Categorically Speaking
Things like position primers, Yahoo! O-Ranks, and various general rankings lists can give you an idea of how impactful a player will be “in general”. That starts to change – a little or a lot, depending on the player – when you remove any single stat category from consideration. Let’s take a look at the movers and shakers that result from the various team-building scenarios.
Note: this is a good time to throw this wrinkle in. When it comes to h2h, I generally ignore TO for the most part. It’s a category that tends to be decided as much by the number of player games than the quality of the players in the matchup, so it’s easy to over-emphasize it. You’ll notice that I did not say that I ignore TO completely. What I do is not that a player like Corey Maggette averages about as many as Joe Johnson – in relation to their overall lines, Maggette’s turnovers are much “worse” and he gets de-valued accordingly.
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The first scenario we’ll look at is the Dwight Howard strategy. If you draft him in the first, then you punt FT% – it’s pretty simple. So who else gets an unusually large boost as you move through the draft when you punt FT%?
* Jason Kidd – technically he’s not a bad foul shooter, but he gets to the line so little that it has almost no affect on his fantasy impact; very solid pairing, but be sure to address scoring moving forward
* Andre Iguodala – not a massive boost but if Josh Smith will last until the third, you can take AI2 in the second to get very good assists and steals
* Josh Smith – remove FT% from his line last season and he still delivered a second-round per-game impact. I don’t have a problem with taking him in Rd 2 for these purposes if you don’t think he’ll last until your third pick.
* Tim Duncan – I’m down on him this season, in general, but he’s not completely going away and is a career 69-percent shooter.
* Rajon Rondo – not a lot of PG that fit this strategy so well, so I don’t mind a Round 3 reach, but in a perfect world he’s your Round 4 pick
* Andris Biedrins/Emeka Okafor – both players’ 8-cat impacts climb into the top 20 when you remove FT% (career: Biedrins 53%, Okafor 60%). A good chance you can get Okafor in the 5th if you pass on Biedrins to take Rondo
* Boris Diaw – career 70%, albeit with low volume, but an excellent target a round early because of threes and assists help
* Paul Millsap – sub-70% for his career, so feel free to upgrade here
* Blake Griffin – the insane hops and 20/10 numbers made it easy to overlook the fact that also he shot 59% from the line in college
* Trevor Ariza – the FG% won’t be great, but it will be better than his FT% (career 66%) and there are steals and threes to be had here
* Ronnie Brewer – big-time steals in the later rounds and also career 53/72 percentages
* Shaquille O’Neal – even if his numbers fall a bit overall, taking him gives you a near-monopoly on FG% in most of your matchups
Players with a negative impact on FG% and a reasonable portion of their positive impact coming via FT% (downgrades): Chauncey Billups, Devin Harris, Kevin Martin, O.J. Mayo, Ben Gordon, Stephen Jackson, Nate Robinson, D.J. Augustin, Jamal Crawford
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Now let’s go the opposite direction. Say you grab Danny Granger in the first and Jason Kidd (or Chauncey Billups) in the second – it probably makes sense to ignore FG% moving forward, keep an eye on FT%, and load up on counting stats. Who moves up in that scenario?
First off, it opens up a whole new world of point guards, and the following in particular have new-found values when you ignore FG%: Devin Harris, Gilbert Arenas, Baron Davis, Russell Westbrook, Nate Robinson, Mario Chalmers, Mike Bibby, Aaron Brooks, Louis Williams, Chris Duhon, and Jamal Crawford. As for others:
* Vince Carter/Joe Johnson – Arenas is the clear Round 3 target, but very solid return on investment for either of these two as a Round 3 pick in this strategy
* Antawn Jamison – his FG% recovered a bit last season, but in general it’s not his strong suit. He should fall a bit because of his shoulder injury
* Kevin Martin – assume the FG% isn’t going to recover much while the team lacks a decent PG. He’s huge (FT%, PTS, 3PT) in the strategy from a per-game standpoint, but injuries of course factor in
* Rashard Lewis – high-efficiency takes on a whole new meaning when you ignore his FG%
* Stephen Jackson – his FG% and team situation are both terrible, and you can’t punt the latter; I won’t blame you for ignoring him, but you have to at least note that he gets a massive boost
* Hedo Turkoglu – he’s overrated, so the current Round 5 price is just break-even territory at best in this strategy, even if it bumps up his true impact
* Charlie Villanueva – he might not be terrible from the field, but you can’t help but feel wonderful about those starters’ minutes if FG% is simply not a factor
* Al Harrington – an excellent target for big-time offense in the middle rounds
* Ron Artest – you don’t need to wonder if his FG% will improve in LAL, just look at the counting stats
* Jeff Green – another player drafted well before he should be, rendering his potential for a lift here largely moot
* Wilson Chandler – filled the stat-sheet but just 43% from the floor last season
* Rasheed Wallace – we’re talking elite-level per-game production when you take his FG% out of the equation; think about Round 7 just to be sure you get him
* Shane Battier – love him anyway, but this is your glue guy in the punt FG% strategy; will make a push for the 2/1/1 club
* Yi Jianlian – he’s worth taking a chance late as it is, and it’s worth a bit more when you can ignore than he’s a career 40% shooter
Some notables to ignore in this strategy (high positive FG% impact): Andris Biedrins, Andrew Bynum, Emeka Okafor, Tony Parker, Paul Millsap, Chris Kaman, Andrew Bogut
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One particularly popular punt strategy is to ignore blocks. Obviously, many guards and swingmen get a general “upgrade” and you’ll load up on them, so let’s focus on the bigs (with otherwise big-man stats) that get a particular boost when you employ this strategy:
* Antawn Jamison – keep an eye on the shoulder injury but he’s typically high on boards and low on blocks
* Troy Murphy – Murphy posted the best numbers of his career last season. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, you need to be aware that he’s a very desirable pick in the third in this strategy.
* David Lee – Lee blocked the same amount of shots as Ben Gordon last season (22). Don’t hate him in the third, but love him in the fourth.
* Carlos Boozer – do I like Boozer in general this season? No. Does he technically get an upgrade within the strategy? Yes.
* Kevin Love/Luis Scola – both are a poor man’s D.Lee and both get a boost here. They also both go somewhere around the same spot in Round 7, so it may be an either/or scenario.
* Zach Randolph – see what I wrote about Carlos Boozer.
* Channing Frye – a great later speculative pick as it is, and his line will largely be offensive-focused
* Brad Miller – solid back-end option in this strategy and the efficiency also helps
* Udonis Haslem – zero upside, but 11/8 with decent percentages isn’t terrible
Players that derive significant value from blocks (downgrade): Brook Lopez, Tim Duncan, Josh Smith, Elton Brand, Andris Biedrins, Andrew Bynum, Marcus Camby, Emeka Okafor, Anthony Randolph, Tyrus Thomas, Chris Andersen, Jermaine O’Neal, Kendrick Perkins, Samuel Dalembert, Ronny Turiaf
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With the elite-level numbers concentrated amongst a handful of players, it’s not too hard to see why it can make sense to ignore steals in some circumstances. Plenty of bigs pick up some value in this scenario, but who else gets among the more notable upgrades?
* Steve Nash – you can do a lot worse than a Nowitzki/Nash pairing at the top, keeping an eye on %s and not worrying about steals moving forward
* Vince Carter/Paul Pierce/Rashard Lewis – none of these guys is completely devoid of steals, but none is going to be much above 1.0 flat, either, so they do get a bump
* Derrick Rose – despite his physical gifts, he never really accumulated steals in college, either; lots of people reaching for Rose, though, so you’ll have to do the same regardless
* Tony Parker – less than a steal per game in each of the past two seasons, but the Round 5 ADP means he’s a break-even pick at best even in this strategy
* Charlie Villanueva – steals is one spot where his career per-36′s don’t really look great (0.8), but he should fill it up elsewhere
* Ben Gordon – a lack of steals is well-established here, but his ADP hasn’t really fallen off much despite his return to a reserve role
* Boris Diaw – steals have never been his thing, but lots of other contributions are
* Aaron Brooks – should be lots of 3s and not too many steals; the FG% will be low
* Kelenna Azubuike – very solid glue guy in general gets a slight bump in this strategy
* Mike Miller – another versatile line that doesn’t happen to include steals; will improve overall
* Andres Nocioni – will get plenty of run while Garcia is out; 2.1 treys, 0.6 steals in 18 starts last season
* Tayshaun Prince – reliable end-of-the-rotation option, but not for steals (0.6 career average)
Players that figure to end the season among the steals leaders (downgrade): Jason Kidd, Mario Chalmers, Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace, Ronnie Brewer, Devin Harris, Baron Davis, Trevor Ariza, Andre Iguodala, Caron Butler, Monta Ellis, Ron Artest
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Now that total points no longer decides playoff tie-breakers (hooray!), ignoring points becomes a very viable strategy. Since the elite scorers tend to be concentrated among the first few rounds, the strategy moves things around at the top, in particular.
Note: don’t forget that you are still competing in the % categories, so you need to make sure that your top influences on FG% and FT% (read: the most attempts) are positive ones, regardless of how many points they score.
Leading off: This might be a good strategy to employ if you pick near the end of Round 1, are just not loving the choices and are feeling a bit contrarian. But in general, it’s not for the faint of heart. You want to come away with two of these four options at the turn: Jason Kidd (third in per-game impact in this strategy in 2008-09), Jose Calderon, Kevin Garnett, and Gerald Wallace. The Kidd/Calderon pairing gives you dominating assist numbers, very good steals, solid threes and FT%, and average FG%. KG with either point guard provides very good balance across the board. Kidd/G-Wall gives you immense steal totals and good balance but a bit less of a base in percentages. Calderon/Wallace starts you off very well in assists, steals, and both percentages. KG/G-Wall leaves you lacking in threes and assists but solid elsewhere.
Lots of bigs get a bump, but some more than others: of that group that tends to be going in Rounds 4-6, Al Horford, Marcus Camby, Nene Hilario, and Andris Biedrins (watch the FT%) become particularly attractive options. Two more targets in particular as the draft moves along: Joakim Noah and Rasheed Wallace. Chris Andersen also deserves a special mention here – you draft him in this strategy, period, so take him a round before you think anyone else might. Antonio McDyess is a fantastic late target, with Brendan Haywood and Joel Przybilla as a solid fall-back options.
Boards-plus-steals-plus-blocks: Shawn Marion looks great in Round 3; Anthony Randolph and Tyrus Thomas really look like they are worth reaches in this strategy; Andrei Kirilenko becomes the later option for what we’re looking for here; Shane Battier will be an absolute monster in this strategy (threes, steals, blocks), so take him a round before anyone else would
Other targets: Rajon Rondo, Jameer Nelson, Trevor Ariza, Mo Williams, Paul Millsap, Mario Chalmers, Chris Duhon, Anthony Parker, Udonis Haslem
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Perhaps you end up with Durant, Granger, Amar’e, Dirk, or Bosh as your Round 1 selection and consider ignoring assists. Plenty of point guards lose consideration and most bigs move up the charts. In general, you want to make sure you cover some combination of threes, steals, and FT% that you can typically rely on standard point guards to deliver. You’ll notice that all the first-round players I mentioned are solid in FT%
Two point guards to consider in Rounds 4-5 are Monta Ellis and Mo Williams – neither is a plus-contributor in assists relative to position peers, but neither necessarily gets an upgrade overall here, either, they are just a better fit than most. The two names to really remember for this purpose are Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa. Both are undervalued in general and both are perfect fits for the strategy so they are the ideal mid-round targets. Good percentages, low turnovers, good threes, and even some steals. If this is the route you go, you’ll want to roster both, if at all possible.
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There is also a chance that you’ll grab a few bigs in the early rounds (like Bosh and Al Jeff) and end up thinking that ignoring threes is the path of least resistance. This is another general strategy that upgrades bigs in general, and a lot of guards and swingmen lose value. The notable upgrades include:
* Josh Smith – okay, so technically it’s his FT% that has us all worried; that said, he’s never very effective from long-range and can pile on the defensive stats
* Rajon Rondo – the point guard of choice in this strategy, should improve in most other areas
* Monta Ellis – the fall-back option if you can’t get Rondo, and a very good one; Rondo/Ellis at the Round 3/4 turn is also something to consider
* Derrick Rose – the upgrade here makes taking him at his current ADP more palatable
* Tony Parker – a good fall-back option a round later if you miss out or pass on Rose
* Andre Miller – I’m not liking the vibes out of POR at all, but he’s a substantial upgrade in this strategy
* T.J. Ford – falling farther than he should already, make sure he’s on your target list
* Luol Deng – a good late target anyway, but a huge return on investment in this strategy if he even approaches previous form
* Ronnie Brewer – another ADP bargain that is a perfect fit for this strategy
* Grant Hill – glue guy of choice when you ignore threes
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And then there’s the balanced approach. Adopt this strategy and you aim for efficiency overall and try to avoid large negative influences altogether, as opposed to simply limiting them to a category or two. Here’s a quick run-down of the notable negative influences on FG%, FT%, and TO, keeping in mind that it’s only notable relative to the rest of their positive overall numbers.
FG%: Baron Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, Stephen Jackson, Russell Westbrook, Raymond Felton, Allen Iverson, Jamal Crawford, Louis Williams, Yi Jianlian, Rasheed Wallace
FT%: Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Andris Biedrins, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bogut, Shaquille O’Neal
TO: Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Rudy Gay, Stephen Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu, O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, Boris Diaw, Zach Randolph, Andrew Bogut, Chris Kaman, Shaquille O’Neal, Corey Maggette
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Shame on you Booser… As you methodically go about raising the intelligence of the fantasy basketball community i can only hope people start to tune you out man. I found this article far too comprehensive and way to helpful for those who don’t know how to play H2H in a sneaky and subversive way. When i win the lotto or they start paying me according to my fantasy bball enthusiasm i will certainly hire you as my personal advisor but until then i request that you stop enlightening the masses.
haha. hey man just throwing some food for thought out there. if i make leagues even a bit more competitive for some of you, then i’ve done my job
Good thing not many people read this website otherwise I’d be in trouble. Right now I am in two very competitive leagues with friends and only 2 out of 19 people know about this website and we’re dead set on NEVER giving it out hahahahaha.
Sorry Buse, but your guides are too sophisticated for the masses. I started googling your name with a frenzy after I saw your videos on yahoo fantasy sports a few years ago. I knew you were good right then and there and I was right.
can’t say that i can agree with the idea of not many people coming to this website being a good thing
when i was number 1 in your rankings it ‘got out’ and there were a fair few guys at my draft with the buser knowledge… i was the only one with the adp’s though and it worked a treat!
Whatever to that, nobody reads one article and becomes a fantasy star overnight, Much appreciation Boose, Keep Enlightening the masses, and I’ll keep reading, it’s boring when nobody cares,
Yahooligans fantasy basketball club for life.
Crackr
I’m all about spreading the Buse love to everyone I don’t play fantasy sports with. Nice to be back on the site, it’s been awhile, Buse, you’re a great egg, and I look forward to basking in your insights for another glorious basketball season.
I think I came around on H2H as a more exciting format than Roto due to strategies such as these that one can employ.
i’d probably call winning a roto league a more “satisfying” experience, but we can all agree that it’s subjective. that said, i’ll take fantasy hoops in just about any form
i started out in Roto and had my 1st taste in h2h last year. The strategy I employed in H2H didn’t deviate from Roto. This said, although I handily won the roto league with my mates by a wide margin I never expected to win H2H as well.
I’m the league manager in both of my leagues with friends and I’ve set it to H2H without playoffs, so essentially every week is a playoff game. It’s like combining H2H with a little roto thrown into it. I’ve found this format to be the most exciting and “satisfying”.
“…but until then i request that you stop enlightening the masses.”
Too funny, Kwaltz.
Tell you another thing – most of us here know why we’re here – to either learn more about the fantasy game and get better, or simply to reaffirm what we already knew and get new/fresh ideas. And sometimes, Buser is just preaching to the choir.
However – if his stuff starts showing up on CBSSports or ESPN, we’re all in trouble!
yeah, i first hated it when Matt’s articles show up on Yahoo again. twas like “oh-no, my friends gonna see THIS site.”.
buserfans are growing each week.
I asked this particular question on the message board: When it comes to a specific position (PG, SG, etc.), are there certain categories that one should punt in each position because they’re not indicative of the position in question?
no — the stats are what they are, no matter what position they are coming from
This is a really good question. In the simplest terms, I think Matt’s reply is spot-on, but in other ways, it can get more complicated. There are certain players that don’t contribute in categories that are “traditional” for their position. Perhaps more importantly, there are the rare players that contribute in categories their position stereotypically doesn’t. I like to call these guys “mutants.”
Personally, I’m a huge fan of mutants. I also realized that it’s often not possible to win any given category without at least one or two contributions coming from positions where they normally don’t.
In the many mock drafts that I’ve done, I’ve found, for instance, that it’s almost impossible to put together a team that wins 3pm without at least one player shooting from the C position. That makes Okur, Murphy, Harrington, and to a lesser extent Hawes and Bargnani, quite precious. A big reason that Howard is so valued is his high steal numbers as a center, in addition to the obvious boards, blocks, FG%.
On the flip side, if you draft a couple players that are deficient in a category for that position, you’re going to have to make up for it with a mutant or risk a gaping hole in your team. This isn’t so bad for H2H, but for roto it can be tough. If you use Derrick Rose and Tony Parker as your PGs, good luck being even competitive in steals and 3s. You’re now playing at these categories from behind. Combine two guards with clear strengths and weaknesses like Jason Kidd (steals, rebounds/FG%, points) with Steve Nash, (assists, FG%/steals, blocks) and you get a balanced mix.
I generally don’t like to take players that have a very obvious weakness at their position: PGs w/o steals or low assists, SGs without 3s or low points, SFs with any 0s, PFs with low boards or points, and centers without blocks or low FG%. But you can do that when there’s a very clear trade-off (you accept Murphy’s 3s for his low blocks, and look to make it up with a monster blocker elsewhere).
Position can matter. Sometimes you may find yourself “stuck” when certain players become injured and you have too many players with only one eligibility. In this case having a couple mutants around can help a lot, as you can look to fill stats from different positions while you make up a motley crew to fill in the rest.
can’t disagree with any of this, although i don’t think he was going that deep with his question. positions certainly matter, and the unorthodox contributors can help or hurt your team-building strategy, so you’ve got the be careful. thats why the stats are more important than the position designation to begin with
This will be the most useful fantasy basketball article written this year.
I love this article….
thank you so much matt, I will make sure my league mates not read this and I’ll be the only one with this information.
be sure to send them this way after the draft though okay?
Matt,
Great insight, really helps me to hone in on what I need to do for each of my four drafts.
I signed up for one of the invitational leagues, and was assigned the 25th as my draft date, where/when do i actually sign into the league?
Do not post this on the yahoo experts page!! Yeah i see you still doing work on there!!
look for a PM from me within the next 24 hours that points you to a check-in thread. then we’ll get the specifics in order and hopefully get you a specific league invite shortly after the oct 21 cut-off
Yo Matt! Great Site!
I play a custom keeper league, roto usual cats including mins, 3pt% and TOs.
Pls rank my roster:
Duncan, Jamison, GWall, Sjackson, Dharris
Okur, Villanueva, Prince, Artest, TParker
Kaman, Evans, Mike Miller, Ridnour
Thanks
Awesome preview, matt. Came too late for my league, unfortunately
I missed the first half of my draft but was able to grab some guys late that you talked about – Nocioni & McDyess. (Stupid computer drafted FGarcia , whom I had to drop and replace with crap (Warrick)). I’m in a twelve team league – any thoughts on my team’s strengths and weaknesses? Anyone I’ve gotta get rid of asap?
Nowitzki
Iguodala
Kidd
Richardson
Chandler
hawes
Brad Miller
McDyess
Ginobli
Bibby
Lou Williams
Nocioni
Hakim Warrick
I meant Jason Richardson. Also, it’s a 14 team league, not 12.
Buse, one of my drafts will be later tonight and I’ve got my strategy down (H2H league, no playoffs, no turnovers, 8-category league). Please let me know what you think if I need to revise anything.
Pick 1: Chris Paul (Balanced approach, may punt blocks if people start reaching for Lopez, Nene, Bynum, and Anthony Randolph)
Pick 2: LeBron James (Balanced approach)
Pick 3: Dwyane Wade (Possible balanced approach, but most likely will punt free throws because many centers like Okafor and Shaq’s value skyrockets; 3-point shooters are a dime a dozen; will try to get Jason Kidd and Rondo with 2nd and 3rd pick)
Pick 4: Dwight Howard (Punting free throws; getting Kidd and Rondo with 2nd and 3rd pick)
Pick 5: Kevin Durant (Balanced approach; not buying into all the hype yet; Durant is still way below Wade and even with the injury factor taken into account, Wade is worth the risk because he destroys Durant in steals, blocks, and assists)
Pick 6: Danny Granger (punting FG%; looking to get Jason Kidd and Billups or Kidd and Gerald Wallace and try to get Baron Davis later)
Pick 7: Amare Stoudemire (punting 3s; will try to get Al Jefferson, Bosh, or Gasol with the 2nd pick)
Pick 8: Kobe Bryant (Numbers will go down; balanced approach)
Pick 9: Dirk Nowitzki (Balanced approach, may punt blocks)
Pick 10: Al Jefferson (Punting 3s; Chris Bosh will be 11th pick)
Basically, I try to hoard multi-category top tier points guards or centers early. All the top centers will be drafted anywhere from 7 to 17. If I get Dwight Howard, I will try to hoard point guards immediately. If I get Chris Paul, most likely I will have to continue to hoard top tier point guards. I definitely do not mind drafting 3 point guards right off the bat.
Comments and constructive criticism please. =)
I think the only time you should EVER “punt” a category (besides TOs, since the guys with TOs always have the ball in their hands), is when you are already halfway through the draft and can’t recover somewhere, at all.
This isn’t fantasy football, where the talent gets diluted tremendously after the first couple rounds. There are guys who can help you recover missing stats all over the place and I think its illogical to just not compete in a stat.
As someone who has never (maybe once?) finished below third in fantasy bball, I’ve always taken the “balanced team” approach. Get assists and blocks early and then the 15 point, 5 board, good FG% guys are all over the place later.
I think that if you know the sport well enough, you should know who the real steals are in each round and those are the guys you should be looking to get. I don’t even really worry about stats too much when I draft, I just get the guys I know who are good, guys who contribute in multiple stats (whichever ones they may be), guys who don’t have lingering injuries, guys who are in friendly systems, and guys who are going to get minutes.
Obviously, I keep an eye on where I’m weak and try to fulfill that stat later.
This approach has lead to this team in my one draft so far. 12 team league, drafted 10th:
Deron Williams
Eric Gordon
Gilbert Arenas
Rudy Gay
Pau Gasol
David Lee
Al Harrington
Brendan Haywood
Tyrus Thomas
Nate Robinson
Mario Chalmers
Roy Hibbert
Kelena Azubuike
So you wouldn’t punt FTs if you drafted Dwight Howard? The problem with going the “balanced approach” is that the majority of the players are doing the same. I agree with you about not deciding on which category to punt until in the mid rounds or so. That’s why in the beginning, I always try to get multi-category point guards or centers. Swingmen who contribute to certain strengths in mid and latter rounds are a dime a dozen.
With your current lineup, I see no way for you to be dominant steals or blocks. Then again, it is a 12-team league. I don’t see what you’re trying to accomplish by drafting David Lee in the 4th round with the Arenas being your 3rd round pick. David Lee gets points, boards, FG%, and decent FT% and nothing else. You have horrible FG% guys like Arenas, Harrington, Tyrus, and Chalmers, yet you have great FG% guys like Deron Williams, Gasol, and Lee. It’s like drafting Dwight Howard and then picking Billups, Kevin Martin, and then Shaq.
“David Lee gets points, boards, FG%, and decent FT% and nothing else.”
david lee grabs excellent steals for a big man (3rd most of any c in the league last season), and his low turnovers are also a bonus.
“You have horrible FG% guys like… Tyrus”
well, i would guess that he shot between .490 and .500 in the final 40 games of last season (excluding playoffs), and can’t see a reason why he won’t continue to do so. similar to okafor’s field goal percentage earlier in his career – obvious improvements will occur.
I really like that team (with the exception of rudy gay – but it appears as though you’ve taken him relatively late, so that’s ok).
Drafting Dwight Howard and punting FTs is the only exception I would make, since his negative impact is SO huge. But I would probably FIRST look to find really good positive impact guys at FT%. To me, drafting Howard and Billups makes PERFECT sense. You say they cancel each other out, where I say they give me all the number stats and average out my percentages.
You criticize my team for not having a lot of blocks or steals, but then criticize me for getting Ty thomas (tons of blocks) and Chalmers (tons of steals) at the end of the draft because of their FG%??? Duuuuhhhhhhh……they don’t shoot the ball enough to really impact my team in that regard.
Anyone who had Lee last year wants to own him again this year. That’s a fact. Sure he doesn’t block shots, but the guy consistently puts up 20 point 15 board games. Didn’t he lead the league in double doubles last year?
Arenas is a first round talent (who I’m a much bigger fan of in fantasy than real life) that I got in the third round. He’s a guy who will most likely throw up 25 points a night, which was big for me since my first 2 guys weren’t huge scorers (and nobody likes losing points). I also had a glaring need with 3s.
I would agree with the Rudy Gay pick being my most questionable. He took a small step back last year with Mayo and could take another with AI. But he still had a decent overall stat line last year being one of those guys with around 1 steal/1 three/1 block. Put those with points in the high teens, boards around 6, and around 2 assists with average %’s and I think he’s pretty much the definition of “solid”, especially when you factor in that he’s missed less than 5 games over the last 2 seasons. If you compare his numbers over the last 2 years, he didn’t drop nearly as much as these fantasy guys are making it seem like. The possibility of a rebound year is big, in my opinion.
combine howard and billups FT numbers from last season and you get 70.8%, so i’d hardly call that balanced. what you do is lock yourself into taking at least a few more elite sources of FT% value or you are wasting a large part of billups. D12 can carry billups in FG%, but it takes a pretty big chunk (~40%) of his positive value
I’m in a 8 team 11 player league standard 9 categories. Should I punt a category and if so, which one?
My team is:
Chris Paul
Pau Gasol
Kevin Garnett
Jose Calderon
Andre Iguodala
Jason Richardson
Monta Ellis
Mehmet Okur
Nene
Al Horford
Jeff Green
Any help is appreciated
How do you decide on what to punt when you have already drafted your team? It seems that you have a very balanced team. I wouldn’t punt anything.
I should rephrase it then. Is there any category where I have a weakness?
I’ll give you a rating in each category from 1 to 10:
FG%: 9
FT%: 9
3s: 5 (Richardson and Okur are the only big contributors)
Boards: 8
Assists: 9
Steals: 8
Blocks: 6
Points: 7
Turnovers: 6 (Ellis and Iguodala hurts you big in TOs)
But yeah, it’s an overall very balanced team. You should expect to win at least 5 categories every week. But this is an 8-team league, so I have no idea how strong your opponents’ teams are.
I got Dwight Howard on my first pick so I tried following the FT punt strategy. However I was very conflicted as a lot of value players fell to me in rounds that went against my thesis like Brook Lopez in the 5th, Jason Thomson in the 11th.
Here is my team in H2H 9 Cat, 12 players 10th pick
1. Dwight Howard C
2. Kevin Garnet PF (wanted Kidd but Garnet this low had to pull the trigger)
3. Josh Smith SF/PF
4. Rajon Rondo PG
5. Brook Lopez PF/C (Don’t need his FT% but figure good PTS, RBS, BLK and in the 5th?)
6. Anthony Randolph PF (I need him on my team REGARDLESS)
7. Russell Westbrook PG (I know this pick really hurts my thesis due to FG% but he bolsters pts, ast and stl. Thought I could live with this and have others bring up FG%. I know this pick HURTS me. Perhaps a trade value)
8. John Salmons SG/SF (at this stage I need guards and ast)
9. Luol Deng SG/SF (low draft position lowers risk, and i need guards/sf)
10. Johnny Flynn PG/SG
11. Jason Thomson SF/PF (i figure the value alone at this draft position is worth something although i now have 5 PF eligible positions)
12. Mario Chalmers PG (fg hurts, stl good, ast good)
13. Jarret Jack PG/SG (pg/sg combo… dont know if i need him)
Hibbert and Perkins are available as is Brandon Rush. I only have 1 true center and think Perkins makes sense to bolster my FG, REBS, BLKS but Hibbert seems to have the most upside. Torn… any recs? Clearly I am targeting
REBS
FG
BLKS
STL
and potential
AST
PTS
as the swing cats.
Any recs? Comments? I know I’m stacked at PF, overstacked in fact. Westbrook hurts me. Who should I target in a trade?
Thanks!
correction – Hibbert gone but Tyreke, McDyess, Thornton, DJ, Perkins are there.
and haywood
Big mistake on drafting Kevin Garnett over Kidd in round 2. Kidd doesn’t shoot enough at the line or FGs to even mildly affect your punting strategy. His assists, steals, 3s, and rebounds are like no other guards in the entire league. Rondo comes close, but he does not shoot 3s. Kidd is actually the best guard to combo with Dwight Howard. If possible, I would try my very best to snatch Kidd and Rondo with Dwight.
12-player league and Rondo went in the 39th pick? Even autopick would have picked him up. You got Brook Lopez in the 5th round?
Your picks went down the drain once you drafted Westbrook and from there on.
I could do a Kidd/Garnett trade but I don’t think Garnett hurts me with his efficient line. I think I can safely expect 15/8/3/1/1 pts/reb/a/s/b with 50% FG.
And I agree that my picks are against my thesis – but as you see some of those picks I had to choose based on how low they fell in the draft – namely Lopez, Westbrook and Thomson. I am willing to trade any player on my team except for Howard, Rondo and A. Randolph and possibly J Smoov since he fits so well into my thesis.
Here is the team with Kidd:
Chris Paul
Caron Butler
Jason Kidd
Lamar Odom
Emeka Okafor
Blake Griffin
Shaquille O’Neal
Hasheem Thabeet
Manu Ginobili
Trevor Ariza
Raja Bell
Derek Fisher
Kelenna Azubuike
Any suggestions? And thanks for your feedback.
With your current roster, I can safely say that you are weak in assists, 3s, points, FT%, and TOs. That’s 5 categories you’re weak in. You have steals, blocks, boards, and FG% covered, but it’s not looking good for your team overall imo.
I think AST and PTS are the two cats I can make ground up on which is why I am thinking to pick up some firepower from waivers.
Tyreke Evans, Thornton and DJ Augustine could help me there. Or do I bolster FG/BLK/REBS with McDyess, Haywood or Perkins.
I think Flynn/Rondo/Chalmers/Westbrook helps me stay afloat in assists though – is it too much to expect
Rondo – 8 ast
Westbrook – 6
Chalmers – 6 ast
Flynn – 5 ast
Salmons & Garnett – 3 each
Thanks! My favorite part of Fantasy is trading and building a team as I go along so having such trade bait is really interesting to me at this point.
hey buser, when are you gona start the buser invitational league?
Several of the leagues I play in go with A/TO rather than just flat TO, which obviously both makes guards more valuable, and makes it more difficult to punt the assist category, (as it’s essentially 1-2 categories then, rather than just one).
I have 4th pick in one league, and will be grabbing Durant, (unless #3 skips Wade, which is possible). No idea about the other leagues until the draft actually comes (they use the yahoo random draft func which determines order the day of).
Do not grab Durant that early in a A/TO league; he’s not even worth a top 5 pick. You should instead grab Deron Williams, who is very good in A/TO leagues and is only behind the big 3 (CP3, LBJ, Wade).
That’s an interesting thought… I hadn’t really considered Deron, as I’ve been conditioned to think of him (in traditional TO leagues) as more of a late 1st round pick.
The three possibilities at this point would seem to be Durant, Granger, and Williams. Even with A/TO taken into account, it seems somewhat close to me:
Kevin Durant (08-09 averages)
FG%: 47.6, 3PTM: 1.3, FT%: 86.3, REB: 6.5, AST: 2.8, ST: 1.3, BLK: 0.7, PPG: 25.3, A/TO: .911
Danny Granger (08-09 averages)
FG%: 44.7, 3PTM: 2.7, FT%: 87.8, REB: 5.1, AST: 2.7, ST: 1.0, BLK: 1.5, PPG: 25.8, A/TO: 1.109
Deron Williams (08-09 averages)
FG %: 47.1, 3PTM: 1.0, FT%: 84.9, REB: 2.9, AST: 10.7, ST: 1.1, BLK: 0.3, PPG: 19.4, A/TO: 3.180
FG%: Durant > Williams > Granger
3PTM: Granger > Durant > Williams
FT%: Granger > Durant > Williams
REB: Durant > Granger > Williams
AST: Williams > Durant > Granger
ST: Durant > Williams > Granger
BLK: Granger > Durant > Williams
PPG: Granger > Durant > Williams
A/TO: Williams > Granger > Durant
Durant: 3 1sts, 5 2nds, 1 3rd
Granger: 4 1sts, 2 2nds, 3 3rds
Williams: 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 5 3rds
Now, obviously the ranking doesn’t tell the whole tale, as the two cats Williams wins are substantially higher than Durant or Granger, and you have to think of how that carries over for the rest of the team, especially with those cats being somewhat tougher to corner than something like PPG. But still… Granger, for example, gives me 1.7 more 3s, 2.2 more rebounds, 1.2 more blocks, and ~7 more points per game, with %s being a split, while costing me 8 assists and 2 A/TO. Are those two categories, even with the much more substantial difference, really worth the (less severe) loss in 4+ other cats?
Thanks in advance.
Durant’s and Deron’s FG% are about the same, Granger’s FG% is significantly worse. FT% they’re all about the same, but Granger will give a huge boost in FT% because he shoots a high volume.
I think you’re clearly doing the math wrong. If you were taking the LSAT, you’d flunk the logic games.
Deron’s 3.2 A/TO is about 3 times better than Granger’s A/TO and about 3 1/2 times better than Durant’s. Having someone like Deron Williams will almost certainly be an automatic win in the A/TO category as long as you’re not playing against Chris Paul. Can you say the same for Durant in any category?
Go to http://www.basketballmonster.com and use the math there.
basketballmonster isn’t completely accurate because you have to take into consideration that stats like assists and blocks are the two toughest categories to be proficient in. Many players who are somewhat decent in assists or blocks are usually specialists and aren’t really good at anything else or will be detrimental in a category. You can easily make up for Deron’s lacking of blocks by picking up Anthony Randolph or Tyrus Thomas. The best thing would be to punt blocks all together and draft someone like David Lee as your center.
Assists are one of the easiest stats to be proficient in. Everyone gets them. Most players will get you around 2 or more, anything over 3.25 for team average is quite good, and 4.0 is dominant.
I think you have assists confused with rebounds. Getting 2 to 3 assists for your guards and small forwards doesn’t really help when a smart opponent drafted 3 quality guards ahead of you that gets 6+ a game.
Nope, no confusion at all. If you get 2-3 assists per game from your CENTERS, and 3-5 from your shooting guards and forwards, you don’t need all that much from actual point guards.
how many centers get 3 assists per game? how many 2 guards and forwards get 5 assists a game? not many.
Last year there were 4 centers with 3.3 ast/game or better (tops 4.1), and 9 more that were between 2.0 and 2.9. There were 4 players without PG eligibility that got 5+ ast/game, 7 more between 4.0 and 4.9, 11 more between 3.0 and 3.9. And that was in a DOWN year. The year before, there were 5 with 5+ and 20 with 3-3.9.
And these centers that get 3 assists a game, what else do they get? Name me a top center that gets 3 assists a game. How many two-guards get 5 assists a game aside from Kobe and Joe Johnson?
Ask Booze himself; he will tell you that assists and blocks are the two rarest categories. We all know points, rebounds, and 3s are the easiest stats to get. The hardest are assists, blocks, and FG%.
Diaw (at 4.1) gets a smattering of everything. Duncan and Gasol (at 3.5) get a whole lot of stuff. Miller (at 3.3) probably isn’t worth a lot this year unless someone other than him gets hurt.
Stephen Jackson averaged 6.4 last year. Iggy 5.2. TMac 5.0. Turk, Carter, and Mike Miller were all 4.5+. All players with SF eligibility as well, so you can argue that they’re not really shooting guards…but some of the PG-eligible players that get 5+ are shooting guards as well. Manu is plenty capable of getting 5+ assists also.
I will say I’m leaning towards taking your advice and drafting D. Williams with the #4. My league thinks I’m insane, and I’m still not sure whether that’s the case or not, but… eh.
FYI, for those who were involved in this debate… I ended up not taking Deron (or Granger or Durant) because, inexplicably, Chris Paul was still available at #4, (1: Lebron, 2: Kobe (??), 3: Wade). So I ended up taking CP3, and then grabbing Calderon in the 2nd round.
A league where point guards are gold and CP3 is worth twice as much as any other player!? I must say that your league is full of idiots. Well, at least 3 idiots, for sure.
AND WHAT!? Jose Calderon in the 2nd round!? He’s already a top 10 player in a league with A/TO ratio as the 9th category.
Were you able to snag Troy Murphy? He’s the 2nd most valuable center behind Pau Gasol in this format. As much as I don’t like him, I couldn’t refuse getting him in the 5th round in my league (WHAT-A-STEAL).
I ended up trading Dwight Howard, Gerald Wallace, and T.J. Ford for Jason Kidd and Kobe. Now I have Kidd, Arenas, B. Davis, and Kobe on my team. I would love to see Goob (poster above) try to beat me in a league with there are no turnovers.
Guys, please rate and comment on my team. I just finished drafting about an hour ago. I’m in a 10-team H2H league with 8 categories and no turnovers. I didn’t draft enough forwards, but I will fix that sometime soon with trades. I managed to get Dwight Howard with the 10th pick because many of the players from the 6-9 spot were just not comfortable drafting Howard. I kept getting really good value for point guards, so I may stocked up on too many. Let me know what you guys think and what players I should be looking to trade. Rondo was snatched in the mid 3rd round, so I could not get to him.
1(10) – Dwight Howard C
2(11) – Al Jefferson C
3(30) – Gilbert Arenas PG
4(31) – Gerald Wallace SF/PF
5(50) – Baron Davis PG
6(51) – Jameer Nelson PG
7(70) – Anthony Randolph SF/PF
8(71) – Jason Terry PG/SG
9(90) – T.J. Ford PG
10(91) – Andrew Bogut C
11(110) – Ronnie Brewer SG
12(111) – Leandro Barbosa SG
13(130) – Yi Jianlian SF/PF
I feel that I have a very strong team, but perhaps I should make a trade for low FT%/high FG% guys who are forwards.
one of arenas / baron needs to be traded – you’re completely cancelling out the positive impact that dwight and aljeff will have on your fg% by starting both those chuckers. maybe target someone like josh smith for this team – he’s a great pairing with dwight, will continue to shoot in excess of .485 now that he’s pretty much given up on 3s, and someone may accept baron for him straight up, or you could get jsmoove and another semi-decent player for gilbert.
that barbosa pick was a steal and a half!
I can’t get Josh Smith because one of the top 3 teams in the draft decided to punt FTs in the 3rd round by drafting Rondo and pairing him with Wade and Gasol. He drafted Josh Smith in the 4th round.
I am trying my very best to trade Baron Davis right now. I think Gilbert Arenas is serious about becoming a better overall basketball player, a player that wins. I think he is actually less likely to get injury than Baron Davis.
Currently, I am offering Terry for Harrington because I lack forwards. I am also revising my strategy because my team is so guard dominant, thus I am offering Dwight Howard, Baron Davis, Andrew Bogut, and Ronnie Brewer for Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Al Horford, and Andrei Kirilenko. The guy I’m trading to absolutely hates Kobe Bryant and ended up drafting too many players with poor FTs, so this trade would end up benefiting the both of us as my guard-dominant team can easily shift away from punting FTs.
Yeah, the Barbosa pick was a total steal. I totally gambled on how taking him around the 90s and it worked well. We’re using ESPN and the comment next to Barbosa wasn’t positive one haha. I love ESPN because they always give bad projections!
Hi Matt, could you please rate my squad.
I’m in a keeper league and I think I have a really strong team
We could keep 6 this year so I kept Deron WIlliams, Al Jefferson, Josh SMith, Antawn Jamison, Devin Harris, and Carlos Boozer.
I drafted
Stephen Jackson
Ramon Sessions
Joakim Noah
Courtney Lee
Luke Ridnour
James Harden
Andres Nocioni
Drew Gooden
Yao Ming
Do I have what it takes to win? What categories do you think I need work on? We keep 8 next year. Anyone you think I should keep (Yao and my 6 obviously)
LMAO considering that we are the 2 strongest squads, I think your keeper should be drew gooden.
Forgot to mention that it’s a H2H. 9 cat, but instead of Turnovers, we use A/TO ratio
In that case, Deron Williams is the 4th best player in the league in that format. I’m not that experienced in keeper leagues, but I think you should have drafted better young players than James Harden. What about Tyreke Evans? Blake Griffin? Even Yi Jianlian is a better consideration than James Harden.
James Harden is 19 and is pretty much like Eric Gordon. Blake went number 1 overall in my league (technically Round 7)
i wanted to draft Brandon Jennings but got taken a pick ahead of me. Evans was gone as well.
And as a Bucks fan, i’ll stomp on Yi.
Keep in mind that we keep 8 players next year and I have 7 players pretty much locked up.
What do you think of the team in general. Any weaknesses?
Better watch out for Yi this season. I drafted him with the 130th pick (very last pick).
I’m not too familiar with Keeper leagues, but I like Deron Williams in this format.
As a fellow Bucks fan, you are correct. Yi sucks.
Just watch out for him this season. I already dropped him, but I expect good production from Yi this year.
i began fantasy basketball last year and didn’t know much about the rules. i punted points and paid dearly for it. i went all the way to the finals but lost due to the tiebreaker. o well, there’s always this year! time for some payback!
Keep in mind that points no longer determines the tie-breaker in Yahoo! leagues (they changed it this year).
My league is H2H, 14 teams, 9 categories. Can someone please make recommendations/suggestions for my team?
1. (2) Chris Paul PG
2. (27) Brook Lopez PF,C
3. (30) Troy Murphy PF,C
4. (55) Rashard Lewis SF,PF
5. (58) Eric Gordon SG
6. (83) Paul Millsap SF,PF
7. (86) Anthony Randolph PF
8. (111) Chris Kaman C
9. (114) Rodney Stuckey PG,SG
10. (139) Tyreke Evans PG,SG
11. (142) Marvin Williams SF,PF
12. (167) Rudy Fernandez PG,SG
13. (170) Nick Collison PF,C
I recently dropped Nick Collison for Roy Hibbert, and will drop Rudy Fernandez as needed. I think have good rebounds, blocks, and steals, and decent FG%. But I have weak assists even though I have CP3 and I feel like I’m wasting his talent.
Randolph at 86 in a 14-team league? What a steal! I don’t like the Eric Gordon pick; love the Tyreke Evans pick though.
Just drafted a 14 team 9-cat standard Yahoo league. I got the 10th pick and drafted D.Howard and went with the punt FT% strategy..an autopicker really screwed me up and kidd was left till the 3rd round and a pick before me his autopick obviously took kidd. But what do you guys think? I feel like I need to acquire another big man for blocks?
PG Rajon Rondo
SG Andre Iguodala
G Leandro Barbosa
SF Blake Griffin
F Paul Millsap
F Trevor Ariza
C Dwight Howard
C Andris Biedrins
Util Boris Diaw
Util Ronnie Brewer
BN Louis Williams
BN Roy Hibbert
BN Steve Blake
Fantastic job of distilling all of the complexities and strategies of H2H into a relatively concise and thoroughly informative and exhaustive guide. Great article.
I decided to try the Dwight Howard strategy this year for the first time. Overall I’ve been very successful for a lot of years (including titles the past two) using the balanced roto-inspired approach and decided the challenge of something new would be fun. It’s a $ league but the buy-in isn’t huge so the risk wasn’t too high. Plus I had the #9 pick and didn’t want Gasol or Williams (overrated) or Bosh or Jefferson (injury concerns).
I’m interested in people’s thoughts as it was my first time trying any sort of punting strategy. Seemed to start off pretty well in the first 4 rounds, but had trouble exactly figuring out which direction to go in the middle rounds. Began thinking I needed some 3PTM (explains the Ginobili pick, which was likely a mistake), but in the end it turns out I could’ve used some more AST instead. And did I pick up enough blocks and rebounds to actually assure dominance even with Howard?
12 team league, H2H, 9 cats. Start G,G,F,F,C,Util,Util,Util.
Draft went:
1. (9) Dwight Howard C
2. (16) Andre Iguodala G,F
3. (33) Josh Smith F
4. (40) Rajon Rondo G
5. (57) Manu Ginobili G
6. (64) Leandro Barbosa G
7. (81) Boris Diaw F
8. (88) Andrew Bogut C
9. (105) Aaron Brooks G
10. (112) Joakim Noah F,C
11. (129) Mike Miller G,F
12. (136) Kirk Hinrich G
13. (153) D.J. Augustin G
14. (160) Ryan Gomes F
Any thoughts? How did I do letting the strategy play out throughout, and do I have a chance?
Why would you get Aaron Brooks with the 105th pick? The guy can’t shoot and your team is a FG% dominant team. I think you overpaid for Leandro Barbosa. He’s good, but he’ not 64th pick good. Nice steal on Rondo at 40 though. I wish I was that lucky to get him.
Thanks for the reply.
As for Brooks, felt like I needed a PG to help strengthen AST and 3PTM, and he seemed like good value at 105 and Brooks was far and away the best on the board. And hopefully he will be playing sparingly enough for me that the his in FG% can be easily absorbed by the strong FG% guys on my team.
And as for Barbosa, yes he might’ve lasted one more round. But 64 is not much higher than his ADP, and I think he will easily outperform that this year now that the Suns are back to running under Alvin Gentry. Check out his numbers and overall year end rank from ’06-’07. In restrospect, I probably could’ve stood to grab another big that round, but I was worried that I was inadvertently also punting 3PTM in addition to BLKS, which wouldn’t have been a good thing.
Brooks is good for FT% and points. He’s relatively weak in assists and 3s for a point guard. I’d much rather take my chances with Tyreke Evans if your league does not have TOs.
I think you should have punted 3s and FTs in your H2H league. Manu, Augustin, and Brooks cannot be counted on to consistently win 3s for you. I always like to be very strong in 5-6 categories and very weak in 1 or 2 in a 8-category H2H league.
I notice there are a lot of rookie PG options this year.
Flynn vs Evans vs Jennings… what are you thoughts? I have Flynn on my team of H2H 12 player 9 cat. But I am thinking Evans may be the play here…
All will play.
I like Evans most of the 3 for fantasy purposes
Hey fellas,
I tried to use H2H Strategy to fill out my team after taking best available with the 11th pick.
Here’s the first round of our H2H with playoffs, 14 team, 9 cat league.
LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Danny Granger, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant…
I can’t believe Durant fell to #10. I grabbed Amare at #11 and felt good. So to help me in future drafts, what should I have punted with Amare? I know Amare is strong is percentages and not so much in blocks for a big man, so I figured I’d keep up with strengths in both percentages.
Chris Bosh went 12, then Pau Gasol, and Chauncey Billups. Top of round 2: Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Al Jefferson. So at this point with Amare who should I have picked? Caron Butler & Antawn Jamison were there, lots of good players. I took Jose Calderon thinking that I was continuing the high %age trend.
From there, things went haywire. The draft was moving too quickly due to autodraft. I ended up with:
1. (11) Amar’e Stoudemire (%ages)
2. (18) Jose Calderon (%ages)
3. (39) Josh Smith (best available, hoping FT% last year was aberration, nice BLK/STL)
4. (46) David Lee (FG%, REB)
5. (67) Blake Griffin (took him way too high)
6. (74) Leandro Barbosa
7. (95) Ron Artest (figured I’d build on Josh’s STL, hopefully FG% will rise with less shots in LA)
8. (102) Trevor Ariza (trying to corner the market on STL)
9. (123) Joakim Noah (more FG% STL & BLK)
10. (130) Francisco Garcia (would have fit nice, if not for injury, going to drop him)
11. (151) Allen Iverson (worth an 11th round pick, but does he fit my team? Good name-brand trade bait?)
12. (158) Eddie House (I was lost at this point, figured I’d get a single cat helper)
13. (179) DeJuan Blair (I like this big fella, but there may have been better options out there)
14. (186) Kyle Korver (figured I’d get even more 3PT to support House)
How did I do, other than Griffin too high and that Garcia mistake? I think I made the mistake of focusing on one category too much (STL & 3PT) when my intention was to punt one category. Once I drafted Josh Smith, my desire to support his skills caused me to draft players that kill my %ages. I’m dropping Garcia because this league is too competitive to play short-handed. Eddie House and/or Kyle Korver can be dropped if I find out that 3PT isn’t the category I need to focus on.
Here’s the waiver wire (in order of %age owned):
PG: Roger Mason, Luke Ridnour, Beno Udrih, Jrue Holiday, Blake & Bayless, Daequan Cook, JJ Redick, Kyle Lowry
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Roger Mason, Jrue Holiday, Nick Young, James Posey, Daequan Cook, Marco Bellini, Nick Batum
SF: DeMar DeRozan, Carl Landry, Tyler Hansbrough, Nick Young, James Posey, Mbah a Moute, Nick Batum
PF: DeMar DeRozan, Carl Landry, Tyler Hansbrough, Matt Bonner, Ben Wallace, Nick Collison, Mbah a Moute, Chris Wilcox, Jason Maxiell, Jeff Foster
C: Joel Przybilla, Ben Wallace, Matt Bonner, Nick Collison, Chris Wilcox, Erick Dampier, Jeff Foster
Thanks in advance for any help and advice. I’ll try my best to answer any questions that I know as well.
Forgot to list the players’ positions. Also, if there’s a specific player or type of player that I should focus on trying to get in a trade, I’d love to know that as well. thanks!
1. (11) Amar’e Stoudemire PF,C
2. (18) Jose Calderon PG
3. (39) Josh Smith SF,PF
4. (46) David Lee PF,C
5. (67) Blake Griffin SF,PF
6. (74) Leandro Barbosa PG,SG
7. (95) Ron Artest SG,SF
8. (102) Trevor Ariza SF
9. (123) Joakim Noah PF,C
10. (130) Francisco Garcia SG,SF
11. (151) Allen Iverson PG,SG
12. (158) Eddie House PG,SG
13. (179) DeJuan Blair SF,PF
14. (186) Kyle Korver SG,SF
PG,SG,G,SF,PF,F,C,C,Util,Util
Out on Blake Griffin. Don’t you know that Garcia is injured for several months?
Great article, decided to go with the Granger/punt FG% strategy. Happy with my backcourt + Harrington but a big worried about REBs and BLKs. Also doubting the Ginobli pick.
Waiver wire still has Frye, Haywood, Kristic, Ryan Anderson, Dalembert
Thinking maybe one of them will be a better choice than Chandler/Yi
Any thoughts on Foye or Beasley? I thought they might’ve been too early to pick up.
Any players I should target for trades?
9 Cat H2H w/ 12 teams:
PG SG G SF PF F C C Util Util Bench Bench
1. (4) Danny Granger SG,SF,PF
2. (21) Jason Kidd PG
3. (28) Vince Carter SG,SF
4. (45) Baron Davis PG
5. (52) Manu Ginobili SG
6. (69) Al Harrington PF,C
7. (76) Jason Terry PG,SG
8. (93) Spencer Hawes PF,C
9. (100) Michael Beasley SF,PF
10. (117) Jermaine O’Neal C
11. (124) Randy Foye PG,SG
12. (141) Yi Jianlian PF
13. (148) Tyson Chandler C
Any help is appreciated, thanks
Just finished my draft. 10 teams, H2H, 8 cat’s (no TO’s). Tried to punt FT%. Here is how i did with the 5th pick:
#1 Wade
#2 Iguodala
#3 Jason Kidd
#4 Brook Lopez
#5 Antawn Jamison
#6 Eric Gordon
#7 Emeka Okafor
#8 Shaun Marion
#9 Luis Scola
#10 Richard Hamilton
#11 Ronnie Brewer
#12 Johnny Flynn
#13 Tracy McGrady
ANY THOUGHTS on where i am weak? Thanks. this forum is awesome.
I reckon you’re quite weak in 3ptm with only Eric Gordon really giving you something decent. Not sure if your team is even punting FT% considering your only weak FT guys are Iggy and Okafor.
Love the site Buser, helped me immensely in my drafts. Could you do me a favor though and tell me who to contact when a player is dumping in a yahoo public league? This guy at the draft openly offered to give away players, then it shows he did that because he’s operating two of the teams in the league and trying to create an ultimate roster. I’m in yahoo public 255010 and I’m trying to get someone to step in before the season starts, because otherwise he’s gonna keep trying to trade Spencer Hawes for KG until he finds a time when enough owners to veto aren’t paying attention.
thoughts and comments for my team?
10 team, head to head. no turnovers. 8 categories
1-7 D. Granger
2-14 Stoudemire
3-27 J. Johnson
4-34 Rondo
5-47 Horford
6-54 Okur
7-67 Turkoglu
8-74 A. Miller
9-87 Oden
10-94 Ariza
11-107 Conley
12-114 J. O’Neal
13-127 Julian Wright
14-134 A. Morrow
15-147 Kenyon Martin
Hey guys, was hoping to get an opinion on the team I drafted last night. Its a 12 team H2H, standard 9 cats. I had the 11th pick. Picks are in order. Think I might be missing out on big man stats. Thanks!
Amare Stoudemire
Deron Williams
Vince Carter
Josh Smith
Jason Terry
Al Horford
Leandro Barbosa
TJ Ford
Ramon Sessions
Jason Thompson
Mike Miller
Shane Battier
Antonio McDyess
Anthony Morrow
Hi Guys,
i would really appreciate our input on the team i drafted 2 days ago, playing in a h2h, 12 team league, standard cats, i drafted 12th…cant remember the order of players i drafted…but here they are
1) Al Jefferson
2) Deron Williams
3) Andris Biedrins
4) Russel Westbrook
5) Jeff Green
6) Michael Beasley
7) Kevin Martin
8 )Andrew Bogut
9) Josh Howard
10) Randy Foye
11) Jonny Flynn
12) Courtney Lee
13) Julian Wright
the best stat to punt is TOs
http://mdsfantasy.blogspot.com/2009/10/punting-tos-in-h2h.html
Good Day All!
Grateful for your comments on my team. H2H, 5 starters (G,G,F,F,C) 8 bench, 8 standard cats.
Lebron James
Elton Brand
Rajon Rondo
Emeka Okafor
Russell Westbrook
Al Harrington
Greg Oden
JR Smith
Paul Millsap
Luol Deng
Samuel Dalembert
Corey Brewer (drafted Ridnour but dropped him)
Grant Hill
Thanks in advance! Still awaiting my Buser League H2H invite and praying I get a chance to play with the great Matt Buser!
Cheers,
skyrocket
OK – looking for some suggestions on draft strategy. 12 team 9 cat h-h. I’ve got the 9th draft pick. But the kicker is that we are in a “semi-keeper” league, so people can keep 2 players from the previous year. As a result, the following players are all already taken:
Nowitzki
Bosh
Roy
Gasol
Harris
Duncan
Lopez
Allen
Rose
Ellis
Rondo
Looking down the list, I think I’ve got a shot at Howard or Deron Williams in the 1st round.
In the second round I might still see Nash or Calderon, but more likely will have Kidd, Wallace, Garnett, Iguodala, and could reach for Arenas
Third round I have Jamison as my keeper (I know, we had to choose keepers before the injury, and given I knew I was looking at a pick around 40th or so given all the other keepers, it seemed like a good idea at the time).
Even with Rondo off the map it seems like Howard/Kidd/Jamison/Biedrins could come to pass.
I could play the Kidd/Wallace strategy, that should be open to me.
But if I go with Deron, then I’m a little more confused – maybe go with Kidd and dominate Assists, but then points seem to be an issue.
Suggestions?
14 Team League
FG% – FT% – 3PTM – PTS – OREBS – DREBS – REBS – ASTS – STLS – BLKS
PG- Andre Miller – TJ Ford – Chris Duhon
SG- Raymond Felton – Ronnie Brewer
SF- Josh Smith – Corey Brewer
PF- Chris Bosh – Antonio McDyess – Hakim Warrick
C- Andris Biedrins – Nene – Kwame Brown
I punted FT% and 3PTM by design and lack PTS cuz I forgot to draft a scorer.
I was thinking about offering Chris Bosh and Felton or Duhon x Rajon Rondo and Al Horfod which would make Raymond Felton expendable so I can look for some scoring at SG or SF (John Salmons or Tayshawn Prince)
After the trade my team would look like
Rajon Rondo – Andre Miller – TJ Ford (Duhon)
Ronnie Brewer (Felton)
Josh Smith – Ronnie Brewer
Horford – McDyess – Warrick
Biedrins – Nene – Brown
what u guys think?
okay so decided to try this h2h punting strategy out
got the 10th pick in 12 team standard
ended up with
bosh
howard
brand
josh smith
rondo
griffin
deng
artest
okafor
beasley
flynn
dunleavy
azubike
so
pg: rondo, flynn
sg:artest,beasley,deng, azubike
sf:smith, dunleavy, griffin
pf:bosh,brand
c:howard okafor
seeing a deficit in assists and 3s as a possibility should i drop dunleavy and/or azz in search of a little cat help? can a free agent now help me win that many weeks?
first time with this punting thing
give me some thoughts
pls
Hey fantasy gurus
I was recently in a fantasy draft HTH 14 teams 9 cat, and i got the 14th overall pick.Pg, Sg, G, Sf, F PF C Util
I ended up taking Al jefferson and K.G. with my first two picks. By doing this I chose to punt 3′s. Not sure if this was the best choice at the time but its what i went with and as a result these are my remaining picks.
3.Rajon Rondo
4.Monta Ellis
5.Tony Parker
6.Tyrus Thomas
7.Trevor Ariza
8.Ramon Sessions
9.Marc Gasol
10.Grant Hill
11.Brandon Jennings
There are other bench guys on my team that are irrelevant. Just want some feedback. Is this a competitive team or am I looking at a long year of suffering.
Hi People,
I’m kind of new to fantasy basketball and I would like to ask your opinion on my drafted lineup in 12-team H2H 12-catagory league.
I drafted 9th and got Dwight Howard because now I found no other elite players I like at that point. Here are my players:
1. Dwight Howard
2.Caron Butler
3. Andre Iguodala
4. Troy Murphy
5. Elton Brand
6. Mo Williams
7. OJ Mayo
8. TJ Ford
9. Nate Robinson
10. Andrei Kirilenko
11. Luol Deng
12. Mario Chalmers
I just about your “Dwight Howard” strategy since I feel my team is to mish-mashed with no clear specialization. What do you think?
Mr. Buser, Can you do a quick run-down of the notable negative influences on 3PT, PTS, REB, AST, STL and BLK? Thanks! Great article!
Hey guys, I need some advice. I am in two leagues (both roto):
17 team league:
I could pick up Ryan Anderson off the wire, but who should I drop? Here’s my team:
Chris Paul
Kevin Martin
Tony Parker
Thaddeus Young
LaMarcus Aldridge
Luis Scola
Andrew Bogut
Drew Gooden
Ramon Sessions
Carlos Delfino
Anthony Morrow
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Chris Wilcox
I am also in a 10 team league. I think I need some help at center but don’t know if I should drop Chandler in favour of Haywood or Hibbert.
Who would you drop?
Gilbert Arenas
Eric Gordon
Joe Johnson
Shawn Marion
Al Jefferson
Al Horford
Andrew Bynum
Brad Miller
Danny Granger
Rajon Rondo
Leandro Barbosa
Tyreke Evans
Chris Anderson
Tyson Chandler
Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.
So I drafted Howard 8th, and was ready to punt FT% (8 Cat H2H), but I ended up grabbing high ft% players because they were the best available and had lasted late (Amare 13th, West 28th). I went for broke and ended up adding Kevin Martin, Rose, Jameer Nelson, LaMarcus Aldridge (also fell way down to 68th), Charlie V, Salmons, Augustin, Barbosa, Gomes, and Hibbert. I did the math based on ESPN projections (it was an ESPN league) and I came out with an .802 FT%, while maintaining a high FG% (.510). This assumes everyone is healthy at once (and it could be even higher if Augustin gets high minutes. I swear threes and free throws made up almost all his points last year), but this seems like a team that could win FT% with Howard; is that average enough from what you’ve seen, or is my team doomed to fail, but just less spectacularly?
need suggestions pls. i’m in a 12team H2H standard 9-cat league.
here are my rosters.
1. dwight
2. kidd
3. josh smith
4. rondo
5. biedrins
6. diaw
7. scola
8. bogut
9. ak47
10 r brewer
11 frye
12 hinrich
13 augustin
anything i cud do to improve my team?
forgot to say.
waiver wire worth mentioning:
harden, haywood, ilgauskas, jennings, azubuike, blatche, a parker, warrick, alston, landry, bell?, ridnour, terence williams, blair, moon, przybilla, jack, nenad, gooden, pietrus, dampier.
pls help.