DYNASTY SETTINGS
► Season Length • 82 Games
► Play Game Quarter Length • 7 minutes
► Sim Quarter Length • 9 minutes
► Playoff Length • 3-3-3-3
► Fantasy Draft • No
► Rules • NBA rules
► CPU Assistance: • OFF
► Shot Control • User
Expansion Draft Pick: #1| Mario Chalmers
NCAA Career:
Freshman year
Chalmers began his college career on the bench behind guard Jeff Hawkins, but worked his way into the starting rotation in January 2006. He finished the season starting 21 of the final 22 games (missing only senior night). He finished his freshman year averaging 11.5 points per game, second on the team. His 15 points against Bradley in the NCAA tournament totaled four straight 15 point games. He became the second freshman in Big 12 history to win Conference Player of the Week honors and was named National Freshman of the Week twice. He also set the KU and Big 12 record for most steals in a season by a freshman with 89. Chalmers won KU's Clyde Lovellette Most Improved Player Award (co- with Julian Wright), and the Dutch Lonborg Free Throw Percentage Award (78.8%).
Sophomore year
Chalmers was second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game, recording four 20 point games during the 06–07 season. In the Big 12 Coaches Awards, Chalmers was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State. Chalmers was also voted on the All Big 12 Third Team, and the All Big 12 Defensive Team, and was the Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. His season total of 97 steals put him in first place in Kansas basketball history for steals in a single season.
Junior year
Chalmers averaged 12.8 points per game during his junior year. He also led the team in assists per game, with 4.3; 3-point shooting accuracy, at 46.8%; and steals, with 97. His 97 steals tied the school's single season record, a record he set as a sophomore. He scored 30 points in Kansas' win in the Big 12 Conference tournament title game against Texas.
He was named Big 12 All-Defensive First Team and All Big 12 Second Team.[6]
Chalmers helped his team win the 2008 NCAA Championship with a three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left in the final game (often referred to as Mario's Miracle). His three just before the end of regulation brought the game into overtime, when Kansas would take over and beat the Memphis Tigers.[2] Chalmers was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. It was the Jayhawks' 5th national title (including two pre-tournament titles in 1922 and 1923). He was on the defensive first team in the NCAA.[3]
Expansion Draft Pick: #2| Evan Turner
NCAA Career:
Freshman year
As a freshman, he averaged 27.1 minutes per game, 8.5 points per game, and 4.4 rebounds per game over the course of the season and finished second on the team in assists and third in steals.[30][31] Turner recorded his first career double double on January 19, 2008 at Thompson-Boling Arena against the Tennessee Vols with his first 20-point game and first 10-rebound game.[32][33] That season, he helped Ohio State win the 2008 National Invitation Tournament by averaging 18.5 points, 7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3 steals in the tournament's semifinal and final round at Madison Square Garden.[34][35] He had also scored in double digits in the quarterfinal round.[36] He was also in the starting lineup for the other two NIT games.[37][38] He contributed at least 24 minutes as a starter in each of the five tournament games.[32]
Sophomore year
As a sophomore, Turner was named player of the week three times during the 2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season (December 8, 2008, February 2, 2009, and February 9, 2009).[39][40][41] On February 26, Turner became the only Big Ten player selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as a Top 15 finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.[42] As a guard/forward for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team of the Big Ten Conference, he led his team in the following per-game statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, and steals.[43] Turner led the Big Ten in scoring as a sophomore.[7] He and Manny Harris became the 4th and 5th players in conference history to finish in the top ten in the conference in points, rebounds and assists since assists became a statistic in 1983–84, following Steve Smith, Jim Jackson, and Brian Evans.[44]
Although he was not selected as a preseason All-Big Ten conference player,[45] he was the only person chosen as a unanimous first-team All Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media at the end of the regular season.[8] On March 5, the National Association of Basketball Coaches honored Turner as a District 7 (Big Ten)[46] first-team selection along with four other sophomores.[47] He was also chosen on March 10 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for its 2008–09 Men's Division I District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI) Team, based on voting from its national membership.[48] He was selected as a 2009 All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press.[49] On March 15, he was selected to the 2009 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament team, despite Ohio State's loss in the final game to Purdue.[9][50] Turner played for the 2009 Junior USA World University Championships team, along with conference foes Robbie Hummel of Purdue and Talor Battle of Penn State. He helped them to the bronze medal and a 6–1 record.[51]
Junior year
His junior season began with numerous accolades. ESPN chose both Kalin Lucas and Turner to its 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season preseason second-team All-American list.[52] FOX Sports preseason All-American list included him on its fifth team.[53] Turner was named among the 50 preseason Wooden Award watch list nominees and the 50 preseason Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist nominees.[54][55] The 24-member Big Ten media panel selected him as a first team preseason All-Big Ten team member.[56]
Turner, nicknamed "The Villain" for his ability to rip the hearts out of his opponents on their own floor, opened the season by recording the first triple double by a Big Ten player since January 13, 2001 and the second in school history (Dennis Hopson was the first) during the Coaches vs. cancer classic against Alcorn State University.[57] This earned him his fourth career Big Ten player of the week honor although first of the 2009–10 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season.[58] The following week, he ran his streak of double doubles to four to earn back-to-back player of the week honors.[59] Two weeks after his first triple-double, he repeated the feat at home against Lipscomb University on November 24.[60] This earned him his third consecutive Big Ten player of the week award.[61] On December 5, 2009 in the fourth week of the season, he suffered transverse process fractures of the second and third lumbar vertebra in his back, which was expected to cause him to be inactive for two months.[62] Turner returned early from his injury on January 6, 2010.[63] This occurred two days after Ohio State fell out of the top 25 in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings on January 4 in his absence.[64] With Turner back in the lineup, Ohio State returned to the top 25 on January 18,[65] and Turner earned his fourth Big Ten Player of the Week award on the same day after leading his team to wins over two ranked conference foes.[66] Then on February 8, Turner established a new Big Ten Conference record with his eighth career Conference Player of the Week award, surpassing Glenn Robinson and Jackson. The fifth of the season also tied Robinson's single season record.[67] Two weeks after tying the single-season record, he broke the record when he averaged 24.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists against two ranked conference opponents (No. 4 Purdue and at No. 11 Michigan State).[68] Then he won the award again on March 1.[69]
Turner helped led the Buckeyes to the regular season co-Championship for the Big Ten Conference and helped them earn the number one seed in the 2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. On March 12, 2010, in their first game in the tournament, Turner helped the Buckeyes get a win over their arch rival Michigan Wolverines with a last second 37-foot 3 pointer.[70] In the second game, against Illinois, Turner scored 31 points, scoring the game-tying points to send the game to overtime and then the final four points in overtime to send the game into double overtime. Turner scored a total of 12 points in overtime.[71] He then led Ohio State to victory in the championship game against Minnesota with another 31 points.[72] Turner was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player and part of the All-Tournament team.[73] Turner also repeated as the Big Ten scoring champion, and although he lost the rebounding championship to Mike Davis (9.167 to 9.161), he led the conference in defensive rebounds. He also ranked second in assists and third in steals.[74] He improved upon his sophomore showing by becoming the first player to finish in the top two in average points (1st, 20.4), rebounds (2nd, 9.2) and assists (2nd, 6.0), becoming the first men's basketball player to do so and the first to finish in the top five in all three categories.[74][75]
Expansion Draft Pick: #3| Shaq "The Big Diesel" 'O Neal
Player profile
O'Neal established himself as an overpowering low post presence, putting up career averages of 23.7 points on .582 field goal accuracy, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game (as of April 2011).
At 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m), 325 lb (147 kg; 23.2 st)[84] and U.S. shoe size 23,[33] he became famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gave him a power advantage over most opponents.
O'Neal's "drop step", (called the "Black Tornado" by O'Neal) in which he posted up a defender, turned around and, using his elbows for leverage, powered past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, proved an effective offensive weapon. In addition, O'Neal frequently used a right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk contributed to his career field goal accuracy of .582, the second highest field goal percentage of all time.[85] He led the NBA in field goal percentage 10 times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of nine.[33]
Opposing teams often used up many fouls on O'Neal, reducing the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's imposing physical presence inside the paint caused dramatic changes in many teams' offensive and defensive strategies.[citation needed]
O'Neal's primary weakness was his free-throw shooting, with a career average of 52.7%. He once missed all 11 free throws in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record.[86] In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often committed intentional fouls against him,
a tactic known as "Hack-a-Shaq". O'Neal was the third-ranked player all-time in free throws taken,[87] having attempted 11,252 free-throws in 1,207 games up to and including the 2010–11 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so, along with Chamberlain.[88]
On his own half of the hardwood, O'Neal was a capable defender, named three times to the All-NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence intimidated opposing players shooting near the basket, and he averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game over the course of his career.[citation needed]
In early June 2011, the Los Angeles Lakers announced plans to retire Shaq's number, 34, possibly before his first NBA Hall of Fame ballot.[89]
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