Noob GPP Survival: Week Four and Beyond
Here it is, the final four coin-flip nights of the regular season:
APRIL 23: http://www.fanduel.com/entry/FQTEKG
WHAT WENT RIGHT: John Wall had a great game, especially considering he played less than 30 minutes. David West continued his solid run, and Greg Monroe had a solid night (which would have been much nicer had he not had five TO’s). Andre Iguodala predictably continued to carry the Sixers into the playoffs, too. Rudy Gay, Monta Ellis and JJ Hickson were solid if unspectacular. On a related note, how is it possible that Hickson was so bad in Sacramento that he was actually released? The guy has been great with the Blazers, even if they’re not much better than the Bobcats. Hard to believe his attitude or work ethic is that much different in Portland than it was in Sacramento!
WHAT WENT WRONG: I set myself up to fail by being away from my computer until three minutes until tip-off, when I learned that George Hill and Danny Granger were not playing and had to quickly scramble to tweak my lineup. I swapped out Granger for Gay and George Hill for Kemba Walker, thinking he was starting. I didn’t have time to see the news that Walker wasn’t, because I forgot the Bobcats have so much to play for this year and clearly need to run DJ Agustin out there. But, that’s not the move that destroyed my lineup. Paul George was clearly a no-duh play tonight, but I was in panic mode with the clock ticking and left Jordan Crawford in. Luckily for me, that was only a difference of, oh, 41 points. The silver-lining, however, is that that additional 41 would have just made this a close-but-no-cigar night anyway, as Walker’s game would have knocked me out anyway. But, with a true noob-like lack of late research involved in this lineup, I deserved to put up a bad score tonight, and that’s what happened.
REMAINING BALANCE: $118.33
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APRIL 24: http://www.fanduel.com/entry/QWKYSC
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Kevin Durant had a nice game in his three quarters of work, and Al Jefferson kept beasting.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Ah, hell. Other than those two guys, what didn’t? Eric Gordon and his mysterious “bad back” DNP was just the icing on the cake for a ridiculously bad night that saw me battling to stay out of last place until about the last five minutes of the Suns/Jazz game. These last few nights really are quite ridiculous, just like everybody says they are! I will proudly admit I also put up a 119 on DS tonight. Not a 219… 119.
REMAINING BALANCE: $113.33
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APRIL 25: http://www.fanduel.com/entry/QGBEXN
WHAT WENT RIGHT: John Wall beasted once again, and Evan Turner was a no-brainer with everybody else on the Sixers taking the night off. Lawson, Blake and Gortat (especially considering he only played 23:35) were solid picks.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Let’s be honest: Even with the risky Cartier Martin backfire, Paul George subpar game, and Carmelo’s minutes being limited, this lineup would have cashed had Big Baby not gone down six minutes into the game. Oh well. I probably shouldn’t play tomorrow since I will be at parent teacher conferences until an hour after tipoff (meaning the latest I will be able to check who is/isn’t playing will be two full hours before tipoff), but… what the hell. I wonder what the record for zeroes in a lineup is?
REMAINING BALANCE: $108.33
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APRIL 26 http://www.fanduel.com/entry/LRRQYC
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Josh Smith had a dominant game, as did Hickson, and DeMarcus went off against the Lakers JV team. JR Smith also predictably shined, and everyone else did their part in what was a pretty low-scoring night. EXCEPT…
WHAT WENT WRONG: You have got to be effing kidding me, Derrick Brown. I worked so, so hard to only play safe players today, trying everything in my power to eliminate any possible zero from my lineup and I really thought I had pulled it off… and then I saw that Derrick Brown did not play. Come on, man. That’s two straight nights where I’ve been hosed out of cash! What a frustrating way to end the season!
FINAL BALANCE: $103.33
So, after a full month that initially seemed like I was going to end up losing my $100 and walking away with nothing, I walk away up a dazzling $3.33. However, I ran into a pretty bad luck stretch in the last week, so it leads me to believe that I may in fact be able to do this, and I honestly planned on LOSING money all along, because, let’s face it… 1.5 years with only one GPP cash didn’t seem like I was going to do very well, so to come out even, as stupid as it may sound, kind of feels like a win. When you consider I dealt with crappy luck three or four other nights, and I’m actually pretty happy with the month (especially when you add in the fact I had my best month on DS yet at the same time!). So, I have decided that, next year, I am going to go ahead and take the plunge: I will play in the FD Assists every night from day one, assuming I have time to do adequate research and form lineups that seem like they can perform decently. I’m looking forward to it… especially after watching how ridiculous the last week of this regular season has been! Hopefully my posting of the lineups gives confidence to other new grinders that, hell, if I can do it, you guys can too!
Catch you guys on the flipside… I’m headed to VEGAS!