Don't like Pocius' rating? The boss apologizes...
He’s baaa-aaaaaack! Javier Gancedo, our fantasy basketball expert on loan from the Euroleague/Eurocup offices themselves, kicks off his regular fantasy advice column for the 2009-10 season today. Follow the action and get reasonable advice from the guy who runs the game right here at BallinEurope.com.
Hello everybody, and welcome to the SportingBet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge! Ah, the start of a new fantasy season. The excitement, the competition, the prizes… Well, the prizes only for you guys. Did you miss me? Really? Well, I didn’t miss you either, so no worries… 🙂 Ah, just kidding – it’s good to be back at BallinEurope.com.
For those that don’t know me, I am Javier Gancedo, assistant to the editorial director at Euroleague.net and EurocupBasketball.com. Of the million things I gotta do at the Euroleague Headquarters, one of my main tasks is to manage the Fantasy Challenge. Yes, I price players, I set the rules, I open and close trades … I do it all. No, I don’t have access to your teams, so if you find a player you didn’t choose in there, it wasn’t me, I promise. But I do manage the game. If your complaint is about a given player being totally overpriced … Yes, *that* was me. The general idea is to overprice players in the beginning to prevent people from having exactly the same team. By the time you can start making money, all players are more or less at their correct price and it is *talent* that counts.
I have been asked to play at the BallinEurope.com private league. I finished second last year and even won one week *overall* with my private league team but of course I am out of the contest when it comes to prizes – and one will be a bunch of K1X gear, very nice stuff … So I hope to be competitive this season and see what I can do.
You guys have an advantage, though. I will posting my team a day or two in advance here at BallinEurope.com, so that you can see what I will do and you can react accordingly. I don’t plan to be as competitive as I was last season: In fact, I plan to do even BETTER! No, just kidding – I will be quite busy this season, but will have time for my team, Meet the Boss.
Are you wondering who I chose for week one? OK, here it goes … I am fully aware that I made some mistakes when pricing, since I set these numbers before EuroBasket was finished. So for the sake of human improvement, I will take advantage of my own mistakes and yes, there are quite a few. Let’s go, then.
Point guards
• Antonio Graves. Though playing against Terrell McIntyre this week, Graves will be hungry in his Euroleague debut.
• Milos Teodosic. I still think Teodosic’s a gamble: He won’t play as much as he did with Serbia at EuroBasket.
Shooting guards and small forwards
• Marty Pocius. Well, erm … I mean … OK, it’s my fault.
• Qyntel Woods. I’m expecting a lot from him this year: Woods should have a breakout season.
• Fernando San Emeterio. Walter Herrmann is out, so San Emeterio will see a lot of playing time.
• Marko Tomas. A very talented player, with enough playing time, Tomas should have a career year.
Power forwards and centers
• Milko Bjelica. Bjelica’s playing very well so far this season, though against opponents not even half as tough as Efes Pilsen.
• Aleks Maric. A great rebounder, I liked Maric a lot last season in Granada, which should be a reference for Partizan.
• Joel Freeland. One of my favourite young players in Europe: Give Freeland one Euroleague year and he will be a beast.
• Travis Watson. I’m going for good rebounders in Game 1. With no Mirsad Turkcan, Watson is next.
Keep in mind that I am keeping 72 credits in the box. If you think you don’t have enough money to compete, well, you may be wrong…
Good luck everybody, make your team before the deadline and see you all next week!
