As I sit here trying to decide which players to play and who to sit on my fantasy basketball team, all while looking through entrepreneurial articles I have realized something strikingly similar to business and fantasy basketball. While they are completely different worlds, they have common fundamentals to a successful business or team.
Talent
A great business and a great team both require superstar talent. In order to maintain high level of play or a high quality of work, you need talent. Your business should strive for consistent players. A team who works hard day in and day out to produce a quality to its full potential are what ultimately make a strong and successful core.
Roles
Every business or team requires roles to perform at their full potential. Having 10 of the same role, and 1 of another does not work in either a business or team. By generating roles and placing talented individuals in those key areas your weak links have been reduced. Teams work together to produce an outcome, be it a new product or a W on the standings. In layman's terms, you don't go and get 10 scorers, if they can't rebound the ball. You need one person to rebound and one to score.
Having players who are relied on for a specific piece of work or stat is important, but one thing to consider is that you always need a back up. If "John" calls in saying that they're sick and can't come in for the week, you need someone ready to go to take over his spot. Planning ahead is important in both fantasy sports and business, it allows the team and or business to run like a well oiled machine.
Recruitment
Recruiting your talent for your roles can be tricky. Most of the time you may get overwhelmed by the pool of talent available to you. But every once in awhile you will find a sleeper sitting in the waiver wire. Someone who may not have the experience for the role or the degree, but has shown potential. There is no measurement for potential, it only comes from feel of meeting the person, or their demeanor. When recruiting a player/employee don't just look for that degree or those years of experience, but also take note of the persons drive. Does this person want to work for you, given the opportunity to play will they flourish? Some people like to prove themselves given the challenge and the opportunity.
Moral: Dont judge a book by its' cover because you might find a diamond in the rough.
Friday 15 November 2013
Tuesday 5 November 2013
Newbie to Fantasy? Here's 5 Tips to Help You Improve
Generally this guide will be used for Fantasy Basketball, but most fantasy leagues have the same concept. Win Categories of X statistic. The league that I've played for approximately 5-6 years uses a Head 2 Head (H2H) Most Categories format. We have a total of 12 categories, and I'll share some tips I use to improve your team over the season.
Do Your Research
One thing that most of the people in my league don't do is use Twitter. There is an abundance of information out there and if you're always on twitter like I am, then the resource is invaluable. Having LIVE updates on injury reports is crucial to having an advantage over your peers, and can also secure you sleepers in the waiver wire before anyone else.
Don't forget to watch games! I know it's a chore people, but c'mon people you have to. Don't just watch marquee games, watch games that aren't popular. These games are usually where you can find sleepers. Read box scores of most games, then do your research on those players who could be sitting in the waiver reports. I tend to look for consistent players, not players who have a good game here and there and completely fail at everything else.
Keep a Close Eye on Your Injured Players
Some people like to hold on to their injured players and ride them out. Some like to get rid of them straight away. There is no right answer here and you'll just have to go by your gut. Gathering as much information and reports on these players is important to make the decision to keep or drop the player. If you've been riding on an injured player for a few weeks and there's still no report suggesting of when the player will be returning then it might be time to get rid of that player.
Points Aren't Everything!
Time and time again, I see Fantasy newbies only sorting their rosters and waivers by points. This is a BIG no no. While it's always good to have lots of points, points only count for 1 category. If you're winning 1 category but losing 11 others, that's not exactly a smart move. Think before you select a player to join your roster! Someone who gains 5pts but also does 4 blocks a game could be much more valuable then a player who drops 26pts a night.
Be Social
Constantly talking about fantasy with friends is a great way to stay interested in it. It's super important if you wanna come home with the Ship at the end of the season. You must be able to stay interested through the entire season in order to keep up to date with all the player injuries, free agents and waivers. If you lose interest, you won't win. Simple as that.
Combo Players are Key
If you really want to win your fantasy league. You need to step away from your superstar names (Not all though, most superstars are multi-faceted) and realise that it is the team that wins you categories weekly. A combo player is a player who has the ability to play multiple positions and/or has a unique ability that gains him a stat in an unorthodox position. For example, combo guards who can play both PG and SG are a great way to always have a back up for that position when you need them during the week. My favourite combo's are SG/SF and PF/C. An unortodox stat for a position is for example a 3pt shooter at the PF/C position. These players will gain you those extra stats, while still filling the roles of gaining you high rebounds, likely double doubles and most probably blocked shots. Similarly, guards who can rebound are also big assets.
I hope these tips have helped broaden your knowledge of the Fantasy scene. Please feel free to post some comments below on your thoughts of the tips or if you have more tips to help people. :)
"If you lose interest, you won't win."
Do Your Research
One thing that most of the people in my league don't do is use Twitter. There is an abundance of information out there and if you're always on twitter like I am, then the resource is invaluable. Having LIVE updates on injury reports is crucial to having an advantage over your peers, and can also secure you sleepers in the waiver wire before anyone else.
Don't forget to watch games! I know it's a chore people, but c'mon people you have to. Don't just watch marquee games, watch games that aren't popular. These games are usually where you can find sleepers. Read box scores of most games, then do your research on those players who could be sitting in the waiver reports. I tend to look for consistent players, not players who have a good game here and there and completely fail at everything else.
Keep a Close Eye on Your Injured Players
Some people like to hold on to their injured players and ride them out. Some like to get rid of them straight away. There is no right answer here and you'll just have to go by your gut. Gathering as much information and reports on these players is important to make the decision to keep or drop the player. If you've been riding on an injured player for a few weeks and there's still no report suggesting of when the player will be returning then it might be time to get rid of that player.
Points Aren't Everything!
Time and time again, I see Fantasy newbies only sorting their rosters and waivers by points. This is a BIG no no. While it's always good to have lots of points, points only count for 1 category. If you're winning 1 category but losing 11 others, that's not exactly a smart move. Think before you select a player to join your roster! Someone who gains 5pts but also does 4 blocks a game could be much more valuable then a player who drops 26pts a night.
Be Social
Constantly talking about fantasy with friends is a great way to stay interested in it. It's super important if you wanna come home with the Ship at the end of the season. You must be able to stay interested through the entire season in order to keep up to date with all the player injuries, free agents and waivers. If you lose interest, you won't win. Simple as that.
Combo Players are Key
If you really want to win your fantasy league. You need to step away from your superstar names (Not all though, most superstars are multi-faceted) and realise that it is the team that wins you categories weekly. A combo player is a player who has the ability to play multiple positions and/or has a unique ability that gains him a stat in an unorthodox position. For example, combo guards who can play both PG and SG are a great way to always have a back up for that position when you need them during the week. My favourite combo's are SG/SF and PF/C. An unortodox stat for a position is for example a 3pt shooter at the PF/C position. These players will gain you those extra stats, while still filling the roles of gaining you high rebounds, likely double doubles and most probably blocked shots. Similarly, guards who can rebound are also big assets.
I hope these tips have helped broaden your knowledge of the Fantasy scene. Please feel free to post some comments below on your thoughts of the tips or if you have more tips to help people. :)
Monday 4 November 2013
Perspective: Life Experiences Make You
I've been through a lot of experiences in my life. Relationships, and work come to mind when thinking of experiences. I tend to look back on these experiences and ask myself questions. Like "Would I be here if I...", "Why didn't I...", "Should I have..." It's these experiences that change who you are as a person and make you who you are.
Being the youngest in the family, at a young age I was very curious. I would observe and study people like my older brother and sister and it helped me to understand their thought process. I was very young when I realised I was self studying about perspective. The way people viewed themselves, their choices and how it affected people around them. Now this didn't just have to do with relationships and work, but other life experiences too. I would ask questions like "How does this work?", and "Why does it do this, "when I do that?" It was these questions that helped me to develop as a person and a man today.
Some choices I've made in the past, have dictated where I am today. There have been relationships, which I think I should have tried harder and jobs, which I should have continued. Some of the choices I try not to regret, but you can't change the past. You can however change the future. When I was in high-school I made a life choice. Something that I've kept till this day and this is the soul basis of this article. The choice I made was to "Never say I can't". Think about it for a second and how powerful that line is. Never say "I Can't".
The choice I made was to "Never say I can't"
When faced with any problem, when pushed to the edge of the cliff, when the going gets tough. Never say "I can't". So you may ask "what do you say instead?". You look at the problem, and you ask it questions. You ask "What will make this easier?", "How can I make this simpler?", there are many questions which vary depending on the problem itself. The only constant is the asking of the questions themselves.
My point is, stop wasting time worrying about how big your work load is, because it won't change. What should change is your perspective.
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