Basketball On The Internet.

By Crystal Ball

Most Team Managers should be smiling after raking in the money with a great Round 5.

Team Managers should have a received an impressive increase in dollar value across the board last week (unless you were one of the unlucky few who invested in Perth) with the many DT mainstays returning good results.

Adelaide rookie Harry Froling continued his outstanding form – again outperforming his more fancied (and expensive) teammate Daniel Johnson, registering 48 DT points and a $14,600 rise in value.

Those who took the flier on Casper Ware (pictured) last week were delighted with his return of 98 DT points and a $20,000 price increase.

Popular DT players DJ Kennedy, Bryce Cotton, Nate Jawai, Andrew Bogut, Romelo Trimble, Todd Blanchfield, Cameron Bairstow and Daniel Johnson all enjoyed price increases.

The sad story of the round was Team Managers who invested in Perth. With a double in Round 5 and four doubles in the next five weeks coming up, Perth was primed to deliver some great DT results.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats kept the injury to their one-time, dunking wunderkind Terrico White very quiet and some Team Managers were stuck with a starting a player who didn’t return a single point. Adding injury to insult (see what I did there?) Angus Brandt, who was primed to provide a serious jump in dollar value, went down with an injury in the early minutes of his first game of a double-header. DT return = 6 points = ouch. 

The ray of sunshine for those who loaded up on Perth was Nick Kay, who with 108 points returned the highest score for the round.

Brandt will plunge in value after Round 6 and there is no time frame for his return from injury, so if you have him you need to trade him out before a ball is bounced in Round 6.

White should also be traded out, but he didn’t – and won’t - actually devalue if you find yourself forced to retain him. 

The darling of this season’s Dream Team, David Barlow, delivered his first ‘stinker’ in Round 5. Barlow delivered just 12 DT points – his lowest return of the year by a long way. As a result, Barlow is on track to devalue for the first time following Round 6.

With a double this weekend and another in Round 8, there should be no rush to trade Barlow out.

New Zealand’s Patrick Richard put Team Managers on notice with his great return of 98 points in Round 5. With another double this weekend, it would be fair to expect the dual position player’s value will skyrocket. If you are willing to burn a trade or two, Richard (below) provides a great opportunity for short-term gain in both value and DT points. He also warrants serious consideration as your DT captain for Round 6.

Brisbane import Lamar Patterson continues to do everything right and should provide a nice price rise after Round 6. However, Brisbane now enters the quietest part of its schedule with one double-header in the next five weeks.

WEEK 6

Injuries

New Zealand’s Armani Moore, Perth trio Angus Brandt, Terrico White and Damian Martin are all likely to miss this weekend’s action.

New players/exiting players

Demitrius Conger will reportedly suit with his new team Adelaide on Saturday against his previous NBL team Illawarra. Conger provided outstanding DT point returns when he played in the NBL last year and is a must for your watch list. With a single game this weekend followed by a double-header next weekend, Conger’s price will change after Round 7.
Adelaide’s Adris DeLeon has left the building.

Captain picks

New Zealand Breakers and Melbourne United are the only teams playing doubles this round and your captain should come from one of them.  Patrick Richard is on fire at the moment and along with teammate Shawn Long – who struck foul trouble last weekend – appears to be New Zealand’s best. United’s Josh Boone appears to be returning to full fitness and should also be considered along with DJ Kennedy and Casper Ware.

Premium Trade-ins

Nick Kay, Andrew Bogut, Bryce Cotton.

Value trade-ins

Patrick Richard, Clint Steindl, Mitch Norton, Nate Jawai, David Andersen, Corey Webster.

Trade Outs

Angus Brandt, DJ Newbill, AJ Ogilvy, Alex Loughton.