The long journey of a Padawan: Washington Wizards
 

I started playing Madden in online league with Madden 2004. I was playing with Arizona Cardinals. A rookie Josh McCown was my very first strarting QB. I started 2-6, but then i bounced back finishing 10-6 and making it into the wildcards for my first season. The next season I made it to the Superbowl loosing by like 30 points against an experimented Broncos user.

if I say that, it is simply to say that back in the days being a noob in an online league was not too much of a jump. There was a learning curve but most players did not have a huge experience playing and mastering the game in details.

Years after years my long experience in Madden online proved me that users who get beaten up badly do not survive long.They usually get abused with a couple of stupid trades usually confused by a high overall not knowing the skills which matters and ignoring salary cap implication....



I knew nothing about baslketball, I had absolutely no interest into NBA. I just knew that 2K had the best franchise mode in sports games market by like a mile.

Black friday sales, game costs 25 boxes, I go for it. When I start the game i get literally stunned. When you edit the players and see the face details,o r the swet when they play. or simply how fun it is to shoot or dunk, just play in general.

Then all the features whe have been dreaming for in the life of a Madden franchise mode user. It is a dream comning true. All the details, stats, trainings, scouting, draft export, past draft classes... All features are there. It loosk like amazing gameplay coupled with a deep detailed franchise mode.

I start getting into it, looking for a team. Which team should I pick ? Pelicans I love their uniform and French king armories but they are OP. Memphies are the small market team I usually enjoy but again Ja Morant makes it already built. I soon identify Knicks and Wizards as my best possible picks.

I start to think playbook, making search... But my Madden experience tells me that online League is the way to go to learn the game and progress. Only condition be mentally prepared to get totally roasted for a while.
Because unlike my Madden debut nowadays when you get into a league as a total noob, you play against people who have for 10 or 15 years of gameonline league experience. They perfectly know the game, the systems, the rules....

So this is what we try to address here, is it still possible to start from scratch as a complete noob in a league with solid active users in 2020 ?

So, I found what looks like a solid goup. My Madden experience helps me to figure that out. So i am not totally green all GM part is in the same framework (draft, trade, roster, cap, contracts, analysis)... and if you can understand how to deal with a NFL roster of 53 to 90 players you can deal with the 15 players of a NBA one.



Ultimately I get in contact with a French league ''La French League Master'' (F.L.M). Note that it is really french because it is League Master instead of Master league... whatever :)

So big advantage compared to Madden or MLB the Show the community of 2K is quite strong in France (there is a a real NBA game in Paris this week...). So that si quite cool. They look for a Wizards user....unbelieveble so here I am...

So they are in their second season, team stands at 5-4 with a totally changed roster. But you cannot complain too much when you are new and get one of the 2 teams you wanted to play.

The challenge of Wizards this year (and the interest to play them in franchise) was their complex cap situation. So the previous GM made quite a few trades and the roster assembled is quite interesting.

Not being (obviously) an expert i believe the end results is ok, obviously I would have never let Beane, Hachimura or Bryant go,I would have tried to manage the tight cap to keep them in... This roster seems to be designed to play a kind of trendy small ball.



A good looking backfield

Drafted first overall back in 2010 John Wall is the obvious starter at Point Guard. He is still fast he can attack the RIM, he is amazing in dribble (but I am not able to use him yet to that extend), he can eventually shoot from the right corner... He is the leader of the team. I do not mind his wage, his skills make it up.

Behind Wall, we have veteran Jiuan Jose Barea, a former NBA champion with the Dallas Maverick in 2011 and former NY Knicks Kadeem Allen. Both being decent backups with nothing special neither as good or bad.

At the Shooting Guard, we have former Sacramento Kings Buddy Hield. Hield is the best perimeter shooter of the team. He has all the fancy shooting badges and is linked to the team for the next 4 seasons. I would prefer Beal and his ability to both shoot and slash but I am ok with Hield, he is there until the end of his contract.

Behind Hield we have former NY Knicks Reggie Brooks who can be a decent shooter from 3 points or mid range.

Troy Brown is another bench player. The former 1st round selectionin 2015 struggles a bit to establish himself as a starter. He can still provide value to the team with his solid defense and playmaking. He can play as #2 or #3 and will get playing time with a cap friendly rookie contract for the next two seasons.

For the Small Forward position we have two veterans.

Initially drafted 3rd overall by the Wizards in 2013 Otto Porter is back from Chicago. He does not have any special skill. Barely averaghe in evrything ifnot below average he looks klike a dead wood contract costing 28M against the cap. By luck he is on a contract year.

Another former Wizards back in the capital is Nick Young who won a NBA title in 2018 with the Warriors. Very solid on defense and decent shooter, Young should earn playing time either as #3 or #2.


Talented players under the rim

For #4 and #5 we have two very good players. But in my early campaign I am a fan of a a good old school mentality based on very solid on defense under the rim. A Ruddy Gobbert or a Mitchell Robinson are clearly what I am looking for.

Former Sacramento Kings Marvin Bradley may play as Power forward or Center. He is really complete. He can shoot, he can dunk he may even eventually play in the post, solid on defense... with 2 years on his contract he is tied to Washingthon until the end of his contract.

Montrezl Harrell is another amazing talent in this roster. The former Clippers has a lot of valuable badges and is (currently) the designated starter at Center. Linked to the team for the next 3 years (with an additional player option year). Only issue is his rebound which look very good for a PF but limited for a Center. It is a concern. But we cannot deny his talent

Behind these two obvious starters are a bunch of capable players.

• Thadeus Young is a solid 14 years NBA veteran. He is a good finisher, a decent shooter and has good defense. He can play as PF or even SF.
• The former user drafted Killian Tillie 30th overall at the end of the first season. The former Gonzaga Bulldogs looks like a project, best designed for a bench role at PF.
• Luckily Moritz Wagner is still in the Wizards roster,with a cap friendly contract for the next couple of years he should earn a bench role as C or PF.
• Polish star Marcin Gortat has been signed back to the roster. A 14 years NBA veteran Marcin is the only pure ''old school'' Center in the roster providing much needed presence under the rim.

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="475"><tr class="masthead_alt"><td bgcolor="#CD1435" colspan="7">Washignthon Wizards</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td align="center" width="6%">#</td><td width="31%">NAME</td><td width="9%">POS</td><td width="9%">AGE</td><td width="9%">HT</td><td width="9%">WT</td><td width="27%">SALARY</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">2</td><td>John Wall</td><td class="active">PG</td><td>30</td><td>6.4</td><td>210</td><td>41.25M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">14</td><td>J.J. Barea</td><td class="active">PG</td><td>36</td><td>5.10</td><td>185</td><td>1.67M</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">12</td><td>Kadeem allen</td><td class="active">PG</td><td>28</td><td>6.1</td><td>200</td><td>1.67M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">24</td><td>Buddy Hield</td><td class="active">SG/SF</td><td>28</td><td>6.4</td><td>214</td><td>24.43M</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">4</td><td>Reggie Bullock</td><td class="active">SG/SF</td><td>30</td><td>6.6</td><td>205</td><td>1.67M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">17</td><td>Otto Porter</td><td class="active">SF/PF</td><td>27</td><td>6.8</td><td>198</td><td>28.49M</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">6</td><td>Troy Brown</td><td class="active">SF/SG</td><td>21</td><td>6.6</td><td>215</td><td>3.37M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">34</td><td>Nick Young</td><td class="active">SF/SG</td><td>35</td><td>6.7</td><td>210</td><td>1.67M</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">35</td><td>Marvin Bagley III</td><td class="active">PF/C</td><td>22</td><td>6.11</td><td>234</td><td>8.96M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">21</td><td>Thaddeus Young</td><td class="active">PF/SF</td><td>32</td><td>6.8</td><td>221</td><td>14.19M</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">7</td><td>Killian Tillie (r)</td><td class="active">PF/SF</td><td>22</td><td>6.10</td><td>230</td><td>1.27M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">5</td><td>Montrezl Harrell</td><td class="active">C/PF</td><td>27</td><td>6.7</td><td>240</td><td>23.44M</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">13</td><td>Marcin Gortat</td><td class="active">C</td><td>37</td><td>6.11</td><td>240</td><td>1.67M</td></tr></table></body></html>

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

The early games are what you would expect them to be: a disaster for the Wizards.

Walter was a real philosoph... but given the losses hopefully we can get some gains from these pains...

• Minus 48 points in the very first game against the New York Nets (L 40-88).
• Minus 64 (yes) against reigning champion Pelicans (L 51/115).
• Minus 15 against the New York Knicks (L 76-91).

Note: the league plays in 9mn QT.

We expected a huge struggle, pain and tears and we are not disapointed... But we still learn a few things and it is really fun to play(yes it is).

• We are getting better at setting up our user options.
• We need to get used to the meter shooting (I was playing real percentage offline) and the league plays in HOF (I was playing All star offline).
• We as well start to get a playbook together and learning how to trigger freelance plays. But it is a work in progress.

We really got slauthered in our first couple of games both against good teams with good users.




Everybody in the league advise us to focus on defense.

Getting comfortable with HOF meter is really a struggle. Against Pelicans we went 22/68 on FG and 2/18 at 3PT....

I decide to focus first on improving the shoots. You cannot win if you miss all your shoot attempts.

We probably do not make the right decisions when it comes to taking shoots.




Roster wise we are making progress:

in the knicks game we got what was our closest to a NBA game outcome. Down by 8 at 3mn of the end we finally fall by 12.

• Wall scored 23 points and had 7 assists. finally I was able to use him at his level.
• Harrell proves himself valuable, 12 rebounds in the same game.
• Hield 13 points is still ddepending on my capacity to deal with meter shooting (2/5 at 3, and 5/12 on FG).
• Bagley 11 points shows some sign of his capacity but again wemust find the plays that will put him in the ebst situations.
• After these 3 games we decide to bench Otto Porter (he will not even dress for the game). Thadeus Young will start at SF going forward.

On the bench it is not as stable...

• Moritz Wagner proves himself to be a valuable contributor at PF while Gortat is holding the C bench role.
• Barea and Wagner share playing time at PG. Bullock and Nick Young do the same at SG.
• After multiple tests we decide to give playing time to Killian Tillie at SF on the bench unit.
• Brown Jr plays either at SG or SF when we need to focus on defense.

The thing as well is to learn the players better and their hot shooting spots. Our lack of skills on the stick forces us to try to facilitate the shooters job...

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

New game against the Celtics. We had actually our best game so far to the point that we could have won it with a couple of shoot attemopts in final 2mn which were missed... It was actually close...


However, a pretty decent game for the Wizards (9mn QT).

• Surprising domination under the opposing rim with 17 offensive rebounds won.
• We won the turnover battle (8 vs 11).
• We had more points on the paint (54 vs 44).
• Once more our issue is on 3 points shooting, we went 2/17 (12%) vs 6/20 (30%) for the Celtics.

Individually, Bagley showed up for the game with 15 points scored, 18 rebounds (:y16:), no assists.
Worth to note Harrell getting 9 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
Wagner as well performed quite well out of the bencwith 10 points scored in 11mn.

We need to have a better preparation for the end game in the event we eventually manage to keepit close up to there.

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

The FLM is getting close to the end of its 2nd seaon in the NBA2K20 campaign. Wizards have been playing a lot of games recently trying to make progress, develop a system and give playing time to some of the young players of the roster.

On the 29 long season Washington has played 24. posting a remarkable 0-15 record under Coach Mac regime. ''We knew it would be tough, we are not disapointed'' commented the rookie GM.

''Our season is close to be finished we hopefully can play a couple more games against Detroit and San Antonio we have contacts with these coaches and fingers are crossed. I believe that will be it, Denver,Milwaukee and Chicago do not look like interested in playing at this stage''.

There will be time soon to evaluate the players, look at the coming rookie class, assess the potential free agents markets, and design a better playbook for the next season. "The best time of the year is coming soon..."




A winless half season for the Wizards... There were a few close games where a half was close or a quarter was won but overall Wahsingthon stilllacks the consistency which win games.

''We get a lot of experience through these games, we have still a lot to improve obviously but we have made progresses''.

For instance, the team seemed to understand better the coverage. "We figured out that the key for shooting is not as much the timing as it is to make the right decision to shoot open".

''Sometime we are too mechanical, we call a 3 points shoot play, and when the play sequence completes we just shoot no matter what. We need to analyse better and adjust, and. moreover, we need to know our plays better''.

From the begining the shooting has been a focus point to get used to the shoot mechanic. The past few games highlighted gaps in perimeter coverage.

"We believe we guard an opponent and he judistancest start a release and get a 3 points in front of us. We need to learn the right distance".

Another thing is to diversify better the shooting. Miore players need to get shooting opportunities. Something the staff will look to improve.

''The off season comes right we have to think about what we can do better and how we can get more balance and more depth in this roster. We are very excited''.

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

For the final game of the 2nd FLM regular season of 2K20, the Wizards hosted the Detroit Pistons in the Capital Arena.

Early in the game Washingthon seems to force a high tempo on the opponent with an aggresive defense and an efficient offense.

Suddenly the Wizards forgive their 15 games loosing streak, they start to win duels. Brown Jr is dominant on defense both at the perimeter or under the rim while Wall and Bagley keep scoring.

Suddenly a miracle seems possible. Wizards have a 10 points lead... Detroit gets less and less opportunities and look slow and dominated physically. It is unreal, the Arena is pushing, Wizards start to get confident and we even see Wall becoming less predictable and taking shoots.

Comes the bench and nothing change. Rookie Killian Tillie playing as a winger get a 3 points, the first of his career and leads the second unit while Gortat, the Polish pilar, forgive his slowness and gets a couple of key offensive rebounds....

Washingthon outcores Detroit 28-12 in the first quarter and 47-11 in the second... are you klidding ?

The Wiz men would not slow down offering a first win to Coach Mac in the FLM... "Tonight we forgot we were winless and we learned what Momentum is in this game".

The season finally ends on a positive note in DC. It is now time for evaluation and analyse.

Highlights

• Wizards outscored Pistons 75 - 23 in first half
• John Wall scored 30 points getting his best game of the season (11/18 at FG).
• Rookie Killian Tillie scored 14 points in 16 minutes of playtime.

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards
 

The FLM season is over in Washingthon, while the FLM is going through playoffs, the Wizards starts their off season review and it starts by the evaluationof numbers...

• Record before Coacg Mac joined 5-4
• Record in game played after Coach Mac arrival 1-15
• Simed games at the end of the season 3-1

Games played before Coach Mac arrival:

• W 83-71 vs Rockets
• L 65-103 vs Hornets
• L 76-88 vs Lakers
• W 64-54 vs Kings
• W 79-47 vs Mavericks
• W 74-73 vs Pacers
• W 71-64 vs Suns
• L 71-90 vs Grizzlies
• L 65-89 vs Jazz

Games played after Coach Mac arrival

• L 40-88 vs NY Nets
• L 29-109 vs 76ers
• L 50-100 vs Magics
• L 51-115 vs Pelicans
• L 76-91 vs NY Knicks
• L 76-78 vs Celtics
• L 51-86 vs Wolves
• L 51-83 vs Heats
• L 62-73 vs Warriors
• L 60-102 vs Trail Blazers
• L 72-114 vs Raptors
• L 78-105 vs Cavs
• L63-125 vs OKC
• L 62-91 vs Hawks
• L 61-108 vs Clippers
• W 115-69 vs Pistons
• W 109-95 vs Bucks (Sim)
• L 99-129 vs Spurs (Sim)
• W 117-106 vs Nuggets (Sim)
• W 116-82 vs Bulls (Sim)

• Team PPG: 71.9 (30th)
• Team PAPG: 90.6 (22th)
• Team DIFF: -18.7 (30th)
• Team FG%: .397 (30th)
• Team 3P%: .227 (30th)
• Team FT%: .745 (29th)
• Team OREB%: .254 (20th)
• Team DREB%: .699 (24th)
• Team APG: 18.8 (29th)
• Team SPG: 7.1 (14th)
• Team BPG: 3.2 (25th)
• Team FPG: 13.6 (19th)
• Team PTS-TO: 9.6 (17th)
• Team FPG: 13.6 (19th)
• Team 2Nd Chance PTS: 6.4 (26th)
• Team PIP (Points in Paint/Game): 41.0 (21th)
• Team BP% (Bench Points %): .361 (14th)
• Team oFG% (Opponent FG %): .500 (30th)
• Team o3P% (Opponent 3P %): .365 (24th)

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="575"><tr class="masthead_alt"><td bgcolor="#754505" colspan="10"><span style="color:#FFFFFF">Washingthon Wizards Stats - 2021</span></td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="28%">Player</td><td align="right" width="8%">GP</td><td align="right" width="8%">MIN</td><td align="right" width="8%">PPG</td><td align="right" width="8%">RPG</td><td align="right" width="8%">APG</td><td align="right" width="8%">SPG</td><td align="right" width="8%">PER</td><td align="right" width="8%">TS%</td><td align="right" width="8%">+/-</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>M.Bagley III (PF-C)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">763</td><td align="right" class="active">9.9</td><td align="right">6.8</td><td align="right">1.5</td><td align="right">1.1</td><td align="right">17.2</td><td align="right">.539</td><td align="right">-7.5</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>B.Hield (SG)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">708</td><td align="right" class="active">9.9</td><td align="right">2.1</td><td align="right">2.2</td><td align="right">0.5</td><td align="right">6.9</td><td align="right">.422</td><td align="right">-7.9</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>J.Wall ( PG)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">703</td><td align="right" class="active">14.8</td><td align="right">3.0</td><td align="right">5.7</td><td align="right">1.6</td><td align="right">19.9</td><td align="right">.539</td><td align="right">-8.3</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>M.Harrell (C)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">631</td><td align="right" class="active">7.9</td><td align="right">6.0</td><td align="right">1.7</td><td align="right">0.8</td><td align="right">16.6</td><td align="right">.552</td><td align="right">-7.8</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>T.Brown Jr (SG-SF)</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">511</td><td align="right" class="active">4.2</td><td align="right">3.2</td><td align="right">1.5</td><td align="right">0.9</td><td align="right">7.0</td><td align="right">.414</td><td align="right">-7.6</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>T.Young (SF)</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">377</td><td align="right" class="active">3.8</td><td align="right">2.5</td><td align="right">1.1</td><td align="right">0.5</td><td align="right">7.5</td><td align="right">.427</td><td align="right">-9.1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>M.Wagner (PF-C)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">372</td><td align="right" class="active">4.3</td><td align="right">3.0</td><td align="right">0.8</td><td align="right">0.6</td><td align="right">12.6</td><td align="right">.461</td><td align="right">-9.1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>M.Gortat (C)</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">301</td><td align="right" class="active">3.8</td><td align="right">5.4</td><td align="right">1.0</td><td align="right">0.5</td><td align="right">16.1</td><td align="right">.525</td><td align="right">-6.4</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>O.Porter (SF-PF)</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">294</td><td align="right" class="active">4.1</td><td align="right">1.6</td><td align="right">1.1</td><td align="right">0.3</td><td align="right">3.3</td><td align="right">.375</td><td align="right">-6.5</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>N.Young (SF-SG)</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">283</td><td align="right" class="active">3.7</td><td align="right">0.7</td><td align="right">1.0</td><td align="right">0.1</td><td align="right">3.1</td><td align="right">.395</td><td align="right">-6.9</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>K.Allen (PG)</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">265</td><td align="right" class="active">5.0</td><td align="right">1.3</td><td align="right">1.8</td><td align="right">0.6</td><td align="right">9.1</td><td align="right">.494</td><td align="right">-8.1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>K.Tillie (PF-SF)</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">222</td><td align="right" class="active">4.5</td><td align="right">1.4</td><td align="right">1.0</td><td align="right">0.3</td><td align="right">6.1</td><td align="right">.434</td><td align="right">-8.8</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>R.Bullock (SG-SF)</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">146</td><td align="right" class="active">2.5</td><td align="right">0.6</td><td align="right">0.6</td><td align="right">0.3</td><td align="right">1.8</td><td align="right">.345</td><td align="right">-5.5</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>J.J. Barea (PG)</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">114</td><td align="right" class="active">2.4</td><td align="right">0.6</td><td align="right">1.1</td><td align="right">0.1</td><td align="right">0.0</td><td align="right">.367</td><td align="right">-5.4</td></tr></table></body></html>

Re: The long journey of a Padawan: FLM Wizards