NBA Fantasy League: The Eliminator, Vol. 3

The Eliminator is a running diary of a 20-team fantasy league with rotisserie scoring and bi-weekly eliminations. Here are links for Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Finally the season started, and the Seattle SuperSonics are off to a good start in The Eliminator. 

I have been bouncing around the top 10 all week but have fewer games played (25) than most of the other teams at the top of the standings. On Friday, I was in second place, but, hey, it's a long season.

As you may recall, the bottom team is eliminated after every two weeks, and their players are re-distributed in the league from the bottom up. There are a few teams who are really jockeying for the 17-19 spots. KingJames, chi, Shootin Stars, and Rockafellas are all in the teens for gamed played. 

Their strategy is to only play their top draft picks, so they have the highest potential return for each game they used. After two weeks, one team will be eliminated, however, so these owners could be setting themselves up for an early exit.

I considered using this strategy from the get-go, but didn't want to run the risk of digging myself a hole I would have to pray my way out of. Although, after some poor play, Ricky Davis has now found himself a spot on the bench.

As I predicted, my team is off to a great start in steals, free-throw percentage, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. I am dead last in blocks, which I am not worried about because I am still competitive in rebounds and offensive rebounds. 

Chris Paul has been my best player by far, but Al Thornton is my pick that I am most pleased with. Against Denver, Thornton had 30 points and 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. 

I am not happy that Greg Oden was hurt, but it made my preseason addition of Joel Przybilla much more valuable. I also added Blazers teammate Nicolas Batum once he hit the waiver wire and dropped Golden State's Brandan Wright.

I'm not going to play Batum right now, but if he earns the starting role he was supposed to, he could sneak his way into my lineup. The young rookie is extremely long, which results in blocks and steals, and he makes playing the game look easy. 

This next week, as we get closer to elimination, I might limit my games played to drop in the standings. Hopefully I can add a quality post after one of the bottom-feeders gets the axe.

I will check back in with all of you after the first elimination. I hope your seasons are going well; drop me a line and we can talk fantasy.