1. What got you into basketball and how did you discover the CSL?
Geez that's going back. I guess it would have been in primary school when I was around 10 years of age and basketball cards were a big thing. My friends and I used to collect and trade basketball cards and play at lunch time and the love of the game grew from there. Went from that to playing at a reasonably high level only to realise I was actually much better at our national sport (AFL) so ended up focusing on that even though I did love basketball more. I was always usually the taller kid at 6'4" and with my all time favourite player being Alonzo Mourning, I loved defense and big men and everything about it.
The CSL was mainly an extension of my relationship with Myles from back in the NLL days. I ran that league for a long time and after a period of burn out, I was looking to get back into just being a GM and Myles had a league and it just worked and there I was. Have much respect for Myles so I knew the quality of the league and I've enjoyed it ever since.
2. Why did you decide to take SAC, what factors were considered before choosing them?
I've followed Miami in the NBA for 25 years but don't think they were available at the time. I've had successful stints in sim leagues with Denver, Detroit and Phoenix so didn't look at those franchises even if they were available but when I first started in sim leagues way back, I ran the Kings in Gary Gorski's XBA league. He ran that using FBB 2001 back in the day and geez I feel old now haha but yeah, the Kings I guess are a look back to the roots of where it all started.
3. Who is your favourite iteration of (either of) your championship teams?
You know what? I can't actually remember haha. I guess it's lucky that our core didn't really change a lot so I know the Payton, Westbrook, Porter, Solomon, Nurkic, etc, were there but as to the rest, my memory isn't very good and as I don't have DDS3 on this PC anymore, I can't even go back to have a look. I absolutely loved the Payton/Westbrook/Porter trio as all three were amazing defenders with Payton and Westbrook great on the inside and Porter an elite outside threat.
4. Take us behind the scenes on the Michael Porter trade?
It basically came down to the first round exit to the Spurs the season before. We were a high seed and to lose to a lower seed makes you take a look at where you went wrong or what you thought you needed to change and for us, it was someone, or someone else who could drop 20-30 on any given night. We scoured the league and in the end, thought Michael Porter was our best option.
You can ask Indiana this but it was a trade talk what went on for months between not only us but at times involving multiple teams. Great fun though having legit back and forth conversations with a great GM in Indiana but we spent some time working through it all with us finally coming to an agreement. We were flush with plenty of draft picks and I guess with our depth, the plan all along was to move them for an upgrade and Porter was our target. For a GM that loves defense, Porter isn't a guy you would think we would go after but he fills a need and that scoring talent is too impressive.
Was a move for the future also. Everyone loves draft picks but they can take time and Porter is already primed to go and add to our young core. In the future, we feel he will eventually become our starting small forward and create havoc with his size and talent. I've always loved big ball lineups plus we eventually turned Colin Sexton into Bol Bol so we view it as a move that solidified our post for the next 5+ seasons.
5. Where do you project this team moving forward? 1 year window? 3 year? 5?
This year was meant to be a transition year actually. We traded Otto Porter and the plan was to move on from Solomon and Nurkic also and build again towards contention but I think with the mix we had and the improved play of some of the young guys, we're right in it again. We won 55 games and that was with playing our young guys the last 10-12 games so I guess the window is right now and after this season? I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out.
Solomon and Nurkic are aging and without their veteran talent, will we be able to mix it with the big boys without those guys? Can guys like Bol Bol, Diallo, Thybulle and Franks actually fill those voids given our core in Cousins/Adams/Musa are only mid 20's? That will be the challenge for us to see if we can still mix it with the elite. Projecting beyond that, I'd hope if not next season, the one after we'll be right in the mix again.
6. What kind of team do you like in terms of strategy? Fast or slower pace? Defensive minded? An emphasis on rebounding?
I think I'm more of an overall talent type of GM now. I was hell bent on having a defensive team early on with the Payton/Westbrook/Porter/Solomon core but over the years, I've definitely come to appreciate the offensive side of the court. Not that we've ever been successful on that end haha but now I'll consider shooters more often than not where as before, you don't play defense then you don't play no matter what else you bring to the table.
Strategy wise for me is all about matchups and overall talent. I don't really fluctuate from the balanced strategies at all. We consistently play a slower pace and high defensive pressure and try to put players on the court that fit those but in saying that, I probably should get around to rethinking that process as we probably don't need to be playing with high defensive pressure given we don't have the defenders we used to have. We could probably up our pace some having a guy like Porter and some outside shooters so it's something we may take a look at this coming off season.
7. Finally, if you had to identify your main rival who would it be and why?
I did read Doug's article just before and I have to echo him that it's Houston and Phoenix out West. Houston and in particular James Harden used to terrorize us and I distinctly remember the 7 game series loss to them in the conference finals where we had no answer for him (at PF
).Phoenix would be the top one yes and they are just a class organisation and sharing the Pacific with them plus owning 4 of the last 6 championships just naturally puts us in a rivalry position. They're the team we're always looking at in the standings, they're the team that we beat in the conference finals and got smoked in another, they're the team that has a defensive lineup that makes you jealous sometimes that you dread playing against and they're the team we have the utmost respect for. Every season we enter and I just wonder if we're going to have to meet them in the playoffs and how it will play out.
I've been in sim leagues for so long now that I have friendly rivalries with so many. Ryan from GSW and I co-commissioned for ages and he's such a good guy that I like to try and beat him haha. Myles and Jon I've known forever and I'd even like to build an all PG team to beat Gary one day haha. Then there are the good GM's who can get serious like Silo and Marcos and it's always a battle as they always have great teams.
I hope you enjoyed this look into yet another integral player of this league, and if you are interested in being interviewed please express your interest either in this thread or a PM if you prefer. It'll be first come first serve, and I'll gauge interest and go from there.
2020, 2023, 2027
