The ‘name players’ can make any team look scary. We've all experienced this at one point or another; we're in a league and there are 1 or 2 teams that are loaded with ‘name players’. But, unlike real life, this doesn't guarantee you a title contender... you've got to play for 9 categories.

Say you're in a 12-team league, and Team A somehow managed to draft Kobe, AK47, and Amare... meanwhile, Team B drafted Arenas, T-Mac, and Dwight "the Beast" Howard. You look at your Team (C), and feel as inadequate as you did when you were back in your HS gym showers. All you have to show is Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and Big Z (who you now regret reaching for).

Well, have no fear... it's only the first three picks and you too will have a shot at the top-2 spots in your league, and hell, even the title (if you play your cards right).

Let’s look at the top picks from Teams A & B

Team A puts up quality numbers across all of the stat cats, with PPG, RPG, and BPG being its strong suit, and percentages at least healthy enough to compete. Team B also has 3 big-name players that load the stat sheets, and similar to Team A, have 3 cats well-covered early on in PPG, SPG, and RPG... but are mediocre-to-decent in percentages. If both of these teams were in your league, they'd seem like locks for title contention or battle for top 3. Let’s now look at your team, though.

You drafted pretty safely, with 1 reach (as many beginner-to-novices, and even some vets, do) in Big Z. You've got percentages and 3PTM as your strengths with a nice run at APG and PPG.

Now comparing all 3 teams, all hope isn't lost. Team A has 2 VERY high injury risks in Amare and AK47. Guys who are great when healthy, but can go down for long stretches at a time. Team B has 1 VERY injury prone guy in T-Mac, who's also great when healthy, but who’s had serious back problems in the past. Looking at your own team, you have some medium injury risk guys in Nash and Big Z, but both of those guys have been able to stay fairly healthy over the last few seasons.

Also, Teams A & B both have 2 FT% killers in AK47, and Dwight Howard, whereas you have 2 excellent FT shooters, and one of the best FT shooting big men in the league, 2nd only to Yao. You're also right there in the thick of it with them in FG% battles, yet you've acquired two stats which usually drag down the column (3PTM and AST).

So, it's only 3 picks in and - provided you draft to the strengths of your roster - you'll be able to compete just fine. So... it's time to give you a quick guide for rounding out the rest of your team.

1. [Already hinted upon...] Don't draft poison-cat players that are a counter to your strengths. For example, stay away from a poor FT shooter like Shaq when you have Nash and Allen... they'll nullify each other out and make you lose in the category more times than not. Let someone else pick those poison-cat players, and you just keep on riding your strengths.

2. If you see a steal late, and it violates Rule 1... make sure you have enough coverage that the poison-cat player won't affect your strengths significantly. Good rule of thumb: 1 poison-cat player to every 4 strength players.

3. Draft starter players on mid-tiered NBA teams, and try to avoid the ones on the top teams. If you had to choose between Sam Cassell and Ricky Davis... go Davis. The reason being that chances are the Clippers would have locked up a high division seed late in the season and will play its veteran starters inconsistent minutes in preparation for the playoffs... whereas the T'Wolves would be fighting for a playoff spot and play everyone full-strength to snag one of the last seeds.

4. Draft a rookie or 2 in the last couple of rounds that you know will get a lot of playing time either because of injury or hype. Examples are: Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo, Marcus Williams, Sheldon Williams, Adam Morrison, and JJ Redick. But do so with respect to Rules 1-3.

5. Have fun... feel free to go wild with your last few picks, as these guys will most likely be your bench and insurance players...and you never know when you'll find the next gem at the end of your bench. So, you might as well reach for upside.

Now, all of what I just told you is to set up your team initially to compete with the name-filled teams like A & B. You always want to explore the other routes throughout the year (trades in conjunction with the waiver wire). With trades try 2-1's where you free up a roster spot while upgrading your team... then fill the extra spot with a waiver wire guy.

Until next time...

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Dharam is a guest writer for RotoFreak.com. If you'd like to comment on the article, please chime in on the boards.