Congratulations, you made it out of the first round. Hopefully you have most of your players left at the end. I made one error by picking Pascal Siakam from the advancing Pacers. At least he had a huge game. Let's look at the second round series and examine what strategies we should consider in making our selections.
Cleveland vs Boston
This series is the one we should all feel the most confident in. Pick Cavaliers early and pick them often, unless the Cavs prove otherwise. This series shares the same day as Mavs vs Thunder until Game 6. You don't want to take too much time getting Mitchell picked, lest you be stuck choosing between him and one of the studs (e.g. Doncic, Irving, SGA) from that series.
Top Picks:
CLE: Donovan Mitchell 37.8 PRA
CLE: Darius Garland 27.2 PRA
CLE: Jarrett Allen 29.7 PRA (check for injury)
CLE: Evan Mobley 28.3 PRA
Indiana vs NY Knicks
While writing this, the two teams are locked in a close game 1 battle. I feel this is going to be the Knicks series to win or lose, as they feel like the better team. This series shares the same day as Denver vs Minnesota, outside of Game 2 (where this series you have to pick from) and Game 6 (where they join the Boston series). You'll probably want to pick Pacers for Game 1 and 2, and possibly Game 3 as well. But if the Pacers steal an early game, you might need to re-evaluate this plan.
Top Picks:
IND: Tyrese Haliburton 34.9 PRA
IND: Pascal Siakam 32.8 PRA
IND: Myles Turner 25.3 PRA
+ a handful of depth players who all can produce decent numbers (this team scores by committee it seems)
Dallas vs Oklahoma City
OKC should be favoured to win, but it's hard to count out a Dallas team that played hot down the stretch. The top picks are absolute must pick players, but outside of those it might be best to just stick to draining Cavalier players while you can and waiting this one out a bit.
Top Picks:
DAL: Luka Doncic 52.9 PRA
DAL: Kyrie Irving 35.8 PRA
OKC: SGA 41.8 PRA
OKC: Jalen Williams 27.6 PRA
Minnesota vs Denver
This series is shaking up to be the absolute best of the round. Both teams are evenly matched. In game 1, we were forced to make an early pick and most players picked a Timberwolve. Will we regret this down the line? Let's see how game 2 goes. Minnesota's team defense has been incredible thus far, and might make them the favourite to come out of the west. Be prepared to go against Denver if they can't escape from Game 4 with a tied series.
Top Picks:
DEN: Nikola Jokic 47.8 PRA
DEN: Jamaal Murray 31.8 PRA
DEN: MPJ 25.2 PRA
MIN: Anthony Edwards 36.4 PRA
MIN: KAT 33.1 PRA
MIN: Rudy Gobert 28.2 PRA
What's your strategy?
Good thing I have not looked at roster availability. Otherwise, would have seen Tyrese is playing instead of questionable, and changed pick to him. Coz Siakam is ballin' at almost 20PRA at halftime.
ReplyDeleteTyrese for Game 2 is on my mind
DeleteLook at that MIN DEN game 61-35 Timberwolves at the half poised to go home 2-0. Bad call in G1 picking from the Wolves!
ReplyDeleteYaaaaa Tangent!!! Great post and insights!! Thanks for All Ya'all do! Much appreciated. 👍
ReplyDeleteTangent is THE MAN!
DeleteIt looks like we made a mistake in picking from the T-Wolves, but you never know. At least Edwards played great. And Franz Wagner was a poor choice, but at the Cavs advanced. Anyway I agree about picking Cavs now, even if they don't have the pressure of being favourite against the Celtics. I will still pick Mobley first, especially if Jarrett Allen can't play.
ReplyDeleteI am happy about my Turner pick yesterday, and about the Knicks winning. My concern is how long will it take for the Knicks starters to feel exhausted playing so many minutes...
About the Thunder and Mavs series, I am not picking a favourite yet. I like the Thunder better as a team, but I think the Mavs have more experienced players in this kind of scenery. We can wait and see while picking Cavs
Apparently I'm the only one anywhere that picked Josh Hart last game and I'm happy with the result, although it would have been better if the Pacers won. I honestly don't know who will win this series. The Knicks are such an enigma. If they don't find consistent bench play, their magical run of success with their starters is just bound to end.
DeleteYou don't want to take too much time getting Mitchell picked, anyone still have Mitchell? lol
ReplyDeleteI've still got Mitchell...but probably not for much longer
Delete