Give Me The Rock

Two things changed for GMTR over the Thanksgiving holiday break (and this week so far); neither of these changes will affect any thing you see on the surface, but should make for a better GiveMeTheRock.com starting today, and well into seasons to come…

There is a reason that this post has been 3 days in the making: I’ve started using the Dvorak keyboard to try to minimize the number of awkward positions I curl my hand into while typing. When your hands start feeling cramped up after a day of typing, you know something is going on. Seeing as my hands are (one of) the most important pieces of equipment for my job, I felt it was important to try to preserve them for as long as possible. The fact that I’m able to write this post after only my second full day is a testament to how easy it is to make Dvorak work for you (either that, or it shows how brilliant I am).

So, while that is slowing me down temporarily, hopefully it will contribute to an increase in my ability to post in the long run. So, to compensate for the hit in productivity, I joined a FantasyBasketball.com league (with 2 of the other writers there - as well as 13 other people) on Yahoo and bought the StatTracker service. The best part is that since the guy running the league writes for FantasyBasketball.com he’s using 15 category scoring for the league. So, I have a ton of stats that I can see updated in real time every night (my wife is really excited about that too). I plan on bringing back the Central Starr feature on a regular basis, and I figure that I’ll be able to know what’s going on as soon as it happens. For example, I know that Michael Redd had a thigh contusion that caused him to miss yesterday’s game. I might not have known that if I hadn’t seen that he didn’t get any stats in last night’s game.

Okay, that’s enough rambling for now…

Now, I am probably a little biased since I’ve been waiting all season for Sarunas Jasikevicius to start Ballin Outta Control, but if your 3rd point guard is looking a little weak (like if perhaps his name is Jaric) you should certainly consider Sar Jas before he’s picked up in every league that’s not mine.

Nov. 24th: 6-9 with 5 threes, in only 20 minutes.
Nov. 25th: 5-12 (not so good) with 2 threes, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO in 29 minutes.

Just the fact that he had 29 minutes says something. When he’s on, he is almost too efficient. If he was getting a couple more assists per game he could easily force Jamaal Tinsley to the bench. Rick Carlisle also needs to make sure that Fred Jones doesn’t play more than his 24.6 minute average. I’m sorry, but he’s just not as good as Sick Vicious.

The Pacers play 4 games next week against Utah, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. Watch out.

Now, despite being an admitted fantasy freak myself, I am offended by none of the things Anthony has posted over at The NBA Source. In fact, as an owner of a fantasy basketball weblog, I feel it is part of my duty to educate fantasy basketball players by directing them to this post. I will even do you the favor of pointing out the most critical Rule that Anthony has.

The NBA Source: Calling All Fantasy Addicts:

RULE #4: Teams come first

I’m sick of hearing things like, “Ah shit, the Jets lost again but I think those two Jerricho Cottchery touchdowns should seal the deal for me in fantasy. That’s all that matters…” No that’s not all that matters. Back in the day, around like 1600, people actually rooted for sports teams. They watched every game not worrying about the individual, but rather the results of the entire team. I know this sounds crazy, but those were good times. I swear.

Sometimes, I have a hard time watching the Bulls (like when they were playing Seattle and Rashard Lewis was tearing it up), but I will NEVER say something like “It’s okay they lost that game because Rashard hit the game winning three-pointer.” If you console yourself after your team loses with the fact that it helped your fantasy team in some way, you need to put down the computer right now.

Sportsline is telling me that Stevenson hurt his knee on Monday and will require surgery:

According to the Orlando Sentinel, DeShawn Stevenson hurt his knee in practice on Monday and he will need surgery at some point.

Obviously, with him out of the lineup, Jameer Nelson once again has the chance to shine. I have Stevenson on my team right now since he’s been playing all right with Grant Hill out. I don’t think he’s worth keeping on a team with the injury now, though, since he’s not that big of a contributor in the first place. Also keep an eye on Keyon Dooling; he’s capable of putting the ball in the hole.

Thanks to yahoo image search for this official GMTR “Smoove Movers” logo:

Thanks to Basketball Monster for the nicely formatted HTML table:

Excuse me for never having heard of Kevin Burleson, but since he’s only playing 13 minutes a game (up from 2), I think I’ll survive.

I’ll put my stamp of approval on everyone except the aforementioned Burleson, and Double D. Diop has got to get a ton of minutes in order to produce anything. The rest of the guys above really are on fire. Stoudamire’s 30 points on 73% shooting certainly doesn’t hurt. If he keeps shooting 52% as he as in the past 5 games, his minutes should have a solid base of about 25-26 a game.

Just a quick update…

After losing in week 1, I was down big in week 2… but thanks to Gilbert Arenas and Rashard Lewis throwing in 40+ each, I was able to storm back and even my record at 1-1. I’m now 6th overall and in the “Power” rankings (weighted by record, points for, and points against).

This week I’m leading the Cantankerous Succubi by 2 points with 2 more games over the weekend (for those fantasy basketball rookies, counting games is something that the pros do. Even though it often times doesn’t matter, it’s something that’s required in order to become a true fantasy basketball obsessionato). A win would being CS down off his 2-0 throne and elevate me above an 0-3 plebians that may remain after this week.

1. About.com: Don’t Panic on These Five

2. About.com: Bail on These Five Flops

I’m not ready to give up on Josh Childress just yet… I’m not so sure about Kwame either. But then, if Phil Jackson coached Michael Jordan into a superstar, and Michael Jordan (some would say) destroyed Kwame Brown, what do you expect with Jackson coaching Kwame? I don’t think that makes any sense… but it’s interesting to think about.

3. Sportsline talks about Lebron and others. 4. They also have a handy planner for next week…

5. And, if you hadn’t noticed, Carlos Loozer is out for another month. And I don’t think I’ve seen that nickname anywhere else before! I claim this land for Give Me The Rock!

As a bonus, I’ve organized a bunch of previously random categories into the Player News category. If you’re looking for who’s hot, any free agent news (next summer, maybe?), Injuries, Sleepers, and Trades - just look at the categories under Player News. Of course, this requires you to scroll all the way down the page to see where the categories are located. Que sera, sera.