2012 Meta Draft Lottery Results

Below are the results of this year’s Meta Draft Lottery.  The lottery was conducted in Chapel Hill, NC, by me, Vivek, and Vivek’s lady friend, Kathrin, and yes, these were the actual results.  (I'll remind you--or, inform you, I guess, just in case your name isn't Annan--that Vivek is a Certified Public Accountant and a former corporate auditor.  He brought the same diligence to his vetting of this process as he did to his stellar work in the private sector.)  

As you all know, we conduct the lottery by pulling pieces of paper out of a hat.  Your league finish determines the number of paper pieces you have; i.e., the worse you finished, the better your odds of getting a high pick.  We lottery off each pick in the Meta Draft, meaning that the first piece of paper pulled gets the first pick in the Meta Draft, the next unique team name pulled gets the second pick, and so on.  Here were the odds going in:

1.  Brew Ha Bandits (28 pieces)

2.  Vujabitches (20 pieces)

3.  Block O (16 pieces)

4.  Metta World Peas (12 pieces)

5.  28 Light Years Old (9 pieces)

6.  YoungGayLoveFavors (6 pieces)

7.  Balding Ballers (4 pieces)

8.  Arbitrageurs  (3 pieces)

9.  Knights of Rodanthe  (2 pieces)

10.  Nutcrushers  (1 piece)

And, without further ado, here is the Meta Draft order:

First pick:  Angelo (Knights of Rodanthe) (jumping from 9 to 1, the biggest jump in league history)

Second pick:  J.J.  (Vujabitches) (right on the odds)

Third pick:  Vivek (28 Light Years Old) (jumped from 5 to 3)

Fourth pick:  Me (Metta World Peas) (right on the odds)

Fifth pick:  Anna (Block O) (down from 3 to 5)

Sixth pick:  Alan (Brew-Ha Bandits) (down from 1 to 6; sorry, Alan)

Seventh pick:  Bob (Balding Ballers) (right on the odds)

Eighth pick:  Nick (Nutcrushers) (up from last to 8)

Ninth pick:  Annan (Arbitrageurs) (down from 8 to 9)

Tenth pick:  Chris (YoungGayLoveFavors) (down from 6 to last; sorry, Chris)

So, that will be the order in our Meta Draft.  We'll start the Meta Draft next week (after Memorial Day), so stay tuned to your email.

Keeper Eligibility List for 2012-2013 Season

Hey, y’all.  Below are the players eligible for keepage next year.  Since Blogger hates tables for some reason, I’ve reverted to a GeoCities-era formatting this year, using simple letters and the space bar. 

On the left is the round in which the player can be kept.  (The decimals, e.g. “3.4,” are for those players to whom the first-four-round rule applies; a player with the 3.4 designation will be kept in the third round unless the team is also keeping its first three picks from last year--then, that guy can be kept in the fourth.)  After the round comes the player’s name.  After the player’s name is the number of keeps they have remaining.  If a player has a “1” after their name, that means this upcoming year is the last year you’ll have that player.  To avoid confusion, I've left off guys whose contracts expired.  

Oh, and just to remind once again:  one keeper per round.  If you have multiple guys in the same round, you're going to have to choose (or trade one).  Another reminder:  anyone not kept goes back into the draft pool.

Everybody in the list below is eligible to be traded during the off-season.  A few quick reminders about off-season trades:  they are done by email; once everyone party to a trade has agreed on the terms, EACH party to the trade must email me separately, and each email must include the exact same terms (i.e., which players are going to which teams); all trades reset the keeper contract (which means if you acquire a guy via trade, you get 3 fresh keeps – this is a great way to get value from last season’s waiver-wire pickups, who you can only keep once, or guys who are on expiring keeper contracts).

If you guys have any questions (or think I forgot someone), email me.

28 light years old

   1  Amar'e Stoudemire  3

   1.2  Josh Smith  3

   2.3  Andre Iguodala  3

   3.4  Manu Ginobili  3

   4  Joakim Noah  1

   5  Tim Duncan  3

   6  Tony Allen  3

   7  Andrew Bynum  2

   7  Hedo Turkoglu  3

   8  Rodney Stuckey  3

   11  Corey Maggette  3

   11  Kemba Walker  3

   13  Trevor Ariza  3

   14  Lou Williams  3

Balding Ballers

   1  Dwyane Wade  1

   2.3  Paul Millsap  3

   3.4  Joe Johnson  3

   4  Luis Scola  3

   6  Kevin Love  3

   8  Ersan Ilyasova  1

   8  Jared Dudley  3

   10  Goran Dragic  1

   11  Russell Westbrook  1

   12  Kenneth Faried  3

   13  Dorell Wright  2

Block O

   1  Chris Paul  3

   2.3  Rudy Gay  2

   3.4  Kevin Garnett  3

   4  Marc Gasol  3

   5  Roy Hibbert  3

   7  Caron Butler  3

   8  Derrick Williams  3

   8  Jameer Nelson  3

   10  Gordon Hayward  1

   12  Anthony Morrow  3

   12  Jamal Crawford  3

   13  Shawn Marion  3

   14  Evan Turner  3

   15  Vince Carter  3

   16  Derrick Favors  1

Brew-Ha Bandits

   1  Deron Williams  3

   1.2  Derrick Rose  2

   2.3  Nene Hilario  3

   5  Antawn Jamison  3

   6  Marcus Thornton  3

   7  Jeff Teague  3

   8  Michael Beasley  3

   9  Channing Frye  1

   9  J.J. Hickson  3

   10  Thaddeus Young  3

   12  Luke Ridnour  1

   12  Randy Foye  1

   13  Amir Johnson  3

   13  O.J. Mayo  3

   15  Brandon Knight  3

Joakim Noah 4 EVR

   1  Kobe Bryant  3

   1.2  Gerald Wallace  3

   2.3  Paul Pierce  3

   5  Carlos Boozer  3

   12  Al Harrington  1

   12  James Johnson  1

   15  Gerald Henderson  3

   16  Leandro Barbosa  1

Knights of Rodanthe

   1.2  Danny Granger  3

   2.3  Steve Nash  3

   3.4  Chris Bosh  3

   4  Ty Lawson  3

   5  Wesley Matthews  3

   6  DeMarcus Cousins  3

   7  Tyreke Evans  1

   9  Tyson Chandler  3

   10  Serge Ibaka  2

   14  Marco Belinelli  1

   15  Jordan Crawford  3

   15  Steve Novak  1

Metta World Peas

   1  LeBron James  1

   2.3  Raymond Felton  3

   9  James Harden  2

   10  Stephen Curry  3

   11  Andrea Bargnani  3

   12  Klay Thompson  1

   16  Bismack Biyombo  1

   16  J.J. Barea  1

   16  Spencer Hawes  1

Nutcrushers

   1  Pau Gasol  3

   1.2  Kevin Durant  3

   1.2  Mike Conley  3

   2.3  Blake Griffin  2

   3.4  Elton Brand  3

   4  JaVale McGee  3

   5  Rajon Rondo  1

   10  Brandon Jennings  3

   11  Mario Chalmers  1

   12  Drew Gooden  1

   12  J.J. Redick  1

   13  Marcus Camby  1

   14  Andre Miller  1

   16  MarShon Brooks  1

Vujabitches

   1  Dirk Nowitzki  3

   1.2  David Lee  3

   2.3  John Wall  2

   3.4  Luol Deng  3

   5  Tony Parker  3

   7  Jason Terry  3

   8  Jose Calderon  3

   9  Ricky Rubio  3

   11  Greg Monroe  2

   11  Isaiah Thomas  1

   12  Chris Kaman  3

   13  Alonzo Gee  1

   13  Chandler Parsons  1

   14  Matt Bonner  1

   14  Ramon Sessions  2

YoungGayLoveFavors

   1  Al Jefferson  3

   1.2  Carmelo Anthony  3

   2.3  LaMarcus Aldridge  2

   5  Kyrie Irving  3

   6  Arron Afflalo  3

   6  Nicolas Batum  3

   9  Ryan Anderson  3

   11  DeMar DeRozan  2

   12  Paul George  3

   13  Danilo Gallinari  2

   14  Jrue Holiday  2

   14  Samuel Dalembert  3

2011-2012 League Awards

We’re here again for the league awards, a memorialization of the year and an updating of our All Time Rankings.  Since we had almost completely new winners this year, the rankings were quite shaken up, including a new second place team and a team moving out of the dreaded last-place spot.

This year was interesting; it never seemed settled.  It had a weird rhythm.  We got started late because of the lock-out uncertainty.  We had the specter of expiring keeper contracts constantly making trades a possibility (and, disappointingly, there wasn’t as much action on that front as I had hoped, although the trade wire wasn’t completely inactive).  And then we had the blunderbuss of the expedited NBA schedule blowing out knees and taking its toll all over the place.  Personally, I tried to ride out injuries and make a late push (didn’t really work out).  Other teams dealt with the same decisions, especially considering how many injured players were hot keeper commodities. 

But enough prelude; let’s get to the awards.  A quick reminder: the awards are split into those that are merely interesting and those that earn ATPs (All-Time Points).  The latter awards figure into the All Time Rankings every year.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

Most Impressive Match-Up Winning Streak:  Balding Ballers (6 match-ups, Weeks 16-22)

Longest Match-Up Losing Streak:  Brew-Ha Bandits (7 match-ups, Weeks 8-14)

Dad finished the season strong (well, at least the regular season), winning his final six match-ups by a combined score of 40-14 (a .740 winning percentage).  Chris also had a six-win streak to open the season, but his combined match-up score was 36-17-1.  We should also consider that Dad’s streak was an amazing rise-from-the-dead event; at the time, Dad was 3-5 in match-ups on the year (including the biggest loss of the year; see the next award for details) and looking like he might not make the playoffs.  Ripping off those six wins, the last four of which were of the 7-2 and 8-1 variety, not only guaranteed him a playoff spot, but guaranteed him a first-round bye (thus technically making his unbeaten streak 7 weeks instead of 6).

On the other side of the spectrum, poor Alan opened the season with seven straight losses (kind of the anti-Chris), mustering only 2 categorical wins in 5 of those 7 weeks.  In fact, Alan only hit the five-win mark twice, in his match-ups with Vujabitches (Week 15) and our eventual runner-up Knights of Rodanthe (Week 17).  He mustered a “winning” percentage of only .333.  That’s the worst winning percentage EVER for a member of the Pick & Roll Call League.*  (Basically, 2012 Alan = 2012 Charlotte Bobcats.)  I thought I’d bury that fact in this paragraph instead of singling it out as its own award.  You’re welcome, Alan.

*(The one possible exception: 2005, during our “pre-merger” period when the constitution—and even sometimes the size—of the league changed year-to-year, Rosendo Garza (Wrigley the Beagle) posted a .320 “winning” percentage for the year.  That, however, was a 12-team league (meaning talent was more thinly spread out) and Rosendo was fighting a war in Iraq at the time.  So we’re not counting it.  The bottom of the barrel is yours, Alan, until someone claims it from you.)

Biggest Win:  Week 13, YoungGayLoveFavors def. Balding Ballers (8-0)

We didn’t have any 9-0 shellackings this year, but we came darn close.  In Week 13, Chris was one steal away.  At this point of the season, as I mentioned before, our defending champ looked down for the count and Chris looked like he was going to cruise to a top seed in the playoffs.  Then, of course . . .

Most Ravaged by Injury:  YoungGayLoveFavors

. . . Chris’ team became a M*A*S*H unit.  He lost Anderson Varejao and Chauncey Billups for the season.  OK, fine, no biggie, other teams have lost role players.  But then Chris lost Carmelo Anthony, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Martin, Ryan Anderson, and, for the first round of the playoffs, Kyrie Irving.  Those only happen to be most of his best players (excluding Al Jefferson and LaMarcus Aldridge).  They also happened to be his most crucial players, not just from a counting-stats standpoint, but from an efficiency standpoint.  Chris was by far the most consistently dominant FT% team in the league this year.  Even after losing FT% stalwarts like Billups, Anthony, and Gallinari for significant stretches of the year, Chris still finished the year with the highest cumulative FT% (.814).  He was also quite efficient at minimizing TOs.  Oh, and he was also pretty much the most dominant 3-point-shooting team to start the season.  So yeah—Chris gets the “Derrick Rose Memorial Award for Most Important Injuries in 2012.”  What an honor, I’m sure.

Honorable Mention injuries:  coughDerrickRosecough (39 games played) and Andrew Bogut (12 gp), Brew-Ha Bandits (a big reason Alan had such a crappy year); Eric Gordon (9 gp) and Al Horford (11 gp), Block O (ditto); Stephen Curry (26 gp), Nutcrushers/Metta World Peas; Kyle Lowry (47 gp), Arbitrageurs; Manu Ginobili (34 gp), 28 Light Years Old.

Single-Category Dominance:  Vujabitches (assists)

A couple years ago, Chris came up with this great analytical tool called “League Wins” that tried to look beyond pure H2H wins and losses to potential H2H wins and losses, i.e., what a team would have done against every other team in every stat category every week.  It was an impressive feat of spreadsheeting, and really gave us a perspective we didn’t have otherwise.

Unfortunately, neither Chris nor I have continued compiling/measuring League Wins.  RIP.

What we do have, however, are the total compiled stats for each team in each stat category.  I’ve gone ahead and used those to figure out the weekly averages for each team in each stat category, as well as the league-wide averages and the standard deviations in each category.  Using those numbers, I’ve come up with a kind of score that can measure and quantify exactly how much better than the league average each team was week-to-week in each stat category.

Lo and behold, J.J. (Vujabitches) showed up as the most dominant team in any one category (assists).  J.J.’s average weekly performance was 2.23 standard deviations above the weekly league average.  To put that in more absolute terms, J.J. was the only team to average over 200 assists per week (207.56, in actuality); the next closest team was Nutcrushers at 182.65 ast/wk.  The league average was 155.95 ast/wk.  In fact, J.J. only lost assists once this year:  week 23, vs. me.  He lost by 5 measly assists.  In another evocation of the point, look to week 12, when Anna beat J.J. 8-1.  J.J. only won assists, but it was no contest; he was up by 53 assists at week’s end.  So congrats, J.J., for being so dominant in one category.

Honorable Mention:  Knights of Rodanthe (Angelo) dominated blocks all year, being the only team to average over 40 blocks per week at 41.35; the next closest team was Annan (Joakim Noah 4 EVR—which, by the way, is the best team name evr), who averaged 34.44 blks/wk.

ATP AWARDS

Best Draft:  YoungGayLoveFavors (75 ATPs)

Of all the ATP awards, this one was the most obvious.  That Chris didn’t win this year is among the worst tragedies we’ve witnessed here in the Pick & Roll Call League (yeah, OK, not that tragic, but I remember how it felt to have the best team only to see it implode and/or get beat by a team getting hot in the playoffs; it’s been a long time, but that used to happen to me all the time).  Of course, nobody has a perfect draft.  Every year, every team is going to miss on some players (for Chris this year, it was Darren Collison and Ed Davis).  But it’s rare to have a draft where you draft ONE player in the middle or late rounds who returns top-30 value, much less THREE.  In Chris’ case, he picked Kyrie Irving 51^st overall; Irving ended up ranking 26^th overall by averages.  In the tenth round, Chris grabbed Ryan Anderson, who ended up as the 8^th best fantasy player this year by any measure (honestly; look it up).  A couple rounds later, it was Paul George (23^rd ranked overall, 40^th by averages).  Add to that his steal of Anderson Varejao in round 9 (Sideshow Bob was the 48^th best fantasy player this year by averages), plus getting exactly what he should have out of Al Jefferson (10^th overall pick, ranked in the top 10) and Aaron Afflalo (drafted 70^th overall, ended up ranked 71^st), and Chris was in perfect position—as long as his keepers panned out and he avoided multiple injury lightning strikes.

Well, you know how that worked out.  With the exception of DeMar DeRozan, Chris’ keepers performed beautifully (when they were on the court).  It was that measly detail of having all of your awesome players actually playing the game that derailed the Chris Quiroga train.  As we explored above, Chris was ravaged by injuries in waves, and to many of his best players.  In a way, this award was created to acknowledge the “could have been” nature of dope teams that don’t end up winning anything in the end.  YoungGayLoveFavors is the poster team for that category in our keeper era.

Best Keepers (TIE):  Joakim Noah 4 EVR (75 ATPs), Metta World Peas (75 ATPs)

Annan and I were the only two teams that had all of their keepers return value (i.e., each keeper outranked his draft slot).  My returns on investment were staggering; EACH of my three keepers ended up in the top 15 by totals and in the top 25 by averages.  I mean . . . that’s ridiculous.  I’m so proud.  Actually, the more I think about this . . .

Best Keepers (TIE):  Joakim Noah 4 EVR (75 ATPs), Metta World Peas (75 ATPs)

. . . there’s no way that my keepers weren’t better than Annan’s.  I mean, sure, he had four of them and I only had three.  But I don’t want to set the precedent that more always equals better for this award; it’s better NOT to keep a guy if he’s not going to reward your investment (and if he takes up a draft slot you could otherwise hit the jackpot with).  Sure, all of Annan’s keepers either fit inside the top 50 or flirted with it, but . . . I mean . . . ALL OF MY KEEPERS DOMINATED.  Top 15, all of them.  I don’t think that will ever happen again.  The only thing you could say is that “of course LeBron is going to be that good,” but still—did Annan go out on a limb keeping his guys?  (Yeah, actually; Kris Humphries was a stretch in my opinion, but there’s no way he would have performed this well had Brook Lopez not taken a bath for most of the season, so should Annan win this award because of luck?  I say no.)  And it’s not like I kept three guys in the first three rounds; Harden was in the 10^th and Jennings was in the 11^th.

If only I had drafted a bit better.  Or a lot better.  Or well at all.  I guess there’s always next year. 

Master(s) of the Waiver Wire (TIE):  YoungGayLoveFavors (75 ATPs), Balding Ballers (75 ATPs)

Every year, I try my damnedest to win this award.  I’m always among the most active teams on the waiver wire (this year, with 45 moves, I doubled-up the next most active team, my dad, who only had 23 moves).  And I always make some good pick-ups.  (This year, I’m most proud of Klay Thompson and late-season Nate Rob, who almost carried me to the playoffs, as well as useful fill-in stints by J.J. Barea, Greivis Vasquez, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Randolph).  But each year, I can make too good of an argument that another team (this year, teams) deserves the award.

Unlike last year, which was a very easy victory by waiver maven Annan, this year was tough to gauge.  Annan once again made some quality acquisitions in James Johnson, Al Harrington, and a timely rental of Randy Foye (after the Billups injury).  Vivek got good use of Nikola Pekovic and “The Other” Isaiah Thomas; Nick nabbed the surprising MarShon Brooks early on. 

Ultimately, though, this award belongs to Chris and Dad.  The case for Chris comes down to two players, for the most part.  You all know the first:  Jeremy Lin.  Chris was the lucky winner of the biggest FA lottery this year, snapping up the Lininator and riding his ridiculous starting numbers.  Chris then banked him for keeper commodity Nick Batum (end-of-season rank: 31), thus avoiding the pain of Lin’s injury.  The second pick-up, however, I think was even more impressive:  Sam Dalembert.  Chris grabbed him right as he was heating up from his cold start; Dalembert rewarded Chris by posting near-top-50 numbers for stretches, ending with a season-long average rank of 90.  Even more impressive, Dalembert ended the year ranked 66^th based on total stats produced.  Chris also grabbed Faried and Shumpert for useful runs late in the season.

Dad also wins here primarily for two pick-ups.  Similarly to Chris, Dad picked up a hot PG commodity who got a chance to shine due to injury:  Goran Dragic.  Dad snapped him up when Kyle Lowry went down, and received the 62d most valuable player this year (according to year-end totals; considering Dragic only started 28 games, his actual value for Dad during that run was even higher, and arguably more impactful than Lin).  The other player is another Dalembert-esque, under-the-radar big guy:  Ersan Ilyasova.  Ilyasova returned top-50 value for Dad in both totals and averages.

(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:

1. League Championship: 500 ATPs
2. Second Place: 200 ATPs
3. Third Place: 100 ATPs
4. Seventh Place (winner of the Consolation Bracket): 75 ATPs
5. Master of the Waiver Wire: 75 ATPs
6. Best Keepers: 75 ATPs
7. Best Draft: 75 ATPs

This year, Nick won his first league championship, vaulting up the All Time Rankings with the 500-point boost to tie his brother for second place all-time.  Angelo added a second place trophy, Annan won third (and got himself out of last place in the rankings), and I took the consolation bracket.  Including those finishes and the awards detailed above, here’s how our All-Time rankings stand after the 2011-2012 season.

1. Bob Josephson (Balding Ballers): 1400 ATPs

(Rank last year: 1.)

2012 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)

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): 650 ATPs

(Rank last year: 2.)

2012 Best Draft (75)

2012 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)

2009 League Champion (500)

2. Nick Quiroga (Nutcrushers): 650 ATPs

(Rank last year: tied for 7.)

2012 League Champion (500)

2011 Best Keepers (75)

2009 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)

4. J.J. (Moo Moo Mussolini, Mao Meow ZeMeow, TEAM CHAMPIONS, Vujabitches): 350 ATPs

(Rank last year: tied for 3.)

2011 Seventh Place (75)

2010 Second Place (200)

2010 Best Draft (75)

4. Andy Josephson (Something Clever, Del Harris Del Negro, Metta World Peas): 350 ATPs

(Rank last year: 5.)

2012 Seventh Place (75)

2012 Best Keepers (75)

2011 Second Place (200)

6. Angelo Alexander (Knights of Rodanthe, Liberal Elite Media): 300 ATPs

(Rank last year: 9.)

2012 Second Place (200)

2010 Third Place (100)

7. Alan Robey (Brew-Ha Bandits): 275 ATPs

(Rank last year: 4.)

2010 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)

2009 Second Place (200)

8. Vivek Raval (28 Light Years Old): 175 ATPs

(Rank last year: 6.)

2011 Third Place (100)

2010 Seventh Place (75)

8. Annan Moy (Arbitrageurs, Phi Slamma Jamma, Joakim Noah 4 EVR): 175 ATPs

(Rank last year: 10.)

2012 Third Place (100)

2011 Master of the Waiver Wire (75)

10. Anna Robey (Block O): 150 ATPs

(Rank last year: tied for 7.)

2010 Best Keepers (75)

2009 Seventh Place (75)