CANCEL ALL BELOW. RIGHT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE A GO FOR THURSDAY SEPT 27TH AT 9PM CENTRAL. SPREAD THE NEWS! 

Well we have started off the season well with the Dime Smack League. Now it is time for the toughest part....finding a draft day AND time that will accommodate everyone. GR8 is out until after the 17th and AK coaches soccer on Saturdays. I certainly dont mind drafting until the 17th of October, so we can get a little closer to the season and avoid early season injuries that hurt GM's last year. So lets start with these dates and times. Pick 5 in the order that works best for you and I'll try to find the best possible date for everyone.

Oct 18: 9pm EASTERN TIME (same for the rest)
Oct.19: 9pm
Oct. 20: 9am
Oct. 20: 1pm
Oct. 20: 5pm
Oct. 20: 8pm
Oct. 21: 9am
Oct. 21: 1pm
Oct. 21: 5pm
Oct. 21: 8pm
Oct. 22: 9pm
Oct. 23: 10pm
Oct. 24: 9pm
Oct. 25: 10pm
Oct. 26: 9pm

I threw in a few 9 and 10pm's for the weeknights to for since I dont know everyones best time. If a particilar day works just say for example: "Oct. 21: ALL DAY" or "Oct. 21: 8am to 7pm" or you can just say which dates DONT work for you. My goal is to get EVERYONE involved in the live draft so their are no excuses to lose.

THANKS!

HG

This is an updated post that I had from last year. Minor changes are subject to change if yahoo offers more options to fantasy nba.

This post is the basic's for those participating in my Dime Smack 2 fantasy league. Some information will benefit those who are new to fantasy nba.

1. League Type

Head to Head - Which means you'll face a different opponent every week. You'll be able to change your roster on a daily basis but you'll be able to do a week or two in advance if you know you can get to it. So if today is Monday, you can look at Tuesday and set your lineup for that day, and the same for Wednesday and so on. The key is that you do not want players that are playing a game to sit on your bench if you have an open position. The only reason you may leave a player on your bench is if you want to prevent getting extra turnovers or hurting your FG% or FT% (however, I'm not sure I've done this many times).

This is also a standard 9 category league: FG%, FT%, 3's, PTS, REBS, ASTS, STLS, BLKS, T/O.

2) Which brings me to the next thing, Positions Available.

PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, Utility, Bench, Bench, Bench, Bench.

I have added a bench spot over last year due to the larger league. It total you will have a 12 man roster. You will be able to collect stats on all positions except for those on your bench. You cannot play a Center at PG or vice versa. However, some players will have multiple positions they can play. Take Diaw for example. Last year he could play SG, G, SF, PF, F. These type of players can come in handy. So if you have Mike Bibby, he will only be able to start at PG or G. As such, it may not be wise to draft all guards because then you won't have enough to fill your roster. Remember anyone can play the utility position.

3) Who should you draft?

HAHA, like I'm going to tell you that. But actually, it all depends on how you think you can win. Some will try to balance there roster and get guys who can do everything. Some will seek those who will give monster stats in a few categories and try to win that way. Many just take the best available when it is their time to choose. You may not know which way you want to go until draft day once you start seeing who drafts who. There are always risky players to pick up, such as AK-47, Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, etc. These players have a history of missing significant time but are able to put up monster stats when healthy. You could take a chance and win with them or you can take a chance and bomb with them. These are the types of questions you need to already have answered before draft day comes.

4) Draft day

As you all know, DATE AND TIME ARE TO BE DETERMINED. This is my suggestion for you all for draft day. Find a list of the top 150 players, at least, or more in the league and print it off. Go through it and put notes next to those players you want and even cross out the ones you refuse to draft. You may also want to write down what round you would be willing to draft this player and that player. Then you want to try to find the sleeper or sleepers of the year. That one player that will be drafted in the 7th or 8th round, or picked up off the waiver wire that will end up being worth a 2nd or 3rd round selection. They are difficult to come by and you may fail miserably and it may cost you the league.

5) Other notes

We will, like last year, have a maximum number of add/drops for the year. For those who dont know what this is, it is adding or dropping someone from your team for a free agent. GM's, myself included, will take advantage of this option, especially during playoff times. For example, it is the last week of the playoffs and I have Rashard Lewis on my team. He plays Sun, Mon, & Wed, but the rest of the week he is done. Well, why do I want someone who doesnt get me stats on my team? Answer, I dont. So i drop him for the best available, even if it is for a scrub who will just get me 5 pts and 3 rebounds. It is more than Lewis will get me since he isnt playing and it could make a difference between winning and losing. Ace beat me by a few rebounds last year, so it has happened. Not that I'm bitter or anything..lol. As such, we will limit these. Use them up or save them, your choice. I'm thinking we will have 50 for the year, subject to change. Only other major item is Trade Approvals. Like last year, they will go through me. Last year I implemented a 1 day waiting period before a trade was approved. Mostly because we were all fairly new with each other and I didnt want teams stacked at the end of the year. We all feel pretty comfortable with who is playing this year, so a trade will be approved when I see it. And I check the league VERY often. Unless it is past 11pm central time, it will most likely be approved that day.

Ok, I think that is about all I want to cover. As soon as I am able to create a league we will get this it rolling. If anyone has any questions feel free to post on them on my blog.

Also, if you didnt see, the draft positions are finished. Just waiting for a little longer to see if Dime joins. If not then we'll get a replacement in there.

HG

Here is the final draft spot. I'll still need to decided what to do about spot 12, wait on Dime or move on to the waiting list..??

1. Oakland
2. Shifty
3. Pain
4. Kdjs
5. HG
6. Ace
   
7. Show
8. Quikdrummer
9. Heat24
10. GR8
    
11. Middlekingdom
    
12. FINAL SPOT
    
13. DaBurg
    
14. Ak47
    

Fantasy basketball is right around the corner. Last year was our first year and it was a big success. A reminder to all, Ace won last year, so he'll be the guy to knock off this year as the defending champ. As you may have noticed, I run a tight ship for my league and I only Commish one league so I can dedicate my time to just that league. We will have quite a few returning players this year. Below is the list of those who are guaranteed a spot in the 2007-2008 Dime Smack 2 League:

1. HG
2. Ace
3. GR8
4. Quik
5. Shifty
6. Show
7. Ak47
8. Heat24
9. Pain
10. Kdjs
11. Dime
12. Oakland
13. Middlekingdom
14. DaBurg

LEAGUE FILLED.  However, I have yet to hear from Dime, so if I can't get them in (which I expect they will) then another spot would open up. Now we are just waiting on a Dime commitment and Yahoo to open up.

More details to follow about specific rules and setups.

Well year 1 of our fantasy nba season is nearing and end. We had a VERY competitive league and Dime Magazine has promised prizes to the winner. (We'll try for that next year as well.)

So who wants in next year? Let me know who you are and why you should be able to play with the big boys next year. And, how I can contact you, either by blog or email. I'll try to remove emails as soon as possible once I get them.

You can avoid spam by doing (at) and (dot):    JoeSomebody(at)hotmail(dot)com

Commissioner

HG

The micro fiber synthetic ball is the most controversial topic in the NBA this year. That and the need to call more technical’s, but we won’t get into that. Many players have complained about the new ball:

Shaq: “feels like one of those cheap balls you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls.”

Barkley: “The one thing I hate about the ball, it always feels new, and if you ask Kenney (Smith), when we played, we always wanted an old, used ball.”

Both Wade and Nash say the ball is sticky when dry and slippery when wet.

Well I did a little research and found out why the ball is this way. Please read the following study by Physics Today Online:

This year the National Basketball Association switched from leather to synthetic basketballs to cut down on the amount of variation in behavior between balls used on the court. Unlike leather balls, the new synthetic balls--made out of a durable micro-fiber composite--do not require conditioning before use on the court, nor do they pick up moisture (a leather ball can gain 10% of its weight from moisture by the end o####ame). A synthetic basketball has a designed surface that is supposed to be easier to grip than its leather counterpart. However, the NBA players have all complained about the new basketballs saying that don't react or feel as easy to use as the old leather balls. Now, Kaushik De and colleagues from the University of Texas, Austin Physics Department have proven that the players are correct. Tests carried out under laboratory conditions, show that the synthetic ball bounces 5 to 8 percent lower than a typical leather ball when dropped from 4 ft, and the new ball bounces 30 percent more erratically. Moreover, because the new balls do not absorb moisture, the surface of the basketball retains a thin layer of water, making them harder to grip by the end of the game. The physicists suggest some improvements to the design of the synthetic ball (making it able to absorb more water for example) while they continue carrying out their next set of tests, including aerodynamic drag experiments in a wind tunnel.

As you have just read the ball is very different that the previous leather ball in regards to the way it feels and the way it bounces. Mark Cuban is responsible for contacting and hiring the physics to do the tests but Cuban is backing up the commissioner on the new ball. Cuban was asked what he planned on doing with the results and he said, “Nothing, just try to support the commissioner and the league to the fullest of my ability with the data.” Cuban said this? He must have had the hammer put on him lately because he has been quite. Ok, back to the ball… Now Stern has recently indicated that the release of the ball wasn’t done correctly and that he should have consulted players before it was released. Do I hear a "DUH!?!"

Stern has shown some signs that he made a mistake. Why the hell you release and new ball and not get player input is beyond me. If I was the commissioner I would have got Nash, Kidd, Ray Ray and Redd in my office to dribble the ball around, throw some passes and do some shooting to see what they thought. Does Stern play in the league and I just don't know about it? Who tested this new ball? And yes, there are also some rumors about his wife or someones wife pushing for the new ball because it is better for animals or something. Maybe this will come out more in the future.

I just don’t see how a ball that changes from being very dry and sticky to being wet is good at all. Sure it doesn’t gain weight by the end of the game like the old leather ball but the cons against the new ball outweigh the pros. Basically Stern needs to completely admit he was wrong and bring back the new ball now instead of dragging it out. He has already shown some signs of being wrong and now he will have everyone on his back to do something about it. Until they can get a new ball that everyone likes I think Stern should bring back the leather ball.

Thanks for reading,

HG

DIME SMACK LEAGUE IS SET-UP. If you are on the list go to yahoo.com, search for fantasy nba, and sign up.

Here is the list of those able to join, these will also serve as your team name so we know who is who.

1.HeatGeneral 2. Shifty450 3.quikdrummer 4. nyace29 5. sidaggi 6.Mr_Showtime 7. Jaer 8. Pain662 9.FMUruguay86 10. Hoffman 11. kdjs 12. Heat24 13. GR8ONE54 14. DIME

This post is the basic's for those participating in my Dime Smack fantasy league who may not know much about fantasy basketball. It will also help you in other leagues as well. I will try to explain the fundamentals of what you will need in the league. However, I will not give my secrets to winning :) those you'll have to figure out through experience.

1) What kind of league is this?

Head to Head - Which means you'll face a different opponent every week. You'll be able to change your roster on a daily basis but you'll be able to do a week or two in advance if you know you can get to it. So if today is Monday, you can look at Tuesday and set your lineup for that day, and the same for Wednesday and so on. The key is that you do not want players that are playing a game to sit on your bench if you have an open position. The only reason you may leave a player on your bench is if you want to prevent getting extra turnovers or hurting your FG% or FT% (however, I'm not sure I've done this many times).

2) Which brings me to the next thing, Positions Available.

PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, Utility, Bench, Bench, Bench.

It total you will have a 11 man roster (I may add another bench spot). You will be able to collect stats on all positions except for those on your bench. You cannot play a Center at PG or vice versa. However, some players will have multiple positions they can play. Take Diaw for example. Last year he could play SG, G, SF, PF, F. These type of players can come in handy because they can play multiple positions allowing you to start another player at a different position. So if you have Mike Bibby, he will only be able to start at PG or G. As such, it may not be wise to draft all guards because then you won't have enough to fill your roster. Remember anyone can play the utility position.

3) Who should you draft?

HAHA, like I'm going to tell you that. But actually, it all depends on how you think you can win. Some will try to balance there roster and get guys who can do everything. Some will seek those who will give monster stats in a few categories and try to win that way. You may not know which way you want to go until draft day once you start seeing who drafts who. There are always risky players to pick up, such as AK-47. He seems to be injured 20 to 40 games a year but the guy puts up monster stats, so do you take a risk on him? This guy could be drafted in the first round, but is that too high? These are the types of questions you need to already have answered before draft day comes.

4) Draft day

As you all know, Sept. 30th, at 10am Eastern time will be the date and time. Of course, this is subject to change as yahoo has to be open for fantasy bball by then. This is my suggestion for you all for draft day. Find a list of the top 150 players or more in the league and print it off. Go through it and put notes next to those players you want and even cross out the ones you refuse to draft. You may also want to write down what round you would be willing to draft this player and that player. Then you want to try to find the sleeper or sleepers of the year. That one player that will be drafted in the 7th or 8th round, or picked up off the waiver wire that will end up being worth a 2nd or 3rd round selection. They are difficult to come by and you may fail miserably and it may cost you the league. Last year I traded Eddie Jones for Stromile Swift. Swift was eligible for F/C which is HUGE in fantasy bball as centers are tough to come by plus he can play forward. NO-STRO was traded to the Rockets where everyone thought, he is finally out of that 10 man rotation in Memphis he is going to get plenty of minutes now. Well, HE SUCKED! Even when McGrady and Yao went down he came off the bench. Stromile will be a fantasy sleeper canidate again this year, will he break out and became a good player with Gasol out for a couple of months, who knows, you'll have to decide.

Ok, that is about all you need to know about getting your team started. As soon as I am able to create a league we will get this thang rolling!

HG

Ok guys and gals.

My blog is going to serve as the official fantasy nba site this year for Dime Smack. I'm about as big as they come when it comes to fantasy nba. We are going to do a league with Yahoo.com as it appears most are familar with their setup more than anyone elses. This will help keep all the confusion out of it and most will not have to sign up for a ID.

What I want to start doing it putting together a list of those who want in. If you are interested just leave your name. Depending on how many people want in we may have to break it up into two leagues.

HG

Hey Boys and Girls, this is your chance to pick your NBA ALL-DULL Team. It is real simple, I have provided a list of active players whom I consider overrated, get paid to much, are injuried constantly or I just don't like :) Post your starting 5 and I will have a fantasy playoff bracket of the teams and annouce the winner. Note, you can play any player at any position.

G: Marbury, Damon Jones, Baron Davis, Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric,  Miles, Larry Hughes, Rickey Davis, McGrady, Tinsley, Jalen Rose, Steve Franchise, Q Richardson, Grant Hill

F: Webber, Wally Z, Vin Baker, Croshere, Kenyon Martin, Tim Thomas, Kwame Brown, Brain Grant, Brian Cardinal, Stromile Swift, Kyle Korver, Zach Randolph, Raef Lafrentz

C: Ratliff, Dampier, Rasho, Nene, Camby, Chandler, Blount, Eddy Curry, Jerome James, Darko Milicic, Sam Dalembert.

Other players that still get paid that you can use: Shawn Bradley, Allan Houstan, Jamal Mashburn

GOOD LUCK!