NBA 2K12

TravTex

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...in which Kyle and I rant at one another and few others seem to give a damn.

Took me a while to finally get around to it, but I picked up 2k12 a couple weeks ago. Good times. First NBA game I've actually been able to play 12 minute quarters on simulation gameplay (with the Real % shot-stick thing)... and get realistic numbers.

I tinkered around with My Player for a while, and it's greatly improved. I think they try to give you too many minutes too soon, but I understand that decision. I'm probably one of a select few perfectly willing to play a few seasons of My Benchwarmer for the sake of realism.

I've abandoned it for a while, and I'm really enjoying sinking time into Association this year. I'm just starting my second season, having done little but Sim, Trade, and Develop for the first season -- I like starting off the year with "My" team. Trying to turn the hapless Bobcats into a contender.

Went into nearly a full nerdrage during the draft. I invested -heavily- in scouting, and had tracked down a couple of big men with A and A+ potential projected to go around the back end of the lottery. I'm thinking I'll trade up and snag one, and I'm not thinking too much about the potential cost... My game DEMANDS a solid post game.

Anyway, I see one of the dudes get drafted at #6 overall, so I go into 'Oh-Crap' mode and start trying to trade for #7. I am told to go frick myself, and long story shortened, end up without a center for another year.

D.Gallinari is going to be a mega-stud after I gave him 'Untapped Potential', making his potential 98. I'm trying to teach him how to rebound. You're 6'10", dude, get the fricking ball.

Tyrus Thomas can be a monster, but he's wildly inconsistent. Had a game where the dude put up 40 points, 13 boards, and 2 blocks. Then he'd spend the next two weeks trying to accumulate same.

Kemba Walker is great, but I have problems figuring out how to use him. Driving the lane isn't really my strength. He's in a contract year, and I'm thinking VERY seriously about packaging him with a draft pick to pick up a high-upside center.

The GM side of things is awesome, this year in that it's making me think... and not letting me do just whatever the hell I want. I'm going to have to Pay Dearly to get a player I can work with. (Obviously, everyone's trying to trade me for Gallinari, now... Suck it. He's -my- 98 potential 6'10" SF locked in for 5 years at around 4.5mil per.)
 

Snohomie

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Ah yes. I saw you playing last night and wondered what you thought of the game.

I bought the game at release (I was there at midnight, especially since (pre-real-job) one of the dogs I was dogsitting chewed up my beloved 2k11 game in August) and HATED it. Now that the lockout is over and a couple of patches have come through, I am beginning to like it (although I have some sliders set because I should not go 3/10 from 3, all on B+ attempts or higher with perfect releases, with Ray effing Allen on “pro”). Very different game from 2k11, which was very different from 2k10, which was almost the exact same as 2k9.

I absolutely love 14 game seasons. That’s enough for me to play just about every game, whereas with 29 game seasons I probably simmed more than half the season.

Ugh sucks about your center issue. Now you understand what I feel about Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley deciding to stay in school and RG3’s rise up boards.

One reason I am now playing the game is that I finally figured out how to call a goddamn pick and roll. L1, then hold the icon that corresponds with the guy you want to set the pick. Since 2k12 doesn’t have the setup where circle=crossover, I was having NO luck moving the ball in the half court unless I used a super athlete (LeBron/Rose/Wade). Pick and Rolls are mostly just to give my guy a couple feet of room to get going, and if I can make someone go out of position I can wreck people. (One thing I love this year is that the pick and roll is eaten up by the Hawks big men, but Al Jefferson was abused when I ran it against him. Finally some realism in how it works)

I have a couple of franchises I am really enjoying. One is a Golden State franchise with a Kyle Rojo – essentially, a 6’9 super athletic PF (think Josh Smith), rated 76 overall, 22 years old (damn I need to stop using my real age, my rookies keep getting older) and 80 potential. To make things less lopsided, I traded Derek Lee for DeMarcus Cousins, who I then traded for Javale McGee (I didn’t think it’d be fair to keep Cousins – this was pre-trade demand – I just wanted to move Lee off the roster… now I wish I’d have kept Cousins, might have been realistic after all). So my starting lineup was Curry-Ellis-Wright-Rojo-McGee, a pretty formidable offensive lineup but the defense hasn’t been there. Rojo is on a tear – something like 70 of 80 in his last 4 games, with a few threes (65 rating, so I only take them on fastbreaks or if they refuse to guard the perimeter). I mostly just dunk/layup with him near the hoop. Curry, aside from one 1-13 performance, has been shooting the lights out, but so has his opponent. Ellis has been solid offensively, and so has Wright, but my defense is roooooough. Rojo and McGee do what they can, but I always play D with Rojo and I’m still learning how to play good D, so he gets torched a little, and McGee is averaging less than a block per game.

My other franchise is a lot more fun to me, maybe because I just started. I did the fantasy draft, with an involved backstory (tl:dr version: David Stern is assassinated by a Sonics fan. The league appoints Kyle Rota commissioner, who uses his good lucks and charm to convince the owners that the current league structure is bad for business and that the re-instated Seattle Sonics (taking over for Sacramento, not OKC, because I want to repeatedly stomp on OKC’s face) shouldn’t have to use a crappy roster.). I picked Noah, Rojo (6’2 point guard with a powerful body and athleticism, but mediocre shooting and defense), Eric Gordon, Serge Ibaka, and Kawhi Leonard as my starting lineup, with Dahntay Jones coming off the bench. Pretty young, but not terribly formidable at first glance.

Basically, this team does 3 things well – defend, finish at the hoop, and shoot 3s. The halfcourt offense is pretty weak, but MAN can we run on a team, and with Noah and Ibaka and Leonard we defend and rebound very well. Leonard is the big surprise – I took him because I had to pick either him or Turkoglu, and, well, that says it all. But he is deadly around the hoop, even though his shot is 4 kinds of ugly and he can’t hit crap from 3. I won my last game 60-30 on 10 minute quarters (through 3 quarters, I simmed the 4th). If we force misses, we can run (even though I’m almost positive I lead the league in turnovers forced AND given up). Apparently, defense can work in this game – just, unlike last year, you need more than a single big man to make up for 4 crap defenders.

BTW – For Walker, I think his contract should be 2 years with a 2 year option. Maybe I don’t know the new CBA, but be careful trading him.
 
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TravTex

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I absolutely love 14 game seasons. That’s enough for me to play just about every game, whereas with 29 game seasons I probably simmed more than half the season.

I actually -play- 14 game seasons, or thereabouts. I play 1 of every 4 games, and sim the rest. This way I can significant influence the outcome, but if there's any gameplay weirdness it can get normalized by the sim engine to some extent and more pressure is placed on team building and scouting. I am a gigantic nerd.

Yeah, I'm STILL pissed off about that Center fiasco. I don't think I've been that panicked in a stupid video game than when I saw my first targeted center, which I expected to go around #10 or so, come off the board at #6. I mentally executed a Long No and started frantically started trying to make a desperate trade... Getting a busy signal or whatever while the other center went #7.

After that, I started trying desperately to trade AWAY my #19 pick. It was like the entire league was laughing at me, "Didn't get that Center, huh? HAW HAW, you suck." I actually had smartass GMs offering me the #21 pick for my #19 -and- my 2nd. Bastards.

My initial assessments mostly focus on what I'm seeing as a greatly improved realism. Trade logic, sim engine, and how individual players perform in specific situations against certain gameplans or body types, etc. I'll get into that a bit more in my Roster Analysis when I get to Gallinari.

I played my first preseason game with the New and Improved, Sorta Bobcats.

They led the Pistons in Detroit by as much as 15, but did that late game spaz-out that young teams with absolutely no chemistry or experience can tend to do when faced with a bunch of wiley veterans. Lost 88-81 after coming out cold, then dominating the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Starting 5:

PG: Kemba Walker. High potential little guard who -could- be the long term answer. Does some impressive things driving. I've found the L2 button to make for some pretty damn good crossover and spin moves when driving, and it's improved my inside game dramatically... particularly in the area of drawing fouls. Still not -entirely- sold on his style -- I don't usually give my PG a lot of shots. Could garner a ton of interest if I float him out there for a trade.

SG: Wesley Johnson. Not sure about the kid, yet, but he put up good numbers while seeming to disappear for the entire game. The good side to that is I wasn't screaming at him in frustration, so he wasn't making stupid shots or screwing up on defense. He's a decent starter for this team, may or may not be a long-term answer.

SF: Corey Maggette. The mighty have certainly fallen. He's on his last contract year, pulling down just over ten million dollars. He's degenerated to a 71 overall, and just put up 7 points and 6 rebounds for his ten million dollar performance. Danilo is the obvious replacement. Probably going to move him before the deadline if anyone will even sniff at him for a six pack and a bag of chips. Not worried about the contract money, really -- I'm actually under the cap with all the undeveloped youth on the team, but I have no plan to keep him. Might as well see what I can get.

PF: Danilo Gallinari. As I said, I used an Untapped Potential on this kid, and he's now 24 years old sitting at around a 74 overall with an A+/98 potential. He -will- be a star in 3-5 years or so. He picked up 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Pistons. He's also the most frustrating player on the team. It's because he's a bit of a tweener. 6'10", kinda slow to be great at perimeter defense, and Villanueva spent the entire game showing why he currently has no business being a post defender. Backed him down and made him look spastic all game. One option is to try and put some bulk on the kid over the next couple offseasons. He can rain down threes when he gets hot, but gets tenative and spastic inside when challenged. Whole game, I'm yelling, "Gallinari!! FUUUUU!" Have to remember the guy's potential and develop him properly.

C: Tyrus Thomas. A more natural PF filling in the hole left by my draft fiasco. Feast or famine, wildly inconsistent player at this point. 78 overall with A- potential. Put up 32 points, 12 boards, monster defense with 2 blocks, a steal, and two or three other plays where he swatted a pass out of bounds. He'll also disappear for games at a time. I think he's a bit overpaid, but still locked into another few years at about 8 or 9 million per. 25 years old and already a decent starter.

Some Other Dudes:

Luke Ridnour: His job is to not suck when Kemba is tired. He does this job well enough.

Ersan İlyasova: We have a lot of young 6'10" dudes on this team. Another kid with a lot of potential, but a lot of work to be done.

Hasheem Thabeet: My consolation prize from free agency. 50-something overall, but with a B- potential. I'm -kind- of hesitant to waste valuable development time on this kind of player. A high-scoring big guy is absolutely vital to my game. I've got Tyrus knocking down 30-40 points playing out of position. Just think if I had Howard in there.

So, my big struggles this year are...

* Develop some team chemistry.
* Finish out Silas' contract and find a HC better with young talent.
* Figure out WTF to do with Gallinari.
* Decide what to do with Walker.
* Decide if I want to just GET a Center. Two 1sts and Kemba? Might be better for my game, but I would only shift my gaping roster hole from C to PG. Could also move other guys into more appropriate positions, but would be SOL for the next two drafts.

This crap is better than most RPGs I play.
 
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TravTex

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Forgot. I've got a very bizarre tie to realism for playing a stupid game in which I'm an NBA player. My created dude (Which I don't use in my Association runs) was a 5'9" outside shooting PG with iffy athleticism. Obviously going to be a world-beater. The pre-draft stuff is dramatically improved. Just the one game, then the interviews. I actually got knocked for "character concerns". The 76ers asked me how I thought I'd fit in on a team stocked with young point guards, and I answered basically, "Probably not so well, as a young point guard." I even left out, "Dumbass." Then went on to say that I didn't really see myself in Philly, etc. Dude thanked me for my honesty, then went on to apparently just rip my good name to the press. Ended up on the Knicks, which wasn't so bad a gig.

Mello? Pass! Amare? Pass! Wide Open? Drain it!
 
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TravTex

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So.

I end up feeling dramatically stupid with buyer's remorse in the short term, and quite confident for the long term. Pulled off the biggest trade in the history of the NBA that absolutely nobody gave a crap about. Looking at my very good but poor-fitting PG, sitting there in his contract year with iffy loyalty and desire to Win Now... I just went the hell after the rookie Center I wanted. I'm wanting to rebuild the old San Antonio Twin Towers, baby.

I give up:

K.Walker, 22yo PG 82 ovr / A- pot
W.Johnson, 25yo SG 76 ovr / B pot
D. Diop, 30 yo C 50 ovr / --
2015 1st Round pick

And I receive:

E.Glover, 23yo C 63 ovr / A pot
J.Calderon, 31yo PG 68 ovr / --
D.DeRozen, 23yo SG 73 ovr / B+ pot
2014 2nd Round pick

Chemistry drops from like 6% back down to 0%, who cares. The biggest thing was the drop to 30th in defense. The new young Future Long-Term Bobcats... deep breath, here... suuuuuuuuuuuuuck on defense.

But, I got a pass-first PG, which I want. I get my Future All-Star Center in 7'0", 256 Everett Glover... who, at this point, kind of sucks. 2 points 5 rebounds for his rookie debut game.

As a bit of surprise bonus, DeRozen is a monster on offense. 91 layup/93 dunk/91 inside. Blows on defense. Kinda the theme, but I'm okay with that right now. My perimeter D just went into the toilet, but in the long term I have two giants in the paint who can rebound, defend, and score... uh, potentially.
 

Dietrich

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I just wanted to let you know I enjoy reading your updates for your franchises. Keep it up!
 
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TravTex

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Thanks. I'm -really- liking the 2k12 progression system and trade logic so far. That, coupled with the improvements in how body styles and skill sets work differently in different situations... Really makes building a team a more thoughtful affair than just trying to randomly plug in the highest-overall rating in each starting slot.

Will probably take four or five seasons to know if this trade was brilliant or monumentally stupid. In the short term, it looks like the GM just stepped right in and single-handedly crippled the team for the season. Coach Silas is an obvious lame duck, the guys are inexperienced and unfamiliar with one another. Nobody outside of Tyrus has any idea how to play defense...

Much was made out of the Bobcats getting back into the playoffs in that first season. Not only that, but they advanced past the first round in a wild upset series before falling to the Celtics in round 2. Looking at a HUGE crash back to earth.

Idly wonder if Virtual Bobcats fans are understanding, or buring me in effigy.
 

Throwdown

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I love the game, only really play the Myplayer

Havent started a franchise yet, any suggestions on a team i should take? i like taking teams and building them i don't like taking teams great talent already, its boring haha.
 
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TravTex

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Bobcats are definitely in the toilet to start out, heh. Maybe the Cavs? I don't remember who #30 is... Wizards?
 

Snohomie

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Never been a big fan of my player. Probably why I do created players in my franchise.

Ok, the Fantasy Draft team did what I wanted it to do - proved that I can play good defense in this game, and it proved that you I can run the court well. That's a style of play I always liked, so I decided to make a team in that image. Very literally, actually, because by taking over the sorry New Orlean Hornets franchise, I've already inherited Eric Gordon (who is actually on the trade block) and a few players who fit my scheme well (SFs Trevor Ariza and Al-Farouq Aminu, with Aminu being a great backup at both SF and PF right now, but somebody I play to groom as a starter or killer 6th man). I also have completely terrible fit Chris Kaman, player I don't like Emeka Okafor, and no point guard. I did create a Rojo on another team (5'11 72ovr 22 YO point guard - me, but with skillz), I need to trade for him.

(I'm writing this as I sim most of the first year on my franchise, just going to play a couple of games to see who's working and who's tradebait. I'm hoping this trade logic as as good as you say.)

First order of business is to trade for Rojo. Surprisingly, the 76ers give him up for Emeka Okafor, Grevis Vasquez and a 2012 2nd round pick.

Second priority is to figure out my big-man situation. Chris Kaman is a little slow for this team, and PF Carl Landry is the exact opposite of what I want in a PF. Both probably make Trav drool (good post guys), but do nothing for me. Landry I trade to OKC for Serge Ibaka (who is ridiculously undervalued by 2k, for the 2nd year in a row), I think I had to throw in some scrub as well but I'm not sure who. Josh Smith (the 7'0 slow guy, not the 6'9 freak), perhaps.

Okay, Kaman still doesn't work for me, and I HATE Jarrett Jack (who only came here to be with CP3 anyways). So I package them together for Toney Douglas and Tyson Chandler. I was surprised New York would offer (Trade Finder) to do it, but they did pay Chandler a LOT of money. He'll fit into what I do, as I rarely post up (a good post game would do wonders for my halfcourt offense, but I rely on my bigs for defense and rebounding so unless I get Howard it'll be tough to find the player I need... I may look to trade for Howard).

Right now I am looking at:
PG: Rojo (72), backed up by Douglas (69) - this is set for a while. Would love to grab Reggie Jackson from OKC, but I don't see it happening yet, not a lot of depth to this team.
SG: Gordon (82) backed up by Belinelli (64) - at least Gordon is good. I could really use depth here, as my running style can wear a player down.
SF: Trevor Ariza (73) and Al-Farouq Aminu (69, 6th man) - I am really tempted to trade for Kawhi Leonard, simply because he played so well for me (despite expectations). However, these two players give a 3-point game to the lineup, and Leonard passed up a lot of good open 3s because he couldn't hit them. Great athletes who defend, rebound, hit open 3s and can score near the hoop a little. They'll do fine. I want to develop Aminu.
PF: Serge Ibaka (75) and Jason Thompson (67) - Good strong position for me. Thompson can play PF or C, and Ibaka is a defensive whiz. I don't need to make moves here for a while.
C: Chandler (70) and Nazr Mohammed (contract I had to take on). Not great, but Chandler fits the role I need him to and his size advantage will help us. We'll see if this short point guard is as beneficial to him as the last short point guard he had in NO.

The last game of the season was the 1 I played, against the Timberwolves for the playoffs. Figure I will play the playoffs, but overall a better season than I expected since I was simming. Gordon averaged 24PPG on 50% shooting, Rojo was 17-5-1.6(stl) with 52% shooting and a shocking 39% from 3 (74 3-point rating at beginning of the year). The rest of the team did alright, but no big scorers. Lots of rebounds distributed between Ariza, Chandler, Aminu, and Thompson. Need to pull off a trade for some bench shooters next year, or draft one.

First game is against the Warriors, who narrowly found victory in the regular season 2nd-to-last game. They're the 3 seed, I'm the 6th seed. It'll be speed and offense vs speed and defense...
 
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TravTex

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Trav Remodels the Hornets...

This is actually a pretty fun team to tinker with, though a bit frustrating. They're in need of a rebuild, but have to clear out some old money in order to do so. They'd be alright if CP were still around, but he is not and the team lacks direction.

Step One: Obliterate the Front Office.

There's plenty of staffing budget available, and I'm having to use it to fire some people. Getting rid of the assistant coach, the NBA scout, and the prospect scout. I replace them all with decent-to-good replacements. No reason to have lousy staff with 6 million sitting around in the budget.

Then... it took me a while to decide what to do with this roster. Like Kyle said, I do like the big capable post guys. I'm not a big fan of their ages or their contracts OR their upsides.

Trade 1:
E.Gordon + C.Kaman --> O.J. Mayo + M. Gasol.

This trade is kinda a wash, really. High potential young SG packaged with offensively capable C going both ways. I'm scouting Mayo as an A+ potential, though. And while Kaman is a -bit- better than Gasol at this point, Gasol is locked down for 4 years at about the same annual salary while being a few years younger than Kaman. Big Man position is locked for four years... probably be a good time to draft one to develop for the long haul.

Trade 2:
X.Henry + A.Aminu --> N. Robinson + E. Udoh.

Get myself a better starting PG in Robinson (Jack, ugh), and a developmental project at PF with Udoh (B+ potential).

That's actually all of the moves I make at the beginning of the season, though I'm planning to dump some dead weight before the deadline.

-------------------------------------------------

Bewildering Trade That I JUMP On:

The Bobcats offer me Ty Thomas and a 1st for C.Landry and our 1st. I don't know why they would want to do this... Even though Thomas is a bit overpriced as a developmental PF. Sold. Gives me TWO long-bodied developmental PF's, but I'm not thinking that's a bad thing.

I basically pay a draft pick to unload some salary, swapping E. Okafor and a 2nd for M. Okur, with no intention of signing him to a longer deal.

I turn around and take advantage of the Spurs wanting to do pretty much the same thing: M. Okur is traded for R. Jefferson and the Spurs' 1st.

Last batch of trading before the deadline involves T. Ariza and the Bobcat's 1st going for J. Vesely and R. Turiaf.

At the All-Star Break, the NO Hornets look like this:

23-30, 9% Chemistry

PG: N. Robinson, J. Jack, G. Vasquez
SG: O.J. Mayo, M. Belinelli
SF: R. Jefferson, J. Vesely, D. Summers
PF: T. Thomas, E. Udoh, J. Smith
C: M. Gasol, R. Turiaf
 

Snohomie

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I like that team, except for Nate Rob. This will probably be my only 5'11 point guard, and the Warriors having Nate Robinson might have been the reason I won. But Mayo is great, Thomas and Udoh are solid, Gasol can probably score above his average with feeds, and Jefferson/Vesely isn't terrible and pretty good on D.

Don't forget NO owns the Timberwolve's first round pick. I was going at least trade my first for their first but decided against it after the playoffs.

I run the playoffs 1-1-3-3

Playoff game against GS was very close. By halftime, there had been 12 lead changes. Neither defense was looking that impressive, but the offenses were chugging along. Rojo was slicing the defense for assists, but was unable to get anything done on the rim except for a few dunks on the beak. He couldn't hit a midrange shot either (damn being 5'11), but finished 4-7 fom 3 to end 27-14-3stls-5TOs (whooops), with 10 points in the 4th quarter. Couldn't defend Curry worth a darn, though. Buuut, he started driving and shooting all over Nate Robinson to end the game, so we won 96-88 (Curry was out with an injury sustained from Chandler). Robinson was just not up to defending a faster, stronger, bigger player in Rojo. Gordon provided an in-the-flow 24 points (he finished 3rd in the league in scoring, once I looked at the stats) and played terrible defense. Ariza and Aminu were AWESOME, hitting 8-9 threes combined, rebounding well, and playing good D (Ariza had 4 blocks). Ibaka played great D and scored 15, but didn't rebound terribly well. Chandler had a rough game against Camby, but played good help D.

Portland was easy. Walked all over them, Rojo was on fire and Aminu (starting for Ariza) was great. I'm going to trade Ariza at the end of the season, this looks like a loaded first round so I am hoping for a near-lottery pick, which will also free the money I am going to need very shortly for my young team. Ariza played well too, and Gordon scored 30 without playing crazy as well. Ibaka did a great job on Alridge, and Chandler out rebounded David Lee (the Portland C).

I then decided to let fate determine if I'd make the finals, since actually advancing in the playoffs was not my plan. So I simmed, and made it! Unfortunately, I also accidentally simmed the finals when I did that, which I lost to the Celtics. Oh well, I am very pleased with the season and I am excited to have a full off-season to craft the bench in the image I want as well. I am hoping to pick up a developmental 6th man (to become a starter, maybe at C) with a late lottery pick and a solid bench player with my own late first, but we'll see.
 
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TravTex

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Yeah, Nate Robinson projects as a stopgap, and he can be kind of a pain. Not particularly good at passing, likes to drive... and he's like 5'9"... and he LIKES TO DRIVE. Looks cool in dunk competitions and all, but with Bogut standing in the lane it doesn't work so damn well. Jefferson is overpaid, but still a good role player. Vesely projected well to take over Ariza's role.

Anyway, I just wanted to see what sort of team I could put together with them from the starting point. I went ahead and scrapped it to do a For-Serious Bobcats run (I almost went with Houston, but I really like dragging a team from WAY down in the toilet. #29 overall at the start. Toronto is #30, but who would want to play in CANADA? Went into my usual Frenzy of Trading the Likes of Which Never Seen. Got a bit annoyed at the coaching situation, locked into 5 million per year for two years with a dramatically average HC. Beef up the scouting... I'm going to play the first season and not rush to the draft this time. To skip all the individual trades and just get to the starting point of the season:

(I wonder how much potential randomizes each start... I have a better scout calling Kemba an A potential, but the B- I've seen him at other times seems outside the range of just iffy scouting. Maybe not.)

PG: K. Walker, Jeremy Lin (lol)
SG: G. Henderson, Courtney Lee, M. Carroll
SF: C. Maggette, Gordon Hayward, D. Brown, R. Williams
PF: K. Love, A. Johnson, E. Najera
C : A. Bargnani, M. Ely

Picks: '12 1st, 2nd, '13 2nd.

I really like this team, though it's a -little- bit different than I'd go out of my way to set up. I don't think I could pick out a young long-term option at PF better than Kevin Love. Crazy on the boards, good in the post, and if anyone slacks around on the perimeter, he'll drop a three on you. Bargnani is not the type of Center I'd normally pick out. He's a great scorer, and can make the outside shots... but he's not the best post man, and downright horrid on rebounds for a seven foot tall dude. That said, my scout thinks he's an A potential. Maybe teaching him how to board and play post defense is the key. Still, it's a scary pair down low than can hurt you if allowed to drift out to the perimeter.

Maggette is on his way out, and a placeholder for another guy my scouts say is the Next Hot Schitt. Hayward is only in the low 60's right now, but projects as a starter. Already a dangerous outside shooter, needs to be taught how to play defense.

Shooting Guard is... well, I don't have a shooting guard. Best developmental project there looks to be a below-average starter at best. I have three role players at the position.

Kemba Walker could be a great one. I'm seeing Walker-Love as a dangerous combination for as long as I can hold onto them.

My current strategy... Try to get the team to gel, hope the Hornets suck out loud (it's their 1st I'm holding onto this year), and get my scouts to find me a SG of the Future. Have to lock down Love into a long-term deal. Kemba is on his rookie contract, and Bargnani is locked down for 4/42m. More of an offensive-minded team than I'm used to putting together. 3 or 4 guys who can get on a tear and put up over 30 points in a night, and Love has been known to put up 30 fricking rebounds in a game.
 

Snohomie

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Man, Trav. We could not build teams more differently. I'm not sure I'd want any of those guys on my team in those roles except maybe Walker and Lee. I want to make Love work, but his game is just so different from mine that I have trouble getting my offense and defense to hum. I would be careful about trusting those scouts. I have been REALLY misled in the past.
 
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TravTex

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Snohomie":345j7l69 said:
Man, Trav. We could not build teams more differently. I'm not sure I'd want any of those guys on my team in those roles except maybe Walker and Lee. I want to make Love work, but his game is just so different from mine that I have trouble getting my offense and defense to hum. I would be careful about trusting those scouts. I have been REALLY misled in the past.

Yeah, they burn you occasionally, though it's hard to put together a young new rebuilt team without some degree of scout trust.

That Bobcats team made it to the second round of the playoffs, shockingly enough. No defense, and all. At the deadline, I ended up moving Kevin Love even though he is my Ideal kind of post player with perks. He wanted 5 years with 12+ million per, and I was scouting out a ton of A+ potential PFs in the front end of the draft. Ended up trading Love and the Hornet's 1st rounder for the Raptor's first rounder and DeRoza.

Beat the Knicks in 6 games, then got beat down pretty convincingly by the Heat in round 2.

Bargnani is starting out the season as the star of the team, pretty regularly putting up 20-30 points and 10 boards between the way I utilize him and focusing on improving his rebounding and post defense. Still on contract for 3y/33m. I wouldn't mind swapping out Kemba Walker for a pass-first PG to better feed in to my big guys. DeRoza's always going to be a threat to drive. Hayward probably has another year or two to develop, but he'll push for the starting slot against an aging Maggette. Dude has a 92 3pt shot, but holes in his game on the defensive side.

The Raptor's pick ended up at #5, and I grabbed one of my targeted PFs. 6'9"/237 Gilberto Catinella. Starting at a 74 overall. Decent rebounding, decent defense. A 98 consistency. Dude. Now that he's on the team, he's only showing a "B" potential, but I can address that over the next couple of years with training camps to bring him along if necessary. Brought on Chris Anderson in FA as a warm body to backup Bargnani.

Kinda iffy at this point, 73 Overall team. Bargnani and Walker's potentials went up to A+ over the offseason. DeRoza and Hayward are at A and A-, respectively. I'm good with this arrangement for the long haul, but they've got another couple years of development before even thinking about being dominant.
 

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Well, my Hornets franchise was lost to my own stupidity. I thought I had "drafts" for 2012 and 2013, but it turns out my 2013 file was the exact same as my 2012 file. Since I don't want to play in a league with multiple Harrison Barnes, Perry Jones, and Andre Drummonds, I had to start over.

Took a different angle this time. Instead of finding the worst teams possible, I will look for the worst 5-year situation. I also wanted to try a post guy and a less hectic team. I chose the Suns, who had a pretty bleak future ahead of them as their only good players in this game are old (IMO Gortat is underrated).

Turns out that was easier than taking a bad team with a bit of a future. Traded Nash, Gortat, Hill, Childress, and Markieff Morris for draft picks. Traded some rent-a-players that I got back for more picks. Have a lot of cash so I made a run at CP3 but he rejected me, so I brought in Al-Farouq Aminu again... he's just perfect for what I need from the SF spot, hits 3s, drives on guys who crowd him, gets rebounds, and plays defense. Did this OKC style. Turns out to be a stacked draft, so those picks were starter-quality good even though I only had one lottery pick. By the playoffs of my second season, I was the #1 seed in the west, Teague was rookie of the year, all three rookies made the all-rookie team (in addition to it being a good draft, I picked the highest rated player available with each pick, and all of them have A-range potential), and Aminu won most improved player on his way to scoring 19ppg.

Okay, so I got bored. Now that I know a style of team that works for me, I'm tough unless I just get silly with the sliders. Turns out trading for draft picks was a pretty solid strategy and my rebuilding process didn't take long, although my team sucks at rebounding for a year or two. I think the next time I will self-enforce no trading for draft picks, and I am going to try to build an offense that uses pick-and-rolls and post-ups to score in half-court sets.
 
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TravTex

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You kind of read my mind with that strategy. Also, the type of team idea. 1.) I tried to trade almost exclusively for draft picks with a Bobcats franchise. I got #1 and #3 lottery picks, ending up at 3rd & 4th after a 27-win season. Drafted an A+ potential SF and an A potential C, while picking up Landry Jones in FA with the money saved. Also managed to acquire Ricky Rubio through some trade I was too close to sleep to remember. Also, I think, DeRozan again. 2.) I'm tempted to try a Spurs 'chise -- They've been looking to be on the downslide of old for some time.

I think I have more fun just creating teams through trades and draft scouting than I do actually playing the stupid game.
 
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Doing the Spurs thing, and I did something I have Never Done in my History of Building NBA 2k?? Teams... Absolutely nothing. I was looking at my aging guys, none of the offered trades really did anything for me. Stuck with the team as-is, knowing I have some problems looming in the future.

Ended up losing to the Mavs in 5, missing the Finals. Got the #28 draft pick.

Luckily, I was offered pick #6 and a '13 first rounder for Tony Parker. I immediately drafted another PG. Guy came out as a rookie with a 76 OVR and a B- potential. Sent him off to Untapped Potential class, and I basically swapped Parker, a 29 year old 81 overall PG for a 22 year old PG at 76 OVR with a 96 potential. That, and a first rounder in change. The BIG coup from that trade is that it enabled me to get young with two starting positions -- Dumping Parker's 12.5 million per year enabled me to sign Landry Fields to start taking over for a 35-ish Manu Ginobli.

Tim Duncan has resigned for 14 million (Taking a 7 million dollar pay cut on account of being Super Old, but finding Timmy's replacement is definitely looming over the Spurs' heads this season. Hoping to be able to package that extra 1st into a deal that will enable us to draft a big man in 2013.
 
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