I received an e-mail message and this photo from Beyonce yesterday.  Evidently Ms. Knowles is feeling a little slighted and wants to make sure that I consider including her in the next DD...   



In an epic clash of the titans, Joey Chestnut defeated Kobayashi in Coney Island yesterday... 





Well, Gilbert graciously has agreed to accept only $111 million dollars from the Washington Wizards instead of their max offer of $127 million.   Agent Zero has always been one of my favorites, but this is just too much money for a one dimensional player coming off a major knee injury.  Arenas is a major liability on the defensive end of the floor and the Wizards don't have enough other quality defenders to pick up Zero's slack...      



When you think of AI in basketball, Allen Iverson is the first thing that comes to mind.  After that it's up and coming guard Andre Iguodola.  In the Big Apple, AI simply stands for After Isiah.  Although I questioned the selection of the 18 year old Italian Danilo Galinari with the #6 pick in the draft, I strongly agree with the decision to sign Chris Duhon to a two year $12 million dollar deal.  Duhon is solid backup/spot starter and an ideal point guard to run D'Antoni's up tempo offense... 



New Guy and Paper Tiger Guy are the fifth and sixth Fantasy Guys to be profiled: 

New Guy (NG) faces a nearly impossible task of contending in a fantasy basketball league.  Unless a perfect storm occurs it's simply too difficult to do well over the course of an entire season.  Football is a different story though.  Luck plays more of a role and it's entirely possible to take advantage of favorable matchups on a weekly basis (playing other teams with bye issues and/or guys who just don't perform) and have one player like LT or Tom Brady carry your team the entire year.  However, fantasy basketball is an entirely different animal.  In a standard eight category league (Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, 3-pointers, Blocks, FT% and FG%) there are just too many obstacles for NG to overcome:  Drafting a well-balanced team, fending off what appear to be favorable trade offers from savvy veterans of the league, working the waiver wire, and determining who to play on daily basis.  NG invariably takes his lumps the first season in fantasy hoops but usually learns from his mistakes and makes a better showing the following year.

Paper Tiger Guy is one of my favorite fantasy guys.  PTG is the guy who goes out of his way to draft and acquire all-star caliber players or anybody with a big name.  In theory, this doesn't sound like a bad strategy.  However, in practice it usually results in disappointment and mediocrity.   How can this be so?  Well, let me give you an example.  In my twelve team fantasy basketball league last season PTG finished the year with a roster of Shaq, Jermaine O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Baron Davis, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, Andrei Kirilenko, Grant Hill, Mehmet Okur and Jason Terry.  That loaded team definitely won the league, right?  Wrong.  PTG's team ended the year in 4th place and he lost a lot of sleep at night wondering how his all-star team failed to finish ahead of a first place roster with players like Crawford, Calderon, Moon, Diaw, Blatche, and Carroll.  What I find most humorous about PTG is that he never learns from his mistakes...and I mean never.  I guarantee you that the PTG I just discussed will have at least five of the same players on his fantasy team again later this year.  I just wish I could bet money in Vegas on this...