Let's talk fantasy basketball. More specifically, let's talk about the Utah Jazz and fantasy basketball. For anyone not familiar with fantasy basketball, here are the basics. Things can vary from league to league. First, you sign up, and a draft is held. That can be done live online or just done by the system when the league is full. You have a chance to pre-rank players to help determine who's on your team. Once you have your team (the exact number of players varies) and the season starts, the teams in your fantasy league are ranked according to the statistics compiled by the players on their respective teams. For me, one fantasy basketball question that must be answered each year is: What Jazz player(s) will I have on my team? I always like to have at least one Jazz player on each of my fantasy teams each year.
This year I have two teams in two separate leagues run by Yahoo. On the Egomaniacs, my Jazz representative is Carlos Boozer. I know he'll do well for me. On WJ Wamboozle, I was in a live draft and I was able to snag Deron Williams and Paul Millsap. I expect good production from them. Here is a page listing Jazz player fantasy rankings according to nba.com. Yahoo and other sites have varying rankings. My last comment is that in both the Yahoo and NBA.com rankings, Chris Paul is ranked ahead of Deron Williams. Every analyst in the world is making excuses for Chris Paul's season last year. He was playing hurt, sure, but it's ridiculous to me that he's ranked as far ahead of Deron as he is. But they'll definitely be compared to each other their whole careers.
Now on to training camp. Things have a little unusual in that Carlos Boozer hasn't been there since he's still in Miami awaiting his son's discharge from the hospital. Also, until last night, Deron Williams hadn't participated in any practices after having his wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Other than that, everybody's just been working out and getting ready for the season. Kyrylo Fesenko is trying to adjust to differences in NBA and international rules. The Jazz have again enlisted the help of Jeff Hornacek to work with Andrei Kirilenko. However, in this case, he won't only be working with AK. Hornacek has signed on as a part-time coach to work with different players on their shooting. He's starting with AK but will work with others as well. He'll meet up with the team a couple of times a week. The key factor in his being able to take this position is that all of his kids are out of elementary school and he's more flexible. I'm grateful he's with the Jazz on a part-time basis, expecially considering he could easily have ended up doing something with the Suns, living in Phoenix and all.
Finally, Saturday's 10:30 A.M. practice at the Taco Bell Arena is open to the public. So if you live near Boise or have the chance to make the trip, it could be fun. That's all for now. I'll be back next week with the latest combination of my opinions and Jazz news.
CAN YOU FEEL THE ANTICIPATION??!!
2 comments:
I never really understood what fantasy basketball was so thanks for the explanation. IT sounds like a lot of fun. I hope your teams do well for you. Do you win anything if your teams do do well?
It's good to hear that Williams is practicing with the team again, I read that he praciced with them for 2 hours last night and he was just fantastic. It must be weird to not have Boozer there but I am sure he'll be ready to go when he's able to come back. It's nice to hear praises about the new guys coming from Jerry Sloan. Hart and Price will hopefully fit right in so there won't be any chemistry isses. I've also heard a lot of prasie going Brewer's way. Do you think he'll be the starting shooting gurad? I would've assumed Gira since he's the veteren but I've harldly heard any of the reporters or coaches talk about him, it's been all about Brewer. CJ miles also is talked about some. IT will be intersting to see who starts.
I really hope that AK 47 feels like he belongs and gets his confidence going. Everything I Heard that talk between him, Sloan and O'Conner was a success. I guess only time will tell. I agree I think it's great that Hornaceck is working with our team. I think it will really help all our shooting guards and AK. Glad he is sharing the secrets to his success with us instead of Phoenix.
Can't wait for the season to offically begin. I plan on watching the preseason games that they're airing on KJZZ and FSN.
Sorry for the long reply, I just am so excited!
I updated my espn profile, my username is dma85. Can I add you as a friend? I don't remember your user name.
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