[Clippers 09, 38-17] LA rebounds Vs. Roy....

[Andy92_man]

Wow, this is still looking very nice.

I like the deals you've made, they are pretty realistic. The presentation is also great.

[Joker.]

Wow, huge deal right there, nice dynasty as well

[Chaser7]

Andy92_man, Thanks, this time I tried to make more fair deals

Joker., Thanks for checking in for the first time, Keep following!

I have one more offseason update to make, before I start the Preseason.. Keep commenting everyone! thanks haha

[Pistol]

I like the addition of Josh Smith, he is a monster, plus this frees up time for your rookie (which I would love to see start ) Keeps looking better, keep it up

[cerv]

Great trade with Manu, he's one of the best players in NBA.

[BP8]

thanks for your answers. kepp up the great work.

[Amare Stoudemire]

yea really nice trades,but i think you should train on josh jump shot alot and use the rookie for a starter

[Lamrock]

Whoa! Smith and Williams? You just got the two players on the Hawks I liked! Great trades. While losing Thornton hurts, I feel that losing Maggette and Brand isn't so bad, and in the long run, Williams and Smith will be more valuable.

Its too bad you chose Suns-style basketball. This trendy method just doesn't win championships.

[Chaser7]

Trigger42, yeah thanks, Smith is a beast!

Cerv, yup yup. Manu is one of my favorites too. I know you like him since he's argentine too

KobetheBest, glad to help, thanks for the compliment

Pau_gasol, Yeah, thanks man! I plan to train him in shooting...

Lamrock93, I purposefully didn't want to just stack my team to be a championship contender. I kinda want more of a challenge than my Warriors one. It's more fun.

Thanks for commenting everyone... Last Offseason update right now!

[Chaser7]

One Last Move...

The phones were ringing off the hook. Reporters, other teams, friends, family, just about everyone was calling Jim Fayer. The entire front office was in chaos. Donald Sterling had already organized two separate media sessions, and he still was getting interview requests. Everyone wanted to know the real deal behind Baylor's firing, but Fayer and Sterling refused to talk about the subject. The rest of the board didn't know that their vote had caused Baylor to be fired, so the secret was safe.

Fayer silenced his cellphone and disconnected his office line. He told his secretary, Jane, to not disturb him for at least an hour. Jim brushed his moppy hair out of his face. Whew! What a long week. But he felt great. The Clippers were exactly as he wanted it. Maybe it wasn't a championship-contender, but it was a solid team nevertheless. He had already assigned some interns to come up with new marketing slogans for the upcoming season. He had heard season tickets had already gone up 15% since the announcement of the Manu Ginobili trade.

Fayer leaned back into his comfortable leather chair, and logged onto his computer. He checked his emails to see if anyone had forwarded to him any inside deals and rumors. His assistant head coach was mostly garbage, and he wasn't very accurate with rumors. One email stuck out.

TO: JimFayer@Clippers.com
SUBJECT: MONTA ELLIS REMAINS UNSIGNED

What?!? How is that possible," Jim wondered. Ellis still hadn't resigned with the Warriors yet?! Fayer scrolled down to continue reading the email. Ellis was asking for a 4 year, $21,520,0000 contract. That wasn't unreasonable! Training camp was just 3 weeks away, and here it was, one of the league's brightest stars, unsigned. I guess teams are really cutting down on spending this year..." Jim thought.

Fayer walked down the hallway to Sterling's office.

"Hey Donald, how you holding up?" Fayer asked.
"I've been better," Sterling replied with a sleep look on his face.
"Look I know I've been bothering you a lot with roster moves, but I think we can sign Monta Ellis!"
"Really?" Sterling said as eyes widened for the first time in perhaps days.
"Yeah, unbelievable huh? 3 weeks until training camp and the kid got no contract,"
"What is asking for? $50 million?" Sterling said with a smirk.
"No. Get this: He's just asking for the mid-level exception for 4 years.."
"Are you kidding me???"
"I know, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.."
"Where did you get this information from?"
"Jonas, sent me an email,"
"He's the worst Assistant Coach in terms of finding rumors!"
"I know, I know. But I've saw something on espn.com too that backed him up,"
"C'mon Jim, get with the business. We don't rely on espn.com anymore.. those are for fans.."
"I suppose you're right.. I'm just so used to going to ESPN.com that it's become habit for me. Want to call his agent now?"
"Sure put his agent on speakerphone," Sterling said. Jim walked over to Sterling's desk and dialed Andy Miller's number.
_______________________________________

"...Hello?" Miller said as he picked up.
"Hi, Andy, Its Donald Sterling, and Jim Fayer of the LA Clippers,"
"Oh. Hey, what's going on?"
"Well we want your boy, Monta to come play for us,"
"Really? What are you guys offering?"
Jim slid a piece of paper along the table to Sterling that contained message that said "Let's start with something lower." Sterling nodded silently.
"Well we think a 3 year, $14 million contract sounds about right."
"Hm.. I don't know. Monta and I have been holding out all summer, and we've gotten better offers than that."
"What exactly are you looking for?" Fayer replied.
"Monta's primary concerns are: Money, Playing time, and Market. Milwaukee try getting him to sign a 2 year deal, but of course made no guarantees of how many minutes he'd be getting. Plus 'Milwauke sucks' according to Monta."
"Well he does have a point about the city," Sterling said with a chuckle.
"No, but seriously, we have the market covered. Monta definitely feels like an LA kid," Fayer added.
"What playing time? Didn't guy somewhat build around Livingston?" Miller inquired.
"Yeah.. but.. think about it, Shaun is still untested somewhat and very injury prone. I'd say Monta would still get about 25 minutes a game...Plus we've created a team that loves to run up and down the court, I think Monta knows a little something about," Fayer pointed out.
"Well that is true. I'm not sure if my client would be satisfied with just 25 minutes though..."
"Why don't you talk to Monta personally after this call, Andy. I mean there are just 3 weeks until training camp. You don't want him to be in an Anderson Varejao situation..." Sterling commented.
"That is true... I'm going to take your advice. But if you want him to actually listen to me, you are going to have to up your ante," Miller responded.
"What about a 4 year, $18 million deal? How does that sound?" Fayer interjected.
"I'll call you guys back later, we'll take the Clippers into serious consideration," Miller added.
__________________________________

Jim hung up the phone. "so what do you think?"
"I'm really glad I decided to keep you on board. You have a knack at finding the right players," Sterling replied.
"Now all we gotta do is pray that Monta doesn't clash with Dunleavy, otherwise this could be troublesome," Fayer noted.
"Hm.. I wonder how long this is going to take.." Sterling wondered aloud.
Just then the phone rang again.

"Well I got your answer," Miller said.
"Wow that was quick," Fayer said.
"Yeah Monta is pretty desperate to sign, he'll play for you guys.." Miller began.
Jim and Sterling high fived each other
"On the condition that you give him the full Mid-Level Exception for 4 years.." Miller finished.
"How much is that?" Sterling asked pretending not to know in hopes that Miller would ask for something a bit less.
"$21,520,000" Miller replied.
"Done!" Fayer added and he hung up.
______________________________________

"This is going to be an amazing season," Sterling said.
"And it will be because of me," Jim thought.

[jonthefon]

Holy cow, an unbelievable signing. Monta can help greatly at running the team at point. Looking forward to preseason and training camp...you will be posting up pre-season games right?

[Lamrock]

Lamrock93, I purposefully didn't want to just stack my team to be a championship contender. I kinda want more of a challenge than my Warriors one. It's more fun.

Monta Ellis signed!

Ellis, Ginobili, Smith, Williams, that rookie, etc. That sounds rather stacked to me. Good signing though. I predict a 55 win season.

[Chaser7]

Jonthefone, Yep I'll definitely be posting some games soon. I made a completely new template too, I was getting bored of the ESPN version.

Lamrock93, Well ok, maybe I'm a little too good, which is why I came up with another new story line after signing Monta. I already hinted at it in my latest update. Also Williams isn't that good in my game, only a 72. The rookie is negated by the fact that every team has a really good rookie pretty much. And I didn't really make unfair trades this time, the Clippers just have a lot of pieces. I'm also not that good with Playmaker's roster/sliders even on All-Star. Too keep it more realistic, I'm going to play 1 out of every 3 games on Superstar just to take into account random days when teams play bad. I'm going to do training camp, and the preseason games before I do a season preview. Also I was referring to the fact that you said Suns don't win championships. I only want it to win if I actually like earn it, like I beat the teams with fairer rosters. And who would want to play a style like the Pistons or Spurs in a video game? Even people that play with those teams push the ball in Live..

[Chaser7]

Training Camp..



"PUSH!!!" The sound of squeaking shoes along a basketball floor could be heard all the way from the locker room. GM, Jim Fayer thought back to his playing days as he walked along the sidelines of the court. Things were going great. He had finally been able to relax and didn't have much work left to do. Sterling had given him a 1 week break, and Fayer hadn't even kept track of any other teams. He had decided to visit training camp this year because he wanted to see how his team was meshing with each other.

"Did you really have put together a team of players with absolutely no college experience?" Assistant Matthew Griffiths joked.
Fayer looked around and smiled. Griffiths was right. Livingston, Ellis, Ginobili, Smith all went right to the NBA. Heck Williams had played just one year at UNC.
"Haha, ok yea my bad," Fayer replied.
"We're going to suck at defense this year boss," Griffiths stated a little more seriously.
"uh.. Remind me again what you said your specialty was when we hired. Wasn't it defense?" Fayer countered.
"Yeah, but these kids don't even know the fundamentals..."
"Well you better start teaching them then." Fayer argued as Griffiths walked back to center court to instruct the players.

"MOOOOONTAAAA" Coach Dunleavy screamed. "Everyone 5 suicides... NOW!"
"What'd Ellis do?!" Fayer asked a press member standing beside him.
"You weren't watching?" the reporter responded. "Ellis just trying dribbling threw 4 defenders when all his teammates were wide open. And I mean WIDE open."
"Crap, I hope this doesn't mean they're off to a bad start.." Fayer said.
"Are you kidding me? Dunleavy's been yelling at him all day, you should pay more attention." the media man said.
"God Damnit. Ellis get over here right now!" Fayer shouted across the court.
"NO Ellis stay here, Jim you can't interrupt my practices!" Dunleavy shouted back. Ellis remained frozen in the middle of the court.
"Coach, please it'll help you out too," Fayer pleaded.
"Fine Monta get over there, but don't you're getting out of doing suicides like the rest of your teammates."
Groans were heard from all players, as everyone was dripping with sweat.
"You boys want to run, or do you want to lose? We can't play defense worth a shit, so you all better learn how to push the ball!" Dunleavy scolded the team.

Monta jogged over to Fayer. "What's up boss?" Ellis asked.
"Listen Monta, you better get your act together. Sterling will keep Dunleavy here over you. We just signed you. We don't want to be forced to ship you out." Fayer replied cooly.
Ellis nodded. "Now get back out there and be a team player," Fayer added.
"Yeah, whatever boss," Ellis said non-definitively as he shrugged his shoulders and began running his suicides.
_____________________________________________

It was the 7th day of training camp, and things with Ellis weren't going well. The former Warrior seemed intent on trying to prove himself as the starter and as a result forced lots of bad shots.

"MONTA! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" Dunleavy screamed. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??! SINCE WHEN DO YOU SHOOT FADE AWAY 3'S WITH A MAN IN YOUR FACE?"
"I was open," Ellis replied meekly.
"NO YOU FUCKING WEREN'T! LINEUP EVERYBODY!" Dunleavy shouted. "DOWN AND BACK, 10 times.. GO!"
"God damnit Monta..." Fayer muttered under his breath. Dunleavy was right, Ellis was forcing things. This wasn't the player he signed. This wasn't the player who had helped the Warriors reach consecutive Western Conference Semi-Finals berths. This was the high school version of Monta Ellis. He was refusing to pass the ball, and instead dribbling like there was no tomorrow. Luckily for the young player, practice was over- for today.

"Aww... OH MY GOD THAT TASTE LIKE SHIT! FUCK YOU JOSH!" Brevin Knight yelled as the rest of the team was howling with laughter.
"What'd Josh do?" Fayer asked with a slight smirk.
"Put baby powder all over the donuts..." Chris Kaman began as he struggled with laugher. "Josh does it every time.. *snicker* and Brevin never figures it out. It wouldn't be funny anymore if *laughter* Brevin didn't trust Josh so much.." Chris then joined the rest of his teammates.

"Well at least they are all getting along pretty well.. that's good for team chemistry..." Jim began to think to himself.
"Hey Jim, we should talk.." Dunleavy began as he approached Fayer.
"Yeah sure, what's going on?" Fayer said as he feared the worst.
"I'm going to give a ton of minutes to Monta during the pre-season, but unless he performs well, I really think we should trade him."
"What! Why?"
"He just doesn't fit in here. Besides we need more 3-point shooters besides Ginobli, Mobley, and Thomas. Tim isn't even going to play that much anyways..."
"Well, we'll see I guess... I really don't want to trade him though.."
"Ok, your in charge so its call, I'm just giving you my recommendation," Dunleavy offered.
"Give me the run down on the rest of the players though."
"Chris and Shaun have greatly improved over the summer. Kaman is showing moves down low that I've never seen him do before. He can now turn around and hit the short jumper. Shaun is pulling off amazing cross overs. Manu has better ball handling that I thought, he can really put points up on the board too. We're going to bring Cuttino off the bench though. I think he plays better in short burst than Manu. I still can't decide between Marvin and Dylan yet, we'll see how the preseason goes."
"This is great, sounds like we'll be solid for future. Preseason game tomorrow night, you excited?"
"Not as much as you might think," Dunleavy said with a chuckle, I'll see you later Fayer."
_________________________________

[Pistol]

AWESOME, I love the reads...LOL on the baby powder

[homicide1550]

OMG! Your team is stacked! Good job on acquiring Monta Ellis!

[Joker.]

Wow! You got a strong team now, Clippers to the Finals?

[deihatein]

Wow like the monta signing hope you start him instead of Shaun like reading your recaps(Dunleavy really doesn't like Monta even thought he is a great player)

[Andy92_man]

I'm looking forward to see how Monta Ellis does in the pre-season. By the way, great job signing him.

[Chaser7]

Trigger42, Thanks for reading them .... and haha I can't remember where I got the donut thing, but I think Agent 0 did it when he was a young player..

Homicide1550, NOOO this is what I didn't want! I don't want a superstacked team.Ugh.. I'll work on this

Joker., Nah we're not THAT good yet. Keep in mind I'll be playing most if not all games and playmakers changed make it really hard... and now I'm getting bettter I"m going to play 2/3 games on Superstar, 1/3 on Allstar...

Narutoaddicted, Thanks for following, but Shaun's the starter, haha.

Andy92_man, Thanks man..

TO ALL, GREAT news! I should be able to play a couple preseason games today!!

[jonthefon]

Josh Smith a new Gilbert Arenas?

Better start working on his three

[Chaser7]

For the sake of realism, I'm saying that the NBA posted this article in Febuary, 2008, because they would announce something this big months in advance. Heck they posted the 2007 Europe Live tour article in during the All-Star break last year too! I'm posting this now, because I just came up with the idea... Anyways.. enjoy! Also sorry I didn't post any recaps today like I promised. I went to the Warriors Vs. Spurs game tonight! It was incredible with the Warriors wining in OT haha and I was on the big screen tonight for the first time!
______________________________________________



CLIPPERS, SUNS & CELTICS HEAD OVERSEAS
Posted on February 7th, 2008 11:47AM

NEW YORK (AP PRESS) -- The NBA has announced that three NBA teams will travel to Europe in October to conduct the second half of their training camp and play exhibition games not only against each other, but also against the national teams of four different countries. The Los Angeles Clippers, the Boston Celtics, and the Phoenix Suns will face the national squads of Italy, Spain, Germany and France in NBA Europe Live 2008.





All three NBA teams will face both fellow American squads and also travel to each of the four countries. The Clippers tip-off against the Boston Celtics on October 11th, in London, at the O2 arena. This marks the 2nd straight year in which a preseason game has been conducted there. "We're excited to send over three elite teams to Europe. I'm excited that we have kept Europe Live Tour going on for three straight years now, and I hope to continue it in the future," Commissioner Stern said. Below is the full schedule of the Clipper games:

10/11 Clippers vs. Celtics (London)
10/14 Clippers vs. Team Spain
10/16 Clippers vs. Team France
10/19 Clippers vs. Team Germany
10/21 Clippers vs. Suns (Germany)
10/25 Clippers vs. Team Italy

The commissioner has said that any NBA players who are part of their national squad will play in these games to create increased interest within the cities. "Soccer players do it all the time- Play one game with their national squad on one day, and then just a few days later play with their own club. I know this will be a little inconvenient for the players who are going to play for their national squads and for their NBA teams, but we feel its in the global interest to see them play. Players will receive bonuses and their teams will also earn a portion of the generated revenue.

__________________________________________________

[Maree]

wow dude you are really doing an awsome job with everything. The read is just so good and well writen. are you a native speaker? cause i like your english a lot dude.



ps. maybe you should be a writer i think you would be awsome with some biography of famous player or even unknown player keep it up dude, can't wait the regular season. It's getting even hoter now in LA with two promising teams.

[Andy92_man]

Nice idea with Europe Live Tour. You will win against all the national teams for sure, but Celtics and Suns will be very tough.

[Lamrock]

That last chapter was definitely your best. You are finally starting to really bring the characters to life... in NBA Live.

Looking forward to Euro Tour. I'm predicting a 3-3 finish with losses to Boston, Phoenix and Italy.