Post by Mark on Dec 19, 2010 18:29:07 GMT -5
Time to rank some GMs! As an exercise, pick 1:
Number 2!
Introduction to the Article:
This is not a scientific list. I am sure that I’ll forget some moves and make a few unfair generalizations, skewing the rankings a little bit. I’m not basing this entirely off of historical performance although it will obviously play a role. The point is this list is not based off of a formula. To me, ranking a GM takes into account two factors: GM’ing ability and activity. My opinion is heavily slanted towards GM’ing ability but I definitely take activity into account. In the end, BBS is supposed to be fun and it is a hell of a lot more fun when the boards are active and interesting. Give me a new GM who is active as hell and serviceable with FBB over an inactive GM who puts together very good teams every time. That’s just how I view this. I like to load the boards up when I’m bored and waste time and these GMs help that. Plus, it gives us a new GM to ripoff and make it a little easier.
This list is based only off of current GMs. No Outlawz, TSC, Ashes, etc. I’m going to try and take everything into account. I’m also not going to include myself. If you want to know where I view you with myself included then just bump your spot by 1 (lold). So without further adieu, the list:
Awful: 28-26
28. Greeme
I have Greeme as the worst GM in the league currently. He’s pretty active but I just completely hate the way he views FBB. I don’t think his views comfortably apply to the game and I’m certain he will not have success unless he moves to a more traditional viewpoint. It would be one thing if he overrated particular aspects of FBB that we all acknowledge as being important but just not to Greeme’s extent. That’s not the case. He swears by factors that just do not matter much at all. To top it all off he just went 3+ million over the hard cap signing completely awful players for the most part. The only reason I considered having Jiggy below him was because Greeme hasn’t had time to let his philosophy play out. I’m so confident that it won’t though that he is number 28 right now.
27. Jiggy
Jiggy was saved the last spot by Greeme’s arrival. His activity is pretty weak overall and he has failed to put together a contender during his time here. He’s pretty new to the league so that’s not completely shocking but I also don’t think he’s ever had a promising young core. I hate to criticize him for this since it was a move he made with me but I really didn’t think the Favors/Aldridge move was a good idea for him. I understood the logic (get a good veteran player for Favors because of his contract year) but there were better players out there than Aldridge. I know this for a fact because I had some real studs offered to me almost immediately after posting the deal with Jiggy. He needed to get a better piece for Favors and he didn’t. Saved by Greeme.
26. Mops
I really wanted to put Mops last on the list. That was my intent when I first started ranking everyone. He seems to have cut back the awful activity lately but holy shit was he brutal to begin with. Every single one of his posts early on were just brutal. I haven’t dealt with him in terms of players so I’m not 100% sure how he is in that area. I remember being pissed off that he stole Okur in FA a few years ago when I wanted him though, so he has that. In the end Mops’ fucking brutal posts combined with average to below average GM’ing puts him at 26.
Pretty Bad But Can Improve: 25-23
25. Apn
He is probably the one guy on the list whom I don’t have a solid opinion on. I don’t know if I’ve ever really talked to on the boards. I think he was the GM who thought I was serious when I questioned whether or not Rocky was a fictional character though so that was pretty dumb. I’m going to withhold harsher judgment on him until I get a better handle though.
24. TheNorth
He has average activity and seems average as a GM. He might be a little better than 24 but I haven’t seen him enough to know. I feel comfortable with him here. I like the fact that he dealt off Tyreke/Jennings to make Philadelphia his own team though. Hmm, maybe I should bump him up a little for that. Na, 24 is fine. I thought he did a really poor job marketing Jennings and Evans before trading them. I’m active and didn’t realize Tyreke was even available. I guess he posted about it in sim threads but come on, no one reads every post in those sim threads.
23. HeatFlash
The combination of Play liking him + his inconsistent internet connection right now make me want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He has assembled a lot of young talent but hasn’t been able to cash it in and put together a winner. I thought he did a completely terrible job this past season. He had so many pieces and allowed the team to go lotto. Yeah, his internet access wasn’t there (which must have been a huge pain in the ass) but that doesn’t excuse the fact that when he was online he wasn’t trying to improve, try out new DCs, etc. He also didn’t know which Josh Smith I was talking about when I offered a McCants/Josh Smith base which blows my mind. I was talking about the one that doesn’t suck. 23rd as a result.
Weak Activity and Worse Result: 22-21
22. Don
I remember liking Don when he was in the league the first couple of times but I don't think I have PM'd with him since he came back. He’s not a bad GM. I loved his LeBron deal. He is hurt on this list because of activity. Even though he’s a solid GM he did manage to get CY’d twice in the old league and never posts. That’s pretty awful.
21. JAH
I really don’t think JAH is a good GM and I never have. He hasn’t been that bad with the Spurs but the team was loaded when he took over. Look at the Wizards stretch before being CY’d:
1990 - 36-46
1991 - 42-40
1992 - 39-43
1993 - 33-49
1994 - 33-49
1995 - 49-33
1996 - 41-41
1997 - 40-42
1998 - 41-41
1999 - 24-58
2000 - 28-54
2001 - 40-42
That is absolutely awful. What’s worse is the fact that he sits on teams and never tries to get better until the very end. His teams are never a threat. It was also weird as hell how he got arrogant over a 12 game winning streak against pretty weak teams. It is one thing to get excited (justified) but Aaron was something like 25-3 at the time and he was acting like his team was as good. It got weird that night. I had him 15th originally but bumped him quite a bit when I took a closer look.
Interchangeable: 20-16:
20. Tiger
Tiger is bailed out by some of the newer, weaker GMs. He’s not that bad as a GM overall but he really isn’t good either. I thought his logic during his CY was way off even if he did randomly catch fire and make the finals that year. He needs to move GWall now for either a younger stud or a rebuilding package and I don’t think he’s going to do it. He rode TD for season after season even tanking with him once or twice along the way. Completely pathetic. I don’t think he is as annoying as I used to but I do think he’s a pretty bad GM.
19. Hype
I feel like I’m in the minority on Hype because I actually like his posts. I forget who recently knocked on Hype’s posts as being annoying and it surprised me. I always thought his posts were pretty solid even if they were inconsistent. He’s a competent GM when he is active but he isn’t around enough. I loved his getting Tyreke. He also had a pretty great stretch with the Bobcats at one point. He’s not as bad as his label suggets but his activity hurts him on this list.
18. Game
I love having Game in the league and think he has been an awesome addition. Very active and surprisingly competent as a GM. I feel like 20 is the low-end on where to rank him. I want to see more out of him though before I feel comfortable putting him above some other names who I have seen for years. He is always looking for trades and is always posting. Really good addition. You know what, I’m bumping him up based on activity.
17. Andrew
Andrew is not nearly as bad of a GM as some people think. He still kind of sucks lol but he’s fine. I have him here based on his activity. When Andrew is active he’s on the boards as much as anyone and that has huge value to me. I’m sure he’s in the top-5 posts over the last month. That’s big. The Deron deal sucked overall but what can you do? Suns GM doing his thing.
16. Andy
Andy is pretty quietly always in his contract year and never has good teams : (. I don’t know, he’s very competent but is way too willing to rebuild over a three year span and enter his CY. I feel like his main issue is he never acquires enough assets. When he tears it down I feel like he gets “+” instead of “++” deals. I don’t know. Something is wrong though because these teams always suck! He’s extremely active and great to have on the boards. That puts him ahead of guys who have similar resumes but don’t add anything to the league as a whole.
Above Average: 15-11
15. Aar
I wanted to have Aar much lower on this list due to completely awful activity but he did just win a title. In general, I don’t like him as a GM. I hate how fucking miserable his offers are. I hate that he overvalues his players to a crazy extent. I also cannot stand how he puts together these ideal packages in his mind that only a couple of teams could match (and obviously wouldn’t). It didn’t make any sense for the LeBron deal to have Emeka in it. You know what, I’m bumping him down because of how much LeBron helped him. Had he not won the lotto he would have been the same average, inactive team.
14. Jeff (Nets)
I think someone else’s list would have him more in the 20 range but I give him a lot of credit for the Carmelo deal. Yes, it was lame that he didn’t deal off CP3/Noah and make it his own team. However, the Melo deal was Sergio Rodriguez (he traded for him) and Tyreke Evans (who he got with a Boston pick that he also traded for). Was it lucky? Absolutely. But a lot of assets are acquired by luck and fact is he made that trade. He is also very active. I’m going to keep him a little lower on the list until I see his rebuild but I think he’ll end up as a pretty solid GM.
13. Jeff (Boston)
Eh. I’m really surprised I have him at 13 but the rest of the GMs pretty much dictated this. I don’t think he ever capitalized on Randolph. I also don’t think his teams when they were good were ever as good as he thought they were. He’s pretty active and always around so he gets points for that. I think he’s pretty average overall though.
12. Martinez
It’s obvious why so many people can’t stand Martinez but I think it blinds the fact that he really isn’t that bad of a GM overall. Anyone who thinks he is the worst GM in the league is flat-out wrong. He isn’t better than Greeme? Jiggy? Mops? Etc. Of course he is. I think his GM’ing skills are pretty average but at least he doesn’t try to be mediocre. He tried to go for it with TD/Manu (I disagreed on that but oh well) but then he tanked instead of being a 35-win team. He’s also active as hell and makes BBS much better as a result. Note: I kept bumping him as I made this list and wrote out the paragraphs for other GMs. Originally 17th.
11. Greg
He quietly does a good job and is active. My only criticism would be he sometimes takes inferior offers when he is dealing studs. I’m mainly talking about the time two years ago when he had DellJuan Pearson and took Dan’s fucking awful offer over mine when it blew Dan’s away. That was dumb and I’ve never forgotten it. Forgive but do not forget. Overall he is solid. He can be anywhere from 12 to 17.
Very Good GMs: 10-8
10. DBW
This is the other guy along with Apn who I really don’t have a good handle on. Is he active? I don’t know. Is he a good GM? I guess so, I haven’t really noticed. He did just win the West though, although he took advantage of injuries to Phoenix/Oklahoma City and a lucky second round matchup with a 7th seed. Roy/Monta is nasty and it’s the second team he has had a really great core. Seems like a good GM.
9. Insane
Insane is an awesome member of BBS. Great activity and a very competent GM. I don’t think he’s great as a GM but he generally has a promising core. He’s never really had an elite team though which keeps him at 9 rather than a top-6 type spot. The Amare contract was also atrocious and what, 40-50 million more than regular teams could offer with their maxes? Something like that. Really bad. Great member overall though.
8. Dan
Dan is a member of the New Canaan clique and an all around great guy. I probably should have Insane and DBW ahead of him but fact is I’m going to see Dan in a few hours and it behooves me to bump him up a spot or two if it’s questionable. I don’t know, Donnie Baseball is a great guy and it makes up for his mediocre performance (lol).
Borderline Elite: 7-4
7. Manas
Manas is lucky that he reminded me of his two titles otherwise I probably would have had him lower. Two titles is pretty legit and his teams are often very good. I like that he tanks or competes and isn’t generally a middle-of-the-pack team. That’s the only way to do it. He isn’t crazy active but he’s always around. Plus Big Air and Andrew said he was a really nice guy in person. He’d move up my list if he turns Orlando into a consistent threat.
6. DJ
DJ always has really good teams. He does a sick job balancing competing and rebuilding within the same roster. He also does a great job consistently winning. I’m also not sure when the last time he tanked was. That’s pretty sick. His activity sucks though and he (along with Mops) probably is my least favorite member of BBS when it comes to posts. Good GM though.
5. Aaron
Aaron hasn’t had great success in the league but this last Thunder team was legitimately dominant. It is with only a handful of teams in BBS history in terms of regular season success. I don’t care that he lost in the playoffs because FBB is dumb as hell and he couldn’t beat an inferior team without David West. Realistically a few teams probably could be ahead of Big Air because he hasn’t had great teams overall but his recent stretch has been nasty. He also did a great job getting MVP Crawford for one pick and putting him in the right offense.
4. Skillz
I don’t like his style at all but it works. He very rarely tanks and when he wins it’s generally 50+ type seasons. He does a great job of making his future picks valueless. That LaMarcus Aldridge trade he made was really, really bad but oh well, everyone makes a bad trade. I don’t like the nonstop trading but he does a fantastic job making it work.
Cream of the Crop: 3-1
3. Broph
Broph could easily be #1 on this list. I think he has an incredibly in-depth understanding of FBB. He just won a title and has had a loaded core for a while now. I also like the way he continually tried to improve even with a loaded roster. He kept trying new things. It’s also clear from the sim threads just how seriously he looks into each box score. Great GM.
2. Nanz
Just so Nanz’s ego knows: I would put myself above him if I was included. Now that that is out of the way, Nanz always has great teams. He had an amazing Laker core multiple times in the last league, he was great with the Lakers early on in this league, and his Nuggets team was dominant before giving it up. I also love what he is doing with the current Lakers. Tank, smart FA signings, acquire picks, and eventually compete. Lakers should be good in the very near future. No way would I ever put him #1 on this list though even if I got rid of Play. I would have just adjusted it so Broph was ahead of Nanz. If Broph was also not on the list, I would have put Skillz #1. And so on.
1. Play
He’s extremely active and he consistently has huge talent on his teams. I think my favorite part of his GM’ing is the fact that when he rebuilds, his young core is not limited to 2-3 players. It generally has 2-3 definite studs but then a few other promising/valuable players on the roster as well. He targets the right players, tears it down at the right times, and competes at the right times. Great GM.
Overview:
That’s my list. One thing I noticed was that we have a ton of competent GMs but not nearly the amount of ‘elite’ GMs as I expected. I guess that has a lot to do with some of the recent losses (Outlawz, to a lesser extent Ashes/Pig, etc). It is definitely an awesome group though.