by Gustav von Fieldhausmann

Okay, everyone knows that on hoops.ws, you get only 12 roster spots. And since you need more than a “starting five” to cover your minutes, that means you have to use your roster space efficiently.

And that means that multi-position players – CF’s and FG’s – are particularly valuable, right? With a guy who can cover multiple positions, you have that much more flexibility.

Right?

Wrong. Or, really, half wrong. CF’s, hell yeah, go after those guys. Especially with big men breaking down all the time, you’d prefer to have at least four hosses on your roster who can cover the pivot.

But what about FG’s? Isn’t a FG worth more than, say, a straight-up G?

Nope, and I’ll tell you why:

FG players should be used only as Guards – in other words, set as GF’s.

Got that? And what that means is, if you’re looking at a Guard, you really don’t care whether he can also play Forward. Because you shouldn’t be using him at Forward anyway. If a player is listed at FG, train yourself to block the “F” right out of your vision. As far as you’re concerned, he’s a Guard, period. T-Max, Pierce, Peja, LBJ, Vinsanity – just plain ol’ Guards. There ain’t no FG’s in this game.

So by now, you’re thinking, “Uh, you got a reason?” Thought you’d never ask.

The Reason

Let’s look at the top players in the league last year by FPPM (in standard scoring). We’ll limit it to players who logged at least 2000 NBA minutes, which basically means starters who were healthy most of the year. I was going to look at the top 40, but it turns out that there’s a seven-way tie between 40th and 46th. You want big, nice-‘n’-friendly ties for low-place finishers, watch golf. We don’t go for that sissy stuff in fantasy basketball.

So, the top 39 it is. They range from #1 Kevin Garnett (1.12) to #39 Antoine Walker (0.75). You want the full list, splurge on a draft upgrade. Call it an early Halloween treat. Otherwise, you’ll just have to trust me when I say that the positions break down like this:

5 C’s, 8 CF’s, 11 F’s, 6 GF’s, 9 G’s.

Now here’s where it gets a little complex-iated. 13 of these 39 players can play Center (the 5 C’s and the 8 CF’s). A whopping 25 can play Forward – whopping, I tell you! But only 15 can play Guard. That’s barely more than can play Center.

Go through other lists of top players, and you’ll find the same thing. There just aren’t very many good Guards. Everyone talks about Center being the hardest position to fill, but there are almost as many quality Centers as there are quality Guards.

And guess what? Since you need twice as many Guard minutes as Center minutes, that means you’re going to be digging deeper and deeper to fill out your Guard rotation. On the other hand, coming up with decent depth for your front-court players isn’t that difficult, and the fact that there are so many CF’s out there makes it even easier.

So what does this have to do with GF players? Well, it’s pretty simple, really. If you have a GF who is good enough to make your Guard rotation, why waste him at Forward? Whatever his FPPM rating is, he’ll look better compared to other Guards than he will to other Forwards.

Are We There Yet?

Let’s look at two specific GF’s to make things even clearer: Latrell Sprewell and Joe Johnson. They were similar fantasy players last year: 0.62 FPPM for Sprewell, 0.61 for Johnson. And for Guards, those numbers aren’t bad. Not All-Star material, certainly, but good enough so that being associated with them isn’t an outright embarrassment. Go to bed after rooting for one of those players, you can still respect yourself in the morning.

Now let’s look at some front-court players who posted basically the same FPPM rating as Spree and JJ. Mo Taylor. Nene. JYD. Ostertag. And yes, everyone’s favorite 62-year-old polyglot, Mt. Deke.

Imagine bragging to your opponents that you’ve just traded for Mo Taylor – or, heaven forbid, Mutombo himself. You’d be laughed out of your league. But tell them you made a deal for Sprewell, they’ll be impressed. And that’s just as it should be, if you use the Chokemeister at Guard. Use him at Forward, though, and you might as well have Taylor.

It doesn’t matter what level of player you’re looking at. In general, Guards score less than front-court players. So your GF player can be a good Guard, or a so-so Forward. Me, I’d rather have the good Guard.

In conclusion, then, put FG’s in the same scrap heap with UFO’s and Abominable Snowmen. The only people who think they see ’em are a few oars short of the water. GF’s are just plain ol’ Guards, and the sooner you see that fact clearly, the better off you’ll be.