Season in Review - Part III

 

4^th place – Seoul Brothers

 

This was a very good Seoul squad and was in money contention all year long. I’m not sure they were ever good enough to scare the top 2 spots but it was always going to finish in the money. Seoul was in 3^rd right up until the very last day and ultimately finished 4^th by 0.50 points. Half a stinking point. For many, that would be disaster, but for this 5-time JBL champ he really didn’t care. 3^rd or 4^th – whatever – it wasn’t a win. Move on.

Seoul was likely the busiest JBL team in the trade market this past season completing 6 trades in total. 2 with Golden, 2 with Kok, 1 with Chilliwack and 1 with Bellingham. I think I’ve lost count now of how many times Donovan Mitchell and Pascal Siakam have been traded for each other. I think it’s 3x but I could be wrong. It’s almost like Seoul and Bangkok are sharing players at times. Or some people, with cruel hearts, may say that Bangkok is Seoul’s farm team – but that’s not me – I don’t have a cruel bone in my body. Besides, their last swap, Bangkok got Mitchell, Ingles and Naz Reid for Siakam and Josh Hart. Mr. Hart only played 11 games in Seoul before getting injured so this was a clear ‘win’ for Bangkok in this deal. This is the part about Seoul that I love – he will take risks and try to improve. He will take chances. Sure, sometimes the trade might not work out – but he’s trying. If things aren’t working, no harm in mixing it up. I commend you Seoul for being an active trader in the JBL.

 

I would also like to say ‘you are welcome’ for providing you the name Terry Rozier at the end of the auction when you were looking for a late round guard to sign for $1 dollar. Why did I say it? I gave you a gem. Terry played 67 games in Seoul (more than anyone else) and averaged 20ppg while shooting 45%/39%. His ATO was 2.267 and grabbed 1.25 steals per game. All for a buck. And he will certainly be back in Seoul next year for $6 bucks. Again, you’re welcome.

 

Injuries took their toll on this team as Zion, Pascal, LaVine, Lowry, Adams, and others all missed time over the year. Steals, ATO and blocks were Seoul’s weakest categories but this was a very deep team and seemed to manage very well over the course of the year. Seoul was 950+ points for most of the year and only saw the late season fade due to everyone being injured.

 

Because he was a Shower for a lot of the year, I have to comment on Seth Curry’s performance in Seoul. He played 13 games and shot 57.1% from downtown on 3 makes a game. Curses Seth. You did not perform like that in Golden. Moving on…

 

So why was this a good team? Depth and consistency. When a team runs out Zion, Harris, LaVine, DeRozan, Lowry, Rozier, Mitchell, Siakam, Valanciunas, Adams, etc – you have a great likelihood of success. This has long been a Seoul strategy of depth over stars. Seems to have served him well.

So who does Seoul bring back from this year’s squad for next season? Seoul, right now, says only Zion and Rozier are on the list. Maybe that will change over the summer. We’ll see. We know Woo loves a bargain so he’s not going to keep someone for market value.

 

MVP

This is Zion territory. Sure, he doesn’t rebound or block as many shots as you’d like but hey, you’ll just have to live with 27ppg while shooting 61% on a boat load of shots. He doesn’t jack 3’s and contributed 57 steals and 40 blocks for the season.

 

Unsung Hero

This is Lord Covington territory again. While not scoring much (8.5ppg), he was the ONLY player in the NBA to post 80+ steals AND 80+ block as he went for 101 steals and 84 blocks in his 70 games. He also grabbed almost 7 rebounds a game and shot a very respectable 38.5% from downtown in his 60 games for Seoul.

 

Bust of the Year

I’m going with Steven Adams here. I was in a bidding war with Seoul for his services on draft night. He ended up going for $30 bucks and I remember being happy that I didn’t ultimately get him. Adams was in a new NBA city and playing with his new team definitely impacted his numbers. He produced his lowest totals in 5-6 years and only averaged 7.7ppg and 8.6reb during his 27 games with Seoul. Woo ultimately moved him on to Bellingham in a trade. I know that Seoul expected more from the big Kiwi.

 

  

3^rd place – Juan de Fuca Yo Mamas

 

Some late season drama unfolded as Juan was able to snatch 3^rd place away from Seoul. Once you read the next tidbit – you’ll know it was meant to me. Did you know, in the last 20 years, this is Juan’s 8^th time finishing in 3^rd place? Read that again. In the last 20 years, Juan de Fuca has finished in 3^rd place 8 different times now. That’s an insane stat if you ask me.

 

This team made a big early season acquisition in a deal with Idaho. They acquired Westbrook and Nunn for Fultz and Turner. You guys know I am not a fan of Westy so I didn’t like this trade for Juan. But man, it worked out really well. We know that Fultz suffered an unfortunate injury but I didn’t expect that Westy would be this good. I thought he would rest more games but he ended up playing 64 games for Juan and 65 overall. I thought his percentages would be killer (and they were since Juan finished 13^th and 10^th in percentages). That said, his 22ppg and 11.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals/game really helped Juan. The Mamas were the #1 scoring team in the JBL this season averaging almost 17ppg.

 

As mentioned, this team scored and scored and scored. Westy, Randle, LeBron, Levert, and Sexton all averaged OVER 20ppg in their Juan de Fuca games. Add in Michael Porter Jr (19ppg) and Graham (14ppg) and OG (16ppg) and you can see why they did so well in that category. They also finished 3^rd in Rebounds and 3^rd in steals and again, many of the same names contributed big time to those categories. The one non-scorer that provided some big steal and block numbers was Nerlens Noel. Really good season and he benefitted greatly from Robinson’s injury and absence.

 

I think we can safely call out Julius Randle for a career year. 24-10-6 while shooting 45/41. I know I didn’t expect those numbers under Thibs and I can also safely say that no one else did either because he went for only $23 bucks at Auction. Pretty safe bet that Julius will be back in Juan for next season.

 

Another breakout star for Juan was Michael Porter Jr who was protected for just $14 bucks and yes, we all expect him to be back in Juan for next season. He put up 19ppg and 7.3reb while shooting 54% and 45%. Add in some healthy steal and block numbers and the kid is a star in the making. Remember, he’s only 22 years old. That Denver squad with Joker (26), Porter Jr (22) and Jamal Murray (24) have a very good young core and should be very good for years to come.

 

Some of the other role players in Juan that contributed were Josh Jackson, Lu Dort, Kendrick Nunn and Lou Williams. While they didn’t help the percentages they certainly chipped in other areas and contributed to Juan’s 790 JBL man games (5^th best overall). We all know it’s hard to put up those counting stats when your guys are injured or not playing.

 

So who will be back to Juan next season? Juan has a few solid options for sure. LeVert for $18? OG for $27? Hachimura for $12? We know Randle and Porter Jr are locks to be back.  Can Juan build another contender in 21/22?

 

MVP

Julius Randle was amazing this season. Not many saw it coming but his numbers were really, really good across the board.

 

Unsung Hero

Another player that Golden lost the bidding war on – PJ Washington. He quietly put up 13ppg, 6.5 reb, shot 38% from downtown and had 69 steals and 79 blocks in 64 games. Very solid numbers. I see you PJ.

 

Bust of the Year

The better the JBL team, the harder it is to find a ‘bust’. Now, that said, I’m going with DeVonte Graham. I really thought that he would be better. Sure, he put up 14.8ppg in his 43 Juan games but he also shot 37/38 to help destroy Juan’s field goal percentage. He doesn’t rebound, steals less than 1.0 per games and obviously doesn’t block shots. For some reason he’s always taking late game shots for the Hornets but I’m starting to think that’s by design as the other team is leaving him open knowing he’s likely to miss.

 

 

2^nd place – French Lick Legends

  

The Godfather’s pre-season favourites came up just short this year. I will preface this team summary with the fact that there won’t be a lot of negatives here since the team put up 1151 points and came up just 27 points short of a 5^th title.

 

French’s foundation to start the year was extremely solid as he was coming off a JBL championship and was bringing back 4 very good keepers in Simmons, Tatum, Brown, and Mitchell Robinson. When you start with a base like that – good things are bound to happen.

 

And I still go back to our Auction night Zoom call and remember a bit of a bidding war between Golden and French on a player. I don’t recall who the player was I but I specifically remember the Kok saying something to the effect – “Hey, should the rest of us be paying attention here as French and Golden battle over specific players?”  Hmmmm, interesting theory and likely not a bad idea.

 

Since I feel like I should mention something that French didn’t do well this season….what’s up with that rookie pick? Kira Lewis Jr? You could have drafted Quickley or Bey or Stewart. Come on man. Were you following some so-called industry expert who thought Lewis Jr would be a breakout or something? Do your own research!! OK, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

 

So on top of the big 4 keepers – French drafted studs and solids in Chris Paul, Joe Harris, Draymond, Hardaway Jr, CJ McColllum, and Porzingis. Key injuries to CJ, the Unicorn, and Mitchell Robinson leave me confident that if those 3 guys had played full seasons we might have seen a different outcome. French was only 100 points behind Brussels in scoring and needed 12 more blocks to get +26 in that category. Injuries played a big factor here but they always do in every fantasy season.

 

Did you know that French got 70 games out of Chris Paul?? Didn’t see that one coming. CP3 put up an All-NBA type season in Phoenix and played a key role in French’s success.

 

I am going to say that Ben Simmons had a disappointing year. This was his last year on contract and will go back into the Auction next season. Overall though, I think French expected more from him. He had a good year, but not a great year.

 

Did you know French was 1^st or 2^nd in FOUR JBL categories this season? And that his worst category was a 7^th place finish in blocks!! Talk about balance. French, again, did a masterful job of covering all 7 categories. I’ll also point out that French’s HIGHEST salaried player was Chris Paul at $34 dollars!! So all you big spenders take note.

 

French is the new ‘golden’ standard in the JBL. In the last 7 years, French has won 4 titles and finished 2^nd the other 3 times. Read that again people. Four 1^st and three 2^nd’s in the last 7 years. He’s like the grade 7 kid dominating sports days against grade 1-6’s. He’s like a European football giant who just toys with the rest of the league.  He’s like Joey Chestnut taking down hot dogs. OK French, we get it, you’re really good at the JBL. Has the JBL come too easy for French? He’s mowing us down with ease. We must rise up against the power of French.

 

French was so good this year the ONLY trade he made was Duncan Robinson to Idaho to get $5 dollar Klay Thompson. Can Klay get back to his old self after 2 years away? If he does, his $10 dollar keeper price tag is going to be an absolute bargain. Of course French was the team willing to take this on. And only at the cost of Duncan Robinson. Maybe another master-stroke for French.

 

So I’m going to assume that Klay will be back to $10 bucks. We know that French is a huge Celtic fan so Tatum ($27) and Brown ($20) will both likely be back for their final contract year before they go back in the Auction. For the 4^th keeper spot, will it be Mitchell Robinson for year 4? Or maybe CP3? Or what about TJ? Some good options for French already meaning they will be a title contender yet again in 21/22.

 

MVP

I have to go with Chris Paul. Firstly because I don’t think any of us expected him to play 70 games. And secondly because his numbers were all-NBA worthy. 16ppg on essentially 50/40/93 shooting. His ATO was 3.987!! He had 100 steals in those 70 games. He even grabbed 4.4 rebounds per game and blocked 18 shots. Come on CP3 – those are insane numbers.

 

Unsung Hero

I haven’t mentioned TJ McConnell anywhere in this write-up yet so I feel like I have to gush about him here. A $4 FA pick up who ended up playing 48 games for French. He averaged 10ppg and shot 58% from the field. His ATO was 3.290 and he grabbed 92 steals for French (and had 128 steals overall). And he only started 1 game for Indy all season. Was this the FA signing of the season?

 

Bust of the Year

While I usually don’t pick on guys who get injured, I have to here. TJ Warren was a bust for French. He spent $21 bucks for the bubble breakout start and he lasted only 4 games before being shut down.

 

 

 

 1^st place- Brussels Muscles

  

So here we go. The JBL has a brand new, 1^st time champion. Timmy P. has done it. He’s broken into the most exclusive club in Fantasy Sports. JBL Champion. What a moment.

 

Before I dive deeper into why and how Brussels won the title in such convincing fashion, let’s first look back at my pre-season preview of this squad and roster.

 

 

#3 – Brussels

Despite the chat room being down on this squad, this is a very deep and talented roster. The only slight weakness, in terms of categories, I see on the surface could be in 3PT%. This team is very deep with Doncic, PG13, Kawhi, Sabonis, FVV, Wood, Bridges, and Horford as the backbone. This team has requisite late round guys like Bridges, Thybulle and Garland who could have breakout years for this squad. I like what Brussels has done here. He appears to be trying to model his ways after his good buddy French. I think we can safely say the days of Brussels and French hooking up on 10 player deals are over and done with. 

 

Why Brussels can win:

The three-headed (P-cubed) monster of big men (Plumlee, Poeltl, and Powell) all reach their lofty projections. Adding quality production from these big men only solidifies the core.

 

Why Brussels won’t win:

The 3 headed monster of big men don’t hit. And what if the Clippers duo of Kawhi and PG13 don't work out? Another possibility could be Timmy getting in the way of himself. Trader Tim loves to trade. But can he resist the temptation? Can he hold back where/when necessary? 

 

So, from this review and projection, I’d like to think the Godfather’s status as a prognosticator is back in the good books.

 

This JBL championship started with 2 key keepers. Luka Doncic and Christian Wood.  Luka was just $22 bucks and Wood was $8 bucks. Luka was 28-8-8 and Wood was 21-10. Even with Wood missing games he still put up monster numbers and only cost Timmy $8 bucks in the process.

 

Because of those cheap keepers, Brussels was able to spend some money and get some stars. He drafted Kawhi for $57, PG13 for $49, Sabonis for $44, and FVV for $36. The only other player he drafted that was over $10 bucks was Mason Plumlee for $14 bucks (and I know this pick raised some eyebrows at the time).

 

Before the season even started, Brussels also made 2 trades. And it should be noted these were the only 2 trades he made ALL season. This must have been extremely hard for Timmy to do. Not make trades. That’s not part of his makeup. But he managed. His first trade was Norman Powell to Chilliwack for Al Horford and his other trade was Matisse Thybulle to Cali for Delon Wright. I think the deal with Chilliwack was probably in Brussels favour initially but swayed back to the Wack once Horford was shut down so overall pretty even and I think both teams would probably make the deal again. The 2^nd deal with Cali definitely ended up favoring Brussels as Delon Wright, whether he was in Detroit or Sacramento, played a key role in the Brussels lineup over the year.

My pre-season comments about needing successful years from Plumlee and Poeltl couldn’t have played out any better for Brussels. Plumlee played 52 games for Brussels and Poeltl played 63 games. While neither are big names both of them put up stellar supporting numbers to go with all the scoring this team was getting from its stars.

 

Poeltl – 8.6ppg, 8reb, 61% FG, 1.73 blks

Plumlee – 10ppg, 9reb, 60% FG, 0.8 stl, 0.8 blk, 1.851 ATO

 

The breakout predictions for Mikal Bridges and Darius Garland also hit the mark. Bridges was one of only 11 players in the NBA to play in all 72 games and he put up 13ppg, 4reb, shot 54/42, and grabbed 76 steals and 63 blocks, and also produced a 2.667 ATO. He was a 6 category helper!  Garland was also very good and played in 42 games for Brussels and averaged 18ppg, shot 45/40, grabbed 1.29 steals per game and had an ATO of 1.817.

 

Brussels won because his stars (Doncic, Wood, Kawhi, PG13, Sabonis, and VanVleet) did exactly what they were supposed to do. They put up big numbers.  Having big years from his middle tier of players was essential to getting the victory. The big years from Plumlee, Poeltl, Bridges, Garland, Wright, Horford, and FA signings like Gafford, Allen, and Anthony all supported and contributed to the success of this team.

 

Brussels created a well balanced machine that was strong across all 7 JBL categories. His worst category was a 6^th place finish in 3PT%. He was 1^st in rebounds (by a long way) and 1^st in FG%. He was 2^nd in steals, 3^rd in blocks, 4^th in ATO, and 5^th in points. Dominant.  This Brussels squad averaged 6.54 rebounds per player. No other team averaged 6 rebounds per player. HUGE difference. Brussels won the FG% category at 49.4%. The next closest team was 49.0%. This FG% is now the 2^nd best FG% in JBL history! The 2018 Brussels team already holds the record for the best FG% at 49.5%. Apparently Timmy knows how to get the good shooters.

 

And I will say this Brussels team was ‘dominant’ because this squad played the fewest JBL man games of any JBL team this year. They only played 746 games. French (807) and Bangkok (800) played the most. Think about that for a second. If a JBL active roster of 12 players each played 4 games in week – that’s a 48-game week for your team. So really, Brussels played a full week less than some of the other teams due to injuries and other ‘resting’ protocols.

 

Brussels had a wonderful season. I’m sure many doubters will wonder if this was a one-year wonder; a flash in the pan; a complete fluke considering the last time Brussels was in contention for a JBL title and finished 2^nd was all the way back in 2013. Well, I hate to break it to you, I think Brussels will be in contention again next season.  Brussels now gets 4 keepers to play with. Doncic and Wood are locks. I would also think that Mikal Bridges will be back for just $14 bucks. The 4^th and final keeper spot could go to Garland or Poeltl or maybe he brings back the sure thing in Sabonis? Brussels has options.

 

What Brussels also has is at least 2 rookie picks. If you remember, Brussels traded his #7 rookie pick in the 2020 rookie draft to Cali (they took Devin Vassell) for Cali’s rookie pick in 2021. Well, this couldn’t have worked out any better for Brussels since Cali finished 13^th and now has the 2^nd best odds of winning the lottery and the pick will be conveyed to Brussels.  The JBL Head Office is also aware of a trade where Brussels will be acquiring a 3^rd rookie pick in the 2021 draft. It’s a deal like no other the JBL has ever seen and more details will come out when the 21/22 season begins. But it means that Brussels will have 4 strong keepers and potentially 3 cheap rookies to assist him in his quest to go back-to-back as a JBL Champion.

MVP

When I can list 3 or 4 guys here as a team MVP you know you've done well. Look, it could be Luka or Sabonis but I really think the best fantasy player on this team was still Kawhi Leonard. Sure, he missed some games but when he played he was dominant. 25ppg, 6reb, while shooting 51/40. He nabbed 81 steals in 52 games and his ATO was 2.560. Man is a stud. 

Unsung Hero

Again, it could be Poeltl or Plumlee or Bridges....but I am going to give some love to Delon Wright here. 10ppg with 98 steals in 63 games. He also shot 46/37 and his ATO was 3.310. A fantastic year for this 'role player'.

Bust of the Year

Tough one here for the champs but I am going with Gary Trent Jr. In the first weeks when JBL free agency opens up, Free Agents go for big bucks. In this case, Brussels dropped $36 bucks on Trent to secure his services. Well Mr. Trent only played 3 games for Brussels. So there, you goofed that one up Brussels. Nice job!

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So with all that said, this ends the 2020/21 season in review. I hope you guys enjoyed them and I look forward to the continued banter over the summer as we prepare for JBL 31. All the best boys!