[EspressoParticipant]

 Choose any 3 players from the NBA whom if you were to surround with role players, could possibly beat gsw’s big 4 in a 7 game series.

Easy, for example…

Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid

Try to put chemistry and mismatches into account

 

 

 

[tblazer_NZParticipant]

Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard.

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 I would the following team my big 3 will be in caps. 

Center:KARL ANTHONY TOWNS

PF: ANTHONY DAVIS

SF:nicholas battum

SG: khris middleton

PG RUSSELL WESTBROOK

Bench:

c)steven adams

pf)serge ibaka

sf)eric gordon

sg) dion waiters

 pg)kriss dunn

The reason I put bench also as then you could see how you would match up vs them and left a few players out that maybe considered fringe stars like Ingram/Booker who would replace some of my bench if I was allowed them..

But looking at team match ups:

KAT would destroy Zaza

A.D would give Draymond fits…

Battum could focus on defense and make K.D’s job hard to try limit his offensive output.

Middleton has height and length(6’8) to make Klays job hard as most sg’s are usually smaller than him and has a reasonable range like klay so he could make Klay work on the other end also..

Russ would keep pace with Curry on the scoring department/assist end and if enganged on the defensive end  can give him fits…

Bench:

Adams would beast their bigs..

Ibaka can help space the floor and play respectable defense.

Eric gordon and iggy is hard one to pick as iggy has height on him but Eric can light it up more than iggy can at this point

Dion is that guy who can get you a bucket out of no where and can play on or off the ball if need be.

Dunn is that pg who helps keep the pace up when Russell is out and plays resonable defense and just has to feed everyone else and score a few points to keep other team honest..

sorry for whole team but 3 vs 4 is harder to call as they would always have that 4th allstar as a  crutch to why GSW would win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thetrademachineryParticipant]

I am thinking of age as well, this team should last long years against warriors  

Antetokounmpo Leonard A.Davis 

 

[Robb_CParticipant]

 Anthony Davis, Paul George and James Harden

[holefillers1Participant]

 Giannis, Kawhi, Embiid.  This was fun and easy…I’m doing another one- AD, LeBron, Embiid

[holefillers1Participant]

 Oh man, neg 1 for having fun.  Yeah it’s a tragedy…can you repeat the question

[zolaParticipant]

 Mike Conley, Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol

Great defense, balanced offense

 

[Arc12345Participant]

Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Honorable Mentions: Russell Westbrook, Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis

The only way you beat the warriors if you have 3 two ways studs. Cavs had 1 with Lebron. They simply weren’t able to stop the warriors in any type of way, unless golden state was just missing. Their shots were considerably easier than Cavs shots all series.

Even with 3 of the guys I mentioned and with a great supporting cast, I’m not sure it’s enough. Golden State has a brand of basketball that is extremely hard to stop.

How many teams can you say would still be successful without their best players? Even without just their best player (Lebron for Cleveland)? They’d be awful, but I guarantee Golden state’s system would keep them competitive.

 

 

 

 

 

[MatosParticipant]

 AD, Kawhi, LeBron. 

Surround them with knockdown shooters.

I’d also swap AD for Harden.

Side Note: Its sad that we have to do this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Westbrook, Kawhi, and Porzingas.

Westbrook as my ALPHA scorer.  Kawhi as my ALPHA defender and a guy who can turn into a KILLER SCORER, too.  Those two guys can cover spots 1-4 both on offense and defense.

Porzingas is 7’3.  Good athlete.  Should be a really good 3rd option.  Can score, dunk, and hit jumpers.  Great option as a really, really long/tall stretch center.  

There isn’t really a 15 rebound guy among those 3, but all 3 can get you 8 a night.  

You are thinking that those "Big 3" get you 75-80 points a night.  They can probably combine for 100 most nights.  Then you having scoring at every position on the floor.  

My role players?  This guy has been mentioned so I am gonna go with that, Tony Allen as my off-the-bench ALPHA defender.  Can also help out on the boards, can cut, and get to the line pretty well.  Not known as a scorer, and a sub-zero shooter, but he always finds a way to get 7 or 8 points a night.  He is my GLUE GUY off the bench.  

Mathew Dellavadova: one of the KEY players to the Cavs win in 2016.  Basically a rugby player on the hardwood.  Cand defend, make plays, pass, and hit some timely shots.  

If Delly and TA is my backcourt off the bench, then my team probably won’t score much, but neither will yours.

Ron Baker: cheap guy.  can ALSO hustle, scrap, handle the ball a bit, and has some range.  Not spending a TON of money on a 5th or 6th perimeter guy.

Tarik Black: solid, big, bruising power forward/center.  Just a solid, enforcer type.  Not a 15 rebound guy either, but he can get you about 6 or 7 rebounds off the bench no matter who he plays for — the Lakers, Kansas, the Memphis Tigers, a high school all star team…  basically a poor man’s Tristan Thompson.  

STARTING CENTER: Steven Adams.  A bit limited on offense but he can make some nifty plays on the blocks when he is in scoring range, solid to good athlete, long, tough, hardnosed player who is very effective on defense.  I am picturing him as another starter who can get me 7 or 8 boards a game.  Maybe 10.  Gives me another shot blocking option, too.  

Troy Daniels: GREAT 3 point shooter off the bench.  Also, doesn’t need much time to get his shot off…

Boris Diaw: Backup -jack-of-all-trades big man.  ELITE big man passer, can play at either the 4 or 5. Not a TON of range but he can score a bit.  Decent rebounder.  Nice role player… knows how to play the game…

STARTING SHOOTING GUARD: Rodney Hood.  Young, long, player who can hit the 3.  Can also play small forward.  Gives me extra length and 3 point shooting on the wing.  Also seems like a low maintenance player.

Willie Cauley-Stein: Basically, my run/jump shot blocker/dunker off the bench.  Might not actually be a ROLE PLAYER but I like his game.  He can be my Javale McGee… You can basically play him with any of those bigs: KP, Steven Adams, Diaw, or Black.  OR, you have a smaller team with Kawhi Leonard and Hood at the forward spots, then WCS could also be a solid center/rim protector for you…

13th man: Mario Chalmers. Coming off a major injury, but before he got hurt he was the heart and soul of a super-depleted Memphis MASH unit a couple of years ago.  IDEAL 3rd string point guard who has won a couple of rings in the NBA and another one in college.  Can hit the big 3, too, as well as handle the ball and run some offense.  Even if he is only HALF as good as he was two years ago, he is still a really good 3rd string point guard option for me.  If he is AMOST as good as he was in his prime then he gives me an IDEAL guard to put next to Russ in some super small ball lineups.  He can handle the ball a bit, pass the ball to Russ then get out of the way or find his spot on the 3 point line.  Solid intangibles guy… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I think you actually go with 3 of the TOP GUYS in this draft, surrounded by late first/second round guys as your role players.

Gimme a DYNAMIC backcourt of Fultz and Ball.  I think you get the right combination of scoring, passing, ball handling, athleticism, length, rebounding, and defensive plays out of this super backcourt.

Jonathan Isaac is your "third guy".  You gamble here that he lives up to (at least some of) the KD/Rashard Lewis comps… so you fight KD with a reasonable facsimile…

Role Players: Jordan Bell as a great rebounder/shot blocker/dunk guy at the 4 or as a small ball center.  I think he can guard Draymond Green.  

Kennedy Meeks is my OTHER defensive big man.  More of an off-the-bench low post defender though, but you need BOTH kinds of defensive players inside…

Frank Mason III.  A lead guard on a really good Kansas team, becomes my backup point guard/3rd guard.  Can play with either Ball or Fultz or run a bench mob by himself.

Sindarius Thornwell: My 2-way big 2 guard off the bench for instant offense.  A fiesty guy with intangibles.

Derek Willis: Rebounds, hustle, and 3’s as a backup power forward.  Can’t ask for more than that…

Isaiah Briscoe: 3rd string point guard who is a bit bigger/tougher than Mason.

Marcus Keene: Ok, going to go with a 4th string point guard here on a team that now is up to SIX GUYS who can run point.  #contrarian

Starting center: Johnathan Motley: probably more of a 4, but an active athletic big man who can rebound, block a few shots, and is working on his 3 pointer.

Finally, my legacy additions: 

Canyon Barry: Son of the Human Basketball Factory known as Rick Barry.  Can hit long jumpers and make underhanded free throws.  I mean, Rick can.  Not sure about Canyon…

Devin Robinson: The Admiral’s kid also played at Florida, so that place had more charmed legacies than your average Skull and Bones reunion at Harvard…

Kuran Iverson: kinda tall, kinda long, kinda athletic, pretty good playmaker at the 3 spot…

That’s 14 guys.  So, you don’t dress out one of these guys: Willis, Briscoe/Keene, or LEGACY KID.  What I THINK you do is do a situational lineup each night.  With the non-dressed out guy handing out Gatorade…

I think the KEY to beating the Golden State Warriors is to get a Delorean up to 88 miles per hour and back to Barcelona, Spain in the summer of ’92.  That STILL might not be enough… 

Other than that, you wait at least another year or two and run out a bunch of YOUNG GUYS who don’t really know what they are doing.

UNLIKE the 2016-2017 Cleveland Cavaliers who were a bunch of OLD GUYS who didn’t really know what they were doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nill650Participant]

1 Westbrook,Leonard,James

2 Harden,Atetokumpo,Davis

3 Irving,Hayward,Jokic

4 Lillard,PG13,Porzingas

5 CP3,Butler,KAT

the bottom line really is this will never happen.

teams like Cleveland that are right there just need a few pieces.

you have to have good bench to compete with the depth of the GSW lineups.

 

 

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