Day 28 of 170: Attack of the Rookie Point Guards

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Draft Cheatsheet 2007, Injuries, NBA Basketball
Posted on: November 25th, 2008

Line of the Night: It was a good night to be a point guard in the NBA, and as I like to say, the younger the better. Mario Chalmers (1.16) led the way with 23 points and 6 assists, adding 5 threes and 4 steals. Being a rookie, he’s going to run hot and cold like this all year, so be prepared to take the good and weather the bad.

Honorable Mentions: He’s no Carlos Boozer, but Mehmet Okur (0.9) came close to the LotN with 26 points, 9 boards and a couple steals. Ride him like a Turkish prostitute while Boozer is out; Raymond Felton (0.8) had a sweet 23/7/5 and I think we can safely say that the D.J. Augustin/Felton line is here to stay (sorry Matt Carrol fan club); and Chris Paul (0.75) had yet another triple double with 14/10/17.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Eric Gordon (0.97) – who is currently owned in 12% of Yahoo leagues – and DJ Augustin (0.91) – who is owned in 31% of yahoo leagues – should be picked up if they are available in your league. Augustin went for 25 points and 11 assists and has gone insane in his new starting role and Gordon had 25 points and 4 steals while starting at shooting guard for the Clippers.

Pick this boy up if you see him on the street

Lighting Round! If someone else is busy riding Okur, you may want to give Paul Millsap (0.54) a run while Boozer is out. He had 21 and 10 last night off 8-12 shooting; I really cannot recommend Joel Przybilla (0.64) to anyone, but the big guy got 28 minutes to Greg Oden’s 19 and double-doubled in a Blazers win; Spencer Hawes (0.57) – 15 points, 5 boards, 3 steals – is here to stay; and if you’re in a deep league and in need of a super short-term add, Tyronn Lue (0.36) will get some play as long as Ridnour is out (he’s day-to-day with a sore knee). Lue got 27 minutes in the Bucks last game and had 14 points and 5 assists.

Glorious Return of the Night: Yesterday, Manu Ginobili (0.1) returned from an ankle injury that had kept him out of the Spurs first 12 games. And while he didn’t start and only got 11 minutes of play, the dude already looks in mid-season form with 12 points off 3-4 shooting, 4 rebounds and a three. The Spurs are going to ease him back into the rotation, but get him back into yours now, because he’s already contributing.

The Biggest Loser: Hakim Warrick (-0.62) is my starting PF in the GMTR Monster League. I wasn’t expecting much from the guy, but more than 6 minutes on the court and 3 points would be nice. Warrick is now 3rd on the Grizz depth chart behind both Darko and Darrell Arthur. Excuse me while I scour our free agent list for three hours straight looking for any forward who is half decent.

Dishonorable Mentions: There is still a lot of season to go, but Greg Oden (-0.51) owners have to be getting impatient seeing him get less than 20 minutes game after game. Last night he scored 3 points and had 6 boards in 19 minutes; and Thaddeus Young (-0.41) shot 2-10 from the field and finished with 6 points.

All Eyez on Me: Golden State (5-8) @ Washington (1-10) – Eddie Jordan becomes the second coach to be fired this year after the Wizards got off to a 1-10 start. Interim coach Ed Tapscott intends to focus on improving the Wizards defensively, but it is not going to happen tonight against Golden State. Also, expect Jamal Crawford to suit up for his first game with the Warriors.

Cleveland (10-3) @ New York (7-6) – Al Harrington should make his debut tonight for the Knicks, but New York has delayed the Zach Randolph trade by making a stink about Cuttino Mobley and his physical – likely because they want additional compensation for Randolph. You do not play chess with Donnie Walsh and expect to win…

So, expect Nate Robinson to have another big game.

New Jersey (6-6) @ Los Angeles (11-1) – LA is the top scoring team in the league, averaging 105.9 points a game, ahead of both the Knicks and Warriors. Every Laker starter is averaging double-digit scoring, except for – surprise – Vladimir Radmanovic. Interestingly though, Kobe is only averaging 24.7 points a game. His assists and rebounds are also down compared to the last couple years, which I guess is to be expected on a team full of talent like the Lakers. Kobe is currently 10th on the GMTR rater.

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Tags: Anthony Morrow, Chris Paul, Greg Oden, Manu Ginobili, Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap, Spencer Hawes, Tyronn Lue