S4: The Middle

[greepleairport]

phpBB [video]

Like many mid-tier bands, Jimmy Eat World definitely had their moments. For me, it was the album Clarity, pretty much start to finish, and it was all downhill to the middle from there.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the middle is where many teams find themselves in this 4th season of the NPBSL. Not to mention other seasons. But being the 4th season, that’s what I’m going to talk about.

What qualifies as the middle, exactly? Well, you can’t be at the top or bottom of your division. You may be in the middle relative to the league if you’re at the bottom of, say, the Pacific Division, but not for our purposes. You cannot have a winning percentage higher than .600 or below .400. Your point differential cannot have an absolute value greater than 5.

Have a narrowed it down enough yet to have an article of approximately 1000 words and not too many more? Let’s find out! And then… offer a possible trajectory? Those are fun, right?

(Stats gathered pre-sim 6. Who knows when the hell I’m going to finish writing this…or when the hell you’re reading this.)


ATLANTIC

Bullets, 17-18 record
.486 win %, +1.7 point diff

As one of the favorites to go to the finals last season, it’s odd to see this team middling it out, with a positive point diff and and a just under .500 record. The Bullets made a ton of changes this offseason, though, and I don’t think Mike Lowry expected everything to pan out the first year he re-tooled his roster. Nance and Buck are an absolutely stunning front court already, though. Once Lucas ages out as their third option, I’ll be interested to see where they go from here.

Trajectory: staying mid in S4, unless they make another trade tipping the scale in either direction


76ers, 17-21 record
.447 win %, -4.1 point diff

(Apologies to the Sixers. I forgot to write something about you before I hit my target word count. Maybe next time?)


CENTRAL

Cavaliers, 20-16 record
.556 win %, +0.4 point diff

The Cavaliers have some pretty decent wins this year against solid competition, and some pretty embarrassing defeats to contrast them. Thus the life of being in the middle. I love the Paxson/Moncrief combo in Cleveland, but their full potential is yet to be tapped. Having observed jlmarines over the years, I do not expect any big shifts in either direction this season, but I do think they are better than mid with those two players alone. Clemon Johnson and Rick Mahorn are decent supports for these two, but they’re also not quite fully cooked. Especially Rick.

Trajectory: In the East, I could see the Cavs eke out a 6th seed spot on the high end of mediocrity.


Pacers, 17-21 record
.447 win %, +0.5 point diff

Stuck between eras, the Pacers are hella mid. Joe Barry Carroll and Adrian Dantley are stud superstars, but their next best talent this year is a decade older than these guys. JBC and Dantley are too good of a pair to let this roster squander into a high draft pick, and yet without a high draft pick, these Pacers feel a little bit stuck in the mud. It’s a shame to admit this after watching the Pacers play as perennial contenders kicking off the NPBSL, yet here we are.

Trajectory: sub-mid. I think the greatness of JBC and Dantley will not deliver in the win column this year as well as they will deliver All Star votes.


Pistons, 14-21 record
.400 win %, -1.9 point diff

A more balanced roster than the W-L record may indicate, the Pistons have bright young talent with Terry Cummings, and a few vets showing him the ropes. I think this team is better than the record indicates.

Trajectory: the Pistons JUST met the middle criteria I set forth, but I think that was an anomaly of sim 5, where their schedule was loaded with tough road games. These Pissies will bounce back and challenge the Cavs for the 6th seed.


MIDWEST

Nuggets, 17-21 record
.447 win %, -3.3 point diff

The one true mid team of the Midwest, the Nuggets probably don’t care at all about this season. They have Clyde Drexler, and Clyde will improve. The rest of the team is fodder to move or hold onto, whichever way the win blows over them Denver Rocky Mountains. This is Clyde’s team, but it’s not Clyde’s team yet.

Trajectory: irrelevant as far as S4 is concerned. Probably stay right around .500.


Honorable mentions: Jazz/Rockets

So the Jazz are a little bit better than mid, and the Rockets are a little bit worse than mid. Before this sim, though, they were both super mid teams. Whereas the Rockets had underperformed in previous seasons, they came out to a pretty decent start and racked up some wins this season. We were all a bit surprised. But Artis Gilmore came back in decent enough form for an old guy, and despite TC nerfing, Larry Bird is still good. Not great, but good. 78# dips in and out of helping this team, though, so if the momentous trend downward continues, I think the Rockets glimmer of hope will fizzle out. The Jazz, on the other hand, underperformed my expectations until this sim. Chambers and Kiki are a great pair, and they seem to be synergizing well now. I think this team will maintain their upward trajectory.


PACIFIC

Clippers, 20-17 record
.541 win %, -0.1 point diff

Ya know, it’s really sad to see the Clippers here. JNR had such a dope offseason, and such a dope preseason, and an awesome start to the season, too. JNR may not have submitted a single DC yet, but for the first time in a long time his excitement for his team was palpable. Now dancing around .500 with a just-negative point-diff, JNR’s Clips need a little TLC to right the ship. The Pacific is well regarded for all of its killer teams, but I still believe the Clippers are one of them. Whether or not JNR has given up on this squad, I haven’t. I still think they’re a playoff threat.

Trajectory: up to JNR, really. If he has the time to focus a bit on a good DC/GP, I think the Clippers season turns around and could rack up 45-50 wins. If he doesn’t have time, well, I think we have our 6th seed team, here.

Honorable mention: Sonics/Suns

Sonics more honorable a mention, because without Magic, the Suns will fall out of the middle quickly. No disrespect here, it’s just that Magic was that good, and he’s gone, now. I think the Sonics climb out of the middle, for the record.

[greepleairport]

damn, does the video embed work anymore?

[BigDaddyd8720]

Woooow I give you #1 in power rankings and then you call me mid tier. Your words hurt


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[greepleairport]

Woooow I give you #1 in power rankings and then you call me mid tier. Your words hurt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey man, you’re on your way up and out! Merely a sign of the times, I think you’re a 4 or 5 seed minimum come playoff time
1100+ words, +4pts

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