Vancouver SuperSonics:A New Beginning (pg.2)

Im really enjoying this dynasty! My favorite part are the videos especially that Warrick dunk. That was nice! Im following! And for the contest, why not sometihng like 2Swift=(TooSwift)?

Great updates. Loving the layout of your dynasty.

Robert Swift is

Thanks everyone. I'm glad people are liking this. Next update soon.

Leading candidate for Robert Swift's nickname is currently iGoT5oNiT's suggestion - 2Swift. Contest is still open, however, so keep those suggestions coming.

Cheers, and thanks all.

My favorite part are the videos especially that Warrick dunk. That was nice!

Also, that is how I plan on doing all the videos from now on, with 2 different angles. One angle on regular speed, the other slow motion.

DEC 20: VAN 110 - DAL 96

Having lost 5 of their last 6 games, the Sonics returned to Vancouver after a disappointing 1-4 road trip to square off against the Mavs. Though Dallas has been very inconsistent so far this season, sitting 2 games below .500, possibly due to the team's collapse in last year's finals, they entered this contest riding a season-high 3 game winning streak despite the absence of both Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse. The Sonics, meanwhile, are still without the services of Brevin Knight, and due to the team's poor performance lately, Vancouver entered the match-up as the definite underdog. Dallas dominated the 3rd quarter, taking a 70-67 lead into the fourth. It was then that the Sonics exploded, scoring a season high 43 points in the 4th quarter, and simply running the Mavericks out of the gym. Luke ridnour led the charge, nailing all three of his three pointers attempted in the 4th, and scoring 16 of his 24 total points.

It wasn't all good news for the Sonics in the 4th quarter, though. Robert Swift was struck by DaSagana Diop's elbow while going up for a rebound early in the quarter, and was quickly escorted off the court with blood streaming down his face. Speculation is that he suffered a broken nose, which could keep him out of the lineup for up to a month, depending on the severity of the break. Medical results are expected later this evening.

HIGHLIGHTS


Play of the Game - Sharp Nails the Dagger 3 (video)


Player of the Game


BOX SCORE

Last edited by TheMC5 on Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

good win.

Leading candidate for Robert Swift's nickname is currently iGoT5oNiT's suggestion - 2Swift.

lol what about nang?

Robert Swift's injury results were made public today.



This injury could be tough for the Sonics. Swift had developed into one of the leagues better centers, and provided Vancouver with an inside presence both offensively and defensively. With their lineup already depleted by the injury to Brevin Knight, Swift's 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game will be tough to replace for the Sonics. Andrea Bargnani will likely be called upon to produce more offensively. Bob Hill has already stated that the team is likely to go small quite often and play Phoenix Suns style offense. During the press conference to announce Swift's injury, when questioned about it would affect the team's strategy, he replied,

"Well, we'd been running quite a few plays inside for Robert this year, and he'd become a smart enough player to allow us to play an inside-outside game at times, and that's gonna be hard to replace. Like I said earlier, we're going to be calling upon Andrea (Bargnani) to produce a little more consistently. We'll probably slide him right into the starting lineup. But I also foresee us running a lot of small-ball. I think we'll see more of Rashard at the 4, with either Chris (Wilcox) or Andrea at the 5 spot, and we've already had some success this season with Dixon and Ridnour in the back court together, which I think we'll see a lot more of, as well. Because, basically, where Swift's injury affects this team the most is on the defensive side. His presence in there, I'm not sure we can replace that. Neither Chris nor Andrea are great defensive players, so teams with a strong inside scorer won't see too many problems in the paint. Like I said, I think we're keeping the same starting lineup, just sliding Andrea in there for Robert, so Chris will see time with Andrea in the front court, but if we encounter problems, I think we'll just try to push the ball and run the other team out of the gym."

good win.

Leading candidate for Robert Swift's nickname is currently iGoT5oNiT's suggestion - 2Swift.

lol what about nang?

What does Nang mean, exactly? I didn't realize you were proposing it as nickname, so I hadn't yet considered it.

DEC 22: VAN 107 - TOR 100

This game was significant for many reasons. Both teams were struggling following their blockbuster trade in the off-season, which sent Ray Allen and Johan Petro to Toronto in exchange for #1 draft pick Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, and Joey Graham. The move was an obvious rebuilding attempt on Vancouver's part, unloading it's franchise player for youth and potential, in order to focus the team around the versatile Rashard Lewis. For Toronto, however, it was supposed to make them instant contenders, if not for the Eastern Conference finals, then at least for the lead in the weak Atlantic division. But with a 10-18 record, the Raptors are currently 4th in the division and well out of playoff position.

The game was also the first all-Canadian NBA game since the Grizzlies moved to Memphis. It was also Toronto fans' first opportunity to see live in game exactly what they had given up to land Ray Allen and his $14 million contract. After the showing Bargnani put on in the game, Raptors fans got a glimpse of the potential of this future star. The Raptors lost this game due to what is fast becoming routine for the team - a late 4th quarter collapse. The pivotal play came with 30 seconds left in the game, with the Sonics up 102-100. Ray Allen drove in for the layup, only to be blocked by Anthony Parker. The ball fell right to Luke Ridnour, who made a short pass up to Kirk Snyder at mid court, who in turn bounced a short pass over to Sharp. Sharp caught the ball in stride and drove in to the basket on Chris Bosh, who played him tight the whole way. He sank the running layup while drawing a foul on Bosh, and made the ensuing free throw, putting the Sonics up 105-100. Ridnour hit a pair of free throws to seal the win. Kirk Snyder scored a season-high 17, while Chris Bosh had phenomenal game for Toronto (excluding the foul on Lewis at the end of the game), going for 36 points, 11 boards, and 6 blocks, and holding Chris Wilcox to 2-12 shooting and 6 points. Anthony Parker returned to the starting lineup for Vancouver, replacing Juan Dixon.

HIGHLIGHTS


Play of the Game - Parker Blocks Allen, Lewis Absorbs Contact to Finish the Break (video)


Player of the Game


BOX SCORE






Vancouver finished off their 3 game home stand on with a 112-97 win over the New Orleans Hornets, who were without sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic, on December 26. Luke Ridnour continued his strong play of late, averaging 21.7 points, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals over the Sonics current 3 game winning streak. Stojakovic was replaced in the Hornets starting lineup by rookie Marcus Vinicius, who scored 15 points on 2 of 7 shooting from the floor, while getting to the free throw line an astonishing 13 times and making 11, in his first career start.

Last edited by TheMC5 on Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

good win.

Leading candidate for Robert Swift's nickname is currently iGoT5oNiT's suggestion - 2Swift.

lol what about nang?

What does Nang mean, exactly? I didn't realize you were proposing it as nickname, so I hadn't yet considered it.

it is a nickname for someone who has red hair

DEC 28: VAN 102 - DEN 106

Vancouver hoped to extend it's winning streak to 4 games when they traveled to Denver to take on the division leading Nuggets. Denver was without center Marcus Camby, who has missed 2 weeks with bruised ribs. Nene filled in admirably, however, blocking 4 shots and grabbing a season-high 17 rebounds, helping Denver to a hard fought 4 point victory, snapping the Sonics winning streak at 3 games. The Sonics divisional record was now 0-4, with losses to Portland, twice to Utah, and now Denver. Rahsard Lewis kept his streak of games with 20 or more points going at 5, scoring 32 in the loss. Allen Iverson paced all players with 35.

HIGHLIGHTS


Play of the Game - Melo's One-Handed Pump Fake in Mid-Air (video)


Player of the Game


BOX SCORES

Still going strong I see. It didn't take much, but this is the #4 2007 dynasty imo. Keep it up and hopefully you can play a whole season!

Also, be sure to check out my 2K7 Association. I'm only asking because I've updated quite a bit, but noone notices, and your dynasty is inspiring mine.

OMG. I swear i replayed that Carmelo Reverse like 10 times! Carmelo is a beast for that one! DAMN! haha....just for that, Im a TRUE follower of this dynasty. Excellent work!

Thanks so much, guys. If anyone's got any suggestions on making this even better, I'd love to hear them.

December recap up soon.

DECEMBER RECAP

Schedule


Team Stats


Standings


Power Rankings


League Leaders


Transactions

Last edited by TheMC5 on Sun Apr 01, 2007 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wow... phenomenal. I seriously don't know how you could improve this. If you haven't already, download the next draft class and have NLSC ballers. That would be pretty cool. Also, you could start a prediction game. Give members points for guessing the victors for games.

But seriously, it is near-perfect. To get more replies and hits, use gimmicks. Flashy graphics and a better topic title. Yours isn't great. EXAMPLE: Path the Glory: The Vancouver Supersonics (13-19)

All of my improvement suggestions are cosmetic though, and really, it is great now. Keep up the good work!

Really geat recap...you make really fast update!

Yeah these updates are going quickly, nice job

I don't know what you should improve, maybe try to make even better layout of the dynasty. Also as Lamrock mentioned, prediction game would be cool, because it was very long time we had one in dynasty stories

Well, I only play the 4th quarters of 2 possession games, so I'm able to make up a lot of ground in a short time. In fact, I've already finished playing out the next month, so I'm likely to have another few updates up in the next few days. I've been thinking about changing the layout as well, but I don't have any good ideas for it at the moment. When I come up with something, I'll change it up.

Also, I just started working on a 3rd jersey for the team, as well as a throwback Seattle jersey with modified colours.


EDIT: As for some sort of predictions game, that would be too difficult to implement in the regular season, as I never have any way of knowing which games I'll play and which ones I'll sim, since it all depends on the score after 3 quarters. But I'll definitely add it in the playoffs, cause then I'll be playing every game for sure. Also you can do round by round predictions, stuff like that.

Also, I just started working on a 3rd jersey for the team, as well as a throwback Seattle jersey with modified colours.

cant wait to see those jerseys...especially the throwback ones.... hopefully it looks good.

Vancouver finished out December with a disappointing 3 game losing streak, dropping games to Denver, Minnesota (which, combined with the loss to Denver, left the Sonics with an 0-5 start against divisional opponents), and Boston. Paul Pierce dropped 40 points for the Celtics, becoming the first player this season to score 40 or more against the Sonics.

January, however, started out with a big 100-95 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Joey Graham got the start at the 4, in an attempt to slow Dirk with a smaller, quicker defender. It wasn't a terribly effective strategy, with Nowitzki going for a game-high 28 points, and Joey Graham playing only 10 minutes. Andrea Bargnani had a huge game off the bench, scoring 21 points in 15 minutes, off a perfect 10-10 shooting performance. The Sonics weren't quite capable of creating any momentum from the win over Dallas, though, losing the next night in Houston, 95-83. Yao Ming dominated with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, while no Sonic reached 20 points. Sharp led the team with 18.




JAN 5: VAN 113 - NYK 103

New York raced out to a 36-20 lead in the first quarter, and looked like they were going to dominate the rest of the game. The Knicks are the Knicks for a reason though, as they have continued to prove so far this season, racking up an embarrassing 10-25 record heading into the game. After making his first 5 shots of the game, Stephon Marbury then hit only 1 of his next 16 shots, finishing 6-21 in leading New York's collapse. The Sonics were not playing inspiring defense, nor imposing their style of game on the Knicks, yet they emerged with an easy victory.

A key player for the Sonics proved to be Juan Dixon. The Knicks simply could not guard him, as he poured in an incredible 21 points on only 6 shots from the floor.. The Sonics repeatedly ran a simple screen and roll with Bargnani and Dixon at the top of the three-point line, at one point scoring 10 consecutive points in the 4th off the same play. Il Mago also had a strong game after being inserted back into the starting lineup, as did Anthony Parker. The rest of the team played a fairly sloppy game, and Vancouver was lucky to get the win. Bob Hill was visibly displeased with his team, and following the game he said, "I'm not at all happy with that win. Yes, it was a win, and yes it gets us closer to our current team goal of playing .500 basketball, but I am not happy with that win. We got lucky. If Stephon Marbury had hit a few more of those shots, and he got some good looks, the ball just wasn't dropping, but if he hits a few more of those, it's a whole new game. No one played any defense, especially Chris. I'm really disappointed his Chris' game tonight. He should have been able to give Curry fits with his speed and quickness, and he's strong enough to hold his ground on the defensive end against him. But he pretty well let Curry get whatever he wanted down-low, and when that happens, the Knicks are a tough team to beat. I don't know what else to say. We were lucky to get out of that 16 point hole, and we're going to be working on some things tomorrow in practice."

BOXSCORE


HIGHLIGHTS


Play of the Game - Graham Rebounds Own Miss, Dishes to Wide Open Dixon for 3 (video)


Player of the Game






Early the next day, Robert Swift received clearance to play in that night's game against Golden State, even though his nose was still healing and he would need to wear a protective mask for the next 2 weeks. It would be his first action in 2 weeks, during which time the team went 4-4. He struggled in his return and seemed somewhat out of sorts on the court, scoring just 2 points with 6 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, with the Sonics eventually losing to the Warriors 105-98.

Last edited by TheMC5 on Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Let me know what you guys think of the new layout. Also, still working on designing those jerseys, plus All-Star weekend coming up soon, and an epic triple overtime thriller against the Suns. There's gonna be a huge recap for that game. It was absolutely epic. A few other games to recap first, though.

ROBERT SWIFT NICKNAME CONTEST OVER!

Cause I thought of the coolest one: The Cure

If you don't get it, it's a reference to Robert Smith of the Cure.

Last edited by TheMC5 on Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

JAN 9: VAN 112 - MIA 104

This was a critical game for Vancouver. With the season nearing it's midway points, a loss would have put Vancouver 7 games below .500, and that much further from the playoffs. Miami had only lost 5 times coming in to the game, and owned the league's best record, making the Sonics chances of victory quite slim. In a stroke of luck for Vancouver, Shaq came down with the flu the day before the game, and though he did play in the game, he did not start, and he was fairly ineffective in the second half, missing his only two shots after the break. However, Miami still has a deep, talented, and experienced team, and it took great team basketball, on top of a superb individual effort by 'Sharp' Lewis, for the Sonics the earn the win.

It was tight game from the tip, with the teams trading baskets to open the game. Lewis showed he was on early, hitting his first 3 shots, 1 from downtown, and sinking both his free throws in the first quarter. Chris Wilcox showed great effort and hustle on both ends of the court, blocking Shaq's first shot attempt, and running the floor well. Dwyane Wade took over in the second, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the quarter, helping Miami take a three point lead in to halftime. The third quarter was much of the same, with both teams trading baskets, neither one able to get a good run going. But in the 4th quarter, the game was blown open. Bob Hill decided to go small and just out run the Heat. And it worked. Sharp hit two three's, one dagger with under 2 minutes left to put the Sonics up by 7, while running Haslem all over the court. Juan Dixon got to the line 6 times in the 4th, hitting all of them. Vancouver scored 13 fastbreak points in the 4th.

BOX SCORE


HIGHLIGHTS


Play of the Game - Dwyane Wade 360 Baseline Slam (video)


Player of the Game





TRADE NEWS


This deal should stand to help both teams. Swift was coming off the bench in Memphis, backing up Pau Gasol at center, and seeing little playing time. He has an opportunity to claim the starting C spot in Minnesota, with only Mark Blount to really compete with. The Grizzlies real problem is their lack of back court depth, and acquiring Ricky Davis should certainly address that issue. Davis was performing reasonably well for Minnesota so far this year, but the team had been struggling, and wanted to make more playing time available for rookie Randy Foye, as well as shore up their weak front court.

Last edited by TheMC5 on Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:25 am, edited 2 times in total.

Still looking strong. One question: Do you live in Western Canada? I see you are using the CBC icon a lot. This still loks great. What is your status in the playoffs race?

Still looking strong. One question: Do you live in Western Canada? I see you are using the CBC icon a lot. This still loks great. What is your status in the playoffs race?

I do live in Western Canada. The idea with the CBC logo was that the CBC would be broadcasting Vancouver's games. I think I wrote something to that effect in one of the first posts, but I could be wrong. I suppose I should have made it more clear, as most people who read this likely wouldn't know what the CBC logo is, much less what the CBC is. Maybe I'll edit the first post to include some clarification on that.

Playoffs are a ways off, yet. I just finished All Star Weekend. We're making a strong push for the 8th spot, though.

Thanks for the input. Good luck in your dynasty with the playoffs. I think the Heat look like strong candidates to repeat in that one.

Thoughts on the new look are welcome. I'd love to hear suggestions/whatever.