Day 127 of 170: Now I Know Why People Ignore The Bucks

Categorized as: Author: Nels, Fantasy Basketball, New York Knicks
Posted on: March 2nd, 2011

While the Line of the Night is impressive, I’m going to lead off with the Waiver Wire because it points to something I’ve been struggling with all season: The Milwaukee Bucks. There are plenty of talented (ranging from “very” to “moderately”) playere on the Bucks. For example:

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Carlos Delfino (2.08) scored 16 points (3 threes) to go with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Now, at this point in the season, his 43% ownership is very good, but as someone in a weekly league, you still take a risk with Delfino because the game before this one he went 3-13 to end with 9 points (1 three), 3 rebounds, 2 assists and nothing else. Before that bomb, he had 5 pretty nice games in a row, but they displayed a sort of gentle decline that would only be comfortable for novice skiers. Before that, he had a run of 4 terrible games. And it’s not just him. Brandon Jennings, the star of the Bucks (alongside Andrew Bogut) has also been maddeningly inconsistent. He’s actually ranked lower than Delfino right now on the Player Rater, and while part of that can be attributed to his injury, much of it is because he’ll go for 27, 6, and 7 one night, and then put up 13, 2 and 3 the next (yes, those are real examples). Bogut is the best of the bunch, but even he seems to only be able to score or rebound (and not both) on a given night. Corey Maggette (-0.83) just furthers my thesis. Last night he had 11 points and 5 rebounds on 3-7 from the field, and 4-8 from the line. The guy’s one purpose in life is to make 80% of the stupidly high number of free throws he takes for the minutes he gets. When he can’t even do that anymore, well, there you have it. One of my “expert” fantasy tips has been to pick up good players on bad teams, but I am giving up on the Bucks and going to hunt my game elsewhere.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Line of the Night: Chauncey Billups (2.51) was evidently called a “throw-in” in the Carmelo trade. I’m not sure who said that, but they should probably be fired for incompetence. As far as I recall, Chauncey going with Melo was one of the his conditions for allowing himself to be part of the trade he demanded. I don’t think Chauncey was all gung-ho about it since he’s actually from Denver, but I know that Melo wanted him to go because he knew he needed some actual talent around him after the trade. Well, Billups provided that talent with 30 points (4 threes, and an amazing 18-20 from the line), 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Of course, the Knicks still lost, but once they get Chris Paul, they’ll be done with that losing thing.

Honorable Mentions: Jose Calderon (2.51) is still playing basketball, so don’t forget about him and his 22 points (3 threes, 7-10 from the field, 5-5 from the line), 7 rebounds, and (cha-ching) 16 assists. Take that Jason Kidd! Jason Kidd (2.49) had 13 points (3 threes, 4-4 from the line), 10 rebounds, 13 assists, and 3 steals, and if you add up all those numbers, you get his age. Point guard frenzy! Mike Conley (1.77) scored 18 points (7-11 from the field, 4-4 from the line), with 9 assists, and 3 steals. Amir Johnson (1.51) gets in on the strength of his 10 rebounds, and 7 big time blocks. (I don’t actually know if they were all that big time, but he did have 7 of them, so, yeah) Kyle Lowry (1.47) is doing it, doing it with 21 points (3 threes), 11 assists, and 2 steals. Who was that other point guard? Aaron Boze? Danny Granger (1.44) wanted Chauncey to know that he wasn’t the only one who could make free throws, loading up on 27 points by going 16-16 from the line. And Dwight Howard (1.36) scored 30 points (9-15 from the field), with 16 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

***

Pick Up Lines: Reggie Williams (1.77) scored 25 points (5 threes, 10-14 from the field). So, there’s that. Ryan Anderson (1.31) broke out of his slump a bit with 16 points (4 threes), and 5 rebounds. He’s dropped to 35% ownership, so it’s kind of like he’s on sale…

Wesley “Crusher” Johnson (1.19) should now be an auto-add with 3 good games in row including his latest: 20 points (3 threes), and 8 rebounds. He’s up to 40%, so there are people still paying attention. Get him while he’s hot!

Some Players for my Deep League Playas:
Jodie Meeks (1.20) was kind of decent with his 16 points (4 threes, 5-8 from the field). Only 5% owned, peeps. Chauncey’s got a bruise on his leg… maybe you need a back up?

Another Big Johnson who’s putting together a string of games… James Johnson (1.07) was recommended by Erik two days ago, and now again he had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Up to 6% ownership… and rising…

Biggest Loser: Being the starting Point Guard must have been too much pressure for George Hill (-0.59) as he crapped out this line: 6 points (2-6 from the field), 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 turnovers. Hey, remember the What Can You Get For 6 Turnovers? game? Yeah, thanks for playing George.

***

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 are so social!

Other Stuff Like This:

• Day 79 of 124: You’ve Just Been Bismacked (8)
• Day 160 of 170: Written in the Stars (3)
• Day 112 of 170: Night of the Waiver Wire Players (8)
• Day 108 of 170: Sloan Long, Old Friend (2)
• Day 101 of 170: Anything Durant Can Do, LeBron Can Do Better (3)
• Day 83 of 170: Clippers’ Dynamic Duo (2)
• 2010-11 Top 25 Fantasy Small Forwards (13)

Tags: Carlos Delfino, Chauncey Billups, Corey Maggette, George Hill, Jodie Meeks, Reggie Williams, Wesley Johnson