Golden State (8 - 12)

Expert Pick
0% ><···················· 100%

Milwaukee (17 - 4)

Old and the New


Golden State @ Milwaukee Week 5 NSL Action insert Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme The Lay of the Land 'Hey, didn't you used to work here?' The current Bucks’ General Manager faces off against the Champion Bucks’ General Manager from the past. I mean, the narrative writes itself - what a stir it would create to see Daz, willingly giving up his Champion Bucks team to save a drowning franchise in San Francisco, toppling his title contending former team. While this is unlikely, it would be a boon for NSL ratings and further prove that parity and variance is present in this 2k like no other 2k that has come before. Milwaukee currently sits at 14-3 in the standings, top of the East and the second best record in the entire league. If you remove the second week of Bucks basketball, the team has only lost once and pummeled their opponents, looking like the true contender they should be. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been as advertised, playing like the all-time great guard that he will end up being, unstoppable as a scorer and playmaker. The Bucks are star-powered, with SGA, Mobley, BI and Russ fueling the team with high-powered offense. They have settled on their likely best lineup, with Anderson at the 4 and Mobley at the 5. They will be without Dort this week who will miss with injury, seeing Ingram slide to the 2 and Jarace Walker draw the start at SF. With these moves, the Bucks become even taller and remain athletic and switchable. Golden State meanwhile sits at the bottom of the Play-In zone, currently tenth with a record of 7-9. Daz would be pleased enough with where they are at, with his aspirations to make the Play-In at the least. But we know he wants more. They have battled valiantly through some minor but consistent injuries to their players who have seen one or two players rest each week. Despite the injuries, the Warriors are built and play just as Daz intended - strong, defensive efforts throughout the game with just enough offensive ability to eke past teams in the points column every now and then. Thankfully for the Warriors, this rendition of 2k has the most variance and parity we have experienced. What does that mean? It means ‘Game On!’ Projected Lineups/rotations: Milwaukee Bucks PG - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander SG - Brandon Ingram SF - Jarace Walker PF - Kyle Anderson C - Evan Mobley Bench rotation: Russell Westbrook, Jakob Poeltl, Sion James Golden State Warriors PG - Jordan Poole SG - Nickiel Alexander-Walker SF - Dillon Brooks PF - Jonathan Isaac C - Brook Lopez Bench rotation: Tobias Harris, Grayson Allen, Asa Newell, Ayo Dosonmu, Maxime Reynaud Key Matchups Daz is renowned for not only making it possible to have defensive matchups in our NSL contests, but that he uses them. All the time. His entire mantra for this Warriors team has been to acquire grimy, tough defensive-minded players to try and win the game on the defensive end. Dillon Brooks will make his way to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I am pretty sure of that. Brooks will hound SGA all game with his size, motor and shitty personality and attempt to put him off his game. SGA is pretty impervious to these tactics, however, but Daz has to try. Brandon Ingram might cause problems for the Warriors, and for this I see Daz putting Jonathan Isaac onto him. The Warriors tactician will let Anderson and Walker try to beat them and leave Lopez to battle Mobley on his own. Ethan, for all the firepower he has, has some options to work with on defense. His team is very long and switchable, and I can see lots of switching on pick and rolls and some good recoveries when the play is live and the ideal match ups are not in place. The Warriors have no elite offensive options, so if the Bucks play strong defense and just stay in the faces of Warriors players, I think they will impact their performance. The Bucks, even in the face of a feisty effort from the Warriors, should be able to score 110 points and outscore their opponents. Bench Battle The respective benches are where you really notice the chasm of talent that exists between the two teams. The Bucks are able to run a tight, short rotation because Westbrook and Poeltl are effectively both starters in ability and impact. The Warriors have to go deeper, as they have a breadth of good/useful guys, but no one player they want taking too much responsibility (I am talking to you, Jordan Poole). Daz will have some matchups on, but Russ and Poeltl should smoke Allen and Raynaud, respectively.

Golden State @ Milwaukee
Week 5 NSL Action

*insert Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme*

The Lay of the Land

'Hey, didn't you used to work here?' The current Bucks’ General Manager faces off against the Champion Bucks’ General Manager from the past. I mean, the narrative writes itself - what a stir it would create to see Daz, willingly giving up his Champion Bucks team to save a drowning franchise in San Francisco, toppling his title contending former team. While this is unlikely, it would be a boon for NSL ratings and further prove that parity and variance is present in this 2k like no other 2k that has come before.

Milwaukee currently sits at 14-3 in the standings, top of the East and the second best record in the entire league. If you remove the second week of Bucks basketball, the team has only lost once and pummeled their opponents, looking like the true contender they should be. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been as advertised, playing like the all-time great guard that he will end up being, unstoppable as a scorer and playmaker. The Bucks are star-powered, with SGA, Mobley, BI and Russ fueling the team with high-powered offense. They have settled on their likely best lineup, with Anderson at the 4 and Mobley at the 5. They will be without Dort this week who will miss with injury, seeing Ingram slide to the 2 and Jarace Walker draw the start at SF. With these moves, the Bucks become even taller and remain athletic and switchable.

Golden State meanwhile sits at the bottom of the Play-In zone, currently tenth with a record of 7-9. Daz would be pleased enough with where they are at, with his aspirations to make the Play-In at the least. But we know he wants more. They have battled valiantly through some minor but consistent injuries to their players who have seen one or two players rest each week. Despite the injuries, the Warriors are built and play just as Daz intended - strong, defensive efforts throughout the game with just enough offensive ability to eke past teams in the points column every now and then. Thankfully for the Warriors, this rendition of 2k has the most variance and parity we have experienced. What does that mean? It means ‘Game On!’

Projected Lineups/rotations:

Milwaukee Bucks

PG - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG - Brandon Ingram
SF - Jarace Walker
PF - Kyle Anderson
C - Evan Mobley

Bench rotation: Russell Westbrook, Jakob Poeltl, Sion James

Golden State Warriors

PG - Jordan Poole
SG - Nickiel Alexander-Walker
SF - Dillon Brooks
PF - Jonathan Isaac
C - Brook Lopez

Bench rotation: Tobias Harris, Grayson Allen, Asa Newell, Ayo Dosonmu, Maxime Reynaud

Key Matchups

Daz is renowned for not only making it possible to have defensive matchups in our NSL contests, but that he uses them. All the time. His entire mantra for this Warriors team has been to acquire grimy, tough defensive-minded players to try and win the game on the defensive end.

Dillon Brooks will make his way to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I am pretty sure of that. Brooks will hound SGA all game with his size, motor and shitty personality and attempt to put him off his game. SGA is pretty impervious to these tactics, however, but Daz has to try. Brandon Ingram might cause problems for the Warriors, and for this I see Daz putting Jonathan Isaac onto him. The Warriors tactician will let Anderson and Walker try to beat them and leave Lopez to battle Mobley on his own.

Ethan, for all the firepower he has, has some options to work with on defense. His team is very long and switchable, and I can see lots of switching on pick and rolls and some good recoveries when the play is live and the ideal match ups are not in place. The Warriors have no elite offensive options, so if the Bucks play strong defense and just stay in the faces of Warriors players, I think they will impact their performance.

The Bucks, even in the face of a feisty effort from the Warriors, should be able to score 110 points and outscore their opponents.

Bench Battle

The respective benches are where you really notice the chasm of talent that exists between the two teams. The Bucks are able to run a tight, short rotation because Westbrook and Poeltl are effectively both starters in ability and impact. The Warriors have to go deeper, as they have a breadth of good/useful guys, but no one player they want taking too much responsibility (I am talking to you, Jordan Poole). Daz will have some matchups on, but Russ and Poeltl should smoke Allen and Raynaud, respectively.

Warriors Star

Tobias Harris
For the Warriors, the load is spread as is/was the plan with this team build. Harris has been the team’s best scorer for the season and arguably the captain of the team. Hopefully he can rally his team to a close, competitive game.

PPG 17.7

RPG 5.5

APG 4.2

SPG 1.0

BPG 0.3

FPG 1.2

TPG 0.7

PPG 30.6

RPG 3.5

APG 6.4

SPG 0.9

BPG 0.9

FPG 2.0

TPG 2.9

Bucks Star

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The Stars are all wearing the Green and Black for Milwaukee, and no star is brighter in our league than SGA. He is a Terminator-like scorer, evaluating weaknesses and openings in real-time and always finding a way to get to 30 and 7.

X-Factor
For the Bucks, the X-factor is one of the GOAT X-factors the league has seen in Russell Westbrook. He could destroy the Bucks bench and go for 20/8/8 and run the Warrior’s reserve off the court. For the Warriors, the X-factor is Dillon Brooks. If he can get in SGA’s head and slow the MVP-candidate down, the Warriors might be able to tire the Bucks and slow their offensive flow.

Injury Report
Injured Players: Luguentz Dort (--) - 9 NBA Games missed this season Kam Jones () - 24 NBA Games missed this season Returning Players: Bobi Klintman (returning from ) - 11 NBA Games missed this season	Injured Players: Tari Eason () - 12 NBA Games missed this season Returning Players: Grayson Allen (returning from ) - 9 NBA Games missed this season Kenrich Williams (returning from ) - 18 NBA Games missed this season Jordan Poole (returning from ) - 18 NBA Games missed this season Quenton Jackson (returning from ) - 19 NBA Games missed this season

Prediction
For all of the build up about the efforts and determination of the earnest Warriors and the relentless and calculating Daz, the Bucks are tiers above in terms of their talent and their intention. If Ethan is finally going to hoist the NSL Finals trophy above his head come June, then his Bucks have to be dispatching teams like this with ease. Coming full circle, if Daz were to win, and Ethan were to lose, it would leave Bucks fans rueing the departure of their former GM. To conclude, I think the Bucks win comfortably in the end by 16 points, after three close and rugged quarters of competitive basketball.

Prediction

For all of the build up about the efforts and determination of the earnest Warriors and the relentless and calculating Daz, the Bucks are tiers above in terms of their talent and their intention. If Ethan is finally going to hoist the NSL Finals trophy above his head come June, then his Bucks have to be dispatching teams like this with ease.

Coming full circle, if Daz were to win, and Ethan were to lose, it would leave Bucks fans rueing the departure of their former GM.

To conclude, I think the Bucks win comfortably in the end by 16 points, after three close and rugged quarters of competitive basketball.

		Comments (2)
EthanC21 12/15 10:06 pm	Great write up! I think the warriors will give us trouble, much like the pre-season. All the best Daz!
dazman 12/15 09:59 pm	Awesome, thanks for the writeup. We knocked them over in pre=season, unlikely to happen in the real stuff though. Good luck Ethan!

	POR	119
	SAC	127

	CHI	112
	MIN	110

	HOU	115
	MIA	138

	ATL	130
	CHI	104

	LAC	108
	MEM	122