Week 1 recap

The Industry Pickup league uses a strict games max – four starts per position per week, for a hard cap of 40. In most weeks, that means bench players will start only a handful of games. But the opening week sees fewer NBA games than a normal week, so 11 managers fell short of their allotted 40. Streaming was more relevant than it would usually be, and bench players had a bigger impact on a team’s strengths and weaknesses. This particularly punished teams holding long-term breakout prospects like Jonathan Isaac, Obi Toppin, Jalen Suggs, etc. (the rosters holding those players all lost in Week 1).

Pickups of the week

Most of the big Week 1 breakouts – Jalen Johnson – were drafted.

Four players received bids over 3% of the $1,000 budget:

• Andrew Nembhard, $42, Thursday, to bdub

• Isaiah Stewart, $33, Thursday, to Dan Titus

• Kelly Oubre, $40, Saturday, to Josh Lloyd

• Keyonte George, $82, Sunday, to Josh Lloyd

Matchup recaps

Adam King over Alex Rikleen, 5-4

King’s lead was bigger for most of the week, so Rikleen narrowing the gap to 5-4 counts as a minor coup. That said, perhaps Rikleen would have been better served chasing FG% and rebounds with his streamers instead of assists and steals – Rikleen lost by .001% and 15 rebounds; he ended up losing badly in steals, and won assists by more than he gained from his streamers. Rikleen led the league in FT% in Week 1, while King led in steals.

Notable aside: After Friday’s games, it was the two categories that appeared most in doubt were assists and steals. On Saturday morning, King outbid Rikleen 12-to-1 to win a one-game Alex Caruso stream. The final margins ended up barely making that stream irrelevant, though only barely. It’s a good reminder when managing FAAB bids for a streamer, especially late in the week: you’re not just bidding for the opportunity to start Player X, you are also bidding to prevent your opponent from streaming that player against you.

Drew Dinkmeyer over Mike Catron, 5-4

Dinkmeyer enjoyed a two game advantage over Catron, fitting in 38 starts to Catron’s 36. The extra games don’t seem to have mattered much, however, as Catron won the only category that ended up being competitive (rebounds, by a margin of 10). Neither team made much attempt to stream, but that makes sense given how decisive each of the categories were.

Josh Lloyd over Mitch Casey, 6-3

Lloyd was the only manager to hit the full 40 games played, and Casey was close behind with 39. The extra game probably wasn’t decisive, but it was close – Lloyd won by just 10 assists and four steals. Both managers were actively streaming throughout the week, which explains their high games played. With all their games played, it’s no surprise that these two led the league in a few categories. Lloyd tied for the lead in threes (and was second in three more categories), while Casey won the week in Rebounds and tied for the lead in Blocks.

bdub over Mike Barner, 8-1

Barner was late to the realization that the short week meant he’d need his bench more – a common mistake for managers during a weird week in a games max format. Just because we work in the industry doesn’t make us immune from mixups. The mistake would cost him, as he would have easily caught bdub in threes and might have caught up in steals.

Rhett Bauer over Noah Rubin, 5-4

Bauer’s team got hot from the charity stripe Sunday, and that’s what proved decisive. Though both of these managers usually focus on dynasty leagues, geezers like Tobias Harris and DeMar DeRozen both played major roles in this matchup. Bauer led the league in FG%, while Rubin tied for the blocks title.

Dan Titus over Alex Barutha, 5-4

These teams have very different strengths. Barutha dominated the entire league in assists, with fully 31% more dimes than the second place team – Titus finished, well, not second. Barutha tied for first in threes. (Further emphasizing Barutha’s ball-dominant build, he also led the league in turnovers and finished last in FG%.) Titus paced the league in points and tied for second in rebounds. Free throw percentage was the only category that was all that close here, and it determined who escaped with the narrow win.