Sleepers. Breakouts. Busts. Bargains. Overrated. Underrated. That’s about all we think about in the weeks (months, for many of us) leading up to the fantasy NBA season. Even if your methods are sound, you’re not going to be right about all of them. Of course, that’s mainly due to injuries that directly affected the number of games played or indirectly affected a player’s role. But despite that, I thought it would be fun to review the season’s biggest overachievers and underachievers. Pat yourself on the back for good ones. Know that we feel your pain caused by the bad ones.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Russell Westbrook
Fantasy Basketball: It’s A Young Man’s Game
March 30, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |by: Kevin
Well, here we are. Hopefully, you guys are all wrapping up successful fantasy seasons, heading into the weekend leading your championship matchups. Beyond the silly season effect, winning in fantasy basketball can be a game of timing and patience. If you were patient with the rough start of future rookie of the year runner up, Trae Young, you’ve been rewarded with a near top 50 player over the last month and shockingly, a top 10 player over the last week. If you held Trae and started him here, you’re probably doing well this postseason.
Trae Young
| FG | FT | 3PT | Points | Reb | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TO |
| 10/25 | 5/5 | 1/8 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
While not very efficient, Trae continued to keep the haters at bay and was in the ballpark of messing around. The Hawks have one more game this Sunday, which should be a nice cherry on top for the surging Young.
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Fantasy Basketball: Bruno Went Caboclo
March 26, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 6 Commentsby: Son
The first time someone called me loco, I knew exactly what it meant without knowing what it meant. It’s just one of those words. The funny thing about the word is that it’s derogatory in nature, but is often used in a flattering context. Loco means crazy in Spanish. “He went loco” could mean: he literally lost his mind or he did something at the highest level possible. Well, what do you think Bruno went Caboclo means?
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4/7 | 8/13 | 4/4 |
Got the start and played 35 minutes. Bruno had started nine of the last 11 games prior to last night, so he’s been getting the run. He just wasn’t doing much with the opportunity. For the season, he’s played a total of 26 games and scored in double figures just five times and grabbed double digit rebounds twice. Bruno is 23 years old and this is his fifth year in the league. With the Grizzlies out of it, he will likely receive as much run as he can handle down the stretch. The free throw shooting has been poor (63%) over the past six games, but Bruno can provide points, treys, boards, and a smattering of stocks. The usage rate is only 15, so I wouldn’t expect games like last night often, but there’s always a chance that something has clicked. Something to keep an eye on. If that happens, then we will all be going loco for Caboclo.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: The Pot Has Been Stirred
March 23, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |by: Kevin
Not that anyone is keeping score, but I made James Harden the highlighted player last week, so it feels kind of weak to be back here raving about the bearded one in back-to-back weeks. That said, there’s absolutely nothing weak about this ridiculous scoring effort. He actually posted an absurd 27 points in the first quarter alone, so anyone watching it live knew it could be a special night.
| FG | FT | 3PT | Points | Reb | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TO |
| 19/34 | 14/17 | 9/13 | 61 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Shooting 55.9% from the field and 14-for-17 from the line is massive for any fantasy team. He didn’t put up his usual assist numbers, but we can’t really complain about a 60-point game. While a 61-point game is huge (this was actually Harden’s 2nd 61-point game of the season), he’s deep in the MVP race and should continue to bolster fantasy squads that are making their championship runs.
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Collin Sexton, the 8th overall pick of the Cavs in the 2018 NBA Draft, started the season off slowly. He came off the bench the first 10 games of the season, averaging 23 minutes, 10.5 points, and shooting 40% from the field. He was inserted into the starting lineup for game number 11 and has held onto that role all season. There were ups and downs, as the shooting efficiency was poor and the contributions in the other categories were minimal. For fantasy, he was a top 250 player. Something has clicked, though.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4/7 | 10/18 | 1/1 |
Sexton has now scored at least 20 points in seven straight games. He’s been a top 35 player over that span. Maybe he ate a blue pill or something. Anyways, you know the warning: call a doctor if erection last longer than 4 hours. Well, Sexton has been going on for much longer than that and he’s in straight DGAF mode right now, averaging over 17 shots per game. Here’s the thing, though. He’s shooting 56% from the field. He’s not going to be able to maintain that efficiency forever. And when that comes down, you’ll be holding a limp biscuit because Sexton doesn’t contribute much in the other categories. Very miminal contributions in the D cats and around 3 boards and dimes each. Enjoy the hot streak, but this Sexton will not last forever.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Domantas Sabonis missed five games due to an ankle injury. His first game back, he played 20 minutes and shot 1-for-7 from the field and scored 9 points. In the second game, Sabonis only played 18 minutes but shot 4-of-12 from the field and scored 10 points. Since we all live on Planet Earth, we have all experienced a storm. They don’t magically appear out of nowhere. A combination of low and high pressure systems merge, form clouds, and often produce high-speed winds. You can see the clouds approaching or feel the wind picking up. In its most severe form, a storm brings a deluge of rain, crackling thunder, and a light show that would make the greatest of deejays jealous. That’s what occurred in Indiana last night, as Sabonis made it rain and lit up the Thunder:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7/12 | 12/13 |
In 28 minutes. When Sabonis is right, he provides points, boards, some dimes, and a smattering of stocks. He also shoots close to 60% from the field and over 70% from the line. The main issue for Sabonis is the minutes, though, as Nate McMillan likes to go with Thaddeus Young at power forward alongside Myles Turner. As a result, he only averages around 24-25 minutes per game. Last night against the Thunder, Sabonis was abusing Jerami Grant, so McMillan stayed big, but outside of obvious matchups or injury, I wouldn’t consider last night to be the norm going forward. Storms don’t happen often, and ones with both lightning and thunder are rare.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Out of all the sports, basketball is the most projectable, as there are more possessions to provide a larger sample size. But that doesn’t mean variance doesn’t exist. Blake Griffin can miraculously block a shot one game or DeAndre Jordan can shoot 8-for-9 from the free throw line on any given night. The LA nightlife can affect a team’s performance or the hotel wifi could cause players to go on tilt which affects their performance on the court. Whatever the reason, shit happens sometimes.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8/12 | 11/16 | 3/4 |
C. J. Miles did that. C. J. Miles never does that. He hasn’t scored more than 15 points in any game this season. To be fair, C. J. Miles used to do that. His career high is 40 points, back in 2010. In his prime, he’d only average around 12-13 points, but he’d go off for 30+ points every once in a while. Anyways, he will likely score 5 points in the next game, so in no way am I advocating walking 500 Miles with him. With that said, it’s always nice to acknowledge greatness, even if it probably won’t be replicated.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?When I used to drink back in high school, it’d be a lot of 40 ounces of Olde English 800. Too many 40’s of OE. Way too many 40’s of OE. I was/am a stupid, stupid man. But they were so cheap and it was nice to just have to carry around one bottle. I had repressed all those memories until I saw Kemba’s line last night:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 40 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6/6 | 14/20 | 6/7 |
In 40 minutes! And that was without Cody Zeller (knee), who helps Kemba post positive numbers when he’s on the court. Anyways, the matchup last night against the Rockets was a great one, as Houston is the 6th-worst at defending the pick-and-roll, a play that Kemba is a master at running. With that said, he has been hot recently regardless, as he’s been a top 25 player over the past seven games. The usage rate is above 30 and he’s been jacking up 20 shots per game. Kemba does contribute across the board, even chipping in 0.4 blocks. Yo, Blake Griffin. You seeing this? It all comes down to the shooting efficiency for Kemba. During his current heater, he’s converting 46% of his shots from the field. There were stretches during the season when he was sub-40%. Hopefully he continues his hot streak for the duration of the fantasy playoffs and entices you to seek out a bottle of Olde English.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: The Big Con
March 9, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |by: Kevin
Mike Conley has really had some tough luck with injuries and never playing for an elite team. Now that Memphis appears to be in the midst of a confusing rebuild, it creates even more of a question mark surrounding Conley and his role on the team. You start to feel bad for him, but then you remember the sweet contract he signed. Still, it has to be rough to be at his level and rarely be in conversations about current great NBA players. He shows up, plays with this roster, and puts up his stats, which have him inside the top 30 for the season.
| FG | FT | 3PT | Points | Reb | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TO |
| 11/18 | 3/3 | 3/7 | 28 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
This marks back-to-back excellent games for Conely. The double-digit assists are really nice, as are the 3 3’s. It’s tough to say how things will go down for Conley the rest of the season, but for now, he’s humming along nicely and fantasy GMs should be excited about the production.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: Warm It Up, Khris
March 8, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 13 Commentsby: Son
It’s been a disappointing season for Khris Middleton, as the consistency and shooting efficiency have been lacking. With G one year more experienced and Coach Budenholzer implementing his offense, things were looking bullish before the season started. He did finish as the #25 player on a per-game last season. He’s playing 4 fewer minutes this year, but the shot attempts have remained the same, the tres have gone up, and so has the usage rate. It’s all about the shooting efficiency. Warm it up, Khris. Is he about to?
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4/7 | 8/15 | 7/9 |
Let’s hope so. Middleton isn’t the flashiest player, as he’s got that YMCA old man game. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t get love. He’s a really good player and contributes a little something something in everything but blocks. Hopefully he can warm it up down the stretch and reward those that stayed strong.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?