Quick intro of my H2H team this year. I am in a 12-team, 9-cat Yahoo league with a bunch of guys who I play real-life basketball with. We had our draft last week -- here's a recap of what went down.
Going into my first ever H2H draft, I knew I wanted to accomplish three things:
- Punt no more than one category
- Go Big Ball or Small Ball (I didn't believe the other strategies would lead to success)
- Draft players who would get playing time early on
45 minutes before the draft began, I found out I had the #9 pick (side note: I hate leagues that don't determine the draft order in advance. Completely hinders one's ability to strategize.). With the #9 pick, I was thinking I'd probably get Garnett, Wade or Marion, which was fine except that each player would lead me to adopt a different strategy. Ultimately, it went down like this:
Round 1 - Kevin Garnett
I'm honestly not too high on Garnett this year. Boston doesn't like its starters playing too many minutes and Garnett's numbers last year reflected that. However, I really couldn't justify reaching for Butler or AI at the 9th spot so Garnett it was. Plus you can't argue with the across the board production that Garnett provides.
Round 2 - Al Jefferson
After drafting Garnett, my immediate thought was to go Big Ball and Jefferson makes for a great compliment. Great FG, points, rebounds and blocks and I've got my fingers crossed that he improves his FT this year. A small part of me thought about going after Howard at this point, but I didn't like the idea of having to punt two categories -- pretty much a given if you draft Howard. In retrospect, I suppose I could've picked Bosh and gone the efficiency route but I was happy with Jefferson.
Round 3 - Jose Calderon
Three rounds into the draft and I experience my first moment of hesitation. In trying to stick with my Big Ball strategy, I had my eye on Calderon for his solid FG at the PG position. However, Rudy Gay was still on the board at that time and I was picturing all the blocks he would put up from the SF position. In the end, I went with Calderon because of the scarcity of quality PG's and because Garnett puts up decent assist numbers from the PF spot.
Round 4 - Mike Dunleavy
Once I grabbed Calderon, I decided to switch gears and improve on my efficiency numbers. My thought was that since my first three picks had good FG and TO numbers, I should try to build on that. Dunleavy was a great fit for both cats plus he provided a boost in terms of points, steals, FT and rebounds. I'm a little worried that last year was a fluke but I figured he was worth the risk in Round 4 (other option would've been Pierce but the TO's and FG scared me off).
Round 5 - Andre Miller
At this point, I'm full blown committed to sticking with the efficiency strategy. Miller's TO's are a slight concern but still pretty good for a PG. Drafting Miller helped me solidify FG, assists and steals while not losing too much in terms of rebounds and FT. Aldridge was a possibility at that point as well but I'm not too keen on anyone from Portland this year due to their deep rotation. Overall, I was very happy with this pick.
Round 6 - David Lee
The fact that Lee was C eligibility makes this an easy pick for me. Efficiency stats stayed strong plus I got a boost in rebounds and maybe points and steals. I am a little worried about my lack of blocks and 3's at this point and am starting to worry that I'll have to punt more than one category. This made for a highly questionable pick in Round 7 ...
Round 7 - Peja Stojakovic
This was arguably my worst pick of the draft. In stressing out about my lack of 3's, I end up drafting a player that doesn't really help me anywhere else. His TO numbers are nice but his FG hurts and his FT is very misleading given his scant attempts per game (1.8 last year). I was actually ready to draft Kirilenko here but he was snatched up one pick before me. Looking back, given the makeup of my team at that point, I should've made the decision to punt 3's and drafted Ilgauskas. Needless to say, Peja is trade bait the moment he goes off for seven 3's in a game.
Round 8 - Jamario Moon
At the time, I really liked this pick. Moon is the model of efficiency and a nice "glue guy" for my team. However, looking back, I worry that drafting Moon put me in a bind in terms of points since I already have Calderon and Miller. So while I might've addressed the blocks issue, I may have created a new hole with my team's lack of scoring.
Round 9 - Nick Collison
Since I only had two centers up to this point, I decided more depth would make sense at this point. Collison being available in round 9 was a bit of surprise, considering the numbers he put up last year. While he does little to nothing for me in terms of blocks and points, his %'s and rebounding prowess are helpful.
Round 10 - Ronnie Brewer
Solid addition for my efficiency strategy, as Brewer's obvious strengths are FG, steals and TO's. But I still didn't address my lack of 3's and points and I'm now worried that I've overdone it with the efficient players. I considered grabbing Garcia at this point but I don't really think he would've helped in the right categories.
Round 11 - Russell Westbrook
Not a good pick. Aside from rookie PG's rarely being efficient, he's also in a timeshare with Earl Watson. While I am fully convinced that Westbrook will eventually win the starting gig, I'm not sure if he helps my team at this point. Blame it on the UCLA homer in me.
Round 12 - Amir Johnson
This was perhaps my favorite pick of the draft. I am REALLY high on Johnson this year and I think he has breakout written all over him. Granted, he still needs to carve out playing time in Detroit's loaded front court but I think he'll maintain his starting gig and put up pretty solid numbers (52% FG, 12 pts, 8 RB, 1 STL, 2.5 BLK). Plus the pick helps me with blocks, which leaves me only two cats that I realistically have to punt (PTS and 3's).
Round 13 - Sean Williams
I wanted Millsap here, as he sneaky good STL and BLK value despite his limited minutes. But he went one pick before me so I opted for Williams instead. I think Williams is a lot like Amir Johnson, minus the playing time. If he gets the minutes, he should put up solid blocks and rebounds while shooting a high FG. If Williams doesn't get the minutes right away, he'll probably end up on the waiver wire.
Round 14 - Mikki Moore
Sort of a throwaway pick. I have no idea if he can maintain the starting gig in Sacramento and, even if he does, I don't think he's going to add a lot of value except for FG, points and maybe rebounds. But he's the starter now and I suppose there is a chance he'll surprise some people this year.
Round 15 - Jerryd Bayless
Another throwaway pick. I dropped him immediately afterwards for Anthony Carter.
PG - Jose Calderon
SG - Mike Dunleavy
G - Andre Miller
SF - Jamario Moon
PF - Kevin Garnett
F - Al Jefferson
C - David Lee
C - Nick Collison
Util - Ronnie Brewer
Util - Amir Johnson
Bench - Mikki Moore
Bench - Anthony Carter
Bench - Russell Westbrook
Bench - Peja Stojakovic
Bench - Sean Williams
Analysis
Strong/Dominate: FG, TO, REB, STL, AST
Competitive: FT, PTS, BLK
Weak/Punt: 3's
Overall, I feel good about my team, despite having my Big Ball strategy evolve into a combo Big Ball/Efficiency strategy. I don't think I did particularly well drafting guys who would get playing time right away but it remains to be seen how some of the position battles play out I'm also worried that I won't be as competitive in PTS as I think I'll be, especially now that I have Peja on my bench. But I think I'm strong in enough cats that I can definitely stay afloat as things get flushed out.
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