Somehow we've made it round to a 7th season of the UBAS. That's amazing, I still remember the hubbub around the draft and season 1 - by far the most buzz I can remember around any of the leagues I've been involved in.
Knicks have been around since Day 1 and competed in the Season 1 Finals (that we would have won had I coached it better) before getting over the hump and winning Season 2 in an epic battle with the Chaps over 7 games.
Since then Knicks have always been a playoff team in the ultra-strong NBA conference. Always finishing between 52 and 59 wins, always looking at the chance of a title.
Last year we were 3-0 down to the Bucks in the conference semis and fought back to 3-3 only to be squeaked out and miss out on a chance to go for glory again.
This year is different overall - the Lakers have gotten even stronger and expect them to be around 60 wins again but will anyone else crack 60 wins? Maybe the Rens in the ABA? The Knicks may.. we'll certainly be up there in the mid-high 50s and we have a pretty good shot at 60. I think we'll take the NBA and beat out the Rens over 7 games all in the New York area to claim our 2nd title... but maybe I'm just an optimist? Here's why...
Draft & Pre-Season Trades
So we only had two picks in the draft and it seemed like a pretty steady pickup to go with a SF for our first (or SG and bump up SF) and then a long term big with second. The best SF in the draft for my money was Shareef Abdur Rahim. When he hadn't gone in the first 8 picks I made a swift decision to swoop on him. I gave up a personal favourite in super-sub combo guard Gus Williams, but my logic was I could patch a decent SG easier than SF so we traded Gus for the #9 and nabbed Shareef. Whilst sitting quite happily I was able to trade off a little now for a potential later by letting Julius Randle go to grab Sidney Moncrief. Moncrief is a stud of UBA baller at SG spot and, even in his final decent year, is good enough to start on a playoff squad so I'm glad he's my primary bench guard... he plays PG too so he gives me further depth behind CP3, West and Armstrong! Still with my pick in place I was really pleased to grab Mo' Lucas at 27. Mo is a bit off this year but goes .52, .54, .57, .5 the next four years with big boards and solid D at PF/C (as a bonus he even plays SF next year). Rounding out the draft was my 51st pick where I was looking for a backup combo guard next year to plug the Gus gap. Phil Chenier was my choice, solid combo guard who puts up 20+ a night, plays great D and a decent TS%. Next year is his best at around 0.52 per min, not startling but as a backup I think that's respectable.
Then we swung a big trade. Elgin was the SF/PF of our future, but he plays heavy minutes and has a large number of injuries over the next few years (and that stung me a bit with the Stars this year in the UBAL). I switched him for an 82 game machine of similar impact in Dolph Schayes. I added in Thomas Barlow as a solid backup and picked up the intriguing Johnny Green. I think from the outside this looked like a very balanced trade, but both Barlow and Baylor were injury prone.. Green and Schayes aren't so it was a great win-win for me to get the same sort of balance and add durability and future to the Knicks.
Backcourt
You know I could almost stop here, we have (as one GM put it) a filthy backcourt with Chris Paul and Jerry West. CP3 is the best PG in the game right now - a two-way exceptional talent. West is the perfect compliment with his hustle, defense and shooting. Together they are formidable and they will dominate the game, Paul with his assists, West with scoring and both defensively (they could average 6 steals a game with those two alone). Off the bench we have Sidney Moncrief who I believe is a real spark guy (was shocked when he was dropped for his last mega year but happy to add him) and an ultra steady backup PG in Darryl Armstrong. Chenier adds a little further depth as combo guard but will only likely see time when West and Paul miss a game or two. We've also got Toni Kukoc as a bit of an ex-factor SG - he misses lots of games, but he is a factor on court and a different style of player.
Frontcourt
I wish I had as much faith in my front court as I do in my back! It's strong but not as the back. It's solid though and Dolph Schayes as our PF is rock steady, 7 years of 82 games which is pretty attractive and a couple of years where he moves to SF right around the time Shareef Abdur Rahim hangs up his boots for us. Speaking of Shareef, he's my likely starting SF, but I see him splitting time at SF with the surprising Johnny Green (a great draft pickup by Rob I must say)... not many SFs have a rebound rate like Green (15.7%) whilst still shooting nearly 58%. Third string SF is Kukoc again, quite like that... At PF behind Schayes it's Shareef and Green again - both provide enough rebounds and defense to keep the game moving and then there's Mo' Lucas who's not ready this year but will play in emergency situations!
Centre
So in my crazy rating system we now have backcourt, frontcourt and centres. Centres are out on their own and I feel pretty comfy with the versatile big shoes of Yao Ming as my main man this year. He plays 77 games and is good for 23 and 11 most nights whilst blocking a bunch of shots too. His primary backup is Greg Monroe and our C for the future we hope - his rating is pretty close to Ming this year but he's definitely the backup heading into the start of the season. I did look at trading 'Moose' Monroe but didn't get significant enough offers to date so that will be our depth and hopeful leader moving forwards. Did someone say backup? Got two very good Cs coming off the bench too; Ace provides a 20/9 guy and Halbert is a defensive specialist who eats boards and weak shots for breakfast - both will get a little time through the year.
Prediction
So difficult to gauge your wins in these leagues... we could go 60+ if everything falls our way, but that's not guaranteed... and nor is it necessary. A high playoff birth (1-4) is my usual requirement to be considered a likely contender. If I had to put a number on it... I'd go with a conservative 57 wins. I think that will likely get us the number two seed in the conference. The title, well that's within our sights, but you have to win a lot of games and have a bit of luck to achieve it. My bold prediction would be 60 wins and a title. I think we'll come up just short on the wins... let's hope not on the title too.
Future
So did we mortgage the future for now wins? Not yet. I'm not adverse to ramping up a team for a single campaign now and again (see UBAL 14 Stars) but I've been relatively conservative with the Knicks franchise keeping it in the 'championship zone' without ever being the favourites. Ming goes this year but Monroe could easily fill that void (and Chuck has a bigger year next year). We lose Moncrief and Armstrong drops but CP3 and West are as good as ever, Schayes goes on for the next 6 and SF with Shareef and, to a lesser extent Green, and the upswing of Kukoc is reasonably covered. Chenier next year will fill Sid's role this year (and a bit of Darryl). So we're pretty steady - that's probably a 50-55 game season next year if we don't trade or strengthen. I think that's a pretty decent outlook without youngsters on board.
Trade Market
The NYKs have been one of the trade leaders over the last few years. We trade fast and often when I can see benefit and this year could well be more of the same. We've got a solid core and no major gaps, but I'm always keen to explore ways the team can improve... every single year in the UBAS we've been involved in some big trades... heck one year we even had Wilt... come and make a play for all of them, just know what you're asking for and come with the currency to pay for it!
Looking forward to Season 7 - the year New York based teams dominate?
Monday, October 24, 2016
Monday, December 29, 2014
Biggest of Trades
Yes after just one and a bit seasons in New York the Knicks have traded their MVP player! Off to a ho-hum 9-5 start and headed for roughly 50 wins coach Nige Young has been talking a lot about balance. Wilt's not just very good in this league he's the best. Problem is to get Wilt we took a step back all-round in other positions that prevented us from reaching the highest levels.
So here comes the trade. The problem with Wilt is he's almost untradeable if you're after equal value. You either take the next best thing and another piece or two stars at the next level down. That's why we swung this deal, it was a bit different in that it involved a couple of bonafide stars in their own right in Jerry West and George Mikan plus the very talented 'missing piece' in Shawn Marion. The cost was high though as we notched up our side of the deal to include recently acquired Adrian Dantley.
Thing is that we now have real stars at three positions, to go with the core of Sikma at the four and a combo of Davis/Calderon at the point. Yes add in to that we keep a couple of our youngsters in Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and David West so that hopefully we have a good shot at winning now (yes we expect over 50 wins again) and a bright future too. We did have to give up Thad Young too which was a shame, I think he was going to be good backing up the 3 next year, but with the emergence of George behind Marion I think we'll be okay...
This year will be good, next year I think better still...
West has his injury issues, but he is a true elite in this league and sometimes you have to gamble on that alone. Hopefully he stays healthy at the right time of year :)
Anyway Knicks fans that's why we made the trade. Welcome to your new home Jerry West, George Mikan and Shawn Marion. Farewell Wilt, Dantley and Young.
So here comes the trade. The problem with Wilt is he's almost untradeable if you're after equal value. You either take the next best thing and another piece or two stars at the next level down. That's why we swung this deal, it was a bit different in that it involved a couple of bonafide stars in their own right in Jerry West and George Mikan plus the very talented 'missing piece' in Shawn Marion. The cost was high though as we notched up our side of the deal to include recently acquired Adrian Dantley.
Thing is that we now have real stars at three positions, to go with the core of Sikma at the four and a combo of Davis/Calderon at the point. Yes add in to that we keep a couple of our youngsters in Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and David West so that hopefully we have a good shot at winning now (yes we expect over 50 wins again) and a bright future too. We did have to give up Thad Young too which was a shame, I think he was going to be good backing up the 3 next year, but with the emergence of George behind Marion I think we'll be okay...
This year will be good, next year I think better still...
West has his injury issues, but he is a true elite in this league and sometimes you have to gamble on that alone. Hopefully he stays healthy at the right time of year :)
Anyway Knicks fans that's why we made the trade. Welcome to your new home Jerry West, George Mikan and Shawn Marion. Farewell Wilt, Dantley and Young.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Knicks climbing and trading
It's been a pickup week for the Knicks as we added a couple of good wins (including a squeeka at Anderson where big Jack Sikma drilled the mid-range game winner) and a couple of trades that may really help out.
The big one was giving up Shareef Abdul Rahim who's been a big part of our club for the last couple of seasons. He was really struggling this year and wasn't seeming to fit with Sikma and Wilt - that meant we needed another scorer to add some punch - welcome back original Knick draftee Adrian Dantley. Dantley is a stud when it comes to scoring and he'll give us a different look or two. We'll slide Dantley across to the SG spot where he's almost unguardable to give a nice tandem working with Baron Davis whilst Calderon mans the point.
Then there was the latest... with Dantley moving to SG we freed up SG specialist Reggie Theus and went after a SF. Lots of good offers but we were real excited to pick up Paul George from divisional rivals Atlanta Hawks. George will act as primary backup to Tyreke Evans for the next couple of seasons - we're then hoping he makes a full recovery from that broken leg (ouch that was nasty). If he does it will turn out to be one of the best trades we've made...
Wilt has signed off on the trades; a starting five of Calderon, Dantley, Evans, Sikma and Wilt with a first line bench of Davis, Jabali, George, Coleman and West looks to be a good recipe for a 50+ win season and hopefully a good position to go after the big one.
A little settle down time now I reckon as the new mix balances out - expect a few losses as well before we go on a march in the New Year...
Oh yeah.. Merry Christmas too :)
The big one was giving up Shareef Abdul Rahim who's been a big part of our club for the last couple of seasons. He was really struggling this year and wasn't seeming to fit with Sikma and Wilt - that meant we needed another scorer to add some punch - welcome back original Knick draftee Adrian Dantley. Dantley is a stud when it comes to scoring and he'll give us a different look or two. We'll slide Dantley across to the SG spot where he's almost unguardable to give a nice tandem working with Baron Davis whilst Calderon mans the point.
Then there was the latest... with Dantley moving to SG we freed up SG specialist Reggie Theus and went after a SF. Lots of good offers but we were real excited to pick up Paul George from divisional rivals Atlanta Hawks. George will act as primary backup to Tyreke Evans for the next couple of seasons - we're then hoping he makes a full recovery from that broken leg (ouch that was nasty). If he does it will turn out to be one of the best trades we've made...
Wilt has signed off on the trades; a starting five of Calderon, Dantley, Evans, Sikma and Wilt with a first line bench of Davis, Jabali, George, Coleman and West looks to be a good recipe for a 50+ win season and hopefully a good position to go after the big one.
A little settle down time now I reckon as the new mix balances out - expect a few losses as well before we go on a march in the New Year...
Oh yeah.. Merry Christmas too :)
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
New Knicks on the Block?
Okay I'm very grumpy about sitting at 3-3 so I'm putting new Knicks on the block. Actually I'm putting all Knicks on the block including the Dipper. I'll only move Wilt for realistic value - likely your two best players and maybe more to balance so don't come cheap eh?
Here's the movable list:
Untouchable:
Hard to get:
Wilt
Worth a fair bit:
Sikma - playing like a stud this year and plenty of longevity
Shareef Abdul Rahim - real quality SF playing crap on my team
Baron Davis - spark plug PG/SG - I'm happy enough with him but would trade for a steadier PG with star power
Damn it... who am I kidding they're all available for the right price
http://www.nba-sim.com/ubas/team.php?id=26&season=5
Here's the movable list:
Untouchable:
Hard to get:
Wilt
Worth a fair bit:
Sikma - playing like a stud this year and plenty of longevity
Shareef Abdul Rahim - real quality SF playing crap on my team
Baron Davis - spark plug PG/SG - I'm happy enough with him but would trade for a steadier PG with star power
Damn it... who am I kidding they're all available for the right price
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Game 2 - a win!
( 1- 1) New York Knicks 31 28 37 26 - 122 (Wilt Chamberlain 33)
( 0- 2) Atlanta Hawks 26 29 29 27 - 111 (Willis Reed 30)
I love it when we win on the road - no I don't think the Hawks are a very good team but still ANY road win is a good road win and in a league as tough as this one a .500 road record is probably good enough to get you to the dance (provided you have a decent home record of course!). Not a great perfomance but plenty of Wilt and a good showing by Sikma, Jabali and Davis all helps. Still going to change things up next game and expect to see a bit more Calderon because I like the way the offence flows with him in...
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New York Knicks FG FT 3P REB
MIN M-A M-A M-A O-T A PF BLK TO STL PTS
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Derrick Coleman 18 4- 7 3- 6 0- 1 2- 5 4 1 3 2 1 11
Wilt Chamberlain 37 14-25 5- 8 0- 0 6-19 1 3 0 3 2 33
Tyreke Evans 12 0- 2 0- 0 0- 1 1- 2 2 0 1 2 2 0
Thaddeus Young 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jose Calderon 16 1- 5 2- 2 1- 3 0- 1 4 0 0 1 0 5
Reggie Theus 15 2- 6 3- 4 0- 3 1- 1 0 5 0 0 0 7
Jack Sikma 33 7-12 3- 3 0- 0 2-11 1 2 2 2 2 17
Rudy Tomjanovich 1 0- 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shareef AbdurRahim 37 3- 7 0- 0 0- 0 2- 5 3 4 0 4 1 6
David West 6 1- 3 0- 0 0- 0 0- 3 0 1 0 0 0 2
Warren Jabali 34 7-14 4- 4 3-10 1- 4 7 5 0 3 0 21
Baron Davis 30 7-14 2- 4 4- 7 1- 1 8 6 0 1 1 20
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Totals 240 46- 96 22-31 8-25 16-52 30 27 6 18 9 122
47.9% 71.0% 32.0%
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Coached by: Nige Young
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlanta Hawks FG FT 3P REB
MIN M-A M-A M-A O-T A PF BLK TO STL PTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rasheed Wallace 19 4-10 1- 3 0- 0 1- 5 1 0 0 3 0 9
Paul George 33 3- 9 6- 6 0- 3 1- 4 3 6 0 1 1 12
Nicolas Batum 15 1- 5 0- 0 0- 2 1- 3 4 0 0 3 1 2
Klay Thompson 14 2- 2 0- 0 1- 1 0- 1 0 2 0 0 0 5
Lenny Wilkens 15 2- 4 3- 3 0- 0 0- 0 2 3 0 0 2 7
Willis Reed 37 13-16 4- 4 0- 0 2-12 2 3 0 1 0 30
Tom Chambers 7 1- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0- 3 0 2 1 0 0 2
Eddie Jones 34 6-14 3- 4 2- 6 0- 0 3 1 1 1 6 17
Yao Ming 33 7-14 5- 6 0- 0 3-10 3 5 2 3 0 19
Michael CarterWill 33 3-14 2- 4 0- 0 2- 4 5 4 0 5 0 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals 240 42- 90 24-30 3-12 10-42 23 26 4 17 10 111
46.7% 80.0% 25.0%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coached by: Cary Cavitt
Lead Changes: 15 Ties: 5 (51-51)
Go-Ahead Shot: Warren Jabali (54-53)
Largest Leads: New York Knicks -- 16 (91-75)
Atlanta Hawks -- 3 (3-0)
Sunday, December 7, 2014
UBAS 5 Game 1
Awful start to the season as we gift the visiting (and division competing) Royals the first game of the season on our court. It was always going to be a tough game but they were much more ready for it than us and we need to change things to be ready for the next game... lineup changes coming.
Got a few players on the block at the moment - considering moving David West to bring in a dynamic wing man to score too..
Anyway, back to the start on this one!
As a PS yes we boldly predicted winning the title today and Adam picked it up! Yeah, anything less would be disappointing...
Got a few players on the block at the moment - considering moving David West to bring in a dynamic wing man to score too..
Anyway, back to the start on this one!
As a PS yes we boldly predicted winning the title today and Adam picked it up! Yeah, anything less would be disappointing...
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Knicks Trading Post
This one's a simple place to look at what's what in the Knick world and who's on the block and who's not.
Simply the first guy who is available is a real smooth performer who goes by the name of Rudy T. He's only available because he's not that vital to my team THIS year and I'm looking to compete right now. He sits at 20 PER still and can play PF or perversely enough C which is another reason he's not got the same impact for me this year - I'm really more interested in him when he's able to bring his 60% plus shooting to the wing position. He'll be good on any team and may be enough to push a contender over the edge.
I've also got a couple of other guys who won't get rub this year... because they
peak next year (Hazzard) or further still (Lucas). Taking Hazzard first because you may not have thought about him in this league, but cat definitely belongs and next year you'll be surprised. Nearly 80 games of two way guard with an offensive rating through the roof and 24ppg and 7apg for PG/SG is not too shabby with his 2 steals and a good harassment rating.
Lucas takes longer to peak but when he does he hits the high notes. Even on the PER rating that doesn't like PGs much he hits over 20 a couple of times and dishes out 10+ assists (per 36) on three or four seasons. Throw in a couple of steals a game and low fouls and I think he'll do very nicely thank you :)
Those are the on-the-block guys. There are others who are looking like second-third rotation guys - if you're needs are for them then let me know. I'm also happy to discuss options on the starters but bring a bit more cash eh?
Currently starters are pegged as Wilt, Sikma, Baron, Shareef and Jabali with second guys as Calderon, Theus, West, Tyreke and Coleman.
Simply the first guy who is available is a real smooth performer who goes by the name of Rudy T. He's only available because he's not that vital to my team THIS year and I'm looking to compete right now. He sits at 20 PER still and can play PF or perversely enough C which is another reason he's not got the same impact for me this year - I'm really more interested in him when he's able to bring his 60% plus shooting to the wing position. He'll be good on any team and may be enough to push a contender over the edge.
I've also got a couple of other guys who won't get rub this year... because they peak next year (Hazzard) or further still (Lucas). Taking Hazzard first because you may not have thought about him in this league, but cat definitely belongs and next year you'll be surprised. Nearly 80 games of two way guard with an offensive rating through the roof and 24ppg and 7apg for PG/SG is not too shabby with his 2 steals and a good harassment rating.
Lucas takes longer to peak but when he does he hits the high notes. Even on the PER rating that doesn't like PGs much he hits over 20 a couple of times and dishes out 10+ assists (per 36) on three or four seasons. Throw in a couple of steals a game and low fouls and I think he'll do very nicely thank you :)
Those are the on-the-block guys. There are others who are looking like second-third rotation guys - if you're needs are for them then let me know. I'm also happy to discuss options on the starters but bring a bit more cash eh?
Currently starters are pegged as Wilt, Sikma, Baron, Shareef and Jabali with second guys as Calderon, Theus, West, Tyreke and Coleman.
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