Apparently the Sports Guy hasn’t attended any MIT frat parties.  Not that he’s missing much.  Anyway I found this reference to MIT from his NBA trade value rankings, King James version article quite funny.

 If I’m Houston’s Daryl Morey during the All-Star break, I’m buying Patron shots for the Maloofs until 3 a.m. Sunday, then offering them T-Mac and a 2009 No. 1 for Martin and Kenny Thomas’ deal that expires in 2010. Then again, Daryl went to MIT — he probably couldn’t do three shots without passing out …

I also found Sport Guy’s assessment of Bargnani depressing because it’s probably accurate.

Andrea Bargnani: His ceiling? Memo Okur. Is this a good thing for the No. 1 overall pick of a 2007 draft that included LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy? Probably not.

Tags: raptors
Categories: Basketball
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My fantasy basketball team is pulling away from the pack but I am still playing around with it, seeking perfection.  Now I can welcome Jesus Shuttlesworth to my team, aka Ray Allen.

Mon, Feb 2 4:01 PM PST my trade ofer for Ray Allen was accepted.  It went through Wed, Feb 4 4:29 PM PST.  It looks great based on the 2009 stats.

Ray Allen is playing better than expected and I don’t expect it to be kept up.  But on the other hand Brand and Ellis are damaged goods and Bargnani is too inconsistent.  All three were on my bench.  Plus I get Boozer who hopefully will come back strong from injury though I am not counting on it.  I actually dropped Boozer a month ago so it’s nice to get him back.  Sorry Alan I traded Bargnani.

The weird thing is now I have too many good players.  Do I put Joe Johnson on my bench?  Or Charlie Villanueva?  I guess it’s a nice problem to have.

Update: Just after I orignally wrote this post it was announced that Elton Brand will have season ending surgery.  I discovered that after noticing that the team to whom I traded Brand had dropped him.  Talk about trading someone just in time.

Tags: fantasy,raptors
Categories: Basketball
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The Portland Trail Blazers consulted a sleep doctor from Harvard Medical School to help them with their east coast road trips.  In the past they had done poorly on some trips and thought it might be a sleep issue.  After following this doctor’s advice their record has been much better and other teams are probably going to contact this doctor too.

Now if only someone could tell Victoria to sleep better and stop waking everyone else up. 

After going 7-14 last season in games played two or more time zones away, the Blazers are 7-2 this season heading into this week’s four-game trip that starts Monday in Chicago and continues through Philadelphia, New Jersey and Charlotte.

“Sleep can provide a tactical advantage, and it is largely unrecognized in sports,” Czeisler said.

Blazers adjust their snoozing — to stop losing

Tags: Victoria
Categories: Basketball
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MLB

• Pat Gillick proves he’s a winner by leading the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series title.  And just like with the Blue Jays he leaves and already the Phillies are making bad moves, like signing Raul Ibanez for too much money in an over-crowded outfield market.
• I predicted the Tampa Bay Rays would win the World Series and was quite wrong as their bullpen continued to implode.   I think they should have used Shields for Game 5 part 2.  He is their best pitcher and then they could have used Garza in Game 6.  Maddon definitely should have pinch hit for Howell.
• The Yankees once again made it difficult to be a Blue Jays fan as they signed the top three free agents.  I don’t think I have ever seen an offseason so dominated by one team.  For the Yankees they were good signings because they print money but for any other team they would be bad ones.  C.C., A.J. and Teix are just not that good.
• Last season if the Blue Jays had been in another division they would have made the playoffs.  Now with Burnett gone, Marcum and McGowan hurt and the Yankees stocked things look grim.  The Blue Jays should trade Halladay and Wells to the Yankees for a package of prospects.  I would do it for a package that included Joba and Hughes.  They definitely should trade Halladay because he deserves to win a championship.

Olympics

• I had mixed feelings about the Beijing Olympics before they started.  In the end I enjoyed these Olympics probably more than any other except the 1976 Montreal Olympics because I actually attended those with my family.  (It was at those Olympics we learned I needed glasses because I needed to use the binoculars to see the scoreboard).  And it is too bad that I and so many others enjoyed them since it accomplished one of China’s goals, to obscure China’s abominable human rights record.
• I watched seven out of eight of Michael Phelp’s gold medal races.  I am normally not like this.
• I was surprised by how much I enjoyed NBC’s coverage (except for the tape delay).  Maybe it was because for the first time I had cable during the Olympics so I could also watch MSNBC, CNBC and other stations.  Still NBC was lambasted for its coverage and CBC was applauded.
• I was annoyed with watching “live coverage” that was actually delayed by three hours because I am on the west coast.
• Beijing’s opening ceremonies were stunning but part of me couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about the fact that China spent billions, far more than any other nation ever will, yet many parts of their country are still burdened with oppressive poverty.  It would be like going to someone’s house, being presented a lavish dinner and then noticing the kids are gaunt and eating week old cabbage soup.

NFL

• I am still upset the Patriots lost.  And I am not even a Patriots fan.
• I would become a 49er’s fan but their new uniforms are unattractive to say the least.  What happened to tradition?
• It’s impossible to become an Oakland Raiders fan with Al Davis as the owner.

NBA

• I am not a Celtics fan but I hate the Lakers.  Therefore I thoroughly enjoyed the finals.  In general though I found the 2008 playoffs the most interesting I have ever watched.  Maybe again it was because I had cable and was actually able to see some of the games, like the Hawks repeatedly beating a shocked Celtics team in Atlanta.
• The Raptors are struggling and Chris Bosh will leave in 2010.  It’s sad when our greatest hope is Bargnani.  I think I will become a Golden State Warriors fan even though the team is poorly coached, the front office is horrible, and they seem to wear a different uniform every night.  But at least they are entertaining, all offense, no defense.
• I am enjoying winning my fantasy basketball leagues.

NHL

• In the one sport where my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, would actually have an overwhelming revenue advantage there is a salary cap.
• I heard the San Jose Sharks are good.  Maybe it’s time to switch.

Some are saying 2008 was one of the best years in sports.  I am not so sure about that but I thoroughly enjoyed it even if all my teams sucked.

Tags: blue jays,raptors
Categories: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Sports
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A local kid who I am assuming is Chinese, Jeremy Lin, led Harvard to its first upset ever of a ranked team, Number 17 Boston College which had just upset Number 1 UNC.  I saw the highlights of this upset on ESPN SportsCenter and at the time I was wondering why they were showing highlights of a Harvard game until I realized the significance of the upset.

I’ve read about Jeremy Lin a few times in the local newspaper since he’s from Palo Alto.  Today’s article wonders why Lin did not choose Stanford or Santa Clara but I think most Asian parents would prefer their child go to Harvard.

According to his Harvard Bio, Lin enjoys going to church.  I wonder which Boston area church he attends.

Jeremy Lin, the Harvard point guard from Palo Alto High, was the talk of college basketball Thursday. The previous night, the Crimson beat a ranked team for the first time in school history, dropping No. 17 Boston College 82-70.

The 6-foot-3 junior had 27 points, eight assists, six steals, three rebounds and two blocked shots … USA Today titled a blog entry “Meet the man who beat Boston College.”

It’s all enough to make one wonder why Lin’s career didn’t continue in the Pac-10 (ahem, Stanford) or West Coast Conference (ahem ahem, Santa Clara)…

Palo Alto’s Lin makes Harvard the talk of the nation – San Jose Mercury News.

Categories: Basketball
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I can’t stop tinkering with my fantasy basketball team.  My team has pulled away a little from #2 and #3 but things change quickly.

Fri, Jan 2 11:56 AM PST my trade for Kidd was accepted after many trades and counter-trades.  It went go through Sun, Jan 4 12:28 PM PST.  It looks good based on the 2009 stats.

The trade looks good because, except for FG% and PTS, Kidd outperforms Stuckey.  Kidd really is stellar for steals and has great rebounds for a point guard.  However Stuckey sometimes has games as though he is the next Dwayne Wade like this game on Jan. 2 where he scored 38 points, adding seven assists, two steals, and four rebounds.  It made me wish I hadn’t consummated the deal.  In fact before I offered Stuckey and Duhon for Kidd and canceled because Stuckey soon scored 40 points.  At least I was able to trade for Kidd for a cheaper price.

Update: Last night Kidd scored 0 points while Stuckey had a stellar game with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals.  I hope Kidd is not hurt.  I am regretting this trade more and more.  Maybe I should stop trading.

Categories: Basketball
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In my fantasy rotisserie league I am still first but the westview wildcats and now the kentucky simonsays are right behind me.

Fri, Dec 26 12:35 PM PST I offered my friend, Mike Law, the following trade which was accepted and went through on Sun, Dec 28, 4:28 PM PST.  It looks good based on the 2009 stats.

This trade will be good for my friend.  Duhon is one of the top point guards in the league and Perkins has been averaging a double double in December.  My friend needed the depth and the assists.

For my team I don’t need Duhon’s assists.  Also my team is deeper and I can replace Perkins with Kaman who will be hopefully back soon.  Camby is a bit better than Perkins so I’m happy with the deal, as long as Camby stays healthy.  Plus Camby is a former Raptors #1 pick.

Looking back at my other trades I am becoming less happy with the results.

1. LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol for Elton Brand
   Elton Brand dislocated his shoulder and it does not look good.  Aldridge is playing better and better.
2. Troy Murphy for Tracy McGrady
   McGrady comes back from his injury playing like a top 5 player making me regret dropping him.  Then he starts playing badly and ends up hurt again making me regret trading for him.
3. O.J. Mayo, Tyson Chandler for Dirk Nowitski
   Only trade I’m happy about.
4. Tayshaun Prince for Shawn Marion
   Shawn Marion is playing worse and worse.  He really doesn’t look like a good fit with Wade.  Prince is amazingly doing even worse.
5. Nate Robinson, Jameer Nelson for Josh Smith
   Nate and Jameer are playing amazing.  Josh Smith is still inconsistent and annoying me.
6. Al Horford for Carlos Boozer
   Horford has been playing better and better while Boozer is still hurt with no return date in sight.

Tags: raptors
Categories: Basketball
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In my fantasy rotisserie league I am first but the westview wildcats and I have been switching back and forth between first and second.  Wanting to improve my team I offered Tracy McGrady and Al Horford for Carlos Boozer and Lou Williams.  The other team soon after dropped Lou Williams so I thought the trade would not happen.  But then the team owner emailed me and said he would do Boozer for Horford straight up which I gladly accepted.

Mon, Dec 1 4:01 PM PST the trade was accepted and went through on Wed, Dec 3, 4:30 PM PST.  It looks good based on the 2009 stats.

And it looks better based on the 2009 projections.

My reasoning for the trade is pretty simple.  Carlos Boozer is a top player, Al Horford is up and coming.  Boozer is hurt right now which might have motivated the other team to trade him but he should be healthy soon.  He doesn’t get as many as blocks but I have plenty of those and he gives me a much better shooting percentage, which is what I need.

Looking back at my other trades I am pretty happy with the results.

1. LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol for Elton Brand
   Pretty happy about this trade.  Elton Brand has been underperforming and is hurt now.  But he has still been playing better than Aldridge.
2. Troy Murphy for Tracy McGrady
   Disaster!  McGrady has been playing hurt and is now out for at least three weeks.  Today I dropped McGrady.  Murphy has been playing well, especially lately.
3. O.J. Mayo, Tyson Chandler for Dirk Nowitski
   O.J. Mayo has been playing great but Dirk has been awesome.  That German can play!
4. Tayshaun Prince for Shawn Marion
   Shawn Marion has not been great but Tayshaun has really dropped off.  Looks like I couldn’t have timed that trade any better.
5. Nate Robinson, Jameer Nelson for Josh Smith
   I thought Nate and Jameer were going to cool off but they actually played even better.  I was starting to think Jameer had taken the next step and was going to be an All-Star.  However both got hurt.  And Josh Smith just played his first game since a long layoff due to injury.  The jury is still out on this trade.

Now that the Raptors fired their coach, will Andrea Bargnani now become the All-Star we always hoped he would be.  Will someone please trade me Bosh?  Can Calderon please play like he did before he got hurt?

Here’s the craziest idea.  The Raptors trade for Vince Carter for some expiring contracts, make a long run into the playoffs, knock off the Celtics and Lakers, and Vince wins it all with a 360 degree dunk over Pau Gasol.  Emotional wounds suffered by so many Raptors fans will be healed and we can wear our Vince Carter jerseys again.  Too much wishful thinking?

Tags: raptors
Categories: Basketball
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This week I made two trades in my head to head league.

Tue, Nov 18 12:27 PM PST I accepted the following trade offer.  It went through Thu, Nov 20, 12:31 PM PST.  Looking at the 2009 stats it looks unfavorable.

But it looks quite good based on the 2009 projections.

My reasoning for the trade is that Shawn Marion is a 1st to 2nd round player and his average ESPN draft position was 10th.  Tayshaun Prince’s average ESPN draft position was 95th and I took him in the 8th round.

I think Tayshaun Prince is going to have a great season while I expect Shawn Marion not to live up to expectations.  In the worst case scenario Tayshaun may have a better season but I think the most likely scenario is that Shawn does better.  One concern with Tayshaun is that he has to share the ball with the selfish Allen Iverson and also the scorers Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace.

Shawn is clearly not going to be the number one option in Miami but hopefully he will be number two, it depends on Michael Beasley’s growth as a player.  I actually would not be surprised to see Shawn traded, maybe to the Lakers which would not be good for his numbers.

Also I had to do the deal because I needed a power forward which Shawn Marion qualifies.  I had no idea I would soon be getting another power forward.

Shortly afterwards I made another trade at Tue, Nov 18 10:01 PM PST. It went through Thu, Nov 20, 10:31 PM PST. Again it is another trade where the 2009 stats look bad but the 2009 projections look good.

Josh Smith is a second round player, average ESPN draft position of 18, while Nate Robinson and Jameer Nelson weren’t even drafted onto peoples’ starting rosters with average draft positions of 111 and 115 respectively.

Since Jameer and Nate are so hot and Josh is hurt, which is hurting his numbers, especially his player rating which is currently negative, I thought I might have a shot at getting him.  Plus I have too many of these small point guard/shooting guard types.  I was pretty happy when the trade went through and I can use the blocks and steals.

Also someone recently offered me Cutino Mobley for Brandon Roy.  Cutino Mobley!  I countered with Brandon Roy for Amare Stoudemire.

Categories: Basketball
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This is my second Fantasy Basketball team, named the Funky Kimchees, the same name I have used for all my Fantasy Baseball teams.  I decided to do another draft because I thought I could do much better than my first draft plus I wanted to try out playing in a head-to-head (H2H) league.

After the draft I was immediately tied for first, and now I am alone in first.

Looking over the draft I made one glaring mistake.

1. I realized when I was drafting my last active player that I had no power forwards.  So I had to draft Drew Gooden because he was the only decent power forward left.
2. Later I realized there were several better power forwards but I did not notice them because their primary position was center.  ESPN’s draft tool is horrible at finding players, I should have used ESPN’s fantasy website to find eligible power forwards.  If I had done that I would have Nene and be in much better position.

Here is my analysis of my draft.  I had the number six position which I liked a lot.  I was hoping for the first or fourth or fifth position but this position worked perfectly.

Round 1
I had planned on taking Dwayne Wade and if he was not available Dwight Howard.  Dwayne was there so I took him and immediately afterwards my friend Kwang took Dwight.  I think Dwayne is amazing, according to my stats he is currently #2 behind Chris Paul.

Round 2
I had planned on taking Jason Kidd in the second round and there he was.  Kidd is having a phenomenal season though I expect his field goal percentage to go down.

Round 3
I knew entering this draft that I would take Jose Calderon and I did as my number three pick. My backups were  Paul Pierce, who Kwang took immediately after me, and Chris Bosh, who went four picks after I took Jason Kidd in the previous round.  I saw Danny Granger was available and would have liked to have taken him but I am too loyal to Calderon.

Round 4
Bosh and Al Jefferson were already gone, having gone in the second round.  I was excited to pick up Caron Butler though he has been underperforming.  I thought of maybe Hedo Turkoglu but Caron Butler excites me more.

Round 5
Here I took Golden State sensation Andris Biedrins.  It was a little high but I had to have him.

Rounds 6 and 7
I was debating at this point whether to take Brandon Roy or Jamal Crawford.  I took Brandon Roy, figuring there was a better chance Jamal Crawford would be available in the next round and he was!  Fantastic two rounds.

Rounds 8 and 9
I was hoping Zach Randolph would be available but he was taken before I took Jamal Crawford.  I was originally expecting to take Zydrunas Ilgauskas but I decided I did not want to take a chance that Tayshaun Prince would be taken.  I was quite pleased that Zydrunas Ilgauskas was available for me to pick up in round 9.

Round 10
Expecting to pick up someone who had been producing a lot like Nene Hilario or Rajon Rando I suddenly realized I needed a power forward and grudgingly drafted Drew Gooden.  Later I realized Nene was eligible at power forward and that I should have drafted him.  Kenyon Martin might have been a better pick too but he had been a bit hurt.

Rounds 11, 12, 13
Here I took whoever had been hot so I picked Nate Robinson (really hot), Jameer Nelson and Chris Duhon.  I wish I had drafted Nene instead of Jameer but I thought I could get Nene in round 13.

Overall the draft went about as well as I could have hoped.  Yet still it’s a tight race for first in this league.

Categories: Basketball
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