SSBA

This will be done on the dot, 5pm eastern time tomorrow.  You've been warned, get your DC's in by then.

Sweet, I love early sims...problem is I work 4-9 anyway :)

I would really love to get my first 50 W season...

I fully expect to get my 3rd straight ;)

Heh, me too.

Oh wait, already have it :)

I expect my 4th straight year in the playoffs  :)

Most viscious schedule I have ever played, I think...
The Nets come to visit first...  And I have placed a bounty on Emeka, after his viscious attack on Araujo in the last game.  :evil:

The the Warriors go visit the Mavs, and then the Raptors.
Come home, and face the Pacers and the Magic.
And then head home for a game against the Jazz.

Boy, maybe I can fit in an away game vs the Clips in there somewhere, to continue the torture...    :cry:

Even with Araujo, a 3-3 sim would have been good.  At this point, hoping for at least one win...

Well if it wasn't for the injuries i think i would have couple of them already too. First year i was really close, something like 49.

Looks like an injury complaint....
I am now using my self declared power, given to me by Araujo's injury...

Shove it up your bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep   :P    8)

:)

I like your positive attitude about this injurie of yours. I'd never be capable for something like that. Nervous breakdown or something like that would be more aproppriate for me. :)

Thanks :)
What can you do???  Just hope you are a good enough GM to make up for the hand you are dealt...
Or just hope that Adonal Foyle plays like a man possessed!!! (hmm, well that is a truly desperate hope)
Gives Hinrich a chance to shine...  Actually, now I may try a fast pace with outside focus when Araujo come back, just for fun.  He is a C outside shooter, which is not shabby for a center...
But that fast pace for my Brazillian Blubber Boy might be too much....

Suns @ Kings  W
 Spurs @ King  W. They beat me last time by 2 points. I expect a full massacre at Arco Arena.
 Pacers @ Kings W. Payback time. They crushed me by 40 last time.
 Kings @ Magic  Impossible to tell.
 Kings @ Mavericks L. Doubt i can beat them 2 times in a row.
 Trailblazers @ Kings Clean W. Nothin more.
 Kings @ Hawks  W.

5 - 2.

4 - 3 at worst.

The "make-or-break" stretch run that will ultimately decide my postseason hopes

Hawks @ Celtics
Celtics @ Hornets
Celtics @ Magic
Celtics @ Hawks
Celtics @ Heat
Celtics @ Heat
Suns @ Celtics

Looking at the standings it seems like an easy swchedule, drawing the Hawks twice and the Heat. But first of all, no game is easy when you just lost 8 of 9, most of'm by 20+ pts, then five are on the road (including the only 2 winning teams, who I have to play without injured leading scorer Curry).

So what has to happen for me to make the post season ? AS dark as my chances look now I'm just 2 games out of the 8th spot in the losing column. But ...
- to catch the Wiz, who I'd expect to win at least 4 of the remaining 10 I'd have to win 12 of 16 *lol*
- to catch the Bucks - will at least go 4-9 - I need to go 10-6 (since they own the tie braker)
- To overtake the Pistons, who have a truly horrible schedule (projected 3-12 record) I need a 5-11 record
-and finally, to keep the Bulls at bay I just have to win more games than they do (I see them go 9-7 with an easy schedule)

so the head-to-head matchups in sim12 (Bullas and Wiz) might factor in the outcome, but my run will have to start NOW. And thinking, that all I would have had to do last sim was beating the Cavs and Lakers at home to make my live a whole lot easier, leaves me still shaking my head ...  :?


Will the Celtics finally make their first postseason? Highly unlikely as of now ... but as long as I average more TOs than assists (as happened last sim) I won't have to worry about winning games anyway.  :oops:

I wanna go home! :bash:

The fact I'm in the playoff race is sad

Time to play the spolier and crush some teams playoff hopes  :)

Hey, as long as you can stay ahead of the Spurs you get the green light from me... 8)

slightly disappointing 3-2 sim.

btw, for the raptors, who after 1 sim said I had trouble scoring, I now score as many ppg as you.  4th best in the league.  And he said it couldn't be done :)

4-4 sim for the Hawks.  JDN keeps getting better and better.  If he has a good TC he's gonna be very very good next season.  Ivan has been great as his side kick, except I can't get his TO's down.

2-4 sim for the Warriors...
Toughest sim of the season, and did pretty well.
Defeated the Pacers at home, and the Jazz in Utah.

Most importantly, have pretty much clinched a playoff spot.
6 games up on both the Wolves and the Grizzlies.  Wolves have 9 games left, and the Grizz have 6 games left.

The season series with the Grizz is tied, so all I need is one Grizz loss or one win, and a playoff spot is mine.
Warriors have the series edge against the Sonics, so they cannot catch me.

The Wolves have 9 games, and can make up some ground in a Day 91 visit.  Warriors magic number vs the Wolves is 3...  

Right now looks like I will be facing the Kings, Nuggets, or Jazz in the playoffs....

Well, I'm done, but I actually would rather have a better lotto pick than get crushed by the Raps.

Mason Mercer has had probably his best season, I'll make him first option to end off the year, get his averages up a bit.  Griffin has had an off yeat 15/9 is below his career averages of 16/10.  I think it's because of all the flip flopping with Anderson at C and PF.  As for Anderson, 3.2 bpg is all I can ask for from the guy.

Clippers had a 6-0 sim. Team is playing great team ball. Six players are averaging over 10ppg. Very good shooting %'s and great rebounding.

Team is really getting ready for the playoffs. Everyone knows their role and is fully focused.

Talks with Gordon and Childress about extending contracts have already started. Both want to stay in LA and management will do everything possible to keep them here.

Rumor has it that contracts are already extended. That way both players can focus on the playoffs and will have nothing to worry about.

poor sim for me, Kirilenko and Hughes almost had triple doubles again  Curran had yet another 7 block game, but Shabinger is still inconsistent. Lebron James hinted at quadruple-double numbers on me, regardless I should stay in the playoffs, seeding is going to suck though. Meyers disappointed me by not scoring much more after getting more minutes the last couple of sims, but Booth has really upped his playing this season. Daniels will still probably still be my starter in the playoffs dependkng on Shabby's performance this last sim with a lot of games on the road.

Damn, went 4-3 but what a crazy results!

Beat the Mavs and Magic on the road and lost to Suns at home and Hawks on the road :?  :shock:

1 point loss to Pacers! What a game, 125:124 :!:

Gooden had 21 rebounds vs the Blazers and Marbury was a passing machine the whole sim; 8, 14, 7, 10, 7 and 8. I hope he'll go on with that kind of production.

But what a showdown vs the Pacers;

Steph Marbury; 13pts, 14asis / Derek Fischer; 4pts, 7asis
Tracy Mcgrady; 38pts / Ron Artest; 18pts
Drew Gooden; 18pts, 3blocks, 6 rebs, 7/8 from the floor / Melo; 25pts, 10rebs
Brad Miller; 23pts, 9rebs, 2blocks / Jermaine O'Neal; 36pts, 6rebs
Jerome James; 10pts, 7rebs / Jeff Foster; 15pts, 13rebs

Averaging amlost 52 boards a night my team got outrebounded  37 / 50 + the Pacers had 70% from the arc.

It could have been great sim, but we 2 of my loses with 2 and 1 point, it ended on a very mediocre way.

Good news: 3rd place West and home court in the first round for now. Going against the defending champ Jazz. I hope they'll continue with their recent struggles :) .

Warroirs, i would really love that...

Quick observations from DAY 11:

- Garrett Ward a dish and a board away from a quadruple double: 14 / 9 / 9 / 11 (TOs that is)
- Kaman getting player of the game in a losing effort - and with Odom getting a triple double for the Hornets
- The Nets allowing the Sonics to shoot - what? - 61% and 4 guys to get 19pts
- The Bucks giving way for 3 Mavs with a 20/10 games (+another 20/8 guy). Dirk with a monster 25/20/11 triple double !
- Mase Mercer with a fantasic triple double against AI no less: 27 / 7 / 12 / 12 (steals, shattering the old record of 9 from Ratliff, who now can move back into obscurity)
- Mister 300 pounds Fletcher shot 14-16 for 29 against who? O.Ferry !
- So much for the record: With Gooden getting 21 boards from the SF spot against, ok, it was just Drew Fox, the swingmen bar for caroms has been raised even higher (sorry, Peja)
- Then Sonics get 7 guys in double figures against the Clips ... only to lose, because the frontline of Z, Collison, Boykins and Finley gets outrebounded by ... PG Gordon and SF Chills !

 8)

I have the 3rd best defense (based on opp FG%), but I have the 7th worst offense (based on FG%), but I do worse when i give Shabinger and Meyers more minutes who shoot better than their competition without giving up much talent-wise. The only explanations I have is that Shabinger turns the ball over and Meyers doesn't take enough shots.

Dirk's 25/20/11/1/3 on me was pretty impressive.

But with the 3-3 sim I'm in pretty good shape to hold onto that 8th spot, 3 losses ahead of Miami (and I have the tiebreaker), and 3.5 games ahead of Boston.

The crazy thing is Cleveland has the 5th worst win % in the league and is only 6 losses back of the 8 spot.

On day 110, my playoff hopes have officially ended. They were killed by a man, who put up the single most dominant effort this season against my arguably best defender Radmanovic, on SF no less: 39pts, 16boards, 6 assists, 18-28 shooting.

Was it Vince? Was it TMac? Was it LeBron?

No, it was Lo.  :cry:

Otherwise, I returned to my usual 4-3 sims (two of the losses came by 2 and 3 points respectively). Dre got to sit again and played a great backup to Snow. The rest of the troups played as the played all season (just Kaman and Duncan somewhat of a surprise as long as Curry and Darko were out). My turnovers were cut in half and the assists went up again, just like the old times.

So whats ahead? Actually I still got that slight chance to at least tie the Bucks for the 8th spot (and hope for some draw luck). But I need to go an unrealistic 6-3 in my last 9 - and hope the Bucks go 2-5.  :?

But one thing I can tell you for sure:
it's fun to be in the hunt right to the end. This makes me very proud of the young Celtics (as mentioned before, my starting lineup is just 22.4 years of age !!!)

 :lol:

WOW...had a great great run....6-2 despite the injuries... went 5-0 without Q rich and 1-2 without Al harrington ...the MLE harrington has been stepping up without Q rich... and Carl harping has been spectacular... the trade for harping with okur really works great for me.... i know sits in the 9th spot from the playoffs... i need 5 wins straight and the bucks to go 4-3 to tie it.... i now have my full roster back...lets see what its all really about... :lol: iv never beent this excited on a sim except when i won the championship... :lol:

next 5 games:

Knicks @ Heat -W- i dont want to under estimate the knicks but im    
                         expecting a win HERE....
Heat @ 76ers- L- this is my only tough game in the sim
Heat @ Hawks- W- easy win i hope
Heat @ Bulls - W- it will be a close game but i think this game can be won
Bucks @ Heat- W- This will be my crucial game of the season... i NEED to
                           win this one....

5-0 is posssible.... 4-1 is realistic.... but other than that would be very very disappointing... i need the bucks to lose lose and lose... :lol:

But looking at your schedule on day 12 I would still put the celebrations on hold: Kings, Clippers, Magic, Heat, Bulls, Sixers, Hawks. I don't see too many easy W's there ...

And are u sure there isn't a draw in case of a tie (no matter of the tiebreaker)?

Damn, just when Gordon would jump into the recordbooks with 9 steals against the Knicks, Mercer gets 12 steals! Oh well, I'd rather get championship rings than records in the books. Not that I am already thinking about a championship party in LA... but dreaming is allowed right?! :D

Kidd had a triple double. Al roseau had some nice games.

I'm not sure but obviously having a tiebreaker makes sense when I've won the first 3 games against the Heat.  

In a sim league based as much on realism as possible, I'd assume the tiebreakers exist.

But then again, I've gotta hope it doesn't come to that.  I expect the Heat to go 4-1, which would make my magic number 3.  Given 4 home games and an away at the Hawks, I think I can go 3-4, which would make me hard to catch.

The Raptors want to thank Yao Ming, Chris Mihm, Peja Stojakovic and Baron Davis for their hard work and commitment during the season. They will be given the next 10 days to rest.

Last year I played for best record, and while I got it, I also lost Peja for the first half of my series vs the Hornets. I won't let that happen again.

We will have to see how a team of Cato/Austin/Sedran/Springs/Lovelette does ;)

And touche, Nets, you are the offensive team you said you would be.

You will no doubt pass me as I rest my starters next sim. I'm assuming you won't rest yours if you are looking for 52 wins.

Just out of the playoff picture looking in now.  The Sonics face a less-than-stellar group of opponents to finish out the year.  However, most of the games are on the road!!!!

If only the Zydrunas trade went through on time!!! argh

Ah well, the Sonics shall fight to get into the playoffs, and utilize the depth to break into a second finals appearance.