The majority of you (and fantasy hoops players in general) participate in h2h leagues, and the reasons for that very widely. What also varies widely is individual strategies put in practice in an attempt to win those leagues. Obviously, due diligence in preparation for the draft and consistent roster maintenance are the foundations of any good fantasy basketball squad, regardless of league settings.
With that said, two of the major talking points that dominate the next level of h2h discussion are punting and streaming. Some see punting as as giving away categories unnecessarily, while others see it as the only viable strategy. And some see streaming as the bane of most h2h fantasy owners’ existence and liken it to cheating, even if their particular league has no rules in place to specifically deter the practice (like transaction limits). Where do you stand on the subject of punting? Assuming no transaction limits are in place, isn’t the “quantity over quality” approach of streamers viable when six of nine standard categories are positive counting stats? Chime in with your thoughts on those two subjects and feel free to offer up personal strategies and experiences that can help us all become better h2h managers.
I’m also including the following excerpt from a strategy primer I wrote prior to last season in the event that it will further facilitate discussion:
Defining your strengths and building on them is the key in h2h. While glaring weaknesses can cripple a roto team, they aren’t necessarily a problem in h2h – it’s quite the contrary, as highlighting them (punting categories) is a viable strategy. But that’s not to say that you can’t strive for balance, much in the same way you would approach a roto draft – your first few draft picks should determine the direction you go.
Take a look at Chris Paul’s sterling line and which category stands out as a weakness? That’d be blocked shots. LeBron James fills it up all over, but his negative impact in free throw percentage is outdone by only a handful of players. After you draft Paul or LeBron in the first round, their weaknesses need to be on your mind as much as their strengths. In Paul’s case, a big man who doesn’t draw a large part of his impact from blocks (like Carlos Boozer) is a solid pairing. In LeBron’s case, Dwight Howard is the natural pairing, given his extremes in positives (boards, field goal percentage, and blocks) and his category-killing impact in free throw percentage. From there, you continue to build on your strengths and fill in holes, while all but eliminating from consideration a player’s positive contributions in the category you have opted to punt. Be careful of over-loading in just a few categories, however – beating your opponent by 50 assists in a given matchup has the same affect in the standings as if you were to beat them by five, and being over-zealous in one area naturally tends to detract from potential success in another.
Don’t dismiss the balanced approach in h2h as being without merit. First of all, you are virtually a lock to beat your opponents who punt categories in those categories, and you at least give yourself a chance to be competitive in most categories in any given week. Injuries and NBA schedule quirks may decide occasional matchups along the way, but this much is true – if you draft well, your team will do well in the standings.
One factor to keep in mind in h2h leagues is the NBA schedule during the fantasy playoffs. While you don’t want it to completely determine how you construct your team, it certainly can play a key role if/when you make the championship bracket. You can steamroll your way through the regular season but then lose in the playoffs because a handful of extra games gave your opponent a win of the “quantity over quality” variety.
I have noticed that other managers will draft Howard in the first round regardless, with often very little strategy other than owning the player who is constantly being hyped on SportsCenter and around the water cooler.
In most head-to-head leagues, I take the balanced approach and try to maximize the bottom third of my team with players on hot streaks, but will not stream as I don’t check my rosters that frequently. This strategy has landed me likely in the middle of your discussion above?
having weekly set line ups is a nice way to deter streaming
This is probably a bad idea to say, since league-mates also come to this site, but I don’t care about turnovers or FG %. your team will have TOs if you have good players, and FG% is too variable on a week to week basis to try to control it. I tend to focus on being strong in predicable categories (3s, good FT % players) and focusing on securing pts, rebounds, and assists, since those are the categories i feel like i have to best chance to predict a player’s contributions. to a lesser extent i will attempt to secure players that can help in blocks and/or steals w/o being a burden on the 5 main categories (ie a guy that will rebound and block shots, but doesn’t shoot often and is okay from the line). This way i have a strong chance at winning every week 5-4, a decent chance at winning 6-3 or 7-2, and an outside chance at 8-1 or clean sweep.
this is exactly why i would be interested in a “mirrored” league setup, since punting categories in roto means you won’t win.
I agree with Matt, I think the draft should largely dictate your strategy. You might go into it planning on punting a category or two, but if Dwight gets drafted 1 spot ahead of you or something, you might want to rethink your strategy. Likewise, if you were planning a balanced approached, but Josh Smith and Dwight Howard fall into your lap, you might consider punting FT% at that point. That said, I think punting is for NFL kickers, a balanced approach is the way to go.
I don’t think streaming is cheating at all either, when there are settings that can be changed to prevent it. I play in fairly deep leagues, so sometimes scraping the bottom of the barrel hurts you more than it helps you.
Everyone in my league punts TOs, so I tend to take advantage of that. The best strategy in my opinion is to punt assists. Assists almost always come w/ TOs. Doing so makes it easy to win TOs every week. Also, many assist guys have low FG%.
Streaming is for losers. Do it if you want to be a loser.
“Streaming is for losers. Do it if you want to be a loser.”
Be nice. It is a legitimate strategy where you can compensate for the injured player like the yearly Yao, or show your savvy and pluck guys off the wire who have favorable matchups. I used 30 moves in a public roto league I won this past season. I would not know if it is considered streaming. If you wanna throw people under the bus, go to the ESPN forums. Respect others, and others will respect you.
And through Fantasy Profile comparisons, this “loser” has your number. You have 4 years, 11 teams on me, and I STILL managed to match your basketball trophy count. Heck, I even have more Golds than you. Pssh…disrespecting me and my fellow “streamers” like that
I dont think 30 moves in a year would be considered streaming by most. If you are getting up over 100 moves, its safe to call you a streamer.
And its nice to win trophies, but dont get too carried away with profile comparisons. Not all leagues are created equal
I am not a streamer. [wave my hand across from left to right]
You do not think I am a streamer. [wave my hand across from left to right]
These are not the droids you are looking for. [wave my hand across from left to right]
Sorry to pull the Jedi mind trick on you, d, but I had to try.
you doing that in the mirror S.T?
sounds like some denial
Damn! So THAT’s why it wasn’t working [note to self: lose the mirror!]
Ok, d, you were saying…
True. My bad. If the situation presents itself (like numerous studs being injured), I would probably do it. I’m not SAYING…I’m just saying…
Jeesh, taking me so seriously. Sorry if I disrespected any losers out there. 30 moves isn’t considered streaming in my opinion. I had more than 30 moves for sure. However, this one guy in our league matched about 120 moves. We couldn’t get him to stop because technically, he wasn’t doing anything illegal (this was b4 we added a max move limit). Therefore, we collectively resorted to attacking his integrity and manhood.
So on that note: streamers are LOSERS!! XP
(btw, how do you guys insert all those smiley faces?)
You’re just jealous.
Here’s the site dasein gave for smileys:
http://hummingbunny.wordpress.com/emoticons/
Here’s the one from WordPress (which Busersports.com uses to post from):
http://codex.wordpress.org/List_of_Emoticons
Smiley away!
:P 
True. My bad if I offended you, as I don’t even know you personally. Ugh, I know how you feel w/ annoying managers. I was in a private league where the collusive commish dumped his 3 best players to another manager for his 3 WORST players. I still managed to win, but it was a miracle.
Ah, the questions have arisen – to stream, or not to stream? To punt, or not to punt? Tis nobler in the mind of any fantasy player that the answer is simply – “No”. But let us explore these two misunderstood topics in more detail. Let us dabble in (to borrow a phrase from a very popular science fiction movie of our time) “the Dark Side” of the fantasy basketball force!
First off, punting cats – WOW – imagine that visual!
Ok, seriously, let’s not consider it so much as “punting” and more like “conceding” because that’s what it really is. NFL kickers punt, fantasy basketball players concede – if NFL kickers “conceded” the ball on fourth down, there’d be a hell of a lot of angry head coaches out there! Basically, you can gain access to a larger pool of talented players by ignoring certain stats and focusing on other ones. Otherwise, players like Dwight Howard would NEVER be picked up due to poor FT%’s. Other players would not be picked because of high turnovers, poor FG shooting, etc, etc, etc.
Now, it is possible to balance out your team in such a way that you get positive results in all cats without having to concede any. But, that usually requires some time, patience, a little bit of luck, lots of diligence, and maybe a spreadsheet or two somewhere mixed in. And who here has the time or patience to come up with a formula in Excel to figure all that out? Oh…wait…I forgot – “NEEEEEERRRRRRDSSSS!”
So, for the rest of us mathematically challenged, the real question should be “If I punt (ahem, concede) a category, which one should it be?” Some feel it should be FT%, some think turnovers are the one to concede, some feel assists. I’m of the opinion that you should never punt (AHEM, concede) a “positive” category. So IF you’re going to concede a cat in a standard 9-cat Yahoo league, the one to give up would be turnovers.
As a manager, you can make moves – trades, add/drops, lineup changes – which could improve your stats in every category, including your percentages. The ONLY way to improve turnovers is to not get any – and that means not playing anyone – period – which ain’t gonna happen if you expect to compete in 8 other categories (even the best players will get a turnover every once and a while). So I punt, er…sorry, “concede” turnovers simply because there’s no way to improve that stat without hurting a majority of the others. The ONLY time I may use TO’s is when I’m comparing two players who are evenly matched across the board – for obvious reasons, you don’t want a guy who turns the ball over on a consistent basis. Other than that, you can either pun-(dammit!) “concede” turnovers, or just play in a league which doesn’t count them. Either way, it allows you to build your team on positive stats, rather then on one negative one.
And now, continuing on the Dark path, we come to – “STREAMING” BWAAAAHAHAHA!!!
Ok, basically my argument on streaming stems from an experience I had several years back. I was in a public league with a guy who kept making adds and drops on a daily basis. He would pick up hot players, but then let them go the very next day (I even cherry-picked his drops on the waiver wire a few times, and ended up with a pretty solid team overall). I didn’t understand the logic at the time because I was still fairly new to the whole fantasy thing, but in a nutshell, the guy was streaming. By the end of the season, I had figured out what he was doing, though, and I was watching him closely. Needless to say, we both made it to the playoffs, and ended up facing each other in the championship round. I sent a post to the guy saying that it was going to be an interesting final – a battle of strategies – his “quantity” vs. my “quality”. And he was a good sport about it – he wished me luck and I did the same. And off we went.
In the end, he won – but it wasn’t how you would think. It was close. VEEEERY close! In fact, he won by 1 (yes, ONE) block! So, all the streaming he did that week and a half got him a win by only 1 block. Think about it – if just TWO of my bigs get a block more each, I win that championship. If just TWO of his bigs DON’T get that extra block, he loses that championship. Bottom line is the players still have to play and get stats in order for you to win.
I took away from that experience an interesting question – why stream if you can get quality players and win on quality stats? The fact of the matter is you can’t always get quality players, and sometimes streaming becomes your only competitive option (if you have multiple injuries over the span of months instead of weeks, it almost becomes a necessity). Interestingly enough, this past year I’ve made more add/drops than I ever have (one guy even called ME a streamer!) and I had the most successful year to date (two 1st’s, a 2nd, and a 3rd). I employ a strategy of picking up players who are on streaks, and then letting them go when they are no longer productive – it just so happens, I also pay attention to the schedule, and try to pick those guys up when it will benefit my roster. Sometimes I’ll wait an extra day to drop a guy so I can get that extra game in. Sometimes I’ll pick up somebody immediately simply because I don’t want to run the risk of another manager getting that player. Now whether you call that streaming or not is a matter of perception (talk to the guy who called ME a streamer!). The fact is, a good manager will not just sit back, set his rosters every week and wait to see what happens. A good manager will constantly try and fix his team to make it better – if it takes three moves or thirty doesn’t matter.
In conclusion (wow, listen to me, Mr. Essay here), streaming as a strategy is valid, but you really have to know what you’re doing. A good streaming manager will keep a solid core of seven or eight players, and then stream the rest to fill roster slots. BUT – he will also keep his eye out on which players to pick up and which ones to drop. Streaming doesn’t help you if you pick up a bunch of 10 minute per game players – guys who shoot 50% from the floor because they only shot the ball twice and made one. Case in point, my opponent from a few years back. Even though he did win, he only won by 1 block. If he had given just a bit more consideration to who he was streaming and who he was letting go, he might have beat me more easily or with a wider margin.
So basically, I have respect for those streamers/managers who pay attention to what they are doing, who do something for a reason other than to fill up a roster spot. And if you’re really active in a league using add/drops, you may be surprised how close to streaming you can come. There really is a fine line.
But beware! The path to the Dark Side is quicker, easier, but not necessarily stronger – remember the 1 block, my young padawan!
Amen. Also, one of the reasons I prefer roto over h2h
My opponent in a h2h league must feel like you, since he was dominating w/ his dynamic duo of Wade and Dwight the entire championship week, while I had Bosh and Joe Johnson to lean on. Thanks to my savvy acquisitions of Carney and Birdman (and using the last 2 moves of a 25 Max Moves league…ARRGH!!!), the stars aligned for me and I won by 1 block AND 1 3pm. But as always, intriguing and interesting posts by my man So-Tex. Get ‘emz…
I like balance when I draft. However, perfect balance is impossible (for me anyway) so after a few weeks, it will get more and more obvious what categories I am good at and bad at. That’s when I start punting. Also, throughout the season, I might also change the categories I am focusing on depending on injuries. For example, last season, Biedrins got injured in the middle of the season. I started focusing more on FT% since I have big men that shoots FTs reasonably well, like Troy Murphy and Kevin Love.
As for streaming, I don’t like doing it. Streaming typically happens at the end of the season, but I still don’t do it. I would totally swap a regular starter player that’s not playing well or not playing much for one that’s hot towards the end though. (Still, I would go for one hot player than say, five lukewarm ones.)
“and the reasons for that very widely.”
* vary
I always say punt TO’s, it’ll help you stream. Those who are anti-streaming boggle my mind. It’s a very viable strategy and also prevents being streamed against.
so being streamed against is a bad thing?
Quite simply, in H2H, the “balanced approach” gets you beat, assuming you are playing against at least a few managers who know what they are doing. You might get close to the playoffs, but you likely wont win it all. Having said that, when it comes to draft time, I feel there is only one ‘conceding’ strategy that is worth following through- the ‘Dwight Strategy’. Many players will hurt you in a cat or 2, but Dwight is the only one that is worth building a strategy around because he gives so much with one hand, but takes so much away in FT%. The weaknesses of the other alpha-dogs can be compensated for latter on, but if you have Dwight, you will almost never win FT and there is no way around it. I didn’t play fantasy back in Shaq’s prime, but he would have been the same. Also, FT% is a fairly common achilles heal, so there are plenty of players that instantly become more valuable to you than they are to your opponents- thats a good thing.
In other words, I think its worthwhile to have a ranking that includes all stats, and another ranking that is sans FT%. I wouldn’t bother doing ‘conceding rankings’ for any other stat. Ignoring TOs isn’t really a strategy btw- it increases the chances that you’ll loose TOs but doesn’t help you make value decisions in the draft; the high usage guys are going to be in demand either way. I also agree with RT that FG% is less predictable than the other standard cats, but you can stack the deck in your favour so I wouldnt ignore it completely, just maybe weight it a little less.
If I’m not getting Dwight, then I would follow a psuedo-balanced strategy during the draft, and try to take the best player available at the time. I’d latter try and firm up my team to emphasise strengths and concede weaknesses through trades. Lets face it, we don’t have time to work out our relative strengths on the fly during a draft anyway, so it seems smarter to address this through trading.
As for streaming, if the rules don’t stop it than it cant really be considered cheating, but I still consider it against the spirit of the game. Fantasy should be about who can make the smartest choices in assembling a roster, not who has the most time to chop and change everyday. Also, streaming gives an advantage to a team that has a weak tail, and penalises a manager that has assembled a complete squad of roster-worthy players (that most managers wouldn’t want to drop). This doesn’t seem right. Having said this, I think there is a fine line. Roster management is part of H2H, and this entails making decisions based on the weekly schedule and opponent. I think a short-term switch is legitimate if a) it gives you a boost in a cat you expect to be closely contested that week, or b) it suits the week’s schedule, i.e. you drop one of your scrubs that wasn’t going to get a roster spot anyway due to the schedule and replace him with someone that plays on your off-days. What is not legitimate is daily adds purely to maximise the number of player-games. Having a weekly transaction limit is a good way to filter out the illegitimate adds.
having never gotten dwight (goes too early for my usual approach), i have never thought to punt FT%, but i see the logic in tossing it out and creating an effective ranking system w/o it, where you can target different player round values that other mgrs aren’t thinking about.
i like getting a lot of 3 point shooters to fill out my team (as they contribute to 3pt and pts with most made shots, and they tend to be solid-great FT shooters). depending on who you get going after those categories, it becomes easier to fill out the roster with a solid 5-6 category base (say you get troy murphy and nash, can build around reb and assists to go with the other 3 categories).
in my opinion, streaming is when you are constantly making moves just for the sake of maximizing games/week, i an personally hate it. i’m not saying you can’t make any moves, but the constant add/drop is just lame. it is annoying to want to pick up a player or 2 over a weekend to try to help your team and have every worthwhile player is on the waiver wire throughout the weekend b/c streamy-mcgee is turning-over 50% of his roster. at this point i just want to play in leagues that have deep enough rosters where there aren’t many options available to stream, so the better constructed teams will generally do the best and the “streamers” typically stop trying altogether as their teams fall to the bottom of the standings.
Being serious here for a moment, you make a good point RT. I make light of the fact that I made so many moves last year that it could be easily argued that I’m a streamer.
However I can say, without a streaming bone in my body, that I made each and every move for the sake of making my team better – not just to fill roster spots. Many of the players I picked up, I stayed with through hot streaks and stretches. It just so happened that I had the time to analyze everyone available. I can see where some guys can’t play from day to day, so you don’t have the time to go through every single ranking and list out there. But I do – and I did.
Now, I honestly don’t know if I’ll be doing that this year – again, it’s a wait and see approach. But I do agree with you – even though it’s fair, I don’t like streamers who make moves simply to fill out your roster. Put some thought into it, make moves based on stats, make moves that mean something to your team, but not just cause you need one more UTL player for a full roster.
The most moves I’ve made all-time is 42…
Thanks gm for the good words – and I got you one-upped.
97 moves in two different leagues (finished 1st and 2nd), 79 moves in another league (finished 3rd), and 133 moves in my Winner’s league (finished 1st).
So the team I made the fewest moves with finished the worst. (Irony? Makes sense? Call it what you will.)
Funny thing is, I’d bet good money that some of these other guys can top me easily.
I made 192 moves this past year and I placed 1st out of 16 teams. Call me a loser or a cheater if you want, I call myself champion. From what I understand, it’s all about winning and I think I employed the best strategy I could to achieve that goal.
I did careful calculations, and figured out how many stats I needed in each category in order to win each week, then streamed in the best available players for those categories in 2-3 roster spots all season. Of course I also had a solid core of about 7-8 guys still, but that flexibility, specific stat pumping, and sheer quantity of games played easily won me my league.
By the end of the season, almost everyone was streaming and it was a race to get Javal McGee for example. Eventually, I ended up with guys like Tyrus Thomas and Anthony Randolph who were worth holding onto, but if I have the choice to keep Jeff Foster for example who doesn’t play for 3 days, or stream in guys who can help me in a specific category I’m down 1 or 2 in for those 3 days, I’m almost inclined to say you’re a fool if you don’t stream. It’s the only way to go (in a 16 team league).
Funny thing was, I didn’t even make the most moves in the league, someone made 205.
You, Cap, are the type of player I’m talking about – exactly!
You did your homework, kept your core guys, even got to hold on to a couple from waivers. You weren’t just plugging in any old sponge with two feet who could run up and down a basketball court for 5 minutes.
In my mind, you deserve every bit if that championship regardless of how many moves you made.
I disagree, respectfully of course. I don’t think it takes a whole lot of work to say ‘looks like 3 pointers are gonna be close this week, I better get the guy who has the most 3 pointers made on every single night and keep replacing them with one another.’ I just think 205 moves is crazy, I mean it’s only like a 150 day season.
“Streamers”…ASSEMBLLLEEE!!!
Wowzers
The thing about streaming is that sometimes you can really get burned by giving up on a player too early, especially in keeper leagues.
In one of my leagues last year I was able to get Sessions and Anthony Randolph.
When both of them went into their coaches ‘doghouses’ so to speak, I was essentially left with two non-contributors for the week. Given the nature of H2H, I decided to cut my losses early and grab someone else who could contribute.
Fast forward to now and A.Randolph is looking great for next year and if Sessions goes to NY then I made a really stupid decision.
So I guess what I’m asking is how do you guys find balance between getting production for the now while at the same time banking on future potential.
That’s a good question. I think it comes down to league settings. Ideally, I like a bit of overlap between total roster spots and active roster spots. This way you have a couple of dead spots you can use for injured stars or speculative youngsters without getting overwhelmed in games played every week. Im not sure how much overlap you need, but a minimum of 5 bench spots sounds about right?
Having had this argument before, Im actually of the mind that it cant be resolved because it’s essentially based on opposite but equally valid position of valuation.
- should a fantasy game aim to be more ‘realistic’ or more ‘fantsay’?
Personally, I prefer a realistic game, meaning you win by having better players, not by having more players than the other team. I understand that there can be analysis and skill that goes into choosing who you stream, but I’d argue that in a ‘realistic’ game, this time would be spent analysing trades and trying to make them happen. The necessity of trading tends to drop as the ease/success of streaming increases. For the simple reasons that I favour realism and enjoy trading, I dislike streaming.
Pro-streamers arguments seem to imply that they arn’t so fussed about realism. These arguments seem to boil down to the fact that it works, so why not, and/or they enjoy the daily activity. If you take the position that fantasy is a game loosely based on the NBA rather than a simulation, then this these arguments are fine.
So ultimately, just play with like minded people. If you like to stream, play with other streamers. If you dont like it, play in leagues with weekly transaction limits or in very deep leagues. Then everyone is happy and there is no need to question anyone’s manhood
This site will be a good way to match managers actually- we can tick a ‘streamer’ box or something.
Stroke of genius
He is genius. We should now create leagues for streamers and separate ones for real men.
(ps. Thanks So-Tex for the emoticon links. Let’s see if this works)
I can see your “realistic” argument, I just see fantasy as more of a statistic-based game. Whoever can score more stats wins, so the very credo of the game dictates streaming in my opinion. If you’re gonna bring an ethical/unethical, “unwritten code” argument against it, I think that’s a bit unfair, considering you are free to play in leagues that don’t allow it if you want.
In this day and age, streaming should no longer be an issue people argue about.
Based upon how a league is setup, it can be encouraged (or at least allowed) or eliminated completely. If you have a competent commissioner and a competitive league, then the rules should be hammered out clearly and in advance of the draft. Thus, setting a season as well as a weekly move limit (which can now be done using Yahoo!), tells you all you need to know about streaming. If it is less than 40-50, no streaming (although you can still make 1-2 strategic moves per week). If greater than 50, you can stream.
The key is that league rules determine whether you can stream or not, plain and simple. If you hate streaming, do not join a league without a rule limit. If you do join a league without a move limit and are upset because people are streaming, the only person to blame is yourself. Technically, anything within the rules is fair game in fantasy basketball.
Now the really interesting debate is whether streaming is “ethical” and whether fantasy basketball is a sort of “gentleman’s” game (no offense, ladies) that his unwritten rules or an unwritten code of conduct. That is another issue all together and is definitely up for debate.
I agree completely w/ this guy here.
You streamers are not gentlemen. (Once again, I will keep attacking your manhoods until you change your ways)
Oh I’m sorry, I was just polishing my gold trophy. What place did you finish in?
Are you really calling it unethical? That’s like calling a roto league unethical if you only play H2H. If you don’t like streaming, play weekly lineups or limited moves, if you do like it, then do it with everyone else in your league. I don’t see how it’s up for debate, it’s a setting preference. I personally like being more active, checking out daily matchups, and managing my categories more closely. The only ones being ungentlemanly are the people who complain about it.
Yeah! Manhoods rock!
Go Robin Hood: Men in Tights!!!
Manhood definitely does rock!
You know what doesn’t rock? People calling me out on my lack of trophies. I stir up the courage to lay it all out there and people be puttin me down
I’m gonna ask mbuser to take down my yahoo profile. I can’t handle the shame!!
Got two words for you Chris – “season tickets” (you still got ‘em, right?).
That should help you boost your ego back up!
Haha, sure do! GO CLIPPERS
Ha ha. Well, ya gotta back up your statments somehow bro
Buser, I think I’ll be taking Anthony Randolph #1 instead of Murphy. My team could use 3′s, but I like Randolph’s potential too much.. Good idea? Or should I stick with Murphy?
My take: Murphy is too much of a proven guy than to just pick AR who has potential. Murphy is as funky as they come, capable of averaging 10+ REB and 2+ 3PM on any given night. He excels in the Pacers’ uptempo system. On the other hand, AR could very well excel anywhere he goes, but has yet to prove it, stat-wise for a regular season. I know Coach Nellie, along w/ everyone and their mama, are pretty high on him, but his coaching rotations boggles the mind. Plus you said you needed 3PM anywho…
Yeah I know, I had Biedrins for about a month last season and it got pretty frustrating seeing him play 34 minutes one game, then 21 minutes the next game. I’m sure the same thing could happen to Randolph this year.
I have great keepers, so I figure I could take a chance on Randolph and hope that he turns into a great player or atleast continues to progress this season. Murphy put up a great numbers last year, but I think I could probably get 3′s throughout the draft.
I hate drafts, I took TJ Ford over Rose last year. I just don’t want to pass on someone with so much potential, because I know Randolph won’t make it to me in the 7th round.
I got this #1 pick when I traded Bosh for Brook Lopez last season. So if it ends up being Bosh for Randolph and Lopez I’d be fine with that.
who are your keepers, H2H or roto? what cats?
It’s a 10 team league, H2H. Standard Yahoo! categories except we don’t use Turnovers.
5 keepers:
1. LeBron James (Drafted him when I joined the league)
2. Chris Paul (Traded Aldridge, Roy, someone else, and a 6th rd pick)
3. Kevin Durant (Traded Calderon, 6th, 7th rd pick last December)
4. Brook Lopez (Traded Bosh)
5. Russell Westbrook (Traded Duhon and Biedrins)
I have the 1st pick in the 6th and 7th rds..
Compared to the other teams’ keepers mine rank..
Age – 1st
Games played – 1st
FG% – 5th
FT% – 2nd
3PTM – 7th
PTS – 1st
REB – 6th
AST – 1st
STL – 1st
BLK – 5th
So with 3PTM and REB being my keepers’ weakest area, I figured that would make Murphy a perfect option. But my personal weakness is young, talented players.. And I’ve become infatuated with Anthony Randolph..
“But my personal weakness is young, talented players..”
NAAAAAWWWWW! You’re kidding right?!? I couldn’t tell!
*cough* Westbrook *cough*
Seriously, though. I think you couldn’t go wrong with either one of those guys in rd 6. As much as Nellie frustrates me, he’s usually good about latching on to one or two players, and locking them in place. We know S. Jax is in there (so far), and Monta Ellis – I have a feeling AR will get some run as well.
It’s just the kind of crazy thing Nellie would be known for doing.
i usually draft on talent but since it’s essentially already the 6th round Murphy complements your team much much better. you already have 2 PG 2 SF 1 C so you need another Big (AR is more SF then PF)
Isn’t murphy one of my keepers??
side note- this will be the only league i ever play in where i inherit other people’s teams.
yeah he is
1. G Jason Kidd
2. F/C Troy Murphy
3. F Antawn Jamison
4. G/F Paul Pierce
5. C Marcus Camby
but i’m talking about the other league i’m in.
ah, gotcha. wow, i got some work to do…
I think you gotta go Murphy. Anthony Randolph might be the next Lamar Odom, but then again he might be the next Andray Blatche. Just like Javale McGee might be the next Andray Blatche.
That doesn’t mean I won’t be taking Randolph or McGee, but I certainly won’t be with Murphy on the board. You’re talking about a 29 year old who was the 20th best player overall last year under your settings and who compliments your keepers pretty perfectly. Don’t get too hypey on this one, take Murphy.
agreed here. there’s no reason to think that murph isn’t primed for another elite season. obviously randolph looks great, but you can’t not keep murph
i’d keep randolph over westbrook though
WTF, Ash..baby, you have Bron, CP3 and Durant?
Those are 3 top 5 guys next year, and 2 of em are ‘galacticos’. You can probably take Donyell Marshall and you’ll still be fine. Take a flyer on AR if thats what you want, you’ve earned it.
Wow, I’m shocked that so many don’t punt any categories! A balanced approach in a very competitive league won’t cut it (as most I’ve competed against play this way). Even if it’s not that competitive, why not take a bit of luck out of the equation and dominate 7 categories throughout the season? Also, there is simply no better way of dominating the playoffs and getting rid of that ageless complaint “I don’t like H2H because it’s a crapshoot in the playoffs.”
I chose the “balanced approach” in the poll, but after reading the post and comments I’m already reformulating my h2h category strategy for my only league in such an inferior format.
Punting assists is a really interesting idea, as Chriskim4 suggested. It makes sense that would put you in good position to win the TO category and bulk up everywhere else. Maybe I’ll try that one next year. But I do agree that you should be ready to take your team wherever the draft leads you.
Unrelated, but I’d like to get a feel for what others think at this point. In my 16tm h2h points league I’m allowed one keeper that was taken after the 6th round. Guys I’m considering are Leandro Barbosa, Chris Duhon, T.J. Ford and probably not Ryan Gomes.
I almost feel like it has to be Barbosa, but if NY doesn’t land another PG Duhon will certainly put up numbers until he gets tired. And now that Jack is out of Indiana Earl Watson isn’t likely to take many minutes from Ford. I guess there’s a lot of offseason left to work out, but hypothetically; if all 3 are starters is who would you keep out of Barbosa, Duhon and Ford?
Barbosa will not be starting in PHX but should get solid burn nonetheless. My money is on the Blur.
I’ll take TJ Ford for reasons you stated above.
I like Duhon’s game, but you’re right about the situation in NY needing to stabilize before I give him my blessings.
You can’t go wrong with either Barbosa or Ford. I’d go with Ford (sticking with the Texas guy!)
Ford’s durability isn’t a concern to you guys?
He played in 74 games last season – It’s a chance you would have to take, but I don’t see it getting as bad as it did two years ago.
i like barbosa over ford b/c injury prone…
I would lean on Ford. I believe Duhon will be a back-up this upcoming season, esp. how he was burned out like he was, gimpiness and all. A. Miller or Sessions seem pretty realistic. “BEEP BEEP” is good, but his good percentages, PTS, ST, 3PM are not enough to write home about compared to TJ. A starter in an uptempo system can prove wonders, as Duhon proved last year. W/o Jack around (pun intended) at PG, he should meet or exceed his PT, capable of averaging 7+ AST, w/ E. Watson getting crumbs
how many pts did ford and duhon total last season and how many did barbosa total in 07-08 in your league scoring?
b_rad82, when you get a chance, try to answer this post. Buser brings up a good point which I think we all missed.
Let us know what you’re point totals were for these guys (if you still can), or at least what the point scale is. Fact is, we’re all speculating on position stats vs points production. Barbosa has a tendency to put up decent numbers across the board – if he’s racking up points for you in each stat catagory, he actually might be your best bet. In a standard h2h league, going with totals, the other two guys make for great position plays (especially if you need assists), but a pts league is different. Without that info, I think we may leading you wrong by going with Ford or Duhon.
And if all else fails, after going over it in your head, do what I would do – go with your 1st gut reaction – it usually is the right one!
And please forgive my spelling!!! “you’re”/your catagory/category
Sorry, didn’t even notice this question until just now.
Duhon 08-09 – 2768 total points, 35.0 per game average
Ford 08-09 – 2475 total points, 33.4 per game average
Barbosa 07-08 – 2677 total points, 32.6 per game average
Barbosa 08-09 – 2005 total points, 28.6 per game average
I have to think that Duhon’s numbers will drop, he’s simply not that talented and the Knicks will at the very least have a backup PG this year, right?
Ford could be in line for a jump since Jack is gone, but that is contingent on him staying healthy, I don’t know if I really want to rely on that.
Barbosa should at least be back to his 07-08 numbers. I mean the Suns may start Nash, J-Rich, Hill, Amare, Lopez – but don’t you think that Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, Hill, Amare is their best lineup? Especially if you’re going back to the D’Antoni type offense?
Ugh, luckily there’s some off-season left to happen, maybe this will get easier.
Yeah, I wouldn’t think that Barbosa does as bad as he did this year. If I remember, didn’t have some off the court issues this year as well? Or was that last. My guess is he’ll recover from all that and get back to his old self.
In this case the safe play would be Barbosa – unless the picture clears up more during the off season or pre-season.
I mean, of course, this past year on both those questions.
duhon is trending downward and ford and barbosa upward, so you can at least narrow it down to those two. neither is going to be a bad option, but if barbosa gets all the way back to 06-07 numbers, he could be golden
thanks buser, i’ve been thinking along the same lines. if i had to choose today i’d probably go with leandrinho, just cuz i trust him to play 70+ games way more than i trust ford to do so.
then again. . . the pg spot is pretty cleared out for ford.
Hey, hey, HEYYYYYY! I gave you some Barbosa man-love too!
People just hurtin’ my feelings! :X
Dammit! I meant
!
My draft was a disaster last year..
Didn’t have a pick in the 6th rd.
7th rd – Greg Oden
8th rd – TJ Ford (Ahead of Rose, Stephen Jackson, Tony Parker)
9th rd – Troy Murphy (woo-hoo! too bad I traded him)
10th rd – Raymond Felton (Ahead of Rondo)
11th rd – Thad Young
12th rd – Mike Conley
13th rd – Wilson Chandler (dropped him)
14th rd – Brook Lopez (dropped him after like 2 weeks =[ )
15th rd – Luke Ridnour (Westbrook was the last pick in the draft)
Disgraceful.. Managed to finish in 3rd though.
One of these years I’ll have a good draft, and I’m going to try to be more patient with my players this season.
Oh, and I had a 2nd pick in the 8th rd.. Took Jermaine O’Neal.. Great pick..
For your viewing pleasure, Dunkgate REVEALED! Censor us now!
http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=f21ecae1-4984-4ba4-9216-94ee996cd4c1
View at your own risk.
“Ball Don’t Lie” found this one which is a bit clearer:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/TMZ-posts-anticlimactic-video-of-LeBron-getting-?urn=nba,178138
Keep an eye on the bottom left of the screen.
Nice, I can finally sleep at night. Wow, 3500 comments already, this could be the most talked about video since Kobe jumped over an Aston Martin.
Or since Kenny got hit by one!
That thread was getting a little tight so I’m starting a new box..
It’s the 6th year that league has been going on.. I joined it a couple years ago with another new manager and we got to draft 5 keepers from the available players. I had the 1st pick and fortunate LeBron was on one of the teams being replaced.
CP3 never should’ve been traded, no matter what I offered. But he also had Nash so I guess he decided I was giving up enough and he traded me CP3.
And last season was just lucky timing by me. I traded Calderon probably at his peak, before his nagging hamstring injury.. And I got Durant right as he was being switched to SF.
I know Murphy is the perfect fit on my team, but he’s just so boring.
I’m not worried about Randolph turning into Blatche.. Randolph is 6’11, 220 lbs and playing in a great offensive system. My only concern with him in consistent minutes.
We’ll see.. Still a couple months away from the draft. But right now it’s a coinflip, Randolph is getting a lot of attention.
Having Lebron, Paul, & Durant as 3 out of your 5 keepers is sick!
I may have missed this in one of the above posts…are their limits as to how long you can hold onto each keeper? If you can keep a player indefinitely, then Randolph should be the pick. Nellie can only mess with his minutes and hold him down for so long. This time next year, I can easily see Randolph being discussed as a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
Hype machine in affect.
AR is looking nice but putting him up there in the Roy, Billups, Melo, Duncan area already is a bit premature especially playing in GS
Let me tell you what I see when I look at your situation. You have the top 3 keepers period. You have two other outstanding young keepers. Two of your 5 keepers are PGs who don’t shoot the three, so you won’t really be able to address your largest weakness (3pt) from that position. You also are a bit weak in rebounds, but I think that would probably fix itself once you fill all the positions on draft day. Still, you have a PF/C staring you in the face who makes 2+ 3s per game and pulls down almost 12 boards per. Drafting Murphy (the best player on the board) addresses the 3pt issue and allows you to continue drafting the best players on the board later in the draft. With the top 2 players in the league and a guy I expect to be top 5 next year you are in win now mode. Murphy fits, Murphy makes sense.
Randolph makes you tingly, I understand, he makes me tingly too. But you already have 5 tingly keepers. Mookie is talking about Randolph being a 2nd or 3rd round pick next year. That’s what Murphy is this year right!? Look, buser thinks so too! Pick 15! http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Fantasy-Hoops-Mock-Draft-Round-2?urn=fantasy,173853 (Randolph didn’t go at all in that 60 pick draft.)
Alright, I’ve said my peace, sorry about all the exclamation points in that last paragraph. Neither player is a bad addition to your team, it would take a lot of mistakes and/or bad luck for that team to not contend.
If you want to play it safe, then take Murphy for this year. There’s less downside risk with him than Randolph. However, Randolph (age 20) has a lot more upside potential than Murphy (age 29). Boards and 3′s are the easiest stats to pick up later in the draft. Also, as Ashley knows, I’m not sold on Westbrook turning into a fantasy stud anytime soon, if ever.
Can Murphy repeat last year’s stats? It’s possible but I really see last season as his career year. Hansbrough is going to get his minutes and there’s going to be improvement from and more minutes for Hibbert and Brandon Rush. Granger’s the star player and he’s going to get his stats and minutes. I really think that Murphy’s #’s will be down across the board as a result. You win leagues by drafting players like Murphy in Round 9 the year of their career year, not Round 2 the year after.
Would like to note that I was not trying to slam your pick of Murphy in the Yahoo mock-draft, Matt. I think the 2nd round is going to be very tricky this year and feel that a lot of these early mock “safe” picks are not going to pan out.
A. We’re not talking about round 2 here, we’re talking about round 6.
B. Hansbrough is going to get his minutes? Dude, this isn’t college anymore, Hansbrough is probably not even a power forward in the NBA, he certainly won’t be taking away significant minutes from Murphy. I don’t really see Hibbert and Rush stealing minutes from Murphy either. Also what does Granger have to do with it? Granger was there getting stats and minutes all last year too, they seemed to do alright together.
C. Westbrook was already borderline stud by the end of the year last year.
ok, maybe stud is a bit of a stretch, but i think i side with Ashley on Westbrook. maybe not as high on him, but pretty high.
In response:
A – I understand that it’s round 1 of a keeper draft (which would actually be round 6 of a standard league). The bottom line is that Randolph will NOT be there for her team in the next round.
B – You seriously think that Hansbrough’s going to ride the pine this season?? The Pacer’s are obviously high on him (hence the lottery pick) and he was one of the top 5 performers in summer league. This is not some 19 year old raw prospect we’re talking about here – he’s ready to play and contribute now. Hibbert and Rush will get more minutes and improve, which I think will hurt Murphy’s stats. I referenced Granger because I don’t think his stats will suffer as a result of the younger guys’ improvements. Also, Granger was hurt for about 4 or 5 weeks last year and this helped Murphy’s stats. The lack of other talent along with Granger’s injury creating the perfect storm for Murphy to have a career year.
C – What scoring systems are you playing in? Westbrook was really low ranked in the standard scoring league that I play in. He was even worse in the last month of the season (ranked in the 200′s). He still has a long way to go before he will be a high level fantasy player.
Re: Hansbrough
Although he’s polished at the 4, he is 6’8 and is not athletic. It’s unrealistic to think that his post-up game will translate to the NBA, against guys who are physically superior, and he would have one hell of a time trying to guard NBA power forwards. If his post game doesn’t work he’s going to have to rely on catch and shoot 15 footers, because the guy doesn’t have any ball handling skills (don’t trust him for more than 1 dribble) or any sort of face-up game. I see him as a Matt Harpring type contributor at best.
Hansbrough is a white Sheldon Williams.
Riddle me this: my beloved Lakers are actually considering him. Please, Odom, if you are there, come back! He is the only dude I know whose wife is better than him in basketball (aka Candace Parker)
Westbrook is definitely a stud. 15/5/5 as a rookie is pretty studly to me. I’m not saying he’ll definitely be a top 20 player one day or that he’ll even be one of my keepers next year, but he’s definitely a stat-stuffer and I look forward to seeing how much he can improve his game this season.
Remember there are no TO’s in my league, so he doesn’t hurt me there. If he can get his FG% up to about 45% this season I’ll be perfectly happy with him.
For someone who wasn’t a PG in high school or college, I think he did pretty good considering he was the starting PG for 90% of the season. I think a lot of people here are too critical for him, I simply defend him. I’ve said his game and shot selection is almost identical to Wade’s, but I never said he’d average 30 ppg and everything else Wade does.
All I’m hoping for is that he improves on his rookie numbers, and I think it’s very reasonable to expect him to improve across the board.
The only thing keeping Westbrook from achieving “Stud” status is his FG%. Ashley said it best:
“If he can get his FG% up to about 45% this season I’ll be perfectly happy with him.”
I’ll go you one better – if he can keep his FG% consistently</b around 43%, AND keep or improve on his other numbers (like we all HOPE he can), then he’s worthy.
Bottom line, he’s gotta improve that FG% and keep his other stats up there to really get me geeked up over him – and it is very possible that could happen.
Oooopps – consistently</b should have been consistently.
Forgot to close my “b” tag.
Yeah! “Tingly” rocks!
Go…”Tingly”?
I’ve decided I’m most likely taking Randolph. Too much upside. I can’t pass up on a potential superstar and there are so many 3′s available.
Terry
Joe Johnson
Jameer
Mo Williams
Steve Blake
Redd
Artest
Vince
Rashard
Ray Allen
Brandon Rush
Augustin
Chalmers
So if I can get 2 or 3 of them I should be fine. Of those guys listed, I’ll take the best available with my pick in the 7th rd.
Hopefully Mo
It’s not just about the 3PM. It’s also about it coupled w/ ferocious REB numbers. It is too funky to ignore, and allows for much more flexibility, atypical for a big. His percentages were pretty sterling as well, though they deviate from his career numbers a bit. It is contradictory though as I do not believe he has played off of a Granger-type player or in an uptempo system before. I have only been hardcore for the past 3 or so years, so I am unable to gauge and compare to his stint in the city by the bay. As for AR, he was one of my sleepers, but he is getting so heavily hyped, it is eh for me now. Murphy is well enough to reach for in the 2nd, whereas AR is middle-round, at best. Coach Nellie’s rotational whims do not help anyone either.
If this is keeper, you should probably ignore this
Thanks for the advice boys.. I have a feeling I’ll end up taking Randolph though. Hasn’t Murphy had durability issues in the past? And he’s 29+ years old. And I do think Brandon Rush is going to have a pretty nice offensive role this season. I’m just not sure I can see Murphy averaging 2+ 3ptm a game again next season.
Randolph I have few doubts about. My main concern now that I think about it is that I’m afraid he’s playing with the next AI.. If Curry takes 30 shots a game I’m not going to be happy.. He better learn to pass the stupid ball.
That could be a concern. I can see it now, Randolph’s on the block just pleading for an entry pass and Monta Ellis, Steph Curry and Steph Jackson just keep jacking up shots and forcing out of control drives.
Re: Murphy and durability issues. I don’t think that’s been a problem for him. I seem to remember he messed up his foot during his third year when people were expecting him to really break out and missed a lot of games. But I think he’s been fairly healthy (no major injuries that I know of) since then.
Not that I’m still trying to push Murphy. . . it seems you’ve made up your mind. I hope, for your sake, that Randolph kicks some ass.
I read in a post up above that you can set your Yahoo League to limit moves per week, and move per season, in an attempt to handle the open season streamer syndrome. But I haven’t seen it mentioned (and not sure if even can), but what if you could limit games played in a week. Say you could play 35 games in a week. I’m still a newbie but wouldn’t that completley change the strategy of H2H. I mean there were weeks last season where my opponent had 8 games on me. the law of pure numbers put me behind the 8 ball and I had to make up some games. Sreaming my worst players and punting CATs for the week in some cases got me close, but it seems it would all be eliminated if the playing field as equal out the gate every week. Also it seems the desparaty of games would make percentages more valuable, as they are not game based. Am I missing something? Enlighten me oh great Jedi Masters!
In my baseball league there’s a limit set.. A max of 7 moves per week and I think 100 moves total. It’s not very restricting, but it keeps someone from streaming 2 or 3 pitchers a day throughout the week.
I don’t know about Yahoo, but in my ESPN league we have a weekly limit of 40 games (11 active roster spots.) It was a good equalizer, I would recommend something similar in any h2h league with daily transactions.
If I understand correctly, only a Yahoo private league can have that option. IOW, you would have to join someone’s private league to have that option. That, however, can possibley expose you to the “Bad Commissioner” syndrome (you know, the one where the guy locks you out of your team, trades all your good players to his team all during championship week).
More than likely, though, if a commish is playing with weekly limits, he’s on the up and up – but with so many on Yahoo these days, you never know.
This site should be able to weed out the bad’uns, though!
Man – I keep catching my spelling mistakes after I hit submit!
From what I can remember, you cant do this is Yahoo!, which is a shame. If it was an option in H2H I would have used it for sure last season. Yahoo is a nice game in many ways, but its lack of customisation, and especially the insistance of playing the finals during silly week, are dissapointing.
I hear you, d.
Cm’on Yahoo – get with the program!
JSmoove doing the only thing he’s good at..
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Josh-Smith-dunks-on-Love;_ylt=Avon0zYPDK99f_Fdmf0I3Le8vLYF?urn=nba,178593
I rate the dunk about an 8 – the reaction of the guys in the crowd gets a 9.75. You can alllllmost hear the curse words coming through – unless it was edited out!
Totally unrelated, just wanted to say that if that was the last time I get to see Roy Halladay in a Jays uniform, he will be sorely missed. We’ve had a lot of stars come through this city, but absolutely none as talented, consistent, and professional as him. He’s easily the best pitcher I’ve ever seen play and I’m glad I got to see him live a few times in his prime. Can we just reflect for a second how good he really is? Halladay’s CAREER record: 142-69 with a 3.46 ERA over TWELVE seasons. Say it ain’t so, Doc.
So since we’re talking about keepers, who would you pick among these guys:
KG
Wilson Chandler
Hedo
Richard Jefferson
Seems to me like KG will be available in the later rounds though the opinion could change come draft time next year.
I’m not too keen on keeping Hedo since his FG% killed me this year.
RJ won’t have as much upside but maybe he can give solid all-around numbers.
Wilson Chandler plays in the D’Antoni system and has some potential. He might get a three and a block per game along with good stats in other areas except maybe assists and steals.
Thoughts?
KG is still probably a 2nd round pick. Before he got injured last year, he was giving 1st round value. I’d be very surprised if anyone else on that list went before him in a draft, so I wouldnt look any further.
Of the other 3 I like chandler. He should be a member of the 1-1-1 3pt-Blk-Stl club, along with decent scoring and boards. Last year he was a poor man’s Marion. This year he may well surpass him. I’d put him in a similar position to Anthony Randolph and Tyrus Thomas- the potential is there, but will the stars align?. Hedo will do what Hedo does, and RJ’s usage will probably drop so he should loose a little value. Like I said, I wouldnt keep any of these guys over KG.
KG … hedo .. chandler … jefferson
That’s where I’d put ‘em!
I can tell you for a fact that RJ’s numbers will drop (knowing how the Spurs work, and what their scoring options are – Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson).
As easy as it is to dismiss KG for his age, he’s still the best on the board at that position – did we forget that bigs were premium last year? I wouldn’t count it as just centers – I think all bigs were a premium last season.
First off, when you say a three, please say 3PM. It definitely threw me off. Otherwise I would have written:
“don’t mean to call you out, but 3.5 BPG?! I love the dude to death, but don’t you think it is a tad too optimistic? He didn’t average 1 BPG yet.”
You pretty much have everything spot on…just go w/ Wilson (it was also noted he, along w/ Danilo, will be the franchise players and young core NYK will build around), so it looks like he will be the next Marion (he averaged 1.7 BPG at his best), capable of playing/guarding multiple positions and being versatile.
I would definitely wait another year before I’d even consider Chandler in that group. He had some nice games last year, but he also disappeared for stretches at a time, and killed my FG% most weeks. He has 1-1-1 potential, but I think it’s a bit premature to call him the next Marion, or that he’s even on TT or AR’s level. I could be wrong, he’s definitely on my radar, but you’re much better off with a sure thing like KG or Hedo, even in a keeper league.
Chandler was inconsistant, but TT isn’t? Its more about where they ended up. From BBM, over the last 60 days and with standard scoring TT was ranked 47, and Chandler was 52. This is why I have them in the same converstaion. Additionally, you’d have to say Chandler’s place on the Knicks is safer than TT on the Bulls.
Yeah you’re right, those two are pretty close, but I’d still rather take TT I think for the extra boards, steals, and blocks (3′s are easier to find), and because he’s got a year and half more experience than WC at this point. Total rankings are one thing, but when you look at their per-36 minute averages below I think TT has a slight edge. Of course it all depends on how their depth charts shake out, you could certainly make a case that WC is in a better situation right now, but if the Knicks bring back Lee and Robinson, sign another PG, and have to find minutes for Harrington, Hughes, Gallinari and Hill, it certainly doesn’t help WC’s cause. I’m sure they won’t rush him.
TT (per-36 min): 14.3 PTS, 8.4 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.6 STL, 2.5 BLK, 45.1 FG%, 78.3 FT%
WC (per-36 min): 15.5 PTS, 5.8 REB, 2.2 AST, 1.0 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.4 3PTM, 43.2 FG%, 79.5 FT%
I certainly wouldn’t knock anyone for preferring TT over WC (worst initials
), I’m just saying that he should be included in any conversation about young, versatile, multi-cat-contributing fowards with big potential such as Randolph and Thomas.
Absolutely, I had Chandler for most of the season, then dropped him when he hit the wall, only to regret it when he finished strong. He could have some real nice value as a 7-8th rounder.
Same here. I actually got WC (Fields?) right when he started to get hot early on – then his production dropped. I debated holding on to him and finally dropped him. Funny thing in that league was that no one else went to pick him up when he started to come around again (including me). Finally, someone did though, and it paid off for them.
But I’d give up the point difference for the extra 3 REBs and extra blk that TT gives you.
Well Anthony Randolph is mine.. The commish let the manager who had Yao as a keeper pick a new keeper from his roster. That manager had Randolph and obviously chose him. So I talked to the manager and told him I’d give him my 1st pick for Randolph and he said deal.
Randolph better be the real deal..
you are using what equates to a 6th round pick on him right? at that price and with the core you already have in place, it’s not exactly a risky scenario
Yeah #1 pick in the 6th round. Had he declined the offer I would’ve probably drafted either Murphy or Marion.
BTW remember when you were upset that Wieters wasn’t drafted until the 13th or 14th rd in my keeper league? I just dropped that bum for Montero.
how many do you keep? i know the counting stats have been terrible way down in the BAL lineup but he’s hitting .284 over his past 29 games
Keep 5..
So as of now I’m keeping Kinsler, Braun, and Fielder for sure.
I’ll probably keep Reynolds because 3B has turned into such a garbage position.
5th spot will come down to Ibanez, Nolasco, and Tommy Hanson..
Wieters has 2 runs, 1 hr, 5 rbi over the last month. I can’t tolerate that. Montero has 14 runs, 6 hr, 19 rbi, .402 avg over the same time span.
Do you trust that Ibanez can hit 30 homeruns again next year (assuming he stays healthy). Otherwise I’m thinking about targeting fellow Bulldog Gordon Beckham. Beckham, Kinsler, and Braun would give me some attractive looking keepers.
In the leagues where I own Wieters I’ve picked up Montero, but there’s no way I’m dropping Wieters in a keeper league, even though carrying two catchers does suck. Maybe it’s just me though, I will admit that I sometimes believe in guys for too long.
I would absolutely keep Reynolds. And I guess I’d go Tommy Hanson over Nolasco. I don’t know about Ibanez, he’s old and this year has a flukey feel to it. But maybe playing in Phillie does make that big of a difference. Not sure Beckham is keeper worthy yet, but if he stays this productive over the rest of the year I’ll change my mind.
Yeah I’ll see how the rest of the season goes.. If Ibanez finishes with 35+ homeruns it’ll be tough not to keep him.
I tried hard to get Beckham last night, and failed. He has Beckham playing 3B with no other 3B on his roster. I can’t give him Reynolds, and I couldn’t convince him to add Edwin Encarnacion. I’ll try again in a couple weeks.
I hate Kinsler so much. He was batting like .450 in May, now he’s around .240.. I’m just waiting for him to go on the DL for social anxiety (that seems to be the trendy thing this year when a player starts sucking).
Kinsler’s counting stats are still good, I wouldn’t be too worried about him. He already has a career high (23) in HRs, and will likely finish with 30 plus, he’s got 22 steals and will likely finish with 30 plus. 30/30? Almost any avg. is acceptable, but he’s a career .280 hitter and I think he’ll end up closer to that than the .240 he’s sitting on now.
I have no problem taking chances on young studs in baskbetall like with Randolph and Westbrook.. But I’ve begun to despise prospects in baseball. Guys like Brad Evans give them so much more hype than they deserve.
I gave up so much for Justin Upton and Jay Bruce last year. I gave up Vazquez for Wieters a couple weeks ago, but I got a 7th rd pick for a 19th rd pick so that was the main reason.
David Price.. Isn’t he supposed to be… Good? Social anxiety I guess.
Well so much in basketball is about playing time, if a player is guaranteed that then they will likely contribute. Much more hit and miss in baseball, and it all comes down to individual matchups and adjustments, definitely harder to predict how a young baseball player will perform, you kind of have to take the shotgun approach.
baseball players tend to take longer to come around too, even if they are considered ‘mlb ready’ when they get the call. ibanez has been so consistently good, even at 37 it’s hard to bet against him having another few solid seasons. 30+ HR again? he’s only done it once in his career (twice when you include this season), so keeping him for HR isn’t the best bet. hanson may pitch well enough down the stretch to give you some pause before letting him go. and i still have little reason to expect 23-year-old wieters to not be among the best hitters in the game (not at catcher, in the game) for most of the next decade
I disagree with you pairing of Chris Paul and Carlos Boozer because neither are block-happy. At the turn of the second, if Dwight were still floating around, I’d rather have a him and a team dominant in blocks/steal/rebounds/assists (who builds around FT%, really?) than a simple pairing based off of statistical similarities. Being an ever-looked-down-upon Dwight Howard drafter last year, his negatives never seemed to outweigh the benefits of also owning Steve Nash, ever. I can’t imagine it being any different with CP3. I did manage to win FT% a handful of time as well.
On the other hand, with Lebron James, a simple pairing is in order. Andre Igoudala anyone? I think both offer similar week-to-week explosiveness, albeit on totally different levels, which to me is Lebrons entire appeal (right next to complete domination).