THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP

Dear Cricket fans, I am sincerely sorry. I got way too ahead of myself and actually fell for the “hype” around Australia’s T20 side. It was a mistake. Hopefully a reversal of the script comes in the upcoming games against India and Sri Lanka. Please.

Being typically positive, how good was Maxy? He bowled like a younger, fitter and hairier Murali and could have easily taken two or three wickets. Then he starred with the bat!

NFL and NBA fans, play on. Your seasons are shaping up into something special. Admittedly, it is hard to call it this early in the NBA but the East is a feast of competitiveness and the Warriors have now dropped three games in a row and are showing signs of weakness.

Meanwhile, the NFL season looks like it could be one of the best. Who is the best side? Is it the Chiefs? The Rams? The Saints? Maybe even the Bears with their scary good D, and supremely talented young QB.

In terms of Draftstars competitions, they’ve proven to be just as hotly contested as the American sporting landscape. Saturday night’s T20 contest saw clayton23 take home $852 by just ten points, the equivalent of a measly catch. Both Saturday and Sunday’s NBA contests were won by under five points, while hazza0072 snared $976 on Monday in the NFL.

Before we get into it, let me touch on the game of the year (so far) that played out between the Sixers and the Hornets. Kemba Walker went ballistic and scored a career high 60 points, but it was Jimmy Butler who was the star of the show. He nailed this last second trey in OT to win it for his newest side.

T20 $7,500 AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA

With the ODI series a distant memory, Australia came into the one of T20 against the Proteas on a gust of fresh air. As stated in Friday’s cheat sheet, we had the far superior ranked side and were coming into the game in red hot form. The stage was set.

Then it rained. Then the game was cut to ten overs each. Then South Africa blasted their way to 42 off the first three overs and the result was all but gone.

Although, a fight back from Glenn Maxwell with the ball stemmed the flow. Partly due to his bowling, but also as a result of his three pronged scoring threat (batting, bowling fielding) he top scored in this contest with an astronomical 113 points. 62 points clear of second ranked Andile Phehlukwayo. Priced at just $11,600, he was smartly selected by 59% of users and was the best value pick.

Outside of Maxwell, man of the match, Tabraiz Shamsi, was the best pickup. Priced at $9,800, his figures of 1/12 scored him 32 points and had him ranked in the top 10.

NBA COMPETITIONS

So, the Warriors are in a rut. Steve Kerr was quoted as saying this is the toughest stretch he has faced as coach. They have lost three games in a row and have shown they are mortal. But, it’s November. And they are just 18 games into an 82 game season.

But while they have been stinking it up, the Trailblazers have leapfrogged them into the top seed in the West and the Sixers, with Jimmy Butler, have begun to show signs of the contender they threatened to be last year.

Over the weekend, and on Monday, we saw scoring eruptions from Kemba Walker (60), Lebron James (51) and Anthony Davis (back to back games of 40+). As a result, they were the top scorers in their respective contests.

As we have mentioned previously, selecting the right one of these fantasy unicorns can go a long way to winning you a contest. Davis returned 74.25 points on Saturday which counted for over a fifth of the top ranked sides score. And Kemba Walker notched up 81 points and would have accounted for 23% of a winning score.

In terms of value and diamonds in the rough, Mikal Bridges has been showing up in Phoenix over the past week. Two of his last three games have resulted in 25+ DS points and his value (priced between 5 and 7k) has been second to none over his last three games. As his output increases, his role within the team should increase and his selection on a day-to-day basis may prove fruitful.

Looking forward, priced at roughly $13k, Luka Doncic faces a favourable schedule this week and is in solid form. Don’t sleep on him in your teams throughout the week!

NFL $10,000+ MONDAY

Well the Saints just keep rolling. They have scored over 40 in their past three games and have thrust themselves into serious contention for Super Bowl LIII, if they weren’t already that is.

39 year-old Drew Brees must have felt slighted by the discussion around Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady as the GOAT’s and had to remind everyone how good he is. Over the past three weeks he has averaged over 30 DS points and is the top scoring QB over that period. But he does come at a price of around $19k.

Week-to-week his receiver of choice has been one of the best DS scorers in each contest. This week it was first year wide receiver, Tre’Quan Smith, who got a ticket to the Brees Bonanza. He went off for 10 receptions, 157 yards and a score. He was valued at $7,800 and notched up 31.70 points to be the fourth top scorer and best value player in the contest.

Selected by only 4% of competitors, T.Y. Hilton banged out 36.5 DS points. His 155 receiving yards and two scores were his best return for the season and he is capitalising on Andrew Luck’s streak of form. He was also just the ninth most expensive WR for the contest.

Criminally undervalued and under-priced, the Chicago Bears D/ST once again notched up a big score. Miraculously they were only the sixth most expensive D/ST despite scoring over 10 for the third consecutive week. They are another safe contest selection on a weekly basis, particularly considering the Bears three game winning streak.

The first T20 against India kicks off on Wednesday and Draftstars, naturally, has you covered for that match. Meanwhile, the NBA and NFL machines will keep rolling on and contests will be available to you each match day.

Written by Brin Duggan

By BBL, Latest, NBA, NFL