1st Year Player from America

[mcwarne]

PS: andys
Cant say I know much about Hockey but my MLB Fantasy team rode to the league title on the Red Sox pitching staff. Of course I am a Nation fan as well and its good to see the addition of big John Lackey and together with hopefully a fully fit Dice K and if we can get Josh Beckett back to his snarling best we could be really in business this year. Cant let those awful Skanks win another WS now can we!

[Arky]

At least in Dreamteam there's not really a set route, specialists or all-rounders, as the stats are not very selective.  Generally you want running defenders (who get lots of marks and kicks working it out of defence) instead of key defenders (since there's no points in for defensive actions), outside midfielders (receivers) similarly tend to have higher ceilings than inside midfielders (who usually start the train of possesion with a handball out to the runners), and forwards who spend a lot of time in the midfield chasing marks and kicks- a small handful of key forwards take enough marks and kick enough goals consistently to be worth taking (Riewoldt is one of those).

The aim is basically to have a mix of solid scoring "keepers" and a bunch of "cash cows" who increase in value, and you can trade out later for a rookie price player, using that money to upgrade a second cow.  E.g. say you start with Scully on the field and Shuey on the bench, they both play decently and level out at $270k each.  You trade Shuey down to a 90k rookie who is just debuting mid-season, and use the spare 180k to upgrade Scully to a 450k superstar.  Rince and repeat.  Obviously the quicker your cows fatten up and the quicker you can have a team full of guns, the better.


Experienced players are usually pretty consistent in what they score from year to year unless they change their role in the team or they get over some injury issue that was dragging them down.  This is why traditionally people try to pick mostly premium players who are proven top scorers, or rookies with the most room to increase in price.  Occasionally a youngster will break out bigtime, like Bernie Vince last year, but they can be hard to pick in advance!  Because DT discounts the price of people who don't play much (through injury or non-selection), there can be discounts on experienced players compared to their historical average (that's the case for backs this year such as Hunt, Waters, Ladson and Malceski).  But of course, there's a reason that discount was given, so buyer beware, but due to a lack of good rookie options this year a lot of people are diving heavily into those discount midprice players.

For rookies, you're usually looking for kids who seem ready to play from round 1, preferably outside midfielders and running defenders, preferably in weaker teams which are more interested in getting experience into young talents than throwing everything into winning the competition this season.  Do not be afraid to play a couple of rookie midfielders on the ground at the start.  Take a look at the first season records of players last year not just like Daniel Rich, but less glamorous guys like Andrew Collins or Brendan Whitecross.  The right rookies will score at least as well as people priced 200k higher, and rise enough in price that it is easier to upgrade them.

Obviously you need to replace Sylvia since he got hurt.  I guess the other players you have who would be "unusual" picks would be McGrath and Ellis up back (although even with Ellis I can see the scope for improvement given his injury last year) and Myers on the back bench (too much for a bench option who may not even play), in the mids, Palmer  (because he won't play until at least round 6) and Sheldon (unlikely to be a big scope for improvement, and based on pre-season form is unlikely to be in the team), up forward I think it is uncertain if Vezpremi is fit, otherwise the picks there are all viable.



Now, Supercoach, that's where the exotic stats come into a bit more, and there are particular "types" to focus on moreso than Dreamteam.

[Prospector_1]

Great explanation Arky, should be compulsory reading for all First Year DTers.

Well done, you should be proud, and your advice should be stickied!

[Master Q]

Andy, for ongoing tips this is a great forum so check regularly. Also a Blog i recommend is - www.thegreatdtblog.wordpress.com

[Prospector_1]

Hey andys,

maybe you can get us some more background on Daniel Bass?

"A project player plucked from college basketball in the United States"

Thanks

[Twin Peaks]

hey andy i am currently in Ontario and am looking to be US east coast in June!
The best approach is to go on the dreamteam site itself and look at the averages from last year, they will give you an indication as to who is a good player. Typically they are players who cover a lot of ground, whether as a forward or as a midfielder and as a consequence have a lot of marks and possessions (kicks preferrably). You normally want high marking players and then their tackling ability feeds into that but is normally a bonus
Fanfooty is a good start, there are a few tools you can use where you create a team and monty gives you a predicted score for round 1. Id play around with that for a while, keeping salary cap considered and then you are good to go!

[Twin Peaks]

sorry arky just read the second page of the thread, thats a better summation than mine