by JaoSming on Mon May 27, 2019 11:14 am
After the Celtics got eliminated I started up a MyGM, fantasy draft with no duplicates. Got a heck of a team with Bill Russell, AD, Lillard, Kawhi, Conley, Peja, Petrovic, Korver, Allan Houston, plus Marcus freakin Smart.
I play with full 12 minute sim and played games, BUT, I SimCast into the 4th quarter on all TV & Division games with everything else getting straight up simulated.
After any fantasy draft I run a scrimmage to get used to the team. I play with one side for 5 minutes, then 5 minutes with the other side. Great way to get used to the players you drafted.
I also immediately setup the mentorships. Which got Houston bronze Limitless by the end of the season.
The MyGM shenanigans meshed well with this roster. I had Lillard and Conley fighting for starting positions, and then Petrovic and Houston doing the same. Each time I promised the starting position since the four were so similarly rated, and it kept their moral high.
Then Kawhi & AD wanted extensions....and with lovely fantasy draft salaries restricted by the hard cap, I had to make room to lock those two in....they were by far the most consistent players for me. So the salary dumps started with Conley, and then running through the bench for anyone over $12 million. Made room for the two extensions, but dropped the chemistry hard. I did end up trading for Kemp though, who was HUGE for the team despite the lower OVR, especially when I was playing in the 4th. Combining an easier training schedule and focusing on chemistry saved that though.
So the tactic of playing division games paid off and I snuck in with the 7th seed. Ended up sweeping the first round, then went 6 with the Knicks, and 7 against MJ & the Pistons to get into the finals...with the Thunder waiting who have Parish, Pippen, Josh Smith, and 2 wins on me in the regular season, since they were TV games.
Game 4 of the Finals, down 2-1, Lillard is going off from 3 in the SimCast but we're down 25 with 10 left. I jump in just to get a grasp of who I want to keep from the bench in the offseason.... and Lillard just can't miss. Contested, moving, just STUPID shots, and they're hitting. Commentary starts talking about Klay's 3 point playoff record, and then Lillard takes it with 6 minutes left and 15 points behind.... so I hit more, and more, takeovers and not. Getting doubled from 3, so easy buckets for everyone else....down 7 with a minute left. Down 3 with 10 left... Lillard OPEN 3 and hits with 0.2 left to force OT.
And then Josh Smith & Pippen happen. Lillard gets to 62, one behind MJ's playoff points record, but I get the L by 7.... seeing the garbage players come in has never been so deflating for me, even though that's why I jumped into the game to begin with. It's been so long since I've played a game that had me yelling and numb at the same time, literally mistiming shots because I was so jittery. The damn crowd being so loud, the commentary going on about the importance of not letting it get to 3-1, the records, just the INTENSITY....man.
It's been a while since I've gotten this invested, had to share. I highly recommend trying this, the personality clashes, lack of salary space, and just silly lineups like the Suns' Nash, Giannis, Porzingis, AND Yao, it's just a lot of fun. The first scrimmage really helps get a feel for the team, and the SimCast into the 4th let's the team play differently in crunch time (I cannot use Bill Russell effectively, yet he's a simulation beast) and let me play a good 5-6 games per session.