Daily Research Spotlight: NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet
Welcome to the first-installment of a new, recurring article series that features one of our Daily Research Tools and helps you better understand how that tool can help you win your Daily Fantasy contests. These tools were built not only to be informational, but also to help you pick quality lineups each day in an efficient manner.
The first tool up is both informative and helps you find quick NBA picks each night, the NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet , a one-stop-shop for finding players immediately who have a good match up for that day. The NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet is designed to cross-reference the projected starting lineups for each NBA team with the Defense vs. Position Tool to help you find out which players at each position have the easiest game for that night. Every Sunday, we build the cheat sheet for the week ahead.
You’ll still want to do some basic research and make sure these guys are gonna play solid minutes, because not every starter plays the bulk of the minutes and there are plenty of teams who rely heavily on bench players, but it’s a great starting point.
The Basics
The NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet takes the five teams allowing the most fantasy points per game to each position (PG, SG, SF, PF, and C) and finds daily targets, or players who have an easy match-up. It also takes the five teams allowing the least fantasy points per game at each position and finds daily “avoid plays”, or guys who have a bad match-up and might not be worth the risk. So instead of searching through all of the info on the Defense vs. Position page, we connect the dots for you.
We also list the 5 worst teams in terms of FPPGA to each position and the 5 best teams in terms of FPPGA to each position on the Cheat Sheet for quick reference and in case there’s a change in starting lineups.
Real Examples
This Friday, December 7th, there are 12 NBA games. 24 teams will play meaning the player pools will be massive and it can be difficult to narrow down that search. So let’s start by looking at who you should AVOID on Friday. Here are the 5 most difficult teams to face, by position:
Top-5 vs. PGs | Top-5 vs. SGs | Top-5 vs. SFs | Top-5 vs. PFs | Top-5 vs. Cs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix | L.A.Lakers | Boston | L.A.Lakers | Atlanta |
Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City | Brooklyn | Indiana | Miami |
Milwaukee | Washington | Memphis | Philadelphia | New York |
New York | Milwaukee | Indiana | Atlanta | Minnesota |
L.A.Clippers | Chicago | Minnesota | Brooklyn | Chicago |
So when you look at the match-ups for Friday, you find that most of these teams are players and there is a pretty big list of guys who have poor matchups. All of this can be found on the NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet under Players to Avoid By Day.
Players to Avoid on Friday Based on Matchup
AVOID – PG | AVOID – SG | AVOID – SF | AVOID – PF | AVOID – C |
---|---|---|---|---|
C. Duhon | K. Bryant | E. Turner | K. Faried | E. Okafor |
K. Walker | D. Harris | H. Barnes | B. Bass | A. Varejao |
J. Taylor | A. Aminu | C. Singleton | G. Monroe | |
T. Prince | D. Gallinari | D. Lee | ||
A. Gee |
Now that we’ve gotten the ugly out of the way, let’s look at which players have enticing match-ups on Friday. Let’s discuss the guys you should be targeting. First, the 5 worst defensive teams in terms of fantasy points per game allowed at each position.
Bottom-5 vs. PGs | Bottom-5 vs. SGs | Bottom-5 vs. SFs | Bottom-5 vs. PFs | Bottom-5 vs. Cs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | Toronto | New Orleans | Charlotte | Denver |
Sacramento | Houston | Golden State | Sacramento | Boston |
Portland | Cleveland | Atlanta | Miami | Orlando |
Minnesota | Charlotte | Milwaukee | Phoenix | Milwaukee |
Philadelphia | Utah | Charlotte | Dallas | Washington |
Players to Target on Friday Based on Matchup
TARGET – PG | TARGET – SG | TARGET – SF | TARGET – PF | TARGET – C |
---|---|---|---|---|
L. Ridnour | G. Hayward | R. Gay | J. Henson | R. Hibbert |
J. Nelson | G. Neal | G. Wallace | G. Davis | L. Allen |
J. Pargo | M. Lee | T. Ariza | D. Cousins | |
R. Rondo | M. Ellis | M. Kidd-Gilchrist | B. Haywood | |
D. DeRozan | M. Daniels | A. Horford |
So go check out the NBA Weekly Cheat Sheet and we’ll see you next week for another breakdown of one of our daily research tools. Good luck Grinders!