NBA Fantasy Finals: 2002 Kings vs. 2005 Suns
C-Webb was a BEAST in '02
In a slight departure from what we’ve been doing so far, today we’re matching up two of the best teams that never made it to the Finals in a hypothetical series for that elusive ring. Same rules still apply, though: This has nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” you play online. Assume both lineups are healthy, and the older team gets homecourt. Today it’s C-Webb and Bibby against STAT and Nash…
2002 SACRAMENTO KINGS (61-21)
G – Mike Bibby (13.7 ppg, 5.0 apg)
G – Doug Christie (12.0 ppg, 2.0 spg)
F – Peja Stojakovic (21.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
F – Chris Webber (24.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.4 bpg)
C – Vlade Divac (11.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
Bench – Bobby Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu, Scot Pollard, Lawrence Funderburke, Gerald Wallace
Coach – Rick Adelman
2005 PHOENIX SUNS (62-20)
G – Steve Nash (15.5 ppg, 11.5 apg)
G – Joe Johnson (17.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
F – Quentin Richardson (14.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg)
F – Shawn Marion (19.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.0 spg)
C – Amar’e Stoudemire (26.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.6 bpg)
Bench – Jim Jackson, Leandro Barbosa, Steven Hunter, Walter McCarty, Bo Outlaw
Coach – Mike D’Antoni
Who would win a best-of-seven series?
Archive
2000 Pacers vs. 1992 Trail Blazers
1996 Bulls vs. 1986 Celtics
2003 Nets vs. 1995 Rockets
2008 Celtics vs. 1993 Suns
2004 Pistons vs. 1994 Knicks
2006 Heat vs. 2001 Sixers
2007 Spurs vs. 1998 Bulls
2008 Lakers vs. 1995 Magic
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May 29th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Donny Phunk says:
The Suns all the way. If they had a healthy Joe Johnson this team would have won the championship.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Stockton says:
Nice matchup here..im gunna have to go with the kings in this one, there a veteran team with alot of playoff experience, home court, better bench, defense and they can play with the Suns’ offense.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Steve A says:
Kings in 5 or 6. They were better than people remember.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Kermit the Washington says:
Kings in 5. Bibby would MURDER Nash. Literally. Nash would be dead after this series. Not just because Bibby’s too nasty for him to handle, but Nash would throw himself on the ground so many times trying to draw fouls, he’d die from head trauma.
Come to think of it, so would Vlade, having to deal with Amare.
Kings win in 5 anyway.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Simon says:
I hardly think that Nash would get owned by Bibby. I think the Kings would take this though since I think Jackson and Big Turk both averaged double digits off the bench. That’s just too deep for the Suns to handle.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:46 am
hucklebuck says:
Nash over Bibby-Nash would own the stats over Bibby, but I see Bibby making a couple shots in the clutch over Nash, maybe Nash answers back. Nash would have more of an impact however.
Joe Johnson over Christie-Johnson was more of a spot up jumpshooter in this series BUT the way the Suns run n gun, Christie’s strength of one-on-one defense gets taken away as he is gonna be sucked in by helpin on Nash and not getting out fast enough on Johnson.
Peja over Quentin-Peja in his prime was a guy u hated guarding because of his quick release and pullup, either off the dribble or a pass. Quentin can’t play defense.
These next two matchups would be cross matchups, because I would guess D’Antoni wouldn’t want to risk Amare into foul trouble. Amare would be guarding Divac, and Marion on Webber (big mismatch)
Amare over Divac-yes, Amare can get points in bunches running the floor, dunking and hitting the midrange, BUT he is TOO SMALL for Divac and Webber in the post. NO WAY Amare can guard Webber. NO WAY.
Webber over Marion-Webber is too dominant against either Marion or Amare. WHEN he gets double teamed, he would find the open man. Marion is a stat sheet filler, and would likely have ONE big game, but would get eaten up on defense against Webber in his prime.
Bench-I’ll give it to Suns.
Kings in 6.
Nash does his best, Amare scores, but Kings play defense.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:48 am
QQ says:
Kings in 6.
That team has the heart, the stars, the length, yadda yadda. Remember, only a Robert Horry desperation 3 prevented this team from having a 3-1 lead over one of the most dominant teams ever. And let’s not even talk about the Game 7, which is seemingly called by the same bullshit refs that are giving everything to the Cavs right now, only back then, they gave it to the Lakers.
On the other hand, the Suns did nothing but average 542 points, dominate the reg, then disappear in the playoffs. They made it fun for us viewers, though. Butthen again, ‘fun’ ain’t how champions are measured.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:49 am
bsteezy3 says:
Suns. No doubt. Phoenix’s bench is waaaaay better. Remember this is young Turkoglu and G.Wallace….
May 29th, 2009 at 11:50 am
melvin says:
joe johnson has improved ALOT since his days with the Suns….Kings in 6!!1
May 29th, 2009 at 11:51 am
David_Brandon says:
LOL @ Kermit..
damn we were nice…man……….anyway.
yeah, my kings take this one baby! the scores would be high but sac town pulls it out in game…hmm…game 6. i know phx had enough game back then to hoop, but the kings were just too deep off the bench for that team and finally had their swag right. that woulda been great to see. wow.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Ian says:
the kings were the best team that season the refs beat them not the lakers. Nash would kill bibby whoever said nash would be owned by bibby is wrong. Kings in 7.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
jackass says:
shit`s getting boring.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Rafa23 says:
people forget the kings lost to the (refs) lakers without peja. he played from game 5 on but wasn’t healthy at all. hedo played pretty well in his place. i think they had almost the same fire power but wayyy better defense. marion vs. cwebb?
i think the suns team of 07 was better than this one, because they played at least a bit defense. they were as good as the spurs that year and took themselves out(sry, but rule is rule)
but the matchup we have: 4:2 kings
May 29th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
rangerjohn says:
kings for teh simple fact that mike “pornstache” dantoni will never, i repeat NEVER coach a team to a title.
May 29th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Suns because C-Webb would miss all his crunch time FT’s..
and possibly call a timeout when none were left.. ok JK but that as much as everyone remembers the refs helping us you cant forget all the Kings missed FT’s in that game 7..
May 29th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Ravi says:
Suns over Sac-town
May 29th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Big V says:
Tough series but I’m gonna go with the Kings. Their frontline is tougher and Bibby was a beast on that team.
May 29th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
A.R. says:
Yea I gotta go with the Suns on this one. If the Suns get hot at the right time there would be no stopping them. I think Joe Johnson would be the one to put them over the top here. If he had stayed in Phoenix they might of actually made it to the finals.
May 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
K Dizzle says:
Sweet matchup. First team to 130 wins
May 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Ian says:
k
so itll be over in half time?
May 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Al says:
The Kings would win in six games , they were really that good
May 29th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
Interesting, but the 02 Kings take it easily. Think about it, David Stern and the refs had to cheat to get the Lakers ahead that year.
I love Joe Johnson, but think about it, it took the 2002 Lakers and a conspiracy to beat this Sacramento squad, they had been playing together and facing the Lakers together for a couple seasons so they were at their peak. The Suns had just gotten good again and were just finding success in their new formula, they were going to fall to somebody that year.
Kings take it in 5-6 games.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
method526 says:
if peja gets hot, it’s over.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Luigi says:
The thing about the Kings is that they had no weak spot…you always had reliable players there…in Phoenix. without Nash..we may never get to see the evolution of JJ but u know what fuck it Kings in 7…they have no refs to go against
May 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
the cynic says:
Kings; Adelman would coach circles around D’Antoni
May 29th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
doc says:
Kings in 6.I really thought they shoulda got past the Lakers that year.But I KNOW they’d get past this sweet ass team.
May 29th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
dung says:
i would fucking love to watch this series!!!!!!! kings would win though in 6 maybe or 7.. they were bad ass
May 30th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Dave says:
The Kings would trash the Suns. Over in five games.
May 30th, 2009 at 2:06 am
BRUCE says:
The Kings would choke! C-Webb to deliver in close games? Forget it.
May 30th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Clutch says:
Kings they are equal on offense with better team passing,better on defense, and have a deeper bennch. Also Bibby while not the player Nash was in 2006 was incredibly good during the playoffs.
May 30th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
willie says:
Kings in 6… Back when bibby should have been an all-star.. Bibby and Bobby would have been way too much for Nash.. And that was pre-injury webber, so he would have been a beast for either bigs
June 1st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Alvin says:
Kings have better forwards, and the Suns have better guards.
Kings in 7. i think they would win because of homecourt advantage.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Jon says:
Kings in 6. Anyone that calls CWebb a choker, go check the real stats. Not what the media says or from 1 or 2 games that you remember from. Check the career stats of Webb and compare to someone like kobe. kobe only makes 25% of his game winners. Yet he is considered as the best closer. kobe is the real choker. Anyone that is the leader of a team that loses a 24pt lead in the 3rd qtr in the finals at home can only be called a choker.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Knox says:
Kings in 5, maybe six if Suns get lucky. Marion and Amare are great scorers but there is no way they could touch the passing and chemistry of Webb and Divac (who are also solid defenders). If the Suns double Webb or Divac, they will find the open man which would be either Bibby (an excellent shooter, even better back in his prime), Stojokovic (arguably, the most feared 3-pt sniper ever), an Christie (who wasn’t a great scorer, but distributed the ball well).
June 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Rolando Ty says:
kings in 5.Bibby always abused steve nash especially in the playoffs during those classic kings vs mavericks series. Dont forget bibby hit 9 3pts in a game against nash during 07 season. that settles the pg. doug would shut joe down. vlade would get into amare head with his flopping stlye d.peja would launch up those 3′s over the matrix. and the 2002 c-webb would just b to much for the suns he could hit that mid-range explode to the basket throw in bunch of no look passers. overall it will be one of the greatest and highest rated matchup in nba finals history but sac-town would just be to much for the suns to handle.Look at that bench the kings had it could have easily been are starting line up on any team in the nba besides fundaburke.