Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:35:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jcred5 on 2/8/2023 5:12:00 PM (view original):
jkaye24
Jk returns for his 5^th Savage season starting off with DeAndre Jordan, couple of 90 D seasons, very high rebounds and while low usage his eFG is about the best. I used to de-value his eFG because his usage is so low. But if you took at team of 4 players shooting 50% eFG with an average usage of 21 and add DeAndre’s 15.3 usage with 71.4 eFG, the whole team shooting jumps up 3.35%. That’s a big difference. Now his FT’s can be terrible. His most expensive season he’s 13.6 usage, 71.1 efg 63.8 TS% thanks to shooting 39.7% FT on 471 attempts. So you have to weigh that in. I’ve never run the numbers, but I would guess a guy like Jordan gets to the line 40-60% as much IRL. So it will hurt you but not as much. Magic Johnson in the second round take a strong rebounding start and doubles down on it. Usually gives you all the assists you should need often at the expense of high TO’s. good to very good shooting and the defense can be solid at times. Patrick Ewing next to DeAndre is a nice fit. Patrick Ewing gives the usage and fairly efficient scoring and DeAndre covers his just ok rebounds. Kyle Lowry is an interesting pick next to Magic. You’re definitely strong in assists, Lowry will get you 3’s and can play some solid D at times but overall your guard defense is lower than average. Robert Covington is exactly the type of player that fits next to Magic, 3 and D with boards because you invested in Magic’s assists. So I like Covington, but now really don’t get Lowry. I worry you’ll play Covington at SF and lose the rebound advantage.
Brandon Clarke has some excellent value when he plays, very good D and shooting. I like taking high value players even with low minutes early given the overall depth. The question here is more about the overall fit at SG. More guards on the way with Paul Pressey. I like him off the bench behind Magic, great defense. Comes at the price of high TO’s. Andris Biedrins is a nice fit. He has gone late in the past, but 8^th round is not too early if he’s what you need. Strong all around back up center with high eFG, good boards and won’t hurt you on D and TO’s. Daniel Gafford is another high value per minute player. Great when he’s playing SF with very high eFG, good rebounds and pretty good TO’s. Yao Ming give great usage behind Ewing. He’ll help keep you out of the usage penalty when Ewing is out. Rebounds a little light, but overall a helpful player to have. Marvin Williams is good value, with one starter worthy season with 73 defense, good rebounds, shooting and 3’s. Last up Brad Daugherty is a last round flier if you don’t like what Ming is giving.

Final thoughts: I’m not sure this will be one of jk’s best outings. I like Jordan, Magic and Ewing, but after that I thought you maybe didn’t maximize what those players can do. Some good players that I don’t know fit optimally. DeAndre and Ewing are super low assists, so I can see the appeal of Lowry with his 3’s, assists and rebounds. I’d have liked Hardaway or Mookie if you wanted assists.
Draft Grade: C
Best value pick: Ewing
Head scratching pick: Lowry
Projection: 15-20

Nice review! Funnily enough, I never considered R-Cov at SG. I think there's two ways to go with Magic/DeAndre. Go all-in on being a rebounding giant...OR use their rebounding advantage to go all in on other areas (EFG and Def) that otherwise wouldn't be possible. I chose the latter. So I've got a bunch of 55-57% eFG, and mid-high 70s defensive teams that are hopefully Average at rebounding.

What is your baseline for average out of curiosity?

Posted by jcred5 on 2/9/2023 8:55:00 AM (view original):
Steelers821
Welcome Steelers! You’re in a good drafting spot at 23, excited to see what you do with it. You start off by nailing down assists with John Stockton. Once thought of as a gem, people now focus on his TO% (fairly so) and his lack of rebounding for a 1^st round pick. Those criticisms are fair, but the shooting is very good and assists is one category that one player can be kind of a force multiplier. In that Stockton allows you to take guys at SG and certainly front court that others might have to wait on. You can use that to your advantage, that’s the value of Stockton. In the second round you take the guy you should have take in the first round! No worries, Duncan in the second is a steal. Love Duncan in this format I considered him over KG. Great rebounds, good TO’s, passing and solid rebounds. Hits every category. Manu Ginobili is a popular guy to spot start and back up. Solid player, doesn’t hurt you anywhere and maybe helps a little here or there. So early in the 3^rd I’d have preferred something more bold. Nance, Frazier, Camby maybe Brand. But Manu is fine. Kenneth Faried is very effective at SF. Not the best defender but you’re doing well there otherwise. The rebounding helps as you’re a bit low in other spots. I like the Richaun Holmes pairing. Nice compliments and Holmes can score it with solid boards.
Wes Unseld at times can be a plus rebounder but with mediocre D. Other times he’s a good passer, but I’d focus on getting as much rebounding out of him as you can. Vince Carter is a great with Manu. He’ll do a lot of heavy lifting when Manu is out, pretty good D and super low TO guy. Gives you good usage when you starters come out. Charlie Ward can back up Stockton. Solid D and some passing and boards. TO’s are high but he’s fairly low usage. Anderson Varejao has a few nice seasons. Fairly good shooter and ok boards depending on the season. Good TO’s too. Zelmo Beaty, I’m guessing you don’t love all the Unseld seasons and Beaty fits in other spots. Or maybe is playing besides Duncan. He has a couple solid seasons with pretty good shooting and doesn’t hurt you elsewhere. Chris Bosh I’m less sure of. Possibly you’ll use his later career SF eligible seasons to help with Faried and Holmes. If so that’s a solid approach. Charlie Edge is a very good defender and rebounder in limited use.

Final thoughts: Nice job for your first time. The Stockton pick isn’t popular, but as I said if you use him right it can be effective. Not sure you totally did that, but you got some valuable guys along the way.
Draft Grade: C
Best value pick: Holmes
Head scratching pick: Zelmo
Projection: 15-20

Thanks Jcred I appreciate the eval! The Stockton pick I regret now especially seeing the point guards that went way later than I was expecting. Just seemed like it would be a good idea to get a guy who was a plus for 5 seasons in assists and efg.

so my bosh/Zelmo picks were because I got super nervous about who would backup Duncan considering his usage is necessary to my team. Zelmo has 2-3 decent seasons that are above 20%. Bosh was supposed to be a mix of a 3/4 depending on the season. I think he has some good options at both. Edge fills out whatever bosh can’t do at the 3.

overall a C seems right. I feel like (based of no experience at all) I made a bunch of decent picks that I can’t really hate but I did nothing that makes me think wow this will be hard to beat. I’m excited to learn this season. I went for a balanced approach which most likely means 5 28-40 win teams lol. I really don’t know if it would’ve been better to truly stack just a couple teams but with no experience I tend to just go with my gut.

excited to play with everyone here no matter the results. It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

good luck everyone!

Posted by jcred5 on 2/9/2023 8:55:00 AM (view original):
20ks
Last but not least, seriously running out of gas and will try not to have it reflect on your eval. Nothing like a Dr. J and Hakeem wrap to inject some life into me! My position and category analysis says he should be considered in the top 10. Five 100 D seasons, amazing rebounds, solid assists, scoring, good TO’s and enough STOCKS to make a difference. Paired with Hakeem again, Ben and midge both gave it a whirl, your defense can’t be off to a much better start. You’ve got a lot of usage, a friggin crap ton of STOCKS. Hakeem’s rebounds can vary, so you’ll want to watch that. I thought my team had a good start defensively… Bobby Jones. If you take the best defensive seasons 11 of your starting 15 player seasons are 100 D and the others a close. If you go with the 95% SF season for Jones and play him at PF, you’ll need to match the rebounds. But whatever. So far other teams won’t be scoring very much. Eric Bledsoe keeps the defense theme going. Not the caliber of the others, but still a good defender. A little light on assists for a PG. But Dr J is solid and Hakeem helps sometimes. Another 100 D season is added with Joakim Noah. I’d have considered a few more rebounds, but he’s ok and he does have a nice SF eligible season. Maybe one to cover Bobby Jones?
A bit early for Nerlens Noel. He’s good but you could have waited. More defense here and he can also score efficiently. More front court with Samuel Dalembert. When he’s your worst defender you know your defense is strong. One very high rebounding season and help from other seasons. Why does the WIS data base have both C.J. and CJ McClollum? Anyways he can be plugged in behind Doc or even a bit at PG. super low TO guy and hits plenty of 3’s. Carmelo Anthony is probably bench usage. He has some SG seasons that can help off the bench. David Lee has some nice SF seasons and with you defense, you can afford his low defensive numbers. Grant Williams! I bleed green and wouldn’t take this guy!!! Turns out he actually has a little value at SG, so there you go. And Mr. Insignificant Paul Westphal. His shooting is tempting, he’s a bit funny in that his rebounds are so low and assists not really high, but in small amounts he can score it off the bench.

Final thoughts: I’m not exactly a Savage historian, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the best defensive team ever in terms of all 5. Some one can keep me honest. It falls off in the later rounds of course but that’s to be expected. Vaguely similar to my team, but better I think. Doubling down on defense and hoping you can make enough shots.
Draft Grade: A-
Best value pick: Dalembert
Head scratching pick: Noel
Projection: 15-20

I don't have a good way of keeping track of the seasons people actually use, so I can only make educated-formulaic guesses, but I think the best team I am aware of was ~76 minutes adjusted defense... although that isn't a perfect indicator.

All right, while I am stuck quarantining in a hotel in the most awful city in America, it was a fun morning to catch up between WILD NBA trades and WIS forums.

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:37:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:35:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jcred5 on 2/8/2023 5:12:00 PM (view original):
jkaye24
Jk returns for his 5^th Savage season starting off with DeAndre Jordan, couple of 90 D seasons, very high rebounds and while low usage his eFG is about the best. I used to de-value his eFG because his usage is so low. But if you took at team of 4 players shooting 50% eFG with an average usage of 21 and add DeAndre’s 15.3 usage with 71.4 eFG, the whole team shooting jumps up 3.35%. That’s a big difference. Now his FT’s can be terrible. His most expensive season he’s 13.6 usage, 71.1 efg 63.8 TS% thanks to shooting 39.7% FT on 471 attempts. So you have to weigh that in. I’ve never run the numbers, but I would guess a guy like Jordan gets to the line 40-60% as much IRL. So it will hurt you but not as much. Magic Johnson in the second round take a strong rebounding start and doubles down on it. Usually gives you all the assists you should need often at the expense of high TO’s. good to very good shooting and the defense can be solid at times. Patrick Ewing next to DeAndre is a nice fit. Patrick Ewing gives the usage and fairly efficient scoring and DeAndre covers his just ok rebounds. Kyle Lowry is an interesting pick next to Magic. You’re definitely strong in assists, Lowry will get you 3’s and can play some solid D at times but overall your guard defense is lower than average. Robert Covington is exactly the type of player that fits next to Magic, 3 and D with boards because you invested in Magic’s assists. So I like Covington, but now really don’t get Lowry. I worry you’ll play Covington at SF and lose the rebound advantage.
Brandon Clarke has some excellent value when he plays, very good D and shooting. I like taking high value players even with low minutes early given the overall depth. The question here is more about the overall fit at SG. More guards on the way with Paul Pressey. I like him off the bench behind Magic, great defense. Comes at the price of high TO’s. Andris Biedrins is a nice fit. He has gone late in the past, but 8^th round is not too early if he’s what you need. Strong all around back up center with high eFG, good boards and won’t hurt you on D and TO’s. Daniel Gafford is another high value per minute player. Great when he’s playing SF with very high eFG, good rebounds and pretty good TO’s. Yao Ming give great usage behind Ewing. He’ll help keep you out of the usage penalty when Ewing is out. Rebounds a little light, but overall a helpful player to have. Marvin Williams is good value, with one starter worthy season with 73 defense, good rebounds, shooting and 3’s. Last up Brad Daugherty is a last round flier if you don’t like what Ming is giving.

Final thoughts: I’m not sure this will be one of jk’s best outings. I like Jordan, Magic and Ewing, but after that I thought you maybe didn’t maximize what those players can do. Some good players that I don’t know fit optimally. DeAndre and Ewing are super low assists, so I can see the appeal of Lowry with his 3’s, assists and rebounds. I’d have liked Hardaway or Mookie if you wanted assists.
Draft Grade: C
Best value pick: Ewing
Head scratching pick: Lowry
Projection: 15-20

Nice review! Funnily enough, I never considered R-Cov at SG. I think there's two ways to go with Magic/DeAndre. Go all-in on being a rebounding giant...OR use their rebounding advantage to go all in on other areas (EFG and Def) that otherwise wouldn't be possible. I chose the latter. So I've got a bunch of 55-57% eFG, and mid-high 70s defensive teams that are hopefully Average at rebounding.

What is your baseline for average out of curiosity?

Total team weighted 130% for all minutes

maybe that’s even a tick above avg?

It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

433 different players have been used in Savage history with roughly 2103 seasons give or take some since not everyone uses the same seasons for each player.

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:46:00 AM (view original):

It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

378 different players have been used in Savage history with roughly 1878 seasons give or take some since not everyone uses the same seasons for each player.

Poor math and grammar I guess. Players=player seasons

Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:44:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:37:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:35:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jcred5 on 2/8/2023 5:12:00 PM (view original):
jkaye24
Jk returns for his 5^th Savage season starting off with DeAndre Jordan, couple of 90 D seasons, very high rebounds and while low usage his eFG is about the best. I used to de-value his eFG because his usage is so low. But if you took at team of 4 players shooting 50% eFG with an average usage of 21 and add DeAndre’s 15.3 usage with 71.4 eFG, the whole team shooting jumps up 3.35%. That’s a big difference. Now his FT’s can be terrible. His most expensive season he’s 13.6 usage, 71.1 efg 63.8 TS% thanks to shooting 39.7% FT on 471 attempts. So you have to weigh that in. I’ve never run the numbers, but I would guess a guy like Jordan gets to the line 40-60% as much IRL. So it will hurt you but not as much. Magic Johnson in the second round take a strong rebounding start and doubles down on it. Usually gives you all the assists you should need often at the expense of high TO’s. good to very good shooting and the defense can be solid at times. Patrick Ewing next to DeAndre is a nice fit. Patrick Ewing gives the usage and fairly efficient scoring and DeAndre covers his just ok rebounds. Kyle Lowry is an interesting pick next to Magic. You’re definitely strong in assists, Lowry will get you 3’s and can play some solid D at times but overall your guard defense is lower than average. Robert Covington is exactly the type of player that fits next to Magic, 3 and D with boards because you invested in Magic’s assists. So I like Covington, but now really don’t get Lowry. I worry you’ll play Covington at SF and lose the rebound advantage.
Brandon Clarke has some excellent value when he plays, very good D and shooting. I like taking high value players even with low minutes early given the overall depth. The question here is more about the overall fit at SG. More guards on the way with Paul Pressey. I like him off the bench behind Magic, great defense. Comes at the price of high TO’s. Andris Biedrins is a nice fit. He has gone late in the past, but 8^th round is not too early if he’s what you need. Strong all around back up center with high eFG, good boards and won’t hurt you on D and TO’s. Daniel Gafford is another high value per minute player. Great when he’s playing SF with very high eFG, good rebounds and pretty good TO’s. Yao Ming give great usage behind Ewing. He’ll help keep you out of the usage penalty when Ewing is out. Rebounds a little light, but overall a helpful player to have. Marvin Williams is good value, with one starter worthy season with 73 defense, good rebounds, shooting and 3’s. Last up Brad Daugherty is a last round flier if you don’t like what Ming is giving.

Final thoughts: I’m not sure this will be one of jk’s best outings. I like Jordan, Magic and Ewing, but after that I thought you maybe didn’t maximize what those players can do. Some good players that I don’t know fit optimally. DeAndre and Ewing are super low assists, so I can see the appeal of Lowry with his 3’s, assists and rebounds. I’d have liked Hardaway or Mookie if you wanted assists.
Draft Grade: C
Best value pick: Ewing
Head scratching pick: Lowry
Projection: 15-20

Nice review! Funnily enough, I never considered R-Cov at SG. I think there's two ways to go with Magic/DeAndre. Go all-in on being a rebounding giant...OR use their rebounding advantage to go all in on other areas (EFG and Def) that otherwise wouldn't be possible. I chose the latter. So I've got a bunch of 55-57% eFG, and mid-high 70s defensive teams that are hopefully Average at rebounding.

What is your baseline for average out of curiosity?

Total team weighted 130% for all minutes

maybe that’s even a tick above avg?

Yeah I think that is probably a tick high. I think ~126 is about average... although from what I have seen it does like a team with ++ OREB and meh DREB will outperform a team with ++ DREB and meh OREB. I probably don't have enough datapoints to be conclusive about it but I am not convinced all CREB is equal.

Oh nice most of teams will be just about average in rebounding as expected lol

Posted by steelers821 on 2/9/2023 10:48:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:46:00 AM (view original):

It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

378 different players have been used in Savage history with roughly 1878 seasons give or take some since not everyone uses the same seasons for each player.

Poor math and grammar I guess. Players=player seasons

Yeah I wasn't trying to pick on your grammar. Just using it as an excuse to share some info with the group. Plus, I wasn't even right because I forgot to remove one of my nested filters. The actual numbers are 433 players at ~2103 seasons.

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:54:00 AM (view original):

Posted by steelers821 on 2/9/2023 10:48:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:46:00 AM (view original):

It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

378 different players have been used in Savage history with roughly 1878 seasons give or take some since not everyone uses the same seasons for each player.

Poor math and grammar I guess. Players=player seasons

Yeah I wasn't trying to pick on your grammar. Just using it as an excuse to share some info with the group. Plus, I wasn't even right because I forgot to remove one of my nested filters. The actual numbers are 433 players at ~2103 seasons.

I know. Picking on myself. I was thinking 12*5*24 but I guess not every player has 5 seasons. 2103 seasons still seems low for 9 seasons.

Posted by steelers821 on 2/9/2023 11:01:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:54:00 AM (view original):

Posted by steelers821 on 2/9/2023 10:48:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:46:00 AM (view original):

It’s awesome seeing basically 1440 different players being used by the top owners in the sim when normally in the other draft leagues you tend to see the same seasons get picked again and again.

378 different players have been used in Savage history with roughly 1878 seasons give or take some since not everyone uses the same seasons for each player.

Poor math and grammar I guess. Players=player seasons

Yeah I wasn't trying to pick on your grammar. Just using it as an excuse to share some info with the group. Plus, I wasn't even right because I forgot to remove one of my nested filters. The actual numbers are 433 players at ~2103 seasons.

I know. Picking on myself. I was thinking 12*5*24 but I guess not every player has 5 seasons. 2103 seasons still seems low for 9 seasons.

Lots of players taken have less than 5 seasons.

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:49:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:44:00 AM (view original):

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:37:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jkaye24 on 2/9/2023 10:35:00 AM (view original):

Posted by jcred5 on 2/8/2023 5:12:00 PM (view original):
jkaye24
Jk returns for his 5^th Savage season starting off with DeAndre Jordan, couple of 90 D seasons, very high rebounds and while low usage his eFG is about the best. I used to de-value his eFG because his usage is so low. But if you took at team of 4 players shooting 50% eFG with an average usage of 21 and add DeAndre’s 15.3 usage with 71.4 eFG, the whole team shooting jumps up 3.35%. That’s a big difference. Now his FT’s can be terrible. His most expensive season he’s 13.6 usage, 71.1 efg 63.8 TS% thanks to shooting 39.7% FT on 471 attempts. So you have to weigh that in. I’ve never run the numbers, but I would guess a guy like Jordan gets to the line 40-60% as much IRL. So it will hurt you but not as much. Magic Johnson in the second round take a strong rebounding start and doubles down on it. Usually gives you all the assists you should need often at the expense of high TO’s. good to very good shooting and the defense can be solid at times. Patrick Ewing next to DeAndre is a nice fit. Patrick Ewing gives the usage and fairly efficient scoring and DeAndre covers his just ok rebounds. Kyle Lowry is an interesting pick next to Magic. You’re definitely strong in assists, Lowry will get you 3’s and can play some solid D at times but overall your guard defense is lower than average. Robert Covington is exactly the type of player that fits next to Magic, 3 and D with boards because you invested in Magic’s assists. So I like Covington, but now really don’t get Lowry. I worry you’ll play Covington at SF and lose the rebound advantage.
Brandon Clarke has some excellent value when he plays, very good D and shooting. I like taking high value players even with low minutes early given the overall depth. The question here is more about the overall fit at SG. More guards on the way with Paul Pressey. I like him off the bench behind Magic, great defense. Comes at the price of high TO’s. Andris Biedrins is a nice fit. He has gone late in the past, but 8^th round is not too early if he’s what you need. Strong all around back up center with high eFG, good boards and won’t hurt you on D and TO’s. Daniel Gafford is another high value per minute player. Great when he’s playing SF with very high eFG, good rebounds and pretty good TO’s. Yao Ming give great usage behind Ewing. He’ll help keep you out of the usage penalty when Ewing is out. Rebounds a little light, but overall a helpful player to have. Marvin Williams is good value, with one starter worthy season with 73 defense, good rebounds, shooting and 3’s. Last up Brad Daugherty is a last round flier if you don’t like what Ming is giving.

Final thoughts: I’m not sure this will be one of jk’s best outings. I like Jordan, Magic and Ewing, but after that I thought you maybe didn’t maximize what those players can do. Some good players that I don’t know fit optimally. DeAndre and Ewing are super low assists, so I can see the appeal of Lowry with his 3’s, assists and rebounds. I’d have liked Hardaway or Mookie if you wanted assists.
Draft Grade: C
Best value pick: Ewing
Head scratching pick: Lowry
Projection: 15-20

Nice review! Funnily enough, I never considered R-Cov at SG. I think there's two ways to go with Magic/DeAndre. Go all-in on being a rebounding giant...OR use their rebounding advantage to go all in on other areas (EFG and Def) that otherwise wouldn't be possible. I chose the latter. So I've got a bunch of 55-57% eFG, and mid-high 70s defensive teams that are hopefully Average at rebounding.

What is your baseline for average out of curiosity?

Total team weighted 130% for all minutes

maybe that’s even a tick above avg?

Yeah I think that is probably a tick high. I think ~126 is about average... although from what I have seen it does like a team with ++ OREB and meh DREB will outperform a team with ++ DREB and meh OREB. I probably don't have enough datapoints to be conclusive about it but I am not convinced all CREB is equal.

Yeah good call, and that could be a slight issue for me. My Oreb is prob a tick below, with Dreb a tick above.

My teams are all generally in the 35%/95% range respectively.

This is based on a Magic/Lowry/Pressey backcourt rotation, Covington with Clarke/Gafford at SF, DeAndre/Biedrins at PF and Ewing/Yao at C.

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:16:00 AM (view original):

Posted by Midge on 2/9/2023 1:30:00 AM (view original):
Explain yourself...

Before I talk about my team I want to make it perfectly that I'm here to give keen, concise basketball analysis. If you're here because you think I might say something funny please go here www.funnythingsthatmidgehassaid.com. On with the show.

1) Dwight Howard - For the first time I was considering trading my position in the draft. I had a deal in place to trade down to 12 and take Rudy Gobert, but when Dwight was there I had to take him. With multiple seasons of elite defense, scoring and rebounding, it makes me wonder why he hasn't done better in Savage.

2) Gary Payton - I think I messed up last season by taking guards with my first two picks, so this time I wanted to take a quality big and point guard with my first two picks. I was hoping that Oscar "The Mitten" Robertson would fall to me, but I was okay with settling for Gary "The Glove" Payton. I'm not thrilled with his three point shooting, his free throw shooting and that his usage% is too high for his eFG%, I worry that he will take shots away from Howard, but his elite defense for PG and SG, plus tons of minutes, plus a nice chunk of assist% made him the right choice.

3) Elton Brand - I was torn here between Brand, who brings a lot to the table for two seasons and is playable for all five seasons, and Jerry Lucas, who would give me five seasons of rebounds, which is always something I seem to be lacking. I gambled on taking Brand here and getting Lucas in the 4th, because that is where he has been going. Of course I knew that last season has very little to do with this season, because if somebody wants a player, they need to take him a little higher than last season.

4) Ray Allen - At this point I really felt like I needed some threes to go with Dwight Howard. Ash said that last season in the playoffs everyone went -2 or -3 against him with his Dwight/Oscar ("The Mitten", are you paying attention?) team and it sunk his season. I had Ray Allen before teamed with Magic Johnson in the backcourt and my defense was shredded. I'm hoping teaming Jesus Shuttlesworth with "The Glove" will be a better fit.

5) Kevin Love - My plan is to bring Love off the bench, firing threes and grabbing boards, while at the same time hiding his defense behind my good defense centers. I know jcred5 didn't like this pick, which further increases the feeling that I screwed up by not taking Lucas. If I had Lucas, I wouldn't have taken Love, and jcred5 would have been happy. Isn't making other people happy what it's all about?

6) Robert Williams - This is where in the past I would have been looking to take Dave Cowens, but luckily for me someone else took him and I took Robert Williams instead. Just in Time, Lord I got lucky there.

7) - Kevin Johnson - Traditionally, the 7th round is where I always quit looking to see who is best for my team and I start looking around to see who I can screw over. Who needs a point guard with at least five seasons of 25% assists? Ah, there he is, dh555! Sorry dude. It's like when you're playing Ticket To Ride and you don't really need that New Orleans to Miami track, but your brother does so you take it. TAKE THAT TIM! THAT'S FOR HITTING ME IN THE HEAD WITH A HAMMER WHEN I WAS SIX YEARS OLD!

8) - Bill Bridges - I think of Bill Bridges as Jerry Lucas lite. Build some Bridges, throw in some Love, mix in a little Time Lord, with a dash of a good Brand and voila!, you have yourself a power forward.

9) - Rodney McCray - A lot of guys were moving up in the draft, which means someone was sliding, so I was happy to take Rodney McCray in the 9th round. He will see some action at both SF and SG, with good rebounding at SG and good passing at SF. Decent defense everywhere.

10) - Michael Cooper - I still need minutes at SG, and I wanted to take a guy who plays defense to play in front of or behind Ray Allen. Two seasons will play for sure, maybe some from a third season. His 100 and 90 defense seasons will come in handy when Steph Curry comes to town.

11) - Bob Pettit - I figure this pick will have a lot of people saying huh? My thinking is that he plays good defense (90), has good rebounding (insert numbers here) and the team usage won't get messed up when he subs for Dwight Howard. His eFG% is weak, but he gets to the free throw line a lot and his passing is better than Dwight. If the Bob Pettit experiment is a massive failure I still have Bill Bridges to play some center if I need to make the change.

12) - Bailey Howell - I see Howell as Elton Brand lite. He has one season that will start and play a lot. Not bad for the 12th round.

I'm not going to say if I think my team will be good or not. I have no idea. What I will say is that me taking the time to write this when I haven't even put my teams together yet is like writing an extra credit paper when I haven't yet written the paper that is worth 50% of my final grade.

You know GPII already has the nickname "The MItten" right?

I. Did. Not. Know. That.

Should I re-write the whole thing?

Posted by robusk on 2/9/2023 10:41:00 AM (view original):
All right, while I am stuck quarantining in a hotel in the most awful city in America, it was a fun morning to catch up between WILD NBA trades and WIS forums.

Can you post your list of the ten worst cities in America?