The Basketball Experts League has completed one month of competition and things are starting to heat up.  Michael Vu from FantasySportsMatrix.com has an early lead, but there are so many factors to consider.  Fantapedia.net will help you see past the smoke and mirrors in order to get an idea about what's really going on.  Hopefully, you'll be able to apply that in your own fantasy leagues.

Here's the current BEL standings:

1. Michael Vu (FantasySportsMatrix.com)  84.5 (Game Pace +26)

2. Ari Bluestein (SportsFanBase.com)  71 (Game Pace +21)

3. Ken Slight (BasketballMonster.com)  69 (Game Pace +33)

4. Phil Partington (Fantapedia.net)  68 (Game Pace +4)

5. John Karalis (RedsArmy.com) 67.5 (Game Pace +12)

6. Zach Harper (TalkHoops.net)  64 (Game Pace +25)

7. Matt Satten (DroppingDimes.com)  62 (Game Pace -13)

8. Patrick Lee (GOTathletes.com)  51.5 (Game Pace -26)

9. Geoff Stein (MockDraftCentral.com)  49 (Game Pace -8)

10. Howard Mash (GameDayDraft.com)  41 (Game Pace -40)

11. Matthew Hinzpeter (FantasyInsiderOnline.com)  38.5 (Game Pace -3)

12. Julie Simmons (SportsRefuge.com)  36 (Game Pace -2)
 

It's important not to simply look at your league standings at this point and figure it tells the whole story. Remember, in a lot of leagues, including this one, you have a limited amount of games used.  How you use those games is just as important as where your game pace is.  For instance, if you max out your utility spots right away and leave an over-abundance of forward slots to be used, you'll have a harder time filling those slots because it means you can play fewer players per day.  Being too far ahead of pace isn't necessarily a bad thing, but only if you have reason to be. If the players you're playing are red hot, by all means, don't sit them! However, if you're just throwing players in just to get games in and some of those players are ice cold, you're really doing yourself a disservice.  At the same time, not getting your games in gives you a huge disadvantage at the end of the season. The goal is to find a good balance. As you can see, some BEL managers might be swaying too far in the positives or negatives as far as their game pace goes. Luckily, there's still time for them to redirect their ships if they feel the need to. Here's a look at what the standings would look like by averages: 

1. Howard Mash (GameDayDraft.com)  80

2. Matt Satten (DroppingDimes.com)  75

3. Patrick Lee (GOTathletes.com)  75

4. Michael Vu (FantasySportsMatrix.com)  72.5

5. Phil Partington (Fantapedia.net)  66.5

6. John Karalis (RedsArmy.com) 59.5

7. Zach Harper (TalkHoops.net)  53.5

8. Ari Bluestein (SportsFanBase.com)  53

9. Geoff Stein (MockDraftCentral.com)  52

10. Ken Slight (BasketballMonster.com)  48.5

11. Matthew Hinzpeter (FantasyInsiderOnline.com)  37

12. Julie Simmons (SportsRefuge.com)  34.5

Obviously, just because this is how things would look if we went purely by averages doesn't mean this is how things will end up.  It usually works out that the more games you get in, the lower your average will be.  Moreover, if some of these managers keep to the pace their currently at, they won't be close to getting all their games in.

Here's a team-by-team look at the situation for each BEL manager: