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!

I have been perusing “mock drafts” around the web, more out of curiosity than anything else, since my board is basically set.  I’ve noticed this phenomenon in previous years, but it is increasingly obvious this year, that mock drafts are a sham; they are perhaps marginally useful to only the greenest of fantasy hoops neophytes.

One big problem is that many posted mock drafts do not proffer the categories counted within the scoring system of the league in question (and I get the depressing feeling that the organizers and participants in some drafts have perhaps not even considered the ramifications that differing systems of scoring have on the relative values of certain players).  The conclusion I must draw, I’m afraid, is that many of these so-called experts are veritable amateurs next to the (mostly) savvy veterans that comprise the Trash Talkers League.

There often seems to be an inordinate focus on the holy trinity of statistics (points, rebounds, assists), and a lack of calculation (or even awareness?) that often blocks, steals, 3’s, the %’s, and sometimes turnovers are also relevant to a player’s value.  Make no mistake: the format of your league has bearing on a player’s value (roto/ H2H), but the categories considered have even more importance in this determination.  I will not (for obvious reasons- our draft has not yet taken place) be too particular in my analysis here, but I have three striking examples of how inane most posted mock drafts (by ‘experts’ no less) have been this year:

1) I’ve seen today two mock drafts in which Dwight Howard was taken 5th overall- one of these specifically alluded to its scoring system which included ft%.  I saw one mock draft (that didn’t mention %’s) in which D12 was taken #47 (presumably ft% is one of only two or three components of the scoring system- or not).

2) I saw a mock draft by “experts” in which Rashard Lewis was taken 70th overall (9 cats inclusive).  Lewis might be overrated by some, but I think 70 is amateurishly low.

3) I saw a mock draft on a reputable site that had the following scoring system:

Points=1

Boards=1

Assists=2 (why?)

Turnovers= -1

Steals=1

Blocks=1

The players in most fantasy hoops leagues could get little guidance from such a “mock”, even assuming the draft’s participants were conversant and had experience with fantasy hoops leagues. 

This concludes my rant against inane mock drafts conducted my “experts”.  I am also done carrying water for this blog of Ray’s until he or others step up to the plate with something either informative or entertaining.  Happy Balling.

Here’s a priceless clip of Quinn’s two all-time favorite centers going after each other:

Who will go #1? I don’t really know yet who I will take, but it will most likely be one of these three…

Our league always has our fantasy draft on the last Sunday before the season starts. This year, that means we draft this coming Sunday. Prior the draft, we have a draft lottery to determine the draft order. For us, the lottery took place this past weekend.

In general, I feel that I’ve been screwed in the lottery. By hook or by crook, I’ve had the last pick at least 4 times, and the only other ones I can remember are a number 7 pick and a number 2 pick. This year, providence was with me and I got my first ever number 1 pick.

Overall, there hasn’t been any evidence that a high pick in the draft automatically means good performance in the league. But I’m excited because I will be able to pick a superstar. There are plenty of great players in the league, but in terms of fantasy, the player rater shows that there are about 5 players that are really elite. These are the guys everyone wants on their team. These are the guys that you get excited about looking at their box scores. These are the guys that can average 30-5-5 or similar. These are the guys that other managers will trade their first round picks for (and then some!).

So I’m excited. I think this is my year.

Trash Talkers League 2008-2009 Draft Lottery Results:

1. Lights Out!
2. Yes, We Can
3. The Show
4. The Mighty
5. McLovin
6. Hamertime
7. Dark Knight
8. Cash Money
9. Aerial Flambuoyance
10. TME

With the news that Lights Out has secured the first pick in the annual Trash Talkers draft, analysts everywhere are scrambling to offer their insights and analysis of Mr. Light’s draft strategy.  Here is my prediction about how Ray’s draft will play out:

PICK #

1.  Allen Iverson.  Though some might consider this a bit of a reach,  Ray has always been a huge fan of the former Georgetown standout, who has shown no signs of slowing down in the mile-high city.

20 Andre Iguadola.  Ray figures you can’t go wrong with two AI’s.

21 Andre Miller.  Someone has to pass the ball to Iguadola, right?

40.  Steven Jackson.  Someone’s got to score a lot of points for Ray’s Warriors, now that Baron Davis is gone, right?

41. Andre Biedrins. Ray better grab a center, and Biedrins a is young Warrior with huge upside.

60.  David Lee.  Ray can’t believe his good fortune.

61.  Ryan Gomes.  Ditto

80.  Darko Milicic. Ray believes this youngster has finally arrived.

81.  Jeff Green.  What a steal, getting the former Hoya at this spot!

100.  Michael Sweetney.  Ditto.

101.  Damon Jones.  Ray feels this selection will lock up 3’s for his squad.

120.  Josh Childress.  Ray can’t believe that the other idiots allowed him to slip this far.

121.  JJ Redick.  Did you see this guy in college?  He was sick!

Once upon a time, ZaZa Pachulia was an almost serviceable center in fantasy hoops, toiling away mostly for the now defunct Groove Train franchise.  For the two seasons prior to last year, Pachulia put up numbers in the 12p, 7.5r, 1s, ballpark, with his other contributions being too pedestrian to mention.

Then rookie Al Horford exploded onto the scene last year, vulturing most of Pachulia’s minutes.  Conventional wisdom last year (validated by last season’s results), was the same as conventional wisdom this year:  Horford is better than Pachulia- less soft, a better defender, and a good candidate to produce nightly double doubles for the next decade.  Why should we expect more from Pachulia this year?

Horford is still projected to be the Hawks’ starting center on opening night.  Coach Woodson has not indicated otherwise to the media.  So why should we think otherwise?  Because I say that the very lack of evidence suggesting that Pachulia might steal Horford’s job, confirms that this is in fact true.  The Hawks are wisely holding their cards close to their vest.  They have not breathed a word about Pachulia’s dominant play in practice this camp, because they intend to ambush the league, with ZaZa 2.0, once the regular season begins.

The fact that they have remained so hush about Pachulia’s new and improved game, suggests that ZaZa has been nothing short of spectacular in closed-door practices.  To supplant a double-double guy like Horford, his play must be pretty close to jaw-dropping.  Given what we know of Horford’s talents, the fact that Pachulia has unseated him (the Hawks absolute silence on the matter proves this), I’m predicting that ZaZa will put up numbers in the neighborhood of 16p, 12r, 1.5s, 2.2b, this coming season.  Because Pachulia’s re-emergence is such a closely-guarded secret by the Hawks organization, astute fantasy owners can probably wait until the 4th or 5th round, when they absolutely have to snatch him up if he’s still available.  For a taste of what’s to come, I have provided below, highlights of the “old” ZaZa:

Mr. Flambo’s last post on the enigmatic Dan Gadzuric is incomplete without some video highlights…

As the days count down towards the draft for countless fantasy hoops owners, many are confronted again with that annual conundrum-  what to do about Dan Gadzuric?  Opinions vary greatly about the Flying Dutchman.  Some owners view Gadzuric as a sure-fire first round draft pick, even a top-5 talent.  Others see him as a potential “value-pick” in the 6th or 7th round.  And some owners believe he is not worthy of being drafted at all.

One thing is undeniable, however:  Gadzuric has tremendous upside, probably more so than any player in the league.  Just ask any fantasy owner who has been titillated by watching clips of Gadzuric banging in off the glass, with authority, a turnaround jumper from 10 feet out.  Or an owner who has watched him streak down the court, outrunning the opposition’s point guard to the basket, receiving a perfectly delivered lob from Charlie Bell, and slamming the ball home with the kind of authority that shakes the Bradley center to its core, causing hundreds of delirious Bucks fans to spill their Pabst Blue Ribbon.  Or ask any opponent who has tried to take the Dutchman inside, only to be thwarted by Gadzuric’s exquisite timing, long arms, and freakish leaping ability, and found his shot swatted into the fifth row.

It’s been a long journey for the former 2nd round pick out of UCLA.  He barely made the squad his first year, but showed enough signs of his massive talent that the Bucks eventually ponied up a multi-year deal worth over $30 million.  His limitless fantasy potential received a setback when the Bucks selected the pedestrian Andrew Bogut #1 overall in 2005, sending Gadzuric to the bench and causing his minutes to nosedive.  Now Francisco Elson has arrived on the scene, presenting yet another obstacle that the Flying Dutchman must overcome.

Yet Gadzuric has always risen to the challenge.  Up to this point in his career, he has only really put up explosive fantasy numbers in extremely short bursts.  But any discerning fantasy owner can see the latent talent in his game, and recognize it bubbling just below the surface.  Watching Gadzuric play, it is manifestly obvious that he could become a 22p, 15r, 3b fantasy center.  Which is why so many fantasy owners like myself will again experience the annual urge to take the plunge, and snatch up the Flying Dutchman in the first round or two of this year’s draft.

The company I work for, Good Data, makes business intelligence software that allows you to slice and dice large data sets and produce insightful reports. While testing it out, I decided to input the NBA’s stats that I found on a website. Unfortunately, the data don’t go down to the game level, but just have player stats aggregated by season, playoffs, all-star games, team stats, etc.

This is an interesting table below. It shows a list of all players who have averaged more than 30 points a game in the NBA’s history. I’ll probably be adding more tidbits like these in the days to come. If you want to see something, leave me a note in the comments and I’ll try to see if I can do it.

NBA’s Greatest Scorers

Players who have averaged over 30 PPG for a season

. Year Player Scoring Avg . 1961 Wilt Chamberlain 50.3625 . 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 44.825 . 1960 Wilt Chamberlain 38.3924 . 1961 Elgin Baylor 38.25 . 1959 Wilt Chamberlain 37.5972 . 1986 Michael Jordan 37.0854 . 1963 Wilt Chamberlain 36.85 . 1966 Rick Barry 35.5769 . 2005 Kobe Bryant 35.4 . 1987 Michael Jordan 34.9756 . 1971 Kareem Abdul-jabbar 34.8395 . 1960 Elgin Baylor 34.7671 . 1964 Wilt Chamberlain 34.7123 . 1974 Bob Mcadoo 34.5244 . 1968 Rick Barry 34 . 1962 Elgin Baylor 33.9875 . 1972 Nate Archibald 33.9875 . 1989 Michael Jordan 33.5732 . 1965 Wilt Chamberlain 33.5316

. 1971 Charlie Scott 33.3797 . 1979 George Gervin 33.141 . 2005 Allen Iverson 33.0139 . 1984 Bernard King 32.8909 . 1992 Michael Jordan 32.5769 . 1988 Michael Jordan 32.5062 . 1981 George Gervin 32.2911 . 2002 Tracy Mcgrady 32.0933 . 1972 Julius Erving 31.9437 . 1970 Kareem Abdul-jabbar 31.6585 . 1961 Walt Bellamy 31.5823 . 2006 Kobe Bryant 31.5584 . 1971 Rick Barry 31.475 . 1990 Michael Jordan 31.4634 . 1963 Oscar Robertson 31.3924 . 2001 Allen Iverson 31.3833 . 2005 LeBron James 31.3671 . 1965 Jerry West 31.3418 . Oscar Robertson 31.2895 . 1969 Jerry West 31.2027

. 1959 Jack Twyman 31.1733 . 1961 Bob Pettit 31.141 . 1976 Pete Maravich 31.137 . 1975 Bob Mcadoo 31.1154 . 1981 Moses Malone 31.1111 . 2000 Allen Iverson 31.0845 . 1989 Karl Malone 30.9756 . 1964 Jerry West 30.973 . 1961 Jerry West 30.8 . Oscar Robertson 30.7848 . 1987 Dominique Wilkins 30.7308 . 1982 Adrian Dantley 30.7273 . 2004 Allen Iverson 30.6933 . 1980 Adrian Dantley 30.65 . 1974 Rick Barry 30.625 . 1983 Adrian Dantley 30.6076 . 1971 Dan Issel 30.5783 . 1973 Bob Mcadoo 30.5541 . 1966 Oscar Robertson 30.5316 . 1960 Oscar Robertson 30.493

. 1964 Oscar Robertson 30.3867 . 1995 Michael Jordan 30.378 . 1981 Adrian Dantley 30.3333 . 1985 Dominique Wilkins 30.3333 . 1979 World Free 30.2206 . 1968 Connie Hawkins 30.2128 . 1972 Kareem Abdul-jabbar 30.1579 . 2007 LeBron James 30.0676 . 1991 Michael Jordan 30.05 . 2002 Kobe Bryant 30.0122 .

For those of you scrambling to get your draft sheets in order, I decided to post something to help you all out. Below you can find the top 50 players from last year’s season. The ranking below are based on the 8-category style of play (no turnovers). In addition, the rankings are based on a player’s averages not totals, so injuries and games not played are not taken into consideration.

Stats were taken from the Player Rater at Basketball Monster. The player rater offers all kinds of options for customized rankings based on your league settings.

1 Paul,Chris NOR G

2 Bryant,Kobe LAL G

3 James,Lebron CLE F

4 Stoudemire,Amare PHO C

5 Butler,Caron WAS F

6 Davis,Baron GSW G

7 Marion,Shawn MIA F

8 Iverson,Allen DEN G

9 Ming,Yao HOU C

10 Garnett,Kevin BOS F

11 Nowitzki,Dirk DAL F

12 Nash,Steve PHO G

13 Ginobili,Manu SAS G

14 Camby,Marcus DEN C

15 Williams,Deron UTA G

16 Anthony,Carmelo DEN F

17 Bosh,Chris TOR F

18 Billups,Chauncey DET G

19 Boozer,Carlos UTA F

20 Artest,Ron SAC F

21 Wade,Dwyane MIA G

22 Pierce,Paul BOS F

23 Smith,Josh ATL F

24 Richardson,Jason CHA G

25 Granger,Danny IND F

26 Kidd,Jason DAL G

27 Kaman,Chris LAC C

28 Carter,Vince NJN G

29 Martin,Kevin SAC G

30 Iguodala,Andre PHI F

31 Lewis,Rashard ORL F

32 Wallace,Gerald CHA F

33 Duncan,Tim SAS F

34 Dunleavy,Mike IND F

35 Gasol,Pau LAL C

36 West,David NOR F

37 Turkoglu,Hedo ORL F

38 Gay,Rudy MEM F

39 Jefferson,Al MIN C

40 Ellis,Monta GSW G

41 Johnson,Joe ATL G

42 Williams,Maurice MIL G

43 Jamison,Antawn WAS F

44 Bynum,Andrew LAL C

45 Jackson,Stephen GSW F

46 Miller,Brad SAC C

47 Odom,Lamar LAL F

48 Allen,Ray BOS G

49 Howard,Dwight ORL C

50 Miller,Mike MEM G

See the full list and more at Basketball Monster.

 

Query:

Why did Mr. Light create a blog devoted to a fantasy basketball league that has humbled him over and over?  The answer, is that I am not sure.  While I cannot boast of one of those mysterious, ethereal rings that certain members like to brag about, the Flambuoyant squad has been consistently competitive throughout the league’s history, excepting a year and a half when outside issues got the better of me.  Mr. Light, however, has one of the more embarrassing and shameful track records of any owner here- amazingly, he has finally broken into the top 6 in the last season or two, and experienced the trials and tribulations of post-season play.  A more important question, however, remains:  Why can Mr. Light not produce a less offensive photo of himself, for dissemination on this blog and elsewhere?

Mr. Light claims this league to be a repository of fantasy basketball wisdom.  This may be true- but Mr. Light is in no position, personally, to be making this claim.  The Trashtalkers League, however, does have the miraculous fortune to claim as one of its own,  The Main Event- a veritable deity of fantsay hoops wisdom.  The fact that the Main Event (or TME as he styles himself), has not won the title every single campaign, can only be attributed to a perversity of fate.  For TME is always light years ahead of the rest of us, and of the entire fantasy basketball universe, in insight, wisdom, identification of “sleepers”, strategizing, Machiavellian manipulations of lesser mortals like Blount, etc.  Oh,  did I mention that TME is paid to write about fantasy hoops?

A certain charlatan named Quinn might strenuously object to this deification of TME, but Quinn himself, has merely, on occasion, benefitted from freakishly quirky good-fortune when 9 point guards and one center represent his squad.

Against the above-mentioned fantasy geniuses, a shout out should be made to reigning champion SHOW, who lucked into the timely drafting of Dunleavy and Turkoglu last year.  Please remember that such luck should always be contrasted with the sheer genius on display, when personages such as TME enjoy fantasy hoops success.

Scottie Pippen was amazing in 1996. EJ, this one’s for you…

I was on YouTube recently and found this sweet video. Allen Iverson has pretty much been unstoppable in the NBA since his rookie year. In college, it was ridiculous, and fun as hell to watch. Go Hoyas!

I have a gripe with Yahoo!

In general, I am a fan of Yahoo. I think the service they provide free of charge for fantasy basketball is fantastic. I have played on other sites and I find Yahoo’s to be the best for me. And every year it gets a little better.

And every year now, I write to them about this significant flaw and they just respond with some BS about how they get a lot of requests, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I HATE the way Yahoo consistently treats FG% and FT% as just percentages, when this is far from the truth. When dealing with percentages, it’s important to know the numbers that go into the calculation or the number is worthless.

For example, let’s look at FT%, and ignore all other categories for now. Who would you rather have? A guy like Dwight Howard who shoots 50% and takes 10+ FTs per game, or some scrub who doesn’t play and shoots 30% and takes 2 FTs per game, on average? In this case, I would rather have the scrub. Even though he shoots 20% lower, it is much easier to make this up with the rest of your team than someone who shoots 5/10 from the stripe every night

ESPN fantasy basketball is good about this. When reporting numbers on a daily basis, your players FG% and FT% are displayed something like this: 4/8 (.500). This gives you a much better idea of how your team did in the percentages.

I write Yahoo every year asking for this feature which should be relatively simple, and they just ignore me. I encourage all of you to write to them and fix this. They have a support form you can fill in.

On another note, if you are preparing for your league’s draft, Matt Buser at Yahoo recently put out lists of ranked players by position:

• Point Guard
• Shooting Guard
• Small Forward
• Power Forward
• Center

I don’t entirely agree with his lists, especially since the rankings are calculated using the dreaded Turnovers category, but it’s a good place to start to get your draft sheets in order.

Lights Out!

The Trash Talkers League has its roots in Georgetown. Most original members were all friends when we were going there for school. Of course we all loved basketball, and there were a lot of Hoyas in the NBA whose college careers we had followed when living in Washington. Guys like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Allen Iverson to name a few.

Some of us had flirted with other types of fantasy basketball in the past. Without the Web, though, these were high maintenance affairs of checking box scores and updating point totals manually. I still have the websites I made to follow our leagues back then. It was fun, but it was a pain in the ass.

Once Yahoo started offering fantasy basketball, it was a no-brainer. We started the first Trash Talkers League and it has taken off since. We all know how it is a great way to follow the NBA, but it also offered a great means for friends to stay in touch after college and living all over the country at first, eventually the world.

Head-to-Head
In the beginning, we played a rotisserie game with 10 owners, but that quickly changed and we finally settled on the Head-to-Head style. H2H keeps everyone involved much more than rotisserie leagues, as every week you have a chance to win. We also have a “chump tax” (Blount tax, named after owner Louis Blount) that the bottom two teams must pay, and in this way everyone always has incentive to stay engaged.

75 Move Max
We have a limit of 75 moves per season. We implemented this for many reasons. First, it forces you to really think about who to keep on your roster. Second, it helps prevent all free agents being on the waiver wire from excessive add/drops. And lastly, it forces you to really build a team and not add/drop every day for the sake of getting games played. We call this strategy the “Wave of Mediocrity,” or “Wave” for short. It can be useful at times, but the move limit means each move has a price.

Regarding the Wave, though we are all pretty fanatical about this league and spend considerable amounts of time on it, there is a point where it gets to be too much. The move limitation helps prevent rewarding owners who are the quickest on the draw at midnight when moves for the next day are allowed.

Eight Categories
We play an 8-cat game with the default categories minus turnovers. Let me be absolutely clear on this: TURNOVERS ARE BULLSHIT. I would recommend to all fantasy leagues to remove this category. I guarantee your enjoyment value will go up. While a worthwhile stat in real basketball, in my mind it has no place in fantasy. Unlike the other stats, players are rewarded in this category for not playing. It just doesn’t make sense.

So these are our settings. I’m sure commentary contained in future posts on this blog will be valuable to anyone into fantasy basketball, but the degree of helpfulness will be determined by your league’s settings.

So enjoy! And feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I’m sure someone will get back to you. The comments are a little messed up right now, but it will be fixed soon.

Lights Out!

One of the must frustrating aspects of fantasy basketball leagues is dealing with owners that a) don’t care or b) are too busy to care. Lineups aren’t set, trade requests aren’t responded to and the balance and integrity of the league can be jeopardized. It’s rare - but sometimes an owner can win a point or two because his opponent left guys on his bench or failed to replace an injured scrub. Saying goodbye to the Buckeye two years ago was easy because he just didn’t care. Saying goodbye to Carlo is a little tougher because he was just too busy to care.

Now this league should be 10 strong.

The Main Event

It’s that time of year, and I know nine other guys who are pretty psyched right about now. Our Fantasy Basketball season is about to start. Our draft date is the last Sunday before the season begins, as usual. This year it’s October 26. I can’t wait.

For many, preparation begins in earnest. A look at the end of last season’s player rater, searching the news for injuries, see who’s finally healthy, etc. Then a look at the incoming rookie class and try to incorporate them into this year’s draft sheets. Exciting stuff.

We’ll be posting all kinds of stuff here. For sure you will learn stuff. No one does Fantasy Hoops better than the TTL. We’ll talk about our league, players, and strategies, and especially do a lot of trash talking. What can I say? That’s how we roll.

So to start things off… Quinn: You’re a punk and have always been a punk. It’s my year!

Lights Out!