Here are a few random thoughts as I peruse the box scores from last night’s NBA action:

- Al Horford was the high efficiency man on the night (+38), matching LeBron’s total from the night before. He posted 24 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and looks like a “go-to” post player instead of the complementary player he was last season. Josh Smith was also highly efficient (+29) with 18 points (on 7-10 shooting), eight assists, five steals, three rebounds and two blocks. The duo took advantage of the Pacers’ front line.

- Elton? Elton? Where are you? Elton Brand’s bounce-back season got off to a rough start (8p, 6r, 2a). Marreese Speights (26p, 5r) and Lou Williams (18p, 4a, 4r) were the two bright spots in the Sixers’ loss to the Magic.

- Two games…two losses for the Cavs. It’s early, but this is not how LeBron and Co. wanted to start the season. James had a triple-double (23p, 11r, 12a), but missed 12 shots. Mo Williams scored 16 points, but missed 10 shots. Shaq posted 12 points and seven rebounds. The Cavs shot 35% from the field.

- The Raptors look revitalized. Andrea Bargnani (28p, 5r) is starting to look like a young Dirk Nowitzki, though doesn’t rebound nearly as well. Chris Bosh (21p, 16r) might very well re-sign if Toronto can get back into the top four or five in the East.

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Here are a few random thoughts as I peruse the box scores from opening night action:

- Is this what we’re going to get from Mo Williams (12p, 0r, 3a)? He averaged 18p/4r/4a last season, but there are a lot of new faces in Cleveland, including Shaq. It’s only one game, but it’s worrisome.

- LeBron was the high efficiency man on the night with +38. His line (38p, 8a, 4r, 4b, 2s) plus 55% shooting is the model of efficiency. He was even 4 of 9 from long range.

- Paul Pierce (23p, 11r) was quiet much of the second but took over in the fourth quarter. With KG and Ray-Ray getting older, he’s a safe bet to lead the C’s in scoring on any given night.

- Rasheed Wallace (12p, 3r, 2b) was reasonably efficient in 24 minutes. He’s not as tough in the pain, but he can stretch the floor in a way that Kendrick Perkins can’t.

- He’s baaaaack. Gilbert Arenas (29p, 9a) made a splash in his first game back, and shot 48% from the field.

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BALL DON’T LIE recently published a guest post from RealGM’s Alex Kennedy that discusses why fantasy basketball is struggling when compared to fantasy football. Kennedy goes on to promote PASPN, a company that runs uber-realistic 30-team leagues where fantasy owners can play GM or even take the role as agent to negotiate contracts for their clients.

But what about fantasy basketball as it stands? Is there a way to fix it?

I think so. As both an avid fantasy football and fantasy basketball owner, I think fantasy hoops struggles for several reasons:

Problem #1: Roto or category scoring systems are convoluted and difficult to understand/manage.
Most fantasy basketball leagues utilize one of two formats. A roto format awards points based on a team’s rank in each of several categories. The team with the most roto points at the end of the season wins the leagues. Another format is category scoring, where each team plays head to head with another team in several categories, so one team might win in points, rebounds and assists, but lose in FG%, turnovers and blocks.

Solution: Go to a head-to-head fantasy points system.
My recommendation is to use the NBA’s efficiency statistic to calculate fantasy points for each player. Here is how efficiency is calculated:

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