Boring, Boring, Boring: Predictable Fantasy Players 2010-11

Posted by Henry on October 19, 2010 · 3 Comments 

It’s round 12. You are sweating from your shitty computer overheating. You have run out of water/beer/vodka (circle as appropriate) but don’t want to get up because it’s pitch black apart from the dim lights of your screen. You just recently drafted a combination of DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Oden, Yao Ming, Wilson Chandler and Terrence Williams. You don’t know how it happened. You didn’t exactly aim for the most inconsistent bunch of flaky chumps this side of the 2009-10 Minnesota Timberwolves but it’s time to put your team back on track with some proven, although slightly boring, older hands. Deep breathes people, it will be OK;

Probably won’t be available in Round 12 but I liked the back story;

The statistical production of Ray Allen has been falling ever so slowly but so, so surely. Expect no less this season. On the plus side, he will not miss games, he will get his looks, he will be efficient. There is a reason this is titled boring, boring, boring and Ray Allen epitomizes this more than any other player in the league. He’s not flashy or in your face, he just does what he does, quietly yet predictively. I like O.J Mayo better this season but when it gets to that stage of the draft where Allen is on the board and you need a lock, there isn’t a better option at shooting guard.

Jason Terry is apparently overrated and has a ridiculously high ADP for his value according to these guys. Terry gets his minutes. Even with those role players last season he managed 33+ per game. He looks dropped off (-3 points) as did his long shots (-0.5). You just know though when you draft him, 1+ steal, 1.5+ steals, a delicious FT% on a pretty good number of attempts (3-4 per game) and super low turnovers. I must admit #65 is probably too high for my liking.

The Thunder can easily justify giving up max money to KD but the 2nd biggest story down in OKC this off-season is the lack of extension offered to Jeff Green. Maybe he isn’t getting it done on the court. As a fantasy owner though, you should know that he is playing for cash and that’s always a bonus. The problem with Green is his regression in his third season. Less points, boards and assists. Terrible drop off in 3FG%. It’s time to re-invent his game and it’s going to be pretty. You can bank the 15/6 and be confident he will be the 1/1/1 talent everyone recognises. And that’s about it. Lots of people avoid him for H2H (thinking he is a pure Roto stud) yet I don’t see it. Someone who chips in everywhere and is super consistent. The only reason people be hating is due to higher expectations and unfair comparisons.

The Truth, Paul Pierce, is another old dude who is going to drop off this season but the type of drop off is pretty predicable. Last season: 18/4/3, 1.5 3PM and 1.2 steals, 47%-85%. This season, same but reduced. 16 points, 3.5 boards, 2.5 assists, 1.2 3PM and 1.0 steals. Same percentages. You get the idea. It’s pretty simple. In Excel form it would look something like this: Production=(Previous Stats)/(Previous Age+365 days). Don’t input that bad boy into your spreads unless you want a nice #value? cell. In fact, you should probably forget about the Truth right now because some chump is going to take him waaay too early based on past reputation.

More typical 12th round suggestions;

Mike Conley is a dud, sorry Memphis fans. The number four pick from 2007 just cannot produce on the big stage. Conley is fine for 12/5 with about 45%. He’ll hit his three and grab a steal but nothing extra. He is lucky that the O.J Mayo @ PG was epic fail or his career would be spent on the bench. For fantasy 12th round purposes though, he is perfect. He can be your third back up PG who sits there all year, looking pretty. Don’t think of it as a wasted pick. There is even a little dash of upside if Rudy Gay, Mayo, Randolph and Gasol all go down with ‘flu-like symptoms’ for months of end.

For some unbeknown reason, whenever I see Beno Udrih’s name in print, I automatically pronounce it ‘Udrick’. Dunno why, just always have. Moving on. A lot of people will automatically assume because Tyreke Evans is a stud, anyone playing in the back court with him would be worthless. Wrong. Uridh averaged a career high in points and threes and tired his career highs in steals and assists last season. He played a solid 31 minutes a game. He is still the starting point guard on an up and coming team. Not exactly the first option but there will be a stackload of opportunity to manufacture some production. You can bank some pretty similar stats from last season (13/5 with steal/three). Not special, but worthy at the right (deep) spot.

Brendan Haywood is not exactly in a good place right now. After he moved to the Mavs last year he only averaged 26 minutes per game. Now he will be splitting time with Tyson Chandler. Yet in those 26 minutes, he still managed to construct 8 points, 7.5 boards and 2 blocks per game. Not bad at all. Keep an eye on him if you are going big and it starts to get a bit risky. He is nice insurance in case anything else goes wrong.

Like Haywood, Jarrett Jack is not loving his career right now. Sure he is the starting PG but it’s at possibly the worst team in the NBA and he has one of the best European point guards sitting right behind him. Despite all of this crap, Jack has obviously taken ‘Point Guard 101′. In 27 minutes per game last season he averaged 11.4 points and 5.0 assists. He has a wicked three point shot (+40% on 2.4 attempts) and shoots solid percentages (48/84 last season). All in all, he is like everyone else on this list. Wouldn’t cause a ripple in most places but plods along and gets the job done. When you are throwing up your late round flier of ‘random rookie pg x’, just pause one second and think if you have perhaps taken too many risks already? You probably haven’t but what the hell…

My housemate, myself and some bloke looking decidedly fed up by our shitty camera man

Filed under Draft, Fantasy Basketball, Musings, Pre-season 2010 · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

13 Predictions

Posted by Henry on October 8, 2010 · 7 Comments 

I see lots of lists everywhere I look on basketball blogs at the moment. The internet + fantasy + basketball = lists. Why aren’t I getting in on that action I asked myself? Probably because I don’t do anything the easy way was the response. BUt times, they are a changing. So here is a proper list, with an arbitrary number of points on a specific subject.

13) Kevin Martin will play more games than Gilbert Arenas and also have more fantasy value. Boom. Take that email argument from two days ago. This came out of a discussion with my Gilbert Arenas loving house-mate who thinks that Arenas is about to turn into the next incarnation of Pistol Pete Maravich. Apparently when John Wall is the savior, miraculous things happen to players who have lost their way. I call absolute balony on the grandest of scales. I do think Arenas will provide fantasy value but a top 5 SG? Nope. Lead the league in 3PTM? Nope. He will continue to shoot a terrible clip for FT% and manage a way above average TO rate for a SG. Kevin Martin on the other hand is about to light it up, Rockets style. He is playing for a smart coach and embedded in the highest basketball IQ team in the league. He has zero pressure on his shoulders with Yao and Brooks running the show. I can easily see 20+ points per night, with multiple threes, a wicked FT% and best of all, a career high FG%. He will miss time but 70+ games is to be expected.

12) DeMarcus ‘Boogie’ Cousins will win fantasy rookie of the year. This is mainly because of what he won’t do, as opposed to what he will do. John Wall will also put up big numbers, but like every rookie point guard to ever have played, his FG% will be somewhere in the dirt and his turnover numbers will be through the roof. Cousins has the advantage of being a big man who comes in as the most NBA ready rookie of those selected in the lottery. For fantasy, this means relatively low turnovers, higher FG% while still doing things like score, board and block. There are no negatives here people unless he has a brain explosion. The more I see of Cousins, the more I get this feeling that Sac-Town are going to fall in love with him and Evans running the place ragged. While he might initially battle for minutes, by Week 6 he will be playing 30+ night in, night out. You can’t keep a good thing down.

11) Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will all average within 4 points of each other. Every time the Heat get mentioned, all I see are camera flashes and smirks on faces accompanied by a loud groan from the NBA masses. It has already reached that point. However this is not just a story about one player. Or two. It’s going to be about all three. People will look back and Chris Bosh could well be the reason why this all worked out fine, or why it all crashed in flames. He has to want it at least a thousand times more than his play in Toronto suggests. He will get his points in all kinds of manners which we can’t even understand yet. Left unguarded under the basket, dropping 18 foot jump shots with no-one chasing him down, alley-oops from distance. This season will have it all for Chris Bosh and that means points, points and more points. I’ll put it officially at 22.9 per game, which would be more than enough to stay within the margin of Wade and James. It also makes him a very attractive fantasy option, one of a handful of 20/10 guys out there. He still probably can’t block, but those points will be some of the most efficient in the league.

Baby Davis didn't make the cut for 2010-11 predictions

10) Jameer Nelson will storm back into some form and be one of those pesky point guards that seems to have a blinding week for your opponent but against no-one else. Two seasons ago, despite playing only 42 games, Nelson was the bee’s knees as a second tier point guard. He has never been one for a cache of assists but he has the ability to turn it on when required. In that 2008-09 season, he averaged 2 3ptm, 1+ steal and amazing efficiency. His drop off has been pretty substantial since then, as he struggled with injury and the arrival of Vince Carter. But Nelson is the glue guy for Orlando this season. Carter hasn’t proved anything and may get moved before the deadline. Rashard Lewis is stuck in major funk from which I don’t think there is an escape. The thing is, this Magic team is only good enough when it really counts when Jameer is in top gear. Chris Duhon and Jason Williams are capable but small spells will be the order of the day. If the rumors about Dwight Howard’s offensive game (I think I’ve heard this one before though) are true, it’s only going to contribute. I’m not advocating you take Nelson anywhere in particular for your squads just that he’ll bounce back and cause some pain for opponents at some point during this season. He is too good not too.

9) The proliferation of the 1-1-1 guy. Last season we only saw two players actually record more than 1 three, 1 steal and 1 block every game over the course of the season and they are called Durant and James. Many others were close, but close sorta don’t cut it in my books. This season, there will be a rash of 1-1-1 players crowing their talents from the treetops. A certainty you can add to the list is Dwyane Wade. But let us focus on some more low key guys. Whatever you think about Channing Frye, as he seems to be a pretty polarising player in fantasy circles, he should average more than 27 minutes a game and in turn, nudge up his steals (0.8) and blocks (0.9) from last season to walk on hallowed turf. Andrea Bargnani should easily make this list but can’t steal a ball worth a damn. Last season he only managed 0.3 per game. Lazy? Perhaps but if he is going to be ‘da man’ in Toronto, this will have to change. There are a pair of Knicks (Gallo and Azubuike) who will be there about. If you are a Rudy Gay believer (and I’m not) then his 0.8 3ptm and 0.8 blocks totals are disappointing for a player of his ability but I don’t see him busting many balls on the court given his massive pay day. The most promising candidates though are those who were short, but only managed to play limited minutes. Nic Batum and Michael Beasley fit the bill here. And a flier? Troy Murphy only averages 0.4 blocks per game but playing alongside Brook Lopez and coming across with help defense could, in some far off fairy land, bump this total up.

8) Serge Ibaka will start for the Thunder and become the Chris Anderson for the next decade. The playoff series against the Lakers was Ibaka’s coming out party. Despite losing that series, Air Congo as he is affectionately known to OKC supporters was a monster. Against the best big combination in the league and the eventual NBA champions, Ibaka held his own defensively for long periods of time (25 minutes per game) over the 6 games. He isn’t exactly an offensive mega star in waiting but with Durant and Westbrook as teammates it’s not exactly an issue. But he can block. And block and block. So, instead of picking Chris Anderson with that 11th round pick, aim for Ibaka in the 10th instead just to make sure you nab him.

7) Old guys will continue to make fools of the haters out there. I’m talking mostly about three guys. Marcus Camby, Steve Nash and Jason Kidd. For the past two years I have been railing against anyone who brings their names up, deriding them for believing in players who cannot keep doing what they do. Yet they keep on keeping on regardless of what anybody says. Perhaps this is my personal mea culpa, an apology to what I believe have been overrated old fantasy stars but in reality they are just plain fantasy stars like everyone else. Steve Nash led the league in assists last year. Marcus Camby finished the season with a top 25 overall fantasy rank regardless of what system you use. Jason Kidd has missed 3 games in the past 2 seasons while throwing down three pointers with alarming regularity (+2 per game) and amazing accuracy (+40%), not to mention the 9+ assists and 5+ boards. Each of these guys have slid down draft boards over the past month because of concerns about age but what makes this year so much different? Nothing.

Steve Nash as he was originally intended

6) Twitter will make you more competitive in your league. If you are reading this blog, you probably know what twitter is. That said, unless you are a junkie, this isn’t going to apply to you. You know those people, scanning their phones every 15 seconds not because they got a text message from an actual friend but because they racked up another 3 @ replies. Those people. Well, they have an advantage over you and your reliance on Rotoworld to update you on the latest player movements, injuries and form. You are officially 1-2 hours behind the twitterati who if this were last season, have already picked up Darren Collison as Chris Paul is still sitting on courtside wondering what just happened. Twitter explodes at key moments because someone is always watching the news as it’s happening and this news spreads like wide fire, first on Twitter then to other parts of the internet and finally to the mainstream. If you think catching the scores on SportsCenter when you get home is going to cut it in 2010-11 for your fantasy news, you have another thing coming my friend.

5) Elton Brand will be the player who most outperforms his Average Draft Position. I know this is a big call considering it’s normally some rookie or super back up who was not even drafted in the vast majority of leagues, but I think Brand is just going to kill it this season. This comes from someone who dislikes watching 76er games so much, if it happens to be one of the two televised games that week in Australia, it doesn’t get tivo’d. Doug Collins is on the record as a big Brand supporter. He is fully recovered from his injury. All signs point to a massive boast. One the other side, his name is often mentioned as a 4th or 5th option at PF and nowhere I read is even the least bit excited in him. Perhaps wisely, but I don’t understand how a player with as much talent as he obviously does can continue to suck for so long. 34+ minutes, 19/9 with 2+ blocks.

4) As opposed to the above, Paul Pierce will be the most disappointing player related to his ADP. On the latest yahoo big board he is late 4th round. Pierce was a great player. He led his team when it was going through the worst era of the franchise. He led the league in scoring. He adapted his game when necessary over the past three seasons. But he looks OLD. With KG fit and better than ever (compared to the last two seasons anyway), Rondo taking on more and more responsibility and the combination of Ray Allen and Nate Rob in the backcourt and Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal in the front spells the least reliance on Pierce since he was a rookie. He will still get minutes, still do that annoying head fake, draw the contact crap that has been his bread and butter for years but the excitement and the bang for your buck is way over. 14-15 points with filler (2-3 assists, 3-4 boards, 1.2 3ptm) is fine for the Celtics this season but the problem is, that’s not 4th round material.

A picture tells 1000 words

3) Kid Delicious (aka Kevin Durant) will be the most dominant fantasy player since Garnett’s 2003-04 season. The gap between KD and whoever ends up as the 2nd option is going to be spectacular (barring injury). Sure, he is a consensus number one pick everywhere you look, but his dominance is going to be unbelievable. Box scores are literally going to explode with goo half way through the 3rd quarter. I’m big on going over the top, so let’s not stop at the 2000 word count. Toss out the pencil, grab your permanent marker and write this down: 33 points, 9.5 boards, 50/40/90 with 1.8 threes, 3+ steals/blocks. Eat it Chris Paul. (post script: as I was finishing this post up, this was on twitter about KD and partying. EXACTLY why he is number 1)

2)  Tyreke Evans will play beautiful, exquisite basketball for the Kings but this will not translate into first round talent. I just saw this tweet from Steve Alexander (head of Rotoworld NBA) saying that he is going late first round/early second round in all of his drafts. Which makes me sick. There is no doubt he is an ungodly talent on the basketball court but one quarter of pre-season hoops against the Clippers does not mean he can shoot threes or make free-throws all season long. Sorry, just the truth.

1) Luol Deng will continue his domination of Rashard Lewis. This one is for my boy Jason over at fbasketballblog who is forever doubting the talents of Britain’s greatest export. If you are still reading, I’m sorry to end on such a middle of the road kind of thing but this is going to become my singular achievement for the season after the inevitable collapse of my fantasy teams by about week 15. Deng has been biding his time but now it has arrived. He has always flirted with being a major piece of the puzzle and now that Derrick Rose has matured a little, Joakim Noah is a beast in the middle and Kyle Korver is running around jacking threes, Deng is left to hit his stride and carry his load on offense. While Rashard Lewis might be making $19.5 MILLION US DOLLARS this season (this point needs to be emphasised over and over again with every bricked three point attempt), he cannot compete!

Filed under Musings, Off-Season 2010 · Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Two Man Draft – Round 4

Posted by Henry on July 29, 2010 · 5 Comments 

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!

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What type of fantasy basketball player are you?

Posted by Henry on July 22, 2010 · 16 Comments 

There are all kinds of fantasy basketball players around. If you play in more than two or three leagues, you will know what I mean. The straight guy, the attention hog, the trade demon, the inattentive jackass… it goes on. Below are a few examples that I have had the pleasure of playing with over the last couple of seasons.

Mr Average (Or I’d Pick LeBron #1 everytime): Likes to do a bit of everything. Has no problem picking first or picking last. Will offer trades, build a competitive team but in the end, fall apart at the finish line because the perfect plan didn’t quite come off. This will result in blaming others (injuries most likely) and sulking off in to the future forever thinking about what could have been. Regrets trades that never happened despite never willing to trade with players at the top of their game. Thinks it’s fair enough that his opponent only has 14 total player games in All Star week while he lucked out and ended up with 23 but hates it when his 11th round draft pick gets a 4 week hamstring injury.

The Dan Gilbert: Demands things. Like the way certain rules should be interpreted after already trampling on others in previous seasons to get ahead. Tries to hit a home-run with their first pick then fills out the roster with way past their prime people who starred in a different era (think about that person who took Shawn Marion last year and expected to ride him all the way… oh wait. That might have been me). Over inflates players stats just to look good in arguments or tricks people into trades (Why please Mr Jamison, join our team for nothing). Will not win the league this season but will remind people about the past. (note: please imagine this who paragraph in comic sans for complete effect)

The (Insert Player Name) Lover: Loves individual stars despite their zero sum effect on any team which this person is trying to build. Paul Pierce in the early 3rd round? It’s PAUL PIERCE DUDE! Whatdaya mean Monta Ellis isn’t awesome? I have his ME Rocket shoes from 2008! All of a sudden, the roster has 3 small forwards and 4 point guards, together with names like Boris Diaw, Caron Bulter and Gilbert Arenas. No, this dude never wins, but he has an eclectic set of jerseys spanning his previous fantasy basketball seasons which is more than you can say about your crappy collection of Yahoo .JPG trophies.

Mr ODSR (Old Dudes Still Representing): Aka Mr Conservative. Aka Mr Boring. Tim Duncan? Yes please. Jason Kidd? Delicious. Chauncey Billups? All-Star. You get the drift. No-one will manage to play 82 games, but when someone does eventually produce 25-12-3 once every 8 weeks against the Nets, you won’t hear the end of it (“I told you he would be back”). The worst thing about this person? Their constant ability to amaze you with outstandingly stupid picks and trades which shatter any balance in the league.

Ms Bo Peep: You won’t hear a sound from this owner. Trade email? Silence. Responding to general forum chatter? Nada. After languishing mid table for the entire season with their original roster still in tact, holding onto Anthony Randolph despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, you might wonder if they have just given up completely? But the roster will still be set every week and the groans just loud enough to be heard as Jose Calderon posts another 24 minute, 3 assist game, absolutely failing to justify his 2nd round selection. Not a threat to the title, but definitely a strong possibility to sap all the fun out of the league.

The Kevin Garnett (trash talker): Probably the most hated of all fantasy players, but could still manage to make the league entertaining even if you took away box scores. Just because Baron Davis topped 20 points for the first time since he was a Hornet doesn’t mean you have to hear about as you lose 5-4 on Sunday evening. Last Sunday evening. And you’re still hearing about it. This guy finished 5th last season, and while his 40-38 record this season doesn’t sit any better, you wouldn’t know it after he just pronounced himself the champion in week 8 after trading for Jeff Green and Corey Maggette. While you secretly want to play this dude every week just for a chance to open some whoop-ass on him, you still try to stay above the fray by politely pointing to the scoreboard, only to have that email smashed back in your face with a group cc saying your team are the worst chokers since the ’06 Mavs. Even your computer giggles. Only 4 more months until the NBA finishes up. Sigh.

Did I miss anyone?

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Great stuff from Tales of 9 Cats in the form of an interview with Dr A from Rotoworld.

The Golden State Warriors by GMTR.

Rookies for now and the future, by CBS.

Some sleepers to consider.

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