The legacy league was created to pit teams drafted by fellow RR members against each other and allow the general RR populous to vote on who would win this winner take all, single elimination game if all players were at their peak performance.
Each team drafted an 8 man roster. Each team provided a gameplan justification as to why they believe they should get your vote. Each team is allowed 1 post for "in game adjustments." The role of RR community is simple, vote for who you believe should win. Post justification if you want (encouraged) and weigh the pros and cons for all to see, but ultimately, your vote decides who will win this tournament of legends.
SEMI-FINALS
Joey's Legacy Allstars
Starters
PG Steve Nash aka Captain Canada - 18.6ppg, 11.6apg, 53%FG, 46%3P, 65%TS, 124 ORtg
2x MVP, 8x All-Star, 7x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team), 5x Assist Leader, 4x 50-40-90 (Most in History), 3rd Most Assists in History
SG Ray Allen aka Jesus - 22ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.6apg, 1.5spg, 48%FG, 43%3P, 61%TS, 22.9 PER
2x Champion, 10x All-Star, 2x All-NBA Selection, All-Time Leader in 3-Pointers Made
SF Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace - 18.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 2.1spg, 96 DRtg
Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Champion, 4x All-Defensive Team Selection (2x 1st Team, 2x 2nd Team), BAMF
PF Willis Reed aka The Captain - 21.7ppg, 13.9rpg, 21.9 PER, 7.5DWS
MVP, 2x Champion, 2x Finals MVP, 7x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection (1x 1st Team, 4x 2nd Team), All-NBA Defensive Team
C Wilt Chamberlain aka The Big Dipper - 50ppg, 25rpg 31.8 PER (Highest Ever for all 3) - Averaged 24, 24 & 8 on 68%FG at 30yo
4x MVP, 13x Allstar, 2x Champion, 9x All NBA Selection (7x 1st Team), 11x Rebounds Leader, Led NBA in Assists in 67-68 because, why not .. ah just go here, he has a whole Wiki page on his accomplishments.
Bench
PG Allen Iverson aka The Answer - 33ppg, 7.4apg, 1.9spg, 45%FG, 25.9 PER
MVP, 11x All-Star, 7x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team, 3x 2nd Team), 3x Steals Leader, 4x Scoring Champion, BAMF
SG/SF Eddie Jones aka ... EJ - 20.1ppg, 4.8rpg, 4.2apg, 2.7spg, 38%3P, 20PER, 4.4DWS
3x All-Defensive Team Selection, 3x All-Star, 1x Steals Leader
PF Shawn Kemp aka The Reign Man - 18.1ppg, 10.8rpg, 2.1bpg, 1.6spg, 22.9 PER, 6.0 DWS, 96 DRtg
6x All-Star, 3x All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, BAMF
Apollo Lineup
PG - Penny Hardaway 4x All-Star, 2x All-NBA 1st Team
SG - Kobe Bryant MVP, 5x Champion, 17x All-Star, 15x All-NBA (11x 1st Team), 9x All-Defensive 1st Team, 2x Scoring Leader
SF - Elgin Baylor 11x All-Star, 10x All-NBA 1st Team
PF - Shawn Marion 4x All-Star, 2x All-NBA 2nd Team, Champion
C - Patrick Ewing 11x All-Star, 6x All-NBA 2nd team, 3x All-Defensive 2nd Team
Bench - Alex English 8x All-Star, 3x All-NBA 2nd Team, 1x Scoring Champ
Bench - Tony Parker 4x Champion, 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Selection (3x 2nd Team)
Bench - Dikembe Mutumbo 8x All-Star, 4x Defensive Player of the Year, 6x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team)
Joey's Gameplan
Offensive Gameplan
Offensively, we will be Starting with Nash at the point, who look to maintain a breakneck pace while attacking on pick-and-rolls set by Shawn Kemp, Willis Reed and Wilt Chamberlain, which will in turn create shots for himself, or collapse the defense and create shots for teammates like Ray or Eddie in the corner, Ron on the Wing, or a Big on the Roll. I will look to have Ray and Eddie continuously running off-ball, which will force Kobe to either exert all his energy on Defense, or cheat at times, which will be deadly.
I also think Iverson will have a blast against this lineup, as there really isn't anyone who can match up with him when he comes into the game as a 6th man and wreaks havoc, not only on the cutting lanes with Nash, but also in Apollo's passing lanes, creating multiple steals for fast breaks.
Finally, Apollo's complete lack of bigman depth will be his downfall (and his lack of outside Shooting, but we'll get to that...), as he will ultimately need to rest both Mutumbo and Ewing, and his next big would be Marion (I assume), who would be swatted aside by any one of my 3 headed Beast; and even when Ewing or Mutumbo were on the floor, they really wouldn't stand a chance against Wilt and his massively superior strength, wingspan and overall size advantage.
Defensive Gameplan
Defensively, packing the paint to take advantage of his weakness at the 3-point line, while having Ron and Eddie and their elite wing defense sticking tight on Kobe (or English or Penny) for 48 minutes should suffice for the perimeter. Down low, Mutumbo shouldn't be much of an offensive threat, which will allow for switching Wilt on to the smaller Ewing to take care of him, while having Reed and his heavy self pound with Mutumbo (Reed was famous for going toe-to-toe with Kareem..) to tire him out and force the sub. Kemp will match up perfectly with Marion, so look for him to see quite a lot of minutes, wherever Marion is positioned as well.
Apollo's Gameplan
Defense
The matchups will be fairly straight forward with no unfavorable matchups he can toss at us. We will go man coverage. If AI is in the game we will focus preventing him from making cuts to the basket and instead making him resort to his hot/cold jumper and in the process keeping his teammates out of their rhythm. If Nash is in the game we will play him rough and utilize Penny’s great size advantage and far superior athleticism.
Joey has some good shooters and so we will challenge his wings with tight coverage.
Joey features a bunch of big men who do not have any range and do most of their damage in the paint. We’re fine with that as AI and Nash will have less options with the paint clogged.
Marion and Ewing will be focused on controlling the paint and limiting second chances.
Offense
We’re going to continue looking to the fast break which has been highly successful with our long, athletic team.
Ewing will spend a lot of time at mid range, Marion will setup outside on the perimeter and this should free up some lanes for our three master finishers in Kobe, Elgin and Penny to penetrate and look for the harm or look for the outlet pass for the open shot.
We’ll also utilize a lot of pick and roll, attacking the basket & looking for the foul. If Joey puts Ron on Kobe we’re going to run a lot of offense through Elgin in the post down low and face up in the ISO.
We'll again expect Baylor to aggressively seek out offensive rebounds as our big men won’t always have good opportunities due to the offensive plan; fortunately Baylor is a master on the offensive glass. Penny and Kobe will also be expected to seek out offensive rebounding opportunities. Penny has a major size advantage over his defenders.
In Game Adjustments
Apollo's Adjustments
Coach's Comments: "I have assembled a roster with the skills and versatility to thrive in the new age game as opposed to Joey's roster which features some prominent relics from the past who may not transition well to the new rules; fouls will surely be an issue he may not be able to address/overcome while facing this high octane offense."
Offense
Joey built his entire game plan on the premise that my squad can’t shoot the three and that’s fine by us as Marion *(.536), Kobe *(.400), Penny *(.404) and Tony Parker *(.371) all have proven long range capabilities when it matters. If Joey wants to give uncontested shots to these guys we will be more than happy, and satisfied, knocking them down.
We will run a lot of pick & roll and as shots start falling Joey will have to relent but in the meantime we will not be discouraged by traffic in the paint as Kobe, Penny and Marion are all great finishers and with the vision to slash when they see their openings develop.
We’re also going to pick up the pace as it is to our advantage to push it down court as quickly as possible looking for each cuts to the bucket and/or high percentage open shots; Joey can’t stop what he can’t catch and those slow old school big men will not be able to keep up in this track meet.
Defense
We’ve brought in Dikembe Mutombo to offer an elite lockdown defender element to the game. Him paired with Marion will severely limit the offense's inside opportunities. We’re going to continue to play Joey in man defense and rely on our size, length and sheer grit to disrupt his offense.
Joey's Adjustments
My team is built for ball-movement, breakneck pace and perfectly balanced inside-outside game, where as Apollos team has too many dribble-heavy perimeter players who can't really shoot from out there, coupled with no real offensive threat downlow, now that Ewing is out; so if he plans on picking up the pace, we're game, since Steve Nash and Allen Iverson will be right in their element, with plenty of Athletic Bigs to play off of and shooters to find in the corners.
Leaving Marion as the starting Power Forward to team with Dikembe, and subbing out Patrick Ewing his second best Offensive Weapon (in my opinion), are both moves I think will work in my favour; I'll sub in arguably the most athletic Power Forward in NBA history, Shawn Kemp, who again will match up very nicely against Marion (Kemp is 6'10", Marion is 6'7", but arguably just as athletic, if not more so.) and between him and Wilt, we will exploit these matchups.
It could be easily argued that Wilt Chamberlain is an "unfavorable matchup" any time he steps on the floor, Kemp against Marion is pretty unfavorable as well, and Ron Artest certainly isn't ever favorable by any means.
With Artest guarding Kobe, and Kemp on Marion, I'm not sure how they plan on getting any "uncontested shots", and I'm confident that Nash, Iverson and Eddie can be pesky enough to disrupt any outside shooting threat Parker or Hardaway may pose, though I'm not worried about them shooting from outside.
If the 6'5" Baylor wants to try and step up and post up, Jones would sub in on Kobe and Artest would push Baylor right out of the paint.
So RR faithful, who wins this game?
Each team drafted an 8 man roster. Each team provided a gameplan justification as to why they believe they should get your vote. Each team is allowed 1 post for "in game adjustments." The role of RR community is simple, vote for who you believe should win. Post justification if you want (encouraged) and weigh the pros and cons for all to see, but ultimately, your vote decides who will win this tournament of legends.
SEMI-FINALS
Joey's Legacy Allstars
Starters
PG Steve Nash aka Captain Canada - 18.6ppg, 11.6apg, 53%FG, 46%3P, 65%TS, 124 ORtg
2x MVP, 8x All-Star, 7x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team), 5x Assist Leader, 4x 50-40-90 (Most in History), 3rd Most Assists in History
SG Ray Allen aka Jesus - 22ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.6apg, 1.5spg, 48%FG, 43%3P, 61%TS, 22.9 PER
2x Champion, 10x All-Star, 2x All-NBA Selection, All-Time Leader in 3-Pointers Made
SF Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace - 18.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 2.1spg, 96 DRtg
Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Champion, 4x All-Defensive Team Selection (2x 1st Team, 2x 2nd Team), BAMF
PF Willis Reed aka The Captain - 21.7ppg, 13.9rpg, 21.9 PER, 7.5DWS
MVP, 2x Champion, 2x Finals MVP, 7x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection (1x 1st Team, 4x 2nd Team), All-NBA Defensive Team
C Wilt Chamberlain aka The Big Dipper - 50ppg, 25rpg 31.8 PER (Highest Ever for all 3) - Averaged 24, 24 & 8 on 68%FG at 30yo
4x MVP, 13x Allstar, 2x Champion, 9x All NBA Selection (7x 1st Team), 11x Rebounds Leader, Led NBA in Assists in 67-68 because, why not .. ah just go here, he has a whole Wiki page on his accomplishments.
Bench
PG Allen Iverson aka The Answer - 33ppg, 7.4apg, 1.9spg, 45%FG, 25.9 PER
MVP, 11x All-Star, 7x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team, 3x 2nd Team), 3x Steals Leader, 4x Scoring Champion, BAMF
SG/SF Eddie Jones aka ... EJ - 20.1ppg, 4.8rpg, 4.2apg, 2.7spg, 38%3P, 20PER, 4.4DWS
3x All-Defensive Team Selection, 3x All-Star, 1x Steals Leader
PF Shawn Kemp aka The Reign Man - 18.1ppg, 10.8rpg, 2.1bpg, 1.6spg, 22.9 PER, 6.0 DWS, 96 DRtg
6x All-Star, 3x All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, BAMF
Apollo Lineup
PG - Penny Hardaway 4x All-Star, 2x All-NBA 1st Team
SG - Kobe Bryant MVP, 5x Champion, 17x All-Star, 15x All-NBA (11x 1st Team), 9x All-Defensive 1st Team, 2x Scoring Leader
SF - Elgin Baylor 11x All-Star, 10x All-NBA 1st Team
PF - Shawn Marion 4x All-Star, 2x All-NBA 2nd Team, Champion
C - Patrick Ewing 11x All-Star, 6x All-NBA 2nd team, 3x All-Defensive 2nd Team
Bench - Alex English 8x All-Star, 3x All-NBA 2nd Team, 1x Scoring Champ
Bench - Tony Parker 4x Champion, 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Selection (3x 2nd Team)
Bench - Dikembe Mutumbo 8x All-Star, 4x Defensive Player of the Year, 6x All-NBA Selection (3x 1st Team)
Joey's Gameplan
Offensive Gameplan
Offensively, we will be Starting with Nash at the point, who look to maintain a breakneck pace while attacking on pick-and-rolls set by Shawn Kemp, Willis Reed and Wilt Chamberlain, which will in turn create shots for himself, or collapse the defense and create shots for teammates like Ray or Eddie in the corner, Ron on the Wing, or a Big on the Roll. I will look to have Ray and Eddie continuously running off-ball, which will force Kobe to either exert all his energy on Defense, or cheat at times, which will be deadly.
I also think Iverson will have a blast against this lineup, as there really isn't anyone who can match up with him when he comes into the game as a 6th man and wreaks havoc, not only on the cutting lanes with Nash, but also in Apollo's passing lanes, creating multiple steals for fast breaks.
Finally, Apollo's complete lack of bigman depth will be his downfall (and his lack of outside Shooting, but we'll get to that...), as he will ultimately need to rest both Mutumbo and Ewing, and his next big would be Marion (I assume), who would be swatted aside by any one of my 3 headed Beast; and even when Ewing or Mutumbo were on the floor, they really wouldn't stand a chance against Wilt and his massively superior strength, wingspan and overall size advantage.
Defensive Gameplan
Defensively, packing the paint to take advantage of his weakness at the 3-point line, while having Ron and Eddie and their elite wing defense sticking tight on Kobe (or English or Penny) for 48 minutes should suffice for the perimeter. Down low, Mutumbo shouldn't be much of an offensive threat, which will allow for switching Wilt on to the smaller Ewing to take care of him, while having Reed and his heavy self pound with Mutumbo (Reed was famous for going toe-to-toe with Kareem..) to tire him out and force the sub. Kemp will match up perfectly with Marion, so look for him to see quite a lot of minutes, wherever Marion is positioned as well.
Apollo's Gameplan
Defense
The matchups will be fairly straight forward with no unfavorable matchups he can toss at us. We will go man coverage. If AI is in the game we will focus preventing him from making cuts to the basket and instead making him resort to his hot/cold jumper and in the process keeping his teammates out of their rhythm. If Nash is in the game we will play him rough and utilize Penny’s great size advantage and far superior athleticism.
Joey has some good shooters and so we will challenge his wings with tight coverage.
Joey features a bunch of big men who do not have any range and do most of their damage in the paint. We’re fine with that as AI and Nash will have less options with the paint clogged.
Marion and Ewing will be focused on controlling the paint and limiting second chances.
Offense
We’re going to continue looking to the fast break which has been highly successful with our long, athletic team.
Ewing will spend a lot of time at mid range, Marion will setup outside on the perimeter and this should free up some lanes for our three master finishers in Kobe, Elgin and Penny to penetrate and look for the harm or look for the outlet pass for the open shot.
We’ll also utilize a lot of pick and roll, attacking the basket & looking for the foul. If Joey puts Ron on Kobe we’re going to run a lot of offense through Elgin in the post down low and face up in the ISO.
We'll again expect Baylor to aggressively seek out offensive rebounds as our big men won’t always have good opportunities due to the offensive plan; fortunately Baylor is a master on the offensive glass. Penny and Kobe will also be expected to seek out offensive rebounding opportunities. Penny has a major size advantage over his defenders.
In Game Adjustments
Apollo's Adjustments
Coach's Comments: "I have assembled a roster with the skills and versatility to thrive in the new age game as opposed to Joey's roster which features some prominent relics from the past who may not transition well to the new rules; fouls will surely be an issue he may not be able to address/overcome while facing this high octane offense."
Offense
Joey built his entire game plan on the premise that my squad can’t shoot the three and that’s fine by us as Marion *(.536), Kobe *(.400), Penny *(.404) and Tony Parker *(.371) all have proven long range capabilities when it matters. If Joey wants to give uncontested shots to these guys we will be more than happy, and satisfied, knocking them down.
We will run a lot of pick & roll and as shots start falling Joey will have to relent but in the meantime we will not be discouraged by traffic in the paint as Kobe, Penny and Marion are all great finishers and with the vision to slash when they see their openings develop.
We’re also going to pick up the pace as it is to our advantage to push it down court as quickly as possible looking for each cuts to the bucket and/or high percentage open shots; Joey can’t stop what he can’t catch and those slow old school big men will not be able to keep up in this track meet.
Defense
We’ve brought in Dikembe Mutombo to offer an elite lockdown defender element to the game. Him paired with Marion will severely limit the offense's inside opportunities. We’re going to continue to play Joey in man defense and rely on our size, length and sheer grit to disrupt his offense.
Joey's Adjustments
My team is built for ball-movement, breakneck pace and perfectly balanced inside-outside game, where as Apollos team has too many dribble-heavy perimeter players who can't really shoot from out there, coupled with no real offensive threat downlow, now that Ewing is out; so if he plans on picking up the pace, we're game, since Steve Nash and Allen Iverson will be right in their element, with plenty of Athletic Bigs to play off of and shooters to find in the corners.
Apollo wrote:
Apollo wrote:
Apollo wrote:
If the 6'5" Baylor wants to try and step up and post up, Jones would sub in on Kobe and Artest would push Baylor right out of the paint.
So RR faithful, who wins this game?
Comment