Frankie Sachs offers fantasy managers some recommendations for this week's games
Fantasy tips, Round 6: Making the most of an unbalanced week
Fantasy Challenge
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Balancing out your rosters in Round 6 may be a bit of a challenge. While there are four games on Tuesday and six on Wednesday, I discovered when I started preparing for this week that the overwhelming majority of my players have Wednesday (i.e. Turn 2) games. This is especially noteworthy when choosing a captain. Eight of the top 10 players in PIR this season are playing in Turn 2 this week.
Grabbing one of those two, Ante Zizic or Kevin Yebo, to be your Turn 1 captain could be beneficial. Regardless, Knowing what you will do in Turn 2 is important. I plan to use Malachi Flynn as my captain – if my Tuesday choice does not hit big – because the Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem defense has allowed opposing guards to flourish and , after all, Flynn is third in the competition in PIR with 22.8 per game.
Before we go any further, let's review my picks from last week. Nike Sibande scored 11 and gained 0.1 credits. Umoja Gibson scored 19 and gained 0.4 credits. Berk Ugurlu scored 3.3 and lost 0.2 credits. Augustin Ubal scored 21 and gained 0.5 credits. And Jakub Urbaniak scored 11 and gained 0.2 credits. If you took my advice, it helped! Let's see what Round 6 has in store. Here are five inexpensive suggestions who just might help your team:
Matas Jogela, Dolomiti Energia Trento (8.3 credits)
Lithuanian forward Matas Jogela is leading Trento into his home country this week, which for some might be a good enough reason to expect a good game from him. Add to that the fact that the opponent, Lietkabelis Panevezys, has allowed the most fantasy points to forwards in the EuroCup this season and now we’re talking. And Jogela is coming off a season-high PIR of 17 last week.
Malik Osborne, ratiopharm ulm (10.0 credits)
Has Malik Osborne just turned a corner? If so, now may be the time to jump on board. The center comes off a monster EuroCup game against fellow German side NINERS Chemnitz – 16 points and 14 rebounds for a PIR of 29 – and followed that up with an efficient 11-point, 6-board, 16 PIR line over the weekend in the German League. Osborne has a high floor as he ranks sixth in the league in rebounding with 7.2 per game. If he takes on a larger offensive role, he becomes a fantasy asset.
Jordan Parks, Umana Reyer Venice (9.8 credits)
Jordan Parks has found a home in Venice, where is now in his fourth season. He has started all five games so far in the EuroCup and seems to have found his groove recently – as well as a boost in playing time – with 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks for a PIR of 18.0 over the last two games. Reyer scored in triple figures in both of those games and could do so again against Hamburg, which has allowed 99.2 points per game this season.
David Skara, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (7.9 credits)
This one is a little riskier, but for the price, he should be worth the gamble. David Skara has averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals for a PIR of 19.5 in the last two rounds, while facing the tough frontlines of Bahcesehir. Cedevita's Round 6 opponent, Cluj, has given up the most fantasy points to centers so far this season. The mitigating factor is Cedevita's signing of Will McNair over the weekend, but I expect Skara will still see plenty of minutes in Romania.
Giorgos Tsalmpouris, Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens (7.6 credits)
The Panionios big man was on my radar last week, but I thought it was wiser to wait and see how things shook out in the team's first game under new head coach Ilias Zouros. Then Giorgos Tsalmpouris dominated to the tune of 18 points and 6 rebounds for a PIR of 23 in 24 minutes against Trento. The matchup against Turk Telekom will be tougher, but it's also a Turn 1 game, which adds value.
