Congratulations LeBron, Cavs and especially their fans!!! They deserve it. 52 years of waiting comes to an end. To Finals MVP LeBron James, you are now officially a hero. To Kyrie Irving, you've been great this series. To Kevin Love, you persevered your trials and now you finally got that ring. To the rest of the Cavs, coach Tyronn Lue and the coaching staff, congratulations!As for the Golden State Warriors, it is still a great season no matter what. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the gang with Steve Kerr on the helm will be formidable for this generation of NBA fans. I'm looking forward to enjoying next season following the Warriors.
As for Drive To The Finals, we did not have that this year, and many of us have been vocal to AutoTrader and TNT early on. I am sure they have seen the errors of their ways and will bring us back DTTF next year.
As for Google Drive, I would like to give big thanks to mfari031. You've been a great part of that enjoyment of these playoffs. I enjoyed making my picks there even though I bombed out :P Again, thank you mfari!
As for Drive & Slam, I would like to thank Ganaca for hosting an alternative. They did not have to do it, but like us they are huge NBA fans. So don't forget to thank them.
Among 1100+ players in the beginning, trimmed to 250+ players in the Finals -- and here is how I fared...
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| Click image to see full leaderboard |
I have put up an unofficial global leaderboard on this page [link]. It has ranking and percentile, as per popular demand ;)
And of course, big thanks to you guys and gals. To Tangent, @topknox, Jerry Ricochet, aceee06, Daytona, mfari031, Maccabi de Levantar, Alex Herges and the rest of you -- your comments are better than gold these playoffs. I must admit that your contributions have been more valuable than my blog posts recently. I am sure our readers are grateful to you. Again, thank you thank you thank you!
It's been a whirlwind of a ride these playoffs!
So that's a wrap! See you again in ten months!
Congrats to the Cavs!!! LeBron is a beast, his Finals, especially last 3 games, have been totally amazing. And Kyrie was the only one capable to make a shot from the field in the last minutes. He made the difference between last year and this one.
ReplyDeleteI'd better forget about the pick, I was afraid this could happen, as long as the Splash Brothers stayed out of foul trouble. But I had nothing to choose from, I could only have 4 more with Shumpert.
I also want to thank you Taong, great effort to make this game happen. I already missed the Pick One Challenge in Regular Season over the last years (with x2 points for the rookies and so on), and this year we were going to miss the game in the Playoffs too. So thank you and I hope this is only the beginning and we will have more chances to play and share our thoughts over here. Also thanks to the other people who posted their comments and made it more interesting :-)
We thank you too Maccabi. See you again next time!
DeletePick One Challenge.... hmmmm...
Any ideas for next season? ;-) Maybe I miss that game because I could pick players of my New Triangle Knicks xD I also play in other fantasy games, but I like this format. But it's long ago...years! since that game doesn't exist. It also would be nice to keep in touch with everyone here, not having to wait until next Playoffs. But I am thankful enough to have this game, I understand it takes time to make it possible, so I didn't want to ask anything. I just hope we can play again next year, in DTTF or here. Also thanks to ganaca.
DeleteSee you next season!
Watch out for Jerry's league!
DeleteI can´t believe it. Mavs for Cavs paid off again. Great win for the Cavaliers tonight, and the emotions that LeBron felt after winning it for his hometown, imagine that without running to Dwyane Wade and winning two championships for himself and he might have an idea what winning the title meant for Dirk and the Mavs back in 2011.
ReplyDeleteCongrats anyway to the city of Cleveland and their fans. They deserved it.
What does this say about the Warriors? 73 wins in the regular season, 15 wins in the playoffs (96 Bulls didn´t win 16 in the playoffs either, they didn´t have to), but they will now go into the record books as the first team to squander a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. After having to play consecutive game 7s in the postseason they already showed that they are not quite the best team ever. A very very good one but not the best. At least they don´t have to beat themselves up completely as they won it last year and can start a new run next season. But still...
Thanks for the fix, Taong, and for the game. Now if only Barbosa would have a been a little better tonight ;)
It was fun, I am now going to log off again for a few days, the next trip to the Euro 2016 in France is waiting. On thursday I will be back and elaborate in detail about just how good/bad I picked this season.
By for now, I have to go to work.
Have fun in France, Alex!
DeletePractice your French accent for GOOOOOAL!!!!
Congrats to the Cavs. As a Warriors fan, I'm heartbroken, but LeBron earned it. He's the greatest player I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteTaong, thanks so much for running this the whole time. This was awesome of you.
A couple notes: heads up that the Karol Mowi group with the most people isn't loading anymore, giving an error. http://drive.ganaca.com.au/leaders/2111 gives an error "Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 4104 bytes) in /home/galemazuma/public_html/drive/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_field_math.inc on line 46 ".
Also, any chance of getting a final global leaderboard, or even a post here with the leading entries? Looks like it got a bit messy with some people having repeat entries, but would be very cool to see where everyone ranked. I think I might've been the best! http://drive.ganaca.com.au/member_picks/ryannow gives 3266 total, with Game 7 added in and minus one player who got counted twice. Can anyone beat that?
Yes that's my desire too. Will have a global leaderboard done in Excel sheet (Excel vs Php, Excel wins! Haha!) and post it here. Will try to fix Karol's leaderboard even if I have to unsubscribe a few more inactives.
DeleteAwesome! Thanks for running this throughout, it's been lots of fun!
DeleteAnd congratulations on winning the whole thing. I'll post something on your twitter to save it on your timeline ;)
Deletethank you Taong it was fun hope to see every body next year
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! See you next year
DeleteThanks very much Taong for running Drive and Slam! You kept with it when everyone was losing their patience and got things worked out. I know that the Google Drive to the Finals could not have handled the amount of people that Drive and Slam was able to host!
ReplyDeleteMy finish on Drive and Slam was solid, but nothing spectacular. It was my Drive to the Finals with 1353 PRA, a new career high, which was quite spectacular. Some of the key picks that lead to that huge number:
Apr. 23: C.J. McCollum, 34 PRA
Not a huge score, but it was a last minute switch from Damian Lillard when it became clear that Charlotte would not be swept. I wasn't able to make this switch on Drive and Slam as the pick locked, and that lead to weaker path where I only got a 17 PRA from Kemba Walker, whereas I got a 39 PRA from Walker here all thanks to this swap, plus more from Lillard later.
Apr. 24: Tobias Harris, 38 PRA
This pick almost didn't happen, as I had a possible issue with Isaiah Thomas / Paul George on Apr. 26. However, Indiana won game 4, which gave me enough time to use what I called my "secret weapon". And he was a secret weapon, because to nobody else picked him this year in Google Drive.
Apr. 26: Paul George, 55 PRA
Getting George on the infamous bounce back game, was the pick that launched me to the top of the leaderboard, and from there I never looked back.
May 7: Damian Lillard, 55 PRA
Having swapped McCollum for Lillard earlier, I got Lillard in round 2, saving him for the classic game 3 down 0-2 moment. He came through in a huge way!
May 21: Bismack Biyombo, 34 PRA
The epic 26 rebound game for Biyombo, which was a lot of fun to watch. It was the most rebounds I've ever gotten in this pool.
Jun. 13: LeBron James, 64 PRA
The moment I basically clinched the title was getting LeBron at his highest moment with his back against the wall. It helped that almost everyone else had picked LeBron already. I think it was because they were trying to catch me. It's one benefit of being the leader that you can play the strategy you want and force everyone else to play a less optimal strategy hoping to strike lucky. 64 PRA was the second most I've ever had, only behind the 65 PRA game I got from Carmelo Anthony ages ago.
That's a wrap. Thanks again Taong for all your hard work! And thanks to everyone who commented and make it fun to read about!
Thanks too buddy!
DeleteAnd great showing this year. That's the best game I can remember of yours.
::salute::
It's been a great time around here, I hope next year, if nba.com will not do a DTF game, you can repeat this version for us!Bye from Italy
ReplyDeleteGanaca will let it stay there just in case. But I can bet my badoodles DTTF will be back.
DeleteGreat to have you. Arrivederci al prossimo anno!
Big thanks to Taong and Ganaca for hosting the blog/site and to mfari for the google drive!
ReplyDeleteYou guys did a great job putting together an alternative so quickly and its deeply appreciated.
See you next year!
see you next year Silas!
DeleteThanks so much Taong! Keep in touch! We may be doing reg season version of the game with that spreadsheet. Join us if we do!
ReplyDeleteYes Jerry! Count me in!
DeleteHey, I would also love to join if you do, Jerry :-)
DeleteThank you, Taong and Ganaca, for providing the opportunity to play again. Fun and frustrating, as usual. In the end mostly frustrating, I am afraid, haha...
ReplyDeleteOf course, being old school I prefer the old PRA system to the PRABS with multipliers. And I don´t just say that because I was far more succesful with PRA (6 overall) than PRABS (19 overall). The conference finals were killing me, and that´s not even counting the western conference series.
Highlights:
4-21: James Harden for 52 PRA
4-22: Isaiah Thomas for 47 (happy birthday to me)
4-26: Paul George for 55
5-01: Triple Double for Draymond Green
5-07: Damian Lillard for 55
5-08: Dennis Schroder for 30
5-13: Goran Dragic for 41
Lowlights: Pretty much everything starting with round 3 :D
Results in this round:
15-13-20(Barnes)-15-29(Lowry)-14-13-11-10-34(Klay Thompson)-14
Wrong order of Thompson and Curry included, of course. And of Lowry and DeRozan. Bad games of Tristan Thompson (13) or Steven Adams (14). Russell Westbrook for less than 40.
In the Finals Irving in g1 instead of Love, James in g3 instead of waiting for the elimination game, and some more.
All in all, fun as usual. See you next year.
Au revoir (did I mention I have, among others, tickets for the Final of EURO 2016?).
You had it going Alex! Enjoy EURO Finals! See you!
DeleteHey Guys, I just got an email from a representative from AutoTrader in reference to bringing back the Drive to the Finals game for the 2016-2017 Season and she wrote this:
ReplyDeleteHi Taj,
Thanks for reaching out! We value your feedback and are in discussions with the NBA around what the game will look like for next season. Stay tuned!
Thanks,
Kristin
That's good news Taj!
DeleteThanks for folowing up with them.
It sounds like that means they'll just change the game. Not clear if it will be DTTF style.
Anyways, let's keep our fingers crossed! Knock on wood! Bite a rabbit's feet, turn our shirts inside out, rain dance! Hope it comes back.
No problem Taong, appreciate you for keeping it going this year
DeleteWhats up Taong, I just seen an AutoTrader commercial during the Cavs & Spurs game and they were promoting the NBA-InPlay app. Well during the commercial in advertised that Drive to the Finals will be back!!! If I'm right, it looks Drive to the Finals will provided through the InPlay app this year. Looks like our emails helped!!! AutoTrader listened!!!! Let's Go!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Taj! That's good news.
DeleteI don't need to bug Ganaca this time coz those guys are swamped.
If that's the case, well and good.
I searched through the web for related news but can't find any.
Can someone verify?
I checked InPlay and I don't think they can have that format there. That app is more like bet on teams on daily basis, not players.
DeleteHope DTTF comes back as website format
NBA InPlay is like PickOneDaily, except per quarter. Not quite DTTF. Unlikely Autotrader does DTTF coz that app runs only one format.
DeleteIt seems like fun by itself, although it's not DTTF style.
And InPlay is only available in US App Store :P Bummer!
Hi there! How are you doing? I'm really interested in playing something on the line of DTTF. If you guys here anything would you let me know!
Deletebye!
Hey Taong, I wrote tech support of the NBA-InPlay app to make sure DTTF was coming back and not the current game they have now. Here is my response (Read bottom up):
ReplyDeleteAlden, Mar 28, 8:30 AM EDT:
Hi Taj,
Thanks for contacting NBA InPlay. We will have a contest up and running shortly.
The terms of this are currently being ironed out, and you can expect to see this contest on the app soon.
If you have any further questions please let me know and I'll be happy to help out.
Cheers,
Alden
Taj, Mar 27, 10:39 PM EDT:
Hello, I just seen the fantasy game "Drive to the Finals" is coming back on the Nba InPlay app this year in its recent commercial. I just downloaded the app but I don't see the Drive to the Finals game yet. I understand it doesn't run until the playoffs, but I just wanted to con
I am not sure about this Taj. They do not directly confirm if it's DTTF style. Maybe they will call it that but still have the same per-quarter format they have now. I don't see any sign of app change from they recent version.
DeleteVersion 1.2 (Mar 31, 2017)
- athlete stats to help you pick your players
- new schedule layout shows which games are live and up next
- improved game clock and score messages
- simpler to rejoin a game without creating a new entry
not looking good so far I guess...
ReplyDeleteNBA InPlay is only available for the US as Taong mentioned. Doubt they'll be able to change that on such short notice.
Any plans on reopening the Google Drive or something like that at least? Would be a shame not to play at all. Playoffs without D2TF is jut not as much fun.
Hey Silas. Great timing. We are doing Google Drive to the Finals again. I'm just sending the invites, and noticed I was missing your email (along with Matteo's email, hopefully I can locate it or they see this if they are interested). Email me at jasonlind44@gmail.com and I'll send the invite.
DeleteI'd love an invite, garyucf @ gmail
DeleteCan I join? aceee06@gmail.com
DeleteI would be interested, too. But I am not sure whether I even could make it work.
DeleteJust in case, alexander.herges @ ludwigshafen.de
Just sent an invite to all of you
DeleteHey! Great to read from all of you again :) I hope we can have some more games to play, but I would also love to join yours. NBA Playoffs wouldn't be the same without DTTF! javinm1980@gmail.com
DeleteI'm also looking to play. Alexbhamrick@gmail.com thanks
Deletehi there! I'll appreciate an invite. santiagochavez22@gmail.com
DeleteI want in.. spwhsle@yahoo.com
Delete@topknox ...
Well i found this...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ispot.tv/ad/wVb8/nba-inplay-drive-to-the-finals#
Guys, i just saw the DTTF InPlay rules at http://www.nba.com/inplay/rules
ReplyDeleteIt is not the DTTF we all love. One major component that is not there is the player-get-used-once-the-whole-playoffs. They don't have that. So what they did is just the regular InPlay mechanics and then just called it DTTF for the playoffs.
Everybody close to this community, I suggest you all join Google Drive.
I'll see if Ganaca can fire up their Drive and Slam...
ANNOUNCEMENT !!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOur good friends here in this community have put up Google Drive To The Finals 2017. It is a nice on-paper (digital that is) type of playing the traditional Drive To The Finals mechanics. You are only allowed to use a player once in the whole postseason. I have played this last year and it was a blast.
To join, send an email to our good buddy Tangent at jasonlind44@gmail.com .
See you inside! ;)
Yeah your right, NBA In-Play calls it DTTF but clearly not according to the rules. I wrote two publication managers at AutoTrader about our concerns. We'll see what happens. In the meantime I'll email Tangent to enter into the Google DTTF!
ReplyDeleteI m from france
ReplyDeleteHow to sign in ?
I love drive to the finals.
If you would like to join the Google Drive version, you'll need to email me at jasonlind44@gmail.com. Taong mentioned below the possibility of Drive and Slam, so if you'd prefer that Taong might have details on that shortly.
DeleteNo new blog taomg?
ReplyDeleteStandby. Working with the Drive&Slam guys :)
Delete