It’s sad to see solid vets go down to such injuries. Speaking of solid vets, Line of the Night: Tim Duncan (2.80) took a sip from Fountain of Youth and took out a line from one of his days during his prime. Still remember those days?  Let him refresh your memory to the tune of 19 points and 17 rebounds, while two steals and five blocked shots. Duncan’s performance proved too much for the Memphis Grizzlies to handle as the Spurs defeated them 89 to 84.

Honorable Mentions:

Chris Paul (2.76) led the LA Clippers to victory over the Orlando Magic with his 29 points (3 threes, 8-8 from the line), seven rebounds, eight dimes, and two steals. CP3 has been superb lately and should continue to deliver consistently from here on out.

DeMarcus Cousins (2.39) was a board shy of achieving a 20-20 performance with 28 points, 19 rebounds, and three rejections as he easily made short work of the New Orleans Hornets’ thin frontcourt.

As a Serge Ibaka (2.14) owner in at least two leagues this season, I was beaming with joy to see him log yet another (and hopefully more often) 30+ minute game for the OKC Thunder. Mr. Brooks, please give Serge more minutes. Pretty please? Free Ibakaaaaa! Ee-Ba-Ka! Ee-Ba-Ka! Ee-Ba-Ka! Come on people join in! THIS was the kind of line I was projecting Serge to grow into this season and exactly why I picked him in the third round of a couple of drafts. Hey if 12 points (5-8 from the field), 13 rebounds, two steals, and four blocks isn’t third-round-value material, I don’t know what is.

Marc Gasol (2.12)  had yet another spectacular fantasy line with 22 points (6-6 from the line), nine boards, two steals, two blocks. I doubt Marc will retain this pace when Zach Randolph returns to action (March-ish). He’s sharing the paint duties with “Mr. non-factor,” Marresse Speights. Go figure. With Z-Bo in the paint, its going to be a whole different story, so savor this run while it lasts folks.

What would a night of Tim Duncan playing like a youngster be without a PG getting his own serving of youth sauce? Steve Nash (2.10) was like a finely aged wine, vintage 2006-2007. Ah, a fine year for Steve Nash indeed. Those were the days when 24 points (4 threes, 9-12 from the field) and 11 assists were more common place.

If LaMarcus Aldridge (1.88) doesn’t make the all-star team, I’m going to boycott watching the NBA! Fine, maybe I can’t do that, I’d be really, really disappointed. Outraged even! How can anyone not credit him with a spot after dropping 39 points (11-11 from the line) on the Thunder, no less, and even pushing Kevin Durant to the limit? How? If Aldridge gets snubbed again it would be a true travesty of epic proportions. What say you, readers? Aldridge for All-Star in 2012, “Yay or Nay?”

***

I own/owned Chauncey Billups in a couple of leagues. When news broke that his injury “didn’t look good”, I quickly grabbed either Randy Foye or this guy, ourWaiver Wire Line of the Night: Jerryd Bayless (2.15) (25% owned). We saw his under utilized potential way back in when he was with the Portland Trail Blazers. We knew coming into this season that he would be pushing Jose Calderon for at least a time-split at the point for Toronto. As a natural scorer,  it appears that JB found his true fantasy calling playing alongside Calderon. He’s now one of the Raptors’ go-to guys for offense while Andrea Bargnani is still hurt. Bayless exploded for 30 points (6 threes, 6-6 from the line) and two steals. While obviously don’t expect this to BE his average moving forward. We do project more consistent and fantasy-valuable from this point onwards. Points, Threes, FT%, and Steals – that’s the key to how you’re going to “win more, with Bayless”

Pick Up Lines: C.J. Watson (1.94) was always a solid player. We knew he just needed minutes in order for him to truly shine in fantasy basketball. The dilemma is that it’s hard for anyone to get a ton of playing time when you’re backing up a Derrick Rose. Rose barely played more than 10 minutes as he was plagued with back spasms. He’s currently listed as day-to-day and likely just needs some rest and rehab for his back. Meanwhile Watson took care of business with a sweet double-double performance, logging 14 points, and 11 assists,  with seven rebounds and two steals (6% owned)

Trevor Booker (1.81) outperformed Javale McGee last night with 19 points, three steals, three blocks. I wasn’t too impressed with Booker the first time around he filled in for Andray Blatche. Nights like this are slowly allowing Trevor’s potential to grow on me. If he keeps this up, we doubt he will remain 15% owned for very long.

Chase Budinger (1.50) had a good night as Chandler Parsons didn’t. It’s difficult to recommend grabbing him off your FA pool right now as it seems that Kevin McHale seems to be applying the “play whoever has the hot hand rule” when it comes to the timeshare between Chase, Chandler and Courtney (Lee). This happened to be Budinger’s night. He chipped in 16 points with four treys, and five rebounds (35% owned).

Linas Kleiza (1.41) joined Jerryd Bayless’ scoring extravaganza with his own superb performance off the bench. Kleiza poured on the fantasy goodness with 30 points (4 threes, 11-16 from the field) (10% owned). Games like that make his occasional “knee soreness” scares and DNPs worth the risk.

Biggest Loser:

It’s mildly mind-boggling to see Al Harrington (-0.93) who actually double-doubled, as our biggest loser for the evening. Apparently his 12 points and 15 rebounds were not enough to offset his zero assists and four turnovers, that were accompanied with horrible shooting from both the field (5-16) and from the line (2-6) .

Derrick Rose (-0.87) is an understandable disappointment as he had to leave the game due to back spasms. So I’m sure his owners in the rotisserie format will just have to suck it up and end up using the four points, zero rebounds, zero assists D-Rose locked into his fantasy roster slot.

Kevin Martin (-0.86) had an off night, to put it mildly, and was an appalling fraction of his normal self as he delivered eight points and one assist for the night.

***

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!

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Note: There are some small sound quality issues on Erik’s end during a few parts of the podcast as his internet connection was giving him a little trouble. It happens very sporadically and all it does is make his silky smooth voice a little tougher to understand at certain parts.

Click to play or Download here (Right-click and Save As)
Or rock the GMTR podcast feed for iTunes.

Podcast Links:

Update on Rajon Rondo’s status
Baron Davis may miss 1-2 more weeks
First Month Report Card: Top Point Guards in Fantasy Basketball
First Month Report Card: Top Shooting Guards in Fantasy Basketball
First Month Report Card: Top Small Forwards in Fantasy Basketball
First Month Report Card: Top Power Forwards in Fantasy Basketball
First Month Report Card: Top Centers in Fantasy Basketball

Spoiler Alert Ahead!

***

If you can’t listen to the podcast, here are our waiver wire recommendations.

• Courtney Lee
• Jerryd Bayless
• C.J. Miles
• Rodrigue Beaubois

Deep League Specials:

• Kirk Hinrich
• Ed Davis

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• Day 36 of 124: Kobe Bryant Passes Kareem (37)
• Day 35 of 124: Where Kemba Walker Joins Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw (26)

(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

On that note, I suppose it’s fitting if not even poetic that this season’s resurgent Kobe Bryant (2.87) comes away with GMTR’s  Line of the Night  with 35 points and 14 boards, that came along with five bombs from downtown and two blocks. While the Lakers’ matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves would have been a showcase battle between two of today’s top power forwards, Pau Gasol and Kevin Love, it was Bryant and his impressive performance that stole the show.

Honorable Mentions:

It was a night of guards as Chris Paul (2.73) had an almost equally admirable performance against the Denver Nuggets with 25 points (3 threes, 4-4 from the line), six rebounds, seven dimes, and two steals. His owners can rest easy as it looks like his recent injury is behind and he’s ready to get back to playing at 100 percent.

We did mention Kevin Love (2.28) and he didn’t disappoint. Let’s face it. He very rarely does. He outperformed Laker counterpart Pau Gasol (in fantasy) with yet another eye-popping double-double performance to the tune of 33 points and 13 rebounds.

After scaring owners with what was believed to be a tweaked ankle in the last game, Jeff Teague (2.21) opted to dowse any fears by going nine of eleven from the field to tally 24 points. He also added four treys and four dimes. This will give recently returned from injury, Kirk Hinrich more time to get into his back-up PG groove.

It’s time to call it quits (at least for me). No more Chris Bosh (2.20) jokes. Well, uh, not for the remainder of this month at least.  Bosh took care of business for the Heat with 24 points and 12 rebounds. He was sweet from the foul line, making all eight of his shots from the charity stripe.

Technically speaking, Michael Beasley (2.18) deserves a shallow league mention in the “Pick-up lines” section with 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Unfortunately, in spite of his good showing I’m a tad wary to recommend him as a shallow league grab. Let’s let him put together a reasonably consistent string of solid games before we ring the purchase bell.

Chauncey Billups (2.03) was more than a worthy backcourt partner for Chris Paul last night. He was on fire! He torched Denver with 32 points, nailing six treys from beyond the arc.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: If you’ve been playing fantasy hoops as long as I have, it would feel weird to you to to call out Vince Carter (1.89) for WWLOTN. Ah but time flies. Vinsanity started at shooting guard and chipped in 21 points and two steals in Dallas’ winning effort against their Texan rivals, the San Antonio Spurs. Carter is owned in 27 percent of Yahoo leagues and is probably worth a spot add for the week (or two) while Jason Kidd is still injured.

Pick Up Lines: Marvin Williams (1.82), while owned in only 26 percent of leagues, showed some promise with his hybrid-big performance last night against the Hornets. He had 14 points (3 threes, 5-8 from the field) and 3 steals. It was against New Orleans’ paper-thin frontcourt so take it with a grain of salt and act accordingly.

George Hill (1.52) is simply one of those guys who just needs minutes in order to be a fantasy-productive asset. He made the most of a slow start by Paul George to finish the night with 16 points (6-9 from the field), six rebounds and four assists. At 43 percent ownership there are enough people who are aware of his status. The other 57 percent know all too well that those said minutes come at sometimes random intervals.

Speaking of inconsistent playing time and performances, Danny Green (1.34) and Gary Neal (1.23) each had good nights as the Spurs spread out the playing time so evenly it rivaled a gourmet-prepared peanut butter sandwich. Both of them played over 25 minutes and wound up sounding off a ping on our fantasy sonar. Green had 12 points and five rebounds with three steals, while Neal had 19 points and seven dimes. Both guys only have 10 percent ownership and are currently stream, cycle, boost (or whatever you want to call it) fodder for now

Rodrigue Beaubois (1.17) now has an opportunity to return to the world of fantasy relevance. He’s been languishing in the depth of the Mavericks’ aging backcourt, but has recently started at the point, thanks in part to injuries to both Jason Kidd and Delonte West. Roddy erupted for 14 points, seven assists, and three blocks. Expect his 23 percent to rise within the coming days as owners scramble to add him and ride his performance during Kidd’s injury-induced hiatus.

Biggest Loser:

Carl Landry (-1.13) stank things up for the few stubborn owners he still has as he suffered through the chaos of Monty Williams’ straw-grasping rotation. He finished with zero points and four boards.

Kris Humphries (-0.91) joined the fantasy-repulsive side of New Jersey’s roster last night. He had an awful performance, managing to only score a lousy trifecta of points, goind one of four from the field. He managed to snag eight rebounds but the five turnovers he committed easily overshadowed that accomplishment.

It didn’t come too much as a surprise that Danny Green and Gary Neal played so many minutes, when you look at Tony Parker (-0.77) and his mind numbing nine-point, four-assist outing. He made two of eleven shots from the field, which was likely enough for Popps to want to avoid a coronary and limit TP’s minutes. 

***

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!

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1. LeBron James (1.35) – Everyone predicted Durant to be the best player, but somebody forgot to tell LeBron that. He’s doing everything. Everything! LBJ’s on track to run away with the regular season MVP award.
2. Kevin Durant (1.14) – He’s surprisingly far behind James, but then again his TOs are at an all-time high (3.7), while his PTS, 3s, and FT% impact are all down from last season’s averages.
3. Danilo Gallinari (1.02) – Ironically, New York probably would have done better by keeping him with this current production. Gallo’s been an efficient beast in fantasy so far. No fools’ gold here folks!
4. Carmelo Anthony (0.74) – He’s a multi-cat threat, but needs to learn to share the ball more. TOs and poor shot selection have been dragging down his overall value so far.
5. Luol Deng (0.66) – He’s arguably the most underrated player in fantasy basketball today. He’s efficient and does a little bit of everything. His wrist injury sounds serious, but we hear he’s going to man-up and play through the pain.
6. Paul Pierce (0.64) – Age is slowing him down little by little and is rumored to be a potential trade chip for the Celtics.
7. Hedo Turkoglu (0.61) – He’s increased his treys made by one a game compared to last season. Having Ryan Anderson assist in spreading the floor this year has benefited Hedo.
8. Danny Granger (0.59) – The arrival of David West and the improvement of Roy Hibbert has allowed Granger to need to do less, and less he’s done. His numbers are down across the board. Thankfully, so are his turnovers.
9. Gerald Wallace (0.52) – He’s taking a backseat to Aldridge in Portland, and his numbers are down. He should recover and improve as the season progresses.
10. Rudy Gay (0.47) – He’s a far cry from his blitzkrieg start last season. He’s still within striking distance of being a 1-steal, 1-block, 1-trey nightly threat though.
11. Trevor Ariza (0.46) – He’s stepping up while Eric Gordon is still dealing with knee issues. His FG% still needs to improve before his value can rise.
12. Paul George (0.45) – Call him Rudy Gay or Granger-lite, but George is a potential 1-1-1 contributor from the late rounds of the draft.
13. Shawn Marion (0.41) – He’s probably the only Maverick playing inspired basketball so far, well at least as reflected in fantasy. Marion looks good to deliver a subtle, yet solid season.
14. Caron Butler (0.36) – Butler can deliver the goods. As always, his ability to stay healthy is a looming cause for concern.
15. Carlos Delfino (0.35) – Among small forwards Delfino has probably the best chance of mimicking Manu Ginobili (2-STL, 2-Treys per game). The problem is that he seems to be out of it so far.
16. Richard Jefferson (0.34) – He started as a transformed and repackaged pure shooter, then game by game, RJ has begun to revert back to last year’s RJ. Shame.
17. Dorell Wright (0.33) – He’s topping the list of fantasy’s biggest disappointment so far. Can he find a way to produce under Marc Jackson’s defensive system? Time will tell.
18. Nicolas Batum (0.32) – If Batum had a starting job and the minutes to match he’d likely surpass Paul George at being a 1-1-1 threat.
19. Thaddeus Young (0.31) – Underrated, and best appreciated in deep leagues, Young just needs consistent playing time in order to prove his worth.
20. Mike Miller (0.21) – He came back from injury guns blazing. Literally. No, figuratively. Then he goes and gets himself banged up right away. If he can stabilize sixth-man level minutes, Miller should be a reliable source of treys throughout the season.

Missed the Cut: Matt Barnes (0.20), Chandler Parsons (0.20), Jared Dudley (0.15)

Top 20 in other positions: PG, SG, PF, C

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1. Kevin Love (1.03) – Was there even any doubt that he’d take the top spot? Indisputably, Kevin’s the best. No one comes close.
2. Ryan Anderson (0.97) – This season’s Super Sleeper, Anderson has elevated the hybrid PF to a new level. Can you fathom what he’ll be like next season? We can hardly wait!
3. Paul Millsap (0.91) – Derrick Favors isn’t going to get much time to develop, much less get any playing time, as long as Millsap is killing it like this. This is probably the last season that Millsap will be underrated in fantasy. He deserves to be an all-star, don’t you think?
4. LaMarcus Aldridge (0.86) – Aldridge does it all (save for AST and 3s). He’s a contender to break into the first-round of fantasy drafts next season.
5. Chris Bosh (0.80) – With Wade out indefinitely, Bosh has begun to earn his keep and fantasy owners are reaping the early rewards. Ride him while he’s hot, and while Wade’s hurt.
6. Pau Gasol (0.79) – Kobe’s in the driver’s seat in LA, but if Gasol gets traded expect this rating to rise about four notches.
7. Josh Smith (0.69) – He’s cooled off a bit from a hot start, but should continue to deliver monster games every now and again, with Horford out.
8. Greg Monroe (0.65) – Monroe has a bright future ahead of him (in fantasy, not in winning championships in Detroit) and it looks like he’s going to grow by leaps and bounds this season. Enjoy the ride!
9. Dirk Nowitzki (0.56) – If Dirk gets the rest he desperately needs over his one-week shutdown period, then he should manage to crack the Top 5 once again.
10. Carlos Boozer (0.56) – He’s the inside scorer the Bulls always wanted. Now he’s acclimated, Boozer is on track to be a nightly double-double threat.
11. Al Harrington (0.51) – Surprised? Well Harrington’s got the comeback fantasy story locked down and is going to give James Harden a run for sixth man this season. Count on it.
12. Antawn Jamison (0.5) – He’s quietly aging gracefully in the confines of the young Cavs roster. He’s performing well and under the radar.
13. Elton Brand (0.5) – He started the season out of shape and performed accordingly. Expect him to get better as he plays himself into regular season form, game by game.
14. David Lee (0.5) – Scoring and rebounding are up from last year. Unfortunately, so are his TOs.
15. Kris Humphries (0.46) – His brief marriage and divorce have overshadowed his ability to be a double digit scorer and rebounder. Hump should remain doing well in the Nets ragtag roster.
16. Kevin Garnett (0.39) – Boston’s “Big 3″ is now the “Old 3″, and we should savor whatever good games KG’s got left in his tank.
17. Tim Duncan (0.36) – Expect TD to deliver a top-PF level game about 10% of the time as San Antonio looks to develop their younger assets.
18. Serge Ibaka (0.36) – Ibaka just needs minutes to wipe that disappointed look from his owners faces. Unfortunately, opportunities for him to crack the 28+ minute mark have come few and far between. His upside makes him worth keeping.
19. Blake Griffin (0.35) – Believe me, I’m as shocked as the Clipper fan sitting next to you. Sadly Blake’s lack blocks, poor FT%, have dragged his overall value down, terribly. He should improve a bit more as the season progresses.
20. David West (0.35) – He’s far removed from his pre-injury, Hornet days; but he’s still adjusting to his new team and getting his game legs back. West is a candidate to rise in value a bit more as the season patters on.

Missed the Cut: Amar’e Stoudemire (0.32), Boris Diaw (0.21), Channing Frye (0.17)

Top 20 in other positions: PG, SG, SF, C

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1. Manu Ginobili (1.17) – Yeah weird, I know! Our rater operates on averages and Manu put the “average replacement player” to shame back in the limited sample size of games he was able to play in. This is a testament to how much he should be stashed (when possible). Let’s hope his shooting hand heals soon!
2. Kobe Bryant (1.00) – He’s proven to be the only one worthy of being called “Air Apparent”. Four-straight, 40-point games have kept him as the actual current number one SG in fantasy today.
3. Eric Gordon (0.86) – He’s healthy enough to be offered an extension. Two weeks hence, he should resume his all-around impressive fantasy game.
4. Joe Johnson (0.82) – To those who predicted a JJ-bounce-back year, you’re right (so far). And so far, so good. Soooo gooood!
5. Andre Iguodala (0.82) – He’s simmered down lately, but AI9′s always going to remain a trip-dub threat every night.
6. James Harden (0.75) – We writers at GMTR love him. Our player rater loves him. You should too! Arguably, one of the best mid-round picks so far.
7. Kevin Martin (0.64) – He’s had an up-and-down start, but should stabilize soon, or at least until he gets injured. Again. (hopefully, not)
8. Ray Allen (0.55) – There are few pure shooters who can land ‘em bombs at Allen’s FG-accuracy (50.4%). He should be alright once he comes back from his sprained ankle.
9. Marshon Brooks (0.47) – In a Nets roster that’s starved for talent, this rookie has jumped into our fantasy radars and looks on track to stay relevant.
10. Jason Terry (0.46) – He’s been a consistently underrated fantasy contributor for years now. Jet’s remained solid in spite of Dallas’ added backcourt depth.
11. Wesley Matthews (0.41) – While Portland is “Aldridgeville,” Matthews has found a home as reliable role-player on the team.
12. Marcus Thornton (0.41) – We expect Thornton to get better, once he gets back from his injury. He and Tyreke Evans should emerge as a reasonably complementary backcourt duo.
13. J.J. Redick (0.33) – Jonathan Clay Redick has a cult following in the fantasy NBA community and should get bumps every now and then when J-Rich and Hedo miss time due to injury. He’s a legit starter in some other NBA teams.
14. Brandon Rush (0.30) – Rush and his defense stepped up while Dorrell Wright was still lost in the maze of mediocrity. He should get less minutes as Wright gets his bearings.
15. Nick Young (0.24) – He’s a scorer and not much else (3PTM). He should get better as Washington tries to get its act together.
16. Jodie Meeks (0.24) – The word “streaky” diminishes his appeal, but when he’s hot you can’t help but ride his streak to 3PTM-victory for the week.
17. Richard Hamilton (0.23) – He’s been mostly just a scorer. Kind of like Nick Young, only with less games played. If Luol Deng‘s wrist will hamper him, expect Rip to begin rising in value.
18. Courtney Lee (0.23) – He’s overtaken poor Chase Budinger in the Rockets’ rotation. Assuming his play can keep him on Kevin McHale’s good side, Lee should be able to be a solid deep-league contributor.
19. Rudy Fernandez (0.21) – Patrick likes to refer to him as a “fantasy basketball temptress”, and Rudy should continue to have that said effect once he resumes his role as part of Denver’s reserve triumvirate of Miller-Harrington-Fernandez. Dang, Denver’s deep!
20. O.J. Mayo (0.19) – Is he finally out of Memphis’ doghouse? With Z-Bo out, the Grizzlies can’t afford to keep this scoring dog on too tight a leash.

Conspicuously Absent: Arron Afflalo (0.60), Jason Richardson (0.30), DeMar Derozan (-0.08)

Top 20 in other positions: PG, SF, PF, C

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1. Marc Gasol (0.97) – The “more power than finesse” version of his older brother Pau, Marc is doing it all in fantasy and doing it well. He should continue to be dominant while Zach Randolph is injured. I projected this leap to happen last season. Oh well, better late than never. Right?
2. Andrea Bargnani (0.86) – He delivers the best small forward numbers at the center position in the league. Our rater seems to like that unique and quirky mix.
3. Al Jefferson (0.83) – He made a fantasy comeback last season and it looks like he and Paul Millsap have inherited and taken ownership of the Jazz. After Gasol, Al-Jeff has had the best all-around “true big man” game so far.
4. Marcin Gortat (0.76) – To think he used to back up that guy at #7 in ORL. Gortat has now gained entrance into the Elite Center echelon. Too much?
5. Spencer Hawes (0.72) – He started off strong, but is already getting hampered by injuries. His reliability remains in question for fantasy.
6. Tyson Chandler (0.72) – The Mavs are missing him, but the Knicks were willing to pay. Owners are getting their draft day money’s worth so far.
7. Dwight Howard (0.69) – In a world where Basketball didn’t include free throws, he’d be Superman. Ah such fantasies…
8. Al Horford (0.6) – This just goes to show how much of a shame it is that we’re missing him for the rest of the fantasy season. Get well soon, Al!
9. Andrew Bogut (0.59) – Rebounds and blocks are down from last season. A hectic season may take its toll on this injury prone stud.
10. Samuel Dalembert (0.57) – He’s found a new home in Houston and has found renewed fantasy relevance. As long as they’re thin at C, he’ll continue to shine.
11. Roy Hibbert (0.5) – We’re liking his improvement in scoring and rebounding. Free-throw shooting and more TOs, not so much. Consistency will be the key to his improvement.
12. JaVale McGee (0.47) – Maturity is still an issue and apparently so is the Wizards as a whole. He’s still a solid source for REB, BLK, and STL.
13. Andrew Bynum (0.45) – Andrew and Pau are currently being overshadowed by Kobe 3.0. He’s also learning new system under Mike Brown.
14. DeAndre Jordan (0.42) – He currently leads the league in BPG (3.2) and should still improve as he gets used to his expanded role with the Clippers.
15. Anderson Varejao (0.34) – He’s anchoring what little Cleveland has of a front court, and his stats are making for a nice bounce-back season for him.
16. DeMarcus Cousins (0.34) – He’s got issues. He’s a headcase and a brat. But you can get passed that when you’re loving his improvement in the counting categories this season.
17. Nene Hilario (0.29) – For Nene it’s all a matter of being able to stay healthy enough to be productive. God knows the Nuggets need him in the paint.
18. Marcus Camby (0.19) – Seemingly immortal. Still injury-prone. Surprisingly more fantasy relevant than projected.
19. Joakim Noah (0.18) – Carlos Boozer has adjusted to joining the Bulls. Is there not enough space in the paint for both of them? Noah’s been a big disappointment so far.
20. Emeka Okafor (0.15) – In the maelstrom that is Monty Williams’ roster shuffling in the frontcourt, thankfully Meka’s role has remained unchallenged.

Top 20 in other positions: PG, SG, SF, PF

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• Day 88 of 180: We Have All Star Starters (3)
• Day 25 of 124: One Painful Season (27)

1. Chris Paul (1.21) – Still number one in the game. Can’t go wrong. Injury is only a temporary setback.
2. Kyle Lowry (1.19) – Started off the season on fire. Can he sustain his rebounding? He should finish a Top 5 PG this year.
3. Derrick Rose (0.96) – Problems with toe could be an issue throughout the season, but he’s still a stud notwithstanding.
4. Brandon Jennings (0.94) – He’s finally taking charge and the Bucks are his team. Much improved across the board.
5. Mike Conley (0.76) – AST, STL, and PTS. He’s a better alternative to Rondo of two years back. Making most of Z-Bo’s absence
6. Dwyane Wade (0.66) – Yes we know he plays “SG”, but this PG-eligible beast is hurting and his owners are feeling the pain.
7. Stephen Curry (0.65) – Ankles may often “Snap, Crackle, and Pop!”, but he’s still an elite stat producer WHEN healthy.
8. Monta Ellis (0.64) – Curry’s partner-in-crime at GSW, not as fragile but only slightly less impressive.
9. Ty Lawson (0.62) – He’s built on last season’s improvement and drafters who took him early are now grinning from ear to ear.
10. Russell Westbrook (0.62) – He’s had an up-and-down start, but should stabilize with better numbers soon enough.
11. Jarrett Jack (0.6) – I’ve dubbed him “CP4″, half-jokingly, but he’s getting the job done in New Orleans as the starter.
12. Ricky Rubio (0.57) – Kahn’s naysayers can now STFU, Rubio is looking like he was worth the looong wait. “Rubiomania” next season!
13. Deron Williams (0.57) – He’s down because he lacks support. His numbers should improve when Brook Lopez gets back.
14. Mo Williams (0.56) – He went ballistic and stepped up big time, during Paul’s injury. He should drop when Paul returns.
15. Jose Calderon (0.55) – He started the season off strong, but we doubt he can keep up the pace passed All-star break.
16. Mario Chalmers (0.54) – Wade’s injury and Norris Cole’s challenge to his minutes revitalized Super Mario.
17. Jrue Holiday (0.51) – Jrue started off the season slow, but he should steadily get back to last season’s stat pace.
18. Kyrie Irving (0.48) – TOs are dragging him down, but he’s next to Wade in BPG among PGs (0.6). He’s likely the ROY this season.
19. Chauncey Billups (0.48) – After an emotional roller coaster of a pre-season, he’s happy (and productive) playing alongside CP3.
20. Steve Nash (0.47) – Father Time catching up on him? Not as much impact as his teammates underperforming so far.

Just Missed the Cut: Jeff Teague (o.45), Luke Ridnour (0.41), Tony Parker (0.41)

Conspicuously Absent: John Wall (0.39), Rajon Rondo (0.34), Tyreke Evans (0.33), Raymond Felton (0.17)

Top 20 in other positions: SG, SF, PF, C

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Click to play or Download here (Right-click and Save As)
Or rock the GMTR podcast feed for iTunes.

(H/T: The Dirk Nowitzki hat-stravaganza @ The Basketball Jones)

Spoiler Alert Ahead!

***

If you can’t listen to the podcast, here are our waiver wire recommendations.

• Tayshaun Prince
• James Johnson
• Lamar Odom
• Kirk Hinrich
• Deep League Special: Earl Watson (2% ownership)

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“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

- Winston Churchill

No Rajon Rondo (wrist), no Ray Allen (sprained ankle), No problem! Paul “The Truth” Pierce (2.84) was there to explode for our Line of the Night. He did do it against the lowly Washington Wizards, but hey, the man virtually did it alone (sorry Mr. Garnett, you and some other guys helped a bit too). That’s why the dude’s got a championship ring. He steps up when he’s needed the most and has finally given his owners a huge sigh of relief that he’s finally entered arrived onto the fantasy scene. He was two boards shy of a trip-dub with 34 points (10-15 from the field) – talk about accuracy, wow!, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. What a way to end the week!

Since the Celtics are Patrick’s team, in Patrick-blogging fashion, here’s a video recap of that Celtics-Wizards matchup.

Honorable Mentions: John Wall (1.91)  managed a productive night in a losing effort for the Wizards. Yup, the kid did well. But somehow, someone, somewhere in Wizards’ management has to shake things up. Or else it won’t be too long until Wall will be in a prime position to join the many elite players who have “demanded to be traded”. For now, Wall has been the lone bright spot for the Wiz with his 27 points (9-9 from the line), 10 rebounds, and 7 dishes. He was three dimes shy of a 3 x 2. Nice!

LeBron James (1.79) led the Miami in a losing effort against the Milwaukee Bucks. Yes, the MILWAUKEE BUCKS! And that was with S-Jax coming off the bench. Nonetheless, I’m sure most non-Heat-fan, James owners didn’t really care about Miami’s latest notch in the “L” column, surely enjoyed his 28 points ,  and 13 rebounds. LBJ went 12-13 from the line which was a nice bonus since he’s not a really a freethrow shooting maven. He added 5 assists, but with Dwyane Wade still out, he didn’t have many viable options to pass to, so we understand.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Twilight Zone, Pau Gasol (1.76) decided to show us all that he can pass the ball as good as Marc can. He went into Euro-finesse mode, played some PF-PG hybrid, winding up with a rather rare line (for power forwards that is) with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 rejections! It’s not what I drafted him for, but it put a smile on my face nonetheless.

DeAndre Jordan (1.71) appears to be slowly getting the hang of being the L.A. Clippers’ starting center. He’s been inconsistent at best prior to the last couple of games. Many drafters were quite high on him coming into the season, and Jordan appears to molding himself up to those projected expectations. While we don’t foresee him to do 16 points and 16 rebounds with 2 blocks on a nightly basis (just yet), seeing occasional impressive line like these are good for starters.

It didn’t happen as soon as I may have wanted it, but it’s here, now. Brandon Jennings (1.48) looks like he’s finally blossoming into a remarkable, high-tier point guard.  He’s been on fire lately and it’s quite possible that he’s grown, matured and improved to the point that he can lead Milwaukee passed elite teams in the NBA (like Miami) with 23 points (12-13 from the line), 6 boards, 6 dimes, and 2 steals. In the arena of Jennings’ improvement, the battle is going to be all about him remaining consistent. Hopefully this will be the season that he’s up to the task.
***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Randy Foye (1.96) (4% owned) made the most of yet another CP3-missed game. He and Mo-Will had solid nights versus the Raptors. Foye’s value will plummet once again when Chris Paul returns. So he’s probably good for another spot start or two (tops) this week. He hammered Toronto with a stat sheet-filling line of 15 points (3 threes, 5-8 from the field), and 4 assists, while getting two steals and three blocks.

Pick Up Lines: Leandro Barbosa (1.80) (21% owned) is someone I mentioned in my latest post on Sports Illustrated. He’s so far been the Raptors’ most consistent scorer off the bench so far this season. So if your fantasy team needs a boost in scoring, Barbosa might just be the pick-up for you! He finished the night with 19 points (3 threes), and 3 steals.

Mo Williams (1.32) (48% owned) once again proved that he’s probably worth starting on other NBA rosters. *cough*Lakers*cough* He’s been so hot lately, the Clippers have opted to turn off the heater in the team bus. Sadly, we’re probably not going to see him deliver 26 points (3 threes, 7-7 from the line) again when Chris Paul (who’s expected to be eased back into the rotation THIS week) returns.

Bismack Biyombo (1.26) (4% owned) had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 blocks in ONLY 18 minutes! If you’re aggressive and in a standard league, go ahead and stash him now and watch him ripen as the season progresses. If you’re in a deep league then… “Grab! Grab NOW! Hurry!”

Biggest Loser: I know that Nels in particular was quite high on Amir Johnson (-0.97). I wonder how painful Johnson’s one-point-one-rebound night was? I’m sure it must have left a damn awful taste on their fantasy palates to say the least. He should actually perform better when Andrea Bargnani returns to action.

Mario Chalmers (-0.96) had a nasty night with 12 points and two assists. No it wasn’t quite worth his six turnovers, especially considering he did go 4-14 from the field. He should bounce back though. So just chalk this one up to a bad night. He was limping at some point though, so keep your ears to the ground regarding his status.

Injury of the Night: D.J. Augustin (-0.64) has a “slight crack” between two bones in his right toe, and is expected to miss at least three games. Rookie Kemba Walker will now get an opportunity to show the NBA Universe what he can really do.

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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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