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 8th 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 2nd
half of the season. Wes also played much better the latter half of the season.
Harden’s production was capped by his “6th 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
