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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

 

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.