View Single Post
Old 01-16-2009, 09:31 PM   #492
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Miami Heat receive
C Victor Gipson

Charlotte Bobcats receive
PF Dermek Mociler

What this means for the Heat
Miami continues to collect ex-Nuggets from GM Jestor's tenure in picking up 7'2, 303 lb, 29 year old Gipson, who's primarily a rebounding and shotblocking specialist with an extremely accurate shot. Despite David Jackson's paranoia as the two are now teammates on their third team (New Orleans being the other one), 50 Ninja retains his starting job at C while Gipson slides into starting SF for the size mismatch opportunity.

What this means for the Bobcats
Mociler, 23, is in his second season and has some upside a bench scoring threat, but he isn't likely to realize it in Charlotte, where he's tethered to the 12th man role. He also has nothing else of value to him. On the other hand, the Bobcats just shed $4 million in salary by shipping Gipson to Miami.

Winner: Miami
Is Gipson worth spending $4 million in free cap space? We'll go ahead and give this one a yes as the Heat continue their march back to respectability. While it probably won't be enough on its own to get Miami back to the playoffs, it's a sign to fans that the organization is getting serious about improving the talent of the franchise.

New Jersey Nets receive
PF Sean Pryce

Boston Celtics receive
SF Ross Crispin

What this means for the Nets
Pryce is still a pretty good all-around big man at 35, save for the fact that he can't pass or handle the ball to save his life. That said, we think he deserves more than the 12th man role he's presently given.

What this means for the Celtics
The 32 year old Crispin is a great locker room guy and one who injects the C's with an instant burst of bench offense. On the other hand, he's a complete sieve on the defensive end and he's going to get shredded night in and night out.

Winner: Draw
Crispin's too uneven to make us give this one to Boston and Pryce isn't being utilized effectively enough by New Jersey to call it for the Nets, so it'll remain a draw.

Wow, another quiet month. Talk about famine following feast. Speaking of feast and famine, as I said before, we have 16 games without Greg Oden's services and we're presently 4-4 without him. I won't be too happy if we stay .500, but on the other hand, that's better than completely going to pot.

Things don't get off to an easy start either, with back-to-back road games against the Knicks and Raptors. New York manhandles us in the second half to win 105-100, despite 28 points and 10 assists from William Tackett, 20 points from David Anyan and 16 bench points from Ronald King. Then again, both Tackett and Mateen Yeaton fouling out points to a significant factor in our defeat. Fortunately, a balanced offense the next night allows us to win 117-111 in Toronto. Antonio Sarchet scores 20, Mateen Yeaton scores 21, Brandon Edmond double-doubles for 10 points and 11 rebounds and William Tackett picks up 12 points and 13 assists. It was our bench that really won this game for us, though, with Lawrence Smiley and Ronald King scoring 19 and 16 a piece and Jim Johnson pulling down 14 boards.

I'm scared when David Anyan has to leave the game early, but it turns out to only be a nasty ankle sprain, which I think he and we can fight through.

Our opponents get easier in another road doubleheader, but the results are frustratingly the same. We clip the Hawks 113-96 on Antonio Sarchet's 21 points, William Tackett's 13 points and 20 assists and Ronald King and Tzvetan Kishishev's respective 21 and 11 bench points, but then get blown out in New Orleans 109-87 as our shooting goes to hell. Antonio Sarchet plays great with 34 points and 10 rebounds and Ronald King continues his invaluable play off the bench with 16 points, but we still sucked the big one.

Mateen Yeaton comes alive and turns impassioned, looking 27 instead of 37 as he scores a blistering 33 points in our 113-107 revenge win against the Nuggets. Antonio Sarchet aids him with 28 points and William Tackett directs the offense flawlessly with 18 points and 18 assists. Sweet, sweet win on a lot of levels.

I'm sure you know what happens next. We have our worst game of the year and get crushed 116-84 by the Jazz to keep us at .500 without Greg Oden. We were so terrible only Ronald King's 15 bench points stood out.

Back on the winning trail as we stomp the Clippers 118-92. Mateen Yeaton scores 27, Antonio Sarchet adds 23 points, Brandon Edmond hauls in 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ronald King is just ridiculous off the bench for 27 points, including 6 of 7 from 3 point range. In point of fact, I'm so satisfied with how he's heated up for us, if we don't get another SG next offseason and Yeaton retires, I'd be okay with King as the starter for the Kings.

...Well, so much for .500. We drop both ends of a doubleheader, the Clippers outscoring us 36-18 in the fourth quarter to steal a 105-100 game. Forget everything nice I said about Ronald King, who goes 0 for 10. I'm so infuriated I can't enjoy the 22 points from Mateen Yeaton and Antonio Sarchet, David Anyan's 20 points or William Tackett's 14 points and 12 assists. As for the 124-89 loss to the Traiblazers? Sure David Anyan scores 24, but William Tackett's double-double of 10 points and 13 assists comes via hideous and frequent shooting, rendering Ronald King and Jim Johnson's 19 and 14 bench points useless.

I'm seriously tempted to make a trade, but we're still doing okay, both in the conference and in the division, so I stay my hand, except to make one small move.

Sacramento Kings receive
SG Justin Cherry

Denver Nuggets receive
PG Henry Dupree
Memphis Grizzlies 2026 2nd round pick
Memphis Grizzlies 2027 2nd round pick
Memphis Grizzlies 2028 2nd round pick

What this means for the Kings
The only thing that really surprises us is that this deal wasn't made immediately after Sacramento acquired the 2nd rounders with Brandon Edmond. Cherry has long been a favorite of GM Jestor's and while he didn't live up to expectations following his sensational rookie season, a large part of that has been a lack of playing time. He'll get that PT in Sacramento as the second guard off the bench behind Ronald King and if he shows some of his old rookie form, King could be gone.

What this means for the Nuggets
Dupree's an end of the bench scrub, a glorified D-Leaguer. This is really all about the second rounders.

Winner: Sacramento
Once again Jestor gets a player he wants without damaging the fabric of the newly rebuilt Kings. Although there is some slight concern that moving pass-first PG Alfred Baxley to a reduced role could have harmful effects, the potential payoff for a Sacramento team that's struggled to find points at times recently is too great to ignore, especially for the comparatively low cost.

It feels good to have Cherry back with us and it feels even better to win all four quarters in a 117-103 win over Cleveland to get back to .500 sans Oden. Mateen Yeaton and David Anyan each score 24, Antonio Sarchet nabs 18 points and 10 rebounds, William Tackett garners 19 points and 14 assists and Ronald King scores 20 off the bench.

But not even a home game against one of the league's weakest teams can prevent a fucking 1-point OT loss to the Spurs and a denial of +.500. So much for Mateen Yeaton's 27 points, Antonio Sarchet's 24 points and 13 rebounds, David Anyan's 20 points and Jim Johnson's 15 bench points. I make national headlines when I smash a glass into a suite table and cut my hand pretty badly, but since the media loves me, my outburst is couched in terms of being passionate about the Kings.

If broken glass inspires us as much as it seemed to against the Nets, I should do it more often. 101-88's the final in our favor, Antonio Sarchet leading the way with 25 points and 15 rebounds, Ronald King lighting up the bench with 19 points.

Back to one game under .500 we go with a 121-112 loss to the Spurs, who have found a real gem in #1 overall pick Damian Thomas, he of the 19.4 points per game as a rookie to date, the highest total we've seen since I joined the NBA. For our boys, David Anyan scores 27, William Tackett scores 22, Antonio Sarchet continues his consistent, unheralded play with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jim Johnson doubles for 10 and 10 in points and rebounds in his first start as Brandon Edmond pulled a hamstring last game. We bounce back to .500 with a 113-100 win in Houston, David Anyan masterful for 37 points. Great game by William Tackett, too, with 27 points and 13 assists, even as Ronald King throws up a lot of shots to get his 11 points. Dan Jacobson was a great surprise, the 38 year old gathering 12 rebounds in just 19 minutes of PT.

Because we can't actually, you know, go above .500 without Greg Oden, I'm not suprised at all when we fall apart in the second half and lose 114-107 to the Timberwolves. 21 points from David Anyan, 10 points and 12 rebounds from Jim Johnson and 15 bench points from Ronald King, who I'm toying with trading because Justin Cherry has looked pretty good in limited minutes.

But of course that'd be stupid to do. Despite the one bad game, he's really saved our collective bacon in a number of outings this year and been remarkably consistent, so I'll resist the urge.

Final Greg Oden-less tally: 10-10 after we beat the Supersonics 104-95 on the front end of a back-to-back. Antonio Sarchet scores 23, William Tackett plays his way to 20 points and 10 assists, David Anyan gathers 15 points and 13 rebounds and Ronald King and Lawrence Smiley each score 10 off the bench. Greg Oden returns the next night and while he doesn't have a fantastic game by the statlines, we still win 106-90 in Oakland. Antonio Sarchet leads us in scoring with 21 points and Jim Johnson and Ronald King pace the bench with 12 and 11 points a piece.

I have to say, I've been really impressed with how Jim Johnson's been progressing. He's still extremely green, but he's been improving, picking the brains of our big men, both players and coaches and really trying to apply himself to getting better.

We've fallen off the pace for the top seed in the West, but 27-18 is still good enough to lead the Pacific by 3.5 games over the defending champion Suns. 30-16 Minnesota has the Northwest by 3 games over Utah and the Timberwolves are deadlocked with 29-15 Dallas for the conference's #1 seed. The Mavericks are 6.5 games in front of the Grizzlies and this could finally be the year the Hornets break their playoff drought. 22-23 currently punches their ticket as a #7 or #8 seed. Needless to say, New Orleans has been a lot happier place this year for basketball fans.

The antithesis, one could argue, to Denver. The Mile High City is in a mile-deep funk, the Nuggets mired last in the Northwest at 17-29. Even Portland can point to an improvement from last month, the Trailblazers presently 20-24. Not so for the Powder Blue and Gold, where calls for Bob Neal to sell the team grow louder and more vitrolic every day.

Three 30+ win teams in the East, led by 35-9 Cleveland, the Cavaliers holding an obscene 8.5 game edge on the Bulls. 35-11 Toronto is two games in front of the 33-13 Celtics, who are riding a host of shrewdly drafted youngsters the last couple of seasons. In the seemingly eternal Southeast war between the Hawks and the Bobcats, Atlanta's turned a 24-20 mark into a 2 game lead on .500 Charlotte.

Paulinho Buboltz
2013 Stats: 82 games/77 starts - 17.0 PPG 9.5 APG 3.0 RPG 0.7 BPG 1.2 SPG
2014 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 19.1 PPG 8.7 APG 2.8 RPG 0.5 BPG 1.4 SPG
2015 Stats: 55 games/48 starts - 14.1 PPG 8.3 APG 2.8 RPG 0.5 BPG 1.2 SPG
2016 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 18.3 PPG 8.1 APG 3.3 RPG 0.7 BPG 1.5 SPG
2017 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 19.1 PPG 8.5 APG 3.0 RPG 0.7 BPG 1.2 SPG
2018 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 20.5 PPG 8.3 APG 3.2 RPG 0.8 BPG 1.5 SPG
2019 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 20.6 PPG 8.1 APG 3.5 RPG 0.8 BPG 1.5 SPG
2020 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 19.8 PPG 7.5 APG 3.3 RPG 0.6 BPG 1.3 SPG
2021 Stats: 44 games/44 starts - 22.3 PPG 7.0 APG 3.6 RPG 0.9 BPG 1.6 SPG (Indiana)
2021 Stats: 36 games/36 starts - 17.8 PPG 8.3 APG 2.9 RPG 0.8 BPG 1.3 SPG (Denver)
2022 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 16.3 PPG 10.2 APG 2.7 RPG 0.5 BPG 1.2 SPG
2023 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 19.5 PPG 9.6 APG 3.0 RPG 0.8 BPG 1.8 SPG (New York)
2024 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 20.2 PPG 9.5 APG 3.2 RPG 0.6 BPG 1.9 SPG
2025 Stats: 37 games/37 starts - 19.0 PPG 9.5 APG 2.5 RPG 0.7 BPG 1.9 SPG

Mateen Yeaton
2013 Stats: 82 games/81 starts - 23.3 PPG 2.4 APG 5.2 RPG 1.8 BPG 1.6 SPG
2014 Stats: 82 games/80 starts - 23.2 PPG 3.6 APG 5.2 RPG 1.7 BPG 1.3 SPG
2015 Stats: 82 games/81 starts - 23.6 PPG 2.4 APG 4.5 RPG 1.6 BPG 1.5 SPG
2016 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 25.0 PPG 3.1 APG 4.5 RPG 1.9 BPG 1.8 SPG
2017 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 24.4 PPG 3.2 APG 4.9 RPG 1.9 BPG 1.6 SPG
2018 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 19.8 PPG 2.4 APG 4.2 RPG 1.5 BPG 1.2 SPG
2019 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 23.3 PPG 2.5 APG 4.7 RPG 1.5 BPG 1.6 SPG
2020 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 23.0 PPG 2.7 APG 4.6 RPG 1.8 BPG 1.4 SPG
2021 Stats: 57 games/57 starts - 23.3 PPG 2.8 APG 4.3 RPG 1.9 BPG 1.4 SPG
2022 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 24.3 PPG 2.0 APG 4.5 RPG 1.6 BPG 1.3 SPG
2023 Stats: 82 games/82 starts - 23.3 PPG 1.9 APG 4.2 RPG 1.3 BPG 1.4 SPG
2024 Stats: 66 games/63 starts - 20.8 PPG 1.8 APG 4.4 RPG 1.2 BPG 1.3 SPG
2025 Stats: 45 games/34 starts - 13.6 PPG 2.6 APG 2.8 RPG 1.1 BPG 0.9 SPG (Sacramento)

Tough luck for the Knicks. Not only is their 27-18 record, the same as ours, putting them third in the Atlantic and 7.5 games off the pace, but Buboltz broke his arm on the 15th and he's out another 43 days.

They'll be fine with Johnny Willias running the offense, though, even if Wilias is 36. After all, he's still a very good passer and he's a career-long Knick.
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee
2006 Golden Scribe Winner
Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)

Rookie Writer of the Year
Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)

Last edited by Izulde : 01-16-2009 at 09:32 PM.
Izulde is offline   Reply With Quote