Post by TinyTimPig on Jun 30, 2021 17:39:42 GMT -5
3008 Playoff Contenders
1. Texas Chaparrals: The Chaps have reloaded, upgrading Kennedy Meeks with Nikola Jokic as Theodoros continues to thrive despite being 35 years old. Granger and Breshers are producing as expected and this team ranks near the top in both O Rtg and D Rtg while employing a play style that has worked in the past.
2. Philadelphia 76ers: Like the Chaps, the 76ers feature good to very good players at four positions and have a couple of really solid depth players. They also are an inside-focused team and can hurt you in a number of ways, which should help them in the playoffs. Their defense isn’t as strong as Texas’ which is why they end up a spot behind.
3. Carolina Cougars: The Cougars appear to have the best outside-focused team and adding Van Exel midseason gives them three solid scoring options that fit their style of play, which isn’t something either of the next two teams can say. It’s been an impressive makeover on the fly for 20s, adding Perry, NVE, Oden, and Gary Harris over the past season to a team that looked like it was ready for a rebuild. I know he and Ian have agreed on a trade to send Maye to Minnesota, but this team is good enough to contend for a championship and, as appealing as that 1.2 is, it won’t come for another five seasons, at which point Ron Perry will be 33 and likely beginning to regress.
4. New York Knicks: This team is really weird to me as I just noticed that Joel Embiid hasn’t been a scoring option all season but is still putting up 25 points per game. They run an outside offense but really only have one dynamite outside scorer in Kyrie. Stoudamire is very efficient but doesn’t seem as inclined to shoot as Carolina’s or Minnesota’s second options. This is a team that’s entire playoffs could very well be defined by one bad game from Kyrie.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves: I guess this was a “wait and see” year for the T-Wolves as they await Luke Maye’s arrival this offseason. Still, Paul and Blackmon are probably the best scoring duo in the league and they have big men capable of shutting down opposing interior scorers that no other team can boast. Batum seems like a real weak spot for them and I just don’t trust a team that only has two scorers.
3008 MVP Candidates (GM voted)
1. Kyrie Irving: Currently the only player in the league to rank top 5 in both pts/tsa and points per game, Kyrie also plays a position where there aren’t many great players. He’s likely a top MVP candidate for the next decade at least.
2. Chris Paul: We’re entering uncharted territory in Paul’s fifth year as there’s a real chance he may not win MVP due to having a “down” year by his standards. Still, he’s neck and neck with Kyrie for the best point guard in the league and the two seem likely to split the MVP awards for the foreseeable future.
3. Ron Perry: Perry has been dynamite in Carolina in his first season as a featured scoring option. On a team that’s been built around Luke Maye, Perry’s outstanding showing seems to have motivated 20s to transition into a core built around Perry and Nick Van Exel, both of whom still have a number of good years in front of them. I don’t think many of us expected to see Perry lead the league in pts/tsa while also playing solid defense and keeping turnovers to a minimum.
4. Martell Webster: With Webster actually playing starter minutes this year, he’s produced exceptionally well, putting up 22.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per 36 while featuring the second-best pts/tsa in the league and an outstanding 1.2 TOs per 36. He has surprisingly made Dale Ellis a bit of an afterthought in Philadelphia.
5. Al Horford: Despite selling most of his roster, Trofie remains competitive and it’s mostly due to Horford continuing to put up excellent numbers. He projects to finish 3rd in the league in win shares and first among non-point guards, driven mostly by his 1.23 pts/tsa as he’s pretty average everywhere else. Still, the impact he’s having on a roster that’s been thinned out quite a bit is very impressive.
3008 Sophomores
1. Kyrie Irving: The obvious top sophomore, Irving and Chris Paul fit in their own class of point guards and it looks to be that way for the next few years as the only big name on the horizon - Gary Payton - turns it over an absurd amount. Irving is an excellent scorer with no turnover issues and is just 20 years old.
2. Kawhi Leonard: Kawhi is an elite defender and rebounder who can play either wing position and his scoring efficiency has been surprisingly decent each of his first two seasons. He looks like a guy who can be great at the D/R aspects and a solid third scoring option.
3. Nikola Vucevic: Vooch has fallen off a bit after an outstanding rookie season, but hopefully the rest of his career is more similar to year one than year two. It looks like Druce moved him to third big around halfway through the season, which unfortunately may be something that is required of him throughout his career in order to maximize his minutes allotment. Still, he's very efficient, a good rebounder, doesn't turn it over often, and is less inept as a defender than I expected.
4. Jonas Valanciunas: Jonas scores efficiently and frequently, though his volume is likely reduced if/when he gets a running mate in Houston. He defends decently and his rebounding, while OK at 10.9 per 36, is somewhat of a disappointment. The big issue for his career will be turnovers, which may drop as his volume does.
5. Markieff Morris: ‘Kieff has been a revelation in Toronto, putting up better-than-expected scoring numbers playing alongside his not-quite-as-good brother. I expected both his rebounding and defense to be worse based on scouting, and his turnovers are not much of an issue either.
Next Hall of Famer
1. Theodoros Papaloukas: The only truly great point guard to win a title, and he’s done it thrice, most recently at the advanced age of 33. Even now, at 35, he is the engine behind the best team in the West and is having one of the most efficient seasons of his career. It seems likely that he retires after his current contract is up at the end of next season.
2. Devin Williams: With a career 1.16 pts/tsa, an all-time high of 14 rebounds per 36, and .247 win shares per 48, Williams is a no doubt Hall of Famer despite never being a volume scorer or much of a defensive presence. He had one rough season with the Warriors but revitalized his career after moving to Pittsburgh and then Orlando.
3. Bojan Dubljevic: Bojan ranks 7th all-time among qualifying players in pts/tsa and has done so on impressive volume, tying Sidney Green for most points per 36 all-time at an astounding 38.7. He also ranks third all-time in win shares per 48. If he makes it through this offseason, he likely signs somewhere for a few years, delaying his retirement a bit.
4. James Blackmon Jr.: At 33, Blackmon is still a dominant scorer and his time with the T-Wolves should cement him as a Hall of Famer, though some may shy away from voting yes due to his shorter time as a star. He currently averages 26.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per-36 for his career, both of which should be Hall of Fame caliber for a shooting guard. If he tries to stick it out for a while and those numbers come down, it may damage his resume.
Ankly Articles by Overall Shittiness
5. State of the Uppies Address: Inside scoring and jump shot get upgraded a lot
4. Sporcle Quiz - Guess the Shouter!: There was potential here, but Ankly missed by only including 10 quotes and duplicating GMs.
3. Knicks beat Heat: While I actually laughed quite a bit at this article, it was objectively very shitty and the votes reflect that.
2. Simpsons Gifs and Memes Vol. 1: I enjoy some good memes, but the Simpsons hasn’t been funny in 25 years. Still, I’d rather have watched a new episode of The Simpsons than read this.
1. Simpsons Gifs - Vol. 2: Just when I thought the Simpsons couldn’t get any less funny, Ankly decided to do a follow-up shitty meme article that consisted of one even shittier, less funny meme.
The rest were decent.
And here's an irrelevant gif:
