I built out the various scenarios for my team, making some guesses on what I can afford from what is likely to be left.

Some things I like:
1) Team eFG% of 54.34. Team TS% of 58.61.
2) Multi-position flexibility with 2 elite defenders, 1 great defender and 2 average defenders in starting lineup
3) 15.21 TO/48 and 17.56 F/48 is pretty reasonable (pre up tempo bump)
4) Above average rebounding and assists

Things I don't like
1) Poor defense on bench. Team is 9 deep and first 5 are nice, but first four off the bench have defenses of 46, 35, 34, 34.
2) Stretched thin on minutes, not a lot left after my draft. Had to draft for need twice.
3) Usage across team is too perimeter oriented. I might get smoked by teams with two elite perimeter defenders.
4) I will need 2370 minutes from undrafted players and 1660 minutes from the immortal Ervin Johnson (who was drafted but who is also Ervin Johnson).

This is my first ODL so I am not sure how that last point compares to other teams.

most people like to draft around 19.5 but I've seen people get away w less

your team's actually pretty stout - the problem though is that this league is loaded w stout teams - we rarely see anyone win more than 50 games or less than 30 - it's ugly out there

Posted by copernicus on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):
most people like to draft around 19.5 but I've seen people get away w less

your team's actually pretty stout - the problem though is that this league is loaded w stout teams - we rarely see anyone win more than 50 games or less than 30 - it's ugly out there

You mean they total 19.5 from the 7 players drafted and don't play the 5 undrafted players at all? Yikes, that is shocking.

Posted by robusk on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):

Posted by copernicus on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):
most people like to draft around 19.5 but I've seen people get away w less

your team's actually pretty stout - the problem though is that this league is loaded w stout teams - we rarely see anyone win more than 50 games or less than 30 - it's ugly out there

You mean they total 19.5 from the 7 players drafted and don't play the 5 undrafted players at all? Yikes, that is shocking.

You can only try that in the 52. I think we might see more people try it next season. Not here though. He meant 19.5 for all 12 players

Posted by jhsukow on 7/18/2017 2:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):

Posted by copernicus on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):
most people like to draft around 19.5 but I've seen people get away w less

your team's actually pretty stout - the problem though is that this league is loaded w stout teams - we rarely see anyone win more than 50 games or less than 30 - it's ugly out there

You mean they total 19.5 from the 7 players drafted and don't play the 5 undrafted players at all? Yikes, that is shocking.

You can only try that in the 52. I think we might see more people try it next season. Not here though. He meant 19.5 for all 12 players

Oh, okay, yeah. What I meant was that I have around 18k in the seven drafted dudes, which includes Johnson. I was just wondering how that compares to the general rule of thumb for successful teams in the ODL.

Posted by jhsukow on 7/18/2017 2:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):

Posted by copernicus on 7/18/2017 2:20:00 PM (view original):
most people like to draft around 19.5 but I've seen people get away w less

your team's actually pretty stout - the problem though is that this league is loaded w stout teams - we rarely see anyone win more than 50 games or less than 30 - it's ugly out there

You mean they total 19.5 from the 7 players drafted and don't play the 5 undrafted players at all? Yikes, that is shocking.

You can only try that in the 52. I think we might see more people try it next season. Not here though. He meant 19.5 for all 12 players

this here

I think the correct 3rd rounder for me would have been Tyson over Mookie. But I wanted to ensure d and 3s and I used Tyson last time.
I've never played someone who is less than 98% at a position, so CWebb will be a first (97 @sf) Going with the highest D season for him and Blaylock. Maybe some solid D keeps the team competitive!

Also will probably use lower minute, higher D, better rebounding KAJ.

I will barely scrape by at 19.4 or 5 mins with some defenseless bench guys.

This league is stacked. I just hope to maybe make the playoffs with a lot of luck.

Posted by copernicus on 7/18/2017 3:23:00 PM (view original):

DEF	mpg	Name	Team	Pos	Usage%	2pt%#	3pt%#	eFG%	OReb%	DReb%	Ast%	Stl%	Blk%
71	28	Emeka Okafor	06-07 Bobcats	C	19.5	53.0	0.0	53.2	12.2	25.1	4.7	1.1	4.6
100	35	Ben Wallace	02-03 Pistons	PF	10.3	48.8	16.7	48.2	11.3	32.7	6.2	1.8	5.1
98	30	Serge Ibaka	12-13 Thunder	PF	18.2	58.9	34.9	58.6	10.5	15.7	2.2	0.5	5.5
86	28	Charlie Ward	97-98 Knicks	PG	15.0	51.3	37.7	53.4	1.5	11.8	27.9	3.0	1.0
100	37	Dwyane Wade	08-09 Heat	SG	36.4	52.2	31.3	51.6	3.2	11.6	25.4	2.7	2.2
100	18	Chris Andersen	08-09 Nuggets	PF	13.5	55.8	19.8	55.1	12.8	20.0	2.7	1.3	7.0
um	11	Carmelo Anthony	10-11 Knicks	SF	31.1	46.9	42.2	51.0	4.5	15.6	10.4	1.1	0.9

p48		Name	Team	Pos	GP*	Min	Pts	FG%	3Pt%	FT%	OReb	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF
		Emeka Okafor	06-07 Bobcats	C	67	-	19.8	53.2	0.0	59.3	5.3	15.6	1.6	2.3	1.2	3.5	4.3
		Ben Wallace	02-03 Pistons	PF	73	-	8.4	48.1	16.7	45.0	4.9	18.8	2.0	1.5	1.7	3.8	3.0
		Serge Ibaka	12-13 Thunder	PF	80	-	20.4	57.3	35.1	74.9	4.3	11.9	0.8	2.4	0.5	4.7	4.1
		Charlie Ward	97-98 Knicks	PG	82	-	13.3	45.5	37.7	80.5	0.7	5.7	9.7	3.6	3.0	0.8	4.0
		Dwyane Wade	08-09 Heat	SG	79	-	37.6	49.1	31.7	76.5	1.4	6.3	9.3	4.3	2.7	1.7	2.8
		Chris Andersen	08-09 Nuggets	PF	71	-	14.9	54.8	20.0	71.8	5.4	14.5	1.0	2.3	1.3	5.8	5.7
		Carmelo Anthony	10-11 Knicks	SF	27	-	34.9	46.1	42.4	87.2	2.0	8.9	4.0	3.1	1.2	0.7	4.4

What the hell was I thinking
The plan: keeping it 100

Rd1 Was hoping for Duncan to fall to me and then I was going to use his big dollar 100 d season but all of a sudden noticed Wade drifting down there – not a lot of PG 100% 100 d dudes in the database in fact there is only 1

Rd2 Yeah I know Timmy is right there but I just dropped 9.5m on Wade – it was a syllogistic decision in my mind 9.5 of one or the other guy but in retrospect I should have paired Timmy with Dwyane and abandoned my original plan and instead gone discount shopping the rest of the draft – instead I took Ben Wallace and kept it 100

Rd3* I have a half-baked theory that has to do with blocks – I looked for an SF 100 with high blk% and 100 D I found Ibaka – this was a mistake because for whatever reason I forgot that Bobby Jones (99% SF) was still out there. I realized my error almost immediately and then began the rule 7 kerfuffle of 2017 – are we better for it? I say yes but would my team be better off w Jones over Ibaka, sadly I say yes again

Rd4 Charlie Ward – here the keeping it 100 dream dies – there just aren’t a lot of 100 d guards – so seeing AK treacherously stolen from me* I chose to address some glaring needs

Rd5 my rd5 selection was really Okafor but one of the benefits of playing at the turn is you can kind of estimate what the next guy is going to do - looking at what uptown has going on I didn’t think he was going to take Emeka (he did not btw) so my decision was really down to Birdman or Tinsley each of whom would serve as a pretty good sub behind my short minute role players – uptown had no SFs at the time so I took Birdman as a D100 back up to Ibaka and then that bastard uptown freaking took Tinsley – what kind of world do we live in?

Rd6 so I got Emeka and then punted and got a decent big usage back-up to Wade
{And now my world in tatters around me, burning to ash…}

I have 7.5m to get another 4k minutes and I have a plan….

*a lot of bad things happened to my draft board prior to my selection in Rd3 – my dream of a Wade/AK47 backcourt being shattered by seapilots two picks ahead of me being the worst and possibly explains my poor decision making at this point (also I didn’t even use that Ibaka)

I enjoyed this narrative. I may try and tell the same story.

Name	Team	Pos	Usage%	2pt%#	3pt%#	eFG%	OReb%	DReb%	Ast%	Stl%	Blk%
Kawhi Leonard	16-17 Spurs	SF	31.1	52.2	37.8	54.1	3.5	14.7	12.9	2.5	1.3
Rudy Gobert	16-17 Jazz	C	16.7	65.6	0	66.1	13	27.7	4.7	0.8	4.6
Clyde Drexler	91-92 Trail Blazers	SG	28.7	50.7	34	50.9	6.2	12.4	21.2	2.1	1.4
Jerry Lucas	68-69 Royals	PF	16.5	57.9	33.8	56.7	12.2	26.8	11.1	1.1	1.3
Nicolas Batum	13-14 Trail Blazers	SF	16.5	56.3	35.9	55.4	4	16.8	17.6	1.1	1.1
Jose Calderon	12-13 Raptors	PG	18.2	50.3	42.7	56.9	1.2	8.2	35.1	1	0.3
Ervin Johnson	01-02 Bucks	C	7.8	46.6	0	46.1	9.6	20.3	2.1	1	2.9
Name	Salary	Per%	Mid%	Pnt%	Def Rtg	PG Eff%	SG Eff%	SF Eff%	PF Eff%	C Eff%
Kawhi Leonard	$7,313,578	29	41	29	90	95	100	100	99	89
Rudy Gobert	$8,450,590	0	9	91	90	60	70	81	99	100
Clyde Drexler	$7,310,705	23	42	35	78	100	100	100	94	84
Jerry Lucas	$8,367,442	9	35	56	50	82	87	92	100	100
Nicolas Batum	$6,706,620	49	25	26	53	98	100	100	99	91
Jose Calderon	$2,505,628	46	36	18	35	100	100	85	70	60
Ervin Johnson	$2,595,998	1	29	71	46	60	70	89	100	100
Name	Min	Pts	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	OReb	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF
Kawhi Leonard	2475	1888	636	1312	147	387	469	533	80	430	260	154	133	55	122
Rudy Gobert	2744	1137	413	625	0	1	311	476	314	1035	98	147	49	214	246
Clyde Drexler	2751	1903	694	1476	114	338	401	505	166	500	509	240	138	70	229
Jerry Lucas	3075	1388	555	1007	31	93	247	327	394	1360	306	182	97	86	206
Nicolas Batum	2956	1070	381	819	145	402	163	203	116	611	420	208	75	57	156
Jose Calderon	1273	500	187	398	79	184	47	52	14	106	333	75	28	6	58
Ervin Johnson	1660	208	89	193	0	1	30	66	142	466	27	52	37	82	219

Round 1: Well, it was kind of easy I guess. Do a quick search on dudes with 6 points of usage or more, over 54% eFG, 90 or better D, less that 3 or less TO/G, 3 or less F/G. It is a short list. The only return is Kawhi. I basically wanted to build my team around what I perceive to be the most efficient, high usage player in the sim and sort out the rest based on how the draft unfolded.

Round 2: Well, I took a swingman in the first. So now I desperately need an elite big man or point guard. I have one high usage guy already, and Kawhi can credibly defend 1-4 (95 at PG and 99 at PF) so it makes sense to get an elite player to defend C. I was stuck between Artis, Whiteside and Gobert but ultimately decided I wanted Gobert's D and FG% over the added usage I could get from Artis or Whiteside. In hindsight, Duncan probably would have been the better pick and made me less concerned about usage for pick 3.

Round 3: Sh**, I definitely need someone who can play the 1 and get some assists. But most of the elite PGs with good efficiency, the right value for round 3 are gone and I don't want to be scrambling for usage. I like Drexler's 91/92 season because he has 20% AST, plays 100% at the one and has 70+ D. Plus, he can play 1-3 (and 93% at PF in a pinch) so he can credibly defend whoever Kawhi doesn't pick up. 23% of his shots are threes so that works for me. Him and Kawhi both have 6 points of usage and overlap positions so I can always keep one of them on the floor and never worry about dropping below 10.

Round 4: No idea what to do here. With Kawhi and Drexler, I figure I can just get a low usage, okay defense guy who passes, rebound and shoots threes later. I kind of narrowed it down to Porter or Batum, who I can start at 3 or 2 depending on what else happens. However, I am pretty sure I can get them later. So, who is a good value who has a CREB% over 35%, eFG over 55%, DEF over 60, F/48 less than 4 and TO/48 less than 3? Of the dudes who are left with a good chunk of minutes, almost no one. Lucas fits the bill. I wanted decent shooting and low fouls and turnovers because I am going with one of the Drexler seasons that isn't great there. The 2 points of usage on another season (71-72) would have given me more roster flexibility plus 23 points of better defense. However, I feel good about my defense right now, and I feel like I want the shooting and rebounding more.

Round 5: As discussed above, Batum is the move here. Porter would have been good and Batum probably would have been available later (or undrafted) but with his passing, I really needed him and could not risk it. Porter just didn't have the assists I thought I needed (since I didn't expect Calderon to be available in round 6). Also, Batum can play 4 positions at 98 or above, which really goes nicely with what I have in Drexler and Kawhi. I like being able to do creative things with positions in depth chart/defensive assignments.

Round 6: I knew I wanted Johnson here even though he sucks. He rebounds okay, doesn't turn the ball over, is not a defensive sieve and his fouls aren't great but are manageable. That isn't a glowing description, so why take him? His usage is so damn low that he is super cheap for the amount of minutes and boards you get. I originally was going to go with a specific big man for the other pick here who rebounds well and shoots a lot of threes (not the one you are thinking of) because he fit salary wise. However, I was shocked Calderon was around and I didn't want anyone else to get him. I go with the 12/13 season for the low fouls, low turnovers, good everywhere else but D... but most importantly 2 points of usage so he can use the minutes left over from backing up Batum to spell Drexler while Drexler moves behind Kawhi.

So, it leaves me with $4.5M to fill around 2800 minutes. Not a ton to work with but outside of making sure I get some usage out of those minutes I don't need a lot else.

I also probably need to start Johnson over Lucas or else I am letting 2 points of usage go to waste. I have the defensive flexibility for that to not really hurt me since I have 3 multi positional guys with 90/90/78. It only gives me 58.5% of AST% in the starting lineup which is above the penalty line but not great. So I may experiment with this.

Also, re: copernicus and his theory: I have a half-baked theory that has to do with blocks

You should have seen the sim about 10 years ago. Blocks dominated the sim and the best open league strategy was to have multiple Manute Bol's on your team.

I'm pretty much done, so I'll give this a go.

Round 1: sort of easy. After I picked Wilt, I thought LeBron might give me more options, but......it's Wilt. There's a reason he averages more wins than anyone else in the ODL.

Round 2: this was sort of easy, too. There's someone that I don't think has been drafted yet that I was planning on drafting here or in Round 3. I wanted that guy and Klay, but once Drummond became available, I knew I'd have an easy time on the boards with those two. Drummond is also priced nicely for a Wilt team due to the fact that he can't hit free throws. I'm not winning an award for that, that's for sure.

Round 3: In retrospect, Payton would've been interesting with Wilt. Not sure which season I would've used. Anyway, whatever. Donyell was easy because I wasn't sure I'd have enough 3's with whoever my two high usage players were. I knew a West/Drexler combo was a long shot, so......

IT. I was thinking about him in the second round, and frankly I'm surprised he didn't go in the first. TS% of .625, nearly 91% on over 600 free throws and an eFG% of 54.6. He's not a great passer, but Wilt already gave me that. Offensively, he's on par with Karl Malone and I got him in the third round. Life's good.

Round 6: Waiters was necessary so I could build a decent bench. With Wilt, Drummond and IT on board, I'm pretty sure my efficiency won't take a huge hit.

Posted by bds9992 on 7/18/2017 7:37:00 PM (view original):
I'm pretty much done, so I'll give this a go.

Round 1: sort of easy. After I picked Wilt, I thought LeBron might give me more options, but......it's Wilt. There's a reason he averages more wins than anyone else in the ODL.

Round 2: this was sort of easy, too. There's someone that I don't think has been drafted yet that I was planning on drafting here or in Round 3. I wanted that guy and Klay, but once Drummond became available, I knew I'd have an easy time on the boards with those two. Drummond is also priced nicely for a Wilt team due to the fact that he can't hit free throws. I'm not winning an award for that, that's for sure.

Round 3: In retrospect, Payton would've been interesting with Wilt. Not sure which season I would've used. Anyway, whatever. Donyell was easy because I wasn't sure I'd have enough 3's with whoever my two high usage players were. I knew a West/Drexler combo was a long shot, so......

IT. I was thinking about him in the second round, and frankly I'm surprised he didn't go in the first. TS% of .625, nearly 91% on over 600 free throws and an eFG% of 54.6. He's not a great passer, but Wilt already gave me that. Offensively, he's on par with Karl Malone and I got him in the third round. Life's good.

Round 6: Waiters was necessary so I could build a decent bench. With Wilt, Drummond and IT on board, I'm pretty sure my efficiency won't take a huge hit.

None of your big men are dropping down to guard, so what is your strategy for defending opposing 1s and 2s?

Posted by robusk on 7/18/2017 7:44:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bds9992 on 7/18/2017 7:37:00 PM (view original):
I'm pretty much done, so I'll give this a go.

Round 1: sort of easy. After I picked Wilt, I thought LeBron might give me more options, but......it's Wilt. There's a reason he averages more wins than anyone else in the ODL.

Round 2: this was sort of easy, too. There's someone that I don't think has been drafted yet that I was planning on drafting here or in Round 3. I wanted that guy and Klay, but once Drummond became available, I knew I'd have an easy time on the boards with those two. Drummond is also priced nicely for a Wilt team due to the fact that he can't hit free throws. I'm not winning an award for that, that's for sure.

Round 3: In retrospect, Payton would've been interesting with Wilt. Not sure which season I would've used. Anyway, whatever. Donyell was easy because I wasn't sure I'd have enough 3's with whoever my two high usage players were. I knew a West/Drexler combo was a long shot, so......

IT. I was thinking about him in the second round, and frankly I'm surprised he didn't go in the first. TS% of .625, nearly 91% on over 600 free throws and an eFG% of 54.6. He's not a great passer, but Wilt already gave me that. Offensively, he's on par with Karl Malone and I got him in the third round. Life's good.

Round 6: Waiters was necessary so I could build a decent bench. With Wilt, Drummond and IT on board, I'm pretty sure my efficiency won't take a huge hit.

None of your big men are dropping down to guard, so what is your strategy for defending opposing 1s and 2s?

IT will indeed guard opposing 2's. Donyell actually can as well, with a 97% positional efficiency at SG. Offensively, I'll be trotting out four medium usage defenders to be named later.

Posted by robusk on 7/18/2017 6:38:00 PM (view original):
Also, re: copernicus and his theory: I have a half-baked theory that has to do with blocks

You should have seen the sim about 10 years ago. Blocks dominated the sim and the best open league strategy was to have multiple Manute Bol's on your team.

if only I had been around 10 years ago...

ps I think they still can (plus something I recently read in the FAQ which I'm not telling until after)