Showdown Part Deux!
Ahhh, this week marks the rematch between Kungfucius’ OSU Buckeyes and my KaleidoStars fantasy NBA teams. Last time we met, his team handed KaleidoStars its first loss (a narrow 4-5 decision), and since then, his team has been doing quite well. So while Kungfucius sits only 1 game out of the lead in spite of injuries to his top draft pick Kobe “Please Don’t Hate Me Even Though I’m a Big Phony” Bryant, I’ve been struggling to keep my team in reach of the playoffs. At the moment, I’m hanging onto the last slot with only a half game lead. Here’s a look back at what happened to my original team (that I may remember the lessons learned in next year’s draft).
1) A. Kirilenko: He was doing really well, and leading the league in blocks while improving on his FG% from last year, but the injury that kept him out for 2 months has really hurt my team badly since AK47 contributes to so many categories. He’s finally back, so hopefully he can pick up right where he left off.
2) B. Miller: Been solid, although the numbers are slightly down from last year. Good centers are hard to find, however, and Brad remains an every game play for me.
3) M. Bibby: After a disappointing start, Bibby has been outstanding and one of the top PG in the league. He delivers steady assists and good scoring while offering the occasional breakout game. Outstanding rebounding numbers from a PG as well.
4) K. Martin: KMart has been good, but not as good as he was last year. Has been having occasional slumps as well, as he is on a new team that is very young and inconsistent.
5) R. Jefferson: Was doing so well as the man in NJ (although his TO and FG% were rather poor) until an injury took him out for the season. There goes my top scorer…
6) J. Magloire: Gave me a steady low double-double on points and rebounds, but was not as good as I hoped. Then he went and shattered his finger and is still out for another few months.
7) J. Williams: This was a mistake as he has played pretty poorly. I dropped him as quickly as possible. Probably should have taken Manu Ginobli with this pick.
K. Kittles: Another mistake as he was injured when the season started. Emeka Okafor probably would have been a better pick here as SG and SF are a dime a dozen in fantasy NBA.
9) M. Harpring: He was fabulous in the preseason, but then proceeded to ride the pine. I dropped him, but later picked him up when AK went down. In his second stint with KaleidoStars he provided decent points and rebounds on excellent FG%.
10) J. Jackson: He was doing his usual JJ routine of decent points, tons of 3’s, with good boards and assists, but then he got traded and everything went to hell. He forfeited over $300,000 by refusing to play for his new team, and completely screwed me over. I had to drop him.
The really amazing thing is that Kungfucius has only made 1 (ONE?!) move since the draft, picking up David Wesley to fill in while Kobe is injured. Now that’s some damn good drafting. To compensate for injuries, I’ve had to do a lot of waiver wire work. Here are a few of my more successful pickups:
– M. Finley: An absolute steal. His owner dropped him (mind boggling) when he got injured so I stashed him on my IL slot and essentially got a mid-round draft pick for free. No complaints here, although if I had drafted him, I’d consider him a mild disappointment.
– B. Knight: Can’t buy a basket, but his assists are insane and his steals are respectable. I was fresh off the high of his 20 assist game when he twisted his ankle, and he’s still injured =(.
– R. Patterson: Picked him up for his steals, and then both Abdul-Rahim and Darius Miles went down with injuries. Patterson has been playing out of his mind with high points, good rebounds, and very high steals. A lucky pickup, but I figure he will come back to earth when the injured players return.
– L. Nailon: The NO Hornets have suffered more injuries than KaleidoStars, and Nailon has taken advantage. I picked him up for points when Jefferson went down, and he has delivered the goods on excellent FG% and with an increasing supply of boards.
Tags: fantasy sports
