Arch Rivals Q&A Full Results

Written by Andrew on 20 October 2010.

BULLETPROOF TIGERS

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

Carlos Boozer - Hoped to get him for $12, he went for $14. A roto league like this is where you can afford to stash a player, unlike a H2H league. Russell Westbrook - See below. Instead I wound up with Devin Harris, Andre Miller & Jeff Teague for a combined $15. Of course I can play D-Wade at PG, too. Gerald Wallace - Undoubtedly the #3-ranked SF after LeBron/Durant, and he cost $35 less. Locking up all those rebounds at SF made it less imperative to get a top center. Al Horford - Expected to get Horford for under $40, but obviously I wasn't the only one. It worked out OK, I got David Lee for $39 and he's better than Horford anyway. Blake Griffin - Double-double machine in the preseason and has the potential to be a top 20 player. That sort of upside is rare at the PF position.

Other than you, who had the best and worst draft?

Best Draft - I think Basketball Jones' patience strategy paid off, and he wound up with the deepest roster by far. Aldridge and West for a combined $41 is great. I was banging my head against the wall for Salmons ($8) and Cousins ($7) when I had no more cash left.

Worst Draft - Tough decision, but I think Osh Kosh Chris Bosh had the worst auction. Chris Bosh is surrounded by more talent in real life than he is on that fantasy team.

You aggressively ranked Russell Westbrook, he was the 10th player nominated and you didn't spend any money yet, why isn't Westbrook on your team?

Everybody knows I love Jet-Zero, but he is not worth $33. It was obvious that MDS nominated Westbrook early specifically because of me. I was prepared for that to happen and I had decided before the auction not to spend more than $30 on him. When BenchSlapped bid $29, it was obvious that either (a) he was fucking with me, or (b) he loves Westbrook even more than I do. Motherfucker got me to bid $32, but I was not going higher than that. With all the money I had left, and better PGs like D-Will, Nash, Kidd at the top of my queue, I felt no urgency to break the bank for Westbrook so early in the auction. If those PGs were already gone, I might have acted more irrationally.

Are you punting Three Pointers? How big of a FAAB bid did you put in for Kyle Korver?

I've always been a big Kyle Korver fan and I loved his work hosting Punk'd on MTV, but I refuse to own any Chicago Bulls. There are always three-point specialists available on the waiver wire; the statistic seems analogous to holds in fantasy baseball. Not something I found necessary to pay for in this auction. Right now I am carrying seven PF/C, which will not be the case most nights during the season.

BENCHSLAPPED !!!

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players? Who were they?

I knew I wanted a top 5 guy to anchor my team....mainly Durant and/or Curry. I have felt all summer that this is Durant's year...and was prepared to go as high as $75 for him. Chimp seemed to want him badly as well but he finally backed off. Who can argue with the upside here. To be the overall number 1 and still have tremendous upside is a valuable asset to me. To get both Curry and Durant I knew would weaken my account but I would have took the chance. Curry is gonna be an absolute beast and if I had missed Durant he would the guy I targeted. After I got hung with Westbrook, Curry was off my list but he is certainly a PG who can do it all. Say hello to the new Wade.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

Two draft strategies come to mind....I like Chimps high priced Nash-Lebron combo giving him a strong core to build off of and Mak's strategy of waiting 40 picks to start bidding allowed him to snipe some very good players at a nice price and build a strong deep team. As for the worst draft I wouldn't tab it as the worst but instead I would say the most risky draft goes to my team.... How could you not say I rolled the dice drafting players like Harrington, Ming and two rookies along with Howard. But to accurately answer your question if I had to pick a worst drafted team then I would say The Ramblin Wreck... injuries are bound to take this team out with players like Mike Miller, Boozer, Roy, Murphy and Brand.

You took on the task for Dwight Howard's Free Throw Percentage. Was he apart of your predraft plans or was $35 to good a price to pass up?

I thought he would go higher. He wasn't my top target but I did aim to bid him up to a higher level than his $33 projection. I feel I stole him at $35. He is certainly worth that even with his less than desirable FT%... With just one swoop I solidified several big man categories. Hopefully, I drafted well enough to stay competitive in the FT% as well. I feel he is the top big man in the game and the price was certainly fair.

You paid $33 for Russell Westbrook, how much would you have paid for RW if Keith put up a little more fight?

Actually, for my purposes Keith backed off a bit too soon. I had hoped to bid him up a bit more and then back off but Keith beat me to it. I would have gone maybe a buck or two more and then backed off to wait for a higher rated PG who could shoot a 3pt shot !

What are you expectations for Westbrook?

Westbrook hurts my TO's and 3pts but maybe with another year under his belt he can curb the TOs a bit. I am looking to him for all the normal cats you expect out of a PG1.... If he could just shot the 3pt shot he would be one of the top PGs in the league. He does everything else well. I handcuffed his 3pt liability by nabbing Billups and Harrington... a higher rated PG and also a C who can shoot 3's as well as most guards if he can just get his foot rested plus stay healthy.

BLAZE

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players? Who were they?

I always have a select few i would love to buy, but i am not one to come into an auction with set values so who knows who i'll end up with. However, this year i was shooting for LBJ, Danilo Gallinari, Deron Williams, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert to name a few. I'm a fan of "stat stuffers" Which are guys that can dominate a category. I'd like to walk away with atleast 1 elite PG and 1 elite center and a couple good bargains in the middle of the draft.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

MDS had a good draft and will most likely take 2nd place.
Basketball Jones has a good team, but he forgot blocks were a category.
Keith punted 3's, FT% and turnovers.
NewBvick has a really intriguing team, but he don't have any 3's and Melo, Wall and Iggy will have him near the bottom in turnovers. He could be a darkhorse team though with some good managing.
Ramblin wreck has alot of solid "roto" players, but he must have been using basketball jones' lindy magazine b/c he didnt draft anybody who can block either.
Yoms (52) had a good draft....wait....nevermind he bailed b/c he is scared to go up against the legendary blaze.
But we'll keep him updated so he can root on his favorite fantasy manager all year long and enjoy the champagne with me when im popping my championship bottles.

Kevin Garnett was the second player nominated and you got him for $5, did that surprise you? $10 for Camby and $12 for Pierce look to be nice grabs too.

When KG was put up for bidding i thought someone would throw down more than i was willing to spend. When the high bid was $4 bucks i thought it was a great buy so i threw down that winning dollar. If KG was put up in the middle i bet he would have went for atleast double that. He was that cheap b/c everyone was thinking they'd have a team of superstars at the end, but they might have given me the bargain i need to be the champion.

Paul Pierce at the time just seemed like a good fit and another guy that "if" you can put with some superstars he can be that guy to push you over the top. I like the good FG/FT% and the obvious pts/3/stl combination. Camby was just right place right time. If he can give me 65 games then he'll be well worth what i paid for him. All 3 of these dudes arent really guys i would target in a snake draft b/c of the price and decline factor. But the crazy thing about auctions is that alot of these older guys come at a big time discount and can really put a good team over the top.

$31 for Joakim Noah, what's going on between the two of you? Are you aware of the league's policy that prohibits manager-player relations?

I love me some Joakim Noah. He was BEASTING before the injury last year. I'm a just sucker for good centers and PG's. I think putting Noah with Camby/Josh Smith is a great threesome to dick the league with. We have a few owners that forgot to draft blocks/rebs/fg%. So with those owners having deficiencies in those categories and me being loaded at those spots makes me happy.

BASKETBALL JONES

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

1A. I am new to auction drafts so I am on a learning curve here. The first draft had 16 players and the second 12 players. Now I have a better feel for how money and players are distributed in those situations. I feel I will be competative in both leagues, but not as solid as I would have been in a snake draft. I should improve based on this years experience, and I should play the FA market fine during the season.

I was looking to draft a balanced team. I didn't want to pay what it would take to draft a Durant or James. I wanted more value throughout the draft. In both drafts I feel I was a little more conservative than I expect to be in the future in my bidding, but I doubt I'll ever get a Durant or James.

I was hoping to get Stephen Curry or Deron Williams, Brook Lopez or Al Horford, Josh Smith and Monta Ellis from the top 30. I had several guys I considered fairly equal in the next flight of players and I figured I could get a few of them by bidding reasonably and see who fell to me. Guys like David West, Joe Johnson, Aaron Brooks fell in that category.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

2A. I don't feel I had the best draft in either leauge, but I feel I can compete for top three in both leagues when all is said and done. In the Arch Rivals league guys who's teams I like from draft day are Makenzies Monsters first, and then there are teams such as Twins (yourself), my team, Miyagi Smalls, and Blaze that are pretty good.

2A. In the two drafts we've done, you seem to sit back and watch the action unfold for awhile before delving into the player pool, is this your style?

3A. It was my style this year, but since it was a new experience I think I was slightly over cautious about chasing some of the top players that didn't go for enormous prices. My goal going in was balance and depth, not a couple super stars. I was not as prepared/organized as I should have been for the roto draft. I should have made up more of a cheat sheet with teirs of guys for specific stats. I've done this for baseball and it's worked well in the past.

Al Horford was the 73rd player nominated, were you targeting him at that point in the draft? We got into a good bidding war, I think the two of us drove Horford's price from $30 up to $47. How did you feel about me playing the role of sheriff there?

I was going to get Al Horford or Noah at that point in the draft. I had the cash, and I had waited to long to bid or nominate a guy to anchor my Center slot. I had no problem with you playing sherriff, as that is part of the strategy of auction drafts. I wish you hadn't done it, but I had no problem with it if you get my drift.

I made one or two bone head picks in each of the drafts due to lack of attention under the time limit situation. Okur and possibly Splitter come to mind in the roto league. Splitter may work out yet, time will tell. I also didn't pay close enough attention until after the draft to note how unimportant the bench guys are in a basketball roto league as compared to baseball or football (in a 12 team league). Next draft I would likely look to end my draft with one dollar bench players in a 12 team league and spend more money up front, especially in a roto league.

RAMBLIN WRECK

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

Dirk for me was a player I've always targeted, and this draft was no exception. I probably paid a few dollars more than I would have liked, but hey, I'll take the almost-guaranteed top-5, if not top-3, production. Al Horford was another guy I was really high on, but at the point that he was taken (73rd pick) I was already well out of money and had no shot. I pushed for Jamal Crawford, but once again my budget got the better of me.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

I look at BLAZE as a guy who had a really good draft. KG, if he's completely healthy, will probably outplay the $5 that he was purchased for, and likely by a pretty decent margin. Pierce for $12 was great value (I definitely should have kept pushing there, I had plenty of money to spare there), a high 3-point total from the center spot in Frye at a decent price, and he snagged a guy I had queued up in Gallinari. Up and down this roster, everything is solid.

In terms of worst, BenchSlapped !!! seems like what I would consider "worst", although we can't really say it was the worst until we see them in action. He spent a lot of money quickly, and while he got some good players out of it (Durant, Howard, Westbrook), he was left with what I consider weaker options. Yao's limited playing time somewhat kills a lot of his value, and Bynum is probably going to miss at least a month… Richard Jefferson for me is nothing but depth (which isn't bad considering the number of injured guys on this fantasy roster - Yao, Bynum, KMart, perhaps Dunleavy), and I don't really know how much time I expect Evan Turner to get.

Yes or No, are you worried about Dirk and Kidd playing less, Boozer's hand, Murphy's back, Scola seeing less usage (Yao, Miller) and Roy, Hedo and Brand coming off down seasons?

I'm not concerned at all about Dirk's playing time. If I was, well heck, I probably still would have shelled out the 75 bucks I did, simply because it's Dirk. As for Kidd, well he's old, sure, and he's only getting 10 PPG these days, but top-5 assists and steals, plus lower turnovers than other PG's is still pretty solid. I'm only moderately concerned about Boozer and Murphy at this point; I did manage to draft some extra guys (Brand/Ibaka, T. Young) to hold me over, but I feel like once they're healthy, Boozer and Murphy will be key contributors, especially Boozer, playing in a great system with guys like Rose and Noah. I don't see Yao affecting Scola as much since Yao won't be playing full-time anyhow. Brad Miller adds to that, sure, but I feel as though Scola would be the better offensive option of the three. Roy's "down year" was largely due to missing 17 games; even then, he was still just 1 PPG less than in 08-09, although his percentages were down a bit. Give him 75+ games and he'll repeat, if not better, his 08-09 performance. Hedo, for me, will excel in Phoenix's more up-tempo style, and playing with Steve Nash will certainly help his cause. The guy won me some leagues in 08 and 09; I think he'll bounce back nicely. As for Elton Brand, sure there's reason to be skeptical here, considering it's Philly, but I'm on the Doug Collins bandwagon; he'll turn him around, and at least bring him closer to the high-teens/low-20's PPG and close to double-digits RPG that he was getting in LA.

MAKENZIES MONSTERS

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

I came into the draft not specifically targeting certain players, but "groups" of players in each category that were among the league leaders in each relevant roto cat. Then, i wanted to get a few players to compliment the "core" components of my team. I thought i pulled this off with the exception of FG %, I got Millsap and Hilario whom both are among the NBA leaders in that cat, but pretty weak FG % shooting for the rest of my squad.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

I thought TWINS had a really nice draft, nabbing the Lopez Twins and Duncan to solidify the big man cats, Rondo to lead the assist and steal area and several good 3 pt shooters. The only "minor" concern for this team would be assists, but i think he'll still come away with 6-8 points in that cat as it is...so, to come away from a competitive "expert" draft with only one minor concern is a job well done.

I did not particularly like the team BenchSlapped assembled. It seemed like he was throwing money around like Dennis Rodman at a strip-club and was broke 10 minutes after the draft started. I think Dwight Howard is an elite player for a head to head league, but his turnovers and free throw % will just kill you in Roto. One major player killing you in 2 stat cats is just too much to overcome in a competitive league. I thought Bench used way too much money landing Durant, Billups , Westbrook and Howard and now he has to gamble on several lower tier players, rookies and oft-injured former superstars.

You paid $26 for Roy Hibbert, what are your expectations for him?

At the time I paid for Roy Hibbert I was really looking for someone I could count on for blocked shots and a little help on the boards. I believed Hibbert would come at a decent price, but several other teams were after him so I just hung in there until I got him. If the bidding would have hit the $30 mark, I would have backed out. I fully expect him to provide at least $20 of the price i paid for him, but I probably did overpay a few bucks on him. However,it was worth it to solidify a shot blocking presence.

You made Tyreke Evans the 14th highest paid player in the draft, weren't you listening when Flava Flav said, "don't believe the hype"?

The young Tyreke deserves the money! Several interesting things were happening with my squad when I broke the bank wide open and splurged for Tyreke. I had been sitting like a snake in the grass for nearly an hour and had alot of cash in the pocket. All the "elite" everyday household name players were gone. As someone who watches alot of basketball, I've seen Tyreke play and I fully believe his upside is off the charts. He is the heart and soul of a crappy NBA team which means he'll put up very good numbers. He put up really good numbers as a rookie and if he hadnt of missed 10 games with injury he would of probably finished near the top 20 in the statistical fantasy based rankings. The other thing that was going on during the Tyreke purchase was that Basketball Jones wanted him. Once the bidding began I was trying to get him at a decent price, but then I fully realized Basketball Jones wanted him pretty badly so I just decided I wasnt going to let him have him, regardless of the cost.

NEWBVICK

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

I planned out a traget roster ahead of time that I felt would be balanced in all stats. I knew it was a best case senario but it was better than no startgey at all. I eneded up with 4 of my 13 targets in Wall, Johnson, Iguodala and Jamison. I had to manuver when Nowitzki and Wallace went much higher than I expected so I decided to pair Amare and Carmelo as the next balanced pairing.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

The best draft would be Basketball Jones. Outside of the $47 Horford I belive he got the most value according to my rankings. I'm jealous of Derek Rose at $25 when I got Wall for the same price. The worst draft would be Blake Panthers. Sure I like Wallace but outside of him I think he has the most overvalued players and I can't find any late picks that scream sleeper.

It appears you have given a lot of responsibility to John Wall, what are you expectations for him?

Wall was one of my greatest value picks of the draft. People question if the 3's will be there but I think he will average atleast 1 a game. Outside of that he will produce in a favorable manner if all other categories.

Blocks, I don't see see many of them. Are you worried? How many offers have you sent out for the Birdman?

This goes back to my perfect plan falling apart after I ran out of money after pickig up 6 players. I view it as a sort of spread out stud/dud stragey where I form a basis of a rounded stud team then fill in the gaps afterwards. As an active wavier wire mananger I'm confident that I will find valuable pick-ups that will complement my studs throughout the season. That being said I'll look to the wavier wire early on to round out my team until some sleepers amerge later in the year.

WHEN CHIMPS ATTACK

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

I wanted roto players that didn't hurt my FG% and FT% too much and with low turnovers, but I also wanted players who produce. I also wanted to load up on PGs and Cs. Nash is perfect for roto...he is efficient and I am not so worried about what he will be doing in April. A couple years ago I traded Nene/Harrington to a center-depraived manager in a roto league for Jamison/Nash. I had Lebron and Durant on that team and won the league nonetheless. Kevin Love is also efficient and fits the profile. I drafted David Lee in the third round of all my drafts last year....I feel Love could be that guy this year. I wanted to draft Gasol, but I felt the price was too steep after getting Lebron. Noah was a big target of mine as he gets boards and is efficient and should be huge with Boozer out. Of course I am a bit concerned of a bit of a dropoff from Noah when Boozer returns. I was not in the running for Noah b/c I had used up all my money on other players. I feel very good about spending $12 on Randolph as he has a lot of upside and that was a good price for him. I didn't plan on ending up with Bogut and Hickson. I was trying to bid up their price. However Bogut was great last year....it all depends on that elbow. I am concerned Hickson could be inconsistant, but lets wait and see what he does with no Lebron around before we say that. I feel I paid the right price for them both and they could end up being steals.

I also blew some of my money on other players I had not planned on getting, but I got very good prices on them. I drafted Marion a few years ago with the first pick in a draft and he was better in roto then Lebron that year b/c of his efficiency. $2 Marion is a steal in roto. I've never owned Baron Davis in any league before b/c I fear his injury history, but you can't argue with $6 on him. If he gets me points, assists, threes, and steals for two months that is worth it. Same story with Kirilenko, but I have owned him in past leagues. I hear he is a starter now....great value on him. Someone had to try to bid these guys up. Of course I was hoping to get young guys about to breakout, but I was not going to pay $27 for Jrue Holiday. He will probably end up being worth it, but I'd rather pay less than half of that for guys who will outproduce for what I paid for them. Parker and Stuckey are not flashy, but they get the job done as PGs and get assists. Stuckey gets steals too. Childress and Gordon are good upside guys for a cheap price.

Other players I was targeting were Marc Gasol, Bargnani, Blatche, Griffin, and Milsap. The theme of the draft was that people were paying a lot more for players that were hyped up and I felt like they were avoiding guys like Baron, Marion, and Kirilenko who I was happy to take at their price.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

I think Moe had the best draft with 3 very solid centers, Beasley, Landry, Jrue, Granger, and Curry. Granger is a wildcard though. I think Blaze, Blake Panthers, and MDS had good drafts too.

The worst team drafted: Benchslapped. Yes he has Durant, but he has Howard who kills FT% and Westbrooke who kills FG% and he does not appear to have a whole lot else. Will those two players cancel each other's bad parts out? I guess that really depends on the rest of his team. I am not very high on Harrington in this format with his current health and I am not high on Martin. I am not a big J-Rich fan. Billups has been great for roto in the past, but he is wearing down. Ming and Bynum are pretty risky. RJ could be a nice sleeper.

After Kevin Durant went for $72, you paid $78 for Lebron. Open up and tell us what happened. Were you jealous of not having Durant or do you really think LBJ is that good?

Durant is projected to produce more than Lebron this year, yes, but do we really know that for sure? Lots of things can happen....Wade or Bosh could get hurt at any time and then Lebron will have to produce more. Durant is probably going to score more points than Lebron, but Lebron is money for everything else including assists. Assists are harder to come by than points. Aside from assists they both fill the stat sheet. I figured pay for Lebron and everything else will fall into place somehow. We have an 82 game limit per roster position so why not get the best player in the game to maximize what I can get out of those 82 games. Finally, Lebron is built like a shit brickhouse...he is certainly more durable than Durant.

MIYAGI SMALLS

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

I knew that I wanted to start off with one of the top 3 fantasy players- Lebron, Durant, or Paul. I had them all pegged as $70+ players.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

Moe's team seems like it's the most balanced. Charles's team is starting off with his bench players being injured, so, he has no margin to work with when his starters become injured. I see a lot of imbalanced teams right now.

You officially had the most $1 buys, did you come to the draft with a "Stars and Scrubs" mentality and how do you feel about your $1 buys after all is said and done?

I've done three other basketball auctions leagues. The first five tiers of point guards were all going for $30+. Seeing Brandon Jennings, Mo Williams, and Devin Harris all go in this league for $11 or less was very surprising. In the other leagues even someone like Raymond Felton was going for $29. Had I known that would be deals like this, I would have gladly payed $50 for Brook Lopez, and, $40+ for Brandon Roy, and gotten myself some more quality scoring. In those other leagues, Reggi Williams was not a dollar buy, he was into double digits, George Hill was over $10 dollars, and Jason Terry cost more than Jamal Crawford. I think I have some good deals on my team, had I known there would be so many good dollar deals, I would have payed more for other top tier players. Josh Childress was a dollar and no one sniped that nomination? Criminal. Oh man, I'm looking at the draft results right now, D. J Augustine, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, Terrence Williams, Tyrus Thomas, all those guys went for way more in other leagues.

Was it by design or simply destiny to reunite CP3 and Collison?

I wanted to back up a stud with an equally good player in the same position, potentially giving me some trade value down the road after I dominate some of those scoring categories. I've seen Collison go for more than that, so, getting him at $30 surprised me.

THE TALENTED DR ROTO

Did you come into the draft targeting any specific players?

Stephen Curry - I wanted to get a number one pick out of the draft and Stephen Curry I felt would be the best point guard I could get for the money - amazing first year so the sky is the limit. Wanted to draft big men that give me blocks - rebounds were not enough. Emeka Okafor - hey for 7 bucks I will take 10 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game or more. Been drafting Walls but I felt Jrue Holiday in roto - he would put up better across the board numbers. Linas Kleiza will be a great source of 3 point mades and should score this year - nice value for 1 dollar. Al Jefferson - all roads lead to Al Jefferson - not really but he told me he did not want to play for WHEN CHIMPS ATTACK. Mike Conley - the last of the point guards drafted - right Blaze. Andray Blatche - thought he would be a good roto player to draft - gamble but drafts are won on gambles. Joakim Noah - Blaze had the money and been jealous that I been drafting him in every draft. Too much Too little Too Late for Blaze.

Other than you, who had the best and worst drafts?

Makenzies Monsters - he waited a while in the draft but put together a good roto team

NewBVick - the worst that could happen - had 7 one dollar players that stink - did not budget his money

Were you surprised to land Danny Granger for only $32?

I was not interested in him at all - way too many injuries but the come on down the Price is Right.

How many votes do you think you received for the best draft award?

None - reason be is simple - everyone has different value on talent so I am sure they had no interest in my talent. Too many injuries concerns for me to vote for myself.

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