2017 Playoff Hoops Contest

Weeeeee're back! The wait is over!

I would like to share with the community FantasyPostseason.com's 2017 Playoff Hoops Contest...

https://www.fantasypostseason.com/league/contest_signup/60719

Hurry up and sign up now as we only have a few hours before the first game begins :)

Kudos to FantasyPostseason.com as they have stepped up big time this year to fill the gap left by the defunct NBA.com's Drive To The Finals. Love the user interface! Love the search feature! Love it! Love it! Love it!

Hey, for those new to this blog, feel free to browse the blog archive which you can find on the right panel. Where to start? The first picks for each playoffs are the best source for the clueless. Remember to choose wisely... you can only select a player once in the whole playoffs ;)

Let's jump right on it...


April 17 features only two games: IND@CLE and MEM@SA. I know which teams I think are expected to lose their respective series, but just to be sure I should not touch any of these teams in April 15. Just imagine picking a Grizzly for April 15 and then Pacers win Game 1... you will be forced to pick another Grizzly for April 17! Not only is that suboptimal, it's also a hassle if the Grizzly series extends. (See, I learn that strategy from our readers!)

So for April 15, I am left with MIL@TOR and UTA@LAC. The Clippers are tough to beat when healthy, and I don't think the Jazz has what it takes to get deep these playoffs. But that is still a 4-5-seed matchup, and the Jazz are at least capable of winning one of the first three games. And so, I am picking from the Bucks...

Giannis Anteto...umm...ko...u... The Greek Freak! This year I'm taking the best player available approach. I will still beat around the bush as we go (I always do), but I should not go wrong with this pick. The Raptors are strong this season, and I expect them to play their own game early on. It will take them a desperate game later on to even think of changing their game plan to account for Giannis and the "position-less" Bucks.

Good luck with your first pick, and welcome back ;)

Comments

  1. Quick dips:

    * AutoTrader failed once again by promoting DTTF in the InPlay app as a new format, instead of the traditional one we love. InPlay app is still good if you like the pick-one-daily format. If you like that, play it.

    * Ganaco's Drive & Slam is in hiatus this year. They simply do not have the resource to support it currently. They may be back next year if it still makes sense.

    * Still no sign of ESPN's 1-N-Done (love that format too), but they have the dull brackets tipping game. Meh.

    * Google Drive To The Finals is alive and kicking well! I've enjoyed last year's, and enjoyed the regular season's Pick To The Playoffs. That's truly houses this community's inner circle :)

    * Barkley and friends playing DTTF... one good thing about DTTF missing-in-action :P

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  2. its great to be back! let's do this!!!!
    who is everyone's rooting interest

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    Replies
    1. Mavs, but I'm a hopeless diehard :P

      Spurs this year ;)

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  3. Maccabi de LevantarApril 15, 2017 at 10:17 AM

    Thanks for the advice, Taong. Fantasypostseason is looking really good. And with Google Drive DTTF double the fun!

    I understand your point about monday's games, but...I just can't see it happening, and even if Pacers/Grizzlies win, I wouldn't trust them to advance anyway. Cavs and Spurs are too good for them. So I would keep the same picking plan. I just will change the order at each game, starting with injury-prone Conley in Google and George in Fantasy Postseason. Enjoy the games!

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    Replies
    1. Pacers almost won! Hehe!

      Hefty returns from PG though for G1. Good pick.

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    2. Maccabi de LevantarApril 15, 2017 at 3:46 PM

      Yeah, that CJ Miles shot...good job by the Cavs forcing the ball off George's hands. Good pick thanks to your advice, my original pick for Google is Conley xD Just wanted to play different in both games

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  4. I agree with Maccabi, no matter what happens with IND/CLE and MEM/SA, there's going to be options for Tuesday. Highly unlikely that both underdogs win. That being said, can't argue with Giannis

    As per usual, I always look at the top available players from teams expected to lose that match the number of games up to the game 6 mark. There are 14 days from the Game 1s all the way through the Game 6s.

    Atlanta: Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard
    Milwaukee: Greek Freak
    Indiana: Paul George, Jeff Teague
    Chicago: Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade
    Utah: Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert
    Oklahoma City: Russell Westbrook
    Memphis: Mike Conley, Marc Gasol
    Portland: Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum

    For a close series, like Utah and LA Clippers, if it swings the other way it will be easy to swap Griffin and Paul for Gobert and Hayward. In fact, it might be best to only pick one player from there and pick a player with a slightly lower PRA average (e.g. Myles Turner) from a team you are very confident is going home.

    So, the reason not to fear the IND-CLE and MEM-SA Tuesday is that there are four players to chose from: Conley, Gasol, George, and Teague. I've also got Mike Conley, for the same reasons as Maccabi - he's injury prone. But on top of that, he's been a big producer for the Grizzlies, and they are a veteran team so they should show up prepared to fight game 1.

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    Replies
    1. * Should say IND-CLE and MEM-SA Monday, not Tuesday

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    2. I like how you listed down the potentials per team. I should do it that way.

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  5. Reach Eastern Conference Final - Bottom Bracket - Saturday, April 15, 2017 3:00 PM
    CLE reaches conference final -460
    CLE won't reach conference final +320
    TOR reaches conference final +409
    TOR won't reach conference final -619
    MIL reaches conference final +1440
    MIL won't reach conference final -3960
    IND reaches conference final +1795
    IND won't reach conference final -5375
    Reach Eastern Conference Final - Top Bracket - Sunday, April 16, 2017 1:00 PM
    BOS reaches conference final -147
    BOS won't reach conference final +107
    WAS reaches conference final +228
    WAS won't reach conference final -308
    ATL reaches conference final +524
    ATL won't reach conference final -970
    CHI reaches conference final +1190
    CHI won't reach conference final -2570
    Cavs, Celtics, Wizards and Raptors are top 4 to make the East finals. Although only 2 of them will be there, the chances are that those 4 will be the 2nd round/Eastern semifinalists.
    Reach Western Conference Final - Bottom Bracket - Saturday, April 15, 2017 8:00 PM
    SAS reaches conference final -230
    SAS won't reach conference final +170
    HOU reaches conference final +244
    HOU won't reach conference final -330
    MEM reaches conference final +1467
    MEM won't reach conference final -4200
    OKC reaches conference final +1145
    OKC won't reach conference final -2435
    Reach Western Conference Final - Top Bracket - Saturday, April 15, 2017 10:30 PM
    GSW reaches conference final -860
    GSW won't reach conference final +487
    LAC reaches conference final +635
    LAC won't reach conference final -1305
    UTAH reaches conference final +1645
    UTAH won't reach conference final -4925
    POR reaches conference final +6350
    POR won't reach conference final -25450
    Warriors, Spurs and Rockets are the top 3 bets on making the West Finals. Although the Rockets are listed as the odd team out, I could certainly see them getting there!
    Avoiding those 7 teams is key in the 1st round, if someone is taken 1 round early is recoverable, but 2 rounds early is devastating (still remember the 2014 Pacers debacle)!!!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. This is the sort of thing I need!!!!

      Yes I remember 2014 Pacers :P

      OKC-HOU will be fun to watch!

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  6. Bah! Bucks won. Raptors need more from Lowry

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  7. Unfortunately I took Middleton on google DTTF and Monroe on fantasypostseason. I'm removing Greek Freak for Tuesday and using a Bull or Jazz player in each game that day.

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  8. I am curious if I will get these new games to work for me.
    Started the google sheet thing with Paul George and Damian Lillard, then went here, saw the link to the Fantasy Postseason thing and registered in a hurry so I could at least pick for the first day. Clippers vs Jazz is all that I can pick from, so I panicked and picked Gobert. Tomorrow Lillard there, too, then I will probably be able to think a little bit about it.

    Well, just 15 more wins for Cleveland to defend the championship, number 1 was... successful, at least.

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    Replies
    1. Quite unfortunate for Gobert. Injury for NBA players a real risk. I might pick an injury-prone star next.

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    2. Wow, Joe Johnson is alive! That win is already worth his bench presence!

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  9. Damn I saw this post too late and I am now one day late for the fantasy postseason thing. I'm pretty dissapointed now but oh well at least I still got the google drive on the google doc.

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    Replies
    1. Haha, I saw it just in time for one game to pick from, picked Gobert, and when I saw the film on nba.com it started with Gobert going out after 17 seconds. So I also missed the first day. I have to concentrate on the google.sheet.thing, where my pick PG13 fared slightly better than Gobert.

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    2. Same here... suckzzzz. but oh well, it truly is a shame that D2TF has taken such a turn for the worse. big shout out to Tangent and Taong for trying to keep it going though :)

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