Posted by maglor1 on 3/24/2016 3:26:00 AM (view original):
@dh555

May be I should have used the best Marion season which indeed is 05-06 . Still, that leaves me with big dilemma for the 4th round. I am not sure whether there was someone worth giving up Frazier in the 3rd nor a good SF replacement for the 4th round Bynum pick. Maybe I should have done differently starting with 1st or 2nd, and next time, I will make sure to take care of usage earlier. Please enlighten me with how I should have done.

I completely understand why you chose the first three players you did - I love each of them in this league - and I agree with dh that doing so boxed you into a corner a bit with regard to usage.

Hindsight being what it is, and Monday morning quarterback being part of the good, clean of this draft, here are some coulda wouldas:
a) In the second round you could have taken Billups or reached a bit for Deron, so that you'd have a start on both usage and assists. OR...
b) In the third, take Kobe (whom I don't like, but even in this sim he can play).

Posted by jt7king on 3/23/2016 8:04:00 PM (view original):
Why are you using 10-11 Teague jh?

I'm can't stop tinkering with my team. So many good players undrafted

Posted by longtallbrad on 3/24/2016 8:29:00 AM (view original):

Posted by maglor1 on 3/24/2016 3:26:00 AM (view original):
@dh555

May be I should have used the best Marion season which indeed is 05-06 . Still, that leaves me with big dilemma for the 4th round. I am not sure whether there was someone worth giving up Frazier in the 3rd nor a good SF replacement for the 4th round Bynum pick. Maybe I should have done differently starting with 1st or 2nd, and next time, I will make sure to take care of usage earlier. Please enlighten me with how I should have done.

I completely understand why you chose the first three players you did - I love each of them in this league - and I agree with dh that doing so boxed you into a corner a bit with regard to usage.

Hindsight being what it is, and Monday morning quarterback being part of the good, clean of this draft, here are some coulda wouldas:
a) In the second round you could have taken Billups or reached a bit for Deron, so that you'd have a start on both usage and assists. OR...
b) In the third, take Kobe (whom I don't like, but even in this sim he can play).

Billup over Marion is something I still ponder, but the real interesting suggestion is Kobe for the 3rd. Hmmm, Kobe at 3rd does open interesting possibilities.

I keep going back through wondering what team I should have drafted. Honestly I probably would have grabbed Moses if I'd been paying attention and realized he was still on the board.

Posted by dh555 on 3/23/2016 8:16:00 PM (view original):
Team Rosters/Evals

1. mikee1 - Wilt Chamberlain, Patrick Ewing, James Harden, Rajon Rondo, Draymond Green, Andre Miller, Chris Mullin

You definitely win for the first WTF? moment of the draft. There's only 1 Ewing season worth using and its 98% at PF. Players being used at <100% at a position is nothing new, but it's usually done with PFs being moved over to SF to gain an advantage on the boards. Those guys are also usually lower usg players(think Ho Grant or A.C. Green(who didn't get drafted again!)). If I'm taking a high usg player this early in the draft who I'm counting on to be a focal point of the offense then I want that guy to be 100% at his position. When you drop Ewing's fg% closer to 50%, cut his d down to 80, and make his reb%s even worse he doesn't look quite as good. Replace Ewing with Amare and this would probably be my favorite to win it all. Harden might be the only high usg SG left who hasn't won a ring with Wilt. It won't be long before he gets his too, great pick there. Rondo and Green were the perfect role players to fill out the starting 5. You must have been thrilled to see Rondo still sitting there in the 5th. Wilt teams are the ONLY team in this league who should ever be worried about cap problems, but it looks like you won't have any issues there. Really nice job drafting overall, but I can't get passed the Ewing pick. I just don't view him as a PF in this league at all. But if he's ever gonna succeed at PF, then this would certainly be the team to do it.

2. thomcat - LeBron James, Steve Nash, Dikembe Mutombo, Paul Pressey, Willis Reed, Danny Green, Marvin Webster

Alright, I think it's time to brag. I mean, if you can't pat yourself on the back a lil while doing these evals then what's the point right? As the self-proclaimed president of the Steve Nash fan club, I feel honored to be the driving force behind Steve's climb back to the 2nd round(early 3rd maybe) where he belongs . Nash was all the rage when I first started at wis thanks to the dominant OL lineups of Nash/Allen/Peja/Rodman/Moses. But sometime after the defense update, he began to lose his value and slip in drafts. Owners focused more on his d/reb/tos then his efg/ast/3s. He was going in the 4th round in some drafts. But now he's back. And I'd like to think my Nash draft league trifecta(won the odl/52 back to back with Nash and have a good chance of making it 3 in a row in jh's clone draft) was the main reason behind it. Sure, maybe the PG/ast% craze has something to do with it as well, but I'll take the credit. And what did all those teams have in common? Nash paired with an elite SG(LeBron/Curry/MJ). I think that's where he's used best. Ok. I guess I'll talk about your team now thomcat haha. As you can guess, I loved the start. You really couldnt have started any better. Forwards are probably the easiest to grab later on in the draft. As boring as I think Reed is, he gets the job done and was a great fit here usage-wise. I've never been a big fan of Pressey, especially used at SF. Draymond would have been the better choice here I think. With him and Danny Green playing mins at SF you lost any advantage on the boards that LeBron gave you. Webster doesn't make any sense to me. There's enough backups out there to avoid having to play Webster 96% at PF. Should be a very good team, but I think you could have done better after that great start.

3. amerk1180 - Dennis Rodman, Gary Payton, Amare Stoudemire, Robert Parish, Russell Westbrook, Troy Murphy, Antonio Daniels

Until Curry's 15-16 season comes out, #3 is still the first spot where I feel you don't have to go BPA. Wilt/LeBron should always go 1-2 and if you don't want to draft those guys pick closer to 24 or trade out of that spot. So I dont mind drafting Rodman #3 overall. Besides KG, no one can even approach the reb% he gives you at SF. He fits perfectly with Amare/McHale/Ewing/Boozer/Dirk or any other high usg PF/C with low defense or boards that you can get in Round 2 or later. Payton fits well here since his usg% is lower than Amare's and he has Rodman to clean up those bricks. I like the 4/5 rotation. Sure, it will be very bad defensively when Amare/Murphy are in but that's a killer pnt/per combo. Parish also provides the needed usg behind Amare. Unfortunately, you also might be getting the least amount of dimes from your frontcourt in the whole league. That basically forced your hand into choosing a SG with high ast%. Daniels is a nice player, but if I'm taking that hit in reb% and defense by choosing him, I'd like to get more than 20% ast. Westbrook is a...Russell Westbrook? Did you miss the huge neon flashing lights that said DO NOT DRAFT? They might be disguised to look like his usg% and efg% but the message should be clear. Rodman will be busy.

4. hoopsdude - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Derek Harper, Steve Francis, Antonio McDyess, Eric Bledsoe, Tim Hardaway


5. uptowngbv - Michael Jordan, Joakim Noah, Marques Johnson, Carlos Boozer, Paul Westphal, Cedric Ceballos, Samuel Dalembert

Looks like a very solid team. Not really any holes besides the obvious lack of 3s. Tough to nitpick here. But I'll do it anyway. PG was a tough position to fill this draft and I feel like you were handed a gift by having Jose Calderon available for you in the 5th. I was almost positive you were gonna take him. But it looks like you opted for more usg and picked Westphal. I have a sim soft spot for Paul since he's been on my FTMP and URRAP teams. Very good player and I think you chose his best season. I just think Calderon was the better pick. You could have then used 89-90 MJ instead(the best MJ imo) since you wouldn't be reaching for ast%. I really think you had enough usage anyway before the Westphal pick. Now I feel like your limiting MJ's ceiling a bit - the man needs his shots. That's really the only thing bad I have to say. I loved the 6th round picks. Sammy is an elite LMBL and Ceballos is a mini-Barkley. The rebounding is very good, defense covers up the weaker defenders nicely, and you're fine with ast% despite the lack of a true PG.

6. sixernuggets - Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Mark Price, Sidney Moncrief, Alex English, Jon Barry, Kermit Washington

That's quite a move up the draft board for Mark Price. I think Mark and his agent owe me some money. While he's definitely more valuable then a 6th rounder, the top of the 3rd seems too high for him. At least, that's what I thought at the time. But with the power of hindsight I can see you already had your wing combo in mind and desperately needed a PG who could shoot 3s. Price turned out to be the right pick for you there and I also think you made the right call using 89-90 instead of 88-89. Sixer, I feel like you are always either dominating the league with Wilt, or struggling with English. I know you've used him several times but honestly don't remember him helping you into the playoffs. Could this be the team that that turns him into a winner? I have my doubts, but I do like the makeup of this team. The main problem with English for me is his 11% dreb at the SF spot. That's just too low in this league unless you have a killer rebounding combo at the 4/5. And whadduya know....you do. So maybe it works this time for you. I like how the usage is spread out, Price/Barry give you just enough 3s, defense and ast% are solid, and you have some awesome paint scoring. But if you end up dominating us all with Wilt again next season....well...maybe it's time to give up on English.

7. longtallbrad - Shaquille O'Neal, Mookie Blaylock, Gerald Wallace, Ron Harper, Hassan Whiteside, Charles Oakley, Jamaal Tinsley

How many times did you check the drafted players list before picking Tinsley? Very surprised to see him go so late in the 6th with so many teams looking for answers at PG. Nice to see Oakley getting a shot at PF. His 93-94 season is probably more popular since it can be used at SF but 87-88 is an elite reb% season. It's not without it's flaws but they are covered up nicely on this team. His backup isn't too bad either. This could be the last time we see Whiteside's partial season drafted. I see Wallace slip to the late 4th/5th round sometimes but he's definitely worth a 3rd rounder. His 09-10 season isn't all that different from Marion's 06-07 season that is a 2nd round staple. Shaq and Mookie is obviously a great start to any draft. Looks like another winning team from LTB. Great j...oh I'm forgetting something? Oh yea...SG. I'm sure LTB filled it with another 3pt shooter to space the floor for Shaq right? I mean, with Mookie and G-Wall able to cover any bad defense, you can almost pick any bomber you want - provided they add some needed ast% as well. Lets just see who he went with....Ron Harper? Boooooooo. I think that pick still works here but booooooooooo.

8. jt7king - Moses Malone, Manu Ginobili, Andre Drummond, Kevin Johnson, Charlie Edge, George Hill, J.R. Smith

Wow! I have never seen so much oreb% on one team. Moses/Drummond was already an insane combo but then you went ahead and added Edge and a bench crew with all 12%+ oreb. Not sure if it's gonna be overkill or turning a strength into something impossible to stop. It's kind of how I felt about adding Price to my Curry/Nash backcourt last season. I really needed a guard there who could defend but decided to go all in on efg% to try to overwhelm the other team with scoring. I think it works here too. Certain teams just won't be able to defend the glass against you. They may turn you over 25 times or hold you to 40% shooting and still lose. I'm curious to know what you would have done if KJ wasn't there for you in the 4th. KJ was basically the last good PG left with enough usage, ast%, and 3s to allow you to take Edge at SF. That really couldn't have worked out any better for you. I really like the Hill/Smith backup combo at guard too. How far this team can go is probably up to Manu though. I'm never quite sure what to expect from him. It's probably why I avoid him in the 2nd. But when he's going good, it's almost like having 30 mins of MJ or LeBron.

9. ysw128 - Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tom Boerwinkle, Ray Allen, Roy Tarpley, Rasheed Wallace, Mark Jackson

I just can't get on board with CP3 being picked over Malone or DRob. In the ODL it makes more sense to me since his 14-15 season has such good value. But in this league I think those guys are better to build around. But I get do get it. His combo of usg, ast%, and def is tough to find. But you know who else fits that description? - Deron Williams. I'll take Malone/Deron over CP3/Deron every time. Picking Deron in the 2nd only makes sense to me if you're going for the assist bump. I love when teams go for the assist bump in this league. It means there's one less team I have to worry about winning the title. I don't know the exact number needed to get the bump, but in order to get it you'll have to sacrifice a ton of rebounding, defense, and other things. It would be extremely hard to find the right mix of guys to make it work. It sure looked like you were going for it after the Boerwinkle pick. You could have had Cliff Ray in the 5th too to make the C spot work. I don't know who could have filled out the SF/PF spots(Hill/Mason/Odom/Rose?) but it seemed odd you gave up on the assist bump plan after the 3rd round, only to revisit it again with the Jackson pick in the 6th. Even with Tarpley, you're still gonna struggle on the boards. And Sheed isn't gonna save the defense. As Mike Ehrmantraut might say, "You chose a half-measure when you should have gone all the way."

10. jcred5 - Kevin Durant, Terry Porter, Marcus Camby, Buck Williams, Goran Dragic, Kyrie Irving, Marcin Gortat

Yea, you're right. This would be a really good team in the ODL. But that doesn't mean it won't work in this league as well. And I'm not letting you talk me into giving you a bad review like I did in my ODL evals haha. I see you even baited me with the choice of 12-13 Durant over his better 13-14 season. I won't do it jcred. 12-13 is a fine season that does have better defense. Backcourt d a little shaky? I'm looking past that. This is a team that WILL make the playoffs. I'm not eating crow this time. Boards - check, assists - check, lowish tos/fls - check, good usage distribution - check, pnt/per scoring balance - check. I do think you might be light on the offensive boa....I mean offensive boards shouldn't be a problem since you should be shooting a high % from the field anyway. Whew, that was close. Yup, I think jcred has built another winner here.

(see what i did there? i cant lose...either i look good for predicting jcreds success or i just jinxed the hell out of him, eliminating a tough rival)

11. milest - Steph Curry, Donyell Marshall, Shawn Kemp, Kirk Hinrich, Tree Rollins, Pervis Ellison, Kenneth Faried

You broke my heart. Every single time I've built a Wade-defense team, I pick Tree to be my C. I usually pick him in the 4th round too. This time however, I rolled the dice and waited til the 5th so I could grab a PG. I felt good about it because there was only 2 or 3 teams that could've fit Tree on their team. Then by the time the 5th started, it was just you that I had to worry about. I thought, "he's already got a 100 d guy with crazy fouls, he doesn't need two of them." Next thing I know I'm picking Mark friggin Eaton and hating my team. You suck! Anyway, it was a nice pick. I like the whole "d you up-secure the glass-bomb the 3" strategy you got going on. Hinrich was definitely an early pick but he was the perfect guy to fit that theme. Pervis is gonna have a tough time adjusting to a new locker room. He's only ever played for one owner(trivia question - who is that owner?). I'm curious to see how Kemp does here. He needs to dominate the paint scoring and provide a lot of FTAs for the offense to really thrive imo. Speaking of the FT line....wow...do I even need to say anything about it? That's gonna be tough to overcome.

12. slymonium - David Robinson, AK47, Clyde Drexler, Terrell Brandon, Kawhi Leonard, Clifford Ray, Kris Humphries

No Kemp or Pippen? Weird. But hey, you did get AK47. He's a sly guy I think. Lets see...great defense, good dreb%, and plenty of steals. Yup, this is a classic 50 win sly team. That trade worked out well for you. Ray/Humphries is an awesome LMBL combo and Kawhi is a supersub at the 2/3. Brandon is one of those guys that will get picked all over the draft board. I bet you were nervous he wasn't gonna be there at the top of the 4th with the way this draft went. Especially after Ward went in the 3rd. Did you have to choose between him and Drexler with that late 3rd pick? I do wish his usage was a little lower though - maybe right in that 20-24% range. I feel like every draft someone will call the Drexler pick a steal. And there not wrong. But I think late 3rd is the earliest you're gonna see him drafted. SG just isn't as important as other positions and it's being filled more and more with PGs now. All the more reason to pull off a trade like you did and get extra 3/4/5 picks. Nice job drafting.

13. cjok1051 - Karl Malone, Elton Brand, Tracy McGrady, Jerry Lucas, Jose Calderon, Jameer Nelson, Kyle Korver

Mailman is #6 on my big board. So yea, I think you got a hell of a steal at #13. Actually, that was just the beginning of your great luck in this draft. And in this league, you definitely need some luck to win it all. Jerry Lucas in the middle of the 4th! Who are the idiots that passed him up?(*checks*...****..I was one of them..in fact I did it twice) This won't be the first time, and it won't be the last, that I've defended Jerry. 50 d...that's it. That's his only weakness. If I can hide his D, I'm taking him over almost every other lower usg board lord. Your great luck didn't stop there though. In a draft where PGs were at a premium, why the hell was Jose Calderon and his awesome efg% and A/T still available in the middle of the 5th? And then the best offensive backup PG available in the middle of the 6th? Crazy. Needless to say, I really like this team and think it will contend for the title. Some might knock taking McGrady when you already had Malone, but I don't mind it here. There should be plenty of shots for both of them. I do have an issue with the Korver pick though as it really weakens you on the glass and adds to the sub-par perimeter defense. Of course, defense and boards aren't gonna matter as much if you can just outscore everyone. Great draft.

14. jkaye24 - John Stockton, Bill Russell, Klay Thompson, Kevin Love, Ryan Anderson, Hot Rod Williams, Danny Granger

The sim isn't without its flaws, but for the most part I don't have a problem with how the engine works. I have more of a problem with some of the defensive ratings and position eff. Those seem like such easy changes that aren't being done because of lack of man power, but out of pure stubbornness. Of course that lil rant is due to having to see possibly the greatest defender ever with a 74 d. It's beyond ridiculous. And sadly it makes Russell a poor 2nd rounder here imo. 74 is just average defense in this league, which means reb% is the only elite skill Russell is bringing(low fouls too I guess) and you can get boards later in the draft. Pairing him with Stockton also means you HAVE to get usage from the other 3 spots. That can be very difficult. And it looks like you weren't able to do it. Klay and Love just won't be able to carry the offense on their own. And if you use 10-11 Love then you really have some usage problems. I do agree with you about Klay. He really has to play next to an assist monster like Stockton or CP3. I think you really could have built something special with that backcourt if it wasn't for the Russell pick.

15. dh555 - Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning, Larry Nance, Mo Cheeks, Larry Sanders, Rodrigue Beaubois, Mark Eaton

I had 14 guys I wanted to start this team with. No luck though. I was gonna go Bird, but then I talked myself into stealing Hakeem/KG/Dr.J in the 2nd to pair with Wade on a defense heavy team. Again no luck. I was very happy to get Zo since he takes care of the usage for me, but he also put me behind on the glass. I could have built a really good team around those two but I had it set in my mind to build a nasty defensive team with a crazy amount of blocks. Sometimes getting too gimmicky can cost you a chance at a good team and I think that's what happened here. Nance didn't help with the boards and Cheeks turned it into a glaring weakness. And when I missed out on Tree and settled for Eaton, I pretty much dug my own grave. He officially makes this an awful offensive team. There's also no point to building a great defensive team with a ton of blocks if you can't secure the rebound. BUT, all is not lost - the player pool is deep. I dug deep to try to fix the rebounding issue while still maintaining a dominant defense. Mo Cheeks...take a seat on the bench. Only one guy can potentially save this season.......

16. carbonjones - Charles Barkley, Chauncey Billups, Rudy Gobert, Brent Barry, Pau Gasol, Arvydas Sabonis, Lamar Odom

Damn CJ. You really disappointed me with how you ended your draft. This was one of my favorite teams. Just a beautiful start. Great inside-out combo with Barkley(speaking of him...anyone else think he needs to stop doing march madness?...just turrible) and Billups. Then you were able to secure the last great defensive LMBL in the 3rd. Barry teams up nicely with Billups in the backcourt to provide enough 3s and dimes. Gasol(good job using his best season btw) holds his own on the glass/def and teams with Billups to give you a good 2-3 punch in support of Charles. Sabonis is a bench stud who provides great dreb% along with needed bench scoring. I loved it. All you had to do was draft Nelson or Tinsley to backup the PG spot, grab an undrafted Leon Powe(friendly hint - if you have Barkley, use Powe to back him up...hes a perfect match), and add some good reb/d behind Gobert and you waltz into the playoffs. But you chose Odom. I don't get it. You're not even using all his mins and his salary prevented you from drafting a proper backcourt bench. I don't like how Odom's usage fits with the other guys in the froncourt and he doesn't help with defense or rebounds here. Why add him?

17. maglor1 - DeAndre Jordan, Shawn Marion, Walt Frazier, Andrew Bynum, John Wall, Dan Roundfield, Brandon Roy

Now this isn't an absolute fact, but it's definitely how I feel - If you don't have one of your top two usage guys after the 3rd round you are f*cked. Marion and Frazier are 3-4 guys and DeAndre is a 5. So..yea...you were f*cked from the start. Adding 3 guys with 22+ usg% and sub 50 efg% just confirms it. Not all is lost. You have great defense and the rebounding is very good too. No dimes from the froncourt but you have plenty in the backcourt. You should be ok in the foul line battle as well. But I don't see how you can compete for a playoff spot with John Wall as the lead dog. He's just not good enough in this league. I like Roundfield and Roy but you used the wrong seasons for those guys. It's also never a good thing if Marion is your best 3pt shooter. Speaking of Marion, his best season is 05-06 but that never gets used because its best used at PF. You really need a guy like DeAndre to make it work. I think this was a missed opportunity to use Marion's best season. That also would have helped prevent reaching for usg later on in the draft.

18. copernicus - Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Charlie Ward, Bob Lanier, Emeka Okafor
19. vancem - Tim Duncan, Artis Gilmore, Horace Grant, Paul Pierce, Nate McMillan
20. pennsylvania - Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Bobby Jones, Mel Daniels, George Gervin
21. samuelyork93 - Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Vince Carter, Rich Kelley, JaVale McGee
22. jhsukow - Anfernee Hardaway, Kevin Garnett, Anthony Davis, Anthony Mason, Jamario Moon
23. banditone - Bob McAdoo, Kevin McHale, Wesley Person, Sleepy Floyd, Chris Gatling, Adrian Dantley, Dennis Scott
24. eleibowitz - Scottie Pippen, Hakeem Olajuwon, Chris Webber, Serge Ibaka, Andre Iguodala, Chris Andersen, Al Horford

touche - DH... well done! I went back and forth on that KD season and ultimately went with more D b/c I didn't nee the extra usage and i'm worried about that back court D. I tried to pick my division so i would have as few monster guards as possible.

Posted by longtallbrad on 3/24/2016 1:00:00 PM (view original):
I keep going back through wondering what team I should have drafted. Honestly I probably would have grabbed Moses if I'd been paying attention and realized he was still on the board.

I'm glad you didn't lol

1. mikee1 – Wilt Chamberlain, Patrick Ewing, James Harden, Rajon Rondo, Draymond Green, Andre Miller, Chris Mullin – I like this team well enough. Everyone fits in some way, although the duo of Ewing and Harden seems to threaten to take too many shots from Chamberlain. Two max usage guys seems like a risk if you actually don’t want them doing all your scoring for you. Draymond seems like the perfect SF for this bunch…nothing but D, boards, and a bunch of 3s to space the floor more for the bigs. Offensive balance should be spread fairly well and defense is solid. Mullin is a great backup for Harden (I remember when Chris used to be drafted as a starter in this league.) Should be a playoff team, unless sim juju is unfavorable.
2. thomcat – Lebron James, Steve Nash, Dikembe Mutombo, Paul Pressey, Willis Reed, Danny Green, Marvin Webster – Should be excellent chemistry on this squad. Pressey and Reed are sort of blah choices, but both fill clear needs and Reed is particular is nice value where he was drafted. Green makes sense given the presence of Nash. Between James, Pressey and Nash, one of them should come off the bench since otherwise there is a surplus of assists but not nearly enough for an efg% bump. Should be a playoff team, if the cards are played right.
3. amerk1180 – Dennis Rodman, Gary Payton, Amare Stoudemire, Robert Parish, Russell Westbrook, Troy Murphy, Antonio Daniels – I’m not a fan of Amare at this cap level (I like my bigs to rebound better and –play strong D if possible), but Rodman is absolutely the perfect player to pair him with. Combine the strengths of those two fellas and you’d have the best player in the sim. Payton never seems to stand out enough to be a stud in this league, but he may be a super glue guy. Parish was good value in the fourth. I don’t get the Westbrook pick at all. Yes, he’s got a supersub season, but he’ll shoot a ton and miss more shots than he makes. I like Murphy in this league and the team needs his 3s, but depending on the season of Parish that’s used, this could be a woefully defending rotation of big men. My crystal ball says no playoffs.
4. hoopsdude– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Derek Harper, Steve Francis, Antonio McDyess, Eric Bledsoe, Tim Hardaway – The first three picks make sense together. Francis rarely gets picked in this league, and he’s no gem, but he’s sort of a poor man’s Harden. I think he has a place. There were some similar players left on the board with higher efg% but fewer FTAs, so I get why he was picked. I’m not quite feeling the chemistry overall, but I seem to be wrong more often than not with the sim these days. Bledsoe and Hardaway in the sixth make for a pretty dynamic backcourt rotation, and in backing up Walton, hoopsdude can choose from among a few part-time big men who are went undrafted despite being monster rebounders. I’m thinking this is a bubble team because I just don’t trust Francis and McDyess at this cap level.
5. uptowngbv – Michael Jordan, Joakim Noah, Marques Johnson, Carlos Boozer, Paul Westphal, Cedric Ceballos, Samuel Dalembert – This is an interesting, well-constructed Jordan team. Maybe a tad light on boards with Noah as the center, but competitive there against most teams. Dalembert and Ceballos are great backups for Noah and MJ. Usage seems a bit high overall, but I’m intrigued by this bunch. Playoffs, maybe even the second round.
6. sixernuggets – Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Mark Price, Sidney Moncrief, Alex English, Jon Barry, Kermit Washington – I was feeling this team, even with Price going a big high in the third round, until the English pick. One of my favorite real-life players of all time, but he doesn’t bring what the team needs at this point. More boards and threes were needed help to make the most of what’s great about Howard at this cap level, and Barry and Kermit help in both respects. I’d roll out Kermit as starting SF (at a 2% effectiveness discount) and figure out how to bring English off the bench. Overall I’m not seeing enough floor spacing to get the most out of Howard, but this team could surprise me. Depending on the seasons used and how the bench was filled out, there’s a wide pendulum on this one – anywhere from comfortably out of the playoffs to a second round finish.
7. longtallbrad – Shaquille O’Neal, Mookie Blaylock, Gerald Wallace, Ron Harper, Hassan Whiteside, Jamaal Tinsley, Charles Oakley – I’m kind of larking with this team since bottoming out in the latest season. I started out wanting to use Blaylock at SG and ended up having to rely on him as the lead playmaker, with fewer 3s in the starting lineup than I’d wanted. Whiteside was kind of a silly reach, given that I could have grabbed Tree Rollins in the fifth and [undrafted] at the bottom of the sixth. I’m happy enough with how my big man rotation ended up, and was happy with the players that fell to me. We’ll see if the emphasis on defense over other factors pays off. I think this is a playoff team, but I started out last season thinking the same thing.
8. jt7king – Moses Malone, Manu Ginobili, Andre Drummond, Kevin Johnson, Charlie Edge, George Hill, J.R. Smith – This is one of my favorite squads so far. Ginobili will shoot you out of some games, and along with Edge he leaves a lot of minutes that need to be added in the sixth round. This bunch is great on the boards, especially at the offensive boards. The sixth round addressed what looked like an invitation to let teams crowd Moses in the paint. I think this is the way to build around him. In KJ and Drummond there are two subpar defenders in the starting lineup, but I still think they could get to the Final Four.
9. ysw128 – Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tom Boerwinkle, Ray Allen, Roy Tarpley, Rasheed Wallace, Mark Jackson – I get the high assist strategy, and I love the first three players. I’m not buying Allen at SF, if that’s the plan, because of his inadequacy on the boards at that spot. Now that the sixth round is in I’m assuming Rasheed is the starting 3 guy, but if that’s the case I don’t understand spending a fourth rounder on a backup wingman. Tarpley is one of those guys who goes running out into the parking lot looking for extra people to foul, but the rest of his numbers say he deserves to be picked in the fifth round. Jackson gives you assists and nothing else. Paul is a beast in this league, but this team just seems a little off-kilter in its design…low on FTAs and maybe on boards. I’m sensing a bubble team.
10. jcred5 – Kevin Durant, Terry Porter, Marcus Camby, Buck Williams, Goran Dragic, Kyrie Irving, Marcin Gortat – A bit light on defense for this league, and jcred seems to be running against the common view that Durant should be a SG at this cap level (so as to maximize any rebounding advantage). Still, this is one of my favorite teams. It seems to have just enough of everything, and I increasingly believe that it’s tough to win in this league (if you’re not starting out with Wilt) without a Durant-like player capable of scoring in buckets at above-average efficiency. I could see Final Four for this bunch.
11. milest – Stephen Curry, Donyell Marshall, Shawn Kemp, Kirk Hinrich, Tree Rollins, Pervis Ellison, Kenneth Faried – Nice in-out offensive balance. I might still experiment with stiffer perimeter defense since Kemp’s usage and floor time won’t generate a lot of offensive explosions in the paint, but I like the composition. Not sure I get Ellison in this league. While Faried seems to have fallen out of favor (he used to be a fifth round staple as a starter), he’s close to the perfect backup for Donyell. Hinrich is underappreciated and underused. Chances are he would have been available in the fifth, but milest got a good center anyway. Kemp and Rollins will foul a billion people during their limited floor time, though. And yeah, Kemp is the only core rotation guy who will post his fair share of FTAs. This team looks good but will have some factors working against it in the possession battle, which might end up being the reason it misses the playoffs.
12. slymonium – David Robinson, Andrei Kirilenko, Clyde Drexler, Terrell Brandon, Kawhi Leonard, Clifford Ray, Kris Humphries – I think the trade was leveraged nicely. I love the Admiral with Kirilenko, and Ray was a great pickup for what the team needed. Humphries is a fabulous third big man in this league, although I’m guessing he’ll spend some time behind Robinson, which creates a usage dip. I like Kawhi backing up both wing spots, as long as there are enough assists elsewhere in the lineup (he doesn’t pass much). The question mark for me is Brandon, who plays a clean game and brings good stuff but is a funky combination of low minutes, high usage and blah efficiency. Playoffs for this bunch, if the right seasons are used and sly manages to find a strong backup PG.
13. cjok1051 – Karl Malone, Elton Brand, Tracy McGrady, Jerry Lucas, Jose Calderon, Jameer Nelson, Kyle Korver – A worthy experiment with this big 3. Between McGrady and the Mailman there is a ton of firepower on the offensive end, and while Brand has long seemed overpriced to me, his defense and shot-blocking should be valuable. I might have gone with defense over efficiency in the fourth round, and chosen a more conventional center who bolsters the team D. Or, hindsight being what it is, grab a better PG in the fourth and use the last two rounds to build a rotation of supporting bigs. (There are some great rebounders going undrafted this season.) Jameer and Nelson are a good start on the bench. I think this is a playoff team and they might go deeper than I suspect, but the scoring will need to come close to leading the league given that only one or two of the seven drafted players are notable defenders.

Thanks for the evals, guys. Always fun.

dh: I'm exploring the boundaries of how much you can depend on one strong defender in the front and back court making the necessary defensive switches with a weak defender. First one to 145 wins!

ltb: Boards are actually the strength of this team. Boozer and Dalembert are each 40ish creb%. And I'm using Marques' big rebounding season at the 3.

RIP "Larry Sanders"

yep

cjok1051

(best to worst)

Jhsukow
Eleibowitz
DH555
Thomcat
Jt7king
Carbonjones
Mikee1
Uptown
Amerk
LTB
Sixernuggets
Jkaye
Ysw
Pennsylvania
Copernicus
Hoopsdude
Vancem
Samuelyork
Banditone
Maglor

slymonium

1. banditone
2. amerk1180
3. jkaye24
4. ysw128
5. maglor1
6. hoopsdude
7. sixernuggets
8. samuelyork93
9. pennsylvania
10. carbonjones
11. longtallbrad
12. cjok1051
13. uptowngbv
14. jhsukow
15. vancem
16. copernicus
17. eleibowitz
18. dh555
19. milest
20. jt7king
21. mikee1
22. thomcat
23. jcred5

milest

1 Banditone
2 Maglor1
3 Ysw
4 Amerk
5 Jkaye
6 PENN
7 jhsukow
8 Hoopsdude
9 sixernugget
10 samuelyork
11 Eleibowitz
12 DH
13 Copernicus
14 Carbonjones
15 uptowngbv
16vancem
17longtallbrad
18 Thomcat
19 mikee1
20 Jt7king

jcred5

1. banditone
2. copernicus
3.. vancem
4. sixernuggets
5.eleibowitz
6.hoopsdude
7. maglor
8. penn
9. jhsukow
10. samuelyork
11.longtallbrad
12.carbonjones
13. jtyking
14. uptowngbv
15. amerk
16. thomcat
17. mikee
18. jkaye
19. sly
20.dh
21. milest
22.ysw

Division Draft



Atlantic - cjok1051, maglor1, samuelyork93, hoopsdude, longtallbrad, uptowngbv

Midwest - slymonium, banditone, jkaye24, sixernuggets, carbonjones, jt7king

Pacific - milest, ysw128, amerk1180, pennsylvania, dh555, thomcat

Central - jcred5, copernicus, vancem, eleibowitz, jhsukow, mikee1