The rich seemed to get richer atop the REL standings, with the only losing team in the top 8 HateUsAnus losing to #1 Kap’s team. Playoff preview! Maybe I’m just intro slamming Adam‘s team because he trade slammed my team! Clippin’ at yo ‘eels, Anus! There’s a weird sentence… Interestingly, a pretty light week on the FAAB wire this Monday morning, as we move into a status quo week 7. Here’s how week 6 went down in the REL:
1. Kap’s Team (40-12-2)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: Garrett Temple ($0)
2. Slim – Razzball (40-14-0)
FAAB Remaining: $45 FAAB Moves this week: Willie Reed ($3)
Another 7-2 win and a much needed bit of separation between me and the 3rd place team. The punted FG% was somehow a win, given my opponent struggled mightily but still Wiggins and Poison Geese did what they could to make it a reasonable number. FT% wasn’t too good either and it’s immediately apparent that it was all Burks fault, whatever, at least it was a win. Lillard was actually beaten in 3s for the week by Beverley. Welcome back P-Bev. Points were won by the usual suspects but the biggest takeaway is another Beverley sighting with 48 in 4 games. Boards were a surprising lose but Sullinger and Steven Adams both had their worst weeks of the year. I’m not too worried about it seeing as how Booker and Henson are starting to come around. Assists are still an issue seeing as how my next best guy after Lillard was Marcus Morris. I simply can’t compete with most of the top teams, maybe I’ll be OK with Smart back but I think I still need to make a move. Steals were once again around league average but it’s on the upswing with Beverley leading the way. Blocks were solid and even a bit of a pleasant surprise that Henson came through leading the way. The Goose can’t be expected to carry me every week. I lost TOs but they weren’t bad, I’ll be just fine against a top team.
There were a few trade negotiations again this week but nothing materialized. I had two offers for Clarkson that I turned down and even got someone checking in on Porzingis. Obviously I’m not too interested in trading either, especially if it involves taking on more salary. Instead I’m looking for a lower end trade that fits a need (AST/STL).
For the first time this year I had a quiet week of injuries. I need Smart and Nurkic back at some point obviously but I’ve build up a good enough record that I believe I can afford to play a man (or 2) down and still be alright in the long run.
The bottom of my lineup had an up-and-down week. Gerald Green was a bit cold from the field and with Deng out he continues to get plenty of minutes and contributed in every category, but with Deng back soon (I assume) Green will probably go back to merely a 20-min ThrAGNof. That is until Wade goes down and Gerald fills in at SG, I do like my bench players backing up two positions. Speaking of which, Trevor Booker is usually better when Favors is down but with Gobert injured, and Trevor fighting the E. Coli he picked up from Chipotle, Booker still managed a single big game. I think more are on the way. Austin Rivers is getting starter minutes with Paul injured but he didn’t do much with it. At least the minutes are there and he’s young enough to have keeper potential, obviously still a hold. Mike Muscala came back to earth a bit this week and it appears that Splitter’s return is right around the corner. Hopefully Muscala has earned a few more minutes because I am absolutely loving his contributions and he’s also young enough to be a possible keeper. The Mbah A Moute add from last week failed spectacularly so it was time to move on. I still wanted a SF with boards and defensive stats and I’ve liked the potential of Willie Reed for a while now, although at 6’11” 235lbs I have no idea why he has SF eligibility, but I’ll take it. In the D-League last year he was a 16.5/12 guy with 1.9 blocks in 34 minutes. In summer league this year he was tearing it up with the Heat to the tune of 13.5/7.8 and 1.8 blocks in 26 min before the Nets swooped in and gave him a 1-year guaranteed contract, but an injured hand derailed his season until now. Sure he’s a bit of a late bloomer since he just made his NBA debut at the age of 25, but I’ve always thought he could be a solid rotational player and he appears to finally be getting his chance, and considering how bad the Nets are maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll blow it up giving Willie as much run as he can handle.
This week I’m up against Pete Nice. He’s limping along with injuries to Paul and Gobert and will likely struggle to match my minutes. Another win this week and I’ll go into the toughest 6-week stretch of my season with enough of a lead that a few categorical losses won’t hurt too bad. At least that’s the plan…
3. HateUsCauseTheyAnus (33-20-1)
FAAB Remaining: $76 FAAB Moves this week: Joe Ingles ($6)
4. JB Gilpin – Razzball (31-20-3)
FAAB Remaining: $1 FAAB Moves this week: James Johnson ($0)
Wooooo! Scratched and clawed my way to a 6-3 win, which I’m still happy about even though it was against a bottom-ranked team. Cigar Monkey is a big man team – my weakness – so it was nice to nab a decent victory. It could’ve been 7-2 as well if not for Koufos’s 3 blocks, then again Leuer had 3 blocks earlier Sunday, so I guess it evened out. My slammed trade as mentioned in the intro there won me REB again, with Ibaka not doing enough himself vs. my haul to change blocks, so it’s won me REB two weeks thus far. And so much for FT punt – won that cat somehow…
So anyone ever think that their waiver moves or FAAB bids they’re happy about seem like waking up on Christmas morning? AN N64!!!!!!! AN N64!!!!! I woke up with James Johnson on my team, and I jumped around like all of my dreams came true. I know he’s only played 9 minutes the past two games, but I didn’t lose much with Lamar Patterson getting sent to the D-League (might still be stashable to some teams) and one injury really could open up Johnson to some nice value. Even on a full slate tonight, I’m benching 3 of my low-end contributors for him since they’re playing the Lakers. Junk time!
5. Heat Apologist (32-22-0)
FAAB Remaining: $68 FAAB Moves this week: Wesley Johnson ($8)
Oh, what could have been. Nearly pulled out a 9-0 week, losing steals by two and ft by 8 thousandths. Can’t complain too much about 7-2. I’ve managed to continue the trend of winning the unlikely duo of assist and turnovers. This week was even better than most, with a 144:59 ratio, led by the awesome Reggie Jackson’s 35:9, Conley’s 13:4, and Collison’s 19:5. However all of those pale in comparison to my new favorite second string pg, Shane Larkin. He had a 17:1 ratio this week, and led my team in steals with 9. All while shooting 50%, chipping in 8 rebounds and a few blocks. Elite! I kid of course, but is hasn’t gone unnoticed as I’ve already received a couple offers for him. Also this week, Joffrey made an appearance, pacing my team with 25 rebounds. Rebounding has been a weakness, so he and Zeller were a welcome addition to the club. I put in a bid for Willie Reed, knowing I needed rebounds, but facing a team this week with a full, veteran roster I needed minutes and 3ptm, so I “invested” in the flavor of the week in Wes Johnson. Hopefully more 30 minute games are on the horizon.
6. Yappers (31-22-1)
FAAB Remaining: $51 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
This week Yappers trounced last week’s Yappers 8-1. We also trounced last week’s JB team 7-2. We also trounced the teams ahead of us in the schedule by comparable scores (I think the closest matchup would have been 6-3).
Oh yeah, we won last week’s matchup 7-2 as we were pretty much was firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately I can’t clone last week through the rest of the schedule including the playoffs as much as I would like to. And I will need similar efforts through the next 3 weeks as we are playing teams that I consider contenders.
Special shout outs go to:
Wes Matthews busting out of a slow start last night hitting 12-23 with 10 treys last night. His slow start coming back an injury reminds me of Gallinari’s slow start last year. But Gallinari found it in the second half and I am sure Matthews will too by then if not sooner.
Marc Gasol’s 38 point, 13 rebound, 4 block night where he went 16-16 from the charity stripe. Since Yappers this year is emphasizing FT% at the expense of FG%, bigs who hit free throws are very valuable to our team. Now I go back and forth on whether $41 is a slight overpayment for him, but I think he is more valuable on Yappers than his Yahoo ranking indicates due to his stellar FT%
Kyle Lowry this morning is #2 in the Yahoo rankings behind You Know Who. Please stay healthy through the entire season this year. Same for you Deron Williams.
Looking at the Yahoo composite stats through this week we are:
(1) 2nd to 4th in the 6 positive counting stats. Nice balance.
(2) In the ratios 1st in FT% but 17th in FG%. My goal in the ratios is a net positive here so we are good.
(3) 17th in the negative stat of turnovers which I hate and am more or less punting.
So I think if anything our 6th place standing means we may have been a tad unlucky this year in our matchups so far.
On the Jordan Mickey Maine Red Claws watch: 2 games, 68 minutes, 50 points, 24 rebounds, 8 blocks. Most impressive (given my love for bigs that do free throws) 18-21 FT% (actually got to watch a couple quarters on the tube this weekend when the Patriots got boring before we turned it to Miracle on 34th Street – the real version of course).
There were no FAAB bids in the musical chairs of the WW this week. But I have one complaint against Yahoo.
Last night I observed that after a fourth game out due to injury that Tyson Chandler received the injured designation. So like a good boy I moved Tyson to my IL slot for Monday and started to prepare some random $0 free agent bids,
thinking I might sneak a couple games in before he comes back. But Yahoo would not let me do this. It seems that it was working off the Sunday lineup where Tyson was starting on the chance he plays. If we lose a category by one point this week I will be even more pissed at Yahoo.
7. Scurry to the Left (31-22-1)
FAAB Remaining: $98 FAAB Moves this week: Seth Curry ($1)
8. Martyball – IFBL (30-24-0)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
9. I Ain’t No Jok(ic) (28-25-1)
FAAB Remaining: $91 FAAB Moves this week: Jonas Jerebko ($1)
The difference between winning and losing this week came down to one thing. During the final games on Sunday night there was a stretch where Anthony Tolliver went to the free throw line for my team and made 1 of 2 shots. Right around the same time Rudy Gay went to the line for my opponent and hit both of his free throws. That my friends is the difference between a 5-4 win and a 4-5 loss. As simple as that.
I can’t blame Tolliver too much though since his 9 rebounds on Sunday night were the difference in that category for me. The 4 assists by Shaun Livingston on Sunday ended up as the difference there as well. For this week at least, the guys at the end of my bench pulled their weight for me. Other than Nikola Jokic who went from the coach saying that “he’s earned the starting spot”, YEAH! To being a DNP-CD two games later, BOO! I wish the “stars” on my team would get their acts together, and my players various coaches waking up would be nice too.
Oladipo is still coming off the bench and playing pretty mediocre, though he did lead my team with 6 blocks. Derrick Rose is still shooting in the 30% range, but he lead the team with 20 assists. Noel is still sucking even with Okafor suspended 2 games for acting like an idiot, which explains how a guy who barely touches the ball led my team in turnovers. DeMarre Carroll’s still struggling with his shot, but at least he contributed a team leading 6 steals. Otto Porter struggled with Beal back but finished the week strong with a double double on Sunday to lead my team in boards. Paul George was Paul George, leading the team in 3s, points, and steals.
In a bit of a miracle DMo is finally back. Mind you he’s only playing in games because they have no time to practice, so I’m guessing he gets very limited minutes to start out (6 minutes in his first game back). It will be nice to have him back though as it’s been an unexpectedly long wait. The Houston PF spot is so up in the air that he could be anywhere from starting to riding the pine. I suspect he gets 20+ minutes once he’s back in the swing of things though as he provides a good floor spacer for them.
For the wire it’s time to cut bait on Mike Dunleavy since he had a setback and won’t be stepping on the court for another month and a half. There was next to nothing out there this week to pick up though, so I end up with my top pick for $1 in Jonas Jerebko. He is a warm body to help me out against another of the top teams this week in Yappers. So far I’ve managed to avoid getting pummeled by anyone during this tough first half of the season, and I’m happy to be within 5 games of a top 3 seed at the moment. Hopefully I can survive this week as well because this schedule has been a bit ridiculous so far.
10. Hardenoutherr4apimp (27-27-0)
FAAB Remaining: $83 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
11. High as Greg Kite (26-27-1)
FAAB Remaining: $83 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
12. Foreign Affairs (26-28-0)
FAAB Remaining: $93 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Well I have to tip my hat to JB for doing so well at staying on top of things with Razzball while moving because I’m barely keeping on top of things in my own move, speaking of barely keeping things together my teams struggling to not nose dive to the bottom of the standings currently and will be in tough this week as I go against High as Greg Kite and his captain and my favorite player STEPHEN (SHOOTING BETTER IN THE PAINT THEN DEANDRE) CURRY!!!!!!! So I am expecting him to single handily win the match up if he keeps things humming along.
As for my team, I’m excited that Kendall Marshall returns later this week, I’m eager to see if he has value and potential long term value with the Sixers. If there’s one thing that team needs is a pg that can pass the ball, likes to pass the ball, can comprehend how to run plays and actually get the ball to Okafor and Noel in situations that they can take advantage of…you know like Ish smith could have…..warning the following sentences have been redacted by the Sam Henkie everything is fine group. Ignore Okafor’s personal issues, Embiid is not Oden 2.0 we know what were doing Trust the Process…… So hopefully he at worst does what he did for that terrible Lakers team 2 seasons ago.
WCS’s injury sucks same with Lee and Splitter’s current minor issues, so I’m stuck waiting since I can’t sell them for much right now. Oh well at least my best guys are doing fine and Hayward is back to normal.
13. The Nature Boy (23-30-1)
FAAB Remaining: $80 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
14. Hoopus Alleyoopus (23-30-1)
FAAB Remaining: $87 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
15. Greek Freaks (22-32-0)
FAAB Remaining: $40 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
16. Pete Nice – Razzball (20-33-1)
FAAB Remaining: $83 FAAB Moves this week: Alexis Ajinca ($0)
17. Niko-Cola (18-35-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
What a great week. It seems that we have turned a corner and the trades we made have paid off in aces. We finished the week Top 10 in 8 cats and top 7 in 7 of those. Our two weakest cats were rebounds and blocks which makes sense. We are a big man short after a 2-1 trade at those positions. We beat 17/19 teams 8 of those teams we beat 7-2 or better, Hot Dog! There was just one problem… The team we played was the NUMBER 1 team in 5, five, FIVE, statistically categories and third in another. Resulting in a 7-2 loss, our schedule so far can go kick rocks. 5/6 teams we have played are top 10 and the other was when we played him, until he concluded to rebuild after his self assessment of a poor draft.
Looking forward all hope is not lost. Being early in the season we are still “only”13 games out of the final playoff spot which seems to be our absolute ceiling at the moment. We will know by Christmas what direction we will be moving. One thing we must address is our lack of depth at the C/PF position. The only excess we have to offer is at the wing. If this is an area of need for you let us know and we may be able to work a deal. Another positive which I mentioned before is that early returns are good for our last two trades while playing time and performance are trending upward for Thomas and Big Nog. Small sample sizes, but we remain optimistic.
Good news is hopefully on the horizon. We have a break in the schedule playing a fellow cellar dweller in week 7. The good news, we have beat Smoking Monkeys each of the first 6 weeks a combined 36-18. The bad, while we beat the Smokers last week 6-3 in our hypothetical matchup 4 of the cats were very close. We spent some extra time with a good friend about this matchup… Below are his thoughts.
We took some time yesterday with the Niko-Cola guys to talk about talking about this matchup and we talked about how talking about the past wasn’t really talking about the future. Then we talked about the best case of Niko-Cola winning 8-1 this week, but we really talked about how we talked about talking about the worse case scenario which we talked about being a 4-5 loss.
Thanks for clearing that up Phil. Good luck Smokers and we look forward to talking about what we talked about this week next week.
18. The Chosen Ones (18-36-0)
FAAB Remaining: $20 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
19. Cigar Smoking Monkey (17-37-0)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
20. No Glove No Love (17-37-0)
FAAB Remaining: $96 FAAB Moves this week: Jared Cunningham ($0)
