Friends in fast breaks,

A huge thank you to those that took the Survey. There were some great insights and suggestions in there that we'll be taking into consideration going forward. For those with kind words and constructive feedback especially, an EXTRA thank you for that. We'll dig in on one specific area of the Survey below.

WEEK 10 PICKS

• Walking Bucket Wilt OAD
  • Summary | Overall Standings | Golden Spreadsheet
• The Worm Survivor
  • Summary | Overall Standings | Golden Spreadsheet
• VC's Knees Survivor
  • Summary | Overall Standings | Golden Spreadsheet
• Your group picks (get in a group with friends!)

We're over 40% of the way done with the season. That's a lot of insight to drive us forward, right?

In Walking Bucket Wilt, we capitalized with our best week to date, snagging 30.8 points per pick. It was the start of a new Interval, we deployed our tactical Luka-clear bombs, and looked like we knew what we were doing.

In The Worm, we trusted the BEAM (and the Lakers, and the Cavs, and the Knicks), and over a third of us lost. We looked like complete rookies!

Though, with the difficulties we've had in Survivor for NBA... We basically ARE rookies. Of our Worm pickers, 179 (58.3%) had only made ONE pick in VC's Knees before being eliminated. 

How are we supposed to GET GOOD at Survivor if we keep blowing it the first week?

This was one piece of feedback from the survey we'll definitely be thinking hard about: For the parity of the NBA and the long season, a single "one-strike" Survivor just doesn't fell like a good enough fit. 

Here are some reasonable Survivor improvements we'll think about based both on our own internal discussions as well as thanks to some of your feedback:

1. More Survivors - You still get eliminated on your first mistake, but having more than one competition, starting at staggered times during the SZN, gives you more bites at the apple. This fits in well with how we've generally handled Survivor and is why The Worm exists.
2. "Multi-strike" Survivor - Allow you to make a mistake or two before you're eliminated. This is a reasonable approach, but it adds a layer of a complication (tracking your misses) that we generally try to avoid.
3. More games in the "slate" - This can be a gift and a curse. It can be easier to hunt out good matchups, but also requires even MORE thought went it comes to strategy and picking between the more numerous options.
4. A different "win criteria" - Change what "surviving" means. A version we discussed before the SZN started was "weekend survivor" - Pick a team to win AT LEAST one game from Friday through Sunday. If they do, you get to keep going. This gives most teams at least two chances to win each weekend, which would greatly bump the surviviability and let us keep playing for longer. And the existence of multiple matchups adds extra strategy considerations on who to use.

Got other ideas? Strong opinions? Feel free to leave a comment or email us (yo@theszn.com) and let us know. We're always listening to feedback!

PICK STATS

Walking Bucket Wilt OAD

• Our top player was K. Durant with 45 picks
  • Durant has been in the MVP race conversations, especially with BKN's 10 game win streak
  • Today we hope he dumps in a bunch of buckets against CHA's terrible defense
• Our other top picks: D. Lillard (40 picks), L. James (36), G. Antetokounmpo (31), and D. Mitchell (24)
• This is a VERY different combination of top picks compared to the past weeks
• A testament to our shifting reserves now that we're over 40% of the way done with our picking
• What does the Golden Spreadsheet show?
  • We've still only got 11 players been used by 40%+ of us
  • But several players in the "second tier" just below this made a big jump, they'll join it soon
  • S. Bey gets his first pick!
  • This will leave C. Sexton as the only unpicked player this SZN
• Interesting low volume picks: S. Bey (1 pick), J. Harden (1), D. Bane (1), K. Porzingis (1), J. Clarkson (1), K. Middleton (1)

The Worm Survivor

• We immediately reverted to our base instincts after last week's beautiful variety; We're REAL heavy against the bad teams again!
• The question is how does it play out...
• Our top pick is CHI (vs DET) with 60 picks
  • I know DET is bad and now suffering from suspensions because of the "Mini Malice" the other day...
  • But can we trust CHI, generally considered the biggest disappointment of this season? 
  • I. AM. NERVOUS.
• Our other big pick is BKN (@ CHA) with 53 picks
  • Even with their starters back, CHA has been BAD
  • And BKN is on a 10 game win streak, a huge pivot from their terrible start
• Amongst our "medium" picks: DAL (@ SAS) and MIL (vs MIN) pulled in 20 and 18 picks respectively
• We're just over 75% of our picks on our top 4 teams
  • Chaos, stay back! 
• Shout out the moxie picks of ORL (vs WAS) and PHI (@ NOP)
  • If you had left a comment, you'd be winning the Westbrook Bankshot! Don't be all brave and miss out on the bonus chance to talk trash about your brilliance!
• The Alphabet bias seems to have continued this week, with several of our top teams in the B, C, and D cities... Don't be fooled by alphabetical order into not considering the rest of the field!

VC’s Knees Survivor

• @medicalmatt224 is our official champion!
• He and @TheCommish are playing for pride at this point
• Unfortunately they both took CHI (vs DET) this week
• If CHI wins, we'll go again. If CHI loses, we'll have a pick-off.
• Good luck!

WEEKLY AWARDS

Westbrook Bank Shot Moxie Award

Boldest pick WITH a comment. You can't win a SZN competition without a little Moxie!

GM says: I'm seeing moxie PICKS every week, but no comments to back them up. You can't get the award without saying SOMETHING in the process here, that's how we do it here!

"Who's the GOAT?" Award

Our best weekly comment (or three)

@YikesVikes (N. Jokic): "I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky like a tiger, Defying the laws of gravity I'm a shooting star, dunking through the hoopla, I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me, from points by Nickola"."
GM says: "Don't Stop Me Now" became my top Queen song thanks to the bar fight scene in Shaun of the Dead. This was an EASY selection for favorite

"I Could Sell You Kings Tickets" Award

Most convincing comment.

@LeviLeo (MIL): "Alright, THIS week Middleton is dropping some big dog points."
GM says: Well when you put it like that, I'm SOLD

KD Would Retweet This Award

The spiciest/wildest take.

@kempsoos (D. Mitchell ): "Like a woman in labor it’s time for me to make a big push " 
GM says: I... uh... pass.

MORE PICK COMMENTS

@Merf (D. Lillard): "Fading Luka seems like a horrible strategy at the moment...but I'm playing catch-up"
GM says: Fading Luka? Picking Dame? You're losing me Merf!

@StatCzar (N. Jokic):
"Sharing stories about my grandmother has worked real well lately, had Luka's 50 last week, so gonna keep that bit up until it fails. It's flu season, hope everyone is staying as healthy as possible. One time my grandma had the flu and had to call my mom to come over, she needed help. She had sneezed so hard her dentures went flying out of her mouth and she couldn't find them."
GM says:  👏 MORE 👏 GRANDMA 👏 STORIES 👏

@Mr_Rodgers_Neighborhood (J. Embiid): "I’ve always wanted to dunk a basketball, hell, I would’ve settled to touch the bottom of the net…"
GM says: I've got a not-very-sturdy step ladder if you want to knock something off the bucket list tomorrow?

@MONSTERXXX (D. DeRozan): "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH !!!! Someone is going to get the horns !!!"
GM says: "Well I don't know how many years on this Earth I got left. I'm gonna get REAL WEIRD with it" - Frank Reynolds

@Logan2273 (G. Antetokounmpo): "Let’s get freaky."
GM says: But I thought cookies were part of the chubby Luka problem... 🍪

@Merf (CHI): "If the Nets lose, I might clinch this thing in Week 2..."
GM says: You and like 50 other people would still be around, calm down. Now if the Nets AND the Bulls lose...

@Mr_Rodgers_Neighborhood (BKN): "The worm survivor, huh? Tell that to the bad boy drowning at the bottom of a bottle of tequila"
GM says: Let me channel Commish real quick... Is it a bottle of Teremana from The Rock? GET THE ROCK IN THE POOL!

@TheGM (WAS): "If the Wizards can't beat Orlando who's missing 9 (!!!) players due to the injuries / suspensions... Well... I guess I'll be sad"
GM says: YOU TRUST THE WIZARDS?!?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!??! Yep, trash talking myself here.

Yours in Roundball Rock,
The GM