by ja on 11/20/2012 6:19:59 PM
Let's talk about the strategic benching. The purpose behind strategic benching is to gain an advantage against an opponent by benching a player (or more than one) in order to win a particular stat. It sounds counter intuitive, but it's an important thing to pay attention to and it can help you squeeze out a few extra wins over the course of season if you stay on top of it. Here's how it works.
Let's say you have a guy on your team who is a great shot blocker, but a terrible free throw shooter. Examples of these types of guys are Dwight Howard and Deandre Jordan. If you are dominating your opponent in the block category then you've met one of the criteria needed to consider strategic benching. You also need to be solidly ahead in the other categories that these players are strong in or at least have reason to believe that your other players (the ones you won't bench) will win those other categories for you. Now you have two of the criteria. The last criteria is that of you being competitive in at least one stat in which the player will hurt you if they play. If so, then since their likely positive contributions don't really matter you should consider benching them and removing their negative values.
So, let's say you're ahead by 10 blocks going into the last night and your opponent is playing only guards or centers like Ryan Anderson. Basically, you've got blocks in the bag, right?! Well, now it's time to look at the other categories and see which ones you might be able to steal away. Maybe your opponent is just barely beating you in FT percentage... well if your guys that get you only blocks shoot FTs badly, then you should bench your blocker. If your opponent has a bad night of shooting free throws then their percentages may be brought down enough for you to take the lead. If you leave your own poor shooter in and he shoots a bunch of bricks from the line then even if your opponent shoots poorly you will gain nothing from the bad luck.
Strategic benching generally only works in percentage categories and "negative" categories. In fantasy basketball, the percentage categories are FG%, FT%, and rarely 3P%. Negative categories in fantasy basketball are TO (turnovers) and the rarely used PF (personal fouls).
Monday through Friday you should basically always play your best lineup, but come Saturday and Sunday you may find some opportunities for strategery. Just be careful about trying to get too cute. When in doubt, play you best lineup. When pretty darn sure, run the numbers again, and if you're still pretty darn sure then go for it. When it's an obvious situation where every stat has been decided and playing a player can only LOSE you a stat, then by all means, make sure you bench the player.
by jarepo on 11/8/2012 8:37:41 AM
Here are the best (and worst) fantasy basketball performances for
11-07-2012. We set the bar pretty high, and for that reason most of the players that show up here are already well known. You can use this to marvel at their greatness! However, any player who is mentioned in a positive way here should gain instant credibility from a fantasy perspective if they are not already on your radar. You don't necessarily need to jump on them and pick them up right way, but they probably should make it to your short list especially if you see them more than a time or two.
| Players who got a Triple-Double |
| Greg Monroe | Points(21) Rebounds(12) Assists(11) |
| Scoring: (30 pts or better) |
| None |
| Crossing the Line (The Curry line: TO > [AST+STL+BLK]) |
| Kevin Seraphin | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (3) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (6) |
| Jamal Crawford | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Zaza Pachulia | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Zach Randolph | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Nikola Pekovic | Ratio (0.6000) Assists (0) Steals (1) Blocks (2) Turnovers (5) |
| Deron Williams | Ratio (0.5714) Assists (3) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (7) |
| Klay Thompson | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (4) |
| Kosta Koufos | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Kyle Korver | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Thaddeus Young | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Lavoy Allen | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (2) |
| Brandon Bass | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Andray Blatche | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Carl Landry | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (2) |
| Tristan Thompson | Ratio (0.3333) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| JaVale McGee | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Omer Asik | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Arron Afflalo | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
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by jarepo on 11/3/2012 12:29:33 AM
Here are the best (and worst) fantasy basketball performances for
11-02-2012. We set the bar pretty high, and for that reason most of the players that show up here are already well known. You can use this to marvel at their greatness! However, any player who is mentioned in a positive way here should gain instant credibility from a fantasy perspective if they are not already on your radar. You don't necessarily need to jump on them and pick them up right way, but they probably should make it to your short list especially if you see them more than a time or two.
| Players who got a Triple-Double |
| None |
| Crossing the Line (The Curry line: TO > [AST+STL+BLK]) |
| Joakim Noah | Ratio (0.7500) Assists (1) Steals (2) Blocks (0) Turnovers (4) |
| Carl Landry | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Courtney Lee | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Beno Udrih | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (2) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Jason Terry | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (2) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Steve Blake | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (2) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Alonzo Gee | Ratio (0.6667) Assists (1) Steals (1) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Kobe Bryant | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (2) Blocks (0) Turnovers (6) |
| Paul Pierce | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (2) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (4) |
| J.J. Hickson | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Chase Budinger | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (2) |
| Rudy Gay | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (2) |
| Harrison Barnes | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Norris Cole | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| George Hill | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (1) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Gerald Green | Ratio (0.5000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (1) Turnovers (2) |
| James Harden | Ratio (0.4000) Assists (2) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (5) |
| Zach Randolph | Ratio (0.4000) Assists (0) Steals (1) Blocks (1) Turnovers (5) |
| David Lee | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (4) |
| Michael Beasley | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (3) |
| Tyson Chandler | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (2) |
| Greg Monroe | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (1) |
| Kyle Singler | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (1) |
| Wesley Matthews | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (1) |
| Dante Cunningham | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (1) |
| DeMarcus Cousins | Ratio (0.0000) Assists (0) Steals (0) Blocks (0) Turnovers (1) |
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