It's not too late. Play Drive to the Finals Now!

By Jon Loomer

Previous Expert Picks

April 23 - So how did your first pick in the Drive to the Finals playoff fantasy game perform? Mike Bibby didn't hurt me yesterday, but it ended up being a pretty good day to go with LeBron James. No regrets, I'll use him in the future. What about today?

The Pick: In my opinion there are two obvious options today as well as a few from a top team that you should also be considering. The Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies are clear underdogs in their series against Detroit and Dallas respectively, so using Michael Redd or Pau Gasol in this position is a logical choice. Of the players participating in the playoffs, Michael Redd is the 13th rated and Pau Gasol the 10th rated according to this game's scoring system (Points + Rebounds + Assists). Although the Bucks have a slim shot at best at pulling out an upset, I would not be completely shocked if the Grizzlies snuck past Dallas. Given the otherwise dearth of fantasy talent on the Memphis roster, I want to be careful not to use Gasol until the

Today's Expert Pick

Player: Michael Redd, MIL Opponent: Detroit Regular Season Averages Pts Reb Ast 25.4 4.3 2.9

Grizzlies fall behind in the series. Otherwise, there may come a time in future rounds in which I am forced to use a player from Memphis. Fine if your team is Phoenix, in the event you have several options to choose from. Not so fine in Memphis. Once Gasol is off the table, the next best option available is Mike Miller. So the players are about even and the kicker was the match-up.

General Strategy: I discussed it in my Pick One column, but I am taking a conservative approach early on. I'm taking the best players from the rosters of the biggest underdogs early. Once teams establish themselves, I will begin taking players from teams trailing in their series. The thought here is that I'm not going to use a top player until I feel I need to use them. Otherwise, there could come a time when you are forced to use a player from that star's team. Particularly in cases like Gasol's or even Kobe's in Los Angeles, you don't want to put up a single digit down the road if it could be avoided. I didn't use LeBron on Saturday, but I have plenty of time to make that choice (unfortuantely, I might not get that triple-double next time). With Cleveland up in the series, I'll be more inclined to use Gilbert Arenas sooner than I will LeBron, unless Washington bounces back in the series.

Suns Trio is an option. D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images

I mentioned earlier that there are some less obvious options for today after Redd and Gasol. Another concern of mine is a team like Phoenix with several productive fantasy players on its roster. The Suns have three players in the top 30 according to this scoring system and seven in the top 100. That is an advantage and disadvantage, depending on how far they get into the playoffs. If they are upset in the first round, it is highly unlikely that you will able to use all of their top three players (Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, and Boris Diaw) before they are eliminated. On the other hand, you could use Marion or Nash now and still have plenty of talent to pick from down the road if they make it to the Conference or NBA Finals. So taking a Marion or Nash is very tempting at this point. If they lose Game One, I plan on using Marion immediately. The last thing you want to do in this game is leave production on the table.