Wednesday, July 6, 2011

All-Time NBA and Cavs team lineups is a labor of love

Jim Chones, looking dapper.
Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal (@Fromal09 on Twitter) apparently has no need for sleep, as his labor of love allows him to put together a fantastic piece with a team-by-team "All-Time 12-man lineups" ranking.  This guy is currently in college with three majors.Wow. When he is married with a wife and five kids he will probably have time to write three novels at a time while custom building his very own moon rocket. Of course, when I was in school, I created lots of free time also by selectively choosing class attendence optimizing my schedule. Of course, I spent that free time doing things much less productive.

The list is great, as he fills each team with a starting five and seven reserves (no 15-man rosters in this list.) Players are assigned to teams they spent the most time with, so, sorry TGiM, for this list you are That Guy in Cleveland.

via slamonline.com
The Cavaliers rank 17th in Fromal's estimation, which in this case is a solid twelve spots above the Miami Heat. Plus, I'm sure our very own @SamVox8 will be thrilled that Hot Rod made the starting five, earning his place above bench players Jim Chones, Bingo Smith, and Anderson Varajao.

Noticeably absent (albeit not unfairly) from all time Cavaliers game leaders, you ask?

Try Danny Ferry, Craig Ehlo, and Phil Hubbard, the only players in the top-10 games played in Cavs uniform not to make Fromal's team. Larry Nance didn't qualify because he played about 120 more games for the Suns than the Cavaliers (although he didn't make the #18 Suns roster either.) And I'm sure Jim Brewer and Foots Walker had to have some consideration as well, although squeezed out by Varajao and Brandon.

And did you know Wesley Person has the third most three pointers EVER for the Cavs? I sure didn't. It would take a lot more than that to get him on this squad, however.

His picks below. For the record, the list is topped by the Lakers, Celtics, and the Wilt Chamberlain-led Warriors, while the weak bench drops Jordan's Bulls to the #7 spot.
Point Guard: Mark Price

Shooting Guard: Austin Carr

Small Forward: LeBron James

Power Forward: John Williams

Center: Brad Daugherty

Bench: Terrell Brandon (PG), Jim Chones (PF/C), World B. Free (PG), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C), Campy Russell (PF), BIngo Smith (SG/SF), Anderson Varejao (PF/C)

This team wins the prize for best collection of names. Who else has a LeBron, World B. Free, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Campy Russell and Bingo Smith?
What do you think of the rankings?

Link: Bleacher Report