February 13, 2011; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots over Detroit Pistons power forward Greg Monroe (10) during the second quarter at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Michael Sackett-US PRESSWIRE

Point based fantasy basketball is a lot more like fantasy basketball.  In more than a couple senses.  First off, you don’t have to balance your team for categories.

Secondly, you don’t have to give equal weight to positions, because of that.  But there is a scarcity of centers in the league and drafting two power forwards with center eligibility is huge, and there are a lot of value picks to be had later at the point guard, shooting guard, and small forward positions.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love are both young.  Youth is key.  As is the state of their body.  I would be avoiding guys like Andrew Bynum (taken 8th overall) and Al Jefferson (No. 16 overall), and guys who are on the tail end of their primes (No. 17 overall Dwyane Wade).

The same thought process went behind Monroe, and the comparisons to a young Tim Duncan that can’t block shots are accurate.  Methodical, not overly athletic, but more coordinated than a carnival juggler.

Monroe is very smooth with his moves and is a franchise talent for the Detroit Pistons.  They paired him with Brandon Knight, who is very effective in real life and not so great in fantasy.  But his effect on Monroe will be profound, as he is a good creator and penetrator to open up spots for Monroe under the hoop.

The thought in Detroit was to go big (not unusual in team history) and pair a top tier center with basically another top tier center, in Andre Drummond.  That twin towers lineup will be dangerous.  Drummond, by the way went No. 6 overall in the rookie draft.  I knew I had no chance at picks 9 and 12 to get him, so I went with Royce White & Andrew Nicholson (More on this later).

In Aldridge you get an All-Star in his prime, and very valuable player in this league for his double double production (points are awarded for double doubles), and his inevitable increase in scoring on a horrible Portland Trail Blazers team.  With Monroe you get a franchise center who is projected to post 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.8 blocks, while fouling only 2.9 times per game (fouls are negative points in this league).

The two point guards I have my eyes on could be my next two picks, or I may take a player who has slipped.  We’ll see.