Playoff spots, berthed! Like a dog having its litter under the porch, the Barking BassetHounds and Martyball both clinched playoff spots with the Hounds moving into a 1 game lead. We need to eschew the Baha Men’s 1-hit wonder for the Hounds theme music! Both squads are shoe-ins for bye weeks, with a pretty clear 6 vs. 7 race for the final playoff spot between me and Breaking Batum. I’m gonna slip his team some of that Ricin! Too mean? Here’s how the rest of week 18 went down in the REL:
1. Barking BassetHounds (111-47-4)
FAAB Remaining: $27 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
2. Martyball – IFBL (111-49-2)
FAAB Remaining: $10 FAAB Moves this week: Alexey Shved ($4)
3. Slim – Razzball (100-61-1)
FAAB Remaining: $11 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
When I lost Alec Burks for the year I thought I could still be competitive. For a while I was, that is until Steven Adams went down. Maybe he comes back and maybe he doesn’t and for a while I was still doing ok. To start this week though I also had to deal with Beverley being sick and Bogdanovic being out with an ankle injury. Both returned and I thought maybe I could still compete, but then came the killer. Losing a 3rd keeper, Nurkic, the 5th guy missing games for the week, means I had no chance this week or really for the foreseeable future. Against a playoff caliber team I now have no chance at winning boards and blocks and even my steals are now mediocre at best. My season is officially over.
There were some nice pickups this week but I knew my $11 wasn’t going to be enough and I was only targeting potential keepers anyway. I shouldn’t say who I was going to drop but I will say that I was not going to drop Archie Goodwin. For me it’s a case of believing in talent and the kid has it in spades, or hearts, or bridge, or whatever card game makes the most sense. Granted the DNP-CD was heart breaking but with Knight looking to miss time the bridge to more minutes this year looks solid and last time out Archie managed a few more books (well minutes, that was a tough metaphor) than Gerald Green.
Now since I don’t feel like I can compete for a championship I think it’s time to sell and hope I can get a keeper in return. The big names that I’ll sell for pennies on the dollar are Conley, Marc Gasol, Amir Johnson, and Hibbert. If they fit a need then shoot me an offer with a decently priced potential keeper and I will be very much willing to talk.
4. Scurry to the Left (96-64-2)
FAAB Remaining: $68 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
5. Kap’s Team (93-66-3)
FAAB Remaining: $35 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
6. Breaking Batum (88-73-1)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Will Barton ($30)
We won 7-2, but somehow lost a game to both the 5th and 7th place teams. Frustrating. Still in 6th place though, so it’s not all bad. (at least JB is playing someone who sets his lineup this week)
Unfortunately, we lost Rose for the stretch run. There’s a chance he could be back for our playoffs, but we aren’t counting on it. Even with that, we would’ve beaten all but 3 teams last week, and had close matchups in the others.
On the FAAB front, we decided to go all in on Will Barton (words that have never been uttered before). We join JB, High as Greg Kite, and Hoopus Alleyoopus in the $0 FAAB club. We have been bleeding FAAB the last few weeks, trying to find a good fit. We decided it was better to go for broke than to get outbid on the top guys again, and spend another $5-10 on someone we are going to drop next week. We only outbid the next highest guy by $5, so it wasn’t too crazy (maybe).
7. JB Gilpin – Razzball (86-74-2)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Louis Amundson ($0)
Woooo! The hot streak continues as I churn through my schedule-friendly 2nd half, with I think my first ever 8-1 REL win. And what’s annoying is my only loss was .811 FT%! I don’t think I’ve had more than one or two better FT% weeks this season. Still 1.5 games behind the last playoff spot and only two weeks to go, that could be the decider. I’ve cost myself a couple games trying to toe the line with benching for percents, and it could kill me. Then again I won 8-10 cats with the Josh Smith trade early in the year or else I would’ve lost Ast/Stl/Blk a few early matchups, so I don’t think I’ve hurt more than helped. Given I’ve been playing weaker opponents, but if I make the playoffs I’ll be one of the hottest teams with a 38-15 record over my 6-game win streak. One last thought, in week 1, LaMarcus Aldridge had to take a desperation 3 as the shot clock wore down as the final shot for the week, flip-flopping FG% to a 5-4 win against Mr. Green. If that swings, I’m only 0.5 out… Little things man…
Luckily I dodged a bullet with Brandon Knight’s hip, and will be fully loaded for this penultimate regular season matchup. My biggest weakness is probably dimes, and with Youth Movement without Darren Collison and any big passer besides Reggie Jackson, I think I can have the big week I need. Just need the shots to fall. I’ve got a great low-TO team, but it’s at the expense of a lot of shooters which makes FG% waffle more than a Ben & Jerry’s cone.
Ugh. Louis Amundson… Well, Jakarr Sampson was doing fine for a 20-teamer for a good stretch there, but with the combo of Ish Smith and Isaiah Canaan at PG and Jason Richardson still haunting us, he’s down to a sub-20 minute guy. I was realistically hoping to nab Shved with my $0, but alas I got stuck with a guy that doesn’t help the stats I need that much in Sweet Lou 2. That said, there’s no way he should’ve gone unowned, and he actually had multi-assists every game the past week, so as long as he helps there with a nice FG% and doesn’t tank his FT, he’ll help.
8. Pete Nice – Razzball (82-79-1)
FAAB Remaining: $17 FAAB Moves this week: Reggie Evans ($0)
9. Hoopus Alleyoopus (80-81-1)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
A 3-6 loss to Martyball likely ended my season this week. Actually kind of pleased with that outcome given Marty’s record so far combined with my team missing 2 games from Kyrie and Blake Griffin not playing. It could have been worse.
I can’t pick up anybody since I spent all of my FAAB on Larry Sanders. Anyone I have any interest in get scooped by someone else with even a $1 bid. Speaking of Larry Sanders, it is looking like a gamble that isn’t going to pay off since he doesn’t seem to want to play basketball this season or maybe even next season. Oh well, I still think getting him for $1 going forward was a risk worth taking.
10. Team Tough Guy Town (77-80-5)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
11. The Nature Boy (78-83-1)
FAAB Remaining: $38 FAAB Moves this week: Markel Brown ($15)
12. Youth Movement (77-82-3)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Thanasis Antetokounmpo ($0)
13. ChazTop–KevinBottom (73-86-3)
FAAB Remaining: $80 FAAB Moves this week: Henry Walker ($20)
14. Mr. Green – Nowhere (72-86-4)
FAAB Remaining: $3 FAAB Moves this week: Perry Jones ($0)
Another victory this week, although a little disappointing that it was only 5-4. I barely lost FG% by .008 on the last day, FT% and 3PTM just didn’t work out, and I never really had a chance at TO this week. I’m surprised I had a shot at FG% despite Schroder (35%), DeRozan (30%), Noel (39%), and Lauvergne (27%) doing their best to sabotage me.
I’m at 44-26 in the second half of the season now, which includes a 7-1 record in matchups, after a 1-9 record the first half of the season. Holy turnaround! My one FAAB move this week was to drop Hump, who I wasn’t keeping, and add Perry Jones, who I’m probably not keeping but, maybe he gets traded in the offseason and things look up for him. The kids got some scoring ability.
One more week before the final week rematch with JB, which looks as though it may have a playoff spot in the balance. Not for me mind you, but what can you do. Here’s hoping we can make it 8-1 in the second half of the season with a win against ChazTop–KevinBottom this week. Then onto the spoiler matchup! I’m coming for you JB!
15. SethDaSportsMan (73-89-0)
FAAB Remaining: $14 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
16. Ben – RotoGold (69-92-1)
FAAB Remaining: $50 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
17. High as Greg Kite (65-95-2)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Michael Beasley ($1), Andrew Bynum ($0)
18. Cigar Smoking Monkey (60-101-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
19. Like A Josh – IFBL (59-100-3)
FAAB Remaining: $85 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
20. The Struggle is Real (50-112-0)
FAAB Remaining: $72 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
