The Numbers

Well, it's Sunday morning, the final Sunday of the NBA season. The JBL title is Mr. Woo's. 2nd place appears to be Benny's. 3rd place appears to be Golden's and 4th place is still up for grabs between Idaho and Arctic. Idaho is at 816 and Arctic is at 812. There are a couple of historic things going on here. #1- Seoul is setting scoring records that will NEVER be touched. He's currently at 1035 and was at 1055 for a bit last night. Looking at the standings, he could actually get to 1068!! He's 1st in three categories, he's 3rd in two categories, 2nd in another, and 6th in the other. Amazing stuff. This team has to be considered one of (if not the the best) of all time in the JBL! The second historic item is the fact that I could be paying money out to the Idaho squad. He has NEVER finished in the money and is right on the verge of claiming 4th place!

What Seoul has done this season has been complete dominance. Here are the supporting numbers. There are 24 weeks in the JBL. After each Sunday, the final standings revealed that Seoul was in 1st overall 12 times (soon to be 13), he was in 2nd place 10 times, and in week 12, somehow, Seould was in 3rd place. So, do the math. Seoul was in 1st or 2nd place in the JBL for 23 weeks!! Unreal.

The Wack is certainly under-appreciated this season because of Woo's success...but the Offs were in 1st or 2nd place for 18 weeks already and are very deserving of their 2nd place finish. That's what great depth can do for you. Despite losing Al Jefferson, a top 10 Fantasy stud, Benny has been able to hang in there and finish strong. Benny was in 10th one week and 5th another, but otherwise has been top 3 all season. Well done.

Golden 'hung around' all season. Your 3rd place team for 15 weeks never really contended - but that's hard to do when the Brother and Offs were soooo dominant this year. Golden's worst week was 7th and the Showers were in 2nd twice during the season (the only other team, besides the Offs, to be ahead of the Brothers).

The Arctic was the sleeper team of the year. Not a lot was heard from Arctic this year. His articles were few and far between. There was little trash talk - other than his spat with Timmy. No one ever spoke of Arctic like he was a contender. However, this team has been between 2nd and 5th all year!!! Not one week did he fall to 6th or lower! Very impressive. This was obviously a very good team, but like Golden, picked a bad year to be very good - when it needed to be OUTSTANDING.

Was this season Idaho's coming out party??? I've seen the Facebook photos and I know that Tuna has already "come out" - but maybe this was the season that the Udapimps gained a little respect from a Fantasy perspective. Idaho has been anywhere from 3rd to 11th this season. He's made some crafty moves and climbed the ladder all year. Now, he is poised to finish in the money for the 1st time ever! Well done Tuna.

The Brussels squad can be summed up by Timbo's comments on the Live JBL scoreboard this morning. There were some comments made and Tim logged in and wrote "people are still chatting on this thing????" Timbo hasn't obviously checked the scoreboard lately - and it hasn't been necessary - because the Muscles have not threatened all season. For 20 of the 23 weeks, the Brussels squad has been in 6th or 7th place. Tim tried everything he could to improve his team this season. The results - 6th or 7th for 20/23 weeks. Coming off back-to-back money finishes - this season has to be labelled a disappointment in Brussels.

Bangkok is destined for a 7th place finish. He has been 4th to 9th all season. And those 4th place spots were early on and it only happened for 2 weeks. The Fighters have been 5th (7 weeks), 6th (4 weeks), 7th (6 weeks), or 8th (3 weeks) all season. Bangkok drafted well (Mayo and Love), traded well with Golden (Love, Duhon, Deng for Brand), but they have not performed well in the Standings. I know that Bangkok is desperate for 6th so he can protect 4 guys instead of 2. I don't think it's gonna happen. It's Westbrook and Lee for you.

Juan de Fuca has been a very successful JBL franchise over the last 5-7 years. Once relocating from Tokyo (to School)...this team has consistently been cashing cheques. I would love to have the 3-headed monster split up and become 3 teams (the more the merrier) but we'll have to wait and see. The 08/09 JBL season must be considered a disaster by Juan de Fuca terms. Theri highest ranking this season - 7th. This was your 12th place team for 8 weeks! One third of the season was spent in LAST PLACE!!! Shocking news. The problem now for the rest of us - they will want to show that this season was a blip on the radar and they will likely come back stronger next season. I would just like them to come back as 3 separate teams.

French Lick had made late season charges since 2004 and finished 6th, 5th, 5th, and 5th. This season, there was no late season charge. Unless you count the one that has moved the Balls squad from 10th to 8th. This year has not been what Hildy expected. His best ranking during the season - 8th. French spent 5 weeks in 9th, 7 weeks in 10th, 3 weeks in 11th, and 6 weeks in the basement! Not a good season by French Lick standards as I know he prides himself in his Fanatsy body of work. I would bet he comes back strong in 09/10.

The Dildo squad was doomed from day one. Why? Because he did the draft online. This is not a bad thing if you live in Toronto or Halifax...but when you're local, you must make every effort to do it in person - otherwise, the JBL Gods will frown on you. And they did here. Dildo was 5th for one week (probably week 1). After that, it was all downhill. 4 weeks in 9th, 6 weeks in 10th, and 11 weeks in 11th. So, it was bad, but only bad enough to be 12th for one week. Next year, if you're in town Nick, take the day off and attend the draft, it will work wonders.

The Pearl squad once again looked dangerous after JBL draft night...but then, as it always does, it fizzled. And if things go bad early, he's doomed. Why? He doesn't make any trades. And no, I don't consider trading Luke Ridnour for Rafer Alston a trade. 9 weeks in 8th place, 4 weeks in 9th, 5 weeks in 11th. This was a bottom feeder team for most of the season with no chance of improving without adequate (or any) roster moves. With such indifference from Pearl - will he get invited back for 09/10????

The poor Boston squad, destined to finish 12th due to injury, has actually placed in more spots than any other team. The Pancakes were 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th (4 weeks), 8th, 9th (3 weeks), 10th (3 weeks), 11th, and 12th (7 weeks). Trevor was coming off an impressive 2nd place finish last year and was hoping to carry that momentum into this season. Well, the injury bug said NO to that in a hurry. Every team in the JBL was affected with injuries this season, but none moreso than the Pancakes. Look at this list of players and the games they missed. Bogut (45), Iverson (25), Hamilton (12), AK47 (12), Carmelo (15), Calderon (15), S-Jax (18), and Amare (28). That is 150+ man games lost from KEY contributors to a Fantasy team. What can you do when you lose that many man-games?? Well, you hope for better luck next season. Some of that Woo-luck would be nice.