THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP

The milestone of the Biggest Bash Live Final was not lost on Draftstars HQ. And the team were back to work moments after celebrating the successful event bringing you contests for all of your favourite sports.

AFLW and the NBA took centre stage in anticipation for the inauguration of the AFL season. While our cricket appetite was temporarily quenched with the first match of a two match T20 series between India and Australia.

Another cracking round of AFLW stole our attention with close games and statement victories the order of the weekend. On Saturday, an upstart Geelong overcame an inaccurate and inconsistent Blues outfit to threaten a finals berth. Later that day, Brisbane recaptured some of the form that saw them make the Grand Final in the last two seasons to make light work of the more fancied Doggies. Then, Adelaide showed they are the real deal by shutting down the high scoring Dockers to run away 42-point winners.

Sunday saw the Giants secure their first win over the winless Pies and the Kangaroos pip the Demons at the post, coming out four-point winners. The former was one of the games of the season, worthy of a finals match. Unfortunately, due to the conference system, the Demons are finals longshots.

After stagnating during the All-Star break, the NBA rounded the buoy to playoff season with a stiff breeze in its sails. 27 games were played from Friday to Sunday, just to remind everyone the NBA is still here, and we need to pay it attention.

Just when you think Golden State are about to run away with the West, Denver tap you on the shoulder and scream in your ear, “WE ARE LEGIT!” A four game win streak, and a Warriors loss, has them just one game back now. The Bucks own the East and it is looking more and more likely they will not cede it before the playoffs, try as the Raptors might.

At the other end of the table, the Suns had lost a franchise record 17 straight before a victory on Tuesday, eugh. Even the most subservient Suns fans must be losing faith. Perhaps they need to be relegated and their G-League subsidiary given a chance in the big league. And, the Knicks won their first home game since the start of December last year overcoming the Spurs, yet they are still somehow better than the Suns…

Finally, Australia took the momentum they gathered against Sri Lanka over to India and scraped home in a final ball thriller T20. Despite being low scoring (127 to win), the game delivered. Jasprit Bumrah showcased why he is the best bowler in the world and Glenn Maxwell lived up to his undeniable potential to win the match for Australia. But the man of the match was Nathan Coulter-Nile who played an imperative role in holding the Indians to a first innings total of 126, his 3/26 proved to be the difference when all was said and done.

AFL WOMENS

Adelaide have truly found the recipe for success after a semi-lacklustre beginning to their 2019. Like putting cheese on a pizza, Adelaide have one integral ingredient that makes their entire squad- Erin Phillips. The first lady, the Queen, whatever you want to call her. She owns AFLW. From the early days of playing Slowdowns in Adelaide (the S.A. equivalent to the E.J. Whitten legends game), to dominating the first national womens competition, Phillips has been the best female footballer in Australia for a long time.

And on Saturday she, once again, showed everyone just why she is such a gun. Clean when the ball was on the ground, dominant in the air and with skills that are just a level above, Phillips oozes class. Her 25 disposals and two goals took her to a grand total of 107 DS points and at this point she is just a MUST in your weekly contests. Hence why she was selected by a whopping 66 per cent of entrants.

Just one DS point behind her on 106 was Freo star, Kiara Bowers. While she managed less disposals (19) and no goals, she racked up an Atalantan 10 tackles.

On Sunday, value picks were aplenty, and scores of DS users knew where to find them. Ingrid Nielsen (GWS), Sarah Dargan (COLL) and Lily Mithen (MEL) were all selected by over 20 per cent of users and were three of the top four most valuable players. They missed on 19-year-old Iilish Ross, however. Selected by one per cent at a price of $6,110, she racked up 54 DS points.

The AFLW season has now passed the mid-point and the best players will start rising to the top. Season defining matches between Geelong and Brisbane and then Adelaide and North beckon. All four sides are sitting in finals positions so expect brutal battles to be played out.

The best players in each match may well end up deciding the contest and it is impossible to go past Phillips, again. For the Lions, Nat Exon looms as a must have with her confidence only surpassed by her ability. But keep an eye on another Lions forward in Kate McCarthy. She has that special something and has been among the goals all year. Priced at $6,970 last week, she scored 60 DS points and could have been the difference had her zero per cent selection been higher.

NBA

And in other news, Russ and PG dominated again for the Thunder. How in God’s name are these guys continuing to do this? They are genuinely unstoppable. On Saturday, in a match winning effort, they collectively scored 151.25 DS points. That is insane. It is 40 per cent of what it takes to win a whole contest. With these guys firing at unprecedented levels, are the Thunder a legitimate threat in the West?

Those guys command salaries over 20k, and while they are automatic points, you need to find consistent value elsewhere. Lauri Markkanen is looking to be one of those mid-level sure things. He has been inconsistent but hear me out. Since the acquisition of Otto Porter Jr., the Bulls are a different beast, and teams are struggle to shut down all of their offensive options. Markkanen has been the main beneficiary as teams are left floundering on the wings. He can shoot and he can cut and his last three matches have yielded him an average of 52 DS points. This could be the start of something real.

On Sunday, Tyler Johnson proved to be the difference for the top echelon of contest entrants. His season high 27 points was something 40 per cent of users saw coming and their foresight rewarded them with 49.5 DS points. He cost only $7,510 as well and was the ace in the deck. He seems to have found his feet after a trade from the Heat to the Suns and, should the Suns lean on him rather than Booker or Ayton, he could continue this scoring form. Definite day-to-day selection though. He is no certainty.

Written by Brin Duggan

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