The "How is your Dynasty/Association going" Thread

[The X]

Hey guys,

I have unstickied and locked the other two threads (Live and 2k). If you don't feel like having your own thread then please feel free to use this one to let us all know how you are going. Wouldn't hurt to let everybody know which version of the game you are using. Even if you're playing Live '95 on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, we want to hear about it

Cheers,
X

[The X]

I'm going to start things off with very recent posts from the 2k thread, with two of my favourite posters and Dynasty/Association writers, Jeffx and Jae, to give you all an idea of how you may like to use this thread:

New York Knicks Opening Day Roster, Year 2(2011-12);

starters:
(PG)Toney Douglas, (SG)Landry Fields, (SF)Carmelo Anthony, (PF)Amar'e Stoudemire, (C)Joel Przybilla

bench:
(PG)Ricky Rubio(rookie), (SF/SG)Derrick Brown, (SF/PF)Shawne Williams, (PF/C/SF)Jared Jeffries, (C)Nenad Krstic, (SF/SG)Bill Walker, (C/PF)Ronny Turiaf

reserves:
(SG/SF)Roger Mason, (SF/PF)Renaldo Balkman, (PG)Anthony Carter, (SG)Andy Rautins(sent to D-League)

I used Chauncey's money to sign the big men I needed, and to bring back Williams, Turiaf and defensive specialist Jeffries. With so much scoring from Carmelo, Amar'e & Fields, all my center has to do is rebound and defend. Przybilla fits that role. Nenad gives me some scoring off the bench to go with Brown & Williams

So I started an association about 4 months ago with Phoenix, playing every game (29 games or whatever it is). This will be a long ass post but I've got 5 seasons worth of stuff to get updated. Subsequent updates will be much shorter.
I'm year 4 or 5, my team currently looks like this...

C: Donald Gibb
(76 ... 3rd overall pick in last draft)
PF: Serge Ibaka
(81 ... traded the 5th pick for him three seasons ago)
SF: Rasheed Jordan
(86 ... 1st overall pick in last draft)
SG: Theo Johnson
(92 ... 2rd overall pick three seasons ago)
PG: Avery Bradley
(83 ... traded Nash to Boston when Rondo went down for the season, got Bradley + Garnett for Nash and a mid lotto pick, Boston turned the pick into a guy who's averaging 26ppg this season)

Bench:

Kobe Bryant
88 ... signed as a free agent, he's like 38 years old now
Dirk Nowitzki
78 ... traded Garnett for him some time ago, getting old and fairly useless outside of his shooting
Rod Schayes
74 ... a late first round draft pick in my first draft, modelled him after Pat Mills
Trey Jordan
72 ... some 7'4 C I picked up as a free agent
Richie Hardaway
67 ... the 13th pick of the last draft, looks fairly promising
Austin Vaughn
60 ... 19 year old 6'11 project I'm working on. Trying to turn him from a C/PF into a SF
Elton Brand
69 ... will probably retire at the end of the season, just there for depth
JJ Redick
68 ... depth again

Basically Theo Johnson is the star of the team. He was rated 83 when I picked him and jumped to 92 by the middle of his second season, he was averaging 34/5/8 then with 8 games left in the regular season he went down with a torn patella, out for 8 months which meant not only were our play-off hopes fucked, but he missed out on winning MVP/All-NBA honors and he didn't improve any more over the off season. He only just made his comeback game like 8-9 games into the new season (which will probably rule him out of MVP running again) and had 34/5/13.

Since he was still going to be missing for a while, I signed Kobe for 20 million over two seasons to try and cover the loss. He did alright, averaging around 20/5/5 but he's nowhere near as good as Theo. I've got him coming off the bench because the bench unit tends to blow every lead I develop. I really tried to make Rod Schayes a lot like Pat Mills, because I had Mills on the team before and he was awesome (scored 44 points in 16 minutes once, 12/15 from three) but he's kinda like a homeless mans version. Still a decent back-up though.

Rasheed Jordan scares the hell out of me, Theo was rated 83 in his rookie season, Rasheed is already upto 86. God knows how good he'll be. I think his potential rating might be lower though. He's REALLY accurate in his shooting, I have fairly harsh slider settings and he's still shooting 60% from the field and nearly 50% from three.

I've spent three seasons trying to turn Serge Ibaka into Shawn Kemp, doing so much development work with him. Even the dribbling drills. I played him at C for the first two seasons and shifted him to PF this year, it's starting to pay off, he's putting up 18/9 and nearly 2 blocks. He's athletic enough to blow past most defenders and his dunks are awesome, just got to work on his ball handling.

Avery Bradley has developed nicely, I went after him because his potential was rated A+ and he went from being like a 68 to 84 in just over two seasons. His shot and everything is kinda inconsistent but Theo controls the ball mostly so he just has to hit set shots basically. I was going to go after Daniel Orton because his potential was A+ and he was rated similar to Avery, wish I would have but Orlando wanted too much. They kept him buried on the bench for so long that he never developed as well as he should.

For those wondering (that actually read all of this) the way I got so many high draft picks is basically just by guessing which teams are gonna suck 2 years in advance. Like I knew San Antonio were fucked after Duncan/Ginobili retires, so I traded for their pick in 2 seasons which turned out to be the #2 pick that I used on Theo Johnson. When KG retired Dallas had Luol Deng as their first option so I got their pick etc. It meant sacrificng some picks early but I had #2 and #5 in 2012 and #1, #3 in 2015, I traded the #3 for #5 and #13 though.

Also traded #5 in 2012 for Ibaka which I kinda regret. The Knicks used that pick to get this guy Ian Long, who is a 6'9 SF that put up 18 in his first season. San Antonio picked a 76 rated C like two picks later who is rated in the 80's now and one of the best rebounders in the game and Houston picked a SG who is putting up 20 per now.

[J@3]

Thanks for that, was about to go hunting for the post to re-post it lol

[The X]

Jae, what's closest you've come to winning a title? I noticed you've leaned towards building through the Draft, which seems to usually be your team building method of choice.

[J@3]

I've only made the play-offs twice, I've got my first rounds set to a best of 1 format so I lost my first game and got knocked out by I think it was the Heat. Then last season we were second in the West but Theo Johnson went down before the play-offs and I had Pat Mills starting at SG, didn't work out so well. Still made it to the second round but got beaten by Dallas. This new season has started off kinda slow without Theo but now that he's back I'd imagine we'll be 1st or 2nd in the West again, there's some really good teams out there now.

[Jeffx]

Ricky Rubio can't shoot to save his life, but man, he's got sick handles. I have a nice second unit with him, Derrick Brown, Shawne Williams, Jeffries & Krstic. Brown and Williams are deadly from mid/long-range. Jeffries supplies the 'D', and Nenad can get points inside or from 10-12 feet. Knicks are looking real sweet in Year 2, definitely championship caliber.

[rise]

I love playing with Portland. In ten games, Gerald Wallace averages 20/11, while Lamarcus Aldridge averages 22/10. Andre Miller has a double-double average, but is only shooting 9% from outside. I like B. Roy coming off the bench, and Rudy's been great. I traded off Batum and a couple scrubs for Serge Ibaka and other scrubs. I have a four-man rotation at the 4-5 (Camby, Aldridge are starting, Ibaka and Oden on the bench) and occasionally, Wallace will play PF. I had paired Wallace and Aldridge in Live 2003 franchises before the Wallace trade. Now I have a reason to!

I waived Chris Johnson and picked up Acie Law and Walter Herrmann out of free agency (those two sound familiar?). Herrmann adds depth at 3 (and sometimes 4) and hits threes, while Acie Law replaces Armon Johnson and Patty Mills, who I traded with Batum for Iblocka. Law played a big game when Miller was in foul trouble against the Warriors. He scored 19 and dished 14 assists in a 130-100 victory.

I'm currently 6-4, sixth in the West. I had a game against the Heat, that went into overtime. Wallace was effective in keeping LeBron down, Aldridge kept Chris Bosh to 4 points, but I had no answer to D-Wade. 46 points, 11 rebounds when we entered overtime, 55/14 by the end and the Heat won. Camby had a big game though, 16 points, 20 rebounds! After that, he didn't score for three games.

I'm thinking I want a starting line-up of Aldridge-Wallace-Fernandez-Matthews-Miller or Aldridge-Ibaka-Wallace-Fernandez-Miller, because Camby and Matthews are in a slump. Which do you think is better?

[J@3]

If you've got Ibaka I'd definitely recommend working on his dribbling in the development thingo. His physical/athletic stats are so good plus he's a decent mid-range shooter, so once he's a competent ball handler he pretty much turns into Amare Stoudemire-lite. That's if you're playing with 2K11 anyway. As fara s the starting line-up goes I think Aldridge/Ibaka/Wallace/Fernandez/Miller looks a lot more balanced, but I'd start Ibaka at C and Aldridge at PF.

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

Few other things to add to my association story; I usually like having really tall wing players who can shoot. I traded for Austin Daye in like season 3, and as soon as I switched his position from PF to SF his rating went from like 72 up to 78. Then with added development he was an 82 and pretty much a beast. Didn't put up insane numbers because he was maybe the 4th option offensively but having a 6'11 guy who can shoot the three and move like him was awesome. I lost him in free agency and now my SF is Rasheed Jordan who is 6'6, first time in ages I've had an undersized small forward. I'm hoping I can get Vaughn to develop an outside shot, if he does he can be my Austin Daye replacement. Won't be as good though.

The only negative about having such a young team (oldest player in the starting 5 is Ibaka who is 24 or 25) is that the team is basically locked in for a fair while now. The only changes I could really see making would maybe be moving Bradley for someone else, starting Theo at PG (he is basically a 6'6 T-Mac in his prime) and moving Rasheed to SG (his natural position) but I dunno yet. Bradley is improving so fast/so much that it might be a stupid move to make.

[Lamrock]

Fired up 2K11 for the first time in weeks and decided to make a sim association with the Magic, trying to get Dwight a title and hold on to him. I simmed through the first season making no moves and with Allow CPU Trades off. Was hard to turn down Orton for Kings 1st and Z-Bo + Sam Young for Meerkat and J-Rich but whatevs.

2010-11 Season:
Regular season was a bit of a struggle with the team being mediocre all season. They got it together by winning most of their games after the all-star break but finished with a 49-33 record, their first non-50 win year since 06-07. Dwight got his accolades though, winning DPotY, making the ASG and being an all-NBA first teamer.

We entered playoffs as 6 seed against 53-29 Bulls. (Heat won division with 58 wins, with Hawks in second with 57!) After dropping game 1, we upset Bulls in 5 games. Dwight had 30/26/5 steals/4 blocks in legendary game 3 win. Next up were the #7 seed Pacers (39-43) who upset the Hawks (lol). We won the series in 5 games, with Dwight dropping 20/10+ in all games.

For the second straight year, the #4 Celtics (48-34) did us in, winning a hard-fought 7 game series. Dwight was held to 5 points and 3 boards due to foul trouble in the deciding game. Boston would go on to lose in five to the #5 Mavericks (47-35). Roddy Beaubois posted 39 points in the decisive game 5 but Dirk won Finals MVP.

2011 Offseason:
- Kidd, Shaq headline retirees
- 2 year extension for SVG, F rated Scout with A potential signed for three years
- 2 year, $4M extension for J-Rich, 1 year, minimum extension for Earl Clark, Malik Allen let walk
- Kings take Irving #1, some awful trades declined, #24 pick dealt for Pacers' 2012 first
- J-Rich, 2012 second dealt to New Orleans for Hornets' 2012 first, pick #39 (Marshon Brooks)
- Pick #55 used on Chris Wright
- MLE used on Samuel Dalembert (2 years, $7 mil, team option on second year) and Michael Redd (1 year, $1.32M)
- Ryan Anderson -> Big Man Defense; Daniel Orton -> Basketball 101

Opening Night 11-12:
Nelson/Arenas/Duhon
Redick/Redd*/Brooks*
Turkoglu/Q-Rich/Wright*
Bass/Anderson/Clark
Howard/Dalembert/Orton

2011-12 Season:
- Strong start (22-9) in 2011 calendar year - league best
- 8-8 January sees Magic make blockbuster trade with Portland:
- Ryan Anderson, Daniel Orton, Hedo Turkoglu, 2012 First (via NOH) for Nicolas Batum, Elliot Williams, Kirk Hinrich
New starting five: Nelson | Hinrich | Batum | Bass | Howard
- Redd waived, McDyess signed to minimum
- Team sees uneven play as chemistry adjusts, but wins 8 of last 10 to finish with 48-34 record.
- Dwight wins fourth straight DPotY, is all-starter and All-NBA first teamer

Round 1: [4] Magic (48-34) vs. [5] Knicks (46-36)
- McDyess breaks hand, Jameer suffers lower back strain, Q-Rich tears meniscus - all out for playoffs
- Home team wins all 7 games, Magic limp into second round match-up with Bulls
- In other news, #7 seed Hornets stun champs and #2 seed Mavs, winning in 5 games
Round 2: [4] Magic (48-34) vs. [1] Bulls (53-29)
- Bulls steamroll Magic in 5 games, Orlando only taking game 3 at home.
- Rose posts 36/9/9 in 89-87 game 4 Bulls win
- Bulls go on to lose to #2 Celtics in 5 games, who lose to Denver in 6 games (#1 overall seed, 57-25)
- Raymond Felton named Finals MVP, comparisons to 04 Pistons made

TO BE CONTINUED.

[rise]

Jae, I'm playing Live 2003. There's no training, but I'm happy with Ibaka even with his hopeless dribbling. When he averages 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks, I'm good.

[J@3]

- Ryan Anderson, Daniel Orton, Hedo Turkoglu, 2012 First (via NOH) for Nicolas Batum, Elliot Williams, Kirk Hinrich

Damn Batum and Williams must have pretty high trade *'s for you to have to give up that package, in my game Orton had like 4 or 5 of them when he was still rated in the 60's

[shadowgrin]

F rated Scout with A potential signed for three years.

Anyone here who plays 2K association seen Scouts improve?
I've seen head/assistant Coaches improve their rating but never saw Scouts improve even if they have an A for potential and F/D/C scout rating.
I'm talking about Prospect Scouts btw, I've seen NBA Scouts improve their ratings. Same question regarding Trainers.

I usually like having really tall wing players who can shoot

This leads me to ask the others here...

What type of player do you usually want in your roster for your association/dynasty?

As Jae mentioned, for him it's tall wing players that can shoot.
For me it's bigmen that can do the dirty work (D, rebs.) and also decent PG that can set an offense (like a Derek Fisher). I'm usually fucked or have a hard time playing if I have an Eddie House-like PG and no other decent ball handlers on the floor.

[J@3]

My scouts, coach and assistant all improved. The coach started off with C's and B's, now he's all B+.

Usually I go for...

C: Someone who rebounds and defenders, I'm not too good at post moves so they don't score much
PF: Needs to be a decent mid-range shooter and fast
SF: Mostly need to be at least 6'10 and able to hit the three consistently
SG: Either a slashing player who can shoot from outside or a three point specialist, depends on what kinda PG I have
PG: Needs to be fast as hell and able to hit the three, that's basically my only criteria

[rise]

Damn, Jae! You rely on the three almost as much as I do! How often do you find a 6'10 3-shooting SF? I can only think of Austin Daye and Danillo Gallinari. Andrea Bargnani doesn't count, even though he rebounds like a SF.

In Live 2003, I usually go after guys who can play multiple positions, but here's a break down of what I look for when I sign or draft players. I love being able to switch players to multiple positions to try different lineups.

PG: Lightning quick, gets steals, shoots well from outside, great passer
SG: Gotta be able to knock down that three, but I want a guy who can do a little of everything, same goes for SF
SF: Either an all-out scorer, or a defensive player who can shoot and rebound well, a little of everything, wouldn't mind a big dunker here
PF: I usually like 3-shooting PF's, if not, then someone big who can defend, score, and rebound down low
C: Top-notch rebounder-nothing less, shot blocker, big dude who can score and defend

Obviously, there are exceptions (particularly with my NC Domination):
-Corey Harrington, my 6'6 All-Star rookie point guard, has almost no outside shot, and isn't a brilliant passer, but I have Acie Law, who is a good passer, and he's turned into a lights-out three-launcher, so that's good.
-In the Domination's opening season, how could I not turn down an opportunity to draft DeJuan Blair? He doesn't fit my "center requirements" at all, but was a decent option for the first year, until Tyson Chandler came along.

[dare]

PG: A decent defender with great 3pt shooting ability
SG: Slasher
SF: Good range from 3pt, able to play SG position.
PF: Plays good defense, athletic, able to play Center.
C: Plays good defense, good rebounder.

[Axel The Great]

What type of player do you usually want in your roster for your association/dynasty?

I LOVE point guards that can play hard-nosed defense (e.g. Lowry, LeBron James' father). I've also been able to develop Aaron Brooks into a pretty decent defender in my association; he's held D-Wil to 6/21, held Brandon Jennings to 5/20, and held Steve Nash to 7/20. A part of that is also a good contribution from Lowry. I also love dynamic athletic players like Terrence Williams and Chase Budinger, very fun to throw alley-oops to.

Also, I HAVE to have a PF that can shoot 15-18 foot jumpshots, like Scola. I love Scola's game; when the lane is clogged, I can find him outside for an open J, but also I love using his ability to score on the low blocks. With Yao and Scola, get a mismatch in the post, and if the double-team comes, I got a bunch of three-point shooters waiting to make you pay.

Pretty much, the team I have in my story is one I'm really happy with, which is why people wonder why I didn't make any trades. It's a team that has what I want from each position:

PG: Very fast, decent passer (Brooks), and someone who can run an offense well, and play good defense (Lowry).
SG: I've always heavily relied on SG's to score, and get to the free throw line (K-Mart). In my story, I've developed Martin into a decent defender, and also ran some post play weekly practices to add the post dimension to his game. Doesn't hurt to have another scoring SG off the bench either.
SF: Good three-point shooter, play solid defense (Battier). I also like having an athletic SF off the bench.
PF: I've explained what I like having in a PF above.
C: Shot-blocker. Doesn't necessarily have to score, just block shots and rebound (I'd love to have the Greatness on my team). But I have the luxury of a great scorer in Yao, which makes it a lot more enjoyable.

[Lamrock]

My scouts with A potential tend to improve one grade per season I've noticed. I use real draftees though so I don't usually put much stock into their opinions. As far as what I want in players, I don't strictly follow positional templates. I just make sure to have either one dominant defender, or two solid ones, three long range threats, a solid rebounder and a penetrator. Perfect example is the 08-09 Blazers 5 of Blake-Roy-Batum-Aldridge-Oden

[Kenny]

Here are my preferences:

PG: Usually a smaller (5'10-6'2), quicker guy that can pass. Traditionally I don't get a lot of scoring from my point guard, as I use them primarily as a distributor.
SG: Generally a good three point shooter, usually between 6'4-6'6
SF: Around 6'7-6'9 guy who has a good mid-range game and can get to the hoop. If I have a shooting guard that plays like that, see description of SG (omit the height).
PF: A good rebounder who can set picks and hit a jump shot from 15+ feet. A good passer is a bonus as well.
C: A defensive enforcer, preferably 7 foot or taller. Much like my point guard, I don't get a lot of scoring from this position, so the emphasis is usually on the defensive end.

[hova-]

PG: I love pesky perimetre defenders which can give you steals (even with reach-in foul sliders at 95 and steal slider at 40). On offense, I don't think I need a good shooter on his position but rather someone who has Rajon Rondo's skill set. Drive & pass & rebound.

SG: Tough to say. I played with Tyreke Evans a lot (cuz of my Sonics D) and he'd be somewhat perfect if his three point shot was more reliable. I don't need a shooter on this position, but his three point shot should be around the 70ies to knock down the open shot. Good defense is more important though.

SF: I love good shooters at the three because I run a lot of screen plays for this position usually. So gimme a shooter at SF and I am happy.

PF: Difficult to say, but I'm more the guy who likes a soft shooter at PF I noticed. Jason Thompson was quite a good example, mixture of mid-range game and & rebounding. Post moves aren't too important for me.

C: A good offensive center is really worth it. Demarcus Cousins has good post moves and I really love to play with him. Shot blocking should be in there, too. My Cs don't need to be very athletic as I like to play with the back to the basket more than running the court or throw alley oops.

[J@3]

Update

Record: 6-3

Theo Johnson: 31.0 PPG | 4.5 RPG | 11.5 APG
Best Game: 33 points | 4 rebounds | 14 assists | 14/22 FG

Rasheed Jordan: 23.1 PPG | 6.3 RPG | 2.8 APG
Best Game: 24 points | 10 rebounds | 3 assists | 9/14 FG

Kobe Bryant: 19.2 PPG | 4.6 RPG | 5.0 APG
Best Game: 24 points | 4 rebounds | 4 assists | 10/17 FG

Serge Ibaka: 18.0 PPG | 9.4 RPG | 2.8 APG
Best Game: 18 points | 13 rebounds | 1 assist | 8/12 FG

Avery Bradley: 15.3 PPG | 2.8 RPG | 5.3 APG
Best Game: 22 points | 2 rebounds | 8 assists | 9/13 FG

Dirk Nowitzki: 7.7 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 1.0 APG
Best Game: 11 points | 1 rebound | 1 assists (11 min) | 4/5 FG

Donald Gibbs: 6.2 PPG | 6.6 RPG | 1.8 BPG
Best Game: 15 points | 10 rebounds | 2 blocks | 6/9 FG

Richie Hardaway: 5.6 PPG | 1.3 RPG | 1.7 APG
Best Game: 14 points | 2 rebounds | 3 assists (14 min) 6/7 FG

Rod Schayes: 4.0 PPG | 1.2 RPG | 2.1 APG
Best Game: 10 points | 2 rebounds | 2 assists | 2/3 FG

Antonio Vaughn: 3.0 PPG | 1.7 RPG | 0.9 APG
Best Game: 7 points | 2 rebounds | 1 assist

Tracy Jordan: 2.9 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 0.7 BPG
Best Game: 6 points | 4 rebounds | 0 assists | 3/3 FG

Thinking of trading Schayes and making Hardaway the permanent back-up PG. Just gave Schayes a new contract but Hardaway is a rookie and already looks better.

[The X]

Richie Hardaway. Any relationship to Penny? Is he an oversized PG?

[J@3]

He is actually, he's like 6'5. I'd love a Penny type player, might try to draft a 6'8 SG and just force him to become a PG

[Lamrock]

MAGIC 2012 Offseason

- Patrick Chewing given 2 year extension; another Level F, Potential A scout signed for 4 years; Level C, Potential A trainer signed for 2 years
- Dwight picks up Player Option (!); Redick, Dalembert, Williams, Brooks and Wright's options all picked up; Bass opts out
- Batum extended (4 years, $40 million, player option in 4th year), McDyess signed 1 year, minimum deal
- Bass, Hinrich test free agency; Earl Clark let go
- Bucks pick Jeremy Lamb #1
- Batum, Elliot Williams dealt to Detroit for Hamilton (expiring) + #2 pick (Michael Gilchrist)
- Adonis Thomas taken with #25 pick
- Arenas, Adonis Thomas, 2013 second rounder to Houston for Kevin Martin, Chuck Hayes
- Ersan Ilyasova signed to 4 year, $25M MLE deal (4th year a team option)
- Finals MVP Felton to Cavs, CP3 re-signs with New Orleans
- Michael Gilchrist -> Basketball 101; Ersan Ilyasova -> Big man Offense

2012-13 Opening Night Roster:

Nelson/Duhon
Martin/Redick/Hamilton/Brooks*
Gilchrist/Richardson/Wright*
Ilyasova/Hayes/McDyess
Howard/Dalembert

[Cruzerr]

When ever I have time, I like to load up the NLSC roster and Sim until the playoffs. Heres a quick playoff bracket :



OKC has JaoSming, MVP , while Nuggets have Sit and Matthew

Houston have dare as Jazz have Jackal who is really good in the game.

Dallas has Sauru and Cable while Spurs got PDub.

Lakers-Hornets is pretty much Shadowgrin-The X


Boston has Dragon@4Q as Orlando has Martti. (Defensive Player Of The Year)

Lamrock, Colin and Houndy have to face Jing and kobe4mvp.

Bucks have Modifly injured while Atlantas QBaller and benji were both in the All-NBA First team

Miami has a Torn MCL Jae and Broken Jaw Andrew, while Cleveland has the GOAT and peaches

[J@3]

Me and Andrew on the same team I will be LeBron