Andrew's Chicago Bulls Dynasty - November 2006

[Matthew]

Despite a tough loss, its good to see you didnt roll over without a fight. Are you encouraged or discourged with that loss? And congrats with Nocioni's selection. Is he the only bull heading to ASW?

[Andrew]

I'd say I'm encouraged, I blew it in the fourth but I played a lot better than the previous two games. As you can see from the boxscores I actually made more field goals than the Sixers but I gave up 20 free throws. During my run in January and earlier in February I was being very stingy giving up free throws. I lost that one from the line but I felt much better about the way I played.

I was also encouraged by Wagner's play, I hoped he'd be able to come in and score in bunches as he did every now and then. When Gordon's back he won't be called upon to do it as often but I still like the idea of him as a streak scorer. Pargo fills that role in real life but hasn't really done that for me in the game.

It looks like Noce is the only Bull at the All-Star Weekend, I didn't get any notices through the PDA about the dunk contest or three point shootout. Oh well, there's always next year. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about coverage of those, maybe I'll stage them in exhibition mode so I've got my own results to post. As far as I know the game won't select an injured player for the All-Star game so Gordon won't be making it in as a reserve. Hopefully he'll be healthy for the Weekend next year.

[Its_asdf]

Sucks to see that Noicioni will be the only one in the all-star game, but its pretty realistic considering that no one on the Bulls is athletic to make it to the dunk contest or anyone legitimate enough of a shooter to be in the three point contest.

[Andrew]

True...though I don't know about the Bulls being unathletic and the way virtual Gordon has been playing he would've at least qualified for the Rookie Challenge as well as Nocioni which would have been accurate (and of course in real life, Deng joined them as well).

[Matthew]

Despite a busy schedule, Beggs stopped and answered some questions

Coach Beggs, any update on the Gordon Injury?

Ben's recovery is progressing as expected and we anticipate having him back on schedule. We don't want to rush him back but Ben's a competitor, if he's cleared to play and he wants to get back in there and help us win games I won't say no. But we will still be cautious. He's a big part of our team and we don't want to lose him again once we get him back.


Are you concerned with the bulls lack of execution on the offensive end, and how will this impact the bulls run to and into the playoffs?

It's a concern but I'm not about to hit the panic button yet, we've got 30 games to go and I believe we can stay on course while Ben's out. I think it will actually be better in the team in the long run as we have relied on Ben a bit too much this year. He's delivered spectacularly but if we want to be successful we need to function as a team out there and pick up the slack for each other. So I think that's the silver lining to this particular cloud, if you'll excuse the cliche


Will anything less then a championship be a disapointment this season?

You know, it's hard to set a goal like that with such a young team but I think no matter how much success we have this season if we don't win it at all, we will be disappointed. We're in this league to win a championship. Whether you want to call us a true contender, a longshot to win it or we have no chance at all, we're going to go out there and try to win every game, try to win it all


But with the championship in mind, would you be willing to pull the trigger on a deal to make your team better in the immediate future for a better chance to win now?

I don't think we'll be making any kind of Earth-moving trades. We've reshuffled our bench a little and I believe we've added some more depth through our recent deals. I don't think we need a huge impact player. We believe in Ben and even though we want to focus more on winning as a team and not leaning too heavily on one guy, the way Ben has played this year we believe his return is going to be that boost that we need


With the team being so young, and the great strides Kemp has made, would the precense of another veteran player help this team prepare itself for the test in the playoffs?

That's why we've brought Elden in. Elden has that championship experience with the Pistons and he's become one of the league's elder statesmen. He's comfortable speaking his mind and the guys are willing to listen even though he's only been with us for a couple of weeks. On top of that, he gives us more size in the post so we're definitely happy to have him on board.


Last question, will you be back next year with the bulls?

You can never say definitely in a business like pro sports, in fact that's usually the Kiss of Death. But I want to be here next year, I'm focused on this season but I'm already enthusiastic about the years to come and if I have my way, I'll be here next season.

[Andrew]

Thanks for posting it, I think it came out pretty good. Gives me a few more ideas for our respective threads.

[Matthew]

We definately should do the press conferences every 2/3 weeks. Whens the next game?

[Andrew]

Probably sometime this week. I've got the All-Star Weekend to play through first though.

[hova-]

Im really looking forward to the ASW, I like this dynasty very much since you make it pretty realistic, not only with your sliders, but with your roster transactions and how you react after injuries, really cool !

[Mark.]

Nice press conference idea Ahhh All Star weekend, one of the biggest time wasters in Live 06 Dynasty I look forward to reading

[Matthew]

I think the ASW is one of the best parts of the Live dynasty, alot of fun events and award ceremonies. It's definately one aspect live has the advantage over the 2k series on.

[Mark.]

I think the ASW is one of the best parts of the Live dynasty, alot of fun events and award ceremonies. It's definately one aspect live has the advantage over the 2k series on.

Oh yeah, I like the actual weekend, its just a real chore when doing your dynasty, I find by the time I finish presenting it im just so glad its over so I can get on with playing games.

Although that being said, I still get soo frustrated at how crap I am at the dunk contest

[Matthew]

You think it's a chore when your in your dynasty? Wow. I think it's a great part of the dynasty, if there were just 82 games to be played (or simmed if your soft ) it gets real boring and i often would lose motivation. The ASW broke the season up quite nicely and allows you to reward some of your players by getting them some rewards. Thats just how I see it anyway.

[Mark.]

Well I enjoy to play it, and at the start of the Weekend its fun to recap it, but by the time im through it all I just want to get back onto the season, I do play a 29 game season, so the amount of time spent recaping the All Star weekend feels like half the season (thats an exageration).

But yeah, if I was playing the 82 game length, im sure id look forward to the All Star break.

[Andrew]

For me it's a nice break since I play an 82 game season and as many games of that as possible in the first year (if not all of them) and a chance to play with other players without beginning a new Dynasty or wasting time (so to speak) in Exhibition Mode.

[Mark.]

Yeah good point, it is fun to play with other players, I think one thing that really gets to me is how the sliders that are used in the All Star weekend outisde of Dynasty mode dont carry over into the All Star Weekend in Dynasty, it gets a tad annoying having the other team play lock down D all game long, of course you can change the sliders, but I still dont seem to get the desired effect...

[Andrew]

That's true but I generally tweak my sliders a bit so the CPU subs more often and the game's a bit quicker and looser. I'm also thinking of switching back and forth between the teams, perhaps at each quarter break so that everyone gets decent court time. I don't normally do that but since I won't have any Bulls in the All-Star game itself I don't have any hidden agenda as far as the MVP is concerned.

[Mark.]

Haha yeah, I usually switch Quarters, although I think this year I went East West West East since after the first quarter I realised I wanted to finish the game as the East since I had Chauncy and Ben in the game.

[Andrew]

Rookie Challenge Participants
* denotes starter

Rookies

*Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks)
*Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers)
Jose Calderson (Toronto Raptors)
Sarunas Jasikevicius (Indiana Pacers)
Rashard McCants (Minnesota Timberwolves)
*Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
Charlie Villaneuva (Toronto Raptors)
*Martell Webster (Portland Trailblazers)
*Marvin Williams (Atlanta Hawks)

Sophomores
Andris Biedrins (Golden State Warriors)
*TJ Ford (Milwaukee Bucks)
*Nenad Krstic (New Jersey Nets)
*Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
*Andres Nocioni (Chicago Bulls)
Emeka Okafor (Charlotte Bobcats)
Smush Parker (Los Angeles Lakers)
*JR Smith (New Orleans Hornets)
Sebastian Telfair (Portland Trailblazers)

February 17th, 2006
Rookies (91) at Sophomores (100)
Sophomore streak continues

Despite a late push by the Rookies, the Sophomores reigned supreme at the end of this year's Rookie Challenge. The Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni was named the game's MVP tallying a game high 26 points and 8 assists as well as four rebounds as the Sophomores won for the fourth straight time and now lead the all-time series 6-1.

The first and second year players put on a fantastic show for the Houston crowd, dazzling them with an array of spectacular alley-oops and ankle-breaking crossover moves. JR Smith brought the fans to his feet after soaring to the basket to throw down a dunk over his own Hornets teammate, standout rookie Chris Paul. The friendly back and forth between teammates-turned-opponents continued later in the game as Sebastian Telfair nailed a three pointer over Martell Webster.

Nocioni scored 15 first half points and helped the Sophomores to a 53-43 halftime lead. Early in the second half the Sophmores began to take a commanding lead but a run by the Rookies would cut the lead to 88-86 with under three minutes to play. The Sophomores regained control and put the game out of reach as Dwight Howard sank a pair of free throws to put them up 97-90.

Key Stats

SOPHOMORES

Andres Nocioni: 26 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists
Dwight Howard: 22 points, 9 rebounds
Emeka Okafor: 15 points, 12 rebounds
TJ Ford: 12 points, 6 assists

ROOKIES

Chris Paul: 22 points, 2 assists
Marvin Williams: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Andrew Bogut: 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
Andrew Bynum: 12 points, 12 rebounds

Most Valuable Player: Andres Nocioni (Chicago, Sophomores)

Photos


Two first overall picks meet in the paint





Several teammates found themselves facing each other


Krstic sends back Bogut's layup


JR Smith dunks on teammate Chris Paul


Howard soars for the one-handed throwdown

[Mark.]

[Nice coverage, pitty Gordon didnt make it, hes injured isnt he?

[.Dee.]

LOL@ smith dunking over paul priceless. And how Smush parker gets in sophmore
but then Air Gordon doesn't thats BS, anyway good recap i enjoyed it.

[Jugs]

The center position choosing of the 05 draft class is always whacked with Bogut and Frye listed as PF's. Once Mario Kasun made it at Center in the sophomore team without playing a game that year.

Edit: Gordon is injured.

[Srbija]

Bogut got hammered in that game by the looks of the screenshots.

[Matthew]

Very nice recap . Congrats on getting the mvp to a bull, even if its nocioni . Some realistic scores and starters . Looking forward to the ASG?

[Andrew]

LOL@ smith dunking over paul priceless. And how Smush parker gets in sophmore
but then Air Gordon doesn't thats BS, anyway good recap i enjoyed it.

Gordon was injured back on February 4th and is out six weeks with a broken wrist, so he's missed out on the All-Star Weekend. Let's just call Smush his nominated replacement.

Very nice recap . Congrats on getting the mvp to a bull, even if its nocioni . Some realistic scores and starters . Looking forward to the ASG?

I am, even though there's no Bulls involved. I'm probably going to play half the game with each team alternating at the quarters. At this stage I don't think I'm going to try and get anyone the MVP award, I'll just let it happen naturally. Since I'm controlling the Bulls I'll probably finish the game as the East and try to win it.

And now, more results! Since I didn't have anyone qualify for the All-Star Saturday events, I played them in Exhibition controlling every participant and trying my best to win with every player for the fairest results possible.

February 18th, 2006
Q goes back-to-back


The New York Knicks' Quentin Richardson became a back-to-back Three Point Shootout Champion in style, setting a new record with a score of 28 in the first round and defeating the Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups 20-15 in the Finals. Richardson became the first player to win the contest while playing for two different teams, having won the 2005 contest as a member of the Phoenix Suns. He is also the sixth player to win in consecutive years, joining a list of repeat champions that includes Larry Bird (1986-1988), Craig Hodges (1990-1992), Mark Price (1993-1994), Jeff Hornacek (1998, 2000; no All-Star Weekend was held in 1999 due to the lockout) and Peja Stojakovic (2002-2003).

The contest saw some hot shooting all around, with five of the six competitors scoring over 20 while Chauncey Billups and Gilbert Arenas scored 25 and 24 respectively, tying the marks that now rank second and third best in contest history.

Results




February 18th, 2006
In Dunk Contest, Robinson stands tall


The New York Knicks' 5'9" rookie point guard Nate Robinson stood taller than his opponents in the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest. Robinson wowed fans as he one-upped Vince Carter's legendary elbow-in-the-rim dunk from the 2000 contest by getting his whole arm in the rim after slamming it through. He also completed a 360 off a lob, a picture-perfect rock-the-cradle dunk and a tough up-and-under to secure the contest.

His competitors were also breath-taking, as Hakim Warrick lobbed the ball off the glass before putting it between his legs and slamming it home. Josh Smith drew a 50 putting the ball between his legs twice in the first round and continued to go between the legs in the finals against Robinson, turning 360 as he brought the ball up for the dunk. Andre Iguodala scored 48 after wrapping the ball behind is back before a vicious one handed dunk but faltered on his next attempt as well as his replacement, taking him out of the running.

Results




Photos


Robinson's contest winning up-and-under slam


Warrick catches the lob off the glass and goes between the legs


Josh Smith throws down a windmill off the lob


Iguodala goes behind the back


Robinson makes sure it goes down, getting his whole arm through the hoop