Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

NBA 2017-18 Preview

October 20th, 2017

By Vonny Lee



The Bucks finished almost as bad as they did the year before, but didn't finish quite AS bad. They showed minimal improvement and face some serious decisions this season, notably in the way they use and play Jabari Parker, who's coming up for a contract extension.

The trade of Monroe away to Dallas, bringing back Wes Matthews, is a trade that's designed to set the Bucks up for grabbing a major player next summer if they need to. Wes Matthews will bring a steady dose of offense and a bit of leadership that's been missing from the young squad. The addition of Tyler Zeller also can't be overlooked, as he averaged a near double-double of 10 points and 10 boards last season as the first man off the bench for Dallas. He'll have a similar role here.

The Bucks are betting on their younger players -- the Greek Freak and Jabari Parker in particular -- to step up their game this season. Freak's numbers last year weren't eye opening, but the Bucks are going to try him as a point forward for the season, an experiment that hasn't been seen since Jason Kidd was coach.

The biggest addition, however, might be rookie Harry Giles, who will be the starter at the five. Giles, despite his youth, is a machine in the paint and can give the Bucks the low-post buckets they need when their offense gets stuck. He's raw, but his talent is high and his slide down the draft was a gift to Milwaukee (that enabled them to move from Monroe).

But is the talent on this Bucks squad right for one another? Minimal improvements over the last two seasons has the Bucks front office wondering where the problem is. Before it Jason Kidd. Then it was Greg Monroe and Kris Middleton. Now, if this season ends in failure, who's the next Buck to go? The likeliest candidate is Jabari Parker, a player who can clearly score, but is a tweener; he's not quite a three, but not quite a four either. If the Bucks move on from him, expect them to get a good player back, but Parker should have a suitcase packed, just in case.

[Coachjosh21]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

I like your reasoning for the most part. Especially that Chris Paul move. If I knew about that story I would do the same thing you did

As for your dilemma with difficulty settings... Have you considered changing the user/real shooting % for shots and free throws? That might help provide a little mystery and suspense if you haven't been using real player percentage

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

NBA 2017-18 Preview

October 20th, 2017

By Vonny Lee



The Kings are not a team that's pretty on paper. After a dismal start last season, Sacramento let go of George Karl, then went and signed a relative unknown as Logan Schmidt this offseason as their new head coach. The Kings are desperate for any sort of good news and their front office ... well, didn't give them much.

The Kings went out and grabbed veteran George Hill, who'll man their point guard spot and be the third guard in as many years to do so. Hill was signed to a three year deal, a reach for the Kings, but not their worst reach. That would be the next signing they did, that of Chandler Parsons.

Parsons was signed to a guaranteed two year deal, a head scratcher for both parties. Parsons needs to rehab his value and, assuming he has a good year, he'd likely want to hit the market again next summer. The Kings already have a few guys who can play the three (notably, fan favorite Omri Casspi), and didn't need Parsons. But Sacramento was enamored with his shooting and, as a bench player, he won't be subjected to massive minutes or tough defensive matchups.

The question, as always with the Kings, is what are they doing? Sacramento is desperate for postseason basketball, granted, but signing the 31-year old Hill to a three year deal, then following that up with two years for the injury prone (he hasn't played more than 70 games in three years) Parsons has left the league wondering. Sacramento has the most bipolar organization in basketball -- they want to rebuild, but they also want to make the playoffs. You can't have your cake and eat it too, Kings, but they apparently didn't get the memo.

The biggest danger with all of this is the way the Kings are promoting or stifling the development of their talent. Brandon Ingram seems happy in Sacramento so far, and the young stud at the three is playing beautiful basketball. Cauley-Stein seems to have settled into his role as a defensive, post prowling big. But then you have Isiah Briscoe, who saw nothing but pine last season and doesn't appear to be improving.

It's a mixed bag, as always with the Kings, but its one they'll try to sort out for yet another year. Somewhere in Boston, DeMarcus Cousins is still trying to figure out what happened there.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

I like your reasoning for the most part. Especially that Chris Paul move. If I knew about that story I would do the same thing you did

As for your dilemma with difficulty settings... Have you considered changing the user/real shooting % for shots and free throws? That might help provide a little mystery and suspense if you haven't been using real player percentage

^Been using real-player % from the beginning, unfortunately. It's the only way I can play because my shot-stick timing is really, really bad. I could change back to shot-stick I guess, but then I'll clank open jumpers left and right and that'll be even worse, lol.

And, yeah, that Paul story! Man, had to dig deep into the archives of my brain to remember that. Luckily, the Internet backed me up and I wasn't imagining it, but I really had to think on that one.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

NBA 2017-18 Preview

October 20th, 2017

By Vonny Lee



The luck of the lottery was not on the Nuggets side this offseason -- they possessed one of the three worst records in the league, but ended up getting leapfrogged as they fell to the fourth spot. Denver didn't panic though, as they took Josh Jackson of UCLA.

Jackson will be a project for this year. He's raw, for sure, but he also has a ton of potential. The Nuggets draft was about future players, about their roles in the organization, and about where they see themselves down the road. It wasn't about the now.

And neither was their free agency. Denver signed only one player in free agency, bench warmer guard Peyton Siva, and that was it. The Nuggets are now in year three of their rebuild and, so far, they haven't seen many dividends. Denver fans are getting anxious, ownership is staying away from the panic button, but you can feel the pressure starting to build.

When will the Nuggets be winners again? When will they win more than 30 games? Denver seems stuck and the first one to go in this situation is usually the coach. Everyone in Denver knows Malone's job isn't as secure as it was last season.

If the Nuggets perform poorly and don't excel somewhere this year, expect the front office to consider moving on from Malone. As it stands, it doesn't really matter -- but if things get bad, it will matter. Denver has a lot invested in Mudiay and Bender, their two cornerstones of the future, and they won't sacrifice valuable development time with a coach that isn't getting them to perform.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

NBA 2017-18 Preview

October 20th, 2017

By Vonny Lee



And, finally, we're at the Jazz. Utah finished with the worst record for the second year in a row and, for the second year in a row, they got the first overall pick. This time they selected a point guard to pair with their big man in Labissiere.

They also finally gave up on Dante Exum as a one. Exum has been moved over to shooting guard, where his stroke from deep will be more useful -- and so will his passing skills, as he'll be a secondary ball-handler on the offense. The Jazz's starting five will be filled with young talent: Smith, Exum, Hood, Lyles, and Labissiere.

With new coach David Blatt, the Jazz have a bright future. But there are many, many questions for the franchise now that Gordon Hayward has gone.

First off, who will replace him? Utah has Hood, who can shoot from deep, but he's inefficient. Alec Burkes is still there, but he doesn't have the defensive chops to play the three. 1st rounders Rod Kurucs, Chris Levert, and Dennis Flaccadori are raw and don't look ready for the big leagues.

Utah is at least a season away from having that answer but the biggest question they have is about Dante Exum. Exum, for all his potential, just hasn't been good. He's inefficient, he's a bit injury prone, and he isn't a great fit at either the one or the two. For all his talent, his game hasn't translated to the NBA.

Utah faces a tough decision this summer. Exum is up for a new contract and the Jazz are wary of locking him into a deal. They did that with another young guard on the roster, one Alec Burkes, and he hasn't panned out -- they pay over $10M a year for a player who's averages have dropped the last two seasons and who's been bitten by the injury bug.

Exum has one more chance to prove himself and, if he doesn't by the All-Star break, the Jazz will likely field offers for him, ending his time in Utah and, quite possibly, derailing a career that was once so full of potential.

[BlindSideNZ]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Really really appreciate you taking the time to lay everything out like that. It's going to be a massive help to my myleague and no doubt some others out there who read this.

Seeing how your league has played out it definitely looks well worth the time spent.

And let's be honest considering we both want to go the full 80 years. (I'm not touching next years game unless they bring back the D League). A bit of time spent in the off seasons is going to make it far more enjoyable.

I also really like the hint of singing outside of FA I never considered letting the progression/regression take place first.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Really really appreciate you taking the time to lay everything out like that. It's going to be a massive help to my myleague and no doubt some others out there who read this.

Seeing how your league has played out it definitely looks well worth the time spent.

And let's be honest considering we both want to go the full 80 years. (I'm not touching next years game unless they bring back the D League). A bit of time spent in the off seasons is going to make it far more enjoyable.

I also really like the hint of singing outside of FA I never considered letting the progression/regression take place first.

It's one of my main issues with this game. In 2K14 (if remember right), you got a player progression screen near the beginning of the offseason. It showed all the ratings boosts and where everyone was at and that was WAY before the free agency and the draft.

But here, you don't get player progression till after free agency and the draft. It's infuriating, from a team-building stand point, because if I can't see how my younger players have developed, how do I know who/what to sign in free agency?

It's less of an issue in the draft because the assumption there is, if you're outside the top-5, your rookie isn't going to play a major role for your team that year -- that's fine. But in free agency, a tool all teams use to some degree (even the freakin' free agent averse Spurs), you need to know how your roster looks.

From a realistic standpoint, I get it -- you don't actually, really, ever know so sticking it after the free agent period of the offseason and before training camp makes sense. From a game standpoint, it's dumb, in my opinion.

Hence why, when I'm running all 30 teams, I only sign the homerun players in the main free agency -- the guys who are total locks to go to whatever team they're going to and aren't at risk of seeing a big ratings drop.

95% of free agency, for me, is conducted right at the beginning of the training camp screen. No training camps happen unless I make it happen, so I can trade/sign whomever I want. It makes it much, much better in my opinion, especially since whatever damage you do to your chemistry during that time period is mitigated by the boost you get once you advance to next season.

Also, a note about training camps: I sorta dislike the current system. In 2K14, you got points for doing things in the season and, depending on how many things you did, you could use those points to send your players to camp. You could send a lot of guys to a lot of camps if you did really well. I understand that 2K saw this and realized that the winning teams would always have an advantage, because they always get more points.

This year's system initially made me mad, but I figured out how to make it work for me. I make sure all trainers are rated as an "A" on the staff screen for their skill. Being rated that "A" gives you access to three training camps, every offseason. You could make it A+, but that gives you four training camps and I've never seen a A+ guy in the game, so I don't think its a thing.

I edited all current trainers on all staffs to that "A" level and guaranteed all teams three training camps. Usually I pick at least one young player to be sent to "Untapped potential" for every roster, but some rosters don't have a guy worth that camp, so it varies, team by team. But that ensures a team is always developing a young player to take over at some point, which makes it less likely we have a team barren and left for dead (like the current Nets).

[AC]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

^LOL. Well, technically, I AM McDonough (since I run all 30 teams). But I'm playing McDonough (who has to deal with Robert Sarver, who, let's face it, is not a good owner). If this season ends poorly (like, first overall pick bad), the Suns will be a laughingstock, but at least will be able to draft a stud in a top-heavy draft class.

This gave me an idea. Not to ask too much of you but maybe we could see a little more of the upcoming draft class throughout the season? Just a thought.

That 30 team plan was fantastic. Here I am stuck trying to get Lebron to re-sign with Cleveland. Think I'll just edit his attributes to 0 at this point

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

This gave me an idea. Not to ask too much of you but maybe we could see a little more of the upcoming draft class throughout the season? Just a thought.

That 30 team plan was fantastic. Here I am stuck trying to get Lebron to re-sign with Cleveland. Think I'll just edit his attributes to 0 at this point

Yeah, I could do that. I tend to ignore the draft classes because they don't really matter until the offseason, but since I'm only doing 20 regular season games this year, I'll have time to drop some draft class updates.

As for LeBron -- he almost always opts out after that first year and, for some reason, Cleveland doesn't have his bird rights in the game (at least, they didn't when I started my MyLeague in September). I ended up editing his option away, basically giving him a two-year guaranteed deal (but Cleveland still had to trade away Love after the season because of how capped out they were).

Cleveland's cap situation is dire, really -- way too much money tied up in Tristan Thompson. Someone between him and Love will have to go and it's gonna be Love in all likelihood.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return



Smell that? It's the greatest scent of all time. It's the most perfect mixture of grease, sweat, tears, blood, and bacon. It's the best time of the year, the thing that every basketball fan looks forward to the most.

Opening night. Only 11 days away, the two-time-defending champs are prepping for the beginning of the NBA season, where they will attempt to do something that hasn't been done since the Shaq/Kobe teams of the early 2000s: three-peat.

You know what I got? I have a raging case of ...



It's the greatest disease a basketball fan can have and now, you too, can have it for the low, low price of FREE! Wake up friends, it's time to shake off the boredom of baseball, clean off the blood from the murder-sport known as football, and return to the game that inspired art -- basketball.

It's been quite a run for our Sonics. Two year back in the league, two titles, and a cast of characters on the team that has rotated a little. We won a title with Jarrett Jack, then let him go to be replaced by Brandon Jennings (MIP ... well, he was only off by one letter for MVP), and now we've grabbed the greatest prize of all: Russell Westbrook.

Who is lacking a *ucking cool nickname, so get on that Sonics faithful.

Westbrook has arrived and so has former (current?) malcontent Markieef Morris. The starting lineup for the Sonics features two new faces this year -- Westbrook at the one, M&M at the four (he is an M&M -- hard on the outside, but you know he's sweet deep down).

The Sonics are celebrating their 50th year (yes, we're celebrating those 7 years of nothing, too, because without them we wouldn't appreciate jack right now). The organization has unveiled modern-takes on some retro throwbacks and they look electric!

Okay, puns aside, you have to be excited if you're a Sonics fan. Mad Max, Coach Lion, and Ray-Ray have all done a stellar job putting together a better roster than either of the two that won the title the last two years. They drafted well (Hartenstein could just as easily love you as crush you), and are locked in to maintain their place as one of the top teams in the conference.

But, let's not get carried away -- the Sonics have a TON of history against them. The only teams to three-peat in the modern era of NBA basketball (AKA, the last 30 years) either had Jordan/Pippen on them or Shaq/Kobe. Do the Sonics possess a generational talent like that? Um ... no.

Look, Westbrook is super-good and might make the Hall of Fame, but he's not once-in-a-generation good. He's unique, but not the best player of his generation (he's close, though). Don't send me hate emails because of the truth -- Sonics fever is a disease that makes truth painful, but necessary, friend.

History says we shouldn't be expecting a Sonics three-peat -- in fact, we should be expecting a year where are expectations aren't fulfilled (which means if we're expecting to not meet our expectations, we'll not meet our expectations of expecting to not meet our expectations ... ??).

There's only one team in the modern NBA era who even remotely matches the way the Sonics have gotten their two titles the last few years: The '94 and '95 Houston Rockets. Both teams were different from one another because of all the players involved -- the '95 Rockets had Hakeem on the team and he was the biggest star. The '95 Rockets struggled in the early part of the year and traded for Clyde Drexler, which helped boost them into the playoffs and then straight through them, back to another title.

But the team that followed them, the '96 Rockets, was even MORE loaded. Hakeem, Drexler, and the newly acquired Charles Barkley. They ultimately fell in the WCF to the Jazz, which began a long, slow decline over the next four years that led to a lot of woe for Houston.

YIKES. That got dark.

That said, I ain't predicting that type of disaster (Houston, you had a problem). The Rockets were poor in their decision making as they were loading up on old, veteran talent to make a chase at another ring. They messed up their balance of youth vs. experience, sold off draft picks and young players, and sent their franchise into the dark age of mediocrity following that season. It wasn't pretty.

Seattle has no such issues. RHJ. Noel. Malik Newman. Hartenstein. Those four guys are the future of this franchise, and all four are getting minutes this year -- RHJ and Noel and Newman (to an extent) have been major cogs in championship teams, as the SuperSonics left many teams in the dust.

Will this new roster, with these new faces, do that this year? Eh ... probably not. I might have Sonics fever, but I haven't reached the delusional stage yet (that happens when we rip off wicked win streaks). No, these Sonics need time to gel and adjust to their new lead dog Westbrook. They need to figure out how they all fit together, so expect this season to be rougher in the win/loss columns than we're used to.

But don't count us out of anything. The Sonics new uniforms feature lightning bolts promptly, which some in the NBA have been critical of -- namely, one Clay Bennett.

I think the lightning bolts are indicative of that franchise's mindset. They want to be flashy and bright, but lightning doesn't last forever -- people don't see it half the time and don't know it's there.

But people know thunder's there; they can hear it, they can feel it. It lasts longer in the human consciousness than lightning does.

Brave words, CLAY. He sure can spout off some trash, can't he? We, as Sonics fans, shouldn't be surprised; Bennett has always been known to talk a good show (and promptly stab a nine-inch blade in your back). We remember, very well, how slick you are.

But Clay, you forget -- thunder comes before lightning. You know, like you guys did in the draft?



*uck you Clay.

Go Sonics!

[DevSwerve]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Clay is too salty lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Coachjosh21]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

^Been using real-player % from the beginning, unfortunately. It's the only way I can play because my shot-stick timing is really, really bad. I could change back to shot-stick I guess, but then I'll clank open jumpers left and right and that'll be even worse, lol.

And, yeah, that Paul story! Man, had to dig deep into the archives of my brain to remember that. Luckily, the Internet backed me up and I wasn't imagining it, but I really had to think on that one.

I say switch to user shooting percentage. Spend a little time practicing people's realeases. Makes you not want to alter your roster as much when you've gotten used to what you have.

[Coachjosh21]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

I say switch to user shooting percentage. Spend a little time practicing people's realeases. Makes you not want to alter your roster as much when you've gotten used to what you have.

Try it freestyle practice and see if you like it, then scrimmage practice and then do it in preseason.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Clay is too salty lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seattle took his second-best player. Things are gonna get saltier, trust me.