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

[Brother Shatterstone]

Actually, I really DO wonder what spurred it on... I mean, is the difference between what you'll get now and what you'll get later really THAT big?

Kind of what I was thinking to... I'm wondering if I should have changed my draft strategy after Theo went way pick to early...

So since C. Bosh is rated higher than Theo is he better? I've read a few times that he is a blooming All-Star...

LS, thanks.

 

[The Sigil]

I dunno, my general "rule of thumb" is to take the "best player available" in rounds one through four, then "plug the stat holes" in rounds five through eight (e.g., I picked Eddie Jones because I noticed my threes and steals and blocks were deficient and Eddie filled two of those needs; Theo Ratliff filled one, which is why I had hoped to pick him on the "back side" of the draft). I really don't worry about positions in the first eight rounds except to (a) use Center as a tie-break if need be between two players and (b) make sure I don't "overfill" a position (e.g., since a SF can play at SF, F, Util, and Util, I don't want to pick 5 small forwards in my first 8 picks).

I really feel that leagues are won and lost in rounds 5 through 8 because the first four rounds are all "stars" - no brainers - and the last 5 rounds are all "filler" - you might get lucky on a flyer pick, but for the most part, you're not going to get much... but in rounds 5 through 8 you usually have to try to figure out who's going to have a breakout year and who's going to disappoint, and that's the tough part.

Picks nine through thirteen are used to fill the holes in my lineup (e.g., drafting a second C if I need him) and to try to pick up "johnny one-trick" players (e.g., last season it would have been a guy like Chris Andersen, who will get you a block or two per game in limited minutes but nothing else - worth having toward the end of the season if you need a sudden injection of blocks to make a move and have a big enough cushion to take the "stat hit" in other categories). This is also the time to draft the "high risk" player because the downside is very little (the player you're passing on ain't all that good) - I might target a guy like Jason Kidd, who I know won't play for half the year - in this range, because if he's out for the year, I'm not hurt much, but if he does finally play, I get a nice second-half boost - or a complete sleeper who's never really done anything but in theory has talent - like Michael Olowokandi (ROFLMAO).

Of course, I reserve the right to deviate from this strategy in our draft. Can't be too predictable, y'know.

--The Sigil

 

[LeapingShark]

The difference between Theo & Bosh is mostly one of strategy and consequences.

Theo is "blocktacular", and immediately solidifies that category. However he is weak or average in all the other areas, and there is practically zero room for improvement over last year. Plus he's had some injury-plagued seasons in the past.

Bosh is a more well-rounded guy, with less risk, and more upside. Compared to most other centers, he's probably going to be above average in scoring (same for Curry), and his stand-out skill in college was blocks. The main draw with Bosh is untapped potential, it's within reason for him to exceed the quality of Jamaal Magloire this year. Though it's also possible that he will not improve, mostly because he's so underweight for a big man (he's listed at 228, while say, PG Baron Davis is 223).

 

[The Sigil]

As a reminder, the "live/messageboard" draft is scheduled to end on October 26th... we have about 68 picks - five-and-three-quarters more rounds - to get through by then. Unless we get a much greater sense of urgency, I don't think we're going to make it... things slow down on the weekends, and we were barely on pace when ENWorld crashed twice, and that slowed us down even more.

The "drop-dead" deadline for messageboard picks will be at noon Pacific time on October 26th (that's TUESDAY). That's approximately 95 hours from now, so if we're going to beat that deadline, we need to average approximately one pick every 1.5 hours or so. Given our past history, I don't think we'll make it. Once we hit noon Pacific on October 26th, no more "messageboard picks" will be accepted - we will stop where we are and the remainder of the draft will be run via draft lists.

I will post my prioritized list, in order (though it will be password-protected) a few minutes after 12 noon (Pacific time) on October 26th; I will ask the rest of you to send your lists via e-mail (send to the_sigil -at- hotmail -dot- com, please) at some time after the deadline passes but before 12 noon (again, Pacific time) on October 27th. Partial lists are okay - you can, for instance, give me a list of, say, 20 players and just say, "use default Yahoo rankings after this excluding players X, Y, and Z."

Any team that whose list has not been received by 12 noon on October 27th will use Yahoo's default rankings. As close to noon as I can get on October 27th (I have an off-site meeting at work that morning), I will post the password to unlock my list, so you can all see that I posted it with no prior knowledge of your lists.

As soon as I can "manually" run the remainder of the draft from the lists I received after posting the zip file password, I will post both the final draft results and all the lists I received so that you can audit my "manual draft' for errors. Any errors caught within 24 hours of my posting the lists will be corrected.

I will enter the draft results into the Yahoo system sometime on October 28th, at least 24 hours after posting the final draft results and lists (i.e., after the 24 hour audit). Any errors that on the draft lists might be caught after I have entered the results into Yahoo will not be corrected (in the interest of keeping things simple and getting things started in a timely fashion).

If I make an error based on the lists when entering your team into Yahoo, I'll ask you to please make the trades, cuts, etc. with other owners to get things right (hopefully this shouldn't happen). Thus, we should have everything done and ready to go some time early afternoon Pacific time (early evening on the East Coast) on Thursday, October 28th - which gives you five days to make trades, free agent signings, lineups, etc. to get your team ready for the start of the NBA Season (November 2nd).

Thanks in advance everyone for being understanding as to why I have to put a cutoff time in place! Hope this has been a good and fun experience for all, and please give me feedback as to whether or not you want to use this method next year or go back to the "autodraft" method where Yahoo does all the drafting.

--The Sigil

 

[LeapingShark]

Are you going to fix the post-draft "free agent" setting? It's looks to me like it's been adjusted from the Yahoo default of "waivers" (twas waivers last year). With waivers, all undrafted players are on waivers for the first 2 days following the draft, thereafter becoming free agents for the remainder of the season.

Since we won't be able to manually draft players on-the-fly, so possibly could have position-holes or strange pick combinations due to the "blind" draft, I presume there will be post-draft roster adjustments for some.

WIth the "free agent" setting, whoever is online as you finish entering the player rosters, gets first choice of any and all post-draft leftovers while other managers are potentially asleep/working/etc.

With the "waivers" setting, during the initial 2 day period every new player pickup would be a "claim", sorted by priority at midnight of the second day. Then afterwards the remaining players shift to free agent status. It's seems the fairest way (which is why it's default).

Or is it already set that way somehow? (by the look of the webpage, it appears to show free agent as the post-draft setting, though could that mean something else?)

 

[The Sigil]

I changed it to "free agents" on the theory that we'd be through all 13 rounds of the draft "in advance" and thus gusy wouldn't be looking to raid the waiver pool (since, in theory, if they wanted a guy, they would have manually picked him in the first place). If we do make it through the draft 100% live, it will be free agents. If we don't (looking VERY likely right now), it will be set to "waivers." I'll make the change just before inputting the draft results if necessary.

 

[LeapingShark]

Okay I see.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

I'm not sure if anyone remembers about the other league I'm in, I had shown my draft before hand... Anyhow the only changes where picking up a 3rd center with the injury to Houston:

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

Anyhow I just got afford this trade:

Given Up:
T. McGrady (Hou - SG)
C. Maggette (LAC - GF)

For:
K. Garnett (Min - F)
L. Deng (Chi - GF)
A. Nocioni (Chi - F,SF)

This is a head to head league so I realize that triple Bulls could be a bad thing but what does everyone think?

Edit: Oops quadruple bulls I had forgot about Chandler cause he’s always injured and I don’t see him being a real factor, or member of my team for long.

 

[Black Omega]

What catagories does your league use? Not sure about head to head leagues, but that's an offer I'd definitely take in our Yahoo league. Though it's also risky, you never quite know what you'll get with rookies.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I'd take it, too, despite the risk. Garnett's too good to pass up IMO.

Nick