S51 Playoffs: A note on each team (Alpha)
Posted: Tue May 04, 2021 4:59 pm
I'm late. I know this. I started writing late and time has escaped me now that I'm back to work...but I do need the points. I haven't read Mamba's article yet, it's probably better, but I wanted to at least get the Alpha conference up before Omega moves on to the semis. And I'm making it within two minutes. Cheers guys!
I think my prediction analysis is played out. Let’s try something else this season - my snap judgments on each of the teams’ seasons, and where they finish in the playoffs.
Alpha
San Antonio Spurs
One of the league’s great GMs, The JNR, let me know much earlier this year that this team is his preferred winner. If I don’t win, I like Eazy P. I wouldn’t mind a win for him. And he’s worked mighty hard to get here and stole Delmar’s MVP along the way. No disrespect - Yandell is great, and certainly MVP caliber, but I am Biased.
I knew the S51 Spurs were dangerous when they were my only defeat in the first sim. The Sacramento Kings looked stacked to me, and I had always thought Jonathan Lewis was the better player. I was wrong. Yandell leading the way, these Spurs have talent everywhere and a future great in Montoya. Or did I mean Whitley? Ahh, they’re both pretty great already. But it was Whitley who went down early this season and the rest of the team stepped up such that it still didn’t take their 1st rd bye from them. And I don’t see anyone else in Alpha stopping them from making the finals. They are Alpha’s best without a doubt.
Chicago Bulls
Garbageman and his Bulls took the year off and still grabbed the #2 seed. Well, they stepped back, would have reset their tax if they weren’t doing so well, which for one of the league’s most winningest (spell check took it so it must be a word) GMs is basically a year off.
But they stayed healthy and weak nowhere. For garbageman’s Bulls this team is lesser-than, but for many other GMs this team is all-in and not even that expensive. Burt Gibson is one of the league’s best and proved it in the All Star Game. The giant hole that Felicio left was adequately filled by Jules Harms and Glen Sabo, and everyone else was still great. Though their start was pretty meh, they finished strong, and they will in the playoffs, too. Expect them in the conference finals.
Sacramento Kings
SuperDog is young yet successful in his GM career. He got handed lemonade whereas new GMs usually get lemons, but new GMs can easily make mistakes, whereas SuperDog made none. Updating his trade block to say everyone except Addington, Hayes and Lewis were on it, I definitely bit my nails and tried to grab Hector, but luckily for Sacramento, SuperDog knew better.
I had them topping the Alpha conference and the Spurs, actually. I wouldn’t say they did not live up to their potential, tying the Bulls as runners-up. The Kings held steady this year and without injuries had a very fine season. When they meet the Bulls in the semis, however, expect a very competitive season. They could very well meet the Spurs in the Conference Finals
Minnesota Timberwolves
Another team with a strong gap year like the Bulls, the Timberwolves hold the ever elusive elite big, probably the best, in Mitchell Robinson. Saying goodbye to OG was rough but necessary; saying bye to Raspberry was probably pretty easy for JNR though.
With the only real setback this season being a Quackenbush injury, JNR’s Twolves find themselves comfortably in 4th place. In what would on paper be a very exciting playoff matchup of great vet GMs, a certain malaise held over from taking a gap year season on one side and an existential PBSL GM’ing crisis on the other, I think the Twolves have a 55-60% chance of edging past Rd 1, and about a 5% chance of making it past Rd 2. Great season nonetheless.
Denver Nuggets
When The Syndicate started posting stuff like “I’m just cruising so I don’t leave a garbage team” to the next GM (or something along those lines), I was pretty upset. It’s always sad to see a league great develop a life that pushes out PBSL life (the only life worth living, but whatever), but Ryan has his reasons. Good reasons. And when the Nuggets ran out the gate starting the season with a 3-5 record, priorities understandably shifted for the Syndicate: hold on, but only for the betterment of someone else’s future.
Well, I still hope that has changed. The Nuggets realized their potential not too long after the All Star Break, finishing February 11 games over .500 with All Star PF Danny Campbell leading the way. Playing well at the rim on both sides, then Turney picking up steam with Rodriquez putting in good but not great minutes, the Nuggets finished well. And they can make it out of the 1st round, but will they? Is Syndicate in this enough to win it? Here lies the true Nuggets conundrum.
Orlando Magic
I still don’t understand the Magic’s season. It should have been way better, but it wasn’t. They’re talented everywhere except yesteryear’s position du jour, PG. They’re pretty stacked with big talent commodities. So what went wrong?
Not enough. They’re in the playoffs and ready to compete. False9’s vet savvy could prove too much and overwhelm a new GM with a great team. But it might also play out disappointingly like the regular season. It would be unfortunate watching them go down in Rd 1 because false has a great way of setting up role players for success, most famously now with three-time reigning Defender of the Year Matthew O’Connor, and the role-players are surrounding greats. If there’s any upsets in the 1st round, I’m looking at you, Orlando..
Phoenix Suns
Boy, is it nice to see some management back in Phoenix! Much work must be done here, but thanks to Mamba and more so now BlackSuperman, that work has begun. When I first saw that Phoenix was getting managed, I took William Pearman out of my line of sight. No seriously. I didn’t add Pearman to my Free Agent bids until hours before UFA, day of. Same with Bias back in the day, actually.
But this isn’t about me. With all due respect these Suns do not have a prayer of making it out of the first round. Their talent is lopsided with old, almost aged out greats in Leiker and Kaldur’ahm, and young guns who just aren’t quite there yet in rookie Ronny Asher and Edward Simonton, one of the season’s most coveted vet min signings. They’ll be back, though, maybe not next year, but with a mentor like Mamba I think this squad is only thinking about next season anyway.
I think my prediction analysis is played out. Let’s try something else this season - my snap judgments on each of the teams’ seasons, and where they finish in the playoffs.
Alpha
San Antonio Spurs
One of the league’s great GMs, The JNR, let me know much earlier this year that this team is his preferred winner. If I don’t win, I like Eazy P. I wouldn’t mind a win for him. And he’s worked mighty hard to get here and stole Delmar’s MVP along the way. No disrespect - Yandell is great, and certainly MVP caliber, but I am Biased.
I knew the S51 Spurs were dangerous when they were my only defeat in the first sim. The Sacramento Kings looked stacked to me, and I had always thought Jonathan Lewis was the better player. I was wrong. Yandell leading the way, these Spurs have talent everywhere and a future great in Montoya. Or did I mean Whitley? Ahh, they’re both pretty great already. But it was Whitley who went down early this season and the rest of the team stepped up such that it still didn’t take their 1st rd bye from them. And I don’t see anyone else in Alpha stopping them from making the finals. They are Alpha’s best without a doubt.
Chicago Bulls
Garbageman and his Bulls took the year off and still grabbed the #2 seed. Well, they stepped back, would have reset their tax if they weren’t doing so well, which for one of the league’s most winningest (spell check took it so it must be a word) GMs is basically a year off.
But they stayed healthy and weak nowhere. For garbageman’s Bulls this team is lesser-than, but for many other GMs this team is all-in and not even that expensive. Burt Gibson is one of the league’s best and proved it in the All Star Game. The giant hole that Felicio left was adequately filled by Jules Harms and Glen Sabo, and everyone else was still great. Though their start was pretty meh, they finished strong, and they will in the playoffs, too. Expect them in the conference finals.
Sacramento Kings
SuperDog is young yet successful in his GM career. He got handed lemonade whereas new GMs usually get lemons, but new GMs can easily make mistakes, whereas SuperDog made none. Updating his trade block to say everyone except Addington, Hayes and Lewis were on it, I definitely bit my nails and tried to grab Hector, but luckily for Sacramento, SuperDog knew better.
I had them topping the Alpha conference and the Spurs, actually. I wouldn’t say they did not live up to their potential, tying the Bulls as runners-up. The Kings held steady this year and without injuries had a very fine season. When they meet the Bulls in the semis, however, expect a very competitive season. They could very well meet the Spurs in the Conference Finals
Minnesota Timberwolves
Another team with a strong gap year like the Bulls, the Timberwolves hold the ever elusive elite big, probably the best, in Mitchell Robinson. Saying goodbye to OG was rough but necessary; saying bye to Raspberry was probably pretty easy for JNR though.
With the only real setback this season being a Quackenbush injury, JNR’s Twolves find themselves comfortably in 4th place. In what would on paper be a very exciting playoff matchup of great vet GMs, a certain malaise held over from taking a gap year season on one side and an existential PBSL GM’ing crisis on the other, I think the Twolves have a 55-60% chance of edging past Rd 1, and about a 5% chance of making it past Rd 2. Great season nonetheless.
Denver Nuggets
When The Syndicate started posting stuff like “I’m just cruising so I don’t leave a garbage team” to the next GM (or something along those lines), I was pretty upset. It’s always sad to see a league great develop a life that pushes out PBSL life (the only life worth living, but whatever), but Ryan has his reasons. Good reasons. And when the Nuggets ran out the gate starting the season with a 3-5 record, priorities understandably shifted for the Syndicate: hold on, but only for the betterment of someone else’s future.
Well, I still hope that has changed. The Nuggets realized their potential not too long after the All Star Break, finishing February 11 games over .500 with All Star PF Danny Campbell leading the way. Playing well at the rim on both sides, then Turney picking up steam with Rodriquez putting in good but not great minutes, the Nuggets finished well. And they can make it out of the 1st round, but will they? Is Syndicate in this enough to win it? Here lies the true Nuggets conundrum.
Orlando Magic
I still don’t understand the Magic’s season. It should have been way better, but it wasn’t. They’re talented everywhere except yesteryear’s position du jour, PG. They’re pretty stacked with big talent commodities. So what went wrong?
Not enough. They’re in the playoffs and ready to compete. False9’s vet savvy could prove too much and overwhelm a new GM with a great team. But it might also play out disappointingly like the regular season. It would be unfortunate watching them go down in Rd 1 because false has a great way of setting up role players for success, most famously now with three-time reigning Defender of the Year Matthew O’Connor, and the role-players are surrounding greats. If there’s any upsets in the 1st round, I’m looking at you, Orlando..
Phoenix Suns
Boy, is it nice to see some management back in Phoenix! Much work must be done here, but thanks to Mamba and more so now BlackSuperman, that work has begun. When I first saw that Phoenix was getting managed, I took William Pearman out of my line of sight. No seriously. I didn’t add Pearman to my Free Agent bids until hours before UFA, day of. Same with Bias back in the day, actually.
But this isn’t about me. With all due respect these Suns do not have a prayer of making it out of the first round. Their talent is lopsided with old, almost aged out greats in Leiker and Kaldur’ahm, and young guns who just aren’t quite there yet in rookie Ronny Asher and Edward Simonton, one of the season’s most coveted vet min signings. They’ll be back, though, maybe not next year, but with a mentor like Mamba I think this squad is only thinking about next season anyway.