S83 Town Hall 5

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Mike Lowry
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S83 Town Hall 5

Post by Mike Lowry »

In 83, what is the prototype of the player to build your team around?
Which stats and attributes are most important to winning games and ships?
Which players fit this prototype?

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.

Due: Due by the deadline for sim 5
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Mike Lowry
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by Mike Lowry »

Long work day so I'ma jump right in.
I'm going with elite scoring wings that can rebound decently.
Last season we had Bernard King and Calvin Natt teaming up to knock off tower after tower.
The year before Alex English going on an epic tear.
I think this trend only continues with Drexler and Jordan leading the league into a more athletic and offensively focused landscape where the focus on stacking bigs will fade and give way to pace.
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AngryBanana
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S83 Town Hall 5

Post by AngryBanana »

I see Mike’s answer about wings, and I think it’s a fair and valid argument. Part of my hesitation with this is that I am probably still in the PBSL mindset of the “dime a dozen blue wings” and I should abandon that as I have tried to do with so many other old thoughts. I will say, after looking around at teams when writing my article on training, for the rebuilding teams at least, they all mostly had a similar problem. A depth at the guard/wings and not a lot of power at the bigs.

I think honestly a dominant big where the money is right now, especially since it’s not an outside heavy league yet. So I feel even more happy with the idea of trading away the farm for Ralph Sampson. He is already putting up all league numbers before I traded away my team, again as a rookie and will hopefully only get better. Where that type of big will be the difference between competing and not every year I think.

Yes, there are the true difference makers in Magic and English, but I think the difference between always being competitive and not is more so in a great big.


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greepleairport
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by greepleairport »

In 83, what is the prototype of the player to build your team around?
Which stats and attributes are most important to winning games and ships?
Which players fit this prototype?
Well, if early returns are any indication, NPBSL is still a big man's league. The top 3 scorers are all C or PF, and the most successful teams have an incredibly strong front court (Bucks, Nets, Warriors, Kings with the reigning DPOY Gminski). Darryl Dawkins won the Nets the inaugural NPBSL 'ship, and this year he's playing better than ever, now that his support system has developed enough to deliver along side him. But make no mistake - this is Dawkins's team. Just as the Bucks are McHale's team, the Warriors are The Two Towers' team, and the Kings are the dominant team breaking this mold.

I will say the trend is moving toward a more athletic/quick PF type player, like McHale and Buck Williams. I don't think too many slo-mos like Malone and Parrish will continue to have the same dominance without matching some of the quickness of the likes of McHale/Buck.

We'll see though. Ralph Sampson is not an athletic dynamo, per se, but he's off to a solid start with the Celtics, so we shall see in the seasons to come. But in '83, if you don't have a Malone, McHale, Buck, or Chocolate Thunder on your squad, you might want to find one to take your team to the top.
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by RPF »

The definitive prototype to build a championship-contending team around is a dominant, two-way center. The most important statistics for winning are high field goal percentage, rebounds per game, and blocked shots, signifying interior control on both ends of the floor. Key attributes included a commanding post presence to draw double teams and create opportunities for teammates, coupled with intimidating rim protection that altered the opposing team's offensive strategy. They needed the durability to endure the physical play and the basketball IQ to be the anchor of the defense and a primary offensive hub.

Darryl Dawkins, who led me to my 1st championship in 1980 and won the Finals MVP, was the absolute embodiment of this prototype. Look at Kevin McHale with his inside presence and consistent defensive prowess, also perfectly fits this dominant big-man mold. Larry Nance of the Washington Bullets, a prolific scorer and rebounder, further exemplifies the kind of frontcourt player teams coveted. Ultimately, securing a center/power forward who could fundamentally control the paint was the most crucial element for building a winner in this era. That's just my $.02
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by Xist2Inspire »

I'd have to go with a positional archetype instead of a player archetype (dominant big, scoring wing, etc), as I don't think that it's a wise idea to formulate a plan based on a specific player build right now. The league's about to see some major changes, and what looks like a sure thing today might not turn out to be. So I'd have to say a Forward. While bigs are definitely a must (especially come playoff time), we're talking about the type of player that you'd want to build around, meaning that you're probably thinking more long-term. And given what we've seen - as well as what's coming - I think a Forward is your best bet, specifically ones that have the ability to moonlight at another position.

Judging by English's dominant Playoff MVP run and Kansas City's 1-2 punch of Natt & King, SFs are the players most likely to randomly explode and carry a team to a win, with PFs being 2nd on that list (as well as being the best complimentary position). If you look at all the teams who would be in the playoffs if they started today, the only ones who aren't led by a SF are led by bigs. Of the teams that are led by bigs, none are exclusively led by their C. Given what the 90s were like in the previous league, the upcoming draft talent, and what Wig has told us about the sliders shifting as time progresses, building your team around a forward is the best way to prepare yourself for what's coming.

As for what specific forward position, I'd have to say PF. That way, you futureproof. If the league leans more towards post play as the likes of Hakeem, Ewing, Barkley, Robinson, Malone, Sabonis, etc. enter the league, then you can start training your PF to be more post-focused. If the league goes the way of the wing with Jordan, Bias, Miller, Petrovic, Mullin, Pippen, etc., then your PF needs to be faster and more versatile in order to swing down to to SF occasionally to help out. The versatility of the PF position also means that stats and attributes don't really matter as much, as you can easily tailor them to what suits them best. PFs are also virtually immune to a loss in effectiveness via QKN drops as long as their ratings are intact, so while I agree with greeple that the "Quick PF" trend is likely to become the new meta, I don't think it'll eliminate slower, more physical PFs.

The final aspect that makes PFs the ideal position to build around/focus on is their ability to be the perfect #2 to any other position. C/PF creates a dominant frontcourt. PF/SF is probably the best possible combo right now, and if both are versatile enough, it can cover 4 of the 5 positions for matchup purposes. PF/SG is the best combo for coverage, as a versatile PF/SG combo can cover for all 5 positions. And of course, PF/PG is a great combo that can fully unlock the offensive capabilities of both players. So even if your PF doesn't turn out to be a true #1 themselves, they can still be an ideal #2.

So get a PF. If you can't get a PF, get a SF. Yes, dominant bigs are all the rage right now, Jordan is coming, and you can't replace a great floor general. Still, being able to adapt on the fly is one of the most important abilities you can have as a GM/game planner, and you cannot adapt your strategy and builds nearly as well if your best player is a C, SG, or PG - and if they are, you're eventually going to have to find a high-level Forward anyway to seriously compete. Get a Forward.
Last edited by Xist2Inspire on Wed Jun 18, 2025 4:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by Darth Vegito »

This is a tough one. I think you need a combination of dominance in the front court AND big scoring wings. I think the scoring outweighs the importance of the bigs a tad though. What you do NEED from your front court and entire team is rebounding. Without rebounding you will not make it far in the playoffs. If you are bad on the boards defensively or offensively and you're giving your opponent more 2nd chance points and opportunities in general, you are stacking the odds against you.

There's a ton of great scoring wings in this league and they are pretty efficient as well. So when you are deficient on the rebounding side of things, it's hard to dig out of that hole consistently no matter how great your front court is or how good of scoring you have.

Which attributes are most important? Rebounding ranks really high for me personally. If I'm outrebounding you then I'm giving my tam more chances to put the ball in the basket which improves my chances at winning. Then if I have efficient scorers, that makes it all the better.

Who fits this prototype?
To me it's easy. It's Magic Johnson. I'd rather Magic over MJ in our league. Magic is the perfect player and hopefully the Lakers misuse him just as the Suns did and he never wins a ring
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by BigDaddyd8720 »

In 83, what is the prototype of the player to build your team around?
I think the prototype player you want to build around right now is a PF or C. While the wing players are essential, we see how having an elite Big man can really help a team takeover a game. Having a really good two way C/PF gives you an advantage any time they step on the court.

Which stats and attributes are most important to winning games and ships?
I'll use my team as an example but I focused more on defensive stats recently and it's starting to show results as I have the #1 defense (as of this reading). I like having players who are great at PRD, PSD, STL, and rebounding. Also having a great INS game is huge right now since there's not a lot of 3pt shooting. But I'm looking for defense and then work on the scoring.

Which players fit this prototype?
Moses Malone. Elite scorer and elite defender. He is exactly who you want to build a team around. Hopefully they can get him a ring before his time is done.
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by IamQuailman »

Mike Lowry wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 7:50 am In 83, what is the prototype of the player to build your team around?
Which stats and attributes are most important to winning games and ships?
Which players fit this prototype?
Defensive first big with high blocks and rebounds. Offense is important but having that anchor is MASSIVE for successful teams. If you go back and look at championships, I feel like every title contender or champion dominated not only with one individual but as a team in rim protection. There's a reason my teams have advanced to the playoffs/Finals for many of the last seasons in NPBSL and final seasons of PBSL. Defense Defense Defense.

Alton Lister is a great example of this, but also Robert Parish too.
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Mike Lowry
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Re: S83 Town Hall 5

Post by Mike Lowry »

@Mike Lowry
@AngryBanana
@greepleairport
@RPF
@Xist2Inspire
@Darth Vegito
@BigDaddyd8720
@IamQuailman

+1 point
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