Day 70 0f 170: Welcome Home, Mr. Turkoglu

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: January 4th, 2011

Line of the Night: This is the Nth time we’ve seen LeBron James (2.20) take line of the night, but this is the first time that both he and teammate Dwyane Wade (1.71) have each gone for 30 or more points in the same game. LBJ had the slightly better line with 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 dimes; while Wade had 31 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. It’s that combined output, dear fantasyheads, is what makes the Miami Heat such a dangerous team. Then again, we have had high expectations for both of them, coming into this season.

Honorable Mentions:
What ended up impressive last night, in so many levels, was that Hedo Turkoglu (1.98)  finally found his fantasy mojo once again. He didn’t need to look very far. He simply left it in Orlando. Yes Mr. Turkoglu, your decision to leave the Magic was not one of your finer moments of wise decision making. Lucky for you, the Magic wanted you back. Otherwise, you probably would not have been able to record an impressive triple-double to the tune of 10 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, and 5 steals. At this point, your fantasy owners (not all of whom drafted you) would officially like to welcome you home! Now stay there! For the love of God, stay!

Kyle Lowry (1.77) must have sensed that it was a matter of time until Aaron Brooks would return to 100% health and challenge him to retake his starting PG gig. Last night, Mr. Lowry erupted for 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 treys, and 3 steals. This has been one of his best lines to date. As long as he intermittently puts up games like this, expect Coach Adelman to be inclined to keep the PG-time share thing going for awhile.

Carmelo Anthony (1.41), who missed a few games for a couple of reasons, is now back. And he’s BACK with a vengeance! The trade deadline is inching ever closer and each game he plays, he gets another opportunity to show off why he’s supposedly “worth so much.” Few players in the league can deliver 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists, while going 13-14 from the charity stripe.

Deron Williams (1.29) was his usual, awesome self as he had another 20-10 line with 22 points and 10 assists. It was also one of the few occasions that he was able to boost his owners’ FT% by going 13-13 from the line.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: I called it out in our latest podcast. I recommended Brad Miller (1.65), and… “I told you so” is politely in order at this point. Good, old Brad (I’d rather emphasize the “good” rather than the “old,” but sadly it’s rarely that way) showed signs of his vintage, Sacramento self as he delivered a respectable line of 10 points, 11 rebounds, 5 dimes, and 2 blocks. This line is hovering in the general range of what I expect him to produce while Chuck Hayes is still recovering from a sprained ankle. If you need a tertiary big man, then Brad’s probably one of the better options in the FA pool at this point in time. With Brad and Hedo doing so well last night, I couldn’t help but feel a nostalgic tickle, as I was reminded of Sacramento’s “Wonder Years”

Biggest Loser:

Last night’s biggest loser has to go to Kevin Martin (-0.95) who had an awful, off night as he seemed to have trouble finding his shot. He only managed to scrape together 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, while devastating his owners’ FG% by only 3-15 shots from the field. It’s funny how just after we finished recording the other night’s podcast, that I was half-jokingly telling the guys that we should recommend that people stash away Courtney Lee as Kev-Mart is about due to miss his regularly scheduled amount of games.

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Tags: Aaron Brooks, Brad Miller, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade, Hedo Turkoglu, Kevin Martin, Kyle Lowry, LeBron James