Fantasy Sports, One-a-Day: Some Bold Predictions, Some Daring

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Some Bold Predictions, Some Daring

Let's see how I fared, actual vs. predicted outcomes of this fine Saturday's games. Pasted below is last night's prediction, followed by the actual result and difference. If I overestimated, for example, I will use the abbreviation -1 to signify that the player performed slightly worse than expected. Relevant stats only.

Predicted:

Joakim Noah - 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks
Tyrus Thomas - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Kirk Hinrich - 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 threes, 2 steals
Jarrett Jack - 15 points, 5 assists, 80% free throws, 1 steal
Will Bynum - 14 points, 6 assists
Raja Bell - 2 threes, 1 steal
Wilson Chandler - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 three
Chris Duhon - 10 points, 7 assists, 2 threes
Charlie Bell - 17 points, 2 threes
Kelenna Azubuike - 16 points, 2 threes, 1 steal
Grant Hill - 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 55% FG
Matt Barnes - 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 three
Ronnie Brewer - 11 points, 3 steals, 2 threes
Steve Blake - 10 points, 3 threes, 5 assists
Rudy Fernandez - 14 points, 3 threes, 100% FT

Actual:

Joakim Noah - 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks (-1 rebound)
Tyrus Thomas - 18 points, 8 rebounds, 0 steals, 7 blocks (+5 points, +1 rebound, -2 steals, +6 blocks)
Kirk Hinrich - 6 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 three, 0 steals (-4 points, -2 rebounds, -1 three, -2 steals)
Jarrett Jack - 10 points, 9 assists, N/A FT%, 2 steals (-5 points, +4 assists, +1 steal)
Will Bynum - 9 points, 4 assists (-5 points, -2 assists) - Rip Hamilton's return tossed this one in the garbage from the get-go
Raja Bell - 0 threes, 0 steals (yikes, did have 14 points and 8 boards at least)
Wilson Chandler - 18 points, 9 boards, 2 threes, 2 steals, 3 blocks (+5 points, +2 rebounds, +1 three, +2 blocks - take great pride if you went with Wilson)
Chris Duhon - 6 points, 8 assists, 1 three (-4 points, +1 assist, -1 three)
Charlie Bell - 2 points, 0 threes (-15 points, -2 threes - a full-fledged sulfur bomb of a game)
Kelenna Azubuike - 21 points, 3 threes, 1 steal (+5 points, +1 three - a solid play, indeed)
Grant Hill - 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 45% FG (+7 points, +3 rebounds, +1 assist, +2 steals, -10% FG - the Suns were solid, fantasy-wise, in their contest tonight)
Matt Barnes - 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 threes, 2 steals (+6 points, +5 rebounds, -1 assist, +1 three, +1 steal - overtime never hurt nobody)
Ronnie Brewer - 12 points, 2 steals, 0 threes (+1 point, -1 steal, -2 threes)
Steve Blake - 5 points, 1 three, 4 assists (-5 points, -2 threes, -1 assist)
Rudy Fernandez - 7 points, 1 three, FT% N/A (-7 points, -2 threes - this game with Memphis was over VERY early, but at least Rudy grabbed a pair of steals. Hope that helped deal with the pain from the Blazers putrid fantasy lines)

All in all, I'm not afraid to say that I'm a rather impressive oracle. In the tradition of the Ancient Greeks, I think I'm going to chill on my pile of gold offerings with some burning bay leaves, and see how close I get to Sunday's lines. If you're still looking at who to grab, I have pasted yesterday's pertinent info below. And as something of a post-script, Agent Zero (Gilbert Arenas) appears to be the world's best player who hasn't been in a game in about 2 years. If he's available, pick him up, and rock on!