Fantasy Glimpse -- 11/10/10

Welcome to a new edition of Fantasy Glimpse: the Nextians post where we discuss the beautiful game of Fantasy Basketball.

All Fantasy Basket Ballers know that the key to winning a league is picking up a few players who perform better than originally advertised.  The more bang for your buck the better. Through draft strategy and waiver wire grabs a team can be built which thoroughly outperforms your leaguemates (aka "Leagueians" in THE Nextians Fantasy Basketball League).  Today we sort the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Basketball rankings to see who is off to a great start with a current Rank significantly higher than their Overall Rank (Rank = real stats for this season.  Overall Rank = pre-season Fantasy rankings).  This is called THE Nextians Differential sponsored by NBA Vitamins For Kids.

Rudy Gay is off to a very hot start and actually holds the #1 Rank through 9 games played in this early season.  With an Overall Rank of 39 (3rd or 4th round draft pick), Mr. Gay is putting up great percentages on a high volume of shots (most FG attempts in the Association so far) averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 boardbounds, and 2.7 assists.  Rudy is also swiping nearly 1.5 a game and only turns it over 2 times/game.  Some complicated mathematical algorithms tell me that his Nextians Differntial is +38.

Paul Millsap's Florida (sexytime) Explosion has left all South Beach and Orlando females wanting more Milli and The South Beach A-Holes and Orlando Tragic wanting the Bad Azz Jazz to leave the state already.  Milli is shooting 61% from the field, scoring 23.9 with 10.1 rodmans, 3 helpers and three straight 3 pointers in the last 40 seconds of regulation the other night.  His #3 Rank with a 69 Overall Rank give Milli Millsap a +59 Nextians Differential.

A surprising star on the list to those non-Warriors fans (who are currently 6-2 sukkas!) is Dorell Wright.  The Wright Stuff went late in drafts with an Overall Rank of 143.  His 16.2 points, 5 boardbounds and 2.8 assists might not sound that special but his Association leading 26 tre-bombs have put him at a #9 Rank giving him a rather impressive Nextians Differential of +134.

Last on the Fantasy Glimpse is former UCLA Bruin (and, therefore, former teammate of Jrue Holiday, Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute) Arron Afflalo of the Denver Nug Show.  Afflalo is the Nug's starting SG and is putting up a respectable 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists with a 57.4 field goal percentage and 91% from the line.  His 221 Overall Rank and #21 current Rank give him the biggest Nextians Differential (that actually helps a fantasy basketball squad) of +200.

Stayed tuned for the All-Suck squad with the biggest negative Nextians Differential coming soon!

What is a Nextian?

Some people over the years have asked me "what is a Nextian?" Aside from the obvious derivation from a former Women's 'Professional' Basketball league slogan that won't be mentioned, a true Nextian is much more. We Nextians dislike women's professional basketball, but hold nothing against the women's college game. We follow NBA action with job harming fervor. We manage fantasy NBA squads and live or die by figuring out which NBA'ers are indeed Next.

Knowing what happens Next in life is a skill that few have had, currently have, or will have. It's the skill many claim but not many can actually pull off. The Vegas dickholes on early Saturday morning talk radio say they know the sure-fire lock of the week. But that's not Next. That's just a bunch of algorithmic mathemagical BS that's played against the spread. True Nextians know what will happen when someone is finally given a chance. They invest little cost in their choices which make the potential and eventual return that much greater and more exciting. Getting Kobe with the 3rd overall pick is not Nextian. It's common sense. Grabbing Bargnani off the waivers a week before Jermaine O'Neal got hurt just because you knew he was playing like shit is Next. Having the forsight to draft Chris Duhon or Paul Millsap in the 12th round is really fucking Next.

While ESPN searches for who's "Now" (LeBron and Tiger), they cannot do more than guess who is Next. Nextians throw the annual "Who's Next?" issue of ESPN Mag in the trash/recycle bin.

Numbers do not tell you who's Next. Next starts and ends with style. Which player's game exudes the confident flair that just seems extra ordinary? We're talkin' deuce chills when you see the guy ball. It's a sense of "holy crap" you get when you watch someone stroke their paintbrush. Think Ramon Sessions dishing out solid dimes with gusto. Think about the first time you saw Monta Ellis dominate someone off the dribble. Josh Smiff? Crash Wallace? You knew they were Next. D'Andre Jordan sucks even though he got 20 boards against the Warriors. Eddie House is a douche even though he's hit a bunch of threes lately. These guys are in no way Next. Getting 20 boards vs. the worst defensive team in the league makes you good, but not Next. Having three All Stars hit you with open looks from the arch doesn't make you great. Shit, even JJ Reddick can shoot the ball. I once saw this old guy make 100 free throws in a row while giving a speech about life at Stanford basketball camp when I was 12. That guy was more "douche" than "Next".

So there you have it. This post which I worked on at various points during the week is strikingly similar to Bill Simmons article about the Underrated but don't let that deter you from our definition. One of us will be an NBA scout some day. Or maybe we won't.