If you haven’t already signed up to the BBL Fantasy League head over to http://www.bbl.org.uk/?fantasy,1075 and create a team, each squad requires 3 Forwards, 3 Guards and 1 Centre and you have a limit of 2 players from each team and a total of 23 ‘Stars’, each player has a star rating ranging from 1 to 5 stars this week BBL Fans bring you our picks of who you should be selecting in your Fantasy Squad.
Happy New Year all, its 2012 and this is the first Fantasy Basketball Preview of the year, this weekend see’s the BBL come back into full swing with a total of 7 games.
Tonight see’s the Mersey Tigers take on the Prestige Homes MK Lions the Newcastle Eagles play the Glasgow Rocks Sheffield Sharks go up against the Cheshire Jets.
Saturday hosts just one game when the Durham Wildcats face the Leicester Riders.
The final day of the weekends sees 4 games starting with the Plymouth Raiders against the Mersey Tigers with a 4pm tip, MK Lions play front runners the Newcastle Eagles, while the Guildford Heat look to make a winning streak with a game against the Cheshire Jets.
Here are our weekends Fantasy Picks;
Forward – Demarius Bolds – Demarius and the Lions play twice this week, he is still leading the BBL in Scoring (26.1 per game) and Steals (3.6 per game) while his team continues to lull in mediocrity, luckily he keeps fantasy owners happy (myself included).
Forward – Ayron Hardy – He may only be playing once this weekends but it’s against the Durham Wildcats and Ayron has been one of the league’s best and most consistent players, this weekend would also be a good chance to get Andrew Sullivan who’s numbers have been down recently, but the x-mas break could revitalise them, while Ayron comes at a lower price.
Forward – Bill Cole – Before the Christmas break he was a dominant Fantasy Scorer and stat-sheet filler all-around, this weekend he returns to action with games against both the Guildford Heat and Sheffield Sharks.
Centre – Darius Defoe – Darius will be this weekend’s top performing centre in my opinion, he is one of the league’s best rebounders, averaging almost 10 per game, to go with that he can block and score, as his team plays twice this weekends he is a smart pick-up.
Guard – Joe Chapman – The Eagles play twice this weekend and Joe will continue to build on his already impressive Resume, he is possibly the best player on the league’s best team who face both the Glasgow Rocks and MK Lions this weekend.
Guard – Cameron Rundles – Another player who again play’s just one game, but that one games is against one of the league’s worst teams, the Durham Wildcats, last weekend Cameron finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, he also added 5 assists.
Guard – Mychal Green – I understand his stats have been down recently, but he can still put up 15 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds in his point guard slot, E.J. Harrison continues to stay out but may return soon, if he does Mychal will shift back to Shooting Guard and his numbers should go back up.
Questionable –
If you don’t agree with our above selections here are 5 more players you should consider this weekend.
Forward – Myles Hesson – last weekend, the young Myles contributed 23 points and 5 rebounds for the Tigers however he did have 5 turnovers which count against your Fantasy Basketball score, as long and he gets some steals he can make you a good return on your investment.
Forward – Daniel Northern – His scoring numbers may not blow anyone away but 20 rebounds last weekend was out-standing for the big-man , his side play twice this weekend so his numbers could be multiplied he leads the BBL with 12.6 rebounds per game.
Centre – Justin Dobbins – The Sharks take on the Jets this weekend with Justin hoping to contain the league’s leading rebounder, so far Dobbins has had a solid start to the season averaging 16.9 points per game with 10 rebounds, he also adds a block.
Guard – Martelle Mclemore – Martelle has been the leader of the Heat recently scoring 30 points last weekend to start the Heat on winning track in 2012, he is 15 overall in Fantasy Basketball points and is ranked as the 8th overall guard.
Guard – Nate Reinking – His fantasy numbers have not blown me away so far this season, especially his assist numbers, (considering he is one of the National Teams starting Point Guards), but his rebounds and scoring come at a solid rate, averaging 16.2 points per game with 3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Drop –
Matthew Schneck – Injured
Those are our tips for this weekend in BBL Fantasy Basketball, so head on over to http://www.bbl.org.uk/?fantasy,1075
and make any changes necessary, see you next week for the next BBL Fantasy Basketball Weekend Preview.
Sam Raphael Chadwick is currently an Assistant Quantity Surveyor, Part-Time University Student and Co-Head Coach of the Solent Kestrels Under 14’s, I also contribute for www.ballineurope.com you can find me on twitter @chadwick9
