Fantasy Basketball

Fantasy basketball is near the last rung of exciting fantasy games. You would think all the excitement in the NBA should transcend into a great head-2-head fantasy league. It just doesn't seem to carry over well. Not that fantasy basketball is all bad. There's plenty of stats and players to support it, but it seems there is just something missing.

I once ran a fantasy basketball league called The Starting Five, which had a roster size of 10 and , yes, 5 starters. It was a head-2-head league that used the basic stat categories: PTS, REB, STL, AST, etc. I thought it was set up well but there was something missing. The league lacked a strategic approach to winning. It seemed you could just simply lock-in you best 5 players and run with it. Your chances of winning were almost the same if you just took auto pick in the draft and never made any changes to the starters.

I gave up on The Starting Five for a few years and joined public fantasy basketball leagues instead. I tried them all: head-2-head, rotisserie, and points style. I felt each of these had them same problem. There was just no strategy.

This year I'm hoping to revamp The Starting Five. I developed a simple and basic structure that I hope will make the league interresting. These are the key settings for the league:

League Size: 10-14

Scoring Type: Head-to-Head

Roster Positions: PG, G, PF, F, C, BN

Players Stat Categories: Free Throw Percentage (FT%), Points Scored (PTS), Total Rebounds (REB), Assists (AST), Steals (ST), Blocked Shots (BLK), Turnovers (TO)

Draft Type: Live Draft
Draft Time: Mon Oct 26 8:00pm EDT

Max Moves: No maximum
Max Trades: No maximum

Max Acquisitions per Week: 1

League ID#: 98337
League Name: THE STARTING 5
Password: fad5
Custom League URL: http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/thestartingfive

Hopefully things will start off on the right foot with a live online draft the night before the NBA season begins. Live drafts are fun and the timing is relevant.

I'm going with a roster size of 6 with the bench spot being the 6th man. With 10-14 teams in the league, this will leave the top NBA stars on managers teams. There will be plenty of familiarity on teams and also in the free agent pool.

It will go head-2head and stick with the basic stats that everyone can conjure.

The only restriction on moves will be the 1 acquisition per week setting. The idea hear is to allow managers to change players all they want but prevent a loop hole where you could change your team everyday and never have regular days off. I acquisition per week should still generate plenty of interactivity.

I included the league ID and Password above. The league is just-for-fun. No entry fee. If you read this and you are interested, please join.