Post by Lasagna and tears of failure on May 12, 2020 15:48:00 GMT -8
Welcome to the possibly final Knights conversation. In doing these I hoped to gain some knowledge and insight for the noobs like me, as well as a sort of icebreaker to allow those that did not know each other. I hope that those that have read these all have enjoyed them. I of course have kept the opening and closing question the same for this article as well, but have lowered the questions a few as from comments on the forum, it was obvious not everyone was reading the entire article. For those that were, I apologies for slighting you on 600 pages of the Iliad. Without further ado:
1. How long have you been addicted to esports?
Pig: I started off in Fantasy Sports on Yahoo in around the 2001 time period and then gradually advanced into BBS in around 2005 where I was apart of leagues I would say for the better part of 7 or 8 years before slowly stepping away. When I got to college I got significantly involved in Online Poker as well as Live Poker regularly driving to Ontario to play before I was 21 and then gradually going to play live at Tunica when I lived in Mississippi. Got to play a couple events in the WSOP a couple years ago and definitely plan on going back. I stepped away from both sims and online poker (a couple runs here and there) but COVID has forced me to find new hobbies and dig deep to find old ones. I do DFS quite a bit as well to pass the time as I travel a lot for work. I have the most success in MLB but like NBA the most.
atscott31: I first joined BBS in 2007 or 2008. habes was my roommate in undergrad and he got me into sim after we finally bothered to talk to one another. True story: I came to the dining hall with him and a few of the people from our floor and he asked the other guys what I was doing there. It took a long time for me to get a team because I was buried in the waitlist and had no experience with FBB. It took months and a couple thousand posts before I got a team. Don’t do any other types of esports outside of FBB.
SARGO - Man, it's been a while. I think, maybe, 15 years ago, when I was like 14-15 I joined RealGM to talk Knicks. From there, I got invited to an FBB league, don't remember which one it was, but yeh pretty much been on it since. I had two retirements, one back in 08 when I went to college, then again maybe in 2014-15? It's all a fucking blur. I've done some Baseball Mogul leagues, but haven't done one in years. Now I'm in three FBB leagues, which is way too many. One of them (NBN) sims 5 days every day so it moves slow as hell, but doesn't take much effort. First time I'm with this crew here in BBS, which has interesting so far.
2. Who has been the biggest surprise to you on your team, and what round did you draft them in?
Pig: Stackhouse, 2nd round. We always knew that TO's would be an issue but I was shocked that B+, B+ scoring would equate to the PPG that he has. His % are not too bad either. FBB is very nebulous when it comes to what ratings/lack of ratings are responsible for the amount of times you shoot a game. However, Stack is doing a lot better the last couple of sims so the sky is the limit.
atscott31: Mark Blount is far and away the biggest surprise on my team. You can’t reasonably expect anyone drafted in round eight of a creation draft to be a meaningful contributor to your team. He leaves a lot to be desired in terms of blocks, TO’s, and rebounding, but his 23 PPG is very unexpected. Hopefully he has some real potential to back the B scouted. With a few RC’s and maybe some AC’s he could definitely be a serviceable starter for a playoff team.
SARGO - The biggest surprise has probably been uhhh Hakeem? I got him for free pretty much, shoutout to my boy covid. Thanks, I owe you and will return the favor one day. But Hakeem is likely on the way out as I need to get some more pieces for the future. You'll all see the deal on day 80! But Hakeem MIGHT have one more year left in him, so maximizing his value right now and adding future assets to go with Maggette and Elton Brand is the move.
3. If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, as comfortably as you are now, where would it be other than within 400 miles from home, and why would you pick that location?
atscott31: A few different places come to mind, but I don’t have a solid answer. It would definitely have to be a big city and a place I haven’t lived in before. I’ve only visited the west coast a few times so California (or god forbid) Oregon seem appealing. I loved Austin when I visited and have always wanted to live in Chicago as well. Areas outside of the US that would also be of interest are: London, Tokyo, Prague, Amsterdam, and Dublin. For as much as I travel and move around I am terrified of living abroad. Someday I hope to do it, at least for a short period of time.
SARGO - Probably San Diego man. I hate the winters here in Connecticut, way too long and cold. But I have all my friends and family here, so I'm stuck here for life as that outweighs the shitty taxes and weather. San Diego has ideal weather all year round, can't go wrong with that.
4. If we are going to do a year every 4 - 7 weeks, are you hoping Spence is saving every file so we can do this all over again in 1.5 years? Also, when we get to current day, should we go into the future 4 -6 years based on college HS prospects?
Pig: No I wouldn't want to re use a previous existing file, takes out the fun of things. HS prospects is fine, I thought when GM's created players though it provided an unprecedented level of activity and was quite fun. If we go that way we would need tight restrictions on GM "creativity" to prevent creating wacky gimmick characters like "Bobby Hill". I remember Spence's response when he saw Bobby Hill in the profile sub was simply "No".
atscott31: In a previous iteration we went into the 2050’s with GM created players, which was a ton of fun and I would love to do that again once we get to around the 2030 mark. Spence had scouted guys that were in middle school at the time and brought them into the league before we transitioned to fake players. The ability for GM’s to make their own players was a nice counterbalance to the fact that GM’s couldn’t get attached to players since they never existed in real life. After we exhaust interest in fake players I would enjoy going back to the 60’s or 70’s and do a creation draft in that time period.
SARGO - Just go until we can't go anymore. I'm all for going to current college and HS prospects once we get to year 2020 and on, but after a few years, maybe we should bring in retro classes and go with the old heads. Maybe combine two draft classes, dating back to the 60s or 70s and do that should we last that long.
5. Did you send Spencer a list for 8-12 picks and who was the best pick you got if you did send a list?
atscott31: I drafted Mark Blount in Round 8 and traded my 9-12 round picks for a future second, so no.
SARGO - I did, I think Kerr and Jahidi White were the two best picks. White is nothing special, but should be a good backup big with some RCs to his rebounding and shot blocking. Kerr is holding his own in the after the trade of Nash. He's averaging 11PPG, under 1TOPG and shooting a great percentage. If he does not retire this year, he'll be a decent backup PG next year, assuming he returns. Solid pick for the 8th round.
6. Did you know going into the draft that having a big man was essential? If you did not, what would you change with your first two picks based on who was drafted after those picks?
atscott31: I did know that a big man was essential, but I chose a player at a position that most GM’s would say is equally important: PG. Baron was a big reach, but his ratings looked nice and his high TO’s in the test sim and preseason are valuable to my current tank. In retrospect I would have liked to have kept my second round pick and reached on another young guy who wouldn’t have been of immediate help to my team. There’s a few guys I have sellers remorse on right now, but a lot of them would have hurt my tank, so I guess all is not lost.
SARGO - Yes, obviously. You had the elite younger bigs (Duncan, KG). Obviously I was hoping to get one of them at 7, but KG was taken right before me. I knew I needed to go one big and one guard/wing with the to picks. I chose Brand, which got some laughs and WTFs. Sure he's not dominate yet, but he's 21 and putting up decent numbers and can block, rebound, and score. He'll be one of the best big men once he gets his ACs. Not many good young bigs in the league right now, but it looks like that is going to change with the next few drafts.
7. What is your favorite meal?
Pig: Nothing beats great Italian food. Living in the South for majority of my adult life, they don't even know how to spell Italian down here. Whenever I go to the northeast my first stop is an authentic Italian restaurant.
atscott31: Pineapple fried rice from Potjanee Thai in NYC. Unfortunately, this restaurant is longer in business due to NYC’s astronomical commercial rent. Right across the street is my favorite coffee shop: Prodigy. If you’re still hungry head down the block to Joe’s Pizza.
SARGO - There's too many to choose from. Thank god I have a fast metabolism still at 39 otherwise I'd be a fat fuck. My go-to favorite homemade meal is probably thinly pounded chicken cutlets, a nice salad, and pasta. I'm a guinea after all... I also have a weakness for Sushi and Hibachi. I eat sushi easily once a week. It's so clean and fresh. Ok, I'm actually off to get some after this roundtable.
8. With how your team has been so far, what do you see as your strategy over the next 3 seasons?
Pig: We probably won't be making a lot of trades these two years just because we are win now and don't want to mortgage our future to win now. We have a two year window before a rebuild it looks like.
atscott31: Tanking is boring as shit but needs to be done given my current roster. I could see myself tanking for another year to get a better draft pick and trying to compete in 03 since a lot of GM’s will be shooting for LBJ/Wade/Melo. The 02 draft isn’t very exciting after the top 3 and another season of tanking sounds awful. Might try to flip my picks for players that can help, but that depends largely on TC. In the next year or two GM’s will be looking to move older guys who can still ball (MJ, D Rob, Olajuwon, and the like) so I am hoping to swoop in when possible and get 2 years out of guys like that for a future first.
SARGO - We have a solid core of Brand, Robinson, Sprewell, and Maggette. Maggette needs work before he's ready to take over, so does Elton Brand. Hakeem and Kerr are unknowns because of their age, but it's a decent mix of vets and youth, so I think we'll be in a good place. I don't see us falling into the lottery anytime soon. I'll make unsexy, but shrewd moves and will still be hovering around the top half of the powerful Eastern Conference.
9. If someone were to visit the area of where you live, what would be the top two things to do / see that you would recommend?
Pig: Broadway and Drink. Donnie Basonegame was down here before the virus hit and did both of those!
atscott31: While there isn’t really anything of particularly interest in my hometown the beauty of living in New York’s Hudson Valley is that virtually anything you want to do is at your fingertips. NYC: 1.5 hour drive. Beach in the summer: 2 hour drive. Skiing/snowboarding in the winter: 2 hours drive Atlantic City(lol): 3 hour drive. Orchards/vineyards/anything outdoors related: Minutes to hours depending on what you want to do. It’s the best of all worlds.
SARGO - Great question. Yikes, idk...nothing. Southern CT is boring. Golf? I'd suggest a short trip to NYC during the summer or something, which is only like a 1 1/2 hour drive to the city. You have the Casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan, which are about 45 minutes north of me. That's always a decent time if you like to gamble and booze. Other than that, yikes. Maybe take some edibles and head to the Aquarium. Head to one of the local breweries. There's a reason why I travel a lot, and it's because Connecticut is kind of boring, especially in the winter.
10. Going into next season, which player on your team are you looking forward to seeing how they do in training camp?
atscott31: Baron is the obvious answer to this question. He’s raw and his TO’s are a huge problem, but he is poised to breakout in all the categories that matter. With B-/B-/B/B ratings he could be a top PG in the league in short order if all goes well. I also want to see what Mark Blount does. Any improvements in defense and rebounding would make the choice to spend RC’s on him much easier. Lorenzen Wright and Marcus Fizer are of secondary interest, but I don’t expect much from them. Also I guess Marco Jarik because he has A scouted(really reaching now), so maybe he can turn into a solid backup.
SARGO - Elton Brand definitely. He's currently at A- B+ B+ and putting up decent numbers in an outside offense. However, an outside offense isn't for him. He needs to thrive in a balanced or inside focus. I'm hoping he can limit his turnovers and increase his rebounding mostly. Also very curious to see how Maggette improves. His 3 PT shot will probably never be there, but he can score from the inside and his jump shot isn't bad. Him and Brand could thrive in an inside offense should our roster go that way in the near future.
11. Do you have any guys on your team now that you are going to try and flip in the upcoming Frenzy?
Pig: Uhh, don't think we have a lot of guys that fit the caveats laid down by Spence so I don't think so. I am not particularly wild about the concept either.
atscott31: Not really. I don’t have many players on my roster that satisfy the Frenzy trading criteria. I don’t see good enough value for my future firsts either.
SARGO - As I mentioned, Hakeem is likely gone to another Eastern Conference team. I've shopped him around and have given multiple GMs chances to match the deal, and noone has come close. While Hakeem would help a team this season, he's likely going to retire. I'm not entirely sure we can win it all this year, even with Hakeem, so it makes sense to get a few assets to team up with Maggette and Brand. We've also had some discussions on Maggette, but nothing close at this time. Latrell Sprewell is another guy that can be available. I would consider dealing him for a big man, once Hakeem is gone. We'll see, it should be a good deadline.
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12. Do you have any questions for me, and what are they?
Pig: A prisoner is told "If you tell a lie we will hang you; if you tell the truth we will shoot you." What can he say to save himself?
Brianh- Well, first I would recall who had talked about their family and make a prediction regarding their grandkids kids which would give me enough time to live out my jailing and die a natural death. Now if it could set me free akin to the three prisoners’ statistical riddle, the probability would skyrocket on my answer being how I would die.
atscott31: Where do you call home? What are your favorite sports teams? Name your favorite place you’ve lived.
Brianh- Currently Charlotte. It’s gonna seem like a who’s who of bandwagon, but when I was 9 my best friend in ND told me I should be a Cowboy fan since like him I was born in Tx. I found the logic to be sound, and from that moment on, been rooting for the Cowboys. Then in 82 I met my three best friends in the world, and he was a Celtic fan, and he introduced me to Larry Bird. Our other good friend was a 6ers fan so it made for a fun time, Baseball, well in 1980 ND the only 24 hrs channel we had was TBS and during the summer when no other channel was still on the air, all I had to choose from was the Atlanta Braves or static. Lemme tell you, was not much fun being a Braves fan 1980-1989. As for Hockey, started out as an NYI fan as well back in the 70’s only the Stanley Cup was televised so, but I slowly transitioned to Boston after reading a book about Bobby Orr in 6th Grade. Now I will admit for a couple years I was high on the Panthers when I lived in Ft Lauderdale, but…
As for favorite place I’ve lived. Everywhere has been special for one reason or another. ND, because of how real the people are, SFL because the friends and fun, Charleston because of more women then men, OK City cause it was 92 and I was in the home market of the Cowboys, but here is where it’s best, weather is nice, I have my daughter, my fiancée, and a great dog.
SARGO - Let's see...How long have you been doing FBB and how'd you get involved here?
Brianh- This is why I feel I was asking too many questions as I have answered it in the previous two roundtables, and just couldn’t come up with a 3rd answer to keep it original
Well all the talk about homer has me wanting to share one of the first memes I ever made
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