The Morning Offering - Feb. 8, 2005

Written by Xach on February 08, 2005

Coffee anyone?

Today's offering will be short and sweet, as it's 2:30 AM and I'm just getting down to brass tacks. So add some extra cream n sugar and down that shit in a hurry.

With the Super Bowl now behind us, we can finally move on to talking about the NBA's second half and the approaching baseball season without wondering what we're forgetting. Even hockey is gone for once, and while I have never been an avid fan, it can be fun to visit some of the hockey fights web sites and remember what it's like to watch dudes smash each other's heads into the boards. It's funny that I of all people should finally start appreciating hockey's finer points in the absence of an NHL season. And now for something completely different . . .

Focusing on team balance
One rotisserie lesson I'm learning the hard way these days is that spotting productive players and assembling a balanced team are two mostly unrelated pursuits. Granted, my current basketball team is no great shakes in either respect, but I recently joined a very large points based NBA league and the results have been quite favorable. I drafted mid season and I'm in a comfy 1st place spot with the best record in the league. Yet here in Rotogod Land I'm buried in 10th place. It seems every baseball season I suffer a similarly agonizing fate -- I assemble a team whose talent level I'm ultimately confident in, but I don't balance my categories well enough to threaten for top honors. Sure, I may lead the league in homers, batting average and WHIP (these are hypotheticals, mind you), but I'll still find myself punting a category or two by season's end. With baseball leagues unfolding in the next 6-8 weeks, now is the time for roto competitors to start figuring out not just where the best talent can be had, but indeed how they will assemble a team that thrives in all categories. Perhaps we'll have a more in depth article on how this goal can be best kept in sight a little closer to draft season. (writes this idea down on list of things he won't actually do).

The importance of a hot start
Another facet of draft day planning I've been thinking about a lot lately is the importance of getting off to a hot start. Every year it seems a lot of the media's time and energy goes into reminding fantasy sports nuts to consider the big picture and to target players who may have great numbers by season's end even if they struggle at the beginning. This year I'm finally ready to call that a bunch of hooey. Getting off to a hot start out of the gates can be your most valuable asset. Sure, you need to keep in mind that you may need to change things around, but dealing from a hot hand is easier by leaps and bounds than coming out of the first month at the bottom of the league and holding a bunch of players with deflated values. You can always trade your hot players for second half players after the first month is gone. Someone will listen and you'll be near the top of the league, which gives you trade leverage. I have never seen a roto team win it all that came out of the first month in the bottom half (although I've seen teams come close). But I've seen plenty of teams win that did terribly down the final stretch. It's food for thought anyway.

Trivial Pursuit
The Xachmeister has been playing a lot of Trivial Pursuit lately. Is there anything more annoying than landing on a Sports and Leisure tile and being asked a leisure question? Why the fuck do these two lines of questioning even share the same tile? Science and Entertainment get their own colors. I'm sorry, but the answers "Red Grange" and "knit one, pearl two" have no business being considered the same type of question. Boooooooooo.

Trading away depth in an attempt to build the ultimate starting lineup
On a scale of one to ten with one being the least extreme and ten being the most extreme, this idea gets a two. I have tried to do this innumerable times, but when you lose one of those players to injury you'll be trying to trade half your dream roster for Theo Ratliff. Do as Xach says, never as Xach does. Never do this unless you see some genuine untapped waiver wire talent.

Player spotlight
Kelvin Cato. The numbers are deceivingly helpful. I won't delve into a complete breakdown here, but I am seeing that the man actually has a purpose. Check out the numbers. At center he's a decent low priced option. For that matter, Dan Gadzuric has been getting the job done lately as well, though you can't count as well on his future production. Another random thought that's not really related to either of these two players is that it's interesting to see what influence a new coach can have on a player's mid season fantasy production. Time to re evaluate some of George Karl's Nuggets perhaps?

Okay campers. It's time for the X Man to hit the sack. Tune in tomorrow for some more morning action. If you're bored in the mean time, come chat on our message board. Registration's free and easy.

For comments, suggestions, or whatever the fuck, you can send Xach an E-mail or post a comment below.

-- Written by Xach on February 08, 2005