S83 Town Hall 10

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Mike Lowry
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S83 Town Hall 10

Post by Mike Lowry »

Pick a playoff team, list a few aspects of game planning that you think are important for that team.
How can they maximize on their talent?
What could be dangerous?
What are they built for?

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 10
What cha gonna do
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Mike Lowry
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Re: S83 Town Hall 10

Post by Mike Lowry »

I'm gonna take the Lakers because it seems like a tall order.
LTS pulled off the trade that none of us could make happen, and followed with a couple of underwhelming signings that didn't solve his problems.
He has way too many guards, many undersized, and James Donaldson, whom I love, but is awfully lonely protecting the paint.
And that reality ain't going no where.
I think he does have to play Magic at point though, and leave a whole at PF.
That also means you have to slow pace to extend minutes for Donaldson who is not fleet of foot.
It would be nice to consider turning the pace to 100 and trying to win from 3 positions, but the software is not ready for that.
Nixon and Davis are strawweights, but you play them at shooting, and move WBF up to SF, where he can split time with Wilkes, who might be able to hide for 7 minutes at PF.
As a team they don't pass well, so you turn it down and rely on Magic, Nixon, and Davis to pass naturally.
Also, the scoring threats are better outside than inside and you can get some 3 balls up.
We'll see if he can get them on track.
What cha gonna do
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WigNosy
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Re: S83 Town Hall 10

Post by WigNosy »

Mike Lowry wrote: Sun Jun 29, 2025 3:58 pm Pick a playoff team, list a few aspects of game planning that you think are important for that team.
How can they maximize on their talent?
What could be dangerous?
What are they built for?

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 10
I'll take a look at the Kings, since Darth likes to hear other people talk about them.

We know he furiously gameplanned in the Finals last season, and I would argue that it took a little bit of luck with Parish getting nicked up in the Western Conference Finals to get there... but every team in the Finals usually has a bit of luck (me included - the first Blazers finals appearance was probably helped by Magic Johnson being out with injury so the Suns went out before he could get healthy).

In the short term, Darth has to work around the loss of Wes Unseld, who I think has been underheralded as the "glue guy" that lets their big three of Gminski, Natt, and King flourish. He'll be back in time for the playoffs, but I think right now the thing that is keeping Darth up at night is the fact the Jazz are tied with him right now and have been playing very well. As tough as the West is, getting that bye in the first round is huge, and the Kings are fortunate that he'll be back next sim (in time for the playoffs) - but they have big matchups with the Jazz (twice) and the Warriors this sim, and those are two teams that play very differently - the Warriors are big-heavy and the Jazz are wing-heavy - and I'm sure Darth is furiously trying to figure out a lineup that can match up with both at the same time... though if he has to pick one, I think he tries to match up with the Jazz since they play twice and every game he loses to the Jazz kind of counts for "double" in the standings.

I do think the Kings are more susceptible to being beaten by wing-heavy teams than big-heavy teams simply because Gminski is almost certain to (1) hold down the bigs defensively and (2) not get into foul trouble - a wing-heavy team that puts Natt or King into foul trouble puts Kansas City in a very tough spot.

What they're built for is explosiveness from their own wings - this is a very high-ceiling team in terms of scoring, and if you don't have wing defenders that can hold down Natt and King (who are both equally capable of operating in the post or from the perimeter) you're going to have trouble. I do think if they run into the Bucks again, who are loaded defensively, they'll have a rough time, but again, let's see them get there first - the West is a gauntlet for sure and it looks like the path to the Finals is going to go through the Warriors again.
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Xist2Inspire
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Re: S83 Town Hall 10

Post by Xist2Inspire »

Mike Lowry wrote: Sun Jun 29, 2025 3:58 pm Pick a playoff team, list a few aspects of game planning that you think are important for that team.
How can they maximize on their talent?
What could be dangerous?
What are they built for?
I'm going to go with the Bulls. I don't think the Tree Rollins trade gets talked about enough. The Eaton/Rollins (Eatin' Trees?) combo provides elite shot-blocking, and LaSalle could be put at backup C and Steve at backup PF, as those positions fit their respective athleticism ratings better. They have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, so they might be able to test out different lineups/gameplans to make sure they have plans set for potential matchups with the Bucks, Bullets, and Nets. The Bulls are now built to bully and shut down post-oriented teams, a smart move given what the other Eastern Conference teams are built around.

Having such a packed big rotation allows them to put all their gameplanning focus on maximizing Gervin and English's contributions. It's the one clear-cut advantage that they have over the Bucks, and they'd do well to look at what the Kings did with King/Natt last season, and see if they can replicate it this season. If they can, they will beat the Bucks and represent the East in the Finals.
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BigDaddyd8720
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Re: S83 Town Hall 10

Post by BigDaddyd8720 »

Pick a playoff team, list a few aspects of game planning that you think are important for that team.
How can they maximize on their talent?
The Jazz can really maximize their talent by continuing to let Kiki cook. Tom Chambers has been great for them this season and I think that is what is keeping them in the race with the Kings for first place in that division.

What could be dangerous?
Injuries, to state the obvious. If anything should happen to Kiki, I'm not sure they have the talent on the roster to make up for that loss. It's very reminiscent to the Pacers when they only had Dantley and Carroll and nobody else to help. Then JBC got hurt and they couldn't get past the second round.

What are they built for?
They are built to score. They have a top 5 offense and need to make sure they keep that up if they want to jump the kings. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Jazz make a deep playoff run this season
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IamQuailman
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Re: S83 Town Hall 10

Post by IamQuailman »

Im gonna go with the Nets. I think a big part of his team's success is the flexibility in both their front & back court. The resurgence is wholy due to healthy Cliff & Darryl just absolutely dominating... but also taking the load off a young court lead by Larry Drew. But injuries have forced Herb Williams in and out of the line-up, allowing the Nets to discover the true flexibility they have as not just C/PF... but C/PF/SF. Cliff is a huge piece to this puzzle and he was missing last year.

This team is built for a LONG run at their division. Larry Drew can facilitate the offense until he's ready to hand over the reigns to Fat Lever... and we haven't even brought up Dale Ellis and his immediate impact... on that cheap rookie deal for 3 more years after this one. They are poised for long-term greatness
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