FWIW, the evals.
Went with Amerk’s suggestion. No sugar coating here. Everything off the top of my head and probably wildly wrong in both my assumptions and analysis. Most of all, too much serious stuff in the world right now, so I took this lightly and had some fun with it.
Don’t know what it is. Maybe I just never liked 70s BB, but few of these teams have me thinking anything that rings 50 wins and I’m certain that my team will not be one of them.
EASTERN
HDS1: Spencer Haywood, Cedric Maxwell, Rich Kelley, Dave Twardzik, Jimmy Jones, Lucius Allen, G.T. Johnson., John Lucas, George L Johnson, Dean Tolson, Warren Davis, Guy Rodgers
Kicking things off, Haywood dropping to 24 is a bit of a surprise. He’ll give you big offensive numbers with very decent D. Six-tenths of a percentage point more in efficiency and he’d get a hell of a lot more respect in this league. Teamed with Cedric, the league’s king of efficiency among those under 7’1” and Rich (I do a lot of big man things) Kelley at C make for one of the better front lines. Twardzik, Jones and Allen are OK picks as the first two are pretty efficient and Lucius will give you pretty good D. Not sure if there is quite enough usage from the more efficient guys and not having that one good distributor may prove to be a weakness. The backcourt players are decent individually but not seeing them complement the front guys that well. Threes are hard to come by in this decade and they will be on the light side here. If HDS is under 75 he should designate himself as a scrub, rotate himself in there and start dishing the ball to Cedric.
coachcroft: Dave Cowens, Zelmo Beaty, Adrian Dantley, Bob Gross, Pete Maravich, Lionel Hollins, Matt Goukas, Dave Robisch, Campy Russell, Ron Lee
Cowens is always a great asset because he’s one of those guys who offers many seasons that check off all the boxes. Just need to pick the one best nuanced to team need. Zelmo and Adrian complement him well. A lot of Cowens in Zelmo with a little less D. This is not Dantley’s best decade so he’s only OK efficient. The hard-nosed Bobby Gross is a tough defender who does not make many mistakes and is good with his shot selection. Hollins is another tough defender in the backcourt but not much else. Maravich is going to make this team interesting. He may just drive Cowens crazy. Three guys working, working, working, with Pistol ball dazzling, and Adrian waiting for his time in the 80s. In the end, Maravich’s volume inefficiency is going to make things tough. In his time, I’m sure Coach has dealt with guys in love with the ball, but I doubt anyone Maravich-like. A few more assists would have served Cowens and Beaty well but they’re just not gonna come. Let’s see what happens.
smokey63: George McGiness, Connie Hawkins, Curtis Perry, Mack Calvin, Warren Jabali, Goose Ligon, Lloyd Free, Dennis Johnson
At #15, McGinnis went early. The return on his usage is not what it should be and he turns the ball over making his good assist rate costly. Connie will be productive at SF and the right season will provide some decent efficiency and pretty good D. Perry rebounds the ball well but piles up the fouls. Although Hawkins and McGinnis get to the line, all three put guys on the opposite line at a crime spree rate. Goose Ligon is a productive rotation guy and he may warrant more playing time on the front than at first thought. Not sure if this is a good sign. Jabali is a nice pick and does lots of good things from PG or SG. Shooting 3s is not one of them. Dennis Johnson is a good defender at PG but doesn’t bring much else. Mack C. is a volume shooter. He and McGinnis are going to give Smokey fits when he sees Connie not getting enough scoring opportunities. Overall, the D is very average, the efficiency is marginal at best, and Smokey is gonna be steamin’.
thomcat: Artis Gilmore, Gail Goodrich, Jack Sikma, Slick Watts, Don Sidle, John Brisker, Art Williams, Ira Harge, Jack Marin, Tom Owens,
I like my Gilmore pick. After that things went downhill fast. The three good usage players I thought would go well with him were gone, leaving me Goodrich. He’s a reasonably efficient high scorer but learning that his nickname was “Stumpy” set me back a bit. Now I have Stumpy riding on the A Train. Now I need a conductor. Slick Watts. Not too bad. Even better when I saw someone was ****** that I grabbed him. That was my high point in the draft. Sikma offers a good DRB% and passable D. Sidle bridges the length gap between Gilmore and Watts. Goes to show that all players at this level do at least one thing well. Should have went with Kaufmann who does more things and was drafted a few slots later. Liked Art Williams in the 7th. Overall, not enough defense for an efg% that is not going to be competitive. Drafting Brisker is an attempt to outscore that which we cannot stop. Drafting Brisker is a sign of weakness. Joy is not in my future here.
cmcafeeky: George Gervin, Mel Daniels, Paul Silas, James Silas, Bill Melchionni, Bob Netolicky, Julius Keye, Rod Thorn, Bob Boozer,
I actually like this team! Gervin is a great pick at 22. You can go with the scoring title with good efg% version and good D or the scorer and rebound version with very good D. I’ll assume cmcafeeky will go with the scoring title version of Gervin. Daniels is the logical 2nd pick. These two solve lots of problems. Paul Silas fits nicely, adding more DRB% and defense. Some versions of Netolicky can play at SF where he is a clean player with a good all-around game. James Silas and Melchionni, with one or the other as a backup, provide similar things at PG, outside offense, moderate assists and no threes. Even with Daniels, the team is a little short on DRB% rebounding partly because this is not Netolicky’s strength. A few more assists and some threes would make this good team even better. Gervin will keep cmcafeeky smiling because he fills seats, enabling mcaf to turn a small profit on his $9.99 investment.
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6544 (2): Robert Parish, Red Robbins, Len Wilkins, Joe Caldwell, Ron Boone, John Johnson, Tom Burelson, Mickey Johnson, Rich Niemann, Larry Brown,
Parish and Robbins will provide elite rebounding at both ends of the floor. Parish adds an offensive dimension although his minutes are limited. Lenny Wilkens is a competent, well-rounded PG on the offensive side adding threes and adequate on D. Joe Caldwell adds just the right things if at SG with good usage and adequate efg%. He’s light on threes but pairs very well with Wilkens. John Johnson is a journeyman type SF who is not efficient and will make a modest overall contribution. Good future as a news anchor in NY. Boone will back up at SG and SF. This may be one of those teams that drafts a lot rebounding at the start but then neglects that area a bit too long, particularly because of Parish’s limited minutes. 6544 will enjoy some nice moments but will be rewarded by adopting my approach- keep things in perspective.
CENTRAL
redbooda: Tiny Archibald, Billy Cunningham, Lou Hudson, Caldwell Jones, Dave Bing, Randy Smith, Happy Hairston, Chet Walker, Mitch Kupchak, Bob Rule,
I thought Tiny had a 15-year deal with Penn. I guess something happened. Archibald being so multidimensional on the offensive end, he is deserving of his being the #12 pick. He’s 48 minutes of pure offense. Add Billy Cunningham and it’s time to move beyond the task of usage. Wait, here comes Lou Hudson. Caldwell Jones is an excellent rebounder and very good defender. He can also help out on offense but little does he know he will never see the ball. Did I just see Dave Bing? Now Archie is developing an attitude. Even if he’s the lower usage version of Bing, Caldwell is going to have to pull down 70 ORBs a game to keep these guys happy and if Tiny ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Not even Hairston is happy. Clearly, redbooda is out for fun here.He’s going to enjoy the pre-game shooting drills. After the first few games, this could get old and we may see a crushed beer cans piling up in front of his seat on the bench.
Navy2002: Norm Nixon, Rudy Tomjanovic, Dan Issel, Doug Collins, Mike Lewis, Jim Eakins, Jim Fox, Jon McLocklin, Chuck Williams, Ollie Johnson,
Norm feeling lofty as a 1st round pick and he’s actually a pretty decent pick here. Good ball distributor with a 57 efg% from the 78-9 version and a couple of hundred 3’s without hurting you on D. Tomjanovich is a nice add. He was a guy I was looking for in the 2nd round but this is not about me. So far we have really good efg% with D that is still not hurting you. Issel is another high 50s defender but a bit of a drop off as a quality pick because his DRB% is not up to par for a big. I see an efg% theme here and a good one with Doug Collins. More Duggy 3’s would have been nice, but no one has told him because we’re in the 70s. Mike Lewis brings the much-needed rebounding but he has a bad habit of rebounding through people who happen to be in the way. This would be a great place to continue the rebounding build but Eakins is more Issel and less Lewis. We had a good thing going here and like the build around efg% but both the DRB% and ORB% are going to be a drag on this team. The possession game may be an issue for Navy.
gerryred: Bob Lanier, Paul Westphal, Walt Bellamy, Mike Riordan, Bob Kaufman, Jim McMillan, Brian Winters. Lloyd Walton, Jim Price, Herm Gilliam,
I’m impressed. Lanier: Yes. Westphal: Yes. Bellamy: Yes. Riordan: Yes. Kaufman: Wedging him into SF is OK (assuming that’s the plan) because he’s a clean player who helps out everywhere. McMillian: Also OK, because 3’s are important and they are what creates the separation in the 70s. This is a very well-constructed team that minimizes fouls, has just enough usage, enough D, and no turnover machines. No one here is going the hurt the mission. Yet, the whole here is still greater than the sum of its parts. Things really fell into place nicely for gerryred with the first six picks. He did a good job and is going to enjoy this season. Brian Winters went to Molloy H.S. not far from where I lived but I went to a different H.S. Hope you’re all impressed.
roadhouse19: Bob McAdoo, Nate Thurmond, Archie Clark, Bob Love, Dick Van Arsdale, Ron Behagen, Ernie DiGregorio, Jeff Judkins, Dorie Murray, John Beasley,
Mac and Nate the Great are a pretty good mesh with their defensive coverages and Mac should have enough usage to decrease Nate’s shots. At least it will hopefully work that way. Archie Clark is an OK ball distributor and balances the offense. Love is a pretty decent defender at SF with one season of usable efg% He’s a good fit with the other 3. Dick VA is solid and we now have 3s coming from 3 heavy minute guys who are able to play reasonably reliable D. Behagen is a drop off in the frontline rotation. Not understanding that pick and how he fits with either Mac or Nate and he hacks people too much. Still, the team has a good core and is nicely balanced. One tip for roadhouse: If you have a big lead and put Ernie in there during garbage time, the clock will slow dramatically.
albiband0: Willis Reed, ML Carr, Billy Paultz, Mike Green, Louie Dampier, Earl Monroe, Jim Cleamons, Tom Boswell, Dick Snyder, Allan Bristow,
Willis in one of my favorites. That 69-70 season offers excellent D and he’s solid in every aspect of the game. M.L. continues with good defense has that one season where he has some impact on the offensive side of the ball. This is a nice start. Paultz continues the build and fits nicely between Willis and M.L. Mike Green is a bit of a head scratcher as with full time minutes already up front, I would think it would time to start thing about the backcourt. Not seeing the appeal of Green at this point in the draft especially because Albi not that close to the turn. Fortunately, Dampier is on the board 20 or so picks later do that that brings a boatload of precious 3’s. Earl brings more buckets but I’m thinking more of a playmaker here. Maybe Albi had a concern about usage but when you have to set the alarm to make your pick in the middle of the night you get some slack.
jpevans31: Walt Frazier, Elgin Baylor, Roger A Brown, Johnny Green, Mo Cheeks, Daryl Dawkins, Larry Steele, Kim Hughes, Tariq Abdul-Aziz, Glen Combs,
Frazier is a nice way to begin. A bunch of choice seasons and you’re always going to get that 90 D. Baylor brings loads of rebounds and good defense and some assists from the SF spot that gives a real edge, but that high volume shooting with marginal efficiency is something that is not easy to make up for later on in the draft. A little surprised jp didn’t’ go with a big here. Guessing jp felt Baylor gave enough of a jump on rebounds to deal with it later. Roger A. Brown does a few things as a SG and the right version will help offset Baylor’s efg% issue. Hate to be petty, but there are no other Roger Browns in the league or in the history of the NBA for that matter. The “A” is overkill and he should be thinking about more useful things. “Jumpin’” Johnny Green comes in the DRB% version or the efg% version but it’s tough to get a balance in any given season. Cheeks’ rookie year is actually pretty good. A 56.7 efg% from the backcourt in the 70’s is very nice. Just not enough usage to make a big impact but he handles the typical backcourt responsibilities at a high level. Finally, a legit big in Dawkins with good efg% but just not enough minutes. Oh, oh, he looked like he can rebound. Think you’re gonna need the DRB% version of Johnny. Overall, it turns out that jp did do a good job.
MIDWEST
Woelke: Elvin Hayes, John Havlicek, Gus Johnson, Flynn Robinson, Phil Chenier, George Lehmann, Trooper Washington Wil Jones, Jeff Mullins, Neil Johnson
This is an interesting play. A man with a plan. Huge bet on front court defense at the expense of front court efg%. On 2nd look, seems less of a gamble when you realize that this team is going to be firing off a 1000+ 3s at a 35-40 3pt%. Very creative for its time. Who is this Woelke? The Big E is a gift in the 2nd half of the 1st round. Surrounding him with Gus Johnson and Havlicek is classic. Tough, but super clean front courts in the 70s are not easy to come by in the 70’s (I don’t think). The backcourt rotation of Flynn Lehman, George Chenier and Phil Robinson are almost interchangeable in what they do. This now has me thinking that ol’ Casey is looking for a head coach job and this would be perfect. Even with Casey, this team would be focused. Looking for an unaddressed weakness here but not finding much. Maybe a few more assists? Woelke’s job is done. These guys know what they’ve got to do.
cmcafeeky (2): Marques Johnson, Wes Unseld, Swen Nater, Gus Williams, Ralph Simpson, Clyde Lee, Bob Weiss, Cinci Powell, Howard Porter, Bob Nash
This cmcafeekey team has some good things going for it. Possession game: check. Efg: check. Usg:…. ok, check, but close. Marques is one of those rare highly efficient SF in this era. He’s an 80s guy living in the 70s. Very nice 1st pick. Nater is one of those love/hate guys. He needs the right guy next to him and as a good a player as Unseld may be, I don’t really like this tandem from a defensive perspective. Then again, thanks to Marques the efg% up front is good so they may be able to outshoot Nater’s indifference on defense. Clyde Lee rotating in is a good effort to address the defense issue. Gus Williams is a real asset in the backcourt and brings good D. The right Simpson season can be an offensive machine but not sure how that season would play out with what English does. Threes will be hard to come by. In some ways this team is a 180 from the team just above from a style perspective. Bottomline is lots of good things going on. We’ll see.
6544: Marvin Barnes, Elmore Smith, Eddie Johnson, Alex English, Wendell Ladner, Phil Ford, Lloyd Neal, Scott Wedman, Tom Henderson, Mel Counts,
This is one of the better defensive teams. English is an elite scorer and asset in every aspect of the game. Marvin is an animal on the boards, defends, and scores with reasonably good efficiency. In the middle, Elmore is a very good defender and shot blocker. These three are a good mesh and match up well with any other front court. Assuming the 80 D Johnson is being used, he and Ladner continue with good defense in the backcourt. Ford provides assistance and 3s. Nicely balanced team. Ladner rebounds well for a G. The thing about him is that he thinks he’s Burt Reynolds. That, and don’t let him shoot 3’s. Just horrible. A little unnerving when the 3 ball leaves his hand and he yells “fore!”
soxyanks12: Wilt Chamberlain, Don Buse, Willie Wise, Maurice Lucas, Phil Smith, Craig Raymond, Larry Siegfried, Glenn Gondrezick, Fred Crawford, Dave Lattin
The “team guy” version of Wilt is the offering in the 70s, but there are a couple of different versions of the “team” Wilt also. In either case, the Wilt of the 70s needs offensive help and I’m wondering if there is enough. Wilt and Maurice are each imposing defenders although Lucas tends to hammer people. Buse, Wise, Maurice Lucas and Phil Smith also are really good defenders but no one has more than 4 usage points. Not sure where the points are going to come from. I guess there’s no hope in asking Wilt to be his old self. Team ast% and efg% are both marginally adequate. Buse went early here and that 2nd round pick may have been better used for that one great scorer and have one of the other good defenders to cover on D. Will be interesting to see how this goes.
Uofa2: Bill Walton, Cliff Ray, Jamaal Wilkes, Bernard King, Calvin Murphy, Randy Denton, Sonny Parker, Otto Moore, Alvin Scott, Billy Shepherd.
As good as Walton may be on the court for his 28-29 minutes, his bench time usually dictates his team’s overall success. Clifford Ray, the other good defender under the basket, is on the court for only a few minutes longer. With Denton in, for 20 minutes more the opposition is going to have an offensive festival. I guess Denton can be paired with Walton and Ray, but I’m not seeing much effective D with that option either. Defense is not in the plan here. On the positive side, very good efficiency can be run out there all game long. King, Murphy and to a lesser extent Wilkes are going to have to outscore the opposition. Wilkes is a nice player on both ends of the floor but without Walton he is the only player playing both ends of the floor. This is why I don’t use Walton. You draft him #1 and you get rewarded with a huge problem. Reminds me of my old ’67 Mustang. Great driving for 30 days, then back on the bench and I’m driving a Denton for a couple of weeks.
mptrey: Jerry West, Tom Boerwinkle, Jim McDaniels, Charlie Edge, Butch Beard, Mychal Thompson, Don Nelson, Barry Clemens, Neal Walk, Ray Williams
West is such a complete player and always a nice cornerstone to build around. The Boerwinkle, McDaniels, Edge and Thompson rotation through the frontcourt works pretty well. Didn’t realize McDaniels is Boerwinkle with less D more O and fewer assists and Thompson is McDaniels with more assists and fewer fouls and fewer points. Of course, anybody is anybody else if one accounts for the differences. With Good drb%, orb% and low TO rate this team is going to win the all-important possession game. Efg% is also good with probably no one with major minutes under 50%. Just about all the metrics on this team are impressive and the pieces with less minutes than desired fit well, particularly on the front line. Mp has done a good job putting these guys together and he should feel pretty good about team prospects. Saw Don Nelson play. Deadly from 11-13 feet and an uncanny ability to get to the line considering he had zero offensive moves. Just thought it is something mp should know.
WEST
samuelyork93: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Dandridge, Dave Debusschere, Terry Tyler, Ed Ratleff, Quinn Buckner, Steve Hawes, Walt Simon, Goo Kennedy, James Hardy,
Kareem is the obvious prize in this decade and why not pair him with Buck teammate Bob Dandridge. We know what Kareem does so we’ll move on. To begin, lots of good things happening on the defensive side of the ball. Kareem, Tyler and Debusschere are elite up front. The defensive intensity does not stop with substitutions as Ratliff and his near peerless D will rotate in. Buckner at PG and Dandridge who looks like he’ll step down into the backcourt are quality defenders in the backcourt. Rebounding on both sides of the ball looks to be a team effort and team efg% should be good enough. In fact, everyone contributes in multiple areas from forcing TOs to scoring in double figures. One area of concern is that these guys is that they are light on assists. Other than that, the team seems to meet all the parameters for a good run. Nice job here by Sam with staying on a defensive theme while checking most all of the boxes. I need to start thinking about themes in my drafts.
bds9992 "Star Wars": Bobby Jones, David Thompson, Sam Lacey, Freddie Brown, Jim Brewer, John Shumate, Jeff Petrie, Austin Carr, Earl Williams, Eric Money
Bobby Jones is 160.4 and it’s not his weight or his IQ or his height in centimeters. It is the highest efg% + defense score in the catalogue. That is a pretty good start to draft. Looks like David Thompson is going to move down to SG which is good because moving down is usually (but not always) a lot better than moving up. He brings good efg%, D and usg% Lacey is a swiss army knife type center. Does everything pretty well, and better than that with his drb%. What may be needed is a great orb% guy up front because of Jones limited minutes. Jim Brewer is not quite him, so this can be an issue. Freddy Brown at PG brings more usage, and a good number of 3s at a reasonably good efg%. The other thing here is that Thompson moves down a position, and he pushes Brown to PG. He is a PG, but not a true PG, as his ast% is not up to where it needs to be although a few of the others do help with this part of the game. The personnel here is good but I think the team may be a little short on orb%. Of course, I may have missed something and have this all wrong in which case, never mind.
dBKC: Moses Malone, Walter Davis, Alvan Adams, Kevin Porter, Gar Heard, Billy Knight, Jim Chones, Walt Szcerbiak, Michael Ray Richardson, Nate Williams,
Moses rightly went at 3 and a case that he should have gone at 2 can be made as in addition to all the other elite things he does, he is the best orb% in the league including Wilt. Assuming I have the right season, that 56% efg with 29% usage that Davis carries is exceptional even if for only 30 minutes. Alvan Adams is a nice complement to Malone and a good passer from his position. I thought Kevin Porter should have gone earlier in the draft. His D is on the weak side but he is such a great distributor and he gets his share of points with pretty decent efg% Gar Heard lives defense. Whether starting at SF or rotating through PF and SF he brings D, rebounds and is a good changeup to what is out there. As much as heard is pure D and little O, Billy Knight is pure O and little D. Going to be interesting to see how dBKC used these two through the lineup. I like the mix of things, the plusses and minuses to games and the way they hang together here. If dB likes to tinker, this is a good project.
pexetera: Julius Erving, Dan Roundfield, John Drew, Tree Rollins, Kermit Washington, Marvin Webster, Steve Mix, Foots Walker, Charles Dudley
It mystifies me why Dr J teams are not all that successful. I’m guessing pex knew that going in and this will be his challenge. Roundfield is a good start to the challenge, bringing 90D and rebounds and some points at only average efg%. Thought maybe center here, but John Drew brings more offense although his usg% is a little high for his mostly average efg%. Ahh, the center. Rollins is a good one here. That’s 3 out of 4 with 90+ D, so things are now starting g to fall into place. Kermit and Webster fill out the frontcourt and nope we have a little more more d/orb% and more pretty decent D. Just wondering who is going to play the point and where the assists are going to come from. Let me check… Ok.. Looks like Foots and Dudley. Good approach. Try to build on all the metrics other than assists. Once those boxes are checked, go out and get a couple of half-time guys toward the end of the draft who do only that one thing- assists. They’ll still be there. Looks like it all works.
amerk1180: Jerry Lucas, Norm Van Lier, Brian Taylor, Sidney Wicks, Larry Kenon, Charlie Scott, Jerry Sloan, Bill Robinzine, Mike Dunleavy, Ted McClain
Lucas has a couple of good production seasons in this decade and either of them should anchor this team well. His defense is adequate and he contributes a couple of different ways offensively. Van Lier is a very good defender with a high ast% but he gets hurt because he puts the ball up too much considering his mediocre efg%. Kenon and Wicks are similar types who help out up front with rebounds and scoring. Both Sloan and Van Lier are good defenders but heavy handed on defense. On a positive note Lucas has a great memory so he can keep track of Sloan’s fouls. Scott is a high volume shooter with mediocre efg%. I think this team is going to put too many guys on the line. On Sloan: Today, Sloan looks like a guy who shot well in his heyday but didn’t defend. We know the reality was that he couldn’t shoot and did play good D.
deer454: Rick Barry, Oscar Robertson, Bill Bridges, Darnell Hillman, Lonnie Shelton, James McElroy, Truck Robinson, Junior Bridgeman, Dave Wohl, Roy Ebron, Kevin Kunnert, John Roche
The Big O and Barry would have been interesting in RL. Guessing deer will go with the 69-70 version of O and with these guys putting in 40+ minutes, most of the offense is now in place. Bridges has his role on team, gather has many boards as he possibly can and play good defense. He’ll do the job along with Truck who also assists with some inside scoring. Guessing Hilton is on the roster for that one 95 D season. Understandable if so. If not, he’s not bringing much in filling team needs. Shelton does some nice things but is foul prone, as is Hilton. McElroy provides some quality D and outside offense. Team efg% is so-so. I like the first 3 picks and thought Bridges kind of pulled things together for O and Barry. Then, things began to go astray with the Hillman pick. Of course, as always, I may be way off on may take.