Swoosh's SA Franchise

[Swoosh]

Decided to start a franchise with SA, andrews updated rosters v1.10, no fantasy draft, playin' 8min quarters on all star, 82 games, think i play about one third of the games, mostly against better teams, rest is simulated,no player lock, i decided not to make any trades(definately not until the end of november),i just kept jackson on the roster and also signed chris withney, so this is what the roster looks like:

C - Nestrovic
PF - Duncan
SF - Bowen/Turkoglu
SG - Ginobili
PG - Parker

Bench: Rose,Horry,Mercer,Willis,Jackson,Witney
Injury list: Carter,Smith and one more guy

Well first game was already against top favourite LA Lakers(@ LA), with their allstar line-up, popp decides to start bowen over turkoglu cuz he had good work outs and played well last season and was given the though assignment to guard k8be troughout most of the game, SA won the game 137 - 104, though the outcome doesnt show it, the first half was extremely close(actually this LA plays very intelligent and is very fun to play against), SA's depth determined the outcome, they were able to divide their PT so their starting five wasnt worn out the 4th quarter, noticable was SA's play was far better with parker on the field then with their backup, Ginobili(gonna refer to him as "gibs", it's shorter and i kinda like it ), was POY with 28pts 9ass and 5bl, TD had a double-double 23pts and 11boards, parker dished 11, also noticable were Jackson's 10pts in just 8min and in the fourt quarter Horry destroided his former team with crucial(made the gap to 20pts difference)two 3pt'ers. Kobe had the game high 29pts, shaq had 20, payton scored 16 and had 8dimes.

Short reaction/analysis after the game from Robert Horry:
Question:"Hey Robert, what a game, first half real close but in the second LA was blown away..."
RH: "Yeah,first half was really difficult,especially kobe who was on fire but in the second half bruce kinda figured out how to slow him down and we just got rollin' that time, all our 3's were fallin' and the bench really gave the knockout punch, ron,stephen and myself all made some threes and LA seemed to can only stand there and watch the shots go in, they got a little tired in the end cuz their bench didn't bring anything so they were forced to stay on the field and i guezz their concentration kinda faded"
Question: "Must feel really good to defeat your former team?"
RH: "Yeah, it's great i really wanted to win this one and the guys and popp knew so we went for it and we won..."
Question: " Tnx, robert..."µ

Hope u enjoyed the first report, of course not every game is gonna be so detailed, ill probably play a cuple of games and then post again, lemme know if u enjoy it, any reactions and suggestions are welcome

[Drex]

Seems like a nice franchise. Keep it up.

[Bill Russell]

lol, I was quoted,

[Swoosh]

Ok, yesterday i also played the second game against the reshaped GS Warriors(isn't that ur favourite Tales?), the game went in OT and SA won the game 139 - 136, with the spurs havin' way more trouble with the young and atlethic warriors than the more older lakers of the previous game, it was clear that they couldn't outrun the warriors, led by a fierce Nick VE, who scored 20pts and had 24(!!)assists,also the young mike dunleavy proved his worth(after the shipping of Antwan too make room for him)by leading the team in scoring with 24pts. For the spurs TD had to take the team on his back, scoring 41pts combined with 10boards together with POY Tony Parker who had 29pts,19ass and 4 bls, it seems like this tandem is going to be heart of this team, gibs was ice cold the whole game accept late in the 4th he made an important three pointer bring the spurs back within range 114-115, the warriors led almost entirely in the fourth quarter but bowen fired a last second three to tie the game 117-117, in overtime NVE again sparked the warriors but there was no stopping Duncan who led his team to victory.

A very short reaction by TD himself:
Questioner: "Tim, for the second game in row a very tight and tiring game i presume?"
TD : "Yeah, it was clear we couldnt outrun this guys like the lakers, they are a very atlethic team and they put up one hell of a fight, led by Nick who really gave our defense a very hard time, but in the end we pulled throuhg and im just glad we got the win"
Q:"Okay tnx Tim"

[Swoosh]

Just a short post to say i'm probably gonna stop posting for my SA franchise already , in a good week or two or so school is gonna start and so i wont be around and i dont have a cpu on my studentroom, so i solely would be able to play in the weekends but in the weekends i have other stuff to do, since im only a day or two at home, and in the two weeks before school starts i got lots of things to take care of so the next time i will start a serious franchise it will probably be in live 2004

[Andrew]

Speed up the process by simming to the playoffs, then guide the Spurs to the title.

[Bill Russell]

Yeah, just make something out of this thread,

[Swoosh]

I still played the third game though , the outcome was a 102 - 110 win for SA(me ), im gonna make this a short post though, POY was TD with 31pts, 5rebs,6bloks,2ass. Gibs was way better this time, he shot 4/6 3's with the first three straight, Rasho was solid with 16pts and 10 boards. Best man with toronto was VC with 28pts, hard to contain offensively but he had no rebs and only one ass or so, and also a big game from alvin williams with 21pts en 12 ass. The franchise is going great so i might play a cuple games before im gonna sim to the playoffs, ill keep u guys informed

[Andrew]

If you have the time, sim to the All-Star break, play the ASG, then sim to the playoffs. If you run short on time when you reach the playoffs, I suggest simulating to the Finals, playing games if you're in danger of being eliminated.

[Swoosh]

I figured im gonna play each team once and simulate the rest(play the all star game and like u said sim most of the playoff games). We got another win, this time the outcome was 114 - 123, again a really fun game, minny leading almost the entire first half, led by especially sprewell and BIG sixth man troy hudson, who had 23 and 19 pts respectively(in the entire game), troy shot 4/6 3's, but in the end we managed to get the win, POY was TD with 24pts 14rebs 5bl and 2 ass, gibs also was big with 24 pts 3steals and 5ass, rasho also contributed 20pts. My overall record is 5-2 now(i simmed cuple of games and those games were lost, one of them against memphis).
Well in the first half it became clear that im having quite some difficulties at the SF spot and no real backup for TP, so i decided im going to try and trade(im not sure but there is a big chance). I seem to have the impression the team is a little better with Turkoglu on the field but bowen really is a valuable 3pt-threat and defender(against minny wally was almost instoppable when bowen wasnt on the field), im gonna post my roster again to make things clearer :

Starters : bench(how i use them):

C - Nestrovic Willis/Rose
PF - Duncan Horry/Rose
SF - Bowen/Turkoglu Mercer/Rose
SG - Ginobili S. Jackson/Mercer
PG - Parker White

The guys on the injury list dont get any PT. TD, TP and Gibs are the only untouchables,and it is obvious i have a quite a jam at the PF spot, Rose doesnt get much PT and im thinking about trading him cuz Horry is a better shooter and outside threat, and their contracts are similar, though rose is younger so it could very well be that Horry is the man to get rid of(doesnt really matter to me, though i like horry). Mercer also gets little PT, though he brings some athletism but has a lack of range compared to both bowen and Turkoglu. So the main candidates for being traded are definately rose and mercer, that could include some other players.
Now im thinking to trade for or a better SF, or better backup at C(could be a tall PF)or PG.
My first thought was to trade for Pip but his contract is too high so that wont work, so i thought of trading for Butler of the heat. Another trade i had in mind was trading for Chandler(he can play PF and C and would probably start over Rasho). Also the thought of trading for mike miller occured to me,I dont really have an idea for a second PG, anyone any suggestions?

[sirg]

i'd say pick up tony delk. he's pretty good and won't break your cap.

[Andrew]

Rod Strickland is a pretty good veteran alternative.

[Blaz]

How about trying to pick up Rafer Alston ..
I can play with him well in my franchise .. sometimes i putted him in starting lineup and he handed that well, best game was something like 40 points [making 6/12 from the 3 point line] and 10 assist ..

Just a suggest..

[Swoosh]

Tnx guys ! I'll consider them all
Btw i tried out a deal already but i didnt save it, 2 trades(tried to keep them fair):
SA - M. Rose and Turkoglu
for
NO - D. Armstrong and Stacey Augmon

SA - Mercer and Augmon
for
Jazz - Harpring and amaechi

my overall rating went from 13th to 9th, played one quarter with the team but they didnt play as fluidly as my former, could be just an impression though

[Swoosh]

So i didnt save the last trade but i made a new one, which im much more happy about
SA trades Horry and Turkoglu for Miami's Butler and Wade, i played the game SA - NJ ,very exciting game, we won in OT with 128-127, POY : TD with 34pts,13rebs,6blks,7ass. He was helped greatly by Rasho who had 26pts 14boards 7blocks and 5 dimes(talking about twin towers ), TP played solid with 18pts and 8ass. The nets put up a great fight, led by J-Kidd with 36pts(6 3's ) and 9dimes, Mourning was practically unstoppable when on the field(shooting 12/17 or something)with 25pts, but he and K-Mart got into foul trouble. The Butler trade was good for defense, he totally shut down jefferson the first half, second half mostly played by bowen and jefferson caught fire, but i like the way i can use bowen as a 3pt-threath from the bench now while having a legitimate scorer on the field who can take it to the rim. Tryin' to keep u guys updated

[Swoosh]

Ok, played another game, a 7min quarter though, to get my stats down a little , the outcome was a SA-win 108-82, philly didnt put up much of a fight, kinda standing on the field and shooting lots of treys.
Duncan was POY(again) with 26 pts, 18(!)rebs(8off!),3bl and 3ass combined with 2steals, doing most of his damage in the first 5mins of the game(grabbin' at least 3off rebs). Gibs also poured in for 16pts,4ass and 2ass, but tony sparked the spurs with 15pts and 11ass(league-leading 10apg). For philly AI was unstoppable in the first half with 17pts and then only scored 5 so he ended up with 21.
My record is 7-2 now, played 5 teams, 24 to go (and then the all star game and maybe cuple games more to keep spurs in playoffs).
Next up are lebron and his cavs, davis is the leading scorer while while lebron takes care of the distrubuting of the ball, though the cavaliers signed tim hardaway who gives them some extra experience and a very dangerous outside threat. Think they gonna put up a hell of a fight , keepin' u updated

[Swoosh]

Just another sidenote, the trade i made really balanced my team, but you can say from butler that he is underachieving at the least, 5ppg and 2apg, i still mostly use bowen, im thinking of moving butler to the bench and starting bowen again ,wade is doing much better,though steve smith made it clear to popp that he wants to play again and is going for the 12th spot on the active roster, wade could probably end up on the injury list if steve smith is on the run

[Bill Russell]

Looks funny so far, , keep us updated man,

[Swoosh]

The big game against the cavs has been played, sadly, it was an very uninteresting game, the cavs fallin' behind from the start(if this is any indication irl, the cavs better start to worry ), POY was TD with 29pts 12rebs and 3blks, TP had 14pts and 9dimes and Bowen, who started in stead of Butler, had a real solid game with 13points,3boards and dished out 7, gibs also dished 7 and contributed 14pts.
With the Cavs, Hardaway an Davis led the way with 16pts, James had 14pts and 4 rebs(which sounds right for irl)but no assists , i expected more resistance of this young athletic team.
Next i simmed to the end of november, we lost against the lakers and won some games from the grizzlies, another time the cavs. Our record stands at 13 - 3, our next game up is against phoenix and looks to be an exciting matchup cuz the suns really gave the spurs a hard time in the playoffs last year. I'll be back with more news

[Bill Russell]

That's because your Cavs don't have Tin Dumcan & Rashweed Wallace...

[Swoosh]

Irl they dont have either so...