1. Rando question: Is there a particular skill in real that you excel at?
vincent1469: I’m not sure how good I am comparatively, but I’ve been striving to get better at basketball and bowling. I’ve been trying to do both of them more and it’s really nice seeing myself get better at both. I hit 160 in bowling last week, which was my best ever game. And in basketball, I played a pickup
Bean regime: No, I'm a loser.
Cellar door: Nope, I don't actually play basketball.
Foxy: I'm really good at singing, I've performed in front of hundreds of people before.
dd10: Vincent seems like someone who wants to continually learn something. Good attribute. Foxy the singer? Who knew?
2. What part of GM’ing do you enjoy the most? Drafts/FA/depth charts/trades?
vincent1469: My favorite part about GMing is drafts and FAs because you’re adding players, whereas trades are fun I’m not particularily good at them (as I’m sure you guys can tell). Depth charts are difficult for me because I don’t really have a grasp on how the system works so I’m kind of throwing whatever and seeing what works.
Bean regime: I enjoy everything but tanking. One of my favorite parts of doing sim leagues is getting the most out of certain players, even if I'm not winning that much. Tanking goes against that to where I'm either trying to make players perform as badly as possible, or getting rid of anyone interesting and playing absolutely terrible players.
Cellar door: Draft, then probably trades
Foxy: I really like doing trades and drafting, I think that it's a lot of fun when gm's are active in replying.
dd10: For me, I think just rebuilding in general is the most exciting because you have the whole offseason and especially TC to look forward to. If you are competing and limited to big contracts then u have less flexibility in what you can do, even if you are still winning
3. Speaking of trades/drafts/fa, is there any particular move that you have regretted so far in DASL?
vincent1469: Moves I regret… there a lot. I think in general I try to contend alot longer than my contending window is and make regrettable moves. See Phil Ford, Charles Barkley for example. One move I regret not doing is accepting the Spurs trade when I had pick 7. I had Rex Chapman set in stone and Spurs offered me picks 10 and 11 which turned out to be Hersey Hawkins and Jerome Lane (yikes).
Bean regime: My worst move this iteration was probably letting Otis Birdsong go in the FA as I didn't want to pay him for his production (justifiably) which then he got paid and vastly improved. That same offseason, I went against BPA (who I thought was Tkachenko) and drafted need (Tripucka) who was a disaster and which wouldn't have been a need if I had Birdsong. It's not even like Tkachenko was that amazing or anything, but rather Tripucka was so s***. Terrible offseason.
Cellar door: 1991 draft I went positional need over BPA and it was rough, the PG couldn't really play PG and the PF/SF was Gatling
Foxy: I regret every move I've made with the Nets. It really pushed back all of my plans for my team.
Dd10: whoa!! crazy that Vincent could have had Hawkins/Lane for Rex. Hindsight is 20/20. My worst is handing 2 championships to heezy by hastily trading away Sampson. It wasn’t a terrible move overall, but allowed for a mini-dynasty to get started. My bad, guys. Also, Tkachenko's true love was always NJ. Didn't want to play anywhere else so it's a blessing you missed out on him, bean. Just ask nuggets. hehe. VLAAADDDD!!!!
4. Where do you informally rank yourself amongst the rest of the league managers?
vincent1469: I probably rank myself around the bottom tier just because I’ve achieved very little success in a singular conference finals apparance. I’ve probably also made the worst moves out of everyone.
Bean regime: Eh, it's hard to say. It's easy to look at another team and point out their mistakes in hindsight. Tier 2 at worst. I will say, you'll never catch me underbidding players for no real reason like those doofus's in this last FA that lost their starting PGs.
Cellar door: Middle of the pack, my teams generally perform decently, but can't get over the top. Part of it is probably a lack of aggressiveness with regards to either trading picks, or truly bottoming out.
Foxy: I think I'm around the middle of the group. I think that there are some managers with a lot more experience and a lot better decision-making skills. I also think there are some managers who have a little bit harder time with their decisions.
dd10: most ranking in the middle tier. all that is needed is 1 championship to catapult in the top 10. When is TK1’s next GM ranking..???
5. Who do you ask for 2nd opinion if you have a questionable deal ?
vincent1469: Honestly, I’m incredibly impulsive and don’t really ask anyone. Probably should though given the results of that mindset.
Bean regime: Grizzlies. We talk all the time, hence why we're always doing stupid little deals. If I don't ask him about a deal, I won't ask anyone.
Cellar door: Generally I don't, I just go with what I feel, if I were a new GM I'd reach out to Ownage, he's got tons of experience, and he runs the league owned teams so he has an interest in making sure new owners don't get taken advantage of and quit.
Foxy: I usually commune with Heazy or Lukey. Both are top 5 gm's in my opinion and make good choices. Occasionally if I need more opinions I'll ask dd, tk, or bean.
Dd10: too much consultation with the Grizz. Caveat emptor!!! And vincent definitely an impulsive trader lol.
6. Which team/GM without a title is the most deserving of one? i.e. team/gm that has had lots of talent but not the playoff success to back it up.
vincent1469: One dude that really I’ve expected to get a title is the Jazz. I remember my first season in the league I predicted Jazz to win with Bruno and their Mchale/Parish backcourt.
Bean regime: Well, if they're like the Pistons where they have a superstar and do nothing with him, then they just don't deserve it (sorry Pistons
). I really liked the Bulls squads that that had such abysmal playoff performances. But I'll go with the Knicks, who had gotten close with a very interesting roster but couldn't pull it off. Cellar door: The Commish, he makes solid rosters that often overperform in the regular season.
Foxy: The cavs for sure, I think that because they've had the cheating gms of tk and dd in their division they haven't been able to come out of the first couple rounds.
Dd10: ya, I agree regarding bellsducks, especially early on. He had some uber talented teams that slowly broke apart and/or some guys that didn’t turn into the stars we thought. Cavs is the obvious #1 for me though. Their combination of injuries, game 7 losses, regular season success, and playoff disappointment is unparelled. I’d possibly toss in the rockets in there. They had a real good team a few years back and now have MJ and crew but haven’t broken through the glass ceiling.
7. Now that the Celtics have won 2 champships, there might be a debate now of who is the best team of all time. Who has the best case to challenge Grizz as #1 all-time?
vincent1469: I think Craig with his early success with Dr. J and his rise with Shaq/Smith/Elliott will probably be the best challenger to the Grizz if we’re talking all-time. Hes gonna win a title (or more) with that core and will challenge.
Bean regime: Prime Nets.
Cellar door: Nets have a good case, most playoff wins all time, tied for most finals appearances, 2nd highest playoff Win%, Suns are a sneaky contender too, also tied for most finals appearances, tied for 2nd most titles, 3rd in playoff win%, top 5 in regular season win%
Foxy: I think that the Celtics can take that title if they can get some solid role players around schmidt and scott. But it's gonna cost them. Luckily they have their firsts and can potentially buy some players.
Dd10: agree with Nets/Celtics/Suns, but y’all are forgetting about skyhooker. #1 in wins, #2 in playoff wins, #1 in playoff appearances, and she has still had success after Moses. Serious contender IMO.
8. Celtics/Grizz have kinda dominated the league the past 4 years (Grizz longer) with crippled and elderly rosters. How nice is it to see other teams rising up? Also, please don’t give those teams any value for their 40 year old “superstars” being paid $29million a year who might retire before the all-star game. I’ll just put a question mark at the end of this sentence to make it seem like its a question ?
vincent1469: I feel great about it since the Grizzlies blocked my best-chance at a title with my old core in a thrilling game 7 in the 2nd round, whereafter the Grizzlies just waltzed to the easiest title of their lives.
Bean regime: I think its a nice change, I think Suns with their young core will eventually succeed the Celtics and Grizz. Besides them, I could also see the Rockets contending if they can surround their core with quality depth. They did make the Finals as a 7th seed after all.
Cellar door: Entering an interesting spot in the league, where we might see some turnover, no truly dominant Moses style player, super-teams possibly aging out, it will be interesting to see if this makes for a more aggressive trade market, as more teams could see themselves as a player away from contending.
Foxy: I think that the Suns roster is completely solid and will absolutely be good for years to come.
Dd10: good answers to a bad question that was meant to be a shot @ Celts/grizz. lol
9. Speaking of venting, who is the most nefarious character amongst the following, and why: wheezy, dd10, Craig, foxy, tk1, Lukey, skyhooker?
vincent1469: I would say Celtics because they won a championship while simming but I can’t help but respect the balls to go through with the Oscar Schmidt trade and having it pay off: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=37516. An absolutely massive trade with implications for the entire league.
Bean regime: LUKEY. He is the only one that broke a written rule, IN THE DAMN PLAYOFFS. Nets pulled off a well-executed move that was completely legal at the time. HATE THE BLAZERS.
Cellar door: I have no problems with any of the GMs, finding loopholes in the rules is fair game. I prefer that to GMs who just let their team sit all year.
Foxy: Definitely Lukey and tk1, they both are so quick to push blame onto others before they admit their faults. The fact that both have been ruling the east for so many years is fishy.
dd10: agree! Great responses all around. cellar door playing politician.
10. Of all of the rebuilding teams, which one would you pick as your team to build for the future?
vincent1469: Probably Heat with Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. I like their new GM and am excited for what they have in store.
Bean regime: Heat. They have the top-end talent with Penny and Hill (though tbh I hated Hill in the draft. Still was #2 because of his age, but I wasn't happy about it) as well as no big contracts. They don't have their 96, but hey, Penny.
Cellar door: Long term I like what the Kings have in terms of multiple young guys with high level upside who are closer to it, I am curious if the Knicks' strategy of throwing a whole bunch of young guys at the wall to see if he can get 2 stars works, Heat have one of the best single pieces in Penny. Short term rebuild, I feel good about my team at the moment, we'll see if the move was the right one, but last year it seemed clear that this team needed both 1 more scorer and a PG who was ready now, may not work out, but getting that guy now before all the young guys on the team age into 2nd deals makes sense.
Foxy: I really like the way my team (nuggets) is building right now. 5 solid first round picks in two of the best draft classes ever in 95 and 96.
dd10: might possibly toss the Nuggets in there with their future picks, but ya, Heath looking good. We will see what TC looks like.
11. Lastly, … that’s all I can think of.. feel free to add anything you’d like. ok… maybe a Rando question again: What is a quote that you heard early in life that has stuck with you, and has meaning to you?
vincent1469: Hmm. One quote I heard my high school basketball coach tell me, I think it was from Steve Kerr, goes like “If you can’t do something, you either can’t or won’t do it.”
Bean regime: Not a thing. So, instead, I will tell you that Stonehenge by Ylvis has been stuck in my head for a few days now. That almost fits the bill as a quote that has stuck with me. Nailed it.
Cellar door: *no response*
Foxy: The way to get started is to stop talking and start doing. -Walt Disney
dd10: just listened to Stonehenge. lol. Same guys that did what does the fox say? nice.
