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.
Match # 13 - Champions Bracket
Joey's Legacy Allstars
Starters
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 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 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/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
planetmars Starters:
C - Robert Parish - 4x Champion, 9x all star
PF - Charles Barkley - '93 MVP, career 22PPG and 11.7 RPG
SF - Lebron James - 4x MVP, 5x All-Defensive 1st team
SG - Bruce Bowen - 5x All-Defensive 1st team, 3x All-Defensive 2nd team
PG - Chris Paul - 5x All-Defensive 1st team, 4x NBA leader in assists, 6x NBA leader in steals
Bench
Ben Wallace - 4x Defensive Player of the Year
James Harden - 2x All-NBA first team
Bernard King - '85 scoring leader, 2x All-NBA first team
Joey's Gameplan
I'll be starting Allen Iverson to match up against CP3, and it'll be a pretty epic battle of the little guys, but I think Iverson ultimately wins out as he's just too quick, and when he's got guys like Wilt, Kemp and Reed setting screens for him, I'm not sure anyone will be able to stop him, including 4x whatever CP3. Once Iverson gets moving, it's next to impossible to stop him, and with guys like Ray Allen, Artest and Jones waiting on the wings, even Bowen and Lebron will be pretty hard pressed to do anything about it. I don't think that Bowen, King and especially not Harden, would be able to keep up with Allen and his Elite off-ball movement, utilizing off-ball screens set by some of the hardest bodies in History, and Iverson has shown that when given teammates to pass too, he was more than willing to find the open man.
I will also look to exploit Wilt Chamberlain's elite passing ability (lead the league in assists), which combined with his historically extreme wingspan, will make it easy for him to find the open man for countless splashy 3's, and driving lanes galore. Planetmars just has absolutely no way to stop Wilt; he may say that Parish or Wallace will be tough foes for him, but realistically they would merely be pylons in his way (Exhibit A: I'd like to point to this short documentary which highlights Wilts INCREDIBLE strength and athletic abilities). In his prime, there was just no way of stopping him, and with AI (and Nash) wreaking havoc like perpetual motion on the outside, Wilt would be absolutely free to do his bidding down low.
Defensively, I think the combination of Artest, Jones and Kemp hounding Lebron each and every minute he was on the floor, would be more than enough to at least make it very difficult for him to get any sort of rhythm. Outside of Lebron, I don't see Harden or King being difficult to stop with Jones or Artest, and with Lebron and CP3 taking majority of ballt, they would become spot ups as neither were known for their off-ball game; and once again, I don't need to worry about Parish or Wallace defensively.
And finally, at 6'10", and easily much heavier than his listed 240lbs, Willis Reed was the original Round Mound of Rebound, and would match up very well against Barkley and his 6'6" self; scoring at will, and combining his own prowess on the boards, with Wilt's ridiculous rebounding acumen, to deny the majority rebounds.
planetmars Gameplan
Joey is going to try to use ball movement and pick and rolls to try to get Nash and AI open looks but he hasn't had to face a defensive force that includes Lebron James, Chris Paul, Bruce Bowen, Robert Parish and Ben Wallace coming off the bench. Paul has the quickness and defensive smarts to get around screens and being able to stay in front of Nash or even AI to make it easy for them to get their looks (being a member of 5 defensive first teams, and 2 defensive second teams just emphasizes this point). Wilt will be covered mainly by Parish who's done well against premium centers like Malone, Kareem, Issel, Gilmore and Sikma back in the day playing in elite defensive Celtic teams in the early 80's but will also have to face Ben Wallace who is a 4x defensive player of the year and is a type of center Wilt has probably never faced (and actually has had success with big centers like Shaq, Mourning, Ilgauskas and Ming). Barkley should have no problems guarding Kemp where head to head Barkley usually came on top as their career head to head numbers demonstrate that (22.9PPG vs 17.3PPG, 11.4RPG vs 9.7RPG; 3.9APG vs 2.3APG); and although Reed was a 20/20 player in his prime, he was also playing before the ABA/NBA merger so didn't really face the same talent that Barkley or Wallace have had to face in their careers. Allen and Jones are elite three point shooters but will always be covered by Bruce Bowen or James Harden (who is actually a pretty good 3pt defender) so their looks are not going to be as clean as you would expect despite the constant motion of Joey's offense. James has the ability to cover 5 positions on the court and will be that versatile defender and can be an elite help defender if he needs to be.
Joey has problems defensively and the defensive disadvantage is what loses the match for him... Nash will not be able to keep up with Paul (head to head, Paul has always had an advantage: 22PPG vs 13.3PPG; 9.5APG vs 9.5APG; 4.5RPG vs 2.8RPG) and AI is too short to cover someone like James Harden (when he comes off the bench). LBJ will be the main offensive focal as he's a dominant isolation player and will probably be covered by World Peace who's never really been a problem for James (head to head, LBJ scored 26.9PPG, 6.8RPG, 6.5APG against MWP). Allen (or Jones) won't be able to keep Bruce unchecked (has a career 39.3% 3PFG%) so won't really be able to spend time with double coverage on LBJ, Harden or even someone like Bernard King who can easily average 30 PPG. Kemp is going to need Wilt to help on Barkley, which would create more opportunities for Robert Parish to score, and is able to put up 20PPG as he proved in his early prime years.
In Game Adjustments - Coming Soon!
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.
Match # 13 - Champions Bracket
Joey's Legacy Allstars
Starters
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 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 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/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
planetmars Starters:
C - Robert Parish - 4x Champion, 9x all star
PF - Charles Barkley - '93 MVP, career 22PPG and 11.7 RPG
SF - Lebron James - 4x MVP, 5x All-Defensive 1st team
SG - Bruce Bowen - 5x All-Defensive 1st team, 3x All-Defensive 2nd team
PG - Chris Paul - 5x All-Defensive 1st team, 4x NBA leader in assists, 6x NBA leader in steals
Bench
Ben Wallace - 4x Defensive Player of the Year
James Harden - 2x All-NBA first team
Bernard King - '85 scoring leader, 2x All-NBA first team
Joey's Gameplan
I'll be starting Allen Iverson to match up against CP3, and it'll be a pretty epic battle of the little guys, but I think Iverson ultimately wins out as he's just too quick, and when he's got guys like Wilt, Kemp and Reed setting screens for him, I'm not sure anyone will be able to stop him, including 4x whatever CP3. Once Iverson gets moving, it's next to impossible to stop him, and with guys like Ray Allen, Artest and Jones waiting on the wings, even Bowen and Lebron will be pretty hard pressed to do anything about it. I don't think that Bowen, King and especially not Harden, would be able to keep up with Allen and his Elite off-ball movement, utilizing off-ball screens set by some of the hardest bodies in History, and Iverson has shown that when given teammates to pass too, he was more than willing to find the open man.
I will also look to exploit Wilt Chamberlain's elite passing ability (lead the league in assists), which combined with his historically extreme wingspan, will make it easy for him to find the open man for countless splashy 3's, and driving lanes galore. Planetmars just has absolutely no way to stop Wilt; he may say that Parish or Wallace will be tough foes for him, but realistically they would merely be pylons in his way (Exhibit A: I'd like to point to this short documentary which highlights Wilts INCREDIBLE strength and athletic abilities). In his prime, there was just no way of stopping him, and with AI (and Nash) wreaking havoc like perpetual motion on the outside, Wilt would be absolutely free to do his bidding down low.
Defensively, I think the combination of Artest, Jones and Kemp hounding Lebron each and every minute he was on the floor, would be more than enough to at least make it very difficult for him to get any sort of rhythm. Outside of Lebron, I don't see Harden or King being difficult to stop with Jones or Artest, and with Lebron and CP3 taking majority of ballt, they would become spot ups as neither were known for their off-ball game; and once again, I don't need to worry about Parish or Wallace defensively.
And finally, at 6'10", and easily much heavier than his listed 240lbs, Willis Reed was the original Round Mound of Rebound, and would match up very well against Barkley and his 6'6" self; scoring at will, and combining his own prowess on the boards, with Wilt's ridiculous rebounding acumen, to deny the majority rebounds.
planetmars Gameplan
Joey is going to try to use ball movement and pick and rolls to try to get Nash and AI open looks but he hasn't had to face a defensive force that includes Lebron James, Chris Paul, Bruce Bowen, Robert Parish and Ben Wallace coming off the bench. Paul has the quickness and defensive smarts to get around screens and being able to stay in front of Nash or even AI to make it easy for them to get their looks (being a member of 5 defensive first teams, and 2 defensive second teams just emphasizes this point). Wilt will be covered mainly by Parish who's done well against premium centers like Malone, Kareem, Issel, Gilmore and Sikma back in the day playing in elite defensive Celtic teams in the early 80's but will also have to face Ben Wallace who is a 4x defensive player of the year and is a type of center Wilt has probably never faced (and actually has had success with big centers like Shaq, Mourning, Ilgauskas and Ming). Barkley should have no problems guarding Kemp where head to head Barkley usually came on top as their career head to head numbers demonstrate that (22.9PPG vs 17.3PPG, 11.4RPG vs 9.7RPG; 3.9APG vs 2.3APG); and although Reed was a 20/20 player in his prime, he was also playing before the ABA/NBA merger so didn't really face the same talent that Barkley or Wallace have had to face in their careers. Allen and Jones are elite three point shooters but will always be covered by Bruce Bowen or James Harden (who is actually a pretty good 3pt defender) so their looks are not going to be as clean as you would expect despite the constant motion of Joey's offense. James has the ability to cover 5 positions on the court and will be that versatile defender and can be an elite help defender if he needs to be.
Joey has problems defensively and the defensive disadvantage is what loses the match for him... Nash will not be able to keep up with Paul (head to head, Paul has always had an advantage: 22PPG vs 13.3PPG; 9.5APG vs 9.5APG; 4.5RPG vs 2.8RPG) and AI is too short to cover someone like James Harden (when he comes off the bench). LBJ will be the main offensive focal as he's a dominant isolation player and will probably be covered by World Peace who's never really been a problem for James (head to head, LBJ scored 26.9PPG, 6.8RPG, 6.5APG against MWP). Allen (or Jones) won't be able to keep Bruce unchecked (has a career 39.3% 3PFG%) so won't really be able to spend time with double coverage on LBJ, Harden or even someone like Bernard King who can easily average 30 PPG. Kemp is going to need Wilt to help on Barkley, which would create more opportunities for Robert Parish to score, and is able to put up 20PPG as he proved in his early prime years.
In Game Adjustments - Coming Soon!
So RR faithful, who wins this game?
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