-|[ BALTIMORE CLAWS ]| -

[J@3]

[J@3]

Pics may look gigantic on smaller monitors.

[dare]

No Defensive Team and Rookie Team?

Can't wait for the draft, hopefully you get no. 1

[J@3]

Yeah they went into the "can't be bothered" folder... won't be so lazy next season, there were no surprise picks though.

I simmed the off-season + draft last night

[hova-]

Looking forward to the draft night. The layout is neat, I like it. 7-22 is not that bad at all, still looking for the number one pick Ahm, just in case I missed on it, do you have real draftees?

[J@3]

Nah they are generated.

[JaoSming]

awesome graphics man

when are you going to start resigning players?

[The X]

Interested to see what you do with draft coverage. I know you almost like the draft stuff as much as me, so should be good

[J@3]

Thanks Jao... gotta do the Claws awards and the hot/cold thing, then play-off coverage (it'll be somewhat short)... then off-season starts. Re-Signing is first up obviously.

Draft coverage will be extensive, well as extensive as I can make it from the notes I took down while I was doing the draft toying with the idea of a live draft/lottery. Semi-live anyway.

[Rip32]

Did Dwyane Jones make an All-Defensive Team? I assume you would have posted it if he did, but he had to get some consideration.

[kibaxx7]

What a season for LeBron and Tyreke

[J@3]

Did Dwyane Jones make an All-Defensive Team? I assume you would have posted it if he did, but he had to get some consideration.

Nah none at all I'm guessing it's because he fell off so hard in the 2nd half of the season. Was at like 12 boards and nearly 4 blocks at one stage, finished with 9 and 2.5 or so.

[J@3]

20.8 PPG | 7.8 RPG | 1.6 APG | 1.0 SPG | 2.0 BPG
GOOD: Gelabale's maintained his scoring while also boosting his rebounding numbers for the month. He managed to pull down double digit rebound numbers twice, and grabbed less than 7 only once. He also set a career high in points scored with 37 against the Clippers, and added an impressive 11 rebounds to that total. The biggest positive for the month though by far has been his defensive effort. Not usually much of a shotblocker, he averaged 2 blocks per game in his five games including three against Miami and another three against the Clippers. This improvement has virtually come out of nowhere, but he is definitely solidifying himself as a long term starter for the team. If he continues this improvement he could wind up being an all-star despite starting his Baltimore career as a 3rd string bench small forward.

BAD: Consistency offensively is a little bit of an issue. He scored only 8 points against New Orleans and 14 against San Antonio, though he did lead the team in scoring that night. His 3 rebounds in that game also dragged his averages down.


4.2 PPG | 4.2 RPG | 0.5 APG | 0.3 SPG | 0.8 BPG
GOOD: One half of the Baltimore bash-brothers with Stromile Swift, Payton's defensive effort off the bench has kept the team in many games. His rebounding and scoring are fantastic given he only plays around 12 minutes per night and his shot blocking is improving steadily as well. Against Boston's formidable front court he put up 7 points and 5 rebounds in just 12 minutes, and against Miami had 6 and 8 plus a block. He blocked two shots against both New Orleans and the Spurs. As a young player picked up from the D-League, at one point it looked like he may not stay on the roster after the off-season but now he is a virtual lock to be on the team.

BAD: His shot blocking, while impressive, could be better. He is not particularly living upto his potential in that area, and failed to block shots against Boston, Clippers and the Bulls.


3.7 PPG | 4.8 RPG | 0.3 APG | 0.8 SPG | 1.7 BPG
GOOD: The senior bash-brother, Swifts shot blocking numbers for the month are bordering on unbelievable. Nearly two blocks per game in just 13 minutes per game, aside from the NLSC voted Boston game where he staretd and had 10 points and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes. He managed to block a shot in 5 of his 6 games for the month, and came up with three blocks against both the Clippers and the Spurs despite playing 12 and 14 minutes respectively. His per36 numbers are also impressive, 8.2 PPG, 10.6 RPG and 3.8 BPG.

BAD: He struggles a lot more offensively than he should. Extremely athletic and aggressive going towards the basket, taking away his 10 points from the Boston game he averaged just 2.4 points per game for the month.




17.8 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 2.7 APG | 0.8 SPG | 0.2 BPG
BAD: Ok, so his numbers are not terrible but they did drop virtually across the board in March and April. He only managed to score 20 or more in two of his six games, and struggled hugely against San Antonio finishing with 11 while his opponent Ginobili torched him the entire game. He finished with 19 against Boston but started extremely slow, and that was basically the story of his month. When he starts well he puts up impressive numbers, when he starts slowly he often still catches up as the game wears on but often on poor shooting percentages and when the game is virtually out of reach. Defensively his effort needs to improve, at times he looks undersized and struggles staying in front of people but this might just be the result of a lack of fitness and playing big minutes for an entire season.

GOOD: McCants has been the cornerstone of this team from day one, and will continue to start at shooting guard going into next season. Hopefully he regains his shooting touch in the off-season and the team can bring in some offensive help via the draft.


5.5 PPG | 9.0 RPG | 0.8 APG | 0.3 SPG | 4.2 BPG
BAD: Dwayne Jones is possibly the most frustrating player on the entire team. He has the potential to be basically a 7 foot tall Ben Wallace, and has single handedly dragged the team back into games with his defensive effort alone. His rebounding went to hell in March/April, he hit double digits in rebounds three times out of six games but only barely, and against the Spurs for the first time in his career scored more points (6) than he had boards (5). He is 27 years old and mid-way through the season was looking like a lock to start in the middle for the team next season, but now it is beginning to look more and more doubtful. If there is a big man in the draft or in free agency who can make more of an impact, he might just struggle to keep his spot.

GOOD: His shot blocking for the month was amazing. It was the Dwayne Jones of old, blocking 5 shots against the Clippers, 4 against the Bulls and 3 against the Spurs.

[Mark.]

Can I marry Gelabale? Nice writing there, amping for the offseason

[J@3]

RASHAD McCANTS
McCants is probably the sole reason the team has been successful as it is. The biggest worry going into this was not having a consistent scorer to rely on, but McCants has definitely filled that role. To add to that, he is still young enough to make some genuine improvement and lift his game to another level. His contract is expiring this off-season and he has shown a willingness to negotiate with the Claws, it looks like he may get the pay-day he deserves.


MICKAEL GELABALE
On the team because he's a cool looking guy who is long and sort of athletic, Gelabale played one game at SF and was basically rotting on the bench until he was given a shot starting at Power Forward after a Stromile Swift injury. From then on he has owned that position, averaging around 17 points per game for the season and improving his rebounding and shot blocking as the season progresses. The biggest, and best surprise of the season by far.


DWAYNE JONES
For all the credit Rashad McCants and Mickael Gelabale gets for the teams surprising 7 win season, Dwayne Jones' play inside, especially early in the season, was a huge factor in it as well. Good for 10 rebounds and 3 blocks virtually every game, no one expected this sort of production out of a guy who was basically unwanted in the league. Unfairly snubbed in all of the All-Defense teams, Jones allowed Gelabale to flourish because he was able to make up for his defensive and rebounding short-comings.


JAMES WHITE
The NLSC's favourite son, James White consistently made an impact coming off the Claws bench all season long. While Maurice Ager's form was up and down, White remained steady and showed himself to be a capable first option for the bench unit. Defense is the only reason he was unable to usurp Darius Miles from the starting line-up, James is guaranteed to be offered another contract heading into the Claws second season.


1st Place: RASHAD McCANTS
2nd Place: James White
3rd Place: Gabe Pruitt


1st Place: MICKAEL GELABALE
2nd Place: Dwayne Jones
3rd Place: Stromile Swift


RASHAD McCANTS 55 points vs Toronto
McCants set a career high 55 points against the Toronto Raptors, shooting 23/39 from the field and obliterating an already weakened Toronto line-up. It was also the second highest scoring game in the NBA for the season, with LeBron James' 57 point effort the only one to beat it


DWAYNE JONES 7 blocks vs Cleveland
Despite the fact that this effort came in a loss, it was really the first time the Claws had ever challenged a team and it was solely because of Jones' amazing 15 rebounds, 7 block effort against a formidable front court in Shaquill O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.


MAURICE AGER 16 points, 5 rebounds in 12 minutes vs Phoenix
The Claws were down by 5 points heading into half time in this game, but Maurice Ager exploded in the third quarter and set up what was eventually an 11 point win. Not only is 16 points a huge effort in such limited time, but 5 rebounds for a shooting guard in 12 minutes is fantastic.

[JaoSming]

Swift and Payton? The bash-brothers? I love it

Great writeups

[The X]

A closet Mighty Ducks 2 fan like me perhaps

[Valor]

Nice recaps to sum up the season as a whole

Whats with Chris BOsh averaging 14 rebounds a game? and Rajon Rondo with 11.6 apg?
Stats are so inflated in your dynasty

Good luck in the offseason, hopefully you can pick up someone good despite all the restrictions

[kibaxx7]

Whats with Chris BOsh averaging 14 rebounds a game? and Rajon Rondo with 11.6 apg?
Stats are so inflated in your dynasty

That's happening to me too, Bosh was around 16 and Rondo close to 13.

[J@3]

I'm thinking the answer to this is a no but I'll ask anyway; is there any way to edit created team jerseys once they're already in association mode? I wouldn't mind updating them a bit for next season but I can't seem to find any way to do it.

[JaoSming]

nope, but you could just start over and assign the players you were able to get to resign with you when you recreate the team

[J@3]

True, though then I'd also have to edit every other team in the league that sucks, I made some kick ass looking black versions of the jersey

[kibaxx7]

Surely I'm wrong, Jao will clear it up for me, but can't you take the team ID from here and replace the jerseys?

EDIT: Oh, it's Xbox 360

[J@3]

I don't think you can do that on the 360.

[JaoSming]

well, it would be toooo too hard since you got all the transactions laid out already

biggest problem would be the draft, but if you "restarted" you could use a real draft class this time