D3Reg: The season has been over for about a week now, and you might think the bloggers have gone into hibernation (which we kind of have since it took us over a week to write this), but we really wanted to reflect on the fantasy draft that we conducted over the winter. I know I got excited every time Cam Daniels or Lestter Yeh got a big win, but as you can tell from our standings down at the bottom of this article, we were pretty unanimous about who we thought had the best team (GREEK). The results turned out to be pretty interesting, as there were several teams where guys had two studs at the same positions, so one guy was blocked from starting. One important note is that we put together projected lineups for every team prior to the draft, everyone drafted two guys for every position, and they have to play where they were drafted. This meant that I have Johnny Wu playing at 4, D3AS has Jay Glickman at 6, and Greek has David Liu at 6 (not even fair at this point). Below is each of our reflections, with me stepping in for brief write-ups for D3TennisBro and Dante Quazzo’s teams.
Here’s a link to the draft results. You’re welcome. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F9Wb1RXeKn4pV7QaNVE_vtnmSPV5LQYuGHgmad64H0k/edit?usp=sharing
“Flat Shots and Chill”
Manager: D3AS
Coach: Roger Follmer, Wash U
Ast Coach: Nick Ballou, Pomona
Biggest surprise (good or bad): It has got to be Jay Glickman of Tufts. I drafted him in the sixth round knowing that we were going to be able to draft a backup player who didn’t have to play #6, but I ended up not needing to use him (Chaz Downing, another great pick). Glickman ended the year playing a pretty strong #1 singles for Tufts, with a lot of good wins at a ton of higher lineup spots. We’re talking wins over Luke Tercek of Bowdoin (my #2), Michael Solimano of Amherst (my #3) and a three set loss to David Liu, who happens to be slotted at #6 singles for Greek. Glickman is the second best #6 player drafted at the very least and he is challenging for the best. The fact that I got him in the sixth round gives me one of the biggest surprises of the draft.
How your team will win: My team will win with depth. Tsai and Glickman form one of the best bottom of the lineup duos in the fantasy draft. I need to get at least one win there depending on who I’m playing, but most of the time I’m getting two wins down there. Tercek at #2 singles is a great play considering his late playoff push with wins over Mosetick and a lead on Farrell. Luke really came into his own at the end of the season. I have two other guys that also really played well at the end of the year in Abhishek Alla and Max Macey. Alla made the semfinals of NCAAs, which is no joke, and Macey rebounded after a poor start to notch a ton of good wins, including over De Quant of Middlebury. Singles is where my team really puts their foot down. Also, I believe I have one of the best coaching staffs in the nation with a player development guy in Follmer and a fiery player in Nick Ballou. I really like this combo to tap into any potential that I possibly leave on the table.
How your team would lose: Doubles. I really don’t have much faith in my doubles teams, especially with the egg that Solimano laid this year. I don’t like that Tercek/Solimano combo at the top and might have to move some things around. The only spot I’m really confident on is the Gray/Tsai combo at #3 doubles. That’s a good team down there and might be a bit of a stack, but you never know how good these guys are together. I was thinking about pairing Lambeth and Macey together as a #2 doubles team but it looks like I really don’t have great options at #2 doubles. Maybe I split the Tercek/Solimano combo, move Gray up to #1, and then figure it out from there. All these questions aren’t a good thing when it comes to doubles.
Fun fact about your team: Hmmmm, this is an interesting one. I mentioned this a little bit, but it’s pretty funny how some of the lower guys on my team have beaten the higher guys. Glickman has beaten two of the guys ahead of him. Also, Yasgoor beat Alla 0 and 0 at Indoor Nationals, yet I still slot Shek at #1 singles. Shek always gives me a chance to win that match at #1 singles no matter who he plays. He also gives me a chance to lose as well. One thing that disappoints me? It has to be that my sleeper pick Chaz Downing is being blocked by Glickman at #6. I didn’t pick a 6 singles player until the last round, banking on Downing to be awesome. Looks like I struck gold twice!
“Clipboards and Khakis”
Manager: The Guru
Coach: Todd Wojtkowski, Case Western
Ast Coach: Connor “Chuddy” Hudson, Pomona-Pitzer
Biggest surprise: This may sound strange, but probably that my team wasn’t better than it ended up being. I thought Campbell and Smolyar had the potential to both be #1 in the country at their given positions, and they ended up being #2 and #3, respectively. I also expected Harrington at #4 to potentially be a sneaky good spot for me, but that’s not the case.
How your team will win: Doubles and top of the lineup. I had three of my singles starters make the all-blog team, which means they were top 5 in the country at their position. I also had my #1 receive several votes for overall season MVP. Headed into the season I thought my doubles would be very good, and it ended up being very good. I think my #1 team of Campbell/Deuel could take on anyone and I had one of my #3 doubles players as the #1 overall seed at Individuals that ended up making the semifinal. Al-Houni at #2 doubles was also an individuals qualifier and would have teamed with Smolyar.
How your team would lose: Probably the bottom of the lineup. Harrington at #4 probably isn’t winning much against the other #4s out there and Bello at #6 would get some wins, but he wouldn’t run the table. Goodman made honorable mention all-blog team, so that probably means he would go 50/50 against the other bloggers teams at #5.
Fun fact about your team: I’m the only team to have four of my starters play in the Team Final Four. Greek had 3 Midd guys and a Chicago guy, but Jackson Frons didn’t end up playing. Smolyar, Campbell, Goodman and Harrington all played. Clearly, my team knows how to win.
“Wootton’s Warriors”
Manager: D3Central
Coach: Russell McMindes
Ast Coach: Chris Wooden
Biggest surprise: The biggest surprise for me is how bad all the talent I had on this team ended up being this year. Adam Krull leaving Trinity hurt a lot, but in the end even with him, this team ended up being pretty terrible. My biggest individual surprise probably is Yaraghi not living up to his usual consistent self at #1. He hardly played at the end of the year. Thankfully I did have Cuaneac to replace him, but it still wouldn’t be enough to beat anyone else’s team. Pei wasn’t lights out at #4 either and he was my second pick I believe. Sadly like fantasy football, I probably deserve last this year. That’s what I get for relying on Amherst players.
How your team will win: Does convincing Adam Krull to come back and morph himself into 6 different players count?!?
How your team would lose: There are a number of reasons I could lose. I am going to say the flu runs rampant and I fail to field a team other than guys I picked off the street.
Fun fact about your team: I believe I have FIVE former All-Americans on my team, but yet none of them earned the honor this spring. Talk about disappointing me as a drafter!
“D3NorthBeastMode”
Manager: D3NE
Coach: Robert “Bob-O” Hansen (Middlebury)
Ast Coach: Bryce Parmelly (Middlebury)
Biggest surprise: I don’t know that I have all that many surprises, but Joachim Samson was a total wild card. We didn’t really have any way of knowing just how good the Wesleyan freshman from the Philippines would be when I grabbed him late as my backup #5, but Samson proceeded to be one of the best #4’s in the country, earning him an honorable mention in our Blog Awards (he was the 4th best #4 according to the bloggers, and had wins over two of the three guys ahead of him). My Williams guys also paid big dividends, as both Grodecki and Raventos played two spots ahead of their projected/fall lineup spots. Grodecki only has three losses all year, and three of them were to Bowdoin, Midd, and CMS. Raventos was just below .500 in the NESCAC at #1, but having that player at #3 would undoubtedly clean up.
How your team will win: Sneak out a doubles win (while i don’t have the best teams, my #1 is the definition of solid and my #3 has huge chemistry), and then get wins at #1, #3, #5, and #6. A lot of our teams are strong at the bottom of the lineup, but my #5 (Grodecki) went 10-4 at #’s 2&3 while my #6 (Roddy) went 17-3 at #5 including winning when it mattered most (NCAA quarters, NCAA semis, and clinching the NCAA title). Also, let’s not forget that I have the NCAA singles champion anchoring the top spot of my lineup. Farrell may have had a better season, but you’d be crazy to pick anybody but Butts in a head to head matchup right now. I think i’d take 4/6 singles spots against seven or eight of the other teams. That’s not enough to win, but it damn sure makes it easier!
How your team would lose: #4 singles really took a turn on me. Battle went down with an ACL injury, while Zakhodin, despite being touted by D3Central as one of his main freshmen to watch, didn’t even start in the Spartan lineup. I would probably lose at that spot to every other team here. However, I would like to point out my tweet from the middle of February.
I'm officially adding Adrien Bouchet off the Fantasy Waiver Wire
— D3 Northeast (@D3Northeast) February 21, 2016
Throw Bouchet in at #4 and my singles lineup becomes as good as anybody’s here (maybe even D3Greek’s, although his team is just absurd).
Fun fact about your team: D3Central chastised me for taking 8 out of 12 players from the NE. Well, i’d say that seven out of those eight players outperformed expectations (even Ellis and Gupte mainly played above their projections), a far better percentage than my out of region picks. Stick to what you know, am i right?
“The West of Us and the Rest of Us”
Manager: D3West
Coach: Chris Bizot, UT-Tyler
Ast Coach: Chris “Febreeze” Fabrizio, CMS
Biggest surprise: During the draft, I told the guys that I was picking CJ Antonio in the 12th round with the intention of dropping either him or Fagundes and picking up Hewlin off the waiver wire (because Fagundes accidentally got picked for me when I had to leave during the draft). I never would’ve thought that my undrafted player would end up making the semis of the NCAA tournament. My biggest worry going into the season for this team was at the top of the singles lineup, but Hewlin showed that he’s capable of beating guys like Mosetick and Leung on the right day. That was a nice little piece of West region homer-ism that helped me out in the long run. One disappointment was Chase Savage, who was basically undefeated at #5 singles for Bowdoin last year and didn’t play much singles this year due in part to Bowdoin’s phenomenal freshmen and in part to injuries. Ironically, the only member of my team from the national champs is riding the pine. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll be too hurt by the fact that he didn’t start on my fantasy team.
How your team will win: Depth. The strongest spots on my team are going to be 5 singles, 6 singles, and 3 doubles. Mayer and Tyer ended up playing 2 and 3 for Trinity, respectively, so I imagine that I’ll match up favorably with pretty much any team out there at the bottom of the singles lineup. Hewlin and Kim at #3 doubles is almost as dirty as D3ASW with Mosetick and Jemison down there. Outside of that team, I don’t see those guys losing at #3 doubles to anyone.
How your team would lose: Obviously, the biggest areas of concern are in the middle of the singles lineup. I knew going into the season that Kranz would be a questionable #2, something which was confirmed when he briefly dropped out of the Chicago lineup entirely, but by the end of the season, he was playing a very solid #3 singles. I used an early pick on Kratky because I thought he would be a phenomenal #3. He didn’t start out that way with losses to Rose-Hulman and Stroup from Case, but he redeemed himself somewhat by the end of the season by throttling Charlie Pei. Raghavan spent a good chunk of the season at #5 singles. By the end of the year, he was playing a decent #4. All told, these three positions represent relative weaknesses, but if Kranz, Kratky and Raghavan are your weaknesses, you’re doing pretty good.
Fun fact about your team: I didn’t intend it to be this way, but I ended up with an all West region doubles lineup: 4 doubles all-Americans (Hewlin, Simonides, Tyer, and Sirovica), a doubles NCAA qualifier (Fagundes), and Jon Kim. It felt weird leaving Kratky and (especially) Savage on the bench, but it was hard enough trying to decide who to play with who. Regardless, I like our chances on the doubles court.
“Mike & Mike On a Tennis Court”
Manager: D3Regional
Coach: Mike Fried, Wesleyan
Ast Coach: Mike Belmonte, Carnegie Mellon
Biggest surprise: My #5 and #6, Lester Yeh and Cam Daniels. I was high on Yeh going into the season, but he was certainly unproven, and we weren’t sure if Daniels was even going to start. Yeh played both #5 and #6 during the year, and while he wasn’t the best in the country, he was pretty darn good with wins over Williams, Pomona, Midd, CMU, and Redlands. Daniels didn’t start until midway through the season, but once he broke into the lineup at #5, he was fantastic, going 10-1 with one loss to Amherst, but wins over Midd, Brandeis, Bates, and Tufts. I love him at #6.
How your team will win: Depth & doubles & MVP Buxbaum. I think my #4-6 are capable of beating almost anybody, with Johnny Wu, Yeh, and Daniels. Bux really brought it at the end of this season and I love him at #1 as well. With those four spots, I’ll need 1-2 doubles matches, and while my #2 dubs team might be suspect, I think Bux/Wu at #1 and Yeh/Perez at #3 will both be solid. Ordway/Arguello at #2 will also be a big hitting team that can certainly get hot and roll to a victory.
How your team would lose: #2-3 singles, and doubles. David Perez came on strong at the end of this season for Hop, but he’ll be a weak #3 against all of these other great teams. Arguello had a very good year at #3 for Brandeis, and while he definitely has a big enough game to win at #2 (wins over Wesleyan, Bowdoin, and Bates at #3 this year), he hasn’t been consistent enough to compete with the top #2’s. While my doubles teams should be pretty good, I don’t think any of them are a lock by any means, and I could definitely see my team down 3-0 after dubs, which would be a huge hole against any of these teams.
Fun fact about your team: Tom Suchodolski in my backups. That man knows how to work a Twitter, and I know my team will be covered with frequent updates.
“Game, Mosetick, and Match”
Manager: D3ASW
Coach: Tommy Valentini, Gustavus Adolphus
Ast Coach: Alex Lane, Rhodes
Biggest surprise: Maybe not for the rest of you, but for me it was Kiril Kirkov and Jerry Jiang. I thought Kirkov struggled last year mainly because of an injury. I know Carnegie’s team got a lot better this year, but Kirkov looked like a really strong top of the lineup player at one point. I’m pretty disappointed. Maybe he’ll bounce back next year. Jiang I knew was good, but I didn’t realize quite how good. He wasn’t the best freshman (he wasn’t even close) but Jiang was one of the better 4s in the country and transitioned into college tennis better than I expected.
How your team will win: Rafe and Jemison. I pretty much drafted a Nick Ballou Cal Lu team with a better supporting cast. Rafe and Jemison should grab 3 points in almost every single match so I just need to find 2 points somewhere else. Haugen/Bush is a solid doubles team and my 4, 5, 6 of Jiang, Haugen, and Wildman are all pretty much locks against 90% of the competition. I have to just win 2 out of those 4 courts to win the match. I don’t see any teams (ok, maybe Greek) that can beat that.
How your team would lose: D3ASW left this section blank. I guess he’s pretty confident there’s no way his team would ever lose.
Fun fact about your team: Young guns
“Aristotle’s Aces”
Manager: D3TennisGreek
Coach: Jay Tee, Chicago
Ast Coach: Richy Gray, Chicago
Biggest surprise: Graham Maassen. Last year, as a sophomore, Maassen rotated between the 3, 4, and 5 spots. No doubt, he had a fine season, but he wasn’t the best player in the country in his respective lineup position. However, he broke out this year. Look at the studs he defeated: Andres Saenz, Jonathan Jemison, Paxton Deuel, Aaron Revzin, Jose Raventos, and Matt Heinrich. And then, consider his spring losses: Ben Rosen (three sets), Steven Chen (three sets), Noah Farrell, Skyler Butts (three sets). All of the Sagehens’ three-set losses were 6-4 in the decider, to All-Americans. In fact, every single one of his losses this spring was to All-Americans. Basically, as a 3, he is unstoppable. As a doubles player, I knew he was going to be strong, given his success at No. 2 last year, but I was happily surprised that he ended his junior campaign as an All-American. Considering that I picked him up in the 10th round, Maassen is definitely my biggest surprise, and I’m glad I drafted him.
How your team will win: Yes. This is honestly a very tough question to answer. I’ll try to be humble, but I think my team is so good that it will win by just setting foot on the court. Think about it. My 1-3 and 6 singles (Noah Farrell, Steven Chen, Graham Masseen, and David Liu, respectively) would be considered the best in the country playing those spots. William de Quant was a very solid 4, and although he isn’t necessarily as much of a lock as the aforementioned players, he will win many matches. Finally, I have 4 national qualifiers in my doubles lineup.
How your team would lose: A lot of injuries. Even if you were to replace my 1, 2, and 3 singles, my backups are still top notch but after that, I’m in a little trouble.
Most unique aspect of your team: Sportsmanship. I’m not sure how it worked out this way, but I have a team full of gentlemen. Noah Farrell, Steven Chen, Graham Maassen, and David Liu will collectively give 2 fist pumps a match and won’t say a word. On top of that, my head coach Jay Tee led the Chicago Maroons to the ITA Indoors Sportsmanship Award. This is one classy group.
Fun fact about your team: I don’t have a No. 5 singles player. We all knew Jackson Frons was a big question mark heading into the draft, and my risk did not pay off; Frons was not on the roster. My backup, Andrew Komarov also didn’t play for Case this season. You should be scared if I draft you as a 5 next year.
“Blue Mountain State”
Manager: D3TennisBro
Coach: Andrew Girard
Ast Coach: Chris Goodwin
Biggest surprise: Sam Geier, who technically Bro drafted to be his backup #1, turning into one of the best players in the country his senior year. With the way he played this year, Krimbill might turn into Bro’s backup, which is insane.
How your team will win: #1-3 singles plus doubles. I think all three of Bro’s doubles teams look really solid, and Geier/Krimbill, Glenn Hull, and Peter Leung are a legit top of the lineup.
How your team would lose: Bro’s depth will be questionable, with Kunal Wadwani, Taylor Hunt, and Jordan Sadowsky, though Max Liu can fill in nicely at #6. Three questionable spots means the pressure will be on the doubles teams, and it’s extremely difficult to play consistent doubles all year.
Fun fact about your team: The Krimbill Geier battle for #1. Think of the battles these guys would have in practice. I’m salivating just thinking about it.
“Bro Man’s Land”
Manager: Dante Quazzo
Coach: Paul Settles
Ast Coach: Joe “Quick Hands and Handlebars” Dorn
Biggest surprise: Honestly there isn’t anything all that surprising about Quaz’s team. Almost everyone ended up playing within a spot or two of where they were drafted. Like Bro, Quaz has two really good #1’s with Nick Chua and Matt Heinrich. That’s not really a surprise but whatever.
How your team will win: #1-5 singles, where I think Quazzo has a chance to win at each one of those spots against pretty much anyone. Heinrich/Chua at #1, Zykov at #2, Wolfe at #3, Zach Bessette (Amherst) at #4, and Kenny Zheng (CMU) at #5 are all great players who had good years, especially #1-3.
How your team would lose: #6 singles and doubles. Quaz has two guys who didn’t really start at #6 in Julian Gordy and Andrew Arnaboldi, and I think his doubles teams will be streaky.
If all ten of these teams played in a tournament, how would they finish ranked 1-10?
D3AS: Greek, ASouth, Guru, ASW, Quaz, Bro, NE, West, Regional, Central
Guru: Greek, ASouth, ASW, NE, Guru, Quaz, Bro, West, Regional, Central
Central: Greek, ASouth, Guru, ASW, Quaz, NE, Bro, West, Regional, Central
NE: Greek, ASouth, NE, ASW, Guru, Quaz, Bro, West, Regional, Central. (Greek wins, then there’s a four team battle for second place, a three team battle for 6th place, and Regional and Central duke it out for 9th).
Regional: Greek, ASW, ASouth, Guru, NE, Quaz, West, Bro, Regional, Central
Greek: Greek, ASouth, NE, ASW, Guru, Quaz, Bro, West, Regional, Central
What are your thoughts on these teams? Do you agree or disagree with the standings? If you actually think my team is the best, I completely understand. Let us know your thoughts!