Fire & Ice: Speed Y4 1-1

[megarover]

He has improved his scoring immensely

[Oznogrd]

Speed take down Grizz despite 2 bad quarters
St. Louis 97 - Memphis 92

The Speed have struggled a little at home recently and tonight was no different, but they managed to eke out a win against the struggling Grizzlies. Poor shooting allowed the Grizzlies to outscore the Speed substantially in the 2nd (26-19) and 4th (28-21) quarter.

"We just cant let that happen" said coach Raoul Duke "other teams will beat us if we play that bad for half the game. This was ugly, but sometimes better lucky than good."

Team scoring leader Carlos Boozer, who once again fueled a large portion of the offense for the team commented "We just have to make sure our D steps up. We've got the scoring down, thats almost never an issue. Its just making sure we get enough stops on the other end to allow all the scoring to matter."

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
45 pts 6 reb 4 ast
Another ridiculous amount of Offense out of Booz.

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 22 pts 6 reb 2 ast 2 stl 3 blk
Ricky Rubio 16 pts 2 reb 18 ast 1 blk

Notable Grizzlies Performances
Dirk Nowitzki 21 pts 6 reb 3 ast 4 blk
OJ Mayo 16 pts 7 ast
Rudy Gay 15 pts 10 reb 3 ast 1 stl
Brandon Rush 14 pts 4 ast 1 stl

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Had no idea Rubio could dunk. Seriously.

Up Next: Can the Speed rebuild their winning streak by going through the Trailblazers next?

[Justine.]

Rubio passing, scoring, and now dunking?? Wtf.

[megarover]

I know he had a shot but now he can get up. The world is in hands.

[Martti.]

Yeah, his legs look like an inch thick.

[Oznogrd]

So here's the deal folks: i played alot more games than I wrote up...only 1 is simmed and im already to the all star game. So heres some quick recaps since the Grizzlies Game!

Speed fall at the Buzzer
St. Louis 95 - Portland 96

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 36 Points 6 reb 1 stl
Kevin Love 24 pts 5 reb 1 blk
Rashad Mccants 14 pts 1 reb 3 ast
Trevor Ariza 10 pts 3 reb 2 ast 2 stl 2 blk
Ricky Rubio 2 pts 1 reb 19 ast 2 stl 1 blk

Notable Blazers Performances
Lamarcus Aldridge 30 pts 3 reb 2 ast 1 stl 2 blk
Brandon Roy 19 pts 1 reb 6 ast 1 stl
Rudy Fernandez 12 pts 1 reb 1 ast
Joakim Noah 11 pts 12 reb 3 ast 1 stl 3 blk

Lakers Dominate Speed
St. Louis 98 - Los Angeles 108

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 35 pts 5 reb 8 ast 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 22 pts 2 reb 14 ast 1 stl
Kevin Love 14 pts 4 ast 1 blk
Stromile Swift 10 pts 2 reb 1 ast

Notable Lakers Performances
Kobe Bryant 23 pts 1 reb 3 ast 1 blk
Andrew Bynum 20 pts 11 reb 2 ast 2 blk
JR Giddens 11 pts 3 ast 1 stl
Lamar Odom 10 pts 2 reb 3 ast 1 blk
Ron Artest 10 pts 3 ast
Pau Gasol 10 pts 5 reb 6 ast
Jordan Farmar 8 pts 1 reb 12 ast

Speed rebound easily against Clippers
St. Louis 96 - Los Angeles 74

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 21 pts 11 reb 2 ast 1 stl
Kevin Love 12 pts 5 reb 1 ast 1 stl
Ricky Rubio 7 pts 8 ast 1 stl (12 min of play, i got up that early)

Notable Clippers Performances
Ramon Sessions 16 pts 4 reb
Al Mullin 11 pts 3 reb 1 stl
Baron Davis 10 pts 11 ast 1 stl
Blake Griffin 10 pts 7 reb 2 ast 1 stl 4 blk

SIMMED GAME:
Speed outlast Mavs despite weak 4th
St. Louis 70 - Dallas 68

Notable Speed Performances
Rashad Mccants 15 pts 3 reb
Kevin Love 13 pts 3 reb 3 ast 1 stl 3 blk
Carlos Boozer 12 pts 7 reb 2 ast 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 6 pts 4 reb 10 ast 3 stl

Notable Mavericks Performances
Jason Terry 16 pts 3 reb 1ast 1 stl
Rodney Stuckey 13 pts 6 reb 5 ast
Josh Childress 11 pts 1 reb 1 ast


Up Next: Midseason Player Evals, All Star Teams and Around the League recap! (Not going to bother with stats except on my player evaluations)

[Oznogrd]

Around the League Recap

Eastern Conference Standings
1. St. Louis Speed 16-3
2. Chicago Bulls 11-6
3. Miami Heat 16-11
4. Toronto Raptors 11-8
5. Cleveland Cavaliers 10-8
6. Orlando Magic 11-9
7. Indiana Pacers 9-8
8. Boston Celtics 10-10
9. Philadelphia 76ers 9-11
10. Washington Wizards 8-19
11. Atlanta Hawks 7-9
12. New York Knicks 9-13
13. Charlotte Bobcats 7-13
14. Milwaukee Bucks 3-13
15. Detroit Pistons 6-17

Western Conference Standings
1. Oklahoma City Thunder 14-5
2. San Antonio Spurs 12-7
3. Portlant Trailblazers 13-8
4. Golden State Warriors 11-9
5. Los Angeles Lakers 10-9
6. Houston Rockets 11-10
7. Minnesota Timberwolves 12-11
8. Dallas Mavericks 11-12
9. Memphis Grizzlies 11-12
10. Denver Nuggets 8-9
11. Los Angeles Clippers 10-12
12. Utah Jazz 10-12
13. Phoenix Suns 9-11
14. Sacramento Kings 8-11
15. New Orleans Hornets 7-13

AWARD RACES
MVP
Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer, Ricky Rubio, Lee Jennings, Kevin Love

Rookie of the Year
Al Mullin, Stuart Schulz, Tudor Eminescu, Casey Shaw, Chester Cassell

Sixth Man of the Year
Jason Kidd, Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers, Earl Clark, Ramon Sessions

Defensive Player of the Year
Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Joakim Noah, Andrew Bynum

Most Improved Player
Acie Law, Danilo Gallinari, Julian Wright, Earl Clark, Marreese Speights

[Oznogrd]

All Star Teams Announced

Eastern Conference
PG RIcky Rubio
SG Dwyane Wade
SF Lebron James
PF Carlos Boozer
C Dwight Howard
Bench
PG Gilbert Arenas
SG Andre Iguodala
SF Danny Granger
PF Kevin Garnett
C Shaquille O'Neal
PF Chris Bosh
PF Michael Beasley

Western Conference
PG Chris Paul
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Kevin Durant
PF Amare Stoudemire
C Al Jefferson
Bench
PG Deron Williams
SG Brandon Roy
SF Rudy Gay
PF Dirk Nowitzki
C David Lee
PG Tony Parker
PF Lamarcus Aldridge

[Oznogrd]

Mid-Season Player Evaluations

So you guys know the drill by now. Every player, Good, Bad, ugly and a grade...LETS DO IT!

Ricky Rubio
13.3 PPG 1.5 RPG 18.8 APG 1.5 SPG .6 BPG 2.2 TOPG
The Good: Lowest Turnover rates ever, highest scoring ever, Better assists than ever, and higher steals than ever...Finally developed a jumpshot and can make teams pay for the double on carlos.
The Bad: Has some off nights where he doesnt do much of anything on any side of the ball
The Ugly: Is sorta not used to the double team coming to him...needs to pass out of the double team quicker
Grade: A...improved in every way and still an assist machine: Best improvement and it was much needed

Rashad McCants
5.5 PPG 1.2 RPG 2.5 APG .8 SPG
The Good: His assists are up and he's defensively more sound than he used to be.
The Bad: Scoring numbers are pretty substantially down...but that's not necessarily a bad thing
The Ugly: Misses on the fast break too often. Has to put those down if he wants the possessions to come his way.
Grade: B. Serviceable and a great wingman, but still a little bit lacking on D and chokes on the break a little too often to get an A

Morris Peterson
2.8 PPG (only state above a .5)
The Good: HIs Scoring is up despite a severe lack of minutes
The bad: is complaining about his lack of minutes
The ugly: comes in for bits of the game and does nothing more often than not. Has to prove he can be an option offense now that rubio can shoot
Grade: D: needs to show some more court efficiency if he wants more minutes

Arron Afflalo
1.1 ppg .8 rpg .7 apg
The Good: Does his job as a lock down defender when he comes in: which is why the Speed picked him up in the first place
The Bad: does next to nothing anywhere else
The Ugly: Chokes on the fast break regularly...whats the point of getting past the d if you're gonna miss the lay in?
Grade: C-: needs to show some offensive prowess to get more minutes but is great on the defensive end, keeping him out of the D range

Luke Walton
.9 Ppg .8 RPG
The Good: Not alot, isnt a slouch but doesnt contribute much either
The Bad: Stats are way down
The Ugly: has done nothing to earn that starting spot after playing so well 2 years ago
Grade: D. Show us something sunshine, We're waiting

Trevor Ariza
5.9 PPG, 2.5 rpg 1.0 APg .8 spg .8 Bpg
The Good: an all around player, speedy, strong d, and knows his job other times. Has started going to the basket with force on the break: giving him an increase in scoring compared to last year
The Bad: disappears for 3 game stretches
The Ugly: When he's bad, he's horrid. Looks like a d-league some nights
Grade: C: With a little consistency would be a solid B, but not in danger of losing his starting spot to anyone on the team.

Kevin Love
16.8 PPG 4.4 RPG 1.2 APG .9 SPG 1.3 BPG
The Good: Getting better every day at everything, Knows when to pass it up and when to take it to the hole
The Bad: Still pretty soft, Needs to show dominance in the post with is ability
The Ugly: When he starts missing shots, it gets in his head. Has to just lay in easy stuff rather than trying to finesse bigger/stronger guys.
Grade: B. Been a great pickup for the Speed and is great when Boozer has an off night. Definitely an integral part of the team.

Russ Haywood
.8 ppg 3.1 apg
The Good: Great passer for a rookie, is getting better at defense monthly
The bad: doesnt do shit else
The ugly: .250 FG% and thats on open shots from the double team usually. Just ugly.
Grade: C-: needs some more offensive prowess but is still young and has time to grow.

Dennis Grove
2.4 PPG .6 RPG
The Good: he shoots granny shot FTs. FUCKING GRANNY SHOTS!!!
The Bad: Still very raw and doesnt seem to be developing much.
The Ugly: knew he wasnt going to get alot of minutes and still bitches about it
Grade D-: seriously, the scoring and granny shots are the only thing keeping him from a fail.

Chris Mihm
4.4 PPG 2.3 RPG .6 SPG .7 BPG
The Good: As Solid as ever
The Bad: with severely less minutes, scoring has steeply declined
The Ugly: forgets to play D some nights.
Grade C-: with the limited minutes you cant really ask for more out of him but its sad to see this much of a drop from a 3rd Team All NBAer only 2 years ago.

Stromile Swift
9.2 PPG 1.7 RPG .7 APG .5 SPG .8 BPG
The Good: Still a scoring threat despite slashed minutes, also still a defensive threat
The Bad: Not quite as powerful as he was the past 2 years. Needs to get that swagger back.
The Ugly: Seriously, Love goes to the basket as hard as he does now. What Happened to the powerful MIP and team MVP from two years ago? WE MISS SURGE
Grade B: due to the severe minutes slash his lack of stats is unsurprising and keeps him as a B: being that productive in about 1/4 of the minutes he used to get? Awesome.

Carlos Boozer
36.2 PPG 6.4 RPG 2.6 APG .7 SPG .7 BPG
The Good: With Rubio's sudden discovery of his shot, Boozer has learned to pass, and doesnt have to shoulder the load every single night. His rebounding numbers are also up from last year. Very possible MVP Candidate with Ricky
The Bad: His D is lacking again: his blocks and steals are down. He needs to dominate on both ends of the floor, not just on Offense
The Ugly: still occasionally goes weak to the Basket: THROW IT DOWN: show them who they're messing with
Grade A: not quite an A+ due to some bad nights but a great season nonetheless.

[Dee.]

36 ppg for boozer and 18 apg for rubio,you're cheesing man.

[dare]

Boozer has 36 PPG but only has 6 RPG, I wanted him to have at least 10

[Oznogrd]

Speed win 1st game back after All Star Break
St. Louis 103 - Golden State 89

In their first game since the All-Star break, the St. Louis Speed looked refreshed and once again like the team to beat in the NBA. Although they started slow, the Speed oustcored the Warriors with a combination of fast break points and three point shooting. Many weren't sure if the Speed could beat the Warriors since they've recently struggled with athletic sharp-shooting teams. The Speed decided to become their own achilles heel tonight as they ran the Warriors ragged and shot 5-7 from 3 pt land.

"It was a good night" said team captain and star point guard Ricky Rubio "Not our best, we missed some easy opportunities and stuff throughout the game. But we got the win and that's what matters."

The game didn't come without a price though as Kevin Love came down awkardly from a block and twisted his ankle. The training staff expects him to be affected for 4 days which will include games against Utah and Oklahoma City.

"I'm gonna try to play through it" said Love "It hurts, but i want to be out there helping us win. If i can't be, i totally trust Chris and Surge to fill in for me"

The Speed continue their goal to achieve a #1 seed for the playoffs and possibly have one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history.

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
41 pts 7 reb 4 ast 3 blk
All over the place and the main offense once again Boozer gets PotG

Notable Speed Performances
Ricky Rubio 13 pts 16 ast 4 stl
Rashad Mccants 9 pts 4 reb 1 ast
Chris Mihm 8 pts 6 reb 3 ast

Notable Warriors Performances
Montae Ellis 24 pts 3 reb 8 ast 2 stl
Raja Bell 13 pts 1 reb 5 ast 2 stl 1 blk
Anthony Randolph 12 pts 5 reb 2 ast 2 stl 4 blk
Andris Biedriens 12 pts 13 reb 1 ast 7 blk
Stepeh nCurry 10 pts 2 ast
Paul Pierce 10 pts 1 reb 5 ast

Screenshots or It Didnt Happen Images of the Game

Ariza serving up a layup to the Warriors.

Up Next: Can the Speed keep up with Utah after a back and forth game with the Warriors?

[shadowgrin]

Why do I have the feeling the Oznogrd hates his team...

[Oznogrd]

Why do I have the feeling the Oznogrd hates his team...

What makes you say that?

I really do enjoy rubio...and boozer...but the rest of them get on my nerves lol

[megarover]

Why do I have the feeling the Oznogrd hates his team...

I was thinking the same thing. Its usually the Rubio and Boozer show.

[Oznogrd]

I can't help the rest of them cant be trusted

[Oznogrd]

So I beat fallout 3 and finally decided to catch up on my dynasty here.Going to post quick recaps for these three games (played Utah and PHX, Simmed OKC). After this im gonna resume full out written recaps but its gonna take me a game or two to remember how to play obviously.

Jazz 36 in 4th leads to blowout Win
St. Louis 79 - Utah 99

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 30 pts 6 reb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 15 pts 3 reb 20 ast 1 stl
Kevin Love 14 pts 2 reb 1 ast 1 stl 4 blk

Notable Jazz Performances
Kosta Koufos 20 pts 12 reb 2 ast 2 stl 2 blk
Ronnie Brewer 16 pts 1 reb 4 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Stuart Schultz 12 pts 5 reb 2 ast 2 stl 4 blk
Brandan Wright 12 pts 6 reb 6 blk
Paul Millsap 11 pts 5 reb 2 blk
Deron Williams 9 pts 11 ast

SIMMED:
Despite Low Score Speed Eke out win
St. Louis 61 - Oklahoma City 59

Notable Speed Performances
Trevor Ariza 13 pts 3 reb 2 ast 4 stl
Carlos Boozer 13 pts 9 reb 2 asat 1 stl

Notable Thunder Performances
Kevin Durant 17 pts 6 reb 3 ast 1 blk
Jeff Green 10 pts 4 reb 3 ast 1 stl


Phoenix defeats #1 Speed with Strong 3rd quarter
St. Louis 101 - Phoenix 109

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 32 pts 3 reb 4 ast
Carlos Boozer 30 pts 9 reb 2 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 21 pts 1 reb 14 ast 1 stl 1 blk

Notable Suns Performances
Aaron Brooks 22 pts 2 reb 4 ast
Al Thornton 21 pts 1 reb 3 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Steve Nash 18 pts 1 reb 15 ast 1 stl
Amare Stoudemire 10 pts 7 reb 2 ast 3 stl 1 blk


Up Next: Can the Speed stop this sudden rash of losses against the Raptors?

[dare]

a 20 point loss and a low scoring game, you really forgot how to play this game

[Oznogrd]

a 20 point loss and a low scoring game, you really forgot how to play this game

Well to be fair the low scorer was simmed

Also: the 20 point loss? all in the 4th...was outscored 36-11...fucking turrible as barkley would say.

[megarover]

A rare loss THIS season for this team. It seems your reverting back to your old ways

[Oznogrd]

Speed Clinch Playoff Spot by holding off Bosh and Bargnani
St. Louis 98 - Toronto 91

When Chris Bosh got 2 fouls early in the first quarter a smirk showed up on Carlos Boozer's face. As Bosh rode the pine, Boozer started scoring on his replacement. As the 2nd rolled around, Bosh picked up another early foul and had to sit for the 2nd quarter also.

Despite the foul trouble, the Raptors managed to keep it close to to hot shooting from Andrea Bargnani despite their All-Star power forward not being in the game. Unfortunately, Bargnani's hot night wasnt enough to cool of Carlos Boozer or Kevin Love and the Raptors eventually fell to the Speed who got out to a 12 point lead that would prove insurmountable
in the third

Speed Coach Raoul Duke had this to say "Well, we were happy to have Bosh sitting about half the game but it shouldn't take that for us to get a win. The Raptors played hard and we managed to pull it out, but we had a great night out of our bigs. We need our backcourt to step up the scoring just a little bit.

Carlos Boozer laughed a little bit at the suggestion "When me and Kevin score 65 by ourselves, the backcourt doesnt have to do much. I mean, Ricky fed us 24 assists, Tervor had 3 more, and even Rashad had 2. Thats contributing and we're ok shouldering the scoring load if it results in a win."

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
40 pts 7 reb 1 ast 2 stl 1 blk
Boozer returned to his old ways after a few games off scoring 40 and only missing 6 shots total in the game

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 25 pts 3 reb 2 stl 3 blk
Ricky Rubio 9 pts 24 ast 3 stl

Notable Raptors Performances
Andrea Bargnani 24 pts 4 reb 1 ast 2 stl 2 blk
Chris Bosh 19 pts 5 reb 2 ast 3 blk
Ruben Andrews 12 pts 2 ast 1 stl
Michael Conley 9 pts 4 reb 13 ast 2 stl

Screenshots or it Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Rashad McCants makes a late 3 in the 4th to help the Speed hold off the Raptors

Up Next: The Speed have clinched a playoff berth but the #1 seed is still theirs to lose: can they continue their bid for homecourt advantage aganst the Rockets?

[kibaxx7]

In your sig you say "Oz' association fail", but its longevity is 10x than mine, so props for that.

Good luck against the Rockets

[megarover]

Not often does Love have such a big game especially with Boozer going off like that.

[Oznogrd]

In your sig you say "Oz' association fail", but its longevity is 10x than mine, so props for that.

Good luck against the Rockets

Lol...you dont make it hard to have 10x longevity...

Anyway: probly going to do this season..and one more tops of this team...

Then im trying to come up with fun ideas for a real team dynasty...like a Cavs if Lebron leaves or a Dallas with Lebron or something. Havent realy decided yet

Not often does Love have such a big game especially with Boozer going off like that

yeah but his layups mid range and banks were falling. I think he was trying to prove he was worth it after his ankle injury lol

[kibaxx7]

Lol...you dont make it hard to have 10x longevity...

Anyway: probly going to do this season..and one more tops of this team...

Then im trying to come up with fun ideas for a real team dynasty...like a Cavs if Lebron leaves or a Dallas with Lebron or something. Havent realy decided yet

Lol, 100x. My bad

LeBron in Texas would be nice.