The $15 Game with Duke Players

[superdave]

This made the rounds earlier this week and I got sucked in: https://twitter.com/Ballislife/statu...95421345292288

So I thought it would be fun to play this game during the off-season with Duke players from the Coach K era. It was hard to omit a few guys from these lists, but I decided to keep it simple and fun. Pick a guy from each position and do not spend more than $15. Enjoy...

Center
$5 Christian Laettner
$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Carlos Boozer
$1 Mason Plumlee

Power Forward
$5 Danny Ferry
$4 Jabari Parker
$3 Shane Battier
$2 Kyle Singler
$1 Mark Alarie

Small Forward
$5 Grant Hill
$4 Luol Deng
$3 Corey Maggette
$2 Chris Carrawell
$1 Mike Dunleavy

Shooting Guard
$5 JJ Redick
$4 Johnny Dawkins
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Thomas Hill
$1 Gerald Henderson

Point Guard
$5 Jason Williams
$4 Bobby Hurley
$3 Jon Scheyer
$2 Chris Duhon
$1 Nolan Smith

[Olympic Fan]

So I can get Tommu Amaker for free?

PS You have Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell wa-a-a-ay undervalued/

[jacone21]

Duhon
Dawkins
Dunleavy
Parker
Brand

They could beat a few teams.

[superdave]

So I can get Tommu Amaker for free?

PS You have Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell wa-a-a-ay undervalued/

I had trouble leaving off Amaker and Austin Rivers.

The Ballislife one killed me because it had Karl Malone at $5 and Tim Duncan at $4. Uhm, what?! So I bought Duncan for $4 and was happy to spend that $1 elsewhere.

[rhynelander]

Gimmie Jay Williams at the point. Gerald at the 2 spot, with Luol beside him on the wing. Then Kyle and Sheldon at the 4/5 and you can switch 3-5 on D, which is helpful with K's rotations. Henderson and Williams can apply tons of ball pressure up front with the landlord protecting the rim. Kyle, Sheldon, Luol, and Gerald all won't demand shots to excel which will play into Jay's scoring point identity. The hustle from Kyle and athleticism from Luol and Gerald will provide some highlight plays and Jay can go for 20+ points and 10+ assists while Sheldon focuses on D and rebounding while collecting dump-off and put back points.

[uh_no]

This made the rounds earlier this week and I got sucked in: https://twitter.com/Ballislife/statu...95421345292288

So I thought it would be fun to play this game during the off-season with Duke players from the Coach K era. It was hard to omit a few guys from these lists, but I decided to keep it simple and fun. Pick a guy from each position and do not spend more than $15. Enjoy...

Center
$5 Christian Laettner
$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Carlos Boozer
$1 Mason Plumlee

Power Forward
$5 Danny Ferry
$4 Jabari Parker
$3 Shane Battier
$2 Kyle Singler
$1 Mark Alarie

Small Forward
$5 Grant Hill
$4 Luol Deng
$3 Corey Maggette
$2 Chris Carrawell
$1 Mike Dunleavy

Shooting Guard
$5 JJ Redick
$4 Johnny Dawkins
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Thomas Hill
$1 Gerald Henderson

Point Guard
$5 Jason Williams
$4 Bobby Hurley
$3 Jon Scheyer
$2 Chris Duhon
$1 Nolan Smith

nolan
jon
kyle
jj
shelden

and the extra dollar to jordan davidson

[johnb]

This made the rounds earlier this week and I got sucked in: https://twitter.com/Ballislife/statu...95421345292288

So I thought it would be fun to play this game during the off-season with Duke players from the Coach K era. It was hard to omit a few guys from these lists, but I decided to keep it simple and fun. Pick a guy from each position and do not spend more than $15. Enjoy...

Center
$5 Christian Laettner
$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Carlos Boozer
$1 Mason Plumlee

Power Forward
$5 Danny Ferry
$4 Jabari Parker
$3 Shane Battier
$2 Kyle Singler
$1 Mark Alarie

Small Forward
$5 Grant Hill
$4 Luol Deng
$3 Corey Maggette
$2 Chris Carrawell
$1 Mike Dunleavy

Shooting Guard
$5 JJ Redick
$4 Johnny Dawkins
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Thomas Hill
$1 Gerald Henderson

Point Guard
$5 Jason Williams
$4 Bobby Hurley
$3 Jon Scheyer
$2 Chris Duhon
$1 Nolan Smith

Ha.

I think I'd go with a Boozer/Battier/Maggette front line and a Dawkins/Duhon backcourt. I'd plan for the backcourt to play the whole game and have Mark Alarie ($1) come off the bench.

Lots of ways to go on that, of course. One alternative was to spend $5 on Grant Hill--who I'd view as Duke's all-time best player--$4 on Elton Brand--who was transcendent and unstoppable--and $4 on Bobby Hurley and then shop thriftily with for the $1 picks: Alarie (great shooter and a deal at $1), and Gerald Henderson (who'd be no weak link despite being relatively cheap). And since they're not listed, I'll take Kyrie, Gminski, and Rodney for free as backups.

[brevity]

The Twitter link is vague. Am I picking a team or just a starting lineup?

Picking a starting lineup seems like a lame exercise in deciding what positions I prioritize. A team seems like the real challenge.

C: Carlos Boozer, Mason Plumlee ($3)
PF: Shane Battier, Mark Alarie ($4)
SF: Mike Dunleavy ($1)
SG: Trajan Langdon, Gerald Henderson ($4)
PG: Chris Duhon, Nolan Smith ($3)

Even Coach K would have a hard time cutting down that 9-man rotation. I'd like my chances against every 5-man lineup I see here, and would gladly disqualify all of you that broke the rules to claim free backups. That's what you get for trying to make life easy.

[Li_Duke]

Plumlee $1
Battier $3
Grant Hill $5
Dawkins $4
Duhon $2

If we are talking about senior year Mason Plumlee, I think along with the PG position, the difference between the best and worst center is smaller than that of other positions. I'll take a big guy who can run the floor, defend, score inside one-on-one, and pass well out of the double-team. Between Battier and Hill, my defense is set against opposing forwards. Battier taking charges will prevent dribble penetration (so we can play in either older eras or this era of no hand-checking), and his ability to hit 3 pointers makes up for Hill's lack of outside shooting. Meanwhile, Hill can do everything else as well or better than everyone else. Johnny Dawkins will be my go-to scorer. With this much talent, I want a passer and defender at PG; Duhon fits the bill better than everyone except Hurley. I'm surprised Kyrie Irving didn't make the list. If I could take him and two healthy toes for $1, then I'd go with him and Redick instead.

[Black Mambo]

This made the rounds earlier this week and I got sucked in: https://twitter.com/Ballislife/statu...95421345292288

So I thought it would be fun to play this game during the off-season with Duke players from the Coach K era. It was hard to omit a few guys from these lists, but I decided to keep it simple and fun. Pick a guy from each position and do not spend more than $15. Enjoy...

Center
$5 Christian Laettner
$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Carlos Boozer
$1 Mason Plumlee

Power Forward
$5 Danny Ferry
$4 Jabari Parker
$3 Shane Battier
$2 Kyle Singler
$1 Mark Alarie

Small Forward
$5 Grant Hill
$4 Luol Deng
$3 Corey Maggette
$2 Chris Carrawell
$1 Mike Dunleavy

Shooting Guard
$5 JJ Redick
$4 Johnny Dawkins
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Thomas Hill
$1 Gerald Henderson

Point Guard
$5 Jason Williams
$4 Bobby Hurley
$3 Jon Scheyer
$2 Chris Duhon
$1 Nolan Smith

$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shane Battier
$1 Mike Dunleavy
$3 Trajan Langdon
$4 Bobby Hurley

or

$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Kyle Singler
$5 Grant Hill
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Chris Duhon

[NashvilleDevil]

$5 Laettner
$2 Singler
$5 Grant
$1 Gerald
$2 Duhon

[superdave]

The Twitter link is vague. Am I picking a team or just a starting lineup?

Picking a starting lineup seems like a lame exercise in deciding what positions I prioritize. A team seems like the real challenge.

C: Carlos Boozer, Mason Plumlee ($3)
PF: Shane Battier, Mark Alarie ($4)
SF: Mike Dunleavy ($1)
SG: Trajan Langdon, Gerald Henderson ($4)
PG: Chris Duhon, Nolan Smith ($3)

Even Coach K would have a hard time cutting down that 9-man rotation. I'd like my chances against every 5-man lineup I see here, and would gladly disqualify all of you that broke the rules to claim free backups. That's what you get for trying to make life easy.

Pick the best starting lineup you can for $15 or less.

[sagegrouse]

It's about relative value:

$5 -- Christian

$4 -- Bobby

$3 -- Shane

$2 -- Carrawell

$1 -- Gerald

Or maybe:

$5 -- JWill

$4 -- JD

$3 -- Shelden

$2 -- Kyle

$1 -- Dunleavy

I ain't picking Jabari or Luol -- they were only freshmen at Duke and freshmen in this exercise.

[JNort]

Why is Parker includes but not Kyrie? I'd take KI over the other pgs

[OldSchool]

I'll take two Grant Hills and a Christian Laettner, please.

Surely a 7-time NBA all-star can guard two players, so that is what I am looking for from each of my Grant Hills.

[Reilly]

Plumlee $1
Battier $3
Grant Hill $5
Dawkins $4
Duhon $2 ...

I was getting ready to post mine and see you basically have it.

I did it this way: give me Johnny Dawkins ($4), Grant Hill ($5) and Shane Battier ($3) on the same team (for $12) and I don't really care who rounds it out. Can round it out with Nolan and Boozer for $3, or round it out with Duhon and Mason for $3.

DAWKINS - HILL - BATTIER ... 1986, 1992, 2001 ...

[Billy Dat]

Shelden - don't need him to score, just to defend and rebound, but he can score if needed
Carawell - my favorite all time Duke player, the straw that stirs the drink
Kyle - Iron at the 3
Dawkins - scoring won't be a problem
Hurley - who else?

[Wander]

If Jabari is $4, then Kyrie has to be somewhere on there too. If not, I'm cheating and taking Kyrie for $0, with Shelden, Singler, Hill, and Reddick.

[Tappan Zee Devil]

This made the rounds earlier this week and I got sucked in: https://twitter.com/Ballislife/statu...95421345292288

So I thought it would be fun to play this game during the off-season with Duke players from the Coach K era. It was hard to omit a few guys from these lists, but I decided to keep it simple and fun. Pick a guy from each position and do not spend more than $15. Enjoy...

Center
$5 Christian Laettner
$4 Elton Brand
$3 Shelden Williams
$2 Carlos Boozer
$1 Mason Plumlee

Power Forward
$5 Danny Ferry
$4 Jabari Parker
$3 Shane Battier
$2 Kyle Singler
$1 Mark Alarie

Small Forward
$5 Grant Hill
$4 Luol Deng
$3 Corey Maggette
$2 Chris Carrawell
$1 Mike Dunleavy

Shooting Guard
$5 JJ Redick
$4 Johnny Dawkins
$3 Trajan Langdon
$2 Thomas Hill
$1 Gerald Henderson

Point Guard
$5 Jason Williams
$4 Bobby Hurley
$3 Jon Scheyer
$2 Chris Duhon
$1 Nolan Smith

Laettner
Battier
Carrawell
Langdon
Duhon

I'll take on the world with that $15 team!

[NSDukeFan]

I'll take Hurley $4, Dawkins $4 Shelden $3 Singler 2$ and Carawell for 2$ against anyone.