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0 Subject: RIHC 2014-15: Final Recap

Posted by: Guru
- [330592710] Thu, Apr 16, 2015, 10:06

Congratulations to Da Bomb Squad, who won the RIHC, caliming the top spot in mid-season and cruising to the title down the stretch.

This thread is for a general retrospective on the 2014-15 RIHC season. RIHC managers are encouraged, but not required, to post. Others are also invited to share their observations.

You may comment on any aspect of the season, including or excluding those listed below.

For League Managers:
1. How did you do, relative to your own expectations? What were your best decisions? What didn't work so well? If you could reverse one or two decisions you made during the draft or the season, what would they be?

2. Are there any changes in league rules that you would suggest for next year?

3. What have you learned over the course of this season? More critically, what would you do differently if you had to do it over - not necessarily with 20/20 statistical foresight, but in terms of general tactics or strategies?

4. How important was the draft to your success or lack thereof? To what extent were you able to make effective adjustments via free agent pickups or trades?

For participants in one of the Qualifying Leagues:
5. How did your league experience compare to that observed for the RIHC?

6. I'd appreciate if someone from each QL would post the final standings of that league in this thread. (Please indicate who the managers were as well, if team names aren't self-identifying.) That will help me get organized for next fall. In addition, I'd like to hear from any QL commish (via email, preferably) if there were any behavioral issues which should be considered in evaluating next year's invitees for the RIHC and the AAA league(s). Belligerent behavior, or sustained non-participation are particular areas of concern.
1Guru
      ID: 330592710
      Thu, Apr 16, 2015, 10:09
RIHC Standings through games of Apr 15
RankTeamGPFG%FT%3PTMPTSREBASTSTBLKTotal
1Da Bomb Squad1012101181110107572
2SANFORDORS10121214912812765
3Guru10128411611191161
4reeb1011910945941060
5KnicksFan10105121210335959
6That's an RDD1010693124610656
7Tosh1012366.5861211355.5
8Magic Air Birds980112128581249
9youngroman's Luschen100845279116448
10HoopTown Addicts99178105223239
11fear the monkey10111351742831
12stramonio947276.53171128.5

Stats through games of Apr 15
RankTeamGPFG%FT%3PTMPTSREBASTSTBLKFGMFGAFTMFTA
1Da Bomb Squad1012 .467 .7831052150235901337095464556821216326093331
2SANFORDORS1012.469* .6878991405561723103113865753661143824223525
3Guru1012 .460 .7531248135045953211599872350691101521182812
4reeb1011 .461 .7821061129685640323994170748201047222532882
5KnicksFan1010.454* .7891262141345081269695168350691116427343463
6That's an RDD1010 .455 .7778561573954762974100465657521263433794349
7Tosh1012 .448 .7719701384456723677112356852731177723283018
8Magic Air Birds980.469* .737606128915845295698374548851041325173413
9youngroman's Luschen1008.454* .767755138325848338895261351041124728733745
10HoopTown Addicts991 .456.776*1119133504865263893753450061097122172857
11fear the monkey1011 .431 .746964121675761287990966845111047421812924
12stramonio947 .445.776*970129014672299685041348601091322112851
5Da Bomb
      Donor
      ID: 487112814
      Thu, Apr 16, 2015, 23:18
My first RIxC championship so that is a nice item to put on the resume. As the old proverb goes - "You play to win the game" - and it certainly feels good to win.

Several things need to go right in order to win a league of this caliber - the draft, FA/waiver pickups, and injuries. My first 6 picks worked out swimmingly- Westbrook (I expected he'd be in line for a career season as it was expecting a lot for Durant to get back to full health this year- and he ended up being far from that), Lillard (fell too far), Horford (freakish pec injuries last 2 seasons to different pecs- he was able to stay on the court this year), Vucevic (74 games played- bravo!), Oladipo (fell too far), Korver (great roto piece). And my 8th pick Sullinger was good while he lasted. Tony Parker, Jeff Green (before his trade to Memphis where I dropped him soon after), Amir Johnson and Paul Pierce also played solid roles.

In the first half of the season I was battling at the top with my greatest weakness being blocks. At that time I picked up Gobert and Len right as they moved into prominent roles on their teams. I also plucked off George Hill from waivers right when he got healthy, and I started to separate from the pack from there.

One strategy that I employ is to not punt any categories, with a focus on not taking the FT% killers. DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, perhaps even Blake Griffin won't be found on any roto teams of mine. Another is to not be shy of using my games played. If a player is producing, don't be shy to play him. Injuries happen, players roles can change, and DNPs are wild down the stretch for teams that aren't fighting. It's easier to bench players later on in the season if needed than play guys who don't necessarily deserve to be started.

Thanks to Guru for organizing and commishing, and thanks to the leaguemates for a competitive season.
6wolfer
      ID: 19315179
      Fri, Apr 17, 2015, 10:18
RIHC AAA

1 Foot's Ramblers 11 10 8.5 8 4 8 12 12 73.5 1.5
2 SaskatoonWheatfarmers 8 12 11 3 9 10 6 9 680.5
3 G $ 2 4 4 11 10 12 11 10 64 0
4 Team twolves 1 7 12 6 5 9 10 11 61 2
5 Team CHIOU 9 11 7 10 8 2 4 8 59 0
6 Delaware Destroyers 3 5 5 5 12 11 8 7 56 1
7 Team Hall 6 8 8.5 12 1 6 9 4 54.5 -1.5
8 King of Crimson Court 5 6 6 7 11 7 3 6 51 -2
9 Team Russdiculous 7 9 10 4 3 4 5 5 47 -3.5
10 West Coast Valkyrie14 12 3 2 9 6 3 2 3 40 0
11 Team Simha 10 2 1 2 2 1 7 1 26 1
12 Team Wolfe 4 1 3 1 7 5 1 2 24 1

Congrats to Foots Ramblers who advances, and congrats to all for a great season.......
7Guru
      ID: 330592710
      Fri, Apr 17, 2015, 11:04
I really thought I had a shot at the top spot at the ASB when I traded away DeAndre Jordan for Monta Ellis. I thought I could hold on to the top spots in blocks and rebounds (or drop no more than one spot), while improving about 5 spots in FT% and several spots in points, while holding on to my position in FG%.

Unfortunately, that was all predicated on Kevin Durant being healthy - and as it turned out, he never played again after that date. I also soon had a rash of injuries leading to a bunch of DNPs, and suddenly I was scrambling just to keep enough players active to fill up my GP allotment. And then when Ibaka went down (for the last 18 games), I knew I was toast. Not a good year to be so tied to the (mis)fortunes of OKC.

So all told, I'm pretty happy to have held on to the 3rd spot overall. Even without Ibaka for the last several weeks, I did hold on to 11 ranking points in both rebounds and blocks. But without Durant, I never made the upward moves in scoring and FT%. So my final rankings ended up pretty much where they were at the ASB. Thus, I don't think the trade hurt me. I'm not even going to try to figure out where I'd be without the trade. Looks like it worked out well for Dave R, though, so maybe it hurt me by propelling him above my team.


8Toral
      Leader
      ID: 2111201313
      Fri, Apr 17, 2015, 12:21
Reposted for clarity:

RIHC AA on ESPN (Toral)

1 Manta Rays 9 2 4 12 12 10 10 12 71 +0
2 BB The Ball 2 9 10 10 10.5 9 8 11 69.5 +0.5
3 Regina Wheat Kings 10 1 5 11 7 11 11 5 61 +0
4 Limited Natural Ability 5 10 11 4 6 8 7 9 60 -0.5
5 Stockton to Malone 6 8 6 6 9 12 4 7 58 -1
6 Mount Pocono Fightin' Amish 8 11 9 3 3 7 6 10 57 +0
7 Mighty Meatwads 1 7 8 9 8 5 12 4 54 +0
8 Curby's Club 12 5 7 5 5 6 3 6 49 +1
9 Team Smith 4 12 12 1 1 3 5 8 46 +0.5
10 Team Heilman 11 4 1 8 4 2 9 2 41 -1
11 Team wiggins 7 3 2 7 10.5 4 2 3 38.5 +0.5
12 PAS Ravens 3 6 3 2 2 1 1 1 19 +0

Owners:


1 Manta Rays Glenn Austin 71
2 BB The Ball Brian B 69.5
3 Regina Wheat Kings Alan Stewart 61
4 Limited Natural Ability chris Reetz 60
5 Stockton to Malone MORGAN BOYACK 58
6 Mount Pocono Fightin' Amish Fred Courtright 57
7 Mighty Meatwads Michael Richards 54
8 Curby's Club Sean Pierson 49
9 Team Smith Brett Smith 46
10 Team Heilman Billy Heilman 41
11 Team wiggins eric wiggins 38.5
12 PAS Ravens Kris Keelty 19
9RJ
      ID: 562103114
      Sun, Apr 19, 2015, 11:19
Good shot to Da Bomb squad on winning the title this year. I had a lot of fun in this competitive league.
10KnicksFan
      ID: 253112010
      Mon, Apr 20, 2015, 11:14
For League Managers:
1. How did you do, relative to your own expectations? What were your best decisions? What didn't work so well? If you could reverse one or two decisions you made during the draft or the season, what would they be?

My expectations were low because I know this is a super tough league. But after my draft I felt pretty good about my team and hoped to be in the top 3.

On February 25th I had 38.5 points and was in 11th place. In less than 2 months I gained 20.5 points and finished in 5th. I'm very proud of that comeback. I set a goal in early March to try to squeeze into the top 5 so I could earn a spot in next year's RIHC, and I worked really hard to achieve that.

My best decisions were not getting frightened by the early season struggles of guys like Lopez, Dragic, Batum, and Reddick. They and others had good second halves that helped me catch up.

My worst decision was drafting Larry Sanders early, and then holding him for way too long in hopes that he would come back. My climb up the standings started almost from the moment that I finally dumped Sanders in late February.

I was lucky to make a couple of big FA acquisitions, specifically Robert Covington, Alexey Shved and Galinari.


2. Are there any changes in league rules that you would suggest for next year?

It's annoying that Yahoo does not let you add or drop a player who has played on that night until after 3 AM EST. I don't know if that can be changed, but it is frustrating.

3. What have you learned over the course of this season? More critically, what would you do differently if you had to do it over - not necessarily with 20/20 statistical foresight, but in terms of general tactics or strategies?

I've learned to be less stubborn with my team's strategy and to be willing to make major adjustments. My team was at the bottom of the league for 4 months, so I looked at the standings and saw that my best chance of moving up was to improve in Steals and FT%. So I started adding players that were strong in those categories, and gave up on categories like Rebounds where I had no chance of improvement. It's hard to pass up a really tempting free agent with great stats and to pick up a scrubby guy like Prigioni instead, but those moves paid off.

4. How important was the draft to your success or lack thereof? To what extent were you able to make effective adjustments via free agent pickups or trades?

My draft was pretty good, and I think it did play a role in my success. Like I said before, a lot of them got off to really crappy starts, and it was frustrating, but they ultimately played to their potential.

My success, which hinged on improvements in a couple of key categories, was largely due to late season free agent pickups.

12Dave R
      ID: 1733176
      Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 22:20
To sum it all up:

Clearly the goal is to win this league, however, secondarily is to finish in the running for an invite back. It's difficult to earn your way back.

That being said, I felt I had a really strong draft. I liked my team, but it took me a long time to realize the impact a player like Drummond would have, I knew he'd be a drag on FT%, but... In addition I had to weather his slow start which made the bricks from the line harder to tolerate.

But I was muddling along, bouncing around from 5th to 8th, when Jennings went down. Jennings was having a surprisingly good season until then. I grabbed DJ Augustine, his replacement, and he filled in admirably, until traded.

At that point I realized, that I was not a lock to finish in the running for a return invite, let alone first place. Constantly analyzing my situation, I finally realized I had little to gain in the " small guy stats ", after losing the 2 PG's but much to gain in boards and blocks. I had a comfy cushion in steals, was strong in FG%, and of course dead last in FT%.

So I started shopping for some Bigs, sending out trade offer after trade offer. Nothing materialized until Reeb agreed to trade Nerlens ( for Eric Gordon ) and Guru unloaded DeAndre for Monta. From that point, I lost 2 points in 3's, 3 points in assists, but gained 1 in FG%, 7 in RB's and 4 in blocks. A total of +7, enough to propel me to 2nd.

A good trade is one that helps both teams, and to that end I think both did, but I do think I gained a slight edge as Nerlens turned into a fantasy monster ( I wonder where he gets drafted next year ), and as Guru stated previously, losing Durant diminished the returns he would have reaped by unloading Jordan, and adding Ellis.

It's comical, with Jordan and Drummond and a few other brick layers, I finished with a FT% of .687, next lowest was .737, quite a disparity. But it does show you can compete tanking a category if the rest of your team is constructed right.

Other than the trades, best move was grabbing Middleton off waivers, and the best non move was being patient with Faried. Holding him paid off, especially with the move to " go big ".

Congrats to Da Bomb and thanks to Guru for organizing this.
13TD
      ID: 55540220
      Tue, Jun 02, 2015, 21:50
RIHC AAA Yahoo
1 MAAATT (Roberts) 77
2 s R 67
3 Jambo Aeons 66
4 TD Dragons 62
5 tom's Choice Team 61
6 Mighty Meatwads 58
7 Jason's Primo Team 53
8 Chitown Ballers 46
9 Beebop 36
10 1derB 34
11 Bean's Nuggets 33
12 Rotten Amoebas 31
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