Starting 5: DvP - Friday, January 16th
The Starting 5 Series will provide Grinders a quick look at the day’s top positional plays, analyzed through the lens of our Daily Research Tools.
Today we’ll take a closer look at the Defense vs Position (DVP) tool. DvP is one of the most important tools available when considering players to target on a particular night.
As we near the halfway point of the season, we have plenty of data to support the rankings. However, it’s always important to remember that you can’t blindly use a player just because the team he’s facing is weak against his position. Use the other tools available at RotoGrinders, such as the advanced stats, to make sure you’re rostering a player that makes meaningful contributions to his team, and is thus in a good position to actually take advantage of the strong matchup.
Point Guard: Jeff Teague
Season PG DvP
Last 3 Weeks PG DvP
Writing up Trey Burke here is too obvious. He’s a great play, but at this point in the season, I don’t think anyone needs a tool to tell them that the Lakers are awful against opposing point guards.
What you do need the tool for, however, is to show you just how bad the Raptors have been lately. At the beginning of the season, Toronto was one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, but now they’re ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency, and much of that drop can be attributed to the fact that opposing point guards have been abusing them. A quick look at the season DvP rankings for point guard shows the Raptors at 16th, right in the middle of the pack. But, when you click on the last three weeks, they’re barely better than the Lakers, and worse than the Sixers. Combine that information with the fact that Jeff Teague is playing at an elite level for the hottest team in the NBA, and you have yourself a terrific play on FanDuel at a very affordable $8,300.
Shooting Guard: Eric Gordon
Season SG DvP
Last 3 Weeks SG DvP
Gordon has been playing well since coming back from injury, so I’m comfortable writing him up here. The Sixers are ranked dead last against opposing shooting guards, and if we look at the last three weeks, it doesn’t get much better. Another important piece of information to look at here is pace. If we sort by pace, we see that the Sixers are the fastest-paced team in the NBA. Combine a terrific DvP matchup with a team that loves to push the pace and create extra possessions, and you have a terrific value play at only $4,800 on FanDuel. Give Gordon an extra boost if Jrue Holiday is forced to sit out again. He’ll take on extra scoring and ball-handling responsibilities in Holiday’s absence.
Small Forward: Andrew Wiggins
Season SF DvP
Last 3 Weeks SF DvP
Wiggins has taken great strides in his first year, and with Minnesota 100% behind his development, he’s going to continue to play heavy minutes and see a high usage rate regardless of game situation. As we can see from the chart, over the course of the season, the Suns are near the bottom of the league against opposing small forwards. When we look at the three-week chart, they actually are at the bottom by a fairly wide margin. This, combined with the fact that Minnesota and Phoenix are both teams that like to push the pace, makes Wiggins a top small forward play tonight.
Power Forward: Taj Gibson
Season PF DvP
Last 3 Weeks PF DvP
I had Jared Sullinger written up, but the news that Joakim Noah has been ruled out came out before I finished the article, so I had to feature Taj instead. Boston, as evidenced by both season long and last three weeks DvP, have really struggled against opposing power forwards this season. When Joakim Noah misses a game, you plug in Taj and you don’t even think about it. He’s going to play heavy minutes against a team that can’t defend the paint or the rim. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Boston is one of the fastest-paced teams in the league, and given the game is being played in Boston, the game should stay close enough that Taj’s minutes are nearly guaranteed.
Center: Alex Len
Season C DvP
Last 3 Weeks C DvP
The seasonal DvP rankings show that the Minnesota Timberwolves have been the second-worst team in the league in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing centers. Over the past three weeks, they’re ranked 22nd, which isn’t quite as bad, but certainly isn’t good, and that isn’t going to steer me clear of targeting Alex Len liberally tonight.
Len has completely taken over the center job in Phoenix, and last game’s 37 minutes of playing time solidified his role. We’re looking at a starting center who is seeing a huge boost in minutes, but is still priced the same as he was when his minutes were in the mid-20s. Combine that with the DvP tool showing us that he has an excellent matchup with a team that loves to push the pace, and you have a fantastic value play at only $5,200. In my opinion, center is the best position to find value, and Len is just another example of that today.