JB & Slim Mock The 2015 NBA Draft

June 6, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 42 Comments

There’s some sort of postseason going on, Stephen Curry is flying through the air, Klay Thompson is luckily OK after a Vincent Van Gough scare, there’s only two teams left… but all of that is less exciting to us than the new blood to enter the 2015-16 Fantasy player pool! As we’ve done for the second straight year (is two years considered a tradition yet?!), Slim and I mocked the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft by alternating picks for their respective teams with a fantasy outlook for each rook. 2014 didn’t… um… go quite to plan. But hey! We got a couple right and this year doesn’t quite offer the top-to-bottom talent as 2014. With a little bit more of an even playing field, I have a feeling this Draft will feature even more trades and more surprising risers and fallers… Hopefully we get a good portion of the lottery right! The optimist in me is ready ta go! Here’s our 2015 Mock NBA Draft:

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Trades, Re-Aggravations and Shutdowns – Oh My!

February 19, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 50 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Basketball is back baby! The NBA season returns from the All-Star Break tonight after four-and-a-half months off… Maybe hyperbolic, but certainly feels that way!

And right as games start, we’ve got the NBA Trade Deadline passing this afternoon at 3:00 PM EST. That was fast! We’ve got a big day of trade analysis, with a live post that will go up around 1:00 PM-ish EST and get frequently updated to track all of the last-minute trades as they go down, then a slightly later podcast record time with our special edition Trade Deadline Razzball Basketball Podcast up sometime around 4:00-4:30 PM EST. It’s all hoops all afternoon!

With these big changes about to ripple through the fantasy hoops landscape, the biggest news from over the break is probably the most anti-climatic – Carmelo Anthony has been officially shutdown. “3P0 – Shut down all the garbage smashers on the detention level!” “No! Shut them ALL down, hurry!” Pretty apt to The Poppycockers shituation, amiright?! We’ve known Melo was about to be Melba Toast sometime around the break, and now the swift gavel of realism has hit (huh? weird metaphor day! I’m rusty OK?!). Langston Galloway, who has probably been picked up in most leagues (and subsequently dropped in some after struggling) should likely be scooped up. He’s not going to do anything too special, but his career-high in shots (19) was in a Melo-less game and should give you some low-TO guard stats. Tim Hardaway Jr. also gets a bit of a boost, but he does absolutely nothing beyond score and trey. Would be a nice, high-minute ThrAGNOF! But those ain’t got no face… So I’m not married to Timmy J at all even if he starts hot with Melo now gone. Here’s what else has gone down since we left for the break:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Stotts Takes Five Shots, Then Decides Who To Start At PF

January 23, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 73 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

I know, I know. Much bigger headlines on the injury front, but it’s Injury Friday with Pete’s Fantasy Basketball Infirmary coming out in a few hours, so I’m not gonna steal his spotlight!

With LaMarcus Aldridge out 6-8 weeks with a hitchhiking injury, on top of Robin Lopez still a few weeks out, there’s a ton of PF/C minutes to fill your Blazing hole. After Dorell Wright had a very solid 15/3/5/2/0 line with three treys on Wednesday, it kinda felt like Wright could’ve run away with the gig. But Stotts was like “I want someone else with Ciroc!” and put Thomas Robinson in the PF spot for 28 minutes last night. Almost rainbowed too! I’ve always thought T-Rob could turn into something, and 9/12/1/2/2 was mighty solid. Can’t hit a FT, but who can these days?! By tomorrow night, Stotts could pound a few more Jamesons and be like “F it, we’ve lost two in a row, it’s Meyers Leonard time!” All that said, Nicolas Batum also hopped into the Fantasy Basketball Infirmary leaving early with a wrist injury, so maybe Wright will HAVE to play some starting F. Stotts will take another 5-6 shots of, I dunno, something so low shelf it’s ridiculous – let’s go Popov – to get over last night’s crushing loss and start Steve Blake at PF tomorrow night. At pressers tomorrow he’s going to be lit like Drunk Uncle! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Mozzy Shakes Moves To Cleveland, New Jamba Jus Opens In Denver

January 8, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 84 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Yesterday afternoon was a frenzy! A frenzy because no Mozzy! About as crazy as I was last Saturday about Fozzy! Go Panthers!

Our prayers have been answered with Timofey Mozgov getting shipped out to Cleveland for two first round picks. Two first-rounders?! For Healthcare.Mozgov?! Well, they’re like controlled picks from Memphis in some sort of hooblah where all that matters is they’re not going to be very high. Not as high as say, Afroman! Or 16th! That’s where Jusuf Nurkic went in the first round this Summer, originally picked by the Bulls then traded. Good thing for Nurkic! It originally seemed really muddied there in Denver at C, but JaVale McGee just can’t get healthy, and Mozgov couldn’t go 3 minutes before getting multiple fouls. So out ya go TinaFey, and huge role ahead for Nurkic! At least 35 minutes every night given how good he’s been! Andddddddd, only 22 minutes for 8/4/3/1/2 last night. Still respectable numbers though! Given one of his made FGs was this. To quote my favorite sound from 90s gaming, “Oopsie!” Or whatever he really says… Anyway, J.J. Hickson is still there to give us a headache, as he went 11/10/1/2/1 in 30 solid minutes. Yikes. I still love me some Nurkic, and to the patient man goes the spoils! Something like that… Kinda lost in all of this yesterday was Hickson’s deep league value shooting up. He’s not a terrible player for some Pts/Reb relief in a very poor man’s Zach Randolph kinda way now that minutes should be coming. While many owners are mad they didn’t scoop Nurkic up quick enough, shoot out some buy lows with who you would’ve dropped, and maybe last night’s dud is enough to sneak Jamba Jus into your Mini-mall. That sounds so wrong… Here’s what else went down on a busy night of NBA action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Brandon Jennings Misses A Million Shots Except The One That Gets Him On Sportscenter

January 7, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 100 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Brandon Jennings is terrible.

I pretty much wanted to kill the open right there, but “journalistic integrity” or whatever… In a horrific shooting display, BJ flat out sucked for 5-18 shooting and it was equally as painful to watch as Josh Smith at shootaround. A few fadeaway treys, bricked layups… You name it. I honestly think a big part of the Pistons game plan right now is have BJ shoot like a hot dog, and rely on the O-boards from Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. Drummo’s OREB gave me an O-face last night, that’s for sure! Racked up 7 OREB and Monroe had 5, and I’m guessing almost all of those came on BJ’s bricks. If terrible shots leading to OREB and putbacks counted as assists, Jennings would be John Stockton. Of course, sometimes there’s some Flubber on the ball and it goes in, but this is an immense sell-high window. Probably a Sportscenter Top-10 layup, and has been playing fairly well lately. Even D.J. Augustin at 8-18 FG 19/0/5 couldn’t get Stan Van to flip-flop PG down the stretch. We’re used to seeing flip-flops! Stan Van coaching like Laguna Beach. Jennings is a big name on the trading block as well, and the Pistons aren’t hesitant to give players away, as in cutting J Smoove. One rumor I read was Houston… They would be the worst shooting team in NBA history! Success for Houston would obviously be bringing in two guys from a former 5-23 team… Then again, the Pistons just won on the road in San Antonio for their 6th straight, and they are – you won’t believe this – now 3.5 games out of a playoff spot in the East. Hah! Trade or no trade, labradoodle-city Jennings could probably fetch an interesting ransom in the fantasy market as this current run is unsustainable. Here’s what else went down in last night’s two games:

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Start Up 2015 With A Shut Down!

January 5, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 120 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Happy 2015 Razzball Nation!

I for one am elated the Holidays have wrapped up (big thanks again to Slim for his recap at the end of last week!), and ready to buckle down for the second half of the fantasy regular season in H2H. My new year’s resolutions have been made – use Twitter more, swear a little less, work out a lot more… But this gosh darn knee! Eh, I’m pretty flippin’ flabby anyway… Fiddlesticks! Might as well shut it down…

And the talk for Carmelo Anthony‘s shutdown continually grow like a wave across the second level at Madison Square Garden. Not like they have anything else to do… Next new year’s resolution – less dot dot dots! The 5-31 Knickerbockers (I’m calling them The Poppycockers the rest of the way) have been worse than even Spike Lee could have imagined after reading reviews of his Oldboy remake. “Brooooooo – Liiiinnnnn!” Some dude named Bondy (shakeny, not stirredy) from The New York Daily News reported Melo’s knee will need a minor surgery, so it’s not like Melo is just playing through general oldboy-ness. He’s missed the last few after being awful for two straight to end December, so trading him off in fantasy leagues is redonk tough. Last we checked in (mostly through comments), I’ve maintained I’m not giving him away, but it’s fairly close. He’s about at the “leave on the curb” status rather than “driving him all the way to the dumpster.” My best advice would be to find a need for your team, and go for a guy that hits that need without a huge overall rank – i.e. Trevor Ariza for some steals and treys. Might not get Ariza these days, but yeah, something like that. And I still think you gotta try and hold out until Melo plays a few in a row – he’s traveling with the team for the next two games so he’s likely to suit up at least once. Here’s what else went on in fantasy basketball since we flipped the calendar:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The 2nd Coming For The 2nd Time

January 1, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 103 Comments

by: Slim

The new year brings us the glorious 2nd coming of the Durantula, again. Kevin Durant looked better than expected going 44/10/7/0/1 with 6 3s and 12-12 FTs. Sure you could argue the stat line was OT aided but just that Durant played 40 minutes after missing 6 games tells me there is nothing wrong with his ankle. I imagine any buy low window is long gone after this game but he might be worth one last attempt to trade for. If you thought this is why I watched this game though you would be wrong. I wanted to see the Steven Adams vs Alex Len match-up. Lurch with 9/7/1/1/0 in 27 minutes and Len with 2/6/0/0/1 in 22 minutes. There is no question Adams is the guy to own. Neither are part of the offense but at times Len looked bored and unsure of what he was supposed to be doing on both ends of the court. That is a sentence I will never write about Steven Adams. His aggression does one of two things. The foul trouble associated will give him a few duds but it will also lead to big games which I don’t think Len has in him this year. There were a ton of huge stat lines in this 137-134 overtime thriller but perhaps the stat that tells the biggest story was the 6 technical fouls. Including two and an ejection for…

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After Triple OT, Pops Will Probably Bench Spurs Starters The Next 10 Games

December 18, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 101 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Man, what an epic game in San Antonio! Marc Gasol hitting a preposterous buzzer-beater to put it in OT, then Tim Duncan makes this rim job to put it into 3OT… Crazy man. Two things – 1 – Sean Elliott is maybe my favorite commentator in the NBA and B – look at Marco Belinelli just bowl over Courtney Lee in that second highlight… Strike! Haven’t see a Lee update for an injury, so stay tuned there…

I guarantee you that Gregg Popovich was fuming like President Snow that this game kept going on, and on, and on and… Kinda like book series that have the final book broken into into two movies. I mean The Hunger Games: Mockinjay – Part 1…? I got confused and disinterested once Woody Harrelson stopped drinkin’. So I guess last night’s Spurs vs. Grizzlies games was San Antonio vs. Memphis – Buzzer-beaters traded: Duncan’s Rim Job – Part 3. Another huge game from Timmay (excluding the real fluky 5-15 FT) for 23/16/5/2/3. Rainbow line! Duncan really hasn’t skipped a beat this year, well except for when he’s benched with a DNP-Rest. I know it’s hard to believe, but we’re in Week 9 of the season already! And for H2H leagues that play standard 3-week playoffs (RCL standard), we’re almost halfway through the regular season with playoffs starting Week 21. A game like last night is only going to make Pop go restier, so if you’re killing it at first or second in your standings, I wouldn’t mind selling high at all. But there’s a flip side – if you’re 8 or 9 and see Duncan on a team running away with a playoff spot, it’s actually a good time to think about bringing him aboard. He’ll be frustrating with the DNPs, but could put you over the edge if you’re hanging on the rim. If you know what I mean… Here’s what else went down in A Wednesday Night of NBA: OTs Galore – The Return of Hack-a-Shaq: The Revenge:

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Heat, Incomplete

December 16, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 113 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Replace “Heat” with “Jay Cutler” and that’s what I have on in the background…

So a rough couple of days for Miami fans as both Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts suffered seemingly minor injuries over the weekend, with some really bleak news coming out on Monday. McBob’s knee injury that came out of nowhere in last Wednesday’s shootaround was diagnosed as a torn meniscus and needs to go under the knife. Yikes. Probably out for the season, and right when he was turning it on. Then to Bosh, who has reports swirling his bum calf might cost him a few weeks. It’s murky waters for the Brontosaurus, but for the long-term, you’re just sitting and praying to the Fantasy God of Injury. I mean, dude was already so busy over the weekend! Bosh is still staying involved with practice on a limited basis, but then again we all know what happens when “we talkin’ bout practice.” In the interim, Shawne Williams probably gets the biggest uptick in minutes. But he was pretty low-ceiling in big minutes to start the year… He had a couple nice games early on, very blah though. Justin Hamilton is looking at a big role as well, off 10/3/1/2/0 in 33 minutes last Sunday. A low-yield big role… A little bit lost in the shuffle is Da Birdman! Chris Andersen returned for Sunday, playing 18 minutes for 2/3/1/0/1. He’s not going to get a ton of run given his age, but should offer a little blocking upside in a slight uptick of minutes. Really none of these guys move the needle for me much, as it’s just an Abyss out there on the front line, with no aliens to save you by raising the ocean floor on some platform thingy. I’m still in Lovington with Robert Covington and want it in the booty for Rudy. They’re way above any of these Heat fill-in schlubs. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy hoops:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

KD’s Worth A Million Bucks

December 10, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 73 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Welcome back, Mr. Slim Reaper! It’s a perfectly apt nickname too, because I own him in the JB vs. Slim RCL league and he’s going to be Slim’s reaper! Even though I’m getting crushed this week so far…

After a decent enough start, Kevin Durant was still without the big eruption type game in his first three back, but last night dismantled the Bucks in an uber-efficient 23/9/7/1/1 game shooting 7-11 FG and 8-8 FT. He’s worth 9 or 10 Bucks, at the least! Was 1-5 from deep, so didn’t miss within the arc. All of that in 29 minutes, as Beam-me-up Scotty Brooks benched the Thunder studs down the stretch of the double-digit win. Even though this was against the young Bucks, the Thunder as a whole are coming together with Russell Westbrook having a fantastic 28/5/7 night with like, a million free throws made, and Serge Ibaka is back to his %-gold ways for 15/5/0/2/2 shooting 5-5 FG & 5-5 FT. Durantula and Westy are going to command their first-round values in trades, but I bet you could still swindle Ibaka away at a buy-low price. 3+ blocks the past four games and 16-26 from the field his last three, and isn’t needing to force shots anymore. Things are right in order for OKC to go on a mad run, so be counting your lucky stars if you got KD at a discount on draft day! What we preached all preseason post-injury! Here’s some other happenings from the NBA last night:

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One, Is The Loneliest Number You’ll Ever Do…

December 4, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 73 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

… especially since the Sixers are probably going to stay with that one in the win column for a good while!

One… The number of restarts to the Sixers game… What, was Tim Donaghy reffing and have odds on the Wolves scoring first?! Seriously, the Sixers couldn’t win a game without controversy?! Then again there was that Bucks game, sheesh (more below).

One… The number of TOs Michael Carter-Williams will never have in a game… Only one game under three TO this year, but hey, everything else is pretty sexy out there! Near tripdub last night in the Sixers W for 20/9/9 and three steals. Finally putting the W in MCW! Shot 9-20 from the field, but when he’s at the FT line it still gives him delirium triggers like a recovering alcoholic! It’s actually “delirium tremens”, but man I love that old Coheed song! 2-7 from the stripe last night with the whopping 6 giveaways, and it’s what you bargain for as an MCW owner. It’s almost like he sold his soul to the efficiency gods just to put up sexy triple-double stats. Maybe when Tony Wroten comes back, he can just be MCW’s TO-surrogate. “Tony, just turn it over a few times, and it’ll get em out of my system.” I feel like trading away/for MCW has been the most frequently asked comment… I was huge on him heading into the year, and even though his FT/TO drain hurt him in the metrics, I think if you can build around that – even in 9-cat – he’s probably worth more than most owners think. While those 9-cat metrics that rate everything equally are how they should work, remember it’s a team game and strengths/weaknesses play off each other. All you really want is one! One more win than the other team in the fantasy championship. Of course in Roto, you can’t handle those ones! So I would be selling in those formats. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Get To Know A Little Mo About JB

November 20, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 92 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

As most of you don’t know, I’m actually Will Smith’s illegitimate first son. If you don’t believe me, well you more or less have to click on that link and read it, or else the following will be too esoteric… Too ephemeral…

After Mo Williams was moved back into the starting line-up last night, he showed his Rubio-esqueness going 14/3/13 in a fantastic dimebag performance. The chosen player for the open this morning, I asked Mo to interview me and my method for compartmentalizing everything fantasy basketball into a daily recap:

Mo: What have you been reading lately?

JB: Ya know, totem pole haikus, Ke$ha’s twitter profile, because ya know… Because living.

Mo: I feel ya. So what’d you think about my facilitating last night? Pretty sick line back in the starting 5.

JB: Well, I don’t really watch the NBA. There’s no sports I like to watch, so I make them up myself and watch them again, and it’s the best thing… But even in my self-created NBA, it was pretty impressive. The way you can distribute while making time go slow… Or fast… As you please… And how you know it doesn’t exist.

Mo: I have been turning back the clock, that’s for sure! That baby Zach LaVine is way behind me for fantasy these days, right?

JB: He’s the feeling of like, a fragment of a holographic reality…

Mo: You’re right, pretty easy call there. So are you dropping say… Tony Wroten for me?

JB: There’s a duality to it. So when one thought goes into your mind, it’s not just one thought, it has to bounce off both hemispheres of the brain. When you’re thinking “yes”, you’re thinking “no”. It’s a tool for understanding. It comes from a place of oneness.

Mo: I have no idea what the F you’re saying. Just tell me, am I a good medium-term value until Ricky Rubio gets his ankle all healed up?!

JB: If he wants his muscles to grow, he has to shock them. If you want society to change, you have to shock them. That’s what art is, shocking people.

Mo: Fine. Whatever. I know I’m legit, LaVine shoulda stayed in school longer…

JB: You never learn anything in school. Think about how many people die in hospitals every day. Med school? What’s up with that!? I still haven’t been to med school and I haven’t died in a hospital, I can’t see how med school is really helping anyone out… Same with LaVine, in whatever universal form he occupies…

Mo: Occupy? #OccupyDraymondGreen?!

JB: Forever, ‘til the day that we’re in our bed!

Here’s what else went down in NBA action last night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?