GSoM Fantasy Hoops: 2 Months Later

by Fantasy Junkie on Dec 28, 2006 11:50 AM PST in Contests

It's been nearly two months since we started the GSoM Fantasy Hoops League so it's about time we updated you all on the standings. Remeber, this first season ends in February, so there's only 1 month left.

There's only 1 thing I know will happen for sure, Sleepy Freud will win. He's been in 1st for what seems like forever and shows no signs of slowing down. Currently he's up by 281 points on the 2nd place team, Ballin' Above All, so unless he benches all of his players for a week, none of us will have a chance. Good job, Sleepy.

To round out the top 10 we have:

Ballin' Above All
redape
EternalWarriorsOptimist
dangdang142
Bob
sftrdrdude
xacto
Skeptic con Urquell
JudBooshlur

Yup, none of us 4 GSoM writers (Hash didn't create an entry) are in the top 10. In fact, 3 are really far off.

Fantasy Junkie
dj fuzzlogic
Atma Brother #1
YaoButtaMing

I'm making my move towards the top 15, but finishing top 10 will be tough. I've tried a few different tactics but they clearly haven't paid off well. My plan was to first raise my salary cap by picking up just the guys who were increasing in salary by the largest margins and then buy the high priced, high scoring guys. But this hasn't worked so well or I have done a bad job of it. Anyways, I'm at about $6 million over the starting cap and have a lot more flexibility with my players. Some of my best pickups that skyrocketed in value have been Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Deron Williams, and David Lee. Recently Al Jefferson has been zooming up in salary. So for the rest of the season I have to just go for points and try to get value guys. It's going to be tough to do with just the two trades, but at the same time, it's been a lot of fun.

Good luck to everyone the rest of Season 1.

Any strategies people have used that have been successful or failed?

Which players have helped you and which have hurt you?

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Any strategies people have used

"that have been successful or failed?"
Well, Buy and hold obviously doesn't work. I just noticed one of my guys was having surgery and I'm dropping down like a rock!
The two trades per week rule makes it a lot more interesting, makes it necessary to think way ahead. Playing the schedule is said to be the way to do it but I had better results by just keeping lebron and yao.
Sleepy freud is outa our league. He makes us look like the golden state warriors playing against an NBA team.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 28, 2006 12:08 PM PST reply actions

Argh, jinx!!! ;-)

Wow, I'm flattered ... but 281 points is really not that big of a lead. RedApe, for example, made up like 150 points on me on one good night (for him!) a couple of weeks ago. I'm living trade-to-trade trying to hold off the charge! A couple of Pierce/Rashard/Yao/Melo-type bad breaks and I could easily slip. That Phoenix/Denver snowout last week was a killer...

Really, I'm still worried about all the teams within 400 points or so -- not just my closest pursuers but also those who have been able to bank a bunch more trades than I have, like sftrdrdude and from chaos (9 trades remaining??). I have a lot of thoughts on strategy (this is my first time in a fantasy league, so it's been a learning experience) but one thing that's certain is that trades are like gold and should never be spent frivolously. In retrospect, one semi-stupid move a made a couple of weeks back was to blow a couple of trades on Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire simply because they're cool players whom I like. They haven't exactly killed me, but they haven't been total fantasy studs like Kidd and Baron either. Real-world value (imagine Howard and Amare in the same frontcourt?) and fantasy value should not be confused...

As far as you guys being the "Warriors playing against an NBA team" -- which NBA team are you thinking of? I'm certainly no Phoenix or San Antonio. Actually, I'm probably more like the Ws and you guys are ... I dunno, the Eastern Conference?

Seriously, I feel like I'm not out of the woods by any stretch. But what's this about Season 1 ending in February? I guess I missed that memo. Why? Are we playing two seasons, one for each half? Is the all-star break the cutoff? See, this is why we need some kind of running "fantasy thread" on GSoM...

by Sleepy Freud on Dec 28, 2006 1:24 PM PST reply actions

season ending in feb.

Sporting News has taken the NBA season and cut it into two fantasy seasons. The first one ends 2/15/07. I think they do this so that they can readjust the salaries appropriately and also give those people who missed the first season a chance to win in the second season.

by Fantasy Junkie on Dec 28, 2006 6:22 PM PST up reply actions

Hmmm

Not looking at my team since the start of the season has dropped me to last for teams that have actually signed players.....How Embarassing. :(

by Zorgon on Dec 28, 2006 4:11 PM PST reply actions

last for teams that have actually signed players

That's what picking six adonal foyles will get ya!

by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 28, 2006 4:49 PM PST up reply actions

I didn't know about the

February thing either.

I'm more than glad to get a fresh start.

First time doing this also, and the first few weeks killed me.

Ben Gordon wasn't doing anything(then would go and blow up for big games after I trade him!), Brent Barry wasn't even playing, etc. etc.

I'm surprised I'm somewhere in the middle of the pact to be honest, and above those 3 down on your luck GSoM crew(who also might have pulled a Zorgon and not paid any attention to their fantasy teams!)

I missed out on trading for LeBron this week by $10k, that was just harsh!

by back2back51s on Dec 28, 2006 11:13 PM PST reply actions

Moving Up

#4 now, but I'm sure I'll drop back down after tonight's games. I agree with Sleepy about treating trades as gold. This is my first time playing this style of league and I too wasted trades at the beginning of the season. I was playing to players I liked as opposed to playing guys that had a lot of games that week. Four games from someone who produces a little less compared to three games from someone a little better is huge advantage. Also look ahead to future weeks so that you can hold on to guys as long as possible. This means you can use your trades on other guys, maximizing the value of your trades.

Also wise is to not spend them all on Tuesday when you get them. I was playing the schedule week to week and using my trades when I got them, but started backing off a little as the season progressed. That meant that when Jermaine O'Neal got hurt and when Carmelo got suspended (both happened when I held them) I could trade them right away without losing games AND salary (since they'd be immediately dropped by other players).

by xacto @ Golden State Of Mind on Dec 29, 2006 9:46 AM PST reply actions