How to Use Twitter to Win Your Fantasy Basketball League

Twitter…Fantasy Basketball…Am I really serious?

Yes!

After your draft, the single most important thing you can do to stay competitive in your league is staying on top of player news.  In today’s information age, however, the person with the most information doesnt necessarily win.  It’s the person that gets the information first that has the real advantage.  Being the first in your league with information on trades, injuries, scores and suspensions can literally make or break your team.  The info will influence your trades, which players you drop and which players you pick up.  Trust me – I know this from experience.  Last year, I picked up Hedo Turkoglu after seeing a very impressive stat line in an early season game.  Hedo ended up being an fantasy bball rockstar last year and helped me win the league championship for the first time ever.

So how does Twitter play into all of this?  Through the amazing power of Twitter search.  With Twitter search, you can put in a keyword and see tweets happening in real time that contain your keyword.  The best way to explain the power of this is through example.  On the first day of the NBA season I found myself checking the box score for the Lakers/Trailblazers game before going to bed.  According to the box score, Greg Oden had only played 12 minutes in the first half and, midway through the 3rd quarter, had not returned to the game.  I had a feeling Oden was hurt, but didnt know how to confirm.  The announcers werent saying anything (the injury happened 2 quarters ago), the box score only gave me minutes played, and a google search was, for once, unhelpful.  So, I turned to twitter search and typed in the keyword Oden.  I was literally amazed by the results.  NBA fans from around the country who were watching the game were twittering updates on Oden’s health.  As it turns out, Oden got hurt in the first quarter and never returned.  Using twitter search, I got this information about an hour before anyone who wasnt watching the game live. Info in hand, I picked up back up center Joel Pryzbilla, a rebounding machine who will become a valuable throw in player for a trade later on in the season.

If you are serious about winning your league, you have to use all the tools at your disposal to gain an edge on the competition.  Twitter is the most impressive tool I have seen in a while for this.  Now stop being lazy and set up a twitter account and follow me @jbeyda