Fire & Ice: Speed Y4 1-1

[Oznogrd]

Swift will miss final game of the Season with Injury

In a swear-laden tirade the Speed front office announced today that team star and Most Improved Player Candidate Stromile Swift will miss their last game against the Celtics with a Severe Ankle Sprain.

"This sucks I wanted to be out there for our guys man. Its the last game and I really like what we got going but the docs told I can't play so I won't play" said Stromile Swift

"Well, looks like we'll be 9-20" said Speed Coach Raoul Duke

Swift leads the team in points with 23.6 pg, is 2nd in rebounds with 5.7 per, and leads in blocks with 1.8 per game. Losing him is like losing any chance this team had against the Celtics.



(With that news i may sim out the Celtics game and do an Awards post/Season Recap tonight...gotta do a little studying first though)

[Oznogrd]

(Lost game to Celts 69-57. No recap due toautosave fucked me up and moved on without me telling it too...Therefore Will only be posting the top 8 teams in conference and awards: sorry bout the fuck up guys)

Eastern Conference Playoff Teams
1. Raptors
2. 76ers
3. Bulls
4. Wizards
5. Magic
6. Cavaliers
7. Hawks
8. Pacers

Western Conference Playoff Teams
1. Spurs
2. Lakers
3. Kings
4. Nuggets
5. Clippers
6. Mavericks
7. Hornets
8. Suns

Season Awards

MVP
Dwyane Wade 24.3 PPG 4.2 RPG 6.2 APG 1.3 Spg 2.0 BPG

Rookie of the Year
RIcky Rubio 4.1 ppg 1.7 rpg 14.8 apg 1.1 spg

6th Man of the Year
Tayshaun Prince 11 ppg 4.2 rpg 3.1 apg

Defensive Player of the Year (be ready to WTF folks)
Amare Stoudemire 21.7 PPG 9.4 RPG 1.4Apg 1.2 SPG 2.2 BPG

Most Improved Player
Stromile Swift 23.6 ppg 5.7 rpg 1.3 apg .6 spg 1.8 apg

All NBA First Team
PG Chris Paul
SG Dwyane Wade
SF Lebron James
PF Amare Stoudemire
C Al Jefferson

All NBA Second Team
PG Monta Ellis
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Danny Granger
PF Chris Bosh
C Dwight Howard

All NBA Third Team
PG Baron Davis
SG Brandon Roy
SF Kevin Durant
PF Tim Duncan
C Chris Mihm

All Defensive First Team
PG Derrick Rose
SG Dwyane Wade
SF Lebron James
PF Amare Stoudemire
C Al Jefferson

All Defensive Second Team
PG Chris Paul
SG Jason Richardson
SF Shawn Marion
PF Josh Smith
C Dwight Howard

All Rookie First Team
PG Ricky Rubio
SG James Harden
SF Austin Daye
PF Blake Griffin
C David Andersen

All Rookie Second Team
PG Tyreke Evans
SG Demar Derozan
SF Earl Clark
PF Jordan Hill
C Hasheem Thabeet

Coach of the Year (another wtf moment...)
Mike D'Antoni 5-24...

Exec of the Year (yet another wtf moment...)
Cameron Park Boston Celtics 13-16

[Oznogrd]

Player Evaluations
Its the end of the year and It's time to talk about how we did. Despite a losing record, alot of the players performed above expectations. Some...very well below...Player evals with a Good, bad Ugly approach and Grades

Tyronn Lue
.9 ppg .4 rpg 2.6 apg .1 spg
The Good: A perfectly serviceable sub to give Ricky Rubio a breather, didn't play alot and really only had a few bad games
The Bad: Can't score at all
The Ugly: He's not a young gun anymore. 12 years Pro and 32 years of age, How much gas does he have left in the tank
Grade: C....serviceable, but if an upgrade is there, We may have to take it.

Brian Cook
has gotten 0 minutes on the Speed
The Good:There is no good
The Bad: Sucks at everything
The Ugly: Injured despite little to no playing time.
Grade: F. If he stays on the team, He'll remain on the IR

Rashad Mccants
8.3 ppg 1.6 rpg 1.8 apg .8 spg .2 bpg
The Good: Speedy and sometimes gets hot with scoring, also a 3pt threat
The Bad: Consistency...one night he'll make every thing he throws at the basket, others he shoots 1-12 on the same style shots.
The Ugly: Played a whole lot of minutes without a ton of production of the Speed's only 3 pt threats. Will this have an effect next season?
Grade B-: if he can get his consistency up, the Speed could become very dangerous very quickly.

Luke Walton
5.9 Ppg 1.0 rpg .7 apg .4 spg .2 bpg
The Good: a solid bench player for the Speed. Sometimes would be just the right spark to come in and revive the team
The Bad: Often times gets owned on Defense. He just cant match up physically with some of the bigger guys in the league
The Ugly: Consistency: one game he shoots 5-6 and scores 14 with a couple of fts. The next game he'll miss 6-7 shots.
Grade: B- Once again if his consistency goes up, he might even break into a starting role depending how the offseason treats the Speed

Ricky Rubio
4.1 ppg 1.7 rpg 14.8 APG 1.1 SPg 4.0 TOpg
The Good: Assists are through the fucking roof. Passes like a veteran.
The Bad: Needs to watch his turnovers. Sometimes tries to force Passes
The Ugly: Shooting. Misses open layups constantly and often passes when wide open due to poor shooting.
Grade: A-: pretty damn good for the rookie out of Spain, but has to get a little bit more honed on his shooting so when the double team leaves him open, other teams will pay

Jerry Stackhouse
3.9 ppg 1.3 rpg (only stats of note)
The Good: Solid coming in off the bench: rarely a liability on either side of the floor
The Bad: Slower that turtles fucking and gets beat up and down the court.
The Ugly: Stats dropped way way off from the year before. After 15 years it may be time for him to hang it up
Grade: C: solid to not scare me if he gets the ball, but not the star of old. Almost sad to watch him run

Dee Brown
1.1 ppg 1.6 apg
The Good: Speedy and full of hustle, saves loose balls and utilizes his speed well on defense
the Bad: cant shoot almost at all. Outside of the paint is almost too far for this little Man
The ugly: Consistency. Often times was a turnover liability even with severely limited minutes.
Grade: C-...his hustle and heart makes up for the other bad things.

Lindsey Hunter
Did not play for the Speed this Season
The Good: a veteran
The Bad: Old
The Ugly: is retiring at the end of the year
Grade: F: pretty self explanatory

Trevor Ariza
9.0 ppg 2.5 rpg 1.1 apg 1 spg
The Good: Fast, likes to take it to the rim, and started out the season with hot shooting.
The bad: Consistency: Season high of 29 but that was early. Later parts of the season was nonexistent
The Ugly: Sometimes will force the fast break in an attempt to pad stats
Grade: B-: If he becomes more consistent giving the Speed a goto jump shooter, he could be deadly.

Desmond Mason
2.6 ppg
The Good: can still dunk with the best of them
The bad: doesnt do much else
the ugly: is pretty slow for a guard. Only gets fast break points if a turnover occurs and he hasnt made it back on D yet
Grade: D+ occasional big nights helped him, but needs to contribute more to stick around.

Chris Mihm
17.8 ppg 6.1 rpg 1.0 apg .5 spg 1.6 bpg
The Good: Great rebounder and decent scorer. When other players couldnt get going, Mihm would pick up the slack. Also great drawing fouls in the offensive post
The Bad: Not the strongest guy in the post D department.
The Ugly: Was a little too vocal this season about his all star snub. Shut up and play.
Grade: A, a pleasant surprise for the Speed that Mihm was this good.

Stromile Swift
23.6 ppg 5.7 rpg 1.3 apg 1.8 bpg
The Good: was the go to guy for the speed this year. Won MIP and deservedly so.
The Bad: Was pretty streaky. Some nights couldnt miss, other nights shoot 20%
The Ugly: None actually
Grade: A+ Without him, the Speed wouldnt've won a single game. A must for the Speed's continued success without big FA pickups

Desagna Diop
5.3 ppg 2.2 rpg .8 bpg
the Good: actually became a rather consistent pick and roll scorer. Great off the bench to throw off D who didnt expect him to score
The bad: Is a liability if not completely open. Quite Easy to steal from
The Ugly: Needs to go harder to the bucket. One of the most nonchalant big men in teh game
Grade: C+: better than we thought he would be and sometimes was a spark off the bench. With a little work could become sixth man main option

Michael Sweetney
1.4 ppg .5 rpg .1 apg
The Good: heated up towards the end of the season good for about 4-6 pts per night
the bad: didnt do shit else the rest of the season
the ugly: see the bad
Grade F: he wants out and we'll let him go. Good fucking riddance.

[Oznogrd]

Playoffs
Round 1:
Spurs, Nuggets, Mavs, Hornets Advance in the West
Raptors, Magic, Bulls, Hawks Advance in the East

Round 2:
Nuggets Mavs in the West
Magic Bulls in the East

Round 3:
Mavs win the west in game 3
Magic Win East in Game 3

NBA Finals
The Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship in 3 games

Finals MVP
Dirk Nowitzki
22.9 ppg 6.2 rpg 2.2 apg 1.2 bpg

[kibaxx7]

All NBA Third Team
PG Baron Davis
SG Brandon Roy
SF Kevin Durant
PF Tim Duncan
C Chris Mihm

[Oznogrd]

Did the offseason tonight: havent decided how I'm going to write it up..there's one major change...We'll see when im not exhausted.

[Martti.]

Coach of the Year (another wtf moment...)
Mike D'Antoni 5-24...

Wtf? And Swift should have been All-NBA, not Mihm.

[Oznogrd]

Coach of the Year (another wtf moment...)
Mike D'Antoni 5-24...

Wtf? And Swift should have been All-NBA, not Mihm.

Mihm deserved to be 2nd or 3rd team...Not sure why swift got snubbed from 1st or second though. He was a monster most of the year. Maybe cuz he was hurt at the end of the season? Offseason Recaps coming in alot of posts sometime soon (not sure if it means couple of hours or couple of days...Through it all already)

[Oznogrd]

Offseason poll up. Write ups coming eventually.

[kibaxx7]

You will get more than one nice FA. Swift will return and Mihm will test free agency waters after his unthinkable 3rd All-NBA team year.

[Oznogrd]

Let the Offseason Begin

After the Speed's early end to their expansion season, spirits are high in St. Louis.

"We've got some young talented guys, we'll be getting a high draft pick, and we have a ton of space to attract a big name" said team GM Dr Gonzo. "Now, how much money can you lend me?" The press has started bringing personal bodyguards or sending interns to Speed conferences to deal with the erratic behavior of their GM and Coach.

Speed Coach Raoul Duke was stated as saying "Well, we had some ups, we had some downs this past year. Hopefully, we can do better. If not...well we'll just have to kill them...Wait a second....Did I just say that? Am I talking? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" A tech had to be called in to fix the sound system after Coach Duke yelled into the mic.

The St. Louis team only finished the year at 9-20 but with Ricky Rubio in his 2nd year and the hopeful return of MIP Stromile Swift and NBA 3rd Teamer Chris Mihm the Speed feel they have nowhere to go but up.

[Oznogrd]

Retirement News

Out of the NBA office came the retirements for the year. Contrary to former reports, no NBA players retired this year. Not a single one. Even though Speed Free Agent Lindsey Hunter thought about hanging up his sneakers, he's decided he still has something to bring to the game. "I don't know if it'll be with the Speed or not, but I'd love to show I've still got gas in the tank" Hunter was quoted as saying

As far as coach retirements go, several future hall of famers are calling it a career. The list includes Mike Dunleavy of the Clippers, George Karl of the Nuggets, Jerry Sloan of the Jazz, and Rick Adelman for the Rockets.

[Oznogrd]

Staff Signings and Notable Options

St. Louis Speed's GM Dr. Gonzo reported today with their large staff budget the Speed hired two additional Prospect Scouts: Darnell Scott and Dillon Higgins. Each are highly touted at gauging prospects and were being pursued by almost all teams in need. When asked why scouts and no other changes Gonzo said "Well, we're a new team and our future could really be based on who we get out of the draft. I'm excited about our targets for this year and I expect other years to be even better. Give us 3-4 years. We'll be right there with Lebron and Co."

In other news, Option acceptance denials were made today. The Speed had none but other notables are:

Declined:
Lebron James
Josh Howard
John Salmons

Accepted:
Dwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Dirk Nowitzki
Chris Bosh
Yao Ming
Amare Stoudemire
Paul Pierce
Kevin Durant
Derrick Rose
Michael Redd
Richard Jefferson
Tyson Chandler

[hova-]

Hell yeah, Mavs winning it all. LeBron will resign anyway. Looking forward to your offseason acquisitions.

[kibaxx7]

As hova said, every big FA accepts his player option, if not they end up resigning...

[Martti.]

Yeah it sucks. For me, Lebron once didn't accept his option and signed with the Thunder. (Big 5 : Westbrook-Durant-James-Green-Harden)

I'd go for Salmons.

[Oznogrd]

Player Re-Signing Days
More News out of the Speed front office involving the resigning of some big names. 10 of the 15 players on the roster had expiring contacts

Let us begin with the players the Speed let go. Dr Gonzo announced "Look we love these guys, but their needs can be met better by another team. Its time to move on for both parties." Brian Cook and Lindsey Hunter were obviously both waived. Neither played a single minute for the Speed. Also former standout prospects Michael Sweetney and Desmond Mason were waived. Most of the league believed they underperformed with the Speed and Sweetney was quite publicly critical of the team for large portions of the season

"Its just a relief to be out of here. Someone else will give me more of a fair shake" said Sweetney. He can keep dreaming.

Three players, including 2 of the most valuable players for the Speed, decided to ignore all contract offers and enter free agency. This includes team MVP and MIP from last year Stromile Swift. "I just want to see what else is out there, I might end up staying but for now I have to see" said Swift who led the team in scoring and blocks last year. The other players that wanted to test the FA market were former Illinois standout Dee Brown and UNC star Rashad McCants.
"Its kinda like Surge said, i might be back, i just gotta look" said McCants.

The Speed however did convince 3 important roleplayers to re-sign with the team. The first and most important is the team's 2nd leading scorer Chris Mihm. Despite being quite vocal about some all star snubs and other issues, the team likes Mihm and decided to keep him around to the tune of 13.63 million over 3 years with 10% back. Many are saying this is too much for a guy who'd be a roleplayer on any other team. Other Signings include Tyronn Lue for 1 year at 2.58 million and Jerry Stackhouse at 1.67 million.

Dr. Gonzo on the re-signings "we're glad to be bringing these guys back. They're all great guys and we expect big things out of them. Let us do the worrying about who's overpaid and who's not..."

[Oznogrd]

Draft Lottery ends in disappointment

In the most exciting lottery that doesnt involve money, the Speed were going in with the 3rd worst record, giving them the third best chance at the number 1 overall pick. Unfortunately, the ball didnt bounce their way and they ended up 4th. Here's how the Lottery shook out.

1. Toronto Raptors (acquired from T'Wolves)
2. New York Knicks
3. Detroit Pistons
4. St. Louis Speed
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Portland Trailblazers
8. Charlotte Bobcats
9. Boston Celtics
10. Utah Jazz
11. Miami Heat
12. Portland Trailblazers
13. Houston Rockets
14. Golden State Warriors.

[kibaxx7]

Wow... when you acquire a pick on a trade and that pick ends up being the 1st overall, that's huge

[Oznogrd]

Wow... when you acquire a pick on a trade and that pick ends up being the 1st overall, that's huge

Yeah they won my division, were #1 in the east and get the #1 overallpick? I'm very very afraid

[Oznogrd]

Speed pick up PF and SF in Draft

The Speed faithful looked distraught when with the number 2 pick the New York Knicks took Mark Csiky: the 6'10 PF that the Speed were going to grab and move to Center as the future after Chris Mihm. Instead the Speed picked up Radoslav Drobnjak: a 6'9 PF out of Slovenia.

"He's pretty raw but we think we could make him into something great" said Speed GM Dr Gonzo. "It may take a couple of years, but Ricky doesnt seem to be going anywhere so the idea is to have Rad and Ricky develop together. Rad has a whole lot of upside"

With their 2nd round pick the Speed picked up SF Spencer Meyer out of Georgia. "We didnt have alot of SFs, just Trevor and Luke so we decided to pick another one up. He's a project for sure but we like him"

The Speed then negotiated out contracts, signing Drobjnak to a 2 year with 2 year team option as a role player to the tune of 3 million while Meyer signed a 1 year 2 year option as a prospect for 441k.

[Oznogrd]

(speeding this up because i want to get on with my games honestly)
Speed Free Agency Recap

The Speed went into the offseason with a lot of cap room and even more player slots to fill. The fans even had hope "Lebron declined!!! WE HAVE A CHANCE" was the thought on most Speed fans' minds. Dr. Gonzo targeted several players to begin "Well we werent sure if surge was coming back so we made offers to David Lee and Carlos Boozer. We also weren't sure about Rashad so we made an offer to John Salmons. The last offer was made to Lebron. We didnt really need another SF, but you gotta at least throw your name in the ring when a player of his caliber is made available. Then we offered Rashad and Stromile the chance to return for us"

It didn't look good for the Speed when Lebron resigned with Cleveland to the tune of 96.63 M for 5 years and Salmons signed with the Pistons for 5 years and 43.13 million. "I thought we were in trouble and all we were gonna have this year would be Ricky and Chris" said Speed Coach Raoul Duke. Then suddenly, Carlos Boozer called Doc Gonzo.

"It wasnt about the money, I like the style of play here, I love the city, and it gives me a chance to show my talent in a bigger market. It was a no brainer." said Carlos Boozer.

After that phone call, it was merely a formality when Boozer signed on for 5 years and 97 Million. "We could've talked him down but we were so excited we pulled the trigger a little quickly" said Gonzo. "We're hoping he's ready to be the workhorse for that kind of money."

After offering the Contract to Boozer, when Lee decided to come the Speed there just wasn't enough room to pay him "It could've been truly great. But the Cap lowered after last year and we didnt have the space."

The speed then set their sites on former team members: offering Stromile Swift for 4 years and 20.79 Million and Rashad Mccants 3 years and 18.12 Million. Both quickly agreed.

In one final move before the season started, the team acquired Rasual Butler for 3.88 Mil for 1 year. to fill in at SG behind Rashad McCants

[Oznogrd]

Training Camp Summary

The Speed didn't have alot to work with in Training camp being a new team still building their resources but they sent guards Ricky Rubio and Rashad Mccants to combo guard and Perimeter shooting camps respectively. Each came back with smirks on their faces and made cryptic remarks about how scoring averages should be going up substantially.

The final camp was given to Rookie Rad Drobjnak. He was sent to big man offense camp and came back a little gassed. "I didnt realize the NBA level was this tough..it's going to take some getting used to.

[Oznogrd]

St. Louis Speed Season Preview

After an up and down first year, The expansion St. Louis Speed go into their second year with a renewed optimism and a chance to prove they belong over the replaced Nets franchise. On the backs of last year's rookie of the year Ricky Rubio, and Stromile Swift (the leagues MIP), the Speed went 9-20. They look to improve that this year with acquisitions including Carlos Boozer, Rasual Butler and #3 draft pick Radoslav Drobnjak. Speed GM Dr. Gonzo and Coach Raoul Duke will now deliver a preview of the team and what the lineup will look like this year.

Starters

PG-RICKY RUBIO
Gonzo-He was rookie of the year last year and the future of this team. He worked on his scoring this offseason and should develop into an even bigger star soon.
Duke-Ricky passes better than anyone in the league, We're holding onto him as long as possible

SG-RASHAD MCCANTS
Gonzo-We like Rashad despite his Tarheel handicap. We expect big things out of him this year.
Duke-Was a little inconsistent last year but showed some real promise towards the end of the year. Can't wait for him to start making it rain in arena's across the league again.

SF-TREVOR ARIZA
Gonzo-We picked him up last year early and he started really hot for us. Even though he cooled off a bit, he's a great defender, and lightning fast. We can build on that
Duke-Pretty much what Doc just said.

PF-CARLOS BOOZER
Gonzo-Our big FA pickup. We need him to perform and now. If he's not up to snuff, we may look to trade him for that kind of money.
Duke-I cant wait to watch Ricky passing to Boozer. This is gonna be a good year.

C-STROMILE SWIFT
Gonzo-Our Team leader last year. Chris is a little pissed at me right now but I just couldnt bench him after how amazing he was last year. He'll split minutes with Chris though.
Duke-SUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGE!!!

Bench

C/PF-Chris Mihm
Gonzo-Despite a little attitude he was a large part of our success last year and we intend to keep him playing.
Duke-Don't worry Chris, I know you deserve minutes. You'll get to play.

SG-Rasual Butler
Gonzo-We needed some help on the outside shooting. Hopefully Sual Bop can provide that
Duke-What the hell kinda nick name is Sual Bop?

SF-Jerry Stackhouse
Gonzo-No comment..although any teams listening he is available, do you hear me? an expiring contract veteran is available
Duke-Stack? stack of pancakes? no thanks I'm fine

SF-Luke Walton
Gonzo-If he performs like last year we have no issues. Great roleplayer, great attitude.
Duke-Ditto

PF- Radoslav Drobjnak
Gonzo-May take a couple of years but we're looking for this guy to take over when Mihm and Swift leave and move boozer to C. Lets see how he does
Duke-We're gonna be careful with him, but he's got tremendous upside.

C-Desagna Diop
Gonzo-We love this guy. He's probably only getting minutes if there's foul trouble but that's alright. We need him around
Duke-I still cant say his first name or last name correctly.

PG-Tyronn Lue
Gonzo-Our backup PG who wont be splitting minutes with Dee this year. We need him to do well.
Duke-We trust Tyronn, he's a good guy to send in for a few minutes and not be like..."are we gonna lose the ball 4 times in the next 5 minutes?"

SF-Spencer Meyer
Gonzo-Good kid, good locker room presence...not so sure about his game
Duke-We'll see if he's of any use...


(thats it for the offseason folks!...The next post will be a game recap of my first game of the year against the Knicks. Haven't decided if All-Star or Pro yet. Might go Pro for 10 games and then All-Star)

[kibaxx7]

Great job with Boozer.