Day 3 of 124: Back to Back to Back

Categorized as: Author: Nels, Boston Celtics, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: December 28th, 2011

Since it’s day 3, I figure it’s the only day I can really make that joke, and since I do have a follow-up, I think it’s apropos: The Lakers finally got their first win after playing 3 straight games and they did it by beating the Jazz who played their first game of the season. Not only that, but Pau and Kobe had 2 of the Top 5 lines while the Jazz were nowhere to be found. Perhaps they were just tuning up their instruments, but I feel like it sheds a little light on the evil B2B2B monster that’s been hiding in the back of people’s minds. Makes you think twice about sitting someone in a daily league just because they’re on their 3rd straight game, right?

Anyway…

Line of the Night: Ray Allen (2.13) scored 28 points (6 threes!, 8-12 from the field, 6-6 from the line) to go with 4 assists, and 2 steals. Not bad for a 36 year old. It helps that Paul Pierce is out (it doesn’t help that I’m starting him in 2 weekly changes leagues). We’ll see if Allen settles down when Pierce is back, but he looks to be his old self this year, schedule be damned.

Honorable Mentions:
Gerald Wallace (1.94) led the Blazers over the Kings with 25 points (8-11 from the field), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. That is the Crash we all know and love. And speaking of people we know and love: Pau Gasol (1.61) put up 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 blocks in the aforementioned back-to-back-to-back. Dwyane Wade (1.61) had 24 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. Not bad from a guy in the SG position. Kobe Bryant (1.58) scored 26 points (including 3 threes), grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished 5 assists. Not to be outdone by Wade or Bryant, LeBron James (1.54) had 26 points (9-14 from the field), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. And maybe this guy will actually show up this year: Brandon Jennings (1.03) scored 24 points (9-10 from the line) with 7 assists… Two pretty solid performances so far this year. Get your hopes up everyone! Finally, Kevin Love (0.79) continued to do what everyone in fantasy basketball wants him to do with 31 points (not great with the 6-18 from the floor, but 19-24 from the line pretty much locks you in at 80% free throw shooting for the week) and 20 rebounds. No blocks or steals, but come one, 20 rebounds!
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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Nope, it wasn’t Norris Cole, though he did make the front page of Yahoo’s NBA section while I actually had to look up who Vladimir Radmanovic (1.78) was playing for this year. Radman put up 17 points (3 threes, 4-4 from the line), 5 assists, and 4 steals and is 0% owned in Yahoo leagues. He got extra run last night after the Hawks built a huge lead in the first quarter. Don’t expect that to happen every night, or even often… Cole on the other hand, is already up to 10%. SLEEPER! You all ask about sleepers all the time: THERE IT IS! He only had the 6th best WWLotN, but Norris Cole (0.54) had 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 29 minutes while Mario Chalmers had only 18. It is probably too soon to call Chalmers dead in the water, but you can see the shark fins popping out and circling.

Pick Up Lines: Marvin Williams (1.06) managed 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals in only 22 minutes. He’s 9% owned, which means Deep League Only until he proves that he has improved his efficiency to actually make things work in only 22 minutes per game. Metta World Peace (0.66) just just continues to party and still no one knows who invited him. He had another 14 points, and 5 rebounds and 32% of owners feel he’s worth having around. Jeff Teague (0.64) started and played only 24 minutes in his first game. OH NOEZ! What happened? Well, like I said before (in case you missed it) the Hawks were up by 17 at the end of the 1st quarter, and 22 points at the half, so Larry Drew decided to take advantage and rest his starters. None of them played more than 26 minutes. Teague had 13 points (3 threes, 5-7 from the field) and is still only 38% owned despite that he is a STARTING POINT GUARD IN THE NBA. I mean, granted, every team has to start someone at Point Guard (or, at least they have to start 5 players).

Biggest Loser: We’ve only seen two games so far from rookie Derrick Williams (-0.82), but with his 70% ownership, the 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers are not looking good. His first game was slightly better, but he only played 24 minutes in that one and dropped to 18 last night. Of course, if you compare that to Tyreke Evans (-0.81) 95% ownership and look at his 4 points (2-8 from the field), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 turnovers, your stomach might turn a bit more. If you try to cover up that sour feeling by eating, you’ll never be The Biggest Loser.

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Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

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Tags: Derrick Williams, Ray Allen, Vladimir Radmanovic