Down by the Brook

Over the summer, I sauntered….No, I ran to the NFBKC lobby room like a ravenous wild boar, gorging and feasting on draft after draft after draft. I have a couple of teams in contention, but most of them are S. H. I. T. T. Y. The reason? Probably because I suck, but another reason was that I completely faded Brook Lopez. I’m a stupid, stupid man. He was so cheap in drafts (124th player in NFBKC drafts), and those require two centers. There were good reasons, though. He’s 34 years old and was coming off a season in which he played only 13 games due to a back injury. I thought the end was nigh. He did have two seasons early in his career when he played 5 and 17 games, but outside of that, he’s been a relative iron man. This season, he’s played 59 games and put up top 25-ish numbers. On Sunday, he twisted the knife once again to remind me of my stupidity with cannon ball after cannon ball, as I stand sheepishly on the Brook taking the splashes in the face like a man.

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Midweek Guidance – The Calm Before the Playoff Storm

February 16, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball |

by: PB

Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 18! In this post, I identify widely available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. We’re about two thirds of the way through the weirdest portion of the fantasy season, when fantasy and actual teams are disrupted by trades leading and teams pack on extra rest days for their players leading up to the All-Star Break (ASB). To make it even more strange, Week 18 spans 13-26 February in most formats, which gives us a total of eight game days to consider. Enjoy the next few days of maybe not thinking as much about fantasy hoops (who am I kidding), because for most of you, the chance at postseason glory is right around the corner!

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Midweek Guidance – About Last Night…

February 10, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball | 11 Comments

by: PB

Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 17! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. Rather than publish this before the trading bonanza, I opted to delay the post by a day to account for all of the movement across the league.

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Buy/Sell: Make It Or Break It Time

February 8, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Buy/Sell | 2 Comments

by: Kostas

Regarding last week’s suggestions, Precious Achiuwa has been solid and unspectacular, exactly as advertised and the same can be said for Donte DiVincenzo, who should remain on your roster now that Stephen Curry is out until at least the All-Star Break. On the other hand, Alec Burks had a bad week and lost minutes to Killian Hayes, which is good for basketball in general but bad for his fantasy value moving forward. Finally, on the “Sell” from I hope Dillon Brooks’ suspension for his scuffle with Donovan Mitchell was the push you needed to finally drop him.

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Buy/Sell: Did Someone Bet On JJJ ?

February 1, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Buy/Sell | 8 Comments

by: Kostas

Regarding last week’s suggestions, Jalen Duren had an OK, if uninspiring week, while both Brandon Clarke and Xavier Tilman were serviceable and will continue to be with Steven Adams sidelined. The highlight of the suggestions though has to be Deni Avdija, who took advantage of the increased opportunity in the last four games, despite not starting, and produced a top 35 week. Kristaps Porzingis is back and Daniel Gafford will not be sidelined for long but I would hold onto Avdija to see where his usage is headed.

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Tour de Franz

January 21, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |

by: PhilOssie

The Magic have been everyone’s favorite fantasy outlet this season, from Bol Bol Euro-stepping into monster jams to Paolo Banchero compiling historic rookie numbers. The play of Franz Wagner has by no means been lost in all the excitement, but his games of late have been next level good. Over his last six games, he’s averaging 24 points on 55% shooting, 68.3 TS%, pitching in about 4 boards, 3 assists, a steal and 3 threes per game.

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Midweek Guidance – Live for the Present

January 19, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball | 3 Comments

by: PB

Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 14! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. We’re now at the point in many fantasy leagues when the playoff race and its participants are well defined. For struggling managers, you have to adopt a more aggressive mindset that prioritizes streaming over holding long-term injuries and/or stashing guys who might benefit from a trade. As an example, if you’re in a battle for one of your league’s final playoff spots in a tournament that starts February 27th (Week 19), there’s not much use in holding Devin Vassell when he might be ready to play after the All-Star Break. He’ll hurt you in the interim by occupying a valuable IL slot, and will likely miss games even after he returns as the Spurs adopt a cautious (tanking) mindset. I’ll give one more example: Isaiah Jackson. Is it worth holding him just in case Myles Turner gets traded if you’re taking L’s in the meantime? Probably not. Time to move on and free up that spot for guys that can help you right now.

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Wolves get a case of Ingles

December 31, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |

by: PhilOssie

It was tough to enjoy watching my Ducks eek out the Holiday Bowl Wednesday because every commercial break was chock full of warnings about shingles. I have never known anyone in my life getting shingles, and after that I’m convinced all of us are getting it next year.

On Friday night, however, Minnesota had to deal with a case of the non-viral irritation known as Ingles: Joe Ingles. [Wow, Phil, way to send off 2022 with the oddest lede/transition yet.] In his sixth game back from injury, Ingles played a season-high 25 minutes and banked 14 points (5-9 FG, 4-7 3pt), 5 boards and 10 assists, and was a major factor for the Bucks in the second half, as Milwaukee pulled away from Minnesota in a 123-114 win. Ingles probably won’t garner enough minutes when Jrue Holiday and Middleton play, but is worth adding to the streamer board as needed.

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Would “The Joker” Be Crowned “King”?

December 29, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |

by: John Frascella

I feel like Scottie Pippen under the shadow of Michael Jordan’s greatness. I feel like John Stockton, always having to sacrifice for Karl Malone to finish the play and get the glory. I mean seriously… having the NBA Wednesday recap after Luka Doncic’s historic Tuesday night feels like ordering a bacon cheeseburger and getting lettuce on a piece of bread.

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Of Course a Christian is the Lede for Christmas

December 26, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 2 Comments

by: Son

I may not be the most religious of men, but I do believe in a higher power and understand the significance of the Christmas day holiday. Many view it as a day of giving thanks, and participate in the commercialization of the holiday without understanding the true significance of the day. Christmas is the day Jesus Christ was born. The same Jesus Christ who died later for the sins of man, then was reborn three days later. Christian Wood has traversed that birth/death/ressurection story many times in his career. Undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, he latched on with the 76ers, then went to the G League, returned to the league with the Hornets, then went back to the G League. He got another chance with the Bucks then went down to the G League once again. In 2019, the Pelicans gave him another shot and, while he has never sniffed the G League again, he went to the Pistons and Rockets before ending up with the Mavericks this season. But the story doesn’t end there. He was coming off the bench and playing fewer than 30 minutes a game in the early part of the season, but then injuries struck the front court and he started the last four games. So, it’s only fitting, that on Christmas, this Christian balled out:

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To King James go the spoils

December 17, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |

by: PhilOssie

I was prepared to lead this Friday Night Recap with a fancy take on Aaron Gordon, but King James had other plans. With Anthony Davis sitting the second half with a bum foot in the Lakers-Nuggets game, Denver had a double-digit third quarter lead and were cruising to a road win. Then LeBron James stepped into the center spot and ran circles around Nikola Jokic and friends, finishing with 30 points (13-20 FG, 1-4 3pt, 3-4 FT), 9 boards, 4 dimes and 2 steals along with a +26 in the 126-108 victory.

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Midweek Guidance – Donte’s Inferno

December 15, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball | 3 Comments

by: PB

Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week Nine! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. After a placid start to the week, Stephen Curry sustained a shoulder injury late in the Warriors’ Wednesday-night game. While I hope this doesn’t amount to anything serious for Steph, the production vacuum that results from him potentially missing multiple games cannot be overlooked. In other news, those of you who exercised patience with rookie centers Jalen Duren and Walker Kessler are being rewarded of late. Hopefully you were all able to snag one of them before the gold rush.

Please, blog, may I have some more?