Bullets Over Beltway: A DDPB Dynasty

[Cap Ologist]

I was 25 when I became the general manager of the Washington Bullets in 1995. As a college player, I'd always wanted to make it on to Sportscenter, but after an unremarkable college career and three years as the 15th guy on the roster, I finally was the subject of a Sportscenter segment. Two talking heads went on and on about what a mistake my hiring was. Not exactly how I'd envisioned it.

But nevertheless, the job was mine. I'd won over Lincoln Rollins in my interview, going into great depth as to how teams needed to utilize the Internet, which was still in its infancy, and computers to do a more thorough job of scouting and evaluating talent.

Mr. Rollins liked what he heard, like my competitiveness and hired me on the spot passing over several retreads. He had taken a risk on me, and I knew it.

My first day on the job found me interviewing our current coaching staff. Our head coach, Jim Lynam was in his final year and was scheduled to make about $800,000 this season. He hinted strongly that he would like an extension, and about how much better he would do if the team didn't think he was a lame duck. He would have to deal with it, because I didn't want to commit more money to someone else's guy.

Our three assistant coaches were rather lackluster as well, but they had two years remaining on their contracts. Fortunately, it wouldn't cost me too much if I ended up having to buy them out. For now, I would just stand pat, and watch the season unfold.

On the court, we definitely had some talent. We boasted a formidable frontline of Juwan Howard, Chris Webber and Gheorghe Muresan with Rasheed Wallace coming off the bench. Our backcourt wasn't as loaded. Calbert Cheaney, a 6'7" guard from Indiana was penciled in as the starter. He was solid, but unremarkable. I hoped that his size would help offset some of his talent deficiencies. Point guard was quite the unsettled mess. We had Robert Pack and Brent Price, neither instilled much confidence in me to run the show.

I worked the phones, and sent:

PG Robert Pack
SF Michael Curry
SG Mitchell Butler

to Utah for:

PG Howard Eisley

Eisley was a much better point guard, equally adept at passing and handling. Curiously, Coach Lynam wasn't terribly thrilled at the prospect of Eisley joining us, and he remained loyal to Brent Price, keeping him in the starting lineup. I admired loyalty, but I admired winning more. Price would either get him fired or get him extended.

I had one more move to make, wanting more depth inside. I'm a big believer that you can never have too many trees guarding the basket. We sent:

C Jim McIlvaine
SF Bob McCann

to Atlanta for:

PF Matt Bullard.

Bullard gives us another competent inside player, and was a better offensive player than McIlvaine. We needed to add three players to get us to a full roster of 12, so we signed SG Nathan Hancock, PG Nigel Welch, and SF Derrick Braswell, none of who would be back with us next season.

Our opening day lineup looked like this:
PG Brent Price
SG Calbert Cheaney
SF Juwan Howard
PF Chris Webber
C Gheorghe Muresan
6th Rasheed Wallace SF/PF/C
7th Howard Eisley PG/SG
8th Matt Bullard SF/PF/C
9th Tim Legler PG/SG/SF
10th Nathan Hancock Gatorade Boy
11th Nigel Welch Towel Boy
12th Derrick Braswell Janitor

I was intrigued by the possibility that Legler might prove to be a decent backup point guard. He is a better passer/handler than Brent Price, and his development could help us move Price to clear the way for Eisley. We headed into the season with a comfortable 4.5 million in salary cap space with only Juwan Howard and Brent Price being our only two core players not under contract for next season.

[Cap Ologist]

We ended the first month 7-8, third in the Atlantic Division, and 7th in the Eastern Conference.

Game 1: @ Philly 106-89 W
Game 2: Detroit 102-83 L
Game 3: @ Orlando 100-85 L
Game 4: Charlotte 111-104 L
Game 5: New York 113-90 L
Game 6: Philly 92-86 L
Game 7: @ Boston 108-94 W
Game 8: Toronto 113-104 W
Game 9: @ Detroit 121-108 W
Game 10: Miami 109-93 W
Game 11: Orlando 126-117 L
Game 12: @ New Jersey 107-94 W
Game 13: Cleveland 102-74 L
Game 14: Boston 114-76 W
Game 15: @ New York 108-90 L

Scoring:
Chris Webber 23.2
Juwan Howard 22.3
Calbert Cheaney 13.1
Gheorghe Muresan 12.7
Brent Price 10.1
Rasheed Wallace 9.2

Rebounding:
Chris Webber 10.1
Gheorghe Muresan 9.7
Juwan Howard 7.5
Rasheed Wallace 6.1

Assists:
Brent Price 9.2
Howard Eisley 6.4

That early losing streak really hurt, but we bounced back to finish the month strong. Price has been decent enough for Lynam to keep his job, but I'm really contemplating moving him soon. Eisley has a much better A/TO ratio, and I'd like to increase his minutes.

Fortunately, the bottom three are getting very little playing time, all under 5 minutes a game, which is still more than I'd like.

[Cap Ologist]

Our second month wasn't much better as we enter the new year with a 14-15 record.

Game 16: Atlanta 87-79 W
Game 17: @ Houston 98-90 W
Game 18: @ Dallas 108-99 W
Game 19: Milwaukee 116-100 W
Game 20: Lakers 118-90 L
Game 21: @ Portland 93-77
Game 22: Clippers 104-89 L
Game 23: @ Phoenix 112-92 L
Game 24: @ Golden State 101-78 L
Game 25: @ Seattle 103-98 W
Game 26: Golden State 111-104 L
Game 27: New York 93-90 L
Game 28: @ Milwaukee 119-90 W
Game 29: Cleveland 105-86 W

Scoring:
Juwan Howard 22.1
Chris Webber 21.7
Gheorghe Muresan 13.9
Calbert Cheaney 11.9
Brent Price 9.8
Rasheed Wallace 9.6

Rebounding:
Chris Webber 10.6
Gheorghe Muresan 10.0
Juwan Howard 7.9
Rasheed Wallace 5.5

Assists:
Brent Price 8.5
Howard Eisley 6.1

The Price experiment is over, I work the computers to find a player capable of playing the 1 and 2 at a reasonable price, and the computer spits out Jon Barry of Golden State, who is currently buried on their bench.

They get Price and Team Janitor/SF Derrick Braswell, we get Barry, and I think a lot better overall now with Eisley my starting PG. We find DeVeren Herrera to come in and fill the TJ/SF role.

Our new lineup:
PG Howard Eisley
SG Calbert Cheaney
SF Juwan Howard
PF Chris Webber
C Gheorghe Muresan
6th Rasheed Wallace SF/PF/C
7th Jon Barry PG/SG/SF
8th Matt Bullard SF/PF/C
9th Tim Legler PG/SG/SF
10th Nathan Hancock Gatorade Boy
11th Nigel Welch Towel Boy
12th DeVeren Herrera Janitor

[Izulde]

That's a great frontcourt to build on IMO and Eisley should be awesome if his summer league stardom in my dynasty is any indication.

[Cap Ologist]

We enter February one game over .500, 22-21.

Game 30: Dallas 105-91 W
Game 31: @ Detroit 95-84 W
Game 32: @ Cleveland 113-95 L
Game 33: @ Philly 115-91 L
Game 34: Sacramento 111-107 W
Game 35: @ Toronto 96-84
Game 36: Chicago 114-92 L
Game 37: @ Miami 110-86 L
Game 38: New Jersey 114-111 W
Game 39: @ Indiana 103-97 L
Game 40: @ Charlotte 115-104 W
Game 41: Houston 120-113 L
Game 42: Vancouver 104-91 W
Game 43: Portland 104-87 W

Scoring:
Chris Webber 21.8
Juwan Howard 21.2
Gheorghe Muresan 12.5
Calbert Cheaney 12.4
Rasheed Wallace 10.7
Howard Eisley 5.8

Rebounds:
Chris Webber 10.5
Gheorghe Muresan 9.0
Juwan Howard 7.7
Rasheed Wallace 6.4

Assists:
Howard Eisley 7.9
Tim Legler 2.3
Jon Barry 1.5

Coach Lynam has switched Barry and Legler in order off the bench, I guess that's his way of sticking it to me after trading Price. I'm about to go to bed when my phone rings....

[Cap Ologist]

My secretary spoke quickly, and minutes later I was in my car heading back to the office. Numerous teams had called with trade proposals as we approached the trading deadline and she knew that I would want to look over them as soon as possible.

The first proposal on my desk had us sending PF Juwan Howard, SG Calbert Cheaney and SG DeVeren Herrera to Charlotte for SF Glen Rice, SF Scott Burrell, PG Michael Adams and their 1996 and 1998 1st round picks. This would give us a player better suited to playing the 3 in Rice, Burrell and Cheaney were pretty similar players with Burrell being cheaper, and the two picks would most likely be late firsts.

The second proposal had us sending PF Chris Webber to Charlotte for SF Glen Rice, SF Scott Burrell, SG Kendall Gill, and their 1996 1st round pick. We could move Howard to the 4, and have Glen Rice take over the 3 and Gill the 2, moving Cheaney to the bench with Burrell.

The third proposal had us sending PF Chris Webber and C Gheorghe Muresan to Houston for C Hakeem Olajuwon, PG Sam Cassell and SF Robert Horry. This is perhaps the most dangerous of the three options because I'm not sure how adequately Horry can play the 4, Cassell would start at the 1 and allow us to bring Eisley off the bench.

The fourth proposal had us sending PF Chris Webber and SG DeVeren Herrera to Orlando for PG Penny Hardaway, SF Dennis Scott and their 1996 and 1998 1st round picks. Penny would solidify our PG position and Dennis Scott would increase our depth off the bench. The picks would most likely be late firsts.

The fifth proposal had us sending PF Chris Webber to Boston for PF Dino Radja, SF Rick Fox, SF Eric Williams and their 1996 1st round pick. We would have Howard at the 4, Fox at the 3, with Radja and Williams increasing our depth, the pick is a lottery pick.

I gathered the papers up and headed back home, a fitful night of sleep ahead of me.

[Cap Ologist]

By lunchtime the next day, I was driving myself crazy going through the various options and what they would mean for the team this year and in the years to come. I'd eliminated from serious consideration the offers from Houston and Orlando, and decided that I would roll the dice and wait til closer to the trade deadline.

Game 44: Phoenix 118-108 W
Game 45: @ New York 108-107 L
Game 46: @ Atlanta 107-91 L
Game 47: @ Chicago 116-85 L
Game 48: @ Milwaukee 128-83 W
Game 49: Indiana 81-80 L
Game 50: @ Minnesota 120-116
Game 51: New Jersey 84-82 W
Game 52: @ Hornets 112-99 W

We're 26-26, currently in 10th place in the conference, and it was time to work the phones.

[Izulde]

If it was me, I'd take that first deal. There's no way I'd trade Webber for any of those offers out there and I'm not entirely sold on Howard as a franchise player anyway.

[Cap Ologist]

That's a good point, and I'm probably leaning more and more to a slight variation of that trade. The Boston offer is tempting for the long term, I'd be adding 3 solid players plus a chance at one of the top players in next year's draft. Taking the Charlotte offer is probably the safest play, the Boston offer might have the most potential.

[Cap Ologist]

I finally make a decision on the future of the team by executing two trades. First, we send:

PF Rasheed Wallace
SG Calbert Cheaney

to Charlotte for:

SF Glen Rice
SF Scott Burrell.

Rice gives us a legitimate #3 and Burrell is a cheaper version of Cheaney.

Then, we send:

C Gheorghe Muresan
SG DeVeren Herrera

to Denver for:

C Dikembe Mutombo
1996 1st Round Pick

Muresan is a better offensive player and rebounder, but Mutombo is a better passer and defender. We also have to add another scrub to our bench and so we sign Travis Rucker, a SG/Janitor combo.

[Izulde]

Our teams are starting to look somewhat similiar.

Edit: 2006 pick?

[Cap Ologist]

Oops, that would be a bug if we could trade 10 years down the road.

[Cap Ologist]

The day after the trade was complete, I relieved Coach Lynam of his duties, and named myself head coach. Once again, the papers were in an uproar. I just didn't think Lynam could do much more than what he had shown, and there really wasn't anyone else out there who interested me.

Game 53: Charlotte 104-90 W
Game 54: Milwaukee 123-94 W
Game 55: @ Denver 98-85 L
Game 56: @ Utah 91-81 L
Game 57: @ Lakers 95-85 W
Game 58: @ Sacramento 102-92 W
Game 59: @ Vancouver 104-73 W

Not too shabby of a run if I say so myself considering Webber was banged up. We were 31-28, battling for the 8th seed in the East.

Scoring:
Glen Rice 24.7
Juwan Howard 21.3
Chris Webber 20.1
Dikembe Mutombo 10.6

Rebounding:
Dikembe Mutombo 12.3
Chris Webber 10.2
Juwan Howard 7.7
Glen Rice 7.0

Assists:
Howard Eisley 8.6
Glen Rice 3.7
Tim Legler 2.9
Juwan Howard 2.7
Chris Webber 2.6
Dikembe Mutombo 2.5

[Cap Ologist]

Game 60: Seattle 94-80 L
Game 61: Clippers 94-90 L
Game 62: Atlanta 85-74 W
Game 63: @ Chicago 112-90 L
Game 64: @ New Jersey 104-97 W
Game 65: Utah 115-107 L
Game 66: San Antonio 99-78 W
Game 67: Orlando 86-83 L
Game 68: Denver 104-66 W
Game 69: @ Cleveland 108-99 W
Game 70: Indiana 99-83 W
Game 71: @ Miami 115-105 W
Game 72: Philly 123-80 W

If the playoffs started today, we'd be the 7th seed, we have a 1 game lead over Cleveland, and are 1 game back of Miami and Atlanta for the 5th and 6th seeds.

Scoring:
Glen Rice 23.8
Juwan Howard 20.2
Chris Webber 19.9
Dikembe Mutombo 10.4
Howard Eisley 7.9

Rebounds:
Dikembe Mutombo 12.0
Chris Webber 10.4
Juwan Howard 7.6
Glen Rice 6.9

Assists:
Howard Eisley 8.7
Glen Rice 3.6
Tim Legler 2.8
Chris Webber 2.7
Juwan Howard 2.4
Dikembe Mutombo 2.4

Eight of our last ten games are against Eastern conference opponents, so we could realistically make a push and gain a higher seed.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 73: @ Atlanta 104-99 W
Game 74: @ San Antonio 106-104 W
Game 75: Miami 102-98 W
Game 76: @ Boston 98-91 L
Game 77: Minnesota 108-103 L
Game 78: Toronto 99-77 W
Game 79: @ Orlando 115-108 L
Game 80: Boston 100-68 W
Game 81: @ Toronto 106-77 W
Game 82: Chicago 120-97

We enter as the 6th seed and draw Indiana, who we went 1-2 against during the regular season, but our win came after the Rice/Mutombo trades. Indiana is led by Reggie Miller and Rick Smits. They scored 93.6 points per game and allowed 87.0 points, holding opponents to .430 from the field. We scored 100 points a game and allowed 97.5 a game.

Game 1: Webber scores 21, Rice 19 and Mutombo 15, but Miller and Smits get 40 and 19 respectively as the Pacers cruise to 107-90 win.

Game 2: Rice scores 22 and we have four other players in double digits while holding Reggie to 18 points, but it's still not enough as the Pacers take a 2-0 lead on a 93-82 victory.

Game 3: Webber gets 26, Rice adds 19, Mutombo collects 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks while Eisley scores 13 and has 11 assists. We defend our court with a 105-90 victory.

Game 4: Rice and Webber each score 17, Howard adds 10 off the bench, but the Pacers get 26 from Miller enroute to an 85-73 victory and commanding 3-1 lead.

Game 5: Rice and Webber each score 22, Howard adds 21 off the bench, but Reggie would not be denied with another big game of 36 points as the Pacers close us out 107-103.

And so my first season came to an end. Mutombo and Howard would both be free agents, and our first priority. We also need to address our backcourt situation.

In the East, Chicago beats Cleveland in 5, while New York and Orlando would both need 7 games to advance. In the West, Seattle swept Denver, Houston swept Golden State, Utah would beat Sacramento in 6, and Phoenix would need 7 to take care of Portland.

Chicago would beat New York in 7, while Orlando only needed 5 to oust Indiana, Seattle swept Houston and Phoenix took care of Utah in 5.

Second seed Orlando beat top seed Chicago in 6, while top seed Seattle took care of second seed Phoenix in 5.

Seattle won the title in a thrilling seven game series over the Magic.

The Nets would win the top draft pick with Boston notching the 6th pick and Charlotte the 13th.

Season Awards:
MVP: Alonzo Mourning Miami 24.3 PPG/3.2 APG/11.7 RPG/2.7BPG/1.3 SPG
DPOY: Dikembe Mutombo Washington 10.6 PPG/2.4 APG/12.1 RPG/4.6 BPG/1.0 SPG
ROTY: Damon Stoudamire Toronto 18.6 PPG/9.2 APG/4.0 RPG/.1 BPG/1.5 SPG
6th Man: Chris Dudley Portland 4.8 PPG/1.3 APG/9.5 RPG/1.4 BPG/.7 SPG
Coach of the Year: George Karl Seattle 65-17, NBA Title

All-NBA
1st Team
PG: Kevin Johnson PHX
SG: Michael Jordan CHI
SF: Grant Hill DET
PF: Charles Barkley PHX
C: Alonzo Mourning MIA

2nd Team
PG: Gary Payton SEA
SG: Reggie Miller IND
SF: Glen Rice WAS
PF: Karl Malone UTA
C: Shaquille O'Neal ORL

3rd Team
PG: John Stockton UTA
SG: Mitch Richmond SAC
SF: Cedric Ceballos LAL
PF: Shawn Kemp SEA
C: Hakeem Olajuwon HOU

All Defense
1st Team
PG: Gary Payton SEA
SG: Michael Jordan CHI
SF: Scottie Pippen CHI
PF: Chris Webber WAS
C: Dikembe Mutombo WAS

2nd Team
PG Mookie Blaylock ATL
SG Latrell Sprewell GS
SF Stacey Augmon ATL
PF Shawn Kemp SEA
C Alonzo Mourning MIA

All Rookie
1st Team
PG Damon Stoudamire TOR
SG Jerry Stackhouse PHI
SF Michael Finley PHX
PF Joe Smith GS
C Arvydas Sabonis POR

2nd Team
PG Tyus Edney SAC
SG Sasha Danilovic MIA
SF Eric Willaims BOS
PF Antonio McDyess DEN
C Theo Ratliff DET

My end of the year meeting with Mr. Rollins goes well. I'd promised to make the playoffs and stay under the salary cap, and had managed to do both. I told him I thought we'd make the playoffs again but we might need to go a little bit over the cap. He was fine, just warned me not to go crazy.

We traded our two spare players to New Jersey for a 2nd round pick, mainly to dump their salaries and give us a better idea of what kind of offers we could make to Mutumbo and Howard. We also got word that the salary cap would rise by $2 million, giving us around $6 millon or so to spend.

We keep our assistants the same, they're in their last year, and more than likely won't be back next season.

[Izulde]

Rice, Webber and Mutombo. Man that's a filthy frontcourt.

[Autumn]

The defensive player of the year doesn't make All Defense team? That's odd.

Good job with the team though. That was a nice effort.

[Cap Ologist]

Oops, Dikembe was 1st Team, not sure why I put Alonzo twice. Chicago was willing to trade Jordan and Pippen for Webber, that would have been something to have three guys on the All Defense 1st Team.

[Cap Ologist]

Well, the next few months passed in a blur, we had several players in for private workouts, and thought that with our picks we might get Ray Allen who was projected to go in the mid-teens and Jeff McInnis who was projected to go in the early 20s.

Imagine our surprise, when with the third pick in the draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Ray Allen. When it got to our pick at 14, I called Milwaukee and inquired if they were interested in keeping Allen. I offered them our pick and our 2nd round pick, and I guess they realized they didn't like Allen as much as they thought. Five minutes later, the commissioner was announcing the trade, and Milwaukee chose Eric Dampier.

McInnis was still on the board when we picked at 21, and we chose him despite concerns about how he would fit in with the team. We had another 2nd rounder and took a flyer on PF Cory Wheat. After summer league ended, we were ready to get rid of both of them. McInnis was what we feared and Wheat crashed and burned. We shipped Wheat to Philly for their 1997 2nd rounder, and McInnis and Legler to Atlanta for their 1997 1st.

Free agency was upon us, and we waited for the market to settle down. We were hoping to be able to resign Howard and Mutombo, and then try to add pieces around them.

We identified several role players we wanted and were actually able to get them to sign before we could work out deals with our guys. We added:

PG Chris Childs
SG Aaron McKie
PF Don MacLean
SG Jon Barry

Howard signed the next day, and we ended up having to pay more than we originally planned, 4 years, 9.6 million. We ended up in a bidding war with Seattle and Philly for him.

On a lark, we offered PG Rod Strickland our mid-level exemption, not really thinking we had much of a shot. He accepted, and we'd added another weapon. We also inked SG Sasha Danilovic and planned to send him to the D-League to develop him. Mutombo signed a 5-year contract worth $7,631,375 the next day. To fill out our roster, we signed C Ervin Johnson to a 1 year league minimum deal.

Our depth was greatly improved over last season with:

PG Howard Eisley
SG Ray Allen
SF Glen Rice
PF Chris Webber
C Dikembe Mutombo

6th Juwan Howard SF/PF/C
7th Rod Strickland PG/SG
8th Scott Burrell SG/SF
9th Don MacLean PF/C
10th Chris Childs PG/SG
11th Aaron McKie SG/SF
12th Jon Barry PG/SG
13th Ervin Johnson C
14th Matt Bullard PF/C
15th Sasha Danilovic SG/SF -> D-League

Barry, who played 16.5 minutes a game for us last year is now the last guy off of our bench. I'm sure I'll be doing some tweaking on the rotation as the season goes along.

[Izulde]

That's a damn good looking team there.

[Cap Ologist]

Thanks, but's it proving to be a bitch trying to find minutes for everyone. I've spent about 30 minutes on my sub matrix, and still not happy with it.

[Cap Ologist]

I make a late change to our rotation by starting Rod Strickland and bringing Eisley off the bench. I really want Eisley to continue to develop, but Strickland is better right now. And hopefully, he'll want to resign with us after this season.

Game 1: @ Philly 101-91 W
Game 2: Detroit 96-87 L
Game 3: @ Orlando 97-89 W
Game 4: Charlotte 112-94 W
Game 5: New York 113-88 W
Game 6: Philly 117-78 W
Game 7: @ Boston 102-97 L
Game 8: Toronto 101-74 W
Game 9: @ Detroit 116-98 W
Game 10: Miami 110-93 W
Game 11: Orlando 87-70 W
Game 12: @ New Jersey 114-91 W
Game 13: Cleveland 98-73 W
Game 14: Boston 122-103 W
Game 15: @ New York 95-82 W

We closed the first month of the season 13-2. We were #2 in the league in scoring at 104.5 ppg, and were #4 defensively allowing 88.1 ppg.

Scoring Leaders:
Chris Webber 20.3
Glen Rice 18.5
Juwan Howard 15.4
Ray Allen 14.0
Rod Strickland 10.9
Dikembe Mutombo 10.5

Rebounding:
Dikembe Mutombo 9.9
Chris Webber 8.6
Juwan Howard 8.1
Glen Rice 5.0
Rod Strickland 3.8
Ray Allen 3.5

Assists:
Rod Strickland 8.8
Ray Allen 5.4
Howard Eisley 5.3
Glen Rice 3.6
Chris Webber 3.5

I know it's early, but I'm very impressed with our start and our balance. I don't believe I've ever had 6 guys average in double figures in scoring, and doubt it will last the entire season.

And in other news around the league, Michael Jordan is out 151 days with a torn ACL.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 16: Atlanta 96-74 W
Game 17: @ Houston 105-94 W
Game 18: @ Dallas 101-86 L
Game 19: Milwaukee 90-83 W
Game 20: Lakers 111-95 W
Game 21: @ Portland 105-77 W
Game 22: Clippers 119-95 W
Game 23: @ Phoenix 108-103 W
Game 24: @ Golden State 112-99 L
Game 25: @ Seattle 115-94 L
Game 26: Golden State 106-72 W
Game 27: New York 95-77 W
Game 28: @ Milwaukee 117-112 L
Game 29: Cleveland 100-80 W

We close December 23-6, with a 3 game lead over Chicago and Indiana for the top seed in the East, and tied with Seattle for homecourt throughout. We are now ranked 1st in scoring with 103.2, a drop of just over a point per game. Not bad considering Strickland, Howard, Rice, and Burrell all missed time during the month. We are 7th in points allowed with 90.2 points, an increase of just about 2 points per game.

Scoring:
Chris Webber 21.0
Glen Rice 17.1
Juwan Howard 15.0
Ray Allen 13.4
Rod Strickland 10.2
Dikembe Mutombo 10.1

Rebounds:
Dikembe Mutombo 10.1
Chris Webber 8.8
Juwan Howard 7.9
Glen Rice 5.9

Assists:
Rod Strickland 8.0
Howard Eisley 6.0
Ray Allen 4.6

All in all, a nice turnaround from last year at this time when we were 1 game under 500 at this point. And as an added bonus, our trade with Atlanta is looking really good as they are 9-20 after going 45-37 and making the playoffs last season. Here's to their continual slump!

[Cap Ologist]

Game 30: Dallas 116-88 W
Game 31: @ Detroit 107-86 W
Game 32: @ Cleveland 92-82 W
Game 33: @ Philly 117-78 W
Game 34: Sacramento 105-82 W
Game 35: @ Toronto 106-93 L
Game 36: Chicago 98-86 W
Game 37: @ Miami 99-90 W
Game 38: New Jersey 102-101 W
Game 39: @ Indiana 95-83 L
Game 40: @ Charlotte 123-96 W
Game 41: Houston 107-73 W
Game 42: Vancouver 125-74 W
Game 43: Portland 108-77 W

A 12-2 month takes us to 35-8, battling Indiana and Seattle for the top seed. We are still the top offensive team for the second month in a row with a 104.2 average. We move up one spot to 6th in team defense, giving up an average 89.3 points. As a team, we're shooting 49.7% from the field and just over 40% from 3.

Scoring:
Chris Webber 20.7
Glen Rice 17.4
Juwan Howard 15.9
Ray Allen 13.2
Rod Strickland 10.6
Dikembe Mutombo 9.9

Rebounds:
Dikembe Mutombo 9.7
Chris Webber 9.0
Juwan Howard 7.9
Glen Rice 6.3

Assists:
Rod Strickland 7.8
Howard Eisley 5.7
Ray Allen 4.7

[Cap Ologist]

Game 44: Phoenix 122-97 W
Game 45: @ New York 86-78 W
Game 46: @ Atlanta 96-76 W
Game 47: @ Chicago 122-112 W
Game 48: @ Milwaukee 99-98 W
Game 49: Indiana 91-77 W
Game 50: @ Minnesota 105-90 W
Game 51: New Jersey 96-82 W
Game 52: @ Hornets 96-98 L
Game 53: Hornets 105-87 L
Game 54: Milwaukee 116-84 W
Game 55: @ Denver 112-89 W
Game 56: @ Jazz 89-86 W
Game 57: @ Lakers 105-95 W

We made one trade during the month sending SG Jon Barry and C Ervin Johnson to Detroit for PF Otis Thorpe. Thorpe is 34, and is most likely just a half-season rental, but Barry and Johnson weren't going to do much for us this year. It's nice having one more solid big man I can bring off the bench if necessary.

We'll enter March 47-10, with a two game lead over Indiana who we finally beat this month for the top seed in the East, and we have a three game lead over Seattle for home court throughout the playoffs. We lead the league in scoring with 103.3 points a game, while only giving up 89.7 points, good enough for 6th best in the league.

Game 58: @ Sacramento 107-104 L
Game 59: @ Vancouver 112-99 W
Game 60: Seattle 103-90 W
Game 61: Clippers 94-82 W
Game 62: Atlanta 109-59 W
Game 63: @ Chicago 91-89 L
Game 64: @ New Jersey 104-93 W
Game 65: Utah 113-103 W
Game 66: San Antonio 110-99 W
Game 67: Orlando 100-70 W
Game 68: Denver 111-96 W
Game 69: @ Cleveland 91-84 W
Game 70: Indiana 89-65 W
Game 71: @ Miami 109-103 W
Game 72: Philly 96-82 L

We enter April 59-13, with a 7 game lead over Indiana and Seattle. We continue to lead the league in scoring with 102.9 points and improved to 5th best in the league by allowing only 89.3 points.

Scoring:
Chris Webber 21.2
Glen Rice 17.3
Juwan Howard 15.4
Ray Allen 13.3
Rod Strickland 30.6
Dikembe Mutombo 8.8

Rebounding:
Chris Webber 9.4
Dikembe Mutombo 8.5
Juwan Howard 8.5
Glen Rice 6.1

Assists:
Rod Strickland 7.7
Howard Eisley 5.3
Ray Allen 4.5
Glen Rice 3.9
Chris Webber 3.4

[Johnny93g]

Question about trading.

Are there different levels of trade difficulty, ala FOF. The Ray Allen trade just boggles my mind how the game would select him third, and then he loses his value. Is it possible that the roster file has an effect on the trading?

[Cap Ologist]

As far as I know there aren't any levels. I was a little surprised as well, but I think it's fairly common in the NBA for players to be picked and then traded later. Not sure if a #3 has been traded for a #14, but in this draft file the overall star ratings for Dampier and Allen are about the same, Allen was a little more developed. Might be more a case of this draft just being really stacked.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 73: @ Atlanta 100-69 W
Game 74: @ San Antonio 86-72 W
Game 75: Miami 105-72 W
Game 76: @ Boston 107-105 L
Game 77: Minnesota 122-96 W
Game 78: Toronto 132-104 W
Game 79: @ Orlando 95-69 W
Game 80: Boston 110-88 W
Game 81: @ Toronto 115-93 W
Game 82: Chicago 114-89

A 9-1 backstretch propels us to the top overall seed with homecourt throughout the playoffs. We lead the league in scoring with 103.5 points a game, and our 88.9 points allowed is good enough for 5th.

Scoring:
Chris Webber 21.1
Glen Rice 17.1
Juwan Howard 15.2
Ray Allen 14.1
Rod Strickland 10.9
Dikembe Mutombo 8.6

Rebounds:
Chris Webber 9.6
Dikembe Mutombo 8.3
Juwan Howard 8.2
Glen Rice 6.0

Assists:
Rod Strickland 7.9
Howard Eisley 5.2
Ray Allen 4.6
Glen Rice 4.0

I think Ray Allen should have a good shot at Rookie of the Year, he's 2nd in scoring, 2nd in assists, 10th in assists, and 1st in steals among rookies.
East
1. Washington
2. Indiana
3. Milwaukee
4. Chicago
5. Cleveland
6. Philly
7. New Jersey
8. Detroit

West
1. Seattle
2. San Antonio
3. Utah
4. Golden State
5. Houston
6. Phoenix
7. Sacramento
8. LA Lakers

Game 1: Detroit gets 20 a piece from Marcus Camby and Doug Christie, Allan Houston adds 12, and John Amaechi scores 14 from the bench for Detroit. We counter with 24 from Rice, 18 from Webber, 18 from Allen, 13 from Strickland and 12 from Howard. Detroit jumps out to a 27-16 lead after one, leads 57-37 at the break. We hold them to 14 in the third and trim their lead to 5 going into the fourth. We finally catch up to Detroit and surge ahead for a 102-95 win.

Game 2: Detroit knows they let an opportunity get away. Christie comes out firing with 31, Houston adds 17. We get 35 from Glen Rice and 20 from Webber. We lead by 3 after the first, and extend to 67-47 at halftime. We cruise for an 109-91 victory and 2-0 lead.

Game 3: We head to Detroit and face a determined team. Houston scores 27 to lead the way for Detroit, Ray Allen leads us with 17. We never challenge and Detroit gets a 100-74 victory.

Game 4: It's a repeat of game 3, Detroit leads the majority of the game and they defend their home court with a 110-87 victory.

Game 5: Detroit is brimming with confidence after 2 lopsided victories. Houston and Christie score 23 and 20 points to lead Detroit again. We get 22 from Glen Rice, and 17 each from Strickland and Howard. But more importantly, we get a 95-90 victory and 3-2 lead.

Game 6: Back to Detroit where we've gotten our asses kicked. Houston has another great game with 33, but gets little help from his team. Webber bounces back from a lackluster 7 point Game 5 performance with 28 and Allen scores 22 with Rice adding 18. It's more than enough to power us to a 94-82 victory.

Chicago and Milwaukee each need 6 games to advance, while Indiana needs 7 to dispatch New Jersey. In the West, Seattle sweeps the Lakers, Sacramento upsets San Antonio in 6, Phoenix and Houston need 7 to upset Utah and Golden State.

[Izulde]

Who did AI go to and what kind of season did he have BTW?

[Cap Ologist]

He went to New Jersey with the first overall pick and was averaging a monstrous 22.9 points and 7 assists before he suffered a torn knee tendon. He's about 6 months away from returning.

[Cap Ologist]

We face Chicago in the conference semi-finals. Jordan has recovered from his injury, so it's gonna be a tough test.

Game 1: Jordan scores 23 but we get 22 from Webber. Toni Kukoc gets 13 from the bench but we get 16 from Howard off our bench. In the end it comes down to defense, and we're able to keep the rest of Jordan's supporting cast in check. We pull away in the fourth quarter for a 96-83 win.

Game 2: Jordan scores 26, Dennis Rodman adds 14 points and 14 rebounds, Scottie Pippen adds 13, and Luc Longley scores 11 as the supporting cast attempts to redeem themselves. We get 19 from Webber, 15 from Strickland, 14 each from Rice and Eisley, and 10 from Howard. The game is a defensive struggle, we hold Chicago to 9 points in the 2nd quarter, and that allows us to create a big enough lead to hold off their late surge for an 88-84 victory and 2-0 lead.

Game 3: We head to the windy city. Jordan scores 30 in front of the home crowd, and Hersey Hawkins adds 15, Luc Longley adds 14, Bill Wennington adds 12 from the bench and Scottie Pippen scores 10. He's having a disappointing series so far, which is scary. If he breaks out, we're gonna be in trouble. We get 18 from Ray Allen, 15 from Rice, 14 from Mutombo, and 11 each from Webber and McKie. We lead by 4 after 1, 7 at halftime, but then Chicago gets hot and outscores us by 15 in the 2nd halftime to get a 102-94 victory.

Game 4: Jordan lights us up for 38 points. He's getting better each game back from injury. Hersey Hawkins in the only other Bull in double figures with 12. We get a balanced attack with 24 each from Webber and Rice, 17 from Strickland, 11 from Eisley, and 10 from Ray Allen. We lead by 10 after the first, and 17 at halftime. I'm wondering if we can hold on this time. We do, eventually opening up a 30 point lead at one point and claim a 123-95 win and 3-1 lead as we head back home for game 5.

Game 5: Chicago has their back to the wall, and we're expecting a monstrous effort. Jordan is spectacular again with 28, Pippen contributes 14, and Longley goes for 10. We get 25 from Rice, 23 from Webber, 12 each from Strickland, Eisley and Howard, and 10 each from Mutombo and Allen. We lead the entire game again and take a 112-87 series clinching win.

Elsewhere, in the East, Milwaukee upsets Indiana in six games. In the West, Seattle sweeps Houston in their quest to defend their title, and upstart Sacramento upsets fellow upstart Phoenix in six.

Game 1: We get a stellar performance from our backcourt with 25 from Allen and 21 from Strickland, Howard chips in 15 from the bench. The Bucks counter with 29 from Glenn Robinson, 12 from Vin Baker and 10 from Erick Dampier. We lead wire to wire and take a 98-87 victory.

Game 2: Glenn Robinson scores 28, and Vin Baker picks up the pace with 25 points. We get 16 from Strickland, 15 from Howard and 14 from Mutombo as they effectively hold Webber, Rice and Allen in check. They take one on the road and even the series with a 100-89 victory. Eisley gets banged up and will probably sit out games 3 and 4.

Game 3: Howard leads us with 26 points off the bench, Ray Allen puts in 21, Glen Rice adds 15. Chris Childs takes Eisley's place in the rotation with a solid 9 points and 10 assists in 17 minutes. Glenn Robinson gets 32 and Vin Baker goes for 28, Derek Harper adds 14 and Anthony Mason gets 10. Milwaukee leads by 17 after the first, but then we come alive in the 2nd quarter and take a 2 point lead into halftime. The momentum has shifted and we grind our way to a 117-109 victory. Scott Burrell experiences back spasms and will be sidelined for a few days.

Game 4: Vin Baker scores 23 and Glenn Robinson chips in 22. They also get 18 from Mason, 12 from Derek Harper and 10 from Dampier. We get 21 from Rice, 13 from Strickland, 12 from Webber and 10 from MacLean. But it's not enough, we're missing two guys from our rotation and we lose 100-84.

Game 5: Eisley will be back in the rotation, and fortunately for us Seattle's streak of sweeping opponents is over. They're in a dogfight with Sacramento, tied 2-2. We get 20 points from Webber, 17 from Strickland and Howard, 14 from Allen and 11 from Rice. Milwaukee counters with 19 from Glenn Robinson, 18 points and 16 boards from Dampier, 18 points from Mason, and 16 from Charles Oakley. We lead for most of the first half, and then hold off a late surge to take a 110-103 win, but in the moments after the game, we learn that Howard is out for the rest of the playoffs with a broken leg.

Game 6: In my mind, this is a must win game for us. If we go back home, I think the Bucks will have all the momentum in pushing us to the wire without Howard at our disposal. We get 21 from Allen and 20 from Rice, Webber and Mutombo have rather dull games with 13 and 10 points a piece. Vin Baker goes for 27, and we manage to hold Robinson to 12, Dampier gets 15 points and 22 rebounds. Milwaukee jumps out early and leads by 5, we push back and take a 1 point lead into the break. Milwaukee surges back and takes a 3 point lead into the final period. We make a late run, and escape with a 94-91 win.

In the West, Seattle dispatches Sacramento in six games, and so the NBA finals will feature the best two teams in the league.

This has been our goal all season, and if we were totally healthy, I'd like our chances. These are the defending champs, and they know how to get the job done.

Game 1: We get big games from our starting five: Rice with 23, Webber with 19, Mutombo with 18, Strickland with 16, and Allen with 15. But we get essentially nothing from our bench. Shawn Kemp scores 33 and Gary Payton scores 20. We're tied 26 each after one, and open a 13 point lead in the second quarter. We hold off several runs by Seattle and take a 101-96 win.

Game 2: We get 23 from Rice, 19 from Allen, 14 each from Webber and Strickland, and 10 from Mutombo. Otis Thorpe gives us 8 off the bench and Eisley gets 6. Payton scores 30 and Kemp goes for 22. Seattle jumps out to a 39-25 lead after the first, we cut the lead to 8 by halftime. We surge forward into the third quarter and take a 6 point lead into the fourth. Seattle makes another run and they escape with a 2 point victory.

Game 3: Gary Payton welcomes us to Seattle with a blistering 35 points, but we hold Kemp to only 10 points. We get 18 from Mutombo, 16 from Rice, 13 from Allen and 12 from Thorpe. We come close but can't steal one, losing 95-94. And to add to our misery, Eisley hurts his knee, thinning us that much more.

Game 4: They say there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal, and we're facing a must win game to get home court advantage back. Joe Dumars comes alive and scores a torrid 24 points in only 14 minutes. Payton has another great game with 20 points and Detlef Schrempf adds another 20. We get 29 from Webber, 20 from Mutombo, and 13 from Strickland. Rice and Allen are M.I.A. going for 8 and 2 points respectively. Our offense is hurting, but our defense travels well this game. We hold Seattle to 15 points in the first, 13 in the second, and 19 in the third and take a 101-78 victory as we head into a best of three series.

Game 5: Our last game in Seattle and we need a win, I don't want to head home trailing this team. They're just too good and they know how to win. Rice bounces back with 24 points, Strickland scores 21, Webber manages 14 and Allen goes for 12. Payton won't go down easily as he pours another 25 on us, we hold Schrempf to 17 and Kemp to 12, and take a commanding lead in the 2nd when we hold Seattle to only 11 points. We hold on for a 98-88 win and 3-2 series lead.

Game 6: Eisley is still out with his banged up knee, and most likely won't return for this series. Gary Payton scores 38 to lead the Sonics, we get 37 from Rice. Kemp breaks free for 24 and Schrempf puts in 17. We get 18 from Webber, and 14 from Mutombo and Allen each. We jump out early and have a 17 point lead after the first quarter. Seattle chips away slowly and we collapse in the fourth quarter and lose 117-100.

Game 7: As I head into the arena, I can't help but think about how differently this series would be if we had Howard available. Our crowd is nervous, and I'm hoping we'll get them into the game early. We jump out to a 29-19 lead, and extend to a 65-38 lead at halftime. Surely we won't collapse again... Seattle trims the lead to 82-69 as we enter the fourth. Once again, Seattle outscores us in the fourth. But this time, our lead is large enough, and we hold on for a 102-91 victory and our first NBA title.

[Cap Ologist]

Two days after the game, I make the short trip to New York for the lottery selection. Due to our preseason trade with Atlanta, we have a chance at a high pick.

The lottery doesn't pan out for us, we hold on to the 7th selection, but the Nuggets jump from the projected 12th pick to the top pick.

Season Awards:
MVP: David Robinson SA
DPOY: David Robinson SA
ROTY: Zydrunas Ilgauskas TOR
6th Man: Juwan Howard WAS
COTY: George Karl (I was robbed!)

All-NBA 1st Team:
PG Terrell Bandon CLE (20.8 PPG, 8.3 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.6 SPG)
SG Reggie Miller IND (21.8 PPG, 5.4 APG, 6.1 RPG, 1.7 SPG)
SF Tom Gugliotta MIN (18.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 8.2 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 1.7 SPG)
PF Karl Malone UTA (24.4 PPG, 4.0 APG, 9.1 RPB, 1.9 SPG)
C David Robinson SA (28.8 PPG, 3.2 APG, 13.4 RPG, 3.4 BPG, 1.5 SPG)

All-NBA 2nd Team:
PG John Stockton UTA (15.8 PPG, 12.2 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.6 SPG)
SG Mitch Richmond SAC (20.5 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG)
SF Glen Robinson MIL (21.7 PPG, 5.2 APG, 5.5 RPG, 1.2 SPG)
PF Chris Webber WAS (21.1 PPG, 3.4 APG, 9.6 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 1.7 SPG)
C Hakeem Olajuwon HOU (25.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 1.5 SPG)

All-NBA 3rd Team:
PG Penny Hardaway ORL (23.2 PPG, 7.6 APG, 5.0 RPG, 2.1 SPG)
SG Clyde Drexler HOU (16.3 PPG, 7.1 APG, 5.7 RPG, 2.3 SPG)
SF Grant Hill DET (26.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 10.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG)
PF Charles Barkley PHX (18.4 PPG, 3.5 APG, 10.5 RPG, 1.9 SPG)
C Arvydas Sabonis POR (16.7 PPG, 2.9 APG, 10.9 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 1.0 SPG)

All-Defense 1st Team:
PG Gary Payton SEA (23.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 5.3 RPG, 2.3 SPG)
SG Latrell Sprewell GS (19.7 PPG, 4.0 APG, 5.2 RPG, 1.8 SPG)
SF Derrick McKey IND (12.3 PPG, 3.0 APG, 5.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG)
PF Bo Outlaw LAC (10.0 PPG, 1.6 APG, 7.3 RPG, 2.8 BPG, 1.2 SPG)
C David Robinson (28.8 PPG, 3.2 APG, 13.4 RPG, 3.4 BPG, 1.5 SPG)

All-Defense 2nd Team:
PG Jason Kidd DAL (16.0 PPG, 11.6 APG, 6.9 RPG, 2.1 SPG)
SG Bobby Phills CLE (12.9 PPG, 3.0 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.6 SPG)
SF Tom Gugliotta MIN (18.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 8.2 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 1.7 SPG)
PF Chris Webber WAS (21.1 PPG, 3.4 APG, 9.6 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 1.7 SPG)
C Hakeem Olajuwon HOU (25.1 PPG, 2.7 APG, 10.8 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 1.5 SPG)

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Allen Iverson NJ (22.9 PPG, 7.0 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.8 SPG)
SG Ray Allen WAS (14.1 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.5 SPG)
SF John Wallace ORL (7.4 PPG, 1.5 APG, 3.0 RPG)
PF Antoine Walker VAN (15.5 PPG, 2.6 APG, 6.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG)
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas TOR (12.9 PPG, 2.1 APG, 10.7, 1.7 BPG, 1.1 SPG)

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Stephon Marbury DET (12.0 PPG, 6.5 APG, 2.6 RPG)
SG Romario Souza POR (7.4 PPG, 1.4 APG, 1.8 RPG)
SF Donte Harris VAN (5.0 PPG, 1.1 APG, 1.9 RPG)
PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim LAC (7.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG)
C Erick Dampier MIL (9.4 PPG, 1.8 APG, 9.7 RPG, 2.0 BPG)

My meeting with Lincoln Rollins was short and sweet. He was ecstatic about our success and wanted to know what we needed to repeat. We finished our conversation, and I headed to the airport to take a quick vacation.

A few hours later, I landed in Ireland and after dinner and a drink at the pub, I returned to my room to sleep. I'd just drifted off when the phone rang, wakening me. Groggily, I rolled over and answered.

"Hello"





"He said what?"





"If you're joking, I'll never speak to...."





"Well, I guess I don't have much to say except to say that this is news to me, and can't really say much more until I hear it personally from him."


I hung up, cursed and threw the phone across the room.

[Cap Ologist]

I woke up the next morning and grabbed the paper left outside my door. Yep, it was true, there on the front page of the Sports section was the trade demand. Dikembe wasn't happy about his diminished role on the team, and wanted out. His minutes had dropped from the season before, and in his mind this had cost him a shot at repeating as the defensive player of the year and making one of the All-Defense teams.

I groaned and called the airline and caught the next flight home. A quick call around the league didn't yield much. Every team knew they had leverage, and they were driving a hard bargain.

Meanwhile, it was time to address our coaching staff. I wasn't bringing anyone back, and so I had to several interviews. I finally settled on:
1st Assistant Germaine Dodd
2nd Assistant Larry Matthew
3rd Assistant Ed Wortman

They were all solid at evaluating and developing players, as well as having a solid strategic understanding.

The draft this year was quite unspectacular, and outside of Tim Duncan, Keith Van Horn and Tracy McGrady, there wasn't much to get excited about. We worked out several centers and power forwards, but didn't really see a legitimate replacement for Mutombo that would be their at #7.

And on the night before the draft, we make a blockbuster trade.

We send:
PF Chris Webber
1997 1st Round #7
1997 1st Round #29
1999 1st Round

to Denver for:
PF Antonio McDyess
SG Jalen Rose
1997 1st Round #1

Webber is starting to get expensive at $9 million this year, and increasing by $1 million each of the next 3 years, and while it doesn't solve our Mutombo trade problem, McDyess could possibly take over as our 2nd big man off the bench, but he's a tad expensive for the amount of minutes he'd get. I like the idea of Rose as a PG/SG combo.

We turn in our card for Tim Duncan, and we're officially done with this draft. We ship our 2nd round pick for a pick next year.

Free agency hits and our first priority is to resign Howard Eisley. We sign him to a 3 year minimum salary deal, and let Strickland walk to Detroit and Thorpe signs with Sacramento. We sign C Matt Geiger to a one year minimum deal, and trade PF Antonio McDyess, SG Sasha Danilovic and PF Matt Bullard to Boston for their 1st round pick next year.

[Cap Ologist]

We have a great debate among the staff as to who our starting point guard should be. Rose will pose matchup problems, but Eisley is the better pure point guard. Ultimately, that is enough for me to keep Eisley as the starter. Rose will get his share of minutes, and his versatility will be a huge asset off the bench.

Trading Mutombo has proven to be more difficult than I thought. We just simply can't get an equal player in return, and so I call him to my office and we try to clear the air. I show him my plans for the rotation, and that I'm planning on him getting about 32 minutes a game, close to what he averaged when he won defensive player of the year. He's still ticked, but he understands that I'm not giving him up if it's gonna hurt our plans for repeating this season.

Our rotation for this season will start off:
PG Howard Eisley
SG Ray Allen
SF Glen Rice
PF Tim Duncan
C Dikembe Mutombo
6th Juwan Howard SF/PF/C
7th Jalen Rose PG/SG/SF
8th Matt Geiger C
9th Scott Burrell SG/SF
10th Aaron McKie SG/SF
11th Chris Childs PG
12th Don MacLean PF

Game 1: @ Philly 105-85 W
Game 2: Detroit 107-78 W
Game 3: @ Orlando 112-107 W
Game 4: Charlotte 92-77 W
Game 5: New York 111-76 W
Game 6: Philly 116-88 W
Game 7: @ Boston 102-83 W
Game 8: Toronto 96-68 W
Game 9: @ Detroit 107-97 W
Game 10: Miami 92-67 W
Game 11: Orlando 114-86 W
Game 12: @ New Jersey 115-90 W
Game 13: Cleveland 109-77 W
Game 14: Boston 95-90 W
Game 15: @ New York 122-79 W

We finish our first month undefeated, with a 1 game lead over Chicago for the top seed in the playoffs, and in the West, Phoenix at 11-4 has a .5 game lead over Minnesota for the top seed.

We are once again the top scoring team in the league at 106.3 points a game, and we allow 83.2 points a game, best in the league also. Kind of nice to be averaging 20 point victories.

Scoring:
Ray Allen 21.7
Tim Duncan 19.6
Glen Rice 18.4
Juwan Howard 16.7
Jalen Rose 8.9
Howard Eisley 7.6
Dikembe Mutombo 6.7

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 12.5
Dikembe Mutombo 8.7
Juwan Howard 7.9
Glen Rice 6.9

Assists:
Howard Eisley 9.7
Jalen Rose 3.9
Glen Rice 3.9

In Denver, Chris Webber is off to a great start, with 30.1 ppg and 13.4 rpg. Duncan meanwhile is off to a great start to his career, leading all rookies in scoring, rebounding and blocks and is 3rd in assists.

Our early success prompts me to consider spreading minutes more. Right now, we're basically running a 7 man rotation, I think we've got the talent to go 9, maybe 10 deep each night, which could go a long way to keeping our locker room morale high.

Also, Boston, whose pick we own, is currently residing in the cellar once again, and they've lost Dino Radja and Antonio McDyess to broken legs and both will be out for about 2 months.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 16: Atlanta 95-80 W
Game 17: @ Houston 101-91 L
Game 18: @ Dallas 113-77 W
Game 19: Milwaukee 114-83 W
Game 20: Lakers 99-91 W
Game 21: @ Portland 97-79 W
Game 22: Clippers 113-81 W
Game 23: @ Phoenix 100-98 W
Game 24: @ Golden State 111-95 W
Game 25: @ Seattle 107-100 L
Game 26: Golden State 126-118 W
Game 27: New York 122-105 W
Game 28: @ Milwaukee 104-93 L
Game 29: Cleveland 102-86 W

Another good month despite having Howard and Mutombo both out for 8 days as well as spreading the minutes a bit to get to a 9 man rotation. As we head into the new year, we sit at 26-3 with 25-3 Chicago hot on our heels in the East, in the West, Phoenix at 20-7 and Houston at 19-12 are battling it out for the top spot.

As a team, we're averaging 105.9 points a game, once again tops in the league. On defense, we're allowing 88.0 points, good enough for 3rd in the league.

Scoring:
Tim Duncan 20.6
Ray Allen 18.6
Glen Rice 16.9
Juwan Howard 16.5
Dikembe Mutombo 8.8
Howard Eisley 7.9
Jalen Rose 6.9

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 11.5
Dikembe Mutombo 9.2
Juwan Howard 7.4
Glen Rice 6.1

Assists:
Howard Eisley 10.1
Ray Allen 3.8
Glen Rice 3.7
Chris Childs 3.0

Mutombo's happiness has risen drastically, as well as several of our bench players. Burrell and MacLean will probably both be moved closer to the trade deadline. Both are in their last year of their contract and both are growing more and more unhappy with their lack of playing time. They're decent, but we just don't have room for them to play here, and to prepare for that, I sign Mark Davis and Steven Sullivan. Both are solid defenders, and well, that's about it.

Chris Webber still leads the league in scoring with just over 28 points a game, determined to prove to the world that he shouldn't have been traded. Tim Duncan seems to be the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 30: Dallas 112-91 W
Game 31: @ Detroit 96-86 L
Game 32: @ Cleveland 100-86 W
Game 33: @ Philly 96-70 W
Game 34: Sacramento 103-83 W
Game 35: @ Toronto 121-89 W
Game 36: Chicago 92-82 W
Game 37: @ Miami 113-94 W
Game 38: New Jersey 118-111 L
Game 39: @ Indiana 99-92 L
Game 40: @ Charlotte 121-84 W
Game 41: Houston 124-90 W
Game 42: Vancouver 121-75 W
Game 43: Portland 93-79 W

Another solid month, and our victory over Chicago came with Eisley and Rice both out. We'll head into February at 37-6, a half game behind Chicago's 38-6. We're averaging 106 points a game, good for 2nd in the league behind Phoenix at 107. Defensively, we still rank 3rd at 88.1 points.

Scoring:
Tim Duncan 20.5
Ray Allen 17.7
Glen Rice 16.5
Juwan Howard 16.2
Dikembe Mutombo 8.6
Howard Eisley 8.2
Jalen Rose 7.9

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 11.2
Dikembe Mutombo 9.3
Juwan Howard 6.8
Glen Rice 5.8
Ray Allen 4.2

Assists:
Howard Eisley 9.8
Ray Allen 3.9
Glen Rice 3.7
Chris Childs 3.5
Jalen Rose 3.4

I'm pretty satisfied with my current rotation with 9 guys averaging over 10 minutes a game, and if Boston continues to struggle, we could land another top player to play beside Duncan and Allen for many years, most likely to replace Glen Rice whose contract ends after next season.

[Izulde]

Go post on GAH.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 44: Phoenix 102-79 W
Game 45: @ New York 112-78 W
Game 46: @ Atlanta 93-83 W
Game 47: @ Chicago 113-101 W
Game 48: @ Milwaukee 97-96 W
Game 49: Indiana 110-92 W
Game 50: @ Minnesota 112-106 L
Game 51: New Jersey 100-70 W
Game 52: @ Hornets 112-96 L

After the game, we receive news that Tim Duncan broke his leg and will be out for two months. If there can be any silver lining in this, it's that we still have time to make a trade, and he should be back in time for the playoffs.

I work the phones, and ultimately strike a deal with New Jersey.

We send:

SG Mark Davis
C Steven Sullivan
PF Don MacLean

and receive:

PF Armon Gilliam
PF P.J. Brown

Hopefully, they'll help us hold serve while Duncan is out. Gilliam should be able to pick up the slack, and he's most likely a one season rental for us.

Game 53: Hornets 122-107 W
Game 54: Milwaukee 101-87 W
Game 55: @ Denver 93-85 W
Game 56: @ Jazz 120-96 W
Game 57: @ Lakers 97-81 W

So, the month was a slight bummer with Duncan's injury, but our five game winning streak without him was quite impressive. We'll head into March 49-8, a game up on Chicago for the top overall seed. In the west, Phoenix at 41-15 has a two game lead over the Spurs for the top seed.

We retook the lead as the top offense, averaging 105.6 points a game, while only allowing 88.9 points, good enough for 2nd place behind the mighty Bulls.

Scoring:
Tim Duncan 20.3
Ray Allen 17.7
Juwan Howard 16.5
Glen Rice 15.5
Howard Eisley 8.8
Dikembe Mutombo 8.5
Armon Gilliam 8.2 (14.5 for the season, but 8.2 since the trade)
Jalen Rose 8.1

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 11.0
Dikembe Mutombo 9.3
Juwan Howard 6.8
Glen Rice 6.0

[Cap Ologist]

Game 58: @ Sacramento 100-86 W
Game 59: @ Vancouver 102-92 L
Game 60: Seattle 127-82 W
Game 61: Clippers 114-74 W
Game 62: Atlanta 105-91 W
Game 63: @ Chicago 105-93 W
Game 64: @ New Jersey 110-75 W
Game 65: Utah 88-72 W
Game 66: San Antonio 111-89 W
Game 67: Orlando 100-88 L
Game 68: Denver 114-78 W
Game 69: @ Cleveland 116-100 W
Game 70: Indiana 100-71 W
Game 71: @ Miami 94-91 L
Game 72: Philly 97-81 W



I'll take a three loss month without Duncan, especially since we were able to beat Chicago and Indiana without him, two of the teams that figure to be tough in the playoffs. We'll head into the last 10 games of the season at 61-11, 1.5 games up on Chicago. In the West, Phoenix has a two game lead over Minnesota and San Antonio.

We slip back to second in team scoring, .1 points behind Phoenix at 105.2, and remain in second place allowing 88.3 points.

Scoring:
Tim Duncan 20.3
Ray Allen 17.5
Juwan Howard 17.0
Glen Rice 15.5
Dikembe Mutombo 8.8
Howard Eisley 8.7
Jalen Rose 8.1
Armon Gilliam 8.0

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 11.0
Dikembe Mutombo 9.5
Juwan Howard 6.8
Glen Rice 6.1

Assists:
Howard Eisley 9.7
Ray Allen 4.0
Glen Rice 3.6
Chris Childs 3.5

[MrBug708]

Duncan is a beast

[Cap Ologist]

Game 73: @ Atlanta 102-65 W
Game 74: @ San Antonio 131-123 L
Game 75: Miami 89-88 W
Game 76: @ Boston 123-115 L
Game 77: Minnesota 109-98 L
Game 78: Toronto 116-77 W
Game 79: @ Orlando 115-103 L
Game 80: Boston 101-92 W
Game 81: @ Toronto 123-115 W
Game 82: Chicago 93-90 W

Glen Rice and Howard Eisley were both injured in the Miami game, and so we dropped 3 of 4 without them, but bounced back nicely when Eisley returned against Boston. We will be healthy entering the playoffs. We also completed the season sweep of Chicago, though they did pass us for the top overall seed. We finish the season 67-15, one game back of Chicago.

For the season, we averaged 105.4 points a game, tops in the league, while only allowing 89.8 points, 2nd best behind the Bulls who averaged 99.9 points a game and gave up 86.7 points. Chris Webber completed his amazing season as the top scorer with 27.0 points, 3rd leading rebounder with 11.9 and appears to be the front runner for league MVP. Duncan's injury might cost him votes for Rookie of the Year, and I fully expect Howard to repeat as 6th Man of the Year.

Scoring:
Tim Duncan 20.3
Ray Allen 17.8
Juwan Howard 17.5
Glen Rice 15.4
Armon Gilliam 12.2 (for the season, not just since the trade)
Dikembe Mutombo 8.9
Howard Eisley 8.6
Jalen Rose 8.5

Rebounding:
Tim Duncan 11.0
Dikembe Mutombo 9.8
Juwan Howard 6.8
Armon Gilliam 6.7
Glen Rice 6.0

Assists:
Howard Eisley 9.4
Ray Allen 4.1
Chris Childs 3.6
Glen Rice 3.5

East Playoff Teams:
1. Chicago
2. Washington
3. Indiana
4. New Jersey
5. Miami
6. Orlando
7. Detroit
8. Milwaukee

West Playoff Teams
1. Phoenix
2. Minnesota
3. San Antonio
4. Utah
5. Houston
6. Sacramento
7. Golden State
8. Dallas

Barring injury, I don't think there is a team who can beat us in a 7 game series.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 1: Detroit

We finally have our entire team healthy for the first time in two months. We open up a 6 point lead heading into the second quarter, and extend to 12 points by halftime. In the second half, we lock down on defense and hold Detroit to 28 second half points. We run away for a 109-76 victory. Ray Allen scores 26, Glen Rice scores 18, Tim Duncan gets 12 in his return to the starting lineup, and Howard and Rose chip in 12 and 11 points from the bench respectively. Detroit was led by Stephon Marbury with 16 and got 15 from Danny Ferry.

Game 2: Detroit

We jump out to a 32-14 lead after the first quarter, and extend to a 56-34 halftime lead. We don't let up in the second half, and we cruise to a 117-72 victory behind Duncan's 28 points, Ray Allen's 25 points, and 34 points from our Michigan trio of Rice, Howard and Rose. Once again, Marbury leads Detroit with 15 points, while Grant Hill has yet to make his presence known in this series.

Game 3: @ Detroit

We're tied at 32 each after one, and hold on to a slim four point lead at halftime. We extend our lead to 12 heading into the fourth quarter, and gradually pull away for a 111-93 victory. Duncan once again leads us with 26, Howard gives us 23 bench points, Ray Allen scores 19, and Glen Rice puts in 14. Grant Hill does show up this time with 28 points, but he simply didn't have enough help.

Game 4: @ Detroit

We manage a 1 point lead after the first period, and hold on to a 7 point lead at halftime. Detroit trims our lead to 6 heading into the final period, and the crowd is doing their best to keep their team in it. We grind out the fourth quarter, and get the 115-105 victory. Duncan was magnificent with 39 points and 10 rebounds, Ray Allen scored 21, Howard put in 19, and Rice and Rose each added 13. Grant Hill played his heart out, leading his team with 42 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds, but once again, he just had no help from his team.

Amazingly, all four Eastern playoff series end in sweeps with Chicago, New Jersey and Indiana all advancing. In the West, Phoenix is the only team to get a sweep, and it takes five games for Minnesota to close out Golden State, and six games for Houston and Sacramento to pull upset victories.

We move on to face the Pacers.

Game 1: Pacers

We jump out to a 27-22 lead after one, but Indiana surges back to tie it up at 50. We extend to an eight point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and gradually pull away for a 107-90 win. Duncan scores 24, Rice and Allen each score 17, and Aaron McKie scores 10 points off the bench. Indiana is led by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf with 25, Rik Smits scores 16, Reggie Miller scores 13 and Derrick McKey adds 12.

Game 2: Pacers

We lead by 6 after one, by 10 at halftime, and by 18 entering the fourth quarter and hold on for a 17 point victory, 103-86. Allen scores 20, Duncan scores 19, Howard and Rice each score 14, Eisley chips in 12, and McKie adds another 10 from the bench. Abdul-Rauf leads Indiana again with 22, and Miller adds 19 with Chris Mills adding 11 from the bench.

Game 3: @ Pacers

We lead by 4 after one, by 8 at halftime, then watch Indiana storm back in the third to tie it up heading into the fourth quarter. We score 37 points in the fourth, Indiana could only manage 27, and we take the 100-90 victory. Rose, Duncan and Rice each score 15, Mutombo and Allen each score 14, McKie and Howard put in 11 and 10 points from the bench. However, Howard strains his knee and will be out for a few games. Abdul-Rauf scores 24, Smits posts 20 and Chris Mills puts in 11 and Miller and Mookie Blaylock each add 10 for the Pacers.

Game 4: @ Pacers

Armon Gilliam and P.J. Brown will split Howard's minutes this game. Indiana has an ugly 19-15 lead after the first quarter, but we take a 46-42 lead into halftime. Indiana narrows the lead to two as we enter the final quarter of another road closeout game. We hold Indiana to just 16 points, while we score 31 to pull away for a 100-83 win. Duncan scores 20, Rice scores 19, Eisley scores 12, Allen gets 11, and Mutombo 10, Armon Gilliam scores 10 and P.J. Brown gets 8 to fill Howard's void. Indiana gets 20 from Smits, 16 from Miller, but we hold Abdul-Rauf to only 6 points.

Chicago closes out New Jersey in five, and Minnesota closes out Sacramento in 5, Houston upsets Phoenix in seven, which mercifully gives us a few extra days of rest for Howard. We'll probably sit him out for game 1, and see where we are at.

Game 1: @ Chicago

We're tied at 20 after one, and trailing by 3 at halftime. Fortunately for us, defense always travels well, and so we're able to keep it close without Howard. We hold Chicago to 34 points in the second half, and we take a 92-81 victory. Allen leads us with 26 points, Duncan adds 19 points and 11 boards while Mutombo adds 8 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks. Chicago gets 23 from Jordan, Scottie Pippen scores 18 and former Bullet Rod Strickland adds 17.

And with the victory, we'll let Howard sit for at least one more game.

Game 2: @ Chicago

We continue our defensive swarming as we hold Chicago to 10 first quarter points which allows us to build a 13 point lead after one. But Jordan powers the Bulls in the 2nd and they trim our lead to 44-37 at halftime. The momentum is starting to swing, and we come out in the 3rd quarter with another stellar defensive performance, holding the Bulls to 13 points, giving us a 68-50 lead entering the last period. We cruise to a 97-81 victory behind Duncan's 28, and 12 each from Mutombo, Eisley and Rose, 11 from Rice and another 10 from Gilliam. Jordan scores 28, but we hold Pippen to just 4 points as we head home with a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Game 3: Chicago

We'll keep Howard out for this one as well, but he'll definitely be able to play in Game 4. Chicago jumps out to a 25-22 first quarter lead, and extend to a 57-51 lead heading into halftime. We come out with tremendous effort and energy and once again stifle Chicago's offense, allowing only 34 points the rest of the way. We pull away for the 106-91 victory behind Allen's 33 points, Duncan's 21, and Mutombo's 14 points and 11 boards. Chicago gets 23 from Jordan, 15 from Strickland, and 14 from Pippen.

Game 4: Chicago

Howard is back in the lineup this time as he is fully healed from his strained knee. We lead by three after the first quarter, but Chicago takes a 2 point lead into halftime. But our defense is too good the rest of the way, and once again we hold them to only 35 points in the second half and we close them out with a 108-84 victory. Glen Rice led the way with 29 points, Duncan put in 23 and had 10 rebounds, Mutombo had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Aaron McKie added another 10 points off the bench.

In the West, #2 seed Minnesota needs 6 games to finish off #5 seed Houston.

Game 1: Minnesota

We're rested and ready to go and we jump out early, taking a 28-13 lead into the second quarter. We lead 53-40 at halftime, and watch Minnesota make a game of it in the 3rd as they trim our lead to 76-70 entering the last period. We hold them off and take game 1 with a 103-92 victory. Ray Allen led all scorers with 26, Rice puts in 17, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard score 13 and 10 off the bench respectively, and Howard Eisley also scores 10 as we weather an uncharacteristic game from Duncan who finished with only 9 points. Christian Laettner led Minnesota with 25, and Tom Gugliotta added 17.

Game 2: Minnesota

Minnesota comes out hot and they lead 33-25 after the first period. We grind back and only trail by 2 at halftime at 52-50. Like so many times before, we own the third quarter and we outscore Minnesota 31-18, and we cruise the rest of the way to a 107-93 victory behind 20 points each from Allen and Howard, 17 points from Duncan, 14 from Rice and 10 from Mutombo. Gugliotta has a beastly 32 point game, but once again we hold Kevin Garnett to single digits, this time with only 5 points from him. Isaiah Rider also scores 26 for Minnesota.

Game 3: @ Minnesota

We're tied at 24 after 1, and Minnesota opens up a 7 point lead by halftime. We don't have another heroic defensive effort in us, and we can only watch them hand us our first playoff loss, 105-99. Ray Allen led the way with 26, Duncan had 19, Rice had 17 and Mutombo had 14, but our bench doesn't show up. Gugliotta leads with 28 points, and Garnett finally breaks double digits with 12.

Game 4: @ Minnesota

Perhaps we were too overconfident, but with a 14 game winning streak in the playoffs, it's hard not to be. We come out angry, and we lead 36-23 after the first quarter, and 61-37 at halftime. We hold them to just 34 second half points, and we regain momentum with a 97-71 win. Rice led the way with 24, Howard put in 22 to atone for his disappointing Game 3 performance, and Ray Allen had 17. Gugliotta with 22 and Laettner with 11 are the only players in double digits for Minnesota. Duncan and Garnett both score 2 points in the game.

Game 5: @ Minnesota

We lead 25-22 after one, and 50-47 at halftime. We get a little more separation in the 3rd quarter and take 82-76 lead into the fourth quarter. We outscore Minnesota 23-18 and our 105-94 victory sees us repeat as champions in one of the most dominating runs to the title that I've ever seen, 16-1 in the post season. Glen Rice and Ray Allen each score 25 points to pace us, as Minnesota gets 21 each Laettner and Terrell Brandon. Juwan Howard breaks his arm in the game, but he'll be more than ready by the time the season rolls around.

After the game, Mutombo finds me, and gives me a hug and a pat on the back. He doesn't have to say anything else, I know that he just wanted to feel like a big part of the team, and last year, we hadn't given him a chance to show what he can do.

The majority of our core are under contract for next season, but we'll have to make decisions on:

PG Chris Childs
SG Aaron McKie
SF Scott Burrell
PF P.J. Brown
C Matt Geiger

I'm not expecting any of those to draw much interest on the market, and we'd love to resign all of them. McKie had some solid performances in the playoffs. I didn't realize at the time, but Armon Gilliam is under contract for one more season.

One last note before we move on to the lottery, here is a minutes per game breakdown of my team for the season.

Duncan 34.3
Allen 33.7
Rice 32.9
Eisley 32.7
Mutombo 29.2
Howard 28.6
Rose 19.7
Gilliam 16.5 (post trade)
Brown 13.9 (post trade)
Childs 12.9
McKie 12.7
Burrell 8.3
Geiger 8.1

At the lottery, we're currently slated to have the 8th pick in the draft.

Pick 13 goes to Philly, no change.

Pick 12 goes to Toronto, no change.

Pick 11 goes to Charlotte, no change

Pick 10 goes to Denver, no change.

Pick 9 goes to Seattle, no change.

Pick 8 goes to the Lakers, and my jaw drops.

Pick 7 goes the Clippers, and fans in Cleveland begin celebrating also.

Pick 6 goes to Portland, who lost their chance at #4.

Pick 5 goes to New York, who slid down from #3.

Pick 4 goes to Atlanta, they slid all the way down from #1.

Pick 3 goes to Cleveland.

Pick 2 goes to Washington.

Pick 1 goes to Vancouver, who'd had the 2nd best chance at getting it.

I'd resigned myself to having to package Rice with #8 to move up in the draft to get one of the players we were interested in, but now we might be able to flip him for even better things down the road.

Season Awards:
MVP: David Robinson SAN (26.3 PPG, 2.9 APG, 12.1 RPG, 3.2 BPG, 1.5 SPG)
DPOY: David Robinson SAN (26.3 PPG, 2.9 APG, 12.1 RPG, 3.2 BPG, 1.5 SPG)
ROTY: Tim Duncan WAS (20.3 PPG, 2.4 APG, 11.0 RPG, 2.0 BPG, 1.0 SPG)
6th Man: Juwan Howard WAS (17.5 PPG, 1.6 APG, 6.8 RPG)
Coach: Bob Hill SAN (53-29) ---- Once again, I think I got robbed.

All NBA 1st Team:
PG Kevin Johnson PHX
SG Michael Jordan CHI
SF Grant Hill DET
PF Chris Webber - (If Denver had made the playoffs, I think he would been a lock for MVP)
C David Robinson SAN

All NBA 2nd Team:
PG Allen Iverson NJ
SG Reggie Miller IND
SF Tom Gugliotta MIN
PF Kevin Garnett MIN
C Hakeem Olajuwan HOU

All NBA 3rd Team
PG Terrell Brandon MIN
SG Latrell Sprewell GS
SF Michael Finley PHX
PF Karl Malone UTA
C Alonzo Mourning MIA

Our distribution of minutes really kept my guys from piling up the awards, but we'll take 2 rings any day.

All Defense 1st Team:
PG Gary Payton SEA
SG Michael Jordan CHI
SF Scottie Pippen CHI
PF Chris Webber DEN
C David Robinson SAN

All Defense 2nd Team:
PG Terrell Brandon MIN
SG Latrell Sprewell GS
SF Derrick McKey IND
PF Kevin Garnett MIN
C Alonzo Mourning MIA

God help me if Dikembe is pissed again, he was finally back to being happy by the time the playoffs hit.

All Rookie 1st Team:
PG Bobby Jackson PHI
SG Derek Anderson Clippers
SF Keith Van Horn BOS
PF Tim Duncan WAS
C Kelvin Cato CHA

All Rookie 2nd Team:
PG Brevin Knight VAN
SG Tracy McGrady DAL
SF Tim Thomas NY
PF Danny Fortson TOR
C Marc Jackson GS

[Cap Ologist]

The more I think about it, the more likely I'll try to trade the #2 overall pick instead of selecting someone, I've waffled back and forth on this more than Favre, but it might be in the best interest of the team to trade it rather than take one of the tempting players available.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

The more I think about it, the more likely I'll try to trade the #2 overall pick instead of selecting someone, I've waffled back and forth on this more than Favre, but it might be in the best interest of the team to trade it rather than take one of the tempting players available.

My eyes just glazed over thinking of the players you could get for that #2 pick.

[Cap Ologist]

As the time runs down on us, I just can't quite convince myself to pull a trigger on a trade. The chance to pair another high draft pick with Duncan and Allen is just too good to pass up. But what player to choose?

On a team as deep as we are, we don't have any particular area of need, but we do have a few areas of concern. Our point guard situation could be improved, but I'm not sure how much better Mike Bibby will be compared to Eisley. And aside from Bibby, there really isn't another option remotely viable. And even as the top PG in the draft, Bibby is in no way worthy of being picked at #2 overall.

Mutombo and Gilliam are 32 and 34 respectively, and while we hope to resign P.J. Brown in free agency, we've received word from Geiger's agent that we have little chance to get him to return. He wants more playing time than we can justify giving him with what is in front of him. But the only top 10 big man is Raef LaFrentz, and once again #2 is high to pick him.

Out of Bibby or LaFrentz, I'd rather get LaFrentz. He could potentially develop into Mutombo's replacement, and be a double double guy. He's projected to go 7th overall, and so we could potentially trade down, but getting equal value proves difficult.

And so we're left with the 3 top small forwards.

Dirk Nowitzki is too raw, and I don't want to use this high of a pick on a project player like the Celtics did with Kobe Bryant and who has yet to amount to much.

Paul Pierce is regarded by most as the top player in this draft. He's a great scorer, a capable defender and a steady ball handler, and his only deficiency in my eyes is that he is only 6'6". He could come in day one and compete with and probably beat out Rice for the starting spot.

Antawn Jamison is not as polished as Pierce, but at 6'9", he can create mismatches if we play him at the 2, and he could possibly fill in at 4 on a limited basis. I'd love to see Rose, Jamison, Howard, Duncan and Mutombo on the court at the same time and watch the other team try to get any rebounds.

With 10 seconds left on the clock, I turn in a card with Jamison's name on it.

[Izulde]

Hahaha! Of course, you'll probably keep him.

[Cap Ologist]

Forgot you drafted him also, I'm using different draft files than you did though so his ratings might be a little different.