Day 34 of 170: The Big Shot Returns

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: November 29th, 2010

Comeback of the Night: Chauncey Billups (1.93) returned to action against the Phoenix Suns, which actually took me by surprise as I had originally read somewhere that his wrist (shooting hand) was bothering him. In the end, what matters to us fantasy heads is that it seems that his shooting and passing are back, at least for now, and “Mr. Big Shot” can do what he does best – shoot “big shots,” duh!. He came back strong after a string of poor-shooting and turnover-filled games. He finished the night with 25 points, 8 assists, 4 threes. It’s good to see the scoring, passing and three-point shooting online once again.

Line of the Night: Even though the Denver Nuggets won the game versus the Suns, it was from the losing team where we find our LOTN. Jason Richardson (3.34) had a valiant line with 39 points (15-24 from the field 2-2 from the line), 10 rebounds, 7 threes. All-around fantasy goodness! Considering many people were already expecting him to be one of the players to step-up during the post-Amar’e-Suns era, few saw that he’d actually be hovering at 24th on GMTR’s player rater. His improved FG% and low TO’s are key in keeping his value at these levels. He looks like he’s going to remain consistent throughout the remainder of the season. Not last night, this-good-consistent, but he’s gonna be solid. He’s a good candidate to trade for if your team needs treys with non-painful shooting percentages tacked on.

Honorable Mentions:

Manu Ginobili (2.59) is setting a torrid fantasy pace and last night’s game against Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets was no exception. Manu as a starter has just been insane! Just add his 23 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 threes, 2 steals to his myriad of great games thus far. Fatigue may be a factor down the stretch, but until then Ginobili will be a Top 10 fantasy mainstay.

Don’t just chalk up this night to Melo’s 2:48 of court time due to the flu. J.R. Smith (2.11) has been working his butt off in practices and appears to be back in Karl’s good favor. He torched the Suns for 30 points, 8 rebounds, 6 threes, 2 steals. He won’t do this every night, but we can now feel free to reinsert him into our fantasy starting lineups.

Wesley Matthews (1.99) actually played well EVEN with a healthy Brandon Roy! He started the second half over Nicolas Batum and finished with 25 points, 5 threes, 2 steals. He shot well too, going 9-14 from the field and 2-2 from the line. Keep your ears to the ground as this may be huge, especially for his and Batum’s owners. It was an intriguing experiment, but the critical think to note was that it had a successful result. More than a couple of his threes came during a late fourth quarter rally. The Trail Blazers came up short in the end, but Matthews was a big part of their late-game push.

There’s nothing like a double-overtime Knick game to bring out the fantasy goodness outta Raymond Felton (1.95). He led “his team” (Amar’e who?) with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 threes, 2 steals, and filling up his owners’ FT% at the last minute by going 10-10 from the line. To think the Knicks only inked him to a two-year deal. Now, especially after this season, Felton will have some leverage at the bargaining table. To be fair (sort of), Amare Stoudemire (1.81) also showed up and went berserk on the Pistons for 37 points (12-20 from the field), 15 rebounds, 7 assists. Nice, but we want more D, don’t we?

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Marvin Williams (1.52) had 17 points, 12 rebounds, with a steal and a block against the Raptors. It’s kind of hard to consider him has underrated since he’s been so erratic and disappointing last season. So his 22% ownership does sound about right. Then again, he’s got a new coach and a new system; so at the very least slap him on your watch lists.

Pick Up Lines: The explosive Toney Douglas has a bruised thigh. He’s been a bit off lately, so consider switching over to Landry Fields.

Biggest Loser:
Rasual Butler (-1.01) had 0 points, 2 rebounds, and 0 assists against the Jazz. It looks like it’s the Al-Farouq Aminu and Ryan Gomes show at the three for the Clippers for the time being. Drop Butler and scour the FA pool for a more reliable source of extra threes.

On Tap: As much as I am excited to see the Thunder test the Hornets’ defense, I’m more inclined to enjoy the Miami Heat attempt to take out their frustrations on the Washington Wizards. Chris Bosh will likely get the better of Andray Blatche, but Javale McGee has the potential to just go bonkers all over Miami’s softy front-court. Arenas-Wade scorefest, anyone?

***

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

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Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups, J. R. Smith, Jason Richardson, Landry Fields, Manu Ginobili, Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews