A Series of Digressions

It was revealed that one of the female contestants on The Biggest Loser this season is supposed to eat 1,200 calories a day and burn 6,000. That is crazypants. One of the male contestants had an 8,000 calorie burn goal. Granted, especially at the beginning of the season the contestants must burn calories at a very high rate given their low fitness levels and the sheer size of their bodies, but doing intense workouts all day with so little food has to be incredibly challenging.

Labels: reality tv, The Biggest Loser

OK, I am sick of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" being used as some kind of war protest song. The lyrics of the song indicate the following:

Gen X'ers aren't politically involved, but it's not because they don't want to be, it's because the older generations have all the power and they control the media and the "system". Therefore, it's wasted effort for Gen X'ers to even try to change anything. Instead, they should just kick it in the background, thinking about what they could do about this darn war if only they had the chance. When the baby boomers die off, though, watch out!

What the hell is that? It's like the opposite of a call to arms. John Mayer is picking up the gauntlet for an entire generation. I'm all for pragmatism, but anyone using this song to try and inspire anti-war sentiment needs to take a closer look at the lyrics. This is a far cry from Joan Baez, people.

Like many bloggers, I've failed to post for a long period of time. You know why? Because I'm fucking lazy, OK? There, I said it.

Well, I was offered Raymond Felton and Shane Battier for Mike Miller. I accepted without even negotiating. Miller was drafted in our league after both players I got out of the deal.
MM has looked good early as he is taking tons of shots as the main scoring option for the Grizzlies. However, my team is not really focused on scoring anyway and I already have tons of 3s with Marion, Nash, Billups, Rasheed, and Jason Terry.
Battier is a very underrated fantasy player who is more useful to me since he consistently contributes in the defensive categories and also chips in almost everywhere else. Houston has more weapons than Memphis, obviously, but he should still see tons of minutes and if Yao or TMac get hurt he would play a larger role in the offense.

In the end, I had Battier and Miller pretty close so the key to me was getting Felton as well. He was disappointing to start the season but I saw him go as high as the 4th-5th round in some "industry" drafts. He put up great numbers after the break last year and put up 23 pts with 4 threes, 5 boards, and 6 assists in his last game. Felton would have more value if he was playing the point, but I still think he'll get his share of assists and steals and he's proven he can be a scorer. His FG% and turnovers are concerning, but I dropped Rafer Alston to make this transaction who is essentially an older version of Felton who shoots even worse and also manages to shoot for a bad FT%.

Overall, I was happy this was offered to me. I am high on both Battier and Felton and I think both of them will improve my team.

Labels: Fantasy basketball

So, I have learned that among my friends, fantasy basketball is the most fun fantasy sport. In my opinion, it takes more skill than fantasy football, there are way more strategies and viable players (making trades more common), and for some reason it inspires a lot of trash talk among us, which is fun.

Here's the results and my commentary on our 8-team draft, in which we play PG, SG, SF, PF, C, Util, Util positions with an 8-man bench. I'm going to try to blog more during the basketball season so I can look back to see what went right or wrong.

(Apparently I am not good at tables, so scroll down to read.)

1	L. James	Chris
2	K. Garnett	Randy	I had him ranked just ahead of LeBron.
3	S. Marion	Me	Was very happy to get him at 3 since he was #1 on my list. I had LeBron last year, and although he is fun to own and a fantasy monster, he has some definite flaws in a 9-cat league, namely a large amount of turnovers and occasional stretches where his percentages kill you. The Matrix is in his prime and should not be severely affected by the presence of Amare, who I don't think will reach full strength this season.
4	D. Wade	Kyle	TOs hurt but PG eligibility is a big plus.
5	D. Nowitzki	Derek
6	K. Bryant	Rick	Too high for me, but if healthy hard to argue.
7	G. Arenas	Mark
8	E. Brand	Jeremy
9	C. Paul	Jeremy	Can he really improve on last year? Probably.
10	P. Pierce	Mark	Owned him last year; does it all. Together with Arenas, Mark might lose TOs every week.
11	A. Kirilenko	Rick	Rick should probably not have gone for an injury risk here with Kobe in the 1st.
12	Y. Ming	Derek
13	C. Bosh	Kyle	Loved owning him last year, but plantar fasciitis really scares me.
14	S. Nash	Me	Wanted a PG and with Marion around, didn't need a huge steals guy. Nash provides all the other classic PG stats in droves. Owning two top players on the same team isn't ideal, but it worked for me last year with Kidd and Carter.
15	A. Iverson	Randy	Good guy to pair with Garnett.
16	T. Duncan	Chris
17	M. Redd	Chris	No way I take Redd over Allen here.
18	R. Allen	Randy	A steal at 18. Wish he had fallen one more.
19	C. Billups	Me	Couldn't resist the temptation to grab two top PGs. Billups should be huge again this year with Big Ben out of town. With Nash and Billups alone, I am very strong in assists and FT% every week.
20	T. McGrady	Kyle	He owned him last year and has not learned his lesson.
21	V. Carter	Derek
22	B. Diaw	Rick	A reach here IMO. Not sure he can repeat last year.
23	R. Lewis	Mark
24	J. Smith	Jeremy	I love his potential as much as the next guy, but I felt like there were too many proven players available for him to go here.
25	L. Odom	Jeremy	Surprised to see him go this high, although his stats say he's worth it.
26	J. O'Neal	Mark
27	C. Anthony	Rick	If Kobe is healthy Rick will be very strong in points.
28	J. Johnson	Derek	Might trade some assists for 3s this year which hurts his value slightly IMO.
29	M. Bibby	Kyle
30	R. Wallace	Me	Two Suns, two Pistons. What the hell. There are worse teams to do that with, I guess. Hoping 'Sheed will step up his rebounding this year and keep blocking shots. The 3s are a bonus if he can keep those up too. Getting his C eligibility back is entirely possible and would be very nice.
31	D. Howard	Randy	Felt this was too high given his problems with TOs and especially at the line. Randy has some other good FT shooters but Dwight is bad enough to drag you down on his own. The boards and FG% are great but I don't like taking guys that can hurt you pretty bad in two categories this high.
32	A. Stoudemire	Chris	If he plays 65 games or averages 25 mpg I'll be surprised.
33	J. Richardson	Chris	Another injury risk.
34	G. Wallace	Randy	Gerald is a lot of fun to own for his truly amazing defensive stats. Of course, the injuries are a big worry. Also note that Randy has gone from very good in FT% to average at best in the span of two picks.
35	M. Camby	Me	Had to take my own injury risk here. Didn't have a center yet and was worried about a run. When healthy, Camby can be the top fantasy C in the league. Of course, he's already hurt and will likely stay that way but I had to go for it.
36	M. Okur	Kyle	Little surprised he went this high although I think he should have a good season
37	C. Boozer	Derek
38	B. Wallace	Rick
39	B. Miller	Mark	There was indeed a run on Cs.
40	J. Kidd	Jeremy	Wasn't surprised he fell, although wasn't expecting it to be this far. I would have grabbed him at 35 if I didn't already have Nash and Billups.
41	K. Hinrich	Jeremy
42	A. Jamison	Mark
43	T. Parker	Rick	Pretty big reach here with some potential breakout PGs left on the board. Doubt he'll keep that FG% so high this year.
44	R. Artest	Derek	Roll the dice!
45	R. Jefferson	Kyle	Was really hoping he'd drop to me, but didn't quite make it. He's underrated.
46	Z. Ilgauskas	Me	Couldn't decide which direction to go here. Finally decided that Z would be a good choice to pair with Camby. He's not the picture of health either, but he's only missed a few games the last four years and has been a solid contributor. I was insanely thin at center last year and did not want to repeat that.
47	A. Miller	Randy	Too high for my tastes, he looks out of shape.
48	S. Cassell	Chris	Probably the worst pick of the draft. The rest of us had a good time with this one. Chris was apparently using Yahoo's rankings that look only at last year's stats or something. Just an awful pick with Livingston around.
49	M. Peterson	Chris	Another pretty questionable pick; mid-level swingmen were still plentiful & he wasn't even the best of them.
50	C. Kaman	Randy	Easily the best C available at this point.
51	J. Terry	Me	Wanted to grab another PG-eligible player, and although I don’t love owning Terry, he does in fact put up good SG-like numbers. Hoping he gets SG eligibility early. Of course, I didn't realize he had a foot injury or I might not have drafted him here, but it sounds minor so I'm not too worried.
52	B. Davis	Kyle	Could be a steal but his horrible percentages always scare me.
53	J. Nelson	Derek
54	A. Bogut	Rick	Fairly high for Bogut but centers were getting limited and he could breakout.
55	M. James	Mark	Signs point to "anomaly" IMO
56	P. Stojakovic	Jeremy	Another guy who fell, but I just don't like him this year. His shot is nowhere near as consistent as it once was.
57	R. Felton	Jeremy
58	C. Butler	Mark	Was targeting him, should be a great value here.
59	Z. Randolph	Rick	I think he'll have a good year, but he simply doesn't help in enough categories.
60	C. Villanueva	Derek
61	D. West	Kyle	Great pick if he plays anything like last year.
62	A. Iguodala	Me	Still didn't have an SG-eligible player. AI2 supplements my steals nicely, and I am hoping for improvement in other categories as well.
63	J. Howard	Randy
64	S. Marbury	Chris	Many people are looking for a bounceback year. I don’t like his chances with all the guards in NY. Too risky here, although he's a better bet than Cassell.
65	R. Hamilton	Chris	Chris had abandoned his own rankings at this point and was mooching off of other people's. Loser.
66	C. Webber	Randy
67	T. Murphy	Me	Wanted to go big again. Thought about Emeka, but Murphy seems like a safer bet and should gain C eligibility soon. He's not a "classic" big, but he is still young and could put up big numbers in the Warriors system this year.
68	P. Gasol	Kyle
69	S. O'Neal	Derek	Had him ranked 115th (ie there was no way I was drafting him)
70	T. Ford	Rick	I like TJ ok but this is another reach IMO.
71	H. Turkoglu	Mark	Hedo is underrated - he contributes in several categories and should get plenty of minutes. I was targeting him, but was surprised to see him go this high.
72	B. Roy	Jeremy	I like him, but this could be a reach. Jeremy drafted Chris Paul last year though, so he knows rookies can make your season.
73	S. Battier	Jeremy	Good value and another guy I thought would fall farther based on his ADP.
74	M. Williams	Mark
75	M. Ginobili	Rick	Value pick, although I personally don’t like Manu to stay healthy this year.
76	D. Williams	Derek
77	E. Okafor	Kyle	Thought he'd go higher with his C-eligibility, but I guess everyone else is as worried about his health as I am.
78	M. Miller	Me	Needed another swingman and he could be a steal here, especially considering the situation in Memphis. I had him rated higher than MoPete who went almost 30 picks earlier.
79	C. Maggette	Randy
80	R. Bell	Chris	Good value
81	A. Harrington	Chris
82	N. Krstic	Randy
83	S. Dalembert	Me	Injury-prone centers are OK if you draft tons of them, right? Right? Couldn't resist Sam's block potential here.
84	L. Hughes	Kyle
85	B. Gordon	Derek
86	A. Morrison	Rick	Hmmm. All he does is score and he's not even starting yet
87	A. Nocioni	Mark	Skiles alert!
88	D. Granger	Jeremy	Good sleeper
89	T. Chandler	Jeremy	Ugh. Jeremy's center situation is dire
90	D. Milicic	Mark
91	D. Gooden	Rick	Will go way up in value if he gets C-eligibility
92	C. Frye	Derek	I like him this year
93	K. Martin	Kyle	Another guy I like and was surprised to see him go this high given his ADP. (Most of) my leaguemates read up this year.
94	R. Davis	Me	I'm not that high on Ricky this year, but I think he's still a good value this low. He's still likely the #2 scoring option even with James around.
95	C. Wilcox	Randy	Big contract = bust?
96	L. Ridnour	Chris	Still scrambling to make up for that Cassell pick…
97	Z. Pachulia	Chris	Zaza was way down my list of centers. He hurts you in too many categories.
98	S. Claxton	Randy
99	W. Szczerbiak	Me	Statistically, this is a steal. He can score and help in 3s & percentages. We'll see if the knees hold up.
100	M. Williams	Kyle
101	S. Francis	Derek	Total mystery as to what he'll do this season. Could be a great pick, could be a waste.
102	E. Curry	Rick	Could improve this year but he still is a limited contributor
103	R. Foye	Mark
104	S. Swift	Jeremy	Already been dropped for S. Livingston, who should have much more value
105	N. Mohammed	Jeremy	He should get a lot more minutes this year and have value… but he's still Nazr Mohammed
106	R. Gomes	Mark	Too high for me given competition from Al Jefferson
107	K. Martin	Rick	Don't see him doing much this year.
108	E. Jones	Derek	Another guy whose actual contributions are better than his perceived value, but he's so damn old!
109	T. Prince	Kyle	Very good pick here. Boring to own, but he's way better than the 109th best fantasy player in the league.
110	R. Alston	Me	He's incredibly frustrating to own because he just can't shoot, but a starting PG that gets plenty of assists is a rarity this late
111	M. Dunleavy	Randy	Much-maligned, if he could play consistently he would be great
112	S. Abdur-Rahim	Chris
113	J. Jack	Chris
114	L. Walton	Randy	Seems like quite a flyer with plenty of viable players still left
115	C. Mobley	Me	Another guy I've owned in the past and been disappointed with, but even on the downside of his career he's definitely worth a last-round pick
116	S. Jackson	Kyle
117	B. Wells	Derek
118	G. Hill	Rick
119	D. West	Mark	If I thought he'd get plenty of minutes I'd have drafted him 3 or 4 rounds ago
120	A. Bynum	Jeremy	Yeah, he REALLY needed a center - although there were better ones on the board, he is worth a flyer

Labels: Fantasy basketball

It's August, which means the Oakland Athletics are on a tear, currently leading the AL West by 6 1/2 games. Can they keep it up? I'll be optimistic for once and say that I think they will win the division. Despite a starting pitching staff that looked deep to start the season, the A's have been shorthanded due to injuries to both Rich Harden and Esteban Loiaza, having to use multiple spot starters. Barry Zito and Dan Haren have both been good if inconsistent. Joe Blanton's hit rate is way up this year and he's still giving up a lot of walks, but he's capable of throwing a gem at any time. Loiaza is looking much better lately, and if Harden manages to make it back in time for the playoffs, the staff looks a hell of a lot better all of a sudden.

The bullpen is also very good, with Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer, and Huston Street combining to be one of the best 7-8-9th inning combinations in baseball, accompanied by a variety of fairly capable middle/long relievers in the 'pen with them. All of the pitchers have been helped by Oakland's underrated defense, which (when healthy) features three outfielders with excellent range and a solid infield.

Of course, the offense has been a weak spot for Oakland all season, which is reflected in their weak run differential. However, there is reason to believe we'll see some improvement heading down the stretch. There haven't been many times this season where all of the A's key hitters have been healthy. Nick Swisher was red-hot early in the year only to come down with mono or something like that, but he appears to be heating up again. Jay Payton started out the year badly and has since rebounded, while Frank Thomas has started hitting like, well, Frank Thomas. Mark Ellis and Jason Kendall have shown some signs of life lately as well. Although Mark Kotsay and Eric Chavez continue to battle nagging injuries, Bobby Crosby should return soon and the A's will actually have all of their starters in place for the first time in a while.

I think they'll have enough gas in the tank to hold off the Angels and Rangers. I'm more concerned about the Rangers and their high-powered offense, but their pitching staff is pretty bad, with very inconsistent starters and no great arms in the bullpen (outside of closer Akinori Otsuka). They could make a run, but the A's already have that 6 1/2 game lead.

Bottom line is that if the A's get healthy and stay that way, they should hold on to win the division. If Harden is 100% by the playoffs, they could even do some damage there; Zito, Haren, and Harden have the potential to shut anyone down. OK, almost anyone. Fuckin' Yankees.

The Trail Blazers have had a very good offseason thus far, and most of the credit should go to de facto GM Kevin Pritchard. Some of their draft-day deals were questioned, particularly by borderline maniac Steven A. Smith, but the fact is that we do not know what discussions took place behind the scenes and it is entirely possible the Blazers had to make the moves they did to end up with the players they wanted. Although it appeared to be a somewhat unspectacular draft class, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were the #1 guard and #1 big man (or close to it) on many draft-day boards so coming away with both of them (at a minimal cost player-wise) was one of the more memorable days in recent Blazer history.

The latest move by the Blazers was to trade Steve Blake, Brian Skinner, and Ha Seung-Jin to the Bucks for Jamaal Magloire. This appears to be another solid move by Pritchard. Blake is a young PG who has some skills (he had an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio last year), but the Blazers appear to have confidence in Jarrett Jack who was streaky but often effective last season. Jack is not an outside shooter but he looks like he could grow into a solid playmaker in the NBA. He will also be backed up by the newly-acquired (and hopefully healthy) Dan Dickau and Roy. Skinner, a backup center, certainly did not fit into the Blazers' '07 plans, and Ha is a total stiff.

In return, the Blazers got a solid center to back up/compete with Joel Przybilla. Magloire is a very good rebounder and an OK shotblocker. His offensive skills aren't great, but he nearly averaged a double-double last season, and there just aren't many guys like that around the league. Furthermore, he's pretty durable; I believe he started every game last season and played about 2500 minutes while Przybilla has never played more than 1900 in a season.

The Blazers' frontcourt is now somewhat overloaded, with Przybilla, Magloire, Zach Randolph, Raef LaFrentz, and Aldridge all competing for minutes at the 4/5 spots. This could create some issues; Randolph will undoubtedly get his minutes, LaFrentz and Magloire have been known to complain about playing time in the past, and Przybilla will likely become disgruntled if he is not the starter. Still, having too many big men is not a terrible problem to have. It's possible the Blazers are not done dealing, although each of these players does bring something a little different to the table.

All in all, the coming NBA season will be one of the first I have looked forward to in a long time. It finally feels like the word "rebuilding" is appropriate for the Blazers. There are a lot of new pieces in town, many of which have a lot of potential. Bad-attitude guys Randolph and Darius Miles (ugh) are still around, but I still think the team will start bringing back some of the fans they have lost in the last decade. They won't be competitive yet, but I think they'll be a lot easier to root for.