We love our NBA basketball here at FBB. We live for it, you might say. But sometimes, our love of basketball has to take a backseat to other things in life. Such as following the Silver Jews around on their first ever tour. Now you might not know who the Silver Jews are and you probably don’t care, but the point remains that sometimes we can’t follow fantasy basketball happenings as much as we want to, but it doesn’t mean we have to let our teams suffer. So here’s my way of dealing with being mostly out of the loop for a few days, as I was this weekend.
The first thing you need to do before you leave your world of ready access to a computer is set your lineup. This sounds sort of obvious, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget. And at the same time, different leagues have different ways of setting lineups. Just because you put someone in there on Friday doesn’t mean he’ll still be in there on Saturday. This is obviously of even more importance as we get later into the season and every game matters. If you have to set your lineup for a long(ish) stretch of time, I always like to play it somewhat safe. Your studs will be in there all the time, that goes without saying. As for fringe players, it’s a tough call. T.J. Ford is never a sure thing, but I needed assists lately, so I had him in the lineup. But still, better safe than sorry is the way to go here. If games are at a premium, then it’s best to use them when you know you’ll have plenty of information at your disposal.
There’s always the possibility of leaving your password info with a trusted confidant and having him change your lineup should anything come up. This is not something I’m into. Sure, I’d totally trust BV not to fuck up my lineup or write hateful e-mails to everyone in my address book, but there’s just something that rubs me the wrong way about having someone else in my team.
So when you’re gone, you’re gone, there’s not so much you can do. If you’ve got Internet on your phone – and I would think most people do at this point – that’s a good way to keep track of at least your players. I made sure to check on my guys, but not too fanatically. One time per evening, after all the games were over. If you’re going to without ready access, I say to just let it go as much as possible. It’s always good to get a break to refresh, so don’t be constantly waiting for your phone to load while you’re on that break.
Catching up on info when you get back is the big thing. If you’re away for just a few days, it’s pretty easy to get up to speed on what you missed. The first thing to do is check all the box scores, but also make sure to read the game recaps. The numbers are important, but you need to know how those numbers came about. Did someone have a great fourth quarter that might lead to more playing time? Did someone have a big game because another player got ejected? This is key. Check whichever news blurb site you prefer and do a quick scan through the days you missed. You don’t need to painstakingly read each one – if it simply says that someone had a big game you’ve probably discerned that from the box score – but check for minor injury updates. It’s not a bad idea to read the hometown papers about your own players.
Check your league’s transaction list. This is actually one of the top priorities. You need to know what players were picked up and what new players are available. There’s no worse feeling than seeing someone get plucked off the free agent list and saying, “Wait, he was available? I would have picked him up had I known!” Don’t just look at the complete list, sort it by add, sort it by drop, to get a better idea. Check the top of your free agent list when you get back to see what the best choices are up there. You always want to know what your best options are in case you have to make a quick move.
Anyone else have any tactics they use to stay competitive while on vacation?
