FBB: Me vs. the World (aka Blast to the Past)

[RPI-Fan]

On a bitter cold evening in January, I received a mysterious phone call.

"I'm not going to play games. I have a plan. You're in, or you're out. Right now."

Before he could continue, I asked, "Have you been watching a lot of George Clooney lately?"

He quickly snapped, "Shut up! In, or out!"

I thought for a few moments, and told him I'd do it. He arranged for a driver to come to my house and take me to the secret location. At that location, he informed of 'the plan'. The plan involved a time machine, made by the mysterious man, who had informed me his name was Stewart Griffin. He said that the time machine could only be used once. And we couldn't return to the present. So I asked him what exactly he planned to do with this time machine. He told me that he had always wanted to see if he could outmanage Jerry Krause and the group that put together the Chicago Bulls' incredible run of NBA championships. And while he couldn't perfectly recreate the 1990 scenario, he could bring Michael with him on the time machine and put him on the Bulls. And maybe with a little convincing, Scottie would come along as well.

But besides those two, it would be a new start. All new players (replacement players style), all new coaches, all new everything. There would be the expansion teams added after 1990 to have a consistent league style, but other than that the league structure would be the same. And within a few minutes, we had rounded up MJ and Scottie, and were back in 1990. Stewart told me I'd be taking over one of the Bulls' biggest rivals, at least geographically - the Detroit Pistons.

---

He did set a few guidelines for me in managing the Pistons, however. For one, in the creation draft that would occur to start the league over again, the Bulls would receive the first overall pick (as to draft Michael and Scottie), and the Pistons would draft last. Also, the Pistons would not be allowed to draft anybody older than age 24. He wanted this franchise to be built from the ground up - not some group of washed-up veterans who got lucky for one season and went all the way.

On top of those initial rules, there would be some permanent guidelines as well. They would go as follows:

1) Cannot Trade for Top-5 Pick
2) Cannot have more than 2 1st-round picks
3) Draft B potential or lower
4) Can only trade for players 28 and older unless I give up only younger players
5) Cannot go more than 10 mil over the cap
6) Can only offer 1 deal >5 mil per year per free agency

And off we went...

---

Initial Draft:

Of course, the Bulls take MJ number one, and I'll trade Scottie to them manually to get them together. For my first selection, I decide that it all starts with the point, and go with the best passer out there. I could go with a little bit more of a shooting point guard, but figure it's more worthwhile to get the better the passer and just surround him with shooters and scorers. So, my first choice is PG Erick Lewis. He's as good a passer as you'll find, and is only 24 years old. He'll be your classic PG, pass first, pass second, pass third. I'd be surprised for him to ever average double digit scoring.

Now that I've got my point guard, I need somebody to put the ball in the basket. The best eligible guy for the job, in my view, is SG Darren Gardner. He's only 20 years old, and has a pretty good jumpshot. As an added bonus, he's also a pretty solid defender. He should be our premier scorer. Next we must add some inside force. Cameroonian Jacquez Oyedeji looks like the man for the job. He's fairly bulky at 6-10/245, and is a force on the inside. He's very good at rebounding and at playing defense. He'll have to adapt to our culture, but I think he'll do alright.

For our next selection an interesting prospect is available. Marvin McInnis is a solid rebounding center, and intriguingly he can also dish the ball. I like the idea of a point-forward, but don't think he's worthy of the 4th round pick. I'll wait until the next round and hope he's still around. PG Donnie Posey could be played out of position, as he has a nice jumper, and can also dish the ball. But SF Elijah DeBernardi is more of a inside-outside threat. He also has nice size at 6-7. Posey has a little more potential, and is only 20 years old, so I make him my selection. To my delight, DeBernardi is still around for the 5th round, and I quickly snap him up.

Marvin McInnis is still there, so I have no problem going with him as a project-type payer. Chris Hamilton is an all-around player (though a bit slim at 6-2/185), who can shoot pretty well, and also has good passing and defensive abilities. He even has pretty good potential. He's an easy pick for me. The rest of the way I go with role-player types, and nobody really stands out.

---

Here's the way our roster looks to start out:

(pos name age inside outside handling defense rebounding potential)

PG Erick Lewis:       22 C- C+ A+ B- C  C

SG Darren Gardner:    20 C  A- C+ A- C  C

SF Elijah DeBernardi: 23 B  B- C  B  C  C

PF Jacquez Oyedeji:   22 C+ C  C  A- A- C

C  Marvin McInnis:    22 C+ C  B- C+ B+ C

Some of our role players:

PG Donnie Posey:   20 C- A- B  C+ C  B

SG Chris Hamilton: 23 C  B+ B  B  C  B

PF Daniel Mullin:  23 B- C  C- A- B- C

1990

Days 1-20

Right before the season, I get a memo from Stewart Griffin. It lists some goals for me.

This will be a competition with the Chicago Bulls. The head-to-head matchups will determine my house rules. If I lose the season series with the Bulls, my free agency contracts max will be $500k lower. If it's a tie, it stays the same. If I win it, the maxes go up by $500k. For playoff series with the Bulls, the stakes go up to $1m.

All of our matchups with the Bulls come well before the trade deadline. I'll give a little detail on each of the games, and will update the Bulls status through the season. At the start, they have Scottie playing the point. I like that decision - his height advantage should give him some very favorable matchups.

We start off struggling, losing two games, but get our first win against the Bullets on Day 3. Darren Gardner leads the way with 18 points, and Jacquez Oyedeji is close behind with 17 points and 9 boards. Erick Lewis distributed well, with 9 assists. Marv McInnis has been a disappointment thus far, with just 7 points and 5 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, the Bulls are off to a 2-1 start behind MJ's 29 points and 8 rebounds per game, along with over 80% from beyond the arc. Scottie is putting up his usual numbers - 17 points, 7 board, and 8 assists per game. (Looks like SOMEONE did a good job creating players)

We continue to struggle, while the Bulls continue to dominate. MJ is scoring close to 35 per game, and Scottie about 20 and 10 assists. For our side, nobody is really stepping up. Erick Lewis is getting 8 points and 7 assists a game, but with 27% shooting. He needs to not shoot so much. McInnis has gotten a little better, up to 9 points and 8 rebounds a game. Elijah DeBernardi is shooting just 41% en route to 16 points per game. PF Daniel Mullin has suprised off the bench, averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds. Darren Gardner is scoring just 13 points per game.

We go on to lose 2 of our last 3 games before the first big Bulls matchup. Erick Lewis goes nuts in the game before the Bulls game, scoring 26 points on 10 for 17 shooting. But now's the big one. Our very first game vs. the Bulls and MJ.

Darren Gardner is going to have the task of covering MJ, and Erick Lewis will cover Scottie. We'll see how it goes at the start. On the first two Bulls' possesions, MJ misses shots, so Darren seems to be doing well. And then on our next possesion, he walks down the floor and lights up the Pistons' home crowd with a 3-ball. We're doing a stellar job on MJ, forcing him to an 0-4 start to the game. The others have picked up the slack, however, and given the Bulls an early 9-4 lead. We fight back, however, and finish the first quarter up 32-28. DeBernardi has 12 points, and and McInnis 9 to lead our side. We contained MJ pretty well, holding him to 7 points on 2-7 shooting. Scottie had 6 points and 4 assists.

The Bulls hit a buzzerbeater to pull within one point at the half, down 46-45. MJ has been pretty bad, with 12 points on 3-11 shooting. He's kept Darren Gardner quiet, however, with just 5 points. Marv McInnis has 11 points and 5 rebounds to join DeBernardi and his 12 points as the only Pistons in double figures.

Jordan takes over in the 3rd quarter, scoring 12 points. At one point he hit three straight 3-pointers. He was also able to free up his teammates for clear shots. But we hang in there, and get a last-second shot from Andy Maggette to cut the Bulls' lead to 9 points.

In the 4th quarter we can never really close the gap. It finishes a 97-88 victory for the Bulls. MJ didn't score in the 4th, so he finished the game with 24 points, while Scottie had 18 points and 13 assists. Michael shot just 7-20 from the field. DeBernardi led us with 20 points, including 8-8 from the free throw line. Dan Mullin had 11 points and 13 boards, while Erick Lewis gave us 9 points and 8 assists. Marv McInnis didn't score in the 2nd half, and finished with a disappointing 11 points and 7 rebounds. Darren Gardner was in foul trouble all night, and finished with just 7 points in 15 minutes.

We follow the Bulls game with another home loss to the Heat. Now is where we must regroup.

To try and shake things up a little bit, I put Donnie Posey into the starting SG spot. He does alright in his first start, scoring 13 points, but we still fall to the Raptors on the road. We finally do snap the three-game losing streak, and get past the Mavs at home. Erick Lewis goes off for 22 points on 10-18 shooting - when he scores big we seem to do well. With that observation, I make Lewis our 3rd Offensive option, replacing Gardner. We'll see how it works out. We get the Raptors at home this time, and take them with a nice offensive 109-104 win. Seven players score in double figures led by DeBernardi with 20 (Lewis had 11 and 10 assists).

At the end of the day, I receive another note from Stewart Griffin (our owner).

If the Bulls finish ahead of you in the standings at the end of the season, another $500k will be deducted from your maximum free agent contracts.

*Sigh*. It's hard enough with them having MJ and Scottie, isn't it? Well, I'll do my best.

At this point, we're 4-7, 3.5 games back of the Bulls and 6 back of the division-leading Cavs at 12-3. We have won two in a row, though, and hope that our lineup tweaks are working.

Days 21-40

Our 'streak' comes to an abrupt end when the Clippers smash us at home, despite Oyedeji's 14 points, 17 boards, and 7 blocks! We need to recover from the loss to the Clippers, and fast, as now we have to hop on the bus to Chicago. That's right, it's Bulls time. A loss here would mean we could only tie the season series at best. It's really a crucial game for us to win.

We're going to try putting Oyedeji on MJ, to see if we can contain him a little bit better than last time. We get off to an incredible start, hitting on each of our first six possesions. The Bulls only have two field goals thus far, so we're up 12-4. We're firing on all cylinders right now. MJ is the Bulls' answer to our shooting, of course, as he begins to take over, scoring 16 1st quarter points. We balance our scoring pretty well, and dominate the boards, as Chris Hamilton has 7 points, and our starting backcourt of Lewis and Posey 6 each. Oyedeji nabbed 5 boards in the 1st period. We end up with a 31-25 lead.

We continue to play well, and at the half lead 54-43. MJ cooled off a bit, and now has 22 points on 9-18 shooting. DeBernardi leads our squad with 11 points, and Posey has 10 at the break. Oyedeji has been getting burned by Michael's quickness, but has at least hit the boards well, with 8 rebounds at the half.

Jordan puts in 5 quick points to start the 2nd half, but Erick Lewis comes down the other way, and puts a facial on MJ with the 3-ball, and is fouled for the 4-point play! We ride the early momentum to a 17 point lead heading into the 4th quarter. Lewis has 19 points, and Oyedeji has a double-double already. The Bulls get a little closer, but never threaten our lead, and we walk out of the United Center with a great 101-87 win over our arch-rivals. This also means we need only one win to ensure we don't lose the critical season series to the Bulls.

Elijah DeBernardi led the way with a pretty quiet 30 points, while Erick Lewis was shutout in the 4th quarter and finished with 19 points and 4 assists. The only others in double digits were Oyedeji and Posey, each with 10. Chris Hamilton gave some quality minutes off the bench, and contributed 9 points. McInnis and Andy Maggette combined for 10 points and 17 rebounds at the center position, splitting time pretty evenly.

The Trailblazers pull away from us in the 2nd half, and prevent us from getting on any kind of winning streak. Erick Lewis did have 20 points and 7 assists in the losing effort, on 8-11 shooting. Jacquez Oyedeji helps us snap our 3-game losing streak with his 16 points and 24 rebounds against the Rockets. Lewis continued to score well, pouring in 19 points.

We follow that effort with a home loss to the Grizzlies, but immediately afterward we receive a trade offer from the Blazers. They put big man Carl Madarang on the table for Darren Gardner. I really consider it, because I do have an excess of shooters. Chris Hamilton could easily step up and be the 3rd guard in our system, backing up both Posey and Lewis. I like the idea of toughening up our team (Madarang is 6-11/285). I agree to the trade, and we welcome aboard the 26 year old Madarang. Gardner, although he was our 2nd round pick, never really seemed to get going. He was lights out from the range (>45%), but other than that was pretty disappointing. I'd imagine he'll start out in Portland.

Madarang won't start here right away, but will back up at the PF position, and get some minutes at the 3 and 5. Madarang is pretty good in his first few games, but we can't find wins. Finally we defeat the Rockets on the road to end our losing streak. Madarang leads us with 20 points and 9 rebounds. He also had 4 blocks on the night. One of his best attributes is defense - he's averaging over 2 blocks a game so far this season - well more than anybody else on our team (Oyedeji is second with 1.7).

We go for a win and a loss after the victory over Houston, and now sit at 8-17. We're well back of the Bulls, who are 17-12. Right now, we should focus on developing our skills and preparing for the next two key Bulls head-to-head matchups.

Days 41-60

After a 4-game losing streak, we come back strong on the road in Charlotte to just shut them down for only 54 points. We only put up 79, but it was still plenty for the win. DeBernardi was our only double-figure scorer, with 28. Our big men all pitched in for 12 blocks. After that game, we go on to win four of our next eight, which gets us out of the Central Division cellar. We stand at 13-25, 8 back of the Bulls and 13.5 back of the division-leading Cavs. Carl Madarang led the surge with stellar play from the SF position. I experimented with different players there (DeBernardi moved to SG), and he's worked out great, leading us in scoring several times, while still grabbing double-digit rebounds.

Here's a look at our stats thus far:

PG Erick Lewis:       14 PPG/4 RPG/7 APG/34 MPG

SG Elijah DeBernardi: 16/4/1/24% (3 pt. FG)

SF Carl Madarang:     10/8/2/2 BPG

PF Jacquez Oyedeji:   8/10/2/1.8 BPG

C  Marv McInnis:      9/8/2/25 MPG

Key Backups:

SG Chris Hamilton: 8/3/2/18 MPG

PF Dan Mullin:     8/6/1/21 MPG

C  Andy Maggette:  3/8/1/23 MPG

PG Donnie Posey:   9/4/2/25 MPG

All-Star Weekend

We have no representatives, so I don't pay much attention to this.

Note

Is anybody reading this? It changes the way I play the game, and while I don't mind it, it does take some extra time. If it's all for naught, I'll just sim a little quicker. Thanks for any input.

Days 61-100

Our first two games after the break are on the road, and both, unfortunately are tough losses. Our offense is working, with over 100 points each game. We just couldn't hold our 4th quarter leads in either game. Our next couple are forgettable, both mundane road losses. But we finally get back on the board with a win in the Fleet Center in our 5th try since the break. Lewis led the way with his 21 points and 6 assists - he has been playing well offensively since the break. Madarang was held under double-digits for the first time in a while - he has been another positive spot for our squad, despite our awful record. We split our next two, defeating the Cavs in our victory. Amazingly, in that game, Lewis had 12 turnovers! Fortunately, we only had two from everybody else combined. DeBernardi finally had a good game, scoring 30 points.

Our next game is against the Bulls, with the series tied at one. It's at our place, and we go out and control the 2nd half en route to a 111-94 victory! DeBernardi led six players in double-figures with 20 points, and Madarang chipped in with 18. Andy Maggette has been filling in for an injured Marvin McInnis, and did well tonight with 8 points and 16 rebounds. I'm going to try and up his playing time based on his fill-in performances recently.

Our pretty good run continues, as we make it 3 out of 4, with a road win over the Clippers. Madarang complemented his 28 points with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks to lead the team. He's now up to 12 points and 8 rebounds per game. Our record now stands at 17-30, 16.5 back of the Cavs, and 10.5 back of the seemingly unreachable Bulls. Right now we just need to play well to have something to build on next season. We go up and down over our next few, setting up our final season matchup with the Bulls. This one is at the United Center, so it will be difficult to get the $500k free agency bonus from Mr. Griffin. The Bulls come out with a passion, and bury us in the 1st half. They take a 13 point halftime lead, and cruise to the casual 110-87 victory. Suffice to say, our performance could be described as 'garden-variety'. MJ has cooled off a little bit, though that's probably a misnomer, as he's now averaging 'just' 28 points per game. Scottie is back at SF now, and averaging 20 points, 9 boards, and 6 assists - typical Pippen.

The trade deadline is approaching, and since we're so far out of the hunt for both the playoffs and the Bulls, I don't make any moves. We'll just wait for free agency, and more importantly, the draft, to make any personel moves.

Our peformances over the next couple weeks are pretty much what you'd expect - we hang around in most games, but win very few. As the trade deadline passes, we're 23-42, 12.5 back of Chicago, and 21.5 back of the Cavs. We're half a game ahead of Charlotte, who has the worst record in the East. One up note has been our rebounding, which at 55 per game, is 2nd in the league. Other than that, though, most of our stats leave a lot to be desired.

Days 101-120

We struggle down the stretch, winning just 2 of our last 10 games. That leads to a 27-55 record, which is worst in the league. The Bulls made the playoffs as a 4 seed, with their 45-37 record. That means I'll have a max free agency offer of $4.5m next season, as we split the season series, and they took the standings matchup. The Heat and their high-octane offense looks to be the class of the East, while the Warriors are the only really solid team in the West, with the rest being pretty ordinary.

[RPI-Fan]

Postseason

MJ and Scottie both make All-League 1st Team, while our only honoree is Jacquez Oyedeji, who earns All-Rookie 1st Team honors. The top two seeds in the East, Miami and Cleveland, both bow out in the 1st Round of the playoffs. The 3rd seeded Raptors take advantage, and claw their way into the finals, where they defeat the Jazz in six games. The Warriors made the Western Conference Finals, but couldn't take the Jazz in Game 7.

Here are some stats from our team:

PG Erick Lewis:       15/4/7/3.6 TPG

SG Elijah DeBernardi: 17/4/2/27 MPG

SF Carl Madarang:     12/9/2/1.9 BPG

PF Jacquez Oyedeji:   8/10/2/22% (3-pt. FG)

C  Marv McInnis:      9/8/2/25 MPG

Key Backups:

G  Donnie Posey:    9/4/2/23 MPG

C  Andy Maggette:   3/7/1/24 MPG

SF Evan Saperstein: 7/3/1/17 MPG

G  Chris Hamilton:  8/2/3/16 MPG

PF Dan Mullin:      8/6/1/21 MPG

As you can see, our team was pretty deep. We really used a three-forward set, as Madarang was huge for a SF at 6-11/285. Compare that to McInnis' 6-10/235, Maggette's 7-0/255 and Oyedeji's 6-10/245 and I may have had my positions a little mixed up. But things seemed to work, as those guys seemed to balance their scoring pretty well. I hope Oyedeji develops his offensive game a little bit, as we need a big guy to really step up. Oyedeji has the raw talent to do it, but he suffers from having only played organized ball since coming over from Cameroon for college.

[RPI-Fan]

1991

Offseason

Evan Saperstein only wants $800k for one season, and I have no problem re-signing him to that deal. He played well in his limited minutes last season. Cole Conradt wants $650k for a year, but he is really just squeezed out of the rotation. I also don't like his fitness habits, as at 6-7/245 he's a little overweight. He plays tight defense, but doesn't really have any solid abilities. He might have gotten by on hustle alone in college, but in the NBA against MJ and Scottie, you need some natural ability. Sorry, Cole. Those are the only two whose contracts expired, so we head straight into the draft lottery.

We have the best chance of the #1 overall pick, but that doesn't seem to mean too much either in the NBA. I close my eyes as the lotto is drawn.

And the #1 overall selection in the 1991 draft belongs to...

The Denver Nuggets!!!

Fortunately, we do get the #2 pick, and are pretty satisfied. I'll definitely look for a big-time scorer. The only position I'll rule out drafting is PG - we're set there with Lewis.

There are several players I'm eyeing for our selection. Garrett White has great size at 7-2/270, and looks to have solid inside abilities. He can score, rebound, and play defense, all with a little potential. On top of that, he even has the ability to step outside and knock down the 3-ball. Brendan Stevenson is already a bonafide scorer. He plays SF with his slightly lanky frame at 6-7/215, and has some potential. I think he's the guy I'd ideally like to draft, but if he's not there I'll go with White. Either way, my squad gets a lot better this year, and 10 years down the road.

[RPI-Fan]

The Nuggets take Garrett White, so I see no choice but to take Stevenson with our #2 overall pick. I go ahead with it, and am already drooling about how much he will improve this team, both offensively and defensively. For our 2nd rounder, few of the players I had been eyeing are still around. Tracy Taylor is an interesting prospect, as he's a tall (6-6/220) off-guard with a nice shot. I decide he's got some potential is a pretty good value pick.

We have $17m in cap room heading into the free agency period. We don't really have any roster room for new mediocre players, and that's all that is available in the free agent pool. We also don't have any specific positional needs. So we sit things out, just watching other teams throw away their money. PF Bobby McClure is the hot signing on day one, for almost $9m over 4 years. He was a solid backup forward for the Mavs last year, and probably isn't too overpriced. No other deals of any real consequence go down, and the only real changes in the league should be the rookies.

So we go through the formalities, and head into the regular season ready to rock and roll.

Regular Season

Days 1-60

Here's how our roster looks heading into the season:

PG Erick Lewis:       25 C- B- A+ B+ C  C

SG Donnie Posey:      21 C- A  B+ C+ C  B

SF Brendan Stevenson: 22 B+ B  C  B- C  C

PF Jacquez Oyedeji:   23 C+ C  C  A- A- D

C  Marvin McInnis:    23 C+ C  B  B- A- C

Key Backups:

G   Chris Hamilton:    24 C  A- B- B+ C  B

G/F Elijah DeBernardi: 24 B  B- C  B  C  D

PF  Dan Mullin:        24 B- C  D+ A- B- C

C   Andy Maggette:     22 C  C- C  B  B  C

F   Carl Madarang:     27 C+ C+ C  A- B+ C

[RPI-Fan]

We have thirteen players on the roster, and room for only twelve. That means someone has to go. Please see the poll thread asking who should be cut and vote!

Some comments on the lineup; Donnie Posey really improved his game in the offseason, and still has potential. He's now an elite shooter, and has better handling skills. Stevenson still looks solid, although his potential isn't quite what it was once though to be. McInnis was another player who took his game up a notch. He improved his passing, rebounding, and defense, earning a starting spot. Without those improvements, he would have started the season on the bench. Chris Hamilton got better as well, but Posey edged him out for the SG spot. The odd men out of the new rotation are Madarang and DeBernardi. Obviously, they'll get their share of PT, but for now they'll have to earn it off the bench.

When I determine who to get (Go Vote!!!), I'll begin the regular season.

[RPI-Fan]

The Voting Thread!!!

[Patman]

Just wanted to let you know I'm reading. I already voted, so good luck with that!

[RPI-Fan]

Thanks for the note. It's a lot easier to continue when people post things like that.

~rpi-fan

[RPI-Fan]

Scott Thomas is voted by the supporters as the player who must make his way out, so I give him a call and tell him to pack his bags. He's disappointed, but handles it well, and we part on good terms.

After that little... fiasco... we get ready for our games to start. I think our team is quite a bit better this season. We'll definitely look to score from the outside, with Posey knocking down 3-balls.

Our matchups with the Bulls are broken up, two before the break and two after. All will be before the trade deadline, so again they won't really be a huge force in our standings comparison.

We're not going to win the conference or anything this season, and probably won't even make the playoffs. But hopefully we'll be in contention for the playoffs, so we have something to go for when the days get tough toward the end of the season.

Our schedule has us start on a four-game road trip. Stevenson starts his NBA career with a nice 22 point effort against the Jazz. It didn't get us the win, but we hung around most of the way, losing 109-99. Posey went 4-7 from beyond the arc en route to his 16 points. Hamilton backed him up, going 3-6 from deep for 17 points. We put up another 99 points against the Bucks, but this time it gets us the win, 99-86. Posey and Hamilton again were a deadly duo, with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Lewis put up a career-high 15 assists in the game. Stevenson was limited to 9 points and 4-12 shooting.

After losing the back end of the road trip, we open at home with a nice 100-95 win over the Bucks. Lewis was brilliant, with 17 points and 15 assists against 0 turnovers. It was his show, as McInnis and Stevenson were our next high scorers with 14 points.

We fail to win again for well over a week, until we knock off the Hawks at home. Lewis led us with 25 points. Posey was held to just 5 points on 1-8 shooting. He has been really up and down thus far. He's averaging 14 points, and shooting an exellent 50% from beyond the arc. He's also hitting 55% from the field. But he'll go two or three games at a time in single digits. The biggest disappointment, however, has been Brendan Stevenson. In 28 MPG, he's scoring just 12 points, and getting only 3 rebounds. He's clearly not ready for a starting role at this point, so I put Hamilton in his spot, and relegate Stevenson to a backup position.

The change doesn't have much effect (Hamilton scored 12 points), but Lewis was feeling it in our win over the Pacers at home, with 27 points and 8 assists. He's really turned it on this season. McInnis has been quiet, while Madarang has been silent about playing time and just put in a good effort each night. So I give Madarang the starting center position to see how successful he is. Again, those directly effected by the change didn't do much, but we get a nice road win over Seattle. Jacquez Oyedeji went off went off for 14 rebounds and 8 blocks. Posey led us with 18 points on 2-3 from beyond the arc. If there is one part of his game that's consistent, it's long-range shooting.

Our 'streak' extends to three games when we go into the Alamo Dome and hand it to the Spurs, 93-73. Madarang led five in double figures with 18 points and 3 blocks. Lewis' career-high 17 assists aren't enough against the Pacers in Conseco Fieldhouse, as they take us 118-109. Posey led us in scoring with 21 points, while Oyedeji nabbed 18 rebounds. The loss leads to two more, which takes us to our first Bulls meeting.

DeBernardi is out with a wrist sprain, so we'll miss his scoring from the bench. Lewis takes over the game, and finishes with 22 points and 8 assists. MJ was held to just 13 points on 3-14 shooting, which was a big factor in our 99-89 victory. Oyedeji finished with 15 rebounds. Looking at the standings, we're now 7-9, only two games under .500. The Bulls are 11-6, 3.5 games ahead of us, but we're not quite letting them pull away like they did last year. And plus, we have the early lead in the season series.

We don't win before we go into the United Center for our second meeting with the Bulls. This one is tight, but the Bulls orchestrate a 13-point comeback in the 2nd half to win 120-116. Lewis did all he could, with a career-high 30 points, and 11 assists. All that with only one turnover. Posey scored 19 on 3-5 from 3-point land. He also was 2-2 from the line, making him a perfect 25-25 on the year.

We respond, however, with a win over one of the West's top teams, the Rockets, 95-86 at home. Lewis, surprise-surprise, led us with 23 points and 7 assists. Hamilton and Posey eached chipped in 15 points. We lose a couple in a row after the nice win, and I make some more lineup changes. I move McInnis to SF, and Stevenson to PF. I put Hamilton as the backup SF and PG, and Oyedeji shifts to center. We fall in our first game following the alterations, but the next game is a victory, and McInnis scores a career-high 23 points along with 12 rebounds.

We get another win, this one on the road at Orlando, and McInnis seems to have found his spot. He goes for 31 points and 16 rebounds, both new career highs. It's the third game in a row that he has set a career-high for scoring. Lewis added 18 points and 15 assists. The wins lead us on a run where we win 8 of 13 before the break. That puts us at 18-21, only half a game back of the Knicks for 8th place in the East.

Brendan Stevenson participates in the Rookie Game, but scores just 2 points in 29 minutes. Nobody else participates in any events, so I skip through them quickly.

Here's a look at our midseason stats:

PG Erick Lewis:       15/5/8/35 MPG

SG Donnie Posey:      12/5/3/98% FT%

SF Marv McInnis:      10/7/2/23 MPG

PF Brendan Stevenson: 12/4/1/43% 3FG%

C  Jacquez Oyedeji:    8/9/2/2.2 BPG

Key Backups:

G   Chris Hamilton:    10/4/2/44% 3FG%

G   Elijah DeBernardi: 11/3/1/21 MPG

F/C Carl Madarang:     10/9/2/2.7 BPG

PF  Dan Mullin:         8/8/1/24 MPG

Lewis has definitely been our MVP thus far. He's really learning to control the game, and has gotten his turnover numbers down a little. Posey is too streaky for my liking. He has to learn how to come out every night and score 15 points. Some games he has 25, others he's lucky to get on the board. Oyedeji hasn't played as well as he's capable. He's just returning from a minor injury - hopefully he'll be rejuvenated and pick up his game. Other than that, there isn't much I can do, and the players have to get themselves back in the playoff hunt.

[RPI-Fan]

Days 101-120

We finish we a few wins, and on the last day of the season take out our aggressions with a 133-98 demolition of the Bullets at home. Lewis led 8 players in double figures with 26 points and 11 assists. We shot 13-21 from 3-point land for the game. It was a nice way to end a forgettable season. We finished 32-50, 12th place in the East.

Postseason

Jordan's 31 PPG got him MVP, while he and Scottie are again the backcourt of the All-League First Team. Stevenson gets honored as All-Rookie First Team at the SF position (though he split time between SF and PF). The Bulls make the finals, where they fall to the Jazz in 5 games.

Note

This is getting more and more tedious to write. For sure, I'm going to drop the Me vs. MJ aspect. It just doesn't have enough character. And, unless anybody objects, I'm going to stop writing about this. It seems, to me at least, to come out as just a small step above straight HTML Outputs from the game.

I'll give about a day for anybody to respond, and then see what'll happen.

[RPI-Fan]

I declare this dynasty thread, over.