guard- Anfernee Hardaway, 1993, Memphis, Golden State Warriors
Point Guard- Deron Williams, 2005, Illinois, Utah Jazz
Sixth Man- Carmelo Anthony, 2003, Syracuse, Denver Nuggets

1st Pick Roster
Center- Shaquille O’Neal, 1992, LSU, Orlando Magic
Power Forward- Tim Duncan, 1997, Wake Forest, San Antonio Spurs
Small Forward- Lebron James, 2003, Cleveland Cavaliers
Shooting Guard- Allen Iverson, 1996, Georgetown, Philadelphia 76ers
Point Guard- Derrick Rose, 2008, Memphis, Chicago Bulls
Sixth Man- Dwight Howard, 2004, Orlando Magic

Winner: 1st Pick in four games

Reason: Unfortunately, based on the way the teams match up, this isn’t the 1st Pick Team’s hardest challenge of the tournament. The 3rd Pick Roster has nothing resembling an answer for the interior dominance that the 1st Pick Team represents, as well as no defensive answer for the dribble penetration. Horford and Gasol are too finesse in the paint to be able to hold their own against the physical players like Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard. James, Iverson, and Rose will live in the paint, with their defenders a step behind them, and no threatening presence guarding the rim. 

 I began this prediction thinking that the series would last five games, but the more I thought about it, I can’t see a scenario that the 3rd Pick Team gets hot enough to win the game. With LeBron on him, Carmelo can’t put up enough points to carry the rest of the team while they are shut down.

As expected, the team of 1st Overall Picks dominates in the finals, but that isn’t to say that they didn’t have a few tough matchups along the way. That concludes our series on the best teams per draft pick of the last twenty years. What did you think of the tournament, were the teams constructed properly? Did the right teams end up advancing?

Enjoy the draft tonight.

Adam

1 comment:

  1. Good execution of a great idea. What would be interesting to see, but nearly impossible to do would be an NFL style version of this. Even if you just filled the skill position spots and notable defensive positions it would be interesting. Hard though because you can't match up players like you can in the NBA because offensive players don't play against the other offensive players and vice versa. Maybe try to do a draft power ranking on defenses/offenses based on draft pick or draft class.

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