Hey there,
Ever wondered how things might turn out if #twitterhomes was an actual basketball competition and not purely for fantasy purposes? No? Well, strangely enough – I thought about it the other day and have spent a few hours making the appropriate adjustments to an NBA 2K11 roster to reflect the Twitterhomes rosters as at 1 January 2011 (yes, my Christmas break recently has been on the quiet side).
It didn’t take too long, actually. I wasn’t able to create just a 15-team league, so instead I adjusted the rosters and inserted the 15 #twitterhomes teams in the “Eastern Conference” and ran a single season of 82 NBA games. Now, because the 15 other sides were left dramatically weakened by the strength of the #twitterhomes conference, obviously the results are to be taken with a grain of salt.
The spreadsheet (linked below) summaries the statistical end-of-year results in the relevant categories:
Of particular interest:
- Hashtag It #callanshimmy recorded the best overall win/loss record at 62-20;
- The current 4th place #twitterhomes team, West Brunswick Wildebeest, were statistically the best team based on rankings across the 8 statistical categories (as used in #twitterhomes);
- Gallinari-Licious came in ranked 4th in the 2K11 simulation at 81 points overall, however their current standing is last on 39 points in #twitterhomes as at 1 January 2011;
- At the opposite end of the spectrum, Chris Kaman his Pants, was ranked 12th on the 2K11 simulation (46 points) even though they sit comfortably in second position in #twitterhomes at 107 points overall. Bad Boys for Life also took a similar “negative” hit using 2K11 despite racking up good stats in the real thing.
Also:
MVP: LBJ
All-NBA 1st team: Wade, Rose, LBJ, Dirk & Dwight Howard.
All-NBA Defensive: Wade, Rondo, J.Smith, Durant & Camby.
John Wall (Rookie of the Year), Gilbert Arenas (Best 6th Man)
Personally, the simulation indicates that all else being equal, the Bendigo Chuckers should continue to improve in the FT% category, but will worsen in the Blocks category. One must remember also that the simulation is based on current line-ups only and of course, doesn’t reflect how our respective line-ups have changed since October.
Oh, for what it’s worth, I also simulated the playoffs out of curiosity. Hashtag It #callanshimmy won the NBA Championship in a surprising struggle (4-3) over the Milwaukee Bucks (a team of no-names because the talent was stacked in the Twitterhomes conference). Balls Deep were defeated, 4-3, in the conference finals by #callanshimmy. The Wildebeest and Ballers made conference semi-finals, whilst the Chuckers, Moustache United and Gallinari-licious were all first round losers in the Twitterhomes conference.
So, make of the above what you will, but I’ve found it to be a relatively worthwhile experiment, despite it meaning little in the grand scheme of things!
To all my fellow #twitterhomes GM’s, happy new year and I hope you have a fantastic 2011!
Cheers,
Luke.
