NBA 2K8: T'Wolves - Life after Garnett [Archive]

Ironhead

11-25-2007, 06:18 PM

Starting Breakdown
PG Randy Foye (77 OVR, B+ potential - 6'4, 213 lbs - drafted 1.7 in 2006)
Foye is entering his 2nd season in the league after a pretty good rookie campaign in which he averaged 10 points a game in 23 minutes. Foye has a good combination of size and quickness for a point guard and is slasher that can finish strong or create his own shot. He also has a solid mid range and 3pt shot. Foye is first and foremost a scorer, not a point guard. He works hard on the defensive end of the court but can definitely improve in this area.

SG Gerald Green (72 OVR, A potential - 6'8", 200 lbs - drafted 1.18 in 2005)
Green is just barely eeking out this starting job over Rashad McCants. What really sets Green apart is his size, athleticism and shooting ability. Green is only 21 right now as he skipped attending Oklahoma State and instead went straight to the draft. He has drawn many comparisons to Tracy McGrady but given his limited time to develop he has a long way to go. Green has amazing leaping ability which he displayed when he won the 2007 NBA Dunk contest. He doesn't add much value on defense but like Foye can develop this area.

SF Corey Brewer (77 OVR, B- potential - 6'9", 185 lbs - drafted 1.7 in 2007)
Even as a rookie Brewer is a very good defender who, due to his size, can guard several different positions. I have concerns about how well he would be able to guard a really strong small forward like LeBron James, but what do we really have to lose this year? Brewer has a decent midrange and 3PT shot. His quickness at the small forward position and hustle should make him a good finisher on fast breaks.

PF Al Jefferson (89 OVR, A- potential - 6'10", 265 lbs - drafted 1.15 in 2004)
Jefferson is the man in Minnesota this year. As a starter last year he averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Jefferson is solid in post on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He has enough size and strength to play center as well. Definitely not as physically gifted as Dwight Howard but one of the bright young big men in the league.

C Theo Ratliff (71 OVR, reached potential - 6'10" 235 lbs - drafted 1.18 in 1995)
Ratliff's role on this team is pretty simple: be tall, block some shots and then don't let the door hit you on the way out at the end of the year. Ratliff is making a whopping $11.66 million dollars this year.

Bench Breakdown
There just seems to be a glut of players on the team who can play anywhere from 16-22 minutes per night but will never be starting material. Most of these players have essentially the same skillsets leaving little reason to play one over the other. Instead I end up having to try to play everyone to try and keep players from getting pissed off. I am going to have to make some trades early in the season to reduce the redundancy on the roster. Ideally I would want to pick up a veteran with a big, 1 year contract that I could dump at the end of the year.

Player Roles:
PG Randy Foye - Starter (I want you to be the star of this team)
SG Gerald Green - Starter (You're replaceable if an upgrade comes along)
SF Corey Brewer - Starter (Your position as starter is guaranteed)
PF Al Jefferson - Starter (I want you to be the star of this team)
C Theo Ratliff - Starter (You're replaceable if an upgrade comes along)

SG Rashad McCants - Sixth Man (You might not be a starter, but playing time will be ample)
PF Antoine Walker - Role Player (Our young players need a mentor; playing time will be limited)
PF Craig Smith - Role Player (We need some energy and depth off the bench)
PG Sebastian Telfair - Role Player (You minutes will be limited, but you'll get a chance)
PG Marko Jaric - Role Player (We need your versatility off the bench; playing time will be sporadic)

C Michael Doleac - Bench Warmer (You will only see playing time if we get hit by injuries)
PF Ryan Gomes - Bench Warmer (Playing time will be very limited)
SG Greg Buckner - Bench Warmer (You will only see playing time if we get hit by injuries)
PF Mark Madsen - Bench Warmer (You will only see playing time if we get hit by injuries)

Rotation:
PG Randy Foye - 36 minutes per game
SG Gerald Green - 28 minutes per game
SF Corey Brewer - 28 minutes per game
PF Al Jefferson - 37 minutes per game
C Theo Ratliff - 28 minutes per game

SG Rashad McCants - 22 minutes per game
PF Antoine Walker - 14 minutes per game
PF Craig Smith - 14 minutes per game
PG Sebastian Telfair - 12 minutes per game
PG Marko Jaric - 11 minutes per game
C Michael Doleac - 10 minutes per game

PF Ryan Gomes - No playing time
SG Greg Buckner - No playing time
PF Mark Madsen - No playing time

korme

11-25-2007, 07:12 PM

Start Craig Smith (96 rebounds) and let him lead the league in rpg! Better than space-filler Ratliff

Ironhead

11-25-2007, 08:06 PM

First a note about the incoming draft class. It has been imported from College Hoops but I feel strongly that there are many problems with the ratings on the recruits. I will be editing the entire draft class to make it more realistic after the first season. The one caveat here is that I will not penalize or reward a team for taking a player that imported better or worse than expected. Players will retain the same general overall rating they imported with. For example, if O.J. Mayo gets drafted 18th overall and has a 68 overall rating I am not going to edit him to make him the greatest thing since sliced bread. I will just make him a more realistic guard based on his ratings from College Hoops.

Before our first game I send our master scout to take a look at center Roy Hibbert from Georgetown. Our initial projection has Hibbert being taken in the Top 5. At 7'2", 278 pounds Hibbert is one big dude. He looks to have a solid inside game but will will really shine on defense.

I send my average scout out to Nebraska to get a look at Aleks Marie (6'11" 270 lbs), also a center. Our initial ranking for him is the Top 5 but simply based on the letter grades he doesn't look the part. We'll see what my scout has to say in about a week.

Ironhead

11-25-2007, 08:21 PM

Start Craig Smith (96 rebounds) and let him lead the league in rpg! Better than space-filler Ratliff

Even though he is an excellent rebounder Smith doesn't add much in the way of defense. Not sure how Smith would fare going up against the likes of Duncan, Nowitzki, Bosh or any forward really that has any kind of mid range shot. I would much rather have Smith in the game as a super rebounder when Jefferson is on the bench. I'll make sure to keep my eye on him in played out games though. If Ratliff just isn't adding anything to the team I could give it a short little test.

Ironhead

11-26-2007, 12:18 AM

Unless we make a miracle run at the playoffs this first season I will be doing a play 1, simulate 3 rotation. All games are played on full 12 minute periods.

We open up the year at home against the Denver Nuggets. Denver is rated 78 overall and we are rated 69 overall.

Down 27-24 at the end of 1. We aren't shooting well from the floor but have been attacking the basket and converted on 12 of 14 free throw attempts. Camby had a huge block on a Jefferson dunk attempt. Brewer is doing a great job on Carmelo so far and held him to 2 of 8 shooting in the quarter.

Camby picked up his 3rd foul only 2 minutes in the 2nd and had to sit. We get 8 more trips to the line in the period and are hanging in the game, down 51-48 at half. Carmelo isn't shooting very well today, only 5 of 16 at the half. Not much out of Iverson so far, only 4 points on 4 shot attempts. Foye leads us with 13 at the break. McCants and Jefferson are behind him with 11 and 10, respectively.

Down 83-71 at the end of 3. Denver is getting great scoring from their bench this game and has overall been shooting well. We still have a shot but we need to get it done from the floor - only 40% through 3 periods.

We open up the 4th with some full court press. The closest we get is within 10 points but sloppy play sees us really get blow out as the Nuggets go on a huge 21-4 run. Nuggets cruise to a 113-93 win.

Carmelo is the player of the game with 31 points on 11 of 24 shooting from the floor and 8 of 10 from the line. Iverson finished the game with 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting, 13 assists and 2 steals. Nene had 13 points and 12 boards in on 25 minutes. Camby sat out almost the entire game with foul trouble. The Nuggets had great production from their bench as they poured in 54 points on the night. As a team they shot 47% from the field and 46% from 3 point land on 15 attempts.

For the T'Wolves Jefferson put up 22 points, 12 boards and 1 block in a losing effort. Foye also chipped in 22 points and 4 assists on 7 of 15, 1 of 3, 7 of 8. Green had 15 and McCants added 14 off the bench. Brewer had 6 points on 7 shot attempts and had 3 blocks on the night. We shot terribly as a team, only 38% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc on 15 attempts. The only way we were remotely close was that we were 34 of 43 from the line.

Ironhead

11-26-2007, 12:37 AM

Our next game is against the Knicks on the road. We lose 107-82. Curry had a big game for them with 33 points and 9 boards. Crawford added 19 points and 9 assists and Richardson had 15 points and 7 boards. Marbury added 9 points and 8 assists in limited action due to foul trouble. They shot 55% from the floor.

Jefferson had 20 points, 8 boards and 2 blocks on 7 of 8 shooting while converting all 6 free throw attempts. Green finished with 13 points and 2 steals on 5-10, 1-2, 2-4. Foye had a subpar night from the field and finished with 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting. McCants was a nice lift off the bench again and added 11 points in 22 minutes. Brewer struggled from the field on 1 of 7 shooting and finished with 6 points again. We shot 43% from the field and struggled from beyond the arc, hitting 3 of 17 attempts.

Scouting Update:
My scouts have returned with their first evaluations. My master scout thought very highly of Roy Hibbert and thinks he possesses sound defensive fundamentals. He thinks he is a smart player that we should scout further.

My other scout was also very impressed with Aleks Marie and thinks he could contribute immediately at the NBA level.

I am going to have each scout look at the others prospect to see if they agree with each other's assessment.

Ironhead

11-26-2007, 12:58 AM

Next up we have the Magic who have stumbled out of the gate with an 0-3 start. We get a surprising 82-67 win. Brewer showed some life on offense and lead the team with 17 points on 7 of 10, 1 of 1, 2 of 6 shooting. Jefferson added 14 points and 16 boards. Green struggled from the field but still finished the game with 14 points. Foye took a back seat in this one and player distributor, finishing with 8 points and 12 assists. We shot 46% from the field and stayed away from 3 point shots.

The Magic were just hideous in this one, shooting only 29% from the field. Even Mr. Dunk, Dwight Howard, finished with 10 points and 15 boards on 3 of 11 attempts. Rashard Lewis only played 18 minutes the entire game as foul trouble forced him to sit most of the night before he fouled out. Orlando was playing on several days rest so this was just a really poor outing for them.

After the game the Mavericks offer me Jerry Stackhouse in return for Sebastian Telfair. That hardly seems like a reasonable trade. Why would the Mavericks want Telfair when they already have two very good point guards? I turn down the offer.

Ironhead

11-26-2007, 01:12 PM

Wow, we win our next simulated game 134-67 over the Lakers. That has to be the most lopsided game I have seen in several years of association play. Jefferson put up 28 points, 16 boards, 2 steals and a block in 33 minutes. Green had a nice game with 24 points on 7 of 13, 4 of 6, 6 of 7. Foye added 18 points, 10 assists and 5 boards. Even Antoine Walker got in on the action with 15 points and 10 boards in 16 minutes. We shot 54% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc on 18 attempts. We took a massive 54 foul shots in the game and hit 39 of them.

Kobe only scored 10 points in 40 minutes. He struggled from the floor and only hit 4 of 17 shot attempts and only got to the line once. Everybody else on the team scored less than 10 points and just about everyone was in some degree of foul trouble. As a team the Lakers shot only 27% from the floor and hit only 1 of 17 3 point attempts. Same as the Magic they were playing off of several days rest.
Hold

Nov 10, 2007: T'Wolves (2-2) at Kings (2-3)
This is our first back to back road game of the year, it will be interesting to see how these young kids respond. The Kings also played the night before but they were at home. The Kings are rated 69 overall and we are rated 62 overall, presumably lower than before due to less rest.

Up 27-17 at the end of 1. The Kings have come out flat and have turned the ball over 5 times already. Jefferson was all over the glass in the first quarter and already has 10 boards and 11 points.

The Kings immediately attack Jefferson to start the second and he picks up 3 fouls in a 4 minute span and has to head to the bench. We build the lead to 16 points before the Kings start to gets things rolling and close the gap. We go into the half up 52-44. Artest is having a nice game for them so far with 12 points and their 1st round pick Hawes is providing a nice lift off the bench.

We go cold from the floor and the Kings take advantage with a 19-4 run at the end of the 3rd quarter to close the score to 67-65.

Down 81-79 with just under 4 minutes left. Miller misses the fadeway shot in the post and Foye hits an open jump shot just inside the top of the arc to tie it up. Foye with solid defense and Bibby has to throw up a 3 from about 27 feet out to beat the clock, off right iron and Walker with the rebound. Foye with an open 3 point attempt, too long and the Kings get the board. Miller backs Smith down in the paint and takes an easy hook shot. 83-81 Kings. I call a timeout to get Jefferson back in the game. Jefferson's shot is too strong in the paint and the Kings bring it up court. Artest hits a contested 3 to put the Kings up 86-81. 1 minute left. Green is fouled driving to the basket and hits one of the free throws. 86-82. Bibby drives past Foye and Ratliff picks up a foul...Bibby hits both free throws for an 88-82 lead. Foye misses the mid range shot but Walker gets the board and kicks it to Green...misses the wide open 3 point look. We foul and they hit both free throws to go up 90-82. 20 seconds left. We need a big shot here or it is pretty much over. Green hits the 3 off the inbounds pass to make it 90-85. That is closest we get and we drop it 92-87.

Bibby is the player of the game with 15 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds. Artest had a nice game with 25 points on 10 of 21, 4 of 7, 1 of 3, and added 6 boards and 2 steals. Miller had 13 points and 15 boards. They shot 40% from the floot and 38% on 3 pointers on 18 attempts.

Jefferson led the way for us with 20 points and 18 boards on 9 of 12 shooting. McCants continues to be a spark plug as the sixth man and scored 16 points in 23 minutes on 6 of 15 and 4 of 7 from deep. Foye and Green both really struggled from the field and were a combined 10 of 38 from the floor. They finished with 15 and 13, respectively. We shot 38% as a team and 32% from beyond the arc.

Ironhead

11-27-2007, 12:22 AM

Telfair twisted his ankle during a shootaround and is going to be day to day for about a week. He isn't going to be much good on the court with his quickness and I have more than enough guards to pick up the slack. I increase Jaric and McCants' minutes for the next week.

In other league news Peja Stojakovic of the Hornets tore his ACL and is expected to be out for almost 3/4 of a year. Ouch.

Scouting Update
Interesting update. My average scout was not very high on center Roy Hibbert. He does not think he has great or even good potential. He still thinks that he will be one of the best players in the draft but doesn't think he will get much better than he is now.

My master scout didn't think that center Aleks Marie has a good amount of potential and believes he will develop into a very good NBA player. He thinks he might have trouble grasping new wrinkles in the offense but agrees that he is a very solid defensive player.

I have a good enough feel for these two right now and am going to move on. I am going to send my master scout to take a look at SG Brandon Rush (6'6", 210 lbs) out of Kansas. He is currently listed as a Top 5 pick on our board.

I send my average scout to take a look at center Devon Hardin (6'11", 235 lbs) out of Cal. We currently have Hardin projected to go in the Top 5. He is listed with good athleticism for a big man, can score a little and is a great defender and rebounder. The NBA Comparison for him right now is Marcus Camby. What is also good is that he is listed as having an expressive personality which is something that is currently lacking on our roster. We don't have any emotional leaders on the team.

Nov 14, 2007: Kings (3-4) at T'Wolves (2-3) - SIMMED
Four days later we are right back playing against the Kings, this time at home. We get the upper hand in this one and walk away with a 99-89 victory. Foye led the way with 27 points on 11 of 18, 1 of 3, 4 of 4 and also added 7 assists. Jefferson finished with 13 points, 15 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Green added 12 points in 28 minutes - he is averaging about 14 or 15 points per game so far but has struggled from the field. As a team we shot 53% from the field and 29% from beyond the arc on 17 attempts.

Bibby had a solid night with 26 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals but it just wasn't enough as the team struggled from the field. They only shot 37% from the floor but did shoot well from 3 point range (9 of 18) and also hit 26 of 30 free throw attempts. Artest only put up 9 points but he did end the game with 6 steals.

Ironhead

11-27-2007, 09:36 PM

Nov 16, 2007: Wizards (6-1) at T'Wolves (3-3) - SIMMED
We drop this one to a hot Washington team by a final score of 102-86. Caron Butler had a great game for them with 28 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals. Arenas had a subpar game from the floor but still ended up with 22 points and 12 assists. Rookie Nick Young finished with 14 points and Antwan Jamison finished with 11 points and 5 boards. They shot 46% from the floor and 38% from 3 point range on 13 attempts.

Jefferson had his typical steady night with 27 points, 12 boards and a season high 5 blocks. Foye had 19 points and 7 assists on 5 of 14, 3 of 6, 6 of 6. Green added 12 and I got limited production from everyone else. Brewer in particular had a bad night, finishing with 6 points on 2 of 12 shooting. The team struggled from the floor, shooting only 37% and an ugly 6 of 22 from beyond the arc.

Nov 17, 2007: Hornets (7-3) at T'Wolves (3-4) - SIMMED
Both teams are playing back to back games but we should have the advantage being at home. The Hornets just lost Peja so maybe we that will push us over the edge. We lose 103-96. Chris Paul played 43 minutes in the game and finished with 20 points, 17 assists and 3 steals. David West finished with 25 points on 8 of 16 from the floor and 9 of 12 from the line. Morris Peterson and Bobby Jackson finished with 17 and 12, respectively. They shot 56% from the floor but had a terrible night at the charity stripe, only converting on 25 of 42 free throw attempts.

Jefferson continues to be Mr. Reliable night in and night out. He finished with 27 points and 12 boards. Foye finished with 13 points, 9 assists and 5 boards. McCants and Jaric each added 10 points in limited minutes. Green and Brewer continue to struggle as they fininshed with a combined 17 points on 5 of 19 shooting. We finished the game with a respectable 46% from the floor, 36% from 3 point range on 11 attempts, and 76% from the line on 29 attempts.

Ironhead

11-28-2007, 05:15 PM

Scouting Update:
My average scout came back and felt that center Devon Hardin has a lot of potential and can help out right away. He thinks we should scout him further.

My master scout was equally impressed with shooting guard Brandon Rush. He said that Rush "has a keen sense of knowing what do with the ball and when to do it". He also thinks we should visting the Kansas campus again.

Same as before I switch the scouts and have them look at the other's prospect.

Nov 21, 2007: Cavs (4-7) at T'Wolves (3-5)
We are playing on 3 days rest while the Cavs are traveling after playing at home the night before. In anticipation of LeBron I scheduled an intense defensive workout for Corey Brewer two days before. The idea of having anyone else defending James worries me so I am going to ask Brewer to play 38 minutes and match up against James the entire night. The Cavs are rated 70 overall and we are rated 66 overall.

Down 27-16 at the end of 1. Very slow start from the field for pretty much everyone on the team. Brewer is playing solid defense on James but James is doing a good job getting his teammates involved. If we can put it together from the floor I think this will end up coming down to the wire.

Down 45-26 at the half. Just an ugly, ugly shooting display on the court. We have managed to hold James to 8 points at the half but we are only shooting 25% from the floor. Yes 25%. Nobody can shoot the ball tonight, even Jefferson down low.

Down 63-49 at the end of 3. We played much better that half but we really have to turn it up to 11 if we are going to pull out a win. James only has 11 points through 3 quarters. He might try to take over in the 4th.

We lose 93-74. Just could it get it together. The Cavs didn't shoot particularly well, only 43% from the floor, 28% from 3 point range and 57% from the line but we but it was more than enough.

James finished with 19 points, 9 boards and 6 assists in 34 minutes before taking a seat for most of the 4th. Ilgauska and Hughes each added 10 points. This was a very "no-name" win for the Cavs as they had over 40 points from their bench and just about everyone scored somewhere in the range of 5 to 9 points.

Brewer led the team with 15 points and 4 boards. He did a good job on James all night long, forcing him to rely on his teammates to score. Jefferson added 14 points and 15 boards and had a much better 2nd half. Green and McCants finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Foye finished with 9 points, 10 assists and 4 boards. We shot 35% from the floor, 21% from 3 point range on 14 attempts and only shot 65% from the line. One positive to take out of this game is that the team really ran the floor well in the 2nd half and we finished the game with 17 fast break points.

Ironhead

11-28-2007, 05:48 PM

Nov 23, 2007: T'Wolves (3-6) at Nuggets (8-4)
We win a simmed game 103-86. Jefferson has his best game of the year with 35 points and 19 boards. Green and Brewer add 15 and 13, respectively. Both shot the ball pretty well. Foye didn't have a good night from the field but almost pulled off a triple double as he finished with 12 points, 12 assists and 8 boards. We shot 45% from the floor but as always struggled from long range, only hitting 3 of 17 three point attempts. Bad news as only 3 minutes into the game Ratliff broke his wrist and will be out of action for 5 weeks.

Nene lead the Nuggets with 19 points and 5 boards in 30 minutes. Camby finished with 10 points, 16 boards and 3 blocks. Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith each pitched in 10 points. Iverson had a poor night from the field, only hitting 2 of 12 shot attempts, and finished with 7 points and 10 assists. Carmelo was in foul trouble the entire game and only played 17 minutes scoring a total of 8 points. Denver shot 38% from the floor.

In Ratliff's absense I juggle the lineups a bit. Jefferson will slide over to center while Craig Smith and Antoine Walker will split time at power forward. Elsewhere Elton Brand of the Clippers also fell victim to the wrist breaking monster and will miss 5 weeks as well.

Nov 24, 2007: Hawks (5-6) at T'Wolves (4-6)
We fly back home to take on the Hawks and just barely let the game slip through our fingers at the end, losing 80-79. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks scoring 18 and 17, respectively. Al Horford, the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 draft, had a relatively quiet night with 8 points, 9 boards and 2 blocks. They shot 43% as a team.

Green scored 17 points on 4 of 9, 2 of 2 and 7 of 8. Jefferson finished with 15 points and 13 boards. Foye had a quiet night with 12 points and 3 assists. Walker and Smith combined to play 44 minutes and had 13 points and 10 boards. Brewer continues to be very streaky with both his shooting as well as his shot output as he finished with 6 points on only 4 shot attempts. We shot 44% from the floor.

Ironhead

11-29-2007, 10:24 AM

Nov 26, 2007: T'Wolves (4-7) at Hornets (11-4)
The Hornets play much tighter defense than the previous mathcup between these two teams and get a comfortable comfortable 106-82 victory. Chris Paul had a good showing with 26 points, 11 assists and 2 steals on the night. Morris Peterson and David West each finished with 18 points. Bobby Jackson pitched in 16 points in 21 minutes off the bench on 6 of 8, 3 of 3 and 1 of 2. The team doesn't seem to have missed a beat with Peja going out to injury. They shot 50% from the field and 56% from beyond the arc on 16 attempts.

Jefferson had a rought night against Tyson Chandler but still led the team with 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the floor and also added 10 boards and 4 blocks. Walker added 13 pints, 4 boards and 2 steals in 26 minutes of action. Foye finished with 12 points, 7 assists and 4 boards but only played 24 minutes due to foul trouble. Green only scored 10 points on 4 of 11 shooting from the floor and 2 of 6 from the line. We shot 45% from the floor and only 29% from 3 point range on 17 attempts.

Scouting Update
My master scout feels that center Devon Hardin has a lot of potential. While he can contribute immediately on defense he only recommends taking him high in the draft if we are committed to giving him time to develop his offense. He thinks Hardin could be an all-star someday.

Very similar story with shooting guard Brandon Rush. According to my average scout "the kid has gobs of potential just waiting to be tapped. He might not be the player you want or need right now, but if you are patient, he oculd become the player you've always wanted." It looks like both of my scouts are very high on his scoring ability and his athleticism but don't expect him to be much of a defender.

I am going to have my master scout take one last look at Rush. I am going to send my average scout to Maryland to take a look at power forward James Gist (6'8" 223 lbs). Gist is currently projected to be taken Mid-Late 1st round. He is a little intriguing as his athleticism is graded as an A and so is his inside defense. His inside game and rebounding grade out well too. He might turn out to be worse than advertised but if these grades are correct I would expect him to at least go in the lottery.

Lineup Change
I have been toying with this for several games. I am not terribly impressed with how Gerald Green has been playing so far. He is only averaging 14 points a game and shooting less than 40% from the floor. Aside from scoring he isn't adding much of anything to any other aspect of the game. I am going to give McCants the starters role for a couple of games and see if it sticks. Green will take over as the sixth man.

Ironhead

11-29-2007, 01:04 PM

Nov 28, 2007: T'Wolves (4-8) at Mavericks (8-6)
We seem to be much more together on the court with the new starting lineup. It also seems like we are getting a much better mix of skills on the court when subs are coming in. Jefferson picks up his 2nd foul a little more than halfway through the 1st and sits down. Dallas leads 27-24 at the end of 1. McCants is playing very well and knocked down several open shots to score 11 in the quarter.

Down 53-46 at the half. The Mavericks went on a run when our starters sat down and Nowitzki took over. We climbed back into when Nowitski sat down thanks to some great hustle play from Telfair. McCants has 15 at the break and Jefferson is behind him with 10 points. Nowitski has 12 points and 13 boards at the half. Eddie Jones has also chipped in 12 in only 10 minutes of floor time.

Down 83-73 at the end of 3. Once again Telfair came in at the end of the 3rd to close the gap - we were down by as many as 16 points. We haven't hit a 3 pointer the entire game.

We lose 107-94 but it really wasn't even that close. Dallas led by as many as 20 at one point. Bottom line in this game is that we just got our asses whipped on the boards. Dallas pulled down 57 rebounds, 16 on offense. We only had 33 rebounds and a lone 1 on offense. That's just sad.

Nowitzki was the player of the game with 18 points and 21 rebounds. He shot 7 of 18 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line. Eddie Jones was hot as he scored 18 points in only 20 minutes on the floor. Josh Howard was relatively quiet in the game as he only scored 13 points on 5 of 12 attempts. Jason Terry finished with 11 points and 14 assists. Their bench was very solid and score 44 points on the night. They shot 42% as a team and 50% from 3 point on only 10 attempts. They shot very well from the line, converting on 28 of 34 attempts.

McCants responded very well to the starting role by putting up a career high 29 points and 5 boards on 10 of 18, 1 of 4, 8 of 10. Jefferson added 16 points, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Brewer was solid with 13 points on 5 of 8 attempts. Telfair was a little spark plug off the bench with 10 poitns, 2 assists and 2 steals in 16 minutes. Both Foye and Green struggled. They combined for 22 points on 8 of 27 attemps.

Ironhead

11-29-2007, 04:26 PM

Team chemistry is starting to slip a bit and is at 45%. Also, I did receive a ton of trade offers for PF Ryan Gomes, several of which would greatly benefit the team, but none of which I feel are fair or realistic to the CPU.

Nov 30, 2007: Spurs (8-8) at T'Wolves (4-9)
We lose in ugly fashion by a final score of 89-67. Ginobili finished with 22 points, 12 boards and 4 assists. Duncan had a nice night as well with 18 points, 11 boards, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Finley, Parker and Bower finished with 14, 13 and 10 respectively. They shot 45% from the floor and 25% from 3 point range on 20 attempts.

Brewer led the team in scoring with 15 points on 5 of 11, 3 of 5, 2 of 2 and also added 6 boards. Telfair had another nice game with 10 points in 19 minutes of action. Jefferson looks to have been in foul trouble practically the entire night and only played 12 minutes. After having a career night McCants really stunk it up, failing to connect with a single shot. He finished with 3 points in 32 minutes on 0 of 8, 0 of 2 and 3 of 4 from the line. We shot 36% from the floor and 33% from 3 point range on 12 attempts.

Development for December:
We are 28th in field goal percentage as a team and dead last from beyond the arc. This one isn't too hard.

I send McCants though Jumpshot Timing and he gets a small boost to his shooting ability (+1 to close and medium, +2 to 3 pt). I send Corey Brewer though Dribble & Shoot training but he doesn't perform well enough to advance his ratings.

December 1, 2007: T'Wolves (4-10) at Grizzlies (8-7)
We break our 4 game losing streak with a 113-96 win over Memphis. Jefferson led scoring with 19 points and also added 8 boards and 2 blocks. Brewer had one of his best games so far with 17 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Walker finished with 14 points and 5 boards in 27 minutes. Foye and Telfair teamed up for 13 points and 5 assists each. McCants was in foul trouble much of the night but scored 11 points in 19 minutes of action. We shot 52% as a team, 50% from 3 point range on 16 attempts and hit 33 of 43 free throw attempts.

Mike Miller finished the game with 17 points, 6 boards and 3 assists for the Grizzlies. Gasol played 40 minutes but only ended up with 14 points and 6 boards. Stoudamire, Rudy Gay and Darko Milicic each finished with 11 points. They shot 44% from the floor and 38% from 3PT range.

Scouting Update:
My average scout was very surprised by PF James Gist and thinks he is a smart player that is worth looking into further. He downgraded his athleticism to B as well as his defense. The comments don't exactly seem to sync up with the prospect card.

My master scout came back and thinks that SG Brandon Rush is even better than we previously thought. This is how he is currently graded out:

OVERALL A PLAYMAKER ABILITY A
POTENTIAL B+ INSIDE DEFENSE D
ATHLETICISM A+ MAN DEFENSE D+
INSIDE GAME B- REBOUNDING F-
OUTSIDE GAME A INTANGIBLES C

He lists his strengths as court vision and his low post game. His knocks are that crafty offensive players will regularly beat him and he doesn't show any kind of desire to rebound. He advises that we take one last look at him. I actually think we have a good enough feel for his talent and will probably wait until pre draft workouts to look at him again.

I am going to ask my average scout to take another look at James Gist. My master scout is heading out to California to get a look at UCLA point guard Darren Collison, currently projected to be taken in the lottery.

December 4, 2007: Lakers (8-8) at T'Wolves (5-10)
We lose by a final score of 113-104. Thanks to a ton of trips to the line Lamar Odom finished with 30 points and also added 9 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He was 9 of 14 from the floor, 0 of 3 from 3PT and 12 of 16 from the line. Kobe finished with 23 points, 8 boards, 9 assists and 3 steals. He was 8 of 15, 2 of 3, 5 of 5. Chris Mihm added 15 points and Radmanovic added 13 in limited minutes. They shot 51% from the field and hit 36 of 43 free throw attempts.

Jefferson finished with 25 points and 8 boards on solid shooting (9 of 13 and 7 of 11 from the line). Foye isn't scoring as well as I expected but still finished with 14 points, 6 boards and 4 assists. McCants once again was in foul trouble but scored 12 points in 21 minutes. Brewer had a nice night with 11 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Antoine Walker really struggled and only shot 1 of 10 from the floor. We shot 43% from the floor and hit 27 of 35 free throws.

Ironhead

11-29-2007, 11:50 PM

December 6, 2007: T'Wolves (5-11) at Hawks (11-6)

We are down 28-24 at the end of 1. Very closely played game so far. Atlanta is outshooting us but we are outhustling them. McCants and Brewer each had a nice quarter and put up 7 a piece.

We go into half down 53-47. This one is far from over as we are playing fairly well. Brewer leads the team at half with 12 points. Joe Johnson is their leading scorer with 14 points. The Hawks have been taking advantage of the size mismatch between Johnson and McCants and getting Johnson into the post for a lot of easy buckets.

Joe Johnson picked up his 4th foul of the game and went to the bench about midway through the 3rd. That, combined with some sloppy transition defense from the Hawks, led to a big quarter that sees us with an 80-71 lead. Green hit two 3 pointers in the last minute of the quarter to give us a huge boost going into the 4th quarter.

We hold on to win 107-96! Brewer just exploded in the second half of this game and ended up with 31 points on 10 of 18, 3 of 4 and 8 of 10. He was hitting just about everything. Foye finished with 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Jefferson finished with 14 points and 15 boards. McCants and Green added 13 and 10, respectively. We shot 45% from the floor and an impressive 11 of 21 from 3PT land.

Al Horford lead the Hawks with 20 points and 19 boards. Joe Johnson ended up with 18 points, 5 boards and 5 assists in 29 minutes of action. Acie Law finished with 14 points and 7 assits. Josh Smith had a quiet night with 9 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks. They shot 44% from the floor and only 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.

There was a cool moment early in the 4th quarter. Brewer caught the ball on the baseline and dunked on Horford, his college teammate, for the basket and the foul.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/Aaenuel/Brewer_dunk_Horford.jpg

nfg22

11-30-2007, 05:11 PM

Go T'Wolves. Good to see Brewer getting playing time unlike in real life. Get rid of Whitman, and fast!

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 11:54 AM

Go T'Wolves. Good to see Brewer getting playing time unlike in real life. Get rid of Whitman, and fast!

Thanks for reading. Brewer is doing well so far and is 4th in scoring for rookies at 11.9 per game. A little streaky but overall one of my better shooters on the year and he always brings defense to the table. He is rail thin at 6'9" and 185 pounds though. During the offseason I want to put at least 15 to 20 pounds on him and get him more involved on the glass.

I will wait to see what is available when the offseason rolls around but this will probably be Whitman's only year.

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 12:46 PM

December 8, 2007: Suns (16-4) at T'Wolves (6-11)
The Suns played on the road the night before and should be tired. Before the game I send the team through a fast break drill to prepare them for what should be a wide open game. Hopefully we are fresher and can beat Phoenix at their own game.

No dice, Phoenix takes it 107-95. Shawn Marion finished with 19 points, 13 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Stoudemire finished with 18 points and 6 boards in 23 minutes of action. Barbosa scored 16 points on 6 of 20, 3 of 10, 1 of 2. Nash finished with 11 points, 9 assists and 5 boards. They shot 41% from the floor but made it to the line 49 times, hitting 34 of their free throw attempts.

Jefferson finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds and a career high 6 blocks. Brewer had another great game on offense and finished with 23 points on a red hot shooting night of 10 of 12, 1 of 3, 2 of 3. McCants finished with 11 points and 2 steals but fouled out after playing 30 minutes. Foye continues to be very inconsistent and finished with 6 points and 8 assists.

Scouting Update
My average scout thinks that PF James Gist does have some potential but that we shouldn't expect him to ever improve by leaps and bounds. In addition his athleticism and defense have been further downgraded. We aren't going to scout him any further. I send him out to Alabama to get a look at PF Richard Hendrix who has moved up into the Top 5 of the projected draft. Hendrix looks very much like Jefferson on his scouting card.

My master scout came back from scouting PG Darren Collison and thinks he is a solid player that can play at the NBA level right away. In addition he feels that Collison has gobs of potential and could turn into a perennial all-star. I like what I see so far and send my master scout to take another look at him.

December 11, 2007: T'Wolves (6-12) at Wizards (14-6)
Despite an off night from Arenas we lose 84-81. Arenas finished with 18 points on 6 of 18, 2 of 10, 4 of 4 and added 6 assists and 6 boards. Butler and rookie Nick Young finished with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Jamison and Darius Songaila each added 10 points. They shot 40% from the floor and 25% from long range on 20 attempts.

McCants finished with 19 points and 4 steals. Foye finished with 14 points and 6 assists on 4 of 12, 1 of 2, 5 of 6. Telfair was solid off the bench with 12 points and 2 steals in 19 minutes. Jefferson finished with 6 points and 11 points in 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Both Green and Brewer struggled, scoring a combined 15 points on 6 of 22 from the floor. We shot 36% as a team.

December 12, 2007: T'Wolves (6-13) at 76ers (7-14)
When you are losing to the Sixers, things are officially very bad. And that is just what we do by a final score of 100-89. Igulodala scored 16 points and added 7 boards and 7 assists. Andre Miller scored 17 points and finished with 6 assists. Dalembert finished with 14 points and 13 boards. Korver and Willie Green round out the scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. They shot 54% from the floor.

Jefferson finished with 16 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks. Brewer added 13 points, 7 board and 2 steals in 29 minutes. Green put up 12 points in 21 minutes. I'm really irritated with Foye who is just underperforming. In 34 minutes he only scored 6 points and had 2 assists. Telfair only played 18 minutes but outscoured him with 7 points and had 5 assists. I think Foye needs a reminder that while we are asking him to be a leader on this team he still needs to perform. Telfair will start the next game and Foye will come off the bench.

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 02:32 PM

December 14, 2007: Sonics (12-11) at T'Wolves (6-14)
Durant is hot from the floor and is hitting contest shots from the perimeter. He has 13 at the end of 1. McCants has been just as hot on the other end of the floor though and also has 13, including a 3 pointer at the buzzer from about 30 feet out. We are down 25-23 at the end of 1.

Good game so far, down 50-49 at the half. Durant cooled off in the 2nd and goes into the half with 17 points. Seattle is shooting 56% at the half - I don't think they can keep that up the entire game. I have a good feeling we will win this one.

Leading 75-68 at the end of 3. We need to clamp down on Durant early in the 4th to make sure he doesn't get hot.

The Sonics go on a 15-5 run in the 4th to bring the game down to the last shot. Jefferson tries a shot hook shot in the lane and misses with 2 seconds left. The Sonics get the rebound and call timeout. Just enough time to inbound the ball and get a shot off with Damien Wilkins that is too long and we head to overtime tied at 93-93.

We shoot lights out in overtime and take the 110-101 victory! Brewer had the first double-double of his career with an excellent 29 point, 10 board performance. McCants was excellent from mid-range and 3PT range with 26 points on 11 of 22 from the field and 4 of 9 from deep. Telfair finished with 18 points, 6 assists and 2 steals in the starting role. Jefferson added 17 points, 15 boards and a career high 7 assists. Foye played 20 minutes and finished with 7 points on 3 of 9 from the floor. We shot 46% from the floor and 50% from 3 PT range on 12 attempts.

Durant had one of the best nights of his young career with 32 points, 3 blocks and 2 steals. He shot 14 of 27, 1 of 1, 3 of 4 on the night. Delonte West and Szczerbiak each finished with 12 points. Rookie Jeff Green, the 5th overall pick in the draft, played 16 minutes but finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds. They shot 47% from the floor and very surprisingly only took 7 three point attempts in the game, hitting 2 of them.

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 05:11 PM

Here are some highlights from our game against the Sonics. Sorry if the video is a little blurry.

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Ironhead

12-01-2007, 07:34 PM

December 15, 2007: T'Wolves (7-14) at Bucks (10-12)
The Bucks take this one by a score of 101-95 thanks to a strong performance from Michael Redd. Redd tallied 31 points on 9 of 18 shooting for the floor, 2 of 4 from the arc and 11 of 12 from the line. Maurice Williams finished with 19 points and 5 assists. From the "I'm Not Quite Dead Yet" files comes Chris Webber who the Bucks signed as a free agent. He had a solid night with 16 points, 11 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Andrew Bogut, the first overall pick from 2005, had an "impressive" 7 points and 11 boards in 30 minutes. Still good enough to beat us though.

For our side Foye led the team in scoring from the bench with 21 points in 23 minutes on 8 of 12, 3 of 5, 2 of 2. Jefferson finished with 18 points and 14 boards. Brewer added 11 points, 7 boards and 3 steals. McCants and Telfair had quiet nights as they both struggled from the field.

December 17, 2007: T'Wolves (7-15) at Heat (12-11)
A late rally by Wade & Co. lead the Heat to a 94-84 win. The Timberwolves were up by 2 going into the final quarter but Wade was able to take control of the game. Wade finished with 22 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Jason Williams finished with 19 points and 5 assists in 25 minutes of action. Shaq finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Much to our pleasure former Timberwolves guard Ricky Davis struggled and only scored 7 points in 33 minutes. The heat shot just a hair under 50% from the floor.

We struggled to find our shot this game. Brewer tied for the highest scorer on the team with 13 points and 8 boards. Green also added 13 points in 22 minutes off the bench. McCants, Walker and Jefferson each added 12 points in a losing effort. I am getting some very poor point guard play in these simmed games. Foye and Telfair combined to play 51 minutes and only scored 13 points and had 5 assists. We only shot 38% from the floor.

Scouting Update
My master scout still really likes what he is seeing out of PG Darren Collison. He lists his playmaking ability at A+ and grades his man defense skills as an A. He is currently listed 12th overall on our scouting board but we will draft far before that.

Our average scout thinks very highly of Alabama PF Richard Hendrix. He thinks that based on his current skillset he could play an important role on the team in his rookie season. Based on how my scout has rated him the guy looks to be a gem.

I send my master scout out to take a look at Richard Hendrix because I don't fully trust my other scouts evaluation. I have my average scout head out to Virginia to take a look at PG Sean Singletary (6'0" 185 lbs). Singletary is currently graded as an idea offensive threat who can score in bunches but isn't going to provide much defense. Singletary is currently listed as a Top 5 prospect.

December 19, 2007: Warriors (14-11) at T'Wolves (7-16)
We lose 101-84. Baron Davis led all scorers with 33 points on 11 of 22, 3 of 10, 8 of 11. Monta Ellis had a very good night with 22 points and 9 assists. Harrington rounded out the big 3 with 20 points and 7 boards.

Brewer had a nice night with 20 points and 5 boards. Jefferson seems to be in a funk the last 5 or 6 games and finished with 12 points and 8 boards. McCants and Foye each added 10 points in limited action.

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 10:21 PM

December 21, 2007: Pacers (14-12) at T'Wolves (7-17)
I think if we can get Jermaine O'Neal in early foul trouble we can take this game.

The exact opposite happens - O'Neal attacks Jefferson and Jefferson has to sit 5 minutes into the game after picking up his 2nd foul. The Pacers open the game with a 19-5 run as we are not hitting anything. We pick it up a little and are down 22-15 at the end of 1. O'Neal beat us all over the court with 11 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks in the 1st.

Jefferson picks up his 3rd foul less than 1 minute into the 2nd and has to sit again. :mad: We are bad enough as it is but we are downright horrible with Jefferson off the court. Down 54-38 at the half. We are shooting 30% from the floor as no one can get any open shots without a credible threat inside.

We go down by as many as 19 points in the 3rd period but but we scratch and claw our way back to within 10 to close the quarter. Down 75-65 at the end of 3. O'Neal is hitting some crazy shots and has 26 points through 3 quarters.

Crazy up and down 4th quarter that saw us get within 2, fall down by 14 and then get within 4 points at the end. The team shows a lot of heart but we lose by a final score of 102-95.

O'Neal was the player of the game with 29 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks. Marquis Daniels had a nice game iwth 11 points, 8 boards, 7 assists and 2 blocks. Danny Granger struggled from the floor and finished with 9 points on 3 of 12, 0 of 2, 3 of 4. The Pacers got a lot of help from their bench who scored 42 points in the game. They ended up shooting 49% from the floor.

Gerald Green finished with 21 points in 25 minutes of the bench. About midway through the 4th he just caught fire and poured in 8 points in a row to pull us back into the game. Brewer had another nice game with 17 points on 7 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 5 from the line. Jefferson finished with 17 points and 6 boards in 21 minutes due to foul trouble. McCants had an off shooting night but still finished with 15 points. Foye continues to struggle from the floor and finished with 12 points, 6 boards and 4 assists. We shot 41% from the floor.

Ironhead

12-01-2007, 11:41 PM

Looking around the NBA the Suns currently have the best record at 20-6. The Nuggets, Mavericks and Pistons are right behind on their heels. The Big 3 in Boston have played great at home but have been struggling on the road and have a 13-11 record on the year. Two surprises are the Spurs at 12-13 and the Magic at 9-19.

We currently have the 3rd worst record in the league and have lost 8 out of our last 10 games. Only the Knicks and Raptors are worse than us right now. Team chemistry is dropping fast and is at 38%.

I really want to reach into my inner Kevin McHale and make some moves. The more I play with him the more I doubt Randy Foye is our long term answer at point guard (strangely, Eaglesfan27 felt the same in his Sixers dynasty). Far too streaky and he doesn't seem to be a very fluid shooter. I doubt I will move him since he is a valuable player who under contract for 2 more years plus a team option at a good price. He can also play either guard spot.

Gerald Green is the ultimate tempting player. Very gifted with loads of potential. But how long will I have to wait to see it through? With the way our salary cap is shaping up we are likely going to have a chance to add a big free agent next offseason. Green's contract will be up next year. I don't want to sign Green to a big contract hoping he becomes a star 3 or 4 years down the road when I can spend money on a proven and ready commodity. There is also a log jam of youth at both shooting guard and small forward. Where do I play him? In any deal with Green involved I would want to try and unload Jaric's contract who is signed for $6 to 8 million dollars for the next 4 years.

Chief Rum

12-02-2007, 04:12 AM

Cool! I am digging this early on. Fun read. Keep it up!

nfg22

12-03-2007, 11:43 AM

Yea get rid of Jaric's contract as soon as possible and a true PG. As in real life, Foye is a good player who has ability but it seems as if he doesnt fit into any position. He cant pass well enough for the PG or shoot well enough for the SG.

Ironhead

12-05-2007, 08:55 PM

December 22, 2007: T'Wolves (7-18) at Hornets (14-12)
In our second game in as many nights we travel to New Orleans and win by a final score of 89-84. Jefferson breaks out of his mini slump and puts up 24 points on 9 of 14 from the floor and 6 of 10 from the line. He also added 12 boards and 3 blocks. Brewer continued his solid play by adding 13 points on 6 of 10 from the floor. Green added 12 points in 22 minutes off the bench. McCants had a subpar shooting night and finished with 11 points. Foye only played 16 minutes due to foul trouble. We shot 46% from the floor.

Injuries and fouls doomed the Hornets. Chris Paul only played 20 minutes after picking up a knock. David West led them with 14 points and 7 boards. Chandler finished with 14 poitns and 4 boards. Bobby Jackson and Morris Peterson each came off the bench to chip in 13 and 12, respectively. The Hornets definitely could have used Peja Stojakovic's offense but he is out for the year. As a team they shot 41% from the floor.

Scouting Update
My master scout pretty much agrees that PF Richard Hendrix is a very good player. To me he just looks too much like Jefferson. They both would do essentially the exact same thing down low and constantly clog the post on offense. I've had a good enough look at this kid for now and might revisit him later in the season.

My average scout came back with a kind of lukewarm report of PG Sean Singletary. He described him simply as servicable. That doesn't make a ton of sense because he didn't drop on our board and is still listed as a Top 5 pick. I definitely feel that I am in the market for a point guard this offseason so I also ask my master scout to take a look at Singletary.

At this point I have scouted most of the prospects that really caught my eye near the top of the board. Not ready to start scouting for the 2nd round so I will just start going down the draft board at this point. I send my average scout out to to take a look at shooting guard Marcelus Kemp (6'5" 210 lbs) out of Nevada-Reno. The NBA Comparison on his player card is Allen Iverson - that seems just a weeeee bit lofty for a player projected to be picked in the Lottery. No doubt that comparison will charge after we scout him.

December 26, 2007: T'Wolves (8-18) at Warriors (17-11)
Both teams bring very fresh legs to the court and suprise, surprise this young Minnesota team holds off a late charge to win by a final score of 114-112. Looks like Wittman used a heavy rotation of players in the game and only Jefferson played over 30 minutes. We ended up with 7 players scoring double digits. Green finished with 19 points on 7 of 12, 1 of 2, 4 of 4 off the bench in 23 minutes. Hell, even 'Toine got into the action with 16 points and 5 boards in 24 minutes. Rounding out the scoring were Brewer (15), Foye (14), Telfair (14), Jefferson (12) and Craig "Cookie Monster" Smith (12). As a team we shot 43% from the floor, 54% from the arc on 13 attempts and converted 35 of 44 free throw attempts.

Al Harrington led all scorers with 26 points and added 7 boards. Potential free agent Monta Ellis finished with 23 points on 10 of 18, 1 of 3, 2 of 5. Baron had a quiet night with 14 points and 5 assists. Belinelli and Barnes rounded ou the out the scoring with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Warriors were hot from the floor (52%) but their failure to convert from the line (only 22 of 38) was what ultimately led to the loss.

December 28, 2007: T'Wolves (9-18) at Trailblazers(10-18)
No dice in our attempt for a third road win in a row as we lose by a final score of 84-73. 2006 Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy led all scorers with 29 points on 12 of 19, 0 of 3, 5 of 6 and also added 4 a piece of rebounds, assists and steals. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 11 points and 7 boards on the night. Disgustingly no other Trailblazer finished with 10 points and we still lost. A healty Greg Oden played 33 minutes and finished with 7 points and 13 boards. They shot 45% from the floor and only hit 1 of 10 shots from deep.

McCants continues to be pretty streaky and finished with 20 points on 6 of 12, 3 of 8 and 5 of 5. As always McCants struggled to keep his hands to himself though and fouled out after playing only 26 minutes on the night. Jefferson finished with 16 points and 12 boards. Foye finished with 11 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Everyone else struggled and as a team we only managed to get off 71 shots and only hit 38% from the floor.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 12:57 PM

After much looking around I found a trade that would help us and in general mix things up a bit in the league. It is pretty big - let me know what you think. I haven't pulled the trigger on this yet. It does all work with the cap.

Lakers Receive: Lakers Send: New Rotation:
PG Jason Kidd SF Lamar Odom Kidd/Fisher/Crittenton
PF Ryan Gomes C Kwame Brown Kobe/Vuljacic
PG Jordan Farmar Walton/Ariza
Gomes/Turiaf/Radmanovic
Bynum/Mihm

Nets Receive: Nets Send: New Rotation:
SF Lamar Odom PG Jason Kidd Miller/Williams
PG Andre Miller PF Sean Williams Carter/Green/Wright
SG Gerald Green Jefferson/Nachbar
Odom/Kristic/Allen/Boone
Magliore/Collins

76ers Receive: 76ers Send: New Rotation:
C Kwame Brown PG Andre Miller Williams/Farmar/Ollie
PG Jordan Farmar Iguodala/Green
Korver/Young/Carney
Evans/Smith/Randolph
Dalembert/Brown/Booth

Wolves Receive: Wolves Send: New Rotation:
PF Sean Williams PF Ryan Gomes Foye/Telfair
SG Gerald Green McCants/Buckner
Brewer/Jaric
Jefferson/Smith/Walker/Madsen
Williams/Ratliff/Doleac

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 04:20 PM

I decide to go ahead and do the trade. Short term this will make us even worse as Green was providing some solid scoring off the bench. In reality though I haven't been using Jaric as much as I should. He isn't THAT bad, just not worth his contract. One of the main reasons I don't mind seeing Gomes traded is that his contract is up this year and he will probably be asking for a contract in the $3.5 to $5 million dollar range. He just isn't worth that much to me, especially as I try to keep my eyes on picking up a big free agent in the next 2 years.

Picking up Sean Williams really frees us up to go after a guard with our top pick this offseason. Williams is an excellent shot blocker and for a man of his size (6'10" 235 lbs) he has great athleticism and leaper ability. I expect him to contest just about every shot near him. He isn't going to provide much offense at this point in his career and will get most of his points off of putbacks. He is a decent rebounder but can improve in this area. Great hustle player down low and someone that should be exciting to watch on defense.

Our new rotation:
PG Foye - 35 minutes
SG McCants - 30 minutes
SF Brewer - 31 minutes
PF Jefferson - 36 minutes
C Williams - 25 minutes

6th Jaric - 22 minutes
7th Smith - 23 minutes
8th Telfair - 20 minutes
9th Walker - 18 minutes
10th Buckner - DNP
11th Ratliff - DNP (still out injured)
12th Madsen - DNP
13th Doleac - DNP

Foye and Telfair will probably be in the game a lot together with Foye playing at the 2 spot. I really don't any true small forwards on the roster so Jaric will probably see most of his time there.

I'm really curious to check back later in the season to see whether this trade helped or hurt the Lakers and Nets. For later reference these are the stats for each team before the trade.

Lakers
16-13, 98.3 PPG, 99.5 PA
.437 FG%, .352 3PT%, .762 FT%
18.9 APG, 40.4 RPG, 6.7 SPG, 4.4 BPG, 12.6 TPG

Nets
11-18, 95.6 PPG, 97.8 PA
.485 FG%, .346 3PT%, .705 FT%
19.7 APG, 33.5 RPG, 6.2 SPG, 4.3 BPG, 12 TPG

DeToxRox

12-08-2007, 04:48 PM

Nice deal. Makes the Lakers filthy.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 06:16 PM

December 29, 2007: T'Wolves (9-19) at Sonics (17-12)

We come out playing well and are up by double digits at the end of 1! Up 26-15. McCants put up 8 in the first and Big Al has been all over the glass. Durant has come out a little cold and the Sonics have turned the ball over a couple of times. We are doing a good job keeping them from getting to the line so far.

The Sonics come roaring back in the 2nd quarter and we go into halftime down by one. 50-49 Sonics. Foye, McCants and Brewer each have 10 points at the half. Durant leads them with 12 points on 5 of 13, 0 of 3, 2 of 2. Sean Williams' leaping ability is really evident on the court. The Sonics haven't been going inside much.

Down 69-64 at the end of 3. McCants has really struggled after a good start. Szczerbiak is playing well and is taking lots of shots in spurts off the bench. Jefferson and Foye need to come up big in the 4th if we are going to win.

We become en fuego from beyond the arc and drop 34 points in the 4th to win 98-91! I have to hand it to my bench, they were the ones who won the game for us. Walker, Telfair and Jaric all put in quality time in the 4th. Not only that but Sean Williams came up huge with 4 blocked shots in the 4th quarter alone. I was really, really impressed with him.

Foye led all scorers with 22 points on 6 of 14, 2 of 4, 8 of 10. Brewer was solid with 17 points and 4 boards. Jefferson had a nice night with 16 points on 7 of 10 from the floor and added 15 boards. McCants finished with 13 points and Walker had a great night off the bench with 11 points on 5 of 5. Sean Williams finished with 3 points on 2 shots, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in 28 minutes. We shot 41% from the floor and 56% from beyond the line on 16 shots.

Brewer did an excellent job guarding Durant and held him to 16 points on 7 of 21, 0 of 4, 2 of 2. Kurt Thomas provided a spark with 17 points in 19 minutes of action. Szczerbiak finished with 13 points and 9 boards. He shot like mad whenever he touched the ball and ended up with 16 shot attempts in only 18 minutes. Damien Wilkins and Delonte West finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. They shot 40% from the floor and 26% from deep on 15 attempts.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 06:37 PM

Nice deal. Makes the Lakers filthy.

Thanks, it should be interesting to follow how all the teams play the rest of the way. Aside from making a deal for my own team I wanted to see something big happen in the league. I have had CPU trading turned off so far because they make some really silly 1 for 1 trades. I might turn CPU trading on for for 1 or 2 weeks before the trade deadline though.

In other news Ratliff has finally returned from his injury. Here is the rub - I was really happy with my rotation during the last game. It finally felt like the clutter and log jam of players was resolved. It is just going to get bad again if have to find minutes for Ratliff. It will royally piss him off but I am going to keep Ratliff on the bench.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 07:39 PM

The retooled Lakers win their first game, beating the Big 3 in Boston by a final score of 96-89. Kobe had a great game with 33 points, 6 boards and 4 steals. Kidd finished with 20 points, 8 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals.

December 31, 2007: T'Wolves (10-19) at Clippers (14-14)
We wrap up a 5 game road trip and 2007 with a 100-76 win over the Clippers. Foye led all scorers with 19 points. Jefferson put up 17 points and 10 boards. Brewer and McCants finished with 14 and 12, respectively. Another game of nice production from the bench with 10 points each from Jaric and Telfair. Williams scored 7 points and held his own on defense. We shot 45% from the floor.

Brand barely got the better of Big Al with 18 points, 11 boards and 3 blocks. Maggette added 17 points and 7 boards. Cassell scored 16 and had 4 assists. Nobody else scored in double digits and the team as a whole struggled with fouls. They shot 39% from the floor.

Scouting Update
My master scout returned and he likes what he sees out of Virginia's Sean Singletary. He isn't sure that the kid is ready to lead an NBA team in his rookie season but thinks he could be a really good player in a couple of years. He grades him out as a very poor defender. He doesn't see him as a Top 5 pick but instead thinks he should go in the lottery.

My average scout came back with great things to say about Nevada-Reno shooting guard Marcelus Kemp. He has bumped up the grade on Kemp's outside game to "A". He also thinks the kid is one of the better clutch players in college. Sounds like he is worth a second look. I send my master scout out to take a look at him.

SG Mike Cook (6'4" 220 lbs) out of Pittsburgh has jumped up into the Top 5 on our board. Another heady comparison on his draft card as they say his game is like Dwyane Wade. Looks like a solid inside-outside shooter with great playmaking ability. I send my average scout to take a look at him.

Big Potential Free Agents for Upcoming Offseason

Point Guard
Gilbert Arenas (97 OVR)
Raymond Felton (84 OVR)
Devin Harris (83 OVR)

Chris Paul and Deron Williams are also listed as free agents but both of their teams will surely use the team option for the last year of their contract.

Shooting Guard
Andre Iguodala (84 OVR)
Ben Gordon (84 OVR)
Kevin Martin (84 OVR)

Small Forward
Shawn Marion (94 OVR)
Ron Artest (89 OVR)
Luol Deng (86 OVR)
Josh Smith (85 OVR)

Power Forward
Elton Brand (92 OVR)
Al Jefferson (90 OVR)
Emeka Okafor (88 OVR)
Antawn Jamison (87 OVR)

Center
No big names available

A lot of these guys could get picked up by their current teams before they test the market. I don't know how much cash I will have to play with in free agency this offseason. I will probably need to offer Jefferson $12 to $15 million dollars per year to keep him. We have Ratliff's expiring but I have to resign 4 players.

If we have the money I would love to sign a shooting guard or small forward. Ideally I would draft someone to play point and then sign a starting 2 or 3. Brewer is flexible and could shift to 2 if needed.

Player Development
New month, new set of players to run through drills.

I have the newly acquired Sean Williams work on challenging shots. He shows some quickness with his hands and strips the ball a few times as well as blocking a shot. He picks up a +2 bonus to his steal rating (70), +1 to his block rating (91) and +1 to his defensive awareness (79). That brings his overall rating up to 70.

Brewer has been rebounding the ball pretty well this year but with his long arms and hustle I think he can be more of a factor on the offensive glass. He practices boxing his man and does well. He gains +2 to his offensive rebounding rating (71).

Last but not least is McCants. With his quickness at shooting guard he should be able to drive to the basket more often. He shows some signs of getting it in practice but he isn't quite ready to take what he has learned to gameday. No rating changes this time.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 08:28 PM

January 2, 2008: Blazers (12-19) at T'Wolves (11-19)
Two of the lower tier teams in the league this year collide and it's the Wolves that walk away with a massive 105-62 win. That's practically Knick-esque by the Blazers. Foye finished with 23 points on 8 of 14, 1 of 2, 6 of 9 and added 7 assists. McCants had a great night as well and finished with 22 points on 6 of 9, 2 of 3, 8 of 9. Jefferson finisehd with 20 points and 11 boards. Brewer chipped in 15 points and 5 boards. Williams scored 3 points, pulled down 7 boards and a steal and block in 23 minutes. We shot 53% from the field, hit 6 of 8 from deep and converted on 23 of 33 free throw attempts.

Just an ugly game for the Blazers. Darius Miles scored 14 and Jarrett Jack scored 12. No one else finished in double digits. Brandon Roy, Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge combined to score 19 points. They shot 34% as a team and only hit 2 of 14 from beyond the arc.

Out in Joisey the Nets have lost their last 2 games in a row after the trade to the Bucks and Magic. Both games were close and the Odom, Miller and Green played well in both.

Musings
The team has been showing some life and has won 5 of the last 6 games. Team chemistry is back up to 40%. So far I figured we probably would end up with a top 5 pick. If we keep playing this way we will end up in the lottery, which would still be fine by me. Losing sucks and I would like to keep my job. If we can go into next year with decent team chemistry that would be nice as well.

We get to see just how far we have come because January is going to be a brutal month for us. We face all of the top tier teams this month so every night should be a struggle to win.

January 4, 2008: Nuggets (22-8) at T'Wolves (12-19)
We fight hard but Iverson is too much for us and we lose 111-106. Iverson finished with 34 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. He shot 13 of 21 from the field, 1 of 3 from deep and 7 of 11 from the line. Chucky Atkins of all people even had a great game with 23 points, 8 assists and 2 steals. Carmelo and Kenyon Martin sat for a large portion of the game due to foul trouble but still added 10 points a piece. They also got nice production from their bench. As team they shot 52% and 41% from deep on 17 attempts. Poor night from the line though as they only hit 18 of 33.

Jefferson had a good night going up against Martin and Camby and finished with 21 points, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Jaric continues to fill the scoring void left by Green and added 21 points and 7 boards in 22 minutes. McCants and Brewer each added 18. Both Foye and Telfair were in foul trouble the entire night as they tried to guard Iverson. Williams added 4 points, 4 boards and 1 block in 25 minutes. We also shot 51% from the field, hit 9 of 20 three point attempts and hit 23 of 29 free throws. Tough one to lose given that we played so well.

Elsewhere the Nets finally break through with the revamped team with a 107-84 victory over the Bobcats. Odom scored 23 while Miller added 15 points and 7 assists.

The Lakers won their second game in a row with the new team by beating the 76ers 109-101. Kidd had his first triple-double of the year with 10 points, 15 boards and 13 assists. Gomes added 12 points and 5 boards in 30 minutes.

Ironhead

12-08-2007, 10:15 PM

January 6, 2008: Mavericks (24-9) at T'Wolves (12-20)
Once again we jump on our opponent to open the game and lead 29-17 at the end of 1. Foye is showing some life to open the game and has 9 points on 4 of 6 from the field. This lead isn't going to last too long as we shot 60% from the field and Dallas shot 22%, mostly due to a really slow start by Dirk who shot 3 of 10 to open the game. Jefferson and Williams need to keep Dirk off the glass though because he pilled up 8 boards that quarter, 3 of them on offense.

We go into halftime with a surprising 47-33 lead. Dallas must have played the night before because they just really slow getting back in transition. They just have nothing on offense so far and have shot 11 of 42 (26%) from the field. Nowitzki leads them with 11 points. We cooled off in the second but still good enough. Foye and Jefferson have 13 each at the break.

Still up at the end up 3 by a score of 76-64. They went on a 12-2 run near the end of the quarter when Jefferson sat down but we built the lead back up. They are still a little slow getting back on defense but they are showing more urgency on offense. Dirk had 10 points in the quarter.

Dallas makes a push late in the game but it's not enough. We hang on and win by a final score of 91-86. Jefferson was beastly on the inside with 22 points on 9 of 12 inside and he grabbed a season high 21 boards, 1 shy of his career record. Foye had a great game with 22 points, 7 assists, 5 boards and 3 steals. McCants was cold from the field but still finished with 14. Brewer and Jaric each added 8. We shot 41% from the floor and really struggled from deep, hitting only 3 of 20 three point attempts.

Nowitzki led all scorers with 32 points and added 16 boards. He shot 13 of 32 from the floor, 1 of 2 from deep and 5 of 6 from the line. Stackhouse finished with 12 points. Terry finished with 10 points and 8 assists. Brewer did an excellent job defending Josh Howard and held him to 7 points on 3 of 14 shot attempts. Really bad night from the floor as Dallas shot 34% as a team and 22% from 3 point on 18 attempts.

Ironhead

12-09-2007, 11:30 AM

Scouting Update
My average scout thinks that SG Mike Cook is a solid player that could contribute immediately at the NBA level. He thinks that Cook has tremendous court vision which should generate a lot of easy baskets for his teammates. I am going to have my master scout take a look at the kid.

My master scout doesn't quite agree with my other scouts assessment of SG Marcelus Kemp. He thinks he could develop into a good player in time but doesn't think his scoring ability is as strong as we previously though. In addition he really questions whether the kid can play defense in the NBA. That is a good enough assessment for me right now.

I send my average scout out to Mississippi State to take a look at point guard Jamont Gordon (6'4" 230 lbs). Wow, this guy is as big as a linebacker. His initial strengths are listed as his athleticism (A), his inside game (B) and his intangibles (B) and his rebounding (C). Doesn't look like much of an outside shooter but his man defense isn't too bad - better than some of the others I have seen. This guy is intriguing but looks like another combo guard - we already have Foye and aren't thrilled with him at the point. We should still take a look at the kid though.

January 8, 2008: Heat (19-15) at T'Wolves (13-20)
We pick up another victory at home by a final score of 99-62. Not sure what has gotten into these youngsters but they are playing excellent right now.

McCants was hot from the floor and finished with 25 points on 10 of 16, 2 of 4, 3 of 3. Jefferson had his usual game with 19 points and 13 boards. Foye finished with 16 points and 6 assists. Nice little game from the bench as they put up a combined 27 points. We shot 52% from the field and showed great shot selection from long range, hitting 8 of 11 shots from beyond the arc.

Wade was the only Heat player to hit double digits and finished with 22 points, 8 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Ricky Davis only scored 7 points in 29 minutes in his first game back to Minnesota after being traded before the season. Shaq had an embarrasing night. He finished with 3 points on 1 of 11 shot attempts and had no rebounds in 32 minutes. The Heat shot 34% as a team.

January 11, 2008: T'Wolves (14-20) at Rockets (23-13)
We drop a close game on the road by a final score of 90-88. McGrady was all over the place and finished with 24 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Yao had a nice night with 21 points, 10 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Former Minnesota point guard Mike James finished with 14 points and 5 assists. The Rockets shot 48% from the floor.

Jefferson led the Wolves with 18 points and 6 boards. McCants added 15 points on 6 of 9, 1 of 2, 2 of 2. Brewer pitched in 15 points after two quiet games on offense. Jaric continues to provide a spark off the bench and added 12 points in 22 minutes. He is averaging just over 10 points per game since the trade. Foye played distributor and finished with 9 points and 9 assists. We shot 46% as a team but struggle from beyond the arc, hitting only 29% on 14 shots.

January 12, 2008: T'Wolves (14-21) at Spurs (16-18)
Really odd to see the Spurs with a losing record. It doesn't look like they have been hit with injuries. They are playing the same suffocating defense as always and have only allowed 88.8 points per game, 3rd best in the league.

The Spurs have just enough to edge us out in a gritty 82-78 loss. Duncan finished with 20 points and only 3 boards. Parker added 15 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. Ginobili had a nice all purpose game with 14 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. A ton of role players rounded out the scoring with 2 to 6 points each. They shot 42% as a team.

Jefferson had a good night going up against Duncan and finished with 21 points and 11 boards but he turned the ball over 5 times. Foye had trouble guarding Parker all night and scored 14 points in 22 minutes before fouling out. Telfair got some additional time in this place and added 11 points of his own. McCants had a night to forget. He was held scoreless in 20 minutes of action and fouled out to boot. We shot 52% of a team but only too 61 shot attempts due to constant pressure from the Spurs.

Ironhead

12-09-2007, 04:54 PM

Scouting Update

Our master scout has return from taking a second look at Pittsburgh SG Mike Cook. He thinks the kid definitely has talent but doesn't expect hiim to get much better than he is now. On offense he is very well rounded and can score and distribute the ball well. On the other side of the court he is a defensive liability and doesn't hustle for rebounds. I don't think this guy really jibes with what I am trying to build in Minnesota. I have seen enough of him for now.

My average scout came back pleasantly surprised after taking a look at PG Jamont Gordon. He thinks the kid plays with a level head and shows a lot of smarts on the court. He is not 100% sure Gordon could start immediately but
could play an important role if used properly. I'm intrigued and send my master scout to take a look at him.

I send my average scout out to Marquette to check into the buzz around PG Dominic James (5'11" 185 lbs). James is currently projected to be taken in the lottery. He doesn't look terribly special at first glance. A decent distributor but can't shoot worth a lick. Unless my scout comes back with a glowing report I probably won't scout him further.

January 15, 2008: Warriors (21-17) at T'Wolves (14-22)
We are up 28-27 at the end of one. Both teams look sharp and have brought a lot of energy to the court. Free agent to be shooting guard Monta Ellis was lighting it up from midrange and on cutters. He has 14 points already. Foye has been just as hot for us and has 13 points at the end of 1. He is doing a great job driving to the basket.

The Warriors are on fire from deep from deep, hitting 7 of 8 three point attempts at halftime. We were hanging with them for most of the quarter but they went on a 10-0 run to end the quarter. Down 58-45 at the half. Ellis leads them with 17 points and Stephen Jackson has added 11. Baron Davis has 9 assists already. For us both Foye and Jefferson have 13.

We put in some good work on defense against their subs and were able to cut the lead. Down 74-68 at the end of 3. Jefferson is having probably his best game of the year with 27 points through 3 quarteres. Al Harrington just can't handle him down low.

We almost pull it off but the Warriors hold on for a 98-93 win. Monta Ellis finished with a career high 33 points on 11 of 18, 2 of 3, 9 of 11. Stephen Jackson added 15 points and 8 boards. Baron Davis had a subpar night from the field but finished with 13 points, 14 assists and 2 blocks. Al Harrington had a pretty quiet night and finished with 10 pints and 7 boards. The Warriors bench pitched in 31 points on the night. They shot 45% as a team and 52% from deep on 17 attempts.

An impressive, impressive night from Al Jefferson goes to waste as his teammates faded down the stretch. Jefferson had a career high 37 points and hit a ridiculous 16 of 19 shots and hit all 5 of his free throw attempts. He also added 13 rebounds. Foye tailed off after a hot start but still finished with 20 points and 6 assists. No one else on the team scored in double digits. McCants and Brewer really struggled from the field and combined for 5 of 27 from the field. We shot 41% from the floor, thanks to Mr. Jefferson, and only 21% from beyond the arc on 14 attempts. We were solid from the line though and 20 of 23 attempts.

Ironhead

12-09-2007, 06:08 PM

The Top 10 Best Records in the league are:
1. Suns (28-10)
2. Nuggets (26-11)
3. Mavericks (24-14)
4. Bucks (24-15) - Just went on a long winning streak. Don't see this lasting.
5. Rockets (24-15)
6. Sonics (23-15)
7. Celtics (22-15)
8. Wizards (22-15)
9. Pistons (23-16)
10. Lakers (21-16)

The 10 Worst Records in the League:
21. Bobcats (17-21)
22. Cavaliers (17-21)
23. Nets (16-22)
24. Blazers (15-23)
25. Magic (16-25) - Howard & Turkoglu underperforming
26. T'Wolves (14-23)
27. Grizzlies (14-24)
28. 76ers (14-25)
29. Knicks (12-26)
30. Raptors (9-30)

Kevin Durant looks to be the runaway clear choice for Rookie of the Year so far. He is averaging 20.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1 SPG and 1.2 BPG. Horford, Oden and Corey Brewer are all playing well.

It doesn't look like we will be sending anyone to the All-Star game. Our only shot would be Jefferson but right now he is 4th behind Duncan, Nowitzki and Boozer. No one else on our team is in the Top 10 voting for their respective position.

Here are some player averages as we approach the midpoint of the year:
Al Jefferson - 18.8 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 34.2 MPG, .555 FG%

Randy Foye - 13.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.6 APG, 30 MPG, .417 FG%

Corey Brewer - 13 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 30.1 MPG, .482 FG%

Rashad McCants - 11.7 PPG, 0.8 SPG, 26.4 MPG, .403 FG%

Antoine Walker - 7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 20.8 MPG, .383 FG%

Sebastian Telfair - 6.8 PPG, 3.5 APG, 17.7 MPG, .411 FG%

Marko Jaric - 4.8 PPG, 1.8 APG, 14.2 MPG, .457 FG%

Craig Smith - 3.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 19.2 MPG, .389 FG%

Sean Williams (since joining the team) - 4.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 24.9 MPG

Team chemistry is at 37%. Pretty much everyone on the team is happy with the exception of Ratliff and Mark Madsen. Both players feel they deserve more playing time and Ratliff in particular is pretty pissed off. Foye's morale is okay but I think he is still a little pissed at me for putting him on the bench for a couple of games.

Ironhead

12-09-2007, 10:06 PM

January 18, 2008: T'Wolves (14-23) at Suns (29-10)
Phoenix won the first matchup between these teams earlier in the season and this one was no different. The Suns run away with a 112-94 victory. Stoudemire led the Suns with 25 points (10-27 from the field) and 9 boards. Barbosa had a solid night with 16 points and 7 assists. The often injured Grant Hill had a nice showing with 16 points and 7 boards in 29 minutes. Nash was steady as always with 15 points and 10 assists. Marion and Raja Bell rounded out the primary scorers with 12 a piece. The Suns shot 49% as a team, hit 8 of 20 three point attempts and were solid at the line (30 of 37).

Big Al followed up the best game of his career with another great showing: 28 points, 8 boards and 2 blocks. Foye finished with 14 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. McCants once again demonstrated why he won't be a starter past this season after he fouled out again. He scored 13 points in 25 minutes. Brewer is going trough another mini slump and finished with 9 points on 2 of 12 shooting. We shot 44% as a team and struggled from the arc, hitting only 4 of 18 three point attempts.

January 19, 2008: T'Wolves (14-24) at Nuggets (26-12)
Really brutal back to back road games against the two best teams in the league right now. Iverson is once again way too much for us and we lose 118-103. It was a very physical game between the two teams with a total of 57 fouls being called.

Iverson finished with 30 points and 7 assists. He spent the entire night at the charity stripe, hitting 15 of 19 free throw attempts. Marcus Camby was a beast and almost pulled off a rare triple double with 18 points, 15 boards and 8 blocks. Carmelo was in foul trouble the entire night and only played 19 minutes but it didn't matter. Denver's bench came up strong and really took it to us. Denver shot 57% as a team, hit 7 of 12 three point attempts and converted a 31 of 47 free throws.

Jefferson finished with 21 points and 8 boards on the night. McCants added 19 points in 25 minutes and yes, wait for it...almost fouled out. Brewer had his best game in about two weeks with a 16 point, 4 board, 2 steal showing. Same as last meeting between these two teams Iverson was too much for Foye to handle and he fouled out after scoring 13 points in 34 minutes. Telfair had a nice night off the bench with 12 points and 7 assists. We shot 38% as a team, hit 4 of 15 three pointers and shot 83% on 40 free throw attempts.

Right after showing a little bit of life we have now lost 5 in a row. Granted that is to some of the best teams in the league.

January 21, 2008: T'Wolves (14-25) at Warriors (23-19)
We lose our chance at immediate revenge as once again the Warriors are just a little to much for us. Harrington led all scorers with 23 points and 4 boards. Baron Davis had a great game with 18 points, 7 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. Belinelli (16 points) and Matt Barnes (11 points) each provided a spark in 22 minutes off the bench. Monta Ellis, who burned us in the previous matchup, was quiet and scored only 8 points in 25 minutes due to foul trouble. They shot 52% from the field.

Jefferson led the team with 19 points, 9 boards and 2 blocks. Brewer had the shooting touch and finished with 14 points in limited action, presumably due to foul trouble. Foye netted a rare double double for him with 13 points and 11 assists. Craig "Cookie Monster" Smith likewise ended up with a double double with 13 points and 10 boards. McCants shot poorly from the field but still ended up with 13 points. Sean Williams has been playing pretty well the past couple of games, picking up 2 or 3 blocks in each contest. We shot 48% as a team and as usual struggled from deep, hitting 2 of 11 attempts.

The loss is our 6th in a row, our worst losing streak of the year.

Scouting Update
My master scout reported back after checking out big PG Jamont Gordon of Missisippi State. He doesn't see the kid ever being an All-Star type talent but still a solid player. His size, athleticism and playmaking skills still have me interested. I am going to take one more look at him to see if my scout thinks he is a better shooter than first graded.

My average scout wasn't too impressed with Marquette PG Dominic James. The kid has a better shot than we originally thought but it doesn't look like there is much room for development. Given our eventual draft position there is no reason to look at him further.

At this point I have taken a look at just about everyone projected to go in the lottery or higher. It is pretty clear we will be drafting in the Top 10 and likely the Top 5. I am going to go back and focus on some of the top recruits on our board again.

The guy currently listed at #1 on our board is SG Brandon Rush (6'6" 210 lbs). He is very impressive on offense but looks to be a liability on defense. I send my average scout out to see if anything has changed since we last looked at Rush.

Ironhead

12-14-2007, 08:59 PM

January 23, 2008: Suns (32-10) at T'Wolves (14-26)

We open up the game with a nice little 8-0 run before the Suns start feeding the ball to Amare in the post. We have a lot of trouble stopping him and he puts up 11 in the 1st quarter. Still, a long Telfair 3 pointer at the buzzer from a good 28 feet out gives us a 29-21 at the end of 1. Foye had a nice 1st quarter and blew past the shaky perimeter defense a few times. Nash and Barbosa have been silent.

We go on a 7-0 run to start the second and the Suns call time to get Stoudemire back on the floor. Wow, we are just really beating the pants off of them and hold a 54-36 at the half. Nash has been practically non-existant and as a team the Suns are only shooting 34% from the floor. Pretty much everyone is chipping in for us so far. We are 50% from the floor and hot from beyond the arc as well.

The real Suns finally show up in the 3rd and put up 34 points to pull the score to 80-70. They were as close as 3 before we went on a run of our own. Nash put up 8 in the quarter and had several excellent passes, the best of which was an alley-oop that Stoudemire slammed home. If Phoenix brings that kind of play to the 4th I don't know if we will hold on.

We walk away with a very unexpected 105-93 victory as the Suns just can't sustain their play from the 3rd quarter. Jefferson had a good night with 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. Foye was more active and agressive that usual, taking 18 shots on the night, and finished with 21 points and 6 assists. Part of this was probably because Nash was playing some pretty sloppy half court defense. Craig "Cookie Monster" Smith gets the super garbageman award of the first half of the year with a whopping 17 boards in 27 minutes of action. Rounding out the primary scorers for us were Brewer (14), McCants (13) and Telfair (11). The bench was more than solid in the win. We shot 48% as a team and 41% from 3 point land.

Stoudemire tied Jefferson's offensive output with 23 points, 13 boards and 2 steals. Nash's final stat line of 15 points and 11 assists isn't shabby at all. But aside from the 3rd he didn't have much of an impact on the game. Barbosa and Marion each ended up with 10 points but had subpar shooting nights. The Suns shot 44% as a team and only 27% from beyond the arc.

Ironhead

12-14-2007, 11:12 PM

January 25, 2008: T'Wolves (15-26) at Celtics (24-16)
After a somewhat slow start Boston has put it together lately. This game marks the first time Kevin Garnett faces his old team. The Big 3 of Boston put the smack down with a sound 114-98 victory. Garnett led all scorers with 30 points and added 13 boards and 3 blocks. Allen added 27 points, 4 boards and 5 assist. Pierce finished with 25 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Boston shot 58% as a team and 43% from 3PT on 14 attempts.

Jefferson did what he could to keep the game close and finished with 25 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks. McCants finished with 17 points in 18 minutes, not sure why he played limited minutes. Brewer, who has easily been my 2nd best player, finished with 14 points and 5 boards. 'Toine added 10 points off the bench. Overall we had a great night from the floor and shot 53% and hit 6 of 10 three pointers. The big difference in the end was that the Big 3 got to the line all night long.

January 27, 2008: Nets (20-23) at T'Wolves (15-27)
We face the Nets who are heating up after the Kidd trade. They have won 7 of their last 10 games. Their hot play continues as they come into Minnesota and walk away with a 102-89 win. Vinsanity finished with 25 points, 7 boards and 4 assists to lead all scorers. Richard Jefferson finished with 18 points and 5 boards. Lamar Odom added 15 points, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Andre Miller played distributor and finished with 10 assists and 4 points. The Nets shot 52% as a team and 50% from 3PT on 12 attempts.

Brewer is on his best 5 game stretch of the year and finished with 21 points and 10 boards. Big Al struggled from the field with only 12 points but tried to make up for it on defense and swatted a career high 7 shots. McCants and Foye rounded ou the primary scorers with 17 and 15 points, respectively. The bench struggled pretty heavily to score all night. We shot 38% as a team.

Ironhead

12-15-2007, 10:54 PM

Scouting Update
My master scout says that our assessment of point guard Jamont Gordon has been pretty much dead on. He is a very well rounded guard that could use some work on his mid range game. We are currently projecting him to be taken in the middle of the 1st round, which I personally think would be steal. Our draft position will be too high to take a chance on Gordon but I will be very keen to follow his career.

Wow, some surprising feedback on shooting guard Brandon Rush. Up to now this guy looked like a shoe in to go 1st overall from our prior 3 trips. After his recent trip my average scout wrote this:

"Honestly, I just don't think Brandon Rush is as good as most people think. A lot of scouts are seeing talent that isn't really there and due to this I think he is going to be drafted a lot higher than he might be worth. If you are interested in Brandon, be careful not to draft him too early as you might miss out on a real prize."

My average scout seriously downgraded Rush's scoring ability, dropping his outside game from an "A" to a "B-". I don't know if I can trust such a large downgrade after we had already looked at this kid 3 times. Since this was our 4th visit we will not be able to scout him again until after the season.

Point guard Darren Collison out of UCLA has moved up into the Top 5 on our board. This guy looks be just what we need - well developed right out of college, incredibly quick, incredible playmaker and a lockdown defender. I am going to have my master scout take our final two looks at him.

There has been a bit of shuffling on the board as far as draft projections. A lot of players have been upgraded to potential lottery picks that I haven't looked at yet. I need to start getting some notes on these guys. I send my average scout out to Rhode Island to take a look at small forward Will Daniels (6'8", 225 lbs). From his initial report will looks be a very solid scorer who isn't going to play much defense and might be a bit of a ball hog. His NBA comparison is Luol Deng.

January 29, 2008: T'Wolves (15-28) at Bulls (21-22)
This is the first game of a back to back home and away against Chicago. Chicago is a bit banged up and Ben Gordon will miss both games to a strained achilles. We take advantage with a 94-75 victory on the road! Al Jefferson did his thing with 26 points, 12 boards, 4 blocks and 4 assists. He has had some really nice games as of late and seems to be swatting more shots. Telfair had his best performance of the year with 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench. He shot 6 of 10 from the field, 0 of 1 from 3PT and 6 of 6 from the line. McCants added 15 points on solid shooting. Foye finished with 12 points, 6 assists, 5 boards and 3 steals. We shot 44% from the field and hit 33 of 44 free throw attempts.

Tough night for the Bulls. Not only do they not play well but they also lose Joakim Noah, the 9th overall pick from this year, for an entire year due to a torn ACL. Kirk Hinrich played well with 15 points and 9 assists. Thabo Sefolosha, the 13th pick in last year's draft, filled in for Gordon but only scored 12 points in 41 minutes of action. Andres Nocioni added 12 points in 25 minutes. Luol Deng, who needed to pick up his game with Gordon out of the game, fouled out after 23 minutes. He scored 11 points and had 6 rebounds. The Bulls shot 42% as a team and only had 12 free throw shots in the game.

Ironhead

12-16-2007, 11:58 AM

January 30, 2008: Bulls (21-23) at T'Wolves (16-28)

The Bulls come into the game looking to prove they are much better than last night's sad showing. Through half a quarter the game is very even. We are having a lot of trouble keeping the Bulls off the offensive glass though. Ben Wallace picks up his 2nd personal with about 5 minutes left in the quarter. With no big shot blocker in the game Telfair sparks a 15-4 run to close the quarter. Up 31-23 at the end of 1. Despite only playing 4 minutes Telfair scored 8 points by hitting 6 free throw attempts. Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas are playing well for the Bulls.

Bulls are playing much better with Wallace back on the floor. They are having trouble keeping up when when we push the ball up in transition. The Bulls close the quarter out strong thanks to good contributions from grizzled vets like Joe Smith and we are tied 51-51. We are getting some great play from the point as Telfair and Foye have combined for 14 points, 8 assists and 3 steals. We have hit all 16 of our free throw attempts. No one player stands out on the Bulls so far, just solid play all around.

Bulls up 73-70 and the end of 3. Not sure which way this one will end up. We are still perfect from the line through 3 quarters.

Tied 85-85 with about 4 minutes left and the Bulls go on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a deeeep 3 from Deng. We don't score again and the Bulls walk away with a 97-85 victory. Very much a no name efforts from both squads as just about every player chipped in.

Kirk Hinrich led all scorers with 15 points and also added 7 assists. Deng struggled overall with 13 points on 5 of 16 shooting. He also had 4 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. We could not keep Chicago off the glass all night and Tyrus Thomas and Big Ben finished with 14 and 10 boards, respectively. They each pitched in 12 points and Thomas had 3 blocks. The Bulls shot 46% as a team and had an impressive 16 second chance points.

Jaric led us with 13 points in 20 minutes of the bench. Foye had a decent game with 12 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Wallace and Thomas played excellent defense on Jefferson and he finished with 12 points and 7 boards. He was 6 of 15 from the floor. McCants (11), Brewer (10), and Telfair (10) round out the primary scorers. The bench combined to score 40 points on the night, I would think by far the highest total this year. We shot 37% from the floor but were outstanding at the line and hit all 22 free throw attempts.

damnMikeBrown

12-16-2007, 12:51 PM

I like the scouting updates, and am REALLY looking forward to the offseason FA period and the draft!

Ironhead

12-16-2007, 01:28 PM

I like the scouting updates, and am REALLY looking forward to the offseason FA period and the draft!

I'll say. 4th worst record in the league and a top pick coming our way at the end of the year. The pups should get better during the offseason and who knows, I might have a chance to sign a free agent. I have a feeling that the money won't be available for a big FA until next offseason though. It will probably depend on how much money Telfair and Craig Smith want to resign. I really like Telfair but if I go PG in the draft I could probably let him walk.

After the All-Star game I might accelerate the sim schedule even further to play 1, sim 4. There are only 37 games left in the season so that would give me a chance to get to the draft next weekend.

Thanks for reading, appreciate the feedback.

Ironhead

12-16-2007, 03:12 PM

Development for February
We ran Brewer through the offensive rebounding drill last month so we focus on his defensive rebounding this month. Big Al gives him hell but Brewer battles hard and learns just enough to get a +2 increase to his defensive rebounding (up to 75).

I send Sean Williams through some drills to improve his low post defense. I have noticed that Sean tends to lack a little bit of discipline down low and falls for too many pump fakes. Cookie uses his strength to bully Williams around early on, but Williams starts getting into better position to smother the shot attempts. He even remains patient on an up and under attempt and swats it away at the last second. From his good work he gains +2 to his defensive awareness (81), +1 to his block rating (93) and +1 to his low post defense (72).

Last but not least we have Foye work on shooting jump shots while being pressured. He does a pretty good job but doesn't quite get his shot working well enough from long range. No improvement to his shooting ratings this time.

February 1, 2008: Clippers (22-20) at T'Wolves (16-29)
We trail the entire game and take a 98-91 loss. Old man Sam Cassell still had enough spring in his legs to drop 22 points, 5 assists and 5 boards on us. Potential free agent to be Elton Brand added 18 points and 5 boards. Chris Kaman and Corey Maggette rounded out the primary scorers with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The Clippers shot just a hair over 50%.

McCants was the high scorer for the Wolves with 18 points. Jefferson added 16 points and 10 boards. Brand did a good job on Jefferson, holding him to 8 of 19 from the floor. Brewer chipped in 12 points and 7 boards. Veritable offensive explosion from Sean Williams as he finished with 11 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Foye added 10 points and 7 assists. 'Toine rounds out the scoring with 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench. We shot 49% from the floor and dominated the offensive glass. The Clippers large edge from the charity stripe was the difference.

February 4, 2008: Rockets (27-20) at T'Wolves (16-30)
I ran the team through a long defensive workout prior to this game. Let's see if it helps keep McGrady and Yao in check. Ugh. We lose in ugly fashion, 95-70. McGrady went off for 35 points, 6 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. But we did hold Yao to 17 points and 8 boards. The bench chipped in the rest. They didn't seem to have much trouble with our "D" and shot 51% from the floor and 47% from long range.

Jefferson only saw 27 minutes of action due to foul trouble but still put up 24 points. McCants added 12 points on his typical subpar shooting. Brewer added 9 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. No one else worth mentioning. We shot 37% from the floor.

Scouting Update
Disappointing news as my master scout thinks Darren Collison's skills are a little worse than previously reported. His overall rating was downgraded from A+ to B. His man defense was downgraded from A+ to A-. His intangibles might have taken a small hit as well. I send my scout right back out to take another look at him, but based on this assessment I don't know if Collison is Top 5 material.

My average scout was very pleased with what he saw in SF Will Daniels. I get the feeling his report is a little exaggerated. The kid would be an all world scorer with these ratings ("A" for athleticism, "A" for inside game, "B" for outside game, "B" for intangibles). I will send my average scout back out to see if he changes his mind. If he doesn't then I will follow up with my master scout.

Trade Deadline Approaches
The trade deadline is in two weeks. I am going to turn on CPU trading and hope they don't do anything really stupid.

February 8, 2008: Celtics (28-18) at T'Wolves (16-31)
This is Garnett's first trip to Minnesota after the trade. The Target Center erupts into cheers as he steps onto the court for the first time in anything other than a Timberwolves jersey. In an emotional night for both teams the Timberwolves pull out a 99-95 victory! Foye scored 24 points on 7 of 13, 3 of 5, 7 of 9 to lead the Wolves. McCants had good night from the floor and scored 18 points on 57% shooting. Jefferson finished with 16 points, 5 boards and 3 blocks. He struggled against Garnett and only shot 6 of 15 from the floor. As a team we shot 52% and hit 6 of 11 deep attempts. Terrible from the line though as we only hit 23 of 39.

Ray Allen led everyone with 27 points on 10 of 14, 3 of 4 and 4 of 5. Pierce added 21 points, 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Garnett played hard as ever and finished with 19 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists in 36 minutes before fouling out. Boston shot 54% as a team.

Ironhead

12-16-2007, 03:23 PM

It has been about a month and a half since the 4 way deal between MIN-NJ-LAL-PHI. Checking in on the Nets and Lakers shows that the Nets are really turning the season around while things in LA are about the same.

Lakers (before the trade)
16-13, 98.3 PPG, 99.5 PA
.437 FG%, .352 3PT%, .762 FT%
18.9 APG, 40.4 RPG, 6.7 SPG, 4.4 BPG, 12.6 TPG

Lakers (as of February 9th)
25-24, 97.4 PPG, 99.7 PA
.435 FG%, .344 3PT%, .763 FT%
19.3 APG, 39.9 RPG, 6.8 SPG, 4.6 BPG, 13 TPG

Nets (before the trade)
11-18, 95.6 PPG, 97.8 PA
.485 FG%, .346 3PT%, .705 FT%
19.7 APG, 33.5 RPG, 6.2 SPG, 4.3 BPG, 12 TPG

Nets (as of February 9th)
26-24, 96 PPG, 96.3 PA
.478 FG%, .341 3PT%, .715 FT%
19.2 APG, 34.6 RPG, 6.4 SPG, 4.3 BPG, 11.4 TPG

If the playoffs started today the Nets would be in as the 6th seed in the East and the Lakers would just barely miss the 8th seed in the West.

Ironhead

12-17-2007, 07:57 PM

February 10, 2008: Raptors (13-35) at T'Wolves (17-31)
The worst team in the East squares off against the worst team in the West. Due to injuries Michael Olowokandi is starting for the Raptors. I don't think it gets much worse than that. If we can get Bosh in foul trouble this could be a runaway blowout.

Ugly game so far but we are up 22-20. True to their record the Raptors play like the worst team in the league. Jefferson is having a field day down low and has 10 points and 5 boards through 1 quarter. Bosh had to sit near the end of the 1st after he picked up his 2nd foul. If we can put a 3rd on him quickly then we should be able to open this wide open.

We go into halftime up 48-31. That's not a typo. The Raptors really just put up an 11 point quarter. Their shot selection has been atrocious and as a result they have only shot 30% from the floor. Jefferson has 16 points at the break and Telfair has been great off the bench with 8 points and 3 assists.

I thought the 11 point 2nd quarter was about as bad as it could get. And then the Raptors put up 9 in the 3rd. We are up by a score of 74-40 at the end of 3. I just looked it up and the dubious NBA record for fewest points scored in a game is 49, which belongs to the Jordan-less 1999 Chicago Bulls. The record for lowest field goal percentage is 22.9%, which happened back in 1954. The Raptors have shot 27% through 3 quarters and would need to clank their next 10 shots in a row to be in any danger of setting a new record.

Doesn't look like either will happen as Toronto has hit their first 3 shot attempts in the 4th. With 7 minutes left Bargnani hits a fadeaway shot in the post for the team's 50th and 51st point on the night, saving them from ultimate embarassment. They go back into their shell after that and our BACKUPS finish the blowout. We win by a final score of 94-53.

Al Jefferson was player of the game with 24 points and 16 boards in 3 quarters of action. He was dominant in the post and shot 10 of 13 from the floor. Telfair was all over the court and finished with 17 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in 20 minutes. Foye scored 14 points in 21 minutes of action. Have to give my bench some love here. Marko Jaric finished with 7 points, 6 assists and 4 boards. Craig Smith finished with 5 points and was a rebounding machine with 14 boards in 24 minutes. We shot 42% from the floor, hit 5 of 11 three point shots and were solid from the line again (17 of 20).

Chris Bosh finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds in 31 minutes. He shot 4 of 14 and that was the good shooting night for the team. No one else scored in double digits. Juan Dixon shot 2 of 14 from the floor and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. Jason Kapono was 2 of 9 and missed all 4 of his 3 point attempts. Anthony Parker only hit 1 of 7 shots. They shot 28% as a team (21 of 74) and hit 1 of 13 three point attempts.

Ironhead

12-17-2007, 10:46 PM

Scouting Update
My master scout reported back and feels that after taking several looks at Collison he should be drafted anywhere from 5th to 8th overall. His final grading before we get to look at him again in the offseason:

OVERALL B PLAYMAKER ABILITY A+
POTENTIAL B INSIDE DEFENSE F+
ATHLETICISM B MAN DEFENSE B+
INSIDE GAME F REBOUNDING F-
OUTSIDE GAME B- INTANGIBLES C+

Strengths:
- Looks like he has the potential to be something in this league
- Has his rough spots, but a solid player overall
- Has good anticipation when trying to force turnovers

Weaknesses:
- Very weak player in the defensive low post, beware
- Lackluster is the word that best describes his rebounding skills
- Should not be relied on to produce points in the paint

Alright, I am officially intrigued. From my average scout's most recent report on SF Will Daniels: "This kid has tremendous potential that with the right coaching could lead him to become one of the best players in the NBA." He lists the 6'8" small forward with "A" potential. I send my master scout to Rhode Island to have a closer look at Daniels.

I'm not really sure what I am going to do in the 2nd round. Ideally I would want to draft a center who might get some garbage time but I don't like any of the guys who will be left on the board. The only position we won't have a complete log jam at is small forward. I decide to send my average scout out to PennState to get a look at SF Geary Claxton (6'5", 215 lbs). Undersized for the position but he grades out as a good rebounder and a decent post scorer.

February 12, 2008: T'Wolves (18-31) at Nets (27-24)
The red hot Nets build an early lead at halftime and never let go, taking a 94-86 win. Vince Carter led all scorers with 25 points, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Richard Jefferson added 20 points and 5 boards. Magloire finished with 11 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Bostjan Nachbar chipped in 11 from the bench. Andre Miller finished with 7 assists while Lamar Odom only played 20 minutes due to foul trouble. New Jersey shot 51% as a team and 47% from beyond the arc on 19 attempts.

Jefferson had a nice all around game with 22 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks and 2 steals. McCants added 20 points on 17 shot attempts. Foye finished with 11 points and 6 assists. 'Toine played 18 minutes and added 10 points. Brewer has been notably absent lately on offense. He might be hitting the rookie wall. We shot 44% from the floor and 25% from deep on 16 attempts.

February 13, 2008: Lakers (26-25) at T'Wolves (18-32)
In our last game before the All-Star break the pups fight hard and walk away with a 100-94 victory! McCants led the team with 20 points and as usual added nothing else to the game. Jefferson was strong on the glass and had 15 boards to go alongside 17 points. We get some bad news as Brewer strains his MCL and will be at limited strength for about two weeks. It looks pretty bad so I might just have him sit. Walker (13), Foye (10) and Telfair (10) round out the primary scorers. We shot 42% as a team.

Kobe did everything he could but his 30 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks were not enough. Kidd was 1 assist shy of a triple double and finished with 12 points, 12 boards and 9 assists. Andrew Bynum has been playing well and finished with 15 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Ryan Gomes, who has started for L.A. since we traded him earlier in the year, only played 19 minutes before fouling out. The Lakers shot 46% as a team.

Ironhead

12-18-2007, 08:00 PM

4 trades occur the day before the All-Star break. This is why I turned CPU trading off.

Deal #1
Detroit trades PG Lindsey Hunter (age 38, 1 year for $2.25M) to Philadelphia for SF Rod Carney (age 24, 3 years for $1.54M)

The 76ers, who are in rebuilding mode, trade away their cheaply signed 1st round pick from last year for an expiring veteran who will likely retire after the season.

Deal #2
Seattle trades C Kurt Thomas (age 36, 1 year at $8.09M) to Philadelphia for C Kwame Brown (age 26, 1 year at $9.07M)

The 76ers trade a young, huge expiring contract for an older, huge expiring contract. This is the CPU trading just to trade. Deal makes no sense for either team.

Deal #3
Orlando trades SF Hedo Turkoglu (age 29, 3 years at $6.37M) to Portland for PG Steve Blake (age 28, 3 years at $5.35M)

The Magic trade a valuable starting player for a point guard that makes about the same money and will have to fight Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling to get backup minutes. Brilliant.

Deal #4
Memphis trades PG Damon Stoudamire (age 35, 2 years at $4.35M) to Utah for SG Gordan Giricek (age 31, 1 year at $4.00M)

Out of all of the trades this is the only one that makes any sense, but I would still give it a failing grade. Memphis could get more for a solid veteran nearing the end of his career than an expiring bench player in his 30s. At least it frees the way to have Michael Conley, the 4th overall pick in the 2007 draft, take over the point. Not sure how Utah would get Deron Williams and Stoudamire on the floor at the same time.

Ironhead

12-18-2007, 08:24 PM

We do not send anyone to the All-Star game. Jefferson finished 4th in the power forward voting but was well behind Nowitzki. I don't know if Big Al will ever be an All-Star as long as Duncan and Nowitzki are around. The only other Minnesota player to get any kind of serious voting activity was Corey Brewer, who finished 10th in small forward voting in the West.

West:
PG Steve Nash - Starter
SG Kobe Bryant - Starter
SF Tracy McGrady - Starter
PF Tim Duncan - Starter
C Amare Stoudemire - Starter
PG Jason Kidd
PG Chris Paul
PG Deron Williams
SG Allen Iverson
SF Shawn Marion
PF Dirk Notwitzki
C Yao Ming

East:
PG Gilbert Arenas - Starter
SG Dwayne Wade - Starter
SF LeBron James - Starter
PF Kevin Garnett - Starter
C Shaq - Starter (injury replacement for Dwight Howard)
PG Maurice Williams
SG Vince Carter
SG Andre Iguodala
SF Caron Butler
SF Rashard Lewis
PF Chris Bosh
C Samuel Dalembert

Despite a valiant push by the East to come back from a 19 point deficit the West goes on to win the game 121-116. Chris Paul is named the MVP with 18 points and 10 assists.

Ironhead

12-20-2007, 07:53 PM

Scouting Update

My average scout completed his initial scouting trip to see SF Geary Claxton. Claxton is the first potential 2nd round pick we have scouted. In general my scout wasn't blown away but thinks that the kid can play some ball. Personally I feel that at 6'5" Claxton is too small to play small forward in the NBA. I am going to shelf him for right now and move on.

My master scout reported back from his trip to see SF Will Daniels. My average scout has been in love with Daniels. My master scout isn't as hot to trot on but he still thinks Daniels is solid offensive player. His newly updated draft card:

Height: 6'8"
Weight: 225 lbs
Age: 23
Personality: Unpredictable

OVERALL C+ PLAYMAKER ABILITY C-
POTENTIAL A INSIDE DEFENSE D
ATHLETICISM B+ MAN DEFENSE D-
INSIDE GAME B+ REBOUNDING C-
OUTSIDE GAME B INTANGIBLES C+

Draft Stock: Lottery
NBA Comparison: Luol Deng

Strengths:
- Runs the floor really well, uses his speed to spread the court
- Is very comfortable shooting the NBA 3-pointer

Weaknesses:
- Not terrible, but not very good at steals and forcing turnovers

Daniels could be a backup plan if something goes awry and I lose out on my top choices. He would probably give less of a boost to the team in 2008-2009, but his potential is high and we can work on his defense. I tell my master scout to stay put in Rhode Island and take our last scouting visting for Daniels.

I send my average scout out to Kansas to take a look at PG Mario Chalmers (6'1", 195 lbs). Chalmers is currently projected to go in the 2nd round. His draft card is solid for a 2nd round player - good athleticism, nice shot, good defense, good playmaking ability. Maybe he will surprise us.

February 19, 2008: 76ers (19-34) at T'Wolves (19-32)
I decide to sit Brewer while he mends from his MCL injury. No point in risking further injury to a youngster when our season is already in the toilet. Jaric and even 'Toine will absorb most of Brewer's minutes at small forward.

The 76ers manage to control the tempo of the game in a gritty contest and take a 97-89 win. Iguodala was player of the game with 24 points, 9 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals in 42 minutes of action. Kyle Korver scored 19 points on some hot shooting from 3 point range (5 of 9). Jason Smith, the 20th overall pick in the 2007 draft, scored 11 points and had 2 blocks in 29 minutes. Samuel Dalembert put up a double double with 10 points and 13 boards. The recently traded for Kurt Thomas finished with 10 points and 5 boards off the bench. Philly shot 48% from the floor, 9 of 21 from 3 PT range and 20 of 24 from the line.

As he often does Jefferson led us with 18 points on the night. McCants added 17 points and had 3 steals. To McCants' credit he has been doing a better job lately staying out of foul trouble. 'Toine added 14 points in 25 minutes. Telfair and Foye combined to score 24 points and dish 6 assists on the night. We shot 45% from the floor, hit 5 of 13 from long range and struggled from the line (68%, 24-35).

Ironhead

12-21-2007, 11:13 PM

February 21, 2008: Spurs (27-25) at T'Wolves (19-33)
After a slow start the Spurs are putting things together lately. We have the advantage of being at home but we will be without Brewer for about another week.

Defensive battle so far, 19-17 Spurs at the end of 1. Jefferson and Duncan have been the cogs for their team down low. No one's midrange shot is falling for either team.

At half we are down 45-32. Outside of a nice game by Jefferson and some solid play from Jaric everyone else is struggling. Duncan-Paker-Ginobili have looked really good on the floor.

We finally put something together from the floor and pull within 3 points, down 65-62 at after 3 quarters. As he tends to do Telfair came off the bench and sparked us on run to close the quarter. This offseason is going to be tough when I have to decide whether to resign him or let him walk.

Jaric, who is easily having his best game of the year, hits a 3 with about 30 seconds left in the game to pull us within 86-83. Ginobili is holding the ball just outside the arc, clock ticking. Ginobili with the jump shot just inside the line...he misses, we gather the rebound and call timeout. 6 seconds left in the game. We inbound the ball to Jaric, he gets a pretty clean look over the shorter Tony Parker...off right iron and that's ballgame.

The Spurs trio up front each played a ton of minutes and had great games. Duncan finished the game with 23 points and dominated with 23 boards. Ginboili was all over the court and finished with 25 points, 8 assists and 5 boards. Parker finished with 12 points and a career high 15 assists. The Spurs shot 43% from the floor and really struggled at the line, hitting only 6 of 17 free throw attempts.

As I mentioned before Jaric played easily his best game all year and finished with 23 points and 4 assists. He shot 9 of 17 from the floor, 3 of 5 from 3 PT range and hit both of his free throw attempts. Jefferson went toe to toe with Duncan all night and finished with a great game of his own - 21 points and 19 boards. Telfair finished with 11 points in 20 minutes of floor time. Foye in particular struggled, hitting only 2 of 10 from the floor before fouling out after 28 minutes. He was outplayed by both of his backups at the point. As a team we shot 37% from the floor, hit 7 of 23 three point attempts and shot 70% from the line (14/20).

Ironhead

12-21-2007, 11:22 PM

For those following. We currently have the 3rd worst record in the league and 29 games to go. We are just about mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

Should I continue playing the games or just sim the rest of the way and get to the fun part: the draft and offseason?

Between the holidays and a busy schedule next week my actual play time will be limited. It could be another two weeks before I get to the offseason if I don't sim out the rest of the season.

DeToxRox

12-21-2007, 11:33 PM

I say sim it out. The off season is definetly the most exciting thing for your team right now.

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 12:10 PM

February 24, 2008: Mavericks (32-23) at T'Wolves (19-34)
Dallas rolls into town and blows us out by a final score of 124-89. Howard and Terry were the high scorers with 33 and 29 points, respectively. Jefferson led us with 24 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks. Foye bruised his heel and will be limited for the next 10 days. He would have limited effectiveness so he will sit while he heals.

February 26, 2008: Jazz (25-31) at T'Wolves (19-35)
Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer team up to hand us our 36th loss of the year. Final score was 96-88. Williams scored 23 points, dished 6 assists and had 3 steals. Boozer finished with 17 points and 14 boards. McCants was our leading scorer with 19 points.

February 27, 2008: T'Wolves (19-36) at Raptors (16-39)
Brewer has returned from his MCL strain and is back in the lineup. The lowly Raptors get revenge for their embarrasing loss just two weeks earlier with a 102-86 win. Bosh led all scorers with 24 points and 12 boards. Kapono and Calderon each finished with 17 points. McCants led the Wolves with 20 points. Jefferson was quiet with 13 points and 6 boards. Brewer added 11 points and 8 boards in his return.

February 29, 2008: T'Wolves (19-37) at Cavs (24-34)
Man, somebody get LeBron some talent. WE beat the King James by a final of 111-107. Solid effort from most players on the Wolves. Brewer finished with 21 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Jefferson added 18 points and 15 boards. LeBron finished with 26 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Donyell Marshall and Ilgauskas finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

March 2, 2008: Sonics (32-26) at T'Wolves (20-37)
"We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow...that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."

We pick up our 2nd win in a row over a young Sonics team by a final of 97-95. McCants finished with 21 points and Brewer added 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Wally World scored 23 points for the Sonics in only 21 minutes off the bench. Durant, who is still going to be the runaway Rookie of the Year winner, finished with 22 poitns and 6 boards.

March 4, 2008: Bobcats (24-35) at T'Wolves (21-37)
For only the second time all season we win three games in a row by downing the Bobcats by a final of 96-82. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 13 boards. McCants added 16 points on some sloppy shooting. Sean May of the Bobcats came up with 21 points off the bench but everyone else struggled.

March 5, 2008: T'Wolves (22-37) at Jazz (28-33)
We come 1 point away from our first 4 game winning streak all year. The Jazz take it 99-98. Jefferson got the better of Boozer with 24 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks but Boozer's 24 points were enough for the win. Brewer continued his strong play since coming back from injury with 19 points, 6 boards and 3 steals.

March 7, 2008: T'Wolves (22-38) at Kings (33-28)
We get stomped as Foye returns to the lineup by a final score of 104-78. Complete team effort by the Kings, too many players to name. Jefferson was our lone bright spot with 33 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks.

March 8, 2008: T'Wolves (22-39) at Clippers (37-23)
Clippers win this game in comfortable fashion by a final score of 93-78. Cassell dropped 27 points and 8 assists on us while Brand had 20 points and 8 boards. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 15 boards. Brewer finished with 18 for the game.

March 11, 2008: Blazers (25-38) at T'Wolves (22-40)
We lose 96-82. Jarrett Jack finished with 20 points and 8 assists for the Blazers. Brandon Roy added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 boards. Jefferson finished with 22 points and 12 boards. Not much else worth mentioning.

March 14, 2008: T'Wolves (22-41) at Sonics (35-29)
We continue to have Seattle's number and beat them by a final score of 94-84. Foye had his best game in recent memory with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Brewer was Mr. Utility with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. Durant finished with 18 points and 5 boards.

March 15, 2008: T'Wolves (23-41) at Blazers (26-40)
Closer than 4 days ago but we still lose by a final of 92-86. It was Jack and Roy again with 30 points and 14 assists between them combined. Jefferson finished with 24 points and 11 boards.

March 17, 2008: Clippers (41-24) at T'Wolves (23-42)
We lose 87-84. Brand finished with 20 points and 5 boards. Did I mention I really don't like Sam Cassell? He finished with 15 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Looks like the team is mailing it in at this point. Jefferson's 15 point, 5 board performance was by far and away the highlight of our team.

March 19, 2008: Grizzlies (28-38) at T'Wolves (23-43)
Grizzlies take this one 113-104. Michael Conley had a great night, starting in place of the traded Damon Stoudamire, and finished with 25 points and 4 assists. Mike Miller added 17 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Foye and Jefferson led us with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

March 21, 2008: T'Wolves (23-44) at Pacers (28-40)
Pacers take a comfortable 95-80 victory. Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger team up to drop 44 points and 19 boards. Jefferson finished with 15 points and 7 boards. No one else in double digits. These folks aren't trying at this point. Team chemistry is down to 17%...

March 22, 2008: Knicks (27-41) at T'Wolves (23-45)
...but we are still good enough to beat Isiah and the Knicks by a final of 81-79. Game film of this one is surely going in the trash. Jefferson was the leading scorer with 29 points. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 22 points.

March 26, 2008: T'Wolves (24-45) at Rockets (42-29)
We lose 90-83. Yao finished with 23 points and 5 boards. Brewer was our leading scorer with 17 points. Jefferson strained his achillies and will miss 3 weeks.

March 28, 2008: T'Wolves (24-46) at Spurs (36-36)
We lose 97-95. Duncan kills us again with 22 points and 16 boards. Ginobili finishes with 20 points. Parker tallies a double double with 15 points and 12 assists. McCants scores led the Wolves with 25 points. I believe this was our first game all year without Jefferson.

March 30, 2008: Jazz (33-40) at T'Wolves (24-47)
We get spanked 109-75. Deron Williams comes up just shy of a triple double with 22 points, 15 assists and 8 boards. Foye and Brewer combine to score 41 points, more than half of the team total.

April 1, 2008: Pistons (40-33) at T'Wolves (24-48)
We lose 85-80, our 12th loss in the last 14 games. Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 21 points and 9 assists. McCants finishes with 23 points for us.

February 24, 2008: Mavericks (32-23) at T'Wolves (19-34)
Dallas rolls into town and blows us out by a final score of 124-89. Howard and Terry were the high scorers with 33 and 29 points, respectively. Jefferson led us with 24 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks. Foye bruised his heel and will be limited for the next 10 days. He would have limited effectiveness so he will sit while he heals.

February 26, 2008: Jazz (25-31) at T'Wolves (19-35)
Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer team up to hand us our 36th loss of the year. Final score was 96-88. Williams scored 23 points, dished 6 assists and had 3 steals. Boozer finished with 17 points and 14 boards. McCants was our leading scorer with 19 points.

February 27, 2008: T'Wolves (19-36) at Raptors (16-39)
Brewer has returned from his MCL strain and is back in the lineup. The lowly Raptors get revenge for their embarrasing loss just two weeks earlier with a 102-86 win. Bosh led all scorers with 24 points and 12 boards. Kapono and Calderon each finished with 17 points. McCants led the Wolves with 20 points. Jefferson was quiet with 13 points and 6 boards. Brewer added 11 points and 8 boards in his return.

February 29, 2008: T'Wolves (19-37) at Cavs (24-34)
Man, somebody get LeBron some talent. WE beat the King James by a final of 111-107. Solid effort from most players on the Wolves. Brewer finished with 21 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Jefferson added 18 points and 15 boards. LeBron finished with 26 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Donyell Marshall and Ilgauskas finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

March 2, 2008: Sonics (32-26) at T'Wolves (20-37)
"We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow...that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."

We pick up our 2nd win in a row over a young Sonics team by a final of 97-95. McCants finished with 21 points and Brewer added 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Wally World scored 23 points for the Sonics in only 21 minutes off the bench. Durant, who is still going to be the runaway Rookie of the Year winner, finished with 22 poitns and 6 boards.

March 4, 2008: Bobcats (24-35) at T'Wolves (21-37)
For only the second time all season we win three games in a row by downing the Bobcats by a final of 96-82. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 13 boards. McCants added 16 points on some sloppy shooting. Sean May of the Bobcats came up with 21 points off the bench but everyone else struggled.

March 5, 2008: T'Wolves (22-37) at Jazz (28-33)
We come 1 point away from our first 4 game winning streak all year. The Jazz take it 99-98. Jefferson got the better of Boozer with 24 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks but Boozer's 24 points were enough for the win. Brewer continued his strong play since coming back from injury with 19 points, 6 boards and 3 steals.

March 7, 2008: T'Wolves (22-38) at Kings (33-28)
We get stomped as Foye returns to the lineup by a final score of 104-78. Complete team effort by the Kings, too many players to name. Jefferson was our lone bright spot with 33 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks.

March 8, 2008: T'Wolves (22-39) at Clippers (37-23)
Clippers win this game in comfortable fashion by a final score of 93-78. Cassell dropped 27 points and 8 assists on us while Brand had 20 points and 8 boards. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 15 boards. Brewer finished with 18 for the game.

March 11, 2008: Blazers (25-38) at T'Wolves (22-40)
We lose 96-82. Jarrett Jack finished with 20 points and 8 assists for the Blazers. Brandon Roy added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 boards. Jefferson finished with 22 points and 12 boards. Not much else worth mentioning.

March 14, 2008: T'Wolves (22-41) at Sonics (35-29)
We continue to have Seattle's number and beat them by a final score of 94-84. Foye had his best game in recent memory with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Brewer was Mr. Utility with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. Durant finished with 18 points and 5 boards.

March 15, 2008: T'Wolves (23-41) at Blazers (26-40)
Closer than 4 days ago but we still lose by a final of 92-86. It was Jack and Roy again with 30 points and 14 assists between them combined. Jefferson finished with 24 points and 11 boards.

March 17, 2008: Clippers (41-24) at T'Wolves (23-42)
We lose 87-84. Brand finished with 20 points and 5 boards. Did I mention I really don't like Sam Cassell? He finished with 15 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Looks like the team is mailing it in at this point. Jefferson's 15 point, 5 board performance was by far and away the highlight of our team.

March 19, 2008: Grizzlies (28-38) at T'Wolves (23-43)
Grizzlies take this one 113-104. Michael Conley had a great night, starting in place of the traded Damon Stoudamire, and finished with 25 points and 4 assists. Mike Miller added 17 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Foye and Jefferson led us with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

March 21, 2008: T'Wolves (23-44) at Pacers (28-40)
Pacers take a comfortable 95-80 victory. Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger team up to drop 44 points and 19 boards. Jefferson finished with 15 points and 7 boards. No one else in double digits. These folks aren't trying at this point. Team chemistry is down to 17%...

March 22, 2008: Knicks (27-41) at T'Wolves (23-45)
...but we are still good enough to beat Isiah and the Knicks by a final of 81-79. Game film of this one is surely going in the trash. Jefferson was the leading scorer with 29 points. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 22 points.

March 26, 2008: T'Wolves (24-45) at Rockets (42-29)
We lose 90-83. Yao finished with 23 points and 5 boards. Brewer was our leading scorer with 17 points. Jefferson strained his achillies and will miss 3 weeks.

March 28, 2008: T'Wolves (24-46) at Spurs (36-36)
We lose 97-95. Duncan kills us again with 22 points and 16 boards. Ginobili finishes with 20 points. Parker tallies a double double with 15 points and 12 assists. McCants scores led the Wolves with 25 points. I believe this was our first game all year without Jefferson.

March 30, 2008: Jazz (33-40) at T'Wolves (24-47)
We get spanked 109-75. Deron Williams comes up just shy of a triple double with 22 points, 15 assists and 8 boards. Foye and Brewer combine to score 41 points, more than half of the team total.

April 2, 2008: T'Wolves (24-49) at Jazz (34-41)
Utah runs away with a 113-93 victory. Mehmet Okur and Morris Almond led the Jazz with 25 and 22 points, respectively. Deron Williams killed us as usual with 17 points and 13 assists. McCants, who is just streaky as all hell, put in 28 points which is 1 shy of his season high. Team chemistry is at 8%. I receive my first warning from the team owner about our performance. That took longer than I expected. It looks like the complete "suck at basketball" threshold was 50 losses.

April 4, 2008: T'Wolves (24-50) at Suns (52-23)
The Suns beat us silly by a final of 125-94. Tons of people with great games on the Suns. Marion, Nash and Stoudemire all tallied double doubles. Brewer led us in scoring with 19 points. Foye injured his wrist and will miss the remainder of the season. Wow, I just checked and we seem to have sucked our way into the worst record in the league. I am actually pretty unhappy about that. I hope the ping pong balls don't have us picking 1st because I don't want to have to pay #1 pick money. That could hurt our chances at signing a big free agent.

April 6, 2008: Grizzlies (30-46) at T'Wolves (24-51)
We snap our 6 game losing streak with a 98-82 victory over Memphis. Brewer finished with 19 points, 10 boards and 2 steals. McCants added 16 points. Gasol was the leading scorer for Memphis with 15 points, 12 boards and 6 assists.

April 8, 2008: T'Wolves (25-51) at Bobcats (32-45)
We lose 100-95. Okafor put in a great 21 point, 17 board performance. Gerald Wallace was 1 board shy of a double double with 19 points and 9 boards. McCants and 'Toine each added 18 points for us.

April 9, 2008: Hornets (34-43) at T'Wolves (25-52)
Ugly 89-76 loss. Chris Paul was great with 21 points, 9 assists, 7 boards and 3 steals. Brewer led us with 18 points and 6 boards. The owner me that we suck and he doesn't like it.

April 10, 2008: T'Wolves (25-53) at Magic (36-42)
The Magic, who are fighting for the 8th seed in the East, win by a final of 95-92. Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard each finished with double doubles. McCants led us with 18 points.

April 12, 2008: T'Wolves (25-54) at Grizzlies (30-49)
Pathetic outing as we get spanked 104-79 by Memphis. Hakim Warrick, Mike Miller and Paul Gasol were all bunched together with about 18 to 20 points each. Gasol also added 18 boards and 8 assists. Telfair was our leading scorer with 16 points. Our team chemistry finally bottoms out at 0%.

April 15, 2008: T'Wolves (25-55) at Pistons (45-35)
We lose 88-72. Billups led everyone with 22 points and added 10 assists. McCants and Walker each scored 17 points for us. 1 game left.

April 16, 2008: Bucks (41-40) at T'Wolves (25-56)
We lose the final game of the year 95-79. Redd finished with 23 points. Brewer finished with 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. And we finish a lousy season.

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 12:22 PM

MVP: LeBron James, CLE (26.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG)

ROY: Kevin Durant, SEA (19.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.1 BPG)

6th Man: Mike Dunleavy, IND (29 MPG, 9.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, 0.9 SPG)

DPOY: Shawn Marion, PHX (10.4 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.6 BPG)

Most Improved: James Singleton, MIA

NBA First Team:
PG Jason Kidd
SG Dwayne Wade
SF LeBron James
PF Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard

NBA Second Team
PG Baron Davis
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Shawn Marion
PF Kevin Garnett
C Amare Stoudemire

NBA Third Team
PG Chris Paul
SG Allen Iverson
SF Tracy McGrady
PF Dirk Nowitzki
C Yao Ming

Defensive First Team
PG Jason Kidd
SG Dwayne Wade
SF Shawn Marion
PF Kevin Garnett
C Marcus Camby

Defensive Second Team
PG Baron Davis
SG Rudy Gay
SF Ron Artest
PF Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard

Rookie First Team
PG Michael Conley, MEM
SG Morris Almond, UTA
SF Kevin Durant, SEA
PF Al Horford, ATL
C Greg Oden, POR

Rookie Second Team
PG Gabe Pruitt, BOS
SG Nick Young, WAS
SF Corey Brewer, MIN
PF Jason Smith, PHI
C Spencer Hawes, SAC

Coach of the year
George Karl, DEN

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 12:34 PM

FINAL RECORDS

W L PCT Playoff Seed
Suns 57 25 .695 1st - West
Celtics 55 27 .670 1st - East
Nuggets 53 29 .646 2nd - West
Clippers 52 30 .634 3rd - West
Heat 50 32 .609 2nd - East
Rockets 49 33 .597 4th - West
Wizards 49 33 .597 3rd - East
Mavericks 47 35 .573 5th - West
Pistons 47 35 .573 4th - East
Nets 45 37 .548 5th - East
Sonics 44 38 .536 6th - West
Warriors 44 38 .536 7th - West
Bucks 42 40 .512 6th - East
Kings 42 40 .512 8th - West
Spurs 42 40 .512
Bulls 41 41 .500 7th - East
Lakers 40 42 .487
Hawks 38 44 .463
Magic 38 44 .463 8th - East
Hornets 37 45 .451
Jazz 37 45 .451
Knicks 35 47 .426
Cavaliers 34 48 .414
Bobcats 33 49 .402
Blazers 32 50 .390
Grizzlies 32 50 .390
Pacers 32 50 .390
76ers 30 52 .365
Raptors 28 54 .341
T'Wolves 25 57 .304

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 01:59 PM

1st Round, West:
The Suns knock the Kings out 4-1.
The Rockets sweep the Mavericks 4-0. Cuban cries.
The Clippers take care of the Sonics 4-1.
The Warriors upset the 2nd seeded Nuggets.

1st Round, East:
The Celtics make short work on the Magic with a 4-0 sweep.
The Pistons advance with a 4-2 series victory over the Nets.
The Wizards advance after knocking the Bucks out 4-2.
The Bulls upset Wade & Shaq with a 4-1 series win.

2nd Round, West:
McGrady scores 41 points in game 7 to squeeze the Rockets past the Suns.
The Clippers continue to surprise and sweep the Warriors to advance.

2nd Round, East:
With the series tied 3-3 the Pistons go into Boston and walk away with a 93-85 win to advance.
The Wizards sweep the Bulls out of the playoffs.

Conference Finals:
Wow, the Clippers sweep the Rockets out of the playoffs. Eat your heart our Lakers.
Just as surprising the Wizards make short work on the Pistons and win the series 4-1.

NBA Finals - Clippers vs Wizards:
Game 1: 99-89 Clippers
Game 2: 105-86 Clippers
Game 3: 101-95 Clippers
Game 4: 104-100 Clippers

The Clippers simply buzzsaw through the playoffs, losing only 1 game in the 1st round to the Sonics, and are the 2007-2008 NBA Champions. Elton Brand is named Final MVP. He averaged 20 point per game in the playoffs to go along with 8 boards and 1.6 blocks.

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 03:17 PM

Retirements:
PG S. Cassell, LAC, 39 years old (retires after winning a ring)
C A. Williams, LAC, 37 years old
PF C. Robinson, MIA, 42 years old
SG P. Hardaway, MIA, 37 years old (bye bye Penny)
C D. Davis, DET, 39 years old
PG D. Martin, TOR, 37 years old
C D. Mutombo, HOU, 42 years old
SG D. Wesley, SEA, 38 years old
SF E. Piatkowski, PHX, 38 years old

Offseason Staff Changes
Our assistant coach is the only expiring staff contract. He really isn't that bad and is a good defensive coach. I decide to extend his contract for 1 year.

Without much hesitation I decide to fire Wittman. He just isn't a very good coach and we can live with his $1 million in dead salary for the next year. To replace Wittman I hire Chucky Cannon for a whopping $5 million dollars per year for 6 years. Cannon is rated as a Good offensive and defensive coach and a Master teacher. I don't have any issue with the rest of the staff.

Player Resignings
We currently have 5 expired player contracts: Al Jefferson, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Michael Doleac and Theo Ratliff. Before resigning anyone our cap number is $31.11M, which puts us $25.41 million dollars under the soft cap.

PF Al Jefferson (91 OVR) - 5 years, 80.91 million (backloaded). His cap number this year would be $13.25 million. He absolutely will not budge on his base salary demand. He will accept a shorter contract as long as I provide him with with a player option. Which is what I do. He signs for 3 years with a player option for the 4th. His cap number this year is $13.25M and will increase 10% each year for the next 3 years.

This leaves us with $12.16 million in cap space to sign Telfair, Smith and our draft picks. The only shot I have at a good free agent is to let both Telfair and Smith walk. Tough decision. I could let them walk only to have the free agent market be relatively bare.

It was a tough decision but I decide to go ahead and let both Telfair and Smith walk. Smith in particular was tough. I decline to resign Doleac and Ratliff.

NBA Draft Lottery
No shenanigans from the ping pong balls and we end up with the 1st overall pick in the draft. The Raptors and Pacers catch a little bad luck though.

Draft Order
1. Minnesota
2. Philadelphia
3. New York
4. Toronto
5. Memphis
6. Portland
7. Indiana
8. Charlotte
9. Cleveland
10. New Orleans
11. Utah
12. Atlanta
13. Los Angeles Lakers
14. San Antonio

DeToxRox

12-22-2007, 04:13 PM

So who are you keying in on at #1?

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 04:42 PM

Pre Draft Workouts
Alright, time to actually run these kids through some drills and find out what they are like. First thing I do is run a five on five drill. I pit the "A" Team against the "B" Team:

PG Darren Collison, SG Brandon Rush, SF Will Daniels, PF Richard Hendrix and C Roy Hibbert

against

PG Sean Singletary, SG Mike Cook, SF Marshall Brown, Pf James Gist, and C Devon Hardin

One thing is for sure immediately. Collison has fast hands and will be able to pick pocket players. He stole the ball from Singletary two or three times. Good quickness to the basket. He threw one really flashy pass between his legs on a kickout off of a drive. Definitely Top 5 material. #1?

I liked Brandon Rush's shot and he hit a couple from long range. He is listed as 6'6", 210 pounds but looked a little bigger than that. I don't think he is Top 5 material though.

Roy Hibbert is enormous and blocked a couple of shots down low. I was focusing on the perimeter players scoring ability and didn't take many shots with him. I don't want to keep Foye at the point but a lineup of Foye/Free Agent/Brewer/Jefferson/Hibbert sounds really good. It would be a really good mix of offense and defense.

Devon Hardin looked really good in the paint as well. He has more mobility than Hibbert and is a great defender and rebounder of his own. They have about the same post game, but Hardin might have more upside. I definitely need to take a closer look at both of these centers.

Next I schedule a 2 on 2. I choose Hardin and Collison to go up against Al Jefferson and Randy Foye. Foye and Jefferson win by a score of 11 to 6. Jefferson pretty much abused Hardin, which was not what I wanted to see at all. Collison held his own against Foye.

Next I do a 2 on 2 of Rush and Hibbert vs McCants and Jefferson. All I can say for Rush is CLANK. The shots I made with him the in 5 vs 5 must have been luck because the guy couldn't hit anything. Hibbert's offense down low was limited and he missed some really makeable shots. He blocked 6 shots.

DeToxRox

12-22-2007, 04:58 PM

Prospects of dealing down to 3 or 4 for Collison?

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 05:06 PM

So who are you keying in on at #1?

I think it has come down to Collison or Hibbert. Both will be great defensive additions to the team.

Hibbert would solidify our frontcourt while giving us a chance to improve the team through free agency by picking up a shooting guard. The Kings did not resign Kevin Martin so he would be my main target. He is a great shooter and plays good enough defense. I would have about $9 million dollars to play with in free agency and I think I could sign Martin with that.

Collison should improve the general play at the point but it will create a log jam. Foye would have to move to the 2 spot. I am also concerned that by drafting Collison we might not be ready to win this year and my job could be in danger. Collison has more long term potential than Hibbert but Hibbert is ready from the get go.

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 06:15 PM

2008 NBA Draft - 1st Round

PICK TEAM NAME SCHOOL
1 MIN R. Hibbert, C Georgetown
2 PHI D. Collison, PG UCLA
3 NYK B. Rush, SG Kansas
4 TOR A. Marie, C Nebraska
5 MEM D. Hardin, C California
6 POR D. James, PG Marquette
7 IND B. McCalebb, SG New Orleans
8 CHA S. Singletary, PG Virginia
9 CLE D. Padgett, C Louisville
10 NO M. Kemp, SG Nevada-Reno
11 UTA R. Hendrix, PF Alabama
12 ATL W. Daniels, SF Rhode Island
13 LAL C. Lee, SG Western KY
14 SAS J. THompson, C Rider
15 ORL J. Mays, PF Clemson
16 CHI G. Calmuschi, C Romania
17 MIL C. Lofton, PG Tennessee
18 SAC J. Gordon, PG Mississippi St.
19 GSW M. Brown, SF Missouri
20 SEA M. Cook, SG Pittsburgh
21 NJN J. Jones, PF Texas A&M
22 DAL J. Wallace, PG Georgetown
23 DET R. Robinson, PG Kansas
24 WAS J. Dorsey, PF Memphis
25 HOU D. Nelson, SG Duke
26 MIA D. Curtis, PF Mississippi
27 LAC S. Uwawah, C Nigeria
28 DEN C. Hammonds, SG Clemson
29 BOS D. Hoskins, SF Kansas State
30 PHX T. Hansbrough, PF North Carolina

2nd Round
31 MIN J. Gist, PF Maryland
32
to A bunch of guys I don't care too much about
60

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 06:21 PM

I am really, really happy with the results of the draft. Hibbert should be great and it was a pleasant surprise to see Gist still on the board at the top of the 2nd round. I really like Gist when we scouted him early in the year. He is athletic enough to play small forward off the bench which is an area of need. He also has some upside. I will follow Collison's career closely, but it was nice to see him go #2 and also get a chance to play with Iggy in Philadelphia.

The standard contract for the 1st overall pick is 2 years plus a team option for a 3rd year. Hibbert will earn $3.8 million this year. I have guaranteed him a position as a starter.

The standard contract for Gist is 1 year plus a team option for a 2nd. He will earn $600K this year. We tell him he is a prospect and that he needs more time to develop. We are currently $7.76 million under the cap. It might be tight to sign Martin, but if need be I will try to clear cap space through a deal.

nfg22

12-22-2007, 07:01 PM

If you get Martin you might be rocking. That is if you can establish any consitency at the point. With so many guys that show flashes of solid play it is sometimes hard to stick with one. Go Hibbert!

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 07:09 PM

Most of the potential star free agents resigned with their teams. Shawn Marion is the biggest name in the market and he is way out of our price range at $15 million per year. If they still have the cap room Marion could land in Philly.

Kevin Martin is one of the next biggest names on the market. Last year with Sacramento he averaged 15.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and 0.8 steals per game. The year before he averaged 20.2 points per game. Martin struggled during the first part of the 2007-2008 season but picked his game up more in the 2nd half. His highest scoring game was 35 points. At 6'7, 185 lbs he isn't a big or very strong guy. He is only 25 years old. Something that Martin brings to the table that we need is he can really heat up from downtown.

We put in an offer for Martin with 3 years guaranteed at $23.65 million. He has a player option for a 4th year at $8.68 million. Martin would earn $7.50 million this year which would leave us $260K under the cap.

On the 2nd day of free agency I check the other offers on the table. The Hawks, Sonics, Magic and Rockets are all bidding on Martin. Luckily we have the best offer so far. Most of the other teams are only offering $6.5 to $7 million per year while we are close to $8 million.

Elsewhere the 76ers put in a massive 5 year, $92 million dollar bid on Marion. It looks like they are the only team with the cap space to go after him.

On the 3rd day of free agency the Hornets, Wizards and Jazz all jump into bidding on Martin. They are offering the same general contract as the other team though. We are still on the top of the heap.

Everyone is jumping on the Martin bandwagon. On the 4th day the Suns, Heat and Pistons have all made bids. The Suns probably have the 2nd best offer on the table but they want Martin as their sixth man, not as a starter. 11 teams total have put bids in on him. If we lose him to an inferior bid I am going to be pissed off.

Martin signs with us! Kick ass. With a lineup of Foye/Martin/Brewer/Jefferson/Hibbert I think we can make a run at the playoffs.

nfg22

12-22-2007, 07:13 PM

Get Brewer with a 3 point shot and you will be so good! I think your team is pretty solid on the defensive end. Well except for Martin, he is such a seive. Yet you can count on him to fill it up on the other end.

Ironhead

12-22-2007, 07:18 PM

If you get Martin you might be rocking. That is if you can establish any consitency at the point. With so many guys that show flashes of solid play it is sometimes hard to stick with one. Go Hibbert!

I am just going to have to stick it out with Foye. With Telfair gone to free agency I don't have a plan "B" anymore, unless you count Jaric. With Martin on the wing, who is a much better scorer than McCants, hopefully Foye can focus more on all around point play instead of having to press and create too much.

I think we really improved this offseason. Another team that saw major improvement was the 76ers. They drafted Collison 2nd overall to man the point. They did end up signing Marion and they also signed Craig Smith, our former backup PF. He will get a chance to start for them. They will be fielding Collison/Iguodala/Marion/Smith/Dalembert. Their bench still leaves much to be desired but they will be interesting to follow.

Ironhead

12-23-2007, 02:13 PM

As I mentioned at the beginning of the thread I am editing the draft class before moving forward. With the expection of the Top 10 picks most players will not see a change in their overall rating. For the most part players are simply having their skills redistributed to more accurately reflect their position and more closely mimic real life stengths and weaknesses.

Most of it is simple like making sure shooting guards are not given atrociously low shooting abilities that make them forever useless to any team. Or making sure a point guard drafted at the top of the draft doesn't have a quickness rating of 51 (yes, this happened).

It is actually pretty fun despite being time consuming. It is pretty cool to assign the rookies shooting styles and the like. My plan right now is to fix the Top 10 (already completed 6 players) and any other player that might get immediate playing time. One I have fixed those players I will move forward with the season and just fix the rest of the rookies on the fly.

To try and make the league feel a bit more dynamic I will give little boosts to rookies from other teams that have solid performance in actual played games. Probably something like a +1 or +2 in a couple of skill areas.

Ironhead

12-23-2007, 08:54 PM

08-09 Team Roster
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/Aaenuel/08-09_roster.gif

As the team stands right now we are much improved. I think this group of players can hang with mid level teams right away. We aren't going to beat any of the top tier teams until these guys have been on the floor together for a while. Team chemistry has improved since bottoming out at the end of last year and stands at 33%.

Team Rotation
Without getting a better feel for some of the new fellas this is what I have in mind.

PG Randy Foye - 35 minutes
SG Kevin Martin - 35 minutes
SF Corey Brewer - 35 minutes
PF Al Jefferson - 35 minutes
C Roy Hibbert - 25 minutes

6th - Marco Jaric - 20 minutes
Role Player - Sean Williams - 20 minutes
Role Player - Antoine Walker - 15 minutes
Role Player - Rashad McCants - 15 minutes
Prospect - James Gist - 5 minutes
Bench Warmer - Mark Madsen - 0 minutes
Bench Warmer - Greg Bucker - 0 minutes

I have a feeling that I might get some strange lineups on the floor with this rotation. I'll see how it goes though.

Ironhead

12-23-2007, 11:51 PM

It's time for Preseason. I hate playing games that don't count so I am going to go ahead and sim them. I need to start getting used to Martin's weird shot though.

We go 3-4 in the preseason but most important we escape without any injuries. Time for the season opener on the road against Seattle!

November 31, 2008 - T'Wolves (0-0) at Sonics (0-0)
We owned the Sonics last season. Hopefully we can do it again this year and start the season right. Their starting lineup is Earl Watson/Robert Vaden/Durant/Nick Collison/Kwame Brown. Szczerbiak is still the 6th man but his huge contract will expire this year. Vaden is a rookie that was drafted in the 2nd round out of UAB. He was originally a transfer student out of Indiana. He is pretty athletic, a decent playmaker and loves to shoot the 3.

At the team matchup screen it shows we are rated 76 overall (75 offense, 86 defense). Last year we were rated in the low 60's across the board. The Sonics are also rated 76 overall (72 offense, 79 defense).

The Sonics come out and damn do they mean business. They drop 40 points in the opening quarter to take a 40-24 lead. Earl Watson scored 14 points and hit all 6 of his shots from the floor. Durant has 9 points. I don't think this is an indication of our defense, just a hot performance by Seattle. They shot 72% in the quarter. Jefferson has 10 points and 2 blocks through 1.

We go into halftime down 64-54. Durant has been great and has 15 points at halftime. It's great to see Jeff Green getting some burn after being mostly ignored by the Sonics last year. He has 8 points and 4 boards at the break. Jefferson and Foye are our leaders with 14 and 8 points, respectively. Martin put up 6 in the 2nd. Hibbert is simply massive down low and has 6 points, 6 boards and 1 block at the half. We chipped into the lead a little but will need to either clamp down further on defense or start running the floor.

We open up the 3rd with an 8-0 run to close within 2! The Sonics call timeout and go back to giving the ball to Durant. Durant is still hot but the rest of the team has cooled off considerably. At the end of 3 we have pulled within 80-76. It has been a good game so far.

A very tightly played 4th quarter has possibly come down to the last 4.5 seconds. Durant just hit a 20 foot jumper to tie it up 99-99. I inbound the ball to Martin and he hits a trifecta to put us up 102-99! But there is still 2.2 seconds left and the Sonics call timeout. The ball should be coming to Durant on the inbound pass, I have Brewer guarding him. Durant tries to come off a screen to get the inbound pass but Brewer is right with him - the inbound pass has to go to Earl Watson who puts it up...too long! That's game! We fight our way back for the win!

Kevin Martin finished with 19 points. He shot 7 of 17 from the field including 3 of 7 from 3 point range. Jefferson also scored 19 points and ripped down 14 rebounds. Jefferson seemed more aggressive on defense and blocked 2 shots and was called for goaltending on at least 2 more. Foye had a really nice game and finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 3 steals. He was doing a great job driving the lane. It helped that the Sonics have no real bigs. Brewer added 13 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Hibbert was great with 12 points, 12 boards, 3 blocks and 3 assists. Half of his points came on putbacks. Hibbert doesn't move that well but he sets one hell of a pick. We shot 47% as a team, hit 6 of 12 three point attempts and hit 18 of 21 free throws.

Durant was very impressive and finished with 33 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. He is so tall and can shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor. He was 15 of 26 from the floor including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Earl Watson didn't provide much offense after the 1st quarter but still finished with 18 points and 8 assists. Kwame Brown finished with 10 points and 5 boards. Jeff Green finished with 10 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 26 minutes. Surprisingly Wally World only played 14 minutes. Their rookie shooting guard Robert Vaden was ineffective from the field, hitting on 1 of 9 shot attempts, but did finish with 8 assists.