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Welcome to the 2011 installment of the NBADraft.net: NCAA Fantasy Player Pick-em Tournament.

The details are pretty simple, eight teams were selected by contributors to either NBADraft.net or HoopsDaily.com. Each team consists of eight players participating in the NCAA Tournament.  The player pool consists of all NCAA Tournament players including those participating in the four play-in games.  The scoring is based exclusively on the player’s collective point totals throughout the NCAA Tournament.  
 
At 6:00 PM Monday, we all logged into an AIM chat room and finished the 64 selections in just under an hour. The draft order was taken randomly.

The contestants were Borko Popic (back-to-back defending champion), Aran Smith, Jon Wasserman, Eric Guilleminault, Mike Misek, Tyler Ingle, Adi Joseph and Jeff Lockard.

Round One

1. Eric – Nolan Smith (Duke)
2. Adi – Jared Sullinger (Ohio State)
3. Jon – Marcus Morris (Kansas)
4. Jeff – Kemba Walker (UConn)
5. Tyler – Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
6. Borko – Kyle Singler (Duke)
7. Aran – William Buford (Ohio State)
8. Mike – Jon Diebler (Ohio State)

Round Two

9. Mike – JuJuan Johnson (Purdue)
10. Aran – Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh)
11. Borko – Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame)
12. Tyler – Harrison Barnes (North Carolina)
13. Jeff – Tu Holloway (Xavier)
14. Jon – E’Twaun Moore (Purdue)
15. Adi –  Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State)
16. Eric – Markieff Morris (Kansas)

Round Three

17. Eric – Isaiah Thomas (Washington)
18. Adi – Terrence Jones (Kentucky)
19. Jon – Jordan Hamilton (Texas)
20. Jeff – Brandon Knight (Kentucky)
21. Tyler – Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame)
22. Borko – Jon Leuer (Wisconsin)
23. Aran – David Lighty (Ohio State)
24. Mike – Dwight Hardy (St. John’s)

Round Four

25. Mike – Tyler Zeller (North Carolina)
26. Aran – Jacob Pullen (Kansas State)
27. Borko – Kenny Boynton (Florida)
28. Tyler – Derrick Williams (Arizona)
29. Jeff – John Jenkins (Vanderbilt)
30. Jon – Ervin Walker (Florida)
31. Adi – Noah Dahlman (Wofford)
32. Eric – Reeves Nelson (UCLA)

Round Five

33. Eric – Josh Selby (Kansas)
34. Adi – Kalin Lucas (Michigan State)
35. Jon – Matthew Bryan-Amaning (Washington)
36. Jeff – Brad Wanamaker (Pittsburgh)
37. Tyler – Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin)
38. Borko – Kris Joseph (Syracuse)
39. Aran – Chandler Parsons (Florida)
40. Mike – Billy White (San Diego State)

Round Six

41. Mike – Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas)
42. Aran – Preston Knowles (Louisville)
43. Borko – Tristan Thompson (Texas)
44. Tyler – Austin Freeman (Georgetown)
45. Jeff – Scotty Hopson (Tennessee)
46. Jon – DJ Gay (San Diego State)
47. Adi – Seth Curry (Duke)
48. Eric – Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA)

Round Seven

49. Eric – Scoop Jardine (Syracuse)
50. Adi – Justin Harper (Richmond)
51. Jon – Doron Lamb (Kentucky)
52. Jeff – Nikola Vucevic (USC)
53. Tyler – John Henson (North Carolina)
54. Borko – Tyrel Reed (Kansas)
55. Aran – Rick Jackson (Syracuse)
56. Mike – Frank Hassell (Old Dominion)

Round Eight

57. Mike – Mason Plumlee (Duke)
58. Aran – Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State)
59. Borko – Malcolm Thomas (San Diego State)
60. Tyler – Matt Howard (Butler)
61. Jeff – Devon Beitzel (Northern Colorado)
62. Jon – Kevin Anderson (Richmond)
63. Adi – Demontez Stitt (Clemson)
64. Eric – Thomas Robinson (Kansas)

The draft went smoothly and a variety of approaches were displayed by the eight participants involved.  Some participants loaded up on prolific scorers while others selected players based predominantly on top seeded teams.  Kansas had the most players selected with six, followed by Ohio State with five and Duke and San Diego State with four.  The fifth seeded Mountaineers of West Virginia were the highest seed to not have a player selected from their roster.  Twelfth seeded Richmond on the other hand was the lowest seeded team to receive two or more selections and fifteen seed Northern Colorado was the lowest seed to have a player selected.  The Big East led all conferences with 11 selections followed by: the Big Ten (10), Big XII (9), ACC (8), SEC (8), Pac-10 (6), MWC (5) and the A-10 with three.  The first three rounds went as expected with only a few reaches, the first real surprise was Wofford’s Noah Dahlman being selected at the end of the fourth round. Kyrie Irving (Duke) is the biggest name not selected and that seems like a colossal FAIL by everyone given his new health status.
 

Adi

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 Jared Sullinger  11.1 17.2
2 Kawhi Leonard   13.2 15.4
4 Terrence Jones   12.9 16.5
14 Noah Dahlman   12.3 20.0
10 Kalin Lucas   13.3 17.2
1 Seth Curry   6.7 9.5
12 Justin Harper   12.1 17.9
12 Demontez Stitt   10.9 14.7

Best Pick: Jared Sullinger – Sullinger could be Tournament MVP with a Buckeye Championship.

Adi selected the only team consisting of more than two players from teams with double digit seeds.  He will undoubtedly take the initial lead as Demontez Stitt leads Clemson in the first play-in game of consequence Tuesday night.  Team Adi will be led by Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger, but will need a deep run from San Diego State (Leonard) and Kentucky (Jones) if his upset picks of Wofford (Dahlman), Michigan State (Lucas), Richmond (Harper) and Clemson (Stitt) don’t materialize.  Adi’s team ranks fourth out of the eight teams involved in average shots attempted (11.56), third in average points per game (16.05) and last in average seeding (7.00).
 

Aran

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 William Buford   11.8 14.4
1 Ashton Gibbs   11.7 16.7
1 David Lighty   8.8 11.8
5 Jacob Pullen   14.2 19.5
2 Chandler Parsons  8.8 11.5
4 Preston Knowles   13.2 14.8
3 Rick Jackson   9.4 13.0
1 Deshaun Thomas  6.0 7.6

Best Pick: Ashton Gibbs – Grabbing top seeded Pitt’s leading scorer in the second round was a steal.

 Aran will go as far as Ohio State takes him.  Three of his eight players and two of his first three selections were Buckeyes so his chances of winning dramatically increase with each OSU win.  Transversely, an early upset to the Big Ten Champs would all but eliminate any chance of him winning this NCAA Fantasy Game.  Aran’s pick of Ashton Gibbs in the first part of the second round should provide dividends as Pittsburgh is rested and poised for a deep tournament run.  Aran’s team grades out in sixth place in shot attempts per game (10.49), sixth place in scoring average (13.66) and tied for first with the best seeding average (2.25).

Borko

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 Kyle Singler  14.0 17.1
1 Ben Hansbrough  11.9 18.5
4 Jon Leuer  14.4 18.6
2 Kenny Boynton  12.1 14.1
3 Kris Joseph  10.2 14.4
4 Tristan Thompson 8.7 13.3
1 Tyrel Reed  7.1 10.0
2 Malcolm Thomas  7.8 11.5

Best Pick: Malcolm Thomas – Picked up the second leading scorer for San Diego State in the final round. 

The two time reigning NBADraft.net’s NCAA Fantasy Player Pick-em Champion appears to be the early favorite again this year.  Borko’s team is top seed heavy and unlike Aran’s team, Borko will not be dead in the water with any one team’s exit from the tournament.  Also, Borko found quality value late in the draft, selecting Syracuse’s leading scorer (Joseph) in the fifth round, Texas’ second leading scorer (Thompson) in the sixth round and San Diego State’s second leading scorer (Thomas) in the final round.  Team Borko ranks fifth out of the eight teams in shot attempts per game (10.78), fifth in scoring average (14.69) and is tied for first with the best seeding average (2.25). 

Eric

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 Nolan Smith  15.7 21.3
1 Markieff Morris  8.5 13.6
7 Isaiah Thomas  11.9 16.8
7 Reeves Nelson  9.2 13.9
1 Josh Selby  7.9 8.7
7 Tyler Honeycutt  10.7 12.6
3 Scoop Jardine  10.8 12.8
1 Thomas Robinson 5.3 8.0

Best Pick: Nolan Smith – The best player on the defending champion’s roster, who better to pick 1 overall.

Eric received the first overall pick and took arguably the safest most productive player in the NCAA Tournament.  Pick two followed suit, grabbing Kansas’ Markieff Morris in the tail in of the second round, but that’s when the safe picks ended.  High risk, high reward followed for the next four selections.  Three of the four players were selected from seven seeds, each from the Pac-10 (Thomas, Nelson and Honeycutt).  Washington and UCLA have the talent to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, but are also capable of stumbling before ever leaving the gate.  Team Eric ranks seventh in shot attempts (10.00), seventh in scoring average (13.46) and fourth in seeding average (3.50).   

Jeff

Seed Players   FGA PPG

3 Kemba Walker  18.1 23.5
6 Tu Holloway  12.5 20.2
4 Brandon Knight  13.2 17.5
5 John Jenkins  13.0 19.5
1 Brad Wanamaker  8.9 12.0
9 Scotty Hopson  13.3 17.4
11 Nikola Vucevic  12.8 17.3
15 Devon Beitzel  13.0 21.4

Best Pick: Kemba Walker – Walker was fantastic in the Maui Invitational and in the Big East Tournament.

Go big or go home.  Jeff’s team is the only one within the group to showcase more than one 20 point a game scorers and he has three.  The down side is that two of the three project to be gone by next Monday if the higher seeds hold serve through the first week of the tournament.  One bright spot for Jeff is the play of Kemba Walker in tournaments this season.  Walker averaged 30 points per game in the Maui Invitational and 26 points per game in UConn’s run through the Big East Tournament.  If Xavier (Holloway), Kentucky (Knight) and Vanderbilt (Jenkins) all make the sweet sixteen he could be tough to beat.  Team Jeff ranks first in average shots per game (13.10), first in scoring average (18.60) and second to last in seeding (6.75).

Jon

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 Marcus Morris  10.8 17.3
3 E’Twaun Moore  14.5 18.2
4 Jordan Hamilton  15.2 18.6
2 Ervin Walker  10.1 14.4
7 Matthew Bryan-Amaning 11.3 15.5
2 DJ Gay   9.6 11.2
4 Doron Lamb  8.8 13.0
12 Kevin Anderson  13.0 16.5

Best Pick: Marcus Morris – Like Smith and Sullinger, Morris is among the front runners for MVP honors. 

Marcus Morris and E’Twaun Moore should keep Jon towards the top of this NCAA Fantasy Player Pick-em field, but he will need a couple of wins and solid performances from Texas’ Jordan Hamilton and Florida’s Ervin Walker to make a serious push for the title.  Matthew Bryan-Amaning has the potential to be a great sleeper pick if the Huskies get on a roll.  Similarly, DJ Gay is another late value pick because the Aztecs have a tendency to rely heavily on Gay late in the clock or when their offensive sets become stagnant.  Team Jon ranks third in average shots attempted per game (11.66), fourth in scoring average (15.59) and is ranked sixth in average seeding (4.38). 

Mike

Seed Players   FGA PPG

1 Jon Diebler  7.6 12.5
3 JuJuan Johnson  15.1 20.5
6 Dwight Hardy  12.8 18.0
2 Tyler Zeller  9.8 14.5
2 Billy White  7.0 9.9
1 Tyshawn Taylor  6.7 9.1
9 Frank Hassell  10.2 15.0
1 Mason Plumlee  5.1 7.1

Best Pick: JuJuan Johnson – Because of Johnson, Purdue has the potential to make a Final Four run.

Mike received the final pick in the first round and went with the sweet shooting Jon Diebler who should post numbers deep into the tournament.  Five of his eight selections play on either one or two seeds so he should receive constant production throughout the tournament.  However, his team is a little light on prolific scorers so the contributions of Purdue’s JuJuan Johnson and St. John’s Dwight Hardy will be crucial.  Purdue’s draw appears to set up nicely and a trip to the Elite Eight is a real possibility.  Team Mike grades out with the lowest shot attempt average (9.29) and scoring average (13.33) of the group, but ranks third best in seed average (3.13).  

Tyler

Seed Players   FGA PPG

3 Jimmer Fredette  20.2 28.5
2 Harrison Barnes  12.8 15.0
2 Tim Abromaitis  10.8 15.3
5 Derrick Williams  9.6 19.1
4 Jordan Taylor  12.9 18.1
6 Austin Freeman  13.4 17.9
2 John Henson  9.6 11.4
8 Matt Howard  10.7 16.7

Best Pick: Derrick Williams – Grabbing the Pac-10 Player of the Year in the fourth round was a steal.

Tyler’s team is loaded with big time scorers so if the tournament plays out favorably he will have a real shot at winning.  He is the only participant to not select a player from a one seed, so he’ll likely need big production early.  Arizona forward Derrick Williams and North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes have the potential to post a couple of 30 point games and if BYU and Jimmer can string together a few wins Tyler could be in with a number the others will have to chase down.  Team Tyler ranks second in average shot attempts per game (12.50), second in scoring average (17.75) and grades out fifth in the average seeding category (3.88). 
 

Top Three Scorers in the NCAA Tournament Not Selected

Seed Players    PPG

16 Orlando Johnson (UCSB)   21.1

10 Talor Battle (Penn State)   20.1

16 John Holland (Boston)   19.2

Lowest Three Scorers Selected

Seed Players    PPG

1 Mason Plumlee (Duke)   7.1

1 Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State)  7.6

1 Thomas Robinson (Kansas)  8.0

Additional Players Not Selected

Seed Players    PPG

1 Kyrie Irving (Duke)  17.4

1 Gilbert Brown (Pittsburgh) 10.9

2 Carleton Scott (Notre Dame) 11.6

2 Vernon Macklin (Florida)  11.3

3 Brandon Triche (Syracuse) 11.3

3 Jackson Emery (BYU)  12.6

5 Casey Mitchell (West Virginia) 14.1

5 Kevin Jones (West Virginia) 13.1

5 Jeffrey Taylor (Vanderbilt) 15.1

6 Mark Lyons (Xavier)  13.8

6 Chris Wright (Georgetown) 13.1

6 Justin Brownlee (St. John’s) 12.2

7 Ramone Moore (Temple)  14.9

7 Khris Middleton (Texas A&M) 14.3

7 Malcolm Lee (UCLA)  13.0

8 Cam Long (George Mason) 15.3

8 Ryan Pearson (George Mason) 14.4

8 Darius Morris (Michigan)  15.2

8 Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan) 13.9

8 Tre’Von Willis (UNLV)  13.5

8 Chase Stanback (UNLV)  13.0

8 Shelvin Mack (Butler)  15.2

9 Corey Fisher (Villanova)  15.4

9 Corey Stokes (Villanova)  15.0

9 Maalik Wayns (Villanova)  14.0

9 Tobias Harris (Tennessee)  15.2

9 Demetri McCamey (Illinois) 14.8

10 Trey Thompkins (Georgia) 16.1

10 Travis Leslie (Georgia)  14.5

10 Jeff Brooks (Penn State)  13.3

10 Chris Singleton (Florida State) 13.8

10 Draymond Green (Michigan St) 12.3

11 Jimmy Butler (Marquette)  16.0

11 D. Johnson-Odom (Marquette) 15.9

11 Marcus Denmon (Missouri) 17.1

11 Jamie Skeen (VCU)  15.3

11 Bradford Burgess (VCU)  14.0

11 Steven Gray (Gonzaga)  13.8

12 Jamarr Sanders (UAB)  17.7

12 Will Barton (Memphis)  12.3

12 Tai Wesley (Utah State)  14.7

13 Keith Benson (Oakland)  18.0

13 Reggie Hamilton (Oakland) 17.4

13 Kenneth Faried (Morehead St) 17.6

13 Demonte Harper (Morehead St) 16.0

16 Darrion Pellum (Hampton) 17.7

16 Devin Gibson (UTSA)  17.0

2010 NCAA Tourney Player Pool
 

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6 Comments

  1. I know everyone is counting

    I know everyone is counting them out but Villanova has a chance to atleast play Ohio St tough if they beat George Mason, if not beat them. How could you not take Corey Fisher?

    My 8 from the players not chosen(I dont care if nobody else cares, lol):

    Gilbert Brown, Brandon Triche, Jackson Emery, Chris Wright, Kevin Jones, Tobias Harris, Corey Fisher, & Kyrie Irving(In order, Kyrie may not get much PT in the early rounds, imo.)

    And Eric is my pick to win.

     

  2. “There was this douchebag who never believed in me……

     burn in hell MVthedon!"

    Ty, why did Ohio State have to lose? Our brackets were looking pretty decent man, like not amazing, but decent until this just happened.

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