What a season! This was the 23rd in the JBL. Our champs? The Chilliwack Offs. Benny picks up his 4th title and his first since 04/05. In fact, it's been 8 years since a Seoul or Golden team has won the title. In the historical realm, Benny is now just one title (4) behind the Seoul squad (5). You can bet that will be on his mind when we draft teams in for year 24 in October.
I'm going to start off this season review with some shocking news. Maybe something that you won't believe. This year, the JBL season was 25 weeks long. Do you know how many weeks of the year the Offs were in 1st place?? Do you? Try 24 weeks! The only time he wasn't in first place at the end of a period?? Week 1. He was 5th after week 1. Talk about anti-climatic when you look at it from that perspective. So, who was the only other team to have the lead at the end of a period this year?? French Lick.
So where does the Offs season rank in terms of dominance?? It has to be up there for sure. Benny's team led the JBL for the last 24 weeks of the season!! That is pretty rare air I would think. Of course, when you start the year with Durant, George, Drummond you are in pretty good hands. And give credit to Cord for drafting the solid core around those 3 guys. Even a $42 dollar mistake named JaVale McGee couldn't stop this runaway freight train filled with Peaches & Cream.
So let's look at our teams, in reverse order of standings, and try to breakdown what went right. And of course, what went wrong. Every JBL team has to have a MVP, LVP (least valuable player), an unsung here or surprise NBA'er, and of course a 'prized possession' player for next season. Away we go...
13th place - Montreal Poutang.
The last 3 years have gone 13th, 8th, and 10th. This season was almost doomed from the get-go when they showed up 30 minutes late for the Auction. By that time, they already owned Westbrook and Jennings and had to overpay for Marc Gasol. The Poutang just never got on track this year and I hope they will come back to try and right the ship. I know we're all busy and don't put the time in that we used to into the pool but I'm hoping a 2-owner team can somehow find the time to come to Auction in October 2014 ready to redeem themselves.
MVP - Joakim Noah. 12ppg, 11reb, 5apg, 99 steals, and 123 blocks. Absolute stud. Crazy to think he's actually better without Rose around.
LVP - Danny Granger. A 39 game experiment just didn't pan out as he averaged just 8ppg in Montreal.
Unsung Hero - PJ Tucker. A 38 game stint in Montreal where he averaged 9ppg, 7reb, and shot 38% from downtown. A surprisingly good role player for a surprisingly plucky Suns team.
Prized Keeper - no one. Last place gets you no one. They will have to build from scratch next season.
12th place - Manhattan Beach Ballers.
The last 3 years have gone 12th, 11th, and 11th. I'm not surprised by these finishes as Bobby failed to make a single transaction this season. He did not spend a single FA dollar. He drafted his team...and disappeared. Sure, he lost Brook Lopez to yet another foot injury and I think Bangkok is probably happy for that otherwise he could have been staring up at our new-age ghost team.
MVP - Kevin Love. 26ppg and 13reb. Monster scoring and boards without much else. How many more years will Minnesota live with mediocrity?
LVP - Brook Lopez. MBB only got 17 games from their $40 dollar center. That sucks.
Unsung/Surprise Player - Cody Zeller. I'm giving this award to Zeller because I'm shocked that he played in all 82 games in MBB's starting lineup while averaging 6ppg and 4reb. Shocking.
Prized Keeper - it's still got to be Love. He can be protected for $54 bucks.
11th place - Bangkok Fighters
The last 3 years are 11th, 9th, and 9th. Of course, I'm sure Rick would want me to mention the year before that he finished 2nd with 1109 points (more than Benny this year). But alas, his trophy cabinet is empty. There are no titles in Kokland. This year's Kok team should have been known as the all role player team. Chris Bosh is a nice player. 16 and 6 with 52% shooting and a steal and a block per game. That's nice. But he's not upper echelon anymore. Tristan Thompson? He's ok. Evan Turner, yeah, he's alright. Only John Wall had that star power for the Kok this season. This roster was filled with filler. Mike Scott (29g). Khris Middleton (40g). General Grievous (64g). All nice guys - but no star power. Now that being said, I love the trade the Kok made to bring in Michael Carter-Williams. Sure, he shoots (40/26) about as well as an old man with a saggy boner trying to hit the toilet bowl - but the kid can play and he stuffs the stat sheet. 17-6-6 with 129 steals and 43 blocks in 70 games. This kid could be very good in a couple of years and the Kok will have him for $15 bucks in the 2nd year of his rookie contract. Nice work.
MVP - John Wall. He was the man in Kokland (20ppg and 9apg) while he was around for 52 games.
LVP - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The former #2 pick was active for 26 games in Bangkok and put up amazing 8ppg and 5reb stats. Ugh.
Unsung hero - Khris Middleton. 40 games for the Kok and he averaged 12ppg while shooting 42% from downtown. The Bucks are a mess but this kid might stick in the NBA for a few years. A nice role player for the Kok.
Prized Keeper - MCW for just $15 bucks.
10th place - Seoul Brothers
After winning 3 titles in a row the Seoul squad finished 5th, another 5th, and now 10th this year. What's going on in Little Asia?? Has Woo lost his mojo? Has a full time job affected his analytical abilities? Not enough asian porn?? I'm not sure what happened this season. Now, I do know that having Andre Drummond for $13 dollars in year #3 of this rookie contract is going to do wonders for his building blocks. Woo did exactly what every JBL team should do when faced with the situation - trade Lebron for the best keeper around. Phil realized he wasn't going to win - so he cashed in his best trading chip to ensure future success. I know it must have pained him to essentially hand the title to the Wack - one of his fiercest rivals - but it was the right thing to do. Let's see what a keeper combo of Drummond and Sullinger or DeRozan can do next season.
MVP - Since Lebron was the obvious answer I'll go with Andre Drummond. In his 29 game stint in Seoul the big man averaged 14 and 13 with 32 steals, 34 blocks while shooting 64%. And just think, he's only 21 years old.
LVP - Brandon Jennings. Sure, he averaged 14 and 7 but he shot 37/33 with a high volume. Ugly stuff for the mess in Detroit-city.
Unsung hero - It has to be Jodie Meeks. He averaged 18ppg while shooting 41% from downtown. Nobody, and I mean nobody, predicted those numbers.
Prized Keeper - Yup, Mr. Drummond.
That's all for today...I'll look at 9th to 5th this weekend...stay tuned.
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