Surely they joke
As fantasy fans, sometimes you see a guy for what they really are… terrible NBA players. While fans of actual franchises might whittle of stories about why player x is indespencible because of their incredible ‘court vision’ or ‘chemistry’, you know the truth. The player stinks. They have been suiting up for your team for the past 2 months and have contributed a total of 62 points, have shot 23 from 152 over that period and turn the ball over at least 3 times a game.
That player is Chris Duhon. As a newly minted Knick fan, him not coming back was nearly more awesome than adding Amar’e (I stress the nearly part). This is why the following paragraph, from an actual journalist, made me laugh while reading the Saturday morning news. From Boston.com
But whenever he (Paul Pierce) checked on the NBA’s free agent circus, all he saw was Eastern Conference teams adding on. Miami made the biggest splash by bringing in Chris Bosh and LeBron James to join Dwyane Wade. The Chicago Bulls improved, adding Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver, and making an offer to Orlando’s J.J. Redick. The Knicks added Amar’e Stoudemire. The Magic added Chris Duhon. And while watching it all, a part of Pierce wondered why the Celtics weren’t in the mix.
Surely this is a massive inside joke? Or perhaps the writer was about 5 words under his minimum required to fill a story? Whatever the case, this kind of half-arsed crap makes my blood boil. The Magic have gone backwards. Jason Williams played solid ball last season backing up the very fragile Jameer Nelson. Chris Duhon would struggle to find Dwight Howard in a summer league game, let alone against the cream of the crop in the East. And don’t even get me started on his field goal percentage or his ability to hit wide open three pointers.
Enough already. Some teams get better, some don’t. The Magic, now with a $93m payroll, didn’t. But that’s OK because they are still kinda good.
(h/t Ball Don’t Lie)
The Real Trifecta
In recent times, a lot of been made of the three amigos in Miami. Now, call me crazy, but I think the situation smells a little too much like a 7Eleven pie. It might look good, but you know there is something not quite right about it. If it were a Caltex on the other hand…
So if Miami Thrice aren’t the fantasy trio I am hot about, what it? We’re not going to delve into player discussion just yet because we have three months to start doing that. Instead, the issue at hand is categories you should be thinking about when trying to work out players. I’ll state up front that these are purely thoughts related to H2H leagues with 9 categories. Over the past two years I have developed a deep seated hatred for all categories starting with ‘A’. Namely, assists. Instead of focusing on something, I actively focus against something, and assists are that thing. Despite losing the Self Esteem League final two seasons running against teams stacked with point guards, I feel my strategy is primed for a spectacular third year.
Let’s get one thing straight. You load up on assists, you load up on turnovers. You win one category, you automatically lose the other. It’s as simple as that in my books. Exploring this proposition with a quick glance at the assist:turnover ration leaders from last season:
| Chris Paul | 4.29 |
| Carlos Arroyo | 4.17 |
| Jose Calderon | 4.08 |
| Jason Kidd | 3.71 |
| Mike Bibby | 3.44 |
| Chris Duhon | 3.44 |
| Jason Williams | 3.42 |
| Rajon Rondo | 3.23 |
| Deron Williams | 3.17 |
| Eric Maynor | 3.13 |
Stella names… oh wait, it was Carlos Arroyo who led me to that championship, it was Carlos Boozer. You might check that list out and say “wait, what’s he complaining about? CP3, Jason Kidd, Rajon Rondo, the immortal Deron Williams… I don’t see an issue”. And that’s a fair comment, until you realise that no other league leader list looks like this. How many Mike Bibby’s do you see on the points top 10? Or Eric Maynor’s on the blocks top 10? I’m not picking on these guys because they are bad (which they are regardless), but because they have no place alongside league leaders and category building. This list means that while you can draft excellent point guards who will rack up the assists, they will also rack up the turnovers. And even worse? To get those ’2nd tier’ guys which ever category needs, it will cost you even more in turnovers. Derrick Rose averages 1 turnover for ever 2.16 assists. Mo Williams? 2.13.
I understand the counter argument could be that other players who dominate in one category might hurt in others (such as blocks and free throw %). The counter-counter argument to this, is that there are enough options in the league to build a team of high blocking, high rebounding dudes who don’t destroy your FT%. This isn’t the case for assists. Sure, you could grab CP3 in the first round and Steve Nash in the second, but you are still going to need some back up and they are already costings you a combined 5+ turnovers / game. FT% can be won by 2-3 dudes who dominate (Kevin Martin, Durant, Maggette) and then stashing your team with low volume guys who won’t do any damage.
Obviously there is more than any team than focusing on one category as in the above discussion. However I’m just trying to point out that if you lose assists in the right way, you are going to win turnovers in 9 out of 10 weeks and after that, it’s only 4 more categories to victory. This is just a small part of thinking about building a fantasy basketball team, and it’s only one option amongst many. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the majority of people who LOVE fantasy basketball, think the point guard is the best position in the game because of the potential to be so great. Just remember, for every Chris Paul and Deron Williams out there, there are 5 Mike Bibby’s and 10 Carlos Arroyo’s.
Why is this a trifecta you ask? I’m not sure. But I think it has got to do with the fact that point guards are small, fast and annoying. So when you are reading the mindless crap about point guards and power forwards, just remember, half of that mix is toxic.
Here we go again….
Looks like everyone else (GMTR, FBasketballBlog, Buser, FantasyBasketball Daily) is getting back into the fantasy writing after a short (long for some, me included) break. So I’ll be joining in. The season does actually roll around pretty quick from here, it’s probably about three months until your draft day!
I don’t have anything specific planned over this period. I’m sure there will be rankings, profiles and theories amongst other things. I’ve changed the theme because the last one wouldn’t let me post more than 4 lines on the front page. This is simple, but blue is awesome and that’s all that matters.
I have also formally begun to support the New York Knicks. After a winter adventure to Madison Square Garden, I couldn’t resist. Also, god love Amar’e (and I do). So please forgive the bias which will undoubtly occur (seriously… probably for the best to skip any posts on Gallo, AntRand or STAT).
I know sometimes reading fantasy sites can be like watching grass grow after the initial analysis, but I’ll try and create some original content. I’m already sick of reading rankings which have a severe roto slant to them (D12 is a sick first round option with the uncertainty of Wade/LeBron).
That’s enough for now. Happy reading.
