I really have enjoyed reading up on Zike and his journey in Toronto and wanted to start off my own such story. Hope everyone enjoys the following. I wrote this first part from about 1:00 am till 4:00 am so I hope I didn't make that many mistakes...
R-I-N-G...
R-I-N-G...
"Hello" I answered my phone. It was a little earlier than I am use to getting phone calls in the morning. It was my friend Ray, "you actually did it!" he yelled into the phone. "Did what?" I asked still half asleep. "You finished in the top 100 in the MGM Grand Fantasy Basketball Challenge!" I sat up in bed, not wanting to wake up my wife Elizabeth and quietly crept to the living room. "Are you serious? You aren't just screwing around right?" I whispered as I stepped over Thomas the Train tracks that my son had left out. "Go check the website and see for yourself" Ray replied. I told him I would call him later and made my way to the computer.
My friend Ray was right. Sitting there in 34th place was the username cyrisnyte. I couldn't believe it had actually happened. Right after "The Decision" had aired on ESPN I saw an article in a fantasy magazine that MGM was offering the "Fantasy Trip of a Lifetime" to the top 100 owners in their Salary Cap Fantasy League. Being 41, I had been playing fantasy basketball for over 20 years. I still remember running my own leagues in high school where I had to get the box scores out of the paper and manually add up totals to see who would win each week. This league being offered by MGM out of Las Vegas was very different to me.
The concept was simple yet intriguing. You were given a cap of 55,000,000 and had to build a team to play that season. You had injured reserve and such but it was not like most leagues where you could just drop and pick up players. You picked your squad and then you had to keep them for the season. Someone got hurt, you had the minimum salary to add a replacement. It wasn't cheap either! The entry fee was $200 but I talked my wife Elizabeth into letting me spend it since I had won my regular league for 4 years in a row.
The winners, all 100 of us were going to be flown out to Las Vegas for a 5 day "Fantasy Trip of a Lifetime". MGM made out pretty well because they had over 350,000 people sign up for the league. It was weird to put down $200 for something you were uncertain about. I mean come on, Fantasy Trip of a Lifetime could end up being sitting at the sports book watching basketball on TV with some role player who spend two years in the league.
The day had finally arrived to head to Las Vegas. One of the more unpopular aspects of winning, which I found out from many other husbands was the same for them, was that the trip was for 1 person. This meant I had to say goodbye to my wife Elizabeth and two sons, Colton & Chase for a week. The flight was nothing to write home about, Southwest Airlines where it's a cattle call for seats. Once I landed it was a different story though. I was greeted near baggage claims with a man carrying a sign with my name on it and MGM inscribed beneath. I walked over and introduced myself. Felton, the driver, informed me we had one more person heading over with us. His name was Chris Leehy and had also won the MGM challenge.
Once we arrived at MGM we were able to check in and had to be at a seminar for the winners at 5pm at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant in MGM. It was 2pm in Las Vegas which meant we had a couple of hours to kill. Chris and I decided to meet up at the bar and had a drink and talk sports before we had our seminar. Chris had came in 66th in the Fantasy Challenge and was in the same boat as me. He almost had not signed up because he couldn't understand putting down $200 on something that he didn't know what the payout was. He figured though that $200 for a 5 day "vacation" to Las Vegas would be worth it. We both headed over to the restaurant to see what fun activities they had planned for us.
The restaurant quickly filled up with the 100 winners of the MGM "Fantasy Basketball Challenge". We were brought menus and given a bottle of wine at each table. There were about 30 tables, 20 of those for the winners with 5 of us sitting at each table. On the table was a packet with each of our names and in bold red letters it said DO NOT OPEN. The other tables had some people sitting at them and one of the people I recognized to be the old UNLV coach and former Spurs coach Jerry Tarkanian. I pointed him out to Chris and he recognized him as well.
A man came up to the podium and introduced himself as the Executive Vice President of Operations of the MGM Grand Las Vegas, William J. Hornbuckle. Well they did make a ton of money off of us, so it was nice to have someone far up the food chain here. "Welcome all of our Fantasy Winners from around the world". An applause broke out around the room. "We hope you enjoy your next 5 days here at the MGM Grand Las Vegas and other places you may travel. We promised you the Fantasy Trip of a Lifetime and we plan on providing just that. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you one of the gentlemen behind this idea, Mr. Sheldon Adelson."
The 10 tables at the front of the room immediately rose to their feet which meant they knew something we didn't. We all stood up and started to clap and I asked Chris, "do you know who that is?" To which he shook his head no. Mr. Adelson walked over to the podium and gave a small wave for everyone to take their seat. "Sometimes you have to take great risks to have great rewards" Adelson said. "I represent a group of owners here in Las Vegas who are going to take a great risk on one of you sitting here tonight. We had over 350,000 people play our "MGM Fantasy Basketball Challenge" and the 100 of you sitting here tonight are the best of the best. I am sure many of you may ask yourself about now, what really did you win? Well for 99 of you, it is a memorable 5 day trip to Las Vegas that you will be able to tell your friends and family about for years, if not decades. For one of you though..."
Suddenly banners fell from all over the ceiling and a huge logo shot up on the wall of poker chips. Adelson continued "...you will be the 1st ever General Manager of the 2011-2012 Las Vegas Aces NBA Franchise!" There was gasping, yelling and I think one guy even passed out. My heart about hit the floor. Being the GM for an NBA franchise. You know how you sit around and dream about things...well this has been one of those recurring dreams in my life for sometime. As if on cue, waitresses came around and started pouring us glasses of wine as most of us needed a shot of anything about now.
"We will be having a great evening but understand that we are here to find our next GM now. Starting tomorrow you will have numerous workshops and meetings to attend. Tomorrow is Tuesday and we will be excusing 50 of you from the selection process by midnight. You will transition over to a fantasy basketball vacation but will no longer be part of the process to help lead the Aces in their inaugural season. I know many of you will have questions and those will be answered over the next few days. The 5 left by Friday will surely have every question you have answered. Good luck everyone, enjoy your food and drinks. Remember, you are in Las Vegas and anything is possible here. Please keep your packet with you at all times and you may now open it at your leisure."
I wondered if Columbus was doing something similar. Chris and I talked about the fact that Las Vegas and Columbus were both getting expansion teams this upcoming season and what it would be like to make it past the first cut of 50. We instantly wondered how much control we would have or if it was just a Las Vegas gimmick and we would be a puppet on a string for a real GM.
I told Chris I was heading back to my room early as I had to call my wife and tell her what was happening. My head was still spinning as I left the restaurant and caught the elevator to my floor.
It was 7:30 pm in Vegas which meant it was already 9:30 pm in San Antonio, Texas. This wasn't going to be a 5 minute call home either. My wife answered and after 45 minutes of convincing her I was not drunk, the reality sat in. Elizabeth was very supportive and told me that she knew I could do it. It meant a lot and I told her to kiss Colton and Chase goodnight for me.
I tried to lay down but couldn't sleep. Where would we play basketball at? Was there already a coach hired? Who would be left unprotected in the expansion draft? I looked over the packet and found the 1st page to be the itinerary. It seems I had to be at a meeting at 8 am. to talk about the Luxury Tax in the NBA. At 10 am I was going to have a meeting with a psychologist till 11 am. From there is was a luncheon with Jerry Tarkanian who was going to talk about his role in basketball on the NBA level. At 1 pm I would do role playing for two hours in regards to human interaction. Finally from 3:30 pm till 5:30 pm I would need to take a team I was given a packet for and come up with a plan of action to either make them a contender or keep them one. I put on Sportscenter and of course it was the top story. Jay Bilis was saying it was the stupidest publicity stunt he had ever seen. Many of the NBA players were saying it was a joke to have someone who didn't know basketball making such important decisions. "I will worry about them if I can survive 99 others" I thought to myself and finally fell asleep.
For the record, 8 am is not the best time to be talking about Luxury Tax in the NBA. Thank goodness Elizabeth had packed me some nicer clothes. Twenty of us filed into a room with 2 gentleman in suits. A lot of the other winners were in shorts and t-shirts. At least I had on slacks and a dress shirt. Chris was no where to be seen so I assumed he was in another meeting. The meeting seemed to take forever. I had brought a tablet and pen from the room and jotted down notes about rookie exceptions, Bird years, soft vs. hard cap. Most of the guys just paid attention or were texting on their phones. I started to get a sense that I better remember as much of this as I can.
Next up was my meeting with the psychologist. This went rather smoothly, as it seemed they just wanted to see if you were normal and what type of baggage you had. Nothing shook me up and I was ready to head off to the luncheon with Tark the Shark.
It was great to hear Tarkanian talk as he had been the coach of the Spurs and since I am from San Antonio had actually gone to a few games while he coached us. He talked about the grind of an 82 game season. The attempt to manage egos and keeping players happy and how much the GM had an effect on that. It gave me a new perspective. Not only do you need the best team on the court but the GM can really influence the feel of the locker room as well.
The role playing was quite interesting as it dealt with a lot of what Tarkanian had just talked to us about. We had scenarios where players demanded to be traded, players were in violation of NBA policies, players were holding out. It keep us on our toes and you could see now why GMs come and go in the NBA so fast.
Now came the moment of truth. I crossed my fingers that I didn't get the Charlotte packet. The season had just wrapped up and they had finished with the worst record at 15-67. My packet was handed to me and when I opened it up I discovered I had the Los Angeles...Clippers. We were told we had the next hour to talk with mock GMs at stations, you had 5 minutes per mock GM. I worked my way around and managed to make a few moves that in my eyes made the Clippers more likely to improve on their 37-45 season that had just wrapped up. We were each moved to a laptop were we had 30 minutes to type up a one year, three year and 5 year plan for your team. Thank goodness I listened because we had to talk about the cap and contract extensions, coaches, assistant coaches all in under 30 minutes. We each handed in our reports and were told to expect a phone call before midnight.
My stomach was in knots as I sat in the room waiting for the phone to ring. I ordered some room service and the minute I bit into my burger the phone rang.
"Hello?" I answered
"Mr. Jeff Shipman?" a voice asked.
"Yes, this is he."
"Congratulations Jeff, you are in the next 50. Please be at breakfast at 7 am. Have a good evening Jeff".
Needless to say another restless night of sleep. The next morning I was at breakfast by 6:45 am. I looked around the room and saw Chris and walked over to him.
"Man, talk about stress" Chris said to me.
"Ha! What if you take over the Aces!" I replied.
We sat down and had breakfast while an overhead showed the 2010-2011 NBA league leaders by category.
Towards the end of breakfast a man walked up to the podium and explained how the day was going to play out.
"Gentlemen, as you know, the Miami Heat are playing the Portland Trailblazers in Portland tonight in game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Heat hold a 2-1 lead over Portland heading into this game. Who here would like to see this game live...in Portland?"
Everyone jumped up and started screaming and shouting.
"We will be using one of the owner's of the Las Vegas Aces private jets to fly to Portland where we will have a suite to view the game. We currently have 50 candidates left for the Aces GM position. By the time we board that airplane gentleman, we will be down to 20."
Murmurs spread around the room. Down to 20, man another cut so fast.
"You will be given from now till 8:30 am to cram for a verbal exam over yesterday's breakouts. You will be called up one by one in front of a panel and if you get the question right you go back in line. If you get it wrong, you will join the other winners from yesterday at your Fantasy Basketball Vacation. When you arrive back at your room, you will have a round number on your bed letting you know where to line up 1 - 50. Good luck gentlemen, see you at 8:30 am."
I rushed to my room and opened the door, there on my bed was the same number as I had came in, 34. I grabbed my folder and started cramming about the salary cap. Then it hit me. I better look up the league leaders for this season as they had been flashing them during breakfast. I powered up my laptop and quickly made some mental notes.
I stood in line and waited before the panel. By the time they reached me, 18 people had been removed from the competition.
"Mr. Shipman, who was this season's NBA scoring leader and what was his average?"
I froze for a second but then blurted out "Kevin Durant at 29.3 points per game".
"Correct, please go to the end of the line".
Needless to say, I did not have to answer a 2nd question. It was a never wracking experience but I was glad to see that my new friend Chris had made it through.
"Gentlemen, please meet us in the lobby at 1:00 pm for our departure to the airport."
The flight was great and the game was amazing. The Trailblazers evened up the series with a 107 - 104 win over the Heat. Greg Oden poured in 33 points and 12 rebounds while LeBron lead all scorers with 36 points.
On the flight back we were told to be at breakfast at 6:30 am. By the time we landed in Las Vegas it was already midnight so I was off to my room and some sleep.
Wednesday came and I drug myself to breakfast, arriving at 6:20 am. Everyone in the room looked exhausted.
"20 of you remain." said Jerry Tarkanian. "It's Wednesday and by 8 pm we will be down to 10 people attempting to be the 1st ever GM of the Las Vegas Aces. Each of you will be meeting for 2 hours today with one of the owners of the Las Vegas Aces to discuss in detail what you see as a one, three and five year plan for the organization. Please finish your breakfast and head back to your rooms. You will find your time slot on your bed. The 1st round of interviews begin at 9 am."
I headed upstairs and found out my time slot was 1 pm - 3 pm, right after lunch...great. I called up Elizabeth and told her everything that had been going on. She assured me that things were going to workout just fine. I took a nap and watched some Sportscenter, still more about the "lame brain" idea that the Aces franchise was doing.
I headed to my meeting and discovered I was sitting down with Mr. Sheldon Aldeson, the man from the first night. We spent the entire time talking about the NBA and what it meant for Las Vegas. I was assured this was not a publicity stunt and that the person chosen for the job would indeed make all decisions including coaching staff, free agents, trades and daily operations. I spoke in depth about there needing to be a level of understanding in building a franchise from the ground floor up. Mr. Sheldon Aldeson was in agreement with their needing to be patience but that expectations were to see improvement and an aggressive approach to building a name brand for the Aces. Time had come for me to leave the room. I shook Mr. Aldeson's hand and thanked him for his time and the opportunity to express my ideas about the Aces.
7:45 pm and the phone rang.
"Mr. Shipman?" the voice said.
"This is he," I replied
"Great job today, Mr. Shipman, you are in the final 10. Please join us for breakfast at 7:00 am."
What happens in Vegas...does not stay in Vegas!
34 posts
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What happens in Vegas...does not stay in Vegas!
by cyrisnyte » Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:17 pm
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by cyrisnyte » Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:19 pm
Whew...another round and I survived. What will they make us do next?
I entered the room for breakfast and saw 6 other people sitting down. Slowly the rest of the group entered and then Jerry Tarkanian came in and closed the door. Chris wasn't their this time. I guess he finally came as far as he could with the competition.
"Well, it seems I always bring the bad news but here is the reality of the situation. 10 of you are sitting here and by 4 pm it will be 3 of you boarding the plane once again with members of the Las Vegas Aces organization and heading to Portland again to see game 5 of the NBA finals. Today each of you will sit down with former Suns GM Steve Kerr for a conversation about the GM role and based off your two hour meetings yesterday and Mr. Kerr's thoughts, we will be making the cut to 3 people."
Steve Kerr greeted me when my turn came and we spoke about building a team around an offense or building an offense around a team. I figured I needed to distinguish myself from the rest, or sign my death sentence and put Steve on the spot about the Shaq trade while with the Suns. Steve gave me a glare but then laughed and told me he thought Shaq still had some gas in the tank and he felt the Suns needed to play better defense. Our time ran over a bit which in my eyes was a good thing.
We were all asked to meet in one of the conference rooms at 2:30 pm with our bags packed. My heart was pounding when Jerry Tarkanian entered the room and walked up and put his hand on my shoulder and said "Well Jeff, looks like you will get to see the Heat and Blazers go at it again tonight". My heart skipped about 10 beats. Out of 350,000 people I was down to one of three vying for the job of Aces GM.
I hope my luck to work for the Aces was better than what the Blazers had against the Heat that night. The Blazers fell at home to the Heat 104 - 85. Lebron scored 26 for the Heat while Oden once again paced the Blazers with 23 in a losing effort.
Jerry stood up before landing back in Las Vegas "Well gentlemen, it's down to you three. Enjoy your breakfast and meet us at the main conference room at 9 am. You will be sitting before a panel of former coaches, players, GMs and the current owners and operators of the Aces for your final interview process. We will be making a decision by 5 pm today. We will bring you three back to the conference room and announce our decision."
I ate what I could as my stomach was so upset I could hardly keep anything down. I walked into the room with the 2 other candidates (funny how we are now candidates yet three days ago we were winners of a fantasy basketball league). Jerry Tarkanian was sitting there along with Steve Kerr, Sheldon Alderson, Scottie Pippen, Larry Brown and others.
The process was pretty heated. Many questions were hurled at you and you could tell that today the gloves were off. They were not just going to hand over their franchise to someone who got lucky and picked 12 guys off a salary sheet. Answers were not good enough, they wanted more in depth detail. The pressure in the air was incredible. I stood my ground and treated them just like I do everyone else. I spoke my mind and if I thought an idea was a bad one I spoke up on it. One guy asked what we would get paid and I could see the panel's faces sink. I was curious myself but was not going to ask that one. After four hours of in depth conversations and questions we were excused.
I went to my room and took what may be the most needed nap of my life. I woke up, showered and got dressed. Grabbed a small bite to eat and killed an hour of time. I called my wife and let her know that we may be moving to Las Vegas, I would let her know in an hour or so I joked.
The time came and the three of us entered the room. We were thanked for our time and told that we all had performed well, but one of us had shown more than the others. The panel stood up and Mr. Alderson looked in our direction.
"The Las Vegas Aces are proud to announce that our 1st ever General Manager of basketball operations is...
The three of us looked around at one another.
"Mr. Jeff Shipman. Congratulations Mr. Shipman."
The other two candidates shook my hand and were ushered from the room. I stood like a deer in the headlights and looked at the panel.
"Thank you all," I finally managed to say. "I will do everything I can to build a winning tradition here in Las Vegas and create a team that is both fun to watch and understands the expectation to win."
On June 4th, 2011 the Heat won the NBA Championship by defeating the Trailblazers. I watched the game back home in San Antonio where we already had movers packing up our home. I wondered to myself how long it would take to get the Aces into the playoffs and eventually a title hanging from our rafters. Most importantly, would I be able to achieve all of this in a time frame seen as realistic.
On June 7th, 2011 the Lottery was held. While Charlotte had the best chance of winning it, the ended up picking 3rd. In front of them were the Timberwolves at number two and the Pacers landing the number one spot. Indiana only had a 6.0% chance of landing the number one spot but they beat the odds, just like I had. Maybe this was a good omen.
I had to be in Las Vegas by the 10th of June to start prepping for the upcoming season. The road ahead would be hard. I needed to figure out what to do in the supplemental draft, hire coaches and figure out a draft strategy...like yesterday.
The Aces lost the coin flip in the expansion draft on June 11th, so we would be picking 2nd in the expansion draft. Some of the bonuses to an expansion draft was that some players would earn you a second round pick if you took them and some of those players could be selected and released without a cap hit and still net you a second rounder.
My plan was save as much cap space as possible, try and land a few tradable commodities and make a move in free agency to bring in some talent. Would it work?
June 20th and it is draft time.
Round 1
Columbus selects Raymond Felton with their 1st pick.
Las Vegas selects Tyrus Thomas from Charlotte and releases him. This will give us an additional early 2nd round pick and Thomas has a horrible contract at 7,305,785 for the next 4 seasons.
Round 2
Columbus selects Brendan Haywood.
Las Vegas selects A.J. Price from Indiana and keep him. He can fill some backup minutes at PG and is a lockdown defender. His contract is a 1 year at 884,293 also a bonus.
Round 3
Columbus goes big again and takes Emeka Okafor. I liked him but his contract is huge.
Las Vegas selects Kevin Seraphin from Washington and keep him. He can also be a decent backup PF and has good defensive abilities. Contract is only 1,680,360 for one year.
Round 4
I hope the owner in Columbus doesn't mind the luxury tax. They select Elton Brand and his huge contract.
Las Vegas goes with Anderson Varejao and immediately cut him and his 7,700,00 contract over 4 years but pick up another early 2nd rounder.
Round 5
Columbus selects John Salmons
Las Vegas selects Lazar Hayward from Minnesota and keep him. Another good defender to play some backup SF minutes. Small contract again, 1 year for 473,604.
Round 6
Columbus selects Richard Hamilton, can't wait to see this teams payroll.
Las Vegas selects Amir Johnson from Toronto and immediately cut him gaining another early 2nd round pick.
Round 7
Columbus selects Rashard Lewis and cut him. Finally some cost saving moves.
Las Vegas selects Tony Allen from Memphis and keep him. Not thrilled about 3,150,000 over 2 years but plays great D and does not eat up much cap space. We will see if this was a mistake.
Round 8
Columbus selects Hedo Turkoglu and release him.
Las Vegas selects Jeremy Lin and release him.
Round 9
Columbus selects Ron Artest and keep him.
Las Vegas selects Byron Mullens from Oklahoma City and release him, picking up a pick in the 2nd round.
Round 10
Columbus selects Richard Jefferson from San Antonio and release him.
Las Vegas selects Willie Warren from the Clippers and keep him. Decent talent and only costs us 473,604 over 1 year.
Round 11
Columbus selects Marvin Williams and release him.
Las Vegas selects Keith Bogans from Chicago and release him.
Round 12
Columbus selects Kyle Lowry and keep him.
Las Vegas selects Luke Harangody from Boston and release him.
Round 13
Columbus selects Travis Outlaw and release him.
Las Vegas selects Renaldo Balkman and release him.
Round 14
Columbus selects Francisco Garcia and release him.
Las Vegas selects Jeremy Evans out of Utah and release him, earning them an additional 2nd round pick.
Round 15
Columbus selects Wesley Matthews and release him.
Las Vegas selects Joel Anthony from Miami and release him.
It is a tale of two different cities. The Aces come in at 32,066,939 in Cap Status while the Cats (Columbus) are at -40,987,378 in cap status. Hope their owner doesn't mind the luxury tax.
Well no rest when you are a GM. One draft down and now it's time to find some coaches.
For Head Coach the Aces are going to pursue Rudy Tomjanovich as we like his evaluation of defense. Not sure we can land him but we will try.
T.R. Dunn is our number one choice for our 1st assistant. Kim Hughes for our 2nd assistant and Brian Cardinal for our 3rd assistant.
After day one of coach negotiations, Columbus lands 3 coaches. Keith White signs a 3 year deal worth $364,294 as their 2nd assistant coach, Steve Patterson signs a 3 year deal worth $346,635 as their 1st assistant coach and Mike Fratello is the 1st head coach in Cats history at $3,937,414 per year for 3 years.
Dunn and Hughes are still considering me but Rudy and Brian want more money. After seeing Fratello's deal, I hope I can still land Rudy.
Day two sees Dunn sign for $600,000 over 2 years and Hughes at $400,000 for 2 years come on board but once again Cardinal and Rudy reject my offer.
Columbus lands their 3rd assistant Tony DiLeo with a $323,423 deal over 3 years.
Time to dig a little deeper in the pocketbook and see where it lands us.
We land our 3rd assistant in Brian Cardinal for 3 years at $350,000 per year. Now we just need to keep working on Rudy.
Finally Rudy feels the pressure to head the helm of the Aces with a 4 year deal at $3,750,000 per season. Hope he is worth it!
So here is where we sit heading into the rookie workouts. We own the #4 pick in round 1 and picks #34, #35, #37, #38, #48 and #56 in the 2nd round. Not sure how much I can shift around the early 2nd rounds picks but I may be able to grab some talent that slides a little.
Really would like to move to the #3 spot in this draft as I see 3 players I would like to have on my roster. Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams or Enes Kanter. Not sure I can move up but I will try some negotiating.
Here is the list of players who we worked out, based on top 5 with our 1st rounder and low end early 2nd round with our other picks.
Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas, Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Alec Burks, Tobias Harris, Jeremy Tyler, Reggie Jackson, Nolan Smith, Justin Holiday, Cory Joesph and Ben Boston.
Well it's draft night. Now to see how things start to line up.
Indiana is on the clock and they select - Kyrie Irving, no real shock their.
Minnesota is on the clock and they select - Derrick Williams, so now I need to try and make a move with the Bobcats. Rudy is barking in my ear that he wants Kanter so I need to see if I can swing something.
TRADE
Las Vegas sends it's #4 and #48 pick to Charlotte for their #3 pick.
Las Vegas selects - Enes Kanter and we have history as the Aces have their 1st drafted player ever. Well not supplemental at least.
Charlotte snags Jonas Valanciunas with the 4th pick.
Columbus selects Bismack Biyombo with the 5th pick.
Toronto selects Tobias Harris with the 6th pick.
Cleveland selects Alec Burks with the 7th.
Memphis lands Kemba Walker with the 8th.
TRADE - Charlotte sends D.J. Augustin to Houston for Jordan Hill
Washington selects Kawhi Leonard with the 9th
Atlanta selects Chris Singleton with the 10th
TRADE - Chicago sends C.J. Watson and it's 2011 1st round pick to Minnesota for Wesley Johnson.
Will only post my picks and any trade the rest of the draft.
TRADE - Los Angeles Lakers send Shannon Brown to the Suns for Goran Dragic
With the 34th pick, the Aces select Vernon Macklin PF out of Florida.
With the 35th pick the Aces select Josh Selby SG out of Kansas
TRADE - Charlotte sends Eduardo Najera to Toronto for David Andersen
TRADE - Las Vegas sends picks #37, #38 & #56 along with A.J. Price to San Antonio for George Hill.
TRADE - Utah sends C.J. Miles to Sacramento for Hassan Whiteside.
TRADE - Utah sends Justin Harper to New Jersey for Reggie Jackson.
Well summer league invites are out and here is a quick recap of how things went.
July 4th - Aces vs. Rockets - Kanter plays 16 minutes and gets 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Josh Selby scores 15 points in 22 minutes.
July 5th - Warriors vs. Aces - Kanter plays 17 minutes and get 12 points and 8 rebounds. Selby comes back down to earth and scores 3 points in 19 minutes.
July 6th - Pacers vs. Aces - Kanter looks normal with 5 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. Selby looks solid with 13 points in 19 minutes.
July 10th - Aces vs. Bulls - Kanter puts up 8 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes while Selby puts up 8 also in 19 minutes.
July 11th - Aces vs. Kings - Kanter goes for 8 and 5 boards in 19 minutes while Selby nets 5 in 20 minutes.
Now comes the big moves. It's Free Agency time for the Aces and we need to see how we can shape our roster for the upcoming season.
I entered the room for breakfast and saw 6 other people sitting down. Slowly the rest of the group entered and then Jerry Tarkanian came in and closed the door. Chris wasn't their this time. I guess he finally came as far as he could with the competition.
"Well, it seems I always bring the bad news but here is the reality of the situation. 10 of you are sitting here and by 4 pm it will be 3 of you boarding the plane once again with members of the Las Vegas Aces organization and heading to Portland again to see game 5 of the NBA finals. Today each of you will sit down with former Suns GM Steve Kerr for a conversation about the GM role and based off your two hour meetings yesterday and Mr. Kerr's thoughts, we will be making the cut to 3 people."
Steve Kerr greeted me when my turn came and we spoke about building a team around an offense or building an offense around a team. I figured I needed to distinguish myself from the rest, or sign my death sentence and put Steve on the spot about the Shaq trade while with the Suns. Steve gave me a glare but then laughed and told me he thought Shaq still had some gas in the tank and he felt the Suns needed to play better defense. Our time ran over a bit which in my eyes was a good thing.
We were all asked to meet in one of the conference rooms at 2:30 pm with our bags packed. My heart was pounding when Jerry Tarkanian entered the room and walked up and put his hand on my shoulder and said "Well Jeff, looks like you will get to see the Heat and Blazers go at it again tonight". My heart skipped about 10 beats. Out of 350,000 people I was down to one of three vying for the job of Aces GM.
I hope my luck to work for the Aces was better than what the Blazers had against the Heat that night. The Blazers fell at home to the Heat 104 - 85. Lebron scored 26 for the Heat while Oden once again paced the Blazers with 23 in a losing effort.
Jerry stood up before landing back in Las Vegas "Well gentlemen, it's down to you three. Enjoy your breakfast and meet us at the main conference room at 9 am. You will be sitting before a panel of former coaches, players, GMs and the current owners and operators of the Aces for your final interview process. We will be making a decision by 5 pm today. We will bring you three back to the conference room and announce our decision."
I ate what I could as my stomach was so upset I could hardly keep anything down. I walked into the room with the 2 other candidates (funny how we are now candidates yet three days ago we were winners of a fantasy basketball league). Jerry Tarkanian was sitting there along with Steve Kerr, Sheldon Alderson, Scottie Pippen, Larry Brown and others.
The process was pretty heated. Many questions were hurled at you and you could tell that today the gloves were off. They were not just going to hand over their franchise to someone who got lucky and picked 12 guys off a salary sheet. Answers were not good enough, they wanted more in depth detail. The pressure in the air was incredible. I stood my ground and treated them just like I do everyone else. I spoke my mind and if I thought an idea was a bad one I spoke up on it. One guy asked what we would get paid and I could see the panel's faces sink. I was curious myself but was not going to ask that one. After four hours of in depth conversations and questions we were excused.
I went to my room and took what may be the most needed nap of my life. I woke up, showered and got dressed. Grabbed a small bite to eat and killed an hour of time. I called my wife and let her know that we may be moving to Las Vegas, I would let her know in an hour or so I joked.
The time came and the three of us entered the room. We were thanked for our time and told that we all had performed well, but one of us had shown more than the others. The panel stood up and Mr. Alderson looked in our direction.
"The Las Vegas Aces are proud to announce that our 1st ever General Manager of basketball operations is...
The three of us looked around at one another.
"Mr. Jeff Shipman. Congratulations Mr. Shipman."
The other two candidates shook my hand and were ushered from the room. I stood like a deer in the headlights and looked at the panel.
"Thank you all," I finally managed to say. "I will do everything I can to build a winning tradition here in Las Vegas and create a team that is both fun to watch and understands the expectation to win."
On June 4th, 2011 the Heat won the NBA Championship by defeating the Trailblazers. I watched the game back home in San Antonio where we already had movers packing up our home. I wondered to myself how long it would take to get the Aces into the playoffs and eventually a title hanging from our rafters. Most importantly, would I be able to achieve all of this in a time frame seen as realistic.
On June 7th, 2011 the Lottery was held. While Charlotte had the best chance of winning it, the ended up picking 3rd. In front of them were the Timberwolves at number two and the Pacers landing the number one spot. Indiana only had a 6.0% chance of landing the number one spot but they beat the odds, just like I had. Maybe this was a good omen.
I had to be in Las Vegas by the 10th of June to start prepping for the upcoming season. The road ahead would be hard. I needed to figure out what to do in the supplemental draft, hire coaches and figure out a draft strategy...like yesterday.
The Aces lost the coin flip in the expansion draft on June 11th, so we would be picking 2nd in the expansion draft. Some of the bonuses to an expansion draft was that some players would earn you a second round pick if you took them and some of those players could be selected and released without a cap hit and still net you a second rounder.
My plan was save as much cap space as possible, try and land a few tradable commodities and make a move in free agency to bring in some talent. Would it work?
June 20th and it is draft time.
Round 1
Columbus selects Raymond Felton with their 1st pick.
Las Vegas selects Tyrus Thomas from Charlotte and releases him. This will give us an additional early 2nd round pick and Thomas has a horrible contract at 7,305,785 for the next 4 seasons.
Round 2
Columbus selects Brendan Haywood.
Las Vegas selects A.J. Price from Indiana and keep him. He can fill some backup minutes at PG and is a lockdown defender. His contract is a 1 year at 884,293 also a bonus.
Round 3
Columbus goes big again and takes Emeka Okafor. I liked him but his contract is huge.
Las Vegas selects Kevin Seraphin from Washington and keep him. He can also be a decent backup PF and has good defensive abilities. Contract is only 1,680,360 for one year.
Round 4
I hope the owner in Columbus doesn't mind the luxury tax. They select Elton Brand and his huge contract.
Las Vegas goes with Anderson Varejao and immediately cut him and his 7,700,00 contract over 4 years but pick up another early 2nd rounder.
Round 5
Columbus selects John Salmons
Las Vegas selects Lazar Hayward from Minnesota and keep him. Another good defender to play some backup SF minutes. Small contract again, 1 year for 473,604.
Round 6
Columbus selects Richard Hamilton, can't wait to see this teams payroll.
Las Vegas selects Amir Johnson from Toronto and immediately cut him gaining another early 2nd round pick.
Round 7
Columbus selects Rashard Lewis and cut him. Finally some cost saving moves.
Las Vegas selects Tony Allen from Memphis and keep him. Not thrilled about 3,150,000 over 2 years but plays great D and does not eat up much cap space. We will see if this was a mistake.
Round 8
Columbus selects Hedo Turkoglu and release him.
Las Vegas selects Jeremy Lin and release him.
Round 9
Columbus selects Ron Artest and keep him.
Las Vegas selects Byron Mullens from Oklahoma City and release him, picking up a pick in the 2nd round.
Round 10
Columbus selects Richard Jefferson from San Antonio and release him.
Las Vegas selects Willie Warren from the Clippers and keep him. Decent talent and only costs us 473,604 over 1 year.
Round 11
Columbus selects Marvin Williams and release him.
Las Vegas selects Keith Bogans from Chicago and release him.
Round 12
Columbus selects Kyle Lowry and keep him.
Las Vegas selects Luke Harangody from Boston and release him.
Round 13
Columbus selects Travis Outlaw and release him.
Las Vegas selects Renaldo Balkman and release him.
Round 14
Columbus selects Francisco Garcia and release him.
Las Vegas selects Jeremy Evans out of Utah and release him, earning them an additional 2nd round pick.
Round 15
Columbus selects Wesley Matthews and release him.
Las Vegas selects Joel Anthony from Miami and release him.
It is a tale of two different cities. The Aces come in at 32,066,939 in Cap Status while the Cats (Columbus) are at -40,987,378 in cap status. Hope their owner doesn't mind the luxury tax.
Well no rest when you are a GM. One draft down and now it's time to find some coaches.
For Head Coach the Aces are going to pursue Rudy Tomjanovich as we like his evaluation of defense. Not sure we can land him but we will try.
T.R. Dunn is our number one choice for our 1st assistant. Kim Hughes for our 2nd assistant and Brian Cardinal for our 3rd assistant.
After day one of coach negotiations, Columbus lands 3 coaches. Keith White signs a 3 year deal worth $364,294 as their 2nd assistant coach, Steve Patterson signs a 3 year deal worth $346,635 as their 1st assistant coach and Mike Fratello is the 1st head coach in Cats history at $3,937,414 per year for 3 years.
Dunn and Hughes are still considering me but Rudy and Brian want more money. After seeing Fratello's deal, I hope I can still land Rudy.
Day two sees Dunn sign for $600,000 over 2 years and Hughes at $400,000 for 2 years come on board but once again Cardinal and Rudy reject my offer.
Columbus lands their 3rd assistant Tony DiLeo with a $323,423 deal over 3 years.
Time to dig a little deeper in the pocketbook and see where it lands us.
We land our 3rd assistant in Brian Cardinal for 3 years at $350,000 per year. Now we just need to keep working on Rudy.
Finally Rudy feels the pressure to head the helm of the Aces with a 4 year deal at $3,750,000 per season. Hope he is worth it!
So here is where we sit heading into the rookie workouts. We own the #4 pick in round 1 and picks #34, #35, #37, #38, #48 and #56 in the 2nd round. Not sure how much I can shift around the early 2nd rounds picks but I may be able to grab some talent that slides a little.
Really would like to move to the #3 spot in this draft as I see 3 players I would like to have on my roster. Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams or Enes Kanter. Not sure I can move up but I will try some negotiating.
Here is the list of players who we worked out, based on top 5 with our 1st rounder and low end early 2nd round with our other picks.
Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas, Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Alec Burks, Tobias Harris, Jeremy Tyler, Reggie Jackson, Nolan Smith, Justin Holiday, Cory Joesph and Ben Boston.
Well it's draft night. Now to see how things start to line up.
Indiana is on the clock and they select - Kyrie Irving, no real shock their.
Minnesota is on the clock and they select - Derrick Williams, so now I need to try and make a move with the Bobcats. Rudy is barking in my ear that he wants Kanter so I need to see if I can swing something.
TRADE
Las Vegas sends it's #4 and #48 pick to Charlotte for their #3 pick.
Las Vegas selects - Enes Kanter and we have history as the Aces have their 1st drafted player ever. Well not supplemental at least.
Charlotte snags Jonas Valanciunas with the 4th pick.
Columbus selects Bismack Biyombo with the 5th pick.
Toronto selects Tobias Harris with the 6th pick.
Cleveland selects Alec Burks with the 7th.
Memphis lands Kemba Walker with the 8th.
TRADE - Charlotte sends D.J. Augustin to Houston for Jordan Hill
Washington selects Kawhi Leonard with the 9th
Atlanta selects Chris Singleton with the 10th
TRADE - Chicago sends C.J. Watson and it's 2011 1st round pick to Minnesota for Wesley Johnson.
Will only post my picks and any trade the rest of the draft.
TRADE - Los Angeles Lakers send Shannon Brown to the Suns for Goran Dragic
With the 34th pick, the Aces select Vernon Macklin PF out of Florida.
With the 35th pick the Aces select Josh Selby SG out of Kansas
TRADE - Charlotte sends Eduardo Najera to Toronto for David Andersen
TRADE - Las Vegas sends picks #37, #38 & #56 along with A.J. Price to San Antonio for George Hill.
TRADE - Utah sends C.J. Miles to Sacramento for Hassan Whiteside.
TRADE - Utah sends Justin Harper to New Jersey for Reggie Jackson.
Well summer league invites are out and here is a quick recap of how things went.
July 4th - Aces vs. Rockets - Kanter plays 16 minutes and gets 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Josh Selby scores 15 points in 22 minutes.
July 5th - Warriors vs. Aces - Kanter plays 17 minutes and get 12 points and 8 rebounds. Selby comes back down to earth and scores 3 points in 19 minutes.
July 6th - Pacers vs. Aces - Kanter looks normal with 5 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. Selby looks solid with 13 points in 19 minutes.
July 10th - Aces vs. Bulls - Kanter puts up 8 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes while Selby puts up 8 also in 19 minutes.
July 11th - Aces vs. Kings - Kanter goes for 8 and 5 boards in 19 minutes while Selby nets 5 in 20 minutes.
Now comes the big moves. It's Free Agency time for the Aces and we need to see how we can shape our roster for the upcoming season.
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by cyrisnyte » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:42 am
Well, July 16th is here and what is most available quality player in FA? Center of course, the one spot I do not want to spend a lot of money on. I am ok with running George Hill at PG this season and of course Kanter at C but I really need some starters at SG, SF & PF. I may have to try and do some trades once the season gets moving along. For now, here are my targets.
SG - J.R. Smith offered a 1 year deal for $5,750,000.
SF - Da'Sean Butler offered a 1 year deal for $1,500,00.
PF - Yi Jianlian (RFA) offered a 1 year deal for $8,000,000.
PG - Mike Conley offered a 1 year deal for $5,250,000.
C - Dexter Pittman offered a 1 year deal for $1,000,000.
With these offers we are still going to be $5,251,445 under the cap so we have some wiggle room.
July 16th - July 21st - No big news in the league, no signings for the Aces.
July 22rd and the Aces sign Da'Sean Butler and Dexter Pittman. Other big news is Orlando resigns Vince Carter to a 2 year contract worth $17,892,500.
July 23rd brought some small signings around the league but nothing for the Aces.
July 24th sees the Knicks re-sign Kelenna Azubuike to a 3 year contract worth $20,884,500. The Cavaliers sign Marc Gasol to a 5 year contract worth $60,900,000. The Spurs re-sign Tony Parker to a 4 year contract with a team option worth $33,799,000.
July 25th sees some bad news for the Aces. J.R. Smith resigns with the Nuggets for 2 years at $12,209,000 and Mike Conley signs a 2 year offer for $11,800,000 from the LA Clippers.
The Aces send an offer to PG - T.J. Ford for 1 year at $3,500,000 as well as an offer to SG - Shane Battier for 1 year at $4,000,000.
July 26th wraps up FA for the Aces as they sign Battier, Ford and Jianlian to offers.
This leaves us at $8,751,445 in cap space which is great for us to make some moves during the season.
We spend a lot of time discussing the "expectations" of the Aces in their first season. I remind the owners of the overall records of Vancouver their first 3 season going 15-67, 14-68 and 19-63 as well as Toronto going 21-61, 30-52 and 16-66 in their first 3 seasons. I talk about the plan to build this team up over 3 years and am assured I will have the time.
September rolls around and we start looking at our projected starting 5.
PG - George Hill
SG - Shane Battier
SF - Da'Sean Butler
PF - Yi Jianlian
C - Enes Kanter
Bench
T.J. Ford
Vernon Macklin
Lazar Hayward
Willie Warren
Tony Allen
Dexter Pittman
Josh Selby
Sending Kevin Seraphin to the D-League for some practice time.
SG - J.R. Smith offered a 1 year deal for $5,750,000.
SF - Da'Sean Butler offered a 1 year deal for $1,500,00.
PF - Yi Jianlian (RFA) offered a 1 year deal for $8,000,000.
PG - Mike Conley offered a 1 year deal for $5,250,000.
C - Dexter Pittman offered a 1 year deal for $1,000,000.
With these offers we are still going to be $5,251,445 under the cap so we have some wiggle room.
July 16th - July 21st - No big news in the league, no signings for the Aces.
July 22rd and the Aces sign Da'Sean Butler and Dexter Pittman. Other big news is Orlando resigns Vince Carter to a 2 year contract worth $17,892,500.
July 23rd brought some small signings around the league but nothing for the Aces.
July 24th sees the Knicks re-sign Kelenna Azubuike to a 3 year contract worth $20,884,500. The Cavaliers sign Marc Gasol to a 5 year contract worth $60,900,000. The Spurs re-sign Tony Parker to a 4 year contract with a team option worth $33,799,000.
July 25th sees some bad news for the Aces. J.R. Smith resigns with the Nuggets for 2 years at $12,209,000 and Mike Conley signs a 2 year offer for $11,800,000 from the LA Clippers.
The Aces send an offer to PG - T.J. Ford for 1 year at $3,500,000 as well as an offer to SG - Shane Battier for 1 year at $4,000,000.
July 26th wraps up FA for the Aces as they sign Battier, Ford and Jianlian to offers.
This leaves us at $8,751,445 in cap space which is great for us to make some moves during the season.
We spend a lot of time discussing the "expectations" of the Aces in their first season. I remind the owners of the overall records of Vancouver their first 3 season going 15-67, 14-68 and 19-63 as well as Toronto going 21-61, 30-52 and 16-66 in their first 3 seasons. I talk about the plan to build this team up over 3 years and am assured I will have the time.
September rolls around and we start looking at our projected starting 5.
PG - George Hill
SG - Shane Battier
SF - Da'Sean Butler
PF - Yi Jianlian
C - Enes Kanter
Bench
T.J. Ford
Vernon Macklin
Lazar Hayward
Willie Warren
Tony Allen
Dexter Pittman
Josh Selby
Sending Kevin Seraphin to the D-League for some practice time.
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by cyrisnyte » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:43 am
It was finally here...October 31st and we were playing in Dallas in the 1st ever game for the Aces.
10/31/11 - Las Vegas (0-0) @ Dallas (0-0) - Dallas 102 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter has a great debut as a pro, he did score only 8 points but pulls down 19 rebounds and blocks 3 shots. Jianlian paces the Aces with 16 points but Dallas holds us to 35.4% shooting. No surprise that Dirk Nowitzki pours in 27 in the win. Player of the game goes to none other than Dirk.
11/1/11 - Denver (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-1) - Denver 124 - Las Vegas 91. Kanter has another solid night scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Lazar Hayward paces the Aces with 24 points. Denver uses a balanced attack with 3 players scoring 19 points each - Carmelo, Al Harrington and Arron Afflalo. Player of the game goes to Carmelo Anthony. Aces suffer 2 injuries in this game with Hayward spraining an ankle and Da'Sean Butler twisting his knee.
11/2/11 - New York (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-2) - New York 105 - Las Vegas 80. 37.0% from the floor for the Aces with the only player scoring over 12 points being Shane Battier. Knicks have Stoudemire with 24 points and 11 rebounds to take player of the game.
11/3/11 - San Antonio (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-3) - Las Vegas 132 - San Antonio 125 in OT! Aces have their first win of the season. George Hill gets revenge for being traded from the Spurs with a 27 point, 5 assist night earning player of the game. Kanter does well in his matchup with the Spurs as well scoring 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. San Antonio is paced by Tiago Splitter with 25 and Tony Parker with 24 points and 10 assists. The injury bug hits the Aces again though as now Kanter has hurt his toe and Willie Warren has a sore wrist.
11/5/11 - Las Vegas (1-3) @ Sacramento (0-1) - Sacramento110 - Las Vegas 100. Yi Jianlian puts up 22 points and Dexter Pittman does good in playing for injured Kanter putting up 15 points and 9 rebounds. Sacramento has 3 players go for over 20 with player of the game Tyreke Evans scoring 21 points and getting 9 rebounds.
11/7/11 - Milwaukee (2-1) @ Las Vegas (1-4) - Milwaukee 93 - Las Vegas 74. Aces once again stammer on offense. Only 3 players score in double figures for Las Vegas. The Bucks are paced by Corey Maggette with 26 points but player of the game goes to Andrew Bogut who puts up 22 points and snags 15 rebounds.
11/9/11 - Minnesota (0-5) @ Las Vegas (1-5) - Las Vegas 108 - Minnesota 89. Dexter Pittman again looks good for the Aces scoring 22 points and pulling down 5 rebounds to earn player of the game honors. The only bright spot for the Wolves is Kevin Love who scores 13 points and comes up with 14 rebounds.
11/10/11 - Las Vegas (2-5) @ Atlanta (2-0) - Atlanta 109 - Las Vegas 95. Kanter has really been slowed by his injury. Scoring only 4 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Willie Warren has a huge night off the bench scoring 20 points. Joe Johnson leads Atlanta to victory though with 27 points and player of the game honors.
11/11/11 - Las Vegas (2-6) @ Indiana (3-4) - Indiana 103 - Las Vegas 76. The Aces shoot a horrible 33.8% from the floor and only have Yi Jianlian with 16 and Dexter Pittman with 13 points and no one else in double figures. Paul George puts up 19 points and pulls down 9 rebounds to earn player of the game.
11/14/11 - Detroit (1-5) @ Las Vegas (2-7) - Las Vegas 110 - Detroit 91. Kanter is back, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Player of the game award goes to Yi Jianlian though with 21 points and 6 rebounds. The Pistons are lead by Jan Vesley off the bench pouring in 30 points in defeat.
11/15/11 - Chicago (7-1) @ Las Vegas (3-7) - Chicago 100 - Las Vegas 89. Kanter notches a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Battier leads the way with 21 points. Derrick Rose is the player of the game scoring 23 points and handing out 14 assists. Las Vegas is destroyed on the boards - 56 to 39.
11/17/11 - Las Vegas (3-8) @ Columbus (6-2) - Las Vegas 91 - Columbus 88. Great feeling to beat the other expansion team on their floor with the difference in payroll. Kanter has 8 points but snags 16 rebounds. Battier leads the way with 22 points to earn player of the game honors. Raymond Felton scores 23 points and gathers 10 assists in the loss for Columbus.
11/19/11 - Portland (3-4) @ Las Vegas (4-8) - Portland 104 - Las Vegas 74. Lazar Hayward has 23 points off the bench for the Aces. Greg Oden gets the honors for player of the game with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
11/25/11 - Las Vegas (4-9) @ Memphis (2-11) - Memphis 105 - Las Vegas 87. Kanter is solid again with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Jianlian leads the way with 21 points for the Aces. Player of the game goes to Rudy Gay with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
11/26/11 - Las Vegas (4-10) @ Phoenix (2-11) - Las Vegas 121 - Phoenix 112 in OT. Kanter is player of the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds. George Hill also has a double double with 11 points and 12 assists. Jared Dudley leads the way for Phoenix with 22 points.
11/28/11 - Las Vegas (5-10) @ Portland (7-4) - Portland 110 - Las Vegas 79. Shane Battier has 22 points for the Aces. LaMarcus Aldridge is the player of the game with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
11/29/11 - Las Vegas (5-11) @ Oklahoma City (4-3) - Oklahoma City 93 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter has 6 points and 15 rebounds while George Hill leads the way with 17 points. Cole Aldrich is the player of the game for OKC with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.
11/30/11 - Portland (8-4) @ Las Vegas (5-12) - Portland 89 - Las Vegas 78. George Hill leads the way with 13 points for the Aces. Player of the game for Portland is Brandon Roy pouring in 26 points in victory.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Shane Battier - 13.3
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.2
APG - George Hill - 5.1
SPG - Shane Battier & Yi Jianlian - 1.1
BPG - Enes Kanter & Yi Jianlian - 1.1
November winners
Dwight Howard is named NBA Player of the Month - 28.7 ppg, 1.7 apg, 15.2, rpg, 1.2 spg and 3.8 bpg.
Kyrie Irving is named NBA Rookie of the Month - 13.2 ppg, 4.7 apg, 2.4 rpg, 0.9 spg and 0.0 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
3. Darius Lay - PF (3)
4. Ben Micheals - C (4)
5. Alan Bradley - SF (5)
10/31/11 - Las Vegas (0-0) @ Dallas (0-0) - Dallas 102 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter has a great debut as a pro, he did score only 8 points but pulls down 19 rebounds and blocks 3 shots. Jianlian paces the Aces with 16 points but Dallas holds us to 35.4% shooting. No surprise that Dirk Nowitzki pours in 27 in the win. Player of the game goes to none other than Dirk.
11/1/11 - Denver (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-1) - Denver 124 - Las Vegas 91. Kanter has another solid night scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Lazar Hayward paces the Aces with 24 points. Denver uses a balanced attack with 3 players scoring 19 points each - Carmelo, Al Harrington and Arron Afflalo. Player of the game goes to Carmelo Anthony. Aces suffer 2 injuries in this game with Hayward spraining an ankle and Da'Sean Butler twisting his knee.
11/2/11 - New York (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-2) - New York 105 - Las Vegas 80. 37.0% from the floor for the Aces with the only player scoring over 12 points being Shane Battier. Knicks have Stoudemire with 24 points and 11 rebounds to take player of the game.
11/3/11 - San Antonio (1-0) @ Las Vegas (0-3) - Las Vegas 132 - San Antonio 125 in OT! Aces have their first win of the season. George Hill gets revenge for being traded from the Spurs with a 27 point, 5 assist night earning player of the game. Kanter does well in his matchup with the Spurs as well scoring 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. San Antonio is paced by Tiago Splitter with 25 and Tony Parker with 24 points and 10 assists. The injury bug hits the Aces again though as now Kanter has hurt his toe and Willie Warren has a sore wrist.
11/5/11 - Las Vegas (1-3) @ Sacramento (0-1) - Sacramento110 - Las Vegas 100. Yi Jianlian puts up 22 points and Dexter Pittman does good in playing for injured Kanter putting up 15 points and 9 rebounds. Sacramento has 3 players go for over 20 with player of the game Tyreke Evans scoring 21 points and getting 9 rebounds.
11/7/11 - Milwaukee (2-1) @ Las Vegas (1-4) - Milwaukee 93 - Las Vegas 74. Aces once again stammer on offense. Only 3 players score in double figures for Las Vegas. The Bucks are paced by Corey Maggette with 26 points but player of the game goes to Andrew Bogut who puts up 22 points and snags 15 rebounds.
11/9/11 - Minnesota (0-5) @ Las Vegas (1-5) - Las Vegas 108 - Minnesota 89. Dexter Pittman again looks good for the Aces scoring 22 points and pulling down 5 rebounds to earn player of the game honors. The only bright spot for the Wolves is Kevin Love who scores 13 points and comes up with 14 rebounds.
11/10/11 - Las Vegas (2-5) @ Atlanta (2-0) - Atlanta 109 - Las Vegas 95. Kanter has really been slowed by his injury. Scoring only 4 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Willie Warren has a huge night off the bench scoring 20 points. Joe Johnson leads Atlanta to victory though with 27 points and player of the game honors.
11/11/11 - Las Vegas (2-6) @ Indiana (3-4) - Indiana 103 - Las Vegas 76. The Aces shoot a horrible 33.8% from the floor and only have Yi Jianlian with 16 and Dexter Pittman with 13 points and no one else in double figures. Paul George puts up 19 points and pulls down 9 rebounds to earn player of the game.
11/14/11 - Detroit (1-5) @ Las Vegas (2-7) - Las Vegas 110 - Detroit 91. Kanter is back, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Player of the game award goes to Yi Jianlian though with 21 points and 6 rebounds. The Pistons are lead by Jan Vesley off the bench pouring in 30 points in defeat.
11/15/11 - Chicago (7-1) @ Las Vegas (3-7) - Chicago 100 - Las Vegas 89. Kanter notches a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Battier leads the way with 21 points. Derrick Rose is the player of the game scoring 23 points and handing out 14 assists. Las Vegas is destroyed on the boards - 56 to 39.
11/17/11 - Las Vegas (3-8) @ Columbus (6-2) - Las Vegas 91 - Columbus 88. Great feeling to beat the other expansion team on their floor with the difference in payroll. Kanter has 8 points but snags 16 rebounds. Battier leads the way with 22 points to earn player of the game honors. Raymond Felton scores 23 points and gathers 10 assists in the loss for Columbus.
11/19/11 - Portland (3-4) @ Las Vegas (4-8) - Portland 104 - Las Vegas 74. Lazar Hayward has 23 points off the bench for the Aces. Greg Oden gets the honors for player of the game with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
11/25/11 - Las Vegas (4-9) @ Memphis (2-11) - Memphis 105 - Las Vegas 87. Kanter is solid again with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Jianlian leads the way with 21 points for the Aces. Player of the game goes to Rudy Gay with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
11/26/11 - Las Vegas (4-10) @ Phoenix (2-11) - Las Vegas 121 - Phoenix 112 in OT. Kanter is player of the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds. George Hill also has a double double with 11 points and 12 assists. Jared Dudley leads the way for Phoenix with 22 points.
11/28/11 - Las Vegas (5-10) @ Portland (7-4) - Portland 110 - Las Vegas 79. Shane Battier has 22 points for the Aces. LaMarcus Aldridge is the player of the game with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
11/29/11 - Las Vegas (5-11) @ Oklahoma City (4-3) - Oklahoma City 93 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter has 6 points and 15 rebounds while George Hill leads the way with 17 points. Cole Aldrich is the player of the game for OKC with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.
11/30/11 - Portland (8-4) @ Las Vegas (5-12) - Portland 89 - Las Vegas 78. George Hill leads the way with 13 points for the Aces. Player of the game for Portland is Brandon Roy pouring in 26 points in victory.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Shane Battier - 13.3
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.2
APG - George Hill - 5.1
SPG - Shane Battier & Yi Jianlian - 1.1
BPG - Enes Kanter & Yi Jianlian - 1.1
November winners
Dwight Howard is named NBA Player of the Month - 28.7 ppg, 1.7 apg, 15.2, rpg, 1.2 spg and 3.8 bpg.
Kyrie Irving is named NBA Rookie of the Month - 13.2 ppg, 4.7 apg, 2.4 rpg, 0.9 spg and 0.0 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
3. Darius Lay - PF (3)
4. Ben Micheals - C (4)
5. Alan Bradley - SF (5)
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by cyrisnyte » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:54 am
12/1/11 - Houston (11-6) @ Las Vegas (5-13) - Houston 100 - Las Vegas 89. Kanter has 12 points and 10 boards while Hill leads the way in the loss with 13 points. Player of the game goes to Yao Ming who has 19 points and 17 rebounds.
12/7/11 - Phoenix (3-15) @ Las Vegas (5-14) - Las Vegas 100 - Phoenix 81. Kanter takes home player of the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Shane Battier also chips in 23 points in the win. Channing Frye scores 18 for Phoenix in the loss. Yi Jianlian strains his calf in the game.
12/8/11 - Las Vegas (6-14) @ Los Angeles Lakers (11-5) - Lakers 129 - Las Vegas 86. Aces manage to shot 36.8% for the game. Kanter scores 16 with 8 boards and Hayward chips in 16 off the bench. Kobe Bryant is your player of the game lighting up the Aces for 38 points.
12/10/11 - Las Vegas (6-15) @ Minnesota (5-17) - Minnesota 99 - Las Vegas 91. Battier has 17 points in the loss while Kanter chips in 8 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Love is the player of the game with 18 points and 12 boards.
12/13/11 - Los Angeles Clippers (10-11) @ Las Vegas (6-16) - Las Vegas 101 - Clippers 89. Shane Battier takes home player of the game honors with a 30 point night. Kanter adds 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Clippers get a big night of 16 points and 17 rebounds out of Chris Kaman in the loss.
12/15/11 - Washington (9-13) @ Las Vegas (7-16) - Las Vegas 80 - Washington 59. The Wizards shoot an embaressing 25.9% against the Aces. Washington's leading scorer is Andray Blatche with 12 points. Player of the game goes to Enes Kanter with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
12/17/11 - Dallas (12-15) @ Las Vegas (8-16) - Dallas 115 - Las Vegas 87. Enes Kanter scores 18 points and pulls down 11 rebounds in the loss. Nowitzki once again is the player of the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks.
12/18/11 - Las Vegas (8-17) @ Cleveland (9-12) - Cleveland 116 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter leads the way for the Aces with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. The player of the game goes to Marc Gasol with 24 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.
12/19/11 - Columbus (11-15) @ Las Vegas (8-18) - Las Vegas 106 - Columbus 97. Kanter puts up 17 points and pulls down 14 rebounds. Player of the game goes to George Hill with 20 points and 6 assists. In defeat Raymond Felton scores 21 points and dishes out 10 assists.
12/23/11 - Las Vegas (9-18) @ Golden State (15-11) - Golden State 102 - Las Vegas 86. George Hill leads the way for the Aces with 18 points while Kanter scores 15 and grabs 13 rebounds. Player of the game goes to Monta Ellis for Golden State scoring 27 points, getting 7 assists and 7 rebounds.
12/26/11 - Philadelphia (14-16) @ Las Vegas (9-19) - Las Vegas 109 - Philadelphia 103. Player of the game goes to Shane Battier with 24 points. Evan turner puts up 26 points in the loss for the 76ers.
12/31/11 - Golden State (17-13) @ Las Vegas (10-19) - Golden State 115 - Las Vegas 102. George Hill paces Las Vegas with 27 points. Kanter collects another double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Player of the game goes to Monta Ellis with 34 points.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Shane Battier - 14.4
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.9
APG - George Hill - 4.9
SPG - Shane Battier - 1.1
BPG - Enes Kanter - 1.0
December winners
Kevin Durant is named NBA Player of the Month - 27.6 ppg, 2.7 apg, 7.9 rpg, 1.8 spg and 0.8 bpg.
Enes Kanter is named NBA Rookie of the Month - 11.7 ppg, 1.8 apg, 9.9 rpg, 0.7 spg and 1.0 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
3. Ben Micheals - C (4)
4. Darius Lay - PF (3)
5. Steven Rogers - SF (NR)
12/7/11 - Phoenix (3-15) @ Las Vegas (5-14) - Las Vegas 100 - Phoenix 81. Kanter takes home player of the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Shane Battier also chips in 23 points in the win. Channing Frye scores 18 for Phoenix in the loss. Yi Jianlian strains his calf in the game.
12/8/11 - Las Vegas (6-14) @ Los Angeles Lakers (11-5) - Lakers 129 - Las Vegas 86. Aces manage to shot 36.8% for the game. Kanter scores 16 with 8 boards and Hayward chips in 16 off the bench. Kobe Bryant is your player of the game lighting up the Aces for 38 points.
12/10/11 - Las Vegas (6-15) @ Minnesota (5-17) - Minnesota 99 - Las Vegas 91. Battier has 17 points in the loss while Kanter chips in 8 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Love is the player of the game with 18 points and 12 boards.
12/13/11 - Los Angeles Clippers (10-11) @ Las Vegas (6-16) - Las Vegas 101 - Clippers 89. Shane Battier takes home player of the game honors with a 30 point night. Kanter adds 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Clippers get a big night of 16 points and 17 rebounds out of Chris Kaman in the loss.
12/15/11 - Washington (9-13) @ Las Vegas (7-16) - Las Vegas 80 - Washington 59. The Wizards shoot an embaressing 25.9% against the Aces. Washington's leading scorer is Andray Blatche with 12 points. Player of the game goes to Enes Kanter with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
12/17/11 - Dallas (12-15) @ Las Vegas (8-16) - Dallas 115 - Las Vegas 87. Enes Kanter scores 18 points and pulls down 11 rebounds in the loss. Nowitzki once again is the player of the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks.
12/18/11 - Las Vegas (8-17) @ Cleveland (9-12) - Cleveland 116 - Las Vegas 86. Kanter leads the way for the Aces with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. The player of the game goes to Marc Gasol with 24 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.
12/19/11 - Columbus (11-15) @ Las Vegas (8-18) - Las Vegas 106 - Columbus 97. Kanter puts up 17 points and pulls down 14 rebounds. Player of the game goes to George Hill with 20 points and 6 assists. In defeat Raymond Felton scores 21 points and dishes out 10 assists.
12/23/11 - Las Vegas (9-18) @ Golden State (15-11) - Golden State 102 - Las Vegas 86. George Hill leads the way for the Aces with 18 points while Kanter scores 15 and grabs 13 rebounds. Player of the game goes to Monta Ellis for Golden State scoring 27 points, getting 7 assists and 7 rebounds.
12/26/11 - Philadelphia (14-16) @ Las Vegas (9-19) - Las Vegas 109 - Philadelphia 103. Player of the game goes to Shane Battier with 24 points. Evan turner puts up 26 points in the loss for the 76ers.
12/31/11 - Golden State (17-13) @ Las Vegas (10-19) - Golden State 115 - Las Vegas 102. George Hill paces Las Vegas with 27 points. Kanter collects another double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Player of the game goes to Monta Ellis with 34 points.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Shane Battier - 14.4
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.9
APG - George Hill - 4.9
SPG - Shane Battier - 1.1
BPG - Enes Kanter - 1.0
December winners
Kevin Durant is named NBA Player of the Month - 27.6 ppg, 2.7 apg, 7.9 rpg, 1.8 spg and 0.8 bpg.
Enes Kanter is named NBA Rookie of the Month - 11.7 ppg, 1.8 apg, 9.9 rpg, 0.7 spg and 1.0 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
3. Ben Micheals - C (4)
4. Darius Lay - PF (3)
5. Steven Rogers - SF (NR)
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by cyrisnyte » Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:46 am
January 1st came and we had a meeting with Mr. Adelson, Coach Tomjanovich and myself. We talked about where things were.
Mr. Adelson spoke openly "10-20 is not the greatest of starts but we are not the bottom of the Conference or even the Division. I do notice that Columbus though sits at 14-17."
"Well, in all fairness sir, Columbus also sits at a Team Salary of $105,132,527 while we are only at $49,928,555. I'm sure you are also aware that we have beaten them in both of our matches this season." I answered.
"This is true. Coach Tomjanovich, what are your concerns with the team?" Adelson asked.
"Well to be honest sir, we just don't have a legitimate scorer for the team. We have no one averaging more than 15 points a game and only 3 players in double digits. We rank 30th in points scored at 92.7 per game and allow 101.9 points per game. Add in we are dead last in FG% at .411%, it is hard to win a lot of games that way."
"Jeff, what do you think we can do about this?" Mr. Adelson asked.
"Well sir, I will look at adding a scorer but right now our hands are pretty tied. We do not have much trade value as our FA acquisitions are not able to be traded yet. I will see what I can do though."
"Thank you for your time gentleman, remember that the Aces are counting on the two of you." said Mr. Adelson as he shook our hands.
TRADE
Las Vegas sends the following to Phoenix
SG - Tony Allen
PG - George Hill
Phoenix sends the following to Las Vegas
PG - Steve Nash
2012 2nd round pick
2013 2nd round pick
Why for Las Vegas? Addition of 2 draft picks and dumping Tony Allen's contract. Nash is a FA after this year.
Why for Phoenix? Addition of George Hill and cap relief.
1/1/12 - Los Angeles Lakers (18-9) @ Las Vegas (10-20) - Lakers 121 - Las Vegas 112 (OT). Great 1st game for Nash with 28 points and 8 assists. Kanter goes for 26 points and 10 rebounds. Player of the game got to Gasol for the Lakers with 30 points and 13 rebounds.
1/2/12 - Las Vegas (10-21) @ Charlotte (12-15) - Las Vegas 109 - Charlotte 98 (OT). Two OT games in a row. Battier is player of the game with 25 points while Nash has 19 and 10 assists. Kanter keeps up his great start to January with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Stephen Jackson paces the Bobcats with 24 points and 9 boards.
1/3/12 - Las Vegas (11-21) @ Sacramento (12-15) - Las Vegas 113 - Sacramento 99. Player of the game is Steve Nash with 21 points and 13 assists. Kanter goes for 14 with 11 rebounds. Tyreke Evans paces the Kings with 15 on 5 for 18 shooting.
1/4/12 - Utah (17-7) @ Las Vegas (12-21) - Utah 103 - Las Vegas 96. Al Jefferson is the player of the game for Utah with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Nash leads Las Vegas with 27 points and 7 assists. Kanter gathers 10 rebounds to go along with 6 points.
1/6/12 - Orlando (29-10) @ Las Vegas (12-22) - Orlando 97 - Las Vegas 83. Dwight Howard has a huge game earning player of the game with 26 points and 21 rebounds. Willie Warren off the bench leads the Aces with 15 points. Kanter manages to put up 8 points and gather 11 rebounds against Howard.
1/7/12 - Las Vegas (12-23) @ Columbus (16-18) - Las Vegas 96 - Columbus 82. Steve Nash is player of the game with 17 points and 9 assists. Kanter puts up 15 points and 8 rebounds as well. Richard Hamilton has 20 for the Cats in defeat.
1/9/12 - Las Vegas (13-23) @ Detroit (14-22) - Detroit 104 - Las Vegas 92. Greg Monroe is the player of the game for the Pistons with 20 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks. Steve Nash has 30 for the Aces and Kanter has 11 points and 12 rebounds. Dexter Pittman also contributes with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
1/14/12 - Utah (23-10) @ Las Vegas (13-24) - Las Vegas 103 - Utah 87. Shane Battier is player of the game with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Kanter goes for 17 with 9 boards but hurts his calf. Nash has 16 with 13 assists. Deron Williams leads Utah with 29.
1/20/12 - Cleveland (15-27) @ Las Vegas (14-24) - Las Vegas 125 - Cleveland 94. Dexter Pittman filling in for the injured Enes Kanter has 20 points and 8 rebounds. Marc Gasol goes for 22 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.
1/22/12 - Houston (22-19) @ Las Vegas (15-24) - Las Vegas 109 - Houston 101. Steve Nash is the player of the game with 27 points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds. Aaron Brooks pours in 34 in a losing effort for the Rockets.
1/25/12 - Las Vegas (16-24) @ New Orleans (23-17) - New Orleans 101 - Las Vegas 70. Nothing bright here with the exception of Kanter having 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Richardson is the player of the game with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
1/26/12 - Los Angeles Lakers (27-11) @ Las Vegas (16-25) - Los Angeles Lakers 100 - Las Vegas 84. Player of the game goes to Pau Gasol with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. Nash has 20 and Kanter 10 to be the only Aces in double digits.
1/29/12 - Minnesota (14-32) @ Las Vegas (16-26) - Las Vegas 106 - Minnesota 81. Steve Nash is the player of the game with 31 points and 10 assists. Kanter adds 22 points and 14 rebounds. Martell Webster scores 18 for the Wolves off the bench.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Steve Nash - 16.3
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.9
APG - Steve Nash - 8.9
SPG - Yi Jianlian & Shane Battier - 1.1
BPG - Yi Jianlian - 1.2
January Winners
Dwight Howard is named NBA player of the month - 25.4 ppg, 1.5 apg, 14.5 rpg, 1.0 spg and 4.0 bpg.
Enes Kanter is named NBA rookies of the month - 12.3 ppg, 1.6 apg, 9.9 rpg, 0.7 spg and 1.1 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Darius Lay - PF (4)
3. Herman Zamoyski - SF (NR)
4. Alan Bradley - SF (NR)
5. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
Mr. Adelson spoke openly "10-20 is not the greatest of starts but we are not the bottom of the Conference or even the Division. I do notice that Columbus though sits at 14-17."
"Well, in all fairness sir, Columbus also sits at a Team Salary of $105,132,527 while we are only at $49,928,555. I'm sure you are also aware that we have beaten them in both of our matches this season." I answered.
"This is true. Coach Tomjanovich, what are your concerns with the team?" Adelson asked.
"Well to be honest sir, we just don't have a legitimate scorer for the team. We have no one averaging more than 15 points a game and only 3 players in double digits. We rank 30th in points scored at 92.7 per game and allow 101.9 points per game. Add in we are dead last in FG% at .411%, it is hard to win a lot of games that way."
"Jeff, what do you think we can do about this?" Mr. Adelson asked.
"Well sir, I will look at adding a scorer but right now our hands are pretty tied. We do not have much trade value as our FA acquisitions are not able to be traded yet. I will see what I can do though."
"Thank you for your time gentleman, remember that the Aces are counting on the two of you." said Mr. Adelson as he shook our hands.
TRADE
Las Vegas sends the following to Phoenix
SG - Tony Allen
PG - George Hill
Phoenix sends the following to Las Vegas
PG - Steve Nash
2012 2nd round pick
2013 2nd round pick
Why for Las Vegas? Addition of 2 draft picks and dumping Tony Allen's contract. Nash is a FA after this year.
Why for Phoenix? Addition of George Hill and cap relief.
1/1/12 - Los Angeles Lakers (18-9) @ Las Vegas (10-20) - Lakers 121 - Las Vegas 112 (OT). Great 1st game for Nash with 28 points and 8 assists. Kanter goes for 26 points and 10 rebounds. Player of the game got to Gasol for the Lakers with 30 points and 13 rebounds.
1/2/12 - Las Vegas (10-21) @ Charlotte (12-15) - Las Vegas 109 - Charlotte 98 (OT). Two OT games in a row. Battier is player of the game with 25 points while Nash has 19 and 10 assists. Kanter keeps up his great start to January with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Stephen Jackson paces the Bobcats with 24 points and 9 boards.
1/3/12 - Las Vegas (11-21) @ Sacramento (12-15) - Las Vegas 113 - Sacramento 99. Player of the game is Steve Nash with 21 points and 13 assists. Kanter goes for 14 with 11 rebounds. Tyreke Evans paces the Kings with 15 on 5 for 18 shooting.
1/4/12 - Utah (17-7) @ Las Vegas (12-21) - Utah 103 - Las Vegas 96. Al Jefferson is the player of the game for Utah with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Nash leads Las Vegas with 27 points and 7 assists. Kanter gathers 10 rebounds to go along with 6 points.
1/6/12 - Orlando (29-10) @ Las Vegas (12-22) - Orlando 97 - Las Vegas 83. Dwight Howard has a huge game earning player of the game with 26 points and 21 rebounds. Willie Warren off the bench leads the Aces with 15 points. Kanter manages to put up 8 points and gather 11 rebounds against Howard.
1/7/12 - Las Vegas (12-23) @ Columbus (16-18) - Las Vegas 96 - Columbus 82. Steve Nash is player of the game with 17 points and 9 assists. Kanter puts up 15 points and 8 rebounds as well. Richard Hamilton has 20 for the Cats in defeat.
1/9/12 - Las Vegas (13-23) @ Detroit (14-22) - Detroit 104 - Las Vegas 92. Greg Monroe is the player of the game for the Pistons with 20 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks. Steve Nash has 30 for the Aces and Kanter has 11 points and 12 rebounds. Dexter Pittman also contributes with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
1/14/12 - Utah (23-10) @ Las Vegas (13-24) - Las Vegas 103 - Utah 87. Shane Battier is player of the game with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Kanter goes for 17 with 9 boards but hurts his calf. Nash has 16 with 13 assists. Deron Williams leads Utah with 29.
1/20/12 - Cleveland (15-27) @ Las Vegas (14-24) - Las Vegas 125 - Cleveland 94. Dexter Pittman filling in for the injured Enes Kanter has 20 points and 8 rebounds. Marc Gasol goes for 22 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.
1/22/12 - Houston (22-19) @ Las Vegas (15-24) - Las Vegas 109 - Houston 101. Steve Nash is the player of the game with 27 points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds. Aaron Brooks pours in 34 in a losing effort for the Rockets.
1/25/12 - Las Vegas (16-24) @ New Orleans (23-17) - New Orleans 101 - Las Vegas 70. Nothing bright here with the exception of Kanter having 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Richardson is the player of the game with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
1/26/12 - Los Angeles Lakers (27-11) @ Las Vegas (16-25) - Los Angeles Lakers 100 - Las Vegas 84. Player of the game goes to Pau Gasol with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. Nash has 20 and Kanter 10 to be the only Aces in double digits.
1/29/12 - Minnesota (14-32) @ Las Vegas (16-26) - Las Vegas 106 - Minnesota 81. Steve Nash is the player of the game with 31 points and 10 assists. Kanter adds 22 points and 14 rebounds. Martell Webster scores 18 for the Wolves off the bench.
Las Vegas Leaders
PPG - Steve Nash - 16.3
RPG - Enes Kanter - 9.9
APG - Steve Nash - 8.9
SPG - Yi Jianlian & Shane Battier - 1.1
BPG - Yi Jianlian - 1.2
January Winners
Dwight Howard is named NBA player of the month - 25.4 ppg, 1.5 apg, 14.5 rpg, 1.0 spg and 4.0 bpg.
Enes Kanter is named NBA rookies of the month - 12.3 ppg, 1.6 apg, 9.9 rpg, 0.7 spg and 1.1 bpg.
Top 5 draft picks available
1. Ziven Grishuk - PG (1)
2. Darius Lay - PF (4)
3. Herman Zamoyski - SF (NR)
4. Alan Bradley - SF (NR)
5. Mitchell Boswell - SG (2)
- cyrisnyte
- Junior Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:30 am
by AussieVilla » Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:46 am
Looking forward to seeing how the LV dynasty progresses. You gotta hate those owners with unrealistic expectations though!
- AussieVilla
- Junior Member
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:52 am
- Location: melbourne, australia
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