The Grill proved me wrong. We didn’t come in 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th. We came in as co-champions with Smack Train coached by fantasy basketball enthusiast and friend Zack.
The only thing that separated the two teams was 3 treys, 4 points and 6 blocks. The margin of victory was that small. 3 more treys, 4 more points or 6 more blocks either way would have won the championship for either one of us. I’m glad that we drew. Both teams came on strongly during the last few weeks of the season that it would have been unfair for either team to end up second.
In my previous post, I thought the Grill was primed to challenged. I just didn’t think that we had enough firepower to scrape out a championship. I guess the players decided to prove me wrong. During the final run, Kobe, EB, GDub and Gasol went on a tear. Looking through the Yahoo average ranks, they came in 3rd, 6th, 1st and 7th during the last month of play. GDub and Kobe in particular went on this incredible tear.
Hibachi Grill started of the season as Killer Rabbits Deux. The Killer Rabbits had come in second in this highly competitive league last season. It was a successful rookie season for me and I was determined to do better this year. We got off to an inauspicious start due to a bad draft. My third round pick Diaw, who had a phenomenal season last year, never reached the same heights this year. RJ was injured for most of the season. Troy Murphy never developed the way I expected under Nellie. We slowly fall our way down the rankings.
Changes had to made to keep us in contention. We made a 2-for-1 trade to help us in the blocks category. My Boozer and AI2 for his EB. On hindsight I could have gotten better value for AI2 but who knew that AI was on his way out. EB though provided massive statistical help. Then an owner decided to drop Gasol. With the 2-for-1, I had the roster space to pick up and stash Gasol. Soon after, we became known as Hibachi Grill (in honor of Agent 0). I was hoping the name change and major trade move would mark a turning point for the team.
January came around and the Grill started to show signs of life. We were near the bottom but were no longer in the cellar. The core of EB, Nash and Dirk helped the team stay around but the supporting cast was about to emerge for the Grill. TJ Ford started becoming a viable fantasy point guard. Gasol recovered from his injury and started putting up the numbers we were expecting from him. GDub started the season slowly but was rounding into form. Bell was finding his shot and efficient overall. Big Al and Tony Allen excited me with the numbers they were putting up. They were two of my best free agent signings for the year. When Allen went down, JChill was a more than adequate replacement.
In February, Dirk and Nash went on a tear. The Grill surged up the ranks mirroring the play of the two stars.
In March, a timely trade for Maggette (Big Al going the other way) and the blockbuster Kobe for Dirk trade proved to be fortuitous. Maggette got put back into the starting lineup and rediscovered his form. Kobe, what can I say about Kobe? He carried my team like he carried the Lakers. Not to be ignored, GDub started playing like the player I was expecting. EB (with his new center eligibility) and Gasol started to hold down the middle freeing up my forward slots for versatile forwards like Childress and Gay (in addition to GDub!).
In April, it looked like I could gain points in a number of categories. Smack Train had a huge lead at that time but I felt that I could strike. With Kobe and Maggette, we were surging up the FT% category. One point there. Points and Rebounds fall next with GDub providing an unexpected assist in both those categories. Two points there. We got luck with threes because the owner ahead of me started coasting. One more point. Finally with a week and half left, we were within striking distance of blocks. A multitude of big man went in and out (Aldridge, Etan Thomas, Diop, Milicic, Perkins). A point there and we were now tied with Smack Train with just 5 days to go. If I had realized that there was another point to gain in blocks I would have left those big men in a little longer (we ended up 6 blocks short of the next team).
Up till the end, the Hasslehoff Allstars and the Oklahoma City Sonics kept playing and it proved pivotal on that final day when it prevented Smack Train from taking an extra point (that’s where the 3 treys and 4 points came from).
It was a great season. The excitement and stress never let up but I would not have it any other way. I learnt a lot. A good draft is only part of it. Good pickups, timely trades and staying active cane overcome a bad draft. I have one more entry to write about the players I want to watch out for next season and then I can put this to rest.