Folks who frequent the fantasy sports version of this website are likely familiar with my work in the fantasy baseball and fantasy football sections. I have been playing both of those games since the mid-'90s. To those people, I have news for you: I have never played fantasy basketball. Until now. I'm diving right into our FanHouse fantasy basketball league on Fleaflicker.On top of my inexperience, I haven't even watched more than a few minutes of an NBA game since May 19, 2005. That was the date of Reggie Miller's final NBA game. During that season, the Pacers -- my favorite team since the days of Wayman Tisdale, John Long and Steve Stipanovich -- had ruined my love for the NBA. Thanks a lot, Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley and Stephen Jackson!
Anyway, the first order of business for the league brought forth some bad news for me. The group collectively decided, against my will, to hold the draft last Friday at 6:00 PM. Those who read my work in the NFL section of this site know I'm a high school football official. Thus, I was forced to auto-draft. I hate auto-draft in any sport, and I especially enjoy drafting my own teams. That's one of the most fun parts of the season.
It's cool, though, as any season will bring some adversity, fantasy or real. You just have to fight through it, so I started reading all Tom Lorenzo's advice articles and made some personal adjustments -- there are still players I don't like and I'm still a Pacers fan at heart -- in my rankings for the auto-draft.
The Roster
PG - Jose Calderon
SG - Mo Williams
SF - Danny Granger
PF - Amare Stoudemire
C - Brook Lopez
G - Jason Terry
SG/SF - Andrea Bargnani
PF/C - Shawn Marion
UTIL - Tyson Chandler
UTIL - Mike Conley
Bench - Kirk Hinrich, Corey Maggette and Jeff Foster
Initial Thoughts
Well, I'm not surprised I ended up with Granger, Conley and Foster. I upgraded each due to homerism. I'm a Pacers fan and Conley is an Indianapolis-area boy. If I'm correct, and it's entirely possible I'm not, it looks like I'm in good shape in the rebounding category and may need help in assists. If Calderon can get some help from Conley, I can be adequate.
Also, it looks like moving down certain players I didn't like worked out, because I'm fine with every guy on the team. Although, why do I have a girl? Andrea? Seriously? [Note: that was a joke, I know who the former No. 1 overall pick is]
The one thing I'm really worried about is the transition to watching games again. I'm not sure I even have time to add another entire sport into my sports viewing. And if I don't watch, how can I really evaluate how well my boys are doing? Sometimes the stat line doesn't tell the whole story on how things will play out in the future. Being such a huge college basketball fan, too, could further cloud matters. We all know a great college player doesn't necessarily translate into fantasy success at the pro level. I'm really wading around this league blindly, so you'll likely get a few laughs at my ineptitude at some point this season. It's OK, though, because this is going to be a full disclosure column. I'll be checking in every few weeks with notes about my learning experience and will definitely share stories about any shortcomings in my fantasy basketball ownership. I've never entered a fantasy league feeling like I had no idea what the hell I was doing, because even when I started playing fantasy baseball and fantasy football I was an avid fan of each sport at the time. This could easily be a train wreck waiting to happen, but I'll still manage to have fun in the midst of the carnage. After all, that's what playing fantasy sports is all about: fun.
Wish me luck!
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
In the same boat as you are. FFB junkie since the days when we drafted on paper used box scores and no one had ever heard of CBS NFL or fleaflicker to take care of our scoring. Now talked into playing B ball and am LOST ! But thankfully Tom’s articles and some personal advise have helped a lot. Good luck keep reading and remember 90% of looking like a genius is… realizing what you don’t know.
Great to hear, T. Always feel free to ask questions in the comments section and we'll do our best to answer 'em. Be sure to check out the debut of 'Home Delivery', the roundup of opening night action, Wed. AM.