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RN4L
Da Nation
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Now that we've seen the majority of the season play through, we sat down with several of our GMs to see what they thought about the action so far. While we invited more than 5 GMs to participate, only 4 sent in their answers. The rest of you can consider yourselves uninvited, ya punk bitches.
With the first year of the league over halfway finished, who has been the biggest surprise - positive or negative - in your eyes?
- I would say the Clippers have been the biggest surprise thus far. After trading a big piece in Igoudala, one might expect their record to take a nose dive. But with the surprising contributions of George Hill, and an MVP type of season for Chris Bosh, they have managed to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race
- I think the most surprising player I have had this year honestly is probably Ramon Sessions. Looking at his ratings, even on a team with few real legitimate scoring options, putting up 20 ppg with 7 assists per game is insane. The only person who scores that he can pass to is Jennings.
- The Wolves... I mean there are a couple tanking teams, most are competing and basically only a handfull of games from each other and there is the WOLVES.. they just made moves to get better and better and Brack has put together a very strong team
- Amid all the dysfunction that went on with that first sim of the season, nobody batted an eye at the 0-7 start by Mexi and the Los Angeles Clippers… and they are as legitimate playoff contenders now. George Hill, while not as good as Mexi nearly suggests, has been out-performing his RL self and has been a nice player for them. Him and Bosh is a much more formidable duo than one would expect.
As the teams begin to understand their identity, more trades are beginning to take place. Who has made the boldest move thus far?
- That’s a tough one to say considering how active a lot of teams have been in the trade market. I would have to go with the Suns going all in for Amare, though. He traded a key part of his future in Derrick Favors, as well as a relatively promising player in Lawson in an attempt to win now. So far, it’s hard to argue with the results, as Amare has been a big part of the Suns’ recent success. Although, I would say that the deal is a bold one for Miami as well, given the fact that he traded his franchise player for young prospects that may not ever match the production that Amare can contribute to a team
- The boldest trade so far? I don't know, maybe the amar'e deal? That's the biggest move in my mind.
- Wolves obviously, both in terms of acquiring talent and in terms of volume of trades
- Ignoring G9’s asinine idea to trade his first 1st round pick in the fantasy draft before knowing the order, and gifting KD to the Timberwolves, it has to be the Hard Cap’s best friend, Rios.
27 points per game, best Power Forward in the league, and he’s dealt for Derrick Favors? Miami should have built around Amaré, but they opted to go for youth while creating a serious contender in Phoenix.
Were there any shockers during the all star weekend? Any player you didn't expect to see make either the ASG or the Rookie/Sophomore contest? Any snubs from either game that stood out to you?
- The biggest ASG snub was definitely Westbrook. I do think that lit a fire under him though. It appears that he took the time to hone his skills further during the break instead of enjoying himself with some #moviesandpinacoladas. I’m still not convinced that he’s a #truealpha as some people perceive him to be, though
- Weren't too many shockers in the asg for me. Was kinda surprised Jordan Crawford made it into the Rookie/Sophomore game, but that was about it.
- Not really, there were a few "on the fence" All Stars that I would have been ok with their inclusion, but I wasn't swayed one way or another if they would have made it over the current guys
- Mike Conley was the starting point guard for the West All Stars, knocking Westbrook off the team when he’s the likely MVP runner-up, if not victor. Russ not making the team is 100% a snub.
There are quite a few sub-.500 teams set to be playoff bound, with not many teams head and shoulders above the rest. Do you feel records are outliers in an inaugural season? Or do the stats speak for themselves, with the parity of the league standing out?
- I think it’s the latter. There are obviously teams that may be considered contenders, but even those teams aren’t necessarily stacked with fire power. Which is why I think the results will likely end up being a crapshoot come playoff time
- I think people are still figuring out where they stand so far in the league. I knew what my plan was and I set my season out to accomplish getting a top draft pick. A lot of teams could move up or down, especially in the east where the race is much tighter.
- I mean we seem to win or lose games by very small margins, I could easily have 10 more W's or 10 more loses. Parity is king here and now.
- A lot of teams over-estimated the readiness of their youth projects, but their image of the team is definitely still there. An example is the Atlanta Hawks, who are currently the #9 team in the East, but when Curry finally emerges into the weapon he is, they will be such a more feared team. Some teams like Minnesota, Dallas, New Orleans, and Houston will likely be good for years to come, but I can definitely see outliers for several franchises out there.
What are your thoughts on the All-Star Weekend tournament? Do you regret entering/not entering? Will you enter next season?
- I thought it was a great idea. It brought some activity in the league, which hopefully happens on a yearly basis. I do kind of regret not entering the tourney, but I did have other commitments that prevented me from entering. Otherwise, I would have done it. If I do have time to do it, I will for sure enter next season, and hopefully win that tourney hardware
- I liked the idea of the asg tournament a lot. I was working, so I couldn't participate. But I think Jennings and Sessions could have surprised a few teams given a bit of good luck and a good DC.
- Love it, hated losing the $$ but it was fun.. I definetely will be back in it
- The All-Star Weekend tournament is a good concept to having a playoff exposure without it having real consequences to your team, and its fun to follow. But I’m not sure I would do it again, especially if my team doesn’t have a strong chance at winning.
How do you feel about the point system, and the ability to camp a player mid-season? Is the system well balanced, or do you imagine we should see more tweaks to it this offseason? If so, what changes would you make?
- I’m not mad at it. We’ve seen players improve out of nowhere in the mid-season, so this idea isn’t really anything new. The commish seems to have made it clear that he’ll keep an open mind to new ideas to implement in the point system, so I am expecting a couple of new things added to the shop. In the past league that CC ran, we had a D-League to stash some of our prospects who need further development. I have a very vague memory of how it worked, but I think that would be an awesome addition to the shop
- I feel the point system is well balanced. It takes a lot of investment to make a midseason camp happen, so if people want to, I don't think it is a bad idea to have, no matter when it is.
- I wish we had more consistency on rewards from non-live SIMS, naybe 2 points for 5 + posts and +1 for 3 or something like that.
-The point system is just about as perfect as you would want. Very few players have been camped so far, and that’s good in preserving talent balance across the league. Items also cost a good amount, so its not easy to spend on upgrades. Its not necessary for this past season, but as we go Real Life Edits would be clutch to have, to ensure we’re picking up the talents we’re expecting.
I wanted to say thank you to those who participated (Birono, GF, BoSox and Snipezo). The time and effort that goes into these is a bit underappreciated, both for myself and those who respond. To the rest of you, enjoy your no money having, boring broke ass rest of your season!
