by: Viz
After a long hiatus, the Razzball Basketball Podcast returns! Brent and Craig give their predictions for each series in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. From there, they make their predictions for the Top 10 picks in the 2018 NBA draft. All of that and more on the latest edition of the Razzball Basketball Podcast!
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by: Craig Bozic
3 is a magic number and so many good things are associated with it: The Three Stooges, The Godfather trilogy, and of course the number of Hanson band members. Mmmbop. Ok, I might have stretched the mark on the last one. So here we are, Part 3 of my NBA Draft prospects. As stated before, this is not my fantasy NBA draft rookie rankings. That is a venture for another date. Instead, this is my ideal landing spots for 30 of the top NBA draft prospects.
So in the theme of not boring you with semantics, let’s get to it.
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Another day in my recovery from back surgery and another post, this time bringing you more ideal landing spots for another ten prospects destined for the 2018 NBA draft.
The final ten ideal landing spots coming tomorrow before we get into the nitty-gritty of my predraft fantasy rookie rankings.
Let’s quit the jibber-jabber and get straight into the action.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Craig Bozic
Yes Razzball nation, Dynasty Deep Dive is back. I was nearly out for the season, Greg Odon-style, but the current recovery from back surgery has allowed for a swift return back to prospecting and podcasting for your basketball needs on my 2 year anniversary of serving up delicious offerings for those dynasty teams of yours.
The season might be over for fantasy basketball, but now should be the time that your research and scouting clicks into overdrive.
Now for some time of a little self indulgent reflection. For those of you that are new to Dynasty Deep Dive, this was the article in the pre-season that recommended you draft Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Lauri Markennan, John Collins and Malik Monk. Ok, it might have took Monk three quarters of a season to get going, but there are many a championship team out there that owe thanks to his late season production. Don’t believe me? Check out last preseasons article for yourself: https://basketball.razzball.com/dynasty-deep-dive-roto-rookie-effect-ft
This week I will be focusing purely on where I see potential fits for guys in the upcoming draft class and ease my way back onto the court with a minutes restriction. But it is good to be back and make sure to tune in throughout the off season for your prospect draft breakdown.
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by: Tad
Can’t believe it, but another fantasy season is in the books. I hope you enjoyed it and can celebrate some success. I’ll keep the talk short this week and get to the players we have to thank for our wins and those we have to blame for our losses. Obviously, players have hot streaks, so some of the most valuable players were valuable for, like, a month or maybe half a season. However, I’m going to compare season-long results to average draft position and highlight a few players that performed dramatically differently than expected.
I thought about using total season stats, but the differences there often are so heavily influenced by injuries that I don’t think it’s a good way to judge how well a player played. So, I’ll just be looking at per-game stats for 8-cat and 9-cat. Players that exceeded their draft position the most (“most” being subjective, since someone that was drafted 10th and finished 3rd could be considered more or less of a value than someone that was drafted 120th and finished 60th, for example). Then, those that finished most below their ADP. You get it. Sort of a breakouts and busts with 20/20 hindsight. I used the Yahoo ADPs (should be a mix of 8 and 9-cat leagues) and the Basketball Monster Player Rankings.
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by: Brent
John Wall went from hero to zero back to hero in Washington this season. Nobody will argue that John Wall is the most talented player on the Wizards, but when he went down with a knee injury and the team started playing its best basketball of the season, people started questioning Wall’s value to the team. His selfish play was viewed as holding the team back in the day-and-age of the Hoosier method of at least three passes before a shot. The team’s hot streak wore off, however, and everyone started clamoring for Wall’s return. Now the Wizards are battling for a playoff spot and John Wall stepped up for one of his best games of the season: 4/29/7/13/3/3. I mean, wow, nice game and nice timing. Anyone still playing in fantasy who has John Wall is as excited about the timing of this as the city of Washington D.C.
Anyway, here is what else I saw last night as teams battle for the last playoff spot and just plain old last place:
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Brent
You know a team is peaking at the right time when its role players are shining. The Pacers are getting set for an epic playoff run led by their All-Star Victor Oladipo (3/27/3/5/3/0) and their breakout star Domantas Sabonis (0/30/8/3/3/0). Yes, the 30 points were a career high and, yes, both players were acquired via trade (for Paul George) in the off-season, but that is not even the most amazing thing about the Pacers’ season. The crazy thing is that the person who was supposed to be their can’t-miss stud has been an all-time dud.
Myles Turner has had an extremely disappointing season in both real-life and fantasy (funny how those are tied together) and last night he may have finally hit rock-bottom: 0/0/1/0/0/0 in just 6 minutes. No, it wasn’t injury-related. It was foul-trouble related, which should be strictly a rookie problem for big-men. The Pacers could end up being a very dangerous playoff team if somehow Turner can figure out his issues. My money is on…..drumroll…..no, no he won’t. This has been a problem the entire season, so there is no reason to believe he will suddenly be the team star again. I do think he will have some good nights, but overall he will be the same.
The good news is that the Pacers can win without him (maybe that is messing with his head and confidence), so it is not really that big a deal. The bad news is the Pacers cannot win a championship without him. But more good news, nobody expected them to even be in the playoffs, so they are playing with house money.
Anyway, here is what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?What’s up Razzballers? With the season coming to a close in the next few days, this will obviously be my last Any Given Saturday of the season. It’s been a pleasure writing for y’all! Anyway enough of that, let’s get to the juicy stat lines. Anthony Davis put up another huge rainbow, going for 34/12/4/2/4 on 13-for-24 FG (0-for-1 3P, 8-for-10 FT) and only two TOs as he led the Pelicans over the Warriors on the road in Golden State. He’s been an absolute monster all year, and especially so in the second half of the season. Best of all, he’s managed to stay relatively healthy. I don’t think anybody is even close to him in terms of fantasy MVP. Long live the Brow. Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy basketball:
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by: Joel
MarShon Brooks has come on late in the season for the lowly Grizzlies. 1-23-8-3-1-2-3 on 11-of-20 shooting in 37 starter minutes. This is the best performance by a Grizzly since The Edge. You thought I was going to say The Revenant? Nah. The Edge with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin was a far superior performance by a bear in a movie, and yet I made a Shawshank Redemption reference in my headline, which is superior to any movie with a bear in it. Anyhow, the ex-(NJ) Net killed it last night. I never thought I’d see him again in the NBA, but he has seemingly resurrected his career in Memphis. I can’t believe the Nets drafted him over Jimmy Butler… Bitter, party of one!
Any-anyhow, welcome one and all to the Saturday daily notes! Sure it’s the last week of the season. Sure, this post probably is meaningless to you if you have A) already won your league, or B) have been out of it and want to gain a leg up on next year, or C) you’re demented, and want to see what could have been if your team was healthy. Anyway, I’m going to attempt to break down some of the relevant lines that could help you next year, because, you blew it this year, or your league has gone on way too long. Either way, you’re a bad guy if you don’t read this article, but I guess you wouldn’t know if you’re not reading this. Convoluted open aside, here’s what went down on the last Friday of the regular season:
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Tad
Just a few days left in the fantasy basketball season. That means it’s just a few days until the season of anticipating the next fantasy basketball season. I love the fantasy offseason almost as much as the actual season. The NBA playoffs, the draft lottery, the draft and draft night trades, free agency, summer league, training camp, and then we’ve made it back to fantasy draft season. And all the while, our hope is renewed. Until next season starts, we haven’t lost half our team to injuries!
Anyway, to round out the season next week, I plan on reviewing this season’s surprises. Who greatly exceeded expectations? Who didn’t come close to meeting them? These are the difference-makers that greatly determined the outcome of leagues this year. But first, this week, we’re gonna have some fun with an expanded version of my weekly classic fantasy line feature (which comes at the bottom of my weekly posts, in case you haven’t made it that far). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed looking back at old and not-so-old stats, whether I’d been familiar with them or not. Seeing the old stats through the lens of a fantasy bball player in 2018 fascinates me. If that sounds like something up your alley, feel free to go back and check them out to find some commentary on stats from great game, season, and career lines for legends like Wilt, MJ, and Steph. Today, I’m going with some championship teams whose seasons I just wanted to check out. And I thought I’d see who the key players could compare to these days, at least stat-wise. Thanks to basketballreference.com, of course.
Please, blog, may I have some more?