Winning at NBA Fantasy Basketball
There's still plenty of time to pull out a fantasy league victory.
Rotisserie style NBA Fantasy Basketball leagues are not the same as Head-to-Head style leagues. Different strategies work best depending on the type of league.
About two-thirds of the NBA season is over with and if your NBA Fantasy Basketball teams are in trouble, don't fret! There's help available.
Make no mistake about it, we’re approaching an important point in the season where everything you do can determine whether you end up victorious, or whether you end up plunging toward the bottom of your league standings. It's important to note that different strategies work for different types of fantasy leagues.
Tips for Head-to-Head leagues
Remember that in head-to-head (H2H), getting a lot of games in is often your best weapon (that is, of course, unless your H2H league has a set limit to the amount of games that can be used each week). If your league has a playoff system – which usually occurs in the last few weeks of the season – now is the time to start planning for the playoffs if it looks like you’ll be in the mix for a playoff spot.
- Try to make some 2-for-1 trades before your league's trade deadline passes. This is a good idea for two reasons. One, you usually end up with a better player than the two players you gave up in 2-for-1's. Second, unless your team already lacks depth, you want to make sure to have some extra roster spots to be able to play the wire during the playoffs. Find the guys who are hot during that stretch and get as many games in as you can.
- Look for players whose teams will play a lot of games during your playoff duration. If one player plays only one or two games during the designated week of the playoffs and another player plays three or four games during that same week, you'll obviously have an advantage with the latter player.
- Fill your voids. It doesn't do a lot of good to completely annihilate everyone in one particular category only to lose every week in another category. Balance out your stats. Of course, this is assuming your league is set up with the type of scoring system that rewards you one point for every Statistical category (STAT CAT) you win. Some leagues are set up so that you only have to win STAT CATs than your opponent, in which case, you get "1 win" and your opponent gets "1 loss" no matter how much you beat them by (If your league is set up the other way and you win 6 out of 9 STAT CATs, you get "6 wins" and "3 losses" and your opponent gets the opposite).
Tips for Rotisserie Leagues
- Know how much you are ahead/behind in each STAT CAT. If you're losing in one STAT CAT, do some number-crunching to determing the pace you'd need to keep in order to catch one or more spots in that STAT CAT. For instance, it doesn't help you to trade players that will cost you two or more points in various STAT CATS just to make up one point in one particular STAT CAT.
- Play the wire. With the unusually high number of injuries to NBA stars this season, the waiver wire has been a gold mine. Teams that have consistently kept up with the wire have had the opportunity to patch holes in their team's lineup and make a push toward the top of their leagues.
- If your league has a limit set to the amount of games you can use per position, be mindful of that. For example, in Yahoo NBA Fantasy Public Leagues, there's a limit of 82 games per position, including Utility spots. Using all of your games too soon means you're likely playing weaker players when you could save those games for your better players.
Resources
Good luck on your quest for victory. Whether it be for bragging rights against your co-workers or friends or loads of cash, winning your Fantasy Basketball League brings good feelings. There's still plenty of time to make that happen.
