Finally! The time that we've all (or at least basketball junkies) been waiting for. The Lakers will be getting their rings tonight meaning the start of the NBA Season. That only means fantasy basketball is also starting (duh!).
Like most experts are saying, this season seems to be a 4 or 5 team battle for the championship. The favorite has to be the reigning champs, but there hasn't been a repeat champion since 2001. History is on the Lakers side though as they were the last team to go back-to-back. They'll face stiff competition from Western Conference rival, the San Antonio Spurs. If there's ever a year the Spurs can do it, this has to be it since their roster is aging rapidly.
For quite some time, it's always been about the Western Conference, but the East certainly have some beasts to reckon with. Runner-up Orlando Magic are back to make another run with Vince Carter in town; Boston Celtics, the last team to beat the Lakers in the Finals are reloaded with Rasheed Wallace; and the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for the former Laker, Shaquille O'Neal, to go along with LBJ. It's going to be fun watching these teams beat up on each other.
Other rising teams that will be interesting to watch are the Portland Trailblazers (seems like it's being said every year) with another year of experience and hopefully, a healthy Greg Oden; the Washington Wizards with Agent 0 returning; and the Phoenix Suns returning to their up-tempo-style offense. I don't think any of these teams have what it takes to compete for the championship, but for the sake of entertainment, they'll sure be fun to watch.
On with the fantasy news...
It's too early to be looking at schedules, but that's what I'll do for this week, for beginners. If you're in a weekly league, this is extremely important as you try to maximize the amount of games. Later on in the season, I'll get into more details about the importance of schedules if you're in a daily league. For now, one week won't kill you in fantasy basketball as it can in fantasy football. It's a MUCH longer season, and easier to recover from. The majority of the teams play three games this week, except for the teams below.
2-games
Golden State Warriors
Indian Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Utah Jazz
4-games
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Los Angeles Clippers
Portland Trail Blazers
Week 1 surprise picks:
1) Leandro Barbosa-The Suns will look to open the gate running, and with J-Rich gone for a couple games Barbosa will have plenty of minutes to run.
2) Ryan Anderson-Rashard Lewis is suspended, and it looks like Anderson will get the starting nod over Brandon Bass
3) Channing Frye-Besides from the Suns running out of the gate, they also play relatively weaker teams (Clippers, Warriors & T-Wolves).
(L-R: Leandro Barbosa, Ryan Anderson, Channing Frye)
Last, but not least, good luck to you all!! Thanks for continuing to follow the blog, and be sure to follow throughout the season for frequent updates!
It's game time!
Like most experts are saying, this season seems to be a 4 or 5 team battle for the championship. The favorite has to be the reigning champs, but there hasn't been a repeat champion since 2001. History is on the Lakers side though as they were the last team to go back-to-back. They'll face stiff competition from Western Conference rival, the San Antonio Spurs. If there's ever a year the Spurs can do it, this has to be it since their roster is aging rapidly.
For quite some time, it's always been about the Western Conference, but the East certainly have some beasts to reckon with. Runner-up Orlando Magic are back to make another run with Vince Carter in town; Boston Celtics, the last team to beat the Lakers in the Finals are reloaded with Rasheed Wallace; and the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for the former Laker, Shaquille O'Neal, to go along with LBJ. It's going to be fun watching these teams beat up on each other.
Other rising teams that will be interesting to watch are the Portland Trailblazers (seems like it's being said every year) with another year of experience and hopefully, a healthy Greg Oden; the Washington Wizards with Agent 0 returning; and the Phoenix Suns returning to their up-tempo-style offense. I don't think any of these teams have what it takes to compete for the championship, but for the sake of entertainment, they'll sure be fun to watch.
On with the fantasy news...
It's too early to be looking at schedules, but that's what I'll do for this week, for beginners. If you're in a weekly league, this is extremely important as you try to maximize the amount of games. Later on in the season, I'll get into more details about the importance of schedules if you're in a daily league. For now, one week won't kill you in fantasy basketball as it can in fantasy football. It's a MUCH longer season, and easier to recover from. The majority of the teams play three games this week, except for the teams below.
2-games
Golden State Warriors
Indian Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Utah Jazz
4-games
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Los Angeles Clippers
Portland Trail Blazers
Week 1 surprise picks:
1) Leandro Barbosa-The Suns will look to open the gate running, and with J-Rich gone for a couple games Barbosa will have plenty of minutes to run.
2) Ryan Anderson-Rashard Lewis is suspended, and it looks like Anderson will get the starting nod over Brandon Bass
3) Channing Frye-Besides from the Suns running out of the gate, they also play relatively weaker teams (Clippers, Warriors & T-Wolves).
(L-R: Leandro Barbosa, Ryan Anderson, Channing Frye)
Last, but not least, good luck to you all!! Thanks for continuing to follow the blog, and be sure to follow throughout the season for frequent updates!
It's game time!
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