With fantasy leagues on hold during the all-star break, here’s a quick trip through the rumor mill. There’s interest from multiple teams in Jose Calderon and Leandro Barbosa. The Lakers may have already signed Rasheed Wallace, covet Michael Beasley and have been linked to Raymond Felton. Non-stop speculation about Dwight Howard will continue. A few fantasy VIP — very important players — are expected to return soon: Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Danilo Gallinari, Elton Brand and Manu Ginobili. Other useful guys who may even have been dropped in your league while sidelined include Gerald Henderson, Brandon Bass, Richard Hamilton and C.J. Watson. Nobody knows when Andrea Bargnani will play again, which means Amir Johnson and James Johnson should both continue to start, Ed Davis will be the main backup and even Aaron Gray has value in deep leagues.
Roto vs. Head-to-Head
Rotisserie is the original fantasy scoring system, named for the defunct Manhattan restaurant where the founders drew up the rules for a baseball game. Head-to-Head has become steadily more popular. In H2H, owners compete in the same stat categories as Roto, but instead of matching wits and luck with everyone else, for an entire season, you play against only one opponent at a time, over just one week.
Both formats have their advocates. Roto is a greater test of skill; H2H, with its small sample sizes, is affected more by luck. Roto standings fluctuate, sometimes glacially, over months. It’s difficult to make up a large deficit or catch a runaway leader. Head-to-head is far more volatile. Teams can make second-half comebacks, sneak into the playoffs and pull an upset.
In either version, or in a Points league with custom scoring, keeper leagues (where players can be owned for multiple seasons) are far more challenging than annual redraft leagues. Those who take fantasy hoops seriously tend to play in nothing else. Like me, until stumbling across a new variation a few years ago.
Elimination Roto is infinitely more exciting than standard Roto and requires more skill than H2H. It’s absolutely the most fun you can have in a single-season fantasy league.
Our Roto Elim league began with 20 teams drafting 16-man rosters. (Yes, the free agent pool is ridiculously shallow at first, but wait.) Normally, we eliminate the two worst teams each month; this year’s schedule forced a slight adjustment.
At the end of January, the three bottom-ranked teams were eliminated, with all their players placed on special one-day waivers by the Commissioner. In reverse order of the month-end standings, after applying tiebreakers if necessary, the 17 surviving teams made as many waiver claims as they wanted.
The same thing is about to happen at the end of this month — three more teams will be dropped, while the remaining 14 owners get to add their best players. By the time we get to April, there will be just 11 teams left, each with terrific rosters. As it’s difficult just to survive, winning is quite an accomplishment.
The format produces fabulous finishes every month. Very strong teams get eliminated, by aiming for the first draft pick and miscalculating — two former champions flew a little too close to the sun on January 31.
Many of us bench productive players — squandering potentially valuable stats — in the early part of each season. Later on, with fewer teams, it’s possible to “catch up” in the GP deficit by streaming useful free agents.
Other owners attempt to build a large lead early and hold on, despite settling for less valuable additions in the mini-drafts. Because this is relatively new, nobody is entirely sure what strategy works best. The come-from-behind style, a classic case of risk vs. reward, appeals most to me.
With just two days of NBA play remaining in February, seven teams (including mine) are bunched within 8.5 points. Two will be eliminated, the other five get to add a star, for nothing. It typically comes down to the west coast games on Wednesday — one missed free throw or turnover has been known to end someone’s season.
It’s quite an elaborate game of chicken. The 17th-place team is toast. The owner in 16th, desperate to survive, will start all 10 players on the 28th and 11 on the 29th. That forces teams just above him to do the same, or risk elimination. I’m sitting 11th, with 20 possible starters. If I play them all, there’s very little risk of elimination and almost no chance to get first pick in the mini-draft.
I’d like to lose a couple of Roto points — but not too many — on Tuesday. Fortunately, my roster is set up nicely for Feb. 29, with four 9:00 starts and two 10:30 tipoffs. However, the owners just ahead of me and right behind have the same idea. If any of us has a terrible night at the worst possible time, we could bounce all the way to 15th and miss the cut. As I always advise rookies, “Beware the rising floor.”
If you think traditional Rotisserie or Points leagues don’t have enough action and Head-to-Head playoffs are a crapshoot, give Roto Elim a try. I’m happy to forward the rules to anyone who wants to start a similar league next year.
No matter what unique rules your leagues may feature, it’s going to be an exciting second half. Tomorrow morning, we’ll take another team-by team look to help you get ready.
Kent,
Can you please send me the rules for Elimination Roto? Sounds right up my alley. I traditionally participate in one Roto and one H2H each season but both are non-keeper and are getting stale. I (apparently) dont have any way to contact you other than the comments section. Thanks.