Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Rage GM: Rondall Reynoso.
Mascot: Ray the screaming ape
Arena: The Barclay Center
TEAM HISTORY
2001-2002
The Rage were the first team in the WBA and owner Rondall Reynoso struggled between having the team be from Sacramento (his hometown) or Brooklyn (his current residence). He decided on Brooklyn mostly because he felt a team based in New York would better be able to attract the big name free agents as well as provide additional revenue that wouldn’t be available in a smaller market.
Brooklyn had the 12th pick in the inaugural draft which they used to select Joe Siebert. They used their second-round pick to select Scooter Jacobs who was later traded for John Davis. These two combined as an impressive front court in Season 1 ending the season as the best and second best rebounders in the league. In addition, Siebert was also the league’s best shot blocker. Siebert and Davis were the core of what would be a perennial defensive powerhouse. In 2001-02, the Rage finished with the third best defense allowing only 90.3 points per game on 40.5% shooting. Gene Allen and Ozzie Kramer are two other players who also had a strong defensive presence- not in their steal or blocks but by the pressure and headaches they gave their opponents. Despite the fact that Brooklyn played a slow style of basketball they were an efficient team that shot 47% from the floor.
Ozzie Kramer and John Davis represented Brooklyn at the All-star game in what turned out to be a classic humiliation of the East as they lost by 22 points. Probably, the biggest surprise about the Eastern All-star team was that Joe Siebert was not included. Many people still cannot understand how a player who led the league in rebounds and blocked shots doesn’t get selected for the team. This insult was partially made-up for when Siebert was selected as defensive player of the year. Additionally, Rondall Reynoso was selected as Executive of the Year. In many ways, this was well deserved considering that Reynoso traded for three of the players who would be in his starting line-up. Not to mention that four of Brooklyn’s five starters were twenty years old or younger. Reynoso had a team with an exciting future without sacrificing current success.
In Season 1 the Rage won the Mid-Atlantic division (38-24), quite an accomplishment considering they were predicted to finish last, but unfortunately lost to Varese in the second round of the play-offs, 4-2, after having a bye in the first round. This was a huge blow to the Brooklyn franchise but in retrospect shouldn’t have been a surprise. While Brooklyn won their division, they had actually finished with the same record as Varese. The Roosters also had Super Star Center Earl Baldwin on their team who gave them solid offense. Brooklyn, on the other hand, had one of the worse offenses in the league. Youngster Gene Allen and key sixth man Bill Meyer also played very poorly on the offensive end. The Rage only managed to score 83.2 points a game against Varese. The shining spot for Brooklyn was the play of Pee-Wee Stoddard who averaged 14.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds.
2002-2003
The off-season of 2002 was both exciting and tragic. The tragic, was the loss of 19 year old point guard Bill Meyers who was considered to be the teams point guard of the future. He was extremely well liked on the team. Best friend Myron White called him “A burst of enthusiasm in the locker room.” The excitement came when the Team was able to trade for the sixth pick in the draft which they used to select AJ Schulz. The combination of Schulz, Davis, and Siebert provided the team with the possibility of having arguably the best front court in the league and most definitely the best rebounding front court. The move seemed even more brilliant when Pee-Wee Stoddard, who the Rage had traded to acquire the pick, was sent to jail for a year on a drug charge. Adding Schulz to the team gave Brooklyn’s horrible offense a real threat and it completely changed the team from one of the worst offensive teams in the league to one of the best. Their scoring average raised an amazing 12 points per game. At the same time, their defense improved to #2 in the league only allowing 88.4 points a game and only allowing the opponents to shoot 39.2 points a game compared to their 50.2.
After the draft Brooklyn, however, still had a major hole at the point guard spot. They traded away Stoddard expecting Meyers to fill his spot but with Meyer’s death they had no real talent at the point. The Rage however have a history of finding quality players who were overlooked in the draft. The first such player was point guard Woody Reynolds. Reynolds like Allen and Kramer has pure tenacity on the defensive end, but he also has good hands and was able to make some steals.
Season two was a magically one for the Rage. Going into the season everybody knew they would be good and they were. Just over half way through the season the Rage had the opportunity to send starting shooting guard Gene Allen to South Carolina in exchange for J.J. McCauley. The Rage jumped at the chance. They moved Ozzie Kramer into the starting shooting guard spot and allowed J.J. to be a force off the bench. It worked wonderfully. Brooklyn ended the season with the best record in the league, 67-13, and J.J. McCauley was voted 6th Man of the Year. Rookie sensation A.J. Schulz was also voted rookie of the year. The front court combination of Schulz, Davis and Siebert had indeed been impressive with all three averaging double figures in points and rebounds. Siebert also had what is by many considered his finest season with 17.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.
The season 2 play-offs were a totally different story for Brooklyn. They went into the play-offs as the favorite to win the Championship but ended up being knocked out of the first round by an expansion team three games to two. The Albacete Burning Hell became instant world wide stars as they bumped the team that was believed to be the best in the league. Brooklyn’s impressive defense was shattered and their flowing offense stumped. AJ Schulz, who had been so impressive during the season, only shot 35% from the floor and John Davis, who Albacete let shoot at will, was sucked away from the basket for open shots but only made 39% of them.
2003-2004
Reynoso believes that the best way to win a championship is with consistency so in the off season he refused to dismantle his team like other GM’s were doing. He kept the same core of starters but was able to add tremendous depth. Mike Byrd had been a spark plug off the bench for the Rage, but his age was starting to show so he decided not to return. Brooklyn went into the draft with the last pick of the first round and a middle pick in the second round. In the first round, they selected Mike Stanley who they believed to have similar skills to Mike Byrd. This pick however turned out to be Reynoso’s first major mistake as Brooklyn’s GM. Stanley may be the biggest bust of the season three draft, especially considering they passed up players like Sheldon Maloney, Tyler Durden, Bruce Johnson, Bernie Cobb, Dave Williams and Shane Strom. Their second round pick did turn out very well as they finally selected Shane Strom. They were also able to pick up undrafted rookies Al Zarra, Brody Liang, and Art Sentipal.
The expectations were very high and Brooklyn did have an excellent season, 67-13. To the teams chagrin though they were over shadowed by the phenomenal success that Colorado was having ending the season 73-7. But, Brooklyn still had the third ranked offense (107.9 ppg) and the top ranked defense (86.3 ppg) so it was hard to complain. They ended the season with seven players averaging in double figures. One of which was a second round pick, Shane Strom, and two who were undrafted players, Woody Reynolds and Al Zarra. Strom had quickly shown that he was going to be a star in the WBA. In only 22 minutes he averaged 16.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. The Rage rotation now had three players coming off the bench who would start for most teams, Shane Strom, J.J. McCauley and Al Zarra. Mike Stanely only played 54 minutes all season.
The Brooklyn stat line was truly impressive that year. They shot 9.9% better than their opponents from the field, grabbed 16.1 more rebounds, made 9.3 more assists, blocked 1.3 more shots, grabbed 2.6 more steals and scored 21.6 more points. They were convinced that they were they best team in the league and that Colorado only managed the superior record because the West was a much weaker conference. The only catch was that they had lost to Colorado both times they played. But, the Rage were sure that in the finals they would prove their superiority.
The play-offs went exactly as planned. They swept Baltimore in the first round 3-0, crushed Berlin in the second round 4-1 and dismantled Washington in the Conference Finals 4-1. They did all the things in the post season that had given them success in the regular season and this year Schulz played like the star he was. Every thing was perfect except one thing. Colorado lost to Tokyo in the second round of the play-offs. Tokyo like the others fell easily four games to one but there has always remained the feeling that the Rage sure would have liked to beat Colorado instead. Still, 15-3 is one of the all-time great play-off runs and it is hard to complain about.
2004-2005
After winning the Championship Brooklyn had a very hard off-season. John Davis and J.J. McCauley both left for bigger contracts than Brooklyn could afford. There is no way to fill that kind of gap. Fortunately, AJ Schulz was able to move to the Power Forward position and Shane Strom took over the starting Small forward position. This gave Brody Liang who the Rage had picked up as an undrafted rookie the season before a chance to play more. J.J. McCauley was the harder hole to fill. They had no money and only the #16 pick in the draft. With that pick they selected 20 year old Justin Krueger who they felt would eventually be the best Point Guard to come out of the draft. Krueger did a decent job of playing but he was nowhere near the defensive threat that J.J. McCauley had been.
Despite the challenges Brooklyn again finished with the second best record in the league 64-16 only behind Colorado’s 70-10. But, they were not the same team. Their offense was scoring five points less a game than they had the year before and they were allowing five points more a game. This still left them averaging 12.1 points more than their opponents. But, they did not have the confidence of the previous year. A fear of Colorado had begun to germinate.
Strom had stepped into the starting small forward role without a hitch. He led the team in scoring with 22.2 a game. The rest of the starting cast was the same and Brody Liang who was now the back-up small forward was not the scorer Strom had been but was very versatile as both a quality rebounder and passer.
Despite their misgivings Brooklyn still had the best record in the East and went into the play-offs with plenty of confidence. But, in the first round they fell to Rochester who was a great Cinderella story that season as they made it to the Conference Finals were they lost to the eventual Champions, Washington. The Brooklyn defense which was usually so impressive wasn’t and the guard play for the Rage was even pathetic with the three guard rotation of Reynolds, Allen and Krueger shooting only 38%. Even the usually steady Joe Siebert shot only 40% in the series. Brooklyn despite winning the Championship the year before in an impressive 15-3 run had now been in the play-offs for all four years of the WBA but in three years they had not won a play-off series. This is not a good trend and the critics were really talking.
2005-2006
Once again the Rage had a challenging off-season. They lost starting point guard Woody Reynolds to free agency and decided to trade key reserve Brody Liang rather than loose him also the following season. There were also some major changes in the Brooklyn rotation. Reserve Al Zarra was moved into the starting power forward position, AJ Schulz was returned to the small forward spot, Shane Strom slipped to the shooting guard moving Gene Allen to be the reserve shooting guard and small forward. Justin Krueger also took the starting point guard spot. Only Joe Siebert stayed in the same position. Two key bench positions were also filled by Jarrod Edwards and Larry Saunders for whom the Rage had traded. This is a lot of change for a franchise that doesn’t often embrace change.
Brooklyn finished the season with a 54-26 record which for most teams would have been a success. For the Rage however it was a bitter disappointment. Not only had they dropped ten games compared to the previous season they had also for the first time not won the Mid-Atlantic Division.
One of the key disappointments of the year was the play of Joe Siebert. His shooting percentage had slipped and for the first time ever he had finished with less than 10 rebounds a game and less than three blocks a game. Many felt an era was coming to an end.
The feeling of impending doom was increased when Brooklyn lost once again inn the first round to the Budapest Tigers 3-1. Siebert once again shot poorly in the play-offs and Justin Krueger really struggled in his first play-offs as a starter shooting only 25% and making only four assists a game. Unfortunately, his back-up Jarrod Edwards wasn’t much better only shooting 26%.
2006-2007
Despite the struggles Brooklyn had endured over the last couple of seasons they were once again hit hard in the off-season when Al Zarra left during free agency. What made this even harder was that Brooklyn had no draft picks. They were fortunate that they were able to get eighteen year old Mario Bailey as an undrafted rookie. Signing Bailey, who turned out to be much better than many thought, allowed Brooklyn to move Schulz back to the power forward spot and Shane Strom back to his natural small forward position. For Strom this was key as he raised his scoring average to 26 points in Season 6 and was the fourth highest scorer in the league.
The Rage also acquired Russ Chase who they felt would do a better job backing up Krueger than Edwards had done. Chase was certainly a better passer as he averaged 5.3 assists per game coming off the bench.
There were a few nice surprises for Brooklyn during this season. Mario Bailey turned out to be a star in the making. As an eighteen year old he averaged 11.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals. Shane Strom also despite being a great scorer is also turning into a premier playmaker averaging 4.8 assists and he is also a very good rebounder pulling down 7.0 boards a game, all while committing only 0.9 turnovers a game. Joe Siebert also seemed to be returning to his old form by grabbing 11.6 rebounds and blocking 3.4 shots a game. But, as a whole the season was another disappointment. The team finished with a 48-32 record which at 0.600 was their worst winning percentage ever. Even more humiliating was their finishing with only the seventh seed in the play-offs.
The final humiliation was when Washington, who had once again won the Mid-Atlantic Division, swept them in the first round. It wasn’t even close. Not only did Washington win three straight but they out scored Brooklyn by fifteen points a game. Schulz, Krueger and Bailey all shot less than 40% and Siebert once again struggled only shooting 44%.
2007-2008
Finally, Brooklyn had an off-season where they weren’t trying to fill a hole. But, once again they had no picks and little money. The major move they did in the off-season was acquiring Lonnie Gerson in a trade that sent Russ Chase to Carolina. Brooklyn hadn’t had a good steals man since J.J. McCauley in Season 3. Gerson did exactly that and in the same way. Gerson came off the bench behind Strom and Bailey and helped to shut down the opposing team. Another key signing for Brooklyn was Bernie Henderson who had been drafted by Texas in the second round but not signed.
Overall this was a good year for Brooklyn. They improved their record five games from the season before to 53-27. And, while they still did not retake the Mid-Atlantic Division they finished only two games behind Washington. Shane Strom continued to average over 23 points and 7 rebounds and for the first time reached 5 assists per game. Justin Krueger also seemed to be finding his place averaging 7.3 assists per game which was the most of any Brooklyn Point guard since Pee-Wee Stoddard averaged over 8 a game in Season 1. Mario Bailey also continued to show that he was a star in the making as he improved in every area of the game. Brooklyn also returned their defense to the days of old. They allowed only 96.1 points a game which was first in the league.
The real improvement however showed in the post-season. This was only the second time that the Rage had made it past their first series. They beat London 3-1 in the first round but fell 4-1 to the eventual Champion, Albacete, in the second round. As a whole the team played very well. The sad surprise was that Shane Strom was the weak link in the team. He only shot 41%. His scoring was down five points from during the season and his rebounding was also down. Gerson on the other hand was impressive with five steals in only 24 minutes a game.
2008-2009
In this off-season, Brooklyn returned to their old issue of having players they couldn’t keep. Lonnie Gerson had impressed everyone with his play in Season 7 and as a result he got a large contract offer from Cancun. Brooklyn was then once a gain left with a defensive hole. To cover this hole Brooklyn dealt a future first round pick for Michael Kutak. Kutak was expected to fill in off the bench in the point guard and shooting guard positions. However, Kutak had a great off-season and won the starting shooting guard spot from Mario Bailey.
Brooklyn seemed to be a top team again. However, management didn’t feel that they had what it took to win a championship so they pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal that sent long time Rage member, A.J. Schulz, to Montana for Tom Perkins. Perkins improved the teams rebounding scoring and shot blocking. This turned out to be a solid move. Brooklyn, regained the Mid-Atlantic Division title, raised their win total by six to 59-21 which tied them with Albacete for the second best record in the league.
Brooklyn, once again, had one of the top offenses in the league finishing with the third most points scored and they also had a top notch defense which was ranked number six. Strom also continued to show improvement averaging almost six assists this year and Perkins finished averaging about two points more than Schulz had previously.
Once again Brooklyn was to return to the Championship game. But, this year it was not by total domination. They had a big fight in the first round to squeeze past seventh seed Gabon 3-2. In many ways Brooklyn dominated Gabon but they also committed 39 more fouls which put them in serious foul trouble. Much of this was due to Perkins being more foul prone than Schulz but also while Perkins may be a better individual player than Schulz he is not the floor leader that Schulz is so the coaching had to adjust. In the Second round Brooklyn had an easier time as they handily beat Budapest four games to one. Birmingham, this seasons’ Cinderella team, was a tougher match. Birmingham tied the series 2-2 before Brooklyn was able to put them away 4-2. In the Finals, Brooklyn met Cancun who was also trying for their second championship. Which ever team won would be the first team to repeat. Unfortunately, despite a strong start to the series that had it tied 2-2 Brooklyn fell short loosing 2-4.
2009-2010
The story never ends for Brooklyn. Once again they lost a key player to free agency. Michael Kutak who had a solid year starting for Brooklyn in season 8 chose to take a big contract in Omaha instead of returning to Brooklyn. Sadly, Kutak never got settled in Omaha and was traded to Birmingham mid-season where he performed well off the bench. In the end, Kutak ended up trading a starting role and a shot at a championship for a huge contract. This is a choice many former Brooklyn players seem to make.
In an attempt to replace Kutak and simultaneously look to the future Brooklyn signed 22 year old Omar Jefferson. Jefferson is not the player that Kutak is but he is young and has great potential. Also, Brooklyn was able to sign him to a long term contract at a reasonable price which is important for a team that is always loosing free agents. Fortunately for Brooklyn Mario Bailey ended up having an incredible off season and came to camp ready to retake his starting role for the Rage. His improvement was so marked that he ended up finishing second in the most improved balloting. Jefferson ended up only playing a minor role off the bench but Brooklyn still expected that he would be crucial in the future.
Once again Brooklyn had a solid season with all their starters performing admirably. Some observers consider Brooklyn as being slighted with only Shane Strom being invited to the All-Star game. Strom once again was constantly mentioned as an MVP candidate averaging 22.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. Tom Perkins also played especially well averaging 19 points on nearly 57% shooting. Siebert once again averaged a double-double and Bailey, age 22, showed that he is a future super star averaging 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals. Long time point guard, Justin Krueger also had one of his best years leading the team with 8 assists and 2.4 steals.
In the end though, the regular season ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Only Shane Strom received a year end award and even that was only third team All-WBA. Most frustrating though was that the retooled Washington Monument regained the Mid-Atlantic title and Brooklyn ended up only being the third seed for the play-offs.
The play-offs started well with a sweep of Boston, a team that had caused Brooklyn problems the previous season. Expectations were high going into the second round against Budapest. The series was incredible with seven close games and four times the road team winning. But, in the end Budapest was the victor. Despite the bitter disappointment Brooklyn fans were finally able to really see why Mario Bailey excites Rage management so much. Young Bailey showed the heart of a champion as he averaged 19.8 points in the post-season on over 50% shooting. Still, loosing 3-4 in the second round was a disappointing end for the Rage.
2010-2011
Rage management felt a bit betrayed during this off-season. Justin Krueger is a player who management continually went to bat for and always promoted. Early in his career there were many who thought he was a bust even as a mid first round pick. But, now he is seen as one of the most productive and consistent point guards in the league. But, Krueger like so many previous Rage players had a chance to get a big contract and he went for it. What hurt management was that he chose to play for arch rival Washington. The Monuments now boast the services of both Krueger and AJ Schulz and used their considerable talents to once again win the Mid-Atlantic.
Everyone expected that as before Brooklyn would rebound from the loss of Krueger and they would once again be a top team. Even though it had been a long time since the Rage had started a point guard other than Krueger they had a great deal of talent in the position with long time back-up Bernie Henderson and young studs like Omar Jefferson and Daren Benson. But, Krueger was more valuable than most realized. He wasn’t flashy but he was efficient. Jefferson the new starter was the exact opposite. He has a world of talent but is prone to mistakes. It became clear that the Rage were not the team they once were so management made the decision to trade Tom Perkins for 20 year old prodigy Jarius Miles. This created a young and exciting core with Jefferson, Bailey and Miles but it is also a group that makes a lot of mistakes. For the first time in Brooklyn history they would finish the season without a winning record going 39-41.
Shane Strom statistically had arguably his best year posting 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists & 1.8 steals. Mario Bailey made it clear that he is an elite shooting guard making the all-star team along with Strom and averaging 18.1 points on 56% shooting. What most impresses people about Bailey though is his all around play putting up 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals. Jefferson also had a solid season averaging 16 points and 7.4 assists. However, he was not very efficient shooting only 37% and committing 2.7 turnovers a game. Miles despite his ability to put up triple doubles also is young and makes mistakes with 3.3 turnovers a game. Despite the talent of this roster they committed too many fouls and too many turnovers. The future may be bright but the team was often in a haze this season.
While Brooklyn broke their steak of winning seasons at nine they were still able to keep their play-off appearances streak alive. However, it was an entirely uneventful appearance. In round one they were swept by the second seed Washington Monuments. The one point of excitement in this sad series was Mario Bailey’s performance. He averaged 28 points in three straight losses.
2011-2012
There was a lot of pressure on this proud franchise coming off their worst season in franchise history. For the first time in a long time this team lost no major players in the off-season and with the same core returning the hope was that the maturation or Jefferson, Bailey and Miles would result in great improvement. But, there was a big surprise early in the season when the Rage were able to trade the unused but very talented Daren Benson to Andorra for Al Herbert who was also buried deep in the Highlander rotation. The trade turned out well with both teams getting pieces that they used heavily. Herbert while a natural center spent most of the season playing Power Forward which allowed Brooklyn fixture Joe Siebert to stay at Center and the young and talented but mistake prone Jarius Miles to come off the bench.
Shane Strom had another strong season averaging 26.1 points (on 52.9% shooting), 7.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.6 steals and only 1.0 turn overs. He once again proved to be arguably the best all around Small Forward in the league earning an All-star appearance and All-WBA honors. Mario Bailey also had a great improvement raising his scoring average to 22.8 points (on 57.1% shooting). He also continued to be a great all around player averaging 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.9 steals. Jefferson also had an improved year averaging 18.3 points and 8.0 assists while lowering his turnovers and raising his field goal percentage. All of this resulted in an improved team which won seven games more than the previous year.
For the 11th straight season Brooklyn made it to the play-offs and unlike last season they actually made some noise. Their first round match-up was against Andorra which game a nice twists to see them against each other after the big trade early in the year. Brooklyn was able to dominate the series winning 3-1. Unfortunately, they met Paris in the second round. Paris had the best record of the regular season and only lost one play-off game on their way to the WBA finals. At least that game was against Brooklyn who lost the series 4-1. Bailey for the second straight year was a great post-season performer averaging 25.8 points on 63% shooting.
2012-2013
There was a seismic shift in Brooklyn this off-season. Joe “The Priest” Siebert had been the heart and sole of the Brooklyn Rage since the beginning of the WBA. But, He was now 31 years old on a team experiencing a youth movement. The WBA was also expanding and Brooklyn had to figure out their strategy. So, they ended up pulling an unorthodox deal where they allowed Seoul to draft Siebert in the expansion draft and gave up several picks. The off-season also consisted of Brooklyn shoring up their bench. They added defensive guard Bert Haug, defensive swing man J.J. McCauley returned to the Rage, and arguably the WBA’s best ever rebounded Paul Wilson took on a key role off the bench.
The mixture of the youth movement with the veteran leader of Strom and veterans coming off the bench worked very well for the Rage. They once again exceeded 62 wins and returned to an elite position in the league. But, Paris still had a better record. The offense was certainly clicking as the Rage had three players averaging at least 22 points. Shane Strom lead the pack with 24.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, & 1.1 steals. Mario Bailey was second at 23.2 points and Omar Jefferson was rising to star level with 22.6 points and 8.2 assists. The really impressive part is that Strom and Bailey both shot over 50% and Jefferson shot 48%. At 106.2 points per game Brooklyn was second in the league. But, their defense had slipped some to #11. One of the big keys for Brooklyn was also their bench play. Paul Wilson averaged 8.2 rebounds a game with only 24 minutes off the bench while Bert Haug averaged 1.3 steals in just 13 minutes. Plus both shot over 50%. The rebuild had clearly worked and impressively the Rage had done it without missing the playoffs, ever.
It was a good playoffs for the Rage…but not yet where they wanted to be. In round one they swept Albacete. Rage fans always enjoy a win over Albacete ever since the shocker in 2003. The second round wasn’t quite as easy but they were still able to squeeze past the prolific Dave Williams 4-2. However, Paris which had finished only one game ahead of Brooklyn in the regular season was clearly still the better team as they dominated Brooklyn for the second straight year winning the series 4-1. An important development for the future of the franchise was that all the starters continued to play well in the playoffs. There were no players who completely disappeared in the playoffs as had happened only a few short years before. And, returning to the conference finals along with winning 62 games was helping this young team regain the swagger of the early Rage teams.
2013-2014
Last year, Brooklyn once again became a premier team in the league. This year’s version of the Rage brought back all five starters but a radically different bench. Bert Haug, J.J. McCauley, and Paul Wilson were replaced with Kelvin Boice, rookie Mark Vaden, Brice Bell, and Joe Clark. While Brooklyn’s depth didn’t have the name recognition as the year before the proved completely capable of doing the job.
With 63 wins the Rage slightly improved their record but more importantly, they had the best record in the league. Brooklyn’s offense continued to improve to 109.7 points per game which was the second-best in the league. However, defense continued to be a weakness with the Rage ranking 21st in the league in points allowed. Surprise superstar Mario Bailey also continued his ascendance. He led the Rage in scoring with 27.5 points ranking fourth in the WBA and received the WBA coveted MVP award not to mention All-Defense 1st Team. Strom, on the other hand, scored 6.1 fewer points a game than he did the previous year. Offense was the Rage’s greatest asset. Despite being second in the league in scoring they led the league in field goal percentage, second in offensive efficiency, and second in pace. They also led the league in rebounding.
Despite being #21 in opponent scoring, defense was not the weakness for Brooklyn that it would appear. The Rage were second in the league in steals and fourth in blocks. They were also fifth in opponent field goal percentage and fifth in Defensive Efficiency. This incarnation of the Rage is not the defensive power of previous generations, but they had enough defense to be a power in the post season.
The Rage struggled in the first round of the postseason losing games two and four to the eighth seed Cincinnati Hitmen. However, once they made it through the first round Brooklyn found their playoff legs. Mario Bailey, Omar Jefferson, and Shane Strom all performed well in the playoffs averaging 25.5, 20.7, & 20.7 respectively. In the second round, Brooklyn swept Miami, in the Conference Finals the beat Paris 4-1, and then in the Finals they swept Cancun. This was a triumphant return to the finals for Shane Strom who hadn’t won a championship since his rookie year. He averaged 22 points in the finals as he led the Brooklyn offense in this defensive focused championship series.
2014-2015
Brooklyn’s starters stay the same this season with Mario Bailey improving over his previous MVP season and Jarius Miles climbing toward being an elite player. Unfortunately, Shane Strom’s age is starting to show. But, the main improvement over the previous year was the bench. Brett Krieg and Kelvin Spalding were added to the bench while Andre Rawlings, Brice Bell, and Kelvin Boice all showed improvement. All this equaled a more dominant Brooklyn Rage.
While rookie sensation Almantas Talacka won the MVP, probably because Bailey missed 15 games due to injury, Bailey had a terrific season improving his scoring by 2.5 points per game in 2.6 fewer minutes. He also increased his rebounding, assists, blocks while keeping his steals the same. Jefferson also averaged more than 20 points a game. But, what was really impressive wasn’t individual play but the team play. The Rage were once again the second most prolific offense at 109.3 points. They also led the league in rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks. On the defensive end they allowed the second-fewest points. Their pace slowed slightly but the improved defense made all the difference In fact, they led the league in Defensive Efficiency. The margins tell the real story of Rage dominance in this 68-win season: +18.2 points, +7.1 rebounds, +6.7 assists, +3.9 steals, and +2.7 blocks. All those, except steals which was second, were the best in the WBA. Bailey and Herbert were both 1st team All-WBA. Herbert was first-team All-Defense while Bailey and Miles were 2nd team All- Defense.
Brooklyn’s drama this year happened in the post-season. They started the playoffs just as dominating as they were in the regular season. They swept Miami in the first round, beat Boston in 5 in the second round, but in the Conference Finals, things fell apart. Al Herbert was injured in the last game of the first round. It didn’t make much of a difference at Brooklyn dominated Boston, but he was really missed in the conference finals. The absence of Herbert left a hole in the middle. Andre Rawlings tried to fill that hole in the first three games of the series he averaged only 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. He didn’t play at all the last two games. The Liberty completely shocked the WBA universe as they dominated the series. Brooklyn won the first game, but New York swept four straight after that on their way to the Finals and an eventual championship.
2015-2016
After faltering in the postseason, Brooklyn came into this season with a huge chip on their shoulder. The big shock for the team though was the departure of Shane Strom who opted to leave the team to play in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, for Strom Las Vegas ended up waiving him. He was then picked up by the Zulu who also waived him and he ended the season in California. The big trade of the off-season was when the Rage send both their 2016 1st round pick and the Baltimore 2016 f1st round pick to Tokyo for Simeon Hill. This allowed the 6’9” Al Herbert to Power Forward and the 6’10” Jarius Miles to move to Small Forward where he can take better advantage of his passing. Importantly, they also added greater depth with Joe Siebert returning to Brooklyn to play off the bench and Mike Ivey coming to the Rage in search of a ring.
Bailey once again improved both winning the scoring title, for the first time in his career, and once again claiming the league MVP and 2nd team All-Defense. Omar Jefferson also had a great year averaging 21.3 points and 6.5 assist, both improvements over the previous year. He was also 3rd team All-league. Jarius Miles continued to gain more attention as he received 1st Team All-Defense honors. Simeon Hill proved his worth as he led the team in rebounds and helped Brooklyn be an improved defensive team. Herbert while playing a new position and not the same player that he was before the injury was able to be very efficient finishing the season with the second-best plus/minus on the team. The Rage offense exploded this season averaging a league-best 117.5 points per game while their defense averages allowing only 94.8 points, third best in the league. Once again the Rage were first in most statistical categories and second in blocks. They also led the league in in field goal percentage and held their opponents to the lowest field goal percentage. The biggest indicator of Rage dominance was their +22.3 point margin. Additionally, Brooklyn had the fastest pace in the league, the best offensive efficiency, and best Defensive Efficiency.
Brooklyn was determined to not falter in the playoffs as they did the previous year. They swept the first two rounds of the playoffs against Sacramento and Las Vegas and beat the Liberty impressively in five games. The finals against the Toronto Dinos who were in the Finals for the second year in a row was tough fought. Toronto stole a game in Brooklyn and then went 2-1 in Toronto for a 3-2 lead in the series. Brooklyn managed to win a close game six in Brooklyn to tie up the series. But, once again Al Herbert got hurt. But, the depth that Brooklyn acquired in the off-season cam into play in a big way. Mike Ivey who had spent the season as a key reserve stepped into the starting line-up and was too physical for Walt Jackson. Jackson scored only 25 points on 29 shots while Ivey led the Rage with 22 points on only 12 shots as the Rage had an impressive 22 point game seven victory.
2016-2017
When a team wins 69 games and the championship it is hard to improve. The Rage went into the season with high expectations. They had a great offseason signing Tyriq Lang, who would join the starting line-up as a mid-level exception. Lang made it clear that he wanted to win a Championship and that is why he took less money to play in Brooklyn than he could have earned elsewhere. The Rage also signed Harry Kramer, who had been a part of the Toronto team that Brooklyn beat for the Championship the year before, to a low-level exception. Surprisingly they were also able to sign Keven Rollins to a minimum contract. But, they were not able to re-sign Mike Ivey who used the recognition he got from the previous finals to sign a larger contract in Moscow. Still the Rage had their deepest team in recent history.
While the Rage tried all season to reach the coveted 70 mark which only Colorado has previously reach, twice, they ultimately failed going 69-11 for the second straight year. They went 4-4 to end the season which was a hard way to end a season with such high hopes. For the eighth straight year, Mario Bailey increased his scoring average to 33.7. He again won the MVP award, 1stTeam All-League, and 1st Team All-Defense. While Omar Jefferson again was the second leading scorer on the Rage, Jarius Miles ascended to the position of being the Rage’s second most prominent star. Miles averaged 16.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks which was clearly his best season in the WBA. He again received 1st Team All-Defense and 3rd Team All-League. As a team, the Rage once again had a prolific offense 114.8 points per game (2nd in the league) and a stingy defense 94.9 points (3rd in the league). They continued to dominate at a high level with a +19.4 point margin.
Once the playoffs started, The Rage played well. They beat the Massacre 4-1 in the first round and the Dragons 4-0 in the second. The Wild, however, put up a fight in the Conference Finals stealing a game in Brooklyn and pushing the series to 6 games. In the Finals, the Dinos made it for the third straight year only to fall short once again. This was the Rage’s third championship in four years and their fifth year with 60+ wins which puts them in the conversation for best all-time dynasties.
2017-2018
After five straight years over 60 wons and being stuck at 69 wins for the last two seasons the Rage were desperate to break the 70 win mark. Colorado’s legendary team had broken 70 three years straight and despite three championships in four years the team had yet to break that magical mark. One of the biggest changes this year was the departure of Head Coach Leslie Bromley who moved on for a bigger paycheck. Dennis Byer was brought in from Miami despite spending only being nine games over .500 in his four years as head coach. Rumor has it that Bromley himself had recommended that the Rage pursue Byer feeling that he had the ability to be much more than he had proven so far. The Rage made very few moves during the off-season. At #17 they drafted future star Frank Matthieu and they resigned several players but that was it. The season was much different. In December, they sent Simeon Hill, Tyriq Lang, Zachary Wise, and Frank Mathieu to Boston for Reed Moses and Tryis Mayes. Rumors had been circulating for years that the Rage were interested in Mayes but they had not previously been able to acquire him. Late in the season, the Rage took advantage of the fact that Seattle had shockingly cut star Chad Archer. The Rage were able to sign him to a two-year contract giving the team a near all-star quality player off the bench.
This team was able to put together a historic run. They finished the year with an all-time best record of 76-4. Unlike the previous year when they had only gone 4-4 to end the season, this year the Rage finished on an 8 game winning streak. For the first time in nine years, Mario Bailey’s scoring average did not increase as he played 2.7 fewer minutes and scored 2.2 fewer points. But, Bailey actually scored a little more per 36 minutes played, and with the team’s success, nobody complained. Once again, Bailey was awarded MVP and both he and Miles were 1st team All-WBA. Miles also was 1st team All-Defense while Bailey fell to 2nd team All-Defense. Jarius Miles had his best year yet and started to rival the attention Bailey gets by averaging 22.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks. He also had the team’s best +/- at a mind-boggling 27.1. The Rage continued their prolific offense leading the league with 117.4 points. Their defense was also an impressive second best only allowing 91.6 but they easily led the league’s Defensive Efficiency at 90.3, five points ahead of the second-best Fighting Cocks. They also lead the league in Assists, Steals, and blocks and ranked #2 in rebounds.
When the play-offs began the Rage beat Las Vegas impressively 4-1. Surprisingly, that was actually their closest series as they swept the Colorado, California, and Cancun on their way to their third straight championship and fourth in five years. Going 16-1 was one of the most impressive playoff runs in WBA history.
2018-2019
The Rage are never satisfied. Despite having a historic year they are always looking to get better. In the off-season, they traded Reed Moses and Brice Oliver to Seattle for Walter Walter. They also resigned Omar Jefferson to a monster 5 year $115 million contract. To add depth they signed Nicholas Evans & George Faup. Once again though, December was time for a big trade and Brooklyn sent Chad Archer, Nicholas Evans, and Walter Walter across the Brooklyn Bridge to the New York Firestorm in exchange for Dan Kincaide and Davion Stahl.
This may have been the most talented team in WBA history to this point. But, due to Mario Bailey missing 17 games and Tyris Mayes missing 25 games the Rage “only” won 74 games. The Rage clearly had an unrealistic standard. With so much firepower Bailey’s scoring average dropped below 30 for the first time since 2013-14. Overall most players on the team saw a drop in their stats simply because the talent was so exceptional. With the acquisition of Kincaide Miles moved to Power Forward which changed the team dynamics but increased his block totals. He avered 2.1 blocks and steals. As a team, the office became even more exceptional averaging 119.8 points per game. But, their defensive efficiency did drop to 95.1. With an average margin of victory of 21.9 no one worried about it.
As great at going 74-6 was, it was a disappointment for this incredibly talented team. They had a real statement they wanted to make. They ended the season on an 11 game win streak and then caught fire when the play-offs started. They swept through the Firestorm, the Blues, the Pioneers, and the Mayhem on their way to a perfect 16-0 post-season. While some WBA fans argue that the 2017-18 Rage team that won 76 regular-season games was the best ever, most fans give this contest to the 2018-19 Rage who had a perfect post-season. Oh, and lets not forget that this was four straight championships and five out of six.
2019-2020
Despite years of free-spending, financial concerns finally came to bear on the Rage. They were facing a situation where they had a massive contract with Omar Jefferson. and Mario Bailey, Jarius Miles, Dan Kincaide, and Tyris Mayes would all be free agents in the coming season. There was no way that the Rage could pay them all and worse they would be paying all of them way too much when they were past their prime. So, they made a couple of big moves. First, they traded Moar Jefferson, Johnny Blaylock, and Kelvin Spalding to the Blues for Antonio Gleason and Ed Rhodes. Then they traded Dan Kincaide to Fort Worth for #1 pick Trenton Adams, Lyman Coleman, Samuel Blachford, Tyrone Davidson, Llewellyn Broermann, and Andres Chin…. or put another way Trenton Adams and pieces that take up cap. This was a gamble for the Rage who were getting rid of one of the best players in the league in Kincaide and their long-time point guard who had led them to five championships in Jefferson for a hot young prospect and cap flexibility.
As expected, the Rage did see a fall off during the season. But, they still won 71 games. Antonio Gleason while very different than Kincaide proved to be a very capable Small Forward and Anthony Davis was not the scorer that they had in Jefferson but he is a much better defender. Faup also continued to play well off the bench as did Ed Rhodes. The surprise though was David Walker who the Rage had picked up for a minimum contract. He ended up starting 31 games when Bailey was injured averaging 27.5 minutes and 16.1 points. For the first time in recent memory, Mario Bailey didn’t win MVP. He was replaced by Jarius Miles who averaged 24.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 2.4 blocks. Bailey also, due to injury, failed to make the all-league selection.
The first two rounds of the play-offs looked a lot like the previous season as the Rage swept the Blues and the Pioneers. But, in the Conference Finals they ran into the Fighting Cocks who also won 70 games this year, finishing only one game behind the Rage. This was the first time in history that two teams finished the season with 70+ wins. In Game 1, the Fighting Cocks made it clear they came to play by stealing home-court advantage in a 113-106 victory. Brooklyn won the next game handily 120-102, but California once again took the series lead in a 107-101 victory. But, that was as close as they would get. Brooklyn won the next three including a thrilling Game 6 victory on the road 106-105. Paris met Brooklyn in the Finals but were no match getting swept by an average of 35 points.