Week 0: Pre-Draft Version
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy(d)s and Girls,
Welcome to the 2009-2010 Season of ItsTheLeague.com Fantasy Basketball. We enter our 7th season here with some old faces, some familiar faces, and no totally new faces. That is, everyone's been here before, and I'm pretty excited about our 12 team prospects this season. Now that we've got the draft order squared away, I feel that I can accurately make my Pre-Draft rankings in the inaugural edition of the Reyes Review Power Rankings.
1. The MonStars - Everyone's favorite team to hate, The MonStars are coming off their 2nd ITL Championship, and, to add insult to injury, will follow that up with the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. Hard to not call Michael "the favorite" again, despite everyone wishing that wasn't the case.
2. Lightning Jeffs - Jeff will appreciate this: the Lightning Jeffs have unquestionably been the league's most dominating team in the last 3 seasons. Hard to argue with two championships and a 2nd place finish. That is, the Jeffs have seen the Finals every year he's been a part of the league. If not for the upset by his younger brother last season, Jeff would be the team to beat this year as well. At #9 in the draft, he'll have several options, but somehow, history should tell us he'll pull something out of his hat.
3. Bangladesh Thunder - Always a perennial contender in ITL, Daniel had a disappointing showing in last season's playoffs after a first-round exit at the hands of Kevdog's Ballers. That said, Daniel's constantly a threat, and his appearance of renewed vigor despite a recent wedding (Congrats, btw) shows me that Daniel means business this year. With the #3 pick overall, you have to like the Thunder's prospects.
4. Kevdog's Ballers - The Ballers are coming off a disappointing finish last season, despite the 3rd place result. They had the chance to unseat the defending champion Lightning Jeffs in the Semi-finals but had a miserable week and fell despite a huge game-advantage. However, always a contender, the Ballers will look to bounce back from that frustration and will begin to do so with both the 11th and 14th overall picks in this week's draft.
5. Loud Lezbos - Part of me wants to keep Jayson here because of his past performances, including a 4th place finish last season. However, part of me is weary because I don't think Jayson has ever actually drafted his own team (that would be done by me, in the past). The Lezbos' owner will be here this time around, so we'll see if his past performances have just been a fluke or if Jayson will continue to be a league threat.
6. Kidd-Knappers - Trent was clearly the league's most improved owner last year. In the past, his name was virtually synonymous with "Rojas," which may as well be a substitute for "consistently in last place." But, Knappy surprised us all with a playoff berth, albeit a short one, and his confidence has to be as high as its ever been. At least pre-draft, and holding the #4 pick, you've got to like his chances.
7. Rattlesnakes - I haven't seen Cody much in the last few years, but his fantasy team always scares me. The Snakes really had their first "down year" last season, failing to make the playoffs for only the second time in our 6 seasons. For whatever reason, Cody always drafts big men, and I don't expect that strategy to change. At the #6 pick, Cody will have mid-round selections, which I think is one of the best places to be.
8. Free Ballers - Matt has the knowledge, but for whatever reason, that has not translated into fantasy success. Matt has made the playoffs just once in his 3 year ITL stint, and finished 7th in last year's standings. He's into it, that's for sure. Just take one watch of ItsTheNews and you'll figure that out. With this year's #7 pick, another favorable position, we'll see if Matt can turn things around.
9. The War Monkeys - Paul doesn't know a ton, but he'll seek my advice (extra points for that) consistently, and he'll be very involved, even if he fails to make message board points often. He'll root hard for his players--he doesn't know any better. But here's the question, now that he's out of Boston, will he still root for Kevin Garnett and the Celts, or will his NY connection make him a Knicks fan? We'll see. Paul's only ITL performance resulted in a playoff appearance, so you never know what happens in this game. Picking at #8 isn't terrible, either.
10. Zen-Masturbaters - Mr. Bridges knows a ton, but I think sometimes he gets too confident for his own good. In three seasons, Trent has failed to make the playoffs, but, like his ItsTheNews co-anchor, he certainly puts forth the effort. But, is effort good enough when he often "takes fliers" and risks on his selections. Sometimes risks pan out, but so far in ITL history, they haven't been too friendly to Trent. With the #2 pick and a guaranteed LeBron or CP3, maybe this is Trent's year.
11. Globetrotters - This may be the most shocking selection. You may be thinking, what? Steven's not in last? Well, I'm giving Rojas the benefit of the doubt here for the same reason I liked his chances last year. Steven's constantly on planes and he uses that time to do his research. I loved his first two picks last season in Steve Nash and Baron Davis -- unfortunately, both had totally unpredictable terrible seasons and Steven was out of it from there. If he continues that solid research, though, I think Steven can break his last place trend. Ironic that he gets the last pick again, but frankly, I like the slot, as picks at 12 and 13 could be two scary selections.
12. StraightouttaMenifee - After a brief hiatus, we welcome back Mr. Duarte with open arms. While unfortunately he can't make the Vegas draft, Duarte has been as enthusiastic as anyone about re-joining this league, and this last place ranking may not be justified. However, it's more the unknown here -- Duarte's been a busy guy for the last couple of years, and frankly, I don't know what the extent of his NBA knowledge is nor do I know much of his recent past fantasy performance. I'm sure his draft will prove me wrong, but until then, someone's gotta be in last.
That's all folks, hope you enjoyed, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at the draft!
Welcome to the 2009-2010 Season of ItsTheLeague.com Fantasy Basketball. We enter our 7th season here with some old faces, some familiar faces, and no totally new faces. That is, everyone's been here before, and I'm pretty excited about our 12 team prospects this season. Now that we've got the draft order squared away, I feel that I can accurately make my Pre-Draft rankings in the inaugural edition of the Reyes Review Power Rankings.
1. The MonStars - Everyone's favorite team to hate, The MonStars are coming off their 2nd ITL Championship, and, to add insult to injury, will follow that up with the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. Hard to not call Michael "the favorite" again, despite everyone wishing that wasn't the case.
2. Lightning Jeffs - Jeff will appreciate this: the Lightning Jeffs have unquestionably been the league's most dominating team in the last 3 seasons. Hard to argue with two championships and a 2nd place finish. That is, the Jeffs have seen the Finals every year he's been a part of the league. If not for the upset by his younger brother last season, Jeff would be the team to beat this year as well. At #9 in the draft, he'll have several options, but somehow, history should tell us he'll pull something out of his hat.
3. Bangladesh Thunder - Always a perennial contender in ITL, Daniel had a disappointing showing in last season's playoffs after a first-round exit at the hands of Kevdog's Ballers. That said, Daniel's constantly a threat, and his appearance of renewed vigor despite a recent wedding (Congrats, btw) shows me that Daniel means business this year. With the #3 pick overall, you have to like the Thunder's prospects.
4. Kevdog's Ballers - The Ballers are coming off a disappointing finish last season, despite the 3rd place result. They had the chance to unseat the defending champion Lightning Jeffs in the Semi-finals but had a miserable week and fell despite a huge game-advantage. However, always a contender, the Ballers will look to bounce back from that frustration and will begin to do so with both the 11th and 14th overall picks in this week's draft.
5. Loud Lezbos - Part of me wants to keep Jayson here because of his past performances, including a 4th place finish last season. However, part of me is weary because I don't think Jayson has ever actually drafted his own team (that would be done by me, in the past). The Lezbos' owner will be here this time around, so we'll see if his past performances have just been a fluke or if Jayson will continue to be a league threat.
6. Kidd-Knappers - Trent was clearly the league's most improved owner last year. In the past, his name was virtually synonymous with "Rojas," which may as well be a substitute for "consistently in last place." But, Knappy surprised us all with a playoff berth, albeit a short one, and his confidence has to be as high as its ever been. At least pre-draft, and holding the #4 pick, you've got to like his chances.
7. Rattlesnakes - I haven't seen Cody much in the last few years, but his fantasy team always scares me. The Snakes really had their first "down year" last season, failing to make the playoffs for only the second time in our 6 seasons. For whatever reason, Cody always drafts big men, and I don't expect that strategy to change. At the #6 pick, Cody will have mid-round selections, which I think is one of the best places to be.
8. Free Ballers - Matt has the knowledge, but for whatever reason, that has not translated into fantasy success. Matt has made the playoffs just once in his 3 year ITL stint, and finished 7th in last year's standings. He's into it, that's for sure. Just take one watch of ItsTheNews and you'll figure that out. With this year's #7 pick, another favorable position, we'll see if Matt can turn things around.
9. The War Monkeys - Paul doesn't know a ton, but he'll seek my advice (extra points for that) consistently, and he'll be very involved, even if he fails to make message board points often. He'll root hard for his players--he doesn't know any better. But here's the question, now that he's out of Boston, will he still root for Kevin Garnett and the Celts, or will his NY connection make him a Knicks fan? We'll see. Paul's only ITL performance resulted in a playoff appearance, so you never know what happens in this game. Picking at #8 isn't terrible, either.
10. Zen-Masturbaters - Mr. Bridges knows a ton, but I think sometimes he gets too confident for his own good. In three seasons, Trent has failed to make the playoffs, but, like his ItsTheNews co-anchor, he certainly puts forth the effort. But, is effort good enough when he often "takes fliers" and risks on his selections. Sometimes risks pan out, but so far in ITL history, they haven't been too friendly to Trent. With the #2 pick and a guaranteed LeBron or CP3, maybe this is Trent's year.
11. Globetrotters - This may be the most shocking selection. You may be thinking, what? Steven's not in last? Well, I'm giving Rojas the benefit of the doubt here for the same reason I liked his chances last year. Steven's constantly on planes and he uses that time to do his research. I loved his first two picks last season in Steve Nash and Baron Davis -- unfortunately, both had totally unpredictable terrible seasons and Steven was out of it from there. If he continues that solid research, though, I think Steven can break his last place trend. Ironic that he gets the last pick again, but frankly, I like the slot, as picks at 12 and 13 could be two scary selections.
12. StraightouttaMenifee - After a brief hiatus, we welcome back Mr. Duarte with open arms. While unfortunately he can't make the Vegas draft, Duarte has been as enthusiastic as anyone about re-joining this league, and this last place ranking may not be justified. However, it's more the unknown here -- Duarte's been a busy guy for the last couple of years, and frankly, I don't know what the extent of his NBA knowledge is nor do I know much of his recent past fantasy performance. I'm sure his draft will prove me wrong, but until then, someone's gotta be in last.
That's all folks, hope you enjoyed, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at the draft!
Labels: nba, power rankings
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