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12-17-2007, 10:46 PM
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#51 | ||
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Scouting Update
My master scout reported back and feels that after taking several looks at Collison he should be drafted anywhere from 5th to 8th overall. His final grading before we get to look at him again in the offseason: Code:
Alright, I am officially intrigued. From my average scout's most recent report on SF Will Daniels: "This kid has tremendous potential that with the right coaching could lead him to become one of the best players in the NBA." He lists the 6'8" small forward with "A" potential. I send my master scout to Rhode Island to have a closer look at Daniels. I'm not really sure what I am going to do in the 2nd round. Ideally I would want to draft a center who might get some garbage time but I don't like any of the guys who will be left on the board. The only position we won't have a complete log jam at is small forward. I decide to send my average scout out to PennState to get a look at SF Geary Claxton (6'5", 215 lbs). Undersized for the position but he grades out as a good rebounder and a decent post scorer. February 12, 2008: T'Wolves (18-31) at Nets (27-24) The red hot Nets build an early lead at halftime and never let go, taking a 94-86 win. Vince Carter led all scorers with 25 points, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Richard Jefferson added 20 points and 5 boards. Magloire finished with 11 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Bostjan Nachbar chipped in 11 from the bench. Andre Miller finished with 7 assists while Lamar Odom only played 20 minutes due to foul trouble. New Jersey shot 51% as a team and 47% from beyond the arc on 19 attempts. Jefferson had a nice all around game with 22 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks and 2 steals. McCants added 20 points on 17 shot attempts. Foye finished with 11 points and 6 assists. 'Toine played 18 minutes and added 10 points. Brewer has been notably absent lately on offense. He might be hitting the rookie wall. We shot 44% from the floor and 25% from deep on 16 attempts. February 13, 2008: Lakers (26-25) at T'Wolves (18-32) In our last game before the All-Star break the pups fight hard and walk away with a 100-94 victory! McCants led the team with 20 points and as usual added nothing else to the game. Jefferson was strong on the glass and had 15 boards to go alongside 17 points. We get some bad news as Brewer strains his MCL and will be at limited strength for about two weeks. It looks pretty bad so I might just have him sit. Walker (13), Foye (10) and Telfair (10) round out the primary scorers. We shot 42% as a team. Kobe did everything he could but his 30 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks were not enough. Kidd was 1 assist shy of a triple double and finished with 12 points, 12 boards and 9 assists. Andrew Bynum has been playing well and finished with 15 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Ryan Gomes, who has started for L.A. since we traded him earlier in the year, only played 19 minutes before fouling out. The Lakers shot 46% as a team. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-17-2007 at 10:48 PM. |
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12-18-2007, 08:00 PM
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#52 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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4 trades occur the day before the All-Star break. This is why I turned CPU trading off.
Deal #1 Detroit trades PG Lindsey Hunter (age 38, 1 year for $2.25M) to Philadelphia for SF Rod Carney (age 24, 3 years for $1.54M) The 76ers, who are in rebuilding mode, trade away their cheaply signed 1st round pick from last year for an expiring veteran who will likely retire after the season. Deal #2 Seattle trades C Kurt Thomas (age 36, 1 year at $8.09M) to Philadelphia for C Kwame Brown (age 26, 1 year at $9.07M) The 76ers trade a young, huge expiring contract for an older, huge expiring contract. This is the CPU trading just to trade. Deal makes no sense for either team. Deal #3 Orlando trades SF Hedo Turkoglu (age 29, 3 years at $6.37M) to Portland for PG Steve Blake (age 28, 3 years at $5.35M) The Magic trade a valuable starting player for a point guard that makes about the same money and will have to fight Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling to get backup minutes. Brilliant. Deal #4 Memphis trades PG Damon Stoudamire (age 35, 2 years at $4.35M) to Utah for SG Gordan Giricek (age 31, 1 year at $4.00M) Out of all of the trades this is the only one that makes any sense, but I would still give it a failing grade. Memphis could get more for a solid veteran nearing the end of his career than an expiring bench player in his 30s. At least it frees the way to have Michael Conley, the 4th overall pick in the 2007 draft, take over the point. Not sure how Utah would get Deron Williams and Stoudamire on the floor at the same time. |
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12-18-2007, 08:24 PM
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#53 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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We do not send anyone to the All-Star game. Jefferson finished 4th in the power forward voting but was well behind Nowitzki. I don't know if Big Al will ever be an All-Star as long as Duncan and Nowitzki are around. The only other Minnesota player to get any kind of serious voting activity was Corey Brewer, who finished 10th in small forward voting in the West.
West: PG Steve Nash - Starter SG Kobe Bryant - Starter SF Tracy McGrady - Starter PF Tim Duncan - Starter C Amare Stoudemire - Starter PG Jason Kidd PG Chris Paul PG Deron Williams SG Allen Iverson SF Shawn Marion PF Dirk Notwitzki C Yao Ming East: PG Gilbert Arenas - Starter SG Dwayne Wade - Starter SF LeBron James - Starter PF Kevin Garnett - Starter C Shaq - Starter (injury replacement for Dwight Howard) PG Maurice Williams SG Vince Carter SG Andre Iguodala SF Caron Butler SF Rashard Lewis PF Chris Bosh C Samuel Dalembert Despite a valiant push by the East to come back from a 19 point deficit the West goes on to win the game 121-116. Chris Paul is named the MVP with 18 points and 10 assists. |
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12-20-2007, 07:53 PM
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#54 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Scouting Update
My average scout completed his initial scouting trip to see SF Geary Claxton. Claxton is the first potential 2nd round pick we have scouted. In general my scout wasn't blown away but thinks that the kid can play some ball. Personally I feel that at 6'5" Claxton is too small to play small forward in the NBA. I am going to shelf him for right now and move on. My master scout reported back from his trip to see SF Will Daniels. My average scout has been in love with Daniels. My master scout isn't as hot to trot on but he still thinks Daniels is solid offensive player. His newly updated draft card: Code:
Daniels could be a backup plan if something goes awry and I lose out on my top choices. He would probably give less of a boost to the team in 2008-2009, but his potential is high and we can work on his defense. I tell my master scout to stay put in Rhode Island and take our last scouting visting for Daniels. I send my average scout out to Kansas to take a look at PG Mario Chalmers (6'1", 195 lbs). Chalmers is currently projected to go in the 2nd round. His draft card is solid for a 2nd round player - good athleticism, nice shot, good defense, good playmaking ability. Maybe he will surprise us. February 19, 2008: 76ers (19-34) at T'Wolves (19-32) I decide to sit Brewer while he mends from his MCL injury. No point in risking further injury to a youngster when our season is already in the toilet. Jaric and even 'Toine will absorb most of Brewer's minutes at small forward. The 76ers manage to control the tempo of the game in a gritty contest and take a 97-89 win. Iguodala was player of the game with 24 points, 9 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals in 42 minutes of action. Kyle Korver scored 19 points on some hot shooting from 3 point range (5 of 9). Jason Smith, the 20th overall pick in the 2007 draft, scored 11 points and had 2 blocks in 29 minutes. Samuel Dalembert put up a double double with 10 points and 13 boards. The recently traded for Kurt Thomas finished with 10 points and 5 boards off the bench. Philly shot 48% from the floor, 9 of 21 from 3 PT range and 20 of 24 from the line. As he often does Jefferson led us with 18 points on the night. McCants added 17 points and had 3 steals. To McCants' credit he has been doing a better job lately staying out of foul trouble. 'Toine added 14 points in 25 minutes. Telfair and Foye combined to score 24 points and dish 6 assists on the night. We shot 45% from the floor, hit 5 of 13 from long range and struggled from the line (68%, 24-35). Last edited by Ironhead : 12-20-2007 at 08:04 PM. |
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12-21-2007, 11:13 PM
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#55 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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February 21, 2008: Spurs (27-25) at T'Wolves (19-33)
After a slow start the Spurs are putting things together lately. We have the advantage of being at home but we will be without Brewer for about another week. Defensive battle so far, 19-17 Spurs at the end of 1. Jefferson and Duncan have been the cogs for their team down low. No one's midrange shot is falling for either team. At half we are down 45-32. Outside of a nice game by Jefferson and some solid play from Jaric everyone else is struggling. Duncan-Paker-Ginobili have looked really good on the floor. We finally put something together from the floor and pull within 3 points, down 65-62 at after 3 quarters. As he tends to do Telfair came off the bench and sparked us on run to close the quarter. This offseason is going to be tough when I have to decide whether to resign him or let him walk. Jaric, who is easily having his best game of the year, hits a 3 with about 30 seconds left in the game to pull us within 86-83. Ginobili is holding the ball just outside the arc, clock ticking. Ginobili with the jump shot just inside the line...he misses, we gather the rebound and call timeout. 6 seconds left in the game. We inbound the ball to Jaric, he gets a pretty clean look over the shorter Tony Parker...off right iron and that's ballgame. The Spurs trio up front each played a ton of minutes and had great games. Duncan finished the game with 23 points and dominated with 23 boards. Ginboili was all over the court and finished with 25 points, 8 assists and 5 boards. Parker finished with 12 points and a career high 15 assists. The Spurs shot 43% from the floor and really struggled at the line, hitting only 6 of 17 free throw attempts. As I mentioned before Jaric played easily his best game all year and finished with 23 points and 4 assists. He shot 9 of 17 from the floor, 3 of 5 from 3 PT range and hit both of his free throw attempts. Jefferson went toe to toe with Duncan all night and finished with a great game of his own - 21 points and 19 boards. Telfair finished with 11 points in 20 minutes of floor time. Foye in particular struggled, hitting only 2 of 10 from the floor before fouling out after 28 minutes. He was outplayed by both of his backups at the point. As a team we shot 37% from the floor, hit 7 of 23 three point attempts and shot 70% from the line (14/20). |
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12-21-2007, 11:22 PM
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#56 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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For those following. We currently have the 3rd worst record in the league and 29 games to go. We are just about mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
Should I continue playing the games or just sim the rest of the way and get to the fun part: the draft and offseason? Between the holidays and a busy schedule next week my actual play time will be limited. It could be another two weeks before I get to the offseason if I don't sim out the rest of the season. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-21-2007 at 11:23 PM. |
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12-21-2007, 11:33 PM
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#57 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Michigan
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I say sim it out. The off season is definetly the most exciting thing for your team right now.
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12-22-2007, 12:10 PM
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#58 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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February 24, 2008: Mavericks (32-23) at T'Wolves (19-34)
Dallas rolls into town and blows us out by a final score of 124-89. Howard and Terry were the high scorers with 33 and 29 points, respectively. Jefferson led us with 24 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks. Foye bruised his heel and will be limited for the next 10 days. He would have limited effectiveness so he will sit while he heals. February 26, 2008: Jazz (25-31) at T'Wolves (19-35) Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer team up to hand us our 36th loss of the year. Final score was 96-88. Williams scored 23 points, dished 6 assists and had 3 steals. Boozer finished with 17 points and 14 boards. McCants was our leading scorer with 19 points. February 27, 2008: T'Wolves (19-36) at Raptors (16-39) Brewer has returned from his MCL strain and is back in the lineup. The lowly Raptors get revenge for their embarrasing loss just two weeks earlier with a 102-86 win. Bosh led all scorers with 24 points and 12 boards. Kapono and Calderon each finished with 17 points. McCants led the Wolves with 20 points. Jefferson was quiet with 13 points and 6 boards. Brewer added 11 points and 8 boards in his return. February 29, 2008: T'Wolves (19-37) at Cavs (24-34) Man, somebody get LeBron some talent. WE beat the King James by a final of 111-107. Solid effort from most players on the Wolves. Brewer finished with 21 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Jefferson added 18 points and 15 boards. LeBron finished with 26 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Donyell Marshall and Ilgauskas finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively. March 2, 2008: Sonics (32-26) at T'Wolves (20-37) "We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow...that's called a winning streak. It has happened before." We pick up our 2nd win in a row over a young Sonics team by a final of 97-95. McCants finished with 21 points and Brewer added 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Wally World scored 23 points for the Sonics in only 21 minutes off the bench. Durant, who is still going to be the runaway Rookie of the Year winner, finished with 22 poitns and 6 boards. March 4, 2008: Bobcats (24-35) at T'Wolves (21-37) For only the second time all season we win three games in a row by downing the Bobcats by a final of 96-82. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 13 boards. McCants added 16 points on some sloppy shooting. Sean May of the Bobcats came up with 21 points off the bench but everyone else struggled. March 5, 2008: T'Wolves (22-37) at Jazz (28-33) We come 1 point away from our first 4 game winning streak all year. The Jazz take it 99-98. Jefferson got the better of Boozer with 24 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks but Boozer's 24 points were enough for the win. Brewer continued his strong play since coming back from injury with 19 points, 6 boards and 3 steals. March 7, 2008: T'Wolves (22-38) at Kings (33-28) We get stomped as Foye returns to the lineup by a final score of 104-78. Complete team effort by the Kings, too many players to name. Jefferson was our lone bright spot with 33 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks. March 8, 2008: T'Wolves (22-39) at Clippers (37-23) Clippers win this game in comfortable fashion by a final score of 93-78. Cassell dropped 27 points and 8 assists on us while Brand had 20 points and 8 boards. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 15 boards. Brewer finished with 18 for the game. March 11, 2008: Blazers (25-38) at T'Wolves (22-40) We lose 96-82. Jarrett Jack finished with 20 points and 8 assists for the Blazers. Brandon Roy added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 boards. Jefferson finished with 22 points and 12 boards. Not much else worth mentioning. March 14, 2008: T'Wolves (22-41) at Sonics (35-29) We continue to have Seattle's number and beat them by a final score of 94-84. Foye had his best game in recent memory with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Brewer was Mr. Utility with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. Durant finished with 18 points and 5 boards. March 15, 2008: T'Wolves (23-41) at Blazers (26-40) Closer than 4 days ago but we still lose by a final of 92-86. It was Jack and Roy again with 30 points and 14 assists between them combined. Jefferson finished with 24 points and 11 boards. March 17, 2008: Clippers (41-24) at T'Wolves (23-42) We lose 87-84. Brand finished with 20 points and 5 boards. Did I mention I really don't like Sam Cassell? He finished with 15 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Looks like the team is mailing it in at this point. Jefferson's 15 point, 5 board performance was by far and away the highlight of our team. March 19, 2008: Grizzlies (28-38) at T'Wolves (23-43) Grizzlies take this one 113-104. Michael Conley had a great night, starting in place of the traded Damon Stoudamire, and finished with 25 points and 4 assists. Mike Miller added 17 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Foye and Jefferson led us with 19 and 17 points, respectively. March 21, 2008: T'Wolves (23-44) at Pacers (28-40) Pacers take a comfortable 95-80 victory. Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger team up to drop 44 points and 19 boards. Jefferson finished with 15 points and 7 boards. No one else in double digits. These folks aren't trying at this point. Team chemistry is down to 17%... March 22, 2008: Knicks (27-41) at T'Wolves (23-45) ...but we are still good enough to beat Isiah and the Knicks by a final of 81-79. Game film of this one is surely going in the trash. Jefferson was the leading scorer with 29 points. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 22 points. March 26, 2008: T'Wolves (24-45) at Rockets (42-29) We lose 90-83. Yao finished with 23 points and 5 boards. Brewer was our leading scorer with 17 points. Jefferson strained his achillies and will miss 3 weeks. March 28, 2008: T'Wolves (24-46) at Spurs (36-36) We lose 97-95. Duncan kills us again with 22 points and 16 boards. Ginobili finishes with 20 points. Parker tallies a double double with 15 points and 12 assists. McCants scores led the Wolves with 25 points. I believe this was our first game all year without Jefferson. March 30, 2008: Jazz (33-40) at T'Wolves (24-47) We get spanked 109-75. Deron Williams comes up just shy of a triple double with 22 points, 15 assists and 8 boards. Foye and Brewer combine to score 41 points, more than half of the team total. April 1, 2008: Pistons (40-33) at T'Wolves (24-48) We lose 85-80, our 12th loss in the last 14 games. Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 21 points and 9 assists. McCants finishes with 23 points for us. February 24, 2008: Mavericks (32-23) at T'Wolves (19-34) Dallas rolls into town and blows us out by a final score of 124-89. Howard and Terry were the high scorers with 33 and 29 points, respectively. Jefferson led us with 24 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks. Foye bruised his heel and will be limited for the next 10 days. He would have limited effectiveness so he will sit while he heals. February 26, 2008: Jazz (25-31) at T'Wolves (19-35) Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer team up to hand us our 36th loss of the year. Final score was 96-88. Williams scored 23 points, dished 6 assists and had 3 steals. Boozer finished with 17 points and 14 boards. McCants was our leading scorer with 19 points. February 27, 2008: T'Wolves (19-36) at Raptors (16-39) Brewer has returned from his MCL strain and is back in the lineup. The lowly Raptors get revenge for their embarrasing loss just two weeks earlier with a 102-86 win. Bosh led all scorers with 24 points and 12 boards. Kapono and Calderon each finished with 17 points. McCants led the Wolves with 20 points. Jefferson was quiet with 13 points and 6 boards. Brewer added 11 points and 8 boards in his return. February 29, 2008: T'Wolves (19-37) at Cavs (24-34) Man, somebody get LeBron some talent. WE beat the King James by a final of 111-107. Solid effort from most players on the Wolves. Brewer finished with 21 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Jefferson added 18 points and 15 boards. LeBron finished with 26 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Donyell Marshall and Ilgauskas finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively. March 2, 2008: Sonics (32-26) at T'Wolves (20-37) "We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow...that's called a winning streak. It has happened before." We pick up our 2nd win in a row over a young Sonics team by a final of 97-95. McCants finished with 21 points and Brewer added 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Wally World scored 23 points for the Sonics in only 21 minutes off the bench. Durant, who is still going to be the runaway Rookie of the Year winner, finished with 22 poitns and 6 boards. March 4, 2008: Bobcats (24-35) at T'Wolves (21-37) For only the second time all season we win three games in a row by downing the Bobcats by a final of 96-82. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 13 boards. McCants added 16 points on some sloppy shooting. Sean May of the Bobcats came up with 21 points off the bench but everyone else struggled. March 5, 2008: T'Wolves (22-37) at Jazz (28-33) We come 1 point away from our first 4 game winning streak all year. The Jazz take it 99-98. Jefferson got the better of Boozer with 24 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks but Boozer's 24 points were enough for the win. Brewer continued his strong play since coming back from injury with 19 points, 6 boards and 3 steals. March 7, 2008: T'Wolves (22-38) at Kings (33-28) We get stomped as Foye returns to the lineup by a final score of 104-78. Complete team effort by the Kings, too many players to name. Jefferson was our lone bright spot with 33 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks. March 8, 2008: T'Wolves (22-39) at Clippers (37-23) Clippers win this game in comfortable fashion by a final score of 93-78. Cassell dropped 27 points and 8 assists on us while Brand had 20 points and 8 boards. Jefferson finished with 19 points and 15 boards. Brewer finished with 18 for the game. March 11, 2008: Blazers (25-38) at T'Wolves (22-40) We lose 96-82. Jarrett Jack finished with 20 points and 8 assists for the Blazers. Brandon Roy added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 boards. Jefferson finished with 22 points and 12 boards. Not much else worth mentioning. March 14, 2008: T'Wolves (22-41) at Sonics (35-29) We continue to have Seattle's number and beat them by a final score of 94-84. Foye had his best game in recent memory with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Brewer was Mr. Utility with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. Durant finished with 18 points and 5 boards. March 15, 2008: T'Wolves (23-41) at Blazers (26-40) Closer than 4 days ago but we still lose by a final of 92-86. It was Jack and Roy again with 30 points and 14 assists between them combined. Jefferson finished with 24 points and 11 boards. March 17, 2008: Clippers (41-24) at T'Wolves (23-42) We lose 87-84. Brand finished with 20 points and 5 boards. Did I mention I really don't like Sam Cassell? He finished with 15 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Looks like the team is mailing it in at this point. Jefferson's 15 point, 5 board performance was by far and away the highlight of our team. March 19, 2008: Grizzlies (28-38) at T'Wolves (23-43) Grizzlies take this one 113-104. Michael Conley had a great night, starting in place of the traded Damon Stoudamire, and finished with 25 points and 4 assists. Mike Miller added 17 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. Foye and Jefferson led us with 19 and 17 points, respectively. March 21, 2008: T'Wolves (23-44) at Pacers (28-40) Pacers take a comfortable 95-80 victory. Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger team up to drop 44 points and 19 boards. Jefferson finished with 15 points and 7 boards. No one else in double digits. These folks aren't trying at this point. Team chemistry is down to 17%... March 22, 2008: Knicks (27-41) at T'Wolves (23-45) ...but we are still good enough to beat Isiah and the Knicks by a final of 81-79. Game film of this one is surely going in the trash. Jefferson was the leading scorer with 29 points. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 22 points. March 26, 2008: T'Wolves (24-45) at Rockets (42-29) We lose 90-83. Yao finished with 23 points and 5 boards. Brewer was our leading scorer with 17 points. Jefferson strained his achillies and will miss 3 weeks. March 28, 2008: T'Wolves (24-46) at Spurs (36-36) We lose 97-95. Duncan kills us again with 22 points and 16 boards. Ginobili finishes with 20 points. Parker tallies a double double with 15 points and 12 assists. McCants scores led the Wolves with 25 points. I believe this was our first game all year without Jefferson. March 30, 2008: Jazz (33-40) at T'Wolves (24-47) We get spanked 109-75. Deron Williams comes up just shy of a triple double with 22 points, 15 assists and 8 boards. Foye and Brewer combine to score 41 points, more than half of the team total. April 2, 2008: T'Wolves (24-49) at Jazz (34-41) Utah runs away with a 113-93 victory. Mehmet Okur and Morris Almond led the Jazz with 25 and 22 points, respectively. Deron Williams killed us as usual with 17 points and 13 assists. McCants, who is just streaky as all hell, put in 28 points which is 1 shy of his season high. Team chemistry is at 8%. I receive my first warning from the team owner about our performance. That took longer than I expected. It looks like the complete "suck at basketball" threshold was 50 losses. April 4, 2008: T'Wolves (24-50) at Suns (52-23) The Suns beat us silly by a final of 125-94. Tons of people with great games on the Suns. Marion, Nash and Stoudemire all tallied double doubles. Brewer led us in scoring with 19 points. Foye injured his wrist and will miss the remainder of the season. Wow, I just checked and we seem to have sucked our way into the worst record in the league. I am actually pretty unhappy about that. I hope the ping pong balls don't have us picking 1st because I don't want to have to pay #1 pick money. That could hurt our chances at signing a big free agent. April 6, 2008: Grizzlies (30-46) at T'Wolves (24-51) We snap our 6 game losing streak with a 98-82 victory over Memphis. Brewer finished with 19 points, 10 boards and 2 steals. McCants added 16 points. Gasol was the leading scorer for Memphis with 15 points, 12 boards and 6 assists. April 8, 2008: T'Wolves (25-51) at Bobcats (32-45) We lose 100-95. Okafor put in a great 21 point, 17 board performance. Gerald Wallace was 1 board shy of a double double with 19 points and 9 boards. McCants and 'Toine each added 18 points for us. April 9, 2008: Hornets (34-43) at T'Wolves (25-52) Ugly 89-76 loss. Chris Paul was great with 21 points, 9 assists, 7 boards and 3 steals. Brewer led us with 18 points and 6 boards. The owner me that we suck and he doesn't like it. April 10, 2008: T'Wolves (25-53) at Magic (36-42) The Magic, who are fighting for the 8th seed in the East, win by a final of 95-92. Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard each finished with double doubles. McCants led us with 18 points. April 12, 2008: T'Wolves (25-54) at Grizzlies (30-49) Pathetic outing as we get spanked 104-79 by Memphis. Hakim Warrick, Mike Miller and Paul Gasol were all bunched together with about 18 to 20 points each. Gasol also added 18 boards and 8 assists. Telfair was our leading scorer with 16 points. Our team chemistry finally bottoms out at 0%. April 15, 2008: T'Wolves (25-55) at Pistons (45-35) We lose 88-72. Billups led everyone with 22 points and added 10 assists. McCants and Walker each scored 17 points for us. 1 game left. April 16, 2008: Bucks (41-40) at T'Wolves (25-56) We lose the final game of the year 95-79. Redd finished with 23 points. Brewer finished with 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. And we finish a lousy season. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-22-2007 at 12:11 PM. |
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12-22-2007, 12:22 PM
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#59 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Code:
Last edited by Ironhead : 12-22-2007 at 12:22 PM. |
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12-22-2007, 12:34 PM
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#60 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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12-22-2007, 01:59 PM
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#61 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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1st Round, West:
The Suns knock the Kings out 4-1. The Rockets sweep the Mavericks 4-0. Cuban cries. The Clippers take care of the Sonics 4-1. The Warriors upset the 2nd seeded Nuggets. 1st Round, East: The Celtics make short work on the Magic with a 4-0 sweep. The Pistons advance with a 4-2 series victory over the Nets. The Wizards advance after knocking the Bucks out 4-2. The Bulls upset Wade & Shaq with a 4-1 series win. 2nd Round, West: McGrady scores 41 points in game 7 to squeeze the Rockets past the Suns. The Clippers continue to surprise and sweep the Warriors to advance. 2nd Round, East: With the series tied 3-3 the Pistons go into Boston and walk away with a 93-85 win to advance. The Wizards sweep the Bulls out of the playoffs. Conference Finals: Wow, the Clippers sweep the Rockets out of the playoffs. Eat your heart our Lakers. Just as surprising the Wizards make short work on the Pistons and win the series 4-1. NBA Finals - Clippers vs Wizards: Game 1: 99-89 Clippers Game 2: 105-86 Clippers Game 3: 101-95 Clippers Game 4: 104-100 Clippers The Clippers simply buzzsaw through the playoffs, losing only 1 game in the 1st round to the Sonics, and are the 2007-2008 NBA Champions. Elton Brand is named Final MVP. He averaged 20 point per game in the playoffs to go along with 8 boards and 1.6 blocks. |
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12-22-2007, 03:17 PM
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#62 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Retirements:
PG S. Cassell, LAC, 39 years old (retires after winning a ring) C A. Williams, LAC, 37 years old PF C. Robinson, MIA, 42 years old SG P. Hardaway, MIA, 37 years old (bye bye Penny) C D. Davis, DET, 39 years old PG D. Martin, TOR, 37 years old C D. Mutombo, HOU, 42 years old SG D. Wesley, SEA, 38 years old SF E. Piatkowski, PHX, 38 years old Offseason Staff Changes Our assistant coach is the only expiring staff contract. He really isn't that bad and is a good defensive coach. I decide to extend his contract for 1 year. Without much hesitation I decide to fire Wittman. He just isn't a very good coach and we can live with his $1 million in dead salary for the next year. To replace Wittman I hire Chucky Cannon for a whopping $5 million dollars per year for 6 years. Cannon is rated as a Good offensive and defensive coach and a Master teacher. I don't have any issue with the rest of the staff. Player Resignings We currently have 5 expired player contracts: Al Jefferson, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Michael Doleac and Theo Ratliff. Before resigning anyone our cap number is $31.11M, which puts us $25.41 million dollars under the soft cap. PF Al Jefferson (91 OVR) - 5 years, 80.91 million (backloaded). His cap number this year would be $13.25 million. He absolutely will not budge on his base salary demand. He will accept a shorter contract as long as I provide him with with a player option. Which is what I do. He signs for 3 years with a player option for the 4th. His cap number this year is $13.25M and will increase 10% each year for the next 3 years. This leaves us with $12.16 million in cap space to sign Telfair, Smith and our draft picks. The only shot I have at a good free agent is to let both Telfair and Smith walk. Tough decision. I could let them walk only to have the free agent market be relatively bare. It was a tough decision but I decide to go ahead and let both Telfair and Smith walk. Smith in particular was tough. I decline to resign Doleac and Ratliff. NBA Draft Lottery No shenanigans from the ping pong balls and we end up with the 1st overall pick in the draft. The Raptors and Pacers catch a little bad luck though. Draft Order 1. Minnesota 2. Philadelphia 3. New York 4. Toronto 5. Memphis 6. Portland 7. Indiana 8. Charlotte 9. Cleveland 10. New Orleans 11. Utah 12. Atlanta 13. Los Angeles Lakers 14. San Antonio |
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12-22-2007, 04:13 PM
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#63 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Michigan
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So who are you keying in on at #1?
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12-22-2007, 04:42 PM
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#64 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Pre Draft Workouts
Alright, time to actually run these kids through some drills and find out what they are like. First thing I do is run a five on five drill. I pit the "A" Team against the "B" Team: PG Darren Collison, SG Brandon Rush, SF Will Daniels, PF Richard Hendrix and C Roy Hibbert against PG Sean Singletary, SG Mike Cook, SF Marshall Brown, Pf James Gist, and C Devon Hardin One thing is for sure immediately. Collison has fast hands and will be able to pick pocket players. He stole the ball from Singletary two or three times. Good quickness to the basket. He threw one really flashy pass between his legs on a kickout off of a drive. Definitely Top 5 material. #1? I liked Brandon Rush's shot and he hit a couple from long range. He is listed as 6'6", 210 pounds but looked a little bigger than that. I don't think he is Top 5 material though. Roy Hibbert is enormous and blocked a couple of shots down low. I was focusing on the perimeter players scoring ability and didn't take many shots with him. I don't want to keep Foye at the point but a lineup of Foye/Free Agent/Brewer/Jefferson/Hibbert sounds really good. It would be a really good mix of offense and defense. Devon Hardin looked really good in the paint as well. He has more mobility than Hibbert and is a great defender and rebounder of his own. They have about the same post game, but Hardin might have more upside. I definitely need to take a closer look at both of these centers. Next I schedule a 2 on 2. I choose Hardin and Collison to go up against Al Jefferson and Randy Foye. Foye and Jefferson win by a score of 11 to 6. Jefferson pretty much abused Hardin, which was not what I wanted to see at all. Collison held his own against Foye. Next I do a 2 on 2 of Rush and Hibbert vs McCants and Jefferson. All I can say for Rush is CLANK. The shots I made with him the in 5 vs 5 must have been luck because the guy couldn't hit anything. Hibbert's offense down low was limited and he missed some really makeable shots. He blocked 6 shots. |
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12-22-2007, 04:58 PM
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#65 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Michigan
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Prospects of dealing down to 3 or 4 for Collison?
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12-22-2007, 05:06 PM
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#66 | |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Quote:
I think it has come down to Collison or Hibbert. Both will be great defensive additions to the team. Hibbert would solidify our frontcourt while giving us a chance to improve the team through free agency by picking up a shooting guard. The Kings did not resign Kevin Martin so he would be my main target. He is a great shooter and plays good enough defense. I would have about $9 million dollars to play with in free agency and I think I could sign Martin with that. Collison should improve the general play at the point but it will create a log jam. Foye would have to move to the 2 spot. I am also concerned that by drafting Collison we might not be ready to win this year and my job could be in danger. Collison has more long term potential than Hibbert but Hibbert is ready from the get go. |
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12-22-2007, 06:15 PM
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#67 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Code:
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12-22-2007, 06:21 PM
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#68 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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I am really, really happy with the results of the draft. Hibbert should be great and it was a pleasant surprise to see Gist still on the board at the top of the 2nd round. I really like Gist when we scouted him early in the year. He is athletic enough to play small forward off the bench which is an area of need. He also has some upside. I will follow Collison's career closely, but it was nice to see him go #2 and also get a chance to play with Iggy in Philadelphia.
The standard contract for the 1st overall pick is 2 years plus a team option for a 3rd year. Hibbert will earn $3.8 million this year. I have guaranteed him a position as a starter. The standard contract for Gist is 1 year plus a team option for a 2nd. He will earn $600K this year. We tell him he is a prospect and that he needs more time to develop. We are currently $7.76 million under the cap. It might be tight to sign Martin, but if need be I will try to clear cap space through a deal. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-22-2007 at 06:31 PM. |
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12-22-2007, 07:01 PM
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#69 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Mar 2004
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If you get Martin you might be rocking. That is if you can establish any consitency at the point. With so many guys that show flashes of solid play it is sometimes hard to stick with one. Go Hibbert!
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12-22-2007, 07:09 PM
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#70 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Most of the potential star free agents resigned with their teams. Shawn Marion is the biggest name in the market and he is way out of our price range at $15 million per year. If they still have the cap room Marion could land in Philly.
Kevin Martin is one of the next biggest names on the market. Last year with Sacramento he averaged 15.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and 0.8 steals per game. The year before he averaged 20.2 points per game. Martin struggled during the first part of the 2007-2008 season but picked his game up more in the 2nd half. His highest scoring game was 35 points. At 6'7, 185 lbs he isn't a big or very strong guy. He is only 25 years old. Something that Martin brings to the table that we need is he can really heat up from downtown. We put in an offer for Martin with 3 years guaranteed at $23.65 million. He has a player option for a 4th year at $8.68 million. Martin would earn $7.50 million this year which would leave us $260K under the cap. On the 2nd day of free agency I check the other offers on the table. The Hawks, Sonics, Magic and Rockets are all bidding on Martin. Luckily we have the best offer so far. Most of the other teams are only offering $6.5 to $7 million per year while we are close to $8 million. Elsewhere the 76ers put in a massive 5 year, $92 million dollar bid on Marion. It looks like they are the only team with the cap space to go after him. On the 3rd day of free agency the Hornets, Wizards and Jazz all jump into bidding on Martin. They are offering the same general contract as the other team though. We are still on the top of the heap. Everyone is jumping on the Martin bandwagon. On the 4th day the Suns, Heat and Pistons have all made bids. The Suns probably have the 2nd best offer on the table but they want Martin as their sixth man, not as a starter. 11 teams total have put bids in on him. If we lose him to an inferior bid I am going to be pissed off. Martin signs with us! Kick ass. With a lineup of Foye/Martin/Brewer/Jefferson/Hibbert I think we can make a run at the playoffs. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-22-2007 at 07:12 PM. |
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12-22-2007, 07:13 PM
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#71 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Get Brewer with a 3 point shot and you will be so good! I think your team is pretty solid on the defensive end. Well except for Martin, he is such a seive. Yet you can count on him to fill it up on the other end.
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12-22-2007, 07:18 PM
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#72 | |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Quote:
I am just going to have to stick it out with Foye. With Telfair gone to free agency I don't have a plan "B" anymore, unless you count Jaric. With Martin on the wing, who is a much better scorer than McCants, hopefully Foye can focus more on all around point play instead of having to press and create too much. I think we really improved this offseason. Another team that saw major improvement was the 76ers. They drafted Collison 2nd overall to man the point. They did end up signing Marion and they also signed Craig Smith, our former backup PF. He will get a chance to start for them. They will be fielding Collison/Iguodala/Marion/Smith/Dalembert. Their bench still leaves much to be desired but they will be interesting to follow. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-22-2007 at 07:21 PM. |
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12-23-2007, 02:13 PM
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#73 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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As I mentioned at the beginning of the thread I am editing the draft class before moving forward. With the expection of the Top 10 picks most players will not see a change in their overall rating. For the most part players are simply having their skills redistributed to more accurately reflect their position and more closely mimic real life stengths and weaknesses.
Most of it is simple like making sure shooting guards are not given atrociously low shooting abilities that make them forever useless to any team. Or making sure a point guard drafted at the top of the draft doesn't have a quickness rating of 51 (yes, this happened). It is actually pretty fun despite being time consuming. It is pretty cool to assign the rookies shooting styles and the like. My plan right now is to fix the Top 10 (already completed 6 players) and any other player that might get immediate playing time. One I have fixed those players I will move forward with the season and just fix the rest of the rookies on the fly. To try and make the league feel a bit more dynamic I will give little boosts to rookies from other teams that have solid performance in actual played games. Probably something like a +1 or +2 in a couple of skill areas. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-23-2007 at 06:18 PM. |
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12-23-2007, 08:54 PM
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#74 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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08-09 Team Roster
 As the team stands right now we are much improved. I think this group of players can hang with mid level teams right away. We aren't going to beat any of the top tier teams until these guys have been on the floor together for a while. Team chemistry has improved since bottoming out at the end of last year and stands at 33%. Team Rotation Without getting a better feel for some of the new fellas this is what I have in mind. PG Randy Foye - 35 minutes SG Kevin Martin - 35 minutes SF Corey Brewer - 35 minutes PF Al Jefferson - 35 minutes C Roy Hibbert - 25 minutes 6th - Marco Jaric - 20 minutes Role Player - Sean Williams - 20 minutes Role Player - Antoine Walker - 15 minutes Role Player - Rashad McCants - 15 minutes Prospect - James Gist - 5 minutes Bench Warmer - Mark Madsen - 0 minutes Bench Warmer - Greg Bucker - 0 minutes I have a feeling that I might get some strange lineups on the floor with this rotation. I'll see how it goes though. |
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12-23-2007, 11:51 PM
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#75 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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It's time for Preseason. I hate playing games that don't count so I am going to go ahead and sim them. I need to start getting used to Martin's weird shot though.
We go 3-4 in the preseason but most important we escape without any injuries. Time for the season opener on the road against Seattle! November 31, 2008 - T'Wolves (0-0) at Sonics (0-0) We owned the Sonics last season. Hopefully we can do it again this year and start the season right. Their starting lineup is Earl Watson/Robert Vaden/Durant/Nick Collison/Kwame Brown. Szczerbiak is still the 6th man but his huge contract will expire this year. Vaden is a rookie that was drafted in the 2nd round out of UAB. He was originally a transfer student out of Indiana. He is pretty athletic, a decent playmaker and loves to shoot the 3. At the team matchup screen it shows we are rated 76 overall (75 offense, 86 defense). Last year we were rated in the low 60's across the board. The Sonics are also rated 76 overall (72 offense, 79 defense). The Sonics come out and damn do they mean business. They drop 40 points in the opening quarter to take a 40-24 lead. Earl Watson scored 14 points and hit all 6 of his shots from the floor. Durant has 9 points. I don't think this is an indication of our defense, just a hot performance by Seattle. They shot 72% in the quarter. Jefferson has 10 points and 2 blocks through 1. We go into halftime down 64-54. Durant has been great and has 15 points at halftime. It's great to see Jeff Green getting some burn after being mostly ignored by the Sonics last year. He has 8 points and 4 boards at the break. Jefferson and Foye are our leaders with 14 and 8 points, respectively. Martin put up 6 in the 2nd. Hibbert is simply massive down low and has 6 points, 6 boards and 1 block at the half. We chipped into the lead a little but will need to either clamp down further on defense or start running the floor. We open up the 3rd with an 8-0 run to close within 2! The Sonics call timeout and go back to giving the ball to Durant. Durant is still hot but the rest of the team has cooled off considerably. At the end of 3 we have pulled within 80-76. It has been a good game so far. A very tightly played 4th quarter has possibly come down to the last 4.5 seconds. Durant just hit a 20 foot jumper to tie it up 99-99. I inbound the ball to Martin and he hits a trifecta to put us up 102-99! But there is still 2.2 seconds left and the Sonics call timeout. The ball should be coming to Durant on the inbound pass, I have Brewer guarding him. Durant tries to come off a screen to get the inbound pass but Brewer is right with him - the inbound pass has to go to Earl Watson who puts it up...too long! That's game! We fight our way back for the win! Kevin Martin finished with 19 points. He shot 7 of 17 from the field including 3 of 7 from 3 point range. Jefferson also scored 19 points and ripped down 14 rebounds. Jefferson seemed more aggressive on defense and blocked 2 shots and was called for goaltending on at least 2 more. Foye had a really nice game and finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 3 steals. He was doing a great job driving the lane. It helped that the Sonics have no real bigs. Brewer added 13 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Hibbert was great with 12 points, 12 boards, 3 blocks and 3 assists. Half of his points came on putbacks. Hibbert doesn't move that well but he sets one hell of a pick. We shot 47% as a team, hit 6 of 12 three point attempts and hit 18 of 21 free throws. Durant was very impressive and finished with 33 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. He is so tall and can shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor. He was 15 of 26 from the floor including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Earl Watson didn't provide much offense after the 1st quarter but still finished with 18 points and 8 assists. Kwame Brown finished with 10 points and 5 boards. Jeff Green finished with 10 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 26 minutes. Surprisingly Wally World only played 14 minutes. Their rookie shooting guard Robert Vaden was ineffective from the field, hitting on 1 of 9 shot attempts, but did finish with 8 assists. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-24-2007 at 05:35 PM. |
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12-25-2007, 08:03 AM
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#76 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Barnegat, NJ
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Waiting for Starbuck to wake up this morning. Figured I would update this until I can safely drag her out of bed.
Initial Scouting Looking over the roster I think we have three distinct needs that we can look to address in the draft. In no specific order: * Backup small forward - 'Toine logs somes minutes in a backup capacity here. I am not going to pick up the option on his contract next year and Gist won't be ready to contribute next year. I want to avoid addressing backups through free agency because it will just get me into a financial mess when it comes time to try and resign Foye, Brewer, Hibbert and Jefferson. I will need all the cap space possible to simply avoid the luxury tax. That is assuming we can even afford to field a team that exceeds the soft cap, let alone approaches luxury tax levels. We have to be winning and making some money . * Backup power forward - Again, 'Toine picks up minutes here and I don't want to turn the position over the Mark Madsen. I would like to get someone who has at least a little bit of offense. * Backup center - Sean Williams will log most of the minutes at center when Hibbert heads to the bench. I would rather see him at power forward where he is better suited. I have the same two scouts as last year. I am going to assume that we can make the playoffs this year and draft somewhere around 17th to 23rd. I send my average scout out to look at SF Geoff McDermott (6'8", 237 lbs) out of Providence. Geoff is currently projected to go in the 2nd round but I like the overall package he brings to the court. At least according to his initial profile he has above average athleticism, some playmaking ability, good rebounding skills and average to above average defense. His shooting could use some work. There are a dizzying number of shooting guards projected to go in the 1st round. I count 14 total. I send my master scout out to Arizona to get a look at Chase Budinger (6'7", 209 lbs). He is projected to go in the mid to late 1st round. Either his profile is exaggerated or he will shoot up the draft board pretty quickly. His initial profile indicates he has an excellent mix of inside/outside scoring ability, is a good rebounder and plays good enough defense. He is also has very good intangibles. Last edited by Ironhead : 12-25-2007 at 08:05 AM. |
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