Miami Heat Are Back-To-Back Champs !!

Shop for 2013 Miami Heat NBA Champs Merchandise at NBAStore.comCongratulations to the Miami Heat, they are the 2013 NBA Champions! Congratulations to Finals MVP LeBron James who purged another demon in the Spurs, and redeemed himself yet again in a fashion only the best player of this generation can show. But this is not just about one person; congratulations to three-time champ Dwyane Wade, defensive anchor Chris Bosh, Coach Erik Spoelstra who have proven his real worth, Pat Riley for his ninth ring (!!), Ray Allen for his Game 6 tying shot and his second ring, Shane Battier for his big-time shooting, and all of the Heat players who make up for the best defense that a Game 7 deserves.

Let's also give respect to the San Antonio Spurs. An A-grade organisation, the blueprint for many teams to mimic. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Coach Gregg Popovich -- they are the model for everyone in the NBA. Look out for them in 2014.

In NBA.com's Drive To The Finals fantasy game, I said last year that I will take more risks this year to be in the top 10%, and that I did. The strategy was different and I can say was more sound. From last year's 89% to this year's 98%, I am quite happy but now that I have tasted that, I want more! Next year, 99% will be the goal as I polish some kinks in the strategy to get me over the hump.

As for ESPN's 1-N-Done, in my first year in that game, a percentile of 96.4% is quite a-ok if not for that missed pick in the second round. I was hovering in the 80%+ before the Finals, and then five of the Big 3s carried me in the Finals. The strategy in that fantasy game is quite different, with those increasing multipliers as we go deeper in the playoffs. And now that I have a feel of the game, I am starting to mold some strategies for next year. Here's aiming to get into the top 3% for next year.

As for this blog, we have more than doubled the pageviews from last year. That's from 11,000 last year to 27,000 pageviews this postseason. I would like to thank all of our followers from the United States, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and other parts of the world. Don't forget to bookmark this page so we can have fun again with these playoff fantasy games in 2014 :)

A big big BIG thank you to our avid followers who post in the comments section for their ever-important views, opinions and tips: Alex Herges, Seda, quark, Luminosity and many others. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have outsmarted me in many corners of the game. I will be honored to race with you again next year.

That's it for this year, folks! Hope you had fun. See you again in ten months!

Comments

  1. Thanks for hosting the blog Taong and to all the contributors. It was really fun to play and share thoughts with you all.

    And, yes, Taong, you totally called this series.

    I missed out on DTTF...but feel pretty great about my first year in 1-N-Done. Asside from a rather rough start and lots of misfiring in the final round I managed to stay in the top 2% and just missed out on the top 1%. Hoping to improve next year to break the top 500.

    Points - 2,534
    Pct - 98.8%
    Rank - 1,172

    Basketball withdrawl starts now. Have a great summer everyone.

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    1. PS. You can really see what a big difference getting max points for each player makes, Taong. I only have 85 more points but that somehow creates a surprisingly big percentage difference.

      Meanwhile I'm 330 points out of first place (which is 30 points more than 2nd).

      Point being the final percentage point really has a huge gap from top to bottom while 99% and below are so close every point counts.

      I have every bit of confidence you can easily improve by 100 points and (assuming the totals are similar) leap into the top two, while cracking the top 500 might be trickier than I thought :o

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    2. Wow almost 99%. It's a nice showing Seda. You had that game figured out in the beginning more than most.

      With ball withdrawal, you can always sneak in some NBA2K :)

      You are right about that difference that a right timing makes near the top of the standings. I only saved five big names for the Finals. Next year, I'll save six.

      Thanks Seda. Til next year.

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  2. Yay I was mentioned. This was my second year of DTTF, but I missed out on two picks mostly because I just had so much going on towards the end of the year. Finished in the 85%. Last year 90% but oh well. I think next year I might play 1 N Done. I feel it requires more thinking. Like I took Durant, like many others when he had 35. But he had been averaging close to 50. At least I would of gotten 60. Also last year I had a lot of great picks. Pierce'd Tebow game. 54 PRA. LeBron on the verge of elimination 65 PRA. And Rondo's 63 PRA double OT. Also for the sake of basketball there were way to many injuries. David Lee. Kobe Bryant. Rose. Rondo. Noah, Deng, Granger. That part really sucked. Thanks for the help this year. I plan to do really good next year so look out.

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    1. That two missed picks does make a big difference.

      Injuries does make the silliest situations, and a real strategy killer.

      Looking forward to seeing you again next year. Ciao!

      Delete
  3. Also whoever won that money must be feeling pretty good right now. One last question. How do those weekly prizes work?

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    1. jab32165 won the money by a mile. AutoTrader is going to contact him.

      The weekly prize goes to the highest total per week. I suggest not playing the weekly prize. It destroys your whole game. It's rare to encounter someone who does strategizing for the weekly prize. Not worth it, methinks :)

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    2. Correction..

      jab32165 for DTTF.
      Fantasy CPR (guamo25) for 1-N-Done -- ESPN will contact him.

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  4. In my DTTF league with some good friends, I was down by 7 heading into the final game 7. The guy I was behind still had Mike Miller, which I guessed he would pick, so I took a chance on Shane Battier. The rest is history.

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    1. Hahaha! Nice!!
      See you again in these parts next year.

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  5. Okay, this DTTF campaign ended for me the way it begann. With a big pile of ...

    I waxed poetically enough about my bad luck and bad timing in the first two rounds. Saving LeBron for the Finals seemed to backfire at first, with him getting

    Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard is this year´s Durant for me in the Finals. He had 21, 25, 28, 19, 25, 33 and 35. Guess when I picked him? :)
    I had a great Green, an okay Bosh, 27 from Duncan which was one his badder PRA of the Finals, but still far better than when I wanted to pick him originally.
    Most frustrating of the bunch? The injured one. Saved for game 7, should have picked him for game 6. By the way, I am still left with Shane Battier...

    Points 1121
    Rank 3195
    % 86
    (last year 99% with 1267 points at rank of 284, even though I had the worst Durant of the Finals)

    I really hope it will be better next time around. I might even look into this 1-N-Done. Can you play it like this one or do I have to become a member of something? How can I log in there? If it is as simple as playing DTTF I might give it a shot.

    My heartfelt congratulations to LeBron who really earned his second ring. Congrats also to Bosh, Allen, Battier or Chalmers. And Cole. I really don´t like it that Wade is now at three. That´s at least one more than he deserves. Udonis Haslem is now a three time NBA champ. Juwan Howard and Joel Anthony are at two. Hats off to Spoelstra.
    I am more than a little sad that the Spurs didn´t win it. They had a chance in 2011 if not for that Memphis series. I still think they would have won last year with homecourt advantage against a still-ringless LeBron if the Thunder hadn´t somehow beat them 4 times in a row after they won the previous 21 games, including 10-0 in the plyaoffs up to that point. And I still can´t believe what happened in these damned 28 seconds in Tuesday.

    The only positive I can see in this is that there might be a chance Tim Duncan will continue playing. I wish Manu Ginobili a nice retirement, he has earned it. Now if only Parker hadn´t hurt himself earlier in the series. Best chance the Spurs will ever gonna get.

    Also, thank you Taong for providing this little blog. Especially as there is no more DTTF-Forum on nba.com this here is the only place where I can talk at least a little about this silly little game. Okay, maybe I write some long winded posts from time to time, but you see my posting in damen-bb-news.de (a german forum about women´s basketball, I am an avid fan of my local team Saarlouis Royals, even wrote two books about their exploits).

    See you next year. At least in DTTF, maybe even in 1-N-Done. Sounds interesting enough. Bye for now from Germany.

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    1. Thank you too, Alex. The comments section was more lively with your presence.

      I'd like to see Manu continue to play. He doesn't look aged.

      1-N-Done you just need to sign up, no frills.

      More power to your Royals, and see you next year. Salutes!

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  6. Hi everybody... This has been my best DTTF since I started playing this game:

    1290 points - rank 14 (100%)

    And this thanks a little change in my global strategy... I picked players I thought score a maximum without consider if they could advance in their series... Just took the best... Have I been lucky??? I think no... and I made a simple analysis to show it.
    Imagine you bet on the player who scores the maximum every day (withou repiting, of course); that is

    01-Carmelo Anthony - 43
    02-Paul George - 46
    03-Mike Conley - 40
    04-Stephen Curry - 48
    and so on ...

    You will reach the finals with 1330 points, but with only Leonard as a sure pick. Following the same strategy with the avaible players,

    F1 - Kawhi Leonard - 21
    F2 - Gary Neal - 12
    F3 - Mike Miller - 15
    F4 - Boris Diaw - 13
    F5 - Shane Battier - 11
    F6 - Tiago Splitter - 6
    F7 - ------------ - 0

    So you sum up just 78 points in the last serie, but enough to win...

    This means that the most important thing is trying to sum the maximum every day. Doing so, you don't have to worry for saving this or that for upcoming games. And if at last you only have fillers, try to guess when everyone will produce his maximum... That's all.

    Nice to read you (Taong) and all the comments.
    Looking to meet everybody next year.
    Regards from Catalonia!!!

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    1. Thanks quark! And congratulations! Definitely an excellent showing this year for you, besting your last two years by a lot. It's good to see one of us battling it out at the first page of the leaderboards. Looking forward to seeing you, our favorite Catalan, next year. 'Til then!

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