Hi all, in all my efforts to actually stick to a franchise/association/MyLeague over most of my life, I have always struggled. Much like Andrew, who documented it only a few weeks ago when he went back and played over his Sacramento Kings franchise in NBA Live 2002, I start but never finish these modes, and over the past couple of years I've really struggled to attach myself to a game mode which I consider to be the best in basketball games.
In a way to combat my inconsistency with MyLeague, I thought that documenting it through avenues such as the NLSC and OperationSports forums in a way to stay motivated. I have done a few of these before, in 2K10 and 2K12, but since then haven't really been committed to a single franchise mode.
So, this is my attempt to re-invigorate my love for the mode with a team who, just my luck drafted the no.1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Ben Simmons, the team I support, the Philadelphia 76ers.
I'm not sure how consistent I will be in updates, I plan to play 2-3 games before making a new post in the forum. I'm no pro at the game, even after over 16 years of playing basketball games I won't be playing HOF. This is simply a test currently, as I have University Exams in a few weeks so posts will be scarce, but soon after I should have a lot more time to play more games and progress further.
I hope it's entertaining for some, it won't be to everyone's taste I suppose, but I thought in a way to make it more enjoyable for myself, sharing it with others may help to keep me motivated to play.
Hope you guys want to join me on this journey!
Games: 58
Quarter Length: 6 Mins (Stats/Posts to be normalised to sim quarter length of 12 mins)
Injuries: On
Playoff Sequence: 3-3-3-3
START OF SEASON
EXPECTATIONS
Seeing as this was the worst team last season, expectations won't be too high in the first year. Experience and growth will be key, with the core of Noel, Okafor, Embiid, Saric and Simmons all set to only get better with age. Though we are young, the pure talent of our front court should be able to carry us, with inside scoring being dominant due to our limited perimeter threats(which I am possibly looking to change early in the season). Playoffs will be the goal, and with such a youthful team the sooner I can get them playing competitive basketball the more chance we have to win some games. I expect us to finish somewhere around 6th-10th in the East, 6th being the best case scenario, anything above that would be a booming success.
TEAM SCRIMMAGE
I played around with the team a bit in scrimmage just to get a feel for this years team, and decided to trial something that has been discussed for the Sixers in real life, starting Ben Simmons at the PG with his exceptional passing skills. He was challenged, but mainly outplayed Jerryd Bayless in the time I played, and makes me wonder if the signing of Sergio Rodriguez may not last in Philadelphia, and trading for some more depth at SG may be a better option.
Timothe Lawawu Cabarott is raw, very raw, so raw I think I may need to acquire someone to start over him in order for us to be able to contain anyone at that position on the defensive end, as Nik Stauskas was running rings around him.
In the battle of the bigs, it's no question all four of Okafor, Embiid, Saric and Noel are worthy starters, and in order to really capatilise on our depth I've decided to change Noel's primary position to PF, which actually raised his overall by +1. Saric is a beast outside of the key, which will help immensely in improving our game from outside. The rebounding caliber of Embiid, Noel and Okafor will guarantee that no rebound will be easy for the defense, and I expect a lot of second chance points against teams without an elite front court.
LINEUP
I'm willing to trial Ben at the PG to begin the season, and run with Luwawu for now. I did get an offer of Noel for Khris Middleton, but would rather save the contract space and grow Luwawu to become more consistent and learn how to play with him. Picking between Embiid and Okafor to start at center is tough, but with Okafor already having a season under his belt and Embiid's durability still in question, I figured to keep Embiid limited to begin with and possibly mix him in with Noel later in the season. Robert Covington will get the starting role over a personal favourite of mine in Jerami Grant, just simply due to versatility on offense and ability to stretch the floor and hit outside shots, something that Luwawu and Simmons are still improving on.
I'm hoping to have the first game up tomorrow, but like I said University exams aren't too far away so my posts will be limited for the time being!