Even though we have reached the NBA Playoffs, the fun doesn’t have to stop! Did you get defeated in your seasonal fantasy hoops leagues? Did you dominate? If you are looking for more chances to win, opportunities exist in DFS. For those who want more chances to win, here are a few tips to remember when setting your Playoff Daily Fantasy Basketball Lineups. As always, we are all learning how to be a Coach and you can always learn new things about these teams and players.

1. Player Production > Team Victory: Yes, this one may seem obvious, but when watching the Playoffs, the game in terms of how it is presented to you is more team oriented than the focus on being on individual player production. You may see video highlight reels of a random player who gets a steal, hits a big shot makes a game impacting play. Remember, game impacting plays are not necessarily fantasy relevant. As someone who has a background in both Television and Radio production, I can tell you that we want you to see the game based off the flow and emotional impact. Just because a player may sacrifice his body diving for balls, it may never benefit your fantasy squad, even if he gets a few more minutes for hustling. You will see countless highlights of this player hustling for balls because these T.V. stations want to keep YOU emotionally invested. Stick to the fantasy format. Look for BOTH player production and minutes. Always check the box score after.

2. Vegas Totals Are Your Friend: Vegas is VERY accurate! There is a reason tons of Money is sacrificed everyday to this City. In order to win, your guys need to produce and those totals give a good RANGE as to what we can expect the score to be combined. It does not predict which team will score how many points, but that the total listed next to the game will be reached somehow, someway. Naturally when comparing game totals to each other, it could determine how much exposure you have of a certain game. Remember, when in tournaments, you have to be different in order to win. Both the Spurs and Grizzlies play solid defense, and that will scare DFS players off of that game, but remember, you can play that to your advantage and put faith in that game with a smaller game total. Production will occur and it’s not hard finding how to attack the team. To beat the Spurs, you have to attack them through guard play and Mike Conley is one of the best guards in the league. Take advantage! View Vegas totals as your range mentally because nothing is ever a sure thing. Use them to develop strategies. Be different! 

3. No Lead is Safe = No Blowout is Safe: In the regular season a game reaches a point in which the team that is getting blown out continues to show a limited amount of fight and the benches are emptied. Paranoia is a natural part of Playoff Basketball among Coaches and no lead is safe. If the Cavs are down 25 to the Pacers, there is no chance LeBron James is getting benched. The attitude of “we’ll get them back next game” is not and should not exist and we have seen teams come back from 20-point deficits many times in the 4th quarter. Because of this, do not get too cute putting random players in your lineups, even if the game SCREAMS blowout. You need your players to play, and when you stack a game with low-end options in the Playoffs, there is a lot of risk that comes with it. Familiarity is key and a Coach will stick to his tight rotation that has made it work and will keep less wiggle room and experimentation. Second units naturally get downgraded slightly and we cannot predict injuries.

4.  Beware of Enforcers and Ill-Tempered Players: This is one in which fantasy meets reality. Just like with the waiver wire, we keep track of player trends on the production, we also have to watch for the mental side of it. The Playoffs are just as much of a mental game as it is a physical one. There are players who play simply to knock around the oppositions star player, foul him, take him out of his comfort zone and most importantly to make him frustrated. What ever it will take for the Enforcer to get inside the head of that player, Coaches will give their Enforcers a green light and long leash to be physical, especially in the paint when fighting for boards. With the new NBA rules, every shove now has to go through a 10-plus minute review and if teams start getting in each others faces, the Refs will tighten up their game-calling to avoid an all out brawl. If two players are playing physical and getting in each other’s faces, the Refs will watch them carefully and will call tighter contact calls on those players throughout the remainder of a series. Yes, this does happen. Don’t put yourself in a position in which you take a risk on players who have been taken out of the game physically, mentally, emotionally and by the refs. New storylines always develop in the Playoffs and you NEED to watch to see what waves form by the players themselves, the Refs and the media. These guys look at the online and Newspaper articles just like we do.

5. Free-Throw Percentage Must Be Looked At: If you are going to take risks on poor free-throw shooters, just remember that there is risk associated with that because when Playoff games are close down the stretch, team’s won’t mess around and will make sure to have their best free-throw shooters out there, especially when the close game reaches the six-minute mark. Make sure to balance out your lineups because good free-throw shooting translates to more playing time and when looking at scoring dependant options, make sure they not only can shoot free-throws, but they attack the rim a decent amount. Check how often your player went to the free-throw line during the season because if a team is down and in striking distance, they will do what it takes to stop the clock. Look for attackers who take a lot of contact and make sure they won’t be a liability to their team down the stretch in these close Playoff games. Look for those 80 percent free-throw shooters who attack the rim. We want these players playing deep into games. Feel free to go with the high-risk/high-reward poor free-throw shooter, but make sure throughout the series you are aware of how much that player is playing in the fourth quart