Give Me The Rock

Ballhype, as I’m sure you’re aware, is a very cool sports-related “social content network” – I believe that’s what the kids are calling it these days. Anyway, a small part of the “social’ in social networking comes from the ability to create and join groups with other users. I personally belong to the Carnival of the NBA and Basketball Addicts groups. Think these groups kind of like the Justice League, without the superpowers or women.

Well, the other day I was scrolling through the group listings on the site and I saw some fantasy football and fantasy baseball groups. I saw groups devoted to fantasy college basketball and fantasy college football. Hell, I even saw a fantasy MLS group. Strangely, there was no fantasy basketball group to be found. None. I don’t know how fantasy soccer upstages basketball, but there it was. So, if you’re a Ballhype regular (and if you’re here I don’t see why you wouldn’t be) come and join the new fantasy basketball group I created. My goal is to make it cooler than the soccer group and I need your help to do that. Well, at least one of you.

What are the benefits? Well, it’s free. That’s awesome. It’s not like people are giving away free stuff like tacos everyday. There’s a forum, perfect for talking fantasy basketball (or cheerleaders if you want. I’m not going to stop you). I’ve linked up to the Ballhype NBA Golden Picks Contest, so we can see who knows the most about betting on basketball. There are also tons of NBA and fantasy NBA related articles being fed into the group, waiting to quench your never ending thirst for all things basketball. Plus, Amanda really wants you to join.

Join the Fantasy Basketball Group on Ballhype
Join the Fantasy Basketball Group on Ballhype for Amanda

And we are a go. The Spurs, Rockets, and Jazz were all winners in the first night of NBA action.

Player of the Night: Kobe Bryant (with a one night player rating of 13.6). That’s what 45 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and a block will do.

Honorable mentions: Baron Davis (12.4), Yao Ming (10.3), Manu Ginobili (8.7), Andrei Kirilenko (8.2), Carlos Boozer (8.0), and Deron Williams (8.0).

Not Quite Honorable Mentions, but guys who deserve the attention: LaMarcus Aldridge (5.5), Mickael Pietrus (5.2), Derek Fisher (4.8), Martell Webster (4.6), Paul Millsap (4.6), Ronnie Brewer (3.4), Joel Przybilla (3.3), and Mike James (2.8).

All great games from everyone above, but congrats to anyone who took a risk on LaMarcus Aldridge – 27 points and a couple blocks on the night. I think he may have arrived.

Goat of the Night: Mehmet Okur. What the hell was that? 0 for 4 from the field? Three rebounds? Thanks for the 3 turnovers though.

I was checking on my fantasy team this morning and I noticed that there was one of those little yellow news updates with the red explosion coming out of the side (so you know it’s new) next to Dwyane Wade’s name. It read:

According to the Miami Herald, Wade is making significant progress in his recovery from offseason surgeries on his knee and shoulder.

Hey, now that’s the news I’ve been waiting to hear. According to Wade, it’s still possible that he’ll be cleared to practice before Nov. 15, the target date for his return. That news makes me feel a lot better about drafting Wade in a couple leagues, especially in the GMTR readers league where we have a measly three bench spots. I wasn’t excited about losing 33% of my bench while Wade sat out for an extend time. Now if everything goes well, I won’t have to.

A couple of days ago, I wondered what the hell constituted an ankle sprain. Well, Jim Zegers of RotoWire.com (via NBA.com) steps up to the plate and breaks it down.

When the ankle inverts, or rolls on the outer edge of the foot, ligaments on the outside of the ankle may stretch beyond their normal elastic limits. In more severe cases they can tear, either partially or completely.

Ouch. He ends the article with this informative piece of info for Durant owners.

I would not expect Durant to play in those [preseason games] and realistically, the season opener on Halloween night is in doubt despite his promise to be ready.

Be prepared to get Durant out of your lineup for Wednesday if that’s the case.

The Wolves bought out Juwan Howard’s contract on Monday. The buyout amount wasn’t disclosed, but Howard was due about $7 per year over the next two years. Speculation is that Howard will likely to end up with the Cavs to help out Lebron while Anderson Varejao is still MIA with his a contract dispute. That would put Howard right behind Drew Gooden on the Cavs depth chart (unless you think Donyell Marshall is the answer) and possibly makes him a decent pickup in deeper leagues.

If you were on the fence, now is the time to get Yi Jianlian in your starting lineup. Jianlian will be in Milwakee’s starting lineup for their opener on Wednesday, with Charlie Villanueva coming off the bench. I don’t know if you’d actually call Yi’s preseason encouraging – he averaged 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 8 games – but it certainly wasn’t a disaster. I expect Villanueva to overtake him for the starting spot eventually, well, unless some Chinese Triads are extorting Buck’s owner Herb Kohl.

This news is a little stale, but Chucky Atkins is expected to miss six to eight weeks after severely straining his right groin. Unlike the ankle sprain, I’m not at all interested in finding more out about a severe groin strain. I’ll just assume rehab involves six to eight weeks of lying on a couch trying to avoid pornography and other naughty thoughts.

In a blast from the past, Penny Hardaway made the Heat roster, which is probably an indictment on Miami’s bench more than anything. He doesn’t have any fantasy relevance, but it’ll be nice to see him on the court after missing the past two years with injuries.

Hat Tip to Gilbertology.
And Bullets Forever too. And The Fanhouse. Cause they don’t get enough traffic.

This is my new favorite meme* ever, so please let me know if you see it anywhere else.

* Fancy word for people posting funny pictures with a similar concept on the internet. Or, theoretically just making posts on the same topic. But the only good ones are funny pictures.

A mere three weeks after it started, the CBS Experts league draft is done. It was a 30 team league with “experts” from CBS sports and around the Internet. I wrote about the start of the draft, but here is how it ended.

My team (Round/Pick/Player):

1.11: Chris Paul (PG NO)
2.50: Josh Howard (SF DAL)
3.71: Ricky Davis (SG MIA)
4.110: Andres Nocioni (SF CHI)
5.131: Walter Herrmann (SF CHA)
6.170: Robert Swift (C SEA)
7.191: Speedy Claxton (PG ATL)
8.230: Sean Williams (PF NJ)
9.251: Fabricio Oberto (C SA)
10.290: Carlos Delfino (SG TOR)
11.311: Greg Oden (C POR)
12.350: Greg Buckner (SG MIN)

I got to be honest with you, I’m not Mclovin my team. But that probably has to do more with going 30 deep than anything. In fact, after the seventh round (pick 191 for me – Speedy!), strategy went out the window and I just started picking guys with cool names. Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino. Those names make me really happy.

Overall, I like what I have at the PG position (with Paul) and at the SG position (with Howard). I’m also kind of excited that Ricky Davis is going to the Heat (I had no idea that he’d be traded at the time), but it works out for me and Davis will be great until Wade returns. Instead of picking a center in the fifth round, I went with my boy Walter Herrmann (who I couldn’t pass up at pick 131). Hermann is going to be good this year, but the CBS positions are much more restrictive than Yahoo, so I’ve got both Howard and Herrmann on my team as guys who can only play at SF. That sucks… for me.

I’m a little worried about my PF position, where I drafted Andres Nocioni. He had a pretty crappy year last year, but I’m banking on him improving (and staying healthy dammit). As mentioned in the previous post, the CBS Experts league is a points-based league that leans heavily on points and assists, so I could care less that Nocioni isn’t a typical power forward. Still, I’m a little worried. Nels, you might have to give me a pep talk about Nocioni. Please tell me he’s going to be healthy this year.

Overall, I’m most worried about my center. I was hoping to grab Zaza Pachulia or Joel Przybilla in the fifth round, but they went well before the pick got back to me. So, in the sixth, I was forced to grab the last guy with any hope of being decent – Robert Swift. Yes, the guy who didn’t play a single regular season minute last season. Yes, I’m worried about that. But that’s what happens when you pick your first center after 170 guys have already been picked.

My bench is obviously weak, but that is to be expected. Fabricio Oberto and Carlos Delfino might actually start for their respective teams this season, which makes them worth a late round pick just on principal. There was crap left by round 11, so I said what the hell and drafted Oden. Even if he comes back for a week at the end of the season, he’ll be worth it. Greg Buckner? I think that was auto pilot.

I lied. My favorite time of year is actually Talk Like a Pirate Day. But the NBA preseason is fun and it gives us the first glimpses into the upcoming year. I’m so excited that I ran the preseason stats for the entire league through our player rater and calculated rankings for everyone who played in at least one game. The list that follows is the top 100 players during the preseason on a per game basis (note that Jason Kidd has only played one game, for example). Of course, don’t take too much stock in these numbers (small sample sizes apply as do guys sitting out of games and not ready for prime time rotations), but it is possible that a few of these players will continue their performance during the regular season. And as Bill Belichick taught me, every little advantage counts.

I’ll breakdown some of the over/under performing players a little later. Until then, enjoy the list.

Rank/Player/Rating/Games
1. Monta Ellis (6.4) - 2 games
2. Marcus Camby (5.2) - 3 games
3. Gerald Wallace (4.9) - 7 games
4. Dwight Howard (4.7) - 6 games
5. Rudy Gay (4.7) - 6 games
6. Allen Iverson (4.3) - 6 games
7. Kevin Garnett (4.2) - 6 games
8. Manu Ginobili (4.2) - 4 games
9. Martell Webster (3.8) - 7 games
10. Vince Carter (3.8) - 5 games
11. Shawn Marion (3.5) - 8 games
12. Dirk Nowitzki (3.1) - 6 games
13. Amare Stoudemire (3) - 2 games
14. Joe Johnson (2.9) - 7 games
15. Lamarcus Aldridge (2.9) - 6 games
16. Corey Maggette (2.8) - 6 games
17. Ronnie Brewer (2.7) - 7 games
18. Kevin Martin (2.7) - 7 games
19. Steve Nash (2.7) - 8 games
20. Baron Davis (2.5) - 4 games
21. Josh Childress (2) - 6 games
22. Chris Paul (1.8) - 8 games
23. Chris Wilcox (1.8) - 7 games
24. Josh Smith (1.7) - 8 games
25. Al Jefferson (1.5) - 7 games
26. Kelenna Azubuike (1.5) - 5 games
27. Andrei Kirilenko (1.4) - 7 games
28. Carmelo Anthony (1.3) - 5 games
29. Jermaine O’neal (1.2) - 3 games
30. Jason Kidd (1.2) - 1 games
31. Jason Richardson (1.1) - 6 games
32. Chris Kaman (0.8) - 6 games
33. Leandro Barbosa (0.8) - 6 games
34. Paul Pierce (0.7) - 6 games
35. Eduardo Najera (0.7) - 4 games
36. Carlos Delfino (0.7) - 4 games
37. Andre Iguodala (0.7) - 7 games
38. Mike Dunleavy (0.6) - 8 games
39. T.J. Ford (0.2) - 4 games
40. Andrea Bargnani (0.1) - 4 games
41. Delonte West (0.1) - 4 games
42. Rashad Mccants (0) - 5 games
43. Anthony Roberson (0) - 5 games
44. Andris Biedrins (0) - 2 games
45. Travis Outlaw (-0.1) - 7 games
46. Jamaal Tinsley (-0.1) - 7 games
47. Kevin Durant (-0.1) - 6 games
48. Kobe Bryant (-0.2) - 6 games
49. J.J. Redick (-0.3) - 5 games
50. Andre Miller (-0.3) - 7 games
51. Hilton Armstrong (-0.3) - 8 games
52. Grant Hill (-0.4) - 8 games
53. Bostjan Nachbar (-0.5) - 6 games
54. Al Horford (-0.5) - 8 games
55. Mo Williams (-0.5) - 6 games
56. Damon Stoudamire (-0.5) - 4 games
57. James Jones (-0.5) - 2 games
58. Brad Miller (-0.6) - 7 games
59. Josh Howard (-0.7) - 7 games
60. Boris Diaw (-0.7) - 7 games
61. Brent Barry (-0.7) - 5 games
62. Linas Kleiza (-0.8) - 6 games
63. Ricky Davis (-0.8) - 6 games
64. Marvin Williams (-0.9) - 8 games
65. Chauncey Billups (-0.9) - 6 games
66. Luke Ridnour (-1) - 7 games
67. Hedo Turkoglu (-1) - 6 games
68. Brandon Bass (-1) - 8 games
69. Andrew Bynum (-1.1) - 7 games
70. Ray Allen (-1.1) - 7 games
71. Jarrett Jack (-1.1) - 7 games
72. Daniel Gibson (-1.2) - 4 games
73. Theo Ratliff (-1.2) - 5 games
74. Al Harrington (-1.2) - 5 games
75. Jordan Farmar (-1.3) - 7 games
76. Al Thornton (-1.3) - 8 games
77. David Lee (-1.5) - 6 games
78. Carlos Boozer (-1.5) - 4 games
79. Mike Bibby (-1.5) - 7 games
80. Earl Watson (-1.5) - 6 games
81. Deron Williams (-1.5) - 7 games
82. Raja Bell (-1.6) - 8 games
83. Chris Duhon (-1.6) - 7 games
84. Louis Williams (-1.6) - 7 games
85. Ike Diogu (-1.6) - 8 games
86. J.R. Smith (-1.7) - 6 games
87. Shane Battier (-1.7) - 6 games
88. Lebron James (-1.7) - 7 games
89. Wally Szczerbiak (-1.7) - 6 games
90. Darius Washington (-1.7) - 6 games
91. Jose Calderon (-1.8) - 4 games
92. Sam Cassell (-1.8) - 6 games
93. Troy Hudson (-1.8) - 4 games
94. Tyrus Thomas (-2) - 7 games
95. Damien Wilkins (-2) - 7 games
96. Anthony Parker (-2) - 4 games
97. Charlie Villanueva (-2) - 8 games
98. Rajon Rondo (-2) - 8 games
99. Juan Dixon (-2.1) - 4 games
100. Francisco Garcia (-2.1) - 7 games

According to Kings’ coach Reggie Theus, Mike Bibby tore a ligament in his left thumb during practice and could be out anywhere from six to 10 weeks. Worst case scenario puts him out to almost mid-December. Normally at GMTR, we’d say some like “run out and grab player X”, but in this case player X happens to be some dude named Quincy Douby. Looking at Douby’s player page, he’s a second year player who averaged 8 minutes a game for the Kings last season. In his first start during the preseason, he scored a decent 12 points, but had no assists. I really wouldn’t bother with Douby unless you’re in a really deep league.

Fantasy Note: The one guy who probably benefits from this injury is Kevin Martin, who becomes an even more integral part of the Kings offense. Points, assists, and TOs should all be up for Martin as long as Bibby is sidelined.

In less serious injury news, Kobe Bryant skipped the Lakers preseason game last night with a sprained right wrist due to a vigorous masturbation session… or he possibly hurt it in a preseason game. I’m not sure, the details were a little fuzzy on that. One thing I’d be scared about if I had Kobe in any league: he told the Los Angeles Daily News, “My knee is OK, but my wrist isn’t too good.” He’ll probably play through any pain to start the season, but injury + unhappy superstar + crappy team = less than 100% effort most of the time.

One scary headline for Bulls fans: Wallace, Noah hurt ankles, Thomas injures foot in Bulls’ victory. From the description of the game, Wallace’s injury could be the most serious of the three, but it doesn’t appear that any of them will miss regular season time.

What, exactly, constitutes a sprained ankle? With Kevin Durant missing his second consecutive preseason game with a sprained ankle, Durant’s wingman, Jeff Green, goes out last night and sprains his ankle too. Later, he said it was a tweak. Regardless, both should ready to go by the start of the season.

Pistons rookie guard Rodney Stuckey had surgery on his broken left hand Thursday and should be out for about six weeks. It’s unfortunate because he was having a very good preseason. Keep an eye on him when he returns.

Time for the good news portion of the injury report. Chris Bosh played 15 minutes of hardcore preseason action the first time in about a week and said about his knee, “It’s good.” It’s good? Oh man, that’s kind of weak, but it’s the best news I got.

Ok, in addition to Bosh, Jason Kidd played in his first preseason game and finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes. I think he’s good to go.

In non-injury related news, SI’s Marty Burns has an article up about his ten rookies that are poised to play leading roles in ‘07-08. Clearly, it’s not fantasy related because he puts Luis Scola at number one over Kevin Durant.

Finally, Bill Simmons makes his fantasy basketball cheatsheet less than a week before the start of the season. Looks like Nels and I can pack up shop cause Simmons has got it all under control. Oh wait. You probably don’t want to draft Dwight Howard with pick number 8. Alright, we’ll stay for now.

Simmons also gives an interview to NBA.com about his NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy League where he talks about drafting one of the best fantasy teams ever. I’ll hold my commentary and let you decide what you think of Simmons team (It’s a 12 team league that says it uses “weighted categories” whatever that means).

1. Dwyane Wade
2. Dwight Howard
3. Paul Pierce
4. Kevin Durant
5. Al Harrington
6. Jason Richardson
7. Monta Ellis
8. Shaquille O’Neal
9. Boris Diaw
10. Walter Herrmann
11. Marvin Williams
12. Hedo Turkoglu
13. Jason Williams