Title Chaste: Already My First Victory

Title Chaste is the diary of Matt Snyder in his season a virgin fantasy basketball player.

Well, that didn't take long. Thanks to Mo Williams, Danny Granger, Amare Stoudemire, Brook Lopez, Jason Terry, Andrea Bargnani and Shawn Marion, I won my first career fantasy basketball game. I should also point out I owe the scheduling for the victory as well, because my team checked in as the sixth-highest scorer out of 12. Really, it could have gone either way. This victory was a sign that being lucky is just as worthwhile as being smart in fantasy basketball, just as I already knew in fantasy baseball and fantasy football. On the other hand, skill is still paramount -- as the top scorer for the week was, not surprisingly, Tom Lorenzo.

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MVP of the Week

Was it a case of him proving himself to me because I made fun of him for having a girl's name? Nah, he's heard that before. Plus, it's not a female name in Italian. Whatever it was, Bargnani was a man-child in two of his three games in scoring categories. Against the Cavs and Magic -- which I'm learning are two of the East's best teams -- Bargnani scored 54 points on 19 of 27 shooting, including 6 of 8 from three-point range. He didn't miss a free throw, either. Not bad for my SG/SF slot and it appears he's going to take yet another step forward in his fourth NBA season as a 24-year-old.

Goat of the Week

Bargnani's teammate, on the other hand, was quite the albatross in Week 1. Sure, Jose Calderon dished out 6.7 assists per game, but that's more than two less than we expected. His shooting from everywhere was atrocious and, in turn, scoring was slightly down as well.

Snafu of the Week

I could have cost myself the victory by not knowing the rules. Apparently, this league allows daily lineup changes. At the beginning of the week, I killed myself studying matchups and ultimately decided to play Kirk Hinrich instead of Tyson Chandler. It would have paid off if the lineup was locked all week. Instead, I wasted lots of good stats on my bench several different days when I had a bench player active in an NBA game while several of my starters weren't playing a game. Hey, no one said I was a professional here (yet!).

Transaction

I only made one move this past week. With my realization that Jeff Foster isn't going to stuff much of the stat sheet for my Pacers, I decided to drop him already. What the team is most lacking, despite the barrage from my man Andrea, is scoring. Thus, I nabbed J.J. Redick while he was hot. I realize he only received an increase in playing time due to Vince Carter's nagging injury, but I'm only looking at this as temporary help. He certainly won't hurt me in the shooting percentage categories and I'm solid everywhere else.

Current Roster

Brook Lopez, Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Andrea Bargnani, Shawn Marion, Danny Granger, Corey Maggette, Mo Williams, J.J. Redick, Kirk Hinrich, Jason Terry, Jose Calderon, Mike Conley

This Week

Tough matchup against "The Big Aristotle," who was the third-highest scoring team last week. We'll see if we're up to the task.