“If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.” (Bill James)
We are through two months of the fantasy season and the strongest teams have asserted themselves, but we still have a long way until the playoffs begin.
There are three undervalued advanced statistics in fantasy basketball: usage rate (USG%), true shooting percentage (TS%), and especially PER. USG% is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he is on the floor. TS% is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3pts field goals, and free throws. Many people understandably use points as an indicator to measure fantasy value, but we want players who spend a lot of time on the court and have the ball in their hands. We should be looking for a player who gets plenty of minutes and has a high usage rate. Here are the players with the highest USG% and at least a 50 TS% (with more than 60 games played) from last season:
| PLAYER | TS% | USG% | |
| 1 | Russell Westbrook | 55.4 | 40.8 |
| 2 | DeMarcus Cousins | 56.2 | 36.4 |
| 3 | DeMar DeRozan | 55.2 | 34.2 |
| 4 | James Harden | 61.3 | 34.1 |
| 5 | Isaiah Thomas | 62.5 | 33.7 |
| 6 | Anthony Davis | 58.0 | 32.6 |
| 7 | Kawhi Leonard | 61.0 | 31.2 |
| 8 | Damian Lillard | 58.6 | 30.9 |
| 9 | John Wall | 54.1 | 30.2 |
| 10 | Kyrie Irving | 58.0 | 30.2 |
(source: NBA Stats)
Here’s the list for this season (players with at least 20 games played):
| PLAYER | TS% | USG% | |
| 1 | James Harden | 63.1 | 35.6 |
| 2 | DeMarcus Cousins | 56.8 | 34.6 |
| 3 | Joel Embiid | 57.4 | 34.1 |
| 4 | Kristaps Porzingis | 57.3 | 33.8 |
| 5 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 61.0 | 33.5 |
| 6 | Kyrie Irving | 60.2 | 30.9 |
| 7 | Victor Oladipo | 59.1 | 30.6 |
| 8 | LeBron James | 66.5 | 30.2 |
| 9 | Dennis Schroder | 52.8 | 30.2 |
| 10 | Damian Lillard | 56.9 | 29.9 |
(source: NBA Stats)
Maybe the most underrated advanced stat in fantasy is PER, as it most correlates with fantasy value. PER takes into account field goals, free throws, 3-pts, assists, rebounds, blocks, steals, and negative results such as missed shots, turnovers, and personal fouls. All the things relevant in fantasy. The league average is 15. This is the top-10 for the present season so far:
| PLAYER | PER | |
| 1 | LeBron James | 31.48 |
| 2 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 30.70 |
| 3 | James Harden | 30.57 |
| 4 | Anthony Davis | 28.42 |
| 5 | Stephen Curry | 27.64 |
| 6 | Clint Capela | 25.83 |
| 7 | Hassan Whiteside | 25.79 |
| 8 | Kyrie Irving | 25.67 |
| 9 | LaMarcus Aldridge | 25.44 |
| 10 | Nikola Jokic | 24.89 |
(source: ESPN Insider)
Here is how the action went down in Week 8 across our 12 RCL Leagues:
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Experts League: Dynasty Deep Dive lost to ‘Bron Legacy but he’s still at the top. Good adds this week in free agency: Mel added Milos Teodosic, Dynasty Deep Dive added Kelly Olynyk, Krishna Ligas added Buddy Hield, and Jahlil Okafor goes to Dream Killers. Okafor is one of only four players this century to average at least 17 pts, 7 rebs and 1 blk per game as a rookie. The others? Pau Gasol, Karl Anthony Towns, and Joel Embiid.
Straight Cash Homie: Pikachu continues to dominate, as he leads by 9.5 over Cronos Possessed. Curious move by Connor’s Cool Team, as he acquired Jahlil Okafor then released him three days later.
Straight Cash Homie 2: Cronos Black Metal destroys Beamer and becomes the new leader in the process. Great acquisition by Beamer for Wesley Matthews.
Straight Cash Homie 3: Comfortable victories for Vengeful Hoopdies and Onions!. Rodmans Peacekeepers with an 8-1 victory jumps into playoff contention. Milos Teodosic (added by Vengeful Hoopdies) will be one of the best rookies of the year if he’s healthy. Last season in the Euroleague he posted 16.1 pts and 6.8 ast with 90 FT% in 27.6 mpg.
Straight Cash Homie 4: Matokie Slaughter with one more week at the top. Great win by get picky with it helped by Kevin Durant, who over the last week has averaged 30.0 pts, 9.3 reb, 7.3 ast, and 2.7 blk.
Straight Cash Homie 5: Great duel at the top as Olympic Team defeated NYKnicks. I like the players added by Klark Shark (Nikola Mirotic and Buddy Hield) as well as SON with Jahlil Okafor and NYKnicks with Milos Teodosic.
Straight Cash Homie 6: Freak Squad and SON showed signs of life with comfortable victories. They are now one step away from the playoffs. TonyRP 4 is now second with a 7-2 victory over the strong squad of My curry too spicy!
RAZZblueBALLS: Our team of the week, Stuck in Saigon, wins 8-1 and is now in 8th place. John’s Team acquired Rudy Gay. It’s going to be interesting to see how he and Kawhi Leonard play together. The return of Kawhi will probably hurt Gay, but in the last two weeks, he has averaged 14.0 pts, 7.3 reb, 0.8 stl, and 1.0 blk.
BBQ Mousetrap: Well done Steph Infection adding Jonathon Simmons, helped by injuries is averaging 19.0 pts, 5.5 reb, 1.8 ast, 1.0 stl, 1.2 3pts with 49.0 FG% and 81.8% from the line in December.
Italy vs Razzball: !, Stuck in Saigon 2 and The Wakefield Case are separated by only 1.5 points. Chicaghiamo Addosso won 7-2 and is creeping up on them.
No Punt Intended: basketballsacks (8-1) return to the top spot, with Nikola Vucevic, DeMarcus Cousins, and Chris Paul. This is one of the best teams of the week.
Dynasty Deep Dive: Great victory by Craig’s Crazy Team over the leader Big Baller Brand. That helped me to climb within 0.5 points from overall spot. Blake Carrington added Jahlil Okafor and Evil Empire the undervalued Buddy Hield.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
| Name: | Stuck in Saigon (RAZZblueBALLS) victory 8-1 and best team with +7 cat win |
| Key players: | N.Vucevic (21.0 pts / 13.5 reb / 2.8 blk)
Z.Randolph (24.0 pts / 11.3 reb / 2.7 3pts) K.A. Towns (11.7 reb / 1.7 stl / 1.7 blk) |
BEST RECORD
| 1 | Pikachu | Straight Cash Homie | 50-20-2 |
| 2 | Cronos Black Metal | Straight Cash Homie 2 | 46-24-2 |
| 2 | ! | Italy vs Razzball | 46-24-2 |
| 2 | Evil Empire | Straight Cash Homie 6 | 46-24-2 |
| 5 | Vengeful Hoopdies | Straight Cash Homie 3 | 46-25-1 |
| 5 | basketballsacks | No Punt Intended | 46-25-1 |
| 7 | Onions! | Straight Cash Homie 3 | 45-25-2 |
| 8 | More Sonics Please | BBQ Mousetrap | 45-26-1 |
| 8 | Stuck in Saigon 2 | Italy vs Razzball | 45-26-1 |
| 8 | The Wakefield Case | Italy vs Razzball | 45-26-1 |
BEST RECORD LEADERS
| Week 1 | gesiot’s Team | Italy vs Razzball |
| Week 2 | basketballsacks | No Punt Intended |
| Week 3 | GasOl(d) Anthem | RAZZblueBALLS |
| Week 4 | TonyRP 4 | Straight Cash Homie 6 |
| Week 5 | ! | Italy vs Razzball |
| Week 6 | Cronos Black Metal | Straight Cash Homie 2 |
| Week 7 | Pikachu | Straight Cash Homie |
| Week 8 | Pikachu | Straight Cash Homie |
TEAM OF THE WEEK WINNERS
| Week 1 | gesiot’s Team | Italy vs Razzball |
| Week 2 | Slack-Jawed Daps | Straight Cash Homie 2 |
| Week 3 | The Wakefield Case | Italy vs Razzball |
| Week 4 | The Wakefield Case (2) | Italy vs Razzball |
| Week 5 | Newbie | No Punt Intended |
| Week 6 | Evil Empire | Straight Cash Homie 6 |
| Week 7 | TonyRP 5 | Dynasty Deep Dive |
| Week 8 | Stuck in Saigon | RAZZblueBALLS |
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