PBSL 2033-34 PLAYOFF ROUND 1: #4 Wizards vs #5 Spurs

[IamQuailman]

#4 Washington Wizards vs #5 San Antonio Spurs

Washington Wizards
GM Xist2Inspire tried to quit on the season at the halfway mark, and the season just wouldn't quit on him. He shuffled his deck of cards mid-season and still emerged a top 4 seed in the highly competitive Alpha Conference. This just goes to show that Xist is one of the best gameplanners and roster builders in the league. The Wizards have one of the biggest front courts in the league, with their starting center (Philip Cuomo) measuring in at 7'5" and their starting power forward (Shareef O'Neal) at 7'4". As expected, this size is problematic for opposing teams, as they dominate in rim protecting on defense and can easily out-size opposition in the paint on offense. On the wing, Cucone, Posner, and Kidd provide a balanced offensive attack.

Keys to Victory: Shareef O'Neal REVENGE GAME, and force turnovers. Let Shareef FEAST. He has 6 inches on Grayson Allen, who is a great post defender... but average outside the paint at best. Give Shareef the ball and let him go to work. The Spurs are a young squad, and that youth shows in terms of sloppiness of play. They tend to press too hard at times and get a little careless with the ball. Force those turnovers and capitalize on those generated possessions, and you can see a clearer path to victory.

San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs made a massive splash at two separate times this season... one at the beginning, acquiring Grayson Allen for not all that much... and then later on adding Romeo Langford to the squad at all-star break. This proved to be two very smart moves, as both Daniel Yandell and Jonathan Lewis took a big leap in training camp. Adding these veteran leaders and elite shooters to the mix catapulted the Spurs 3 point shooting into the top 3 in the league. All around, this team is a top tier offensive team, being top 9 in every stat category except Turnovers (#26) and Assists (#12). Defensively, they were above average, but struggled to stop opposing teams from hitting 3s against them. Charlie Porter and Grayson Allen combined can be a nightmare for opposing bigs, despite being one of the smaller front courts in the league. Charlie Porter plays much bigger than he actually is, averaging 3.8 blocks per game. That's good enough to be the league leader in shot blocking!

Keys to Victory: Get the Wizards into foul trouble, and force them to become 3-point shooters. The Wizards are a little foul prone (bottom half of the league), while the Spurs are among the best teams in not only drawing fouls but also converting from the free throw line. Getting points while the clock is stopped will only help the Spurs overcome Washington's towering team. Also, the Wizards are not that great of a 3 point shooting team. Let them take those less efficient shots from beyond the arc and not get it in the paint where their bigs can go to work.

Who do you think wins? Participate in the poll and pick the winner!

[false9]

3 points