easel.ly

This info-graphic I made includes some important and fun facts about the National Basketball Association. Some of these facts include things like the percentage of injured players worldwide, the amount of players that came from each state that made it to the NBA, and the percentages of each ethnicity in the NBA. For example, 15% of all players worldwide are injured when playing their sport. Some of these players injured include Kobe Bryant, Brendan Haywood, and JaVale McGee. This info-graphic can help people understand more about the NBA, and share some of these fun facts with their friends if they wanted to too.

links– http://www.tidesport.org/RGRC/2013/2013_NBA_RGRC.pdf

http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/media/statistics.aspx

http://www.sportsgrid.com/nba/which-state-produces-the-most-nba-players-per-capita-you-ask-weve-got-a-map-for-that/

Trades in your league are an important part, but an optional part, in order to keep a good team. If you are a type of person attempting to try and get a team full of all stars, you are well aware of this feature. For others, you should know that you are allowed to have trades in the league. Players most traded for include stars like LeBron James, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. These guys are all very good players and are some of the sole reason some of the worst teams in the league survive. Despite them being such high valued, there are small players who make trades sometimes too. Most try to trick people into trades even, because they know how much of a benefit these players will be once they make it to the roster. Trades like this happen in the real NBA too, such as the big trade involving the Clippers, where the Clippers traded Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler, and a 2nd round draft pick, for Eric Dudley and J.j. Redick. As I am a Clippers fan, I loved this trade, as I am also a big J.J. Redick fan. Trades like this keep the league healthy, and may even give the Clippers a shot in the playoffs this year. These trades can do the same to your team in the league, and may even give you a shot to win the whole thing yourself. These are all the reasons why trades are such a big deal in the league, and are optional, but may improve your team if it is not already good enough.

In order to be successful in fantasy basketball, you must need a evenly spaced and placed team. This may seem confusing, but I believe you need good player from a lot of different teams. This is because your players may not always play on the same day, giving you a disadvantage if your opponent has more players actually playing that day when you do. This does not mean you cannot have players on the same team, but it does help if you have it spaced so everyday you are always gaining points everyday. I have won fantasy games just solely because my opponent did not have anyone playing in one day, while i had atleast over half my roster playing on a single day alone. Its also obviously a terrible idea to have injured players on your roster. If your player is going to be out for a while, he is next to useless on your roster, unless you are trying to make a trade, which would be very hard to do. Keeping a good rotation and keeping injured players off your team will be the best way to go in fantasy this season. For example, there are people in my league who believe that keeping Kobe Bryant on the team is a good idea, despite his Achilles Heel accident earlier this year, which will put him out of playing atleast until midway through this years season. Even I am debating whether or not to rid of George Hill because he is hurt right now and is hurting my team because of lack of points. I believe that these rotations are key to success in your fantasy, and injuries should most definetly be kept off your roster at all costs.

This includes a link for the top 30 players in fantasy basketball right now. These are some of the best players in the league of basketball right now, including LeBron James and Derrick Rose. Many of these players are the most likely to be top picks in your draft, and they are the target players for most drafts. With a team full of these guys, you will surely win your fantasy league with no doubt. These players all average some great all around stats, giving them a huge fantasy bonus. Targets for fantasy players include people who average double doubles, because they yield the most points in your league. The names at the top of the list do a lot of scoring, and as you go down the list the players continue to become more all around, specializing in places like rebounds and assists, which always will give your team a boost. Point guards like Chris Paul do a great job of these attributes, as he himself specializes in assists and scoring at the same time, which is great to have. Also a player like Kevin Love is very big, and flashes out at points to have triple doubles, with assists, points, and rebounds. These players will have a huge boost on your team, and will make you the strongest asset in your entire league. I myself have some big men and point guards who greatly improve my team. These players include Kyrie Irving, Carlos Boozer, Blake Griffin, and Pau Gasol. I already won the first game in my league thanks to these players, and I hope to win many more with this group of guys.

http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-basketball-better-than-football

Many debates have been had over the talk about which is better, basketball or football, but I believe that basketball is better because injuries are less frequent, it is more fast paced, and they are paid much higher. Basketball has always been my personal favorite sport since I was a kid, while other kids have fell in love with football. I never got how people loved football, as people are always getting hurt and have to sit out, but maybe it motivates them to want to play more. I have player basketball for over 6 years and have never even been seriously hurt. Despite football and basketball having the same type of injuries, in football it occurs way may. According to debate.org 69% of people prefer basketball over football anyway. Basketball is also way more fast paced because it doesn’t stop, except for timeouts, when football stops after every play. Even with the fast pace and basketball still doesn’t even compare to the injury rate of football. I believe everyone is just in love with football for a phase, where everyone just wants to hit each other and get out aggression, but it will just pass over. Despite these advantages of basketball, football is still a great sport. It is always very competitive and and physical, and its always fun to watch someone get hit hard or get a touchdown. Both sports are great, but basketball is obviously the better choice because of the reduced injuries and more playing time, the fast paced games, and because the professionals get paid way  more than the professionals in football.

 

The Lakers last night pulled an upset that nobody, even the experts, saw coming. The game had been close between the Lakers and Clippers opening night, until around the fourth quarter when the Lakers bench exploded for about 50 points in the last 15 minutes to give the Lakers a 116-103 win over the Clippers. People everywhere, including me being a Clipper fan, were very shocked when the Lakers pulled off this big win to start off the season. People in fantasy leagues became curious too, because players like Jordan Farmar, Xavier Henry, and Jordan Hill put up a total of 50 points all together, coming off the bench. Many have picked up the 3 players already in an effort to improve their fantasy teams by these impressing stats, including me, as I picked up Jordan Farmar and Jordan Hill just after the game last night. These guys will be producing promising stats this season, and it looks like it will be consistent for the entire season. They aren’t shy of minutes either, and they have great all around stats for a couple of players coming off of the bench. Even though I hate to say it, the Lakers may possibly be a force this season too. The Clippers had a sure win and they let the game go at the end. Giving credit though, the Lakers surely did want the win way more than the Clippers did. The Lakers deserved this win, and players on the come up like these guys may be a great improvement and benefit to your very own fantasy team.

 

As the season nears, and the preseason is coming to a close, players in the draft are showing what they will bring this year. Players like Lebron James are consistently doing great, as he won MVP of the league last season. Many predict a lot of players to be the same as they were last year, or even worse. Players who have gotten worse include Dwight Howard, Joe Johnson, and Rudy Gay. Most of these players have either gotten worse by aging, injuries, or just straight up declining in the stats. As some of these players still average some pretty good stats, they may not influence your fantasy league as much as you may have hoped this season. There are many players who have gotten better too, including Harrison Barnes, Iman Shupert, and Eric Bledsoe. With Bledsoe now being a main player on the Suns this season, he is going to be of great importance and will be a very good player this season, while getting lots of minutes. Shupert has always showed his scoring mentality and is displaying in the preseason that his scoring is here to stay. Harrison Barnes is also an all around player, and has showed great ability in some small-big man type plays. Some of these players may be a good pickup this year, and if your drafts haven’t come up yet, you might want to try and steal some of these players on the come up. While you do this, you also may want to consider avoiding some of the decreasing players. A link below will take you to some of these improving players and decreasing players in the league.

 

Improving players-http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1801251-predicting-the-15-most-improved-players-in-the-nba-entering-2013-14-season

Decreasing players-http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1484636-8-nba-stars-getting-worse-in-2013/page/2

\

Teams likely to do poorly this year still may have a few good players that may benefit your fantasy team. Players like Spencer Hawes and Kelly Olynyk can be very effective on your roster. Fantasy is all about the players, and how you choose them can be a big deciding factor. Most sleepers may even be hidden in the non-drafted players post drafting, available for the choosing. Having a team of these sleepers could benefit your roster. Even trying to trade for some of these players can help. I found Ray Allen at the bottom of my draft, and I easily picked him up on my own team, which will also give me some good points on the board. As the season is approaching it will be important to at least attempt to replace some of your worse players with some of these hidden sleepers, if possible. Especially rookies coming in, they may be a good help too. Doing some research, I found that people like Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo, and Michael-Carter Williams will most likely be a good improvement to your fantasy team. Cody Zeller averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds against the Grizzlies during the preseason. Also, over 4 games, Victor Oladipo averaged 19 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 5 assists per game. Lastly, Michael-Carter Williams was doing okay, despite a bad game, led the team in assists. All of these players and more can benefit your team, and down below will be a link to even more Rookies and sleepers you may have never thought of, that may in fact benefit your team.

http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/