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GMTR Readers’ League: How a Champion Drafts

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Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, GMTR Leagues, GMTR Readers 08-09, Injuries, NBA Basketball
Posted on: October 29th, 2008

As many of you already know, the GMTR Readers League draft happened last week. Nels commented on his team a while ago as did many others in the league, and it’s right about time I did the same. My comments are a little late, but they are worth the wait if you are curious to see how a real fantasy champion* drafts (it’s also about time seeing that the season has actually started). Here is my team with a description of what generally was going through my head the time as best I can remember:

1. (5) Shawn Marion (SF,PF)

My first semi-mistake of the draft! In round 1! And a reason why it is important to pay attention to position eligibility when you’re drafting. It was no surprise that the big 4 went in order, leaving me with the consolation prize at the fifth pick of Marion, Elton Brand, Dwayne Wade, or Dirk. I picked Marion because he has the potential to be the best of the 4 and I like how he brings everything to the table (though the same could be said for Dirk). However, I forgot that Brand qualifies at C in Yahoo leagues. Stupid, just stupid. LittleFlyingWarrior! happily snatched up Brand at 6.

2. (20) Rashard Lewis (SF,PF)

Marcus Camby was on the board and I thought about him in this spot, but I think he’s going to be in for a tough year and play in like 40 games. Instead, I went with Lewis, another player who I don’t like all that much, but should complement Marion nicely and play in more games than Camby. There is nothing like getting 3 threes a game from your PF and 11 boards from your SF. It all evens out in the end, I guess.

3. (29) Marcus Camby (C)

Ok, it was obvious at this point that no one in the league wanted to touch Camby with a 10-foot pole, myself included. But him falling to 29 was ridiculous, he had fallen so far that I literally was forced to draft him by the fantasy gods. The fact that the league starts 2 centers made it an even easier call.

…what, he’s already hurt?

4. (44) Antawn Jamison (SF,PF)

At this point, my draft is quickly turning into Patrick’s big bag o’ value picks, as I went with my fourth big man in four picks. But I couldn’t pass up Jamison at 44, especially when he finished 18, 23, and 24 on the GMTR player rater over the past 3 years. Provided everyone stays healthy, I don’t think rebounds are going to be a problem for this team.

5. (53) Mo Williams (PG)

Straight up position pick here. 2nd Round Reach snagged Devin Harris at pick 50 and In Baclao We Trust selected Andre Miller at 52, meaning that Williams was the last tier 4 PG remaining. I’m not particularly jazzed about Williams, but you’ve got to separate your emotions from your team if your goal is to win.

Yes! My team finally has some assists.

6. (68) Jermaine O’Neal (PF,C)

The start of round six coincided with a run of players I would have loved to have: Josh Howard, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry. With those guys all gone, I went for O’Neal – a guy I’ve been targeting in a bunch of leagues. I think there is a 50% chance he returns to his old form, a 50% chance he plays at a reduced level like last year, and a 50% chance he misses a bunch of games. I’ll take those chances.

7. (77) Andrei Kirilenko (SF,PF)

Even when he’s on, AK is extremely frustrating to have on your team, as I’ve experienced quite a few times. I don’t know why I picked him here, I must have blacked out during this pick.

8. (92) John Salmons (SG,SF)

I like when I can make upside picks like Salmons without having to reach for it – as 92 is later than I’ve seen him go in other drafts. At this point in the draft I needed guys who I could throw in at the guard position while all but conceded the assists category. If only he still qualified at PG, I could make the biggest big ball team in the history of fantasy basketball.

9. (101) Gilbert Arenas (PG)

Alpha_Terrance gambled on Manu Ginobili in the 6th round. Monta Ellis ended up going in the 10th. I think the 9th was a great spot to roll the dice with Arenas. Who should I have grabbed instead at this pick? Nick Collison?

…what, Camby is already hurt? Ok, maybe I should have.

10. (116) Shane Battier SF

Lets be honest here. Things are not looking great for Shane Battier. He lost his starting gig to Ron Artest and has missed the last four weeks with an inflamed left foot. He’ll be coming off the bench when he gets healthy which will be at some undetermined time in the future. However, despite not being able to score, he did finish 62 on the player rater last season thanks to the rest of his game – 5 boards/1 steal/1 block/1.7 threes. He’s not going to average 36 minutes a game this season, but in the 10th round I’ll take what he has to offer at 28-30 minutes.

11. (125) Raymond Felton (PG,SG)

Best PG available at this spot in the draft. He’ll average 14 and 7 and allows me to plug another PG during good matchup weeks.

12. (140) Jason Maxiell (PF,C)

Has since been dropped. Looks like Amir Johnson is going to be the man in Detroit. I could have made a better pick here, like the previously mentioned Amir Johnson who went 2 picks later or Matt Barnes who went at the end of the 12th (much to Nels’ chagrin).

13. (149) Ramon Sessions (PG,SG)

Back in the day, Fantasy Basketblog had a great theory about bench spots, especially for leagues with limited spots like the readers league. It went something like this: Always keep at least one bench spot available for quick waiver wire moves. While it’s great to have a deep team, if your bench is filled with good/undroppable players, then you are either going to miss out on some hot waiver wire action, or you be in the bad position of having to drop a good player to make a waiver wire move.

With that being said, Ramon Sessions is currently my “open” spot. If he can wrestle the starting job away from Luke Ridnour or Ridnour gets hurt early in the season, great – he’s a keeper – if not, he’ll be easily droppable when a better player becomes available on the wire.

In Summary

Overall, I’m pretty damn satisfied with this draft. I made some risky picks (Camby anyone?) but honestly, all my drafts are like that. I’m like the John McCain of fantasy drafting, In fact, I think that AK pick happened when I suspended my draft to help with the economic crisis.

I’m definitely going to need another center for when Camby and/or O’Neal miss time. It probably would have been a good idea to pick up one of those instead of wasting a pick on Jason Maxiell.

In the spirit of Nels’ team breakdown, here’s a visual breakdown of my team:
Regular text are solid picks
Bold are picks I’m very happy about
Strikethrough are picks I’m upset with
Italics are picks I’m just sort of kind of OK with

1. (5) Shawn Marion
2. (20) Rashard Lewis
3. (29) Marcus Camby
4. (44) Antawn Jamison
5. (53) Mo Williams
6. (68) Jermaine O’Neal
7. (77) Andrei Kirilenko
8. (92) John Salmons
9. (101) Gilbert Arenas
10. (116) Shane Battier
11. (125) Raymond Felton
12. (140) Jason Maxiell
13. (149) Ramon Sessions

*Not just hyperbole – I won last year’s readers league

Other Stuff Like This:

  • Here's my initial comments on the Monster League: I still hate Tim Thomas, but he can play PF. I drafted Grant Hill. There goes that. I also drafted Tayshaun Prince for a small ball team. Yeah, what?

    On the non-complaint side, I did get Chris Paul with the first pick in a 20 team league. I also got Mehmet Okur for my small ball Center (only 1 center needed for this league).

    None of my guys are really true small ballers except Paul, but they're all a little big small ball, so I'm hoping that adds up to enough to win me some categories.
  • @The DL - Monster League? What Monster League?

    Just kidding. Yeah - we'll most certainly get around to taking about the monster league. Things are a bit busy around the GMTR offices at the moment and the Monster League drafted after the regular league, so I think it's a case of Nels and I having real jobs that get in the way.

    @terrance - Well, if the Knicks continue to run at that pace, Wilson Chandler and Nate Robinson could have some value. At least based on one game of evidence, Duhon doesn't seem to be the answer at the point (surprise!). The problem is that the Knicks don't have the talent the Suns do, so their fantasy prospects are a little dimmer even if they run, run, run.
  • terrance
    the team with the most possesions last night? the new york knicks with 87, they were tied with 2 or 3 other teams. something to take notice of. This could mean a few knicks other than the normal few could have fantasy value...maybe?
  • Here is a write-up of my draft in the league, pick #9. Right now, I am getting my backside waxed by Terrance, even with Carmelo not playing tonight due to the drinky-drinky.

    http://talesof9cats.blogspot.com/2008/10/gmtr-l...
  • The DL
    So are you guys just going to never talk about the Monster League?
  • terrance
  • terrance
    @patrick-yeah, for sure. I'm glad you'd consider it. I think you may have posted enough stuff for me to let you use ONE of my comments. But tread lightly, each one of my comments are worth 1000 Shrute bucks. So for each comment you use of mine, I get 5 extra minutes on lunch break. The cash value is = 1/100 of a cent. And finally, theyre not equal to the ratio of unicorns to leprechauns.
  • @Meno Rikey - no offense taken. This is pretty much the same type of team I draft every year, where I basically either have an awesome team or go down in flames. Since I won the league last season, I can't argue too much with my strategy.

    @Brendan - yeah, I saw were both sporting the big lineups. Add points to the categories that you're going to wipe the floor against me, but my hope is to pull out a 5-4 squeaker thanks to some kind of boards/steals/blocks combo. We'll see, the first weeks are always interesting as you get a chance to see your team after the draft glow fades away.
  • Terrance - awesome comment. Would you mind if I reposted this in an actual post? I think it's worthy.
  • I'm not sure if you noticed, Patrick, but we're running very similar teams. Mostly big, plus 3s. You're going to win in assists, but I think I'll pull one on you in TOs or maybe FG% (but who knows?) All in all, not the matchup I wanted to see, but Camby's questionable and at least Gilbert isn't chucking for you yet.
  • Meno Rikey
    no offense, but it looks like you have the all-injury team (this poster, not the commenter)
  • Terrance
    ok fellas, i dont blog. I just read them. Heres my draft breakdown. Maybe I drafted a player some reader has and they want a breakdown of that player. So here goes.

    1. (12) Chris Bosh

    I was crossing my fingers that Chris Paul would fall to me at #12, but he went at one. With CP3 gone, I decided to go big, I did this in most of my drafts this season. After Bosh, Jefferson, Brand, Boozer, Duncan, and Camby theres a small dropoff to Dwight Howard and then a hugo drop to the next tier of Centers. Fact is, i wouldnt have got any top C's if i didnt draft them now.

    2. (13) Al Jefferson

    I did think about Deron Williams here, but not for long. I think people are too high on him. I think TJ ford may offer similar (but still significantly less) value and provide more steals. So i went with Al Jefferson, I think hes a rock solid pick to pair with bosh

    3. (36) Carmerlo Anthony

    I dont know why i draft him, but i always seem to. Maybe its the solid %s, or the solid rebs. I dont do it for points, i dont care about points much. I just think his game is finally rounding out. Anthony should provide better numbers than last season. With this said, Iguadala is who i wanted and went at #35.

    4. (37) Vince Carter

    I like the value for this pick. Carter seems to be overlooked and underrated. Will have another good year, but we know how he gets when hes stuck on a losing team. Thats my only worry, the phantom injuries.
    Would have taken Iguadala and Carter here if I had my way.

    5. (60) Stephen Jackson

    Really didnt want another SF, theres too many swingmen late in the draft who have value to draft them early. With that said, I have vince carter and stephen jackson who both should get me 5+ assists/game and provide other great #s. When i saw jackson starting to fall, I was hoping he'd make it to me, I have him #46 on my spreadsheet.

    6. (61) Manu Ginobli

    Ok, I couldve went in a couple directions here. I was in the GMTR league last season and they do weekly updates, so having an injured player on your roster for this H2H league isnt as killer as it would normally be. I was eyeing jamal crawford here, but I think crawfords value tops out in the mid 30s, and manu tops out is the early to mid 20s. This was a value pick and I felt that ginoblis FG% was a little more suited for my team.

    7. (84) Randy Foye

    Like clockwork, I started drafting my PGs where I see the best bang for the buck. I wanted TJ ford here, but he went 2-3 picks before mine. Rounds 7-9 are the sweetspots to grab some pretty good guards in my opinion. You get starters who get minutes and will run their teams well.

    8. (85) Kirk Hinrich

    See above. I will add that I dont see much of a dropoff from Devin Harris and Mo Williams to these two guards in foye in hinrich, but they go about 20 picks higher and I was able to land manu and s jackson with those two picks 2 rounds ago. If that makes sense.

    9. (108) Jameer Nelson

    Not really a favorite or anything, I wanted Conley or JR smith, both were taken about 5 picks before mine. So this was IMO the last acceptable guard available since beno udrih was already taken.

    10. (109) Drew Gooden

    This is my sleeper and has been in every draft. Out of my 4 leagues, I got him in 3. His game is ok and should provide better value than where he is being picked. But there are a ton of minutes in chicagos frontcourt to produce.

    11. (132) Kyle Korver

    Eh, whatever, right? A bench player who will get 25 min a game and drop 1.5 threes and keep my FT ok with his 2 FTA/game at %90. Not much to like unlice brewer goes down with an injury. But this is where championships are won, late in the draft.

    12. (133) Tyrus Thomas

    I like him, but I hope hes not the new stromile swift. The minutes are there in chicago as I mentioned before. Can he produce with a new coach pushing for the uptempo pace that the suns had? Worth a flier at least.

    13. (156) Boris Diaw

    Really just waiting for an injury or Im in for the classic diaw line of 9-4-4. Those #s are like clockwork, sadly.

    Favorite picks:

    Vince Carter
    Stephen Jackson
    Drew Gooden

    Least Favorite:

    Korver
    maybe, Anthony?
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