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2009-2010 NBA Northwest Division Preview
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Athletes, Editorial, NBA,
There are plenty of reasons for NBA fans to be interested in the Northwest Division with several captivating stories to pique their interest. For starters, will the Utah Jazz go with Carlos Boozer as its starting power forward, or will it opt for up-and-comer Paul Millsap, thereby making Boozer expendable? Will Chauncey Billups be able to continue the great leadership role he exhibited with the Denver Nuggets last season? Will Greg Oden make strides to becoming a top flight NBA center? Will Al Jefferson and Kevin Love be able to coexist in Minnesota? Will Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder be able to become a true point guard?
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The third round seems shallow this year, especially towards the tail-end. Thus, the third name you call on draft night stands to be the make-or-break selection. A lot of good prospects seem available in the middle rounds, and the list of attractive players to take a flier on in the last couple of rounds looks extra-long heading into this season. The challenge ahead will be how to pass the baton around the track from your top two picks to the targeted sleepers.
As before, let us look at the average draft position (ADP) rankings from Yahoo, with some specific consideration towards head-to-head leagues.
Click to continue reading Fantasy NBA: Analysis of Third Round
The first two picks usually define the direction your fantasy team builds towards. For example, matching Dwight Howard with Jose Calderon would not be the best play for a head-to-head league; although this pairing begins to cover all the various categories, the strengths of these players do not overlap. Punting categories gets too much attention in head-to-head articles; however the art of building up strength in certain categories is a requirement for success. And so, let us now look at the second round based on Yahoo average draft position (ADP) rankings, with some specific attention to how these players might complement certain players taken in the first round.
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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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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).
Click to continue reading Fantasy NBA: Analysis of First Round
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.
Click to continue reading One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 3, Pick 1
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
Click to continue reading One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 2, Pick 12
A great addition to Yahoo fantasy basketball has been the mock draft feature. At any time, you can join a mock draft with real live folks like yourself and prep for your real league together. Different size leagues and different types of leagues are available. In the chat section during a mock draft I participated in earlier this week, someone remarked that his or her first three picks last year were Elton Brand, Al Jefferson and Jose Calderon. Despite that injury-riddled trio, this person apparently still cruised to his league title. It is hard to tell how much kudos he/she deserves, as it seems quite probable that the league this person participated in was weak. A good fantasy GM dominating a bad league should find a better league.
On the other hand, fantasy hoopsters know there is absolutely nothing wrong with a good player suiting up for a bad team. A lot of fantasy goodness can be head with these types of situations, as this next player illustrates.
Round 2, Pick 11: Devin Harris, PG, New Jersey Nets
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Last year Ron Chow and I were lucky enough to land the number one pick in the Dropping Dimes Expert League. Rewind to one year ago and LeBron James had major free-throw issues, issues I would find a way to deal with, but with the #1 pick, we went with Chris Paul. That league had two slots for centers, and as we watched our tier of big men empty out before the draft snaked its way back to us, we realized the draft forced us to go in another direction. Thus, we matched Paul with the best multi-faceted guards on our draft board. One of them was this next pick.
Round 2, Pick 10: Joe Johnson, PG/SG, Atlanta Hawks
Click to continue reading One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 2, Pick 10
Round 2, Pick 9: Andre Iguodala, SG/SF, Philadelphia 76ers
Andre Iguodala has not taken that next step up the NBA ladder. Possessing freakish athleticism and a complete toolbox of skill, “Iggy” has the chops to be a perennial All-Star. A steady performer in the fantasy game, he lacks the big-game potential to garner a higher draft pick. However, with Kobe Bryant picked to lead this squad in round one, a do-everything stat-stuffer in the second round will fit in just fine.
Click to continue reading One Man Mock Draft, Fantasy NBA 2009: Round 2, Pick 9
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