Post by Trofie on Sept 10, 2022 10:00:02 GMT -5
1.What team has surprised you the most this year (positive and negative)
Sap -In a positive way it has been the Caps. The signing of Forte and drafting of Robinson had a much bigger impact than I would have guessed. I am happy to see yawn doing well. Being on the other side of the world for a while but still finding time to be active and competitive is fantastic. On the flip side I guess the team that has surprised me in a negative way are the Sonics. I expected them to be a bit better. Having -3 luck doesn’t help but I guess it just shows how much more dominant the West is.
Fason -I don’t even think KC expected the Rockets to be this good since he was trying to blow it up.
Odin somehow has the Bulls contending already, Steve Mitchell is a stud.
Negative: Pacers
They seem loaded. I thought they would be the clear best team in the east but Eric continues to find creative ways to screw Heebs.
20's -Positive: The Bulls. Odin surprised many forfeiting his cap space to select so many players in expansion and then traded a couple futures for Charlie Bell and it seems those moves have paid off. He is currently 2nd in the East and only 1 game back of the Capitols for the 1 seed. I thought they would be a playoff team but this is more success than I anticipated.
Negative: Knicks. This is a team with a multiple time MVP and plenty of other talent (1.1 Zion, 1.2 Zo) that isn't going to make the playoffs. Pretty disappointing even after losing former 1.1 Devin Vassell in FA.
Heebs -Biggest surprise - the Rockets. They guys just won't die! Hopefully they can knock off the Mavericks in the west before the finals.
Biggest disappointment - the Pacers. Outside offense just isn't working. I thought it was that Frank was hurt the first half of the season, but we still suck.
Bk -The bulls being so good, but its just because they are in the literal joke conference. 20s is starting an entire team of shit rookies and sitting at 55.5% in that conference.
Im still surprised the Kings arent better. Theyd probably be the 2nd seed in the East.
Trofie- I'm honestly surprised the Rockets are as good as they are. The Caps look really solid and Yawn didn't end up trading that early pick and it worked. He's got a very good team. I don't think they would be top 4 in the West but still, great squad. I thought the Sonics would pick it up a bit, but with the addition of Heal I expect them to be much improved. The Blazers aren't doing so hot either.
2. It's early in the draft but have there been any surprising selections to you.
Sap -No, but at the same time there were no clear cut top in my mind. A lot of players seem to be lumped together in certain ranges. I think the top 2 make sense but I think in other years, they would have fallen with an obvious #1. I will say the Weis pick is odd to me, he must be a gem, because there are better players on the board.
Fason - Frederic Weis going 1.3 is so 6.0. I know RW has been not so patiently waiting to finally pick in the top of a draft so I was surprised he decided to roll the dice on the generic potential big. The gem status really helps though.
20's - Frederic Weis at 1.3 was surprising to me. That isn't to say it's a bad pick, just I didn't imagine him going that high. He is a gem and has some nice grades so it is probably a good pick, it was just one that surprised me.
Heebs-Surprised AK47 didn't go 1.1. We've never seen a wing like him. He could be a Lebron stopper and, frankly, might be the best player in the league after uppies. What were you guys thinking?!
Bk -Not really any surprising picks. Its one of the best drafts we've had in awhile with 2 actually decent players (manu and kiri) and they obviously went 1.1 and 1.2 with the huge dropoff afterwards everyone knows and loves.
Trofie- Brand was a shocker to me. He can become a good scoring big but you can get that almost anywhere. He might develop a decent defensive game but the boards are worrisome. I honestly pulled him off my big board. Was kind of surprised Marion fell and Terry wasn't taken earlier so was happy to land them both. Wingcity
3.The Mavs have fallen a bit in fracs(likely due to Lebron injury) but do you see them as the obvious favorite still?
Sap - Yes, and if I wasn’t clear before YES. I do find it funny how Eric repeatedly tries to say that LeBron isn’t broken and that there are players with more this, or higher that. LeBron does not have a weakeness. So are there better scorers? Yes. Are there better rebounders? Yes. There is NO ONE that does everything as well as LeBron. HE IS BROKEN.
Fason -Been nice to see the fracs spread out around the league. Hard yes though on Mavs still being favorites.
20's -I think they are definitely still the favorite, but it isn't a sure thing like previous years. The East pretty much sucks this year so I assume their biggest competition will be in the West. If they can make it out of the West, they probably bring home a 5th straight title before LeBron leaves in free agency.
Heebs- Until Eric's motherboard corrupts or Lebron retires, the Mavs will be the favorites.
Bk-Duh
Trofie- Yes still the heavy favorite. But lets be clear Lebron isn't even that great and he's surrounded by tons of talent.
4. One under the radar player you'd like to add to your squad from another team?
Sap - Jerome Baptiste. He is a good young D/R big that doesn’t get a lot of pub. I like him a lot and would be a good fit on my team. He may not be on another team but I think he would be an amazing fit on my team.
Fason - Besides the numerous Pacers being hidden. I’ll go with Lionel Hollins who I regret not drafting last year.
20's- John Drew from the Pacers. Definitely a guy I would like to have.
Heebs-Lugentz Dort. I've got his scout and I know how good he is. Unfortunately I won't have soft cap space, so I'm giving you all free info.
Bk-paul george is the best wing in the league not named lebron
Trofie - Mitchell for the Bulls has been nuts. Also Jim Jackson has developed nicely. But shoutout to Vernon Carey Jr. who actually developed nicely after he wasn't protected . Another player would be Aleksej Pokusevski who was also let go by the Raptors. Goes to show sometimes it takes multiple years to pan out even after an initial shit TC unless you're Charles Oakley. Then you will always be shit.
5. Who is one player you drafted you were sure would be a stud but just didn't pan out?
Sap - I am not sure stud is the right word but I had higher expectations for Mason Jones. He isn’t bad, but he isn’t very good either. I had higher hopes for him. I remember when I scouted him and I was in a conversation with another GM about him and I had very high expectations of him.
Fason -Pretty much every player I’ve drafted but Grant Hill has been the worst because his grades were eye popping. Looking back his build was very flawed and seemingly set to fail.
20's -Eddy Curry. He was a teen with some elite scoring grades and big potential for growth. He got the bad teen TC where lost 20% of his potential and just never saw his rebounding grow. I was expecting him to be a Carlos Boozer type, but he ended up just as a guy who could score efficiently and not turn it over. He stuck in the league for a while as a journeyman type who put up good efficiency numbers, but he was never really featured on any contending teams.
Heebs -Horace Grant. What the fuck happened to him in TC? How did he regress so much in year 2? It's not like he had 60 potential. He is still in tier 4 TCs. Ugh.
Bk -this honestly hasnt really happened to me. the only players ive taken that busted were potential strength guys that I knew werent surefire studs. The closest thing might be patrick o bryant, but again i knew he needed TC help to maximize value at that awesome 1.3 talent dropoff
Trofie- Some players I've drafted really early didn't end up being studs but had shit TC's and were still productive, like Malone, Barkley , Jr Smith(he had insane starting grades and could have been insane). Then some just never got better and weren't ever Great like Bingo Smith (sack of shit) and Charles Oakley. I had no Intention of taking Oakley after I drafted Malone. But then I traded for the #3 pick and decided lets scout him. He was pretty much the exact same as Malone so I figured I'd take him and one would pan out and be elite. Fucking Idiot. Shout out to Desmond Bane. Sack of shit
6. One player you drafted who you didn't expect much out of but was very good?
Sap -The one that I wish I had not let get away was Harold Miner. I was always holding out hope he would be good and he has turned out to be good. I just wish I did not have to trade him when I did and if I am honest, if I had to do that trade over again I wouldn’t do it.
Fason - Rudy Gay has ended up much better than I thought, that was just rolling the dice on potential and he’s hit it albeit on a different team.
H/t to Juwan Howard who I didn’t expect to have this long of an effective career.
20's- Terrance Ferguson. He was a 3rd round pick just because I knew he was a teen with potential in the 70s so he could get the super teen TC and he got it. A lot of good TCs, mentoring, and upgrades later and he's one of the best SGs in 6.0 history.
Heebs-Jim Les. He never got a chance to start because I kept resigning Frank on one-year deals, but Jim was supposed to be my cheap starting PG. You asked for one, but I'm gonna give you two. Harry Hough. I thought he was going to be a solid starter, but never envisioned him as an MVP. He had some great TCs after he was signed by Milwaukee.
Bk-desmond mason literally had all the growth. I had 1.6 and chap had 1.7 and we argued for a long time about who to take and whether to trade down or trade up. I was split between mason and eduard najera. I obviously took mason but it was embarassingly close based on how he turned out
Trofie- Lets be clear I expect alot out of all my players , but the answer would be Charlie Bell. Hit the lotto with that guy and he's been one of the best players in TMBSL. He was good not great with the Bucks then just took off on the Cougars.
7. You have two top 5 picks but the monkeypox virus has taken much out of you. You must pick a Gm to make those picks for you. Who is it?
Sap - I would pick 20s. In my mind he is the best GM in the league right now. I think Heebs is a close second. I think 20s is amazing at finding talent but more importantly finding the right talent for a given team. That being said, he may be good at finding his type of player but he is able to get the most out of the FA signings and draft picks.
Fason - This is easy, Dirt because he will run tests in software.
20's - trofie, gbr.
Heebs -20s is solid. Dirt also is very good at drafting. Trofie just picked the best player of this upcoming generation at 1.2. I'm probably going with Dirt.
Bk-ankly or heebs, because the pick will still be OTC by the time i recover
Trofie- I'd probably go with 20's , Dirt , or Heebs
8. Top 10 power rankings this season .
Sap -This is in no particular order:
1. Mavs
2. Mavs
3. Mavs
4. Mavs
5. Mavs
6. Mavs
7. Mavs
8. Mavs
9. Mavs
10. Mavs
Fason -1. Mavs
2. Rockets
3. Capitols
4. Nuggets
5. Bulls
6. Pacers
7. Jazz
8. Bucks
9. Celtics
10. Hornets
20's- 1. Mavericks
2. Nuggets
3. Capitols
4. Rockets
5. Bulls
6. Bucks
7. Jazz
8. Pacers
9. Celtics
10. Hornets
Heebs - 10. Celtics: Solid squad in the bad conference.
9. Jazz: would be a lot better with Spreewell.
8. Pacers: Lucky to be the 2 seed in the weakest division in the league.
7. Rockets: I guess they need to go on the list. Probably should be higher, but the perception is low because they are actively selling. Still very good.
6. Bulls: Impressive job by Odin building this team this quickly.
5. Sonics: Young. Need to add a wing and they've got a championship level stew.
4. Capitals: best of the east, so I guess they must be decent.
3. Bucks: Added AK47 to a stout squad.
2. Nuggets: How did we let him get Quickley on that deal? Someone needs to steal Shaq.
1. Mavericks: Lebron + Eric = <3
Bk -1. Mavericks
2. Mavericks without lebron
3. Rockets
4. Nuggets
5. Jazz
6. Supersonics
7. Bullets
8. Pacers
9. Celtics
10. Pacers
Trofie 1. Mavs
2.Nuggets
3.Rockets
4.Capitols
5.Jazz
6.Pacers
7.Bulls
8.Bucks
9.Celtics
10.Sonics
9. Any egregious grades to you this draft?
Sap -Not really. But that may be because I am not a HUGE basketball fan and don’t know the players IRL as well as some may. I think we are at a point in the league where we know too much for our own good and try and outsmart the system. There is VERY little guessing anymore and very little that is left to chance. The “breakout” type player doesn’t really exsist anymore outside of what TC gives them. We know how much people grow, we know what grows them, we know how to upgrade them to maximize them. Now when I say we I am talking about the vast majority, clearly I have no idea how to upgrade players.
Fason -I am numb now to the bigger names of draft classes being duds. This year though Steve Francis grades are dumb and show once again Eric doesn’t want fun. Lamar Odom should have started with higher potential.
20's -Steve Francis has egregiously bad grades. He's the worst player in the entire draft file which is pretty asinine for the 1.2 pick who had success in the NBA. I don't really care, though.
Heebs -Steve Francis. WTF?
Bk -no. i like baron davis for an inside team and he still hasn't gone yet. the no shoot defense first point guard hasnt really taken off in 6.0 yet but it should and he'd be great on the caps etc.
Trofie- Like Most Francis was crazy to me. His college Numbers were very good and he initially was good in the league before addiction. I agree on Odom as well. He had tons of Hype but we get a Passing SF with no Potential, although his stats aren't terrible. It sucks that we have multiple Potential players going really early over actual good basketball players who had good careers and were highly touted. I'd really like to see the way we do proflies change and quit fitting all the guys without them into a box because nobody has the exact same game. List at least 25-30 players and list positives and negatives. We have a great class and guys like Wally aren't getting profiles. He made an ASG was a stud in College , was 1st team all rookie after being drafted #6. Yet he's put into the "Jumpshot" Mold when he shot six 3's a game in College and had 8.5 boards a game. Shawn Marion shot over two 3's a game in College and only has a slightly lower career % in the NBA than Lebron. Yet he won't ever have chance to do that in TMBSL. Lebron Bias once again. Andre Miller was great
