LTR |¦| @ GSW Recap

Hi, I'm Jamie Chingy and this is my life. You join me on draft night, as I gear up for my two picks and the rest of the off-season. However, I just about have enough time to tell you about last season.

It was the beginning of September and the draft had occurred, we had signed all our free agents, when GM Danny Ferry and Head Coach Mike Brown had an argument with the owner Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans. Not really sure why I'm telling you this, I mean, it was front page news. I made a few phone calls, had a couple of interviews and, eventually, I was hired as the GM/Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. My qualifications included a vast amount of titles in England and, as a 25 year old man, Gilbert took a chance on me. I was slated by the media across the country, but I'm digressing. After all, you all read the papers over this past year, didn't you?



My first task was to sign some staff. For my assistant coach, I wanted the best, but with only $1.82m I had to be slightly cautious with my offer. Nevertheless, I decided that a good coach was of the utmost importance. One thing was certain, he had to be good all round. Knowing that the good staff go quickly, I immediately logged on to the NBA Jobs website (no, I cannot disclose information regarding the site) and looked for a coach. I wanted an offensively minded coach, yet still a guy able to help on defense. There were some shooting specialists out there, but they either demanded too much money or had too many weaknesses. I eventually set my heart on a Big Man Specialist named Lorenzen Mamdani, rated at A, B and C- for Offense, Defense and Athletics respectively. My next priority was a great scout and this was essential - I want to get good talent in drafts. I know this team should only get picks in the 20-30 range, so I needed a scout who could rate all players and I found one who specialised in Africa, thus could find a lot of unpublicised prospects who could be the next superstars. His name is Nazr Garren and is rated at A-, A and B in his scouting abilites. This left me little money for a Trainer, so I swooped up Darrick Rundle, just a D rating who doesn't specialise in any particular part of the body.

The season started horribly: we were 0-3 to begin with in the newly formatted 29 game season. The city wanted my head on a platter. I was worried. However, LeBron and the guys picked us up to a 17-12 record and a playoff berth (5th seed) with the Boston Celtics. The playoffs had also been reformatted to 5-5-5-5 and we won all three games 138-84. 105-91 and 106-79. That gave us a matchup with the Detroit Pistons.

The awards were announced prior to this series, and we were all ecstatic to see them be unveiled: (PPG, RPG, APG, BPG, SPG)
The 6th Man of the Year was Boris Diaw with 5.7-5.6-2.7-1.10-0.55
The Defensive Player of the Year was Andrei Kirlenko with 18.7-10.8-3.3-2.17-1.79
The Most Improved Player was Ben Gordon with 22.6-3.8-3.3-0.24-0.97
The Rookie of the Year was Charlie Villanueva with 15.7-8.6-2.9-1.28-1.07
The Most Valuable Player was our very own LeBron James, thanks to a fantastic 27.2-8.8-7.1-1.59-1.83.

We lost Game 1 104-102 after OT, won Game 2 99-91, lost Game 3 122-85, won Game 4 96-80. In the decisive Game 5, we looked dead and buried after 3; we were 12 points down. LeBron James, however, took the game by storm, eventually hitting a 20-foot jumpshot to give us the lead with 4 seconds to go. A timeout was, obviously, called by the Pistons. Do I really need to go on, I mean, you all saw the game, didn't you? OK, I like this story anyway. The inbound pass went towards Rip Hamilton, but Larry Hughes knocked the pass downcourt. Hamilton chased it, but had to fling it at the basket from inside his own three point line and came up short. We were into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.

To be honest, we all know we let ourselves down here, losing in 3 to the Heat, 107-97, 98-88 and 108-100, but we know that this is a sign of where we are going. The Spurs beat the Heat in the Finals, but that was irrelevant to us. All we knew was that we were hungry for more. We wanted to break the trend of the same few teams making the Finals. We were Leading the Revolution.

Last edited by chingy0007 on Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:24 am, edited 7 times in total.

We had the choice about which players to re-sign out of Martynas Andriuskevicius, Drew Gooden, Ronald 'Flip' Murray and Stephen Graham. I felt that Martynas was not worth keeping, even for a minimum contract and that Flip was asking for too much money. So I resigned Drew Gooden and Stephen Graham, leaving me with three roster spaces going into the season.

So, now you're up to speed. I suppose you want to know the order of draft picks. You could look it up for yourself, but I'll tell you anyway:
1. Seattle Supersonics
2. Toronto Raptors
3. Orlando Magic
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Golden State Warriors
6. Chicago Bulls
7. Washington Wizards
8. Utah Jazz
9. Phoenix Suns
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Milwaukee Bucks
12. Charlotte Bobcats
13. Atlanta Hawks
14. Portland Trailblazers
15. Sacramento Kings
16. Indiana Pacers
17. New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets
18. Philadelphia 76ers
19. Denver Nuggets
20. New York Knicks
21. **Cleveland Cavaliers**
22. Boston Celtics
23. New Jersey Nets
24. Minnesota Timberowlves
25. Miami Heat
26. Houston Rockets
27. Detroit Pistons
28. Dallas Mavericks
29. San Antonio Spurs
30. Memphis Grizzlies



Next was my opportunity to make my first official draft pick. I forget who was already taken, but the top prospects were already taken. I only remember the excitement of having Adam Morrison almost drop to us, actually going beyond the lottery picks. Anyway, we did manage to draft a potential lottery pick, a point guard by the name of Kyle Lowry. In the second round, we picked up Dee Brown because I felt he may be able to do a job for us.

We don't have the cap space for FA Signings, besides, the best players out there are Sam Cassell and Gary Payton; most of the stars re-signed with their teams. I'm looking forward to the new season - hopefully being able to dump Eric Snow and/or Damon Jones in conjunction with perhaps a starter in order to upgrade the position. Or alternatively, I could just package the two for a better backup. We shall see.

I have now been able to announce the starting roster for the 06-07 season:


This is our schedule:
November
December
January
February
March
April

I am especially looking forward to December 12 and January 21 when we will play the Bobcats and then the Raptors. Not only should we gain Ws, but we will see both teams' new uniforms on our court for the first time. This should be an interesting season. LTR.

Now, I think that a major matchup will be at the Center position. Zydrunas Ilgauskas should have the edge over Dampier, but who knows what Dallas' Defensive man can produce today.

Our keys to success:

• Contain Dirk Nowitzki. Do that, and you take away a considerable threat.
• Utilise LeBron James. He is a player who can dominate a game, we must use that to our advantage.
• Spread the ball around. All our players can score - get them all going and Dallas won't have a chance.

coming later, @ DAL recap.
I simmed the entire first season, in case you were wondering.

Oh hell yes ! That is a sick start ... dunno why, but I love it, maybe coz they style of writing is definitely one of the things I always love in dynasties and yours is just amazing. Presentation is awesome, too.

Good luck !!

Very, very good start. Like the way you wrote it.

Very, very good start. Like the way you wrote it.

Damn nice stuff so far
Varejao rated 62 I thought he was rated 68 or sumthin, you should put him on a bench

Our first game of the season was at the Dallas Mavericks:


Cleveland Box score|¦|Dallas Box score

We started really well, with a string of good plays from our players. For example, a huge left handed slam from LeBron James, followed soon after by Kyle Lowry completing an alley-oop pass from the King himself. Not wanting to be outdone, the Dallas Mavericks fought back, with a big rejection from Erick Dampier. With just over 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Kyle Lowry threw it up, and LeBron James slammed it home. The first quarter ended with us leading the Mavericks by 6, 28-22.

Into the second quarter we went. It was a largely uneventful quarter, in which LeBron James scored just 3 points. There were no real spectacular plays, although the likes of Aleksandar Pavlovic and Donyell Marshall stepped up to the mark, scoring some key points. Despite leading by double digits at points in the quarter, we led by just one point at the half. With these statistics, LeBron James was given player at the half honours for the Cavaliers.

The third quarter really started off the same way that the second finished off; with lacklustre basketball from both sides, especially on defense. The epitome of this was when, with 2 minutes to go, LeBron James received his fourth foul. Silly as it may seem now, I felt that he would be able to play sensibly for the rest of the quarter, but no. He received his fifth foul with one and a half minutes remaining and just 15 points, leaving me with little options remaining. We turned to the sextet of Ilgauskas, Gooden, Marshall, Hughes, Lowry and Snow to rotate for the next 7 minutes and get as the points we needed. As a result of this calamity, we trailed by 2 at the end of three.

The final quarter changed a lot. We had our ups and downs like a true roller coaster, but it was Larry Hughes and, surprisingly, Eric Snow who pulled us through in the tough times. Larry Hughes darted through trafficnot once, but twice in the minutes before LeBron could safely re-enter the game. Once he did re-enter the game, LeBron was like an animal unleashed, improving his stats greatly, but still not to his high standard. A killer moment in the game was a lead change, thanks to a pinpoint three pointer from Kyle Lowry (swish) thanks to an assist from Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Eventually, the Mavs were forced to foul after an impressive offensive rebound from Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas hit the crucial free throws and we were home safely.

The final score was 109-104, with Ilgauskas being named Player of the Game.

All in all, I feel it was a job well done, but we must be cautious of fouls and complacency in future matches, including out next game at home against the Utah Jazz.

Last edited by chingy0007 on Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:03 am, edited 2 times in total.

Oh hell yes ! That is a sick start ... dunno why, but I love it, maybe coz they style of writing is definitely one of the things I always love in dynasties and yours is just amazing. Presentation is awesome, too.

Good luck !!

thanks man, I hope you enjoy the rest of what I have in store.

Very, very good start. Like the way you wrote it.

thanks to you guys too, I hope to be able to bring more of the same.

Damn nice stuff so far
Varejao rated 62 I thought he was rated 68 or sumthin, you should put him on a bench

That's from the NLSC updated rosters. I really need to find a trade where I can trade a guard or two for a big man - I'm pretty shallow in that area. I also need to improve my FT% - 57% is woeful.

Hopefully I'll at least play the next game tomorrow.

a huge right handed slam from LeBron James,

It was actually a left handed slam lol. BTW great dynasty, I love everything about it, especially the way the pics are iincorporated in the summary. And you had 109 not 108.

a huge right handed slam from LeBron James,

It was actually a left handed slam lol. BTW great dynasty, I love everything about it, especially the way the pics are iincorporated in the summary. And you had 109 not 108.

thanks man, I fixed all that stuff.

nice stuff man could you plz gimme the link for that font?

Nice win, Dampier with a big game...

Really like the photos, just their quality isn't the best...

I'm trying better quality; I'll see how it goes witht the next game. Just gotta write the preview.

I really felt the need for a shooter. Our woeful shooting needs to improve so, after numerous enquires to the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers, I finally managed to get this trade accepted.

The trade was Michael Redd, Joe Smith and Charlie Bell for Laryr Hughes, Eric Snow and Luke Jackson. This provides us with a much needed proven shooter in Redd and a decent backup big man in Joe Smith. Charlie Bell and Luke Jackson were really just added as fillers to balance the minor differences in the salaries. Hopefully Michael will be a success for us, especially with his left hand shot that can baffle defenders. With there still being a few days to the game, the trio will be able to play against Utah.

I'm sorry to see Larry, Eric and Luke go, but if you look at the way that Larry and Luke have played, they have not really been up to their potential. Whilst Eric has played pretty well, I just felt that, with Kyle now starting (and Damon and Dee on the bench) we could have better uses of the $6m+ salary he had.

I wish them luck, just not when the Bucks play us.

Not very realistic, Larry is a lot worse than Redd in real life...

**Lowry will start, not Jones**

I'm really looking at the SF position today, with last season's MVP LeBron James matched up against last seasons Defensive Player of the Year Andrei Kirilenko. This should be a show of skill - the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. Who will come out on top? It's a tough one.

I'm also hoping for Michael to settle in well in his first game with us. Thankfully, it's at home so he should get crowd support.

Ilgauskas has to deal with a youthful center in Pat O'Bryant, and I hope he will be able to use his experience to hold him out.

Boozer v Gooden will be anticipated, with the man who walked out on these fantastic fans facing up to his replacement.

Other than that, Deron Williams will have the edge over Lowry, but hopefully Kyle can try to cancel him out.

Not very realistic, Larry is a lot worse than Redd in real life...

It comes down to more than that though, because Larry Hughes on LIVE is not Larry Hughes in real life. Even though the trade would never happen in real life, if those players played the way they do in NBA LIVE in real life, the trade could go down.

The trade is pretty good, and about the realism ... Larry had an off year, but he is definitely as good as Redd when he is in his best shape .... look at his Washington year. If he fits into the lineup he is very good in real life.

Good luck vs the Jazz ! And nice game vs Dallas.

Wow, this dynasty is great, I love how you link the pictures of the game instead of having it as your 'main feature' as most people do. Your writing is fantastic .

Utah Box Score|¦|Cleveland Box score

Unlike last game, we had a slightly slow start with O'Bryant dominating in the paint scoring the first 6 points of the game. I'm not going to lie; at that point I was nervous. I mean, [i]Utah[i], we couldn't lose to them, surely? We picked up quickly however, a particular moment to savour wasMichael Redd scoring his first three points for us. Later our defence improved, and we managed to prevent the easy shot. At one stage, with less than 2 seconds on the shot clock, we managed to deflect the ball out of bounds near the corner. Astoundingly, they threw the ball to Gordan Giricek, who was nearer to half court than he was to the arc, and Mike had his hand in his face. Despite all this, Gordan hit the buzzer beater, which I think hurt us inside; we managed to have tough defence yet he still hit the shot. This showed when, on Utah's next offence, we allowed Andrei Kirilenko to burst inside and hit us with animmensely powerful slam. This looked like getting all the worse when we missed out next shot and then Carlos Boozer made a cut to the basket, facing up to 6-6 Guard Michael Redd. However, Redd did not want to be beaten, and leapt up to block Carlos Boozer's finger rol attempt. That play was just what we needed, and carried us into the first quarter breakdown by 3, 26-23. It looked as if it would be a long night.

As the second quarter began, it became apparent that my players wanted to have some serious fun as LeBron James proved his love for levitation and then Drew Gooden brought the house down with a powerful dunk. Before long Michael Redd and Kyle Lowry, too, got in on the action. This fast-pace action climaxed with LeBron James completing a 360 dunk. After this, however, we were terrible, rarely making a good shot, brining us into half time where Andrei Kirlenko and Michael Redd were given Players at the Half honours.We were, actually, still down by 4, 53-49, and this was actually thanks to a buzzer beating three from Michael Redd.

The third quarter started better, with Michael Redd, Kyle Lowry and Donyell Marshall hoisting up an array of 3 point attempts. This three by Donyell Marshall was our 11th of the night. LeBron James yet again got himself into slight foul trouble, but this time I brought him off to cool down, lecturing him over the importance of staying calm and not giving away silly fouls. After three quarters, we were up by 5, 82-77.

Enter the fourth and final quarter and we were struggling for flair. So, with 7 minutes remaining, I subbed LeBron in, and he paid me back immediately with a baseline up and under jam which really got the crowd on their feet. From then on, we never looked back, with Michael Redd hitting yet another three-point shot and Kyle Lowry leaping up with 2:44 remaining for a fantastic lefty dunk. It was all us from then on, although LeBron fouled out giving Gordan Giricek a 4-point play opportunity (which he missed). We really must do something about LeBron's foul trouble. I'll ensure he's not quite so aggressive on defence. Despite missing those last 2:30, LeBron managed an almighty 14 points in the fourth quarter.

By the end of the game, thanks to another buzzer beating three from Redd, we won by 20, 117-97 and
LeBron James was given the Play of the Game award.

I was a little disappointed at out start, but couldn't fault our fantastic second half, and thought that Redd could not have been much of a better support player for LeBron.

Last edited by chingy0007 on Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Nice last quarter, Redd collected points from 3's and FT's only

he was just open so much

LeBron James was given the Play of the Game award.

you mean player of the game?
good dynasty, nice win