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Putting a Stop to Anthony Morrow Mania

I have to tell you, I can't wait until the Warriors play tomorrow night against the Blazers and the fever over this guy can die down. Nellie saw a good matchup against the Clippers, period. If he played two bigs against Camby and Kaman he knew he couldn't win. So he went small and took the hot hand that was Morrow and started him in a lineup without a point guard or power forward...basically four wing players (Buike, Maggs, Jack and Morrow) along with Biedrins. Nellie said he wanted another shooter out there. And even made allusions that there would be more of this to come. If I've learned one thing from listening to this guy for the past two plus years is that I'll believe it when I see it. The Clippers countered by replacing Marcus Camby in the starting lineup with Tim Thomas and ended up playing Camby only about half the game.

So Morrow gets hot and hits 15 - 20 shots, 4 - 5 from beyond the arc, totalling 37 points and now this guy is a must add according to "fantasy experts". Please, temper your expectations people. Nellie, as I have written, is the most erratic coach in the NBA for how he divvies up minutes. In a couple of games this kid might not even see the floor. Next game it's conceivable that he could see less than 10 minutes.

I saw Morrow in summer league, first in Vegas then in Utah where he won the MVP award. The kid can shoot the lights out and all signs point toward a total lack of consciousness when he steps on the  court, leading him to be cool under pressure. He shot 74 percent (17 - 23) from beyond the arc in summer league so it was obvious heading into the season that not only could he shoot but the Warriors had found a real gem and needed to sign him.

So he rode the bench the first half dozen games. I can remember one of my friends pointing him out on the bench and asking who is that guy? To which I answered, his name is Anthony Morrow and he can shoot; he'll be good if he gets a chance. Then along came a frustrating blowout against those Kings who I'm supposed to hate. In that game Nelson was so frustrated he played everyone in uniform -- something he never does -- to see what could work in the future. So he gave Morrow a chance and he quietly delivered making 3 - 5 shots and not making too many mistakes, which as we know will kill rookies who play under Nellie because he'll pull them at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, the two games after that 14 minute outing, Morrow saw his minutes bumped up one in each of them, producing solid percentages and not messing up. Then came Saturday's outburst against L.A. I'm not saying he will definitely go back to rotting on the bench. I'm not even saying that he won't do it again. But I do believe he is just a perfect example of someone getting his shot under Nelson, in the right situation and delivering what Nellie expected. He obviously wasn't expecting 37 points, but he must of thought he would be successful. Why else do you think he would have started him?

So next game when Morrow goes back to receiving 15 minutes a game it may shock some who aren't looking far past the 41 minutes he got in his only fantasy worthy box score. And shortly after that time he will once again be waiver wire material and off the front page. If he does become fantasy worthy this season well I guess I'll just eat my hat...Won't be the first time.

If Ya Feel Me Say "Nate"

Nate Robinson has got to be one of my favorite players in the NBA.

I've been in love with the guy since his days as a U-Dub Husky and now with the Knicks not only because he shares the same name as my favorite rapper (hint: Snoop Dogg's older cousin) but because he is a 5-foot-9 combo guard who can jump straight over Spud Webb and dunk! He is an athletic freak with a 43.5 inch vertical and before walking on to the bball team at Washington was a highly touted cornerback on the football team.

So this is me officially campaigning for his candidacy as a fantasy sleeper this season. The cat's out of the bag with David Lee, who will have all that untapped potential put to use under coach Mike D, but for most folks the jury is still out on Nate.

Where will he get his PT? Where does he fit in D'Antoni's crowded rotation? These are some of the reasons to be skeptical.

While none of the answers to these questions are currently set in stone, I'd like to take a minute to speculate.

Nate saw a 5 minute/game boost last season from the previous year and a mild increase in fantasy production, landing a spot as a fringe option in deeper leagues. He finished off with 26 MPG, averaging roughly 13, 3 and 3. Under D'Antoni, I expect similar minutes as the Knicks have a relatively deep backcourt with himself, Crawford, Duhon and Marbury all vying for court time. But it appears he has solidified a spot in the new coach's rotation as one of the first men off the bench, bringing his unique size and scoring ability as a change of pace to the game.

Nate garners value as a top flight fantasy sleeper this season because of his history in up tempo offenses. That's how they rolled at U-Dub when he led the Huskies to the sweet 16 in 2005, earning third team All American honors in the process. Here are some stats you'll like:

U-Dubb Junior Season: 35 G/31 MPG/46 FG%/78 FT%/1.8 3 PM/16.4 PPG/4.5 APG/1.7 SPG/2 TO

He was a hit in Vegas this Summer, earning MVP honors and acting as if he were a 10-year vet by teaching his teammates how to play and directing traffic as an outstanding point guard. That stellar play carried over to the preseason in which he finished the NBA's fifth leading scorer at 18.7 PPG. 

He's only 24 and is still a few years away from entering his prime. His growth this offseason makes me feel a little bit better in my predicting capabilities because I've been high on him for a long time. He's a guy who's about to start turning my predictions into reality and as such gets my nod as potential fantasy sleeper of the year.

Some Early Takes...Purely By the Numbers

I'll be honest and say I haven't watched a whole helluva lot of preseason basketball. They don't start showing Warriors games until the regular season and I've only had time to catch so much of what's been on NBA TV. I don't have any inside sources with NBA teams and I don't go out and interview any of the players. What I do is look at box scores, read AP write ups and use my ever increasing fantasy knowledge to determine who has a chance to make a blip on the fantasy radar this season.

This year I will be writing a column for Fantasy Lounge Sports called Jumping the Waiver Wire in which I will give the viewing audience a few names that I think will be good pickups for the upcoming week. The past few years I've done the research anyway, only this year I'll write about it.

Next week I will be submitting my first article which takes a look at guys who have impressed this preseason that managers may want to consider jumping on once the first few games have been played. Thus the title Jumping the Waiver Wire. I've always tried to jump on the hot players before anyone else got the chance and I'm encouraging you to do the same.

Here is an extra close look at a few guys I've been eying so far to wet your palettes:

Mike Taylor (LAC - PG) Owned in 1% of Yahoo! leagues — The first rookie to be drafted out of the NBDL could have worked himself into a battle with Jason Hart for the role of #1 backup to Baron Davis. As most of us Dubs fans know, Baron is always a candidate for the injured list because his left knee is a ticking time bomb. In the Clips first three preseason games, Taylor has averaged 28 Min, 61 FG%, 18.3 PPG, 5 Ast and 1.6 Stl. His minutes have increased an average of nine per game. Now since Taylor has come off the bench in all of these games it's highly likely he's going up against the other team's reserves at most times. It's also important to note that Davis has missed the past two games with flu like symptoms and Hart has started, thus explaining Taylor's leap in minutes. Taylor has significantly outproduced Hart this preseason and in tonight's game Hart only played eight minutes and did not score. To make a long story short, Taylor should not be touched yet unless you are in the deepest of leagues but once King Baron goes down, which, despite not missing a game last season, is highly likely to happen at some point, it would be wise to pick up Mr. Taylor.

Corey Brewer (Min - GF) Owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues — Last season was a rough going for Brewer. He averaged less than six points on 37.5% from the field. From what I've heard, he's worked hard this offseason to improve his erratic jumper and from the preseason results it appears the hard work is paying off. In four games, he's averaged 25 Min, 50 FG% and 14 PPG, while going 6 - 8 from three point land. Ryan Gomes and Brewer will be splitting the SF minutes this season. Each brings slightly different aspects to the position. Gomes is a tweener forward who can play inside but still ventures out to knock down a three every now and then, while Brewer is more of a slasher who is small enough to play off guard, as well. Gomes is the favorite to start at this point but with Brewer's new-found consistency from the field and the talent that made him the #7 overall pick in last year's draft, expect him to be given every opportutnity for success. He is currently owned in 5 percent of all Yahoo! leagues but by the time the first couple of weeks are in the books, I expect that number to grow tenfold.

Etan Thomas (Was - FC) Owned in 6% of Yahoo! leagues — With Brendan Haywood out four to six months everyone is waiting to see who will win most of the center minutes for the Wiz this season. The tricky thing when analyzing the Wizards' preseason stats, other than the obvious, is Antawan Jamison is also out but will return for the regular season. This means that the three main candidates to replace Haywood — Thomas, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee — all have an extra position they can rotate in and out of. Andray Blatche is a power forward in a center's body and I'm predicting he will only play the position next to Jamison sporadically. Despite all the talent and the relatively great preseason numbers, McGee is a rookie who struggles on defense. Meanwhile, Eddie Jordan is a veterans coach who stresses D. That's why no matter what you see this preseason you have to know that Thomas will get his once the regular season starts. In four games, the ex-Orangeman has averaged 19 Min, 61 FG%,  8 PPG, 3.5 Reb and 1.3 Blk. You should remember that these are preseason numbers and that over his career, Thomas has averaged 5.8 boards in just over 18 minutes per game. These numbers won't set you hair on fire but If you're in need of boards and blocks once the regular season starts, Thomas is your man.

Look for my column Jumping the Waiver Wire at the Lounge every Monday morning once the regular season starts.

Keys to Rocking Your Basketball Draft

By Austin Brown

Like cutting backdoor for an open layup, a basketball draft is as easy as it gets in the world of major fantasy sports drafting. For me, compared to a baseball draft, doing well involves little more than being able to stay awake for an hour and finding a comfortable place on the couch. Consider these tips so you can field a winner before you try drafting your all white guys squad, who will surely not sniff a fantasy title. With no further adieu, it's Andris Beidrins with the 12th overall pick (cough, cough). Actually it's my keys for winning your draft.

1. Know the difference between being in a Rotisserie vs. a Head to Head League — It's basic knowledge that rotisserie (roto) leagues limit squads to a maximum of 82 games played per position, meaning when players get injured it hurts teams less than in head to head (H2H) leagues where there is no limit to the amount of games a team can play. Managers can plug players in off the bench and the other teams in the league won't get the advantage of playing more games. On top of that, in roto stats are accumulated over an entire season, making it less important to have players healthy at certain times. Right now in my H2H league, Rasheed Wallace is taking some time off to rest. Only problem for me is this is coming at playoff time, and each game he sits I lose stats I desperately need.

Speaking of fantasy playoffs, a useful strategy when prepping for your H2H draft is to check down the road for playoff schedules. If you go on BasketballMonster.com (BBM) and punch in "Schedule Grid" you can see how many games your desired player is playing during each crucial week of the fantasy basketball playoffs (weeks 22 - 24). Going even further, you could take a look at the "Ease Rankings" for the previous year to see which guys might have harder fantasy playoff matchups. These rankings show you how difficult it is for players to post stats against certain teams. It goes as far as telling you which positions have the most success and listing rankings for how hard it is to come by individual stats. At the risk of sounding like a promo, the best part is it's all free.

In a roto league, guys like Shane Battier or Josh Childress will contribute in all nine categories over an entire season which gives them more value. They won't give you numbers that will have you in wonders, but they don't produce the negative stats that can accumulate over an entire season to kill you. To use a track analogy, be aware that in H2H you want to have sprinters, but in roto you find more value in marathon runners, like a Battier or a Childress.

In a H2H league, it can make sense to punt one or two categories, but this is not recommended in roto leagues, where having 1's in two cats will certainly sink your chances. Most people in H2H leagues will chose to punt turnovers because the more guys you play the higher your TO numbers will be, and you're typically trying to play as many guys as possible. Also less importance can be placed on FT% because it's very unpredictable from week to week. No matter how good your team is in this stat, you will still sometimes lose to teams you should beat.

So who's the perfect player to use as an example here?

...look, it's Superman to the rescue.

Dwight Howard makes a bigger impact that any other player changing from a roto to a H2H league. With his three plus turnovers per game, he is near the top of the league, and from the center position no less. He also has the most negative impact a player could have on a team's FT%. Shooting over 11 per game at just under 60 percent. But if you take TO's and FT% out of the equation, Dwight vaults to the third most valuable player in fantasy basketball. When you put those two stats back in, he plummets to number 74.

In a H2H league, you're looking for consistency. Going into a draft, it's important to know which stats are more or less consistent on a weekly basis. Typically guys who are big scorers don't have off weeks. But a high steals guy, like Ron Artest, will have some weeks where he has two steals and some weeks where he has 12.

2. Your team must have three serviceable centers — Being the weakest spot to find talent and not only needing one but two, you should have at least one decent backup. This strategy is a must because in fantasy basketball two positions and no backup is blasphemy. All the other positions will typically fill up quickly in a draft, but most teams are weak at center, which is why you want to be strong. And nine times out of ten you get that strength in the draft.

I go for value in any draft, but I like it when a good center falls to me within the first four rounds, one that can establish my team in FG%, REBs, BLKs, and can chip in with double digit points. That's my perfect center. But you need two more who are going to stick it out through the season.

This year, Andrew Bynum would have been the ideal third center. Going into the season, he had supreme upside and wasn't being drafted until the double digit rounds. Despite the injury he suffered midway through the season, his averages rank him as the 27th best player in fantasy to date, normally producing over a double-double (10+ points and 10+ rebounds), with two blocks and the second highest FG% in the league. Al Horford would have been a great pickup as well, lasting to the last round or two of most drafts. He averages nearly a double-double, with one block and one steal. These two examples should tell you that opportunity as well as upside are what you hope to find in your backup center.

3. Be ready to make compensations — If your first round pick hurts you in certain areas, be ready to draft guys who can take up the slack. Going into this season, drafting LeBron James as your first overall pick over Shawn Marion was fine, but the difference was night and day.

Being the best across the board contributor probably in fantasy basketball history, Marion wouldn't hurt you in any cats and wouldn't leave you lacking in any either. You could go about taking your next pick pretty much as if nothing happened,
which is a very nice luxury.

On the other hand, spending your first round pick on Bron Bron means you were really hurting in two categories—FT% and TO's. Here you needed to make up the difference in the ensuing picks with high FT%, low turnover guys preferably at the wing position, like a Kevin Martin or Rashard Lewis. Ideally  you want your assistance to come from the same position that the guy your compensating for plays to make for a more balanced team.

The earlier you adjust, the less help you'll need, meaning one or two guys can pull you out of your hole. Get into the later rounds and you'll need to find three or four guys to stay afloat. 

4. Know which stats to draft for and where to place your value — Generally, there are certain stats you can only draft and won't find in free agency.

Typically, if you want a guy who's going to average more than 15 points per game, you need to draft him. But if you're looking for someone to dish you five or six assists, you can find him on the waiver wire.

You won't find guards who can score and shoot high percentages on the wire. Neither will you find big men who can average you a double-double.

What you'll typically find are guys who help in certain areas but hurt in others. Like mixes of guys with high 3 PTM and low FG% or the opposite.  Or high blocks/rebounds and low FT% or vica versa.

So don't go into the season needing to find new hidden gems, like the previously undrafted Jose Calderon or Monta Ellis, on the wire. You typically have to draft for those kinds of stats.

5. Do the research and anticipate performances — There will always be experts pulling you one way or the other when you're looking to draft a first round pick. But try real hard to resist  the temptation of having someone else make your pick for you. Instead, create your own formula for judging players. Knowing the game pretty well, I find it helpful to watch guys play, or at least watch highlights, to scout fantasy potential. Anytime you see guys who are all over the court and involved in every play (ala Andre Iguodala or Josh Smith), you should think, this is who I want.

It's important to know:

• Who's undervalued because they're coming off of a sub par year — e.g. Kobe Bryant in '06.

• Who's undervalued because they're coming back from injury — Ask yourself: What type of injury did he suffer? How long will he be out? Past the All Star Break? You can even go as far as playing doctor online and find out how quickly it takes to heal from certain injuries.

• Which young guys are going to break out — A lot of this has to do with an opportunity for playing time. Sometimes trades have been made to create vacancies. Or new coaches are been brought in, who either favor veterans or favor youth. Also look for which young guys finished strong last year—check out Pre All Star/Post All Star, as well as month to month split stats.

6. Know the max positions you want — On your standard 13 player Yahoo! team, along with at least the three centers, you also want no more than four point guards (I like to shoot for three), no more than five guards total, and at least five PF/C's. Fill out the rest with SG/SF's and you'll be set. This just means that you should never have to sit guys because you're overstocked at the position. And your team will play more games because you're not understocked at any position.

You'll find these rules hard to stick by, but if you keep them in mind at the outset your team will be all the better for it.

7. Keep percentages in the back of your mind — Before a draft it helps to weigh the volume of shots each player takes from the field and free throw line against their percentages. The only way I go about doing this (until someone shows me a better one) is to put FG% and FT% individually into BBM to compare values. The Mendoza Line for percentages is typically FG 45% and FT 78%. At particular positions, guards go FG 44% and FT 80%, whereas big men go FG 50% and FT 75%.

Being the most difficult stats to come by, winning teams usually have a nice footing in the percentages.
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*Special thanks to nebgib5 from the Fantasy Cafe, along with a number of other Cafe members for contributing their ideas.

Changing of the Guard

In most fantasy basketball leagues, around this time of year managers should be on the look out for free agents who are going to see increased minutes, which usually comes in the form of injury fill-ins and newly traded players. But the real place they should be investigating is young players whose roles are about to change. 

Jamario Moon, Andray Blache, Al Thornton, Josh Boone, Thaddeus Young, Joakim Noah.

These are guys whose roles have already changed at some point over the year purely because they are growing and maturing and finding their niche in the NBA. They weren't given minutes to fill in, but more so that they could progress in the league. Around this time of year, the playoff scenario is shaking itself out, the trade deadline has already passed and most of the worthy vets on poor teams have either been traded or had their contracts bought out. What you're going to see in fantasy is increased minutes for the young guys on weak teams whom people want to test and see what they can do.

So who are the next young guys to make the leap in the NBA and what type of fantasy value will they offer?

Jared Dudley — With Gerald Wallace going down recently, Dudley has revieved a chance at big minutes,  and has shown to be a chip off the old block. Like Wallace his peripheral stats (STL, BLK) and rebounds are a nice boost to any fantasy team in need. In the first six games of March he has approximate per game averages of 2 STL, 1 BLK, and 8 REB. Now although he is an injury fill in, with the combination of Dudley's improved play, the Bobcats actually winning of late, and his replacement's injury history, even after G-Wall comes back I'd look for Dudley to still receive a base of 25 minutes/game.

Nick Young — This USC kid is starting to put up the numbers fantasy owners expected from him at the beginning of the season. In the first five games of March, Young is posting impressive per game averages of 14 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL and 1 trey. With the Wiz fighting for a playoff spot and the returns of Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler imminent, it's safe to say you can temper your expectations on this one. But it's nice to see this youngster coming into his own, while giving us all a taste of what we can expect next season.

Spencer Hawes — In deeper leagues he's becoming a viable option. MIke Bibby went to the Hawks and took 35 minutes/ game with him, and Ron Artest is constantly in and out of the lineup. With the Kings safely out of the playoff picture, Hawes will start seeing burn. From here on out I'd look for nightly averages of 20 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2+ blocks.

Julian Wright — Although he is not on a bad team, Julian is the exception to the rule. This high-flyer was a near lottery pick in this year's draft and because of what the experts were saying, I had big expectations. Only to be disappointed when New Orleans found themeselves fighting for the best record in the league with Julian riding the pine. But times have changed and in his first four games in March, Julian has recieved 25 min/game, putting up approximate per game averages of 12 points, 6 boards and 62% on his field goals. David West or not, he's going to see decent burn from here on out.

Late Season Waiver Wire Pickups: Finding Daequan

The key to fantasy success is activity. Managers who spend more time on their teams win more games. Time devoted breeds success in fantasy more so than in real life.  Unless you're in a high stakes money league where everyone is super-active, you'll typically find  some managers working harder than others. A good way to gauge a manager's activity is by checking next to their team's win-loss record for how many moves they've made during the season. Generally the managers with the most moves will be closest to the top. Dedication breeds success, and if a team is inactive in a competitive league, regardless of how good their draft was, they'll be cellar dwellers.

In a given fantasy season, no matter the sport, I will always have a favorite team. I'll be in at least a few leagues but always end up giving one team much more attention than the others. I'm sure just like there are  many out there with only one true passion, there are those out there with only one true team.

My passion right now lies in my 16 team Yahoo! basketball league. It's a smart league with a lot of fantasy baseball players, and while everyone is busy prepping for the new baseball season, I quietly go about my business, checking the waiver wire 3 - 4 times a week, hoping to find a hidden gem. To have success in a league as deep as mine, virtually every team has to at least periodically search the wire.

But what are we searching for?

I look for two types of players: long term and short term, the latter more frequently this time of year.

However, in the beginning of the season, long term players have equal if not better value. These guys you plan to keep for more than a week or two, like the man I settled on two months ago: Mo Evans. In Mo, I found someone with role security who gave me consistently solid stats. How I found Mo was I ran a free agent search for average stats over the last month and saw him near the top of the players listed. Investigating further I found out he was putting up solid stats, including nearly 1 steal/game over the last handful of games. It turns out, Mo was just traded to the Magic where he secured a starting job and  20 - 25 min/game. Combining my newfound knowledge of his recent stats with what I'd seen in the frequent Lakers games on TNT, I'd formed a pretty good idea of what kind of fantasy production I could get out Old Mo in his new situation.

But recently two months had passed and Mo's numbers had grown stale. Like many before him he was about to fall victim to the Austin Brown chopping block purely because there were better short term options out there.

Enter Daequan Cook.

If you're smart, this time of year you're hunting for the Daequan Cooks out there because it's going on playoff time, in fantasy and reality, and it's prudent to get 'em while they're hot. Finding hot players is as simple as running a free agent search for average stats over the last week.

I kind of fell ass backwards into Daequan, to tell you the truth, all from making a small sacrifice whose name was Mo. Like many other young studs without job security, Daequan was on my watch list. Taking a break from my long and arduous news writing class, I checked this list and noticed out of the blue Daequan had thrown up a 20 point game. Searching deeper I found that over the last few games Daequan had been getting regularly huge minutes. Then memory clicked in and I thought,  "Oh yeah, Dwyane Wade's out. No wonder he's getting burn. He'll be back on the bench in a few games. Might want to pass on this one."

...But then more thoughts entered: "What the hey, Evans' numbers I can find in plenty of guys out on the wire this time of year. Strike while the iron's hot." And strike I did, only to find when I got home that Wade's injury had knocked him out for the season. In fantasy, injuries to stars are huge. And while I don't condone it, some will even celebrate them. When a star goes down you can guarantee at least one or two guys no one had ever thought of using will put up great stats out of left field. In this case, now I've got Daequan, who looks to be Wade's replacement in the starting line up and will probably post 30 - 35 minutes/night. This all because I was tired of old Mo and willing to take a semi-risk, from which I've concluded late season pickups can be huge.

The Art of Winning

I once only knew the art of winning ugly in Yahoo! fantasy basketball. I'd take the standard 9 categories and try to win the easiest ones. Nice and simple. I'm in, I'm out, minimal body count and it's on to next week. But only recently have I truly mastered the art of winning pretty.

My latest fantasy challenge has come with the good people of Fantasy Lounge Sports.

To give you a little background, it's a 16 team H2H league with 14 player rosters. It's also a five player keeper, meaning at the beginning of each season teams will choose the five players they want to carry over from last year.

In order to have a chance, before the draft I had to know what stats I had in my five keeper players and what I needed from the other nine. Since all stats have the same value, I had to differentiate between the pretty from the ugly.

In a standard league, you'll have your...

Positive cumulative stats: 3PTM, PTS, REB, AST, ST, BLK (The Ugly)

Non-cumulative stats: FG%, FT% (The Pretty)

One negative stat: TO (Don't let the "negative" fool you, it's still Pretty)

As you'll notice, the most stats to be won are ugly stats, hence the art of winning ugly. 

Ugly stats are valuable because they are the most consistent stats you will find on a weekly basis. You can count on players who give you these stats in a three or four game week more so than your pretty stat players, whose numbers are most valuable when taken over a span of more than a few games.

What you'll often find in your standard league is a few managers who are very active,  your casual managers who check in once or twice a week to adjust lineups and browse the waiver wire, and your inactive managers (aka dead managers).

In these leagues you'll commonly run into a stream manager. A streamer is a manager who adds players from the FA pool for the usual purpose of boosting their cumulative stats. In almost all leagues you'll find at least one guy scouring the waiver wire for players. I like to call this person the wire hog. The hog is a force to be reckoned with, the guy you hate to face come playoff time. When one manager sets out to win just ugly stats, they're making a stand. They're the blue-collar worker who isn't trying to be pretty, just flat out trying to win. Because of this stand, you know you're gonna be in a dogfight for six out of the nine categories available.

I'm successful in my little league  because my team has a firm foundation in the pretty stats (good percentages + low turnovers). This assures me that regardless of who I face, I have a chance to win all 9 cats. And if I run into my wire hog needing a win, all I have to do is rotate out my 3 - 5 worst players on the wire on game days. In this match up, I have a pretty good chance to win the pretty stats and if healthy will be at the least competitive in the ugly ones.

The best part about winning pretty is I don't have to scour the wire on a daily basis. I also have the versatility to match up to all sorts of teams. Versatility is how I took my middle of the pack inherited team (keepers: Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, Samuel Dalembert, Leandro Barbosa) and am a game and a half behind the top team, which is stacked.

Come playoff time, when it's balls to the walls,  I know I've got a solid enough foundation to have the luxury of streaming out players and piling on the ugly stats without giving too much away.