ADVERTISEMENT

Round 1 Game 4: TheSpecialSauce vs. Ski11585

TheSpecialSauce or Ski11585

  • TheSpecialSauce

    Votes: 24 46.2%
  • Ski11585

    Votes: 28 53.8%

  • Total voters
    52
  • Poll closed .

Ski11585

Board of Trustee
Gold Member
Oct 25, 2008
25,250
26,128
113
Reminder:

Please evaluate the teams based on each players best single season AT PITT ONLY. Professional basketball or transfer seasons elsewhere do not count towards evaluating the teams.

@TheSpecialSauce
PG: Aldridge - 13.0 ppg/5.8 apg/3.0 rbg/1.4 spg
SG: Allen - 11.7 ppg/2.9 apg/1.8 rpg/1.7 spg
SF: Cook - 10.5 ppg/2.6 apg/3.4 rpg/0.6 spg
PF: Lane - 15.8 ppg/2.2 apg/13.5 rpg/1.3 spg
C: Taft - 13.3 ppg/0.8 apg/7.5 rpg/1.7 bpg
6th: Stevenson - 8.5 ppg/1.0 apg/4.4 rpg/0.5 spg

VS.

@Ski11585
PG: Trey McGowens - 11.5 ppg/3.6 apg/3.3 rpg
SG: Jason Maile - 12.4 ppg/1.8 apg/2.0 rpg
SF: Lamar Patterson - 17.1 ppg/4.3 apg/4.9 rpg
PF: Levon Kendall - 7 ppg/1.6 apg/5.4 rpg
C: Aaron Gray - 13.9 ppg/1.8 apg/10.5 rpg
6th Man: Darryl Shepard - 8.5 ppg/.7 apg/3 rpg
 
This is a tough matchup, but I really think outside of Lane I have the edge at each position. I think McGowens and Patterson will run some great pick and rolls with Gray. 4 out of my 5 starters are capable of taking over a game and dropping 20+ and I think McGowens thrives with some senior leadership and a good frontcourt.
 
SpecialSauce has better counting stats, and Ski has a better team fit.

What to do, what to do....
 
SpecialSauce has better counting stats, and Ski has a better team fit.

What to do, what to do....

Yeah. I don't think I'll ever win a counting stats battle, but I think this team fits together really well. We already know Kendall and Gray play well together. And Patterson is a smart enough player to fit with those guys well. With him taking some ball handling pressure off McGowens, I think Trey can focus on playing great defense and getting to the rim. And Maile is just about a 40% 3pt shooter and should get a lot of open looks.
 
Special Sauce
PG: Aldridge - 13.0 ppg/5.8 apg/3.0 rbg/1.4 spg
SG: Allen - 11.7 ppg/2.9 apg/1.8 rpg/1.7 spg
SF: Cook - 10.5 ppg/2.6 apg/3.4 rpg/0.6 spg
PF: Lane - 15.8 ppg/2.2 apg/13.5 rpg/1.3 spg
C: Taft - 13.3 ppg/0.8 apg/7.5 rpg/1.7 bpg
6th: Stevenson - 8.5 ppg/1.0 apg/4.4 rpg/0.5 spg

Ski’s Team
PG: Trey McGowens - 11.5 ppg/3.6 apg/3.3 rpg
SG: Jason Maile - 12.4 ppg/1.8 apg/2.0 rpg
SF: Lamar Patterson - 17.1 ppg/4.3 apg/4.9 rpg
PF: Levon Kendall - 7 ppg/1.6 apg/5.4 rpg
C: Aaron Gray - 13.9 ppg/1.8 apg/10.5 rpg
6th Man: Darryl Shepard - 8.5 ppg/.7 apg/3 rpg

Here are my thoughts. McGowens didn’t even play PG at Pitt. XJ was the point. Trey’s accomplishments as a PG at Pitt were minuscule. Aldridge was the PG, and had better stats. Neither team was all that good. Sauce wins the PG battle. Maile was a 1-trick pony. Allen was a better all around player. Very athletic. Advantage Sauce at SG. Cook is extremely underrated. His stats would have been much better if he was given more opportunities to score. I like Patterson as well. He was a good all around player. I would concede slight advantage to Ski. Lane versus Kendall is a complete mismatch. Lane was one of the all-time greats at Pitt. TKO for Sauce. Taft at his best was better than Gray’s best. I like both guys, but give a slight advantage to Sauce. Stephenson has slightly better stats as the 6th man. I would say slight advantage for Sauce or push. Overall - I think the Sauce wins this matchup fairly easily. :)
 
Yeah. I don't think I'll ever win a counting stats battle, but I think this team fits together really well. We already know Kendall and Gray play well together. And Patterson is a smart enough player to fit with those guys well. With him taking some ball handling pressure off McGowens, I think Trey can focus on playing great defense and getting to the rim. And Maile is just about a 40% 3pt shooter and should get a lot of open looks.

That Lane & Taft combo is deadly. But I like your team makeup so much I'm gonna pull the trigger.
 
That Lane & Taft combo is deadly. But I like your team makeup so much I'm gonna pull the trigger.
It isn’t too late to switch. :)
Trey McGowens would hurt the team’s chemistry if we are basing it off what happened at Pitt. He also played very little PG here. Maile was a terrible athlete who was a catch and shoot guy. It’d be just like Murphy and Trey playing together. Trey would ignore him.
 
It isn’t too late to switch. :)
Trey McGowens would hurt the team’s chemistry if we are basing it off what happened at Pitt. He also played very little PG here. Maile was a terrible athlete who was a catch and shoot guy.

I hear ya on McGowens. However I really am bought on that team's Senior leadership. It would have been a great situation for Trey, as Lamar's handle and vision had evolved so much - there would have been nothing be couldn't have aided Trey with as necessary.

Looks like your game is the only competitive matchup so far though.
 
Trey not playing a ton of point isn’t an overwhelming challenge. Lamar will do a ton of ball handling and initiate a lot of the offense.
 
Trey not playing a ton of point isn’t an overwhelming challenge. Lamar will do a ton of ball handling and initiate a lot of the offense.

There were many games Lamar would even bring the ball up the court.
 
McGowens was the main reason our season tanked, and he bailed on his teammates at Pitt. Allen is a better all around player than Maile. Lane and Taft would dominate up front. Kendall isn’t even close to Jerome Lane.
 
Yeah. I don't think I'll ever win a counting stats battle, but I think this team fits together really well. We already know Kendall and Gray play well together. And Patterson is a smart enough player to fit with those guys well. With him taking some ball handling pressure off McGowens, I think Trey can focus on playing great defense and getting to the rim. And Maile is just about a 40% 3pt shooter and should get a lot of open looks.
I like your team better.

Never thought much of Alridge or Allen.

Stevenson stats are deceiving.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ski11585
It isn’t too late to switch. :)
Trey McGowens would hurt the team’s chemistry if we are basing it off what happened at Pitt. He also played very little PG here. Maile was a terrible athlete who was a catch and shoot guy. It’d be just like Murphy and Trey playing together. Trey would ignore him.
How so-
Great defensive player and athlete
Covers for maille on de free new
Lamar is running the offense
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ski11585
McGowens was the main reason our season tanked, and he bailed on his teammates at Pitt. Allen is a better all around player than Maile. Lane and Taft would dominate up front. Kendall isn’t even close to Jerome Lane.

Sauce - you are so bbqing McGowens - driving it home! Might get some votes just for the hate....
 
How so-
Great defensive player and athlete
Covers for maille on de free new
Lamar is running the offense
Aldridge was a good offensive player, in particular shooting and passing. He also would not disrupt team chemistry like Trey did, which is big IMO and should be factored in. Allen was clearly a better overall player than Maile. Cook was better than Lamar on the defensive end, and would be the glue guy for my team. He has a similar skill set offensively to Lamar. Lane and Taft playing at their best would dominate Kendall and Gray.

In the end, this was a cool idea and I enjoyed it. H2P!
 
Trey gets a bad wrap. He's playing alongside two strong leaders in Lamar and Gray. That's going to temper the worst of his attitude issues, especially since he's not going to be beefing with Lamar the way he did Toney.

With good outside shooting and real big men, Trey's going to be content scoring 30 every game.
 
Wow this is a close one. I still dont know who Im voting for as I type this.

Backcourts:
Both very weak. I give a slight edge to Ski because I think Trey/Maile are different enough to create some problems.

Frontcourt:
Taft and Gray are a push
Lane has a big advantage over Kendall
Patterson over Cook but not by a ton.

But then SS has a really weak 6th in Shamiel.

OK, I made up my mind. Gotta go with SS. I think his team overall is weaker but he has Lane and Ski doesn't have enough to deal with him.
 
Trey gets a bad wrap. He's playing alongside two strong leaders in Lamar and Gray. That's going to temper the worst of his attitude issues, especially since he's not going to be beefing with Lamar the way he did Toney.

With good outside shooting and real big men, Trey's going to be content scoring 30 every game.
Either way Ski - this has been fun my man.
 
Really surprised that a little bit of unfair slander towards a guy who chose Pitt at its lowest is swaying this vote. Look past the counting stats and see how much more cohesive my team is from a standpoint of performance on the court.
 
Trey is a great player
The butthurt of some is stupid

Indeed. And we know Toney had some involvement. But because he stayed, which I'm very glad about, we blame Trey for blowing up the team.

Trey is surrounded by skilled upperclassmen and he will understand his role perfectly. That's going to benefit this team immensely.
 
Indeed. And we know Toney had some involvement. But because he stayed, which I'm very glad about, we blame Trey for blowing up the team.

Trey is surrounded by skilled upperclassmen and he will understand his role perfectly. That's going to benefit this team immensely.

Trey transfered out because he was a developmental PG playing behind a Freshman All-ACC PG. And his 2G minutes were about to evaporate due to Horton. I like him for your team though.
 
Trey transfered out because he was a developmental PG playing behind a Freshman All-ACC PG. And his 2G minutes were about to evaporate due to Horton. I like him for your team though.

Exactly. And for this draft, that's all that matters.

I read a great piece a couple years ago about the idea of gravity in a basketball game and a player's ability to pull defenders towards parts of the floor. I think Gray and Patterson provide some great gravity and are going to pull defenders towards them. That's going to open up opportunities for Kendall to make smart passes. For Maile, whether or not he's just a spot up shooter, to hit open threes. And for Trey to get open shots and clear drives.
 
Really evenly matched teams here, I like Ski's balance and shot creation and I like Sauce's interior scoring. In the end I gave the nod to Sauce because I think that George Allen and Mike Cook are both severely underappreciated.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheSpecialSauce
At no point did Trey display good PG skills at Pitt. The offense was stagnant and became the black hole at times when he had the ball. There is no hate whatsoever. That is the truth.

Jerome Lane was a first round draft pick and consensus All-American. He would absolutely destroy the team he is playing, and combine him with Taft. That’s a wrap inside. No contest.
 
At no point did Trey display good PG skills at Pitt. The offense was stagnant and became the black hole at times when he had the ball. There is no hate whatsoever. That is the truth.

Jerome Lane was a first round draft pick and consensus All-American. He would absolutely destroy the team he is playing, and combine him with Taft. That’s a wrap inside. No contest.

Sure. Fair! But we know Lamar is running the offense and that’s going to free Trey up to play to his strengths.

And Lane’s NBA career is irrelevant. He put up pedestrian stats and had a shorter pro career than Gray.
 
Sure. Fair! But we know Lamar is running the offense and that’s going to free Trey up to play to his strengths.

And Lane’s NBA career is irrelevant. He put up pedestrian stats and had a shorter pro career than Gray.
I understand the rules that were set. You don’t have anyone on your roster that was the starting PG while playing for Pitt.

Jerome Lane was one of the greatest Panthers of all time. Nobody on your roster is even close to him.

If it helps you sleep at night and makes you feel better, then take the win.
 
I understand the rules that were set. You don’t have anyone on your roster that was the starting PG while playing for Pitt.

Jerome Lane was one of the greatest Panthers of all time. Nobody on your roster is even close to him.

If it helps you sleep at night and makes you feel better, then take the win.

Sure. The rules were set. But my team was drafted purposefully and my PG decision was informed by how Lamar played.

Also your closing comment is unnecessarily confrontational for some fun pandemic draft shit talking.
 
I like ski's team for a lot of interesting pick and roll possibilities, with Maile hanging out in the corner. Could imagine Patterson as a point forward running PnR with the bigs, then if it's not open, posting up Gray late. Took them in a close one.
 
Last edited:
Sure. The rules were set. But my team was drafted purposefully and my PG decision was informed by how Lamar played.

Also your closing comment is unnecessarily confrontational for some fun pandemic draft shit talking.
How can anyone cast an accurate vote on players they did not see or have no idea about their all around game? Did you even see all these guys on both our rosters?

This whole thing was meant to be for fun. It definitely isn’t an exact science. Hence the comment at the end.
 
Much as I hate to do it, I'm a good sport so I gotta bump this. 9 minutes left to vote in the closest matchup of Day 1.
 
ADVERTISEMENT