fBasketballBlog

A win for KD and the Thunder would give many people hope... (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

It’s finally here, the way we wanted it and the way we expected it at the start of this strange NBA season: The Oklahoma City Thunder will lock horns with the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, a matchup that features seven of the top 50 fantasy basketball players in the 2011-12 NBA season (LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Chris Bosh).

The poll that’s been up on the home page of this site since the beginning of the season shows that 35 percent of you thought the Heat would win this season’s championship, while 14 percent thought the Thunder would. Granted, perceptions and realities have changed since then: the Thunder look more sure-footed and ready than they did earlier in the season, while LeBron is in full-on Hulk mode.

What strikes me about the matchup, among many other facets that have already been mentioned by others, is that this is a clash of the organic and the inorganic — the natural vs. the unnatural, the honest way vs. the shortcut. (continue reading…)

Yep, he hears everything you haters have been saying (or so his future fantasy owners should hope). (Flickr/Keith Allison)

Depth chart:
PG: Mario Chalmers**, Mike Bibby*, Norris Cole
SG: Dwyane Wade, Mike Miller, Eddie House
SF: LeBron James, James Jones*
PF: Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard*
C: Joel Anthony, Erick Dampier*, Jamaal Magloire*, Dexter Pittman

* unrestricted free agent
** restricted free agent (continue reading…)

Do you see it? (Flickr/Dave Gillem)

The 2011 NBA Finals are over, the ring has been kept from Gollum’s grasp and we’re all waking up to our miserable lives again. Now what? It’s time to shake off the cobwebs, take a deep breath and start mentally preparing for the 2011-12 fantasy basketball season — whenever that will start.

Too soon, you say? Well, if there’s anything we should’ve learned from this year’s Finals, it’s that it’s never too soon to start anything. That feeble attempt at a joke brings us to the whole point of this post: What lessons can we take from the 2011 NBA Finals for fantasy basketball purposes? Here are five that I could think of. (continue reading…)

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  Check out these links. (Stefano A/Flickr)

  I recently had my debut in Dime magazine’s print edition with my 2010-11 fantasy basketball preview. By the time it went to print there were already a few things I wish I could’ve changed, but I still stand by the vast majority of it.

• To continue the vanity, here are my posts on DimeMag.com about risk vs. reward players, and the 10 most intriguing fantasy basketball players with new teams this season.
• The guys at Give Me The Rock unveiled a podcast discussion about the Miami Heat. All three guys have wonderful radio voices. Patrick also posted his list of this year’s breakout players.
• Yahoo’s Roto Arcade is killing it with the stuff they’re putting out lately. Check out their head-to-head guiding principles, roto strategy primer and life-after-Don Nelson overview.
• Over at Weakside Help, Henry challenges many owners’ perceptions of delicate guys like Andrew Bogut and Troy Murphy.
• Lester’s Legends has a list of value picks that can help you win the three-point category.
• You want position rankings? Head over to Rotoprofessor (small forwards) and Damn Lies & Statistics (point guards).
• As always, Fantasy Basketball Daily has your daily dose of fantasy basketball news and notes.
• I’d like to end this post with a non-fantasy basketball item, but one I think most of you will enjoy: Brett Favre recently getting hit in his now-infamous groin with a football. Read into this what you will.

Happy Monday, readers.

To help kick those first-day-of-the-week blues, head on over to the great DimeMag.com to read my piece about the fantasy-basketball implications for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh after their decision to team up on the Miami Heat. All three were fantasy studs last season, but just how far down the fantasy totem pole will these dudes drop?

You know the drill. Click on the link and read the post to find out. Let me know what you think in the comments section here, or on DimeMag.com.

As an added bonus, below is a funny photo of an ad addressed to LeBron in a New York health club, courtesy of Rachel Nichols’ Twitter account. (continue reading…)