Rankings, Coalescing! Top 75 For 2016-17 Fantasy Basketball

August 30, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 56 Comments

It’s all starting to come together!

50-75 always feels like that nebulous range where we get out of the sure things and start veering into the mess that is the sleeper-range, but don’t want to go too nuts for your guys. There’s just a little too much value on the table to reach for a potential superstar like Patrick Patterson! Hah, I keed, but you know what I mean.

Hopefully you’ve checked out my Top-10, Top-25 and Top-50 as we start getting into the late-middle rounds. Things are starting to get hairier in the comments too! But give me all your thoughts and quibbles you have, because I’m just one idiot that gets to pose my thoughts to the smart collective. Together as a think tank, Razzball Basketball is going to own the hoops-o-sphere! Just need to pay more attention when we play stupid Chris Liss in the Yahoo F&F Final… Ugh! Here’s the Top 75 for the 2016-17 Fantasy Basketball Season:

(you can also put your quibbles with my ranks to the test in the 2016-17 Razzball Basketball RCL Leagues, now open and 100% free to join, start a league and sign up now!)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Playoffs?! What We’ve Learned So Far

May 6, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 28 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

The first round of the NBA Playoffs wrapped up on Sunday, with one awful Game 7 that I think everyone saw coming (I at least figured it was a blowout) and one fantastic Game 7 that seemed like a blowout early on, only to become a thriller. Paul George isn’t elite! Oh no, we’re STILL coming back to that one?!

While playoff hoops means very little to the fantasy discussion, there are some little nuggets (no, not Nate Robinson) that can help point us to some sneaky values in the subsequent season’s fantasy draft. I’m thinking of Draymond Green in the 13-14 playoffs going 11.9/8.3/2.9/1.7/1.7 before his breakout, Otto Porter, etc. But as we’ve progressed to a few games in the Second Round, there really ain’t that much going on anymore for fantasy purposes. To be completely honest – and I know it might be sacrosanct – I don’t watch a ton of playoff hoops, especially early. I’m not a fan of a team anymore, it’s not fantasy, and I admittedly get a little fatigued. It’s a long season! But ya know – overall – basketball is awesome! And there were a few takeaways that I think could be applicable to 16-17. Here’s a few interesting notes from NBA Playoffs so far:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Patience Is An Andrew …and the 7 Ahead

November 9, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 190 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

When you go out on a limb on a guy and it starts slow, at least I can pull the “it’s a long season” card. Or the “his back has been a little spasmy” card. Hah, little Pod joke there…

I gotta say, I love you commenters here on Razzball. A lot of Andrew Wiggins frustration has been thrown around, like “he single-handedly killed my FG%”, and “he’s why I started 1-8”, and “Wiggins must be dating yet another one of those Kardashians”. But I was really honored to say almost all of the vitriol wasn’t at me. Hell, I was expecting to be served on the coals for that one! Or some sort of cliche that works… Maybe it was out of the decency of your hearts since I obviously own him on several teams with this rank. I got way more hate for saying Nate Robinson was a good opening night streamer/last draft pick in 12ers! But like the worst drunken one night stand in history, I got rid of Nate about 4 or 5 minutes in. While with Wiggins, I’m entrenched in a life-long relationship. Hope my wife isn’t reading this! After a really rocky start, Wiggins finally looked like the breakout talent I was hoping for on Saturday night against the Bulls, going 31/3/2/0/1 with only 1 TO and hit 4 treys. Of course it wouldn’t be a pristine line, but then again what relationship is suddenly perfect?! Except my marriage of course! Wiggy still shot like poo (11-27) and had an odd 5-10 FT game. He’s usually gonna be a high-volume 80% guy from the stripe, plus he hit 4-5 from deep, so there’s still hope the FG% climbs as his bum back gets healthier and he shoots his way out of it. Of course you can point to Kevin Martin not playing (personal) for the burst in treys, but big picture we still think K-Mart gets moved. Even with K-Mart, they’re using him as a 6th man and Wiggy is the only real perimeter option in the starting 5 anyway. I also think with a little more health, he’ll play more aggressive on D. The one swat he had was a legit one, not a lazy strip that’s scored a block, WHICH STILL FRUSTRATES ME! The buy low window is closing rapidly, so if you’re still hoping to buy in on Wiggy, I’d wait until tonight and see if he has another rough shooting game before opening the floodgates. If you own Wiggy, definitely hold, particularly with the Wolves playing 5 games this week. Here’s what else went down over the weekend in NBA action, plus The 7 Ahead for week 3:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

D-Rose Unwilted

November 6, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 258 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

It just took prime time to rejuvenate Derrick Rose! After an utterly atrocious outing against the Hornets on Tuesday – and three straight games of single-digit scoring – it certainly looked like the injuries had maybe made Rose a below-average PG… I just edited out about 3 flower puns from this open, NO ONE IS READING FOR BOTANY OR WHATEVER THE WORD IS FOR FLOWER-STUFF! Is it horticulture? SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY! That’s me yelling at myself. And also venting some anger, because I wanted him to be poopy for one more week as I face him in REL, so of course he would have by far his best game of the season last night. Rose looked pretty spry out there, shooting 12-25 for a nice popcorn 29/5/7 stat line. But as always, his lines have thorny stems supporting the bloom (AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!), as he didn’t notch a trey or steal. He’s got no treys and only two swipes though 6 games now. Even Jarrett Jack is like, “is this really an NBA PG?!” At the very least, Rose is keeping the TO in check and he looked pretty healthy last night. I think he’s still hovering in that 80-100 range that he fell in ADP, but if anyone would buy last night’s game as he’s back to vintage Rose, you’re obviously selling. I actually saw him dropped in an RCL, and I’m pending my waiver claim. Of course I won’t get him at my #6 spot, and of course I could use PG depth. I’ve luckily avoided Rose the past half-decade, but now my frustration with him is reaching Nate Robinson levels. Waived like three days after being the opening night starter?! Or maybe it’s a Pelicans issue, THE WORST RUN NBA FRANCHISE! Aight, aight, I’ve taken my diazepam, I’m ready to mellow. Thankfully NO didn’t play last night, or else I mighta needed to double my dosage… Here’s what else went down yesterday in fantasy hoops action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Starvin For Better Decisions! …and the 7 Ahead

November 2, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 154 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

So I Googled “crisis of leadership” because, well, it’s been a pretty annoying ride for NBA franchises in Charlotte since the 90s. According to never-wrong Wikipedia, the term was coined about something with Trotsky and Communism, I ain’t goin’ there! It’s been well-documented and scrutinized through the years, but Charlotte certainly seems to make odd decisions behind Michael Jordan. And before that, they moved to New Orleans, brought in an expansion team called “The Bobcats” (????@#?#$%@#%), and drafted Sean May.

While Charlotte’s follies could be it’s own dedicated article, I’m just going to talk about the planning behind PF/C minutes for 15-16.

TANGENT! Speaking of planning, we’re debuting a new part of Monday daily notes this season. The 7 Ahead! After wrapping up the standard daily notes from the weekend, at the bottom will be a weekly planner for the upcoming 7 nights of NBA action. Let me know if you like it! And as always, add any suggestions you commenters have for The 7 Ahead moving forward. If you don’t like it, ya know, not wanting to read such a long effin’ blog post when you’ve got a case of the Mudiays, just let me know!

FOCUS! So the Hornets draft Frank Kaminsky 9th in the draft, passing on in-state product Justise Winslow (who looks great in early run for the Heat) and the undeniably awesome Myles Turner. Part of the argument seemed to be NBA-readiness. But instead of sticking with the decision, or continuing to play Cody Zeller, another high-draft pick, they instead come out and start Starvin Marvin Williams. I mean, if you’re just going to take a no-upside PF/C for bench depth, why not go pure upside of my boy Kelly Oubre?!?! Such a wasted pick and poor planning for the rotation, as now Marvin is running away with the role with a fantastic start to 15-16. Opening the season with back-to-back dubdubs, Marvin went 15/5/1 with 3 blocks and 5 treys last night. They need some speed on D and a perimeter player to compliment Al “slow feet” Jefferson, and it’s put Marvin clearly in the ThrAGNOF category. The blocks were a little fluky, but I don’t think the minutes are. He’s surged to 34% owned which seems a smidge high, but on low-schedule nights, he’ll be a frequent streaming target of mine. And if I sounded unnecessarily bitter, it’s because I had him as a $1 REL keeper and let him walk. Friggin’ Hornets. What a waste of draft picks only to play the low-paid vet… Here’s what else happened over the weekend in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

180 Degree Turner

October 30, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 228 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Look, I’m only human. I have urges. I can’t help the way my brain chemistry works. I try my best to fight it, to stay logical, to be sure and stay wrapped up… But I can get caught in the rookie nookie like anyone!

After a DNP-CD on opening night, of course I was a little worried about Myles Turner‘s role with the Pacers moving forward, especially after being so high in the green with his rank that Ruby Rhod was even speechless…. He did have a little bit of a bum ankle Wednesday night, but dressed for the game and didn’t get off the bench. And last night, I had this huge emission of relief when I saw Turner get into the game in the first wave of subs in the 1st quarter. It felt like a sneeze only better! Then that feeling of a sneeze turned into an epic euphoric trip that was slightly reminiscent of a KCP-high. Turner looked absolutely unbelievable, well beyond the numbers on the stat sheet. His line ended up 4-6 FG (0-2 FT) 8/4/0/2/1 in 18 minutes with 4 fouls, so it wasn’t exactly a flashy debut on paper. But he’s a better FT shooter, a few fouls were ticky-tacky as the refs were calling it tight all night, and he is his own offense. Was hitting jumpers from deep mid-range in isolation, had no hesitation, looked 100% confident and in control, and had a second monster block called off due to a baby nudge right before it went up. He was the #1 option with the second unit, and while Ian Mahinmi is playing well (11/9 with a block last night – maintaining usability), I think Turner could easily fit with the starters. They want to push the NBA lead for pace, he can hit quick jumpers, and is big and fundamental enough to man the paint, both on O and D. Dude is biggggggg. Listed at 240, but ain’t no way! I’m 240 and 6’7, and he looks way bigger than me with 4 inches! Jordan Hill started last night for the matchup against the big Grizzlies, but didn’t look special at all. There will still be some easing in, but Turner should leap frog Hill sooner than later, and play C minutes down the stretch if there’s worries about Mahinmi’s FT shooting. The line didn’t jump off the page unlike his play that jumped off the screen, so now is the time to shoot the buy lows and hope Turner’s owners didn’t see the debut. Here’s what else happened last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

C.J. Stands For “Calm The Juck Down!”

October 29, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 129 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Flashy player. Ridiculous opportunity. Buzzy preseason. A lot of times it ends up fizzling out, sometimes it works out OK, and one time it’s C.J. McCollum.

C.J. went absolutely bonkers in his 15-16 debut, hitting 14-22 from the field including 6-9 3PTM for 37/6/1/1/0 and no TO. Video game numbers! So he’s a shooter, and he does what NBA shooters do – keeps draining em when they hot! But I think we need to take a step back and consider a few things: Other than massive Pts and treys it was fairly empty. This was against the Pelicans, who without Brow, might look worse than the Sixers; they look horrific. And the third thing that no one seemed to mention while anointing McCollum the next big thing in combo guards this preseason – he’s got a pretty extensive injury history. He’s at the pinnacle of a sell high for me. Do I think he’ll be hot garbage all the sudden? Of course not. But do I think he scores 37 again this year? I don’t. Well, unless they faced the Pelicans every night… I’d shop around in the 40-50 range of ADP and see if you can get lucky. As with all fantasy takeaways off one game, it’s always good to keep from overreacting. Compared to fantasy football, we’re at the same point as about 9 minutes into the first quarter of week 1. Still a long way to go. Here’s what else went down during the first full slate of fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Furrowed Brow

October 27, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 230 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

I’m pretty sure Stephen Curry looks at fantasy ADPs. He’s like, “I’m not a runaway consensus #1, and this labradoodle Brow IS?!”

Of course I started writing this open when Anthony Davis was 1-16, then he got red hot AND MADE TWO IN A ROW! Somebody cool him off, he’s NBA Jam on fire! Brow was more uncomfortable with the ball in his hands than watching Scary Movie 2 with your parents last night, wrapping up with a 4-20 FG outing. Might be the worst reference to 420 I’ve ever seen! 10-15 FT helped salvage some points – and he got his 3 swats – but 18/6/2/0/3 with 5 TO and a deathstroke to your FG% is not what the #1 pick ordered. Curry on the other hand treated New Orleans like Hurricane Katrina! Too rough? Fine, then he treated them like BP… Yikes, Nawleans has had a rough ride. Then their NBA team has everyone get hurt! Steph just straight whipped it out (I mean his MVP trophy!) and pummeled the Pelicans and their awful PG for 40/6/7/2/0 on 14-26 FG (5-12 3PTM 7-7 FT). Hey, it’s opening night, and the Warriors are phenomenal at disrupting big men. And the Pelicans had all their PG minutes played by guys on the street a week ago. Hopefully you own Curry in a league or two, and I’m literally about to spam Brow owners as hard as LinkedIn emails. Seriously, I don’t care if some recruiter looked at my profile, I don’t need an email on that ish! No, no, blurb on Ish Smith is later… What an awful Pelicans team… Here’s what else went down on NBA’s opening night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

It All Starts Here Baby!

October 27, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 111 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

So I think I used that title a couple of years ago in the season intro post, did something similar last year, and was thinking of something new this season… But F it! I’m too excited, IT ALL STARTS HERE BABY!

The 2015-16 season starts tonight, with the Pistons going at the Hawks, Pelicans going at the champ Warriors, and the bigun – Cavs at Bulls. A very nice slate to kick it off, but I wanted Nets at 76ers! That’s a premiere matchup right there! All of our hopes and dreams for the year start this evening (hyperbole police are after me!), with my optimism for an REL title, everyone’s yearning for the RCL title, and my year-long nervousness my ranks look good in April. Would it be narcissistic if I win the RCL title to put myself in the RCL hall of fame?! It would be like Heisman awarding himself the first Heisman! Or something like that… I’m all talk though, we all know Slim is going to be in the top-10 yet again with me lower on the master table in disdain…

If you missed it yesterday afternoon, our 15-16 lineup features several awesome new writers and you can check out our weekly schedule of content for the season. The size of that hyperlink mimics my excitement for our articles this year! Trust me, I’m not compensating for something…

And I’d like to thank all of you out there in Razzball Nation for bringing legitimacy to the phrase/cliche I’ve used on the kickoff post for three straight years: 15-16 is going to be our biggest year yet! We’ve grown a ton, and I couldn’t be more thankful to you readers and commenters. Can’t wait for opening tip… LET’S GET THIS GOIN’! Here’s a few thoughts on the opening night matchups:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Pelicans PG Situation Rekes

October 22, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 105 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Yikes. After an injury-plagued 14-15 season where virtually every starter missed a good chunk of time, the injury bug hath reared it’s ugly head yet again for the Pelicans. I need comfort! Time to shame eat 50 beignets!

After Jrue Holiday‘s slow recovery from another stress reaction in his leg, the Pelicans plan to limit him to 15 minutes a game until January and sit him on back-to-backs. Then Norris Cole suffered a high-ankle sprain a little over a week ago, and given an “up to 6 weeks” timetable. And right when the Tyreke Evans buzz couldn’t get louder, we get hit with news on The Blindside (starring Sandra Bullock) that he had arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks. The Pelicans need a new conditioning staff! Hopefully this gets all the injuries out of the team’s system and we see 82 games of Brow… Anyway, the Pelicans signed Nate Robinson late last week, and all the sudden he’s looking at starting minutes to open the season – starting when Jrue sits and playing a ton off the bench after Jrue’s 15 allotted minutes. Lord help me, but I actually drafted him in the JB vs. Slim RCL last night… All he needs to do is put it within 15 feet of Brow and he could fall into 5 assists with the upside for a few 3s and some points with low TO (18 Pts last night, but 0 AST and 4 TO – had 9 dimes previous 2 games with only 3 TO, TO isn’t usually an issue). It’s like Jose Calderon, but with a few more minutes. Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth a little with that comp though… Here’s what else has gone down over the past few days in preseason action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

IT2/3 Serves Up A Full Helping!

April 9, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 27 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Fresh off surviving the 2014-15 Razzies with his nomination for worst coach, Brad Stevens only kinda-sorta did something right last night… Yo Brad, how about you have Marcus Smart take some other shots than 3s (1-5 FG with 1-4 3PTM last night)?!

But despite the Celtics’ horrific mismanaging of Smart, Stevens did run Isaiah Thomas a whopping one-more-minute than Smart, and IT2/3 went nuts for 34/3/6 on 10-17 FG (4-8 3PTM 10-11 FT). In a 10-point win, you don’t run IT2/3 over 30 minutes with a +35?! Only got to 29:47 last night, but you’ll take it when he’s at at least 23 Pts, 2 treys and 4 3PTM the past three games. Those are the floors! Other than the %s (he is shooting a ton more though), IT2/3 has really improved since changing into green, and I think that slow start in Phoenix might make him a value next year. IT2/3, the Hoppin’ Leprechaun! That might have to be his full official Razzball nickname… Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

When Shooters Shoot, Dimers Dime!

March 18, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 30 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Wow, big upset last night as the Pistons beat the Gizz 105-95. I had “Grizz” typoed but laughed too hard to fix it…

And leading the way in running the Gizz out of Detroit was Reggie Jackson‘s Goromotaro! Well, not really, 20/20 in Pts/Dimes doesn’t have an official Razzball name… 20 dimes is a double dimebag though! Wait, no one gets those, it goes up to a quarter… Can’t really complain that R-Jax didn’t get to 25 assists, but yeah, focus JB! I wonder what could’ve flared up my ADD!

With my boyfriend Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hitting so many shots (not doing much else though in a 24/0/1/0/0 line), making 10-16 FG and scoring 16 Pts in the 3rd quarter, R-Jax piled up a ton of dimes on jumpers. In the 3rd alone he had 6 dimes on 20+ foot FGM – 4 to KCP. Helps when your fellow shooters are hot! Just ask Stephen Curry how his season is going… R-Jax has certainly had his ups and downs, and didn’t even have a single assist against the Jazz on Saturday! I wanna say it was all due to Rudy Gobert, but if he was D-ing up R-Jax then Dante Exum would be on Andre Drummond! I’m not depending on high-volume dimes here on out, but when R-Jax is in his lows, remember he was a pickup for a lot of his owners. So just thank your lucky stars for last night and enjoy the wave without putting the R-Jax on the pedestal, the underlining message from The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Or else you let the Gizz win! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?