Fantasy Basketball Guru

2005-12-30T08:53:00.000-08:00

Forget the Ely comment. It seems like Okafor is on his way back from his ankle injury sooner than I expected.

2005-12-29T10:37:00.000-08:00

Btw, Stromile Swift blew up yesterday. OMG, he finally had a good game. I had itchy fingers but remembered my promise to hold off on picking up Swift until he had 3 straight good games.

2005-12-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

Melvin Ely. It is time to pick him up in any leagues that play 2 centers. That is exactly what I did in one of my leagues yesterday. With Okafor out for an extended period of time, Ely is going to get a lot of playing time with Brezec as the 4 or 5. You should pick up Brezec too but Ely is more likely to be available because he has not had an outstanding game since the Okafor injury. I am here to tell you that it would be too late if you wait for that to happen. The reason that Ely has not gone crazy is because he is still overcoming the lingering effects of his injury. In his words, he was 85% for last night's game. In leagues where centers are rare, he will be gold for the next few weeks, at least until Okafor (who was on crutches) returns from his ankle injury.

As a side note, I just picked up Jalen Rose and dropped Ely this morning. This is not to say that I do not believe in Ely. Rose is rumoured to be heading for the Lakers and if he does, he should be good. I already have a very solid team and good centers and I just need Rose's stats more in case he does go to the Lakers.

2005-12-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Trading season has begun. The quarter season mark is usually the point when fantasy trading season officially starts. Earlier in the season, GMs are either still in love with their players and or are hesitant about trades because they do not want to be in a position where they will regret trading a player away. This is pure behavorial phsycology and rationally, it makes no sense. The quarter season mark is when this starts to fade for most GMs. GMs now have enough performance data to evaluate their own team needs as well as their players' performance this season as opposed to their draft position. So, make some inquiries. The obstinate GMs will give you a "Hell No" and will go down with the boat but you will likely find some GMs who would be willing to make some mutually beneficial trades.

2005-12-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

Hell, I just dropped Stromile Swift again. Van Gundy just doesn't like the guy and refuses to play him. Although he deserves some of that for not making the most of his minutes, it is painfully clear that Swift will not be successful in Van Gundy's system, period. I will not pick him up again this season unless he gets traded or has 3 straight 30+ minute games in a row. Oh, as an afterthought, I picked up Al Jefferson to replace Swift. He's not doing great right now, mainly because he is stuck at 20 minutes a game but I still have hope that he will see his minutes creep up this season.

2005-12-18T21:29:00.000-08:00

In my leagues, I had dropped Mourning for Al Jefferson a week ago. Well, dropping Mourning was right but Al Jefferson hasn't done squat. Luckily, I did not start him. I also managed to pick up Kaman (who is getting a ton of minutes and performing fairly well) as a backup center in the league where we only play one center. I would be surprised if he was available in a 2 center league though. Just tonight, I dropped Jefferson in one of my leagues for Stromile Swift after hearing that Yao was out with a toe injury.

Lo and behold, Van Gundy plays Mutombo 30 minutes. What the? He's like 50 years old. Van Gundy must have Mutombo mixed up with Mourning, Mount Mutombo's teammate in Georgetown. Hopefully, Van Gundy will stop smoking whatever he is smoking and play Swift instead and play a uptempo offense. Without Yao, his halfcourt style is not only boring but also useless because it is so predictable with only 1 scorer.

2005-12-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

A. Kirilenko. What the heck is going on with him this season? His hustle stats over the last few games have been fine but what is killing his value this year is his %s. Even though his FG% is coming back recently, he still has the Shaq syndrome on the FT line. He is single handedly killing my team in the FT% cat. That being said, theoretically, he should improve as the year goes on since he is a 78% career shooter from the line. Teams, especially if you are going to tank the FT% cat, that are willing to take a risk should look to trading for him. Owners of AK will probably be willing to let him go for a second rounder. Me, I am holding on for a little while longer.

2005-12-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I talked about people that play too many games early in the season and why that is a mistake. Here, I will talk about the correct implementation of starting more games. Lets put out some ground assumptions. Say, you have to start 10 (C,C, PF, SF, F, SG, PG, G, Util, Util) and you have 3 people on your bench. The below scenarios are the only times you should play more games early in the season.

1) Cardinal rule. Only start that 11th guy if he is as good as the 100th rated player on the player rater. Otherwise, you are making a big mistake. Usually I am even tighter on that and would not start the 11th guy unless he is just as good as my 10th starter and in addition, I need hist stats. If I am killing everyone on blocks, a 11th starter with a lot of value in blocks is not very useful. Player raters rule.

2) Center or any other weak spot that you have. Since center is usually a weak area for most teams, if you have a servicable 3rd center, you should fill the center spot (on daily leagues) whenever possible even if you are playing less games on the Util or PF slots. Make sure that your 3rd center is as good as the 100th ranked player though. This helps to reduce chaos if one of your centers go down with DNPs or injuries.

3) Injury prone player slots. If you have Baron Davis as your PG and 1 backup, it will probably make sense to be 10+ games on the PG slot by the middle of the season by rotating BD and the backup into the PG slot.

4) Breakout players that are only good for a few games. That usually occurs because of injuries to other players in their teams. They get a temporary boost in minutes and production for those games where they play like 60th ranked players. Examples are Luther Head, Mourning, S. Claxton, Jasikevicius, etc... Ride them.

Those are the main ones.

2005-12-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

To start or not to start. In some of my roto leagues, there are some people that play a lot more games early in the season than the regular pace. They are a pain in the ass because they skew the rankings to their favor early in the season because of the extra games. I am in 11th place in one of my leagues because I have played a lot less games than most of the other GMs. I have heard the rationale for playing more games early in the season. They include making sure that they don't miss any games at the end of the season to being able to trade 2 for 1 later in the season since they do not have to start as many people later on. To me, that is hogwash. I have not seen anyone win a league by using this strategy. First, most people will play out all their games by the end of the season if they pay a little attention to their games played. As for the trading 2 for 1, they usually run into 2 problems. One is that it is self defeating (unless you have very very good players throughout your team) because even if you are able to trade up later on, the extra games that you start early on will be marginal players. Two, as for trading 2 for 1s, that is by itself hard to pull off unless you have very good players too. There, however, is one reason why you should play more games early in the season. I will go into that on my next post.

2005-11-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

My first trade of the season. I just traded Ray Allen and TJ Ford for S. Marion and B. Knight in league #2. Allen has been doing great this season so far (the difference this season is the # of steals) and the same goes for Ford. Marion has been underperforming a little because he has been missing his 3pt shots. Knight is a throw in but should be useful nonetheless. It is a great trade-up for me since I don't need Allen at all. I am crushing the opposition in 3s and FT%s, two cats in which Allen excels (in addition to some assists) and trading into FG%, rebounds, and blocks.

This is a perfect time to sell high on Allen. While I am at it, I also think that this is a great time to sell high on a number of other players including AI, Pierce, Brand, Gerald Wallace, Jamison, and the injury prone duo, Camby and Webber if you can get a stud in return.

2005-11-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

Building a Head 2 Head league team. I neglected to mention this prior to the draft. Roto league teams are a little different from H2H league teams because roto is cumulative throughout the season and H2H is week by week and opponent specific. While in roto leagues, most people prefer all around players (I actually do not have a preference), in H2H leagues, the 1 stat monster players (they still have to have a good player rating) are great to have on the bench. If you have all around 8-9 starters, specialists on the bench will allow you to customize you team so that you can beat your opponent for the week. You do not have to beat your opponent by a mile. In H2H leagues, this is the rifle approach vs. a shotgun approach. There is no magic bullet however. You need to analyze your opponent vs. your team on a weekly basis.

2005-11-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dropped Stromile Swift for Luther Head in league #1. I still think that Swift will surplant Juwan Howard at some point but I have gotten sick of waiting for that to happen. Head, on the other hand is getting a lot of minutes with Alston out and shots with TMac out. He should hit a lot of 3s and my team could use some 3s in this league. Additionally, since I picked up Frye, I have less need for a backup high upside center. I really wanted to pick up Head in league #2 but I do not need 3s at all in league #2 since I am leading by a wide margin. I am still holding onto Wally Szcerbiak on my bench in league #2 and hoping that he will shoot out of his slump since he will continue to get minutes and is the #2 option for the Wolves.

2005-11-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

Dropped Al Jefferson and picked up Channing Frye in league #1. Yes, I know that this would not be the first time that you heard of Frye. The fact is that he has been added and dropped in this league before. In most leagues, there will always be someone who adds and drops with alacrity. Some do it so others will have to waste a waiver priority when they drop him later. Not cool. Others just buy into the latest hot player. For me, I don't usually add/drop with wild abandon. Frye seems to have the ability (great %s and decent everything else) and he has been getting around 30 minutes a game. Jefferson has been going nowhere and since I need a backup center (Mourning is my center), Frye is a good hold and see. Just keep in mind that he plays in Larry Brown's system so nothing is guaranteed.

2005-11-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

Changes to my money league teams since the season started. There are always a ton of changes to every roster in the first few weeks of the season. This happens for several reasons. Some teams need to patch up holes in their lineups and others chase the latest one-game wonders. My philosophy is that if you drafted well and barring injuries, you should not have more than 1-2 holes to fill. One of the biggest mistakes some people make is giving up on a player too early to pick up a one-game wonder. My best advice for pickups is to stop and think if the player's one game line is sustainable or not. The key to sustainability is minutes and ability. If a player is lacking either, the line is just a statistical anomoly. Here are some changes to my money leagues:

League 1:

1) Dropped J. Williams and picked up A. Mourning. I was watching the game when Shaq went down and I decided to pick up Mourning right away. Other managers were complaining, especially the one that drafted Shaq. Too bad. You snooze, you lose. J. Will has done better since Shaq got injured but his value will be limited as long as D. Wade is healthy. If you watch the Heats play, you should know this.

2) Dropped JR Smith and picked up L. Ridnour. JR was doing ok (not great) in the first few games. Then, he started losing minutes. He will never be an 8-cat guy so if he loses minutes, he’s toast. Hello L. Ridnour. His owner got fed up with his poor play. I snatched him up off the waivers with my top waiver priority. I’ll try to be patient with him.

Those are all my moves so far in this league. I have S. Swift, A. Jefferson, and A. Stoudemire sitting on my bench. I really need another center in case Shaq comes back. Swift is still learning the system and is only playing 20 minutes. I am being patient with A. Jefferson and will not drop him unless a real player (not the latest one-hit wonder) becomes available.

League # 2:

1) Dropped B. Knight and picked up TJ Ford. For some reason, Ford was not drafted so I picked him up once he cleared the waivers. I really like Knight and did not want to drop him. However, the decision should have been a no-brainer. Ford is a key component in his team and will get the minutes. Knight is a better per minute fantasy player but he is not guaranteed minutes.

2) Dropped L. Wright and picked up A. Mourning. Picked Mourning up in this league right after league #1. I am laughing to the bank. Btw, Wright totally stunk so far this season. No brainer. So far, I am loaded with good players in this league.

I have W. Szcerbiak, G. Wallace, and S. Dalembert on my bench. The center weakness seems to be a recurring theme. Hopefully, the rolling 2-week injury status on Dalembert becomes a solid 2-week number. Otherwise, I am praying to the fantasy gods that the Big Ankle stays grounded and A. Mourning plays like an animal, even though he has half a kidney. A 2-for-1 trade to land me a center may also work.

2005-11-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the draft for my other money league. This is a 2 Center league. You will recognize a number of similarities between my two money leagues. I was picking 6th overall. Again, these were my thoughts during the draft and do not reflect events that happened later.

1) T. Duncan : I had a choice of TMac and Duncan. I chose Duncan because he is a Center and the fact that TMac was talking about knee problems during the preseason. My arms are hurting from the awkward angle that I must endure from patting myself on my back.
2) R. Allen : A lot of people were down on Death Ray this year with him falling to late second or even the 3rd round in some leagues. Wrong. Ray will get his stats and I needed a good FT shooter to offset Duncan.
3) P. Stojakovic : I was agonizing here because besides Peja, Bibby and Kidd was still available due to a rush to pick centers and big men in the early 3rd round. I chose Peja after a little thought. His upside is greater than the other 2. Kidd is overrated, especially since his minutes were supposed to be coming down. Bibby is a 2nd rounder at best. Peja, combined with Ray fully offset's Duncan's DT% woes.
4) C. Billips : Best PG available. He should really be a 3rd rounder with some upside since the Pistons were going to open up the offense with Flip. The negative was that I have too much 3s and FT% now.
5) J. Terry : A favorite of mine that I've mentioned in the past. Even more 3s now.
6) C. Webber : Not a Fav but he is in both my money leagues as my 6th pick. He was the best available big man with guaranteed minutes. Its a gamble but worth a shot.
7) D. Marshall : Undervalued big man. He will get 8-9 rebounds and some blocks. He also has a lot of 3s. It is looking like I will be trading either Allen or Peja someone in the season.
8) S. Dalembert : I really like him this year as I have mentioned in the past. I knew about his preseason injury but was not too concerned at the time. Now I am. He is also my second center.
9) E. Jones : Are you kidding me? Jones in the 9th. He's a Fav. A steal hands down, although not many people would have agreed with me before the season started.
10) W. Szczerbiak : He is the second scorer on the Wolves and will be starting this season. He was picked in the 6-8th rounds a few seasons ago.
11) L. Wright : Was going to be my backup center. With Swift gone, he was going to eat up the minutes. Well worth an 11th pick since he is a center.
12) B. Knight : See my other money league. Solid starter for at least 1/2 a season.
13) G. Wallace : A sleeper that is always injured. I took a longshot. I needed steals and blocks anyway and I could stomache his poor FT% with Allen, Peja, and Billips.

2005-11-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

Update on the IL spot situation. There's been a rash of injuries the last 2 weeks. In one of my leagues, someone has both Dalembert, G. Hill, and Boozer on their bench because of injuries. He cannot put them on the IL anymore and they cannot cut them. Another guy has TMac and Shaq. What can they do? Nothing at all. That was why I recommended people to avoid drafting injury prone players this season.

2005-11-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

I am in several leagues this season but only two of them are money leagues. I pay a little more attention to those money leagues because the competition is better. The following are my picks for the first league (I was picking eighth and the league plays 1 center only) and comments on each pick.
1) A. Kirilenko : If he was healthy last year, he would be top 5
2) E. Brand : Rock solid and dependable
3) R. Lewis : Played like a late 2nd rounder last year. Has some injury risks
4) L. Hughes : New system, new ballhog King, who knows. Risky, but if he plays like last year....
5) J. Terry : A favorite sleeper of mine. Coach says that he is the #2 scorer
6) C. Webber : Injury risk, AI risk...why the pick then? He is still a star and will play big minutes
7) D. Marshall : Another favorite. Steals, 3s, blks, rebounds...will get alot of those if he plays 30 mts
8) E. Jones : Dido. #2 scorer for the Grizs. I cannot believe how far he has fallen across all draft boards
9) A. Stoudemire : This was before the removal of the IL. See previous post.
10) J. Williams : My second PG. A question mark playing for the Heats.
11) S. Swift : My center. Has upside if he gets the minutes. With AK, I don't need a dominent center
12) B. Knight : May lose minutes as the season progresses but is good to start at least for 1/2 a season.
13) A. Jefferson: Upside pick.

2005-11-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

The season is officially starting tonight and drafts are over for the most part. Now is the time to review your teams to assess strengths and weaknesses. I hope you enjoyed my pre-draft strategies. For the rest of the season, I will be focusing on day-to-day management and lineup strategies on this site as well as provide actual changes that I have made to my fantasy teams. My first tip of the season ... now is the time to look at your strenghts and weaknesses but not the time to ask for trades. For some reason or another, managers fall in love with their players and are less likely to accept sensible trades at this time of the year. Simply put, unless they are getting a great deal, making a trade forces them to admit that they made a mistake in the draft. They would rather let the player play into their draft positions or usefulness before looking to trade them. So don't pull your hair out trying if none of your trade offers get accepted. You should have better luck a little bit later in the season.

2005-10-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

I was drafting on Yahoo last night after the removal of the IL slot and I realized one thing. I was no longer willing to draft the pure sleepers like Villanueva, Al Jefferson, Gerald Wallace, etc... in the 11th round because I needed at least one solid backup. This is just another way that the IL development will change fantasy b-ball. Also, in another Yahoo league, someone offered to trade Grant Hill (who is out 3-6 weeks) yesterday for a pretty cheap price (J.R. Smith). Oddly enough, I declined. I was not willing to have an injury prone player who is already out 3-6 weeks taking up a space on my bench. You had best avoid those injury-prone players during the draft rather than wondering what to do with them once they go down.

2005-10-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most ground breaking things in fantasy basketball in recent years happened last night. Collectively, this is probably bigger than Amare getting injured this pre-season or the Palace Brawl with the Pacers last year. It may not seem like it at first hand but with the NBA removing the Injured List and the fantasy leagues following suit, this is pretty big news. This means that managers can no longer stash their injured players on the IL and pick up a replacement. For example, my thesis on Amare (the previous post) pretty much goes down the drain with the removal of the IL slot. Unless you league allows for a large bench in relation to the number of starters, how are you going to be able to keep someone on your bench that is not going to play 2/3rds of the season? It is simply a pain in the rear. Three things come into mind when analyzing this development and each has a subtle but collectively, large effect in how one should draft and later how you should start/bench your players. Gurus will be able to benefit from this new development and amateurs will not even know that they were affected until it is too late (if they know it all). Here they are:

1) Injury prone players' (i.e. Baron Davis, A.I., etc...) value goes way down. See Amare discussion above. You should simply not even draft injury-prone players since you should be able to find a comparable player instead. Most people will probably not have priced in the IL development in their drafting strategy yet. Amare become undraftable unless you want to take a stab and a bench spot in the last 2 rounds. A.I. should not be drafted in the first round.

2) Rare position values go up. If your league plays 2 centers, center-eligible players go up in value., especially if they are not injury prone. Multiple-position players go up in value too.

3) In roto leagues, most people should play more games earlier in case they do not finish all their games by the end of the season. In H2H, this does not change.

2005-10-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

dI do not usually post sleeper/pickup analysis on this blog as I reserve this blog for primarily strategy. I usually reserve that analysis for my Sleeper and Pickup Blog. However, the following sleeper deserves a post here because he is a pick that could well determine the outcome of a league late in the season. He is someone that is getting picked around the 10th round in the Yahoo leagues. I am not using ESPN b/c I think there is still some weight in the early draft season results. Needless to say, he has dropped in recent drafts.

I was drafting in a money league this weekend and picked Amare up in the 8th round in a 13-round league. I could probably have picked him up later but I did not want to take the risk. This was a calculated risk where the upside was enormous and the downside was minimal. Let me explain. This was a money league. In most money leagues, the payout distribution is weighted to the top 3. That is the upside I was talking about, not the "everone knows" Amare is great when healthy b/c we really don't know when he is going to be healthy. The downside, in my mind, is small. I simply gave up an 8th rounder and a starter in my lineup. You do not usually win leagues with an 8th rounder anyway. The chances of an 8th rounder helping you win a league is only slightly higher than a post-draft pickup helping you win a league. Guess what? When the season starts, I am going to stash Amare in my IL and do just that...tag a pickup.

2005-10-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

You should read the previous post first before this post.

Q&A

What numbers did you get and where did you get the numbers?

The numbers are simply the numerical player ratings for #1 through #100 using full season average per game. I took the numbers from the ESPN player rater. I am not sure if the link will work for you unless you have an account with them.

This does not take into account that players may fall to you in the 9-10th picks which is why most people like the late round picks.

Well, this analysis is supposed to be objective, meaning that people are not bumbling idiots and overall, make the right picks. If you are diligent and good at picking overlooked players, that is a advantage, separate from your draft position. It doesn't matter if you have the 10th and 11th picks vs. 6th and 15th picks, your advantage does not disappear and all of a sudden, you lose your skills. Since overlooked players are random, you are just as likely to find a gem with the 15th pick as you will with the 11th pick (although it is a different gem).

The following is the data that I have compiled from the player rater. The draft position is running horizontal and the round is vertical. The total is on the bottom.


	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	11.35	10.52	9.45	9.18	8.50	8.36	8.12	7.43	6.40	6.22
2	4.49	4.54	4.64	4.72	4.72	5.06	5.45	5.55	5.58	6.02
3	4.25	3.68	3.53	3.44	2.77	2.75	2.59	2.52	2.35	2.28
4	1.06	1.28	1.50	1.59	1.61	1.77	1.77	1.94	2.11	2.20
5	1.06	0.88	0.79	0.69	0.63	0.51	-0.04	-0.06	-0.11	-0.13
6	-0.52	-0.45	-0.37	-0.36	-0.33	-0.32	-0.27	-0.24	-0.19	-0.15
7	-0.66	-0.83	-0.87	-0.95	-1.03	-1.12	-1.17	-1.34	-1.41	-1.43
8	-2.02	-1.97	-1.91	-1.81	-1.79	-1.67	-1.57	-1.53	-1.50	-1.47
9	-2.10	-2.18	-2.20	-2.28	-2.35	-2.36	-2.44	-2.47	-2.51	-2.62
10	-3.29	-3.25	-3.17	-3.14	-3.00	-2.98	-2.87	-2.87	-2.86	-2.82

Total	13.62	12.22	11.39	11.08	9.73	10.00	9.57	8.93	7.86	8.10

CONCLUSION:

Except for some small discrepencies in the middle of the draft and in the 9th and 10th pick position, the results are awfully clear. The lower your draft position, the bigger your handicap. It's right there. The numbers do not lie. The snake draft, which is supposed to even things out simply does not work. There is more. This result does not only happen if you sum all the rounds. the same result happens if you sum 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and 9 and 10 separately. The later the draft position, the greater the disadvantage. Most of the contribution, however, occurs in the first two rounds.

So what can you do if you are stuck with the last picks?

Well, since you are reading this blog and most people have not, you can probably convince someone in the middle positions to trade draft positions in entirety with you. If you have no takers, you can spice it up by just trading your first and second rounders.

Is there anything that can be done to fix the snake?

There is no perfect way, but if you have the 10th position guy picking first in rounds 2 through 4, that evens things out more. In this case, the middle positions would be most disadvantaged but the difference is not close to as glaring as the standard snake.

2005-10-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

Draft position assuming a 10 player league. We all know that the lucky dogs that have the 1st and 2nd pick this year have a head start over the rest of the league. People also generally like the 3rd pick as well. Most people hate the middle round picks between 4-8 because they believe that there is parity in those picks and they are afraid that they are going to make the wrong decision. They would rather have the 9th or 10th pick because they feel that they can pick up the gems that others have overlooked and more importantly, they feel that they essentially have 2 first round picks. This is pretty much treated as gospel by most fantasy b-ballers. I am here to debunk that myth and spread some all around bad news. Some of it even surprised me. How am I going to do it? By the most objective and unbiased way. By looking at the numbers. I'll present my findings in my next post, which will hopefully be later today.

2005-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

ESPN Live Draft Results - October 20, 2005

No.	Player, Team	POS	AP	7DAY +/-	PCT
1	LeBron James, Cle	SG	1.35	0.00	100.0
2	Kevin Garnett, Min	SF	1.75	+0.02	100.0
3	Shawn Marion, Pho	SF	4.07	+0.01	100.0
4	Dirk Nowitzki, Dal	SF	4.33	+0.01	100.0
5	Tim Duncan, SA	PF	4.72	+0.06	100.0
6	Kobe Bryant, LAL	SG	6.47	+0.08	100.0
7	Tracy McGrady, Hou	SG	6.96	+0.24	100.0
8	Dwyane Wade, Mia	SG	8.93	+0.13	100.0
9	Allen Iverson, Phi	SG	10.03	+0.23	100.0
10	Gilbert Arenas, Was	PG	10.41	+0.23	100.0
11	Jermaine O'Neal, Ind	PF	11.32	+0.17	100.0
12	Andrei Kirilenko, Uta	SF	13.01	+0.03	100.0
13	Elton Brand, LAC	PF	15.35	+0.19	100.0
14	Steve Nash, Pho	PG	15.51	-0.01	100.0
15	Shaquille O'Neal, Mia	C	15.58	+0.17	100.0
16	Stephon Marbury, NY	PG	15.68	+0.28	100.0
17	Paul Pierce, Bos	SG	16.16	+0.15	100.0
18	Yao Ming, Hou	C	18.31	+0.25	100.0
19	Ray Allen, Sea	SG	18.87	+0.16	100.0
20	Vince Carter, NJ	SG	20.78	+0.18	100.0
21	Jason Kidd, NJ	PG	20.86	+0.30	100.0
22	Steve Francis, Orl	PG	23.34	+0.27	100.0
23	Baron Davis, GS	PG	23.38	+0.38	100.0
24	Mike Bibby, Sac	PG	24.44	+0.16	100.0
25	Chris Bosh, Tor	PF	25.67	+0.12	100.0
26	Ron Artest, Ind	SG	26.32	+0.64	100.0
27	Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cle	C	28.13	+0.20	100.0
28	Rashard Lewis, Sea	SF	31.17	+0.16	100.0
29	Predrag Stojakovic, Sac	SF	32.39	+0.10	100.0
30	Ben Wallace, Det	C	32.50	-0.41	100.0
31	Larry Hughes, Cle	PG	33.25	+0.33	100.0
32	Pau Gasol, Mem	SF	33.34	+0.35	100.0
33	Chauncey Billups, Det	PG	33.48	+0.38	100.0
34	Emmanuel Ginobili, SA	SG	36.00	0.00	100.0
35	Andre Miller, Den	PG	36.96	+0.55	100.0
36	Brad Miller, Sac	C	37.65	+0.21	100.0
37	Jason Richardson, GS	SG	38.05	+0.37	100.0
38	Michael Redd, Mil	SG	39.63	-0.07	100.0
39	Joe Johnson, Atl	SG	40.87	+0.64	100.0
40	Kirk Hinrich, Chi	PG	41.25	-0.27	100.0
41	Marcus Camby, Den	C	42.62	+0.24	100.0
42	Dwight Howard, Orl	PF	42.70	+0.49	100.0
43	Emeka Okafor, Cha	C	43.67	-0.07	100.0
44	Drew Gooden, Cle	SF	46.26	+0.79	99.8
45	Rasheed Wallace, Det	PF	47.22	+0.70	100.0
46	Richard Jefferson, NJ	SF	47.33	-0.12	100.0
47	Zachary Randolph, Por	PF	47.37	-0.34	100.0
48	Chris Webber, Phi	PF	48.36	-0.44	100.0
49	Jason Terry, Dal	PG	48.62	+0.09	100.0
50	Carlos Boozer, Uta	C	52.53	-0.05	100.0
51	Antawn Jamison, Was	SF	53.74	+0.71	100.0
52	Corey Maggette, LAC	SG	54.71	-0.12	100.0
53	Amare Stoudemire, Pho	PF	54.80	-12.80	99.8
54	Kyle Korver, Phi	SF	54.82	+0.43	100.0
55	Carmelo Anthony, Den	SF	56.44	+0.64	100.0
56	Kurt Thomas, Pho	C	58.10	+1.07	99.8
57	Lamar Odom, LAL	SF	59.15	+0.17	100.0
58	Rafer Alston, Hou	PG	60.13	+0.92	99.8
59	Jamaal Magloire, NO	C	63.76	-0.63	99.8
60	Tayshaun Prince, Det	SF	64.22	-0.11	99.6
61	Damon Stoudamire, Mem	PG	64.25	+0.48	99.0
62	Tony Parker, SA	PG	64.42	-0.17	100.0
63	Andre Iguodala, Phi	SF	64.79	+0.53	99.0
64	Kenyon Martin, Den	PF	65.73	+0.39	100.0
65	Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Sac	PF	67.43	-0.32	99.8
66	Grant Hill, Orl	SF	68.50	-0.12	100.0
67	Richard Hamilton, Det	SG	68.61	+0.32	100.0
68	Antoine Walker, Mia	PF	68.97	+0.53	100.0
69	Al Harrington, Atl	PF	70.52	+1.03	99.6
70	Quentin Richardson, NY	SG	71.41	-0.17	99.4
71	Tyson Chandler, Chi	SF	71.57	+0.77	99.0
72	Andrew Bogut, Mil	C	72.43	-0.50	99.4
73	Michael Finley, SA	SG	72.57	+0.38	96.4
74	Jamaal Tinsley, Ind	PG	72.60	-0.85	98.8
75	Jamal Crawford, NY	PG	72.77	-0.26	99.4
76	Samuel Dalembert, Phi	PF	73.44	+0.25	98.2
77	Chris Paul, NO	PG	73.67	+0.07	97.6
78	Bobby Simmons, Mil	SF	74.30	-0.01	98.4
79	Stephen Jackson, Ind	SF	78.98	-0.09	96.0
80	Damon Jones, Cle	PG	79.82	-0.53	95.4
81	Cuttino Mobley, LAC	SG	80.81	+0.23	96.4
82	Ben Gordon, Chi	PG	81.21	-0.51	92.6
83	Jalen Rose, Tor	SG	81.98	+0.58	95.4
84	Troy Murphy, GS	PF	82.07	+0.24	92.2
85	Josh Smith, Atl	SF	82.82	-0.93	90.8
86	Joel Przybilla, Por	C	83.13	+0.26	91.6
87	Luke Ridnour, Sea	PG	85.24	+0.72	85.9
88	Josh Howard, Dal	SF	85.94	+0.32	83.5
89	Stromile Swift, Hou	PF	87.17	-0.36	80.3
90	Eddie Jones, Mem	SG	87.53	+0.55	86.9
91	Mehmet Okur, Uta	PF	88.63	+0.46	86.9
92	Deron Williams, Uta	PG	89.59	+0.34	85.3
93	Donyell Marshall, Cle	SF	90.35	-1.01	78.1
94	Udonis Haslem, Mia	C	91.31	+0.02	79.9
95	Mike Miller, Mem	SF	91.97	+0.68	74.1
96	Brevin Knight, Cha	PG	92.24	-0.69	72.9
97	Mike Dunleavy, GS	SF	92.28	-0.25	77.7
98	Caron Butler, Was	SF	92.53	+0.30	75.5
99	Raef LaFrentz, Bos	C	94.93	+0.18	73.9
100	Sam Cassell, LAC	PG	95.04	+0.30	68.3
101	Ricky Davis, Bos	SG	95.67	+0.50	71.5
102	Eddy Curry, NY	C	96.36	-0.70	70.9
103	Wally Szczerbiak, Min	SG	100.12	+0.04	61.8
104	Allan Houston, NY	SG	100.29	-9.21	1.4
105	Marko Jaric, Min	PG	100.67	+0.18	56.4
106	Jason Williams, Mia	PG	100.82	+0.08	51.4
107	P.J. Brown, NO	PF	100.90	-0.76	62.7
108	Marquis Daniels, Dal	PG	103.27	-3.86	2.2
109	Sebastian Telfair, Por	PG	103.32	+0.73	41.6
110	Marvin Williams, Atl	SF	103.51	-0.67	42.8
111	Jameer Nelson, Orl	PG	104.09	-2.14	44.8
112	Al Jefferson, Bos	PF	104.57	-1.43	43.2
113	Erick Dampier, Dal	C	104.73	-0.57	34.1
114	Raymond Felton, Cha	PG	105.00	+1.09	27.9
115	H Nene, Den	PF	105.77	-2.52	2.6
116	Jerry Stackhouse, Dal	SG	105.79	+0.86	14.9
117	Andrew Bynum, LAL	C	106.00	-4.75	1.2
118	Mike James, Tor	PG	106.05	+0.58	27.1
119	T.J. Ford, Mil	PG	106.08	+0.64	24.3
120	Josh Childress, Atl	SF	106.24	-0.46	37.6
121	James Jones, Pho	SF	106.77	0.00	9.6
122	Desmond Mason, Mil	SF	106.85	-0.58	18.9
123	Latrell Sprewell, Min	SG	106.90	+3.13	4.0
124	J.R. Smith, NO	SG	107.44	+0.17	27.3
125	Primoz Brezec, Cha	PF	107.56	-1.15	44.0
126	Mike Sweetney, Chi	PF	107.59	+0.59	23.1
127	Dan Dickau, Bos	PG	107.61	-2.85	12.7
128	Gary Payton, Mia	PG	107.89	+0.59	26.3
129	Sean May, Cha	PF	107.89	-0.41	24.3
130	Gerald Wallace, Cha	SG	108.01	+0.12	31.3
131	Nazr Mohammed, SA	C	108.05	-2.36	8.2
132	Jim Jackson, Pho	SG	108.19	-1.96	15.7
133	Kenny Thomas, Sac	PF	108.39	-0.31	20.1
134	Morris Peterson, Tor	SF	108.53	-0.68	29.9
135	Antonio Daniels, Was	PG	108.69	-1.31	2.6
136	Raja Bell, Pho	SG	108.71	+0.28	17.3
137	Shaun Livingston, LAC	PG	109.02	-1.13	22.1
138	Nenad Krstic, NJ	C	109.06	+0.50	19.9
139	Rashad McCants, Min	PG	109.10	+0.41	8.4
140	Brendan Haywood, Was	C	109.23	-1.08	22.5
141	Darius Miles, Por	SF	109.28	+0.16	20.3
142	Adonal Foyle, GS	C	109.50	-0.70	2.4
143	Theo Ratliff, Por	C	109.65	-0.71	10.4
144	Kelvin Cato, Orl	C	109.67	-1.53	1.2
145	Bonzi Wells, Sac	SG	110.04	+0.36	26.5
146	Kwame Brown, LAL	PF	110.13	-0.08	19.1
147	Vladimir Radmanovic, Sea	SF	110.18	+0.51	11.2
148	Juan Dixon, Por	PG	110.35	-1.53	4.6
149	Hakim Warrick, Mem	SF	110.36	+0.03	4.4
150	Danny Granger, Ind	SF	110.38	+0.55	1.6
151	Lorenzen Wright, Mem	C	110.38	+0.76	11.6
152	Shane Battier, Mem	SF	110.97	+0.11	31.3
153	Matt Harpring, Uta	SF	110.98	+0.01	16.7
154	Antonio McDyess, Det	PF	111.42	+1.04	2.4
155	Chris Kaman, LAC	C	112.13	-0.80	16.5
156	Jeff McInnis, NJ	PG	112.14	+5.14	1.4
157	Luol Deng, Chi	SF	112.74	+1.05	6.8
158	Maurice Williams, Mil	PG	113.28	-0.91	9.2
159	Voshon Lenard, Den	SG	113.33	-4.27	1.2
160	Ike Diogu, GS	C	113.47	+0.31	11.8
161	Charlie Villanueva, Tor	SF	113.91	+0.26	9.2
162	Bob Sura, Hou	SG	113.95	-0.17	4.4
163	Mark Blount, Bos	C	114.00	-0.40	2.2
164	Earl Boykins, Den	PG	114.18	+0.13	5.6
165	Dan Gadzuric, Mil	C	114.24	-0.46	17.3
166	Fred Jones, Ind	SG	114.55	-0.08	2.2
167	Chris Mihm, LAL	C	115.37	+0.99	3.8
168	Martell Webster, Por	SF	116.11	-1.32	1.8
169	Nick Collison, Sea	PF	116.50	+2.33	2.0
170	Chris Duhon, Chi	PG	116.67	-2.33	1.2
171	Chucky Atkins, Was	PG	116.76	-3.35	8.4
172	Zaur Pachulia, Atl	C	116.90	-0.10	6.2
173	Eddie Griffin, Min	PF	117.16	-0.45	8.8
174	Travis Outlaw, Por	SF	117.67	0.00	1.2
175	Joe Smith, Mil	PF	118.27	-1.73	2.2
176	Jason Hart, Sac	PG	119.38	-7.22	3.2
177	David Wesley, Hou	PG	119.85	-0.15	2.6

2005-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sleepers. Some of you may know this already but I have a separate blog for sleepers and pickups. Check it out at http://bballsleepers.blogspot.com. The guru philosophy for sleepers is not the traditional unproven guy who has a ton of upside. People tend to overpay for those sleepers. The guru philosophy for sleepers is to snatch ballers that other drafters sleep on. It is the spirit of Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and a philsophy that goes way before Billy (Billy happened to use it in baseball). The philosophy is finding mispricings or simply put, finding value at a cheap price. There is no single formula for that. If there was, just like in baseball with OPS, the crowd gets so enamored with it that it goes from a value to being overvalued. In fact, the traditional unproven guy is a prime example of a overvalued formula. There is no replacement for diligence and thinking for yourself. Of course, a statistical orientation helps too but that is just part of the whole.

Some sleepers that I have written about are Mobley, Dalembert, Marshall, B. Miller, Dwight Howard, Terry, etc... They all have talent but the key is to pick them up in the correct round in the draft.

2005-10-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

The bulk of fantasy b-ballers will be drafting over the coming 2 weeks. The draft is the single most important factor in your success in any season. Simply put, if you are serious, an autodraft is blasphemous. There are too many subjective factors and adjustments that you can make during a live draft that you otherwise would not be able to do with an autodraft. Assuming that you have your player rater and done your homework about the latest injuries, etc..., here is my philosophy with drafting:

1) I like to draft the best available player available in the first three to four rounds. It is not because I don't care about filling positions. It is because there is much greater variance in ratings in the earlier rounds than in the later rounds so picking the next best player because of position concerns is going to cost you more. That being said, you do not want to end up with 3 SG-eligible only players in the first 4 rounds.

2) When you are picking, pay more attention to the actuall numerical rating than to the actual rank of the player. Oftentimes, there is a clustering effect where two may be ranked 35th and 42nd but their actual numerical rating is very similar. In this case, you definitely want to pay attention to position and category needs. This runs counter to #1, but is not mutually exclusive. You just need to pay a little more attention.

3) Certain categories tend to be harder to catch up on than others. These include rebounds, assists, and points. If given 2 ballers with similar ratings, go for the one with the strengths in reb, asts, and pts. They are also easier sells in trades.

4) Draft big names if given a similar rating. They are also easier sells in trades. Also, beware no-names that do well for one season vs. the big names. Big names will always get the minutes and no-names are just a coach away from being benched.

5) Trash talk during the draft. Besides being fun, it is a great way to spread disinformation. Say you really want Peja and Francis (who you don't like) is out there. Throw out a one-liner, "Did anybody take Francis yet?" Someone may just bite and take Francis and leave you with the person that you want.

6) Avoid rookies in the early rounds. Although they are loaded with upside, they have rarely performed better than thier draft position. More often than not, they will disappoint. Though Lebron and Wade turned out to be great players in their sophmore season, they were at best, average in their rookie seasons.

7) If you have a choice, don't draft category killers in the early rounds. See previous posts on this subject.

8) On sleepers, do not pay too much for upside. If you do, it defeats the purpose.

Have fun drafting!

2005-10-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

On the subject of category killers (FG% and FT%) and I mean the bad category killers, I tend to stay clear of them unless they dropped further then they should. The simple reason is that it is way too much work to make up for them. You can usually pick someone up of similar value instead and then make up for that position in a later round. Some category killers are Kidd, Iverson, Davis, Hinrich, Shaq, Ben Wallace, Duncan, Okafor, and Walker. Since most of these are PGs and Cs, you may not be able to avoid them all. In that case, you will have to draft carefully and pair them up with a lot of good shooters.

2005-10-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Do not draft Shaq! First rule of the Guru fantasy b-ball philosophy if you are playing FT% as a category. Why, because he tanks the FT% for sure. Who do you think you would need to make up for Shaq's woes? Peja and Ray Allen? Shaq shoot so badly and so much FTs that it is not even close. Based on last year's stats, you would need Peja, Allen, Dirk, Nash, and Billups just to get back to the league average. What are your chances of getting all those players? Fat chance. If you got Dirk in the first round, Nash in the second round, and thought you were lucky when you picked up Shaq in the third round, you would still be dead last in FT%. Worse yet, you just wasted a good part of Dirk's and Nash's value in FT% since you will still be dead last in FT%.

So should anyone pick Shaq? Yes, there is always value at the right price. It is the same for Shaq. According to my calculations, Shaq should be the 52nd pick if he played the entire season. Since that is a big IF, you should probably move him back 20 slots to the 72nd pick. Is he going to last that long? Highly unlikely. There is another way to play Shaq but that requires more work than it is worth. You can pair Shaq with below average, preferrably way below average, FT% shooters like Baron Davis, Ben Wallace, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Duncan, etc... Even if you are doing that, you should not pick Shaq earlier than the 4th round.

2005-10-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Small Forwards are more like shooting guards than power forwards. Oftentimes, shooting guards will alternate between the SG spot and the SF spot and may have GF eligibility. SFs usually have more blocks, rebounds, a better FG% and less of the other categories. I have one requirement for the SF slot. The SF must do two of the following three things well: 1) shoot 3s; 2) steal; and 3) block shots. That’s right…Carmelo Anthony does not fit the bill! Along with the SG slot, the SF slot has the most number of starter-worthy players in fantasy. Unlike the C, PF, or PG slots, you probably would not have to scramble to fill the SF slot so you can wait for the later rounds to pick up a SF.

2005-10-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Shooting Guards. This is where you will find the most selection since there are a lot of good shooting guards and guard/forwards available. There is probably a good SG on every team since the SG usually scores a lot. You should be expecting points, high FT%, 3s, assists, and steals from the SG position. They are usually weak in the other categories, although rebound and blocks should be slightly better than a PG. Absent the superstars like TMac and Kobe, you should get a minimum of 16 points, 80%, 1 three, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 steals from your SG. The areas where there is most upside is in the 3s category followed by steals. When I pick a SG, I never pick the Rip Hamiltons because they do not excel in those two areas. SGs will never reach elite fantasy status unless they get a lot of 3s and steals. To put it into perspective, if Lebron was only average in 3s and steals (say 1 3s and 1.3 steals per game), he would be an early second rounder instead of vying for the #1 pick.

2005-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Point Guards. Usually when someone thinks about a good PG, they focus on assists and scoring. In real life, that may be true but in fantasy, that is only half the picture. A good point guard has to be able to hit 3s and get steals. I like to bring up Andre Miller and Tony Parker as good NBA PGs that score and get assists but will never be a top tier PG. Andre Miller is actually the better PG here since he actually gets a lot of steals. Steal of 1.3 per game is the bare minimum for a guard. His weakness, however, is that he does not shoot 3s. He gets a higher FG% in return but that will not compensate for the lack of 3s unless you can shoot 50% from the field. Simply put, that is not going to happen. The same thing goes for Parker. He shoots 3s only on occasion. Worst yet, he does not steal the ball as well as Miller. Definitely disadvantaged. When going for PGs with upside, make sure that they shoot 3s and get steals in addition to getting assists. That was the main reason that I picked Jamal Tinsley last year in the 10th rounds in three of my leagues. I knew that he was going to get at least 30 minutes and when I projected an increase in those 3 cats, I came up with a player that would be a 3rd to 4th rounder. Some people think that he benefited from the Brawl and padded his stats because he scored more. That is not actually true. Although his scoring went up, his 3s and assists went down. Bottom line, a PG needs to be able to dish the rock, shoot the 3, and get steals.

2005-09-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Power Forwards and Centers. Don't buy the hype on the big man double-double guys. Let's talk Troy Murphy, Carlos Boozer, and even Antwain Jamison, Okafor, or A. Rahim. Although, a D-D sounds great and brings to mind the next KG or Duncan, there is one huge difference between the afore mentioned group and KG and Duncan. These guys simply do not block enough shots, with the possible exception of Okafor if he improves. Big men usually get a big fat 0 in the 3s category as well as being weak in steals and assists. It is therefore imperative that they make it back in the blocks category. To be an elite big man, getting close to 2.0 blocks should be mandatory (with apologies to KG and Dirk). This is immensely important when you are searching for sleepers and projecting stats. This is what will separate the Sam Dalemberts from the Al Jeffersons.

2005-09-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, check out my Sleepers and Pickups Blog. It is an early look into sleepers this year. It will have more player relevant info than this blog and I hope to add a few sleepers a week. I'll also include players to avoid as well in the future.

2005-09-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Big Name Players and High Scorers. Everyone loves the big name players and the big time scorers. That’s a fact. Leagues consistently have Shaq picked in the first round because he is such a real life stud. Who cares if Brad Miller is a better fantasy player than Shaq. If you proposed that trade in most leagues, it will get shot down. The same goes for one dimensional scorers. People who consistently get 18-20 points get way overvalued in Fantasy. Big Dog Glenn Robinson and Alan Houston used to be the poster children of this a few years back. They’ll drop 20 on you consistently but couldn’t steal the rock from a pregnant lady. These days, the title goes to Rip Hamilton. Hey, I’m not saying to ignore the big name and the big scorers. If you have the choice of a Big Name and Scorers and a Nobody and they both have similar player ratings, go for the Big Name and Scorers. He will be less likely to lose playing time and at the least, you will get more value when offering them up for trades. All I am saying is “keep it real” when drafting and just don’t overvalue them.

2005-09-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Injury prone players. No one hates more than watching a basketball game and seeing their second rounder limping off the floor ... and all the while, you're thinking, "Not againnnn". All I go to say is that if that is Baron Davis, Shaq or Marcus Camby, you should have expected it. That is one the main things that should go into your thinking before drafting your team. First things first, never pick these guys based solely on their ranking based on their average stats per game since they are likely going to be MIA in many games. Total stats sucks too. Seondly, some people would not touch one of these guys with a stick and that's cool. And there are players like me, who like to take educated guesses. Here's the key. In a 9 cat roto league, C-eligible Camby is a 2nd rounder/ early 3rd rounder (think Ben Wallace without the FG% and FT% shortcomings) if he plays the whole year. I picked up camby in the 5th rounds in both of my roto leagues last year and people wished me luck. One of the same guys traded me Peja for Camby straight up in the 2nd half of the season. Just remember that although he's got no chance of playing the whole year, he has averaged 56 games over the last 3 years (69 over the last 2) which means 2/3 or the season. So that means you'll need to sub someone else for 1/3 of the season. Now, that's simple math. Take Camby's stats times 67% and add your 11th rounder ranking player's stats times 33% and you have a combo player. According to the Basketball Monster Player Rater, Camby had a total cat value of 0.32. The 110th ranked players was -0.19. Do the math above and you get a combo player with a value of 0.15., who would be the 35th ranked player according to last year's stats. And did I mention that he is center eligible. The only Cs ranked higher were Yao, Miller, Duncan and possibly Shaq (depends on how you look at FT%). Do the same for the other injury prone players.

2005-09-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

Player Raters. In fantasy, there is nothing more important than knowing the value of a player. To know the value of a player, there is nothing more important than a player rater. A player rater helps you tell the difference between a good basketball player and a good fantasy baller. There is a ton of a difference between the two. For an in-depth player rater discussion and analysis, check out my Player Rater blog. There is where I will keep the more statistical oriented discussions, including how you can create your own player rater. For those that don't want to do any work, you can check out the Basketball Monster PR. Not every league is created alike. The categories and # of starters are two things that affect a player rater. Other than creating your own, the Monster PR is one of the better ways of getting a reliable PR.

For the draft, get a PR based on 2004-5 stats. Last year's results are a good indication of how a player will perform this year. You can then make adjustments based on this year's projections. Go get a player rater now. Do it!

2005-09-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

News Sources. The first step to preparing for the draft is getting updated on NBA news. For any recent fan, that should not be a problem. Otherwise, you can easily get a dose just by turning on ESPN or going to their website. Other fantasy revelant websites that would help are Rotoworld and Fanball websites. They are extremely useful sites with commentary and are free as of this writing.

2005-09-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Joining a League. This is the time of the year that basketball fantasy addicts wait for. The most avid fans have waited the last four months, getting their borderline dose of fan-bball java from summer league play, the draft and summer free agent signings and trades. Over the next few weeks, they will refine their analysis of players as camp opens in October, draft their teams in the third week of October and wait anxiously for the season to officially start in November.

The fantasy veterans already know where to go to find their preferred flavor of fantasy b-ball. For the newbie, I would recommend signing up on Yahoo, fantasysports.yahoo.com. It has two very important aspects that makes it attractive. First, it is free and second, it has a large community so people that do not have their own league can join public leagues. Fantasty b-ball comes in many forms and flavors. The two most common are roto and head-to-head ("H2H"). Add in customized point systems, per-minute systems and all the other varieties and you have a lot of ways to play fantasy b-ball. Personally, I think the roto option is more suitable for b-ball as H2H is more suitable for football. Not every team plays the same amount of games in the same week so it may get quite tedious after a while.

The next several posts will be to prepare people for the draft.