#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

"The night is alive, birds chirping relentlessly, the brisk chill fills the midnight air. The ocean tide low enough to only hear the waves crash upon the beach intermittently. I lay here in this cabin on the undeveloped Brazilian island and wonder, how will I speak to the fans? And it hits me, I will tell them the truth, the entire truth. I will tell them how we indubitably wanted to trade our best two players, how we were discouraged and contemplated retirement. I will tell them we were on the verge of blowing the entire team up after 1 heart break season. The fans deserve the truth and I will speak to them as so"

I would first like to apologize to the fans. I know we had a lot of hype and promise coming into the last season. We were able to resign Mahmoud and trade for Blakeney. We had a great FA signing in Parris. All of these moves just to lose at home in game 7. Injuries are apart of the game but it's tough to go out that way.

We fast forward this season, and we ask ourselves, are we good enough to get it done with the same roster? Outside of the MLE we don't have much flexibility with Free Agency. We make a couple decent signings most importantly Chris Throckmorton. Who should help anchor the defense while also suring up defensive boards and eliminating second chance opportunities. But we look around and we have to ask ourselves, are we good enough with the same bunch. 55 wins was good enough for 6th in the league BUT 3rd in our division. All this firepower potential but something missing to bring it all together.

We made it known that Akins and Blakeney were both being shopped. It didn't seem possible to win with both playing the same position and essentially being similar players. We aggressively looked to move one of them but as we crept into Free Agency we had no buyers. The fear and idea that we may have to run it back with the same group is starting to creep in. "Lightbulb" if we can't find something to tie in the firepower how about we change the type of team we are and focus on other weaknesses.

The idea of trading Johnston and Hancock for Alleman came to me swiftly. The deal was accepted so fast that I asked if the confirmation was a joke. If we can't get a point guard to help sure up the offense, then let's get a big man to help sure up the paint defense while also adding to the defensive rebounding, shot blocking, and inside scoring. We lose the perimeter defense of Johnston but gain the front line presence of Alleman. Is the trade off worth it? The biggest question I had last season was can we win on the road…with game 7 being at home that question didn't play out.

The new look suns will be just as potent offensively but will be tougher. The mentality will be to match guard/wing play while rotating 3 bigs who can play against anyone. I think the team is tougher and this should help us win games we wouldn't win before. It's going to be hard for teams to be better than us 1-6. However after that, our depth becomes a true question. Do we have enough? Are we too top heavy? Can we survive regular season injuries which we have had 2 straight seasons to significant players. As slow pitched those questions are, the biggest question still remains…can we win on the road, we start the season with 14 of 18 on the road so this question will be answered very quickly. Let's hope the new look tougher suns are harder to score on and more physically demanding. Let's invoke some toughness and go beat up some folks out there.

The desert has spoken, any questions?

What would you consider a "successful" season this year?

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Aside from Chris Throckmorton, you spent half of your MLE money on Cade Cunningham with hopes that he might be able to take over some point guard duties. We didn't see much of him in preseason, but what will his role be on the team post-TC, and who else do you expect to contribute to your second unit?

Darth Vegito wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:29 pm What would you consider a "successful" season this year?

Since I became the Suns GM I have battled between mediocrity and lottery. I've yet to win a division title, I've yet to reach the conference finals, I've yet to win 60 games. And obviously I've yet to reach the finals. Success with this roster would be getting to a conference finals. That's the realistic measuring stick for success, unfortunately I think 60 wins and a division title is the easiest path in doing so given the playoff seeding format

garbageman wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:40 pm Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Aside from Chris Throckmorton, you spent half of your MLE money on Cade Cunningham with hopes that he might be able to take over some point guard duties. We didn't see much of him in preseason, but what will his role be on the team post-TC, and who else do you expect to contribute to your second unit?

Cade is older, we decided to give him some rest going into the season. Cade is a multi time champion and while we'd like him to mesh with the squad, we're going to save that for the regular season and obviously they've practiced together. Cade will start at PG and the veteran will use his experience to hopefully bring us a level of consistency we've never had in Phoenix with me as the GM

We're glad you got out of the desert for some of that Brazilian sun and ocean breeze. Has the vacation brought clarity to management in Phoenix? Plans to move Akins or Blakeney any more or less clear?

Do you think holding training camp in a secluded area in Brazil help bring the team together as a unit?

greepleairport wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 12:22 pm We're glad you got out of the desert for some of that Brazilian sun and ocean breeze. Has the vacation brought clarity to management in Phoenix? Plans to move Akins or Blakeney any more or less clear?

I think right now, we want to focus on the season. Barring any catastrophic injuries I think the plan is to go all in on this season and winning a championship this season. Akins Nor AB will be moved this season they can both be assured of that, next season we will see what happens but the goal right now is to get a championship this season.

Eazy P wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:39 pm Do you think holding training camp in a secluded area in Brazil help bring the team together as a unit?

That is the goal right to get into a place where there's less distractions more focus on collaborating and coming together as a team we'll see if that pays off for us. the season is very long there's a lot of unpredictability to it right now our focus is to gel with some of the new guys. we got two new starters on the team let's get these guys in the fold. we have a lot of new role players on the team. The core is the same for the most part, and the ball will continue to go through AB and Akins they will remain our top options but you know we have a lot of options here in the desert and I think the plan is going to be to give everyone hell every single night.

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: do you think after seeing AB’s pre season success, that he will sustain those levels through the regular season and into the playoffs?


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