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GMTR Mock Draft Analysis: Round Six

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Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Strategy
Posted on: October 20th, 2009

“If you don’t know what you want,” the doorman said, “you end up with a lot you don’t.”  ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 5

The early BIRD catches the MAN!

"...why do birds, suddenly appear?..."

Round 6

Pick 6-1: Chris Andersen, F/C – This pick is way too early. Birdman’s game is too one dimensional to grab him in the sixth round. He passed up on the following guys who could have filled his empty C position: Emeka Okafor, Andrew Bynum, Joakim Noah, Marcus Camby, Spencer Hawes, and a few others. All of those guys bring a little bit, make that a lot more to the table than Andersen does. Even if he grabbed one of those above mentioned players, Chris would likely be available for him to enjoy two rounds later. So why Chris, then? I do not know. Well, I don’t like it. Not Chris, as a pick, but at this stage in the draft. Let’s hope that he doesn’t make a habit of grabbing his bird prematurely too often.

Pick 6-2: Eric Gordon, SG – This is more or less the right spot to grab Eric Gordon. He’s talented and clearly has potential to improve this season. I suppose he fits in Velvet Hoop’s pseudo-big-ball team (that has threes). Interesting mix.  I’m not too sure how it will all pan out though.

Pick 6-3: Rudy Gay, F – Considering Rudy Gay disappointed his fantasy owners last season for failing to reach the level everyone was expecting him to, this downgrade in draft position is just about right. There’s no question about him having a mad game and all, but with the “Z-bo and A.I. additions” situation in Memphis, outlook can be too rosy for him. Both Memphis and Gay’s fantasy owners really need him to take charge of games and assert himself more. He’s potentially a solid multi-cat stud, and is a reasonable swingman choice for this small-ball team.

Pick 6-4: Manu Ginobilli, SG – Manu’s well documented history of being an injury risk is appropriately mitigated by this downgrade in draft position. The lure of him giving you 1.5 treys, 1.5 steals, and roughly 4 assists a night is a tempting spread indeed. He helps strengthen this team’s steals investment (Caron Butler), and yet still does nothing to help out the Dwight Howard base. More likely than not, this pick by the drafter was a BPA (best player available) one.

Pick 6-5: Luis Scola, F/C – Interesting how this season’s “Boozer-lite” gets picked ahead of the real McCoy. It’s probably because of the big upside everyone is expecting him to have. He chips in solid chunks of points, FG%, and rebounds for this big-ball themed team. Not bad. Read the Drafter’s quote for the full impact.

Pick 6-6: Ron Artest, G/F – I will set aside my well documented biases against Ron-ron for a moment and look at this pick objectively. Bad pick. I don’t like it. And yes, I WAS being objective. Here’s why I’m not too excited about it. I can see how Artest can add a bit of threes, steals, and assists for the team; but the early investment in shooting percentages is damaged. With Ron’s field goal being in the low 40’s and his FT% in the low 70’s, he simply hurts Nels’ Dirk-Aldridge core.  While the percentage-havoc Artest wreaks is not cataclysmic by any sense of the word, I do not see the logic of how his contributions are enough to justify weakening a strategy’s core strengths.

Pick 6-7: Charlie Villanueva, F – I like his potential, but I am a bit worried that in the muddled mixture of his injury history and new team situation CV may end up disappointing a few owners here and there. I like the idea that he can add a little bit of everything, especially when you add it to the Granger-Melo forward base. Villanueva’s touch from the outside, 0.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks should be appreciated by almost any team and strategy. He’s a decent soft stat-filler at this point in the draft.

Pick 6-8: Rasheed Wallace, F/C – There are very few centers whose stats favor small-ball. Sixth round is probably the last round you will get a chance to grab one, and so here is an example with a Rasheed Wallace pick. 1+ treys and 1+ stls from your center is probably a good enough bonus for a small-ball team at this point in the draft. In spite of him coming to Boston expected to play a lesser role, he does have the upside potential of covering for KG when he’s injured or rested by the team to preserve his health. Both he and Al Harrington should serve as a cool three-point bombing front court.

Pick 6-9: Boris Diaw, F – Boris Diaw adds his versatile game and diverse stat line to a team already loaded with multiple category contributors. Durant, Kidd, Iguodala, Pierce, Duncan; all of these guys do little and a lot here and there. Diaw fits in this team well, since it’s  based on a strategy that is likely focusing on grabbing the  best player who contributes in the most categories at each round.

Pick 6-10: Emeka Okafor, F/C – He hasn’t been known to be much of a scorer, but with Wade, Joe Johnson, Arenas, and Ellis bearing most of the scoring burden; Okafor’s lacking in that department is well compensated for. Emeka and Brand give this team a promising base at the center position. This team can now actually be competitive in the blocks category. I would have preferred to see Andrew Bynum at this spot for this team, but I can’t blame any drafter who is feeling the slightest bit of apprehension when dealing with Bynum coming into this season. Still, Okafor should provide decent overall fantasy value at this point.

Pick 6-11: Wilson Chandler, G/F – I’m on the Wilson Chandler bandwagon. 71st overall is what I consider to be just the right price for a player with this much potential. After Lee and Harrington, Chandler’s probably the best player for fantasy  on the Knicks roster. Hopefully, this kid can bloom into a bona fide member of the 1-steal, 1-block, 1-trey club. Nice pick.

Pick 6-12: Andre Miller, PG – Andre Miller is one of the better PGs to pair up in the later rounds with a Chris Paul first-rounder. He preserves CP3’s good FG%, while adds assists and steals. The problem is that, like Paul, Miller isn’t very good at lighting it up from beyond the arc. But since this team already locked down Troy Murphy and Ray Allen, that shouldn’t be to big of a concern. What concerns me more at this point is Miller’s team situation in Portland, with his starting duties at risk to incumbent starter, Steve Blake. Tales of Nine Cats has arguably formed the most balanced and most well-rounded Roto team so far! I wonder how it will end up doing considering this mock is for the head-to-head format…

Drafter Quote of the Round

“It’s like Ron-Ron said in his Ghetto MTV Cribs video on YouTube: dude only jump 2 inches off the ground, but he’s good for 20 and 10. With Yao out forevers, it’s going to be the wild Scola show…” – The Mock-Skeeters, on picking Luis Scola

Previous Rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5

Mock Draft Spreadsheet

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  • Yeah, I think I agree I effed up this pick. I am hoping that with Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, and Odom that Artest will actually shoot less field goals, and thus end up with a higher FG% than his usual. I'm probably hoping for too much since I also want him to shoot less free throws and therefore mitigate the damage he does in that category.
  • Hahahahaha, I like that. If only Artest would stop shooting entirely, he'd be the perfect fantasy player.

    In my opinion, Artest isn't a great pick there, but it isn't horrible either. A solid C+ for you Nels. I don't think the same could be said of Chris Andersen, however.
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