Urban Legends Tournament, The Finals: Bay Area vs. Philly

Upsets were abound in the Urban Legends Tournament, Final Four.

New York City fell to a dogged Bay-Area squad and LA lost control to a balanced Team Philly.

Here’s how the GSoM community voted:

4) Bay Area (59%) over 1) New York (41%)

It’s not easy comparing players across generations. We don’t know how Gary Payton and Jason Kidd would defend Doctor J, for example, or how Damian Lillard would fare against Bob Cousy. Our GSoM community’s Bay-Area allegiance and faith in players from the last 20 years are evident.

Oldies vs. 90’s aside, Abdul-Jabbar had a tough matchup against the depth of Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Paul Silas.

6) Philadelphia (71%) over 2) Los Angeles (29%)

Earl Monroe joined Philadelphia for the Final Four. The “Pearl,” along with Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain, led Philly’s destruction of LA, one of the most talented teams in the tournament.

Voter comments indicate a persuasion towards Philly’s positional balance. New York, LA and Chicago are all out of the tournament because their teams lacked organization.

Chicago had too many point guards. LA had scorers, but lacked defense. New York was balanced, but had no NBA-recent firepower. And Philly had two of the top-10 players of all time and a strong complementary cast.

The Finals

Philly vs. Bay Area — Oracle Arena

I wish we could actually watch this game. Offensively, Philly has the edge. Defensively, though, the Bay has a slight advantage. Who guards Kobe? Probably Jason Kidd. Philly’s bench is thin, but they have the coaching edge given Phil Martelli is an actual coach and not a former player (sorry, Antonio Davis).

X Factor for Bay Area: Bench

X Factor for Philly: Kyle Lowry

4) BAY AREA

Coach: Antonio Davis, Retired NBA player

Players:

1. Bill Russell
2. Gary Payton
3. Jason Kidd
4. K.C. Jones
5. Damian Lillard

• Paul Silas
• Isaiah Rider

6) PHILLY

Coach: Phil Martelli, Head Coach, St. Joseph’s University

Players:

1. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Earl Monroe
4. Rasheed Wallace
5. Kyle Lowry

• Paul Arizin
• Dion Waiters

Enjoy the Finals! Vote your conscience.