Post by TrailDucker on Dec 4, 2015 14:28:02 GMT -5
Because I was proud of my work that I was inexplicably forced to edit down and un-GIF, I thought I would share my original response to the random Commissioner Debate that we had that 5 of you actually read.
Here it is in all it's glory
First I would like to thank the Pick and Roll League for having us all here. Thank you to Richardson for being out moderator tonight. I trust you will keep this a fair and on topic debate. Thank You to my opponents.
Miege, You are a League Champion, and almost a double league champion. You have built a team from the bottom up that will be a lasting power in this league for generations. You are one of the "OG's" being here in the league's birth and to the point we are now. Cornvan, you are still new to this league but you came in with such a passion and fire that is admirable. I don't doubt that you will be an active and engaged owner in this league. We both have came a long way from that League Champonship in Obsidian's league, what 7 years ago? You may have beat me in that one (even though we thought at first I won, the scar is still there) I promise you I will not be an easy opponent in this debate. Thank You guys for being here and good luck, let's get debating.
Now as acting commissioner during most of these changes I will be the first to admit not everything has gone to plan and as smoothly as desired. We have had some mistakes made and some things fall through the cracks. But, we have worked our hardest to find those leaks as quickly as possible and plug them. We have listened to the owners league wide and heard their desires on policy improvements and league infrastructure work. Not every demand can be met, some have conflicting ideologies, where we can find ways to merge agendas or find a middle compromise to bridge contradicting principals we have made those efforts. Now there will still be conflicts and having discussion about these diverse beliefs are always good for further growth. Some of our policies are new some old, but I feel what we have is a framework for something that will lead to maximum fairness and enjoyment for everyone here; without feeling ripped off or screwed over in any way. As the new policies become more familiar we can continue these discussions into how the policies can be further adjusted and improved. Transparency will be important as we progress and I promise to keep transparency as a policy of the league staff.
The biggest obstacle is to get our league staff running more smoothly. We all get busy in life and things pile up. We need to internally discuss ways to better the workload through all of us. I think a good thing to start is come up with a guild line of criteria and expectations of a Mod and their duties. Both for new and old mods to follow. That way too much of the work doesn't fall on one person's dholders and when they get busy, the league doesn't stop running.
2. We're a community of devoted, yet highly opinionated, fantasy players. As such, participation is a crucial element of a successful league. My question is a two part question: What are some of your ideas to help improve participation among all 30 owners? Also, discuss how, as commissioner, you would promote discussion/participation while also reducing the negative impact of having such opinionated owners that only hinder our members' desire to engage in the league.
Great question! And first let me take a second to applaud all of the owners in this league
What we have create in this league is something unique and beautiful. Not many leagues this big and with this much effort and attention to detail make it to season 1, not to mention season 6. And there are no signs of slowing down. We lost some good owners, we've lost some bad owners. We are now at a spot where I don't see a weak owner in the 30 here and that is quite the achievement. Everyone here is passionate and knowledgeable. Life will happen and people will have to step down and leave but we have a great group here today that might be the strongest top to bottom in the 6 years of this league. Thank you and high five to everyone!
To the first part of your question I will point to what I think is a very underutilized space in our league and that is the Sport's Bar. This area is great area for discussion about the NBA, other sports
and life in general. I wish to create a more engaging and active board where anytime of the year our owners feel not only comfortable posting/discussion anything they wish to, but also want to. We have a diverse group from all over the world, let's continue to utilize this diversity to our advantage in engaging conversations and everyone can learn and experience something new. I not opposed to re-exploring a chat box although I think it's use is a bit redundant personally as we have threads and PMs, but conversations about it can be continued.
Now as commissioner it will be important to steer topics in the proper direction if they become too negative. As I stated, debate is important but we need to maintain a place that everyone feels safe and that promotes what we all are here for, fun. If a conversation begins to jeopardize that I can step in and steer it into a more productive direction. Owners can move conversations to PM if they are not necessary on the pubic boards and I am wiling to be a moderator in a group PM to help find a resolution if needed.
3. Do you prefer to keep everyone happy, or do you believe in a certain way the league should be run and owners need to adapt to it?
I am going to step out form behind my podium and show you instead of tell you what I truly think this league is all about
The most important thing the Pick and Roll league provides is fun. We want to do our best to maintain that for everyone! One way this league remains fun is for no one to feel there is an unfair advantage given to anyone. That is why we need rules set up so everyone is playing the same game. If you try and play soccer with other plays who think they are playing rugby......... Let's just say the outcome for you won't be too good. Once you wake from your coma you might feel like there was something not quite fair about that whole situation.
We need a framework of rules to ensure that everyone has a level playing field. Sometimes we have to put our serious face on and tell someone they aren't playing the same rules as everyone else. We hope that doesn't happen, but it does. If we have rules and then don't follow them, why are there rules there in the first place. undermining our rules can cause a snowball effect of problems as more rules keep getting broken and then we have full anarchy and eventually the league collapses from people leaving because there isn't a way for them to compete. That may sound like a doomsday scenario, but it I also think is a very likely one if the rules are just "suggestions". Basically I'm saying you need one to have the other. This isn't a chicken or egg scenario, this is an omelet/egg scenario. You can't have an omelet without the eggs! Now who did I just make hungry for some fucking omelets?
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4. It seems like lately, this league has had a contentious atmosphere surrounding it. Pretty much anytime something happens, it gets blown up into a way bigger deal than it should be (Danny Green), and if I am not mistaken, some owners have left/threatened to leave because of the constant complaining. What, if anything, do you plan to do about this issue?
At times it has felt a bit like this.....
But I also not someone afraid of the debate. Now I can't help but feel deja vu from this question. Questions one and two spoke to the same thing and I feel I answered that adequately at how debate is important for progressive change. So I've documented what I will do and I will take this opportunity to challenge everyone of you. When you are in an argument that is getting heated. Take a step back, breathe and respond to your opponent with four words.
5. There seems to be some distrust of the moderators that comes up from time to time (the Colorado-Cleveland ordeal comes to mind). What, if anything, do you plan to be about this, and what potential changes in moderator behavior could this involve?
Ummmm
Has there been some questioning of tactics we have employed? Yes, of course. The Colorado-Cleveland deal was from a miscommunication on our (League staff) parts to the League Members. We planned to post our decision months before, but accidentally didn't. But the league discussion led to figuring out some logistics in how our decision would be implemented that I think was helpful. It was going to be a contentious topic regardless of when it happened but hopefully everyone learned a lesson from it. Now asking me directly about a league wide mistrust of the Moderators and I would respond
Again, as stated before We will continue to promote transparency from staff to the league members and address disagreements when they arise in hopefully a more concise manor then in the past. Is it just me or did I just answer the same question four times in this debate?
6. What is your stance on taking? And, if we are deciding that tanking is a problem, what rules should we have to prevent/limit it? How do we enforce them?
Personally I don't think tanking is a big advantage to anyone. If that is a strategy somebody wants to employ I say go ahead. They still have to draft properly for the high draft picks to mean anything. Last season I personally started my own rebuild and acquired 5 picks in the 2014 Rookie Draft and you know who was my best player from that group? Nurkic who I picks with my LAST of the 5 picks at #21. So first let me give myself some props at that pick....
Ok, but it shows that getting a ton of lottery picks by sucking doesn't guarantee you will get a better team if you don't draft properly because you never know in a draft who will be the top players, and they can be anywhere in the draft. From Anthony Davis at #1 to Draymond Green in the 2nd Round to Wesley Matthews as undrafted.
So to answer this let me quickly go over our rules that effect tanking strategies:
1st you must have all starting spots filled during matches. I do not want to get in the habit of telling people who to play and when, when to set up their line ups and who should play over someone else. That get's into a heavy-handed form of meddling in other people's teams that I wish to avoid. There are so many individual strategies to playing who and when I want to avoid as commissioner controlling that for other owners. There are times you get busy and forget to set up line ups; I don't wish to penalize owners for mistakes like that. Basically you have to play players each match up. That's the borderline rule, nothing more needs to be added to that
2nd We couple teams with teams in the real NBA Draft. Say what you want about the real life NBA draft's legitimacy. We don't have that baggage. We use a system where you never know from where in the 15 team draft someone will end up with #1. But it has shown it doesn't mean the worst team gets #1 at all. In fact the odds haven't been working in the worst team's favor most years over the last decade.
3rd Beginning this year we are using team's records over the last three years to determine place in the draft. this means if you wish to tank and be bad to get the top odds for the top pick you have to be bad for a LONG time. It's also a way to keep the draft for what it's meant for. Teams that are predominately bad over multiple season, for whatever reasons, having opportunities to draft a player that can help lift them. This also promotes league parity which makes for fun match ups week in and week out.
7. How much should Danny Green get paid?
So that deceased horse hasn't been properly assaulted yet? Ok let me break this down mathematically, or as Thomas Dolby would say .......... (in other news, check out this dope sample from that song..... But I digress). So every team has three resigns (not including the extra resigns from Championship winners). That's 90 players being resigned.
Of our 9 Categories Danny Green is tied for 7th in Three Point Field goals made, 40th in steals and 36th in Blocks and averages just 1 turnover a game. That means he is a top half in the league producer of 4 out of the 5 categories. and a top 10 contributor in 3's with very little TO's He would also be in the top 12 of Free Throw percentages if he shot more Free Throws, but when he does shoot some that's a 5th categories he is a top contributor in the league for.
When you break those down by just Shooting Guards his numbers go:
FG%- 12th
FT%- 6th
3PM- 6th
REB- 8th
AST- T 30th
STL- 9th
BLK- 2nd
PTS- 26th
He is a top 10 performer for SG's in 5 categories, which FG's at 12th. That is a top 10 SG in the league. And a top half (lower of the top half) performer in the league overall. That is super valuable and when couple with players that have strengths that offset his weaknesses, you have a solid foundation of a team. Add in some players that add on to his strengths and you have a dangerous team. With the League Maximum being around 15 Million I'd say rounded down half of that is a good top number for him. the bottom being a couple million less if you are worried about his age creeping up. So that leaves us at $5-$7 Million. I personally would split that difference and say $6 Million is the most appropriate number for him, but a little lower and a little higher I think can be effectively argued for. Did that need to become what it did? No, should I have maybe tried harder to step in and curb the discourse? Yeah, I probably should have. I have my personal reasons (WORK) why I wasn't able to really focus on it at that time, but besides that as a point we all need to keep in perspective what this is for everyone else in this league. A HOBBY THAT IS A FORM OF FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT OUTSIDE OF REGULAR LIFE.
I live you guys with one last shimmy
Thank You everyone for the debate, thank you to my opponents! I will be anticipating round two!
Here it is in all it's glory
Aug 23, 2015 19:19:46 GMT -5 trailducker said:
1. We have taken great strides in recent years to improve practices, policies, and procedures. However, with change, we've also seen dissension among owners and moderators. As the next league commissioner, what do you see as some of the biggest problems facing the league right now and how would you work to stabilize/ solve those problems?First I would like to thank the Pick and Roll League for having us all here. Thank you to Richardson for being out moderator tonight. I trust you will keep this a fair and on topic debate. Thank You to my opponents.
Miege, You are a League Champion, and almost a double league champion. You have built a team from the bottom up that will be a lasting power in this league for generations. You are one of the "OG's" being here in the league's birth and to the point we are now. Cornvan, you are still new to this league but you came in with such a passion and fire that is admirable. I don't doubt that you will be an active and engaged owner in this league. We both have came a long way from that League Champonship in Obsidian's league, what 7 years ago? You may have beat me in that one (even though we thought at first I won, the scar is still there) I promise you I will not be an easy opponent in this debate. Thank You guys for being here and good luck, let's get debating.
Now as acting commissioner during most of these changes I will be the first to admit not everything has gone to plan and as smoothly as desired. We have had some mistakes made and some things fall through the cracks. But, we have worked our hardest to find those leaks as quickly as possible and plug them. We have listened to the owners league wide and heard their desires on policy improvements and league infrastructure work. Not every demand can be met, some have conflicting ideologies, where we can find ways to merge agendas or find a middle compromise to bridge contradicting principals we have made those efforts. Now there will still be conflicts and having discussion about these diverse beliefs are always good for further growth. Some of our policies are new some old, but I feel what we have is a framework for something that will lead to maximum fairness and enjoyment for everyone here; without feeling ripped off or screwed over in any way. As the new policies become more familiar we can continue these discussions into how the policies can be further adjusted and improved. Transparency will be important as we progress and I promise to keep transparency as a policy of the league staff.
The biggest obstacle is to get our league staff running more smoothly. We all get busy in life and things pile up. We need to internally discuss ways to better the workload through all of us. I think a good thing to start is come up with a guild line of criteria and expectations of a Mod and their duties. Both for new and old mods to follow. That way too much of the work doesn't fall on one person's dholders and when they get busy, the league doesn't stop running.
2. We're a community of devoted, yet highly opinionated, fantasy players. As such, participation is a crucial element of a successful league. My question is a two part question: What are some of your ideas to help improve participation among all 30 owners? Also, discuss how, as commissioner, you would promote discussion/participation while also reducing the negative impact of having such opinionated owners that only hinder our members' desire to engage in the league.
Great question! And first let me take a second to applaud all of the owners in this league
What we have create in this league is something unique and beautiful. Not many leagues this big and with this much effort and attention to detail make it to season 1, not to mention season 6. And there are no signs of slowing down. We lost some good owners, we've lost some bad owners. We are now at a spot where I don't see a weak owner in the 30 here and that is quite the achievement. Everyone here is passionate and knowledgeable. Life will happen and people will have to step down and leave but we have a great group here today that might be the strongest top to bottom in the 6 years of this league. Thank you and high five to everyone!
To the first part of your question I will point to what I think is a very underutilized space in our league and that is the Sport's Bar. This area is great area for discussion about the NBA, other sports
and life in general. I wish to create a more engaging and active board where anytime of the year our owners feel not only comfortable posting/discussion anything they wish to, but also want to. We have a diverse group from all over the world, let's continue to utilize this diversity to our advantage in engaging conversations and everyone can learn and experience something new. I not opposed to re-exploring a chat box although I think it's use is a bit redundant personally as we have threads and PMs, but conversations about it can be continued.
Now as commissioner it will be important to steer topics in the proper direction if they become too negative. As I stated, debate is important but we need to maintain a place that everyone feels safe and that promotes what we all are here for, fun. If a conversation begins to jeopardize that I can step in and steer it into a more productive direction. Owners can move conversations to PM if they are not necessary on the pubic boards and I am wiling to be a moderator in a group PM to help find a resolution if needed.
3. Do you prefer to keep everyone happy, or do you believe in a certain way the league should be run and owners need to adapt to it?
I am going to step out form behind my podium and show you instead of tell you what I truly think this league is all about
The most important thing the Pick and Roll league provides is fun. We want to do our best to maintain that for everyone! One way this league remains fun is for no one to feel there is an unfair advantage given to anyone. That is why we need rules set up so everyone is playing the same game. If you try and play soccer with other plays who think they are playing rugby......... Let's just say the outcome for you won't be too good. Once you wake from your coma you might feel like there was something not quite fair about that whole situation.
We need a framework of rules to ensure that everyone has a level playing field. Sometimes we have to put our serious face on and tell someone they aren't playing the same rules as everyone else. We hope that doesn't happen, but it does. If we have rules and then don't follow them, why are there rules there in the first place. undermining our rules can cause a snowball effect of problems as more rules keep getting broken and then we have full anarchy and eventually the league collapses from people leaving because there isn't a way for them to compete. That may sound like a doomsday scenario, but it I also think is a very likely one if the rules are just "suggestions". Basically I'm saying you need one to have the other. This isn't a chicken or egg scenario, this is an omelet/egg scenario. You can't have an omelet without the eggs! Now who did I just make hungry for some fucking omelets?
4. It seems like lately, this league has had a contentious atmosphere surrounding it. Pretty much anytime something happens, it gets blown up into a way bigger deal than it should be (Danny Green), and if I am not mistaken, some owners have left/threatened to leave because of the constant complaining. What, if anything, do you plan to do about this issue?
At times it has felt a bit like this.....
But I also not someone afraid of the debate. Now I can't help but feel deja vu from this question. Questions one and two spoke to the same thing and I feel I answered that adequately at how debate is important for progressive change. So I've documented what I will do and I will take this opportunity to challenge everyone of you. When you are in an argument that is getting heated. Take a step back, breathe and respond to your opponent with four words.
5. There seems to be some distrust of the moderators that comes up from time to time (the Colorado-Cleveland ordeal comes to mind). What, if anything, do you plan to be about this, and what potential changes in moderator behavior could this involve?
Ummmm
Has there been some questioning of tactics we have employed? Yes, of course. The Colorado-Cleveland deal was from a miscommunication on our (League staff) parts to the League Members. We planned to post our decision months before, but accidentally didn't. But the league discussion led to figuring out some logistics in how our decision would be implemented that I think was helpful. It was going to be a contentious topic regardless of when it happened but hopefully everyone learned a lesson from it. Now asking me directly about a league wide mistrust of the Moderators and I would respond
Again, as stated before We will continue to promote transparency from staff to the league members and address disagreements when they arise in hopefully a more concise manor then in the past. Is it just me or did I just answer the same question four times in this debate?
6. What is your stance on taking? And, if we are deciding that tanking is a problem, what rules should we have to prevent/limit it? How do we enforce them?
Personally I don't think tanking is a big advantage to anyone. If that is a strategy somebody wants to employ I say go ahead. They still have to draft properly for the high draft picks to mean anything. Last season I personally started my own rebuild and acquired 5 picks in the 2014 Rookie Draft and you know who was my best player from that group? Nurkic who I picks with my LAST of the 5 picks at #21. So first let me give myself some props at that pick....
Ok, but it shows that getting a ton of lottery picks by sucking doesn't guarantee you will get a better team if you don't draft properly because you never know in a draft who will be the top players, and they can be anywhere in the draft. From Anthony Davis at #1 to Draymond Green in the 2nd Round to Wesley Matthews as undrafted.
So to answer this let me quickly go over our rules that effect tanking strategies:
1st you must have all starting spots filled during matches. I do not want to get in the habit of telling people who to play and when, when to set up their line ups and who should play over someone else. That get's into a heavy-handed form of meddling in other people's teams that I wish to avoid. There are so many individual strategies to playing who and when I want to avoid as commissioner controlling that for other owners. There are times you get busy and forget to set up line ups; I don't wish to penalize owners for mistakes like that. Basically you have to play players each match up. That's the borderline rule, nothing more needs to be added to that
2nd We couple teams with teams in the real NBA Draft. Say what you want about the real life NBA draft's legitimacy. We don't have that baggage. We use a system where you never know from where in the 15 team draft someone will end up with #1. But it has shown it doesn't mean the worst team gets #1 at all. In fact the odds haven't been working in the worst team's favor most years over the last decade.
3rd Beginning this year we are using team's records over the last three years to determine place in the draft. this means if you wish to tank and be bad to get the top odds for the top pick you have to be bad for a LONG time. It's also a way to keep the draft for what it's meant for. Teams that are predominately bad over multiple season, for whatever reasons, having opportunities to draft a player that can help lift them. This also promotes league parity which makes for fun match ups week in and week out.
7. How much should Danny Green get paid?
So that deceased horse hasn't been properly assaulted yet? Ok let me break this down mathematically, or as Thomas Dolby would say .......... (in other news, check out this dope sample from that song..... But I digress). So every team has three resigns (not including the extra resigns from Championship winners). That's 90 players being resigned.
Of our 9 Categories Danny Green is tied for 7th in Three Point Field goals made, 40th in steals and 36th in Blocks and averages just 1 turnover a game. That means he is a top half in the league producer of 4 out of the 5 categories. and a top 10 contributor in 3's with very little TO's He would also be in the top 12 of Free Throw percentages if he shot more Free Throws, but when he does shoot some that's a 5th categories he is a top contributor in the league for.
When you break those down by just Shooting Guards his numbers go:
FG%- 12th
FT%- 6th
3PM- 6th
REB- 8th
AST- T 30th
STL- 9th
BLK- 2nd
PTS- 26th
He is a top 10 performer for SG's in 5 categories, which FG's at 12th. That is a top 10 SG in the league. And a top half (lower of the top half) performer in the league overall. That is super valuable and when couple with players that have strengths that offset his weaknesses, you have a solid foundation of a team. Add in some players that add on to his strengths and you have a dangerous team. With the League Maximum being around 15 Million I'd say rounded down half of that is a good top number for him. the bottom being a couple million less if you are worried about his age creeping up. So that leaves us at $5-$7 Million. I personally would split that difference and say $6 Million is the most appropriate number for him, but a little lower and a little higher I think can be effectively argued for. Did that need to become what it did? No, should I have maybe tried harder to step in and curb the discourse? Yeah, I probably should have. I have my personal reasons (WORK) why I wasn't able to really focus on it at that time, but besides that as a point we all need to keep in perspective what this is for everyone else in this league. A HOBBY THAT IS A FORM OF FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT OUTSIDE OF REGULAR LIFE.
I live you guys with one last shimmy
Thank You everyone for the debate, thank you to my opponents! I will be anticipating round two!
