(63-19) First Round Wraps Up [4-0]

[Lamrock]

Nice article. Glad I could help. The AB contract negotiations should be an interesting sub-plot.

[Houndy]

AB always leaves. Greedy guy

[George7]

Lol about the 50inchvertical advertising comment!!!
Those comments are so annoying in youtube!

Nice article Axel!I would keep AB in the team though. Don't make any biased decision.

[kibaxx7]

This contract extension soap-operas are a nice addition I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with Parker.

[Axel The Great]

Lamrock, thanks! I'm planning on making AB's bitterness about this contract extension a big plot in this story.

Houndy, I don't think I'll let him go in the offseason, though.

George7, those comments on youtube are hilarious though, rofl. And yes, I plan to keep AB on the team.

Thierry •, keep him.

Predictions anyone? Last call, if you want to have a chance at all of the points on the table. Tomorrow I'll recap the rest of Week Six, it consists of three games. As I've said before, you can send your predictions anytime you want, but you can't predict the games I've already recapped. So far, I have Thierry, Valdis, George7, Houndy, z02, Radioman, and Stress Fracture's predictions. Anyone else? Code here. Please make sure you send your predictions via PM.

Also, you can still upgrade your NLSCer's attributes at any time, not many people have shown interest in that.

[Axel The Great]

Thierry Tirieux vs. Liam Washburn



It appears that Liam Washburn's decision of choosing John Wall as a teammate was not a smart one. Yes, John Wall and Washburn started the game 7-0, playing 1-on-1 offense against Tirieux, but Andre Iguodala's size proved to be too much. Iguodala owned both Washburn and Wall in the low post, and Tirieux himself also had an excellent game. The game lasted 14 minutes, and the duo of TT and AI won 21-14.

Stats:
Liam Washburn - 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 7/14 FG
John Wall - 7 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 7/13 FG
Thierry Tirieux - 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 9/15 FG, 1/1 3P
Andre Iguodala - 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 11/17 FG

Willie Lewis vs. Xavier Nelson



As was said in the preview, this was probably the most evenly matched game of the round. Indeed, it was. Willie Lewis' pesky defense bothered Nelson's offensive rhtyhm early on, but Gerald Wallace was able to pick up the slack, feeding off of Nelson's advanced playmaking skills. Josh Smith showed the best defensive effort; he had four blocks. Near the end, Lewis and Smith lost their offensive rhythm, with J-Smoove missing a couple of easy dunks. Xavier Nelson shined as his field goal percentage went up, and he and G-Wall took this game with a score of 21-15. The game lasted 17 minutes.

Stats:
Willie Lewis - 7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 7/20 FG
Josh Smith - 8 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 8/15 FG
Xavier Nelson - 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 8/22 FG
Gerald Wallace - 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 13/20 FG

Valdis Iesalnieks vs. Zee Otoo



Iesalnieks was easily the best player in this game. Too bad Chauncey Billups couldn't help out. Billups' bad play of 5/18 from the field hurt him and his teammate's chances of taking this one. Iesalnieks completely owned Otoo on the low post. Luckily for Otoo though, Kevin Martin was given way too many dunks, and he was also set up for open looks; Otoo knocked down 2/5 three-pointers this game. "It's a tough loss this. The players we were against aren't well-known defenders, but for some reason I couldn't find my offense," Billups was heard telling his fellow teammate, Iesalnieks. For 18 minutes this game lasted, Otoo and Martin won 21-17.

Stats:
Valdis Iesalnieks - 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 12/18 FG
Chauncey Billups - 5 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 5/18 FG
Zee Otoo - 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 7/18 FG, 2/5 3P
Kevin Martin - 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 12/18 FG

Justine Jones vs. George Koukoulis



Too much Michael Beasley. His nickname B-Easy fits him well because Boozer and Koukoulis played bad defense on him, making the mid-range game easy money for Mike. Justine Jones deserves some credit too though, he did an excellent job scoring the ball, too bad the same can't be said about Koukoulis. He only scored three points, and Carlos Boozer was forced to carry this duo on his back. He completely owned, yes owned, both Jones and Beasley on the low post, but unfortunately, Koukoulis needed to show up to play for the victory. The game lasted 17 minutes, and the duo of JJ and B-Easy took this one 21-17.

Stats:
George Koukoulis - 3 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3/14 FG
Carlos Boozer - 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 13/16 FG
Justine Jones - 8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 8/13 FG
Michael Beasley - 13 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 13/19 FG

NLSCer Statline of the Round: Valdis Iesalnieks (see above for his stats) - +5 Dream Points

Standings-

Player	W-L
Thierry Tirieux	1-0
Xavier Nelson	1-0
Zee Otoo	1-0
Justine Jones	1-0
Liam Washburn	0-1
Willie Lewis	0-1
Valdis Iesalnieks	0-1
George Koukoulis	0-1

[Houndy]

Bullshit, Smith and I will rape next time

[rise]

How did Valdis not get like every rebound in the whole game? Isn't he fucking enormous?

*slaps himself* What am I talking about? I won!!!

[George7]

Damn!! I've got to step up!! Maybe my luck will be back in the next game!

[Justine.]

Totally owned

[kibaxx7]

We should be on the standings, also by point +/- ... I'm +7 right now, leading, of course.

[shadowgrin]

Thierry will get bored of the tournament and quit.

[|)e8*]

yeaaaa i winnn

[Bucket]

FUC* BILLUPS
Pictures looks nice

[Axel The Great]

Houndy, just tell J-Smoove not to miss any dunks.

z02, too focused on guarding you out on the perimeter, rebounds were all K-Mart's.

George7, Boozer was doing everything for you! All you had to do was help him score more. And slow down Beasley.

Justine., looks like picking Beasley was smart.

Thierry •, don't really know how to calculate +/-, and I'd like to keep the tables simple by just including the W-L record.

shadowgrin, but who gets bored of having Andre Iguodala on your team?!

|)e8*, despite Houndy's harrassing defense.

Valdis, I'll stick up for my man Billups here and say that he took some pretty bad shots, and of course, he set you up for some great plays.

Week Six Recap is next.

[Axel The Great]

Part II

[13-4] Houston Rockets 111-93 Los Angeles Lakers [12-6]


Destroying the Lakers!

Lamar Odom made up for Gasol's foul trouble. | Kobe quietly had a good game.

The final score does not tell you anything about this game. It was a two-point Rocket lead midway through the third quarter. Kobe Bryant looked unstoppable, pouring in 24 points. However, it rained threes for the Rockets, who went 9/16 from the third dimension as a team, with Kevin Martin leading the way, who shot 3/6 from deep. With the score 74-72, the Rockets went on a 7-0 run to close out the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was more of the same for the Rockets. They never let the Lakers lead, but never really had a double-digit lead either, that was of course until midway in the fourth. Foul trouble was a problem for the Lakers, as Pau Gasol fouled out with seven minutes to go in the fourth. Thanks to some bench help, with Jordan Hill's 14 points and nine boards leading the way, the Rockets pulled away to a double-digit lead to defeat the Lakers for a second time this season to jumpstart the month of December. "They seem to have our number this season. My team just doesn't seem motivated," were Kobe Bryant's words after the game. The game was mostly played in the paint area, as the Lakers won the points in the paint battle 56-52.

Yao Ming surpassed the 24-minute mark this game; he played 26 minutes. "When I realized he was at 26 minutes, I immediately pulled him out of the game, it was garbage time anyways. It's good to see he's been capable of staying injury free this season, and we may think about playing him 26-30 minutes a game if he keeps this up," said Rockets head coach Rick Adelman.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
31 points | 5 rebounds | 4 assists | 11/19 FG | 3/6 3P

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Jordan Hill - 14 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
Luis Scola - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist
Aaron Brooks - 11 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 3/4 3P

Lakers:
Kobe Bryant - 24 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 11/21 FG
Lamar Odom - 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 8/15 FG
Ron Artest - 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 7/10 FG

32 24 25 30 111
25 22 25 21 93

[14-4] Houston Rockets 101-88 Memphis Grizzlies [8-11]


Surprising that no foul was called. | AB did well to fill in for Martin.

The first game of a back-to-back, Rockets head coach Rick Adelman decided not to play superstar Yao Ming, and save him for the game against the Chicago Bulls and their deadly frontcourt. Yao would not be the only Rockets superstar missing 10 minutes into the game. Kevin Martin attempted a mid-range jumpshot, and buried it. However, Zach Randolph tried to clamp down on the shot, but timed it too late, and landed on Kevin Martin. Martin fell to the floor, and strained his lower back, and eventually had to leave the FedEx Forum. He will be out of action for a couple of weeks at the most. He left the game with eight points and one board in ten minutes.

So with their leading scorer out, someone had to fill in that huge gap left. Aaron Brooks filled that gap nicely, going for 28 points. A lineup of Lowry-Brooks-Lee-Battier-Scola was used for most of the game.

In the first quarter, the Grizzlies had command, but relinquished the lead after going on a scoring drought. Rudy Gay and the thug that is Zach Randolph led the way for Memphis, and were the sole reason for Memphis's second quarter run. The Grizzlies had 12 offensive rebounds compared to one from Houston. The Rockets exploded offensively in the third quarter, and had a 15-point lead heading into the fourth. Constant defensive stops from the aforementioned lineup helped seal the win, as the Grizzlies shot only 35% from the field, compared to the above-par 51% by the Rockets.

"I'm expecting my man Courtney Lee to fill in well for me. This is an unfortunate injury, and I hope to return to action as soon as possible," said Kevin Martin, who told his team to "shut down Zach Randolph" for his doing. Without Kevin Martin, the Rockets will have to look for Aaron Brooks to lead the offense, especially in crunch time.

Player of the Game-

Luis Scola
21 points | 13 rebounds | 1 block | 9/13 FG

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Aaron Brooks - 28 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 10/18 FG, 3/5 3P
Courtney Lee - 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 8/13 FG
Kyle Lowry - 5 points, 9 assists, 1 rebound

Grizzlies:
Rudy Gay - 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 11/22 FG
Zach Randolph - 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals
Sam Young - 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3/4 3P
O.J. Mayo - 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2/12 FG

26 20 35 20 101
22 21 23 22 88

[15-4] Houston Rockets 98-103 Chicago Bulls [7-10]


Easily the best dunk of the year. Blake who? | Still no answer for Luol Deng.

The Rockets seriously lacked Kevin Martin's dominance on the offensive end this game. The Bulls had an excellent start to this game, as they connected on nine of their first 11 field goal attempts. Luol Deng was on fire the whole game, connecting on five triples and scoring 31 points. The Rockets did not get their first lead until near the end of the second quarter, but a three-point play from Luol Deng put the Bulls up 46-45. The Bulls led at halftime 58-52.

In the third quarter, the Rockets came out and started to take care of business on both ends of the floor. They jumped out to their largest lead of the game, eight, midway through the third quarter. Leading by a bucket at the end of the third, the Rockets slowed down offensively in the fourth, and this is where the Bulls took advantage. Luol Deng and Ronnie Brewer led the Bulls to a 10-point lead, the biggest lead of the game. Derrick Rose's playmaking skills helped the Bulls towards this victory, as this loss puts the Rockets at a tie with the Spurs and Celtics for best record in the league, 15-5.

"Yes, Kevin Martin's absence was felt this game. Aaron Brooks's sub-par 4/18 shooting didn't help matters. We lacked someone consistent to get the ball to in a time of adversity such as this," were Courtney Lee's words after the game. He got his first start of the season, and scored a solid 20 points, filling in for Martin pretty well.

Player of the Game-

Luol Deng
31 points | 8 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 13/29 FG | 5/11 3P

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Luis Scola - 21 points, 13 rebounds, 1 steal, 6/12 FG, 9/9 FT
Aaron Brooks - 17 points, 8 assists, 1 rebound, 4/18 FG, 3/7 3P
Courtney Lee - 20 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 7/11 FG, 2/3 3P
Yao Ming - 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 5/9 FG

Bulls:
Ronnie Brewer - 23 point, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Derrick Rose - 21 points, 4 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 steals, 9/20 FG
Joakim Noah - 6 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks

29 25 22 22 98
31 27 16 29 103

[Houndy]

Yup, those pressbook pics are nice. Bulls beat ya good though

[Bucket]

Nice pics.
I love ''DESTROYED LAKERS''

[Radioman]

Nice win against the Lakers

15-5 you are on your way .

[Martti.]

Nice to see good quality pics, but more importantly, you beat the crap out of the Lakers!

[rise]

You beat the Lakers!

Sucks to see K-Mart down though. He's my NLSC tournament partner!

[George7]

Bulls won!!Nice wins there against Lakers and Grizzlies.
Though you had no answer for Deng to make it 3 on 3!!

As for the tournament,I believe my player will play better next game.As it seems picking Boozer was a nice choice,so hopefully I'll win the next game!

[kibaxx7]

Thierry •, don't really know how to calculate +/-, and I'd like to keep the tables simple by just including the W-L record.

Ah, no problem. I will end up first in the table anyway.

Superb win over the Lakers!

[maksie]

nice game by Scola despite the loss,he just scored 27 against me on my clipps associaton

[|)e8*]

Great job beating the lakers!!