Originally posted by: DeafeningSilence
Originally posted by: Stark
we're having a pretty good battle this week. I still can't believe that DS and his sorry teams beat me 4-19 combined last week.
Get used to it. DS is bringing an unprecedented level of domination, baby.
21-1 combined score this week?!? Has this been done before in our leagues (this year or last)?
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Originally posted by: gleong
In league 2, shouldn't it be:
6. See you next tue(s): 115-114-23
7. Whoa!: 116-116-20
Whoa! might have more W's, but See you next tue(s) has the better winning percentage.
WHOA! may get a little help with Haslem coming back this week
Originally posted by: BaboonGuy
WHOA! may get a little help with Haslem coming back this week
Ha ha ha ha ha. Nice one.
Oh, and FU I'm korean.
Originally posted by: Stark
Playoffs? where the crapshoot hits the fan
Official playoff brackets *confirmed*:
League 1
Nashing of Teeth (Stark) gets a week off and then takes on the winner of WHOA! (neo) and Phi Slamma Jamma (DS).
Tre II (BG) also gets a week off before facing the winner of . (Jbah) and NYK-Mengke Bateer (prodigy)
Consolation Bracket is? well, who cares?
Team Breakdown:
Nashing hopes to see Odom?s shoulder to heal this week, then needs Reggie to go out like Bon Jovi (in a blaze of glory), and Brian Skinner?s sprained thumbs to grab some rebounds again. I hate Odom and the Lakers. Let me reiterate, I HATE LAMAR ODOM, JERRY BUSS, KOBE BRYANT, and the LAKERS. What a letdown season.
Tre II needs Van Horn to keep ballin? (nice pickup) plus Theo and ?Toine to quit playing like they?re still on the Hawks. Pierce, Yao, Billups, and Parker also need to start producing if BG wants a piece of the sweet, sweet BB prize. I love Jerry Stackhouse. That is all.
. has to worry about JRichardson?s ?personal matters,? Webber?s annual end of season collapse, and Posey?s recent hip contusion and shoulder sprain. Losing Haywood?s thumb for the rest of the playoffs won?t make things any easier. jbah is attempting the "victory through garbage" technique, filling his roster with random crappy players. Unfortunately, he leaves Lue-sers and Webbers in the lineup and benches Dickau and Thomas, gets a vacation by Amare, donuts from Posey, and a strong bench performance from Ginobili and still found a way to pull out a victory. He'll have a toughter time with BG, who still has his first round pick in his linup this week (unlike Prodigy).
WHOA! may get a little help with Haslem coming back this week, but the losses of AK47 and Dampier, plus the return of Sura to the PT formerly known as Wesley?s, will make for a tough road to victory. Neo?s only hope lies in Austin Croshere?s receding hairline. Rashard Lewis, Cro[me-dome]shere, Haslem, Curry, Wally, and AK-47 conspired to kill any hopes neo may have had for victory last week.
PSJ needs TMac to stay healthy, Hinrich?s hammy to get better fast, and Donyell to stop going to the locker room to get back rubs while games are being played. DS would also benefit greatly if Ridnour suffered a season ending injury soon so Daniels could get some PT, and he can forget about seeing Brad Miller anytime soon. The good: TMac, Big Ben, Grant Hill, Przybilla. The bad: DerMarr, Daniels, Jeffries, the IL.
Prodigy is screwed without Duncan. Just completely screwed. Someone finally told Cassell he needs to prove he can still play if he wants anyone to give him a contract in the future, but who knows how long he?ll stay motivated. It will be fun watching P-Diddy make those tough ?who should I bench? calls? who?s worse this week: McInnis, who?s still pouting after not making the all-star team, Dunleavy, who?s been lost since Baron came to town, or Marquis, who?s lost all his stats to KVH? How did anyone with those guys make the playoffs?
Like I said, without Duncan, the NYK was DOA.
Kev?s team had the highest percentage of players who have been involved in All-Star festivities over the past few years, but it still didn?t make the playoffs. The parallels between this team and Kobe?s 2005 Lakers are astounding.
This quote from fanball.com sums it up:
?Lakers guard Chucky Atkins is frustrated with guard Kobe Bryant... ?I ain't the GM of this team,? Atkins told the Los Angeles Times. ?Kobe's the GM of this team. Ask Kobe. You've been watching this [stuff] all year. You've been watching it and I've been playing it.??
I might just have to pick up Chucky next season when he?s playing on another team.
League 2
ThisTeamisGood (Keek) gets a bye before facing TreII or GS Warriors in ?05 (Gleong)
Moe Larry Curly (Storm) earns a week vacation before battling it out with Round Mound (DS) or BSkinner of my teeth (Stark)
Keek?s team is stacked. He was fortunate to get through all his IL time mid-season, and now with a (mostly) healthy starting lineup of Alston, Hughes, Pierce, Kidd, Okafor, Hill, and Dirk, watch out. He also needs to hope Odom feels better after this week and hope that Gasol re-injures himself so that Cardinal can start putting up good numbers again. Odom sucks, but this team is still good.
Moe Larry Curly was able to make it to #2 despite Kobe, Webber, and Richard Jefferson. Storm had a forgiving end of season schedule that saw him break off 5 straight wins in a row before losing to Prodigy in week 21. Mar 31 Webber has been diagnosed with a left shoulder sprain and is expected to miss the next 7-10 days, the 76ers' official site reports... like this wasn't written on the wall since the day the trade to Philly went down. HAHA!
DS?s team would be my favorite team ever if it was a real NBA team. Start with the Shaq, the MDE/MVP, add Lebron, throw in Bibby and some role players and you have a dynasty that would win 3-4 championships in a row. The RoundMound needs all those Bulls to play strong for a shot at the title. DS beat me. Just don't take too much comfort from it. I at least made it close, and my team sucks.
Tre II starts with the KG/Nash combination that worked so well in L1, then adds a cornucopia of ?good players in real life, not so good in fantasy.? If this team goes far, it may be due to Caron Butler going off for the next three weeks to show that this season wasn?t his fault. Posey, Gasol, Howard, Camby, and Boston ?Toine are all going to have to pick it up for BG to advance. (Nobody tell him he has Andre Miller benched tonight, ok?)
GS Warriors have a ton of players I wouldn?t even have considered drafting, but somehow they made it this far. TMac and Franchise on the same team is something nobody outside Orlando or Houston would ever dream of. Add Maggette, Hinrich, Bosh, Gooden, and Boykins and the mix gets even more interesting. Then add some tolken up and down white guys: LaFrentz, Murphy, and J. White Chocolate Williams and you have a recipe that will either delight with unique flavors (like Tom Kah Kai soup), or make some sort of horrible science experiment that makes you throw up (like kimchee). The burner on the stove is lit, time to start cooking! Evidently BG made a fresh batch of Kimchee (if there is such a thing) this week and fed it to his team... because they stunk!.
SkinnerofTeeth is crap. It won?t win. You can?t lose your #1 guy right now and hope to do anything down the stretch (isn?t that right, neo)?
May the best team? never mind, the playoffs are the equivalent of the NCAA pool pick group? may the luckiest guy win! i changed my mind on this one... picking illinois and north carolina to meet in the finals didn't take any luck (or genius for that matter) this year. Still, it should be a great finals. I pitty any NBA GM who takes Bogut over Jawad Williams, Sean May, or Melvin Scott.
here's a look at some of the players who didn't make the cut (and where they finished in the top 425).
425. Ron Artest
Well, he charged into the stands at Detroit, inadvertently attacked the wrong culprit, triggered the scariest melee in the history of basketball, drew the biggest suspension in league history, single-handedly killed the title hopes of a potential 60-win team, overshadowed Reggie Miller's last season and disappointed the Basketball Jesus. That has to make him the NBA LVP (least valuable player) ... narrowly edging Mark Blount and Rick Brunson. On the bright side, it was the greatest TV night in years and gave us Artest's famous post-suspension quote, "I'm trying to be positive. I'm a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize."
397. Zach Randolph
The dreaded double whammy: He destroyed Portland's cap space AND killed its season. At least he's a good guy.
319. Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell (tie)
Trading for an NBA player with baggage is like dating a girl with baggage ? maybe you'll be happy for a few months, but there's a 95-percent chance it's going to end badly. (And I mean, BADLY, as in, "Why does it hurt when I pee?" or "I wonder who left 59 hang-ups on my answering machine?") In Minnesota's case, Spree and Sam helped KG win an MVP and nearly got Minny to the 2005 Finals before turning faster than a gallon of milk. Was it worth it? I would say yes. You only have three or four chances to win a title with a superstar, so you do what you need to do. And if this leads to Spree's retiring and filming a reality-show on his yacht, maybe it was for the best.
215. Carlos Boozer
That's what you get for screwing over a generous blind guy.
181. Baron Davis
Classic Warriors: They roll the dice on a former All-Star who ends up playing out of his mind, turning the team around and screwing up their top-four lottery spot. When next year rolls around, he'll probably blow out his knee before Halloween. We need to chip in $5 apiece and buy Warriors fans a new team ? they make Clippers fans seem fortunate by comparison.
161. Chris Webber
Would anything be more entertaining than C-Webb's getting injured in the playoffs, followed by a Kings-Sixers Finals and the first-ever Double Ewing Theory? I think about these things.
135. Lamar Odom
Remember the SNL sketch about the Time-Life series for videos of family dysfunction, when every vignette (Thanksgiving, Easter, birthday, etc.) ended with Will Ferrell suddenly flipping over the dinner table and screaming, "That's it, [bleep] this, I'm out of here!" From January to March, after watching Kobe go one-on-three one too many times, I kept waiting for Odom to do this ? just flip over the press table and scream, "That's it, [bleep] this, I'm out of here!" Instead, he went on the DL with a fake injury. Wise move. I wouldn't want to be his bong right now.
92. Danny Fortson and Reggie Evans (tie)
Remember my fantasy rule that Antonio Davis and Dale Davis should be combined into one roto monster: The Uber-Davis? We need to do the same thing with Fortson and Evans; as the great John Hollinger first pointed out, if you combine their per-minute numbers, they would be having like the 12th greatest rebounding season in the history of power forwards. So let's do make this a rule for next year ? I want the chance to select Reganny Fortvans.
42. Kobe Bryant
My buddy House and I had a long argument about this one yesterday. House argued that, other than Artest, Kobe was the 2005 LVP because he single-handedly destroyed a Lakers dynasty that had 4-5 quality years left. My argument was that Kobe was the worst GM in the league (since we all know that he was the one making these moves) and deserves the blame for that, not his actual play. It's like when Eddie Murphy decided to direct "Harlem Nights," which should have been a funny movie and ended up being the film that sent his career spiralling into a free fall. You can't penalize Kobe The Player for being screwed over by Kobe The GM. Anyway, I'm sticking him here because it's my column. Screw you, House.
2. Allen Iverson
Forget about the year he won the MVP ? that was a good team with some blue-chippers on it. This year, they threw another new coach at him, six new teammates, stuck him back at point guard ... and he responded by playing 42-45 minutes a night, setting everyone up and throwing his body around like a pro wrestler. By the way, have I mentioned yet that his team sucks? I mean, really, REALLY sucks? It was like watching Stephanie persevere with that crummy Ulong Tribe on "Survivor," only for 82 games. Absolutely his finest season.
(Also, with the pounding he takes game after game, AI is starting to move into my person pantheon for "Guys I Will Always Remember Watching." I mean, this has been going on for like 10 years ? he keeps getting knocked down, keeps getting up, keeps ripping teams' hearts out. Throw in his insanely intense interviews and he's a solid No. 2 choice. Plus, he's the new Clubber Lang ? I don't think he's cracked a smile in six years. Any time he's being interviewed by Stephen A. Smith, I always feel like the world is about to end or something.)
1. Shaquille O'Neal
Try to follow this equation:
A. The Lakers won 57 games last year ... they're headed for 35 wins this year.
B. The Heat won 42 games last year ... they're headed for 62 wins this year.
I'm no John Hollinger, but even I can add that up: That's a 42-game swing, not to mention the balance of power shifting to the East. And yes, that should have been enough to win Shaq another MVP. But this year has been special in the sense that people get him now ? he's had a breakout season, only in the personality sense. Now there isn't a more beloved, charismatic, entertaining athlete in any sport. When I think of the 2004-2005 season, I'm going to think of Shaq first ... and that's the very definition of an MVP. At least to me.
Originally posted by: Kev
Slow late day at work, so I caught up on power rankings. These rankings are for the whole 5 weeks of the season combined, I did this using my excellent excel excellence.
LEAGUE 1
Team Index
1 WHOA! 100.0
2 Nashing of Teeth (S) 97.5
3 Lights Out 96.6
4 Tre II 93.8
5 Gimme a cup of Ice 93.2
6 Curly Larry Moe 92.9
7 ThisTeam Is Ok(keek) 91.8
8 NYK-Mengke Bateer 90.5
9 GS Warriors in '05 89.2
10 YaoSter 89.0
11 Melo is a BBall God! 86.0
12 Phi Slamma Jamma 84.2
LEAGUE 2
Team Index
1 Tre II 100.0
2 ILoveThisTeam(keek) 98.2
3 WHOA! 95.6
4 Moe Larry Curly 95.2
5 I hate this team (S) 93.8
6 Lights Out II 93.8
7 Fist of Fury 92.6
8 Melo is a BBall God! 90.4
9 NYK-Mengke Bateer 89.8
10 GS Warriors in '05 87.2
11 YaoSter 85.8
12 RoundMoundOfSuckage 85.1
Poor DS
so i added a poll... next year how should the champ be determined?Fantasy owners try to win playoff games despite string of DNPs
Living the Fantasy: Change the Game
By NBA TV's Rick Kamla
Is it just me, or is the entire league falling apart at the most critical point of the regular season? I tend to be a positive guy, but all these lengthy injuries and sneaky DNPs are wearing on my basketball soul.
Play Yahoo! Sports Fantasy NBA!
Let?s detail the carnage. Of the 16 teams slated to be in the playoffs (as of Wednesday, April 6), only the Pistons and Suns are ballin? with their starting lineup intact.
In the East, Boston is missing Antoine Walker, Philadelphia is missing Chris Webber, Chicago is missing Eddy Curry and Luol Deng, Indiana is missing Jermaine O?Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, and Ron Artest (his is a different kind of carnage), Cleveland is missing Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Miami is missing The Godfather, and Washington is missing Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood. That?s 11 of 40 starters either coming-and-going or gone for good.
Juwan Howard's untimely injury could be a major blow to a fantasy owner's playoff run.
Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images
The West is slightly healthier, but Seattle is missing Rashard Lewis, Denver is missing Voshon Lenard, Sacramento is missing Brad Miller, San Antonio is missing Tim Duncan, Dallas might be missing Dirk Nowitzki (thank you, Basketball Gods, for the negative MRI), Houston is missing Juwan Howard, and Memphis is missing James Posey.
Several of these injuries are going to spill into the playoffs, which isn?t one bit cool. But at least we have hope, a chance to exterminate the injury bug before the NBA?s best teams go toe-to-toe for two pressure-packed months. The same hope, the same chance does not exist in the fantasy playoffs.
As we speak, there are owners all over the globe trying to win playoff games despite an epidemic of DNPs. Here?s an idea. Why don?t we count DNPs as a positive stat in the fantasy playoffs to offset all these annoying absences?
Actually, I?ve got a better idea. Why don?t we just stop using a playoff system to determine our fantasy champion?
If that idea sounds appealing, then kindly read on. But if random buzzkills do it for you, then click out of this column and go read Ashley Simpson?s blog.
The End of Fantasy Playoffs
I know it sounds radical to eschew the traditional fantasy playoffs and play your regular season all the way through Week 24 (with win-loss record or categories won determining the winner), but I?ll deal with radical if it means the best team is guaranteed to win the Fantasy O?Brien.
The way I see it, fantasy hoops is great for a lot of reasons. It enhances the fun of our beloved NBA, it gives you the chance to flex your basketball knowledge, and it helps you stay in touch with old buddies. But?and it?s a big ole butt?none of those ?French benefits? are as important as making sure the best team wins the fantasy championship.
In a playoff format, there?s a chance the best team will carryover its regular-season dominance and win the league?but only a chance. Ah, but there?s plenty of room for error (read: DNPs). As such, I took measures to guarantee the best team wins my league, which is why ?League Freak? no longer has playoffs.
Think about it, after working your tail off for 22 weeks to sculpt a championship team for the ages, why determine your champion during the ?DNP Season??
This is the time when players on bad teams shut it down, and when players on good teams start pacing themselves for a long playoff run. So why not dull the sting of all these late-season DNPs by making Week 1 as important as Week 24?
Playoff apologists contend that my ?radical? format penalizes teams who get hot late.
Exactly!
Why should a team that was bad for four of the first five months have the same chance of winning the title as the team who was great from November to March?
I?m still waiting for a witty retort. Still waiting?
The worst part about fantasy sports is the luck factor. I mean, I can stomach losing steals on Sunday night because Allen Iverson swipes seven against the turnover-prone Trail Blazers, but I cannot deal with losing a title because one of my starters turns an ankle on Monday night of Championship Week.
Ask yourself one simple question: Do you want your league?s champion to be the best team?
Well, to transform your theoretical ?yes? into a practical fact, simply rid your league of luck-tempting playoffs.