I know this blog is coming late with just an hour before game time so we’ll make it short & sweet here to start.
Beal is likely the hottest pick today w/ Wall the likely runner-up. This is the case due to Toronto’s 1-0 lead & the high, stat-heavy minutes that Washington’s backcourt duo provides to us DTTF players.
So what about The Greek Freak? He fouled out of Game 1 in the closing moments & the Bucks went on to lose. Fouling out usually leads to a player having a high level of focus the following game & Giannis has publicly vowed to be smarter in Game 2. His numbers are through the roof regardless of home/away & if the Bucks have any chance to tie this series, it’ll be because he goes BIG. If he does go big, they’re still capable of losing as we saw in Game 1 where Giannis posted a game-high 55 PRA.
Why is everyone down on Boston? The TNT crew (most notably Barkley) has the Bucks winning this series due to the Celtics being too depleted, but honestly, is Rozier really that far off from Kyrie’s production? There were times during Game 1 where Rozier literally looked like Kyrie with both his finishes at the basket & crossover, step-back triples. I don’t have time here today (with first game tip-off in an hour) to dive into the statistics of Rozier vs Kyrie as far as production when starting is concerned, but I’m certain Rozier has held his own since his triple-double fueled coming out party earlier this year. Game 1 was a further indication of this & with home court advantage, I see Boston as the clear favorites in this series. Even if the series swings at some point, the Bucks still have viable high-level picks in Middleton & Bledsoe with a few other mid-tier picks (Brogdon, Henson, Parker) that you’ll have at your disposal in the next round. So in other words, don’t be afraid to Go Greek!
Note: In the future, these posts will highlight some even lesser likely options to go “Against The Grain” with. Went with The Freak, because I hadn’t any time to prepare & well… I have him picked as my guy tonight :)
RESULT: The Greek Freak played very well & grabbed 47 PRA for those who went "Against The Grain," while John Wall came on strong in his own right for 42 PRA amidst Bradley Beal's foul-ridden, 14 PRA failure. Overall, a great success!
This should be a lot of fun. Love seeing this blog filled with interesting content!
ReplyDeleteIn the age old question of "To Beal or not to Beal", I Bealed. I think the Greek Freak logic is solid though, but I'm gonna save him for home. Bradley Beal has played well in Toronto this year.
As for an Against the Grain pick, I'll go with suggesting Jabari Parker. Why? Well, there's an article linked on this page saying he is looking to reset after a forgettable playoff debut. So that might make him extra motivated. Definitely a deeper sleeper, but this is Against the Grain after all!
ReplyDeleteAre you going against the grain of my Against The Grain? LOL
DeleteThe more I thought about it, the goal of this blog series really is to get an advantage over the other players by picking a less commonly picked guy that should get solid points, so Giannis still is against the grain as far as that goes. My own rule / stipulation will always be that it simply cannot be one of the two most popular picks. I do believe Parker will have a good game though, but there's a chance his minutes may not be high enough so he'd be more of a guy for my Bold Predictions if I was feeling saucy :) That blog will come for tomorrow's games & I'm excited to get your reaction to each of my crazy claims!
Oh yeah, for sure. Giannis is a great against the grain pick, because the Wizards will be the popular pick. I just felt like really going against the grain with Parker ;)
DeleteMike Scott. The pick was Mike Scott. I repeat, the pick was Mike Scott.
ReplyDeleteHaha if only we were psychic. I couldn’t really recommend someone like him as it’s too risky / random. So far this game is ugly for the Wiz.
ReplyDeleteJabari nothin but zeros in the first half
ReplyDeleteHey, have you seen my picks this year? Yeah, don't listen to me. I clearly have no idea what I'm doing :P
DeleteYou'll be fine. It's early. All it means is the rest of us will struggle later :)
DeleteRondo happened. ‘Nuff said
ReplyDeletePLAYOFF RONDO
Deletedamm so john wall finished with 29 and 9. missed out on double double bonus and 30pt bonus. smh
ReplyDeleteOh damn! Yeah I always forget about those bonuses in Fantasy Postseason since the Google Drive league is more of my focus. That's a touch break!
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