Post by Trofie on Sept 25, 2022 13:36:12 GMT -5
1.What team has surprised you the most this year (positive and negative)
Sapular - I think the Nuggets have been the best surprise. I love to see when good people do well. Perhaps others saw this coming but I did not and am happy to see fason have the success he is. Hopefully, he can keep it up. I will also say that the Bulls are a bit lower than I would have expected. This isn’t a huge difference to me but I thing that they are a top 4/5 team in the East.
Timpig -Positive - HAWKS baby! Atlanta sits second in the BEASTERN conference on the heels of a solid backcourt made up of Tyrese Haliburton, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Deividas Sirvydas. Their bigs appear awful and can't rebound for shit, but they keep chugging along with the 3rd best ORtg in TMBSL. I'm hoping the Hawks can make it out of the East so the Mavs finally face the team that was built perfectly to conquer them.
Negative - Kings. With Arenas, Redick, and Melo, it seemed like the Kings would at least have the horses on the perimeter to score with anyone, despite a group of bigs that may be even worse than Atlanta's. I didn't expect them to be good, but they're currently behind the compu-T-Wolves in the conference standings. Ouch!
Trofie- The Hawks are suprising recordwise but they still aren't that great. Elite wing and PG combo but lacking bigs. Sonics have gotten much better through young Growth and the Pipers are playing well above the team grade. Negatively I think you have to go with the Rockets. They have really fallen off and probably should have traded some pieces last year. I know I offered two top 10 picks (one was Jason Terry) for Andreas last year at the deadline and was turned down. I also offered Wilkes and he didn't like him. You snooze you LOSE buddy .
Fason -Positive: Hawks - I welcome our new eastern conference overlords. King’s young perimeter trio is legit. If he can find a trade for one of the better D/R bigs he could run the East for a decade.
Negative: Rockets - I feel like there is no gray zone for the Rockets. They are either challenging for the second most fracs or in a fight for the 7-8 seed. Didn’t think it would swing back so soon
2. We can't see full grades yet, but give me your top 5 selections in the draft this year based on stats and what grades we know.
Sapular -Tim Duncan, Kebu Stewart, TMac (although stats argue this), Adonal Foyle, Peja Drobnjak. I actually kinda like the thought of going backwards from a drafting position and we don’t get draft grades, only st
Timpig -Tim Duncan - A legend who I think Eric likes IRL. My fear with Duncan is that he contributes right away but never develops a la Patrick Ewing, who hurt BA previously.
Tracy McGrady - I think he's the only real challenger for Ewing. The defense is incredible for an 18-year-old and he'll have a chance for a teen TC. If there's a glimmer of hope scoring-wise, BA could surprise some folks.
Adonal Foyle - Great defense and surprisingly not broken offense. The grades look pretty bad at this point so I could see him dropping.
Chauncey Billups - Mostly off of name recognition, but it appears Billups has some outside scoring chops and isn't turning it over 4 times per 36, so he may not need significant handling upgrades.
Keith Van Horn - Pretty good rebound, B potential, and a strong jumper. He looks like someone who probably gets +30 inside and maybe the -10 passing camp to increase volume and reduce turnovers.
Trofie- Tracy McGrady. His grades look great. His build is already elite on the defensive and rebounding end , so you'll just have to pump that 37 into his offense and he should beast. And he's only 18
Tim Duncan- Elite big that likely won't see a ton of growth , maybe Ewing 2.0?
Chauncy Billups - Looks to have good handling/passing ratio and high potential . Tough to take PG's early unless you think they'll be elite but he could be a steal
Keith Van Horn- Looks solid all around, not going to be insane but could be a 25 ppg guy for a team that needs scoring
Peja Drobnjak- Looks like Weis but he might not be a gem.
Fason -Duncan
McGrady
Who cares after this because it will be entirely TC roulette.
3. What Gm in the league is overrated?
Sapular - Hmmmmm, this is the toughest question. I promise I am not trying to do this, but I do not think that anyone is unfairly rated at this point. I think it is pretty clear who the good/great GM’s are and who the rest are. I am going to go a slightly different route here. I think the GM that is under performing the most is Druce. I think he is GM’ing wayyyyyy below his talent level. I understand why, but he is the most surprising to me
Timpig - Ankly. I know he's not really active anymore but for as big of a game as he talked and as highly as others rate him, to only win two titles while constantly taking advantage of new GMs is pretty weak. Taking his ball and going home after he lost a player in free agency, which happens to everyone and is something he's done to multiple GMs, is the cherry on top. You can't come back from that.
Trofie - Montrealdude. Guy thinks so highly of himself but just hasn't been able to get it done.
Fason -You guys seem to think 20s is so great. That guy couldn’t even make the playoffs last year…in the east.
4. Who is the most overrated player in the league?
Sapular - I think at this point the answer Ernie DiGegorio. He is talked about as if he is a demigod when the reality is, he is very good, you could even say great, just not God tier like he is discussed.
Timpig -I think we're all kind of on the same page when it comes to evaluating players, so it's hard to find someone who is really overrated. I guess since I have to pick someone, I'll say Harold Miner? I've heard a few folks say they were disappointed to lose him and others inquire about his availability, and while he's fine, he doesn't seem to do anything exceptionally well. Decent scoring, decent defense, meh rebounding.
Trofie-Demarcus Cousins- the guy is a stat stuffer but fouls are an issue. His bleals to TO ratio is lacking as well. I really enjoyed his addition to Milwaukee but when you dug into it , it just wasn't there. Would get 45 against a bum squad and then foul out in 15 minutes against a good team. I still think he's good just not great.
Fason -Larry Bird is supposed to be the second best wing in the league and putting up a fight against Lebron. Has Larry won or done anything of significance? A career loser.
5. Top 10 power rankings this season .
Sapular 10. Celtics
9. Hawks
8. Bucks
7. Pipers/Blazers
6. SuperSonics
5. Cougars
4. Capitals
3. Nuggets
2. Pacers
1. Mavericks
Timpig -1. Mavericks - They're only in second right now but have been without the best defensive big in league history for the majority of the year. That's allowed LeBron to be unleashed and I'm sure his confidence is through the roof.
2. Nuggets - Good team with really good depth, but I don't think that they have the true superstar to run with LeBron. Shaq and Barkley haven't been that, despite both being pretty good players.
3. Pacers - Another team with really good depth but without what I'd say is a true superstar. I don't know who Tony White is but he's apparently really good.
4. Capitols - This team could probably move up to #2 if they added an above-MLE shooting guard.
5. SuperSonics - I like my depth quite a bit and Alabi has rebounded nicely. His resurgence along with the Defensive Coordinator coach has helped the Sonics' defense keep up with the offense.
6. Cougars - 20s is always good at finding the defensive bigs, DiGregorio is pretty good, and if Sprewell can see his efficiency tick up a notch they'll jump in the standings.
7. Celtics - Jarman and Arenas is a nice 1-2 scoring punch, and Hamilton and Weis provide some balance out of the bigs. I like this team and I think he's decided to finally start playing Bobby Jones, which will funnel more shots to their better offensive guys.
8. Trail Blazers - I actually don't like even putting this team this high as it doesn't feel right positively reviewing a team whose best players are Tyson Chandler and Scotty Pippen. But they keep on winning so
9. Hornets - This team has a really strong backcourt and if they just switch to outside and take advantage of three players with an 'A' outside rating and one with an 'A+' they'll climb in the standings.
10. Pipers - Ja Morant is incredible and I hate myself for passing on him twice.
Trofie 1. Mavs
2.Nuggets
3.Sonics
4.Pipers
5.Blazers(somehow?)
6.Caps
7.Pacers
8. Caps
9.Bucks
10.Cougs
Fason -Mavs
Nuggets
Sonics
Pipers
Hawks
Pacers
Bucks
Blazers
Cougars
Capitols
6. If you matched up conferences and every team faced off (1 seed v 1 seed and so on) How do you see it playing out?
Sapular -I think 1 v 1 the Pacers win; 2 v 2 I think the West wins by a mile; 3 v 3 I think the Capitol’s win and 4 v 4 I think the Cougars win. I think the West is good and a better conference top to bottom but the top teams in the east are better, collectively, than the West. The strength in the West is from 2-12.
Timpig -I think the top 3 teams in the West win their matchups, though the Hawks vs. Mavericks series definitely goes 7 with overtime in every game. The bottom five matchups probably all favor the East as I think there's a lot more balance across the entirety of the East versus a few teams in the West that stand out.
Trofie- Honestly I see the West taking a 5-0 lead with the top seeds and then the East winning the next 3. 5-3 West
Fason -Clown question bro, West would massacre that G5 tier conference.
7. Do you see any potential Max Fa's in this upcoming FA class?
Sapular -I think Ja could be, as well as Jaxson Hayes. I personally love Jaxson and was a little upset when Tim drafted him. Then again, is it emotion that is drawing me to him or his talent? I guess if I am totally honest, IF he becomes available, he probably isn’t worth a max but in order to acquire him, I think a max is necessary
Timpig - Ja Morant is the clear max target, and I could see someone taking a swing at Zion. I'm not sure Jaxson Hayes has seen the growth some of us hoped for, but some folks were really enamored with him when he was a prospect so someone could try and jump on him. Someone should take one for the team and max Steve Mitchell as well.
Trofie- I think you got Ja which is obvious then you have Jaxon Hayes and possibly Mitchell. I don't think Zion is even close to being worth a Max. I think Walker for the Hawks is also worth a Max.
Fason -a Morant is the only guy I’d for sure max.
Next tier of guys that are a maybe depending on the strength of the class: Ty Jerome, Kevin Porter, NAW, Jaxson Hayes and Derrick Favors
8. What comes first the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, or the end of the Ankly Pity Parade?
Sapular -The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. However, the longer this goes on, the less and less it annoys me. He is doing the absolute minimum. I get that and, kind of understand where he is coming from. Actually, answering this question has me annoyed again. I wouldn’t even say it’s a pity party because he would have to be actively looking for pity. Instead, he is being childish. Either shit or get off the pot. You in or out?
Timpig - Ankly is done but he won't actually quit. Again, this happened in 5.0 too but at the time we didn't have hard and fast rules about what constituted quitting, and logging in and not doing anything certainly wasn't enough. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade all the way!
Trofie- Macy's. I'm not sure what happened to Ank but I would like to find out. Maybe we can sit down in Chicago over a nice bottle of Malort and hash this out.
Fason -Don’t see any 1.1s or 1.2s coming up for the Knicks so going with Macy’s. I do hope that this ends soon from Ank, this is one of the sadder things I’ve seen in sim league. Kind of display I could only see Ian or bk pulling.
