NBA2K Remix: Retro Stars in the Modern Era

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by spiderxx7

Great job so far, trek. That was a tough loss to Memphis, but the team is looking good!

Yeah, the sim engine was not kind in that game -- Bird got manhandled by the Grizzlies and LMA was no match for the bigs of Memphis. But overall we're doing really well and building good momentum for December, I'm figuring out my feel for this squad.

[trekfan]

The High Post: Bird Logs Triple-Double in Denver Win

By Sam Gray

Larry Bird was probably the highest person in Denver with the way he was hitting shots, grabbing boards, and dishing dimes as he logged his third triple-double of the young season, teaching the Nuggets that even when he’s not scoring he’s dangerous.

The two teams entered the game with similar records and Denver was looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Spurs a week ago, where San Antonio demolished them in Texas 121-93, with Bird, Murray, and Anunoby all nearly logging a triple double (Bird was short two assists, Anunoby short one rebound and two assists, Murray short two rebounds and one assist). The Nuggets were thoroughly embarrassed and saw a lot of talk about how they were pretenders from the media in the week leading up to this game.

Wanting to prove they were contenders, the Nuggets had a lot to play for, but were forcing shots early in the first quarter; Jokic, especially, looked liked he wanted to take command of the proceedings but just couldn’t get going and the Nuggets fell behind as the Spurs worked the ball around. SA won the quarter 26-21 behind balanced play and Denver would never lead in the game again.

Bird notched 8 points that quarter, along with 6 boards and an assist, and his all-round play continued in the second quarter as he drew defensive attention and found open teammates with some passes that looked like fastballs.

The Nuggets refused to double Bird in the first half and that was a mistake, as Larry grew more confident with every play he made. At the half, the Spurs had a good lead and looked like the better team by every metric.

In the third, San Antonio missed their first shot (a Chriss fadeaway), but got a steal from Powell (who has been starting the second half of late and seems to thrive with that), and Bird converted a heat-check, Curry-range triple as Porter and Millsap looked on in confusion.

Bird hit that shot with nothing but net and the Nuggets — despite closing the lead down to four points midway through the third — were unable to slow down the Spurs. Bird made his presence felt all over the floor as Murray, Anunoby, and Chriss benefited from his boards and assists.

After the game, Denver head coach Mike Malone spared his team no words.

“Absolute trash — we were a defensive sieve on nearly every possession and we deserved to get our *sses kicked,” said Malone.

The Spurs are now 2-0 on their long roadtrip (a win two nights ago against Detroit), and face the Suns in Phoenix next, for round 2 of Bird v Magic.

Around the NBA:

The Jazz can’t catch a break — they got back Donovan Mitchell but lost Jordan Clarkson for 6-8 weeks with a broken leg, further harming their depth and forcing another reshuffling of their lineup. Utah is 9-12, losers of two straight.

The Kings have lost Bogdan Bogdanovic for 1-2 months with a dislocated right patella, forcing Sacramento (9-14) to give their rookie SF Homer Gordon more run than they want.

The Pelicans can’t seem to pull out of their tailspin, now sitting at 7-14, bottom of the West. Alvin Gentry’s job may be on the line — the Pelicans expected to contend for the playoffs this year, not another high draft pick.

[dfsJunkie]

Bird is torching! Really great contributions from OG and Chriss this season too.

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by dfsJunkie

Bird is torching! Really great contributions from OG and Chriss this season too.

I have been very pleased with both of them. OG just needed the starting minutes to prove his worth and Chriss is a near double-double on a nightly basis (and can occasionally hit wide open threes, which is nice). Those are two longterm pieces, along with Murray, for this franchise at this stage.


Finding someone to fit in and hold down the center position is the remaining challenge -- Murray looks like he's that second star the Spurs need, but I may need a second superstar to pair with Bird to really make a dent in the playoffs -- Magic has Booker and Ayton both, which makes his life a lot easier, and Bird needs someone in Booker's category to match Magic.



We'll see if I can find anything that works in free agency/trade/draft. I like the idea of Drummond, but he's already 27 and once centers hit their 30s things start going downhill for many. Trading for a young center stuck behind someone is also a consideration, though the price could be prohibitive. Then there's the draft, which has an old Bird running mate in McHale sitting at the top, but getting up there would be super-costly, so it's free agency or trades that's going to be my path I think.

[trekfan]

The High Post: Spurs Dominate Suns in Second-Half Rout

By Sam Gray







The Spurs traveled down to Arizona to take on the Sun in their second-to-last game before the end of their roadtrip (in two days time against LAC), and the two teams battled each other in a spirited first half.



The first quarter saw San Antonio jump out to a slim lead as the both squads struggled to hit shots with consistency — the only players who weren’t struggling were the main focal points of their teams offense, Bird and Magic. Bird got things going for the Spurs with a nice steal and fast break layup.







And didn’t slow down from there, dropping in points at a high clip — the rest of the Spurs struggled to hit their open looks, though, and that let the Suns stay in it. Phoenix, for their part, took every bucket the Spurs scored and nearly got it back on the other end, as in the first half they played through Magic and Magic was up to the challenge.







Bird and Magic frequently guarded the other this game, though neither player really got the better of the other. SA didn’t bother doubling Magic and the Suns did the same with Bird, which led to a close first half — the Spurs simply couldn’t pull away.







With the game close, the Suns pulled Magic in the third to give him a rest and just like last game, the Spurs took advantage — free of Magic and the mismatch he presented, San Antonio ran roughshod over the Suns as Phoenix started bleeding points and couldn’t stop. Bird got hot coming out of the half and the Suns tried to match his shooting by feeding Devon Booker — a solid idea — but when Booker missed, the Spurs ran and the Suns simply became too obsessed with isolation scoring.



The Spurs didn’t forget to pass the ball and the assists were really the story, as the Spurs pulled away off beautiful passes and hustle plays. The Suns, once more, got buried and brought back Johnson early off the bench, but the damage was done.











After the game, Phoenix HC defended his decision to sit Magic beginning the third.



“It’s a long game and guys need a breather, that’s just the bottom line. If you have to keep a single player out on the floor the whole game, it says that you’re a bad team and bad teams are going to lose anyway,” said Williams.






Around the NBA:



The Warriors are going to be without Klay Thompson for 1-2 weeks as he sits out with a twisted knee; Golden State’s season has been rough even with him as they are 9-15 and one of the worst defensive teams in the league, a far cry from their title contending years.



The Knicks are an astoundingly bad 3-20 and the front office is preparing itself for a teamwide firesale — the only two safe players are Johnny Moore and RJ Barrett, but everyone else is on the block and other teams are inquiring about the asking price of certain players; virtually the entire Knicks roster is on a short term deal and the Knicks are looking for assets they can use to build up their roster longterm, especially to make it more viable to potential free agents. New York’s sights are set on Giannis, who is a free agent this summer.

[trekfan]

The High Post: Champion Clippers Lockdown Spurs in Fourth

By Sam Gray







The Los Angeles Clippers, defending champions, are a team that’s looking towards the postseason in almost everything it does — including putting away a pesky Spurs team that, for most of the game, refused to stay down.







The Clippers started Reggie Jackson over Patrick Beverly this game, betting Jackson’s scoring would at least cause the Spurs to pay attention to him offensively and it was a good move. Jackson didn’t score a lot, but he did make shots that caused the Spurs pain, especially in the final frame.



Early on, though, SA was keeping pace with LAC and Murray and Bird were leading the way.







Bird v Kawhi was the matchup everyone had eyes on this game, and it was a match that was worth the price of admission. Whatever Bird got, Leonard got back, and the two superstars — Bird can legitimately be called that now with his excellent play in his rookie year — battled in the first half, back and forth they went. They were both the primary scorers of their teams and that showed in the stats at halftime.







Coming out in the third quarter, the Clippers went on a huge run to put the Spurs down 66-52 midway through the quarter and San Antonio looked dead in the water. A timeout by Coach Vanderbilt helped calm the young team and the Spurs went on a 12-0 run to nearly draw even — said run was keyed off by Murray and Bird, as the two cornerstones of the Spurs fought hard against the more veteran Clippers.



They entered the final frame tied up, 77 all, but that’s where the wheels fell off again for San Antonio — an early bad foul by Anunoby sent Paul George to the line, where he made them both, and George was hot from then on. Whereas Leonard carried in the first half, George carried most of that fourth quarter as he taught the young Anunoby just how far he — and the Spurs — had to go to become championship material. Inside, outside, in traffic, wide-open, it didn’t matter as George and Leonard executed a deadly two-man game, reminscent of Jordan and Pippen, and both stars burned San Antonio as the game got away from the Spurs — the young team couldn’t convert at the line (Murray had 3 free throws that quarter and missed all of them), Bird got clamped by Leonard, and the Clippers defended their home floor for a good win.








After the game, Coach Vanderbilt was still shaking his head.



“This is a learning experience for everyone here, coaches, players, everyone … we entered that fourth quarter tied up, all the momentum in the world, and then we made bonehead plays. We rushed shots, we let them dictate the pace, we got outplayed by a veteran team … they used our youth against us. We’ll have to rein in some of those impulses if we’re going to succeed longterm.”

[kibaxx7]

Vanderbilt will really go out and say what needs to be said!

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by spiderxx7

Vanderbilt will really go out and say what needs to be said!

As a discipline of Gregg Popovich, he's not one to hold back -- he's not as gruff as Pop was/is, but still he knows honesty is the best policy. That Clippers game was such a frustrating loss, we battled back down big in the third and then we just lost the thread.



Still, overall, we're doing pretty well and I think we could have a 50-win season in play, a Spurs standard that's been missed the last few seasons.