This season started with MLBA's first full offseason. It was a learning experience for everyone learning how to do their keepers without getting screwed (*cough* Meaks *cough*) and utilizing the camp system. The site also got a reboot with the "Inside MLBA" tab which now includes trade restrictions and the offseason tab.  As the season began, it finally seemed that MLBA had found a solid group of 25 guys that would finally run smoothly in 2k17. This proved to be true, even with the few cursed teams (Thunder, Magic, Clippers). I don't think anyone will ever forget JGrandz coming in here and trading away Dirk, Lavine, and Wilson Chandler and end up with Taj Gibson as his best player. Overall though, we added some solid new AND active talent in Smook, Alpha, and Playsomebeats.

 

In terms of the actual gameplay and the season, it went by fairly quickly, with the regular season taking exactly 4 weeks and the playoffs taking about a week. Most of the chat was dedicated to guys complaining about Kobe's Harden/PG combo and X2's Dame/Klay combo... even though they were the ones who traded those players to them. Trade restrictions prevented anything else crazy from going on, and the league was actually quite receptive to these changes to emulate a more SIM atmosphere as a whole. As the regular season ended, we had clear favorites on both conferences, with Kobe and X2 having only 1 loss. However, we also had young guys looking to steal the show, such as Smook and Jsneddy in the East, and Alpha and TNT in the West. The East did indeed make up some distance on the West by getting better, but overall the West > East, because the West has 8 guys top to bottom that can compete to make the ship... on the East side its maybe 4-5.

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As the playoffs began, there was a clear idea that X2 was coming out of the East (yet again... copy and paste), but the West was completely up for grabs. Ocho blew a 2-1 lead with a lead heading into the 4th quarter of Game 4, allowing Mario to almost push for another WCF. Kobe took down Mario in 5, and on the other side of the bracket TNT cruised to another WCF appearance. In the WCF it was roster configuration vs. skill, and in SIM leagues, talent is more important... So, we ended up with a repeat of last season's MLBA final - The Jazz (TNT) going up against the Hawks (X2), and this time the Jazz provided a little resistance, but still was no match for the Hawks with a hurt Dame... smh. X2 had yet another dominant playoff performance, and becomes MLBA's first back to back champion.... Parity please??? We'll see if in S6 after we impromptu redraft someone can upset X2 (Looking at you Drummond)... but until then, X2 gets to make another appearance in the Hall of Champions.

 

Congratulations to the Season 5 Champion of MLBA, X2! Soon to be added to the Hall of Champions (maybe, if Meaks decides to).

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Ocho's Playoff Predictions: http://mlba2k.boards.net/thread/21/season-5-playoff-predictions-ocho

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Season 4 Owner Awards (Courtesy of Ocho and Mario):

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Best Overall Season:  Gotta be X2 with him being the first back to back champion.

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Biggest Disappointment (Overall): "No Talent" Kobe gets this one. With his PG/Harden combo, he should've at least made the finals and represent the west. Instead, he takes the L to TNT who continues to disappoint in the finals.

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Biggest Disappointment (Regular Season): Hmmm... I'd say JSmoove (Wizards for S5) and/or Sasha (Nuggets). Sasha and friends went ghost this season and most of them did poorly anyways. JSmoove would've been a mid seed in the East, but wasn't active enough to get in. Sasha, on the other hand, just had a horrible season lol. 

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Most Active: SmookMook (Pistons) – Swear this dude had all his games done in a week... that's all you need to know.

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Best Newcomer: Alpha (Kings) – Alpha took over a pretty decent team after EMatt's rage quit. The Hayward/Drummond combo proved to pretty lethal and Hayward was my MVP. Alpha was also a few games away from a WCF appearance in his first season. Pretty damn good.

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Most Cursed Team: OKC Thunder (Now owned by Sharkweek) OKC was a black hole for a lot of the season. Had a great roster with Harden at the helm, but owners were either inactive or unsim. Copy and Paste from last season once Devil left because of lag. Maybe baby bro TNT can keep this team.