Day 48 of 124: Mission Linpossible

Categorized as: Author: Nels, Fantasy Basketball, New York Knicks
Posted on: February 11th, 2012

I mean, it had to be something about Jeremy Lin, right?

Line of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki (2.62) has started playing like a first round pick again these last 4 games, and gets his first Line of the Night of the season by finally making some threes and blocking some shots. Last night he had 33 points (11-19 FG, 7-10 FT) with 4 threes and 3 blocks.

Honorable Mentions: Marc Gasol (2.10) had another strong defensive game as the Grizzlies got the win over the Pacers: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks. Meanwhile, Antawn Jamison (2.07) took advantage of overtime against the Bucks to a season-high score 34 points (14-21 from the field), and grab a nearly season-high 11 rebounds. Thanks for showing up Antawn. All it took was 43 minutes of playing time and no Kyrie Irving. I’m sure that’ll get you the big bucks this off-season.

Nicolas Batum (2.06) only had 9 points (but was 4-4 from the line) and 5 rebounds, but made the GMTR Player Rater blush a little with his 5 steals and 2 blocks. Nothing says fantasy basketball love like defense. Of course, then there’s Batum’s teammate Jamal Crawford (2.06) who scored 31 points on 10-16 from the field and 9-10 from the line, along with 8 assists. I hate Crawford’s normal terrible shooting and point-only type game, but recently he’s been making threes and averaging almost 7 assists. Can’t really argue with that. Speaking of assists: I’m sure everyone is familiar with Jose Calderon (1.90), who had 17 points and 14 assists.

Russell Westbrook (1.89) led the Thunder over Utah with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals. Greg Monroe (1.71) had an awesome night with 18 points (8-9 from the field), 11 rebounds, and 2 steals. Maybe I just love him because he’s a big man who makes free throws, but he’s at #23 on the Player Rater so it’s not just me. Not far behind is Chris Bosh (1.69) who scored 24 points with 11 rebounds.

(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

Then there’s Jeremy Lin (1.68), who pretty much singlehandedly took on Kobe Bryant with his 38 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals, and the Knicks wound up with the win. Ken Berger has a great interview with Metta World Peace about Jeremy Lin. The whole thing is worth a read, but here’s the classic bit:

Q: Did the Lakers talk about him in the locker room?

A: Do we talk about him? Yeah, we talk about him. We think he needs a better haircut. I don’t like that style. You’re in New York, the fashion capital. Change your haircut, OK? You’re a star now. Wear some shades. Shades, OK? Put down the nerdy Harvard book glasses. Put on some black shades, OK? With some leather pants. Change your style. Fashion.

Q: Do you wear leather pants?

A: No, I won’t wear them, but he should wear leather pants. He’s the type of guy who should wear leather pants, some nice shoes and change his fashion. You’re Jeremy Lin, for godsakes. You know what I’m saying? You know? Put down that law book, stop reading the New York Times and start reading the Daily News. Newsday, that’s the one. I like that one because there’s always color in that one. What else? Wall Street Journal. Get some swag. You’re in New York City. Put your hat to the back, too. Put your hat on backwards. Come to practice with your pants sagging and just tell them, ‘I don’t feel like practicing.’ Practice? You know? Practice? And wear an Iverson jersey. You know? Come to practice with a cigar. Lit. ‘I’m Jeremy Lin.’ You know? He should change. We’re all excited to play tonight. It’s like the first time for everybody. Everybody’s excited. Kobe’s excited. He wants to get 50. He wants to welcome Jeremy Lin to his new level.”

Finally, Ryan Anderson (1.66) scored 21 points on 8-13 from the field with 9 rebounds. I’m starting to think 2011-12 is The Year of the Improbables.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Speaking of improbability, it’s improbable that we’ll Shane Battier (1.63) score 15 points (3 threes, 6-9 from the field), and grab 5 rebounds again in the next 8-10 games (16% owned).

Pick Up Lines: The Johnson Brothers (not really brothers) must have realized that their approval ratings were precariously low and decided to start playing well again. James Johnson (1.45) scored 14 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (32% owned), while Amir Johnson (1.28) scored 12 points, grabbed double-digits rebounds for the third time in five games with 12 rebounds and even had 2 blocks (43% owned). It’s almost like we have to consider picking them up again now. Arg.

C.J. Watson (1.26) filled in for Derrick Rose with 7 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals (9% owned). If you’re in a daily changes league, it’s almost worth having Watson around. He’s sitting at 100 on our fantasy basketball player rater, and with Derrick Rose sitting out every other game or so, he’s getting some opportunities.

Then there’s the Usual Suspects: Gordon Hayward (1.24) with 13 points (6-10 from the field), 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks (31% owned); Trevor Booker (1.14) who had 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 steals (28% owned). I can see why people might be little iffy on those two, but those numbers still seem low for the kind of games they’re putting up over the past week or two.

Then there’s Marreese Speights (1.05) who scored a season-high 19 points (8-13 from the field) to go with 9 rebounds, and 2 steals (6% owned). I’d say wait to see if he can come close to that in the next game before making any moves.

Raja Bell (1.00) might be a guy to keep an eye on in deeper leagues. He’s playing almost 27 minutes in his last 4 games, averaging 10 points and 1.8 threes in those 4, including last night’s 13 points, 3 threes (4-5 overall from the field and 2-2 free throws). He won’t contribute all that much, but he won’t really hurt you anywhere either. If you’re turning up your nose, that’s fine, I’m just trying to dig deep for the managers who find themselves wading into the 200s in terms of the number of players in their leagues.

Biggest Loser: Where Greg Monroe succeeded, Roy Hibbert (-0.91) failed, coming up with only 5 points (on 1-7 from the field and 3-6 from the line) but he did have 7 rebounds and an assist.

I’m not sure if it’s okay that Rajon Rondo (-0.71) scored only 5 points, since he did have 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and the assists are really all you expect from him. And you’ve probably given up on turnovers so the fact that he had 5 of them doesn’t really matter, nor does the fact that he went 2-10 from the field. I mean, that’s all pretty typical Small Ball (except for the rebounds), right? The Player Rater, of course, makes no such distinctions (unless you uncheck the categories yourself, in which case Rondo moves from #112 on the year up to #65 without FG% or TOs.

***

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: Amir Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Featured, Gordon Hayward, James Johnson, Jeremy Lin, Rajon Rondo, Roy Hibbert, Shane Battier, Trevor Booker

Anonymous

What are your thoughts on Anthony Morrow? Is he worth hanging on to? He’s still averaging over 34 minutes a game but has scored 11, 6, and 2 pts in his last three starts with a combined 7/31 shooting from the field. Is Randy Foye a better option in the long run for me? Or is Morrow capable of being a main scorer behind DWilliams in NJ? Thanks guys.
http://twitter.com/joshhh85 Josh

Hi Nels, i read this column every day, it’s fantastic job. I need some advice, i played in a 16 team H2H league (start 10 players, 3 bench, 3 IR), this is my team:

G: Rubio, Felton, Shumpert, Terry, B. Davis (IR), M. Brooks (IR/dtd),
F: Granger, Dunleavy, Humphries, Booker, J. Thompson,
C: Howard, Nené, Pekovic, D. Blair

Scoring categories: FG%, FT%, 3PM, OREB, DREB, AST, STL, BLK, TO, PF, DD, Points. I’m very good, in OREB, DREB, STL, DD. Good in AST, BLK, and Points. So-so in FG%. Sucks in FT% (thanks to Howard ), 3PM, TO, PF. I want to upgrade in 3PM and Points.

I have an offer, J. Thompson+Shumpert for Danilo Gallinari (i know he is injured, but i can wait for him some week). What do you think, it will be a good trade for me in the coming weeks?
Second question, some guy dropped Tiago Splitter in my league, is he worth a pickup for DaJuan Blair?
Anonymous

With MarShon Brooks back from injury, and Brook Lopez coming back next week, Morrow will likely be inconsistent going forward.

Remember, MarShon was the second leading scorer for the Nets before getting injured.
Chitown

is it just me or did the layout on this site just change? This is going to take some getting used to
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

Yeah. It’s a bit different.

I’m still working on it… they always promise “plug’n'play” but it’s never quite that easy.
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

Theme change has been delayed indefinitely due to technical difficulties (and that’s coming from a professional web developer, so you know there were some real problems).
Dan

I have the opportunity to drop Grievis Vasquez for Marshon Brooks…should I do it, or stick with Grievis?
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

I’d go with Brooks. Jarrett Jack was out again, but when he’s back it was clear that Vasquez’s role would be significantly reduced.
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

I think once MarShon has a couple more games back, he’ll be the starter.
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

I think JT+Shump is a good trade. With Jeremy Lin taking over the Knicks, when Carmelo and Amare return, Shumpert’s value will be dramatically reduced. Even if Chandler comes back to the Nuggets before Gallinari returns, he is still probably a top 50 player when he comes back from his injury.

I would also take Splitter over Blair at this point. They’re playing about the same amount of minutes, so it will be hard for either of them to really break out, but in a 16-team league, Splitter should definitely be owned by someone.
Anonymous

Should I try to trade Lin kevin martin and Nick Batum for Ellis Harden and Gee? I have too many guards but I’m thinking for small ball stats this is a great move on my part. Thoughts?
Brian

Just wanted to say thanks for the daily recap! Always try to read this every morning, appreciate all the work that goes into it.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

I’m all for selling irrationally high on Lin, so yeah I like the idea of trading him while his value is the highest. You may be able to get even more for him than that. I’d strip Batum and Gee off the deal and see what happens.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

Thanks Brian! We appreciate all the great feedback and comments we’ve been getting this year. It’s been awesome.
TheEvilEmpire142

Hi guys! quick question. Im in a few leagues. One is a yahoo cats league. 12 cats, and if i win 8 out of 12 cats for the week, obviously i’d be 8-4 for that particular week. what im trying to figure out is, what is that considered, wins per week, or cumulative wins? It’s basically for the player rater, and I guess in all my years of playing FB, i’ve never known the difference. Thanks in advance for the answer!
Jeff

With Thad Young posting up small numbers with the 26 minutes.

What do you think of dropping Thad Young for Jonas Jerebko, MarShon Brooks, or Wilson Chandler? Currently Sitting in second place in a 12 team H2H 9 cat league.

Collison, Teague, Felton, Gordon, AugustinGeorge, Young, Melo
Anderson, Pau, Z-Bo, Hibbert, Gooden

Or should I keep Young and swap one of the others? I really like the thought of having Wilson Chandler coming back and I wanna pick him up. But the question is when and who to drop? Or if I should drop thad, someone else dropped Thad Young in another league to pick up Jerebko so I was interested, Your thoughts?Thanks so much!
Jeff

Or mixing in Trevor Booker in the picture? What would be a good fit?
Anonymous

Someone talk me off the ledge…..

Just announced today that Varejao has a fractured wrist and is out indefinitely ATM. I lost Horford previously and Nene has been very inconsistent when he does play. ZBo on my bench is still several weeks away…

I dropped Varejao for Splitter, and will probably grab Haslem for his Sun/Mon/Tues games…now looking very thin along my front line after trading Gooden and picking up Pekovic.

Not much out there on waivers. Booker’s gone, Speights/Ayon/Perk are looking to be fill-in’s. Don’t wanna relapse to the Tyrus/Biyombo yo-yo’ing…..ugh. Maybe I could try to grab B Lopez from a PG-hungry (he’s been holding onto Baron forever) team for Jack. Would a Jack/Pekovic for Bosh or Millsap and a throwaway player seem to be too lopsided of a trade? I still think Pekovic is solid just not a sexy name player anyone would know….

UGHHHHHHH
Professor

Hi guys, I made my calculations and I need blocks, rebounds anf field goal percentage more than 50%. SO, I have tony parker, ricky rubio, john wall and jeremy lin as a good set of point guards. So, I plan to trade tony parker for a good center if possible. Who would be your first target(s) for the rest of the season?
Eric

I was actually going to ask gmtr if Tristan Thompson was worth a look with varejao out, he seemed to have decent stats when he got the minutes. Maybe you can give him a look to? Haha if I was in that situation I would trade for all injured players that I can at a discount and try to survive by owning percentages, turnovers, and one counting category until they slowly comeback. Its easy to win percentages and TO if your team is decimated as long as you play specific players and bench the rest?
Anonymous

^ Interesting about Thompson. IIRC he’s been erratic but not really given solid & steady PT yet. If he strings 2 decent games in a row I’ll be on him pretty quickly.

Losing Varejao hurts in boards, steals, and FG% mostly. I can make up boards & FG% somewhat with waiver pick ups (streaming if need be) but am thinking more towards setting up for the playoffs.

I’m coasting ’til then (40-13 so far, 6-3 this week) but my team’s starting to show some cracks. At least I’ve stopped trying to be good in every cat as I’ve given up on blocks and TO’s.
Jason

I’ve been offered Jose Caledron and Jason Terry for James Harden and Greivis Vasquez. Assists is my worst category this season (will be 2-5 after this week) so Caledron would be a nice boost there. I was close to dropping Greivis anyway. Thoughts?
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

In terms of our rater, wins per week is the default and is the measure of a number wins a player will give your team in a week compared to the average free agent player in your league. So a player with a WARP of 1 would give your team 1 more win a week compared to an average guy you could pluck off waivers, and make a team that usually went 5-4 go 6-3 instead. In your case, the 8-4 would be the per week stat.

Cumulative wins are just the number of wins multiplied by the number of games that guy has played in up to this point in the season. It just a good way to take into account injuries into the valuation.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

I think the play is to drop Young for Brooks (if he’s still available) or if not then Booker. I’ll try to get some more information on Chander’s situation, but I think it’s still a little early to sit on him, as last I saw his team was in position to make the CBA playoffs.

Young is a nice enough player (he’s currently ranked 99 on our rater) but he’s been putting up the exact same stat lines for the past four years and is capped around 25-26 minutes a game. I’d take a shot on Brooks’ upside and hope he can pick up where he left off before getting injured even with Lopez getting back on the court soon.

Jerebko’s last two (admittedly very good) games came against the Nets, so I’m not exactly buying on him quite yet.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

I’m not sure the other guy wants Vasquez ether. I think he’s basically trying upgrade his SG position with Harden and give you two lesser guys in return. If you need the assists, I think you could get a better PG in return that Calderon, who has been hot and cold lately and could still lose his starting job to Bayless at some point this season. Guys like Nash, Conley, Rubio and Lawson are more in Harden’s value range.

Unless you’re really decimated by injuries and need to add some depth, I’d pass.
Jason

Thank you! Love this site, and speaking as a PR professional, your commitment to interacting with your readers sets you worlds apart from other fantasy sites. Keep up the great work!
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

There are certainly guys who fit that bill that are likely out of Parker’s trade value range (Marc Gasol, Andrew Bynum), but the guy I might start with is Marcin Gortat. 56% from the field so far this season, 10 boards a game, 1.6 blocks. If you’re looking for more blocks than that, could could try someone like JaVale McGee or Serge Ibaka. Tyson Chandler would also work I think.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

The ugliness of the condensed season to be sure. I owned Varejao as well, so I feel your pain.

You could certainly throw out a Jack/junk for Bosh or Millsap, but I doubt that would get accepted. Even as well as Jack has played so far this year, he lacks in the name recognition that people like when they trade big name players. However, you might have better luck with Lopez, especially if the guy is desperate for a PG.

If those are the guys on your wire right now, then I’d snatch up Tristan Thompson if he’s still available. Thompson’s per 30 minute stats this season look something like this: 11.6 points, 8.5 boards, 2 steals and 2.7 blocks. That sounds insane, but the problem is that he’s probably never going to see that much run on the court. Tonight the Cavs rolled with Semih Erden as their stating center and Thompson only saw 19 minutes off the bench (although he did grab 8 boards and block 2 shots). I think his time starts to slowly creep up as the season moves on, but as far as I know, Thompson isn’t really a center, so I doubt the team is going to throw him out there for extended periods of time.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

As I mentioned above – Thompson’s per-30 minute stats this season:
11.6 points, 8.5 boards, 2 steals and 2.7 blocks. It’s enough to throw a couple looks in his direction if he’s hanging out on your wire, I thin. Of course, Thompson only saw 19 minutes in the Cavs game tonight and at 6’9” isn’t really a center, so i doubt he’ll get enough run to really break out.

Still, Varejao owner’s could probably do worse than taking a look at Thompson.
Professor

Thx Patrick, I started with Gortat. Bynum’s injury prone situation makes me worried a little. And after randolph’s return, what do you think about the decrease in Gasol’s numbers? And what are your thoughts about Chris Kaman?
Btw, I also want to have a back-up shooting guard. Would you take the risk to offer a trade Nick Young or Pekovic for Eric Gordon?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CO77Q3BA73DN4PH2KGO2NLQDHA Mashimaro

advice on this trade: m. gasol + russell westbrook for my CP3 + Iguodala.
Xragnarokswordx12

I did a trade. I needed more points and I am top 3 in assists in my league.

I traded Iguodala for Rudy Gay. I thought of it as a wish-wash you pick a guy if u want more assist you pick the other if you want points/less 3pts though.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

According to YTD stats, you’ll gain about 6.5 points, 4.5 boards and 2 blocks per game out the deal. You’ll lose 6 assists, close to a steal and close to 2 threes a game and gain a ton of TOs. In terms of overall value, our rater has you losing about 0.2 wins a week with the trade (Paul has been great this season), plus there is the consideration that Gasol will take a hit when Randolph returns. If you want to get bigger I think that trade can work for you, but just on the face of it’d I’d lean towards no.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

Thanks Jason! I’m not going to lie to you, sometimes it feels like a full-time job trying to respond thoughtfully to every single comment, but in the end Nels, Erik and I love to talk fantasy basketball and there has been a lot of great discussion on GMTR this year. It’s been awesome.
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

Yep, I agree with your assessment. You are definitely going to get points out of the deal. And if Gay ever starts hitting his free throws, you’ll also get a nice bump in FT%.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CO77Q3BA73DN4PH2KGO2NLQDHA Mashimaro

what if al jefferson + westbrook for cp3 + iguodala?
or if i take iguodala out of the deal? is m.gasol and westbrook worth a chris paul?
http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

I’d shoot for somewhere in between those two options. Gasol + Westbrook is > then Paul alone, but throwing in AI swings it in the other direction. Anyone else you can throw in the deal?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CO77Q3BA73DN4PH2KGO2NLQDHA Mashimaro

the rest of my team: d.collison, r.stuckey, k.lowry, marvin williams, t.booker, a.harrington, d.lee, v.carter, n.pekovic,d.gallinari.
http://nelswadycki.com/ Nels

If you’re giving up CP3 – even for Gasol and Westbrook who are both in the Top 25 – you can’t give up someone like Iguodala who’s in the Top 30. Gasol may be rated Top 10 right now, but like Patrick said, he won’t stay there once Zach Randolph is back. Westbrook is a potential Top 10 player, but he isn’t right now and there’s no real reason to expect that his game will improve going forward.

I think the only other guy who would work in that trade, though would be David Lee. Lowry or Gallinari would be too much to give up (even with Gallo’s injury), and the rest of those guys are probably too far down…

Has the trade already been proposed as RB+MG for CP+AI? If not, I’d start with CP+DL and see what happens.

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