Fantasy University: Basketball

Chapter 1

What is Fantasy Basketball?

Finally, fans get a chance to feel like a real general manager of their own franchise when they

play Fantasy Basketball. How many times have you criticized the management of your favorite

you now have the ability to create a great squad. You can be the owner, general manager and

coach of a championship franchise.

Why you should be playing Fantasy Basketball:

The real question should be, "Why haven't you been playing Fantasy Basketball before now?"

The game is easy to learn and fun to play. Think of the emotions brought on when your last-round

sleeper pick throws up 34 points and 11 rebounds to help you to a win. And manage your

disappointment when your first-rounder has three consecutive games in which he can't break

double-digits in scoring. You'll join millions of sports fans that have already discovered the thrills

Team name: The first step to getting started is creating a name for your new team. The name

can be just about anything you like but remember that this is how you and your team will be

identified throughout the season. Here's your chance to get creative and have a little fun.

Some good examples of fun team names: Aggression Harm & Pain, No Moss, and Brilliant

Mistakes

Join or create a league: Just like the pros, your team will compete in a league. Your competition

will be made up of the other owners in your league. These are the people you will be competing

against for bragging rights and the league championship. The number of teams in a Fantasy

around the nation

Team Rosters

Just like an NBA squad is limited to 12 players on their bench, your Fantasy Basketball team's

roster is limited as well. This keeps owners from stockpiling players and ensures that some will

always be available as free agents. While leagues differ in their roster size and limits, teams are

typically allowed a set number of players. The number of players allowed is usually more than the

total number of starters, so teams can have reserve players as well. For example, your Fantasy

Basketball team might be allowed to have 14 players on your roster, but only nine can start each

week. The other five are considered reserves on your roster, and since they aren't active, they

Guards (G) 4 5

Forwards (F) 4 6

Centers (C) 1 2

All Positions 9 13

caliber team. Here’s how it works: You and the other members of your league will take turns

selecting from a pool of available players until all team’s rosters are full.

There are three draft options to choose from:

Live draft (party) – The most popular way to draft is to gather all league members together in

one location and hold a draft party. Of course, this is only possible if all of your league’s team

owners live in the same location. *Only available in Commissioner Leagues.

Live draft online – If the members of your league are spread around the country, it’s probably

not possible to get everyone together to hold a draft party. If you’d still like to experience the thrill

of drafting live, you can draft online. This is possible using live draft software, provided in every

league based on each team’s draft rankings.

Each week of the season, your squad will go head-to-head with another team in your league. The

Statistic Fantasy value

Points 1 point each

Rebounds 1 point

Assists 2 points

Steals 1 point

Blocks 1 point

Turnovers* -1 point

Missed free throws* -1 point

Double-doubles* 2 points

To prepare for a game, you'll need to set your lineup accordingly every week before the typical

Monday 12 pm deadline. Some leagues prefer to run daily lineup leagues and have the option of

changing their lineups seven days a week. One of the keys to winning in Fantasy Basketball is

preparation. When setting your lineup, be aware of which players on your roster have favorable –

and unfavorable- matchups.

Free Agents

the next. Every year there are surprise players who come from nowhere to dominate the league.

You must find and sign those players before your competition does. Make room for those new

players on your roster by dropping the disappointing players who get hurt or fail to live up to

preseason expectations. This process of adding new players and dropping current players is

appropriately referred to as "add/drop."

There is no limit to the amount of add/drops you may make throughout the week you may claim

free agents at any time during the week. With the exception of requests for players on waivers

(discussed in the next class), free agent moves are on a first-come, first-served basis and are

executed immediately.

Fantasy Basketball Premium and Free leagues use a "waivers process" to allow all teams an

equal opportunity to add players to their roster that are new to the free agent pool or who have

recently been dropped by a team in the league. When a team drops a player from their roster,

Player B is placed on waivers until the next waiver process. Waivers in a Fantasy Basketball

Commissioner League can be set up differently.

When a waiver process runs, pending transactions are processed in an order determined by each

team's waiver rank. The team with a waiver rank of 1, considered the highest, will get its first

bottom of the list and all other teams move up one. In Fantasy Basketball, this is the only way to

change the waiver rank list. If a team's highest pending transaction becomes invalid because

One of the favorite features of Fantasy sports is the ability to pull off trades to help improve your

throughout the course of the season, you'll notice that you have tremendous depth at one specific

position and are lacking at another position. For example, your team's four-highest scoring

players are all guards and your league only allows three guards to start. You are lacking at the

forward position and are even sometimes forced to start forwards that constantly put up minute

Fantasy statistics. You'll want to pursue a trade that would ship away one of your stellar guards in

exchange for a consistent forward to help increase your weekly Fantasy points totals.

There are some basic rules to trading in Fantasy Basketball Premium and Free leagues to

prevent teams from making unfair deals.

Trade deadlines

Most leagues have a trading deadline towards the end of the season to keep the integrity of the

league. This prevents a team that is already eliminated from playoff contention from trading away

its best players. The NBA's trade deadline is usually in late February or mid March and a lot of

put in a pending status for at least 24 hours and presented to the other owners in the league for a

vote. If a predetermined number of owners in your league object to the trade within the pending

time period, the trade will not be executed, but will go to the league Commissioner for evaluation.

The Commissioner then must decide if the trade is fair and should be approved or is unbalanced

and should be rejected.

Fantasy Basketball Playoffs

The top teams in your league (those with the best regular season record) make the playoffs.

Typically, the 4 or 6 teams with the best records in a Fantasy Basketball league go on to compete

in the postseason. In most cases, 'total points' is the tiebreaker for playoff-contending teams that

you. We have specifically tailored our games to meet the needs of players of all experience

levels; everyone from the Fantasy rookie to the experienced veteran will find the game that is

right for them.

Once you've decided to play, you will have two "game formats" to choose from. Both are fun and

commissioner control.

do you want to play in a league where CBSSports.com acts as commissioner?

Fantasy Basketball Commissioner -- A unique and powerful "league manager" product that

allows you to play with friends, while being able to run the league with your own rules and

scoring. You or another team owner acts as commissioner and has total control over the league.

Fantasy Basketball Commissioner puts league control into your hands. It's a complete solution

that makes running your fantasy league easy. Your league will have a private website which team

owners can access from any computer with Internet access. You have control to customize rules,

scoring, trade deadlines, waiver policies, playoff dates, etc. Once you've got your league set up,

and standings are compiled automatically.

Even if you are new to Fantasy Basketball and not sure you're prepared to set custom scoring

options for your league, don't worry. By default, the league rules and scoring are set for the most

popular options so you won't need to change a thing. Simply invite your friends, hold your draft

and then enjoy the season!

Fantasy Basketball Premium and Free Leagues -- Same great game, but you and the other

Fantasy or have been playing for years, CBSSports.com is sure to have the game that's right for

you.

Free Fantasy Basketball – Your first time playing Fantasy Basketball? Why not try it for FREE!

Fantasy Basketball Premium Gold -- Enjoy highly competitive action at a great price with a

chance to win a cash prize! Your first team is just $29.95. Win your league championship and

you'll be taking home the $150 league prize.

Fantasy Basketball Premium Platinum -- Definitely a step above Gold, Platinum is the game for

budding Fantasy geniuses. Your first team will be $99.95 with a league championship prize of

$600.

Fantasy Basketball Premium Diamond -- If you're looking for the ultimate in highly competitive

takes home the huge $1,600 cash prize.

your own league, setting up your own rules, and inviting your friends to join by purchasing a

Universal Features

No matter which option you select, here is a sample of the features you'll find in every league on

CBSSports.com:

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These reports are useful to fantasy team owners when determining who to start and who to

reserve.

Keeper League - A type of Fantasy Basketball league that allows each team to "keep" a set

number of players on their roster from year to year.

League - The group of owners whose teams compete against each other.

up the league.

players, ranked in order of preference.

Projections - Expected statistical performances by players for the season. For example, to help

owners with the draft preparations, expects "project" the statistics pro players are expected to

accumulate over the course of the season.

Reserves - Players who are on an owner's roster but are not in the starting lineup. Reserves do

rounds pick late in the even rounds. For example, in a ten team league, the team that has the first

pick in the first round would pick tenth in the second round and first in the third round.

potential to have a "break out" season.

players that will earn points.

players in the league that teams cannot drop from their roster for any reason. This is done to

prevent teams out of contention from dropping stars from their roster and giving other teams an

unfair advantage.

available to every team. Waivers generally work like this: when a player is dropped from one

team, he does not immediately become available. Instead, the player is placed on waivers for a

have the chance to add him to their roster.

Waiver Order - The ranking of teams with priority on waiver claims. Typically, from week to week,

waiver order is reset to reflect team records.