Give Me The Rock

With Christmas only a couple of days away, here is an early edition of The Week In Trends (as I will be busy heckling carolers over the weekend). Stick a bow on it and give it as a gift to your loved ones.

Trending Up

• First, let’s talk about a Tony Allen and Gerald Wallace, who appear on the list for the second straight week. Since this table is based on a shortened week, Allen and Wallace have only played one game, however, they both made it a good one. With Sean May out for a second straight game, Wallace had 28 points and 5 steals in 48 minutes. Those 48 minutes involved 2 overtimes and an eventual loss thanks to David Lee tip. Wait to see what happens when May returns. Tony Allen is likely gone from just about every waiver wire out there now that Paul Pierce is out for 2-3 weeks with an injury. It’s all about the kids, right? Well, it’s time to see what a West/Allen/Green rotation will do for the Celtics.
• Channing Frye scored a career high 30 points in that Knicks/Bobcats double overtime game. It’s nice to see him put up more points than Kobe Bryant this week, but I think everyone’s expectations are still tempered at this point.
• Are you in need of assists? Claxton’s gotten some attention for his play while Tyronne Lue has been out with a groin strain. Ride him while you can.
• Good news for Gasol owners - he’s been looking better by the game. His last one saw 16 points in 23 minutes. Personally, I thought there was no way he’d be back so soon, but I’m some sort of a bizarro RotoGuru anyway.
• A couple of days ago, I traded Ricky Davis for Brad Miller, which means that I’ve just screwed all of you Brad Miller owners out there. Be on the lookout for his upcoming injury.
• John Salmons is filling for a hurting Ron Artest, but it looks like Ron Artest will be back soon, if not tonight.
• Quick word association. Josh Howard :: Solid.
• Alexander Johnson? If you’re hungry for more information, check out this HoopsWorld article, Grizzlies: Introducing Alexander Johnson a.k.a. Alexander The Great

At the 1:26 mark of the second quarter, Johnson entered the game. By the 1:12 mark, Johnson officially introduced himself to the home crowd with a thunderous dunk. Just seconds later, Johnson registered his first block of the game against Zach Randolph. Randolph proceeded to miss his final two shots of the half against the defense of Johnson. Not only did Johnson’s energy stabilize Randolph, but he continued to frustrate Randolph until finally fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Johnson finished the game with 6 points (4-4 FT), 7 rebounds (4 OFF), one blocked shot and one assist in less than 19 minutes of play.

Trending Down

• It wasn’t the greatest week for the NBA elite. Kobe’s GMTR ranking dropped to 8. Shockingly, he only averaged 23 points a game on the week and was almost, just almost, outscored by Kwame Brown on the 19th.
• Trade Alert! Jason Richardson is back from a knee, as they say, and Monta Ellis’ value will suffer (when he returns from his own sprained foot). From Yahoo:
  

  Jason Richardson is back in the lineup after struggling with knee problems, and Warriors coach Don Nelson had been using a three-guard lineup that included Baron Davis, Ellis, and Richardson as starters. But Nelson has made it clear that he won’t stick with it, saying “JR’s inability to rebound at the small forward kind of forces me to make that maybe a finishing team, not a team that I would play much.” Nelson added, “I would think that Monta would be coming off the bench and be my third guard.”

  Of course, the Warriors backcourt is made of papier-mâché, so this situation will likely work itself out.

• Carlos Boozer is a guy you might want to sell high on, provided you can get second round value for him. It’s not that Boozer isn’t good (I love double-doubles too), it’s just that he’s not top 20 good.
• Al Harrington managed to score 0 points on the 17th. No, I don’t recall saying that he was the number two scoring option on the Pacers.
• Bibby hurt? That would explain some things.

Happy Holiday’s everyone! I hope you all get that HDTV you’ve been waiting for.