Day 108 of 170: Sloan Long, Old Friend

Categorized as: Author: Nels, Denver Nuggets, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: February 11th, 2011

There will be repercussions. Jerry Sloan’s resignation from the Jazz may not change things for fantasy basketball as much as it might in the real world of the NBA, but to ignore the fact that the coach of one of the NBA’s slowest paced teams is gone now is like trying to ignore the fact that you can get an iPhone on Verizon or that there’s a revolution going on in Egypt. And in all honestly, depending on where you stand, the affects may be felt a lot closer to home. The Jazz are one of the league’s slowest teams at only 91 possessions per game (even the Stone Giants of San Antonio is only down at 93). I doubt they’re going to turn into the Knicks, Suns, or Nuggets, but even a slight increase could change the fantasy value of a lot of guys. Speaking of pace, I just looked, and the Golden State Warriors are actually behind the other three teams I just listed in pace this season. That just shows you what kind of affect a change in coaching can have on a team. Unfortunately for the Jazz, we’ll have to see how Tyrone Corbin wants to run things.

Line of the Night: Speaking of the fast-paced Nuggets: Chauncey Billups (2.60) used 39 high octane minutes to score 30 points (5 threes, 5-5 from the line), grab 5 rebounds, dish 9 assists, and get 3 steals.

Honorable Mentions: Congratulations to Ray Allen (0.50) for becoming the NBA leader in 3-pointers made.

Carmelo “Don’t You Want To Trade For Me” Anthony (2.24) put up another 42 points (with 5 threes, going 17-25 from the field) and 7 rebounds. Arron Afflalo (1.36) made the game-winning basket against the Mavs to end with 24 points (4 threes, 4-4 from the line). On the other side of that up-and-down game (that ended 121-120 in regulation), Jason Terry (1.07) had 25 points on 6 threes, and Jason Kidd (0.91) had 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Mickael Pietrus (0.60) got some extra run in a blowout win over the Warriors (bummer, right? I know, it could have been epic). Pietrus had 8 points (2 threes), 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks, so don’t bother picking him up. He’s not going to block 3 shots a game and the rest of his line was pretty unremarkable and probably unsustainable given his run so far in Phoenix.

Pick Up Lines: Jared Dudley (0.55) is another guy who benefitted from Phoenix’s fast start against the Warriors, ending up with 13 points (3 threes, 5-8 from the field). Dudley might mike a nice three-point specialist in deep leagues, and I can certainly recommend him over Pietrus. But he’s been kind of scrabbling in loose terrain trying to find stable ground within himself and the Suns, so there’s still a bit of a risk.

There is a man in the NBA named Zabian Dowdell (0.51) who plays backup PG for a team called the Phoenix Suns. Last night, this man had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists for that team. This was Dowdell’s first time over 20 minutes in, well, ever… but he is the backup to Steve Nash and is obviously capable of putting up some numbers if he’s got the time. (I hope you also ready that like “Oh, he’s just so busy, he’ll do it if he’s got the time” and at least get a chuckle out of it like I did. Or else you can just chuckle at how easily I’m amused)

Everyone’s (or at least mine) former favorite free agent of 2010, Reggie Williams (0.45) has now had 3 nice games in a row, including last night’s 16 points (where he only shot 3-9, but bolstered his output with a three and 9-10 from the line), 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. Williams still sits at 33% ownership, most likely due to guys who were having so much fun with their fantasy football league that they thought it would be an awesome idea to try fantasy basketball. Well, guys, you’re in luck now because not only is Reggie Williams back, but you might as well leave Brandon Roy in your starting lineup.

Jose Barea (0.36) continues to play basketball even as he comes off the bench. Last night he again refuted Patrick’s argument that he couldn’t coexist with Peja playing for the Mavs by scoring 17 points and dishing 5 assists.

Biggest Loser: While J.R. Smith (-1.05) had the worst line of anyone with a semblance of fantasy relevance (0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist), I think that it was Monta Ellis (-0.99) who let his team down the most with only 8 points on 4-13 shooting, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.

***

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

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We’re so social!

Other Stuff Like This:

• Day 127 of 170: Now I Know Why People Ignore The Bucks (4)
• Day 107 of 170: The Wright Stuff (7)
• Day 86 of 124: Who Needs Derrick Rose When You Have Carlos Boozer* (38)
• Day 49 of 124: Lin, Love and Ilyasova (26)
• Day 44 of 124: Win More With Bayless (51)
• Day 42 of 124: Batum Goes Boom (24)
• Day 33 of 124: Only Two Games (40)

Tags: Chauncey Billups, Jared Dudley, Jerry Sloan, Jose Juan Barea, Ray Allen, Reggie Williams, Zabian Dowdell