#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

I've gotten my hands on the SNES version of NBA Jam and have been playing it a lot and it got me thinking of what the SLOE version would look like. And if some teams that are maybe not contenders with full rosters (Celtics) would they be able to roster a great 3 man team and win some 2 on 2 games. I went through everyone's roster and put together what I thought would be their best 3 man team*. Some I spent a lot of time on and then realized I actually wanted to post this article this season so others may have been rushed. I tried to think about teams that were good in NBA JAM and what attributes were important. It seems like speed, 3 point shooting, power, and dunking are the 4 most important things. So one of those attributes would be the tiebreaker on who to include, but I also looked at stats if someone is averaging 20/10 they probably made your roster. My plan is to break down division by division in separate posts saying who would win that division based on almost a seeded tournament (division leader would play team in last place in single elimination tourney). Then eventually doing a mini playoffs seeing who would win the NBA JAM Tournament which will coincide with the actual playoffs going on. I'll first basically list the teams and provide a little background commentary before really diving deep into why each team would be good/bad when talking about the matchups

*I did some of these before trade deadline, but I don't think there were any trades that affected rosters if there was oh well sorry to those specific teams.

So I"ll just go down the standings page and start with the Atlantic Division:


Markelle Fultz (SG), Van Grimaldi (SF), Ben Simmons (PF) - Philly puts together an impressive roster these 3 are averaging about 71 ppg in regular NBA games right now. They are winning the division and currently the 2 seed in the East.


Chet Dooley (PG), Garry Harris (SF), Nikola Jokic (C) - Without double checking this has to be the oldest team and probably by a lot. If this tournament was 3 years ago when they were all under 30 this team would probably be the favorite.


Tyler Ulis (PG), Julio De La Rosa (SG), Phil Milburn (SF) - This team lacks size, but at least they have athleticism. Tyler Ulis may essentially be the Air Dog cheat code from the original game.


Joffrey Baratheon (PG), Bjorn Ironside (SF), Kristaps Porzingis (C) - The all name team if nothing else. But also a solid all-around team without any clear weaknesses, this division is starting to look pretty stacked.


F. Cole Medina (PG), Joseph Kight (PF), Chriss (C) - This may not be the roster RPF put together, but I threw Chriss in there because I thought they needed some strength. Smart and Okogie are good players but lack the athleticism that is important in this game.

OK so this division has 5 teams so I'm making the executive decision to put the #1 seed 76ers straight to the title game of the division. They have the best team so it's the simplest way. So the first matchup would be the Raptors vs Celtics. Tyler Ulis is tailor made for this format with 100 jmp, 100 3PS, and 71 STR as a pg, he would play all 4 quarters while Milburn and JDLR take turns disappointing him as teammates. But the whole of the Raptors 3 would just be too much. Milburn would try to bully Porzingis and would fail miserably. Baratheon isn't that far off from Ulis and a much better ball handler. Raptors win 64-58 with Ulis scoring about 45 points in a losing effort.

Next up would be Knick-Nets in a game built around 3s and slamma jamma's this would definitely be a game full of 3 point shots. The average jump rating of all 6 players is 38.8, but the average 3 point shot rating is 76.3. I doubt the stands would be full for this one, but it could turn into a shootout. Chriss would struggle if Jokic hung around the perimeter distributing and shooting 3s, it's tough in the open court sometimes to shove the player to the ground. Gary Harris catches fire in the 3rd quarter in this one and ends up with 8 3's and the Knicks win 70-60.

That leaves Raptors vs Knicks for a shot to play the 76ers. The Knicks would primarily roll with Jokic and Harris for the bulk of the game. While I think the Raptors could use depth to their advantage and try to overpower them for stretches with Ironside and Porzinigis out there together, or humor themselves watching Gary Harris and his 60 QKN try to keep up with Baratheon and his max speed. Ironside would be strong enough to keep up with Kristaps and would be constantly having the commentator screaming "BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA" while dunking all over him with his jump advantage. Raptors win 72-50 as the Knicks eventually just give up.

So we have 76ers vs Raptors for the division crown. I might be bias that I think Ulis is the perfect player for this mode, so since he's eliminated Fultz has to be one of the best left. He can shoot 3's he can jump, he's fast enough, strong for a guard, and if he's not shoving ya down his 95 STL rating is helping him swipe the ball on the perimeter. It also seems like the 76ers like playing the Raptors holding a 3-1 regular season record over them with the only loss being by 1 pt. Simmons is just flat out better than Porzingis. But Ironside/Baratheon vs Fultz/Gimaldi is very very close. But the fact the Fultz is in his prime and Ironside is only 21 and still growing gives them the edge. Baratheon could swing it but too much would have to go right for the Raptors to win. I really think Simmons just clears a path for Fultz, cleans up any rare misses he has and the combo of Fultz/Simmons is too much.

Not too much different from regular SLOE as the 76ers win the Atlantic Division.

Ok on to the Cental Division



Dennis Smith Jr (PG), Leroy Haugh (SG), Vernon Desantis (C) - Just an all-around great team for this format. Smith has the handles, qkn, and jump ability for dunks. Desantis has the power, the only weakness appears to be 3 point shooting.


Stephen Keitt (PG), James O'Connor (SF), Anthony Davis (PF) - Anthony Davis is good. Keitt is a perfect compliment, quick can shoot the 3 and jump. O'Connor is a solid all around player and will spell Keitt or AD just fine a quarter at a time.


Clifford Paugh (PG), RJ Barret (SF), Vaughn Vaccaro (PF) - The real team is purposely bad, hurting their 3 man team. Paugh and Vaccaro are good enough they wouldn't get blown out every game, so the pieces fit together OK...


Kemba Walker (PG), Russel Arciniega (PF), Dirk Hardpeck (C) - Walker might be the oldest player on any roster here, and maybe the only Y/Y player. But this team is pretty void of current talent. Their best option may be to run the PF/C combo and just try to over power other teams.


Zach Lavine (PG), Truman Wrenn (SF), Judd Williams (C) - One of the few teams that has strugged in real SLOE but would trot out a competitive team in a game of 2v2 with 1 sub. Lavine and Wrenn are solid all around players and Judd WIlliams would lock it down on the post with 100 Str and 92 INS.

Again since there are 5 teams so an odd number for a tournament. The Bulls and Pistons are super close with eachother so I'm mixing it up and eliminating Y/Y Kemba Walker and the Cavs immediately sorry Cleveland. So that pits the Bulls vs the Pacers and the Pistons vs the Bucks in round 1.

The Bulls drew the short stick here and get the better team in the Pacers. In a 7 game series with full rosters this isn't even a conversation, but in a 1 game situation the Bulls are not at that big of an advantage. I'm giving Judd Williams the edge over Desantis with his INS and STR advantage, DSJ is better than Lavine, but not by a wide margin and Wrenn - Haugh are about even in my book. The Bulls come in over confident as the 1 seed in the division and the Pacers use that giant chip on their shoulder and Judd Williams leads them to victory. Pacers 62 Bulls 58

Pistons vs Bucks is a much easier matchup sorry Quail, but AD probably tells Keitt and O'Connor to stay home and beats Paugh and Vaccaro 1v2 by himself. Pistons 60 Bucks 45

Pacers vs Pistons - AD is a little bit of a different story for Judd Williams and the Pacers no longer have any advantage over their opponent. Keitt has a slight height disadvantage against Lavine, but is quicker, can jump higher and can shoot the 3 so Lavine won't be able to just sag off of him. The inside out combo of Keitt and AD is too much for the Pacers to handle and they win 72-67

The Pistons and AD like usual advance on.

Points czar awards you 6 points! 1576 words

Great concept Roy!

In an effort to complete it, here are the rest of the rosters with the bold team the winner of the division, not much changed, it seems like having a great 3 man roster helps have a great regular roster.


Southest
Hawks - Ellinger (PG), Tatum (SG), Donald (C)
Magic - Wiggins (SG), Jackson (SF), Boban (PF)
Wizards - Newman (SG), Wenninger (SF), Kingston (PF)
Heat - Free (PG), Booker (SG), Anderson (C)
Bobcats - Kuzma (SG), McCollum (SF), Azubuike (C)

Northwest
Nuggets - Duren (PG), West (SG), Porter Jr (SF)
Jazz - Tucker (PG), Whittaker (SG), George (SF)
Trailblazers - Small (PG), Brown (SF), Reading (C)
Wolves - Betts (PG), Hawkins (SF), Drummond (C)
Thunder - Wall (PG), Maravich (PG), Schroder (PG)
HOLY SHIT THEY HAVE NO AVERAGING OVER 10 ppg

Pacific
Kings - Mitchell (PG), Hield (SG), Haynes (C)
Lakers - Williams (SG), Lecroix (SF), Briseno (PF)
Suns - Ball (SF), Knecht (PF), Love (PF)
HOLY SHIT THEY HAVE 8 GUYS OVER 10 ppg can they trade 1 to Thunder?!?
Warriors - Swan (PG), Bolton (SF), Kanter (C)
Clippers - Brooks (PG), McNeil (SG), Runnels (SF)

Southwest
Spurs - Dejean-Jones (PG), Gebhart (SG), Pedraza (PF)
Rockets - Mero (PG), Garden (SG), Horford (C)
Pelicans - Pastor (SG), McNary (PF), Winkler (C)
Mavs - Beal (PG), Mitchell (SF) Ellis (PF)
Grizz - Payton (PG), Pfeffer (SG), Warren (PF)

I remember writing this being absolutely shocked by the Suns and Thunder roster with their productivity spread out the way it was. The Suns at one point having 8 guys average double digit points I thought was super impressive. And the Thunder not having a single player average over 10 points was equally impressive.

Although I do think the champ is different, the 76ers squad would be awesome BSH take solace in the fact you may have lost in the first round of the real playoffs, but you win the NBA JAM tournament. There would obviously be a lot more strategy and intricacies here. If I remember the game correctly specifically the arcade one, you put your initials in and the object of the game is to beat all 29 teams. The computer was always bullshit too (ahh aren't all computer generated basketball games), the buzzer beaters for every quarter would go in...every single time.

So we've seen that the 76ers would win a elimination style tournament. I wonder how many teams would be able to run the gauntlet in the style which the game was designed. To be able to beat the other 29 teams, and to make it interesting they'd have to do it in a row. If you lose to one you go back and start over, I think all of the division winners would be at least be able to, but it would still be super tough.