#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

As much as some pieces change, the scenario, characters, time, and place, it all comes back to the all familiar feeling of boredom disguised as hope. You make some moves around the edges, watch guys come in and go, and the final standing is exactly where you last left it. No fanfare. No balloons. No confetti. Just clouds and gray even when the only thing in the sky is the sun on a crisp February day.

At least it hasn't rained yet.

After starting last year at 10-15, we ended the regular season 20 games over .500. Great? Right? Well, we got our single, first round win and then properly lost the remaining 4 games in the playoffs for another first round exit. The last time we made the second round was allllll the way back in 2016. Is it depressing? Sure as hell, it is. So we're often stuck in neutral. We're good but not THAT good. Or, we're bad, but not THAT bad. At some point, things would change, you'd think. At some point, our guys would be tired of being doormats. You'd think all of those things and somehow, still reach the same endpoint. So, I ask at this point to those reading this, at what point does this game become rewarding for you? Is one title enough? At what point does it feel like this is regret or an escape to avoid ones own inadequacies?

Just completely normal contemplation. Nothing to see here.

Maybe it's a childhood excitement of hearing that basketball smack against the court. Maybe it's the sound of the nylon hoop, swishing after a three. The roar of the crowd and the fever of excitement is contagious. It's that childhood joy that can excite anyone when it means that much that people could collectively join in and escape for a few hours at a time. It's a philosophical approach to avoid how soul crushing this game can be. When you put in the investment of time, and energy, those feelings and emotions that you discovered growing up with the game dissipates and the sunshine fades away. It changes the narrative and maybe the problem isn't them. It's you.

Sorry, spoiler alert. There's a scene in "Narcos: Mexico" where the head boss is gifted a Bengal tiger. He has new demands he faces every day with new requests and those worries never go away. The more you make, and the more you invest, they're a reminder of a legacy for what you will be remembered by. You can't take any of this life with you. All you can do is look up at the clouds and the moment of time is lost. Will you be remembered for all the awful trades you made? Will you be remembered for that one title that's collecting dust? Will you be remembered for the string of 1st round playoff exits? All of that is left up to you because those challenges will never stop once you choose the life you lead.

With 4 teams failing to generate interest, that left a list of players to find new homes. Our luck left us in a position to select someone we originally drafted a few years ago in Nathan Ridgway. With the amount of salary cap and the looming list of upcoming FA's, this helped to facilitate a few moves. We knew San Antonio valued Timo Cruz and managed to work out a deal with them to bring in Modestine Degrimonpon and Michael Hunt. Two guys that aren't on Timo's skill level but we hope (and there's that dangerous word again, hope) that they can develop into what we need them to be. We saw Washington's notice on Leroy Haugh and we needed a PG and decided to inquire about that. We needed a more buoyant solution at the 1 and feared that DSJ would break down. Acquired Haugh and felt confident we could resign Abney through RFA and we did to what we thought was a fair enough deal.

Then TC happened.

We liked what we had and saw. We had that optimism and then promptly had the worst TC of any team in the league that sucked the joy and drive and motivation out of the league we had remaining. This isn't a notice of doubt or drive. It may even make us more motivated to put together a roster more adequately adept at competing with the TWolves and Raptors. For now, it just leaves us staring back up to the clouds and wondering when that sun will appear again.

What day is it?

If you were to put your finger in one thing, what’s been missing since you’ve last been past the first round of the playoffs that you had before? Do you think you can make a move to acquire the talent to make it past round 1 this year?


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NOLa. wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 11:35 am If you were to put your finger in one thing, what’s been missing since you’ve last been past the first round of the playoffs that you had before? Do you think you can make a move to acquire the talent to make it past round 1 this year?


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Adding the kind of talent that would truly be a difference maker to get past the 1st round and would be a big help. The door is always open and after TC, there really isn’t anyone on the roster that’s deemed untouchable. I’m sure a move can be made it’s just a matter of finding the right one.

You did a good job last season of clearing the books, especially getting rid of AC Williams' contract - was retaining Abney and Langford the top priorities for doing so or did you have your sights set on something else and this just fell in place?

Random Reporter: You mentioned before how nobody's really untouchable. If you had to pick just one player to be the anchor, who would that be?

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pels have a notoriety for being very active on the trademark. Do you feel like perhaps switching gears midseason leads the Pels to not fully commit one way or the other, thus landing them in the middle of the pack to face tough matchups in the playoffs? If so, what's your strategy to prevent that this season?

Keepit100 wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:57 pm You did a good job last season of clearing the books, especially getting rid of AC Williams' contract - was retaining Abney and Langford the top priorities for doing so or did you have your sights set on something else and this just fell in place?

With our team going in, we knew it'd be easier to retain Abney due to RFA. We were fortunate that nobody gave him a deal that would've been too much of an albatross to afford and happy he accepted our moderate deal given his age and skill. So we had our anchor down low with Modestine. We had just acquired Haugh so we had our floor general. Retaining Langford was a top priority given he was one of the top shooting guards on the market. We had his bird rights so thankfully, he was able to come back even with our team going into the tax to do so. We did have our sights set on other targets but they opted to sign elsewhere.

Xist2Inspire wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:14 pm Random Reporter: You mentioned before how nobody's really untouchable. If you had to pick just one player to be the anchor, who would that be?

I'd say that it's likely Abney or Langford. Both are in the prime of their careers and strong for what you need from them to deliver on the court. Given their contracts, we expect them to be around with the club for a good bit of time but if the right deal comes our way, we'll always listen.

garbageman wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:53 pm Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pels have a notoriety for being very active on the trademark. Do you feel like perhaps switching gears midseason leads the Pels to not fully commit one way or the other, thus landing them in the middle of the pack to face tough matchups in the playoffs? If so, what's your strategy to prevent that this season?

I feel like we've been active in terms of making moves around the edges to improve the depth but when it comes to making moves to the core, we've been fairly stable the last few years. We've had a core of Langford, Abney, and Timo with an interchangeable point guard the last few years and made a move to trade Timo because we felt like the core could've been improved with some younger talents and more flexibility for Free Agency. We'll see how the season progresses but if there's a move to be made that can improve this team, we'll look to do that.