Monday, October 31, 2016

RotoBaller DFS Advice: DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Lineup Picks (10/31/16)


Only four games on the slate for Monday Night DFS hoops. Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, and DeMar DeRozan have all started the season off hot and should definitely be the first options when deciding who you should build your team around. Don't be afraid to take all three and then some of the guys off the list below.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy NBA lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/31/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players, to mid-priced options, and value plays on DraftKings. Without wasting anymore time, let's get down to business!

DraftKings DFS Guards

Chris Paul – PG, LAC ($8.500)
The Clippers have only played one game so far but they looked really good. Paul put up 27 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists against the Trailblazers. He will be taking on talented young guards again tonight in Phoenix. Expect Paul to put on a teaching lesson for Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, and Devin Booker. There are no signs of age or regression with CP3 so a 20 point and 10 assist season would be the expectation. Paul is definitely expensive but everyone will have him in their lineups and he is well worth it.

Jeremy Lin – PG, BKN ($6,300)
Lin’s last stat line (21 pts, 9 rebs, 9 asts) was something that hasn’t happened in a Nets uniform since the Jason Kidd days. Brooklyn’s offense runs through Jeremy Lin. He is the prime ball handler and facilitator. Expect both the Bulls and Nets to go up and down the court despite Chicago not being the youngest team. Isaiah Thomas was able to go off for 26 points against the Bulls on their opening night. Rondo and Wade are not the most aggressive defenders in their old age and should be letting guards score on them all year.

Bojan Bogdanovic – SG/SF, BKN ($4,600)
Bogdanovic will consistently be one of the better bang for your buck options out there. He had a humongous summer with his national team and has slid that form right into the regular season. After pouring in 26 points and eight boards against the Bucks in a loss, it is obvious that Bojan has the confidence and the green light necessary to consistently go off. While Lin might be the Nets most important ball handler and playmaker, Bojan is definitely Brooklyn’s most lethal scorer. While having Lin and Bogdanovic in your lineup might make you one of the worst teams in the NBA, having them in your fantasy lineup is a very reasonable and potentially profitable decision.

DraftKings DFS Forwards

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Sunday, October 30, 2016

Boxscores: Breakout and breakdown

I've made a few updates to the site.

You can now optionally view the Daily Point Recap sorted in "boxscore order". Each game is segregated, with the away team on top and home team underneath. Starters are shown as the first five players for each team, followed by bench players, with the latter shown in order of descending minutes played. This format was in response to a request for a daily boxscore format that provided all games with a single click.

Also, the Stats Summarizer is now configured for the 2016-17 season. This facility gives you the ability to select and consolidate stats based on a variety of possible selection criteria. Output is presented in text format, suitable for copying into a spreadsheet.

Friday, October 28, 2016

RotoBaller DFS Advice: DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Lineup Picks (10/28/16)


It's the NBA season and it could not feel any better! A couple night ago we got our first look at Joel Embiid, the Lakers upset the Rockets, and we saw the Thunder without Kevin Durant. It's going to be a crazy year, so strap in for the ride!

Without wasting anymore time, let's get down to business!

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy NBA lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/28/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players, to mid-priced options, and value plays on DraftKings.

DraftKings DFS Guards

Russell Westbrook (vs PHO, $11,800)

There are a plethora of elite guard options tonight, but Russell Westbrook is my favorite. He looked outstanding against the Sixers in his first game, and he will be a triple double threat the entire season. He gets a great matchup against the Suns, who love to push the pace and aren't known for their defense. At times during this game, Westbrook could be defended by Tyler Ulis, who stands only 5'9" tall. Westbrook should be able to do anything he wants in this game, and he's an elite option in all leagues tonight.

Tim Frazier (vs GS, $5,400)

Frazier is starting for the Pelicans while Jrue Holiday is taking care of his family. There was a lot of speculation about how many minutes Frazier could handle, but he played 37 in a competitive matchup against the Nuggets, and he will likely see similar minutes tonight. He gets a tough matchup against the Warriors, who are solid defensively, but this game will be played at an extremely fast pace. Frazier has the ability to fill the stat sheet in multiple ways, and he's still far too cheap. He can be used in all leagues.

Joe Johnson (vs LAL, $4,900)

Johnson was a surprise on Opening Night, but that doesn't mean he can do it again. He has always been a talented player, but he's no longer a player to build your franchise around. He's starting for an injured Gordon Hayward, and he was able to score 29 points with four rebounds, three assists, and one steal in his first game. His offensive production will rely heavily on Derrick Favors, as Johnson will likely lose shots if Favors is healthy enough to play. Still, Johnson will be locked into minutes, and he's a cheap option. He also gets a great matchup against the Lakers, who aren't a great defensive team. Johnson may be best suited for tournaments, though.

DraftKings DFS Forwards

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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

They're ba-a-a-a-a-ck...

The Daily Point Recap pages are now up and running for the new season. DFS point and salary data is available for each regular-season game day for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay, and Yahoo DFS.

The NBA DFS master file is also now available. This file will be a premium service starting in December, but will be available for free through the end of November. For notes on the files contents and operating parameters, see rotoguru1.com/hoop/nba-dhd-2017-notes.txt

The NBA Player Stats Summarizer has not yet been updated for the new season. This should be ready within the next day or two.

All data is typically updated by 6am ET each morning.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Making a list, checking it twice..

I expect to have the Daily Point Recaps and the master data file available on Wednesday (Oct 26). Ditto for the Stat Summarizer. However, before releasing them, I want to do some extra checking and testing in the morning, just to make sure everything looks to be ship-shape. So don't expect them to be available when the sun rises. I'll post here when they are ready for prime time - along with the applicable links.

With any luck, sortable stats and player pages will update automatically overnight. But, of course, if you notice something that looks wrong, there's a good chance that it is. It always takes a day or two at the start of a new season to shake out the bugs.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Limited preseason data now available

As some of you know, RotoGuru.com and affiliated sites DailyHoopsdata and DailyBaseballData are a one-man operation. So if I'm not available to work on the site(s), nothing happens.

I decided to take an extended vacation for the first three weeks of October, and as a consequence, all efforts to get prepared for the impending NBA season were delayed until I returned. So I'm scrambling at the moment.

In recent seasons, I've tracked and posted stats for preseason NBA games. I've finally generated those results for the current preseason, and they are now available subject to some limitations:

  1. There may be some errors. In particular, games in which an NBA team faced an international team are suspect. I checked a few instances, and they looked OK - but I'm not completely confident. Caveat emptor.
  2. I have not captured preseason DFS salary data for those sites that offered preseason contests.
  3. That said, if you pull up an individual player page (ex: Lebron James), you can now see DFS points for preseason games.
  4. I've also incorporated preseason point data in the sortable stats as long as you select a point period of 7, 15, or 30 days. Full season data will still only reflect regular season production. Note also that players are only listed if they have been included in a DFS contest for the related site. Since some sites (notably FanDuel and DraftKings) have not yet released contests for Wed, Oct 26, the player listings are currently limited to Tuesday game players.
Preseason results will not appear in the Daily Recap pages, nor will they be included in the master data file when that becomes available.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Prior year data is available

Last year, I produced a data file with daily data for every player in the NBA for the 2015-16 regular season and postseason. DFS points, salaries, and positions are shown for each gameday for FanDuel, DraftKings, Draftday, and Star Fantasy. The file is still available at a cost of $20. For more information, follow this link.

A similar file is available for the 2014-15 regular season. It is available for free. The data elements are a bit more limited, but you'll probably find what you are looking for. Here is the link.

In each case, the file can be easily imported into Excel. Simply copy/paste the data into an excel spreadsheet, then select
Data->Text to columns->Delimited->Other : (colon)->Finish
to parse the data into columns.

I plan to produce a similar file for the upcoming season. It will also be a subscription service, updated daily. The file may not be ready for opening day, but should be available during the first week. Pricing details are not yet finalized, but the file will be free for an initial trial period.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Ready, set, wait

NBA processing will not start until the regular season begins. In some years, I have generated preseason NBA stats, but this year I’ll be taking an extended vacation for the first half of October, so all NBA processing will be deferred until the regular season starts. I expect to be offering stats similar to last year, probably with a few minor tweaks. More details will be announced near the start of the season.