The Week In Trends: The O-Fer

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Ballin Outta Control, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: February 5th, 2007

I’ve been MIA around here over the last week plus thanks to a little something called “walking pneumonia” which is named as such because it’s not severe enough to actually be hospitalized, but still enough to send me into fits of dry-heave-like coughing for a week straight. I think the worst of it is over now and hopefully I’ll be able to get back in the swing. And don’t worry about me, the pneumonia is all part of my master life plan to develop the world’s greatest immune system by first catching every disease possible. Next up? Syphilis.

Most Improved Week

• What the hell was up with Austin Croshere’s game against the Sonics on the 30th? I know Josh Howard was out for the birth of his first child, but Croshere exploded for 34 points, 7 threes, and 7 rebounds. And then he when right back to being Austin Croshere against the next day, scoring 0 points, and following that up with another 0 point game.
• As the Wolves only scoring option behind Kevin Garnett, Ricky Davis has picked it up and averaged 5 threes a game during the past couple of weeks. He’s also been hitting about 50% of them. As stated in NBA.com’s Jump Ball: 2/4/07, Davis is a career 33.9% three point shooter, so I wouldn’t expect the good times to last, but it is still good news for all Davis owners that, unlike the start of the year, he’s taking those threes.
• I’m glad Gerald Wallace remembered there was a NBA season going on. Not only is his scoring up, but the blocks and rebounds are back as well (which is even better from a fantasy point of view). Sean May will likely return for the Bobcats this week, which will deflate some of Wallace’s new found value.
• Eddie House shoots like a starter, averaging a shot every 2.2 minutes. And with enough time, he could play like a starter, as can be seen in the Nets’ 1/31 game. But even on this depleted Nets team, he can’t get consistent minutes and he remains free agent fodder.
• Need more evidence that the Celtics are deliberately tanking for a high draft pick? Welcome to the Brian Scalabrine era!
• Vlad Rad is sporting the sweet Vlade Divac beard and it immediately adds a big sack of credibility to his game. As long as Luke Walton is out with an injury, Radmanovic should get enough minutes to be worth a look in deeper leagues.

It’s the beard I wish I could grow


• I picked up Marvin Williams in December and watched him destroy my team’s FG percentage with some 2, 3, and 4-fers. For anyone who didn’t suffer through the “I’ve just returned from injury” version of Marvin Williams and doesn’t harbor residual hatred, take a look at Williams now that his shot has returned.

Least Improved Week

• Just like many predicted, JR Smith appears to be a (slight) loser in the AI trade. Since returning from suspension, he’s down about 3 minutes and 2 points a game. That’s not a huge decrease, but enough to drop Smith’s value by about 20 spots on the rater.
• Wally Szczerbiak (recently) and David West (less recently) have returned from their respective injuries and both hit a rough patch this past week. Szczerbiak is still coming off the bench and only averaging about 20 minutes a game. Supposedly, Doc Rivers likes Szczerbiak coming off the bench so that we can all get a little more Brian Scalabrine in our lives. West, on the other hand is getting 35+ minutes a game, but the word is that he’s still working on getting back into rhythm.
• Chris Paul made his return last week and not surprisingly, Bobby Jackson and Jannero Pargo end up with a couple of the biggest drops of the week. Neither is worth your time in all but the biggest leagues.
• Rasheed Wallace put up his own 0-fer on the 31st, but otherwise his rap skills are solid.
• Dwight Howard may be spending too much time thinking about the slam dunk contest and not enough time rebounding (the slacker averaged less than 9 a game last week). Although I’m excited about seeing this:

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