First of all, I’d like to wish a speedy holiday recovery to Mr. Light, who is ill.  In the spirit of the season, I will refrain from mentioning Jason Terry until later in the post.

• Measley Beasley Watch. After a respectable game in the absence of Udonis Haslem, Beasley returned to form in his last game, putting up 13 pts, 1 board, a dime and 1 block, a typical performance for the formerly prized number 1 waiver priority pickup (now ranked 173 by Yahoo).
• Quinn’s Debt of Gratitude. Since his public chastisement by yours truly,  David Lee has bounced back with big-time double-doubles in 13 of his last 14 games.
• L’il Nate= Big Man. Nate Robinson was injured during the early days of the post-Jamal Crawford-era in New York.  In the two gamesc since regaining his health, he has put up 4 treys, 60 points, 11 boards, 10 dimes and 4 steals, on 49% FG shooting and 100% FT shooting.
• Black Fraze is putting up very solid numbers for the second week in a row.  Unfortunately, it looks as if he’ll get an L for the second time in two weeks.
• Jason Terry went off in his most recent game for 4 treys, 27 pts., 10-16 FG, 3-4 FT, 7 boards and 8 dimes-  the third time in 4 games Terry has scored 26 or more.  Mr. Terry has jumped back into the Yahoo top-20, currently ranked #17.

Just trying out some new stuff. Here’s a short post with some quick hits and interesting tidbits from around the Web. Hit play for some tunes while you read…

• Did you know that Allen Iverson and Joe Dumars actually played against each other?

• Here’s an interesting blog post about the Toronto Raptors. With Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, and Jermaine O’Neal, how can this team be bad? Interesting reading there…

• Ken Berger at SportsLine writes a comparison of Greg Oden and Derrick Rose. Who would you rather have? A few league GMs joined the debate.

• Who was the better point guard, John Stockton or Isiah Thomas? We know who Quinn would choose, but is it warranted?

• For the Boston dudes, how did you celebrate “Birdmas” this year?

• BallHype is a promising blog with lots of videos and news.

• Is Lebron James as good or better than Kobe Bryant? The guys at “Kobe Bryant. Respect.” don’t think so, but they lay out their case pretty well.

• I meant to put up a short post to experiment with the tunes, and this has now taken me over an hour and a half. WTF?

• Though The Mighty is a multi-ring holder, he has never won a H2H ring. In my view, this makes him somewhat of a charlatan.

• Parity in the TT League?  A glance at the standings in the TTL might suggest that there’s a gulf between the haves and have-nots, with my Flambuoyant squad and the two newcomers counterposed with the wretched Hamertime, Dark Night, and Show organizations.  I maintain that this gulf is not nearly as wide as it might appear, with injuries, and matchup vagaries playing a large role in the standings to this point.  It’s only mid-week, but Lights Out is getting throttled by the perennially hapless Blountman, Mclovin is getting handled by the witless Fraze, and Yes We Can is behind the woodshed getting spanked by the suddenly resurgent Hamer.  I’m in a tightly fought 4-4 battle with the now healthy (aside from  T-Mac’s predictably sore vagina) TME squad.
• Pink Slips issued.  My free advice was a one-time feature, as many of the slackers have been kicked to the curb.
• My favorite stat of the week.   Kelly Dwyer, writing for Yahoo notes: “Chicago’s coaching staff is brand new, and though they’ve had all summer and a month into the season to find out that Richard Jefferson abuses Andres Nocioni every time he sees him, it’s still early. Those game tapes cost money, you know. And they’re soooo bor-ing.How Nocioni could end up a -18 on the game in only 12 minutes of play seems pretty shocking, but that’s how bad it was. Combine his one-point, one-rebound, three-foul, two-turnover performance with Drew Gooden needing 11 shots to score two points (Drew has missed all but one of his last 17 shots), and you can see why Chicago fell a little short.”
• Jason Terry has fallen to #20 in the Yahoo rankings.  I’m not complaining.  Meanwhile, Measley Beasley has fallen to #121.  While we all know that these rankings are far from gospel, they give a rough estimate of a player’s fantasy worth in most formats.  Will Beasley’s numbers go up, even while coming off the bench?  They very well could.  Will I regret issuing him a pink slip? Possibly.  Beasley is a scorer, and occasionally a rebounder; he’ll hit a three or block a shot every once in a while.  Right now, he looks like a poor-man’s Glenn Robinson with uncertain playing time on the horizon.  Dropping him was a gamble, and I might come to regret it-  meanwhile, TME is at the back of the waiver line….

I’m sure many of you have looked at box scores and thought to yourselves “Man, I wish i had drafted that guy”.  Right now, I wish I had drafted Chris Bosh and Danny Granger at picks #10 and #11 instead of Shawn Marion and Deron Williams.   Below are some players that are playing above their draft position.

1.  Dwyane Wade (drafted #5) - Simply put, Wade is the best player in fantasy right now.  The numbers are staggering - 28 points, 8 assists, 5 boards, 2.4 steals, 1.7 blocks and good %’;s.   The only thing he doesn’t do is make threes.

2.  Dwight Howard (drafted #8) - I know that D12 went in the first round in our draft, but he is currently playing like a top 4 pick.  He’s better than Kobe, Dirk and Amare right now.  Sure, the FT% sucks (58% on 11.7 attempts a night), but you can punt a category in a H2H league and still win.  His points and boards are about the same from last year (21 and 14) but the blocks really stand out.  Howard’s averaging a mind-boggling 4.0 a game and could reach his goal of leading the league in blocks AND boards.

3.  Chris Bosh (drafted #16) - I was one of many that thought a healthy Jermaine O’Neal would take away from Bosh’s production.  What I should’ve done is looked at what happened when the Suns acquired Shaquille O’Neal.  Amare Stoudemire went off after the trade.  A true big man allows Amare and Bosh to play their true position of PF (not center) and thrive.  Bosh is averaging 27 and 10 with great %.’s and is playing like a first rounder.

4.  Danny Granger (drafted #15) - Granger was build as the “next Matrix”, but he is head and shoulders about the original Matrix right now.  Granger’s averaging 24 points, 5 boards, almost three 3’s a game, 1.6 blocks with good %’s.  The only thing is doesn’t do is get steals (0.8 steals per game). He’s a six category contributor that looks to be a sure-fire first rounder next year.

5.  Devin Harris (drafted #56) -  Lights Out!! mentioned Harris in his blog.  What in the world has gotten into Devin Harris?  Five 30+ point games and one 47 point game?  His mid-range jumper is much approved so opposing defenders must honor it.  With his speed and quickness, he’s now almost impossible to guard.  He’s averaging 25 points and 6 assists, but the most impressive stat is his 9.2 free throws made per game.

NOTE - 3 of the 5 players I have mentioned are wearing a McLovin uniform.  I might have criitized his lineup decisions but I can’t criticize his draft.

6.  Andris Biedrins (drafted #72) - The Big Latvian has made the jump from solid center to double-double machine.   He averaged close to a double-double last year in only 29 minutes per game, but has been so effective this year that opposing teams have to actual game plan for him.  His recent numbers are down a bit as a result, but you can’t argue with getting a guy averaging 15.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the 8th round.

Honorable mention:  Derrick Rose (#84), O.J. Mayo (#93), Rajon Rondo (#87), Jameer Nelson (#117), John Salmons (#96), Nene Hilario (undrafted).

After an extremely hectic period at work and great relaxing Thanksgiving weekend with The Main Event (the cornbread sausage stuffing was straight dope), I’m back with a new (temporary) picture from The Show’s fabulous wedding in Playa del Carmen. Whaddya think? Anyways, it certainly feels like a long way to the playa right now, and it’s just getting colder every day here in Prague. That has me thinking of heat, and who’s hot in the NBA right now.

Biggest news I’ve seen today is the emergence of none other than Flambo’s pre-season sleeper, Mr. Enigmatic Dan Gadzuric. He busted out last night with a whopper of 11 pts (4-5 shooting), 14 rebs, 3 blks and a steal in just 21 minutes. Is this the beginning of an all-star season for this unheralded beast?

Speaking of hot hands, where did Devin Harris come from? Last week he played four games with an average of 33pts (60.7% FG%), 84.8 FT% (11 attempts per game), 4.3 rebs, 5.3 asts, 1.3 stls and 1.0 3FGM. Damn! I guess he’s trying to prove that the YouTube video of him getting punked on the streets of London was a fluke. Whatever, that’s some serious heat.

Another guy playing well of late is Rajon Rondo. Unfortunately, my nemesis of the week, Dark Knight, has Rondo and is taking advantage of my injuries to serve me something fierce this week. Last night Rondo had his first career triple-double with 16pts (50% FG%), 13 rebs, 17 asts and 3 stls. Damn, Blount-man, you should be the one writing about this.

On another note, I came across another basketball blog, not fantasy, that had some really interesting articles. It’s called The Painted Area, and I particularly like this one talking about the Cav’s offense with LeBron in the post. Check it out, there aren’t too many places on the web where you get an interesting read and learn about the game, as well.

That’s it for me today. Got my first Christmas party of the season tomorrow night, then another week before leaving freezing Prague for warm California for a nice extended break with the family. Meanwhile, I’m hoping Josh Howard plays tonight, and plays well, damn it!

Fantasy hoops rosters will experience turnover in any league that permits roster moves (our league permits 75-per-team for the season).  Some rosters will experience more turnover than others.  There are generally two reasons for this:  a)  a team owner has continuing difficulty finding guys who can produce consistently, and repeatedly replaces yesterday’s garbage with tomorrow’s garbage, and b) a team owner rotates a roster spot in an attempt to inflate his games played- this is often done to compensate for a games-played shortcoming caused by one or more injuries.  Unfortunately, teams that rotate a spot daily will often cycle through some players that actually deserve a shot at sticking around.

The Flambuoyant squad has been fortunate: although only 10 of my 13 draft choices are still around, I quickly identified and secured long-term replacements for two of those three spots- J. Terry and Nene.  My  13th spot is currently occupied by R. Sessions, who is playing well enough to stick around, at the moment.  How his playing time is affected by the return of Redd and Ridnour from injury will likely determine his long-term fate.  Other players on my squad could certainly be affected by injury or other circumstances, and thus become pink-slip worthy; but for now, Ramon Sessions is the only player under the microscope, so to speak.

With this having been said, I will now conduct a team-by-team survey, in an attempt to identify tomorrow’s garbage: i.e., players who should be prepared for a pink slip sooner rather than later:

Yes We Can.  :  Javale McGee.     Obvious pink slip candidate.   This is a very solid squad with only one obvious charlatan.  I should note that I’m not yet thoroughly convinced of Rudy Fernandez’s value, and Dunleavy’s uncertain return from injury should be a bit troubling.

McLovin. :  Randy Foye.  Luis Scola.  Spencer Hawes.   It was tough including these three on the list, because all three have shown flashes, and it is conceivable that they could become consistent contibutors with consistent minutes.  Also, Pietrus is not on the list because he could turn into a keeper for this squad due to Bogans’ injury.

The Mighty.  David Lee.   His lack of steals or blocks makes it difficult to justify keeping this 12-7 man around, especially since his drop in FT% is surely keeping Quinn awake at night.  Barely surviving the cut:  Jeff Green, Wilson Chandler.

Cash Money (Black Fraze).   Fagnani.  Raymond Felton.   Also,  Fraze has several other players that might be just good enough to hang onto, if there weren’t so many other players “just good enough to hang onto” on the same team.

Lights Out.    Marc Gasol.   Delonte West.    Jason Terry (whoops, I forgot he already got his pink slip).  Never been a huge Marvin Williams fan, but it appears that he is playing just well enough to deserve a roster spot at this time.

TME.   Beno Udrih.   Larry Hughes.   Marquis Daniels.   Russell Westbrook.    It’s possible that not even Troy Murphy’s job is safe on this team in flux.  The good news is that Deron Williams should return for good Wednesday and TME will finally be 100% healthy (perhaps).

Dark Knight.   Kendrick Perkins.   Rajon Rondo.    Monta Ellis.   We all know that Ellis is good enough to hang onto.  The question is whether Blount can afford to hang onto him.

The Show.   Roger Mason.    Anthony Parker.    Lamar Odom.   If you don’t believe me about Odom, look at his numbers.  Only his combined 2.4 steals+blocks/game justify his roster spot at this juncture.

Hamertime.  Anthony Morrow.  Joel Przybilla.  Leandro Barbossa.  Hamer has had some serious injury issues to contend with, so it is no surprise to find some day-laborers on his squad.

I think it’s safe to say that there is much less luck involved in fantasy basketball than fantasy football.  Over the course of an 82 game season, your top players will get their numbers, unlike fantasy football where 1st round picks constantly underperform (see LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrooke, Stephen Jackson).  In basketball, you can put your guys in a position to win, but sometimes players don’t get their averages and you lose.  It’s extremely devastating when this happens on a Sunday.  Over the past four weeks, TME!!! has lost 3-4 points due to herculean efforts by the opponent and sub-par performances by players in my organization.  This post is not about crying over spilled milk, it’s just a  testament to the fact that anything can happen on a Sunday.

In Week 1, I thought I had a 5-3 victory in the bag over Lights Out!. I had a 16 point lead so all I needed was Jamal Crawford and Mike Miller to outscore Quentin Richardson and Ryan Gomes.  Well, Q-Rich goes off for 28 points, J-Craw scores 1 and the rest is history; I have to settle for a 4-4.

Two weeks later, I’m in a tight, tight battle with The Show.  Going into Sunday, points, assists and rebounds are in play.   To be fair, I did win by one assist, but I lost by three points, thanks to a 4th quarter 3-point explosion by Steve Nash and 5 points from that bum named “Raja Bell.”    Also, the underperforming Mike Miller plays 34 minutes and explodes for 8 points.

This past week, I’m up 5-3 going into Sunday with 3 categories in play.  i pick up Hughes and J.R. Smith for some added 3-point and scoring punch, yet Fraze astutely picks up Andrea Bargnani (not sure if I would have wasted a waiver request, but that’s an article for another day).  Well, K-Mart goes off for a season-high 26 points, Tayshaun Prince chips in 20, Bargnani scores 14 (7-8 in garbage time) and I get zero production from Maggette, Smith, Udrih and others.  Result - a 3-5 loss.

Crazy, unexpected things happen on Sundays and you have to move 0n.  Aerial Flambouyance was knocked out of playoffs because Chuck Hayes recorded a career high 5 steals on a Sunday.  TME!!! was denied an opportunity to go for his 3rd ring in 4 years because Mike Miller and Jeff Green combined for 10 3’s on a Sunday.  The Show lost two categories this past Sunday because Randy Foye decided to do his best Chris Paul imitation.

All you can do is put your team in the best position to win and hope for the best.

I woke up this morning to sunny skies. Haven’t seen that for a while. Shortly thereafter I went to the window and this is what I saw.

Then I did what I normally do when I wake up: check how my team performed the night before. When I went to bed, I was up 6-2 with my matchup against The Mighty. When I saw the standings, I had slipped to being down 3-5.

To top things off, Jason Terry is still going off. What a shitty day. (And now it’s snowing for real.)

It makes me feel bad, in a way (maybe), to keep hammering on Mr. Light’s ineptitude.  Circumstances, however, have forced me to provide an update on Mr. Jason Terry, the player who was drafted with the 81st pick (for a league in which 130 players are rostered at all times),  and then was contemptuously thrown under the bus by Mr. Ray Light before he had played a single game.

Terry’s Wednesday night performance alone could have prompted this posting:  31 points, on 62% FG-shooting, 75% FT-shooting, 2 three-pointers made, 2 boards, 4 dimes, and 3 steals.  But Terry followed it up tonight with this performance, marred only by his FG shooting:  20 points, on 40% FG-shooting, 100%  FT-shooting, 3 three-pointers made, 6 boards, 5 dimes, 3 steals and 1 block.

I believe Lights Out! may have cited Terry’s lack of a starting spot as the reason for dropping him.  Anyone, however, who has done a minimum amount of homework over the years would know that Terry has often come off the bench, and sometimes started, during his productive tenure (fantasy-wise) with Dallas.  He has filled both roles this year as well.  Finally, I should mention that I was chastised by some (including Mr. Light I believe?) for using a #2 waiver priority request on Mr. Terry.  The #1 priority holder (TME) is still out there waiting….. waiting……. waiting…….  Maybe a player like a Bogut, Cuttino Mobley, or Thaddeus Young will fall from the sky in early March.  Will it have been worth it?

Matchup Note: Aerial Flambuoyance is currently hanging on to a 4-4 tie with the insurgent Yes We Can! organization.  The upstart had a big games-played advantage (front-loaded no less) going into the week, and had seemingly locked up boards and dimes by the close of business on Wednesday.  A 5-3 Flambo victory appears to be a remote possibility, but I would count my blessings if I walk out of this one with a 4-4.  The GP advantage notwithstanding, the YWC (Yes We Can!) squad is a very formidable newcomer, and has to be considered, along with my Flambuoyant squad, as one of the two elite teams at this juncture of the season.

Draft Redux: Of my first 8 selections in the draft, only B-15, A. Biedrins (8th round), has exceeded expectations.  Rashard Lewis has basically met expectations (below his standards in most categories, but his newfound theft-mastery balances these out).  The other 6 have fallen short, or well short (Garnett, Okafor).  This apparent shortcoming in the draft (at this juncture), combined with success in head-to-head play, illustrates the importance of the later rounds of the draft (Nate Robinson), as well as the importance of early season waiver and free-agent acquisitions (J. Terry, Nene, and R. Sessions)

For all of you who like to follow along at home, the TTL blog has a new Standings page. This page will be updated every week. You can track the performance of the TTL owners, and feel free to leave comments on the site. It will be permanently accessible as a main link at the top of the page.

Interesting note: Last year, our infamous Blount-man, Louis Blount (Dark Knight), set the record for futility with 0.298 win rate. I could be wrong, but it looks like he’s trying to break his own record!

Fantasy sports afficionados, as well as sports fans generally, are always looking for the catchy nickname to reference their favorite players.  Names like C-Webb, D-Wade, and T-Mac seem to roll off the tongue.  And they’re also easier and quicker to type- whether in a column, blog-post, message board, or even in a taunting e-mail to a buddy.  With the ascendance of Dwight Howard to stardom, in a real sense, and fantasy stardom, in a slightly-lesser sense (FT%), the First Initial-Syllable From Last Name paradigm was challenged.  I think many fans, and perhaps some writers, played with the “D-How” designation, but it just didn’t roll of the tongue (or even off the keyboard?) as smoothly as the monikers listed above.  Instead, Dwight Howard is now known almost uiversally, as D-12.  Now I will introduce you to B-15:

B-15: Andris Biedrins

Yup.  Andris Biedrins appears to have made the leap this year.  He officially became fantasy-worthy two seasons ago, and last season became almost universally recognized as a player who must be rostered in any self-respecting fantasy hoops league.  Over those two seasons, he averaged right around 10p and 10r, with 1.5-2 blocks.  He also had stellar FG%, and lackluster FT%- around 60% in both categories.  He was a respectable second center on a fantasy squad, though your team was certainly suspect if he was the main guy in the middle.

B-15 has stepped it up through the first 3 weeks of this season, averaging close to 17p, 15r, 1s, and 1.7b.  He hasn’t missed on a double-double since March.  His percentages are becoming more significant, since he shoots more of both.  His FG% is down a bit, but still a net-plus on any roster- and it should rise from its current 53%, though probably not up to the 60% of previous years (his involvement in the offense has expanded from the days when all he did was throw down put-back jams.)  His FT% is a bit more of an anchor than previously, due to more attempts, but is nothing like the anchor of D-12 or Shaq in his prime.

In any case, folks,  B-15 has arrived.

Let me add a big qualifier here: the following line (through one half of play) is the Gold Standard, thus far, for players drafted in the 9th Round, and then unceremoniously dropped before they played a single game.

• Jason Terry:   60% FG, 100% FT, 1 3-Pointer made,  17 Pts., 1 Board, 3 Dimes, 4 Steals, 1 Block.

Mr. Terry is an 8-category contributor tonight, with half the game remaining.  Lights Out can defend his decision all he wants; I maintain, however, that he could desperately use a guy like Terry on his squad.  Furthermore, he secretly regrets this decision.

Maybe Terry was not a “system” player for him.  Maybe Terry didn’t fit into his “grand plans”.  When he lies awake at night, does Mr. Light ever realise that his grand plans need a shakeup?  For many years now, Mr. Light’s fantasy seasons have played out like the movie “Groundhog Day”;  a guaranteed declaration that “this is my year”, with each new season, is money in the bank.  The annual unfulfillment of this declaration is money in the bank also.  As is a laundry list of blunders, such as prematurely dropping the aforementioned Mr. Terry.

As we enter the 3rd week of the season,  you can start to get a feel for the kind of productivity you will get from key personnel on your roster.  Typically, your first seven picks should be be consistent performers while the latter part of your roster is stocked with specialists (Peja Stojakovic), players with upside (Derrick Rose, O,J, Mayo), 6th men that can explode with an injury to a starter (Ramon Sessions, Spencer Hawes) or injured stars (Gilbert Arenas, Monta Ellis).

So I’m going to take a look at the first seven rounds of the TT draft and call out a steal and bust in each  round.  *Note that injuries will not factor into a bust determination.

Round 1:

Steal - Dwyane Wade (5th overall) - D-Wade is arguably the best player in fantasy right now.  CP3 and Lebron are great, but Wade is averaging a mind-boggling 26.2 points, 8.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks on 48% shooting from the field.

Bust - Shawn Marion (10th overall)- it’s early but Marion doesn’t seem too motivated to get a new contract with pedestrian averages of 10.3 points and 8.5 boards.  The steals and blocks are nice, but where are the 15+ points and the threes?  Honorable mention - Kevin Garnett (9th overall) - averaging 14.6 points and 10.0 boards and Elton Brand (6th overall) only averaging 0.7 blocks.

Round 2:

Steal - Chris Bosh - only averaging 27 points and 11 boards with great percentages

Bust - Steve Nash - points (14.0), assists (8.3) and shot attempts (9.7) all down from last year.

Round 3:

Steal - Jose Calderon - might be the 2nd best PG behind Paul right now.

Bust - none right now

Round 4:

Steal - Pau Gasol - Bynum will eat into numbers but 20/15 from last night is a sign of good things to come.

Bust - Andre Iguodala - looks lost in Sixers offense.  Only averaging 11 points, 5.3 boards and 4.8 assists on 38% shooting from the field.

Round 5:

Steal - Chauncey Billups - there is no way that Mr. Big Shot should have fallen this far.   He’s a top 6 PG whether in Detroit or Denver.

Bust - Mehmut Okur - 3’s down from last year and only averaging 15 points as 2nd scoring option.  If he can’t average 18+ points now, what will happen will DWill comes back?

Round 6:

Steal - LaMarcus Aldridge - Averaging 19.3 points, 6.5 boards and 2.0 blocks.  Numbers might slip a bit when Oden comes back.

Bust - Ray Allen - too two-dimensional (3’s/points) to draft this high.

Round 7:

Steal - Stephen Jackson - the best player on a bad team is always good to have.  Averaging career highs in points (22.3 points) and assists (5.7).   Honorable Mention - Tony Parker.  Pre-injury TP was averaging a ridiculous 27.4 points and 5.8 assists.

Busts - Luol Deng - Point (13.3), boards (5.9) and FG% (39%) all down from last year.

Later this week I will look at some Round 8-13 steals (i.e Andris Biedrins) that are blowing up right now.

Stud of the Week

Lebron James (Yes We Can)
LBJ had a monster week, dropping 41 PTS on da Bulls not once, but twice in one week. In between these performances was a monster 27-8-9 performance. Undoubtedly the Stud of the Week.

Runners up:
Tony Parker (Cash Money) - Recipient of the Flambo “Gold Standard,” TP was on fire before he got hurt.
Amare Stoudemire (The Mighty) - Another co-recipient of the “Gold Standard” with a line that could possibly be the best of the year.

Scrub of the Week

Yao Ming (Cash Money) - Certainly not playing like a first rounder. Maybe he’s tired after a long summer. Maybe he’s playing hurt. Serious underperformance from Yao in Week 2.

Runners up:
JR Smith (Aerial Flambuoyance) - only 1 3FGM in the last three games (sans Iverson)
Shawn Marion (TME) - EJ went so far as to compare him to Udonis Haslem

Rookie of the Week

Marc Gasol (Lights Out!) - Gasol’s a BEAST. 27 PTS, 16REBS, 3 BLKS, 9-11 from both the field and the stripe against Golden State. Sleeper of the year candidate. Inconsistent, but not bad for a C off the waiver wire.

Runners up:
Michael Beasley (Aerial Flambuoyance)
Derrick Rose (The Mighty)

Matchup of the Week

TME vs McLovin - Despite admonishments to set his lineup, McLovin served up a Big n’ Tasty 6-2 to TME. Will EJ be able to overcome his squad’s myriad injuries?

After throwing down one of the two or three best lines of the season earlier this week, Spurs point guard Parker did not last long in his subsequent outing- going down early with an ankle-sprain that will keep him out at least an estimated four weeks.  I do not have Parker in this league- the less-than-astute Cash Money (Black Fraze) organization will have to decide how to handle this one.  I do have Parker on my B League team, and it is very possible that I will be forced to kick him to the curb, for the following reasons-

• My man, D. Williams is out for at least another 1-3 weeks, during which I will likely be punting assists anyway, and Parker is, at best, a second-tier PG in the assists department.  With D. Will down, the additional dead weight of the recently-beloved T. Parker will be tough to overcome, especially when his dimes will likely not matter.
• Parker’s teammate, Ginobli, is floating out there on many waiver wires, might come back sooner, and is by most accounts a better fantasy player (when healthy) anyway.
• The Spurs could be in serious trouble.  The West is ultra-competitive, and if the Spurs have, for argument’s sake, say a 5-20 record when he’s ready to return, how eager will they be to rush him?  Will there be trade speculation?  Maybe an attempt to overhaul the team, given their advanced years and fragility of their starting back-court?

Other observations:

• TME (aka “The Ego”) is in some early season trouble, especially if one is to believe TME’s very own Marion-Haslem comparison. D-Will’s out now for a longer period than originally thought.  Maggette’s out.  Camby’s struggling and limited, and his motivation, playing for the sorry-@ss Clippers organization might be questioned.  Harrington’s gone, although TME might regret this move if Harrington is traded to a team, like, maybe the Knicks?  Or the Raptors? (Maybe Nellie wants his chance to attempt an 11th-hour career revival on J. O’Neal. ) Finally, the ironically healthy T-Mac just excreted a beautiful line:  1-11 FG, 1 three, 3pts, 2 boards, 4 dimes, effort.
• The Show squad resembles a doormat right now.  Although it’s very early in the season, it’s hard to imagine that The Show, as presently constituted, will ever make much noise.  Arenas returning to health would certainly be helpful, but can that alone erase the hole that will be dug in his absence?  A. Parker, W. Chandler, and U. Haslem are all fine candidates for the 13th spot on a 13-man roster. M. Daniels is a caretaker at best.  We will see how this plays out.
• A. Biedrins is a monster out of the gate, appearing poised to make the jump to elite C status.  

As expected by those in the know, the Flambuoyant organization has hit the ground running.  Let’s move on to Week 3!

There comes a time in every fantasy owner’s season where they are faced with the dilemma of keeping or dropping a player. Generally, there are four reasons why players are dropped in our league:

1. Injuries

2. Lack of Productivity

3. Decent productivity, but upside players are available on the waiver wire

4. Need to rotate roster spots to combat injuries

TME!!! has been forced to make some difficult decisions in Week 2 due to a roster that can’t get healthy. 2nd round pick, Deron Williams, is still out with an ankle injury. 3rd round pick, Marcus Camby (sore heel), is on a minutes restriction. Corey Maggette (hamstring) and Al Harrington (sore back, trade demands) are both out as well. Plus, my first round pick, Shawn Marion, is no better than Udonis Haslem right now. One of the keys in H2H leagues is to try to keep your head above water while your team deals with injuries or sub-par production. 4-4 ties or even 3-5 losses are OK as long as you stay around .500. Both The Show and The Dark Knight are in jeopardy of starting the season 4-12 and 2-14 respectively. That’s a tough hole to get out of in a league as competitive as ours. Sweeps are rare and even 6-2 victories are hard to come by. Tough decisions like dropping Gilbert Arenas or Monta Ellis will have to be made if these owners want to stay in the race.

TME!!! made a tough decision by dropping Manu Ginobili and an easier decision by parting with Al Harrington. Ginobili was a great value in the 12th round, but healthy players are paramount with injuries mounting. Harrington has upside, but is clearly in Don Nelson’s doghouse and won’t have value until traded. I’d rather have two starters playing 35+ minutes in the Warriors fantasy friendly offense than waiting for Ginobili to get healthy or Harrington’s back spasms to go away.

Good strategy or bad strategy? Only time will tell.

It had seemed as though the financial crisis had bitten the tongue of TTL team The Mighty, a multiple ring holder who in the past has often talked too much. But having traded emails with him recently, I want to congratulate him on the birth of yet another little Mighty. I don’t know the name, or even if it is a boy or a girl, but it seems like this happens at the start of every hoops season. In honor of this occasion, I’ve taken it upon myself to put together a review of The Mighty squad.

For some historical reference, The Mighty was the first to win the league in back-to-back seasons, winning the title back in 2001 and 2002. Both titles occurred when we still used the rotisserie format, with Mighty staples such as John Stockton, Brevin Knight and Speedy Claxton. Since then, small ball has continued to be the defining strategy for Quinn, and this year is no exception.

Round 1, Pick 4: Amare Stoudemire
No surprises here. Amare has already set this year’s “gold standard” with a huge line a few nights ago. One of the elite four of this year’s draft.

Round 2, Pick 17: Josh Smith
The defensive stud of fantasy hoops. Smith alone can sometimes win the BLK category in a given week. No big scoring games this early in the season, but has been amazing in STL and BLK. Unfortunately, a high-ankle sprain has sent him to the bench for a few weeks. A solid pick, but some bad luck early on for Quinn.

Round 3, Pick 24: Jose Calderon
Showing his proclivity for PGs, Quinn went with Calderon in round 3. Though a little bit unproven, he has shown that when on the floor, he is a serious fantasy stud.

Round 4, Pick 37: Vince Carter
Playing out of Quinn’s native New Jersey, Vince gets the call in round 4. All alone now on the Nets, Vince could have a big year. Or he could sulk like he did in Toronto. Looking like the former in week 2.

Round 5, Pick 44: Chanucey Billups
What? Round 5 and only two PGs? But all things considered, a steal for Quinn at this point. Now playing for his hometown Nuggets, Billups could be even more of a steal.

Round 6, Pick 57: Mo Williams
Small ball lives. Mo played great last year until he got hurt. Now on the Cavs and getting to play with Lebron James as a SG, Mo should get a lot of looks from behind the arc. Assists may go down a little bit, but a good pick at 6.

Round 7, Pick 64: Greg Oden
This was a bit of a gamble, but with a base of Amare and Stoudemire, Quinn probably felt this year he could have some solid bigs to go with his guards. Unfortunately already injured, it still remains to be seen how good Oden really is.

Round 8, Pick 77: David Lee
I’m a big fan of David Lee, and I would have loved to get him around here. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20, and it looks like Lee is having trouble in D’Anotoni’s system, and has lost his starting spot and is back as sixth man. Regardless, I think Lee is a double-double machine with good percentages, and he’ll eventually come around.

Round 9, Pick 84: Derrick Rose
Gambling on a rooking with tremendous upside. Potential Rooking of the Year winner on a Chicago squad that seems to have lost its identity. Kirk Hinrich already getting injured probably won’t help Rose much, as he was already getting loads of PT. So far, looking like a good pick at 9.

Round 10, Pick 97: Chris Duhon
Another PG, now from his former hometown of New York. I don’t know much about Duhon, and would never draft him personally but a starting PG on a D’Antoni team should get stats. Moot point, however, as he has already been dropped.

Round 11, Pick 104: Thaddeus Young
Had a solid end of the season last year, and showing a lot of promise. I like this pick at 11, and there’s definitely upside here. Quinn was a little impatient and already dropped him, so now Young is wearing a Lights Out! uniform. Thanks, Quinn.

Round 12, Pick 117: Jameer Nelson
Another PG. Someone’s gotta throw the ball to Dwight, right? That was my logic two years ago, and I found that Nelson is extremely frustrating to own on a fantasy team. I don’t like him, and don’t like this pick, but it’s Round 12. He should have been dropped before Thaddeus Young.

Round 13, Pick 124: Jamario Moon
Skywalker Moon adds more blocks to this squad. Not much to say here for a last rounder other than he’s already been dropped.

Overall, I think Quinn really had a slightly different strategy this year. Securing a solid pick in Amare with the number 4 pick allowed Quinn to have a firm base in the big categories (REBS, BLK) and backing it up with Josh Smith means this squad won’t be a pushover in big categories, and Amare’s great FT% fits in with the other Gs. TME recently ranked this squad at the top of his Week 1 Power Rankings. Unfortunately, some players have already been hit with injury, but as long as nothing major happens, this is a team that should be competing in the playoffs.

What do you think?

On a night when Amare scored 49, Tony Parker established the early-season gold standard in box scores, with his .611 FG%, .900 FT%, 2 Three-pointers, 55 pts., 7 boards, 10 dimes- line for the night. His goose-eggs in steals and blocks can be forgiven, due to his sheer six-category dominance. The categories that have relegated him to second-tier PG status in the past: no 3-point shooting (3 in last two games), and mediocre FT shooting, were overcome on this night. It’s obviously way too early to state that Parker’s overall shooting has jumped to the next level, but, damnit, what a performance!

Update: Amare’s .810 FG%, 1.00 FT%, 49 pts, 11 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, line from tonight, is probably the actual “gold standard” so far. Damn! But I chose to talk about Parker instead. So deal with it, Quinn.

Although I own Parker in another league, the often-bungling Black Fraze is this league’s owner, sporting the sheepish grin after this performance. Incidentally, Fraze has improbably assembled a decent-looking squad, maybe even a #4 or a #5 seed, the presence of Hinrich notwithstanding.

Other observations:

• the usually move-judicious Show squad is tied for the lead, with the judicious-to-the-point-of-lunacy Lights Out squad, with 5 roster moves after 8 days. I predict that Anthony Carter will be the next Lights Out roster casualty. While the Show may not have any obvious future roster casualties, he appears to have 6 or 7 players competing for the last 3 spots on the bench.
• TME injury update. Injury-prone Ginobli and Maggette are out. Camby has returned with limited effectiveness. D. Williams could return Friday. The Uber-Man of injury, Tracy McGrady, remains “healthy”, for now. TME’s amazing, near-miraculous run with injury-prone players two years ago, may have induced him to abandon logic, and conclude that “once you have one injury-prone player, might as well snatch up as many as you can”. We shall see how this plays out.
• L’il Nate went off tonight, doing almost all of his damage in the second quarter. 5 3’s, .75 FG%, 1.00 FT%, 24 pts., 3 boards, 5 dimes, 2 steals.

10. The Dark Knight - With Louis’ computer on the fritz, I had the honor and pleasure of informing him of his swept status. Boy, I miss making those calls. Louis always gets off to a slow start in TT and blames it on his focus being on fantasy football. The real story is that he is a poor evaluator of talent so his drafts suck. Either he drafts injury prone guys or guys that are already injured. Louis better hope that his fantasy football winnings offset his fantasy basketball losses this year.

9. The Show - I’m just not feelin’ the defending champs squad this year. 7 of the 13 guys on his roster are questionable. Odom is the sixth man and his numbers are down. Brewer is a fringe waiver wire guy. He picked up Sessions after his weekend explosion, but Ridnour is back on Wednesday. Miller is going to walk into a timeshare with Hawes. Arenas is out until 2009 and Okur is struggling out of the gate. Parker is solid but will be inconsistent as option #4 on the Raptors. Thibault has some work to do.

8. Hamertime - Missing the draft can be a killer and Hamer is officially punting assists every week. Shaq was a nice pick up but this squad is missing the typical balance of a Hamermesh-led organization.

7. Lights Out! - how many times this year will Q-Rich and Ryan Gomes outscore Mike Miller and Jamal Crawford by more than 16 points? It happened on Sunday, giving Ray a 4-4 tie, but will probably never happen again. The fact that Ray only got a 4-4 against a TME!!! team down 2 of its first 3 picks is not a good sign.

6. McLovin - I like McLovin’s squad on paper, but he has to get better guard play from Foye (0-for-10 yesterday) and Harris. He has a nice collection of bigs and should be in the mix for a playoff spot his first year in. Bosh is a monster.

5. TME!!! - middle of the pack only because there are still a lot of question marks surrounding this squad. Will Camby come back and play like last year? Can Deron Williams elevate his game to an all-star level? Hawes could be a nice sleeper, but can T-Mac and Maggette stay healthy?

4. Cash Money - Fraze is notoriously slow at making moves during the week and re-working his roster so this will probably be his squad thru XMAS. He’s soft at PG, strong at center, but needs AI2 to play better. Yao’s health could be an issue and he might have reached for Dunleavy a little in the draft considering his knee is still a problem.

3. Yes We Can!! - don’t be fooled by his Week 1 victory because The Show is ranked #9 in my power rankings for a reason. With that said, Lamont has some nice balance and the best player on the planet.

2. Aerial Flambouyance - Gerard’s squad has two players that should benefit from today’s trade. Iverson should score more in Detroit and J.R. Smith should be elevated to starter in Denver. Shy Guy is soft on assists since Terry and Robinson get none, but he has some nice pieces.

1. The Mighty!- Quinn’s sweep might be deceptive because his numbers weren’t that impressive, but a sweep is a sweep. Quinn got a steal with Billups in the 5th and should be competitive in blocks with Oden hurt if Thomas and Josh Smith keep playing well. Overloaded at point guard with Billups, Calderon, Nelson, Rose and Williams.

For those that don’t know me, again I’m Lamont Johnson. Born and raised in Alexandria VA and now reside in HOTLANTA. I decided to go ahead and post my first blog. Since everyone is writing about their draft results I figured I’d follow suit. I’m going to try and post something every week but we’ll see how that works out. Here’s my take…..

I wanted to build a team that (at least with my first 4 picks), each night I knew what I would get with them. I believe this is the order I picked them in. If not, the logic behind the pick still stands.

Round 1 – LEBRON JAMES
I mean, I don’t know what else to say about this pick except solid. 30PTS, 8REB, 7AST, 2STL, 1BLK….RIDICULOUS. I kind of wanted CP3 with this pick because I already had Lebron in another league but believe me, I’m cool with it!

Round 2 – CARLOS BOOZER
The way the board was going, I decided to go big with my next two picks and solidify my F/C spots. Boozer is a notoriously fast starter. Last season he was the player of the month during November. Great FG% shooter and 20/11 are almost as guaranteed as a drop in the bucket.

Round 3 –TIM DUNCAN
The Big Fundamental. My rebounding/FG% are officially solidified. Another 20/11 guy..similar FG% and probably going to give me 1.5-2.0 BLKS. His FT% is an achilles along with Lebron, but I believe to build a winner, at least one category can be sacrificed. Oh and no Ginobili for at least 2 months will help his points tremendously.

Round 4 – RON ARTEST
So with my first 3 I went big and I was ecstatic to get my transition man in Artest. Not terrible from the field, obviously this puts my steals in another stratosphere and he gives me a nice boost in 3s and I also think that his FT% will get better this year on a contender. In a money year for him, I suspect all of his vitals to improve.

Round 5 – STEPHEN JACKSON
This guy is going to go ape shyt this year. That’s why I drafted him in two leagues and may have jumped here to get him. This dude will have the ball in his hands like 70% of the time. I think the only guys on this squad that Don Nelson trusts are Jackson and Beidrens. Maggette will probably fill in nicely and that’s another reason to think his AST will go up because their PG situation is a mess. GS is going to suck, but that doesn’t mean SJax wont average like 24-25PTS and 5 dimes. Not to mention 3-4 3PTS a game.

Round 6 – JASON KIDD
Yes I realize the guy is old BUT he is still Jason Kidd. The only place he hurts me are points and FG% and I’ve clearly addressed that early in the draft. He and LBJ alone are enough to put most ppl away each week in dimes. He compliments Lebron in most categories. He was the last top tier PG on the board and I had to grab him. New system, Olympic boost, I think he will at the very least have a comeback first half of the season. BTW…the dude has 8 steals in his first two games.

Round 7 – RAY ALLEN
This was the first pick where I really wasn’t completely focused and ill prepared. I can’t remember who was on the board when this pick came but I’m sure I took this one down to the wire. I mean, Ray production declined a bunch when he came east but I thought to myself, can it get worse? Excellent 3PT and FT shooter who most nights won’t hurt me. The guy needs shoot better and I’ll feel much better with this pick. As of now I look really solid in 3s, assists, points, rebounds, steals.

Round 8 – BIG Z
I needed a center. What else can I say. Doesn’t do anything great except he is an excellent FT shooter for a 7 footer. Probably will never hurt me and certainly help me with boards and block (where I’m really lacking).

Round 9 – MIKE BIBBY
I like this dude and I needed another PG. All of his numbers were down last year but obviously a lot of that had to do with the wrist issue and switching teams. I think Atlanta will be good this year and he’ll get his moments. Clearly a shell of himself but will help my with dimes, 3s, FT,stls most weeks. I felt good not stretching to get him in round 9.

Round 10 – CHARLIE VILLANUEVA
CV was an upside pick for me. Who knows how Skiles will handle this guy but if all works well I think he can have a breakout year. He’s bound to get hurt at some point but I’ll ride him while I can.

Round 11 – MATT BARNES (who I’ve since dropped)
I don’t really feel taking rookies so I went with a guy who is going to be on the floor and will have opportunities to shoot. May be an up year for him if he hits his open looks.

Round 12 – RUDY FERNANDEZ
Um, did anyone see this guy in the Olympics?? He will be starting by week 5 and he’s clearly not a rookie as he is tagged with all of his overseas experience.

Well there you have it, the DNA of a champion. Stay healthy and YES WE CAN! will be there fighting at the end. BARACK! GO SKINS!

Comments welcome!

A fan favorite in the TTL, unnamed sources have reported that a deal has been reached sending Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Overall, I’d have to say I’m pretty pleased with this trade.

I think Iverson really liked playing in Denver, and he had one of his best overall years last year. But now he is going to a really solid team. Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace have played together forever and have great chemistry. But though they perenially have a great regular season, I don’t think too many people outside of Detroit really believed they could win a championship. Clearly they had to shake things up, and I’m sure this decision was a tough one.

Can Iverson fit in with this squad? For sure, I think a trade so early in the season is better than a last-minute trade like the one that landed him in Denver. But I don’t think it will be that hard for him to fit in. This will be a better team than any he’s ever played on, including the scrappy team that went to the Finals in 2001. I think they’ll find a way to make it work.

From a fantasy perspective, I don’t think this will really affect Iverson’s performance. He’s a stud, and there’s no changing that. I think Billups will have a harder time adjusting in Denver. Carmelo Anthony will likely see an increase in scoring. This could boost him to close to 30 PPG. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I don’t really see Denver as that much better off.

What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments.

Special shout out to PennyCCW over at YouTube. He’s put together an amazing collection of Iverson videos. Here’s one of them from Iverson’s second game as a Nugget…

I don’t know what the hell Mr. Light thought he was doing, bestowing his “awards” for the week, before the week was over.  Nor do I know why he’s entitled to his self-appointed role as a bestower of awards, given his perennial status as a chump-tax candidate.  I will not venture to make grandiose proclamations after one week (abbreviated) of play.  I do have a few observations to make:

1)  After a very disappointing start Tuesday and Wednesday,  my Flambuoyant squad bounced back to score more points than any other, and to record more rebounds and steals than 8/9 of the competition.  My 1-2 risk/reward punch of Durant and Beasley started slowly, but finished a bit stronger.

2) Quinn was able to register a somewhat deceptive sweep of the perennially bungling Mr. Blount. FG% was close, and Quinn won by one 3, 14 points and 1 rebound.  Quinn’s numbers were only slightly above pedestrian.  The roster spot that Blount annually reserves for an injury gamble is occupied this year by Monta Ellis- he of the 30-game suspension.  I like Rajon Rondo, but it must be tough to hang on to him when your roster also features the aforementioned Ellis,  Luis Scola, and the as-yet-undeciphered Mario Chalmers.

3) New participant Lamont, aka Yes We Can, appears to have assembled a pretty solid squad, knocking off defending champion The Show.

4) The perennially boastful and egocentric TME franchise managed to hold on for a tie against Lights Out, despite the absence of TME’s 2nd-round pick D. Williams.  Lights Out was able to pull even, thanks to some feverish remaking of his roster, and equally feverish efforts to justify his moves in this forum.

That’s all for now.  On to Week 2.

Stud of the Week

Chris Paul (Lights Out!)
CP3 has almost single-handedly kept me in it this week. Three games averaging 21.7 PTS, 5.3 REBS, 12.0 AST, 50% FG, 87% FT, 7 ST. There’s really nothing to add. He was drafted first, and played like it.

Runners up:
Kobe Bryant (The Show) - 24.0 PTS, 7.7 REBS, 3.7 AST, 5 ST, 47.2% FG, 83.3% FTM
Amare Stoudemire (The Mighty) - 22 PTS, 11 REBS, 64.1% FG
Josh Smith (The Mighty) - Steals and blocks machine

Scrub of the Week

Ray Allen (Yes We Can) - He’s supposed to have game, but started the season slow. Serious underperformance for him, but he should come around sooner or later. 10.7 PTS, 3.7 REBS, 0.7 AST, only three 3FGM.

Runners up:
Stephon Marbury (Lights Out!) - spectacular bust
Jermaine O’Neal (McLovin) - started the season slow, should improve
Ricky Davis (The Show) - 3-of-16 from the field in 3 games. Now on waivers.

Rookie of the Week

Michael Beasley (Aerial Flambuoyance) - Debut wasn’t great, but has improved every game, and is also getting more PT. 25 PTS, 4 REBS, 10/16 FG, 4/4 FT, 2 BLKS against Charlotte.

Runners up:
Mario Chalmers (Dark Knight)
Derrick Rose (The Mighty)

Matchup of the Week

The Mighty vs Dark Knight - Quinn looks poised to pull off an opening week sweep against the Blount-man. Ouch!

Just a few days into the season, the waiver wire has seen plenty of action in our league as teams try to fine tune their rosters.  My draft didn’t quite go as I would have liked, so I’ve made a few adjustments.

In general, I agree with what Mr. Flambo was saying in his most recent post: sometimes it’s folly to be rash in the beginning of the season. Some players just start slow, while others start smoking hot. These things usually balance out over the course of the season, so don’t be disappointed with a bad game here or there (like Ray Allen).

Here are the adjustments I’ve made to my team in Week 1:

Drops
Jason Terry - I didn’t really want to pick him in the draft, so he was the first to go. Mr. Flambo disagreed with my drop here, and promptly used his #2 waiver wire priority to pick him up. Maybe this was a little bit rash, but it is still a question if Terry can produce quality numbers now that Jason Kidd is running the show in Dallas.

Stephon Marbury - This gamble clearly didn’t work out. I cut my losses quickly here, but will still keep an eye on him in case he ends up on another team. I think if he gets playing time somewhere in the league, he will put up good numbers, and I think you gotta gamble with late round picks on some players that could end up playing like a mid-rounder. If he busts, then it’s usually not that hard to pick someone up who gets numbers similar to most other 11th- to 13th-round picks.

Andrea Bargnani - I didn’t really want him on my team, but took him in the last round as another big man (C) who could give me some 3s. At this point, it doesn’t look like I have a chance in 3s, so there’s no point in having Bargnani on the squad.

Adds
Andres Nocioni - Not much to say here. Picked him up because he was playing the next night and wanted to use that game to evaluate him. Will probably be the next to go.

Quentin Richardson - Dropped one Knick for another. I figure he could be a good source for 3s and STEALS in D’Antoni’s system. I figure he could possibly have some upside. Don’t know if he’s a good fit for the team overall, though. We’ll see.

Marc Gasol - I like this pickup. I’m not a big fan of rookies, but this guy has a lot of overseas experience. He’s a big body and a banger, and cold be a good source for BLKS and REBS. Also, he looks to get the bulk of minutes for the Grizz at C and had a double-double in his first game. Not bad. Definitely some upside here.

Moving forward, I’m bummed to see Baron Davis already struggling with injury. I didn’t particularly want him for that reason, but felt that I had to get him as the best available with my second pick. Hopefully it’s nothing that will persist throughout the season. I’m definitely keeping my eye on a few sleeper candidates, but can’t throw out any names now.

One lesson that fantasy hoops owners learn, or should learn, as the years of experience accumulate, is that rash or hasty judgments should not be made at the start of the season. Some players will stumble out of the blocks, and it is often unwise to give up on them prematurely.

Some players will be jettisoned prematurely after a bad outing or two. But as predictably as the setting sun, we can count on Lights Out do so something even more shocking- kicking Jason Terry to the curb before he has played a single game. Make no mistake, Terry is no fantasy superstar, his 15p, 4a 1-three debut attests to this. But his stellar percentages, combined with his workmanlike production in other areas, make him a bankable commodity on the back end of one’s roster. Why does Ray repeatedly make rash moves like this?

To be fair, I will briefly analyze the players I have jettisoned thus far:

Joakim Noah- the unveiling of the new season (and new starting lineup) made clear that Noah will be coming off the bench for now. If he tallied 30-35 minutes a game, he would likely be a serviceable, but not great, fantasy center. That does not appear to be in the cards at present. I am sure Noah will make future appearances on rosters in this league, perhaps mine included, but won’t stick around long anywhere until he gets a starting gig under Coach Del Negro.

Rafer Alston- his numbers have been serviceable in the past, but mostly when there have been injuries on the Rockets squad. His fg% is usually atrocious. Now the Rockets are healthy and have added another star who needs his touches. Alston’s numbers have been sub-par. If, or more probably when, Houston gets hit by injury, Alston’s numbers should jump and he may find a semi-permanent home. Nevertheless, I hesitated in making this selection, and jumped at the chance to trade Mr. Alston for Ray’s castoff.

I will briefly mention that Ray also dropped his boy Marbury. I might have done the same; although Ray knew there was uncertainty in drafting Marbury (minutes from D’Antoni?, a trade?), and maybe should have waited a little longer to see how this would play out.

First of all, let me introduce myself. My team name is The Main Event or just TME!!!. The 3 exclamation points denote how many times I’ve won this league. I’ve won two of the last four championships and it would have been three of the last four if Mike Miller and Jeff Green didn’t combine for 10 3’s on a Sunday in last year’s semis.

I wasn’t too upset to get the 10th pick. I preferred to pick at 10 if I couldn’t get picks 1-4. I believe that there isn’t a huge difference in talent between picks 5-15, plus I like going back-to-back. I established a round-by-round strategy that, on paper, made sense to me.

Rounds 1-2 - get a PF-C and a PG. I expected Brand, D12, AI or Deron Wiliams to be around.

Rounds 3-4 - get two scorers. Lots of value available here. Guys like Gay, Butler, JJ, Carter, Melo, K-Mart. Tons of 20+ per game scorers should be available.

Rounds 5-6 - get two centers. Plenty of 2nd tier centers like Dalembert, Biedrins, Okafor, Aldridge, Oden, etc. should be here.

Rounds 7-8 - get another point guard, maybe 2. I was looking for guys like T.J. Ford, Felton, Parker, D. Harris here.

Rounds 9-13 - sleepers and value picks. I wanted to get one more center and then take some risks on guys with upside.

Well, needless to say, the best laid plans often go astray. Below is how my draft turned out:

Round 1: Marion - didn’t expect him to be there, but too much value to pass up. Brand went #6 and Howard went #7.

Round 2: got my PG with Deron Williams. Could have gone AI, but I got him in another league and I like to diversify my teams.

Round 3: this is where my draft changed. I wanted to target two scorers, but Marcus Camby was still available. I know about the Clippers curse and his injury history, but he played like a top 15 pick last year and is pissed that the Nuggets gave him away for nothing (2nd round pick). Simply too much value to pass up.

Round 4: Pau Gasol -wanted a scorer, but I drafted Gasol at #11 last year and there he was at #31. Couldn’t pass on him.

Round 5: I originally wanted to get a center here, but I had to change my strategy after I went C-C back to back in rounds 3-4. My squads are typically built around points (the tiebreaker in our league) but my first four picks won’t average over 20 points a game. I decided to take Maggette here. He should thrive in Nelson’s system.

Round 6: T-Mac - I had already drafted Camby (hurt) and Williams (hurt) so why not go all in with injured guys? T-Mac could be a great value or break my heart. Only time will tell. I did add another scorer to my squad.

Round 7: Mike Miller - love his all around game. Good source for pts, 3’s and assists. Good %’s too.

Round 8: Jamal Crawford - the rumors about him coming off the bench didn’t bother me. he’s probably the Knicks best player and D’Antoni will use him accordingly.

Round 9: Troy Murphy - Wanted Rose or Felton to pair with Williams but they went right before my pick. With Jermaine O’Neal gone and Dunleavy hurt, Murphy should be a nice source for 3’s, pts and boards.

Round 10: Al Harrington - another TME!!! favorite. Sucked last year, but should see an expanded role this year with Baron Davis gone and Monta Ellis hurt.

Round 11: Luke Ridnour - all the pre-season fuss was over Ramon Session based on his ridiculous garbage time run last year. Well, Ridnour’s the starter and Sessions hasn’t played a minute in the first two games. I like his upside for assists and steals.

Round 12: Manu Ginobili - was shocked that he was still around. He will probably miss about 20 games, but should return by December. Great value at pick 11 if he comes back as scheduled.

Round 13: Mike Conley, Jr. - was choosing between him and Nene. I will probably rotate this spot until Camby, Williams and Ginobili out.

The jury is still out on how this team will perform but it has potential. The key will be injury prone guys like Camby and T-Mac staying relatively healthy.

Since Mr. Flambo seems to think that reviewing one’s draft on a fantasy basketball blog is narcissistic and self-congratulatory, I thought I would apply my basketball acumen on some analysis of the competition. As a background note, Mr. Blount has been a bottom feeder in this league quite often, and as I’m sure EJ will point out sooner or later, holds the record of futility which he set last year with a 30-something percent win rate.

In his first year in the league, his team name was Simply the Best. This moniker has never been seen since.

But since each new season brings new hopes, let’s take a look at the Blount-man’s team this year and evaluate his chances.

Round 1, Pick 7: Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk gets bashed a lot, but he’s a great player. His 3’s were down a bit last year, but he produces in all categories you’d expect from a PF, with 3’s and a high FT% to top it off.

Round 2, Pick 14: Caron Butler
Had a great season last year. Looks to start the season again without Gilbert Arenas. I like Caron a lot, but was unwilling to take him this high because he had such a great year last year. At this pick, he’s priced to perfection, and anything less than a repeat performance of last year will be a letdown.

Round 3, Pick 27: Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo’s a great player who contributes across the board. Not much to say here, but at this stage in the draft, the Dark Knight is loaded at the F positions.

Round 4, Pick 34: Brandon Roy
I like Brandon Roy a lot as a player. But in fantasy, he doesn’t particularly stand out. He doesn’t get a lot of 3’s, doesn’t shoot particularly high percentages, and gets about a steal a game. Five ASTS a game is good, but not great for a PG starter.

Round 5, Pick 47: Michael Redd
Another scorer, so Dark Knight is looking good in the PTS category with this pick. Also gets a lot of 3’s and another strong FT% player.

Round 6, Pick 54: Tyson Chandler
I’m not a big fan of this pick, but a double-double PTS/REBS is ok. With Dark Knight’s strong FT% from the earlier rounds, might be able to absorb Chandler’s terrible free throw shooting. Won’t be getting a lot of blocks from his first C, though.

Round 7, Pick 67: Samuel Dalembert
Another C. Dalembert played well last season and is a great source for blocks. Good FG%, another low double-double guy. Remains to be seen if playing with Elton Brand helps or hurts Dalembert.

Round 8, Pick 74: T.J. Ford
Another PG. Has decent upside as the man in Indiana. Great pick at 74 if he can get 7+ ASTS a game, which is very probable. Good value for round 8.

Round 9, Pick 87: Rajon Rondo
Probably a feeling here of needing to firm up his G-spots. I don’t blame him. With no G providing standout numbers in a given category, the Dark Knight will need all his players to produce. Rondo played will last year, but he’s another terrible free throw shooter, and a guard who doesn’t get 3’s.

Round 10, Pick 94: Al Thornton
This guy’s a gunner. Should improve as he gains more experience. But another average to middling guy who doesn’t really excel anywhere. Could see his number boosted by the departure of Elton Brand.

Round 11, Pick 107: Monta Ellis
I like Monta a lot, but his 30 game suspension (co-inciding with his moped injury), keeps him out of effectively 50% of the fantasy regular season. I feel this is a wasted pick, as this roster spot won’t produce until after the New Year. He’s great when he plays, but could be picked up off of waivers in the future. But the Blount-man has shown he likes drafting injured guys and hoping they dig him out his inevitable early season hole.

Round 12, Pick 114: Chris Wilcox
Another C (actually PF/C). Probably feeling the need to shore up this position, and not much left on the board.

Round 13, Pick 127: Luis Scola
Yet another PF/C, bringing the total to 4. I like Luis, though. Probably some upside here. If not, an easy drop.

My overall evaluation of this team is that it is very average. Collectively, there aren’t a lot of standouts in any category to ensure Ws week to week. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

The notion of describing one’s draft reeks of narcissism and self-congratulation, at least to me. I will try and be brief.

9) KG. Didn’t want to have to make this pick, but I expect a slight uptick in numbers from last year. Boston won’t be as dominant and KG will rest in fewer fourth quarters. Didn’t trust Marion here after his numbers plummeted last season when he departed the fantasy-friendly Suns squad.

12) A. Iverson. Another reluctant pick. Shyguy snatched D. Williams, and AI was best PG left on my board.

29) Rashard Lewis. Played with the idea of Gasol here, but had to take Rashard when he was still on the Board.

32) K. Durant. EJ removed two centers from board, so rather than reach for a center, I selected this young second year player who should make great strides and could be a steal here. I think he can bench more than 150 lbs. now. 88% FT as rookie

49) Okafor. Had to grab a center here, and I don’t think Okafor was much of a reach. Solid 15-10- 2 block guy. FT% hurts however.

52) M. Beasley. I’ve seen many experts predict close to 20-10 right away from this guy, with close to 1s and 1b. Top 40-50 player on many boards (and we don’t count turnovers here- and turnovers could pull him down in some formats).

69) A. Miller. I always like this guy, with the proviso that you surround him with 3-point shooters. The earlier selection of Rashard is a big step there. Also, Miller is now passing to Brand.

72) A. Biedrins. Probably not best player available, but can’t wait too long for a second center. Lots of hustle points with this guy. Improvement each year.

89) Stojakovic. Good value here. Huge boost to a squad’s 3’s made. 90% FT.

92) R. Alston. Necessary pick as the second and third-tier PG’s are flying off the board. Will help with 3’s, assists and steals. Terrible FG% though.

109) J. Noah. Could be a big contributor in hustle categories, if he sees the minutes, which is still uncertain. Also, 3 centers often necessary. Could be an early season roster casualty.

112) N. Robinson. Won’t need to start for D’Antoni to see big numbers from L’il Nate. See Barbossa, as well as some of Nate’s production from last year.

129) JR Smith. Increased minutes could lead to even more 3’s from the conscience-less bomber. Maybe steals also. We will see.

Well here’s my first go at this blogging thing- I’ll follow Ray’s lead with a breakdown of my own draft. Just a little background for those of you out on the Web- I am one of the few participants in this league who is not a Georgetown grad- I am a proud University of Maryland Alumnus. In addition, I have won this league twice (back to back years- 2002-2003, 2003-2004 season) and have made the playoffs a total of 4 times out of 6 seasons of my participation so far.

I think I had a pretty respectible draft this year and I could see most of these guys as being hard to drop.

Round by Round Analysis-

Round 1, Pick 8: Dwight Howard
Thought I would switch things up a bit this year and go for more younger, power players especially since I had no shot at LeBron, CP3, Kobe, etc. Howard is a beast in FG%, Boards, Points, and Blocks who is young and improves every year. If only he could hit those free-throws…

Round 2, Pick 13: Al Jefferson
Maybe a little bit of a stretch here but again another young, powerful player with improving numbers. Good centers are hard to come by (espcially in 2 Center leagues such as ours) and this continues to sets me up well for FG%, Boards, Points, and Blocks.

Round 3, Pick 28: Yao Ming
I know he has had injury issues the past 3 years, I know I really was already set at center, but I just could not resist. Is a fantasy monster when healthy (escpecially at Center) and may give me some trade flexibility down the road.

Round 4, Pick 33: Andre Iguodala
I love getting this guy here at this point of the draft- his scoring could down a little with Brand around but assists may go up- and I need some assists starting about now in this draft. Can be an 8 category contributor- great value at this pick.

Round 5, Pick 48: Hedo Turkoglu
I also love getting this guy here at this point of the draft as well: solid multi-category contributor who fits in nicely with uptempo Magic team.  Similar point foward do-it-all type to Iguodala (though less steals, blocks). Question is- can he replicate last years career numbers?

Round 6, Pick 53: Mike Dunleavy
Very similar to Turkoglu- which is a good thing- but I didn’t pay enough attention to the reports on his knee- this could be a problem- we’ll see… and again like Turkoglu will last year be an aberration or the beginning of a very positive trend up in numbers?

Round 7, Pick 68: Tony Parker
Maybe a little high for this guy especially since he is not a huge assist guy but I needed a point guard at this point and he helps with points and FG% and should have better numbers this year at least in the early part of the season with Ginobili hurt and the ever aging core of players around him. “Been around forever” but still only 26.

Round 8, Pick 73: Zach Randolph
One of those guys that is a guilty pleasure to have on your team from a fantasy perspective if you can afford his dearth of assists, steals, and blocks because he is such a selfish player (and therefore fun to watch).  Could have a monster scoring year this season under the Knicks new system- will get tons of boards- decent FT% for a big man- may see a few more 3’s out of him as well.

Round 9, Pick 88: Raymond Felton
I have this weird and annoying (to me) habit most years (with the exception of last year when I took Nash in the 1st and a few years back when I got Marbury in the 2nd) of taking PG’s late (see Parker 7th round and now Felton 9th). But It usually seems to work out for me somehow- Felton could actually be a very good value here IF Larry Brown doesn’t loose his mind and bench him or drastically reduce his minutes- which could happen…

Round 10, Pick 93: O.J. Mayo
Even though its round 10 this is one of my key picks I believe. I have never drafted a rookie in fantasy baseketball in any league ever until this year- again going with the youth is king philosophy this year. He could be a nice source of 3’s, points, steals, boards (for a guard), and possibly assists depending on how much offense Memphis runs through him. FG% could be bad- and he will have rookie struggles but if I can afford to be patient he could be a steal here.

Round 11, Pick 108: Kirk Hinrich
Decent pick this late even though minutes and role in flux this year with drafting of Rose and crowded backcourt. Might get traded which could help- used to be very solid 2nd PG- may play more SG this year.

Round 12, Pick 113: Tayshaun Prince
Finally I have a Piston on my team! (favorite real-life team). Though he’s not great I am a little surprised he was still available here- solid 12th round SF value for points, boards, assists, %’s, even 3’s.

Round 13, Pick 128: Kenyon Martin
IF he plays as many game as last year could be a steal here- Denver will count more on him with Camby gone. Can’t hit Free Throws anymore (never was great- but lousy now) but pretty much conceeding that category anyways at this point.

So there you have it- I think I have pretty decent team considering I had to start with the 8th pick. Hopefully I can make couple of trades as the season goes along but I’m feeling pretty good about a return to the playoffs.

Comments Welcome.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was excited to have the first pick in the draft this year. I spent a reasonable amount of time (probably not enough) coming up with scenarios and trying to get a solid draft strategy in place. In fact, this year I felt I had the strongest draft strategy that I have had in several years.

Unfortunately, the execution of my draft strategy fell apart during the draft.

That said, I think I had decent draft and hope to improve it by picking up a sleeper or two off of the waiver wire over the course of the season. Hopefully my main guys stay injury free, and if so, I should be ok.

Here’s my self evaluation of my draft:

Round 1: Chris Paul
Can’t go wrong here. At this point, my strategy then becomes to make sure to be unbeatable in the two categories that CP dominates: assists and steals

Round 2: Baron Davis
Not my preferred choice here, as the three people I had targeted all got taken ahead of me. But if he stays healthy, I have a solid hold on assists and steals.

Round 3: Paul Pierce (back-to-back with #2)
At this point, I really would have liked to have a solid big man, but since the guys I had targeted were gone, I didn’t want to go too far down the draft sheets this early. Still, can’t complain with Paul Pierce. At this point I think I’m looking pretty good in assists, steals, and FT%, and not too shabby with 3s.

Round 4: Chris Kaman
Now I really needed a big man and I wanted to make sure I had someone who gets a lot of boards and a lot of blocks.

Round 5: Rasheed Wallace
My #2 center. Not a typical big man, but contributes in blocks, 3s, and also shoots a good FT%.

Round 6: LaMarcus Aldridge
Another big. Also doesn’t hurt FT%. Took a little chance with him, as Greg Oden’s entry to the lineup can hurt, but he’s shown good improvement, and I’m hoping for a good season here.

Round 7: Josh Howard
Needed to get someone at the SG spot and I like guys who can play two positions. Howard is a SG/SF, so he gives me some flexibility. A good scorer for this late in the draft, who contributes a little in all categories.

Round 8: Andrei Kirilenko
Another guy that contributes across the board. Gets some 3s, gets steals, good percentages, and will hopefully put up a lot of blocks this year. Might be coming off the bench, though, but I’m not too worried about Matt Harpring’s long term prospects at this point.

Round 9: Jason Terry
My worst pick of the draft. I was panicked here since again, the guys I had targeted all got taken before my pick, and I had to pick twice in a row. Kirilenko was ok, then I got strapped for time and took the highest guy available on the player rater. Mistake. I’ve already dropped him.

Round 10: Stephon Marbury
Possibly a terrible pick, but could have some upside. I recently read an article talking about how Starbury could possibly start. If so, this will be huge. If he gets traded, this could be huge. I like the upside a lot here, but it could also be a bust.

Round 11: Marvin Williams
I like getting Marvin here. He’s always improving, and I think this will be a good pick.

Round 12: Ryan Gomes
At this point, I didn’t really care too much who I got. But Gomes played well the second half of last year, and if he can contribute, I’m happy with that at this pick.

Round 13: Andrea Bargnani
Another big man who can shoot the three. Probably won’t be on my team for too long.

So that’s my team for now. I think I’m looking pretty good in FG%, FT%, AST, ST. But unfortunately, that’s not good enough. I think I have a reasonable shot at 3s, and can win BLOCKS and PTS occasionally, don’t have too much of a chance with REBS. In our league, you only need to win 5/8 categories to win for the week, so hopefully I can use some waiver wire magic or maybe make a trade to firm things up. We’ll see.

Hopefully, some of the other guys will talk about their draft in future posts. If not, then I may take a stab at a couple other teams

Looking foward to Day 1 tonight!