I feel pretty good about my offensive core with Pippen, Garnett, and Randolph. I've never used Randolph, probably because of his poor defense, but he cleans up on the offensive boards, has a managable salary, and has a low amount of turnovers to go with his usage. Seems like a good fit, has anyone used him though?

I don't usually like to have guys with DEF as low as Randolph, but Garnett and Pippen are great defenders so you're probably OK. Randolph is fine overall, but I think you could have waited a while to get him.

Yeah, I looked at previous drafts. I didn't see him go before the fourth round. But building off of Pippen and Garnett, I figure the two are expensive but well rounded. They both turn the ball over more than I usually would like, are in the same usage range, great defenders and passers. I wanted minutes, offensive rebounding, in the same usage range as Pippen and Garnett with low turnovers.
He brings all of the skills I was looking for and was the best fit I could find in the price range I was looking at. 

Dang, Bill Bridges was even before my time. Sweet creb though.

im really gonna be in trouble with minutes...may not even get to use the big boy barros season...its gonna be tough to even get to 19000 mins...may even have to draft one of the stiff twins(you know who im talkin about)

use cheaper versions of Hakeem & MJ.  There are good ones to use (though Hakeem is bleh no matter what you're using, really).  You want to use that big boy Barros season... trust me.

yea...tough to beat 22/10 on 50/50/90 shooting with over 250 3s in the 5th round...thats why i jumped on him before even seeing if i could really afford it....i started trying out different bench combos and i can actually get all the way to 19680 mins using the scrubbiest of scrubs....ill probably just stick with the best seasons of my 5 starters and hope they can carry a sh!tty bench

dh I go with the 90-91 Dream and then find another C/PF that can cover those minutes a C and a few at PF to give some flexibility

1) jethroeg - Shaquille O'Neal, Walt Frazier, Chris Webber, Willie Wise, Phil Smith

Okay.  Time for some brutal honesty.  Shaq is a hoss in the sim but should not be taken 1st.  He's top 10 worth, but he's in the bottom half of the top 10.  You want Wilt, Rodman or Lebron here honestly.  But Shaq could have still worked if you had built around him correctly.

You didn't.

Frazier is solid with the right squad, but in this case - no.  He's not the type of PG (where you should play him) or SG (where you could play him) that works well with Shaq.  You want a bomber or a high distributor (or better yet - both).  C-Web is best suited as a low minute back-up.  His best seasons are ones where he got hurt or traded.  Otherwise you end up with a high usage, average efficiency, low rebounding power forward.  Wise is a decent SF but was taken waaaay too early.  Phil Smith is... why would you do that?  This team is an engima and you'll most likely be picking 1st (or 24th should you choose it) next season if you intend on playing again.


  2) tricky24 - Dennis Rodman, Amare Stoudemire, Robert Parish, Fat Lever, Mitch Richmond
 
Really nice use of Rodman by grabbing a PF who doesn't board that well on either end yet boards enough to be a viable player as long as he's paired with a really, really good rebounder at the 3.  Parish was extremely nice, too... lots of high efg% in your front court.  The only reason Fat is even viable is because he boards so well... but since rebounding is one of the two most important factors in the sim, he's VERY viable.  And then you finish it all off with a legitimate outside threat in Richmond.  I really like the feel & cohesiveness of this entire squad.  I really dig what you done here, man.

3) sixernuggets - Moses Malone, Troy Murphy, Steve Nash, Detlef Schrempf, Gerald Wallace

Moses + Troy is an outstanding 5/4 combo.  Nash went right where he should have, too.  Detlef gives you some goods at the 3, and Wallace makes up for whatever lack of rebounding Detlef caused.  Also, because of the threes coming from Murphy, you were really open at SG to pick someone like Wallace who doesn't shoot alot of threes.  This is a solid all-around squad that will win its fair share of games.


  4) captainzen - Wilt Chamberlain, Dirk Nowitzki, Brent Barry, Raja Bell, Doc Rivers

When you picked Barry, I thought you were going with support Wilt & Barry as your PG (someone please do that sometime or let me draft Wilt so I can).  Then you picked Doc, so I am assuming you're using one of the higher usage Wilts, which is not necessarily a bad idea!  I am extremely confused by the 3 guards you drafted, however... and with Dirk at the 4, if you're planning on using Barry at the 3... you're hurting yourself on boards.


  5) theyard2 - LeBron James, Wes Unseld, Buck Williams, Mark Price, J.R. Smith

I was down with this squad until round 4.  Unseld & Buck are a great tandem up front (one gives you tons of dreb and the other oreb, while neither slouches on the other side).  Buck is an efg% monster, too.  LeBron gives you an unfair advantage at either guard spot (moreso at point).  Then you pick Price... which is a solid PG in this field, yet I was really looking for you to take a good complimentary 2 or 3 here.  Still, I like the pairing and was anxiously awaiting your next pick... which turned out to be the best back-up SG in the sim (higher usage).  So either you think you can get your 3 in the 6th or you're playing Lebron at the 3.  If it's the latter case, it's pretty weaksauce.


  6) ncih - Larry Bird, Mel Daniels, Deron Williams, Nick Anderson, Sam Lacey

Well, Bird as a 2 would have been great, but it's obvious you're using him at the three.  In that case, you need better boards (especially offensively) than you drafted.  Offensively you've got great synergy.  I just think you're hurting yourself in the possession battle.  And Bird as the primary option is less than desirable when it comes to the x-factor.  You'll win some games, but I don't see this squad as any kind of serious contender as is.


  7) dh555 - Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Horace Grant, Swen Nater, Dana Barros

MJ at 7 is a steal.  Luckily you hurt yourself by falling for the Dream bait.  Grant is a great 3 and you got a steal with Nater in round 4 (he was the guy I considered taking instead of Camby in round 2).  Barros almost makes up for Hakeem.  But Hakeem is taking away from both MJ & Barros' good stuff without giving you much good in return.

Mini-rant on Hakeem:  If you took a high efg% scorer, don't take him.  If you took a high-volume, mediocre scorer that helps you in the possession battle (like tmac), then you might consider taking him.  If you took Rodman, take him, but grab some really high efg% 4th or 5th tier guys in the back court to compliment him.  It's a damn shame that one of the greatest players of all-time is so bleh in the sim.


  8) eleibowitz - Dwight Howard, Donyell Marshall, Tom Boerwinkle, Chris Mullin, Terrell Brandon

After each pick made, I was nodding my head in agreement.  Until Brandon.  He's solid, just not what I wanted you to take.  Marshall is the perfect SF (if you don't have Rodman or Barkley), especially when you have Howard (who, at 8, is a steal).  Boerwinkle + Howard + Marshall means that offensive boards will be extremely hard to come by for your opponents.  Winkle makes Howard even better, too.  Mullin is stout.  He has several extremely good 4th tier usage seasons in addition to the great 3rd tier ones (89-90 is one of my favorite sim seasons, even though I've never personally used it).  I feel like you could have done better than Brandon, but like I said, he's solid.  This team is a legit contender.


  9) ljemd - Charles Barkley, Bobby Jones, Reggie Miller, Alonzo Mourning, Maurice Cheeks

You made the classic Barkley mistake when you drafted Bobby Jones and further compounded it with Mourning.  Barkley gives you a tremendous rebounding advantage if you play him at SF and draft board lords at the 4 & 5.  But Bobby Jones is the same thing when it comes to boards... he gives you a big advantage when played at the 3.  One of them will have to play the 4, which is meh, and then Zo is not a board hoarder.  Zo also takes away from Barkley & Miller's (who was a fantastic pick) efficiency.  Mo Cheeks is just not that good for a sim team (no boards, no threes - and a PG better have one of the two here).  Below average squad that shouldn't make the playoffs.


10) mikee1 - David Robinson, Shawn Kemp, Kevin McHale, Jose Calderon, Carmelo Anthony

Great start that just lost steam.  Admiral needs a board lord to compliment him, and Kemp almost qualifies.  McHale certainly helps out from the 3... but your offensive balance seems off now.  You have two paint monsters and another that's 50/50 paint/mid.  Calderon, however, I absolutely love with this squad.  The Melo pick messes up what offensive greatness you had going.  High usage, inefficient scorer that is taking away from the godliness of Admiral, Rain Man & McHale.  This team will win some games, but the salary redundancy spent on usage will keep it from being a legit contender.


11) ashamael - Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Marcus Camby, Terry Porter, Paul Millsap, Michael Redd

Why I did it:
Kareem: High usage (2nd tier) efg% monster that will be on the floor practically all game for me.  Not great on the boards or getting to the line.
Camby:  Low usage guy that plays defense and really helps on the defensive boards.  Doesn't suck on the offensive boards.  Light on minutes.
Millsap:  Med usage guy with decent efg% that helps a ton on the boards on both sides of the ball for a 100% sf.  Fouls a lot.  Average defender.  Light on minutes.
Redd:  Med/High usage guy that helps me in both the possession battle (really, really low tov% and great reb% for position) and the shooting struggle (holla @ 56% efg%; tons of threes).  Light on minutes.
Porter:  Med usage guy with great efg% that helps me in tons of ways: threes, assists, steals, not terrible defensively, low fouls.
SL has 14.5 usage points.

I knew I was taking Millsap & Redd later so I wanted to make sure that I had some defense on the floor besides Kareem (& Porter - meh), so that's why I took Camby over Nater, even though I really wanted Nater's superior rebounding.


12) robocoach (1) - Julius Erving, Mookie Blaylock, Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Rasheed Wallace

Okay, I'm officially confused.  You have three guys that should be playing SF on this team and no true board hoarder.  Lot of missed opportunity in this squad, I think.  You'll win some games, but I doubt you make the playoffs.


13) robocoach (2) - Oscar Robinson, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Andrei Kirilenko, Baron Davis

I know I usually come down hard on your teams and they tend to do well, but both of your teams are just... so missed opportunity-ish!  I assumed AK47 was going to be a 2-guard, and at that point, I really liked this squad.  But now you pick Baron Davis (does he even have a season worth drafting that isn't scrub minutes?  His best season is hands-down a 380 minute version... none of his others even have him cracking 50% efg% and he always shoots too much and turns the ball over so much), so you're planning on putting him or Oscar at the 2, AK47 at the 3, Matrix at the 4 and Chandler where he should be.  I'm hoping I'm wrong and Baron is just a back-up.  Even so, this team wins some games and might compete for the playoffs... it's just no where near as good as it should have been with the start you got!!

14) ginandjuice - Kevin Garnett, Scottie Pippen, Zach Randolph, Damon Jones, Clifford Ray

Garnett gives you great rebounding advantage when played at the 3, which I assume you're sticking to.  Pippen does the same thing at the 2 and has some legit seasons to use.  The two together give you some great defensive play and great possession control, yet neither stand out as an offensive juggernaut (which you need to really be successful in the playoffs in a draft league IMO).  Randolph is an inefficient scorer who could have been drafted much later if drafted at all.  Jones, however, was a ridiculously awesome pick with this squad.  You have a ton of assists coming from KG & Pippen, so you didn't need a distributor here.  You needed a bomber, which you got.  Excellent job there and in round 5 by picking Ray.  He's light on minutes and high on fouls, but he gives you a ton of boards (and also assists).  I like the squad but wish you had done something different with your PF than picking Randolph.  This is borderline playoff team as is but would be a shoe-in with some reliable, high fg% scorer in the front court.

been waiting for your analysis ash! hopefully I can bring it all together with my last two picks! (I promise I have a plan! lol)

I'll note before you analyze my teams, T-Mac team has the starting five drafted; Team Wade is missing the Starting PF (Rollins/Gadzuric are the dual Centers)

15) xxevilivexx (2) - Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, Tree Rollins, Connie Hawkins, Dan Gadzuric

So the PF slot remains a mystery.  Durant + Wade is super nice in many ways - but ideally you want all tier 5 or below usage the rest of the way.  Hawkins kind of ruins that... you're overpaying for usage at this point, though I really like the squad thus far.  The major downer is two high volume so-so efg% scorers. 


16) xxevilivexx (1) - Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Larry Nance, Willis Reed, Kevin Johnson

This is nice.  Did you know that I've used KJ four times in the ODL?  All four times I won the whole enchilada.  You have extremely low turnovers.  KJ makes Tmac better... and the reverse is true as well.  Nance is a beast at SF.  Both of them provide you some balance for when TMAC goes off in the wrong direction (high efg% vs his average one).  This is, of course, assuming you use the versions I think you're using.  Reed is so-so, but you couldn't have gotten much better for when you drafted him (Nater would have been perfect here, especially with Big Ben to cover him).  Don't mess up and use the wrong KJ.  Nobody seems to use the right KJ and they end up paying for it.


17) scudmissle - Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Marques Johnson, Joakim Noah, Samuel Dalembert

I already proclaimed my love for Magic + the Truth.  Marques is PERFECT at the 3 for this (and almost any) squad.  Then you go and add solid rebounding and decent defense up front with Noah & Dalembert.  The usage is perfect - you're covered team & individually versus the possession penalty, yet it's low enough to allow both Magic & Pierce to shine.  This team is a legit contender and probably my favorite thus far.


18) malone9975 - Karl Malone, Dikembe Mutombo, Clyde Drexler, Peja Stojakovic, Mark Jackson

When you mentioned playing Clyde as a SF, I was confused and assumed you made a typo.  Then you drafted Peja... both of which are more ideally suited for SG.  With Mailman and Mutumbo in the power spots, I seriously worry about your offensive rebounding (even though defensive boards are pretty solid).  Love the Jackson pick - especially the year you're using - but I'm just not sold on playing Peja or Clyde at the 3.  You got hella value in each pick, but pick value doesn't win games.  I also think you're flirting in the overpaying for usage territory.

The purpose of team A is not to win, the purpose of team A is to prove a point.
 
The defensive ratings of the starters are 100, 100, 91, 90, 71.
 
Reasonably, In an 82 game season, I would expect them to give up maybe 6-8 games over 100 points, and basically no 4 point plays on the season. Well, they will proabably give up 82 games over 100 points (in itself a farce) and I will keep track of the 4 point plays. I will likely also experiment with a block of x games running a press defence with double teaming the opposing PG (the reason for Dr J in round 1) vs. no press no DT combos.


The point is DEFENSE MEANS CRAP and I am going to prove it. The top players tend to have top defensive ratings already so you can't easily separate the two (I just about busted a nut trying it in this draft).



You know what does win? Sinking 500+ 3's in a season. Period.

The point is DEFENSE MEANS CRAP and I am going to prove it.

You know what does win? Sinking 500+ 3's in a season. Period.

You are learning, grasshopper!

false....defense does mean something...its just not as important as offense....you run a squad out there of great offensive players and no one over 60 on defense you aint winning sh!t

i remember a squad i had not too long ago...nash/peja/natt/camby/kareem...just nasty on offense...and we got lit up every game by anyone who had a good backcourt scoring...got bounced in the 1st round...that was the last time i ignored defense

oh and i won last year with only like 300 or so 3s drafted....not saying 3s arent important, we all know they are...but theres more to team building then just putting 500+ 3s out there..you can dominate other areas