NBA Strategy for Grinders SKYLLZONE Contest

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2014-03-12 03:18:21

RG has teamed up with SKYLLZONE again to offer another sweet promotion for Grinders. If you want to know more about the actual promotion, be sure to check out our forum thread discussing the SKYLLZONE promo. In this article, I’ll focus on breaking down the various strategical approaches on SKYLLZONE that can help propel you to the top of the standings.

Be sure to check out our SKYLLZONE Review to get more information about their unique drafting system for daily gaming

Know the Scoring System

Basic strategy tip for any and all fantasy sports is learning the scoring system. SKYLLZONE doesn’t offer much variation from standard scoring but there are a couple of numbers that definitely stand out.

• Points = 1
• 3 Pointer = +1
• Free Throw Made = 0.5
• Rebounds = 1.5
• Assists = 1.5
• Steals = 2
• Blocks = 2

A few things stand out here, the first being the 3-point bonus. An additional point for threes adds value to guys who can stroke it from deep, so make sure to consider that when drafting because the computer certainly will.

The next thing that stood out was the 1.5 for both assists and rebounds. I believe this stands to offer players the biggest advantage over both the computer drafting and their competitors as rebounds are one of the most easily predicted statistics in daily fantasy hoops. It’s also a major reason why DeMarcus Cousins came off the board before LeBron James as the #1 overall pick in my first draft, but we’ll discuss that in more detail further down.

The last interesting aspect about SKYLLZONE scoring is their .5 point bonus for free throws made. This obviously rewards good free throw shooters, but with no take away for free throws missed it also doesn’t necessarily hurt bad free throw shooters. Guys like Andre Drummond, who I ended up drafting, won’t kill you with 10 missed free throws although you obviously would like to see that player have a good day at the line since you want that half point bonus. Overall, you want volume of free throws most importantly.

The combination of the 3 point bonus and added value to rebounders is one that can be exploited as well. There are a number of players who benefit heavily from this duo, and take a look at the top FPPG performers, by position, based on SkyllZone scoring:

The things I notice looking at this is how the top three small forwards and power forwards all have higher averages than the top shooting guard. Shooting guard is obviously a more thin position, but in general the scoring output of a mid-range power forward, for example, will best the scoring of a mid-range shooting guard. That line of thinking can definitely help propel you towards a better draft on SKYLLZONE.

The Draft

Here’s who I drafted by round, and a quick breakdown of my thought process when I was taking them:

• Round 1: – Kyle Lowry vs. DET – The Pistons are giving up the 2nd most assists per game in the NBA over the last month or so, and Lowry is coming off a triple double on Sunday. To me he was the safest pick available here and is one of the better rebounding PGs in the NBA, which means a lot in this scoring format. Further, he hits a couple 3s a game, so he gets a small boost there.

• Round 2: – Andre Drummond vs. TOR – Drummond is a really safe bet against any team without an elite interior defender, which Toronto certainly lacks. His rebounds are locked in around 15-18 a game when he stays out of foul trouble so I saw him with a floor of 35 FP and a ceiling of 65. Perfect pick for round 2.

• Round 3: – Josh Smith vs. TOR – Smoove was more a necessity pick here, he had fallen a bit and seemed like a worthwhile risk considering the other options available. He’s capable of being the highest scorer on any given night.

• Round 4: – Zach Randolph vs. NO – ZBO’s propensity to rebound made me lock him into my lineup. New Orleans has struggled cleaning up the glass and Randolphs 11 rebounds per game put his floor around 20-25 FP.

• Round 5: – Arron Afflalo vs. DEN – Afflalo can tickle the twine from deep and I wanted to balance out my roster a bit since I had been so heavily targeting bigs who can rebound. This game should be extremely uptempo and play into Afflalo’s style of run and gun well.

• Round 6: – Eric Bledsoe vs. CLE – Took a calculated risk here and got Bledsoe at an extreme value, if he suits up on Wednesday. He was ranked #29 overall and I was able to snag him with the 58th overall pick so I felt like it was a worthwhile chance to take. Bledsoe has said when he returns he will be ready to go full throttle, and this matchup is as good as it gets on paper so to me it was a no brainer that rolling the dice on Bledsoe could be what separated me from the pack.

• Round 7: – Matt Barnes vs. GSW – Barnes has been stuffing the stat sheet especially with the 3 ball so in SKYLLZONE’s scoring system I felt like he could have one of the better ceilings among the other players remaining. He also picks up a decent amount of rebounds and this game should be both close and uptempo.

• Round 8: – J.R. Smith vs. BOS – JR was a talent based pick again. The other available options didn’t have the upside that I saw from Smith and at the end of the day I want to win beat everyone, not just the computers!

• Round 9: – Andrew Bogut vs. LAC – The Clippers have struggled against Centers this season and have been lazy on the glass at times. I think that leads to big rebounding totals for Bogut who had fallen down in the draft to Round 9. He was also pretty much the most talented player I saw on the board remaining.

• Round 10: – Victor Oladipo vs. DEN – Here I go again, taking a guy who is pretty questionable to play but fell deep into the draft. He has a massive ceiling and his injury isn’t expected to be too serious so I think getting him here was my only choice, especially considering the next options were guys like Tony Wroten or Dion Waiters. Hopefully he plays on Monday night and can be locked in as a 35 minute guy in a fast paced game for Wednesday. If he does sit, my earlier pick of Arron Afflalo should have even more value.

• Round 11: – Martell Webster vs. CHA – No comment. As it gets closer to Wednesday, you can target value plays based on injuries in this last spot, but it’s a little too early to get a read on that quite yet.

Draft Results

What Ifs?

Since every draft will be slightly different, I thought I’d offer up my final thoughts on a couple of things:

• What if I had the #1 overall pick? – I’d probably follow suit with the computer and take DeMarcus Cousins against the 76ers, but LeBron against the Nets would be tough to pass up as well, especially with his ability to fill every corner of the stat sheet.

• What if I had the last pick? – Being on the wrap of the snake draft in this setting likely means you’ll have a little more anxiety if you want to target guys like Bledsoe/Oladipo. If they slip in the draft, the decision to use one of your two picks on them is magnified since you’ll be waiting about 18 picks until it make it back to you. I’d say still base those picks on relative value remaining and go under the assumption Bledsoe plays 25-30 minutes and Oladipo plays 30.

• What if I win the first place $200 Prize? – Send me half. It seems only fair

Alright, good luck on Wednesday Grinders and be sure to check out the awesome promo details from SkyllZone in our forums and sign up for SKYLLZONE today