DDS:CB/PB - the next Speedy Claxton

[Ramzavail]

I have never written a dynasty before but I've always wanted to. However, this will be a slow moving one, as I am about to start studying and taking the NY CPA Exam (wish me luck). Also, I like to coach/play the actual games instead of simulate, most of the time.

Since, DDS:CB came out, I've been playing both CB and PB combined in a New Jersey "Hoops"/Hofstra Pride (with Icys mod) type "dynasty" if you will.

I started PB with fake players with a fantasy draft, then I started using the Hofstra on CB with fake players.

Personal sports history tidbit: I've always been a big Nets fan and I contest that I am the only Nets fan in Queens. So, therefore, I am always the Nets in pro basketball games.

Now, Hofstra, I have no relation to (I didn't go to college there), other than that I work really close to the campus and I've semi-followed their good seasons in college basketball (back in the Speedy, Jay Wright days).

However, last week I thought to myself, did Hofstra ever have another player play in the NBA other than Speedy Claxton? The answer was yes, there were three, Rich Laurel and Bill Thieben, I had never heard of, and Speedy's swingman at Hofstra, Norm Richardson. All 3 didn't make an impact at all in the NBA. But, Speedy did and has been a good player in the NBA and is the best player to come from Hofstra.

Objective: To get another player drafted in the first round of the NBA (PB/ABL) from Hofstra AND to make an "impact" (determined by myself what an "impact" entails) in the league.

Now, I've played 2 full seasons in CB and I am in the playoffs in PB in the 2nd season, so I have a good chunk of history to write about before I begin this. None of which, has accomplished the objective yet.

More to follow...

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops" History:

Draft plan: First and foremost, I went with young with good potential and cheap. My entire draft except for Toomas, was 25 or younger)

My first five picks:

1. Jarrad Ashman PG (3.5 current stars/4 potential stars)
2. Kevin Evans C (3.5/4.5)
3. Sheriden Stockman PF (3/4.5)
4. Cyris Williams PF/C (2.5/3.5)
5. Toomas Zukauskas SF (3/3)

Right after the draft, I traded Zukauskas, Alton Burke (2/2 SG with good range low mobility) and a 2nd round pick to Minnesota for Alex Hayes SG (2.5/3.5). Zukauskas was a free agent after the season and I didn't want to deal with his possible big bucks. He ended up having a very similar season to Alex Hayes in 2007 and then re-signed with Minnesota for 5 years, 45 million dollar contract in the offseason.

Sidepoint: In 2008, he became a role player off the bench scoring only 4 points a game (ie. Eating it). Which coincidentally, Alex Hayes did as well (as you'll see)

I rounded off the rest of my roster with (in no order):

Greedy Harrington PF (2.5/4)
Simon Cooper PF/C (2.5/2.5)
Michael Kelly C (2.5/2.5)
Mikhil Dwiggins PG (2.5/3)
Ryan Dyer SF (2/3)
Anthony Kelly SG/SF (2/2)
Jody Hoskin SG (2/2)

D-Leaguers:
Senne Leclerc C (1.5/1.5)
Joey Townes C (1/2)
John Lake SG (1/1.5)

2007: 31-51 22.0 GB 3rd place

I think all year, we were the young team that underachieved and sometimes played players out of position. While we traded Zukauskas away to avoid future salary cap problem, we had a complete log jam at PF and C. Stockman played SF alot but he's really a PF at 6'10''. Cyris Williams started at PF and he's 6'11''. Simon Cooper was a good guy off the bench and he's 6'11''. Greedy Harrington was shorter at 6'8'' 244lbs but has supreme shot blocking ability, so he's best at the PF position. Michael Kelly was 6'9'' and played PF and C.

Ryan Dyer didn't fill the SF position as I hoped but Anthony Kelly is deadly from outside (Jason Kopono-esque)

However, Jarrad Ashman is the real deal. We picked up his two options at 3.5 and 4.5m, then signed him for a 4 year extension for 55.6m.



2008 should be better, but there were trades to be made here (It's hard to trade with the computer).

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride History:

2007: 21-11 (13-5) Conference Champions.



Starting five:

PG: Jerald Nelson SR (3 current stars/3 potential stars)
PG/SG: Matt Hill JR (3/3)
SF: Bob Marquardt JR (3/3.5)
PF: Kenny Williams SR (3.5/3.5) 1st team all Conference
C: Ryan Horvath SO (2.5/2.5)

Bench:

SG/SF: Joe Tennies SO (2/2.5)
PG/SG: Milton Beck SO (1.5/2)
C: Mike Thompkins JR (2.5/3.5)
SG/SF: Dalonte Townes SR (2/2)
PG/SG: Joel Sharp JR (1.5/3.5)
SF/PF: Kori Bland FR (1/1.5)
C: Charles Kinkade FR (1.5/3.5)
SF: Devin Walker JR (2/3)

The combo of Jerald Nelson and Kenny Williams was a good, yet senior, combo. Both were killer down the stretch in a close game because they were both ice from the free throw stripe. But again, we had some players out of position. Marquardt is more of a post, PF type and he played SF. Matt Hill is more of a PG as opposed to a SG, he did not shoot well at all. Horvath is more of a PF than C, as he's only 6'9'' and likes the jump shot 40% of the time.

It was clear we needed to recruit a SF to play the slash and pop type role.

We did beat Drexel in the Conference Championship and did make the NCAA tournament. Drexel is quickly becoming our conference rivals.

We ended up getting pasted in the NCAA tournament by Duke as a 16 seed.

Duke makes it to the NCAA finals, losing to the Virginia Cavaliers.



Both Jerald Nelson, Kenny Williams and Delonte Townes were draft eligible and were not drafted. Currently, at the end of the 2008 season, they are all free agents. They are all (.5/1)'s. They are not the next Speedy Claxton.

[Ramzavail]

American Basketball League 2007-2008: Stats Recap

Boston beats Los Angeles "Waves" (Lakers) 4-2 in the championship series. (Doesn't bode well for my division)



DDS:PB doesn't have a section in the almanac for the season average stats, like PPG, RPG, APG etc. They only do during the season, which I will provide as I play currently.

Just to get a sense of the talent and stats, I will post the MVP, DPY, ROY and all- league first team players.

Tong Qi (I wish there was an easier way to change names like in DDS:CB) Clearly, with MVP type numbers. Washington was 53-29.



Herve is an animal. I dread playing Chicago everytime because of Herve. 4 assists, 4 blocks, 7 rebounds, almost 2 steals. He can even hit a 3. Animal.



I almost took Olivares instead of Ashman on draft day, but Olivares was 34. I renamed him "Johnnie Oliver".



Clearly good numbers for Seals, Harris and Leslie.

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops":

2008 Off-season:

The "Hoops" had the 4th worst record in the league, but got hosed in the lottery, with the 8th overall pick. We had traded our 2nd rounder in the Hayes deal.

Here are the first 15 picks, luckily, we were able to choose a SF, which we needed.



2008 Free Agency:

We made 3 major moves during free agency. 2 signings and 1 trade.

We were way under the salary cap prior to free agency, so we were able to nail down a major player.

I had my eye on a Herve Monteux-type, trading for him was impossible, but Stephen Cameron was available.

15.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.2 SPG (which lead the league) and 2.4 BPG.

As I usually do, I tried to low-ball him, but there was no bite....he settled for 5 years, 52.25m contract.



I really liked his defensive ratings.

This immediately put Kevin Pinckney in the ADL.

The other signing was Joel Conley, a combo guard who made all rookie first team in 2007. Milwaukee let him fly the coop (his personality was disruptive and his popularity was hated) and he didn't even want alot of money. I signed him for 4 years, 3.422m.

9.9 PPG, 6.4 APG, 2.5 TPG, 2.6 RPG



Trade:

As I was desperately trying to find a place for Cyris Williams, I consolidated two centers and nabbing David Green who posted nice numbers for Dallas. We dealt Michael Kelly, Joey Townes and the 2009 and 2010 2nd round picks for David Green. Michael Kelly is just a notch lower ratings wise than to David Green but was owed alot more money over the next couple of years.

Did we need to add another big man? Not at all, but I felt, this was money saving and talent gaining regardless of the 2nd round picks.



Look at those stats, this was a no-brainer, but another trade needs to happen, but we go into the season.

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride:

2008 Off-season/Recruiting:

Getting recruits to Hofstra, as you'd imagine, is pretty difficult. With Nelson, Williams and Townes gone, we focused on getting a good SF and making Marquardt more of a post PF player, slotting Matt Hill to PG, and moving Joel Sharp in the starting SG.

At this point, we focused on just recruiting in the state of NY.

We nabbed 4 NY recruits.

1. Quanzo Mitchell SF - ranked #367 nationally (2.5/4)
2. Andre Jones PG/SG - ranked #1402 nationally (2/3.5) - Junior College guy, comes in as a Junior
3. Anthony Newby SF - ranked #847 nationally (1/2) - Redshirted
4. Harold Marek PF - unranked (1/1.5) - Redshirted

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops":

2008 Season start:

Starting five:

PG - Jarred Ashman
SG - Joel Conley - wins the starting job in camp
SF - Stephen Cameron
PF - Sheriden Stockman
C - Kevin Evans

Bench:

PF/C - David Green
PF - Cyris Williams
SF/SG - Anthony Kelly
SF - Ryan Dyer
SG - Alex Hayes
PF - Greedy Harrington
PG - Mihail Dwiggins
PF/C - Simon Cooper - Reserves
C - Keyon Cravens - Reserves

ADLers -

SF - Kevin Pinckney

Season Preview:

They slot us with winning the division and second in the conference. They must have loved the Cameron pick up and David Green move.

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride:

2008 Season Start:

Starting Five:

PG - Matt Hill
SG - Joel Sharp
SF - Bob Marquardt
PF - Ryan Horvath
C - Charles Kincaide

Bench:

SF - Quanzo Mitchell
PG/SG - Andre Jones
C - Mike Thompkins
SG/SF - Joe Tennies
SF/PF - Devin Walker
PG/SG - Milton Beck
PF - Kori Bland
PF - Brian Crooks

Season Preview:

They slot Hofstra as third in the conference and don't do a good job in factoring Quanzo or Andre Jones into our plans. When you look at their 2007 numbers and slot them into the starting lineups, I can understand why they don't have us as repeating conference champions.

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops":

14 games in:

9-5 - start off the season 6-0, but now it was time to move Cyris Williams, and get a solid SG, he's a FA after the season with no options. He's only played 18 minutes with 6 PPG and 5 RPG this season and with our log jam of big men and our lack of scoring at the shooting guard position, it was time to make a move. Runyan is got a nice contract, 2 years left 6+m.

Trade with Washington (who was picked to win the conference):

Cyris Williams, 2009 2nd round pick, 2011 1st round pick

for

Tyrhon Runyan (I had to change his name to Tracy), 2010 2nd round pick

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride:

4 games in:

1-3

Was up 56-37 to Marquette on the road at half-time and blew it. Xavier hammered me but Villanova, they were impressive. Winston Gardener looks to be like a top 5 pick. I was up 9 at half-time and Gardener killed me down the stretch. I miss the ice water of Nelson and Kenny Williams at the free-throw line.

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops"

All-star break:

40-13

Runyan slots in perfect at the 2 guard and Joel Conley slots in as the 7th man as a combo-guard off the bench.

Jarrad Ashman makes the all-star team as a reserve, his first.

He also participates in the long-distance shootout with bulls-eye shooter, Anthony Kelly. Anthony Kelly wins it.

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride:

22-6, (15-3) losing to only Drexel on the road, Old Dominion on the road (who was also 15-3 in the conference) and VA Commonwealth on the road.

CAA Tournament:

VA Commonwealth shocks Old Dominion and lives up to their season preview by facing me in the finals. I nip rival Drexel in the semi's and steamroll VAC in the finals.





After repeating as Colonial Athletic Association champions and make the NCAA tournament for the second straight year, I am ranked for the first time, #21.

NCAA Tournament:

We face Arkansas 21-13 (8-8) (unranked) as the 7/10 game.



This was a poor performance by us. We shot TOO many jumpers, never got to the free-throw line and wasn't hitting any shots. It's just evident that an above-average SEC team can dominate the top CAA team (which is realistic, at least at this point).



Duke enacts their revenge on Virginia by taking this years NCAA tournament.

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops":

62-20

Some notes for the season, great year over year turnaround.

No real superstars, Ashman is very good, but we have 7-8 really solid players and a good deep bench. Anthony Kelly is deadly behind the arc. Cameron, 2 blocks and 2 steals per game.

Stockman is going to take me to the ringer during FA, and I'd probably let him fly with Green, Greedy and Cooper around.

However, I will sim the entire playoffs except for the finals (if we make it), just to get this dynasty rolling along.

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops"

2008 Playoffs (simmed, unless I made the finals):

I beat Miami 4-2 even with an injury to Ashman in games 4, 5 and 6.

Charlotte was tough and after a game 5 loss and season ending injury (torn knee tendon doesn't sound good) to Stephen Cameron - we come back home. After winning a tough game 6, we bury them in game 7. Check out the boxscore.



We face Chicago in the conference finals, and they light us up. Herve, Mark Morton (he put up 45 in one of the wins), they beat us 4-1 and lose to New Orleans (#6 seed) in the ABL finals.

[Ramzavail]

Hofstra Pride:

2008 summary, recruiting and 2009 outlook:

Very successful season for us. We scored and shot the best in the conference, and we had the 2nd best defense. Nearly ten point difference between points scored and points against.

Charles Kincaide went from 12th man to starting center and 2008 all conference first team center, he was a force all year. We have two more years with Kincaide, at this point, he's probably our best chance of making the ABL. However, I'd rate him a 2 out of 10 to clear our objective.

We had a deep bench, Andre Jones off the bench was a great second team scorer.







2009 outlook without recruits:

PG Andre Jones
SG Joe Tennies
SF Quanzo Mitchell
PF Ryan Horvath
C Charles Kincaide

PG/SG Milton Beck
PF Brian Crooks
SF Anthony Newby
PF Kori Bland
PF Harold Marek

Solid starting 5 with Jones and Tennies moving into the starting 5. Jones and Tennies were both good shooters especially from beyond the arc. Jones and Beck are good ball handlers that can handle the point. With that said, I think we needed to add at least two guards this recruiting season since all three of those guys will be seniors.

Mitchell, Horvath and Kincaide will all play 28+ minutes, if not more, I have zero confidence in Crooks, Bland, Marek and Newby as they have barely any experience playing. We will need to add at least one big man to try to find some solid big man depth on this team.

2009 recruits:











3 guards, a small forward who can score and a power forward with shot blocking abilities. Leaves us short depth wise on our front line but maybe Crooks, Bland or Smith can step up and show us something or Horvath/Kincaide will have to play 30 minutes a game. Rhodes looks like a potential star (not even sure how I ended up with him), Quanzo's future is in doubt.

Leaving Hofstra: (chance of clearing objective)

Matt Hill PG (0.5 out of 10 chance)
Joel Sharp PG/SG (0.5 out of 10 chance)
Devin Walker SF (0 out of 10 chance)
Bob Marquardt SF/PF (0.5 out of 10 chance)
Mike Thompkins C (0 out of 10 chance)

[Ramzavail]

New Jersey "Hoops":

Just some final 2008 stats and awards to finish the year.

Unforunately, I screwed up the draft link between CB and PB, so I am on hold until I speak to Gary. Hopefully, he can fix it but he's been MIA for some time.

The way they do it between games is not only really confusing but REALLY delicate. Plus, it AUTO-SAVES if you accidentally go too far! Which is what happened, very frustrating.

At the same time, I don't think anybody is reading this, so I don't think anybody will mind the hold *shrug*

[rjolley]

Just caught up. Looks like you're going well in both locations.

If you can get Davis to improve his defense, a 6'5 PG can be very useful. If not, a SG that can pass and handle is very helpful as well.

[Ramzavail]

I agree and thanks for reading.

At this point, I am going to have to reshirt at least one of the guards I just recruited.

I'm definitely going to rotate, Andre Jones, Joe Tennies and Milton Beck at both the one and two. I plan on playing Milton Beck 20+ minutes a game, so he will get major minutes as our 6th man.

Then, Miles, Davis and English are going to fight it out for the backup guard positions. I'm not sure I'll need to have more than four guards (I could play Rhodes at the two in a pinch), so I could reshirt two of those three, but I'd probably end up reshirting only one. As to which one, I'll have to wait until I get the game back.

But I can post screenshots of the *actual* ratings if you want.

[Ramzavail]

I just peeked at the ratings for Robert Rhodes - he's phenomenal at defense. He's complete lockdown.

I'll post the recruits at some point.

[Ramzavail]

Here are the four recruits we nabbed:

Robert Rhodes is got LOCKDOWN defense, and I like it. Kinda disappointed with Stevie Davis' scoring ability, at 6-5, I was hoping I could maybe play him a little at SG.

[Ramzavail]

right now Gary Gorski is ignoring me at all levels, so I can't get this dynasty back up.

WTG Wolverine!