Golden Poo

Well, it's official, my team sucks. I am going through the Fantasy phase of complete disconnect right now. You know the one. Where you just don't care anymore. Nothing you do works. Everyone on your team is hurt. Your over-achievers are now under-achievers. Your stars are performing like shite. You are too busy too care anymore. That's me. Yup. I just spent 3 nights in Hemlock with my family. We snowboarded (which for me is quite an accomplishment). We hot tubbed. We barbecued. We watched movies. And I did all this without any internet connection whatsoever. And you know what, I loved it. That's how I know that it's officially over for my Golden squad.

My team appears destined for a 5th to 7th place finish. This will be my worst finish in the last 6 years. My team fell apart down the stretch with my stars playing mediocre ball (Bosh & Dirk) and my no-namers playing well, like no-namers (Delfino, Maxiell, Hawes, etc). I don't even have anyone to be excited about as a keeper. Sad. Really sad.

It looks like Philly Woo's Seoul team could win his 3rd title in the last 5 years. Wowzers. French, Juan, Chilliwack and now Bangkok are in the thick of things and could still take him down. If French or Bangkok could pull off a victory it would be historical as 4 teams have won the last 10 JBL titles (Golden 5, Chilliwack 2, Seoul 2, and Juan 1). And if Bangkok won it - what an article we would see. It's almost worth seeing.

I thought I would update my top keepers quickly tonight as well. I really like 11 guys for next season. In no particular order...

• Stephen Curry - cream of the crop now. Superstud in the making!
• Kevin Love - solid all around game
• Chris Kaman - good numbers, great hair
• Tyreke Evans - superstar in the making
• Kevin Durant - top 5 Fantasy stud could be had for $43 bucks
• Andray Blatche - since Caron and Jamison were shipped out - he's been the MAN
• Marc Gasol - baby-bro has all around game
• Brook Lopez - can Idaho get out of the basement in order to keep him?
• Monta Ellis - lights out scorer
• Nene - still does it all
• Russell Westbrook - stopped shooting 3's. Way to go youngster.

Just looking at the standings tonight and it appears the battle for steals between Brussels and Idaho could play a HUGE factor in who finishes last. Both of these teams have stud keepers for next season (Brussels has KD, Tyreke, and Blatche while Idaho has Lopez and Jennings). Could you imagine if Brussels finished last and couldn't keep any of those 3? Oh my. What luck for the rest of us as I would love to get my hands on any of those guys.

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I thought I would discuss the race for 12th. It appears that Trev's Pancakes will avoid the basement. His team is into the 400's now and he has some guys playing for playoff positioning (Wade & Amare) so it appears he's no longer in the equation.

So that leaves 3 teams - Belgrade, Idaho, and Brussels. As I type this Belgrade has 369, Brussels has 345 and Idaho has 329. Idaho is just 1 steal behind Brussels and that would be a 26 point swing. Now, Idaho is likely to need those points as Belgrade is just behind him in scoring - so that would be -20 points for Idaho. Brussels does have room to move in 3PT% so that could help. Looking at the other categories it really appears this is going to come right down to the wire. The good news for Timbo is that he is the defending champion in the baseball pool and can live off that until the JBL draft in October.

I am soooo pumped for that little trip to Vegas in October. It's our 20th JBL draft. We've come a long way since the days of drafting in my parents garage and the common room in the condo in Surrey. I remember when we first started the JBL we didn't even use all the teams in the league. Now, we're going to be drafting for the 20th time and we are following the great Bill Simmons' plan of doing it BIG in Vegas. I guess we'll have to see how 'big' we do it by deciding if we are going to use a hotel's conference room or just do it from the hotel room. I think it's only fitting we use a conference room. Oh boy. I am more excited about the JBL draft in October than I am the baseball draft which is a week away. I guess part of the reason is that I will be auto-piloting the baseball draft as it's the long weekend and we are out for the evening. Oh well. We saw how well Trev's team did on auto-pilot (insert sarcasm here). And honestly, I've done more work on preparing to right the ship for the next JBL season in 2010/11 than I have prepped for the baseball draft. I guess it's because I just don't enjoy watching or following baseball anymore. Last year I didn't watch a single game (even when my starting pitchers were throwing). Oh well. Maybe I will learn to love mediocrity. Anyways, I digress.

For those of you wondering, I have chatted with Marko in Belgrade and he does plan on returning for the 2010/11 season. This is good news for the JBL as Marko has added a lot to the league and everyone I have talked to about him really wants him back. He's been quite busy at work and that's why we haven't heard much from him.

Well, on this topic, the JBL story board has been quiet this season. I do most of my talking here and there aren't a lot of 'posters' to the website lately. I'm sure we'll have a victory smack talk from our eventual winner and I fully expect a 12th place whine from someone vowing victory in 2010/11. I will be posting my year in review and Crikker usually does one as well (in typical Crikker fashion). Anyways, if anyone has something to say...speak up!

OK, I'm out of time for tonight...I will watch my mediocre team finish the season in mediocrity. Salut.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

It's been 2 weeks since my last post. Sorry boys. It's been a very busy March. Can't believe it. I've hardly had any time to check on the JBL these last couple of weeks. Hopefully, over the next 10 days or so, things will get back to normal.

The JBL title race is super duper tight! I think there are still 5 teams that can win it. Sorry Arctic and Bangkok - you guys haven't shown me the 850ish potential that the other 5 teams have over the last 2 weeks. This stretch run should be awesome as teams jockey for position. Not many teams have much money left for Free Agents (myself included) so it looks like some of us will have to go with what we have.

My team has been hit by the injury bug over the last couple of weeks. I have lost man games to Bosh, Rose, and Luol Deng. My over-achievers (Collison, Delfino, and CJ Watson) have all come back down to earth and suddenly my team doesn't look so hot.

Those Seoul Brothers, once thought to be an after-thought in the title race, continue to impress. French Lick is looking very strong and his roster probably has the most "names" on it. Chilliwack and Juan de Fuca continue to be in the hunt as well. For Juan, this has been very impressive as he has been hit hard by the injury bug over the last month or so. Plus, he's getting Chris Paul back for the last couple of weeks.

Idaho has dropped to 12th and his team simply blows. Both Brook Lopez and Brandon Jennings will be back in the draft and Idaho will be starting from scratch. I just don't see how he improves with the group he has at the moment. Plus, he has $0 free agent dollars.

The most interesting team to follow down the stretch just might be the Brussels squad. He has 2 of the best keepers going (Tyreke and Durant) and it looks like he could finish 11th - which would mean he could only keep 1 player. Who would he choose? Who should he choose? Who would I choose?  Let's see how Boston and Belgrade do down the stretch because I know Timbo will be following this closely.

Oh, Belgrade, if you're reading this...I'm still waiting for your cheque to arrive. Anytime my good man, anytime.

If I had to choose 4 keepers for my team next season today...I think I would go with Aaron Brooks, Luol Deng, Josh Smith, and maybe Carl Landry. 

Brooks has become an absolute gunner and is now averaging 20ppg on the season. Yes, I'm aware that Yao comes back next season and Brooks will not average 20ppg. However, he should up his assists total and he should get more open 3-point looks with the big man kicking it out. Maybe a 16 and 7 season could be in order and the Rockets could be VERY scary next year with a starting 5 of Brooks, Martin, Ariza, Scola and Yao. And their bench would be scary too with the likes of Lowry, Battier, Budinger and others. Look out for the Rockets in 10/11.

I think I would keep Luol Deng just because he's so cool. Despite me cursing his current injury he's had a pretty good season. He does it all really and he's one of the blackest players in the league. Plus, he can play for Great Britain in the World Championships. All that for $17 bucks - ya, why not.

Josh Smith for $48 is really pushing it now. But I love his 'ticks'. Look at those steals and blocks. Yum Yum, I wanna get some. Unreal. It seems like he's been around forever (well 7 years) and yet he's not even 25 years old yet. The biggest positive for him this season was shot selection - he doesn't shoot 3's anymore.

And there's Carl Landry. The $5 dollar last second pickup who no one wanted in a trade. He's still averaging 16 and 6 while shooting 54% on the season. He's now in Sacramento where he is part of the rebuilding program. He's taken over for Jason Thompson. He's the #2 guy behind Tyreke. He's not outstanding but he could be worth a look at $10 dollars.

Who will the Seoul Brothers keep? I'm guessing Bogut (who really has shown that he can be a big game center), Nene, maybe Corey Brewer and maybe Marcus Thornton. If Philly Woo wins the JBL title that will be 3 wins in 5 years. Holy Cow will we all hear about that. And I can imagine the happiest person will be Timbo.

The Chilliwack squad is loaded for next season as well as he will bring back Marc Gasol, Bargnani, Andrei Kirilenko and ???? I don't know if you guys see it but I think Benny should build the all-white guys team. He's well on his way. Come on now, nothing would be more fun! Theme team! Theme team! Come on Benny, do it!

Juan de Fuca is likely keeping Monta, Zach, G-Wallace, and Gallinari. A bit pricey to keep all of them but man, what a nucleus. He would have two 20+ PPG guys; Wallace brings his 6 category game and Gallinari could be the 3-point gunner in what should be a whole new Knicks line-up next season. Of course, Benny should think of getting Gallinari for his squad. 

Who will French protect for next season? His roster is balanced and deep and is built for this year - not the next one. I'm sure Chris will find some bargains in there. It will be nice to be able to go after Rajon Rondo next year. Again, as previously stated, I love the kid's Fantasy game.

Ok boys, that's all for now. 

March(ing) On...

Well, week 19 is almost finished and the JBL standings couldn't be much tighter. Remember the race last season at this time? The Seoul Brothers had a 400 point lead and there were 4 other teams battling for the remaining 3 money spots. This year? 7 teams still fighting for the JBL title. Four of those seven teams have won the top prize while the other 3 teams would be popping their JBL cherry with the title.

We saw one of those classic JBL trades the other day when Brussels moved Elton Brand to Bangkok for Al Thornton. From Tim's post on the Live Scoreboard it appears he offered this deal weeks ago (when Brand was in the shitter and Little Al was getting hot as a Wizard). Well, Timbo left this trade up for weeks and ultimately Bangkok decided to jump on it. Lesson to be learned? Either the CBS website should allow us to set expiry times on our trade offers (ie. if you don't get an accept or reject within 48 hours the offer is automatically withdrawn) or you should always check what offers you have out there.

Thought I would have quick look at each of the contending teams and where they could move up in the standings. I won't look at where they could fall in the standings or apply my JBL matrix to predict the final standings...I'll save that for a later date. And again, I'm looking at categories where the teams are really close to moving up in during the next 1-2 weeks.

Currently in 7th place - Arctic Circle Jerks - 753 points. He could possibly move up 13 or 26 in 3PT% but the trend hasn't been there to support such a move, but it's possible. Scoring - I don't think he's catching Juan. ATO - he could catch Benny, but I doubt it. Steals - I think he will remain 11th. Blocks - he should catch Idaho and gain 13 points. But I think that's it there. Rebounds - there is some potential to maybe catch French and Golden and that would be a big 30 points in this favor. FG% - he could catch Juan and Golden for an additional 26 points. So, if all went perfect in the Arctic world there could be around +100 points for him to gain and that would move him up to the 850's.

Currently in 6th place - Bangkok Fighters - 760 points. 3PT% - he could move up 13 points by passing Seoul. I guess he could also catch Juan and Yuma but the guys he has certainly doesn't suggest this will happen. Scoring - he could catch Golden for a big +20 points. The problem is that Golden has been scoring right with Bangkok for the last 2 weeks and Golden has been without Chris Bosh. So, this +20 is possible but it's not a guarantee. ATO - Bangkok is right on the tail of the French and could pass him for +13. Steals - Bangkok should pass Golden and Juan for +26 points.Longer term he could catch Yuma and Seoul but lets stick with the quick wins for now. Blocks - I think Bangkok will remain where he is for now. Rebounds - no upward movement coming. FG% - Bangkok is now .5 behind Seoul and doesn't appear to have any immediate upward movement in this category. So, with the short term view and with everything going right that makes +72 points for this squad which gets him into the 830's. Of course, if he increases his steals there could be another 26 points there (at least).

Currently in 5th place - French Lick Celtics @ 798 points. 3PT% - +13 points if he can pass the Pancakes. Scoring - Idaho and Yuma are only about 100 points ahead in this category and if French can get hot that would be a big +40 points. ATO - for now, it appears there is no quick upward movement. Steals - only 22 steals back of the Wack but the way Benny has been stealing this could be hard to catch. No immediate upward movement. Blocks - no upward movement at this time. Rebounds - French is right on Golden's tail so its possible for a +15 here. FG% - slowing moving up but nothing immediate. With some great games there is potential for +68 points here in the short term. The key for French is his scoring as he could have the most room for improvement in this category.

Currently in 4th place - Seoul Brothers @ 819 points. 3PT% - nothing immediate at this time. Scoring - just under 200 pts behind the Arctic but that won't happen in 1-2 weeks (I don't think). ATO - 3 teams ahead of him by .033 and that would be +39 points. But I'm not sure that's do-able right now with the team Woo is putting out there. Steals - only 10 behind Belgrade so it's possible for a +13 here. Blocks - you are the king of blocks by a mile so no points to gain here. In fact, what is the record for most blocks ever in a JBL season? Rebounds - closing in on Juan de Fuca and now less than 100 boards behind. So, it's possible and that would be a big +15 points. FG% - getting really close to catching Arctic and Juan who are just 0.1% ahead and Golden is only 0.3% ahead. So, in the short term, it could be a +26 points if he catches the 2 teams just in front of him. So, quick wins could produce +54 points in the next couple of weeks and that would get the Seoul squad up to the mid 870's.

Currently in 3rd place - Juan de Fuca Yo Mamas @ 835 points. 3PT% - will need to get hot to catch Golden who is 0.4% in front of him. Trends would say this isn't happening right away. Scoring - the Juan team appears stuck in 3rd in this category. ATO - appears Juan will remain 12th for now but a return of Chris Paul in the next couple of weeks could change things in this category. So, for now, I will say no immediate gains. Steals - some work to do to catch Yuma and Seoul. A possible 26 points for sure, but I'm not sure it will happen. Blocks - just 2 behind the Wack so there is +13 there. Rebounds - Juan has been 1st place in this category all season. No more points to gain. FG% - just 0.2 behind Golden so there is a definite chance to gain +13 points by shooting the ball well. In the short term, maybe 13-26 points could be gained getting him into the 850 point range. The good news - in the long term the return of a healthy Chris Paul could help gain him another 26 points in steals and maybe +13 in ATO. The bad news - he is still being crippled by the injury bug and has missed games from Monta Ellis, Marcus Camby, Chris Paul, and now Tony Parker appears to be done for 4-6 weeks. Ugh.

Currently in 2nd place - Chilliwack Offs @ 841 points. 3PT% - just 0.2% behind the Muscles so that could be a +13 points. Scoring - only 33 points behind the Seoul Brothers so that could be a monsterous +20 points here. ATO - 1st place already. Steals - 1st place already. Hmmm, getting the sense this Wack team is a real contender. Blocks - 2nd place and no way he's catching Seoul who is 50 blocks ahead of him. Rebounds - 70 rebounds behind the Arctic. For now, let's assume he doesn't get there in the short term. FG% - finally a flaw for this team. However, there is +13 available by passing Yuma. So, there is 46 points that could easily be gained in the next week even. That would get the Offs to 887 total points. Holy Dinah.

Currently in 1st place - Golden Showers @ 882 points. 3PT% - just 0.2% behind the Offs. However, it's been a long time since the Showers have gone above 35.0% from downtown so I just don't think this will happen. Scoring - already in 1st place. ATO - just 0.10 behind Idaho and Yuma. Is it possible, maybe, but I think Idaho is built more for ATO than Golden and therefore I'm not sure the Showers catch either team. However, it's possible for a +13 or +26 in this category. Steals - just 2 steals back of Juan de Fuca so that could be a +13. Blocks - just 12 and 14 blocks behind Juan and Wack but I don't think it will happen. For now, I'm saying no upward movement. Rebounds - not going anywhere. FG% - already in 1st place. I think the Showers team is almost maxed out with points but if the stars aligned I guess I could see maybe +26 points upward movement. 

There really isn't much upward movement left for the Showers squad. I could argue some upward moves but those are ultimately negated by some downward moved in other categories (ie. I could gain 13 points by passing Juan in steals but I will lose 13 points because Bangkok will pass me - net result - 0 points gained). Of course, this could be said for all of the teams above. They will gain some points in some categories and they could lose some points in the others. It's almost impossible to tell who will win it at this time - it's just too early to tell. Plus, with all the injuries yet to happen (ie. Tony Parker) the Fantasy landscapes will still change. Plus, the ultimate wrench in the equation is the fact that teams will start to rest their stars down the stretch once a playoff spot has been clinched. How many minutes/games will Tim Duncan play down the stretch? What if the Cavaliers clinch the top record and home court throughout the playoffs? How much rest will Mike Brown give to Lebron? And for the teams out of it - will they start to sit their star players? Will New Orleans keep playing Chris Paul if they are eliminated from the playoff race? All things to consider down the stretch.

Our JBL trade deadline is fast approaching. Just 2 weeks away. After that, you'll have to rely on Free Agents only. That being said, 2 teams have $0 Free Agent bucks left and 5 others have under $10 bucks available to use.

Here we go...the stretch run begins when we get to Week 20...and that's tomorrow boys. The race is on. Next time I have a chance, I'll have a look at those 4 teams at the bottom of the pile fighting to avoid the basement. I'll tell you who I think will be our 12th place team. 

Some Random Observations...

I don't know what it is but some NBA players just play better when they are on a different JBL team. I've already documented the Channing Frye experiment from Belgrade to Golden to Boston. But tonight, we see it again with CJ Watson. CJ hasn't been much of a Fantasy factor this season but tonight he is on fire. Brussels had CJ Watson for a 3 game stint awhile back and he put up just 3ppg. Tonight, CJ begins his 2nd tour of duty in Golden. He's already played 7 games in Golden and performed quite admirably as an injury replacement. Tonight, he's back active and has 20pts and 6 steals in the 4th quarter. He's not going to be a starter every week - but night's like today sure come in handy.

Every time I read the Bangkok lineup I get a woody (or a boner if you prefer the term). Man, his team is loaded. Plus, his team is loaded for next season. Check out Russell Westbrook's last 10 games! His tendex is close to 30! With Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Chris Kaman and _____ this team could be the early favorite for 2010/11. Who might that 4th keeper be? It could be a guy like Rudy Gay. Where will he end up next season? What about Jonny Flynn? Is he good enough to be considered? Whoever the 4th player is - this team should be a title contender.

Have you seen the battle for the basement? It's nice. It's tight. It's competitive. I still think Tim's team is the cream of the poop down there yet he continues to hang around that 400 point total. Trev's team is constantly hurt (Iverson done for the year) and yet he continues to avoid the basement. Wade coming back big tonight could be a factor in a few categories. Trev could be a factor in 3PT% (French), ATO (5 spots) and in rebounds where he is just 7 rebounds behind Idaho. If Idaho loses 15 pts he would be down to 349 and just 8 points ahead of Belgrade. Oh, the tension. So with Idaho sucking this season (again) after finishing in the money last year (4th) - does this confirm that last year was a fluke?? You decide...

Go ahead and read the line-up that French Lick is trotting out these days. That's another who's who of the NBA. How is this team not higher in the standings? The key to French is scoring (PTS). There are probably +80pts out there for him if his squad gets hot. That would put him in the high 800's. This is definitely a team to watch over the last few weeks.

Man, I knew I should have signed Ronny Turiaf for this week. Oh well.

Who is the rookie of the year now? Evans or Curry? I think it's closer than what people think. I think Curry has had an amazing year and from a Fantasy perspective he might be the better keeper. Don't get me wrong, I love both of the kids, but Curry can shoot the 3 and more steals. It's a toss up. Let's check it out...

PLAYER G PPG FG% 3P% REB ATO STL BLK

Evans 54 20.4 46.7 25.5 262 1.859 81 23
Curry 58 15.7 46.1 40.9 244 1.826 106 14

Curry over his last 10 games has averaged 24ppg, 8reb, and 6 assists.
Evans over his last 10 games has averaged 19ppg, 6reb, and 7 assists.

Conclusion: Both STUDS.

CBS changed up their background colours this morning and it's really jazzed up the JBL site. I like it.

Email from Crikker regarding the baseball pool. Oh man, I have to figure out who is who again. Some of the names I've read about who is supposed to be good I honestly have no idea who they are. Couple that with the fact that I didn't watch one single baseball game last year I could be hard pressed to duplicate last year's performance.

Durant 31 and 8 tonight. Yawn. He has to be in the top 3 Fantasy studs out there. He has the consistency. He's a stud, a gem, a keeper extraordinaire.

Remember when we all thought Woo's team sucked? I even went live on the Podcast and called his team a pretender. Well, look at those Brothers now. 17 points out of 2nd. Unreal. That's how good Lebron, Gasol, Nene, and Bogut have been. And another point about guys playing better on different JBL teams - check out Boris Diaw's numbers in Seoul compared to what he did in Golden and Bangkok.

Speaking of Diaw, man, did I ever mess up my keepers this season. I protected Diaw who was horrible for me and ultimately moved. I protected Ronnie Brewer who was servicable but ultimately regressed from a Fantasy perspective. I kept Eric Gordon who I thought was going to be a stud - instead he got hurt and is really nothing special (yet). I also kept Jameer Nelson and he too got hurt and just now is heating up. Not a good job on the keepers by me - so I must have drafted well (Josh Smith) and maybe I made a good trade or two. I am going to pass judgment on my early season monster deal with Brussels (Wade/Randolph for Bosh/Rose) and I am going to go on record and say that I "won" that deal.

Anyways, that's all for now...if anyone has a topic for me to address here in the Chronicles - let me know and I will do my best.