THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP

There are now three things certain in life. Death, taxes and being cursed by this blog. If you are a major sporting side or professional athlete, being mentioned in this blog is the kiss of death. It’s bad. Like, recruiting Carmelo Anthony bad.

In the past, it has been teams as supreme as the Warriors and QB’s as talented as Ben Roethlisberger. Last week, it was the Portland Trailblazers. Over the weekend, a two game skid saw them drop from top, to sixth… Sixth!!! And now the Clippers lead the West.

Meanwhile, Jimmy did it again to drag the Sixers over the line against Brooklyn…

And let’s not mention what has been happening off the court. No details, but just search #DwightHoward on Twitter.

The Australian cricket side is another that has not been spared the wrath of this blog. A few weeks ago, positivity got the better of us and we fell for their favouritism. Alas, they lost the series to South Africa and are were lucky not to lose 2-1 to India.

Over the last week, Australia led us to the high highs of a T20 victory against the number two ranked T20 side, limped their way to 7/132 in a rained out fixture and then were (relatively) easily accounted for in the final game of the series.

In the NFL, human beings alive over the past week were privy to arguably the greatest regular season game of all time. Baltimore beat Jacksonville 24-21!!! But seriously, anyone who saw the Rams v Chiefs game last Monday, here is that tissue you were looking for. Then we had three games on Thanksgiving (last Thursday) and six games decided by under a touchdown on Monday.

And celebrations are back and they are so much fun. If this ain’t one of the best, please tell us what is.

NBA COMPETITIONS

The NBA has been consistently crazy. The Bucks demoralised the Blazers 143-100, then lost to the Suns (huh) and then went for 135 against the Spurs. The Jazz have dropped off the face of Earth, maybe Kyrie sent them looking for the edge of flat Earth, and are 14th in the West. Mind you, they are one win off of ninth. And Boston have already fallen seven games off the pace in the East.

Talking Draftstars, Giannis has been on a tear recently. With the Bucks putting up numbers, his numbers have been insane. Over the past three games he has scored over 30 points, and had at least 10 rebounds and three assists. He has racked up over 70 DS points in two of those games and has at least 50 in his last six games. His three game average of 65.3 is unrivalled and he is the famed “unicorn” you should be hunting a while he is in this form.

In terms of value, Jabari Parker continues to thrive in his role at the Bulls. Priced at roughly $13k, his three game average is over 45 and he is firmly in the upper echelon of DS players. He has over 20 points in four of his last five games and subsequently has scored 47+ in two of his last three.

And, despite his inconsistency, sophomore guard Malik Monk, has proven to be a player to keep your eye on. Throughout the season he has been streaky, nothing up repeat scores around 20 but following them up with scores less than ten. Then five games in a row of 20+. Using his inconsistent role and shooting as something to go by, his past two scores of 23 and 35 imply he is a purple patch.

T20 SERIES- AUSTRALIA v INDIA CONTESTS

Despite a series and T20 loss to South Africa, Australia were buoyed by their first victory in seven matches in ODI two. Marcus Stoinis has, if he had not before, well and truly arrived and should probably be the test all-rounder. And the feeling around the team was as good as it has been since the Warner-Smith-Bancroft debacle.

Then, T20 number one happened. Victory again! Against the odds. Australia were building. T20 two was a non-event, thankfully, because Australia looked in all sorts at 7/132 off 19 overs. And then T20 three proved there is still some ways to go.
The star of the show in the Australian win was Stoinis. His partnership, and 33 off of 19 was crucial to Australia achieving a defendable total. And his 2/27 bowling was a big part of why their scored remained competitive. Though, Shikhar Dhawan, the man who lives with his family in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren, took advantage of the familiar Australian climate to bash 76 runs from 42 balls.

The final T20 of the series was a tantalising battle between bat and ball. Spin bowler, Krunal Pandya, was named man of the match for his four wicket haul. But he faced stiff opposition from teammate and captain, Virat Kohli, who made a dominant, and imperative, 61 runs to carry India over the line.

NFL CONTESTS

Week 12 of the NFL season proved, once again, why this year has been so much fun. And, week 12 does not even include the Rams and Chiefs game. Although it is still work noting.

The two sides came into the match ranked 9-1 and set social media, general media and any NFL watched into frenzy with an astonishing 54-51 game. If not for a few Patty Mahomes interceptions, this game would have given the viewers the overtime shootout they deserved. But there is no way Mahomes can be blamed, after all, he threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns….

However, that was last week. This week, viewers were treated to a feast of crucial games and teams in form. Chicago lengthened their win streak to five with a ground out victory over Detroit while Jacksonville took their losing streak to seven in a hard fought game against Buffalo.

A six game winning streak was broken by the sneakily good Broncos. Pittsburgh and Big Ben, coming in as favourites, threw a pick with one minute left on the clock to gift Denver a 24017 victory. Although, Steelers WR, Ju-ju Smith-Schuster, went absolutely crazy. His 13 receptions totalled 189 yards, a touchdown and almost 38 fantasy points.

Oh and Christian McCaffrey just about said “you must pick me in your side” with a fantasy output of 46.7. He scored was by way of 125-yards rushing with one score and 112-yards receiving and a touchdown. A monster game.

And in the bargain bin, Josh Allen proved to be immense value. Playing his first snaps since week six, Allen threw for 160 yards and a score and also rushed for 99 yards and a score. That output was good enough for 26.3 points and he was the best low-end QB in Monday’s contest.

Don’t forget to keep up to date with Draftstars throughout the week to take advantage of the plethora of contest available across the NBA, NFL, EPL and upcoming test series.

Written by Brin Duggan

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