Chances are you lost your fantasy basketball league this past season. That’s not an insult – them’s just the breaks (and the odds). There are many possible levels of depression for you to fall into as you look back on your failed campaign, ranging from shoulder-shrugging apathy to something akin to the razor-sharp despair I felt upon hearing that my long-time crush Natalie Portman was knocked up by some French dancer.
If you’re in that “Portman Zone” of sorrow, I have good news for you: you’re already closer to taking a step in the right direction next season. This shows that you actually care and are probably open to learning from your mistakes to get some delicious vengeance in 2011-12.
Here’s a look at five of the more common blunders fantasy basketball owners made, and lessons to take away from each of them.
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Mistake No. 1: You were too late on pickups
Like Craig Sager before the second and fourth quarters of games on TNT, sometimes life just gets in the way. Everyday responsibilities and occurrences prevent you from keeping tabs on every single NBA player making a blip on the fantasy radar. There are just too many things to monitor – too many games, too many injuries and too many battles for minutes. So it’s understandable if you missed out on the likes of Dorell Wright, Kyle Lowry and Wesley Matthews this past season. Just know that there are ways to streamline the process of keeping up on which players you should consider adding each morning. Forget about monitoring the nightly box scores on your own, and look for the digested recaps and waiver-wire recommendations that various websites, blogs and Twitter users offer for free. Also, the site that hosts your fantasy league probably has a research feature that shows you which players are the hot adds (and drops) of the day.
Mistake No. 2: You were too quick/late to drop players
One of the drawbacks of being on top of each night’s box scores is that you become hyper-sensitive to the daily rise and fall of players’ values, especially if there are other owners in your league who somehow manage to make the best pickups in the wee hours of the night when normal people are asleep. If you were diligent with your NBA tracking last season, there’s a good chance you prematurely cut a valuable player loose after he turned in a clunker. This grief is compounded when an opponent (especially one that is vying with you in your league’s standings, or one who you personally know and dislike) reaps the benefits of your hastiness and scoops that player up just in time for his resurgence. On the other hand, if you’re extremely risk averse, you probably held onto struggling players (especially those with recognizable names) a tad too long – maybe until the very end of the season. The two-fold lesson to be learned here is pretty simple: 1) If you’re too quick with your virtual scissors, exercise a bit more patience. Factor in a player’s history of consistency, the fluidity of his team’s rotation, his health status and hold/drop recommendations from fantasy basketball “experts,” among other things, to determine his value beyond that one bad game or injury. Once you’ve acquired a broader perspective on that player, you’re ready to make a wiser decision. Also, putting in the extra few minutes to do this research could give you just enough time to cool off from your initial judgment. 2) If you’re usually too slow to cut ties with one of your struggling players, know where to draw the line. Understand the ramifications of holding dead weight in the name of patience, a seemingly virtuous undertaking that can spell death in daily-update leagues. Monitor each day’s news for quotes from coaches about detrimental plans for how he’ll distribute minutes, for example. As with impatient owners, too-tolerant owners should do all they can to make a better-informed decision by looking at the bigger picture, with the help of accessible updates and tidbits of news.
Mistake No. 3: You failed to update your lineups
This is an absolute killer in daily-update leagues and a potentially big downer in weekly leagues, especially when you’re fighting for a playoff spot. But the words of advice for owners in each type of league are the same: All it takes is one day. If you’re in a daily-update league, just set aside a few minutes once a week to set your lineups for the next seven days. Try to make sure it’s the same day – set a reminder on your phone or computer, or use good old pen and paper if you have to. While an injury in the middle of the week could be a bummer, at the very least you’ll have your starting lineup filled each day. If you’re in a weekly league, take a minute before the season starts to take note of the exact day and time that your league locks its rosters, then make sure you update your lineup before then each week. It’s really that simple. Again, set up a reminder for yourself if you must. If you really can’t do this yourself, get a trusted friend to do it for you. It’s important to note that if you pick a player off your league’s waiver wire, you may be forced to update your roster for subsequent playing periods, even if you set them before the transaction.
Mistake No. 4: You didn’t pay attention to your team’s rankings in each category throughout the season
Drafting the best overall team and maintaining the best overall roster throughout the season isn’t necessarily the best approach to winning your league, especially if it uses head-to-head scoring. If, let’s say, your head-to-head league uses nine categories, that means you have to win only five of those categories each week. So take some time throughout the season to check where your team ranks in each category. If your squad is near the middle of every category in a head-to-head league, chances are you’re in the middle or bottom of your standings. Pick and choose which categories you want to compete in and make the necessary moves to get there. If you’re in a rotisserie league, you want to aim for the best overall team, but achieving that is often a process. Keep track of where your team is thriving and lagging. If, for example, you’ve built up a comfortable cushion in rebounds and blocks but are struggling with assists and steals, it’s a good idea to make trades or waiver-wire moves to retool your roster with players who better fit your needs. For many owners in roto leagues, winning a season may require honing in on different categories at different points of the season. Monitoring where you stand in each column is a key part of successfully maneuvering this path.
Mistake No. 5: You made bad trades
Maybe the biggest ball-buster of all is a terrible trade. If an unforeseen injury sabotaged a deal you made, you can take solace in knowing that there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent it. However, if you just whiffed on a trade and watched as your team slowly drowned into the dark depths of your league’s standings, you’re probably still kicking yourself for doing it. On one level, you should always be aware of the cardinal sins of fantasy basketball trading: giving away a superior player for two inferior ones, taking a big risk on a player with a history riddled with DNPs and not paying attention to each player’s real-life circumstances (announced rotation changes, the nearing return of an injured player who will eat into his minutes, old age requiring rest down the stretch of the season, etc.). On another level, know that there are resources at your disposal, from websites like Basketball Monster (which is equipped with a “Trade Analysis” tool) to fantasy basketball writers who can be reached via comments, e-mails and Twitter for advice. When all else fails, never underestimate the power of your gut. Depending on your familiarity with the game of fantasy basketball, it may or may not be the most trustworthy guide for assessing trades, but it’s one that you should pay attention to, especially when it comes to trades involving an opposing owner that you know. If you’ve been playing fantasy basketball with that owner for a while, you’ll likely have a nose for whether or not they’re knowingly or unknowingly trying to pull a fast one on you.
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
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