Daily Links - Getting ready for baseball season!

UPDATE - Unfortunately, Tim over at Roto Authority has had some issues with his archived posts, meaning many of these great items are missing right now. He's working to get them restored, so please be patient. Thanks.

It's hard to believe, but baseball season is just around the corner. Thankfully, there are plenty of sites that keep the baseball news & analysis coming all year round. I'd suggest checking out the following links / stories to start your prep work for the 2008 fantasy baseball season.

-Tim over at Roto Authority (an awesome baseball blog, by the way) has some great projections & discussion about Yovani Gallardo, Tim Lincecum, and Dustin McGowan, amongst others. He also discusses a good article from CNNSI talking about some potential breakout picks for 2008 & had a well thought out analysis of the Jose Reyes vs. Hanley Ramirez debate.

You should also check out his take on this season's:
-Top 23 Second Basemen
-Top 24 First Basemen
-Top 24 Catchers
-Top 18 Shortstops
-Top 22 Third Basemen
-Top 76 Outfielders
-Top 6 DH's
-Top 78 Starting Pitchers
-Top 35 Relievers

-Kelly & friends over at Fantasygameday.net just completed their 2008 fantasy baseball mock draft. This is a great starting point to get a real world idea of where your favorite player is going to get drafted in 2008. He'll also soon be releasing his extremely helpful average draft position report (ADP, for those that have used it before), which is a consolidated view of a number of preseason fantasy drafts, along with an updated position scarcity report. Keep checking out the site for regularly updated analysis.

Dustin Pedroia to the rescue!

-Last but not least is the team at Faketeams.com. Recently, they've taken a look at fantasy baseball hitter ratings (using both 2007 & a 3 year average), 2008 closer rankings, and what to expect from Dustin Pedroia this season. I haven't checked out the last one yet, but do you think Mighty Mouse could provide even more heroics this season? As long as he's still got his mojo...

Speaking of which (sorry, I know it has nothing to do with the rest of this post, but I think I've got adult ADD; I said mojo & thought of this).

Categorical Help - Steals & Blocks

No matter how strong your fantasy basketball roster is, there is always room for improvement. If you have a well rounded team, the easiest area you can provide specific categorical help is in steals & blocks. Today, I'm going to take a look at a few the players who might be available in your league that will provide some help in these categories.

Each of these players reside in the top 20 in these respective categories in the past 30 days, with their rank in parenthesis (using ESPN's player rater).

Steals:
(11) Brevin Knight (PG), LAC - Brevin has contributed 1.67 steals over the past 30 days. He has also chipped in an average of 4 + assists in more than 20 minutes per game. If you're looking for steals, you could certainly do worse than Knight...and the 4 assists don't hurt. I would keep an eye on his minutes per game, as he's played a low of 15 and a high of 28 minutes in January.

(12) Larry Hughes (PG, SG), Cle - Larry has averaged 2.1 steals per game thus far in January. Unfortunately, the rest of his game hasn't been quite as strong. Averages of less than 9 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, on 36% shooting from the field don't necessarily justify his $12M + salary in 2008.

(13) Marquis Daniels (SG, SF), Ind - Marquis has been averaging more than 2 steals per game this month in just over 22 minutes per game. He also always has the ability to just go off & have a great all around game, as evident by his 26 point, 3 rebound, 3 assist, 3 3's, 1 steal, 1 block game on December 19th against Phoenix.

(15) Shane Battier (SF), Hou - Shane is the only player who shows up on both of these top 20 lists (he's also 12th in blocks). He has averaged almost 1.5 steals & 2 blocks per game so far this month. He's a guy who always gets drafted in the middle rounds, plays his normal game, and gets dropped at some point throughout the season...only to finish the year respectable on the player rater. He won't hurt you anywhere, although it would be nice is he had more games with double digit points.

Blocks:
(8) Darko Milicic (PF, C), Mem - Darko has averaged 2.7 blocks per game thus far in January. I'm still a little concerned about his health this year, but even on quiet games, he can still help in blocks. Last night's game against the Sonics is a perfect example, as in less than 19 minutes, he 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks...nice help for those looking for swats.

On a side note, check out Free Darko for...um, interesting commentary, or as they put it, providing the best in Slovenian farm league analysis and reporting since 1968.

(9) Eric Dampier (C), Dal - Dampier has been putting up solid numbers of late. This month, he's averaging 9 points, 8 boards, and more than 2 blocks per game. Is that production worth $11 million per year? Probably not...but he's playing solidly now, so if he's around & you need center help, you could do worse.

(18) Sean Williams (PF, C), NJ - Sean has been playing solid in around 20 minutes per game this month, averging 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. If only he could keep his fouls down & get more playing time...speaking of which, you can check out a good post from my friends at Empty the Bench talking about Sean Williams & 9 others with untapped potential who should get more playing time.

Fantasy Strategy:
One of my favorite draft strategies each year is to focus on at least one player who will help you in both steals & blocks. I'll talk more about these contributors in a future post, but some of these include:

-Gerald Wallace (2.1 steals, 1.0 blocks)
-Shawn Marion (1.9 steals, 1.7 blocks)
-Josh Smith (1.8 steals, 3.3 blocks)
-Rasheed Wallace (1.3 steals, 1.4 blocks)
-Andrei Kirilenko (1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks)

Using one or more of these players as building blocks of your roster allows you to focus on building a balanced team that has the ability to be competitive across the board (depending upon how well you draft the rest of the way). I think of it as getting 20-20 or 30-30 guys in baseball - having a few David Wright & Alfonso Soriano types makes it much easier building a strong team.

That's all for now, but I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading!

Top Daily Fantasy Performers - January 17th Edition (Abbreviated)

I'm not going to look at all of the top performances from Wednesday night's games, but I do want to take a quick look at two players who have been hot of late:

Gerald Wallace (SF, PF), Cha - In last night's game, he put up 36 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, grabbed 3 steals, and had 1 block...all with ZERO turnovers. He also shot 79% from the line (11-14). The only less than optimal stat line was his shooting from the field, where he only hit 40% of his shots (12-30, including 1-8 on 3's).

Wallace has simply been on fire recently. In his past 5 games, he's averaging the following:

PPG - 28.8
Reb - 9.8
Ast - 4.4
Stl - 2.8
Blk - 1.8
FG% - 45%
FT% - 70%
TO - 3.0
3PTM - 2.2

After another slow start this season, especially in the rebounding department, I almost regretted holding on to him in one of my keeper leagues; but he's putting up monster numbers now, and based on his prior season's trends, I'd expect it to continue the rest of the season (barring injury).

Chris Bosh (PF, C), Tor - In last night's game, Chris scored 31 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, got 2 assists & 3 steals. More impressively, he shot 11-12 from the field & 9-10 from the line!

Bosh has been on a very impressive streak of late as well. In his last 5, he's put up:

PPG - 29.2
Reb - 9.2
Ast - 2.6
Stl - 1.2
Blk - 1.4
FG% - 59%
FT% - 83%
TO - 2.6

If you back out his 1 rebound game on 1/9 against the 76ers, he's averaging over 11 boards in his last 4. After a slow start to the season, he's increased his scoring from a low of 16.0 PPG in the month of November, to his current January average of 27.4; all while shooting high %'s both from the field & the line. He's been very consistent in his short career, so expect him to continue performing at a high level & helping your team.

Fantasy Impact:
Even though both of these guys are playing a very high level right now, these hot streaks always present chances to "sell high" on a player. In Wallace's case, it's probably riskier to keep him than trade him, given the frequency of his injury problems in the past. This is in no way a knock on Gerald...but given his high flying, aggressive, 'take it to the hoop' game, he does take more hits & spills than your average player meaning a greater likelihood of getting injured.

Personally, I'm going to hold Wallace in the two leagues I own him, but I'm by no means what you would consdier risk adverse. If you can get a first round talent that fills a need on your roster, I'd suggest pulling the trigger now. I'm counting on him keeping it up & staying healthy, but if someone offered me Steve Nash for him straight up & I needed assists, it would be really hard to say no.

I have a little bit different take on Bosh. Given his consistency and his solid game across all areas, I'd suggest holding on to him right now. In all honesty, he's not playing too much above many people's expectations of him coming into the season; he was a first round pick in many drafts. If someone offered Lebron, I might think about it...but otherwise, keep Bosh in your lineup & enjoy the good times.

Until next time...

Great Fantasy Basketball Sites

I just wanted to take a minute to provide a few of my favorite fantasy basketball sites. Each of these provide useful tools to help you win your league:

Fantasy Basketball Resources:
Hoops World - I especially enjoy the daily box score blitz, which provides a single page to view all of the previous day's stats, with brief analysis for each game, including their take on each team's fantasy star
RotoWorld - Provides excellent fantasy analysis for all sports, and is regularly updated with fresh info
HoopsHype - Deep site with lots of good reading
Big Board - Basketball - Brandon Funston's top 50 fantasy basketball players...he's one of Yahoo's fantasy experts, meaning there is a good chance that he gets paid to do what many of us do for free, talk about fantasy sports...

Fantasy Basketball Blogs:
Give me the Rock - Excellent fantasy basketball blog with frequent updates & great analysis
Fantasy Basketblog - Great blog with excellent advice
Empty the Bench - Great read
Hoops Addict - Fun reading with frequent updates
Dropping Dimes - Just a good site
TrueHoop - ESPN fantasy basketball blog
RotoRob - Fantasy sports analysis with an edge
NBA Roto League - Interesting site that applies roto scoring to NBA teams

Basketbawful - Not necessarily a fantasy site, but just good times...

There are literally hundreds of other sites out there, but these are a few that I enjoy regularly.

If any readers out there want to suggest a site, please post a link in the comments; I'll update this post (and give the reader credit) if I receive any good suggestions...I look forward to your contributions. I'll also be updating my links on the home page to reflect these fantasy resources.

I'll have some more analysis coming later this week, so stay tuned...and thanks again for reading!

Top Daily Fantasy Performers - January 16th Edition

There were 8 games on the NBA schedule last night; I'm going to take a look at some of the top performances from those games:

Fantasy stars:
LeBron - Surprise! He scored 51 points on 18-28 shooting from the field (6-12 from 3 point range), grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 9 assists, and got 3 steals & 1 block for good measure. He did only shoot 9-16 from the charity stripe (56%), but one blemish is acceptable. And even though he played great, more importantly for Cavs fans is the fact that the Cavs pulled out a victory in overtime! (Photo Credit - AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)

Rip Hamilton - Efficiency...that's what I call 39 points on 16-22 shooting, 5-6 from 3 point range, 2-3 from the line, while grabbing 4 boards & getting 6 assists. That's it though; no steals, no blocks, and no turnovers. Efficient, and in only 35 minutes of play.

Sam Cassell - I was watching some of this game on NBA League Pass last night, and Sammy was on fire; I bet he could have taken a shot standing on his head at halfcourt wearing a blindfold with his hands tied behind his back with the dance team surrounding him & he would have found a way to get the ball through the hoop. He ended up with a line of 32 points on 15-21 shooting, chipping in 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal for good measure. What makes this especially surprising is he had put up a total of 21 points in his previous four games...combined. He's fun to watch when he gets on fire, like in last night's game, but don't expect it to occur every night.

Surprise Fantasy Performances:
Antoine Walker - I guess he's not a total surprise, since he's been a good player in this league...but after two scoreless games in his last 4, he threw up (not literally) 26 last night (in only 26 minutes). This included 4 3 pointers, and he got 10 rebounds as well. Even after last night's game, he's still not someone I'd recommend picking up off the waiver wire, unless you're in a deep league & desperate for 3's. While we're on the topic of guys that can help you out if you need 3's...

Juan Carlos Navarro - I wonder how long it takes for someone like Juan Carlos to get people to call him by his full name? Like Juan Pablo Montoya, Juan Carlos Navarro, Homer Jay Simpson...

MMM...Roto Advice
Juan Carlos had a great game yesterday against the Cavs, playing 47 minutes & scoring 26 points (on 9-16 shooting, including 6-10 on 3's), getting 2 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. His playing time has increased again of late, and he's he's played 30 or more minutes in 3 of his last 4 games. Seeing how he has 14 3's in the last 4 games, I'd definitely take a chance on him if you're looking for help in that category. Monitor his playing time frequently, as he's fallen in and out of the regular rotation throughout his rookie season, but I'd use him while he's on a hot streak.

Antonio McDyess - In 34 minutes, he had 9 points on 4-7 shooting...

AND 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, and 0 turnovers; nice. The 7 steals ties the NBA single game high this season.

Fantasy stinker of the day:
DeShawn Stevenson - In 40 minutes of play, he scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting from the field (1-4 on 3's) & 1-2 from the line. At least he chipped in with 3 boards & 4 assists, but it's not the type of performance you hoped for when you put him in your lineup (especially after putting up games of 12, 19, 19, & 16 in his past four). Hopefully he'll bounce back Friday against the Knicks.

Top Fantasy Basketball Contributors in the last month - final chapter

And now I bring you the top 5 fantasy basketball contributors in the past month:

5 - Shawn Marion (SF, PF), Pho - Key stats over the last 30 days - .539 FG%, .600 FT%, 1.6 3PTM, 14.9 PPG, 8.7 Reb, 2.8 Ast, 1.2 Stl, 1.6 Blk, 0.8 TO
What the heck is up with that FT%??? Thankfully, he only shoots a few per game, so at least it's not hurting teams much. His scoring is lower than I expected, but he gives you help across the board, so no worries.

4 - Caron Butler (SF), Was - Key stats over the last 30 days - .939 FT%, 1.2 3PTM, 20.0 PPG, 6.9 Reb, 5.6 Ast, 2.6 Stl
Butler has been a stat sheet stuffer this year, and I expect him to continue his dominance, especially with Agent Zero being out for potentially the rest of the year (or March 15th, which is what he's thinking now).

3 - Allen Iverson (PG, SG), Den - Key stats over the last 30 days - .464 FG%, .844 FT%, 1.5 3PTM, 29.8 PPG, 5.9 Ast, 1.8 Stl, 2.5 TO
Iverson is having what is arguably the best fantasy season of his career. He seems comfortable in his role with the Nuggets, and he should continue to be a great asset to your roster.

2 - Marcus Camby (C), Den - Key stats over the last 30 days - 9.0 PPG, 12.3 Reb, 2.8 Ast, 4.8 Blk!
Camby provides the best combination of rebounds & blocks in the league right now. His rebound per game average is actually a little bit down from the start of the year, but his blocks stay strong. Expect him to continue being a beast, as long as the injury bug doesn't strike.

And #1
Chris doing his best Fonzie impression
1 - Chris Paul (PG), NO - Key stats over the last 30 days - .481 FG%, .831 FT%, 1.2 3PTM, 22.1 PPG, 3.5 Reb, 10.9 Ast, 2.9 Stl, 1.9 TO
Not only is Paul #1 for the last 30 days, he's the top fantasy player on the season. There really isn't anything he's not doing this year. He's the leader of his Hornets team, both emotionally & statistically. Expect him to continue his monster season. Enjoy the ride...

That's it for now...

On the horizon - In the upcoming week, I'll have some analysis on current fantasy basketball waiver wire activity, along with some of the major surprises as we quickly approach the midway point in the season. I'll also take a look at some top individual player performances.