Pass before you shoot

There are many ways to play fantasy basketball — rotisserie, head to head, lineups that can be changed any time and lineups that lock just prior to Monday night’s tip. With that in mind, Athlon Sports gives you the Fantasy Dime — 10 things to assist you before you have to lock in that lineup for the week.

There are two weeks to go in most head-to-head fantasy basketball seasons. When it comes down to crunch time I certainly have no problem taking the shot, but I also have no problem looking around the court to see who might be able to increase my odds of winning.

While you might stick with one source during the bulk of the regular season, as it gets closer to playoff time you may need some other influences to back up what you've already done to get to this point. For example, I currently hold a three-game lead in my league going into the final two weeks of the season but want to make sure I've got every possible angle covered to close it out.

So let me help you do the same.

If you really want to crunch the numbers, check out Basketball Monster.

Here's Sports Illustrated's take.

Here's ESPN's top 130 for the week.

Here's ESPN's category helpers story.

Here are Yahoo Sports' Dashboard Part I and II.

Here's CBS' start 'em, sit 'em.

Here's one of my favorite blogs, Razzball.

Here's Rotoworld's waiver wire jumbo sized.

And even fake teams need real takes from Faketeams.com

Next week, after the trades have settled in and more buyouts and signings are conducted, we will have a much better vision of how the final week of the regular season and the playoffs will unfold. Until then, good luck with your final push toward the postseason.

— Corby A. Yarbrough @AthlonCorby on Twitter