A San Diego Expansion Through The Eyes Of A Fan

[mdlee3_46041]

I haven't posted on here in awhile, but I've been reading some of the NBA dynasties on here and it's gotten me in the mood to do my own again. I don't use fancy graphics, but what I lack in presentation, I try to make up for in detail of my stories.

I like to do my stories from a different POV than we usually see on these. In this particular story, I'm going to be posting as a loyal season ticket holder who never misses a home game and watches every game he can on NBA League Pass.

I am in the 7th season now so the next post will be a bit of a recap of the first 6 seasons. Hope you guys enjoy!

[mdlee3_46041]

In the summer of 2016, I was fortunate enough to be one of the first season ticket holders for the San Diego Surf, one of six expansion teams beginning play in the 2016-2017 season. I was so excited because for once, I didn't have to travel to be able to enjoy NBA basketball. This team, despite being an expansion team, looked to have some promise. We got Brandon Jennings, Brandon Knight, Allen Crabbe, Terrance Ross, Tyson Chandler, Boban Marjanovic, Christian Wood, and Tayshaun Prince plus a few others in the expansion draft. Still, not much was expected of this team, but when they started out the season, and the franchise with back to back 25 point wins against the New Orleans Pelicans, I thought maybe they'd be a really good team. Unfortunately, they followed those wins up with an 11 game losing streak and lost Crabbe and Ross to season ending injuries in the process. The team bounced back though and would go 46-36 and make the playoffs as the 8th seed in the West and would face the #1 Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. Game 1 was a tight game, but the pressure of the playoffs showed in the 4th quarter and I had to watch my Surf suffer a heart breaking loss. Game 2 played out pretty much the same way, but when Chris Paul went down with a knee injury in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter, I knew we had a chance and I'd be able to celebrate my team's first playoff win. If only I could be there instead of watching on TV. We did end up pulling out game 2 and went on to win the series in 5 as Chris Paul wasn't able to return to the Clippers lineup for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, we ran into the Golden State Warriors in the 2nd round. We went 2-2 against them in the regular season, but would have no such luck in the playoffs, falling down 3-0 and eventually losing the series in 5. I am proud to be able to say that I saw this team fight hard every game, especially in game 4 where they came back from 11 down in the final minutes of the game to win and stave off elimination for one more game. Overall, our inaugural season was a success and I'll definitely be getting season tickets again. The Cavs would win the title. This was Lebron's 7th consecutive trip to the NBA Finals and his 4th Championship.

Season 2 got off to an exciting start in the offseason actually as Lebron opted out of his contract with the Cavs and signed with the Surf. We also drafted Jonathon Isaac out of Florida State and EC Matthews our of Rhode Island, but obviously the Lebron signing was the talk of the league and definitely the talk of the city. We ended up winning 66 games this season and went into the playoffs as the #2 seed behind the Portland Trail Blazers, who went 68-14 with MVP Damian Lillard leading the way. We would sweep the Rockets in the opening round, but would once again fall to the Golden State Warriors in 5 games in the 2nd round. The Trail Blazers would win the championship and Lillard was named Finals MVP. The future looks bright for this team. We have Lebron next season and Isaac and Matthews looked promising, along with an up and coming Christian Wood, who was undrafted out of college, but put up decent numbers in a starting role this year. Lebron missed 28 games this season with a knee injury, but the team did very well without him.

Season 3 saw us get off to a 9-0 start and as you can imagine, the city was excited about the prospects of this season. We were 21-3 after 24 games and then disaster struck. Lebron goes down with a torn ACL and is out for the season. We still made the playoffs with a 52-30 record thanks to the amazing start, but were the 7th seed and faced our nemesis, the Golden State Warriors, in round 1. It took us 7 games, but we were finally able to beat this team in a playoff series. Luck wasn't on our side though as we faced a red hot Houston Rockets team that beat us 4-0 would go to the finals before losing to the Miami Heat in 5 games. Luca Doncic was named Finals MVP.

In the offseason, we lost Lebron to free agency, but picked up Gordon Hayward. We also drafted Cory Crawford our of Duke and Gus Rollins out of Maryland. EC Matthews had an option, but the team didn't exercise it and he signed with the Toronto Raptors. I wasn't expecting much our of either draft pick or even the team after losing Lebron. Crawford ended up being a tremendous 3 point shooter and even won the 3 point contest. Rollins can't score to save his life, but he's a much better defender than I would have thought. Unfortunately, my feelings about this years team was right and we missed the playoffs for the first time with a 40-42 record.

Going into season 5, Hassan Whiteside signed with us so it looked like we'd be strong inside again. By this point, the only player left from that inaugural season was Boban Marjanovich. We would once again miss the playoffs this season with a 38-44 record. Right before the trade deadline, we acquired Justise Winslow for Gordon Hayward. This trade possibly kept us out of the playoffs as we were fighting for the 8th spot, but it took Winslow several games to find his role on this team and we lost most of those, knocking us out of the running. The Houston Rockets returned to the NBA Finals and would win in 7 games against the Philadelphia 76ers behind James Harden's MVP performance.

Going into season 6, I was sure this would be the year I'd be buying playoff tickets again. It came down to the final day of the regular season and we won our game, but unfortunately, the Grizzlies also won and they held the tiebreaker against us. We went 44-38 and missed the playoffs due to that tiebreaker. The Louisville Liberty, making their 1st playoff appearance would go on to win it all behind Lebron Jame's regular season MVP and Finals MVP performance. This was Lebron's 5th NBA Championship.

In the offseason, we signed Andrew Wiggins, Troy Daniels, and Jeff Teague, but obviously Wiggins the key pickup. Unfortunately, Wiggins is currently out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand, but the team is still off to a 15-4 start. Teague has done a terrific job running the point and Troy Daniels has been shooting lights out from outside. Whiteside has been protecting the paint and Winslow has done a little of everything to help lessen the blow of Wiggins' injury.

[mdlee3_46041]

I showed up early for tonight's game against the Cavs. What can I say, I like to people watch and I wanted a hot dog. Despite our great play so far this season, I had a bad feeling about this game as we've had trouble stopping star players and Kyrie Irving is leading the league in scoring at 36.2ppg. I saw on ESPN last night that he went for 57 against the Lakers so maybe he'll be worn out tonight.

Starting Lineups

Cavs

Surf

Kyrie Irving

Jeff Teague

Patrick McCaw

Troy Daniels

DeMarre Carroll

Justise Winslow

Markieff Morris

Gus Rollins

Tristan Thompson

Hassan Whiteside

The start of this game wasn't too exciting, well not if you like scoring anyway. Both teams struggled from the floor and we even struggled from the line, which is always bad. Kyrie Irving did score 11 points early for the Cavs, but he was the only person hitting. He had 14 points in the 1st quarter so it looked like I'd have to watch another star go off on us. On the bright side, we got a surprise boost from Patrick Patterson off the bench, who scored 10 in the quarter, including an impressive dunk and a foul while making a circus shot with 0.6 seconds remaining to give us a 20-19 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, it hurt me to watch as we launched 3 after 3, missing most of them. Winslow came alive for us though with 8 points in the quarter and we would trail 44-43 at the half. Winslow had 11 for us in the half and Patterson had 10. For the Cavs, Irving had 19 and was the only Cavs player in double figures.

The 3rd quarter went back to being a struggle for both teams. Boban Marjanovich had 3 monster dunks, all of which looked like should have pulled down the rim, but luckily they didn't. He also had 2 really sweet blocks and Whiteside blocked a shot that went about 20 rows up into the stands. Isaac Copeland led the Cavs in the 3rd with 5 points. Despite our struggles, we were able to take a 61-59 lead into the 4th quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Winslow picked things up for us again, scoring 12 in the quarter. He also had 2 assists and 2 steals. Gus Rollins also got involved, scoring 7. Kyrie had 11 in the quarter for the Cavs, but had 2 big turnovers down the stretch. The key play, or at least the one that really got the crowd going, was a steal by Winslow, who passed to a wide open Troy Daniels, who then lobbed it back to Winslow for the dunk and a foul with just under 3 minutes left. The free throw put us up 81-76 and from that point on, we basically lived at the line and would go on to win 96-87.

Winslow led the way for us with 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Hassan Whiteside just missed a double-double as he had 11 points, but just 9 boards. The Cavs were led by Kyrie Irving with 33 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. DeMarre Carroll was the only other Cav in double figures with 14 points. We put 6 players in double figures.

[Funkycorm]

I like the fan point of view. It's a cool idea.

[mdlee3_46041]

All the games this week are on the road so I'm stuck watching them on TV, which isn't bad because it means no waiting in traffic, but I would still prefer to be there.

The Hawks aren't a good team at all. I can't recall their record, but they just aren't very good. This game ended up being one of the worst games I've ever seen, at least offensively.

Starting Lineups

Surf

PG #44 Jeff Teague
SG #9 Troy Daniels
SF #35 Justise Winslow
PF #43 Gus Rollins
C #21 Hassan Whiteside

Hawks

PG #1 Jalen Adams
SG #24 Allan Crabbe
SF #41 Nelson Brady
PF #31 Jamychal Green
C #43 Cheick Diallo

The game started and looked like it was going to be super exciting as both teams were racing up and down the court. The problem is, nobody was hitting anything. Jeff Teague and Cory Crawford led the Surf in the first with 5 points each. Jalen Adams chipped in 5 for the Hawks. The score after 1 was Surf 21, Hawks 11.

The 2nd quarter saw Mo Harkless heat up a bit as he scored 11 points and he also had 4 rebounds. Honestly, I think Harkless should be starting, at least while Wiggins is out, but I'm glad he wasn't this game because he gave us some much needed firepower off the bench. The Hawks were dismal in this quarter as Allan Crabbe led them in scoring with 3 points. The Surf led at the half 43-24.

The 3rd quarter was much the same except this time, it was Troy Daniels knocking down a few shots. He would score 9 in the period. For the Hawks, it was Nelson Brady and Robert Covington scoring 6 points apiece as the Hawks actually outscored us in this quarter. The score after 3 was 60-42 Surf.

In the 4th, Justise Winslow finally knocked down some shots. He got the quarter started by hitting a tightly contested 3 as the shot clock expired, then picked up a long rebound and went the length of the floor for what ended up being a sub-par dunk. He would later hit a wide open 3 from the corner. He had 8 points in the quarter. Jamychal Green led the way for the Hawks in the quarter, scoring 8.

Final score: Surf 77 Hawks 62

This game looked more like a game between 2 mid-major college programs than an NBA game. There were a lot of missed easy shots on both ends. There wasn't a lot of fouling either, or at least not in shooting situations, so no easy points that way. I've seen the Surf struggle offensively since Wiggins got hurt. They were averaging over 100 a game, now they're lucky to make 80-90.

We did have 4 players in double figures, led by Winslow's 17 points. Whiteside didn't have a strong scoring night as he only scored 7, but he did pull down 12 boards and also had 6 blocks.

The Hawks were led by Nelson Brady with 10 points. Cheick Diallo had a decent game with 8 points and 13 rebounds.