[Build A Team 4.0] Discussion Thread Part 3 - I LOVE MY TEAM

[Shorty Doo-Wop]

I need to think of people to pick im running out of ideas

[TheBluest]

While I agree with a bunch of things you said, the bolded part I do not agree with. I was the Raptors before I went on vacation and lost my GM spot because I was unable to draft, and I had a very good team on the rise. JJ, Al Jefferson, Mo Williams, Troy Murphy (whom I was going to use to trade for a starting center), Leandro Barbosa, Hickson, Martell Webster, and Brandon Bass (I was going to trade him or Hickson later on) is definitely one of the better teams in the league. Championship worthy? Probably not...but definitely a playoff team. I had a bunch of people say the exact same thing.

You just need to manage your team correctly and figure out what type of team/players you want early on so you can mold your team. Is it hard? Yes, but no matter where you draft you are screwed in some way. Early picks-yeah, they get the "superstars" because they have a top pick, but after they make that pick, they don't pick for a very long time.

The key is to pick a player (or a few) and mold a team around that. That's what makes it fun, bro.

With that being said, you did make a bunch of good points.

Okay...... so what you have a playoff team? But to be frank you also have playoff Chokers in JJ and Mo Williams. Brandon Bass and Hickson barely got any burn in the playoffs this past season. Will you take pride in the fact your team was a playoff team? And what's this "On The Rise" you speak of according to who you? Last time a I checked you don't play to make a post-season you play to WIN THE GAME as in win it all. And since teams are currently being criticized for injury prone players you have a few on your squad.

Not to mention your team cap was Hella Awful for the players you have. Another GM thinking a little too highly of their team and what they were going to do on the way to making their team Champions.

[TheBluest]

I need to think of people to pick im running out of ideas

lol

[NBA Fan 1234]

While I agree with a bunch of things you said, the bolded part I do not agree with. I was the Raptors before I went on vacation and lost my GM spot because I was unable to draft, and I had a very good team on the rise. JJ, Al Jefferson, Mo Williams, Troy Murphy (whom I was going to use to trade for a starting center), Leandro Barbosa, Hickson, Martell Webster, and Brandon Bass (I was going to trade him or Hickson later on) is definitely one of the better teams in the league. Championship worthy? Probably not...but definitely a playoff team. I had a bunch of people say the exact same thing.

You just need to manage your team correctly and figure out what type of team/players you want early on so you can mold your team. Is it hard? Yes, but no matter where you draft you are screwed in some way. Early picks-yeah, they get the "superstars" because they have a top pick, but after they make that pick, they don't pick for a very long time.

The key is to pick a player (or a few) and mold a team around that. That's what makes it fun, bro.

With that being said, you did make a bunch of good points.

Okay...... so what you have a playoff team? But to be frank you also have playoff Chokers in JJ and Mo Williams. Brandon Bass and Hickson barely got any burn in the playoffs this past season. Will you take pride in the fact your team was a playoff team? And what's this "On The Rise" you speak of according to who you? Last time a I checked you don't play to make a post-season you play to WIN THE GAME as in win it all. And since teams are currently being criticized for injury prone players you have a few on your squad.

Not to mention your team cap was Hella Awful for the players you have

I mean...I think it's a little higher than just a low seeded playoff team. I know I have two playoff chokers, but what's to say that they won't mesh and play well together thus getting rid of the choking label they have? The on the rise I was referring to was my draft board...they would have made my team better...pull off a few trades and my team is a lot better. I know my team is injury prone...but again, who says they won't go a full season (or close to one) without getting a big injury. My cap situation is bad, but I was placed in that position because of my draft spot/first players chosen. I went for a win-now team, and even if it didn't win it all, it would have made a deep playoff run with a trade here and there (Murphy/Hickson/Bass).

I'm not thinking too highly of my team. Barring injury, I had a very good and talented team. Considering my draft spot, I think I did a very good job. I had people tell me my team was talented and if some don't think so I'm fine with that. I know my team isn't a top 5 team as it stood before, but a top 10 team...I'd like to think so.

With all that being said, there are some changes that have to be made. However, simming is the best way to go...

[2010]

To add on with what TheBluest just posted:

I think we should bring in other posters to help with judging in this BAT. Maybe gather up mods from other team forums here on RealGM, and have them rank the teams along with the current GM's. You know some GM's are gonna base their vote on the relationship they have with other posters, etc.. Just a suggestion.

100% Agreed! As of what I've read throughout the discussion board this is ending up becoming a high school popularity poll. We need some neutral blood in here to do the rankings. BTW, I love my teams skill level!

Boys Club Fraternity Clique should have stopped a long time ago. I also find debates in this B.A.T. to be hypocritical.....

Takes for instance you got knocked for the Yao pick and his health being suspect. Alright I'll buy this as a valid slight towards your team, although going into the B.A.T. I thought it would always be logical to assume health...... unless a player just got injured in the midst of us conducting the B.A.T.

At the same time you won't hear as strong an argument for drafted players who were injured last year or have shown signs to be injury prone throughout their career or recently.... in particular on teams who have these players as starters with dung for backups or fecal depth. Some of these players were drafted extremely high too like

CP3
Granger
Bogut
Bynum
Martin
Randolph
Oden
Jefferson
Deng
Griffin
Arenas
Roy
Duncan
Ginobli
Tyson Chandler
Tayshaun Prince
Ben Gordon
Charlie Vill
Rip Hamilton


Just to name a few.

So if you are knocking someone for picking a player as an injury candidate before the team is complete you'd have to do the same across the board. Otherwise since teams are being judged based on construction why assume injuries? If we were running a SIM then I could understand the criticism of picking such players. But getting back to Yao if I'm a GM looking at your team I wouldn't assume injury but instead look at Yao for what he is/has been when healthy.....Top 30 player. Now if you have no one backing him up that's adequate I may start to consider things like health because 82gms of Yao at starters minutes with no reinforcement would be suspect.

Excellent point and I noticed teh bias as well despite the fact I picked Yao in the FOURTH ROUND mind you, lol. If it's not a good bet to take a risk on a player of Yao's caliber in the 4th round despite his health then when is it okay to pick him??? Lets say I grabbed him in the 5th as my final starter...some GMs would still be pissy about the pick. Same thing with my Rubio selection. I nabbed the kid (who is universally regarded as a future stud) in the 3rd round and I had guys saying they wouldn't judge him as a starter. Yet some of the same cats were d!ckriding the Wes Johnson pick (who has proven way less as a prefessional than Rubio...ZILCH)!

[TheBluest]

Excellent point and I noticed teh bias as well despite the fact I picked Yao in the FOURTH ROUND mind you, lol. If it's not a good bet to take a risk on a player of Yao's caliber in the 4th round despite his health then when is it okay to pick him??? Lets say I grabbed him in the 5th as my final starter...some GMs would still be pissy about the pick. Same thing with my Rubio selection. I nabbed the kid (who is universally regarded as a future stud) in the 3rd round and I had guys saying they wouldn't judge him as a starter. Yet some of the same cats were d!ckriding the Wes Johnson pick (who has proven way less as a prefessional than Rubio...ZILCH)!

Rubio probably shouldn't have been in the draft at all the criteria should have been actually on an NBA roster not rights on a NBA team.

But can't knock you according to the rules and lol at Coach K being a legitimate coach(I mean WTH?)

Hey 2010 I'm going to pick a certain coach because he has ties to CAA and if he's on my squad his agent is assured of getting me the top prospects a la as in College

[2010]

Excellent point and I noticed teh bias as well despite the fact I picked Yao in the FOURTH ROUND mind you, lol. If it's not a good bet to take a risk on a player of Yao's caliber in the 4th round despite his health then when is it okay to pick him??? Lets say I grabbed him in the 5th as my final starter...some GMs would still be pissy about the pick. Same thing with my Rubio selection. I nabbed the kid (who is universally regarded as a future stud) in the 3rd round and I had guys saying they wouldn't judge him as a starter. Yet some of the same cats were d!ckriding the Wes Johnson pick (who has proven way less as a prefessional than Rubio...ZILCH)!

Rubio probably shouldn't have been in the draft at all the criteria should have been actually on an NBA roster not rights on a NBA team.

But can't knock you according to the rules and lol at Coach K being a legitimate coach(I mean WTH?)

Hey 2010 I'm going to pick a certain coach because he has ties to CAA and if he's on my squad his agent is assured of getting me the top prospects a la as in College

Yeah for the next BAT we definitely need more consistency in the perception of players for the judging process and in the rule-setting. Starting a committe would probably be the wisest decision and we also should be more meticulous in who gets awarded a franchise. Also, how about a KEEPERS LEAGUE which would negate the cons of the draft order. You'd have to KEEP YOUR FRANCHISE and therefore your true GM skills would become more evident. For instance you draft a guy and you are responsible for the player and your team for a minimum of lets say 2 seasons. Therefore, as a GM you'd have to be more responsible regarding player injury history, contract status and general incline/decline of your rosters ability and age, etc.

[TheBluest]

Excellent point and I noticed teh bias as well despite the fact I picked Yao in the FOURTH ROUND mind you, lol. If it's not a good bet to take a risk on a player of Yao's caliber in the 4th round despite his health then when is it okay to pick him??? Lets say I grabbed him in the 5th as my final starter...some GMs would still be pissy about the pick. Same thing with my Rubio selection. I nabbed the kid (who is universally regarded as a future stud) in the 3rd round and I had guys saying they wouldn't judge him as a starter. Yet some of the same cats were d!ckriding the Wes Johnson pick (who has proven way less as a prefessional than Rubio...ZILCH)!

Rubio probably shouldn't have been in the draft at all the criteria should have been actually on an NBA roster not rights on a NBA team.

But can't knock you according to the rules and lol at Coach K being a legitimate coach(I mean WTH?)

Hey 2010 I'm going to pick a certain coach because he has ties to CAA and if he's on my squad his agent is assured of getting me the top prospects a la as in College

Yeah for the next BAT we definitely need more consistency in the perception of players for the judging process and in the rule-setting. Starting a committe would probably be the wisest decision and we also should be more meticulous in who gets awarded a franchise. Also, how about a KEEPERS LEAGUE which would negate the cons of the draft order. You'd have to KEEP YOUR FRANCHISE and therefore your true GM skills would become more evident. For instance you draft a guy and you are responsible for the player and your team for a minimum of lets say 2 seasons. Therefore, as a GM you'd have to be more responsible regarding player injury history, contract status and general incline/decline of your rosters ability and age, etc.

I'd definitely be for this and to add having the team for 2yrs would allow the B.A.T. to maintain a life throughout the season where we could actually conduct deadline trades like the real NBA. IMO the summer accumulation of teams should not be judged at that point in time for an Ultimate Winner but instead more so POWER RANKINGS the season could be what we use as a means to simulate. Those same judges can set up a criteria made public to the GMs revealing the pt system. Like if a player on your team makes the All-Star team you get 1 pt if they get voted in by the coaches you get an additional pt and carry this over to COY/MIP/6th Man/DPOY/All NBA Team etc etc

[2010]

Rubio probably shouldn't have been in the draft at all the criteria should have been actually on an NBA roster not rights on a NBA team.

But can't knock you according to the rules and lol at Coach K being a legitimate coach(I mean WTH?)

Hey 2010 I'm going to pick a certain coach because he has ties to CAA and if he's on my squad his agent is assured of getting me the top prospects a la as in College

Yeah for the next BAT we definitely need more consistency in the perception of players for the judging process and in the rule-setting. Starting a committe would probably be the wisest decision and we also should be more meticulous in who gets awarded a franchise. Also, how about a KEEPERS LEAGUE which would negate the cons of the draft order. You'd have to KEEP YOUR FRANCHISE and therefore your true GM skills would become more evident. For instance you draft a guy and you are responsible for the player and your team for a minimum of lets say 2 seasons. Therefore, as a GM you'd have to be more responsible regarding player injury history, contract status and general incline/decline of your rosters ability and age, etc.

I'd definitely be for this and to add having the team for 2yrs would allow the B.A.T. to maintain a life throughout the season where we could actually conduct deadline trades like the real NBA. IMO the summer accumulation of teams should not be judged at that point in time for an Ultimate Winner but instead more so POWER RANKINGS the season could be what we use as a means to simulate. Those same judges can set up a criteria made public to the GMs revealing the pt system. Like if a player on your team makes the All-Star team you get 1 pt if they get voted in by the coaches you get an additional pt and carry this over to COY/MIP/6th Man/DPOY/All NBA Team etc etc

Yeah man, with a KEEPERS LEAGUE it would really be more hard to judge a team outright based off the selections because there would be a future period of gameplay that would either support each GMs argument and agenda OR make them eat their words. Like it's easy to bigup and nutride your own team and break your arm patting yourself on the back when it's only being judged on paper over the summer. But when the games count a GM could easily look foolish by year 2...or even the all-star break, lol. I think it'd hold everyone much more accountable for the roster they've built and as you said, with the February trade deadline it'd be an absolute FRENZY on the boards. I like the point system based on player achievements as well. We could almost run this like a fantasy league (custom style on Yahoo) for nightly head-to-head purposes. I think this idea definitely has some legs. All we'd need is some RealGM's who are committed to a minimum of 2 years controlling a franchise. I think we should see what some other veteran posters think and if everyone agrees we should think about running with this for B.A.T. 5.0 before the 2010-11 NBA season officially starts.

[Mecca]

I also think us running back to back BAT's has caused this to die a bit.

BAT 1 was done in '08
BAT 2 was done in '09
BAT 3 was done in Spring/Early Summer '10
BAT 4 was done in Late Summer '10

I think it's time for a break, because it's starting to lose some luster, imo.

[Mecca]

Yeah man, with a KEEPERS LEAGUE it would really be more hard to judge a team outright based off the selections because there would be a future period of gameplay that would either support each GMs argument and agenda OR make them eat their words. Like it's easy to bigup and nutride your own team and break your arm patting yourself on the back when it's only being judged on paper over the summer. But when the games count a GM could easily look foolish by year 2...or even the all-star break, lol. I think it'd hold everyone much more accountable for the roster they've built and as you said, with the February trade deadline it'd be an absolute FRENZY on the boards. I like the point system based on player achievements as well. We could almost run this like a fantasy league (custom style on Yahoo) for nightly head-to-head purposes. I think this idea definitely has some legs. All we'd need is some RealGM's who are committed to a minimum of 2 years controlling a franchise. I think we should see what some other veteran posters think and if everyone agrees we should think about running with this for B.A.T. 5.0 before the 2010-11 NBA season officially starts.

So isn't it basically a 30 man fantasy league?

[2010]

Yeah man, with a KEEPERS LEAGUE it would really be more hard to judge a team outright based off the selections because there would be a future period of gameplay that would either support each GMs argument and agenda OR make them eat their words. Like it's easy to bigup and nutride your own team and break your arm patting yourself on the back when it's only being judged on paper over the summer. But when the games count a GM could easily look foolish by year 2...or even the all-star break, lol. I think it'd hold everyone much more accountable for the roster they've built and as you said, with the February trade deadline it'd be an absolute FRENZY on the boards. I like the point system based on player achievements as well. We could almost run this like a fantasy league (custom style on Yahoo) for nightly head-to-head purposes. I think this idea definitely has some legs. All we'd need is some RealGM's who are committed to a minimum of 2 years controlling a franchise. I think we should see what some other veteran posters think and if everyone agrees we should think about running with this for B.A.T. 5.0 before the 2010-11 NBA season officially starts.

So isn't it basically a 30 man fantasy league?

Kind of...but instead of a fantasy league draft we'd conduct it BAT style (along with head coach selections) and each GM would be responsible for his respective team for a minimum of 2 full NBA seasons. We could upload the rosters into Yahoo Fantasy NBA for weekly head-to-head matchups (if possible with 30 teams, not sure). We'd have a simulated NBA trade-deadline, all-star game selections, MVP, ROY, MIP, awards, etc. We'd even have our own free agency period after year 1.

[TheBluest]

Yeah man, with a KEEPERS LEAGUE it would really be more hard to judge a team outright based off the selections because there would be a future period of gameplay that would either support each GMs argument and agenda OR make them eat their words. Like it's easy to bigup and nutride your own team and break your arm patting yourself on the back when it's only being judged on paper over the summer. But when the games count a GM could easily look foolish by year 2...or even the all-star break, lol. I think it'd hold everyone much more accountable for the roster they've built and as you said, with the February trade deadline it'd be an absolute FRENZY on the boards. I like the point system based on player achievements as well. We could almost run this like a fantasy league (custom style on Yahoo) for nightly head-to-head purposes. I think this idea definitely has some legs. All we'd need is some RealGM's who are committed to a minimum of 2 years controlling a franchise. I think we should see what some other veteran posters think and if everyone agrees we should think about running with this for B.A.T. 5.0 before the 2010-11 NBA season officially starts.

So isn't it basically a 30 man fantasy league?

Kind of...but instead of a fantasy league draft we'd conduct it BAT style (along with head coach selections) and each GM would be responsible for his respective team for a minimum of 2 full NBA seasons. We could upload the rosters into Yahoo Fantasy NBA for weekly head-to-head matchups (if possible with 30 teams, not sure). We'd have a simulated NBA trade-deadline, all-star game selections, MVP, ROY, MIP, awards, etc. We'd even have our own free agency period after year 1.

Yes and No pretty similar to what 2010 posted but slight variation. Data doesn't have to be inserted into Yahoo. All we have to do is go to our DC and update what the main stats are for each player on our rosters and the judges can proceed from there how the numbers dictate change in rankings. Take for instance in Fantasy we know pts are awarded for particular statistical categories but with this you don't get pts based off individual stats on a nightly basis, the judges simply change the Power Rankings based off the numbers players are producing on team rosters. We can even set a criteria of how often Power Rankings should come out. Teams can get awarded pts for having players who win Player Of The Month Rookie of The Month...Leading Scorers/Rebounders/Ast/FG%/Stls/ etc etc you know ish like this.....But you don't awards pts for nightly match-ups based on what stats they get I'd prefer it to be accumulative and happen on a interval cycle.

2010 although we're GMs I think we'd make excellent committee members......lol

[Justdatdude]

*No Order* *Guys, don't take it personal... it's just my opinion.*

Top 5:
Nuggets, Wizards, Kings, Heat, Knicks

Top 10:
Bucks, Lakers, Hawks, Hornets, Blazers

Botton 5:
Bobcats, Cavs, Clippers, Spurs, Raptors

I looked at the top 5 and this is what I noticed.

The Wizards players are getting older, but they still have Dwight Howard.

The Kings aren't winning a championship built around Deron Williams and Rudy Gay

The Heat have Carmelo who is expiring and that team doesn't exactly give Carmelo a reason to stay.

The Knicks have Lebron for the next 5 or 6 years (not sure how long he signed for irl) so they'll always be in the mix

The Nuggets have young players Rose, Johnson, Pietrus, and Gortat locked into longterm contracts, Oden for the next 2 seasons, and cap space for a max fa next season.

Now am I wrong for saying my team is in the best position for a potential dynasty?

Dude...I usually try not to get involved in this back and forth but honestly, the "heat has **** but Melo" is just a bunch of nonsense and no reason for me to sit here and take it. I think you may be riding one really good comment about Wesley Johnson and letting it go to your head.

I'm going to still refrain from talking about any of the other top 5 teams in detail, but as far as the Heat goes? "not giving him any reason to stay"? Are you kidding me? Stop the nonsense, he's on the DEEPEST team in terms of talent in this league (HINT: there are NO 3 Queens in BAT). The core of the team are all in their prime. They have young talent, a flexible cap and while also being built to win now. If there is any team that ranks near the top in all 3 main categories that have been judged (win-now, future, cap) it's the Heat.

But let's take a look at your team shall we?

PG: Derrick Rose/Delonte West
SG: MIckael Pietrus/Reggie Williams
SF: Wes Johnson/Richard Jefferson
PF: Zach Randolph/Joe Smith
C: Greg Oden/Marcin Gortat

Dude...you have ONE SINGLE proven stud. Derrick Rose...if you want to talk about a team not having anything else you just need to look at your own team. If there's any team that falls in the "but what do they have besides their best player", it's your team.And you have a psycho backing him up in West.

You're relying on Greg Oden, who has not been able to show he can play even half a season in any of his 3 NBA seasons as the "backbone" (and honestly, only real member) of your defense. PS: looks like Oden hasn't made as much progress in his latest endeavor to recover from injury as Blazer management had expected.

You have a backup backup caliber player as your starting SG in Pietrus.

An offensive blackhole at PF who you've referred to as more of an expiring contract than anything else, with a guy that may retire in Joe Smith as his backup? Dude...you need to get a real backup PF. This isn't 2006-2007 (the last time Joe Smith was remotely effective), it's 2010-2011. Joe Smith is that Thanksgivings Day turkey that was left in the oven for too long.

Keep your hype about your own team to yourself.

A lot of hate in this post. Its kind of late to go into detail so I'll get back to this later. There is a lot of hatred in there.

[NYStateofMind]

Smoke, wherever you are: you have mail.

[Justdatdude]

I'm going to still refrain from talking about any of the other top 5 teams in detail, but as far as the Heat goes? "not giving him any reason to stay"? Are you kidding me? Stop the nonsense, he's on the DEEPEST team in terms of talent in this league (HINT: there are NO 3 Queens in BAT). The core of the team are all in their prime. They have young talent, a flexible cap and while also being built to win now. If there is any team that ranks near the top in all 3 main categories that have been judged (win-now, future, cap) it's the Heat.

We're going to break your post down into parts. What is the reason for Carmelo staying in Miami? Harris is a shoot first point guard that is locked in for the next 3 years at 9 million. Did I forget to mention he is a shoot first point guard that can't shoot? We already seen what Carmelo can do with a good point guard that can't stretch the floor. Remember Carmelo with Andre Miller? Caron Butler is a nice piece to have on your team, especially with his 10 mil expiring, but is it really a good idea to pair Carmelo with a backcourt that can't stretch the floor for him? Hello double teams! Next up, Lamarcus Aldridge...He is getting paid an incredible amount of money to not grab rebounds, not play defense, not score downlow, and just make midrange jumpers. Is this the big man Carmelo want to be paired with for the next few seasons? I like Ibaka, no reason to criticize him. I'm just being truthful. You wrote a big essay, taking the little Melo comment to heart.

And did you really just say the deepest team in the league? Did you look at your bench and really believe you have the deepest team in the league? Paul George? The same guy that nba analyst say shouldn't have been picked as early as he was? The same guy that wasn't that great in college? Marvin Williams? Isn't he a bust? I like Bayless, but congrats on grooming another shoot first point guard for Melo. He will learn well from Devin Harris. I almost forgot about Ian Manhimi. Haha. Really? At least you got the veteran presence of Big Ben.

But let's take a look at your team shall we?

PG: Derrick Rose/Delonte West
SG: MIckael Pietrus/Reggie Williams
SF: Wes Johnson/Richard Jefferson
PF: Zach Randolph/Joe Smith
C: Greg Oden/Marcin Gortat

Dude...you have ONE SINGLE proven stud. Derrick Rose...if you want to talk about a team not having anything else you just need to look at your own team. If there's any team that falls in the "but what do they have besides their best player", it's your team.And you have a psycho backing him up in West.

Derrick Rose and Zach Randolph are proven studs. If you didn't know, I have two All Stars on this team. One of them is a top 5 point guard, with amazing upside, and entering his 3rd year. The other is a 20/10 power forward who scores efficiently and get double doubles on the nightly basis. As far as "but what do they have besides their best player" lets take a look at what I have besides Derrick Rose and Zach Randolph.

Starters
Michael Pietrus = An athletic slasher that can spread the floor with his jumper. He is also a good defender and has a lot of playoff experience.

Wes Johnson = An anthletic energy player, that can score, shoot, defend, and rebound. 22 year old rookie, NBA ready.

Greg Oden = Former number 1 pick. When healthy, he has been a force in the NBA. Though health is a huge concern for him, he's only 22. He has been a force downlow on offense, defense, and rebounding. Only questionable thing about him is health.

Bench
Delonte West = A combo guard that can shoot, score when called upon, and play defense. He also has a lot of playoff experience.

Reggie Williams = Instant scoring. He is 24 and has shown he can be a good and efficient scorer at every level, including last season in the NBA.

Richard Jefferson = Athletic wing player that can create for himself and is an average shooter from deep. He's a decent defender and have a ton of playoff experience.

Joe Smith = He won't get much playing time playing behind Zach Randolph, but he's the veteran presence that all NBA teams have. He can provide decent minutes off the bench and can spread the floor with his jumpshot.

Marcin Gortat = Said by the media to be the best backup center in the NBA. He's an athletic center that finishes around the basket, is a great rebounder, and great defender. With Oden being injury prone, he's a guy that can fill in at center and we won't miss much. He will protect the paint. He is another player with big playoff game experience.

You're relying on Greg Oden, who has not been able to show he can play even half a season in any of his 3 NBA seasons as the "backbone" (and honestly, only real member) of your defense. PS: looks like Oden hasn't made as much progress in his latest endeavor to recover from injury as Blazer management had expected.

No. I'm not "relying on Greg Oden". I have him because he's a good player, he's young, and he was the best center available at that time. He hasn't shown he can be healthy, which is why I immediately drafted Gortat when it became time to fill in for my bench. I know Oden's injury prone. There is little risk in this pick because my center position is covered well. The reward of a healthy Oden is to high to pass up. After this season, it would be on me to extend a qualifying offer. Once again, there was very little risk, but an extremely high reward for picking him. I'm "relying on Greg Oden" to make a DEEP playoff run. I'm not "relying on Greg Oden" to be successful in the regular season.

You have a backup backup caliber player as your starting SG in Pietrus.

Do you see the starting shooting guards in the NBA? In a league where Raja Bell started and Arron Afflalo and Anthony Parker are starters, you have the nerves to criticize Mickeal Pietrus? Isn't Thabo a starter? A guy that plays good defense and can spread the floor, is a backup's BACKUP caliber shooting guard? You thought saying that was a smart comment? Haha. My little Melo jab wasn't that serious for you to start saying things like this. It was a little jab. It wasn't a reason for you to get mad, and then go overboard with your criticism of my team. You can bash the team all you want, its all in fun, but lets not say stupid things like that. Now Pietrus sucks? Haha. Isn't Kelenna Azubuike on his way to starting for the Knicks?

An offensive blackhole at PF who you've referred to as more of an expiring contract than anything else, with a guy that may retire in Joe Smith as his backup? Dude...you need to get a real backup PF. This isn't 2006-2007 (the last time Joe Smith was remotely effective), it's 2010-2011. Joe Smith is that Thanksgivings Day turkey that was left in the oven for too long.

You ever heard the saying "feed the beast"? Now look at my team. Who is taking these shots away from this blackhole? Pietrus? Johnson? West? Who? That's right. That offensive blackhole will get his touches. You know what that means? That offensive blackhole will be happy that he's getting touches and therefore he'll continue to play hard, and grab rebounds on both ends. Doesn't that make me a better team? Doesn't that mean I put the proper players around Zach that will allow me to compete, while also catering to his needs? And Joe Smith won't be playing long. Most teams don't even go 10 deep. Using Joe Smith for about 10 minutes a game, isn't going to be the difference in my team winning or losing. Did you really believe that an 11th round pick was that important to point out? Haha.

Keep your hype about your own team to yourself.

Lets see...Ra gave my team a 9/10 as far as winning now and this is with a team that doesn't have much besides its best player, according to you. Phenom rated my team in the top 5, top 2 in the West. Others have said my team is definitely in the top 10 and once again, this isn't exactly a team with older players. Most of the players are young and still entering, if not in their prime. The upside for my team is ridiculous and they're a team that can compete now for the marbles. I think I should take this hype nationwide.

One thing you must remember is the league isn't about the most individually talented players on one team. Its about what team plays the best together. Its about how the players fit on a team. Look at my team. My players compliment each other. You have the Devin Harris, Caron Butler, and Carmelo Anthony, but are those really the best players to put next to Carmelo? Are those great complimentary players for Melo? Are they going to take the load off of Melo? Are they going to space the floor for Melo?

[bishnykfan]

Ramon Sessions is on the block for any team looking for help at the PG. A 24 year old PG on a reasonable contract. Looking for a PF or a C.

bish1324@aol.com

[NewEra]

@Bish - Though I'm almost certain to be done with trades, Landry sill sparks my interest. Let me know if it's possible to get something done.

[bishnykfan]

newera- I could see myself moving Landry still, but I am not sure we matchup right now. I would move him for an upgrade at center, but don't see that happening here. I would consider a deal around Landry and Artest possibly, but Landry is a $3M expiring deal and Artest is owed considerably more while being four years older. If you want to try and put a deal together around Artest/Landry let me know, or let me know what else you had in mind.

[NewEra]

Bish- Though I like Landry, I don't like him enough to deal Ron for him, respectfully..... I'd be more inclined to doing a deal around Artest and Smith.