The Insanity Begins

Hello, internet.

I'm kind of a weird bird. I've got a strange disease.

I'm fascinated with the ending of Michael Jordan's career, much more in fact than in his glory years with the Bulls. Most of that is due to my interest in aging players trying to still compete with younger players, having to use their minds in order to compensate for the athletic deficits they face. Oh, and I absolutely love an underdog story.

Hence my seemingly lone preoccupation with his final two seasons. Then again, that wasn't at all true when he came back again. The entire basketball world was abuzz. The story was mucho ginormous.

What if he was able to make his return a third storybook chapter in his career?

It seemed impossible, but it sure would have been awesome. Unbelievable. I rooted like a madman for it to happen. Alas, while Jordan himself was still rather awesome for an ancient player, obviously his last go-round didn't turn out as well as he or we had hoped.

Which brings me to this, my rather expansive project. At times I've thought about simply rewriting those years a fictional story purely birthed out of my own brain. But where's the fun in that? There's not enough danger, not enough risk when you can control EVERYTHING. Of course I'd write it so that the odds were long against anything but a happy ending.

No. Instead I'm going to make the result not so assured. I'll be rewriting his Wizard years through the wonders of X-treme basketball sim.

* * *

I'm using NBA Live 2000 to do this. Some may believe it's too ancient to produce anything close to realism, but you'll be surprised. Besides, going old school for this just feels right, especially since the 2000 edition was the first time Jordan was actually IN the game (oh, and there's no '02 Live version for the PC... if there were I wouldn't use it anyway, as the series after 2000 was too offensively high-powered for my taste..

I used to win championships all the time when I played. Of course I used a lot of pump faking and fast breaking to do so. Now that I try to play in a more realistic fashion (slower tempo, not running into and undercutting opposing players as they shoot jumpers a la Bruce Bowen, etc.), the game is much tougher. Playing with a team with not a lot of talent also increases the difficulty. Perhaps my not being in top virtual basketball shape also figures in to a large degree as well. Whatever it is, as of now it's real tough for me to get wins.

Anyway, here's a rundown of key points about this project, so you can see how involved it is, and how crazy I am:

#1. I will be playing all 82 games of the Wizards season.

That's right, every last one. This isn't too crazy I suppose, but it's rare for me to see someone else doing this.

This isn't a new thing for me by any stretch of the imagination -- I've played many an 82 game season before, i.e. so the odds are very good that I won't leave you hanging if you get hooked into the story.

I've created my own roster, leaning a lot on Mike Aparicio's compilation of all player ratings that shipped with NBA Lives 1998-2007. I've also used ubernerd John Hollinger's 01-02 Basketball Prospectus for his in depth scouting and advanced stats, as well as some other sources herea and there. I'm also using Live's D-STATS function, which allows you to plug in statistics for players which the game will then use to produce new stats that are similar to ones you entered (I used players' 01-02 season totals).

#2. I am going to write out an article and box score for each game, as if the games were real.

That's right. Every game will have an in-depth update about what happened. Some would say that doing this for an entire 82 game season could be boring, but Jordan's matches and rematches against all the young and up-and-coming superstars should keep things intriguing. Not to mention the fact that the Wizards aren't exactly the Lakers -- almost every game is important when you're fighting for a playoff spot.

Now this aspect is definitely new for me, and a bit intimidating. I doubt very much all the homework could make me stop, but in order to properly celebrate the ten year anniversary of Jordan's last run, I wanted to post all the game results on the same day they occurred a decade ago. This could very well be too much to handle, but I should still keep on with this even if I should I fall behind.

#3. The Wizards, like all the other 28 teams, will be playing a replication of their 01-02 NBA schedules.

I've rewritten the schedule database file! It's 01-02 all over again! The Wiz start and end their season against the Knicks.

#4. Most player injuries will be replicated as well.

I have a compilation of all the team transactions made that year, so I'll be moving players on and off the injured list on the days they were moved in real life. The same trades will also be simulated too , of course.

I probably won't be able to catch all the little injuries that kept players out for a game or two here and there, but I'll try to keep my eyes out for them. The next point will help me do so...

#5. All 29 teams starting lineups will be the same ones they used through 01-02.

Upping the crazy ante, I made a list of all the starting lineups each team used throughout the season, and will be making the same adjustments the real teams made in real life!


So, that's my wacky deal. I'd be happy if other people were interested in this. Either way I shall be going forward. For the love of the game, man. The love of the game.