Advertisement

Fantasy Basketball: F&F and Blog League Updates II

Justin Phan

Yahoo! Friends and Family League
1. Matt Buser (Yahoo!) 60-38-1
2. Justin Phan (Yahoo!) 59-38-2 (0.5 GB)
3. Andy Behrens (Yahoo!) 55-40-4 (3.5 GB)
4. Tom Lorenzo (RotoExperts) 56-42-1 (4 GB)
5. Phil Londen (Yahoo!) 54-44-1 (6 GB)
6. Oleh Kosel (Fantasy Basketball Cafe) 54-45-0 (6.5 GB)
7. David Klyce (HoopsKlyce) 48-50-1 (12 GB)
8. Dalton Del Don (RotoWire) 47-50-2 (12.5 GB)
9. Chris Liss (RotoWire) 42-55-2 (17.5 GB)
9. Brandon Funston (Yahoo!) 42-55-2 (17.5 GB)
11. Charlie Zegers (RotoWire) 36-62-1 (24 GB)
12. Andre Snellings (RotoWire) 31-65-3 (28 GB)

Buser: I started the season with two losses (8-10-0) but have gone 8-1 since (52-28-1), so no complaints here. You may recall that my draft strategy involved Dwight Howard(notes) in Round 1 and also punt points after Round 3. Key transactions that have helped me get there: adding DeAndre Jordan(notes) on December 6, as he's been the top-ranked player (!) in my strategy-specific ranks over the past five weeks; trading Boris Diaw(notes) for Shane Battier(notes) on November 10, with Battier averaging 1.6 threes, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks since; and adding Kyle Lowry(notes) on November 7 - he's obviously trending down right now, but he went absolutely nuts for roughly four weeks. That's not to suggest that I'm on cruise control, because it's anything but the case. Mike Conley(notes) has been way down, I've got Chris Kaman's(notes) return looming, and Aaron Brooks(notes) will start over Lowry when everyone in Houston's backcourt is completely healthy. My acquisitions of Mike Miller(notes) and Marcin Gortat(notes) have not panned out as of yet, but I'm in a position to give them more benefit of the doubt and am inclined to do so. I also added Carlos Delfino(notes) to the "wait and see" portion of my roster today and dropped Shawne Williams(notes) - with seventh place 12 games behind me, my focus is very much on building a team that is at its best in March. I need a few things to go my way like everyone else, but I like this squad in general and feel that it will continue to compete at a reasonably high level if my headliners stay healthy. And I'd share my Watch List, but I don't want to put myself at a competitive disadvantage. I encourage you to speculate on its contents in the comments.

Phan: With only eight of the 16 players that I drafted still on my roster, I’ve had to keep an even closer eye on the waiver-wire than usual (39 add/drops so far). I’ve been able to overcome injuries from Brandon Roy(notes) and Anderson Varejao(notes) (both dropped) as well as brutal starts from O.J. Mayo(notes) and Drew Gooden(notes) (yes, I still have him) through some timely pickups. Right now my all-waiver-wire team consists of Landry Fields(notes), my boy Jared Dudley(notes), Brandon Bass(notes), and DeShawn Stevenson(notes), amongst others. It’s not the ideal situation to be in, but I’ve managed to make it work with six straight weekly wins (35-18-1 during that period). My strong point remains the same: depth. I feel like my team, 1-16, can beat just about any other team out there. As long as I don’t suffer another major injury to one of my core players (Chris Paul(notes), Manu Ginobili(notes), David West(notes), Dorell Wright(notes), Lamar Odom(notes)), I like my chances of remaining in the top-three.

Londen: After a scorching hot start to the season, my team has cooled considerably over the last few weeks (lost four of the last five head-to-head matchups). The good news is that I’ve been fortunate enough to dodge major injuries so far this season with the only real exception being Chris Kaman. I’ve only been holding onto Kaman because of the depth of this league. Despite all of this my team is still in playoff position and has a chance to compete for the title if key players remain healthy (Danny Granger(notes), Pau Gasol(notes), Elton Brand(notes)), slumping players rebound (Jeff Green(notes)) and breakout players continue outperform their draft position (D.J. Augustin(notes)).

Buser Blog League
1. Fear the Deer (James) 9-2-0 (11573.35 PTS)
2. No More Witnesses (JD) 9-2-0 (11279.60 PTS)
3. Krypton (Budro) 9-2-0 (11182.85 PTS)
4. mbuser (mbuser) 7-4-0 (10934.50 PTS)
5. Let’s get it on! (rambi b) 6-5-0 (10506.05 PTS)
6. Atlantis Hulks (R) 6-5-0 (10424.10 PTS)
7. Anubis (Anubis) 6-5-0 (10174.75 PTS)
8. MichaelJordanNissan (Elliot R) 5-6-0 (11166.55 PTS)
9. Melmak Express (ALF!!!) 5-6-0 (10778.65 PTS)
10. The Reverse Champs (RS) 4-7-0 (10134.45 PTS)
11. Team Philthy (Fantapedia) 4-7-0 (9539.50 PTS)
12. The Ubermensch (Mike) 3-8-0 (9312.35 PTS)
13. PeanutButterJelly (Chris) 3-8-0 (8494.10 PTS)
14. MFBarkley (Nate G) 1-10-0 (8390.65 PTS)

Buser: This league has been an interesting experience because of the personal novelty of points-based settings. And one win per week means that strength of schedule can influence the standings in the same way it occurs in fantasy football - you'll notice in the list above that the second-ranked team has a grand total of 113.05 points more than the eight-place team (a difference of 1%). As for my team specifically… Rajon Rondo(notes) is fourth in points per game in these settings (39.5), so his continued health is obviously a key to my success. And Dorell Wright's breakout has been instrumental, especially considering that David Lee(notes) was my Round 2 selection. The transactions have been brisk, in part because of unfamiliarity and likely in part because a move or two can swing a matchup and it doesn't matter with what combination of stats any one player arrives at their total output. As we move down the stretch, you have to think that the weekly transaction limit will be reached with even more regularity. The player valuation is largely agreeable - inefficiency automatically becomes of little concern in points-based settings, so there isn't much of a reward in this league if you keep the turnovers low or the percentages especially high.

Londen Blog League
1. Y! – Londen (plonden) 91.5
2. Clash- Londen Fallin (Baggy Dizzle) 87.5
3. OKC Plunder (Bruce R) 85
4. RM45 (TheRifleman) 82
5. Pauls to the Wall (CwL) 74.5
6. Entourage (Sunnang) 64
6. Amir My Johnson (NewBVick) 64
8. Occhionero (OCCH) 54.5
9. LA Riots (Sheiky Baby) 52
10. Space Jam (Jake B) 48
11. Drew Gooden Plenty (NickL) 42
12. Thrilla from Manila (Nick) 35

Londen: My free throw percentage-punting rotisserie team has been very effective so far this season. I’ve compensated for the one in free throw percentage by competing in all of the remaining categories. As a result, I’ve been one of the top two teams in the league for virtually the entire season and hope to remain atop the standings for the balance of the season. Like many others, I recently lost Anderson Varejao for the season but am fortunate to still have Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol(notes) to man the center spots for me. I have the third most games played in this league but am not worried about the pace because I have been focused on getting good value for each game played.

Phan Blog League
1. T-Shirt Time!!! (Raman Mohammadi) 59-29-0
2. Wildcats (alligno) 54-33-1 (4.5 GB)
3. LakersHype.com – DJ (LakersHype.com) 51-33-4 (6 GB)
4. LeBrontourage (jo banks, Scott) 49-36-3 (8.5 GB)
4. Last Pick Everytime! (D) 50-37-1 (8.5 GB)
6. All LeBron NoLeBrain (Scooter281) 50-38-0 (9 GB)
7. Y! – Phan (JPhanned) 49-38-1 (9.5 GB)
8. Samurais (Albert A) 47-40-1 (11.5 GB)
8. Fast Don’t Lie (Kevin, Patrick) 47-40-1 (11.5 GB)
10. LL G.Muresan (Fitzymate) 45-40-3 (12.5 GB)
11. AC Green (Chuck, PTV99) 45-41-2 (13 GB)
12. All my childress (j.vo) 42-43-3 (15.5 GB)
13. Case (In It To Win It) 40-47-1 (18.5 GB)
14. Pistolwhips (Pistol Whips) 37-48-3 (20.5 GB)
15. samiscookin (sam) 36-48-4 (21 GB)
16. jsim (jsim021) 36-51-1 (22.5 GB)
17. AlwaysSunnyInSeattle (jkorney, mikegugs20) 34-51-3 (23.5 GB)
18. Champagnezees (champagnezee) 34-52-2 (24 GB)
19. cowboy monkeys (Joe) 33-52-3 (24.5 GB)
20. The Combustive (Dell Diggler) 22-63-3 (35.5 GB)

Phan: If you’ll recall, I was all the way back in 18th place when I posted the first round of updates. Since then I’ve gone 4-2-1 in my weekly matchups, pulling off a couple 7-1 wins and an 8-0 shutout in the process. The main difference has been the vast improvement of my supporting players. My core (Paul, Ginobili, Wright, Zach Randolph(notes)) and strategy (punt blocks) remain the same, but I’ve since added James Harden(notes), George Hill(notes), Ryan Anderson(notes), and most recently Al Harrington(notes) to round out my eight-man squad. My stance remains the same as it was during the first update: I’ll continue to stay the course and don’t foresee any major roster changes in the near future.

-----
photo via Getty Images