NBA 2K16-10: Eastern Conference Finals, Roanoke Railguns v Chicago Bulls

To begin the Eastern Conference Finals, Chicago was a 92 overall; the Roanoke Railguns were 77. Perhaps the team got some rest after their sweep. There is not much talk of repeating such a feat in this round.

Game 1, at Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 93-54. So... the Bulls seemed dangerous on paper. And not only because they have one of

our doppelgangers, Panthro Wang. But the team was fired up to start well. Alexandr Vikayanov was most ablaze, with 20 points, 3 reb 3 assists. Our Panthro was not far behind, as usual. He had been upset since the Joe Johnson trade, which knocked him out of the lineup. But the anger had translated into strong play on the court.

Game 2, at Roanoke.  Roanoke wins, 82-64. Joe Dumars's return signaled better things than anticipated. Another time for clobbering... even though the Bulls defense was supposedly set at 99 for today's game. Might be a sweep after all, was the thought in the locker room. But no one wanted to speak too soon...

Game 3, at Chicago.  Roanoke wins, 86-57. The Railguns broke out to an 18-4 lead. Big mistake--the boys got lax, and soon the score was 20-15. Sloppy passes. But they were reminded of the mission at halftime. Dumars had 13 and 7, steady as usual. Stevens

put in 19 including four threes. Derrick Rose had us shook with some of his dribble stutter-steps but he got stuffed a few times and finished with 8 points...

Game 4, at Chicago. Roanoke clinches, 80-56. Oklahoma City was up 3-0 in the Western Finals, against the West's #8 seed New Orleans. Plan was to dead this series in a sweep so we could practice and rest... The Bulls were tough early. But Stevens had 18 at the half on 8-10 shooting and the Railguns were up 49-26. We had more in the first quarter (28) than Chicago's first half... Not much to see. Motivation and execution and another sweet win.

The Thunder swept the Pelicans over there. So on to the Finals. Our team had just about mastered the shooting stroke (except for the Rodmans and Hansbroughs of the world). Coach aims to keep the team in season for the last series of the season.

Siomai and Friends Fries by Chris DeBrie: travel

It is a rare thing when a memoir allows you to not only be a spectator to someone’s life but actually feel as if you are walking through their experiences with them. 

--Amazon review

NBA 2K16-9: Round 2, Roanoke Railguns v Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta was not as good as the Miami Heat, who we had just dispatched 4 games to 1. The Roanoke Railguns coach anticipated a

sweep. Never mind that the Hawks were rated at 81 to the Guns' 73. They were worse than the Heat on paper and on the court.

Joe Dumars had a bad hammy that is day to day. The lineups were very different than at the start of the season. That's attrition for you. But the rest of the team was prepared and relaxed.

Game 1, in Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 87-56. At some point, the Hawks got a doppelganger of our Willie Wolfe. On our team, Wolfe is a lead-footed bench warmer. On Atlanta he was a starter.

Enough said. Mack Long, our Shawn Kemp-like backup center, was a 70 rating but if he ever got to 90 or so, he could be lethal. He went 24 pts, 6 reb, 5 steals, a block and an assist. That was off the bench... 

Game 2, in Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 82-58. John Derry Stevens poured in 28 [13-19 shooting], 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals. Nevalove nearly fouled out before getting 17 acrobatic points. The Warriors lead 2-0 over OKC; same for Memphis over New Orleans and Chicago over Cleveland....

Game 3, in Atlanta: Roanoke wins, 65-49. Ugggly! Stevens was the player of the game and he shot 5 for 20. 11 points, 5 steals, 4 boards, 2 assists. Nothing to see here. Clear the area.

Game 4, in Atlanta: Roanoke clinches, 68-61. Good news arrived after that crime scene victory we got in Game 3--Joe Dumars was healed up from his hamstring injury and we had our starting PG back. Swole Whitehead might not have been happy, and he played pretty well in relief. But Dumars was simply better; the game would have been closer without him, because Alanta took it up a notch and were tough... he scored 18 points. Stevens had an 18 point, 6 board game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated Golden State, 4 games to 3, on the other side of the bracket. A one-point victory in Game 7 at GSW, with Russell Westbrook missing because of injury. So much for beating the Warriors in the Finals... OKC would face the 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Finals. Next up for the Roanoke Railguns: #2 seed Chicago Bulls.

Video: The Sports Cult

doppelgänger: Duterte v. Dennis Haysbert

NBA 2K16-8: Roanoke Railguns, Home Stretch & Round 1 v Miami Heat

SIM TIME: the CPU gave the Roanoke Railguns (49-7) wins over Indiana and Atlanta.

Then it was a hosting of the Phoenix Suns. Simulation gave us a win earlier, so they deserved a human-controlled whuppin this time around... Eric Bledsoe and Tyson Chandler weren't looking too scary after the tight OT with Cleveland. final, 75-47. John Derry Stevens was given the nod but only made 7 of his 25 shots. 

Roanoke was 55-7. New Orleans was in town. Our team chemistry was 0%, along with an 18-game winning streak...

The Roanoke Railguns [arg] was injured and/or exhausted from the long season, top to bottom. Everyone's ratings had -10 or -6 next to them. None of the other teams (computer controlled) looked like that.

Because of the lowered ratings, the team wasn't as good. The Pelicans and Railguns exchanged leads most of the first half, until Roa put up a flurry... which was quickly erased by New Orleans. All of the usual tactics weren't working. Every swipe at the ball just made us foul instead of steal. Maybe CPU was making it realistic because of all our thirty-point victories. There was a mandate from the league offices to referees...

With one minute to go, the Pelicans were up 69-63. There were no ways to come back. And the Pelicans weren't beating us. "Not this year."

 **RESET**

Roanoke was 55-7. New Orleans was in town. Our team chemistry was 0%, along with an 18-game winning streak...

The Roanoke Railguns [arg] was injured and/or exhausted from the long season, top to bottom. Everyone's ratings had -10 or -6 next to them. None of the other teams (computer controlled) looked like that.

The second try looked a lot like the first. Apparently the team fatigue was for real. Had to double tap the steal and block buttons to get through this one. final 77-59.

We decided, spur of the moment, to simulate the remainder of the regular season. 

the starting line-up on the final day of the regular season.

final record 69-13.

#1 in the East.

Could have set the single season wins record if we had played every game by hand. Maybe another time... this

Quinn Nevalove

time we just want to get through the playoffs and see the offseason. Curiosity. 

The Miami Heat was the first round opponent....

Game 1, at Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 62-55. Miami made it close at the end. Stevens scored 21 and new starter Swole Whitehead had 8 assists. Somewhere in that last two weeks of simulation, the Railguns lost Joe Dumars to a hamstring injury. Out of action 1-2 weeks. 

Game 2, at Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 67-56. On paper, the Heat are a much better team. 89 rtg to ARG's 72.

But that doesn't account for getting their hands and arms HACKED for the entire game by whichever Railgun happened to be nearby... Stevens shot about 4 for 20. He tried too hard at times the entire season. He thought because he was the owner's son, he needed to carry the water. But Quinn Nevalove, our Chris Bosh-esque forward, had 15 pts, 8 reb, 6 steals. 'Nuff said.

Game 3, at Miami: Roanoke wins, 77-50. Not the best start as Stevens got a three blocked by Deng. Things have definitely changed ever since the Havlicek trade. We knew Joe Johnson was not a good return but were hoping for some good draft picks in the off season. Too soon to tell on that one. We were going to win the title, but the

Brooklyn Nets weren't any good and we had their pick from the trade as well.

Our starting lineup was much weaker than at the start of the year, and every player was injured and/or exhausted. Pretty realistic... 

Scoring and shooting accuracy were way down in the tournament for us. Coach thought the players were rushing, trying too hard to recapture regular season success. Slowing things down actually helped. Center Mack Long went strong as he is prone to do. Not bad for 69 rated player--16 first half points.

Game 4, at Miami. Miami wins, 62-55. Every other series in the tourney was at 3-1. Could have taken that as

an omen, but we weren't superstitious, said Coach. But the CPU wouldn't relent. Every Miami player had stickum on their dribbling hand, couldn't get it away from them. "They are in serious troubled back in Roanoke," Coach said, angry at postgame.

Game 5, at Roanoke. Roanoke clinches, 63-52. Stevens started off with a 15-point first quarter, outscoring all of Miami. He was unhappy with his Game Four. Made up

for it this time, with 13 of 21 shooting and 31 points with some assists and steals... Nevalove went 13, 8, and 7... 

Next round, v Atlanta...

Are You Blind?: Wrong Sports Haircuts

Why do some many of America's rising sports stars have hairstyles that look like a cross between homeless and 1980s lesbian chic?

The radical Jerry Rubin says in his book, DO IT, "Young kids identify short hair with authority, discipline, unhappiness, boredom, rigidity, hatred of right, and long hair with letting go... Wherever we go, our hair tells people where we stand on Vietnam, Wallace, campus disruption, dope. We are living TV commercials for the revolution..."

Revolution requires a break from the old. Hence, revolutionaries are using modern art, modern music, and a change in dress styles and hair styles as a part of this break from the establishment. This opens the mind of the youth to a break with the old political ideologies and prepares him for a revolution. This is why the Christian should not fall prey to the enemy by adopting the outward changes that are used to bring about a new social order.  --Jack Hyles

Dr. Ralph Grimson is a clinical professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A. School of Medicine; he told the American Medical Association, “I believe one of the reasons that young males and females wear their hair alike and dress alike stems from their fear of the opposite sex.  Long-haired boys and girls seek a twin, not a sweetheart or a lover.  They are only secure with someone who resembles themselves.”  This is not a fundamentalist preacher!  It’s a U.C.L.A. psychiatrist who says that the reason boys and girls dress alike is because they’re afraid not to dress alike.

What are those young men with long hair really saying? Marshall McLuhan asked theoretically, “In what may seem a ludicrous statement, they are sending a message to all who will listen: ‘We are no longer afraid to display what you may call feminine.  We are willing to reveal that we have feelings and weaknesses’” 

Getting a little too close? 

Did you know that false religion is usually built on the breakdown of the sexes?  The Greek Hermaphroditus was divided at the waist; the top half was female, the lower half was male, and both were worshiped. 

2 Corinthians 4:4 - In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Heathen religions often worship a god that is half male and half female, split vertically down the middle; one side has a woman’s breast and the other side has a man’s body.   --Jack Hyles

UnOfficial Endorsement: Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches from 600 lb. Gorillas

Stuffed With Lurv 22: Bill Belichick

Stuffed With Lurv: Test Takers

That kid sitting up front has no face....

Work Shirts 8: Kroger

 We've been employed at a number of places. And, we are getting kinda old. This is the work shirt collection.

Walgreens

Burger King 

Food Lion

Papa Johns

Famous Anthony's

Charles Barkley

Domino's

UnOfficial Endorsement: ??? Japanese Cough Suppressing Lozenge

very powerful Japanese lozenge. Bought in a Cebu City pharmacy. to suppress a cough. ... 

Work Shirts 6: Charles Barkley

A break from our usual gallery of work shirts.

My old Charles Barkley tee shirt from the 1990s... back when the Phoenix Suns were running strong.

"Always Fat Free"? Hmm...

 We've been employed at a number of places. And, we are getting kinda old. This is the work shirt collection.

Walgreens

Burger King 

Food Lion

Papa Johns

Famous Anthony's

UnOfficial Endorsement: Mama Zuma's Revenge Habanero Potato Chips

Found these in a rest area vending machine, I-64 E, between Richmond and Virginia Beach.Near Exit 211. If you like spicy salty snacks and come across these, take care because that habanero powder will sneak up and bite...