NLL Insider

Since I got a ton of emails from readers this week about certain guys starting (and I’m not complaining, thanks for the emails guys, keep ‘em coming), mainly to help give ‘em an edge in their NLL Fantasy league, just wanted to go over what I wrote back to most of them since it was a pretty hot topic.

It’s tough to know who’s always gonna be starting from week-to-week in the NLL, for a couple reasons.

Although there’s a few of us at NLL Insider that try to stay in the loop with every single team in the league, whether that be through a coach, GM, player or really any team official, not all teams in this league like to show all their cards leading up to game day.

The NLL holds a coaches conference call with the media each week and Terry Sanderson used to be famous for telling reporters to get onto their next question if they were snooping around for what T’s IR might look like.

He’d usually say something like, “With (insert opposition coach’s name here) on the line, I’m not prepared to let him know what my lineup is gonna look like this weekend.” The other coaches and media would usually laugh about it, but trust me, Sanderson was serious as hell that he wasn’t gonna give that info up.

And with a pretty short season where any win or loss could dictate what happens to you come playoff time (see that 6-10 log jam in the East last year), T’s one of many that aren’t prepared to give a team any kinda edge. Beneficial for the coach, but crappy for media trying to cover the game.

Some coaches give that info up, some don’t. Dave Huntley was definitely not screaming from the rafters on last week’s call that rook Merrick Thomson would be missing their tilt against Minny for a best friend’s wedding. Did that “secret” give the Wings the win last Friday night? Probably not, but every inch helps.

Also, unlike say the NFL, who require teams to submit rosters a certain amount of time prior to their weekend’s slate of games (something like a full day before their game), you don’t need to do that in the NLL (well you do, but just not so far in advanced) .

And with this really being a part-time league for most and with many teams still spread all over the country from Monday to usually Friday afternoon, it’s tough for GM’s and head coaches to always know 100% whether some sorta nagging injury will keep a guy out that weekend. Lots of those kinda decisions are usually made the nights before game day when guys are practicing as a group for the first time all week, or depending on their travel skeds, a lot of the time those calls are made just hours if not minutes before a game. It’s just how things work.

With a handful of eastern fly-ins still kicking around on a few western teams, delayed travel plans due to the million and one things that can hold up plane takeoffs are almost impossible to factor in too. That kidna stuff doesn’t seem to happen that much anymore, but from time-to-time it does.

Although there is a ton going on from Monday to Friday in this league, it truly is a weekend league for a large majority of the guys we see on the floor (and bench) on the weekend, which is a big reason why it’s so tough to figure out who may or may not see the floor on Saturday night.

So like I told the 20 or so fantasy ballers this past week on who they should start, I wish I coulda been more help but, “I have no idea.”

Anyways guys, we’ll do our best each week, so checkout what lineups should look like heading into week ten. A couple high profile names might be back in the lineup and even though appeals will likely be made, we’ve also inlcuded Kyle Couling and Mike Grimes as being on the sidelines due to the recent suspensions they’ve been hit with.