Friends in fast breaks,
When I say "dependable", you name a team that it describes.
TheGM: Dependable!
You: Memphis Grizzlies!
TheGM: Huh? D-Dependable?
You: MEMPHIS!
That's.... not what I was expecting this week. Thank you sports gods for making so much of our livelihood depend on Memphis. Yes, the team missing basically their ENTIRE expected starting lineup. And this is ON TOP of our pick numbers escalating.
CHAOS REIGNS!
WEEK 19 PICKS
- Points One-And-Done
- Survivor #1
- "All 30" One-And-Done
- Survivor #2
- Weekly Pick'em
The GM AWARDS
Rewarding whatever random things I feel like. Feel free to suggest topics!
Biggest Surprise - Memphis
I know we have limited options. But this is my favorite surprise of the SZN, even better than when DET was a top pick. DET is bad. MEM is decimated. I hope they deliver, we deserve it!
Best New Rivalry - Wemby vs Chet
This has been in the works for years, with the two giants facing off in in FIBA before they were drafted. They're perfect foils, they're both competitive as hell, and they cause trouble on both sides of the ball. Give me 10+ years of this with them at full health please!
40-est K - Lebron James
No jinx no jinx no jinx. There's no reason he shouldn't break this record in our weekend slate. Let's appreciate the greatness while it's here.
Most Annoying DNP - L. Ball
WHY DOES HE NOT SHOW UP ON THE INJURY REPORT!??! Every other player with an extended injury is on there, including people who haven't played this season. But LaMelo is constantly missing from the list, which means he's probably the biggest cause of DNPs this year, so frustrating!
PICK STATS
Points OAD
- K. Irving, Mr. World B. Flat, takes the top spot with 59 picks
- He's been rock solid for weeks, and earns the pick!
- Our other big picks: K. Towns (38 picks), Z. Williamson (36), D. DeRozan (33), J. Jackon Jr (33 picks)
- Jaren is unfortunate, he was a late scrath
- DeRozan has been looking revitalized in the last month
- Not to mention he has the sickest highlight reel of 360 layups and assists
- Interesting low volume picks: D. Fox (1 pick), J. Poole (1), C. Johnson (1)
- Checking the Golden Spreadsheet...
- SGA, Mr. 31, is now our most used at 89%
- 13 players are at 80% usage, with a few right below
Survivor #1
- Status check
- 15 of you are still flawless (no wrong picks)
- 36 of you have missed once, but are still kicking
- MEM is our top pick, taken by 27 people
- J. Jackson Jr being out makes this so much scarier
- POR isn't good, but... neither is having no meaningful starters available
- Behind that is NOP (14 picks), MIA (10), BKN (10), and PHI (9)
- vs IND, vs UTA, vs ATL, and @ DET respectively
- That is NOT our usual bottom-feeder opponent list
- I have a feeling this will be a rough week
- Checking the Golden Spreadsheet...
- This only looks at players who are still alive
- GSW and LAC are completely used up
- CLE, MIL, and PHX are off by 1
- At the bottom is WAS (1 use), DET (2), TOR (5)
"All 30" One-And-Done
- Another MEM top pick for 60 people
- Oh, the options have dwindled
- Our other bix picks are PHI (43 picks), LAC(38), PHX (36), MIA (35), and CLE (32)
- A much more reasonable set of teams I'd expect here
- Checking the Golden Spreadsheet...
- GSW is most used at 85.2%
- 10 teams are at 60%+ usage
- TOR our least used at 17.5%
Survivor #2
- Status check
- 41 of you are still flawless (no wrong picks)
- 71 of you have missed once, but are still kicking
- With more teams available, the distro here looks better
- CLE (@ DET) was picked by 58 people
- DET is no longer worst record in the league...
- Does DET dash our hopes?
- PHI (42 picks) is our only other big pick
- I see you lone DET picker, get your GLORY
- Looking at the Golden Spreadsheet...
- LAC is most used at 92.9%
- Only 7 teams with 50% usage
- SAC is at the bottom with 1 use (0.9%)
Weekly Pick'em
- 14 games in the slate this week
- Including a rare back-to-back of the exact same matchup (POR @ MEM)
- We've have 2 close matchups this week
- ATL @ BKN - 51.5% for BKN
- IND @ NOP - 59.0% for NOP
- That left 6 lopsided matchups
- WAS @ LAC - 98.5% for LAC
- CLE @ DET - 95.9% for CLE
- HOU @ PHX - 94.7% for PHX
- UTA @ MIA - 91.7% for MIA
- CHA @ PHI - 90.2% for PHI
- MIL @ CHI - 90.2% for MIL
- That leaves 6 games in the "middle"
- Still waiting for our first perfect week... is this it?
BEST PICK COMMENTS
Ya'll are talking again, yay! Reminder: the weekyl themes are totally voluntary, you can always be as wild as you want. Consider them a suggestion if you need a jumping-off point.
@Merlinmei383 (A. Davis, A. Simons): "AD’s got a good track record against Denver! Always in losses! "
GM says: It's the POINTS OAD, not the WINS OAD, you're good to go!
@EZMONEY4ME (Grizzlies, Pelicans, Survivor #1): "Reason my picks will win is because they are at home. Reason they will fail because they may decide to suck at home."
GM says: Fair, fair. My picks usually fail because I picked them.
@Merlinmei383 (Cavs, Clippers, Survivor #1): "I was eliminated on Cleveland last year so here’s to it not happening again"
GM says: Picking the team who cost you the previous year is always one of the hardest clicks.
@EZMONEY4ME (Weekly Pick'em): "Post game interviewer asks “how did you win this one? Player answer’s “we scored more points than the other guys”. Only reason they will fail unknown since there will be no post game interview to say”we scored less than the other guys”. Forrest Gump….."
GM says: You received an A+ in NBA media training, come grab your degree and a 10 day contract
@mconnaughton (Weekly Pick'em): "Success and failure is only in the eye of the beholder. "
GM says: And the Pool Standings...
@schm0869 (Weekly Pick'em): "Picks Succeed: My smarts and intuition. Picks Fail: I'm a hockey guy. Speaking of, where are the hockey pools? "
GM says: You help us find 200+ hockey fans who want to play and we might be able to work some magic.
@EZMONEY4ME (LAC, MEM, All 30): "Clippers win because Washington sucks. Memphis wins because they suck less than Portland. If they fail then I suck."
GM says: I hope you win it all just because you followed the prompts so good <3
Yours in Roundball Rock,
The GM