Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
Dikembe Mutombo, when not soliciting for the sexing of Mutombo, grabs rebounds for the Houston Rockets. And ever since Yao Ming’s injury, he’s been grabbing a lot of them: 14.25 a game in his 8 starts this year. But the thought of Mutombo on my fantasy team hasn’t occurred to me since approximately 2002. So, when I came across this paragraph on Dropping Dimes Wire to Wire, my first thought was – ‘that’s complete bullshit, Sarge’:
Dikembe Mutombo: Seven straight games of double-digit boards and at least one block. Dikembe apparently feels like it’s 1999 all over again, and since I own him, I’m not about to tell him otherwise. Since Houston has also rattled off six wins in their last seven games, I don’t think they have a problem with the production either. Huge hit.
Really? Mutombo? A huge hit? The Mutombo who is averaging 5 points a game? The Mutombo who hit his mid-thirities while he was enrolled at Georgetown?
So, I wanted to find out, can a Mutombo who contributes in only two categories actually be worth a starting spot on my fantasy team? To do that, I took his last 6 starts (he was getting fewer minutes in his first two starts than he is now):
5.3 points, 0 3’s, 15 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks
And I ran those averages through the GMTR player rater. Then, eagerly scanning down the list of players, I came to:
#66.
Yep. Mutombo was at 66. Two spots ahead of Shane Battier. Considering I’ve been starting Marvin Williams for the past few weeks, Mutombo is a clear starter on my team. Or any team. With my track records this year, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but damn, that is a huge hit, Sarge.
Then, I thought, what if Mutombo stopped playing offense entirely. He’s not doing much of it now, but, what if, while McGrady and company took the ball down the court, Mutombo just stood on the defense end under the basket waiting for the other team to return. How would Mutombo rate if he only played defense?
0 points, 0 3’s, 15 rebounds, 0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks
I ran those averages and defense only Mutombo came in at:
#108
In fact, if Mutombo did nothing but grab rebounds, he would still come in ranked above Marvin Williams on the player rater. It turns out, a 2-category guy can be worth not only having – but starting – on your team. It’s just too bad that when I went to add Mutombo, he had already been picked up by another team. I probably should have checked that first.
So, it’s too late for me, but how about you?
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