Manningham, Manningham, wherefore art thou Manningham?

[GoBlue2419]

The NBA announced today that the league would be expanding by two teams for the 2011-2012 season. The new teams are the Seattle Supersonics, returning a team to a location the league never should have left in the first place, and the Manningham Moose. The Moose are owned by Manningham businessman Brian Midgley, owner of the Enzo's Pizza chain, who has been desperately seeking to bring the NBA to Manningham for years now. "Manningham was long a staple of the Federal Basketball Association, but when that league folded a couple years ago, I knew we needed to be a part of the NBA," Midgley shared at today's press conference.

Midgley also announced at the press conference that Benjamin Haug will be the team's General Manager. Haug is just 27 years old, but just as baseball has moved to younger, Ivy League-like educated GMs, he brings intelligence, commitment to statistical analysis, and a fresh approach to the position.

The team has yet to name a head coach, and that will certainly be one of Haug's first priorities on the job. Some familiar names have been rumored for the position, including Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott, and Sam Mitchell.

The Moose will play in MidCentral Airlines Arena, will feature the same green black, and white colors as the old FBA Moose, but with an updated logo.


The Manningham Moose logo


MidCentral Airlines Arena

[Tim Moungey]

As in Manningham, Australia?

[GoBlue2419]

This dynasty is about sports. This dynasty is about a city. What, you say you have never heard of Manningham? Well, it is only one of the biggest and most important cities in the United States. It runs neck and neck with Detroit as the largest city in the state of Michigan. It is a major shipping center for the Midwest. But it has kept a low profile. Until now that is. Those days are over. Manningham now aims to make a bigger difference in the world of American sports. It aims to bring to its boundaries the biggest titles our country has to offer when it comes to the world of sports. A city that has been kept out of the major sporting leagues of our country finally has its opportunity to try to claim the biggest trophies the U.S. sports world has to offer. Follow along here as the Manningham Moose pursue NBA glory.

Manningham has recently gained professional and collegiate sports teams in many of the major leagues our country has to offer. Those teams are:

NFL – Manningham Mammoths (expansion)
MLB – Manningham Wolves (expansion)
NBA – Manningham Moose (expansion)
NHL – Manningham Coyotes (Bought and relocated to Manningham)
MLS – Manningham City FC (expansion)
NCAA – Thornhill University Lumberjacks (Moved up from Division II)

This dynasty will cover the exploits of the NBA Moose, but you can read about the pursuits for all Manningham teams at this blog. All major sports teams will be covered in newspaper format. Additionally, there will be occasional articles about aspects of life in Manningham outside of sports.

One note of preface about this dynasty (and all of the various Manningham dynasties) - I will be letting the sims for the most part determine the outcomes and journeys of each team, not playing or running any team myself, and only inserting myself in "God" mode when necessary for legitimacy or literary reasons. I will attempt to stick to my "reporter" character as much as possible.

This dynasty approach, following the exploits of a fictional city in the middle of our real world, is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and after many false starts, re-dos, and back to the drawing board moments, I think it is ready to go. It all may come crashing to the ground in a screeching halt, but at the very least it has been enjoyable getting to this point, and I'm looking forward to reporting on what the future of Manningham holds.

[zike_42]

About the NHL coyotes team, there is already a team from phoenix called the coyotes, can two cities have the same mascot?

[GoBlue2419]

About the NHL coyotes team, there is already a team from phoenix called the coyotes, can two cities have the same mascot?

I updated the "background" post with the background of how each team came about.

[GoBlue2419]

The Manningham Moose, the NBA expansion team beginning play in the 2011-2012 NBA season, have announced that Mike Dunleavy has been hired as their first head coach. The 57 year old Dunleavy's most recent stint in the NBA was as the head coach and general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers. Dunleavy resigned as their head coach on February 4, 2010, keeping the general manager title, but was fired from that position on March 9th, 2010. Dunleavy has been a head coach in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers (1990-1992), Milwaukee Bucks (1992-1996), Portland Trailblazers (1997-2001), and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2003-2010. He was the NBA Coach of the Year in 1999 with Portland, and has a head coaching record of 613-713 (.461).

[GoBlue2419]

ESPN's latest mock NBA Draft has the Manningham Moose selecting the Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas with the 5th pick. Duke's Kyrie Irving is still predicted as the #1 overall pick, followed by Enes Kanter, Derrick Williams, and Brandon Knight before the Moose selection of Motiejunas. Other mock drafts have Brandon Knight falling to #5, while others have small forward Jan Vesely from the Czech Republic being picked in this spot.

The draft occurs on June 23rd in Newark, New Jersey. With this being the first ever NBA draft for the Moose, and first ever for 27 year old Benjamin Haug, this draft can determine the fate of the organization for the next few years. With point guard Raymond Felton, shooting guard John Salmons, small forward Martell Webster, and center Emeka Okafor already on board, a power forward like Motiejunas seems to be a solid pick at this spot. There is little chance Kanter or Williams fall to the fifth pick, and with little in the way of trade ammo at this point, the Moose cannot move up to get either of them.

[bobbyr]

The Manningham Moose, the NBA expansion team beginning play in the 2011-2012 NBA season, have announced that Mike Dunleavy has been hired as their first head coach. The 57 year old Dunleavy's most recent stint in the NBA was as the head coach and general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers. Dunleavy resigned as their head coach on February 4, 2010, keeping the general manager title, but was fired from that position on March 9th, 2010. Dunleavy has been a head coach in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers (1990-1992), Milwaukee Bucks (1992-1996), Portland Trailblazers (1997-2001), and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2003-2010. He was the NBA Coach of the Year in 1999 with Portland, and has a head coaching record of 613-713 (.461).

Did you simulate the first season? Ur how did you manage to start in 2001-12 with Irving etc.?

[GoBlue2419]

Right, I simulated the first season, and then expanded the league before the 2011-2012 season.

[GoBlue2419]

The NBA held its Expansion Draft yesterday, an opportunity for new franchises Seattle and Manningham to stock their rosters with players in many cases the existing teams would like to remove from their rosters. The Seattle Supersonics had the first pick, and selected center Brendan Haywood from the Dallas Mavericks. No team could lose more than one player in the draft, so with the second pick in the first round Manningham had to select from any team but Dallas, and selected center Emaka Okafor from the New Orleans Hornets.

The second round opened with Seattle selecting power forward Elton Brand from Philadelphia, followed by Manningham selecting point guard Raymond Felton from Denver.

In the third round Seattle chose small forward Ron Artest from the Lakers. Manningham added to its backcourt by selecting shooting guard John Salmons from Milwaukee.

The fourth round saw Seattle pick Richard Hamilton, shooting guard from the Detroit Pistons, while Manningham elected to select small forward Martell Webster from Minnesota.

Seattle selected its final player of the expansion draft, point guard Kyle Lowry from the Houston Rockets, and Manningham passed on selecting any more players.

Both teams will fill their remaining roster slots through free agency, the draft, and trades before the new season begins.