Season in Review - Part 2

Well, it's Tuesday now and as the NBA playoffs roll on the JBL season seems like a distant memory. I still can't believe Golden held on for the victory. I'm excited for next season already. I'm already looking at the NBA Draft prospects and who is projected to go around 13th overall (I'm anticipating no lottery luck in the JBL Rookie Lottery). With just 1 chance out of 91 - I'm thinking my Golden squad will have the 13th pick in the 2012 JBL Rookie Draft.

So, let's carry on with the 2011/12 JBL Season. 9th place was the Kok. What a difference a year makes. In 10/11 the Kok finished 2nd with over 1100 points. This season - its a disappointing 9th place finish with under 550 points. The Kok brought back 4 players (Aldridge, Deng, Parker, Dudley) from that very successful 10/11 team. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out this past year. Rick put all his eggs into the Dwight Howard basket and for awhile there things were looking good. However, as the season wore on, the Howard saga in Orlando appeared to not only affect Orlando players - but Kok players too. Rick tried a variety of role players (Gee, Mullens, Ayon, etc) but none really made a big impact. In the end, 9th place was probably about right for this team. So how does Bangkok stack up for next season? The last 4 years? 9th - 2nd - 3rd - 7th. Rick has just 2 keeper spots for next season. Reviewing his roster I really think there are only 3 players even in the discussion - Tony Parker, Dwight Howard, and Marcus Thornton. I think, depending on how you want to build your team, those 3 players could be worth more than their current salaries. Finishing 9th will give the Kok plenty of rookie lottery balls and Rick is very good at picking good rookies. If things went to plan - the Kok would likely have the 5th rookie pick. Will Rick keep Howard? Will Rick be able to bounce back from such a ho-hum season? Can Rick focus on the JBL with a dog interrupting his sleep patterns?  What will the side wager with  Juan be next year? I think Seoul would love for me to rip into Bangkok here - but there really isn't much to say. I have an almost indifferent feeling about this Kok team. He had some good players. He had some not so good players. In the end, the Kok was 'meh'.

In 8th place was the late charging Arctic squad. This was a team built around it's big men. They had Ibaka, Monroe, Lee, Bargnani, Favors, Bogut and the Manimal. What they weren't built around was any player who could shoot 3's (last place), pass the ball (last place), or steal (12th). The Guards the Circle Jerks brought in were overweight (Felton), injured (K-Mart), moody (Young), and playing for the worst team ever (Augustin).  This team appeared destined for a 9th to 12th place finish until a strong 4 week push at the end of the season. Getting into that 8th spot is HUGE for team with the keepers that Crikker has to choose from.  You have to think that Ibaka and Faried are the 2 favorites for the 3 spots. The 3rd spot will likely be favored to go to Ramon Sessions. Since he arrived in Lakerland his stats have been pretty special. Those 3 keepers would be a very nice start for an Arctic squad 8th-5th-6th-5th over the last 4 years. Add in a potential top 6 rookie pick (don't forget Arctic grabbed Faried with the 6th pick this past year) and Arctic could have 4 very good and cheap players to start next season. Could next year finally be the year that Arctic breaks through? Will Faried become a double-double machine next season? How much better can Ibaka be? I think this Arctic team is ready for the next step. They've been a bit unlucky with some injuries in the past couple of seasons and with 3 good keepers and a top rookie -this team could be ready to contend and could have a decent off season ranking....

Up next will be the 7th and 6th place teams in Idaho and Yuma. Idaho used 42 players this past season and made the big splash at the trade deadline to acquire Rubio and Bynum. And what's funny is that after he sold the farm for those 2 players - his team actually improved. Go figure. I'll discuss that and more in the Season in Review - Part 3. Stay tuned.