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had a nail biter in the second game against celtics. take a look at the last 40secs

Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:38  Pacers 121,  Celtics 121
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Pacers ball:

LeBron James brings the ball over the timeline.
LeBron James shoots a three-pointer from the right wing.
He is fouled by Orlando Woolridge.
The basket is good.

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Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:35  Pacers 124,  Celtics 121
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Pacers ball:

LeBron James goes to the free throw line for one shot.
The first free throw is not good.
Antonio Lenard(Celtics) gets the rebound.

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Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:33  Pacers 124,  Celtics 121
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Celtics ball:

Antonio Lenard passes the ball to Orlando Woolridge (Left wing).
Orlando Woolridge passes the ball to Antonio Lenard (Backcourt).
Antonio Lenard attempts to bring the ball up the court but is stopped in backcourt.
Antonio Lenard brings the ball over the timeline.
Antonio Lenard passes the ball to John Tyler (Inside).
The Pacers attempt to trap him.
John Tyler dribbles inside.
The Pacers attempt to trap him.
He is fouled by Jim Finley
The Pacers are in the penalty.
John Tyler will shoot two free throws.

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Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:15  Pacers 124,  Celtics 121
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Celtics ball:

John Tyler goes to the free throw line for two shots.
The first free throw is good.
The second free throw is good.

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Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:15  Pacers 124,  Celtics 123
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Pacers ball:

Shane Wedge inbounds the ball to Alphonse Butler
Alphonse Butler attempts to bring the ball up the court but is stopped in backcourt.
Alphonse Butler brings the ball over the timeline.
Alphonse Butler shoots a three-pointer from the right wing.
Not good.
Malcolm Trump(Celtics) gets the rebound.
Malcolm Trump now has 6 rebounds for the game.

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Quarter: 4  Time Remaining: 0:04  Pacers 124,  Celtics 123
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Celtics ball:

Malcolm Trump passes the ball to Skyler Buckner (Left wing).
The Pacers attempt to trap him.
Skyler Buckner shoots from the left wing.
Not good.
Jim Finley(Pacers) gets the rebound.

Final Score - Pacers 124, Celtics 123

celtics are generally outrebounding my team which is normally a bad sign but since the celtics also turn the ball over too much and can´t stop my penetration i am still ahead.

this is a joke, yet again.

down 0-3, after leading all 3 games at the half
game 1: tied after 3rd, then a 21-28 4th quarter
game 2: lead by 6 after 3rd, then a 31-38 4th quarter
game 3: lost the 4th quarter 10-23

i'm sure the commissioner can explain why, since he has the PBP action files

3-0 lead. I switched up Hinson and Sampson so Hinson could take care of Mehta. Hinson was able to hold Mehta's scoring in check, but his rebounds got kind of out of hand. Anyway, there's nothing to complain about a 3-0 lead.
Mostly balanced scoring, with Macy taking the lead for the most part. He's shooting 71% from beyond while he's 4th in 3papg. Pretty sick.

I wasnt expecting to win a game so I am not surprised nor disappointed.

Man, Hakeem is a beast....

But luckily the team play for the Warriors is going quite well.
My back-up Center had a 25 rebound game :)

Took a game - have to be happy with that with D. Wade being out.

rd 1 is done.

hawks and grizz are the only ones who managed to beat a better seat. no game 7 so far.
rd 2 will be in 12 hours as usual.

damn, missed getting my 2nd half DC changes in by 10 minutes, the odds were against me though with Toney out, but Peter Knight really shined and showed me what he is capable of, but when Toney came back his minutes plummeted and I couldn't take advantage of the C defense at SF, ideally I would have put toney as small forward, but an untimely injury most likely spelled out the end to the Jazz's season.

good luck to the Sonics, I should have yet another revamped squad for next year :-D

Well I started my DC with Buck at SF, Green at PF so that Munson couldnt shut down Buck. Turned out it was the wrong move as Buck could have done a better job containing Munson than Green, and Buck didnt exactly excel at the 3.
2nd half I switched them back and Buck was better and Munson was worse, but too little too late and too good of an overall team.

I made a few moves, one paid off, Tim Adams played extremely well starting at PF for me.  I was shocked by what he did.  I wanted to get a big body on Barkley, but he played center, so Steve Johnson started there to try and put some pressure on Wu, but Barkley had his way with Steve Johnson most of the time.  We won against a good team, maybe a not quite deep enough yet, in the Pistons, I'm sure next season they will be very talented.  Now I move on to the Pacers who are very very tough.  Their defense is tremendous, it's just a matter of trying to pick out their weakness and attempting to exploit it.  Best of luck to ya commish, not that you'll need it. ;)

Wow, that ended up being close...
Lost Barton O'Connell a few minutes into the 4th game...
And without Barton, dropped 2 in a row, until Phil Hubbard came through with 30 points and 14 rebounds in game 6...  which we won by one point, after the Blazers stormed back in the 4th quarter...

Great series, Blazers...

Barton is now healthy, so we are back to full strength for the matchup with the Grizzlies....

Hm....I have two problems with the playoffs.

- Splitting up the rounds in half is great in that it allows you to make adjustments, but running both in 12 hours is tough.  It gives a huge advantage to GM's who have free time during those 12 hours.  When I split up the finals, I kept them on two different days so that there wasn't a limited timeframe GM's could make changes.  I was literally in the middle of crunching numbers when the sim was run, and never got my changes in.  I probably would have lost anyway, as Hawks seems to have my #, but I feel penalized because I have work during the time between the first run and the second.  At the very least, times need to be announced when the sims will be run so that we can plan accordingly.
- Pacers accessing and using the play by plays seems an advantage.  Specifically, it helps out with trap and press settings.  IMO they should either be publicly accessible for everyone, or they shouldn't be used by Pacers.

4-1 series...about what I expected with the Nuggets as I swept them during the season.  Only loss came when everyone forgot how to shoot (33.3%) while 3 of the victories were over 50% shooting.

Using a good balance of offense and defense to advance...just a continuation of the regular season.  Now a matchup with the Sonics and their high powered offense.  

I think the 1st problem could be avoided if there were set times of the 2 sims. As you said, you didnt know when the 2nd one would be simmed, it just ended up happening while you were doing your number crunching. Had you know, for instance, that it would be at 12pm EST, you would have known when to expect the sim to happen.
2nd issue - I agree, either everyone or know one should see them.

Came back strong in games four, five and six.

Nice series Jazz....Uner played like a beast.

Up next, the Spurs...(the top seed)...here we go

let´s say i posted it already at the sim 12 discussion that i will run a sim every 12 hour. lets further asume that we have some maths genius here.
i also guess we discussed the pro and contra of having 2 sims already last season and decided we will accept that not everybody will benefit from it.
and last part is possible the most laughable: i never ever look into the files. it was just for fun like last year where i posted the closest outcomes. Thought celtics would appreciate it but apparently all i got was some guys blaming me that i would get an unfair advantage. I clearly try to avoid any kind of advantage since as commish you have enough trouble already as bods should know.

Sim 12 discussion thread is NOT the appropriate place for an announcement.  Not everybody reads every post of every sim thread.


Not everybody benefiting from it is different from others gaining an advantage.  Leveling the playing field should be a goal.  Posting the deadlines to get DC's in (and NOT in a game discussion thread) would be a step in the right direction.

name the place were everyone would read it. i believe that sim discussion are the ones that are read most. We have no DCs so i can´t post it there. And we did the same thing last year so it isn´t new.
Maybe it is an advantage i can´t prove it since i changed my lineup maybe 4 times and won 2.

Maybe you mean that having time is an advantage. Of course! i am sure the better gms here have also invested the most hours here. But that is no problem in the regular season, draft or FA. So why do we have one now in the POs?

Uhh how about the logical thing and make it its own separate announcement?

Or the Calendar Thread.


Nope.  I mean having time today between the hours of midnight and noon (eastern time) is an advantage.  Obviously the more time you have, the better you'll do.  But by knowing when the sims will be run, you can try to make time.  I was putting in the time (making calculations), but didn't have a clue when the sim was going to be run.  Also, there needs to be a limit on how quickly we expect GM's to make a turnaround (12 hours to get yourself to a computer, crunch the numbers, and make changes borders on being impossible for ALL GM'ss to have their schedules happen to work during that interval).

I also want to re-iterate, under no circumstance did this cause me to lose to the Hawks.  They whooped my ass.  As I was crunching the numbers, it just caused me to realize a flaw in the process.

Good series, Knicks. I was impressed by your team's effort as they handled us two times quite easily, including quite the drubbing in Jersey. Happily, Big Mike returned just in time for game six, and came ready to play: 38pts on 17/25 shooting, 11 rebs and 3 assists and steals. Needless to say, I am much more confident when he is in the lineup.

And so onto the Hornets: The Present against the Future. It's a series that could easily go either way, and I am hopeful that the Nets playoff experience bodes well. Again, I'm impressed by Kyle, and I'll be doubly egged in the face if he's the series changer.

Good luck, Hornets.

well, another season ends in disappointment for the Celtics.

Being pissed over that missed opportunities in the first 3 games the Celt's rightfully took game 4 in a blowout, with Tyler's triple double showing once again why he's the best passing big man in the game.
But in game 5 that magic was gone. My leading scorer took 9 shots, my backup C took 21 shots, and Orlando converted 17% of his tries. Surprisingly the Pacers prevailed in a rout.

Good luck for them the rest of the way, I guess it's either them or the Hornets batteling the Warriors for the league crown.


For the Celtics it's back to the same old question: try for another run or start rebuilding ?

It's these kind of comments, Tom - excluding the Nets as legit East contenders after a 67-win season - that fuels my rivalry with you.

This is just a little insulting...   :moon:

Spurs and Nets V. Celtics grudgematch is on!!

 :tup:

btw, interesting analysis, but how can you tell that?

after game 1 (where the ref's were a joke sending the Pacers to the line 36 times vs the Celtics 7 times) my team had an average of 4 more shots from the charity stripe each game. Going to the line 14 times a game doesn't sound like a lot penetration to me.

hey guys, don't take it personally. I love you both, and i'd be more than happy to see either of you make it to the big dance. But there's no ignoring reality ...

8)

The only reality I see is that you will be looking up to all of us for a very, very long time  :moon:

Good luck to you Nets, hopefully we have an injury-free series with a clean winner.


That's what I'm afraid of, cuz the reality is that the Nets went 4-0 against me in the regular season.  :)

true ... probably till the end of round 2.
then we will both be tied again at 0-0

Spurs i'm not so sure, but i'd be very surprised to find you ahead of the Celtics next season ...
 :cheers:

Also, congrats to the Knicks for their 1st ever SSBA playoff appearance.

What, the Warriors have a fan!!!  :bounce:

We are thrilled at the support offered by our sister city in Boston...
Officially, our team is humble, and we are just glad to make the playoffs...   :tup:

Unofficially, Let's kick some ass!!!!  :bods:

In all seriousness, season split with the Grizzlies this year...  Shouild be a very good series...
The Grizz do not make mistakes (shown by their 10.8 to's per game, lowest in the league by over a 1 tpg)

Yeah, the Grizz are a really good team. I'm not surprised at all that they upset the Mavs.

sim 2 part 1 is up..
again as usual i will try to sim the rest in 12 hours.
didn´t notice that shane was injured, so newcomb started and had 2 very solid games at home.
so far my series depends on containing evans and keeping homecourt.
hornets are 3-0 up
sonics and grizz lead 2-1 their series.

Herb Williams is out for the rest of the series with a broken finger. That could by why I am not winning the series 3-0 right now, as he only played a few minutes in the 2nd game. Looks like I will have to make some adjustments.

Well, this is a drag and abit hard to believe - and not because the Hornets aren't strong - because the Nets play is so unlike their regular season play. We aren't taking advantage of our home court advantage, turning the ball over alot, and missing tons of free throws.

Have made a few DC adjustments, but I doubt there's enough time left.

true the play of some players differ a lot between regular season and offseason. i had the "fun" to watch 2 of the most prominent examples suck it up every POs.
Marion and Melo always dominated the regular season for years. But in the POs they couldn´t even reach 70% of their pot, lost all their confidence and regular lead their team into an embarissing loss.
Even LB was a prime candidate in his first years here to fail in the POs.
the best example for the other way round is maybe emeka or KG in my mind. they always played insane in the POs. Dirk and Yao could be mentioned also.

Well yeah, but this is also pretty much the same team that went to the Conference finals for the last two years (same three options, pretty much the same DC minus Macy who's replaced by Bradley, and whatever difference there is between Brooks and Sanders/Martin). Milner, Schmalz, Fuqua, and Gminski are not playoff virgins or anything.

Frustrating, and a shame of an end to a nice season (in all likelihood).

Nets 0-3
Spurs 1-2

as much as i would have enjoyed you having success, apparently I was right. :-(

anway, I made the reservation. we'll tee off tomorrow at 2pm, and we're in a flight with the WarriorsGM ...
8)

Very surprised with the Nets series. Not that the Hornets doesnt have a good team too, but I mean it isnt even close.

I'm as surprised as anyone. I got up today thinking that I'd see, at best, a 1-2 series.
The only thing I can see from the box scores is that we're moving the ball really well (32.7 apg), and not turning it over much (10.3 topg).

Sampson finally stepped up a bit in the playoffs in games 2+3. Stockton has had a superb playoffs in general, averaging 11.3 apg with just 1.6 topg.

Man, Raul Doleac is playing very well...
Hmm, every team seems to have centers that play extremely well against me...
I wonder if that is a hint?   :bash:

Getting absolutely crushed on the boards. 

And Warriors are down 1-2...but I guess that doesn't mean anything.   :bods:

sim 2 is done. gratulation to the hawks for making that a tough round. but in the end i guess homecourt was too much for each team to overcome.
hornets as expected finished it in 4 but in the west the top seeds turned their series around and meet now in the Cfs.
i am also impressed that all gms send me a DC this time for the second part. Thanks guys i really appreciate your effort.

I knew it would be tough to steal one in Indiana, they dominated their homecourt the past two seasons.  I am happy with the way we played, Mike also proved he can be a dominant shooting guard as I moved him there the last part of round 2.  Toby Bolinger played great for me alongside Mike but it wasn't enough. Congrats to the Pacers and Hornets, good luck to whoever comes out of the east.

Wow...   Great series, Grizzlies...  I think your loss of Herb Williams really affected your squad. he came back, but only played 6 minutes in the deciding game...

Barton was absolutely clutch in games 3,4, and 5, scoring 40, 35, and 26...

Made a couple small tweaks to the DC and settings...and, WOW, 3 straight wins to wrap up the series.  All 3 games (4,5 & 6) were won in the 4th quarter as in each game I was behind after the 3rd quarter.  With game 6 being a hard fought 1 point win on the road.  Great series Sonics...I really expected your post season experience to be tough to overcome.

Now on to the Warriors.  Regular season was 3-1 my favor but a couple games saw each team at less than full strength.  And playoffs are always a different season. 

And just like the Sonics it will be the no-name, team-oriented Spurs against the marquee star driven Warriors.   :D


Good luck Warriors.

Well I'm really surprised. The Nets are a great team and it's pretty bizarre to go 0-4 in the regular season against them, and then turn around to sweep them in the playoffs. The Nets still have a window of opportunity for a championship with their team, so I'm sure they'll have other opportunities.

I also went 0-4 against the Pacers in the regular season, so maybe that's a good luck sign?

Had no idea that the Warriors have the reputation of being star driven :)
I tried to trade for Munson about 3 years ago, when he was with the Nets...  And now, he and Phil Hubbard must face off at the PF spot.  Munson is the key to this series, imo...

Good luck to you as well, Spurs :)

Well, Barton & Mad Max are "household" names. 

But I also have a secret weapon: the curse of the Celtics GM!

 :lmao:

Make me feel bad for Don Collins...
Guy has averaged 23 and 22 ppg the last two seasons, with 6 rpg, on pretty decent shooting percentages.
And he has won only 15 player of the games in his entire 5 year career...

The curse of the CelticsGM...
I am now channeling the Power of Nowitzki to cancel the Celtics curse...

i am not sure but i think most of the games were before you had macy and robertson on your roster. you have a lot of firepower on your team. only advantage i see for me is experience and maybe butler can work some magic.

Congrats Warriors. It was a good series, up until game 3. The you just shut me down. I really missed Herb Williams though, as I only have 4 guys who can play pf/c. Without Herb Williams, i only had one backup for PF and C.

Hopefully Maggette does not retire or decline in ratings this off season, so i can have another successful season.

looks like our flight tomorrow will be just the two of us.

congratulations, doug, you really deserved advancing.
and now it will be the old school vs. new breed dogfight in the East.

btw, two matchups of US vs Europe in both conferences. kind of old world vs new world, too ...
:-)

Wow, the Hornets are on a tear, reminiscent of the undefeated playoffs the Sonics had way back...

Congrats Hornets. It was a well deserved win, and you've put together one helluva team. I'm still stunned that it ended up a sweep - I didn't see that one coming at all. We played a better last game, but really, it was much too little, much too late.

I'm not so sure that I have a window of opportunity to win a championship now - I really anticipated that my team's playoff experience would play a big role in this series, but that didnt really turn out to be the case  :bods:  I see this series as being "The Arrival of the Hornets" after a great season where they announced their presence with certain authority.

Macy's effectiveness against Bradley surprised me - he's usually something of a lockdown defender, but Kyle pretty much had his way with him.

Kudos on the great ball movement. We had good anticipation defense all year, and I didn't change my defensive settings, but your boys handled our pressure quite easily.

Not sure if Big Mike got hurt - I played him at C the last game - and either that or he had a helluva time against Ralph. Your bigs out-athletic'ed my guys.

I had no answer for Calvin Natt - neither Macauley or Sanders could handle him. And if I moved Bradley to the three, I would have seen Macy own whoever else I ran out there.

Time to get to scouting to try to make good on the Celtics pick, which I need to deliver a star so I can keep up with the East's Jones'. It would be delicious irony if it happened - all things considered.

Good luck the rest of the way to the remaining teams - should be some good series.

Oh, and Hornets, check your PM's.

Pm'd ya back Nets.

sim3 part 1 is up...
at least i am not 3-0 down but hornets already stole 1 from my homecourt.
warriors are also up 2-1.
bring in your changes, part 2 will be in 12 hours.

congrats spurs....I'll be rooting for you from here on out.

who is the second one? or do you mix the teamnames with djsl?
and i agree europe is the new sim league world .... :lol2:

yup, that Warriors/Knicks/Clippers/Warriors thing with DJSL is just too confusing ...

Nice. I guess I should no longer be surprised, but I can't help it. Hopefully I can take another at home to force the Pacers to win 3 in a row.

sim 3 is done.
warriors and... hornets are in the finals.
hornets move made the difference since i had no answer for ralph.
in 12 hours i will do the finals part 1.
let me know if you want to wait a day for part 2 or just 12 hours.

Wow, excellent series, Spurs...
Munson is just a rebounding fiend...

Warriors finally starting rebounding in games 4 and 5, and that made the difference.
 

Congrats to both teams! Particularly the Hornets for upsetting the top 2 teams.

Congrats Warriors...now bring the title back to the west.

I moved Paxson back into the starting spot at SF to try & slow down Collins.  But between Collins and Barton I just couldn't hold down the scoring enough and the Warriors came alive and hit the boards harder in the last 2 games. 

Great series Pacers, it's always fun when it comes down to the 7th game. Pacers were up 3-2 and somehow we came back with two straight wins. As the Pacers mentioned, I did move Sampson to PF for the second half of the series, and he responded. However, the rest of the team struggled a bit, but it was enough in the end to get it done.

Again, great series Pacers.

congrats Hornets and Warriors.  Let's keep that title in the East, Hornets.  Your first in a long line of potential "Bod's Dynasty" like championship appearances.  With the Warriors earlier statement about C's beating him, it doesn't bode well for him, but Stockton is still ripe at the point.  I think it will be a great series.

Thanks all for the congrats  :cheers:

BTW, this matchup recalls the 2013 finals, where the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit after losing Dirk in game 5. The Hornets' faithful will remember their Gm's heartbreak after that series...

Also, we went 2-0 v. the Warriors in the regular season -- a sign of bad luck?

Ugghh...   Not looking forward to this series at all.

Barton vs. Stockton -  the Warriors one big advantage
Mad Max vs. Macy -  one of the best ball control (low to) guards in the league vs one of the best ball thiefs in the league.  Fun matchup...
Collins vs. Natt - this may be the key matchup in the series
Hubbard vs. Hinson - offense vs. defense in this battle
Thurmond vs. Sampson - poor, poor Tyson...  I sense some serious posterization possibilities

Oddly, losing Dirk was they key to that series, as he was getting abused by his defender.

I think the Hornets are about to start their dynasty...  :bods:

I think it'll be an exciting series for sure.

btw, who has homecourt?

I knew it its gonna be Hornets - Warriors finals. Thats why i have their lotto picks this year.

:D

I thought the hornets were starting a dynasty when they drafted stockton.  And this was before they acquired macy and hinson.

Hinson is the perfect compliment to Ralph.  If they can afford to keep it all together, it could be 7-8 years of domination.

I wish we could have historic teams.  I'd love to see Dalembert, Emeka, Dunleavy/Battier, Pettit and Lord go against them in their prime :)

The only advantage I'd have in that series is Natt v. Nets SF. Dalembert would shut down Sampson, just like he always did to Yao.

man, the Hornets have a nice young team ... and won nothing so far. Comparing them already to some dynasties and unbeaten champions is a bit of a stretch.

And as much as I think they belong in the finals, they have some goals to achieve (now that the passing of the torch from the old Pacers to the upstart Hornets has been completed):
- win a championship
- prove it was no fluke

Well, Hinson vs Dalembert wouldn't really be interesting.  Two top flight defenders vs two non-existent offensive players.  Hah.

Two great young teams battling it out - I expect a nice series. But sorry, Warriors - I've gotta give the edge to Hornets and gotta root for them since they beat the living hell outta my Nets.

As I've already said in this thread, this playoff is the Hornets coming-out party. And though it's not really that bold of a prediction, I also did say all year that the East should be very afraid.

Can't wait to see the results. Haven't been here long enough to know too much about the dynasties of the past, but this sure looks like one in the making - possibly the best construction of a team that Ive seen.

finals are up..
no surprise it is an offense festival with the home teams taking care of buisness so far.

Wow, 49 points in game 1 for Natt. I am very very impressed by this young squad.

Big scoring in these wide-open games - with a pretty fair margin of victory in each. Noone wants to flinch on home court. John Stockton has been very impressive with alot of big assist/low to games. 

Ugh, this is gonna be tough.

No, this is not gonna be tough.

As long as the Warriors "hold" the Hornets to 52% shooting this will be over soon.
(to their defense, Golden State adjusted nicely, dropping the Hornets shooting from 54% to 53% and finally 51%. Following this trend they might even get below 50% in game 5 or 6 ...)

The Warriors have yet to crack 47% ...

Only reason this series isn't 0-3 were a bunch of careless turnovers in the last game.



Sorry, but as much as I would like to call that a series, it's not. Hornets in 5.

Pretty sure that should be my line, not yours...    :tup:

Calvin Natt is just unstoppable (for my team, at least)
Max has done a great job on Kyle Macy, keeping him under wraps.
But with Sampson and Natt playing well, the Warriors have huge problems...

finals done. gratulation to hornets for a great turn around year.

Congrats Hornets. A helluva job.

Great season, Warriors - you've put together a helluva team yourself.

Awesome  :bounce:

Very nice series Warriors, it would probably be one of the more fun series to watch in SSBA finals.

The only strategy I had was to keep Sampson away from Tyson, which I was able to do by moving Sampson to PF for the first part, then back to C for the second part. It proved to be effective for the most part I think. I'm kind of surprised that Natt didn't get playoff MVP, but that's neither here nor there...

Very nicely done, congrats. Good job by the Warriors as well.

Congrats to Hornets...a team well built.

Great series, Hornets...
I made some moves, moving Max onto Natt, and trying to move Tyson off of Sampson.  I preferred his shotblocking presence not guarding Sampson...

Last 3 games were much closer, with the Hornets coming back with a furious 4th quarter in game 6 to win the series...  Well done, Hornets!!!   :cheers:

... and with the right amount of luck, i would like to add.

Not taking anything away from their rebuilding, and they are deservedly champions, but in order to select #1 in consecutive seasons, and on top of that pick up John-boy at #5 a year later, you need mainly one thing: UNBELIEVABLE FORTUNE !!!


But then again, you can mess up that opportunity, too, and the Hornets clearly did not, assembling the right supporting cast for a title. Congratulations !!!

Thanks all for the congrats!

Yes, I have been very lucky in many ways, which I have freely admitted in the past, and freely admit now. One thing I will point out is that I only had two down years where I used my own picks in the draft -- these picks resulted in Dominique Wilkins and Clyde Drexler. Everyone else came through trade or FA signing.

So, yes, I have been lucky, but I'd like to think it's been more skill than "UNBELIEVABLE FORTUNE !!!"

Nope. Pure, fluky luck.  :moon:

You want to make me believe it takes more skill than luck to have a completely miserable team, and consequently the worst record in the league for two full seasons (right after finishing the 2017 season with the 2nd best record in the whole league) ?

No, i won't even discuss that. Sampson and Nique were gifts ...


But the rest of the rebuilding process, including obtaining some picks (that ended up Daumeyer, Drexler, and Stockton) plus the right FA pickups and trades, that's your skill, and that's what made you champion in the end.

But without Dominique, and especially Sampson: Now way !!
(don't forget the lottery could have easily gotten you Thompson/Cummings/Pressey or LaFrentz/Stipanovich instead. guess we wouldn't celebrate your title then)



But let's leave it at that and do what's appropriate: PARTY YOUR RING !!!!!
 :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

This is true with all great dynasties.  The spurs got lucky with Tim Duncan, then made great moves with Manu/Parker and finding the right pieces.

The bulls got lucky because someone took Sam Bowie and allowed them to get Michael.  They then got lucky 3 years later when people took Armon Gilliam, Dennis Hopson, and Reggie Williams ahead of Scottie Pippen.  They were horrible for a few years, got lucky, made the right draft choices, then made the right decisions after that.

Pretty much all great teams were built with a certain amount of luck.

No, great teams are made by developing a winning culture and playing Andre Miller 40 MPG

 :lmao:

 :lol: :lol: Billy King is really a idiot. I see you guys are still tryin to win now with Evans and etc signings. :lol:

BK actually reminds of Tom. Always tryin to win now and yet can't realize his team trully sucks. :lol:

Congratz . :tup:

Well, I'd argue that

Robertson/McCracken
Hinson
Natt
Macy
Stockton

is a formidable lineup itself, and probably close to as good a team as you've ever fielded.
None of these players: Natt; Macy; Stockton; Hinson; McCracken; Robertson -- came from my own top picks. I don't know about you, but I would be very happy to have that core for the coming years.
Cummings was a lot of people's choice for the #1 pick -- I went a different direction. Nonetheless, you might note that Nique played backup throughout the playoffs. I guess I am wrong about Drexler being my pick rather than Ralph, so you're right on that, but the fact is that the Rockets had the second or third worst record in the league that year when I owned their pick. Don't think that it was mere luck that I chose to trade for picks owned by teams who ended up in the lotto.

In any event, you have an annoying tendency to go after me it seems, and you certainly have a mastery of the "backhanded compliment." You did the same thing after my last championship. I actually enjoy it, because I can ask you again -- where are your championships?

Thanks  :)

BAM. That connected ...
 :bash:


they are as non-existent as my CF appearances and your # of titles even beat my # of 2nd round series in SSBA.

My GM skills are not very good, that's why i'm jealous, i guess. Sorry if you feel mistreated by my comments, but i have deep respect of how you manage teams, here and in DJSL, and your squads always (except for the aformentioned seasons here) are among the league elite. For YEARS ...
 :hail:

So don't take my (annoying) comments too serious ...
 :cheers:

Dont remember if i congratulated on your title or not so CONGRATS heheh.

I have a feeling that my team with a bit of luck in FA over next 1-2 years, and a move or two, we can create a true rivarly against your team.

Akeem vs Ralph
.... and lets see how other developments and luck go in my case in draft and FA this and next off-season, but i smell a huge Akeem-Ralph rivarly in years to come.

Bah! You're no fun. I'd rather be angry than guilty Tom  :(

Well, here's what I'd argue is the other side:

point 1: Hornets, you are a hypocrite -- you criticize the DJSL Sonics for hanging at the bottom of the league, and you do the same yourself and call it "skill." Did you make any moves to improve your team in those two years, or did you just sit there contentedly, mailing in the "same" DC every time?
point 2: Hornets, Sampson is the main cog on your team -- you constantly try to downgrade the impact he has, but the truth of the matter is his inside presence makes those players you acquired better. Where would you be without that luck you got the year you drafted Sampson?
point 3: Nearly every move you made that looks good has turned out to be based on luck -- take, for example, Calvin Natt. Is it GM skills that brought about his vast improvement this last TC? No. And what about Stockton? Without the CPU's idiocy, you'd be manning the point with Julius Russell. Nice "skill" there too.

In Summary: I apologize. I tend to take out my stressful workday in my SSBA rants sometimes, and it's a terrible habit.

Thanks Blazers  :cheers:

I don't think there's any question you can build a great team. The youth movement is on!

I've predicted Hornets winning it all at the beggining of the season.

They're like, the only decent team in this league. Any other team wouldn't have made the playoffs 15 seasons ago (at the beggining of this league).