The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

[BlindSideNZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Much appreciated! I'm glad you enjoy it, because I have fun. Sometimes I think "man, I've done 7 seasons in ~5.5 IRL years, maybe I'm too slow" but life gets in the way and I guess I haven't burnt myself out, so it's fun. I'm hoping to get through 2-3 seasons in 2025. I hope it can happen. I'm trying to find more interesting ways to introduce podcasts, especially to help people catch up as 200 pages of a thread is a lot to read.

Honestly I hadn’t even realised it had been going for that long, that’s crazy! Makes sense with the delays. Life has a habit of getting in the way.

I look forward to seeing what else unfolds in the coming seasons.

[Tovarich]

Both brothers should have their AD's fired. Back to back in STL and Florida? Even the NBA probably wouldn't pull that.

Then Loyola plays two on the east coast, flies all the way back to Portland for one, only to fly all the way back to NJ.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlindSideNZ

Honestly I hadn’t even realised it had been going for that long, that’s crazy! Makes sense with the delays. Life has a habit of getting in the way. I look forward to seeing what else unfolds in the coming seasons.

Thanks man. I've gotten into a good routine. Hoping to finish up this current season before May ends. We'll see if I can do it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tovarich

Both brothers should have their AD's fired. Back to back in STL and Florida? Even the NBA probably wouldn't pull that. Then Loyola plays two on the east coast, flies all the way back to Portland for one, only to fly all the way back to NJ.

You've got me giggling. Let's just pretend the LMU AD decided to let an intern do the scheduling this time around.

[studbucket]

Another month is in the books and this NBA season is far from settled. The Grizzlies look like the class of the league while other fast starters have struggled mightily in the holiday season.

Lots of change in the standings
From November to December there was much more change in the standings and general form of teams than may be expected. This chart shows how teams’ prospects have changed from November 30 to December 31, with the first column showing their change in the standings and the second showing how many games above or below .500 they were this month.

There are several teams worth mentioning based on how they performed in December.

1. The Memphis Grizzlies were 14 wins above .500 in December, dominating the league and already have a commanding lead atop the conference. What’s made them so good? It all starts with Ja Morant (PG, 95 ovr) of course, but the rest of their backcourt has been huge. Dor Pettyjohn (SG, 82 ovr), Lonzo Ball (SF, 83 ovr), and Britton Wainright (SG, 79 ovr) make up the most productive 4-man guard rotation in the league this year. They also allow a league best 108 points per game.
2. Cleveland has rounded into form and has the second best record in the league and they look more like the team that won the NBA Finals last year and less like the up-and-down team we saw in the regular season last year. Darius Garland (PG, 88 ovr) is great of course, but Andrew Wiggins (SF, 82 ovr) and Kevin Porter Jr (SG, 81 ovr) have been fantastic complements to Garland and St. Fort (C, 83 ovr).
3. In contrast to those two teams, the Hornets have been in a free fall, dropping 6 spots to 9^th in the standings. Much of this was due to an injury to Jerry Sparks, and they struggled to generate consistent offense without him in the lineup.
4. The Honu have gotten back in their groove and look like they’re a legitimate playoff contender again and this isn’t a fluke as they’ve risen up 3 spots. Tyler Herro (SG, 84 ovr) has been fantastic again, though Markelle Fultz (PG, 84 ovr) has seen his stats fall and they need better defense as they’re allowing over 177 points per game.
5. Denver has been dealing with major injuries all season but have been very resilient to get to the top of the Western conference as Jokic plays like the best big man in the NBA.
6. After early signs showed that the Embiid trade was a great one, the Dallas Mavericks have undergone an early season swoon, playing 2 games below .500 in December. The West is bad, so they can easily rebound and rise, but it’s disappointing to see them in the 6^th spot.
7. The Atlanta Hawks might only be 10^th, but they’ve shown real signs of life in a very difficult East, playing 5 games over .500 in December.
8. The Phoenix Suns still aren’t a .500 team, but they have had a much better December than November and are rising up the standings. If they can continue this standard of play, they may get out of the play-in.
9. In a big surprise, the Sacramento Kings are making a push for playoff positioning. They’ve played winning basketball in December and find themselves in the play-in right now. They have a -12 point differential per game, but seem to be playing a bit better as a team this year.
10. The nagging injuries to Anthony Davis has definitely impacted the Lakers who are 6 games under .500 this month and really need to rebound.
11. The SuperSonics were bad in November, but losing James Harden has made them miserable. They went 1-14 in December. With less help around him, Bobby Drake’s stats have dropped this season even as he’s expected to take on more of the burden with Harden out.

It’s worth noting that the top 6 teams in the East have better records than the Nuggets, the West’s #1 team. The West is down and bad in a way it hasn’t been in many, many years and the East is stacked in ways that the West was in the aughts.

Unexpected budding stars in the West?
There are two players have had unexpected jumps in their production out West. While it’s still too early to see if this is just players taking advantage of teams without much offensive talent or a real rising star, we wanted to highlight both of these guys.

Rudolph Butler (SF, 83 ovr) was featured recently as someone who had stepped up his offensive game in a big way and the surprising Rockets are seeing the fruit of that. Butler scored a career-high 54 points in a victory over Portland using his efficient scoring and ability to finish at the rim. The 3^rd year wing from Michigan State is a full-time starter for the first time in his career and has fit in great alongside Rayjon Tucker (SG, 78 ovr) and Julius Randle (PF, 83 ovr).

B.A. Guasco (SG, 81 ovr) was largely a role player and an afterthought around the league while he was in Charlotte. Sure, Hornets fans loved him, but with all the big names that were in Charlotte he wasn’t on the radar of the national media. Now, on a rebuilding Utah team it’s not Matt Forney (PG, 81 ovr) that has become the team’s offensive force, but instead free agent signing Guasco. The 5^th year SG out of UCLA was drafted by the Hornets in the same draft that landed them Jerry Sparks but didn’t play a single game his rookie year. Despite missing a month due to injury, Guasco is averaging over 28 points per game and has scored over 40 three times this season. His previous career high was 16 points per game and he’s using his athleticism to get to the rim over and over and is shooting a respectable 35% from three on 10 attempts per game. The efficiency isn’t great, but he has been effective.

Projected All-Stars
We’re a month away from All-Star voting closing and here’s the projected list of All-Stars. Here’s the current voting:

The voting is reasonable (for a fan vote), but a number of players can feel like they’re being shorted. We’ll start with the ridiculous.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring 32 points per game for Miami and is clearly a top 10 player in the league.
2. Darius Garland is leading one of the best teams in the NBA, is averaging 26 points and 10 assists per game and is right to feel aggrieved.
3. Joel Embiid is probably the second best center in the league and averaging a 24, 11, and 3.

Here are some other players that look like they’ll miss the cut:

1. Bruno Radja is once again one of the 2 best players on the Celtics and is averaging 23 points and 10 assists per game. Unfortunately for him there are too many amazing point guards in the East.
2. Jameer Trammell is scoring 26 ppg for the Magic.
3. Milos Jeffers is scoring 26 ppg for the Lakers.
4. Pascal Siakam is scoring a career-high 24 points per game for the Heat.
5. De’Aaron Fox is scoring a career-high 27 ppg in Toronto, but the Raptors are bad.
6. Ben Long is scoring 24 ppg and grabbing 6 rebounds per game for the Pacers.

Donovan Mitchell tosses an alley oop to Giannis on the pick-and-roll.

[studbucket]

And yes, I am using LaMelo Ball's face for B.A. Guasco. I never thought he'd be good enough to spotlight, so I figured "what the heck, this is easy to re-use". Now I'm paying the price haha.

[BlindSideNZ]

There’s just something about a world that becomes populated by so many fictional players. Think it’s about the freedom it allows you from the real world bias.

That’s hilarious about the Lonzo cf, though. Luckily you’ve got an array of others to choose from if needs be.

[Tovarich]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

And yes, I am using LaMelo Ball's face for B.A. Guasco. I never thought he'd be good enough to spotlight, so I figured "what the heck, this is easy to re-use". Now I'm paying the price haha.

Guasco, a secret IMF agent, has been wearing a LaMelo Ball mask his entire career to hide his true identity while he infiltrates the Big Baller Brand to expose their business practices. During one of LaMelo's many surgeries for various injuries, LaMelo was secretly given a new face with plastic surgery and his memory erased by Agent J. After many years undercover, Guasco has successfully exposed the company and all 500 people who bought shoes have achieved justice with a refund for their horribly overpriced shoes. Now, Guasco can return to his real identity and LaMelo can go back to his crazy dad.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlindSideNZ

There’s just something about a world that becomes populated by so many fictional players. Think it’s about the freedom it allows you from the real world bias. That’s hilarious about the Lonzo cf, though. Luckily you’ve got an array of others to choose from if needs be.

Yeah, sometimes I love it, sometimes it's hard. I can't rely on existing narratives at all, I gotta provide the depth myself. But I like being more immersed in all that's happening.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tovarich

Guasco, a secret IMF agent, has been wearing a LaMelo Ball mask his entire career to hide his true identity while he infiltrates the Big Baller Brand to expose their business practices. During one of LaMelo's many surgeries for various injuries, LaMelo was secretly given a new face with plastic surgery and his memory erased by Agent J. After many years undercover, Guasco has successfully exposed the company and all 500 people who bought shoes have achieved justice with a refund for their horribly overpriced shoes. Now, Guasco can return to his real identity and LaMelo can go back to his crazy dad.

Is that the plot to Face/Off 2? lol. Love your new headcanon.