Huge boring post:
NBA 2k10
So I just started my third year with the Kings. Last season's goal of the playoffs was more than a little optimistic; I just faced the easiest competition early on in my season. I wound up trading Jason Thompson to the Bobcats for an expiring contract and a 1st round pick, "Ramon Lopez" ran away with Rookie of the Year, because he's just too awesome to not hand the award to. No CPU rookies really came close. In the off season I picked up one "Herman Kirkland" by virtue of magically winning the second draft pick. He's a small/power forward with great hops but is, in theory, a three point specialist. It's very odd. My Bobcats pick was turned into "Pete Flemming", a 7'3 athlete with no real potential, but hey, 7'3 and fast is good enough to bump Hawes from the starting position. I have a lot of spare money, and I made a huge run at Al Horford which lasted for most of the free agency, but he resigned with the Hawks. I get the distinct feeling he was using me to get a higher contract from a team he had no interest in leaving, but that's probably giving the AI in the game too much credit.
Biggest not-VSM news in the offseason was that Carmelo Anthony signed with the Jazz.
The Lakers won the Championship over the Hawks, who still managed to reach the finals even though Joe Johnson signed with the Nets.
My Season 3 lineup looks like this:
PG "Ramon Lopez" ~ Magically lower in rating from last season, despite having an A+ potential. I'm convinced this game makes players have a Sophomore slump, because nothing else can account for this. NOTABLY, he was rated higher than his original rating during the offseason, and now he's several points lower? What the fuck. Anyhow, I trained up his jumper so he's a legit threat if you leave him alone, and I trained the hell out of his finishing ability, so now he's even stronger at laying up, and since he's always had hops he didn't bother to use, he'll now pound it home on people who don't expect it. This is a really gifted player. Shame he's not a real person.
SG Kevin Martin ~ Same as always. He's rated slightly higher than the past two seasons, which is nice, but really, he's just Kevin Martin. A great, volume scorer that gives me a threat from all over the floor. Works well with my slashing style of play.
SF Herman Kirkland ~ Dunno what to make of this guy. He's multitalented, but I'd almost prefer if he were a specialist. But maybe not. He can get a lot of points in a lot of fun ways, and that's important.
PF Kevin Cohen ~ Upgraded to starter after the Thompson trade. Cohen is a great energy guy. He's got a high offensive awareness rating, and the AI loves to roll him to the basket whenever I'm doubled, so this athletic specimen gets a lot of easy buckets for me. Every team needs a garbage man.
C Pete Fleming ~ Yep! 4/5s of my starters are players that don't exist. He's fast and he's tall. I like opening games with him and closing them out with Spencer Hawes, who gets way more minutes by virtue of being more versatile.
My bench in rough order of how they come off:
6)Spencer Hawes ~ Hates being a sixth man, but I think the way I have his minutes programmed will make him come around. He's irked because when I resigned him, I had told him he'd be a starter, but then I got a slight "upgrade" of sorts at Center, and I thought I'd better run with it. Besides, Hawes multitalented nature makes him a really great sixth man in this game.
Francisco Garcia ~ No comment
Tyreke Evans ~ Regenerated some of his lost player rating from his sophomore year, but is still not as good as when he was a rookie. I don't get it. Was the rookie/sophomore MVP which frustrates me, because he's got loads of potential but has randomly regressed in this game for NO reason that makes sense. Nevertheless I gave him a shooting touch, so he's like a shittier Lopez for when Lopez hits the bench.
Andres Nocioni ~ Hates me because I demoted him twice over the offseason. I'd love to have him off my bench, but if he fucks with my chemistry too much I'll have to trade him, likely for less value.
Sergio Rodriguez ~ Is fast. Passes.
Lee McCarthy ~Another fake player. Is in the main rotation even though he kinda sucks. I'm hoping to trade him because I think I can swindle more than he's worth.
Rudolph Mitchell ~ Fake player. Still a prospect. As god is my witness I -will- turn this man into a terrifying defensive presence the likes of which this fake league has never seen.
I run a primary slashing game. Lopez can still get into the paint almost at will, but I give this game an awful lot of props for AI because enemy teams seem to actually scout you, because I've been noticing defenses collapsing in on him more and more. My chosen style is to try and push the issue anyhow, because if he can beat his main defender off the dribble, he'll still give me my points, but otherwise, I'll kick out to someone else (Kirkland, mostly) who has a good slashing game. If someone gets doubled, Martin, Kirkland, and Lopez are all reasonable outside threats, and Cohen is smart and likes to run to the basket for easy dunks. Neither of my starting big men are post threats, although Cohen can hit mid-range jumpers. Hawes is more talented than either of them, but he's less athletic. When he comes off the bench, he gives me a whole different style of play, where I can run some pick and pops and the like. He's also a good passer in his own right, so I'll play through him some and see what the defense gives me.
I'm less optimistic about reaching the playoffs this year, because I'm still a fairly lowly rated team. The past two drafts have been astonishingly good, which I'm hoping doesn't continue, because that would make the game kind of silly. Nevertheless, my team rating has jumped something like seven points in an offseason where I didn't meet all of my primary goals, so I'm happy with the progression of my team thus far. I'm hoping to land a big power forward in free agency next year, but we'll have to see what's available.
