Knicks Franchise/Now a Warriors Franchise

[LC]

New York Knicks
Fantasy Draft

Starting Roster:

PG Chris Paul, 92
SG Manu Ginobili, 87
SF Mickael Pietrus, 77
PF David Lee, 81
C Samuel Dalembert, 77

PG Earl Boykins, 78
PG Smush Parker, 75
PG Orien Greene, 69
SG Leandro Barbosa, 85
SG Dijon Thompson, 61
SF Jason Kapono, 76
SF James Singleton, 72
PF Eddie Griffin, 79
PF Paul Millsap, 77
C Saer Sene, 66

I traded Boykins for Alonzo Mourning to give the lineup a little more defense down low. I liked this lineup though because it led to wild games. Every game, whether I lost or won, was a blowout because I relied on the philosophy 'drive to the hoop and ask questions later'.

I played a 29 game season and went 21-8, but I was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the 76ers. They had Dirk Nowitzki, Gerald Wallace, Jameer Nelson, and Michael Redd; we couldn't stop Nowitzki in the paint so I had to double, but every time I did one of the other ones would be open for a three.

Year 2 Lineup:

PG Chris Paul, 94
SG Manu Ginobili, 87
SF Jason Kapono, 79(traded Pietrus for draft picks)
PF David Lee, 85
C Alonzo Mourning, 81

The next season the lineup really took form when I added Bruce Bowen and a rookie SG who was a 79 overall that I traded for. He was 6'8 and drove to the hoop like Lebron and could drain the three. I would start the second half with him, Ginobili, Kapono and Millsap. It was unstoppable. But the main piece was Bowen. He gave me the defense to shut down jump-shooters when I doubleteamed.

22-7 in the second year I swept all the way through the playoffs until the Eastern Finals. The first game went to double overtime and I won on a last-second three from Kapono. But I didn't notice that it didn't count the win, played another game, and saved and went to sleep. Now whenever I win game three it doesn't give me another game to win the series and it freezes when I try to finish the playoffs.

That really sucks. But I got over it and I'm just going to do another fantasy draft that I'll post on here later.

[LC]

I was stuck with the 29th pick, but I think I did alright with it.

PG Delonte West, 78
SG Leandro Barbosa, 85
SF Mickael Pietrus, 77
PF Emeka Okafor, 86
C Andris Biedrins, 78

PG Aaron Brooks, 73
PG Daniel Ewing, 72
PG Travis Diener, 66
SG Kelenna Azubuike, 73
SF Jason Kapono, 76
SF Ime Udoka, 72
PF David Lee, 81
PF Eddie Griffin, 79
C Desagana Diop, 71
C Johan Petro, 65

This should be a good one though. Dwayne Wade, Gilbert Arenas and LeBron James are all in my division. The worst part is the Knicks landed the first pick and got Tim Duncan. Lol

[LC]

29 Game Season
5 Minute Quarters
7 Minute Sim Quarters

I just beat the Celtics 44-42 on a last second steal off the inbound and fastbreak layup by Barbosa. Both teams had two key starters injured, Pietrus and Okafor on my team, so it was a sloppy game, but we edged it out in the end.

Record: 2-2
Second in Division

[LC]

I lost a divisional game to the Suns and the games were back-and-forth since with a 2-3 record. When I was checking the roster of the next upcoming team I have to play, I was surprised to find that Kobe and Shaq had been re-united(along with Josh Howard thrown in he mix) on the Bulls of all places. Something just doesn't feel right about that. But, otherwise, I'm thinking about shopping Barbosa around for another SG. Right now I'm considering Rudy G a y, but I'm not too sure about it.

Record: 4-5
Third in Division

(Haha, it censored Rudy's last name)

[LC]

After a few more losing efforts, I decided that Delonte West was the problem and not Barbosa. I traded him for Nate Robinson and a 2nd Rnd draft pick. The effect was immediate as Robinson had 20 points in his first game, and despite foul trouble, still contributed with 11 points and both games were a win not to mention he has brought a lot more out Pietrus' game. I think if I continue to develop Okafor and Biedrins I should have a solid team to make a playoff run at the end of the season.

Unfortunately, I have a tough divisional game against Dwayne Wade and the Kings next where I'm going to try and gain back some ground.

Record: 6-7(currently the 7 seed)
Third in Division

[Jonny Pharside]

cool your doin pretty good

[LC]

Thanks, I'm just recently switching over from playing Madden so I'm not very good yet.

Well, a tough 54-52 loss to the Pacers extends my current losing streak to five games. Offensive struggles are really hurting my team right now. We can keep it close, but can't hit the buckets we need to win games. Pietrus isn't filling the role I had envisioned for him as our lead scorer along with Barbosa which is forcing me to be more aggressive with Robinson. That means a lot of turnovers.

We need to pull it together quick, though. Seven games left, and I'm one game back to a team with the tie-breaker.

Record: 9-13
Last in Division

[LC]

The last half of the season did not turn out well at all. We fell apart and let our playoff chances fall out of our grasp finishing the season 11-18, last in the division. I ended up simulating the end of a lot of those games in sheer frustration as I watched fourth-quarter leads slip away again and again. We would start out strong and usually be winning at half-time, but choked in the third and fourth quarter. I have a rough plan of what to address in the offseason, and, maybe the only good thing about a season like that, I have a decent shot to get a top 5 draft pick.

Season Wrap-up:

Team:

PG Aaron Brooks made All-Rookie First Team
Top Scorer: Mickael Pietrus(10ppg, 1.6rpg)
Most Improved: Emeka Okafor(3.8ppg, 4.8rpg, 1.1apg)
Sixth Man: Aaron Brooks(6.2ppg, 2.8apg)

League:

MVP: Dwayne Wade(14.5ppg, 3.3rpg, 5apg, 1.7spg, 1.1bpg) - Kings
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant(13.3ppg, 4.3rpg, 2.1apg) - Mavericks
Sixth Man of the Year: Hedo Turkoglu(6.3ppg, 2.4rpg) - Mavericks
Defensive MVP: Josh Smith(11.7ppg, 6.4rpg) - Suns
Most Improved Player - Jalen Rose(5.5ppg, 2.6rpg) - Spurs
Coach of the Year: Bulls - Scott Skiles


Playoff Seedings:

East:West:
1:Wizards1:Suns
2:Bulls2:Kings
3:Celtics3:Spurs
4:Bucks4:Sonics
5:Hawks5:Nuggets
6:Heat6:Rockets
7:Pistons7:Clippers
8:76ers8:Jazz

The Nuggets swept through the West with no trouble at all until they came up againt Dwayne Wade and the Kings who had barely won the previous two rounds. It was a tough serious and the Nuggets were winning 3-2, but Dwayne Wade would not settle for losing. He kicked it into overdrive scoring 20+ in both games leading the Kings to the comeback win.

The Bulls and Celtics had a tough semi-finals series before the the Celtics ultimately went on to win and face the Bucks in the Eastern Finals. The Bucks presented little challenge to the battle-hardened Celtics, however, and they were swept in four games.

In the Finals Wade continued his domination along with Zack Randolph. There was little that the Celtics could do. Carmelo Anthony was held in check, and Carlos Boozer and the rest of the team could do little to stop the Kings from controlling the boards the entire series. The Kings ended the series in forceful fashion only needing five games. Dwayne Wade, of course, won the Finals MVP(14.9ppg, 4.8rpg, 5.1apg, 1.4spg, 1.3bpg).

[LC]

The Offseason kicked off in high gear as soon as the playoffs ended. My owner messaged me three times in one month threatening to fire me if I did not improve the team dramatically. My intentions had been pretty much the same, but now that my job was on the line, I had to work some magic.

I ended up with a with the 7th pick in the draft that had a lot of standout PFs. I needed a scoring 1 or 2, though, so I was forced to search through the large amount of moderate talent to find what I needed. I picked a SG predicted to go at pick 10, but I took him high because of his ridiculous jumpshot. My scout's must be slacking, though, because they failed to mention anything about his 65 speed stat. I took a PG at the beginning of the second round and a C at the end.

Directly after the draft, I traded PF Eddie Griffin(80), SF Ime Udoka(73) and PF Savlik Randolph(68) to the Cavaliers for PG Earl Watson(78) and a rookie PG that was better than mine so I kept him instead. But that was only the first of several trades I made. Just before the free agent period I traded PG Aaron Brooks(73) to the to Clippers for PF Chuckie Hayes(72). Free agent signing saw little action from my team as, not only was I stuck with a 15-man roster, but I was not willing to spend the money to sign the top players. It was very tempting to sign Chris Paul, but not for 13 million first year. I was considering doing something for Vince Carter because he was still left near the end of the signing period, but the Mavericks signed him. That last move is what allowed me to get my final trade: SF Jason Kapono(77), SG Kirk Snyder(71), 1st Round Draft Pick and next year's 2nd Round Draft Pick to the Mavericks for SG Rudy Ga y(81). Ga y is going to be a beast after 3-4 years development.

The Jazz had an insane offseason spree that I think is going to land them in or near the finals. They traded for Ben Gordon and signed Ray Allen and Kevin Durant. Adding them to a decent team is enough for me to see them doing well.



Year 2 Roster:

PG Earl Watson, 77
SG Leandro Barbosa, 87
SF Mickael Pietrus, 81
PF Emeka Okafor, 90
C Andris Biedrins, 83

PG Craig Butler(Rookie, Pick 32), 65
PG Nate Robinson, 76
SG Kelenna Azubuike, 73
SG Shane Dean(Rookie, Pick 7), 74
SG Rudy G ay, 81
SF Mickael Gelabale, 68
PF David Lee, 83
PF Chuckie Hayes, 72
C Desagana Diop, 75

The team looks improved from last year, to me, at least. I still think we have a good shot to make the playoffs, hell, we only missed them by 3 games last year and we had a six game losing streak.

I start the new season off in New Orleans against the Hornets.

[LC]

The first month of the season was quite a test, and I think it gave me a good gauge on what my team can do. Of the eight games we played in November, we faced five playoff teams from the year before including the Bulls, the upgraded Jazz and LeBron and the Clippers. Despite having a lot of nail-biters and rough games, we pulled a 5-3 record for the month.

Our defense is solid now with Okafor and Biedrins shutting down the inside. Most of my perimeter players can play defense as well. My offense seems to be clicking, finally. Barbosa is averaging 13.1 ppg, and Pietrus is holding steady with 12.8. G ay and the rookie SG a giving some decent points off of the bench, too.

Record: 5-3
Second in Division

[LC]

Yes, all the work with Pietrus' shooting skills during the offseason and my trade for Watson, which gave me a solid passer, meant that my offense was no longer a liability. Barbosa is ranked 7th in the league in points per game with 15.1. However, injuries to G ay and Biedrins have hampered the team in the second month.

Record: 7-4
2nd in Division

[LC]

Hello all,
I haven't been able to update(or much less play 2k8) for the past two weeks as I've been ridiculously busy with a new job. I haven't forgotten about this thread, however. With the weekend coming up I should have some free time to sneak in a few games and post an update of my franchise' status.
With all this time off I might not be ready to pick it up where I left off, but, hopefully, it won't be too bad as I really liked where my team was heading before my little departure.