DH $52 XLIV - Commentary Topic

1. natenoy - Wilt Chamberlain, Horace Grant, Brent Barry, Nate McMillan, Clifford Ray, Darrell Walker, Shane Battier
2. 98average - LeBron James, Mookie Blaylock, Robert Parish, Kermit Washington, Tree Rollins, JaVale McGee, James Worthy
3. banditone - Dikembe Mutombo, Clyde Drexler, Stephen Curry, M.L. Carr, Spencer Haywood, Wes Matthews, Jeff Ruland
4. tricky24 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Buck Williams, Ray Allen, Dana Barros, Charlie Edge, Leandro Barbosa, Tayshaun Prince
5. slymonium - Michael Jordan, Chauncey Billups, Shawn Kemp, Andrei Kirilenko, Larry Sanders, Paul Millsap, Dan Gadzuric
6. thomcat - Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Terry Porter, Gerald Wallace, Jason Terry, Swen Nater, Tim Hardaway
7. longtallbrad - Dwight Howard, Donyell Marshall, Tom Boerwinkle, Eddie Jones, Terrell Brandon, Joel Przybilla, Jose Calderon
8. scudmissle - Dennis Rodman, Alonzo Mourning, Elton Brand, Jerry West, Rodney McCray, Drew Gooden, Baron Davis
9. logain - Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Durant, Cedric Maxwell, Charles Oakley, Andre Iguodala, Ryan Anderson, Rodrigue Beaubois
10. theyard2 - Karl Malone, Tyson Chandler, Larry Nance, Rajon Rondo, James Harden, Eddie House, DeAndre Jordan
11. steelers821 - David Robinson, Jerry Lucas, Paul Pierce, Chris Webber, Paul Pressey, Dan Roundfield, Cory Alexander
12. felonius - Tim Duncan, Julius Erving, Wes Unseld, Charlie Ward, Kenneth Faried, James Posey, Erick Dampier
13. dh555 - Charles Barkley, Anfernee Hardaway, Deron Williams, Anthony Mason, Joakim Noah, Troy Murphy, Leon Powe
14. mikee1 - Artis Gilmore, Scottie Pippen, Serge Ibaka, Blake Griffin, Kevin Johnson, Jordan Farmar, Ed Davis
15. pennsylvania - Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Emeka Okafor, Maurice Cheeks, Chris Mullin, Pervis Ellison, Bob Gross
16. smokey57 - Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton, Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Person, George Gervin, Norm Van Lier, Chris Dudley
17. jhsukow - Mel Daniels, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Kevin Love, Amare Stoudemire, Bo Outlaw, Jamaal Tinsley
18. tarheel1991 - Ben Wallace, Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bynum, Derek Harper, Andre Drummond, Sidney Moncrief, Mark Price
19. vancem - Chris Paul, Kevin McHale, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Kris Humphries, Samuel Dalembert, Jon Barry
20. jkaye24 - Bill Russell, Jason Kidd, Patrick Ewing, Tracy McGrady, Clarence Weatherspoon, Vince Carter, Chris Andersen
21. maglor1 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson, Walt Bellamy, Marques Johnson, Doug Christie, Danny Green, Don Buse
22. sixernuggets - John Stockton, Bobby Jones, Jack Sikma, Dan Issel, Brian Winters, Alvin Adams, Henry Bibby
23. eleibowitz - Dwyane Wade, Marcus Camby, Carlos Boozer, Nick Anderson, Arvydas Sabonis, Hot Rod Williams, Jameer Nelson
24. iccoachb - Magic Johnson, Shawn Marion, Zelmo Beaty, Pau Gasol, Alex English, Brandan Wright, Roy Tarpley
3/25/2014 3:49 PM (edited)
Remember, half of this will be dead wrong. I don't always know what I'm talking about, I just think I do right now cause I won the title last season.



Draft Evaluations


***** - One of the favorites. Most likely a division winner or a 3/4 seed if the division is tough.

**** - Playoff team. Could miss if division/conference is strong.

*** - On the fringe. Playoff spot likely depends on strength of division/conference

** - No playoffs. Could make it if division/conference is weak.

* - Lottery team. Good luck next season.





16. smokey57 - Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton, Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Person, George Gervin, Norm Van Lier, Chris Dudley

Smoke dog!....pass that sh!t over here. This team is as wacky as the tabacky(?) you've been smoking while putting together this mess. I like KG at 16 in this league - he's definitely a first rounder. But you really need to try to take advantage of his 02-03 100% sf season. 04-05 is pretty much the same as 02-03 but 90% at sf. Why not just use the 02-03 and play KG at the 3. You know you weren't gonna draft a 3pt shooter to play there anyway. Payton is a beast - I like the 99-00 season too...the big boy one. KG/GP is a nice start, both great all around players. Then Dirk? The 05-06 beastly big boy Dirk? The Dirk I think can definitely be the #1 on a championship team Dirk? Ugh...but that's right, you're using KG at pf - scratch that - center now. Person is a perfect pick at sg here, yet you still screwed it up by not using his best season. And to save mins for a guy named Norm? Dudley is a great ODL player, and you really needed his elite oreb%, but I think you could have done better with your backup pf/c cash. Still, after all those mistakes you could have salvaged this into a nice squad. All you needed was a sf with mid to low usage, high oreb%, paint scoring, and hopefully good d. You went with George Gervin. He's your sim crack smokey. Just say no.

**

1. natenoy - Wilt Chamberlain, Horace Grant, Brent Barry, Nate McMillan, Clifford Ray, Darrell Walker, Shane Battier

Hmmmm...I'm thinking I should just bite my tongue on this one. I hated on your ODL team(well mostly just westbrook, but still) and you've blown me out 3 times. Now I'm fighting like hell to fend off tarheel for the 3rd seed so I don't have to play you in the 1st round. Buuuuut haters gotta hate right? First off, vance is right. It's not a ballsy move to use 61-62. One could even say it's a way to avoid the pressure of failing with 66-67. But not me, I love it. No 66-67 Wilt means a better chance for me to win the title again. And of course I'm very interested to see what kind of numbers he can put up again. Now to the hate. My sim-crush Ho Grant was meant to be the sf on this team. I'm glad you didn't pass that up. But why isn't he playing all his mins at sf? You should be loaded with oreb% at the 3/4 and I don't see how you can do better then Ho Grant at the 3. You can't argue with Barry at sg here with the 3rd round pick....but I'll try. Steve Nash. You know him - you love the offense, hate the defense and turnovers. But isn't he really the perfect pg here? Wilt needs dimes and 3s, who better than Nash? And his usg would make him the perfect 2/3 scorer to Wilt. Barry/Grant were fine though, you couldn't have done much better grabbing elite role players there. Except I think you expanded their roles a bit too much by not adding any usg next to them. I really think you're gonna have trouble scoring the ball. The defense is only average so you can't rely on that. I just don't see where you're gonna have an edge. The 71-72 Ray is risky one. The boards and assists are amazing but are they worth the fls/tos and average d? Battier has never made any sense to me. Should really only ever play sg and he's not a very good one. He brings no dimes or boards and his d drops big time when you move him to pg. Hate Battier. Hate Duke even more. Darrell Walker again? He's your sim crack nate. Just say no.

**

9. logain - Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Durant, Cedric Maxwell, Charles Oakley, Andre Iguodala, Ryan Anderson, Rodrigue Beaubois


Loved the trade for both teams. But I really loved your spot. Shaq carried me to the chip last season. F*ck FTs...he rarely ever will cost you a game because of missed fts. More likely he will hit huge baskets down the stretch and win you games. It was only a matter of time before he got a ring here(he probably already has won here, just before my time). I would have went CP3 with the 17th pick. You still get a nice 1/2 scoring punch, you're set with ast%, and you have a defender at the 1/2. That allows you to grab a bomber at the 2 and not worry about assists or defense. But Durant is awesome. It's probably the best 1/2 scoring punch I've seen in this league. Maxwell is a great 3rd scoring option next to these two. Oakley can guard the 3/4 so he's a perfect fit next to Maxwell. I really like the 10-11 Anderson backing up Maxwell. Great snag in the 6th. Your backup PF doesn't rebound enough imo though. I thought you would grab a pg in the 4th since Shaq/Durant need to be fed but you waited until the 6th. And with Jose Calderon jumping up and down and screaming "I'm the perfect PG!", you took Iggy. Shaq/Durant...and no ast% heavy pg? Shame on you. It still looks like a good team and Iggy will make them better on the boards and on d, but this team really lacks a true pg.

***

5. slymonium - Michael Jordan, Chauncey Billups, Shawn Kemp, Andrei Kirilenko, Larry Sanders, Paul Millsap, Dan Gadzuric

My draft strategy usually goes like this. 1st round - pick the best player I want to build around. 2nd/3rd round - pick the two best players that compliment my 1st rounder, make my other picks easier, and give my team an identity. So using my brilliant, earth-shattering strategy we can see how Sly built himself a contender. Jordan...he's the alpha dog - the #1 scoring option. Billups...Jordan's lack of 3s?..covered. Ast% heavy pg...covered. Oh, and he throws in good defense, awesome a/t ratio, and can be your 2/3 scoring option. Ok..now frontcourt is gonna need rebounds and defense. Also gonna need a paint scorer to balance out the floor. Kemp...does all three. Now sly has his main scorers covered(1 per, 1 mid, 1 pnt too), has defenders to cover weaker ones(if need be) and isn't weak on the glass or the pass. The rest of the picks are easy if you know what you want your team to be. Sly went for a nasty defensive team. And since he got his paint scorer and 3pt/ast pg(very hard to find with good defense after the 3rd round), finding elite defenders to round out the squad wasn't hard. AK47 has more usg then is needed but it's a fair tradeoff for what else he brings. He rebounds just as well as Nance or B.Jones at the 3 and dimes like Odom or KG there. Sanders brings more defense and boards(and gets to play pf for once - so maybe he will actually shoot over 50%). Overall I love it even though you foul waaaay too much. Jordan + elite defense worked well for the Bulls in the 90s, is working well for jcred in the odl(I thought they would suck), and should work well here.

*****

17. jhsukow - Mel Daniels, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Kevin Love, Amare Stoudemire, Bo Outlaw, Jamaal Tinsley

Now this would be the opposite of having a plan haha. I'm not sure what you had planned at the start when you made the trade but things sure got out of hand quick. This reminds me of that Jim Breuer sketch about the alcohol party in his stomach(google it). Daniels and Kobe are the first ones in. Mel is talking to Kobe about how he's gonna clean up all his misses and Kobe is telling him how me promises to give him some paint touches. Everything is going good. Steve Nash shows up and the party really gets going. He's talking about dishing to Kobe and knocking down 3s. Everyone is really excited and having a good time. Then Kevin Love enters. Right away he and Daniels get into about who has to guard the other teams best paint scorer(daniels knows its him but he doesn't wanna look bad). Then they start arguing over who Nash likes better. Kobe steps in to ***** them out, "he like ME the best". All of a sudden Amare shows up. Everyone knows he used to date Nash. Mad tension in the room. Next thing you know, Love yells out "there's only room for one good offense/bad defense pf around here and punches Amare. Kobe doesn't like the way Nash was looking at Amare when he came in, so he punches him. Bo Outlaw(who no one noticed come in) is in the corner of the room, sobbing like a little girl. Pure chaos. That's when the bouncer yells, "Everybody out!". If you didn't see that sketch, I'm basically just saying you got too much going on here. Most glaringly, the lack of defense and the fact that one of Amare/Love/Daniels has to play some sf or get shorted mins.

**

6. thomcat - Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Terry Porter, Gerald Wallace, Jason Terry, Swen Nater, Tim Hardaway

I really like the Moses/McAdoo combo. I'm not sure I've seen that before, but you would think it would happen more considering where they both usually go. Moses is so elite because of who you can pair him with at c/pf. And that is pretty much everyone. Try to think of a pf/c that wouldn't work with Moses. You probably can't. He can be the primary paint scorer(next to a guy like unseld or nater or murphy) or he can be your 2/3 option next to a scorer(like Dirk or Amare or Ewing). McAdoo is underrated no more and now goes 2nd/early 3rd like he should. Great pairing. PG is a tricky position to draft in this league so it was good to grab Porter where you did. I'm a Nash>Porter guy but plenty of good owners would disagree. How did GWallace make it to the end of the 4th? He's almost like a Shawn Marion at sf. I get why people play him at sg but I still think he's best used at sf as long as you have some oreb(hello moses) at the 4/5. I think you needed the ast% at sg, and 3s never hurt ,so I do like the Terry pick despite the lack of boards. Overall you have a nice balanced scoring squad with all 3 zones covered. The frontcourt d is good but the backcourt d could be a problem. Moses is gonna have to do extra work on the glass to keep you competitive there but that's why you pay him the big bucks. I don't like the bench. That Nater might be a beast on the glass but he murders you with poor defense and super high tos/fls for the mediocre shooting he gives you.

***
19. vancem - Chris Paul, Kevin McHale, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Kris Humphries, Samuel Dalembert, Jon Barry

A very vance-like squad...vance. There's the balanced scoring(since you are most likely picking near 24), There's the LMBLs in the 5th/6th round. And hey look... there's Jon Barry! Now it's definitely a vance squad. All you're missing is Sabonis. Everything looks good around here. No major holes. A couple of late steals(Frazier/Dalembert). Ho-hum it looks like another playoff squad for Vance. Business as usual. But allow me to nit-pick so you know why I don't think its a contender. McHale is a tough one. His rebounding says you need to bite the bullet and play him 97% at sf. But now you've turned him into a 55-58% shooter instead of a 58-62% shooter. His defense drops too when played at SF(and on this team he can't really slide over to cover the pf/c too often - really just for humphries and that drops him in the 40s). But, as in this case, it's just easier to stick him at sf and take the hit. Reed is one of those bleh type guys. The adv% say hes a good player but I never see him on winning teams. He fouls more than you think(almost 5 fp48) and you have to choose between great d/good rebounding and great rebounding/good d for the season you're gonna use. Also don't be surprised to see CP3 turn it over close to 4pg. Really nice sqaud overall but I don't think this is #4 vance.

****

21. maglor1 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson, Walt Bellamy, Marques Johnson, Doug Christie, Danny Green, Don Buse

Remember when Hakeem used to be considered somewhat of a sim poison? Well, Swen Nater also used to be a solid 2nd round pick. The point is, the sim changes and Hakeem is now kind of a stud. He's never gonna be in that Moses/Howard/Malone/DRob/Shaq group but hes right behind those guys. A legit MVP candidate. I'm still a fan of the 61-62 Oscar(if I'm taking him it's mainly for the board/assist advantage and he's better at those in that year) but I get using 62-63, it's the better shooting season. LTB had Bellamy recently and he performed better than I expected. He gives you the same scoring and rebounding Hakeem does, but also the same tos/fls. With a Oscar/Bellamy/Hakeem big 3 I would usually say 45 wins max and doubtful of a playoff berth. But you made some really nice picks to round out the squad. Marques does his usual and slips to the 4th. Solid offense, solid defense and hes a 10/20 boarder at sf. 10/20 is no joke at sf, he should be getting drafted higher. After Marques you didn't need anymore usgage. But you did need 3s badly and more assists. Doug Christie! Great pick! He should be picked almost every time. His defense is just a bonus next to Oscar but there's always teams with PG's who have poor d and need a SG to cover for them. Christie fits that role perfectly. Green doesn't help with the boards when he backs up sf, or with the assists when he backs up sg, but that's still a great season and you really needed the 3s. Buse makes no sense to me here but I guess he's not hurting much either. I don't think Oscar/Bellamy/Hakeem is a good enough trio to make any real noise but this team could surprise.

***

23. eleibowitz - Dwyane Wade, Marcus Camby, Carlos Boozer, Nick Anderson, Arvydas Sabonis, Hot Rod Williams, Jameer Nelson

D-Wade is one of the hottest players in the sim right now so I was surprised to see him drop to #23. Defensive teams with Wade leading the way have been pretty successful lately. When you passed on a bunch of really good offensive players to grab Camby in the 2nd I thought you were going that same route. Boozer put an end to that. I wonder if you had Boozer in mind when you took Camby or just couldn't pass up his awesome offense and rebounding. Boozer would be a lock for the 2nd(maybe even late 1st) if his defense wasn't so putrid. He works great here being sandwiched between Camby and Hot Rod's d. Hot Rod is a really underrated sf, probably because his dreb% is kinda weak. But again, you have that covered with Camby/Boozer. I don't like having Wade as the only 15+ ast% guy in the starting lineup but Nick Anderson does bring the 3 point shooting you really needed. What really makes this a playoff team imo is the great bench picks. You needed some scoring punch off the bench and it doesn't get much better than Nelson and Sabonis. They are both elite 6th rounders. You added some other really good undrafted guys as well. I don't think you dominate in any one aspect of the game here, but I don't see any holes either(besides ast% - but that's really just my personal preference). If Wade goes off this team will be trouble.

****

15. pennsylvania - Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Emeka Okafor, Maurice Cheeks, Chris Mullin, Pervis Ellison, Bob Gross

Bird has 3 really good seasons but no one ever chooses my favorite, 87-88. That's the best offensive one. 84-85 gives you the great defense though, so it's hard to argue against using that season. You left some really talented players on the board to grab Walton and Okafor. Guys that could have made this team special. But I get it - it's hard find guys who can rebound/defend with solid efficiency. Their usage works well here and do set you up nicely to run a 3 man rotation at pf/c. Pervis isn't the guy I would use here but he's better than I expected(I think you've used him before right?). Cheeks usually doesn't fly on my radar since he doesn't shoot 3s. But you can't find a cleaner pg that plays defense like that for that many mins. Mullin was the hero for my championship squad in the closing game, so I have a soft spot for him. You're using a different version but it's the one I would use if 3s didn't matter. He's Bird's sidekick here and should get a chance to maximize his ftas(where he shoots 88%). I like it. You got a tight 7 man rotation going on here with everyone in their correct roles. The defensive positioning works really well(the 90 d guys can cover for the 60 d guys) too. The problem is you have no perimeter threats. The good ast% should help, but without proper floor spacing I don't think your offense will be that special. I think you would be better off not picking Gross and using a perimeter threat there instead

***

7. longtallbrad - Dwight Howard, Donyell Marshall, Tom Boerwinkle, Eddie Jones, Terrell Brandon, Joel Przybilla, Jose Calderon

You never know what to expect from ltb. I've seen him hang out in the basement and chill in the penthouse. I think you hit the up button on the elevator with this squad though. Is there a safer 2nd round pick in the draft then Marshall? You can't go wrong with the guy. There's also no one else like him in the sim. Search for a sf(at least 97% eff) with 20% dreb, 70d, and a per% of 30. I'll wait(simmons anyone?). That's right...03-04 Marshall...that's it. Boerwinkle has still never been on any of my draft teams. Not for lack of talent though. There's also no one like him in the sim(at least not for another few weeks). Dwight and Donyell give you no ast% so it was a key pick getting all them dimes at the center spot. But forget ast% for a second, look at that rebounding at the 4/5! 3 40creb guys...that's insane. You have Dwight and his amazing paint scoring so a perimeter threat was needed and Eddie Jones fits that role. So lets see...what's missing here? You need a pg with usage. How about one with amazing A/T ratio, good stl%, 81 d, adds some 3s, and always seems to get to the line more than you'd think. I'm not sure who the alternative would have been here had Brandon been snagged before you got him(could be ugly) but no need to worry about that now. He fits beautifully. Calderon is an offensive monster. I have no idea why so many teams that needed him passed on him. I guess the defense scared everyone off. The only thing I don't like is the fact you have no high usg% players backing up Dwight and Brandon. That might cause a problem for stretches during the games. Still, this is one of my favorites...nice job.

*****

22. sixernuggets - John Stockton, Bobby Jones, Jack Sikma, Dan Issel, Brian Winters, Alvin Adams, Henry Bibby

Let me start off by saying that when we figure out the draft order next season, you are NOT allowed to give your top 5 pick away to vancem. Make him offer you a fair deal. You hear that vance? No bullsh!t trades! Ok...now that that's out of the way, let's move on to this...this...what's the word I'm looking for...abomination?...yea that works...this abomination of a team. I knew you were gonna struggle when you wasted an early 2nd rounder on Bobby Jones. Then you picked Sikma and guaranteed yourself a lottery pick. I think this may be the first case of tanking in this league. I'd have a problem with it, but um..yea(lowers head and mumbles) I'm a 76ers fan. That, and the fact that you wanted to see how some of your favorite real life players would do here, are the only reasons I can think why you drafted this team. You couldn't seriously believe they are capable of winning more than 30 games(I'm putting the over/under at 12). I'd love an explanation. Here's some craptastic facts about the team. 23328 mins has to be a record. Only two players have an efg% over 50. The only perimeter threat is the center(reminds me of my sixers). He has about 30/70% boards from the starters. There will be 80-100% ast out there while Stockton is in(ooo sneaky...almost didn't notice that). Nice job sixers, sure hope you're in my division.

*

4. tricky24 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Buck Williams, Ray Allen, Dana Barros, Charlie Edge, Leandro Barbosa, Tayshaun Prince

When you can beat out Wilt in the MVP race, you know you have some serious sim talent. Kareem may be the only guy who can say that. He's someone you can definitely ride all the way to the finals. #3 on my big board. Loved the 2/3 picks too. You don't want Kareem guarding anyone else besides center so you know that whoever you draft at PF will have to hold their own there or get help from the sf. Buck has a solid 70 d and brings the boards and more awesome paint scoring. He should benefit from seeing the other teams weaker pf/c too. And what goes good with dominant paint scoring? How about some dominant perimeter scoring. And Ray Allen may be the best. So that gives you possibly the best paint and perimeter scorers. Scary stuff. Edge does the dirty work at sf and can cover for Allen at sg on d if needed. That was a really good pick. Barros used to be one of my favorites. The efg% sucked me right in. But after having several teams with him that underachieved, I've soured on him. He doesn't have great ast% for a pg, gives no boards, is a liability on d, and you really don't need his high mins in this league since you have so much extra cash to spend on top backups. The Allen/Barros backcourt on d could be this teams downfall. That and some questionable picks for your bench. There's no need for Tayshaun Prince or guys with close to 9 fp48. The offense kicks a$s but I see this as a bubble team.

***


8. scudmissle - Dennis Rodman, Alonzo Mourning, Elton Brand, Jerry West, Rodney McCray, Drew Gooden, Baron Davis

Rodman is all about who you can get later in the draft. It's tough to compare him to other top 10 picks in that regard. You have to take advantage of his skills somehow when you have Rodman. There's many ways to do this and scud went for a defensive look. Zo is a natural fit next to Rodman. That was a no-branier. But Brand was interesting. He's best used as a sf so on the surface it looks like a wasted pick. But I kinda like it because he wasn't gonna find anyone like him later in the draft. You have to draft usg around Rodman and if scud wanted a big that defended well he was gonna have trouble finding one that can score. If he wanted a scorer, he was gonna have trouble finding one that defends well. Brand does both well. West fits the team plan here perfectly, giving you another high usg scorer and great d at the 1/2. Ah, Rodney McCray....so many times I've looked your way, only to pass because of lack of 3s at sg or lack of boards at sf. Really good all-around player and squeaky clean too. Love the fit here. I don't want to talk about the bench...it'll only get me mad. Ruins the good thing you had going here. You still have an elite defense, very good offense for a defensive team, and
of course, Rodman. I think you'll make the playoffs. But that damn bench unit and total lack of 3s keeps me from giving you more stars.

***


20. jkaye24 - Bill Russell, Jason Kidd, Patrick Ewing, Tracy McGrady, Clarence Weatherspoon, Vince Carter, Chris Andersen

I like this strategy at the bottom of the draft. Grab two elite role players and hope your fellow owners screw up and leave you some good scorers. Well, we did. Big time. After the first round, if you want high usg paint scoring, it usually comes down to Ewing, Zo, or Amare. Zo was off the board so I wonder if you had to choose between Amare and Ewing or was Pattycakes the pick all along? I have a sim-chub right now just thinking about Amare's 59% shooting and great ftp48(with 80%). He would have been my choice. But Ewing does have that 88 defense and is a pretty damn good scorer himself. McGrady had to be a pipe dream right?  I wonder who you had lined up before we gave you that gift. T-Mac is an elite scorer who owners should be aiming to build around. He's been on sooo many good teams, usually because he falls past the 2nd or 3rd round and owners are able to get elite role players around him. Spoon has been a draft staple since getting his defensive upgrade. Can't ask for more from a low usg sf - boards/defense/efficiency. I wouldn't use anything else besides 08-09 Birdman. I think you needed his oreb% over the extra mins. Vince confused me at first, but I can see how that works. Carter/TMac/Ewing on the court at the same time seems a bit much, but they will always have 2 low usg guys with them so it makes sense. Like T-mac, he has crazy low top48(i know i should probably use tov% but i dont feel like doing the math every time) for his usg. Ewing may average 5 topg just to get the teams turnovers at a normal number. You definitely nailed this draft. I'd say lack of oreb%(its not bad, just not as good as you would want with tmac/carter jacking shots all game) is the only real weakness.

****


24. iccoachb - Magic Johnson, Shawn Marion, Zelmo Beaty, Pau Gasol, Alex English, Brandan Wright, Roy Tarpley

Damn, you would have liked this eval a whole lot better if I had done it before actually seeing what seasons you used. You still managed to put together a pretty solid team too. But it could have been so much better. Let's start with the craziest choice. Please take this time to compare his 06-07 and 07-08 seasons. You'll notice they both have very similar advanced numbers. Ok, since we now know they both basically do the same things, why the hell would you pick the one with 700 less mins, lower defense, and only 97% at sf? 83-84 Magic is a great season, his best fg% one. But he's your first round pick, why take a lower minute version? He also doesn't have the 3s or FTAs that 89-90 has and turns it over a ton that year. You picked Gasol's best scoring season, but not the one you needed. 9-10 gives more boards and better defense, while still providing good offense. English has a place in this league but he gives you no 3s from the sg spot. In fact you have no 3pt shooting at all on this team outside of Marion and his 33%. You will cruise past your win total from last season. You have a lot more boards this time and have some really nice offensive weapons. Teams will feast on your defense again though.  You can't have a 50/54/66 defensive 4/5 and win in this league.

*

10. theyard2 - Karl Malone, Tyson Chandler, Larry Nance, Rajon Rondo, James Harden, Eddie House, DeAndre Jordan

I was really hoping to get to use Malone this time around. He's a top-5 scorer in this league for sure and the defense and dimes aren't too bad either. After banditone robbed the 2nd round of one of the three low usg boarders, you should feel lucky to get Chandler. He fit's so perfect next to a scorer like Malone. Nance completes the front line that probably had everyone sh!ttin there pants after the 3rd. He loses some value here on this team though since his amazing defense is only going to be covering sfs. The Rondo pick was money. There's your ast% covered and you have a defender for the 1/2 spots. That allowed you to go after any sg you wanted. You had tons of choices too. Offensive minded SGs are the deepest position in the sim. I was thinking you needed someone more in the 24-28 usg range, but it's hard to argue against Harden. His ftp48 is amazing and allows him to be a legit #2 to Malone. I'm pretty sure that 1-2 punch has won in a draft league before. In fact, wasn't that you yard? With Rondo at PG, 3s looked to be a problem. Enter Eddie House. Now you have 300+ 3s just from the SG spot with more at backup pg(nice choice there). Well done. You don't get 5 stars from me because of the boards though. It's still the most important aspect of the sim imo and you will most likely be at a disadvantage there.

****

12. felonius - Tim Duncan, Julius Erving, Wes Unseld, Charlie Ward, Kenneth Faried, James Posey, Erick Dampier

You as$hole. You just stuck Barkley against Nance/GWall/Outlaw/Carr(80) and your Dr. J. Poor Chuck. One thing you can always count on with your teams is the rebounding. I can't ever remember you fielding a team that was weak on the boards. I also don't remember you ever having a basement dweller. Coincidence? Methinks not. Every player is good to elite at rebounding their position(except when posey plays sf). I like your Unseld choice. If you're taking him, it's for the boards. So it makes sense to use his best rebounding season. Ward used to be a 6th rounder..then a 5th..now a 4th. He'll be a 3rd rounder before you know it with the way teams are drafting defense. He's pretty much the best low usg, good defense, 3pt shooting pg out there after Kidd. Frontcourt defense will really struggle when Timmy is out. That's why I would have rather seen you take someone with good defense instead of Dampier(though i can see the need for is oreb%). I really like the supporting cast, just not the 1-2 punch they are supporting. Timmy(who is actually my favorite rl player) and Dr. J just don't scare me much. The numbers say I should be worried, but I never see either guy really outperform expectations. Really solid job building this team but it just feels kinda average to me. Hmmm I wonder what will give first? Your seble jinx or my eval jinx.

***


3. banditone - Dikembe Mutombo, Clyde Drexler, Stephen Curry, M.L. Carr, Spencer Haywood, Wes Matthews, Jeff Ruland

It's been talked about plenty in this forum so I don't need to add much more. The Mutombo pick was pure insanity. We all know it. But why? Banditone...please...do us a favor and break it down for us. I'm sure everyone would love to hear the reasons. I never doubted for a second you wouldn't use 94-95 Drexler. With as frequent as you use the guy I would think you might want to try his best season once. But it's definitely not your style to go with the norm.  M.L. was a laugher of a pick until I actually checked out his 78-79 season. It's still pretty bad but the 80d and his lower usg make him a nice fit on the team as long as we ignore his crazy low 11.8dreb% for a sf. The bench is of course awful. It wouldn't be a banditone team without one. I don't know what I like more...the backup pg with the 6.2 top48 or the fact that you found and used a peja with less then 50efg%. Nice. What makes me a little nervous about dropping some games to this team is big Spencer Haywood. 49% shooting on 25%usg is his major flaw. It's why he usually never gets drafted. But look at everything else. He's insanely efficient, damn near elite on the boards, shoots well from the line for a center, and has a solid 66 defense...all at 44mpg. 2.8 fp48 for 44mpg from the center position is the main reason banditone will yet again will the ft battle. He's not as bad as you think. Or maybe I'm just over-hyping him because he killed it for me in an all 50s/60s league. Yea...that's probably it.

*


2. 98average - LeBron James, Mookie Blaylock, Robert Parish, Kermit Washington, Tree Rollins, JaVale McGee, James Worthy

Niiiiiice. LeBron and Mookie are like the exact opposite of you and ash. They were meant for each other. I'm not a fan of LeBron at pg because I think it's better to add more ast% and 3s from the backcourt then it is to add boards. And Mookie actually rebounds his position well too. He made 279 3s for me last season and almost broke the dh52 steal record. I don't know why it took me so long to come around on this guy. Great pick. I'd like the Parish pick a lot too, but you're not using his awesome 88-89 season. I understand you wanted the 91 d and higher usg, but you could have addressed that later in the draft. Hell, you grabbed two guys later yourself(Kermit/Tree) who could have covered for him on defense. The 80-81 is only 98% at pf too. So when next to Tree that fg% and d will drop some. The to/pf numbers are fugly as hell too. Still, you are pretty stacked in the frontcourt with boards and defense. Worthy brings impressive fg% and defense but even more tos/fls. In fact, that seems to be the story with your team. You have an awesome mix of efg% and defense but the tos/fls will kill you. Good thing that backcourt is so efficient. This should be one of your better teams in awhile. One more note: Dude...come on...the team name? When ash is actually in the league it's funny. When he's not it's just kinda creepy.

****


18. tarheel1991 - Ben Wallace, Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bynum, Derek Harper, Andre Drummond, Sidney Moncrief, Mark Price

I remember I had a team with big Ben and Manu. It also had my boy Chauncey on it. I even stole McAdoo in the 4th. That team was so awesome. I thought for sure I was gonna win the title. But no, some jackas$ with Larry Bird beat me in 7 in the finals. Ruined my 3-peat. But it's all good now. I got my revenge on you last season. I'm still pretty shocked I beat you. It must have been the forum jinxes(I think I said "when tarheel wins the title" a few times) and all the talk about banning Wilt. Tough to get a read on this team. So many good pieces. But will they mesh well? The 4/5 combo is pretty awesome. Bynum is a 56% paint scorer with 2.4 fp48. Putting him next to Ben spells trouble for your opponents hopes of getting to the line. Drummond is Drummond(this will be the last time his 12-13 gets used in this league) and Varejao is a top 8-12mpg backup. The 1/2/3 spots is where it gets interesting. Manu and Harper are both lower minute starters so you had room to play around with different lineups. Price makes a ton of sense. He has several different seasons around 2000 mins that bring great efg% and ast%. Cedric Ceballos! How underrated is that guy? Great to see him on a team with his amazing paint scoring and good efficiency/rebounds. Moncrief pushes Manu to SF which I hate. But he does bring some nice defensive flexibilty and oreb%. This might have been the hardest team to predict. But I don't think you ever miss the playoffs so I better dish out them stars.

****


11. steelers821 - David Robinson, Jerry Lucas, Paul Pierce, Chris Webber, Paul Pressey, Dan Roundfield, Cory Alexander

Are there still people out there that doubt Jerry Lucas? If you are one of the foolish, please go back and check out game 2 of the finals last season. I had just gotten blown out in game 1. Shaq fouls out in game 2 and only plays 28 mins. I should be down 0-2 right? Nope. My 16.5usg% pf decides to put up a 33/14 on 15/21 shooting to steal homecourt from tarheel and swing the series. He does that type of stuff all the time. I don't know what it is but the guy just always performs well in the sim. If he hasn't worked well for you, then believe me...it's you..not him. He's a perfect fit next to the Admiral and you have his defense covered. The only thing I don't like is that you have him as your lowest usg player. I think he should always be the 4th option so he can get more touches. Pierce has completely fallen off my draft board since he lost his 88 d on the 01-02 season. 10-11 is a very nice season but he's just another sg with average defense there. Not worth a 3rd rounder imo. I'm starting to like players less and less when they are 97-98% at the position they're playing. They usually always under-perform. Instead of 54% and 80d, he's really closer to 50% and 73d. I'm not sure if boards/assists get affected by being out of position but I know defense and efg% do. If you've been reading my evals you can guess what I'm gonna say about Pressey. It's all about ast% and 3s at the pg spot for me. His defense will be very useful though. Something to think about though: When you go up against all the great sgs in this league it will be Pressey that guards them. That means Pierce and his 56 d will drop to low 40s when moved onto the pg. Teams with 2 scoring guards will take advantage of that. Roundfield fouls wa...nevermind...I know that doesn't concern you haha. This certainly isn't my type of team but I can see why others rated you so highly.

***


14. mikee1 - Artis Gilmore, Scottie Pippen, Serge Ibaka, Blake Griffin, Kevin Johnson, Jordan Farmar, Ed Davis

Now this is my type of squad. Paint scoring...yup. Ast% heavy backcourt...yup. 3s...yup. Defensive flexibility...yup. Rebounding...ehh..not terrible but this looks to be the weakness. I think I proved last season you can win the title with 2 weak defenders in the starting lineup. KJ guards the weaker 1/2 and Blake guards the weaker 3/4. Makes sense. I really like that Griffin season too. Tough to find that kind of paint scoring in the 4th. The KJ trade worked out well for both teams I thought, and he's basically your 5th round pick...that's a huge steal. You really needed his FTAs since Pippen and Blake don't dominate there. You sneaky bastard...I see what you did with Melo there. I like that move since I doubt there were too many good high usg backup options at pf(gatling of course). I had Farmar on my team before you drafted him. The defense sucks but he's got elite shooting. If Artis can carry this team on the glass and you dont get beat too bad in the ft battle I don't see why this team can't make a deep run.

****


13. dh555 - Charles Barkley, Anfernee Hardaway, Deron Williams, Anthony Mason, Joakim Noah, Troy Murphy, Leon Powe

Gotta save the best for last right? It's a pretty sweet feeling when you pretty much get all the guys you were targeting in the draft. I wanted a paint scoring beast with my first pick. I missed out on DRob and Malone but Chuck is a pretty damn good consolation prize. McHale was the pipe dream for round 2 but Penny was 2nd on my list...thrilled to finally get to use him in this league. I had Nash or Deron pegged for my round 3 pick and jh took care of that decision. I wanted Mason in the 4th ever since I drafted Barkley. I love his 96-97 season but don't want to use it at sf(96%). Barkley and his oreb% is a perfect fit next to him. I originally was looking at Sanders in the 5th but then I got excited about the prospect of having Noah's 14% ast and a starting lineup with 100% ast. Sanders was picked before me anyway. 07-08 Powe was meant to backup Barkley at sf...easy pick there. Picking my backup pf/c wasn't quite as easy. I had it down to either Murphy,Przybilla, or Dale Davis. I rolled the dice with Murphy's horrible d to get his 3pt shooting and dreb%. I still don't feel too confident about it but I'm hoping my offense will be good enough to make up for the d when Barkley and Murphy are in the game at the same time. If the defense and turnovers don't bury me this team will be scary. Pretty sure I'll lead the league in points.

*****
3/27/2014 7:51 PM (edited)
hmmm..i wonder which team is gonna be the top pick in the division draft?....i think we have a front-runner

just awful

3/17/2014 4:34 PM
show of hands: who would have traded up to get the #3 spot?
3/17/2014 4:37 PM
(Raises hand)

I shouldn't be to critical, since I'm sure I've made the second biggest mistake of the draft so far, but that was something.
3/17/2014 4:45 PM
Posted by jhsukow on 3/17/2014 4:45:00 PM (view original):
(Raises hand)

I shouldn't be to critical, since I'm sure I've made the second biggest mistake of the draft so far, but that was something.
logain did this the last time he drafted in this league with tarheel and they both were able to make the playoffs. so if your able to draft well you can still get a playoff team but i doubt it could lead to a ring
3/17/2014 5:48 PM
I actually gave up a bit less last time for the pick.. and heel made the playoffs as you said. So I Think jhsukow should be able to do it this time. Drafting 4 guys from  32-65 should net some nice players... plus the whole team done by 113.

Myself, I actually got a higher pick than I wanted.. was hoping someone around 20-23 would bite first.. I may have to change my plans..
3/17/2014 7:02 PM
How about this rule. Anybody that steals both Shaq and Durant in the first round has to live inside of nate's head for an hour going over mental spreadsheets on how to mess it up LOL!
3/18/2014 4:55 PM
Haha vance!

So.. I picked to go closer to 1 wanting to get Shaq.. it worked out.

I then put my trade offer out with hopes of getting a pick around 20 and snagging Duncan or maybe Hakeem for a twin towers with Shaq. Then I got a higher pick than I planned on.. at 17.. I decided I could probably snag CP3 who I got at that same spot about a year ago. Then.. Durant kept dropping.. and dropping.. and I didn't really want him because he seems to underperform.. but then he was there! And so, now I will attempt to fill in around Shaq and Durant with 1 4th rounder and 4 6th round picks and we will see how it goes.

I beg you guys to screw up the next 3 rounds and leave me someone awesome in the 4th!
3/18/2014 5:26 PM
i dont understand where the durant hate is coming from...after the top 10 hes right there with any of those guys...what more do want from a sg?...we just havent done a good job building around him...he killed it for me when i had him...30+ and almost a 50/40/90 line...it was my frontcourt picks that sunk that team


durant/shaq is a lethal combo...i remember someone had jordan/bird awhile back...this duo is even better...shouldnt be too hard to find players in the 6th to fit around them...lets hope logain screws it up haha

3/18/2014 5:37 PM
It just make me sick  to my stomach that smokey insisted that he couldn't swap first round picks with me because the player there at 16 wouldn't be there at 19. Then at 16 he takes the 52 Million SIM poison Kevin Garmett LOL!  I wanted Durant so bad ! ! !
3/18/2014 6:08 PM
Posted by vancem on 3/18/2014 6:08:00 PM (view original):
It just make me sick  to my stomach that smokey insisted that he couldn't swap first round picks with me because the player there at 16 wouldn't be there at 19. Then at 16 he takes the 52 Million SIM poison Kevin Garmett LOL!  I wanted Durant so bad ! ! !
ha - FYI felonius was (I believe) going to take Garnett with the pick he got from me if he was there. So technically, smokey was right.
3/18/2014 8:07 PM
I don't know smokey57. You are a great guy and all but drafting Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton with your first 2 picks is like the kiss of death EFG% wise for this league. Great defense and very low negative numbers won't make up for the lack of high percentage shooting at those usage levels.
3/18/2014 8:20 PM
The last time an owner got criticized by scudmissle for drafting Mel Daniels high in the 2nd round the dude won the title. And now I'm mad that my 3rd round big man is gone.
3/18/2014 8:34 PM
Dikembe?
3/18/2014 8:56 PM
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