Tell me something you seen in the first sim that was unexpected, and tell me if it's an aberration, or it will continue to trend through the season. Let me know why?
Rules: 1 point if you give 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.
Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.
The Nets 7-0 start. I think the Nets are a good young team but playing against the Jazz and Magic in Sim 1 inflated their stats just a tad. I think they will come back down to earth soon but will still be an above-average squad this season. I also will drink some more haterade and say that Maci Currin will not finish top-5 in scoring. Again Currin is an intriguing talent, but this is nothing more than stat-padding here against inferior competition. The Nets are good, but they are not that good. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.
The Mavericks are such an enigma. They have all this talent on their roster and players on max salaries, however their team is just not playing well together. The Mavericks have two of the top three scorers in the league with Angel and Dominatrix. They also have no players that are in the positive for plus minus statistics. They also only at or above the top half of the league in four stats when looking at the team rank for margin in the season info section of the team page. Leaves you to think that while they have a lot of talent and a massive bill, maybe something is still missing? I think it will right itself some as LTS will undoubtedly make some moves, but I don't think it will disappear completely and may bring LTS a lot of problems.
Opening 2-3. I expected 3-2, maybe 4-1, but I did not expect the Heat to whoop my ass the way they did. One game? Sure. But both? And beating me in the rebound margins??? I theoretically have two of the best rebounders in PBSL on my squad, and they got dominated. I never saw that coming.
I expected a bit more from my front court and was a bit disappointed. I based my DC on results from preseason that surprised me, which was a dumb af move that needs correcting. I'm reevaluating a lot more after 5 games than I expected...
I'm going to go with the Pelicans at 6-1 here. Granted, the Pelicans are going to improve on their record from last season as all of their players have developed some, but they haven't really made any additions that make me feel like a 6-1 record is something that's going to keep up at that rate. 5 of their wins were against teams that were no better than 2-5 in sim 1. Their sole win against a winning team was a one bucket affair in Phoenix where McClung missed a buzzer beater that would've flipped the result. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid road win for the Pels, and the Pelicans can even be in the mix to win that division, but I'd be surprised to see them have a top 10 record in the league, 50 wins, or a 1st round playoff win. Still, they're moving in the right direction, and they could still fast track their success with the right trade...although with the way their roster and contracts are set up, they're probably wiser to have a decent season and make a move or two in the offseason before they have to resign Dick Bender.
Alpha's Glen Division current standings are fact... except maybe the Lakers. The division will probably look the exact same (unless the lakers move up) at the end of the season unless there are some major trades that shake things up. This division is pretty stacked.
Alpha’s Silky Division is a mess. I’m not buying the Nets or the Pelicans, even though they have the best differentials in the division. I think I’ll go with the Trailblazers to rise out of the mess. But damn, that division is weak.
Omega’s Loredo Division—I’m going to catch the Raptors. So that will be different. The Bulls will hold the top spot. The Raptors, Spurs, and Kings will battle it out in the middle of the division; not sure how that will play out.
Omega’s Buddy Division is also pretty stacked. The Warriors will rise and be much better than their current record shows. I think the Bucks, Heat, and Celtics are also all for real this season.
My Pelicans starting 6-1 is pretty shocking. I was honestly hoping for 4-3, at best 5-2, but expected 3-4. But definitely not 6-1. I understand it was not the toughest start to the season but we pulled out solid wins against the Wizards, who were a 65 win team and 2nd overall in the league standings. And then we beat the suns in a close one on the road. Rebounding hurt us against the Trailblazers but winning 2 out of 3 on the road in a 4 game span is still really good. We also need to work on Free Throws to help give us a few extra points a game. As long as we keep beating the lesser teams, there's no reason this team can't make the playoffs, especially if they keep playing like this. Putting up 123+ per game is pretty hard to compete with. Not getting too far ahead of myself though, there's still plenty left to the season, but this first sim was very encouraging. Hopefully I have more of these in the future sims.
I think the Pelicans 6-1 start is a complete shock. I definitely expected the team to be better as they've been continuously growing and maturing. I was not expecting them to jump out to a 6-1 start. They went into Phoenix and pulled off a clutch win by getting a stop at the buzzer. They are currently one of the higher scoring teams in the league and have 3 guys averaging 20+ppg. I'm not sure that this pace will continue. However I do think they can eclipse their 29 win total from last year. They are also probably in the weakest division in the league. Not sure we have a clear cut dominant team in that division but I do expect the wizards to come back from that first sim. But for now the Pels should enjoy this start. I love me some PIZZA and he's balling.
For my team, the surprise is that Russ Coles is my 2nd leading scorer, behind only AJ Blaze. For some reason, blowouts or foul trouble probably, he played roughly the same number of minutes as Trayce and Kinsella and outscored both. He's been a capable, efficient scorer for some years now but he shouldn't be eclipsing my starters.
League-wide, it's obviously the Nets and Pelicans, neither of which will hold their current pace, but should/could still be fun teams. But since everyone will likely talk about them, ill say I'm a bit surprised by the Cavs horrid start. Once Kozak and Liddell took hits into green town, it obviously became possible that some struggles happen but with Vassell and Isaac I would not have written them down with one of the worst starts in the league. I imagine they will get better, but maybe only marginally. It's a tough situation the Cavs find themselves in. 2 great players, 1 solid distributor but no other difference makers and no assets to trade to get significantly better.
The preseason hangover for the Timberwolves looks to be real after Sim 1. I am surprised Benny Bridesmaid is not the alpha dog yet for their team and coupling this slow start with their defensive struggles might make this a long season. This is the perfect time while they are under the luxury tax to experiment with their lineup and think about shifting some players around like Chris Acker and/or Elton Harris to bring some life back to the squad. I think maintaining the status quo would be a big mistake because once this lineup gets more expensive you lose all your flexibility to make moves.
Jose Alvarado has played 3 games and left 2 of them early due to injury. Hopefully this is just a weird anomaly and I'm not dealing with injury problems with who is supposed to be my biggest signing, all season long. Also I may have started 1-5, but that was pretty much expected when I looked at the start of my schedule, would've hoped to snag 1-2 more random games, but again Jose was out most of the sim from the get go.
Lester Quinones averaging 20 points per game was really unexpected for me. I think he can keep it up with he and Miller being the only true scoring options on the team. I think what's helping him also is that Miller and Gaston Winner are willing passers on our team. With their ability to get the ball to players in scoring position they are helping players excel in the scoring category. Hopefully Lester can continue to improve his scoring even more throughout the season. Would be nice.
The system is rigged. I'm sure AB and K100 quietly coordinates with Wig. I've been waiting for a long time for a purple player and a great PG. SG Vassell became a purple player and PG Loera became a blue player. I had high hopes on my PG. After SIM 1, my PG El Chapo sorry ass decided to take 95 days off for concussion. Therefore, the Cavs started with a 1-6 record. Sadly, I lost my hopes on going to the playoffs.
The Warriors is low hanging fruit.
They will definitely climb out of a rough start and compete highly.
Bricker and that frontcourt are too solid.
I'm picking them to win the division.
Also, I like Boston to be competitive this year.
It is a small sample, but I think that's real.