Newsletter: 1/3rd of the Season Well, well, well. The 1st 7 weeks saw established veterans showing their experience and some rookies making headlines.
The league saw too many injuries and even team managers crying foul, thinking only their team suffered the loss. Major players lost in injuries were A. Stoudemire, D. Miles, Shaq (now back, that rhymes) & N. Hilario. There were other countless temporary injuries, such as that suffered by T-Mac, Eddy Curry, Stackhouse, Stojakovic etc and etc. But regardless of countless "poor-me" posts, the managers kept their heads up and have made this league a real fun-fair affair.
Week 8 saw the first loosing week for the league leader Hukka and that too by 8th ranked team. It was ironic while Hukka saw Yao Ming warming the bench, Lakers4ever witnessed Shaq rubbing the court.
lOne key thing to understand is lots of things factor in to winning a week:
1. Good composition of players in each categories.
2. Strategies used by managers.
3. Players' schedule. How many games they are playing this week. Doesn't it suck to have no players playing on Sunday and too many playing on Friday??
4. Injuries.
I don't want to mention the lady luck factor as we want to believe it takes more than luck to win in this league.
1st Quarter Report Card (Thru Week 7) Since this manager got the oppertunity to be the editor, a word of caution, this ranking is highly biased and is solely the editor's opinion. Bottom to top:
12th KTM Wolves. With roster boasting one of the best player in the league (fantasy ranking 12th) Tim Duncan, arguably best point guard S. Marbury and other highly ranked players such as R. Lewis, S. Abdul Rahim; this team was let down by the supporting cast. This is the only team that won just 1 category in any given week. It showed progress until week 3 and then took a nosedive afterwards. Although this team never had the lowest points total in any week among the 12 teams, this team severely needs points, rebounds and blocks..suggesting a trade for high scoring centers is desperately needed for the team.
11th Hoop2hoop. A team on constant decline. Won 2 matches so far. With Ron Artest not playing the supporting cast needs to step up..like Reggie Evans who is playing better. Team's trade strategies (including add/drop off the free agents or waiver) OR lack thereof also contributed to the lower ranking of this team. Nash continues to get better hence if Artest comes back the team could get better.
10th Flash. Now that the team has changed its name, it hopes to change its ranking as well. Hinrich needs to be more consistent. Carter and Battier are playing best of their games, so one should expect the team should be looking up. Although the total points and rebounds are in decline, the area that needs to be addressed is the Assist category. Eveh with K. Hinrich aquisition this category has been below league average almost every week. If the leading players don't continue to play to the top of the game, if the supporting cast don't step up, if no trade (FA or to other teams) happens and if the players in the team don't play atleast 3 games in a week, this team could slide further down.
9th Nepali Celtics. Well managed team but not a good assembly of players. K. Garnett's name is the only name that stands out. Peja's productivity has gone down considerably and with him being out the team is in a decline now. Recently the team has increased its production on 3 major categories, points, rebounds and assists but with second best player out, the incline will suffer.
8th Lakers4ever. Ranked higher than others because Shaq-is-back. But is going to be this good for the rest of the season? Let's hope so. Shaq is not the only reason why it is ranked higher. The roster could scare you easily: Bryant, Terry, O'Neal, Francis, Mobley and j.Howard could give you solid points every night. Supporting cast, including James Jones who is back after injury, is playing good as well. This is a team going up for next few weeks..iff Shaq stays healthy. Which is a big iffff.
7th KTM Hammers. You could blame it on major injuries like loss of Stoudemire, unhealthy Curry etc..but the fact is the team deserves 7th ranking for now. Bad strategies in last couple of weeks has plagued this team. Sure in week 8, the team saw lowest games for its players but why didn't the team add a player on December 25th to get the rebounding points?(fact is the manager didn't know he only had a slight lead on this category). The team is well composed but could use 1 or 2 good trade if it is shooting for the top. Coming from the manager, the team is heading up. One of the team with highest fluctuation on every categories, except steal where it sucks every week.
6th Lazimpat Kings. If a curve were to be put for this team winnings, a sinusoidal would best describe the route. Started slowly, peaked up to week 5 then has shown gradual decline. Not too many pricey names but a balanced core with J. O'neal, Miller, Billups, Hamilton, Smith and wallace. Could trade Salmons and Stevenson when they are on their prime (they might go back to playing their usual game soon). Well managed team, but could add some rebounds. If not strategized well in next few weeks, the team could be on decline.
5th Handigaon Jatras. Certainly a team on incline, watch out!! When it looses it doesn't loose by much when it wins, it kills you. With cast like Ginobili, Richardson, Brand, Nowitzki, Krover and Okafor it unleashes well balanced attacks on each category. Could stay in top 5 at the end of the season. A definite playbound team as even with one or two star players hurt in the future, it can propel forward. However, lacks enough production in top 3 categories (points, rebounds and assists). Could use some help in trade.
4th Incognito Kanchi. Now the team manager knows the ins and outs, she cannot be stopped. Can you stop Marion, Wallace, Odom, Kidd and Jackson? Tough team to beat. Has never suffered a loss worse than 6-3. The only reason it is not ranked 3rd (as the current standing) is because of the points the team has accumulated in big categories, as compared to average league points. The team is probably in a volatile state, either it will secure 2nd position within 2 weeks or drop down to 5th.
3rd Bandipure Newaz. Still dazed with a recent match-up with the league's heavyweight (Hukka). Well strategized team. Lethals weapons lined up: Kirilenko, Gasol, Bibby and Iverson. Good supporting cast. Can easily challege any of the top 3 teams. Should remain in top 4 by the end of the season. One of the few teams who don't need major roster movements.
2nd KG4MVP. Only team with 9 players with ranking within 100th and possibly the only team w/o any player ranked top 10. Equally balanced supporting cast. Except for week 7, scored way above average in big categories. It is possible that this team could very well claim the top position within few weeks. If FG and FT% hold up can be unbeatable.
1st Hukka Nepali. The ultimate champion into the 1/3rd of the season. Boasts the King in its lineup with helps from Ming, Bosh, Johnson, Iguoadia and Randolph. With Yao Ming hurt, the team could loose the no.1 spot KG4MVP or Ingonito Kanchhi. Never had a loosing week before last week. Even with Ming out, gave a good fight. A great matchup in week 9th against Kanchhi might decide a lots of things although the odds are not in favor of Hukka.
