TooSerious

With the NBA finals about to begin, I thought it was about time I got this post done and dusted (almost a couple of months late), especially as it will give us a thread to chat about the finals. The comments should stay open until game 6, so if it goes to 7 Ill have to get a new thread going for that game...

For those of you that don’t know, during the footy off-season, we had a Too Serious fantasy NBA league on the ESPN site. We had 20 teams in it – all TS members – and there were only 2 that didn’t really join in the fun. Out of the remaining 18 teams, we were all pretty keen and competitive for the most part – about 3 or 4 coaches went MIA at various times throughout the season – but all in all, it was fantastic how everyone contributed throughout the season. Way back in August, we began organising the league, setting up scoring, rules etc, and we had our draft on September 30th where all but one of the 20 teams were represented live! FWIW Danny10 won first pick and chose LeBron James. We all got to play each other once during our regular season, and then had playoffs involving the top 8 teams. A very very belated congratulations needs to go to Dabombers and his team – Wade Machine – for his grand final win, and it needs to be noted that he only just snuck into the top 8 after a sudden death round 19 win over Chriss88 and Smitty (Co-owners of ‘Do Something Knicks’). DaBombers (or Dan as we knew him... but Ill use his regular user name throughout this writeup) went with the bold strategy of acquiring - either from FA’s or trades – injured players that others didn’t want, hoping that they would be right by the time the playoffs rolled around, and his plan paid dividends, as he stormed through the playoffs winning all 3 games by at least 133, and finishing the season on a 5 game winning streak! Well done mate. Congratulations!

So, in the real stuff, we’re down to Miami and Dallas fighting it out for the championship over the...

We had a fairly good week this round, scoring 2124 and jumping up more than 1000 places to 3277th overall.

We made some good and not-so-good decisions this week. Our trades look to be gooduns: Tapscott to Mzungu, and Polec to Ablett. Our decision to leave Sandi alone for a week paid off, with Zach Smith doing well against an undermanned Cats ruck division. But Lucas tweeted me to say that there are "no excuses tolerated" for not trading Sandi this week, and I agree... not sure if we can count on Smith to play well against the Eagles.

Although we had mixed results with bench selections... Prestia (16) and Matera (28) were good choices on the forward line bench, and Puopolo (96) starting was an inspired choice; however Jacobs (66) outscored Duigan (34) in defense, Mzungu (77) outscored Darling (47) and Harris (31), and the latter was also outscored by Iles (66) who was on the pine in the mids.

Our captain was Selwood, who was our 3rd best scorer, so gotta be happy with that. Will be interesting to see who we choose this week with GC playing the Weagles. Not sure if the big Cox should be as automatic as Selwood was for us. And we now have the old permacaptain in our ranks, so maybe we gotta get back on him for old times sake...

Come over the break to see the individual scores of our players for round 10:::::::<!--more-->
<table id="scoringPlayers" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>

<td colspan="2">SCORING PLAYERS



<td colspan="2"> 



1. <a href="/player/575">Deledio[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">99



2. <a href="/player/176">Shaw[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">110



3. <a href="/player/632">Goddard[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">57



4. <a href="/player/110">Gibbs[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">82



5. <a href="/player/241">Broughton[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">121



6. <a href="/player/107">Duigan[/url] (DEF)
<td align="right">34



7. <a...

Wellity well, last weeks high certainly crashed back down Earth with a mighty thud! I reckon the villians column will be chock full of premiums this week, though there are a fair few premiums that made up for that!

<!--more-->

Melbourne vs Carlton
Result: Carlton by 47, 13.15.93 to 6.10.46

Well, its been mentioned all weekend that this was one of the most boring games ever to watch, and if the chat was anything to go by- with the third quarter chat turning to the departure of Oprah Winfrey, that well- we agreed. That said, it still didnt take away from Chris Judds mighty effort, 31 touches and 12 tackles for a solid 155SC- so much for being a late withdrawal! His partner in crime, Marc Murphy matched Judd for touches, but could only score a 147SC. We saw a bit of a drop down to Melbournes top scorer with Colin Sylvia collecting 21 touches for a 113SC, Scotland scored a 109SC off 26 touches while Carrazzo rounded out the top5 with a 107SC. Not too many disappointment on the Blues side, with only Duigan and his 34SC a slight on their coaches squad. On Melbournes side, we saw only 4 players break 85 so there is a lot to not like here, but for mine it was Moloney who disappointed the most with only a 68SC, 40 points below his average; and Evans who could only get himself a 41SC after last weeks solid debut. Still not sold on Evans job security with all of the Dees mids to come back, so he might be saving us from a dangerous bench option.

Heros: Judd, Murphy, Sylvia
Villians: Duigan, Moloney, Simpson

North Melbourne v Sydney
Result: Sydney by 1, 10.12.72 to 9.17.71

Oh what could have been for the Roos! Had they been able to kick straight, it would have been a completely different ball game! Still, it was a hugely entertaining contest, one of the best final 5 minutes Ive seen all year, with Grundys heroics in the final few seconds- taking a big grab on the last line of defence- going some big things to...

With just over 30 mins to lockout, the rumours are coming hard and fast! Judd out,Judd in, Judd out again, Judd in- Swan Out, Swan In, Swan out- still nothing solid on him though!

Panic stations are officially being manned, or as they say in France- LeShip is getting real.

How real is it fit you? Any donuts? Whats your trades? Anyone take the risk of Roo as the big C?

<a href="http://tooserious.net/competitions.php?competition=CCC"><img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/TSccc.png" width="400px">[/url]

<div style="float:left; padding-right:4px"><a href="http://www.combinedcars.com/"><img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/combined_chauffeured_cars.png" width="190px">[/url]

So, Im just chucking up a last minute reminder for admission into the Tres Serious Combined Cars Challenge, brought to us all by <a href="http://www.combinedcars.com/">Combined Chauffeured Cars[/url] and <a href="http://dandelion.ws/">Dandelion Restaurant[/url].

In short, if you sign up, and get the highest total score over the next three weeks, then you will stand to win the following:

Return transfers by Limo sedan, Mini Van or Maxi Van within 50 kms of <a href="http://dandelion.ws/">The Dandelion restaurant[/url] in Elwood for up to 10 people (valid for up to 12 months).

Food and beverage at <a href="http://dandelion.ws/">Dandelion Restaurant[/url] 133 Ormond Road Elwood to the value of $ 250.00!!

Add to that, if youve signed up for our emails (otherwise were not allowed to send you stuff) and you enter the competition, Craig (aka Limo23) from <a href="http://www.combinedcars.com/">Combined Chauffeured Cars[/url] has also offered a discount voucher (via email) valid for a year for any single transfer to the footy, to dinner or to the airport.

So head over to the <a href="http://tooserious.net/competitions.php?competition=CCC">Competitions[/url] tab and sign up!

Todays beat the best is brought to us by Griff. Ride the Walrus.

Lucas is tied up so I thought Id give it a go...

On top this week is The Cheeky Boys. They scored 2,531 last week, giving them 20,691 for the season at an average of 2,291 a week. If your total points has a 2 in front of it, read on, if not it might be time to focus on league wins.
<!--more-->
Here is their side:

B: Deledio, Adcock, Fisher, Goddard, Heppell, Enright, Suckling (L Thompson, Hibberd, Rhys OKeeffe)
M: Pendlebury, Priddis, Watson, Cotchin, M Murphy, S Thompson (Liberatore, I Smith, Irons)
R: Cox, Sandilands (Z Smith, McCulloch)
F: Franklin, Pavlich, Harvey, R OKeefe, N Riewoldt, Petrie, Tapscott (Krakouer, Matera, Callinan)

Its a very strong side in terms of the sheer number of premiums on field - they are probably only a Tapscott upgrade away from what some of us might end up with as our final teams.

They have managed to do this with some poor rookie selections - L OKeeffe, I Smith, Irons, McCulloch and Callinan have barely played a game between them. They seem to have completely overlooked the use of the 3rd bench spot and gone for bargain basement rookies, and gotten away with it up until now.

They do have MPP links, but this does leave them exposed in terms of injury & bye coverage, and cows to slaughter for any further upgrades of midrangers like Heppell, Cotchin and Petrie. Its certainly a side you could go past as the year wears on, and your GnR upgrades deliver you top 7 premiums.

In terms of their selections, they have Sandi and Tapscott to deal with, have held Watson and dont have Swan. They have Petrie up forward without J Tippett, so Im tipping a McCulloch > J Tippett move for the Sandi situation, and Tapscott > Lynch or a premium, depending on their cash situation. They have Krakouer and Matera on the bench to cover the Petrie swap and Tapscott abscence/replacement.

I cant see this side taking the prize, but its quite a remarkable pre-round 10...

OK, I am back. I would normally say sorry for my absence but it seems that Walesy more than filled in for me (and I WAS out saving the world, not merely having a holiday)!!

I have been away for a while but a few things have caught my eye for this round. Firstly, there are a couple of injury niggles which seem to be affecting key players; namely Dane Swan and Chris Judd. Secondly, St Kilda finally got a win (albeit against a depleted Melbourne) and Goddard and Riewoldt are showing some signs of life. Thirdly, Ablett (who had a huge last game) finally gets to meet his ex-team mates – lucky for him the game isn’t at Skilled Stadium.

Some interesting numbers over the break …

<!--more-->
Swan v. West Coast

Rd 14 2010: 163 SuperCoach points, 38 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 149 SuperCoach points, 36 disposals
Rd 10 2008: 146 SuperCoach points, 36 disposals
Rd 2 2007: 97 SuperCoach points, 22 disposals
Rd 16 2006: 109 SuperCoach points, 20 disposals
Rd 7 2006: 94 SuperCoach points, 25 disposals

Average is 126 SuperCoach points with 30 disposals.

Note: Unbelievable recent record against the Eagles – 153 SuperCoach points over the last three games. However, has struggled recently – only averaging 97 in his previous four games this season. Hampered by injury. The numbers are attractive but the Swan we see playing this weekend is not the normal Swan.

Pendlebury v. West Coast

Rd 14 2010: 139 SuperCoach points, 37 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 108 SuperCoach points, 38 disposals
Rd 10 2008: 130 SuperCoach points, 23 disposals
Rd 2 2007: 76 SuperCoach points, 21 disposals

Average is 113 SuperCoach points with 27 disposals.

Note: A very solid average against the Eagles. Has stepped up this year and has increased his SuperCoach average by about 12 points from last year. Will shoulder more of the load if Swan is not 100%.

Cox v. Collingwood

Rd 14 2010: 69 SuperCoach points, 13 disposals
Rd 9 2009: 97 SuperCoach points, 12 disposals
Rd 10...

So, were up into double figures now- round 10. Nearly halfway through the season. In the meantime though, feel free to join us in the team chat!

Oh, and on a separate note- looks like Jasmine is back! so keep an eye out for the return of her Captains choice!!

Its getting ugly now guys, with Heppell taking the day off, the last thing we needed to see was Enright going out as well.

With Sandilands going down, it looks like one of the desisions is being made for us- trading into Mumford is now officially off the cards!!

On the plus side however, it looks like the potential outs of Swan, Judd and Mundy were unfounded with all included.

As always, heres the big ins, outs and extended benches.

INS: Harris, Prestia
OUTS: Tapscott, Mumford, Sandilands, Enright, Taylor, Rockliff, Gilbee
Extended bench: Buckley

Full teams over the break.
<!--more-->
Melbourne

B: James Frawley, Matthew Warnock, Joel Macdonald
HB: Cale Morton, Jared Rivers, Neville Jetta
C: Jack Watts, Brent Moloney, Matthew Bate
HF: Addam Maric, Michael Newton, Liam Jurrah
F: Brad Green, Colin Sylvia, Jamie Bennell
Foll: Stefan Martin, Nathan Jones, Jordie McKenzie
I/C: Ricky Petterd, Jordan Gysberts, Daniel Nicholson, Michael Evans
Emg: Austin Wonaeamirri, Max Gawn, Jeremy Howe

In: Cale Morton, Jamie Bennell, Daniel Nicholson
Out: Clint Bartram (hip), Aaron Davey (knee), Luke Tapscott (hamstring)
New: Daniel Nicholson (University Blues)

Carlton

B: Jordan Russell, Bret Thornton, Christopher Yarran
HB: Nick Duigan, Michael Jamison, Jeremy Laidler
C: Heath Scotland, Brock McLean, Kade Simpson
HF: Chris Judd, Jarrad Waite, Eddie Betts
F: Jeffrey Garlett, Setanta OhAilpin, Andrew Walker
Foll: Shaun Hampson, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy
I/C: Andrew Carrazzo, Dennis Armfield, David Ellard, Mitch Robinson
Emg: Ryan Houlihan, Aaron Joseph, Lachlan Henderson

In: Shaun Hampson
Out: Robert Warnock (concussion)

North Melbourne

B: Jamie Macmillan, Michael...

[caption id="attachment_3168" align="alignleft" width="229" caption="You Rang..."]<a href="http://www.tvacres.com/images/lurch_butler3a.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3168 " src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lurch-229x300.jpg" alt="" width="229" height="300" />[/url][/caption]

Hi all,

Gotta say last few nights have been sleepless as I have been struggling to come to terms with the ramifications of the loss of Sandilands from the Supercoach scene.

On the one hand, I can see the justification of getting in a relatively like-for-like replacement in a player such as the Swans Mumford (I hold Dean Cox already), however I possess not just Smith on the bench, but also the Petrie-Tippett combination (a better one than last years debacle).

This depth of Petrie-Smith allows me to have a player who should on average score in the 70-90 region.   Sure, its not Sandilands, but its very much in line with the recent scores of Mumford.

And that brings me to the next thought, and really a Supercoach maxim thats been hard to apply this year, but never truer: Bench money is wasted money - the only dollars that count are on the field.

Rommels Legion (my team) was created with the thought in mind of "more premiums on field more often".   But old habits died hard, and I kept players like Selwood through their trials (wise move) and also Rioli (unwise).   Through it all, Ive lost ground on the leaders, so I cant really afford to think Sandilands will be back in 3, or that I can do a quick Smith cover, keep Sandi on the bench, then work it all out.  Because Sandi sits on the bench, giving no return for his 550k.   I need to use this money, and the fortuitous Petrie combination to drive improvement in my squad.

And thats where the Bailey Vardy thinking comes in.   I wasnt a fan of it at first, but now Im thinking theres not too many other options.   More musing, some Best Value Buys, the All-Australian Teams - its all after...

So, it was decided last week that because the current system had Heppell languishing on just a single vote, that it wasnt representative of the best in the rising star, so what we did was expand the 5-4-3-2-1 up to start at a 10. Weve also given the name a little tweak, named after our all time favourite rookie, Michael Barlow.

So, under this new value system, lets take a look at who won the last two weeks.

<!--more-->

Round 8 saw the nomination of Matthew Wright with his 116SC against the Gold Coast, off 24 touches being enough for him to rise a solid $63,000. This is Wrights second price move after moving a modest $37k in round 7. Wright was picked up by Adelaide in the rookie draft of 2009 and after a stand out performance in the 2010 SANFL, finishing 3rd in North Adelaides best and fairest, debuted in round 4 of this year.

Round 8
10: Wright
9: Minson
8: Wood
7: Nicoski
6: Watts
5: Buckley
4: Nahas
3: Wells
2: Goldstein
1: Reid

Round 9 finally saw Essendons Michael Hibberd break his bubble witha 75SC off 15 touches against the Tigers. It was his highest SuperCoach score for the year, off his lowest possession count, but his efficency of 80% was enough to see his salary rise by $51,200 and take this weeks nomination. Hibberd was drafted by Essendon this year after playing last season for Frankston in the VFL. While there, he managed to take out the Fothergill-Round Medal, awarded to the most promising young player, and award shared by this competitions namesake, Michael Barlow and fellow round 7 nominee, Robin Nahas. Hibberd debuted for the Bombers in round 6 and has been averaging 66SC off 17 disposals.

Round 9
10: Hibberd
9: Puopolo
8: Wright
7: Kennedy
6: Naitanui
5: S. Martin
4: Maric
3: Buckley
2: Watts
1: Shiels

And we see a new leader, round 8 nominee Matthew Wright has moved into the lead, polling in all three of his movement games this year.

Totals
20: Wright*
19: Curnow*,...