Day 7 of 124: Andrew Bynum Welcomes in 2012

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, LA Lakers, New York Knicks
Posted on: January 1st, 2012

Line of the Night: Andrew Bynum (2.08) returned to the court after serving a four game suspension (and having some trouble operating motor vehicles) and was lights out on New Year’s Eve, scoring 29 points with 13 rebounds and 2 blocks in a win over Denver. The LA Times doesn’t want you to get too hard over this one performance, but it’s a nice present for 2012 if you happen to be a Bynum owner.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Martin (1.96) scored 27 points on 6-11 from three for Houston in a 94-85 win over the Hawks. Kyle Lowry (0.62) had a career-high 18 assists in the game, but he was also 0-6 from the floor and turned over the ball 6 times. From the looks of it, Atlanta was pretty atrocious in this game. Joe Johnson (1.12) had the best line for Atlanta with 15 points and a couple blocks. Wheeeee!

I attempted to watch the Knicks beat on the Kings 114-92 at a New Year’s party, but my daughter insisted that I watch her play with a cat instead. So I mostly missed Tyson Chandler’s (1.84) 22 points (on 6-8 from the field and 10-10 from the line), 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. The fact that Amare Stoudemire sat with an ankle injury no doubt gave Chandler a little more room to operate. Toney Douglas (1.46) still can’t shoot straight (he was 6-18 from the floor), but he did score 17 points, with 8 assists, 4 threes and 2 steals. And Carmelo Anthony (1.34) scored 23 points, adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the win.

San Antonio beat on Utah led by Manu Ginobili (1.66) of course, who finished with 23 points and 5 threes while hitting 9-10 from the field. Al Jefferson (1.49) was back in the lineup after missing one game and was the only Jazz starter who scored in double-digits in this game, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. Jefferson’s return pushed Derrick Favors (-0.40) – 7 points, 7 rebounds in 23 minutes – back to the bench.

Louis Williams (1.79) continued his strong play off the bench for the Sixers against the Warriors. His latest line included 23 points and 4 threes and he’s now averaging 20 points a game over the Sixers first four games. Meanwhile starter Jodie Meeks saw 19 minutes of run and scored 2 points. I think we know who is winning this battle. And Andre Iguodala (1.10) had a 14, 8 and 7 and continues his multi-category dominance to start the season. Stephen Curry (0.68) returned for the Warriors after missing a game and scored 21 points. Time to get him back in your lineups if you actually took him out.

Remember when Darren Collison (1.48) was a hot sleeper? That was so last season. But he’s quietly been playing well this year, including a 15 point, 5 rebound and 8 assist line last night against the Pistons. He’s now averaging 11 points and 7 assists and game so far this year.

***
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Jonas Jerebko (1.41). Charlie Villanueva who? Despite Charlie V’s return from a four game suspension yesterday, Jerebko started and led the Pistons with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 threes while Villanueva got a DNP. I talk more about Jerebko in a post about players off to hot starts, but I’ll make the bold claim that today is the apex of his fantasy value in 2012.

Pick Up Lines: Rookie Josh Harrellson (1.17) saw 38 minutes of run in a surprise start for the injured Amare Stoudemire and had a big game with 14 points and 12 boards. Poor Amare. He sits and the Knicks’ offense finally looks great. Harrellson’s fantasy value is obviously tied to Stoudemire’s injury (he’s currently day-to-day), but if you’re in a deep league and own Amare, you may want to stash Harrellson for the time being.

Jordan Hill (1.09) had 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the starting center for the Rockets (still, it’s a far cry from having Pau Gasol I’d say). This was his first good performance of the season and he’s splitting time with Samuel Dalembert (0.21) – who had 7 points and 10 boards in the game – making Hill only worth a look in the deepest of leagues.

Josh Howard (1.01) saw 26 minutes off the bench for the Jazz, scoring 18 points and adding 7 rebounds and a couple steals. I’d love him as a pickup if this was the year 2007, but C.J. Miles is clearly not getting it done this year, so Howard could become the team’s go-to guy off the bench. Well, if he can stay healthy.

Surprisingly little else in terms of waiver wire performances. Timofey Mozgov (0.98) saw a season high 26 minutes for the Nuggets (likely because they were facing the Lakers and their two 7-footers) and finished with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. I’d like to see him repeat that at least once this year. Good old Tracy McGrady (0.39) got 25 minutes in the Hawks latest and had 13 points and 6 boards. He’s only getting about 22 minutes a game so far this year, however, which is not going to play in a 12-team or even 14-team league.

Biggest Loser:A 0 point, 4 turnover, 0-8 shooting performance from Metta World Peace (-1.84), but you aren’t really relying on him, are you? Austin Daye (-0.97) had ANOTHER 0 point, 0 rebound, 0 assist game (in fairness, he only played 6 minutes) and yet continues to be owned in 61% of Yahoo leagues. Might be time to cut him loose.

And another guy I’d give up on if you happen to own him is Jodie Meeks (-1.61), who played only 19 minutes, scoring 2 points with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. He’s getting thoroughly outplayed by Louis Williams right now.

***

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.

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 109 of 124: Waiver Wire Team Assemble! (19)
• Day 71 of 124: Guards! Guards! Guards! (22)
• First Month Report Card: Top 20 Centers in Fantasy Basketball (9)
• Day 2 of 124: Supersize Me (8)
• Fantasy Basketball Player Tiers: Centers (0)
• Day 134 of 170: In Like A Lamb (10)
• Day 133 of 170: Knick Attack (7)

Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Andrew Bynum, Jodie Meeks, Jonas Jerebko, Jordan Hill, Josh Harrellson, Josh Howard, Kyle Lowry, Louis Williams, Metta World Peace, Tyson Chandler