The Golden squad was built over the course of the season and by the mid point of the season was in contention. Overall, with 17 weeks in the season, Golden only led the pool 3 times at the end of the 17 periods (Week 9, 16, and 17). Seoul led for 4 weeks; MBB led for 1 week; Chilliwack led for 6 weeks; Juan led for 2 weeks; and French led for a week. From week 9 onwards - Golden was always in the top 3 spots at the end of a period.
At the end of the year, only one player was left from Draft Night - Dwyane Wade. Everyone else was signed by FA's or acquired by trade.
I went through my roster and looked at 10 moves/reasons why this team was successful.
Here I go...in reverse order for dramatic purposes...
#10 - FA signing of MarShon Brooks. This occurred pretty early on in the season. I spent $41 bucks for him and he ended up playing 19 games for Golden. He averaged 14ppg during his time in Golden and helped Golden stay near the top in scoring.
| Brooks, MarShon SG NJ | 19 | 33.6 | 105 | 42.7 | 37 | 74.0 | 1.26 | 24 | 32.4 | 4.37 | 2.84 | 1.00 | 2.11 | 0.37 | 14.26 |
#9 - Trading Jarrett Jack for Luis Scola. This is one of two trades that I got really lucky on. This was a last minute deadline deal with the Maui Ribs. I traded Jack (averaging 16ppg and 6ast) at the time for Luis Scola as I needed some size. Jack ended up getting injured in the following days post trade and never played a game for Maui. Scola only played 10 games for Golden and only averaged 13 and 6. His 0/7 shooting in the finale was almost fatal.
#8 - Trading Brook Lopez for Nikola Pekovic. This was another 'lucky' deal for Golden. I waited all season for Brook to return. He played 4 games for Golden and averaged 20ppg. He injured an ankle in a game on a Sunday and I emailed Arctic about Pekovic. We had just returned from our boys roadie to PDX and all had man crushes on Pek. I advised Arctic that Lopez had injured himself in the game and his status going forward was unknown. Arctic took the chance and made the deal. We all know how that turned out as Lopez was gone for the year. Pekovic only ended up playing 10 games in Golden but did average 17ppg and 8reb while shooting 54%.
| Pekovic, Nikola C MIN | 10 | 31.8 | 62 | 53.9 | 46 | 70.8 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | 7.80 | 1.00 | 0.70 | 1.70 | 0.30 | 17.00 |
#7 - Turning James Johnson into Marcus Thornton into Jared Dudley. I was lucky enough to grab JJ off the waiver wire and leverage his 'hot' streak. JJ's stocks got Seoul to bite and I was able to acquire Marcus Thornton from Seoul. Thornton played 10 games for Golden and averaged 20ppg in those games. When it appears scoring was under control and I needed 3PT% - I went to Bangkok and acquired Jared Dudley. JD ended up playing 29 games in Golden and averaged 13ppg, 5reb and shooting 49% and 39%. A far cry from the 16-5-5 predicted by the Kok at the start of the season - but serviceable nevertheless.
| Dudley, Jared SG PHO | 29 | 31.8 | 150 | 48.7 | 50 | 64.1 | 1.31 | 38 | 38.8 | 5.14 | 1.52 | 0.55 | 1.07 | 0.31 | 13.38 |
#6 - Trading Rudy Gay for Goran Dragic and Jrue Holiday. Another late season deal that improved Golden's ATO. Dragic played 13 games for Golden and averaged 18 and 8 while Jrue Holiday played 6 games and averaged 15ppg, 5ast, 2.2 steals, and shot 48% from downtown. It was Jrue's steals late in week 17 that really paid off.
| Dragic, Goran PG HOU | 13 | 36.0 | 81 | 45.5 | 61 | 84.7 | 1.54 | 20 | 31.2 | 3.31 | 7.77 | 1.92 | 3.38 | 0.23 | 18.69 |
#5 - Drafting and re-acquiring Wesley Mathews. I somehow paid $23 bucks for Mathews at Auction. He sucked to start the year and I moved him out of town fairly quickly. When steals and 3PT% became a priority I traded Kemba Walker for Mathews. He ended up playing 43 games in Golden and averaged 15ppg and shot 40% from downtown and contributed a fair amount of steals. His last night of the season (4 for 18 shooting) almost cost Golden the title.
| Matthews, Wesley SG POR | 43 | 35.2 | 226 | 41.2 | 97 | 87.4 | 2.21 | 95 | 39.6 | 3.79 | 1.58 | 1.63 | 1.19 | 0.23 | 14.98 |
#4 - Turning Kyle Lowry's breakout season into Tim Duncan. Kyle Lowry, when healthy, can be a pretty wicked Fantasy PG. He averaged 15ppg, 7ast, 2stl, and shot 38% from downtown in Golden. When Golden was struggling in blocks Benny and I hooked up on deal for Tim Duncan. Not only did Duncan perform very well in Golden - Lowry unfortunately got injured and missed a lot of time. Duncan averaged 17ppg, 10reb, 1.8 blocks, and shot 51%. Duncan is how old? Man, he was good.
Duncan, Tim PF SA  | 26 | 28.4 | 183 | 51.4 | 83 | 70.9 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | 9.58 | 1.77 | 0.62 | 1.58 | 1.81 | 17.27 |
#3 - Free Agent signing Kevin Seraphin. Another 'lucky' acquisition. Seraphin ended up playing 14 games for Golden and averaged 15ppg, 7reb, 1.8 blocks and shot 52% from the floor.
| Seraphin, Kevin PF WAS | 14 | 32.4 | 98 | 52.4 | 20 | 71.4 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | 7.00 | 1.00 | 0.57 | 2.00 | 1.79 | 15.43 |
I got him at just the right time and he really blossomed. How good was he? Check out the last 28 days of the season and how he compared to Andrew Bynum...
PTS - Bynum 263 - Seraphin 246
REB - Bynum 137 - Seraphin 112
FG% - Bynum 49.3% - Seraphin 53.3%
BLK - Bynum 21 - Seraphin 27
#2 - Trading Kevin Love & Mario Chalmers for Marcin Gortat and Ryan Anderson. You're never sure you're doing the right thing when you trade away a guy who averaged 26ppg and 13reb. But Gortat and Anderson did their jobs and helped Golden move up in FG%, blocks, and 3PT%. This was a monster early season deal that really helped Golden.
| Gortat, Marcin C PHO | 51 | 32.6 | 327 | 54.3 | 142 | 65.1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | 10.18 | 0.92 | 0.75 | 1.25 | 1.45 | 15.61 |
#1 - Free Agent signing Isaiah Thomas for $1. Did you expect anything but this move? The kid played 35 games and put up these numbers...
| Thomas, Isaiah PG SAC | 35 | 31.5 | 177 | 47.3 | 103 | 83.7 | 1.54 | 54 | 40.0 | 2.97 | 5.23 | 1.03 | 1.97 | 0.11 | 14.60 |
His performance on the final night in the final game clinched the title for the Showers.
Sacramento
| Starters | Pos | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Evans(notes) | G | 31:12 | 9-14 | 0-1 | 3-4 | +17 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| I. Thomas(notes) | G | 26:01 | 5-6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | +13 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| D. Cousins(notes) | C | 37:47 | 9-19 | 0-1 | 5-7 | +19 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 23 |
| J. Thompson(notes) | F | 35:37 | 7-11 | 0-0 | 3-4 | +22 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| T. Outlaw(notes) | F | 28:03 | 4-10 | 2-4 | 1-2 | +17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
So, that's it for Golden....up next, in the coming days, the Season in Review and the first edition of the JBL Power Rankings...
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