The official SI.com dream team draft (cont.)

To recap the teams, quickly:

Seth Davis:

Guards: Stephen Curry, A.J. Price; forwards: Sam Young, Luke Harangody; cemter: Jarvis Varnado; coach: Pat Summitt

Luke Winn:

Guards: Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday; forwards: Tyler Smith, Patrick Patterson center: Hasheem Thabeet; coach: Bill Self

Bill Trocchi:

Guards: Ty Lawson, Kyle McAlarney; forwards: Chase Budinger, Tyler Hansbrough; center: A.J. Ogilvy; coach: Billy Donovan

Grant Wahl:

Guards: Jonny Flynn, James Harden; forwards: Terrence Williams, Blake Griffin; center: Jerome Jordan; coach: Rick Pitino

Finally, we asked each writer to reflect on his squad and the draft ...

Seth Davis:

I knew that since we had the whole country to choose from, I would have plenty of options to find guys who could score. So I put a special emphasis on players who could defend and show physical toughness. I don't think there's any question that I drafted the best defensive squad of the four of us. Taking Curry over Hansbrough was not an easy call, but it was a lot of fun building the team around him. I needed a strong post scorer and rebounder, and the third piece was a guard who could run and score with him in the backcourt -- and like Curry, who could play both guard spots. Getting Vanardo as my glue-guy shotblocker was especially sweet after Grant and Bill voiced their displeasure at having lost out. Finally, the Summitt pick was made at the last second. I was going to go with Ben Howland (a defensive coach who still lets his guys run and gun), but I like getting outside the box. I honestly think it is ridiculous that some athletic director at a low-major Division I school, or even at a Division II or III school, hasn't made the leap and hired a woman to coach a men's team. People question whether a woman could motivate, but if she's got scholarships and playing time to give out, I say she can.

Luke Winn:

I've always thought it's easier to get to win a national title with a peerless defensive team that's also pretty good -- like, top 10, but not the best -- on offense. (Versus the opposite, which basically defined UNC in '07-08). So I used my first two picks on the best interior defensive force in college hoops (Thabeet) and the best defensive point guard I've seen (Collison, when he's not playing Derrick Rose). The fact that Collison is crazy-clutch and a dead-eye three-point shooter didn't hurt either. I took some heat for the Thabeet pick -- afterwards, we were discussing who went too high, and Thabeet and McAlarney were the two that came up -- but my theory was that shot-blocking/length/size was the rarest commodity in college hoops, so I wanted to lock that up first. (The fact that I just wrote a feature on Thabeet ... well, maybe that made me a little biased, too.)

I felt like I could wait until a little later in the draft to take a four-man, and get pretty similar value out of an overlooked guy like Patrick Patterson that others were getting out of the 'Gody-Hansbrough-Griffin club. I've always been a big fan of Tyler Smith -- he does everything well without hogging the ball, making him a perfect three-man and somewhat of a steal in the last round. If I have a regret, it was taking Holiday instead of Price with my fourth pick. The UCLA kids play better defense, but I probably lost out on a chance to create a lethal dual-point guard backcourt with even more scoring power. In the coaching department, I deliberated between UCLA's Ben Howland (who would be pretty familiar with those guards) and Self, but went with Self for one reason: He just coached an incredibly good defensive team with no clear offensive star -- but one very clutch point guard -- to a national championship. And I feel like I've got exactly that kind of club.

Bill Trocchi:

My guys are going to score, both in transition and in the halfcourt. Like I said in the chat, McAlarney is my three-point specialist who will open things up for Hansbrough. Killer inside-outside combo there. Budinger will be able to run from the wing, and Lawson will push tempo. I would have liked my team better with Varnado erasing shots back there, but Ogilvy will fit in just fine as a complement to Hansbrough. Defensively, we may struggle a bit, but we are going to score plenty, so hopefully that is enough. Finally, I think I have the top coach. Billy D will keep this all-star team as motivated and focused as his '07 Gators.

Grant Wahl:

If I had a guiding philosophy for my team, it was to assemble five guys who have a lot of talent but figure to play well together, fill specific roles and play top-notch defense under a coach who can bring out their best characteristics. (I.e., this wasn't going to be an all-star team.) I wanted my team to be an up-tempo outfit that had scoring options at multiple positions but could also defend, rebound, pass and block shots.

In the end, I feel really good about this group. Flynn, Harden and Griffin can be my three-headed scoring monster, Williams is my dynamic pass-first wing and Jordan is a 7-foot shot-blocker extraordinaire who should be this year's Jarvis Varnado. The only bummer was when Seth took Varnado himself, but Jordan may end up being just as good. I'm also psyched that my team can play lockdown defense across the board, it can rebound with abandon and it has a coach (Pitino) who will play the up-tempo style I want (which explains why I didn't pick, say, Ben Howland) while demanding full commitment on defense, often over 94 feet.

Looking at the other teams, the best one I see (other than mine) is Seth's. If A.J. Price is fully recovered his backcourt of Price and Steph Curry is awfully good (though I think my backcourt of Flynn and Harden is almost as explosive and defends better), while Sam Young's toughness, Varanado's defense and Luke Harangody's scoring/rebounding are also impressive (even though I'd take my guys' ability to play up-tempo ball). Luke has a nice lineup too -- especially at the defensive end -- though I fear he's lacking a go-to guy. And Bill's guys are going to be a lot of fun to watch offensively, but defensively they'll be more than a little suspect. Inspired call by Seth on Pat Summitt!