This article is part of our Category Strategy series.
Does anything make you track back further and more optimistically than the NCAA Bracket? I feel with every win and every loss, I know I should've picked the winner and I'm mad at myself for not knowing who the winner was going to be. Every team that wins every game can be believed to be the team that should've won the game, no matter how unrealistic the pick would've been prior to tip-off. That's the way the human mind works, and that's why we're not as smart as we think we are. For instance, I considered picking Mercer of Duke. Not seriously enough to ever have Mercer ever filled in as my pick for that game, but seriously enough to text a friend and discuss the possibility of said upset.
I picked Duke to win the game, and ever since I've been telling people: "I almost picked Mercer."
I had become "That Guy."
I was involved in a long group text conversation before the NCAA Tournament got started, and it eventually got to a point where someone was defending not joining a friends' pool by saying, "I have more fun when I don't fill out a bracket."
Because I hate group texts, I didn't respond. But nobody is going to read this article with fantasy baseball drafts happening all weekend, so I feel fine saying it here.
The NBA is exponentially better than college basketball. There. I said it.
So many of these games are more like shaking up a snow globe and seeing where the fake snow lands.
In the NBA, almost every possession in the Western Conference counts, and is finished with a high-percentage shot from a very talented player. (Every non- Indiana/Miami/Chicago team in the Eastern Conference works really hard to make my point moot, so I won't mention them.) You also have players like Anthony Davis.
Yeeeaaaahhhh… Pro basketball is real basketball. Anthony Davis is winning-a-fantasy draft basketball. It's winning this draft and winning a league and dreaming a dream and owning Anthony Davis basketball. I love Andrew Wiggins. People love Doug McDermott. This draft will be the best of the decade possibly, and I can't wait to make next year fun by drafting one of them.
CATEGORY STRATEGY
Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues that can help in specific roto categories. Remember, while each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.
POINTS
Nick Young, SG, Lakers
Of the players widely available, Young is the best pure scorer, and I think the Lakers are still trying to evaluate him. He poured in 21 points in his first game back from injury, and there's no reason to think he won't keep seeing looks. He's owned in less than 40 percent of leagues, and that's a mistake.
Remember this?
REBOUNDS
Jordan Hill, PF, Lakers
I've been burned by him before. Who hasn't? The guy's rebounding rates are off the charts, and he pulled down 14 in his first game back with the Lakers. He's high risk, but there are few rebounding options that offer his kind of upside.
ASSISTS
Nobody
At this point in the season, other than Reggie Jackson (who should be owned in most leagues, there aren't many options for this spot) If you've been reading this spot all season, you know that.
STEALS
P.J. Tucker, SF, Suns
He's done a great job on the glass of late, but in addition to being a recommended option for rebounds, he's sneakily been a solid option in steals too.
