Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Carson Cistulli and I cover the NBA for RotoWire. As part of my basketballing duties, I served as this year's So-Called Expert for the Pick One Challenge, a game very similar to the one you're about to play here. Apparently I didn't embarrass myself that badly, as the kindly people of NBA.com have retained my services for the postseason.

The rules of the Drive are simple. You pick a player every day of the playoffs, and you can't pick the same player twice. Add up the number of points, rebounds, and assists (PRA) that your player nets in said game, and that's how many points you receive.

During the course of the playoffs, I'll be sharing my picks with all y'alls on a daily basis, which will give everyone a chance to point and laugh when certain of my suggestions fail miserably. You're welcome in advance for the joy this will undoubtedly provide you.

Furthermore, I'll be using this space to discuss the finer points of Drive-related strategery. While I'm not so gullible as to reveal all my tactics, on account of I'm getting a hella lot of money to provide a service to my fellow Drivers, it's only polite for me fulfill my duties.

To start off in this effort, here are some basic guidelines to help your entry compete:

1. Make a Bracket

I'll discuss this more fully in my next dispatch, but hear me now and believe me later: you definitely want to enter the Drive with an idea of which teams will and which teams will not advance. For example, as nutso as it might sound, I'm pretty confident that seventh seed San Antonio will defeat second seed Dallas in the first round. As such, I'll make an effort to pick any relevant Dallas players early on. Of course, I can always adapt: if Dallas wins the first three games of their series, then I can use that opportunity to look elsewhere. Until that happens, though, expect to see more than a single Maverick among my early selections.


2. Home Is Where the Smart Is

According to the Wall Street Journal, the average NBA teams wins by about 3.5 points per game. As for where those points come from -- or whether they are, indeed, wholly the effect of great defensive efforts -- I'm not one to say. Still, it stands to reason that a player is likely to provide more production on his home court, in front of his home fans, after having slept in his home, er, home. It might not be a huge increase in production, but the Driver needs to utilize every competitive advantage.


3. Make a Pick, Any Pick

Even worse than picking a sub-par player for a game is picking no player at all. It's as true for the Drive as for other fantasy games: even though you don't normally think about it, playing time is frequently the single biggest contributor to a player's value. In the case of the Drive, 0 MP = 0 PRA. Unsure about a star's availability on a given day? Look elsewhere. If you want to compete in the Drive, you've got to be on point every day.


Now, without further ado, are my first two picks of the Drive season:

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2010
Player: Carmelo Anthony - DEN
Opposition: vs Utah
2009-2010 Averages: 28.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.2 APG (38.0 PRA)
General Thoughts: If I'm doing things right during this here Drive to the Finals, there will always be two criteria informing each pick I make (beyond the normal consideration of whether a player is good, I mean). The first criterion is whether I feel the player's team will make it through to the next round. Might his team get eliminated? If so, it's a good idea to take him early. Additionally, I'll attempt to pick a player who's playing at home. In this case, I'm selecting Anthony, as I'm skeptical about Denver's chances of advancing. Still, he'll have the home crowd behind him tonight. Voila, in other words.

Date: Sunday, April 19, 2010
Player: Dirk Nowitzki - DAL
Opposition: vs San Antonio
2009-2010 Averages: 25.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.7 APG (35.4 PRA)
General Thoughts: If it's not already painfully obvious, allow me to admit it now: I'm a nerd. Shocking, right? Well, anyway, one of the paths down which my nerdom has led me is that of quantitative analysis in sport -- or, in plain English, stats. There are a lot of bad stats out there, to be sure; one must be smart. However, there's also stuff out there that can help a nerdbone like me defeat -- I don't know -- Charles Barkley, for example, in the NBA's Drive to the Finals. One such stat makes it clear that San Antonio has a pretty good chance of beating Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. As such, I'm selecting Dirk tonight while he's still around and playing on his home court.

The views expressed by RotoWire.com represent only the views of  the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA  team.