I can't win with these cats jennifer | 2019 Off-Season

[Lamrock]

ZACH RANDOLPH TRADED TO RAPTORS FOR SERGE IBAKA


Quality analysis from Ric Bucher

[[Hyperize]]

We honestly complain about the trade engine in old games, but shit still hasn't changed.

[Lamrock]

The trade itself doesn't make much sense, but is fairly inconsequential at least. Not sure Z-Bo helps the Raptors get younger, unless it's another dig at Ibaka's age.

On another note, does anybody else feel like this year's 2K is a lot harder than in recent years? I played 2K17 and 2K18 on Superstar and did alright, but here I'm getting my ass kicked every time on All-Star. I can defend the CPU reasonably well, but I'm a disaster on offense and get killed on the boards. Any tips?

[Andrew]

Youth movement. Well alright then, Ric.

[[Hyperize]]

Yes, the game is more difficult; adjust the difficulty on the fly based on how you're doing just to make it enjoyable.

[[Q]]

Who the heck is Jennifer? Lol

[Lamrock]

cavs4872, Not a terrible idea, but in the past I've gotten into the habit of "fixing" games to produce a certain outcome. The plan here was to try for a playoff spot, but when the team started losing both in played games and simulated ones, I just rolled with it. It's more interesting that way.

Basically, I want there to be a consistent difficulty so that it feels genuine if/when the team does become successful. Perhaps the team going in a clear rebuilding direction gives me an opportunity to get good at the game with no pressure. I did just lost 111-75 to Dallas though, so maybe you're right.

[Q], https://twitter.com/cjmccollum/status/1 ... 24?lang=en

[[Hyperize]]

Try Pro; you want to be able to go all-out, without holding anything back for "story reasons". Since this season already seems like a wash for you anyway, it'll be a good opportunity to experiment with the difficulty.

[kibaxx7]

It's still a little bit early to tank, man. But yeah change the difficulty

[Lamrock]

SONICS FALL TO 9-22 WITH EMBARRASSING LOSS TO DALLAS

by Ken Chalmers
December 20, 2018



The SuperSonics lost their eleventh game in thirteen tries after a pathetic outing against the Dallas Mavericks. In a televised home game in which owner Steve Ballmer attended, Seattle got off to a 9-4 lead early before proceeding to shit the bed like they always do. The offense looked sloppy and anemic, while the effort on the glass was disgraceful (Dallas had 19 offensive rebounds). C.J. McCollum scored 17 points in the first half, but just one in the second as rookie Luka Doncic walked all over him. As bad as the team has looked this season, it was tonight that the Sonics' lack of fight was on display more than ever as they allowed a mediocre Mavs team to walk all over them. A livid Ballmer left midway through the third quarter, and can you blame him?

During the decade in which the Sonics did not exist, it created a void in my life I thought would be filled when the team returned - a sense of peace that all is well. Now the team is back and they're dreadful, but I wonder if that even makes a difference. Besides the mental gymnastics occasionally required to justify obsession with professional sports, it also bears asking the question of whether the NBA is even worth following at all. The low-variance nature of the sport already lends itself to anti-climax and predictability, but at this point you have the super-team with all-stars at every position and everyone else.. Most of the discourse around the league stems from WWE-style storylines, and arbitrary records being broken.

And the league doesn't do itself any favors by doing all they can to make the game less interesting. As teams converge towards the one dominant play-style, positions become increasingly homogeneous and teams all start to look the same. Instead of making rule changes to add strategy and variety to the game, the NBA has gone all-in on high scoring games, three point chucking and ref-baiting. While the Memphis Grizzlies probably held themselves back for holding on to the "Grit and Grind" style as long as they did, I respected them for maintaining a unique identity as a team.

Russell Westbrook stat-padded his way to a triple double average and an MVP award in 2017. While he probably shouldn't have won that award, and winning his games probably wasn't his primary focus, it's hard to blame the man when the end result of the season is a forgone conclusion, and he gave us something to root for (or against). Statistical milestones and individual accolades are pretty much all there is to play for at this point. I've always thought it was strange that most NBA fans continue to push for the removal of conferences - if you ask me, we should bring divisions back! Guaranteeing a playoff spot to the team that finishes atop their group would encourage rivalries and give middling teams an attainable goal, even if some slightly above average teams get the shaft occasionally.

The NBA continues to court the younger crowd with pop culture integration and left-wing politics. I have no problem with this, but the league will never match the popularity of the NFL with this approach. The NFL offers meaningful regular season games, several position groups which are all vital to a team's success, and plenty of opportunities for upsets (without it being a crapshoot in the playoffs like hockey or baseball). People can point to the head injuries and other political controversies as a sign the NFL's days are numbered, but as an American I can tell you that they aren't. Even as a left-leaning person like myself, I still watch football, because I rationalize it the same way I rationalize eating meat or shopping on Amazon. Being the woke league doesn't change the fact that many fans will just look at the box score to see how the ridiculous 153-138 game went, and frankly miss nothing.

So yeah, the Sonics are bad. Apparently they're about to trade Tobias Harris for next to nothing, which is disappointing but good for him. Until next time..

DAL 26 24 31 30 | 111
SEA 17 23 19 16 | 75

Luka Doncic: 33 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, 4 rebounds, 13-20 FG, +33
Dennis Smith: 27 points, 5 assists

C.J. McCollum: 18 points, 5 assists
Tobias Harris: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3-11 FG, 1-7 3pt
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 0 points, 4 assists, 0-7 FG

[wdt92]

ZACH RANDOLPH TRADED TO RAPTORS FOR SERGE IBAKA

[ Image ]
Quality analysis from Ric Bucher

Z-Bo that young gun! I knew after signing with the Kings for their youth movement, that spring chicken was going to find himself in another good young situation with his peers.

[kibaxx7]

Wow, what a performance by Luka. It's going to be a long season.

[hova-]

So cool to see a new Dynasty story here, bro. Props for actually still doing this, even though it has died out in recent years. I love it. I would love to post a story, but time is limited (getting old) and I haven't even found time to buy 2k19 and try out if it works for me. My fear is that it needs a lot of editting again and I don't have time for that.

The NBA continues to court the younger crowd with pop culture integration and left-wing politics. I have no problem with this, but the league will never match the popularity of the NFL with this approach. The NFL offers meaningful regular season games, several position groups which are all vital to a team's success, and plenty of opportunities for upsets (without it being a crapshoot in the playoffs like hockey or baseball). People can point to the head injuries and other political controversies as a sign the NFL's days are numbered, but as an American I can tell you that they aren't. Even as a left-leaning person like myself, I still watch football, because I rationalize it the same way I rationalize eating meat or shopping on Amazon. Being the woke league doesn't change the fact that many fans will just look at the box score to see how the ridiculous 153-138 game went, and frankly miss nothing.

So true. Positionless basketball is also a bit of a killer for me. Players who can play several positions were rare back in the days which made them very valuable. I always loved the fact that basketball is some sort of "role play", where everybody has different assets, sort of like in lost vikings.

Whilst there are still different player types, the game has evolved into the direction where the majority of points is scored on three pointers and other valuable skill sets like a fluent post game or being a real floor general seem to be less influencing on the court.

The new rules apply to that, like the 14 second shot clock on offensive rebounds, which makes the game even faster.

Also some of the tall players are so freakishly athletic that throwing it to the rim for an alley oop can considered to be a successful strategy - vertical spacing.

As a NBA romantic, I am suffering a bit recently. I hope Dirk is back soon from injury, so I have at least some old school guy to root for.

Well, great to have your story here, bro. The Clippers are a very interesting team (their roster I mean), because you have quite a few options to make transactions. Freeing McCollum from your Blazers was a good idea, but he is certainly no franchise player. Nevertheless he could be a quarterstone of your new Sonics. Let's see who you bring in next.

Cheers

[Lamrock]

Thanks for popping in, hova. Updates for this won't be consistent like in the past because my priorities lie elsewhere, but it's nice to have a creative outlet (of sorts).

I'm all for the game of basketball evolving, and teams doing everything in their power to win. However, I wish that the league would act in response to "Moreyball" the same way they did to low scoring games in the early 2000's with some rule changes. There's just so little diversity in playing styles league-wide. I really hope the Grizzlies can keep up their level of play so we can have one old-school team make the playoffs...

[Lamrock]

TOBIAS HARRIS, PAT BEVERLEY TRADED TO SUNS
Dragan Bender, Tyson Chandler, Top 3-Protected First Rounder to Seattle

|

Going into this season, the Phoenix Suns were expected to be terrible, while the Sonics were projected to be in the hunt for the playoff spot. As it turns out, their fortunes were flipped, and the Sonics have dealt veterans Tobias Harris and Patrick Beverley to Phoenix for recent draft bust Dragan Bender, expiring contract Tyson Chandler and most importantly, a top-three protected first rounder in this year's draft.

Phoenix's success this season has been shocking, especially with Jamal Crawford starting most of the year at the point and Devin Booker missing some time. But thanks to an all-star caliber season from rookie DeAndre Ayton, and the hiring of Igor Kokoskov, the Suns are 18-15 and in the hunt for a playoff spot. Patrick Beverley gives them a starting-caliber point guard who should fit well next to the ball-dominant, defensively challenged Booker. Tobias Harris gives them a borderline all-star who should vault their offense into the elite ranks of the league. All it costs them is a draft pick that should figure to be in the teens, an expiring contract, and a guy in Bender who they needed to cut their losses with. The major downside? Harris and Beverley are expiring contracts, and if they don't end up making the playoffs, this deal could be all for naught. But after eight years of the lottery, the Suns were happy to take this risk.

After their 111-75 home loss to Dallas, the SuperSonics decided enough was enough, and pulled the plug on this season. Rather than risk losing Harris and Beverley for nothing, they dealt them for first round draft pick, and a 21 year old who was taken #4 in the draft. The deal will almost certainly help them in the race for the #1 pick in this year's highly touted draft. They also don't take on any extra salary for next season, with Bender's fourth year being a team option.

This deal sees a pair of teams headed in opposite directions commit to an approach for the rest of the season. Phoenix hopes to finally return to the post-season, while Seattle will get dunked on for Zion.

Projected Sonics lineup (9-22): S. Gilgeous-Alexander | C. McCollum | S. Thornwell | M. Scott | M. Gortat
(Gallinari, Marjanovic, Mbah a Moute, Robinson, Bender)

Projected Suns lineup (18-15): P. Beverley | D. Booker | T. Ariza | T. Harris | D. Ayton
(Warren, Holmes, Crawford, Jackson, Bridges)

Will a change of scenery turn things around for Dragan Bender? Probably not...

[kibaxx7]

Wow I actually like that Suns lineup.

[Lamrock]

DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019 RECAP
Record: 16-36 (3-12, 6-10) | ORTG: 102.5 (28th) | DRTG: 110.2 (21st) | 13th in Conference


I'm gonna jump, guys. I mean it.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted on the blog, but what is there to post? You know the team sucks. McCollum is clearly the only guy on the team trying to win, evidenced by our second leading scorer averaging ten points per game. Tanking is clearly the agenda, though frustratingly our Sonics forgot about that when they went on a little three game winning streak towards the end of January. Still, at 16-36, we sit at sixth in the tank race, but are only one game ahead of Detroit and Sacramento in the win column. Grin and bear it for Barrett, boys!

C.J. McCollum has been stellar, averaging 24.3 points per game on efficient shooting (though his free throw shooting is disappointing) and looking less disgruntled as the season wears on. Marcin Gortat and Danilo Gallinari have been competent while not putting the team in any danger of actually winning games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a smoothness to his game that makes it easier to stomach when he bricks open jumpers and throws the ball out of bounds. Mike Scott has legitimately been our second best player (let that sink in). It's hard to evaluate the team when they aren't really trying to compete, but with only four guys on next season's payroll, it probably doesn't matter.

Danilo Gallinari is reportedly being shopped heavily. The front office wants an expiring contract in return, but with Gallinari being owed $20 million next season, they're probably going to need to give the Nets a first round draft pick.. Trading Gallinari would theoretically open up a second max salary slot, but with the team being a laughing stock (and no longer in Los Angeles), going all in on free agency seems like a bit of a stretch, especially since there will probably be a top 5 draft pick coming in as well. But unless McCollum pulls a Jimmy Butler, there is at least a plan in place. I just hope that it doesn't result in max contracts for Nikola Mirotic and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Warriors On Pace for 70+ Wins, Cousins Literally an MVP Candidate
What the fuck.

Tyson Chandler Waived by Sonics, Signs With Lakers, Tears Achilles
Pour one out for Chandler. He had a great career.

Jimmy Butler, Justin Patton, Luol Deng to Sixers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Wilson Chandler, 2022 second
Bayless would have been in this trade, but they already swapped him for Roberson

Pistons fire Dwane Casey, replace him with Michael Stauffer
The Pistons got off to a rough start, but replacing Casey with the guy who does the 2K ratings?!

Heat traded Waiters and Olynyk to Mavericks for Matthews, Barea
Heat offload their worst contracts to Mavs for expirings. Nice.

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1 Golden State 45-6
2 Houston 40-11
3 LA Lakers 36-16
4 Oklahoma City 32-19
5 San Antonio 31-22
6 Portland 30-22
7 Denver 29-22
8 Utah 30-23
Phoenix 29-24
Memphis 27-26
New Orleans 26-26
Dallas 23-28
Seattle 16-36
Sacramento 15-36
Minnesota 12-39

EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1 Boston 34-18
2 Philadelphia 33-19
3 Toronto 33-20
4 Washington 29-22
5 Milwaukee 25-25
6 Chicago 26-26
7 Indiana 25-26
8 New York 23-28
Brooklyn 23-30
Orlando 22-30
Charlotte 21-30
Miami 18-32
Detroit 15-35
Atlanta 13-38
Cleveland 13-39

December Players of the Month: Russell Westbrook (OKC) | Andre Drummond (DET)
December Rookies of the Month: DeAndre Ayton (PHX) | Trae Young (ATL)

January Players of the Month: Anthony Davis (NO) | Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)
January Rookies of the Month: Luka Doncic (DAL) | Trae Young (ATL)

Gortat running away from his demons


McCollum drains a three in a rare win


Aldridge scored 50, yet they lost a nationally televised game at home... to us


No, Boban. NOOOOOOOOO!

[kibaxx7]

OMG that loss to the Thunder. But there's no middle point, you lose by 50 or I see some double-digit losses.

The Knicks, not THAT bad!

[[Hyperize]]

Shame you couldn't be a surprise team like irl. You know you guys suck when you're posting pictures from other games. Stauffer is a super popular generated coach.

[Lamrock]

Yeah, I thought I'd be contending for a playoff spot but the sim engine doesn't like my team too much and I was a bit out of my element myself early on. I don't mind it though. I'm not sold on the Clippers maintaining this level of play IRL and think tanking is the best move long-term. TTP

[[Hyperize]]

Yeah, they'll probably just bottom-out to the eighth seed and get swept by DeMarcus or something.

[[Q]]

Jennifer would be disappointed.

[Phil89]

#Bender4MVP

But seriously, I assume the 2k19 version of him has been updated to remove the potential that he once apparently had?

Good luck tryin' for Zion.

[Lamrock]

Bender is trash. Imagine Meyers Leonard without the three ball

[[Hyperize]]

Just don't trade Boban; since the season is a wash, just give him a ton of minutes and see what he can do.