Mass Dispatch 16.0.: West Predictions, Lakers and a Mystery

Post #1 » by **Howard Mass** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 3:57 pm

Mass Dispatch 16.0

In this week's edition of Mass Dispatch.

The Mass Matter features my Western Conference Predictions and Week 6 of “Beat The Commish”

Ask Howard features questions on applying for an NBA Team Forum Moderator Position and User Name Changes with a "Twist" that leads to a "Mystery" in "Inside The Administrator's Office".

We then have our Mass Dispatch User, Thread and Moderator of The Week that have a “Purple and Gold” feel to it and hopefully do not have a fan base ready to stuff my PM box with hate mail.

Inside The Administrator's Office takes a look at some recent General NBA Board Appeals and a Mystery or as I am calling it “Twist” from this week's Ask Howard that could lead to someone joining The RealGM Moderator Team and possibly a User getting something for solving The "Mystery".

Let's get right to The Mass Matter.............

The Mass Matter: Western Conference Predictions and “Beat The Commish” Week 6

My Western Conference Predictions

We are about halfway into The NBA Preseason.

A big development happened this past week when it was announced that Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant would miss about two months with a broken foot.

This does change my predictions but in the wild, wild, west anything can happen so it I definitely not the end for The Oklahoma City Thunder.

I do hope everyone out west is seeing more local preseason games than us here in Orlando but thankfully the real games get started in two weeks.

Here are my Western Conference Predictions

Northwest Division Predictions

Portland Trailblazers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz
Minnesota Timberwolves

The Portland Trail Blazers return much of their team with stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard from last season plus the additions of reserve center Chris Kaman and backup point guard Steve Blake.

Their returning core and Kevin Durant's injury gives them a clear path to first in the Northwest and in what I'll discuss next week, a good chance to get in the Western Conference Finals.

Oklahoma City might be without Kevin Durant for the first 6 weeks of the season. That is really going to hurt them in their quest for homecourt although this team should not be counted out. They will find a way to tread water and be in the playoffs as good teams can sometimes do. I remember back in the 1995=1996 season when Shaquille O'Neal missed 20 or so games and The Orlando Magic had a strong 16-4 or 20-4 start (Yes, I'm old now at 33 years)

While things will be a little rough in OKC, all will be fine and they will make the playoffs.

Not far behind is going to be The Denver Nuggets with a healthy Danilo Gallinari and the addition of swingman Arron Afflalo. They do need to remain healthy but they are definitely a sleeper out west who should contend for the 8th seed with their high-powered offense IF they are healthy.

The Utah Jazz and Minnesota TimberWolves are of course rebuilding and neither figures to be much of a factor out west. I give Utah an edge in the division although both could have very nice futures and Minnesota definitely got a good return by holding out for #1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins in the Kevin Love deal.

Pacific Division

L.A. Clippers
Golden State Warriors
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
L.A. Lakers

This could be the year for The Los Angeles Clippers. Although they did lose a reliable backup point guard in Darren Collison, they did get the backup big man they needed in Spencer Hawes. A big concern for me is if Jordan Farmar can hold up as a backup point guard although you might see Jamal Crawford play quite a bit there.

Out West many things are truly a tossup and if Chris Paul misses a stretch like he normally does, this could slip in the overall standings although they should be able to win the division.

Golden State is going to be in the thick of things again with only a few changes but a big one on the coaching front. To me, they are not in that top tier of the Western Conference and a new head coach is going to be an adjustment. Anyone can do something out west though so you never know but expect more of the same in Golden State this season.

No head coach did a better job with what he had last season then Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek. With the Eric Bledsoe situation resolved and most of the cast minus forward Channing Frye returning, they should be in the mix for that 8th seed. It's still stunning how 48 wins misses the playoffs in The West and unfortunately it could be a repeat this year in the desert.

The Sacramento Kings and The Los Angeles Lakers will have another season popping ping pong balls. Neither is strong enough to make a run out West yet and question if Sacramento can be more than a 8th seed contender over the next couple of years unless get some higher draft picks or snag a big free agent.

Kobe Bryant is going to have a rough end of his career in The Lakers' rebuilding situation. They did get a steal on Draft Night in forward Julius Randle. Lakers Fans probably prefer a bad season so they can keep their draft pick (1-5 protected) and not send it to Phoenix for Steve Nash who got injured lifting his bags the other day. although the new lottery rules could derail this for them. As a Magic fan, I despise The Lakers but I hope they do well this year so they can pay The Magic that Draft Pick they owe them in 2-5 years after they pay off Phoenix this year and it would be nice to have a shot at The L.A. Lakers second rounder this year. I know I'm terrible but our Lakers Forum might like me more later on in this edition of Mass Dispatch.

Southwest Division

San Antonio Spurs
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Pelicans
Memphis Grizzlies

This division might be the most competitive in the NBA but is also somewhere I would love for us to gain traffic on our NBA Team Forums.

I'll be working on this throughout the season. For now, here are my projections.

San Antonio came back after a heartbreaking loss in The NBA Finals and one year later picked up the pieces and slaughtered The Miami Heat to win The NBA Championship.

Can they finally repeat as Champions? Possibly but that's for next week. For now, the returning cast should be safe for a division title.

The Dallas Mavericks made some good moves this summer picking up Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson in free agency and reacquiring Tyson Chandler in a deal with New York. They are going to do much better than people think and I would not be surprised to see them in at least the second round of the playoffs. It's a bold prediction but I will be surprised if Dallas is not 2nd in this division.

In Houston, The Rockets are going to be in third place and I think it is very possible they fall even further. When they opted not to match Chandler Parson's Offer Sheet from Dallas, word was they declined because they did not feel a core of Dwight Howard, James Harden and the newly Trevor Ariza would be enough to compete out West long-term. Whether declining Parson's option year or it was a side deal with Dwight Howard's Agent doesn't matter, they botched this in Houston and if they feel they are not going to fall off, they are wrong.

If The New Orleans Pelicans can stay healthy, they can be a sleeper out West. The addition of center Omer Asik is going to free up forward Anthony Davis defensively and I fully expect Anthony Davis to have a career year. The key here is health and if they are healthy, I would not be shocked to see them leapfrog Houston to #3. It's all about the health in The Big Easy this year.

Every NBA season has their surprises and putting Memphis in last place might raise some eyebrows but changes do always happen.

While Memphis could be as high as #3 in the division, their lack of changes and a team that seems to be a little on the decline gets them in last place.

If any fans across the web read this and want to rant about it, please have all of you friends come over to our SouthWest Division threads and make some noise on our forums. I would love to see all 5 teams in this division have some more RealGM Traffic.

Next Week, I will have my Playoffs and Individual Awards Predictions

“Beat The Commish” Week 6

My affection for The New York Giants and my not so affection for The New England Patriots (I know I'm being an heel after The Giants' two Super Bowl Wins and yes I still wear my 18 Wins and One Giant Loss T-Shirt) but both of those cost me this week.

10-4-1 is not too shabby but I still did not beat The Users and Moderators as a whole and for the sixth straight week my fellow Administrator dream34 beat me.

Here is everyone who “Beat The Commish” this week

Users

DK-All Day: 11-3-1
Greatness: 11-3-1
Hopping4Wiggins: 11-3-1
Slot Machine: 11-3-1
TheKingofSting: 11-3-1
Wavy Q: 11-3-1
WVU: 11-3-1
DEEP3CL: 10-4-1 (Won Tiebreaker)

Moderators

dream34: 12-2-1
Geoffrey P.: 12-2-1
bondom34: 11-3-1
kdawg32086: 11-3-1

In the head to head battle between The Users and Moderators, The Moderators prevailed .683 to .679.

The Overall Standings will be updated within the next 24 hours.

The Moderators lead the season head to head series 4-2.

We now enter Week 7 and it is time for everyone to make their Week 7 Picks

viewtopic.php?f=437&t=1349132

Ask Howard

Have a question about RealGM? The Forums? An Issue you would like me to address publicly or something in general? Just post it in the Ask Howard Thread of The Mass Dispatch Forum or you could send me a PM and I just might answer it in my next column.

viewtopic.php?f=437&t=1330025

A User who I will not name Asks and I used ***** to cover up parts that might identify them Asks: :

Hello Howard,

I have a general question for you if you have the time to take it into serious consideration (If not I understand).

I was wondering if there is any way that I can be taken into consideration for becoming a mod for the *********** board? I'm literally always on this website and absolutely love it ever since I joined up. To back that up, I've made like ***** posts on RealGM in the past ***** months. I've never been given a warning and have never shown extreme rudeness or aggression towards other members.. I honestly feel like I am one of the most active board members for "****** fans" I would really like some insight from you on this topic if you have the time.

As always, thanks Howard!

Howard's Response: I always have the time to answer User Questions.

Usually the only time that I encourage Users to ask about becoming a Moderator is during The Mass Dispatch “Who Wants To Be A Moderator” Invitational.

However, I understand that you only have good intentions here.

I'll be replying to your PM by the end of the weekend.

Anyone who is interested in being a Moderator candidate should post, start discussion, conduct themselves well and try to grow the forum.

While I offer no guarantees, I appreciate your willingness to help and I'll go over your prospects with you and address the situation you mentioned.

Too Many Users Asks: Howard, can I change my User Name?

Howard's Response: Of course you can.

Just go to The User Name Change Thread on our Feedback and Suggestions Forum.

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1250573

Please read the first post before posting.

If you are ineligible for a User Name Change and need one for a special reason (Used real name, team change, player, etc. Please note that I do not always grant these), feel free to send me a PM and we will discuss.

Later on in “Inside The Administrator's Office”, I'm going to reveal why I gave one ineligible User an exception with a little “twist” that I am going to add on that could make things interesting.

Mass Dispatch User, Thread and Moderator of The Week

It's time for the Weekly Mass Dispatch Forum Awards.

If you know of a User, Thread or Moderator that deserves to be recognized, please either send me a PM or make a post on The Mass Dispatch Forum.

Your nominee might just receive an Award.

Mass Dispatch User(s) Of The Week

The Users on our Los Angeles Lakers Forum that are participating in The Lakers Dynasty League.

I really prefer to give this award to individuals but these Lakers Users earned it and I also have to make up for my jab at The lakers above.

The Lakers Dynasty League is a perfect example of how Users can bond and make a community might tighter knit. The Thread has over 1,600 posts since July and over 13,000 views.

I hope more Forums do some sort of Fantasy League before the season but for now, I want to thank in no particular order LakeShowAK7, The Regime, Earl, Tugs, Doormatt, Wavy Q , Roballer, aaron_gray, Optms, Kobe>Jordan>God and Mirjalovic for participating along with their contributions to the thread.

Congratulations to all of these Lakers Users for being our Mass Dispatch User(s) of The Week!

Mass Dispatch Thread of The Week

That Lakers Dynasty League Thread on our Los Angeles Lakers Forum!

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1335385

They won The User(s) Award and deserve this week's thread Award as well for the over 1,600 posts and 13,000 views.

Congratulations again to our Los Angeles Lakers Forum!

Mass Dispatch Moderator of The Week

TyCobb

This goes out to the man who started this league.

TyCobb has been a RealGM Moderator for like a decade now and is also one of our best Baseball Moderators.

Cobb and I have always had our battles over the years behind the scenes during those times when his Angels kept ousting my Yankees from The Playoffs and then when his Lakers got Dwight Howard in that trade a little over two years ago. It was demoralizing at the time giving Dwight Howard to the team that stole Shaquille O'Neal and he gave me a jab thanking me for the deal.

I was very happy to throw it right back at him a year later when Dwight bolted town for Houston. It was definitely a joy to thank him and getting Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, Evan Fournier, picks that turned out to be Elfrid Payton and The first The Lakers still owe The Magic was definitely a great return. Just imagine if The Lakers traded had traded Andrew Bynum themselves?

LOL!

Enough of that, it's just the thing we have had ongoing throughout the years and I do not want to enrage our Lakers Fans anymore although you guys did three championships and maybe four (Ariza trade) Championships in part because of my beloved Orlando Magic.

Anyway, This is about the great League that TyCobb started up and shows the great energy and leadership he brings to the Forums.

I am very happy that he has been around all of these years as it is a pleasure to have him on The Team.

Congratulations to our Mass Dispatch Moderator of The Week TyCobb!

Inside The Administrator's Office

Before we get to the “Twist” mentioned above in “Ask Howard”, I want to again discuss some General NBA Board Appeals and something that no user should do before sending one.

The Appeals unfortunately have dropped off a bit last week. A majority of The User's did not follow the tips in Mass Dispatch 3.0. and that hurt them. The real bad part though is The multiple users who went off on Moderators after getting their second strike.

The reason why we have the 12-hour suspensions that accompany a strike on The Forum is so The User can cool down.

Unfortunately, when some Users return, they go off on Moderators in a non-constructive way and this hurts with our Appeals Committee if they do decide to appeal. One time long ago, there was a User who went off on two Moderators for their violations with long rants to what some would say the point of harassment. The Committee saw this in The User file and took almost the whole 60 days to decide on the User's Appeal.

For the record, The Committee usually decides Appeals within 7-21 days.

In these recent cases, none are nowhere near as bad but Users need to understand you cannot go off on Moderators in PM's or it could hurt your chances if you do decide to appeal.

The Committee likes to be sure when they let a User off of Read-Only Access and they look at everything you have on file. It's just best that you calmly appeal and if you have a problem with a violation, just let me know and I'll be happy to explain it to you.

Now, for the “Twist”.

I am currently writing out my list of Future Moderator Prospects and have many in my head.

However, over this past year, I granted an exception for one User because I viewed them as a Future Moderator Candidate.

This request could have been done publicly or privately. I will not say and I may or may not have given this User any hint.

Since I want to make things interesting and this User is on my Future Moderator Prospects List, here is what I am going to do.

- If you think you are this person, feel free to send me a PM before next Thursday at Noon EST and I'll give you an interview to become a Moderator.

- The first User to correctly guess in this thread or via PM who this Mystery User is (You may not guess yourself), will get a 15 minute IM conversation with me to discuss anything RealGM-Related. It could be a Warning, a Complaint, User Name Change and even their own Future Moderator Possibilities.

- I will not reveal who this person is unless this Mystery Person comes forward, goes through the process and becomes a Moderator.

- If someone guesses correctly, the first User who does so will be contacted privately by myself the weekend after this one.

Let's see what happens here and if this Mystery User who I feel is a Future Moderator Prospect comes forward.......

Contact Mass Dispatch

If anyone has a question, feedback, feel a user, thread or Moderator should be recognized or something they would like to see in Mass Dispatch, please post it on The Mass Dispatch Forum or send me a PM. You could even send me a note on Twitter @homassrealgm

Thanks to everyone for continuing to make the RealGM Forums the best forums on the internet.

ennui · Post #2 » by **ennui** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:12 pm

congrats tycobb and the lakers dynasty league members!

ak7 · Post #3 » by **ak7** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:14 pm

You're a hero, Ty. Thank you for your service.

I look forward to beating you all in this league.

Post #4 » by **Slava** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:28 pm

Congrats Mr. Cobb!

RIPskaterdude · Post #5 » by **RIPskaterdude** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:59 pm

I would love to see the hard work done by Cobb but apparently I am not authorized to read that forum. Gee wiz Howie, what gives?

Post #6 » by **Howard Mass** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 5:40 pm

RIPskaterdude wrote:I would love to see the hard work done by Cobb but apparently I am not authorized to read that forum. Gee wiz Howie, what gives?

Sent you a PM.

RIPskaterdude · Post #7 » by **RIPskaterdude** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 5:55 pm

I would also like it to be known that me and howie tied this week, even on our tie breaker. True love <3

EArl · Post #8 » by **EArl** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 6:43 pm

RIPskaterdude wrote:I would love to see the hard work done by Cobb but apparently I am not authorized to read that forum. Gee wiz Howie, what gives?

I wonder why...

El Turco · Post #9 » by **El Turco** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:09 pm

Howard Mass wrote:Mass Dispatch User(s) Of The Week

I really prefer to give this award to individuals

no you don't

El Turco · Post #10 » by **El Turco** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:10 pm

EArl wrote:
RIPskaterdude wrote:I would love to see the hard work done by Cobb but apparently I am not authorized to read that forum. Gee wiz Howie, what gives?

I wonder why...

he ruffled them lakers feathers..

RIPskaterdude · Post #11 » by **RIPskaterdude** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:17 pm

El Turco wrote:
EArl wrote:
RIPskaterdude wrote:I would love to see the hard work done by Cobb but apparently I am not authorized to read that forum. Gee wiz Howie, what gives?

I wonder why...

he ruffled them lakers feathers..

DEEP3CL · Post #12 » by **DEEP3CL** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 1:09 am

I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

TheKingofSting · Post #13 » by **TheKingofSting** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:49 am

Congrats Cobb

Dupp · Post #14 » by **Dupp** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:46 am

DEEP3CL wrote:I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

Do you ever stop crying? You carry on about being a grown ass man but act like a 13 year old girl. Its ok, no need to be so bitter.

RIPskaterdude · Post #15 » by **RIPskaterdude** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 4:58 am

DEEP3CL wrote:I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

El Turco · Post #16 » by **El Turco** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:04 am

DEEP3CL · Post #17 » by **DEEP3CL** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:52 am

Dupp wrote:
DEEP3CL wrote:I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

Do you ever stop crying? You carry on about being a grown ass man but act like a 13 year old girl. Its ok, no need to be so bitter.

You're so small dude.....it's a reason I've reported your post before. Secondly the post was really a slight joke. Only a fool would think it was serious.

In reality in terms of the Lakers, I think I'd be the first to know they're a long ways off from doing anything or note.

Talking about crying ? All you ever do here is try to stir up crap.....go back to your corner little man.

DEEP3CL · Post #18 » by **DEEP3CL** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:53 am

RIPskaterdude wrote:
DEEP3CL wrote:I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

Like the sig....but it's time to move on. :lol:

Dupp · Post #19 » by **Dupp** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:21 am

DEEP3CL wrote:
Dupp wrote:
DEEP3CL wrote:I could refute a lot of what Mass said, but I don't have time. And for the record he didn't ruffle any Laker fans feathers. We know full well where we stand. But best believe I will be telling all Magic fans when the time comes why it will be a long long long time before they get to any prominent level basketball wise.

Do you ever stop crying? You carry on about being a grown ass man but act like a 13 year old girl. Its ok, no need to be so bitter.
You're so small dude.....it's a reason I've reported your post before. Secondly the post was really a slight joke. Only a fool would think it was serious.

In reality in terms of the Lakers, I think I'd be the first to know they're a long ways off from doing anything or note.

Talking about crying ? All you ever do here is try to stir up crap.....go back to your corner little man.

I'm like 7 foot 5

El Turco · Post #20 » by **El Turco** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:33 am

i think he is referring to your spg