82 Up, 82 Down

April 16, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 13 Comments

The 2014-15 Fantasy Basketball season is officially in the books! But we won’t be slowing down too much, with a lot of great off-season content planned and my Way Too Early Ranks for 2015-16 coming in a few weeks…

In 14-15 we had ups (#OccupyDraymondGreen baby!), we’ve had downs (cough, MCW, cough), but what matters most is ~~we had fun~~ I finished better than Slim in the REL league!

And one of the highest of highs from last night was James Harden‘s triple double, going 16/11/10/1/1 in only 27 minutes against the Jazz. Only took 8 shots! That’s what Mel Gibson tried to tell the police anyway… 3-8 FG, 2-5 3PTM, and more of that oh-so-sweet FT volume hitting 8-8 freebies. Assists, rebounds and steals all went up this season, along with the obvious scoring and he was at a career best 8.8-10.2 FT a game entering last night. The TO are brutal, but he also chipped in a career best 0.7 blocks in an absolutely elite year. So I can say with pretty good confidence he’ll be my #1 player for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball season. Was durable (81 games this season, 73+ the past 3 years), consistent, and I just love mustache rides. Take me to the promised land in 15-16, Mr. Beard! Here’s what else went down on the final night of 2014-15 Fantasy Basketball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Boston Clam Crowder Sinks A Winnah!

April 15, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 14 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

How did the Celtics make the playoffs?! I mean, I know it’s the East, but sheesh Brad Stevens can grind my gears! I feel like slamming him in my Peter Griffin voice!

And sinking the game-winner for the Quahog Celtics was Jae Crowder, the unlikely hero in only 21 minutes off the bench. 9/4/0/2/0 last night, and if only style points helped your fantasy line! Hah, look at Tyler Hansbrough put his hands on his head… Wasn’t bad defense though! Boston Clam Crowder just going ham… Can you have ham in clam chowdah? I somehow doubt it… This game as a whole was pretty boring for fantasy, with no one scoring over 16 Pts. And Stevens said he’s going to run the C’s like a bad chowder – thin – tonight in the season finale with the #7 seed locked up. So adios Celtics muchachos! Unlike my hummin’ fantasy baseball pitching staffs – it’s time to move away from the Greene. Here’s what else happened last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Trade Deadline LIVE POST!

February 19, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 153 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

[We’ve got the Trade Deadline Podcast up! Slim and I react to all this hooblah as this post continues to be updated – you can find the Pod the post below this one as well as that link.]

Razzball Nation!

The Trade Deadline is nigh, which is to say, soon. Can I trade the start of this open with a different one…? “Did you hear the one about how the Hawks got nothing for the broke ass of Josh Smith last trade deadline?!” Imagine the Hawks with a lottery pick as well… I guess as fortune-tellers, they knew they didn’t need anything for Smoove!

The 2015 NBA Trade Deadline will pass at 3:00 PM EST, and up until the closing moments, I’ll be updating this post as each trade moves across my virtual news desk. Fantasy spins galore! That’s the younger sister of Pussy Galore… So be sure to constantly ping that refresh like Goldfinger on Kitco! Here’s what’s gone down so far:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Will You Marry Me, DeMarre?

December 11, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 66 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

I’ve got the ring in the cake. The scoreboard operator has got it cued up for the 2nd quarter under-8 timeout. The plane with some really carcinogenic toxins is ready to pollute the atmosphere in a “Will U Marry Me?” loopy smokestream.

An unsung contributor this year, DeMarre Carroll racked up another under-the-radar line last night for 14 Pts, 11 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 3PTM, and a partridge in a pear tree! No TO, and other than blocks really hits all the Silver Bells and whistles. Hitting a career best 1.6 treys a game, it’s a Christmas miracle his FG% is at 46%. The dimes don’t do much either, but there’s no reason not to to Sleigh Ride him while he’s hitting most of the cats this hard. Even a Silent Night or two won’t scare me away, and at only 61% ownership in Yahoo, I feel like there’s still a lot of leagues where he could bring Joy to the World. So sing a holiday carol for DeMarre, and even though nothing is too sexy, I felt like I needed Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (full disclosure, I had to look up a list of Christmas songs for this bit, I’m such a Grinch). Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Wing Specials: Butler From Another Mother – This Time, Rasual Did It

December 8, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 19 Comments

by: Pete Nice

I kept telling you that was OK to pick up Rasual Butler while he was producing, but certain fantasy sites that sound like “drive-thru” and “he is Alex Len” insisted that he wouldn’t keep it going. He’s washed up, they said. There’s no minutes for him, they said.

Now that he’s averaged 28 mpg and 18.8 ppg over his last four, and shot 54 percent from downtown over that span, the sites that shall remain nameless (you probably use them every day) say oh yeah, maybe you better claim him off waivers. Same old over-the-top song-and-dance they’ve been doing all year.

(One post in the site that sounds like “Ragu” said Jerami Grant is “not very good at basketball,” even though he is in the NBA, and he is getting minutes every game. Nevermind that he can’t hit a shot from 4 feet out, he is athletic and gets stats for deep leaguers.)

My advice is to have fun playing fantasy. Don’t stress about it too much. Unless you have $100 invested in a league or a bad haircut wager on the line, which in that case go ahead and obsess over Rasual Butler. Otherwise, add and ride him while he’s hot.

Please, blog, may I have some more?