Fantasy Basketball
From Hoopedia
Will he be the No. 1 pick in 2007-08 fantasy drafts?
Fantasy basketball is a type of game or activity in which participants select NBA players to be a part of their “fantasy” team. In this statistically driven game, the player’s goal as a “general manager” is to generate the most statistical production against known or unknown competitors. These games are usually played online, thanks to the advent of the Internet. However, people have been playing fantasy sports for decades. The popular format for fantasy basketball is draft-and-trade.
The general idea is that a group of people get together to form a league, and each participant drafts a custom built team and manages the roster throughout the season. It’s as if you are in an actual sports league. Daily maintenance is necessary to succeed in this game, as users must make sure to keep their rosters active as a real coach or GM would – benching injured players and reacting to the hot and cold hands. Although the draft is important, participants can also improve their rosters by trading with other teams within their league or by picking up free agents (players who were not drafted and are not currently on a fantasy team). In this game, you can participate as a commissioner, who creates, manages and sets the rules of the league, or a general manager, who is simply a league participant.
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History
The creation of fantasy baseball led to the development and subsequent explosion of this tremendous industry. No one knows who definitively started fantasy sports, although many researchers credit Daniel Orkert with creating rotisserie fantasy baseball in 1980. During the next decade, fantasy baseball became extremely popular. As previously mentioned, the advent of the Internet revolutionized fantasy gaming. Before hand, all fantasy gaming was conducted off-line, where users kept track of statistics and league developments in written form. Many leagues were run privately, although there were also commercial leagues run by newspapers, magazines and other publications that required you to submit your lineup and transactions through the mail. The Internet made the process and experience much more simple and efficient. Most fantasy gaming Web sites provide users with unlimited options and features to equip users with more control and customizability.
The Fantasy Experience
Fantasy sports provide friends with an outlet to keep in touch as most participants compete against their friends. One of the main reasons participants start playing and continue to play is because of the friendly competition, whether it be among regular friends or work colleagues. Some groups of friends have played for years and participate year-round in a variety of fantasy sports leagues. In addition to the competition, many gaming Web sites offer exclusive prizes as well.
As a consequence of playing fantasy sports, many participants become enthralled with the real life sports action. Many users say it makes watching professional sports more fun. It provides for greater engagement with the games that sports fans already love. In fact, most managers aren’t maintaining just one team; they’re managing anywhere from one to three teams on average.
The Draft
As one of the most exciting parts of the fantasy experience, the draft is usually conducted before the NBA season starts, although it isn’t a requirement. A league usually consisting of 10-12 teams would select various NBA players to build a team, with only one owner having exclusive rights to the player they select. For example, only one user could "own" Kobe Bryant. Because of this scenario, these top performing players are in high demand. Based on the settings and roster size, you would build your team of players during the draft. In this format, there are no costs involved to select a player. The higher the pick the user has in the draft, the better able you are to select a top performing player. From the draft onward, users can trade players, get rid of underperforming players by “dropping” them or adding players to their team from the free agent list. There are various types of draft formats (link) that players can use – live, e-mail, offline, single list and multi-list.
In the typical live online draft, participants have 90 seconds to make a selection before a player is automatically chosen for them. Most live drafts use a “snake” format in which the person who has the first pick in the first round will have the last pick in the second round. Similarly, the person with the last pick in the first round will have the first pick in the second round. This process is meant to even the playing field, making it less of an advantage to the team owning the first pick.
Another popular draft format is the “auction” draft. This type of draft usually takes place offline. Participants are each given a set salary cap with which they can use to “bid” on players. By this format, the order of the draft is not important, therefore removing all advantages that may exist based on draft position. Instead, strategy is based on best managing your auction money, drafting the best possible roster while staying under the set salary cap.
The Process
One could compare running a fantasy team to that of running a small business. You open up your business with the team you drafted, and aim to improve your business and its relative worth by making transactions during the season. There are constant decisions that need to be made that will affect your team’s performance. Depending on your level of interest, you’ll want to check in to see how your team is doing. Do you trade a budding superstar for more talent? Who are the hottest free agents? Do you trade for a proven player who is currently underperforming in hopes that he bounces back? What categories do you need help in? There are tons of intriguing questions, and you’re in full control of your own destiny. As the season progresses, you’ll be assessing your team’s performance, acting and reacting to trends and NBA “real world” activity.
Scoring Formats
The three most common scoring formats are Rotisserie, Head-to-Head and Points-Based.
Rotisserie leagues rank each of the teams in the league from first to last in a number of statistical categories. Points are awarded according to the order of finish in each category, and are totaled to determine an overall score and place. So, the team with the most Blocks in a 10-team league will receive 10 points, whereas the team with the second most will receive nine points, etc. This is the most common type of format used and is the best fit for those interested in a deeper statistical fantasy experience. Strategy abounds as each GM looks to balance their roster, avoiding weaknesses in any categories.
Points-Based leagues simply use a number of statistical categories with a point value assigned to each to determine each team's score. The least common of the three scoring formats, Points-Based may be the easiest for novices to play given your ultimate goal is to score as many points as possible, regardless of the method. Whereas in Rotisserie you need to do well in each category, there is no penalty in Points-Based for having a team that doesn’t, for example, rebound.
Head-to-Head leagues award wins and losses per weekly match-ups to each team based on a points-based or rotisserie style scoring system. Head-to-Head leagues are best known for their playoff format, which allows a designated number of teams to advance to the fantasy postseason at a time prior to the end of the NBA regular season. If you’re looking for a format that promotes weekly trash-talk with your competitors, this is the format for you. The one drawback of Head-to-Head is the luck factor: Your wins and losses are significantly impacted by the performance of your opposition for that week. You may have the second best performance in your league for a given week, but if you face off against the team with the best performance, you will still pick up a loss.
Roster Positions
There is no right or wrong way to set up your league’s rosters. Some will simply mirror the NBA and have a starting lineup of Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward and Center with a bench of four or five players. Others provide more flexibility, combining positions. The standard roster for a Commissioner league on NBA.com is as follows:
Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, Forward, Forward/Center, Center, Utility, and five bench spots.
Any player eligible to play Point Guard or Shooting Guard can play at the Guard position; same goes for Power Forwards and Small Forwards at Forward. In addition, a Power Forward or Center can play at the Forward/Center position. You are allowed to use any player at the one Utility position. As you can see, there are five bench slots. Those players on your bench will not accumulate fantasy points. Therefore, it is important that you track the hot players so that you constantly have the best combination of players in your starting lineup.
Keeper Leagues
A growing phenomenon in the fantasy world is the year-to-year continuous league. This means that when one NBA season comes to a close, your job as a fantasy GM will continue into future seasons. Prior to the start of the following season, you will be required to announce your “keepers.” These are the players (often limited to four) whom you will be carrying over from one season to the next. Keeper leagues, luckily for you, can be created on NBA.com’s Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner…all for free.
Other Games
There are other types of games available to play outside of the popular draft-and-trade format. The salary cap format provides the participant with a set budget which they can spend on a six-player lineup. There is no draft involved here and users can own any player in the league without the restrictions that the draft-and-trade format have. Therefore, however many people want Kevin Garnett can have him so long as he fits within the budget. Their monetary values, which fluctuate throughout the season, are determined by factors such as performance and demand. See the NBA.com Salary Cap Challenge as an example.
Additionally, there is a pick one game. In this format, pick one player for every day of the season, and earn fantasy points for that player’s performance (points + rebounds + assists). You can only use the same player once, so you have to pay close attention to the schedule and player performance. This game doesn’t require much maintenance and is simple and fun to play. One example is NBA.com’s Pick One Challenge.
There are also games that occur outside of the NBA regular season, but fall under the “fantasy basketball” umbrella for an abbreviated challenge. Examples include Draft Pick ‘ems, All-Star Pick-‘ems, and various NBA Playoff fantasy games. NBA.com offers a Draft Pick 'Em game that requires the participant to predict as closely as possible the first 14 selections in the NBA Draft. The most popular playoff game utilizes the bracket format, similar to NCAA March Madness. Participants predict which teams will win each round of the Playoffs through the NBA Finals. The Playoffs are also a time to utilize regular season formats, but for a shorter time commitment. Commissioner-style leagues exist for the Playoffs as well, and NBA.com offers a daily pick option called Drive to the Finals.
