Woooo! Huge upset in the REL as my team of crapsticks somehow managed to eek out a 5-4 victory over the almighty behemoth that is Martyball. Talk about lucky timing! Even with the loss, Martyball has a huge lead on the field, with a 3.5 game lead over 2nd and a 9.5 lead over 3rd. Martyball is just trying to make it interesting! Here’s how the rest of week 13 went down in the REL:
1. Martyball – IFBL (85-30-2)
FAAB Remaining: $68 FAAB Moves this week: Norris Cole ($7), Ian Mahinmi ($5)
2. Barking BassetHounds (81-33-3)
FAAB Remaining: $35 FAAB Moves this week: Lance Thomas ($19), Jason Smith ($15)
A week of big decisions for Barking BassetHounds.
At the beginning of this season, JR Smith was on the cusp of bring dropped… I hated the fact that he killed my ratios, but I thought he was decent value relative to ranking. So I decided that he was a hold, but a possible midseason trade.
When he got off to a craptastic start in New York I came to regret this decision as he was untradeable at this point. But with the trade to Cleveland a resurgence occurred. Maybe instead of trading JR, I would hold him. And then one day I remembered of reading Slim’s playoff schedule post. Wasn’t Cleveland one of these really bad playoff schedule teams. Oh yes it was. Then JR Smith had to go.
Then last week, I observed that Larry Sanders was dropped and I lusted greatly for him. So the decision was made to package a sell high $1 player (Thabo Sefolosha) and JR Smith to go after a player of at least arguably slightly higher value with a favorable playoff schedule and a scrub whom I would drop to go after Sanders. I was delighted when my trade of JR and Sefolosha for Deng and Webster was accepted. I went from a player of schedule “Unownable” to “Da Cream of Da Crop”. This is huge for me.
The other epiphanies that came this week was first “Good Grief I could have gotten Hassan Whiteside but instead held onto Henry Sims”. As I watched his minutes dip from starters at the beginning of the season to 8-13 (when no injuries are bumping them up) on a craptastic team the epiphany came that that “Henry Sims sucks”. So the decision was made that if I could drop Mr. Sims for another big who was at least sucking less, getting more minutes, and getting a few more blocks, I would do so without hesitation.
As the week progressed, the lust in my heart for Larry Sanders began to wane. If I were not a contender, then most definitely, it would be huge to have a $1 Larry Sanders like forever. But year there are ust too much uncertainties. So late last night after sifting through many possibilities, I made my decision. My decision was Lance Thomas would be my Sefolosha replacement with the thought in mind that when Melo is finally put to pasture (hopefully by playoffs) this would be huge. And Jason Smith would be my Henry Sims replacement with the thought in mind that he sucks less than Sims, is getting more minutes that Sims, and is getting about a block a game which Sims is not. And I was happy to wake up this morning to see that my bids were accepted (I way overbid on Smith but whatever. I still have enough FAAB cash for the 1-3 moves I might make from now to end of season). I imagine somebody next week will get Sims for about $5-$10 but it won’t be me.
Oh, my matchup. I am always happy with a matchup when I win both ratios which I did this week. I lost blocks, which was an unsurprising consequence of the Henson trade (Jason Smith would have helped that). I lost assists for the first time this year, which was negated by the fact I won turnovers for only the 2nd time (not surprising in retrospect since Breaking Batum is more PG heavy than my team). Overall I was pleased with the 7-2 victory, but not resting on my laurels since the tough part of my schedule continues.
3. Scurry to the Left (76-40-1)
FAAB Remaining: $68 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
4. Slim – Razzball (74-42-1)
FAAB Remaining: $21 FAAB Moves this week: Dwight Powell ($4)
Trade number three doesn’t quite get the same buzz as the previous two but I’ve been looking for the opportunity to sell Whiteside and I took it. Sure it was before Sundays big game but nothing changes. I needed to add 3s, assists, and FT% and I had an excess of boards and blocks. Also since I punt FG% I need to win FT% which really limits Whiteside’s usefulness on my team, for instance in hindsight I should have benched him for his triple-double on Sunday (I lost FT% by .006). JB had another young up-and-comer in Langston Galloway so given my needs I took the gamble. Is Galloway going to be worth it? Let’s find out.
Coming out of high school the 6-2, 185 lb Galloway wasn’t much more than a spot up shooter. As a freshman starter at St. Joes he struggled with his shot (.399 FG%) but with an A:TO ratio of 2.88:1.21 and 1.7 steals per game he showed he can do much more than just shoot 3s (1.97 made per game) and garnered an A-10 All-Rookie First team nod. In his sophomore season the offense improved (.488 FG%) but the steals tailed off (1.03). Still though it was enough for an A-10 All-Conference Second Team honor. A lot was expected for Langston’s junior season but a nearly across the board drop in stats (.414 FG%, 1.47 TOs) delayed his journey to the NBA for a year. In his senior season Galloway progressed en route to A-10 All-Conference First Team honors. FG% came back up to .444, 3PTM were a career high 3.18 per game, and TOs dropped to a career low 0.82 per game in a career high 36.2 min. As a four year starter with obvious inconsistent play he finished his college career with a stat line of…
.438/.821/2.6/15.0/4.5/2.2/1.3/0.5/1.2 :35.5 min
Unfortunately this wasn’t enough for Langston Galloway to hear his name called on draft day. The Knicks did however give him a summer league invite but with only 13.7 min per game in only 4 games he never truely got the chance to impress. A few international teams came calling but Langston turned down the money and accepted he would have to win an NBA job through quality D-League play. In 19 games he did just that with a final D-League stat line of…
.449/.830/2.1/16.5/5.9/2.5/2.6/0.4/1.5 :37 min
With his worth proven, Langston was ready for the call up to the big leagues. As a 3-point shooter with limited PG abilities the Knicks triangle offense was the perfect fit and after only 4 games coming off the bench Langston easily overtakes Shane Larkin’s starting job. Through his first 4 starts (3 Knicks wins) it appears like the 23 year old Galloway has a shot to stick in the rotation for the rest of the year and possibly beyond. In those 4 games he’s managed a stat line of…
.479/.714/1.8/14.5/6.3/3.0/1.0/0.3/1.0 :32 min
Are you wondering how that ranks? In that time span Yahoo ranks him 27th overall. Is he a top 50 guy? No, but he could be a top 75 guy and like I said earlier, compared to Hassan Whiteside he fits my needs far better. This is all pointless without a projection, right? Right. So here it is, the now 6-2, 202 lb Langston Galloway rest of season projection…
.430/.810/1.8/14.0/4.2/3.2/1.1/0.3/1.3 :32 min
5. Kap’s Team (69-46-2)
FAAB Remaining: $80 FAAB Moves this week: Dorell Wright ($7)
6. Youth Movement (61-54-2)
FAAB Remaining: $5 FAAB Moves this week: Jordan Clarkson ($41)
First the ugly. I got killed by Team Tough Guy, managing a tie in 3ptm, lost blocks by one and lost a few other cats by 5 or so. This is an unusual feeling, knowing I won’t win the league. Even in other dynasty formats, I was able to put together a team that was at least competitive. Taking over a team I did not draft and having to reassemble one in my own image (I hope that isn’t blasphemous to Olynyk of Nazareth), I knew I would not be competitive the first year. I intended to stockpile young talent, and try to be more competitive year 2. I elected to keep Curry, knowing he had the ideal play-off schedule, intending to trade him off for several keepers. Reggie Jackson was the centerpiece, and has drawn a lot of interest from other managers. Hood and Ross had the upside to be solid contributors. Now the good. The “throw-in” was the $1 D.J. Augustin, who now becomes very valuable to a team in contention. Unfortunately, that is not me. However, I see him still as one of my potential keepers. While he is 27, he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of minutes on his stat sheet, starting early for Toronto, but serving as backup PG the last several years. We all know what he did for Slim’s team last year down the stretch with Derek Rose shelved. While he is not a superstar, he is a more than serviceable 2nd or 3rd PG in a 20 team format and I will be willing to look at all offers, which have already started coming in. Finally the bad. I made a mistake dropping Clarkson after drafting him. His athleticism is special and as a big combo guard, I think he has opportunity to be something fun. I am hoping Kobe beats him up in practice and helps mold him into a solid contributor. I knew I wanted him on my team for next year and I knew I would have to spend for him. I thought other teams might be interested in him, so I spent big. Unfortunately, I overspent by about twenty bucks, but I left myself a little in reserve so I didn’t have to place only zero bids, if needed.
7. Team Tough Guy Town (59-54-4)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
8. Breaking Batum (59-57-1)
FAAB Remaining: $50 FAAB Moves this week: Elijah Millsap ($7), Alexis Ajinca ($0)
There were several good and bad things for us this week. We got healthier, with Noah, Jefferson, and Shumpert returning. But then Batum went down. We lost 2-7. But it was to the #2 team, and we would have faired better playing literally ANYONE else. (We beat 13/19 teams, only losing 3-6 or 4-5 to the others). And we get a slight break in the schedule, playing a team starting Steve Nash this week.
Our FA pickups were somewhat frustrating. After picking up Clarkson 2 weeks ago, and dropping him last week due to multiple DNP’s, he is now the starter and went for $41 in FAAB. That hurt. We were surprised that Larry Sanders went for $30. We did bid on him, but I can’t say that I’m extemely sad that we missed out on him. He can be someone else’s (bargain) headache. Hopefully Millsap can stick in the rotation this year, and be a keeper going forward.
After getting killed by so many top teams the last few weeks, we are definitely in the “playing for next year mode”. Hopefully we will be able to find a deal for some of our higher priced players, getting some younger/cheaper players.
9. Hoopus Alleyoopus (58-59-0)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Larry Sanders ($30)
Lost 3-6 to Kap’s Team. I have no depth and 6 of my players contributed basically nothing, so the categories I lost I really had no chance at winning. This is what happens when you take draft picks on playoff teams I guess. They aren’t going to get playing time.
My waiver pickup of Larry Sanders is something I am excited about because at a $1 price tag, he is a low risk keeper. I shouldn’t have dropped Ellington for him but I did it early in the week before news of Kobe’s injury came out and wanted to make sure I had something in place because I was afraid I might forget through the weekend since I was busy. Ellington is looking like he will get playing time with Kobe out, so I wish I would’ve went back and dropped someone else. Oh well.
10. Pete Nice – Razzball (57-59-1)
FAAB Remaining: $40 FAAB Moves this week: Jimmer Fredette ($0)
11. The Nature Boy (56-60-1)
FAAB Remaining: $88 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
12. JB Gilpin – Razzball (53-63-1)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Quincy Pondexter ($0)
Hah, weird weird week… I don’t think I’ve topped 200 rebounds except maybe one or two other weeks, and racked up 259 last week, winning by 7. Thanks Kawhi’s 47! I’ve lost or tied 7 straight weeks and Martyball has lost only one other matchup ALL SEASON! Crazy how much my team is tied to Kawhi. Now all I need is Rubio! I’ve got a pretty easy road ahead, with week 16 a determining week if I could somehow sneak into the 6th seed of the playoffs. Team Tough Guy Town hasn’t made a FAAB move this year, yet somehow has a solid line-up top to bottom and has surged into 7th place.
Effing A, my Oladipo trade to Mr. Green couldn’t have gone worse. O’Quinn is playing better but Vaughn stopped giving him consistent run, and Wroten tears his ACL and is out for the year. If anyone in the REL is reading, I will literally take anything for him – he’s a $1 keeper for life as a stash. I’m still pretty sour on Oladipo, but that was by far the worst move I’ve made for the 1.5 years of this team.
But to the good, the day before Whiteside’s 12 block outburt, Slim and I agreed on a trade with me nabbing Hassan for him getting Langston Galloway. I needed a big, he needed some extra G stats. Rebounds, blocks and FG% are my big needs and viola! And loving Whiteside’s upside (hah) at $1 for the future. Slim likes Galloway too, but if our needs were switched we certainly wouldn’t have done that one.
Ah, the perils of no money. I had bids on almost everyone FAABed to no avail. Ended up getting Pondexter who is very blah, but is playing. The Lone Ranger! At least Hoopus can join me as a penniless hobo.
13. High as Greg Kite (51-65-1)
FAAB Remaining: $4 FAAB Moves this week: Willie Reed ($4)
14. SethDaSportsMan (49-68-0)
FAAB Remaining: $14 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
15. ChazTop–KevinBottom (46-70-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
16. Ben – RotoGold (46-70-1)
FAAB Remaining: $50 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
17. Cigar Smoking Monkey (46-70-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
18. Mr. Green – Nowhere (45-70-2)
FAAB Remaining: $24 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Well that was an impressive 7-2 win and it came against an, at the time, top 10 team. This week I get to face the clear #1 team so far in Martyball though. He may be angry too since JB handed him just his second loss of the season last week. He also added 2 players via FAAB, which equals the total number of moves he’s made all season. Gearing up for his matchup with the now #18 team! High water mark here!
Last week everyone but Early chipped in to help us out. I’m not sure if Early is injured or the Knicks are just really bad at tanking and developing young talent since he didn’t play at all last week. I guess we’ll see if they use him this week. Aaron Gordon got his first ever start, and looked good from what I saw in the first half. DeRozan remembered how to score on Sunday, and Jonas had a solid week leading my team in rebounds and blocks(!).
I took a stab at getting Clarkson and Larry Sanders in FAAB. To be honest though I’m not horribly disappointed to miss out on them, for various reasons. They both went for more $$$ than I have too, which makes it easier to take. I was a little surprised to see Spencer Hawes ($12) get dropped for a guy who wasn’t even on my watch list. And my watchlist contains pretty much every unowned player who has any hope of value, or at least I thought it did. Willie Reed though, undrafted, not on an NBA roster since he was cut by Brooklyn in October. I guess his D-League stats look okay but, I’m not sure I see it.
Unfortunately, schedule wise, a lot of my guys have short weeks for this matchup. Oladipo, Gordon, Carroll, Middleton, Humph, DMo, Schroder, and Holiday all have a 3 game week. A quick count shows that at best I’ll get the same number of games played as Martyball, but more likely I’ll be down by 5-10 games. Solace can be taken in the fact that had I played Martyball last week I would have actually beaten the #1 team 5-4. Which is the same score JB beat him by. Oddly enough I would have also beaten JB 5-3 last week. Shocking for a team way down here at the bottom of the standings!
Overall the soft part of my schedule is going well. In the last 3 weeks we’ve gone 17-10, including my second and third wins of the season. Guys are getting healthy, their games are coming around, everything is looking up. Hopefully I still feel the same way after facing the #1 team this week.
19. Like A Josh – IFBL (45-71-1)
FAAB Remaining: $85 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
20. The Struggle is Real (41-76-0)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
