All out of good picks

Udonis Haslem was the best pick for tonight as his 31 PRA was easily the best out of the players remaining for me. My pick Ray Allen had 16 points but only had 2 rebounds and 1 assist to have a total of 19 PRA. Was expecting for a 20+ PRA but his 19 PRA was his best so far in this series. Miami had a chance to win the game but Wade's shot hit the rim twice. I was rooting for Miami to win that game to close the series on Tuesday since I do not have a Boston player left to pick.

Both series are tied at 2-2 and if you are not feeling confident that Miami and San Antonio could win their series, now is the best time to pick their star players. For tomorrow, I am going to pick another Spurs player outside of the big 3 and that player would be Boris Diaw . He plays better at home and I am confident that the Spurs will win at home against OKC. If the home team wins all their games then San Antonio will definitely win their series as they have home court advantage. And since they are the only team that is unbeatable at home, I am banking on San Antonio as well as Boris Diaw to have a good game.

Hoping for a 20+ PRA from Diaw since he had a 21 PRA the last game.

The Three Ball is the Money Ball

Wish I had interchanged my Westbrook and Ibaka pick as it would have netted me 19 more points in this game. Congratulations are due to the 1% who banked on Kendrick Perkins and they are greatly rewarded with his 25 PRA effort - his highest in this playoffs - which does not come a lot. Kawhi Leonard had 12 PRA in the third quarter and finished with 26 PRA in the game, good thing I stuck with him since I am 50-50 on choosing him or Boris Diaw. Kevin Durant torched the Spurs in the fourth on his way to a 50 PRA night. The bigger story here is that on the two games that OKC has won, Russell Westbrook shot less and scored less. If this continues, owners who are saving Westbrook might not have a big PRA day that Russ has done in the past.

Down 2-1, the Celtics want to even the series at home just like OKC. With that, I am going with Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics. He needs to provide the team with spark offensively since he is the guy that can make threes in bunches. I am also picking Ray Allen because I am out of quality players to choose from in Boston.

Looking for a 20+ PRA from Ray-Ray while the Celtics lose to the Heat. It maybe easier said than done but the Heat actually had control of the first quarter before Boston made their defensive switches. Game 4 might not be a high scoring one but I expect the game to be close which means that Ray Allen might take a few shots or two in the closing minutes.

Men in Black.... and white

The Celtics won Game 3 behind Rajon Rondo and his nifty passing work, not to mention a lot of no-look passes which makes him look like playing a bunch of grade schoolers. My pick Paul Pierce was certainly active on offense but only made 1/3 of his baskets which led to a 23 point, 4 rebound, 4 assist night. Not bad for a 31 PRA considering that he had a 17 PRA in Game 1 but I was expecting for more from him.

Much like the Heat/Celtics matchup, the Thunder/Spurs are heading to a five game series. I would like to save Durant on an elimination day and I think this is the time that I need to pick a Spur instead of a Thunder player. My Thunder alternatives are Sefolosha, Fisher and Perkins. Of these three, Fisher is the most likely to give me a 10+ PRA since he scored 15, 14 and 12 PRA (notice the trend?) in three games. Sefolosha exploded for a 26 PRA which tied my pick Westbrook but I am happy that no one dared to pick him after that 3 PRA clunker. Perkins will occasionally give you a 10+ PRA but he is more of a help in defense and not in offense which does not bode well in this fantasy game.

I will save the Big Three of San Antonio in the finals so I will pick a role player that will give me at least 15+ PRA. In the finals, I only need the Big Three of San Antonio and the dynamic duo of Miami because that might be a short series considering the matchups it possess. Erik Spoelstra did not rule out Chris Bosh in Game 4 against Boston so that will be another good pick for me hopefully in the finals. Without Bosh, I still have 5 picks that will give me 20+ PRA anytime. NICE!

My Spurs alternatives are Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Boris Diaw. Diaw intrigues me since he is a do-it all player on offense but he plays better at home and it is evident in his PRA. Danny Green shoots threes and that is about it for him. So that leaves me with Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs. I don't want to risk a player from the Thunder that will give a single point PRA. Leonard only played 14 minutes in Game 3 but had 10 PRA. Hoping for a 15+ PRA from him tomorrow.

The Truth shall set you free

Disappointed that Westbrook only gave his owners a 26 PRA. However, if you still have a superstar from the Thunder left, you must feel glad since those players who picked their last superstar in Game 3 will not have a superstar to give them a 30+ or 40+ outing. Managing your players throughout the game pays off in this integral part of the fantasy playoffs; the longer the series, the more players you pick and it is all a matter of who do you think will win their series in the end. Still have Durant though and I intend on saving him in an elimination game, the bad part is that I already picked Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka which means that I must scrape through the bottom of the pit to unearth a scrub that will hopefully give me a 15-20 PRA range.

With the Celtics down 0-2, I am going to pick Paul Pierce for these specific reasons:

• 1.) The Boston Celtics played in an overtime game yesterday, Pierce, Allen and Garnett logged 40+ minutes while Rondo did not sit the entire game logging 53 minutes.
• 2.) Before the fourth quarter ended, Paul Pierce fouled out. With the Heat on the verge of winning, Paul Pierce was seen on national TV going to the locker room not because he was injured but he was disappointed that his team lost.
• 3.) Something tells me that playing 53 minutes and going back to Boston will make Rajon Rondo very tired especially if the Heat force a lot of turnovers which will lead to fastbreak plays.
• 4.) Ray Allen is nursing a sore ankle and after playing 43 minutes, his ankle might not act properly with limited rest leaving him less than 100% for Game 3.

I expect Paul Pierce to take over in Game 3 because he is more rested than his teammates, more hungry to win and he needs to prove to the Miami Heat that they are not pushovers. Deep inside he knows that they should have won Game 2 and he will definitely make a statement in Game 3. Look for him to attack, attack and attack! Expecting a 30+ PRA game from him hoping the game is not a blowout.

Agent Hero or Agent Zero

Disclaimer: My blog today is not about Gilbert Arenas, coincidentally, Russell Westbrook has the same jersey number as Arenas hence the "Agent Zero" part of the blog.

What an amazing game by Rajon Rondo! 44 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists for a total of 62 PRA. Congratulations to those who picked him at the right time. My pick Mario Chalmers delivered a 32 PRA game. He had 19 PRA at the half and only added 13 more as he deferred to LeBron and Wade in the fourth and overtime, he also missed four free throws that might have pushed his PRA score to possibly 36 PRA. Miami took a 2-0 lead and I will select Pierce for Game 3 and Ray Allen at Game 4. My reasons why will be posted tomorrow so please check out my blog.

With the Thunder down at a 0-2 hole, it is necessary for them to win Game 3 because no team in the NBA has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a series. I have to pick between Durant and Westbrook in this game and my gut tells me to go with Russell Westbrook and save Kevin Durant for a much bigger game in Game 4 in case they lose against the Spurs in Game 3. With the way the Spurs are playing, its evident that they are deserving to go to the NBA finals. I also think that they can win it all but I do not want to jynx them so I am hoping for a Spurs loss in Game 3 to extend this series.

I know that Westbrook has the capability to explode for another 40+ PRA in this game especially that he is playing at home. He must take over in this game to create double teams as well as dribble penetrations which the Thunder sorely lack. KD cannot win this game alone so I am counting on Westbrook to score a lot and be the HERO of his team.

With my Chalmers pick, I jumped 100 spots to the top 600. Good thing there were only 10% of the drivers that went with Rondo. As I am writing this, 29% of the drivers are picking Westbrook and 31 are going with KD. Lets hope Westbrook gains more PRA's than Kevin. Here's to a 40+ PRA game!

Super Mario

It is really rare that Harden, Westbrook and Durant gets 41, 42 and 41 PRA respectively although the best pick for Game 2 was Harden as his 41 PRA was his best of the playoffs. With OKC down 0-2, I am leaning towards selecting Westbrook on Game 3 and Durant on 4. If we reach game 5, I will pick Fisher since Scott Brooks loves to play small ball in the fourth. Fisher also has his opportunities to shoot, it is all about making them. He had 11 shot attempts but only converted 2 of those. If his shot starts to fall and he gets double digit shot attempts, it could mean 20+ for his owners.

Miami steamrolled Boston in their Game 1 matchup as the Heat never trailed throughout the game. Wade and James were their old form but I was surprised that Miami was +15 on the boards without Bosh and Haslem playing limited minutes. Kudos to those who picked Battier on Game 1 (to those 1% who picked him, COMGRATULATIONS!) as he might never get 20+ PRA in the remainder of the playoffs. Allen, Pierce and Bass were all awful; since 50% of the drivers picked these three players collectively, there was not much of a drop off in the rankings.

For Game 2, I am leaning towards selecting Mario Chalmers . Already picked Garnett, Rondo and Bass which means that I only have two players that average double figures in PRA with Pierce averaging 28.9 and Allen averaging 14.9. Hoping for a Celtic meltdown for the Heat to win at home. With a limited pool of players from the Celtics, picking Pierce and Allen are a must especially if they went down 0-2.

Please dominate the game like you did in Game 1 Lebron and Wade. Looking for a 20+ PRA game from Super Mario. He plays better at home that is why I think this is the time to select him especially now that the Celtics must contain the dynamic duo.

Fear the Beard!

Same position, same result. Two straight days I have picked a power forward - yesterday it was Serge Ibaka and earlier it was Brandon Bass - and both picks sucked really bad. My first choice was Ray Allen but I opted to save him for a home game instead of playing him in Game 1. I do not have a lot of options left in that series which means that I might pick a Heat player or two depending on the final result of their series.

Going back to the Spurs/Thunder series, I am still venting on the fact that OKC had Game 1 possibly in the bag but with Scott Brooks "small" lineup, it allowed the Spurs to get a 30+ scoring fourth quarter which was ultimately their demise. It is very evident that the Thunder lacked a shot blocker in the game because the Spurs are attacking at the rim at every possession. If this trend continues for the Thunder, this series might be done in 4 or 5.

With that, I am going with James Harden and hoping that he brings me back to the top 500 rank. Before the Conference Finals started, I was in rank 300+, then Ibaka came along and brought me down in the 600+ spot, then Bass scored me 11 PRA which placed me in 813th place. The Spurs still has problems defending the Pick and Roll and James Harden is the master of pick and rolls for this Thunder squad. I also feel that Harden has something to prove after his counterpart Manu Ginobili went bonkers on the fourth. Watching the game, both their styles are similar - both left handed, both draw fouls by bumping into the defender, both like to split the pick and roll to attack the rim - and it is very fun to watch. It is like looking at yourself in the mirror.

Hoping Harden gives me 20+ PRA, wont be surprised if he delivers the goods for the Thunder by scoring (which they badly needed in the fourth) and setting up his teammates. The Thunder are unlikely to lose both games before heading into Game 3 so this may be a good time to pick him instead of Westbrook who continues to put up bad shots and playing uninspiring defense against Tony Parker.