All that said and with my usual saying in these articles, I need points. Last season I think I proved that by making more trades than I usually do for points, capping out media article contributions, and going above and beyond my GM duties to maximize them points. I like sim league but those points are precious. Training isn’t cheap, and the luxury tax man will be calling for my head one day. At some point or another I will have to pay up, thus why these articles are needed from me, but at the same time I really do enjoy going back in the index and the forums and reading through old threads and remembering where I was at that time and reminding myself I never really think about the future when it comes to sim league, I am always thinking of the present.
2013-14: A Grudge Match 22 Years in the Making
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“Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.” - Frank Sonnenberg
BACKGROUND
This season is bittersweet for multiple reasons for me. The first reason is because this is the last season where our draft historical file will be released to us later in the season with real life players. At this point in real life it is 2017 with the season lasting between early March through April. We started this league in 2013, meaning we were now in the sim season when we created PBSL. We had many discussions and votes on how we were going to proceed, and because future draft files would use players who were only playing for a few seasons to this point there wasn’t a good reference as to how good these players should be. We also needed to make a decision on an alternative because the last draft file the game had for drafting was the 2014 class.
A vote was made to either recreate the draft classes up to 2018 (last possible draft class we would know about to that point in the league) then use the game to pull multiple eras of historical file, use the College game to create players and bring over to PBSL (what we do now), or let the game randomly create players (what we see when the new season starts). Ultimately, the college draft file won out. What is interesting looking back is that we didn’t know what that had in store for us, and after a few draft files we noticed immediately that these players often come out with weird skill sets. Even today we talk about possibly going back to historical files, but I will admit it has been very interesting to see all the different types of players that have come through.
Moving back to the topic at hand, the draft class was solid but nothing out of this world. Giannis was selected by the Lakers with the #1 overall pick and would ultimately become a “what-if” for the league. He came in looking to be one of the next big stars, but because of missed insurances Giannis was beaten down by training camp, a feeling we are all too familiar and sympathetic with. Some notable players that were drafted in this class that we will highlight in a later edition is Otto Porter Jr. who was selected #2 by the Bucks and Rudy Gobert who was selected with the #4 pick by the Wolves. These two will ultimately team up in Minnesota, but that’s another story for later.
During the draft there was one notable big trade that was made that would impact the league for many seasons. The Toronto Raptors traded the #4 (Robert), #9, #20 picks of this draft, Draymond Green, and Aminu for Chris Bosh and Kyle Lowry. As a GM you live for these types of trades to be surprised by. Remember from previous editions of these articles that Bosh is a multi-MVP and scoring leader in his prime putting up numbers that were compared to Karl Malone and Shawn Kemp in the 1990s. Kyle Lowry was no slouch either. Although not as decorated as his teammate with awards, he was a double-double machine with good scoring ability and elite defense. A PG-C duo that had been dominant for a good few seasons now, Soundwave got two players in a ballsy move to compete. The reason I say ballsy is because he didn’t have much talent elsewhere, but the Raptors will make an appearance in the Finals soon (very soon). The trade also gave GM JNR an All Defense center and trade material to acquire Otto Porter Jr. later down the road, but the biggest prize I won’t mention yet is what indirectly helped the Wolves.
Although not as big of a trade as the already mentioned Bosh trade, the Sacramento Kings struck a deal with the 76ers to bring back Tyson Chandler who was beginning to enter the twilight of his prime. I can speak on this more than others since it was my team. After a disappointing 1st round loss in the prior season to the Warriors, I felt the need to add a dominant big to my team that I felt was clicking. I traded DeMarcus Cousins and a future Heat pick for Chandler and the Hornets current year’s pick that turned into Nerlens Noel (bleh). For UFA, I did not make any big signings but the Hawks and WigNosy’s traditional sneaky signing ended up getting Nate Robinson for a 1 year minimum deal.
The regular season played out about as expected. In the Eastern Conference the Atlanta Hawks were able to come away with the #1 seed in the East with 59 wins, comfortably ahead of the Bucks in the Central division by 10 games and narrowly edging out the Wizards in the Atlantic with 57 wins, led by an array of talented wings and depth. The Hawks were built to win, with Robinson giving them another scoring threat who can pass the ball, Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony being the main scorers, a solid role player Khris Middleton to give them another 3 point shooter, and franchise anchor Joakim Noah who did a little of everything. Traditionally Wig was known to build elite defensive teams, so this team was something different in that they were focused mainly on offense. Scoring more than you.
Out West, the Kings also came away with the #1 seed in the West and overall with 59 wins, with the closest competition being the Golden State Warriors in the Pacific Division with 57 wins. The Denver Nuggets, led by Rajon Rondo, Klay Thompson, and newly added Amare Stoudamire won the Midwest Division comfortable ahead of the 2nd place Rockets, 55 wins to 41. This seasons Kings was one of my favorites because there was no one star player, but rather a collection of good to great talent that fit well. Chandler provided the scoring, defense, and rebounding I needed to push my team over the hump, and Darren Collison and Randy Foye paired nicely in the backcourt. The team was built to shoot 3s and defend, and I felt they did just that.
One of the bigger talking points of the league was the MVP race and who should win. Chris Bosh ended up winning yet another MVP, but the league was beginning to look at Kevin Love as the monster we all knew was coming. Season by season he was getting better, and he averaged 33-11.2-4 on tremendous shooting especially from 3. Although he didn’t block shots, he had 100s in ORB, DRB, and PSD. This was a sign that he was here, the other Kevin was going to dominate the league and eventually build the bank of GMessi.
THE PLAYOFFS
It’s funny because looking back at the playoff page, the Kings and the Hawks had the same exact results in each of their respective conferences.
Out East, The Atlanta Hawks faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1st round. The running joke for Wig is that it seemed he always played against Cleveland in the 1st round, and each time no matter how much better the Hawks were in talent, the Cavs always seemed to push the Hawks harder than they should have. It was a hard fought battle as it always was, with the series tied 2-2. Eventually the Hawks were able to tie together two straight wins to close it out 4-2. It was hard fought and I say that because looking at the scores, Game 4 saw the Cavs win 156-149, and Wig won game 6 147-141. None of those games went to overtime, that was in just 4 quarters! Absolutely insane.
They then went on to matchup agains the Miami Heat who would give them their toughest challenge in the playoffs. Still being led by LeBron James, Al Jefferson, and Brandon Jennings, the Miami Heat pushed the series to 7 games, going blow for blow with the Hawks until game 7 that saw the Heat lead at the end of the 3rd quarter by 3 points. The Hawks would close out Game 7 by scoring 37 points in the 4th quarter and putting away the Heat 128-121.
The last matchup in the Eastern conference saw Wigs nemesis in the playoffs. Historically speaking, the Toronto Raptors were a pain in the ass for the Hawks. Whenever it seemed the Hawks were at their best, GM Soundwave would respond to knock them back down to Earth. With Chris Bosh and Lowry performing above expectations for the team, it looked like this would be an expected slugfest. However, the Hawks were ready this season and swept the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-0, with the closest margin being 5 points and the other 3 games won by the Hawks in double digits. This result would not sit well for the Raptors and their faithful, and their paths would cross again.
In the Western conference, the Kings faced the 8th seed San Antonio Spurs in the 1st round. Again, speaking for myself since this is my team, the Spurs are an absolute pain in the ass for my team to face. I dread having to play them especially back in the day. There’s some teams your team just doesn’t play well against no matter what generation you are in, and the Spurs are that for me. The series started well for me, going up 3-0 with one last game in San Antonio (or so I thought). Spurs being Spurs, they ended up pushing the Kings to 6 games before finally being put away, with game 6 being an exclamation point to closing it out 124-97.
In the 2nd round, the Kings faced the Los Angeles Clippers and Kevin Durant, the defending champions. Once again the Clippers made no real moves to build around Kevin Durant, but Durant was still a monster to play against. Like the Hawks in their 2nd round, the Clippers would push my team to 7 games. There was no insight to gain from looking at the boxscores, each game was basically not close and some being a straight blow out. It was the Kings vs Kevin Durant, and my strategy was “If I can get Durant to only score in the low 30s, I feel I win this game.” This also started the war cry in the chatroom from me “GET HEEM PARSOOONS” where I just threw Chandler Parsons on Durant hoping for something to happen, and it actually worked a couple of games where he held Durant to 17 and 19 points in two games. However, he also gave up 44 once so it wasn’t perfection. Ultimately I was able to survive the Clippers where I would face the Denver Nuggets in the conference finals.
The Nuggets looked to be a tough challenge that season with their core, and they had beaten the Houston Rockets 4-1 and swept the Portland Trailblazers. However, the Nuggets were not ready for Darren Collison and Randy Foye who went off that series and eventually swept the Nuggets. All eyes were on the Finals matchup, a chance for revenge for the 1992 PBSL Finals.
THE FINALS
Game 1 started off with a bang.In Sacramento for the first two games, Rudy Gay made his presence known immediately, shooting 14-16 from the field, 4-5 from 3, and solid contributions from Melo, Noah, and Tim Duncan off the bench. The Sacramento’s vaunted defense was no match for the Hawks offense, who scored efficiently as a team on 59% FG shooting. The Kings played decent basketball, only turning the ball over 5 times compared to 19 turnovers from the Hawks, grabbing 10 more offensive rebounds than the Hawks, and shooting more free throws, but the Hawks decided to play defense for the first time all season and locked down the Kings hard, allowing only 41.5% FG%. It was a wakeup call, the Hawks came to win and their backcourt was up for the challenge against Foye and Collison.
Game 2 saw the Kings win 110-100, once again shooting a worse FG% than the Hawks, 44% vs 51%, but the Kings once again won the turnover battle, the offensive rebound battle, and made 7 more 3’s than the Hawks thanks to Foye, Collison, and Parsons. Rudy Gay was much quieter, but Melo began waking up, shooting 10-15 from the field. Tim Duncan was also playing a major role for the Hawks despite the loss, scoring 22 points off the bench and schooling my backups. It was readily apparent after the first sim for me that my backups were not going to help me win this game if Duncan was able to keep playing at this rate.
Game 3 saw us go to Atlanta for at most the next 3 games. The Hawks won 111-108 in a close game that saw the Kings finally find the defense they boasted about all season. The Kings shot 44% again, but were able to keep the Hawks in check at 46%. Despite the Kings making 6 more 3’s and 7 more free throws, the Hawks wreaked havoc on the Kings and forced 14 turnovers and won the offensive rebound battle 15-11. Despite giving up better shooting than before, the Hawks were able to clean up their offense and take care of the ball in a much closer game that proved to be the key to winning a pivotal game 3.
In game 4, the Hawks found themselves up in the series 3-1 after beating the Kings 127-120. The Hawks found their offense and shot 54% fro the field, 48% from 4, and 26 free throw attempts and won the turnover battle again 14-to-16. The Kings shot better this time around, 51% from FG and 52% from 3, but their defense that supported them all season long was lost against these Hawks.
In a last ditch effort, the Kings scrambled to come up with a defensive game plan that would slow down the Hawks in Game 5 and 6. Game 5 saw the Kings win 105-88, a convincing win that saw the Kings grab 23 offensive rebounds. Despite shooting only 41% in FG%, they still managed to double up on the Hawks 3PM 12 to 6 and held the Hawks to 44% FG%. The series was going back to Sacramento.
In game 6 the Hawks put away the Kings in Sacramento 127-117, shooting 55% from the field and never losing the league after the half. The Kings offense finally woke up but it was too little too late shooting 48% from the field and 40% from 3. Again, despite winning the turnover and offensive rebound battle, the Kings could not stop the Hawks on offense led by a superb game from Rudy Gay and Camelo Anthony. Wig would go on to win his 5th and final championship and I would go on to lose my 3rd Finals appearance. Joakim Noah would win Finals MVP.
As an aside, this would also be Wig’s last Finals appearance since he has resigned as the Hawks GM. WigNosy, former commish and former GM, as of this writing, had went 5-1 in the Finals only losing to the Suns. He is still the league record holder of most wins by a GM with a record of 2242-1366, an absurd 62.1% record as a GM. Most would feel an accomplishment with that win % in a season, but Wig averaged 50 wins a season as an active GM. He had won 19 division titles, 6 conference titles, and a playoff record of 245-176. He had made 33 playoff appearances, meaning he only missed 10 playoffs during his 43 season career, with 4 of those being during his last 4 seasons. He once had 3 straight seasons of 70+ wins in a season, repeated as a champion twice, and had a streak of 19 seasons making the playoffs with only 5 of those being first round losses. If there was a Hall of Fame for GMs Wig would definitely be a first ballot entry and unanimous selection in my opinion. It always hurts to lose a Finals, but if that was indeed Wig’s last Finals appearance in our league, I am happy it came against me in the leagues most competitive decade ever.
