Post by Biggie on Jul 9, 2012 9:35:53 GMT -5
1-on-1 w/ Greeme
1. Why do you call yourself Greeme? (stole this question from CC only because I'm curious and its a good intro question)
It is the first letters of my name, my wife's name and our kids names.
2. Your team started 20-2, and is 14-18 since. What happened? Just an easy schedule in the beginning of the season?
We started off really well because we won every close game and because we had a ton of home games. We started sliding because we lost Joe Ellis, played a ton of games on the road and lost the close ones. We are 23-4 at home and 11-16 on the road. That is a big differential. Also it seems that by quirk of the schedule we ran into a ton of good teams the last few sims. In our last sim we lost to the blazers by 9 on the road, the wolves by 5 on the road and the magic by 2 on the road and we beat the Knicks by 13 at home, the Grizz by 41 at home and the Lakers by 4 on the road. That is pretty much where my team stands at this point; we can play with anybody on out home court but we are very iffy on the road.
3. What do you think your team is missing from winning it all? What might you need to improve on your team to be legit contenders?
Eh, I think this team could win if I improve the dc a bit. An upgrade at my backup 4/5 would be the most important move I could make but unless somebody falls into my lap I doubt that I do anything. I just need everybody healthy so I can experiment with different dcs before the playoffs. Of course if Game wants to gift me a superstar I won't say no.
4. Looking back, what do you think of our deal involving English/Gervin? Would you go back or are you happy with the move?
Pacers send:
Alex English
Joe Ellis
ATL 2050 1st top 20 protected continuously
IND 2053 1st
HOU 2053 1st
Denver sends:
George Gervin
English has scored over 33 ppg and has rebounded well considering that I have had him at sg most of the year. Ellis has been incredible and fits in very well with my team as a role player although he only has a year or 2 left. Gervin is great, although I don't know what happened to his steals this year, but statistically English has pretty much held his own while allowing me to add another starter and picks for other trades so all in all I have been happy with the trade.
5. You haven't rebuilt in a while, correct? Do you plan on keeping your picks and doing a rebuild soon with these drafts heating up and getting better?
Yeah, even my last rebuild was a one year quickie. I seem to lose interest in the rebuild very quickly and find it hard to rebuild for three years, though I would love to try it once. I will probably rebuild in 2 years. I don't have my pick next year and I don't really see myself getting it back for a fair price so I don't have that much choice. I should get through next year easily unless guys leave en masse. Walt is still a top pg, dunn is signed and English is an easy max so I don't really see a problem making the playoffs next year. I probably won't be very good bc I will lose some of my depth and guys will get older so most of my guys will probably move around the deadline next year. I like starting a rebuild with nobody on the roster except maybe a prospect or 2. Truth be told if Nixon would have had a good tc I might have passed on rebuilding altogether.
6. Which team has surprised you the most this season? Who has disappointed you the most?
The Clippers. Hats off to Hype who gets bashed for overrating his players. His record is better than I would have thought it would be and he seems to be getting the most out of his players. Don Buse is playing very well. Biggie also has done better than I thought that he would.
The Celtics are disappointing. I think that in Magic's soph year we all expected them to be the dominant team in the league but they seem to have leveled off as a very good team who are going to run into cap problems as early as next year. They still have the most talent in the league but anything less than a ship is going to be a bit disappointing.
7. Who do you think wins it all this season? Also, who will be a darkhorse in the playoffs?
Blazers are the favorite in my eyes. Best frontcourt in the league means a lot come playoff time. Adding mcmillian to their offense gives them another legit scorer. Bobby Jones, earl Monroe and fryer are afterthoughts in their offense which tells you just how many options they have. They could use a better backup big and a better backup pg but that is nitpicking. At this point they are the best team and the favorite to win.
I think that the Heat could make some noise come playoff time. I am a big Henderson fan and although this team is living on borrowed time with multiple large contracts to aging players, I still think that they can put together a nice run. Hayes, Hillman and Cooper are a great shotblocking trio and those three along with Kenon/issel/Henderson are a great rebounding team. If they can move up to 7th seed they will have a good shot at winning a round.
8. Assuming Isiah Thomas goes #1, who are the next 3 to go in this draft and in what order do you think they'll go?
Kiki Vandeweghe SF 6'8'' 220 22 B+ B+ C- C C A
Jeff Ruland C 6'10'' 240 21 B C+ C+ C+ B A
Kevin McHale PF 6'10'' 210 22 B+ C+ C- C+ C+ A
I haven't looked into the draft that much so the above is based on my first impression. Kiki is a guaranteed stud scorer. B+ B+ with A pot pretty much guarantees that. Also will have great handles. I wouldn't pass that up at #2. I thought about JBC at #2, partially bc he is an ex-warrior but maybe that will work against him for two reasons 1) Spencer doesn't like being predictable 2) Joe barely cared and Spencer might hold that against him. Ruland looks like he can do it all, although he will probably be chucking up some threes. I would take him second because the better bigs out of the last few classes have been weak on the boards. Mchale looks good but he might end up being a tweener so I wouldn't take him before ruland. I thought about Toney but bad rebounding, B pot and possible handling issues.
9. What do you think of this Orlando Magic team? Repole said he has 15 future firsts and he has a league best record.
Eh, I thought that he would be more patient. Now he already has 2 starters aged 32 and 35 who he will have to replace soon. He moved Bingo in his prime and did very well getting good picks (he still has noh futures and NJ futures) but now he will have to use them to replace his aging backcourt. He did have about 20 acs so he should be able to improve a bunch of guys significantly but I think that if he had just waited another year for short/eaton/robey to improve he could have built a dynasty for a long long time. He will probably offer the noh futures back to kobe or whoever replaces kobe if/when he gets cyd for a deal similar to the Memphis deal, thereby guaranteeing himself a very high pick or two. I think that this team will have trouble getting out of the east this year and I'm not sure they will get better next year bc nvl and barry can easily regress more than his youth progresses. His ability to keep this team at the top for a significant time really depends on what he gets for his picks. He did have bad luck with Cooper not panning out and if Cooper would have developed into a superstar that, along with the other players he currently has, could have made him a dynasty.
10. After 80 days, Out of the 3 teams in their CY (Dal, Mia, Phx), who do you think will be CY'd?
None of the teams will be cyd. Mia has overcome injuries and they look like they will even move up a few seeds before the end of the year. Team is old and will fall apart soon but should easily make their cy this year. Phx has made some odd trades lately and need another scorer in order to be a contender but they should easily make the playoffs. If they didn't end up with two big man busts they would be scary at this point but at least their gm isn't insistent on holding onto both until they lose all value. Dal has done a good job keeping a young core of mo/natt/cooper. I still like cooper and should have gotten him from aar when I had the chance. Irvine is a solid fit for this year's team until cooper and/or natt take a step forward. They are also set for another few years. I don't know if they will make the playoffs this year but they should get 42.
11. What teams do you think need to rebuild?
It kinda depends how you define need. Look at the Magic a few years ago; they didn't "need" to rebuild and could have continued competing but the early rebuild helped them get a ton of value out of their players. Waiting too long to rebuild makes it tough bc players lose value quickly. OKC and NOH held onto their players too long and coupled with their trading too many picks are now in serious trouble. I think the Clippers should rebuild. They don't have a ton of value and the players that have value will start losing value as they get older. The Wiz should rebuild if they can move Bingo and Willie Davis. Even if they keep Mengelt they will just be getting older and they might end up with three immovable contracts and little cap room to get complementary players.
12. Who do you feel is the most underrated player in this league?
Obviously all of my guys are underrated so I will just do everybody a favor and ignore them. There are a ton of guys who I really like that don¡¦t get playing time and I would love to see what they could do with more time. I think that John Shumate is very underrated. He is one of the few bigs that you can trust to shoot the ball. He is a great rebounder. Not a stats defender, or much of a defender at all, but he could start on the right team. Ollie Johnson is another guy I love that just has to fall into the right situation to start.
13. Name the top 3 GM's in the past 5 seasons here... not exactly the best overall.
DBW ¡V did a great job building an elite team in boston. Now he has to show that he can keep the team together through cap issues and age.
Broph ¡V Got a little help from Game but you have to give credit where credit is due. He predicted Tree being this good when other people said that he went too high. He signed Kermit and brophed Kermit and robinizine into kaj. He has put together a really good team which is the current favorite to win it all.
Nobody - I really couldn't think of anybody else. I thought about Blue but he really hasn't made a move to get a pg which could push him over the top. I thought about Repole but I actually expected him to be able to build a better team after getting all of the pieces that he got for Bingo. I also thought about Skillz but he has put together good, not great, teams. I probably would have added myself but then this thread would turn into a Greeme bashfest.
14. Let's talk NBA... do you think the Pacers will match the Blazers max offer on Roy Hibbert? Also what are your thoughts on the Ray Allen to Heat and Steve Nash to Lakers? Will Dwight Howard be traded before the start of the season, if so where?
Really don't follow the NBA that much anymore except when the Nets are good, so pretty much never. Heat were scary before and are that much more so with Allen, though they might need another basketball. I remember Nash so he must be really old. Pacers will match just bc it sucks to lose guys for nothing. Dwight will hopefully go to the Nets with some help from the Cavs.
15. Finally, Who are you planning on using this AC on?
Probably nobody currently on my roster. Maybe on MJ when I get him ļ
