Thursday, April 06, 2006
Fantasy Basketball Drafting Strategies
There are many ways of playing Fantasy Basketball. Sometimes you choose your favorite players and sometimes you choose the best players available. But there are times when strategy is needed to pick the best team possible. After exploring various fantasy leagues, I've discovered that fielding the best team means not only NOT drafting Kobe Bryant, but also presenting a coherent and elegant theme for your team. That's right young grasshoppers, it doesn't matter if you've won your fantasy league with your Kobe-infested team. What matters is that you win your fantasy league in style. With that, I present to you some basic themes for your fantasy basketball draft:
Franchise-Specific Team
The objective here is to pick players that have played or are playing in a particular franchise. For instance, you can draft a Charlotte Bobcats team composed of players from the Bobcats franchise. The Charlotte Hornets or the New Orleans Hornets are from different franchises so they are ineligible. Of course, drafting a Bobcats-based team means you're drafting the very same players playing for them right now because they're an expansion team. But with a little imagination you can come up with a team such as the Portland JailBlazers team. Police officers from the Oregon area will love it as not only do they have reference of the players based on their criminal records, but their lineup can also serve as a police lineup list or a criminal suspect-list for their next drug-bust. Another possibility is a Utah Jazz team, which is also very similar to our next team theme.
White Players Team
With the recent influx of European players, this theme is not only very competitive but also rife with variety. There are plenty of top players to pick such as Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash or Andrei Kirilenko. Sorry Yao Ming, but fantasy basketball is too sacred to bend the rules for you. During the later rounds, you may find it difficult to select players if some key guys are taken. This is not only a challenge for your skills, but also fun for your fellow drafters to watch. Nothing says desperation better than taking Mark Madsen and his 4 point and 3 rebound games.
JailBlazers Team
PG - Damon Stoudamire
SG - Kobe Bryant
G - Bonzi Wells
SF - Darius Miles
PF - Zach Randolph
F - Ruben Patterson
C - Rasheed Wallace
C - Jermaine O'Neal
Util - Sebastian Telfair
Util - Qyntel Woods
Kobe Bryant is here as an honorary member of the JailBlazers. He may not technically be a JailBlazer, but he is certainly one at heart. Jermaine O'Neal is another surprise addition, but he too is part of the JailBlazer tradition thanks to cursing out an officer during his JailBlazer days.
Isaiah Thomas All-Stars
PG - Stephon Marbury
SG - Steve Francis
G - Jamaal Crawford
SF - Jalen Rose
PF - Kevin Garnett
F - Quentin Richardson
C - Eddy Curry
C - Jerome James
Util - Tim Thomas
Util - Nazr Mohammed
The Knicks team would be a formidable fantasy team if not for the fact that they all play for the Knicks at the same time. Recent information leaked by NBA insiders indicate that Isaiah Thomas was in-fact using his fantasy team when he made his GM maneuvers. Kevin Garnett is included here because Isaiah Thomas is close to acquiring him. This would explain the Steve Francis trade except for the fact that Kevin Garnett will never wind up with the Knicks, barring a Kevin Mchale meltdown. Nazr Mohammed is also included because he was acquired by Isaiah Thomas for a brief moment before being traded to the Spurs and eventually helping them win a championship.
Darko Milicic and Friends
PG - Kirk Hinrich
SG - Manu Ginobili
G - Luke Ridnour
SF - Peja Stojakovic
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
F - Troy Murphy
C - Mehmet Okur
C - Nenad Krstic
Util - Wally Szczerbiak
Util - Darko Milicic
Significant waiver wire pickups include Jeff Foster and Mike Dunleavy. The Dirk Nowitzki/Peja Stojakovic combination can be replaced by Andrei Kirilenko/Steve Nash when using a late pick. The beauty of this team is that they all shoot well and can't defend, with the exception of Kirk Hinrich. Kirk Hinrich can shoot AND defend. He's the Beast of the East.
Franchise-Specific Team
The objective here is to pick players that have played or are playing in a particular franchise. For instance, you can draft a Charlotte Bobcats team composed of players from the Bobcats franchise. The Charlotte Hornets or the New Orleans Hornets are from different franchises so they are ineligible. Of course, drafting a Bobcats-based team means you're drafting the very same players playing for them right now because they're an expansion team. But with a little imagination you can come up with a team such as the Portland JailBlazers team. Police officers from the Oregon area will love it as not only do they have reference of the players based on their criminal records, but their lineup can also serve as a police lineup list or a criminal suspect-list for their next drug-bust. Another possibility is a Utah Jazz team, which is also very similar to our next team theme.
White Players Team
With the recent influx of European players, this theme is not only very competitive but also rife with variety. There are plenty of top players to pick such as Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash or Andrei Kirilenko. Sorry Yao Ming, but fantasy basketball is too sacred to bend the rules for you. During the later rounds, you may find it difficult to select players if some key guys are taken. This is not only a challenge for your skills, but also fun for your fellow drafters to watch. Nothing says desperation better than taking Mark Madsen and his 4 point and 3 rebound games.
JailBlazers Team
PG - Damon Stoudamire
SG - Kobe Bryant
G - Bonzi Wells
SF - Darius Miles
PF - Zach Randolph
F - Ruben Patterson
C - Rasheed Wallace
C - Jermaine O'Neal
Util - Sebastian Telfair
Util - Qyntel Woods
Kobe Bryant is here as an honorary member of the JailBlazers. He may not technically be a JailBlazer, but he is certainly one at heart. Jermaine O'Neal is another surprise addition, but he too is part of the JailBlazer tradition thanks to cursing out an officer during his JailBlazer days.
Isaiah Thomas All-Stars
PG - Stephon Marbury
SG - Steve Francis
G - Jamaal Crawford
SF - Jalen Rose
PF - Kevin Garnett
F - Quentin Richardson
C - Eddy Curry
C - Jerome James
Util - Tim Thomas
Util - Nazr Mohammed
The Knicks team would be a formidable fantasy team if not for the fact that they all play for the Knicks at the same time. Recent information leaked by NBA insiders indicate that Isaiah Thomas was in-fact using his fantasy team when he made his GM maneuvers. Kevin Garnett is included here because Isaiah Thomas is close to acquiring him. This would explain the Steve Francis trade except for the fact that Kevin Garnett will never wind up with the Knicks, barring a Kevin Mchale meltdown. Nazr Mohammed is also included because he was acquired by Isaiah Thomas for a brief moment before being traded to the Spurs and eventually helping them win a championship.
Darko Milicic and Friends
PG - Kirk Hinrich
SG - Manu Ginobili
G - Luke Ridnour
SF - Peja Stojakovic
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
F - Troy Murphy
C - Mehmet Okur
C - Nenad Krstic
Util - Wally Szczerbiak
Util - Darko Milicic
Significant waiver wire pickups include Jeff Foster and Mike Dunleavy. The Dirk Nowitzki/Peja Stojakovic combination can be replaced by Andrei Kirilenko/Steve Nash when using a late pick. The beauty of this team is that they all shoot well and can't defend, with the exception of Kirk Hinrich. Kirk Hinrich can shoot AND defend. He's the Beast of the East.
Comments
in our other league, ed created a white boys team(although he still has some black players) and to counter that racist team, i made a balck dudes team. and since my team was injury prone, i labeled them the black injury list.
in our last battle, the black team won 7-2, although i lost to gerald in the first round of the playoffs.
in a VERY deep league, building around a black team is kinda hard, since most of them are already in the otehr rosters. and it's especially hard to trade white boys for them.
here is my 5th(or 6th..depending on this weeks' outcome) place team in berksketball:
PG - D. Fisher
SG - R. McCants
G - R. Hamilton
G - B. Jackson
SF - R. Lewis
PF - Ke. Thomas
F - Ju. Jones
F - M. Redd
C - K. Brown
C - M. Blount
Util - R. Felton
Util - R. Evans
Bench - D. Gooden
Bench - C. Bell
Bench - E. Jones
in our last battle, the black team won 7-2, although i lost to gerald in the first round of the playoffs.
in a VERY deep league, building around a black team is kinda hard, since most of them are already in the otehr rosters. and it's especially hard to trade white boys for them.
here is my 5th(or 6th..depending on this weeks' outcome) place team in berksketball:
PG - D. Fisher
SG - R. McCants
G - R. Hamilton
G - B. Jackson
SF - R. Lewis
PF - Ke. Thomas
F - Ju. Jones
F - M. Redd
C - K. Brown
C - M. Blount
Util - R. Felton
Util - R. Evans
Bench - D. Gooden
Bench - C. Bell
Bench - E. Jones
"The beauty of this team is that they all shoot well and can't defend, with the exception of Kirk Hinrich" - IMHO, darko and ridnour are good defenders too :D
Actually, it's quite accepted that Ridnour plays matador defense and that Watson was taken in to help the Sonics' backcourt D.
I actually find the all-white team most menacing.
While it's true that these players are better known for their offense than their defense, I still think statistically, they can deliver pretty decent defensive numbers. After all, the stats are what matters in the fantasy game.
While it's true that these players are better known for their offense than their defense, I still think statistically, they can deliver pretty decent defensive numbers. After all, the stats are what matters in the fantasy game.
Now if only the Bob Hill could figure out how to emulate and adapt the all-offense, minimal defense playing style of the Suns.
Amare => Wilcox
Nash => Ridnour
I think every other element can easily be adapted to fit what the Sonics currently have.
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Amare => Wilcox
Nash => Ridnour
I think every other element can easily be adapted to fit what the Sonics currently have.
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