The Cincinnati Lions: a 2KTale

[JuiceboxCA]

The Cincinnati Lions: a 2KTale

After lurking the NBA2K Dynasties threads, I've decided 2K17 is the right time to try my own. As an avid Online MyLeague player, I wanted the chance to completely create my own team - enter the new Expansion Teams. Introducing your Cincinnati Lions!

The 2K Details

• 31 Games, Superstar Difficulty. Yeahyeahyeah, I know. I’m not playing 82 games. That’s because the goal is to make it through multiple seasons AND play every game. Sure, a shorter season creates more anomalies, but hybrid sim + play approaches tend to lose touch and reflect the computer’s ability, not the player’s. And yes, you read right — 31 games, not 29. That’s because the Lions aren’t the only expansion team, but we’ll get to that later.
  
• 6 min quarters, 10 min sim quarters, sim stats. There’s no way I have the time for full 12 minute quarters — hell, even the NBA is investigating ways to cut down game lengths. I’m running on the 2K standard 6 minute quarters, then using the simulate stats tool to bump up numbers to 10 minute quarter averages. That’ll make sure my games are statistically similar to the actual NBA.
  
• Xbox One. If you ever want to hoop, add my gamertag: JuiceboxCA
  
• Default Sliders. No changes here. If something feels off as I go, I’ll make adjustments later.
  
• Starting in the 2016-2017 season. Didn't want to rejigger team's draft picks or anything of the sort. The expansion draft will come when the season begins. Because the first season of any expansion franchise is such a slog, I've simmed through the second half of the year so we can get to the good stuff.

The Rivals
A 31 team league? We can’t have that. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined the league together — the Lions need a counterpart. Enter the San Diego Surf, yet another Southern California team with some ridiculous aqua teal branding. They’ll serve as a computer-ran rival and a nice meter for my own success — we’ll see if the CPU can build a winner before me.

The Updates

• I'm gonna write the typical per-game updates, though I'm also documenting this thing in a few other ways.
• When I saw @CincinnatiLions available on Twitter, I couldn't help myself (I work in social media, so running a team's social presence is dreams). I'm gonna post updates, photos, and highlights there, often linking back here.
• I'm also going to keep on blog on Medium, lumping these updates together a bit more. Just playing around with different writing formats, seeing how many ways we can get this game we love exposed to as many people as possible. Link coming soon.

I'm about a week into playing, and I'm writing more updates as quickly as possible. Hope you enjoy!

PS. if there's anything I can be doing to improve these, let me know - I'm all ears.


Season 1 Updates

• Introduction
• The Expansion Draft
• New Uniforms
• The First 5 Games
• Lions Make Two Trades, Bring In McDermott, Young
• The Golden State Massacre: Warriors Win by 72
• A Rivalry Is Born: Lions vs. Surf
• The Lions' new uniforms
• Trades Bring In Ross, Frye
• The Fast Forward / END OF SEASON 1

Season 2 Updates

• The Draft Lottery + New Coach
• With the 3rd Pick, the Lions select Randy Theus
• Free Agency: KD to LAC, Noel to Cincy
• S2G1: Opening Night. Theus, Noel combine for 51 in OT thriller vs. NYK
• S2GS: Boston's Little Giant Tames Lions
• S2G3: Noel flushes 31 on Howard, Lions Win
• S2G4: Suns outshine Livingston's legendary night
• S2G5: Lions fall to 1-4 after Raptor's shredding
• AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Sixers are winning?

[trekfan]

Following. The social media wrinkle is a nice touch, if I liked Twitter at all, I'd probably do the same. But I hate Twitter (140 characters is soooo short).

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Year 1 is likely to be tough, I barely managed to win 32 games with my St. Louis squad.

[studbucket]

Excited for this. Love the Twitter idea too

I look forward to seeing how your communication acumen comes out in these posts.

[JuiceboxCA]

The Cincinnati Lions: a 2KTale
The Expansion Draft

With the 2016 NBA Draft and most of free agency out of the way, the NBA's two new Expansion teams sure seemed behind. Normally they'd get a shot at this year's rookies, but this time around, the teams would have to make due with whoever their competition didn't lock up.

Cincinnati's Goals
With the NBA putting a premium on versatility, my pre-draft strategy mainly focused on getting tweeners who can play multiple positions. I wanted to get as many ball handlers at each position as possible, combining pace motion and pick & roll offenses for the modern NBA. I knew most teams would restrict their young talent, so I hoped to add as many solid 27 & younger guys as possible - players either in their prime or with a little room for improvement.

The Draft
The Surf went first & nabbed Joe Johnson from the Jazz - kinda surprising, if you ask me, but who doesn't love Iso Joe? That meant us Lions had the next two picks, where we grabbed two guys with championship experience.

Pick #1: Festus Ezeli (C, 76 overall)
Pick #2: Shaun Livingston (PG, 76 overall)

While Bogut, Ginobili, and a few other high-70's vets were available, I decided I'd rather see if 27-year-old Festus has any more upside left in him. Though Livingston's older than I was hoping for, especially for his position, his height and pedigree were too good to pass up. Never underestimate the power of a mismatch.

San Diego grabbed Norman Powell (damn, that's the young talent I wanted) and Mike Beasley with their next two selections. Back on the clock, the Lions selected:

Pick #3: Wilson Chandler (SF/PF, 76 overall)
Pick #4: Aaron Afflalo (SG, 76 overall)

Two solid players who can do a little of everything. At 29 and 31, I'm not getting the potential I need for the future, but at least everyone's solid. Chandler will benefit from our scheme - rather than staying a somewhat slow/bulky SF, he'll be a quick stretch 4 who can still body up. Good character guys, too. After that...

Pick #5: Brandon Jennings (PG, 75 overall)
Pick #6: Thabo Sefolosha (SF, 75 overall)

Rather than grabbing the year-younger Matthew Dellavadova, I decided to bet on Jennings. Even off his injuries, he's still lightyears faster than Delly's honey-pour first step, & we need some speed. Plus, his contract's much more stomachable at a cool $5m/year. Thabo comes in as a defensive wing who can start and keep our team longgggg.

Since our starters will likely be outmatched every night, these next few picks matter - the second unit will need to score if we're going to win games. Next to join are...

Pick #7: E'Twaun Moore (SG, 74 overall)
Pick #8: John Leuer (PF, 75 overall)

Good - some scoring. E'Twaun will need to be a firecracker off the benc, and Leuer adds a 6'10" traditional stretch 4 to the group. These two will get quite a bit of time, and maybe even some starts depending on the match-ups.

Now, let's fill out the roster with a few more deep rotation / 3rd string guys.

Pick #9: Jerami Grant (SF, 73 overall)
Pick #10: Dewayne Dedmon (C, 74 overall)
Pick #11: Ivaca Zubac (C, 67 overall)
Pick #12: Jordan McRae (SG, 70 overall)
Pick #13: Alex Abrines (SG, 70 overall)

Potential, potential, potential. After failing to get young players in my top 8, I made sure 4 of my final 5 were 25 or younger. Dedmon will get time immediately as Ezeli's back-up, and McRae will need to come in and gun. The others will have time to develop. We've got high hopes for Zubac, a thin center that's bursting with potential, and Abrines, a 6'6" french wing that can do some interesting things with his length.

The Depth Chart

PG: Livingston / Jennings
SG: Afflalo / Moore / McRae
SF: Sefolosha / Abrines
PF: Chandler / Leuer / Grant
C: Ezeli / Dedmon / Zubac

Again, a solid group. As a GM, I'm happy. As a coach, I'm worried we'll have trouble scoring, but hopefully that'll come via mismatches (or new players 2-3 years from now).

Now, to do something about those jerseys before the first game...

Previous Updates
Introduction

[JuiceboxCA]

The Cincinnati Lions: a 2KTale
How About Some New Jerseys?

The Lions' original uniform designs weren't necessarily bad, but they definitely didn't make a statement. A logo, a weird little swish - that won't work for us. We want something that builds a tradition - something to be proud of. Maybe something that inspires a little history, even if we're a new age team.

The Inspiration

I've always been partial to the cleaner Nike designs, especially Team USA's duds over the last 5-10 years. Ultra-clean, super simple, and unmistakable. Professional with no frills. That, combined with a great navy / burnt orange colorway, should make something pretty slick.

The Execution

As seen at the top of this post, we went pretty old school & minimalist. The tri-color arm collars give the jersey most of its color. Using the nickname "CINCY" with straight lettering and the Bucks' numbering makes it feel a bit more modern. Some highlights on the waistband, and we're out. Again - clean, simple, and unmistakable.

The same approach was applied to the home whites, which can be seen below (along with a saddening teaser of how the Lions' first game went). These feature a side strip from arm to shorts as well (though they probably won't stay for long... just wanted to test out some options in game).



PREVIOUS UPDATES

• Introduction
• The Expansion Draft
• New Uniforms

[JuiceboxCA]

I realize I haven't even gotten to the first game yet, but all thoughts and feedback are very welcome.

[trekfan]

Like those unis. With you on the sidestripes, they seem like a good idea but I fell out of love with mine pretty quickly once I saw them in game.

[JuiceboxCA]

The Cincinnati Lions: a 2KTale
The First 5 Games

Editor's Note: I'm playing about 15 games ahead of write-ups, and as I've toyed with it, I'm going to keep the notes pretty short this first season. Really, the first season of any Expansion team is a grind towards mediocrity, and it's been nothing but that. Expect 5-10 Season 1 updates, then game by game updates for the off-season / S2. The writing style / brevity here won't be reflective of this dynasty long-term - think of S1 as a prelude of sorts. Anyway, back to the action.

Lions blow multiple leads, drop to 0-3

Well, this year's gonna be a long one. In the first game ever played in their brand new stadium, the Lions enjoyed a +10 advantage amidst the high energy crowd... that was shattered in the fourth quarter by D'Angelo Russell's final 12 points. Lions drop their season opener by 2, though the team looks promising.

That one lost quickly turned into three, losing close ones until...

Ezeli Makes It Look Easy, Lions win

...Festus stepped up for a big 12/12 game, earning the Cincinnati Lions the franchise's first ever win. Unsurprisingly, the new look Bulls had a tough time hitting from 3, and the team's driving game was shut down by the length of Livingston & Chandler.

Lions 2-3 start not turning any heads

An embarrassing 10-point loss to the Nets was tough to stomach, though apparent team leader Shaun Livingston went to work against George Hill & the Jazz, casually tossing up a 16/7/7 game on the way to a 2-3 record.

After 5 games, it's clear that Coach Juicebox's even-strategy is working, even if it's not producing W's. 5 players are averaging 10+ ppg, with a surprisingly strong contribution from John Leuer (13/4/4) off the bench - look for the Lions to push him into 6th man of the year consideration.

On the disappointing side, Wilson Chandler's struggling at his new stretch 4 position. Less than 5 ppg isn't going to get it done. And while Brandon Jenning's recklessness was expected, no one thought he's be top five in the league in turnovers. As a new franchise, with a new system, and new players, rash changes won't be made... for now.



Season 1 Updates

• Introduction
• The Expansion Draft
• New Uniforms
• The First 5 Games