Hov's Mavs (21-27): All-Star starters / Around the league

[hova-]

Dirk's Final Chapter reloaded

Okay, guys. Hov is back. After experiencing the YLOD on my PS3 again, I decided to move on with my brand-new PC and get 2k13 a shot on it. It's really way better than on PS3, so I will run my new story on PC.
Again, I have chosen the Mavericks. Why? This team has everything you want to have running a Dynasty. An perennial All-Star and franchise player in Dirk Nowitzki. Lots of role players who can step up and have All-Star potential with guys like Collison, Mayo and Kaman. Decent contracts which allow to rebuild and sign big free agents if possible. Further I am a Dirk fanboy for reasons that are obvious and I think he still has enough in the tank to carry a team, at least in a video game. So what you can expect from this story:

Realism: Is everything for me running a story. This is why I have CPU trades switched off and will only allow them once every month for like one week. If the deals suck too much, I will overwrite them and you won't even notice them. Of course bad decisions are the daily bread of the NBA, so I won't intervene everytime. I am still playing around with the sliders but I think they are decent. And I am playing on Superstar - so I will definitely lose games - like the real Mavs do (too often).

Witing & Graphics: Being on PC makes it way easier to give a good presentation. My limit is my time - if I have time, I love to layout stuff and photoshop around - so you can expect it every once in a while. Apart from that writing is also a lot of fun, so I hope I can improve on that, too.

My Multiverse: "Multiverse", a great word X once brought up in this section. This is "my league". This means that I will accept how things go and try to add a good storyline to everything. If I don't like something, I might change it via editing but you would not even notice My goal is to give you a great overview of my league which makes it feel like an own NBA world. Sit did an heck of a job doing that with ALIB so it's something I strive for.

Draft Classes: My Multiverse also means fictional draft classes, and on PC this will be sick. I already have two draft classes with fictional players all having realistic faces. No generic player appereance in here! Credits go to all the draft class makers like Pierrealban or Dare and some others. Nice work. Rookies are the alpha and omega in creating an own world, so I hope this turns out to be great. Here is a quick view of my settings:



Season length: 82 games (I will sim some of them, depends on my time)
Team chemistry: ON
Player Roles: ON
Progressive Fatigue: ON
Trade Deadline: ON
Trade Override: ON
Allow CPU Trades: OFF (ON for short periods every month)
Preseason games: ON
Injuries: ON
Playoff Format: 5-7-7-7 (No sense to make it a seven game series in the first round - might explain that in an article)
Quarter length: 12 mins - Simmed Quarter lenght: 12 mins
Roster: Skoadams URB wih my own tweaks

Big thanks goes out to all the patchers making this game more enjoyable. Shutouts to those who followed my last stories.

[hova-]

SAS @ LAL Preview - Hov's Interaction Game Round 1
MIA @ LAL Prevoew - Hov's Interaction Game Round 2

GM's desk: Cunningham out - J-Will and Wright start

[hova-]

10/30/2012 - Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers 73 -100 L
10/31/2012 - Dallas Mavericks @ Utah Jazz 75-77
11/04/2012 - Charlotte Bobcats @ Dallas Mavericks 86-84
11/05-07/2012 - Portland Trail Blazers @ Dallas Mavericks 100-94 / Toronto Raptors @ Dallas Mavericks 111-99
11/09/2012 - Dallas Mavericks @ New York Knicks 74-105
11/10/2012 - Dallas Mavericks @ Charlotte Bobcats 87-77
11/12-16/2012 - Minnesota Timberwolves @ Dallas Mavericks 100-86 / Washington Wizards @ Dallas Mavericks 95-102 / Dallas Mavericks @ Indiana Pacers 88-98
11/17/2012 - Dallas Mavericks @ Cleveland Cavaliers 91-120
11/19/2012 - Golden State Warriors @ Dallas Mavericks 92-95

01/01/2013 - Dallas Mavericks @ Washington Wizards 86-102
01/02/2013 - Dallas Mavericks @ Miami Heat 85-110
01/05/2013 - 01/09/2013 - New Orleans @ Dallas 109-103 / Dallas @ Utah 108-85 / Dallas @ Los Angeles Clippers 100-113
01/10 - 01/16 - Dallas @ Sacramento 92-95 / Dallas @ Memphis 97-98 / Minnesota @ Dallas 98-91 / Houston @ Dallas 8-94
01/18/2013 - Oklahoma City @ Dallas 93-98
02/01/2013 - Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns 97-92

[hova-]

Dirk's legacy: Season Preview
Dallas Mavericks @ New York Knicks Preview
Mavs sign Mike James
San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers 94-99
Dirk's Legacy - The Story So Far
December Recap
Miami Heat @ Los Angeles Lakers 91-102
Mavericks Player Stats mid-season
All-Star starters announced

NBAdraft.net Prospects
Mavs sign Jason Williams
Nbadraft.net Keeron Waters
NBAdraft.net Terraill Brown
NBAdraft.net Vaheem Bridges

[Leftos]

Good luck with it hova-! Here's hoping REDitor gets released soon so that you can use NST with it and get so much detail out of it it's ridiculous.

[mrmoves20]

Good luck with this story here! I'm hoping this Mavs would be better than your Ps3 one, by better I mean like being in the playoff race. And I hope the story would be as great as your first one. Cheers!

[mp3]

All the best Mate and Goodluck!

[kibaxx7]

All the luck Hov! Of course, will follow closely

[dare]

Good luck with this man. At least with PC crushes are fixable. I also recommend to use Leftos tools to turn the autosaves off.

Thanks for considering my DC's, I already have 3 pm me if you are interested.

[The X]

Good luck with this. As always your stories are top notch. Glad to see the word multiverse continue in the Dynasty/Association threads

[Mavs4Life]

Best of luck Hova, get us into the playoff race!

[Martti.]

Joining the PC gamers, good luck!

[Durant35]

Kabang! Welcome back hova!

[Mark.]

Great choice of platform Look forward to seeing how you go.

[hova-]

Dirk's legacy



With their best scorer, captain and franchise player out, the Dallas Mavericks have to find an identity soon if they don't want an imposing streak to end.

12 seasons. Twelve! No, there has not been a lot of reason for Dallas Mavericks fans to moan about the direction their franchise has been heading into over the last dozen of years. Twelve seasons in a row, the Dallas Mavericks have made it to the postseason, reaching their climax - of course - in 2011 with the Finals victory over the Miami Heat. All of that happened with Dirk Nowitzki leading the way - and finally - peaking two years ago.

Times have changed though. Mark Cuban decided to blow up the Championship roster by not resigning center Tyson Chandler, who would win the Defensive Player of the Year award one year later. With Nowitzki dealing with constant knee problems, the Mavericks sneaked into the Playoffs at seventh seed in an hectic lockout season, only to get sweeped by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

The following season, not resigning Jason Terry and Jason Kidd removed the last glint of the 2011 NBA Champion. For the first time in twelves years, this year's Mavericks look like a team that will have to fight hard in order to make it to the postseason. Key additions have been made, namely Chris Kaman, Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand, but none of them looks like a clear upgrade compared with Terry, Kidd, Chandler or even Barea, who had left the team and joined Minnesota after the 2010/11 season. The worst: Dirk Nowitzki will miss the first two month of the season after knee surgery.

So this is the core: Mayo, Brand, Kaman, Collison. Add veteran Shawn Marion, the only 2011 champ besides Nowitzki, Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones, and Vince Carter to the list and this is what you will get from the Mavericks in the first two months of the season - with Dirk Nowitzki being out.

None of these players has scored more than 13 points per game last season. None of them is (still) known for being an top notch scorer. This is where once again Rick Carisle will have to show that he can use the different strenghts of the players like he did in 2011. But rarely do teams win with their best man being the coach.

Defensively, this team does not look better than on offense. Marion and Collison can put pressure on the ball, Brendan Wright and Chris Kaman can block shots, but the Mavericks do not have any player who even comes close to being the defensive presence Tyson Chandler was giving them in 2011 and is since then giving the New York Knicks.

There is no player apart from Brendan Wright who can play above the rim. No premiere shooter who averaged more than 35% on his three point attempts last season.

This team has to find an identity soon, or the losses will pile up quicker than expected and lead the team into a difficult situation even with Dirk being back. Chances are, that Rick Carisle will find the right mix of veterans and players who want to prove themselves, making this Dallas team an unit at both ends of the court without a real superstar.

The Mavericks will open the season on the road facing the revamped Los Angeles Lakers followed by a visit to Energy Solution Arena @ Salt Lake City. While those two games should not be overrated, they could show the direction of a Dallas squad that could be the surprise of the season, but they could also end a twelve year legacy, Dirk's legacy.

Offense: C-
Defense: C+
Overall: C
Projected Record: 41-41 (miss Playoffs in the West)






Mavericks waive guard James, add veteran Najera to their roster read more
Dirk to miss at least eight weeks after knee surgery read more
Mavs looking for Howard, Paul in 2013 offseason read more

[hova-]

Leftos, thank you. Ye, the stats tracker would be cool. Thanks for your help on the hidden players btw

mrmoves20, well, I also hope we can make the Playoffs, but it will be hard without Dirk just like on ps3 I guess.

mp3, thanks, man.

Thierry •, good to hear that. Let's hope we can finally deliver on our stories, bro.

dare, ye I use autosave off, it's great. Actually I used most of the faces of your draft class but not the names or ratings of the players. I kind of like to do that on my own

The X, thanks. Multiverse is everything about a story. If I wanted to experience what happens in RL, than I would not have to play video games I guess.

Mavs4Life, thanks. Will try my best

Martti., yeah definitely. I would not even want to go back to PS3. I fixed it, so I can still watch DVDs or blue rays - but gaming on PC is better for me now.

Durant35, thank you.

Mark., thanks. PC will make it easier to update this story.

[Mark.]

Nice coverage. Who is going to be your 6th man? I like how VC has been playing for the Mavs so far this year.

[hova-]

Mark., thanks. Definitely VC. He's great in the game and also good IRL. Perfect sixth man since he can deliver on offense and guard the weaker opponent with Marion being the junkyard dog.

[Mark.]

hova-, Yeap, my thoughts Looking forward to seeing some results man

[Valor]

Good article mate, lets see what you do with these boys

[mp3]

Looking at the depth chart the Mavs have quite a nice roster!

[Durant35]

I definitely think the the RL Mavs are not using the players like their supposed to. Hopefully hova here can make them become contenders again!

[hova-]

Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers 73-100

Superman delivers in first game for L.A.

Preview | Boxscore | Recap | Highlights


Los Angeles Laker Dwight Howard dunks the ball over Chris Kaman of the Mavs.



LOS ANGELES, OCTOBER 30th (AP) - Dwight Howard scores 21 points and adds 10 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists to lead the revamped L.A. Lakers past the Dallas Mavericks.

After dropping all eight games in preseason, there were doubts about how the refreshed Los Angeles Lakers could stick together and find answers for their many questions on offense as well as defense during regular season. Dwight Howard responded the right way.

Howard started off the game with a three point play as he spun into the post past Chris Kaman and threw down the two-handed dunk to give the Lakers their first bucket of the regular season and himself his first points as a Laker after missing all of the eight preseason games.

"I wanted to come out energetically. I was a bit nervous but that first dunk helped me to stay focussed", the 6-11 center said after the game.

Howard scored 7 of the first 9 Lakers points running the pick&roll with Steve Nash and finishing off missed shots after the offensive rebound.

The Lakers led by 15 at the halftime with Kobe Bryant adding 14 of his 20 and they never looked back. "We have quality, and it showed", Bryant told media after the game.

Dwight Howard tied a career-high with 7 assists as he was facing constant double teams by the Mavericks, who had all sorts of problems defensively.

"Actually I liked what we did offensively, most of the time. Turnovers and bad shooting killed us today", said Mavericks Coach Rick Carisle. The Mavericks had 16 turnovers in the game, led by Darren Collison's five.

The new backcourt of Collison and Mayo combined for 16 points and five assists on 7-27 shooting. Center Chris Kaman led the Mavericks with 15 points.

"We still have to find a way to deliver the ball to everyone where he likes it most", veteran Vince Carter, who had the Mavs' single best moment when he dunked on Lakers center Jordan Hill, said.

The Lakers looked like the team to beat in the West whilst the Mavericks still showed room for improvement in almost every facette of the game. Los Angeles will move on to Portland whilst the Mavericks will visit the Utah Jazz.

Player Stats -- Team Stats

(14|19|16|24|73)
Chris Kaman: 15 points - 5 rebounds - 7/12 FG
Vince Carter: 14 points - 6 rebounds - 5/11 FG
O.J. Mayo: 8 points - rebounds - 4/14 FG
Elton Brand: 8 points - 7 rebounds - 2 blocks - 3/6 FG

(25|23|22|30|100)
Kobe Bryant: 20 points - 7 rebounds - 2 assists - 10/22 FG
Dwight Howard: 21 points - 10 rebounds - 7 assists - 3 steals - 7/10 FG
Steve Nash: 14 points - 7 rebounds - 7 assists - 6/11 FG
Pau Gasol: 12 points - 9 rebounds - 5-8 FG

Dunk Of The Night: Vince Carter goes baseline and dunks over Jordan Hill

phpBB [video]

Quotable: "Whoever thought we could not play together after our preseason games has been proven wrong today." (Los Angeles Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni)
Game Notes: Mavericks only shot 39% from the field and 68% from the free throw line ... theMavs bench outscored the Lakers bench 30-28 ... the Lakers only had 9 turnovers (compared to 16 by the Mavericks ... the Mavericks gave up 17 offensive rebounds ... the biggest lead of the game was 33 ...
Looking forward: Dallas @ Utah (10/31) - LAL @ POR (10/31)


Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge out against Lakers with strained back read more
Kyrie Irvings buzzer beat leads Cleveland past Washington 89-90 read more
Celtics upset Heat on opening night 90-81 read more

[hova-]

Pretty funny, in my PS3 D is also lost to the Lakers like that, the only came one point short actually - 73-101 was the result back then. Lakers were looking scary, getting every rebound and killing me with their inside presence of Gasol and Howard.

What do you think about the recap style? Do you want me to add boxscores instead of the top 4 players mentioned for each team? Any other improvements recommended?

[Mark.]

I like it all. I do like full box-scores but they can be time consuming. Hence why I haven't moved to full yet. TOugh loss btw.