The Compliment Sandwich : Alpha

[MexicanMamba]

Word Count: 3,239


Who doesn’t like a bit of feedback for their work? Okay, maybe there are a lot of people who don’t, but I am going to pretend that everyone does because do you know what I like? Earning points to buy or train players. The compliment sandwich, for those who don’t know (and for the sake of word count, am I right?), is a form of constructive feedback/criticism about one’s job performance where you start with something positive then go into a bit of criticism and end it with another positive. So, I am here to rundown the General Managers here in SLOE and give my (sometimes) honest opinion of how I think things are going for you. Hell, maybe I’ll do a bit of self-reflection and do one on myself as well. Since I admittedly don’t know all your actual names, you shall all be listed as your team names.





ALPHA





ARTEST DIVISION





Atlanta Hawks





Compliment: Overall this one, both good and bad, is probably more of an incomplete since Louie has had to immediately deal with a life sentence of Tax Jail. That being said, he has had a firm grasp on the situation and has been quick to deal off any asset that he can to gain more points. So, he’s had a very focused approach to coming back to the game and hopefully he will be able to pay this thing off before I quit so that I can see how he’d handle GMing duties.



Criticism: He didn’t let me buy his 1st Round Pick from him last offseason when I gave him Cobb. Yeah, that’s my criticism and I hope you feel criticized, sir!



Compliment: Continuing off the first compliment, he’s even been flexible enough to shift how he earns extra points. Going from completely tanking out one season so he can trade back multiple times in the draft to earn points or taking on William Jackson and Dominick Cobb so he could actually get a handful of extra wins and then sell the player (Cobb) for more.







Dallas Mavericks





Compliment: Recently, the Mavs have been quite active in flipping his win-now pieces for those wonderful blue potential young pieces. Don Sanchez and Burt Gibson were swapped out for players like Berger, Kuyekendall, Carner and Morley. The last one is not really on the same trajectory as the others, but I’d imagine can be shipped out during the season for more youthful pieces and/or points if needed. Recognizing where you’re at and being honest about your team’s limitations is important and it appears this team grasps that.



Criticism: I do think the return for Gibson could have been stronger and that stems from not being active enough to really put him on the trade block to take in all offers that could have come his way. Perhaps a better return would not have materialized but when you have a under-30 purple potential player, feels like you should take in every offer you can get when you decide to move him.



Compliment: Way back in the 2034-2035 season (better times, really), the 52-win Mavericks went into Chicago and took down the 68-win juggernaut Bulls, clearing the path for an eventual Clippers championship. For that, you get my undying gratitude as a GM.





Houston Rockets





Compliment: Though openly fighting a feeling of indifference towards the league in general, the Rockets still got the nerve up to take a couple of swings last season to get into the playoffs again after an extended absence. Trading for Radd, Davis and Long did not end up working out quite as well as the team hoped, but I am always for teams taking some chances. They did make the playoffs too, even if it was due to a very weak bottom of the conference. I appreciate the fact that you’ve continued to give some effort regardless of circumstance.





Criticism: Bouncing off the above, I’d say that picking the right targets to go after is something that could be worked on. It isn’t that Long, Davis and Radd are bad players, but as a collective they proved not to be worth the effort. The Radd trade in particular was a bit head-scratching since B/B Tasmin Mitchell and a 1st round pick that in most other years would have been a lotto pick, were given up for him. Boredom along with some unusual concoction of apathy and desperation (if that’s even possible) likely led to that decision but still pointing it out here.



Compliment: As someone who has had trade discussions with ole 7 to the 8 on more than one occasion, I can tell you that they are an enjoyable experience. He is quick to let you know what he is looking for and if he finds offers acceptable. They’ve always been clean transactions (or non-transactions) and I like that. You definitely run into situations where the offers sent are so obviously one-sided that engaging can be a chore, so you appreciate guys like 78 more.





Milwaukee Bucks





Compliment: Doug is unafraid to make even the biggest of moves. He’s like a shark, needing to constantly be on the move for fear of imminent death. Even when he ultimately regrets a deal (Diakite most recently) he is quick to shift his focus and try to make-up for those mistakes. In the times that I do put someone of value on the block, I know I can count on the Bucks to come flying in with an offer and I value that because engagement is the backbone of this whole game of ours.



Criticism: For as much shit as Doug gets, I feel like I’ll have to be a bit nit-picky to pull too much of a criticism out in the way that he handles his business. He’s had 5 straight 50+ win seasons and has only missed the playoffs once in the last 13. Obviously, he has a handle on things. Maybe I’d say that not letting petty grievances get in the way of proper decision-making is one issue. Can be debated, but his handling of the restricted free agency of Olney likely should have been him matching and figuring the rest out. Depth at that point might have been an issue, but he still had other pieces (Mitchell? Grinder?) that could have shifted around to bring in better depth around Fox, Blakemore and Olney.



Compliment: Consistency. No matter what route the Bucks are going in, you know exactly what to expect out of Doug. His personality, his pro-active approach, his ability to make deals are all a constant and they are commendable attributes, I say.







Phoenix Suns





Compliment: Once upon a time they went out and were aggressive in trading for Leiker and Silky. Yay!



Criticism: I really don’t even need to spend a ton of time on this because we all know the problem with this team. There’s no effort to stay active. It is a shame really because any roster that has David Leiker, King Kaldurahm and William Pearman should be able to make a lot of damn noise. Instead, they’re a giant oak tree falling down in the forest without anyone to hear it.



Compliment: They’re leaving whoever (hopefully) takes over the team some great pieces to work with.





Sacramento Kings





Compliment: Tani has a real eye for talent in the draft. Perhaps it is easier when you have had a bunch of top picks, but his choices have almost all been spot-on recently, including flipping some of that talent for Jonathan Lewis. In recent drafts, the Kings have added Killian Hayes, Dorian Whitley, Barrett Kuyekendall, and Gerano Montoya. We’ll see on the most recent draft, but all of the others were some of my favorite prospects of those drafts.



Criticism: There’s been a couple of trade missteps recently, I’d say. I do not feel like Don Sanchez was worth giving up Barrett Kuyekendall for and moving Miguel Thomas for Richie Plott did not work out very well, though there certainly is no way to predict a broken leg knocking Plott down a peg. To get back to where Tani wants the Kings to be, he may need to pull off another shrewd move or two though, so he may avenge these missteps soon.



Compliment: He takes great advice and puts it to good use. Like when I told him that he should keep chipping away at Carlos in trade talks when he was on the hunt for a superstar in their prime. Then a day later? Whitley for Lewis was finalized. Great job doing what I suggested, brother! I knew you could do it!







San Antonio Spurs





Compliment: Something that I have noticed, and admired, about Carlos is that he seems to know exactly when the right time is to take a step backwards. It happened with BDJ seasons back and more recently with Lewis. Carlos felt the ceiling of his team closing in and realized that to take a step forward, he had to step back briefly to re-load. With BDJ, he flipped him for Daniel Yandell and now with Lewis he was able to get Dorian Whitley, who immediately came in and was a very good second banana to Yandell. This is saavy business and it is something that I certainly need a better grasp of myself.



Criticism: I wish that he’d take the same pro-active approach to the stepping back part of a rebuild into actually being aggressive in the BUILD. I’ve thought for a couple of seasons now, and especially THIS one, that it was time to go all-in. First it was with Lewis and Yandell and now, with Yandell and Whitley, you got to strike hard, strike fast. Cobra Kai style. Yandell is built to lead a championship team and since I don’t expect him to pass up a Super Max, I fully believe he’ll re-sign in San Antonio. Go be aggressive and get the pieces around him to win a title because it’d be a shame to blow his prime seasons being overly cautious.



Compliment: Not so much his general managing itself, but I honestly just enjoy chatting with Carlos whenever we do interact with each other individually. It’s typically light and fun, regardless if we’re running SLOE ideas by each other or chatting about video games or movies or whatever. He’s a good dude that I’m glad to have gotten to know a bit better.





WIGGINS DIVISION





Chicago Bulls



Compliment: I have a limited view, since I have not been around for the entirety of this league, but from what I’ve been able to witness, no one is better than Josh at the actual team building aspect of this game. He’s won three championships since I’ve been here and looks primed for another deep run that could very well lead to a fourth. He knows which pieces fit and which to avoid and finds ways to execute his plans to perfection. Even in his seasons he plans to tank a little bit, he steals a guy like Chris Ridley from Cleveland and gets to reset immediately. Okay, that part is pure luck, but he still had to go make the most of that luck and he did just that.



Criticism: That I couldn’t win more than one damn division title this whole time mostly because I had to deal with him. Stupid. Oh, and as someone who knows exactly what kind of writer Josh is/can be, I’d love to see more articles by him. Not really a criticism, I guess, but just thinking out loud. I imagine doing all the other stuff that he does already is tiresome enough though, so I get it.



Compliment: More than managing his team, I couldn’t do this without mentioning just how well Josh manages the entire league. Communication, promptness, open to suggestion, engagement. He really does it all and keeps things humming along smoothly. This is only the second nerdiest game that I’ve been with Josh in where he eventually had to run things, so seeing how he works here isn’t a surprise to me, but it is noteworthy.





Denver Nuggets



Compliment: My man Ryan here is like a magician working his salary cap. Typically, he knows when to hold em and when to fold em. He can sign his young players one season to long-term deals and build around that and the next, trade people for assets and go hard at unrestricted free agency and still come back with a contender as well as young pieces to move. Then the NEXT season, move those veterans again and re-shuffle. He certainly keeps the league on its toes.



Criticism: More from direct interactions than a league-wide kind of thing, but we’ve had talks where he’s sent offers that I don’t really find acceptable and I won’t send any kind of counter offer back because he has started the discussion with some version of “this is the best I’m willing to do”. Then during later discussions that will come up and he’ll question why I didn’t counter. Yo, don’t seem so closed off to the negotiation part early on! Cause I am not one to want to waste effort if I don’t feel like the juice is worth the squeeze. In general, though, trade talks with Ryan have been a positive experience even with most of them not amounting to anything.



Compliment: Just big respect on getting to six rings, especially in a season where I did not feel the Nuggets had a shot at all to even getting to the big dance, let alone winning it. You built a team that defied most expectations and that was a hell of a feat.





Miami Heat



Compliment: Might seem familiar, but I respect that the Heat went all the way in for a championship before winding up in tax jail. It didn’t work, and it probably sucks now, but what’s this game for if not to take some swings?



Criticism: Feels like there’s a bit of a dip in effort and activity since he’s had to climb out of tax hell. Understandable honestly, but it is certainly wildly different than watching Scott attack his tax incarceration so vigorously and pull himself out. Oh and … you should’ve traded me Leiker!



Compliment: We’ve only had a couple small interactions, but I can say that even though you haven’t been quite as active, I never was left on read on the forums. Our trade discussions were completed one way or the other and that shows you’re present for the most part.





Minnesota Timberwolves



Compliment: Raby seems to be incredibly self-aware as a GM. I have heard him openly discuss his shortcomings as a playoff game planner, though admittedly (if I remember correctly) it is often due to just being a bit lazy about that portion of the game a lot of the time. With that in mind, he’s very even keeled. So, when he has a team ready to go and compete, he puts his eggs in that basket. When he doesn’t? He is fine to just sit it out. There’s very little wasted motion for him, so he doesn’t strike out taking big swings often.



Criticism: Since I’ve mentioned a few times before that I appreciate the people who go for it, even if it puts them in a bad situation, I guess I kind of must stay consistent and say, for me, I wish Raby did decide to take more swings. He’s a smart guy, an accomplished GM and he has a great handle on the nuances of the game, so if he chose to go for homeruns, I am guessing he’d knock his share out of the park. Raspberry was a great get but that was just incredibly advantageous free agency play. I can’t imagine Raby ever being reckless, but some controlled fire would probably do him some good.



Oh, and I hate his takes on horror …



Compliment: His words on the league carry weight with me. I am mostly referencing the Horns and Fangs podcast which is the time that he really expresses himself about the game the most. I enjoy hearing his insight into the other teams, players and GMs. Wish he’d enjoy talking about it more often, but, hey, I can see where it’d grow old after participating in (approximately) 2,458 seasons of sim league.





New York Knicks





Compliment: Pulling oneself out of the bowels of tax hell seems to be no easy task but the Knicks managed to do it and made themselves capable of building an actual team. The more teams that can legit participate, means the more competition for the league which is obviously the best thing for it.



Criticism: The stint in tax jail seems to have neutered the team a little bit. Perhaps they are simply biding their time, but it seems like there’s an unease or fear of doling out any money. If that’s the case, you are simply putting yourself in your own tax jail and I cannot imagine that being all that fun or worthwhile. Go be bold, my man. Or at least, be bolder.



Compliment: I see incremental improvements in the win column since those tax shackles had been released, which is a positive sign. Hopefully you’re at the point again where you feel its close to time to make those numbers tick up even more.





Orlando Magic



Compliment: It does not actually happen too often, but trade talks with Andy are a pleasure. Generally, I appreciate chatting with someone who we can easily and casually fall in and out of non-SLOE topics and keep coming back to the actual trade. That has not been my experience with Andy, but I have enjoyed them in a different way for their directness. No sugar coating or buttering up, just putting the cards on the table for both parties to see and decide. I’ve yet to feel like he was trying to get over on me or holding back pieces just to get me to nudge him further. Maybe he has done those things, but if so, he does a great job playing a wolf in sheep’s clothing.



Criticism: There’s perhaps been a bit of a lack of focus since the end of the Boban/Bronny dynasty. The Magic have seemed to flip-flop back and forth between wanting to be a bottom feeder and full re-build to contending and adding pieces and the flip will switch quick to go the other direction. Sometimes that has been attempted with pieces that did not quite fit together as well as he had thought or hoped, as well.



Compliment: It must be a thankless task, so let me just take this moment to thank you for being the person that has to tally up all of these media points. Especially when you have dummies like you constantly making you have to read 3,000+ articles … like someone around here that I will not name. Not sure if anyone else would really care to do that gig (I wouldn’t), so thanks for helping this place continue to move forward.





Well, originally, I had planned to do the entire league here, but I am at the word count limit for one article, so I guess I can stop at the Alpha Conference. If I feel up to it, or others enjoy this format and want me to finish, I will do the Omega in another article in the near future.

[Darth Vegito]

Great stuff!!! And yes........ OMEGA!!!!

[greepleairport]

Nice to hear your takes, Mamba! Good stuff

[false9]

+10