Day 33 of 170: Fear The Deer

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: November 28th, 2010

Line of the Night: With both Andrew Bogut (sore elbow/back spasms)  and Drew Gooden (plantar fasciitis) out of the Bucks’ starting lineup, Brandon Jennings (2.51) did (almost) everything to make sure Milwaukee defeated the Charlotte Bobcats. He finished the night with 32 points, 7 assists, 6 threes, 2 steals, and even went  6-6 from the line. Jennings tends to be downgraded in fantasy due to his generally poor FG%, but never overlook the fact that this kid is fiercely competitive and is still in fact a multi-cat contributor. The moment Jennings develops consistency in an improved shot selection and conversion, he immediately gets catapulted into the echelon of the league’s elite point guards. The good news is that he appears to be on the right track.

Honorable Mentions:
Dorell Wright (2.27) went ballistic on the Minnesota Timberwolves and ended up being the best Golden State Warrior on the floor, well at least as far as fantasy basketball is concerned. He torched K-Love and company for 30 points, 9 threes, while shooting 10-15 from the field. It’s monster games like these that fatten up Wright’s per game averages value. An important thing to note is that he did this even after David Lee returned to action. Fine, Lee isn’t 100%, but this game was more a matter of Minnesota’s lack of defense as opposed to Wright’s lack of competition.

Mo Williams (2.00), with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, 4 threes, 2 steals, has finally showed up with a line that befits the high expectations pegged on him coming into this season. The Cavs are a horrible fantasy team, and Mo-Will looks to be the lone bright spot in fantasy this year.

Even with D-Rose back from his bout with neck spasms, Joakim Noah (1.93) poured on the fantasy gravy all over the post-Thanksgiving leftover turkey last night and delivered 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks. It also helped that Taj Gibson was largely ineffective and the Bulls had to really lean on Noah to bully Sam-Dam and D-Cuz for this one.

Battling a starting back court of Luke Ridnour and Wes Johnson, you can imagine how easy it must have been for Monta Ellis (1.86) to string up 26 points, 10 assists, 7 steals. No offense to Wes nor Luke, but the force was on the other side of the stat sheet in this one.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Donte Greene (1.58) had 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1-1 from the line. While the Sacramento Kings is not a team I would characterize as being a model of roster stability and consistency is concerned. Donte might just be worth (for now) a good add/drop stat booster for daily changes leagues. However, if he does show some signs of reliability; which I would qualify as four straight good games (consider this the first), he can be added and inserted in 14-man leagues or less.

Pick Up Lines: Ersan Ilyasova (1.65) had a productive night as he started at power forward for the Bucks. He ended the night with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 threes, 3 steals, 4-4 from the line. You can consider him as a short-term “rental” candidate, while his teammates are getting back in playing shape.

Jason Thompson (0.67) started at power forward for the Kings. We don’t know how permanent this is. For all we know Paul Westphal may just be grasping at straws. What we do know is that Thompson is productive enough to considered in fantasy when he does receive a starter’s role and minutes. He went 18-9 and had four assists and a block against the Bulls. Stay tuned to see if this gig has any chances of becoming more permanent. If it does, he should be a target for pick-up in all leagues.

Biggest Loser: Travis Outlaw (-0.96) had a lousy, lousy night against Philly as he probably was too busy chasing the reinvigorated Andre Iguodala all over the court. Travis only managed to bring 4 points (2-9 from the field), 1 rebound, 1 assist,  to the table. He’s going to be erratic this whole season, so expect similar lines every now and then.

On Tap: The defensively oriented and no-longer-as-boring (thanks to Manu in the starting lineup) San Antonio Spurs will take on the defensively oriented and fantasy-exciting (at least for Chris Paul owners), New Orleans Hornets. That West Conf. battle should be a good fight. But  if you’re after fantasy goodness, Steve Nash and company should have a blast taking on the Billups-less Nuggets. Of course let’s not forget the ubiquitous New York Knick game as they look to crush the erratic Detroit Pistons.

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Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version).

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Tags: Brandon Jennings, Donte Greene, Ersan Ilyasova, Jason Thompson, Joakim Noah, Mo Williams, Monta Ellis, Travis Outlaw