| NBA Team Site Editors League | |
| Teams | Owners |
| Wilkins' Warriors | Atlanta Hawks |
| OrlandoMagic.com | Orlando Magic |
| Grizzlies.com | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Rockets.com | Houston Rockets |
| Boston Conquistadores | Boston Celtics |
| Bobcats.com | Charlotte Bobcats |
| Suns.com Newsroom | Phoenix Suns |
| Bourbon Street CP3-For-1 | New Orleans Hornets |
| It's Been Real KG | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Supersonics.com | Seattle Supersonics |
| Team Mattymc1 | New Jersey Nets |
| Mavs.com Chaparrals | Dallas Mavericks |
Fantasy basketball, like all other fantasy sports, is becoming more and more popular by the year. This year, we decided to get in on the action ourselves by joining a league with several other NBA team sites.
This season twelve NBA team sites are participating in a head-to-head format fantasy league, and it promises to be a lot of fun for us and hopefully you the fan as well!
Check back each week of the season for a new article about fantasy basketball, league news, and anything else that comes up as the 2007-08 season progresses.
If you are interested in playing yourself, the NBA has a terrific fantasy section with several fantasy games to suit almost any preference.
Dec. 11, 2007
NBA Notebook: Early-Season Fantasy Basketball Surprises
By: Jim Eichenhofer | Hornets.com
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Wilkins' Warriors Current Roster |
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| PGs - Stephon Marbury, Mo Williams, Louis Williams |
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| SGs - Ray Allen, Peja Stojakovic, Damien Wilkins | |
| SFs - Shawn Marion, Josh Howard | |
| PFs - Kenyon Martin, Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Darko Milicic | |
| Cs - Yao Ming, Andrew Bogut | |
Let’s face it, when it comes to fantasy basketball, everyone and their
grandmother knows that guys like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are
valuable commodities. The key to success, however, comes from finding those
late-round steals, players who are overlooked for one reason or another and
greatly overproduce their draft status.
Using the actual order that resulted from the 14-round draft our 12-team league
conducted, here are a few players who were picked extremely late – or not at all
– but have been extremely valuable to their owners (the numbers in parentheses
represent when each player was drafted overall):
Chris Wilcox, Seattle (10th round, 116th pick): The power forward from
Maryland is the SuperSonics’ second-leading scorer, behind only Kevin Durant,
averaging a career-high 14.6 points along with 8.0 rebounds. He’s also shooting
a nifty 51.5 percent from the field.
Al Horford, Atlanta (10th round, 117th pick): Chosen one spot after
Wilcox, the rookie from Florida is averaging an eye-popping 10.3 rebounds,
ranking him No. 11 in the NBA. His offensive numbers aren’t bad for a first-year
pro, either, at 8.7 ppg.
Jamaal Tinsley, Indiana (10th round, 119th pick): One of several
beneficiaries of new head coach Jim O’Brien’s up-tempo attack, he’s putting up
14.8 points, 8.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds. The latter stat is particularly
stellar for a point guard.
Juan Carlos Navarro, Memphis (11th round, 130th pick): “La Bomba” didn’t
start receiving big minutes until he drained eight three-pointers against the
Hornets a few weeks back, but he is close to leading the Grizzlies in treys.
He’s also averaging double figures, at 10.1 points.
Mike Dunleavy, Indiana (12th round, 139th pick): On pace to surpass his
career-best in scoring by a wide margin. His shooting percentages are solid in
every category.
Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando (13th round, 146th pick): Many believed his role
would diminish after the offseason signing of Rashard Lewis, but he’s off to a
spectacular start and a big reason why the Magic have excelled. Averaging
career-high 18.3 points.
Ronnie Brewer, Utah (undrafted): Did you know he’s averaging more points
for the Jazz than both 2007 All-Star center Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko?
The second-year pro is also averaging 2.19 steals, fifth in the NBA.
John Salmons, Sacramento (undrafted): The underrated small forward
capitalized on the early-season absences of Mike Bibby and Ron Artest. He’s
averaging over 15 points per game and shooting 46 percent from the three-point
arc. Not bad for a guy who was not selected by any of us among the total 168
picks of our 14-round draft.
Nov. 20, 2007
Early Season Fantasy Awards
By Mike Trudell |
Timberwolves.com
After three weeks of fantasy basketball action that were either riveting (if you’re like me) or pointless (if you’re like Michael Vick, on your way to prison), it’s time to recognize the players with some fantasy awards.
From the Chuck Norris Award for dominance all the way to the Britney Award for general poopiness, you’re covered here.
Ready? OK. Please proceed.
The Chuck Norris Award: LEBRON JAMES, Cleveland
The top photo speaks for itself, right? No caption needed. The point is, LeBriggity is tearing through the NBA like the left and right roundhouse kicks of Chuck Norris. OK, nothing is really as powerful as those roundhouse kicks, but seriously … Look at LeBron’s absurd numbers:* 29.2 points, 8.0 dimes, 7.8 boards, 1.8 steals, 1.7 blocks, and a decent 47.2 FG%. The only thing not to like is his 67.3 FT%, but just for kicks, he hit 11-of-12 from the charity stripe in a loss to Milwaukee Tuesday night. Alas, the best thing about LeBron’s stupidly good numbers are that he didn’t start producing like this consistently until after the All-Star break last season, but this year it’s all business, all the time. MVP? Certainly for fantasy. And remember, Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that's why there are no signs of life there.
*All statistics for this column are updated through the start of Tuesday evening’s games.
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| Ronnie Brewer steals more than Enron. |
After nexting Jennifer Aniston, picking up Angelina Jolie is a pretty decent coup. Sure Brad, you look like Achilles and played him in a movie, but that’s still pretty solid. In fantasy basketball terms, the best pickup this season has been Brewer. Check that stats. In NBA.com leagues, the second-year player out of Arkansas is the 40th best overall player, and he went undrafted in most leagues. Though there was some chatter about him because he excelled in the preseason and was designated as Utah’s starting two guard, no one really expected this: 13.6 points, 2.4 boards, 2.3 assists, 83.6 FT%, 51.9 FG% and, most importantly, freaking 2.7 steals a night. I nabbed him right away in my Yahoo league and nba.com league, but dropped him for Brendan Haywood in the latter because I needed center depth in my NBA league. In other words, I’m stupid. Insert curse word here.
The Ocho Cinco Award: GILBERT ARENAS, Washington
If you’re going to call other teams “garbage,” guarantee victory, and say “NACHOOO!” after every three, it’d be best to put up some points. Agent 0 does just that … when he’s playing, that is. I almost had to defer this award for a few weeks, because Gilbert’s balky knee (offseason surgery) has lost weeks for a few squads that took him in the top five (he ranks 51st in NBA category leagues and 22nd in weekly average leagues like CBS Sportsline). He could miss more time now, but still, he’s still a champ when he’s in there. In his sixth and seventh games of the year he had 30 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, three threes, a steal and a block against Indiana; and 27, eight, four, three and four steals against Minnesota. After the game, Agent 0 told us about when he first said “NACHOO” against the Wolves and talked some trash about the Northwest Division. Sounds like Chad Johnson (circa 2005-06) to me.
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| S-Jack is back with his big smile and his bad self. |
This award is two-fold. To qualify, you have to:
A) Adversely affect your squad early in the season due to off or postseason affinity for guns.
B) You must come back, and be good.
No need to rehash Jackson’s night at the club, for which he was suspended for the Warriors’ first seven games, and got you zero fantasy points. The flip side to this was that everyone knew Jackson was going to be out for the start of the season, but you may have nabbed him later than he normally would have gone in your draft (like the 10th round for me in my CBS league). Indeed, if you were able to wait him out, his 23-point, seven-assist, six-board, three-steal, two-block performance against New York on Tuesday night in his second game back made you feel like Toby Maguire after they said they were going to make Spiderman II and III - even though you suck at acting. That G.S. has won three straight (2-0 with SJ) is not a coincidence.
The “Where Are You, Bill Gates” Award: TROY MURPHY, Golden State
OK, Troy, you’re a decent player, but you didn’t need to go to me in the sixth round of my nba.com league, not when I was trying to take Andrei Kirilenko. If Gates designed the Draft Room software, the computer error that picked Murphy for me never would have happened.
No Gates Honorable Mention: Monta Ellis, Golden State; Jason Maxiell, Detroit; Chucky Atkins, Denver; Craig Smith, Minnesota
That’s right, I’m whining now. But if you’re a true fantasy rube, you would be too. The computer went on to select all four of these players for me way too early, with guys like Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, Andrew Bogut and Jameer Nelson still on the board. Anyone who has played in fantasy leagues has suffered through the unwanted computer auto-pick when his or her system shut down. If you’re like me, you would have seen “It’s Been Real, KG (good name, right Welch?) selects Troy Murphy” and immediately vomited on your keyboard before kneeing yourself in the nose.
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| What a great decision it was to go completely bald, Z. |
This award is intended for the NBA player best utilizing his hair (or lack thereof, in this case) to produce fantasy points, and with certainty, it goes to Big Z. The Lithuanian shaved his dome bald after hanging on to a strand or two for the last several years, and he must have shaved 0.01 seconds off his 40 time. The Mach 3 work is clearly, obviously and definitively the reason for his resurgence: 16.0 points, 12.10 boards, 1.9 blocks, 83.9% FTs and 50.0% FGs. Compare that to 11.86 p, 7.68 r, 1.58 b, 80.7% FT and 48.5% FG. Are you kidding me Smalls? Does this mean that Nick Saban’s Alabama squad who just lost to something called Louisiana-Monroe will win the National Title next year if he shaved his slicked hair? No, because Spencer from "The Hills" is a nicer guy and fate won’t allow it.
The Tom Brady Award: CHRIS PAUL, New Orleans
The best passer in the NBA this year has been Chris Paul, architect of New Orleans’ terrific 8-2 start behind a league-leading 10.8 dimes to only 3.7 turnovers per game. But it’s not just his passing that has CP3 owners salivating; he also leads the NBA in steals with 3.2 per contest (our Brad Pitt honoree Ronnie Brewer is second with 2.67), adds 4.4 boards, and is hitting 90.5% FTs and 50.7% FGs. Though he sprained his ankle and has missed his last two games, CP ranks as the top nba.com player and sixth-best CBS player. Now, about Giselle…
The Pau Gasol Award: ELTON BRAND, L.A. Clippers
Last season, Paul Gasol missed the first half of the year with an injury, but came back on a fierce terror, ranking as the ninth-best player in CBS leagues despite being drafted in, for example, the seventh round in my league. Since Gasol worked out so glowingly for me, I drafted Brand in the ninth, 10th and 12th rounds, respectively, in consecutive drafts this season. His achilles injury is more worrisome than Gasol’s foot last year, but if he gets rolling around fantasy playoff time, this is a top 10-ish fantasy player, and to me is well worth the risk that he might not play at all. The league where this might end up biting me in the rear (like my favorite play-by-play guy allegedly got into a back) is my Wolves yahoo league in which we play all of our bench players. That takes away a potential three or four games every week until Brand plays. But since I’m 3-0 in that league, I’m sticking with it for now.
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| Dwight is the opposite of wimpy. |
This one is pretty simple. Dwight Howard is a flat-out monster, and you can’t really argue with 22.17 points, 14.25 boards, 2.42 swats and 57.5 FG%. He ranks third in CBS leagues and 13th in NBA category leagues (those darn FTs). But to know how truly beastly big Dwight is, you have to watch him in person. The only player that can come close to matching him physically is Shaq* … Three years ago, that is.
*Or Corey Brewer
The Britney Award: LUKE RIDNOUR, Seattle
Everyone’s just piling it on Britney lately. Poor girl. She’s even getting ripped on timberwolves.com for no other reason than I can’t think of someone who’s had a worse year. Alas, after looking at 400 players in my CBS league, the player that is owned who possesses the worst fantasy numbers is Ridnour. Try a poopy 2.0 points, 1.17 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 23.8 FG%. 23.8!!!!! Come on! That’s automatic LVP, Luke, especially with Earl Watson and Delonte West set to keep eating all your minutes. Honorable mention here: Nenad Krstic, Al Thornton, Ruben Patterson and, surprise surprise, Larry Hughes.
I’ll leave you with this to chew on: Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
Thanks for playing.
Nov. 13, 2007
If Fantasy Were Reality...
By Nick Adams | Orlandomagic.com
The great thing about fantasy sports is they are just that...fantasy. You can forget to set your lineup or make awful trades, but at the end of the day, the harshest criticism you will receive will be from that
overzealous, "fan-hood" proving, sports guy in the cubical next to you who started the league which he rightfully named "(his name) = BBall Genius".
This very reason has caused the fantasy sports industry to sweep the nation. Think about it...if you are a huge sports fan, what would be your ultimate job? Besides Cheerleading instructor, I am guessing
most fans would answer...being the general manager of a sports team.
What sports fan wouldn't want to run their own team, pick star players, build a championship team just to brag to everyone...I built that team with my own bare hands. This is why we love fantasy sports.
I don't participate in fantasy sports as much as the next fan, not because I don't want to, but mainly because if I did, it would consume my entire life. However, when my boss approached me about
running a fantasy team for purposes beneficial to NBA websites, I decided I could take one for the team.
First, I acted like a twelve year-old kid and pretended I was a real NBA GM preparing for the NBA draft by calling my two buddies and appointing them as my consultants.
I appointed my buddy Danny as my assistant general manager and Greg my director of scouting/player personnel.
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They were more than happy to assist me through the Draft process and were just as excited as I was about the entire deal. Yes, the three of us are 22 years-old, and yes, we appear to have no lives,
but this proves my point as to why people love fantasy sports.
For those three pressure packed draft hours, we were all part of an NBA draft working towards building a winning franchise...in our fantasies.
But what if this draft of fantasy became reality? Let's stop for a second and consider these rosters and the infinite possibilities.
Hypothetically speaking, I will put together a starting lineup (plus three key bench players) for each of the Team Editor's twelve teams so we can just fantasize over what would happen if these lineups
actually played against each other.
Enjoy and Imagine...
(note: The lineups that were put together by myself do not reflect the actual lineups that each Team Editor would produce for their respective teams.)
Boston Conquistadors
PG Steve Nash
SG Brandon Roy
SF Caron Butler
PF Lamar Odom
C Samuel Dalembert
Bench: Jason Terry, Josh Smith, Brad Miller
Bourbon St. CP3-for-1
PG Deron Williams
SG Paul Pierce
SF Ron Artest
PF Dirk Nowitzki
C Ben Wallace
Bench: T.J. Ford, Boris Diaw, Chris Wilcox
Grizzlies.com
PG Jason Kidd
SG Ben Gordon
SF Kevin Durant
PF Emeka Okafor
C Pau Gasol
Bench: Jarrett Jack, Andres Nocioni, Yi Jianlian
It's Been Real, KG
PG Kirk Hinrich
SG Joe Johnson
SF LeBron James
PF Al Jefferson
C LaMarcus Aldridge
Bench: Monte Ellis, Shane Battier, Tyrus Thomas
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PG Tony Parker
SG Tracy McGrady
SF Vince Carter
PF Kevin Garnett
C Shaquille O'Neal
Bench: Devin Harris, Richard Hamilton, Andrew Bynum
Supersonics dot coms
PG Baron Davis
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Andrei Kirilenko
PF Antonio McDyess
C Marcus Camby
Bench: Manu Ginobili, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mike Miller
Rockets.com
PG Mike Bibby
SG Raja Bell
SF Carmelo Anthony
PF Carlos Boozer
C Dwight Howard
Bench: Andre Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Luol Deng
Team mattymac1
PG Chris Paul
SG Dwyane Wade
SF Rashard Lewis
PF Zach Randolph
C Tyson Chandler
Bench: Richard Jefferson, Mehmet Okur, Andrea Bargnani
Team suns.com newsroom
PG Allen Iverson
SG Michael Redd
SF Danny Granger
PF Antwan Jamison
C Amare Stoudemire
Bench: Grant Hill, Kevin Martin, Hakim Warrick
Wilkins' Warriors
PG Mo Williams
SG Ray Allen
SF Josh Howard
PF Shawn Marion
C Yao Ming
Bench: Andrew Bogut, Peja Stojakovic, Stephon Marbury
Bobcats.com
PG Gilbert Arenas
SG Rudy Gay
SF Gerald Wallace
PF Tim Duncan
C Chris Kaman
Bench: Leandro Barbosa, Rasheed Wallace, Drew Gooden
And the champs...
Orlandomagic.com
PG Chauncey Billups
SG Jason Richardson
SF Andre Iguodala
PF Chris Bosh
C Jermaine O'Neal
Bench: Eddie Curry, Corey Maggette, Rafer Alston
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Having visualized the possibilities...I want to propose a new look NBA to Commissioner David Stern.
Let's cut the 30 NBA teams down to 12 teams therefore decreasing the number of NBA players as a result. By doing so, this eliminates the beloved role players and D-League talent which overtake an NBA roster.
The 12 teams will be split into two leagues, six in the East, and six in the West. The East teams will only reside in the eastern big market areas (Boston, New York, Chicago, etc.) and the same with the western teams (Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, etc.).
The season will not be a six-month, 82 game season with teams playing three and four times a week. The games would be much like the NFL Sunday, designating a specific day to showcase these games (ex: NBA Friday).
So basically, you have the best talent, playing in the biggest markets, being showcased on one day for the whole world to focus on.
Of course this could never happen. Financially it would never work and each game would require three balls for each team, but how intriguing would that be?
If only fantasy were reality.
Nov. 5, 2007
Ten Players You're Sure To See In Fantasy Basketball
by Micah Hart
If you are reading this and are new to fantasy basketball, I thought I'd start our season coverage by offering some advice on how to break down your competition. I've played in fantasy leagues for over a decade now, and every year I several of the following 10 people.
10. The Cooler
Spot this guy as quickly as possible. Every league has one guy who is going
to lose, no matter what the sport. You could give him five picks in each of the
first three rounds to select his team and he will still end up at the bottom of
the barrel. It's not necessarily his fault; fantasy-wise he is just born under a
bad sign. Figure out who he is, and make deals with him, because every player he
trades will turn to gold once they are off his squad.
9. The Donald Trump
So named because he likes to buy low and sell high, and another owner it's
very important to recognize early on. It shouldn't be too hard. He is the guy
offering you Kwame Brown, Brevin Knight, and Marko Jaric for LeBron James. As he
sees it, every player on his roster is incredibly valuable, while everyone you
have is roughly worth a cup of warm spit. You can deal with him as you like, but
be skeptical of any trade talks, which presumably will begin something like
this: "Jose Juan Barea is about to blow up. Watch, he will be the best point
guard in the Western Conference by the end of the season. I hate to part with
him though…"
8. The Fair Weather Friend
This is the worst type of fantasy player. If his team isn't in first place a
month into the season, he is throwing in the towel. Every year in my fantasy
leagues, I try to weed out the people who won't stick it out for the long haul,
and every year someone ends up starting seven guys on IR for the last half of
the season. If you can figure them out, feel free to beat them aside the head
with say, a crowbar, for ruining your league.
7. The Lex Luthor
In every league, even amongst friends, there is one player/team who serves
as the Spurs to your Suns (or vice versa). He may be your best friend in the
whole world, but once you step onto the ethereal court, you want nothing more
than to drop him like a sack of potatoes. If you lose, you know you are in for
some serious trash talking. Even if you don't win your league, the season won't
be a waste as long as you beat this guy.
6. The John Grisham
This guy is a prolific writer. Anything that happens in your league -
anything - and rest assured this guy will have some commentary posted on the
site within a few hours. Much like Grisham, rarely will any of it be comical or
worth reading, but every now and then they may get off a juicy nugget. Often
times, Grisham and The Cooler might be one and the same.
5. The Howard Dean
Invariably, in every league there will be a team that jumps out to a huge
start even though their roster looks like the NBDL All-Star team. They will
gloat about how they are doing, but eventually talent will rise and they will
finish the season hovering around last place. Or 11th place! Or 10th place!
BYAAAH!
4. The Charlie Brown
A cousin to The Cooler, this guy can never keep his lineup set, and is
constantly changing things up. Of course, when he does that, the guy he benches
with inevitably puts up a triple-double. So they will go back in the lineup,
after which they will proceed to score four points a game until they are benched
again. One of my favorite players to taunt.
3./2. The John Travolta/"Homer" Simpson
Being a fantasy manager is all about business. There is no room for
sentimentality. Two types of managers who nearly often fail in fantasy leagues
are the guys who can't let go, either to their favorite stars of the past or the
players on their favorite team. John Travolta is the guy whose basketball roster
currently features an entire all-star team - from 1997, including such
luminaries as Alonzo Mourning, Cliff Robinson, and Chris Webber. Homer is
typified by a guy who refuses to draft any Celtics players, and drafts as many
Lakers as he can. This strategy rarely works, though having Kobe is usually a
good idea.
1. The Rudy Ruettiger
Hustle guys have their place in sports, and most championships teams
wouldn't win without them. As the adage goes, "You can't put heart and desire
down on paper." Except in fantasy leagues, where everything is played on paper.
It's all about stats! Mark Madsen may hustle up and down the court, but putting
him in your frontcourt with Dan Gadzuric and Bo Outlaw is a death sentence. Try
to trade this person all of your loose ends: your Royal Iveys, your Jacque
Vaughns, your Jeff Fosters.
There are many other types of owners, but these should get you started in trying
to decipher the people who play amongst you in your league. DO your best to
exploit their weaknesses.
