Matchup #3: Gally vs EYLive
Team Gally (Tony Parker, Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Tim Duncan, & Dwight Howard):
I think this team has the best blend of shooting, inside game, defense and game management of any of my submissions. In fact, all 5 members have won NBA titles so they know how to win. I have rebounding champs, block shot champs, a Hall of Famer, MVP's of all kinds (regular season, Finals, and All Star Games), a ROY, Defensive Player of the year and many more. All told the individual accolades are incredible:
- 12 NBA Titles
- 32 All Star Game Appearances
- 28 All NBA Team Appearances
- 20 All Defensive Team Appearances
- 3 Defensive Players of the Year
- 4 Finals MVP's
- 2 Regular Season MVP's
- 2 Three-Point Contest Winners
- 1 All Star Game MVP
- 1 Rookie of the Year
- 1 Hall of Famer
Now on to the team concepts. This team has three point shooting (two time 3-pt contest winner Peja and Jason Terry) to stretch the floor for the Big Fundamental to do his thing. It has a point guard that has shown he can win and do what it takes on the biggest stage (FInals MVP in Parker) and we know works well with his best player. We have a freak of nature athletic big man that will crash the offensive boards and protect the rim defensively as a 3 time Defensive POY. In it's prime this team can run the floor or excel at the half court game. The only inkling of a weakness is the perimeter defense where they are lesser but not bad. Parker is in the top 70 in NBA history for Defensive Win Shares while Peja had a few peak seasons where he was over 3 DWS per season and Terry could get into the mid 2's when he wanted to. Regardless, the duo of Duncan and Howard will clean up a lot of messes behind them.
Now on to the individuals:
PG - Tony Parker: 15.5/2.7/5.6 career averages with a PER of 18.2 and WS of 111.3.
His best single season numbers for each category are 22.0/3.7/7.7 and 1.2 steals/game. Parker is the perfect point guard for this squad. As we know he knows how to win and he knows how to work with Tim Duncan. That right there is a huge advantage over every other squad in this category. Two guys that know each other so well they can take over games on that alone. Parker also plays biggest in the biggest games and there is no bigger tournament than the Yo Mama Tournament. He will control the game, score when needed and get the team into it's offense. He can play acceptable defense and be good enough with the big guys behind him. A perfect PG for this team.
SG - Jason Terry: 13.4/2.3/3.8 career averages with a PER of 16.2 and WS of 102.0.
His best single season numbers for each category are 19.7/4.1/7.4 and 1.8 steals/game. An elite shooter, Terry has made the seventh-most career three-pointers in NBA history (at the time of this posting). He fits great for this squad as he can play off the ball and be an outside specialist with plenty of room with the defense collapsing on Duncan. He can also handle the ball well enough to run the offense and get them out and running.
One of just 13 players in NBA history with at least 18,000 points, 5,000 assists and 1,500 steals. Has one of the greatest superstitions ever as he must sleep in the shorts of his opponent the night before a game
SF - Peja Stojakovic: 17.0/4.7/1.8 career averages with a PER of 17.1 and WS of 82.6.
His best single season numbers for each category are 24.2/6.3/2.5 and 1.3 steals/game. He won the NBA Three-Point Contest two times, and was the first European-born player to win one of the All-Star Weekend competitions. Stojaković made 1,760 three-point field goals in his career which ranked 10th all-time at the point of his retirement. This is exactly what I drafted him for with this squad. A 3 point assassin. A career 40% 3-pt shooter with a season best of 44%. Peja will really spread the floor coupled with JET leaving Duncan clear to work or vice versa.
PF - Tim Duncan: 19.0/10.8/3.0 career averages with a PER of 24.2 and WS of 206.4.
His best single season numbers for each category are 25.5/12.9/3.9 and 2.9 blocks/game. Obviously the Big Fundamental is the cornerstone of this squad. In his prime he was a premier defender (15 All NBA Defensive Teams).
Duncan is the only player to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams for 13 consecutive seasons. This defensive prowess allows for the backcourt to gamble and make plays without worrying about getting beaten to the basket. A great team defender gets even better when paired with the Center for this squad. Duncan has gained a reputation as a clutch player, as evidenced by his three NBA Finals MVP awards and his playoff career averages being higher than his regular season statistics. Bill Russell further compliments Duncan on his passing ability, and rates him as one of the most efficient players of his generation, a view shared by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Because of his versatility and success, basketball experts widely consider Duncan to be the greatest power forward in NBA history,
C - Dwight Howard: 16.3/12.1/1.4 career averages with a PER of 21.4 and WS of 136.8.
His best single season numbers for each category are 22.9/14.5/1.9 and 2.9 blocks/game. The beauty of Howard's fit on this squad is that he can just play defense, run the court, and hit the offensive glass. He doesn't need the offense to run through him and will excel in this role with his athleticism. Being the Defensive POY three times he will make up for any perceived defensive deficiency this squad my have. He also fits very complimentary to Duncan in the frontcourt. Howard's abilities and powerful physique have drawn attention from fellow NBA All-Stars. Tim Duncan once remarked in 2007:
"[Howard] is so developed... He has so much promise and I am glad that I will be out of the league when he is peaking." Kevin Garnett echoed those sentiments: "[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence." Subsequent to a game in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala said: "It's like he can guard two guys at once. He can guard his guy and the guy coming off the pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to do... If he gets any more athletic or jumps any higher, they're going to have to change the rules." That's some pretty hefty praise from his direct competition in this thing.
This is my best squad and probably best complimentary team I assembled. There really isn't a weakness as the only perceived weakness is covered by the strength of Duncan and Howard defensively.
Now on the matchup: The only real threat and bad matchup is Kobe but that is fine. He can get his. There is also a bit of a problem in fit as Kobe needs the ball in his hands as does Marbury. They will each take away from the other which downgrades the best part of EYLive's team. In generaly EYLive's squad is a good squad but this matchup is bad for them. There is also no answer on this team for my frontcourt of Duncan and Howard. They will shut down the paint defensively and there is no answer for them offensively either. Marion is a solid defender but his skills get diminished somewhat in that the strength of Team Gally is the inside presence of Duncan/Howard. Marion will be taken away from the basket by Peja because he can't leave him open for easy threes. I really don't see this as much of a contest when you really get down to it. Team Gally should dominate both the offensive and defensive boards and make Kobe take contested shots. Even if he puts up 50 it still won't be enough to beat Team Gally.