#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

GM PaulyP strides into the media room in an oversized hoodie and smelling of tequila. A grin stretches across his face as he begins to speak

Last season can be summarized best as a whimper and a rather lackluster end to the Diakite era of Indiana basketball. Above all else our greatest frustration the previous term was how boring our team was. Going into this off-season with a plethora of money and presumably a good pick, change was coming.

Our scouting team identified a clear top 3 tier of prospects coming out of this draft so we were ecstatic to jump all the way to the 2nd slot…and with that pick we took this viral social media sensation…



HERBERT KESHAWN JONES

Now I don’t know or expect Herb to be locking anyone up in the PBSL but offensively Herb is very far along for a 19 year old and he’s going to be a staple here for many years to come. Pacers fans if you’re struggling to find a reason for optimism, trust in the Herb!

Our overall directive in terms of free agency was to get younger and more athletic on the wings and we accomplished that. Nix is coming off a career year and his steal heavy defense was an attractive pairing for Gamez who we also brought back in a no-brainer re-signing. Fletch is also an intriguing piece at a good price—we’re not totally sure where he’s gonna fit best but I’m confident his versatility will shine thru in whatever role he’s in. In terms of filling gaps, we’re going to keep our eyes and ears open for a frontcourt starter who can block shots and play heavy minutes

In terms of expectations we don’t really have any besides improving from last years tepidness, on paper the Alpha conference seems a lot deeper so a battle for the final seed will be tough but I’m pretty assured we’ve at the very least started to assemble the building blocks for the next successful era of this team.

GM PaulyP coughs wildly then mumbles

Who’s up for some Q/A?

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: do you expect Nix to get better again this year? What kind of production do you see from him?


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Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pacers pre-season lineup featured Cam'Ron Fletcher starting as PF, Herb Jones as the leading scorer, and some balanced minutes for bench players. What did you learn during preseason that you can apply to your regular season strategy, and what changes-if any-can we expect to see on opening day of the regular season?

More than a few eyebrows were raised when they saw the amount of money given to Daniel Gamez to bring him back in free agency. What do you think he has to accomplish in the coming seasons to earn those dollars?

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AngryBanana wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 6:40 am Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: do you expect Nix to get better again this year? What kind of production do you see from him?


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I think at his best Nix can be a 20/10 guy which for a 6-5 guard would be impressive but as far as what I want to see is him improving his shot selection. He settles for the jumpshot a lot when he could be going at the rim drawing contact and going to the line, I want those free throw numbers up this year

garbageman wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:43 am Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pacers pre-season lineup featured Cam'Ron Fletcher starting as PF, Herb Jones as the leading scorer, and some balanced minutes for bench players. What did you learn during preseason that you can apply to your regular season strategy, and what changes-if any-can we expect to see on opening day of the regular season?

The only change I’m going to make for right now is at Center, Robbins had a good preseason but I can afford to bring him along slowly while Silva and Eggert cement their spots either in the rotation or on the trading block.
As for strategy our team shot very poorly except for Herb, initially I wasn’t going to rely on him so heavily even thinking him starting as a 6th man might be better but he’s the one guy who can consistently stretch the floor so he’s going to be a key player immediately

good draft classes inevitably create "what if" debates so when you were sitting there at #2, were you deciding between Herbert Jones and Lenz Durrenberger, and if so what made you ultimately select Herb Jones?

MexicanMamba wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:17 pm More than a few eyebrows were raised when they saw the amount of money given to Daniel Gamez to bring him back in free agency. What do you think he has to accomplish in the coming seasons to earn those dollars?

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Well it was a pretty straightforward situation, we had the money and the bird rights and he was the best PG on the market. I didn’t want to get caught with my pants down like I did a decade earlier when John Stoll left for greener pastures. I’m not expecting all league level but if he wants to make all defense I would be super happy about that and I think him alongside Nix could be a nightmare for opposing guards

K-100 wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 10:28 am good draft classes inevitably create "what if" debates so when you were sitting there at #2, were you deciding between Herbert Jones and Lenz Durrenberger, and if so what made you ultimately select Herb Jones?

Good question, on our board we had Dejuan Baker and Herb as our top two prospects and Lenz pretty clearly in 3rd and then a big drop off to the rest of the class. Herb is very unique because he’s the youngest of the three AND he’s the most PBSL ready to contribute immediately so for a GM like me who doesn’t want to be stuck in an eternally long rebuild he’s the perfect rookie

League sources report that you had a strong offer to Mark Adkison. Were you planning on pairing him with Gamez or was he a fall back option in case Gamez didn’t return?

Herb Jones and Darius Garland are set to battle for the Rookie of the Year title. Who wins?

false9 wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 12:30 pm League sources report that you had a strong offer to Mark Adkison. Were you planning on pairing him with Gamez or was he a fall back option in case Gamez didn’t return?

Ideally together because of their commitment to defense and his ability to shoot from distance which Dan doesn’t do well. I really can’t express enough how much our defense last year irked me so guards who could steal were a major priority in FA

greepleairport wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 12:55 pm Herb Jones and Darius Garland are set to battle for the Rookie of the Year title. Who wins?

Garland has to be the front runner, right? He’s gonna have the ball in his hands as the Lakers primary creator and I’m sure he’s itching to prove himself after redshirting for so long