The Inaugural Tiger's Den
Aug 31, 2012 5:24:58 GMT -5
Post by Tigertecz on Aug 31, 2012 5:24:58 GMT -5
Welcome to the inaugural BBS Five Tiger’s Den. The Den returns after a year or two in real life, but in a familiar format – insight into people’s teams and their plans, followed by thoughts on players and the league in general, ending with random as fuck questions.
Thanks to Maniac, Skillz, Insane and Greeme for their responses.
Without further ado, here it is![/i][/color]
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1) How do you feel about the state of your team right now for this season?
Skillz
I feel pretty good about our team. As with everyone, we have a lot of weaknesses, but i think we are constructed pretty well and have a lot of good things going for us. We are very deep, have arguably the best player in the league in Kobe, and can score very well. I think RC's/AC's will play a big role in the success of our team, as we need to plug up some holes.
Greeme
I like where we are. I think we have had some close losses and minor injuries and could just as easily been in first place now. Nash is arguably the best pg in the game and a great scorer. Big ben is a stud rebounder/defender. I would like a little more scoring out of sf or an upgrade up front but the only piece I can really move is Barbosa and I really don't want to move him unless I have to. My guess is that we will end up close to 60 wins.
Tigertecz: Confidence. Nice, I like it! [/i][/color]
Maniac[/i]
I'm pleased with the state of my team. I have a player to build around in Amare Stoudamire and he's already producing at a solid rate. It's encouraging. I think Tayshaun Prince will develop into a solid starter in this league as well. As long as Amare continues to produce and we continue to lose, I'm happy.
Insane
We started off a little shaky winning too many games but I managed to ship off most of our contributing post players and made a bad DC so we should be good to go for the rest of the season. It may be too late to catch teams like Denver and NY but all I need to do is get in that 5-7 pick range and then anything can happen with the lotto. Actually, looking at the standings, there are only three team whose shittiness I won't be able to surpass, but the rest of the field seems wide open.
2) What does the future hold for your team? What's your plan for the next 3-5 seasons?
Skillz
I'm going to try to win a title with this framework for the next 2 years, then possibly retool for the next 3-4 years (still try to win, but move some of the aging guys). Most guys know i almost never rebuild, so we cycle through a lot of players with trades and try to field the best team possible. The 5-year pick rule will probably help me some because it won't allow me to make short-sighted moves that would handicap our future.
Greeme
Well, since Nash and Ben are under contract for 5 years I will probably just try to compete for the next bunch of years. I don't have picks and there won't be a ton of fas so I need Barbosa, battier and hughes to improve. TC luck is where it is at at this point. I love my d but jones will start declining soon and one of those three will have to step up scoringwise or I will be in big trouble.
Maniac[/i]
The future holds Dwight Howard and Amare running roughshod on the rest of the league. We hope to get a high pick this year and, obviously, it would be fantastic if we could add D12 to Amare. However, either way we will continue to build a solid foundation through the draft/timely FA signings.
Tigertecz: Perfect scenario – Maniac wins the lotto the year Dwight is meant to come out, then last minute he pulls out and goes back to college! [/i][/color]
Insane
Probably a few more seasons of tanking and then I should be good to go. Next season I will be looking to tank from the first sim, starting 5-2 this season really killed us. Hopefully after a few seasons I'll have a bunch of young talent that's matured enough for me to win. Johnson and Davis should have developed enough for me to get out of the basement.
Tigertecz: Lol, Johnson. [/i][/color]
3) If you HAD TO swap teams with any other in the league, which would you take and why?
Skillz
The Pistons. I love building outside teams, and Detroit looks like a team I would draft. Just a fan team that scores a lot of points. I also feel like there are too many rebuilding teams right now to ever want to swap teams with a rebuilder.
Greeme
The Magic. They have a ton of youth led by LBJ. They also have Griffin, Dalembet and Hamilton. The future is bright in Orlando. I kept going back and forth if I want to try to compete or I want to tank. If I could have gotten LBJ I would have dumped all picks and tanked for a couple of years. The magic would actually be able to tank with LBJ at this point bc he has a few years to go before he becomes the LBJ that he should be.
Maniac[/i]
I'd have to go with the Suns just because I think it'd be fun to build a team around Kobe.
Insane
With the low ratings, it's hard to pick a favorite because none of the teams look like they should be dominating even if they are. Guess I'm too used to inflated ratings right now. If I had to choose, it would probably be Boston. Post players are my favorite, and they have Shaq and Duncan. Hopefully DBW is able to figure out his DC because while I'm tanking I'd like to see a team built around post players succeed.
Tigertecz: Nice, everyone had a different answer here. I’m gonna break the mould though and go with Greemey. Would love to have LeBron and build a team around him. Was hoping he’d slip to me at 5 with Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and T-Mac, but obviously this was wishful thinking. [/i][/color]
4) Who is the best player in the league at this moment in time right now, Who comes close to him, and what makes him better than the others?
Skillz
Duncan? I'd say Kobe was the best but I don't want to look like a homer. I think that considering rebounding ratings are now deflated, great bigs are the most valuable players in the league. Duncan is the best all-around big, and is a far better offensive player than Garnet.
Greeme
Tim Duncan. Shaq comes close to him. Good thing that they are on the same team. Kobe and Tmac are right behind him. Stud defender/rebounder/scorer – what more could you want. I give the slight edge to the bigs over the wings because they are obviously more helpful on the boards.
Maniac[/i]
And, with that, I'd have to say Kobe. He's just the most complete player in the league in my opinion. And he's still only 25. He's already more than worthy of being considered a franchise player and he's young. His turnover rate is solid as well for how often he has the ball in his hands. Kobe wins.
Insane
Toss-up between Shaq and Dirk. Dirk's provides nice three point shooting but Shaq is more of an interior presence. I guess I'll go with Shaq since this league has very low rebounds and Shaq is a comparable scorer. A dark horse for best player would be Jermaine O'Neal, I almost put him down as the best player, but his efficiency is holding him back. If he managed to get around 47% FG, with roughly the same stats as he's putting up now, I'll probably label him as the best player just because blocks are really rare right now and he provides the same volume scoring and rebounding as Shaq.
Tigertecz: Tough one. Of all the players mentioned here only Dirk has won a Player of the Week Award. T-Mac’s won most of them, and the only Player of the Month Award so far, but despite all this I’m going with Duncan. He does everything and if I had him I’d be doing my usual and playing him at all 5 positions![/i][/color]
5) The BBS Five Creation Draft went LeBron - Duncan - Bryant - Garnett - McGrady from 1-5. Having had a couple of sims to see how players have produced, if we were to re-do the creation draft, which 5 players would you see go first and in what order?
Skillz
1. Duncan 2. Garnett 3. Kobe 4. T-Mac 5. Lebron. Lebron needs a lot of work. Even though he's got 100 potential in all likelihood, he isnt as much of a sure thing.
Greeme
Kobe. Tmac. Duncan. Yao Ming. Jermaine O'neal. Yao has been really good, except for those nasty tos, and he is only 23. I don't think that anybody would take LBJ top 5 at this point though he will probably be a top player. Just hard to pick him given his present stats.
Maniac[/i]
I think people have overreacted big time to LeBron being drafted first. He'd have been a top five pick no matter what and he will still develop into one of the better players in the league. He's raw. Personally, I probably would've taken Kobe first. I think my top five would've looked like this: Kobe - Duncan - LeBron - Garnett - McGrady. Only player I'd consider swapping for McGrady is Dirk. That's a close call for me.
Insane
That's a tough question. I think knowing what we know about the contract situations, Kobe would go 1st overall. Duncan would go after him. After those two, it would go McGrady, LeBron, and Jermaine O'Neal, with Garnett dropping out of the top 5 altogether. I leave off the older guys because we're looking to maximize production as well as having somewhat younger guys keeping potential in mind. Duncan at 27 years old is the oldest out of them, with probably 5-6 more years of being the best PF in the league, so that's easily justified. Kobe is Kobe, and he even has low turnovers in this sim along with that A+ defense. With McGrady, there's no denying he's a little bit more efficient than Kobe, but he has too many turnovers and his defense isn't good enough in comparison. LeBron's only 19 and already putting up decent numbers, plus he's probably the only player with 100 potential right now. JO is dominating down low on both ends, and he's only 25, so that rounds out my top 5.
Tigertecz: I think top 5 players if we re-drafted would be the same, but maybe in a different order… I’d go with Duncan – Kobe – T-Mac – KG – LeBron. When I picked T-Mac @ 5 in the draft though I did nearly pick Ming… and his numbers are incredible so there’s a case to get him in here too. I didn’t even consider Dirk due to his lack of D, but I did consider JO. Don’t think anyone else would break the top 5 though.[/i][/color]
6) DBW pretty much owned the Creation Draft. Who else do you think did well?
Skillz
Repole, CC, Erbes, Tiger, Outlawz all did well to me.
Greeme
Eh, I think people went a little overboard. He had a great first round and a meh rest of the draft. I didn't like the Artest pick, kittles is ok and beyond that he has a bunch of meh players. I like Repole's team but I think that when you live by the three you will eventually go cold and get upset in the playoffs. Good chance that they end up with the rest regular season record. Love the outside shooting of Dirk/Predag/redd and like the chris Anderson/lue/George picks. I'm not sold on brad miller but I liked pretty much all of the other picks.
Maniac[/i]
The Pacers have a nice, relatively young core. I don't think they're built to get past the Pacers though - that's an absolute match-up nightmare for them. However, they definitely did have a nice draft. I think they'll need a little more from VC moving forward though.
Insane
Repole jumps out immediately as a guy who knew exactly what he was after and looking at the standings, he knew what he was doing. They're just burning up other teams from downtown, going 43% from beyond the arc. With Dirk, Peja, Redd, that's a pretty damn good trio coming right out of a creation draft, and then he nabbed Lue who is a really solid player. Another GM who did well was Game. Not sure if he actually drafted Webber or traded for him, either way, that's a coup for him. Pierce and Iverson on the wing really speaks for itself, probably the best wing tandem in the league. And then he has Damon Jones randomly doing 20 PPG, that's crazy. We are back to the days where you can pick up someone with one good attribute and they will probably do numbers for you if you give them a chance.
Tigertecz: Love what Repole did in the draft. Put together a good team with players that sim well together. Dirk/Peja/Redd bombing from outside is too good. [/i][/color]
7) Which GM do you think did the worst out of the Creation Draft and why?
Skillz
Aar. He pretty much handed DBW Shaq, and somehow drafted players that are too good to tank with. Pretty crappy situation to start out.
Tigertecz: It’s a good point… everyone blames Erbes for picking VC/Marion ahead of Shaq, but Aar handed the pick to him for 4 1sts. At first it looked like too much for the pick. In hindsight? Genius as those 4 picks are going to be horrible. Who wouldn’t trade 4 picks in the 25-29 range for Shaq to be paired with Tim Duncan? Can’t blame Aar though as he put the price up and Deebs just paid it.[/i][/color]
Greeme
It is kind of hard to compare because gms tried to do different things. If I had to picks I would say that I really don't like the Lakers draft. Don't love Melo, don't like Curry at all and not a big fan of Kaman. Don't really like anyone else on the team. Yeah, guess they didn't do so well in the draft. They kept their first picks and are a bad 500 team at this point.
Maniac[/i]
The Cavs look absolutely awful to me. That's a team with absolutely no direction and that's never a good thing coming out of a creation draft. That might be as bad of a defensive team as one could possibly assemble. They're going to give up a ton of points all season long and they just don't have the firepower to keep up.
Insane
I would say most GM's had a plan and they stuck to it. But I think Portland came away with way too old of a team while not being a big contender. Then again, they would probably be up there if Spenny hadn't completely botched Garnett's ratings. 39% from the field and 29% from downtown? lol'd. But yeah, their main core is too old and they'll be wasted if Garnett doesn't get his head out of his ass.
Tigertecz: Surprised nobody went to town on Joe Johnson in this one… maybe he’s taken enough flak from everyone already…[/i][/color]
8) Who will be the first GM in the league to get to 3 titles?
Skillz
Repole. I think he's the best GM in the league right now, though that Pistons team will need some work for titles.
Greeme
Me. You'll see. Big Ben is a winner. One of the best rebounders/defenders in the league. Nash is a great pg. I have hughes and battier to play d, though somebody better pick up their offensive game. If it isn't me than my guess is Repole will. The Celtics have a better shot in the next 3-4 years but I doubt they win three ships before Shaq starts going downhill, hopefully quickly.
Tigertecz: Too much confidence… not nice… I don't like it… [/i][/color]
Maniac[/i]
DBW has to be the early favorite for that one. Artest/Duncan/Shaq is a core that could run off 3 titles in a row. I don't see any team that can really knock them off at the moment (barring injury).
Insane
Going by track record, I'd say Repole, but he seems to want to leave soon so he might just stop at 1 this season and that'll be it. All the teams that are good now better try to win as much as possible because if a team like Utah gets Dwight alongside Amare and Prince, that's going to spell trouble. Deebz could be a good candidate to bring home a couple of titles in the near future if he manages to get more out of Artest as well.
Tigertecz: Deebz is set imo. Too good of a core to be fucked with.[/i][/color]
9) Who will be the first GM to get CY'd?
Skillz
Greg. Treading in mediocrity again to start this version. Bodes trouble.
Greeme
HF. Doesn't seem to be into the league right now and he really isn’t that good even when he is active. He always seemed to be on the verge of getting cyd in the previous version. Not a big fan of Randolph, miller or Wallace and he doesn't seem intent on tanking hard at this point. Really not sure what he is trying to do.
Maniac[/i]
I'm going to stick with the Cavs. Team with no direction. They don't really have any players that jump out as being overly worthy on the trade market (other than Brand). I just don't have a ton of faith in that team.
Insane
HeatFlash, just because he doesn't seem to have time for this anymore and his situation needs a really steady hand to pull it through.
10) Call the finals. Who do you think will win, and who will they beat?
Skillz
Celtics over Blazers. I think these two teams are setup the best for a long playoff run.
Greeme
Nets – Suns. I think that Skillz has a really poor dc currently and that in a few sims he will start to take off. The nets have Ben and nash and some decent players who I might overrate. It is very helpful to have a shooting pg bc of the pg rule. Other gms can't move a stud defender on him. I think that the Suns will win the finals.
Maniac[/i]
Celtics/Suns. Duncan/Shaq square up with Kobe. And I think the Celtics win in four games. That team is just perfectly built for a playoff run. And they have Artest, a guy who can potentially slow down Kobe. Celtics take the inaugural title.
Insane
Pistons over Warriors. I know, really obvious, but at this point, the powerhouses are the powerhouses for a reason, and I don't see anyone challenging these two teams in their respective conferences right now. Warriors actually have the higher ranked offense and defense, but to me, they don't really have the gamebreaker that can take over and the Pistons have that in spades with a 33 PPG Nowitzki.
Tigertecz: Surprised only two people picked the Celtics and two people picked the Suns. I’d prob have them two in it with Boston winning, but would love to have some underdogs make it far in the playoffs and surprise us all. 1st round KO of Boston would be fun![/i][/color]
11) Which three players are you most looking forward to seeing in the upcoming drafts and what do you think their ceiling will be?
Skillz
I like seeing how the unique players are rated. Igoudala, Livingston....those type of guys. We know Dwight and CP3 are going to be studs, so there really isn't much intrigue there. I love when players who we don't expect end up becoming huge contributors.
Greeme
Andrea Bargnani – Can Spencer make a big that can shoot?
Kevin Durant – he was a good, not great, player last time. I would love to see him become one of the best scorers in the league with sick %s.
Greg Oden – Just interested to see how Spencer builds him.
Maniac[/i]
Dwight Howard. He will look wonderful on my roster. His ceiling? World domination. But I hate to even limit him to just world domination. However, I think the biggest story over the next few drafts will be the young wave of PG's taking over the league. We're going to see CP3, Deron Williams, Rondo enter the league in the next three years (or so I'd assume). And, obviously, PG's are difficult to come by right now in BBSFive. So, I think that'll be the biggest story and I'm very interested to see how the young PG's look entering the draft.
Insane
The next three drafts after this one, if Spenny holds true to real life, I'm really excited to see Paul, Durant, and Gay. Paul and Durant because they should be really sick and Gay because he's one of my favorite players in real life. Also, it should be interesting to see what he does with Oden and Roy because of how their bodies turned out in real life or if he ignores the injury problems and makes them studs. Then in 08, I'll be tanking again to get the Juiceman so that should be fun.
Tigertecz: Would be great to see Howard bust… Oden boom… and J-Lin, because I’ve never seen him in a sim league before haha. One of the best things about sims is seeing how players turn out in a different way to in reality, especially those affected by long term injuries. Looking forward to seeing what gets thrown up.[/i][/color]
12) Who in the league do you think should be fired and why? No cop outs. Name and shame!
Skillz
Svedda. He's emberrased himself everytime he's been in the league. There are better guys on the waiting list.
Greeme
Marty – He seems to be bored with the league and it really comes across on the boards. If he isn't ready to play there is no reason not to take a few months off. By then hf will get cyd. It isn't like we are lacking gms on the wait list. If you don't want to be active then just go and come back.
Hf – I like hf but he is barely passable as a gm when active and when he is inactive there is no reason not to fire him.
Maniac[/i]
Erbes. He makes me want to get medieval on my own ass.
Insane
One season in? lol ok. HF, like I said he doesn't have time anymore, so someone more active can take over that team and steer it in the right direction.
13) Would you change anything in the league right now, and if so, what?
Skillz
10 day sims! 5 days during the first few seasons suck. Every team has a clear direction and trades are at a minimum. Five-day sims make no sense.
Greeme
1. I would have done and auction instead of a draft. That would give everybody the same shot at the best players. I have never seen an auction done in these types of leagues and I think that it would be very interesting.
2. I would institute a way to get players come back early from injuries but not be at 100%.
3. I would add some kind of additional scouting for drafts, like spending posts to ask questions through pm to spencer or something like that.
Maniac[/i]
I think Spence has nailed the restart. I like the slower sim schedule, I like the creation draft. I hope he decides to add a 'splash' player or two in FA over the next few years. But, no, I really wouldn't change anything at this point.
Insane
Joe Johnson should've started with better ratings.
Tigertecz: LOL @ Insane. Personally I think it’d be better to release draft info a little later in the season and with more mystery… maybe some players with question mark ratings or something… draft workouts perhaps… something different. Early days yet though since we haven’t even made it to the first draft, so plenty to look forward to. So far the restart has gone pretty well though, no real complaints. [/i][/color]
14) There's a BBS basketball tournament about to take place. You can pick 4 GMs to form your team and play with you, who would they be and why?
Skillz
Greg--I feel like he would grab a lot of boards for some reason! Garbage man
Repole--player coach?
Play--Talks shit; probably good
Outlawz--Read above
ilovebball--he loves bball
Greeme
I don't actually know anybody or how they could play. Not really sure how I would pick them. I would probably take marty and play just to see them yell at each other all game. At least that would be amusing.
Maniac[/i]
Play is tall and black. That's always a good start. I know he's Downy soft but, still, people are generally intimidated by tall black guys. Especially on basketball courts. So, I'd pick him. I've seen pictures of Hype before and he's always looked like that crazy guy on the court who's there just to elbow people in the mouth. So, yeah, intimidation again. He's in. Tiger looks fast and asian. Good PG. He's in (but definitely wouldn't intimidate anyone). And I think the natural fourth pick would be Repole. Or not. I'd have to go with Outlawz. Quick temper. A little crazy. He'd fit in well with this team.
Insane
Play, Nanz, Habes, Hype. I'll choose Play because he's 6'6 so we got the paint covered. Hype because it'll be hilarious watching him and Play try to co-exist on the court. Nanz and Habes because they have that chemistry and they're the only other GM's I've heard talk about playing sports. Dream team IMO.
Tigertecz: Play is 6’6’’?! And wears Uggs still? That’s an odd image… He is the unanimous pick though so he’s got next. [/i][/color]
15) OK, so you've made it on to "Who Wants to be a Gazillionaire" and have to pick 3 of your fellow UOSLR GMs to be your "phone a friend". Who would you choose and why?
Skillz
Habes, Nanz, Pole--good conversation, good guys!
Greeme
Obviously Repole. He seems like the type to know all the stupid stuff they would ask. I don't know why I think that, I just do. Aar seems like a smart guy as does Broph. Yup, those three.
Maniac[/i]
fellow BBSFive GMs to be your "phone a friend". Who would you choose and why?
- Repole really is the natural choice here. He's smart. Spence is a well-rounded young man (and even though he's not a GM I'm picking him anyway) so he's in. I feel like Pole covers all things nerdy/scientific/statistics, Spence is my do-it-all guy, and I'd round out my picks with Jah. He seems smart as well.
Also, Andy is gay. Thanks.
Insane
Pole, Broph, and Habes. Pole for any computer or statistics type questions, Broph to answer financial related questions, and Habes for all around lawyer-type questions. Boom. That made no sense, but I'm sure they'd help me win anyway
Tigertecz: And that concludes the first Tiger's Den in BBS Five... Hope you enjoyed the read![/i][/color]
Thanks to Maniac, Skillz, Insane and Greeme for their responses.
Without further ado, here it is![/i][/color]
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1) How do you feel about the state of your team right now for this season?
Skillz
I feel pretty good about our team. As with everyone, we have a lot of weaknesses, but i think we are constructed pretty well and have a lot of good things going for us. We are very deep, have arguably the best player in the league in Kobe, and can score very well. I think RC's/AC's will play a big role in the success of our team, as we need to plug up some holes.
Greeme
I like where we are. I think we have had some close losses and minor injuries and could just as easily been in first place now. Nash is arguably the best pg in the game and a great scorer. Big ben is a stud rebounder/defender. I would like a little more scoring out of sf or an upgrade up front but the only piece I can really move is Barbosa and I really don't want to move him unless I have to. My guess is that we will end up close to 60 wins.
Tigertecz: Confidence. Nice, I like it! [/i][/color]
Maniac[/i]
I'm pleased with the state of my team. I have a player to build around in Amare Stoudamire and he's already producing at a solid rate. It's encouraging. I think Tayshaun Prince will develop into a solid starter in this league as well. As long as Amare continues to produce and we continue to lose, I'm happy.
Insane
We started off a little shaky winning too many games but I managed to ship off most of our contributing post players and made a bad DC so we should be good to go for the rest of the season. It may be too late to catch teams like Denver and NY but all I need to do is get in that 5-7 pick range and then anything can happen with the lotto. Actually, looking at the standings, there are only three team whose shittiness I won't be able to surpass, but the rest of the field seems wide open.
2) What does the future hold for your team? What's your plan for the next 3-5 seasons?
Skillz
I'm going to try to win a title with this framework for the next 2 years, then possibly retool for the next 3-4 years (still try to win, but move some of the aging guys). Most guys know i almost never rebuild, so we cycle through a lot of players with trades and try to field the best team possible. The 5-year pick rule will probably help me some because it won't allow me to make short-sighted moves that would handicap our future.
Greeme
Well, since Nash and Ben are under contract for 5 years I will probably just try to compete for the next bunch of years. I don't have picks and there won't be a ton of fas so I need Barbosa, battier and hughes to improve. TC luck is where it is at at this point. I love my d but jones will start declining soon and one of those three will have to step up scoringwise or I will be in big trouble.
Maniac[/i]
The future holds Dwight Howard and Amare running roughshod on the rest of the league. We hope to get a high pick this year and, obviously, it would be fantastic if we could add D12 to Amare. However, either way we will continue to build a solid foundation through the draft/timely FA signings.
Tigertecz: Perfect scenario – Maniac wins the lotto the year Dwight is meant to come out, then last minute he pulls out and goes back to college! [/i][/color]
Insane
Probably a few more seasons of tanking and then I should be good to go. Next season I will be looking to tank from the first sim, starting 5-2 this season really killed us. Hopefully after a few seasons I'll have a bunch of young talent that's matured enough for me to win. Johnson and Davis should have developed enough for me to get out of the basement.
Tigertecz: Lol, Johnson. [/i][/color]
3) If you HAD TO swap teams with any other in the league, which would you take and why?
Skillz
The Pistons. I love building outside teams, and Detroit looks like a team I would draft. Just a fan team that scores a lot of points. I also feel like there are too many rebuilding teams right now to ever want to swap teams with a rebuilder.
Greeme
The Magic. They have a ton of youth led by LBJ. They also have Griffin, Dalembet and Hamilton. The future is bright in Orlando. I kept going back and forth if I want to try to compete or I want to tank. If I could have gotten LBJ I would have dumped all picks and tanked for a couple of years. The magic would actually be able to tank with LBJ at this point bc he has a few years to go before he becomes the LBJ that he should be.
Maniac[/i]
I'd have to go with the Suns just because I think it'd be fun to build a team around Kobe.
Insane
With the low ratings, it's hard to pick a favorite because none of the teams look like they should be dominating even if they are. Guess I'm too used to inflated ratings right now. If I had to choose, it would probably be Boston. Post players are my favorite, and they have Shaq and Duncan. Hopefully DBW is able to figure out his DC because while I'm tanking I'd like to see a team built around post players succeed.
Tigertecz: Nice, everyone had a different answer here. I’m gonna break the mould though and go with Greemey. Would love to have LeBron and build a team around him. Was hoping he’d slip to me at 5 with Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and T-Mac, but obviously this was wishful thinking. [/i][/color]
4) Who is the best player in the league at this moment in time right now, Who comes close to him, and what makes him better than the others?
Skillz
Duncan? I'd say Kobe was the best but I don't want to look like a homer. I think that considering rebounding ratings are now deflated, great bigs are the most valuable players in the league. Duncan is the best all-around big, and is a far better offensive player than Garnet.
Greeme
Tim Duncan. Shaq comes close to him. Good thing that they are on the same team. Kobe and Tmac are right behind him. Stud defender/rebounder/scorer – what more could you want. I give the slight edge to the bigs over the wings because they are obviously more helpful on the boards.
Maniac[/i]
And, with that, I'd have to say Kobe. He's just the most complete player in the league in my opinion. And he's still only 25. He's already more than worthy of being considered a franchise player and he's young. His turnover rate is solid as well for how often he has the ball in his hands. Kobe wins.
Insane
Toss-up between Shaq and Dirk. Dirk's provides nice three point shooting but Shaq is more of an interior presence. I guess I'll go with Shaq since this league has very low rebounds and Shaq is a comparable scorer. A dark horse for best player would be Jermaine O'Neal, I almost put him down as the best player, but his efficiency is holding him back. If he managed to get around 47% FG, with roughly the same stats as he's putting up now, I'll probably label him as the best player just because blocks are really rare right now and he provides the same volume scoring and rebounding as Shaq.
Tigertecz: Tough one. Of all the players mentioned here only Dirk has won a Player of the Week Award. T-Mac’s won most of them, and the only Player of the Month Award so far, but despite all this I’m going with Duncan. He does everything and if I had him I’d be doing my usual and playing him at all 5 positions![/i][/color]
5) The BBS Five Creation Draft went LeBron - Duncan - Bryant - Garnett - McGrady from 1-5. Having had a couple of sims to see how players have produced, if we were to re-do the creation draft, which 5 players would you see go first and in what order?
Skillz
1. Duncan 2. Garnett 3. Kobe 4. T-Mac 5. Lebron. Lebron needs a lot of work. Even though he's got 100 potential in all likelihood, he isnt as much of a sure thing.
Greeme
Kobe. Tmac. Duncan. Yao Ming. Jermaine O'neal. Yao has been really good, except for those nasty tos, and he is only 23. I don't think that anybody would take LBJ top 5 at this point though he will probably be a top player. Just hard to pick him given his present stats.
Maniac[/i]
I think people have overreacted big time to LeBron being drafted first. He'd have been a top five pick no matter what and he will still develop into one of the better players in the league. He's raw. Personally, I probably would've taken Kobe first. I think my top five would've looked like this: Kobe - Duncan - LeBron - Garnett - McGrady. Only player I'd consider swapping for McGrady is Dirk. That's a close call for me.
Insane
That's a tough question. I think knowing what we know about the contract situations, Kobe would go 1st overall. Duncan would go after him. After those two, it would go McGrady, LeBron, and Jermaine O'Neal, with Garnett dropping out of the top 5 altogether. I leave off the older guys because we're looking to maximize production as well as having somewhat younger guys keeping potential in mind. Duncan at 27 years old is the oldest out of them, with probably 5-6 more years of being the best PF in the league, so that's easily justified. Kobe is Kobe, and he even has low turnovers in this sim along with that A+ defense. With McGrady, there's no denying he's a little bit more efficient than Kobe, but he has too many turnovers and his defense isn't good enough in comparison. LeBron's only 19 and already putting up decent numbers, plus he's probably the only player with 100 potential right now. JO is dominating down low on both ends, and he's only 25, so that rounds out my top 5.
Tigertecz: I think top 5 players if we re-drafted would be the same, but maybe in a different order… I’d go with Duncan – Kobe – T-Mac – KG – LeBron. When I picked T-Mac @ 5 in the draft though I did nearly pick Ming… and his numbers are incredible so there’s a case to get him in here too. I didn’t even consider Dirk due to his lack of D, but I did consider JO. Don’t think anyone else would break the top 5 though.[/i][/color]
6) DBW pretty much owned the Creation Draft. Who else do you think did well?
Skillz
Repole, CC, Erbes, Tiger, Outlawz all did well to me.
Greeme
Eh, I think people went a little overboard. He had a great first round and a meh rest of the draft. I didn't like the Artest pick, kittles is ok and beyond that he has a bunch of meh players. I like Repole's team but I think that when you live by the three you will eventually go cold and get upset in the playoffs. Good chance that they end up with the rest regular season record. Love the outside shooting of Dirk/Predag/redd and like the chris Anderson/lue/George picks. I'm not sold on brad miller but I liked pretty much all of the other picks.
Maniac[/i]
The Pacers have a nice, relatively young core. I don't think they're built to get past the Pacers though - that's an absolute match-up nightmare for them. However, they definitely did have a nice draft. I think they'll need a little more from VC moving forward though.
Insane
Repole jumps out immediately as a guy who knew exactly what he was after and looking at the standings, he knew what he was doing. They're just burning up other teams from downtown, going 43% from beyond the arc. With Dirk, Peja, Redd, that's a pretty damn good trio coming right out of a creation draft, and then he nabbed Lue who is a really solid player. Another GM who did well was Game. Not sure if he actually drafted Webber or traded for him, either way, that's a coup for him. Pierce and Iverson on the wing really speaks for itself, probably the best wing tandem in the league. And then he has Damon Jones randomly doing 20 PPG, that's crazy. We are back to the days where you can pick up someone with one good attribute and they will probably do numbers for you if you give them a chance.
Tigertecz: Love what Repole did in the draft. Put together a good team with players that sim well together. Dirk/Peja/Redd bombing from outside is too good. [/i][/color]
7) Which GM do you think did the worst out of the Creation Draft and why?
Skillz
Aar. He pretty much handed DBW Shaq, and somehow drafted players that are too good to tank with. Pretty crappy situation to start out.
Tigertecz: It’s a good point… everyone blames Erbes for picking VC/Marion ahead of Shaq, but Aar handed the pick to him for 4 1sts. At first it looked like too much for the pick. In hindsight? Genius as those 4 picks are going to be horrible. Who wouldn’t trade 4 picks in the 25-29 range for Shaq to be paired with Tim Duncan? Can’t blame Aar though as he put the price up and Deebs just paid it.[/i][/color]
Greeme
It is kind of hard to compare because gms tried to do different things. If I had to picks I would say that I really don't like the Lakers draft. Don't love Melo, don't like Curry at all and not a big fan of Kaman. Don't really like anyone else on the team. Yeah, guess they didn't do so well in the draft. They kept their first picks and are a bad 500 team at this point.
Maniac[/i]
The Cavs look absolutely awful to me. That's a team with absolutely no direction and that's never a good thing coming out of a creation draft. That might be as bad of a defensive team as one could possibly assemble. They're going to give up a ton of points all season long and they just don't have the firepower to keep up.
Insane
I would say most GM's had a plan and they stuck to it. But I think Portland came away with way too old of a team while not being a big contender. Then again, they would probably be up there if Spenny hadn't completely botched Garnett's ratings. 39% from the field and 29% from downtown? lol'd. But yeah, their main core is too old and they'll be wasted if Garnett doesn't get his head out of his ass.
Tigertecz: Surprised nobody went to town on Joe Johnson in this one… maybe he’s taken enough flak from everyone already…[/i][/color]
8) Who will be the first GM in the league to get to 3 titles?
Skillz
Repole. I think he's the best GM in the league right now, though that Pistons team will need some work for titles.
Greeme
Me. You'll see. Big Ben is a winner. One of the best rebounders/defenders in the league. Nash is a great pg. I have hughes and battier to play d, though somebody better pick up their offensive game. If it isn't me than my guess is Repole will. The Celtics have a better shot in the next 3-4 years but I doubt they win three ships before Shaq starts going downhill, hopefully quickly.
Tigertecz: Too much confidence… not nice… I don't like it… [/i][/color]
Maniac[/i]
DBW has to be the early favorite for that one. Artest/Duncan/Shaq is a core that could run off 3 titles in a row. I don't see any team that can really knock them off at the moment (barring injury).
Insane
Going by track record, I'd say Repole, but he seems to want to leave soon so he might just stop at 1 this season and that'll be it. All the teams that are good now better try to win as much as possible because if a team like Utah gets Dwight alongside Amare and Prince, that's going to spell trouble. Deebz could be a good candidate to bring home a couple of titles in the near future if he manages to get more out of Artest as well.
Tigertecz: Deebz is set imo. Too good of a core to be fucked with.[/i][/color]
9) Who will be the first GM to get CY'd?
Skillz
Greg. Treading in mediocrity again to start this version. Bodes trouble.
Greeme
HF. Doesn't seem to be into the league right now and he really isn’t that good even when he is active. He always seemed to be on the verge of getting cyd in the previous version. Not a big fan of Randolph, miller or Wallace and he doesn't seem intent on tanking hard at this point. Really not sure what he is trying to do.
Maniac[/i]
I'm going to stick with the Cavs. Team with no direction. They don't really have any players that jump out as being overly worthy on the trade market (other than Brand). I just don't have a ton of faith in that team.
Insane
HeatFlash, just because he doesn't seem to have time for this anymore and his situation needs a really steady hand to pull it through.
10) Call the finals. Who do you think will win, and who will they beat?
Skillz
Celtics over Blazers. I think these two teams are setup the best for a long playoff run.
Greeme
Nets – Suns. I think that Skillz has a really poor dc currently and that in a few sims he will start to take off. The nets have Ben and nash and some decent players who I might overrate. It is very helpful to have a shooting pg bc of the pg rule. Other gms can't move a stud defender on him. I think that the Suns will win the finals.
Maniac[/i]
Celtics/Suns. Duncan/Shaq square up with Kobe. And I think the Celtics win in four games. That team is just perfectly built for a playoff run. And they have Artest, a guy who can potentially slow down Kobe. Celtics take the inaugural title.
Insane
Pistons over Warriors. I know, really obvious, but at this point, the powerhouses are the powerhouses for a reason, and I don't see anyone challenging these two teams in their respective conferences right now. Warriors actually have the higher ranked offense and defense, but to me, they don't really have the gamebreaker that can take over and the Pistons have that in spades with a 33 PPG Nowitzki.
Tigertecz: Surprised only two people picked the Celtics and two people picked the Suns. I’d prob have them two in it with Boston winning, but would love to have some underdogs make it far in the playoffs and surprise us all. 1st round KO of Boston would be fun![/i][/color]
11) Which three players are you most looking forward to seeing in the upcoming drafts and what do you think their ceiling will be?
Skillz
I like seeing how the unique players are rated. Igoudala, Livingston....those type of guys. We know Dwight and CP3 are going to be studs, so there really isn't much intrigue there. I love when players who we don't expect end up becoming huge contributors.
Greeme
Andrea Bargnani – Can Spencer make a big that can shoot?
Kevin Durant – he was a good, not great, player last time. I would love to see him become one of the best scorers in the league with sick %s.
Greg Oden – Just interested to see how Spencer builds him.
Maniac[/i]
Dwight Howard. He will look wonderful on my roster. His ceiling? World domination. But I hate to even limit him to just world domination. However, I think the biggest story over the next few drafts will be the young wave of PG's taking over the league. We're going to see CP3, Deron Williams, Rondo enter the league in the next three years (or so I'd assume). And, obviously, PG's are difficult to come by right now in BBSFive. So, I think that'll be the biggest story and I'm very interested to see how the young PG's look entering the draft.
Insane
The next three drafts after this one, if Spenny holds true to real life, I'm really excited to see Paul, Durant, and Gay. Paul and Durant because they should be really sick and Gay because he's one of my favorite players in real life. Also, it should be interesting to see what he does with Oden and Roy because of how their bodies turned out in real life or if he ignores the injury problems and makes them studs. Then in 08, I'll be tanking again to get the Juiceman so that should be fun.
Tigertecz: Would be great to see Howard bust… Oden boom… and J-Lin, because I’ve never seen him in a sim league before haha. One of the best things about sims is seeing how players turn out in a different way to in reality, especially those affected by long term injuries. Looking forward to seeing what gets thrown up.[/i][/color]
12) Who in the league do you think should be fired and why? No cop outs. Name and shame!
Skillz
Svedda. He's emberrased himself everytime he's been in the league. There are better guys on the waiting list.
Greeme
Marty – He seems to be bored with the league and it really comes across on the boards. If he isn't ready to play there is no reason not to take a few months off. By then hf will get cyd. It isn't like we are lacking gms on the wait list. If you don't want to be active then just go and come back.
Hf – I like hf but he is barely passable as a gm when active and when he is inactive there is no reason not to fire him.
Maniac[/i]
Erbes. He makes me want to get medieval on my own ass.
Insane
One season in? lol ok. HF, like I said he doesn't have time anymore, so someone more active can take over that team and steer it in the right direction.
13) Would you change anything in the league right now, and if so, what?
Skillz
10 day sims! 5 days during the first few seasons suck. Every team has a clear direction and trades are at a minimum. Five-day sims make no sense.
Greeme
1. I would have done and auction instead of a draft. That would give everybody the same shot at the best players. I have never seen an auction done in these types of leagues and I think that it would be very interesting.
2. I would institute a way to get players come back early from injuries but not be at 100%.
3. I would add some kind of additional scouting for drafts, like spending posts to ask questions through pm to spencer or something like that.
Maniac[/i]
I think Spence has nailed the restart. I like the slower sim schedule, I like the creation draft. I hope he decides to add a 'splash' player or two in FA over the next few years. But, no, I really wouldn't change anything at this point.
Insane
Joe Johnson should've started with better ratings.
Tigertecz: LOL @ Insane. Personally I think it’d be better to release draft info a little later in the season and with more mystery… maybe some players with question mark ratings or something… draft workouts perhaps… something different. Early days yet though since we haven’t even made it to the first draft, so plenty to look forward to. So far the restart has gone pretty well though, no real complaints. [/i][/color]
14) There's a BBS basketball tournament about to take place. You can pick 4 GMs to form your team and play with you, who would they be and why?
Skillz
Greg--I feel like he would grab a lot of boards for some reason! Garbage man
Repole--player coach?
Play--Talks shit; probably good
Outlawz--Read above
ilovebball--he loves bball
Greeme
I don't actually know anybody or how they could play. Not really sure how I would pick them. I would probably take marty and play just to see them yell at each other all game. At least that would be amusing.
Maniac[/i]
Play is tall and black. That's always a good start. I know he's Downy soft but, still, people are generally intimidated by tall black guys. Especially on basketball courts. So, I'd pick him. I've seen pictures of Hype before and he's always looked like that crazy guy on the court who's there just to elbow people in the mouth. So, yeah, intimidation again. He's in. Tiger looks fast and asian. Good PG. He's in (but definitely wouldn't intimidate anyone). And I think the natural fourth pick would be Repole. Or not. I'd have to go with Outlawz. Quick temper. A little crazy. He'd fit in well with this team.
Insane
Play, Nanz, Habes, Hype. I'll choose Play because he's 6'6 so we got the paint covered. Hype because it'll be hilarious watching him and Play try to co-exist on the court. Nanz and Habes because they have that chemistry and they're the only other GM's I've heard talk about playing sports. Dream team IMO.
Tigertecz: Play is 6’6’’?! And wears Uggs still? That’s an odd image… He is the unanimous pick though so he’s got next. [/i][/color]
15) OK, so you've made it on to "Who Wants to be a Gazillionaire" and have to pick 3 of your fellow UOSLR GMs to be your "phone a friend". Who would you choose and why?
Skillz
Habes, Nanz, Pole--good conversation, good guys!
Greeme
Obviously Repole. He seems like the type to know all the stupid stuff they would ask. I don't know why I think that, I just do. Aar seems like a smart guy as does Broph. Yup, those three.
Maniac[/i]
fellow BBSFive GMs to be your "phone a friend". Who would you choose and why?
- Repole really is the natural choice here. He's smart. Spence is a well-rounded young man (and even though he's not a GM I'm picking him anyway) so he's in. I feel like Pole covers all things nerdy/scientific/statistics, Spence is my do-it-all guy, and I'd round out my picks with Jah. He seems smart as well.
Also, Andy is gay. Thanks.
Insane
Pole, Broph, and Habes. Pole for any computer or statistics type questions, Broph to answer financial related questions, and Habes for all around lawyer-type questions. Boom. That made no sense, but I'm sure they'd help me win anyway
Tigertecz: And that concludes the first Tiger's Den in BBS Five... Hope you enjoyed the read![/i][/color]
