#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

WTH????
What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Which teams surprised you?
Which players surprised you?
Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5, 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Deadline for sim 2

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Karl Malone shooting .714 from the field, despite a modest 74 INS. Malone's athleticism is off the charts, so the efficiency is no surprise but to shoot that effectively with room to grow is a scary proposition. If I were the Suns, my point bank would be poured into Malone but so far so good in the desert.

Which teams surprised you?
Houston Rockets. The Rockets benefited from a lucky bounce in the lottery and ran to the podium to take Patrick Ewing. Ewing is making a early run at MVP and Rookie of the Year if this pace keeps up.

Which players surprised you?
The entire class from the 1985 draft lottery. Everyone lost their mind about the 84 class, but the 85 class is nothing to sneeze at after one sim. We got folks littering the top of the leaderboards and it looks like several franchise cornerstones have been found. It's way too early for such a hot take but who is reading this far anyway?

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
Slow starts by the Pistons and Supersonics. The first sim is always a little wonky but these two teams are too talented to be in the basement for much longer. I think by day 60 they will right the ship.

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?

The most surprising is the Rockets. 7-2 is a great start for them. I team led by the other Bird...Birdsong and Player of the week Patrick Ewing. Ewing Is averaging 34 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assist and 4 blocks a game. He's easily by far the Sim 1 MVP front runner.

Which teams surprised you?

The Pistons, Sonics and Blazers slow starts really surprised me. I think the maybe just testing out different things for this sim to see if it works. They have good teams and will finish strong with playoff births. I think the bad slow start is a fluke for these teams.

Which players surprised you?

James Worthy....he's having a coming out party. Now that he's back in the starting lineup he showing why he belong there. I don't see him giving up that spot for the foreseeable future.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

The Bucks staying unbeaten. The Bucks are the odds on favorites to win it all but they won't go 82-0.

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Kevin McHale averaging 40+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 3+ blocks per game is crazy. He has challenged Magic Johnson as best player in the league for the past few years, but he has stepped into his two way role to solidify the top spot in the league.

Which teams surprised you?
The Mavs only having 2 wins surprised me. They have talent on both sides of the court. There are not a whole lot of teams that have more talent than them.

Which players surprised you?
Patrick Ewing with the Rockets coming out as such a high contributor was not expected. Not only as a 30+ scorer, but also as a top 3 blocker in the league is incredible for a rookie.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
The high statistical averages will drop. It's always fun to be super excited after one sim, but players will come back down to Earth as the teams play different quality opponents.

logpmess wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 10:28 am What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Kevin McHale averaging 40+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 3+ blocks per game is crazy. He has challenged Magic Johnson as best player in the league for the past few years, but he has stepped into his two way role to solidify the top spot in the league.

Which teams surprised you?
The Mavs only having 2 wins surprised me. They have talent on both sides of the court. There are not a whole lot of teams that have more talent than them.

Which players surprised you?
Patrick Ewing with the Rockets coming out as such a high contributor was not expected. Not only as a 30+ scorer, but also as a top 3 blocker in the league is incredible for a rookie.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
The high statistical averages will drop. It's always fun to be super excited after one sim, but players will come back down to Earth as the teams play different quality opponents.

It should be noted for Ewing he played my team 3 times and the guy who I had starting at C (the position he was listed as after last season when the sim put him at C on Recommended) was only 6'6. That's my bad on that. Don't be surprised if his numbers drop starting this sim.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pm What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?

The 10-0 Bucks are #2 in both Points scored and points allowed, but are 9th in FG% and Effective FG%. They're also 5th in Offensive Efficiency, 1st in Offensive Rebounds, and 1st/4th in Field Goal Attempts/Field Goals Made, meaning that they miss a lot of shots and rely on second-chance points. However, they're 1st in Blocks, Rebounds, Rebound%, Block%, and Defensive Efficiency. This team is a defensive juggernaut that completely controls the post, which makes up for their good-but-sloppy offense. If this holds, you won't be able to find much useful data against them in head-to-head regular-season matchups, as these stats are a bonafide recipe for regular-season success. Playoff hopefuls should start analyzing broad counters now, rather than looking at specific games.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich teams surprised you?

The only team that I legit can't find an explanation for their start is the Detroit Pistons. Their rotation looks fine, and their schedule was tough but not overwhelming. I don't think English's fall-off to a "mere" 20ppg scorer and Richardson's transition to a pure passer (who - if he's going to play that role - is worryingly averaging a little less than he did last season) is enough to make the Pistons "mid" instead of the solid "good" that they were last season, but I guess we'll see over the next few sims.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich players surprised you?

Cliff Robinson going nuclear with basically 38 PPG. I think everyone thought that the Kellogg/Robinson trade was a pretty fair deal at the time, but now it looks like highway robbery. On the surface, I'm not quite sure what's enabling Cliff to dominate like this. His athleticism is great but not elite, and it's the same story with his 88 INS and 67 JPS. Barkley and Harper's scoring numbers are both up (...admittedly debatable in Harper's case) and Thompson's putting in 22 himself, so it's not like Cliff is in business for himself, he's just been that damn good. 10 RPG is just icing on the cake. If he keeps this up, MIP honors are a given.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

I don't think this offensive explosion will continue. Right now we have 7 30+ PPG scorers, which is the most we've had since the 1982-83 season. While it was common to see a ton of dominant individual scorers in the early days (9, 8, and 9 over the first three seasons), the influx of talent over the past two seasons has led to stingier defense and more ball-sharing across the board (only 3 30+ PPG scorers both seasons). While I don't think it'll get down to that level (4-5 seems reasonable), I doubt that it'll stay at 7 or grow.

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?

• Certainly have division bias and maybe not a huge surprise to me, but the Nets are for real and look like they could be a problem for a few seasons at least. Coming out averaging 125 a game was at least a little surprising.

Which teams surprised you?

• Most immediately surprised by the Pistons slow start. Talked up my boy in the preseason and they came out with a -15 point differential in sim 1. They need to get that game plan in order quick, because it looks really good on paper

Which players surprised you?

• Easy to cherry pick the top of the league leader list through sim 1, but Kev McHale averaging 40 through the first 10 games is crazy. Chill out Kev. Chill out Doug. Fat Lever dishing 13 dimes a game is also pretty impressive and scary in a small sample size

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

• Not sure there are many trends to identify through 1 sim, but I don't see the Rockets being able to keep up that point differential and in turn with the Spurs for too many sims. Impressive start for that crew but I think the lack of depth will catch up and make that team closer to .500

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Gotta be either Ewing or McHale. McHale went Super Saiyan and Ewing is single-handedly keeping Houston from being the shitty city it truly is. I predicted the Bucks to win it all and it looks like a good start to my prediction. And also...Frye the Bucks.

Which teams surprised you?
Many may say Rockets at 7-2 but they haven't played anyone. The Rockets are a fluke. What is surprising is how bad the Pistons have started off. They should not be that bad. I see lots of low minutes and lots of fouling. They gotta get that under control. Definitely fixable with better game plans.

Which players surprised you?
A few. Ewing, Fat, McHale, Bowie. Lots of guys are making this year their coming out party. So much talent in the league right now. I can't wait to sign these guys to my team in 4 years.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
Rockets WILL fall off. Pistons will get better and make the playoffs. Blazers will pull it together and make the playoffs as a 5 or 6 seed and upset someone in the first round.

WTH????
What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Which teams surprised you?
Which players surprised you?
Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

The most surprising and interesting stat for me was the Rockets topping their division! I don't think that will hold, though, no offense to 78. I just don't see how they sustain that record with a team like the Spurs nipping at their heels.

I wasn't surprised to see the Lakers do so well...but I was surprised to see that only ONE of their games was at home, and they went 7-1. That's impressive. What's crazier is if they keep this momentum next sim, where - AGAIN - they only have ONE game at home? This crew will look unstoppable - forget the Bucks +/-. Hopefully LTS agrees and doesn't worry about his cap as much as he did last season when he destroyed his team cutting it to 8 players at the deadline.

I guess I answered question 4, but question 3? I mean, Patrick Ewing was MY favorite rookie, but I didn't think he'd put up 35ppg his rookie year. Perhaps that dies down as sims continue, but that was the most notable thing for me.

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Patrick Ewing coming out the gate balls out averaging nearly 35PPG. On top of that he's TOP 3 IN REBOUNDING. Ewing is already shaping up to be no only the best player in this draft, but possibly one of the best players in the league.

Which teams surprised you?
The Rockets absolutely stunned me. I doubt the immediate impact of Patrick Ewing is enough to shock 78 into activity, but the Rockets are finally doing what we thought they would've done after the creation draft. Dominating. Ewing, McDowell, Bird & Birdsong are so lethal as a group, and Frank the Tank does a good job of facilitating. Really curious to see if this sim was a blip or if it's sustainable season-long.

Which players surprised you?
Can I say Kevin McHale? Like we all know he's an MVP-calibur player. But this off-season added more firepower and scoring around him, and his scoring went UP 7ppg on 61% from the field. Just nuts. I know it's only sim 1, but it was 10 games. That's 12% of the season. I'm curious to see if it stays or goes, but I was expecting a drop off a little, not an astronomical leap into the stratosphere of scoring.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
The Pistons and their losses. This will turn around. The Pistons have a great coach, team, and the infrastructure to rebound. They had a tough matchup during sim 1, but we've seen teams with worse starts turn it around. They will be one of them. I also don't see the clippers and Blazers staying outside the playoff hunt either... the West is turning back into a bloodbath once again.

WTH????
WTH is right

What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?
Kevin McHale averaging 40+ points per game. I know he's capable of big games but to sustain that over 10 games is wild.

Which teams surprised you?
Supersonics and Rockets. First, Supersonics, I really thought wed come out the gate better than we did but this was way worse than I could have imagined. Hopefully we can get it together soon. The Rockets are fascinating because they have a good roster, just hope the GM keeps up with it so they compete with the Spurs for the division

Which players surprised you?
Everybody on the 3P stat sheet. I wonder if this is the season we start to see more 3s fall in. Still a long season but 5 people averaging over 45% is pretty nice to see.

Which trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?
Hopefully my Supersonics being bad. I gotta make sure I right this ship because I do not want to be going through another rebuild after I just finished building this team up from nothing

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pm WTH????
What is the most surprising or interesting stat that came out of the 1st sim?

There was a fair share of wild stats, but the most interesting stat to me was Warriors winning six games. I don't know that anyone would have seen that start from them this year, even the Warriors themselves.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich teams surprised you?

Warriors as previously mentioned. In addition to them, the Pacers going 1-9. They have been such a consistent presence to start this game, that seeing them so low is kinda wild. Will this be another Pacers sim of old, where they flip the script after sim one and play well?

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich players surprised you?

Both Malone and Ewing. I knew they were both going to be good, but did not expect either to come out as hot as they did. Ewing is putting up MVP stats. Malone, with some paid training will truly be another OP machine.

Mike Lowry wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:38 pmWhich trends will absolutely not continue to play out for the whole season?

Malone shooting over 700.

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+1 point