Bear Down Wildcats

@MarchMadness is doing an all decade team tournament on Twitter. They are only putting five player teams and they gave us TJ, Stanley, AG, DWill, and Lauri

This made me start thinking who should actually be on this list for us (and adding in bench players)

My List:

PG: T.J. McConnell
SG: Alonzo Trier
SF: Aaron Gordon
PF: Derrick Williams
C: Deandre Ayton

Bench
Stanley Johnson
Nick Johnson
Lauri Markkanen
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Kaleb Tarczewski
Brandon Ashley
Kyle Fogg
Solomon Hill

For my starting five, I'd go:

PG: TJM
SG: SJ
SF: AG
PF: LM
C: DA

It's a really tough call between Lauri and D-Will for that 4 spot, but the prospect of AG, LM and DA in the same frontcourt is too sexy to pass up.

Maybe others view Stanley Johnson differently than I do.

Either Rondae is on my team or I walk.

Longhorned wrote:Maybe others view Stanley Johnson differently than I do.

NJ and AT would also be good choices at SG.

Nick Johnson should be a lock in everyone's starting 5. Dude was a wooden award finalist!

rl2013 wrote:Nick Johnson should be a lock in everyone's starting 5. Dude was a wooden award finalist!

But Trier was the was the 2nd most efficient offensive Guard in the last 25 years (Buddy Hield is 1st).

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

rl2013 wrote:Nick Johnson should be a lock in everyone's starting 5. Dude was a wooden award finalist!

But Trier was the was the 2nd most efficient offensive Guard in the last 25 years (Buddy Hield is 1st).

and a defensive matador. NJ's two way play was far superior to AT's offensive efficiency on a team that vastly under performed throughout the season. I'm probably blinded by the success that NJ's team had, but eye test wise I don't hold AT anywhere close to NJ in my mind.

1. Josiah Turner.
2. Kobi Simmons.
3. Terrance Ferguson.
4. Red/Blue game Sidiki Johnson.
5. Grant Jerrett.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:1. Josiah Turner.
2. Kobi Simmons.
3. Terrance Ferguson.
4. Red/Blue game Sidiki Johnson.
5. Grant Jerrett.

Lol.

I don’t even know what to call this team. The “almost famous” lineup?

rl2013 wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

rl2013 wrote:Nick Johnson should be a lock in everyone's starting 5. Dude was a wooden award finalist!

But Trier was the was the 2nd most efficient offensive Guard in the last 25 years (Buddy Hield is 1st).

and a defensive matador. NJ's two way play was far superior to AT's offensive efficiency on a team that vastly under performed throughout the season. I'm probably blinded by the success that NJ's team had, but eye test wise I don't hold AT anywhere close to NJ in my mind.

It's probably Nick at the two, but it's hard to deny how crucial it is in March to have a guy like Trier who can just go out and get a bucket in the half court.

I'll go with the below:

PG: TJ
SG: Nick
SF: Trier
PF: DWill
C: Ayton

Love AG but I like my offense a lot more here. Defense is super stout with two dogs at lead guard, Ayton as a monster rim protector when playing at center and DWill as the ultimate off ball help defender.

rl2013 wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

rl2013 wrote:Nick Johnson should be a lock in everyone's starting 5. Dude was a wooden award finalist!

But Trier was the was the 2nd most efficient offensive Guard in the last 25 years (Buddy Hield is 1st).

and a defensive matador. NJ's two way play was far superior to AT's offensive efficiency on a team that vastly under performed throughout the season. I'm probably blinded by the success that NJ's team had, but eye test wise I don't hold AT anywhere close to NJ in my mind.

You make a compelling argument for why Nick should be first off the bench.

YoDeFoe wrote:I'll go with the below:

PG: TJ
SG: Nick
SF: Trier
PF: DWill
C: Ayton

Love AG but I like my offense a lot more here. Defense is super stout with two dogs at lead guard, Ayton as a monster rim protector when playing at center and DWill as the ultimate off ball help defender.

Depends if you get sophmore year DWill only. Soph DWill was exceptional. All other versions of DWill I'd rank behind AG.

I agree with the remainder of your picks, although part of me would rather have Solomon Hill at the 3, just because he's more of a facilitator for the other guys. The second sub I'd consider would be Lauri for Ayton. I know that might be heresy, but Lauri is so underrated.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:I'll go with the below:

PG: TJ
SG: Nick
SF: Trier
PF: DWill
C: Ayton

Love AG but I like my offense a lot more here. Defense is super stout with two dogs at lead guard, Ayton as a monster rim protector when playing at center and DWill as the ultimate off ball help defender.

Depends if you get sophmore year DWill only. Soph DWill was exceptional. All other versions of DWill I'd rank behind AG.

I agree with the remainder of your picks, although part of me would rather have Solomon Hill at the 3, just because he's more of a facilitator for the other guys. The second sub I'd consider would be Lauri for Ayton. I know that might be heresy, but Lauri is so underrated.

Yeah I'm assuming "peak season" for each of these (Sr. TJ, Jr. Trier, Jr. Nick, So. DWill). Trier as a junior had higher assist numbers (incl. Ass %, A:TO, and raw totals) than Solo... it can be tough to remember that part of his game but he played really well off both Lauri and Ayton.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:I'll go with the below:

PG: TJ
SG: Nick
SF: Trier
PF: DWill
C: Ayton

Love AG but I like my offense a lot more here. Defense is super stout with two dogs at lead guard, Ayton as a monster rim protector when playing at center and DWill as the ultimate off ball help defender.

Depends if you get sophmore year DWill only. Soph DWill was exceptional. All other versions of DWill I'd rank behind AG.

I agree with the remainder of your picks, although part of me would rather have Solomon Hill at the 3, just because he's more of a facilitator for the other guys. The second sub I'd consider would be Lauri for Ayton. I know that might be heresy, but Lauri is so underrated.

Yeah I'm assuming "peak season" for each of these (Sr. TJ, Jr. Trier, Jr. Nick, So. DWill). Trier as a junior had higher assist numbers (incl. Ass %, A:TO, and raw totals) than Solo... it can be tough to remember that part of his game but he played really well off both Lauri and Ayton.

Solo had better defensive number and he was less ball dominant than Zo. I'm not hating on Zo, but if I'm pairing DWill with Ayton or Lauri, I want those guys getting the rock a lot.

Especially if we're talking peak DWill. Peak DWill, I'd actually pair him with Lauri to not clog the middle. DWill was murder in the lane as a soph and drew a ton of fouls.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Solo had better defensive number and he was less ball dominant than Zo. I'm not hating on Zo, but if I'm pairing DWill with Ayton or Lauri, I want those guys getting the rock a lot.

Especially if we're talking peak DWill. Peak DWill, I'd actually pair him with Lauri to not clog the middle. DWill was murder in the lane as a soph and drew a ton of fouls.

The spacing provided in a Lauri / DWill front court would be bonkers.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Solo had better defensive number and he was less ball dominant than Zo. I'm not hating on Zo, but if I'm pairing DWill with Ayton or Lauri, I want those guys getting the rock a lot.

Especially if we're talking peak DWill. Peak DWill, I'd actually pair him with Lauri to not clog the middle. DWill was murder in the lane as a soph and drew a ton of fouls.

The spacing provided in a Lauri / DWill front court would be bonkers.

Also, they were both skilled post players. Lauri didn't always emphasize that part of his game, but when he was aggressive in the post, he got stuff done.

Having a 57% and 42% 3 point shooter at the 4 and 5 would be a positive asset for my 5 as well. They're both snipers, post threats and can fit basically any offensive system.

Ayton was awesome, but he's a post dominator and his defense...I trust Lauri more.

Nick Johnson over Trier any day of the week.

midnightx wrote:Nick Johnson over Trier any day of the week.

Trier would have gotten the shot off.

All-Decade 10 man team - based on Win Shares:

15.1 Solomon Hill
14.6 Kaleb Tarczewski
13.7 Nick Johnson
12.2 Derrick Williams
12.1 Dusan Ristic
11.9 Allonzo Trier
11.7 T.J. McConnell
10.9 Brandon Ashley
10.8 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
10.1 Parker Jackson-Cartwright

KaibabKat wrote: 10.1 Parker Jackson-Cartwright

KaibabKat wrote:All-Decade 10 man team - based on Win Shares:

15.1 Solomon Hill
14.6 Kaleb Tarczewski
13.7 Nick Johnson
12.2 Derrick Williams
12.1 Dusan Ristic
11.9 Allonzo Trier
11.7 T.J. McConnell
10.9 Brandon Ashley
10.8 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
10.1 Parker Jackson-Cartwright

How about best single season win shares ? That would be much more indicative to a fitting all decade team.

I’d go .....

TJ
Trier
AG
Lauri
Ayton


It’s so tough to leave DWill off this team because he was by far the most productive post guy we had but call me a sucker for high ceiling talent.

Also went w Trier over NJ because we have all the D we need w the other guys. I could change my mind though if we are factoring in chemistry because we don’t need “isozo” dribbling the whole clock out w all those weapons and tj/nj is a crazy team leader backcourt.

PennZona20 wrote:I’d go .....

TJ
Trier
AG
Lauri
Ayton


It’s so tough to leave DWill off this team because he was by far the most productive post guy we had but call me a sucker for high ceiling talent.

Also went w Trier over NJ because we have all the D we need w the other guys. I could change my mind though if we are factoring in chemistry because we don’t need “isozo” dribbling the whole clock out w all those weapons and tj/nj is a crazy team leader backcourt.

Seriously, though, "high ceiling talent" means nothing in the era of one-and-done"....