The Fantasy Basketball League

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men's basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America (twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada). It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States. If you've never played fantasy basketball before and aren't really sure what you're getting into, let me break down the basics for you. In most fantasy leagues, you will choose a fantasy roster either by a draft or by buying players. Whatever kind of league you play, you won't always be able to get all the players you want as you are restricted by other teams drafting players you want or by a salary cap. Don't get worried if you're roster isn't perfect as you can always make changes during the season. The NBA is now regarded as the premier basketball league in the United States, and is likewise well-known throughout the world.

Once the season starts, you'll start earning points based on how well you're players perform. Each league has a scoring system which awards points to players for different statistical categories, resulting in a total score. Then, your player scores will be added up to give you a team score. This can be done on a daily, weekly, or some other schedule depending on the league. Basically, you want to get as many points as possible by having the best performing roster! In some leagues, the highest score is the winner, but in others a head-to-head format is used each day or week and you accumulate wins and losses. Now, I am not saying that your team needs to go out and practice 4 hours a day, but one good practice running a simple play against both a man and a zone D will really help your team succeed.  So instead of guys just running around and hoping to get open, they will be able to find seams in the D or create openings for their teammates and the results will be exponential.

Most recreational basketball teams don't have any set offensive plays, and those that do generally played together in high school and are just running through the plays they know.  The latter folks are fine, it is the former that should probably get together outside of a game day to run through some plays. If there is someone on your team who played any organized ball, have them teach you one easy man offensive scheme and one easy zone offensive scheme.  If there is nobody on your team who played organized ball, or if no one can remember plays, then You Tube is a great source for finding short demonstration of plays. Now, with the immense popularity of the NBA and its superstars, many students are looking to get noticed in tryouts, to play in college teams and even perhaps in the NBA. High school students who are talented in the game have a chance at furthering their education by participating in athletic scholarships, where, in exchange for playing in college teams, they get an academic scholarship and other financial help during their stay in that particular school.