Hey, here's my picks' combined field goal stats... 19/65. Looks sad, but really I'm laughing! I've had bad runs before but this one is uncanny! I suggest differentiating your picks from mine. We have good strategy-oriented posts in the comments section, and they're pretty good. That's where the real content of this blog is.
Ok let's do some thinking...
Day 5, seems like there's nothing interesting to pick from the Hornets. The Blazers are a one-man show, and there's no way Lillard can win against the jampacked Clippers -- and it might be wise to save him for an elimination game or at home. The Pistons are loaded: you have Drummond, Morris, Caldwell and of course Jackson. I just came from the pub (don't drink and drive, kids!) so I'll let the alcohol do the picking...
Day 6, the Thunder's and the Raptors' series are tied 1-1. Unless you are willing to gamble and are not worried about the multipliers later, then feel free to do so, like I did with picking DeRozan (see how that turned out). The Warriors are going to sweep, with or without Curry, so feel free to pick a Rocket at home. Howard seems like someone who wants to play for his next contract (somewhere) so he has two games left to perform.
Thus,
Ok let's do some thinking...
Day 5, seems like there's nothing interesting to pick from the Hornets. The Blazers are a one-man show, and there's no way Lillard can win against the jampacked Clippers -- and it might be wise to save him for an elimination game or at home. The Pistons are loaded: you have Drummond, Morris, Caldwell and of course Jackson. I just came from the pub (don't drink and drive, kids!) so I'll let the alcohol do the picking...
Day 6, the Thunder's and the Raptors' series are tied 1-1. Unless you are willing to gamble and are not worried about the multipliers later, then feel free to do so, like I did with picking DeRozan (see how that turned out). The Warriors are going to sweep, with or without Curry, so feel free to pick a Rocket at home. Howard seems like someone who wants to play for his next contract (somewhere) so he has two games left to perform.
Thus,
Nah, that was not a lot of thinking.
Good luck!
Good luck!
I've now got a decision to make with Howard on Thursday. Do I stay the course with my pick, or stay as far away from Taong's cursed picks? Haha I'm going to stick it out with Howard, because it's the right call, but if Reggie Jackson gets 12 PRA shooting 3-14, I'm going to be awfully tempted to save Howard for game 4.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is plenty on the Hornets. Well, at least two great picks. Kemba Walker did not have a great game 1, but if you look at his stats this season (31 PRA average), he is one of the top guys to pick this year. And there's Nicolas Batum, (27 PRA average), who is also great, and certainly above guys like Markief Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Portland is a two man show. Never count out the great CJ McCollum!
DeleteYou mean Marcus Morris. And Taong is forgetting Tobias Harris who is actually the 3rd piston to pick above bothe Caldwell & Morris is my eyes. Batum is totally a viable pick tonight, great game 1 & in opinion road/home doesn't matter with him whereas I'm taking Kemba at home
DeleteShhh.. Tobias Harris is my secret weapon! Was purposefully being quiet about him.
DeleteAnd yes, Marcus Morris. I had the wrong Morris, and on top of that, didn't even spell Markieff right. Oops :S I'll just show myself the door on that one...
Toby Harris is only your secret weapon since I couldn't stop raving about him at the bar two weeks ago, Tangent. Stop stealing my wisdom ;)
DeleteM. Morris [ :) ] and KCP are great plays... in the second round or later. Too inconsistent for a first round play, I would say. Same for (insert Celtic here).
Kemba, Batum, Thomas, Lillard, Harris, Drummond, and Jackson are the guys who I'm definitely looking to pick out of those four teams. Then pray for the best with CJ, followed by Jefferson, Morris, Turner, Crowder, KCP, Johnson, Aminu, Smart, and Sullinger.
Now strategy wise, the Howard pick is correct. Anyone who hasn't picked Howard/Harden yet, tomorrow is the day. Game 4 is on the same day as Cleveland/Detroit game 4. Unless you've picked Drummond, Harris, and Jackson in the first three Detroit games, you have to get rid of your last Rocket tomorrow, unless you think the Pistons can steal a game.
DeleteI do think the Pistons can win, and not only one game, but I'm still picking my last Rocket tomorrow. I'm conflicted about tonight though. I haven't gone Piston yet, and I'm not planning on going that direction tonight either. But that means that if it is a sweep, I lose on a player. Decisions, decisions. Today may be a last minute decision.
Hey, I've been big on Tobias Harris for years, ever since I picked him up on a whim in fantasy basketball. So, stop stealing MY wisdom! ;)
DeleteIf one of Portland or Charlotte does not go 6 games, then you also lose a player from Batum, Walker, Lillard, and CJ. Not to mention you need one of them to go 5 to even get them all in. Decisions, decisions, indeed.
DeleteI'm ok with losing CJ. He's in that hot and cold group. Like I said, I'll pick CJ in a late series game or in round 2. He's not a priority for me, not matter how deadly he was on my regular season fantasy team.
DeleteHe's hot then he's cold, he's yes then he's no, he's in then he's out, he's up then he's down....
DeleteDamn you Batum! Damn you. Should have picked Kemba or Reggie. Oh well, never fails, once I announced I was doing well my two worst picks come right up!
DeleteBatum got hurt. Sprained ankle, which is why I picked him today. I didn't know how long he'd be healthy for as he's recently been nursing an ankle ailment. Originally had Kemba for tonight. Too bad I missed out big time, although Kemba can have plenty more like tonight. He's a stud.
DeleteI didn't watch the game. He got injured? Does it seem like he'll miss a game?? I'm actually at the Clippers game right now. I went to Game 1 also. It's half time. I hope it stays close!
DeleteAnd I made that Reggie comment in the 3rd. He finished not that great. I wish I would have picked Kemba but I'll be happy if he gets me 35+ when I do pick him.
DeleteWished Kamba would be a little unselfish. He scored 25 PRASB in the one half. Finished the game with 39. Big Al was also effective ended up with 34. This kinda killed my Batum pick, wished he could got injured by the end of game. Now, second worst pick in the first round. Dirk 22 due to blowout and my injured pick.
DeleteSaving grace is his injury. If no else can pick him later then 19 isn't all that bad. Keeps the player pool wider for us
DeleteWhat difference does it make who you pick and how they do if you can't even see the results and how they match up against others on this site???
ReplyDeleteThis will come. I feel the frequenters of this blog understand that but I do agree the others in my league are probably discouraged & I doubt they've really kept up with their picks. I'm really loving the spreadsheet league I'm in so far though. More fun than I thought and it's helping the competitive edge as Drive & Slam develops
DeleteI second Jerry's comment. I definitely understand the discouragement, and I've been helped by the fact that the spreadsheet league has up to date standings (creating which I feel like I've learned some new things about spreadsheets, like the rank() operator that now auto-ranks all of our teams). Keep in mind that the standings aren't super important until the later rounds anyways, keep picking, and hope that they are visible soon enough. Plus, if people in your league are committed to it, everyone has a record of their picks that you can manually score yourselves for the time being, should you find somebody in your group willing to take on that responsibility. The spreadsheet has worked very well using Google Drive, so I'd highly recommend making one for your group to keep track, or even just using Excel offline for the time being.
DeleteI will look into this.
Deletethe spreadsheet IS VERY NICE..glad I got in..same picks as in slam..mrrsteel
DeleteOkay, Z-Bo might not have been the wisest choice, given that the Grizzlies were even worse in g2 than in g1 when they suffered their biggest loss in franchise history (playoffs). He still got 26 PRA (and 27 PRABS), so that has to be enough. Could have been better, but still.
ReplyDeleteTonight I will try Batum, tomorrow Harden. Right after I switched him and he got 28+11. Ha! He will surely be even better @ home.
I still don´t really have a strategy, but with the multipliers the first round is not that important. It´s only important that you keep your stars for the Finals. Shaun Livingston and Timofey Mozgov are goint to win this for me in June, you just see :D
Actually, couldn't have been better. Randolph had the best PRA out of anyone last night, tied with Korver, who might be best stowed away for the second round. The other best bets other than Randolph would have been Amir Johnson at 22 or Evan Turner at 20. So yeah, Randolph.
Deletewhen the scoring starts..if your not using doublers..using the regular system..is that just going too be points reb and assists?
ReplyDeleteAnyone in Drive & Slam have Plumlee? Wow.
ReplyDeleteHappy with the Kemba pick. Biting the bullet on Dwight tomorrow; but I don't like the pick. I never do well with Dwight. No other choice though, no one appeals to me from Dallas and I'm not ready to pick from Indy-Toronto yet. Still think Toronto wins this, and I want to pick PG13 on a night that I can't watch. It's mental torture to have an interest in a player going against my Raps.
Your Kemba pick was clutch. If I would have thought about it more I would have ended up there. I was blinded by batums first game numbers. I knew Kemba would give this one his all. Hopefully he does it again
DeleteBatum was on his way to a good game. 19 PRA with 10 minutes left to play and he was going to play every minute. Probably finishes mid twenties. The pick was not a poor choice. Him getting hurt confirms that, you had to et him while he was still out there. He was DTD going into Game 1 and was a potential ticking time bomb.
DeleteKemba was a great pick. I had Kemba locked in for Game 2 but switched to Batum. It worked out poorly but I don't regret the decision.
DeleteMark, in regards to Dwight, I picked him right away because I can't stand picking him. Just got it out of the way. And I was there live for the Mason Plumlee show, haha, too bad Damien Lillard just can't seem to get it going. I expect that to change at home to some extent.
DeleteToo bad that game trailed off after the half. Oh well. Any chance you'll be there for LA-GS?
DeleteI dislike picking Howard as well, but I also enjoy making a spash with odd picks early on (see Isaiah Thomas' 37 on day 1 last year). Didn't quite work out this year, but I figured most would choose a Rocket and that that game would be over by the half. Without Curry seems to be a good spot for Howard. As good as any for that waste of space, anyway.
I'm gonna try to go to the LA-GS games. Unsurprisingly they're 3 times more expensive that this first round.
DeleteI have Dirk tomorrow assuming he plays. I'll change if he doesn't. If he does play do you think he's too risky to pick? Think his minutes will be restricted?
ReplyDeleteYes limited. Will not play anytime they are leading.
DeleteWell in that case he won't be limited because they won't be leading, lol. Don't wanna hate on your Mavs, but OKC are taking back control. There's no other way about it.
DeleteIs there a linc to the results and leaderboard that i just cant seem to find?
ReplyDeleteAll series are two games in. We have six teams down 0-2, and only two series tied 1-1. That definitely makes things easy for picking players on teams you expect to lose, but challenging that so many player's time might be up very soon.
ReplyDeleteThe next three days for me are Howard, Jackson, and Lillard. I think Jackson and Lillard are in for big games in critical games back at home. Howard is a forced pick, but with Curry still questionable and it being in Houston, I'm good with it.
Starting Sunday, things get murky. Depending on which team is facing elimination (of any team), the options for me will be Tobias Harris and Isaiah Thomas. Then on Monday, it's one of Kemba Walker or CJ McCollum, with also Al Jefferson to consider. A lot of options, and not much time to use them. Should be fun thinking through all the possibilities!
Tangent, you think Ariza or Dirk for me today? I don't think Dallas can win the series so the 1-1 doesn't much scare me, but Dirk's health maybe does.
DeleteYikes. I don't like the two options. If he plays, I'd roll with Dirk, but I'd be super nervous. Ariza is safe but unspectacular. If Barea is out again, check out the status of Deron Williams. If he also isn't good to go, Raymond Felton instantly becomes Dallas' focus of the offense. He could be good.
DeleteThx maybe I'll consider Raymond
DeleteI'm doing Ray Ray. Would have stuck with Dirk but with Lee playing I can see him taking min from Dirk. Also if it's a big OKC lead Dirk may sit and Felton has the best chance of minutes regardless of game flow IMO
DeleteHa, I was chosing between Kemba and Batum and picked the guy that got hurt. Ouch.
ReplyDeleteTonight Harden is going to disappoint me, probably. But who else to pick?
Tomorrow I was trying to decide between Drummond and Thomas. Leaning to Thomas right now with Drummond on Sunday.
Why's it taking so long for the points to show up? I mean it's cool you're doing this for people to play but it's been a little long now with nothing showing up.
ReplyDeleteSimply not current priority.
DeleteWhen do you expect it to be done so we know?
DeleteIf you don't see it Round 2, let's call it a day.
DeleteHarden baby!!
ReplyDeletemy picks:
ReplyDeleteDwight Howard 26
Andre Drummond 25
Jonas Valanciunas 40
Isaiah Thomas 22
Kemba Walker 39
Dirk Nowitzki 30
I have an issue, in the second day of playoff I see 2 player selected: Drummond and Morris, I don't know why and how? Which one will be considered?