The Dropping Dimes Experts League draft was held on Thursday, October 12th, 2006. Perhaps some of the fantasy owners in the field wanted to hex the rest of the league Friday the 13th style, as they were milking the clock down as early as the first round! No big deal though, because unless you are in college and stacked your schedule such that you have no class on Friday, what better activity is there to do on a Thursday night than a fantasy basketball draft? (Note to our readers: I do not follow either Grey’s Anatomy or ER, though I hear both are quality televsion shows.)

We have asked our fellow team owners to send us their answers to our questions re: their newly minted fantasy squad. First up, who else…our head honcho, Dennis Velasco!

The roster: (overall pick in parentheses)

1. Shawn Marion, SF/PF, Phoenix Suns (2)
2. Jason Kidd, PG, New Jersey Nets (23)
3. Rashard Lewis, SF, Seattle Supersonics (26)
4. Antawn Jamison, SF/PF, Washington Wizards (47)
5. Stephon Marbury, PG, New York Knicks (50)
6. Andre Miller, PG, Denver Nuggets (71)
7. Shaquille O’Neal, C, Miami Heat (74)
8. Wally Szczerbiak, SG/SF, Boston Celtics (95)
9. Joel Przybilla, C, Portland Trail Blazers (98)
10. Mikael Pietrus, SG/GF, Golden State Warriors (119)
11. Robert Swift, PF/C, Seattle Supersonics (122)
12. Shaun Livingston, PG, Los Angeles Clippers (143)
13. Marquis Daniels, SG/SF, Indiana Pacers (146)

The Q & A:

1. Which player was your best pick, value-wise? Andre Miller, 6th round, pick 11 (71)
In a roto league, you have to love the assists (8.2 apg last season) and steals (1.3) that Miller gives you.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Miller had more dimes this season since the offense runs and the personnel is there to finish.  Add about 14 ppg, good percentages, especially from the field ( 46.3 FG%; 73.8 FT%), and you have yourself a nice PG, despite the lack of threes.

2. Which player was your worst pick, value-wise? Shaquille O’Neal, 7th round, pick 2 (74)
Okay, this isn’t so much that this was a bad value pick.  In fact, in a two center start league, getting O’Neal here ain’t that bad.  However, it’s still a gamble of sorts.  We all know that Shaq’s 46.9 FT% is downright HORRIBLE, but the potential 20/10 and dos blockos are nice.  The only problem is, how many games will Shaq play in the regular season and how many minutes?  Therefore, I have to say that O’Neal Shaq Fu style and power is starting to wane.

3. Which player was your risk/reward pick, the pick you gambled on to have a good season? Stephon Marbury, 5th round, pick 2 (50)
I admit to being a disgruntled Knicks fan, which I didn’t even feel when Louis Orr, Rory Sparrow, and Pat Cummings were top players for the team!  BTW, luckily enough I was able to watch Bernard King light it up.  In any case, Marbury isn’t my favorite player in the world and to a degree I’m glad he stunk last season to teach him some humility (which is probably a futile thing anyway).  However, I know and you know that last season was an anomaly and with Isiah Thomas coaching the team, Marbury is going to get every chance to be an All Star again.

4. Other than yourself, which manager do you think has the strongest team?
RICKROCKERS (FSRU.com) looks strong, especially at the guard position where Chris Paul, DD’s officially sponsored player on Basketball-Reference.com, and Chauncey Billups are a good base to build on.  If Josh Smith can put it altogether for a full season, and with Al Harrington gone I think he can, Smith should give a good amount of points and, of course, tons of blocks.  I like Boozer a lot (sorry, Cleveland) because of his C eligibility and love Brandon Roy, who will get every opportunity, unlike Randy Foye, to produce in multiple categories and win the Rookie of the Year.  The Nene pick was a great pick… actually had him as a sleeper, but Rick stole him from me!  Devin Harris is a solid pick to end off a nice draft.  And, I must note that I (barely) beat FSRU’s representative, Seth Mandl, in an fantasy baseball experts league for the championship this past season and I’ll beat FSRU again!  Yeah, I saw your homepage.

On the DD team, I like Sarge’s team, although I think we’re all fairly strong.  I really like his first six picks, especially McGrady in the second and Dalembert in the sixth - look out for him as I think he’ll get double digit boards and three blocks per game.  Marvin Williams should step up his game and take some of the production from a departed Al Harrington.  And while I think he’ll get less time, I thought that the past two seasons and he totally gave stats BIG-time. I’m talking about Brevin Knight.  I think at points they may slide Felton over to the two and have both on the floor as they did at time last season.

My 10 cents on this team:

I was really looking forward to this draft and one of the reasons why was to see what would happen with Shaq. Everyone in the industry is always saying not to pick Shaq in a roto league, right? So what happens, one of our own here at Dropping Dimes scoops him up. I will give Shaq his well-earned props in either a head-to-head or a points league. Early 7th round here seems too soon to me. However this is a two center league and thus part of me understands why Dennis called for the Big Diesel. Still, him and the Portland Gorilla could build another Trump Tower with all the bricks they are going to put up from the line this year. Dennis does have a bunch of solid free throw shooters but he will be lucky to finish middle of the pack in this category when all is said and done.

I might try tanking FT% with Shaq and go for everything else. But Kidd and Jamison will halt the run for the FG% title, and this team seems light in the board-cleaning department. Marbury should bounce back and his top four picks are as solid as any in the league. He could have used a bench spot for another center to use when Shaq needs some time off, but he went in the fanboy direction and drafted his main man, Shaun Livingston, instead. Livingston is going to be really good, but Dennis could be a year early on him here.

Since the draft, Dennis dropped his last pick, Marquis Daniels, and picked up Sean May. May could certainly help this roster in FG% and boards, but as with all young players, it’s all about the minutes, baby. All in all, be it for an “expert” or a first-timer, we all have to wait and see what happens. Peace.