DYNASTY!!

I did it! Another year, another title. That makes 3 in a row. 3 years ago my good friends and I started a fantasy basketball league. For 3 years I have come out on top. My excellent blend of insight on trades and pickups have assured my dominance. I am not hear to brag however (well sort of) But more importantly I just want to be able to reminisce on a great year and explain my thoughts and actions. To explain how I ended up with only three of my original players drafted at the end of the year. To explain my completed and failed trades and my creative fantasy team names. Take notes people. Enjoy the pictures as well.

Here was my original draft ( I had the 8^th pick)

1.     Russell Westbrook 23 PPG 5 AST- I really didn’t even want him in the first place, but had no choice because none of the players I targeted slipped to number 8. I ended up trading him after a week. He just doesn’t assist like a fantasy PG should.

2.     Blake Griffin 20 PPG 10.8 REB- One of the two players I kept on my team all year. Free Throw % was tough, but he was consistent and healthy all year long. In this injury crazed lockout season I couldn’t have asked for more.

3.     Andre Iguodola 5.5 AST 1.7 STL- I ended up trading him due to deficiencies in scoring and %'s but he did well for him while I had him.

         Voted the 3 Worst Fantasy Basketball Owners 2012, Look Familiar?

4.     Kyle Lowry 17 PPG 7 AST 2 STL (Pre-Injury)- I was SUPER excited about landing Lowry. I had him the previous year and knew he was due for a breakout season. Unfortunately a groin injury and then a infection ended his season prematurely.

5.     Andrew Bynum 18 PPG 11.8 REB- Bynum slipped in the draft do to durability issues. I took a huge RISK drafting him, but it paid HUGE dividends as he had an outstanding year. I still hate him though.

6.     Wesley Matthews 13 PPG 1.7 STL- Kind of a disappointment, he didn’t build of the success he had last year until it was too late in the year and I had already dropped him.

7.     Elton Brand 11 PPG 7 REB- Felt forced into picking him, as I needed a big man at the point in the draft, I ended up thankfully trading him.

8.     Jarret Jack 15 PPG 6 APG- I made a great pick with Jack as he took over as a starting PG for the departed Chris Paul. Luckily I traded him at the right time, before a knee injury took him out for most of the year.

9.     JJ Hickson 17 PPG 10.5 RPG(Last 9 games of the year)- I expected big things from Hickson in Sacramento! FAIL! I was able to pick him back up during his run with the Blazers though.

10.  Ricky Rubio 10 PPG 8 APG 2 STL- STUD!! Except for FG % So exciting to watch him play, unfortunately he joined Lowry in the injury department.

11.   Jared Dudley- Should have hung onto him longer. He got off to a slow start, but turned into a nice player for the Suns.

12.  Darko Milicic- Don’t ask

13.  Brendan Haywood-  No Comment

This was the Team that I ended with. It was quite different that the team I started with: Klay Thompson, Ty Lawson, Mo Williams, Blake Griffin, Danillo Gallinari, Marc Gasol, JJ Barea, JJ Hickson, Andrew Bynum, Luol Deng, Marcus Camby, Patrick Mills

                 2012 Fantasy Basketball Championship Team

Trades: 

I was able to complete two trades during the course of the season, both early on.

#1 Russell Westbrook, Elton Brand for Ty Lawson 16 PPG 6 APG and Luol Deng 15 PPG 6 RPG

-I wanted to get younger, Brand was too much of an injury risk for me. I also thought Russell Westbrook was overrated especially in our league where we count A/TO and TO’s as a category. I knew Lawson had a lot of potential to get better and liked Luol Deng because he was solid in most categories.

#2 Andre Igoudola, Jarret Jack, OJ Mayo for Marc Gasol 9 RPG 2 BPG

-Most people thought I gave up too much in this trade, which was true. I knew I was giving up too much, but it was worth it to me because I knew that I was capable of making good pickups the rest of the way. Also Gasol contributes in multiple categories across the board. Even in categories that most centers don’t contribute in.

                                                            Get to keep the ring for another year

#3 Didn’t Go Through   Wes Matthews and Jameer Nelson for James Harden

-I was heavily scrutinized for this trade. However I stand buy it. Brian was in desperate need of a PG and Jameer was improving the 2^nd half of the season. Wes also played much better the latter half of the season. Harden’s production was capped by his “6^th man” status where as I knew that Wes and Jameer had a would only improve. I ended up vetoing it myself because I didn’t want any sort of controversy if I were to win the League.

The Season

            It was obvious from the get go that Blake and I would eventually meet in the Finals. Our Week 1 match up went down to the wire tying 5-5-1. We might have met in the finals last year had not for some unfortunate late injuries for Blake. I got off to a great start and was #1 or #2 seed throughout the year. I started to tail off toward the end of the year as I was hit with a string of injuries including: Kyle Lowry, Ricky Rubio, Jeremy Lin, and Gallanari. However I recovered and got hot when I needed to thanks to some key pickups: Klay Thompson, JJ Barea and JJ Hickson, and Marcus Camby.

 My lowest point of the year was when I had just lost 7-4. On top of that I learned that Kyle Lowry would not return and I was unable to pick up Goran Dragic 18 PPG 8 APG 2 STL(As a starter) because I had used up all my pickups for the week.

However I didn’t give up. In fact I think my final match up vs Blake was my finest hour. I knew that a lot of teams would rest key players down the stretch so I kept my eye on the NBA standings and made sure I got in as many starts as I could early in the match up so I could maximize all 63 starts. I used all 63 and even had to bench 5 players on the last day to avoid going over. Also some choices I made earlier in the year were rewarded. For example I had the opportunity to pick up Anderson Varejao and Eric Gordon earlier in the year and with my lead in standings I could have afforded to do so, but I chose not to. My instinct told me that even if these players were able to return they would be severally limited or even benched all together with the slightest injury. This allowed me more roster sports for later pick-ups. Varejao ended up not coming back and Gordon only for a few games. So my instinct was correct.

                                Fantasy Basketball League Owners 2012

Overall another fun year of Fantasy Basketball with some of the most competitive basketball enthusiasts I know. We always have several quarrels during the year about trades or pick ups or what not, but in the end I had a lot of fun. Just want to say thanks to everybody in the league who participated and got really into it because the more competitive the better. And thanks for nothing Matt Wild(ABSOLUTE BUST)

Last but not least here are the fantasy team names I used throughout the year that I can remember

1.     Gasoft Gets GaSlammed

2.     Klay Dough

3.     Going for a 3-peat

4.     Micheal Kidd Gildick

5.     Kia’s revenge on Griffin

6.     Linderella Story

Special Thanks to our Commissioner Blake Richardson