2017 Cleveland Cavaliers Preview

September 24, 2017 | Team Previews | 4 Comments

I can not wait for the Cleveland Lebrons to start the season. There is going to be so much pettiness, so much drama, so much F U-ness, and….so many wins. The Lebrons went 35-47 his rookie year. The next year they improved to 42-40. Those were the only years the Lebrons did not make the playoffs. Including those two years, the Lebrons went 349-225 (61% win percentage) with two 60+ win seasons and two 50 win seasons. Then, the Decision happened. The Cavaliers proceeded to go 97-215 (31% win percentage) with only one season above 30 wins. When Lebron returned, 161-85 (65% win percentage) with three seasons above 50 wins and the team’s first NBA Championship. I truly believe that this is Lebron’s last season in Cleveland. Remember this? I remember Lebron saying, “Even my wife was like, my momma and my wife was like, ‘I’m not with that.’ My mom was definitely like, ‘[expletive] that, we ain’t going back.“As I said on the pod, the only way Lebron returns to Cleveland is if Dan Gilbert sells him the team. As a result, he’s going balls to the wall this season. That Brooklyn pick? Lebron is going to use that to get someone. He’s pushing all the chips into the middle of the table to make one final last run. Even if management doesn’t sign off trading the pick, Lebron will morph into Kayser Soze….

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The Abode

June 4, 2017 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 10 Comments

by: Son

Welcome back to The Abode. If you missed the genesis, click here.

After a blowout-infested playoffs, the hype leading up to Warriors/Cavs III in the NBA Finals almost reached Mayweather/Pacquiao levels. Almost. Nothing will surpass the chicanery of Mayweather/Pac, though. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey would’ve been most impressed. Anyways, storylines and narratives were tossed around and many thought (perhaps wished?) that a heated, epic Finals would be showcased.

Game 1. Warriors 113. Cavs 91. The Cavs had 20 turnovers and the Warriors made 15 more field goals on 20 more attempts.

The Warriors Voltron’d up, while the Cavs were a bunch of scurrying ants trying to escape the ray of death from the magnifying glass of a nine-year old.

The Cavs did not panic, though, and Game 2 was an epic battle for two and a half quarters.

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Swing Lowry, Sweet Chariot

February 28, 2017 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 64 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

…comin’ for to carry me OUT of my fantasy playoffs! Brutal news yesterday that Kyle Lowry has to undergo surgery on his right wrist – his shooting wrist – to remove some loose bodies. Should’ve kept those bodies in a well, like Buffalo Bill! “It puts the lotion on the skin!” Without an IL spot, you’re cutting him in your redraft leagues, even with the prospect he gets a couple games in right before the playoffs. The timeline is “hopeful to return in 4-5 weeks”, which would put us in early April. Plus he’s a shooter, and gonna have a rusty wrist. Hah, that sounds like a sex thing… Moving on!

In his place, it’s time for the Cojo mojo! 11/1/6/3/0 then 14/1/6/1/0 over the weekend for Cory Joseph, with only 2 combined TO, showing what kind of sexy roto-asset he could be. But thennnnn, struggled last night – as did the Raps as a while – to knock off the Poppycockers in a 1-point win, going 6/3/4/2/0 with 2 TO. Still got 33:30 minutes, but he’s more in the fringy starting PG class (your Brogdon, McConnell, et ceteras) than in the most-own zone. You could say he’s in the friendzone. Although dudes don’t really have a friendzone, it’s only chicks that apply that logic. The friendzone is a very sexist area! After this dunk in the 2014 Western Conference Finals (back when he was on my REL team), Cojo could have his way with me any time he wanted!

Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

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Daily Notes: Thursday Night Recap

February 10, 2017 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 26 Comments

by: Adam

I was incredibly lazy with the title today, but honestly, no performances stuck out to me last night. Westbrook and Harden did their thing, but they basically hit their averages. The Cavaliers were completely gassed heading into OKC. The Mavs beat the Jazz in OT, but come on, Dallas isn’t exactly relevant at the moment… The wunderkind Yogi Ferrell, didn’t exactly make a huge splash this game either. Overall, it was a pretty chill night in the association. That being said, let’s have some notes!

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The Numbers Game – Wingmen

January 5, 2017 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 5 Comments

by: JG

Happy 2017 to everyone! Hopefully, you all had a good holiday break and enjoyed a great slate of games. As for this segment, it’s a new year but it’s somewhat of the same old. We continue where we left off. In the last installment, we took a look at the best teams to target for marksmen shooting guards. Let’s hop on over to a very similar and often tagged with the same position eligibility–the SF or the wingmen. Small forwards tend to be the defender against the opposing teams best back court player during key parts of a game. Think Kawhi Leonard and Lebron James. For most of us, the term wingman has a very different meaning but whether it’s used for social events or basketball, they tend to have the backs of their teammate(s).

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Jimmy Butler Trying To Be MJ In Scottie Pippen’s Body

January 3, 2017 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 39 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

So I’m not a basketball historian, and I’m still a young pup. I barely remember the Bulls glory years – I was in elementary school when they won titles 4-6 (yikes, aging the crap outta myself), but I do vividly remember the Byron Russell push-off and I cherished my Michael Jordan cards. I still have a bunch of em! This one is still in a nice case and one of my favorites… Anyway, when I saw Jimmy Butler go off for 52/12/6/3/1 last night, I was about to make all sorts of tongue-and-cheek MJ parallels…

Got the same reverse layup and everything! But then it dawned on me… Butler is more like Scottie Pippen if there was no Jordan. Pippen’s best season was 93-94, unsurprisingly the year without MJ, and went 22.0/8.7/5.6/2.9/0.8 on 49% shooting with 0.9 treys. So far this year, J Buckets is 25.3/6.8/4.4/1.7/0.3 on 46% shooting with 1.1 treys. While Pippen was obviously one of the best defensive players of his generation, Butler is a much better FT shooter and gets to the line more. But the rest is really close, and I thought kinda interesting food for thought. So the answer for the Bulls is simple – find a Michael Jordan for Buckets to play next to! I’m a problem-solver – if only every team’s issue in the NBA was this easy! Hah! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

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Post Xmas Wire Update!

December 28, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 15 Comments

by: Adam

Happy Belated Holidays everyone! Not a lot has changed on the waiver wire this week, but here is the updated list, and I’d love to answer your pickup/drop questions below! Just for the record, the Xmas day games were fabulous this year, and the Richard Jefferson poster made my day. Ok, without further ado, the updated waiver pickups for the week!

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THANK YOU KYRIE!!!!

December 26, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 6 Comments

by: Peter Kap

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, Christmas Day is a great day for basketball fans. With the exception of the shortened 1998 lockout season, games have been played on Christmas Day every year since 1947 and often feature the best of the best. And this year was no exception.

We saw a rematch of the NBA Finals, a battle for Los Angeles, and a matchup of exciting young players between Minnesota and OKC.

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Take A Trip To Waiters Island …And The 7 Ahead, Week 6

November 27, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 19 Comments

by: M@

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(Photo: The Ringer)

I remember last summer hearing Zach Lowe of ESPN talk about Dion Waiters like he was the missing ingredient in making a delectable dish, like the blueberries needed in blueberry cobbler. Ok, not the blueberry, but making the baking powder? ‘Waiters Island’ was the term, and he was fully on board.

I thought he was crazy. And I love what Zach Lowe does.

Fast forward to the 2016-2017 season and Waiters was essentially an afterthought as he joined his new team in South Beach. I won’t say that he took his talents there, like the rest of the world has at some point, but let’s not forget that this guy was the 4th overall pick in the NBA Draft; dude can hoop. His ‘hero ball’ mentality and lack of interest in playing defense, you know, half of the entire game, makes him hard to watch sometimes, and is a large reason why he’s now on his third team in six years. That’s a rare feat for a #4 pick that’s averaging 12.9/2.6/2.5 for his career. We’re not talking Chris Paul here, but we’re also not talking Marcus Fizer. Yet he seems to be settling in nicely for the Miami Rileys.

And now he gets four games this week…but let’s be clear, with the way he’s playing he deserves more than just a streamer nod. This dude should be owned at a much higher rate than 34%. GO GET HIM!

Here are the 7 Ahead for Week 6!

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LeBron James And Posse Do It Again

November 16, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 28 Comments

by: Peter Kap

Coming off of Cleveland’s championship, LeBron James has led the Cavaliers to a 9-1 start. It looks like there hasn’t been a championship lay-off at all. James finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 28 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds. He’s off to an incredible start. He may be rested down the stretch, if the Cavs continue their winning ways, but for now enjoy the ride.

It was a short slate of games on Tuesday so let’s get right to it:

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Making It RainbOlapio! …and the 7 Ahead

March 21, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 87 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Welcome to the semis! Hopefully your week 1 matchup of the playoffs didn’t go as badly as most of mine… And with a mix of my awful bracket in the Razzball Bracket Challenge, who’s ready for baseball season?! Haha, I keed, I’m still alive in a few leagues and still have my-Heels-as-champ pick alive and well.

And just like the Hoosiers – one of virtually all the teams in the Sweet Sixteen I got wrong – Victor Oladipo went ham over the weekend, including living up the RainbOladipo nickname for 45/5/3/3/2 against the Cavs Friday night. Shot an unreal 16-22 FG including banging 6 treys. With a game like that, I would’ve expected the Magic to BEAT the Cavs! But then again, they’re coached by Scott Skiles… SKIIIIIIIILES! Oladipo kept it up last night for 21/6/3/0/2, giving him 7 straight games with blocks and multi-blocks in the last 4. Better shot blocker than Serge right now! In per-game, Oladipo is still only ranked 45th (42nd in total) according to BBMonster, so he’s still finishing right at my pre-season rank. If only this team was coached by someone else, I would be going Eric Bledsoe-nuts for this guy in my 16-17 ranks. Scott Skiles – ruining basketball one player at a time… Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action, plus The 7 Ahead for week 20 and the semi-finals of standard league H2H playoffs:

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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?