Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 9

For this week, it was this first time this year that I was in such a hole that I benched my entire team to just try and win turnovers. It's a ploy you almost never want to go through with but sometimes, deep, deep holes leave you with no choice...

This week, the multiple positions eligibility will help me cheat with the top 5 players in the league...

The Director
Dwyane Wade (MIA) - 28.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 3.0 SPG, 1.3 BPG [2]

Cheat #1. Wade is given PG elibigility, so I'll place him here since he ranks behind Kobe in this week's show. Flash is showing his 5-cat prowess once again, and when asked about it in an interview, he said he was playing better because he slowed down. This means he's picking his spots more and better percentages can be expected as well.


The Skywalker
Kobe Bryant (LAL) - 1.7 3FGM, 37.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 6.0 APG,2.7 SPG [3]

If anybody was able to see the Sacramento game the other day, Kobe killed the Kings in 2OT with 2 3s that sent the young Kings packing. He ate Tyreke Evans for dinner too. Kobe, now with Artest gone, can be expected to jack most of the Lakers' 3 attempts now, so be wary of the risks coming.



The Triggerman
Brandon Roy (POR) - 2.0 3FGM, 32.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.5 SPG [1]

Brandon Roy was fantasy basketball's best player this week, and sadly for him, he had to be. The Blazers are so injured right now, it's not even funny. Their coach was injured a few weeks back because he had to complete the 10 people on-court during practice. So, with that many players, we can expect Roy to have to produce at this level to stay afloat in the West.


Captain Lionheart
Zach Randolph (MEM) - .650 FG%, 30.0 PPG, 16.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 SPG [1]

Now, Z-BO is one of the players I hate most in the NBA, not just real basketball or fantasy. I just really don't like the guy. He's a pit for your offense, but apparently, he can put up numbers - and has been for the last few weeks now.


Tower of Power
Al Horford (ATL) - .658 FG%, 19.7 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 2.3 BPG [1]

J-Smooth gets most of the props for the Atlanta's improvement this year, but Horford has been steadily improving his game too. For the most part, gone are the single-digit scoring games and the bad percentages. He's confident and settling down in the fact that he is their #1 big guy, and he hopes to become a bigger presence to get guys off Joe Johnson.

NBA Christmas Preview

This year's NBA schedule will feature 5 games, which more or less were desgined to give some family entertainment during the "best time of the year." These 5 games all have interesting backstories behind them and aims to capture even those non-basketball fans because of the hype and telenovela like stories being built up.

The NBA made this schedule even before the season started. Let's see if they got their gut-feels right...

Miami vs New York

This game is simply all about one man. Dwyane Wade is on the free agent market next year, and is probably the 2nd target of the New York Knicks after LeBron James. HE provides the struggling Knicks franchise with a superstar big enough to handle the bright lights of the big city. Hell, even Jay-Z made a comment about Wade in New York...


Boston vs Orlando

Everybody was saying last year that D12 and the Magic were only able to get through the Celtics was because they were missing Garnett and the defensive tenacity he brings to the floor. This year, we get to see it. In the Finals, Paul Pierce even mentioned that he thought that the Magic was a "poodle" compared to the "rotweiler." Unfortunately for the Truth, he'll be observing this Christmas day game as he was diagnosed to miss the next 2 weeks with a knee injury.


Cleveland vs Los Angeles Lakers

With the help of these dudes, Nike has been building up this match since the playoffs started last year. They were hoping it would happen in the Finals, but we all ended up waiting another half year to see it. Individually, I think we cannot contest that Kobe and LeBron are the 2 best players in the league, and they hope to lead their star-studded teams in clash in Hollywood. Just enough of a bright lights, big stage, right time set-up for a primetime, national television broadcast. The Mamba vs the King.

LA Clippers vs Phoenix Suns


Initially, I was supposed to label this match-up as a battle of "failure of the 2009 season" with both teams having stocked line-ups, stubborn coaches and too little wins to get into the playoffs. Then I remembered the crazy stuff their 2 starting point guards do during their free time. Yes folks, that's Steve "Two Time" (MVP, not Tiger Woods two-time) Nash and Baron "Boom Dizzle" Davis. If you can find a clip of it online, these 2 made a video in the style of Will Ferrel's and C. THomas Reiley's Stepbrothers, hence the stupid outfits... Now, on the basketball side of it, The Suns are resurgent and now seem to be contenders in spite of their recent struggles, and the Clippers seem to be getting there. The added bonus of Blake Griffin was supposed to be highlighted here as well, but a broken kneecap has said no.


Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trailblazers

Here's is where the league was bitten in the ass by the injury bug. Oden, Roy, Outlaw, Batum, Pryzbilla, Billups and Martin might all miss the game due to one injury or another. It was supposed to be a battle for supremacy of the US Northwest, and instead it will be Carmelo Anthony vs LaMarcus Aldrigde. Sort of an anti-climactic way to end the night...

NBA Fantasy: Players of the Week 8

I won all leagues last week.. but forgot to set my team for this week and lost Bogut's 31-18 this week. Uphill battles once again..

The Director
Chris Paul (NOH) - 19.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 13.5 APG, 2.0 SPG [2]
Chris Paul is back, definitely... And the Hornets are winning. However, his points are down from the previous year's due to the increase in assists. At least we know the ball is definitely in his hands almost all the time.

The Skywalker
Joe Johnson (ATL) - 2.3 3FGM, 26.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.7 APG [1]
Joe Johnson finally cracks the list with a very, very solid week. Now, let's just see if he'll be able to keep some of these numbers consistent since he's still the hawk other teams want to keep from flying.

The Triggerman
Quintin Richardson (MIA) - 5.0 3FGM, 16.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG
If there's anybody that matches the "Triggerman" title this week, it was Q-Rich who posted 5 3's a game. Now, we know it's not going to be consistent, so this might be his first and last appearance on this list, especially since he's trying to be Miami's starting stopper this year.


Captain Lionheart
Tim Duncan - 26.7 PPG, 15.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 3.3 BPG [2]
Duncan was fantasy basketball's best player last week with very crazy numbers. Reminds you actually of that Finals series where he man-handled the Nets. Now that Parker and Ginobili are back, Duncan is getting more open to operate. Not bad for the "old guy."

Tower of Power
Marcus Camby - 8.8 PPG, 17.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 3.5 BPG [3]
Camby is back... again! It's his third time on the list and although the points are down, the rebounds are up. His assists are a surprise actually, and a great bonus for all those who picked him up late due to the injury scare.

Coach Tim Cone, Alaska Get an Assist from Coach Siot

Last week, the Alaska Aces took an overtime decision over the San Miguel Beermen. They withstood an all-out late 4th quarter run led by Arwind Santos who put up 22 pts and 14 rebs. It was a pretty big effort on their end as Willie Miller wasn't playing well. Thankfully, the other half of the league's top backcourt, LA Tenorio responded wth 29 pts and 5 asts. Tenorio has been playing well as of late and some would say is actually a candidate for the Best Player of the Conference and year-end MVP awards due to his much improved and stellar performance this season.

What people often forget about that game is that, in a rare moment of negligence, Coach Tim Cone, actually called for Joe Devance to miss his second free throw and allow SMB to rebound the ball with time left and them only leading by 2. The rare error by the multi-titled coach was that he thought the Beermen had no timeouts left and could not advance the ball. This cost them an extra-difficult 5 minutes of additional court time as Dondon Hontiveros received a backpick and took an alley-oop to tie the game.

Wednesday, the Aces seemed to be on the other end of a beatdown from Talk n Text and down deep into the 4th. Jimmy Alapag played the role of Willie Miller as he was absent due to a hamstring injury. Similarly, Mac Cardona rattled off 32 points to play LA Tenorio and carried the team late in the game. Alaska would stage a comeback and with around 2 seconds left, the game was tied and it was Aces ball.

Coach Tim picked up from the brillance of Coach Siot Tanquincen in their previous game and drew up a pretty familiar play. LA Tenorio, similar to Hontiveros, was given a backpick at the elbow and was spotted by Tony Dela Cruz for an alley-oop lay-up! Eeriely familiar? Alaska was up 2 points and they won the game as there was only 0.5 seconds left on the clock.

Now, in the stats, that assist was credited to Dela Cruz. I'd personally give it to Coach Siot.

Thanks to that, Alaska now sports an 11-1 record, leading the entire league.

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 7

I'm slipping out of playoff contention in 1 league, so I had to shift from playing big to relying on 3's and steals. Let's wait and see...

The Director
Raymond Felton (CHA) - 1.3 3FGM, 14.0 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.7 SPG [1]

Felton's 6 steal game is the primary cause of his jump up this week. We see that his numbers are not really that impressive, but he's pretty efficient. It also helped that Nash had no defense this week and Rondo was throwing up bricks.

The Skywalker
Kevin Durant (OKC) - 29.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG [3]

With Kobe dealing with a broken finger, Granger out 4 weeks and Wade missing lots of court time due to blowouts, we could see Durant here for a while. His numbers are stabilizing now and balancing with his defense.

The Triggerman
LeBron James (CLE) - 3.0 3FGM, 36.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.5 APG [4]

LeBron stays ahead of Durant for the most appearances in this list. He posted these averages over a span of 4 games, clearly establishing himself as the #1 fantasy pick this season so far.

Captain Lionheart
Dirk Nowitzki (DAL) - 31.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG [2]

It's been a slow week for the often-considered carries of fantasy basketball - the power forwards. Dirk bests them all with these numbers, but they aren't reall that impressive overall.


Tower of Power
Pau Gasol (LAL) - 17.3 PPG, 17.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.0 BPG [1]

Finally, Pau gets to crack this list. He's actually been posting pretty monster numbers the past few weeks, but Camby's defense got in the way. Gasol gave you 52 rebounds this week in head-to-head leagues. We can expect these numbers to be pretty consistent though as Kobe will have less touches due to that finger.

Other notes:
Yahoo actually posted Maurice Evans and Troy Murphy pretty high this week due to their percentages. Now, I'm not really a fan of those stats since it's a weighted average that is used in the head-to-head mode.

PCCL Finals: Ateneo, Jai Cap Dream Season

Yesterday, the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles won their 2nd Champions League title in school history and 3rd title in this year's basketball season. The Eagles also won this year's UAAP and Unigames titles, making it almost equivalent to the PBA's Grand Slam. They won a close 74-70 decision in their best-of-3 series for the PCCL title with the FEU Tamaraws who staged a late rally and took the lead deep into the fourth quarter. However, it was guard Jai Reyes who stood atop everyone as he bailed Ateneo out to tie the ballgame at 70 with his 4th three, gave the go-ahead assist to Oping Sumalinog, and won the Finals MVP award in his final tournament ever in an Ateneo uniform. For Reyes, an Atenean for 17 years, 16 years a varsity athlete, you could not have written a better script - back-to-back UAAP Champions, Collegiate Grand Slam and Finals MVP in his final year. You could say that he can hang up his jersey, that familiar Reyes #5, without any regrets.

Claiming the final gem in their cap this year wasn't just a Jai-namite show though, it took more of a team effort to buck the challenge of the Tamaraws. JR Cawaling, Aldrech Ramos and RR Garcia led a furious rally in the 4th quarter which utilized their superior length and athleticism on the boards to inch their way to the lead. The Ateneo offense sputtered to a halt and almost seemed to crumple to the floor along with Eric Salamat and his cramps. By the way it it looks too, Ateneo will be playing off Salamat next year, and teams will be more zoned in on stopping him to stop the Eagles.

In Game 2, seemingly reading some pages off 40 Minutes of Freedom, Salamat and Nico Salva led a 90 - 67 beatdown with their 26 and 20 points, respectively. Without a doubt, these 2 will be Ateneo's 1-2 punch next year as they are the best inside and outside scorers. But, by losing Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Nonoy Baclao on the frontline, playing faster will be key for the Eagles whose Grand Slam defense starts the next time they hit the practice floor of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Complex. As for FEU, RR Garcia will undoubtedly be the #1 guard of the Tamaraws and we will see them more ripe and hungrier to finally claim the UAAP title they hoped to gain so much this year. For the Eagles though, it seems that big man duties next year will be a job done by committee as Salva, Chua, Golla and Sumalinog have all spent time at the 4 and 5 in this last tournament. Sumalinog will be a crucial piece as he can play at the wing and a bit in the post.

So, that's a wrap for the collegiate basketball season for 2009. Let's just wait for 6 more months until the drums start beating again.

PCCL Finals: Tams could be Best PCCL Team Ever, Eagles could Collapse Again

The Philippine Collegiate Champions League has finally reach the Finals. Bucking some unexpected excitement that went on in the earlier rounds, it was still Metro Manila that stood tall atop the tournament. More specifically, the UAAP clearly demonstrated that it is still the number 1 collegiate basketball league in the country. With the Finals being contested by Ateneo and FEU, the UAAP will have it's seventh (7th) championship since the tournament's inception. Simply put, the UAAP has won and will win all the PCCL Crowns to date.


After this year's edition, win or lose, FEU will be the tournament's most successful team. The Tamaraws have won twice ('04 & '05) and lost in the Finals once ('03). With a win later today, they could be the first three-time champions, breaking the deadlock with UE (won in '03 & '06, Runner-up '05). Based on how they were playing earlier, we could see that they should already be favored to win next year's UAAP title. RR Garcia has been great and even without the full participation of the Gilas boys (Ramos & Cawaling), they're already looking like Barroca wasn't lined-up this year.

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles are the third-most successful team in the history of the PCCL. They won in 2007 against the only non-Manila finalist ever, University of Visayas, and were second to DLSU last year. Now, on the verge of losing another PCCL title with another loss, the Eagles look to tie UE for second-best ever. It's been also very clear that they become pretty lost after winning the UAAP as they begin to transition to next year's system almost right away with their choice not to field their Championship team's graduating cornerstone (Tiu & Al-Hussaini).

Based on the participation of Ramos and Cawaling on the other end, it is clear that Coach Rajko Toroman and the SBP allow the Gilas players to join their mother teams to help validate the tournament. So, it can be assumed that not playing Rabeh is a choice done by Ateneo. They're trying to hand the reins over to the undergraduates right away, but they also keep some seniors (Jai Reyes & Nonoy Baclao) to make sure that they play decently. Their loss in Game 1 of the Finals showed this very blatantly. The gamble didn't pay off this time.

It is crystal that next year's Eagles team will rest heavily on the shoulders of Eric Salamat. While he might not become the Eagle's leading scorer next year (as I predict that Ryan Buenafe will have that role), he will be their playmaker throughout the year. His defense on the perimeter will set the tone and his slashing will be the main weapon on offense. If you're an Eagle fan, you might a bit nervous though as Salamat seems to disappear during the big games. He really hasn't played great in any Finals appearance and that was true again in this year's PCCL Game 1.


Another cause for concern, I feel has been the lackluster play of Nico Salva. With Rabeh out of the games, one would think Salva would begin exerting himself underneath with his high-post moves creating baskets or baiting fouls. He, however, has been very tenative. He's been floating too much to the perimeter, breaking spacing to ask for the ball. Naturally, since he is out of position, giving him the ball often just leads to isolation from the perimeter - the biggest killer of Ateneo's offensive efficiency. His floating to the perimeter 1) leaves Baclao as the only rebounder, 2) get everybody out fo the proper spacing and rebounding schemes and 3) leaves him vulnerable to frustration when he cannot get his offense going. Ateneo fans should hope that he doesn't try to freestyle too much as they can't be careless with their offensive possessions and waste possible scoring chances against this FEU team later today.

My prediction is that the Eagles will tie the series up. They take less shots from the perimeter, less turnovers and better offensive execution can be seen. Look for Salamat to be more present in the lane, kicking out to Reyes and Long for the outside shots. Also, Garcia will probably have Kirk Long in his face for most of the game. So, it could be a grind next game from beginning to end. Ateneo by 4.

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 6

9-0 in one of my leagues. That's probably the first time that it's happened in 2 years. We saw several injuries take out a couple of key pieces to teams, biggest of which (literally and figuratively) was Greg Oden going down. He wasn't producing much stats-wise but basketball-wise, he was a major part of what they were doing. Honorable mentions include the Pistons wings ad Jrue Holiday (damn you, Holiday!)

I say "Damn you, Jrue Holiday!" because it was your chance to finally get the starter role. The Sixers, I feel would be best with Holiday in the 1 with Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala at the wings. But he conveniently got hurt the same Allen Iverson comes rolling back into town. (Sorry, folks. But I've never been an Iverson fan.) Today, Iverson had 11 points on 4-11 shooting with 5 boards and 6 assists... without his wind or legs. We all know Iverson. With the losing streak at 10, it will only be a matter of time before he starts saying "If we don't win, I'm going to have to play my way" or something to that effect. Good luck to Fantasy Owners of the Sixers.

Going back to the business of big shots... Week 6!
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The Director
Jason Kidd (DAL) - 2.8 3FGM, 13.5 PPG, 8.5 APG, 2.8 SPG, 1.3 BPG [2]

The man is no longer a walking triple-double, but he still flirts with it every game. In addition to the flirting, he's carrying around things that come in 3's. Pretty good date if you get it 4 times a week.


The Skywalker
Kevin Durant (OKC) - 2.7 3FGM, 32.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.7 SPG [2]

He was the only 30.0 PPG man this week (oddly), and 2.7 steals isn't shabby considering he's primary role in the Thunder is to score the ball. Not crazy about the 0.5 assist-to-turnover ratio though.

The Triggerman
Danilo Gallinari (NYK) - 3.5 3FGM, 18.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 1.3 BPG [2]

I was actually conflicted with this pick since Rashard Lewis put up close (if not better numbers). But it's a head-to-head league that we play in and 4 games vs 2 for The Italian Stallion. We just hope he really starts hitting his stride so that he can get Al Harrington off his timesheet.

Captain Lionheart
Carlos Boozer (UTA) - .600 FG%, 27.7 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 3.0 APG [1]

Boozer put up very good and efficient numbers this week from the field. Thie FT line, not so much though. The 3.7 TOs are a bit of a downer too. But he still delivers, ala the mailman.

Tower of Power
Marcus Camby (LAC) - 10.5 PPG, 18.0 RPG, 5.0 APG, 3.0 SPG, 2.0 BPG [2]

Guess what, people? It's him again! He's healthy and doing what he does best. 18 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks are nuts. I'm hoping that Griffin plays a lot at the 3 this year so that they can keep on hammering people on the inside.


Comeback Kids:
Chris Paul (NOH) - 16.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 15.0 APG, 8.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG (I thought he was hurt?)
Kevin Love (MIN) - 2.0 3FGM, 14.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.0 SPG (It has got to be the glove he's wearing.)