Fantasy Basketball

Last Saturday I drafted my fantasy basketball team for the league my brother organized with some fellow FreeDarko readers. It's a Head-To-Head league with a PG, a SG, a SF, a PF, a C, a Util and 3 bench spots. This is my team, ShrkAttcksArntReal.

PG Gilbert Arenas (Was - PG)
SG Allen Iverson (Den - PG,SG)
SF Carmelo Anthony (Den - SF)
PF Carlos Boozer (Uta - PF,C)
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle - C)
Util Lamar Odom (LAL - SF,PF)
Bench Ben Gordon (Chi - SG)
Bench Richard Hamilton (Det - SG)
Bench Boris Diaw (Pho - PF,C)

In fact, here's my draft order.

1. (6) Gilbert Arenas
2. (15) Carmelo Anthony
3. (26) Carlos Boozer
4. (35) Allen Iverson
5. (46) Lamar Odom
6. (55) Ben Gordon
7. (66) Richard Hamilton
8. (75) Zydrunas Ilgauskas
9. (86) Boris Diaw

I took Gil in the first round because I wanted a competent PG who could both score and dish assists. The list is pretty short for guys who can do that on an elite level so I moved quickly. In fact, the only other guy I was considering in the first round who I knew was shoulders above his competition at his position was Yao Ming at the C.

In fact, I had Yao in the hopper when he was picked one pick before mine in the second round. So instead I went with Carmelo Anthony. It was kind of an easy pick since he was hands down the best guy left on the board in my opinion. I like Pau Gasol, Tracy McGrady and some of the other guys drafted before my 3rd round pick came up. But Melo felt like a 2nd round pick and I felt comfortable taking him instead of grabbing someone like Ray Allen too early.

Carlos Boozer was my pick in the third round. Again, I felt confident taking Boozer in comparison to taking someone about whom I had questions. Just as a reference the next four picks after mine were Gerald Wallace, Al Jefferson, Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. Maybe Paul Pierce, the first pick of the 4th round, would've been a nice selection. But he plays either SG or SF and those are easily duplicable positions (and I already have Melo).

Then the fourth round I made a "I can't believe this guy is still available" pick to grab Allen Iverson. Normally I don't take two key players from the same team because I worry that they will steal stats from each other. He's still A.I. Though he may not be as dominating as he once was, there's still meat left on his bones. Plus he plays PG and I place a premium on that position. So, as I said, I picked him and felt grateful that he was still there. (Just as a reference, such luminaries as Andre Iguodala, Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler and Emeka Okafor were all selected before I picked A.I.)

Now we get into the rounds where only true basketball fans know who you're talking about. In the fifth round, I took the well-rounded Lamar Odom. He plays power-forward for the Lakers which means he gets his share of rebounds. At the same time, he plays point-forward in the Laker's triangle offense which means he gets assists.

I took Ben Gordon with my pick in the sixth round and Richard Hamilton in the seventh round for basically the same reason. Points are really easy to get and to get a lot of all at once. If a player gets 15 rebounds or assists in a game, that's a pretty big deal. If you see a guy scored 15 points, that's almost pedestrian. So it's necessary to have a team which can score points consistently no matter whose team is playing that night and who is off. Both Gordon and Hamilton provide that as either the first or second highest scorer on their teams from night to night. Add in that Gordon gives me a reason to cheer on the Bulls and it's two more picks I felt good making.

In the penultimate round I took Zydrunas Ilgauskas. I needed a center and Big Z was the best player left who filled that need. I actually had Andris Biedrins in the hopper ready to go when he was taken the pick before mine. Somehow I don't feel bad though. Instead of getting a Latvian, I got a Russian taking bounce passes from LeBron James. I have a feeling this will all work out.

Then I kept my final pick international as well and took Boris Diaw of France and the Phoenix Suns. Othe guys were making speculative picks in this round which I didn't understand. Players like Randy Foye, Darko Milicic and Nene Hilario may have breakout seasons. But Diaw has kind of proven himself as the league's Most Improved Player two years ago. I feel a lot better about him producing than Tyrus Thomas (and that C-eligibility doesn't hurt either).

Which is the sum of my draft and it might be a little obvious. I like the team I ended up with. From the first round to the ninth, I feel like I got a good player who wasn't a reach and even felt like I got a steal in a few instances. We'll see how my team plays once the season is on. For now, I think I got the best of the bunch.