#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

{Balls O'Hard is staring down at a piece of paper in his office behind his desk. He picks up his pen, starts marking down some notes on the paper filled with numbers. There's 3 knocks on the door [knock knock knock], O'Hard looks up. }

Balls O'Hard: Come in.

PR Lady: Um, excuse me Mr. O'Hard, but...
Balls O'Hard: It's time? That's fine.. do you have the ticket?

PR Lady: The ticket?

Balls O'Hard: Yes, The BIG ticket, Kevin Garnett, the man who carries this franchise's future on his shoulders. Please tell me he's here.

PR Lady: Ohhhhh, Kev? He's been here for hours. He told us, first one in last one out is how this franchise is now going to be run. Oh and also he said he brought a friend.

Balls O'Hard: A Friend? Who? This is an offical league press Conference.

PR Lady: He said his name was Ason Kidd.

Balls O'Hard: Ason? You mean Jason?

PR Lady: No sir, he made sure to tell you it was Ason.

Balls O'Hard: Oh sweetheart... nevermind. Thank you. i'll be out in a moment.
{O'Hard gets up and puts on his jacket and tightens his tie. Balls never really liked ties, never understood the effect of tying a noose around your own neck as formality; but that was neither here nor there. He walks out his office and KG is standing there. They nod to each other. Garnett pats Kidd on the back to tell him, Let's go. The 3 men walk in a single file on the stage: first Kidd, the KG, and last O'Hard. O'Hard taps the bottom of the pages hes carrying on the podium to straighten them. Clears his throat and starts the Press Conference.}
Balls O'Hard: Good morning everyone and thank you for coming. We've had a busy offseason. This offseason we managed to lock up our best player Kevin Garnett, who you see to my left, to a 5 year deal. Last year we were all witnesses to the ascent of this phenomenal player into something we only imagined when trading for him. KG proved to us through his play on the court and tireless work ethic off the court that he is the cornerstone of our franchise; and we wanted to make sure he felt as such by giving him the 5 year max. despite rumors that Kevin was leaving, he ended up following his heart and coming back to us to lead this franchise as the man, not a second banana.



Balls O'Hard: We acquired Jason Kidd, who's sitting next to KG, fresh off of a final appearance. Jason embodies what we hold precious as a franchise. He is a leader, a winner, unselfish, and is a 5 tool player. Kidd and KG compliment each other because they're strong at pretty much all areas of the game, they're not specialist. We're excited to see where we can go with him directing our team.
Balls O'Hard: Along with the Jason Kidd trade, we also acquired big man Vin Baker. Who we think will be looked at on at the end of the season as a very underrated move. Vin is a guy thats hard to stop on the block which is something we need. KG can handle the reigns as a primary scorer, but we needed someone who could compliment him down low if the help defense comes.

Balls O'Hard: We also added a guy we drafted years ago at the 5 pick in Bruce Bowen. A lot of people didn't like the pick because he was such a project, but we're happy to have him back. We feel Bruce can defend 3 positions and has that lunch pail mentality. He's a guy who doesn't ask for the ball, and wants to make the opposing players day a nightmare with his activity.

Balls O'Hard: In the draft we selected 18 year old Andrei Kirilinko who we also think fits into this design. Despite rumors that hes having a hard time adjusting to a new country and a new league in training camp, we're still very excited to have him. AK fits in the same mold as our two stars. Hes a guy who can do everything on the court and provides length and versatility. We understand he will take some time to grow, and we have guys that can shoulder the burden.

Balls O'Hard: He and last year's pick Larry Hughes will have major roles on our team, but won't be expected to do too much too soon. Larry had a tough training camp with the guys, but we think he'll bounce back. The coaches will put in some extra time with him to work on his scoring, which is something we'll need from him in bunches this season. We'll get his confidence back and we'll be ready to go come the start of the regular season.



Balls O'Hard: As far as expectations are concerned, i'd say the number 1 goal this season is to make the playoffs and kind of be that team that no one wants to face. As a management group we're not sure ready to take on the world yet, but we may surprise a few people. Our division is stacked with top tier teams in the Kings and Warriors and the Midwest's top has gotten crowded as well with Utah's emergence. If you look at the teams, you could have the top 4 teams in the league right there, so home court advantage right now is a little far fetched we think.

Balls O'Hard: With that, I'll open up the floor to anyone who wants to ask myself, KG or Jason Kidd any questions. Thank you all.

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Over the last few years, you've made moves obviously to get younger and to play yourself back to being a threat in the Western Conference. So my question Mr. O'Hard is that with this defensive army you've been building this past offseason, do you think this team is ready to surpass the Kings or the even the Warriors or some of the other powerhouses like the Timberwolves and reclaim your crown atop the Western Conference?

NickMalone77 wrote:Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Over the last few years, you've made moves obviously to get younger and to play yourself back to being a threat in the Western Conference. So my question Mr. O'Hard is that with this defensive army you've been building this past offseason, do you think this team is ready to surpass the Kings or the even the Warriors or some of the other powerhouses like the Timberwolves and reclaim your crown atop the Western Conference?

Balls O'Hard: Thanks Nick for the question. I think we have a ways to go. We're confident versus anyone in a series, but we have to admit there are better assembled teams that are fully matured. The two teams you mentioned are probably better than us on paper, and you could possibly throw in the Wolves and Jazz as well. We think we have a team that has the eventual potential to be historically good in terms of defense, but we'll have to wait and see how it all pans out.

Do you plan on starting Bruce Bowen or having him come off the bench to stop opposing sixth men. Also, other than KG, who will be your secondary scorer?

Woody Paige, Denver Post: How many minutes will you give Reid this season? One of the strongest 6'8" guys I've seen in the game.

coltsguy510 wrote:Do you plan on starting Bruce Bowen or having him come off the bench to stop opposing sixth men. Also, other than KG, who will be your secondary scorer?

Ballso O'Hard: Good question and it's something we've debated about internally. I think we'll do the wait and see approach. Bowen can play the 2,3 and 4 which makes him a very attractive player to come off the bench, but he also brings a little more maturity if he starts. We're going to see what works best. Regarding secondary options, we'll have Kidd handle the ball a lot but expect our 2nd biggest scorer to be different each night depending on matchup. That's one thing we enjoy a lot about the build of flexibility in our roster

TheSyndicate wrote:Woody Paige, Denver Post: How many minutes will you give Reid this season? One of the strongest 6'8" guys I've seen in the game.

Balls O'Hard: Thanks for the question Woody. Reid was an intriguing guy in Free Agency. We made sure we wouldnt be out bid for his services because we think he can play mainly 4 off the bench but spots of 3 and 5. I think somewhere in that 20 MPG range is a good spot for him.

Clark Kent, Daily Planet:
First of all, have you ever considered wearing a clip-on tie?

Secondly, how does Ason Kidd compare to a former Laker great, Kevin Johnson?

Where do you place yourself in the ranks of the Pacific?

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, you have the youngest team in the league (unresearched fact, your team is the only one I checked) with an average age of 24.6. Do you think you will be patient and watch these youngsters grow, or if the results aren't there in the next couple seasons will players be moved.

Soundwave wrote:Clark Kent, Daily Planet:
First of all, have you ever considered wearing a clip-on tie?

Secondly, how does Ason Kidd compare to a former Laker great, Kevin Johnson?

Balls O'Hard: First, no.

Balls O'Hard: Secondly, That's a good question. We think they're comparable as distributors, but thats sort of where the comparisons stop. KJ could really get his own shot and fill up the bucket as a lead scorer. He was a good not great defender. Kidd's M.O. isn't scoring the ball, hes a fantastic rebounder for his position, and a great defender. So if we had check boxes, KJ was better at scoring, taking care of the ball and distributing by a hair; Kidd is better at rebounding and defending. That's not shot at Jason, we're comparing him against maybe the second best PG in sim league history.

IamQuailman wrote:Where do you place yourself in the ranks of the Pacific?

Balls O'Hard: Right now, i think we'll fight to be 3rd in the division. To be fair to us though, the Kings and Warriors could be the best two teams in the league on paper right now.

Conroy wrote:Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, you have the youngest team in the league (unresearched fact, your team is the only one I checked) with an average age of 24.6. Do you think you will be patient and watch these youngsters grow, or if the results aren't there in the next couple seasons will players be moved.

Balls O'Hard: Good question. I think we have to be patient. This isn't a finished product by any means. Our best player is just starting to fill out his frame in terms of skill to talent. We really have to wait and see on moves. When i look at this team and it's potential on paper, it's exactly what I want; but we can't be so rigid that we won't flex if you see a need that should be filled.