ENWorld Fantasy Basketball IS HERE!!! (league now filled)

[LeapingShark]

Great! Good chance of burning through a couple more picks tonight then.

Maybe somebody should PM John Crichton too, just in case he comes online again tonight.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Sorry for the delay their... Mornings are never my good time. (Work)

I think it was harder for me to draft in these rounds than earlier... lots of temptations out there.

Hopefully I didn’t blow it...

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Richard Jefferson of the New Jersey Nets

That would have been one of the temptations I was talking about... I think its a different type of draft when you know theirs going to be 22 picks before you get to pick again.

 

[LeapingShark]

I was seriously considering Ilgauskas. It's sort of a relief that I didn't have to make that decision after all.

I went with Jefferson who doesn't get the nifty fantasy stuff like 3ptrs or blocks, but his strength is FG% and hopefully he'll get the ball on every possession.

 

[The Sigil]

I think its a different type of draft when you know theirs going to be 22 picks before you get to pick again.

Right there with ya, big guy... I was thinking of tabbing Ilgy myself (though it would have ruined my "all M's" draft strategy).

Now that (injured) Chris Webber and Jason Kidd are "rising to the top of the board" it will be real interesting to see how long teams pick around them. My guess is Webb goes long before Kidd.

I'm also curious to see who goes with Antoine Walker (and his FG% sink) - I have a hunch Mistwell will do it if Walker's still on the board (since Iverson's already going to sink his FG%, he may as well not worry about the category and pick up Walker, who'll contribute pretty much everywhere else... kind of like I used turnovers as my "dump stat" last year - 2500 turnovers, suckers!).

--The Sigil

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Right there with ya, big guy... I was thinking of tabbing Ilgy myself (though it would have ruined my "all M's" draft strategy).

Interesting strategy... I guess its one way to ensure you get a well balance team.

Since we all seem to be a little chatty, I figured I would post my draft for my work team... Oh you’re all welcome to try and figure out the draft strategy, but it was the default yahoo ranks. Also it's head to head, so how did I do?

Players
G. Payton (Bos - PG)
T. McGrady (Hou - SG)
V. Carter (Tor - GF)
R. Artest (Ind - SF)
A. Kirilenko (Uta - PF)
C. Maggette (LAC - GF)
M. Camby (Den - C)
E. Curry (Chi - C)
A. Houston (NY - SG)
T. Chandler (Chi - PF)
J. Tinsley (Ind - PG)
S. Claxton (GS - PG)
S. Swift (Mem - FC)

 

[The Sigil]

G. Payton (Bos - PG)
T. McGrady (Hou - SG)
V. Carter (Tor - GF)
R. Artest (Ind - SF)
A. Kirilenko (Uta - PF)
C. Maggette (LAC - GF)
M. Camby (Den - C)
E. Curry (Chi - C)
A. Houston (NY - SG)
T. Chandler (Chi - PF)
J. Tinsley (Ind - PG)
S. Claxton (GS - PG)
S. Swift (Mem - FC)

Let's see here... assuming you're using the Yahoo! defaults, you're looking at a lineup of

C - Camby, Curry
PF - Kirilenko
F - Artest
SF - Carter
SG - Magette
G - McGrady
PG - Claxton or Tinsley or Payton
Util - probably the two guys listed as PG above that you don't have playing PG

That leaves a "bench" of Allan Houtson, Stromile Swift, and Tyson Chandler

Reaction one: Cut Allan Houston. Yes, he'll get you a lot of points, but (1) any idiot can score, (2) he's sharing the backcourt with two other chuckers named Crawford and Marbury, and (3) he's hurt.

Reaction two: You may want to try to trade either Tinsley or Artest for another player of about equal caliber. Likewise, though not quite as urgent, with Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. Why? In a head-to-head league, you're scored by the week; thus, it's usually a good idea to make sure none of your players are on the same team... because if an NBA team only has a couple of games in a given week, you're going to get fewer overall stats than if they had 3 or 4... and this really hurts you when 2 or 3 players are on the same team and put up lesser stats due to fewer games at the same time. You'd rather have the option during a week when the Pacers and Bulls each play two games of bringing in somebody who will be playing 3 or 4 games.

Reaction three: Camby will probably get hurt again this season, so expect to use Stromile Swift or Tyson Chandler some at C. Tyson's back is a bit iffy, though, so that's a bit worrisome, too. All the more reason to trade Tyson for another, similar FC if you can.

Reaction four: You're stacked at GF and have a lot of PGs - but lack much in the way of rebounders (even at C) - and even Camby's rebounding numbers may be a little off this year with a strong rebounder like K-Mart alongside him. This will make your rebounding a bit below average. If possible, you may want to upgrade your Center position's rebounding abilities via trade.

There's my worthless advice. Point #2 is only applicable in head-to-head leagues, not straight rotisserie leagues (like we have for ENWorld), but I think it's a hugely important one. The guy who averages 12-10 (12 pts, 10 reb) but plays 3 games in a given week is more valuable to you (that week) than the guy who averages 15-12 but plays in just two games. Heck, the guy who averages 10-8 and plays in four games is more valuable than both of them! By making sure every player on your team is from a different NBA team, you maximize your chances of being able to plug in players who are going to see three or four games instead of those that are playing just a couple of games in a given week.

 

[Mistwell]

Right there with ya, big guy... I was thinking of tabbing Ilgy myself (though it would have ruined my "all M's" draft strategy).

Now that (injured) Chris Webber and Jason Kidd are "rising to the top of the board" it will be real interesting to see how long teams pick around them. My guess is Webb goes long before Kidd.

I'm also curious to see who goes with Antoine Walker (and his FG% sink) - I have a hunch Mistwell will do it if Walker's still on the board (since Iverson's already going to sink his FG%, he may as well not worry about the category and pick up Walker, who'll contribute pretty much everywhere else... kind of like I used turnovers as my "dump stat" last year - 2500 turnovers, suckers!).

--The Sigil

I actually think Webber is seriously damaged goods at this point. I dunno. Not saying I wouldn't consider him if he's still there for my next pick...but looking at his record for injury for the past several years, and just how many games the guy misses...I'm really not sure he is worth even a 5th round pick.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

I actually think Webber is seriously damaged goods at this point. I dunno. Not saying I wouldn't consider him if he's still there for my next pick...but looking at his record for injury for the past several years, and just how many games the guy misses...I'm really not sure he is worth even a 5th round pick.

I got the same jive on Jason Kidd... For someone who dishes the ball so well he sure isn’t much of a team player... Then again Payton (Gary) seems to have lost his mind long ago.

Sigil, thanks for the advice. I'll look into doing something with it soon. Good point about the number of games a week. To be honest I'm a big fan for head to head but I guess it works better with the big sports... (football and baseball.)

 

[LeapingShark]

With head-to-head you don't need to be well-rounded. As long as you win a majority of the cats, you can win the week (and potentially win it all). Since you're weak in rebounds, just cut your losses and forget about them. Try to emphasize and enhance your stronger cats so that you can beat your match-up opponent by majority each week.