Post by Go Niners on Sept 17, 2022 13:50:17 GMT -8
A Beer with Ahsan & Mike
Mike: Hey Ahsan. Thanks for making time so we can catch up on things, especially BBS and how things are going. We are both back to the sim game after taking long hiatuses. I didn’t think I’d be as into it when I joined back, but here I am. Sucked right back into this addictive game with all of you friendly people. So what was it that made you want to come back to BBS and FBB?
Ahsan: Honestly, felt like I had been getting into a fairly normal routine with a lot of free time and I missed FBB. Missed bullshitting with everyone, missed building teams and watching them perform. Missed Spencer and the manner in which he runs a league (all little details down to perfection). I missed it way too much. I had been lurking here and there and saw the league going strong so I submitted my simulation resume and was awarded the Celtics and here I am. How about you bro? What made you come back?
Mike: I honestly hadn't thought about it, had been busy with work and the baby - but Spencer messaged me a few times and then the Knicks came open and that finally got me to join. Now I pay no attention to work or my daughter or family. So how is life in Karachi? How's it different than the States? Do you miss it here?
Ahsan: Honestly, I'm quite happy here. Occasionally, I do miss my parents, friends and Mexican food but overall, life here is nice. The exchange rate is very favorable and having our own place and our own space has been good for us as a couple overall. Plus, her family has been amazing throughout helping me feel welcomed and keeping me a part of everything. Happy 6 months to your daughter btw! That sounds amazing. How has it been overall for you?
Mike: That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you man. It looks like married life has been kind to you. Olivia thanks you for the birthday wishes!! It’s been awesome. My two sisters had kids within the last year as well. My step sister had a son who just turned 1 in July and my sister had a daughter two months older than my daughter so it’s been a lot of fun with all the babies. Speaking of babies, who is the baby of your roster? Who are you going to be building around?
Ahsan: Well given that I dealt the house for Don Nelson, he’s clearly the guy I wanted to build around upon joining. But over the last 2 seasons of running this team, Kojis has been simming better than him to a point where I don’t want to deal him. Larry is the first guy I tanked for though been underwhelming. You have to keep in mind that I’ve been running a tank DC the last two seasons (very slow/balanced) to limit production so I need to see what they do in a faster paced outside system. That being said, I’ve never had an SF like Kojis (a pure scorer), my SFs tend to be more focused on stocks/boards/defense so building with Kojis is the most fun for me. I like these new rules disallowing players like him to start at SG, makes it more challenging. So yeah, Kojis seems like the most fun and it’s what I’m testing right now.
Mike: Interesting. I did not realize you were running a Very Slow and Balanced offense. You’d think that Kojis scoring would explode even more in a Fast / Outside offense, but the turnovers are slightly worrisome. Should get under control with a few more training camps however. He’s a real good player. As you know, I’ve tried to get him a few times. But yah, for me… it all rides on FA. I really really need Oscar to re-sign. I bet your ass wants to sign him. Please stay the fuck away. Oscar, Bellamy and the young guys should be fun. Probably a piece away from competing though. Who other than Oscar do you have your eyes on in FA?
Ahsan: I can’t share that. Obviously, Day 1, just offering the max I can to the elite guys and a couple of 2-year maxes to lesser players (feel like the 2-year max is fairly low risk for me as if it doesn’t work out, it’s a fat expiring in the offseason). I have slightly below a full max however so doubt I do nab Oscar or any of the top guys. Just hoping to get a system guy on the 2-year max in Day 1 and use Days 2/3 to re-sign bird guys and MLE with Days 4/5 for LLE and mins. How about you? What’s your FA strategy this year besides re-signing Oscar? I still may tank again if I get no one btw, keeping all options open. My team isn’t very good, still very much lacking in talent. What would you do if Oscar walks?
Mike: I sent two bids. Oscar and Jerry max. That’s it. I’ll reassess after Day 1. As for if Oscar bolts in FA… eh. That will be a tough pill to swallow. Has a prime aged MVP ever left a team after their rookie contract in BBS? Don’t think so. It’ll be tough to overcome especially since I don’t have my pick. I’ll probably have to add some role players in FA and hope that guys like Wali, Charlton, Gavon, Hightower have great TCs. I still have Bellamy. I guess I also have the option of trading Bellamy for elite youth and just rebuilding. I just hope that doesn’t need to happen. It’ll be extremely painful and I’ll need to be held brother. We will find out soon enough though! Looking back at the draft, Hazzard went #2. Who would you have taken?
Ahsan: Feel like this draft had a clear #1 (Reed alone in Tier 1), an interchangeable #2 and #3 between Hazard and Love in Tier 2 and then a bunch of solid players after. Feel like 4th overall could have been a lot of different players. I do believe both Love and Hazard will be superstars along with Reed. Likely a player or two from Tier 3 develop into stars but honestly not sure who. Hazard has almost everything you want in a PG while Love has almost everything you want in a wing. To answer the question, I would’ve taken Love mainly because I didn’t want to take another PG (took Brown last draft and Nowell the draft before) and do feel like wings have more overall value in this league. But can’t fault Stevie B for taking Hazard, he’s the type of PG you can happily build around with the handles, shooting, rebounding, stealing, scoring volume and likely upside. What’s your view on the draft and it’s tiers?
Mike: I do agree - Willis Reed is certainly in a class of his own. The next guy wasn’t really close at all for me. Next tier was Bob Love and Hazzard. After that, it was a mixed bag. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see any of the guys taken between 4-15ish go in any mix match order. I really wouldn’t. It was all about personal preference. A lot of guys were high on this McGlincock fella. Others, not so much. It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out after training camp and over the next few seasons. Looking forward to it and maybe we can do another sit down and look back and laugh at our awful takes. Lmao. Speaking of bad takes. That Yates trade. We can’t leave before we discuss it. Walk us through what’s going on seeing Wilcox go for less and what you were thinking when you made that deal!!
Ahsan: Sure. I actually am high on Yates. I was going to take Barnes at 4 but feel like Yates is his best case scenario.
My CY is next season, I had zero bigs on my roster. Tried to trade for Stokes but was a few minutes too late, funny thing is I wanted to send Play an offer which wasn’t insulting given the trade voided included a lotto and a future. While thinking about which offer to send Chicago (which was 4th+Nowell), Galo sent the lotto-only offer which Play accepted. I was beat out by a few minutes. So I had to pivot, I then had my sights set on Rudy LaRusso but autumn harold wanted me to add Kojis to 4th (can’t blame him, I’d ask the same given my lack of assets). I couldn’t afford to give up that much (we have a poverty franchise) so I declined that (countered with Nowell whom autumn harold didn’t care for).
As far as Yates goes, hf sent the offer while all this was going on and I told him I was discussing other deals. Once those fell through, I texted him and accepted. Yates is a player I had my eyes set on for a while but avoided as he was expiring and the asking price from you included Kojis whom I don’t want to deal. Now he’s locked up and the asking price was 4th overall in a draft where I only loved 3.
The takes in the trade thread are mostly horrible so idc about it. The lion does not concern himself with the opinion of the sheep.
Yates obviously came in with 100 pot (being a 2nd rounder having ratings like that), having gone through 3 TCs, he likely has around 70 remaining which is a strong B. His per min numbers are nice, in starter minutes, he seems to be around 10+ RPG and 2+ BPG with close to 1 SPG and no clear handling issues. His Jumpshot is obviously 80+ as he’s C- outside despite attempting 0 three pointers in his career. Though his scoring volume is basically non-existent at this point which is ok.
If I still need to tank another year, I can with him. If I add talent, I can try to reset. Regardless, I do now have one long-term rotational big on the roster to join the core of Brown-Nelson-Kojis.
Mike: I appreciate the thoughtful response. I think you’re on your way to making CY! Thanks for meeting with me!
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