Final Standings - JBL 31

 

Season in Review - All the rest....

Our 9^th place theme team from Cali just couldn’t keep up with the pace. Having Giannis and Jokic is an amazing combo but the surrounding foreigners (and Timelord) just didn’t measure up. The team’s big guns stayed relatively healthy with 8 players appearing in more than 60 games for Cali. I always love a good theme team effort. I think Cali could have done more and taken a few more late season risks. Did we really need to see Chimezie Metu for 42 games? Bjelica for 30 games when he averaged 6 and 4? Anyways, while I don’t think Cali will go the theme team route next season, I do know that he has the Timelord as a fantastic keeper for next season. Who the 2^nd keeper will be is up for debate still. Duarte for $6? What about Jokic for $84? Hachimura? Bojan? There are a few options for Cali to choose between.

 

10^th place Arctic should have been better if they could have stayed healthy. AD only managed 38 games. Kyrie only saw 28 games. Imagine this squad with a healthy AD, Kyrie, KAT, Maxey, Herro, Russell, Kuzma, Green, and on and on. I think they could have pushed for the top 8 quite easily. While Tyler Herro is likely to win the 6^th man of the year – Haliburton on this squad would have been really nice. Acquiring Maxey from Brussels was a great move for the squad and now creates maybe the hardest keeper decision for any JBL team (along with the Kok). Arctic has just 2 spots and will have to choose between Kyrie, Maxey, Herro, and Jalen Green. Some might say Kuzma or OffNight Mitchell should get a look too. Good luck to Arctic trying to figure that dilemma out.  

 

Juan de Fuca was rolling along. Pushing for a top 4 spot and then the injuries began to hit. It all started with losing Michael Porter Jr and Collin Sexton just 9 and 11 games into the year. Myles Turner only played 42 games for Juan. John Collins went down. Steph Curry went down. Hardaway Jr gone. LeVert down. The list goes on. Only prized rookie Franz Wagner stayed healthy (he played 79 games for Juan). Simons and Portis were pleasant surprises but there were just too many injuries on this roster to be able to compete. Juan will have to decide on who their 2 keepers will be. Simons, Wagner, and Portis appear to be the top options. Add in 11 ping pong balls and maybe another high end rookie and Juan should be right back into the mix.

 

Vancouver held onto 12^th despite a late season swoon. The Commish will be checking in on this squad in advance of the 22/23 season. Their last Free Agent signing was Jan 24^th – so almost 3 months ago. They made the least amount of moves in the JBL. Not a single trade. It’s time to ask if they want to continue in their JBL efforts with our list of potential owners waiting in the wings. The squad had some talent, as all JBL teams do, but there wasn’t enough of anything to ever compete this season. Cade Cunningham is the prized piece for next season. I’m not sure there is a 2^nd great keeper option. But, first, we need to know if they will be back as they appear to have lost interest. Which is fine. Let some others have a chance in the JBL.

 

Bellingham almost pulled off the miracle to grab the 12^th spot (and the 2^nd keeper). Instead, it looks like it will just Kawhi coming back for the Ham ‘n’ Eggers. Still love this team name - https://www.yourdictionary.com/ham-and-egger.  This team never really got off the ground this year as they took a chance on acquiring Dame Lillard (and Kawhi) and of course Dame shut it down pretty quickly. Did you know that Saddiq Bey was one of very few NBA players to suit up for all 82 games. Sabonis and Allen only suited up for 59 and 56 games respectively so that also was a big challenge. Maybe my favourite pickup was Malik Monk. He averaged 15ppg while shooting 48/40 in Bellingham. The good thing for Ham is the 13 lottery balls and Kawhi. That should be a very good starting duo for next season.

 

Norfolk was destined for 14^th about halfway through our Auction. Again, I give Norfolk credit for trying to the bitter end. I also admire his attempt to follow French’s draft strategy in attempt to replicate French’s success. The problem was he didn’t have all the top end players that French did when he began to look for bargains. I don’t need to repeat myself on what happened in Norfolk this season. I think the Doctor will want to forget it and move on. With 14 lottery balls he will have a really good shot and getting the #1 overall rookie pick. With this year’s draft class, it looks like there are a few gems out there so any top pick might be good.

 

Up next, my first look at some offseason Power Rankings of JBL teams. This will be based off projected keepers (and assuming they will be/stay healthy), potential rookie pick, JBL history and acumen, and some gut feelings. Stay tuned.

Season in Review - The Middle Tier

Finishing 5th just sucks. You miss out on the 4th keeper and you only get 5 ping pong balls. So yes, Golden has the distinction of being that team this season. The Golden squad just couldn't keep up with the big boys this season. For starters, way too many injuries. Just look at these man game totals for the core of the Showers squad - SGA (55), Ingram (50), Hayward (45), Nurkic (56), Giddey (39). Add in a shockingly poor season from Richaun Holmes and all the other things and there is any wonder how Golden was even competing for the top 4. Golden worked the waiver wire pretty hard and ultimately used 41 players over the course of the season. Ultimately, the disastrous start to the season in 3PT% could never be recovered. Looking back at how guys like Lillard and SGA and others all shot to start the year was just shocking. Oh well, as they say. On to the next season. With just 3 keeper spots it's looking like Miles Bridges, Darius Garland and Josh Giddey could be the core. Why Giddey? Because I have anxiety over letting another young guard go. If you remember, my rookie pick 2 years ago was Tyrese Haliburton for $2. I could have protected him for $7. Instead I went with Holmes, Nurkic and SGA. So, yes, I have trust issues. I have to keep Giddey in case he goes off. Besides, who doesn't love having a nightly 3x2 threat that allows you to shotgun a beer or two during the season. 

Our defending champs from Brussels finished 6th this season. As usual, they ran out of FA dollars just after the New Year. That always limits the options to improve the squad. The defending champs didn't exactly 'run it back' either with the team sending out Luka and Cam Reddish to the Wack for Bam Adebayo and Derrick White. Unfortunately, Bam got injured and only played 48 games for Brussels. This team did set a JBL record for FG%. With Poeltl (62%), Gafford (71%), Clarke (65%), Okongwu (69%) leading the way it's easy to see how they finished about the 50% mark. Brussels is a staunch supporter of more keepers as this squad had so many undervalued guys that would be the ultimate role players on any team. This team was 1st in blocks and FG% but really struggled in scoring (13th). With 3 keepers for next season I would expect to see Poeltl, Sengun, and the ironman Mikal Bridges back. Did you know Mikal has not missed a single game in 4 NBA seasons? He also didn't miss any in college or high school either. True gamer. 

Phil and his Seoul squad were about to finish 8th. But the last second heroics of Klay Thompson bumped Seoul back to 7th. It feels like Seoul was in 7th for about 4 months.  He sold the farm awhile ago to make sure he had good keepers for next season so he's starting with Ja Morant, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam. Or he could go the cheap route and keep Gary Trent Jr.. Regardless, this is a very good core for next season. Seoul was middle of the pack in just about every category this year. Who played the most man games for Seoul? Mo Bamba. 71 games. It's hard to really comment any further on such a middling squad. Seoul saw there was no route to the title - so he cashed in and grabbed Scottie and Ja and just waits for next season. He could get a decent rookie pick with his 7 ping pong balls and add another young stud too. Until then, Phil hits the golf links without a care in the world.

Idaho was floundering in the 9-12 range for quite some time this year. Then he decided to 'give up' and build for the future and traded All Star Rudy Gobert for the injured Zion. What happened? Idaho climbed to 8th. Behind a true stars and scrubs approach, Idaho almost pulled off the unthinkable. Trae Young, Devin Booker, James Harden, and De'Aaron Fox made up the core of this squad. Solid role players in Thubulle, Boucher, Morris, Quickley (not Quincy), Okeke and others led to a very solid 8th place finish. Look, if you're going to finish outside the top 4 then 8th is the place to be. 3 keepers and 8 lottery balls. Idaho will look to build around Zion, Trae and likely Jamal Murray. That could be a very strong core if Zion and Murray are truly healthy. Idaho is calling Zion to New York so we'll see if that happens. When it comes time to ranking the JBL teams for next season, based on keepers, Idaho is likely to be higher than 8th that's for sure. 

Alright....taking a break....back later with 9th and beyond....

Season in Review - The Money Teams

Another year, another first time JBL champion. Congrats again to the Maui Ribs for a completely dominant performance all year long. I’ve already said it here, but Maui was in 2^nd after week 1 and then never trailed again. Sure, there was a couple moments when Bangkok passed him during an evening in Week 23/24, but the Kok never finished the night in 1^st place. That’s what I call sheer dominance from Maui. And even with all the tanking shenanigans, I don’t believe the outcome would have changed at all. Maui won by 125 points. It wasn’t really that close. In the last 4 weeks, 22-25, in the weekly standings, Maui was 2^nd, 1^st, 2^nd, and 2^nd. He wasn’t fading away. Anyways, let’s dive deeper into some of these JBL teams and performances.

 

Starting with champs, a lot of things obviously went right for the Ribs. First off, getting Joel Embiid in a MVP-type season for $46 bucks at auction?  Come on. Amazing value. Look at what guys like KAT, Jokic, Gobert, and Giannis went for.  Embiid for $46 was an absolute steal. Then a career scoring season from DeMar DeRozan. Yes please. LaMelo became an All-Star. Mobley is likely the ROY. Desmond Bane could be the most improved player (18ppg and 44% from deep). The list goes on and on. FVV scored 20+ points, ATO was 2.553, and snagged 112 steals while shooting 37.7% from deep. Aaron Gordon went from 4^th option to 2^nd option in Denver and averaged 15 and 6 on 52% shooting. The scary part is that this team could have been better. Lonzo only played 35 games for Maui and Draymond only played 43. With those 2 healthy, Maui was top ATO in the JBL. Regardless, Maui’s 1216 point total is now the 2^nd highest total in JBL history. And while every great JBL team has it’s stars and breakout guys – it’s often the “role” players that can change your fortunes. I look at guys like Plumlee and Powell for low key big man stats. A guy like De’Anthony Melton had 104 steals.  Even Bledsoe, Gay and Brissett provided value on weeks when others were out injured. Maui put it all together this year and is fully deserving of the JBL title. And you can expect this Ribs team to be contending again as there are loads of potential keepers to choose from. Lamelo, Mobley, Bane and Embiid would top my list.

 

French Lick moved into 2^nd place in the last 5 minutes of the NBA season. So late in fact, I had already given 2^nd to Bangkok and posted that on the JBL site. Little did I know that Klay Thompson wanted to score 40+ points and his 3PT shooting would ultimately impact 4 JBL teams. His 7/14 performance from downtown and 41 point effort moved him up 2 spots in 3PT% and up one spot in scoring vaulting him passed Bangkok for 2^nd place. His move also cost Idaho 7^th place and dropped him down to 8^th which allowed Seoul to narrowly finish in 7^th.  I think I’ve already written more about French than I have all season. They just hung around. All year. And then whammo, on the last night, they climb into 2^nd to keep an unbelievable streak alive. For now 8 straight years, French has either won the JBL or finished 2^nd. I’ll say that again, 8 straight years of 1^st or 2^nd. Dynasty.

 

French has used his Celtic dup of Tatum and Brown to lead the charge for the last couple of years. However, they both head back to auction and I’m curious as to what they will go for. I know Norfolk will be bidding them up as he’s always interested in French targets (and so we all should be). French did everything well except scoring (8^th). And I can’t help but think having LeBron (56) and CP3 (65) and Klay (32) play less than a full season really impacted that. That said, CP3 finished with a 4.590 ATO. You read that right. Horford, Zubac, Adams, and Mitch Rob anchored the big man stats. Jarred Vanderbilt is an emerging fantasy player. And then guys like Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Norm Powell, while boring, just get the job done.  French gets 4 keeper spots and my leading candidates for those are Klay, Vanderbilt, Horford, and Mitchell Robinson. Guess where I’ll be ranking French in my offseason rankings.

 

Bangkok was the 2^nd best team this season. But they finished 3^rd. Either way, no one remembers (unless you’re French and have this incredible 8 year streak running). Anyways, the Kok exceeded all expectations. Coming out of draft night, I had them ranked 11^th but that quickly changed. For me, the trade of Herro for Haliburton was the first turning point. Of course, Dejounte’s first All Star season also had something to do with the Kok surge.  Ant Edwards and Don Mitchell scored the dickens out of the ball. Capela, Ayton, and Wendell got the big man stats (outside of blocks). And Herb Jones became a thing of folk lore. Seriously, for all the credit Matisse Thybulle gets, watch this kid and look at his stock totals. The January trade (2nd turning point) with Seoul where the Kok gave up Scottie Barnes (and RJ and Diallo) for Ayton, Rozier and Hart was brilliantly one-side for the Kok. These are the type of deals you have to make in order to give a title run a chance. Rozier scored 20+, had a 3.797 ATO, shot 45.37, and grabbed 1.4 steals in Kokland. And Josh Hart averaged 18 and 7 while shooting 50% in Kokville. The majority of the role players Kok used this year were also really good. Aside from Jones, look at Hartenstein, Brown, and Kennard. All put up serviceable numbers.  The Kok should be ready to contend again next season as he has 7-8 potential keepers. It appears that Dejounte, Haliburton and Edwards are all locks so who will get that 4^th spot? Herb? Scary Terry? Josh? Johnson? The summer months will tell…

 

The Wack certainly made some impactful moves over the course of the season. He said goodbye to Bam Adebayo and Ja Morant and welcomed Luka and KD. 4^th place wasn’t decided until the very final day of the season but it was Luka and KD (and Ayo Dosumnu, who Golden traded to the Wack) that helped the Wack secure it. If I asked you which 3 players played the most man games for the Wack this season would you guess Russell Westbrook, Harrison Barnes and Jae’Sean Tate? I didn’t think so. While the Wack didn’t employ the ‘draft 3 big guys for high prices’ at auction – he ultimately found himself using this as the year went on. KD, Luka and Gobert filled out those roles. Ultimately, 12^th in ATO and 9^th in steals didn’t allow the Wack to make a push for the title. This was a very good team though and had a bunch of guys that are easy to cheer for (Finney-Smith, Barton, Claxton). I would think that getting just 9 games from Malcolm Brogdon has to be a massive disappointment. So, who are the Wack’s 4 keepers for next season? Luka is a no-brainer in what will be his 5^th and final season before going back to auction. And then who? Barton for $8? The All Star Andrew Wiggins for $24? Barnes for $14? One of the role players? Benny will have some decisions to make.

 

OK, that’s all for today….Next up the middle tiers of the JBL….

Week 25 - Preview

Sunday morning. A big slate of games ahead today. And then the final week. Week 25. For all the marbles. Is Maui winning his 1st ever JBL title in year 31? Or is Bangkok winning his 1st ever title in 27 years?

Currently, Maui has 1227, Bangkok 1091 and French 1059.

Can the Kok actually make up the 136 point gap? Technically? Yes, he can.

But it's going to take a few things to getter done.

3PT% - Kok needs to move up from 5th in this category and hope Maui can drop a spot or two.

ATO - Kok is at 2.076 and Bellingham is at 2.082. So very possible. Also, Maui is at 2.054 and Idaho is at 2.041. So there could be some movement here.

BLK - still +39 available here for the Kok if his team started to swat some shots. Maui appears solid in his positioning.

FG% - the Kok needs to shoot extremely well and needs Golden to talk the final week in order to gain ground. Maui seems like he's stuck where he is.

PTS - Maui will score the most points this season. Doesn't appear that the Wack or anyone else will make up the almost 400 point gap. The Kok currently sits 4th in scoring, 120 points behind Golden and 133 behind the Wack. Needles to say, making up these gaps would be extremely valuable for the Kok.

STL - nothing happening here. Kok wins steals. Maui firmly in 2nd.

REB - as of this morning (Sunday, April 3rd) - the Kok is 6 rebounds ahead of Maui. This is a big 30 point swing for whichever team can rebound well next week. 

I'm not sure the Kok can do it with all the players likely getting rested in the final week. The Kok already knows that Ayton will likely not play much this final week. Who else sits out. Maui has some Memphis players that could be rested but it looks like most of his players should be available this week.

The keys to victory for Maui are pretty simple I think. Don't shoot 3's and maintain 1st spot in 3PT%. Beat the Kok in rebounds. Maui isn't going anywhere in FG%, PTS, Blocks, or Steals so there isn't too much room to drop points. It will be up to the Kok to make the moves to gain ground. 

The advantage is still with Maui for sure but it should be an entertaining week. As I've said before, Maui deserves this title now. 2nd after Week 1 and has been in 1st place every night since Week 2. While it would be a massive shock win if the Kok won it in the final week - the best JBL Fantasy team this season was the Maui Ribs. 

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Another interesting battle, at least for me and my Chronicles, is the race for 4th. That spot is all about the 4th keeper. 

As we begin this Sunday's slate of games, the Wack is in 4th at 930, Golden at 912 and Brussels at 897. Any of the teams could still stake claim to 4th place by the end of the week.

Golden's chances for 4th are likely the slimmest, but here's how it could be done.

Golden needs to finish 2nd in scoring (moving the Showers back to 932) and hold all other positions and hope for the best. There is little room for growth in all the other categories so Golden is all about scoring, rebounds, steals and blocks in the final week to hold ground and gain ground where possible.

Golden's cause would be helped if the Wack could drop some points in 3PT%, if Juan could pass the Wack in blocks (only 3 behind), if the Kok could catch the Wack in scoring, and if the Wack can stop rebounding altogether.

For the Wack, there is maybe +65 points available if they play really well this week.

For Brussels, the big category Golden is watching is scoring. Bellingham is just 80 points behind Brussels now and that would be a massive 20 point swing. The other category to watch is 3PT%. Brussels could catch Cali and get +13 or he could drop -13 points if Bellingham got hot. Also, Brussels ATO is 1.928 and Seoul is 1.930. Another big 13 points available. It's also fitting that Brussels, Wack and Golden are all within 28 rebounds of each other so there should be +/- 15 points there on a regular basis. 

I really don't know who is going to get 4th place and that extra keeper. It's too close to call because we don't know which players will be rested in the final week. At this point, I'm not even sure Kris Dunn or Drew Eubanks will be playing as their 10 day deals with Portland expired. They cannot sign another 10 day deal as there are only 8 days left. So, does Portland sign them? 

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Can Bellingham catch the Jizzlies? As of this morning, the Eggers are just 6 points back. The 12th spot means a 2nd keeper for one of those teams and just 1 keeper for the 13th place team. I take it the Jizzlies aren't fussed either way as the last FA they signed was January 24th. 

Can Idaho catch Seoul for 7th? Both teams will get 3 keepers regardless but I can only imagine that the youngster would like to surpass the 5-time JBL champs (and golfing partner) just for pride. 

While Norfolk made valiant efforts to get out of the basement, it's just not going to happen. Norfolk signed a lot of FA's in his attempts to climb, yet somehow, going into the final week, still rosters Kemba Walker, Larry Nance, James Wiseman, Bradley Beal, and on and on. I know he only has $2 FA dollars left now - but why was he holding onto these players? The keeper deadline has passed - they can safely be dropped and no one else can pick them up. They are out for the season. So, I'm not sure exactly what the strategy was for holding onto these guys all year. Anyways, I appreciate Norfolk's efforts immensely considering he could have checked out ages ago. 

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Anyways, best of luck to Maui and Bangkok and all the teams this week. Another 1st time JBL champion will be crowned a week from now. Exciting week ahead as more than half of the JBL teams have something at stake in the final week.