Mon 5/2

There are three games on Monday

Atlanta at Chicago

Dallas at LA Lakers

I think Bulls and Lakers will eliminate Hawks and Mavs and I am thinking about picking a Hawk because there are 4 Hawks to pick from and that series might get over early compare to series between Lakers and Mavs.  I am going with Al Horford.

Sun 5/1

There are two games on Sunday

Memphis at Oklahoma City

Boston at Miami

Out of all 4 second round match-ups I am more confident about other match-ups than these.  I think Bulls will beat Hawks and Lakers will eliminate Mavs, but they are gonna play on same days and we will have to select players from Heat vs Celtics and Thunder vs Grizzlies.

I am not sure about winner from these match-ups, but I will have to pick a player from teams that I think are going to be eliminated. KD and company are favorites, but Grizzlies are playing awesome basketball and there are chances that they can advance to next round specially after eliminating Spurs in 1st round.

Celtis and Heat were able to win 1st round easily. Celtics beat Knicks 4-0 and Heat didn’t have too much trouble as well. I think Heat will beat Celtics, but it is not clear as mud.

I think Heat and Thunder will advance, but I am not sure. For now I am going with teams with home court advantage and thinking about picking either a Celtic or a Grizzly. I personally think that chances of Heat beating Celtics are higher than chances of Thunder beating Grizzlies so I am going with a Celtic. Rajon Rondo is my pick.

Fri 4/29

There is just one game on Friday
San Antonio at Memphis, Game 6 - Grizzlies lead 3-2

Spurs were favorites to start the series, but Grizzlies are leading 3-2 right now and this game is gonna be in Memphis. I think home team will win and I am picking a Spur. Parker and Manu are my options and I am going with Manu Ginobili

Thu 4/28

There are three games on Thursday
Orlando at Atlanta, Game 6 - Hawks lead 3-2
LA Lakers at New Orleans, Game 6 - Lakers lead 3-2
Dallas at Portland, Game 6 - Mavericks lead 3-2   

I think Dallas will advance to next round, but I won’t be surprised if Portland comes up with a W on Thursday.

It is likely that Hawks will send Magic home tonight and picking a Magic should be fine. One might think that after yesterday’s performance Magic gained confidence which might be enough to win rest of the games in this series. But still picking a Magic might be okay coz I think Bulls will beat winner of this series in next round.

Lakers should finish the series on Thursday and picking a Hornet seems a way to go. But Hornets are playing at home and Lakers are playing sloppy basketball for few weeks now. CP3 was able to beat them twice by himself. Can he repeat it for two more times in next two games? I don’t think so. Also compare to Hornets, Lakers are so tall that they hardly let Hornets grab any rebounds. Yesterday Lakers out rebounded Hornets 42 to 25 and I don’t think its enough to win remaining two games.

If I have to bet my money on the team who will advance to next round on Thursday, I’d say its Lakers and I am going with a Hornet. Trevor Ariza is my pick

Wed 4/27

There are three games on Wednesday

Philadelphia at Miami, Game 5 - Heat leads 3-1

Memphis at San Antonio, Game 5 - Grizzlies lead 3-1

Denver at Oklahoma City, Game 5 - Thunder leads 3-1     

I think Heat, Grizzlies and Thunder will advance. My options are: Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Iguodala. I think Tim Duncan is the most reliable and skilled player among these and I am going with him.

Tue 4/26

Tuesday’s pick is very simple for me. Magic is down 3-1 and though I think they might win home game to keep series alive, I don’t wanna take a chance of not picking someone averaging 50 PRA. So I am going with Dwight Howard.

Mon 4/25

There are three games today:

San Antonio at Memphis, Game 4 - Grizzlies lead 2-1

Portland at Dallas, Game 5 - Series tied 2-2

Oklahoma City at Denver, Game 4 - Thunder leads 3-0

Picking a Nugget is obvious today, but after picking Nene and Lawson, I am not sure if I wanna pick any other Nugget or not.

I think Mavs should beat Blazers, but series it tied at 2-2 and given the fact that both these teams were able to beat each other at opponent’s home court in regular season, nothing is certain. On my personal assumption of Mavs going to round 2, I already picked Aldridge and I don’t wanna pick any other player from these teams right now.

Initially I thought Spurs will beat Grizzlies, but they are down 1-2 and playing in Memphis tonight. It is likely that Grizzlies will win tonight and Spurs will be down by 3-1,  and then it will be very tough for them to come back and since I haven’t pick any player from these teams, why not pick a Spur? It won’t be that bed even if they will win as picking just one player won’t harm that much, correct?

Well, we have seen good players not producing enough PRA and there is no guarantee that they will produce their average PRA on the night we pick them. So far in the playoffs, we have seen Amare (10), Kobe (16), Pau Gasol (14), Boozer (18), Miller (18), Horford (21), Randolph (19) and few more poor performances. So I am not gonna pick a player from a team that I think might advance and will pick a player from a team I am confident that will loose. So I am picking Kenyon Martin from Denver tonight as I am confident that Nuggets will be eliminated in first round.

Sun 4/24

I wanted to pick a player from 76er because I thought they will be eliminated today, and I went with Elton Brand. Good thing that they won, I might go with AI for their next game.

By the way, my wife (5k in just little over 30 minutes) and I (10k in just little under an hour) completed our races yesterday and it felt good. We also went to a party which was hosted by my three newly wedded friends and it was a lot of fun.

Sat 4/23

There are 4 games on Saturday
•    Chicago at Indiana, Game 4 - Bulls lead 3-0
•    Dallas at Portland, Game 4 - Mavericks lead 2-1
•    San Antonio at Memphis, Game 3 - Grizzlies lead 1-1
•    Oklahoma City at Denver, Game 3 - Thunder lead 2-0

This might be the last chance to pick a Pacer. I could pick Hansbrough or Collison. Both are averaging less than 20 fantasy points a game. I will pass because I think I can find other options from loosing teams who are average more than 20 fantasy points a game.

I think there is a tiny chance that Mavs might be eliminated and after picking Aldridge I don’t wanna pick a second Blazer now.

Grizzlies are playing home with 1-1 record. Though Manu was not playing when Grizzlies won, I still think that Grizzlies have a shot at advancing to second round.

I think Nuggets won’t able to advance to second round and I wanna go with a Nugget. I already picked Nene so I am going with Ty Lawson

Fri 4/22

There are three games on Friday
Boston at New York, Game 3 - Celtics lead 2-0
Orlando at Atlanta, Game 3 - Series tied 1-1
LA Lakers at New Orleans, Game 3 - Series tied 1-1

I still am not sure about the winner between Magic vs Hawks. So I am not touching this match-up.

I think Lakers will beat Hornets. I have already used Chris Paul and I am not sure that I will need to use other Hornets (Ariza, Landry and Jarrett Jack) as there are plenty of better options to choose from during first round.

So I am gonna pick a Knick. I have already used Amare and I think Melo is the only reliable Knick who can give me 25+ fantasy points so I am going with Carmelo Anthony.

Thu 4/21

There are three games on Thursday

Chicago at Indiana, Game 3 - Bulls lead 2-0

Miami at Philadelphia, Game 3 - Heat lead 2-0

Dallas at Portland, Game 3 - Mavericks lead 2-0

76ers and Pacers are horrible and I am not sure that anyone is reliable to produce more than 25 fantasy point. I am going with Aldridge.

This pick seems very simple, but it was not. When I started playing drives to the finals this season, I was thinking that I will keep picking best players from loosing teams and will be do good overall. Sounds simple, right? Buy it is not. My last two picks (Holiday and Amare) were horrible and I found myself at bottom. So before deciding on this pick, I was thinking a lot. I thought now I wanna pick a player who is from loosing teams, but not the best ones as everyone else is going to pick the best player. So in order to beat the rest, I need to pick a player that is not popular pick. So I was thinking about picking Miller! But after sipping a coffee, I told myself that there is no point on changing my strategy right now. The main reason, I am playing this fantasy game is because I love it and I love it because I get to do whatever I like. So I am sticking to my original plan of choosing best players from loosing team.

My other choices:

Miller

Iguodala

Wallace

Wed 4/20

There are three games on Wednesday

Denver at Oklahoma City, Game 2 - Thunder lead 1-0

Memphis at San Antonio, Game 2 - Grizzlies lead 1-0

New Orleans at LA Lakers, Game 2 - Hornets lead 1-0

West is very interesting as of now. I think Spurs and Lakers will advance to next round, but both lost first game! I still think that they should advance to next round, but series might go to 6-7 games so I am gonna wait for a game before I pick up players from these teams.

Thunder vs Nuggets was a close game, but at least Thunder won and I expect them to beat Nuggets and I wanna pick a Nugget. Among Nuggets, Nene produced most fantasy points (31) in the first game and I won’t be surprised if he does it again. I am going to with Nene.

My second and third choices:

Zach Randolph

Marc Gasol

Apart from Nene, I don’t think that any other reliable Nugget will give me 25+ points. So I would go with a Grizzly as I haven’t pick any Grizzles yet based on my assumption that they will be eliminated.

Tue 4/19

There are 3 games on Tuesday
New York at Boston, Game 2 - Celtics lead 1-0
Atlanta at Orlando, Game 2 - Hawks lead 1-0
Portland at Dallas, Game 2 - Mavericks lead 1-0

Magic created a record by sweeping Hawks by the margin of 100+ points in 4 games last season. Experts are predicting that Magic will beat Hawks this season as well. In the first game, superman posted monster states: 46-19-1, BUT Hawks are leading series 1-0 and I am not touching this match up right now.

I think Trailblazers and Nicks wont advance and I wanna pick a player from these two teams. Mr Big shot got injured in last game and he might play next game. If he does, he might not be 100% – that tells me that Nicks vs Celtics series might get over earlier than Mavs vs Trailblezers and I am going to pick a Knick. I think Melo will perform better at home and I am going with Amar'e Stoudemire.

If I didnt have Amare:

1. Aldridge

2. Melo

Mon 4/18

There are two games on Monday

Philadelphia at Miami, Heat leads 1-0

Indiana at Chicago, Bulls lead 1-0

I think 76ers and Pacers will not advance to next round and I want to pick a player for these two teams.

I already picked Granger. I am going with Jrue Holiday. He scored 29 fantasy points (19, 5, 5) in last game and I think he should produce similar line in next game.

Followings are my other choices in descending order:

• Darren Collison scored 32 fantasy points (17, 6, 9) in last game. I think he should score 25 or more points.
• Elton Brand scored 24 fantasy points (17, 7, 0) in last game. He should be a good pick as Heat is not very strong in inside. I think he should score 25 or more points.
• Tyler Hansbrough scored 28 fantasy points (22, 4, 2) in last game. I think he is a decent pick.
• Roy Hibbert scored 20 fantasy points (11, 8, 1). I think he can do better than this in next game.
• T young scored 32 fantasy points (20, 11, 1) in last game. I don’t think he can produce similar result consistently.

Sun 4/17

There are four games on Sunday:
Memphis at San Antonio
New Orleans at LA Lakers
New York at Boston
Denver at Oklahoma City

Nuggets vs Thunders should be excited. I think KD and company should advance to the next round, but Nuggets are playing great after departure of Billups and Melo. I am not touching this match-up for now.

Spurs know how to play playoffs basketball and win championships. They are getting older and Manu might not be 100% in first game. Grizzlies are young and loaded. If Spurs are going to win championship, they will have the toughest run starting from first round. Though #1 Spurs are taking on #8 Grizzlies, it isn’t going to be that simple and they will have to fight hard. I am very sure that I am gonna pick Z. Randolph, but not today.

Kicks are all about playing fast breaks. It’s always fun to watch Mike D'Antoni’s team. They score a lot and they score fast, but as we all know Mike D'Antoni doesn’t like to play defense.  On the other hand Cetics are all about defense. I think Celtics will beat Knicks and there are so many players to choose from: Amare, Melo and Mr. Big Shot...  Mike D'Antoni’s roster always provides so many options to choose for fantasy junkies like us.

I am very tempted to pick a Knick, but being a Lakers fan, I feel obligated to pick a Hornet. I won’t be surprised to see Lakers getting three-peat and am rolling my dices with CP3!

Sat 4/16

NBA Playoffs starts this Saturday and I can’t wait! I am also excited to play NBA drive to the finals.

There are 4 games this Saturday

Indiana at Chicago

Philadelphia at Miami

Atlanta at Orlando

Portland at Dallas

I think Orlando should beat Atlanta, but I am not 100% sure as Hawks beat Magic 3 times in 4 games during regular season so I am not going to pick any player from these two teams.

Dallas should beat Portland, but I am not 100% sure as Mavs are famous for loosing in playoffs so I am staying away from this match-up for now.

I am very confident that Bulls and Heat should eliminate Pacers and 76ers. So I am thinking about picking a player from Pacers or 76er. I am picking Danny Granger.