Season 65 - Town Hall #3

[Darth Vegito]

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful(and I stress THOUGHTFUL) answers which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.



Deadline Wednesday 5pm, Sim #3.

Question:
As the standings start to shake out a bit, what is the BIGGEST surprise of the season thus far, good or bad?

[garbageman]

For me, it's the Timberwolves rough start at 6-9. Despite being last in the division, they have the 5th best differential in Alpha and a positive differential at that, while the three teams in front of them have negative differentials. I'm sure this will sort itself out because I think Raby has a great roster assembled. Part of this is the Lenz Durrenberger injury, but even with him on the sidelines, they look like they should be better than a lot of teams that are above them. With the German back, I fully expect them to turn things around and start winning.

[MexicanMamba]

Josh definitely took my answer above, so I will go with this one:

The Bobcats.

There's still plenty of time for the Cats to hit the toilet on the season, and they're not a good team now, but they've won 6 games so far through 2 sims. They won 12 all of last season. Varga is playing a number of young, untested players and they're giving him solid results. Especially Cruce and Bonilla. Offensively it's a struggle, but they're a fringe top 10 team in points allowed. They will likely be staring at another top 5 pick in the end, but for now? A nice, promising start.

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[K-100]

Utah's quest for 0-82

In my 25 seasons of sim league, I have come to learn the simputer is a fickle mistress. Dynasties that are pre-ordained by the PBSL pundits never receive the crown. Goliaths are regularly defeated by Davids. And even the truly trash teams manage to win at least 2 games in an 82-game season.

But this season, Utah is the true #wildcard. This Utah team is different. They are 20% there to sim league immortality. Everyone is watching to see if the Warriors pull off the 3peat. That is boring. The Utah Jazz's quest for infamy is the true race to watch. They are 0-16 with a -20.9 differential. I know I am going to be wrong and they are going to probably finish with a 5-77 record, but in the here and now this is the only race that matters moving forward.

[greepleairport]

The Cavs are in 2nd place.

I'll say it again - the Cavs are in 2nd place!!!

Okay, so they're 5th in the conference - a very tough conference (which should in itself be very admirable) - so the opportunity for things to shift and slide is ever present. I think picking up Karlo Pearson to pair with SG Raphael Gordon was a smart move, and I would love to see them in the playoffs this season. I would love to see if they cash in on one more of their rookie contract players to upgrade in the front court next to Chief K. Even without an upgrade in the front court, they have a very capable offense run by Geronimo and Jonathan Isaac is having a break out year. One more offensive piece or one more big man and I think their playoff entrance is in full swing.

[AngryBanana]

I have insider knowledge since I have my power rankings so… sigh…. The Cavs.

Somehow, after sim 1 they managed to get the top rankings and then dropped to a top 10 team after sim two. Wtf?! They are supposed to be terrible, like every other year.

Karlo signing is showing great early returns, Gordon is still balling even with the added playmakers around him. Geronimo is having a resurgence year so far too. Dare I say that this Cavs team may be the best JLM has ever had. This is all with Isaac still not near his peak (which is going to be insane) as well as Vassel who is a long term project.

Frey…


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[Black Superman]

Biggest surprise to me is how wide open the standings are. There are a lot of teams who had bad sim 1's that are right back in the thick of things. Other than warriors Lakers kinda taking off. Everything looks a bit wide open elsewhere. Lakers had a home favorable schedule to start so we'll see if they drop any on the road. The warriors seem to be doing warrior things but do have a tough road game stretch coming up in sim 3. I think the openness and competitive seasons are best for overall interest. Hopefully these races stay tight throughout.

[pennpanther1]

San Antonio Spurs 6-8

The Spurs GM should be proud of the elite group of prospects he has assembled over the past few seasons but despite a stellar backcourt there are still some significant growing pains in San Antonio. The defense still has a ways to go and the team is struggling to keep up in shootouts. Better days are ahead but I am still surprised the Spurs have not yet made the leap from lottery team to fringe playoff team so far.

[drkavarga]

Josh definitely took my answer above, so I will go with this one:

The Bobcats.

There's still plenty of time for the Cats to hit the toilet on the season, and they're not a good team now, but they've won 6 games so far through 2 sims. They won 12 all of last season. Varga is playing a number of young, untested players and they're giving him solid results. Especially Cruce and Bonilla. Offensively it's a struggle, but they're a fringe top 10 team in points allowed. They will likely be staring at another top 5 pick in the end, but for now? A nice, promising start.

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This sums up my feelings about the team. They've drastically improved so far and I'm still 4th in the lotto as of now...this is the perfect situation to be currently. It's a good situation to be in especially if I pull a Mavs and jump up some spots in the lotto next season.

[LazyTitanSmash]

The Timberwolves. I had them winning the division over the lake show, before the season started. I still think they will come in second in the division by the end of the season. There point differential is better than most in their division.

The other surprise is the Pelicans. With two high level blue players Ned Lomax and Nicholas Zike, they are carrying the division. The race in that division should be fun to watch, since I don't think anyone is going to run away with it.

[Eazy P]

My Biggest surprise is how close the Buddy Pedraza Division is. Everyone is like a game back of each other. I thought that the Pelicans would be running away with it right now. I still think they will eventually win it. Plus the Spurs GM/coach sucks as a game planner.

[RPF]

Simple answer, the Chicago Bulls hot start. The way GMan was talking, you'd think that they wouldn't be in the mix at the end of the season. But after 2 sims they are riding an 8 game winning streak and have the 2nd seed in the Alpha conference.

[IamQuailman]

I Don't want to pile on the Timberwolves, because honestly their rough start has ALOT to do with missing a key STAR player for a couple sims. We all know sim 1 & 2 are the most fickle of sims in this league. When it all shakes out the Wolves will be up among the best out there. My biggest surprise is how bad the Rockets have been despite everyone slurping their team off season for making a couple trades. They definitely added alot of talent. Much more than they've seen in probably the last 10 sim seasons combined. But here they are 4th in a division that there's a good chance they could find themselves in last place in by all-star break if something doesn't change. Nets are hanging in there, Spurs will bounce back.. Hawks are another surprise team in terms of being competitive when everyone though this would be a rebuild year... Pistons & Pelicans battling for the 1st seed. There's alot of talent in this division and the Rockets need to figure theirs out before they are left in the dust.

[jlmarines]

The Cavs! But, not sure I can nominate myself.

I'll pick the Wizards. I've been following the Wizards for a long time. In fact, last season the Wizards missed the playoffs for the first time since 2025 season. In real time that's over 3 years.

Once again, the Wizards have a low budget, only 2 blue players, and winning games. Wizards are once again on pace to be back in the playoffs!

[Darth Vegito]

Being out of the league for so long and really knowing none of these players...I am shocked by how many mediocre teams have Purple Pot players. Back in my day, you had a purple you were dominating. Nowadays, everyone got a Purp, some have 2. Just kinda wild to me. Some teams that you thought looked amazing on paper are at the bottom of the divisions. It's still early so things can change but for now it looks like the Warriors/Lakers show.

[Darth Vegito]

Claim 1 point:

AngryBanana
garbageman
Black Superman
K-100
MexicanMamba
jlmarines
RPF
drkavarga
LazyTitanSmash
Eazy P
Darth Vegito
pennpanther1
IamQuailman
greepleairport