Dropping Dimes

The Fig Cap: Hey, where are you watching the second round?

Man, do I have some big shoes to fill or what?  Pinch-hitting for Alvin today, I get to break down what could be two of the best match-ups we’ve seen thus far. 

While we get to see who won last week’s battles, this week brings us a few big-named bigs against two big-named guards as well as a match-up that features the recently crowned Rookie of the Year facing a former two-time MVP.  While you will likely be able guess at least two of the eight from these clues alone, let’s check out the rest of the field. 

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two-on-Two Tourney: Round 1, Games 7 and 8

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The summer blockbuster season is almost upon us. NBA fans have already had a few blockbuster games in the playoffs; that double-overtime game between San Antonio and Phoenix was incredible.

In this retrospective article, we praise the players that played every single game, a luxury all fantasy owners know is few and far between. There are quite a few surprises on this list.

Click to continue reading Props to the Ironmen

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Nels from Give Me The Rock is the winner of our 2nd Experts League. He threw a little diss at us in his season recap on his site, but he’s right in saying that having knowledge about the NBA and being good at the fantasy game are two different things. I find most of these industry leagues focus on the draft. I definitely put way more energy in my leagues against family and friends. Funny that Nels writes he hates Chris Paul due to something that happened in another league, but in this league, CP3 was his anchor.

Click to continue reading Nels wins our Experts League!

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(Editors Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this post.  While Brandon was punctual as usual, I’m late in pinch-hitting the posting of his piece.  Try saying that five times fast.)

So, next week is the first week of the league finals in most formats.  Hopefully you are still alive, and even more so, hopefully you’ve had fun this season.  For me personally, this was my best and most fulfilling fantasy season to date.  Take a long look at that roster, see what you can dump, see what you can move around, and take a look at who’s hot and who’s not, because these final two weeks are what it’s all about.  This week I’ll try and focus on guys who you may still be able to pick up.

Here’s next week’s slate of games (4/7-4/13):

Click to continue reading Beyond The Arc - Week 24

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So the NBA schedules games on Christmas and Easter, but they always, always, ALWAYS avoid the night the NCAA crowns their Men’s Division I champion. Why? “One shining moment...”

Even the biggest NBA die-hards will check out college ball around this time of year. The tourney kicks off draft hype. With players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Brandon Rush etc making it to the Final Four this year, it’s been an excellent time to check out these blue chip prospects. Tyler Hansbrough has been named Player of the Year in quite a few places, but most have his pro potential listed pretty low.

So with no NBA action scheduled for Monday, April 7th, it seems like a good time to reflect on the rookies. 

Click to continue reading 2007-08 Rookie Crop

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It’s just a matter of time before the usual suspects roll out their year-end awards and mock draft first round predictions for next season. Obviously there is still much to be decided this season; namely head-to-head leagues are in the middle of the semi-final week, the playoff pictures in both the East and the West need to be decided, and an NCAA champ needs to be crowned.

So I figure Dropping Dimes might as well be the place to stay ahead of the curve and look at the candidates for the real and fantasy MVP. If we are looking for four players to make up a “Mount Rushmore” for the 2007-08 season, three players end up being no-brainer picks. The fourth? Well, read on.

Click to continue reading 2007-08 Fantasy NBA MVP

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The playoffs are here!  Put down your bracket and pull out your fantasy league’s bracket.  Now’s the time to buckle down, make no mistakes, and take home the trophy.  Make sure you check your team twice or three times a day.  Drop guys who aren’t producing: there’s no more waiting around to do.  Don’t be afraid to bench a star who is playing two games if you can cover his spot with good production.  And if it’s Wednesday and you are big in the hole, start streaming.  These are the strategies that win leagues.

Let’s jump into the schedule for next week (3/24-3/30):

The Fig Cap: That’s cute.  So is Lamar’s recent production.

Click to continue reading Beyond the Arc: Week 22

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Alright, so this is the last week of most league’s regular seasons.  Hopefully you’ve locked yourself up a few top seeds or have at least clinched your spot in the playoffs.  If not, well here’s to hoping you do so very soon.  This may be the time to start streaming, so keep your head in the game this week if you need a big win.  Streaming can save playoff lives.

But without further adieu, here is the schedule for next week (3/17-3/23):

The Fig Cap: You still suck Tony.

Click to continue reading Beyond the Arc: Week 21

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I think over the last few weeks, the NBA fan has taken over me and pushed the fantasy fan aside.  I mean, if you are a true sports fan, how can you not be on the edge of your seat as we enter the last few weeks of the regular season?  At the time I’m writing this (Friday afternoon, before the games) only seven games separate #1 from #9 in the West.  And #10 isn’t out of it yet either.  This is great.

Have we seen a better race to the finish in any sport?  Baseball is always close because so few teams make it.  But could a team sitting in 9th today end up in the Finals?  It’s not out of the realm of possibility.  This year was a HUGE win for the NBA.  They stayed away from any controversy (Spygate and steroids anyone?) and pulled off a huge humanitarian effort/All-Star Weekend.  What a great year it’s been and kudos to David Stern and all his people in the league office.

Let’s jump into the schedule for the next week (3/10-3/16):

The Fig Cap: Maybe some of this hot action will get KG in the mood, er, groove.

Click to continue reading Beyond the Arc: Week 20

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I realize that the picture may be a bit rough to decipher.  Thus, here are the updated standings, in text form:
*1.  DD.com - Sargent 117-45-0 .722 - 7-2-0 9 29
2.  Los Chucks (Dwyer) 102-59-1 .633 14.5 4-4-1 10 5
3.  Doc A’s H-Train (RotoWorld) 97-64-1 .602 19.5 5-4-0 6 30
4.  GiveMeTheRock - Nels 93-67-2 .580 23 7-2-0 1 11
5.  DD.com—Satten 88-72-2 .549 28 4-5-0 12 18
6.  CBSSports.com 78-79-5 .497 36.5 4-4-1 3 2
7.  DD.com - Ron & Al 79-80-3 .497 36.5 2-7-0 13 11
8.  JQ @ espn.com 74-85-3 .466 41.5 5-4-0 4 3
9.  Dennis About.com/DD 74-85-3 .466 41.5 4-5-0 5 11
10.  Brandon-DD/Lounge 68-89-5 .435 46.5 7-1-1 2 10
11.  Emry @ Slam Magazine 66-90-6 .426 48 6-2-1 11 29
12.  Neil @ espn.com 66-93-3 .417 49.5 2-7-0 14 72
13.  Dime Magazine 57-101-4 .364 58 1-7-1 8 6
14.  HOOPSWORLD-Ryan 55-105-2 .346 61 2-6-1 7 8

Thanks to huge weeks by Manu Ginobili and Mo Williams, I was able to overcome a slow start to last week to become the first team locked into a playoff spot. 

Seeds four-through-six seem to still be up for grabs.  Ron and Al are right there with CBS Sports, with JQ and Dennis not far behind.  Brandon needs one heck of a run, but he’s come a long way after getting hit with a barrage of injuries. 

Regarding Doc A. If you recall when we last updated the league, he and I were locked in a first place tie.  Since then, its been a bit rough for him, with injuries to Chris Kaman and TJ Ford, coupled with the slowing down of Jason Terry and LaMarcus Aldridge.  Even better is the fact that he has Chris Webber in his Util. spot for this week.  Should definitely be interesting.

Dark horse of the league?  Has to be Nels from GiveMeTheRock.  Kelly Dwyer has a good chance at falling out of that second slot by the time the tourney is set.  Yao Ming’s injury is a crushing blow to his post players.  His starting C’s this week consist of Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster.  At least he has the Indy market cornered! 

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