Hey thanks for making this thread. Hopefully this will set things in motion and we can have some fun interaction between managers as our teams duke it out over the course of the season. Just don't get your hopes up too high, everyone...the three-headed monster of LJB guards, led by Sherman Keenan, will dominate y'all. At least, that's the plan.
So a little about my history: last season was my first full season as a BB-manager. I was largely inactive, pretty much mostly checking out my team when I was bored (I recently became more active after seeing how well my draft turned out) but I did do a fair amout of scouting. As you may have noticed, it paid off in the form of a 7'1" MVP PF candidate, who judging by the price of Aaron Meeker I expected to go higher, but still managed to net a nice $500K. I also picked up perennial all-star potential guard Mac Forte, who fits better into my training schedule and thus will stick around. Actually he's still with the team because he's too valuable to cut, and no one else wanted him. Maybe his ginger hair didn't help convince managers about his basketball skills :), but anyway he will be training with the team.
About my team: I already alluded to Mac Forte, but also returning is young combo guard Sherman Keenan, whose sensational shooting is expected to be a great asset, and second-year man Ted Logsdon, who through practicing with Keenan has improved his own shot quite nicely. Although they clearly are expected to anchor the team's backcourt for this season and beyond, Forte looks to develop his own role due to his excellent rebounding from the guard position and his ability to finish inside, something the other two lack. Depending on his improvement, his greater potential and unique skill set may allow him to wrest the starting job from Logsdon in future seasons.
The front court is an area of some concern for LJB, as the team has made no upgrades to this position since its creation as an expansion team during S16. As mentioned previously, promising draftee David Huston was shipped off due to a conflict of interests as management chose to go in a different direction. Having had little luck in the free agent market, LBJ still retains the original band of scrubs who started with the team. The only guy worth mentioning is Ruben Seaman, another guy with extraordinary talent who didn't quite make the most of it. At this stage of his career, he can't really improve much, but he's still a useful role player and at only 27 has several years left. He's an excellent passer for a big man (a useful tip with a scorer like Sherman Keenan playing nominal point guard).
What should you expect from this team in S18? Look for Keenan to continue his high volume shot selection, as he averaged over 20 attempts per game last season, not counting shots on which he was fouled. He led the league in scoring last season and should be among the leaders this time too, but expect a much higher emphasis on defense and ball movement (i.e. pressure and passing training all season, with maybe, just maybe, a little JR) as the team gears up to make sure that in the long run, they'll be able to not only succeed in D.V, but have what it takes to stay alive in D.IV as well. If you want to beat this team, you'll probably want to get talented big men and exploit the matchups down low.
That's probably all you need to know about my team, except for the fact that with some money banked from last season, any winnings from the Cup, and the proceeds from the Huston trade, you might expect to see some significant new additions at some point this season--most likely veterans, but if there's a trainee I really like then I'll reconsider. Anyhow, I look forward to competing with (and hopefully beating) you all!