May 2010
Monthly Archive
Champion – Some How, Some Way
DaLoot did more than scratch and claw his way to a Championship. He got incredibly lucky. The ship was definitely sinking by January. I could not buy a win. I gave it a whirl with the likes of Chris Douglas-Roberts and Yi Jianlian. I battled through draft day mistakes like Tony Parker. I endured season ending injuries to Blake Griffin and Tony Randolph. Nasty injuries like the concussion to Tyreke Evans, and a Hot-Carl Landry tooth in Dirk’s elbow (yes, that was on a Friday night 10 minutes and eight fantasy points into the game). I side-stepped a dead relative of David Lee, and a trade of Trever Ariza for Luis Scola (who proved he was capable of five fantasy points on a Sunday and 62 fantasy points on a Saturday). Somehow I peaked when I needed to peak scoring a combined 508.5 points in the final two games (and scoring more than 211 fantasy points in eight of the last night games – including playoffs) . Championship shirts are on the way.
Ha. Why fantasy basketball can be fun and frustrating?
- Week #1 of playoffs: DaLoot played Dr. Copperfield. A month or two ago the good Dr. proposed a trade. Luis Scola (F) for Tony Parker (G), Trever Ariza (G) or Devin Harris (G). At the time all three were averaging about the same number of fantasy points. DaLoot needed a forward and Dr. Copperfield needed a guard. DaLoot parted ways with Ariza, who had the highest average of the three (Parker, Harris, Ariza). For whatever reason, the trade woke up Luis Scola. In Week #1 of the playoffs Scola had 44 fantasy points, Ariza had 19 fantasy points. DaLoot won 216-209.5. That is just simply luck / bad-luck, depending on which side of the Ariza / Scola trade you were on.
- Week #2 of the playoffs: DaLoot and Royz Boyz had a battle for the ages. DaLoot felt pretty comfortable Friday night when David Lee went off for 68 fantasy points (37-20-10-0-1). And then Saturday night I got nervous after seeing Iguodala go off for 58 fantasy points (33-8-11-5-1). Royz Boyz tallied 237.5, which is very impressive. Somehow DaLoot snuck out a win with 252.5.
- Week #3 of the playoffs (Championship): DaLoot vs. The Fur. The Fur sent an email midday on Friday stating he was doing research and would have a lineup in by 5pm. By 7pm, we assumed he was satisfied with his previous week’s lineup. We had a ball game anyway. It came down to Mrs. Carmela Anthony needing 40 more fantasy points than Tyreke Evans. Tyreke only had 18 fantasy points vs. Royz Boyz. Anything was possible. As it turned out, Carmela had an off night and got ejected half way through the fourth quarter and Tyreke Evans had a great game. DaLoot went off for the second week in a row, winning with by a score of 256-208. David Lee follow up his 68 fantasy points with a season worst 20 fantasy points.
What does all of this mean? It is mostly about being lucky and a small part about not drafting five of the best six white guys in the NBA. Chris Paul getting hurt probably was the single biggest break for DaLoot. It resulted in Darren Collison getting substantial minutes which directly translated into fantasy points.
