Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
No, it’s not 2006. But someone forgot to tell Tim Duncan (1.79) that last night. He played like he was back in his prime and back then he’d definitely get GMTR’s Line of the Night. The Big Fundamental picked apart whatever Phoenix calls its defense. He produced a sweet line with of 24 points (10-14 from the field), (which probably will give Marcin Gortat nightmares for the rest of the week) and 11 rebounds. He also dished out 4 assists and brought his ubiquitous 2 blocks. Classic. Vintage. Impressive. Sorry folks, it’s 2012 and lines like these are now the exception and not the rule.
Honorable Mentions: Danilo Gallinari (1.68) wound up with a weird night at least as far as fantasy basketball is concerned. He finished with 18 points, but that came off him shooting 2-6 from the field, 2-4 from downtown and 12-12 from the line. What? Yeah, I warned you it was weird. He shot 33% without really killing your FG% while winning you FT%. His 4 assists were a nice addition to his odd offensive performance, but hey stranger things have happened.
David Lee (1.50), meanwhile looks like he’s pretty much the only player who is acclimating well to the Warriors’ new coach, Marc Jackson. He dropped 24 points (10-12 from the field), grabbing 6 rebounds, and it must have been some kind of special occasion as he added a rare (for him) 2 blocks. Nonetheless, I’m sure his owners must be beaming with pride.
In spite of Gallinari’s impressive performance the Jazz crushed, destroyed and bullied the Nuggets into submission. Paul Millsap (1.31) led the carnage with 26 points (12-19 from the field) and 12 rebounds. At this point, it’s safe to say that Derrick Favors and his corresponding fantasy value is now shelved until further notice (or if Jefferson or Millsap get injured).
As each Detroit game goes by, I must say that Greg Monroe (1.23) and his efficient play has impressed and entertained me more and more. This time, against the Golden State Warriors, Monroe posted 25 points which included him going 13-14 from the line (a sight rarely seen from big men nowadays) and 8 boards. We’ve heard him compared to a healthy David West. But I, however, feel that would be shortchanging Monroe at this point. He’s far more dominant and able to impact your team’s percentages to a far more effective degree that I’d call him an improved version of West.
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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Ekpe Udoh (1.01) (2% owned) had a nice night with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. That’s fine and dandy. Sure. But as long as Andris Biedrins is healthy and delivering consistently mediocre lines, the undersized Udoh will have to wait for this season’s 15 minutes of fantasy fame.
Pick Up Lines: Speaking of blasts from the past, Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince (0.99) played like a revitalized champion last night finishing with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Prince has been known to flirt with nice lines every now and then but his peripheral stat contributions leave a lot to be desired leaving him painted as a “vanilla” kind of fantasy option. And so it comes as to no surprise that he’s only owned in 20% of leagues.
We’ve told you to go and grab Kawhi Leonard (0.93), we’ll likely continue to do so as seeing that more than 80% of leagues have him in their FA pools. I mean wasn’t his 12 points and 8 rebounds good enough for your discerning fantasy tastes?
Gordon Hayward (0.88) made the most of Josh Howard‘s absence due to injury to deliver a solid performance. He chipped in 19 points, while adding 2 blocks. This is a temporary issue as Howard appears poised to eat into his productive floor time once he comes back. Stay away, unless you’re in a 20-man league or deeper.
Biggest Loser: of the night was ME as I got Channing Fried (-1.38) in not one but TWO leagues by his awful, painful, and forgettable performance.
He went 0-7 from the field to give, uh, ZERO points and two rutty boards. This will be the only and last time you will ever see the words “Channing Frye” and “Consistency” in the same sentence this season (at least from me)
Remember how cool Paul Millsap’s line was? Well that came at the expense of Nene Hilario (-1.02), who in fairness to him did manage to score 18 points and get 6 rebounds for Denver. He did, however also accumulate 5 turnovers and went 2-7 from the line. Gah!
One grimy Nugget deserves another as Andre Miller (-0.98) had an awfully quiet night with just 5 points, 0 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Derrick Favors (-0.53) managed seven minutes and change to end up delivering a yawn-inspiring 2-point and 3-rebounds line. Bye-bye Derrick, we’ll talk about you and your fantasy potential next season.
With only three games last night, it was kind of quiet. Week four! w00t! w00t!
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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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