76ers - NBA 2K9 Assoc. - Rebuilding a Winner - JBH3's Blog

JBH3's Blog

76ers - NBA 2K9 Assoc. - Rebuilding a Winner

Posted on November 10, 2008 at 10:57 AM.

(2)

This blog is dedicated to the current Association I am playing in NBA 2K9 w/ the Philadelphia 76ers.

More to come...

.................................................. .........................................

11/13/2008

To bring everyone up to date, I'm currently in yr 1 of a 76ers association in NBA 2K9.

Starting 5 to start the yr
PG Andre Miller
SG Willie Green
SF Andre Igoudala
PF Elton Brand
C Sammy Dalembert
6th man Louis Williams

Transactions thus far (thru Dec 26th)...

-Waived Donyell Marshall (He wasn't getting it done beyond the arc, and I couldn't use him anywhere else).

-Signed Mickeal Gelabale to a 1yr deal w/ a team option for a 2nd yr (We were hit hard w/ injuries; Brand was out 4-6, Young 1-2, and Miller 1-2. I had to use Donyell more and was ineffective w/ him, so he was waived to make room for Gelabale who has provided consistent minutes off the bench).

-Trade Willie Green to Denver for Chucky Atkins and a Detroit 2009 2nd round draft pick. (In a 3 team deal Denver traded AI to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheick Samb. Denver received Willie Green from Philly in exchance for Chucky Atkins [$3mil expiring contract] and a 2009 2nd rd pick from DET).

The Willie Green deal was struck in early December. Green had proved to be ineffective as a starter, and Thad Young was pushing him for minutes. Green was moved to a 'role player' role which he didn't like, which forced his morale to plummet, and the team chemistry took a BIG hit. W/ the move of Green to Denver this allowed Igoudala to move to SG while Thaddeus now could start at SF. Thaddeus Young had been on a tear thru November, and was leading Philly in scoring until going down for 2 weeks w/ a seperated shoulder.

ASSOCIATION STATUS...

NEW - Starting 5
PG Andre Miller
SG Andre Igoudala
SF Thaddeus Young
PF Elton Brand
C Sammy Dalembert
6th man Louis Williams

Thru December 26th of my association my record is 16-13 which is good for 6th place in the East. I was currently on a 5 gm winning streak which was much needed since I was a below .500 team prior to winning those 5 gms in a row.

I was on cloud 9 after my last gm played (on 12/23) where my Sixers completely annihilated Boston (@ BOS) 94-74. That gm was the 1st of a tough 6 gm road stretch. With the next 5 gms being a west road trip I was rather confident about my chances of coming home after this road trip w/ some BIG wins, and a much better record.

West Road Trip:
@Denver
@Utah
@LAC
@Dallas
@San Antonio

Well, as I said I was on cloud 9, Denver quickly brought me back down to Earth...

In the 1st Qtr they got out to a big 14 point lead, but later in the qtr my D would buckle down and come w/ in tying. Only to see Denver take another lead - yet smaller - going into the 2nd. Through about 9 minutes in the 2nd qtr, Philly had created some turnovers, were knocking down jumpers, and we were able to take back the lead. However, due to timely 3 pt shooting and Billups coming back into the gm after he rested, Melo and Billups quickly brought Denver back and it was once again a battle.

I never had more than a 5 point lead in this one, and at times would go 4-5 possesions w/o scoring. I couldn't even get to the line w/ any consistency until late in the 3rd qtr. The rebound margin was won by Denver w/ a huge lead (something like +11), and I had ONLY 3 off. boards to Denver's 7.

All of this was just foreboding a loss...

It was nice to see the team quickly recover after being down real early in the 1st and take the lead back, but Billups, Melo, the 3 pt shooting of Smith and Kleiza, and Nene's rebounding proved to be too much in this one.

We lost 113-100...

My player of the game here was Louis Williams.

He saw BIG minutes in this one (1) Because Igoudala was waay off so I needed his offense (2) I've been completely inept w/ Andre Miller (needless to say he's on the block).

Louis finished w/ 22, shooting 2-6 from three, and getting 9 assits.

Iggy and Brand also finished w/ 22 - Brand grabbed 14 boards, and was my most consistent scorer.

While Iggy, even though his offense was waay off, helped his team by getting 9 assits and was able to get to the line 10 times going 8-10.

So what am I to do...

29 games in and its pretty clear what I need.

My problems...

1. Shooting - Inside game is awesome, but my only true shooters are Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young. When they're off I've really got no one else to rely on for jumpers. Kareem Rush has a sweet stroke, but is slow on D. The only roles that suit him are ones for mop-up duty, finishing out a qtr/half while starters rest, or situational as a 3 pt shooter.

2. Point Guard Play - Andre Miller is the starter, but over our 5 gm winning streak Louis Williams saw a lot more minutes and was a major factor in those 5 straight wins. Miller is in the last yr of his contract, and w/ it being $10mil to come off the books he could be a nice piece to a rebuilding team or a team wanting to make a run at the playoffs who is need of a starting/backup PG.

Louis is the future PG of this team, and its looking more and more like the future should start now instead of after Andre's contract expires.

3. Sizeable Big Man - I love Sammy Dalembert's athleticism, FT shooting, and he does provide a defensive presence in the middle w/ his blocking ability.

However, against wide bodied centers he gets pushed around. He's got 2 yrs left on his deal after 2008, and I have NO PLANS to resign him. I've also liked what I've gotten out of Theo Ratliff during his time on the court. He's a lot slower than Sammy, but has rebounded better for me and can swat like Sammy. I don't know if I'd be content w/ him as a starter, but if I could get a better sized big with good rebounding and low-post D then that would be all I need from the C - And that Center could platoon w/ Ratliff. Elton Brand is all the low-post offense I need.

What do I do...

Andre Miller isn't getting resigned, isn't really providing me anything, and makes for a nice trade peice. An option I've been exploring is moving Miller in a 3 team deal w/ Indy, and a team yet to be determined.

My main focus from Indy...acquiring Mike Dunleavy...and perhaps including Dalembert in exchange for Rasho Nesterovic.

Miller would go to the 3rd team involved - a team needing a PG or a good backup one, or a team looking to rebuild - and Indy would get Dalembert, and perhaps a 2010 1st rounder - whatever needed for it to be fair.

I just like the idea of getting Dunleavy. He's a shooter, he's athletic, and has some ability on D. It would allow Louis Williams to move to starting PG. Iggy would move back to the 3, and Dunleavy would be the starting 2.

This would mean that I would have to mess w/ Young's role, which would definitely mean a morale drop, but I would still try and get him 30 minutes most nights. If I did move Dalembert in this deal then Rasho would be that sizeable big man w/ some defensive ability who could platoon w/ Ratliff.

This would definitely be my last trade for the 2008-09 season, and if it did go down would happen right before the deadline. I'm not big on making a lot of trades, and feel that too many changes the complexion of the team and has an effect on the integrity of the association game.

That might sound crazy to some, but that's just the way it is for me.

However...This blog is titled 'Rebuilding a Winner', and moving Miller and Dalembert - two guys who I don't plan on committing to any longer - for a much needed perimeter threat like Dunleavy and a stop-gap measure like Rasho would (I believe) make me better temporarily and in the long run.

Food for thought...I really started garnering interest in Dunleavy when I played against Indy and saw that even though he finished as their leading scorer in that contest (w/ only 15 pts), he only played about 27 minutes and was never in foul trouble or anything.

So they seem to not be using him, as Brandon Rush saw a lot of time and Jamaal Tinsley played a lot too w/ Indy using Ford and Tinsley on the court at the same time. If Dunleavy's morale is low, then that might make for a good story line for a trade...something like..."Unhappy about his playing time, Dunleavy demands to be traded"...That might make me sleep better at night knowing it was a mutual thing, rather than me just wanting to make my team better at the expense of the CPU; who didn't really want to part w/ Dunleavy etc.

Conclusion...

This has been a long 1st blog entry, but I wanted to get somewhat up to date w/ my association and some of my future plans for this Philly team.

In my next iteration I will give some details into my player statistics/performance, and we will take a look at the rest of the league and how my team stacks up.

I will also update you on the outcome of my most recent games played.

Till next time...

Comments

# 1 K_rob11 @ Nov 13

sweet! I'll be reading. The Dunleavy move is kind of iffy. You would be giving up alot defensively wouldn't you? I am loving this arena stuff btw...

# 2 ProfessaPackMan @ Nov 13

Good stuff man. I've been following this ever since you started your association because it sounds like your actually RUNNING the team and make some smart moves. If you get Dunleavy, I wonder if Young's morale will take a hit to the point where it might never get better since he came off the bench, then started, and now might be heading back to the bench again lol.

Reading this has just about inspired me to go ahead and start my blog on my Mavs association now lol.