Playoff League Cheatsheet

Playoff League Cheatsheet


Playoff League Cheatsheet
By Chris Liss
RotoWire Editor

For most playoff leagues, the easiest and most common format is a points based system where, for example, a point is worth one point, a rebound worth two, a three pointer worth two, an assist worth two and a half and a steal or block worth four. Or something like that. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to assume that there are no averaging metrics or categories like field goal percentage, free throw percentage, etc.

We're going to further assume that players cannot be added, dropped or traded during the course of the playoffs. So there are but two components to a player's value: (1) how many fantasy points per game he's good for, and (2) how many games his team is likely to play. To the extent that a team is expected to play a lot of games, players on that team will have more opportunities to put up fantasy points.


Here's how we rank them:

Overall

*check status

  1. LeBron James, SF, CLE
  2. Kobe Bryant, SG, LAL
  3. Pau Gasol, C, LAL
  4. Dwight Howard, C, ORL
  5. Paul Pierce, SF, BOS
  6. Tim Duncan, PF, SAN
  7. Chris Paul, PG, NOR
  8. Mo Williams, PG, CLE
  9. Dwyane Wade. SG, MIA
  10. Ray Allen, SG, BOS
  11. Yao Ming, C, HOU
  12. Dirk Nowitzki, PF, DAL
  13. Andrew Bynum. C, LAL
  14. Rajon Rondo, PG, BOS
  15. Carmelo Anthony, SF, DEN
  16. Tony Parker, PG, SAN
  17. Rashard Lewis. PF, ORL
  18. Brandon Roy, SG, POR
  19. Hedo Turkoglu*, SF, ORL
  20. Joe Johnson, SG, ATL
  21. Lamar Odom, PF, LAL
  22. Chauncey Billups, PG, DEN
  23. David West, PF, NOR

  24. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C, CLE
  25. Delonte West, SG, CLE

  26. Deron Williams, PG, UTA
  27. LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, POR
  28. Rafer Alston. PG, ORL
  29. Josh Smith, SF, ATL
  30. Ron Artest, SG, HOU
  31. Jason Terry, SG, DAL
  32. Jason Kidd. PG, DAL

  33. Mike Bibby, PG, ATL
  34. Andre Iguodala, SG, PHI

  35. Drew Gooden, SAN
  36. Trevor Ariza, SF, LAL
  37. Roger Mason, SAN
  38. Derek Fisher, PG. LAL
  39. Kenyon Martin, PF, DEN
  40. Ben Gordon, SG, CHI
  41. Derrick Rose, PG, CHI
  42. Carlos Boozer, PF, UTA
  43. J.R. Smith, SG, DEN
  44. Nene Hilario, C, DEN
  45. Michael Beasley, SF, MIA
  46. Sasha Vujacic, SG, LAL
  47. Andre Miller, PG. PHI
  48. Travis Outlaw, SF, POR
  49. Luis Scola, PF, HOU
  50. Aaron Brooks, PG, HOU
  51. Al Horford, C, ATL
  52. Jermaine O'Neal. C, MIA
  53. Anderson Varejao, PF. CLE
  54. Marvin Williams, SF, ATL
  55. Josh Howard*, SF, DAL
  56. Andrei Kirilenko, SF, UTA
  57. Mickael Pietrus, SG, ORL
  58. John Salmons, SF, CHI
  59. Leon Powe, PF, BOS
  60. Courtney Lee, SG, ORL
  61. Glen Davis, PF, BOS
  62. Rudy Fernandez, SG, POR
  63. Mehmet Okur, C, UTA
  64. Richard Hamilton, SG, DET
  65. Rasheed Wallace, C, DET
  66. Tayshaun Prince, SF, DET
  67. Steve Blake. PG, POR
  68. Peja Stojakovic, SF, NOR
  69. Greg Oden, C, POR
  70. Rasual Butler, SG, NOR
  71. Thaddeus Young, SF, PHI
  72. Ronnie Brewer, SG, UTA
  73. Tyrus Thomas, PF, CHI
  74. Daniel Gibson, PG. CLE
  75. Kendrick Perkins, C, BOS
  76. Michael Finley, SF, SAN
  77. Rodney Stuckey, PG, DET
  78. Shane Battier, SF, HOU
  79. Antonio McDyess, PF. DET
  80. Udonis Haslem, PF, MIA
  81. Mario Chalmers. PG. MIA
  82. Kevin Garnett, PF, BOS*

Notes:

  • We originally had Kobe Bryant above LeBron James because of the Lakers' easier path to four series, but with the Kevin Garnett injury this morning, the Cavs are almost as likely to make the finals, so we gave the nod to James.
  • Besides teams playing the Lakers (Utah and the winner of Portland/Houston), the Western Conference teams all have a fairly open path to playing three series, and they could all go six or seven games. That boosts the Mavs, Spurs, Hornets and Nuggets a bit. For example, if New Orleans can get by Denver, they'd play the winner of the Spurs/Mavs, and so Chris Paul could conceivably play three series - which is why he got the nod over Dwyane Wade whose ceiling looks like two. (Of course, the Heat *could* beat the Cavs, it's just a lot less likely).
  • With Manu Ginobili out, the Mavericks have a pretty decent chance of beating San Antonio.
  • Garnett's injury gave the Magic a major boost.
  • Paul Pierce will likely be one of the top per-game producers for as long as the Celtics stick around.
  • Atlanta-Miami and Houston-Portland are virtually 50/50 in Round 1.
  • Seven game series are worth almost twice as much as a sweep, especially if the sweep has a couple blowouts where stars sit in the fourth quarter.

    Article first appeared on 4/16/09

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    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Chris Liss
    Chris Liss was RotoWire's Managing Editor and Host of RotoWIre Fantasy Sports Today on Sirius XM radio from 2001-2022.
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