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Four games into the season, four undefeated teams. Let's take a look at each one.

1. Naples Napalm: surprisingly, Naples Napalm has the lowest PD of all the undefeated teams, with "only" 109 points or an average margin of victory of over 27 points per game. However, their ratings have been spectacular for D.V (average: respectable (medium) ID, respectable (low) IS, and average (medium) rebounding showing the strength of their inside game) and as the manager has been conserving enthusiasm by playing TIE every game, they are still the favorites. It goes without saying, of course, that even if they weren't currently the favorites, having $3 million in the bank gives them the freedom to make any necessary moves while still leaving a comfortable nest egg for their inevitable promotion.

Why they will win: no other team in the league has the firepower to deal with three $40K salary players. Their firepower is just too much, and they can always buy more if they need it.

Why they might not win: Game shape is a concern. With such disparity between the starters and the backups, the GE always wants to play the starters, causing them to play high minutes per week. This could be a problem moving forward, although once they are out of the cup then that problem will likely come to an end.

2. V SQUAD: this team has shown the strongest outside offense of any team in this league, making them someone to be reckoned with. With a $35K center and a $24K SG, they have players who can attempt to match up with Naples Napalm, but will it be enough? Probably not.

Why they might win: If they can make a late-season addition for the missing piece at the playoff deadline they could catch Naples Napalm sleeping. Then, if Naples' GS problems persist and if V Squad can get HCA with decent enthusiasm, with a little luck they could pull the upset.

Why they might not win: That's a lot of things that have to go right. A lot of things. Also, like Naples Napalm GS is a concern due in part to weekly cup games.

3. Maine Claws: this team shocked the league last season with the surprising first-round upset of Shippensburg Raiders, the clear favorite for the title. This season, they look to reload with rapidly improving second-year guard Cedrick Pagan who needs no introduction, along with rookie guards John Paul Golong and Neil Clarke. Golong has always been a solid offensive player and currently averages 13.3 ppg and 7.7 apg. His defense needs work, but with his age and height the team hopes that will improve quickly. Clarke is raw but has excellent potential and upside, and has a nice ability to finish inside along with an improving jump shot. For a third-round pick, he was a steal and he should be a nice role player for many seasons. Rounding out the team's notable players are Youseff Belhadj (a forward on the Al Jazair U21 team), Burt Caruso and Mallory Montel (nice rebounders and solid defenders), Michael Eini (outside scorer) and Gilbert Rutledge (inside scorer).

Why they might win: They did it once last year. Can they do it on a much larger scale against the imposing Naples Napalm? This team has a history of overperforming against stronger competition but they will need to come up big for them to have a chance. Also, rumor has it that the manager has something in his tactical bag of tricks..

Why they might not win: Again, Naples Napalm is just too strong, and Maine can't add the firepower necessary without taking PT from the rookies and hurting the team's long-term growth.

4. Hustling Hawks: a new team entering its first full season, this team is really built around an aging 33yo SF. Likely not a contender but off to a decent start.

Why they might win: Good SFs are hard to find and can be a real problem to guard.
Why they might not win: that SF is their only player, and his skills will be dropping slowly. They simply don't have the dep

Last edited by Trueborn at 02/21/2012 22:58:32

This is not to disrespect teams like Da Vicks or Ciudad de Panamá Perros, who are both 3-1 and strong enough that they could pose some threat to Naples Napalm. Those teams have legitimate claims to being contenders and may be better than some of the currently undefeated teams, but at the end of the day, let's face it, they're not going to beat out Naples Napalm unless something extremely unexpected happens.

I tried to be unbiased about these rankings, but of course I do hope my team can pull it off and I honestly believe we could have a slight chance. If my young players improve fast enough, and if things go right, I wouldn't count myself out. But I'd love to hear the rest of your opinions. It would be interesting to hear an unbiased outside view of my team, and obviously, you know your teams better than I do, so let's hear what you think! Feel free to chime in and offer your input!

Last edited by Trueborn at 02/21/2012 23:04:05

Good read man! Im sorry I picked this year to try to promote. I just felt it was time. But at the same time I feel it has made this season a not so enjoyable one for the rest of the teams in the league. I will be gone and out of the way soon I hope. I really have lost for a lot of seasons to get to this point. But thanks for the great articles!

And in a shocking turn of events, there is now only one undefeated team, and it could be argued that this undefeated team is the weakest of the "big three" teams in the division. (Not trying to offend anyone, I'm just saying there is an argument to be made). Let's start with the first of the two upsets:

Hustling Hawks defeat Maine Claws on the road, 99-87. On the one hand, it's tough to read much into this game, as the Claws were starting a rookie backcourt with John Paul Golong and Neil Clarke. Furthermore, the Claws coach told his players to conserve their enthusiasm for later in the season, so they played with a Take It Easy attitude, while the Hawks played as if it were Crunch Time. Despite this, the Claws led at halftime and, given the circumstances, still have reasons for optimism.

And now the real shocker of the night,

Da Vicks beat Naples Napalm in overtime at home, 101-99. Da Vicks put in more enthusiasm, and their motion outside oriented offense was perfectly calculated to take advantage of Naples Napalms' 2-3 zone, which concedes some perimeter defense. Don't expect Naples Napalm to be caught sleeping again by that tactic; expect a M2M or even a 3-2 zone when the two teams face. It's still a long season and hard for any team to be perfect, so don't read too much into this. After all,Da Vicks still needed a stupid foul down 2 in the bonus with 3 seconds left (Da Vicks made both free throws) to send it into overtime, as well as Naples Napalm missing game-winning attempts at the end of regulation and overtime.Again, Naples Napalm has the better players and better enthusiasm, but this does confirm that with HCA, high enthusiasm, and the right tactics, and some luck, they can still be vulnerable to a surprise upset. There is hope after all!

I know no one except maybe chrisfrye78 of Naples Napalm is likely to read this, but I have fun with it and it's just something I like to do. If someone else enjoys reading it, that's great, but I would probably write even if I were in some all-bot D.VI leaguewhere no one would ever see my post. It keeps it somewhat real and gives my team a personality, which I love to do.

And now a personal post about my feelings toward my team and players:

I have to say, I didn't really like my draftees when I first got them (no players with awesome skills or otherworldly potential) but I'm starting to become a fan. Neil Clarke is highly aggressive and fouls out often, but that same aggressiveness also allows him to draw fouls and he is a very good free throw shooter for a rookie. He has very nice inside scoring ability and his outside skills are surprisingly well-rounded despite his low salary. I'm really starting to like him. And John Paul Golong...is it too weird to say that I'm falling in love with him, even though he's (a) a guy, (b) fictional and (c) objectively not that great? :P His salary isn't the best, but that's partly because of low rebounding. His defense is not that good (inept). His potential is average but not anything special. But he's got a nice JS/JR combo, some decent IS, a good passer, and he puts up great numbers. 2nd in the league in assists per game at 7.7 (behind only Cedrick Pagan--Cedrick Pagan for MVP?!? lol) and 15.7 ppg on 56.8% from the field (.500 from 3P range). Neither of them is great, but that may be part of why I love them. And they're also being asked to play important roles on a hopeful championship squad and they're doing that quite well, definitely overachieving. Last season my team's overachievement was a source of much discussion and amazement among tha Boss and myself. That overachievement is why I get so attached to my team and why I love facing much stronger teams like Naples Napalm and Shippensburg Raiders, even when I know in the long run I have next to no chance. My squad may not win, but they'll stand tough and play it close where everyone expects them to get blown out, even if they don't get the win. That's a quality I love and respect in sports, be it from a player or team I cheer for, a player/team I'm rooting against, or even a fictional player/team like in Buzzerbeater. So the fact that I see that in my draftees' play makes me want to keep them and train them up to be Claws for life.

Maybe that was kind of rambling and/or irrational (there's no "clutchness" or "overachiever" factor in the game engine, after all), and maybe I'm just overreacting to a very small sample size against inconsistent levels of opposition, and maybe I'm doing all this because I'm overly partial to my own players, but I don't care. Maybe you disagree with me, and feel free to comment if you do, but it won't change my feelings. Feelings are what they are, and for me they're a big part of what makes this game fun, even if they're wrong. So I just wanted to make this post to give a little well-earned praise on my trainees for what they've done so far.

Last edited by Trueborn at 02/29/2012 01:37:32

I read everything you write. Its great stuff! I played TIE, he put more into it, I dont know how much more he put into it but its ok. Really good stuff man and I appreciate the fact that you write it here for us to read. I wish I had more time to write myself.

Thanks. I figured you TIEd, which means he Normal'ed because if he CT'ed it would have said "Da Vicks looked like the only team trying out there."

Anyhow, unfortunately I was gone all day (13 hour bus ride back from college = not fun, but Spring Break = fun, so I guess it all works out). As such I didn't set my lineup and accidentally played normal, which was completely unnecessary. Anyhow, there were two big events today around the league:

Naples Napalm purchases Enriko Viks for $1 million. Viks is listed as a PF, but Naples Napalm played him as a SF and this combined with his high transfer price indicates he's extremely well-rounded. As such, even though his weekly salary is $34K he is probably stronger than that salary would suggest. And since he's just entering his prime at age 26, you can expect him to be a dominant force for Naples Napalm for many seasons. This may be the death knell for any title competitor's chances this season, as I'm assuming no other team has the money to buy the players to compete.

Slightly less significant, but still impressive, was Cedrick Pagan's performance in an otherwise meaningless 119-41 blowout win over the Mizzou Tigers:

Cedrick Pagan ties the league record for most assists in a game with 19. The last player to do it in V.35 history was Elliot Kahn, a well-rounded SF who has had a history of being a very good passer. Pagan scored 20 points and blocked 4 shots to go along with his 19 assists and just two turnovers in 48 minutes, but Kahn's original performance was even more stunning as he had zero turnovers and recorded his 19 assists in just 38 minutes. Still, it was a very impressive performance by the second-year player, who has been proving the doubters wrong ever since falling to pick 11 in the season 17 draft. At that time scouts considered him too unpolished to make much of an early impact, especially with his atrocious ball-handling skills, but he has improved by leaps and bounds and it was great to see him get this achievement tonight. There are 9 teams who regret passing on him now (excluding Naples Napalm who took Aaron Meeker instead).

Fun fact: Scottie Duncan formerly of the Boston Boss had stupendous (17) passing and his career high was only 18 assists, although this season he had 20 in a cup game for his new team. Still, that just shows you how difficult it is to get 19 assists in a game, even at the D.V level. A lot of things have to go right, and fortunately they did for Pagan and the Maine Claws tonight.

I just watched my game to see Pagan's performance. Really interesting stuff. First of all, although Pagan had 19 assists on the game, he didn't get his first one until almost 5 1/2 minutes into the game, on a fast-break assist to Michael Eini. He did have jumper to open the game and a nice and-1 though, and he had 7 of his 20 points but still seemed to be a relative non-factor. Also he turned the ball over once, losing the handle and having the ball stripped from him.

In the 2nd quarter Pagan started to really move the ball with six assists in the period, four of them to Belhadj (three in the first two minutes. In chronological order, his assists were: a layup, an inside shot, a jumper, and a dunk) as well as a nice feed to Rutledge on the fast-break for the baseline dunk and a pass to Mallory Montel for a powerful two-handed slam. He also drew a foul and hit both free throws, but otherwise struggled to score as he missed all five shots he took (not counting the one on which he was fouled). Finally, he grabbed his first rebound (a defensive board).

The third quarter was Pagan's best, as he had another seven assists, one to Eini for a baseline jumper, two more to Belhadj for another dunk and a jumper, a pair of assists to Rutledge for two more dunks (one of which brought the crowd to its feet in applause), and another pair to Caruso for a lay-in and a dunk. He also had a nice dunk off an assist from Eini, hit a jumper, drew a foul and hit one of two free throws, grabbed two rebounds (one offensive, one defensive), and blocked three shots (two of them rotating over on help defense). Again, he had the ball stripped from him for his second and final turnover of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Pagan closed out his magnificent night with 5 more assists, one to Montel for a dunk, three to Gilliam for more dunks, and another to Lasonen for yet another dunk. He also hit two jumpers and was fouled on another, hitting both free throws, and added a steal and a block for good measure. He was called for his only foul of the game during this period.

Overall, Pagan's assists break down like this:

Jumpers: 3
Inside shots: 2
Layups: 2
Dunks: 12

Belhadj: 6 (2 dunks, 1 layup, 1 inside shot, 2 jumpers)
Rutledge: 3 (3 dunks)
Eini: 2 (one inside shot, one jumper)
Caruso: 2 (one driving layup, one dunk)
Gilliam: 3 (3 dunks)
Montel: 2 (2 dunks)
Lasonen: 1 (1 dunk)

Scoring:

3-pointers: 0 (0-2)
2-point jumpers: 4 (4-12)
Layups: 1 (1-1)
Dunks: 1 (1-1)
Free Throws: 8 (8-9)

Notes: Pagan did have 8 passes by my count that set up teammates with good shots that they missed, four to Belhadj, two to Caruso, one to Gilliam, and one to Eini. So he could have had 26 assists or more potentially if his teammates hit all their shots. Also, the four blocks were very impressive for a player with atrocious shot-blocking!



Most of Pagan's assists came on inside shots, primarily dunks. This is not surprising in a LI offense. It was interesting to see how often Pagan looked to Belhadj, as 6 of his assists were to him, double the total of any other player. And four of his eight passes that set up makable opportunities were to Belhadj as well. Clearly, Belhadj at SG is a mismatch that Pagan likes and is able to exploit, since otherwise you would expect him to look more to Eini or Rutledge who are both better individual scorers. Also, Pagan's passing was not the cause of his turnovers; rather, it was his low handling that caused him to get stripped of the ball. As a passer, he was flawless. As a ball-handler, not so much.

Overall, any player could be proud of this performance and it is to be hoped that the sophomore guard will build on this and become even better moving forward.

And I'm still alive in the cup, thanks to another win tonight. I TIE'd again to save enthusiasm, and the other team CT'ed, but we still won by 9 thanks in large part to a huge free throw disparity--we attempted 45 free throws to their 12. Unfortunately as a team we only made 24 of the 45, or a little under 60%, but still, it's great to see that aggressiveness.

Notes: Pagan and Belhadj both flirted with triple-doubles and Rutlege led the team in scoring with 19 points on 9-12 shooting. For the rookies, John Paul Golong started at SG and scored 12 points to go with 6 assists and 4 rebounds in 37 minutes. He did commit two offensive fouls, which were his only two turnovers of the game and contributed to his fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Neil Clarke replaced him and was equally effective, scoring 12 points, hitting the team's only three-pointer of the game, and equaling the other team's entire production from the charity stripe as he attempted a game-high 12 free throws, making 7 (the other team shot 7-12 from the line as well). Pagan, Belhadj, Golong, and Clarke all received 48+ minutes for training, so hopefully we'll see some nice pops tomorrow.

Another unexpected cup win against a D.IV team, but it looks like the Claws will be bowing out and watching the rest of the Cup games from their living room couches as they face the former NBBA team Slashing Dragons next Thursday. However, the looming end of their cup run did not deter them, and even the loss of starting center Gilbert Rutledge could not stop them as the short-handed Maine squad "Clawed" their way to a 96-95 road victory over Ciudad de Panama Perros. Mallory Montel, starting in place of the injured Rutledge, had two buckets in the final minute including the go-ahead shot with two seconds left in regulation, Youseff Belhadj nearly messed around and got himself a triple double with 21 points 9 rebounds and 9 assists, and Michael Eini had 17 points, nine rebounds, 6 assists, and the game-saving block of Orlando Capriles' layup attempt at the buzzer. Next Tuesday, Maine Claws return home to face the newly created team odd future.

In other league news, Naples Napalm won handily (no surprises here) and Da vicks beat V squad at home, 100-83. For the time being, this puts the Claws in first place in the great 8.

Nice Run Claws!