All-Time NBA Reasoning

So.. you've had a chance to see both teams and now I'll go into my reasonsing. First, here's my starting line-up regardless of my opponent.

PG: Oscar Robertson
SG: LeBron James
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Bill Russell
C: Shaquille O'Neal

So what am I looking at? Arguably one of the greatest all around PGs in the history of the game.. Mr. Triple Double himself, The Big O running the show. Let me start off by saying.. yes, I read the Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons and yes, I understand there were more shots at that time period and more misses. Guess what.. I don't care. Oscar was a PG and a career 48% shooter, they said he could get to any spot on the floor that he wanted, whenever he wanted. He was 6'5. He got to the foul line 8+ times a game for his career.. those stats translate to ANY era.
He also had great court vision, could handle it and again.. he was 6'5. He put the ball in your shooting pocket besides his scoring ability. He was also, by all reports, a solid defender who didn't back down.

Here is the first "hmmm.." on my team.. not that I have LeBron but that I am starting him at... SG? Shockingly, he's not as bad of a shooter as you'd think.. he shoots 48% but just 33% from 3. That's okay, I don't need him to bomb away; I've got other guys that can do that. I need him to use his size and athletic ability to frustrate a certain Michael Jordan character that my opponent sports. On the other hand, hoping he can make MJ or somebody else work on the other end. Bron can slash and kick and is a great rebounder for me.. an excellent guy to have at the 2.. and the best part... he doesn't even have to think about taking the last shot! He can facilitate and let Oscar work from the 2 if needed. LOVE IT.

At the 3, my first selection. The Legend. This is going to be interesting because the way I see it.. LeBron has to guard Jordan. Oscar has to guard Kobe.. which leaves Larry attempting to guard a PG, yes, he has to try to guard Magic to start the game. Thankfully, he's one of the most underrated defenders of all-time.. and happens to have Bill Russell behind him. Whew. Either way, Magic has to guard Larry on the other end, which makes things fun both ways. Larry can obviously step out and hit the 3, can score on the move or on the block and is probably the best passing forward to ever play the game.

Bill Russell. The ultimate winner. Everything you read or see about the guy oozes with confidence and understanding of both people and the game of basketball. How can you have a chemistry problem with him on your squad? You can't. You also can't have a problem defending. Look, I'm not looking for ol 44% shooting from the field and 56% from the line to step up and knock down some shots. I am looking for him to defend the most fundamental big in the game, Tim Duncan, protect the rim.. defend Kareem/Wilt if need be and rebound whatever misses there happen to be. It's an all-time team.. you think I can't find people to score? Oh, and if you get lazy and leave him alone he'll just score off a lob from one of my distributors or crash the boards and score that way.

Shaq. Young Shaq had to be one of the most imposing players to ever play the game. Athletic and strong as an oxe, he was REALLY fun to watch in college, with the Magic and early Lakers. He could take over a game. 10x he led the league in shooting %. TEN, he shot 58% in his career! You think that he couldn't take creampuff Kareem on the block and abuse and discard him however he wanted? Child, please. How do you stop him? Foul him. Okay, foul out Kareem and Wilt, I'm fine with that. He was also an underrated passer and an intimidating defender averaging over 2 blocks a game 12 of his first 13 years in the league. He can score on Kareem all. day. long.

My bench is about roles:
Jerry West. 6'2 and by all accounts played bigger. 27 PPG, 47% shooter. 81% from the line. Over 5 rebounds and 6 assists a game. He can score, defend, distribute and play either guard spot.

Walt Frazier. Revolutionary. 6'4 and another very good defender. 19 PPG, 6 boards, 6 assists. I'd put him at the PG as my main back-up there and let West play the SG. 49% shooter, 79% from the line.

Hakeem. IMO one of the most underrated players to ever play the game. A nightmare at over 7' and freakishly athletic. 22 PPG, 11 RPG.. oh.. and 3 blocks per game for his career?! Several seasons over 4!  51% from the field and 71% from the line. You think with a lead late in the game I can't slide Hakeem in for Bill Russell get the same rebounding/defense with better FT%? Or put him in for Shaq and put Larry at the 4? He'd get major minutes since I basically have 3 bigs, and I wouldn't lose a beat with him in. BTW: Shaq said that Hakeem was probably the toughest match-up he ever faced in the game.. he might start by series end.

Pistol Pete. My favorite player in the NBA with The Legend. I want you to remember a few things here.. first, despite what many people believe, Pistol wanted to win more than anybody. He wasn't a circus show that played for himself, read the things his teammates said.. He hated to lose. With Bill, West, and Frazier I wouldn't be afraid of leadership being an issue. Pistol could come off the bench and do as he pleased.. by all accounts he had incredible NBA 3-pt range (10-15 career when they finally added the line) but he shot from out there a lot anyway. He was probably the best passer to ever play the game, yes, I said it. Imagine Russell with a rebound, outlet to Pistol with Shaq or Hakeem or LeBron running the floor and Bird/Ray Ray spotting up. He could push the tempo, he could come off the bench as my microwave, and he could get in the lane and distribute. He was built for a team like this.

Dr. J: Do I really get him to come off the bench? Is this some sort of sick joke? 30,000 career points, 50% career shooting percentage, 8.5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and almost 2 blocks a game. Freakishly athletic. 77% FT shooter, semi 3-pt range. He can defend and he can get out and go.. now, my first 5 come out.. Imagine Dr. J on the wing getting full court outlet passes from The Pistol? C'mon man. That's not fair!

Ray Allen: I wanted a 3-pt marksman and considered Reggie Miller, Dale Ellis and even Dell Curry. Those are my favorite 3 point shooters, but Ray Ray is my favorite of them all and probably can do more than the others combined. He's turned into a solid defender, can handle the ball, pass and is, of course, an absolute marksman and really effective on the break. With the passers and slashers this game has there figures to be a lot of help in the paint stopping the dunk/drives and why not have the NBA's all time 3 point leader standing around the line reading to snipe. 40% career from 3, 89% from the FT line and 20 PPG. A great bench player.

Dennis Rodman: Yup, The Worm. Chemistry matters, remember? So where does The Worm fit in? Easy, the bench just straight boards and defense. Do you think that Red Auerbach, William Russell, The Legend and company would let one guy ruin chemistry? I don't. That's why I'm not worried about it and looking forward to adding a guy that can defend the 1-4 and just get after it defensively. He is actually a 52% shooter because he never shot more than lay-ups except those random 3s he drained. He was only a 58% FT shooter. 7 PPG, 13 RPG.. 6 straight seasons of leading the league in boards and 14.9 was his lowest amount.. absurd in that era. Oh, by the way.. 10 times he was an ALL-NBA player, 7 of them 1st team. That's my 12th man, the modern eras best rebounder and a 10x All-NBA defender.

IR: Kevin Durant. 6'9 with like 7-4 wingspan. 26.6 PPG career and 2x leading scorer already.
IR: Kevin McHale. 55% and 80% FG and FT. More ways to score on the block than Jabbar.
IR: Bob Cousy. 37% FG, 80% FT. 8 straight leading league in assists. 18, 7, 4 career numbers. (BTW: This link is probably the first I've ever seen of him.. lets be for real, if I saw this earlier, he wouldn't be on my IR. He was WAY ahead of the rest of those clowns. My goodness.)

That gives my bench the chance to have a wing, PG, and post player in case of an injury.

I can go big, small, offensive, defensive, and rotate guys in and out. Don't think I wouldn't press and run and gun with these guys. I will.

Good luck, JD, you're gonna need it.

The "Other" All-NBA Team

I said I would post my opponent's All-NBA team.. I acutally thought, he'd post it himself since he considers himself the world's greatest unpublished author, but I guess he knows that maybe I'm a tad better of a writter. In fact, I know he knows that this blog is hot and doesn't want to mess it up judging by all the comments my fans have left behind (0) for those of you counting at home.

Here is JD's 12 man roster and coach.. he didn't email me his IR guys which means he either forgot he had them.. or he was embarassed by them.. or more than likely, both. 

G: Magic
G: MJ
G: Kobe
F: Duncan
C: Kareem
______
G: Havlicek
C: Wilt
F: Pippen
F: Malone
G: Stockton
G: Reggie Miller
F: Dirk

Head Coach: The Zenmaster, Phil Jackson.

        Magic and Kareem watch amazed as Bird drains another 3 for the real All-NBA Team

All-Time NBA Draft

I have a friend that claims he is the world's best unpublished author.. he is also one of the most analytical thinkers in the entire world (that's my claim, not his). Anyway, we wanted to start blogging.. so I thought, "What a better way to start than for an All-Time NBA squad."

We decided on a few things.. we'd have a 12 man roster, 3 IR spots, and a coach. We'd set them up for an imaginable 7-game series. Defense and our belief in chemistry mattered.. for instance, if I had Shaq I knew there was no way I'd want Kobe. Would I want to take a chance with Rick Barry? Wilt? The Answer? George Gervin?

Finally, you have to imagine that players with elite physical skill in 1960 would transfer that skill to today's game.. so if Bob Cousy was an athletic freak when he played for the Celtics then he would have that same athletic advantage over the average NBA player today.

I gave JD the first pick and we alternated for the rest of the draft. This through a little wrench for me in the draft right away because it allowed him the ability to dictate match-ups.. oh, and get that Michael Jordan guy.

I'll list my picks in the order I drafted them and maybe tomorrow the reasoning.. his picks? Well, you'll have to wait for his blog.

F: Larry Bird
F/C: Bill Russell
G: Oscar Robertson
G/F: LeBron James
C: Shaq Diesel
G: Jerry West
G: Walt Frazier
C/F: Hakeem The Dream
G: Pistol Pete
F: Dr. J
G: Ray Allen
F: Dennis Rodman
IR: Kevin Durant
IR: Kevin McHale
IR: Bob Cousy

Coach: Red Auerbach

**Once the other team is released I'll list, in order, my other considering players**

Final NCAA College Fantasy Football Standings

It's finally time to release the much anticipated 2011-2012 NCAA college football standings. In reverse order (so although Zach appears on top, he really isn't). It's okay, Zach, it happens to the best of us.
12. Zach.. Welcome to the Big Show
11. Fat Joe.. Coaching in the MAC is easier than this league
10. Perrins (Projected: 2nd).. Shocking, underperformed again
9. Commish (Projected: 7th).. and the beat goes on
8. Cherns (Projected: 3rd).. Too much time on the road this season?
7. Billy (Projected: 9th).. Time to reload
6. Joe Dub (Projected: 10th).. Best finish ever?
5. Crass (Projected: 5th).. With another kid can he keep it up?
4. Josh (Projected: 4th).. So, so close.
3. Brian (Projected: 6th).. Finished better than any MN team this year
2. Scuba Steve (Projected Finish: 1st).. How could he take Bauman's squad to these heights? Shrewd.
1. T-Raz (Projected 8th).. From worst to first.

Projected rankings review: Perrins and Cherns were clearly the biggest disappointments in the league this season, nobody is quite sure what is going on in those locker rooms, but ESPN is sure to leak a story soon.. it need not be accurate as long as it's released before anybody else does and drags somebody's innocent name through the mud (See: Braun, Ryan) everything will be fine and wordage used will attempt to keep story as accurate even if proved otherwise.

T-Raz had a season for the ages thanks to Russ Wilson, Joe Dub overperformed quite nicely but not enough for money.. and Brian jumped over a few to slide into a few extra $.
Looks like I pegged Crass and Josh right on.. no big deal. This coming season I'm sure I'll get 4 of the 12 teams right.

Heisman Trophy Winner: 2nd place Scuba Steve produced this year's Heisman trophy winner: RGIII. (Did you know I had him once but traded him because Denard was the answer? No wonder I have a top 4 draft pick.)

Final 4 Scores

For the most part, these are the games that people care about and even tweet about. I tried to get #Final4CollegeFantasyFootball trending, but I didn't have enough pull over the millions of other tweeters.. and my 200+ followers didn't join in the fun. That doesn't mean these weren't good games.. at least the #3 vs. #4 game was and the title game was a snoozefest only rivaled by.. well, the real title game.

#4 Scuba vs. #3 Joshua
Prediction: Josh 123-Scuba 113
Actual: Scuba 114-Josh 100
Scuba may have worked his way into a few dolla dolla bills with his minor upset win over Josh. Imagine this guy taking over for Bauman and then turning them into a final 4 team.. he almost reminds me of.. well, Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers this year. Captain Comeback himself. How'd Scuba do it? RG3, Pead, Jeffrey, and the Hook 'Em D all went over 20 and Swope and Carson Wiggs added 10 and 14 respectively. Josh gave it a shot with Montee Ball's 27, Blackmon's 38 and Jarius Wright's 14 but Landry Jones last season swoon continued and LSU's defense had it's worst game of the season. Tough game but a good game.
What it means: Landry Jones is back as is Montee Ball but Josh may need another QB anyway and he's losing Blackmon (slide coming). Scuba rode RG3 all year and he declared, Pead graduated and Jeffrey declared. Can he revamp? Doubtful. Both these guys fall.
If this were a JCVD movie it would be: Double Impact (only thing better than 1 Van Damme? 2.)

#2 Minnesota State vs. #1 T-Raz
Prediction: T-Raz 117- Brian 107
Actual: T-Raz 130- Brian 77
This game had high drama on it before the game but not during the game. The infamous trade crushed all momentum the title game had, much like media hype does for the Super Bowl (imagine following it this year? Ugh.) Did T-Raz need to sink to shady Belichek levels to win? Doubtful, but he did it anyway as he was led by Darron Thomas 22, Cody Hoffman (I cut him... seriously) 30, Florida 24 and LMJ 21.. Wright and Jones also pitched in 15 and 12. Brian couldn't get much going.. Murray 12, Trent 16, Bullock (KICKER) 17, and MSU's d 19. He also got 2 0s and a 1. Honestly. Ouch.
What it means: T-Raz is automatically the BCS winner this year and the rest of the league comes down to a vote. Did Brian do enough in the regular season to stay at #2? Will his swoon leave a bad taste in voter's mouths? Only time will tell. I will tell you this, this league will go through a rule change this offseason.
If this were a JCVD movie it would be: Sudden Death (Brutal)

More Scores

#7 Cherns vs. #8 Billy
Prediction: No score but Billy wins.
Actual: Billy 102-Cherns 82

I was right, Cherns couldn't get a full line-up and winners win when it comes to bowl games as Billy gets another victory, though, this one not for 1st place like previous years. Billy got double digit days from Luck, Burkhead, White, and Sammy Watkins which was enough to hold off 34 from Vick Ballard and solid games from Kenjon Barner and AJ Jenkins. The rest of the cast? Yuck, 13 points. Seriously.
What does it mean? Nothing, Billy will be back next year and Cherns will talk a big game, revamp himself, claim he's putting work aside to run the league then fall back into the same schedule of working too hard for no real reason and acting tough when he remembers the rest of us.
If this were a JCVD movie it would be: Street Fighter

#6 Joe-Dub vs. #5 Crass
Prediction: Crass wins
Actual: Crass 109-Joe-Dub 95Called it. I'm good like that, Brandon Weeden had a great game facing Stanford and not LSU or Alabama, which like I predicted, would get Crass the win. 33 from Weeden, 31 from Taylor and off to the races. Joe got some production from Sheelhaase and Ellington, but that wasn't enough with lackluster final games from Michael Floyd, David Wilson, and Ruben Randle.
What it means? Crass has been hanging around the top for the past few seasons and Joe probably had his best year. Both teams have a few NFL defections so it'll be interesting to see if either can put it together next year to get over the hump.
If this game were a JCVD movie it would be: Bloodsport (Probably the best game)

Some Bowl Game Results

#11 Fat Joe vs. #12 Zach
Projection: Zach 96- Fat Joe 84
Actual: Fat Joe 112- Zach 73
Edgar has one of the best HS teams in the state of Wisconsin year in and year out.. at least for their school size. That doesn't matter in fantasy sports as Zach found out this season. A rough start and then a rough finish to his first season as Joe blasted him 112-73 in the Toilet Bowl. Joe, fat as he is, had balanced scoring with EJ Manuel, Jared Abbrederis, Rashard Greene, Quinn Sharp, the Bama defense, and Nick Toon all going over 10 points. Zach was only able to get that production from Brock Osweiler and Le'Veon Bell. Both teams will need to re-assess rosters and should be more competitive now that they understand the league and how it works.
If this game were a JCVD movie it would be: Hard Target

#10 Perrins vs. #9 The Commish
Projection: The Commish 102- Perrins 87
Actual: The Commish 133-Perrins 85
Whoa. This team, finally showed it's true colors.. too bad for the commish all the season was gone before they finally busted out. Wilson 17, Polk 20, Gannaway FIFTY-FOUR, Hopkins 16, Costanzo 11. Perrins also got a 54 spot from Gino Smith, Fuller had 17 and then the next highest? Iowa defense with 5. Seriously. The good news for The Commish is Wilson, Hopkins and Costanzo are back. The bad news? Gannaway was a senior and Polk declared. Neat. Another lame finish in the middle of the pack. Perrins? He's garbage.
If this game were a JCVD movie it'd be: Kickboxer