Spmusic Mondays: Bubble Bursted
(1 Cent): Not Too Shabby ...
As some prognosticators have said (ha ... I can use that stupid word too, foo) the Los Angeles Lakers are supposed to miss the playoffs in the deep West. Well, how's a 3-0 first week of action feel, hmm?
Yes, they did lose yesterday to the Sonics in Seattle, but a 3-1 start isn't bad ... especially since they beat the heavily favored Suns on opening night and won in Oakland against the Warriors. Kobe just missed two games and will be (hopefully) back to normal in 3 weeks or so -- he missed all of training camp and preseason with his surgically repaired knee. He looked a tad rusty in the first game I saw him in (Friday night against the Sonics in LA), but still gave us 23 points and 6 assists (or around that).
It's too early to make valid assessments, but from the first games I saw on TV, the Lakers have a pretty decent team and I feel can get to the playoffs and even advance past the first round. Lamar Odom has started off like the player everyone has expected him to be for so long ... a walking trip-dub (my cool way of saying 'triple-double'). Luke Walton has emerged as a solid player; being able to score more efficiently and is more aggressive ... he's always been able to pass. Andrew Bynum has suddenly transformed into a legit center. Vlad Rad and Evans off the bench -- our two key offseason acquisitions -- have been nothing short of a spark of offense. Second year player Ronnie Turiaf is our emotional player (think of a poor man's Dennis Rodman ... but sane). Even our rookie, Jordan Farmar, has showed he belongs not only on this team, but in the league. Bill Simmons predicted that Farmar will take starting PG Smush Parker's spot in a couple of months ... to me, that depends on the Zen Master's philosophy of playing rooks, but dude can ball. I'm already a big fan.
If the Lakers can build on this early success and keep getting better, developing chemistry together, I like their chances. Especially when Kobe can be Kobe. Plus, we don't even have our 1st and 2nd string centers back from injury yet (Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm).
Overall, I think the Lakers have a shot at taking their division, even though it will be a four team race (with the Clips, Suns, and Kings). The NBA ... it's faaaaaaaantastic!
(2 Cent): Where's The Music?
Another week passed by without anybody worthy of being purchased with my cash. I think Akon's album should be dropping within the next couple of weeks ... but I haven't heard of anyone that I like coming out with a CD anytime soon.
So, instead of just waiting for another CD, maybe I can add to Mondays with movies too. So, think of the "Spmusic" as this: "Sp" is sports, "m" is for movies, and "usic" is ... well, you know where I'm going with this.
With that said, I did see a movie over the weekend. A female friend of mine asked me to go see Marie Antoinette, featuring Kirsten Dunst and a bunch of other actors I've never seen before (except for the king of France ... he's the same dude that played Patches O'Houlihan in the movie Dodgeball).
Now, I have to say that I didn't even know this movie was out there ... so I went in to it with really low expectations (especially since I didn't even know Kirsten was in it). The storyline wasn't too shabby, although parts of the movie were really slow (although I know why it was necessary). Miss Dunst as Marie did a good job, methinks. What stood out to me was the choice of music and dialogue.
The music that played at times (which I'm sure is part of the soundtrack) was more modern -- as in the 80's song "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow and some other rock songs that I don't know the title of. Also, the characters talked in the manner of how we would converse today, which I found to be somewhat refreshing (because I always wondered if they always talked proper back in the more refined era and this portrayal made those times seem more tangible).
With that said, there was nothing spectacular about it ... nor was there anything horrendous about it. It was okay. To me, that's the perfect definition of a 5 out of 10. Basically, I wouldn't recommend seeing it, but if you were going to have to watch it, the movie would at least keep your interest.
(1/2 Cent): CBS Stands For 'Crappy Bull Sh...'
I had been looking forward to last Monday's NBA fantasy draft ever since my baseball fantasy team lost. It had been about 5 weeks of preparation: reading scouting reports, analyzing players' performances in training camp and preseason, digesting columnists opinions about players, reading everything ESPN.com, NBA.com, and CBS Sportsline had to offer, evaluated last year's stats for players, revised last year's draft sheet, kept up with the latest transactions (trades, free agency, NBA draft/rookies) ... and for what? To make our (mine and J.H.'s) draft the best ever.
What was the result? CBS Sportsline -- the website we had done our fantasy teams with for a couple of years now -- crapped out on us for the second time in three years. This time, everything loaded WAY too slow, or didn't even load at all. The draft clock kept running when it wanted to (we only get 1 minutes and 30 seconds per pick) while we weren't even allowed to pick our player! It set everyone to auto draft and no matter what we did, it picked for us. This was not only me, but everyone else in the room ... basically, the whole league got screwed royally. Thanks, CBS!
Everyone complained during and even afterward. We all wrote a memo to CBS, asking them to rectify this situation (which would be next to impossible because our draft was the night before the NBA season started). We still haven't heard back yet. I hate CBS.
So, our team was picked for us ... and what a piece of work it is! Luckily, through free agency, I was able to get a couple of sleeper picks that we wanted, but in a nut shell, this whole situation blows. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, my friend J.D. signed up for a team in our league. Luckily for him, he arranged his draft picks in the order he wanted ... which I told him to do just in case something happened. He arranged up to #150. I did it up to pick #10. I didn't foresee this at all ... we've always been able to pick our own guys. This blows.
**Side note: The first time we were screwed over by CBS was 3 years ago (2?) when our draft day was postponed 3 times ... the draft room kept on freezing and no one could do anything, the clock wouldn't start, etc. CBS said their server was overloaded and gave us a free league to make up for it, although the team was already picked for us. At least we had two chances, or two leagues, that we could win at. This year, we haven't even heard back yet. I hate CBS.
So, the ensuing aftermath and our free agency (and an early trade with J.D.) led us to this team:
C - Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns (auto drafted)**+
C - Francisco Elson, San Antonio Spurs (free agency)#
F - Zach Randolph, Portland Trailblazers (auto drafted)
F - Richard Jefferson, New Jersey Nets (via trade with J.D. for Zydrunas Illgauskas)
F - Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls (auto drafted)
F - Quentin Richardson, New York Knicks (free agency)
F - Chris Wilcox, Seattle Supersonics (free agency)
G - Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat (auto draft? ... we think we picked, but not sure)
G - Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets (auto draft)
G - Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings (free agency)
G - Mo Williams, Milwaukee Bucks (free agency)
G - Bonzi Wells, Houston Rockets (auto draft)**+
G - Anthony Parker, Toronto Raptors (free agency)**
** = Bench
+ = Trying to come back from injury, not getting playing time yet
# = dropped for C - Mark Blount, Minnesota Timberwolves
As you can see, free agency makes up six of our players ... not cool. On paper, we look okay. Who were the guys I dropped because they were auto drafted? They were: Morris Peterson (TOR), Hedo Turkoglu (ORL), Sam Cassell (LAC) ... in my defense, the CBS report said he was injured in his knee and back and was coming off the bench ... so I dropped him ... and of course, he's healthy and is starting ... I hate CBS ..., Jerry Stackhouse (DAL), Joe Smith (DEN), and Kurt Thomas (PHO).
Of course, we lost the first game (which lasts a week, starting Monday and ending Sunday) because ... well, we started the fools I just mentioned. Methinks we'll do much better this week. And we better ... we're playing J.D. (who lost as well). We're in the same division, which makes things more interesting.
Overall, I'm more than disappointed about how things played out, but as I've said before to J.H., there's still money to be had and pride to be earned ... I'll play with WNBA players ... let's do this! We'll still bring home the championship! Let's ball!
Week 1: L - 242.00 to 278.50 ... W-L Record: 0-1
**Side note: In case anyone cares, a quick run down of the scoring. All points, rebounds, steals, blocks count for 1 points; assists count for 2 points. All turnovers count as -1 point. Each player has a daily total and then averaged out by how many games they played during the week, or game.
For example, if Dwayne Wade scores 30 points, has 5 rebounds and 5 assists in one real NBA game, then his fantasy point total for the game is 45. If Wade scores 20 points, has 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers, his fantasy point total for that game is 30. Then, for the game (the week), you'd average out both games which would be 37.5 fantasy points. You add up the score of your starters (which is 10 players, having at least 1 center start and no more than 2 ... having at least 4 guards and fowards, and no more than 5) and you get your team total. That's how come I have 242.00 points after game one. Basically, my players averaged out to 24.2 fantasy points each. My opinion is that an average fantasy player can give you 25 fantasy points for a week. By my stat, my whole team averaged below an average fantasy player.
In my experience, in fantasy basketball, you'll need to score an average of about 330 fantasy points as a team to win consistently. This team has a ways to go. Hopefully my free agent pick ups and the one week of getting the rust out of their games allows for more scoring this week. Plus, it's against J.D. ... we don't play each other again until January 22nd ... so I need a win to hold over his head until then.
And in case you haven't figured it out ... CBS sucks. Stay far away from anything they (try to) do. Next year we're doing the ESPN fantasy games ... I don't know why we haven't figured this out sooner.
Make sure you write in all your thoughts to HCP2007@gmail.com or click on the Comments link below. See ya on Pet Peeve Thursday!
HCP
As some prognosticators have said (ha ... I can use that stupid word too, foo) the Los Angeles Lakers are supposed to miss the playoffs in the deep West. Well, how's a 3-0 first week of action feel, hmm?
Yes, they did lose yesterday to the Sonics in Seattle, but a 3-1 start isn't bad ... especially since they beat the heavily favored Suns on opening night and won in Oakland against the Warriors. Kobe just missed two games and will be (hopefully) back to normal in 3 weeks or so -- he missed all of training camp and preseason with his surgically repaired knee. He looked a tad rusty in the first game I saw him in (Friday night against the Sonics in LA), but still gave us 23 points and 6 assists (or around that).
It's too early to make valid assessments, but from the first games I saw on TV, the Lakers have a pretty decent team and I feel can get to the playoffs and even advance past the first round. Lamar Odom has started off like the player everyone has expected him to be for so long ... a walking trip-dub (my cool way of saying 'triple-double'). Luke Walton has emerged as a solid player; being able to score more efficiently and is more aggressive ... he's always been able to pass. Andrew Bynum has suddenly transformed into a legit center. Vlad Rad and Evans off the bench -- our two key offseason acquisitions -- have been nothing short of a spark of offense. Second year player Ronnie Turiaf is our emotional player (think of a poor man's Dennis Rodman ... but sane). Even our rookie, Jordan Farmar, has showed he belongs not only on this team, but in the league. Bill Simmons predicted that Farmar will take starting PG Smush Parker's spot in a couple of months ... to me, that depends on the Zen Master's philosophy of playing rooks, but dude can ball. I'm already a big fan.
If the Lakers can build on this early success and keep getting better, developing chemistry together, I like their chances. Especially when Kobe can be Kobe. Plus, we don't even have our 1st and 2nd string centers back from injury yet (Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm).
Overall, I think the Lakers have a shot at taking their division, even though it will be a four team race (with the Clips, Suns, and Kings). The NBA ... it's faaaaaaaantastic!
(2 Cent): Where's The Music?
Another week passed by without anybody worthy of being purchased with my cash. I think Akon's album should be dropping within the next couple of weeks ... but I haven't heard of anyone that I like coming out with a CD anytime soon.
So, instead of just waiting for another CD, maybe I can add to Mondays with movies too. So, think of the "Spmusic" as this: "Sp" is sports, "m" is for movies, and "usic" is ... well, you know where I'm going with this.
With that said, I did see a movie over the weekend. A female friend of mine asked me to go see Marie Antoinette, featuring Kirsten Dunst and a bunch of other actors I've never seen before (except for the king of France ... he's the same dude that played Patches O'Houlihan in the movie Dodgeball).
Now, I have to say that I didn't even know this movie was out there ... so I went in to it with really low expectations (especially since I didn't even know Kirsten was in it). The storyline wasn't too shabby, although parts of the movie were really slow (although I know why it was necessary). Miss Dunst as Marie did a good job, methinks. What stood out to me was the choice of music and dialogue.
The music that played at times (which I'm sure is part of the soundtrack) was more modern -- as in the 80's song "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow and some other rock songs that I don't know the title of. Also, the characters talked in the manner of how we would converse today, which I found to be somewhat refreshing (because I always wondered if they always talked proper back in the more refined era and this portrayal made those times seem more tangible).
With that said, there was nothing spectacular about it ... nor was there anything horrendous about it. It was okay. To me, that's the perfect definition of a 5 out of 10. Basically, I wouldn't recommend seeing it, but if you were going to have to watch it, the movie would at least keep your interest.
(1/2 Cent): CBS Stands For 'Crappy Bull Sh...'
I had been looking forward to last Monday's NBA fantasy draft ever since my baseball fantasy team lost. It had been about 5 weeks of preparation: reading scouting reports, analyzing players' performances in training camp and preseason, digesting columnists opinions about players, reading everything ESPN.com, NBA.com, and CBS Sportsline had to offer, evaluated last year's stats for players, revised last year's draft sheet, kept up with the latest transactions (trades, free agency, NBA draft/rookies) ... and for what? To make our (mine and J.H.'s) draft the best ever.
What was the result? CBS Sportsline -- the website we had done our fantasy teams with for a couple of years now -- crapped out on us for the second time in three years. This time, everything loaded WAY too slow, or didn't even load at all. The draft clock kept running when it wanted to (we only get 1 minutes and 30 seconds per pick) while we weren't even allowed to pick our player! It set everyone to auto draft and no matter what we did, it picked for us. This was not only me, but everyone else in the room ... basically, the whole league got screwed royally. Thanks, CBS!
Everyone complained during and even afterward. We all wrote a memo to CBS, asking them to rectify this situation (which would be next to impossible because our draft was the night before the NBA season started). We still haven't heard back yet. I hate CBS.
So, our team was picked for us ... and what a piece of work it is! Luckily, through free agency, I was able to get a couple of sleeper picks that we wanted, but in a nut shell, this whole situation blows. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, my friend J.D. signed up for a team in our league. Luckily for him, he arranged his draft picks in the order he wanted ... which I told him to do just in case something happened. He arranged up to #150. I did it up to pick #10. I didn't foresee this at all ... we've always been able to pick our own guys. This blows.
**Side note: The first time we were screwed over by CBS was 3 years ago (2?) when our draft day was postponed 3 times ... the draft room kept on freezing and no one could do anything, the clock wouldn't start, etc. CBS said their server was overloaded and gave us a free league to make up for it, although the team was already picked for us. At least we had two chances, or two leagues, that we could win at. This year, we haven't even heard back yet. I hate CBS.
So, the ensuing aftermath and our free agency (and an early trade with J.D.) led us to this team:
C - Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns (auto drafted)**+
C - Francisco Elson, San Antonio Spurs (free agency)#
F - Zach Randolph, Portland Trailblazers (auto drafted)
F - Richard Jefferson, New Jersey Nets (via trade with J.D. for Zydrunas Illgauskas)
F - Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls (auto drafted)
F - Quentin Richardson, New York Knicks (free agency)
F - Chris Wilcox, Seattle Supersonics (free agency)
G - Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat (auto draft? ... we think we picked, but not sure)
G - Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets (auto draft)
G - Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings (free agency)
G - Mo Williams, Milwaukee Bucks (free agency)
G - Bonzi Wells, Houston Rockets (auto draft)**+
G - Anthony Parker, Toronto Raptors (free agency)**
** = Bench
+ = Trying to come back from injury, not getting playing time yet
# = dropped for C - Mark Blount, Minnesota Timberwolves
As you can see, free agency makes up six of our players ... not cool. On paper, we look okay. Who were the guys I dropped because they were auto drafted? They were: Morris Peterson (TOR), Hedo Turkoglu (ORL), Sam Cassell (LAC) ... in my defense, the CBS report said he was injured in his knee and back and was coming off the bench ... so I dropped him ... and of course, he's healthy and is starting ... I hate CBS ..., Jerry Stackhouse (DAL), Joe Smith (DEN), and Kurt Thomas (PHO).
Of course, we lost the first game (which lasts a week, starting Monday and ending Sunday) because ... well, we started the fools I just mentioned. Methinks we'll do much better this week. And we better ... we're playing J.D. (who lost as well). We're in the same division, which makes things more interesting.
Overall, I'm more than disappointed about how things played out, but as I've said before to J.H., there's still money to be had and pride to be earned ... I'll play with WNBA players ... let's do this! We'll still bring home the championship! Let's ball!
Week 1: L - 242.00 to 278.50 ... W-L Record: 0-1
**Side note: In case anyone cares, a quick run down of the scoring. All points, rebounds, steals, blocks count for 1 points; assists count for 2 points. All turnovers count as -1 point. Each player has a daily total and then averaged out by how many games they played during the week, or game.
For example, if Dwayne Wade scores 30 points, has 5 rebounds and 5 assists in one real NBA game, then his fantasy point total for the game is 45. If Wade scores 20 points, has 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers, his fantasy point total for that game is 30. Then, for the game (the week), you'd average out both games which would be 37.5 fantasy points. You add up the score of your starters (which is 10 players, having at least 1 center start and no more than 2 ... having at least 4 guards and fowards, and no more than 5) and you get your team total. That's how come I have 242.00 points after game one. Basically, my players averaged out to 24.2 fantasy points each. My opinion is that an average fantasy player can give you 25 fantasy points for a week. By my stat, my whole team averaged below an average fantasy player.
In my experience, in fantasy basketball, you'll need to score an average of about 330 fantasy points as a team to win consistently. This team has a ways to go. Hopefully my free agent pick ups and the one week of getting the rust out of their games allows for more scoring this week. Plus, it's against J.D. ... we don't play each other again until January 22nd ... so I need a win to hold over his head until then.
And in case you haven't figured it out ... CBS sucks. Stay far away from anything they (try to) do. Next year we're doing the ESPN fantasy games ... I don't know why we haven't figured this out sooner.
Make sure you write in all your thoughts to HCP2007@gmail.com or click on the Comments link below. See ya on Pet Peeve Thursday!
HCP
posted by HCP @ 10:58 AM
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