Archive for the “Fantasy Basketball” Category

We had our Fantasy Basketball draft and I am bruised and beaten. I hated my team before I even made a pick. Usually we have 11 teams in our league. This year we have nine. I had the eighth pick. I could see what was going to happen and I felt helpless. LeBron, KG, Kobe….Carmello, Agent 0, Dirk…. I was hoping, praying, begging for the team in front of me to let Dwight Howard slide. It didn’t happen. For those who know me, I probably don’t have to continue. You know what happened. I was stuck. Every year I battle between taking players I enjoy and players that I think will help me win the fantasy league. Here I was at pick # 8, not a player on my roster and I knew I was going to hate my team. All eyes in the room were on me. It was like driving on ice and needing to stop. You start to slide, you know you are going to hit the other car and there is nothing you can do about it. Then the words that I will forever regret came out of my mouth….

”I will take Tim Duncan.”

Honestly, I don’t even remember saying it. It’s all a blur now. My options at that time were Dwayne Wade (hurt), Vince Carter (I’ve done the Vince Carter experiment and it was terrible), Chris Bosh (nursing a knee), Boozer (always an injury waiting to happen), Yao Ming (injury prone), McGrady (injury prone), AI (I thought he may drop off because of playing in Denver with Carmelo Anthony), Paul Pierce (question mark with KG and Ray Allen in town), Al Jefferson (new team, carrying the load, etc.), and Amare Stoudemire (coming off a pretty good year). Knowing the next team got two picks, I assumed Stoudemire would be available given the previous year’s stats. He was an I took him. We are two weeks into the season and he is having a terrible year. I went on to take other players all having terrible years (see Luol Deng).

Anyway, the draft is over, we are two weeks into our season and I am 0-2. My team is terrible. Looking back, if all it took for Tim Duncan to become very average was for me to draft him on my fantasy team, I would have done this eight years ago. I would have done my part to help the T-Wolves advance in the playoffs. Maybe it is a good thing I draft Timmy. He’s terrible and I love every minute of it.

Fantasy sports is always fun to play. It makes me care how Damien Wilkins played on a given night. Without fantasy sports, that wouldn’t happen. I do wish my team was better, but what can I expect? The words “I will take Tim Duncan” allegedly came out of my mouth.

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Some friends and I have played fantasy basketball for about 15 years now. Some teams have left and others have joined. The league started when we were in college. When we graduated we decided we could not let this league fall apart. Mainly because we figured it is a good reason to get together every year.

As time elapsed there were more and more online leagues available. We have thrown around the idea of using an online league just from an ease of use standpoint. One thing we will not compromise on is having the draft in person. Sure most of these leagues are setup to allow the draft to happen online as well, but our league has really been focused on the draft. We have a fair amount of participation from owners living in Chicago and Minneapolis. We also have an owner in the Bay Area. It is really a good way to have a “guys weekend.”

It used to be that we said the winner of the league would host the following year’s draft. That meant if someone in Chicago won the league, the Mpls. folks would have to (as if it is a bad thing) fly to Chicago for the next year’s draft. Over the years we have just decided to keep the draft in Minneapolis.

Well, this coming weekend is “Draft Weekend.” It really isn’t a one day event. Friday night the lie’s and rumors begin. A few things that may be mentioned Friday evening are:
• The rumor is Kobe is going to Miami to be with Shaq again. He’ll get less shots in Miami than he was getting in LA.
• I can’t believe how well Adam Morrison has been playing in the pre-season.
• What do you think about Tim Hardaway’s comeback effort? Do you think he’ll start in Memphis?
• I can’t believe Rashard Lewis just got busted for steroids

The actual draft will happen Saturday. The fun really begins with our own lottery. Put all of the teams in a hat and start picking them out. The first team out of the hat will draft last. The last team out gets the first pick.

Once the picks begin, the trash talking really gets underway. We don’t get three picks into the draft and someone is blurting out, “First mistake of the draft!” or “Whoa, you want him in the second round even though he’ll be out until February?” These are great only because we have always had the rule that if you say a name, he is on your team. You cannot undo the pick. This is mainly because there is nothing funnier than having someone draft a guy that is out for the year and have everyone immediately burst out laughing.

Through the course of the season more trash talking will happen, mainly through email and our chat room. It is all in good fun and gives us a good excuse to stay in touch.

To the teams that will be flying in….after this weekend, we’ll see you in Vegas in March. Until then, I’d highly recommend checking the injury report AND police reports this year. You may just change your draft strategy.

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