The Razzball Elite League (REL) is through 5 weeks and Barking BassetHounds maintains the top spot in the standings. Another 6-3-0 victory gets them to 31-13-1 while I finally put together a winning week of 6-3-0 as well to start climbing out of the cellar. It’s a slow climb, kinda like the stressful agony contestants have to watch in The Price Is Right’s “Mountain Climber” game. “Yo-do-leddy-yo!” Write-ups included are from managers themselves as we march through our inaugural season:
1. Barking BassetHounds (31-13-1)
FAAB Remaining: $20 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
2. The Nature Boy (30-13-2)
FAAB Remaining: $84 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
3. Like A Josh – IFBL (30-15-0)
FAAB Remaining: $62 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
4. Pete Nice – Razzball (29-15-1)
FAAB Remaining: $20 FAAB Moves this week: Aaron Brooks ($8)
Only lost 5-4, but I’m really disappointed in my boys for last week’s pathetic performance. Hey, not taking anything away from Kap’s Team (don’t you love it when coaches say this? It’s such a hollow thing to say, only I mean it. Really), who got a whopping 17 ppg from Nick Young and can flat-out score anyway, but dude we shouldn’t be losing the scoring cat by 300 points. And, not surprisingly, Dwight Howard went into autopilot just a lil’ bit — otherwise maybe I take rebounds or blocks. In other news, Rudy Gobert vanished and we had a Jonas Jerebko sighting on Sunday against the 76ers. Brooks should be a nice short-term help while Jeremy Lin is out, but overall this one has me a bit worried.
5. Martyball – IFBL (28-17-0)
FAAB Remaining: $97 FAAB Moves this week: Louis Amundson ($2)
6. Breaking Batum (28-17-0)
FAAB Remaining: $97 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
7. Kap’s Team (25-20-0)
FAAB Remaining: $92 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
After taking an early 7-2 lead, Pete Nice’s team caught me in assists and steals, leaving me with only a 5-4 win for the week. I move up from 8th to 7th and continue to rebound from the disastrous first week. Outside of my big three (Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, and Carmelo Anthony), I got solid shooting from Nick Young (17.75 ppg, 84% FT, 7 3PTM) and across the board numbers from Tyreke Evans (16 ppg, 4.75 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.25 spg), who has started to embrace his bench role. My only move of the season didn’t work out for me, as Courtney Lee suffered a knee sprain in his first game of the week and remains sidelined.
8. Cigar Smoking Monkey (24-21-0)
FAAB Remaining: $43 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
9. Doug – tdbsports.com (24-21-0)
FAAB Remaining: $98 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
10. Ben – RotoGold (21-23-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
11. Scurry to the Left (21-24-0)
FAAB Remaining: $86 FAAB Moves this week: Darrell Arthur ($8), Mirza Teletovic ($6)
12. Nashed Potatoes (20-24-1)
FAAB Remaining: $91 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
13. Hoopus Alleyoopus (20-24-1)
FAAB Remaining: $92 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Just got a mudhole stomped in my rear end by Like A Josh, dropping me to 13th place. Have some reasons to be optimistic for the future, though, with Derrick Williams finding a new home and hopefully some increased playing time in Sacramento as well as an increase in playing time for Jason Smith with Anthony Davis injured (what a shame). Other than that, hoping Javale and Budinger return somewhat soon. Having a full roster of guys who actually play is a huge advantage in this league, because there are no Free Agents that get any significant run. Really regretting going to bed and missing the last 45 minutes of the draft.
14. JB Gilpin – Razzball (19-25-1)
FAAB Remaining: $15 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Wooooooo! A W in the column and I vaulted above Slim!!! What a week. Finally a victory going 6-3-0 with my depth finally paying off. Brandon Knight getting on the court and Raymond Felton able to play had me shockingly win assists, plus Andrew Bynum killing the Bulls has some upside adrenaline shooting through my veins. I like my team a lot, besides Felton and Bynum I’m young and a lot of guys could see expanded roles should vets go down. I’m still on the prowl for one more center and actually big on Darrell Arthur, but at least I held tight on the tiny bit of money I have left. I’m comin’ for ya Mr. Green! I’m comin…
15. Slim – Razzball (18-25-2)
FAAB Remaining: $47 FAAB Moves this week: Tyshawn Taylor ($2)
The long descent into fantasy irrelevance continues. The loss of The Larry Sanders Show was felt hard this week as I still play without him and Otto Porter, which was nearly a quarter of my draft day expenditure. FG% and Blocks would have easily been won giving me the weekly win if only Gary Shandling had wrote a better script. Fortunately there is plenty of good things to report. Reggie Jackson, Jerryd Bayless, and Tim Hardaway Jr. are coming to life turning my guard play into a strength. Andrew Nicholson, Jeremy Evans, and Terrence Ross have established their 20 minute roles and I expect more as the season continues. Anthony Bennett played some SF a few games back and with Earl Clark getting a DNP-CD last game, Bennett’s role may be growing. There was even a report that Mike Brown thought about starting Bennett at SF. Like his namesake says, the best is yet to come. I won’t say with whom or what players but I’ve been in discussion all week about trading away some of my youth for a couple of over 30 non-keepers. It may still happen but I’m not holding my breath and I’m having a difficult time justifying the trade. Can I win this year after the trade? The answer is a resounding ‘NO’. Then why trade away my youth? Exactly. The more I think about it the less I want to do it. I’ll give it a few more days, maybe a week, then I’m going to focus on the future like I’ve been doing all along. Through 5 weeks I’ve played 3 teams in the top 8 and this week is no different as I play the 6th place team. It’s safe to say the descent will continue.
16. ChazTop-KevinBottom (17-28-0)
FAAB Remaining: $75 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
17. Mr Green – Nowhere (15-29-1)
FAAB Remaining: $42 FAAB Moves this week: Cartier Martin ($5)
Hallelujah! I finally made it out of the basement! Of course, I haven’t actually made it to the first floor; it’s more like I’m half way up the basement stairs I guess. I had my first win of the season thank goodness. My studs are playing better (which doesn’t say much considering how they were playing). Guys are getting healthy, and some waiver finds are in the rotation and contributing to the cause as well. I was thrilled to grab Cartier Martin with my FAAB this week, which shows you how deep a league this is when a phrase like that gets uttered! Here’s hoping Martin puts up some monster numbers against his former team. I’ve gotta say, it’s like a weight has been lifted and now the fight for the top can begin! Well, the top of the basement stairs at least. Let’s see what you’ve got this week JB!
18. Kinsey’s Team (15-29-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
19. Team Tough Guy Town (14-29-2)
FAAB Remaining: $89 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
20. I’m a Currian (14-31-0)
FAAB Remaining: $99 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Remember REL teams, if you are in the league and want your recap in the post, hit me up any time before Tuesday morning. Good luck in week 6!
