#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

After winning a history-making 7th ring, I find myself asking what's left to do in PBSL that I haven't already done. In the last ten seasons, the Bulls have won the championship 5 times. Last year, we built a team to win it all, and we did just that. We've got the formula down.

Does winning give me the same thrill as it did 20 seasons ago? No, not really. But it still beats losing by a long shot, especially when everyone has high expectations of you. I realize that if you're not a Chicago fan, you're probably rooting for us to lose. I know that some teams are weary to trade with us out of fear of helping us out, and I take that as a compliment. But if nobody wants to even send offers about our top notch talent, we're just going to double down and try to win another ring. After all, who has two ringless finger and two ringless thumbs? This guy!

We've got our starting five returning in Talen Horton-Tucker, Michael Sneed, Les Kim, James Wiseman, and Dan Yandell, and you can throw Luigi Leathers in there as well. While Yan and Wiseman might be one year older, they're still world class players, and the other four guys I mentioned only got better. We started Luigi in preseason, and he made a pretty convincing argument for the full-time job. Les Kim looks like he's ready to take on an all-star level scoring load. We're really excited about this foundation, and judging by the AVG Cohesion ranking in TV, they are, too.

But that's not all, even though we tried to bring back some big bench pieces from last year in Bryce Eggert and Albert Hunter, we're glad their roles helped get them big contracts from teams with the space to pay them. And, we think we were able to attract a lot of talent to fill those shoes...with Richie Plott, Richard Hunt, Gary Giles, Miguel Thomas, and Aaron Nesmith all buying into what we're doing here, minutes aren't going to come easy for anyone.

We hope the rest of the league is ready to take us to task in terms of defending our title, and I personally want to congratulate AngryBanana and the Thunder on putting together an excellent team last year. I'd love to be able to redo that series with both squads at full health, and I'm a little sad to see that even though they broke out of the tax, they couldn't take one more swing, but they've got a bright future ahead.

So before we get to the real fun part and start playing basketball games that mean something, hit me with your best questions!

With Sneed hitting full purple and the other key players returning (with a boosted Les Kim no doubt), are you better than last year? Why did you bring your closest buds into your division to slaughter us?

Will Danny Campbell break Les Kim’s or Sneed’s or THT’s leg?

Probably. Unless you trade all three to LA for DC. Think about it.


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greepleairport wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:15 am With Sneed hitting full purple and the other key players returning (with a boosted Les Kim no doubt), are you better than last year?

I think we are, and I touched on that before, so I won't go too deep into it, but the tl;dr is that Sneed is just reaching his prime, and Les, Luigi, and THT all took big leaps in the offseason after learning to play on a championship level last season. Dan Yan and the Wiseman still have plenty of run left in the tank, too, so I think we can outperform last year...as high as that bar was.

greepleairport wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:15 am Why did you bring your closest buds into your division to slaughter us?

I wanted to keep the Magic, too, but I thought with the way the other GMs were drafting, everyone else would stay away from selecting a team with a proven GM and a team that's set up well until the next division shake up and beyond. Plus, I didn't want the division to be a cakewalk.

The preseason (for as reliable as we all KNOW it is) has the Wiggins Division with no team below .500. You've already stated you didn't want this to be a cakewalk, and it appears you may have gotten your wish. Which new potential divisional rivalry are you most looking forward to exploring? Also, which potential Wiggins rivalry NOT involving your Bulls do you think will be the most exciting to follow?

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You brought back Silky Johnson and Richard Hunt this season who if they survive the final cuts would be vying for their 5th ring each. Is that a player record? (No clue how to look that up in TV so just wondering if you knew)

And is there any GM you have not yet squared off against in the Finals that you would want to for title #8?

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: if there was a hypothetical tournament, best of three style, between all seven of your championship teams. Who goes to the finals and who wins it all?


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MexicanMamba wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 6:44 am The preseason (for as reliable as we all KNOW it is) has the Wiggins Division with no team below .500. You've already stated you didn't want this to be a cakewalk, and it appears you may have gotten your wish. Which new potential divisional rivalry are you most looking forward to exploring? Also, which potential Wiggins rivalry NOT involving your Bulls do you think will be the most exciting to follow?

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The Lakers were my first choice in the reshuffle draft because I haven't been in a division with them before...and maybe not even in the same conference...so that's who I'm looking forward to being division rivals with the most.

The LA crosstown rivalries were always fun, but with the Suns and Pelicans both having recent Clipper recruit GMs, it'll be interesting to watch them all come along, too.

K-100 wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 7:47 am You brought back Silky Johnson and Richard Hunt this season who if they survive the final cuts would be vying for their 5th ring each. Is that a player record? (No clue how to look that up in TV so just wondering if you knew)

And is there any GM you have not yet squared off against in the Finals that you would want to for title #8?

Silky's mostly here for moral support and probably to retire a Bull, so I doubt he sees the end of the season in a player role. Rich Hunt's got a solid shot at the 2nd unit PG spot, so I could see him winning a 5th if we do win it all. However, BDJ retired with 5 and Kevin Garnett had 6, so it would only be a record among active players (Go to the Archive Tab and select "All Players" from Sort By)

As for who I'd want to face off for #8...I'd love a Finals rubber match with the Magic, but since I've faced them before, I'll say the Pistons. Of the teams that look like they could get there soon, I haven't faced Scott in an actual Finals, and that team is really starting to grow strong together.

AngryBanana wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:38 am Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: if there was a hypothetical tournament, best of three style, between all seven of your championship teams. Who goes to the finals and who wins it all?


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Great question. I think last year's team is a strong contender. We were able to get to the finals without our best scorer in Michael Sneed, so that just goes to show how deep this team is and how flexible it is. Guys like Talen Horton-Tucker and James Wiseman have the size and talent to play so many positions that it allows us great flexibility to match up with anyone. The Silky/Edmunds/Silva team in 2031-2032 was one of my favorite cores just because of how dominant Wanderlei was in the paint, and the 2039-2040 team that swept the 76ers was great too because we were able to bring Silky and Wanderlei back around a new core with Richard Hunt, Burt Gibson, Miguel Thomas, and Cristiano Felicio.

However, I'd say that this year's team might beat them all since it has all the strengths of last year's team with Yandell and Wiseman still being highly effective and more talent overall beyond that. We've got a long way to go and a lot of work to do to even take the 8th spot in that hypothetical tournament.

Reports have surfaced that Luigi Leathers is unhappy with the organization. Does that have any impact on his future as a Bull long term?

How many more decades of dominance do you foresee for the Bulls in the next 20 seasons?

drkavarga wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 2:29 pm How many more decades of dominance do you foresee for the Bulls in the next 20 seasons?

3

false9 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:34 pm Reports have surfaced that Luigi Leathers is unhappy with the organization. Does that have any impact on his future as a Bull long term?

Probably not. The way RFA works is that if he goes to another team, his unhappiness doesn't reset because RFA is a manual process, so if I decline him, he'll remain unhappy on his other team since the signing isn't natural. Thus, in a couple offseasons, nobody with half a brain is going to make an offer on him unless they're prepared to give me a valuable sign and trade (the trade being performed in node WILL reset his unhappiness).

"Hung" Henry Harrelson: There has been speculation that the arena is haunted by a ghost. Can you confirm these reports? Have any internal investigations been conducted? The public would appreciate a comprehensive announcement regarding this potentially spooky issue.

garbageman wrote:

false9 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:34 pm Reports have surfaced that Luigi Leathers is unhappy with the organization. Does that have any impact on his future as a Bull long term?

Probably not. The way RFA works is that if he goes to another team, his unhappiness doesn't reset because RFA is a manual process, so if I decline him, he'll remain unhappy on his other team since the signing isn't natural. Thus, in a couple offseasons, nobody with half a brain is going to make an offer on him unless they're prepared to give me a valuable sign and trade (the trade being performed in node WILL reset his unhappiness).

Y u gotta b like that 2 my boi Luigi. He shud natrally b happy


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digiskunk wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:19 pm "Hung" Henry Harrelson: There has been speculation that the arena is haunted by a ghost. Can you confirm these reports? Have any internal investigations been conducted? The public would appreciate a comprehensive announcement regarding this potentially spooky issue.

Yeah. They actually made a movie about it: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120142/

That's how I've been so successful

garbageman wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:13 pm

drkavarga wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 2:29 pm How many more decades of dominance do you foresee for the Bulls in the next 20 seasons?

3

Would you ever throw a finals matchup if someone promised to throw a Hex-a-Gone match in your favor?

IamQuailman wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:45 pm Would you ever throw a finals matchup if someone promised to throw a Hex-a-Gone match in your favor?

I don't need anyone to throw Hex-a-Gone

Do you plan on keeping our tradition alive of meeting in the conference finals to determine who will represent conference in the finals?

Eazy P wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:03 pm Do you plan on keeping our tradition alive of meeting in the conference finals to determine who will represent conference in the finals?

I planned on the Spurs selling off to reset their tax at some point so I wouldn't have to face you again, but alas, you've foiled those plans again. See you next Spring, I guess.