June 12 -Greetings. Welcome to the second installment of The Triple Threat Time Machine. If you missed last week's edition, let me briefly explain what we are doing here.
You are playing the WNBA Triple Threat Fantasy Challenge. If you aren't playing it, you should start playing it now. You are looking for some sound advice when making your daily selections so that you can win a trip to a WNBA Finals game. Matthew Brennan, the resident WNBA Fantasy Guru, is doing a fine job guiding you along a solid path to success with his weekly Threat Assessment articles.
What I wanted to do, however, was take a different approach. Whereas The Guru is using brains and knowledge of the WNBA and its players, I am using science, statistics, and an insatiable love for spreadsheets.
So, to recap: Brennan uses hunches, inside information, and history as his guide. The Time Machine uses season averages, adjustments based on opponents, and home/road recognition.
I don't know about you, but I'm liking The Time Machine. It's like beating a computer at chess. You're not going to do it.
So the plan was to compare the results of my picks to those of The Guru every week. This was assuming that Mr. Brennan would make picks that deviated from that of The Time Machine.
The thing is, my article comes out on Monday, his on Friday. So there is some overlap. Let's look at who chose what and the results:
| Date | Time Machine Pick | Time Machine PRA | Brennan Pick | Brennan PRA | |
| 6/5 | No Games | 0 | No Games | 0 | |
| 6/6 | Yolanda Griffith | 31 | Yolanda Griffith | 31 | |
| 6/7 | Lauren Jackson | 26 | Nykesha Sales | 19 | |
| 6/8 | No Games | 0 | No Games | 0 | |
| 6/9 | Lisa Leslie | 34 | Lisa Leslie | 34 | |
| 6/10 | Vickie Johnson | 26 | Vickie Johnson | 26 | |
| 6/11 | Sheryl Swoopes | 0 | Sheryl Swoopes | 0 |
First, let me point out that The Guru copies. He's the kid in high school who peeked over your shoulder during tests and gets all of the credit when he gest an A. No one likes the guy.
Second, neither he nor the Time Machine were able to adjust picks to reflect the injury to Sheryl Swoopes. Hopefully you made note of it and adjusted your picks accordingly.
Third, The Time Machine WINS. It's a small victory, but we'll take it. You can't beat science.
This week, let's keep The Time Machine's picks on the down low. Maybe Brennan won't read this and copy us this time.
Numbers in, results out. The winning results. And here they are:
| Regular Season | Projected | ||||||||||
| Day | Player | Team | vs. | Pts | Reb | Ast | PRA | Pts | Reb | Ast | PRA |
| Monday | NO GAMES ON THIS DAY | ||||||||||
| Tuesday | Lisa Leslie | LOS | PHO | 21.3 | 11.8 | 2.9 | 36.0 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 41 |
| Wednesday | Seimone Augustus | MIN | SEA | 22.8 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 28.8 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 29 |
| Thursday | Lauren Jackson | SEA | CHI | 19.7 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 28.9 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 31 |
| Friday | Nykesha Sales | CON | PHO | 16.4 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 24.9 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 30 |
| Saturday | Alana Beard | WAS | NYL | 21.1 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 27.4 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 29 |
| Sunday | Diana Taurasi | PHO | MIN | 23.0 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 30.7 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 33 |
On a side note, I wanted to send out a feeler on WNBA rotisserie leagues. Do you play in one? Would you like to play in one on WNBA.com? We may offer such a game next season if the interest is there. If you are playing in one now and would like a weekly article for strategy advice, we may be able to cook one of those up as well.
Give me a shout and let me know how you feel.