Two Man Draft – Round 4

Round 4 already. Things fly by. If you are only just dropping in, Jason over at fBasketballBlog crushed Rounds One and Three. I managed to prop up Round Two. And thus it continues. H2H, 9 categories, 12 teams, 13 picks. Did I mention it’s still July? Awesome.

37. Stephen Jackson (D. Lee/S Nash/C Boozer): As an avid S-Jax hater, this pick pains me. But what does this team need? Some threes, a few more assists, steals. Jackson brings that and more in spades. Factor in his points in case Nash drops off into a pure passer and some handy boards and it looking good. But the best thing about this pick is that his biggest deficiencies, FG% and TOs, are mitigated by the fact that those are some of this teams biggest strengths so far. This is a turning into a well rounded team which can compete across nearly every category (although we can probably kiss blocks goodbye). Obviously drafting last has some implications and if you can be in this position after 4 picks, I think it’s going well.

38. Russell Westbrook (G Wallace/D Howard/M Ginobili): And this team welcomes it’s starting point guard. The benefits for Westbrook are sky high. Sure, he doesn’t shoot the three, but this is the season he pulls it all together. It is more than reasonable to expect his FG% to jump from 41% last season. This will translate into more points and more opportunity to find open players as he gains more attention on the court. 17 points/8.5 assists/5 boards/1.5 steals is super realistic and something to get excited about. Don’t worry too much about the lack of three’s as they are the easiest category to find deep in drafts and on the waiver wire. Nonsense about point guards needing to shoot three’s needs to be rubbished for what is it… rubbish.

39. Baron Davis (D Wade/A Stoudemire/A Bargnani): If you are going to take risks, let’s make it for all the chips on the table. Baron Davis used to be an elite fantasy baller. I searched long and hard for the right fit for this team (Aaron Brooks, Devin Harris, Rudy Gay… respectively, no, no, urgh) but I think Davis is it. Pours in the assists which was what was sorely lacking. Still managed to have 1.5+ steals and 1+ three last season. Also, strangely, shot free throws at +12% above his career average. Hmm. Anyway, new coach, new team-mate, finally getting over being sad about Elton Brand leaving him high and dry. All this equals good times in the land of B-Diddy.

40. Andrew Bogut (S Curry/C Anthony/T Duncan): I’ll admit straight up the Duncan pick scares the beejeesus out of me. But that’s why we have more picks. Bogut is the perfect one-two hit. At his peak last season, he was the second best big man for fantasy. 2.5 blocks per is massive. Really bolsters the FG% of this team and puts them over the top with boards. I’m excited. Even if some of the newer Bucks soak up some of his scoring, his boards/blocks will be unparalleled at this point in the draft. Don’t be surprised when you see some monster lines from Bogut which really fill out the box score. Curry provides more than enough firepower at the guard spot and the weakest link to this point, big man stats, has just been sorted out.

41. Danilo Gallinari (D Williams/B Lopez/D West): Please don’t stop reading. This is a serious pick. Gallo is going to be literally camped on the three point line this season. The attention which Amar’e and AntRand will attract in the middle, together with the an actual PG playing on the court instead of the corpse that was Chris Duhon, Gallo is going to spot up shoot his way to our hearts. He will lead the league in three’s PLUS give you a few bonuses. 5 boards, 1+ steal, 1+ block. While I would’ve loved a big time scorer (maybe a Zach Randolph?), this is the right decision, despite the reach. The next pick available for this team is not until 56 and this type of production and upside just isn’t available then.

42. Zach Randolph (P Gasol/R Rondo/T Murphy): Sorry previous team, you lost your chance. There were two options for this pick and they both involve Rajon Rondo and how good you think he is going to be. If you are a doubter (and clearly I’m not since I took him in the 2nd round), then you go small for some more help. But if you have courage in your convictions, then you add another piece which can do maximum damage. And as a member of the Jail Blazers, Randolph knows how to inflict pain.  Luckily for us, he is also a 20/10 machine. He would have been earlier, but I feel that he cannot produce quite the same level of production as last season. This team now has a player to cover all the bases and will be competitive against nearly any team… unless Jason stuffs up the next pick =)

43. Derrick Rose (D Granger/J Smith/N. Hilario): With Granger bombing from beyond 30 feet, Josh Smith getting all up in your face and Nene doing his thing, Rose is the glue to this team. Doubt him if you want. I can understand people who stray away from him. But the facts are these – number one pick, an amazing leader, addition of superb pick n’ roll talent, a summer spent in the gym shooting jump shots (sidenote: I also read that David Lee has been learning to shoot the trey which is scary). All of this adds up to improvement for Rose. He is already a 20+ point machine which fits into most fantasy teams pretty well. His assists bring something lacking to this team while his personal dearth of steals is more than accounted for already. Reach? A little but Rose is quickly becoming a very reliable and efficient fantasy option.

44. Marc Gasol (K Bryant/M Ellis/A Jefferson): Right up until I remembered I can’t stand his guts, I wanted to take Joakim Noah here (and that I’m not sure about the Booz effect on him). But I got the next best thing. Pau’s little brother. This team has points and attitude in spades. They need a big, nasty inside presence to complement this. Before hurting himself last season, Gasol was hitting 58% of his shots to lead the league at one point. He grabbed 9.3 boards and also had 1.7 blocks per game. The Grizzles were one of the only teams who haven’t changed much this off-season, so I think it’s very safe to expect at least the same. It’s amazing a team of misfits actually turned out to be pretty decent, as the Griz provide some really solid fantasy value.

45. Antwan Jamison (D Nowitzki/J Kidd/A Iguodala): No LeBron? No worries (actually, that’s a lie). Things are going to get real again in Cleveland fantasy circles. Before getting shipped to Ohio, Jamison was a fantasy high flyer with the Wizards. His value has obviously taken a hit but should be back on track now. In 2008-09, he was a 20+/8+ power forward with 1+ threes/steals to boot. This team is a bit undersized and will struggle with blocks, but will dominate three’s and is looking like a very high scoring machine. The real issue with Jamison is getting his FT% back above 75%, where it hasn’t been in awhile. If this occurs, this is a value pick.

46. Rudy Gay (C Paul/C Bosh/J Johnson): Small forwards who aren’t called Durant, James, Granger and Anthony give me the creeps. Gay doesn’t do anything bad. In fact, as a pure basketball player, he is pretty good. But when I look at his stat line (20 points/6 boards/1.5 steals/.8 threes/.8 blocks with average %’s) I don’t see anything I like for my fantasy team. That said, he is super value at #46 and his name just kept staring at me as I kept scrolling past it. This team is now has 4 potential 20 point+ players which is pretty astounding for the first four rounds. Normally when that happens, you will fall down somewhere else but this team is well rounded. Lots of steals, assists and small guys that board well to help out Bosh. Sure they may lack blocks, but a few teams do in this draft so far, so it isn’t at issue at this stage of the process. Plus, there is another player coming up in 5 picks. Back to Gay. I don’t mean to sound down on him, as he is a great ‘filler’ type player, but when I pick my first 6-7 dudes normally, I like them to be very specific contributors in something other than points/threes. Others might have a different opinion.

47. Joakim Noah (L James/B Roy/C Billups): I know I just slagged out Noah about 4 picks ago, but let me explain. The other team had Al Jefferson who was is a bit of an unknown at this stage. Similar to Noah and you don’t want to play too many of those guys together (unless you really live on the edge, Delonte West style). James provides teams with a magnificent source of typical big man stats from while still pouring in assists and steals so we didn’t need any help up to this point. Noah, when healthy last season, was a defensive beast. 11 boards and 1.6 blocks per game despite playing just 30 minutes per game. These numbers should go up (despite the new Bulls coach being a defensive master) and I think Noah will be top 3 in the league for boards this season. On the offence, I really have no idea what will happen. In the playoffs last season vs. the Cavs, he showed glimpses of domination. Two 20+ point games but he also hit real foul trouble in multiple games. He will have more time to find his groove as teams look to apply pressure to Rose and Boozer. A bit of an unknown, but a risk worth taking for this team.

48. Paul Pierce (K Durant/T Evans/A Horford): I feel I am making a mistake. This is the pick I have thought the most about. Why Pierce? I am really worried about FT% on this team. I know it might be a bit irrational with K Dizzle being the best fantasy guy on the planet for FT%, but unlike other categories, the two percentages can actually be hurt by bad picks. I always think that if you big man has a bad game, say 7 points, 6 boards, 0 blocks, it’s not real biggy because you haven’t gone backwards, just less forward than the other guy. However, with Evans and Horford already dragging down KD’s lock category, he needed some help to make things awesome again. Of course, I haven’t even mentioned his 18/4/3 yet. However I think you will see those numbers dip a little as Rondo transforms the Celtics into his personal alien spaceship. The Truth will still knock down some three’s and lynch a few steals, but he is just here for insurance basically.

There you go. To re-cap:

Team 1: K. Durant, T. Evans, A. Horford, P. Pierce
Team 2: L. James, B. Roy, C. Billups, J. Noah
Team 3: C. Paul, C. Bosh, J. Johnson, R. Gay
Team 4: D. Nowitzki, J. Kidd, A. Iguodala, A Jamison
Team 5: K. Bryant, A. Jefferson, M. Ellis, M. Gasol
Team 6: D. Granger, J. Smith, N. Hilario, D Rose
Team 7: P. Gasol, R. Rondo, T. Murphy, Z. Randolph
Team 8: D. Williams, B. Lopez, D. West, D Gallinari
Team 9: S. Curry, C. Anthony, T. Duncan, A. Bogut
Team 10: D. Wade, A. Stoudemire, A. Bargnani, B. Davis
Team 11: G. Wallace, D. Howard, M. Ginobili, R. Westbrook
Team 12: D. Lee, S. Nash, C. Boozer, S. Jackson

Let it be known. I have a strong dislike on my fantasy teams for the Stephen Jackson’s and Baron Davis’ of the world, but in the interests of making this a semi-serious venture, I have placed those interests to one side. Jeez I’m a good dude.

Who do you think is best placed at the moment? Is there one team lagging a long way behind? What direction should teams be heading to with the murky middle rounds? I know you think I have snubbed some players (Devin Harris, Aaron Brooks, Andray Blatche?) so list them and I’ll try to defend myself.

Look out for Round 5 from Jason at some stage in the near future!