The title of the post is one of my favorite nicknames in all of sports.....Annnnnnnddddd i just see him miss a free throw on national TV, ESPN national telecast Blazers vs. Cavs.
First off, happy birthday, dad. Again, we're not celebrating it this year. Unfortunately, my dad lives by himself currently in our old home in Darien, Illinois. My main residence is Camarillo, CA, where my mom lives with my sister and my grandpa, but my dad has stayed in the Chicagoland area for the last 3 years while i've attended UIUC. It's a good arrangement for me cuz i can just drive home from Champaign to Darien in about 2 hours, but my dad lives by himself. And this time of the year, nobody is around for him to celebrate his b-day. I think he has a company lunch to commemorate, but it's still a tough situation.
Anyway, to the night in the NBa. There's a lot of home-and-home series going on in the NBA, including the Wiz and the Rap finishing up with a tie, and minnesota beatin the baby bulls to split that home and home. Speakin of washington, caron butler had made something like 70 free throws in a row before he hurt himself for the last 2 games and sat out, but that's impressive. He raised his FT% from 86% to like 91%.......that's a key stat for fantasy owners, cuz not only does it give you free points without risking FG% but also raises ur % substantially. Another reason u should love caron this year.
Larry Hughes- how this guy's game has deteriorated. There was one breakout year w/ the wiz w/ gilbert that one year when he was a bona fide thief, averagin 2.9 stls a game ( which is an absurd number!) along with 22.1 points. That's a great year! But every year since then he's just been putrid.
He still averages 1.7 stl's this year, but he's down to 9.8 points, single digits. Granted, he's about bothered by injury for a while, but he's just not good anymore. A rookie mistake would have been to buy into larry hughes after that splendid year and drafted him high the next year....if there's anything true about NBA players, it's that they usually revert back to their career means. ( Kind of like rate of growth in stock returns, but that's another story).
Brandon Roy has been an absolute stud this year, both in real life and on fantasy. He's improved or stayed constant in every category, and his team is winning. He's increased his scoring average from a nothing-to-laugh-at 16.8 PPG last season to a solid 19.4 this season on a team that likes to share the ball, turns it over less than twice a game, increased to 5.6 assts, good %'s, and still exactly that 3 a game. Anybody can use that. The good thing is, he doesn't HURT u in any categories, so his production is without that kink in the armor.
Chris Webber coming back? For golden state? I'm tempted to say he has some value cuz he's on the warriors, but then i think how nellie rotates his players like jewel rotisseries chicken and i hesitate, especially with the small lineups he rolls out.
Just saw a great comeback from the cavs at portland against one of the better teams in west, lebron finishing them off with like three 3-pointers late and a great late drive with .3 seconds left. Sick. That team will be fine w/ him, even w/ varejao and pavlovic out for while.
Jose Calderon had 11 points and 11 asts in just 25 mins. A very typical spanish flea line, he's been so spectacular and efficient this year...... another typical 3rd-year breakout example as well as proof of good international talent.
Weeknight, got some stuff to do, so gonna check out early
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
NBA teams, part 2
So i'm gonna continue my discussion of NBA teams, a shift from just pure fantasy analysis of NBA players.
But first, just wanted to inform the world i went and saw the movie "Juno" last night, very entertaining, made me very emotionally invested but laughing hysterically as well. "I'm gonna punch him in the wiener" was something i might say ( on a good day). But yea, Juno is very realistic, full of personality, very likable, and definitely worthy of an Oscar nomination for Ellen Page.
The Mole is coming back! One of my all-time favorite TV shows, there's a bunch of contestants who are assigned tasks for $$$, but there's one among them who's working to sabotage, without being too suspicious. I love it. It's very competitive and exciting, but with that edge of suspicion and mystery, much like the game Mafia where nobody knows who's your friend or your enemy. So glad it's coming back, make sure u watch it this summer.
Anyway, so the spurs lost at home to the hornets tonight, and I gotta say, given my analysis of the hornets and how they've been running, i wasn't too suprised. Not only did NO win, though, they won by TWENTY-FOUR POINTS!!!! IN San Antonio! That's ridiculous, absolutely smothered the defending champs w/ all of their big 3 ( parker, duncan, ginobili) playing. And most importnatly, hornets are now 31-12 and 2.5 games ahead of the spurs. Wow.
The spurs, as ESPN analysts recently alluded to on a telecast, need to take a deep look at their roster. On the surface, they seem to have the exact same team as last year, when they won it all, but obviously everyone's a year older, bad news for 30-somethings like bruce bowen, robert horry, michael finley, and even timmy. They didn't exactly run over everybody like gangbusters last year, neither, as they lost their first game to denver, won that series in 6, beat the suns in 6 when amare and some other dude got suspended in a pivotal game 5, and faced utah in the west finals which wasn't a fair fight. If possible, the west got STRONGER this year, and the spurs are not in the most enviable of spots. They'll make the playoffs, but it's not clear if they'll get home-field advantage, and they can't count on first-round wins anymore cuz any opponent they draw will be difficult, plus the suns and mavs seem to be better than them right now. I don't see the spurs winning it all this year, or at least very little chance.
So who wins the west this year? It's very wild, a la wild, wild, west. When u think of championship contenders u automatically think of dallas, phoenix, san antonio, but u gotta watch out for some of these other teams. As much as you'd figure there'd be a correction at some point in the records, it's more than halfway into the season already and new orleans is on top, lakers are just out of the top spots and denver's got the 4 seed. These teams will contend in the playoffs ( i don't think portland makes it), and one of golden state, houston, or utah will make some noise in the first round. But i still think, for one more year, the big 3 in the west will represent them, not sure who it will be. Everybody likes the suns cuz they've been close and their exciting brand of play, but we've seen the same old story the last 3 years, and they haven't made it to the finals this century yet. This might be their last chance, and they might make it w/ steve nash as determined as ever. However, when i think 7-game series, i think grind-it-out, stop-the-runs consistency, and i just don't see a flashy team like phoenix playing enough defense against a balanced team like, say, dallas, to win.
Speakin' of dallas, they've laid low the entire season, haven't made headlines, didn't start off really bad, didn't go on a major winning streak, have done very little of signifance, but they take care of business and are 29-13 and 1.5 games out of first place. This team is very well-coached and this year they're even more focused on the playoffs, as the regular season just "isn't as important anymore" for avery johnson. They got all the parts of the equation, with a superstar in dirk, young PG in devin harris, solid swingman/ 2nd option josh howard, veteran leadership w/ jerry stackhouse, high energy guys off bench of desagna diop and brandon bass, and that manu ginobili- style sixth man of year jason terry. These guys seem to have the right formula. I
pick the mavs to win the west and win it all.
The east is actually pretty interesting this year. I don't think any of the teams are good enough to win the east, but they've definitely improved in the top tier, with chicago no longer in consideration as a top team. Detroit's still up there, but the celtics with GPA ( Garnett, pierce, allen) look good and own the best record in the league, and those are clearly the top 2 teams. They'll be some interesting playoff series w/ the cavs, wizz ( w/ gilbert coming back), raps, and magic in the middle of the pack, but barring disaster the east finals will be detroit vs. boston. ( Two past dynasties rise again, chicago regresses into awfulness). I really think it'd be hard to pick between detroit and boston. Detroit has a solid team but has a similar problem as the spurs: they are pretty much the same team, but they're one year older, and they've gotten one year older since 2003. I've seen so many times over the years, for whatever reason, maybe a bad foul called on chauncy, an elbow to rip, or rasheed wallace just getting his normal temper tantrums, the pistons just melt down and let games slip away, give up if you will, and i see that maybe happening sometime in a long playoff series that sheed has guaranteed.
No one among pierce, garnett, and allen, have great playoff resumes, i guess garnett has gotten to the West finals, so they need to register some playoff experience fast. We haven't seen any ill-will or ball-hogging between the 3 yet at all, but let's hope it's not a case of being due and getting it at the worst time of year. There's talk of bringing in a point guard to help rajon rondo, but i don't see it helping that much. Can gary payton really play at all anymore? Does sam cassell relaly help that much? I dunno, but i say this celts team is good enough as it is to edge out detroit. I say it's mavs over c's in the finals.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
But first, just wanted to inform the world i went and saw the movie "Juno" last night, very entertaining, made me very emotionally invested but laughing hysterically as well. "I'm gonna punch him in the wiener" was something i might say ( on a good day). But yea, Juno is very realistic, full of personality, very likable, and definitely worthy of an Oscar nomination for Ellen Page.
The Mole is coming back! One of my all-time favorite TV shows, there's a bunch of contestants who are assigned tasks for $$$, but there's one among them who's working to sabotage, without being too suspicious. I love it. It's very competitive and exciting, but with that edge of suspicion and mystery, much like the game Mafia where nobody knows who's your friend or your enemy. So glad it's coming back, make sure u watch it this summer.
Anyway, so the spurs lost at home to the hornets tonight, and I gotta say, given my analysis of the hornets and how they've been running, i wasn't too suprised. Not only did NO win, though, they won by TWENTY-FOUR POINTS!!!! IN San Antonio! That's ridiculous, absolutely smothered the defending champs w/ all of their big 3 ( parker, duncan, ginobili) playing. And most importnatly, hornets are now 31-12 and 2.5 games ahead of the spurs. Wow.
The spurs, as ESPN analysts recently alluded to on a telecast, need to take a deep look at their roster. On the surface, they seem to have the exact same team as last year, when they won it all, but obviously everyone's a year older, bad news for 30-somethings like bruce bowen, robert horry, michael finley, and even timmy. They didn't exactly run over everybody like gangbusters last year, neither, as they lost their first game to denver, won that series in 6, beat the suns in 6 when amare and some other dude got suspended in a pivotal game 5, and faced utah in the west finals which wasn't a fair fight. If possible, the west got STRONGER this year, and the spurs are not in the most enviable of spots. They'll make the playoffs, but it's not clear if they'll get home-field advantage, and they can't count on first-round wins anymore cuz any opponent they draw will be difficult, plus the suns and mavs seem to be better than them right now. I don't see the spurs winning it all this year, or at least very little chance.
So who wins the west this year? It's very wild, a la wild, wild, west. When u think of championship contenders u automatically think of dallas, phoenix, san antonio, but u gotta watch out for some of these other teams. As much as you'd figure there'd be a correction at some point in the records, it's more than halfway into the season already and new orleans is on top, lakers are just out of the top spots and denver's got the 4 seed. These teams will contend in the playoffs ( i don't think portland makes it), and one of golden state, houston, or utah will make some noise in the first round. But i still think, for one more year, the big 3 in the west will represent them, not sure who it will be. Everybody likes the suns cuz they've been close and their exciting brand of play, but we've seen the same old story the last 3 years, and they haven't made it to the finals this century yet. This might be their last chance, and they might make it w/ steve nash as determined as ever. However, when i think 7-game series, i think grind-it-out, stop-the-runs consistency, and i just don't see a flashy team like phoenix playing enough defense against a balanced team like, say, dallas, to win.
Speakin' of dallas, they've laid low the entire season, haven't made headlines, didn't start off really bad, didn't go on a major winning streak, have done very little of signifance, but they take care of business and are 29-13 and 1.5 games out of first place. This team is very well-coached and this year they're even more focused on the playoffs, as the regular season just "isn't as important anymore" for avery johnson. They got all the parts of the equation, with a superstar in dirk, young PG in devin harris, solid swingman/ 2nd option josh howard, veteran leadership w/ jerry stackhouse, high energy guys off bench of desagna diop and brandon bass, and that manu ginobili- style sixth man of year jason terry. These guys seem to have the right formula. I
pick the mavs to win the west and win it all.
The east is actually pretty interesting this year. I don't think any of the teams are good enough to win the east, but they've definitely improved in the top tier, with chicago no longer in consideration as a top team. Detroit's still up there, but the celtics with GPA ( Garnett, pierce, allen) look good and own the best record in the league, and those are clearly the top 2 teams. They'll be some interesting playoff series w/ the cavs, wizz ( w/ gilbert coming back), raps, and magic in the middle of the pack, but barring disaster the east finals will be detroit vs. boston. ( Two past dynasties rise again, chicago regresses into awfulness). I really think it'd be hard to pick between detroit and boston. Detroit has a solid team but has a similar problem as the spurs: they are pretty much the same team, but they're one year older, and they've gotten one year older since 2003. I've seen so many times over the years, for whatever reason, maybe a bad foul called on chauncy, an elbow to rip, or rasheed wallace just getting his normal temper tantrums, the pistons just melt down and let games slip away, give up if you will, and i see that maybe happening sometime in a long playoff series that sheed has guaranteed.
No one among pierce, garnett, and allen, have great playoff resumes, i guess garnett has gotten to the West finals, so they need to register some playoff experience fast. We haven't seen any ill-will or ball-hogging between the 3 yet at all, but let's hope it's not a case of being due and getting it at the worst time of year. There's talk of bringing in a point guard to help rajon rondo, but i don't see it helping that much. Can gary payton really play at all anymore? Does sam cassell relaly help that much? I dunno, but i say this celts team is good enough as it is to edge out detroit. I say it's mavs over c's in the finals.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Chalk one up for the teams
This post is gonna be about NBA TEAMS, not NBA players, for once. I think once in a while analysis of individual teams is good for the fantasy soul, it gives u a refreshing look at what a team does, how well they play, and what pieces they need to make them better. Also, i often, and i'm sure a lot of u peeps out there do this also, wonder how much i know about sports in general, not just the fantasy world. I got the fantasy stuff down, now i gotta back up the bread w/ the butter, u kno? fantasy wouldn't exist w/o actual sports. Lol, not to state the obvious or anything.
To start off, i'm watching this new jersey- golden state game on TNT, and it's a very interesting one and defines what these two teams are. New Jersey has a really good offense w/ the big three of kidd, carter, and jefferson, but very little defense, and no real big men presence. It was even worse in previous years, but i feel they got two young hustlers in the 4 and 5 positions now w/ sean williams and josh boone. Their awesome offense forces them to become mr. jekyll and dr. hyde sometimes, where they beat the orlando magic on jan. 2nd, and then lose to the new york knicks twice in as many months. It's hard to explain that. They'll make the playoffs in the east, but won't go anywhere. Just like most years.
The warriors are a similar team but better and faster. They have a deep bench to back up their frenetic pace, w/ young studs like monta ellis and al harrington to back up veterans like baron davis and stephen jackson, but the problem is they play in the west. They almost have a worse chance of getting into the playoffs than the nets even though they'll have better record, but if they get in and get a good matchup like the mavs they might win another playoff series. But i wonder what'd happen to that team if b-diddy got hurt.
Miami lost again tonight, by ONE to the spurs. How long is this losing streak gonna end? I almost feel sorry for them. They're so done. Put a fork in them.
The cavs have definitely gotten a big run after the return of lebron james from injury and anderson varejao from contract dispute. They're now 23-18 and in good shape in the east, they should be fine for the playoffs and battle for like a #4 or #3 seed, after celts and pistons. LeBron James will keep them in any game, but they won't make the finals like they did last year. I used to hate this team, but as i watch them more there's more of an interest in them, with the hustling varejao, the bald euro eagle zydrunas ilgauskas, and the young 3-point gun daniel gibson, it's an interesting team oustide of lebron.
The most intriguing team for me is the new orleans hornets. Along with the portland trail blazers, they're the surprise of the NBA season, as they're tied for first in the east right now, 29-12 record in the WEST? Are you kiddin me? And they play in the Southwest division with the 3-headed texas tornado of san antonio, dallas, and houston? It's crazy how well they've done. Can they keep it up? I think they might have a correction and finish .500 the rest of the way, but that'd get them a low playoff seed, and who knos, they might beat somebody in the playoffs. They definitely have a better team than the blazers, IMO, altho the blazers are in a weaker division in the northwest and can get a first round home series. CP3 is nuts, tyson chandler is becoming beast on the boards, and watch david west at some point. He's good.
Lakers? I would love to see this team rise up again, but it'll be tough w/o bynum. Odom just had a terrible game against san antonio like he always does, but they should be ok. Just imagine if they had caron butler instead of kwame brown. Wow what a differnce that'd make. That said, their young players besides kwame are steppin up, especially jordan farmar off the bench supplementing derek fisher. He's really developed into an up-and-comer, and walton, vujacic, turiaf, and ariza make up a pretty solid bench. I'd say they'll end up in that bottom bracket of the west too, but watch out for a trade at some point.
Be back w/ more team analysis later.
-Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
To start off, i'm watching this new jersey- golden state game on TNT, and it's a very interesting one and defines what these two teams are. New Jersey has a really good offense w/ the big three of kidd, carter, and jefferson, but very little defense, and no real big men presence. It was even worse in previous years, but i feel they got two young hustlers in the 4 and 5 positions now w/ sean williams and josh boone. Their awesome offense forces them to become mr. jekyll and dr. hyde sometimes, where they beat the orlando magic on jan. 2nd, and then lose to the new york knicks twice in as many months. It's hard to explain that. They'll make the playoffs in the east, but won't go anywhere. Just like most years.
The warriors are a similar team but better and faster. They have a deep bench to back up their frenetic pace, w/ young studs like monta ellis and al harrington to back up veterans like baron davis and stephen jackson, but the problem is they play in the west. They almost have a worse chance of getting into the playoffs than the nets even though they'll have better record, but if they get in and get a good matchup like the mavs they might win another playoff series. But i wonder what'd happen to that team if b-diddy got hurt.
Miami lost again tonight, by ONE to the spurs. How long is this losing streak gonna end? I almost feel sorry for them. They're so done. Put a fork in them.
The cavs have definitely gotten a big run after the return of lebron james from injury and anderson varejao from contract dispute. They're now 23-18 and in good shape in the east, they should be fine for the playoffs and battle for like a #4 or #3 seed, after celts and pistons. LeBron James will keep them in any game, but they won't make the finals like they did last year. I used to hate this team, but as i watch them more there's more of an interest in them, with the hustling varejao, the bald euro eagle zydrunas ilgauskas, and the young 3-point gun daniel gibson, it's an interesting team oustide of lebron.
The most intriguing team for me is the new orleans hornets. Along with the portland trail blazers, they're the surprise of the NBA season, as they're tied for first in the east right now, 29-12 record in the WEST? Are you kiddin me? And they play in the Southwest division with the 3-headed texas tornado of san antonio, dallas, and houston? It's crazy how well they've done. Can they keep it up? I think they might have a correction and finish .500 the rest of the way, but that'd get them a low playoff seed, and who knos, they might beat somebody in the playoffs. They definitely have a better team than the blazers, IMO, altho the blazers are in a weaker division in the northwest and can get a first round home series. CP3 is nuts, tyson chandler is becoming beast on the boards, and watch david west at some point. He's good.
Lakers? I would love to see this team rise up again, but it'll be tough w/o bynum. Odom just had a terrible game against san antonio like he always does, but they should be ok. Just imagine if they had caron butler instead of kwame brown. Wow what a differnce that'd make. That said, their young players besides kwame are steppin up, especially jordan farmar off the bench supplementing derek fisher. He's really developed into an up-and-comer, and walton, vujacic, turiaf, and ariza make up a pretty solid bench. I'd say they'll end up in that bottom bracket of the west too, but watch out for a trade at some point.
Be back w/ more team analysis later.
-Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Good News/ Bad News
There's a little mini-game/quirk i do with my campers during the summers, it's called, " good news/ bad news." basically, i just think of 2 things that are gonna happen, and tell the kids, "hey guys, i got some good news, and i got some bad news." Often the bad news is something pretty benign, like "we don't have strawberry flavored juice bars" and the good news is like, instead, we have better-tasting lemon bars!
But today was definitely a good news/ bad news day, as i got significant information on both sides of the spectrum.
First the bad news. I've been working with my sister to study for the spelling bee at her school, in hopes of ultimately making her a competitve young speller and make the national spelling bee, then who knows what may happen, but that was not to be as she reported that she was eliminated from the school spelling bee today, in the first round no less, by the word "trauma." It was kind of unlucky, as other kids got easy words like "vanilla" and "chocolate" that are more commonplace, but we did study trauma at least a little bit, and if she had just gotten past that word she probably would have advanced. O well. She has a bit of time, and if she can really dedicate herself to it, and with the best coach in the world in yours truly ( lol, i am so full of myself), she can really do pretty well in the coming years. Gotta work, tho.
Well, the good news is that I received a substantial scholarship offer from _______ University School of Law that gets me excited, and I am really interested by that school now, as its priority in my mind has just went up. I didn't know whether i'd be able to afford a private, non-state school w/o the in-state tuition, but the scholarship definitely helps. College is expensive, and to have basically earned money from my performance on the LSAT and in undergrad is a definite boost. Especially since i didn't pay too much for UIUC undergrad neither, i'm looking at getting through undergrad and law school in 6 years w/o paying too much. That's solid.
Some slight bad news is that my basketball game has hit a rut. I'm in a sort of vince carter-2003 phase where my offensive game is just not clicking, primarily cuz i'm not making shots. Gotta break out of that.
Slightly good news- I've gotten a lot of stuff done for our SIFE ( Students in Free Enterprise) project that deals with recycling, and i'm really looking forward to presentin in soon, as it'll be another chance to work with kids and influence young people ( hopefully a positive influence).
The Good/Bad News-
In a sort of "no news is good news, or is it" predicament, I saw that my Georgetown University status checker went to "decision" today, which could be good news or bad news. The pessimistic side ( and maybe the realistic side) says it could be bad news, but the other part is crossing his fingers.
Well it's been a busy wednesday considering i woke up at 10:00 AM to get to a 10:30 class. Sorry there wasn't much fantasy material today, took a day off i guess, although a prominent fantasy name, "vince carter" was mentioned.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
But today was definitely a good news/ bad news day, as i got significant information on both sides of the spectrum.
First the bad news. I've been working with my sister to study for the spelling bee at her school, in hopes of ultimately making her a competitve young speller and make the national spelling bee, then who knows what may happen, but that was not to be as she reported that she was eliminated from the school spelling bee today, in the first round no less, by the word "trauma." It was kind of unlucky, as other kids got easy words like "vanilla" and "chocolate" that are more commonplace, but we did study trauma at least a little bit, and if she had just gotten past that word she probably would have advanced. O well. She has a bit of time, and if she can really dedicate herself to it, and with the best coach in the world in yours truly ( lol, i am so full of myself), she can really do pretty well in the coming years. Gotta work, tho.
Well, the good news is that I received a substantial scholarship offer from _______ University School of Law that gets me excited, and I am really interested by that school now, as its priority in my mind has just went up. I didn't know whether i'd be able to afford a private, non-state school w/o the in-state tuition, but the scholarship definitely helps. College is expensive, and to have basically earned money from my performance on the LSAT and in undergrad is a definite boost. Especially since i didn't pay too much for UIUC undergrad neither, i'm looking at getting through undergrad and law school in 6 years w/o paying too much. That's solid.
Some slight bad news is that my basketball game has hit a rut. I'm in a sort of vince carter-2003 phase where my offensive game is just not clicking, primarily cuz i'm not making shots. Gotta break out of that.
Slightly good news- I've gotten a lot of stuff done for our SIFE ( Students in Free Enterprise) project that deals with recycling, and i'm really looking forward to presentin in soon, as it'll be another chance to work with kids and influence young people ( hopefully a positive influence).
The Good/Bad News-
In a sort of "no news is good news, or is it" predicament, I saw that my Georgetown University status checker went to "decision" today, which could be good news or bad news. The pessimistic side ( and maybe the realistic side) says it could be bad news, but the other part is crossing his fingers.
Well it's been a busy wednesday considering i woke up at 10:00 AM to get to a 10:30 class. Sorry there wasn't much fantasy material today, took a day off i guess, although a prominent fantasy name, "vince carter" was mentioned.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Monday, January 21, 2008
MLK Day
Happy Martin Luther King Day to everybody. Wow, i've had a rather no-work, unproductive weekend, what with no classes on friday and monday holiday, but you know, who hasn't had one of those weekends, you know? We need them once in a while.
I was able to see the two conference championship games in the NFL, catch the Illini playing another terrible game and dropping to 1-5 in the Big Ten, have a reunion with my ASB ( Alternative Spring Break) group, watch some good movies in Mr. Brooks and Emperor's Club ( a really old one with kevin kline or something like that), play hold'em poker, catchphrase, check in on law school rankings, read some great literature ( in fact, 2007's best nonrequired reading was the title of the book), so i'd say even though academically things didn't move so fast the story of my life still trudged on.
Anyway, gonna fulfill my promises, or as triple H said tonight on RAW, "guaran- DAMN -tee", and follow up on rookie mistakes. I thought of a bunch since that last post.
First off, i think a rookie mistake in fantasy baseball is to draft too many pitchers in the first few rounds. My stance is to draft NO pitchers in the first 6 rounds unless they're absolute steals, but my stance is a little extreme. But still, pitchers yield the most risk on draft day because first off they pitch only one out of 5 games, but they get hurt a lot and skip starts, leavin them relatively unreliable, whereas the stud hitters will usually put up consistent numbers throughout the season.
I also think it's a rookie mistake to draft a 2nd-year player who had a great rookie season. There's been great rookie seasons all throughout the league, but by the 2nd year teams usually adjust to that player, and he's slowed down. The rookie would have to make a lot of adjustments to get back to that level he was playing at or better, and it's just not a gamble u wanna take. Sure, once in a while you'll draft a guy who explodes his first year and then is even better the 2nd year, but i'll take the guy who's had solid career averages anyday.
Another rookie mistake in fantasy hoops, as i alluded to earlier, is ignoring the "subliminal" categories or "non-sexy" categories like %'s and turnovers. Nobody likes these categories, as nobody's really watching people when the miss, markin it down when carmelo anthony travels or anything. It's unglorified and takes away from teh game experience. But it's important. In both rotisserie and head-to-head leagues in yahoo, there are 9 categories, each worth the same, of pts, rebs, asts, stls, 3PM, blks, FG%, FT%, and turnovers. Of these 9, the first 3 are the most watched over, as they're reported on espn first and show up in highlight reels and are perceived to be the most "reflective" of a player's performance for a particular game, but stls, blks, 3-pointers are also recorded. They're kind of like supplementary numbers in a real game, where one blk won't matter too much espeically if the offense gets it right back, or a 3-pointer where it's just one more point than a 2-pointer, but these categories show up on yahoo. And then we get to the REALLY dirty categories like FG%, FT%, and turnovers, things that are really hard to keep track of but yahoo! does a good job of updating all the time.
You have to be really careful not to be a rookie and just look at the first 3 power categories, or even just the first 6 intermediate categories. When determining a fantasy player's value, u gotta look at the complete picture, otherwise you're losing out. All things being equal, if a guy averaged 25 points but 3.2 turnvers vs. a guy who averaged 19 points but averaged just 2.0 turnovers, i'd take the latter. That 1.2 turnover difference trumps the 6 point scoring difference, in my opinion.
Actually, when you're assembling a team, scoring paradoxically becomes one of the LAST categories u concentrate on, cuz every fantasy players scores points of some magnitude, and usually it's a bonus factor that comes with a particular player's specialty. For example, rasheed wallace is known for his many-category contributions in that he averages more than a blk, a stl, and a 3 in a game, so u take those numbers with few turnvovers, but with that said he still averages 12 points a game or more, and u didn't really even consider that when u drafted him. Whereas if you just went after points, u get rip hamilton, a true scorer, u'd be missing out on several categories like blks and rebs that aren't just "packaged in" like scoring is. So keep that in mind.
Final rookie mistake to avoid:
Having someone dump a poltergeist on you in a trade. There's no real "1st-half" or "2nd-half" players in the NBA, at least not to the extent that baseball has guys who get really hot in the 2nd half, but there are guys who pack it in towards the end of the season. Guys who get hurt a lot are primary targets, like marcus camby, gerald wallace, and jermaine o'neal. The reason these guys are poltergeists is that they're like ghosts: really visible right now, but ready to disappear in a moment's notice. These guys can easily show up one day on the news wire as being out "indefinitely" or worse, like o'neal the other day, saying that "they might call it a season to repair his knee." These guys can be really really good when someone pushes them on you, but beware, cuz they'll disappear in a moment's notice.
-Fantasize on ( And don't make those rookie mistakes),
Robert Yan
I was able to see the two conference championship games in the NFL, catch the Illini playing another terrible game and dropping to 1-5 in the Big Ten, have a reunion with my ASB ( Alternative Spring Break) group, watch some good movies in Mr. Brooks and Emperor's Club ( a really old one with kevin kline or something like that), play hold'em poker, catchphrase, check in on law school rankings, read some great literature ( in fact, 2007's best nonrequired reading was the title of the book), so i'd say even though academically things didn't move so fast the story of my life still trudged on.
Anyway, gonna fulfill my promises, or as triple H said tonight on RAW, "guaran- DAMN -tee", and follow up on rookie mistakes. I thought of a bunch since that last post.
First off, i think a rookie mistake in fantasy baseball is to draft too many pitchers in the first few rounds. My stance is to draft NO pitchers in the first 6 rounds unless they're absolute steals, but my stance is a little extreme. But still, pitchers yield the most risk on draft day because first off they pitch only one out of 5 games, but they get hurt a lot and skip starts, leavin them relatively unreliable, whereas the stud hitters will usually put up consistent numbers throughout the season.
I also think it's a rookie mistake to draft a 2nd-year player who had a great rookie season. There's been great rookie seasons all throughout the league, but by the 2nd year teams usually adjust to that player, and he's slowed down. The rookie would have to make a lot of adjustments to get back to that level he was playing at or better, and it's just not a gamble u wanna take. Sure, once in a while you'll draft a guy who explodes his first year and then is even better the 2nd year, but i'll take the guy who's had solid career averages anyday.
Another rookie mistake in fantasy hoops, as i alluded to earlier, is ignoring the "subliminal" categories or "non-sexy" categories like %'s and turnovers. Nobody likes these categories, as nobody's really watching people when the miss, markin it down when carmelo anthony travels or anything. It's unglorified and takes away from teh game experience. But it's important. In both rotisserie and head-to-head leagues in yahoo, there are 9 categories, each worth the same, of pts, rebs, asts, stls, 3PM, blks, FG%, FT%, and turnovers. Of these 9, the first 3 are the most watched over, as they're reported on espn first and show up in highlight reels and are perceived to be the most "reflective" of a player's performance for a particular game, but stls, blks, 3-pointers are also recorded. They're kind of like supplementary numbers in a real game, where one blk won't matter too much espeically if the offense gets it right back, or a 3-pointer where it's just one more point than a 2-pointer, but these categories show up on yahoo. And then we get to the REALLY dirty categories like FG%, FT%, and turnovers, things that are really hard to keep track of but yahoo! does a good job of updating all the time.
You have to be really careful not to be a rookie and just look at the first 3 power categories, or even just the first 6 intermediate categories. When determining a fantasy player's value, u gotta look at the complete picture, otherwise you're losing out. All things being equal, if a guy averaged 25 points but 3.2 turnvers vs. a guy who averaged 19 points but averaged just 2.0 turnovers, i'd take the latter. That 1.2 turnover difference trumps the 6 point scoring difference, in my opinion.
Actually, when you're assembling a team, scoring paradoxically becomes one of the LAST categories u concentrate on, cuz every fantasy players scores points of some magnitude, and usually it's a bonus factor that comes with a particular player's specialty. For example, rasheed wallace is known for his many-category contributions in that he averages more than a blk, a stl, and a 3 in a game, so u take those numbers with few turnvovers, but with that said he still averages 12 points a game or more, and u didn't really even consider that when u drafted him. Whereas if you just went after points, u get rip hamilton, a true scorer, u'd be missing out on several categories like blks and rebs that aren't just "packaged in" like scoring is. So keep that in mind.
Final rookie mistake to avoid:
Having someone dump a poltergeist on you in a trade. There's no real "1st-half" or "2nd-half" players in the NBA, at least not to the extent that baseball has guys who get really hot in the 2nd half, but there are guys who pack it in towards the end of the season. Guys who get hurt a lot are primary targets, like marcus camby, gerald wallace, and jermaine o'neal. The reason these guys are poltergeists is that they're like ghosts: really visible right now, but ready to disappear in a moment's notice. These guys can easily show up one day on the news wire as being out "indefinitely" or worse, like o'neal the other day, saying that "they might call it a season to repair his knee." These guys can be really really good when someone pushes them on you, but beware, cuz they'll disappear in a moment's notice.
-Fantasize on ( And don't make those rookie mistakes),
Robert Yan
Friday, January 18, 2008
Rookie Mistakes
The title of this post relates to what my roommate, nico, pens "rookie mistakes," defined as bad decision made usually on the part of freshman/rookies/first-timers who fall into the mistake because of their lack of experience or sheer stupidity. To specify, rookies are the ones who usually make rookie mistakes, but veterans can make them too. Any mistake anybody makes that are things that only rookies should do is qualified as a "rookie mistake." It's a catchy term, and i've been using it in the early parts of 2008. I have these "phase phrases" for weeks or months at a time where i refer to many things with the same term, such as "you rat" or "matriculated", but rookie mistake might stick for a bit.
So let's apply rookie mistakes to fantasy. The first part of rookie mistakes are NBA teams' drafting of rookies and how they've performed so far this year. Many times rookies are new to the NBA and have to work into the game, learn from the vets, things like that and it takes them a few years to get acclimated, then find their niche and really have a breakout season, like Dwayne Wade who was no superstar by any stretch of the imagination his first year but eventually lead the heat to a championship in 2006. Some, however, come out w/ guns blazing: LeBron James comes to mind, as well as the "new" point guards chris paul and deron williams.
This year, rookies aren't doing so hot: Greg Oden got saddled by an injury that cost him the whole year, Kevin Durant is alright but on a start-up sonics team, Mike Conley Jr. hasn't gotten PT yet, jeff green's in that same situation in seattle. The guys who are somewhat fantasy contributors are al horford, who's actually done a little bit better than expected as the #3 draft pick, becoming an impressive big man alongside josh smith et al in atlanta.
Anyway, what's more important about the term "rookie mistakes" is how it relates to fantasy owners. God knows, i made a lot of rookie mistakes during my first year of fantasy basketball, as well as fantasy baseball, fantasy football, etc. Things like not understanding percentages, overvaluing stars, selling low and buying high, not accounting for injuries, and not doing a live draft.
I guess this blog is really good for rootin out rookie mistakes, and i think i'm gonna continue this line of thinking by giving bits of advice as the season progresses as i see them, whether it's committed by me or someone else in one of my leagues. That way you get a much better learnin curve.
Here are some rookie mistakes I see all the time:
1.) leaving guys in who are injured. This hurts cuz you get no production from that guy, all goose eggs for the day, in some leagues it takes away a game anyway, and you could have put in some other player that just had a crazy night. This is easily cured by checking websites the day the game is played in the afternoon or something. I recommend rotoworld.com, which keeps updates on relevant fantasy information at all hours of the day.
2.) Drafting star power. OMG, i am so annoyed when this happens, but also very satisfied when the guy who gets ignored falls to me. Just because a guy is a perennial all-star doesn't mean his stats are fantasy all-star worthy. Sure, there's a correlation between star power in the NBA and good stats, but stars often have the problems of turning it over a lot, shooting too much and lowerin your FG%, not playing enough defense, etc. For example, Kevin Martin vs. Tracy McGrady, who gets more attention? Obviously, T-Mac sells more jerseys, but ask any fantasy expert and at this point they'd rather have kevin martin. Same thing w/ Chris Paul vs. Vince Carter ( u want paul), Caron Butler vs. Allen Iverson ( you want the butler).
Alright those are two most prominent rookie mistakes. Unlike previous promises, i'm gonna get rid of my politician tendencies and actually follow through on this one and post more rookie mistakes. Stay tuned.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
So let's apply rookie mistakes to fantasy. The first part of rookie mistakes are NBA teams' drafting of rookies and how they've performed so far this year. Many times rookies are new to the NBA and have to work into the game, learn from the vets, things like that and it takes them a few years to get acclimated, then find their niche and really have a breakout season, like Dwayne Wade who was no superstar by any stretch of the imagination his first year but eventually lead the heat to a championship in 2006. Some, however, come out w/ guns blazing: LeBron James comes to mind, as well as the "new" point guards chris paul and deron williams.
This year, rookies aren't doing so hot: Greg Oden got saddled by an injury that cost him the whole year, Kevin Durant is alright but on a start-up sonics team, Mike Conley Jr. hasn't gotten PT yet, jeff green's in that same situation in seattle. The guys who are somewhat fantasy contributors are al horford, who's actually done a little bit better than expected as the #3 draft pick, becoming an impressive big man alongside josh smith et al in atlanta.
Anyway, what's more important about the term "rookie mistakes" is how it relates to fantasy owners. God knows, i made a lot of rookie mistakes during my first year of fantasy basketball, as well as fantasy baseball, fantasy football, etc. Things like not understanding percentages, overvaluing stars, selling low and buying high, not accounting for injuries, and not doing a live draft.
I guess this blog is really good for rootin out rookie mistakes, and i think i'm gonna continue this line of thinking by giving bits of advice as the season progresses as i see them, whether it's committed by me or someone else in one of my leagues. That way you get a much better learnin curve.
Here are some rookie mistakes I see all the time:
1.) leaving guys in who are injured. This hurts cuz you get no production from that guy, all goose eggs for the day, in some leagues it takes away a game anyway, and you could have put in some other player that just had a crazy night. This is easily cured by checking websites the day the game is played in the afternoon or something. I recommend rotoworld.com, which keeps updates on relevant fantasy information at all hours of the day.
2.) Drafting star power. OMG, i am so annoyed when this happens, but also very satisfied when the guy who gets ignored falls to me. Just because a guy is a perennial all-star doesn't mean his stats are fantasy all-star worthy. Sure, there's a correlation between star power in the NBA and good stats, but stars often have the problems of turning it over a lot, shooting too much and lowerin your FG%, not playing enough defense, etc. For example, Kevin Martin vs. Tracy McGrady, who gets more attention? Obviously, T-Mac sells more jerseys, but ask any fantasy expert and at this point they'd rather have kevin martin. Same thing w/ Chris Paul vs. Vince Carter ( u want paul), Caron Butler vs. Allen Iverson ( you want the butler).
Alright those are two most prominent rookie mistakes. Unlike previous promises, i'm gonna get rid of my politician tendencies and actually follow through on this one and post more rookie mistakes. Stay tuned.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
3:10 to Yuma
Just saw that movie, nice little western movie w/ modern filming and modern stars like Christian Bale and Russel Crowe, Luke Wilson also does a little bit in that movie. Nice drama, nice action, lots of gunfights, not too much gore, just my kind of movie. O and the director's James Mangold, who i give big props for Kate & Leopold, surprisingly good romantic comedy, and Identity, one of my favorite movies about 10 strangers trapped at a hotel. ( Come to think of it, I LOVED that movie).
Anyways, on to the busy night in sports.
Speaking of which, was anyone else taken aback by the NFL game results on Sunday? After saturday's games i felt that the home teams were just a cut above the rest, that the #1 and #2 seeds had earned their byes because of their superiority over the rest of their respective conferences. I said, " I see very little chance that anybody scores an upset on sunday." Boy was i wrong. San Diego just went toe to toe w/ Indy in a classic game, back and forth, back and forth, and u thought throughout the game that this is the type of game peyton manning loves, that should favor the colts cuz of their experience and home field. Nope, Chargers pull it out w/o rivers and tomlinson. How bout that.
Then Giants v. Cowboys Part III for this season, Giants lost the first 2 but took the one that mattered...........it was so frustrating rooting against the cowboys cuz the giants played not to lose and almost kept dallas in the ballgame, in my opinion, but hung on. Big swing in momentum was the 2-minute drive put together by Eli Manning right before halftime that evened the score at 14-14, definitely a game-changer in my opinion and epitomized the way Eli controlled the game.
I still say N.E. and Green Bay win this week, but i'm not so sure about myself after what transpired the week before.
On to NBA action. Fantasy implications everywhere, i already told y'all about artest and bibby coming back.
Rajon Rondo sat out for the C's today, eddie house got the start. Boy for the stars they have in the 2,3,4 positions, they gotta be wondering why they got eddie house starting at point guard. Kendrick Perkins is not a stud by any stretch of the imagination, neither. The C's looked invincible previously, but now they got some holes to fill.
Miami is 8- 29! TWENTY-NINE! what a shell of a team. They got shaq back today and still couldn't win. If i had d-wade or shaq right now, i would sell it like ACH stock, cuz i'm telling u, those guys will have to mail it in by march, and u do not want empty box scores at that time. Seriously. I'd keep Udonis Haslem, though, maybe, cuz if the 2 before go down he steps up.
Jamal Crawford's really turning into a serious player and not just the ball-hawg he was in Chicago. O yea, he still got 35 points tonight, but he led the knicks to a win, with victory being the crucial stat. Marbury's out for a while too, and Francis is long gone, so that big guard logjam from last year has been whittled down to jamal's show, and he gets like 40 minutes a game. Nate Robinson showing he's no slouch neither, watch out for him off the bench.
As for nets, they always get their guys some big stat lines ( kidd 17 assts, carter 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 asts), but they don't win nearly enough. It's good for fantasy land, though.
G-Wall going A-wall on opponents and stuffing the stat sheet prodigiously, w/ 36 points, 14 rebounds, 5 asts, 3 steals, 1 three, and 1 blk tonight WITHOUT turning it over at all. And he's done this for a while now. Best part is, he's missed only one game this season so far. Cross your fingers cuz he could be special.
Fantasize on,
Robert yan
Anyways, on to the busy night in sports.
Speaking of which, was anyone else taken aback by the NFL game results on Sunday? After saturday's games i felt that the home teams were just a cut above the rest, that the #1 and #2 seeds had earned their byes because of their superiority over the rest of their respective conferences. I said, " I see very little chance that anybody scores an upset on sunday." Boy was i wrong. San Diego just went toe to toe w/ Indy in a classic game, back and forth, back and forth, and u thought throughout the game that this is the type of game peyton manning loves, that should favor the colts cuz of their experience and home field. Nope, Chargers pull it out w/o rivers and tomlinson. How bout that.
Then Giants v. Cowboys Part III for this season, Giants lost the first 2 but took the one that mattered...........it was so frustrating rooting against the cowboys cuz the giants played not to lose and almost kept dallas in the ballgame, in my opinion, but hung on. Big swing in momentum was the 2-minute drive put together by Eli Manning right before halftime that evened the score at 14-14, definitely a game-changer in my opinion and epitomized the way Eli controlled the game.
I still say N.E. and Green Bay win this week, but i'm not so sure about myself after what transpired the week before.
On to NBA action. Fantasy implications everywhere, i already told y'all about artest and bibby coming back.
Rajon Rondo sat out for the C's today, eddie house got the start. Boy for the stars they have in the 2,3,4 positions, they gotta be wondering why they got eddie house starting at point guard. Kendrick Perkins is not a stud by any stretch of the imagination, neither. The C's looked invincible previously, but now they got some holes to fill.
Miami is 8- 29! TWENTY-NINE! what a shell of a team. They got shaq back today and still couldn't win. If i had d-wade or shaq right now, i would sell it like ACH stock, cuz i'm telling u, those guys will have to mail it in by march, and u do not want empty box scores at that time. Seriously. I'd keep Udonis Haslem, though, maybe, cuz if the 2 before go down he steps up.
Jamal Crawford's really turning into a serious player and not just the ball-hawg he was in Chicago. O yea, he still got 35 points tonight, but he led the knicks to a win, with victory being the crucial stat. Marbury's out for a while too, and Francis is long gone, so that big guard logjam from last year has been whittled down to jamal's show, and he gets like 40 minutes a game. Nate Robinson showing he's no slouch neither, watch out for him off the bench.
As for nets, they always get their guys some big stat lines ( kidd 17 assts, carter 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 asts), but they don't win nearly enough. It's good for fantasy land, though.
G-Wall going A-wall on opponents and stuffing the stat sheet prodigiously, w/ 36 points, 14 rebounds, 5 asts, 3 steals, 1 three, and 1 blk tonight WITHOUT turning it over at all. And he's done this for a while now. Best part is, he's missed only one game this season so far. Cross your fingers cuz he could be special.
Fantasize on,
Robert yan
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
back at school
O man, finally, after a long time offline, this blog feels back at home.
Just to update what i've been doing for the last 2 weeks, after Jan. 2nd i took a plane from CA back to Champaign, IL and then proceeded to take an Alternative Spring Break trip to Alexandria, VA, where we worked with Community Lodgings in community development and their after-school child program. Very similar to the volunteer trip w/ ASB i took last winter, and i met a great group of people this time just as i did to start off 2007.
So basically, my vacation spanned almost all the time zones: From Hawaii, to CA, to Champaign, to the surburbs of the D.C. area. Wow, what a vacation. Lotsa busy stuff. Tell you what, not to sound conceited or anything, but at the end of the ASB trip going back to Champaign, i felt really tired, burnt out from all the vacationing.
But anyway, now i'm back and it's a new semester, and i'm really pretty excited for the semester to start, my last undergrad one, let's make it a memorable one. Or at least try to learn SOMETHING.
It's also a new year of fantasy sports, although it's right in the middle of NBA season, and there's stuff going on that u need to know about.
The big story from yesterday was the injury of andrew bynum, and if u've watched the lakers this year u know that has a tremendous impact for the growth of that team, they need him back if they want to do somethin in the playoffs. He is one growing man, and even if he doesn't come back at 100% this year and struggles, he will be darn good next year. Kobe should say.
You know who benefits most from bynum's injury, though? I don't think it's his immediate replacements, kwame brown or ronnie turiaf ( Let's be honest, has kwame ever had any serious fantasy value?) No, i think the main beneficiary here is lamar odom. I might be a homer because he's on my fantasy team, but realistically he restores his place as the #2 option on that team, he comes out from under bynum's shadow to post more rebounds, and he holds the ball more w/o bynum's post presence so that he can pick up his point forward duties and get more dimes. I'd say lamar's value has really risen w/ this news.
Tracy McGrady still not back yet? Can't say i'm too surprised. EVERY season about this time of year he gets some nagging injury. Have seen this movie too many times before. Same w/ Jermaine O'Neal. He's basically day-to-day on every game, and you can never really feel like he's "recovered."
Still waiting on a marcus camby. Hey, u know what, it might never happen. However, don't think that the nuggs get anything done in playoffs even w/ him, which is sad cuz so many teams could use a 7-foot shot-blockin big man. And w/ carmelo and iverson on that team, they should be able to go places, but it doesn't look like that's ever gonna happen. They could even miss the playoffs in that loaded western conference.
Kevin Martin has returned to the Kings and come off the bench, and maybe he should just keep doin that. 25 points first game, 39 last night in a thrilla over the Mavs. This man is an offensive stud, and don't even mind the lack of defensive numbers, just smile at his lack of TO's and great %'s. I'd take this guy over a bunch of overhyped past stars like paul pierce, ray allen, and jason kidd. He's the real deal.
Don't buy into the return of mike bibby being too big an impact. Who knows how well he's healed and what his role in the offense is now. The kings might just want to limit his touches and give the ball more to brad miller and kevin martin. Now with ron artest comin back, it's almost bcoming a case of not enuff ball to go around in sacramento. The kings are an enigma, they always have intriguing fantasy players but a bad record. And sometimes they beat dallas in very excitin games, and then they'll lose to like seattle in the coming weeks.
Glad I'm back.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Just to update what i've been doing for the last 2 weeks, after Jan. 2nd i took a plane from CA back to Champaign, IL and then proceeded to take an Alternative Spring Break trip to Alexandria, VA, where we worked with Community Lodgings in community development and their after-school child program. Very similar to the volunteer trip w/ ASB i took last winter, and i met a great group of people this time just as i did to start off 2007.
So basically, my vacation spanned almost all the time zones: From Hawaii, to CA, to Champaign, to the surburbs of the D.C. area. Wow, what a vacation. Lotsa busy stuff. Tell you what, not to sound conceited or anything, but at the end of the ASB trip going back to Champaign, i felt really tired, burnt out from all the vacationing.
But anyway, now i'm back and it's a new semester, and i'm really pretty excited for the semester to start, my last undergrad one, let's make it a memorable one. Or at least try to learn SOMETHING.
It's also a new year of fantasy sports, although it's right in the middle of NBA season, and there's stuff going on that u need to know about.
The big story from yesterday was the injury of andrew bynum, and if u've watched the lakers this year u know that has a tremendous impact for the growth of that team, they need him back if they want to do somethin in the playoffs. He is one growing man, and even if he doesn't come back at 100% this year and struggles, he will be darn good next year. Kobe should say.
You know who benefits most from bynum's injury, though? I don't think it's his immediate replacements, kwame brown or ronnie turiaf ( Let's be honest, has kwame ever had any serious fantasy value?) No, i think the main beneficiary here is lamar odom. I might be a homer because he's on my fantasy team, but realistically he restores his place as the #2 option on that team, he comes out from under bynum's shadow to post more rebounds, and he holds the ball more w/o bynum's post presence so that he can pick up his point forward duties and get more dimes. I'd say lamar's value has really risen w/ this news.
Tracy McGrady still not back yet? Can't say i'm too surprised. EVERY season about this time of year he gets some nagging injury. Have seen this movie too many times before. Same w/ Jermaine O'Neal. He's basically day-to-day on every game, and you can never really feel like he's "recovered."
Still waiting on a marcus camby. Hey, u know what, it might never happen. However, don't think that the nuggs get anything done in playoffs even w/ him, which is sad cuz so many teams could use a 7-foot shot-blockin big man. And w/ carmelo and iverson on that team, they should be able to go places, but it doesn't look like that's ever gonna happen. They could even miss the playoffs in that loaded western conference.
Kevin Martin has returned to the Kings and come off the bench, and maybe he should just keep doin that. 25 points first game, 39 last night in a thrilla over the Mavs. This man is an offensive stud, and don't even mind the lack of defensive numbers, just smile at his lack of TO's and great %'s. I'd take this guy over a bunch of overhyped past stars like paul pierce, ray allen, and jason kidd. He's the real deal.
Don't buy into the return of mike bibby being too big an impact. Who knows how well he's healed and what his role in the offense is now. The kings might just want to limit his touches and give the ball more to brad miller and kevin martin. Now with ron artest comin back, it's almost bcoming a case of not enuff ball to go around in sacramento. The kings are an enigma, they always have intriguing fantasy players but a bad record. And sometimes they beat dallas in very excitin games, and then they'll lose to like seattle in the coming weeks.
Glad I'm back.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Big things poppin' in 2008
Alright, to start the new year right: Lemme start by correcting some mistakes in this blog from the past year:
In one of the most recent posts i put, " apologize for the levity of this post" instead of brevity, meaning the brief nature of the writing, but by saying levity i made the reader anticipate some sort of comic relief that I did not deliver on. Also, I use a lot of sentences where i say, "Also, I'm gonna do this also." That's clearly bad grammar that my fifth-grade self as well as many current fifth graders including my sister can pick up on, so i've gotta work on that.
My New Year's Resolution, then, for this blog, is the obvious, "I will strive to make every post as grammatically pristine as possible. And maybe proofread them before i hit publish?"
Let's hope that sticks. God knows the "lose 5 pounds" resolutions i've made all those times never worked.
That leads me into the fantasy sports world of 2008. I anticipate big things happening in 2008, and the first batch of fantasy-relevant events happen tonight when more than half of the NBA is in action. 2007 was, in my opinion, a pretty ordinary fantasy year: u had KG, the matrix, steve nash, nowitzki, all those other guys performing at their normal level and leading the yahoo! fantasy standings as usual as well as many other fantasy league formats.
This year, I challenge a bunch of players to stand out and make a difference in fantasy land and make the fantasy world a better place: a couple of them are already doing it. Chris Paul, a.ka. CP3, is setting the fantasy basketball world on fire, and his elliptical rise in the NBA is surpassed the impact that he makes for many teams. To think, i got him straight up for VINCE CARTER at the beginning of the year. That's not even fair, even for real NBA talent. Wow i'm good. Anyway, Chris Paul will join the fantasy elite after this season, the question is will he finish #1?
Other guys stepping up in fantasy sports: Caron Butler, I was so high on this guy in the 2006-2007 season too, u must have read about this guy somewhere, if not here, and when gilbert went down, he took over as leader, not antawn jamison.
In baseball, i look for fantasy baseball to emerge from the steroid-plagued offseason unscathed and actually become a beacon of hope for baseball as many turn to the game knowing that players are no longer juiced ( let's hope nobody would be stupid enough to cheat after this year's debacle) and match their wits in acquiring talent. I look for a bunch of fantasy players to step up as 5-cats and take over from Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols, the two guys who have been consensus #1 picks the last 5 years ( including this upcoming year, when A-Rod will likely be the consensus #1.) The usual suspects to do this may be reigning NL MVP jimmy rollins, or the close 2nd Matt Holliday, or the guy who started so hot last year jose reyes and will lead the league in at least one category for sure ( SB's), but my pick to do it is the amazing, unstoppable, hanley ramirez. This guy is ridiculous, and even without the RBI bat of miguel cabrera behind him he should score like 120 runs, and he hits for power, his speed is unquestioned, and he hits EVERYTHING. If ever he got traded from the marlins, which is a distinct possiblity, he will just tear the league apart, and as A-Rod and Pujols go on the down-slope from their prime years, Han-Ram is just heading to the top. Let's hope he doesn't get injured or something freaky cuz he could be something special.
In football, 2007 already witnessed the meteoric rise of one adrian peterson, and he will be anywhere from a #1-4 pick next year, depending on what brady does and some other guys. So he'll step up in 2008, but 2007 basically showed us that in football, it's the easiest for one season to shift a player from average standing to fantasy stud status ( re: Joseph Addai, Braylon Edwards). Btw, i read in SI how Braylon Edwards pledged a lot of scholarship money for 100 kids in low-income communities. Good job, my man. Thumbs up.
But 2008 WILL see some guys emerge and take over other players' spots as fantasy studs.
So as 2008 is here, so is hope for great fantasy seasons in the top 3 sports, and i have a feeling that w/ the cheating controversies that were rampant in 2007 out of the way, 2008 will clear the way for fantasy players around the fantasy world to accumulate their numbers like pickers in a strawberry field.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
In one of the most recent posts i put, " apologize for the levity of this post" instead of brevity, meaning the brief nature of the writing, but by saying levity i made the reader anticipate some sort of comic relief that I did not deliver on. Also, I use a lot of sentences where i say, "Also, I'm gonna do this also." That's clearly bad grammar that my fifth-grade self as well as many current fifth graders including my sister can pick up on, so i've gotta work on that.
My New Year's Resolution, then, for this blog, is the obvious, "I will strive to make every post as grammatically pristine as possible. And maybe proofread them before i hit publish?"
Let's hope that sticks. God knows the "lose 5 pounds" resolutions i've made all those times never worked.
That leads me into the fantasy sports world of 2008. I anticipate big things happening in 2008, and the first batch of fantasy-relevant events happen tonight when more than half of the NBA is in action. 2007 was, in my opinion, a pretty ordinary fantasy year: u had KG, the matrix, steve nash, nowitzki, all those other guys performing at their normal level and leading the yahoo! fantasy standings as usual as well as many other fantasy league formats.
This year, I challenge a bunch of players to stand out and make a difference in fantasy land and make the fantasy world a better place: a couple of them are already doing it. Chris Paul, a.ka. CP3, is setting the fantasy basketball world on fire, and his elliptical rise in the NBA is surpassed the impact that he makes for many teams. To think, i got him straight up for VINCE CARTER at the beginning of the year. That's not even fair, even for real NBA talent. Wow i'm good. Anyway, Chris Paul will join the fantasy elite after this season, the question is will he finish #1?
Other guys stepping up in fantasy sports: Caron Butler, I was so high on this guy in the 2006-2007 season too, u must have read about this guy somewhere, if not here, and when gilbert went down, he took over as leader, not antawn jamison.
In baseball, i look for fantasy baseball to emerge from the steroid-plagued offseason unscathed and actually become a beacon of hope for baseball as many turn to the game knowing that players are no longer juiced ( let's hope nobody would be stupid enough to cheat after this year's debacle) and match their wits in acquiring talent. I look for a bunch of fantasy players to step up as 5-cats and take over from Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols, the two guys who have been consensus #1 picks the last 5 years ( including this upcoming year, when A-Rod will likely be the consensus #1.) The usual suspects to do this may be reigning NL MVP jimmy rollins, or the close 2nd Matt Holliday, or the guy who started so hot last year jose reyes and will lead the league in at least one category for sure ( SB's), but my pick to do it is the amazing, unstoppable, hanley ramirez. This guy is ridiculous, and even without the RBI bat of miguel cabrera behind him he should score like 120 runs, and he hits for power, his speed is unquestioned, and he hits EVERYTHING. If ever he got traded from the marlins, which is a distinct possiblity, he will just tear the league apart, and as A-Rod and Pujols go on the down-slope from their prime years, Han-Ram is just heading to the top. Let's hope he doesn't get injured or something freaky cuz he could be something special.
In football, 2007 already witnessed the meteoric rise of one adrian peterson, and he will be anywhere from a #1-4 pick next year, depending on what brady does and some other guys. So he'll step up in 2008, but 2007 basically showed us that in football, it's the easiest for one season to shift a player from average standing to fantasy stud status ( re: Joseph Addai, Braylon Edwards). Btw, i read in SI how Braylon Edwards pledged a lot of scholarship money for 100 kids in low-income communities. Good job, my man. Thumbs up.
But 2008 WILL see some guys emerge and take over other players' spots as fantasy studs.
So as 2008 is here, so is hope for great fantasy seasons in the top 3 sports, and i have a feeling that w/ the cheating controversies that were rampant in 2007 out of the way, 2008 will clear the way for fantasy players around the fantasy world to accumulate their numbers like pickers in a strawberry field.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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