Hot Seat FT Zeke from Cabin Creek

[Outlawz]

Welcome ladies to yet another edition of the hot seat. We are joined by one of the most consisten gm's in the league and the GM of the Milwaukee Bucks, Zeke from Cabin Creek (LOL).

Good to have you on the Hot Seat

Let's talk about your team. Where do you see your team going this season? Where do you rank your team? Do you think you need to make any moves to win it all?

I really like my team coming into this season. Rollins and Gress are a great one-two punch. Sembene is an elite defender. Yates can play 3 positions well. I added a second great shot blocking big man in De Groot. He will be a huge addition for us. My Bobby Hill trade got bashed a little. I was expecting it from some GMs, but his size makes him a mismatch with a lot of undersized C and PF.

Last season, I considered there to be 5 or 6 legit title contenders. The Rebels, Pistons, and Wizards are all significantly worse. The Sonics lost a key player in Machata as well. For those reasons, I rank myself #1 right now. I know Outlawz and Aar will be making moves to get back on top this season. I'm sure another team or two will be right there as well.

Prediction time. Who wins it all this season?

Rarely has the best team to start a season ever actually won a title in BBS. I really like my team right now and think it is the best overall, but I'm going to have to get better to win the title. The Knicks have a front court no one will be able to match up with. That is always huge come playoff time. They are going to need a couple of other good role players. They are going to be very tough. The 76ers were the top team in the East last season (record wise). They have everyone back. I think Maniac needs to stop running an outside focus despite having the three great outside shooters. That would really make his team better IMO. The Magic have put together a very good squad. I'm not sure if they have enough at this point though. The Sonics are still going to be a tough team but they aren't quite as good as last season IMO. The Wolves may be the best team in the West, but they have don't have much to trade to improve so I doubt they end up being the best in the West. If I had to give a prediction right now it would definitely be the Bucks, but look out for the Knicks.


Who are the top 3 teams in the league right now in your opinion?

I haven't been shy saying I think I am the best right now. That is debatable IMO, but I do think the 76ers and Sonics are the only other teams that makes a case at this point. The teams I mentioned before all could get into the conversation after I see more or with a couple of small moves, but these three are the class of the league IMO. They have shown it the past 2 or 3 seasons as well.

Who is the most overrated gm in your opinion and most underrated?

I think the people who have been in BBS for a long time have figured out where most of the GMs stand. It is hard for me to single out anyone in either position here. If you want to say who has had the most overrated teams lately I think it is unquestionably Ashes. I've never thought he had a legit shot at a title or really even a finals appearance. Andy was always considered a top GM and hasn't done a good job at all recently. As for underrated, Skillz has been successful lately and still doesn't get the respect he deserves for winning twice. If this is a bad rebuild then he will quickly be called overrated. I hate to say the most underrated GM is a guy who I feel has never had a championship caliber team, but I think that would probably have to go to Greg or Jah. They are both good at building good teams and not letting their unowned picks become lotto.

If you had to rank yourself gm wise from 1 to 29 where would you rank yourself?

I know I've talked to Mark recently about ranking GMs. I don't think its really fair to rank anyone at any certain position. There are definitely different tiers in which there are fluctuations on who is outperforming another. There isn't a clear cut #1 anymore though. Outlawz was that for the first 10 to 15 years of this BBS, but I think he has fallen off recently. Nanz then took over as the most successful. I think I am in the top tier and historically it seems like most people agree with that. I don't have the historical record to be #1 or near that. I am top 5 or 6 though.

Name the top 5 angriest gm's in your opinion

Jah definitely goes in this category right now.

Otherwise
Marty
Haberman
Ebener
Maniac


Lately, i've noticed that you've become a little more confrontational. Two guys you've had little arguments with is nova and basone. How do you feel about those guys? and is there anyone else you feel like calling out?

I don't really have anyone to call out. I'm normally very critical of people and can be an ass hole in real life and thats just now showed up on the boards recently. Nova has been way too high on his players and team for awhile IMO. He doesn't have that good of a team and has made some bad moves and decisions since I've criticized him. He may be capable of making it through his contact year, but he continues to do a shitty job. Dan I don't really know what I've argued about honestly. I know Chiba, but I still think that was a horrible signing. He may have just had a good looking TC but he came into the league at C+ inside and B- handles so he isn't really getting better just borderline in those areas. He is a great defender and a true center but he isn't going to be a guy people will want because of the contract IMO

You are now off the hot seat!

[nybombers3]

Yeeeee, I'm overrated!

Go me baby!

[Rocky]

Yeah, CJ and I did talk about this recently. I agree with the tiers thing. It's so hard to rank someone over another person at this point. Much easier to do it in tiers. A lot of times guys bust or explode and make someone look smart/dumb. At this point, it can't just be "lets see who has the most titles/wins/finals appearances" etc and then just rank 1-29. I'm sure if I looked at the list of wins I'd find a bunch of people who I consider to be great GMs below people who I consider to be average GMs. It's hard at this point.

[Outlawz]

I would rank it by rings. I dont think anything else matters to be honest, imo.

[Rocky]

Yeah except some years are weaker than others. I know I've had better teams than some teams with titles (meaning, my title-less team in year x was better than a title winning team in year y, but the talent in the league was different), and I know a ton of other specific teams can say the same thing. Plus, injuries. Nanz would probably have won 4 titles in a row without injuries in the conference finals. That's why I don't think we can just look at something like titles.

[Outlawz]

Yeah, thats true. I think injuries should be banned during the finals. I got fucked a couple of times but nanz really got fucked it seems like every season.

[Funky George!]

+50 to both.

[DB]

good job

[Rocky]

Jun 15, 2009 20:15:09 GMT -5 Outlawz said:

Yeah, thats true. I think injuries should be banned during the finals. I got fucked a couple of times but nanz really got fucked it seems like every season.

That's actually something I like. Maybe no injuries once the conference finals come?

[Apollo]

I'd agree my teams have been overrated, definitely regular season teams, but I'm hoping that's all you meant, because I don't see how I'd be overrated as a GM.

[Outlawz]

Jun 16, 2009 1:15:34 GMT -5 Rocky said:

Jun 15, 2009 20:15:09 GMT -5 Outlawz said:

Yeah, thats true. I think injuries should be banned during the finals. I got fucked a couple of times but nanz really got fucked it seems like every season.

That's actually something I like. Maybe no injuries once the conference finals come?

I would be good with that. You should bring it up to the league

[cjmjones008]

I'm not sure what the league wide perception is of Ashes as a GM. He has great regular season teams. This is mostly due to Duck who he lucked into. He hasn't proven anything here really IMO.

Andy has had some bad luck with his teams in this tenure. I wouldn't call him overrated. He has been disappointing though.

[cjmjones008]

Play should be called overrated after his recent tear down. He should have gotten a lot more talent then he did. He settled for getting a piece he liked when he should have gotten multiple pieces or at least additional picks

[Skillz]

agreed on both ashes and play

[Funky George!]

I'm overrated. I'm not angry!

[nybombers3]

Jun 15, 2009 20:15:09 GMT -5 Outlawz said:

Yeah, thats true. I think injuries should be banned during the finals. I got fucked a couple of times but nanz really got fucked it seems like every season.

Meh, na. I wouldn't turn em off. Mind you, I also got raped in the finals when Shaq got hurt. It sucks ass but it's part of FBB.

[nybombers3]

Even when I won the title, VC's whore ass got hurt.

Apparently, injuries love me.

[Rocky]

Jun 16, 2009 16:34:50 GMT -5 nybombers3 said:

Jun 15, 2009 20:15:09 GMT -5 Outlawz said:

Yeah, thats true. I think injuries should be banned during the finals. I got fucked a couple of times but nanz really got fucked it seems like every season.

Meh, na. I wouldn't turn em off. Mind you, I also got raped in the finals when Shaq got hurt. It sucks ass but it's part of FBB.

How many times did you get beat in the finals? Shaq was healthy when I beat you.

[nybombers3]

Jun 16, 2009 16:39:52 GMT -5 Rocky said:

Jun 16, 2009 16:34:50 GMT -5 nybombers3 said:

Meh, na. I wouldn't turn em off. Mind you, I also got raped in the finals when Shaq got hurt. It sucks ass but it's part of FBB.

How many times did you get beat in the finals? Shaq was healthy when I beat you.

I know. I wasn't talking about that one. The year before I lost to the Heat in the finals.

[Apollo]

Jun 16, 2009 11:50:02 GMT -5 cjmjones008 said:

I'm not sure what the league wide perception is of Ashes as a GM. He has great regular season teams. This is mostly due to Duck who he lucked into. He hasn't proven anything here really IMO.

Andy has had some bad luck with his teams in this tenure. I wouldn't call him overrated. He has been disappointing though.

Which is why it would make no sense to call me personally overrated. You have to be considered highly to be "overrated." I don't consider myself a top GM, but to act like I haven't at least been decent would be a joke.

Overrated teams, obviously, but GM? Wouldn't even make sense.

[Skillz]

huh? you as a gm build your teams. The two go hand in hand, no?

[cjmjones008]

I don't know anyone who is overrated at this point. Anyone who was once great hasn't gotten the swag back

[Apollo]

Jun 16, 2009 18:30:38 GMT -5 Skillz said:

huh? you as a gm build your teams. The two go hand in hand, no?

...

Do you know the definition of overrated? A team that goes 56-26 but loses in the first round can be classified as overrated because it had a successful base but came up short, thus failed to live up to its bigger expectations. That doesn't mean the GM of that team is overrated unless their is a preconceived notion of expectation because of prior achievement/merit/results. So, if a GM came into the league hyped up because of past achievements, yet found himself contract yeared, that would be overrated in terms of GM'ing. There are different criteria and applications. I never came into this league with some huge expectation, nor have I ever claimed to be anything special. I've done a decent job, but no more than that. There's nothing overrated about that.

[Apollo]

Also, I agree with most was said about me/my teams except I disagree that I never had a true contender. My 60 win team was very good and was more than just Duck. I lost in the Conference Finals to a very good, very talented Lakers team.

[Rocky]

Jun 16, 2009 19:56:11 GMT -5 Apollo said:

Jun 16, 2009 18:30:38 GMT -5 Skillz said:

huh? you as a gm build your teams. The two go hand in hand, no?

...

Do you know the definition of overrated? A team that goes 56-26 but loses in the first round can be classified as overrated because it had a successful base but came up short, thus failed to live up to its bigger expectations. That doesn't mean the GM of that team is overrated unless their is a preconceived notion of expectation because of prior achievement/merit/results. So, if a GM came into the league hyped up because of past achievements, yet found himself contract yeared, that would be overrated in terms of GM'ing. There are different criteria and applications. I never came into this league with some huge expectation, nor have I ever claimed to be anything special. I've done a decent job, but no more than that. There's nothing overrated about that.

Ashes loves this tone when he's trying to make a point.