The Importance of Efficiency in H2H 9 Cat Auction Drafts

As this is my first article for fb-ninja, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jeff and I go by “StifleTower” in RotoWorld. I am an in-house attorney for an organization headquartered in the Washington D.C. area. However, I work from home a lot and live in a small community by the beach near Cape Canaveral, Florida. I am not the biggest NBA fan, instead I consider myself more of a professional gamer. I came into competitive fantasy basketball from a unique angle. My older brother was the chess champion of my state and tried to teach me […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

NBA ACL Tears Recovery

The following article will discuss a very common injury in basketball, the infamous anterior cruciate ligament tear. This will be an extensive review of what the anterior cruciate ligament is, what it does, how it is repaired and review of some long-term associated issues. What is the ACL? The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of the two major intra-articular ligaments of the knee (think deep inside) and the primary ligament of the knee that helps to stabilize and prevent the leg from falling forward. Additionally the ACL protects the knee against varus and valgus stress when the knee […]

Posted in Uncategorized

read more

Velocity – Why Being Balanced is Partially Wrong

I’m using the term velocity to describe a phenomenon I have observed in every facet of my life. Velocity is the concept that once you have an something, it is easier to acquire more of that thing. Assets tend to roll downhill, like a snowball, gathering momentum as it rolls along. When I was playing poker competitively, I tried a variety of methods in tournaments. Sometimes I would play tight for the first few levels, until the antes kicked in, and then I became progressively more aggressive. Then I used my tight image to exploit my opponents by bluffing more […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

Fantasy Basketball Value Investing

As I read The Big Short by Michael Lewis and now watched the movie as well, I became enamored with the story of Michael Burry. In 2000 he started an investment company called Scion Capital, which focused on value investing, buying undervalued stocks and junk bonds. He became famous for shorting the subprime mortgage market by purchasing credit default swaps and becoming rich from it. What are the value investment opportunities present in fantasy? First, let’s begin by detailing what I’m not referring to. I’m not referring to players such as Lowry, Millsap, and Kawhi who most fantasy experts agreed […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

Are the Magic’s Breakout Players for Real?

There are two mostly separate halves of operating a fantasy basketball team. The first is player evaluation, which is your version of the scouting department. Anybody can take a quick look at stats and player rankings in order to figure out who they want on their team, but it takes a bit of savvy to look at those and say “I disagree”. While a tendency to throw a bit too much trust in your gut will generally hurt you more than it helps, there really is no better feeling in fantasy sports than taking a gamble on an unpopular player […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

Burning Questions to Start the Season, Part Two

Earlier in the week I answered a few questions about some of the more prominent figures in fantasy this season. Now it’s time to finish the week with questions that are most pertinent to fantasy players in deep leagues, though hopefully everybody can find something to think about here. What to expect from Thon Maker this season? Thon Maker’s reputation has been punching above his play’s weight class since the Bucks drafted him. He initially entered the basketball world’s consciousness because of the ridiculous videos that kept landing on YouTube. The excitement caused by the 7-foot point forward he’d become […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

Burning Questions to Start the Season, Part One

With the NBA season beginning tonight, it seemed like an appropriate time to see what questions people are asking leading into the season. Sure enough, users on Reddit were not shy about the things they’ve been wondering. In fact, so many questions were asked that I was only able to answer about half of them here. We’ll kick things off today with the higher profile questions before diving into some deeper league stuff tomorrow. What’s the deal with Kawhi? Injury anything to worry about? Kawhi Leonard’s injury is the most compelling storyline of the early season for two reasons. The […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

kawhi leonard fantasy basketball

Early Round Sleepers

The sun is hot on the backs of the men as they wait. They’ve been at it for two weeks now–still nothing. Doubt has crept into their minds. Some of them doubt there’s anything in this water but rocks and more water. Some of them doubt their wives will understand if they have to tell them even once more that this trip west has been for naught thus far. What none of them doubts for a moment is that they have any choice but to stick their pans in the water and keep waiting. Until this hot morning. One of […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

The middle zone

Professional poker player Annie Duke wrote a book called the Middle Zone which outlined what the middle zone is in poker and how important it is to avoid uncertainty.  In deep stack poker 76 suited is a much better hand than A6 off-suit because 76 can flop straights and flushes, as well as better draws which allow you to semi-bluff.  Whereas, A6 off-suit is a better hand unless you are all-in, which is unlikely to happen with those hands in deep stack poker.  A6 off-suit is a problem hand on many flops.  If you flop an ace it’s difficult to […]

Posted in Strategy

read more

Unique Players to Target This Season

Point guards get assists. Centers get rebounds. It is a simple premise born out of reality: in basketball, certain positions are tailored to accrue certain statistics. By and large, it continues to hold true. The point guards still rack up the most assists while the big men crash the boards. The problem is, sometimes you could really use some assists and a center to round out your roster. Where do you go then? Luckily, there are players out there offering contributions in categories that their positional peers are not. While they are fun to appreciate for their sheer novelty, these […]

Posted in Strategy

read more