There are two things that, I have to say, I hold negatively against teams right out of the gate:
If you are using a non "All-Time Great", a player in your rotation that, in my opinion, doesn't belong in this game, I am marking your team down because of it.
Also, if you are using a player out of a position they played exclusively in their career, I am marking you down. (Here I am not talking a player that played in different positions in their years. I am talking like someone being a center their whole career and trying to make them a PF.)
People may not agree with this, but it's what I do.