Knicks SI 2K Tankathon: Team Wolfe goes small

In this case, size does matter

The last time we at Knicks SI did a 2K tournament, I drafted in the seventh spot out of eight and got trounced in the first round. The objective there was to do well. The objective this time around... to stink it up.

I drew the sixth spot this time... OK, one better than last time, I can live with it. For hilarity's sake I was planning on drafting Phil Jackson with my first pick, the lone player you could really consider "crappy" out of those available on the 1971-72 classic Knicks. Unfortunately, Verts took him a pick before me. I instead opted for 1994-95 Charlie Ward and his lowly 70 overall rating, and with that, a strategy was born.

Here's the thing about NBA 2K that you realize if you play it enough (I, uh, do play it enough): bigs still matter in NBA 2K. The actual NBA might be all about "positionless" basketball now, and in real life a team of guards would probably beat a team of bigs, but the virtual hardwood makes having functional big men still a very important item. So my strategy? Draft as small as possible, and make those small players as awful as I can.

So starting with Ward — in his rookie 1994-95 season — was a natural fit. Ward shot just 21.1% from the field in his first season and a meager 10% from deep. Heisman winner or not, he was on an established team of veterans and did not play well that year. Off to a good start.

My intention was actually to take Jared Jeffries next, despite my strategy to go small. Never has a player amazed me more with his timidness and ineptitude shooting the ball. Fortunately, Jackie saved me from myself, and I was able to take 2011-12 Mike Bibby. Make no mistake, I love Mike Bibby, and his Sacramento teams were some of my favorite non-Knicks teams out there. But on the Knicks in what ended up being the final season of his career, he sucked. 

He shot 28.2% from the field, 31.8% from deep, and was essentially just a husk of his former self. I barely remember his actual play that season, and instead remember when Dwyane Wade immaturely threw his shoe away during the playoffs, as if the Heat needed more of an advantage against a Knicks team that was giving legitimate minutes to Mike Freakin' Bibby in the NBA playoffs.

By the time my next pick rolled around, some real "talented" players had gone off the board. I dipped into the '94-95 well again, snagging Greg Anthony, a 73 overall. Anthony actually had sort of an efficiency "breakout" in '94-95, posting a career-high 53.2% effective field goal percentage. Still, he's six feet tall, and my lineup averages out at 6-foot-1 right now. The strategy is working.

I really wanted Wayne Ellington or Iman Shumpert with my next pick, but alas, the pool of truly mediocre players was starting to run dry. Instead, I went bold and selected present-day Elfrid Payton and his 78 overall rating. But he can't shoot the three, and more importantly, he's 6-foot-3. My roster balance remains a disaster.

Lastly, I was looking to maybe snag Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier or Derek Harper, but they all got grabbed before my pick. I thought about going truly overconfident and drafting Clyde Frazier or Jeremy Lin (both rated 85 or higher) as a proof of concept with the all-guard lineup, but instead I opted to draft Bobby Portis and run him out there as my point guard. A team of points captained by a shoot-first center with a loose handle? Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. And that's just how I want it. My final line-up (or rather, line-down):

PG: Bobby Portis, 78 overall
SG: Charlie Ward, 70 overall
SF: Greg Anthony, 73 overall
PF: Elfrid Payton, 78 overall
C: Mike Bibby, 72 overall