THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP

The Biggest Bash Live Final has been won by user Richozzz after he scored 392.5 points , just two points away from second place. And that is the headline of The Hangover this week. As you can read about in another post found here, a hotly contested final came down to the final over as the $150 thousand prize pool was collected.

Just in case you were living under a rock on Sunday, the Melbourne Renegades came from the clouds to defeat the highly fancied Melbourne Stars. The Stars were sitting pretty at 0/98 chasing 145 when disaster struck. In the ensuing 30 balls the Stars lost seven wickets for 19 runs and the match was over.

Dan Christian was named man of the match for his innings saving 38 and match ending bowling figures of 2/40. Though it was Cameron Boyce and Chris Tremain who turned the match, taking four wickets between them from overs 13 to 16.

While the capacity crowd in Club 23 at Crown was firmly affixed to Fox Sports Cricket, the wider sporting world kept spinning, as if the momentous BBL final was not even happening. The NBA entered its All-Star weekend after another week of offensive explosions and LA Laker controversy. And round three of the AFLW further established North Melbourne and Freo as the obvious choices to take out the third instalment of this great competition.

Outside of actual games being played, the All-Star weekend kicked off with team USA winning the rising stars’ challenge. Kyle Kuzma was named MVP for his 35-point explosion while Ben Simmons did his bit for Australia, and the World team, scoring 28 points on 14/17 shooting, which included some rim rattling dunks.

Joe Harris came from nowhere to win the three-point contest, beating two of the league’s best shooters in Steph Curry and Buddy Hield in the final. Then Hamidou Diallo honey dip dunked over the seven foot one Shaq to seal the dunk title, though he should probably be checked for flubber on the bottom of his shoes.

The AFLW took another stride forward as five sides scored in excess of 50, with three of those sides notching more than 60. In fact, the Dockers chalked up their third successive score of 50+ and sent a message to the competition, “to beat us you’ll need to score at least 60”.

Crows star Ebony Marinoff achieved a feat unto herself as she entered rarefied air, racking up 33 disposals. It is the most disposals ever in a game of AFLW and came at a clip of 0.51 possessions per minute, a greater rate than Tom Mitchell achieved in his 54 disposal game last year.

BIG BASH

The BBL08 final blew the script to smithereens. So much so it wrote its own script which nobody could have predicted. Truly what films are made of. Like a Fox Sports special or something, not a Hollywood film. Probably something by Peter Dixon.

The Stars went into the match as favourites and looked home after 12 overs only for a batting capitulation gifted the Renegades the game. We’ve covered all of this. So let’s look where the contest was won and lost.

As is well documented, Richozzz claimed the $50 thousand. But how did he do it?

Due to the low scoring nature of the contest, the top ten hovered around the money for much of the match. Typically the BBL contests see a complete changing of the guard in the second innings, which did happen to some extent, but with the 18% selected Jackson Bird starring in the first innings, this contest separated the real deals from the pretenders.

Basically, if you did not select Adam Zampa (115.5 DS points) and Jackson Bird (62 DS points), you were in all sorts at the innings break. And that’s what each of the top three entrants did and where the contest was won.

The next crucial choice was the selection of Dan Christian who returned 99 DS points in his man of the match outing.

But what set Richozzz apart from second placed Trent_L was the inspired selection of the match breaker, Cam Boyce. Despite notching only 40 DS points, he underscored the victory. This was due to him being the third highest scoring ‘Gades bowler after the lowly selected Harry Gurney (68 DS points, 20% selected) and Chris Tremain (87 DS points, 7% selected).

In heart breaking circumstances for the 56% of entrants who selected him, Glenn Maxwell did not bowl or contribute in the field and he failed miserably with the bat returning a total DS score of 1. In fact, the top five selected players returned a combined total of 62 DS points.

All in all, it took skilful selections and risk taking to win the final and Richozzz must be commended for his choices.

AFL WOMENS

Due to the increased scoring output in round three, the Draftstars’ AFLW contest also saw a spike in points scored.

Adelaide, after scraping through against the Blues in round two, adopted a game plan centred around maintaining possession of the ball. As a result, the four highest scoring players for the weekend all came from the Crows.

Jess Foley and Erin Phillips both scored 105 DS points and what separated them from Ebony Marinoff (103 DS points) and Anne Hatchard (97 DS points), was their ability to score in ways outside of just disposals. Foley added 19 points through hit-outs while Phillips booted three goals playing between the midfield and full forward.

The best value selection of round three came from the Demons forward line. After kicking one of the great goals in footy in 2017, Aliesha Newman had a lean 2018. But her 2019 is off to a flier. She scored 76 DS points on Sunday through 19 disposals and three goals. Contestants were warded off from her potential by her $5,990 price tag and she was picked in only one per cent of sides.

AFL WOMENS

Due to the increased scoring output in round three, the Draftstars’ AFLW contest also saw a spike in points scored.

Adelaide, after scraping through against the Blues in round two, adopted a game plan centred around maintaining possession of the ball. As a result, the four highest scoring players for the weekend all came from the Crows.

Jess Foley and Erin Phillips both scored 105 DS points and what separated them from Ebony Marinoff (103 DS points) and Anne Hatchard (97 DS points), was their ability to score in ways outside of just disposals. Foley added 19 points through hit-outs while Phillips booted three goals playing between the midfield and full forward.

The best value selection of round three came from the Demons forward line. After kicking one of the great goals in footy in 2017, Aliesha Newman wilted slightly in 2018. But her 2019 is off to a flier. She scored 76 DS points on Sunday through 19 disposals and three goals. Contestants were warded off from her potential by her $5,990 price tag and she was picked in only one per cent of sides.

Commiserations go out to the 65 per cent of users who went for Lauren Brazzale in the Saturday contest. After solid outings in rounds one and two her price had climbed to $8,150 but round three proved to be her downfall. She registered one kick, one mark and one tackle and contributed just 10 DS points to her selectors.

Her lacklustre performance was mirrored by North Melbourne’s early season darling, Emma King. She was picked up in 80 per cent of sides but gave away five frees and notched up just 33 DS points. To make matters worse she cost a pretty penny at $12,720, the ninth most expensive of the Friday night contest. Yikes.

NBA

The NBA got a little strange just prior to the All-Star break. Otto Porter Junior was sent off to the Bulls so the Wizards would not have to pay the luxury tax for a team languishing in 11th spot. He then proceeded to erupt for 57.5 DS points on 37 actual, real life points and 10 boards. Factoring in his price ($10,770), Porter was one of the best value picks in the contest.

It got weirder still, though. Pascal Siakam, the six-foot-nine Cameroonian power forward from the Raptors, was so hot on Thursday against the Wizards head coach, Nick Nurse, opted for him to run the point late in a tight game. Siakam nailed the brief, coming up big in the clutch and totalling 44 points, 10 boards, four assists, three blocks and four treys. His big night earnt him 66.5 DS points, a score well above his meagre $12,150 price. His selection was crucial to winning the Thursday contest.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Russell Westbrook and Paul George firmly staked their claims on the West and the title of best one-two punch in the league. Russ claimed his 10th straight triple double to break the NBA record. But teammate, and legitimate MVP chance, Paul George had a straight up career night to out-do the achievement. He also banged out a triple double, but did so with 47 points.

The two Thunder stars became the first teammates to score 20+ point triple doubles in the same game as they lead their team to victory and third place in the West at the break. The Hangover pointed to both Westbrook and George continuing their form during the week so we hope you listened!

Written by Brin Duggan

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