by Dan's Brain on Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:28 pm
I wanna hear it for those guys who, after the pre-game warm-up, leave the floor and watch the opening tip-off from the comfort of the pine bench. The player who sits next to the head coach, itching to get into the game and make a bit of impact on the proceedings. I want to hear about the player who sparks your team just by running onto the court, making a few energetic plays and defensive stops before sitting their ass back down again and let the stars do their job.
Tell me about your star subs. Who's your 6th man? Who is your favourite reserve?
I'm pretty lucky in My Wizards Dynasty. I've got 3 stand-outs off the bench, who are all very young, athletic and full of energy.
Jarvis Hayes is the first. He started this season, starting alongside Jerry Stackhouse, but then a couple of trades saw him lose his running mate, and saw Hayes get relegated to the bench. He was all right when he was starting, averaging 13 pts in 26 minutes. But since LeBron joined the team and Hayes went to the bench, he's been playing out of his mind. He averages 9 ppg in about 13 minutes, and is pretty reliable to knock down 2 3's a night.
The second is Jonathan Bender. He's always one of my first picks when starting a dynasty because of his fantastic upside, dunking and shotblocking ability. He comes on, has a few alley-oop passes thrown to him from Gilbert Arenas or Steve Blake. Blocks a couple of layups from stupid point guards who try to drive the lane, and comes off the floor again, only after about 3 minutes. But the stats tell the story. 7 ppg, 1.8 bpg, 5 rpg, 9 mpg, .700 FG.
The final is a guy who i got after trading for the 13th pick in the draft last year. I think i gave up Jared Jeffries, who was cut by the Cavaliers. The guy i'm talking about is Samaki Goode. He started the year buried on the bench behind Brendan Haywood, Etan Thomas and Christian Laettner. Those guys have all departed and i now have Goode as my primary backup Centre. He's 6'10", weighs in at 256 lb, and has an afro like Ben Wallace. He's earning his lottery paycheck by getting the ball in the post, backing down the guarding centre, then either drawing the double team, he dishes to the open man who doesnt disappoint. Or he takes it to the rack himself, in a Chamberlainesque jam. He's quite a manic player for his size and throws himself all over the floor and the glass to come up with rebounds, and he's doing a damn good job it. He's chipping in 6 pts and 7.5 rpg in 14 minutes. He's started 4 times due to injuries to my starting Centres and in one of those games he grabbed 18 rebounds.