I’m nothing if not timely.
Funny story: I had these babies all written up during our marathon
off-season, and just as I was typing the updated All Time Rankings, my computer
crashed. Lost everything. I didn’t have the heart to start over until
now. I apologize.
But now that we (almost) have another season in the books, I
thought it was high time to write last year’s awards for y’all. (By the way, what the hell does “high time”
mean, anyway? Why is it better than “low
time” or “sober time”? Why does “high”
get all the accolades? Am I the only one
who cares?) This year’s awards will be following in quick succession, as soon
as Thursday’s games decide our final standings.
A quick refresher:
the first few awards are of the “interesting tidbits” variety, things
that I noticed on the way to the finish that really don’t mean anything. They’re like the pages in the back of your senior-year
high school yearbook noting that Beanie Babies were the top-selling toy that
year. (That dates us a bit, doesn’t
it?) After that are the awards that
actually mean something (in that they count for All Time Points (ATPs), which
figure into our running legacy ranking).
After that, I recap the points accrued for final finishes in the
standings (first, second, third, and seventh places), and update that all-time
ranking. Unfortunately, Dad still sits
on top of the heap. But the heap is
catching up. (Well, not really. At least, not yet.)
Interesting Tidbits
One of the casualties of my computer troubles last
off-season is that I lost all of the interesting tidbits that I had compiled by
perusing the league stats on the league page.
That stuff, apparently, is not archived, so I lost all of the tidbits I
was hoping to shine a light on. There
will be more for 2011-2012, I promise.
There was one that I could re-discover however:
Stupidest Trade Ever: Danilo Gallinari (me) for Gilbert Arenas
(Chris)
Um, yeah . . . my bad.
I completely surrendered the value of my previous draft coup (Gallo) for
a washed-up head case. No, but really, guys! It made sense! Arenas was going to come back huge from his
injury, it was the second year of his recovery and everybody knows it’s the
second year when guys are fully back!
And EVERYBODY knew Gallo was going to be part of the package for
Carmelo, and there was NO WAY Gallinari would be as effective in Denver. No way.
Yeah, I’m an idiot.
ATP Awards
Best Draft: Balding Ballers (75 ATPs)
This one was hard.
Nobody had a dominant draft.
Looking back at the draft
results from last year, you can see bad picks by each team. Of course, hindsight is 5 x 5, but that’s
what the awards are about: hindsight
(without, of course, completely forgetting the perspectives at the time). And so, Dad kind of wins by default. He had the least crappy draft. Maybe a lot of it was luck, but they were
still the picks he made. He picked
Raymond Felton in a career year on the Knicks (at least, for most of the year;
can’t penalize Dad for not seeing the trade coming). He nabbed his favorite power forwards Scola
and Millsap in the middle rounds; while not amazing values, those are certainly
very good picks (Millsap especially, who still had a very good year despite the
addition of front court competition on that Jazz roster—i.e., the reason I foolishly avoided Millsap on draft day). Mike Conley was also a very solid pick who
gave great value for a 10th rounder.
And then one of the main reasons Dad won last year (other than, you
know, all of my studs resting on the last day of the championship): Dorrell Wright, 15th rounder. Guy gave top-30 value throughout
2010-2011. It’s easy to forget how
dominant and out-of-nowhere that guy was considering his disappointing
2011-2012 season, but his 2010 performance seals this award for Balding
Ballers. Lame.
Best Keepers (TIE): Balding Ballers (75 ATPs), Nutcrushers (75
ATPs)
Oh, yeah; here’s the other main reason Dad won last
year. I freaking hate doing this. Isn’t it enough that he won the league and had the best draft? Well, no, it’s not. Dwyane Wade.
Pau Gasol. Kevin Durant (as a
third-rounder). And then, the frosting
on top, Russell Westbrook in the 13th round. Ridiculous.
Whoever traded him Westbrook is an idiot. (Sighs, then weeps a little.) Sorry, guys.
My bad. (Again.)
Nick was easily the only other contender for this award,
with Rondo (7th round), Kevin Love (8th round), Brook
Lopez (11th round), and Steph Curry (12th round). Love and Curry returned crazy value (like,
first-round value), and Rondo provided nice value too. Even Lopez, who was a bit of a bust until
late in the year (post-Deron Williams trade), was easily worth his 11th
round price tag; even when he was struggling to crack five rebounds a game, he
was still providing high percentages for a big, 19 points, and 1.5 blocks per
game.
So, who do you pick to win?
Do you go with overall production or value per pick? I’m sure Chris could make some very spreadsheet-y
argument that would conclusively determine this. Personally, I’m copping out. Both Nick and Dad put together the best
keeper slates of the first era of our keeper system, and both deserve
recognition (and points).
(Point of Procedure:
I just made up a rule that you can’t win this award two years in a
row. Draft and Waiver Wire reset each
year, but I don’t want one team dominating the keeper award for consecutive
years. It hasn't happened yet, but just saying. So for 2011-2012, we’ll have a
new winner here. Neither Dad nor Nick
will get it.)
Master of the Waiver
Wire: Arbitrageurs (75 ATPs)
There were certainly teams that had more transactions, and
teams that made some very good pick-ups, but nobody got such great value as
Annan. He nabbed Marcin Gortat, Kyle
Lowry, Aaron Afflalo, and Kris Humphries, all undrafted commodities who
returned at least top 100 value (and,
in certain cases, top 35 value). It’s
rare to pick up multiple guys who not only stick and provide value all year
long, but look to be some of the best keeper options after the year. It seemed like every one of Annan’s picks
were those types of guys. He also rented
Toney Douglas and Richard Jefferson for their break-out hot streaks at the
beginning of the year, showing the kind of opportunism that leads to being
Master of the Waiver Wire. I mean, this
was probably the most dominant pick-up campaign we’ve had in Pick and Roll Call
League. I guess not everyone can be the best.
(If only his draft had featured fewer 2001-2006 All Stars,
Annan would have had a good shot at competing.
I have no idea how Annan will draft when Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady,
Antawn Jamison, and Kobe Bryant retire.
He’s already lost Yao Ming; why should one man have to endure so much
loss (eventually)?)
Hon. Mention Pick-Ups:
Marcus Thornton (me, for the stretch run); Greg Monroe (J.J., twice);
Paul George (Chris, for really smart keeper stashing).
(UPDATED) ALL-TIME
POWER RANKING
Here, for posterity, is the listing of how a team can earn
ATPs for this ranking, including both league finishes and awards:
- League
Championship: 500 ATPs
- Second
Place: 200 ATPs
- Third
Place: 100 ATPs
- Seventh
Place (winner of the Consolation Bracket): 75 ATPs
- Master
of the Waiver Wire: 75 ATPs
- Best
Keepers: 75 ATPs
- Best
Draft: 75 ATPs
Dad won the league in 2011, I took second, Vivek took third, and
J.J. took the consolation bracket. Including
those finishes and the awards detailed above, here’s how our All-Time rankings stood
after the 2010-2011 season (and will stand for at least the next few days, until the 2011-2012 awards and finishes mix them up again):
1. Bob
Josephson (Balding Ballers): 1325 ATPs
(Rank
last year: 1.)
2011 League
Champion (500)
2011 Best
Draft (75)
2011 Best
Keepers (75)
2010 League
Champion (500)
2009 Best
Draft (75)
2009 Third
Place (100)
2. Chris
Quiroga (Young No Mo Still Gay, Thabeet Goes On, Young Gay Love Favors): 500
ATPs
(Rank
last year: 2.)
2009 League
Champion (500)
3. J.J.
(Moo Moo Mussolini, Mao Meow ZeMeow, TEAM CHAMPIONS): 350 ATPs
(Rank
last year: tied for 3.)
2011 Seventh
Place (75)
2010 Second
Place (200)
2010 Best
Draft (75)
4. Alan
Robey (Brew-Ha Bandits): 275 ATPs
(Rank last year: tied for 3.)
2010 Master
of the Waiver Wire (75)
2009 Second
Place (200)
5. Andy
Josephson (Something Clever, Del Harris Del Negro, Metta World Peas): 200
ATPs
(Rank last year: tied for 10.)
2011 Second Place (200)
6. Vivek
Raval (28 Light Years Old): 175 ATPs
(Rank last year: tied for 7.)
2011 Third
Place (100)
2010 Seventh
Place (75)
7. Anna
Robey (Block O): 150 ATPs
(Rank last year: 5.)
2010 Best
Keepers (75)
2009 Seventh
Place (75)
7. Nick
Quiroga (Nutcrushers): 150 ATPs
(Rank last year: tied for 7.)
2011 Best
Keepers (75)
2009 Master
of the Waiver Wire (75)
9. Angelo
Alexander (Knights of Rodanthe, Liberal Elite Media): 100 ATPs
(Rank last year: 6.)
2010 Third
Place (100)
10. Annan
Moy (Arbitrageurs, Phi Slamma Jamma): 75 ATPs
(Rank last year: tied for 10.)
2011 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)
