So, we have almost completed signup, (DaviaG-Rap and Abe Foreman I still need your email addresses) and the inaugural season is finally about to begin. If you are like myself, you can't wait to draft your players and get ready for the NBA's grand opening in a little more than a week from now.

The good news is that the wait is almost over for the draft. We will be conducting an online draft this Sunday 10/22/2005 @ 10:15 pm. EST. If you are unavailable to attend it is critical that you complete your pre-draft list before the draft begins. In fact, I would suggest that you prepare your list in advance anyway as you never know what technical difficulties you may run into tommorrow night. It should be a fun time for all.

So what can you expect out of the advanced league this year?

• weekly breakdown of the matchups from your commissioner along with awards for the previous week
• lots of free agency activity as we have a small group of owners with a pool of quality free agents at their disposal
• trash talk, trash talk, trash talk
• your knowledge of basketball players throughout the league will expand exponentially

Here are a couple of tips to insure that we get the best out of this experience this year:

• always do your lineups in advance! - A week out is preffered as there really is no excuse not to have your lineup set. Also keep in mind that once a free agent or a trade occurs on your team it will automatically invalidate any lineups you may have done in advance.
• don't take it personal - It's just trash talk. Keep it light and fun
• Respond to trade requests with comments - providing feedback on a trade request can make the difference between a trade that takes weeks to solidify or days. This also lets another owner know if a guy is off limits so noone wastes their time
• Think outside the box and develop a strategy - Read JDMISER's posts on fantasy b-ball strategy and don't be afraid to develop your own. Like chess, a move without relevance is a bad move.
• And last but not least....DO NOT QUIT! - Play the season out. There will be a playoffs for all involved. If you are the competitors that I think you are, nothing short of finishing strongly is considered acceptable.

That's all for now.

We will be using the Yahoo message board to communicate as well, but I will make a concerted effort to post the more critical information on both sites (PF.com and Yahoo) for those who check PF.com more regularly.

See you at the draft!

BTW, those with invites who have not joined by Sunday @1:00 pm EST will no longer have the opportunity to participate this season. We have enough players already to begin. Please send me your email addresses as soon as possible to insure that you are a part of the festivities.

- Motown

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Got Jokes?

Got signed up and ranked not sure if I can participate in the live draft so good luck to all.

This will be my first live draft. Looking foward to the season.

It should be interesting to see how having all Piston's fans in a league will pan out. Will owners put more importance on Piston players? Would you trade KG for Darko straight up just to add another Piston to your roster?

I've played Yahoo fantasy plenty of times, but never with everyone that likes the same team.

Should be interesting....

If it's anything like the football leagues I was in then you will find all the Piston players being drafted earlier than expected. Sometimes a couple of rounds early. I would expect that if people draft cruddy Lion players early they will also draft Pistons before their time. With all of the Pistons nuts in here, I don't think they will remain on the board too long.

But if someone is trying to decide between fitting Dupree or Acker on their roster...well, I think they are going too far!!!! lol

Ya I've played the leagues before and with the Lions if you want to win your league you don't draft them.As a fan you have to know when to say when and usually Hanson is about the only reliable.

But your right should be interesting with all the Homers sweeping up the Stones.

--

Last Sunday night was indeed a night to remember. The NBA's best got together wearing their best Stern violation uniforms as the elite owners of PF.Com gathered to make history. Our first online draft was a strategic heaven with a ton of surprises along the way. What are your thoughts? Who do you think were the draft winners and losers? Were some of our owners too agressive or perhaps to oconservative with their picks? Our resident fantasy expert JDMiser will provide his thoughts, but I'd like to hear your comments as well. I think all that participated should congratulate themselves for having a great draft. I was very impressed with the depth of knowledge and preperation within the group.

Less than a week a way from the start of the 2005-2006 season. Let's see some trading and some free agent madness. It's time to get busy fellas.

Let's get readdddyyyyy to RUMMMMMMBLLLLEEEEEEE!

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Got Jokes?

Just to get the ball rolling...

Here were some of the highlights of the draft that I found surprising:

• J-Rich drafted first round
• Brad Miller undrafted until the third round
• Rasheed Wallace drafted early second round
• Amare's stock plummeted all the way to the 11th round
• T.J Ford despite his upside was not selected until the last round
• Shaq was taken in the 4th round
• Darko was drafted

Hey, that was just for the bragging rights. It was the 2nd last pick of the draft and I released him right afterwards.

**points finger at Jammer and laughs**