2019 Historical: How Does My Team Look Thread

[Silky]

Also to add, I have stated multiple times that Kobe is my worst defensive starter, and he is still a stud defender.

[Silky]

One of the cool things about this game is that it gives you insight into guys you don’t know a lot about.

One such guy is Jerry Lucas. He was apparently only the third guy ever to average 20 / 20 for a season. More impressively, he was one of the original stretch bigs, routinely hitting from 20 to 25 feet. Then, he led NY to a championship by playing as an undersized center.  He was also apparently one of the forward-thinking businessmen in the league.

Before this game I couldn’t have talked with any specificity at all about him.

Yeah, his career was really strong. I never knew just how good his peaks actually were. Feel like he'd be one guy to absolutely thrive in today's game. Might have been the first jump-shooting big man!

Reading up on old players is always fun for me

I was torn between him and Dave when I picked Dave.

Lucas, a little undersized, but terrific shooter.

He was very Dirk like according to the research I did and highlights I found.

[Moranis]

One of the cool things about this game is that it gives you insight into guys you don’t know a lot about.

One such guy is Jerry Lucas. He was apparently only the third guy ever to average 20 / 20 for a season. More impressively, he was one of the original stretch bigs, routinely hitting from 20 to 25 feet. Then, he led NY to a championship by playing as an undersized center.  He was also apparently one of the forward-thinking businessmen in the league.

Before this game I couldn’t have talked with any specificity at all about him.

Yeah, his career was really strong. I never knew just how good his peaks actually were. Feel like he'd be one guy to absolutely thrive in today's game. Might have been the first jump-shooting big man!

Reading up on old players is always fun for me

He also was on one of the best college teams ever.  As a sophomore (couldn't play as freshman) his Ohio State team had him, John Havlicek, Mel Nowell, Larry Siegfried, and Joe Roberts all NBA players as well as Bob Knight.  They lost twice early and then didn't lose again winning the 1960 title.  The next year they won their first 32 games before losing in the 61 title game to Cincinnati (the year after Oscar left).  They would make the 62 Final again losing to Cincinnati, but Lucas was badly injured in the semi-final game and only played the championship because he thought he would never play again as he had no desire to turn pro.  At the end of his 3 college seasons Ohio State was 78-6 with the 1 title and 2 runner-ups.  In between those seasons he also was the 2nd leading scorer on the Gold Medal winning 1960 Olympic team (Oscar was the leading scorer, West was also on that team) and played on an international tour in the summer of 61. 

Him getting to the pros was also very strange.  The Cincinnati Royals first secured his rights in 1958 (before he stepped foot at OSU) and then officially drafted him in 62, but he turned them down as he never wanted to go pro.  The ABL's Cleveland Pipers (owned by George Steinbrenner) saw that as an opportunity and promised Lucas an ownership stake, so he signed with them.  The Pipers then tried to get into the NBA and left the ABL to do it.   The Royals protested and forced the NBA to have huge fees for the Pipers.  They couldn't pay and went out of business and the ABL then folded as a result.  After that, he was part of a group trying to bring a NBA team to Cleveland and didn't play at all for an entire season trying to make that happen.  He finally joined the Royals for the 63-64 season.  He was one of, if not the, biggest draws in the entire sport and was almost immediately (as a result of his college and international experience). 

while he was playing, he was also investing heavily and endorsing a lot of things.  He became one of the first millionaires based on all of the off-court investments including a restaurant chain, children's toy company, author, etc.  But when the economy took a turn in 69 he had to file bankruptcy.  As he had many players as investors, the once incredibly popular Lucas became a pariah for a time. 

Just a really fascinating man. 

[Roy H.]

Really great stuff, Moranis.

Also one of only three players in history to have won a state title, college championship, NBA title, and Olympic gold medal (joining Magic and Quinn Buckner).

[Who]

It was a pyramid scheme, wasn't it?

That Jerry Lucas got involved in and got lots of other players to invest in. He didn't realize what it was at time but loads of players lost their money and resented Lucas for it.

[Who]

There is a good documentary on Jerry Lucas on youtube. One of those ESPN greatest sportsmen type of things.

He had a photographic memory. He said it helped him map where the ball would fall off of rebounds which helped make him such a great rebounder.

Also was a bit of an odd-ball who irritated teammates at times. NYK was a great fit because their locker room had a bunch of unusual characters so he fit in easier there than elsewhere.

Edit: Lucas was also obsessed with his own stats. He'd keep a running count during games of his numbers and argue with scorekeepers. Always checking to make sure they were crediting him with enough rebounds and so forth.

[Who]

One of the cool things about this game is that it gives you insight into guys you don’t know a lot about.

One such guy is Jerry Lucas. He was apparently only the third guy ever to average 20 / 20 for a season. More impressively, he was one of the original stretch bigs, routinely hitting from 20 to 25 feet. Then, he led NY to a championship by playing as an undersized center.  He was also apparently one of the forward-thinking businessmen in the league.

Before this game I couldn’t have talked with any specificity at all about him.

Yeah, his career was really strong. I never knew just how good his peaks actually were. Feel like he'd be one guy to absolutely thrive in today's game. Might have been the first jump-shooting big man!

Reading up on old players is always fun for me

I was torn between him and Dave when I picked Dave.

Lucas, a little undersized, but terrific shooter.

He was very Dirk like according to the research I did and highlights I found.

Lucas was more Memo Okur like as a shooter than Dirk like. Dirk would make contested jump shots -- jump-shots off the dribble with defenders draped all over him. Dirk had a face up game, jab steps, head fakes, ball fakes, hesitation moves. He could drive and go to the basket. Much more variety.

Jerry Lucas like Memo Okur was more of a spot up shooter. When Lucas needed to create a shot with a defender on him, he preferred to post up where he was very effective and had a very good hook shot.

[Silky]

One of the cool things about this game is that it gives you insight into guys you don’t know a lot about.

One such guy is Jerry Lucas. He was apparently only the third guy ever to average 20 / 20 for a season. More impressively, he was one of the original stretch bigs, routinely hitting from 20 to 25 feet. Then, he led NY to a championship by playing as an undersized center.  He was also apparently one of the forward-thinking businessmen in the league.

Before this game I couldn’t have talked with any specificity at all about him.

Yeah, his career was really strong. I never knew just how good his peaks actually were. Feel like he'd be one guy to absolutely thrive in today's game. Might have been the first jump-shooting big man!

Reading up on old players is always fun for me

I was torn between him and Dave when I picked Dave.

Lucas, a little undersized, but terrific shooter.

He was very Dirk like according to the research I did and highlights I found.

Lucas was more Memo Okur like as a shooter than Dirk like. Dirk would make contested jump shots -- jump-shots off the dribble with defenders draped all over him. Dirk had a face up game, jab steps, head fakes, ball fakes, hesitation moves. He could drive and go to the basket. Much more variety.

Jerry Lucas like Memo Okur was more of a spot up shooter. When Lucas needed to create a shot with a defender on him, he preferred to post up where he was very effective and had a very good hook shot.

Yeah, much better comp for him.

[Roy H.]

Are teams allowed to talk about how they match up?

If so: Portland and Philly, we all witnessed the great Larry / Magic rivalry. You also both built teams largely centered around 80s / 90s greats.

Who wins if you match up in the playoffs?

[nickagneta]

Are teams allowed to talk about how they match up?

If so: Portland and Philly, we all witnessed the great Larry / Magic rivalry. You also both built teams largely centered around 80s / 90s greats.

Who wins if you match up in the playoffs?

Yup. I lifted all the restrictions on comparing players and teams once the draft ended on Tuesday, but we have seen little discussion as a whole.

[Somebody]

Are teams allowed to talk about how they match up?

If so: Portland and Philly, we all witnessed the great Larry / Magic rivalry. You also both built teams largely centered around 80s / 90s greats.

Who wins if you match up in the playoffs?

So these two are the consensus favourites for you guys? Not saying that I disagree with that lol.

[Roy H.]

Are teams allowed to talk about how they match up?

If so: Portland and Philly, we all witnessed the great Larry / Magic rivalry. You also both built teams largely centered around 80s / 90s greats.

Who wins if you match up in the playoffs?

So these two are the consensus favourites for you guys? Not saying that I disagree with that lol.

I don’t want to discuss the order of my ballot, but my top six teams (in alphabetical order) were Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Utah. There were two I had a cut above.

I like the intrigue of Larry vs. Magic, in my opinion the best personal rivalry in American sports history.

[Somebody]

Are teams allowed to talk about how they match up?

If so: Portland and Philly, we all witnessed the great Larry / Magic rivalry. You also both built teams largely centered around 80s / 90s greats.

Who wins if you match up in the playoffs?

So these two are the consensus favourites for you guys? Not saying that I disagree with that lol.

I don’t want to discuss the order of my ballot, but my top six teams (in alphabetical order) were Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Utah. There were two I had a cut above.

I like the intrigue of Larry vs. Magic, in my opinion the best personal rivalry in American sports history.

That's fine, I also think that there are a few teams who're a cut above. Just happy with how my team turned out in the end, strong showing for a team that started the draft in the second round

And yeah, the fact that it's still being reminisced today shows how strong it was.

[Silky]

I feel as though I could make a detailed list of how my team can beat philly or portland.

But I believe sentimentality is taking over.

People remember bird and bird versus magic and jordan.

That trumps all debate and statistical support.


But for fun perhaps i will today when I get to office

[Who]

I have Philly as top of the East but I am unsure between Portland and Los Angeles to top the West. Those two are very close.