NBA2K10: Building the Bobcats

[Radii]

I'm trying to get back into the NBA IRL after about a decade away, and am loving the gameplay in the post-patch NBA 2K10, so I figure I'll give it a shot and see how Association mode plays out.

I have lots of questions about how this is going to work, and a bit of hesitance(is that a word? am I using it right?), but its not likely something that the OS Forums will magically answer for me in a day or two, I'm just going to have to dive into a dynasty and see if I like where it goes.

I'm not one for the roleplaying part of a dynasty universe, so lets just get straight into the technical details.


Platform: PS3
Roster Set: OS Real Sim Roster Vol 3 (the latest of what seems to be the top rated PS3 roster set, it appears to be based off Nogster's 360 roster info).
Slider Set: I'm using Pared's post patch sliders on pro difficulty. My next post will contain the slider set. If I make any further tweaks I intend to keep that post updated.

Draft Classes: CPU Generated. I looked over a few different draft class sets on 2K Share and am not really impressed, plus there's an age bug after the patch that I don't want to deal with in draft classes created pre-patch. If the game is good, and if it generates and progresses players well, it doesn't have to be John Wall coming in next year, I'll get immersed in the careers of John Doe just as easily.

Other Noteworthy Rules:

Trade Override ON

CPU Trading is on. I'll be monitoring this closely, though if the CPU Trade logic is so bad that this becomes a big issue that'll likely be a showstopper.


I intend to ignore practice and either ignore, or limit, development drills. All of this is subject to change at any time, but if I fundamentally change anything about how I play I will always make sure to note that.


With that, I'll be taking over my local franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats. I have no outside loyalty to the Bobcats. I'm not really a fan of any NBA team. I'm currently following Denver closer than anyone, entirely because of Ty Lawson. But Charlotte is bad and local, so its a solid appropriate choice for a dynasty such as this.

[Radii]

Slider Set

Pro Difficulty
12 Minute Quarters
Game Speed - 50 (This is important, lowering/raising alters game clock and other settings)

(User/CPU, anything not listed is default)

OFFENSE
Inside Shot Success - 46/47
Close Shot Success - 46/46
Mid-Range Shot Success - 50/49
3PT Success - 50/50
Layup Success - 48/50
Dunk Success - 49/50

DEFENSE
Help Defense Strength - 55/55

ATTRIBUTES
Stamina - 45/45
Hustle - 43/43
Ball Handling - 45/45
Hands - 45/45
On-Ball Defense - 50/80
Defensive Awareness - 50/58
Clutch Factor - 43/43

TENDENCIES
Commit Fouls - 55/55
Go for On Ball Steals - 50/43
Contest Shots - 50/55

FOULS
80 Charging Fouls
100 Blocking Fouls
70 Reach-In Fouls
65 Shooting Fouls
100 Loose Ball Fouls


As mentioned in the original post, these are Pared's sliders over on the OS forums.

[Radii]

Coaching Staff

The Staff Budget is currently set at $10 million, and we're currently using $7.55 million.

Head Coach Larry Brown

Heh, I just tried to fire him and I'm not allowed :) I forgot/didn't realize I'd have to pay out his remaining contract to do so. He makes $5 million/year for the next two years. There's a MUCH better coach available who only wants $5.4 million, but I can't buyout Brown and hire the new guy.

Offense: C
Defense: B
Teacher: B
Potential: D

Not bad, not worth $5m/year.

Assistant Coach Phil Ford

2 years/500k

Offense: B
Defense: D
Teacher: C
Potential: D

Ford needs to go but this year is a lost cause anyway, I'm going to let his contract expire most likely instead of buying him out, and focus my extra money on scouting.

NBA Scout Bryant Blount

Here is where I am eating some money. I had a scout with a D rating/C potential making $1 million/year for 3 years. I fired him and am going to have to fulfill the full contract anyway. Seems completely worth it.

$1.2 million/year - 4 years

Scouting Level: B
Potential: A

Prospect Scout William Nicholson

Level: D
Potential: C
Salary: 3 years/350k

This guy sucks, but there are three slots for prospect scouts. Since I'm going to have to eat the money anyway for the duration of the contract, I might as well keep him.

Prospect Scout Mark Page

Level: A
Potential: A
Contract: 4 years @ $1M/year

No brainer hire.

Prospect Scout Darren Bridges

Scouting Level: F
Potential: A
Salary: 3 years @ $100k/yr

Totally an experiment. This is the cheapest scout available. I'm curious how his ratings will rise if I just use him to scout players at the tail end of the draft class.

Trainer Ryan Payton

Level: B
Potential: C

Contract: 3 years @ $700k/yr

After hiring new scouts I can't afford better, and he's not bad anyway.


This leaves me with $9.85 million out of my $10 million staff budget in use. This staff will be in place for the next two seasons barring retirements. After two years I'll begin to have some decisions.

[Radii]

Scouting Note

So at the start of a new association I only have access to a letter grade high level overview of a player's abilities, and an OVR rating. to get detailed numeric ratings I have to scout them, even my own players. I have 8 scouting reports available initially, and more are made available on the 1st of every month starting Dec 1st.

I use my initial 8 scouting reports to scout my top 8 rotation players. Apparently higher rated scouts get more scouting reports each month than worse ones. It seems that all scouts will arrive at the same answers, but that better scouts allow one to scout more players. Interesting.

2009/10 Charlotte Bobcats Roster

Starters

PG Raymond Felton - 25 y/o - 6'1 198 lbs" - 74 OVR

Rated 80 or 81 everywhere but from 3, Felton can be an acceptable scorer. His handling and passing ratings are all in the 80-85 range which seems solid. Backup PG DJ Augustin handles the ball better, but Felton is a much better passer. I might have more to say once I've seen more ratings, its hard to know what to make of this so far. The fact that Felton is the 2nd highest rated player on the team seems a real bad thing.

SG Raja Bell - 33 y/o - 6'5" 215 lbs - 71 OVR

Bell is a fairly good 3 point shooter, rated 82 there. Not much of a scorer anywhere else. Bell's ratings are pedestrian to bad except for one thing. The guy can defend. 85 Defensive Awareness is the highest on the team, 99 hustle, and on ball defense of 87, also best on the team. Bell's job will be to shut down the other team's best player.

SF Gerald Wallace - 27 y/o - 6'7" 220 lbs - 80 OVR

Wallace is the star of the team. He's really only rated well inside, but he's rated extremely well there. He needs to attack the rim to be effective. Wallace has added value as a good rebounder and defender with ok awareness on both ends of the floor.

PF Boris Diaw - 27 y/o - 6'8" 235 lbs - 73 OVR

Diaw has a solid all around shot, strong inside but he can hit the 3 as well. His ball handling and passing ratings are acceptable too. 76 in the post on offense. He's brought down by very poor post defense and a total lack of rebounding ability. Awareness and on ball defense in the low 70s are about what's expected on this team.

C Tyson Chandler - 27 y/o - 7'1" 235 lbs - 70 OVR

So this is what $12 million buys you? Chandler is a good post defender, decent shot blocker, great offensive rebounder(96) and pretty good defensive rebounder. good defensive awareness, no offensive awareness at all. Chandler would be a great big man off the bench to eat up minutes and grab some boards, or a great compliment to say Tim Duncan at PF. But yeah, here he just eats cap space and makes the fans cry.


6th Man

PG DJ Augustin - 21 y/o - 6'0" 180 lbs - 70 OVR

Augustin is the best 3 point shooter on the team, rated 85. A good mid-range jumper and ok driving to the hoop as long as he doesn't get pushed around. Augustin is the best ball handler on the team by a lot, 93 hands/91 with his offhand, but his ball security and passing are a little suspect(both under 70). Defensive awareness is ridiculously bad(49!). Looks like a guy that can hit the 3 and handle the ball but can be a liability.


Role Players

C Nazr Mohammed - 32 y/o - 6'10" 250 lbs - 62 OVR

Offensively he is just as average as Chandler, and he's an ok rebounder, but his post defense is rather awful which accounts for the awful low rating. But we've got no depth inside so he'll be out there a bunch.

SG Flip Murray - 30 y/o - 6'3" 200 lbs - 68 OVR

Murray is actually unscouted for individual ratings. B- outside scoring, B- perimeter D, average athlete, average IQ. An acceptable backup on this team.


Prospects

SF Gerald Henderson - 21 y/o - 6'4" 215 lbs - 67 OVR

Henderson was originally slated to get like 3-4 minutes, I've pushed him up to 8th on the depth chart and want to get him double figures to get his progression going. He has some physical skills right now, speed/quickness/leaping, and that's really it. Depending on how much he is capable of growing, he could become Gerald Wallace, or Gerald Wallace light, a guy who can attack inside, dunk, and defend. But right now he has none of that.


Bench Players

SG Stephen Graham - 27 y/o - 6'6" 215 lbs - 56 OVR

Hopefully Never sees the court.

SF Derrick Brown - 22 y/o - 6'8" 227 lbs - 68 OVR

Depending on his ability to progress, Brown could be a good role player on the team. He has an ok outside game and is average elsehwere, he doesn't appear(without any scouting) to be a major liability. But I'm clearly pushing more minutes on Henderson, so Brown looks like he could eventually be ok, but probably isn't part of my plans as a result of that.

PF Vladimir Radmanovic - 28 y/o - 6'10" 235 lbs - 52 OVR

Best not ever see the floor.


C Desagana Diop - 26 y/o - 7'0" 280 lbs - 56 OVR

Some ability to rebound, he'll be the 4th option in the post.

C Alexis Ajinca - 21 y/o - 7'0" 220 lbs - 43 OVR

The #20 pick of the Bobcats out of France in 2008. Busto.

[Radii]

Contract Status

So from what I understand, NBA2k10 doesn't try to address the entirety of the real world NBA Contract Rules and instead institutes a Hard Cap as a shortcut. What I'm not entirely sure of is what i'm allowed to spend money on when I'm sitting in between the soft cap and hard cap given the shortcuts the game takes.

Salary Cap: $57.70 million
Hard Cap: $90 Million
Team Salary: $68.58 million
Soft Cap Room: -$10.88 million
Hard Cap Room: $21.42 million

I have no desire or intention to add to my cap this year, but I do need to figure out exactly how I'm allowed to spend here.


Player Salaries

PG Felton: $5.50 M/final year
SG Bell: $5.25 M/final year
SF Wallace: $9.51M/3 years remaining(plus a player option for a 4th year)
PF Diaw: $9.00M/final year(plus player option for a second year)
C Chandler: $11.7M/final year(plus player option for a second year)

PG Augustin: 2.38 M/2 years(+team option)
C Mohammed: $6.47M/final year(+player option)
SG Murray: $1.99M/final year
SF Brown: 458k/final year (+team option)
SF Henderson: 1.96M/two years (+2 team option years)

SG Graham: 500k/4 years
PF Radmanovic: 6.47M/final year(+player option)
C Diop: $6M/3 years(+player option)
C Ajinca: $1.37M/final year(=team option)


That's not presented cleanly at all, I'll work on that for the future. How about this?

Expiring Outright:

SG Murray
SG Bell
PG Felton

Expiring pending Player Option:

PF Radmanovic
C Mohammed
C Chandler

Expiring Pending Team Option:

SF Brown


That's a really, really ugly situation. Our bigs are just full of bad contracts given their talent level. I don't really trust the trade engine, diving in blind to an association like this, so I'm probably not going to try very hard to pawn off any of these contracts.

Bell and Felton seem like guys I want to re-sign, and Brown's option will be picked up, its under $1 mil. The rest probably puts us on a 2 year plan to being able to spend.

[Radii]

I think my end goal is to play 1/4 of my games out, and sim the rest. That'll come to about 20 games a year + playoffs. But for now, I'm going to play 1/8 of my games, I want to play 10 games this year to get a feel for progression/trades/league flow and all that and to get out of some of these contracts twice as fast.

[Radii]

October 28th, 2009

Charlotte (0-0) at Boston (0-1)

Team Ratings

CHA:BOS
77:89 OVR
68:89 OFF
82:89 DEF


Boston Scouting

PG Rajon Rondo - 86 OVR - looks like an average scorer but A+ ball handler, A+ defender.

SG Ray Allen - 79 OVR - His 3 point shooting is legendary. Not much on the defensive end.

SF Paul Pierce - 84 OVR - Highly rated inside, outside, on defense, good ball handler... a very good all around player.

PF Kevin Garnett - 89 OVR - stellar inside on offense and defense, decent ball handler for a 6'11" monster.

C Rasheed Wallace - 75 OVR - Good inside on both ends. A bit lacking in the rebounding department maybe?

Bench Players:

C Kendrick Perkins - 71 OVR - Good inside, very good rebounder(better than Sheed)

SF Marquis Daniels - 68 OVR - decent scorer inside but not so great anywhere else.

PF Glen Davis - 65 OVR - Rated lower than I would have expected. C+ inside and C on the boards, everthing else is C- or lower.


Boston's starting 5 blows ours away at every position, but their bench/depth is just average.



1st Quarter

Boston 24
Charlotte 19

Felton leads us with 6, Wallace and Bell have 4 each. Ray Allen has 7 for Boston. Pierce and Garnett both picked up 2 fouls in the first quarter, and the foul totals were 9 for boston/3 for Charlotte. A bit worrisome. Tyson Chandler has 2 of our 3 fouls.

Second Quarter

Boston 44
Charlotte 42

Fouls are definitely standing out. We've made 21 free throws and drawn a ridiculous number of fouls. Wallace has 12 to lead us, Felton 10, Bell 8. Ray Allen has 10 for Boston on 4-11 shooting, he's a bit cold. Allen, Garnett, Pierce all have 3 fouls, I've done nothing to intentially go after those guys, just way too many fouls in general from casual contact in the lane. Chandler has 3 for us but we have far far fewer fouls.

3rd Quarter

Boston 70
Charlotte 67

Boston built a lead as big as 8. Paul Pierce is the story as he made up for the minutes he missed with foul trouble in the first half. He scored 16 in the 3rd and has 18 total. Allen has 13. On our end Wallace is putting up solid, consistent numbers, he's got 18. Raja Bell has an unexpected 14, 2-5 from 3. Felton 10, and another surprise with Gerald Henderson scoring 9.

Garnett picked up his 4th foul in the 3rd quarter but no one else has more than 3.

4th Quarter

6:00 4th - Boston goes up 10 as Wallace is really having a hard time scoring and Pierce and Garnett are just not missing anything.

With two minutes left we're still down 10 and haven't cut it back into single digits yet. Boston has 4 offensive boards that I can remember and appear to have actively decided that Gerald Wallace isn't going to beat them.

Boston 98
Charlotte 88

Not bad for 3 quarters. Paul Pierce is the player of the game with an explosive second half.


Wallace: 27 points/11 boards (8-13 FG)
Bell: 16 points
Felton: 12 points/4 boards/7 assists
Henderson: 9 points/2 boards
Chandler: 8 points/3 boards
Diaw: 7 points/8 boards

One big problem is that DJ Augustin, best as a pure jumpshooter for me, has an insta-release shot motion that I will need to practice with. I was 0-5 from 3 with him, I blame the release for him not hitting a couple.

For Boston:

Pierce 28
Allen 15
Garnett 15/9 boards
Perkins 9/11 boardas
House 7 points/7 assists

Rondo also with 7 assists.

[Radii]

October 30 - New York(0-1) at Charlotte(0-1)

Charlotte leads 23-8 after a quarter and appears to sail to victory from there. Diaw scores 18 with 10 boards, Bell 17, Augustin 14, Wallace 13 points/16 boards, Felton 12/9 assists. Harrington has 13 and is the only Knick in doublefigures.

Charlotte 86
New York 61


October 31 - Charlotte (1-1) at Cleveland (3-0)

After a close first quarter Cleveland dominates the 2nd. The final margin is only 9 points but we outscored Cleveland by 9 to make it close.

Lebron only has 16 in the win, Mo Williams leads them with 20. Felton dominates the game for Charlotte with 25 points. Wallace has 10 points/10 boards, Augustin 10.

Cleveland 80
Charlotte 71

Minnesota Free Agent Signing

I knew he was out there but there's no point in dumping more cash into an aging vet, so I waited to see where he'd end up. Allen Iverson, rated 84 OVR in this roster set, signs with the Timberwolves. He immediately becomes the best player on the team.

[Radii]

November 2 - New Jersey (3-0) at Charlotte(1-2)

Close all the way through, tied up after 3 quarters, we play well in the 4th to win.

Raja Bell 25 points, Felton 17, Wallace 15. Devin Harris leads all with 27 for New Jersey. Brook Lopez has an impressive line with 16 points and 17 boards.

Charlotte 110
New Jersey 103


Player Injury

Tyson Chandler has broken a finger in a simmed game. His OVR rating falls to 61, still as good as Nazr Mohammad, so out of pure lazy I'm leaving him in as my starter. Its a day to day injury obviously.



November 6 - Atlanta (1-2) at Charlotte(2-2)

Its a blowout. Wallace has 21, Felton 15 points/10 assists, Bell 14. Jamal Crawford leads Atlanta with 15.

Charlotte 100
Atlanta 77


November 7 - Charlotte (3-2) at Chicago (3-2)

Our overall team ratings are similar, 74 for us, 73 for them, but I didn't expect to beat Chicago on the road. Its an embarrassing 57-32 at the half. We come back to make it respectable, but yea, not really.

Bell 16, Felton 15, Diaw 13. Rose leads all scorers with 20 for the Bulls.

Chicago 89
Charlotte 80


November 10 - Orlando (4-3) at Charlotte(3-3)

Orlando leads by 9 after a quarter, we claw to within 2 after 3, but they pull away to win as they're supposed to do.

Diaw leads us with 18, Wallace 17, Bell 16. Dwight Howard puts up 25 and 11 to lead Orlando.

Orlando 99
Charlotte 89

November 11 - Charlotte (3-4) at Detroit (3-4)

And here we pull a nice little upset on the road. Detroit leads by 9 after 1. We lead by 2 at the half, by 12 after 3 and hang on for a 5 point win.

Felton leads us with 18, Augustin 14, Wallace 13. I'm watching my rookie closely, and Gerald Henderson gives us 10 today

Charlotte 89
Detroit 84

[Radii]

November 14, 2009

Portland(6-4) at Charlotte(4-4)

Well, this was the game I played out, sort of. I ended up quick simming at the half and lost the writeup before I could finish it. Brandon Roy is rated 88 OVR and is a monster, and Greg Oden is a defensive stud. I couldn't drive inside without Oden altering a shot(or I was just super cold). I was down 23-17 after 1, and down 63-34 at the half. Roy just went off in the 2nd quarter, he had 27 at the half and I simmed it out.

Wallace ended up with 22 points/15 boards, Felton 12, Bell 12. Roy scored 44 on 18-23 shooting for Portland. Oden had 19 boards.

Portland 117
Charlotte 76


Slider Change

Fouls again seem ridiculous. I remember that I shot 14 free throws in the 1st quarter alone. Just too many shooting fouls on out of control contact inside and too many petty reach-in fouls while I'm standing at the top of the key setting up a play. Since its one sided though I'm changing the player tendencies instead of overall foul sliders.

"CPU Commit Fouls" lowered back to 50 from 55. I don't want to go nuts and overadjust. We'll see how that works.



November 16 - Charlotte (4-5) at Orlando (6-4)

Easy one for the defending Eastern Conference Champs. Wallace with 21, Bell 18, Felton 8. Howard has 21 and 14 for Orlando, Vince Carter 17.

Orlando 93
Charlotte 73



November 18 - Charlotte(4-6) at Philadelphia (6-4)

Charlotte leads 38-21 after a quarter and slowly gives away that lead throughout the rest of the contest, falling by 7. Bell leads us with 24, Felton 20, Wallace 19. Iguodala scores 23 for Philly, Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand both put up 20.

Philadelphia 107
Charlotte 100



November 20 - Charlotte(4-7) at Milwaukee(3-6)

Up by 8 at the half, up by 7 after 3, collapse in the 4th. Wallace with 14, Augustin 12, Chandler 10. Brandon Jennings scores 21, Michael Redd 19 for Milwaukee. Jennings is averaging 15.8 ppg so far this year.

Milwaukee 76
Charlotte 74


November 22 - Indiana (6-4) at Charlotte(4-8)

Wow. 33-17 after 1. 62-22 at the half... yup, Indiana scored 5 second quarter points. We don't blow this one. Felton with 21, wallace and Diaw both score 19 and both get double doubles. Danny Granger with 23, no one else in double figures for the Pacers. Tyler Hansbrough has the 6th man role and is averaging 10.2 ppg so far. He had 7 points/7 boards in this one.

Charlotte 95
Indiana 61


November 25 - Toronto (6-9) at Charlotte(5-8)

No winning streak here. Toronto blows us out behind 25 points from Andrea Bargnani and 18 from Chris Bosh. Wallace has 27, Bell 12, Felton 11.

Toronto 107
Charlotte 80


November 27 - Cleveland(11-4) at Charlotte(5-9)

No surprise here. James with 21 points, 10 boards, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Felton leads us with 21, Wallace 15, Bell 15.

Cleveland 92
Charlotte 83


November 28 - Charlotte(5-10) at Washington(7-7)

We end the month with a win. Bell 17, Wallace 17 and 15 rebounds, Felton 16. Jamison leads the Wizards with 22. Gilbert Arenas was 2-12 from 3.

Charlotte 91
Washington 74



Heh, my next game, the one I'd normally play, is against the Celtics. If I'm only going to play 10 games this season, I'm not going to play two against them. I'll sim this one and play out the next.

December 1 - Boston (10-7) at Charlotte (6-10)

Well I'll be damned. We lead 39-27 at the half. Boston wins the 3rd and 4th quarters but can't quite close the gap all the way down and we get the victory. Bell with 22, Wallace 15, Felton 9. Garnett had 22 for the Celtics, Pierce 19.

Charlotte 80
Boston 76

[Radii]

The first CPU trade that I look at really closely rolls by... Boston trades Ray Allen straight up for Houston's Tracy McGrady. They'd never do it in the real world, but its not terrible enough for me to reverse. Allen is 34 years old and averaging 18 points/game. McGrady is only 30, averaging 15.5/game. Allen rated 79 OVR, McGrady 77. Both are in the final year of their respective contracts. Allen is better but McGrady younger, I'll allow it!



The Knicks just traded PF Al Harrington to Denver straight up for Nene. Both players are rated about the same in game.

[Radii]

December 4, 2009

Charlotte(7-10) at New Jersey(7-11)

CHA:NJ
74:78 OVR
65:81 OFF
78:86 DEF

New Jersey Scouting

PG Devin Harris - 86 OVR - 25.1 ppg/5.8 apg - Great ball handler, very good defender, obviously a good scorer. The last game I played Brandon Roy destroyed me singlehandedly. I'll have to make sure Harris doesn't do the same.

SG Keyon Dooling - 73 OVR - 9.3 ppg - Dooling is an ok starter, not a go to guy but a guy that can defend well, won't turn the ball over and can score a little.

SF Terrence Williams - 73 OVR - 13.2 ppg/7.3 rpg - The #11 pick in last year's draft out of Louisville is off to a great start for the Nets.

PF Eduardo Najera - 64 OVR - 4.2 ppg/3.3 rpg - Clearly the weak link in the lineup. Average at best.

C Brook Lopez - 76 OVR - Lopez is averaging a double double, 14.3 ppg/10.8 rpg. He's not a superstar but he's solid in the post on offense and defense and on the glass.


6th man Rafer Alston is a good guard off the bench, scoring 9 points/game, rated 76 OVR. No one else on the team is rated over 70.

Their big men outside of Lopez are really really poor. Too bad I don't have quality bigs to go after them. But hopefully this is a sign that Gerald Wallace can attack hard and have a big game inside.


First Quarter

New Jersey 35
Charlotte 19

ugh. One thing I noticed here... in college hoops 2k8 if you're playing "lock-on" defense with L2 or whatever, when your man goes up for a shot you contest it automatically. In this game you do not. Im not used to this yet and the Nets hit 4 or 5 shots where I didn't even put a hand up in the shooter's face. I'll have to work on that.

Diaw leads Charlotte with 6, I was going after Najera specifcally there. Harris and Lopez both have 8 for New Jersey and I'm struggling against both.

2nd Quarter

New Jersey 55
Charlotte 48

Just a great second quarter for us. We score the first 8 in a row in the quarter, the Nets push it back ahead by a bit but Gerald Wallace gets matched up against Eduardo Najera for a few minutes and just completely abuses him. Wallace ends the half shooting 6-8 from the field, adding a few free throws for 16 points total. Our scoring is balanced elsewhere, no one else has more than 6. Courtney Lee hits two threes and has 11 for New Jersey. Lopez and Harris have 10 each.


Third Quarter

At the 6 minute mark we tie the game up for the first time in forever, 63-63. Open shots, and even some moderately contested ones just stopped going in as often for New Jersey. Its 67-67 when New Jersey goes on a 7-2 run, but we reel them back in, and its just a 2 point game after 3.

New Jersey 76
Charlotte 74

Wallace leads all scorers with 23. Diaw and Felton with 10 each. Lopez with 14 for the Nets. Harris only has 10. Fouls started adding up again in the 3rd quarter though. Harris has only played 22 out of 36 minutes so far, he's got four fouls. I should point out, 12 assists too, so its not a bad day for him or anything.


Fourth Quarter

10:00 - Devin Harris takes over. He hits a jumper and draws the defense before making two great assists... Wallace is blocked by Lopez on a drive and its 86-76 Nets very quickly.

Heh. The Nets just don't miss for a long time... the get the lead up to 18, 98-80 and the 4th quarter is far less interesting than I would have wanted it to be.

New Jersey 110
Charlotte 95

I played really poorly in the 1st quarter, the 4th though, New Jersey just took over in impressive fashion.

wallace: 29 points/7 boards
Diaw: 14 points/7 boards
Felton: 12 points
Henderson: 9 points
Chandler: 7 points/10 boards

Bell had a very bad shooting day, scoring only 6 points on 3-9 shooting.

For the Nets, Lopez had 21 points/14 boards. Harris had 17 points/17 assists. Dooling 16, Najera 14(I kept trying to leave him to double Harris when he'd start to drive. I learned eventually that Harris would just find him for an open 15 footer every time).

[Radii]

Dec 5 - Philadelphia (11-8) at Charlotte(7-11)

Blowing another lead in the 4th here, we're up 8 after 3 and lose by 6. Bell 19, Diaw 15, Wallace 13. Young has 16 to lead Philly.

Philadelphia 80
Charlotte 74


December 8 - Denver(12-8) at Charlotte(7-12)

A nice surprise over a better team here. Felton 19, Wallace 17, Augustin 16. Carmelo with 19 for Denver. Lawson is hurt and out for 4-6 weeks and didn't play.

Charlotte 95
Denver 92



December 11 - Charlotte(8-12) at San Antonio(15-4)

As expected. Wallace 20, Augustin 13, Diaw 12. Ginobili puts up 28 for San Antonio.

San Antonio 99
Charlotte 84


December 12 - Charlotte(8-13) at Dallas(12-11)

We're behind the whole way, close the lead down at the end but fall just short. Wallace 19, Felton 16, Bell 15. Josh Howard scores 18 in 24 minutes to lead the Mavs.

Dallas 88
Charlotte 86


December 15 - New York(8-15) at Charlotte(7-15)

Always frustrating to lose to teams that we're better than. Bell 24, Felton 24, Wallace 23. David Lee kills us for 32.

New York 110
Charlotte 106


December 16 - Charlotte(8-15) at Indiana(11-11)

We'll be taking a 4 game losing streak into our next played game. Granger with 36... Hansbrough double-double, 13 points/15 boards. We get 19 from Diaw, 16 from Augustin.

Indiana 110
Charlotte 84

[Radii]

I sim one more game so I can set up to play against a bad team, I want to win one this year as much as I want to just get some progress made after all :D

December 19 - Utah(14-12) at Charlotte(8-16)

And like last time, we pull off an upset win against a far better team. Felton 18, Murray 15, Wallace 13. Deron Williams with 25, Boozer with 24.

Charlotte 95, Utah 93



December 20, 2009

Charlotte(9-16) at New York(x-x)

CHA:NYK
74:75 OVR
66:75 OFF
78:75 DEF

New York Scouting

PG Nate Robinson - 77 OVR - 13.7 ppg/4.8 apg - Robinson scouts out as a pretty good ball handler for a PG, an above average scorer outside and an above average defender.

SG - Larry Hughes - 74 OVR - 13.3 ppg - Currently hampered by a strained quad, Hughes is a decent outside shooter and defener.

SF Wilson Chandler - 72 OVR - 12.7 ppg/5.9 rpg - B- inside, B- outside, a below average defender.

PF Nene - 75 OVR - 11.3 ppg/8.2 rpg - Traded from Denver earlier in the year, Nene gives the Knicks a pretty solid frontcourt. A better scorer inside than Lee according to the ratings, but not quite as good on defense.

C - David Lee - 75 OVR - 15.2 ppg/10.2 rpg - Lee is pretty good inside, pretty good on D, pretty good on the boards, he's smart and a decent Athlete as well.


The Knicks starting 5 doesn't rate out all that badly, they just lack a star.

Chris Duhon is the 6th man, a 70 rated PG averaging 9 ppg. Rookie Toney Douglas is rated 68 OVR and is averaging 5.2 ppg in just 12 minutes/game. Eddie Curry and Jared Jeffries are rated in the low-mid 60s and are the bigs off the bench.


First Quarter

Charlotte 23
New York 21

I seem to struggle out of the gates every game, we fall behind 8-0 here in the first 3 minutes before waking up. Wallace has 11 and is looking very good early. Nate Robinson has 7 to lead the Knicks, he's 3-9 from the field though, he seemed to force up a lot of shots.

2nd Quarter

Charlotte 50
New York 41

One of the best quarters I've played so far. We're holding the Knicks to 37% from the floor, we're at 48% ourselves. The Knicks tied it once early in the quarter but we led by 6 or so most of the way. Wallace and Felton rested most of the quarter. Bell has 11, Wallace 11 for us at the half. Diaw with 8. Their starting SF Chandler has 10, Toney Douglas with 7 and Nate Robinson still has 7, he sat most of the quarter too.

3rd Quarter

New York 77
Charlotte 62

what? Jesus. We go totally cold and New York doesn't miss a damn thing... holy crap. Wallace 15, Bell 14. Their man Chandler, their worst starter by far, has 22 points.


4th Quarter

6:25 to go - We cut the lead down to 10 in what has become a very high scoring quarter. Its 94-84. New York started the quarter off with two 3's and a 3 point play, just ugly for us. Fouls are out of control, the Knicks have 9, we have 5. Augustin just hit a 3 to cut it to 10.

5:25 to go - 94-89! Augustin gets Darko on him and blows by him, drawing a foul and hitting two free throws. Darko then misses a hook on the other end and Augustin is out on the break for a 3 point play. He's got 8 in a row for us in a 60 second span.

3:15 to go - 99-96 Knicks. Eddy Curry throws a pass out of bounds, Chandler(their chandler) sinks a 3, and Tyson Chandler for us has a couple free throws. This game is a sign to change the foul sliders more hah.

2:25 to go - 102-98. Another 3 for the Knicks, a pretty nice looking play where a guy comes off a screen and I can't get out in time on him. Bell with a drive for 2 on our end. Timeout Knicks.

1:50 to go - 102-100! Curry misses a shot in the post and Gerald Wallace gets a smaller guy on him and takes it inside for a bucket. Wallace has been a big part of this giant 4th quarter, he's up to 30 for the game.

1:08 to go - 106-104. Each team scores on two straight possessions. Knicks ball, up 2 with a minute left.

0:46 to go - 106-104. Turnover Knicks! I'm not sure exactly what happened here, just a bad pass, or we tipped a ball but it ended up going off of Nate Robinson... either way, our ball with a shot to tie.

0:35 to go - 107-106 Charlotte!! Raja Bell gets a step on Nate Robinson and makes it to the basket,he's hammered by Darko and gets the ball into the net!


Nate Robinson goes up in the air but kicks it back to Duhon who misses an open 3. They get the offensive board, Robinson goes one on one against Bell and takes a shot from 18 feet out, its off the rim, we rebound with 2 seconds left and hold on to win!!

Charlotte 107
New York 106


So we get the win but its kinda ridiculous. Charlotte commits 17 fouls. New York commits 35. About 15 of those were in this insane 4th quarter. More adjustments coming there. We shot 45% from the field compared to 47% from the Knicks. We were terrible from 3 though(3/14).

Wallace: 32 points/4 boards
Bell: 21 points
Augustin: 15 points/3 assists (2-4 from 3)
Diaw: 11 points/5 boards
Felton: 10 points/4 assists
Chandler: 8 points/11 boards


The Knicks' Wilson Chandler scores 36 on 13-21 shooting. Hughes 15, Duhon 13, Toney Douglas with 10. Nate Robinson has 9 points/7 assists.

[Radii]

ah hell, I am an idiot. I had shooting fouls at 100 in game, they're "supposed" to be at 65. So I'm dropping that to where it should be and that'll be my only tweak for the next couple games.

[Radii]

There have been two trades that I haven't mentioned:

Pacers get: Marcus Camby
Clippers get: TJ Ford

This is a terrible trade for Indiana. This leaves them with 65 rated Earl Watson as their starting PG, while Camby doesn't really add a lot to the Pacers interior. The problem is that Camby got hurt in the next game after the trade, and the game won't seem to let me trade the two of them back while one player is injured.


Also:

Phoenix gets: SF Carlos Delfino
Milwaukee gets: SF Grant Hill

I can't say this makes a lot of sense either. Hill is rated 71, Delfino 61. Both have short, small contracts. The only reason Phoenix might do this is to get more playing time for rookie SF Earl Clark, who is rated 63 OVR, but Phoenix has a lot of talent and should be a playoff contender. Without any way to justify this one for the Suns, I reverse it.


Finally, Memphis has fired their head coach.

[Radii]

December 22 - Detroit (11-16) at Charlotte(10-16)

We scored almost as much vs the Knicks in the 4th quarter of that last game as we did vs Detroit today. Bell 13, Augustin 11, Felton 9. Rodney Stuckey leads Detroit with 20.

Detroit 85
Charlotte 67


December 26 - Charlotte(10-17) at Oklahoma City(13-14)

Tied after 3, OKC wins a close one. Bell 21, Diaw 20, Wallace 14. Westbrook leads the Thunder with 21. Durant 16.

Oklahoma City 84
Charlotte 80


December 28 - Milwaukee (9-19) at Charlotte (10-18)

Another one that isn't even close. Felton 15, Wallace 14, Diaw 8. Michael Redd with 17 to lead the Bucks.

Milwaukee 92
Charlotte 65


December 30 - Charlotte(10-19) at Toronto (12-20)

We win our last game of the calendar year. Wallace 18 points/16 boards, Bell 15, Diaw 15, Felton 14. Bargnani 23, B osh 21 for the Raptors.

Charlotte 91
Toronto 75


January 2 - Charlotte(11-19) at Miami (14-15)

Two in a row! Bell 18, Murray 13, Diaw 12. Wade with 20 for the Heat.

Charlotte 81
Miami 79


January 3 - Charlotte (12-19) at Cleveland(23-12)

Yeah... no way in hell we're winning this one. Bell 16, Wallace 14, Felton 11. Varajao 18, James with 15 points/8 boards/7 assists, only shot 6-19.

Cleveland 94
Charlotte 58


And with that time to play our next game against a similarly rated and similarly struggling Chicago team. I'll take a break at the All Star break to review the standings and stats and all that jazz.

[Radii]

I doublecheck the foul sliders to make sure I adjusted the shooting fouls correctly before getting into this one.

January 5th, 2010

Chicago (11-21) at Charlotte(12-20)

CHA:CHI
72:73 OVR
64:71 OFF
77:71 DEF

Chicago Scouting

PG Derrick Rose - 79 OVR - 17.1 ppg/6.8 apg - Good scorer, very good ball handler, average at best defender.

SG Kirk Hinrich - 78 OVR - 10.6 ppg - An outside shooter who is no threat to go inside, above average defense, above average ball handling.

SF Luol Deng - 73 OVR - 15.4 ppg/5.9 rpg - A threat to score both inside and outside, but not so much on the defensive end.

PF Tyrus Thomas - 67 OVR - 9.8 ppg/7.6 rpg - Thomas scouts out as a 'C' everywhere. Just not a lot to say about him.

C Joakim Noah - 68 OVR - 11.4 ppg/13.1 rpg - No skills, all hustle. Good post defense. Awful offensive ratings.


Scouting teams with only 12 scouting reports a month is pretty damn hard heh. Generalized grades don't really give a lot of info to go on here.


70 rated SG John Salmons scores 11.8 points off the bench, Brad Miller is good for 5 points and 4 boards and gives the Bulls size off the bench.


First Quarter

Charlotte 25
Chicago 23

Yeah, its a totally different game with that foul slider adjusted. This was great. We commit 5 fouls and Chicago commits 3. Derrick Rose scores 9 for the Bulls playing all 12 minutes. Wallace is the star though, Luol Deng is just slow by comparison. Wallace's first step is explosive and he blows by Deng with ease. He scores our first 7 points and our last 5 points, add a couple in the middle and he's got 15 points on 6-7 shooting. Felton has 2 fouls for us.


Second Quarter

Chicago 48
Charlotte 42

Chicago goes on a little run and leads by as much as 7. Tyrus Thomas is the player of the half with 10 points/6 boards/4 assists. Chicago has 11 free throws to our 5, the change in shooting fouls has made all the difference in the world towards evening this out. Rose leads Chicago with 15, Hinrich 11, Thomas 10. Wallace still has 15, he only played 3 minutes before sitting out the rest of the 2nd quarter. Tyson Chandler with 7, Henderson with 6, he burned Deng once and Thomas once for some very nice drives to the hoop.


Third Quarter

Chicago 71
Charlotte 63

Gerald Wallace missed a layup that could have cut the lead down to 4 with about 3 minutes left and triggered a Chicago run to push the lead up to double digits. Gerald Henderson gets it back down to 8 but we are in some trouble going into the final quarter. Rose is dominating the game with 24. I had felton on him most of the game, that's switched to Raja Bell now. My mistake for not doing so sooner... Rose is impressive to watch though. Wallace has 21 poitns/7 boards for us. Chandler 11, Henderson 10. Henderson has had a little bit of a breakout today with 10 points in just 11 minutes, a solid showing.


Fourth Quarter

8:40 to go - Chicago's last four points are after offensive boards, always frustrating. Its 75-69 Bulls.

5:10 to go - We're still down 6, the starting 5 is back in for both sides likely for the duration.

4:40 to go - Ugh, 85-75 Bulls. Felton just got stuffed big time driving to the basket by Noah.

2:35 to go - 87-81 Bulls. Noah with a followup jam that is very impressive looking but we get the lead down to 6 with a couple good looks to players cutting inside.

1:25 to go - God I hate Joakim Noah. Key blocked shot by him and its still 87-81, we had a good chance to cut it to four. We have the ball though, still down 6.

1:12 to go - Bell goes right by Hinrich and makes a layup. 87-83 Bulls, their ball.


Chicago gets a 3 point play on the next possession. Hinrich attacks but misses inside, Deng with the rebound and putback, fouled by Felton and his free throw puts them up 7 with less than a minute to go. That pretty much seals it.

Chicago 95
Charlotte 88


Derrick Rose only scores 2 in the 4th quarter, and I have to wonder if I would have won had I put Bell on him earlier.

Wallace: 27 points/9 boards
Bell: 17 points/5 assists
Chandler: 13 points/11 boards
Henderson: 10 points
Felton: 9 points/10 assists

Augustin was cold today, 0-4 from 3.

Rose led Chicago with 26 points/8 assists. Hinrich 16, Deng 13. Noah only scored 8, but he got 13 boards and it seemed like he was everywhere in the final 6 minutes or so.


Each team shot 45% from the field. Chicago was 20/25 from the line, we were 10/15. This game felt *much* better with that foul slider corrected. Big time whoops there from me.

[Radii]

January 7 - Charlotte (12-21) at New York(15-19)

The Knicks lead by 18 at the half and we don't stand a chance. Bell with 26, Felton 12, Wallace 9. David Lee has 26 points/14 boards for New York.

New York 100
Charlotte 79


January 9 - Memphis(11-23) at Charlotte(12-22)

Its a 1 point game after 3 and Memphis pulls it out at the end. Bell with 27, Mohammed 11,Wallace 9. Rudy Gay has 27 for the Grizz.

Memphis 88
Charlotte 82


We lose 3 straight to 3 of the worst teams in the league. Embarrassing!


January 12 - Houston (15-22) at Charlotte(12-23)

Breaking a 4 game losing streak here. Felton 26, Diaw 16, Wallace 12 points/18 boards. Ray Allen with 18 for his new team.

Charlotte 84
Houston 71


San Antonio (30-6) at Charlotte(13-23)

Just the fact that its a close game vs the Spurs is good enough for me at this point. felton 17, Diaw 12, Wallace 11 points/18 boards. Ginobili 19, Duncan 14.

San Antonio 81
Charlotte 75


January 16 - Phoenix (13-27) at Charlotte (13-24)

Ugh, 1 point loss in OT after an 8 point 4th quarter comeback. Bell 23, Diaw 17, Augustin 16. Nash with 23 for Phoenix.

Phoenix 110
Charlotte 109
OT


January 18 - Sacramento(14-25) at Charlotte(13-25)

January is turning into a disaster even by Bobcat standards. Felton 20, Wallace 15, Diaw 12. Spencer Hawes leads Sacramento with 13 points in 9 minutes... Tyreke Evans with 12.

Sacramento 85
Charlotte 78


January 20 - Miami(14-25) at Charlotte(13-26)

Miami has lost 10 in a row after a Dwayne Wade injury. We take advantage ourselves and get a convincing win. Wallace 25 points, Augustin 17, Bell 16. Wade leads Miami but only has 14, he shoots 6-21.

Charlotte 100
Miami 68



That's our 40th game played. I'll play our next one, a road game in Atlanta, and we'll be at the halfway point on the season, though the all star break isn't until mid-February.

[Radii]

After that last series of games, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw both have small injuries nagging at them, keeping them from playing at 100%. Additionally, Flip Murray and Derrick Brown both feel like they ought to be getting more playing time, knocking their effectiveness down a bit. Most everyone else on the team seems to be taking a small hit from Chemistry or sucking or something, so that's problematic. But we're not likely to jump up into the playoffs or anything so its not a big deal this year i'd imagine.

January 22th, 2010

Charlotte(14-26) at Atlanta(23-18)

CHA:ATL
70:81 OVR
62:85 OFF
76:81 DEF

Atlanta Scouting

PG Mike Bibby - 78 OVR - 11.4 ppg/6.2 apg - a solid backcourt mate to Joe Johnson, a good outside shooter and defender.

SG Joe Johnson - 84 OVR - 19.9 ppg/5 rpg/4.4 apg - The star on a well rounded Atlanta team, he's pretty much solid everywhere, attackign the basket, shooting outside, defending and handling the ball.

SF Jamal Crawford - 75 OVR - 16.9 ppg - A 3 guard offense, Crawford looks like a soid outside shooter and an athletic type who might do ok keeping Wallace from the basket.

PF Josh Smith - 78 OVR - 15.4 ppg/9.0 rpg - Smith shoots over 50%, he's not a star by any stretch but he's adequate inside, on the boards and as an all around defender.

C Al Horford - 77 OVR - 10.3 ppg/11.8 rpg - More of a rebounder than a scorer, though he grades out very well inside on offense.

70 rated SF Marvin Williams should have stayed at UNC an extra year, eh? :P He's averaging 8 points/game off the bench. Top pick in this most recent draft, PG Jeff Teague, is hurt, but he's rated 66 OVR when healthy and putting up about 4 points/game. No one else off the bench seems to make a huge impact.


Johnson is a solid second tier star and the rest of their lineup is a noticible nod ahead of what we've got, so this looks pretty bad on paper.


First Quarter

Atlanta 22
Charlotte 19

Gerald Wallace picked up two very quick fouls and spent almost the entire quarter on the bench, so I'm very pleased we were able to find enough ways to score to keep this one close without him. Diaw has 6, Chandler 4, no one else more than 2... Josh Smith has 8 to lead Atlanta, Johnson was cold in the 1st(2-6) and has 5 points.


Second Quarter

Atlanta 54
Charlotte 44

It was 28-27 Hawks when Atlanta scored 14 straight and exploded to a double digit lead. Raja Bell again plays great D on the opponent's star, Joe Johnson only has 9. But Josh Smith is just an insane athlete and is all over the place. He's 8-10 from the field for 18 points. Bibby has 11 and Marvin Williams actually has 10. Gerald Henderson leads us with 8, Murray 7, an odd case of our guys off teh bench being the most effective by far. Wallace has only 4, Felton 4, Augustin 3.


Third Quarter

Atlanta 67
Charlotte 61

At the 6 minute mark in the 3rd we're on an 8-2 run... for the entire quarter that is. 56-52 Atlanta. We eventually go up 60-58 before Atlanta scores 9 straight to take the lead back. We trail by 6 going into the final quarter. Gerald Wallace has a good quarter and now leads us with 13. Henderson is still 2nd with 8, Felton is up to 7 now. Jamal Crawford got up into double figures for the Hawks, but Josh Smith still has 18 and still leads all scorers there.


Fourth Quarter

6:30 to go - Atlanta came out hot and went up by 10 but we've got it back in sight again... Felton burns Jeff Teague three times in a row, coming away with 5 points(getting blocked on one attempt and earning a 3 point play on another). Its 78-72 Atlanta and we're down 6, still within striking distance.

4:40 to go - Atlanta up 8... 82-74, I get a timeout and both teams have their starters back in for good now.

1:45 to go - Raja Bell with a 3, but we've just been trading baskets for awhile. This gets it down to 5... 90-85.

1:15 to go - We get a big stop on defense as Joe Johnson misses a contested 3, and Felton finds Wallace going to the basket for a layin in traffic, 90-87 Atlanta. Atlanta takes a timeout.

0:26 to go - Trading baskets, most frustratingly Al Horford misses a jumper, we have a chance to rebound down 3 with 38 seconds left. I'm controlling Tyson Chandler and leap for the board, it takes an extra bounce on the rim though and I end up goaltending. URGH! We trail 94-91 and have to foul.

0:13 to go - Bibby misses one of his two free throws. Raja Bell misses a 3 on our end, but Wallace is there for the offensive board and putback. Its 95-93 Atlanta. We need them to miss another FT.

0:11.6 to go - Bell is exhausted, I get Augustin and Flip Murray in for 3 point shooting. Joe Johnson only goes 1 of 2 from the line and its 96-93 Atlanta, we get a timeout.

I want to get it to Augustin but can't, Flip Murray ends up takign and missing a 3. We foul one more time but its too late.

Atlanta 98
Charlotte 93


Wallace: 23 points/7 boards
Felton: 12 points/10 assists
Chandler: 10 points/14 boards
Henderson: 10 points
Bell: 10 points

Josh Smith leads atlanta with 22, Jamal Crawford 17, Marvin Williams 16, Joe Johnson 14.

I'm extremely happy with the feel of these last two games after fixing the shooting foul slider, these games have flowed great and felt really really solid.

[Radii]

Jan 23 - Orlando(31-12) at Charlotte(14-27)

We actually take a lead into the fourth quarter here but Orlando isn't about to lose a game to us, they hold us to 10 points in the 4th quarter and win by 7. Wallace 19 points/17 boards, Bell 15, Augustin 14. Jameer Nelson 19, Howard 16 points/17 boards.

Orlando 89
Charlotte 82


Jan 25 - Charlotte(14-28) at Denver(23-20)

Denver with the easy win, we're out west for a little while. Bell 19, Felton 15, Wallace 14. Al Harrington, who came to Denver in an early season trade, scores 30 points, Carmelo 29, Billups 22... impressive numbers from the Nuggets stars.

Denver 118
Charlotte 96


Jan 26 - Charlotte(14-29) at Phoenix(17-29)

We win the 4th quarter by 17 points... and still lose by 9. Bell 21, Diaw 18, Wallace 15. Nash and Amare both put up 27.

Phoenix 115
Charlotte 106


Jan 29 - Charlotte(14-30) at Golden State(23-20)

What a January, ugh! Felton 16, Chandler/Augustin/bell 10 each. Kelenna Azubuike puts up 23 on us, Monta Ellis 20.

Golden State 98
Charlotte 71


Jan 30 - Charlotte (14-31) at Sacramento(16-29)

We go 3-13 for the month. Bell 23, Wallace 13, Augustin 12. Kevin Martin with 21 for the Kings.

Sacramento 93
Charlotte 86


With the horrific end to January we actually have the worst record in the NBA, go-go most ping pong balls?


Feb 1 - Charlotte(14-32) at Portland(31-18)

Well one can only lose for so long. We win by 8 after the ugliest 4th quarter ever, we outscore portland in the 4th 14-7. Augustin 22, Diaw 15, Bell 14. Lamarcus Aldridge leads Portland with 15.

Charlotte 77
Portland 65


Feb 3 - Charlotte(15-32) at LA Lakers(35-14)

Well what is this? Who wants #1 picks when you can upset the top teams in the West on the road! Diaw 22, Felton 20, Augustin 18. Kobe scored 29 for the Lakers.

Charlotte 102
Los Angeles 82


We'll be playing the Hornets in our next game, All Star break is in a about a week.

[Radii]

February 6th, 2010

New Orleans(21-29) at Charlotte(16-32)

CHA:NO
74:76 OVR
66:72 OFF
78:74 DEF

New Orleans Scouting

PG Chris Paul - 93 OVR - 24.9ppg/8.3 apg - Paul is a bona fide superstar in the NBA. Raja Bell will be on him all game and we'll pray he can be slowed down.

SG Julian wright - 59 OVR - 8.6 ppg/4.5 rpg - Wright just looks out of place here. Rated poorly, he's hurt and playing even worse. He's getting about 20-25 minutes a game though and may not see the floor a ton.

SF James Posey - 71 OVR - 7.0 ppg/4.9 rpg - Posey is an ok perimeter defender but just an average overall player.

PF David West - 77 OVR - 15.9 ppg/7.0 rpg - West is a better offensive plaer than Okafor, Okafor is stronger defensively and on the boards.

C Emeka Okafor - 79 OVR - 13.7 ppg/10.8 ppg - Okafor is the 2nd highest rated player on the team, shooting 54.9% from the field, a great rebounder, he'll be a force inside compared to our bigs.

SF Peja Stojakovic is rated 62 OVR and is the Hornets 6th man. He's averaging 11 points/game.

No one else off the bench is putting up over 4 points/game. Darren Collison, the Hornets first round pick out of Kansas, is rated 62 OVR and is backing up Chris Paul.

It seems like we ought to have a shot here. We have a shutdown defender and hopefully we can force someone other than Paul to beat us.


First Quarter

New Orleans 22
Charlotte 16

Second Chance Points... New Orleans has 5 offensive boards, we have none. They have 7 second chance points. James Posey has 10 points, one of the weird things that happens when you shut down Chris Paul I guess. Chandler has 7 to leas us early.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 51
New Orleans 42

New Orleans takes a timeout around the 9 minute mark as we start the quarter on an 11-2 run, leading 27-24. Gerald Wallace picks up a charge and a shooting foul and sits with 3 fouls pretty early on in the quarter. Emeka Okafor ends the quarter with four fouls, he seems to pick one up any time we go near him. We dominate the quarter, 35-20. Paul only has 3 points and 5 assists. It seems like when he can't shake Bell he wont' follow through and try to score anyway, instead passing the ball out(which is pretty common for the CPU in general but a star would presumably find more ways to shoot). Posey still has 10, Stojakovic has 8, West 7. on our end, Gerald Henderson is the major beneficiary of Gerald Wallace's foul trouble. Henderson leads all scorers with 11 points in 12 minutes. He's shooting 5-6 and is basically more athletic than anyone the Hornets can put at SF. Chandler and Augustin both have 7, wallace 6.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 69
New Orleans 65

Well, Chris Paul decided to take more interest in the offense, and he's got 12 points now, 9 in the 3rd quarter. Wallace picked up foul #4 real early in the 3rd and sat, and Gerald Henderson took over again for a short while, he's now got 18 points to lead all scorers. But Paul waking up has allowed them to cut it to four.


Fourth Quarter

7:30 to go - The Hornets take the lead for the first time since early in the 2nd quarter.. a Chris Paul mid-range jumper makes it 75-73 Hornets.

3:40 to go - We'd cut it back down to 1 before Chris Paul drives and draws a foul, he hits 2 at the line and its 84-81 Hornets.

1:20 to go - Gerald Wallace gets stopped twice in a row tryin gto attack the rim, and Chris Paul shows us why he's the star here, scoring twice in a row. Its 90-83 Hornets.


Yep, the star power of Chris Paul, and really their interior defense, takes over when it counts and New Orleans gets the win. Early in the quarter we were attacking the rim very successfully, later on we were having shots blocked, occasionally having the ball stolen, and just not getting all the way to the rim with success when we needed to. New Orleans wins the 4th 27-16 and wins by 7.

New Orleans 92
Charlotte 85

Henderson: 18 points
Wallace: 16 points/7 boards
Diaw: 11 points/8 boards
Augustin: 9 points
Chandler: 9 points/11 boards


Bell 6/Felton 5, they combine for 4-21 shooting while the guys inside have a lot more success.

Paul scores 22 in the 2nd half and finishes with 25 points/9 assists. Posey has 14, Stojakovic 13, West 11 points/16 boards.

[Radii]

Just a couple games til the All-Star Break, I am going to go through it this year just to see how the game handles All Star festivities.

Feb 9 - Washington(26-24) at Charlotte(16-33)

We've won 3 out of 4! This one handily. Bell 20, Felton 17 points/12 assists, Diaw 16. Jamison puts up 24 for Washington.

Charlotte 113
Washington 85



Bobcats Trade

Its a small one, but it fits.

Utah receives: SG Flip Murray (rated 68 OVR at his best)

Charlotte Receives: PG Ronnie Price (undrafted 5 year vet, rated 65 OVR)
C Kyrylo Fesenko (rated 46 OVR, total garbage)


Reasons for Trade:

1) Murray's Morale is slipping, he's got a -3 to his rating as a result. I would expect it to only get worse
2) I want to up Gerald Henderson's minutes. This frees some up.
3) I would like to see more time with Felton and DJ Augustin on the court at the same time. This allows for that more easily too.

I don't really know if an individual player's morale has an effect on the rest of the team, I need to figure that out. But getting rid of a guy whose about to be pissed off can only help.

Murray was set to get 6 minutes a game in my rotation. I gave Gerald Henderson 4 of those minutes(pushing him up to 14/game) and Augustin the other two(pushing him up to 25/game).


Dec 10 - Charlotte(17-33) at Minnesota(25-27)

We've won 4 out of five! Felton with 19, Augustin 15, Bell 15. Johnny Flynn puts up 19 for Minnesota.

Charlotte 87
Minnesota 75


And that brings us up to the All Star Break.

[Radii]

NBA Rookie vs Sophomores Game

Rookie Lineup

PG Johnny Flynn (75 OVR)
SG James Harden (74 OVR)
SF Terrance Williams (73 OVR)
PF S. Ibaka (69 OVR) <-- I have to admit to having no clue who this is without looking him up. Undrafted from the Congo according to the game.
C David Anderson (57 OVR) <-- Drafted in 2002 but playing for the first time in the NBA

Bench:

PG Tyreke Evans (68 OVR)
SG Demarr DeRozan (64 OVR)
SF Gerald Henderson (67 OVR)
PF Taylor Griffin (62 OVR)
C Hasheem Thabeet (57 OVR)


Sophomores

PG Russell Westbrook (78 OVR)
SG OJ Mayo (79 OVR)
SF Michael Beasley (70 OVR)
PF Anthony Randolph (71 OVR)
C Brook Lopez (77 OVR)

Bench:

PG Mario Chalmers (73 OVR)
SG Eric Gordon (72 OVR)
SF Joe Alexander (62 OVR)
PF Kevin Love (72 OVR)
C Marc Gasol (74 OVR)



And yeah I have no interest in playing this game.

Sophs 77
Rookies 79

Rookies

Evans 20 points
Flynn 14 points/7 assists
Williams: 13 points
Harden 12 points

Henderson has 0 points but 6 boards in 18 minutes off the bench.

Soph's

Westbrook: 14 points
Mayo: 11 points
Gordon: 11 points
Love: 9 points/10 boards

[Radii]

All Star Game

East

Starters

PG Gilbert Arenas (85 OVR)
SG Dwayne Wade (95 OVR)
SF Lebron James (98 OVR)
PF Kevin Garnett (91 OVR)
C Dwight Howard (89 OVR)

Bench

PG Devin Harris (87 OVR)
SG Joe Johnson (85 OVR)
SF Danny Granger (85 OVR)
PF Chris Bosh (83 OVR
C David Lee (75 OVR)
PG Jameer Nelson (81 OVR)
SF Gerald Wallace (79 OVR)

Woohoo! Wallace makes the team, though seemingly as the last player.


West

Starters

PG Deron Williams(88 OVR)
SG Kobe Bryant (98 OVR)
SF Carmelo Anthony (89 OVR)
PF Tim Duncan (90 OVR)
C Chris Kaman (74 OVR)

Bench

PG Tony Parker (85 OVR)
PG Chauncey Billups (85 OVR)
SF Kevin Durant (82 OVR)
SG Brandon Roy (89 OVR)
PF Amare Stoudamire (82 OVR)
C Andrew Bynum (75 OVR)
PG Baron Davis (82 OVR)


The western centers are awesome.

East 99
West 94

East:

Johnson 13 points
Arenas 12 points
Nelson 12 points
Bosh 11 points
Harris 10 points

Gerald Wallace has 8 points/4 boards.

West:

Roy 16 points
Durant 13 points
Anthony 12 points
Bryant 12 points
Duncan 11 points


That's all for all star weekend, we'll sim straight through for sure from now on. I guess I was wondering if they did any sort of skills competition... nope.

[Radii]

Midseason Update

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland 39-15
2. Orlando 37-17
3. Boston 30-20
4. Indiana 30-22
5. Philadelphia 28-24
6. Atlanta 28-24
7. Washington 26-25
8. New Jersey 25-25
9. Detroit 22-29
10. New York 22-29
11. Toronto 20-32
12. Miami 20-33
13. Chicago 19-32
14. Charlotte 18-33
15. Milwaukee 16-35


Western Conference

1. San Antonio 40-11
2. LA Lakers 37-17
3. Portland 35-20
4. Utah 28-23
5. Golden State 28-23
6. Houston 27-24
7. Denver 27-26
8. Dallas 26-26
-----
9. Minnesota 25-28
10. Oklahoma City 22-29
11. New Orleans 23-30
12. Memphis 21-30
13. Sacramento 21-31
14. LA Clippers 21-31
15. Phoenix 18-35


Golden State being a playoff team is probably the most shocking thing here. That and Phoenix being so bad I suppose, they seem to have talent and do not appear to have tons of injuries. Grant Hill did suffer a bad injury right after i reversed a trade for him awhile back.


A couple noteworthy injuries in the last couple weeks as well... i see the first season ending injury that's been reported, and its a big one. Chris Paul is done for the year.


League Leaders

Points

Carmelo Anthony - 28.8
Dwayne Wade - 28.5
Kobe Bryant - 28.4
Danny Granger - 27.6
Gilbert Arenas - 27.5

18 players averaging 20 or more a game. Lebron is 7th on the list.


Rebounds

Joakim Noah - 12.8
Dwight Howard - 12.6
Tim Duncan - 12.6
Chris Bosh - 11.7
Al Horford - 11.7


Assists

Deron Williams - 10.2
Steve Nash - 9.5
Jose Calderon - 8.8
Baron Davis - 8.5
Chauncey Billups - 8.4

[Radii]

Bobcats Stats

Felton: 13.6 ppg/3.0 rpg/6.6 apg
Bell: 14.6 ppg/2.9 rpg/1.3 apg
Wallace: 16.4 ppg/10.6 rpg/1.1 apg
Diaw: 11.2 ppg/5.1 rpg/2.4 apg
Chandler: 6.3 ppg/9.1 rpg/0.8 apg

Augustin: 9.2 ppg/1.4 rpg/2.6 apg
Henderson: 4.5 ppg/1.1 rpg/0.4 apg


Gerald Henderson leads us in FG % at 53.2%. Chandler is shooting 52.7%. Wallace is at 47%. Bell 43%, Augustin 42%, Felton 41%.

Bell is at 39% from 3, Augustin 35.7%, Wallace and Felton both at 30%.

[Radii]

Ok, back to it, I know this doesn't really get interesting until my first offseason.

Feb 16 - New Jersey (26-26) at Charlotte (18-33)

This kind of winning is going to come as a shock to my players. Bell 21, Wallace 19 and 10 boards, Felton 19. Terrance Williams with 23 for the Nets. Devin Harris has 16 on 7-17 shooting.

Charlotte 87
New Jersey 84

Trade Deadline

Boring, I'm sorry to say. Vinny Del Negro is fired from the Bulls. There are no trades made.


Feb 19 - Cleveland(39-15) at Charlotte(19-33)

Yeah we just ended a 10 game Cleveland win streak. Bell 26, Diaw 15, Wallace 11. Lebron with 20 for Cleveland.

Charlotte 98
Cleveland 88


Feb 20 - Charlotte(20-33) at Milwaukee(16-37)

Our first 5 game win streak. Felton 24, Bell 21, Wallace 20. Michael Redd with 17 for the Bucks.

Charlotte 108
Milwaukee 72


I'll play out our next game against the Clippers.

Contract Negotiation

Raja Bell loves his starting job in Charlotte. He looks like he came to the Bobcats via a MLE, making $5.25 million/year. I love my defensive stopper and want to keep him, and he's willing to accept a lot less. He'll make 1.69M next year, 1.85M two years from now, and we have a team option for a 3rd year at 2 million even.

He's 33 years old, so he'll be an experiment into how player progression/regression ends up working in this game.


Ray Felton is another guy I want to re-sign but he isn't ready yet, he tells me he will almost certainly want to re-up with us but isn't ready to talk yet.

[Radii]

February 22th, 2010

Charlotte(21-33) at LA Clippers(22-33)

CHA:LAC
74:60 OVR
66:77 OFF
78:65 DEF

LA Clippers Scouting

PG Baron Davis - 81 OVR - 15.8 ppg/8.5 apg - Great ball handler, good defender, decent outside scorer.

SG Eric Gordon - 72 OVR - 15.5 ppg - Gordon looks like a very good shooter who is average at best at everything else.

SF Al Thornton - 68 OVR - 9.9 ppg - suffering from an injury that knocks his rating down into the 50s. Might be ok going inside but looks like a liability.

PF Craig Smith - 62 OR - 6.3 ppg/3.6 rpg - B inside, awful elsewhere. Starting temporarily due to a Blake Griffin Injury.

C Chris Kaman - 73 OVR - 17.5 ppg/10.5rpg - Your all star starter! A- INS, B post D, B+ rebounder, pretty solid actually.

TJ Ford is the backup PG(I never could get that trade reversed). He's averaging 13.8 ppg. How often do ou see a team's star player not lead the team in scoring? Kaman has been better than Baron so far this year. Blake Griffin only recently got hurt. He's put up 12 points/8.5 boards in 48 games.


First Quarter

Charlotte 23
Los Angeles 21

Baron Davis gets two fouls, as does Tyson Chandler. Advantage: Charlotte, hah. Wallace and Diaw both score 6 for us. Kaman has 9 for the Clippers and has great post moves.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 49
Los Angeles 49

Kaman owns us inside, he gets 3 fouls on Diop in about 4 minutes. He finally has to rest some and has 14 at the half(6 boards too). On our end, Augustin is much faster than TJ Ford and dominates him. Felton and Augustin both have 10 points each, Wallace 8. Kaman 14, Al Thornton 11 for the Clippers.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 69
Los Angeles 65

LA led by 5 early in the quarter, and we led by 6 late in the quarter. We'll go into the 4th up four. This was Gerald Wallace's quarter. For the last 5 minutes I think he was listed as hot the entire time. He scored 12 of our 20 points in the quarter, and has 20 total. Felton 12, Diaw 10. Raja Bell is having a horrid game, he's only got 6, on 2-11 shooting. Eric Gordon now leads the Clippers with 17, thanks to being a massive ball hog. He's 7-20. Baron Davis has just been non-existent. He has 3 points/6 assists in 20 minutes, 1-6 shooting. This isn't like Chris Paul, Davis isn't that level a star, I don't expect him to score 15 and win the game here necessarily. We'll see though!

Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - We lead 77-71, Gerald Wallace has 6 of our 8 points this quarter(Felton with the other two).

6:00 to go - Its 79-76, and the Clippers have the ball.

4:40 to go - 80-79 Los Angeles. We took Wallace out for about 2 minutes to make sure he's rested for the rest of the game, and he's back in now. But we need someone else to be able to score too.

3:00 to go - 83-82 Charlotte, we got a great one on one move from Felton for a layup, and a Diaw move for a bucket, 1 point lead.

2:05 to go - 85-84 Charlotte, and its our ball after a timeout.

1:45 to go - 87-84 after a great pick and roll between Bell and Diop.

1:11 to go - 89-86, Kaman with a jumper on the Clippers end, Wallace with a nice turnaround on our end.

0:40 to go - We trade misses, Baron and wallace for LA and Charlotte respectively. Its the clippers ball.

LA misses a shot and Felton gets the ball and is fouled. He ices it at the line. A 3 pointer as time expires makes it a 2 point game but Felton's FTs put it out of reach.

Charlotte 93
LA Clippers 91


Wallace: 32 points/7 boards (14-24 shooting)
Felton: 20 points/5 assists
Diaw: 12 points/8 assists
Augustin: 10 points
Bell: 6 points
Chandler: 4 points/11 boards

Chris Kaman puts up 22 with 11 boards for the Clippers. Eric Gordon with 19. Baron Davis scores 6 and has 10 assists on 2-10 shooting.


This was really a great game from start to finish. I don't think either team led by more than 6 at any point, and no one 'won' any quarter by more than 4. A tight, well contested game. Its a well contested game by two very bad teams of course, but it'll do.

[Radii]

Feb 24 - Charlotte(22-33) at Utah(31-25)

A loss here ends an inexplicable 6 game win streak. Bell 17, Diaw 11, Henderson 10. Boozer with 22 points/15 boards for the Jazz.

Utah 96
Charlotte 66


Feb 26 - Charlotte(22-34) at Memphis(24-33)

Memphis dominates all four quarters, not even close. Diaw 23, Augustin 14, Felton 13. Rudy Gay with 22, Randolph 21 for Memphis.

Memphis 104
Charlotte 76


March 1 - Dallas(27-32) at Charlotte(22-35)

Back to normal it appears, hah. Wallace 16 points/15 boards, Diaw 15, Augustin 12, Felton 12. Nowitski has 28, Jason Terry with 15.

Dallas 96
Charlotte 79


Mar 3 - Charlotte(22-36) at Boston (34-23)

We lose what looks like a heartbreaker in Boston. McGrady leads Boston with 18(Ray Allen trade earlier). Augustin 20, Bell 15, Felton and Diaw 13.

Boston 91
Charlotte 89


Mar 5 - LA Lakers(40-21) at Charlotte(22-37)

Its hard to come east apparently, the Lakers get crushed in the 4th quarter and we pull of a big win. Bell 20, Diaw 13, Felton and Augustin 12. Artest leads the lakers with 25. Kobe is off a bit, 12 points, though he does have 7 boards/6 assists. He had foul trouble and only played 28 minutes.

Charlotte 92
LA Lakers 85


Mar 6 - Golden State(32-29) at Charlotte(23-37)

A tough OT loss. Wallace 25, Augustin 21, Bell 21. Azubuike 25, Stephen Jackson 19 for the Warriors.

Golden State 118
Charlotte 114


Mar 9 - Miami (26-37) at Charlotte(23-38)

Another OT loss. Wallace 28, Diaw 15, Felton 13. Wade's healthy again and puts up 25, Beasley 22.

Miami 103
Charlotte 102


Mar 10 - Charlotte(23-39) at Philadelphia(33-30)

Philly looking like a playoff team here. Felton 20, Wallace19, Bell 16. Iguodala puts up 32 in the win.

Philadelphia 109
Charlotte 83


We've got about 20 games left in the season now.

[Radii]

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Orlando 45-20
2. Cleveland 43-22
3. Boston 40-23
4. Indiana 38-26
5. Atlanta 36-28
6. Philadelphia 34-30
7. Washington 32-30
8. New Jersey 31-33
------
9. New York 30-34
10. Toronto 27-36
11. Miami 28-37
12. Detroit 27-37
13. Chicago 24-39
14. Charlotte 23-40
15. Milwaukee 18-45

So we've got the Knicks 1 game out, Toronto and Miami 3 1/2 out, Detroit 4 out with a month to go in the season.


Western Conference

1. San Antonio 48-14
2. Portland 42-24
3. LA Lakers 41-24
4. Houston 35-28
5. Utah 34-30
6. Golden State 33-30
7. Denver 32-32
8. Minnesota 32-33
-----
9. New Orleans 31-34
10. Dallas 31-35
11. LA Clippers 27-38
12. Memphis 27-38
13. Sacramento 26-39
14. Oklahoma City 24-39
15. Phoenix 22-43


Out west we've got two spots more up for grabs in the east but fewer teams with a real shot at them, New Olreans/Dallas are right there on the outside looking in. Remember that Chris Paul is out for the year with a torn ACL too.

[Radii]

Mar 12 - LA Clippers(27-38) at Charlotte(23-40)

Wallace with 15, Augustin 14, Bell 12. A finally healthy Blake Griffin has 20 points/14 boards, Chris Kaman 19 points/10 boards.

LA Clippers 85
Charlotte 78


Mar 14 - Charlotte(23-41) at Orlando (46-20)

We use a 23-7 first quarter to throw a little wrench in Orlando's plan to take the 1 seed in the East. Bell 18, Diaw 16, Felton 15. Howard 24 points, Rashard Lewis 17, Carter 14.

Charlotte 93
Orlando 83


Mar 16 - Charlotte(24-41) at Indiana (38-28)

Indiana demolishes us. Bell 22, Wallace 17, Felton 16. Granger 39, Hansbrough 22 points/9 boards.

Indiana 127
Charlotte 87


I'll be playing my next game againt Oklahoma City, looking forward to seeing Durant in game.

[CleBrownsfan]

Nice dynasty Radii - been following it for a while. You have wanted me to start one up myself...

[Radii]

Thanks for the kind words CleBrownsfan :)

March 17th, 2010

Oklahoma City (25-40) at Charlotte(24-42)

CHA:OKC
70:76 OVR
63:73 OFF
75:73 DEF

Oklahoma City Scouting

PG Russell Westbrook - 78 OVR - 17.5 ppg/6.9 apg - Good handles, pretty good defense, he's not rated as much of a scorer, but there isn't a lot of scoring outside of Durant so it looks like he gets more than he would elsewhere.

SG James Harden - 74 OVR - 12.4 ppg - A truly exciting young team here. Harden rates out a B handling, B- perimeter D, B outside scoring. Assuming they don't blow up the team, Harden/Westbrook/Durant will be a hell of a combo in a few years.

SF Kevin Durant - 81 OVR - 27.2 ppg/6.9 rpg - One of the best scorers in the league. A- inside/A outside, he needs to improve on defense to become a more all around highly rated player.

PF Serge Ibaka - 69 OVR - 6.4 ppg/7.6 rpg - An undrafted rookie, ok inside, ok in the post, ok on the glass, they just have no better.

C Etan Thomas - 61 OVR - 3.7 ppg/6.1 rpg - B+ rebounding, can't really do much else.

SF Jeff Green is their 6th man, rated 73 OVR, he's averaging 12.6 ppg and 5 boards.

No one else on the team is rated over 63.


HAH,awesome. the overview at the start of the game has green all over it and they mention St Patrick's Day.

First Quarter

Oklahoma City 28
Charlotte 15

Wow, domination. James Harden 16, Charlotte 15. Harden is 7-9 and just all over the place. Felton has 4 and is the only guy on our team with more than 1 field goal.


Second Quarter

The level to which we need better inside play is just stunning. We cut the lead under 10 and OKC isn't hitting jumpers, but with 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter Oklahoma City has 7 offensive boards. We have 0. They're outrebounding us 22-9 and are up by 17 as a result. We could win if we could rebound.


Oklahoma City 61
Charlotte 34

Yeah, screw this. Harden has 22 on 10-14 shooting. Durant scores 6 in the 2nd and is up to 8 total. Chandler, Henderson, Augustin with 6 for Charlotte. OKC leads the rebounding battle 29-13.

I quick sim this one to the end, just embarrassing.


Oklahoma City 103
Charlotte 69

Durant and Harden both end up with 27. Diaw 15, Augustin 12, Wallace 9 for Charlotte.

[Radii]

We've got 15 games left and I'm going to go ahead and end this dreadful first season, no more playing out games this year.

Mar 19 - Charlotte(24-43) at Atlanta(37-30)

Atlanta isn't giving up a game to us while they're fighting for playoff seeding. Crawford and Joe Johnson both put up 19. Augustin 14, Felton 13, Diaw 13.

Atlanta 92
Charlotte 85


Mar 20 - Charlotte(24-44) at Miami(31-38)

Miami controls the 2nd and 3rd quarter to get an easy win. Wade with 25. Felton 19, Augustin 15, Wallace 13.

Miami 111
Charlotte 94

[Radii]

Four weeks left in the regular season.

Eastern Conference

1. Orlando 47-23
2. Cleveland 46-24
3. Boston 45-24
4. Indiana 40-29
5. Atlanta 38-30
6. Philadelphia 37-33
7. Washington 35-32
8. New Jersey 33-36
----
9. New York 32-37 (1 game out of 8th)
10. Miami 32-38 (1.5 games out of 8th)
11. Toronto 29-39 (3.5 games out of 8th)


Western Conference

1. San Antonio 49-18
2. Portland 45-25
3. LA Lakers 43-26
4. Houston 38-29
5. Golden State 38-31
6. Utah 37-33
7. Minnesota 37-33
8. Denver 35-35
----
9. Dallas 34-35 (0.5 games out of 8th)
10. New Orleans 32-39 (3.5 out of 8th)
11. LA Clippers 30-39 (4.5 out of 8th)


The top 3 seeds in the east are interesting. San Antonio is dominating the west. Miami is trying to charge back into the playoffs after getting Wade back from injury, while Dallas/Denver looks to be a real exciting race too.

[Radii]

Mar 23 - Charlotte (24-45) at Washington(35-32)

Ouch. Jamison with a huge 34 point day for the Wizards. Wallace 20, Diaw 17, Bell 15 for us.

Washington 123
Charlotte 84


Mar 24 - Minnesota(37-34) at Charlotte(24-46)

A 31-13 3rd quarter seals our fate here. Wallace 17, Bell 17, Augustin 12. Iverson with 21 to lead the T-Wolves. Love 16, Flynn 15.

Minnesota 106
Charlotte 81


Mar 26 - Washington (37-33) at Charlotte (24-47)

We end a 6 game losing streak, finally. Wallace 15, Bell 13, Felton 10. Arenas 24, Butler 19.

Charlotte 84
Washington 72


Mar 29 - Toronto (32-40) at Charlotte (25-47)

Two wins in a row, this one against a team out of the playoff picture. Wallace 19, Bell 17, Felton 15. Turkoglu with 18 to lead Toronto.

Charlotte 93
Toronto 80


Mar 31 - Philadelphia (39-34) at Charlotte(26-47)

A tough 1 point OT loss today. Felton 18, Wallace 18, Augustin 14. Iguodala with 24, he's done well against us every time we've played.

Philadelphia 88
Charlotte 87
OT

[Radii]

Its April 1st now, and most teams have 7 or 8 games left to play. The top seeds in the East are real exciting for sure.

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland 50-25
2. Boston 49-25 (0.5 out of first)
3. Orlando 49-25 (0.5 out of first)
4. Indiana 42-33
5. Atlanta 41-33 (0.5 out of fourth)
6. Philadelphia 40-35
7. Washington 39-35 (0.5 out of 6th)
8. New Jersey 36-39
---
9. Miami 35-40 (1 out of 8th)
10. Toronto 33-41 (2.5 out of 8th)
11. New York 33-41 (2.5 out of 8th).
---
14. Charlotte 26-48




Western Conference

1. San Antonio 52-22
2. Portland 50-25 (2.5 out of first)
3. LA Lakers 48-27 (2 out of 2nd)
4. Houston 42-32
5. Utah 41-35(2 out of 4th)
6. Golden State 39-35 (1 out of 5th)
7. Dallas 39-36
8. Minnesota 39-36
----
9. Denver 35-40 (4 out of 8th)


Denver has lost 5 straight and basically collapsed, so the 8 teams that'll be in the playoffs from the West is pretty much set. Only a couple games separate 8th and 5th though so who plays who is totally up in the air.

[Radii]

Apr 2 - Milwaukee (23-51) at Charlotte (26-48)

Tied after 3, Milwaukee pulls out a win. Wallace 18, Felton 17, Bell 15. Jennings and Redd both put up 21 for the Bucks.

Milwaukee 90
Charlotte 87


Apr 3 - Charlotte (26-49) at Chicago (27-48)

Ping pong balls are up for grabs in this one! And apparently we hate ping pong balls. Augustin 22, Felton 17, Wallace 14. Rose and Hinrich both put up 20 to lead Chicago

Charlotte 99
Chicago 97



Cleveland/Orlando/Boston are all still within a half game of each other. Miami has tied New Jersey for the final playoff spot in the east. Portland has made the top of the west a race, they're only 1/2 game behind San Antonio.


Apr 6 - Atlanta (43-33) at Charlotte(27-49)

Atlanta outscores us 17-6 in the fourth quarter but we still win, crazy. Diaw 18, Wallace 16, Chandler 15. Joe Johnson with 31 for Atlanta.

Charlotte 83
Atlanta 78


Apr 7 - Charlotte(28-49) at New Orleans (33-45)

We had a good chance at the #2 pick, and we're playing our way right out of that in this last 10 days. Felton 23, Augustin 15, Wallace 12. David West (rated 77 OVR) puts up a career high 42 points for the Hornets.

Charlotte 98
New Orleans 94



With 4 games left, Miami now has a 1 game lead on New Jersey for the last spot in the East.



Apr 9 - Charlotte (29-49) at Houston (43-35)

Houston ends our 3 game win streak. Augustin 16, Bell 15, Wallace 12. Trevor Ariza 18.

Houston 88
Charlotte 79


Apr 10 - Detroit (33-46) at Charlotte(29-50)

We lead by 1 after 3 and dominate the 4th quarter to win. Augustin 18, Wallace 16, Bell 16. Charlie Villanueva with 15 for Detroit.

Charlotte 94
Detroit 83



Apr 12 - Charlotte (30-50) at New Jersey (38-42)

This game mathematically eliminates New Jersey from the playoffs. Miami is in. Felton 26, Wallace 16, Diaw 14. Devin Harris 15 points/11 assists.

Charlotte 86
New Jersey 68


Apr 14 - Chicago (28-52) at Charlotte (31-50)

A 2 point win and we end the season winning 6 out of 7. Something to build on? Felton 22, Bell 16. Rose 17 for Chicago.

Charlotte 84
Chicago 82

[Radii]

2009/10 Eastern Conference Final Standings

1. Boston 56-26
2. Cleveland 55-27
3. Orlando 53-29
4. Atlanta 46-36
5. Indiana 45-37
6. Washington 45-37
7. Philadelphia 43-39
8. Miami 39-43
---
9. New Jersey 39-43
10. Toronto 36-46
11. New York 36-46
12. Detroit 34-48
13. Charlotte 32-50
14. Chicago 28-54
15. Milwaukee 26-56


2009/10 Western Conference Final Standings

1. Portland 55-27
2. San Antonio 54-28
3. LA Lakers 52-30
4. Houston 47-35
5. Minnesota 44-38
6. Utah 43-39
7. Golden State 43-39
8. Dallas 42-40
---
9. Denver 39-43
10. LA Clippers 37-45
11. Oklahoma City 34-48
12. New Orleans 34-48
13. Memphis 32-50
14. Sacramento 31-51
15. Phoenix 30-52


So we're looking at the 5th or 6th pick pending lucky ball bounces in the Draft Lottery. I thought San Antonio had the top seed in the West locked up with like 20 games left. They really slipped.

Playoff Injuries

BOSTON - McGrady and Garnett are both OUT for 1-2 weeks going into the playoffs. Garnett was out for the last 10 games or so and they still won.


No players getting significant minutes are out for any other playoff teams. There are some injuries that can be played through(Manu Ginobili most noteworthy).

[Radii]

2009/10 Awards

MVP - Lebron James - Cleveland 28.0 points/8.1 rebounds/7.7 assists. Just ridiculous.

Rookie of the Year - Tyreke Evans - Sacramento - 16.5 points/3.4 rebounds/5.1 assists per game. 42% FG shooting.

6th Man Award - Jason Richardson - Phoenix 14.4 points/4.6 rebounds/1.2 assists per game.

Defensive POY - Ben Wallace - Detroit 1.9 steals/2.4 blocks per game.

Most Improved - Joakim Noah - Chicago 11.2 points/12.5 rebounds per game. 47% from the field.

Coach of the Year - Doc Rivers - Boston


All NBA 1st Team

PG Gilbert Arenas - 26.9 ppg/6.2 rpg/5.3 apg
SG Dwayne Wade - 29.9 ppg/5.3 rpg/6.8 apg
SF LeBron James - 28.0 ppg/8.1 rpg/7.7 apg
PF Tim Duncan - 20.2 ppg/12.5 rpg
C Dwight Howard - 20.5 ppg/12.9 rpg

Howard shoots 58.7% from the field.



All NBA 2nd Team

PG Deron Williams - 23.0 ppg/10.3 apg
SG Kobe Bryant - 29.3 ppg/5.3 rpg/6.3 apg
SF Kevin Durant - 26.9 ppg/7.0 rpg/3.2 apg
PF Chris Bosh - 24.5 ppg/11.8 rpg
C Chris Kaman - 17.8 ppg/10.7 rpg


All NBA 3rd Team

PG Devin Harris - 25.3ppg/6.2 apg
SG Andre Iguodala - 21.5 ppg/6.0 rpg/6.7 apg
SF Danny Granger - 27.2 ppg/5.4 rpg/2.7 apg
PF Dirk Nowitzki - 21.9 ppg/9.4 rpg
C Emeka Okafor - 14.9 ppg/11.0 rpg


All Defensive 1st Team

PG Jason Kidd
SG Dwayne Wade
SF Gerald Wallace
PF Josh Smith
C Ben Wallace


All-Defensive 2nd Team

PG Gilbert Arenas
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Shawn Marion
PF Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard


All-Rookie 1st Team[/b}

PG Tyreke Evans - Sacramento - 16.5 ppg/5.1 apg
SG James Harden - Oklahoma City - 12.4 ppg/3.3 rpg/3.1 apg
SF Terrence Williams - New Jersey - 13.9 ppg/7.7 rpg
PF Tyler Hansbrough - Indiana - 12.8 ppg/6.7 rpg
C Hasheem Thabeet - Memphis - 0.9 ppg/2.5 rpg

LOL Center?


[B]All-Rookie 2nd Team

PG Jonny Flynn - Minnesota - 16.0 ppg/5.4 apg
SG DeMar DeRozan - Toronto - 4.8 ppg
SF Earl Clark - Phoenix - 3.5 ppg/2.6 rpg
PF Serge Ibaka - Oklahoma City - 6.3 ppg/7.8 rpg
C David Andersen - Houston - 6.7 ppg/5.7 rpg


Whew, that's a lot of awards.

[Radii]

2009/10 NBA Playoffs - First Round

West

1. Portland vs 8. Dallas
4. Houston vs 5. Minnesota
3. LA Lakers vs 6. Utah
2. San Antonio vs 7. Golden State

East

1. Boston vs 8. Miami
4. Atlanta vs 5. Indiana
3. Orlando vs 6. Washington
2. Cleveland vs 7. Philadelphia


Day 1

Portland 97, Dallas 97 - Portland up 1-0
LA Lakers 105, Utah 93 - LA Lakers up 1-0
Boston 117, Miami 89 - Boston up 1-0
Orlando 112, Washington 97 - Orlando up 1-0


Day 2

Minnesota 80, Houston 78 - Minnesota up 1-0
Golden State 108, San Antonio 101 - Golden State up 1-0
Atlanta 113, Indiana 112 - Atlanta up 1-0
Philadelphia 101, Cleveland 99 - Philadelphia up 1-0


Day 3

Portland 124, Dallas 97 - Portland up 2-0
LA Lakers 105, Utah 91 - LA Lakers up 2-0
Boston 95, Miami 72 - Boston up 2-0
Washington 114, Orlando 108 - Series Tied 1-1

Day 4

Minnesota 111, Houston 80 - Minnesota up 2-0
San Antonio 109, Golden State 85 - Series Tied 1-1
Atlanta 112, Indiana 105 - Atlanta up 2-0
Cleveland 105, Philadelphia 75 - Series Tied 1-1


Day 5

Dallas 91, Portland 77 - Portland up 2-1
Utah 118, LA Lakers 94 - LA Lakers up 2-1
Miami 99, Boston 83 - Boston up 2-1
Orlando 102, Washington 95 - Orlando up 2-1

Day 6

Minnesota 102, Houston 90 - Minnesota up 3-0
San Antonio 109, Golden State 89 - San Antonio up 2-1
Indiana 120, Atlanta 87 - Atlanta up 2-1
Cleveland 112, Philadelphia 107 - Cleveland up 2-1

Day 7

Portland 91, Dallas 76 - Portland up 3-1
LA Lakers 106, Utah 99 - LA Lakers up 3-1
Boston 98, Miami 86 - Boston up 3-1
Washington 101, Orlando 86 - Series Tied 2-2


Day 8

Houston 113, Minnesota 89 - Minnesota up 3-1
San Antonio 90, Golden State 78 - San Antonio up 3-1
Indiana 132, Atlanta 108 - Series Tied 2-2
Cleveland 93, Philadelphia 87 - Cleveland up 3-1


Day 9

Washington 110, Orlando 99 - Washington up 3-2
Portland 91, Dallas 84 - Portland WINS 4-1
LA Lakers 93, Utah 87 - LA Lakers WINS 4-1
Boston 105, Miami 82 - Boston WINS 4-1


Day 10

San Antonio 99, Golden State 78 - San Antonio WINS 4-1
Cleveland 111, Philadelphia 82 - Cleveland WINS 4-1
Indiana 116, Atlanta 112 - Indiana leads 3-2
Houston 96, Minnesota 88 - Minnesota leads 3-2

Day 11

Washington 108, Orlando 91 - Washington WINS 4-2


Day 12

Indiana 114, Atlanta 81 - Indiana WINS 4-2
Minnesota 117, Houston 102 - Minnesota WINS 4-2



Whew, that's a lot of damn games

West

1. Portland vs 5. Minnesota
3. LA Lakers vs 2. San Antonio

East

1. Boston vs 5. Indiana
6. Washington vs 2. Cleveland

Washington over Orlando clearly was a huge upset. The 5 vs 4 series, meh.

[Radii]

2009/10 Playoffs - Second Round

Day 1

Boston 104, Indiana 85 - Boston up 1-0

BOS: Pierce 30 pts, McGrady 21 pts, Wallace 14 points/13 boards
IND: Granger 27 points

Minnesota 108, Portland 100 - Minnesota up 1-0

MIN: Iverson 25 points, Al Jefferson 24 points/13 boards
POR: Roy 24 pts, Aldridge 18 pts


Day 2

LA Lakers 116, San Antonio 89 - LA Lakers up 1-0

LAL: Bryant 24 pts, Gasol 21 pts/11 boards
SAS: Duncan 27 pts/15 boards/6 assists, Parker 24 pts


Washington 97, Cleveland 80 - Washington up 1-0

WAS: Arenas 28 pts, Butler 25 pts, Jamison 24 pts
CLE: James 28 pts/9 boards/10 assists


Day 3

@Boston 108, Indiana 107 - Boston up 2-0

BOS: Pierce 22 pts, Rondo 21 pts/12 ast
IND: Granger 23 pts, Hansbrough 19 pts

@Portland 110, Minnesota 93 - Series Tied 1-1

POR: Aldridge 28 pts/9 boards, Roy 25 pts
MIN: Flynn 18 pts, Iverson 17 pts


Day 4

@San Antonio 92, LA Lakers 90 - Series Tied 1-1

SAS: Duncan 24 pts/15 boards, Parker 21 pts
LAL: Bryant 26 pts/7 boards/9 asts

Washington 106, @Cleveland 96 - Washington up 2-0

CLE: Williams 19 pts, Lebron 17 pts/8 boards/11 assists
WAS: Arenas 32, Butler 24 pts


Day 5

@Indiana 100, Boston 97 - Boston up 2-1

IND: Granger 28 pts, Murphy 15 pts/11 boards
BOS: Pierce 22 pts, McGrady 16 pts


Portland 101, @Minnesota 97 - Portland up 2-1

MIN: Love 20 pts/12 boards, Iverson 19 pts
POR: Roy 36 pts, Aldridge 21 pts


Day 6

San Antonio 122, @LA Lakers 81 - San Antonio up 2-1

SAS: Duncan 30 pts/14 boards, Parker 24 pts/18 asts
LAL: Bryant 17 pts, Farmar 15 pts


Cleveland 93, @Washington 84 - Washington up 2-1

CLE: James 39 pts/7 boards/11 asts
WAS: Arenas 28 pts, Butler 20 pts


Day 7

Boston 108, @Indiana 87 - Boston up 3-1

BOS: Garnett 25 pts/7 boards, Wallace 23 pts, Rondo 20 pts
IND: Granger 28 pts, Hansbrough 15 pts


@Minnesota 106, Portland 77 - Series Tied 2-2

MIN: Jefferson 24 pts/14 boards, Flynn 24 pts/6 asts
POR: Roy 18 pts/8 boards/4 asts, Miller 13 pts


Day 8

San Antonio 96, @LA Lakers 92 - San Antonio up 3-1

LAL: Bryant 31 pts/4 boards/6 asts
SAS: Ginobili 27 pts, Duncan 19 pts/7 boards/4 blocks


Cleveland 115, @Washington 91 - Series Tied 2-2

WAS: Arenas 30 pts, Jamison 17 pts
CLE: James 30 pts/10 boards/14 asts


Day 9

Minnesota 89, @Portland 87 - Minnesota up 3-2

POR: Roy 21 pts, Aldridge 19 pts/8 boards
MIN: Iverson 22 pts, Flnn 15 pts


Indiana 100, @Boston 98 - Boston up 3-2

BOS: McGrady 34 pts, Pierce 34 pts
IND: Granger 44 pts!!! Hansbrough 20 pts


Day 10

@San Antonio 109, LA Lakers 104 - San Antonio WINS 4-1

SAS: Parker 33 pts/9 asts, Richard Jefferson 22 pts
LAL: Bryant 32 pts, Gasol 19 pts/11 boards


@Cleveland 89, Washington 84 - Cleveland up 3-2

CLE: James 26 pts/9 boards/9 asts
WAS: Butler 24 pts/8 boards, Jamison 20 pts/9 boards


Day 11

Portland 104, @Minnesota 100 - Series Tied 3-3

POR: Roy 39 pts
MIN: Iverson 21 pts, Jefferson 18 pts/9 boards


@Indiana 93, Boston 90 - Series Tied 3-3

IND: Murphy 23 pts/18 boards, Granger 21 pts
BOS: Pierce 16 pts


Day 12

Cleveland 113, @Washington 90 - Cleveland WINS 4-2

CLE: Williams 28 pts, O'Neal 19 pts, James 19 pts/12 boards/12 asts
WAS: Arenas 28 pts, Jamison 22 pts


Day 13

@Portland 111, Minnesota 101 (OT) - Portland WINS 4-3

POR: Roy 31 pts, Miller 14 pts
MIN: Iverson 26 pts/6 asts, Jefferson 16 pts/11 boards


@Boston 108, Indiana 104 - Boston WINS 4-3

BOS: Pierce 28 pts, Rondo 20 pts/9 boards, Garnett 20 pts/8 boards
IND: Granger 31 pts, Hansbrough 16 pts/7 boards

[Radii]

2009/10 Conference Finals

1. Portland vs 2. San Antonio
1. Boston vs 2. Cleveland


Day 1

@Portland 107, San Antonio 79 - Portland up 1-0

POR: Roy 34 pts, Oden 15 pts/15 boards
SAS: Parker 25 pts, Ginobili 13 pts


Day 2

@Boston 97, Cleveland 92 - Boston up 1-0

BOS: Pierce 28 pts, Garnett 22 pts/10 boards
CLE: James 26 pts/7 boards/9 asts, O'Neal 22 pts/9 boards


Day 3

San Antonio 109, @Portland 84 - Series Tied 1-1

SAS: Ginobili 26 pts/7 boards, Parker 22 pts/10 asts
POR: Aldridge 19 pts/7 boards, Roy 14 pts


Day 4

@Boston 106, Cleveland 76 - Boston up 2-0

BOS: Pierce 22 pts, Garnett 20 pts/11 boards
CLE: James 25pts/8 boards, Williams 17 pts


Day 5

@San Antonio 122, Portland 82 - San Antonio up 2-1

SAS: Ginobili 32 pts, Parker 30 pts/12 asts, Duncan 20 pts/8 boards
POR: Roy 21 pts, Oden 13 pts


Day 6

Boston 87, @Cleveland 81 - Boston up 3-0

BOS: Garnett 23 pts/10 boards/4 blocks, Pierce 18 pts/10 boards
CLE: James 22 pts/15 boards/7 asts


Day 7

@San Antonio 104, Portland 103 - San Antonio up 3-1

SAS: Parker 30 pts/7 asts, Ginobili 21 pts
POR: Roy 31 pts/6 asts, Aldridge 17 pts, Oden 16 pts/11 boards


Day 8

@Cleveland 114, Boston 93 - Boston up 3-1

CLE: James 43 pts/7 boards/10 asts, O'Neal 23 pts/12 boards
BOS: Rondo 21 pts, Pierce 15


Day 9

San Antonio 90, @Portland 88 - San Antonio WINS 4-1

SAS: Ginobili 31 pts, Duncan 14 pts/17 boards
POR: Roy 21 pts, Aldridge 15 pts/10 boards


Day 10

@Boston 76, Cleveland 73 - Boston WINS 4-1

BOS: Garnett 19 pts/12 boards, Pierce 17 pts
CLE: James 27 pts/12 boards/8 asts


Two boring series to set up the finals.

[Radii]

2009/10 NBA Finals

Game 1

@Boston 95, San Antonio 82 - Boston up 1-0

BOS: Pierce 27 pts, Garnett 16 pts/12 boards
SAS: Jefferson 20 pts, Ginobili 14 pts


Game 2

@Boston 95, San Antonio 92 - Boston up 2-0

BOS: garnett 17 pts/8 boards, Pierce 16 pts
SAS: Duncan 20 pts/15 boards, Jefferson 20 pts, Parker 18 pts/11 asts


Game 3

Boston 108, @San Antonio 87 - Boston up 3-0

BOS: Wallace 28 pts/12 boards, Garnett 22 pts
SAS: Ginobili 23 pts, Parker 18 pts


Game 4

Boston 95, @San Antonio 84 - Boston WINS 4-0

BOS: Pierce 20 pts/8 boards, Garnett 19 pts/13 boards
SAS: Ginobili 20 pts, Duncan 19 pts/15 boards


Boston sweeps San Antonio to win the NBA Title

[Radii]

I might have missed finals MVP or something, I'm up to the offseason stuff

Retirements

PG Lindsay Hunter - 18 years pro - 8 ppg average , retired from Chicago

PG Jason Kidd - 17 years pro - 1189 total games, 13.3 ppg/6.6 rebounds/9.1 assists per game. 15,802 points/10,812 assists

SF Michael Finley - 15 years pro - 15.3 ppg career average, 17,441 points. Retires from the Spurs

PF Juwan Howard - 16 years pro - 14.9 ppg/6.6 rpg - 15,520 points. Retires from Portland, only played 1 game in 2009/10 season.


Coach Retirements

Mike Dunleavy retires from the clippers
Jerry Sloan hangs it up with the Jazz
Rick Adleman retires from Houston

[Radii]

Coaching Staff

I make no changes to my coaching staff, due to having no budget room. Both Larry Brown and Phil Ford have their contracts expire after this upcoming season and that frees up 5.5 million(over half the staff budget).


Team/Player Options

C Alexis Ajinca - 44 OVR - $1.47M Team Option - DECLINED
-- Obvious. Player sucks.


SF Derrick Brown - 68 OVR - 762K Team Option - ACCEPTED
-- With my focus on bringing around Gerald Henderson, Brown's playing time suffered massively and he is unhappy. He wants a trade. If I can get a young, similarly rated big man in trade for Brown it'd be a good thing.

PF Vladimir Radmanovic - 53 OVR - $6.88M Player Option - DECLINED
-- He sucked, I'm really glad he declined obviously.

C Nazr Mohammed - 59 OVR - $6.88M Player Option - ACCEPTED
-- No Surprise, he got playing time, so of course he hangs around.

C Tyson Chandler - 74 OVR - $12.60M Player Option - ACCEPTED
-- Also no surprise, but sad. That's a lot of cash.


Noteworthy Options Around the League

Lebron James - $17.15M Player Option - DECLINED

Kobe, Wade, Bosh, Amare Stoudamire, Paul Pierce, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitski all have player options of $17 million or more and all ACCEPT.

All recent draftees with team options(Durant, Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Westbrook, etc) were obvoiusly picked up.


Player Re-signing

Felton is the only guy I have outstanding. On day 1 of 8, Felton wants 4 years starting at just over 7 million, ending at around 9.25 million/year. His overall rating went up 2 points from 74 to 76, he's not a bad PG but I'm not sure about all that.

I don't want to lose my 2nd best player with the unknowns of my first offseason. I end up offering a couple contracts that get rejected before going with a 4 year deal that starts at $6.92 million and increases 10% each year, worth exactly 9 million 4 years from now.


This signing takes me about $1 million over the salary cap, but again, I'm keeping the known entity for now. Its next year that my big contracts start to come off the books and I have options.


Draft Lottery

We're the 5th worst team with an 8.8% chance at the #1 pick.

The worst 14 teams in the lottery:

1. Milwaukee
2. Chicago
3. Phoenix
4. Sacramento
5. Charlotte
6. Memphis
7. Oklahoma City
8. New Orleans
9. Detroit
10. New York
11. Toronto
12. LA Clippers
13. Denver
14. New Jersey


We end up as the luckiest team in the draft as far as moving up. We don't get the top pick but we bump up to #2 overall!

Draft Order

1. Chicago
2. Charlotte
3. Sacramento
4. Milwaukee
5. Phoenix
6. Memphis
7. Oklahoma City
8. New Orleans
9. Detroit
10. New York
11. Toronto
12 LA Clippers
13. Denver
14. New Jersey

WOO!

[Radii]

Three of the top 5 projected picks are big men. A PG out of New Mexico is projected to go to Chicago.

My choices:

6'10" Samuel Padgett - Providence

Overall: A+
Potential: A+
Athleticism: B-
Inside Game: A+
Outside Game: C-
Playmaker Ability: D-
Inside Defense: A+
Man defense: A+
Rebounding: A+
Intangibles: A+

Overall he's rated C+ on offense, A+ Defense, A+ on the boards


I scouted him twice, he compares to Pau Gasol, should be an all star "sooner rather than later" and is described as an intense player, good in late-game situations. His biggest weakness is questionable basketball IQ/Awareness.


Center Leo Wilcox out of Arizona State is projected to go 3rd, but my scouts didn't like him this high Overall we graded him a B+ with B potential, lower than the other top 5 picks.


Lastly we have 6'9" PF Genwei Yee from China. He scouts noticibly lower than Padgett as well.

Based on my scouting so far, it'll take something bad in the workouts to go away from him.



ERGH. I badly screwed something up in the pre-draft workouts. I dunno what, I scheduled a bunch and then either auto-simmed them or cancelled them or something. I dunno, but I didn't get a chance to do any of them myself and didn't get any added info. Oh well, I think it was pretty obvious where i was going anyway.

[Radii]

NBA Draft

The overall ratings are revealed when players ae drafted it looks like.

1. Chicago - PG Jordan Price - 83 OVR
2. Charlotte - PF Samuel Padgett - 81 OVR
3. Sacramento - SF gary Oakley - 82 OVR
4. Milwaukee - PF Genwei Yee - 70 OVR
5. Phoenix - SG Laurence Flowers - 71 OVR
6. Memphis - PG Gary Hood - 73 OVR
7. Oklahoma City - PG Bradley Fleming - 72 OVR
8. New Orleans - SG Evan Dailey - 72 OVR
9. Detroit - C Rolando Faulk - 74 OVR
10. New York - SG Damien Fulton - 71 OVR
11. Toronto - SF Malik Sparks - 70 OVR
12. LA Clippers - PF Spencier Reid - 69 OVR
13. Denver - C Leo Wilcox - 70 OVR
14. New Jersey - PG Chad O'Connor - 73 OVR
15. Miami - C Charlie Galloway - 66 OVR
16. Dallas - SG Gabe Wesley - 71 OVR
17. Golden State - SG JP Cannon - 61 OVR
18. Utah - PF Christian Baxter - 70 OVR
19. Philadelphia - PG Marion Brand - 73 OVR
20. Minnesota - SF Clyde Ford - 70 OVR
21. Washington - SF Abe Townsend - 71 OVR
22. Indiana - PG Darren Bradshaw - 60 OVR
23. Atlanta - PG Wayne Law - 62 OVR
24. Houston - SF Peter Andersen - 61 OVR
25. LA LAkers - C Melvin Tiner - 67 OVR
26. Orlando - PG Edgar Bowden - 61 OVR
27. San Antonio - SF Lonny Graham - 61 OVR
28. Cleveland - C Johnny Richmond - 57 OVR
29. Portland - PG Duane Graves - 62 OVR
30. Boston - SG Conrad Cooper - 60 OVR


In the second Round I take 7 foot center Phillip Walters who comes in at 56 OVR, one of the lowest rated players in the entire draft. Based on these early ratings(do they all pan out exactly as seen here or are there booms/busts??) there aren't really any steals in round 2 at all.

We'll have to see more on that later. For now it looks like I hit big on Padgett.

[Radii]

Rookie Signings

I give both of my players what they want. I designate Padgett as a key starter on the team. He does come in as my single highest rated player after all.


Free Agency

I'm now 6 million over the cap going into free agency. I can use my MLE to sign a player but that's the only way i'll be adding anyone it appears.

Lebron James ended up re-signing with Cleveland, he's got a 6 year deal worth $123.5 million.

The top free agents in this class end up being:

PF Carlos Boozer - 88 OVR
SF/SG Rudy Gay - 83 OVR
SG/PG Allen Iverson - 82 OVR

Shaq(79 OVR), Ray Allen(79 OVR) are aging stars that are out there, Tracy McGrady is 31 years old and rated 77 OVR.

No one else in free agency is rated over 75 OVR.

I end up offering my MLE to Ray Allen, hoping to bring in a shooter for one year.

On the 19th day of free agency, Ray Allen decides to sign with Charlotte.

I can't tell where anyone else went until I leave free agency, hah!

Larry Hughes - New Jersey - 4 years/$17.06 million deal
Tracy McGrady - Boston - 5 years/$32.30 million deal (he's 31.. really?)
Carlos Boozer - Chicago - 4 years/$69.45 million
Rudy Gay - Sacramento - 5 years/$66.52 million
Shaquille O'Neal - Cleveland - 1 year/$2.26 million
Allen Iverson - LA Clippers - 2 years/$11.98 million


I'll see if there isn't a better way to track all that next year instead of "uhh yea here is where some guys went"

[Radii]

2010/11 Charlotte Bobcats Roster

Starters

PG Raymond Felton - 26 y/o - 6'1 198 lbs - 76 OVR (+2 from last year)

Felton averaged 13.8 ppg/6.5 assists last year. His mid-range jumper and ball handling have improved. He's still the best passer and ball security guy on the team by a lot. He'll get good minutes at the point again this year.

SG Ray Allen - 35 y/o - 6'5" 205 lbs - 79 OVR

Allen is my only free agent signing this season. He averaged 18.7 points/game last year for Boston and Houston, shooting 43% from 3. He's a great shooter from all over, rated 86 from behind the arc. A good ball handler but a pretty poor passer. Only an average defender, bringing in Allen and starting him over Bell is a sharp change towards an offensive minded team for us.

SF Gerald Wallace - 28 y/o - 6'7" 220 lbs - 81 OVR (+1)

Wallace put up 16 points/game last year and pulled in 9.8 rebounds. The CPU managing the substitution pattern liked putting him in at the 4, and I expect that to continue this year. He's explosive going to the hoop and can score in bunches.

PF Samuel Padgett - 20 y/o - 6'10" 261 lbs - 81 OVR

Padgett comes in with solid ratings already and superstar potential. He's a pretty good scorer inside with decent post offense and good post defense. His rebounding ratings are in the low 80s, 2nd best on the team behind Chandler. His stamina is a bit lacking compared to others on the team so he's going to start but may not get as many minutes as I hope to get him later on. Good defensive awareness. Padgett may be a more defense/rebounding forward early on but I hope he develops into a top scoring option as well.

C Tyson Chandler - 28 y/o - 7'1" 235 lbs - 74 OVR (+4)

I can't help but wonder if I made a typo when I wrote up Chandler last year, did he really gain 4 points to his overall rating? 6.2 ppg/9.2 rpg last year, a very good rebounder that I don't use a lot on offense. Padgett and Chandler give us an extremely strong front line as far as defending the post.


6th Man

PG DJ Augustin - 22 y/o - 6'0" 180 lbs - 73 OVR (+3)

Augustin is still developing, moving from 70->73 OVR as a 22 year old is pretty exciting. Augustin averaged 10.1 ppg last year, shooting 39.6% from the 3 point line. He's rated better from 3 than Ray Allen, 88 compared to allen's 86. He can shoot from anywhere, is quick and a great ball handler. He's a bit small at just 6 foot even, but he can break down a defense and dish on occasion. His horrible defensive awareness(49) remains a barrier that might keep him out of my starting lineup.

Role Players

SG Raja Bell - 34 y/o - 6'5" 215 lbs - 67 OVR (-4)

Bell is pissed off about losing his starting spot, and he lost a lot in development to begin with, dropping from 71->67 OVR. His 3 point shot has faded a bit and he is nowhere near the lockdown defender he was last year. That happened a lot faster than I expected.

PF Boris Diaw - 28 y/o - 6'8" 235 lbs - 74 OVR (+1)

Diaw will be my primary big man off the bench, though he's a bit unhappy about not being a starter anymore either. He still has a solid shot from everywhere on the court, with low post and 3 point shot ratings both in the low 80s. He's a weaker rebounder though.
Prospects

SF Gerald Henderson - 22 y/o - 6'4" 215 lbs - 70 OVR (+3)

Like Augustin, Gerald Henderson showed significant improvement last season. Only 4.8 ppg as a rookie last year, his shot has improved some but is still basically average. In fact I'd say the same thing about him now that I did last year... he doesn't have a ton of basketball skills but he's decent and a physically gifted athlete.


Bench Players

SF Derrick Brown is rated 68 OVR, but extremely unhappy at being forced out of the rotation. I still intend to try to trade him for a guy ready to back up someone.

C Dasagna Diop and Nazr Mohammad are both rated under 60 and guys I just dont want to have to rely on. With Augustin, Bell and Henderson I have decent depth on the perimeter, Diaw is undersized though and Diop and Mohammad are just not good enough.

[rjolley]

Why would Chicago draft a PG when they have a young star PG already and a need for a post player, even though they got Boozer. Even the SF who went third would've made a bit more sense.

Great steal for you, though. Padgett could be exactly what you need.

[Radii]

I don't see an easy way to see teams overall ratings, so we'll look at the power rankings to get a feel for the talent distribution in the league this year.

NBA Preseason Power Rankings

1. LA Lakers
-- Kobe(99 OVR), Gasol (89), Artest(81), Bynum(80).. weak at PG (Farmar and Fisher both rated around 70) but the star power on this team is impossible to ignore.


2. Boston
-- Rondo(91 OVR), Garnett (90) and Pierce(86) are all still great, McGrady comes into the year hurt but rated in the mid-70s still when he's back healthy. Not a ton of depth, but three stars goes a long way.

3. Orlando
--Similar to the Lakers, Howard(92), Nelson(84), Carter(83), and Rashard Lewis(81) give them four big options.

4. Atlanta
-- Joe Johnson(89), Horford(82), and Josh Smith(82) are 3 solid players, Mike Bibby can still play the point, and Marvin Williams and Jeff Teague are pretty good role players.

5. Cleveland
-- Lebron with 3 decent parts to go with him. Mo Williams(81), Shaq(79), and Delonte West(79) will help out King James as much as possible.

6. LA Clippers
-- The Clippers all of a sudden have 6 guys that would start on most teams. Blake Griffin(82), Baron Davis(82), Allen Iverson(82), Chris Kaman(79), TJ Ford(78), and Eric Gordon(78). They don't have one superstar but their top 6 is incredibly impressive.

7. Washington
--Arenas(89) and Butler(88) are legit stars, Jamison is fading(76) at 36 years old, they snagged Zydrunis Ilgauskas in the offseason to add some big man depth(71 OVR)

8. Minnesota
--Al Jefferson(87) is the star of the team but Jonny Flynn is rocketing up there(81) too. Ramon Sessions and Kevin Love(both 77 OVR) add some help.

9. Chicago
-- Brand new team here and they look great. Carlos Boozer was the prize of free agency(88 OVR), Derrick Rose(84) has a new backcourt mate in Jordan Price(83 OVR), the top pick of the draft Add in Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich(77 and 78) and this is a powerful team.

10. Oklahoma City
--Durant(86), Harden(80), Westbrook(83), and Green(77) give this team lots of options. They snagged Joakim Noah once Chicago decided to let the great rebounder go(that's fishy but ok).

11. New York
-- New York didn't really add anyone. Nate Robinson(80), Nene(79), David Lee(79), and Wilson Chandler(77) make up this team that I don't suspect is really one of the top 12 teams in the league.


12. Portland
--Brandon Roy(93) is a legit superstar. LaMarcus Aldridge(82) and Greg Oden(78) are a very imposing front court, but this team basically goes as far as Roy can take them. 27 points/game last year took them a long ways.

13. Philadelphia
-- Andre Iguodala is rated 88 OVR and seemed to always kill us. Thaddeus Young, Elton Brand, and JR Smith are decent added parts but this isn't a team that looks to threaten the big boys.

14. Memphis
--OJ Mayo is well on his way to star status, 84 OVR at 23 years old. Randolph(81) and Mike Conley(78) are the only other noteworthy pieces on the team.


15. Golden State
-- A surprise playoff team last year, they don't look a lot better this year Monta Ellis comes in at 81 OVR and Stephen Jackson 79 OVR. 24 year old big man Andris Biedrins is rated 77 and is the only other noteworthy player.


16. Charlotte
-- Wallace(81), rookie Padgett(81), Ray Allen(79) have Charlotte improving, but not good yet I don't think.


17. New Jersey
--Devin Harris(88) and Brook Lopez(82) give the Nets two solid options. Larry Hughes was their big free agent signing(75 OVR) and gives them a little more scoring. Harris starts the season injured.


18. Denver
-- How did Denver miss the playoffs last year? Carmelo(92 OVR) and Billups(86 OVR) are stars, they actually don't have a lot after that which explains it. Lawson is rated 76 and will be a good PG once Billups wears down.

19. Sacramento
-- Rookie SF Gary Oakley(82 OVR) will step in with Rudy Gay(83) and Kevin Martin(82) to provide a pretty decent punch. Its the lack of an inside game that will hurt the Kings though.

20. San Antonio
-- This seems ridiculous. Parker(90), Ginobili(84), and Duncan(89) are still 3 of the best players in the league. They added Rafer Alston(73) for some depth in the offseason. its an old team though, they need to win soon.

21. Houston
--Yao is back(86 OVR) but he's all they have. Brooks(77) and Ariza(76) are ok but this isn't a good team anymore.

22. Dallas
--Dirk(83) and Shawn Marion(80) lead this team. They lack inside talent after Dirk though, looks like Brad Miller(63) is their starting center.

23. Toronto
--Bosh is a stud(87), Jose Calderon and Hedo(78 and 76) are good to go along with him but this is another team that is missing depth. I think though they may be better than some of the teams listed above them that lack a superstar.

24. Indiana
--Danny Granger(89) has become one of the best players in the NBA and will carry Indiana one again. Their second best player is rated 73 OVR.

25. Utah
--Losing Boozer kills the Jazz. Like Indiana, they hae one star and nothing else. This is all about Deron Williams(93)

26. Phoenix
-- Amare(86), Nash(79), and Barbosa(79) can get Phoenix out of the gutter if they get a little help. I was really shocked they were so bad last year.

27. Miami
-- Miami comes in with 3 players having nagging injuries that will slow them to start the year. Mario Chalmers(77), Michael Beasle(77) and Dwayne Wade(96) are all hurt. Once they're all healthy Miami immediately becomes a playoff team IMO.

28. Detroit
--Ben Gordon(82), Prince(77) and Stuckey(77) give this team some average players but no real star power.

29. New Orleans
--Chris Paul is still goign to miss another month with his ACL injury. Once he's back the hornets vault way up this list. Paul(95) and David West(81) and Emeka Okafor(79) give them a chance to beat anyone.

30. Milwaukee
-- legitimately the worst team in the league. Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut are rated 75 OVR and the best players on the team. They drafted one of the biggest busts of the draft in PF Genwei Yee(69 OVR out of the #5 pick). Jennings is only 72 in this roster set. Bad, bad team.

[Radii]

Why would Chicago draft a PG when they have a young star PG already and a need for a post player, even though they got Boozer. Even the SF who went third would've made a bit more sense.

Great steal for you, though. Padgett could be exactly what you need.


Their PG is technically listed as "PG/SG" so we'll see how that works out. He's slated as their 6th man initially though. Definitely some questionable moves here, the SF would have made a ton of sense for them. Noah averaged a double double last year too and Chicago failed to pick up his team option and let him go to free agency. That's really bad.

[Ironhead]

Their PG is technically listed as "PG/SG" so we'll see how that works out. He's slated as their 6th man initially though. Definitely some questionable moves here, the SF would have made a ton of sense for them. Noah averaged a double double last year too and Chicago failed to pick up his team option and let him go to free agency. That's really bad.

If I recall from what I have seen in my association for some reason the Bulls never play Noah starter minutes. This results in him getting frustrated and his morale dips. He might have been demanding a trade. That's probably the reason why his team option wasn't picked up but it still constitutes pretty bad team management by the CPU. Either 1) play him more minutes because he isn't a bad center or 2) pick up his option and then trade him.

[Radii]

We get an intriguing matchup right out of the gate. Top pick vs 2nd pick, new look Bulls vs a slowly improving Charlotte team.

October 28, 2010

Chicago(0-0) at Charlotte(0-0)

CHA:CHI
82:85 OVR
78:91 OFF
84:78 DEF

Chicago Scouting

PG Derrick Rose - 84 OVR - Great ball handler, good defender, good scorer. Rose averaged 17.3 points/7.1 assists a game last season.

SG Kirk Hinrich - 78 OVR - Slowed by an injury he picked up in the preseason. Hinrich is rated B+ as an outside scorer, B perimeter defense, B ball handling. He scored just about 10/game last year.

SF Luol Deng - 77 OVR - A solid 15.4 ppg last year, with Boozer and improved players around him this will presumably drop. Deng is a scorer though, B inside, B+ outside, not much of a defender. I remember Henderson owning him last year.

PF Carlos Boozer - 88 OVR - The prize free agent pickup of the year, 17.5 ppg/11 rpg for the Jazz last season. A inside, B- post D, A+ rebounding. Boozer will be a force.

C Drew Gooden - 70 OVR - 8.7 ppg/5.7 rpg last year, Gooden is easily the weak link in the starting lineup. That doesn't help me much though as Tyson Chandler isn't exactly the type to go take advantage. Decent inside scorer, good rebounder, not much else.

6th man and #1 pick in the draft Jordan Price is rated 83 OVR, B- inside, B+ outside, B+ perimeter D, A- handling. B+ Basketball IQ and B+ athlete, this guy will be great.

Another signing that got less notice than Carlos Boozer.. welcome the Bulls new backup center, 63 rated Kwame Brown!


First Quarter

Charlotte 24
Chicago 18

Solid 1st quarter. We lead the entire way. A Ray Allen 3 at the buzzer gives him 5 points to lead us. Henderson, Wallace and Felton all have 3. Padgett plays 10 minutes, 1-2 from the field, 1-4 from the line. He has the worst FT motion ever. Deng leads Chicago with 8, Rose with 6.

Second Quarter

Chicago 50
Charlotte 47

Not nearly as good a second quarter. We actually went up 11, 33-22 before Chicago went on a huge tear. But first the good, PF Samuel Padgett is the player of the half with 9 points/4 boards/2 blocks! Gerald Wallace is 2nd with 8 for us. Augustin 7, Felton 6, Allen 5. Luol Deng is killing us on Chicacgo's end. He has 20 points on 8-11 shooting. We haven't been able to slow him at all. Rookie Jordan Price is FAST. HE burns Felton multiple times, shoots 4-5 in 9 minutes and has 11 points.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 75
Chicago 68

And we go right back on top, leading by 7 after 3. Gerald Wallace dominates the quarter. He scores 12 and leads us with 20. Ray Allen hits a 2nd trey and gets to the rim a couple times, he's up to 14 now. Padgett misses some ugly shots inside, I was clearly forcing it to him a few times, he has 11. Deng only got 2 in the quarter, Price none for Chicago. Rose and Gooden both have 10 total. A great quarter for us, leading by 7 going into the last 12 minutes.


Fourth Quarter

8:50 to go - Chicago with a great start, Hinrich has 7 and its a 77-77 tie.

5:50 to go - Well, we've only scored 6 all quarter but its still tied up, 81-81.

5:00 to go - Chandler with a charger on our end, Chicago with a midrange jumper and they lead for the first time this quarter, 83-81.

3:15 to go - Ray Allen gives us the lead with a 3 point play, 84-83, before Chicago's rookie Price hits a 3 and then they score again after we miss, 88-84 Bulls, ugh!

1:25 to go - Allen misses two open 3's, Wallace with a charge and we are not doing well in the final minutes. 91-84 Bulls

1:12 to go - I don't take a lot of 3's with Felton, but wide open on a kickout I have to try it, and Felton drains a huge one. 91-87.

0:45 to go - Probably over... Rose with an incredible 3 point play, we get a couple back but its looking dim. 94-89.


The final 6 minutes of the 4th are a disaster and Chicago gets the win.

Chicago 96
Charlotte 89

Derrick Rose is the player of the game with 15 points and 11 assists.


Wallace: 20 points/11 boards
Allen: 17 points/3 assists
Padgett: 15 points/7 boards/2 blocks
Chandler: 10 points/7 boards
Felton: 9 points/3 assists
Augustin: 7 points
Henderson: 6 points

Deng leads Chicago with 22, Price with 18 in his first game, Rose 15, Boozer 12.


I might try to start controlling subs myself, its not the entire reason that I lost by my starters played about 3-4 minutes more each than I wanted and all of them were totally gassed at the end of the game. An extra minute or two rest in the 4th could have made a big difference.

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm curious so I have to ask - how time consuming is it to write up this dynasty? Very in depth of just not your team but other teams as well. Again, very well done.

[Travis]

Reading along and really enjoying even though I'm not all that knowledgeable about basketball. Really looking forward to how you attack the next offseason with the contracts (players and coaches) coming off the books and how you'll mold the team going forward.

Congrats on the draft pick too. Looks like if you'd picked outside of the top 3 that it could have left you short a pretty nice looking building block going forward.

[Radii]

I'm curious so I have to ask - how time consuming is it to write up this dynasty? Very in depth of just not your team but other teams as well. Again, very well done.


The offseason stuff/playoffs was time consuming, but I find that if I don't do that then I don't really pay attention to what's going on elsewhere in the league at all, so its my way to get myself immersed in the league/game and totally worth any time it takes.

I think once I'm in the playoffs it won't seem like as much, that took forever.

[Groundhog]

30. Milwaukee
-- legitimately the worst team in the league. Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut are rated 75 OVR and the best players on the team. They drafted one of the biggest busts of the draft in PF Genwei Yee(69 OVR out of the #5 pick). Jennings is only 72 in this roster set. Bad, bad team.

Can't help but laugh at this, after the Yi Jianlian debacle. :D

I started my Bucks franchise using OS's rosters, and Jennings is about a 75 IIRC, and pretty awesome.

[Radii]

Lets see how we do over a couple weeks of simmed games:

Oct 30 - Washington(0-1) at Charlotte(0-1)

We're down by 8 after 1, play things pretty even over the next two quarters and fall just short. Ray Allen leads us with 24, Felton 15, Diaw 13. Padgett 5 points/9 boards. Arenas 25 for Washington.

Washington 93
Charlotte 90


Nov 1 - Charlotte(0-2) at Golden State(2-0)

First win of the year in a higher scoring road affair. Wow, Ray Allen 8-11 from 3, 34 points. Bell 15, Henderson 14. Randolph with 23 points for Golden State.

Charlotte 116
Golden State 107


Nov 3 - Charlotte(1-2) at Oklahoma City(3-1)

Dominated by Durant and the Thunder. Durant 25, Westbrook 19. Felton 21, Allen 16, Wallace 14 for us.

Oklahoma City 107
Charlotte 89


Nov 4 - Charlotte(1-3) at Phoenix(3-1)

A tough overtime win on the road. Nash with 24 points/16 assists for phoenix. Allen 21, Diaw 13, Augustin/Wallace/Chandler/Felton all have 12.

Charlotte 111
Phoenix 108
OT


Nov 6 - Charlotte(2-3) at Miami(2-2)

Wade with 26, Beasley with 19 in a Miami win. Wallace 17, Augustin 13, Allen 11.

Miami 84
Charlotte 75


Nov 7 - Denver(4-2) at Charlotte(2-4)

A 1 point loss in OT, tough one. Allen 24, Diaw 16, Wallace and Felton 15. Billups 25, Melo 24 for Denver.

Denver 105
Charlotte 104
OT


Injury

Tyson Chandler is going to be slowed for 4-6 weeks with a broken finger. He can play, and he will, but his effectiveness will be lessened.


Nov 11 - Charlotte(2-5) at New York(5-2)

Another loss, I'd really hoped to start off better than this. Wilson Chandler 28, Nene 21 for the Knicks. Augustin 20, Allen 20, Tyson Chandler 16 for us.

New York 104
Charlotte 96



Antonio McDyess goes from San Antonio to Oklahoma City in exchange for a 2nd rounder in next year's draft. MyDyess is rated 65 OVR and 36 years old.

Our next game is at Philly, I'll be playing that one.

[Radii]

November 13, 2010

Charlotte(2-6) at Philadelphia(4-5)

CHA:PHI
78:84 OVR
75:81 OFF
82:84 DEF

Philadelphia Scouting

PG Marion Brand - 74 OVR - 12.3 ppg/5.2 apg - Brand was the 19th pick of the draft this year for Philly, and he's already running the point on a team that has a good shot at hte playoffs. Not bad at all. B- outside, B+ perimeter D, B+ hands.

SG Andrew Iguodala - 87 OVR - 19.6 ppg/5.4 rpg/6.2 apg - B- inside/B outside/A- perimeter D/B+ hands, an all around star and great athlete.

SF Thaddeus Young - 77 OVR - 17.3 ppg/5.6 rpg, 59.2% from the field - B inside, A- outside, B- perimeter D, 6'8" and 22 years old, Young is shaping out to be a very solid player.

PF Elton Brand - 77 OVR - 11.7 ppg/7.4 rpg - B+ inside, B- post D, A- rebounding - a tried and true big man with 12 years in the NBA now, but he's 4 years removed from 20 points/10 boards ability

C Samuel Dalembert - 67 OVR - 0.7 ppg/7.4 rpg - They don't let him shoot I guess, less that 1 point/game despite getting 25 minutes of action. B+ post D, A+ rebounding.

SG JR Smith(76 OVR) is the top guy off the bench, 15.6 ppg so far. PG Jrue Holiday(71 OVR) and PF Marresse Speights(71 OVR) are the other guys who will be seeing a lot of minutes.


First Quarter

Philadelphia 33
Charlotte 19

Just awful. Padgett with 6 on 2-5 shooting and a couple FT's. Wallace 4 points. Ray Allen goes 0-3 from 3, I just can't get anything done. Iguodala 13, Young 10. Iguodala is a crazy athlete and I can't stop him. No reason he can't score 50.


Second Quarter

Philadelphia 53
Charlotte 40

Well, we let Philly push the lead up to 20 before we cut it back down. Philly shoots 52%, we shoot 32%. Its just all bad really. Wallace 10, Padgett 9, Allen 8 for us so far. JR Smith 13, Iguodala slows down, still at 13. I guess b/c JR Smith got all his points this quarter, so it was his turn.


Third Quarter

Philadelphia 82
Charlotte 70

Once again, we fall behind by 20 and make a charge to get it back down close to 10. This quarter was the thaddeus Young quarter. Young has 21, Smith 18, Iguodala 17. They are 8-14, 8-13, 8-13 from the field respectively. That's 24-40, 3-5 from 3. Padgett is having a great game for us. He's got 22 on 9-13 from the field. Wallace 15, Allen 13. We just aren't scoring consistently while they really are.


Fourth Quarter

8:30 to go - A 3 point play from Gerald Henderson gets the lead below 10 for the first time since the first quarter. It's 91-82. I don't think we can do it though. Every time it seems like we're doing something well, Iguodala does something soulcrushing, like a 25 foot 3 after 23.9 seconds of perfect defense.

6:30 to go - 96-86, we blew a chance to get the lead down a bit more, allowing an offensive board and 3 point play a couple trips ago.

3:50 to go - 100-93, we get 5 in a row including a rare 3 from Diaw. We still need a few more stops but its still in reach.

1:15 to go - 104-99. We missed two chances to get it down to 5 earlier. Iguodala actually misses a midrange shot, and Ray Allen hits a runner to get it down to 5.

0:45 to go - They must be tiring. JR Smith misses a jumper. Padgett with an inside out with Ray Allen, but he was on the 3 point line. Its good for two. 104-101.

0:22 to go - Another missed shot by Philly, Gerald Wallace takes his man one on one and gets to the rim, 104-103.

0:20 to go - They hit two free throws, 106-103. I bring in DJ Augustin for the 3 point shooting. Felton, Augustin, Allen, Wallace, Padgett.

0:11 to go - Augustin gets a good look but its off the front rim. We have to foul and they hit from the line, 108-103.

And that's that. Philly really was in control for a very large majority of this game, it was all we could do to give ourselves an outside shot at the end.

Philadelphia 109
Charlotte 105


Padgett: 26 points/11 boards/1 block - 11-15 from the field, I'm extremely happy with what I was able to do with Padgett today, makes me pretty excited for the future here.

Wallace: 23 points/7 boards
Allen: 17 points
Augustin: 11 points
Henderson: 10 points
Chandler: 8 points/10 boards


For Philly, it was a very impressive 3 man show. Young 28, Iguodala 25, Smith 20. With those three guys hitting the jumpers so damn effectively, rookie PG Brand gets 15 assists.

[Radii]

Can't help but laugh at this, after the Yi Jianlian debacle. :D


Hah yeah. It does make me wonder about the draft. Unless there's something with potential/player development, there's just no one at all in the middle of this first draft that is rated way different than everyone else in the same range. Though a rookie who got picked 19th just had a 15 assist game for Philly, his ratings are totally in line with everyone else that got picked near him. I'm curious to see how future drafts go

[law90026]

It seems like Padgett isn't playing that well for you guys when simming? Or are his rebounding/blocks decently high?

[Radii]

It seems like Padgett isn't playing that well for you guys when simming? Or are his rebounding/blocks decently high?

He's rebounding well, just not taking a lot of shots. It seems like the simmed games involve a *lot* more jump shooting, or a lot less attacking the basket. Last season Gerald Wallace led the team in scoring any time I played a game due to me using Wallace to attack the rim every chance I got. In simmed games Felton and Bell led the team in scoring just as often.

The same thing seems to be happening this year with Ray Allen putting up some big numbers as a jump shooter in my first few simmed games.


Actually, now that you mention it, an issue with College Hoops 2k8 was that younger guys would often be very talented but have a very very low tendency to shoot and wouldn't really come into their own until their junior or senior season. I'll have to see how that works in the NBA game.

[Radii]

Padgett's shot tendency is listed as 26, with an "average starting PF in the NBA" at 66. So he just doesn't like to shoot apparently. He's taking 5 shots a game in simmed games about. He was scouted as a defensive/rebounding guy. The Philly game, even compared to other games with me controlling him, I suspect is probably going to end up as an outlier.

Development of the shot tendency rating though will be interesting to watch.

[law90026]

That's pretty cool that his stats pretty much reflect his tendencies. Thanks for taking the time to look into it.

[Radii]

Nov 14 - San Antonio(5-5) at Charlotte(2-7)

An unexpected win. Felton 19, Allen 12, Wallace 11. Padgett 6 points/12 boards. Duncan 21, Ginobili 19.

Charlotte 88
San Antonio 81


Nov 16 - Oklahoma City (8-3) at Charlotte(3-7)

We get revenge on OKC, they beat us by 18 earlier in the month, and we get an 18 point win. Allen 18, Wallace 16, Felton 14, Padgett 8 points/7 boards. Harden and Westbrook with 19 each for OKC. Durant is out for 2-4 weeks with a strained Achilles, he didn't play.

Charlotte 98
Oklahoma City 80


Injury

Ugh. Tyson Chandler tears an ACL. He's out for the year.

New Rotation:

PG Felton
SG Allen
SF Wallace
PF Diaw
C Padgett

6 Augustin
7 Mohammed
8 Bell
9 Henderson

Diaw is pretty happy to be back in the lineup.


Nov 18 - Orlando (3-6) at Charlotte(4-7)

Orlando crushes us here. Allen 17, Diaw 16, Wallace 13. Padgett plays 14 minutes and fouls out. Howard 26 points/12 boards, Nelson 26, Lewis 24.

Orlando 113
Charlotte 94


Nov 20 - New Orleans(2-10) at Charlotte(4-8)

Paul still isn't back and we take advantage. Felton 25, Allen 22, Wallace 17, Padgett 6 points/12 boards. West 26 for the Hornets.

Charlotte 107
New Orleans 84


League Trades

Oklahoma City gets: PF Lamar Odom (78 OVR)
LA Lakers get: SF Jeff Green(78 OVR)

OKC had no solid big men, LA gets a younger guy who gets minutes and will step in for Artest at some point.

Portland gets: PF Tyrus Thomas(72 OVR)
New York gets: PG Steve Blake(72 OVR)

Neither starts on either team, this just changes where each team's depth lies.



Nov 21 - Charlotte(5-8) at San Antonio(5-8)

We've won 4 out of 5 with this one and we really win this one big. Ginobili 23, Parker 19 for the Spurs. Allen 26, Wallace 23, Felton 22, Padgett 0 points/8 boards and more foul trouble.

Charlotte 111
San Antonio 85


November 26 - Atlanta(10-3) at Charlotte(6-8)

Huge 1 point win over one of the better teams in the league. We lead 27-15 after a quarter, Atlanta closes in the rest of the way but we hold on for a 1 point win. Diaw 20, Wallace 17, Felton and Allen 16. Padgett 2 points/10 boards. Joe Johnson 22 points/9 boards/8 assists.

Charlotte 90
Atlanta 89


Nov 27 - Toronto (7-8) at Charlotte(7-8)

.500!! Turkoglu with 30 for the Raptors. Augustin 27(in 20 minutes!), Allen 25, Felton 20. Padgett 8 points/10 boards.

Charlotte 111
Toronto 107


That puts us at 8-8, I'll play the next game at the pistons.

[Radii]

November 20, 2010

Charlotte(8-8) at Detroit(5-11)

CHA: DET
78:78 OVR
78:84 OFF
80:75 DEF

Detroit Scouting

PG Rodney Stuckey - 77 OVR - 14.6 ppg/6.7 apg - C+ inside/B+ outside/B perimeter D/B+ handling. Most PGs in the NBA are better ball handlers, Stucky looks like more of a scorer than a traditional distributor.

SG Ben Gordon - 82 OVR - 17.3 ppg - A+ outside scoring, average D, B hands. Easily the best player on the team.

SF Tayshaun Prince - 77 OVR - 11.8 ppg/4.5 rpg - Shooting 40% this year, that'd be the worst by far in his career. B- inside/B+ outisde/B- perimeter D/C+ post D, decent all around

PF Charlie Villanueva - 71 OVR - 134 ppg/8.3 rpg - Morale is slipping, despite being a starter. B inside/B+ outside, terrible defender.

C Rolando Faulk - 73 OVR - 4.1 ppg/9.9 rpg - Faulk was the 9th pick in the draft He's 7'3". B inside/B- post D/B+ rebounder.

SG Richard Hamilton(75 OVR) is averaging 11.9 ppg off the bench for the Pistons. The rest of their backups are all rated 72 or below. Jason Maxiell is hurt and knocked down pretty far, but he looks like he'll be the top big man off the bench, just scoring about 3.5 per game.

First Quarter

Detroit 28
Charlotte 20

A quick 9-0 run, two threes and a 3 point play let Detroit run out to an early lead and its been even since then. Diaw picked up 2 fouls in about 2 minutes and sat. Padgett leads us with 6 on 3-5 shooting inside. Augustin and Wallace have 4 each. Villanueva has 12, Gordon 9.

Second Quarter

Detroit 55
Charlotte 45

We had it down to 6, 49-43 before Detroit ran off 6 straight. We got a bucket to get it to 10 at the half. Detroit is 4-9 from 3, I'm 0-9. Wallace had a great quarter, he's got 16 at the half. Padgett has 12 points/5 boards on 5-8 shooting. He seems to get to the rim well and I can find him for easy layups after penetrating and breaking down the defense, most of his shots are simply me catching him wide open 4 feet from the rim. For Chicago... Ben Gordon,wow. He's 8-11 from the field, 2-2 from 3, 3-3 from the line. He's got 21. Villanueva has 15, but he's horribly mismatched trying to play the 4 and we were able to get him in foul trouble pretty easily. No one else has more than 3 for Detroit.


Third Quarter

Detroit 78
Charlotte 58

Well, that was just bad. They dominated us inside, dominated the glass, and I couldn't hit any shots. I'm having a really hard time hitting jump shots in general. Wallace 20, Padgett 14. Allen is 1-7 from 3. Gordon 25, Villanueva 19 for the Pistons.


Fourth Quarter

Quick sim after Detroit scores the first four of the period.


Detroit 108
Charlotte 77

Wallace: 20 points/7 boards
Padgett: 14 points/7 boards
Diaw: 12 points
Augustin: 10 points
Allen: 9 points


Gordon with 34 for the Pistons on 13-19 shooting. Villanueva 19, Hamilton 14.

[Radii]

I seem to be struggling mightily with jumpers, even taking Ray Allen into practice mode and getting "perfect release" on 90% of my shots I make a really low % of them(allen has an easy smooth shooting motion, very easy to get a perfect release). I think I've seen other complaints about this as well, I'm gonna increase all my shooting sliders to match the CPU ones for now and see how that goes.

[Radii]

Dec 2 - Boston (6-12) at Charlotte(8-9)

We pull off a very close win over the struggling Celtics. Diaw 23, Allen 16, Felton 16. Pierce 27, Garnett 20.

Charlotte 99
Boston 97


Dec 4 - New York(11-8) at Charlotte(9-9)

A big win to get us over .500, no thanks to my ability to play out games so far. Wallace 32 points/7 boards, Diaw 22, Felton 20. Robinson 24, Lee 18 for the knicks.

Charlotte 112
New York 87


Dec 5 - Charlotte(10-9) at Dallas(9-11)

Dallas leads by 13 after 3 and wins by 6. Undrafted 2nd year PG Rodrigue Beaubois out of France scores 25 for Dallas. Dirk with 19 points/11 boards. Diaw 23, Felton 19, Augustin 19.

Dallas 100
Charlotte 94

[Radii]

Dec 9 - Indiana(10-8) at Charlotte(10-10)

Another slim win, we led by 14 after 3, Indiana dominates the 4th but we hang on. Felton 27, Allen 18, Diaw 14. Padgett 9 points/5 boards. Granger 24 for Indiana.

Charlotte 100
Indiana 98


Dec 11 - Charlotte(11-10) at Boston(9-15)

Boston uses a 29-8 second quarter to get ahead and put us away. Felton 30, Diaw 13, Allen 10. Padgett only scores 1 but pulls down 16 boards. Rondo and Pierce both have 17 for the Celtics.

Boston 85
Charlotte 71


Dec 13 - New Jersey(11-12) at Charlotte(11-11)

Crazy defense, New Jersey scores 15, 13, 16, 14 in each respective quarter. Wallace 17, Felton 15, Henderson and Diaw 9. Yao Ming??? 16 points/16 boards. Time to check out recent trades.

Charlotte 72
New Jersey 58


Trade Updates

Houston gets: C Brook Lopez, 2011 1st round pick
New Jersey gets: C Yao Ming

Yao(86 OVR), Lopez(80 OVR). Lopez is only 22 years old and looking really damn good but 86 OVR is in that secondary superstar range, Yao is 30 years old. The Nets have Devin Harris rated 88 OVR at PG and this gives them two star level players to try to compete with. Interesting.


Indiana gets: Luis Scola
New Jersey gets: Kyle Lowry

Scola is 30 years old, Lowry 24, but their contracts are the same, Lowry starts for Indiana, Scola starts for New Jersey, and neither are anywhere close to the starting lineup on their new teams. Just dumb. I reverse this one.


Washington gets: Rashad McCants
Indiana gets: Andray Blatche

Both are lower rated non-starters, so whatever.


Dec 16 - Memphis(10-13) at Charlotte(12-11)

Another really close one, but we come up short here. Felton 18, Diaw 16, Allen 14. Randolph 26, Mayo 24 for Memphis. Mayo is rated 84 OVR and is becoming a star it appears.

Memphis 96
Charlotte 94


I'll be playing out my next game against Utah.

[Radii]

December 18, 2010

Utah(11-14) at Charlotte(12-12)

CHA:UTA
79:79 OVR
80:78 OFF
78:79 DEF

Utah Scouting

PG Deron Williams - 92 OVR - 27.5 ppg/9.9 apg - with Carlos Boozer gone this is truly Deron Williams' team. B ins/A- out/A- per D/A+ hands, great everywhere.

SG Roger Mason - 68 OVR - 8.4 ppg - A- outside shooting. He's not really good on D and not great with the ball.

SF Andrei Kirilenko - 71 OVR - 13 ppg/5.0 rpg - 51.8% FGs this year so far. He's an average scorer, he can defend insie and outside acceptably, but he's not a star by any stretch.

PF Paul Millsap - 77 OVR - 13.6 ppg/7.6 rpg - B+ inside, A rebounding, but poor post defense. Millsap is the 2nd best player on the team and no one else is really close.

C Mehmet Okur - 72 OVR - 13.0 ppg/7.8 rpg - B+ inside/B+ outside, just a C+ rebounder.

PF Christian Baxter(71 OVR) is the 6th man, not a scorer but he is pulling in 8 boards/game. PG Eric Maynor(68 OVR) is putting up 8 points/game off the bench.

If we can slow Deron Williams we win it would seem.


First Quarter

Utah 29
Charlotte 25

No surprise, the worst player on the court leads all in scoring. Roger Mason is 5-9 for 10 points. Deron Williams would attack and kick out a lot. Williams still put up 8 points though. Padgett and Wallace lead us with 6 each, Allen 5. Pretty balanced shooting for me so far.


Second Quarter

Utah 52
Charlotte 48

Deron Williams is the player of the half with 14 points. Kirilenko with 13, Mason with 12 for the Jazz. Diaw with 10, Padgett with 10, Wallace and Allen both with 8 for us. So I only minorly adjusted the shooting sliders, but yeah, we're shooting 20/33 at the half, 60%! We're only 2/4 from 3, we're getting it inside a ton. That was the idea though, as their post defense is subpar. And, of course, we're trailing, so we have to stop someone at some point.

Third Quarter

Utah 77
Charlotte 65

Ugh, we just come out this quarter ice cold, and we cannot stop them when Deron Williams is in the game. Mason leads them with 17, Williams has 16 but 8 assists. I've got 16 for Ray Allen, Padgett looks to be headed to a double double with 12 points/8 boards. Utah is shooting 51% from the floor now, and we're still shooting 54%. But Utah has 14 more FG attempts, and 5 more 3's. We have 9 turnovers to their 4, they have one more offensive board... the little things are adding up here it appears.


Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - Utah up 84-69. We just don't have the defense to deal with this.

Its an 18 point game with 7 left and I give up. Its just frustrating watching Utah hold the ball for 20 seconds and then get a kickout to Eric Maynor or Roger Mason and have the shot go in every single damn time.

Utah 108
Charlotte 90

Utah shoots lights out in the second half, just completely unstoppable. They're 57% from the field, and 12/21 from 3(they were 7/14 after 3... so yeah, 5/7 from 3 in the 4th quarter.

Padgett: 23 points/9 boards - 10/14 from the field
Allen: 18 points
Diaw: 12 points
Wallace: 10 points/7 boards
Henderson: 10 points

I only took 6 3's all game, none with Augustin. I probably need to work to balance my offense out quite a bit. but I have no answer for a 90+ rated guard, and once these other guys get hot b/c of him, I have no answer for anyone. Bell's defense is fading with age, Chandler's "out for the season" injury hurts us inside quite a bit(even though his salary sucks ass he is a good rebounder and defender inside). I also only took 6 shots with Gerald Wallace. He's a stud athlete compared to the rest of the guys I've got on offense, that's a huge problem.

So I've got some things I can do to improve for sure. Mason ended up with 26 on 12-19 shooting, Millsap 18, Deron Williams 18 points/13 assists for the Jazz.

[Radii]

Dec 19 - Charlotte(12-13) at Indiana(12-12)

We hold the Pacers to 15 in the 4th quarter and pull of a 3 point win. Lowry with 23, Hansbrough 21 points/14 boards for the Pacers. Allen 28, Wallace 15, Bell 14(in 17 minutes) for Charlotte.

Charlotte 102
Indiana 99


Dec 22 - Charlotte(13-13) at Portland(16-12)

We lose by 9 and it wasn't anywhere near that close. We win the 4th quarter 28-13. Aldridge 20, Oden 17, Roy 15 for the Blazers. Felton 20, Wallace 17, Diaw 12.

Portland 82
Charlotte 73


Dec 23 - Charlotte (13-14) at Denver(20-8)

A great second half gives us a good road win. Melo with 33 for Denver. Felton 22, Wallace 16, Allen 16. Padgett with 9 points/12 boards.

Charlotte 105
Denver 98


Dec 26 - Charlotte(14-14) at Chicago(13-14)

Chicago with an 11 point win. Gooden 20, Deng 18 for the Bulls. Allen 25, Felton 19, Wallace 17 for us. Padgett with 9 points/15 boards.

Chicago 99
Charlotte 88



Charlotte Trade

Cleveland Gets: SF Derrick Brown (69 OVR)
Charlotte Gets: C Kurt Thomas (67 OVR)

Brown was super pissed off in Charlotte since I shoved him out of my rotation. Cleveland has 4 centers and Thomas is #3 on the list(Shaq/Ben Wallace get all the minutes there).

Thomas has a decent close range shot and can hit a mid-range jumper better than most bigs. He's not much of a threat to score in the post, his post defense is above average thoguh(75) and he's a quality rebounder(ORB 85, DRB 81). His defensive awareness is rated 65, just about average for centers. He's 38 years old, in the last year of his contract, making $486k. Just about perfect for my situation. I put him in my rotation getting 20 minutes/game immediately.

[Radii]

Milwaukee is one of the worst teams in the NBA, since I've been struggling early on in games i've played I want to see how I do against trash.

December 29, 2010

Milwaukee(11-21) at Charlotte(14-15)

CHA:MIL
80:69 OVR
82:69 OFF
80:68 DEF

Milwaukee Scouting

PG Brandon Jennings - 72 OVR - 21.7 ppg/7.0 apg - Great numbers, but I think due more to the lack of ability of his teammates than his own ratings. B outside/B- Perimeter D/A- hands

SG Michael Redd - 74 OVR - 19.0 ppg - B- inside/A outside, average D, average hands. Highest rated player on the team.

SF Carlos Delfino - 64 OVR - 13.6 ppg - C+ outside shooting is his best rating.

PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - 70 OVR - 8.9 ppg/9.3 rpg - A good all around defender, B perimeter/B Post D. B- rebounding, terrible scorer.

C Andrew Bogus - 73 OVR - 15.2 ppg/11.9 rpg - A- inside/A rebounding, not really a good defender either.

PF Genwei Yee is rated 69 OVR is averaging 4.6 ppg and 7.8 rebounds this year. No stars, and our role players are notably better than theirs. No reason we should struggle at home against these guys at all.

First Quarter

Charlotte 24
Milwaukee 21

We lead 20-11 before they come roaring back. Michael Redd is on fire, he's got 12 on 5-8 shooting(2-2 from 3). No one else has more than 3 for the Bucks. Padgett is hot for us, 4-7 with a couple free throws, 10 points. Allen and Wallace each have 6. Augustin has 2 and we only had 4 people score all quarter.


Second Quarter

Milwaukee 42
Charlotte 38

I just can't make jumpers. Michael Redd is 8-13 and 3-3 from 3, he has 19 points, no one else for Milwaukee has more than 6. Wallace and Padgett with 10 for me, Allen with 8. Milwaukee shoots 43% on the half, I shoot 37%. I'm 0/7 from 3.

Third Quarter

Milwaukee 68
Charlotte 61

Milwaukee scores the last 5 points of the half, we still cannot hit jumpshots. Redd sits most of the quarter and has 19 still, Jennings has 12, Mbah a Moute with 10. Padgett leads us with 15, Wallace/Allen/Diaw all have 12. Diaw had a very good quarter for us, but we just aren't getting good consistent scoring.

Fourth Quarter

8:30 to go - Its a 5 point game, 73-68, Gerald Henderson has missed a couple FTs and we feel like it should be closer.

5:30 to go - Augustin fades away from a layup in transition for reasons I cannot explain and misses, Henderson gets the board, gets fouled and hits 1 of 2 at the line. We cut the lead below 5 for the first time. 77-73 Bucks. Allen and Padgett come back in for the duration. Felton/WAllace are still on the bench.

5:10 to go - We foul Yee, he misses both free throws. Padgett gets a bucket on the other end and its 77-75.

4:20 to go - Another stop on defense, and Padgett comes down on the secondary break, HEnderson fires it in to him for an easy layup. Padgett with 23, 77-77.

3:30 to go - Yeah, Ray Allen misses an open jumper. Its all good until I try a jump shot. 81-77 Milwaukee.

2:20 to go - Felton with a 3 point play, its 83-82 Milwaukee.

1:15 to go - Of course... We play 23 1/2 seconds of perfect defense, even get a near steal with 2 seconds left on the shot clock, but they pick it up and fire it to Michael Redd who hits a contested 3. 86-82 Bucks.

1:07 to go - Gerald Wallace gets inside and gets a 3 point play, fouled by Delfino. 86-85 Bucks.

0:44 to go - We get a stop on defense, Ray Allen drives to the basket in transition and gets fouled. He isn't going to miss any FT's, 87-86 Bobcats.

0:07 to go - We get a stop with a 5 second difference between the shot and game clock. I hold the ball and work Ray Allen off a screen for a wide open baseline jumper. Its short. Bucks ball down one.

Delfino misses a contested jumper at the buzzer and we hang on for the 1 point win.

Charlotte 87
Milwaukee 86


Padgett: 25 points/10 boards (11-21 from the field)
Wallace: 15 points/5 boards
Allen: 14 points (4-9 shooting, 0-3 from 3)
Diaw: 14 points/6 boards
Henderson: 8 points

The level to which I am unable to make jump shots is ridiculous. How bad it is? We scored 87 points. 66 in the paint, 19 from the line. That adds up to 85. The games are fun to play out, and I wouldn't mind building a team that is going to be a dominant post/attacking the basket team, but it doesn't feel right at all while I'm playing to get a Ray Allen or DJ Augustin with a defender a couple steps away and just *know* that its going to miss. And that is what it feels like right now.

[Groundhog]

I know what you mean Radii, right now I'm the same way. Last night I scored 97 points in a game, and 74 were from in the paint. I just can't generate jump shots or threes it seems, and when I get them they don't go down for me, threes in particular.

[Radii]

Ok, lets not give up just yet. I like the general game flow outside of the shooting, so I'm going to adjust a bit more(to sweed's settings for now) and see where it goes from there:

Inside Shot Success – 50
Close Shot Success – 47
Mid Range Success – 52
3pt Success – 53
Layup Success – 48
Dunk Success – 49

Just on my side. Basically I am perfectly happy with the general flow of the game outside of my inability to hit jumpers. So I don't want to mess with any other settings, just this one. We'll start with this and continue to adjust as needed.

[Radii]

So its convienant that i play Milwaukee two nights in a row, I'll go ahead and play this one out.

December 30, 2010

Charlotte(15-15) at Milwaukee(11-22)

CHA:MIL
80:68 OVR
82:69 OFF
80:68 DEF

Milwaukee Scouting

PG Brandon Jennings - 72 OVR - 21.7 ppg/7.0 apg - Great numbers, but I think due more to the lack of ability of his teammates than his own ratings. B outside/B- Perimeter D/A- hands

SG Michael Redd - 74 OVR - 19.0 ppg - B- inside/A outside, average D, average hands. Highest rated player on the team.

SF Carlos Delfino - 64 OVR - 13.6 ppg - C+ outside shooting is his best rating.

PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - 70 OVR - 8.9 ppg/9.3 rpg - A good all around defender, B perimeter/B Post D. B- rebounding, terrible scorer.

C Andrew Bogut - 73 OVR - 15.2 ppg/11.9 rpg - A- inside/A rebounding, not really a good defender either.

PF Genwei Yee is rated 69 OVR is averaging 4.6 ppg and 7.8 rebounds this year. No stars, and our role players are notably better than theirs. No reason we should struggle at home against these guys at all.

First Quarter

Milwaukee 25
Charlotte 22

With 6 minutes left in the quarter, Milwaukee led 19-4. We were shooting 2-10. A Ray Allen 3 sparked us, they started bringing in their backups, and we went on a roll. Carlos Delfino has 11 points, and is 3-4 from 3. He torched us on open shots early on. Michael Redd has 7 for them, and no one else has more than 3. Gerald Wallace has 6 for us, despite being 1-5, he's got the rest at the line. Allen has 5, Padgett 4, Augustin 3. I'm shooting 2-5 from 3, Allen and Augustin each have 1.

Second Quarter

Milwaukee 40
Charlotte 39

Michael Redd is the player of the half and its not even close. He's got 18 points/3 assists/2 boards. He hits open shots and generates some very impressive buckets himself. Neither team is shooting that great today, 41% from Milwaukee, 38% for us. 5/14 3's for the Bucks, 3/13 for me. I had a few trips where I took bad 3's by default when I coudln't get something better. Allen leads us with 11, but is just 2-8 from 3. But as I said that was a default shot clock running out shot, many of thsoe were poor shots. Padgett with 10, Wallace with 8. No one else has more than 3. Redd 18, Delfino 11, no one with more than 3 for Milwaukee.

Jennings with 3 fouls. No one else has any sort of foul trouble on either team.

Third Quarter

Charlotte 61
Milwaukee 55

Gerald Wallace with a pretty dunk coming in from the right wing gives us our first lead since 2-0. Its 43-42 with 10 minutes to go in the quarter. We control the quarter, forcing a large number of very bad shots and pulling down all the rebounds. I'm able to get Wallace going to the basket a number of times and he leads us with 18 points. Allen still has 11, Padgett 10. Diaw and Felton score a little, 7 and 5 for them. I'm now 4 for 21 from 3, terrible, but get rid of the bad end of shot clock 3's and i'm probably about 4 for 15. Redd has 22. Bogut gets a mention for 6 points/7 boards, but he's only 2-6 inside.


Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - We lead 67-59, Gerald Henderson and Ray Allen work a couple really nice give and go plays, and Henderson has a huge dunk in transition.

6:00 to go - 70-63 Charlotte, we've gotten a 3 from Allen and that's it in the last 3 minutes, but the defense is still playing great.

4:30 to go - Look at the defense! 74-63 Charlotte, looking great. A Michael Redd insane run is all that's between us and a win now.

2:35 to go - 77-65 Charlotte, Milwaukee ends a long drought with a Yee bucket inside.

We win this one easily.

Charlotte 83
Milwaukee 73


Allen: 22 points (5-14 from 3)
Wallace: 20 points/11 boards
Padgett: 12 points/8 boards (5-8 from the field)
Henderson: 7 points
Diaw: 7 points

Redd with 28 for the Bucks. Delfino and Jennings didn't do much in the second half, 11 for Delfino, 10 for Jennings. Bogut finishes with 6 points/11 boards.

Allen caught fire from 3 in the 4th quarter. We really did as a team, 4/21 from 3 after 3 quarters, we finish 8/27 from 3. I don't really want to shoot that many 3's per game. I prefer to try to go into a post guy if I can't get a shot I like, but this game I tended to just fire it out to Allen heh.

Anyway, this is a Milwaukee team rated very poorly, so I'm pleased with this result. We'll see how it goes from here!

[Radii]

Jan 1 - New York(17-15) at Charlotte(16-15)

We win ever quarter in a high scoring contest. Diaw 29, Augustin 25, Felton 21 and 11 assists. Lee with 23 for the Knicks.

Charlotte 122
New York 106


Jan 4 - Charlotte(17-15) at Orlando(17-14)

We trail by 12 at the half but come back to get a big win. Allen 22, Wallace 20 points/11 boards. Augustin 17. Howard with 25, Nelson 19 points/10 assists for the Magic.

Charlotte 108
Orlando 104


Jan 6 - New Jersey (18-16) at Charlotte(18-15)

A 21-7 2nd quater triggers our 5th straight win! Allen 29, Wallace 19 points/11 boards,Diaw 14. Harris 16 points/10 assists for the Nets.

Charlotte 105
New Jersey 76


Jan 8 - Philadelphia(15-18) at Charlotte(19-15)

No surprise the team under .500 ends our win streak. Felton 22, Wallace 19, Alen 18. JR Smith 22, Iguodala 21 for the 76ers.

Philadelphia 106
Charlotte 95


Jan 9 - Charlotte(19-16) at Atlanta(21-15)

Atlanta gets us in a close one. Joe Johnson with 25. Wallace with 19 and 12 for us, Bell 14(that's out of nowhere), Allen 12.

Atlanta 90
Charlotte 87



As of right now there's just no one in the east that looks great:

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Atlanta (22-15)
2. New York (20-16)
3. Miami (19-16)
4. Cleveland (18-15)
5. Charlotte (19-17)
6. Orlando (18-16)
7. New Jersey (18-18)
8. Philadelphia (16-18)
-------
9. Washington (16-18)
10. Indiana (16-19)
11. Boston (17-20)
12. Chicago (16-20)
13. Toronto (14-22)
14. Detroit (12-23)
15. Milwaukee (13-25)


Out west Denver is 26-11, the Lakers are 23-11, and the Kings are 22-13, with the Spurs and Trail Blazers right behind.

We'll see if anyone steps up in the East. I can't imagine Charlotte will, but the addition of Ray Allen and a top 3 guy in the draft seems to have made a major difference. Padgett is averaging 7.2 points/9.5 rebounds per game, numbers I'm thrilled to see out of a rookie.

[CleBrownsfan]

Just wanted to tell you Radii that I'm still following and enjoying your dynasty here. Keep it going!! ;)

[Radii]

Just wanted to tell you Radii that I'm still following and enjoying your dynasty here. Keep it going!! ;)

Thanks, always glad to have people following!


Just a couple more games before the next one I want to play:

Jan 11 - Charlotte (19-17) at Philadelphia(16-18)

They beat us again to give us a 3 game losing streak. Augustin 19, Felton 18, Bell 13. No injuries here, Allen gets 31 minutes but shoots 3-16 so bell outscores him. Iguodala with 26.

Philadelphia 84
Charlotte 83



Jan 13 - Washington(17-18) at Charlotte(19-18)

An overtime loss kicks off a 5 game homestand. Diaw 18, Felton 16, Wallace 12. Jamison 15, Nick Young with 15 too.

Washington 88
Charlotte 86
OT


Next up we host an evenly rated Clippers team in a game that I'll play out.

[Radii]

I notice that Ray Allen is listed as "Sluggish" going into the game, we've been playing every other day for a couple weeks but haven't played back to back any lately. He's the only starter not fresh or rested. He's getting up there in age so it makes sense,and is pretty awesome to have to care about carryover fatigue. Anyway, I cut his minutes in my rotation, giving a few extra minutes to DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson.

Jan 15, 2011

LA Clippers (19-20) at Charlotte(19-19)

CHA:LAC
80:80 OVR
81:90 OFF
80:80 DEF

Great overall offensive rating. Davis/Iverson/Griffin/Kaman are very strong offensivelly.

LA Clippers Scouting

PG Baron Davis - 82 OVR - 12.1 ppg/7.4 apg - A+ handles, B+ perimeter D, B- outside/C+ inside scoring. With the addition of Allen Iverson Davis takeson less of the scoring load here(12.1 ppg woudl be his lowest scoring average in 11 seasons).

SG Allen Iverson - 83 OVR - 16.2 ppg - 35 years old, Iverson/Allen is a good matchup of aging stars here. Iverson A- hands/A- perimeter D/B outside scoring.

SF Al Thornton - 72 OVR - 9.1 ppg/3.7 rpg - B inside/B- outside scoring, poor defense everywhere. A chance for Wallace hopefully.

PF Blake Griffin - 81 OVR - 9.7 ppg/10.1 rpg - Griffin is slowed by a tailbone injury, only playing at about 75% effectiveness. B- inside/B- rebounding is all he's got today.

C Chris Kaman - 78 OVR - 19.1 ppg/10.8 ppg - Kaman is shooting 52% on the year and has become quite a force for the Clippers. He's hurt and at about 90% effectiveness today. B inside/B post D.

LA has great guard depth. TJ Ford is rated 78 OVR and backs up Davis at the point, and Eric Gordon is also at 78 OVR backing up Iverson. Ford scores 8.5 per game, Gordon about 14. Both are major concerns.


First Quarter

Charlotte 29
LA Clippers 22

Eric Gordon hits a 3 as time expires, we had a 10 point lead going there briefly. We shoot 12/17 in the quarter, 2/2 from 3. Just not missing anything. Allen and Wallace hit a couple pullup jumpers in transition and Wallace is getting to the rim at will. Wallace 12, Felton 5, Allen 5. Padgett has 5 boards already. Iverson 7, Griffin 6 for the Clippers.

Wallace and Baron Davis both have 2 fouls.

Second Quarter

Charlotte 49
LA Clippers 43

We lead the entire quarter, sometimes it seems easy but they do get hot and cut an 11 point lead down to 6. Wallace leads us with 14, Ray Allen is 3-3 from 3 and has 11. Diaw 10, Padgett 7 points/6 boards. Kaman leads the Clippers with 11, Griffin 8, Iverson doesn't score this quarter and still has 7.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 78
LA Clippers 59

SAMUEL PADGETT. Padgett's quarter: 10 points/3 boards/2 assists/1 steal/3 blocks. In the first 3 minutes of the quarter he blocked Griffin once, Kaman once and just pulled an alley oop out of the air to trigger a thunderous dunk by Gerald Wallace. He was on fire from the post and led a 29-16 quarter for the Bobcats. Wallace has 20, Padgett 17, Diaw 17, Allen 15. Kaman 15, Iverson 13, Griffin 12. Iverson is 6-13 and is struggling a ton against us. We're 4/12 from 3, but 32/55 overall. Maybe hitting a bit much inside? Just one game though, against Milwaukee in our last game we both shot 40% most of the way.


Fourth Quarter

9:15 to go - Augustin hits a 3 to put us up by 20, but then the Clippers go on a 8-0 tear and its 81-69.

8:20 to go - TJ Ford hits a 3, Augustin misses a shot afer a drive, they come down and score and uhhhhh, its 81-74. WTF! I take a timeout. I have 5 backups on the court, and ideally would keep it that way and bring the starters back at the 6 minute mark for the stretch run.

6:30 to go - Starters are back in. Henderson and Thomas miss a couple more shots, Iverson with two at the line for the Clippers and I have to get my starters in to put this thing away. 81-76, holy crap.

5:45 to go - Its a midrange jumper! Allen comes off a screen and strokes a jumper from 17 feet, 83-76, ending our long scoreless streak.

3:55 to go - A free throw and a jumper make it 83-79, Padgett misses a shot and we have a turnover and are collapsing big time.

2:50 to go - Padgett gets his 4th block on defense and misses yet another shot on offense.. still 83-79.

1:55 to go - Kaman with a bucket, we miss on our end, and Iverson gets a 3 point play opportunity... but blows the free throw. Its tied 83-83.

1:40 to go - I was actively avoiding going into Padgett, he's come up empty on so many decent looks, but as Ray Allen takes a step to the hole, he's doubleteamed by Padgett's man. Allen with the dish, Padgett with a 5 footer and we lead 85-83.

1:25 to go - Gordon with a 3 point play opportunity... this time the free throw is good, 86-85 clippers.

1:17 to go - Felton gets by Davis and breaks down the defense a bit, he finds Allen who has a good lane to the hoop for a layin. 87-86 Bobcats.

0:45 to go - Iverson misses a jumper on their end, Wallace misses a jumper on our end. Clips ball, we still lead by one.

0:05 to go - Baron Davis takes a very difficult shot over Felton, its no good, Padgett with the board, but there's still 30 seconds left at that point. I end up getting a bad 3 for Ray Allen, and he whiffs it. Clippers get the board and a timeout, they get the last shot.


Iverson finds Baron Davis for a long jumper in the final second. Davis' 3 is GOOD over Felton, there's only 0.3 left and we lose.

LA Clippers 89
Charlotte 87

Well that's a bit embarrassing. LA outscores us 30-9 in the 4th quarter. Its entirely my fault. Ithought the lead was just too big to lose, I held the backups in all the way to the 6:30 mark, I kept going with what worked in the 3rd quarteR(pounding it inside to Padgett and Diaw) and it just didn't work in the 4th. I totally ignored Gerald Wallace for a number of possessiosn in a row. Lots of things I could have done differently to not choke this one away.


Wallace: 20 points/5 boards
Padgett: 19 points/11 boards/4 blocks
Allen: 19 points
Diaw: 17 points/8 boards
Felton: 7 points/4 assists

A grand total of 5 bench points... just 3 for Augustin and 2 for Thomas.

Allen Iverson hits some huge 4th quarter shots and ends up leading all scorers with 21. Kaman 18 and 11, Griffin with 12.

Man, this one is a bit embarrassing.

[Radii]

Jan 18 - Minnesota(16-23) at Charlotte(19-20)

We make up for the bad loss to the clippers here... boy do we ever. Allen 26, Augustin 24, Felton 24. Allen goes 6-8 from 3. Corey Brewer leads the T'Wolves with 19.

Charlotte 134
Minnesota 88


Phoenix (16-24) at Charlotte(20-20)

Our second huge win in a row over a bad team from the west. Allen 25, Diaw 23, Wallace 22, Felton 20. Richardson with 20 for the Suns.

Charlotte 129
Phoenix 102


Jan 22 - Miami (23-17) at Charlotte(21-20)

Wow. On a roll. Diaw 22, Wallace21, Augustin 17. Wade with 24.

Charlotte 106
Miami 76


Jan 25 - Charlotte(22-20) at New Orleans(14-29)

Allen and Wallace both put up 17, Augustin 16, Felton 14 in a big 8 point road win. West with 28, Paul 21 for the Hornets.

Charlotte 88
New Orleans 80


We're 23-20, just over the halfway point in the season, with a great shot at a playoff spot this year. In fact, the east is just kinda insane right now, only 5 games separate 10th from 1st.

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Miami (25-18)
2. New York (25-18)
3. Cleveland (24-18)
4. Atlanta (25-20)
5. Orlando (24-20)
6. Charlotte (23-20)
7. Philadelphia (21-21)
8. New Jersey (21-22)
-------
9. Chicago (21-24)
10. Washington (20-23)
11. Boston (20-25)
12. Toronto (19-25)
13. Indiana (18-25)
14. Detroit (17-26)
15. Milwaukee (15-31)

4 teams out west have better records than anyone in the East... Denver (31-13), LA Lakers(28-16), Sacramento (26-16), Golden State (27-17).

[Radii]

I've played a few extra games early and am due to sim a bunch. Lets get to the all star break:

Jan 27 - Charlotte(23-20) at Houston(19-24)

Our second 5 game winning streak of the year. This was a horrid 2nd half. 3rd quarter we win 17-16, 4th we lose 12-11. That's 2 quarters at 28-28. Felton with 19, Allen 17, Wallace 14. Brook Lopez(remember the yao trade) with 25.

Charlotte 84
Houston 82


Jan 29 - Philadelphia(21-21) at Charlotte(24-20)

Another close victory, this time over a Philly team that has dominated us. Wallace 27, Allen 20, Felton 17. Iguodala 28, rookie Marion Brand 24.

Charlotte 111
Philadelphia 108


Jan 30 - Charlotte(25-20) at Atlanta(25-21)

All of a sudden a key game in the developing playoff race. And its 7 in a row for the Bobcats! Felton 26, Allen 19, Augustin 15. Johnson 28 for the Hawks.

Charlotte 99
Atlanta 95


Feb 2 - Charlotte(26-20) at Minnesota(21-25)

and a long winning streak ends. Wallace 17, Diaw 16, Allen 15. Flynn leads the T'Wolves with 19.

Minnesota 96
Charlotte 88


Feb 3 - LA Lakers(31-17) at Charlotte(26-21)

Not one we expect, but it was close. Allen 18, Wallace 16, Felton 16. Gasol with 24 for the Lakers.

LA Lakers 98
Charlotte 92



Feb 5 - Indiana(19-28) at Charlotte(26-22)

We get a big 1 point OT win in a game we really ought to be winning at this point. Wallace 23, Augustin 18, Bell 14. Granger with 23for the Pacers.

Charlotte 98
Indiana 97
OT


Feb 6 - Charlotte(27-22) at Washington(23-26)

An easy 9 point win here. Felton 22, Allen 18, Wallace and Augustin 11. Butler with 24.

Charlotte 80
Washington 71


Feb 9 - Charlotte(28-22) at Memphis(19-31)

We're heading into the all star break on an incredible roll. Felton and Allen 18. Diaw 16. Marc Gasol with 29 for the Grizz, Mayo with 20.

Charlotte 107
Memphis 86



On the heels of this surprising run we're right up there at the top of the East, so lets play out a home game against Orlando, a team rated much better than us but with basically the same record.

[Radii]

There are a ridiculous number of teams right at the top of the east, I think its 5 teams within 1 game. We're right in the mix at the last game before the all star break.

Feb 10, 2011

Orlando (29-23) at Charlotte(29-22)

CHA:ORL
81:89 OVR
82:84 OFF
82:90 DEF

Orlando Scouting

PG Michael Pietrus - 71 OVR - 7.4 ppg - Jameer Nelson has a broken ankle so the Magic go to their backup guard. B- outside, not a great ball handler, but a good perimeter defender.

SG Vince Carter - 83 Ovr - 17.1 ppg/4.2 rpg/4.8 apg - Carter might actually play PG, B+ handling, B- inside, A- outside. Not as good a defender, but he's still a very good athlete even at 34 years old.

SF Rashard Lewis - 81 OVR - 18.2 ppg - B inside/A outside, a 6'10" huge guy for the 3 spot. He's a good athlete but very poor defender and again I hope Wallace can exploit that.

PF Brandon Bass - 70 OVR - 9.1 ppg/6.7 rpg - B inside, but not a great rebounder, poor defender, odd man out on a team full of stars.

C Dwight Howard - 92 OVR - 21.9 ppg/12.8 rpg - Shooting 58% inside, a superstar. A+ rebounds, A post D, A- inside.

Marcin Gortat is their only backup rated 70 or above, he's at exactly 70 but only gets 2 points/3 boards per game. Expect their starting 5 to get virtually all of their points. Jameer Nelson's injury is obvoiusly huge here, he's rated 82 OVR when healthy and scores 17 points and dishes it out 8 times a game. This is a really recent injury. Even so, Carter/Lewis/Howard give Orlando so much more talent at the top than we have.


First Quarter

Orlando 41
Charlotte 23

hahah. Well, they got hot, I tried to run with them. Not the best option in the world. Rashard Lewis is 6-9, two treys, 17 points. Carter 9, Howard 8. The three of them are 14-18 from the field. Wallace 8, Padgett 6 for us, on 6-11 shooting between them. Just not quite the same.


Second Quarter

Orlando 67
Charlotte 45

Howard, Carter and Lewis just seemed to be hot the entiretime and we couldn't shut them all down. Howard goes off in the 2nd quarter, scoring 14, so he's up to 22 on the game. We stopped Lewis, he's still at 17, but Carter is up to 15 now. Felton is 2-2 from 3 and leads us with 10. Allen, Wallace and Padgett all have 8. This is why I'm surprised that we're 29-22. We shouldn't be able to beat these teams rated up near 90 OVR pretty much ever.


Third Quarter

Orlando 99
Charlotte 78

Well this has been fun at least, and even after the first quarter where Orlando destroyed us. Howard 28, Carter 22, Lewis 21. Just insanity. Wallace and Padgett finally come out and play like our stars... Wallace 23, Padgett 16. Howard is just dominant inside, offense and defense, its impressive to see.


Fourth Quarter

Yeah, I play it out mainly to keep my starters off the floor to try to get them some extra rest in a meaningless 4th.

Orlando 128
Charlotte 100


So this Dwight Howard guy is pretty good? 34 points/16 boards/4 assists/3 steals/3 blocks. Vince Carter has 31 points/7 assists. Lewis with 21.

Wallace: 29 points/3 boards/5 assists
Padgett: 16 points/7 boards
Felton: 15 points/10 assists
Bell: 8 points
Allen: 8 points


Yeah... how are we 29-22? More to the point, how are we beating Orlando in simmed games earlier in the year? This is about what I expected

[Radii]

We've reached the all star break and Charlotte is one of 5 teams within 1 game of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. 100% undeserved and ridiculous, but here it is:

Eastern Conference

1. Miami (29-22)
2. New York (29-22)
3. Orlando (30-23)
4. Charlotte (29-23)
5. Cleveland (28-23)
6. Atlanta (27-27)
7. Chicago (26-26)
8. New Jersey (26-26)
----------------------------------
9. Philadelphia (24-26)
10. Washington (24-27)
11. Detroit (22-29)
12. Toronto (22-30)
13. Boston (22-30)
14. Indiana (20-31)
15. Milwaukee (18-36)



Western Conference

1. Denver (34-19)
2. LA Lakers (32-20)
3. Sacramento (31-20)
4. Portland (31-22)
5. Golden State (31-23)
6. Oklahoma City (30-25)
7. Dallas (28-24)
8. Utah (27-24)
------------------------------
9. LA Clippers (28-25)
10. San Antonio (27-26)
11. Houston (24-27)
12. Minnesota (23-28)
13. New Orleans (20-31)
14. Memphis (19-32)
15. Phoenix (19-33)

[Radii]

All-Star Weekend

Rookies v Sophomores


Sophs 103
Rookies 102


Sophs

Flynn: 26 points/6 assists
Curry: 18 points/7 assists
Harden: 16 points
Jermaine Taylor(2nd round pick by washington): 14 points/5 boards
Terrance Williams: 11 points/6boards
Griffin: 10 points/14 boards (5-20 shooting...)

Hansbrough scored 4 points and grabbed 4 boards in 13 minutes
Gerald Henderson played 5 minutes, didn't take a shot, got 2 boards.


Rookies

SG Damien Fulton (1.10 - Knicks) - 72 OVR - 29 points/5 boards/4 assists
PG Marion Brand (1.19 - 76ers) - 74 OVR - 18 points/7 assists
SG Evan Dailey (1.8 - Hornets) - 69 OVR - 17 points
PF Samuel Padgett (1.2 - Bobcats) - 80 OVR - 13 points/11 boards/4 blocks(5-10 shooting)
SF Gary Oakley (1.3 - Kings) - 80 OVR - 8 points
C Rolando Faulk (1.9 - Pistons) - 73 OVR - 5 points/10 boards
PG Jordan Price (1.1 - Bulls) - 83 OVR - 5 points
PF Genwei Yee (1.4 - Bucks) - 69 OVR - 2 points/5 boards


A solid performance by Padgett, I'm pleased!

[Radii]

All Star Game

West 104
East 100

West

SF Rudy Gay - 83 OVR - Sacramento - 21 points
PG Deron Williams - 91 OVR - Utah - 13 points/4 assists
PF Dirk Nowitzki - 83 OVR - Dallas - 11 points/3 boards

Brandon Roy 9
Pau Gasol 9
Kobe 9
Tony Parker 9
Durant 8
Brook Lopez 7


East

Boozer (Chicago) - 16 points/5 boards
Joe Johnson - 13 points/4 boards/5 assists
Harris - 12 points
Bosh - 11 points
Arenas - 10 points
James - 9 points/7 boards
Howard - 8 points
Gerald Wallace - 8 points/8 boards

[Radii]

Two trades near the trade deadline:

Clippers get: Shaquille O'Neal
Cleveland gets: Sebastain Telfair

Shaq is in a weird spot. His endurance is low so he doesn't get a lot of minutes, and he's constantly pissed off about it. He's 38 years old, rated 78 OVR, Telfair is 25 years old and rated 71 OVR. Shaq gives LA great big man depth with Kaman and Griffin(who both have struggled with injuries), Telfair is the backup on both. Cleveland certainly seems better w/ shaq but he causes whatever chemistry problems can be caused.


Toronto gets: PF Charlie Villanueva - 73 OVR - 26 years old, he'll start alongside Bosh.

Detroit gets: C Andrea Bargnani - 71 OVR, 25 years old, he'll backup rookie Rookie giant(7'3") Rolando Faulk

[Radii]

Back to the season as we apparently compete for the top spot in the east...

Feb 17 - Charlotte(29-23) at LA Lakers(33-20)

The lakers beat us for the second time this month. Kobe 27, Gasol 21. Wallace 26 points/9 boards, Augustin 18, Felton 15.

LA Lakers 96
Charlotte 91



Feb 19 - Charlotte(29-24) at LA Clippers(28-27)

The clippers crush us, not unexpected at their house. Kaman 25, Iverson 14. Felton 14, Allen/Bell 9. Gerald Wallace shoots 3-16 but grabs 16 boards.

LA Clippers 85
Charlotte 66


Feb 21 - Charlotte(29-25) at Sacramento(32-22)

We are not doing very well out west. At all, oof. Kevin Martin kills us for 30 points. Diaw 16, Allen 14, Wallace 10.

Sacramento 104
Charlotte 67


Feb 22 - Charlotte(29-26) at Utah(28-27)

This is a game we should have been able to win, but another rough one. Williams 20 for Utah. Allen 14, Augustin 13, Diaw 11. Wallace again... 2-10, 8 points/20 rebounds.

Utah 81
Charlotte 70


I'll play my next one as we come back home to play Portland, trying to break a 5 game losing streak.

[Radii]

Our rookie Samuel Padgett has a day to day injury with a dislocated finger. It knocks him down from 81 OVR to 71 OVR.

Feb 24, 2011

Portland(34-23) at Charlotte(29-27)

CHA:POR
77:83 OVR
78:80 OFF
79:86 DEF

Portland Scouting

PG Andre Miller - 76 OVR - 8.9 ppg/8.2 apg - A hands/B- inside/C+ outside/B perimeter defense

SG Brandon Roy - 93 OVR - 25.4ppg/5.4 rpg/5.8 apg - A hands/B+ inside/A outside/A- perimeter D. Superstar.

SF Rudy Fernandez - 74 OVR - 9.6 ppg - B hands/B+ outside/B- perimeter D. Natural SG but can play both positions.

PF Tyrus Thomas - 73 OVR - 9 ppg/6 rpg/50.8% FG - B rebounding, C's everywhere else, average scoring inside and out, average defense inside and out. Lamarcus Aldridge is OUT with a lower back strain.

C Greg Oden - 78 OVR - 11.5 ppg/8.2 rpg/60.3% FG - Oden has an ankle injury and is day to day. breat rebounder, ok defender, not much of a scorer(despite the 60% shooting I suppose!).

Jerryd Bayless is rated 71 OVR and scores 6 off the bench. 67 rated SF Nicholas Batum(2008 1st rounder out of france) scores about 6 per game as well. Aldridge being hurt hurts their inside game a lot, but with Padgett hurt too it evens out.


First Quarter

Portland 24
Charlotte 19

Roy scores 8, Thomas 6, Miller and Oden 4. Diaw and Allen lead us with 5, Bell has 4 in 4 minutes off the bench. Wallace only has 2 points, we need to rectify that. We've turned it over 5 times and haven't forced any. Oden is a beast inside, though we did get 2 fouls on him.


Second Quarter

Portland 53
Charlotte 40

A very frustrating quarter. We can't seem to stop Oden, and we can't find anyone who can score consistently. Oden has 12 points/6 boards. Roy has 12, Thomas has 10. For us, Ray Allen has 9, Diaw 7, Bell and Kurt Thomas have 6. You'll notice Padgett and Gerald Wallace not on this list. Wallace is 2-4, 4 points/2 boards/3 assists. I'm having a really hard time getting good looks for him. Padgett is simply 0-5 from the field and sucking it up. We are having a hard time passing against these guys, arms everywhere... we have 9 turnovers, thy have 1. That's a huge issue and we have to stop turning it over.


Third Quarter

Portland 84
Charlotte 64

Roy has 21 but it doesn't really feel like he's the reason we're getting killed. Thomas 16, Oden 14 points/10 boards. But our offense has just been real bad, no fast break chances, no easy buckets. Diaw 13, Thomas 10, Allen 9, Augustin 8. Wallace has 6 points and we just can't win that way. The problem remains the same. We didn't turn it over a single time in the 3rd but offensive boards and blocks wow. Key stats:

Turnovers: portland 2, charltote 9
Offensive Boards: portland 9, charlotte 2
Blocks: portland 5, Charlotte 1

It seems like it'd be too late now, but stop the offensive boards and turnovers, get Wallace going and we could in theory have a shot(with Oden and Roy I don't really think its gonna happen but that's how in theory)

Fourth Quarter


9:10 to go - Well its 89-71, just 18 to go! We're scoring a bit better and cut it down to 15 briefly but yeah.

7:30 to go - Wallace is cleaning up the glass and we haven't given up an offensive board this quarter yet. Henderson with a layin, Allen hits a 3 and its 89-76. The lead is down to 13.

5:50 to go - All of a sudden we're playing great defense. Neither team scores for two staight trips, including a wide open 3 from Roy. We get Allen wide open in the right corner and he hits another 3 to make it 89-79.

4:00 to go - Down 96-82. Portland has blocked shots on their last 2 stops in a row and we're falling back out of it.

We get it back down to 10 just once with about 45 seconds left. We played a pretty good 4th quarter, but Portland's better.

Portland 100
Charlotte 88

Allen: 15 points (3-7 from 3)
Diaw: 13 points/4 boards
Thomas: 12 points/5 boards
Wallace: 10 points/7 boards/6 assists
Bell: 9 points
Augustin: 8 points
Padgett: 8 points/5 boards/3 assists (2-10 FG)

Roy has 25, Thomas 16, Oden 14 points/13 boards/5 blocks.


Some overall stats:

FG%: Portland 49%, Charlotte 46%
Turnovers: Portland 4/Charlotte 9
Offensive Boards: Portland 9/Charlotte 2
Blocks: Portland 9/Charlotte 2

The first quarter we play where we don't turn it over and don't let them dominate the glass we make a good run, the other three were just too much for us.

[Radii]

Feb 26 - Dallas(32-26) at Charlotte(29-28)

We break a 6 game losing streak finally. Wallace 19 points/13 boards. Augustin 17, Felton 16 points/10 assists. Nowitski with 27 for Dallas.

Charlotte 103
Dallas 84


Feb 28 - Cleveland(32-25) at Charlotte(30-28)

Cleveland crushes us on the last day of what has turned out to be a very bad February. Allen 17, Wallace 17 points/11 boards, Felton 11. Mo Williams with 38, Lebron with 20 points/6 boards/8 assists.

Cleveland 95
Charlotte 73


Note to self, its a long, streaky season. No worries about winning the east when I clearly don't deserve it, hah!



Eastern Conference Standings at the end of February:

1. Orlando (35-25)
2. New York (33-25)
3. Miami (32-25)
4. Cleveland (33-26)
5. Atlanta (32-28)
6. Philadelphia (30-27)
7. Charlotte (30-29)
8. New Jersey (30-29)
-----------------
9. Chicago (29-30)
10. Washington (28-30)
11. Boston (27-31)
12. Detroit (25-34)
13. Toronto (23-35)
14. Indiana (21-38)
15. Milwaukee (18-42)


Out west, the Lakers and Nuggets are tied up at 37-22. Sacramento is 35-23, Portland 36-25, Golden State 35-25... the top 5 teams out west are all as good or better than the #1 team in the east according to record. Ouch.

[CleBrownsfan]

How's playing out the games? Are you getting a better feeling shooting mid-range jumpers?

[Radii]

How's playing out the games? Are you getting a better feeling shooting mid-range jumpers?

Raising the sliders has helped a lot. One thing I've pretty much stopped doing is try to pull up for jumpers. Catching and shooting open jumpers works well. Catching and shooting marginally contested jumpers works ok. Shooting off the dribble sucks.

I can hit 4-6 3's a game now though, and guys besides Allen and Augustin are fair game to attempt open 3's after upping the sliders. I'll take wide open ones with Felton where that felt 100% pointless before.

One issue with mid-range jumpers is my offensive philosophy. I believe the perfect game of offensive basketball would contain zero shots between 16-23 feet. Every shot should be taken from as close to the basket as possible, or from behind the 3 point arc. So I don't really go looking for a lot of mid-range jumpers, but at least they're an option now instead of wildly driving into the lane and praying if the shot clock runs low. I'm taking some, and making some sure. I feel a lot better about the gameplay now without a doubt.

[Radii]

I've got a road game against a team with the same record as me in about 2 weeks, so I'll sim the games leading up to that one:


Mar 1 - Charlotte(30-29) at Indiana(21-38)

Pyrrhic Victory here... no, not Wallace or Allen, but Felton. We win a 1 point game, but lose Ray Felton for the season. Granger 23, Allen and Henderson 17, Wallace 14.

Charlotte 86
Indiana 85


Injury Update

PG Raymond felton is out for the year. DJ Augustin takes over the starting role and will get 30+ minutes the rest of the way. He's a good shooter so that gives me two serious 3 point threats in the starting lineup, but it kills my depth. 55 rated Stephen Graham might be getting a lot of minutes now.


Mar 3 - Toronto (24-35) at Charlotte(31-29)

A tough, close loss to a bad team at home, ugh. Augustin 18, Allen 16, Wallace 12 points/14 boards. Bosh 18.

Toronto 96
Charlotte 95


Mar 5 - Sacramento (36-24) at Charlotte(31-30)

Great defense, we hold the Kings to under 20 points in each of the final 3 quarters. Diaw 23, Allen 18, Augustin 15.

Charlotte 91
Sacramento 85


Mar 6 - Charlotte (32-30) at Orlando (36-26)

This is what I expect to happen against superior teams. Howard 35 points/17 boards. Carter 26 points/14 assists. Augustin 21, Gerald Henderson(!!!) 20 oints, Wallace 15 points/13 boards.

Orlando 118
Charlotte 87


Mar 8 - Charlotte(32-31) at New York(33-29)

New York kills us in the 4th quarter for the big win. Nate Robinson 24, Wilson Chandler 23. Allen 25, Augustin 17,Padgett and Bell 11.

New York 112
Charlotte 96


Mar 13 - Detroit(29-34) at Charlotte(32-32)

We drop below .500. Wallace 19, Allen 18, Diaw 15. Ben Gordon with 28.

Detroit 109
Charlotte 88


And with that, we are in trouble with 20ish games to go.


Here's the tail end of the Eastern Conference Playoff race:

5. New Jersey (35-31)
6. New York (35-32)
7. Chicago (33-33)
8. Detroit (33-34)
-----------
9. Charlotte (32-33)
10. Washington (32-33)
11. Philadelphia (32-34)
12. Boston (30-35)


We need some wins. Our next game: @ New Jersey. Bring it!

[Radii]

So neither one is an all star, but we've now lost our starting Center(Tyson Chandler) and our starting PG(Raymond Felton) for the season. Having Boris Diaw and DJ Augustin as scorers off the bench is so much nicer than having them in the starting lineup and seeing DaSagana Diop and Stephen Graham both get 10+ minutes of action.

[Radii]

I played New Jersey last year, they beat me by 15. There are some key differences now. Mainly, the big trade they made to try to win now, getting Yao Ming but giving up Brook Lopez.

Mar 16, 2011

Charlotte(32-33) at New Jersey(35-31)

CHA:NJN
77:80 OVR
74:85 OFF
78:81 DEF

New Jersey Scouting

PG Devin Harris - 88 OVR - 20.1 ppg/7.0 apg - A+ hands/B- inside/B+ outside, A- defense, great athlete, smart on the court. No real weakness.

SG Larry Hughes - 74 OVR - 10.0 ppg - B hands/B+ outside/B+ perimeter D. He was with the knicks last year. His shooting is down noticibly this year, from 45% down to 40% from the field and down about 5% from 3 as well.

SF Terrence Williams - 74 OVR - 12.5 ppg/7.0 rpg - B- hands/B+ perimeter D,not a bigtime scorer, D+ inside/C+ outside. An 'A' athlete though, that's kinda how Gerald Wallace looks, not a great shooter from any spot, but a great athlete who can find a lot of ways to score.

PF Jianlian Yi - 61 OVR - 1.3 ppg/1.7 rpg - Travis Outlaw is hurt, thrusting Yi into a role he isn't ableto handle. This does give them two 7 footers though...

C Yao Ming - 82 OVR - 14.9 ppg/9.0 rpg - A inside/B+ post D/B+ rebounding. Smart but a poor athlete. Yao is 30 and a bit tired. Oh yeah, and he's 7'6". Yao is playing 30 minutes per game and pissed off about it. He's normally rated 86 OVR but so unhappy about his PT that he's performing worse.

Backup SG Courtney Lee averages 5 points off the bench(72 OVR), backup PG Kyle Lowry picks up about 6.5(71 OVR).


First Quarter

Yao really isn't an athlete. We score the first 9 of the game and get 2 quick fouls on Yao. Most amusingly, Yi gets stuck on the perimeter on Gerald Wallace. Wallace throws a fake, drives right by Yi like he's not even there, dunks over Yao and gets a 3 point play. Sadly, New Jersey starts to score. We keep the lead though and its a high scoring quarter, espicially for us.

Charlotte 32
New Jersey 27

Padgett has a HUGE quarter cutting to the basket past these slow, unathletic oafs they have in the post. Padgett 16 points, Wallace 7. Devin Harris with 9 for New Jersey.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 53
New Jersey 53

There are just too many minutes where our lineup is Stephen Graham, Raja Bell, Gerald Henderson, Boris Diaw, and Nazr Mohammad, or something with about that much scoring potential. Padgett still has 16, Wallace still has 7, because they played the entire first quarter and sat most of the second. Augustin 6, Bell 6. Ray Allen is really not getting enough looks. Devin Harris has 17 and has been a good consistent scorer. Hughes 8, Yao with 6 points/5 boards.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 93
Charlotte 81

Yep, there's the 40 point quarter for the Nets. UGH. I seem to give those up a bit too often playing out games. Ray Allen is just OFF. He's only 4-9, 1-4 from 3, but I've only taken wide open no one anywhere close to him 3's, I need him to hit 2 or 3 of those. Padgett has 24, Wallace 13, Allen 10. Harris only scored 6 that quarter, but everyone was able to get open shots and hit them this quarter. Terrance Williams drives by our guys a few times, a lot of drive+dish type wide open shots here.


Fourth Quarter

8:30 to go. so Yao is 7'6". Most of our guys aren't. Its 105-86, we're done.

Yeah, Ray Allen decides to get hot in the final 3 minute of the 4th. Where was that in the first 40 minutes bud.

New Jersey 127
Charlotte 109

Padgett: 26 points/5 boards/5 assists/2 blocks
Allen: 18 points
Wallace: 15 points
Bell: 14 points
Augustin: 12 points


Devin Harris has 25 points/14 assists/5 steals. The steals... DJ Augustin handles the ball well but he has awful ball security, and it *really* shows. Very, very turnover prone. Backup PG Chad O'Connor was hot and scored 21 points in 20 minutes. Hughes 16, Yao 16 and 11 boards in just 20 minutes thanks to foul trouble.

The dead spots in the half court offense with Felton hurt, going so deep on our bench are just so painful.

[Radii]

Mar 17 - Boston (30-35) at Charlotte(32-34)

Boston has TONS of talent, no idea how they're below .500. They kill us. Pierce 26/Perkins 21. Allen 18, Augustin 13, Wallace 12 for us.

Boston 110
Charlotte 86


Mar 19 - Miami (38-29) at Charlotte (32-35)

A surprising win over one of the top teams in the East. Diaw 17, Allen 14, Wallace 12. Beasley leads Miami with 21 points/12 boards.

Charlotte 83
Miami 73


Mar 21 - Houston(34-33) at Charlotte(33-35)

at home vs a pretty even strength team, this is the type of game we HAVE to win, and we do grab this one. Allen 20, Diaw 16, Bell 15. Aaron Brooks with 20 for Houston.

Charlotte 100
Houston 90


Mar 22 - Charlotte(34-35) at Cleveland (37-31)

Cleveland leads 61-35 at the half, ugh. Lebron 38 points/13 boards/6 assists. Allen 16, Wallace 14, Diaw 13.

Cleveland 97
Charlotte 71



We're at 70 games now. Lets see how it looks for us:

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Orlando (43-28)
2. Atlanta (40-31)
3. Cleveland (38-31)
4. Miami (38-32)
5. New Jersey (37-33)
6. New York (37-34)
7. Chicago (35-36)
8. Detroit (35-36)
----------------------
9. Boston (34-35)
10. Washington (34-35)
11. Charlotte (34-36)
12. Philadelphia (32-38)
13. Toronto (32-39)
14. Indiana (25-45)
15. Milwaukee (22-49)


Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Washington all tied for the 7th/8th spots 1 game under .500. We're 1/2 game behind them all.

[Radii]

Mar 24 - Atlanta(40-31) at Charlotte(34-36)

Huge win, crushing win too... Diaw 24, Augustin 16, Allen 15. Joe Johnson with 23.

Charlotte 102
Atlanta 69


Mar 26 - Charlotte (35-36) at Toronto (32-40)

Another big win, beating a worse team on the road. Bosh with 23 for Toronto. Wallace 25, Augustin 23, Allen 17.

Charlotte 108
Toronto 96


Playoff update:

6. New York (37-35)
7. Washington (37-35)
8. Charlotte (36-36)
--------------------------------
9. Boston (35-36)
10. Detroit (35-37)
11. Chicago (35-38)

Next up, we host a Chicago team that is 12-26 on the road.

[Radii]

We hosted chicago in the opening game this year, Deng and Price hurt us as they beat us by 7. That was before I changed the sliders, hopefully we can compete pretty well here even with our injury issues. Chicago rates as a great offensive but awful defensive team, we'll see how that works out for us.

Mar 28, 2011

Chicago (35-38) at Charlotte(36-36)

CHA:CHI
77:82 OVR
74:91 OFF
78:75 DEF

Chicago Scouting


PG Derrick Rose - 84 OVR - 17.5 ppg/8.3 apg - Great ball handler, good defender, good scorer.

SG Kirk Hinrich - 78 OVR - 9.7 ppg/5.3 apg - Hinrich has a calf injury that knocks h im down to 66 OVR.

SF Luol Deng - 77 OVR - 16.2 ppg/6.2 rpg - B inside, B+ outside, not much of a defender.

PF Carlos Boozer - 88 OVR - 17.4 ppg/11 rpg - The prize free agent pickup of the year, 17.5 ppg/11 rpg for the Jazz last season. A inside, B- post D, A+ rebounding.

C Drew Gooden - 70 OVR - 11.4 ppg/7.6 rpg - Decent inside scorer, good rebounder, not much else.

backup PG/top pick Jordan Price is averaging 9.7 ppg and 4.8 apg. SG John Salmons has 6.1 ppg.


First Quarter

Chicago 24
Charlotte 23

Padgett picks up his second foul with about 7 minutes left. Hinrich has 8 for the bulls and hits two threes. Boozer/Rose have 4 each, both played the entire quarter. Wallace leads us with 8, he was playing the 4 some and easily getting by bigger slower guys to get to the rim. Diaw with 7, Augustin with 5.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 44
Chicago 42

This one has been pretty close the entire way through. We brifely built a 7 point lead, but they cut it right back down. Derrick Rose is the player of the half with 6 points/4 boards/5 assists. Hinrich still has 8, Gooden/Boozer/rose/Deng all with 6. Ray Allen has 12 points, all in the 2nd quarter, he heated up big time. Wallace still has 8, Diaw 7, Padgett with 7 too, all in the 2nd quarter.

Padgett picked up foul #3, he's only played 10 minutes so far. The last couple games i've played we played a solid first half and were down 20 in the 3rd quarter, so I am worried about playing well this quarter.

Third Quarter

At the 8 minute mark of the 3rd quarter we're down 53-46 and it feels like I'm falling apart in the 3rd yet again. Hah, we go on a 4-0 run in 45 seconds to make it a 3 point game again and force a chicago timeout. We fall down by 10 again but keep the deficit reasonable going into the final quarter.

Chicago 69
Charlotte 62

Rose and Gooden have 13, Deng 12, Boozer 10. Wallace is up to 16, another good quarter for him. Allen has 14, Padgett has 13. Wallace and PAdgett were the two big weapons this quarter.


Fourth Quarter

8:30 to go - 76-66 Chicago. We use a timeout, having trouble getting consistent buckets here to cut the lead down.

7:40 to go - 76-70 Chicago. Padgett with two free throws, then coming in behind Henderson on the secondary break after a good defensive stop. Down to 6.

6:30 to go - 76-74 Chicago. Two more stops, Padgett with a thunderous dunk, and then Gerald Henderson draws a foul and hits two free throws. I bring in DJ Augustin an Gerald Wallace, who had both been sitting, and sit Allen and Padgett who are exhausted, hopefully I can get the starting lineup in for the last 4 minutes or so.

5:45 to go - 78-76 Chicago. Wallace with a monster dunk to tie the game before drew Gooden finally breaks our 10-0 run. we're in the game now though!

3:55 to go - 83-78 Charlotte - Wallace took over where Padgett left off, getting 4 more straight points, and then Diaw sinks an open 3 and we have a 5 point lead!

3:30 to go - 83-81 Charlotte. We commit two fouls, they make 1, miss one and get the offensive board, we foul again and they hit two free throws. I call a timeout, get my starting lineup all back in for theduration.

1:30 to go - 85-83 Charlotte - a few dry trips on both sides, Wallace gets a dunk in transition and we take a 2 point lead with 90 seconds left.

1:15 to go - 85-85, Boozer with a dunk inside after a timeout.

0:57 to go - 87-85 Charlotte, Diaw with a 5 footer on a pick and roll.

0:30 to go - Still 87-85 charlotte. Deng misses a jumper, we get the board. Augustin tries a 3 coming off a screen and its no good. Chicago ball.

0:24 to go - 87-87, their rookie Price with an 18 footer from the left wing. Shot clock is off, we can take the last shot.


Ray Allen misses a jumper in the ifnal seconds of regulation.

Charlotte 87
Chicago 87

Gooden leads the Bulls with 17, Boozer 159he's had foul troubles and has a few less minutes than normal, still 27 tho). Rose 13/Deng 12. On our end, Wallace and Padgett are the stars, 24 and 21 points respectively. Allen 14, Diaw 12, Augustin 7.

We're tired going into OT, Allen and Padgett especially.

1st Overtime

4:30 to go - Carlos Boozer with a charge on the Bulls opening possession, he has fouled out! I call a timeout and sit Allen and Padgett, they are just too tired.

3:10 to go - Charlotte 92, Chicago 90. Wallace hits a rare 3(Augustin got off a screen and had a semi-open lane to the basket. Wallace had no one within 10 feet due to the defense collapsing). Hinrich answered. Augustin with a 22 footer to give us the 2 point lead.

2:35 to go - Up 92-90 with the ball. I get my starters back in for the duration of OT. Allen and Padgett ma not be top options though b/c they are more tired at the end here than the others.

1;30 to go - Still up 92-90, a couple empty trips on both ends. We have the ball.

1:03 to go - 92-92, Wallace misses a midrange jumper and they come back with a bucket in transition. I get a timeout just for rest.

0:48 to go - 94-92, Padgett scores easily on Kwame Brown, who is in there as a backup with Boozer fouling out.

0:45 to go - 94-94, wow. They get a timeout and get the ball at half court. Inbounds to Price(who is at SG) , he blows right by Ray Allen and hits a runner to tie it up 3 seconds into the possession. Ouch.


0;17 to go - 94-94, whew. Wallace misses a tough shot attacking the basket, they rebound, Price misses a 17 footer and Wallace rebounds. Our ball with the last shot again.

0:06.3 to go - Wallace brings the ball down himself, finds Allen, who hits Padgett going to the rim, Padgett hits a little shot off the glass and we lead by 2, 96-94!


Price misses a bad 3 as time expires, VICTORY!!!

Charlotte 96
Chicago 94
OT

Padgett is the player of the game, and as they mention it the announcers say "on top of a great performance, he hits the game winning shot at the end!" nice touch there, I'm constantly impressed by the announcing(when I'm not listening to podcasts w/ the sound down that is)


Wallace: 27 points/5 boards/5 assists
Padgett: 25 points/7 boards
Allen: 14 points
Diaw: 12 points/6 boards
Augustin: 9 points/4 boards/5 assists

Only 9 points off the bench. 0 from raja Bell, 2 from Gerald Henderson. I've been disappointed in Henderson a bit, hoping for a bit more from him with the extra playing time. He's still developing though.

Price was clealy the focal point of the offense late, but he only shot 6-13. Gooden 17, Boozer 15, Rose 13, Price 13, Deng 12, Hinrich 11 for the Bulls. Boozer's foul trouble was a huge deciding factor.



Very good win, espicially considering the playoff implications.

[Radii]

Mar 31 - Golden State(39-34) at Charlotte(37-36)

Tough home loss. Wallace 18 points/12 boards, Allen 16, Augustin 16. Maggette and Ellis each have 15 in a balance Warrior attack.

Golden State 97
Charlotte 90


April 1st Playoff picture:

6. Washington (39-35)
7. New York (38-36)
8. Charlotte (37-37)
--------
9. Detroit (36-38)
10. Boston (36-38)
11. Chicago (36-39)


Apr 2 - Charlotte(37-37) at Milwaukee(23-52)

Gotta beat the Bucks... and we do. Allen 27, Diaw 18,Wallace 16. Jennings 30, Redd 21 for the bucks.

Charlotte 100
Milwaukee 89



That puts Charlotte in a tie with the Knicks for 7th place. We're 1 game ahead of Detroit in 9th. Our next game is hosting Detroit, I'll play that one out and it'll be the last regular season game I play.

[CleBrownsfan]

Nice win vs. the Bulls! Had to be a pretty exciting game. Good luck down the stretch...

[Radii]

Key game in the final 10 days of the playoff race.

April 3, 2011

Detroit (37-38) at Charlotte(38-37)

CHA: DET
76:78 OVR
73:81 OFF
77:78 DEF

Detroit Scouting

PG Rodney Stuckey - 77 OVR - 15.7 ppg/6.5 apg - B+ hands/B+ outside/B perimeter D, Stuckey looks like a pretty solid, but not spectacular all around PG.

SG Ben Gordon - 82 OVR - 22.6 ppg/40% 3pt - B hands/A outside/B- perimeter defense. We just need to contest all his shots.

SF Tayshaun Prince - 77 OVR - 12.9 ppg.6.3 rpg - B- inside/B+ outside/B- perimeter D, prince is 31 and a bit tired coming into this game.

PF Jason Maxiell - 69 OVR - 3.9 ppg/4.1 rpg - B Rebounding/B- inside/C+ post D - they normally start Bargnani and Faulk I think, Maxiell usually comes off the bench.

C Rolando Faulk - 74 OVR - 3.4 ppg/10.1 rpg - B+ rebounding/B- post D/B inside, Faulk was the #9 pick in the draft this year, already 24 years old though. 7'3" giant inside. This'll be an issue for Padgett I think.

Richard Hamilton is rated 75 OVR and is a very good ouside shooter, averaging 13.9 points/game off the bench.

Andrea Bargnani has a broken wrist and is out for this game. No other Pistons are rated over 62 OVR.


First Quarter

Charlotte 23
Detroit 19

Wallace picks up 2 early fouls and we end up having to put in a full contingent of backups. Two games in a row, Allen tiring frequently, and Wallace in early foul trouble is gonna make this a nasty game. Gordon has 6, Stuckey 6, Faulk 6 for the pistons. Diaw has 9 for us, he hit a 3, a layup and a few free throws. Padgett 6, Henderson 4.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 40
Detroit 38

Detroit's big center, Faulk, is the player of the half, 6 points/4 boards/3 blocks. Prince with 9, Gordon, Stuckey, and Hamilton all with 6 as well. On our end Padgett has 10 to lead all scorers. Diaw still with 9, Augustin 7, Wallace 6. We're shooting 44%, they are shooting 38% from the field. We led briefly by 7, 28-21, but its been within 5 almost the entire way.


Third Quarter

Detroit 67
Charlotte 65

Couple big runs this quarter. We went up by 10 points and they came back and went up by 6, and its a close 2 poitn game going into the final quarter. Ben Gordon has 18, Prince 13, Austin Daye has 12 on 3-4 from 3 in 8 minutes. Padgett is having a great game for us, 7-7 from the field, 17 points/7 boards. Diaw 12, Wallace 10, Allen and Augustin 9 each.


Fourth Quarter

6:50 to go - We trail 72-71, but we've had all our backups in most of the quarter. Our starters are all in for the duration now with under 7 minutes left.

5:00 to go - 78-73 Detroit. padgett with two bad misses on the secondary break, should be closer.

3:40 to go - 80-78 Detroit. Gordon is trying to take over the game for Detroit. He puts them up 7 before we get a big time 3 from ray Allen. We get Gordon to miss a jumper, and Wallace with a layin on our end.

3:00 to go - 80-80! Faulk misses a turnaround, we get the board and Padgett gets a dunk on our end after getting Tayshaun Prince stuck on him inside.

1:40 to go - 84-80 Detroit, ugh. Gordon hits a shot on their end, I get a wide open 3 from Wallace very early in the shot clock and it didn't go in. We get a stop but Faulk shuts us down inside(Diaw misses a runner inside, Wallace picks i t up and Faulk rejects the hell out of him). They get another bucket and its a 4 point game.

1:05 to go - 84-82. Padgett draws a foul inside and hits two free throws. Padgett and Allen are wearing down though.

0:16 to go - 88-84 Detroit. we trade buckets, Prince misses a wide open 3 but Jason Maxiell gets the offensive board with about 25 left... we foul and they hit two free throws. That offensive board is going to kill us.

0:14 to go - 88-87. DJ Augustin baby! Big time 3.

We foul, they make two shots. They foul before we can tkae a 3(or it was a freak accident, either way). Augustin hits two. We foul, they hit both again. On our end with under 5 seconds to go Diaw misses a 3 and that's the game.

Detroit 93
Charlotte 89

Close game, we just quite couldn't pull it out in the end. That offensive rebound with about 25 seconds to go was the killing blow really.

Padgett: 23 points/7 boards
Allen: 14 points/7 boards/6 assists
Augustin: 14 points
Diaw: 14 points/6 boards
Wallace: 12 points/5 boards


Gordon leads all scorers with 26. Prince 15, Day 12, Stuckey 11 for the pistons. Turnovers are the big story here, we turn it over 12 times to just 1 for Detroit. One is slightly low heh. This will make the rest of the playoff race super exciting. We're tied with Detroit for the last playoff spot now.

[Radii]

April 6 - Charlotte(38-38) at Miami(41-35)

Huge win! Wade 28, Beasley 24 for the Heat. Allen 21, Augustin 20, Diaw 15.

Charlotte 96
Miami 90


April 7 - Charlotte(39-38) at Detroit(38-39)

For the second time in a week Detroit bridges a 1 game gap with us, they tear us apart here. Hamilton 29, Gordon 20 for the pistons. Wallace 18, Allen 18, Henderson 12.

Detroit 104
Charlotte 77


Playoff race with 4 games to go:

6. New York (40-38)
7. Washington (40-38)
8. Detroit (39-39)
------------------------
9. Charlotte (39-39)
10. Boston (38-40)
11. Chicago (37-41)


April 9 - Boston (38-40) at Charlotte(39-39)

We win every quarter and blow out the 88 rated Celtics. Augustin 22, Allen 21, Padgett 12. Pierce 19 for the Celtics.

Charlotte 103
Boston 76



3 games to go... charlotte, new york, washington all tied for 6th/7th/8th in 40-39. Detroit is 39-40, Boston and Chicago 38-41 are 2 games back.


April 10 - Charlotte(40-39) at Washington(40-39)

Washington beats us and that probably clenches the playoffs for them. Butler 23, Arenas 22. Allen 23, Bell 17... Stephen Graham 11 in 11 minutes off the bench.

Washington 102
Charlotte 82


2 games to go:

5. Miami (41-39)
6. New York (41-39)
7. Washington (41-39)
8. Detroit (40-40)
---------------------
9. Charlotte (40-40)
10. Boston (39-41)


April 12 - Charlotte(40-40) at Cleveland(47-33)

Perhaps Cleveland has packed it in, eh? Mo williams 25, Lebron 20. Wallace and Augustin 15 each.

Charlotte 90
Cleveland 77


Our last game matters and i should probably play it, but building the franchise over multiple years means a lot more than whether I sneak this barely able team into the playoffs in a league where over 50% of the teams make it in. So sim it is!

April 14 - Milwaukee(24-57) at Charlotte(41-40)

And we're in! Diaw 24, Allen 23, Augustin 19. Jennings 29, Redd 23 for the Bucks.

Charlotte 94
Milwaukee 84

[Radii]

Eastern Conference Final Standings

1. Orlando (50-32)
2. Atlanta (48-34)
3. Cleveland (47-35)
4. New Jersey (46-36)
5. Charlotte (42-40)
6. New York (42-40)
7. Miami (41-41)
8. Detroit (41-41)
----------------
9. Washington (41-41)
10. Boston (40-42)
11. Chicago (39-43)
12. Philadelphia (39-43)
13. Toronto (35-47)
14. Indiana (29-53)
15. Milwaukee (24-58)


Western Conference Final Standings

1. LA Lakers (49-33)
2. Denver (49-33)
3. Portland (49-33)
4. San Antonio (43-39)
5. Sacramento (47-35)
6. Oklahoma City (46-36)
7. Golden State (43-39)
8. Houston (42-40)
----------------------
9. LA Clippers (42-40)
10. New Orleans (39-43)
11. Utah (38-44)
12. Dallas (38-44)
13. Memphis (34-48)
14. Minnesota (34-48)
15. Phoenix (33-49)



San Antonio being 4th in the West b/c they're a division winner i assume, I forget how those rules work in the NBA these days.

Us being 5th is just a giant, massive joke. 5th it is, HAR! But this is why I'm not playing out too many more games in the regular season, I'll want to play out the entire playoffs, so I'm in for at least 4 more games, maybe more.

[Radii]

Awards are out at the end of the regular season, so we'll go through those first:


League MVP: Lebron James, Cleveland - 31.3 ppg/8.0 rpg/6.9 apg

Coach of the year: Stan Van Gundy, Orlando

Rookie of the year: Marion Brand, Philadelphia - 10.5 ppg/4.0 rpg/6.5 apg

6th Man of the year: Ramon Sessions, Minnesota - 9.1 ppg/6.7 apg

Defensive player of the year: Josh Smith, Atlanta

Most Improved Player: Stephen Curry, Golden State - 12.0 ppg/4.9 apg


All NBA 1st Team

G Gilbert Arenas, Washington - 24.8 ppg/7.3 rpg/7.5 apg
G Dwayne Wade, Miami - 29.5 ppg/7.8 apg
F LeBron James, Cleveland - 31.3 ppg/8.0 rpg/6.9 apg
F Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas - 23.8 ppg/9.6 rpg
C Dwight Howard, Orlando - 23.7 ppg/12.9 rpg


All NBA 2nd Team

G Joe Johnson, Atlanta - 25.0 ppg/5.2 rpg/6.5 apg
G Deron Williams, Utah - 27.3 ppg/9.4 apg
F Caron Butler, Washington - 19.8 ppg/7.1 rpg/5.2 apg
F Chris Bosh, Toronto - 23.2 ppg/12.4 rpg
C Al Horford, Atlanta - 13.9 ppg/12.1 rpg

All NBA 3rd Team

G Tony Parker, San Antonio - 25.4 ppg/7.7 apg
G Brandon Roy, Portland - 25.3 ppg/5.1 rpg/5.8 apg
F Carmelo Anthony, Denver - 27.9 ppg/8.9 rpg
F Pau Gasol, LA Lakers - 18.2 ppg/9.9 rpg
C Brook Lopez, Houston - 19.4 ppg/9.9 rpg


All-Rookie 1st Team

G Marion Brand, Philadelphia - 10.5 ppg/4.0 rpg/6.5 apg
G Damien Fulton, New York - 11.6 ppg/5.1 rpg/3.9 apg
F Gary Oakley, Sacramento - 8.5 ppg/4.9 rpg
F Samuel Padgett, Charlotte - 6.8 ppg/8.8 rpg
C Rolando Faulk, Detroit - 3.5 ppg/10.2 rpg


All Rookie 2nd Team

G Jordan Price, Chicago - 9.7 ppg/4.7 apg
G Evan Dailey, New Orleans - 7.0 ppg
F Malik Sparks, Toronto - 5.5 ppg
F Genwei Yee, Milwaukee - 5.0 ppg/7.5 rpg
C Leo Wilcox, Denver - 5.2 ppg/10.3 rpg

[Radii]

Playoff Preview

4. New Jersey Nets (46-36) vs 5. Charlotte Bobcats (42-40)


New Jersey Scouting

New Jersey Scouting

PG Devin Harris - 88 OVR - 20.1 ppg/7.0 apg - A+ hands/B- inside/B+ outside, A- defense, great athlete, smart on the court.

SG Larry Hughes - 74 OVR - 10.0 ppg - B hands/B+ outside/B+ perimeter D. He was with the knicks last year. His shooting is down noticibly this year, from 45% down to 40% from the field and down about 5% from 3 as well.

SF Terrence Williams - 74 OVR - 12.5 ppg/7.0 rpg - B- hands/B+ perimeter D,not a bigtime scorer, D+ inside/C+ outside. An 'A' athlete though, that's kinda how Gerald Wallace looks, not a great shooter from any spot, but a great athlete who can find a lot of ways to score.

PF Travis Outlaw - 70 OVR - 10.0 ppg/5.2 rpg - terrible rebounder, B- inside/A- outside, not a defender either. Outlaw looks like more of a natural SF than PF.

C Yao Ming - 82 OVR - 14.9 ppg/9.0 rpg - A inside/B+ post D/B+ rebounding. Smart but a poor athlete. Yao is 30 and a bit tired. Oh yeah, and he's 7'6". Yao is playing 30 minutes per game and pissed off about it. He's normally rated 86 OVR but so unhappy about his PT that he's performing worse.

Backup SG Courtney Lee averages 5 points off the bench(72 OVR), backup PG Kyle Lowry picks up about 6.5(71 OVR). Jianlian Yi is a 7 footer off the bench for the Nets.


Devin Harris has a dislocated finger and is day to day. His overall rating drops from 88 to 77 for the duration of that injury. I've played New JErsey a couple times now in the last two seasons and Harris always does real well against me.


Yao comes into the series tired. He is worn down from the long season. Ray Allen will be the main focal point of fatigue for us, though Padgett tires when he gets a lot of work in a game too.

[Radii]

First Round - Day 1

(1) LA Lakers 87, (8 ) Houston 82 - LA leads 1-0

--Kobe 26, Bynum 25 points/13 boards. Brooks 24, Lopez 10 points/11 boards.

(6) Oklahoma City 103, (3) Portland 95 - OKC leads 1-0

--Roy 34, Aldridge 19 for Portland. Westbrook 28, Durant 22 in the win.

(8 ) Detroit 101, (1) Orlando 100 - DET leads 1-0

-- Carter 22, Nelson 21. Prince 24, Gordon 19 for Detroit.

(6) New York 91, (3) Cleveland 90 - NY leads 1-0

-- Mo Williams 25, Lebron 24. Wes Chandler30, David Lee 13 points/13 boards.



** Dwight Howard tore his ACL in the last 2 weeks of the season. He's done for the playoffs and very likely the start of next season.

[Radii]

First Round Day 2

Charlotte(42-40) at New Jersey(46-36)

CHA:NJ
76:81 OVR
73:88 OFF
77:84 DEF


First Quarter

New Jersey 31
Charlotte 23

tough start for us, Wallace and Diaw both start out cold. Augustin has 7, Diaw has 6 after a couple late buckets. Lots of guys have 2 after that. Outlaw has 8 points/5 boards to lead the Nets.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 53
Charlotte 42

We're shoting 38% from the field, they're shooting 54%. But the fouls are a huge deal, 13 fouls for the Nets/8 for us, but we have twice as many FTs. They go for steals like crazy and there are a lot of reach in fouls, way more than any other team it seems. Augustin leads us with 8, Diaw 7, Henderson and Nazr Mohammad 6. That's not a winning formula. We need way more from Allen/Wallace/Padgett, none of whom have more than 4 points. Yao has 12 points, hughes 11, Outlaw 10. Devin harris is the king of the reach-in foul and only has 2 points in 13 minutes.



I didn't want to have to use the 'sim to end' option in the playoffs... Yao Ming is just unstoppable. I tried a few options, Padgett at Center is just terrible b/c Yao walks all over him and he can't score over Yao. That leaves Padgett at PF and Kurt Thomas/Nazr Mohammad/Diop at Center... that doesn't help either. We were down by 27 and Yao had 23 when I simmed it out.


New Jersey 104
Charlotte 75


Diaw: 13 points/7 boards
Henderson: 11 points
Wallace: 10 points
Allen: 9 points
Mohammad: 8 points
Padgett: 8 points/6 boards

Yao Ming has 30 points/11 boards/4 blocks. Hughes 18, Outlaw 11, Harris 8 and down from there.


It'll be interesting to see if we can do anything at all to slow down the 7'6" dude this series.

[rjolley]

Congrats on getting to the playoffs and a great rookie season from Padgett.

[Radii]

First Round Day 2

(5) Sacramento 102, (4) San Antonio 90 - SAC up 1-0

--Kevin Martin 30, rudy gay 23. Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker both w/ 21.


(2) Denver 120, (7) Golden State 87 - DEN up 1-0

--Carmelo 43 points/16 boards!


(2) Atlanta 86, (7) Miami 78 - ATL up 1-0

--Joe Johnson with 40, almost half Atlanta's points, WOW.

[Radii]

First Round Day 3

(1) LA Lakers 91, (8 ) Houston 82 - LA leads 2-0

--Kobe 33 points/10 boards/5 assists. Brooks 21 for Houston.

(3) Portland 90, (6) Oklahoma City 88 - Series Tied 1-1

--Roy 20 points/7 assists, Aldridge 18 points. Durant 22, Westbrook 20.

(1) Orlando 121, (8 ) Detroit 109 - Series Tied 1-1

-- Rashard Lewis 40 points/7 boards! Ben Gordon 41 for the pistons, crazy.

(3) Cleveland 82, (6) New York 71 - Series Tied 1-1

--Lebron 22 poitns/9 boards/7 assists.

[Radii]

First Round Day 4

Charlotte(42-40) at New Jersey(46-36)

New Jersey leads 1-0

CHA:NJ
76:81 OVR
73:88 OFF
77:84 DEF


First Quarter

Charlotte 32
New Jersey 23

We play an outstanding first quarter. Padgett has 8 points for us, Wallace and Augustin both have 6, Diaw 5. yao leads the Nets with 10 points/4 boards and is the biggest force on either side once again. We're 2/5 from 3 and both teams are shooting great, 11/18 for us, 10/18 for them.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 58
New Jersey 50

It took New JErsey 3 minutes to tie the game up... it was 34-34 with 9 minutes left in the half. We never did let them take the lead though. With about a minute left its 52-50, and Boris Diaw takes Jianlian Yi to the hole for a 3 point play, and then hits a 3 pointer in the final seconds, giving us an 8 point lead. Diaw leads us with 15 points. Padgett has 11, Augustin 10, Wallace 8. Yao has 20 points/6 boards. Devin Harris just cannot stay on the court against us, allowing top pick Chad O'Connor(1.14 in last year's draft) to score 11 points in the half.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 92
New Jersey 69

Just an explosion. We finally cooled off Yao for a period of 5-6 minutes. This is the best shooting game I've ever seen, to an almost unreasonable level(if this happened a lot I'd be worried). We're shooting 64% from the field, and 8/14 from 3. 57% from 3 isn't normal for me at all! Our scoring is balanced, solid, and consistent. Wallace 20 points/8 boards. Diaw 18 points, Padgett 17 points, Augustin 13 points, Allen 13 points. Yao has 28 now but no one else can keep up for the Nets.


Fourth Quarter

We never let them cut it under 20. Wallace scores the first 8 points of the quarter for us and we go up by 25+ and our backups play the final 7ish minutes of the quarter.

Charlotte 113
New Jersey 89


Wallace: 28 points/8 boards
Diaw: 18 points/4 boards (3-4 from 3)
Padgett: 17 points/7 boards
Allen: 13 points/6 assists (3-6 from 3)
Augustin: 13 points/4 assists (1-1 from 3)
Bell: 10 points (2-4 from 3)


New Jersey shoots 48% from the field but we hold up at 60%, 52% from 3(10/19). Just a dominant performance.

Yao with 32 points/9 boards leads all scorers. No one else has more than 15 points.

Great win, series tied up!

[Radii]

First Round Day 4

(5) Sacramento 100, (4) San Antonio 91 - SAC up 2-0

--Rudy Gay dominates with 39 today. Jefferson with 22, Duncan 21 and 10.

(2) Denver 106, (7) Golden State 103 - DEN up 2-0

--Golden State wins the 3rd quarter 35-9. Denver wins the 4th 38-17.


(2) Atlanta 99, (7) Miami 78 - ATL up 2-0

--Josh Smith 21, Joe Johnson 21. Wade 34 for Miami.




First Round Day 5

(1) LA Lakers 93, (8 ) Houston 92 - LA leads 3-0

--Lopez 21 and 12 for Houston. Kobe 23 for the Lakers.

(3) Portland 100, (6) Oklahoma City 92 - POR leads 2-1

--Roy with 46 for Portland, Durant 33 for OKC.

(8 ) Detroit 102, (1) Orlando 94 - DET leads 2-1

-- Stuckey and Gordon both have 21. Carter 25/Lewis 24 for the Magic

(3) Cleveland 121, (6) New York 87 - CLE leads 2-1

--Lebron 37 points/12 boards/9 assists. David Lee 21 and 12 for the Knicks.

[Radii]

First Round Day 6

New Jersey(46-36) at Charlotte(42-40)

Series Tied 1-1

CHA:NJ
76:81 OVR
73:88 OFF
76:84 DEF


First Quarter

New Jersey 24
Charlotte 21

It looked like we were both going to score 30+ early on here, with 7 minutes left in the quarter it was 17-15. Things cooled off badly, luckily on both sides, and its a close game after 1. The first quarter once again belongs to Yao. 13 points for him, Hughes 5, Harris 4. Allen 7, Augustin 5, Wallace 5 for us. Padgett picked up two very early fouls and sat.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 49
Charlotte 35

Yeah, that's a 14 point quarter, ugh. Yao Ming has 17 points/7 boards at the half and is the player of the half. Outlaw has 14 and they are crushing us inside. Wallace has 10, Augustin and Allen have 7. Because of the inside dominance, New Jersey is shooting a crazy 20/34 from the field, 58%. We're at 41%. We need to do something inside.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 77
Charlotte 62

We play this quarter pretty much even, which isn't anywhere close to good enough. I pushed my starters as much as I reasonably could to try to get back in it in the 3rd and I wasn't able to. Outlaw 24, Yao 22 points/10 boards. Allen 16, Wallace 16 for us...


Fourth Quarter

8:15 to go - We've scored a real quick 6 points here and have the lead down to 9, 82-73.

5:15 to go - 89-82.. we've got it down to 7, Yao was out for awhile but he's back in now and things have evened back out.

3:00 to go - 96-86, on a Yao Ming 3 point play, we can't do it if he's on the court.


The comeback basically ends the second Yao Ming comes back in.

New Jersey 102
Charlotte 91


Wallace: 29 points
Augustin: 16 points
Allen: 16 points
Padgett: 9 points/10 boards
Bell: 6 points
Diaw: 6 points

Yao scores 31 points, pulls down 12 boards, and blocks 5 shots. Outlaw 26 points and their inside game just crushed us.

New Jersey back up 2-1.

[Radii]

First Round Day 6

(5) Sacramento 103, (4) San Antonio 101 - SAC up 3-0
--Kevin Martin 32, Tyreke Evans 24 and the Kings are about to sweep the Spurs.

(7) Golden State 105, (2) Denver 103 - DEN up 2-1
--Randolph with 20, balanced scoring for golden State. Anthony and billups have 26 and 24 for Denver.

(2) Atlanta 103, (7) Miami 93 - ATL up 3-0
--Josh Smith 27, Joe Johnson 21.

[Radii]

First Round Day 7

(8 ) Houston 98, (1) LA Lakers 93, - LA leads 3-1
--Houston staves off elimination for now. Jermaine Taylor(who?) leads Houston with 21 points in 26 minutes(Taylor was a 2nd round pick last year)

(6) Oklahoma City 88, (3) Portland 84 - Series Tied 2-2
-- Durant with 38 points/9 boards/5 steals to tie it up with portland.


(8 ) Detroit 101, (1) Orlando 82 - DET leads 3-1
-- Orlando apparently isn't good without Dwight Howard. Ben Gordon 29.

(6) New York 105, (3) Cleveland 89 - Series Tied 2-2
-- Lee with 27, Nene 25. Lebron not finishing!

[Radii]

First Round Day 8

New Jersey(46-36) at Charlotte(42-40)

New Jersey up 2-1

CHA:NJ
76:81 OVR
73:88 OFF
76:84 DEF


First Quarter

Charlotte 28
New Jersey 24

Yao doesn't get off to a hot start and that's really been the difference all series, so we've got a shot. Outlaw has 9, Harris 6, Yao 5, but on 2-7 shooting. Gerald Henderson scores 6 for us in 4 minutes at the end of the quarter. Diaw with 6, Allen 5, Wallace 4. Pretty balanced on our end.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 45
New Jersey 42

Yao heats up big time, he's got 14 now(9 in the quarter). The rest of the Nets points are garbage type buckets, Outlaw and Harris still have 9 and 6. Allen leads us with 9 at the half. Henderson and Wallace have 8. Padgett scored the first 5 of the quarter for us and has 7. Our scoring remains balanced. Augustin is the big outlier. He's cold as ice. 1-7 from the field, 0-3 from 3.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 63
New Jersey 62

We score 4 points in the last 20 seconds to take a lead into the fourth quarter. We didn't score for the first 5 minutes of the quarter,it was 51-45 when Padgett finally got us going. Yao 18, Outlaw 17, Harris 9, that's 2/3 of the Nets points. Gerald Henderson has had a few athletic explosions and leads us with 12 points in 13 minutes. Allen 11, Padgett 11, Wallace 10.


Fourth Quarter

We ran our starters hard in the 3rd since we got behind and struggled so much to score. I've got 5 backups in to open the 4th.. Graham, Bell, Henderson, Diop, Thomas. Not all that imposing.

8:00 to go - We lead 71-67, Raja Bell with a random 3 helps out. Wallace and Padgett get back into the game.

6:20 to go - Padgett pulls off a 3 point play to put us up 76-70 as we get all of our starters in.

4:15 to go - 7 straight for the Nets and all of a sudden we trail by one. Diaw got stuffed by Yao and the Nets hit a 3 on their end fora quick swing.

3:15 to go - 78-77 Charlotte leads. Diaw gets a layin to give us the lead after Augustin misses two open shots.

2:10 to go - 82-82, Padgett has our last 4 points, the Nets get a 3 from Hughes and a 10 foot jumper from Yao.

1:45 to go - 85-84 Charlotte. All of a sudden there's no defense, a 3 point play by Wallace puts us up 1, Nets ball.

1:07 to go - 87-86 Charlotte. Easy bucket for the Nets. We have to work for it but Padgett gets a loose ball(following a bad pass by Augustin) and a layin.

0:45 to go - No defense! 89-88 Charlotte. A drive from Ray Allen after another easy New JErsey bucket.

0:32 to go - DEFENSE! Devin Harris tries to do it all himself and commits a charge.


We run the clock, Gerald Wallace misses a long jumper and the nets rebound with 6 seconds left. They get the ball up the court but end up with a very long contested 3 by Devin Harris. its an air ball and the game is over!


Charlotte 89
New Jersey 88

After a number of stretches where there is just no offense at all, including the start of the 3rd quarter where we didn't score for literally 5 minutes of game action, we end things on a tear, scoring on 6 straight possessions and hold off the Nets to tie up the series!


Padgett: 20 points/9 boards
Allen: 13 points/5 assists
Wallace: 13 points/8 boards
Henderson: 12 points
Bell: 11 points


Diaw 8/Augustin 4 to round out our starters. Kurt Thomas pulled down 7 boards off the bench.

Yao leads all scorers with 24 points and 13 boards. Outlaw with 17 points/5 boards/5 assists. Devin Harris only scores 9, on 4-13 shooting, but does have 10 assists to go with it.

An exciting game that guarentees this series will be going 6 games at least. Things get really interesting with Orlando getting killed by the Pistons too. The winner of this series is going to be playing the 8 seed in all likelyhood.

[CleBrownsfan]

Nice win... get past this round and hopefully you'll be playing Detroit if they continue their upset run. What was your record this year against Detroit?

[Radii]

Nice win... get past this round and hopefully you'll be playing Detroit if they continue their upset run. What was your record this year against Detroit?

Oh, not so good. Detroit beat us 4 times, we didn't beat them at all. I actually played them twice this year, once very early and once as we were trying to lock up a playoff spot. The first game was a 20 point loss, the second one was a 4 point game.

[Radii]

First Round Day 8

(5) Sacramento 108, (4) San Antonio 90 - Sacramento Advances - 4-0
--Rudy Gay 26, Kevin Martin 20. This is the only sweep of the first round.

(2) Denver 97, (7) Golden State 83 - DEN up 3-1
--Carmelo has 32 points/10 boards. Al Harrington with 30. Denver with a 25-6 third quarter.

(7) Miami 111, (2) Atlanta 101, - ATL up 3-1
--Miami staves off elimination for another day at least. Beasley 27, Wade 26, Jermaine O'Neal 24. Joe Johnson with 41 for the Hawks in the loss.

[Radii]

First Round Day 9

(1) LA Lakers 97, (8 ) Houston 85 - LA WINS 4-1
--Kobe 22, Jeff Green 22, Bynum 17 points/18 boards and LA puts it away.

(3) Portland 105, (6) Oklahoma City 87 - Portland up 3-2
-- Roy 27, Rudy Fernandez 18. Durant with 28 in the loss.


(1) Orlando 104, (8 ) Detroit 94, - DET leads 3-2
-- Orlando isn't going away quite yet. Jameer Nelson 31 points/11 assists Rashard Lewis 28.

(3) Cleveland 101, (6) New York 64 - Cleveland up 3-2
-- Lebron 44 points/10 boards/5 assists/3 steals/2 blocks... yeah.


Only two series end in 5 games or less.

[Radii]

First Round Day 10

Charlotte(42-40) at New Jersey(46-36)

Series Tied 2-2

CHA:NJ
76:83 OVR
73:91 OFF
77:85 DEF


First Quarter

New Jersey 30
Charlotte 23

New Jersey only had 5 fouls all quarter... 2 on Yao, 2 on Devin Harris. Yao plays 8 minutes still but is only 1-2, he has 6 boards. Travis Outlaw dominates the quarter though, which he's done to us before. He scores 11. Larry Hughes is 4-5 for 8 points. On our end, we only had 4 fouls all quarter, but Gerald Wallace picked up 2 in the first 3 minutes. Gerald Henderson gets 7 minutes and scores 6. Padgett 5, Diaw 4.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 60
Charlotte 55

Travis Outlaw is the player of the half with 18 points, a great half for him. We stay in the game with the jump shot. Our scoring is quite balanced, Allen 10, Diaw 9, Padgett 9, Henderson 9. Allen is 2-5 from 3, Diaw 1-1, Bell 1-1. We also hit a few open midrange jumpers after doubleteams, shots I don't usually take but that were so open I couldn't resist here. Larry Hughes has 14, Yao only has 4 points but 12 boards.

With our lack of depth(due to Felton and Chandler's injuries) we have some dead points where we just can't keep this scoring pace going I don't think.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 85
Charlotte 76

We're really lucky to only be down 9 here. One of the consistent problems I've had is opening up the 3rd quarter very poorly. That happened again today, New Jersey was on a 14-4 run in the quarter at the 6:30 mark. We go on a nice tear to get it back down under 10(the lead was 19 at its worst).

Our scoring remains balanced, Wallace now leads us with 15, Diaw 13, Padgett 13, Allen 10. Outlaw leads all with 25, Yao had a huge 3rd quarter scoring 10 and pulling down more boards. He has 14 points/18 boards going into the 4th. Our starters played most of the third so we're going to be tired as we try to come back in the 4th.


Fourth Quarter

8:00 to go - Its 89-82 New Jersey. Augustin, Allen and Padgett have put in some minutes here. Padgett is sitting now and Diaw is back in.

6:45 to go - we've got it down to 6, 92-86. For a very brief time i put all my backups in, getting diaw and Augustin another last minute of rest, the idea being to get all the starers in for the last 5 to 5 1/2 minutes and to have rested stars into the final minute.

5:55 to go - I queue up my starters at the 6 minute mark. 5 seconds later there's a stoppage and they're in. Its 94-88.

4:40 to go - Its 98-90 as New Jersey calls a timeout.

3:00 to go - 99-92. We've missed a couple shots inside where we get by the perimeter man but Yao alters everything inside and we've gotten unlucky here.

1:50 to go - 101-95. We're in striking distance, after a couple empty trips on each side, we trade 3 for 2, Allen just hit a 3 for us.

0:55 to go - 105-100. Another 3 for 2 trade as Padgett draws a foul on Yao and gets a shot to go.


New Jersey scores again and this game we're not able to stop them when we need to down the stretch. We miss a trey trying for another 3 for 2 trade and that's pretty much it.

New Jersey 111
Charlotte 100


Wallace: 19 points/6 assists
Padgett: 18 points/11 boards
Henderson: 13 points
Diaw: 13 points
Allen: 13 points

DJ Augustin scores 8 and has 10 assists.


Travis Outlaw has a monster game with 30 points, but its Yao Ming earning player of the game honors. He just got EVERY board it seemed. 18 points/24 rebounds. Sheesh. Devin Harris really hasn't been a factor in this series, but he does have 11 points/11 assists today.


New Jersey takes a 3-2 lead in the series. We'll be back in Charlotte for game 6.

[Radii]

First Round Day 10

(2) Denver 118, (7) Golden State 96 - DEN WINS 4-1
--Billups 30 points, Melo 21 poitns/19 boards as Denver closes out the Warriors.

(2) Atlanta 111, (7) Miami 85 - ATL WINS 4-1
--Al Horford 25 points/18 boards. Joe Johnson 22 points/7 boards/10 assists. Wade and Beasley both put up numbers in the 20s but its not enough.

[Radii]

First Round Day 11

(3) Portland 105, (6) Oklahoma City 95 - Portland WINS 4-2
-- Roy 38, Aldridge 25 as Portland puts away Oklahoma City. Durant scores 32 and OKC is presumably on the way up still.


(8 ) Detroit 121, (1) Orlando 101 - DET WINS 4-2
--Stuckey 33, Gordon 23. Rashard Lewis 28, Nelson 22 as Detroit finally does put this one away.

(3) Cleveland 83, (6) New York 80 - Cleveland WINS 4-2
--Lebron with 22 points/13 boards/6 assists/4 blocks. No one else on either side tops 20 points.


All three of these series end in 6 games, the Charlotte/New Jersey series is the only one still going now.

[Radii]

Our backs are against the wall as we come back to Charlotte trailing 3-2. I didn't think we would even do this well in the series so I'm pretty pleased. I'd like to send it back to New Jersey and give us a shot to advance.


First Round Day 12

New Jersey(46-36) at Charlotte(42-40)

New Jersey leads 3-2

CHA:NJ
76:83 OVR
73:91 OFF
77:85 DEF


First Quarter

With 4:15 to go in the first quarter Yao Ming takes a pass and lays the ball in from the right block over Kurt Thomas. This was the Nets first bucket. Samuel Padgett is playing out of his mind, he scored our first 12 points, DJ Augustin drains a 3 and we score the first 15 points of teh game. Its 15-2 with 4:15 left in the first.

Charlotte 24
New Jersey 13

Of course New Jersey wakes up a bit, but we finish off a great quarter with an 11 point lead. Padgett 12 points/5 boards. Augustin 8 points/3 assists. Chris Douglas-Roberts leads the Nets with 5. Yao and Devin Harris have 4 each.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 49
New Jersey 42

New Jersey briefly cuts the lead down to 4, we push it back up to 12, as the half ends we're in between those two and its a 7 point game. Padgett doesn't play a lot this quarter and doesn't really play well while he's out there. But he'sstill the player of the half with 12 poitns and 5 boards. Augustin still has 8, Ray allen and Boris Diaw got in the mix this quarter, 8 and 7 for them respectively. Gerald Wallace has only taken 1 shot, he has 3 points on a 3 point play. Yao has 8 points to lead the Nets. Terrance Williams 7, but he got stuck in the 4 spot for awhile and couldn't do it without fouling, he has four fouls.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 81
New Jersey 66

Just a great quarter. As I mention every game, the start to the third quarter is a dangerous time for us, and here New Jersey scores the first 6 points, but instead of falling apart we take control back and go on a big run. Ray Allen is the catalyst and is our leading scorer after the first few minutes of the 3rd. Padgett gets going again for a bit and Padgett and Allen drive most of the quarter. We led by 15 for awhile, New Jersey cut the lead to 10, but we score 5 points in the last 30 seconds, including a 3 in transition from Diaw with 3 seconds to go in the quarter, and its a nice 15 point lead.

Padgett and Allen both have 17, Augustin 12, Diaw 10, Wallace 8. Travis Outlaw leads the Nets with 17, Yao has 12, no one else more than 10 so far.


Fourth Quarter

10:30 to go - 85-68, I put all 5 backups in.

7:15 to go - some starters come back in(CPU Subs, whee), we lead by 19 and are doing great.

We roll easily the rest of the way.

Charlotte 100
New Jersey 86


Padgett: 19 points/8 boards/3 assists/2 blocks
Allen: 17 points (3-4 from 3)
Diaw: 14 points (1-4 from 3)
Augustin: 12 points/3 assists(2-2 from 3)
Wallace: 10 points/9 boards/6 assists
Henderson: 8 points

Our scoring is pretty balanced, but Padgett and Allen both had a couple spots where they were on fire and taking over the game.

Outlaw leads the Nets with 23 points/16 boards. Yao with 14 points/6 boards. Devin Harris only scores 6 but has 10 assists.

We played a great game from start to finish here, shooting 51% from the field, 7/17 from 3, turnovers and rebounds are even, a solid game.


Back to New Jersey, we've forced the only game 7 of the first round!

[Radii]

Game 7!

First Round Day 14

Charlotte(42-40) at New Jersey(46-36)

Series Tied 3-3

CHA:NJ
76:83 OVR
73:91 OFF
77:85 DEF


First Quarter

Charlotte 23
New Jersey 17

We play another solid quarter. Padgett is 4-4 inside and has 8 points/6 boards. Diaw has 4 and Wallace has 4. Yao is scoring well today which always worries me, he has 8 points as well. Hughes with 7. Devin Harris is scoreless in 12 minutes, its amazing how ineffective he is in the games we play out.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 44
Charlotte 40

We led most of the quarter but Larry Hughes has just been deadly. Padgett has been a beast inside for us and has kept up. PAdgett is 8-8 now and has 17 points/8 boards. Wallace 8, Diaw 6 Hughes has 3 3-pointers and 15 points. Terrance Williams has 12, Yao didn't score this quarter. Lots of driving and dishing really to set up lots of open jumpers on the Nets side.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 71
Charlotte 62

It was tied at 56 and we fell apart for a brief time, almost entirely due to the prescence of Yao Ming. If we doubled down on him he hit open shooters, if we didn't, he scored, every time for 5 straight trips down the floor for them. Padgett sat for a bit this quarter, still on 17 points. Wallace 14, Diaw 10. Hughes 19, Williams 14, Yao and Outlaw 12 for the Nets. We can certainly come back but our defense has just not been good enough, way way too many easy shots for the Nets today. If we can buckle down for a quarter we have a shot. Our outside shooting hasn't been good today either, Augustin was a spark in the last game, here he's 0-5 from 3.


Fourth Quarter

8:15 to go - We're pushing a little and its not working well. 79-67 Nets. We had one shot to cut it to 5, missed an open 3 and they scored to make it 10 on their end. Allen and Diaw rest, Augustin/Wallace/Padgett are out there and fresh.

5:50 to go - Its 83-71 Nets, we are just struggling to score from anywhere right now.

4:40 to go - 85-73 Nets, I call a timeout, all 5 starters are on the floor but not really rested since I've been rotating them all quarter. This is going to be tough.

We get the lead down to 10 with 29 seconds to go... its just not happening, Padgett and Allen were ice cold when I was trying to get them to trigger the comeback, Wallace was struggling to get to the rim, and Yao got blocks and buckets inside when he needed to late.


New Jersey 95
Charlotte 83

Padgett: 19 points/11 boards
Wallace: 16 points/6 boards/5 assists
Henderson: 11 points
Allen: 11 points
Diaw: 10 points
Augustin: 9 points/4 asssits(0-7 from 3)


Larry Hughes scores 23, Terrance Williams 22, Yao Ming 19 in the deciding victory.


It was a better season than I anticipated, and Wallace/Padgett provide a fun combination to build around. I have some contract decisions to make with Ray Allen and Tyson Chandler and others, but I have 27 million in cap room for next year so this will be the offseason where we can really try to make something happen.

[CleBrownsfan]

Congrats on a good season. Looking forward to Padgett's career.

[Radii]

Congrats on a good season. Looking forward to Padgett's career.

Thanks! Me too, I'm hoping his shooting tendencies develop so that he becomes more of an offensive threat in simmed games. He was very good in the post when I controlled him but only averaged something like 8 points/game because he rarely shoots in CPU games. As long as that develops, he'll be great for me.

[Radii]

Second Round Day 1

(1) LA Lakers 103, (5) Sacramento 89 - LA Leads 1-0
-- Kobe 29, Gasol 21 and 10. Rudy Gay 23 for the Kings.

(8 ) Detroit 105, (4) New Jersey 91 - Detroit leads 1-0
--Devin Harris 33 for the losers, Gordon 33 for the winners.


Second Round Day 2

(3) Portland 96, (2) Denver 90 - Portland leads 1-0
--Frenchman Nicholas Batum(1st round/2008) leads Portland with 21, Roy 17. Billups 27/Anthony 25 for Denver.

(3) Cleveland 104, (2) Atlanta 95 - Cleveland leads 1-0
--Lebron 47 points/11 boards/12 assists for yet another triple-double.



Second Round Day 3

(5) Sacramento 118, LA LAkers 87 - Series Tied 1-1
--Kobe 35, Gasol 13 points/14 boards in the loss, Sacramento has 3 players over 20, Spencer Hawes, Rudy Gay, Kevin Martin with 26/26/20.

(8) Detroit 99, (4) New Jersey 98 - Detroit leads 2-0
--Ben Gordon with 25, Pince 19, Hamilton 18. Harris with 32 for the Nets, Yao 17 points/18 board


Second Round Day 4

(3) Portland 114, (2) Denver 99 - Portland leads 2-0
-- Roy 30, Oden 22/12. Carmelo 34 for Denver in the loss.

(3) Cleveland 119, (2) Atlanta 87 - Cleveland leads 2-0
Lebron with 36, Mo Williams 26. Joe Johnson with 20 for the Hawks. seems that Atlanta cannot stop Lebron.

[Radii]

Second Round Day 5

(1) LA Lakers 111, (5) Sacramento 101 - LA up 2-1
-- Kobe 31, Gasol 24, Bynum 19 points/19 boards.

(8 ) Detroit 101, (4) New Jersey 98 - Detroit up 3-0
-- Stuckey and Hamilton have 21 each and appear to be on their way to the conference finals.


Second Round Day 6

(3) Portland 104, (2) Denver 94 - Portland up 3-0
-- Roy with 31 points/5 boards/9 assists. Melo tries to keep Denver alive with 47 points and 12 boards, one of the highest scoring games I've ever seen in a box score, but Portland looks ready to advance.

(3) Cleveland 95, (2) Atlanta 85 - Cleveland up 3-0
-- Lebron 44 points/10 boards/5 assists, such a stud.


Second Round Day 7

(1) LA Lakers 103, (5) Sacramento 95 - LA up 3-1
-- Artest 28, Kobe 24. Rudy Gay with 19, Kevin Martin 18 for the Kings.

(8 ) Detroit 105, (4) New Jersey 88 - Detroit WINS 4-0
-- Gordon 31 for the Pistons as they pull off the sweep.


Second Round Day 8

(3) Portland 117, (2) Denver 66 - Portland WINS 4-0
-- Denver gives up completely in the final game it appears. Aldridge 33 points, Roy 24 points.

(2) Atlanta 117, (3) Cleveland 114 - Cleveland 3-1
-- Joe Johnson has 33, Bibby 23 as Atlanta holds off the Cavs for one more day. Lebron with 31 points/10 assists in the loss.


Second Round Day 9

(1) LA Lakers 113, (5) Sacramento 84 - LA WINS 4-1
-- Kobe has 25, Gasol 23 points. LA advances easily.


Second Round Day 10

(3) Cleveland 100, (2) Atlanta 78 - Cleveland WINS 4-1
-- Lebron 34 points/13 boards/8 assists, Mo Williams adds 30.


None of the conference semis are close at all. I didn't expect to beat Detroit if I had advanced myself but New Jersey didn't stand a chance.

[Radii]

Western Conference Finals

GAME 1: (1) LA Lakers 106, (3) Portland 97 - LA up 1-0
-- Kobe 29, Jeff Green 20. Aldridge with 17 points/13 boards to lead Portland.

GAME 2: (3) Portland 103, (1) LA Lakers 100 - Series Tied 1-1
-- Aldridge 29, Roy 23. Kobe with 22 for LA, Bynum has 18.

GAME 3: (3) Portland 104, (1) LA Lakers 75 - Portland up 2-1
-- Aldridge seems to be dominating this series, 30 points/9 boards. Roy only scored 15 today. Kobe 18/Gasol 16.

GAME 4: (3) Portland 106, (1) LA Lakers 88 - Portland up 3-1
-- This is turning out to be a big surprise. Aldridge with 27 points, Roy 25 points/6 boards/8 assists. Kobe only had 16, 6-18 shooting.

GAME 5: (1) LA Lakers 105, (3) Portland 72 - Portland up 3-2
-- LA stays alive for another day. Kobe 26 points/8 assists. Aldridge 17 points to lead Portland.

GAME 6: (3) Portland 106, (1) LA Lakers 88 - Portland WINS 4-2
-- Balanced scoring for Portland, 19 from Roy, 15 from Aldridge and Miller,14for Oden. Kobe was way cold again today, 7-25, 19 points.


Eastern Conference Finals

GAME 1: (8 ) Detroit 101, (3) Cleveland 93 - Detroit up 1-0
-- Lebron 35 points/8 boards/6 assists. Gordon 27, Prince 20. Detroit again, really?

GAME 2: (3) Cleveland 107, (8 ) Detroit 64 - Series Tied 1-1
-- Lebron 43 points/13 boards/9 assists/5 steals in a absolute dominating win.

GAME 3: (3) Cleveland 109, (8 ) Detroit 94 - Cleveland up 2-1
-- Lebron 32 points/9 boards/9 assists. Varejao 17 points/21 boards.

GAME 4: (3) Cleveland 114, (8 ) Detroit 99 - Cleveland up 3-1
-- Lebron 37/4 boards/6 assists. Stuckey with a strong 29 points/9 assists for the Pistons in the loss.

GAME 5: (3) Cleveland 114, (8 ) Detroit 75 - Cleveland WINS 4-1
-- Lebron blows up the joint, holy shit. 59 points/13 boards/3 assists/6 steals. 21-34 from the field, 10-11 from 3(what???), 7-10 from the line.



We miss out on the seemingly inevitable Kobe/Lebron finals, it'll be Lebron/Roy and Aldridge instead I guess!

[Radii]

NBA Finals

GAME 1: Portland 95, Cleveland 85 - Portland up 1-0
-- Roy with 30, Aldridge 13 points. Lebron with 30 points/13 boards, Varejao with 20 as Cleveland drops game 1.

GAME 2: Portland 94, Cleveland 84 - Portland up 2-0
-- Roy with 39, he's really carrying Portland early. Oden with 19 points/14 boards. Wow, crazy crazy distribution from Cleveland. Lebron with 39 points, Mo Williams 30, no one else on the team with more than 3.

GAME 3: Portland 90, Cleveland 76 - Portland up 3-0
-- Lebron 28 points/8 boards/6 assists but he's getting no help all of a sudden. Oden leads the Blazers today with 22 points, Roy 18.

GAME 4: Portland 91, Cleveland 80 - Portland WINS 4-0
-- Lebron 27 points/14 boards/5 assists/4 steals. Roy 19, 5 players in double figures for Portland.


Portland wins the NBA Title with an impressive sweep over Cleveland.

[Radii]

2010/11 Charlotte Bobcats Stats


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <col width="15*"> <col width="57*"> <col width="28*"> <col width="25*"> <col width="18*"> <col width="29*"> <col width="28*"> <col width="29*"> <col width="28*"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> Pos
</td> <td width="22%"> Name
</td> <td width="11%"> Age
</td> <td width="10%"> Points
</td> <td width="7%"> Reb
</td> <td width="11%"> Assists
</td> <td width="11%"> FG %
</td> <td width="11%"> 3P %
</td> <td width="11%"> FT %
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> SG
</td> <td width="22%"> Ray Allen
</td> <td width="11%"> 35
</td> <td width="10%"> 17.2
</td> <td width="7%"> 1.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 1.0
</td> <td width="11%"> 46.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 42.0
</td> <td width="11%"> 88.4
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> SF
</td> <td width="22%"> Gerald Wallace
</td> <td width="11%"> 28
</td> <td width="10%"> 15.0
</td> <td width="7%"> 9.1
</td> <td width="11%"> 1.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 50.2
</td> <td width="11%"> 30.1
</td> <td width="11%"> 81.9
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> PG
</td> <td width="22%"> Raymond Felton
</td> <td width="11%"> 26
</td> <td width="10%"> 14.7
</td> <td width="7%"> 2.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 6.6
</td> <td width="11%"> 42.0
</td> <td width="11%"> 33.0
</td> <td width="11%"> 81.5
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> PF
</td> <td width="22%"> Boris Diaw
</td> <td width="11%"> 29
</td> <td width="10%"> 12.4
</td> <td width="7%"> 4.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 3.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 44.6
</td> <td width="11%"> 37.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 70.5
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> PG
</td> <td width="22%"> DJ Augustin
</td> <td width="11%"> 23
</td> <td width="10%"> 11.9
</td> <td width="7%"> 1.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 3.2
</td> <td width="11%"> 43.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 39.9
</td> <td width="11%"> 90.6
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> C
</td> <td width="22%"> **Tyson Chandler
</td> <td width="11%"> 28
</td> <td width="10%"> 8.4
</td> <td width="7%"> 7.5
</td> <td width="11%"> 1.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 56.3
</td> <td width="11%"> --
</td> <td width="11%"> 56.6
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> PF
</td> <td width="22%"> Samuel Padgett
</td> <td width="11%"> 21
</td> <td width="10%"> 6.8
</td> <td width="7%"> 8.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 1.2
</td> <td width="11%"> 50.3
</td> <td width="11%"> --
</td> <td width="11%"> 71.1
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> SG
</td> <td width="22%"> Raja Bell
</td> <td width="11%"> 34
</td> <td width="10%"> 6.6
</td> <td width="7%"> 1.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 41.0
</td> <td width="11%"> 35.4
</td> <td width="11%"> 80.7
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> SF
</td> <td width="22%"> Gerald Henderson
</td> <td width="11%"> 23
</td> <td width="10%"> 5.9
</td> <td width="7%"> 1.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 43.1
</td> <td width="11%"> 34.6
</td> <td width="11%"> 78.3
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> SG
</td> <td width="22%"> Stephen Graham
</td> <td width="11%"> 29
</td> <td width="10%"> 3.6
</td> <td width="7%"> 0.7
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.2
</td> <td width="11%"> 44.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 46.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 87.8
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> C
</td> <td width="22%"> Nazr Mohammad
</td> <td width="11%"> 33
</td> <td width="10%"> 1.9
</td> <td width="7%"> 2.5
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.3
</td> <td width="11%"> 44.5
</td> <td width="11%"> --
</td> <td width="11%"> 55.9
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> C
</td> <td width="22%"> Kurt Thomas
</td> <td width="11%"> 38
</td> <td width="10%"> 1.6
</td> <td width="7%"> 5.2
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.6
</td> <td width="11%"> 41.2
</td> <td width="11%"> --
</td> <td width="11%"> 71.1
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="6%"> C
</td> <td width="22%"> DaSagana Diop
</td> <td width="11%"> 28
</td> <td width="10%"> 0.4
</td> <td width="7%"> 0.8
</td> <td width="11%"> 0.1
</td> <td width="11%"> 56.0
</td> <td width="11%"> --
</td> <td width="11%"> 25.0
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>


Tyson Chandler only played 8 games so I included his stats. Felton played 60 games.

[Radii]

As we advance, the Finals MVP goes to Brandon Roy. No surprise there. he played in 20 playoff games, averaging 25.4 points and 5.8 assists per game.



Retirements

3 noteworthy Charlotte retirements:

C Kurt Thomas
SG Raja Bell
C Nazr Mohammad


Other league retirements:

Ben Wallace (36 y/o, Cleveland)
Allen Iverson (36 y/o, LA Clippers)
Antonio McDyess (36 y/o, Miami)
Derek Fisher (36 y/o, Lakers)
Jerry Stackhouse (36 y/o, San Antonio)
Grant Hill (38 y/o, Phoenix)


A few other lower name guys(Erik Dampier, etc) but these are the ones that stood out the most to me.

[Radii]

Hah. Coach Larry Brown has decided to retire too. I had no intention of retaining his services anyway.

[Radii]

Staff Hiring

Wow. There's jack shit out there. Paul Westphal is rated A on offense and C everywhere else. But we can't afford him. No one else is anywhere close. The second best coach on the list is a teacher and nothing else... D offense/C Defense/A teaching/A potential. I'm going with an offensive coach and a defensive assistant, but I'm going for short contracts here.


Head Coach

Edgar Posey: 1 year/$4.63 million

Offense: A
Defense: D
Teacher: F
Potential: B


Assistant Coach

Horace Parker: 1 yr/$1.24 million

Offense: D
Defense: A
Teacher: B
Potential: C


I'm not happy at all with my head coach. We'll see how it goes though. I only hired these guys to a 1 year deal,wanting to see what's available next offseason.

[Radii]

Contract Options

My second round pick from last year, 7 footer Phillip Walters is gone. rated 58 OVR, but so untalented there's just no reason at all to keep him.

SF Gerald Henderson: 71 OVR, I believe he was at 68 OVR when I took over the team. He may never be a starter(especially on a team with Gerald Wallace), but he's pretty well solidified as my 7th or 8th guy getting time every game. I pick up his $2.25 million team option.


PG DJ Augustin: rated 75 OVR, a solid shooter and decent PG. He turned it over a bit much when he had to start, but he's a guy that I like a lot b/c of his shooting ability and speed. I pick up his $3.24 million option as well.


PF Boris Diaw: rated 74 OVR, Diaw had a $9 million player option that he accepted. I like him a lot but would never pay him $9 million obviously. But he is at least a productive player so it could be worse.


Around the League

Carmelo Anthony (92 OVR) has an $18.52 million player option that he accepts to stay with Denver.

Tim Duncan, 35 years old but still rated 85 OVR, picks up a $21.30 million player option for another year in San Antonio.

Team options on recent top draft picks are picked up everywhere with no surprises.


Declined Options

Three noteworthy players(noteworthy to me is rated 70+, potential guys to get significant minutes) that could have stayed with their current team are heading back out into the market. All three are actually rated 80+ and are low-mid level star players.

PF David West - Rated 84 OVR, he declines a $7.53 million option to stay with the Hornets. He scored 20 points/game this year and will be a great pickup for someone. He's 30 years old and has a number of good years left I assume. He wouldn't fit with me though I don't think, as Padgett/West would be a small frontcourt.


SG Vince Carter - 34 years old now, Carter is still rated 81 OVR and averaged ~17 points/game in each of his two seasons in Orlando. He had a team option but it was for nearly $19 million/year. Just too much for the Magic.


SG Leandro Barbosa - 28 years old, Barbosa is rated 81 OVR and turned down a $7.60 million player option. He averaged 17.1 ppg this season for Phoenix


I don't know what other big FA's are out there, these are the noteworthy guys who had options and will end up in FA instead.

[Radii]

Player Re-Signing

I have 3 expired contracts. One is Phillip Walters, whose option I didn't pick up. the other two are noteworthy:

SG Ray Allen - 75 OVR - 35 years old - Allen is rated the 10th best SG in the league according to his player card and is someone I'd be quite happy to have starting again.

C Tyson Chandler - 74 OVR - 28 years old - A 7 footer, not an offensive threat but I feel like having him allows me to put Padgett at PF and Chandler at center and makes me a much better team.


I really have to decide if I want to commit money to these guys or if I want to take a risk and try to pick up a name FA instead.

Here's who I have currently under contract:

PG Felton (78 OVR)
SG ??? Allen(75 OVR)/Open
SF Wallace (81 OVR)
PF Padgett (83 OVR)
C ??? Chandler(74 OVR)/Open

PG Augustin 75 OVR
PF Diaw 74 OVR
SF Henderson 71 OVR
C Diop 58 OVR
SG Graham 55 OVR


Allen is willing to sign for about $3.6 million/1 year

Chandler is looking for a 4 year deal starting at about 5.5 million.


I end up deciding that I want my 7 footer and that Ray Allen was my leading scorer last year. I want both of these guys back, I'll still have enough money to go after someone who will make an impact, just perhaps not a star level player.


I end up working with Chandler a bit, giving him a no trade clause to get his monetary demands down,and getting him down to 2 years + a player option from his original 4 year demand.


Chandler: 2 years/10.71 million + $6.12 million player option.

Allen: 1 year/3.55 million


With this I'm dropping some dead weight off the back end of the roster, getting Chandler down to a reasonable contract and giving myself some money in FA.

I still have about $7 million/year in total dead money in DeSagana Diop. He has 1 year left + a player option. I don't play him often, about 3 minutes/game, so I'm hopeful he'll decline his option next year.

[Radii]

2011 NBA Draft Order

Oh, I skipped to the end of the lottery. Here's the draft order:

Dallas wins big here, they were slated for the 7th pick in the draft and got up to #1. Indiana had the 2nd worst record in the league. For the second year in a row Milwaukee has the worst record in the NBA and falls in the draft, this year getting the 3rd pick.

1. Dallas
2. Indiana
3. Milwaukee
4. Phoenix
5. Minnesota
6. Memphis
7. Toronto
8. Utah
9. New Orleans
10. Chicago
11. Philadelphia
12. Boston
13. Washington
14. LA Clippers
15. Miami
16. Detroit
17. New York
18. Houston
19. Charlotte
20. San Antonio
21. Golden State
22. Houston
23. Oklahoma City
24. Sacramento
25. Cleveland
26. Atlanta
27. Portland
28. LA Lakers
29. Denver
30. Orlando

[Radii]

I leave the pre-draft workouts up to my staff, I should probably put a lot more time into that phase of the game but with scouting reports on tons of guys listed as "mid to late 1st rounders" I skip over it.


This seems like an awful draft class compared to last year, at least at the top.

2011 NBA Draft Results

1. Dallas - PF Mo Law - 78 OVR
2. Indiana - SF Tom McKnight - 70 OVR
3. Milwaukee - SF Ben Sloan - 71 OVR
4. Phoenix - C Leo Newman - 75 OVR
5. Minnesota - PG Daniel Jones - 71 OVR
6. Memphis - SG Abe Hickman - 71 OVR
7. Toronto - C Fred Hobbs - 68 OVR
8. Utah - SF Brett Drew - 69 OVR
9. New Orleans - PF Jesse Elliot - 69 OVR
10. Chicago - SG Danny McMillan - 71 OVR


So Dallas gets an immediate starter and a guy who could well turn into a mid-level star in a few years. The Center Phoenix got at #5 seems the clear 2nd best player in the draft. Last year there were 3 guys rated in the low 80s that went 1/2/3 in the draft. This is a big step down.


Detroit gets a big of a steal at #16, a PG rated 73 OVR, quite possibly as good as any other guard in the draft.

Charlotte Pick

With Gerald Wallace and Gerald Henderson at the 3, SF's are out. I want a big or a guard. Last year I had a number of guys that I'd scouted 2 or 3 times, this year since I had such a wide range where I could have ended up I have a lot of guys I scouted only once.

There are a couple guards that look like decent outside shooters, and then there's a 7'3" Center. I tend towards size from my College Hoops 2k8 days. Also, I just played a playoff series where if Yao Ming caught the ball within 5 feet from the basket he would just reach out and drop the ball in. Also, having a 7'3" backup big lets me push DaSagana Diop even further back in my depth chart.

19. Charlotte - C Dell Sparks - New Mexico - 7'3" 295 lbs - 69 OVR


That pretty much lines up with the rest of the picks around this range. Lots of guys rated in the 68-70 range. I'm thrilled to get a guy this size rated reasonably well. I'll obviously scout him out before the season starts, his general ratings:

Inside Scoring: C+
Post Defense: C+
Basketball IQ: B-
Rebounding: A-

He's a poor ball handler, like most bigs, an average/below average athlete, like most centers. My scouts had him rated about like this already... average offense, above average defense, good rebounding. And for a big guy off the bench I'm perfectly happy with that.


The first pick of the 2nd round by Washington(trade I assume) is a SF rated 70 OVR. That's where the big drop occurs, its down to 60-62 OVR ratings from there on out. We take a flyer on another center in the second round and he comes out rated 56 OVR. Again, I'll make sure he's above Diop in the depth chart. 7'1" Gus Meredith.

[Radii]

I sign my rookies to rookie type contracts. I only have $5.87 million available for free agents(I thought I would have around $9 but I forgot about the rookies).

Oh wow, lookie at these available free agents. 97 rated Kobe Bryant, 90 rated Kevin Durant, 90 rated Tony Parker, 88 rated Yao Ming, 84 rated David West, 81 rated Vince Carter, etc etc.

Last year I think Lebron was a free agent but immediately resigned with Cleveland, so we'll see what happens there.


The amount of money i have available seems to give me a shot at someone rated in the mid-70s only. Vince Carter wants 1 year/9 million, which I would have loved to have been able to offer, alas.

I end up opting to go after an athletic guard type, offering JR Smith a 3 year contract. He's rated 76 OVR with a decent outside shot, coming off 3 straight years of 15 points/game seasons.


About 15 days into the FA period JR Smith decides to sign with the Hornets. I next go after SF/SG Richard Jefferson, offering him a two year deal, but he ends up with the Thunder. Those were really the two top guard options at a level i can afford.


There are two other guard depth options that I look at, Sasha Vujacic is rated 66 OVR and is a decent outside shooter and average defender. SG Smush Parker is a guy who is not at all a scorer but an above average perimeter defender. I end up offering deals to both, both accept but i only bring on Vujacic. Parker goes back into the FA pool


So that was a bit of a letdown, hah! But we still should be better this year than last with development I hope.


Free Agent Results

PF David West - Milwaukee - 4 years/$56.5M
Zach Randolph - Indiana - 4 years/$45.7M
SG Vince Carter - Milwaukee - 3 years/$32.35M
PG TJ Ford - Memphis - 4 years/$42.8M
C Greg Oden - Chicago - 4 years/$39.65M
SF Thaddeus Young - Denver - 4 years/$27.2M
SF Jeff Green - Utah - 4 years/$28.2M
SG Kobe Bryant - LA Lakers - 4 years/$89.3M
SF Kevin Durant - Oklahoma City - 4 years/$64M
C Yao Ming - Memphis - 4 years/$75.8M
PG Tony Parker - San Antonio - 6 years/$136.8M
SG Richard Jefferson - Oklahoma City - 4 years/$21.7M
SF Wilson Chandler - Portland - 4 years/$29.5M
SG JR Smith - New Orleans - 4 yeras/$26.1M
PF Troy Murphy - Miami - 4 years/$17.9M


WHEW!

Kobe and Durant are star level guys that can probably only be afforded by those teams due to the Bird Exception. Oden isn't a superstar but he's a great, great rebounder and is off to Chicago. Milwaukee makes two huge signings and surely won't be last in t he league next year.



I don't have anyone who I could risk letting go to FA under the idea that I could sign them back more easily due to the Bird exception, if i didn't have a couple guys still quite overpaid(Diop and Diaw making way more than i'd ever pay them) then I could have an extra 10 million available. I guess I wasn't as close to being in position to make a big splash as I thought.


Training Camps

so you earn "Reward Points" based on completing goals in season. Last year as bad as I was I didn't have anything available. This year I had enough points to send a few people to camps, I don't know if I should avoid this or not in the future... but I went ahead and did it this year, getting Padgett a boost to his inside scoring, and Felton and Augustin outside shooting.

[Radii]

2011/12 Charlotte Bobcats Roster

Starters

PG Raymond Felton - 27 y/o - 6'1 198 lbs - 79 OVR (+3 from last year)

14.7 ppg/6.6 apg last year. He tore an ACL after 60 games and actually will start the year hurt. Augustin will start for now but Felton will be back in the lineup as soon as possible.

SG Ray Allen - 36 y/o - 6'5" 205 lbs - 77 OVR (-2 from last year)

Allen is fading a little for sure, but he's still a shooter. He's getting older and will tire more easily, and this was the big reason we focused entirely on guards in the offseason. Allen led the team with 17.2 ppg last year, I expect less this year though.

SF Gerald Wallace - 29 y/o - 6'7" 220 lbs - 81 OVR (Same as last year)

Wallace's numbers were down slightly last year(we brought in Allen and demoted Raja Bell, so that was expected. Still, 15 points/9.1 boards per game is great for us, and we expect the same from him this year, great athleticism.

PF Samuel Padgett - 21 y/o - 6'10" 261 lbs - 84 OVR(+3 from last year)

Padgett had improved to 83 OVR on his own, his training camp gained him another point. Padgett only averaged 6.8 points/8.8 rebounds a game last year. Padgett's "Shot Tendency" is up to 33 from 26 in his rookie year. That's still very, very low. Average for PF's in the league is 66. So I hope he scores more for us this year but in the end I expect him to be an absolute beast in games we play and just a 10 points/10 boards guy in CPU games.

C Tyson Chandler - 29 y/o - 7'1" 235 lbs - 74 OVR (no change)

Chandler was scoring 8.4 points/7.5 rebounds a game when he got hurt last year. Kurt Thomas was a nice fill in, and Diaw is a decent starter but this specific lineup makes me much, much more excited than one with Diaw at the 4 and Padgett at center. Padgett + Chandler gives me a real defensive prescence inside that I simply didn't have last year.



6th Man

PG DJ Augustin - 23 y/o - 6'0" 180 lbs - 76 OVR (+3)

Augustin has gone from 70 OVR to 76 OVR in his last two seasons. I sent him to training camp for his outside shot and he's now a true stud from behind the 3 point arc(training camp improved his midrange and 3 point shot by 4 points each). Augustin averaged 12 points/3 assists last year. He'll start until Felton is ready to come back and then will be back on the bench, but he'll get a ton of minutes off the bench anyway.

PF Boris Diaw - 29 y/o - 6'8" 235 lbs - 74 OVR (No Change)

Diaw was a starter last year but I really prefer him playing the 4 off the bench as a change of pace. He can play inside some but he also can pull a big man out on the perimeter and hit the 3, creating some matchup problems. He averaged 12.4 ppg this year. Diaw makes $9 million this year and will be a free agent next year.


Role Players

SG Sasha Vujacic - 27 y/o - 6'7" 205 lbs - 66 OVR

We're paying him for two years, 1.6 million this year, 1.75 next year. He essentially is Raja Bell's replacement. He'll see significant minutes until Felton comes back, his minutes will go down a good deal once Felton is back though. He averaged 3.7 points/game last year for the Lakers. He did average 9 points/game for them once upon a time, but I don't expect that at all here. He is an 80 rated 3 point shooter, an average ball handler and an ok defender.

Prospects

SF Gerald Henderson - 23 y/o - 6'4" 215 lbs - 71 OVR (No Change)

Henderon averaged 5.9 points and 1.7 boards off the bench last year in about 18 minutes/game. He only shot 43% from the field, and didn't improve nearly as much as I'd hoped. I still like him as an athlete off the bench but I had higher hopes for him than what he's shown so far.

C Dell Sparks - 22 y/o - 7'3" 295 lbs - 69 OVR

Sparks is a fairly exciting rookie. Like Padgett, Sparks doesn't come in with much of a shot tendency, but for him that's probably good. Sparks has a post rating on offense of 68, 69 on defense in the post. Those are average at best ratings, Chandler and Padgett are both in the mid-80s in post D. He is a good rebounder, 87 offense/78 defense, and that + intimidating size will be enough to give him serious value off the bench. Last year we had a collection of bigs, Kurt Thomas/Nazr Mohammad/Diop/Walters all getting minutes off the bench. Thomas/Mohammad/Walters are gone and i want to limit Diop's minutes, so Sparks is going to likely get 25 minutes/game right off the bat and will get every chance to develop.

C Gus Meredith - 21 y/o - 7'1" 251 lbs - 56 OVR

Meredith has little talent but he's big and is an ok rebounder. I'll make sure he's ahead of Diop in the rotation but that will likely be his only purpose on the team. I suspect he'll play 4-5 minutes a game max.


Bench Players

SG Stephen Graham - 29 y/o - 6'6" 215 lbs - 55 OVR

Graham eats up some minutes but that's all. He played 6.1 minutes/game last year, only because of the Felton injury and our depth issues, and he's thrilled with that role.

C Dasagna Diop is rated 58 overall and I want him pissed off about his playing time so that he maybe, just maybe, doesn't take his player option next year.




Some of these designations(Diaw as a 6th man instead of a role player) are for morale reasons. Diaw is a guy who has started for 2 years basically for me and who i might end up having to trade for a guy with a lot less talent to make my team happy.

[Radii]

I sim through the preseason, Felton is now listed as having "1-2 months" left on his injury.

Preseason Power Rankings

1. Chicago
-- Last year's #1 pick in the draft has skyrocketed, he's now rated 88 OVR(I believe he came in last year rated 83 OVR). Boozer(90 OVR), Rose(87 OVR), and Jordan Price(88 OVR), plus Luol Deng(79 OVR) and Greg Oden (78 OVR) give Chicago a hell of a roster.

2. Atlanta
-- Joe Johnson (90), Josh Smith(82), Al Horford(82) and decent depth give Atlanta a great chance again this year.

3. LA Lakers
-- Kobe(97), Gasol(90), Bynum(82) mean that the lakers are going to challenge for a title every year. They have less depth than Atlanta or Chicago, but they have Kobe, so it all evens out I assume.

4. Oklahoma City
--Durant's new deal is for 4 years, only $14 mil this year, hehas a player option in year 5 for $19.5 mil and he'll only be 28. For a guy of his talent this seems outstanding. Durant(90), Westbrook(86), Harden(82) and some fairly solid depth make Oklahoma City a very attractive team.

5. Portland
-- The defending NBA Champs add a 24 year old SF (wilson Chandler) rated 77 OVR but lost Greg Oden(rated about 76 I think). I call it a net loss, Oden was a monster on the boards. But still, Roy(93) and Aldridge(82) can carry this team a ways.

6. Minnesota
-- Minnesota was 34-48 last year and didn't really make any changes to their roster. Maybe they had injuries, we'll see. Al Jefferson(89), Johnny Flynn(83) are great looking players, and they have some solid depth in guys like Kevin Love,but I have my doubts about this level of talent...

7. Boston
-- Rondo(90), Garnett(88), Pierce(84) still give them a chance to beat anyone. They might be rated higher if Kendrick Perkins was healthy(78 OVR for their center). McGrady is hurt too. This might be the best starting 5 in the league with Rondo/McGrady/Pierce/Garnett/Perkins when healthy.

8. Miami
--Wade (97), Beasley(80) and Chalmers(78) star the team, they have a solid, balanced starting 5 but seem to lack depth. They have more balance than Cleveland which i guess earns them their lofty standing.

9. Cleveland
-- Lebron at 97 OVR and Mo Williams at 83 OVR, Delonte West just under 80 and really nothing after that. No size inside, Lebron can only carry them so far. The supporting cast looks weak this year.

10. Golden State
--Ellis(83), Randolph(79), Curry(78), Andris Biedrins(78), and Stephen Jackson(75) provide a very balanced starting lineup. Its lacking a bit in star power perhaps but its a solid, well rounded lineup. They come into the year with great chemistry as well and everyone is playing about 2 points above those ratings.

11. LA Clippers
-- Blake Griffin(85) and Baron Davis(80) provide some star power, there's a whole lot of "pretty good" behind that. My PF Padgett really looks a lot like Griffin, a guy with tons of talent only getting about 10 points/game.

12. Washington
-- Probably deserves to be rated a bit higher, but Caron Butler is hurt with a nagging injury that drops his rating way down. Arenas(91) and Butler(87) drive the team, Foye and Jamison are still solid and they have more guys rated in the 70-80 range than most teams.

13. San Antonio
--Parker(90), Duncan(87), Ginobili(82) give San Antonio a great top 3, but there's a huge gap after that, a gap we're seeing in a lot of teams where they have some stars and then guys in the low 70s and no mid-range starter quality players.

14. Denver
-- Melo(92) and Billups(84) are great. Thaddeus Young(77) was a good signing in the offseason. They do seem like an average playoff team that will live and die with Carmelo now.

15. Philadelphia
-- Its a small team without a PG. Eric Gordon(79 OVR) and Andrew Iguodala (87 OVR) run the backcourt. Not much else past that. Iguodala is a legit star but the inside game here is so weak that i can't imagine them going far.

16. Sacramento
-- Gary Oakley, the 3rd 80+ rookie in last year's class(along with Price from Chicago and Padgett in Charlotte) is rated 86 OVR. Kevin Martin(83) and Rudy Gay(85) give them 3 very very good players. Tyreke Evans at 80 OVR and they have 4 guys on the team that are just very very good. None of the 4 can bang inside though, so one of them gets pushed to the bench and ends up pissed off. If they could swing a trade of Oakley or Gay for a quality big they might have the best starting 5 in the league.

17. Utah
-- Deron Williams is a stud(92) but there isn't anything behind him. Paul Millsap and Jeff Green are good(77 OVR for both) but not enough depth after that. Deron Williams has an expiring contract with a player option.

18. Detroit
-- Gordon(84) and Stuckey(81) anchor the team. One of the top guys out of the middle of the first round of last year's draft, 7'3" Rolando faulk is at 79 OVR already and gives them a pretty good starting lineup.

19. Toronto
-- Bosh is rated 89 OVR, no one else over 80, and Bosh's contract(6 years/125M still to go) might hamstring them for some time.

20. New Orleans
-- Paul (95) is it. Okafor(79) and JR Smith(76) are the only other gus that are good enough to start for more teams here. Chris Paul's contract expires after this year, he has a player option, and this will be a huge test of the "Play For Winner" desire. He says its extremely important. If he leaves it decimates the Hornets.

21. Memphis
--The offseason addition of Yao(88 OVR) and TJ Ford(79 OVR) gives Memphis two quality starters to go with OJ Mayo(87 OVR). There's no depth here but they'll be a threat to beat anyone when the starters play well.

22. Milwaukee
--Carter has a nagging injury or I think they'd be rated higher too. They look a lot like Charlotte right now, with two guys(David West and Vince Carter) in the low 80s and a number of other guys in the mid 70s. A playoff contender for sure which is a step up for them.


23. Charlotte
-- I think we would be rated a bit higher if Felton were healthy. Two guys rated just above 80 and a few in the mid-70s will hopefully get me to the playoffs again, but I don't think its a recipe to advance far.


24. Orlando
-- Howard is out for 2-4 more months which is killing their ratings I assume. Nelson(81), Rashard Lewis(79) with Howard(94) would give Orlando a very good top 3, but without Howard they are no better than Charlotte to be sure.

25. New Jersey
-- After not re-signing Yao, New Jersey goes to shit. Devin Harris is rated 90 OVR and that's all they've got. Forget it.

26. Houston
--Brook Lopez is a solid center(83 OVR), Aaron Brooks is ok, Ariza isn't bad, but wow that's it. Totally devoid of talent.

27. Phoenix
-- Amare(89) and Barbosa(81) are good. Nash is fading fast and eating $11 million though. Nash/Amare/Barbosa eat up $36 million this year, Barbosa has 4 more years and Amare 5 more years. Damn, in 2016, Amare Stoudamire will be 34 years old and making $25 million in the final year of his contract.

28. Indiana
-- Granger is rated 90 OVR, new signing Zach Randolph 80 OVR, and no one else over 71.

29. Dallas
-- Dirk at 82 OVR, rookie Mo Law at 78 OVR, and nothing else. Wow Dallas fell fast.

30. New York
-- Nene, Lee, Robinson all at 80 OVR(robinson is hurt at the moment) but nothingat all else, next best player is rated 70 OVR and wouldn't start for 25 of the other teams in the league.



Whew,I love looking at the state of the league but that takes some time :)

[Radii]

As I looked through the power rankings I noticed a lot of teams with a couple guys rated 80 OVR and then no depth at all. I held on to depth(Chandler/Allen) in the offseason and wasn't able to try to sign a star as a result. I'm not sure which is better in the end.

Also, We're seeing guys develop fairly well but through two draft classes only 3 guys have come into the league rated 80 OVR or better initially. Jordan Price, the #1 pick last year, looks like he may well turn into a bona fide superstar(87 OVR going into his 2nd year). But overall, I'm curious as to how the game is going to do with where the overall level of talent ends up.

I pretty much view an 80 OVR rating as the cutoff for what I refer to as a "mid-level star." Gerald Wallace and now Samuel Padgett for me, and most guys have someone like this. A team like Boston has their 3 stars, we're seeing that in other places too. Anyway, I'm going to start tracking the number of players rated above this rating when I do my season preview. It won't be perfect as i'm missing out on some injured players(I'm not going to go through every roster looking for guys who are rated 55 OVR but if they weren't hurt would be at 85), but if there is a major trend hereI should catch it.


80-84: 24
85-89: 15
90-94: 11
95+: 4 (Paul/Wade/Kobe/Lebron)


Another general comment... I found the "chemistry" rating by accident at the end of the year, Charlotte's Chemistry was in the 30% range, a lot of other teams had this too, while some teams(Boston) had a chemistry of 100%. Low Chemistry teams will cause everyone on the roster to suffer 1-3 points to their overall rating, while the high chemistry teams will all gain. Winning helps, but unhappy players seem to drag everyone down too.

I'm going to try a lot harder to make sure I don't have anyone unhappy on my roster this year(except for Diop). Basically for me right now that means that if Boris Diaw cannot be happy off the bench then he's gone quickly

[Balldog]

Great read, you have me really wanting to start an association!

[CleBrownsfan]

I do have to say this is probably my favorite dynasty read ever. You have put in a lot of time and it shows. I wish I had the dedication you have to run one of these myself. Good luck in the new season!

[Radii]

I appreciate the kind words :) I'm barely an NBA fan at all compared to many other sports... but a game that's 2 years fresher than College Hoops 2k8 is just a bit too much to pass up

[Radii]

Opening Day in Charlote!

October 28, 2011

Boston(0-0) at Charlotte(0-0)

CHA:BOS
82:91 OVR
74:94 OFF
83:92 DEF


Boston Scouting

PG Rajon Rondo - 90 OVR - Rondo almost averaged a double double last year, 13.4 points/9.2 assists, 5.5 boards on top of that, a great guard. A+ perimter D to go with great ball handling and a decent outside shot.

SG Anthony Riley - 67 OVR - Tracy McGrady is hurt to open the year so they're going to be hurting here. Riley was an undrafted FA last year, only averaging 1.4 points last season. Not a scorer at all, quite a weak link.

SF Paul Pierce - 84 OVR - Pierce is 34 now and still going strong. 19.2 points/game last year, a great scorer, decent defender and an ok ball handler for a SF

PF Kevin Garnett - 88 OVR - 35 years old but again still going strong. 17.2 points/game and 9.4 boards last year, still a superstar.

C Jim Baylor - 62 OVR - The 30th pick in the draft last year. Kendrick Perkins and rasheed Wallace are both hurt.


With McGrady, Perkins, and Wallace hurt the Celtics depth is non-existent. They are espicially weak inside, they'll likely be running a number of 4 guard sets as a result, whenever Garnett is out of the game we'll need to try to force it inside every time down. The big question will be whether our superior depth or their superstar players will rule the day. Later in the year I'd feel better about this as their older stars would be worn down, but on opening day I dunno.

First Quarter

Boston 27
Charlotte 18

I try to go into Padgett early and Garnett totally shuts him down, no go thre at all. Diaw gets hot once he comes in off the bench and helps out a bunch, but its not looking good at all. Garnett plays the entire quarter and has 10 points. Boston's top pick, SF Donny Tiggs, rated 71 OVR, has 6 points in the first quarter of his first game. On our side, Diaw has 8 points in 4 minutes, 4-4 shooting. Walace 4, Padgett 4 but only on 1-6 shooting(and two free throws). My first round pick, 7'3" Dell Sparks gets into the game and immediately hands the ball to Garnett the first time he touches it. Welcome to the NBA bud! He's big though. Damn big.


Second Quarter

Boston 54
Charlotte 46

We have a chance to take the last shot of the half and turn it over and allow a breakaway dunk instead. Turnovers and Kevin Garnett are the stories of the game. Garnett has 18 points and is dominating. Rookie Tiggs has 10, Pierce has 10 and 7 assists. Rondo has 4 points/4 assists. On our end Diaw has 12, Wallace 9, Chandler has 8 inside and is playing well. Padgett 6 points/4 boards on 1-7 shooting. But turnovers are killing us. Augustin has 3 turnovers and we have 10 total to only 2 for Boston. Limit the turnovers and we're right in the mix. When Garnett is out we do indeed domiante inside, which is why Chandler is doing so well.


Third Quarter

With 7 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter its 64-64, with Ray Allen leading the most explosive offensive charge i've ever had in a game i played out. Allen hits 4 straight jump shots, two midrange jumpers and two threes. He's got Paul Pierce on him and easily gets open and i've been finding him for some great catch and shoot opportunities. Gerald Wallace follows up that 10 point stretch(Boston did score 4 in that run btw, not a 10-0 run) with a monster dunk and 3 point play and we tie the game!

Charlotte 83
Boston 75

We keep it close for a couple more minutes and then explode for 7 straight and take the lead and don't look back. In my rotation, I limit Ray Allen to about 29 minutes a game. That's all he can go without spending a number of minutes on the court near exhaustion. He wants more minutes but he simply can't do it at age 35. Garnett has now played 33 minutes, and he only scored 4 points in the 3rd. I don't think its a coincidence at all. Pierce and Garnett went totally cold, missing wide open shots left and right. Garnett 22, Tiggs 13, Pierce 12.

We won this quarter 37-21. One thing I didn't mention yet is blocked shots. Chandler has 4, Allen 1, Padgett 1, Sparks 1. Many of thsoe were in the 3rd. Wallace was great in transition, Augustin and Allen were hitting jumpers. Wallace 16, Augustin 15, Chandler 12, Allen 10(he was scoreless before his 10-0 run. GREAT quarter.


Fourth Quarter

5:30 to go - We've had backups in the backcourt, Padgett/Chandler in the front court for the entire quarter so far. The clock hasn't stopped much and i haven't had a desire to see it stop really, we're up 14. I reverse the situation, subbing in my starting back court and backups up front.

3:40 to go - Boston has 5 straight and we lead 97-88.

2:55 to go - Boston cuts it to 7 and Augustin bails us out with a huge 3, 100-90.

We seal it pretty easily, Boston had one shot to cut it to 6 with about a minute left, a stop and a bucket at that point ended the game.


Charlotte 106
Boston 96

Chandler: 20 points/5 boards/5 blocks (10-12 shooting!)
Wallace: 18 points/5 boards/6 assists
Augustin: 18 points/9 assists
Padgett: 14 points/13 boards (5-15 shooting)
Diaw: 12 points
Allen: 10 points
Henderson: 6 points
Sparks: 4 points/6 boards/2 blocks


Pierce 27/5 boards/8 assists, Garnett 26 points/9 boards/5 assists. Rondo 8 points/11 assists. Their injuries just kill them. Pierce and Garnett are too old to do this really. Both played over 40 minutes and should probably be playing at most 35 to play near full effectiveness.

Chandler is 7'1". Garnett was the tallest Celtic on the court at 6'10". Tiggs, their rookie, is 6'9" but more of a SF who cannot hope to guard a strong center. Basically, any time anyone but Garnett was on Chandler, he could get a look from 5 feet or closer.

Sparks could too btw, and Sparks is 7'3". But Sparks offensive skills don't exist... hopefully they'll develop. Sparks can score if he catches the ball right at the basket and can just reach up and put it in, but he doesn't have any post moves. But he's huge, and he gets rebounds and blocks shots. I love him already as a backup center.

Last season, espicially with injuries, I had so,so many minutes where Gerald Henderson was my best scoring option. Even with Felton still hurt... I'm bringing Diaw/Henderson/Sparks/Vucacic off the bench, there was no point in the entire game where I didn't have 2 or 3 people that i was comfortable taking a shot if I got them a half decent look. MUCH improved over last year, barring new injury issues of course.

[Radii]

Oct 30 - Charlotte (1-0) at Philadelphia (1-0)

Philly beats us by 6 at their place. Iguodala 23, Chris Kaman??? 23, I'll check on that in a minute. Wallace 28, Augustin 21.

Philadelphia 106
Charlotte 100


Trade

LA Clippers get: SG Eric Gordon
Philadelphia gets: C Chris Kaman

well that's amusing. LA lost Gordon in free agency, but Gordon in Philly didn't really make sense with Iguodala at SG already. With Iverson retiring the Clippers are better with Baron Davis/Eric Gordon/Blake Griffin than they would be with Davis/Griffin/Kaman. Its actually a great trade for both teams I think.


Nov 1 - Charlotte(1-1) at New Jersey(1-1)

Even without Yao, we can't beat the nets. Allen 20, Chandler 14, Augustin 10. Augustin/Wallace combine to shoot 6-26. Harris 22 for the Nets.

New Jersey 95
Charlotte 86


Nov 3 - Charlotte(1-2) at Chicago(2-1)

Tough little road stretch to start the year. Allen 26, Wallace 24, Augustin 15. Deng, Oden, Price all score in the low 20s for the Bulls.

Chicago 113
Charlotte 105


Nov 4 - LA Clippers(0-4) at Charlotte(1-3)

Back on the winning track at home... for now. Wallace 25, Allen 18, Diaw 13. Gordon and Baron Davis both have 21 for LA.

Charlotte 98
LA Clippers 96


Nov 6 - Chicago (3-2) at Charlotte (2-3)

We crush the bulls at home to get to .500. Augustin 26, Wallace 21, Chandler 20(14 boards). Hinrich and Deng with 19 each for the Bulls.

Charlotte 119
Chicago 95


Injury Update

Gerald Wallace twists his ankle. He can play but will only be going at about 85% effectiveness. Felton's injury is now measured in weeks instead of months... though it went from "1-2 months" to "8-10 weeks" so I don't see how that is a good thing.


Nov 8 - Charlotte (3-3) at Minnesota (1-4)

We can't get our first road win. Wallace 25, Allen 17, Diaw 17. Al Jefferson with 25 for the T'Wolves.

Minnesota 98
Charlotte 95



Nov 10 - Charlotte (3-4) at Orlando (2-4)

Without Howard we're able to crush the Magic for that first road win. Ray Allen hits 8 threes and scores 38. wallace 19, Diaw 13. Nelson with 22 for the Magic.

Charlotte 118
Orlando 88



I'll play out our next game against Indiana.

[Radii]

November 11, 2011

Indiana(2-5) at Charlotte(4-4)

CHA:IND
81:79 OVR
71:82 OFF
81:72 DEF


Indiana Scouting

PG Kyle James - 68 OVR - 5.4 ppg/8.4 apg - Problem #1 for Indiana, starting an undrafted rookie at point guard. He's pretty good for an undrafted rookie though. B+ hands/B- perimeter D, not a scorer at all.

SG Danny Granger - 90 OVR - 31.1 ppg - Granger has turned into a legit star. He's a natural small forward but plays the 2 for Indiana it appears. Great scorer, good ball handler, good defender, smart and a good athlete.

SF Hedo Turkoglu - 74 OVR - 8.8 ppg - Hedo came over in a recent trade of mid-level players with toronto. He's a godawful defender but a decent scorer. This is a guy that Gerald Wallace can abuse like crazy on the perimeter.

PF Zach Randolph - 80 OVR - 14.6 ppg/11.6 rpg - Randolph came to Indiana in free agency this year. He hasn't had injury issues and has played well the last 3 years. A poor defender, but good on the boards and a solid inside scorer. He's decent outside as well.

C Marcus Camby - 70 OVR - 4.3 ppg/9.3 rpg - Camby is 37 years old and really going downhill it appears. He's got a nagging injury too. He's still a good defender inside but that's about it.

Off the bench Luis Scola is rated 73 OVR and is a decent PF. SF Tom McKnight was the 2nd pick in the draft this season and is scoring 5 points in about 15 minutes/game early on.


First Quarter

Charlotte 23
Indiana 21

Holy crap Danny Granger. We hold a slim lead the entire quarter, and its pretty much Charlotte vs Granger. Granger has 15 points/2 boards/1 block. Our scoring is balanced, Vujacic hits an open 3 and a midrange jumper to lead us with 5. Padgett/Wallace/Diaw have 4.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 57
Indiana 40

Indiana had to sit Danny Granger for awhile. That pretty much explains what we're seeing here. Padgett is the player of the half with 12 points/3 boards/3 assists. Augustin is actually the leading scorer with 14 points, abusing the poor stable of guards that Indiana runs out there. Wallace 9 points/7 boards, Diaw 8. Granger only scored 3 in the quarter but still leads all scorers with 18 points.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 77
Indiana 67

So Danny Granger woke back up, and Gerald Wallace picked up two charging fouls in the first minute of the 3rd quarter and was ice cold for 10 straight minutes. Padgett and Augustin really kept us going here. Augustin leads us with 21 and is having one of the best games I've ever had with him while playing out a game. Padgett is a force inside with 19 points. However... Danny Granger.. 39 points. He had 21 of Indiana's 27 points in the quarter. Zach Randolph has 8 and no one else for the Pacers has more than 4.


Fourth Quarter

6:30 to go - We lead 89-83. Granger is having an epic day here, he's up to 48 and has 9 of the 16 points this quarter. Augustin has 6 of our 12. I get all my starters in except for Augustin, having to sit him briefly to rest up for the end.


6:15 to go - Ergh. Its 89-85, but most noteworthy is that Granger now has 50.

3:50 to go - Indiana ties it up at 89, but we score 4 straight, leading 93-89 with under 4 left.

2:40 to go - BOOM. A couple more great stops, Wallace with a great acrobatic shot after he's fouled for a 3 point play try. Augustin is back in for the duration. Wallace misses the free throw but Chandler gets the offensive board and putback!! 97-89.


We had massive runs midway through the second quarter and late in the 4th quarter to withstand the ridiculous performance of Danny Granger.

Charlotte 103
Indiana 94

Augustin: 27 points/3 assists
Padgett: 21 points/7 boards/4 assists
Wallace: 13 points/8 boards
Diaw: 12 points
Chandler: 10 points/13 boards

Only 5 points from Ray Allen today.

Danny Granger: 21-29, 6-10 from 3, 6-6 FT. 54 points/5 boards/3 assists/2 steals


Augustin was on fire for much of the game today, though he was up against a number of point guards that wouldn't even make my roster.

[CleBrownsfan]

wow - that's one hell of a game from Granger.

[Radii]

wow - that's one hell of a game from Granger.

It was, I haven't ever played Miami/LA/Cleveland, Chris Paul owned me once, but I haven't seen anyone like this at all, he was just hot the entire game.

[Radii]

Nov 13 - Philadelphia (5-3) at Charlotte(5-4)

A 38-17 2nd quarter keeps us undefeated at home. Augustin 25, Wallace 19 points/11 boards. Jrue Holiday leads Philly with 17 points/7 assists

Charlotte 104
Philadelphia 77


Nov 16 - Orlando (2-6) at Charlotte(6-4)

We need overtime but we pull it out. Augustin 24 points/8 assists. Wallace 19, Allen 18. Jameer Nelson 31, Rashard Lewis 23.

Charlotte 118
Orlando 113


Nov 18 - Minnesota (4-6) at Charlotte(7-4)

5 wins in a row! Augustin 26, Chandler 18, Allen 17. Al Jefferson leads Minnesota with 27 points/9 boards.

Charlotte 110
Minnesota 96


9 of our next 11 are on the road.

Nov 20 - Charlotte (8-4) at New York (6-6)

A super high scoring game that we drop on the road. Wallace 33, Henderson 21(in 16 minutes), Augustin 20 points/9 assists. Nate Robinson has 32.

New York 131
Charlotte 120


Nov 22 - Charlotte (8-5) at New Jersey(5-8)

This is the type of game we need to win on the road, and we pull it off fairly easily today. Allen with 35 today on 6-9 from behind the arc. Wallace 17, Augustin 14. Terrance Williams and Courtney Lee each get 16 for the Nets.

Charlotte 103
New Jersey 75



Nov 25 - Washington(11-2) at Charlotte(9-5)

Huge home win!! Augustin 27, Wallace 25, Allen 16. Butlor 23, Marc Gasol 22, Arenas 20 for the Wizards.

Charlotte 111
Washington 103


Nov 26 - Charlotte (10-5) at Miami (9-5)

we are really on a roll here. Augustin 30, Diaw 23, Chandler 18. Jermaine O'Neal with 19 for the Heat. Wade is 4-17 with 12 points.

Charlotte 112
Miami 90


Nov 28 - Charlotte (11-5) at Detroit(6-7)

We only score 8 in the 2nd quarter and drop this one. Augustin 22, Wallace 14, Allen 14. Ben gordon scored 28 and Bargnani with 26 in the win.

Detroit 100
Charlotte 80


Nov 29 - Charlotte (11-6) at Toronto(9-7)

We crush Toronto on the road to end up the month. Augustin 32 points/7 assists. Wallace 17. Bosh 30 points/17 boards in the loss.

Charlotte 107
Toronto 88



We finish November 11-5(1-1 in october and we're 12-6 overall) and are off to a great start. The ridiculous success DJ Augustin is having on offense is going to give me an interesting dilemma when Felton is healthy.


The Wizards are off to a 12-4 start in the east. We're 12-6, Cleveland and Atlanta are both 10-5. Golden State is 12-4 out west. Utah is 12-5. We're right up there near the top early on.



Ray Allen and Boris Diaw are both unhappy with their playing time. I would *really* be forcing it with Allen to try to push his minutes up. Diaw I could get more time if I wanted for sure. I update my rotation to give Diaw 3 more minutes/game(taken from Gerald Henderson) and Ray Allen 2 more minutes/game(taken from Vucacic). We'll see if that helps at all.

[Radii]

Dec 2 - Toronto(9-8) at Charlotte(12-6)

With the way we're playing this is an automatic win. Ray Allen gives thanks for his 3 extra minutes by draining 8 threes and scoring 31. Diaw 22 points in 26 minutes. Malik Sparks(2010 1.11/74 OVR) scores 18 for the Raptors.

Charlotte 111
Toronto 81


That leads us to the next game that I'll play out. Lets see how we do against the Lakers.

[Radii]

December 5, 2011

Charlotte(13-6) at LA Lakers(10-8)

CHA:LAL
83:91 OVR
75:90 OFF
84:96 DEF


Los Angeles Scouting

PG Jordan Farmar - 70 OVR - 11.8 ppg/3.9 apg - Farmar starts regularly for the first time after Derek Fisher's retirement. B+ hands/B perimeter D/B- outside shooting. Relatively strong basketball IQ(B) and a good athlete.

SG Kobe Bryant - 97 OVR - 29.7 ppg/5.4 rpg/5.7 apg/3.0 spg - Kobe is 33 years old now, but he's still Kobe.

SF Ron Artest - 79 OVR - 11.7 ppg/4.2 rpg - Artest is shooting 37% from the field. Great defense is what Artest is known for though. A perimeter D/B Post D, B outside.

PF Pau Gasol - 90 OVR - 19.6 ppg/11.8 rpg - A- rebounding/A- post D/A+ inside. This is what we want Padgett to turn into.

C Melvin Tiner - 69 OVR - 2.2 ppg/5.3 rpg - Tiner was the 25th pick in the draft in 2010. Andrew Bynum has a broken wrist and is out for a couple weeks, forcing Tiner into the lineup. He's 7'2". B+ rebounding/B post D/B- inside.


SG Marco Belinelli is rated 69 OVR and is the top backup, averaging 6.5 points/game.


First Quarter

LA Lakers 28
Charlotte 26

Heck of a quarter... LA can't miss initially and rushes out to a 9-0, and then 18-4 lead. We score 10 in a row at that point and keep it close the rest of the way. Kobe has 12 and we may be up against another guy threatening to score 50 here. Farmar has 7. Gerald Wallace scored 10 of our first 16 when we were struggling. He has 10, Diaw and Allen have 5 each.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 48
LA Lakers 44

Gerald Wallace is the player of the half with 12 points/4 assists. Allen 8 points, Diaw 7, Vujacic and Padgett with 6 each. Padgett is struggling quite a bit, he's 3-9 from the field. Kobe leads everyone with 18, Farmar 13, Gasol 4, no one else more than 3. I really haven't used Augustin at all this game. We're shooting 50%, LA 46%. We're 4/6 from 3, LA is 2/7.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 76
LA Lakers 60

We get off to a really fast start here, going up 15 in the first couple minutes of the quarter. I think it might be time to lower the 3 point slider back down a little hah. Allen now leads us with 13, Chandler 12, Wallace 12. Augustin hits 3 treys and has 9 now. Kobe has 23, but no one else can do anything for the Lakers.


Fourth Quarter

We lead by 15+ almost the entire way. LA briefly cuts it to 13 with 2 minutes left but we roll easily.

Charlotte 98
LA Lakers 81


Chandler: 16 points/15 boards
Wallace: 16 points/4 boards/5 assists
Allen: 13 points/4 assists
Augustin: 11 points/5 boards/5 assists
Padgett: 10 points
Sparks: 9 points/7 boards
Diaw: 9 points
Henderson: 8 points/5 assists

Chandler is the player of the game. Andrew Bynum being hurt and out is a massive loss for the Lakers, just look at what we got out of Chandler and Sparks. I believe 10 of Chandler's points were "auto" offensive putbacks/dunks.


For the Lakers, Kobe scores 31, Farmar 17, Artest 9, Tiner 8, Gasol 7.

[Radii]

Dec 8 - Charlotte(14-6) at Phoenix(11-9)

Winning all these simmed games is the only reason I'm not freaking out about sliders after killing the Lakers heh. Augustin 33 points/8 assists. Allen 19, Diaw 14. Amare with 30 for Phoenix.

Charlotte 109
Phoenix 100


Dec 10 - Charlotte(15-6) at Portland(12-8)

Its very close at the half and then it falls apart... portland 32-13 in the 3rd, 32-18 in the 4th. Augustin 20, Allen 19, Wallace 18. Roy 26, Aldridge 24 for the defending champs.

Portland 114
Charlotte 82


Dec 11 - Charlotte(15-7) at LA Clippers(4-18)

Like everyone else apparently, we beat the Clippers. Allen 28, Wallace 25, Diaw 21 for Charlotte.

Charlotte 109
LA Clipipers 105


Dec 14 - Milwaukee(8-13) at Charlotte(16-7)

We lose our first game against a bad team. Augustin 29, Allen 16, Chandler 15. David West 24, Jennings 23 for the Bucks.

Milwaukee 108
Charlotte 105


Dec 16 - New Jersey(11-15) at Charlotte(16-8)

Back on the right side of things here. Wallace 30 points/8 boards, Augustin 23, Allen 20. Devin Harris with 25 for the Nets.

Charlotte 118
New Jersey 101



We are now tied with Cleveland atop the Eastern Conference. The #3 team is Washington, and we play them next.

[Radii]

December 17, 2011

Charlotte(17-8) at Washington(15-8)

CHA:WAS
83:91 OVR
75:99 OFF
84:85 DEF


Washington Scouting

PG Gilbert Arenas - 91 OVR - 25 ppg/5.7 rpg/8.7 apg - Arenas is having a brilliant season, shooting 54% from the floor so far this year. A+ hands/A- perimeter D/A outside, smart and a great athlete.

SG Nick Young - 71 OVR - 14.9 ppg - B- inside/A- outside, not much of a defender or ball handler or anything else but some scoring ability.

SF Caron Butler - 87 OVR - 16.7 ppg/6.0 rpg - B hands, A- perimeter D, B+ inside/A- outside, a very very good all around player.

PF Antawn Jamison - 75 OVR - 13.8 ppg/8.3 rpg - 35 years old, like Ray Allen he's slowing down and is tired going into the game. B- rebounder/A- inside, terrible defense.

C Marc Gasol - 73 OVR - 7.5 ppg/8.1 rpg - A- rebounder, B+ inside, not a great post defender, but he's big(7'1")


Washington has a great backup guard in Randy Foye, rated 77 OVR, but on the bench since he's technically behind Arenas in the rotation. Decent defender and ball handler, very good outside shooter. 8.1 ppg.


First Quarter

Washington 26
Charlotte 20

Augustin and Chandler have 5 each for us, Henderson with 4, a few others with 2. Chandler is 1-5 from the field with a few free throws. Arenas leads the Wizards with 6, Gasol has 4 points and 8 boards already.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 48
Washington 44

We're shooting 50%, Washington 47%. Tyson Chandler is the player of the half with 7 points and 9 rebounds. Henderson and Diaw both have 8 off the bench to lead us, Allen 7, Padgett 6. Henderson has 4 fouls in 13 minutes. The 21st pick in last year's draft(the year we got Padgett) is a 6'8" SF, Abe Townsend. He's got a career high already, 14 points in 14 minutes this half. 7-7, he's been on fire for awhile nowobviously. He's rated 75 OVR and is a very solid backup to Caron Butler. Arenas and BUtler each have 8.

Third Quarter

Charlotte 80
Washington 71

High scoring quarter here. It was tied at 62 when we ran off 12 straight and pulled nicely ahead. Washington is cold outside, just 2/8 from 3(we're only 1/7 ourselves). But we're both having a lot of success inside.. we have 48 points in the paint, washington has 46.

Padgett has a big quarter and has 14 now. Chandler 13 points, Wallace 11. Arenas has 17 points/11 boards to lead Washington. Butler up to 14, Townsend has 16, just 2 in the 3rd there.


Fourth Quarter

6:45 to go - We lead 88-77, just having scored 4 straight to push the lead up over 10.

4:10 to go - 94-79, its still early in the year but I'm definitely concerned that things seem a little easy now given that we're not rated anywhere near as high as these opponents.

2:30 to go - 98-83, Tyson Chandler is dominating the quarter.


Washington never threatens in the 4th and we put this one away easily.

Charlotte 103
Washington 89


Chandler: 25 points/14 boards
Padgett: 16 poitns/6 boards
Henderson: 14 points
Augustin: 12 points/7 assists
Wallace: 11 points/4 boards/4 assists
Allen: 10 points/6 assists


Arenas doesn't play much of the 4th quarter(why!?) and ends the game with 17 points. Townsend ends up leading them with 18. Unless Arenas got hurt, and I don't see any notes about him being injured anywhere(I play with the sound off and listen to podcasts while I play, so if the announcers mentioned it I missed it... but there's an "injuries" tab in the postgame report...) Anyway, that's a little frustrating to see a guy rated 91 OVR sit most of the 4th quarter and only play 28 minutes.

[DeToxRox]

Arenas doesn't play much of the 4th quarter(why!?) and ends the game with 17 points. Townsend ends up leading them with 18. Unless Arenas got hurt, and I don't see any notes about him being injured anywhere(I play with the sound off and listen to podcasts while I play, so if the announcers mentioned it I missed it... but there's an "injuries" tab in the postgame report...) Anyway, that's a little frustrating to see a guy rated 91 OVR sit most of the 4th quarter and only play 28 minutes.

He probably pulled a gun on Flip.

[CleBrownsfan]

Radii - don't let this die. I'm enjoying the read to much ;)

[Radii]

Radii - don't let this die. I'm enjoying the read to much ;)

I want to keep going w/ this, gonna play a game tonight, but this has been *way* harder to get into than College Hoops was. Its so close to great. I'm downloading 70 meg of something, presumably the second patch is out? We'll see how that looks shortly!

[gi]

Enjoying reading too, hoping this continues.

[Radii]

Dec 19 - Denver(14-13) at Charlotte(18-8)

Its close but we get the home win. Augustin has a crazy 34 points, Wallace 26. Melo with 37 for Denver.

Charlotte 111
Denver 107


Dec 21 - Portland (19-8) at Charlotte(19-8)

Only our 3rd loss in December, a crushing loss to the defending champs. Allen 21, Diaw 14, Augustin 14.

Portland 92
Charlotte 71


Dec 23 - Dallas (8-19) at Charlotte(19-9)

Time to come down to earth? Augustin 23, Wallace 17, Diaw 12.

Dallas 104
Charlotte 94


Dec 25 - New York(11-16) at Charlotte(19-10)

Nothing like the Knicks to get back on the right track. Wallace has a huge 40 point day, Diaw 15, Augustin 14, Allen 14.

Charlotte 121
New York 98


Dec 30 - Detroit (15-14) at Charlotte (20-10)

Another tough loss here after getting down 22 in the first half. Wallace with another outstanding game, 38 points/8 boards. Stuckey 27, Gordon 23, Bargnani 23 for the Pistons.

Detroit 117
Charlotte 107



Going into January, we are 20-11. Cleveland, Atlanta, and Washington are all 19-11. Chicago 19-13 and that seems to be the clear 5 top teams in the East right now.

Portland is 21-11 and has the best record in the NBA. Golden State is 20-11, Utah 21-12, Sacramento 19-12, Phoenix 19-13 out west. The Lakers are under .500, 15-16.

[Radii]

January is going to be crazy, 17 games in 31 day, 11 of them on the road.

Jan 1 - Charlotte(20-11) at Utah(21-12)

Utah kills us out at their place. Wallace 24, Ray Allen 15, Henderson 10. Deron Williams has 40 points/13 assists for the Jazz.

Utah 114
Charlotte 82


Our next game is against Cleveland, its time to see Lebron for the first time in game.

[rjolley]

If you're on PS3, the patch is supposed to be in the wild today.

No word on when the 360 patch is due.

[Radii]

Ray Allen picked up a nagging day to day ankle injury in our last game and is rated in the low 60s for this game.

January 2nd, 2012

Charlotte(20-12) at Cleveland (19-11)

CHA:CLE
80:90 OVR
71:86 OFF
81:93 DEF


Cleveland Scouting

PG Mo Williams - 81 OVR - 17.1 ppg/4.5 apg - A solid 2nd option behind lebron. A+ outside, A- hands, B+ perimeter D.

SG Delonte West - 77 OVR - 9.6 ppg - A solid defender(B+ perimeter D) and a good outside shooter. Decent ball handler, and a pretty good athlete.

SF Lebron James - 97 OVR - 28.2 ppg/7.3 rpg/6.0 apg - Probably the best player in the game by far. He seems to do much better than Kobe.

PF Anderson Varejao - 70 OVR - 7.6 ppg/9.5 rpg - 6'11", A rebounder, B+ post D, not much else at all.

C Roy Hibbert - 68 OVR - 9.6 ppg/9.4 rpg - 7'2", A- rebounder, nothing else. C+ inside/C+ post D. A solid athlete for a guy this big.

Cleveland is Lebron, Mo Williams and everyone else. Off the bench is 71 OVR PG Sebastian Telfair scoring 8.3 points/game. SF Andrei Kirilenko is rated 70 OVR and is scoring about 4 points/game. They have terrible inside depth.


First Quarter

Charlotte 25
Cleveland 24

Lebron picks up two fouls and only plays 5 minutes of the first quarter. He took a couple highly contested shots that I'd seen stars pass out of in the past, one of the things I've been most looking forward to out of the patch.

Augustin leads us with 7, Padgett 6, Wallace 6. Roy Hibbert has 6 points/5 boards for Cleveland. At least 4, maybe all 6 of his points are on putbacks. West 5, Lebron 4.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 48
Cleveland 43

Lebron picks up foul #3 and only has 12 minutes in the first half. He has 7 points/3 boards/3 assists. Delonte West has 13, Hibbert 8 points/6 boards for Cleveland.

Augustin is on fire for us, he has 14 on 6-7 shooting, 2-2 from behind the arc. Padgett has 10 points. Wallace only has 14 minutes as he picked up his 3rd foul in the 2nd quarter and sat as well.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 69
Cleveland 68

Augustin leads us with 19, he's on fire for us. Padgett 12, Wallace 10. Wallace and Lebron both played most of the 3rd quarter and surprise, Lebron won that battle in every way. Our top pick this year, backup center Dell Sparks, put up 6 points this quarter and has 8 points/6 boards.

West still leads Cleveland with 19, but Lebron is right there now with 18. Hibbert is creeping up on a double double with 10 points/8 boards.

Lebron had a few "I can take the game over any time I want" plays in the third quarter, the fourth should be interesting.


Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - Dell Sparks has 4 this quarter and we have a 75-72 lead. Padgett and Allen sit to rest up for the stretch run, Augustin and Wallace are on the floor.

6:30 to go - we lead 81-74 as Wallace took over when James sat for a couple minutes. James is back in now.

4:50 to go - 83-76, Lebron isn't trying to take over at all heh.

2:40 to go - 88-83, Mo Wiliams has the last 4 after a Lebron dunk. This is our second game in two nights and we are TIRED.


We go up 94-83 and seal this one easily.


Charlotte 96
Cleveland 91


This one was close the entire way, but we did lead the vast majority of the game.

Augustin: 23 points
Padgett: 16 points/5 boards
Wallace: 16 points
Sparks: 12 points/6 boards (!!!)
Henderson: 9 points
Chandler: 8 points/12 boards

Lebron ends up with 22 points/5 boards/5 assists. West has 21, Mo Williams 11, Hibbert 10. In this one our more balanced lineup takes down the top heavy but no depth Cavs.

[Radii]

If you're on PS3, the patch is supposed to be in the wild today.

No word on when the 360 patch is due.


Yep, I picked it up when I started the game. I could definitely tell a difference in that there were a lot less ridiculous plays where the opposing star drives, goes up in the air and makes some crazy dish instead of shooting. I'm very pleased to see that.

[Radii]

Jan 5 - Charlotte (21-12) at Milwaukee(15-17)

We're in a bit of a funk here. Wallace 16, Augustin 15, Chandler 13.

Milwaukee 91
Charlotte 74


Jan 6 - New Jersey(14-21) at Charlotte(21-13)

We use a 32-18 4th quarter to pull off a 1 point win. Allen 28, Wallace 17, Padgett 13, Augustin 12. Harris leads the Nets with 26.

Charlotte 97
New Jersey 96

[Radii]

So this is worth its own post. Raymond Felton has healed from his ACL injury.


Felton is rated 78 OVR and is by far my best pure PG. Augustin handles it well but isn't nearly as good a passer and turns it over a lot more than Felton.

That leaves me with Felton, an aging Ray Allen, DJ Augustin, and Sasha Vujacic in the backcourt. Augustin is averaging 19 points/game and has been lights out for me at times.

I can't seem to get Ray Allen enough minutes to keep him happy, this is probably Allen's last year as a Bobcat, even though he's scoring well it seems a consistent problem with these aging vets, they just tire too quickly to get the minutes they want, so they end up pissed off.

But I am having a hard time picturing a lineup with the 6'1" Felton and 6'0" Augustin both starting in my backcourt.


For now I'm going with Felton/Allen/Wallace/Padgett/Chandler as my starters. Augustin, Sparks, Diaw, Henderson as my primary bench guys. I have Felton and Allen both set to get 30 minutes, and Augustin 28. Ideally two of the three will be on the court at all times, though I'm sure Vucajic will see some minutes too, and he's not bad, so that's fine.


I have a tough decision coming soonish though as to what i want to do with the SG spot.

[Radii]

Felton's first game back is against one of the top teams in the East, so I want to play this one out.

January 8th, 2012

Charlotte(22-13) at Atlanta(20-13)

CHA:ATL
85:94 OVR
79:93 OFF
85:93 DEF


Atlanta Scouting

PG Neil Grady - 73 OVR - 5.8 ppg/2.0 apg - Atlanta traded Jeff Teague and a 2nd rounder to Detroit for Grady. Grady was the #16 pick in the draft this year and has taken over the starting PG spot. Grady is B+ hands, A perimeter defender, and a B outside scorer. Bibby is a quality backup.

SG Joe Johnson - 90 OVR - 25.8 ppg/6.6 apg - B+ hands, A- perimeter D, and a great scorer from anywhere. This will be Johnson's 7th year in a row averaging 20 points/game.

SF Marvin Williams - 75 OVR - 12.8 ppg/6.0 rpg - A solid inside threat, good shooter from all over, but not a great defender. Only a B- athlete, Gerald Wallace and Gerald Henderson might be able to abuse this guy in the open floor.

PF Josh Smith - 82 OVR - 16.0 ppg/8.4 rpg - Smith can do everything, though he's not great at any one thing. B inside/B- outside, B defending the perimeter, B- post defense, B- rebounder...

C Al Horford - 82 OVR - 15.1 ppg/12.8 rpg - A- rebounding, A- post D, A inside.


This is the type of team I'm trying to build. No major holes, not a Lebron type but 3 really really good players. Bibby is averaging 5.8 points and 6.6 assists off the bench. Atlanta's first round pick SG Jess Nelson is rated 69 OVR and scores 4 a game, and Zaza Pachulia(69 OVR) is a solid backup big man.


First Quarter

Atlanta 25
Charlotte 16

Atlanta just starts out on fire, scoring the first 7 and leading 17-5. We settle in and start to score but Atlanta is all over the place. Joe Johnson has 10. When I brought DJ Augustin in for Ray Allen at the 8 minute mark to try to start creating a rotation Johnson scored 6 straight. For us, Wallace and Chandler have 4, Padgett 3, no one else more than 2.


Second Quarter

Atlanta 45
Charlotte 40

Wallace hits a turnaround just after the buzzer, coulda been down to 3. Joe Johnson has 14 points and 4 assists and is the player of the half. Marvin Williams has made some great shots inside and has 8 points. Smith 7, Grady 6, Horford 4.

On our end we are *really* pounding it inside. Padgett leads us with 9, Wallace 8, Chandler 6, Diaw 5, Sparks 4. Augustin has 4, Felton has 2 and Allen is scoreless.


Third Quarter

Atlanta 76
Charlotte 71

Augustin is cold as ice but hits a 3 at the buzzer to cut the lead down to 5. We played great most of the quarter and led 68-67 before Atlanta scored 9 straight towards the end of the quarter.

Joe Johnson leads all scorers with 22 points, he has 8 assists also and he is one of the best CPU players I've played. I fear him more than I fear Lebron. Maybe I just didn't see Lebron on a good day, but CPU Joe Johnson makes things happen every time he touches the ball in a way that CPU Lebron didn't seem to.

Padgett leads us with 20 points and 6 boards. Wallace 14, Chandler 12, Augustin 8.


Fourth Quarter

7:00 to go - We trail 85-79. We've had backups + Allen and Padgett in there. Padgett is up to 23, Joe Johnson is up to 29. I sub in Felton, Augustin, Wallace, Diaw, and Chandler.

5:30 to go - Its 85-81 Atlanta. Joe Johnson just missed a wide open 3, something that shocked me. Lots of defense the last couple minutes.

3:50 to go - Its 88-85 Atlanta, the CPU just subbed Ray Allen in for Augustin. I pretty much want Augustin on the floor at the end of the game.

2:40 to go - Joe Johnson just picked Felton and went coast to coast. Only Felton's second turnover. Its 92-87 Atlanta.

And that's it. We miss three straight shots in the paint, two of them I thought were really good looks. Atlanta pulls away and wins by 12.

Atlanta 99
Charlote 87


Padgett: 25 points/8 boards
Wallace: 14 points/5 boards/5 assists
Chandler: 14 points/11 boards
Augustin: 10 points
Sparks: 7 points/7 boards

Felton had 6 points and 7 assists in his return. Ray Allen was scoreless in 28 minutes.
Joe Johnson scored 33, pulled in 7 boards and had 8 assists to lead the Hawks. Marvin Williams 15, Horford, Smith and Grady all 13 each.

[Radii]

Jan 9 - Miami (16-19) at Charlotte(22-14)

Good win back at home. Augustin 24, Allen 20, Diaw 17. Beasley leads the Heat with 26, Wade 18.

Charlotte 103
Miami 80


Jan 12 - Charlotte (23-14) at Sacramento (21-15)

Tight game on the road but we can't pull it out. Augustin 20, Diaw 14, Chandler 13. Evans 22, Martin 20 for the Kings.

Sacramento 96
Charlotte 93


Jan 13 - Charlotte(23-15) at Oklahoma City(19-19)

Not so hot on the road. Durant scores 33 and has 10 boards. Augustin 17, Felton 16, Allen 15 for us.

Oklahoma City 105
Charlotte 88


Jan 15 - Charlotte(23-16) at Denver(18-22)

Tight win on the road, hooray. Augustin 21, Allen 21, Wallace 15. Carmelo with 21 points/18 boards for Denver, but he only shot 8-23.

Charlotte 102
Denver 100


jan 18 - Charlotte(24-18) at Golden State(25-15)

I'm surprised to win this one but we dominate the 3rd and win the 4th. Wallace 25, Felton 22, Allen 17 in the win. Stephen Jackson with 19 for Golden State.

Charlotte 97
Golden State 86


Jan 20 - Milwaukee(18-22) at Charlotte(25-16)

We expect to win this and we do with ease. Wallace 22, Allen 21, Felton 15. Vince Carter with 19 for the Bucks.

Charlotte 101
Milwaukee 79


The next game I plan on playing out is a road game at Chicago at the end of the month, we still have 5 more games to sim first.

[Radii]

We're still right near the top of the conference...

1. Washington (27-14)
2. Atlanta (26-15)
3. Cleveland (25-15)
4. Charlotte (26-16)
5. Toronto (23-18)

So the top 4 teams are all within 1.5 games and then there's a 2.5 game break before 5th. We're only at the halfway point though, so there's a long way to go.


Out west, Portland is 28-14 and has the best record in the NBA right now. Utah is 28-15, Sacramento 26-15, Memphis and Golden State 25-16, Phoenix 24-17. That's 6 teams within 3 1/2 games at the top of the West.


Looking back at the preseason power rankings, the Lakers were ranked 3rd, but are 20-20 and struggling. The #1 ranked team, Chicago, is 22-19 and struggling badly on the road(8-13). Atlanta was 2nd and is right at the top of the East, and Portland was 5th and has the best record in the league.

You'll remember that we were rated 23rd in the preseason, which I thought was a bit low. I didn't expect us to do as well as we have so far though.

[rjolley]

How do you like the patch so far? I trust your feelings (and others on the board) over the rantings and ravings of the guys on the OP forums. Still amazes me that people get so upset over shoes in a video game...

How are your jumpshots falling? Do you have a better feel for it?

[Radii]

How do you like the patch so far? I trust your feelings (and others on the board) over the rantings and ravings of the guys on the OP forums. Still amazes me that people get so upset over shoes in a video game...

How are your jumpshots falling? Do you have a better feel for it?


I've only played these two games that I've written up here(Cleveland and Atlanta) but I'll comment on things I've noticed:



- Pass accuracy has been toned down for passes out of a double team, passes out of contact shots, and non-inbound full court passes.

Yup, I have noticed this, both seeing a couple errant passes out of doubleteams and having Padgett or Chandler try long outlet passes after a defensive board miss everyone and go out of bounds.



- CPU players are now much more selective when choosing to pass the ball while attacking the basket.

This is by far the biggest improvement to me. Playing the lakers pre-patch Kobe would just not drive to the basket and shoot... as soon as the defense would converge he'd pass every time. I noticed Lebron take a couple contested jumpers that people didn't seem to take pre-patch, and both Lebron and Joe Johnson taking their man all the way to the rim for a dunk instead of passing out of the limited pressure.



As far as jump shooting, I don't think that was something that was addressed in the patch. Pumping up the mid range and 3 point sliders helped me quite a bit. I still prefer to drive or play in the post, but if I notice someone wide open I'll happily kick it out for a jumper. Catch and shoot is still massively more effective than trying to shoot off the dribble. I'll occasionally run Augustin or Allen off a screen and fire a 3, and I'll have Augustin pull up for a midrange jumper instead of driving into the trees and can hit both of those enough that its worth doing... but in general trying to shoot off the dribble is something I don't do often.

I still score a large percentage of my points in the paint, and the stats from the games I play are drastically different than the ones I sim, but I have enough success finding and taking jumpers that I'm content with it for now.

[Radii]

The Association fixes I haven't really noticed, but I hadn't noticed the problems that are reported as fixed now either. A lot of the other changes were Online or My Player, neither of which I play any at this point. The two I pointed out in that last post are the two that were immediately obvious in playing a couple games, both for the better.

[Radii]

Jan 22 - Saramento(26-15) at Charlotte(26-16)

For the second time this month we lose to the Kings, this time badly. Wallace 13, Augustin 12, Chandler 11...

Sacramento 106
Charlotte 72


Jan 23 - Charlotte(26-17) at Orlando(15-26)

The road losses pile up...Wallace 26, Felton 17, Allen 11. Howard has 19 to lead the Magic.

Orlando 102
Charlotte 85


Jan 25 - Charlotte(26-18) at New Orleans(19-23)

Despite 23 from Paul and 22 from JR Smith, we get a good road win here. Felton has 23 points and 9 assists, Allen 18, Augustin 13.

Charlotte 106
New Orleans 92


Jan 28 - New York(17-25) at Charlotte(27-18)

The Knicks score 40 in the first and we can't come back. Allen 30, Felton 24, Henderson 11 today... Gerald Wallace only took 7 shots. Lee 32, Robinson 27 for the Knicks.

New York 117
Charlotte 103



Jan 30 - Miami (18-26) at Charlotte(27-19)

We win by 21 at home but Tyson Chandler has a strained quad that will slow him for a month. He can play but won't be full strength. Wallace 23, Allen 21, Augustin 10. Wade is hurt for the Heat, Jermain O'Neal has 16 to lead them.

Charlotte 98
Miami 77




Chandler's injury hurts him quite a bit, bringing his effectiveness down to that of a 58 OVR rated player. I'm going to start my rookie Dell Sparks in his place(69 OVR) until he's healthy again.


And with that, we're 16-6 at home but just 12-13 on the road, and its time to face the Bulls in Chicago.

[Radii]

January 31st, 2012

Charlotte(28-19) at Chicago(24-21)

CHA:CHI
82:91 OVR
76:94 OFF
80:87 DEF


Chicago Scouting

PG Jordan Price - 88 OVR - 11.8 ppg/6.3 apg - Price's ratings have skyrocketed after being drafted #1 overall last year. A hands/A- Perimeter D/B- inside/A- outside, a solid athlete, very very quick

SG Kirk Hinrich - 78 OVR - 8.8 ppg/4.0 apg - A outside shooter, B+ Perimeter defender, but not a big threat.

SF Luol Deng - 79 OVR - 14.8 ppg/5.8 rpg - A solid option after Boozer, B inside/B+ outside but not much of a defender.

PF Carlos Boozer - 90 OVR - 17.6 ppg/10.5 rpg - Boozer is the same old quality big, A rebounding, A- inside/B- post D only though.

C Greg Oden - 78 OVR - 12.2 ppg/10.3 rpg - Oden is a monster on the boards, a good defender and decent scorer inside.


Add in the fact that Derrick Rose is rated 87 OVR and scores 17ppg with 8 assists/game and this is one of the most imposing lineups you'll see in the NBA.

The thing is though, rose lost his starting job to Price earlier in the season and he's PISSED. He's in the last year of his contract and probably isn't going to re-sign with Chicago.


First Quarter

Chicago 21
Charlotte 19

Padgett 4, Henderson 4, Diaw 4 for us. Augustin is 1-4, Wallace just 0-2. Did I say Hinrich "wasn't a big threat?" yeah, 8 points to lead everyone. Price and Boozer 4 each.


Second Quarter

Chicago 51
Charlotte 46

The scoring went way up in the 2nd, we got fairly hot from 3, with both Allen and Augustin hitting a couple, while hinrich stayed hot for Chicago and Boozer came alive.

Padgett is the player of the half, he has a double double already, 11 points and 10 boards. Augustin has 10, Allen 9, Henderson 6. Wallace is off today and only has 4. Hinrich leads the bulls with 16, while Boozer has 10, Deng 9, Price 6 for the Bulls. hinrich has 3 steals and two of them generated coast to coast layups for him. We have 8 turnovers to only 3 for Chicago, we needto be more careful there.


Third Quarter

Chicago 81
Charlotte 80

Exciting quarter, We tied the game up at 58, then chicago took a 10 point lead, and we fought back to lead 80-79. Price to Rose for a huge dunk gave chicago the lead again to end the quarter.

Ray Allen is unconscious from 3. He's 6-7 from beyond the arc and has 18 points. Augustin is 3-7 from 3, he has 15. Padgett has 15 points/14 boards. Hinrich is still hot for Chicago, he has 24 to lead all scorers. We keep leaving him wide freaking open. Boozer 15, Deng 11. Boozer and Oden both have 4 fouls and sat part of the 3rd.


Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - Chicago leads 87-84. They've had Price and Rose on the court for a decent portion of the second half. Hinrich has a few more points for them though. I have Allen and 4 backups in right now to get my starters some rest for the stretch run.

6:30 to go - Chicago up 95-92. I call a timeout and get my starters in, except Augustin in at SG. Oden has the last 6 for the Bulls, he was dominating Chandler on the boards.

6:20 to go - Felton gets his 10th assist and Augustin drains a trey, 95-95!

4:50 to go - We've taken control of the boards and Chicago has gone cold. We lead 102-97!

3:10 to go - Bad news: We're only up 2, 105-103. Good news: Carlos Boozer has fouled out.

2:25 to go - Greg Oden is on fire. He has 10 this quarter now, tying the game up at 105. He just missed a free throw on a 3 point play try that could have given them the lead thoguh.

1:30 to go - UGH. Oden gives Chicago the lead, we turn it over, hinrich hits a 3 in transition and its 110-105 Chicago.

0:22 to go - Chicago may have just won it. They burn the whole shot clock and get a contested jumper by Deng to make it a 7 point game.


Wow. We led 102-97 with just under 5 to go, and Greg Oden just took over the game. Chicago outscores us 14-5 the rest of the way and gets the win.


Chicago 114
Charlotte 107


Augustin: 21 points
Allen: 21 points (6-9 from 3)
Padgett: 17 points/16 boards
Sparks: 12 points/6 boards
Wallace: 11 points
Henderson: 10 points

Felton only scored 2 but had 11 assists.

Kirk Hinrich shot 14-24, 3-6 from 3 for 31 points. Oden matched Padgett but was a lot more clutch down the stretch, 18 points/15 boards. Deng 17, Boozer 15. Price only had 8 but had 9 assists, Rose was held to 4 in only 15 minutes of action.

[Radii]

When I saw the Bulls issue with Price and Rose at PG, I really, really wanted to find a reasonable way to trade for Rose, a young, 87 rated PG who is a stud and should be getting about 25 more minutes than he did in our last game. But even if I could find a trade the Bulls would take, there's nothing reasonable I could offer(outside of packaging both Padgett and Wallace, and then all I've got is Rose and garbage).

That said, if Rose is available in free agency and I can afford it I would love to have him.




I go ahead and look over my contract situation to see if anyone is willing to re-negotiate. I only have $14 million locked up next year... but that's deceiving.


Looking through my rotation quickly:

PG Felton - 27 y/o - 3 years/$24.9M
SG Allen - 36 y/o - Final Year at $3.55M
SF Wallace - 29 y/o - Final Year Guarenteed - Player Option for $9.5M
PF Padgett - 21 y/o - Team option/rookie contract
C Chandler - 29 y/o - 2 years/$10.7M + 1 year player option

PG Augustin - 24 y/o - Final Year
SF Henderson - 24 y/o - Team Option for $3.1M next year.
PF Diaw - 29 y/o - Final Year
C Sparks - 22 y/o - Rookie Contract

Additionally, Diop has his $7.4 million player option. My plan to bench him all year doesn't seem to be working. He seems happy and will likely take his option.


Assuming Wallace and Diop take their options, and I pick up all my team options, I'll have ~$20 million free. Diaw is gone, he's not bad but he is unhappy being relegated to the bench and that just isn't going to change.

That leaves $20 million for Augustin + free agents.

Augustin is an issue... he's asking for 2 years/$14.8 million. The kid can shoot the 3, he's only 24 and still improving, but $7.5M/year for a 6 foot guard rated 75 OVR who is a stellar outside shooter but offers little else(great ball handler but a little turnover prone, average passing, average defense and undersized)... there's a decent chance that I let him go to free agency and see if I can use the $7 million I'd have to commit to Augustin to make a bigger splash in the FA Market. I don't offer an extension now.

[RPI-Fan]

Don't you think that Wallace will likely test free agency? Seems like he'll be able to get more than the $9.5MM.

[Radii]

Don't you think that Wallace will likely test free agency? Seems like he'll be able to get more than the $9.5MM.


He loves it in charlotte apparently! I hadn't checked his status fully. There are three ratings that players have for "ambition". Wallace's ratings:

Playing For Winner: Very Important
Financial Security: Very Important
Loyalty: Extremely Loyal

The extremely loyal part seems to indicate that as long as I pay him he will gladly just stay here and not test the waters. In fact, he is willing to renegotiate his contract right now. Tyson Chandler was willing to re-negotiate his before his option year too... but Chandler's option was $12 million and I would have only had to pay $5 million for him. I felt that was extrodinarily unrealistic and didn't resign him.


Wallace's initial demands are for a 5 year/$58.6 million dear, 10% backloaded, starting at $10.75 million next year and ending at $14.66 million.


I try to offer him a no-trade clause and a player option on the 5th year to knock it down to 5 years/$55 million(assuming he took the option), and he declines that offer. I can only make one offer a week but locking him up for 4 of 5 year seems ideal. He's 29, so that would take us to 33 or 34 at which time I could hopefully keep him around for less til he retires. I'll try again next game week.

[Groundhog]

This is by far the biggest improvement to me. Playing the lakers pre-patch Kobe would just not drive to the basket and shoot... as soon as the defense would converge he'd pass every time. I noticed Lebron take a couple contested jumpers that people didn't seem to take pre-patch, and both Lebron and Joe Johnson taking their man all the way to the rim for a dunk instead of passing out of the limited pressure.


I played my first post-patch game last night vs the T'Wolves and it was like a different game thanks to this tweak. Was great seeing Flynn being aggressive and taking the ball to the rack, rather than throwing it out for the open 3 all the time!

[Radii]

Feb 2 - Detroit(21-24) at Charlotte(28-20)

A 29-8 3rd quarter sparks a good win. Allen 23, Wallace 21, Augustin 18.

Charlotte 110
Detroit 82


Feb 5 - Atlanta(30-17) at Charlotte(29-20)

The Hawks are simply better than us. Allen 19, Augustin and Felton 18 each. Joe Johnson 33 points/8 boards/10 assists...

Atlanta 95
Charlotte 86


Feb 7 - Charlotte(29-21) at New York(21-27)

tight game, tied after 3 and we win by 2. Felton 22, Diaw 18, Wallace 17 points/10 boards. Nate Robinson 24, Hedo Turkoglu(traded from Toronto mid-season) has 23.

Charlotte 104
New York 102



Feb 8 - Memphis(29-22) at Charlotte(30-21)

Memphis is a lot like us, doing really well despite being rated lower overall than a lot of the other top teams. We get the home win. Augustin 16, 4 players(Allen/Henderson/Wallace/Felton) all have 13. TJ Ford and OJ Mayo both have 19 for the Grizzlies, Yao(the big FA signing) 18 points/11 boards

Charlotte 98
Memphis 90



Gerald Wallace Contract Extension


We get a deal done with Gerald Wallace. 4 additional years with a player option for a 5th averaging out to about $10.5M/year. This'll keep him in Charlotte until he's 35(not 34 as I was saying above). This deal is comparable to what a lot of similarly rated players are making, and Wallace is a fun athletic guy to control on the court. Bulding around Padgett and Wallace, if we could lock up a star type SG I feel like we could start to go a lot deeper in the playoffs soon.



Feb 10 - Charlotte(31-21) at Cleveland(30-19)

Winning in Cleveland is always going to be hard, we can't get it done here. Allen 22, Wallace 12, Henderson 12. Mo Williams leads them with 19, Lebron has 18 points/13 boards.

Cleveland 101
Charlotte 92



Feb 11 - Charlotte(31-22) at Indiana (26-27)

Dominance. Felton shoots 11-14 and has 31 points/9 assists. Wallace 25, Padgett(in a CPU game!!!) 17 points/10 boards. Danny Granger, who recently was leading the NBA in scoring, has 26.

Charlotte 116
Indiana 89


And with that, its all star break time

[Radii]

2011/12 All Star Break Standings

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland (32-19)
2. Atlanta (31-20)
3. Washington (32-21)
4. Charlotte (32-22)
5. Chicago (27-24)
6. Indiana (26-28)
7. Philadelphia (25-27)
8. New Jersey (25-27)
---------
9. Toronto (24-27)
10. Detroit (24-27)
11. Boston (24-28)
12. Orlando (23-28)
13. New York (22-28)
14. Miami (22-30)
15. Milwaukee (19-33)


Miami in 14th is only 3 games behind Indiana in 6th. Should be fun!!


Western Conference

1. Utah (36-17)
2. Portland (33-18)
3. Sacramento (33-19)
4. Golden State (32-22)
5. Oklahoma City (30-23)
6. Memphis(29-24)
7. LA Lakers (26-25)
8. Phoenix (26-26)
-------------------------
9. Denver (27-28)
10. Houston (24-27)
11. San Antonio (21-31)
12. Minnesota (20-31)
13. Dallas (20-31)
14. New Orleans (20-31)
15. LA Clippers (15-38)

Even in fake basketball the clippers just get lottery pick after lottery pick. Kobe getting into the playoffs on a 6-8 seed would be interesting.

[Radii]

10 players currently average over 25 points/game:

1. Danny Granger(Indiana) - 31.8 ppg
2. Carmelo Anthony(Denver) - 28.4 ppg
3. Kobe Bryant(LA Lakers) - 28.4 ppg
4. Joe Johnson(Atlanta) - 28.4 ppg
5. Deron Williams(Utah) - 27.9 ppg
6. Lebron James(Cleveland) - 27.6 ppg
7. Chris Paul(New Orleans) - 27.2 ppg
8. Amare Stoudamire(Phoenix) - 26.3 ppg
9. Tony Parker(San Antonio) - 26.3 ppg
10. Dirk Nowtiski(Dallas) - 25.4 ppg


None of the top flight players have moved teams since the dynasty started.


Charlotte Mid-Season Stats

Gerald Wallace: 18.3 ppg/7.3 rpg
DJ Augustin: 17.2 ppg/4.9 apg
Ray Allen: 16.5 ppg
Raymond Felton: 14.7 ppg/6.3 apg
Boris Diaw: 10.1 ppg
Tyson Chandler: 9.5 ppg/8.4 rpg
Samuel Padgett: 8.9 ppg/8.1 rpg
Gerald Henderson: 6.6 ppg
Dell Sparks: 3.4 ppg/6.6 rpg


Padgett's shot tendency improved some last offseason, as long as it continues to improve I can have the CPU focus more on the inside game and get him to be a more dominant player in future seasons than he is now.

[Radii]

Rookies vs Sophomores

hahah, if you'll remember the two draft classes that have occured in this dynasty... the 2010 draft had 3 guys rated 80+ who are on their way to stardom, led by PG Jordan Price in Chicago. The 2011 draft class had a lot of guys who will need to develop to become starters. Dallas drafted a big man who came in at 78 OVR, and Phoenix grabbed a big rated 75 OVR, the rest of the draft class were guys rated 69-71 who only start on bad teams.

Why mention this?

Sophomores 108
Rookies 69


Sophomores

SF Malik Sparks (1.11 - Toronto - 74 OVR): 24 points/5 assists
PG Jordan Price (1.1 - Chicago - 88 OVR): 23 points/4 assists
SG Gabe Wesley (1.16 - Dallas - 76 OVR): 14 points
SG Laurence Flowers (1.5 - Phoenix - 76 OVR): 13 points/5 boards
PG Chad O'Connor (1.14 - New Jersey - 75 OVR): 10 points
C Leo Wilcox (1.13 - Denver - 74 OVR): 8 points/7 boards
PF Samuel Padgett (1.2 - Charlotte - 84 OVR): 5 points/11 boards

I left out a couple guys who didn't score ni double figures, its worth noting that Detroit Center Rolando Faulk is rated 79 OVR now and has 6 boards in this game. Faulk is actually leading the entire NBA in rebounds at 12.7 per game for the Pistons.


Rookies

SF Trevor Foster (1.30 - Orlando - 70 OVR): 14 points
SF Benjamin Sloan (1.3 - Milwaukee - 71 OVR): 12 points
PF Donta Haywood (1.17 - New York - 69 OVR): 10 points
SG Victor Bass (1.18 - Houston - 71 OVR): 8 points

Other notables:

PF Mo Law (1.1 - Dallas - 78 OVR): 5 points/8 boards
C Leo Newman (1.4 - Phoenix - 75 OVR): 4 points/12 boards
C Dell Sparks (1.19 - Charlotte - 69 OVR): 2 points/3 boards


There are some soph's quickly become noteworthy players on good teams, I don't see any of the rookies doing that any time soon. Dallas does seem to be doing well in the draft, at least based on this limited look

[Radii]

2012 NBA All Star Game

East 95
West 90


East

Bosh: 21 points
James: 16 points/6 boards/5 assists
Iguodala: 11 points
Randolph: 10 points
Harris: 8 points/5 assists
Granger: 7 points/5 boards
Rondo: 6 points/6 assists

Garnett had 12 boards. Arenas 5, Johnson 4, Garnett 4, horford 3, David Lee scoreless. No Bobcats on the team.


West

Kobe: 13 points
Paul: 12 points
Amare: 11 points
Parker: 11 points
Roy: 8 points
Nowitzki: 8 points/4 boards
Durant: 7 points

Williams 6, Al Jefferson 6, Monta Ellis 6, Brook Lopez 2, Rudy Gay scoreless.


whee!

[Radii]

I haven't been paying as close attention to the trades as I have in the past(quite frankly, watching guys rated 70 OVR move back and forth is boring, even if some teams create positional imbalances with their trades). But here's one that is interesting:

Washington gets: PG Edgar Bowden, Memphis' 1st round pick next year
Memphis gets: SF Abe Townsend

Bowden is rated 65 OVR and sucks. Townsend was the 21st pick two years ago and is rated 75 OVR. Memphis has Yao at center, OJ Mayo at SG and solid PG play with Mike Conley and TJ Ford. They have huge holes at SF and PF. They give up their 1st rounder for Townsend and fill the SF hole. Washington has Caron Butler and a backup SF who is rated 71 OVR. Townsend wasn't a need for them. A nice, useful trade.

[Radii]

I've already played out 7 games this season. I only want to play a few more, espicially with full palyoff series coming up, so there's a lot of simmed games coming up.


Feb 17 - Chicago(27-24) at Charlotte(32-22)

We win a home game against a potential playoff opponent. Felton has another outstanding game with 30. Padgett 17 points/12 boards, Wallace/Diaw/Allen 10 each. Price leads the Bulls with 26.

Charlotte 105
Chicago 94

Feb 19 - San Antonio(22-32) at Charlotte(33-22)

Its another close one but we're quite good at home. Wallace 22, Allen 22, Augustin 18. Parker 24, Ginobili 23, Duncan hasn't retired jsut yet, 11 points/15 boards.

Charlotte 92
San Antonio 90


Injury Healed

Tyson Chandler had a rather significant injury, he could play through it but his rating was down to 58 and he really suffered. Dell Sparks started for 9 games and did a pretty good job, getting double figure rebounds 5 times, including a 1 point/16 board game vs Chicago. But Chandler is a lot better scorer and can rebound too, glad to have him back in the lineup.


Feb 21 - Indiana(27-29) at Charlotte(34-22)

Another big home win. Augustin 27, Alen and Felton 20 each. Chandler 14 in his first game back at full strength. Granger burns us for 40, his second huge game against us, but that's almost half of Indy's points.

Charlotte 114
Indiana 89


Feb 24 - Charlotte(35-22) at Dallas(23-32)

February has been damn good to us. Felton 19, Augustin 16, Wallace 14. Charlie Villanueva(oft-traded, last year Det->Tor, this year Tor->Dal) leads the Mavs with 14. Dirk has 11 only.

Charlotte 89
Dallas 72



Feb 26 - Charlotte(36-22) at Memphis(32-26)

Yeah, we're not winning this one. Augustin 16, Allen 15, Felton 14. OJ Mayo with 30 for Memphis.

Memphis 103
Charlotte 81



We've had a great 8-3 February. We have one more game this month, hosting the 35-24 Wizards. I'll play that one out. Our hot streak this month has helped make the playoff race super interesting again:

Eastern Conference - Feb 27

T-1. Atlanta (35-22)
T-1. Charlotte (36-23)
T-3. Cleveland (35-24)
T-3. Washington (35-24)
5. Chicago (30-29)
6. Indiana (30-30)
7. Toronto (28-30)
T-8. New Jersey (27-30)
T-8. Orlando (27-30)


Milwaukee and the Knicks are fading fast but Philly, Boston and Detroit are all within a couple games of the 8 seed too.

[Radii]

I played out a game against Washington earlier this year, Chandler scored 25, Padgett 16 in a 14 point win on the road. This Washington team has some injuries and this may be a lot different.

February 28th, 2012

Washington(35-24) at Charlotte(36-23)

CHA:WAS
85:82 OVR
79:88 OFF
84:74 DEF


Washington Scouting

PG Gilbert Arenas - 91 OVR - 23.8 ppg/6.4 rpg/8.7 apg - Arenas is having a brilliant season, shooting 49% from the floor so far this year. A+ hands/A- perimeter D/A outside, smart and a great athlete.

SG Nick Young - 71 OVR - 13.6 ppg - B- inside/A- outside, not much of a defender or ball handler or anything else but some scoring ability.

SF Valmilton Saramago - 70 OVR - 2.5 ppg - Caron Butler got hurt right after i reported on them trading away a SF with some ability. Saramago is the backup, 2.1 in the draft this year, an ok backup but not a good starter.

PF Antawn Jamison - 75 OVR - 12.9 ppg/7.3 rpg - 35 years old, like Ray Allen he's slowing down and is tired going into the game. B- rebounder/A- inside, terrible defense.

C Marc Gasol - 73 OVR - 8.0 ppg/9.2 rpg - A- rebounder, B+ inside, not a great post defender, but he's big(7'1")


Antawn Jamison is playing through an MCL strain, and his actual rating is down in the high 50s. Without Caron Butler and with jamison hurt I expect us to win this game at home with relative ease.


First Quarter

Washington 25
Charlotte 17

Tough quarter. I go inside on my first 5 or 6 possessions and fall behind 10-2. We make a run to tie it at 12, then next thing I know its 21-13. Arenas has 8, Gasol 7 points/5 boards already. Padgett, Chandler, and Henderson all have 4, Wallace 3. Augustin is 0-5 early.


Second Quarter

Washington 52
Charlotte 51

Gilbert Arenas is good... 18 points in the half. And its super obvious that we just don't have a lockdown defender, Augustin is really bad but Felton isn't much better and Allen is horrible. Arenas just drives whenever he wants. Sometimes he scores, sometimes he draws about 8 guys, as we have people hopping off the bench to try to fill the giant hole that's available when he burns one of my guards. This has led to good things for Nick Young, as he has 13 points on 5-9 shooting, mostly wide open jump shots after out defense breaks down.

On offense... Wallace and Augustin are just outstanding. Arenas is a B+ perimeter defender but the wizards overall are just a bad defensive team(look at the OVR ratings, our team defense is 84, theirs is 74, just terrible). Wallace gets to the rim at will and has 15. Augustin is on fire and has 14(all this quarteR). Padgett has 10. Its an interesting contest here, hopefully we can pull away in the second half.

Foul issues... Felton has 3 fouls for us, Jamison and Saramago(the replacement SF) 3 for Washington.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 81
Washington 70

That was our quarter. We just ran them off the floor. Arenas got cold, we ran like crazy when they missed and Wallace and Augustin continued to dominate. Arenas 20, Young 15, Gasol 11(and 10 boards) for the Wizards.

Augustin has 24 now, after starting 0-5 he's gone 9-12 in the last two quarters. Wallace 21, Padgett 14. Chandler is close to a double double with 8 points/9 boards.


Fourth Quarter

We run Washington out of the gym. Washington is ice cold in the 4th and we run run run. We end up with a 52-40 edge on the boards, shooting 9/24 from 3, 47% from the floor while holding the Wizards to 42%. With about 7 mintues to go in the game we go up by 30, 106-76. We slow things down and win by 22.

Charlotte 111
Washington 89


Augustin: 30 points/5 assists (11-25, 5-12 from 3)
Wallace: 23 points/8 boards
Allen: 18 points (3 3's during our 4th quarter run)
Padgett: 14 points/6 boards
Chandler: 10 points/12 boards

We get 95 of our 111 points from these 5 players. Henderson 6, Felton 4(with 7 assists), Graham and Diaw 3 each. Dell Sparks doesn't score but he grabs 8 boards, 5 of them on the offensive end.


Arenas scores 24 and has 8 assists. Young 7, Saramago and Gasol 11, Foye 9. A gimpy Jamison and butler being out totally kills this team.

[Radii]

In the "In The News" page that has news from around the league, we find two Bobcats who have been pissed off all year but are now making headlines for being so pissed off. Ray Allen and Boris Diaw are both openly expressing unhappiness and claiming they intend to test free agency(I intend to let them both of course). Both of them suffer a -5 to their overall rating due to their morale. Diaw does well in simmed games but I don't use him a lot when i play out games, but Ray Allen is an important part of the rotation and it sucks to see him pissed. He seems to want 35 minutes a game and I just can't do it for him.

[Radii]

We are now 37-23 and would have the top spot in the playoffs. After a super hot December, we had an 8-9 January. We'll see how March goes after a super hot February(9-3).


Mar 1 - Charlotte(37-23) at Boston(26-32)

Boston is a big mystery to me. Rondo is a superstar,Garnett and Pierce are still very good, McGrady and Perkins are solid, this is one of the best starting lineups in the NBA, but they struggle badly. And we beat them easily. Felton 22, Augustin 21, Diaw 16. KG scores 23, Pierce 20, rondo 18 and 11 assists.

Charlotte 112
Boston 96


Mar 3 - LA Lakers(32-26) at Charlotte(38-23)

Another team that i thought woudl be way better. Allen 29, Wallace 21, augustin 15. Gasol has 25 points/16 boards. Kobe onl scores 12 and only plays 21 minutes with foul trouble.

Charlotte 110
LA Lakers 90



Mar 5 - Charlotte(39-23) at Philadelphia(29-31)

I expected to lose in boston, instead we drop one to the 76ers. Wallace 19, Augstin 15, Felton 14. Iguodala has 27 for the 76ers, Jrue Holiday 18.

Philadelphia 89
Charlotte 79


Mar 7 - Golden State(36-27) at Charlotte(39-24)

Home. Dominance. 32 point win. Augustin 34, Wallace 21, Felton and Allen 20 each. Randolph leads the Warriors with 19.

Charlotte 121
Golden State 89


Mar 9 - Phoenix (32-31) at Charlotte(40-24)

Wallace 27, Augustin 20 in another big win. Barbosa has 25 for Phoenix, Amare with 16.

Charlotte 97
Phoenix 81



We host a completely healthy Cleveland team in our next game. I'll get another look at Lebron and play this one out.


Eastern Conf. Standings (March 10th)

1. Charlotte(41-24)
2. Cleveland (39-24)
3. Atlanta (37-25)
4. Washington (38-26)
5. Chicago (32-31)
6. Indiana (33-32)
7. Philadelphia (31-32)
8. Toronto (30-33)
------
9. New Jersey (29-33)
10. Boston (29-34)
11. Detroit (29-34)
12. Orlando (28-34)
13. Miami (28-36)

5 teams within 2 1/2 of that last playoff spot with just under 20 games to go.



So for whatever reason, we've been the best team at home in the league this year. We're 25-7 at home. Cleveland is 24-8, no one else in the east has less than 10 home losses. Out west Utah is 24-8 at home.


Only one team in the league has been good on the road. Sacramento is 41-23. They're 20-10 at home, 21-13 on the road. No one else near hte top of the east or west is more than 2 games over .500 on the road. We are 16-17, Cleveland 15-16, Atlanta 15-14, Washington 17-16 on the road.


Our team on paper isn't anywhere near as good as these other teams. The only explanation that I have is that DJ Augustin and Ray Allen are incredible jump shooters and are carrying us to levels that their ratings don't indicate possible.

[Radii]

Slider Change

I am dropping all my shot sliders down 1, except 3 pointers I'm dropping 2 points. I feel like after raising the mid-range and 3 point sliders(which i raised by 4-6 points each IIRC) I've been able to learn what shots are good shots and what shots are bad shots, and how to get good looks, etc. With that, I am not taking a lot of bad shots anymore and shooting probably too well.


Inside Shot Success: 46 (was 47)
Close Shot Success: 46 (was 47)
Mid-Range Success: 50 (was 51)
3PT Success: 50 (was 52)

[Radii]

March 11th, 2012

Cleveland(39-24) at Charlotte(41-24)

CHA:CLE
85:90 OVR
78:86 OFF
84:93 DEF


Cleveland Scouting

PG Mo Williams - 81 OVR - 18.2 ppg/4.1 apg - A solid 2nd option behind lebron. A+ outside, A- hands, B+ perimeter D.

SG Delonte West - 77 OVR - 8.6 ppg - A solid defender(B+ perimeter D) and a good outside shooter. Decent ball handler, and a pretty good athlete.

SF Lebron James - 97 OVR - 27.2 ppg/7.5 rpg/6.4 apg - Probably the best player in the game by far. He seems to do much better than Kobe.

PF Anderson Varejao - 70 OVR - 6.8 ppg/9.3 rpg - 6'11", A rebounder, B+ post D, not much else at all.

C Roy Hibbert - 68 OVR - 10.0 ppg/9.2 rpg - 7'2", A- rebounder, nothing else. C+ inside/C+ post D. A solid athlete for a guy this big.


First Quarter

Cleveland 27
Charlotte 16

Its 10-10 at the 6 minute mark of the first half, Cleveland catches fire and we get even colder. Lebron and hibbert have 6 each, Hibbert has 5 boards already. Lebron is only shooting 2-7 though. Wallace has 6, Padgett 4, a few guys with 2. Augustin is super cold again out of the gate. Turnovers are a big story too, we have 5 turnovers in the quarter and only forced 1.


Second Quarter

Cleveland 45
Charlotte 43

That's more like it. We struggle for the first 6 or 7 minutes of the quarter, trailing 39-27. We get back to back 3's from Felton and Diaw and that triggers our comeback and we're only down 2 at the half.

Wallace leads all scorers with 10. Allen 9, Diaw 7, Padgett 6. Delonte West leads Cleveland with 9. Lebron has 8 but he's only shooting 3-12. He has 3 boards and 6 assists though. Joe Alexander(WVU PF, 1.8 in 2008) comes in and scores 7 poitns in 3 minutes of action.


Third Quarter

Cleveland 68
Charlotte 62

This was a lot more like the first quarter, where scoring at all was immensely frustrating at times. Lebron has a 3 point play and a 3 pointer on back to back plays and now has 16 points to go with 5 boards and 8 assists. West 13, Hibbert 9 points/9 boards. I pushed it to Padgett a good deal and Padgett has 12 now. Allen 12, Wallace was scoreless in the 3rd and still has 10. Augustin finally hits a 3(1-5) and has 8.


Fourth Quarter

9:20 to go - Verajao starts the quarter hot, scoring 5 straight. Padgett draws a foul and goes 1-2, then gets a nice dunk/3 point play try but misses the FT... we're down 76-65 with Lebron on the bench.

6:00 to go - ugh, our defense has fallen apart. Cleveland is getting open shots every time down and they aren't missing. Its 86-74. Turnovers have continued to be a story throughout the game. We ahve 15, Cleveland has 4(CPu turnovers are notoriously low so taking care of the ball is super critical).

3:40 to go - We just cannot stop them. Lebron hits a couple midrange jumpers, its 92-82.


Cleveland 102
Charlotte 86

in our first meeting Lebron scored something like 22 points but was a non-factor down the stretch. In this meeting Lebron scores 26, and its like a totally different performance. He was involved in every key basket of the fourth quarter, and we could not stop him at all. I dunno if this game would have been any different if I hadn't dropped the shooting sliders, but this is a lot more what I would expect plaing Cleveland... they're just simply better than we are and it showed here.


Wallace: 17 points/4 boards
Padgett: 15 points/7 boards
Allen: 12 points
Diaw: 11 points
Felton: 9 points/7 assists
Augustin: 8 points


Augustin was just very off tonight. 1-7 from 3. Allen, Felton and Diaw combined for 4-8, so I can still hit them!


Lebron has 26 points/5 boards/9 assists. Solid night for him.

[Radii]

We've got 16 games left and I may play none of them. Toronto is 31-33 but is leading their division right now. But there are four teams in their division within 1.5 games of them. Philly, Boston, and new Jersey. So any of those 3 teams could end up with the 4 seed or could miss the playoffs. In the Southeast, we lead the division but Washington is just 1.5 back, Atlanta 2 back. Atlanta is 37-25 but would be the 5 seed as a result of our stacked division right now. Anyway, lets see how it shakes out.


Mar 13 - Charlotte(41-25) at Atlanta(37-25)

Tough 3 point loss on the road against a division rival. Joe Johnson with 41 points. Felton 20, Wallace 20, Allen 18.

Atlanta 94
Charlotte 91


Mar 14 - Orlando(28-36) at Charlotte(41-26)

Whew, just a 2 point win here, we can't start losing games on the road down the stretch here! Wallace 25, Felton 22, Allen 19.

Charlotte 105
Orlando 103


Mar 17 - Houston(30-35) at Charlotte(42-26)

Wow, unacceptable loss here. Augustin 16, Wallace 15, Allen 13. Brook Lopez owns us for 28 points and 15 boards.

Houston 88
Charlotte 68


Mar 18 - Charlotte(42-27) at Washington(40-28)

Another loss but not unexpected on the road here. Arenas 28, Butler is back and has 20. Felton 30, Wallace 30, Augustin 28, no one else in double figures...


Washington 121
Charlotte 115



The standings are so close, we could get the 1 or the 5 still eaisly.


Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland (42-27)
2. Charlotte (42-28)
3. Atlanta (41-27)
4. Boston (34-36)
5. Washington (42-28)
6. Indiana (38-33)
7. Chicago (35-35)
8. Toronto (33-37)
-----------------------
9. New Jersey (32-36)
10. Philadelphia (32-37)
11. Detroit (31-37)
12. Miami (31-38)


That Atlantic Division shitfest of a race:

1. Boston
2. Toronto 1 game back
3. New Jersey 1 game back
4. Philly 1.5 games back

And right now Boston would get the 4 seed, Toronto 8, the Nets and Sixers would miss out.

[Radii]

Mar 22 - Charlotte(42-28) at Boston(34-36)

Damn road games. Allen 20, Felton 16, Chandler 10. Rondo 25 points/9 boards/10 assists/6 steals... hell of a night.

Boston 103
Charlotte 85



Mar 24 - Charlotte(42-29) at Miami(32-38)

More road losses to inferior teams! Wallace 20, Augustin 17, Felton 14. Beasley 26, Wade 23 for miami.

Miami 94
Charlotte 84


Mar 26 - Utah(41-31) at Charlotte(42-30)

We top last year's record and guarentee a winning season! Wallace 26, Felton 20, Augustin 18. Deron Williams has 19 and that's about it for the Jazz.

Charlotte 93
Utah 77


Mar 28 - Oklahoma City(42-31) at Charlotte(43-30)

This is a big win, OKC was #1 in the power rankings as recently as 2 weeks ago, they're a strong team. Wallace 27, Felton 21, Augustin 12. We held Durant to 9 points on 2-16 shooting. Go defense!

Charlotte 110
Oklahoma City 87



Charlotte has now officially clinched a playoff birth! Its March 1st, here's how we look now:


Eastern Conference Standings -8 games to go

1. Cleveland (47-27)
2. Atlanta (46-28)
3. Washington (45-30)
4. New Jersey (37-37)
5. Charlotte (44-30)
6. Indiana (40-35)
7. Chicago (36-38)
8. Boston (36-39)
-------------------------
9. Toronto (35-39)
10. Philadelphia (34-41)
11. Miami (33-41)
12. Orlando (33-41)

Detroit has fallen out of the race. Orlando and Miami are barely hanging in there, they are both 2 1/2 back from Boston with two teams to leapfrog to make it.

We've fallen 1/2 game behind Washington which would be the difference between the 5 and the 3 seed. We're 3 games out of the top seed, held by cleveland. Right now we'd be slated in the exact same situation as last year... the 5 seed against the 4 seed in New Jersey. They don't have Yao anymore though :D

[Radii]

Out of our 8 remaining games, 4 are on the road/4 at home. All of our road games are very winnable though, we'll see how ti goes.


Apr 1 - Charlotte (44-30) at San Antonio(30-45)

Yep, road woes continue. Allen 21, Felton 20, Wallace 19. Parker 20 and Duncan 18 for San Antonio.

San Antonio 101
Charlotte 86


Apr 2 - Charlotte(44-31) at Houston(34-40)

ahhhh, there's a road win, finally. Wallace 23, Felton 16, Padgett 15 points/10 boards. Brook Lopez 23 for houston.

Charlotte 90
Houston 76


Apr 4 - New Orleans (36-39) at Charlotte(45-31)

Crushing victory. Felton 28 points/5 boards/9 assists! Wallace 25, Padgett 15. Paul had 30, the rest of their team had 45.

Charlotte 114
New Orleans 75



Going into our next game, Atlanta leads our division, we are tied with Washington 1 game behind them.

Apr 7 - Atlanta (47-30) at Charlotte(46-31)

Wow, bad loss. This might relegate us to the 5 seed. Felton 23, Chandler 12, Augustin 10. Joe Johnson 31 points.

Atlanta 100
Charlotte 79



With 4 games to go, Cleveland has a 2 game lead over Atlanta for the 1 seed. Charlotte and Washington remain tied, we would currently have the 3 seed.

Indiana has the 6 seed totally locked up. Boston is 39-39 and would now curently be the 4 seed. Chicago, Toronto and New Jersey are all 38-40 and tied, fighting for the last 2 spots. Philly has fallen 2 games behind them.

[Radii]

Apr 9 - Toronto(38-40) at Charlotte(46-32)

It takes overtime but we squeeze out a 3 point win. Augustin 25, Henderson 16, Wallace and Diaw 15, Padgett 14 points/12 boards. jarrett Jack leads toronto with 21. Bosh only has 14.

Charlotte 116
Toronto 113



We now hold a 1 game lead over Washington in the race for the 3/5 seed.


Apr 11 - Charlotte(47-32) at Indiana(43-37)

Damn, a road loss against the team we may well play in round one. Wallace 19 points/17 boards. Allen 17, Felton 15. Zach Randolph 33 points/14 boards, Granger 23.

Indiana 103
Charlotte 89


With 2 games to go, Cleveland clinches the 1 seed. Atlanta has all but locked up the 2 seed. We are again tied with Washington.

As for the bottom of the pack, Boston is 40-40 to hang on to the 4 seed still. Chicago 40-40, New Jersey 39-41 for the 7 and 8 seeds. Toronto is 1 game back of New Jersey. Everyone else is done.



Apr 12 - Charlotte(47-33) at Milwaukee(31-49)

We can't even beat the freaking bucks on the road reliably. They beat us by 2 in overtime. Felton 20, Augustin 14, Henderson 13. David West has 30 for the Bucks.

Milwaukee 95
Charlotte 93



Washington has a 1 game lead on us now, I believe if we win and they lose their final game we get the tiebreaker(based on the 'playoff picture' when we've been tied in the past).


Apr 14 - Boston(40-41) at Charlotte(47-34)

Wow, Boston kills us at our place. If they're playing up to their lofty rating all of a sudden this could be ugly. Felton 22, Wallace 13, Padgett 8 and 15 boards. Pierce 26, Rondo 24, Garnett 20.

Boston 117
Charlotte 71

[Radii]

Ugh, I simmed ahead into the playoffs. one of the super annoying things about the game is that the regular seasons standings page is no longer available once the postseason is officially entred. I'll piece it together using the seedings and "team history" page, which is ridiculous, but here we go:


Eastern Conference Playoff Seeds

1. Cleveland (53-29)
2. Atlanta (50-32)
3. Washington (48-34)
4. New Jersey (41-41)
5. Charlotte (47-35)
6. Indiana (45-37)
7. Chicago (41-41)
8. Boston (41-41)


Western Conference Playoff Seeds

1. Sacramento (55-27)
2. Portland (51-31)
3. Oklahoma City (48-34)
4. Memphis (46-36)
5. Golden State (46-36)
6. Utah (45-37)
7. LA Lakers (45-37)
8. Denver (44-38)


So we do indeed get a rematch of last year's playoffs with the Nets, but things appear to be a lot different this year. Last year we barely made the playoffs but b/c of a big mess at the bottom of the standings we lucked our way into the 5 seed. This year we're the 5 because Atlanta and Washington were so good in our division and appear to have a big upper hand over New Jersey. The defending champs in portland earn the 2 seed out west.

[Radii]

2011-12 Awards


MVP

Lebron James is the MVP of the league for the 4th straight year. 27.4 ppg/8.0 rpg/6.5 apg this season, outstanding all the way around.


Rookie of the year

Leo Newman of the Suns wins this award. The 4th pick in the draft, Newman is rated 75 OVR and averaged 4.8 ppg/11.1 rpg in 33 minutes per game.


Defensive Player of the Year

2nd year Pistons Center Rolando Faulk wins this one.


Most Improved Player

Philly's PG Jrue Holiday - Holiday is rated 73 OVR, his minutes more than doubled from 13 to 31 this year, he averaged 9.4 points and 5.7 assists/game for the sixers.


All NBA 1st Team

PG Gilbert Arenas - WAS - 91 OVR - 23.9 ppg/6.2 rpg/8.0 apg
SG Andrew Iguodala - PHI - 87 OVR - 25.5 ppg/7.1 rpg/5.8 apg
SF LeBron James - CLE - 97 OVR - 27.4 ppg/8.0 rpg/6.5 apg
PF Dirk Nowitzki - DAL - 82 OVR - 25.1 ppg/9.1 rpg
C Brook Lopez - HOU - 83 OVR - 20.5 ppg/12.1 rpg


All NBA 2nd Team

PG Deron Williams - UTA - 92 ovr - 26.9 ppg/9.0 apg
SG Joe Johnson - ATL - 90 OVR - 27.2 ppg/5.5 rpg/6.2 apg
SF Danny Granger - IND - 90 OVR - 32.5 ppg/6.3 rpg
PF Amare Stoudemire - PHO - 89 OVR - 24.5 ppg/10.2 rpg
C Al Jefferson - MIN - 89 OVR - 20.4 ppg/11.6 rpg


All NBA 3rd Team

PG Chris Paul - NO - 95 OVR - 27.2 ppg/4.8 rpg/7.0 apg
SG Kobe Bryant - LAL - 97 OVR - 26.8 ppg/5.0 rpg/5.1 apg
SF Carmelo Anthony - DEN - 92 OVR - 28.2 ppg/9.2 rpg
PF Pau Gasol - LAL - 90 OVR - 18.6 ppg/11.3 rpg
C Al Horford - ATL - 82 OVR - 14.5 ppg/12.6 rpg


All Rookie 1st Team

PG Neil Grady - ATL - 73 OVR - 7.6 ppg/2.8 apg
SG Victor Bass - HOU - 71 OVR - 8.7 ppg
SF Benjamin Sloan - MIL - 71 OVR - 6.4 ppg/4.8 rpg
PF Donta Haywood - NYN - 69 OVR - 7.7 ppg/9.4 rpg
C Leo Newman - PHO - 75 OVR - 4.8 ppg/11.1 rpg

[Radii]

New Jersey Scouting

Here's our first round playoff opponent, the 41-41 New Jersey Nets.


PG Devin Harris - 29 y/o - 90 OVR - 22.9 ppg/7.6 apg - A+ ball handler, B- inside/A- outside/A- defending the perimeter. CPU Harris should benefit mightily from the patch change that has people passing out of drives less often. Last year he didn't score much at all in the playoffs against us.

SG Josh Howard - 31 y/o - 74 ovr - 10.8 ppg - B inside scoring, A- outside, he's big, 6'7" and could play the 2 or the 3.

SF Terrence Williams - 24 y/o - 74 OVR - 13.2 ppg/6.9 rpg - Just average all around, B perimeter defense, C- inside scorer, C+ outside. He's a good athlete and uses that athleticism to score presumably(a lot like Gerald Wallace but not as good really).

PF Travis Outlaw - 27 y/o - 71 OVR - 10.6 ppg/4.0 rpg - poor rebounder(D+), B inside scorer, A- outside. Poor defender, C in the post. He had some surprisingly good games in the playoffs last year against us. This year I hope that Padgett can dominate him.

C Samuel Dalembert - 30 y/o - 65 OVR - 1.8 ppg/8.1 rpg - A rebounder, B+ post D, not a scoring threat at all. yao Ming he is not.


Off the Bench:

PG Chad O'Connor - 22 y/o - 75 OVR - 9.8 ppg/4.0 apg - O'Connor gets 28 minutes a game and we will see him a lot. He was pick 1.14 in the 2010 draft(the Padgett draft). He had a lot of good minutes as a rookie against us.

SG Courtney Lee - 26 y/o - 72 OVR - 9.3 ppg - Lee gets 27 minutes/game. B+ outside scorer, B+ perimeter defense. his ball handling is suspect and he's not a threat inside.

SF Chris Douglas-Roberts - 25 y/o - 67 OVR - 3.2 ppg - Just 7 minutes a game. Might see more this playoff run though.


New Jersey's backup bigs are awful.

Jianlian Yi is still around for them, rated 63 OVR, he doesn't play much and only scores 6 a game.

Rookie center Lawrence Jordan is a late 2nd round pick who is awful. 56 OVR, less than a point a game.


Larry Hughes, SG rated 72 OVR, has a broken hand and will miss at least the first 4 games of the playoffs. There's a chance we could see him before its done though.

It looks like the key to this series could be pounding it inside where we have a huge talent and depth advantage. Diaw and Sparks off the bench for us would both start for New Jersey. We have the edge at every spot but point guard, so if we can just keep Harris from beating us by himself, we should be able to advance.

I'll start the playoffs perhaps later this evening after football, or tomorrow

[Radii]

Before I get headlong into the playoffs and forget, I spend a good deal of time in the "upcoming free agents" page. I want to look at a number of the top players, their morale and ambition and see how what they're "saying" correlates to whether they re-sign or end up in free agency. By position, just guys rated 75 and up(ie guys we could be interested in that would be more than depth/filler for us).


Point Guards

Chris Paul - 95 OVR - NO - Player Option - "would like to re-sign with the team"

Deron Williams - 92 OVR - Player Option - "would like to resign with the team"

Derrick Rose - 87 OVR - CHI - "Its time for me to move on"

Russell Westbrook - 86 OVR - "Oklahoma City is where I belong. Lets get a contract signed once the season is over"

Chauncey Billups - 84 OVR - "I'd l ike to remain with the Nuggets next season" - note, 35 y/o.

Mo Williams - 81 OVR - CLE - Player Option - "I'd like to remain with the Cavs"

Jameer Nelson - 81 OVR - Player Option - "I'm likely going to re-sign here in Orlando"

Ramon Sessions - 77 OVR - MIN - player option - "It would be foolish for me not to test my value in free agency"

DJ Augustin - 75 OVR - CHA - "I'd like to re-sign with the team in the offseason"



So most of these guys "want to get a deal done", we'll seehow that goes. Derrick Rose is obviously going to be the prize of the free agent market if these statements have any grain of accuracy. His morale is at a dead zero.

Also noteworthy are Jameer Nelson and Mo Williams. both have player options, $8.5 million and $8.1 million. Both are rated in the low 80s and would get more in free agency. It'll be interesting to see what they do.

Also, i still haven't figured out what I want to do with Augustin yet.


shooting guards

OJ Mayo - 87 OVR - 24 y/o - MEM - "I might re-sign with Memphis, but not before i test free agency"

Eric Gordon - 79 OVR - PHI - "I'd like to re-sign with the 76ers"

Kirk Hinrich - 78 OVR - CHi - "I feel unsettled about not having a contract for next season, but I'm not going to commit to re-signing just yet"

Rudy Fernandez - 75 OVR - POR - "I've already decided that I'm going to test the free agent market this summer"


The SG Market is pretty dry sadly. We would obviously break the bank for OJ Mayo if he ends up in free agency. That would be a dream come true for us and would immediately vault us into a title contender. Kirk Hinrich is 31, he's a pretty good defender and can still shoot, he'd be an ok pickup too.


Small Forwards

Carmelo Anthony - 92 OVR - DEN - "I'd like to hammer out the details of a new contract"

Michael Beasley - 80 OVR - MIA - "Sorry, but I plan on entering free agency this summer"

Rashard Lewis - 79 OVR - Orl - Team Option - "I'll most likely be interested in a new contract when this one expires"


I've been leaving out guys with a team option, but Lewis' option is for 22 million. Orlando may well let that go. the other guys with team options are guys like Stephen Curry who are still in their rookie contract. We just re-signed Gerald Wallace and gave him a no-trade clause. If Carmelo decided he wanted to come to Charlotte we'd obviously do it and figure something out, otherwise, not looking at signing a SF in the offseaeson.


Power Forwards

Kevin garnett - 90 OVR - BOS - "Would like to re-sign with the team"

Anthony Randolph - 81 OVR - GS - "I'd like to remain with the Warriors"

Kevin Love - 80 OVR - MIN - "once the season is over i'd like to work on a new contract"

Lamar Odom - 78 OVR - OKC - "i'm leaning towards re-signing with the team"

Antawn Jamison - 75 OVR - WAS - "I'm likely going to want to re-sign"


Not a lot here at all, luckily we have samuel padgett and don't really care. Though I'll point out a fear in the coming seasons... Padgett still has two years of team options left, but he says "the idea of entering free agency is very enticing to me, but i don't know if that is my best option." I really want to build around padgett and keep him in Charlotte for 10 more years, so hopefully he gives me that choice.



Centers

Dwight Howard - 92 OVR - ORL - Player Option - "I'll be moving on to a new team next season. With my treatment lately, it look like Management is in agreement"

Brook Lopez - 83 OVR - HOU - "I'd like to re-sign in the offseason"

Nene - 81 OVR - NYN - "I'm thinking i want to come back next year"

Emeka Okafor - 79 OVR - NO - "I'd liketo remain with the hornets next season"

Chris Kaman - 78 OVR - LAC - "I'm leaning towards re-signing"

Howard, eh? Interesting.



So, my budget for next year says I have $34.83 million available under teh cap. Padgett's team option will be $4.6 million, Henderson's last team option is $3.1M, Diop's player option is $7.37M. That totals 15.07 million, leaving me with $19.76 million, assuming I let Augustin go.

My roster next year with players I have locked up:

PG Felton - ??
SG ?? - Vucacic
SF Wallace - Henderson
PF Padgett - ??
C Chandler - Sparks


If it wasn't for Diop I could be a serious player for any free agent in the market. Still, I'll have the juice to at least make a legit offer to Rose or Mayo, assuming they do end up available.


But first, lets get out of the first round of the playoffs! We'll definitely be returning to this post to see who really ends up in free agency and compare against what everyone wanted going into the offseason.

[Ironhead]

Been following along. Good luck in the playoffs!

[Radii]

Thanks Ironhead!


First Round Day 1

(1) Sacramento 104, (8) Denver 96 - SAC leads 1-0
-- Kevin Martin 24, Tyreke Evans 22 for the kings. Melo 28, Thaddeus Young(FA Signing this offseason) 27 for the Nuggets.

(3) Oklahoma City 133, (6) Utah 92 - OKC leads 1-0
-- Durant 39 points/8 boards/5 assists
--Westbrook 29 points5 boards/9 assists
--Eric Maynor leads Utah with 24, Deron Williams 23 (Maynor is a 69 rated backup to Deron Williams who was on fire today)

(1) Cleveland 77, (8 ) Boston 67 - CLE leads 1-0
-- Lebron 33 points/10 boards
--Pierce with 15 for Boston, Garnett 14

(3) Washington 92, (6) Indiana 86 - WAS leads 1-0
-- Arenas 27,Jamison 23
--Randolph 31 and 18 for Indiana, Granger 29.

[rjolley]

Good luck, Radii.

[Radii]

First Round Day 2

New Jersey at Charlotte

CHA:NJN
83:78 OVR
79:77 OFF
81:81 DEF


We have home court, I guess that's done by record and not by seed. I've just returned to minor NBA viewing in the real world, so those details are not things I know offthe top of my head like I would for other sports/leagues. Neato!


First Quarter

Charlotte 18
New Jersey 15

slow quarter. We pound it in to Padgett early and he is very cold, shooting just 1-5, he has 3 points on a 3 point play. Wallace has 6 and was getting to the rim pretty easily early. Augustin hit a 3 and has 5. Josh Howard leads the Nets with 6. Harris only has 2 and picked up 2 fouls in 7 minutes. This was his problem last year, he swipes at everything and gets more reach in calls than anyone i've ever played against.

For the quarter, we shoot 36%, the Nets 33%.

Second Quarter

Charlotte 41
New Jersey 38

We lead the entire quarter, by as much as 7. Terrence Williams is the player ofthe half,just 6 points but he has 7 boards. Howard 6, Yi 6 off the bench, Lee 5 off the bench for the Nets. harris picked up a 3rd foul pretty quickly(a dumb shooting foul on Padgett).

Padgett heated up in the 2nd and has 10 points/4 boards. Augustin 6, Wallace 6, Allen 5, Felton 5. We're up to 43% shooting, New Jersey is at 38%. We're 3/9 from 3, hitting two that quarter.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 63
Charlotte 62

Devin Harris took over the game briefly, blowing by Felton at will and scoring or dishing. He now leads the Nets with 12. Terrance Williams has 11 points/8 boards, Howard 10,Lee 8. The NEts seemed to havea rash of offensive boards that quarter. Yeah, i check the stats, 7 offensive boards for New Jersey, 2 for us.

Padgett and Chandler both had solid quarters for Charlotte. Padgett leads all scorers now with 16, while Chandler has 10 and has a double double with 12 boards. Wallace 9, Allen 7, Augustin 6. Augustin was awful this quarter, cold as ice.


Fourth Quarter

8:45 to go - 71-65 New Jersey. We have a 3 from Ray Allen and they have 4 solid buckets on their end. A very bad start to the quarter.

6:50 to go - 71-69 New Jersey. We just had a chance to tie it up but Padgett's outlet pass sailed over Allen's head. Good defense though, we've held them scoreless the last few trips.

4:45 to go - Huge stretch here for us. We lead 78-73. Augustin hit a 3, Felton scored 4 straight and Chandler with a bucket inside. We're on a 13-2 run over the last 4 minutes.

4:15 to go - 3 for the Nets, 78-76. I sit Felton and Wallace briefly with at timeout. They need just a minute or so to rest before finishing it out.

2:45 to go - We have the ball, leading 83-80. Josh howard has the last 4 for the Nets, we just got a tough jumper from Diaw and a 3 from Augustin. I get a timeout and get all 5 starters on the floor for the duration.

1:55 to go - 85-82. We had a chance to go up 7 but a bad pass leads to a Harris layup instead. Our ball up 3.

1:15 to go - 85-84. Josh Howard again, he's on fire at this point.

0:55 to go - Awful, a terrible pass on our part leads to another fast break, this one ends in a Howard dunk and a foul by Wallace. Its now 87-85 New Jersey.


0:07.5 to go - Its still 87-85 New Jersey. Wallace missed on a drive to the hoop on our end, but we got a stop forcing Devin Harris into a bad shot. I call a timeout to try to tie things up in the final seconds.

0:04.4 to go - WOW! Inbounds to Felton, the D is way out of sorts, I feed Wallace who has a wide open lane and throws down a thunderous dunk. We're tied. New Jersey takes a timeout, now they have the last shot to win.


Welp. Sigh! Harris feeds Terrance Williams for a shot that is basically as easy as the dunk we just got from Wallace off of the inbounds play. New Jersey gets the last bucket and gets the big win in game one.


New Jersey 89
Charlotte 87


Padgett: 16 points/5 boards/3 blocks (7-17 shooting)
Wallace: 15 points/6 boards
Chandler: 14 points/13 boards
Augustin: 12 points
Allen: 10 points
Felton: 9 points/5 assists
Diaw: 6 points
Sparks: 4 points/8 boards
Henderson: 1 point


Josh Howard scores 22, just on fire in the 4th. Williams 19 points/8 boards. Devin Harris has 14 points and 9 assists. Lee and Outlaw 8 each.

I stuck to my gameplan based on my scouting, going to Padgett often, he took 5 more shots than anyone, and just did not hit quite enough of them. Augustin hit a couple big 3's in the 4th quarter and was 3-8 from deep. Allen was 2-6. Tough opening loss, we'll have to make up for it in game 2.

[bbgunn]

I'll be cheering for the Bobcats in the playoffs... unless they play my Atlanta Hawks. :)

[CleBrownsfan]

Tough game one loss. Get the next one at home and you'll be okay - I hope ;)

[Radii]

First Round Day 2

(4) Memphis 103, (5) Golden State 90 - MEM leads 1-0
MEM: OJ Mayo 26 points/8 boards, TJ Ford 19 points/6 assists
GSW: Ellis 28 points, Biedrins 13 points/15 boards


(7) LA Lakers 87, (2) Portland 75 - LAL leads 1-0
LAL: kobe 20 points/8 boards, Gasol 18 points/11 boards
POR: Wilson Chandler 23 points, Roy 10 points/10 boards


(2) Atlanta 100, (7) Chicago 82 - ATL leads 1-0
ATL: Marvin Williams 24 points/9 boards, Johnson 23 points
CHI: Boozer 22 points/18 boards, Deng 21 points

[Radii]

First Round Day 3

(1) Sacramento 118, (8) Denver 79 - SAC leads 2-0
SAC: Gay 24, Martin 22
DEN: Young 31 points, Lawson 13 points/8 assists

(3) Oklahoma City 94, (6) Utah 91 - OKC leads 2-0
OKC: Durant 30- points/9 boards/11 assists!!!
UTA: Deron Williams 25 points/6 assists, Jeff Green 22 points

(1) Cleveland 81, (8 ) Boston 80 - CLE leads 2-0
CLE: Lebron 25 points/7 boards/8 assists
BOS: McGrady 21 points, Garnett 20 points/15 boards

(3) Washington 105, (6) Indiana 101- WAS leads 2-0
WAS: Arenas 26 points/7 boards/12 assists
IND: Randolph 30 points/19 boards, Granger 20 points

[Radii]

First Round Day 4

New Jersey at Charlotte

New Jersey leads 1-0

CHA:NJN
83:78 OVR
79:77 OFF
81:81 DEF

Can't fall down 2-0 at home!

First Quarter

New Jersey 29
Charlotte 24

This quarter was a disaster. We went up 18-6 and were destroying them. Then Felton and Wallace pick up two fouls, we have to sit Padgett and Chandler when they tire and we completely and utterly fall apart, allowing New Jersey to go on a 23-6 run to end the quarter. We have an ASTOUNDING 10 turnovers. I think I turned it over 14 times last game and that was like 7 or 8 too many for a 2K basketball game.. 10 in a quarter, what the hell. Terrence Williams dominates with 12 points. Harris 6 points/4 assists.

On our side Ray Allen was the reason for the big start, he's 3-3 from 3 and has 11 points total. Padgett 5, Wallace 3.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 64
Charlotte 52

Man, this playoff run is turning into a disaster. Devin Harris has 13 points and 8 assists and is finally playing to his full capacity against us. We got off to a good start this quarter again, tied the game at 37, and New Jersey took over again. Williams 14, Outlaw 14, Harris 13, Howard 10 for the Nets who are just on fire. Ray Allen 14, Felton had some good drives and has 10, Padgett 8, Wallace 7. We didn't have a single turnover this quarter, they just dominated us.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 83
Charlotte 80

There's a feeling of dread with 5 minutes left in the third when we're still down 14, but we woke up and woke up fast, cutting the lead quickly down to 8 and then chipping away and getting it as close as 2, ending the quarter down only 3. Devin Harris has 17 points/10 assists, Outlaw 16 points/11 boards. Terrence Williams 16, Howard 14.

Felton has been getting to the rim and scoring really well this game, he has 18 points/8 assists, one of the best games I've ever had with him. Allen 17, Wallace 13, Augustin 11, Padgett 10 points/9 boards. No one else has more than 4.


Fourth Quarter

7:45 to go - A 3 point play from DJ Augustin ties the game up for the first time since it was 37-37. It's 91 all. Devin Harris has been on the bench all quarter so far though.


7:10 to go - 93-91 Charlotte!!! Chandler with a dunk on the secondary break.

4:40 to go - 97-75 Charlotte. I sit Allen and Padgett briefly. This will go down to the wire.

2:20 to go - We lead 101-99, this is gonna go down to the wire. New Jersey calls a timeout and i've got all 5 starters in the rest of the way.

1:45 to go - We get a stop as Outlaw misses a 18 foot jumper, Felton goes in for teh board. On offense we work it around and Felton ends up getting by Harris and hitting a tough double clutch shot in the lane, 103-99.

1:10 to go - Jumper for the nets, we have a missed 15 footer by DJ Augustin, Outlaw with a dunk on their end, and its 103-103. I can't lose a lead in the final 2 minutes again.

0:53 to go - AUGUSTIN! He gets just enough space to launch one, and drains a 3 from the right wing. 106-103.

0:45 to go - Devin Harris drives right by Felton and draws a foul. only hits 1 of 2. We lead 106-104 and have the ball after a Chandler board.

0:22 to go - Our offense is a bit out of sorts, Wallace tries to drive but can't get to the rim, we end up with a 22 footer from Augustin that's no good. Nets board and they get a timeout.

0:08 to go - Ok, I'm impressed. That was just like a real NBA play, and I don't think I've ever seen it in this game. The Nets put Devin Harris on the right side of the court and everyone else over on the left, and let him work 1 on 1 against felton. He gets to the free throw line and drains a jump shot. Its 106-106. We call our last timeout.


End of Regulation - I get Felton a jumper, not really what I want, but that's what I was able to manage. We're going into overtime.

Charlotte 106
New Jersey 106


Overtime

3:55 to go - We open with a drive by Felton, New Jersey answers with a 3 from O'connor. After a Wallace miss, Harris hits a jumper, and we now trail 111-108.

2:47 to go - Allen with a 10 footer to cut it to 10. We get a stop, but Felton misses a jumper on our end. Felton fouls harris and Harris hits 2 free throws, its 113-110, back to a 3 point game.

1;45 to go - Ugh, Padgett goes right at Outlaw and lays it just shot off the front rim. We get a big stop, and Allen scores again for us... its 115-112, Nets ball.

1:23 to go - Great stop,Outlaw misses a shot with Padgett all over him. On our end, Allen gets an open look from 3 and outright airballs it, but it falls into Padgett's hands,he lays it in. 115-114, Nets lead.

1:09 to go - Outlaw gets stuck in the lane and the Nets get a 3 second violation. I sub in Augustin for Allen, that airball frightens me(Allen isn't listed as tired, but whatever).

0:53 to go - Chandler misses a tough look inside, Nets ball ont he rebound, we still trail by 1.

0:40 to go - Harris drives into the lane, Chandler gets the blocked shot, Felton picks up the ball. Outlaw(and thus Padgett) were out near the 3 point line and Padgett takes off. Felton hits him in stride, Padgett with the one handed jam, Charlotte leads!!! 116-115 Charlotte.

0:32 to go - As soon as the nets get up the court, Harris goes straight at Felton, takes a runner from 13 feet, swish. 117-116 Nets.

0:18 to go - Felton drives, jump stops at the FT line, kicks it to Augustin who has just the slightest bit of space on the right wing, three is GOOOD. 119-117 Charlotte.


New Jersey works it around, doesn't take a quick shot at all, they end up getting the ball to Harris inside but he's surrounded and stuffed, they aren't able to get a shot up to the rim. VICTORY!

Charlotte 119
New Jersey 117
OT


Felton: 22 points/9 assists
Augustin: 22 points
Allen: 21 points
Padgett: 18 points/10 boards
wallace: 17 points/5 boards
chandler: 6 points/7 boards
Henderson: 5 points/5 boards
Sparks: 4 points/6 boards
Diaw: 4 points


Devin Harris had a great game for the Nets, 28 points and 12 assists. Terrence Williams was a beast with 24 points/6 boards, he actually shot 10-11 and was just impossible to stop all game. Outlaw 22 points/16 boards.


This was easily the best NBA2k10 game I've played. I played a number of games in my college hoops dynasty that felt totally electric, tough, hard fought, down to the wire games that were just *intense*. This was the first NBA2k10 game that felt that way for me, simply outstanding. I'm really, really impressed with the way the Nets used Devin Harris, the iso play at the end of regulation, and any time the Nets *had* to score it was in Harris' hands. It felt like a very good, very real game, in large part due to the way the CPU team utilized their best player.

[Radii]

First Round Day 4

(5) Golden State 111, (4) Memphis 109 - series TIED 1-1
GSW: Ellis 34 points
MEM: Mayo 32 points


(2) Portland 90, (7) LA Lakers 85 - series TIED 1-1
POR: Roy 25 points/7 boards/7 assists, Jerryd Bayless 21 points
LAL: Kobe 29 points


(2) Atlanta 95, (7) Chicago 94 - ATL leads 2-0
ATL: Josh Smith 26 points, Horford 16 points/12 boards
CHI: Rose 17 points/7 assists, Deng 16 points, Boozer 16 points/11 boards

[Radii]

First Round Day 5

(8) Denver 99, (1) Sacramento 95 - SAC leads 2-1
DEN: Anthony 33 points/9 boards/6 assists
SAC: Evans 22 points/7 assists


(3) Oklahoma City 123, (6) Utah 118 - OT - OKC leads 3-0
OKC: Durant 30 points/9 boards/6 assists, Westbrook 27 points/10 assists
UTA: Deron Williams 33 points/14 boards

(1) Cleveland 92, (8 ) Boston 76 - CLE leads 3-0
CLE: Lebron 23 points/7 boards/9 assists
BOS: Garnett 20 points/9 boards, Rondo 18 points

(6) Indiana 118, (3) Washington 82 - WAS leads 2-1
IND: Randolph 30 points/14 boards, Granger 23 points/9 assists
WAS: Foye 13, Arenas 13

[Radii]

First Round Day 6

Charlotte at New Jersey

Series tied 1-1

CHA:NJN
83:79 OVR
77:79 OFF
81:80 DEF

After two games that were close into the final minutes in Charlotte, we head up to New Jersey, needing to steal one at their house to get the edge back.


First Quarter

Charlotte 32
New Jersey 28

We get off to another fast start, and its a high scoring quarter that we lead the entire 12 minutes. Padgett has 8, Augustin 8, Allen 6, Wallace 6. Devin Harris plays great and has 7 points/3 assists, no one else has more than 4.

Shooting %'s are ridiculously high this quarter, New Jersey 57%, Charlotte 52%.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 58
Charlotte 51

Well we came back down to earth a bit here but the Nets really didn't. Devin Harris is in control of the game here, he'sthe player of the half with 16 points and 7 assists. Chad O'Connor has been the big beneficiary today, he's got 13 points including 3-3 from 3. Outlaw 10 points.

On our end, its the Padgett and Augustin show. Padgett has 16 points/6 boards. Augustin has 14 points. Wallace 6, Allen 6, Felton 4... we need to get more players involved, espicially Gerald Wallace. And we need to play some damn defense.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 83
Charlotte 71

This is pretty much the opposite of the 3rd quarter from game 2. We start off fast and cut the lead down to 1, then New Jersey turns it up another notch and we cannot keep up. Harris picked up two quick fouls and sat but O'Connor, Outlaw and Howard kept them going. O'Connor 17, Harris 16, Outlaw 15, Howrad 12 now. They just aren't missing, ever.

On our end Padgett is having a career type day, 22 points/7 boards so far. Augustin 16, Wallace 10, Allen 8. We just cannot stop them. New Jersey is shooting 55% for the game with 42 points in the paint and 8/13 from 3. 8/13!!!!


Fourth Quarter

7:30 to go - 92-79 new JErsey. Padgett has 27 but Douglas-Roberts has 2 threes and they continue to shoot lights out.

4:25 to go - Its 94-86 after a 7-2 run on our part, we have it under 10 for the first time in awhile. The problem, besides the fact that there's less than 5 minutes left, is that we could have had a 15-2 run here easily. Wallace, Felton and Henderson have combined for 4 misses driving to the basket on moves I would normally expect them to score off of.

3:50 to go - We get a great stop, Henderson is out on the break and beats his man but misses a runner off the rim... unbelievable.

2:50 to go - We cut it to 6 on an Augustin layin after Sparks gets a great block. But howard hits a wide open jumper on the next play. 96-88, our ball. I get a timeout and get all starters back in.

2:20 to go - Padgett is fouled and makes 1 of 2. We get a miss and Wallace is on the run, he's fouled by outlaw and Outlaw fouls out. Wallace hits both and its 96-91. New Jersey goes small with Terrence Williams at PF.

2:00 to go - Padgett fouls Dalembert inside and he only makes 1 of 2. I go quickly to Allen for a midrange jumper that goes in. Its now 97-93!!

Oh man... we get a stop, i block a shot controlling Ray Allen which felt pretty damn good, but Felton throws a bad pass and a turnover leads to a trip to the line for Devin Harris. He only makes 1 of 2 and we trail by 5 with about 1:30 left, i go to Padgett, they doubleteam and I try to feed Chandler who is open after the doubleteam, but the pass is tipped and we throw it away on two straight trips. Devin Harris ends the game with a 3 point play after that TO.


New Jersey 103
Charlotte 93


Padgett 28 points/9 boards
Augustin 20 points
Allen 13 points (3-7 from 3)
Wallace 12 points/8 boards/4 assists
Felton 8 points/8 assists
Diaw 5 points
Chandler 3 points/7 boards
Sparks 2 points/4 boards
Henderson 2 points


Devin Harris leads the Nets with 20 points and 8 assists. O'Connor has 19 points/6 assists, Howard 16, Outlaw 15. New Jersey shoots 9/16 from 3 and ends up at 49% for the game from the field.


We fall behind in the series 2-1 after trailing for the entire second half.

[Radii]

First Round Day 6

(5) Golden State 97, (4) Memphis 89 - GS leads 2-1
GSW: Randolph 27 points, Ellis 27 points
MEM: Yao 17 points/14 boards, Mayo 17 points


(7) LA Lakers 110, (2) Portland 106 - OT - LAL leads 2-1
LAL: Kobe 30 points, Gasol 21 points/14 boards
POR: Roy 28 points, Wilson Chandler 24 points


(2) Atlanta 101, (7) Chicago 82 - ATL leads 3-0
ATL: Johnson 28 points, Smith 18 points/12 boards
CHI: Deng 22 points, Rose 15 points

[Radii]

First Round Day 7

(1) Sacramento 95, (8) Denver 99 - SAC leads 3-1
SAC: Kevin Martin 20 points, Gary Oakley (1.3 pick in 2010) 19 points/9 boards
DEN: Anthony 24 points/14 boards, Lawson 16 points


(3) Oklahoma City 89, (6) Utah 86 - OKC WINS 4-0
OKC: Durant 35 points/8 boards
UTA: Okur 19 points, Green 17 points

(8 ) Boston 98, (1) Cleveland 89, - CLE leads 3-1
BOS: McGrady 25, Pierce 21
CLE: Hibbert 26 points, Williams 19, James 19

(3) Washington 101, (6) Indiana 100 - WAS leads 3-1
IND: Randolph 30 points/12 boards, granger 21
WAS: Nick Young 18, Butler 15, Arenas 15 points/6 boards/6 assists/7 steals



We end up with one series sweep so far, and a 7 steal game from Gilbert Arenas.

[Radii]

First Round Day 8

Charlotte at New Jersey

New Jersey leads 2-1

CHA:NJN
83:79 OVR
77:79 OFF
81:80 DEF

Though game 3 was close'ish towards the end, it was the least contested of our 3 games so far. We'll look to play some defense today. Just a little.

First Quarter

Charlotte 29
New Jersey 18

I didn't try to run any early, wanting to establish some pace and some defense instead of a crazy up and down game, it seemed to work. We went into Padgett early and often, for a few minutes never taking a shot until he got a look. He's 6-10 and leads everyone with 12 points, a great quarter. Augustin has a trey and 7 points total. Chandler 5, Allen 3, Wallace 2 to round out our scoring. This is perfect offense to me, every single point is in the paint or behind the arc(or at the line).

Devin Harris had a hand in nearly every point New Jersey scored, putting up 8 points and assisting on 3 other buckets. No one but Harris has more than 2.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 51
New Jersey 42

We lead by as much as 13, and the cut it as close as 5, but we get it to 9 as the half ends. Padgett is the player of the half with 14 points/4 boards. They started doubling him quickly in the second quarter and i had to go elsewhere. Augustin has 11. Wallace, Allen, felton, and Chandler all have 5. Chandler has 8 boards. Felton did pick up his 3rd foul with about 4 minutes to go in the quarter.

For the Nets, Chad O'Connor came in and shot lights out backing up Harris for a stretch. He's 5-5 and has 10 points. Harris has 9 points/5 assists, Terrence Wiliams 6, Lee 5.

After hitting 9 3's in game 2, New Jersey is 0 for 4 from three so far today.


Third Quarter

Charlotte 81
New Jersey 60

AWWW YEAH. I was worried when Felton picked up his 4th foul less than a minute into the quarter. I was more worried when Augustin picked up his 3rd seconds after he came into the game to replace Felton. But we settled down, Augustin played all 12 minutes of the quarter and we dominated.

Padgett leads everyone with 22. Augustin 15, Allen and Chandler 8 each. For the Nets, O'Connor has 12, Harris 11, and 3 guys have 8 each. We would seem to have this locked up.


Fourth Quarter

No need for 4th quarter details. We never let them closer than 20 and coast to a win.

Charlotte 103
New Jersey 78


Padgett: 30 points/5 boards/2 blocks
Augustin: 18 points/6 assists
Felton: 10 points
Wallace: 9 points/7 boards
Allen: 8 points
Chandler: 8 points/12 boards
Diaw: 8 points/5 boards
Sparks: 6 points/7 boards
Henderson: 4 points
Vujacic: 2 points


After the offensive explosion we allowed last game, we hold New Jersey under 20 points in the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters(18 each time). A dominating performance that ties the series back up at 2 as we head back to Charlotte for game 5. Two stellar games from Padgett in a row as well, this is what I expected with a poor defender like Travis Outlaw on him all series.

[CleBrownsfan]

Good win there! Now go back home and put it away!

[Radii]

First Round Day 8

(5) Golden State 104, (4) Memphis 89 - GS leads 3-1
GSW: Ellis 24, Randolph 18
MEM: Mayo 27 points/7 boards


(7) LA Lakers 87, (2) Portland 86 - LAL leads 3-1
LAL: Kobe 42 points/6 board/4 assists
POR: Roy 32 points/7 boards


(2) Atlanta 112, (7) Chicago 105 - ATL WINS 4-0
ATL: Johnson 35 points, Grady 22 points
CHI: Boozer 23 points/17 boards, Deng 23 points, Price 20 points/10 assists


Atlanta is the second team to finish off a series. Jordan Price missed games 2 and 3 or perhaps the bulls could have pulled out a win. The Lakers are poised to knock out the defending champs with one more win.

[Radii]

First Round Day 9

(1) Sacramento 105, (8) Denver 92 - SAC WINS 4-1
SAC: Gay 23, Martin 23, Evans 22
DEN: Anthony 19, Lawson 17 points/8 assists

(1) Cleveland 103, (8 ) Boston 86 - CLE WINS 4-1
CLE: LeBron 26 points, Williams 26 points
BOS: Pierce 19, Rondo 16

(6) Indiana 91, (3) Washington 87 - WAS leads 3-2
IND: Granger 25 points/9 boards/6 blocks, Randolph 22 points/12 boards
WAS: Arenas 28 points/10 boards/7 assists



Both top seeds close things out

[Radii]

hooray for data analysis applications that take 5 hours to run. Time for another game!

First Round Day 10

New Jersey at Charlotte

Series Tied 2-2

CHA:NJN
83:79 OVR
77:79 OFF
81:80 DEF

Though game 3 was close'ish towards the end, it was the least contested of our 3 games so far. We'll look to play some defense today. Just a little.

First Quarter

Charlotte 32
New Jersey 27

Devin harris picks up 2 fouls midway through the first and sits. Its frustrating, the total number of fouls/free throws aren't unreasonable but Harris himself gets in so much trouble. Anyway, Josh Howard 7, Williams 6, Outlaw 6 for the Nets. Padgett is on fire again today and has 8 in the first, Felton, Wallace, Allen and Sparks all have 5. There's very very little defense this quarter on either side.


Second Quarter

Charlotte 60
New Jersey 56

We score first to make it 34-27. New Jersey goes on an 11-0 run before we get going. We pull back ahead and lead by 3 to 6 for the final 7 minutes of the quarter. Padgett is trying to improve on his recent performances, he has 17 already. Allen 8, Felton 7, Augustin and Diaw 6. Sparks and Wallace have 5 each.

Devin Harris is scoreless but he picks up 7 assists. O'Connor has 13 points, Williams 12, Outlaw 8. Shooting percentages are ridiculously high on both sides, we're at 65% heh.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 88
Charlotte 87

New Jersey goes on a big run and takes a lead as big as 5 points, 77-72. We keep it close though and its just a 1 point game going into the 4th quarter. Padgett is 13-20 and has 27 points, only 2 boards, and 2 blocks. Allen 14, Augustin 9, Felton 9, Diaw 8, Sparks 7. Wallace has been totally ineffective today and only has 5 points.

Harris scored 10 in the 3rd and has a double double now. Howard leads them with 18, Outlaw 14, o'connor 13. They break down the defense very well and anyone can hit the open jumpers that they generate.


Fourth Quarter

9:00 to go - We score the first 5 of the quarter and re-take the lead. Currently its 94-90.

6:30 to go - Gerald Wallace is just not giving us anything today. He misses two straight shots and New Jersey ties it up before we get a 3 point play from Ray Allen. We lead 97-94.

4:05 to go - 101-99, New Jersey has taken the lead. Padgett only has two this quarter,we need to get back to him it would seem.

3:25 to go - Chandler draws a foul but only makes 1 of 2. Its 101-100. Wallace sits, exhausted and ineffective. Felton and Augustin and Allen are all very tired and losing effectiveness too. I've got Augustin set to sit for Vujacic for a bit. allen is done.

2:15 to go - Padgett gives us the lead back, but O'Connor hits a 3 on their next trip and its 104-102 New Jersey.

1:30 to go - After each team comes up empty, we get a layin from Chandler and tie it up, 104-104. Each team had a good number of timeouts left, we've taken 1 and New Jersey 2, enough to rest us up and get Felton/Augustin/Wallace/padgett/Chandler on the floor hopefully for the duration.

1:03 to go - Outlaw makes a very difficult shot in the paint over Padgett and Chandler both. 106-104 Nets. We call a timeout.

0:33 to go - Felton drives but cannot finish, Harris drives on their end and cannot finish. We settle in and get the ball to Padgett, and he comes through again for us, tying it up 106-106.

0:22 to go - Felton reaches in on Harris, and he drains 2 at the line, 108-106 Nets.


On our end, we get Augustin a good look, any other player would have been able to drive all the way to the rim but Augustin is so undersized, he pulls up from spots where most players start a drive animation. The defense gets to him and he ends up taking a very tough shot in the lane and its no good.

We foul, they only make 1 of 2 and we have 8 seconds to set up for a 3. I get a good look from Augustin, not totally contested, in a spot that he likes pretty well, but its off the front rim and we cannot seem to get the upper hand in this series.


New Jersey 109
Charlotte 106


Padgett: 33 points/3 boards/3 blocks
Allen: 20 points
Diaw: 10 points
Augustin: 9 points/5 assists
Felton: 9 points/7 assists
Sparks: 9 points/7 boards
Chandler: 7 points/9 boards
Wallace: 5 points/4 boards
Henderson: 4 points

O'Connor leads the Nets with 21. Outlaw and Howard both have 18. Harris has 14 points/13 assists, still a solid outing despite missing most of the first quarter. He did log 41 minutes by the time it was all done.


i'm not happy with my play in the 4th quarter. Padgett was tired and sat the first 4 or 5 minutes, and I tried to get Wallace going and he just wasn't going to score for us today. Once Padgett came back in and I was struggling on offense there were a few possessions where I thought Felton had a step on his man and could make something happen and we came up empty, and the second to last offensive trip where Augustin had a lane but couldn't get to the rim before help came and it turned into a bad shot. Just too many possessions where our offense was struggling and I took other options instead of getting Padgett a look. He was 2-5 in the 4th quarter, so he did miss a few himself in only getting those 4 points.


Padgett's rebounding is down because Outlaw plays for a lot of mid-range and long range jumpers. Chandler/Sparks more than make up for it, and Wallace is a strong rebounder if he ends up near the rim as well.

We trail 3-2 and now have to go back up to New Jersey for game 6.

[Radii]

A couple notes on this series being tough after seeing me destroy LA and Cleveland and the like during the regular season:


1) I did drop the shooting sliders late in the season. I wanted to do it earlier but there are a lot of runs and multi-game streaks in this game so I was a little hesitant. But our shooting %'s in games I played were just far, far too high and they needed to come down. So that helps to generate more reasonable shooting for me.

2) The patch came out in the middle of this season. In my game against the Lakers pre-patch Kobe would drive and pass repeatedly. Playing that game now would be a lot different.

3) Allen and Diaw have been getting more and more unahppy as the season progressed. I am not sure how that impacts team play but if it does at all then we would be progressively sliding back, just slowly i'm sure, but yeah.



I think what we're seeing in the playoffs is a more reasonable picture of where this team really is than the regular season performance. And that place is pretty damn good, considering that we just got rid of a few crappy contracts last year and are getting rid of more this year, and STILL probably won't have Diop's awful deal gone until next season. So getting into the playoffs at all for the last two years is solid.

I still think we can beat the Nets, don't take this as me writing off the season or anything, its just more of an explanation of why I don't think its totally unreasonable that we're struggling against a .500 team.

[Radii]

First Round Day 10

(4) Memphis 100, (5) Golden State 98 - GS leads 3-2
MEM: TJ Ford 21 points/8 assists, Mayo 18 points
GSW: Randolph 23 points/15 boards, Ellis 22

(7) LA Lakers 94, (2) Portland 89 - LAL WINS 4-1
LAL: Kobe 33 points, Bynum 22 points
POR: Roy 24 points


Memphis tries to fight back, the Lakers upset the defending champs in a big way. LA will take on the 3 seed, Oklahoma City, in the next round. Kobe and Gasol vs Westbrook and Durant should be an awesome series.


First Round Day 11

(6) Indiana 118, (3) Washington 109 - Series TIED 3-3
IND: Granger 26, Randolph 19
WAS: Arenas 30



So we've got one game 7 set up as Granger and the Pacers are fighting hard against the Wizards, while Charlotte and Memphis will try to force game 7's of their own next.

[Radii]

First Round Day 12

Charlotte at New Jersey

New Jersey leads 3-2

CHA:NJN
83:79 OVR
77:79 OFF
81:80 DEF

Time to try to stay alive and bring it back to Charlotte for game 7.

First Quarter

Charlotte 24
New Jersey 20

After seeing Wallace struggle last game i go out of my way to get him off to a good start, and he does better than I could have hoped for, scoring 11 in 9 minutes. Padgett has 5, no one else has more than 2. Padgett is 2-5 and is a little cold. Outlaw leads the Nets with 6 points/5 boards harris has 4, no one else there mor than 2.


Second Quarter

New Jersey 43
Charlotte 38

Man, scoring was damn hard that quarter. We were trailing 27-26 with 6 minutes left in the half. Wallace went 0-4 this quarter and still has 11. Augustin has 7, Padgett 7, Allen 5, Diaw 4 at the half. New Jersey is going inside well, Dalembert, Outlaw and Harris all have 8.

After the super high shooting percentages last game, New Jersey is shooting 43% and we are shooting a horrific 32%. We're 1 for 9 from 3.


Third Quarter

New Jersey 67
Charlotte 61

New Jersey scores the last 5 of the quarter, erasing some work we'd done to get the deficit down to 1. The offense really struggled, Augustin is 0-5 from 3, allen 1-5, mostly solid shots.

Wallace 16, Padgett 15 points/8 boards, Allen 7, Augustin 7, Diaw 6. As always, New Jersey has balanced scoring, 15 from Howard, 14 from Harris, 10 from Outlaw and dalembert.

One more quarter left to try to extend our season. We're really working our asses off for every point here, nothing comes easy. we need our defense to be strong unless we find an unexpected explosion on the offensive end.


Fourth Quarter

9:15 to go - Hanging in there, its 73-69 Nets, the just used a timeout.

7:20 to go - augustin misses an open 3, Padgett misses a hook shot, Chandler misses two free throws, Allen misses an open 3... its 79-69, we trail by 10, we could have scored on every single one of those trips but come up completely empty.

5:10 to go - We trail 81-72 and this is looking grim. i sit Padgett who is exhausted.

1:15 to go - uh hi. So New Jersey went up 86-72 and I wasn't planning on writing any more but "well New Jersey owned us down the stretch". We get it down to 8, they push it back to 12. However, after they got it to 12 the last time, we get a dunk from Chandler, a 3 point play from Padgett, and a 3 point play from Gerald Henderson on 3 straight trips! All of a sudden we trail 90-86 instead of 90-78 like we did about 40 seconds ago.

1:05 to go - Harris draws the D and gets an easy dish to Terrence Williams. 92-86.

0:58 to go - Hah! Felton draws the D and gets an easy dish to Dell Sparks. 92-88.

0:35 to go - Harris takes a tough shot from 18 feet and misses. Sparks boards(Chandler is tired) and we run our offense, Wallace ends up driving to the rim and draws a foul, almost getting another 3 point play, but the shot rims out. He hits both at the line, and its 92-90 Nets.


We force Dalembert into a tough shot after they burn some clock, and we rebound. I try to push it instead of taking a timeout, Padgett gets the ball going hard to the rim, but he's well contested and his shot is no good. New Jersey rebounds, I foul, and there's only 4 seconds left on the clock. New Jersey makes both free throws to seal the series.


New Jersey 94
Charlotte 90

Padgett: 25 points/9 boards (10-23 shooting)
Wallace: 20 points/8 boards
Sparks: 10 points/11 boards !!!
Allen; 9 points (1-7 from 3)
Augustin: 7 points (0-6 from 3)
Felton: 6 points/7 assists (3-9 FG)
Diaw: 6 points
Chandler: 4 points/11 boards
Henderson: 3 points


you can look at the FG numbers I posted there and get a feel for how hard it was for me to get points this game. We shot 1/15 from 3, just 40% from the floor and just could not get anything at all going. Its amazing that we were able to keep the game close. We did so at the line where we made 7 more free throws than the Nets.


So with that, our season ends with a whimper. Ray Allen and Boris Diaw have played their last games in a Bobcats uniform, and while I really wanted to make it to the next round, this team was never one that I expected to be a serious contender. We're still improving, Padgett should continue to grow, and I'm both nervous and excited about free agency this year. Its our chance to make a step forward, but if we fail, we may be the same or even worse next season.

[Radii]

First Round Day 12

(5) Golden State 98, (4) Memphis 80 - GS WINS 4-2
GS: Ellis 28 points/8 assists
MEM: Mayo 20 points


First Round Day 13

(3) Washington 94, (6) Indiana 89 - WAS WINS 4-3
WAS: M. Gasol 17 points, Arenas 17 points
IND: Granger 31 points, Randolph 21 points/15 boards



We're set for teh second round now.

[Radii]

Second Round Game 1

(4) New Jersey 100, (1) Cleveland 97 - NJ leads 1-0
NJ: Harris 32 points
CLE: Lebron 24 points


(5) Golden State 108, (1) Sacramento 101 - GS leads 1-0
GS: Randolph 26, Ellis 24
SAC: Martin 21, Gay 16, Evans 16


(3) Oklahoma City 125, (7) LA Lakers 70 - OKC leads 1-0
OKC: Durant 38, Westbrook 21 points/10 boards/11 assists
LAL: Bynum 20 points/14 boards, Kobe 19 points


(3) Washington 100, (2) Atlanta 96 - WAS leads 1-0
WAS: Young 25 points, Arenas 14 points
ATL: Johnson 34 points, Smith 25 points


check out the Westbrook triple double!

[Radii]

Second Round Game 2

(4) New Jersey 84, (1) Cleveland 82 - NJ leads 2-0
NJ: Harris 28 points/10 assists
CLE: Lebron 24 points


(1) Sacramento 126, (5) Golden State 82, - Series TIED 1-1
SAC: Gay 39, Martin 27
GS: Ellis 22, Curry 14

(3) Oklahoma City 112, (7) LA Lakers 101 - OKC leads 2-0
OKC: durant 32, harden 28
LAL: Bynum 26 points/12 boards, Kobe 25 points, Gasol 20 points/11 boards


(3) Washington 99, (2) Atlanta 83 - WAS leads 2-0
WAS: Arenas 30 points/8 boards/4 assists/4 steals
ATL: Johnson 30 points


I'm shocked by both eastern conference series. I know Washington rates pretty well but I just love Atlanta's roster so much.

[Radii]

Second Round Game 3

(4) New Jersey 119, (1) Cleveland 87 - NJ leads 3-0
NJ: Outlaw 24, Harris 23, Howard 23, Williams 21
CLE: Lebron 23 points, Williams 17 points


(5) Golden State 130, (1) Sacramento 97 - GS leads 2-1
GS: Ellis 40 points
SAC: Martin 40 points


(3) Oklahoma City 85, (7) LA Lakers 82 - OKC leads 3-0
OKC: Westbrook 22 points/8 boards/9 assists, Harden 19, Durant 18
LAL: Kobe 19, Bynum 18, Gasol 18


(2) Atlanta 109, (3) Washington 90 - WAS leads 2-1
ATL: Horford 29 points/22 boards, Smith 23 points
WAS: Nick Young 27, Arenas 17 points/9 assists

[Radii]

Second Round Game 4

(4) New Jersey 102, (1) Cleveland 96 - OT - NJ WINS 4-0
NJ: Harris 25, Outlaw 17
CLE: Williams 18, Lebron 15 points/9 boards/11 assists


(1) Sacramento 101, (5) Golden State 97 - series TIED 2-2
SAC: Martin 29 points, Evans 24 points/9 assists, Gay 20 points
GS: Curry 18, Ellis 17, RAndolph 16


(3) Oklahoma City 114, (7) LA Lakers 109 - OKC leads 4-0
OKC: Durant 36 points/8 boards, Westbrook 26 points/11 assists
LAL: Kobe 36 points, Gasol 26 points/11 boards


(2) Atlanta 90, (3) Washington 85 - series TIED 2-2
ATL: Johnson 19 points/9 assists, Horford 18 points/11 boards
WAS: arenas 21 points/9 boards


Two sweeps, and holy shit the Cavs are swept out of the playoffs. What the hell happened to New Jersey!

[Radii]

Second Round Game 5

(1) Sacramento 108, (5) Golden State 105 - SAC leads 3-2
SAC: Martin 26 points, Gay 22, Oakley 19 points/13 boards
GS: Jackson 16 points, Ellis 14, Randolph 13


(3) Washington 107, (2) Atlanta 84 - WAS leads 3-2
WAS: Arenas 32 points/7 assists, Young 21 points
ATL: Johnson 18 points, Smith 16 points




Second Round Game 6

(5) Golden State 110, (1) Sacramento 93 - series TIED 3-3
GS: Ellis 25 points, jackson 16, Magette 16
SAC: Evans 18 points/8 boards/7 assists, Martin 17 points


(3) Washington 104, (2) Atlanta 93 - WAS WINS 4-2
WAS: Arenas 29 points/9 boards/8 assists
ATL: Johnson 34 points/9 boards/7 assists




Second Round Game 7

(5) Golden State 116, (1) Sacramento 94 - GS WINS 4-3
GS: Ellis 29 points/7 assists, Curry 24 points
SAC: Martin 21 points, Lowry 17 points



No 1 seeds or 2 seeds left!

[bbgunn]

Come on, Hawks! Oh, and sorry about the first round loss.

[Radii]

Western Conference Finals

Game 1: (3) Oklahoma City 118, (5) Golden State 104 - OKC leads 1-0
OkC: Harden 29 points, Durant 28 points
GS: Ellis 26 points/7 assists, Curry 20 points


Game 2: (3) Oklahoma City 120, (5) Golden State 89 - OKC leads 2-0
OkC: Durant 44 points/9 boards
GS: Ellis 24 points, Randolph 16 points

Game 3: (3) Oklahoma City 103, (5) Golden State 94 - OKC leads 3-0
OkC: Durant 20 points/8 boards
GS: Curry 28 points, Ellis 21 points


Game 4: (3) Oklahoma City 109, (5) Golden State 86 - OKC WINS 4-0
OkC: Durant 29 points/12 boards, Odom 22 points, Westbrook 22 points
GS: Jackson 16, Randolph 14

Eastern Conference Finals


Game 1: (4) New Jersey 106, (3) Washington 91 - NJ leads 1-0
NJ: Outlaw 24 points, Howard 24 points
WAS: Arenas 20 points/7 boards/12 assists


Game 2: (4) New Jersey 104, (3) Washington 89 - NJ leads 2-0
NJ: Harris 36 points/7 assists
WAS: Butler 27 points, Young 22 points


Game 3: (4) New Jersey 99, (3) Washington 87- NJ leads 3-0
NJ: Howard 30 points, Harris 24 points/9 assists
WAS: Young 20 points


Game 4: (4) New Jersey 113, (3) Washington 78- NJ WINS 4-0
NJ: Harris 27 points
WAS: No one over 14....


Man, sweeps are good to write up because it goes fast, but damn New Jersey! Also, its worth pointing out that Oklahoma City has yet to lose a single playoff game.

[Radii]

Come on, Hawks! Oh, and sorry about the first round loss.


I love the Hawks team. If I could take over any team in the league right now and say "this is the team I want to build" it would be a tough contest between the Bulls and the Hawks. Sadly though it wasn't Atlanta's year.

[Radii]

NBA Finals

Game 1: Oklahoma City 103, New Jersey 93 - OKC leads 1-0
OKC: Durant 37 points/8 boards/7 assists
NJ: Howard 19 points, Harris 16 point


Game 2: Oklahoma City 92, New Jersey 76 - OKC leads 2-0
OKC: Durant 23 points, Westbrook 17 points, Noah 14 points
NJ: Williams 25 points/8 boards, Harris 16 points/9 boards/8 assists


Game 3: Oklahoma City 85, New Jersey 80 - OKC leads 3-0
OKC: Durant 21, Westbrook 16 points/9 assists
NJ: Harris 20 points


Game 4: New Jersey 99, Oklahoma City 98 - OKC leads 3-1
NJ: Harris 30 points, Outlaw 24 points
OKC: Harden 28 points, Durant 21 points


New Jersey won the 4th quarter 25-12 to pull off a comeback 1 point win and to prevent Oklahoma City from going 16-0 in the playoffs.


Game 5: Oklahoma City 102, New Jersey 86 - OKC WINS 4-1
OKC: Durant 33 points, Westbrook 25 points/12 boards
NJ: Howard 22 points, Harris 18 points


Oklahoma City wins the NBA Championship



since I don't focus a lot on the western conference, I'll give a quick overview of the Thunder so we can see where they're at:


PG: Westbrook - 86 OVR - 18.5 ppg/7.7 apg - 23 y/o
SG: Harden - 82 OVR - 12.9 ppg - 22 y/o
SF: Durant - 90 OVR - 23.5 ppg/7.0 rpg - 23 y/o
PF: Odom - 77 OVR - 8.2 ppg/7.3 rpg - 32 y/o
C: Noah - 72 OVR - 8.7 ppg/9.1 rpg - 27 y/o

backup PG Bradley Fleming was pick 1.7 in 2010, rated 77 OVR, 6 points/3.5assists off the bench.


That is a hell of a lineup, an amazing core of Westbrook/Harden/Durant, they added Noah and Odom in free agency and had a top 10 pick that is working out great for them, just a stellar franchise right now.

[Radii]

I go ahead and rush into this offseason that i've been looking forward to.

Kevin Durant is the finals MVP, no surprise there. 30 points, 8 boards per game over 17 playoff games with only one loss.



Notable Retirees

Matt Harpring(Milwaukee)
Rasheed Wallace(boston)
Marcus Camby (Indiana)
Steve Nash (Phoenix)
Andre Miller(portland)


all of them are 36-38 years old.


Staff Hiring

I had only signed a couple of these guys to 1 year deals, if you remember I picked up a coach who was only good at coaching the offense and was not happy about it. This year there are some vastly improved options available.

New Head Coach

I was a big lakers fan when I was a kid(I grew up in the 80s), loved Magic, Kareem and Worthy, and really everone on those teams. So its kinda neat to be able to announce my new head coach:

Byron Scott
Offense: B
Deffense: B
Teacher: A
Potential: B

Rick Carlisle was also available but I like Scott's cost/ratings better. Scott is signed to a 6 year deal at $4.8 million per year.


The assistant coach poll is similarly improved.

Assistant Stephon White is signed to a 6 year deal at $1.73 million/year.
Offense: B
Defense: A
Teacher: A
Potential: B



I upgrade my trainer too, from a B level trainer making $700k/yr to an A level trainer making $1 Million/year. By doing so I basically commit myself to the same average level scouting that I have now... i have one great prospect scout and two poor ones. That'll stay that way it appears. But, I'm thrilled at the coaching improvements i've made. I don't know how big a deal the coaches are in this game but if they have any effect at all I just made some very very nice overall upgrades.

[Radii]

Options

Desagana Diop accepts his $7.37 million player option and I've got one last albatross that hangs for just one more year.

Samuel Padgett has a team option for $4.6 million, I obviously pick it up.

Gerald Henderson has a $3.1 million team option, this is actually slightly maginal if I really wanted to go all out after a big name, but I like Henderson and he gives me some explosiveness off the bench. I keep him around.

Gus Meredith was my 2nd round pick last year. He is rated under 60 and I am not willing to spend even 500k to keep him on the roster.


Options around the league

Chris Paul accepts a $17.78M option
Deron williams accepts a $17.78M option

Dwight Howard DECLINES a $19.54M option

LA Lakers DECLINE a team option on 84 OVR C Andrew Bynum for $16.1M.

81 OVR PG Jameer Nelson DECLINES a $8.1M player option

[Radii]

Player Re-Signing

I have four players I can attempt to re-sign:

Ray Allen - 68 OVR (that's with a -7 or something for being unhappy with his minutes)

DJ Augustin - 75 OVR

Boris Diaw - 65 OVR (also with a -7)

Gus Meredith - 55 OVR


Allen/diaw/Meredith are no brainers, they're done.


Augustin is a pretty agonizing decision. i see him getting burned on defense one on one a lot, but I shoot well with him, he can get insanely hot and he's young and still improving. He wants a 4 year/$40 million deal. That's notably more than I was able to re-sign Felton for and Felton is a more well rounded, more highly rated player. I simply cannot justify that expense.

With some sadness, and some nervousness, i let DJ Augustin go to free agency.

[Radii]

Draft Lottery

Here's the order of finish and % chance atthe number one pick in the draft:


1. LA Clippers - 25%
2. Dallas - 19.9%
3. Milwaukee - 15.6%
4. NY Knicks - 11.9%
5. Detroit - 8.8%
6. San Antonio - 6.3%
7. Minnesota - 4.3%
8. Miami - 2.8%
9. Orlando - 1.7%
10. Phoenix - 1.1%
11. Houston - 0.8%
12. Philly - 0.7%
13. New Orleans - 0.6%
14. Milwaukee - 0.5% (trade from someone obviously)


Actual Draft Order

14. Milwuakee
13. New Orleans
12. Philadelphia
11. Houston
10. Phoenix
9. Orlando
8. Miami
7. Minnesota
6. San Antonio
5. NY Knicks (-1 from projected)
4. Milwaukee(-1 from projected)
3. LA Clippers (-2 from projected)
2. Detroit (+3 from projected)
1. Dallas (+1 from projected)



SinceI expected to be a playoff team I have not scouted any of the top picks and have no idea what the top of the draft looks like this year, we'll find out together!

[Radii]

since I've skipped over the workouts the last two years, and really don't have any desire to spend a huge amount of time there, I tell my assistants to take care of that. I assume that allows my scouts to update their impressions of the players I might draft without my effort.

I have the 24th pick in both rounds of the draft.

NBA Draft

There are a couple MAJOR surprises and steals in the draft so far this year, a lot different than the last two seasons where everyone pretty much got a player rated about right for their pick. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, I'm a bit worried as the last 4 or 5 picks before me all ended up players rated in the high 50s/low 60s, players who are unlikely to amount to squat.


I have four players that are recommended to me that I've scouted, and a few that I never did scout. The players that I scouted all look... not interesting. A SG who fell to a 2nd round pick in my scout's eyes after they saw him, and a couple PG's who didn't seem exciting at all.


I'm dead set on a guard at this point and end up taking a SG who is 6'5" and hopefully has a decent shot. But I'm underwhelmed by all my options and this is a risky pick b/c the ones that are more well scouted just are very unappealing.


1.24 SG Willis Lindsey - Boston College - 60 OVR

I didn't miss out on much, not if I was set on a guard at least, the other guards I was looking at ended up in the 59-62 range.


I follow my scouts advice in round 2:

2.24 - SG Wendell Anderson - Providence - 58 OVR


Draft Results

1. DAL - PG Arif Demunyck - 80 OVR
2. DET - SG Leonard Pollard - 72 OVR
3. LAC - SG Homoer Stone - 72 OVR
4. MIL - SF Donnell York - 69 OVR
5. NYN - PG Sylvester Reed - 73 OVR
6. SAN - SG Max Soto - 79 OVR
from 7-11 we get SGs and SFs in the 69-71 range, and then...
12. PHI - PG Tyson Cassell - 83 OVR

Congrats Philadelphia, you win the draft!!!!


Around pick 19 the talent level dropped all of a sudden from the 68 range to the low 60s and even high 50s. Freaking Oklahoma City gets a late steal by that comparison, getting a PF rated 70 OVR with the 26th pick.

No one in the second round is rated higher than 62 OVR.


This draft seems to compare more to the 2010 draft in talent, with three very talented players and a decent number who start out in the 70s and can develop into nice additions. Its just stunning to see one of the studs in the draft fall to pick #12.

Also, Milwaukee royally botched another top 5 pick, LOLOL??

[Radii]

Free Agency

After signing my draft picks I have $16.91 million in cap room available this year.

It seems that many of the players who talked about testing free agency have indeed done so. Here's the top FA's:

C Dwight Howard - 93 OVR - 26 y/o

PG Derrick Rose - 90 OVR - 23 y/o

SG OJ Mayo - 89 OVR - 24 y/o

C Tim Duncan - 85 OVR - 36 y/o

C Brook Lopez - 85 OVR - 24 y/o

SF Michael Beasley - 82 OVR - 23 y/o

PF Anthony Randolph - 83 OVR - 23 y/o

SG Eric Gordon - 81 OVR - 23 y/o

C Nene - 80 OVR - 29 y/o



Day 1

I look through the list and just decide to go all out... I offer OJ Mayo a 5 year/$85 million deal that maxxes his interest, starting at $14 million and ending at $19.8 million.

That potential offer takes up enough of my FA budget that I am really risking it all on Mayo.


Day 5

After about 5 days of free agency I look at the offers out for Mayo, the Clippers have offered a similar deal but given a player option at the end. The Grizzlies have tried to keep him w/ a 1 year deal and he seems to like Memphis b/c he likes their pedestrian offer.

Since I'm banking so much on Mayo, i modify my offer to a 4 year+player option deal as well.


Day 9

By day 9(out of 23) I check the transaction page and no one of top significance has signed yet. Ray Allen is going to play another year in Toronto for under $2 million.


Day 15

By day 15 a few bigger name players have signed:

DJ Augustin to Phoenix 4 years/$33 million
PG Ramon Sessions - Portland - 4 years/$36.5 million


Mayo now has a large number of offers that he really likes. I decide that I can't just hope he picks us all the way to the end. I also take a look at the young and improving Eric Gordon, a SG rated 81 OVR. I offer him a 5 year/$60 million deal that starts at $10 million even. He is looking elsewhere too and there's no guarentee that I'll land either, but if I were to get Gordon then I'd have to be happy with that of course, and I've have a little room elsewhere.


Day 21

I debate hedging even more and offering some guys like Kirk Hinrich just to make sure I have the position solidly filled. In the end I don't, and its on day 21 that I get the news:

OJ MAYO HAS SIGNGED WITH THE CHARLOTTE BOBCATS


Charlotte just got really, really, really good.


We now have $2.77 million under the cap only, leaving me with room for a backup signing and I can use my MLE if I want. Obviously I don't care about going over the cap if I see someone I like, so i poke around.

There are a few high level (80+) targets available but I know I can't land any of them now. After the top 6 guys rated 80+ we fall down to guys rated 71 OVR and below.

I could use someone to help me keep Stephen Graham off the court and i find the ideal target in SG/PG Toney Douglas.

I end up offering my mid-level exception to the 71 rated PF, but i doubt he's going to accept. That guy happens to be beloved Tar Heel Tyler Hansbrough, but he has a lot of offers, a few of them that would have him starting, and i can't give him that, so I assume he ends up elsewhere.


Day 23

Eric Gordon signs with Cleveland(now there's an addition that Lebron can work with).

Tyler Hansbrough signs with Boston.

Toney Douglas was a restricted FA and the knicks Matched my offer, he goes back to New York.


And that officially ends the offseason free agent period. We only made one signing, but damn if it wasn't a big one. I do want to sign a backup point guard so I'll be looking to do that during the season assuming I'm still able to use my MLE then(or grab a guy for under $2 million)

[Radii]

Free Agent Signings

Here's all the 80+ rated guys I had listed earlier:

C Dwight Howard - 93 OVR - 26 y/o - Minnesota - 4 yr/$77.31M

PG Derrick Rose - 90 OVR - 23 y/o - Chicago - 4 yr/$65.03M

SG OJ Mayo - 89 OVR - 24 y/o - Charlotte - 4 yr/$65.03M

C Tim Duncan - 85 OVR - 36 y/o - Detroit - 2 yr/41.04 M

C Brook Lopez - 85 OVR - 24 y/o - Utah - 5 yr/$81.28M

SF Michael Beasley - 82 OVR - 23 y/o - LA Clippers - 5 yr/$61.82M

PF Anthony Randolph - 83 OVR - 23 y/o - Utah - 4 yr/$50.92M

SG Eric Gordon - 81 OVR - 23 y/o - Cleveland - 4 year/$42.84M

C Nene - 80 OVR - 29 y/o - Phildelphia - 5 yr/$61.27M



Golden State signs Kirk Hinrich to a 4 year/$28 million deal. Rudy Fernandez joins Howard in Minnesota with a 5 year/$38 million deal.


I have to say that I'm very disappointed to see Derrick Rose back to Chicago. He was dreadfully unhappy there. I go look at the Bulls roster and see that they now have Rose and Jordan Price both listed as Starters. Why that couldn't have happened without him leaving the team and coming back I don't know. Assuming that sticks, the starting lineup of Rose, Price, Deng, Boozer and Oden probably becomes the best in the league. Rose/Price/Boozer is like Allen/Pierce/Garnett in Boston except two of them are only 23.


Utah immediately becomes a force out west, signing two very high level big men to go along with Deron Williams.


Minnesota.... SIGHS... Al Jefferson is rated 90 OVR, Kevin Love 80 OVR, and they go and sign Dwight Howard. WHY!?!? I think they just created the same situation that Chicago had with Price and Rose, except there's really no place to put all 3 bigs.


Still, we have now for the first time seen a couple of elite level talents change teams in OJ Mayo and Dwight Howard.

[Radii]

As we enter the preseason I look at the remaining free agents. I'm able to fill both holes with one year deals for role players who will see some time on the court:


PG Mike Bibby - 67 OVR - 34 y/o - Bibby scored 5 a game for Atlanta last year and has obviously started to fade. He can still handle the ball and still has a B+ outside shot and seems like a great fit for us.

PF Jordan Hill - 65 OVR - 25 y/o - Drafted 1.8 in 2009, Hill just didn't work out for the Knicks, averaging 3.5 points/game off the bench. I don't know how much I'll use him, similar to my Felton/Allen/Augustin combo at PG/SG last year, I may decide to run some sets with Sparks/Chandler and try to get most of my minutes in the post from Padgett/Chandler/Sparks, but he's there if I need him.

[Radii]

2012/13 Charlotte Bobcats Roster

Starters

PG Raymond Felton - 28 y/o - 6'1 198 lbs - 79 OVR (same as last year)

16.5 ppg/5.7 apg last year. Only played in 47 games last year due to an ACL injury. He's a solid mid-range shooter(91) and I actually think I learned pretty well how to play with him and get him a few buckets in games I play out. But mainly I like Felton because he's a very solid PG. His handling with both hands, passing and ball security are all rated in the mid-high 80s, he's a guy that will take care of the ball and get it where it needs to be more often than not.

SG OJ Mayo - 24 y/o - 6'4" 210 lbs - 89 OVR (first year on team)

Our new prized posession here in Charlotte. Mayo averaged 21.7 points and 5 boards a game last year for Memphis. He's pretty good inside(low 80s), has a stellar mid-range shot(94) and is a very very good 3 point shooter(90). Much like Augustin in past years, he's a solid ball handler but not a great passer. He can play the point as well but i don't intend for him to do so all that often now that we have Mike Bibby. He has the best stamina on the team and I'll try to get a ton of minutes from him. great leaper, great shooting off teh dribble, good defensive awareness, great offensive awareness, and a good enough on ball defender. I can't say enough about how good this guy is.

SF Gerald Wallace - 30 y/o - 6'7" 220 lbs - 81 OVR (Same as last year)

Wallace has now crossed over the barrier into his 30s. His numbers were up last year, 18.4 ppg after scoring 16 and 15 in the two previous years. We scored more as a team too I believe. Wallace isn't really a good shooter, he's just a great athlete who can get to the rim and get the ball in the hoop when he gets there.

PF Samuel Padgett - 22 y/o - 6'10" 261 lbs - 84 OVR(+1 from last year)

Averaged 8.2 points/8.1 rebounds last year. He was a monster in the playoffs and is a very good post player. Unfortunately his shot tendency only went up to 38 (from 33), average for a starting PF is 68. I hope it'll continue to go up but he just doesn't seem to be a guy who looks for his shot in simmed games. He's an outstanding post player on both ends(86 post off/88 post def), the best shot blocker on the team and a very solid rebounder. I really wish he could turn into an offensive monster in simmed games but I love the guy nonetheless.

C Tyson Chandler - 30 y/o - 7'1" 235 lbs - 74 OVR (no change)

A solid 8.7 ppg/8.4 rpg last year. Chandler doesn't have the close range skills that Padgett does but he's a great post defender just like Padgett and is the best rebounder on the team, a 97 rated offensive rebounder, 85 on the defensive end. I like having him in the post for sure.


6th Man

C Dell Sparks - 23 y/o - 7'3" 295 lbs - 73 OVR (+4 from last year)

Sparks developed better than I could have imagined last year. He's rated almost as high as Chandler and could be my starting center next season. He's just not a scoring threat, rated poorly inside and from close range compared to most bigs. He's not quite the post defender that Chandler is either, but he's average (73). He's a very good rebounder (90 off/81 def), and the dude is 7'3". He's just BIG. He grabs everything that comes off the rim because he's so close to it. He put up some solid games off the bench last year and I expect more of the same this season. He had 3 points and 6.6 boards a game last year in about 25 minutes/game. I expect something similar, maybe a little more scoring as he develops.

Role Players

PG Mike Bibby - 34 y/o - 6'2" 195 lbs - 67 OVR

we just picked Bibby up. He is in the twilight of his career, once averaging 21 points/game for sacramento in 2005, he'll get a couple buckets and a few assists for us hopefully. He's a decent 3 point shooter(78), a solid ball handler who takes care of the ball. His passing isn't the best but it will do(just 69 compared to 87 for Felton).


SG Sasha Vujacic - 27 y/o - 6'7" 205 lbs - 66 OVR (unchanged)

Vujacic picked up 2 points a game last year in limited minutes. He got 8.5 minutes/game last year and wants more. I don't plan on giving it to him.

PF Jordan Hill - 25 y/o - 6'10" 235 lbs - 65 OVR

Hill is a recent FA signing, like Bibby. He isn't a scorer at all, is average at best in the post and on the boards. He can fill in a few minutes here and there as needed for the 3 main bigs that i will run out there, and for a 1 year deal at less than $2 million that'll do.


Prospects

SF Gerald Henderson - 24 y/o - 6'4" 215 lbs - 71 OVR (No Change)

Henderson isn't improving and seems likely to settle and bust out at this level. I hoped for more here, hoping he'd be up to a guy rated in the mid 70s and a real threat off the bench. He has some athleticism and gets me some points here and there but he's been a disappointment. He did average 6.5 points/game last season in 15 minutes of action, and as long as he's content to play less than 20 minutes a game I'll be happy to have him backing up Wallace.

SG Willis Lindsey - 22 y/o - 6'5" 195 lbs - 60 OVR

Lindsey is horrible. He can't shoot from anywhere on the floor, can't defend, can't handle the ball. I don't see any reason that I'd spend any time with him. This was the 1.24 pick in this year's draft, btw.

[Radii]

I did not notice until I was looking at my posts on last year's offseason that Dallas got the #1 overall pick 2 years in a row. Dallas continues to be one of the most successful drafting teams overall, they have 3 guys in their starting lineup that they drafted in the last two years... last year's 1.1 is PF Mo Law rated 83 OVR, lst year's 1.16 Gabe Wesley rated 81 OVR, and this year's 1.1 Arif Demunyck rated 80 OVR. Its a shame that they have Dirk Nowitzki (rated 82 OVR and 34 years old) and NOTHING in addition to those picks.

[CleBrownsfan]

I say it again Radii - this is my favorite dynasty I've ever read. Keep it up!

Sorry about your early exit but it just looks like you hit a pretty hot Nets team.
Awesome pickup in Mayo - you should have a real solid team and a fun team to play out. I'm curious to see how you do in the regular season with the new patch. Have you updated any sliders yet with the updated patch. I played a game last night as the Cavs and I shot a ridiculous 60% from the field with default A-Star sliders.

[Radii]

I say it again Radii - this is my favorite dynasty I've ever read. Keep it up!

Appreciate it! This next season should be a fun one for sure.

Have you updated any sliders yet with the updated patch. I played a game last night as the Cavs and I shot a ridiculous 60% from the field with default A-Star sliders.

I'm playing on Pro instead of All Star, I started out with Pared's sliders over on the OS forums(Pared's NBA 2k10 Tweaks (Post-Patch Updates in first post) - Operation Sports Forums (http://www.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-sliders/363962-pareds-nba-2k10-tweaks-post-patch-updates-first-post.html))

My most recent slider changes:

Inside Shot Success: 46 (was 47)
Close Shot Success: 46 (was 47)
Mid-Range Success: 50 (was 51)
3PT Success: 50 (was 52)


I started the dynasty with those four sliders at 45/45/48/48. After having too many games where 90% of my points or more came from the paint or the FT line I increased these sliders to 47/47/51/52 to try to give myself the ability to shoot outside more. That worked well and once I started making shots I started to get a much better feel or what worked and what didn't and my shooting percentages went through the roof.

After the patch I brought things back down a little bit to where they are now, 46/46/50/50. So far I'm happy with that, I can hit midrange and outside jumpers, but not every single open shot goes in anymore. I should point out that I didn't change these because of the patch, but because of my experiences in the games I'd played leading up to the patch.

[Groundhog]

Congrats on the Mayo signing! Looking foward to the season!

[law90026]

Let me just say that this dynasty inspired me to actually pick up the game!

[Ironhead]

If you have the time I would be really curious to see a breakdown of the power rankings for the year. With a number of big names changing teams I imagine there could be some interesting starting 5's.

[Radii]

If you have the time I would be really curious to see a breakdown of the power rankings for the year. With a number of big names changing teams I imagine there could be some interesting starting 5's.

yeah i'm definitely going to do that again, I liked doing it last year and it helps me keep up with the state of the league, good for immersion. I looked briefly at it last night and was kinda shocked to see that Charlotte is only 20th...

[rjolley]

Thanks for the dynasty, Radii. I'll start an association myself as soon as I can tear myself away from my latest CH2k8 career. Trying to build a small school into a powerhouse.