Tracy McGrady wonders whether he should play H2H or Roto style fantasy basketball this season.

In fantasy basketball you want players who can score, hit 3 pointers, rebound, pass, and play sexy defense—that is, the kind of defense that accumulates steals and blocks as opposed to the team-oriented defense that doesn’t show up in the box scores (see: the San Antonio Spurs).  These scoring categories are referred to as “counting stats”, and as a general rule of thumb, you’ll want those stats to count as high as possible.  The other frequently used counting stat is turnovers.  And in the case of turnovers, more is not better.  Rather, you want to accumulate as few turnovers as you can.  This is true regardless of whether you’re playing rotisserie (ROTO) or head to head (H2H).

To the more seasoned fantasy basketball player, this general analysis may seem a bit elementary, but there are some who are new to the game that could legitimately stand to learn from this information.  There are some experienced players, too, that may be less familiar with one format or another.  The remainder of this article should be of benefit to both types of fantasy players, and even for those of you that know everything and still manage to fail consistently (BTW, I know who you are).  Granted, some of this was covered in the comprehensive introduction to fantasy basketball, but it doesn’t hurt to take another look, and we’ll be sure to look further down the ol’ rabbit hole this time, so hang tight; I’m sure there will be something here for everyone.

Iwill spare everyone from a retelling of the most basic run-down of the head-to-head versus rotisserie spiel; that was all covered in depth in an article that kicked off SportsGrumblings.com’s fantasy basketball season.  What we will focus on here is a breakdown between some of the more important characteristics of H2H and ROTO basketball play.  There are a more similarities than differences between head-to-head and rotisserie, but this article will focus primarily on the various differences (besides the obvious spelling and pronunciation) and the way they should necessarily influence your draft and in-season strategy. 

In a standard, nine-category league (Points, Rebounds, Assists, Blocks, Steals, 3-Pointers, Field-Goal Percentage, Free-Throw Percentage, Turnovers), your team will be ranked against all other teams in each of those scoring categories.  If there are 12 teams total (including yours), the team with the most points in a given category is awarded 12 points, the second-highest 11, then 10 and so on, until someone brings up the rear (no jokes, please) and is awarded 1 point.  The points across all categories are totaled to give the cumulative or overall score for all teams.  The teams are then placed in rank order based on those cumulative point totals.  Under the nine-category scoring system described above, the most points a team could possibly have would be 108 (9x12)—simple math, right?

The number of points a given team has (categorically and cumulatively) will remain in flux throughout the season.  Only when all NBA games have been played will a champion be crowned.  With the cumulative nature of the ROTO game, it is easier for a given team to weather the storm of inconsistency.  If a player is bad for a two-week stretch, it doesn’t matter as much, at least in the grand scheme of things, because it’s the full season’s statistics that matter most.  Such is not the case in H2H, where an unfortunate run of bad luck or bad performance can steer an otherwise seaworthy ship well off course (if only for a week).

In ROTO, slow and steady wins the race, and, it’s not always the sexiest girl that ends up being crowned prom queen.  In this way, look to secure players that will not be especially harmful in any given category, especially shooting and free-throw percentages.  If you fall behind in ratios, it’s far more difficult to make up ground than it is in cumulative or counting stats.  Even if a given player is of significant benefit in scoring and rebounding, but shoots a large number of free throws at a rate that is significantly below league average can and will drag your team down in that category and make every other category comparatively more important.  Centers are especially notorious for being poor free-throw shooters.  Consequently, if you can secure center-eligible players that shoot well from the charity stripe, but don’t produce as well in the “sexy” stats, you’re going to look smarter than the competition more often than not.

By the same token, you should be mindful of players that have poor shooting percentages.  Frequently, these shoot first and ask questions later-types are the same players that roam the perimeter looking to capitalize on the 3-point shot, even if they fail to connect a majority of the time.  3-pointers are nice, and it’s of great benefit to have someone who can be counted on for 2-3 of them per game, but you DO NOT want them to be taking 12 shots behind the arc to make 2.  When you’re in the market for 3-point scoring, look for output, but keep efficiency in mind at all times.  If you have a decision between two players with similar skill-sets, try to use their percentages as the tie-breaker and you’ll seldom be disappointed.

H2H Head’s Up:

In H2H, you play a different weekly opponent in a head-to-head match-up.  Doy!  Over the NBA’s 82 game season, most major fantasy basketball host sites will have you face each of the league’s other teams exactly twice, obviously depending on the number of teams in your league.  Typically, the same 9 scoring categories apply (8 if turnovers are mercifully omitted).  The team with the highest total in each scoring category earns a point or win, with the best possible outcome being 9-0 (conversely the worst is a 0-9 loss).  H2H leagues most often have a “regular” season and a “playoff” season.  While the favorites in ROTO will typically be fairly clear by the season’s final month, a mediocre, playoff-eligible team could catch a run of luck, get hot, and sprint to the championship.

Because of the haphazard nature of the H2H playoff format, a hot team or even an especially hot player can overcome a “better” team.  But before you can go worrying about winning or losing a H2H championship, you have to assemble a team capable of making the playoffs in the first place.

Everyone has a sure-fire strategy for winning, and everyone is wrong, except me.  That is to say that everyone is also right, except me (sort of).  There are any number of tried and true methods for head-to-head success, but after years of playing in dozens (maybe hundreds) of fantasy basketball leagues, I’ve narrowed this kaleidoscope of strategies to one, and it involves losing—again, sort of.

We’ll assume that you’re playing in a standard, nine-category league, although this not-so-revolutionary method works just as well (if not better) in leagues that abandon turnovers.  Now, what you’re going to do is very much counter to the slow and steady approach I laid out in the “Hello, ROTO” strategy.  Here, in H2H, it’s all about binging.  Pretend your team is Takeru Kobayashi and the fantasy basketball season is the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest.  You’re going to stuff your stat line with as many points, rebounds, assists, 3-pointers, steals, and blocks as one team possibly can.  And, you’re going to do this while completely oblivious to its potential impact on shooting percentage, free-throw percentage, or turnovers (when applicable).

It is simply unreasonable to try for 9-0 wins week in and week out.  Even if things work out in your favor every so often and you do manage a shutout victory, the odds of any team sustaining that level of success for an entire month is virtually impossible, much less for an entire season.  So, by focusing on players that stuff the stat-lines with counting stats, you will be in a position to be highly competitive in at least 6 of the 9 standard categories, and random variability alone dictates that you’ll eek out the occasional win in ratios, even if your team isn’t necessarily built to do so.

Going Forward:

In the days, weeks, and months to come, I will be offering advice that is specific to the two main types of scoring formats discussed above.  While much of my advice will speak to both, I would be doing all of you a great disservice if I didn’t do everything in my power to cater my expert advice to your specific wants and needs.  Along those lines, I’m not short sighted enough to assume these are the only types of fantasy basketball games that you’ll be dabbling in.  In fact, it’s quite the contrary.  If you and your league(s) happen to fall outside the standard deviation(s) discussed herein, I welcome any and all emails geared toward helping YOU win YOUR league.  Truth be told, I rather enjoy the occasional challenge. 

That being said, feel free to email any questions and/or comments to damianschaab@sportsgrumblings.com and I’ll be sure to cater my advice to your specific and I’m sure, very special needs.