Rotisserie: Underrated Efficiency

In a roto league, you are compared to all of the other teams, and you get points based on where you rank. Those points are added to calculate a rotisserie score. The winner of the league is the fantasy GM with the highest rotisserie score. Therefore, every statistical category is scored and valued equally, and it is difficult to win if you have a clear weakness. As you near the end of the draft, you will find that players often hurt you in a category (e.g. percentages, turnovers). While they may be good in other categories, drafting these players may end up costing you more value than you gain. So, it's important to notice the players that won't hurt you and will help you. There were only five top 100 players with less than 1 TO per game last year. Two of them (Rasheed Wallace, Peja Stojakovic) shot over 10 FGA/gm with atrocious FG% (42 and 40, respectively). That leaves three players (Antonio McDyess, Jamario Moon, Shane Battier). These players may not be as easily recognized, because they don't post big scoring games, but they can definitely be of value to your team. Antonio McDyess - Dice will be on a new team this year, but not in a new situation. He's been a backup for the past half a decade, sharing time at both PF and C. He was signed by the Spurs this past off-season, so he'll be manning the post with the one of the best PFs (Tim Duncan) in recent history. However, the team will rest the aging Big Fundamental whenever possible to keep him strong for the post-season, and, with an already thin frontcourt, Dice should still be able to post nearly a double double with a steal and a block. Jamario Moon - Moon provides one of the most coveted fantasy NBA combos: threes, steals, and blocks. The reason why this is so coveted is because these are the three rarest, or hardest to achieve, raw number categories. Moon provides all of them with a handful of boards, great percentages, and almost no turnovers in just a little over half a game (career average of 27 mpg). He was bought by the Cavs in July, where he will back up one of the best players in the game (Lebron James), but also has the versatility to play bigger in their weak frontcourt. Even though Moon won't start, since he only needs 27 mpg and 6 FGA/gm, he should be able to continue to provide good value. Shane Battier - Battier has been one of the key fantasy roto role players for years. His career averages over the past 8 years put him in the elite three-steal-block club. It may take him more playing time (33 mpg) than Moon, but Battier consistently gets the job done. Additionally, this year Battier may see his scoring go up, because the Rockets will not have either of their two superstars (Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady), leaving a huge scoring deficit (50+ ppg) and a big opportunity for shot attempts. If Battier can hold on near his career avg for FG shooting (45%), the points will definitely be a bonus. Even if Battier posts another low FG% year, he's not a volume shooter, and it won't really hurt, which brings us to our next group. One of the other things to understand is that shooting percentages are calculated based on total shots made over total shots taken. So, even if a player converts at a low percentage, as long as they don't take many attempts, it will mitigate the risk. Mario Chalmers - Super Mario's nearly 2 spg and 1.5 three/gm are great, and 10 ppg, 5 apg, and 3 rpg are certainly respectable. The Heat really haven't changed much at all since last season, so expect him to have the same role and similar stats. Since he plays with one of the top shooters in the league (Dwyane Wade), an improving lottery pick sophomore (Michael Beasley), and an aging ex-all-star (Jermaine O'Neal), there are plenty of better offensive options and Mario won't need to put up more than his 8 FGA/gm. Chris Andersen - The Birdman climbed to top 100 value primarily for one reason: 2.5 bpg. This tied him for second in the league, and put him in the elite-7 with over 2 bpg. He also nabbed 6 rpg and 0.6 spg to boot. With only 1 turnover and 2.5 FTA/gm, he won't hurt you very much. The Nuggets are returning the same core frontcourt, so, as long as he gets his meager 20 mpg, he'll continue to swat shots. Joakim Noah - Noah has unorthodox form that sometimes causes sideways spin, which is definitely a bad thing when you're trying to line up straight at the free throw line, as evidenced by his monthly splits which range from 32% to 90%! However, his 67% FT shooting isn't so bad, when you consider his less than 2.5 FTA/gm. Of the top 100 players, the average is 3.3 FTA/gm. While Noah's value lies just outside of the top 100, his 7.6 rpg and 1.4 bpg are certainly valuable and he won't hurt you elsewhere (1 TO). His split stats show a rise in mpg and consequent rise in attempts per game, so be a little wary.