An unexpected turn of events led to this conclusion to our two-on-two tourney, an event that started at the end of the 2007-08 NBA regular season.

We have a three-way tie.

Now what?

Here is how the final round looked, with players being listed alphabetically:

Game 1: Elton Brand and Manu Ginobili vs. Kevin Garnett and LeBron James
Game 2: Elton Brand and Kevin Garnett vs. Manu Ginobili and LeBron James
Game 3: Elton Brand and LeBron James vs. Manu Ginobili and Kevin Garnett

Thanks to Herman, coop and Dennis for their comments. They were all in agreement, though coop misfired a bit on the final tally. This seems to be the general consensus:

1. KG > Brand
2. LBJ > Manu

So in Game 1 when KG and ‘Bron team up together, they emerge as easy victors. Brand has been tabbed as the weakest link in this group of four, and our three voters felt he would lose no matter who he was teamed up with. I found the respect for Manu a bit surprising. Despite the size disadvantage, he was able to garner winning votes when he teamed with KG and ‘Bron. Add it up and it means Brand finishes 0-3 and the other three finish 2-1.

So again…now what?

I myself don’t quibble about the panel’s picks too much, though I think the big-big combo of KG and Brand could win, especially if they put KG on Manu and allowed him to be the help defender on ‘Bron. So I leave you with two tie-breaker scenarios.

1. In NBA.com fantasy hoops style, we declare the champion based on previous records. If you play in an NBA.com league, you know that in h2h playoffs, if there is a tie in 8-cat leagues, the tie-breaker is the win-loss record of the regular season. Pretty silly if you ask me, but that’s how they play it. So to use that notion here, I could declare the winner based on how each of the top three players’ team mates fared in the following rounds i.e. was the player bolstered up by their partners, or did they carry their partners through to subsequent rounds.

KG teamed with Zach Randolph in Round 1, and Zach was disposed of in Round 2. In Round 2, KG had Antawn Jamison as a partner, and Jamison advanced to the semi-finals before being eliminated along with Dwyane Wade. KG’s partners in Rounds 3 and 4 were LBJ and Manu, both of whom are obviously still alive in the tourney. So KG’s “record” is 6-4.

LBJ had Caron Butler and Andre Iguodala as partners early in the tourney, and both of those players lost in the next round. He partnered with KG in Round 3, and Brand in Round 4. So he benefits from Brand’s oh-fer in the Finals and his “record” is 3-6.

Manu teamed with Dwight Howard, then Rashard Lewis and then Allen Iverson; all three of those guys lost in the next round after being Manu’s partner. He was KG’s partner in the semi-finals so KG’s wins in the finals are the only blemish on Manu’s record of 2-4.

So does this analysis solve anything? Of course not. Perhaps we can say KG is the obvious third place finisher under these rules. The partners of LBJ and Manu have identical winning percentages with Manu’s partners winning less without him, but LeBron’s partners lost more. So it then comes down to an impromptu free throw percentage and all the ‘Bron haters can guess that Manu wins, right?

Well, it’s a bit of a cop out, but how about we end this way instead.

2. Like those old school martial arts movies, where it ends with the remaining heroes jumping in the air in fighting stances towards the enemy army, and it fades to black as hundreds of arrows launch in their direction, let’s have this thing settled where it should be settled…on the court. It’s a three-man jump ball. KG vs. LBJ vs. Manu. The ref throws the ball in the air, and all three players jump…fade to black. Now pick the winner.

Thanks for checking out this tourney this summer. It was fun. Now we can look forward to some Olympic action followed by what will surely be an awesome season.

Peace.

Previous match-ups:
Round 1: Games 1 and 2
Round 1: Games 3 and 4
Round 1: Games 5 and 6
Round 1: Games 7 and 8
Round 1: Games 9 and 10
Round 1: Games 11 and 12
Round 1, Games 13 and 14
Round 1, Games 15 and 16
Round 2, Games 1 and 2
Round 2, Games 3 and 4
Round 2, Games 5 and 6
Round 2, Games 7 and 8
Round 3, Games 1 and 2
Round 3, Games 3 and 4
Semi-finals
The Finals