e7FROSTY

I don't think all too many people follow the blog, so why bother writing right? Honestly, I figured I'd have to get used to coming this site everyday and communicating with long lost people I've never met to talk Fantasy Football and everything else sports...

Speaking of Fantasy Football, I still haven't figured out my league changing 'darkhorse' pick I've been able to get the past two years - two years ago I got Wes Welker in the 7th round and then last year in my first auction draft I walked away with Felix Jones and Steve Slaton for $1 each. I traded Jones two weeks before he went down with injuries for TE Tony Gonzalez and never looked back (I know, no league should have Gonzo had for $1 in the last round). Anyways, let me know what you're thinking - being the homer I am, I see the Pats' signing of TE Alex Smith as a great thing for red zone packages. I don't think he'll be anywhere near the Witten-Clark-Gates level of tight ends but I won't be surprised to see him make a positive impact for a team with points per reception.

I'm still not sold on MJD being a premiere back or the idea that DeAngleo Williams will be anywhere near last year's amazing production, but you never know. Matt Forte is still a favorite, but the Bears getting Cutler means a bit more offense through the air, even if he has barely anyone to throw to.

As you may have noticed, I have omitted talking about QBs. For one simple reason: its the backs and receivers that make the difference in our league. I did luck out getting Kurt Warner for cheap and then picking up Cassel for even less off the wire but they never pushed me over the top to win or cost me a victory, so this year's focus will be spending money on players like Andre Johnson, Megatron and the rest.

if you take a few minutes to read this, let me know how you're planning to conquer Fantasy Football this season

-Frosty

Well, I am officially pissed at myself and my fantasy team.... I was going against a formidable opponent, but I should have beaten him or at least had less of a hill to climb in Monday night with Matt Forte going against the Pack. I am down by 33 points in my PPR league Championship and don't feel cozy about my chances.... I lucked out with Fitzy's late long score against the Pats, but was crushed by a so-so day from Megatron, and absolute putrid performance from the Steelers vaunted D (One freakin' point!!!). Not to mention I had Carlson figured for a big day and kept Tony Gonzalez and Jabar Gaffney on the bench. I also started Feely over Bironas which cost me another precious five points, so much for going with matchups.... In the end I got caught with my pants down as even rookie sensation Steve Slaton couldn't have a top notch day against the woeful Raiders. #1 all year long with the highest scoring team in laegue history (averaged almost 130 a week) and it comes down to this - a plea to Satan (or God, whoever responds first) that I trade all or part of my soul for Matt Forte to score 34 fantasy points tomorrow....

So, kudos to the Has Been's, the apparent 2008 NTPS Fantasy Football Champion.

The first round of our playoffs are now complete, with a few upsets and me luckily being not one of those victims. My options were good and I was able to win by about 40. We have a PPR league if you were wondering. Now that this week is done, I will next face my divisional nemesis for the right to go to the championship. I have defeated them twice before this season, so hopefully the streak stays alive.

I'd like to show my lineup and ask for your feedback as to who I should start....

QBs: K. Warner, M. Cassel, S. Hill (we start 1)
RBs: C. Portis, M. Forte, S. Slaton, L. Betts (we start 2)
WRs: L. Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, T. Gonzalez, D. Keller, M. Clayton (we start 3)
K: Bironas, Feely
D/ST: Steelers, Panthers

It'll be interesting to see what the Guru rating says, but am I the only one who isn't completely sold on these? Yes, they are a good starting point to be able to agree or disagree with, but they have been off consistently each week for a lot of key matchups it feels like.

Feel like trading lineup advice and strategy? Email me at frost1017@yahoo.com or just reply to the blog....

thanks

-Frosty

I have to start my first blog about the Knicks with the question, "What were they thinking?"

Sure, New York was able to acquire Al Harrington, a potentially good fit in the D'Antoni mold of being able to explode offensively and just run all night, but at what cost? Jamal Crawford?!? That just doesn't add up for me. Early reports were that the Knicks would be able to ship Malik Rose, which made sense, but somehow they managed to ship a great two gaurd in Jamal Crawford to Golden State to help buoyrookie Anthony Morrow while Monta Ellis sits another 20 games or so. Wow, I'm still in shock.....

Now, let me just say that I like Mike D'Antoni and I never minded Donnie Walsh while he was in Indy wth Larry Legend. However, they went from a positive with the bump of Zeke to a negative with the Stephon Marbury mess and now this. Nate Robinson, Chris Duhon, Jamal Crawford (up to this point) were all filling in well at guard positions for a greatly improved team, but the facts of the matter are: A) this team has nowhere to go but up from last year's impersonation of an NBA team, and B) Starbury deserves to be playing ball for someone. I won't stand on my blogbox (this millenium's soap box) and say that he has to be playing for the Knicks, but either suit him up or ship him out.

If the Knicks aren't careful, this step backwards will turn into a bakwards shuffle and they'll find themselves on their keister for another season. That would be unfortunate, because few teams in the East play the team defense necessary to keep up with D'Antoni's schemes and the team could find itself in the playoff picture come Spring.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: How will teammates react to the trade? How quickly will Harrington's 'sore back' take to heal, and will he be a quick study to the new offense? My money (what's left of it) is on this being a distraction and yet another problem for a team that doesn't need them.... kinda like Motown and the Iverson deal, don't you think?

If you were wondering, I'm talking Fantasy Football - not basketball this time (though I did just join one of those leagues for the first time).

Before you keep reading, you must know that I am a perfectionist at heart, ESPECIALLY when it comes to competition and Fantasy Football. I have tweaked my roster so much through trades and waiver wire pickups, I barely recognize my team - I only have 6 core players as holdovers from the team I bid on in our auction draft - Warner, Eli (only because I can't trade him and don't want to drop him), Portis, Slaton, Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson (another I'd like to trade, but don't have any takers given his inflated salary of $24 against a $200 cap among other factors like he plays in Detroit, the Lions QB situation is dicey at best). I'm not including DSTs and Kickers (I have two from Draft Night) as over-analyzing those positions can push me over the edge in some conversations....

So I rolled out my team with Warner, Slaton, Forte, Fitzgerald, Johnson, Tony Gonzalez, Bironas and the Panthers DST against a formidable opponent who had Big Ben, MJD, LT, Boldin, Breaston, Bryant, Rackers and the Ravens DST. I was favored to win by more than two TDs, but as fans of Fantasy Football know, you have to treat the Guru ratings like that distant, loud-mouthed aunt on your dad's side - taken with a grain of salt. In addition to this, a late trade was executed where my opponent gave up LT and Antonio Bryant for Marques Colston and Marshawn Lynch. I applauded the move as I had recommended getting out from underneath the burden of LT this year a few weeks prior. Add that to the fact that Colston seemed like he was going to be playing a bigger role each week in the Saints explosive offense and I marked him the winner in my mind (I am also the Commish of the league so I have to approve all trades and make sure salaries and numbers balance out and it's not uncommon to find myself dispensing advice to other owners - though with playoffs coming, half the stuff I say is to keep stirring the pot and the other half is serious, and no one knows which is which :-)

Needless to say, after the flurry of activity, I found myself going into Monday Night Football up 129-98 and poised to take the weekly scoring title for a 6th time in 11 weeks (yes, there is a weekly prize for top score and it's a pride thing and ammo for talking smack, so I think you know where I'm coming from). My opponent was on the fence for making the playoffs and desperately needed a big game from Lynch and a win to keep hope alive. Being 8-2 before last night with my playoff ticket punched, I wished him luck and predicted that Lynch would indeed get the necessary 32 points for him. And I'll be damned - it freakin' happened!

Of course hindsight is always 20-20, and it was with that vision that I'm still kicking myself over lineup decisions that cost me the game - starting Tony Gonzalez instead of Dustin Keller, starting the Panthers DST instead of Pittsburgh, etc. but I figure I made some fairly logical decisions that just came back to bite me this week and hopefully I avoid that disease during the playoffs.

Last note before I leave this blog entry - what are your thoughts on me trading Portis and Calvin Johnson for Andre Johnson and Jamal Lewis? Let me know ASAP as my trade deadline is fast approaching; thanks

Hope springs eternal in the owner who still has postseason aspirations and chances, right?

You may have read the title to this blog and thought that I'm losing my mind - how could you say the C's aren't quite themselves when they have posted 9 wins against 2 losses and even won four out five games last week in a fairly tough schedule?

Well, if you've been watching some of the games recently you may agree with me to a certain extent. After completely demoralizing Detroit for A.I.'s home debut on Sunday, the champs looked like they were firing all cylinders. In the back of my mind (and on blogs and posts) I feared a letdown at home the next night against a decent Raptors team. However, after falling behind, Pierce was able to lead Boston to victory with a big 4th quarter. I figured that falling behind Toronto by double digits at home would be enough of a wake-up call with the undefeated Hawks coming to town. Given that Atlanta took the Celtics to seven games in last year's first round playoff matchup and that they were coming in 6-0 I thought there would be no issue for getting the players amped. But just as quick as I could feel comfortable about my home team, they fell behind early by 16 points. Needless to say, I was frustrated and rumor has it that some small objects were thrown at the TV. Of course, after my mini-meltdown, the Celtics went on a great run to close out the half tied at 51. The second half alone would have been worth the ticket price as the two teams traded blows and baskets for the final 24 minutes. The young Atlanta team shot the long ball amazingly well at just under 60% and off-season acquisitions Flip Murray and Maurice Evans showed a lot of value and proved that this Hawks team is for real. Also having Mike Bibby for a full pre-season to get to know his teammates has been able to help, along with the fact that Bibby is in a contract year. However all of these positives for Mike Woodson and Atlanta couldn't add up to a win as the Truth was able to put his team on his broad shoulders once again and nail a tough jumper over Al Horford at the end to give the ATL their first loss of the season. Had Josh Smith been healthy, this could have easily gone the other way, but who's to say, right?

With the Nuggets coming to Beantown on Friday, I felt good about our chances to win the game and go undefeated for the week. But that's why they play the games - Denver seemed to be in control for most of the game, and I was even taken back by a George Karl team playing defense for the first time since the old Tar Heel coached in Seattle. Once the Celtics got close and KG went down the lane for a powerful dunk late in the 4th quarter I was sure that the home court advantage would kick in and we would cruise to a well deserved win. Turns out that 'Melo, Mr. Big Shot and the Nuggets had different plans.... Denver went on a solid 10-2 run to seperate them from the home team as time wound down and the defending champs found themselves with the first loss at home this season. What I took away from this game is that Denver may have got the best of the blockbuster trade and that the Nuggets will have the confidence they need when they find themselves in the fourth quarter of a close game, whether it be on the road or mile-high at home.

Boston closed out the week with a trip to Milwaukee to face the Michael Redd-less Bucks. Seeing what Richard Jefferson did to the C's in Boston last time around, I figured the game to be competitive but that Doc and the crew would be able to easily take this game. Out of nowhere though, Milwaukee put up 34 points in the final frame to push the battle to overtime. Luckily, Milwaukee no longer has Ray Allen and we do, so combined with Pierce, two-thirds of the Boston Three Party were able to make sure the losing streak stayed at one game. But to give up more than 30 points to the Bucks and let them back in the game has to be disheartening to not only Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau, but for fans as well. I don't know if it was playing five games in seven days, but the Celtics just didn't seem like the Celtics of last year at this point - and that was at a time when they were "figuring out" how KG, Pierce and Allen would mesh and play well together.

Luckily the week ahead doesn't have as many as obstacles with only three games on the calendar, but Boston could be in for dog fight against the Pistons on Thursday night at home. As Detroit showed against the Lakers in giving LA their first loss, they can ball with the best of them, especially with Rasheed hitting from behind the arc and Iverson lokoing more comfortable each game. Looking ahead to Detroit and not paying enough attention to the Knicks for Tuesday's game could catch up with them, howwever, as D'Antoni has his team looking good and they have a winning record and some confidence on their side. No matter what happens with the first two games of the week, the Celtics should be able to end the week on a winning note when they visit old friend Kevin McHale in Minny to play the young Timberwolves and former Celtics great Al Jefferson. The TWolves are a hungry team who are able to stay in most games but the C's should have no problem putting them away.

Well that's it for this rant - let me know what you think

 

I hope you had a chance to catch the Boston-Detroit game yesterday amongst the football action, it was worth the time if you're a Boston anyways.... I was surprised to see Iverson go from looking like an offensive force against New Jersey and then not really making an impact against the Champs (though he was one of the few Pistons to crack double figure points). I know Iverson is slightly past his prime and no one has better team defense than the Celtics, but I expected him to look for his shot more. While we are talking about A.I., where was he (and Rip Hamilton) to finish the game out?

The 12-point margin is misleading as Boston had held them to 29 points in the 1st half on a shooting percentage in the low 20's. Whenever the C's get a comfortable lead (they were up by 22 midway thru the third) they seem to get lax on the offensive end and prone to take ill-advised shots. Usually inserting KG back into the lineup and either Pierce or Allen can remedy the issue, but it's one thing to work on to take what you can from the game. The defense was great for about 3 or 3-1/2 quarters, especially in the second when they held the entire Detroit team to 10 points.

All of this leads me to the subject: Will the Celtics experience a hangover effect tonight from this big win? I say big in the sense that the game was as big as an early season game could be, other than a classic Lakers-Celtics battle. This Toronto Raptors squad has the new look with Jermaine O'Neal to team with the solid All-Star Bosh, while clearing Ford to the Pacers to clearly go with Calderon at point has seemed to benefit them so far. Even with a semi-stud lineup that Sam Mitchell puts on the court, the Celts should have the advantage at most of the 5 positions, but as we all know, we don't play the games on paper....

My pick is that the Parquet Posse will have their hands full, but will be able to emerge victorious by a 9 point spread, 96-87.

WEEK IN REVIEW

After unexpectedly losing to Larry Legend's Pacers in Indy the week before, the C's bounced back nicely with road wins in Houston and OKC before capping off an undefeated week at home versus the Redd-less Bucks.

All of last week's victories were earned, but as a fan of Gang Green I was happiest with the performance in Houston. To go on the road and win against the supposed new big three of Artest, McGrady and Yao in what some people say was a preview of the Finals was a big step down the path of repeating. That said, I don't want to read too much into this as the season is in its infancy and the Rockets will surely be a different team come playoff-time. Before I continue, I'd like to say that the nickname "The Big Three" should only be reserved for Bird, McHale and the Chief. Those three certainly earned the moniker playing in what I feel was the NBA at it's most competitive time, especially in the East. KG, RayRay and The Truth are all superstars in their own right, but they had the right idea with last season's SportsCenter commercial coming up with new nicknames - they need their own identity instead of playing in legendarily tall shadows of Celtics' past.

Sorry for the detour, let's get back on track while looking at the week ahead....

THE WEEK AHEAD

With five games in seven days, the champs have a full week ahead of them. Road showdowns against Detroit and Milwaukee start and end the week respectively while home games against the Raptors, Hawks and Nuggets fill in the work week.

Sunday's matchup in Detroit was circled on everyone's calendar before the season started and it has taken on even more meaning now that it will be A.I.'s home debut for his new squad. For what it's worth, now that McDyess has been bought out by Denver and looks to be coming back to Motown and the Pistons will be able to make cap room at the end of year by not re-signing the Answer, I have to give the nod to Dumars as the early winner of the trade. Mr. Big Shot will love playing with Carmelo in front of family and friends in the mile-high city, but I'm not convinced it will be enough to propel the Nuggets to the next level in the ultra-competitive West. Getting back to the game itself, the Celts will have to keep the crowd out of it so that no long runs or momentum comes back to hurt them. I don't think there will be any issues with the Celtics winning, though the Pistons are certainly capable, and the team should have a convincing win by 11 when it's all said and done, 103-92.
Home against the Raptors the next night leaves them prone to a possible hangover from Sunday's big game in Detroit, but they shuold still be able to hand the new look Toronto team a defeat. Toronto's GM (the younger Colangelo I think) should be lauded for the acquisition of Jermaine O'Neal to complement Bosh down low, but I don't think they'll be making the playoffs this year.... we'll see what happens with injuries though as that can change the landscape in a second.
Seeing those pesky Hawks hasn't been all fun as of late, but getting the win should be much easier with high flying Josh Smith now out up to a month with the high ankle sprain. I think the Celts will remember last year's first round well and will use that to help push them to a near blowout win.
Friday night at the Garden should be a fun one with the Nuggets coming to town. With more practice and game time under the belt with Billups at the helm will only serve to help the team and I'm sure Boston will get everything they have to throw at them. Still, I think this game is one Boston should be able to win albeit by a very slim margin. I think this game will be a good example of Perk getting closer to reaching his potential and I see a stat-stuffing 20 & 10 game for the young center.
Ending the week in Brewer nation shouldn't be a problem, even if Redd is suited up and healthy. RJ showed us last week that he has what it takes to still be an explosive scorer, but Milwaukee has to keep him involved (especially after a 16 point quarter against the league's premiere defensive team).

So, yes I do expect the home team to be 10-1 at the end of this week.... what do you think?

- FROSTY