NBL Fantasy | 2020 vision
This weekly column is produced by Dean Zardo and Steve Chalmers.
Another short turnaround sees a quick NBL Fantasy hit list enlighten your mobile phones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers for a short 24 hour period!
With more injuries to work around, plus quite a large target list for this time of the season; it can be quite tricky to make the moves you really want to do compared to the moves that you might be able to do!
With cash cows making some great coin such as Eric Griffin, Emmett Naar and now even newcomer Darrington Hobson, it's becoming quite the buffet for players to feast on mid-season options.
We've spoken about Griffin's relevance for the last number of weeks, with Adelaide's schedule playing very kind as it entered four straight doubles, however you have to move players on to trade players in and it looms as though there's a few guys out there that may have reached their ceiling.
Maxed Out
For some players, their fixture marks the end of the road on some NBL Fantasy squads. For others, they've played themselves into some form and reached their maximum potential, while others are losing that form.
Form is subjective, therefore you may not entirely agree with the below and that's perfectly fine! As long as you have confidence in your judgement and always...ALWAYS go with your gut.
Perth Wildcats players play one double for the remaining seven rounds. Therefore, it's time to make sure your cash isn't involved in guys like Bryce Cotton, Nick Kay and co.
Melbourne United are in a similar boat playing two doubles for the remainder. Your $2m+ invested in Shawn Long can be divided up elsewhere, as an example.
Situation may mean that Sunday Dech's ceiling may have been reached. The inclusion of Darrington Hobson, the rise in minutes and usage rate from Emmett Naar and the potential return of 18-year-old star LaMelo Ball looks as though Dech's usage will see a significant drop.
The probable return of Kouat Noi to the Taipans fray plus their lean schedule could also see the end of that bench SG in Mirko Djeric. Be prepared to move on from fan-favourite Scott Machado soon too.
The Stars
Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
It's often you will see Bryce Cotton dominate the competition, however it's quite surprising when we say this is just the second time Cotton has reached triple figures fantasy wise this season (he's had seven doubles). Props to putting two big scores together!
The Value
Nathan Sobey (Brisbane Bullets)
Emmett Naar could have probably got the nod for the second straight week (if we hadn't have mentioned him earlier in each column), so it's great to see someone like Nathan Sobey move from Pressure Cooker to Value in the space of a week.
Sobey looked like the Warrnambool product of old, being the aggressor and doing every single bit for his team. It's incredible how much he's fluctuated over the last couple of years; if Brisbane had a friendly short term fixture he would be in many, many teams.
Pressure Cooker
Ramone Moore (Adelaide 36ers)
Moore had battled his way through injury last season and therefore it was understandable during his struggles. However, is this season a similar scenario or is he just struggling to recapture some form? An average of just 14.8 fpoints over his last five and he's probably ran out of time to be any sort of fantasy relevance.
Injury List
CairnsKouat NoiAnkle - Test Illawarra Aaron BrooksAchilles - SeasonSam FrolingAnkle - TestLaMelo BallFoot - TestMelbourneCasey PratherHamstring - 2 to 4 weeksNew ZealandGlen Rice Jr.Contract TerminatedCorey WebsterOn Loan - ChinaRJ HamptonHip - 2 weeksAter MajokUnknown - UnknownPerthDamian MartinHeel - 2 weeksSydneyCraig MollerAnkle - 1 weekKevin LischAnkle - TestDidi LouzadaCalf - 1 to 2 weeks
The Tweets
We see you! Anything that catches our eye, we'll attempt to share with all of our readers.
https://twitter.com/bennythesaint/status/1212328770918420480
https://twitter.com/NrlPlayerStats/status/1212320713442578432
https://twitter.com/CostaKastanis/status/1210145258182340608
https://twitter.com/NrlPlayerStats/status/1211944851786342402
The Summary
So, you've come here for a reason haven't you? Who do you bring in for the next round? Let's make it simple, below are a few names (at different levels) who you can target:
Doubles in Round 14: ADL, BRIS, ILL
PG: Emmett Naar (Illawarra) $0.72m
SF: Darrington Hobson (Illawarra) $1.01m
SF: Scotty Hopson (New Zealand) $1.18m
PF: Xavier Cooks (Sydney) $0.73m
For those you should be keen to oppose
Touched on it a little earlier, but say sayonara to Perth and Melbourne guys, while if you have a number of Taipans - create a plan to push them out slowly.
Happy New Year fantasy readers. May your teams have much success in 2020!