Click on this banner to sign up for DraftStreet’s two-day NBA playoff fantasy leagues
Can lightning strike twice in the same spot?
Folks seem to think so in Draft Street’s two-day fantasy contests, where an astounding 70 out of 100 players selected Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert in the $22 entry fee contest.
I was one of them, and my goose is cooked unless Hibbert and fellow starting center Kendrick Perkins both have big games tonight, along with Blake Griffin. As I wrote yesterday, I have fielded a team with both of those low-prices centers on the eight-man roster. But the five guys who played yesterday — LeBron James, Joe Johnson, Tony Parker, Marcus Thornton and Paul Pierce — all had pedestrian nights Thursday.
The guys to play were Marco Belinelli and Ray Allen, and I should have known to pick both because I touted both of them yesterday — also saying I would not pick them because of the lightning does not strike twice theory. Silly me.
(ALL FIRST-TIME DEPOSITORS GET A FREE T-SHIRT OF THE PHIL JACKSON TAKEOFF ON THE OBAMA-HOPE CAMPAIGN. CLICK HERE.)
Today, I am entering two teams in the $11 entry-fee tournament, trying to get further back into the black (the profit for the week is down to $13) after two straight days of failing to finish in the money. In the Wednesday-Thursday league, by best finish was 194th of 875 with this team (displayed alongside the winning roster):
As you can see, the winning team struck gold with the four low-money selections of Allen, Hibbert, Kevin Garnett and Shaun Livingston, winning the $250 first prize by a mere quarter of a point.
For my drafting strategy today, I am going to key on the teams that are desperate to stay alive — Portland and Brooklyn — in the belief that both will shorten their rotations and give big minutes to the players that are producing, such as Livingston and Nicolas Batum. My two low-priced guys are Livingston ($7,719) and Mirza Teletovic ($5,576) of the Brooklyn Nets, and I am staying away from everyone on the San Antonio Spurs (except Belinelli) because Pop keeps going 12 deep, spreading the minutes awfully thin.
Here are the rules for DraftStreet’s salary cap leagues …
You pick three guards, three forwards, one center and one utility player using a salary cap of $100,000, and then you root for them to fill up the box score. You can sign up here.
Steals and blocks are worth 2 points. Rebounds are worth 1.25 points. Assists are worth 1.5 points. You lose 1 point for every turnover, and you lose 0.5 points for every missed field goal attempt or missed free throw attempt.
Here are today’s prices:
| DraftStreet | Price |
| Stars | $$$ |
| LeBron James | $22,285 |
| Kevin Durant | $21,270 |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | $20,420 |
| Russell Westbrook | $20,165 |
| Chris Paul | $19,336 |
| Value Plays? | Under $9,000 |
| Kevin Garnett | $8,106 |
| Danny Green | $7,383 |
| Ray Allen | $6,790 |
| Marco Belinelli | $6,248 |
| Thabo Sefolosha | $5,540 |
Allen’s price is up $1,200 from yesterday, and I am going to stay away from him because of the lightning never strikes in the same place three times theory. Of course, I am hoping that theory does not apply to Belinelli, who MUST have a third straight productive game to have me in the running for the $500 first prize.
So one of my teams has Livingston, Tekletovic and Belinelli as three bargain basement picks, while the other will remain a mystery because I don’t want to tip my hand.
Like you, I want to win the $500.
Next week, DraftStreet is having a monster tournament on the 12th and 13th with a $10,000 first prize off of a $22 entry fee. I will have at least two teams in that tourney, many more if I can turn a profit over the weekend and reinvest the money. You can sign up now by clicking on this banner at the top of the DraftStreet home page. Again, here is the sign-up link.
Heck, that 10 grand can be my entry fee at the World Series of Poker.
Yes, I play cards, too.
And poker, like fantasy hoops, is a game of skill.
Hopefully my skills and yours will be rewarded over the next few days. Good luck!