"Would you rather" tournament pick'em: The Final 4 has begun! (post 204)

[The Coach]

Matt brought up the article from hoopshype (http://nbadraft.net/value-picks-2012-nba-draft) that highlighted how GM's can be focused on "their guy" and miss out on great talent later in the draft. I would call this the sexy pick epidemic. GM's, scouts and many fans fall for a name, a school program and a great tourny run.

This gave me an idea (I know, I am bored), what if we took out the name and just focus on the scouting reports and/or stats to make our picks. I will copy and paste some of the scouting reports, talent tables, player comparisons, etc. without placing actual draft player's names and have you answer, "would you rather" have player A or player B. I realize that you could search the players and it wouldn't take too much work to figure out who the report is talking about (i.e. - Matt has pretty much told us how Lamb eats his steak by now), but as I say to my students, that would take the fun out of it.

It is unlikely that we will get one of the first 3 picks and based on these four guys that means that Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bradley Beal would be off the table. After that there seems to be some shuffling among the picks. I will put together a 16 player (ones that I have seen in mock drafts and Raps Rep forum discussions) tournament pick'em and see who comes out on top. After each round I will let everyone know who moved on and who was cut.

As this is the first time I am trying this idea, I am interested to hear ideas that would make it better next time. As well, this could probably be put in the Draft thread; however, I thought it would be harder to organize responses.

Tournament Updates

Into the Elite 8:............................................Out of the tournament:
Thomas Robinson (PF).......................................Meyers Leonard (C) - 6
Harrison Barnes (SF).........................................Quinc y Miller (SF) - 10
Austin Rivers (PG/SG)........................................Damian Lillard (PG) - 4
Terrence Ross (SG/SF)......................................Jeremy Lamb (SG) - 3
Andre Drummond (C).........................................Tyler Zeller (C) - 10
Terrence Jones (SF/PF)......................................Perry Jones (PF) - 5
Kendall Marshall (PG)..........................................Tony Wroten (PG/SG) - 13
John Henson (PF).............................................. .Jared Sullinger (PF) - 4

Into the Final 4............................................Out of tournament
Harrison Barnes............................................ .................Terrence Ross
Thomas Robinson.......................................... .................Terrence Jones
Andre Drummond.......................................... .................John Henson
Austin Rivers............................................ ......................Kendall Marshall

Into the Championship....................................Out of tournament
Andre Drummond.......................................... .................Thomas Robinson
Austin Rivers............................................ ......................Harrison Barnes

Champion.................................................. ...Runner Up
Andre Drummond.......................................... ...........Austin Rivers

[The Coach]

The frontcourt of JV and Drummond would have the potential to be the best in the league, something like a younger faster Gasol, Bynum frontcourt

Could be dynamic... but it looks like Drummond will be going a lot higher than 8th.

[Vykis]

The frontcourt of JV and Drummond would have the potential to be the best in the league, something like a younger faster Gasol, Bynum frontcourt

[Miekenstien]

Rivers is at the very least, half-black. Have you seen his dad?

hahahahahhahaha

[Miekenstien]

But Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley rocked! ...in college...

Duke players very rarely seem to live up to individual expectations. There was such hype about players like Laettner, Boozer, Maggette, Langdon, Reddick, Battier, Brand, Deng, Dunleavy, Sheldon Williams, etc... yet none of them have ever become superstars. Grant Hill was probably the best of the bunch, when you think what his career might have been like, if not for the numerous injury plagued seasons in Orlando. I think it speaks volumes about the kids buying into the team concept and the incredible coaching ability of Coach K.

brand was pretty awesome before the achilles blew.

[The Coach]

Champion - Andre Drummond

Drummond takes the first ever Raptors "Would you rather" tournament pick'em!

I want to thank everyone for taking part in my little tourny. Based on the amount of voters, it seemed that it lost its novelty by the end. I enjoyed putting it together and think that some of the early suggestions (i.e. - only reveal the loser's name) would improve the game.

What are your ideas for making this better?
Anybody learn anything through this process?

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Drummond please. Just say no to white players from Duke.

But Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley rocked! ...in college...

Duke players very rarely seem to live up to individual expectations. There was such hype about players like Laettner, Boozer, Maggette, Langdon, Reddick, Battier, Brand, Deng, Dunleavy, Sheldon Williams, etc... yet none of them have ever become superstars. Grant Hill was probably the best of the bunch, when you think what his career might have been like, if not for the numerous injury plagued seasons in Orlando. I think it speaks volumes about the kids buying into the team concept and the incredible coaching ability of Coach K.

[Prime]

Drummond please. Just say no to white players from Duke.

Rivers is at the very least, half-black. Have you seen his dad?

[KingMaxwell47]

Drummond please. Just say no to white players from Duke.

[e2thed]

Definietly Drummond, if hes around at 8 lol, i'd rather take Moe Harkless at 8 then Austin Rivers.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Drummond. He's the better player @ #8 and I assume he'd also have a much higher trade value after the draft.

[Puffer]

Drummond

[ezz_bee]

I'd take drummond, at number 8 he is a way better choice than Rivers.

[Miekenstien]

drummond for sure

[The Coach]

Championship - Drummond vs. Rivers

Austin Rivers defeats Harrison Barnes and faces Drummond in the championship!


Well, like it or not, this tournament has come down to two guys that I would guess many of us would not have chosen as ideal fits for the Raptors next year. It is pretty hard to keep this final round blind, so I thought I would throw a few different things at you to make this choice. Remember you are the Rap's brass and only have these 2 guys to choose from... no you can't trade the pick at this point.

Would you rather have...

Austin Rivers
Beat out Lillard, Marshall and Barnes to get here.

PEREFFEFF/40WS/402011-2012 Statistics: 15.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg

Player ComparisonsAndre Drummond
Beat out Zeller, Henson and Robinson to get here.

PEREFFEFF/40WS/402011-2012 Statistics: 10 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.7 bpg

Player ComparisonsIf you don't know what the PER, EFF, etc are then feel free to look it up or just ignore it and focus on the comparisons and season averages. It would have taken up too much space to explain those statistics. Hindsight - probably something I could have used in conjunction with the schematics last round.