Round 1, Pick 4

4. Danny Granger

Glad to take the park ranger...

While many owners have been put off by d-range's consistently inconsistent health over the past two seasons (62 and 67 games played in 09-10 and 08-09, respectively), I have taken a much more positive outlook for the 27 year old Matrix Reloaded.

Everyone knows Danny's a beast. A physically gifted baller who can run the floor, finish strong, drain 6+ FTs at 90%+, D-up fierce, and spread the floor by shooting with less conscience than the Schutzstaffel. Here's a few things about DG you might not know...

• Over the past 3 seasons Granger had more combined 3s + stls + blks than the likes of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Dirk, KD, CP, D12... (in 07-08 Josh Smith had 4.6 combined to Grangers 4.5, in the following two seasons, not even close)



• In each of the past 3 seasons, his season high rebounding games came with Troy Murphy out of the lineup (Surprised?? Well, yea, I guess thats not a shocker, but a 1-2 rpg boost doesnt hurt anyones value).
  


• The best point guard DGs played alongside...Jamaal Tinsley
  


• Next best...Earl Watson



• ...Seriously



• Darren Collison was born in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. (just had to throw that in somewhere)



• He's smart as fuck. Was awarded a partial scholarship to Yale, played at Bradley before transfering to New Mexico where he finished his civil engineering degree. Go LOBOS!!

Feel a little more informed?? It's ok if you answered no, I'm not here to fucking impress you.

I'm ready for something special outta Danny-boy. Hes the clearcut #1 option on a shit team with a nucleus of nothing more than a great swingman and a young and talented PG and C. As long as he's on the court, he'll be a top 5 fantasy player with the potential to be the best fantasy option in the NBA.

Rd 1, Pick 3

3. Chris Paul

Now that KD24 and Lebron James are off the board, team 3 happily accepts CP3 and starts praying for 70+ games of double-doubley goodness. No one has or ever will argue against Pauls fantasy tool belt, but they will tell you that he's developed a bit of a glass asshole over his five seasons in the A. Not to call those people fucking morons, but Chris has played 78+ games for 3 of his five years. Not a big deal to me. Every body hurts sometimes. Some more than others. And that's just the way she goes boys, that's the way she fucking goes....

Shit! the first 3 were easy! Let's get Mock on this bitch!

Round 1 , Pick 2

2. Lebron James
It's gotta be Bron Bron. To me this is a no-brainer, CP3 made a monkey out of me last year and I just dont like giving 2nd chances. As mentioned in the early Miami predictions theres talk of production drop, but Charles Lebron-son is projected to be the least affected by this. Plus i've never balled with Lebron before so given the opportunity I would'nt think twice.


Let's see a triple double average this year there bud.

Fantasy Basketbear Mock Draft: Rd 1, Pick 1

Welcome home once again. This is the Bear. This is now. The bear is now.....? Seriously though, thanks to Ben for kicking things off with his Miami predictions. Somebody had to start somewhere and bolder moves have never been made. Anywoot, We here at the bear have decided to kick-start the fantasy NBA season with a little mock draft. Nothing too heavy, just a twelve teamer, roto we'll say, with 9 cats and zero respawns. Your 4 favorite bear cubs (Myself, Crash, Swisher and Shuttlesworth) will be collectively drafting all 12 teams, so be prepared for a lot of bias, favoritism and secret handshakes. Without further do, here is the first pick, which calls for little explanation:

1.Kevin Durant



Not much to say here that hasn't been said already. Until CP3 strings together healthy seasons and the situation in Miami shakes out, KD24 has been dubbed the consensus number 1 by more than just myself. This blog, this blog and this random all seem to mock agree. Next up: RD 1, pick 2! Holy Blasting Smokes!

Early Miami Predictions

The laze of the bear has become apparant throughout the summer months and for that I accept the whole hearted apologies of you the readers. But now that you've all momentarily got your shit together, its time to take a look at what might happen with the new Big Three.

Unadulterated marijuana sex parties. First prediction, is that these babies hit the roof. Heres hoping the Bear will be asked to do a special report at said sex partys.


Already as it stands Lebron James is no longer even in the top 20 thick salaries for the upcoming season, CB4 and D-Wade arent reaching that platform this year either. Pay cuts are one thing for these all star stat sheet mammoths, but will the production drop? Immensely? Slightly? Not at all?

Perhaps the fact that this newer, younger, hipper, more celebrity status starved Big Three is even considering a pay cut means winning is more important than the all-greasy dollar. At least this year.

Dwyane is gonna focus primarily on shooting guard while Mario Chalmers handles point duties. Bosh has recently found himself surrounded by thick muscle in a frankly robust power rotation. Chances are CB4 is going to be the boards guy of the 3 superstars, D-Wade's boarding will surely drop (he averages just a shade under 5 a game in his career, which isnt huge but PG's who attack the boards are few and far between) with Bosh and to a (much) lesser extent Juwan Howard monopolizing the paint on D.

Dwyane could break the ceiling for you this year in the assist catagory. His acrobatical passing will be backed up, and showcased better by a cast of characters worlds apart from the unreliable Jermaine O'Neal.

Lebron by all rights should continue his usual reign of terror. His ultimate goal, aside from a thick dynasty of championships, is to have a golden statue of himself errected outside the American Airlines Arena.

Bosh and Wade might not reach the plateau of 25pts per game avg. (although nothing seems to be able to stop Lebron from these numbers), but this whole deal seems like a pure power move concieved to put some rings on these players fingers. Bron Bron and Bosh havent won a championship yet, and winning that gold alongside new teammate Wade in the 2008 Olympics put the taste of winning on they're tongues. Not everyone is happy about the situation, but only time will tell if these three monoliths can share the spotlight and achieve the ultimate dynasty of cereal box covers, blankets, fanny packs, and blacklight posters bearing they're faces, that they've always dreamt of.

The only bear that hibernates in the summer

He's tired! His paws hurt! and more importantly, fantasy sports have shifted focus to MLB and soon NFL. So as the bear takes a much needed long summers nap, we just wanted to pop in and remind you to check back here in late August and early September when we'll start prepping you for another season of NBA fantasy basketball dominance! Here's a couple non-NBA-related videos to keep you on your toes until this impending summer of free agency sorts itself out:

You got dunked on...

I can't believe I just heard of this site. It's right full of sweet facial dunks. I took this picture from there. Need I say more?

Yougotdunkedon.com

Welcome Home, This is the End...

Well the NBA regular season called it quits on Wednesday, so that means fantasy basketball is done for the summer. It's been a fun, exciting year for the winners and a long, grueling season for the losers. I drafted some rookies, made some horrible trade offers and accepted some even worse ones. I started Chuck Hayes, sat Tim Duncan and gave Ryan Anderson way more playing time than I should have. I traded Shane Battier for Kenyon Martin, Darren Collison for Thaddeus Young and Kurt Thomas for Sheldon Williams. I stopped paying attention to five of my seven leagues in the last two weeks and suffered in pretty much all of them. Having said that, I had fun and plan on doing it again and so does the Bear. We here at the Bear are pleased to announce our brand new address on the interwebs: www.fantasybasketbear.com! That's right, we've gone corporate! Fast cars, fast women and faster breaks. Also we'll be looking forward to a summer of player ranks for next years draft, rookie impacts and opportunities for cash prizes. We'd also like to welcome the newest bear cub to the picnic, Matters! Nice works Matters. Thanks for checking us out during the season, now go on over and bookmark www.fantasybasketbear.com. We'll see you there.

Alright, who used it?

You know damn well what im talking about. The Glitch. After you all admit to it, I might admit to squeezing one last shitty start out of Dalembert. And I might admit to fully intending on milking games out of KG (whose notes claimed his old ass was gonna play, but was lying to the bear) and Joe Johnson who ended up resting for the next few hectic weeks of playoff madness. Anywho, did anyone get away with it? Did you bend the rules for bragging rights? Guess its not really bending the rules, its just the way she goes..... fuckin way she goes boys.

Please leave comments below.

Keeper Potential Part 1 : The Beastly East

It's almost time. Time to bounce back to reality for 6 and a half months. The dry spell of explosive fantasy basketballess boredom. As life crushing as the time spent away from breathtaking David Lee stats and Don Nelson hate is, it can prove to be beneficial on Keeper stud reflections. In Part 1 of this greasy masterpiece were gonna take a look at the illustrious Eastern Potential.

Bosh. Ka-Bosh. Right in the swirling shit winds of the playoff race, CB4 got Jason Terry'd (elbowed in the face to the point of much needed reconstruction). This might have ended his Raptors career (much to my dissapointment) but he will be a stat sheet dinasaur wherever he roams, its pretty much a no brainer to hold onto this all star PF-C and never let go.

Calderon is out of the keeper boat, and Jarrett Jack is tough as shit but works better on the deep end of your team so keep lookin. Bargnani, fell 3 blocks short (last year) of going 2 seasons straight with +100 blocks and +100 tre's. Nani likes to party, and i'd sure as hell like to get invited to said party.

Van Fundy's Magic got the obvious (D-12), as well as the sketchy (Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson). Neither Jameer nor Shard(anymore) aren't worth the long term investment, be scared if you do, and dump em quick if it comes down to that. Half man half season only came up short in January but I wouldn't feel right keeping him over a youngin. After all Vince is a liability, as soon as he gets addicted to the next Call of Duty he'll sit for months.

Danny Granger rivaled the Durantula for potential CP3-Bron usurper this year, he hasnt quite achieved such a status yet (although Durantula could/should rank in top 3 in 10/11 season), but the Sex Bat threw down. He also tacked on a few suspensions for disorderly conduct (fighting) on the court which displays gritiness, sadly you don't get points for beating up hookers (or Ron Artest would be ranked top 3).

They should call New Jersey the Grizzlies, cause looking at they're roster is fucking grizzly. Having said that, Brook Lopez is undeniable, sporting splits of (18.9pts, 8.7rebs, 2.3ast, 1.7blks, 50% fg, 81% ft). Now his turnovers WILL rape and maul you, then leave you for dead in a Darren Collison 2010 like ditch, but count on the double-double split next year. Devin Harris we all seem to like. Right? Kinda? Yeah, he's young, give him a go, steals & tre's dont grow on fucking trees, but base that decision on your other keeps. Courtney Lee needs time before he's considered, but I'd keep a watchful eye on him.

Bron Bron is out of our reach. Anyone whose got him ain't movin him, forget about it. Antawn Jamison went 0-12 from the floor in his first game with the Cavs. Has he done anything since? This is the first it's occured to me since then that he even exists. Mo Williams is a Vince Carter - esque keeper, trust in his experience, yet not of his longevity.

This year was heavy duty for Gerald Wallace. Obvious keeper. He's so grimy he washes his hands before AND after he takes a piss. With an aformentioned All-Star appearance, instilled characteristics of unselfish play and 110% effort gauranteed, only injury can prevent further domination from Gerald. Truly bred from a steller race of ball players. Stephen Jackson on the other hand, has never been a keeper, never will, more of an early draft pick once scoring becomes your white whale.


Blatche? He's beefy, number wise that is. Should you keep? Split stats Feb through Apr say yes. Thick scoring and unshabby defense. This prayer is fronting 21pts per while gobbling up a shade under 10 boards per. The 20-10 club is exclusive, Zach Randolph doesn't just let anyone join, but Blatche is creeping on membership. The lack of C's in Washington is spine tingling, so it looks like Blatche will be seeing 30+ min per, and if thats not keeper worthy, its worthy of stressing over during the first few post-keep picks.

In Boston, only Rondo & Pierce seem to make me take notice. Ray is too old/up & down / bald / topsy turvy with his shooting. KG is old as shit too. Rondo's got the youth, the assists, the steals, the quickness. Pierce isn't for me, but could round off your team nicely as a final keeper. Value is everything, and in between injuries, Pierce gives you just that, if you hang on, be weary of the right time to push him on someone else.

Before the length of this behemoth spirals too far out of control im gonna ration it. Next up we look at Miami & Milwaukee's potential for dynasty construction. Can Beasley stay out of rehab long enough to win you a championship? Do you have the patience? Should he get a haircut? Fuckin rights he should.

DON NELSON, THE ANTI-CHRIST MESSIAH

CONGRATUFUCKINLATIONS NELLIE!!!
You are now the winningest coach in NBA history, 1333 Ws. Nice work. Well done. Retire this off season. Pretty please. Can't argue with his reality results, but this man has crushed the fantasy potential of some of his beloved players, teasing the bear with his delicious picnic of young talent.



Now we can hope that next year there will be no "here's Donny" for the likes of Tony Randolph, Tony Morrow and Andris Biedrins. Consistent minutes are the only thing holding these guys back from being fantasy studs, or at the very least fantasy relevant. My major beef is with Randolph. In his rookie season, the bear developed an obsession with his impressive production in limited minutes. Some of us dared to dream of what of this 20 year old German could do in 36min. However, Donny Mac bludgeoned those dreams to death with his tight fisted hoarding of minutes at the 4 spot. Insistent on starting Cor-Magnum, or one D-leaguer or another as his PF, Full Nelson descended into madness. Before going over on his ankle and ending his season, T-Rolf had been starting but playing just over 20min a game. I realize his inexperience and toothpick build made him a project, sometimes a liability on defense, but why not plug him in and make him learn the hard way? The days of Dirk-crushing playoff runs are gone, why not develop the youngin? Ant-Ran managed to stay on the floor for over 36 twice this year and through both games tallied this total of big man stats: 27pts, 17rebs and 9blks. Roto prime rib, succulent roto veal, meaty bigman smorgasboard in a vegan lineup...
Why Don? Why? It's time to hang up your whistle, you've done a lot in the NBA maybe it's time for a new challenge. For instance Donny you could move to Asia, rediscover your passion for coaching at a circus, training goats and monkeys.
Please, if you have a soul and you do not retire, do one thing, do it for the bear. Kill your baby seals in a more human fashion; like with a 50. cal, or a poisoned dart gun, or with a clan of ninja assassins. What I mean is play Tonys squared and the Latvian, and stop rescuing D-leaguers. Yet the bear salutes you Nellie. You got made, you are now the Godfather, the Don of NBA dubs. Good on ya.

Yahoos season end roto glitch and h2h streaming

I love fantasy. Not just fantasy basketball, but fantasy sports in general. I primarily play Yahoo for fan ballin' these days, but I've dabbled in espn, cbs, 365fantasysports, a little bit of sporting news, and they're all great but generally I sign up my max teams per account (4) on yahoo. I used to be a pure roto kinda gm, too. I eventually discovered the joys of weekly head 2 head matchups though, and am now devoted to both ends of the spectrum. The adrenaline highs of anything-can-happen H2H and the crushing lows of knowing-your-season-is-over-before-it-began roto. So I am not opposed to doing anything you can to get by. To whiff that year end 'chip is to fill oneself with a kind of Phil Jackson like zen that stays intoxicating until you draft all rookies next year. One form of stratego that is employed in h2h is streaming. This is the practice of punting the volume sensitive categories (%'s, TO's) and trying to load up on the counting cat's that won't hurt you (Pts, Rebs, Stls, Blks, 3's, Assts). I've heard more than one owner cry foul over this strategy but all is fair in love and fantasy. There are precautions that commissioners can take to foil streamers, such as adding a weekly transactions/adds cap or putting a cap on whole season moves. It's part of the fantasy life style though, and as much as you hate it, sometimes you just have to give the red-headed step child a hug. Since were in the do anything you can vein of winning, I'd like to expose a little known glitch that yahoo has for roto leagues. Are things coming down to the wire? Top 4 teams all within 2 points of each other? Going bald from stress? Can't afford your mortgage payments? Well shit, here's what you do: If your in a league that has been generous enough to offer you two spots at one position, (2 Utils or 2 forward spots or 2 guard slots or two center sprots) and you have only one game left @ each on your max games counter, you can can squeeze two games out of it by STARTING TWO PLAYERS FOR THAT ONE GAME @ THE SAME TIME. Example: I'm down to one more guard start in my 15 man roto league, am about 20 assists away from certain victory and my girlfriend will leave me if I lose. I've got Darren Collison @ home against the Jazz starting at 7 o'clock and Derrick Rose playing the Nets in NJ also at 7 pm. So I slide them both into my 2 flex guard spots and POW! Yahoo shits its pantsuit , doesn't know what to do, so it locks both players in 45 minutes before the game and POW! You've just secured yourself the Catalina Wine Mixer...er...Fantasy Championship.

Next up we rank the top 250 players after the top 250 players are off your draft board for next year. Can Joey Graham remain an elite top 300 contributor? Does Royal Ivey have the cajones to play more than 7 minutes a game? Will Aleksander Pavlovic ever return to his top 350 form? Our readers weigh in!