Fire & Ice: Speed Y4 1-1

[Oznogrd]

So...Inspired by jae using free agents according to the roster i have loaded up...I dont have Screen shots and this wont be up for dynasty of the year. Why? I'm lazy. I'll write semi interesting recaps for the games if I can. Also i really dont wanna take pictures of my tv with my digital camera. It just seemed like a nice challenge and this is to document that. If im winning too easily, ill change settings.

Game: NBA2k9 on Xbox 360
Settings: Rookie default sliders (i royally suck...i realize this. I will lose games still. If after 5 im undefeated ill jack up to pro and look like the nets) 8 min quarters played 10 min quarters Simmed...29 Games, best of 3 all playoff rounds.
Team: St. Louis Speed: No historical significance...
Autosave On

Not going to restrict myself like Jae: trades are allowable...(considering as i sim through my empty week to start i just got offered ariza for green)

Roster
PG
Ricky Rubio
I couldnt resist, i know I couldnt technically say he's not minny's but he was on my FA list so i grabbed him
Tyronn Lue
Always liked this guy. My main backup
Dee Brown
Illinois pick solely. Hopefully I can give him a respectable NBA career eventually

SG
Rashad McCants
This pains me to have a chapel hill starter, but it had to be done
Juan Dixon
I actually won a free arizona jersey from Mountain Dew when Juan Dixon won the NCAA Championship at Maryland. Will be my backup
Desmond Mason
This guy used to be the man. Hopefully can resurrect his career a little.

SF
Wally "can never spell his last name" Szczerbiak
Like him, always have, picked him up
Jerry Stackhouse
Another older guy who i wish was still dominating. Using him sparingly but figured worth a pickup
Gerald Green
I remember him being hyped. Then not doing much in the NBA

PF
Stromile Swift
No reasoning, just because
Michael Sweetney
I remember him at some point being on the bulls and was supposedly good.
Donyell Marshall
Outside shooting big men for the win

C
Chris Mihm
Jake Voskuhl
wanted neither but needed a C

[Oznogrd]

Starting with a Move
The Speed wasted no time in trying to improve their team. When the Houston Rockets offered Trevor Ariza for Gerald Green, St. Louis' GM quickly pulled the trigger. The GM was quoted as saying "When given an offer too good to be true, you're usually wary. But this felt right. Also: common sense says one of the most talked about FA's from last season or an aging prospect who's done nothing outside of the dunk contest...which would you take?"

The Speed seem awfully cocky for an expansion team.

[Oznogrd]

St. Louis Speed Win 2OT Thriller in Premiere
Portland 106 - St. Louis 109
In their premier game, the St. Louis Speed showed they're ready to compete in the NBA. The Portland Trailblazers even while shooting a better percentage fell just short after 2 overtime periods to the expansion team.

The Speed led for 3 quarters when the Blazers had 17-4 run in the 4th. St. Louis showed obvious opening night jitters by missing layups, allowing open shots, and making some badly timed fouls during that run. Regulation ended with the Speed's Coach (not wanting to be named for wishes to remain anonymous, even the announcers never say his name) looking concerned.

"We just couldnt hit anything at the end of the fourth. Nothing was going our way."

During the 1st OT, teams traded shots with Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge leading the charge for the Blazers. With true allstar fashion, they hit contested shot after contested shot. Up by 3 with 6 seconds left, Portland looked confident. The Speed's coach looked down his bench and eyed veteran Tyronn Lue and with simple nod he rose up and went in for the team star Rubio. With less than a second left, Lue shot from behind a Chris Mihm pick, sinking it just in the nick of time.

In the 2nd OT turnovers and defensive miscues eventually dismantled the Blazers. Rashad Mccants scored 7 of his 28 in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd extra period. The GW shot was made by veteran Jerry Stackhouse as Portland tried to double team Ricky Rubio. Rubio passed out to a completely uncovered (and also injured earlier in the first overtime) Stack who sank the 3 ball with 6 seconds left on the clock. The Speed then kept the Blazers from scoring eventually resulting in the win.

Player of the Game according to Media:
Chris Mihm
22 Pts 15 Reb 4 Ast 3 Blocks

Player of the Game according to Speed's Coach:
Jerry Stackhouse
While his stats don't show much with only 6 pts and 2 assists, the GW 3 while playing injured shows the heart of this team.

Other Notable Performances:
Rashad Mccants 28 pts on 11/22 shooting
Ricky Rubio: 15 pts 17 assists 2 steals
Trevor Riza-13 points on simply 8 minutes of play

Portland Notables
Lamarcus Aldridge 35 pts 5 reb 6 ast 3 blk
Brandon Roy 24 pts 6 Reb 9 Asst
Andre Miller 18 Pts 11 Asst

Next up: Washington Wizards

[Oznogrd]

Speed win 2nd game, a stunned Wizards Team
Washington 80 - St. Louis 100

Fans of the new St. Louis Speed are optimistic about their team. After their premiere in which they edged out the Blazers, the expansion team easily dispatched the controversy surround Bulle..I mean Wizards. This game was pretty much over from the getgo, the wizards only matching the Speed's scoring in the 2nd quarter. While the starters appeared to be having an offnight: Trevor Ariza came in off the bench bringing in much needed help. 29 Points in 17 minutes shooting 11-18. When asked Ariza stated "I got hot after a few open jumpers, then there was nothing Gilbert and Antawn could do." The Wizards stars could not be reach for comment. When looking at the stats it seems the difference in this game came in the form of bench points. The speed had a baffling 54 while the wizards subs only scored 9. The Speed's coach was distracted midgame and eventually had to leave court to take care of family drama but his team took care of business in his absence.
On a more sobering note, Ricky Rubio was injured late in the fourth. Early tests say it's a seperated shoulder. No word yet on how much time he will miss.

Player of the Game:
Trevor Ariza
No doubting here. 29 points off the bench and leading your team in scoring wins him the honor pretty much flatout

Notable Speed Stats:
Ricky Rubio-12 points 6 Assists
Wally-12 points 4 assists
Chris Mihm-8 Points, 10 rebounds 2 blocks
Stromile Swift-4 points 8 rebounds 2 blocks

Notable Wizards
Arenas-24 Points 4 ast 2 stl
Foye-14 Points 7 Ast
Butler-12 points
Jamison 12 points 6 Rebounds

Up Next: OKC THUNDER (or the battle for expansion supremacy)

[Oznogrd]

Ricky Rubio out 17 days
The young St. Louis Speed team took a hit today when starting and future star PG Ricky Rubio went down late in the 4th against the Wizards. Trainers were quoted as saying "We had hoped it wasnt anything major, but it turns out Ricky Rubio seperated his shoulder diving for an errant pass." An obvious leader of the team playing point guard, Tyronn Lue and Dee Brown will split the point minutes until Rubio can return. The anonymous coach of the speed simply stated "Well...shit." We'll see how much of an impact Rubio being out will have in the upcoming game against star Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

[kibaxx7]

A new no-pictures story Good luck man!

[Oznogrd]

A new no-pictures story Good luck man!

Thanks dude, im kinda having fun with the story part. Deciding if I want to give my players personality or just my coach/GM (who are both me but i dont want to name them in case i change staff). My only untouchable pieces right now would be rubio and ariza...we'll see how i do after this season...Im thinking im gonna have to jack the difficulty since with a overall rating of 55 i beat an 85 team while distracted on the phone....

May play that Thunder game tonight.

[Oznogrd]

Speed Eke Out Thunder with 4th Quarter Rally
St. Louis 82 - Oklahoma City 74

In only their third game, the St Louis Speed were in trouble. With starting PG Ricky Rubio out, there was a certain loss in swagger when the Speed took the floor for warmups. When asked pregame what he was going to do about the missing star the Speed's coach simply said "Cross my fingers and hope someone steps up."

Veterans Trevor Ariza, Stromile Swift, and Jerry Stackhouse rose to the occasion by putting up double digits. Much of Ariza's 23 points came in a 4th in which the Speed outscored the Thunder 19-7, sealing up their third win. "Alot of teams are underestimating us just because we're in our first year together as a team. I intend to put a lid on that talk" Ariza said in his post game press conference. The machismo of the Speed was back. Ariza was then asked how it was to guard Kevin Durant the majority of the game. "Who?" was his simple response. The Speed better hope karma isnt watching.

Rubio's replacements Tyronn Lue and Dee Brown also played their roles well, each contributing 4 assists and committing 0 turnovers against a young Thunder team. After the game Dee Brown said to reporters "This is probably the most playing time I've ever gotten, I'm just glad I didn't screw it up. Me and Tyronn sorta knew we wouldn't be able to stop Russel, we just hoped to contain him"

The coach in his post game refused to take random questions and simply said "We had alot of guys step up for us tonight when we needed it. Trevor, Stromile, and Jerry all played great games. Tyronn and Dee also filled in just as much as we needed."

Player of the Game
Trevor Ariza
Once again, a leader of this surprising Speed team. Taking over games when need be is what great players do.

Speed Notables
Jerry Stackhouse-17 pts
Stromile Swift-11 pts 10 reb 4 blks

Thunder Notables
Russel Westbrook-16 pts 5 reb 7 assists
Kevin Durant-15 pts 4 reb 3 assist 1 steal
James Harden-15 Points

Up Next: Charlotte Bobcats

[Martti.]

Man, Ariza for Green. Great deal for you. Great start, although without Rubio it will be tougher.

[Oznogrd]

Second half Rally Save Speed from First Loss
Charlotte 80 - St. Louis 85

The Speed came back out to the court after halftime. Instead of shoulders slumped and heads looking away from their new hometown crowd, they looked energetic, excited, and almost like a different team. The Bobcats bench started laughing "You're down 13 at half, do you really think you can come back without Rubio?" Chris Mihm shot a smirk right to Stephen Jackson and said "We'll see."

After a first half where the defense was lackadaisical, no one could hit a shot, and turnovers seemed more common than buckets: The speed went back to their roots. A bruising low post game that eventually leads to open outside shots. The second half almost as soon as Chris Mihm started getting touches, refs began calling tap fouls on Tyson Chandler, drawing 4 fouls in the third quarter alone. While not known for his FT shooting Chris sunk all of them and ended up getting on a hot streak the rest of the game finishing with a team high 22 points. As the half went on, the Bobcats lead became less and less. When the double team came to Mihm, he passed out to Ariza. When Ariza was double teamed, Desmond Mason began knocking down shots. The 2nd half was textbook basketball.

When asked what he said to them during the halftime break in the locker room the St. Louis Speed coach mentioned "I just told them to calm down and play their game. We're not a run n gun team, we're not going to outfinesse you. But if you stick to our plan long enough, its kinda hard to lose."

Fill ins for Ricky Rubio Tyronn Lue and Dee Brown each committed only 1 turnover and Brown even added 3 steals to the mix. An almost always smiling Dee Brown said "They kept leaving it out there for me, I had the crowd behind me. I couldnt pass it up"

The Speed have started the year with an improbable perfect start and many in the media are wondering when their luck will run out. Can this team of rookies and washouts really take on the entire league?

Player of the Game
Chris Mihm 22 pts 8 reb 3 ast 2 blk
While not known as a scorer, Chris managed to draw 4 fouls in third quarter on Tyson Chandler, throwing the bobcats gameplan off and allowing the comeback to begin.

Notable Speed peformances
Trevor Ariza 21 pts 1 reb 2 ast 1 stl
Desmond Mason 12 pts 2 reb 1 stl
Dee Brown 4 pts 3 asst 3 stl

Notable Bobcat Performers
Stephen Jackson 18 Pts 2 blk 4-7 3pts
Gerald Wallace 15 pts 5 reb 2 ast 1 stl
Tyson Chancler 10 Pts 11 reb 5 assists 2 blocks


Up Next: The Cleveland Lebrons (i mean Cavaliers)

Out of story note: If we win this one I'll be putting the difficulty setting up to pro. There is no logical way we should beat the Cavs.

[Oznogrd]

Cavs outlast Speed despite 3rd quarter rally
St. Louis 81- Cleveland 91

Ricky Rubio came into hostile territory his first game back from injury: Quicken Loans Arena against a heavily favored Cavs team. Louder than any arena they'd ever played in, the Speed looked like the team predicted to win 0 games this preseason. To lead off the game the Cavs (led by Mo Williams) went on a 21-6 run that the Speed never recovered from.

"They just had us right out of the gate. No matter what we did, their shots fell, their lanes were open, their fouls were called" said Speed veteran leader Jerry Stackhouse. "We gave it our all, but some nights, it just doesnt all come together."

Stack was one of 5 Speed players in double digits with 16 but it wasn't enough. Missed layups, lackluster perimeter D, and 3 turnovers by team leader up till now Trevor Ariza. The only quarter in which the speed showed some life was the third, in which down by 15 they managed to score 24 to the Cavs 13. Going into the 4th it seemed as if the feisty St. Louis team had built up enough momentum to take down the mighty Cavs. Then Lebron James donned a Dikembe Mutombo jersey jokingly during the quarter break.

Lebron was quoted after the game "Well, I just wanted to remind this expansion team about the history of the league. After a stop, Dikembe Mutombo would always wave his finger as if to say 'Not in my house'. When they started coming back on us: I said the same thing to St Louis. Not in my house you don't." Despite only shooting 8-25 Lebron scored 10 points in the 4th helping seal the win for the cavs.

Player of the Game
Mo Williams
18 Pts 8 assists 4 Rebounds 1 steal
He led the run in the 1st quarter from which the speed could never recover: sealing up his player of the game status

Notable Speed Performances
Chris Mihm 17 pts 5 reb 4 blk
Jerry Stackhouse 16 pts 3 reb
Trevor Ariza 12 pts
Stromile Swift 12 pts 4 reb 3 ast 2 stl 4 blk
Ricky Rubio 7 points 2 reb 8 ast 1 stl

Notable Cavs Performances
Lebron James-18 pts 6 reb 2 ast 1 stl 2 blk
Shaq-18 pts 12 reb 1 blk
Anthony Parker 14 pts

Up Next: ATLANTA HAWKS Can the speed bounce back against one of the best teams in the east this year? Stay tuned and find out.
(Odds are no because I'm probably moving up to pro difficulty anyway: I want to make sure this team plays to its 55 rating potential by being dead last, the interest here is building this team from the ground floor...not the close games or beating teams i shouldnt've. )

[Oznogrd]

After Loss Speed looking to make moves

After a pretty handy defeat at the hands of Lebron and company, the Speed Front office have placed Juan Dixon, Wally Szczcerbiak, and Donyell Marshall on the trading block. All three had been vocal about wanting more playing time and a bigger role on the team.
"Theres just not enough production out of these guys to justify their ridiculous demands. Hopefully we can get something for these three...they can take their attitude elsewhere."

An odd 'too early' move according to most critics: the Speed seem to be only wanting players who truly accept the system in place in St. Louis to play for them.

[kibaxx7]

Wow, Stromile Swift was all over the place... points, rebs, assists, blocks, even steals

Looking forward to a trade for those 3 players.

[Oznogrd]

Speed 'shawk' Hawks behind Stellar 3rd
St. Louis 85 - Atlanta 78
After a crushing loss to the Cavs, the new St. Louis Speed bounced back and may be the league's first 3rd quarter team. Down 3 at half, the Speed just couldn't seem to get control of the game. That is...till after the break in a third quarter in which the Speed scored 36 to Atlanta's 18.

"Our guys just play really well after half, I can't really explain it. Maybe my speeches are that good, maybe they have roids in their water bottles. Who knows? All I know is in that third quarter we dominated." Speed's coach stated after the game. David Stern is fining him 25,000 for the steroids remark.

Stromile Swift smiled at the steroids question "It aint the water guys. We just use that time in the locker room together well. We remember what we're brought here to do and how lucky we are to play this game. Sometimes on the road early we let the crowd get to us. Halftime lets us refocus and come back out strong.

Swift led the team posting a double double with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

When asked after the game what happened veteran Hawk guard Mike Bibby said "Our help defense wasnt there. Ricky, Chris, and Strom were running that pick and roll to the low post so well. There was nothing we could do to stop the dunks and open layups. I thought we started off great but from then on...it was just pick-layup, pick-dunk, pick-layup...a tough loss for sure"

The Speed's feisty defense held Atlanta stars Josh Smith and Joe Johnson to a combined 17 points.

"Anytime you shut down stars, you have a chance to win. They shut us down tonight" Smith said after the game.

Player of the Game
Stromile Swift
26 pts 12 boards
He started running the pick and roll with Rubio and was untouchable after that. Shot after shot went in, eventually resulting in the comeback win over the favored hawks.

Notable Speed Performances
Trevor Ariza 21 Pts 4 ast 1 stl
Chris Mihm 16 pts 5 reb 3 ast
Ricky Rubio 8 pts 2 reb 8 ast 1 stl 2 blk

Notable Hawk Performances
Mike Bibby 20 pts 3 ast
Marvin Williams 13 pts 3 ast
Josh Smith 11 pts 7 rb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk

Up Next: Spike Lee and the New York Knicks come to town.

[Oznogrd]

Offers Pouring in, Speed GM in shock

The Speed GM's email box exploded with offers according to an insider source. Supposedly on the 4 players on the block (Jake Voskuhl was added today), All but Donyell Marshall have offers from several teams.

"We're going to listen to our fans. We're leaning towards a trade for Brian Cook for Voskuhl, Luke Walton for Juan Dixon, and Desagna Diop for Wally. Hopefully there will be some offers for Donyell soon."

The St. Louis Speed GM could almost be seen laughing under this comment. Each would be an upgrade for a team doing unexpectedly well in the early part of the season. Many wonder when their luck will run out for good.

(they seem to be all alot of cap room except for cook whos expiring, figured Diop may be trade fodder soon and Luke Walton was too good to pass up. All these moves are made in the past 5 minutes...probly not doing another post about them lol...now how to get rid of donyell marshall...)

[Oznogrd]

Newcomers to the Speed Strut after outlasting Knicks
New York 104 - St Louis 106

There were alot of questions about the Speed coming into the season. There were even more when they made 3 trades in this past week. While the Knicks arent the top team in the NBA, the Speed showed that their trades were valid moves. The Knicks defense looked lost as Ricky Rubio, Stromile Swift and Desagna Diop dismantled their defense with pick and roll after pick and roll.

"I saw that it worked in the last game, so we decided to run it a few times again. We didnt realize it was going to be that easy" said Rubio, who contributed 24 assists before being pulled towards the end of the game to not risk injury.

Stromile Swift was heard saying "If they're going to give me open dunks all game? I'm ok with that."

The New York Knicks top performer Nate Robinson came in early in the first for injured Chris Duhon. "We tried to keep up with them and almost did. That pick and roll is just a tough play to stop when you have a guy like Ricky doing the passing. Holes we thought were filled somehow the ball was popping through." Krypto-Nate contriubed 33 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals, but none of it was enough to beat out this surging Speed expansion team. Nate even made a last second 3 at the end of the 4th but unfortunately his team was down 5 so rather than send the game to overtime, he simply padded his stats

Player of the Game
Stromile Swift
31 points 6 reb 1 assist
Another strong game out of the recently rejuvenated Swift.

Notable Speed Performances
Trevor Ariza 22 pts 4 reb 2 ast
Desagna Diop 18 pts 2 reb 2 blk
Luke Walton 14 pts 1 reb 1 blk
Chris Mihm 14 pts 7 reb 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 2 pts 3 reb 24 ast

Notable Knicks Performances
Nate Robinson-See above
Al Harrington-20 pts 3 reb 3 ast
Wilson Chandler 16 pts 4 reb 3 ast
L. Hughes 12 pts 3 ast

Up Next: Memphis Grizzlies

Off story note: tempted to go up to all star but then again it was the knicks i BARELY beat on pro...What do you guys think? Im not necessarily wanting these guys in last place...but they shouldnt be a playoff team in any way shape or form.

[kibaxx7]

To me is looking nice. As I said, Swift is a monster, and is also good to see Rubio not scoring and focusing on assisting his teammates, like Jason Kidd.

[Oznogrd]

To me is looking nice. As I said, Swift is a monster, and is also good to see Rubio not scoring and focusing on assisting his teammates, like Jason Kidd.

Yeah man, i see no need to make rubio a scoring all star. That's not what he's good at so why do it? maybe eventually but right now, he doesnt turn the ball over and he passes like crazy. When a passer in a video game is threading needles with behind the backs...i cant complain.

Stromile is insane when he's open...odd his scoring rating is an F.


Anyone else have an idea on the difficulty setting? I may need to play a couple more games and see what happens (the knicks were rated a 57...my teams a 47). I think any real team is gonna dominate me on pro (even though i beat the hawks somehow). I really dont wanna end up winning everything lol. I intend to play each game.

Also: possibly Player Evaluations coming after the next couple times.

P.S. Im lurking everybodys dynasty pretty much so even if i dont reply im keeping tabs

[Lamrock]

I'll be completely honest. I haven't been following this one too closely because Jae has the exact same concept but with hilarious captions and a more realistic record. However, checking this out, its a well-written dynasty and I love Ricky Rubio. Keep it up

[Oznogrd]

Yeah i fully admit i ripped the idea from jae. It was too good an idea to pass up. I wanted a challenge, something i couldnt just own everyone, but still enjoy the team. I have Dee to develop, Rubio to work with, and some underrated roleplayers who maybe if given a chance can develop into leaders. Unfortunately theres a large difference between the 1st two difficulties and the last two. Like i said in my past couple posts..i need to jack it up to lose most likely as i should be doing...if i get to 10 wins...its going up from pro to all star.

I also know I'm not a dynasty god, I dont have the technology or the will to put the cool logos/recaps and jerseys...and im playing all of these on xbox so I'm a little lazy about transferring between them. I'm just going for the writing and having fun. If nobody reads it thats totally fine, if people enjoy it (i'm trying to be slightly humorous in alot of the recaps...come on...who spells a headline "shawked?") awesome, if its not their style thats cool too. I want to do this for more than 1 season and actually do a story until rubio or any star you may have heard of are done. Which means a long time lol.

Thanks for the praise on the writing though. Its not the greatest and i find myself wanting to tell the same story over and over. Outside of game recaps and player evals every so often, i may not do much (offseason news obviously also) but glad at least a couple of people are perusing

[Oznogrd]

Swift Saves Speed from 2nd loss
St Louis 86 - Memphis 84

Turnovers abound, inability to stop the bleeding from a 20-9 run, and missed opportunities can sum up the third quarter for the new St. Louis Speed. After leading by 8 at half, the Speed came out looking as if they had never stepped on a basketball court before, being outscored 25-18 in the third.
"Our shots werent falling, they were in our passing lanes, little things like travelling, nothing went right in the third" said the Speed Coach. "It was tough to watch."

Stromile Swift, a team leader with a recent resurgence, watched most of this from the bench as the coach tried to use other lineups to slow down the Grizzlies rally.
"It was hurting to watch. I was begging coach to let me back in so I could try to contribute a little bit more. Eventually he listened."

In a back and forth 4th quarter the Grizzles scored buckets with Zach Randolph. The Speed D just couldnt keep with his post game "He was hitting everything" said Chris Mihm guarding him most of the time. "All I could do was keep position and pray he missed one" Then UNC product Rashad McCants got open on a screen in the corner for three. It sank. 2 more possessions later, Rashad had hit 2 more: single handedly keeping the St Louis expansion team in the game. "I got hot at the right time, I'm just glad I could help keep us in contention"
With a minute left the speed were down 4 to the surging Grizzlies. "I told them to swat that ball like there was no tomorrow. If they got arm, well i would foul anyway at that point so it didn't matter." said the Speed Coach. 2 Steals later and with less than 10 seconds left: the speed were tied with the Grizzlies. Prospect Ricky Rubio swore loudly (for which he will be fined 25,000 by Stern even though he said it in spanish) as he missed the open 14 foot jumper. "I though we were going to overtime, and I wasnt sure we had enough gas left for that" said Rubio post game. "Luckily, it didnt come to that." Why didn't it come to that? Stromile Swift was in the low post yanking down the offensive rebound. "Everyone was watching Ricky and Rashad. I just sat there waiting for the miss. I dont know if ricky made it so if it missed it would come to me. But it did." Wide open Swift put up a one handed bankshot that fell through the net: leaving .3 seconds on the clock. "The bench went crazy" Tyronn Lue backup PG said. "We though we were done and Strom just stepped up for us. It was great."

Player of the game
Stromile Swift
27 pts 3 reb 3 ast 1 stl
Another great game out of the player teammates are starting to call "surge." Add in the game winning shot and he was a shoo in this game.

Notable Speed Performances
Chris Mihm-16 pts 6 reb 3 blk
Rashad McCants-13 pts 1 stl 3-3 3pt
Ricky Rubio 4 points 11 ast 2 stl 3 TO

Notable Grizzlies Performances
Zach Randolph-23 Pts 3 reb 11-13 shooting
Rudy Gay-17 points
OJ Mayo-17 Points

Up Next: Pacers: or we could use reggie miller again

Off Story Note: 1 more game on pro, if I win i may be moving up to all star. Also: player evals coming after the indy game (wanted 3 games for my newcomers before i eval them)

[Oznogrd]

Day after game Injury News and Trade for Donyell Marshall

After squeaking by the Grizzlies, Speed trainers have reported that young star Ricky Rubio has a strained MCL. "We expect him to be hurting 11 days. This means he should be fine by our game with Indiana." Speed coach was quoted as saying "I may have to start limiting his minutes if he's going to keep getting hurt like this. He's a young kid and I dont want to destroy his career before it even gets going."

Also out of the Speed front office came on offer from the Chicago Bulls offering Lindsey Hunter for little used PF Donyell Marshall. With an expiring contract at the end of the year, The Speed gladly took the trade. Donyell Marshall had been dissatisfied with his role and playing time. The Speed have shown with their rash of recent moves if you're not happy: you can play somewhere else quite easily. This puts the Speed with 4 PGs but the front office isnt worried. "We'll be alright. We might have to let somebody go at the end of the year but we have enough players and we arent too worried having too many passers." Lindsey Hunter is also known for very strong perimeter D. "He may be one of those guys we put in towards the end of the game to help hold off a team who likes to shoots 3s" Speed coach said. "We're happy to have him"

Although winning, team chemistry is a problem in the Speed locker room and may cause issues down the line. "Its just hard to want to play hard for these guys when you just met them and you know you could be on the next plane for LA or Chicago. " said a player who asked to remain anonymous. But we're the press so we're just going to tell you it Michael Sweetney who has been relegated to the bench with the recent acquisition of Desagna Diop.

[kibaxx7]

You're 7-1 with this team, I think it's time to turn up the difficulty a notch, eh?

As I said, Swift's a monster.

[Oznogrd]

You're 7-1 with this team, I think it's time to turn up the difficulty a notch, eh?

As I said, Swift's a monster.

It seems so. But the game finally did learn to not let me run the pick and roll for an entire game Definitely leaning towards setting this up to all star- if i keep winning (which i cant imagine i would because im struggling on pro) ill move up to superstar. Funny thing is my 1 loss was on rookie lol

[Oznogrd]

Speed out'paced' by Danny Granger at home
St. Louis 85 - Indiana 106

Ricky Rubio's airball from downtown with 58 seconds left on the clock summed up most of this game for the St. Louis Speed. On the very next possession, Trevor Ariza pulled up for what he thought was an open 3. One of the Pacers 19 blocks occured.

Surging after some recent upsets, the St Louis Speed had come in with a swagger. Oddly enough there was even a playful rivalry trash talking before the game between former teammates Luther Head and Dee Brown out of Illinois and Tyler Hansborough and Rashad Mccants of UNC-Chapel Hill. Dee and Luther heatedly stared down Tyler and Rashad while the former Tarheels laughed. Then they each actually pulled out their old college jerseys and traded. "We actually looked up before the game and saw more Chapel Hill and Illinois jerseys than Speed or Pacers jerseys in the crowd." said Dee Brown "It was great to see Luther again and the guys from the Pacers were all for having a little fun this game." The crowd ate it up, giving a standing ovation for the rather silly display. Hansborough jokingly when asked after the game said "Theres not alot of difference between dee and luther and rashad and me. Except for you know...that whole winning a championship thing"

But getting back to the game at hand, after the half the Speed came out strong. Only down 9, they dug in their heels in the third refusing to go away. Going into the 4th only down 5, the team looked confident. "We'd been in worse deficits than this and come back" said Trevor Ariza. "It just wasnt in the cards tonight I guess." The Pacers however came roaring back with 30 points in the fourth. The Speed only put up a lowly 14 (their worst quarter of the night). The Speed's coach stated "We did almost everything right. We shot decent, we got to the line, we out rebounded them. However on everything else they outhustled us. Just some quick stats here. We had 4 second chance points, they had 17. We had 14 bench points, they had 34. Fast break 3-10, steals 1-6. They didnt really beat us. We beat ourselves by not doing all the little things for the full 32 minutes."

Team Leaders Chris Mihm and Stromile 'Surge' Swift tried to keep the expansion team in the game. "They were giving us our post game. It just wasnt enough tonight" said Mihm who finished with 28 pts and 8 boards. Surge looking exhausted (he had a sore knee from a tough week of practice) after the game commented "Look sometimes you do all you can. You play really well, shots fall, things go right. And you still lose. Tonight was one of those nights." Swift finished with 35 points 5 boards and 3 blocks.

Player of the Game
Danny Granger
26 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk
He led his team in scoring and the win while not doing much other than scoring.

Notable Speed Performances
Ricky Rubio 0 pts 14 ast
Stromile Swift-Listed Above
Chris Mihm-Listed above

Notable Pacers Performances
Danny Granger-Listed above
Luther Head-15 pts 6 ast 1 blk
Roy hibbert 14 pts 6 blk
Tayshaun Prince 11 pts 2 reb 1 stl 3 blk

Up Next:Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard: will they put up a ridiculous 19 blocks on the Speed expansion team that looked very weak against the Pacers? We'll see

(out of story note: obviously i moved up to all star. I like it. Giving me a challenge and making sure I lose. Eventually I may start winning, but it wont be too often. Also gimme a heads up: Is there anything else you guys would like to see? I know i dont have pictures and stuff (and i'm not going to) but along the lines of player evals or the like.)