Making first fantasy NBA league and I need help. h2h vs roto etc.

[ItStaysYang]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm creating a NBA fantasy league for the first time. Shooting for 12 individuals (we all know each other in person). This year, everyone's only throwing in $20 bucks per person, so we can get the hang of it, make adjustments, and then start for real next year.

My biggest dilemma currently is h2h vs. rotisserie. Some on my team are confident that rotisserie is better for NBA. I think h2h is better for the NFL, as all the games are basically concentrated on one day per week. I wanted to mirror our NBA league like my other friend's fantasy NFL league - they have weekly prizes and such. I'm just not sure how to implement something like that with rotisserie. However, is h2h impractical? Do weekly handouts and NBA fantasy not mix?

I'm super confused, someone hook a broha up with some intel! Thanks!

[Roy H.]

I've never done weekly prizes or anything like that.  I know I've tried points leagues and rotisserie leagues, and I didn't care for either.  H2H has always been the way to go for me.  It just leads to a lot more drama, as one block or a late three pointer can win you a week. 

How do you do handouts in the NFL league?  Is it based on margin of victory?  You can always do handouts based on who beats their opponent in the most categories in a given week.

One piece of advice if you're doing a H2H league (and this is all preference):  I like to limit roster moves in the playoffs (as in, allowing zero or one transaction per week).  Otherwise, you'll see managers "cycle" players in and out of their lineup, in order to gain a major games played advantage.  It just seems anti-sportsmanlike. 

[action781]

I've never done weekly prizes or anything like that.  I know I've tried points leagues and rotisserie leagues, and I didn't care for either.  H2H has always been the way to go for me.  It just leads to a lot more drama, as one block or a late three pointer can win you a week. 

How do you do handouts in the NFL league?  Is it based on margin of victory?  You can always do handouts based on who beats their opponent in the most categories in a given week.

One piece of advice if you're doing a H2H league (and this is all preference):  I like to limit roster moves in the playoffs (as in, allowing zero or one transaction per week).  Otherwise, you'll see managers "cycle" players in and out of their lineup, in order to gain a major games played advantage.  It just seems anti-sportsmanlike. 

I run a fantasy basketball league and Roy hit up on some good points.  We do category-based H2H and it's a lot of fun.  A team can go 10-0 in one week and really swing the standings.  In rotisserie, you've only got a few teams with a chance in the final couple months.  To prevent the cycling of players, we do a transaction limit of 50 during the regular season (which nobody even came very close to) and zero transactions allowed through playoffs.  Also, I highly recommend auction draft.  So intense and so fun!

[ItStaysYang]

What's an auction draft? Btw - for providers, we are using yahoo. Any major "dont's" with yahoo?

And good question! I don't know how we will do the weekly handouts yet - that will start next year, as our buy-in will quadruple. This year we're just getting dedicated kids in, setting it up, and feeling it out. Thanks for the postseason roster limitation advice.

Can you explain the "auction style" drafting? Why that vs "regular" drafting?

Any other gems?

[action781]

What's an auction draft? Btw - for providers, we are using yahoo. Any major "dont's" with yahoo?

And good question! I don't know how we will do the weekly handouts yet - that will start next year, as our buy-in will quadruple. This year we're just getting dedicated kids in, setting it up, and feeling it out. Thanks for the postseason roster limitation advice.

Can you explain the "auction style" drafting? Why that vs "regular" drafting?

Any other gems?

I use nba.com's league and I highly recommend it.  I've used yahoo in the past and prefer this one to it.

Auction draft is where every team gets a fixed salary amount and gets to bid on players instead of a normal snake style draft.  So nobody is guaranteed Durant, etc.  It's a lot of fun and makes planning far more complex.

[ItStaysYang]

I think that may be slightly beyond the scope of our league. Bunch of college kids just looking to fill a league (12 teams) and have fun with it. It will be semi competitive as we will have enough teams for it to be balanced and competitive.

What do you use for point values for each category? Is that set by the provider or specified by the commissioner?

Also, we were thinking of capping at 12. But I noticed on ESPN that you can have TWENTY teams in a league?! How many are in your league / what do you think is a reasonable number?

I am very torn between ESPN and yahoo! ESPN looks really nice

[Gainesville Celtic]

I play in two 20-team leagues (1 h2h, 1 points) and a 12-team roto league.

The biggest diff. with a 20-team league is the depth of the guys you're rostering (i.e. 12 team league a guy like Shane Battier or CJ Miles might be barely rosterable, whereas they're great roster guys in a 20-team league).

I love all 3 formats --- but i'm a basketball guy first (have grown to like Fantasy baseball, but think football is boring).

we used NBA.com for the 1st year of the roto league and almost had a mutiny. We've used Yahoo! since. NBA.com might have cleaned up their act (i think it was their first year?). I like Yahoo, but know people who only will use ESPN.

I'm not as concerned as Roy is about streaming in the playoffs, though it can have an effect. I'd suggest a 1-3 transaction limit.

[Roy H.]

I'm not as concerned as Roy is about streaming in the playoffs, though it can have an effect. I'd suggest a 1-3 transaction limit.

There's a huge difference between streaming in a 20 team league (with 16 player roster), though, versus a 10 or 12 team league (with possibly smaller rosters).  Sure, streaming doesn't make a huge difference when you're streaming in Dontae Greene and Jason Collins, but in more shallow leagues, legit guys can be added and dropped.

As for league size, I think 12 GMs is a good number.  Having participated in dozens of leagues, 12 seems to be about the right size.

Also, starting positions matter.  I like deep leagues.  I prefer:

PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, C, Util, Util, Util, Bench, Bench, Bench, Bench, Bench

However, some people like fewer positions, etc.

The other question is categories.  There are the standard nine, but then there are questions over whether FTM, FGM, and 3P% should be included.  I say no, but it's all preference.

[Overrated]

I love fantasy basketball. My preference is H2H because you can have bad weeks and still beat your opponent. You can also string together a few great weeks and be right in the thick of things in the standings!

In rotisserie, it's very easy to fall behind in several categories, and that can hurt you if you don't act on it. It's not easy to come from behind once the season is about halfway complete, and you may not enjoy it if you're frustrated (like myself).

[ItStaysYang]

What do some of you veterans use for point values? The regular? 2 points for a fg, 3 points for a 3pt, 1 for a ft .. ? what about blocks, steals, turnovers, all that jazz