Post by Lasagna and tears of failure on May 7, 2020 16:26:52 GMT -8
Reusing Two questions form the first RT, and I promise the vacation questions have NOTHING to do with fantasizing about not being locked in the house 😊
How long have you been addicted to esports?
Darell: How did you know! Lord I've been a huge fan of e sports for as long as I can remember, it started off when I first found out about League of Legends. Nerdy game for sure but its one of the most challenging and rewarding games I've ever played. I ended up meeting a buncha cool people from playing the game and we would end up staying up till like 5am when the world championship finals were in China a couple of years back. I never though it would blow up to the point that it has now, I mean I think I read somewhere that last year's LoL finals had more viewers then the World Series. Pretty crazy stuff not to mention its really all we have right now, I tend to dish out a couple hundred every week on Draftkings on games like League and CS:GO. Some people dont get it, they think its nerdy to watch someone else play video games but I dont see it any differently then turning on a basketball game or baseball game. The competition is real, and its high stakes every time these teenagers play.
Steve - Me? I was when I was a kid. I played religiously until around 22 years old...then I went back to school after a 3 year layoff, and was already working full time that I rarely play video games these days. My free time during those years was devoted to school work, and now hilariously it's prepping school work for my students now. When I did play, I was more into the sports games tbh. So yeah, I think eventually I will come back to the esports lifestyle, but not at this moment. I'm still busy right now as a teacher and helping out at the grocery market as an essential worker. Man, I was so hooked to video games, though.
habes: I was addicted to BBS from 2005-11 and then varying levels of into it in 2012 and some of 2013, if I recall correctly. I think I stayed on in BBSBL in 2014 and 2015, but someone else may remember that better than I do. I almost never thought about sims or BBS in the last five years and I didn't think the community of BBS adjacent guys was much of a thing anymore. I did similar stuff for parts of the last five years, though. Mark and I were addicted to DFS in 2015 and some of 2016. I played a lot of poker in Oklahoma when I lived in Dallas. Definitely written enough now to stay in the mix for a 5. Next question.
If you have a lot of experience with FBB, what style of a team do you shoot for and why.
Darell: Well this question definitely doesn't apply to me lol. Coming into this league I had zero experience with FBB leagues or really any sim leagues besides ones that use OOTP. I couldn't resist joining a league with the old BBSBL crew so I decided to give it a shot. From my short time that I’ve been here it seems like an Inside focus/slow pace style has worked for our team, maybe its because we were blessed with Duncan one of the best bigs in the league right now but I feel like its helped us take advantage of other teams that cant compete with our size down low. Not only that its helped us punish teams by getting their opposing bigs into foul trouble, I think Duncan leads the league in FTA thus far. It really slows the game down and helps us take advantage of our defensive oriented wings as well, as well as being able to get into our defensive sets.
Steve - I've played in SLOR for nearly 9 years which is crazy. That league has such a different crowd than this one, and is a much slower pace. However, I do not mind it. When I'm super busy with school work, or what have you...it's pretty easy to stay on top of things. Now, in that league, you must have an outside focus team with a dominant PG...the league is incredbily inflated because it's been around for YEARS. In saying that, I enjoy it. BBS is great, but it's as Skillz has said, a drug...it's addicting, but it's super face paced. I think what makes this league so different and challenging is you can go a multitude of different directions and still produce a winner. In SLOR, not so much...
Habes: no answer ☹
Growing up was there one vacation you went on with your family that sticks out, and what was special about it?
Darell: Oh we went on so many different trips when I was younger but my favorite was South Island, New Zealand. We only went there once as a family but I had so many great memories there, from the friendly locals to the amazing scenery, my goodness I haven't seen a country so beautiful in all my existence. The best part was going to the UNESCO world heritage sites, which are areas designed by the UN to have some sort of cultural or historical significance. We usually went to the Auckland volcanic sites and the hike up there was magnificent, from the mountains and dramatic fjords its a sight to behold. My sister was a big of the Mount John observatory, where you are away from the cities and you get a change to absorb the starry skies at nighttime.
Steve - My family wasn't made of money, but we would always go down to Wildwood (the shore), and it was always sometime in July. I enjoyed it immensely, but now I prefer to travel the world which is a big goal for me and part of the reason that I love being a teacher. Having summers off will give me the luxury to eventually check some new spots out, and really enjoy my time on this planet. Getting back to why it was special...well, I think just a good ol' family tradition is always nice and comforting.
habes: We didn't go on vacation from age 9 to uhhh I guess ever again. Some of our dads were a little busy going to jail and going bankrupt smh give me a pity 5. Here's what I'll say though. Love my family. Great family. Gone on some good vacations with my wife. In 2017 we went to Paris and London. Went to SF, LA, Israel for a wedding, Denver, hiked Glacier with my best pals from college (realized midway through writing that Andrew didn't come but I'm not gonna revise the statement), uhhhhh. Later on you ask about Europe so I'll talk about my trip to Amsterdam then.
Is what Spence is doing with AC/ RC unique to BBS, or do other leagues do it to? What is what you look for when you choose a player to camp?
Darell: Camps are a pretty cool aspect with these leagues, it gives you an added incentive to be active and engage with your fellow GMs and create content for the league that adds value. Only thing you can have to be mindful of is inflation, BBSBL dealt with it at some point and its something im sure will need to be discussed at some point in this league as well. Of course you cant just decide at some point that you arent going to allow it anymore but I think Spence had some great ideas going into this league and hes brought some rules in play to hopefully limit that. What he may have to keep in mind is too not nerf the draft classes too hard if inflation does become a huge problem in the league, the worst thing as a rebuilding team is to go into the draft and not have a chance at a good player with a top 5 pick. This is all far down the road so we definitely have some time to think about it. As far as players I look to camp, there are a couple of different factors. For one I dont think you can just camp anyone and think they will turn a good player into a great player, obviously you want to look at things like their potential, their age and raw ratings but I think one of the most important things to look at is fit into your team. Camping if im not mistaken can only take the player so far, I believe there is a cap to much they can be increased to before their potential and development will take over so if its a player with good ratings to begin with and I see them in my long term plans ill probably camp them.
Steve - In SLOR, we get rewarded for doing articles (which are graded by the commish), submitting our DC every sim, how far you go in the playoffs, pickem, hall of fame voting, and other stuff, too. You are then able to use those reward points to camp players that are on their rookie contracts. I'm not explaining that process because who cares, but yeah...this is different compared to SLOR. I don't particularly look at really one thing when it comes to camping a player...I look at what they need and would camp them there. Sounds pretty simple, but sometimes it's not as easy as it looks.
I guess we can max a player at +24 here whereas in SLOR you could only max a player at +15.
habes: I don't know. I've only dabbled in non-BBS FBB sims. I'm pretty sure the concepts originated here. Spence loves a busy forum. Did I enjoy staying up 'til 4 AM writing "gggg" over and over until I reached 1,000 posts in a thread? Yes. It was the most special time of my life. What I'm looking for when I choose a player to camp depends on the camp and my position. For standalone RCs generally, I'm just tinkering. If it's an RC and I'm tanking, I might look for a reasonably good player who's likely to see a grade bump with an upgrade so that I can pad his value. If it's a player I'm genuinely developing, I'm targeting one of key ratings in FBB. That's especially the case with RCs; they are modest and so am I. I'll try something bolder with ACs--maybe try to get efficient players more likely to use possessions, or try to pair an AC and RC to create a new strength. Just completely vacuous shit here. 5 it.
Seeing the upcoming draft class, who are the 2 players you would want the most and why?
Darell: Well ideally I wont have to worry about picking a player I really like in this class but the ones that stand out to me are guys like Pau Gasol and Tony Parker. Gasol seems like he could be an above average big and become a cornerstone for a franchise, while someone like Tony Parker is a little more raw but he could be more of a floor general type who might take some more developmental work. Although ive just learned that low turnovers/rebounding is important for guards so that may be a drawback on him. Guys like Battier/Iso Joe/Gerald Wallace also stand out, they may not have the upside to become stars but they fit the mold of type of players I really like. Which are athletic wings who can defend and shoot, especially Battier im a huge fan of his game I dont think there was a grittier or tougher player in mid to late 10s, hes such a great glue guy that every championship team seems to have.
Steve - I won't have a really high pick and I won't lie I haven't really looked at it too closely. If I did have a high pick, Tyson Chandler really looks good. He has a very good foundation already.
I also like Richard Jefferson a ton, too. If that B potential is high, then he can really explode into a good scorer with potentially being a nice defensive player, too. Jason Richardson looks mighty appealing, too...looks like a really fun draft class with a quick glance!
Habes: Tony Parker--dearth of young PGs and I'm fairly confident he's been precision-tailored to sim well with modest ratings. Gil--I'd want to extract some info on his handling before making the pick, but he's tops in the draft class for inside and outside scoring, meaning he's probably destined for 25+ ppg on 45+/80+/40+. Since I seem headed for the eighth seed, I have more reasonable targets--e.g., RJ or Battier. I'll probably still need to move up to get either guy.
That said, which player in the upcoming draft would be the most useful for replacing the weakest link on your starting 5 if you were projected to be in the #8 - #14 spot? Who do you see being there that would be the right fit for you?
Darell: Someone like Joe Johnson or Battier would be my two ideal players I would target in that range, Joe probably doesn't last but Battier would fit our team perfectly. Has the right size and tools you look for in a solid role player. Randolph would be great as well, our weakest link seems to PF and getting a guy who space the floor a little bit by playing around the elbow and someone who can compete on the block would be a great fit. Feel like we lack a big who fits well next to Duncan and Randolph would fit that need.
Steve - The current roster I have right now screams a need for a big man. I mean, this question is kind of pointless...but in a perfect world I'd be looking at a Randolph or Gerald Wallace if I was in that range. I have no idea how that draft would go, but as far as bigs are concerned...Pau and Chandler would be absolutely gone. Eddy Curry is showing A potential, but who knows. I'm always a believer of just taking BPA...best player available for you noobs who didn't know that acronym. I hate this question because who the fuck knows what will happen.
Habes: My biggest need is PG, and I don't see a PG in the mid-late lotto range. I'm definitely not going to draft based on need, but I guess I'd target next target a big man if I were prioritizing need. I love Gerald Wallace--guessing he's high stocks and fairly high potential. ZBo probably shouldn't fall. Spence tipped his hand a bit, talking about how he can make great simmer with gross ratings. Guessing ZBo has great strength, inside, and midrange scoring, fairly high rebounding, and low stocks and jumping. Seems like a great simmer if he keeps turnovers down--don't love what a mystery they are, but I'd be on him after pick 8 for sure.
Do you think there should have been a mass mailer about FA being able to be grabbed versus just a post saying first come first serve?
Darell: I think its fine the way it is right now honestly, it promotes activity. GMs should be able to log in and check the boards themselves and put offers in for guys. Also Im pretty sure this only applies to in season FAs which usually doesnt have guys that are game changing.
Steve - Nah, who cares. I mean, in hindsight, maybe Spencer should've done that. In saying all of that, who gives a flying fuck. Let's just be thankful that Spencer Martin is running this league and that BBS is back!
Habes: No. In general, there's a long waitlist. If you need handholding outside of the forum, you probably aren't active enough. In this case, we were coming off a week of drafting these guys--round upon round upon round to fill your roster. If you liked a guy, you had ample opportunity to draft him or, if you didn't have a pick, trade for one. It definitely makes sense to mass contact GMs if you're moving faster than expected, such as with quick playoff sims or rookie drafts. But this was the scraps of a creation draft. Who careeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
What is your favorite memory of your first FBB league with Spenser?
Darell: Kinda early to create any memories just yet but I think hes done a great job overall, hes made headway on a couple of different rules and his sims have been consistent. Which I feel like is the single most
important aspect of a successful league, generally leagues dies if there isnt a huge gap between sims. They promote activity and interest so I think Spence is doing great! Keep doing what youre doing bud.
Steve - Spencer would always give me good deals in bbsbl3. I don't know if it was because I was a pain in the ass to deal with or he was too nice to me. We'll go with the latter. Anyway, yeah, fondest memory of Spence...um, he liked to always post "Rockford Files >>>>" The man would always like to text me out of the blue that BBSBL was coming back or a baseball sim league needed GMs...always outta the blue. Spencer J. Martin...don't know his actual middle name, though.
Habes: Revolutionizing BBS. It was one big horroscape of DJMytes and CCs before I joined. Sorry--this shit is the truth. I'm one big messy bitch and you love to love meeeeee. Also Dan and I used to talk trade in chemistry class. It was me, Donald, Jesse Bone, and Taylor Clark, and we were labmates, and I got the highest grade on the midterm. I guess you could say I was a bad boy who could accomplish so much if only he applied himself. Do you know what I would give to shake the hand of Tony Pavia one last time? RIP (if he's dead).
me in Berlin with my bfam
I finally traveled to Europe last October and absolutely loved Berlin, have you been to Europe and if so, what was your favorite city? If not, where was your last vacation?
Darell: Nope never been to Europe, havent actually travelled outside the US in a while actually cant remember the last time I took a vacation haha. Well for the sake of this roundtable why dont I change up your question a little, how about the next place you want to travel? Great question Brian, I actually want to travel to Philly next, Ive never been to the city of brotherly love. Side note thats a great movie if you've never checked it out, makes me wish I had a younger brother to pass down my wisdom too. Anyways yeah Philly seems like a cool city, I just want to hit up all the Philly cheese steak spots and see what the hooplah is about.
Steve - Nope, but Europe will hopefully happen soon for me. Italy will be my first stop I would imagine, but I want to hit Ireland, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Spain. Too many to list, but yeah, this will happen for me soon. Always wanted to check our an English premier game. My last vacation was probably hitting New York up last year. I've been lucky enough to hit San Diego, San Fran, LA, Chicago, OCMD, and Toronto...which Toronto might've been my favorite place I've gone to so far.
Habes: Yeah I like Amsterdam the most. Went there alone. Got a bike. Went to Vondelpark, did recreational activities, drank orange Fanta and ate hot dogs all day. I didn't do shit culture wise. (I actually did but it was es:forgettable.) If you don't spend your weekends going to museums, why are you taking time off work to travel to new places and check off a bunch of museums you went to? Go do the shit you enjoy doing in new places. Amsterdam: I biked around all day, ate like absolute shit, and slept 'til 11 in the worst hotel room you've ever seen. I can't stand traveling to check off a bunch of boxes. Museums are cool though.
What is the latest seasonal year you have gone to in an FBB league? Do the seasons seem to change as IIRL did as how teams should be constructed?
Darell: Not sure how to answer this question since this is my first FBB league, but lets just say the furthest ive been is now. If I had to guess I would assume roster construction will change based on the talent available in the league, should be a nice injection of talent after the 03 draft and going forward offenses might focus more on shooters as the game starts becoming focused on the 3 pointer.
Steve - Currently in 2078, but we've continued to recycle old draft classes which is fine to me honestly. Not a big deal. If anything inflation occurs, and it's kind of annoying because in this league you have to gear your team with a dominant PG...2 great scoring wings that can defend...and you ideally don't want your bigs to shoot, but just be elite rebounders who block shots. That's why you idiots need to stop voting every article a 5 or inflation will happen sooner than ya like...and you'll only have yourselves to blame.
Habes: We went to 2051 in one of the BBS iterations, but I only know that because I checked its history last night. I think Spence got more experimental with players as names lost meaning. I also think he let us suggest players. I think we all learned FBB as we went, but I don't want to overstate how much things changed. We were all focused on 20 B+SPG, <10 TPG, making lifelong friends, and getting the girl back in 2008. And I'll tell you what--my friend Donald Basone did get the girl. And her name was Alexis. And it was the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
Of the 4 major sports in the US, which would be the greatest sacrifice to go without for a full season? (Football, Hockey, Basketball, Baseball)
Darell: Football for sure, I have so much riding on football every year from Daily fantasy to season long, during the course of the season I end up making enough to pay for my next vacation or even my rent for a month. I get super invested and lose a lot of sleep from all the research, listening to podcasts and staying on twitter all day. Weird thing is I dont really enjoy watching the sport that much on its own, like if not for fantasy I might not even watch football. The game is so slow, the rules cater to offenses and also my former team sucks major donkey balls so I really dont have a team to root for. Basketball would be up there too, because thats a sport I really enjoy and also because there is so much parity in the league right now, after the Warriors dynasty came to a screeching halt it seems like that are more teams that actually feel like they have a legitimate shot.
Steve - Well, for most people, that would be football. Hockey has been my favorite sport to play and watch...but I enjoy all sports being that I live in the Philadelphia area. I love them all, and it absolutely blows that we haven't seen a sporting event in over a month. Truly depressing...quick thoughts on my teams. 6ers suck since Ben doesn't have the balls to take a jumper. Flyers are fucking young and loaded...they'll win a cup soon. Wentz, for the love of god, please stay healthy...and Phillies need another starting pitcher plus half a bullpen!
Habes: Baseball--horrible sport, incredibly boring, I never watch it. The other day one of our friends sent an MLB.com IG post that was pictures of a bunch of players when they were young, and you were supposed to guess who they were. He sent it because he said they all looked the same. I only recognized one of them--Jered Weaver. That's how little I watch! But I love the Mets--I listen to them on the radio all season long. I don't have an NBA analog for that. The Knicks are owned by the filthy slob James Dolan and I'm done with the bastards! I like the NBA the most though.
What are your feelings on the recent Steve Nash trade?
Darell: The trade was bad on so many levels, I don’t claim to know a ton about FBB but its easy to see that Nash is a top 5 PG and even worse probably top 5 in players with the most value. I mean hes got it all, 26 im assuming has his camps available and that efficiency is HOT. I just want to know how those negotiations went, I bet it went something like "hey sargo you should do this deal because Nash sucks, you could find someone like him in the 2nd round next year but Sprewell hes the next coming of jesus so you should trade me nash and honestly im doing you a favor. If you +24 Sprewell hes Michael Jordan in his prime" Something like that, Sargo has to live with and the hate he received from it. Thats the toughest part about trading in these leagues sometime, if you don’t understand value and ratings people will tear you a new asshole if the trade is imbalanced as well as they should but it kind of prevents GMs from really going for it because they fear how they will get portrayed.
Steve - Spree looks like a really solid player, but jesussssss...poor value regardless. Steve Nash is legitimately a top 10 player in the game. Skillz got a steal here, and you just got to credit him. He always makes trade offers, and all you need is one sucker...Sargo was that guy here. It happens.
Habes: It sucked, but we don't need to revisit that. One thing I wonder is there's another guy here who said he told Sargo to take my offer. Sargo seems gentle and pliable. But this second guy--he knew what was out there. What did he tell Sargo? I've heard the new GMs are gonna roll us, but now it seems to me that there might be two dum-dums in their cohort! Show yourself!
With the way your teams are now, is there a chance you will try and tank in 02 for the 03 draft? Even if the answer is no, who would you have to trade away to make it even remotely possible if you were to entertain the idea?
Darell: Honestly we have to see how this season goes, I wanna make some moves to help us to take our team to the next level but since we already traded our first for next year we are kind of forced to play it out and see how things work out. That 03 draft is HOT, so much talent from top to bottom so maybe we sell everyone besides Duncan and really go for it but then again everyone is going to be tanking to get one of those studs so it might make it tough. Having someone like Duncan on your roster really makes it tough to tank, I mean who knows maybe ill just trade him for Avery Johnson!
Steve - My team is in such a weird spot. We look to be an average to an above average squad. If we had a really good big, I feel like we would have a very good roster, but alas...the trade market sucks. I might be forced into a rebuilding look...but honestly the CY makes that always a risky option. If you botch a draft or 2, then you are fucked I feel like. I do like some of my pieces, but we don't have a true superstar, and to me, I think you need to have one to win a title.
Habes: the questions keep coming man. Love it. What's this one again?
Do you have any questions for me, and what are they?
Darell: For starters A/S/L? Secondly how did you find about this league and what made you want to join, also how did you first get into sim leagues in general?
brianh: 50/M/Charlotte. Spencer posted it in HOFFBL and in bbsbl game and kobe went on and on about how much like crack it was so... My first sim league was GABL towards the end and I knew one of the guys from some work we did together and he persuaded me to check it out. From there I googled other ootp5 leagues and found BBSBL3 which quickly became my fav league.
Steve - When you got your degree, did you get the type of job that you wanted to have? When you were younger, favorite sport to play and why?
brianh: my degree was an after the fact to the job as I already had the job. My first job in IT was 1988 and I've been in the field ever since as I never found what I loved, but I am good at it and it pays well. As for sport my first love was motocross, my brother and I bought a mini bike together when I was 5 and I've been riding ever since. As far as organized sports, my love was football and basketball. Football was because I wanted to either be Drew Pearson or Ed "Too Tall" Jones, only issue was our coaches idea of a passing game was we had some pass plays in the playbook, but it seemed to be lost come gametime. Being 6'2 and 130 lb made being Ed a bit challenging, but I was quick and did tend to have a nose for the ball, but after a play or two a double team arrived and with no size... Basketball was painful in the beginning as I was tall at my school, but... not compared to the other Centers in the region I had to match up with. Nor did I have their girth.
Habes: I have a few questions for you. I'd like to know your favorite meal and how come you didn't ask me what mine is. I'd also like to know if you have any parenting advice for Spencer.
brianh: That is an excellent question, that will be in my next roundtable. Calzone is one of my favorites, but a T-Bone, loaded mash potato and steamed broccoli covered in butter would have to be the top meal. As for parenting advice, while I'm about a decade older than Spencer, his son is 6 years older than my daughter... so about the only thing I could offer up is... Keep you son away from my daughter 
