I had my Fantasy Basketball Draft a week ago, and so I am interested to see how my guys do. I've played in the same league with the same group of guys for four years now, and we all take it fairly seriously. But I made the biggest mistake of the draft this year. I blame Yahoo. They changed their damn draft format. I had the fourth pick of the draft this season. To make sure that I had my top 20 players in the order that I wanted them, I moved them all over from the overall list of players to the convenient "my queue" that Yahoo provided on the screen. It makes sense that when I hit the "draft" button, it would pick the highest available player in "my queue", right? So I'm getting Kobe Bryant, right? There I was, sitting pretty, ready to draft Kobe for my team. But, I inadvertantly still had the next available player in the other list of players highlighted. As in, my 21st choice vs. my 4th choice. I think our draft is the only fantasy draft out there where the first Laker drafted was...Pau Gasol!! That's right. I had the 4th overall pick in the draft, and I accidently picked my 21st choice instead of my 4th. Needless to say, for the next hour and a half of the draft I got relentlessly teased.
I quickly adjusted. I decided to be Power Forward/Center heavy after that, so I've added Oden, Okefor and Rasheed Wallace to my Big Man arsenal. Add Baron Davis, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Martin and Mo Williams to that. Then some good sleeper prospects in Matt Barnes (who just took the starting job from Grant Hill in Phoenix), Ronnie Brewer and Francisco Garcia. I also got Richard Jefferson and Luol Deng pretty late in the draft. So, the team isn't terrible. We'll see. (As I write this, the Lakers/Portland game just started, and Oden has a block within the first minute of the game. That's what I want to see...) I rechristened my team the "Gasol All Stars" and off we go.
ABOVE: Forget Kobe. Dez picked Pau Gasol with the 4th overall pick in his fantasy draft. Think Dez will win the first place prize money this year?
Fantasy sports aside, I'm looking forward to this season. My buddy JMW is picking the Hawks as a sleeper, and I agree. I love that young team. The Hornets could possibly take it all this season, though. I think it will be Spurs or Rockets vs. Hornets in the West Finals, and the Hornets will go to the Finals. They will face Boston (who will defeat Cleveland in the East Finals), and Boston will repeat as NBA Champs. Those are Dez's predictions.
As usual, I start this season full of hope for my Rockets. We've got Artest. What could possibly go wrong?
BELOW: The Houston Rockets could go all the way with the emotionally stable Tru Warier, Ron Artest
9 comments:
Spoke too soon. In his long-anticipated NBA debut, Oden got hurt halfway through the game.
Oden getting hurt and drafting Gasol first can't help, but then again -- the rest of your team sounds pretty tough. Very tough, in fact.
I'm curious -- THREE guys were drafted ahead of Kobe in your league?? Who were they? LeBron, of course, but who else...?
My fantasy draft is, weirdly, next Monday night, so we'll have a few games to refer to before drafting. It's a competitive, fun league, but it's set up in a way that requires much less roster fiddling than your league that I ruined last year with my (non)presence.
God I hate the NBA
And that team looks horrible
Who else?? Are you serious, JMW? Chris Paul was the #1 pick in our draft (as well as the #1 pick by most fantasy experts). Chris Paul is the no-brainer #1 pick this year for fantasy. Then went Amare Stoudamire (remember, he's Center eligible), then Lebron, then Kobe.
Yeah, I really like the rest of my team. I drafted well other than the Kobe/Gasol fiasco. That is why it really pisses me off. Oden was not a bad pick considering where I got him in the draft (mid to mid/late).
I was totally serious. I totally love Chris Paul, but I don't think he's a "no-brainer #1 pick." In fact, I've been reading tons of stuff to get ready for my draft, and I haven't seen one person suggest him at number 1 yet. One person has suggested he should go no higher than fourth. LeBron is the no-brainer #1, the dude could average 32-9-9 for all we know. That's unprecedented fantasy gold.
And Amare? I love him, but given the injury history I'm not sure I could bring myself to draft him ahead of Kobe. But the center thing obviously helps...
What sources are you reading, then? I picked up a lot of research as well in my preparations, and Chris Paul was the #1 pick in a majority of them.
He leads his team in scoring, and he will be one of (if not THE) league leader in both assists and steals.
Well, this is silly. Chris Paul is phenomenal -- and easily a top-three pick, along with LeBron and Kobe. Of the sources I've seen (some I've bought, some I've just looked at in the store), the majority of them say LeBron #1. You said Paul is "the no-brainer #1 pick this year." I know this is a ridiculous debate we're having, but I just think your statement is crazy with a 23-year-old LeBron hanging around. If Paul went #1 overall, it's not like I'd be laughing or anything...it's just hardly a no-brainer. For instance, in a panel of ESPN's four "experts" (speaking of ridiculous), the rankings for Paul, respectively, were 2, 3, 2, and 1. And the site's overall rankings (used for its fantasy game), had Paul 4th, behind (in order) Kobe, Amare, and LeBro. LeBron's rankings by the panel were 1, 1, 1, and 2.
I'm just hoping I get a top-two pick in my league, because I'd love to either Paul or LeBron. I just don't want to have to root for Kobe...
Also, your Rockets are going down tonight.
I suppose it's too late to retract that last statement. Oh, well.
Post a Comment