Los Intocables

The ward mission leader in my first area on my mission was pilas (cool, on top of things, awesome and skilled). He magnified his calling, coordinating the ward home teaching program with the missionary work by organizing visits to inactives. He made a chart where home teaching companionships made up cool names for themselves and kept track of their visits, reporting the results during priesthood meeting every Sunday. One of the team names was Los Intocables. The Untouchables. I've loved that name ever since, and I've made it a tradition to use it for one of my fantasy basketball teams. Here is this year's model along with a round by round commentary (get ready, there are 13 rounds):

Round 1: I got LeBron James with the 4th pick. That won't happen in most leagues. Usually he's taken within the first two picks. He's currently regarded as the best basketball player on the planet.

Round 2: I got Josh Smith. Last year I kept wishing I had him. Now I do. He is an amazing athlete with incredible agility and speed.

Round 3: Carlos Boozer. That's right, our very own Carlos Boozer from the Utah Jazz. The third round might be a little high for him, but he's in a contract year. He'll be playing at the top of his game so everyone will know how valuable he is when it comes time to negotiate a new contract...or bail on the Jazz and sign with some other team.

Round 4: Jose Calderon. I desperately needed a good point guard, and he was one of the only ones left. He came out of nowhere last year to become one of the best point guards in the league. Last year no one knew about him so I was able to just drop my worst player and get him instead. This time around I have to use my fourth round pick on him.

Round 5: Chris Kaman. He's a solid Center, not prone to injury like most centers. He's good and solid. No one knows for certain what's going to happen this year when he plays alongside Marcus Camby. Will they canabalize each other's stats, or will they create synergy? I'm betting on the former, or I might have ranked him higher.

Round 6: Stephen Jackson. He will probably have to take a larger starring role on his team to pick up the slack for a few missing teammates. He's also on a team that plays uptempo basketball all the time, which should be to my benefit. I thought about taking Jamal Crawford here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was still available in the next round.

Round 7: Jamal Crawford. The New York Knicks have brought in the coach who made the Phoenix Suns the high octane run and gun team that electrified a nation. Now he's working with a bunch of guys who don't exactly fit that style. Jamal Crawford is the exception. Everyone expects him to do great this year. I mean, I do.

Round 8: Corey Maggette. I'm sensning a strategy for these middle round picks. Here is another scoring shooting guard moving to an up tempo system where he'll benefit from increased chances to score, rebound, and steal (hopefully the ball).

Round 9: My one regret from this draft. I selected Jermaine O'Neal too early. It was mostly a wishful thinking pick. When he's playing right and staying healthy, he's an all-star. But he’s been injured a lot the last couple years, and he hasn’t really found his form for a while. Am I glad he’s on my team? Yah, but I think I picked him up three rounds too soon. There was a pretty good point guard I could have gotten here. I won’t feel so bad about it though when Jermaine returns to his elite form, and I look like a genius for taking him.

Round 10: Andrew Bynum. Last year I drafted him in the last round. I was using my head when I chose him. I knew he would get rebounds and block some shots. That was worth a last round pick. Then my emotions got in the way, and I said to myself, “Andrew Bynum!?! He’s an embarrassment to my team.” I cut him before the season started. Then my rival in the league picked him up. He turned out to be one of the best centers in the league, and I felt silly. Frankly, getting him this late in the draft was pure luck.

Round 11: Samuel Dalembert. He was the best player left on the board by a long ways, but I needed a point guard. I ended up getting him anyway. He’s pretty solid. If it turns out I really need a point guard later, I can trade for one...I hope.

Round 12: Al Thornton (no, not Jim’s son). He’s got a lot of potential, and this late in the draft that’s about all you can really hope for.

Round 13: This is my “sleeper” pick. Fantasy sports fanatics always want to draft a sleeper or two–someone no one else knows about or considers valuable. Mr. Sessions is my main sleeper this year. I watched him play a summer league game, and I said to myself, “Say, he’s a mighty fine passer.” I looked up his stats and found that he had some crazy games last season when he had over 20 assists. The problem was, those games came near the end of the season–when their star point guard was out with an injury. This summer his team got rid of their star. I think they did it so this guy could play. If not, I’ll just drop him and pick up somebody else, you can do that you know.