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2010 NBA Mock Draft December Version
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Fantasy, NBA, NCAA, College Basketball,
June is the month for the NBA Draft, when fans and experts alike chart players and teams to determine which future prospect will be taken by which team. The process is both exciting and captivating, as it hints at the future of many NBA ball clubs. Yet, NBA Draft buzz doesn’t start in June. Even though the college basketball season is just underway, murmurings of where players might go in the 2010 NBA Draft have already surfaced. Here’s an early look at how the draft might shape up.
1. New Jersey Nets select PG John Wall, Kentucky, 6-4, 195lbs
Wall is the consensus top pick at this point. Wall has great size and athleticism for a point guard. After six games, he’s averaging 18.5 ppg, 7.8 apg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 spg, while shooting 56% from the field and 80% from the line. He somewhat resembles Derrick Rose. Though the Nets have Devin Harris, it’s hard to imagine them passing on a potential superstar like Wall.
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December 2009 NBA All Star Potential Starters
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Editorial, NBA,
Fan voting is a major folly of the NBA All-Star Game. Each year, NBA fans are allowed to vote to determine which players start in the esteemed game. The problem with this format is that 1) fans on the whole don’t know squat about which players actually deserve the honor, and 2) fans are biased. Since online voting has been allowed, Chinese players, such as Yao Ming, have had an unfair advantage due to their huge popularity in China. This leads to a tainted All-Star Game, where, in all likelihood Yao may be voted in as the starting center for the Western Conference, despite not playing in one single game this season to injury.
With that in mind, here are the players—after considering only the first month of the season—who deserve to start in the 2010 NBA All Star Game in February.
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December 2010 NBA Fantasy Waiver Steals
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Fantasy, NBA,
One month of the 2009-2010 NBA season is nearing an end and the rabid excitement of many fantasy basketball team owners has calmed a bit, which is why now is the perfect time to grab those waiver wire steals. There are several factors that can suddenly change the stripes of a fantasy player, including injuries to other players, trades, and other changes in circumstances. Here are players to nab if they’re still available in your league’s waiver wire or free agent listings:
Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans Hornets
Need three-point shooting? Peja’s sunk 15 treys in the last three games. With Chris Paul out for a month, Peja’s trying to be more of a leader and is getting more shots as a result. He barely gets any turnovers and usually shoots solid percentages, so go ahead and grab him if he’s available.
Dahntay Jones, Indiana Pacers
Jones has earned a spot in the starting rotation and the return of Troy Murphy shouldn’t hurt his minutes at all. Murphy’s return will probably have more of a negative effect on center Roy Hibbert’s minutes. Jones is a do-it-all forward, almost like a poor man’s Danny Granger. In the last four games, he’s averaged 19.5 ppg, 4.5 rbpg, 2.0 spg, and 1.8 bspg, while shooting 51% from the field.
Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets
Collison is a rookie and he hasn’t collected as many threes or steals as one might want in a point guard, but in Chris Paul’s absence, he’s been solid, averaging 15.0 ppg and 7.0 apg with low turnovers, while shooting 94% from the line in four games. He should only get better as he gains more and more confidence as the team’s starting point guard.
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NBA Fantasy Basketball Early Season Guide
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Editorial, Fantasy, NBA,
At this early point of the NBA fantasy season, it’s tough to know what to do. Whether to have a fire sale and completely rearrange a team, whether to make a few bold moves, or whether to sit tight. It all depends on the fantasy owner, but there are some rules of thumb to follow. Here are some suggested approaches to various rotisserie fantasy basketball situations. In some cases, the same might be applied to head-to-head.
Getting Crushed in One, Two, or Three Statistical Categories (“Stat Cats”)
At this point in the season, it’s important not to panic. Remember, it’s a long season and fantasy basketball is a marathon, not a sprint. However, if at this point, your team is getting crushed in one to three stat cats, without possibility of remedy (perhaps a player who might help in that category is due back from an injury soon), it might be prudent to try to balance out the team with a trade. In head-to-head, balance isn’t as important as it is in rotisserie.
Assess the situation. If your team is dominating in one or two categories, identify players on the team who perform well in those categories and make trade offers to teams who struggle in that stat cat. Be persistent. Trades can be tough to pull off, so don’t give up after one or two tries. Also, ensure your team can afford to be without that player. For instance, if a manager tries to trade Chris Bosh because his rebounding isn’t needed, keep in mind that he also scores points and shoots well from the field.
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Fantasy NBA: Analysis of Fourth Round
The saying is way too simplistic to capture how sophisticated some strategies are in fantasy sports, but for hoops, the first three rounds more or less involve drafting so-called “best available” talent. People have their preferences, but no one really goes too off the board. Generally in fantasy basketball, early draft picks end up as busts due to injury, not poor play. Match-ups are not as important as in football; for example, LeBron James might struggle against a good defensive team like the Spurs, but he will still get 25 points one way or the other. Contrast that to football where a high draft pick this year like Steve Slaton continues to struggle.
The middle rounds are where people try to mold their team. Injuries are out of anyone’s control, so if a top three pick succumbs to an unexpected health problem, there is not much you can do. However, you can soften the blow by hitting on a few of your picks from the fourth to eight rounds. These picks are often the ones that separate the strong teams in your league from the weak ones. Here is how the fourth round is shaping up using Yahoo’s average draft position rankings as of today. These numbers change often, and as we move past the early rounds, the stats will vary day to day, so use this tool yourself for the latest updates.
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2009-2010 NBA Central Division Preview
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Editorial, NBA,
The pairing of LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal for the Cleveland Cavaliers is grabbing the headlines for the NBA’s Central Division. Two of the biggest personalities in professional sports should create a Hollywood stir in Cleveland next season. Meanwhile, 2009 Rookie of the Year winner, Derrick Rose, strives to build on an exceptional first year with the Chicago Bulls.
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2009-2010 NBA Atlantic Division Preview
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Athletes, Editorial, NBA,
Atlantic Division Preview
The casual NBA fan may not recognize the new look of the league with so many players packing their bags and moving to different cities. It’s almost as if the basketball gods took the names of every NBA player, placed them in a box and shook the box wildly before reassigning those names to new rosters. Who would have thought Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James would pair up; that Rasheed Wallace would don a Celtics uniform; that Hedo Turkoglu would leave the Eastern Conference defending champion Orlando Magic for the Toronto Raptors? Many big-named players have gravitated to veteran teams with better chances of winning an NBA title, which creates opportunities for many young, up-and-comers to have breakout seasons. While it’s too early to tell which teams will surprise and which will disappoint, it’s apparent that NBA fans are in for a roller coaster season, filled with intriguing stories and exciting twists.
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Fantasy NBA: Analysis of First Round
The one-man mock draft has been fun, but as “one man” writing, I would be lucky to get deep into the fourth round before the season opens. Thus, the focus will shift on topics such as analyzing average draft position (or ADP), which will hopefully benefit those still yet to draft.
Fantasy basketball writing, in general, is still dominated by emphasis on roto leagues. Let us take a look at typical first round selections, but from a head-to-head standpoint. Comments will be geared towards a H2H league that employs the standard nine categories (FG%, FT%, 3PTM, Pts, Rebs, Ast, Stl, Blk and TO).
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One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 3, Pick 1
If you are new to Asian cuisine, but find Chinese food too oily, and Thai food too spicy, consider trying a Vietnamese restaurant. I was out having noodles with my family when I overheard a young woman at another table giving her order. She ordered “Pho” or soup noodles and listed the item number, but instead of regular beef, she wanted beef tendons, and she wanted to add tripe and fish balls as well. All this is fine and good, but the kicker was when she asked the waiter, “Same price, right?” Uh, no.
With this next player, there is no need to modify your order, because you will get exactly what you paid for. And a third-round pick might still just be the right price.
Round 3, Pick 1: Jason Kidd, PG, Dallas Mavericks.
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One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 2, Pick 12
A fun time-waster is the mock draft application over at Yahoo Sports. Or if you have dealt with too many “yahoos on Yahoo” as one forum mate put it, sites like Mock Draft Central provide useful tools, despite the heavy slant and bias towards football.
It was during a mock draft that someone remarked “Tough Juice not so tough the last few years.” Games played totals of 63, 58 and 67 over the last three seasons have this player deserving of the knock. Yet, unlike other players, he has not been branded the label of being soft and has more or less avoided the derision of having a tendency to be injury-prone. Perhaps the obvious super attributes he has for the fantasy game enable us to offer Caron Butler a pass.
Round 2, Pick 12: Caron Butler, SF, Washington Wizards
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