Post by Nanz on Jul 21, 2020 5:50:02 GMT -8
Welcome to the first 2005 installment of Back to the Future Roundtable: Part I! I am your host, Johnny B Good Stamos and today we are joined by Covid, Ashes, Manas and Skillz! It has been a while since Back to the Future went back into YOUR hearts but here we are! Lets get it!
YOU KNOW WHAT WE SAY AROUND HERE! SAY IT WITH ME! BBS is a big part of our pasts and thanks to big Spence, now our futures! LETS GET TO IT!
1. What when through your mind when you saw Spence had a covid scare at work? Of course, aside from him and his family being okay!!! I’m talking more on a selfish level and how it would impact the league…
Ashes: I felt it would just result in a period of absence, but figured it would get squared away one way or another. I enjoy BBS and I'm glad it's back, but not at the expense of my man Spencer! If the worst had happened, and it meant 2+ weeks of no BBS, I would've been fine with it. Obviously it leaves me pretty high and dry with ways to spend my time (I literally have nothing to do out here!) but I'd be okay. I knew no matter what Spencer would rise from the ashes (lol) and get back to simming! I'm glad it all worked out for the best!
Royal -- I was like, "what a pussy ass excuse to end the league, there's actually people really sick from this shit!". But, I wasn't going to let him off easy, I was ready to take over temporary sim duties. It all worked out though! We back baby!
Skillz: I just wanted Spence and his family to be okay! But yes, on a selfish level, I was embarrassed to say this impacted by mood. Definitely a bad sign! I was hovering around the boards too much during work already and realized just how addicted I am. A day without sim = tough ! Of course this is all trivial and I’m so glad Spence was negative. I think it is actually nice to get a temporary brief vacation from checking the boards regularly. I might integrate that into my GM’ing….take a break around days 21-40 to take a breath.
Manas: I reached out to offer to use my abundance of points to put him up somewhere nice! Not like I'm using my points anytime soon. (He didn't take me up BTW)
2. Speaking of Covid and before getting into the upcoming season, how excited are you to have some baseball this Wednesday! And some Basketball in a couple weeks?! Who do you have winning the World Series and The NBA chip!? I’m saying Yankees and Lakers!!
Ashes:: Hate to say it, but I'm not super interested in either right now! I think they should've just cancelled the seasons and waited it out. Baseball is literally impossible for me to follow and even more so now that I am in Japan. I occasionally tune in for the playoffs, but that's about it. NBA I will watch if I can catch it on, but I've grown very distant from it over the years. Hopefully it goes smoothly and we can see some good basketball again. I don't know who is good in baseball to predict any kind of winner, sorry. Red Sox? Yankees? Dodgers? Astros? Sure pick one of them! As for basketball, I'll just say Lakers...or Bucks? I dunno.
Royal - I'm hyped currently got a live MLB Exhibition Parley on Bovada! Yankees over 4.5 runs to start. I'm pumped though, for MLB I'm a Giants fan so i'm riding with my boys and a healthy Johnny Cuerto!! In reality Yankees are so nice and 'should' win though. For NBA I hate the Lakers, but I'm team Lebron. I just want him to keep adding on to his great career. We were lucky enough to witness this man play.
Skillz: Very excited, and just hope that these games get off without a hitch! I’ve really lost my interest in baseball but I’m more than pumped for the NBA season. I’ll say the Yankees and Bucks!
Manas: Baseball puts me to sleeeeeeep....I guess the Yankees are always favored? I dunno. I vote the A's.
Basketball, I'd love to see the Bucks make it out of the East, but I think it'll be the Celtics. Lakers/Clippers would be epic, but with the COVID asterisk, who knows?
Regardless, I think whoever makes it out of the West wins.
3. Let’s get into it! Manas is in his CY and everyone seems to think that he is one move away from making sure he gets his 42 wins. What would you say his biggest need is and how would you address it?
Ashes:: Well before the Nash trade I was pretty worried about his team. I think he was severely lacking in offensive power. I think it's pretty hard to win without a guy that can drop 25-30 a night, because so many teams at least have one of those guys! Now that he has Nash, I think he should be fine but CY teams have historically been pretty trash at DCs, so hopefully he utilizes his team well. I think he is still in that range that a bad string of sims or an injury could put him in a dangerous position, so if I were him I'd still be looking to make a big move. He still has pieces. I think he may be going into this CY a little too overconfident, but I hope things work out. I think he needs more defense still, or another big time scorer. As long as he doesn't fall in love with the rest of his team and is willing to make a move if he needs to, he should be fine.
Royal - I don't think he is one piece away, I honestly think the West once DCs are in is too damn good. He's in big trouble, but his team is too damn nice after that TC to blow it up. You kind of want to wait it out and see what happens before giving some of that youth away. He's in a tough spot, but hes the only team so far thats been in CY with the number of assets he has. He'll make it work.
Skillz:Point Guard. I think he should trade Danny Granger for Steve Nash…
Kidding! This just happened. Manas was never going to struggle to make it past the CY and Nash ensures that the Warriors will be just fine. He has a lot of value on the team and should be able to win 47-52 games with his existing team. I’d be a little nervous about the Walker/Marion fit with Nash, but I am sure he’ll make it work.
Manas: Manas will be just fine.*A little insight to the Nash trade would have been nice here!!!!*
4. Speaking of CY… of the latest crop of GMs that were brought in to replace those who missed the cut, who would you say is in the best position to succeed and who is in the most trouble? ( Bucks, Sonics & Magic)
Ashes:: Well the Sonics have Chris Paul, so probably them. I like Iggy, but I think he's getting to that point that this may be what he gets out of him. A nice 4th/5th starter. Mark is a good GM though, so I think he can probably go the farthest the quickest out of the new crop. I don't really think the Bucks or Magic are in any real trouble now or in the foreseeable future, but if I had to pick I'd go with the Bucks just because I think the Magic have better pieces they could package together. I'm not a huge fan of their young guys if I'm being honest, but people are obsessed with youth sometimes, so throwing a few together could probably net him some good players.
Royal - Well they're all ass, even the shitty Hawks that you left out. I think CP3 alone will carry the Sonics. I made that he went after Iggy, but at same time he just basically proved he knows how to get deals done. The one in the most trouble is Footy, God rest is soul. Man isn't bad, but luck hasn't been on his side. Tanking in 06 has no room for error, this draft is full of role players. If he wants one of the few legit players he needs to lose now and lose often.
Skillz: Mark is clearly going to be a top-5 GM. He’s smart, decisive and seems to be a cogent thinker. Andy was always a pretty good GM back in the day. I’m not familiar with Trap, but I am going to guess he’ll struggle more than the other two. Hue-related groupthink is a thing, and my perception is that Trap’s ceiling as a GM is lower than both Andy’s and Mark’s.
Manas: LOL Mark has crushed it. I'm kinda jealous of his rebuild compared to mine! Too early to tell on "most in trouble" for the other two.
5. There have been a lot of trades this off-season and none bigger than the Mavericks landing VC and Giblerto! Do you think this puts them ahead of the Kings? Are they the clear favorite to win the title this year?!
Ashes: I think the Mavericks are really strong now, but I still don't think they are better than my team. I don't typically slobber my team all over the boards, and it seems pretty fashionable to talk about my squad's vulnerabilities but I didn't see it last season! We were dominant offensively, defensively, in rebounding, in creating turnovers, and took care of the ball! I still think this year the only one who can beat me is me! I think my frontcourt is better than Dallas still, Kobe >>> Vince, and Maggette has actually been really solid for me as a non-option. He doesn't turn it over, plays solid D, gets rebounds, and scores okay. I think the only real edge Dallas has over me is PG, but it's not like Milos/NVE/Arroyo can't score on Gil too. I feel like the Lakers team I beat two seasons ago was a better version of Dallas. Clear favorites?! I've gone to three straight finals! My team is the same this year, improving almost across the board in TC! I think I'll still end up with #1 seed, but the playoffs in FBB are always a crapshoot, so I think the Mavs can beat me in the playoffs, but favorites?? Come on!
Royal - Kings will forever be on top. There's no front court in the league that comes close. On top of that he has Kobe, c'mon man. Kings for the easy 3peat. Mavs meh, hell be good.
Skillz: I think they are in the conversation for sure. Ashes has done an impeccable job, and his team deserves all of its accolades, but I actually think his roster was susceptible to an upset last year. The matchups just worked out for the Kings. The Mavs will have a lot of scoring power and project to be like a 55-60 win team. I think they’ll be awesome, but won’t be dynastic or crazy dominant or anything. Backcourt defense is bad, rebounding is just OK. They’ll lead the league in scoring. Team could absolutely win a title as constructed but won’t be heavy favorites. Habes will make more trades too.
Manas: No. But the winner will likely come out of the West. BBS is so random...one injury can ruin everything. I think there was a year that Duncan sprained a finger or something like that and was out multiple games and the Clippers lost that round?
6.In the West, aside from the Kings and Mavs, are there any other teams you think should be mentioned as contenders? Outside of the Kings and Mavs who would be your favorite to win the west?
Ashes:: Uh, this is tough. I don't think any other team out West compares to the Kings or Mavericks. The Blazers and Spurs are probably the 3rd and 4th best teams. I think I beat both of them in the playoffs last season and they're fielding the same teams right? I guess the Blazers have the best chance outside of the Kings/Mavs. Ricky is amazing and Baron is a nice defensive PG. Ratliff is a fantastic shot-blocker. Problem is the Blazers just seem a few steps below Kings/Mavs in all facets, and this is probably their last year with that core. Best of luck though!
Royal - Trailblazers! Ricky Davis is oh so hawt. Theo controls the defensive temple. I do think he needs to add another solid weapon, but I like the Blazers over the Mavs honestly. TP and VC ain't much different than Gilbert and VC. Hope my Tequila Boy stays woke!
Skillz:Yikes, the rest of the West is not very good! I’ll say the Spurs. The lack of depth is a concern, but the Spurs have three top-15 players. I hope John is proactive and fills out the roster, because that should be a championship-quality core. If you gave an elite GM that team, that’s the title favorite. Because you’d find a way to spin-off Jamal or T-Mac for a way that works for that team.
Manas:Not the Lakerrrrrsss....No other team will make it barring significant injuries. * that seems rude... Lake show is nice people *
7. The East seems a little more open with a few teams always making some noise! Who do you think meet in the Eastern Conference Finals and who moves on the Finals!
Ashes:: I think the East gets in their own way every season. I think every team out East is worse this year, except for Jah's Wizards, which are the same as per usual. The Cavs should really try to get a PG and give it another go, but I doubt they do. Hornets had a nice TC, but are they playing Okur at Center? I think galo needs a better identity around Duncan, it's a shame to see TD go to waste all these years. Pistons could be nice with a big move. Then there's Skillz who you can't really predict his team, but you know he'll be there at the end of the season. I think his frontcourt is in shambles right now! He can fluff Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola all he wants, but he needs some improvement there. If I had to pick a team, I'd say the Cavs if they don't give up again, or the Knicks if Skillz can find those backdoor trades that lead to a better frontline.
Royal : East I think Galo will have a tough battle with Kobe and his Heat, but I think Galo gets Timmy a little more help and actually gets Timmy what he deserves, trip to finals. Idk if he wins though! Knicks are always a tough team in the East as well.
Skillz: Knicks and Hornets? Idk. Usual suspects. Cavs will be good. Heat will be good. Wizards will be decent. Bulls are now good. Everyone else is just okay. I’m pretty confident in our ability to make good DC’s and win around Billups, so I would bet on the KNICKS! Confidence is important, ok.
Manas:Knicks VS. Pistons. Pistons win if Galo gets it together and builds a winner around Duncan!
8. Finally, who do you have meeting in the finals and who comes out victorious!? Finals MVP?!
Ashes::Kings/Cavs rematch of last season. Kobe bullies again and we drop another few 30 stock games! Kobe with another Finals MVP! Could be a great series though if svedda makes some slight improvements this year!
Royal - I'm going to go with the Pistons and Kings. Kings in 5. Kobe MVP! 3Peat!!!!
Skillz: Knicks over Mavs in 6 – Chauncey finals MVP. Gilbert lit-up Billups the last time I had him in the playoffs, so we are seeking revenge!
Manas:Kings Vs. Pistons,Kobe
9. Bonus question! It makes me sick to see people claim they have had multiple hole in ones (Andrew)… does it also make you SICK to your stomach to see this? And if you’re going out for a nice 18 with the fellas, what is your drink of choice?
Ashes: Some people are lucky big dog! I believe it! I've picked up two 7-10 splits in my life! Let the man claim his multiple hole in ones! I believe! I suck at golf more than anything in the world. In comparison, I'm probably a superstar in every other sport before I'm ever a below-average golfer! I like drinking beer on a nice day golfing, though, despite how bad I am at golfing. I am good at drinking beer and hanging with
the bros! I'd probably want something simple yet refreshing with the sun out! Maybe some Coronas with lime and salt! Or maybe some Stella Artoissssss
Royal Not really into checking out 18 year olds with the bros, age is too close for jail time!! and especially drinking with them? Not cool. I don't golf.
Skillz: He has multiple hole in ones!? WTF! I would so bad things to have a hole in one. On par-3’s that are near bodies of water, I’ve always imagined jumping into the pond after nailing it! And I’ll drink anything. I golfed on Sunday and has some IPA’s from 50-West brewery. Honestly it was a little too heavy for golf. Something lighter. Maybe even some hard stuff!
Manas:I'll stay in the clubhouse. I'm brown enough already. Gin & Soda, with some lime. All day.
Thank you all for participating and I hope you all enjoy it! This is your host, Johnny B. Good Stamos reminding you that it takes 50 muscles to frown but only 13 to smile! Stay Sexy ya'll... Have Mercy!
