Life Above The Rim
JB's viewpoint

Posted by JB on December 27, 2007

Can't wait until Saturday

Cant wait until Saturday. Here is what I am most looking forward to:

1.  First and foremost meeting Ramin's mom.
 
2.  Bonding with Ramin's wife so much so that I am going to ask her to agree to a permanent contract to insure that we can use Ramin's house in perpetuity as the permanent home of the MBA draft irregardless of whether Ramin is an owner.
 
3.  Reminiscing with Taylor about the most complex trades that the MBA has ever seen - some of which got completed after a weekend of negotiations, others that got rescinded after a weekend (of drinking) and still others that could only get done because of Taylor's undying commitment, devotion and love of the LA Clippers.  Rookies listen.  Strong player affections come into play every year in our auction. Who can forget Peterson/Shamshiri's fleecing of Benun's $100  by placing Manu Ginobili and Ben Wallace on the auction blocks way too early, just to see owner Benun spend ridiculous amounts of money on his favorite two players.  Not smart to draft any player that you are in love with. .
 
4.  Learning a little more about the Gary Lin philosophy of choosing real players in a real draft.  Is it really that tough to draft real players.  In a two round NBA draft, all you have to think about is picking two guys.  How can you compare that with the complexities of moving from a 6 round auction to a seven round draft over an 8 hour period, MBA seems far more intense and taxing on a fantasy owner's mind, body and spirit than a quick NBA two rounder is.  Gary, any thoughts?
 
5.  Cant wait to see if Don Dizon is able to complete a draft in which he likes all the players that he drafts.  Vegas odds currently have the over and unders at round 10 as to when Don Dizon first states " I hate this player but I am going to take him anyways."  You can always count on Don as a trading partner immediately after the draft as he (like me) is rarely satisfied with his team right after the draft is completed.  Except of course in 1995 when Dizon drafted David Robinson and Tim Duncan with his first two picks in his rookie year and then proceeded to ride those two horses to victory without once engaging in a trade.  Rookies take note - Seek out advice from Don as he is the only rookie to win the MBA crown in his rookie year.
 
6.   East Coast Bias Creep from our NY faithful Norm Greenidge.  I think the ultimate triple crown front line for Norm would be the combo of Rasheed  Wallace, Eddie Curry and Zach Randolph.  Norm,  Are you dreaming about these three representing the NY Stars.  Happy Birthday Buddy!!
 
7.  Reminiscing with Petersen about Sports Camp.  Woops. Strike that statement from the record. Please dont mention Sports Camp to Petersen under any circumstances.
 
8. Reminiscing with Petersen about our Gerald Wallace for Luke Ridnour trade .  Woops we shouldnt talk about that either.
 
9.  Reminiscing with Petersen about the Arenas for Pierce trade.  Woops we cant talk about that either, because this trade cost Benun the trophy!!!
 
10. Whether Max will be carrying new colored markers into this year's draft or whether he goes with his tried and tested philosophy of "Why change or adapt or move into the 21st centry when you have a winning system".   Warning Max - Timeouts will not be permitted for faulty/ dry markers.
 
9.  The Wagner Code.  Can anyone break his secret code which has kept him as a contender since he introduced it three years ago.  There has been talk of abolishing computers from the war room to eliminate the Wagner Edge.   We will see if he can continue in his winning ways. Thanks for developing the MBA website.  It was instrumental in attracting many of our new owners
 
10.  Rookie Ryan -  Will he have the energy, stamina and internal fortitude to withstand what many say is as overwhelming an event as your first super bowl or climbing Mt Everest.  Your first MBA draft is like no other experience that you will have in your life.  Look for support and guidance at every turn. I will be there if you need me Buddy.  Don't try and conquer this mountain on your own.  Trust us.  Stick to your system. You will become incoherent and lose all sense of reality in the later rounds as you approach the summit. Save energy early and get a good night sleep tonight and Friday.  I am excited to have you on board!
 
11.  It will be interesting to see how Demarcus has developed after having one full year of MBA ownership under his belt.  Remember his first two picks last year - Brand and Bosh. Brilliant.  Then the vultures (aka fellow MBA owners) circled all around trying to wrestle those players away from his grasp with promises of greatness.  Shame on us.  Rookies take note -  Fellow MBA owners are great guys to be around on 364 days of the year but on draft night they are downright ruthless.  Back to the Demarcus 2006 round by round dissection.  He seemed to be cruising but then he hit that rookie wall. You cant see it coming but when it hits you are in trouble.   It was most pronounced in the 10th round when Demarcus announced that he was taking Jake Tsokalekus.   We knew then that Demarcus had officially hit the wall.  Rookies take note - Even though your vision will be blurry at this time, promise me that you can smell a vulture and know to stay away from them.  Demarcus, You have come along way since last year's draft even though y ou still dont know what Jalen Rose looks like.  I cant wait to see how you handle miles 21-26 of our draft this year.   I am expecting big things out of you buddy.
 
12.  There is one team that I think could have 8 players picked from and that is the Golden State Warriors due to the home town bias of Larry.  He will of course go out early and get his big superstar (Kobe) and then he will build his beloved Golden State Warriors around Kobe.  In MBA terminology this is called the Sun God Model.  You will see very early on who is employing this model because after the first round of the auction they will have less than $50 left to purchase 5 sun worshipers.
 
13.  I think our movie theme for this year's draft should be the "Revenge of the Nerds". Due to the size of our league - 156 players need to be drafted, we are going to see players who havent been drafted in three years, reappearing and coming up to the stage as a 12th and/or 13th round pick.  Can you say Eric Piatkowski, Raef LaFrentz, Bobby Simmons, Chris Mimm, Steve Francis, Mikki Moore. It is going to get really dicey and ugly in the last two rounds!   I will be very impressed if any MBA owner is actually able to recognize his 13th round pick out of a lineup of NBA bench warmers.
 
Finally, Please remember that after our player draft is completed, we will be conducting our two round NBA team draft in which each owner will draft two NBA teams that they believe will amass the most wins between them.   During the year this category will be used to break all ties that may arise between owners.   Owner with the higher victory total will be given the advantage.
 
See everyone Saturday at 3 PM.
 
Take care,
 
JB
Blind Spots
Owner/GM