Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
According to the Boston Herald (the NY Post of the Boston scene) Kevin Garnett, who is currently day-to-day with an abdominal strain, could be out for weeks rather than days. The article goes on to quote Garnett:
The last three days have probably been the most difficult. You don’t know how many movements are affected throughout your core and abdomen. It’s everything from coughing and sneezing and laughing and moving around and tossing and turning in the bed at night. It can be difficult.
That doesn’t sound like a guy who’s coming back soon. If you can’t sneeze or cough, then even a slob like me knows that professional basketball is out of the question. So, if Garnett is indeed out for the immediate future, what should you do? Are there any Celtics worth picking up? Well, let’s run the Celtics last 5 games without Garnett through the player rater and see what happens.
Big Winners: Rajon Rondo (Current Rank: 97, Rank using last 5 Games: 11). You wouldn’t necessarily think that a KG injury would benefit Rajon Rondo, but the guy has absolutely been on fire in the Celtics last five games (averaging 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals). I’m not quite sold on the points and rebounds long term even with KG out, but the Rondo should be a solid 2nd tier point guard averaging somewhere in the 15/5/5 range with 2 steals.
Ray Allen (Current Rank: 48, Rank using last 5 Games: 15): KG’s scoring may be down this year, but those missing 19.2 points have to come from somewhere, and they’ve been coming from Ray Allen (22 points and 2.5 threes a game). That scoring will most definitely continue while KG is out.
James Posey (Current Rank: 149, Rank using last 5 Games: 60): Injuries begat opportunity and KG’s has given the most opportunity to James Posey. Posey’s minutes are up about 6 a game, which means he’s scoring more points (up about 2 a game), he’s making one more 3’s a game on average, and his assists and steals have doubled. He’s due for some letdown, but Posey will totally be worth a pickup until KG returns.
Winners: Paul Pierce (Current Rank: 24, Rank using last 5 Games: 19): Scoring: Up. Assists: Up. Threes: Up. Defense: Down. Pierce has clearly shifted his focus to the O sans KG and it’s a slight positive to his fantasy game. He’s become a little bit more the Paul Pierce of old, which is great for fantasy purposes, but not so great for winning game purposes.
Tony Allen (Current Rank: 203, Rank using last 5 Games: 117): Again, not a guy you think would benefit from an injured KG, but the points have to come from somewhere and Allen can score in bunches. He has increased his scoring from 6.5 points a game on the year to 10.6 in his last five. His threes have doubled as well. Allen is really starting to come on recently after his horrific injury last year, so there is no reason to believe he can’t keep it up over the rest of the season.
Hold: Leon Powe (Current Rank: 317, Rank using last 5 Games: 191): Powe is having a decent run for the Celtics (12 points and 7 rebounds in his past 5) as the Celtics have been going small, but unless you’re in a deep league, he doesn’t bring enough to the table to justify the pickup.
Thanks for Playing: Eddie House/Big Baby Davis. Collect your consolation prize at the door (I hear it’s a grocery hauling donkey. Sweet.).
WTF: Kendrick Perkins (Current Rank: 174, Rank using last 5 Games: 219): The Celtics don’t have a lot of post players, so you’d think the guy who plays alongside KG would benefit the most from his injury. Instead, Perk’s minutes and stats are down as the Celtics have decided to run with small lineups on numerous occasions. Either Doc Rivers doesn’t know what he’s doing (entirely possible) or it looks like Perk isn’t cut out to be THE MAN down low by himself.
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