4 Penn Plaza opened their new season in the Pacific North West fantasy basketball league with a blowout loss to The Flight Attendant. In case anyone gets confused, this year’s draft occurred during the first week of the NBA season, which means the fantasy season started in week two. The rest of the world may be a week ahead, but those other leagues don’t matter as the Plaza try to turn a rather miserable 2021 season into something more rewarding in this new league.
Last year, the Plaza’s schedule was filled with several winning and losing streaks. In the end, those streaks cost the franchise a chance at a ring in their first year of competition. Armed with a clean slate for this season, the boys struggled right out of the gate, following behind and never recovering en route to a 327.40 point loss.
The two teams battled all week, but The Flight Attendant jumped out to a 523.60-220.60 lead on Monday and spent the rest of the week holding a lead of at least 184 points. On Tuesday, the closest the Plaza got was when the deficit got down to 68.90 points. After that, it was pretty evident that the Attendants would take this one to the house.
Both teams managed to reach weekly milestones on the same day. The Attendees got to 500 and 1000 points first, but after that, the Plaza earned 1500 and 2000 points on the same day. On Saturday, the Plaza scored a week-high 486.90 points with hopes of climbing back into the matchup, but it would have been near impossible to erase a 300 point deficit in one day.
When the team joined fantasy basketball last season, the draft and free agency goal was to build the best team in rebounds, steals, and blocks. So far, the blueprint is working as the team ranks first in blocks and double-doubles. They are right there in second place with offensive rebounds and rebounds while coming in fourth in steals. It is still early in the season, and the boys have a chance to leave their mark in those categories.
There are only six teams in the league, which means the Plaza ranks near the bottom in three-point attempts, shots, and assists. The team ranks fourth overall in four other categories. Those numbers have a lot of room for improvement because it is only the first week.
During the league’s first week of action, four teams scored over 2200 points, with Jam Y’all coming out on top with 2599.50. Right behind them was The Flight Attendants with 2596.20. The Plaza was the lowest-scoring team of the bunch behind Stephen A. Smith’s Team, who scored 2377.50. Two other teams scored less than two thousand points and opened the season with the Plaza at 0-1 records.
The first best player of the week award goes to Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored 266.90 points with a stat line that included 34 free throw attempts, 23 made, 65 points, 14 offensive rebounds, 62 rebounds, four assists, two steals, nine blocks, and three double-doubles. Giannis beat out teammate Rudy Gobert, the only player to score over 200 points, finishing with 201.80.
Patrick Williams (Chicago) earned the worse player of the week award by collecting a team-low 27.50 points. Williams’ stat line included two free throw attempts, two made, one three-point attempt, 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Instead of promoting the league’s best weekly player this year, the Plaza will showcase their opponent’s best player to show how the two teams stacked up. In the opening matchup, The Flight Attendant’s best player was Jonas Valanciunas, who scored 240.50 points. Those numbers were 26.40 under the Plaza’s best player.
The Pacific North West offers unlimited transactions, capping the weekly totals to 25. During the first week, 4 Penn Plaza executed a handful of moves, including cutting Thaddeus Young (San Antonio) to the waiver wire while signing Ricky Rubio (Cleveland) to the main roster.
Two days after those moves, management acquired Mo Bamba (Orlando) and Mason Plumlee (Charolette). These new players will fill in the gaps as a few players end up on the IR. And for those keeping count at home, this league allows up to ten players to be placed on the IR at any time, meaning there is plenty of room to make acquisitions each week.
Weekly Move Total: 3/25
Season Move Total: 3
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Keeping the Stats 