Why I Don’t Play Fantasy Basketball
by Jeff Clark on Oct 22, 2007 6:00 AM EDT
in Boston Celtics Articles
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PrintI’ve gotten a number of invites to play fantasy basketball and I appreciate each one. However, I’ve turned each one down. I just don’t like to play the game. I tried it once, years ago, and it just didn’t stick. I do play fantasy football, but that’s all I can handle. ESPN the Mag had an article on several reasons why fantasy basketball is so great. Here’s my reasons why I don’t agree.
1. I can’t commit. The ESPN writer mentioned that baseball is too much (every day) and football too little (once a week) but basketball (every couple days) is just right. Sorry, that doesn’t fly with me. I need the structure of knowing I have to set up my lineup by Thursday at the earliest once a week. I’m not really a man of routine, so the every day checking of baseball lineups is too much. Updating the basketball lineups maybe every couple of days is just too nebulous for me.
2. Basketball is not a stats game. With apologies to John Hollinger, Henry Abbott, and other stat-apologists, I just don’t see it. Two years ago Mike James scored 20 points a game for Toronto. Does that make him a good player? Udonis Haslem will never crack the top 50 in points scored. Does that make him less of a player? Hollinger has Manu Ginobili ranked just behind Kevin Garnett and ahead of Gilbert Arenas, Steve Nash, and Tracy McGrady. I can see how stats help round out the experience. They are meant to enhance the appreciation of the sport. But fantasy is all about the numbers and the numbers just don’t tell the whole story.
3. I’m not a stats guy. Like I said, I can see how you might enjoy the stats. I have nothing against them per-se. I just can’t get into them myself. I can’t care how many rebounds Marcus Camby got on any given night. I don’t want to pick up Smush Parker so I can get my steals stats up. Maybe Kendrick Perkins won’t fill up the stat sheet, but he fills up the lane and when he sets a pick that rattles Gilbert Arenas, that helps the team win games.
4. Too invested in Celtics. If I were playing fantasy basketball, I’d want to have a team of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins. Come to think of it, that wouldn’t be half bad on most years, but this year there’s only so many stats to go around and that team would likely be very middle of the road. And of course, I’d be "that guy" that drafts his home team in spite of better players being on the board. I don’t want to be "that guy."
5. Doesn’t help me follow the league. In fantasy football, I can really get a feel for the rest of the league by following my players. Once a week, I catch the recaps and watch all the highlights of the games to pick up on trends and track my players and potential pickups. It also tells me how well the teams are doing because if the running back and quarter back are rolling, generally speaking so is the team. Basketball doesn’t really do that for me. Just because Vince Carter has a couple nice jams on the highlights doesn’t tell me if the Nets are a good team. Honestly, if I wanted an easy way to get a feel for other teams, I’d rather play video games (but I don’t really play those much either).
When it all comes down to it, maybe I’m missing out on a really good thing. I know fantasy basketball is great for a lot of you. More power to you. But I guess the biggest reason I don’t play fantasy basketball is because I blog. The more time I spend on fantasy, the less time I spend blogging. That’s the bottom line. So thanks for the invites. But I’ll take a pass.
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I’m playing fantasy football this year and it’s pretty fun – but here’s the issue, I don’t like setting things up that conflict with rooting for the Patriots. I’ll probably stay in the league for the hanging out aspect, but I don’t think I’ll ever get too into fantasy, I’m too big a fan of the real teams.
Ok, well i don’t get you guys. I have three teams every season in each of the sports that matters (baseball, basketball, football) and they’re all very enjoyable, for different reasons. Daily head to head is the way to go— if you think you hate fantasy and you haven’t tried that format then that probably has something to do with your distaste. Maybe I’m wrong.
Isn’t it possible to root for one of your guys to have a good game in a losing effort against your real team? never creates a conflict for me. I win consistently and, what’s more, I do it with quality guys. If I don’t like a guy, I don’t draft him and I don’t care how good he is. In fact, in baseball I go so far as to institute this strict rule: NO RED SOX on my teams. And it works and there are no conflicts.
Plus, I feel like I have a lot more knowledge of players than the average fan. Who knows that Walter Hermann, Andreis Bedrins, and David West are all totally solid and way overlooked? I do. Because I play fantasy sports.
by pressnarc on Oct 22, 2007 7:44 AM EDT reply actions
pressnarc- I’m guessing you don’t do anything other than watch the stats columns.
I have a hard enough time carving out the time I do to watch the C’s play without neglecting the wife and kids as it is. Don’t need the extra drag on my time.
Other thought, is that I don’t want anything else out there making me care about players/teams that I don’t care about.
Ther’s better things to do with your life people. How about going and playing a sport vs. pretending!
Basketball is not a stats game… Two years ago Mike James scored 20 points a game for Toronto. Does that make him a good player? Udonis Haslem will never crack the top 50 in points scored. Does that make him less of a player?
I think you’re looking at the wrong stats. Not that stats say everything there is to say about a player, but just focusing on points per game is a lot of the reason players get way over-rated or under-rated (and way over-payed and under-payed).
by cypherpunk on Oct 22, 2007 8:02 AM EDT reply actions
Oh well… my wife left me and kids got taken away.
Ok, not really. I’m really not that ridiculous about it. I don’t really get into matchups and day/night turf/grass batting averages and such. Yeah, I look at a lot of box scores, but I’d probably do that anyway.
Not sure if I should be insulted by the whole How about going and playing a sport vs. pretending! bit. Quite a leap you made there, mac. I play plenty, trust me, not that it matters for this discussion.
by pressnarc on Oct 22, 2007 8:07 AM EDT reply actions
I can see the Pros and Cons to both sides. I was huge Fantasy fan last year and years before, but buying a home took a huge chunk out of it. Now I play just Football and only 1 team because of how easy it is to manage, but I did baseball and basketball in the past and althouh it is fun, I know I would not have the time for it. One thing about Fantasy that I hate is when people stop playing after they start losing, or just ignore it all together. I think do to time I would be that person, so thats why I gave it up.
Little different perspective. Fantasy basketball is great, when the team you follow isn’t. I follow two NBA teams very closely, Boston and Seattle, and last year the only thing that kept me sane watching hoops at all was the players on my fantasy teams.
I can see why Jeff’s comment about Perkins setting a screen doesn’t show up and stuff, but him setting that screen when you’re down 30 in the second quarter is pretty meaningless too.
I’ve gotten to the point now where the only leagues I do carry over players from year to year. Takes about three hours each year to do the drafts and 5 minutes every couple days to set lineups, most of the maintenance stuff done at work.
It’s completely a personal choice for me, its something that helps pass the time on off-days and keeps me interested in the league when my teams start to drop off the planet.
by Scotty on Oct 22, 2007 8:40 AM EDT reply actions
pressnarc – didn’t mean it as an insult, rather the reason that I don’t play them is that I am too busy with the kids and other things. I see way too many people out there that are so obsessed by it that they do nothing else. If you spend the amount of time it takes to do it right, especially if you are doing multiple leagues and teams, there is no time for anything else.
The playing vs. pretending comment was directed out there in general, not related to your comments. I just can’t see why someone would rather watch a sport or play the video game version vs. going out and actually doing it. Even if you’re bad at it, it is better than sitting there…
I’m not a stats guy at all either, Jeff. When I get into a basketball discussion, I never bring up stats and I hate when others do (unless it’s really relevant/necessary). However, I do like fantasy basketball and play every year. I think it’s fun, but everybody has their own opinion. I don’t think it takes all this dreadful time that some people make it out to have. You spend 1 and a half minutes per day setting your lineup, and you can even set your lineup for as many days as you want so you don’t even have to look at it every day.
How does playing fantasy basketball not give you a better understanding of the league?? It is a daily statistical breakdown of everyone in the league. I mean it’s league pass, without having to watch every game to know what is going on.
Jeff you are looking at the wrong stats man. I don’t know how you can’t be a stats guy. Stats combined with titles are what we use to break down the greats for years to come. Almost always they tell us who the better player was and is, as long as we look at all the stats. Clean it up, and come join my fantasy team.
by modawg3434 on Oct 22, 2007 10:45 AM EDT reply actions
Sorry to switch subjects, but I’m very angred this morning by ESPN’s J.A. Adande who wrote
In 10 years as an NBA League Pass subscriber I’ve watched less than 10 minutes of the Celtics. That’s mainly because of the way Tommy Heinsohn’s voice hits my ear. To me it sounds like a garbage disposal when a fork drops into it.
That’s uncalled for in my opinion. Tommy does a fine job representing the Celtic telecast announcers in this town.
Needless to say that Adande is a former Los Angeles Times columnist…..
The CSL fantasy league is a lot of fun. While its true that a lot of stats are not meaningful to team play or individual performance, you can learn alot from looking at the players statistics especially their field goal percentage and turnovers. A perfect example is Antoine Walker. He helps and hurts you in so many ways. Likewise there are other players under the radar who can help your team if they get meaningful minutes. They are the true sleepers. Last year was great because alot of good players had their season cut short and you had to find the real diamonds among rookies. Very fun. Plus – the 7th place team won the whole thing. It is true that its time consuming.
by greendoc on Oct 22, 2007 10:52 AM EDT reply actions
Amen to everything you said Jeff. Basketball is the worst fantasy sport out there. Im not really into stats in any sport. Baseball is the only real stat type of sport but it’s still a hot and cold game and sometimes stats need to be thrown out the window. David Ortiz could go 1-4 but hit the game winning HR.
Great quote from an article you linked to the other day regarding Hollinger:
‘’Picking which teams are which is fairly easy stuff in October unless you are John Hollinger, the espn.com statistical guru who rates teams according to how they play under the various stages of the moon, tidal charts and low-pressure fronts, which he then divides into El Nino to come up with a magic number.’’
My other reason for not digging the fantasy game much is that I start rooting for guys I dislike and caring less about the quality of play that about how ‘’my guys’’ are doing. It muddies the water.
Fantasy ANYTHING, to me, is a complete waste of time and not fun.
I tried it last season and it was annoying to say the least.
Moreover, I had Pau Gasol who was injured the first half of the season.
And I also had McGrady who spent a lot of the time hurt.
And for what? A tee shirt? Or $.
Forget that.
Good post Ancient Red, Tommy does do a nice job save for the ‘everyone is out to get us’ mentality…he could be a bit (a lot) more neutral.
Fantasy is not about a player being good, its about how you manage a team. If you are a true C’s fan, you’ll find out that you will never go for the opposing team. If fantasy tests your loyalties, then you got some other problems to deal with.
by Pashm on Oct 22, 2007 2:51 PM EDT reply actions
Fantasy basketball is boring. Not to mention they take too many games off during the season.
you just have too many stat categories to keep track of and the % categories are hard to keep track of. i.e. my team needs to go 10-10 from free throw line and his needs to go 0 for 12 or more… then you are supposed to make a roster of like 12 active spots? It’s too much.
by dmartin17 on Oct 22, 2007 3:29 PM EDT reply actions
In a good league like CBS, you can have full customization AND you don’t need to worry about roto crap like catching up in a category like steals. What’s more, you can set the league to operate weekly so you only have to set lineups once every weekend for the next week.
You can make the league set up as head-to-head points (like fantasy football), and arrange the stat values so that points scored isn’t too big a deal while blocks, rebounds, steals, efficient percentages and 3-point ability are all taken into account. You can even make fouls and technical fouls take away points. There are plenty of ways to make it work.
You could make minutes played a stat, which would obviously benefit the good players and make Bruce Bowen more valuable as a bench option for example. This is something we do in my fantasy hockey league.
CBS may well take into account basketball /- too. I doubt it, but that’d be interesting.
by FierceLikePaulPierce on Oct 22, 2007 4:10 PM EDT reply actions
Hard to believe PLOWBOY, because you have 2 posts in a fantasy basketball article and they were just ripping Doc. Unless Doc is a guy in your own fantasy league, then I fail to see where the posts were applicable to the topic and article. Do you feel that you have to take over for Brick since he has seemed to have really gone to the Raptors blog?! I know it’s hard, but focus! Make a comment relevant to the discussion and worthy of discussing…
The Runnin’ Buddhas had to decide between Leon and Perkins with our last pick yesterday, it was tough because I am a huge Leon fan having followed his career and watching him play in high school, at Cal and in the San Francisco summer pro/am, but I had to go with Perkins.
I am sure Leon would understand.
by InameallmyanimalsLarry on Oct 23, 2007 6:34 AM EDT reply actions
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