Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
With the All-Star festivities upon us and a weekend without fantasy basketball, Erik and I decided to team up to put together a couple of fantasy all-star teams for the 2009-10 season. Much like the real all-star game, we’ll split the teams by conference, with me taking the Eastern Conference and Erik the Western.
We’ve picked the teams based on a game-adjusted version of the GMTR player rater (with a pinch of our own personal opinion thrown in). After each player, you’ll see a score labeled Game Adjusted 9-Cat Rating (GAR for short) which, as the name would apply is our GMTR 9-cat player rating roughly adjusted for games played. So someone like Danny Granger, who has been decent on a per game basis, is out because of all the games he’s missed.
Each of the teams will go 12 deep and after Erik and I present the teams, I’ll simulate the all-star game to see which team would win in a standard 9-cat fantasy league. And after scouring the list of players, I’m going to guess I have my work cut out for me. Anyway, here are your 2009-10 Eastern Conference Fantasy All-Stars:
Starters
Rajon Rondo (Bos – PG) Game Adjusted 9-Cat Rating (GAR): 9.7
No offense to Rondo, but we’re already off to not the greatest start against the Western Conference. Eight of the nine top fantasy PGs in the league play for the Western Conference, with poor Rondo as the only Eastern Conference guy wedged somewhere in the middle. That being said, Rondo has been great for his owners and the Celtics, improving the weakest part of his game this season by increasing his per game scoring from 11.9 points in 08-09 to 14.3 this year (on a very respectable 53% shooting). Add in those 9.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game and you have the best PG in this conference by a wide margin.
Dwyane Wade (MIA – SG) GAR: 12.1
Yeah, Wade has struggled with his shot at times this season and his numbers are down across the board from last season, but come on, that was a ridiculously high bar he set in 08-09. As long as you’re not expecting LeBron-like numbers, Wade’s 26.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 1 block per game are by far enough to anchor any fantasy team (and he currently sits at number 5 on our GMTR player rater).
Lebron James (CLE – SF) GAR: 16.1
The anchor. Not only for fantasy teams across the world, but for this all-star team as well. LeBron has played in every Cavs game this season and is averaging a crazy 29.9 points per game, with 7.1 rebounds and 8.3 assists. He’s shooting at a 51% clip while still knocking down 1.9 threes a game. The only weak part of his game – the free throw shooting – is only slightly worse than league average at 77.6%.
Lebron’s statistics represented by the movie The Hot Chick
Wait, what did I just call Rob Schneider…
Chris Bosh (Tor – PF) GAR: 11.8
Time to call this “team free-agent 2010.” Bosh may be leaving Toronto, but it’s a hell of a way to go out: 24.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 53% shooting from the floor. Based on his age, this season may just be a natural improvement for Bosh, but it sure does seem to have “I’m playing for a new contract” written all over it.
David Lee (NYK – C) GAR: 11.3
David Lee got the actual All-Star nod after Allen Iverson pulled out of the game (not for actually not deserving it, but to tend to a sick daughter). But we give Lee even higher praise here by starting him on the Eastern Conference fantasy team. Lee has been everything people hoped he’d be and more when they drafted him in the 3rdish rounds. He’s now averaging 20 points a game on a ridiculous 56% shooting, with 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. The Knicks are on a fast track to nowhere this season, but I can’t even imagine where they would be without Lee.
Bench
Brandon Jennings (CLE – PG) GAR: 7.6
I did say the PG position was weak in the Eastern Conference, right? It comes down to Jennings, Mo Williams, or Raymond Felton. If Williams weren’t hurt I probably would have selected him despite the fact that he’s missed 11 or so games for the Cavs. Instead, we’ll celebrate the rookie and his great season so far, as he’s averaged 16.9 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 threes in 51 games for the Bucks. That being said, Jennings looked tied going into the all-star break and has shot 31% in the month of February, so that rookie wall might be starring him in the face once regular season games resume.
Andre Iguodala (PHI – SG) GAR: 10.5
The scoring is slowly atrophying for Iguodala (he’s down to 17.1 points per game from 19.9 two seasons ago) and he’s only shooting 42.5% from the field. Yet, the rest of his game is stronger than ever, with 7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. While he’s yet to record a triple-double this year, he comes oh-so-close to one every fourth game it seems.
Joe Johnson (ATL – SG) GAR: 10.2
Johnson’s numbers are right in line with what’s he’s done the past couple of years, although he seems to be getting more attention this year because the Hawks are playing so well. Regardless of whether that is actually true or just in my crazed head, JJ certainly deserves the attention and who wouldn’t want his 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 threes per game?
Gerald Wallace (CHA – SF) GAR: 11.1
Wallace has a goal for this year’s dunk contest: don’t get injured. That should actually be his goal for the regular season as well, as Crash has averaged a career high 42 minutes per game for the Bobcats this season. I’m not sure how long he can keep riding that close to the Sun, but through this point in the season you can’t argue with the results: 18.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. And best of all he’s only missed 2 games so far this season.
Josh Smith (ATL – PF) GAR: 10.0
I was chastised (chastised!) for taking Smith in the third round of the 2009 GMTR fantasy guide mock draft. It even started a heated debate by email over the type of year we were going to see from Smith. Ha, who’s laughing now, bitches! (oh right, not me since it was just a mock draft). Anyway, I figured we’d see a healthy Smith this season, a Smith who would be more aggressive on the court, thereby bumping his block and rebounding totals back in line with his career numbers. And for the most part that is exactly what we’ve seen, with Smith averaging 8.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.1 blocks a game (all increases over last season) for the super-hot Atlanta Hawks.
Brook Lopez (NJN – C) GAR: 10.8
Not a bad spot to be in for the second year Lopez. Unlike many of last year’s rookies who have regressed in their sophomore season (O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon, Mario Chalmers… I could go on) Lopez has improved just about every aspect of his game this season and is now averaging 18.9 points, 9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game while shooting 50% from the field. Lopez is one of the few bright spots for a horrid Nets squad and gets the nod on this all-star squad over someone like Dwight Howard because he can actually hit free throws (81% from the line).
Al Horford (ATL – C) GAR: 9.6
It was close, but from a fantasy perspective Horford has been better than Andrea Bargnani, Dwight Howard, and Al Jefferson through this point in the season. He’s averaged a quietly consistent 13.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 56% from the floor. While it was tough to leave out someone like Danilo Gallinari or even Troy Murphy, Horford has been slightly better and more consistent than those guys.
Tags: Chris Bosh, David Lee, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Rajon Rondo
Subscribe via RSS
Pingback: Final Fantasy III | MelClub