Griffin Lives! Timberwolves Dynasty (LIVE 07)

[Hg8Harrier]

Although I'm nowhere near as prolific as some of you are in terms of dynasties, I wanted to catalogue a dynasty of my own on this site.

I chose the Minnesota Timberwolves because I don't really care about their players (thus making it easy to trade the way I feel) and they're near the bottom of the league--so it makes it easier to build from the ground up.

The rosters are custom. I try to keep up with the trades, but a lot of the rookies are not in the game. Hence, Odom and Durant are in the game (and the computer pretty immediately traded Durant for Paul Pierce, which is kind of interesting), but Demetris Nichols and Kosta Perovic are not. In addition, Sofoklis Schortsianitis, LaSalle's Stevin Smith, and Cal's Devon Hardin are floating around somewhere as free agents.

I simulate all but four games all season. I pick a team at the beginning of the season and I play the whole series against them. The rest is simulated, 12 minute quarters.

I decided, for memories sake, to build a franchise around Eddie Griffin. Thus, I dynamited the roster in the first few weeks of the first season and came up with a few gems. My depth chart for that first season is as follows:

C- Eddie Griffin, Iakovos Tsakalidis, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga
PF - Hedo Turkoglu, Eddie Griffin
SF - Dorell Wright, Antoine Wright
SG - Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Orien Greene
PG - Dan Dickau, Earl Watson, Charlie Bell

As you can see, it's guard heavy and has a lot of holes. I allocated most of my staff money to scouting over the first two years, and came up with a few gems. In addition, my salary cap situation doesn't hurt. I'm way under right now and I'm saving it to resign some of my studs when the time comes.

In the first season, Dickau had the season of his life, posting 19.6 and 4.9. Griffin had a career year as well--but given the fact that he's the only legit player in the post and this was a 20-and-62 team, 17.5 ppg and 13.9 rpg sounds about right. Griffin won most improved player, but there really wasn't much else to brag about.

I was hot on drafting two players, a 7'5" center out of Hungary named Florjan Grabowski (whose Polish name is completely plausible if you know the history of the area--strange when it works out like that). He was projected as a late-first-rounder, but by the end of the season he was viewed as a top ten pick. The other guy was also supposed to be a late first rounder, but he fell to me at the 31st pick. He is a 6'0" point guard out of Alabama, but I just liked him for his name: Sam Cooke.

Grabowski ended up being a 67 overall, pretty lame for a #4 pick. However, he was already a 98 at blocking and, surprisingly, he can move. I put my single assistant on him and he was a 73 and a defensive stopper after one year. I signed three defensive minded assistants for the following year, but he seems to have leveled off at a 74.

The second season, I drafted a guy who was projected as #1, but I again got him at #4. This guy is amazing. In the sim games, I see him in the thirties, forties, and fifties on a regular basis. He's pretty one dimensional, but the guy, Apostolos Kanioridis, is amazing to play in the games. One thing I've never understood is how it is so hard for user-controlled players to get to the line. Kanioridis doesn't seem to have this problem. When I drive, he usually gets fouled.

I'm hoping to get some input and write some game recaps and such, but we'll see how it all goes. I'm almost all of the way through season three, and the Timberwolves are currently holding steady at the sixth spot. I don't have an overabundance of time to play the games, but that's what I'm waiting on right now... a free night where I can take on the Sacramento Kings (who somehow acquired Yao Ming for Andre Miller--and I missed the whole Andre Miller acquisition, so I don't know how he fits into their scheme). Grabowski v. Ming has been a great matchup in the series. Yao puts up monster offensive numbers, but Grabowski blocks shots like a young Dikembe Mutombo.

Hope to hear from you all!

[Tywak]

Seems pretty good.
Maybe you can post the trades you made?
Surprised you traded Al Jefferson, he's the future of that team for now.

[Hg8Harrier]

Seems pretty good.
Maybe you can post the trades you made?
Surprised you traded Al Jefferson, he's the future of that team for now.

I can try to recreate them, but I can't remember off of the top of my head. I definitely gave up more talent than I acquired. I believe I sent Jefferson to Miami for Dorrell Wright because that's where Jefferson is right now. There are no former Wolves on the Mavericks, so I don't know who I traded to acquire Antoine Wright.

I should mention that I try to take teams that are truly lousy and build them through the draft. Grabowski has been a push so far, as the team didn't improve at all after one year (yet playing as him is pretty sweet, especially since this game likes to have point guards try to take it in on an entire team), but the Greek guy, Kanioridis, is a godsend. As I've mentioned before, can't do much except score, but he gets to the line about ten times per game, can hit the three, and shoots for a pretty strong percentage.

[Hg8Harrier]

I don't know why I didn't think of doing this before I jumped in, but I'll do it in retrospect...

A Second Look

The 2007 NBA Draft

1- New York Knicks - Gregory Ellison - 6'6" 242 lbs - SF - Charleston, SC//Marist

Averaging 21.5 ppg and 7 rpg in his second season, Ellison provides the Knicks with a healthy dose of scoring and rebounding. He is a dominant force, as the Knicks still have Marbury-Crawford-Richardson-Randolph-and Curry, their entire starting line from the prior season. Ellison is a bit oversized (and probably overweight, as his strength and speed ratings are slow), but he obviously is doing something right. Ellison won Rookie of the Year in 07-08.

NBA Comparison: Best Case: Charles Barkley (Rockets era)
Worst Case: Bud Ogden (yeah... a far cry from Barkley in everything, including position)


2- Charlotte Bobcats - Ron Pena - 6'11" 237 lbs - C - East St. Louis, Illinois//Temple

For a team in such great need of a center, Pena is somewhat underwhelming. Averaging 15 ppg, 9.5 rpg and 2.25 bpg, Pena isn't much better than Grabowski, a huge project, was in his first year. The Bobcats still have Okafor manning the four, and Mohammed coming in off of the bench, so Pena's numbers aren't that underwhelming for a starting center.

NBA Comparison: Best Case: P.J. Brown
Worst Case: John "Hot Rod" Williams

3 - Portland - Donte Duran - 5'10" 213 lbs - PG - Vero Beach, Florida//Purdue

At fourteen points per game and four assists, with a little over a steal per game, I can only speculate that this fire-plug is similar to what Khalid El Amin could have done in the NBA had he had his head screwed on straight. Duran is quick (87 quickness), but isn't an exceptionally good passer, thief, or dribbler. Portland is still mired in the basement of the Western Conference, and I haven't seen him play firsthand except for in the Rookie-Sophomore game as a sophomore. As he was the computer player, the computer went to him every time. He wasn't a good shot and Za Komgang blocked almost everything that he shot.

NBA Comparison: Khalid El Amin (take it or leave it).

4 - Minnesota - Florjan Grabowski - 7'5" 249 - C - Nagykanizsa, Hungary//KK Helios Domzale

More on Grabowski later. Through my scouting, I saw that he had all of the tools to be an amazing center, including (surprisingly) speed, quickness, and jumping. However, he's not ready on offense and the 67 overall rating was a huge disappointment. While he might be able to develop a game like Ralph Sampson, at this point he's like a young Dikembe Mutombo without the good sense to take inside shots. He averaged 15.7 ppg and 8 rpg in his rookie season, but he was brittle when I finally gave him a chance and missed games to injury. In his second season, he started out off of the bench with a 14ppg 14rpg average, but he has since come down to earth and is averaging 10ppg 10rpg and 2.25 bpg split between the bench and a starting role. He seems to do better when coming off of the bench.,

NBA Comparison: Best Case Scenario: Dikembe Mutombo
Worst Case Scenario: Keith Closs

5. Orlando - Eduardo Hamilton - 6'7" 196 - G - Fort Wayne, Ind//DePaul

Hamilton is, from what I can tell, the class of the draft. He averages 25 ppg, 2 blocks, and 2 steals from the two. He can score and defend. He didn't win rookie of the year, but he's nonetheless very impressive on paper. Orlando was apparently very anemic... as they start Howard, 2nd year player Cunningham, Lewis, Eduardo Hamilton and Jameer Nelson. They are on track to get to the playoffs here in year two.


Thanks for reading!

[Lamrock]

Not a bad recap or idea so far. However, on this site, the tags use [ ] brackets and not < >. Nice idea and good luck! Don't be forced to post pictures of behind-the-scenes if you don't want to.

[Hg8Harrier]

Preview: #7 Minnesota Timberwolves (vs. #2 San Antonio Spurs)
First Round, 2009 Playoffs

Opening Line: In the span of one season, the Timberwolves (44-38) went from shades of their former futility, and appeared incapable of moving forward, to building a promising base and core for future years. Credit new GM HG8Harrier and coach Jay Wright and his assistants with this transformation. Wright has molded his small-ball line-ups from his days with Villanova to include a corps of promising new big men and the first winning team in four years. Wright credits defensive architect Eric Musselman with the additional boost into the playoffs.

Guards: Until a midseason ankle injury sidelined him for seven games, Randy Foye was building a reputation as a leader of this young team. His ankle has never quite repaired himself, and Foye has seen his numbers drop. The Timberwolves have a big hole at point guard, as they platoon five guys at this position. With the exception of Foye, all five have glaring weaknesses that Spurs guard Tony Parker will exploit. Watson is a great defensive point guard, but is a nightmare offensively. Dickau is not quite quick enough and all too often looks for his own shot. Cooke is an outstanding playmaker, but does not need to be defended on the perimeter, which allows the defense to play the passing lanes. Wilkins has not been a factor this year.

Forwards: Greek hardbody Apostolos Kanioridis has been a godsend. Kanioridis (21.0 ppg, 93.4% FT) can score and get to the line. His bountiful free throw attempts are especially critical given his NBA rookie record free throw percentage. Kanioridis is undersized, and cannot rebound. This responsibility falls upon team leader Eddie Griffin. Griffin (21.5 ppg, 11.1 rpg) is still inexplicably the team leader in scoring. Griffin is too fond of the threes, and will shoot the T-Wolves out of the game from time to time, but his 1.99 bpg help. If Griffin slides over to the five, Turkoglu, and Dorrell and Antoine Wright (no relation) have been capable at the four in short bursts.

Centers: Although Griffin has started at center for much of the season, the center position belongs to raw athletic prospect Florjan Grabowski. Grabowski runs well, he blocks a little over two blocks per game, and he rebounds at an astounding rate. Grabowski still needs to work on his shot. Outside of dunks and lay-ins, Grabowski’s shot is atrocious, as evidenced by his 24% from the line. Didier Ilunga-Mbenga has been effective in spelling Grabowski. They will need all of the fouls they can muster against Tim Duncan.

Analysis: A dearth of quality bigs and an inundation of guards has been a problem over the past few years for the Timberwolves. While the young Wolves have made strides, their two pronged attack is no match for Parker, Ginobili and, especially, Duncan.

Prediction: Spurs in four.

Timberwolves Roster
F/C Eddie Griffin 21.5 ppg 11.1 rpg
SF Apostolos Kanioridis 21.0 ppg 5.6 rpg
C Florjan Grabowski 11.8 ppg 10.1 rpg
PG Dan Dickau 11.2 ppg 4.3 apg
SG Randy Foye 8.0 ppg 1.56 spg

The Bench
G/F Dorrell Wright (Note: No… no note)
G/F Antoine Wright (Note: When placed at the four, acts strangely like Al Harrington. Heh.)
PG Earl Watson (Note: As you may recall, Watson almost didn’t go to UCLA because Los Angeles is too large. He’s from Kansas City, Kansas—yet somehow the twin cities area is too small for him.)
SF Hidayet Turkoglu (Note: chemistry is good with his Greek teammate)
C Didier Ilunga-Mbenga (4.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg—very respectable)
G Allan Ray (Note: Not Ray Allen—not even Tony Allen)
PG Sam Cooke (Note: Don’t know much about history)
SG Kenny Schneider (Note: This name actually sounds real)
PG Silas Wilkins (Note: Gotta love the computer generated names!)

[Lamrock]

How does a #1 seed face a #7 in the first round?

[Hg8Harrier]

Game 1: San Antonio 143, Minnesota 100

SAN ANTONIO—An eighty-seven point first half set the tone for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 37, Monta Ellis had 27, and Tim Duncan had twenty to set the pace for the Spurs as the Spurs emptied the bench at the end of the third quarter and coasted to victory. San Antonio’s forty-three point victory is the largest margin of victory in Spurs playoff history. In fact, one would have to go back to the

“We wanted to make a statement,” Greg Popovic said, “there have been some rumblings that Eddie Griffin fancies himself a better player than Timmy, and that Kanioridis had the ability to dominate against us. We just wanted to bring them back down to Earth.”

To their credit, the Timberwolves core did not disappoint. Apostolos Kanioridis, the Timberwolves’ star rookie, scored sixteen points in his playoff debut. Griffin was close to his average, with 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Wolves also received sixteen points from Hidayet Turkoglu, who has seen his numbers decline in the past year.

“We wanted Turkoglu to spread the floor,” coach Jay Wright said, “unfortunately, we had more issues than just court spacing.”

Game 2: Minnesota 112, San Antonio 105, OT

SAN ANTONIO—After a forty-three point drubbing at the hands of the Spurs, the Timberwolves fought back. Apostolos Kanioridis had 28 points, Eddie Griffin had 24 points and eighteen rebounds, and Florjan Grabowski provided fourteen points and fourteen rebounds as the Timberwolves extended the game to an extra period before dispatching the Spurs on their home court.

Kanioridis provided a lay-in with twenty seconds remaining in regulation and the Timberwolves prevented Tony Parker from scoring on a lay-in attempt of his own to set up the upset.

“We were really vindicated by this win,” coach Jay Wright said, “we felt like the Spurs ran up the score on us last game—although it didn’t help that we couldn’t hold on to the ball. This time around, we spread the floor and allowed Kanioridis the chance to work his inside outside game.”

Grabowski provided three blocks in the overtime period, including two on Spurs star Tim Duncan.

“He’s an absolute giant. He’s more agile than Yao and stronger than Shawn Bradley,” Duncan said, “he still jumps at just about everything, but with a wingspan like his, he can afford to make a few mistakes and still make the play on defense.”

Duncan had 20 points and seventeen rebounds for the Spurs.

“He is still the best pivot out there,” Grabowski said through an interpreter, “Howard, Amare, and [Seattle rookie] Za [Komgang] may be younger, stronger, and more dynamic, but Duncan wins games.”

Game 3: San Antonio 128, Minnesota 95

MINNEAPOLIS—San Antonio regained control of the series with an emphatic 128-to-95 win over Minnesota in Minneapolis. In the first playoff game in Minneapolis in four years, a bevy of scorers for Minnesota could not overcome the 46 point outburst from San Antonio’s Tim Duncan.

“Duncan defers to his guards quite a bit,” Minnesota coach Jay Wright said, “but he still has it. When he needs to turn it on, he does. He had what? Thirty points at the half and gave [Coach Popovic] the luxury of coasting for the entire second half.”

Minnesota’s three big stars, Kanioridis, Griffin, and Grabowski, all took turns guarding Tim Duncan.

“It was a matchup nightmare,” assistant coach Eric Musselman said, “if we had only activated Mbenga, we’d have had some foul relief and it would be a completely different game.”

Eddie Grffin had 24 points, and Apostolos Kanioridis had 22 in a losing effort.

Game 4: San Antonio 103, Minnesota 99

MINNEAPOLIS—Tony Parker silenced the crowds and Tim Duncan silenced Eddie Griffin as the Spurs defeated the Timberwolves in game four to bring them within a game of closing out the series in San Antonio on Tuesday night. Parker led the way with 35 points, including several clutch baskets, as San Antonio stole the show, 103-to-99.

“I did what was needed,” Parker said, “in game three, we relied too much on [Duncan] overpowering Griffin. In this game, I took care of the offense, and Timmy took care of the defense.”

Duncan held Griffin to thirteen points and thirteen rebounds on four-of-seventeen shooting. Duncan, averaging 28.5 point per game in the series, shored up his game with nineteen points and ten rebounds for the game.

“[Coach Popovic] was really unhappy with the way that we were playing Griffin. When Grabowski went on the bench with foul trouble, we went small and I knew I could provide single coverage for Griffin,” Duncan said, “sometimes circumstances offer the opportunity to prove your mettle.”

Manu Ginobili offered eighteen points off of six-of-eight shooting. Rookie phenom Apostolos Kanioridis scored 26 points in a losing effort.

The Timberwolves had a chance to tie the game when, with 1:47 left and the Spurs ahead 96-to-94, Randy Foye poked the ball away from Parker. Foye passed the ball to Dorell Wright, who promptly layed the ball into the heel of the rim.

“I knew Ginobili was right on me, and thought I could’ve gone to the line,” Wright said, “but it wasn’t like he intentionally bumped into me. I messed up. It’s as simple as that.”

The Timberwolves never threatened the Spurs’ lead again.

The series heads to San Antonio, where the Spurs will have a chance to close out their first round matchup with the upstart Wolves.

[Hg8Harrier]

Game 5
Grabowski’s Block Party Foiled, Spurs Escape With Win
San Antonio 108, Timberwolves 104
SAN ANTONIO—Florjan Grabowski finally broke out of his shell, posting a solid all-around game, but even Grabowski’s defensive mastery could not contain the onslaught of the Spurs offense. San Antonio had three players score twenty or more points, and a solid contribution from the bench, in a 108-to-104 Spurs win. With the win, the Spurs advance to face Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets.

Tim Duncan tallied 29 points and 11 rebounds, Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, and Tony Parker added twenty points and seven assists in the Spurs win.

“They were just too much,” Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin said, “Apostolos [Kanioridis] and I weren’t able to get anything going down low because of their defense. It was awful.”

The Spurs built a significant lead with Ginobili on the bench in foul, going up by as many as eighteen with the help of Monta Ellis and his sixteen points.

“When their second unit comes in, that’s when we need to make our move,” Minnesota Coach Jay Wright said, “but when they extend their lead with Ginobili on the bench, you know we’re not going to outmatch the Spurs.”

Even then, the Spurs almost made up the difference. Raw second-year player Florjan Grabowski had his finest effort of the series, blocking three shots in a critical fourth quarter and avoiding that sixth foul. Grabowski had that well-rounded floor game that the Timberwolves coaching staff was waiting for. Grabowski led the Timberwolves with 21 points, eleven rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.

“There’s no questioning Florjan’s motor,” assistant coach Eric Musselman said, “when he puts things all together, he can be an incredible player. He pressures the offense into a few turnovers, defends the opposing bigs well, and blocks clutch shots.”

Rookie sensation Apostolos Kanioridis endured a rare off night. Kanioridis scored 21 points, but on 6 of 16 shooting. Kanioridis did manage 9-of-10 from the line, but missed the one free-throw that mattered.

“They are right,” Kanioridis said through an interpreter, “when you’re in San Antonio and it’s the fourth quarter, that basket looks like a pinhole.”

[airBerlin]

Aw, shame you lost, but you at least you made the playoffs.

[Hg8Harrier]

Following the Playoffs:

I need a little more imagination for the numbers really to mean anything to me. This is how the playoffs happened

Round One:
(1) Phoenix def (8) LA Clippers 4-to-0
(4) Sacramento (w/Yao... remember?) def. (5) Dallas 4-to-2
(3) Denver def (6) Seattle 4-to-2
(2) San Antonio def (7) Minnesota 4-to-1

(1) Cleveland def (8) Milwaukee 4-to-0
(4) Boston def (5) Chicago 4-to-1
(6) Indiana def (3) Detroit 4-to-3
(2) Atlanta def (7) Orlando 4-to-1

Round Two:
(1) Phoenix def. (4) Sacramento 4-to-0
(3) Denver def (2) San Antonio 4-to-3

(1) Cleveland def. (4) Boston 4-to-2
(2) Atlanta def. (6) Indiana 4-to-3

Conference Finals
(1) Phoenix def (3) Denver 4-to-1
(1) Cleveland def (2) Atlanta 4-to-1

Finals:
(1) Phoenix def (1) Cleveland 4-to-2
MVP: Amare Stoudemire 28.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.89 bpg

The Upcoming Draft

Given that this is a franchise with a focus on developing young talent for the time being, my primary focus is improving what I have. That being said, there are still a few things that I need and some things that just haven’t worked out. Before I go into my rationale for the picks that I am considering, let’s discuss team needs.

This team is very guard oriented. I’m fine with that. It allows me to give more minutes and get more production from Eddie Griffin and Florjan Grabowski (2nd year center – Hungary). However, beyond that, I don’t have much. Turkoglu isn’t much of an answer on defense for the 4, and I can’t really play him significant minutes behind my budding star, Apostolos Kanioridis. Second year forward Danny Soto (undrafted rookie) is progressing in terms of improving his rebounding and defense while on the end of the bench, but it isn’t translating into statistics or playing time just yet. The one good thing about him is that he shoots for a strong average when he actually gets playing time. So, it looks like I’ll need another big at some point. The problem that I’ve found is that the bigs generally don’t do much for you if they’re past the lottery.

This team, in general, shoots for a poor percentage. The scoring and shooting percentage went way up (88.8 points per game to 98.8 points per game; 40.4% from the floor to 44% from the floor) with the arrival of Kanioridis (a respectable 45.7% shooter), but there are still players that make me want to poop myself when I see their shooting percentages. Antoine Wright (career .364, last season .397) and Didier Ilunga-Mbenga (career .389, last season .375) don’t do much for me. Although, I must admit, getting four points and four rebounds from Ilunga-Mbenga helps. Dorell Wright (.383 career, .416) is not much better, but at least he’s nearly automatic (.935 last year) from the line. Eddie Griffin shoots a cruddy percentage as well (.396 career, .427 last year), but he’s improved his percentage every year since I’ve started this franchise and he shoots a lot of threes, so it evens out.

My guards don’t get many assists. Given, I platoon my guards in droves, but Dickau (4.29 assists, 7.3 per 48 minutes) shoots way too much when I give him more than thirty minutes per game and Earl Watson (3.58 assists per game, 9.31 per 48 minutes) shoots for a lousy percentage and, similar to Dickau, is not a long term solution. I have two players that are still developing. Cooke will probably overtake Dickau and Watson as the premier guard in the rotation in the next two years. Dickau is a 68, Watson is a 67, and Cooke is a 66, but he still isn’t much to look at. His specialty is passing… so I have that much. Silas Wilkins is a 65 overall, and he’ll probably become another Earl Watson.

Considering that I am out of the lottery for the first time and there are a lot of players that wouldn’t get any burn on a better team, it looks like I’ll take the best available player to either shore up my bench, or perhaps send Dickau to the bench and further this log-jam between future point guards and current point guards. By the way, I was an idiot in thinking that Dickau and Watson would develop into a strong guard tandem. Dickau is no Mark Price and Earl Watson just isn’t Derek Harper.

With the eighteenth pick, I see three promising possibilities. Bryan Richardson is slotted to go in the top twenty. He’s a 6’3”, 193 lbs shooting guard with excellent potential. His best assets appear to be his quickness and endurance. With excellent potential, I’m pretty sure I can have him fill in for Foye until I figure out what to do with him. PF Erik Garrido (6’9”, 265lbs//Pacific) and SF Cyrus Lyons (6’7”, 212 lbs.//Duke) both seem like viable options, although they’re merely “good” potential.

The forty-eighth pick is a little more difficult. I don’t like any of the guards in that group and my scout isn’t good at looking at offense. 6’7” 220 lb Ryan Budd of Pepperdine looks like a good fit because he is long and lean for a two and has decent speed. 6’6” 235 fireplug Amory O’Sullivan of Oklahoma and 6’8”, 225 lb Paul Perez out of Wake Forest both look like the best potential players out of the lot. However, they’re both undersized fours. I suppose I could convert Perez to a 3 and hope his skill set develops. However, at this point I’m wondering if I should try to clear some cap space in preparation for resigning Kanioridis in several years and, perhaps, enticing an elite level point guard into the mix. However, by that time, I might have a flourishing point guard in Cooke or Wilkins. At the same time, Griffin will be thirty when I’m ready to resign Kanioridis, so I might need to clear room for his eventual replacement/upgrade.

[BabyLoc]

wow.......nba live loves phoenix suns
btw ill be following this dynasty, i like text >_<

[Miniseys]

I like that you put down all the things you think about when you are signing or drafting a player. I haven't read anything about free agency or trading. Not all your players have to come out of the draft. But it's a nice dynasty and I'm following.

[Hg8Harrier]

Babyloc: I'm charting the NBA champs here for this dynasty. So far Dallas defeated Cleveland in 2007 4-to-1, Dirk was MVP (as much as I like the guy... ha!!!!!); Cleveland defeated Dallas in 2008, 4-to-0, with LeBron as MVP; and now the Suns defeated Cleveland in their current season, with Amare as MVP. It seems to me that NBA Live loves the Cavs.

And with all this, and with the Celtics with three all-stars... they've never been in the finals. Strangely, the Lakers weren't even in the playoffs.

Miniseys: It's still early. I'm thinking of some trades as I write this, but we'll see what I fish out of the draft this weekend. I do tend to draft and develop as opposed to sign or trade, but this is supposed to be a weak draft, and I know I'll need help to keep from sliding back into the lottery.

Thanks, BabyLoc and Miniseys (et. al.) for reading. Sorry that the updates are rather few and far between.

[Hg8Harrier]

Off-Season Terror:

The Minnesota Timberwolves took a huge step backwards this year with substantial disappointments in both the draft and in free agency.

The Timberwolves began their disappointing off-season with an inability to resign sometime starter Antoine Wright.

"While we'll miss his hustle and camaraderie in the locker room," Coach Jay Wright said, "We needed some greater bench production and we weren't about to lock him up for 47 million over the next five years. We offered him about half of that, but the two sides weren't willing to budge.

The woeful futility in the free agent market continued with the Wolves' inability to acquire several targeted free agents out of the free agency pool. Mentioned in the targeted free agents were Pistons PF Rasheed Wallace (who resigned with the Pistons) and Sixers G/F Andre Iguodala, who signed with the Atlanta Hawks. Instead, the Timberwolves reacquired Didier Ilunga-Mbenga--at best an infrequent backup to C Florjan Grabowski.

The disappointment continued as both Timberwolves picks, SG Bryan Richardson and PF Phillip Perez, ended up being tremendous disappointments.

"We expected [Perez] to be a project. We'll send him overseas, but he might find his way onto the fifteen man rotation, eventually," GM Hg8Harrier said, "However, we expected a lot more from Bryan Richardson. We have him listed as a sixty on our ratings scale. We initially had him much higher in the draft, but his workouts didn't indicate that he would struggle so much in the NBA game."

[airBerlin]

Ah, these last few posts have been quite enjoyable.
Out of curiosity, what's Bryan Richardson rated?

[Hg8Harrier]

airBerlin: Richardson was my first round pick (18th overall). He is a 60. By contrast, my second round pick (48th overall) is a 57, with excellent potential. I wonder who will be rated higher when their contracts run out.

[Tyler]

airBerlin: Richardson was my first round pick (18th overall). He is a 60. By contrast, my second round pick (48th overall) is a 57, with excellent potential. I wonder who will be rated higher when their contracts run out.

Ouch.
Usually my second rounders turn out to be in the 70s and your first pick is a 60...

[airBerlin]

airBerlin: Richardson was my first round pick (18th overall). He is a 60. By contrast, my second round pick (48th overall) is a 57, with excellent potential. I wonder who will be rated higher when their contracts run out.

Oh wow, sorry... I could have sworn it said Perez was 60 in your previous post. I must have misread. Well, what I meant to ask was what rating Perez was, and you answered that as well, so thanks.

Anyways, not really surprised by the turnout of rookies, but that's just because I always get duds. I don't think I have ever got a rookie that was in the 70's let alone the 80/90's like other people claim.

[Tyler]

airBerlin: Richardson was my first round pick (18th overall). He is a 60. By contrast, my second round pick (48th overall) is a 57, with excellent potential. I wonder who will be rated higher when their contracts run out.

Oh wow, sorry... I could have sworn it said Perez was 60 in your previous post. I must have misread. Well, what I meant to ask was what rating Perez was, and you answered that as well, so thanks.

Anyways, not really surprised by the turnout of rookies, but that's just because I always get duds. I don't think I have ever got a rookie that was in the 70's let alone the 80/90's like other people claim.

That is because sometimes the higher rated players fall in the draft and some of the lower rated players rise.

[Hg8Harrier]

First off, Dustball and AirBerlin: Second rounders in the 70s? I sometimes find late first rounders who are the second coming of [insert All-Star here] in their first year, but I’ve never had second rounders that immediately pan out. That being said, I signed a former second rounder in my Sacramento franchise who went on to lead the league in scoring in his first year with my contending team.

Secondly: Game report, target franchise: Phoenix Suns

EARLY MVP CANDIDATE STOUDEMIRE PUTS UP MVP-LIKE NUMBERS

PHOENIX—League-leading scorer and early MVP candidate Amare Stoudemire proved why he is a dominant force and worthy of MVP consideration. Stoudemire tallied 48 points and 23 rebounds, including some fine defensive stops along the way as the Suns defeated the Timberwolves, 125-to-118 in overtime in Phoenix.

Stoudemire was not the only player with otherworldly numbers for the Suns, as Steve Nash also chipped in with 35 points and 17 assists in the win. Shaquille O’Neal added 14 and 12 to round out the primary scoring for the starters.

“The Suns had the perfect inside-outside game going. With both Florjan [Grabowski] and Eddie Griffin in foul trouble at various times, we had to go small—even smaller than I would like from my days promoting small-ball,” Minnesota coach Jay Wright said, “it’s still a great weakness of this team that we don’t have an overabundance of big men. With Danny [Soto, 6’9” 231] and Hedo [Turkoglu] at our power positions for a stretch, we were overmatched in terms of weight. I couldn’t slide Apostolos [Kanioridis] down to the four to guard Amare, because he’d give up four inches to Stoudemire and that would distract from his offensive game and give him more cause for fatigue earlier. Apostolos doesn’t have so pronounced of a quickness advantage with Amare that he has with other big men, so he cannot get away with the same things that he can with other big men.”

Florjan Grabowski had yet another good game for the Timberwolves, despite the foul trouble. Grabowski tallied fourteen rebounds to go with six blocked shots. His fifteen points are well above last years average, but were underwhelming considering the output of the Suns big men.

“I played against Shawn Bradley,” Suns head coach Terry Porter said, “And with Bradley, there were always certain things that you could do to get to the rim and avoid the blocked shot. Grabowski is so quick that he takes away that element. Luckily, while Grabowski cuts off the penetration, he still has trouble with being pushed around inside. Sure, he altered enough of Shaq’s shots and Shaq didn’t have a good game from the field, but Amare didn’t seem to have any problem with him.”

The Suns endured a furious fourth quarter comeback in the win. The Suns were up by as many as fourteen in the fourth quarter, but undrafted second year player Kenny Schneider came in, guns ablazing in what looked to be extended garbage time. Instead, Schneider, who was ten-for-twelve for twenty-one points, brought the game into a culminating, but rather uncontested overtime period.

The Timberwolves, 4-and-4, go on to play the Warriors (0-and-5) on Friday. The next report will come from when the Timberwolves host the Suns on December 11, 2009—a few days real-time.

[airBerlin]

Wow Amare and Nash tore it up.
Is Schneider going to be getting more playing time?

[Hg8Harrier]

WOLVES DEEP BENCH NO MATCH FOR STOUDEMIRE, NASH

MINNEAPOLIS—The Timberwolves knew that they were overmatched coming into the game. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire only confirmed that. The Suns core duo combined for sixty points as the Suns trounced the Timberwolves, 108-to-95 in Minneapolis.

Amare Stoudemire capitalized on an injury to Wolves starting power forward Eddie Griffin as the Suns opened a twenty point lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Amare, establishing himself as the early season MVP, scored 28 points to go with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. Amare, who earlier this season torched the Wolves with 48 points and 23 rebounds, had some trouble explaining why his numbers came back down to earth in this meeting.

“They threw a lot of defenders at me,” Amare said, “but it wasn’t like any one defender could lock me down.”

Indeed, the Timberwolves tried a number of combinations against the Suns and their power duo of Shaq and Stoudemire. They opened the game with Grabowski at the center and Hedo Turkoglu at the forward, while the Suns cruised ahead, going up by 28-to-8 late in the first quarter. The Wolves also threw Apostolos Kanioridis, Dorrell Wright, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, and Danny Soto into their post slots.

“We’ve had good luck with health over the past few years, but this year things are starting to fall apart.” Coach Jay Wright said, “with absolute workhorses in your starting line-up, you don’t realize how fragile your rotations are until you have to fill a forty-minute gap. We need Eddie [Griffin].”

Griffin, the Timberwolves third leading scorer at twenty points per game, also gives the Timberwolves a potent shot-blocking front line.

“I got a lot of points off of dunks and put-backs,” Amare said, “it was definitely easier to score, but I didn’t need nearly as many touches this time around. Nashie and Shaq helped balance things out.”

Nash, the game’s leading scorer with 32 points and top assist man with 13, played nearly the entire game due to Phoenix’s dearth at point guard. Shaquille O’Neal tallied nineteen points to go with nine rebounds and five blocks in forty minutes.

To their credit, the Timberwolves had nine players score five or more points, even though no Wolves player outscored any of Phoenix’s big three. Grabowski and Foye led the way with fourteen apiece. Sam Cooke did a stellar job of distributing the ball, tallying eleven assists in thirty minutes. Leading scorer Apostolos Kanioridis was held to twelve points.

“Boris [Diaw] did a great job of containing [Kanioridis],” Suns coach Terry Porter said, “Anytime someone takes eighteen shots to score twelve points, and six of those points are from the line, is a job well done. When you can hold your man to nothing but bad shots all game, it ruins your opponent’s game plan.”

With the win, the Suns move to 17-and-5. The Wolves (13-8) end their four game homestand with its only loss. They go on to play at Miami on Monday. The next report will be after 75% of the season is complete, against the Phoenix Suns on March 20. It might take me a week—busy week ahead.

NOTES:

The leading scorers for the Timberwolves at this point in the season are Apostolos Kanioridis (23.0 ppg), Florjan Grabowski (21.5 ppg), and Eddie Griffin (19.9 ppg).

Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, relegated to the injured reserve all year, played his first game of the season. He ended the game with 3 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.

AirBerlin: I have moved Schneider up in the rotation, but he still has a ways to go to challenge Randy Foye for playing time.

QUARTER SEASON REPORT

TIMBERWOLVES 13-8
It’s early in the season, and thusfar the Timberwolves are seeing something that they haven’t seen before: scoring. The Timberwolves, averaging 98.8 points per game last year, have ratchet it up to 110 points per game early in the season.

Apostolos Kanioridis leads the team with 23.0 points per game, but the major story this year is the improved play of Florjan Grabowski. Grabowski, a project when drafted three years ago, is averaging 21.5 points per game, 11.6 rebounds per game, and a league leading 3.95 blocks per game. What’s more is that the project is finally beginning to live up to expectations that he would be the next Dikembe Mutombo, made shortly after he was drafted.

There have been more pleasant surprises than the scoring and the record this year. Third year guard Sam Cooke inherited the point guard duties when Dan Dickau went down with an injury early in the season. Since then, Cooke has catapulted to second in the league in assists (8.6 per game, second only to Steve Nash at 9.5).

All is not right in Minneapolis, however, as the Timberwolves have seen their first real test in injuries while in their rebuilding process. Disaster Dan Dickau, out for sixteen games earlier this year, has returned back, but is not at full strength yet. Eddie Griffin, who was in the midst of enjoying the longest injury-less streak in his career, is out for the next three weeks (about ten games) with a knee injury.

In addition, with Cooke installed as Dickau’s successor in the line-up, Dan Dickau may find himself expendable before too long. He has expressed his distaste with the situation, and representatives speculate that he may try to orchestrate a buy-out if his flagging playing time does not change. The most likely scenario is that Dickau will try to latch on with Polish giant Slask Wroclaw, who finished in the final eight of last year’s ULEB Cup.

[Hg8Harrier]

Just in time for All-Star 2010:

<u> <b> A Second Look <u/> <b/>

1. Utah Jazz: Clarence Jackson – Mansfield, Ohio// UCLA 6’9”, 245
Clarence Jackson will be a Karl Malone-like player for the Jazz. His numbers have jumped, from 18.8 and 10.5, points and rebounds respectively, to 19.9 and 10.3. He gets about a block and an assist per game for the Jazz. The only difference between Malone’s Jazz and the Jackson’s Jazz in Year Two is that the Jazz are in the running for their third consecutive first overall pick.

2. New York: Khaldun Woods – Paisley, Scotland// Oklahoma 6’1”, 206
Khaldun Woods hasn’t done much since moving from the sixth man into the replacement for Jamal Crawford at the two. He has hit the sophomore slump, dripping from 9 ppg to 8.3 ppg with no other significant contributions, and the Knicks look like they’ll compete for the number one overall pick again this year.

3. Golden State: Carlos Gimenez – Colon, Panama// Cincinnati 6’6”, 246
Gimenez, an oversized two-three wing combo, has been relegated to the bench after a stellar rookie year. Gimenez went from scoring 17 ppg to scoring 4 ppg in this current year. The Warriors are moving up in the world, but it looks like they’ll still be in the lottery, and Gimenez might be S.O.L.

4. Minnesota: Apostolos Kanioridis – Trikala, Greece 6’6” 253
Kanioridis, one of the physically strongest players in the league, has made a name for himself based on his incredible scoring acumen and workmanship around the rim. Averaging 23.3 ppg coming into the break, Kanioridis has been selected to the sophomore team, as well as a starter to the All-Star game. Kanioridis is a workhorse who is still improving while logging monstrous minutes.

5. Seattle: Za Komgang – Dakar, Senegal 7’1” 276
Komgang, last year’s rookie of the year, has taken a colossal step back. After averaging 18 ppg and 10 rpg last year, Komgang has fallen to 12.2 ppg and 7.4 rpg. His two blocks per game have remained consistent, and I’d imagine that Komgang is still a whirling dervish when you play against him in the game, but his numbers are not what his promising rookie year indicated. Komgang was left off of this year’s Sophomore team.

<u> <b> Rookie Report <u/> <b/>
1. Utah – Dingane Tekere – Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa 6’7” 244
Tekere, naturally a wing, has shown limited skill in his first year. He comes into the break averaging 3.3 ppg.
2. Washington – Lans Gal – Lodz, Poland 5’10” 205
Gal, the second overall pick, has not played a game in the NBA. He may take a few years of seasoning overseas in Germany’s Brundesliga with Alba Berlin.
3. New Jersey – Philip Sanchez – Georgetown, Guyana//Georgia 6’6” 221
Sanchez, averaging 7 ppg, is evidently finding some time behind Vince Carter.
4. Miami – Erik Garrido –Santa Teresa, Brazil // University of the Pacific 6’9” 264
Garrido is in the same boat as Sanchez, averaging 7 ppg while Haslem gets the bulk of the minutes.
5. New York Knicks-- Anthony Ferrer – Eugene, Oregon // Lewis and Clark 6’1” 226
Not much to report, other than the guy went from the Peoples Republic of Eugene to The Big Apple
18 – Minnesota - Bryan Richardson – Springfield, Massachusetts // Bradley 6’3” 193
Although he has been on the active roster, he’s the fifth man down, no matter what position he plays.

[SoukpBulldzers03]

Is it just me or does Phoenix always make it to the championship in NBA Live.
Its pretty ridiculous.