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Day 123 of 124: DNP: Rest

Patrick — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:25:03 +0000

Day 123 provides us with plenty of examples of why you should not run your H2H fantasy league to the very end of the season. The Sixers, Spurs and Bucks basically sat their entire starting lineups last night. Stars who are even remotely hurt will sit out the final games – Danny Granger, Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala all sat with injuries. And stars that do play will often get the early curtain call, like Steve Nash and Kyrie Irving did last night. It all makes for a mess in the final days of the season.

Line of the Night: Except we can always count on the Thunder. OKC played their final game of the regular season last night and were led by Russell Westbrook (3.43), who scored 30 points, adding 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks in a loss to the Nuggets. Westbrook finishes the year ranked at #22 on the GMTR player rater, which is about 15 spots lower than what we had him projected at going into the year. The drop can solely be attributed to his assist numbers, which dropped from 8.2 per game last season to 5.5 this season. While I appreciate the 24 ppg this year, just remember that you’re a PG Westbrook.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Durant (1.79) locked up his fantasy MVP case with a strong game to finish out the year. He had 32 points, with 5 threes, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while playing a team high 40 minutes. Serge Ibaka (0.98) blocked another 4 shots on the night to finish the season averaging 3.7 blocks per game (and 4.7 over the past month). Defensive Fantasy Player of the Year! If such a thing existed.

J.J. Redick (2.26) took advantage of the Charlotte Bobcats to score 31 points, hitting 6-10 from three. Ryan Anderson (1.84) chipped in 24 points and 13 rebounds in his bid to take home the league’s most improved player award. The Magic had an unfortunate injury in this game however thanks to the giant feet of Byron Mullens, but more on that below.

John Wall (2.16) dropped 21 points, with 7 rebounds, 13 assists and 7 steals in his “remember what I can do” game for draft day next season. His 6 turnovers are what prevent him from actually taking home a fantasy line of the night. Wall was second in the league (behind Deron Williams) with 3.9 turnovers a game this season, which isn’t great, but Kevin Durant, Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo are 3, 4 and 5 on the list, which is not bad company to be in.

J.R. Smith (2.10) ended the season on fire, with a two week WARP value of 1.16, or top 15 player material. His 21 points, 3 threes, 5 assists and 4 steals also gives him 12 steals over his last three games.

Brandon Jennings (1.82) continues to play like a top 15 fantasy player with 19 points, 3 threes, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks in a loss to the Sixers’ B-team. The entire Bucks’ starting lineup with the exception of Jennings sat in this one, but that did not appear to affect Jennings one bit.

Ty Lawson (1.59) helped the Nuggets move up to the seventh seed in the West with a 25 point, 3 three, 5 rebound, 2 steal performance in a win over the Thunder. The GMTR keeper list is going to be published shortly, and I think Lawson fairs pretty well on it.

CP3 sat out against the Knicks to rest up his groin strain, but Blake Griffin (1.35) carried a lot of the load with 29 points, 10 boards and 6 assists. Of course, he also shot 7-14 from the line, so the dude needs to spend a little less time making KIA commercials and a little more time at the free throw line this summer. The Clippers also got a huge game from…

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: With Chris Paul sitting out of the Clippers final game against the Knicks, Randy Foye (2.10) got the opportunity to (go) H.A.M. with 28 points – shooting 4-12 from three – with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals while playing 43 minutes. The Clippers are done for the season and do not play today, so my expert advice would be to not pick him up for today’s set of games.

Pick Up Lines: Some players who do play again today include Jodie Meeks (1.90), who scored 27 points and hit 3 threes for a Sixers team that sat Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams. Consider Meeks a good bet to put up similar numbers tonight as those guys will likely all sit again.

His teammate Evan Turner (1.43) scored a career high 29 points, adding 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks while playing a team high 41 minutes. Turner, like Meeks, should get plenty of run tonight in the Sixers game against Detroit.

With the entire Bucks’ starting rotation sitting with the exception of Brandon Jennings (and Ekpe Udoh only getting 14 minutes due to knee soreness), Larry Sanders (1.39) saw 32 minutes off the bench to finish with 12 points, 4 steals and 5 blocks. This came after he was suspended for two games after an on the court altercation with the Pacers last week. Scott Skiles didn’t know after the game who on his team would be available tonight against the Celtics, but I’d guess that Sanders will be in for some extended run again tonight.

The Bucks’ forward Tobias Harris (1.09) – got a rare start and did his best Ersan Ilyasova impersonation with 15 points and 13 rebounds while playing a season high 37 minutes. He’s another Bucks’ player who is likely to see a lot of minutes in tonight’s game.

Patty Mills (1.18) dropped 27 points and 5 assists in a start for the Spurs, who (surprise, surprise) rested Parker, Duncan and Ginobili. All are expected to miss tonight’s season finale against the Warriors, meaning that Mills makes a strong start again tonight. Tiago Splitter (1.18) scored 26 points in only 20 minutes off the bench, although it’d be difficult for him to maintain that type of per game production two games in a row.

Derrick Brown (0.90) finished with 16 points, 5 boards and a couple steals in another start for the Bobcats. He could have some deep league value again tonight as the Bobcats play the Knicks. Bismack Biyombo (0.49) has now blocked at least 2 shots in his last 8 games and is a guy to play if your team needs some blocks on this last night of play.

With Kyrie Irving unlikely to play in the Cavs final game tonight, it means that Donald Sloan (-0.17) – with 8 points and 7 assists yesterday – is back in play again. In fact, the Cavs entire B team, including guys like D.J. Kennedy and our old friend Luke Walton will probably get some good run tonight against the Bulls.

Biggest Loser: I sat Glen Davis (-0.71) last night in my roto league because I am trying to break a tie in the FT% category and Davis has shot 68% from the line this season. Well, Davis of course went 2-2 from the line last night against the Bobcats, but that’s the only good news he had in this game. Davis sprained his ankle after stepping on the foot of Byron Mullens and had to leave the game after 9 minutes, finishing with 2 points, 1 rebound and 0 assists.

Andre Miller (-0.33) got 21 minutes off the bench for the Nuggets and finished with 5 points and 6 assists on 2-7 shooting from the field.

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Day 121 of 124: When Danny Granger is Away, Paul George Will Play

Patrick — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:22:50 +0000

Line of the Night: With Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and George Hill all sitting last night for the Pacers (the team is locked into the three seed in the East) Paul George (2.32) got to run wild over the Pistons and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals on the night. Granger is expected to sit again for the Pacers last game on Wednesday, so expect another huge game from Paul to finish out the season.

Honorable Mentions: Tony Allen (2.10) has been horrible since coming back from injury in mid-April (I know, because he’s on my roto team and I’m capped with moves for the year, so I haven’t been able to dump him), but last night with a little help from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense, he set a Grizzlies’ franchise record with 8 steals to go along with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Says Allen about his performance, “I was alert and felt good in the passing lanes.” No kidding.

Wesley Matthews (2.01) continued to burn hot over the last month of the season, scoring 24 points, with 3 threes, 6 rebounds and 4 steals as Portland got blown out by the Spurs. Matthews got 45 minutes in this game because Jamal Crawford sat with knee tendonitis and Nicolas Batum was out again due to his quad injury. Raymond Felton (0.25) made a surprise return after missing 3 games and finished with 13 points and 7 assists. I guess that means he’s good to go for the team’s last game on Thursday, but who knows with this season.

The Spurs were led by the unexpected duo of Stephen Jackson (1.83), who had 12 points, 4 assists and 5 steals, and Tim Duncan (1.53) with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Duncan saw a team high 26 minutes in the game as Gregg Popovich worked his magic to seemingly make minutes disappear from the game. Duncan and Jackson, I’d watch a buddy cop movie starring those two.

Elton Brand (1.49) had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks as the Sixers locked up a playoff spot with a win over the Nets. Andre Iguodala (1.28) finished with a 14, 7 and 9 while getting a team high 41 minutes, but strained his Achilles late in the game. With a playoff spot locked up, Doug Collins said after the game he plans to rest Iguodala and Brand and probably Lou Williams over the team’s final two games. This means we’ll get a heavy dose of Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks, Evan Turner, Lavoy Allen and Thaddeus Young on Wednesday and Thursday, so plan your lineups accordingly.

Ersan Ilyasova (1.42) was huge yet again for the Bucks, finishing with 19 points and 15 rebounds against the Raptors. Brandon Jennings (1.09) added 25 points, 3 threes and 5 assists in the game.

The Wizards handed the Bobcats their 21st straight loss (and kept them on the trajectory to become the worst NBA team of all time). They were led by John Wall (1.01) who finished with 16 points and 14 assists. Nene Hilario (0.75) had 18 and 6 in just 21 minutes and they also got a surprise performance out of Jan Vesely, but more on that below.

Charlotte was “led” by D.J. Augustin (0.48) with the 42nd best fantasy line of the night thanks to 15 points and 6 assists. Augustin had sat out the Bobcats previous four games, and his return pushed Kemba Walker (-0.52) back to the bench for only 14 minutes. The Bobcats can’t even do garbage time right this season.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Jan Vesely (1.64) has been starting for the Wizards for a month and has quietly put together a decent run of competence over the last couple weeks, sporting a two-week WARP of 0.34. Last night in a win over the Bobcats, he had his best game of the season, going 8-8 from the floor and finishing with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals (3% owned). The Wizards still play two more games this year, so those in deeper leagues looking for a boards/steals option to plug into your lineup could do worse than grabbing Vesely.

Pick Up Lines: This is the time of the season where everything we think we know goes out the window. So it’s no surprise that James Johnson (1.56) blew up against the Bucks a couple weeks after getting mysteriously benched. Johnson finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks (34% owned). He’s worth a look for the Raptors’ final game on Thursday against the Nets.

Danny Green (1.41) somehow managed to go 4-4 from three and score 18 points in only 15 minutes on the court as the Spurs blew out the Blazers 124-89. He’s been playing well recently (averaging 2.7 threes and 12 points a game over the last two weeks) despite getting his minutes reduced along with the other Spurs’ starters as they rest up for the playoffs. It’s tough to recommend picking up a guy getting 15-20 minutes a game, but somehow Green is making it work. The Spurs also play on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

The Pacers rolling with their B team allowed Leandro Barbosa (1.25) to see 29 minutes off the bench (his highest since he’s been on the team) and Barbosa made the most of the opportunity with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. With Granger a good bet to sit out on Wednesday, Barbosa should again see good minutes again in that game.

MarShon Brooks (1.07) has quietly returned to his early season form for the Nets. Against the Sixers, Brooks scored 18 points, adding 4 assists and 2 steals in 34 minutes. He’s scored in double-digits in 8 of his last 9 games and is someone to look at if you need to pick up some points on the last day of the season, which is the next time the Nets play.

With Drew Gooden (-0.99) taking a crap all over last night’s game against the Raptors (he finished with 2 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes), the Bucks turned to Ekpe Udoh (0.94) who had one of his strongest games with the team, finishing with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in 30 minutes (10% owned). Unless the team decides to sit Gooden, Udoh will likely go back to seeing less than 20 off the bench for their last two games on Wednesday and Thursday and is a tough guy to recommend because of that.

Marreese Speights (0.55) finished with 17 and 10 for his second straight double-double. Who would have thought in the battle for playing time against Zach Randolph, that Speights would come out on top? Right now, he’s the better fantasy option out of the two.

Tristan Thompson (0.28) had 19 points, 9 boards and 4 blocks for the Cavs. Unfortunately, he also shot 3-10 from the floor and 6-10 from the line, but if you are looking for boards, blocks and some points, the Cavs still have games remaining on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Biggest Loser: George Hill sat out for the Pacers, which is great news for Darren Collison (-1.32), right? Turns out, not so much. A.J. Price got the start at PG for the Pacers, but Collison still got 31 minutes of run off the bench and all he could manage was 4 points on 1-8 shooting, with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 turnovers. Hill is expected back for the Pacers last game on Wednesday, so Collison should be pushed back to limited minutes off the bench again for that one.

Zach Randolph (-1.13) played all of 19 minutes off the bench for the Grizzlies and finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists on 1-5 from the field. Randolph has one double-double in his past six games, not exactly what was expected from a guy who averaged 20 and 12 last season.

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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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Day 114 of 124: This Overtime Goes to Three

Patrick — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:08:19 +0000

Line of the Night: With Dwyane Wade sitting out yet another game on the second night of a Miami back-to-back, LeBron James (2.62) took over for the Heat last night, scoring 37 points – including Miami’s last 17 straight – adding 6 rebounds and 7 assists and going 14-15 from the line to lead the Heat to a 101-98 win over the Nets. Hey, it was the Nets, but still an impressive run from James nonetheless. Unfortunately, Miami still has two more sets of back-to-back games this season, so expect Wade and possibly even LeBron to get a couple more games off down the stretch.

Honorable Mentions: Utah and Dallas played a triple-OT game that ended with Utah winning 123-121, so it’s no surprise to see Al Jefferson (2.60) at the top of the fantasy list today. Jefferson had a beastly 28 points, 26 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in an OT enhanced 54 minutes. To which Kevin Love responded, “Hey, I do that stuff in a normal game.”

Dirk Nowitzki (2.36) played 53 minutes in the game, scoring 40 points (on 12-12 from the line), with 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Interestingly, other than Jason Kidd (1.26) who had 10 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals in 45 minutes, no other Mavs starter saw more than 27 minutes in the game. Jason Terry (1.17) did get 54 minutes off the bench though and scored 27 points.

The Jazz meanwhile played all of their starters at least 45 minutes, so even a guy like DeMarre Carroll (0.85) – with 15 points and 6 assists – had a good game. However, it meant that Derrick Favors (2 points, 3 rebounds) still only saw 13 minutes off the bench in this one.

Jrue Holiday (2.30) continued his up and down run lately with a solid 18 points, 4 threes, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks as the Sixers beat a short-handed Magic team. Andre Iguodala (1.84) – who has had his share of downs lately as well – finished with 15 points, 3 threes, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The Sixers still have 6 games remaining this season, making a lot of Sixers worth playing despite their team wide game-to-game inconsistency.

The real Ryan Anderson (2.12) also showed up after shooting a combined 7-33 in his previous 3 games. He finished with 26 points (on 11-16 from the field), with 16 rebounds. Anderson should make a very strong play the rest of the season with Howard out, provided he can continue to shoot straight.

Jeff Teague (2.14) bounced back from a horrible game against the Raptors to have a really good game against the Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back. He finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists for only his third double-double of the year.

Speaking of bouncing back, Channing Frye’s (1.89) game went MIA over the last week, just in time to tank a lot of owners’ championship hopes. But Frye is back this week, scoring 19 points (on 8-11 from the field), with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 25 minutes of run. It’s his first double-digit scoring game in his last five.

Klay Thompson (1.71) is officially on fire. Thompson scored 29 points against the Spurs, adding 8 boards and 5 assists in 43 minutes. He’s scored a total of 77 points in his last three games and has a one-week WARP value of 1.40, which is off the charts good. I think the kid is a keeper.

Finally, the Pacers beat the Wolves 111-88 thanks to Roy Hibbert’s (1.82) 12 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks. Danny Granger (1.57) added 19, 7, and 5, while David West made it a party with 22 points and 10 boards. Hell, even Paul George (1.30) looked good in this game with 18 points, 5 boards and a couple of threes. That’s four Pacers in the top-25 performances for yesterday.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: In a matter of a few games, Nate Robinson (1.95) has gone from being buried on the Warriors’ bench behind Chris Jenkins to the Warriors’ mighty sixth man getting 30 minutes a game. Yesterday was more of the good Nate Robinson, as he got 31 minutes of run against the Spurs and finished with 30 points, 3 threes, and 7 assists. Keep riding Robinson for the rest of the season if you need points, assists and threes as long as he continues to get big minutes off the bench.

Pick Up Lines: Vince Carter (1.90) played 44 minutes thanks to the Mavs/Jazz triple OT game and saw a nice stat boost because of that: 18 points, 3 threes, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. On most nights, however, Carter will see 20-something minutes and he hasn’t been consistent enough on the court to be worth picking up.

Chandler Parsons (1.79) tied his career high with 21 points, adding 3 steals against the Nuggets. At this point, everyone has probably had a ride with Parsons and I think we have all left feeling a little under whelmed with the experience. Houston still has 4 games remaining this week, so a guy like Parsons could have value for owners looking to pick up a few games this week.

The same thing applies to Samuel Dalembert (1.29), who got the surprise start in place of Marcus Camby, who sat last night due to a sore back (the second most popular injury this year). Dalembert only scored 5 points in the game, but finished with 9 boards and 7 blocks in 24 minutes. The Rockets play again on Wednesday, and if Camby can’t go in that game, Dalembert make a nice play if you need boards/blocks.

Kevin Seraphin (1.42) – who was a one man wrecking crew against my team in the GMTR Dynasty League finals – continued to roll with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks while playing a season high 42 minutes in a win over the Bulls. Seraphin’s two-week WARP average is 0.59, which places him at #33 overall during that span. If that’s not a must start in all leagues at this point, I don’t know what is.

With Dwight Howard and Glen Davis out with injuries and Daniel Orton (0.09) not doing much in his a start for the Magic, PF Earl Clark (1.31) got 33 minutes off the bench and finished with a season high 14 points and 11 rebounds, adding 2 blocks as well. Clark could have some deep league value if Davis were to miss the Magic’s next game on Wednesday, but if Davis returns my magic 8-ball says the outlook is not good.

Gary Neal (1.30) scored 17 points and hit 3 threes in 25 minutes off the bench for the Spurs as they beat down the Warriors 120-99. No Spurs starter saw more than 20 minutes in the game, giving Neal a little more run than usual. Even with the Spurs’ big three likely to take some games off as the season comes to an end, Neal won’t see enough consistent minutes to be worth owning in most fantasy leagues.

Too little, too late for MarShon Brooks (1.17)? After a horrible run in March, Brooks finally might be turning things around. He tied his career high with 24 points against the Heat, adding 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the game. It’s his sixth straight double-digit scoring game and five of those 6 games have had positive WARP performances. The Nets have a horrible schedule the rest of the way though, only playing 4 games over the next 10 days. So stay away from Brooks unless it’s a spot start or steaming situation.

Raymond Felton took the night off for the Blazers to rest an achilles injury. Jonny Flynn (-0.65) got the start at PG in his place and unimpressive, finishing with 6 assists and not much else. Nolan Smith (0.91) on the other hand, got 33 minutes off the bench (to Flynn’s 24) and had a game, scoring 14 points and adding 5 assists and 2 steals. If Felton were to miss any additional time (and there is talk of him shutting it down for the year ::coughtankingcough::) Smith appears to be the guy who would benefit the most from the situation and be the one to pickup.

Luke Babbitt (0.59) with 18 points, 4 threes and 5 rebounds in a start for the injured Nicolas Batum and Sundiata Gaines (0.48) with 11 points and 7 assists starting at PG for the injured Deron Williams could be worth looks as Batum and Williams could potentially be shut down for the year.

Biggest Loser: Not a good night to be Russell Westbrook (-1.00). The Thunder not only lost to the Clippers, but were held to 77 points total, including 25 in the second half. Westbrook was a big reason why as he finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and shot 4-16 from the field. It’s just a bump in the road for Westbrook, although it happens to be coming at a really bad time if you are playing for a championship this week.

Jordan Crawford (-1.03) shot 2-13 from the field (15%) to finish with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 turnovers. Hey, at least the assists are nice.

Darren Collison (-0.96) also made his return to the court last night after missing 4 games with a groin injury. Not that anyone would have noticed, as Collison finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 18 minutes off the bench. George Hill is expected to make at least one more start at PG for the Pacers while Collison (slowly) works his way back.

Don’t worry Thunder, brighter days are ahead.

In the Bonus: Some childhood photos of NBA players (via fBasketballBlog on twitter). Andre Iguodala looks like a mini-me version of himself. It’s amazing.

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Day 112 of 124: the Beginning of the End

Patrick — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:29:01 +0000

That’s right, this is the last recap that is going to mean anything to the owners who are playing for a championship in fantasy leagues that end this week. Still, like much of the NBA at this point, all we can do is soldier on until the end.

Line of the Night: Coming off a rare bad game against the Wolves, Chris Paul (3.01) bounced back in full force to score 28 points (on 12-17 shooting), with 13 assists, 3 threes and 3 steals in a win over the Warriors. Paul is not only having an expectedly great fantasy year (he’s currently ranked #3 on the GMTR player rater for the season) but he’s also doing the improbable by driving the Clippers to a 4th seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Honorable Mentions: Rudy Gay (2.20) dropped 26 points, with 12 rebounds and 2 blocks as the Grizzlies took down the Jazz. Tony Allen (-0.35) made his triumphant return to the court after missing 5 games due to a mouth injury sustained when O.J. Mayo “accidentally” hit him during a game. Allen landed with a thud, scoring 6 points on 2-6 shooting and not doing too much else.

Kevin Durant’s (2.12) 43 points wasn’t enough to give him the best fantasy line of the night, but he did add 4 threes, 7 rebounds and shot 15-23 from the field. What more can a guy do? His teammate Russell Westbrook (1.96) finished with 35 points and 8 assists in the win over the Wolves. Here is where I say something like Durant and Westbrook are the best scoring duo in the league, but that would just be stating the obvious, right? They are averaging over 52 points a game combined this year, more than LeBron and Wade.

Not part of the Thunder’s scoring equation is Serge Ibaka (1.69), who is averaging less than 9 points a game this season. He is however a one-man block party, finishing with 8 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Wolves. Ibaka is leading the league in blocks this year at an insane 3.6 a game. Over the past two weeks Ibaka has averaged 5.3 blocks a game. My mind doesn’t even know how to process that information.

Klay Thompson (2.00) fantasy led the Warriors to a loss against the Clippers with 24 points, 4 threes and 4 steals. With an injury to Richard Jefferson (more on that below) Thompson should be in for big minutes and a monster finish to the season. Ride him out.

Roy Hibbert (1.77) led the Pacers to a win over the Bucks with 23 points and 14 rebounds. George Hill (0.28) continues to start for the Pacers at PG with Darren Collison out, but he’s been channeling Collison’s underwhelming game. Hill finished with 13 points on 4-11 shooting and 3 assists.

For the Bucks, Brandon Jennings (1.72) finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 blocks. Jennings is now up to #16 on out player rater for the year and has arguably been the second best fantasy PG in the league when you take into account number of games played.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: J.J. Barea (2.10) is only owned in about one-third of leagues despite starting at PG for the Wolves. Granted, he’s been turning the ball over like he’s Jeremy Lin’s more turnover prone cousin, but provided you can handle that, Barea just notched his third straight double-double against the Thunder with a monster 24 points, 3 threes, 10 assists and 3 steals. Ridnour is still say-to-day with his sprained ankle, but he doesn’t have an exact return date set. Until then (and maybe even after) Barea remains a must start in all leagues, so grab him if he’s available and ride out those double-doubles.

Pick Up Lines: Nate Robinson (1.71) got 36 minutes off the bench for the Warriors compared to 12 in a start for Charles Jenkins, and he exploded for 28 points, 4 threes, 5 rebounds and 8 assists against the Clippers. Robinson is winning the battle for minutes over Jenkins and has certainly out performed him over the past couple of weeks, making him the much better play out of the two Warriors’ PGs despite coming off the bench.

Richard Jefferson sat out last night’s game with a knee injury, so Brandon Rush (1.57) saw 36 minutes off the bench and had one of his best games of the season by filling up the box score with 22 points, 3 threes, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Jefferson has the dreaded “sore knee” with swelling and had an MRI done on it on Friday. Sounds serious enough that he’ll miss some time and possibly be done for the rest of the season. That makes Rush a decent pick up in many leagues if you need threes and some boards/blocks out of a guard, although expect some inconsistency along the way, even if Rush is getting big minutes.

Jordan Williams (1.48) – the currently 0% fantasy owned backup PF for the Nets – notched his first double-double of the season against the Celtics of all teams with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 3 steals in 29 minutes. While Williams’ minutes have been creeping up lately for New Jersey, the rebounds and steals were both season highs, so stay away unless you happen to play in a very deep league.

James “Don’t Call me Chris” Singleton (1.43) continues to play well since getting the call up from the Wizards. His sixth game with the team, Singleton scored 13 points, adding 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 25 minutes off the bench. With Andray Blatche and Trevor Booker still out with injuries, Singleton looks like he’ll be penciled into that 6/7th man role the rest of the season and makes a solid pickup in deep leagues if you need some points, boards and the occasional block.

Luke Harangody (1.30) got the surprise start in place of Antawn Jamison – who got an age-related DNP on the second night of a Cavs back-to-back. Harangody responded with a huge 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals in his first time playing at all in over a month. Way to shake that rust off Luke. But with Jamison expected back for the Cavs next game, Harangody is only worth a spot start when the Cavs have a SEGABABA.

Kawhi Leonard (1.21) hadn’t scored in double-digits in 8 straight games before last night’s 14 point, 3 three and 5 rebound game against the Suns. A lot of that came against the Suns second unit as Phoenix decided to sit a lot of their starters after going down big in the first quarter. Over the past month, Leonard has seen his minutes shrink from the low 30′s to the low 20′s thanks to the arrival of Stephen Jackson, and because of that, I’d recommend staying away form him in most fantasy leagues since he’s not producing consistently enough in limited minutes.

Sebastian Telfair (1.16) and Markieff Morris (0.87) saw a lot of run after the Suns went down 35-13 in the first quarter of last night’s game. Telfair finished with a 21/6/4 while Morris had a 10 and 9 with 3 blocks. This is like the third time in a row I’ve mentioned Telfair in this space and every time I say it’s a fluke, then he has even a better game in the Suns next one. So, I’d expect Telfair to have a triple-double the next time the Suns play. Seriously though, Telfair appears to be a good fit with the Suns system, which is something to remember if Nash decides to leave Phoenix next season. Telfair could have some sneaky deep sleeper potential in 2012-13.

Avery Bradley (1.05) helped the Celtics take down the Nets with 18 points on a career high 3-4 from three. Unfortunately, the Celtics only have 3 games next week and 5 the rest of the way, so you probably want to stay away from Bradley if your team plays next week because of his schedule.

Anthony Randolph (0.62) had yet another huge game for the Wolves with Kevin Love out of the lineup, finishing with 22 and 11 off the bench. Love is still feeling the effects of the concussion and will likely miss a few more games if not the rest of the season, which could give Randolph big minutes over the Wolves next 5 games (especially with Derrick Williams disappearing lately). Buyer beware when it comes to Randolph, but he’s just the type of guy who could explode over the next week as a way to make you buy into him come draft day next year. I’d actually consider picking him up if you need points, boards and blocks.

Derrick Favors (0.35) had his third straight double-double off the bench for the Jazz with 14 and 10. While his minutes will be limited playing behind Millsap, Favors has shown he can still be a solid fantasy guy getting 20 minutes off the bench. Utah only plays 3 games next week and 5 the rest of the way, but Favors could still be worth a look in deep leagues despite the bad schedule, especially with Paul Millsap hurting.

Biggest Loser: Again, thanks to the Spurs early run against the Suns, Steve Nash (-1.14) shut it down after 5 minutes in part to rest his sore hip for the remainder of the season. That’s a solid longer-term move, but last night it meant that Nash finished with 2 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists on 1-4 shooting from the field. Expect him to be back at full(er) strength for the Suns next game on Monday.

Not exactly a biggest loser, but Lester Hudson’s (-0.47) magical run could be over. Hudson saw only 19 minutes for the Cavs for his second straight game, finishing with 10 points and 4 boards against the Wolves. I wouldn’t have a long leach if you picked up Hudson last week – possibly give him one more game to see if he turns it around. But with Kyrie Irving expect back for the Cavs some time next week, it’s another reason to dump Hudson if he’s not performing.

***

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Day 109 of 124: Waiver Wire Team Assemble!

Patrick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:01:23 +0000

Line of the Night/ Waiver Wire Line of the Night: There was an insane triple-double last night and some dude grabbed 30 boards, but neither of those games was the best fantasy line of the night. Instead, waiver wire champion Danny Green (2.61 WARP) finished with 22 points, hitting 5-6 from three and 7-11 from the field, with 2 steals, 2 blocks and 0 turnovers. If that sounds like an underwhelming line of the night, I’d agree, but unlike some other performances, Green was a plus in just about every fantasy category. Ironically, it was also a far better game for Green than the one the other day when Parker, Duncan and Ginobili all sat out. That shouldn’t happen, but this is why they actually play the games.

Honorable Mentions: Monta Ellis (2.56) scored 35 points against the Knicks, adding 3 threes, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals to make Danny Green’s line look impotent. However, Ellis also turned the ball over 5 times, which hurt his line just enough to put Green over the top. The bad news for Ellis’ owners is that he’s still working to find consistency in that Bucks lineup – this game came after one in which he shot 3-12 from the floor and scored 9 points.

Carmelo Anthony (1.29) once again had the Knicks best fantasy line, but unlike the other night’s 43 point outburst, he “only” scored 32 in the game, adding 10 boards. No one is loving the Jeremy Lin injury more than Melo, I’d suspect.

The Jazz are a little shorthanded right now thanks to injuries to Raja Bell, C.J. Miles and Josh Howard, so Gordon Hayward (2.42) saw 39 minutes of run against the Rockets and scored a season high 29 points, adding 4 threes, 6 assists and 2 steals. While it is Hayward’s best game of the season, he does have a 0.62 WARP over the past two weeks according to our player rater, good for #31 overall during that span. Ride his hot streak the rest of the season.

Rudy Gay (2.30) scored 32 points for the Grizzlies (on 13-20 from the field) adding 7 rebounds in a win over the Suns. It’s Gay’s first 30+ point game of the season, which is surprising since he’s averaging nearly 19 points a game. And in one of the weirder lines of the year, the Suns best fantasy line actually came from Sebastian Telfair (0.82) in only 13 minutes. Telfair managed to get 8 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal, block and three all in that small amount of time.

Chris Paul (2.24) had 31 points, 6 rebounds, (only) 4 assists and 2 steals as the Clippers took down the Thunder 100-98. He also had the game winning layup with 8 seconds left in the game. Blake Griffin (1.02) added 16, 12 and 7 in his never forget your roots game. Kevin Durant (1.81) led the Thunder with 22 points, 3 threes, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, but missed what would have been the game winning three at the buzzer.

Despite erroneous reports to the contrary yesterday, Tyreke Evans (1.73) did play for the Kings, and had a game for himself with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals against the Hornets. Evans’ game log this year looks like a seismograph going off during an earthquake, so if you own him all you can do is stick him in your lineup and take the good with the bad.

With Nicolas Batum returning to the Blazers’ lineup, Jamal Crawford (1.63) got pushed back to the bench, but he still exploded for 34 points, hitting all 13 of his free throws against the Warriors.

Andrew Bynum (1.35) was the guy who grabbed 30 boards last night, also adding 16 points and a couple blocks. His 7-20 shooting performance didn’t help, but someone has to shoot with Kobe out for his third straight game. Pau Gasol (0.85) added 21 and 11, but also shot under 40% from the field in the game.

The GMTR player rater does not award style points for triple-doubles, otherwise Rajon Rondo (0.68) would be king of world after recording his sixth triple-double of the season against the Hawks, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 20 assists! The bad news (and the reason why he gets no line of the night) is that Rondo shot just 3-16 from the floor (19% if you do the math) and turned the ball over 6 times in the game. Still, I’d take that game from Rondo if it means he’s singlehandedly leading my team to victory in the assists category (and unfortunately destroying my FG%).

***

Injury Report: Drew Gooden (-1.00) played all of 5 minutes for the Bucks last night before leaving the game with back pain. With the fantasy season wrapping up for many owners, he can be dropped immediately for someone more productive. Eric Gordon also missed last night’s game with a back injury and should be dropped if you’re in a tight matchup this week. As mentioned above, Kobe Bryant missed his third straight game with that shin injury and is currently day-to-day. It’s a tough week if you’ve gone into a playoff battle with Kobe in your lineup, but reports are that his shin is doing better and with the Lakers coming home on Friday, I’d bet he makes his return to the court then against the Nuggets.

Pick Up Lines: I imagine Erik went into an Incredible Hulk type rampage upon seeing that Anthony Randolph (1.77) scored 28 points (shooting 11-16 from the field), with 6 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Nuggets. A shot to the head forced Kevin Love out of the game in the first quarter, which allowed Randolph to get 31 minutes off the bench. Randolph has the NBA form of a bipolar disorder, capable of games like this one night only to completely disappear the next. While he’s presumably going to get good minutes while Love is sidelined, you’ll do yourself and your fantasy team a big favor by staying far away from Randolph.

Derrick Williams (1.15) also benefited from the Love injury, scoring 27 points and adding 8 rebounds and 3 threes in 38 minutes. He’ll likely get the starting PF job as long as Love is out, and should be a nice source of points, rebounds, threes and blocks during that time. I would be much more likely to go with Williams over Randolph until Love returns.

Speaking of Love, he suffered a mild concussion after taking an elbow to the head and spent last night in a hospital. Given the NBA’s procedures around concussions, he’s out for tonight’s Wolves game, so those in tight playoff battles this week need to quickly find another option for Love (say J.J. Hickson or Derrick Williams) as he could miss Saturday’s game as well.

With Kobe out, Metta World Peace (1.71) did his best Kobe impression by scoring 26 points on 10-15 shooting, with 5 threes and 2 steals against the Spurs. World Peace now has three 19+ point scoring games over his last 4 games. Matt Barnes (0.99) is also benefiting from Kobe’s absence, as he finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. I’d consider neither guy a hot grab, as Kobe is day-to-day and could be back for the Lakers’ next game on Friday.

No LaMarcus Aldridge equals a J.J. Hickson (1.70) explosion last night against the Warriors. As one of the only Blazers’ big men left standing (unless you happen to be a big Luke Babbitt fan), Hickson finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds in nearly 40 minutes on the court. This game came against the Warriors, so a word of warning there, but Hickson is an immediate add in all leagues at this point, especially since a MRI found an abnormality in Aldridge’s hip and he’s increasingly likely to be shut down for the year. The bad news is that the Blazers play only 7 games the rest of the year, which is the fewest in the league.

Joel Przybilla (-0.44) is also an option if you are in an incredibly deep league and need some rebounds, primarily. Przybilla saw a season high 28 minutes starting at center for the Blazers and grabbed 14 boards, although the rest of his line (2 points, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks) is anemic. But if you happen to play in a 20-team league, I bet those rebounds are looking pretty good right now.

Surprise, surprise, Eric Gordon missed last night’s game with lower back tightness (nice job playing for that next contract, Gordon), so Marco Belinelli (1.45) got the start at shooting guard and finished with 21 points and 3 threes. This Hornets team is a mess right now and the only two guys on the team I’d feel comfortable playing on a nightly basis are Chris Kaman and Greivis Vasquez. Leave Belinelli on waivers for now, as Gordon could potentially be back sometime this year to steal his minutes yet again.

A game after going all Manimal on us, Kenneth Faried (1.42) followed it up with another good game, scoring 16 points, with 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 36 minutes. Again, it came against a Wolves team that was giving a lot of minutes to Anthony Randolph and Anthon Tolliver, not exactly two guys known for their defensive abilities. Still, you’ve got to like the minutes he’s getting and with Al Harrington playing through a torn meniscus, Faried could continue to see good minutes for the rest of the season. He’s available in over 60% of leagues right now and makes a nice add, especially in deeper leagues.

Waiver Wire Team Assemble! Hanging out in the 30-40ish area of last night’s performances is our regular waiver wire crew: Brandon Rush (0.96) had 13 points, hit a couple three and had 5 rebounds in 26 minutes; Shannon Brown (0.81) scored 18 while hitting 4-10 from three; Chandler Parsons (0.81) did a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing against the Jazz; Jason Thompson (0.79) bounced back from three bad games in a row to finish with 18 and 7; Mike Dunleavy (0.75) scored 19 points and hit a couple threes while getting 36 minutes on the bench; and Landry Fields (0.67) had 11/5/6 starting at PF for the Knicks. We’ve talked about most of these guys ad nauseum this season and with the possible exception of Brown, all make better short-term spot starters than long-term fantasy options.

Markieff Morris (0.68) has now strung together three good games in a row, including last night’s 17 points and 6 rebounds against the Grizzlies. He has also seen at least 26 minutes in each of those three games. Keep an eye on his minutes as the season comes to an end, especially if the Suns completely fall out of playoff contention. He could be one of those guys with a monster last week if the Suns decide to play all their young guys.

DeMarre Carroll (0.58) got his second straight start at SF for the injury depleted Jazz. It went much, much better than his first as Carroll finished with 10 points, 7 boards and a couple of steals in 26 minutes. I wouldn’t pick him up in a 12 team league (especially considering his disasterous first start), but he is worth at least a watch in larger leagues as long as he continues to start for the Jazz.

Biggest Loser: I had to check to see whether Michael Beasley (-1.14) got hurt in the Wolves game since he played all of 10 minutes even with Kevin Love leaving the game, but I can’t find any news that he did (let me know if I’ve missed something). Instead, he just had a severe case of Beasley-itis, finishing with 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists after playing about 30 minutes in each of the Wolves last two games.

And while he’s only owned in about one-third of leagues, Carl Landry (-1.37) demonstrated why he can’t be trusted in fantasy with an 8 point, 3 rebound “performance” against the Kings. Landry is not someone you want to hand the keys of your fantasy team to with the season on the line.

***

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Day 107 of 124: The Manimal Attacks

Patrick — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:39:09 +0000

Line of the Night/Waiver Wire Line of the Night : Kenneth Faried (2.55) exploded for a career high 27 points (on 12-18 from the field), with 17 rebounds in only 24 minutes as the Nuggets destroyed the Warriors by a score of 123-84. A great game for the rookie, who has played well enough this season to go from not playing at all at the start of the year to Denver’s starting PF (Nene and his injuries helped a little along the way). Faried is currently owned in about one-third of fantasy leagues, but I’m about to buzz kill this party. Remember that this game A) came against the Warriors, who I think put up scarecrows on the court in lieu of having an actual frontcourt defense, and B) came after a game in which Faried scored 1 point with 4 rebounds. It’s also his first double-double in a month. I’d still consider Faried an option mostly for deeper leagues.

Honorable Mentions: As I mentioned on the podcast this week, I was really nervous to start Goran Dragic (1.97) in the finals of the GMTR Dynasty league, where rosters lock for the week. Fortunately for me, Dragic is still flying high even with Kyle Lowry coming off the bench as he finished with 22 points, 4 threes, 7 assists and 3 steals in 41 minutes against the Blazers. It’s the most minutes he’s seen in a couple weeks, which is a good sign for Dragic’s immediate fantasy value.

Kyle Lowry (0.96) saw a productive 23 minutes off the bench as he finished with 13 points on 5-6 from the floor, with 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Lowry actually stole his minutes from Courtney Lee (27 minutes in the game) and Earl Boykins (DNP) rather than Dragic. Lee’s value could take a hit going forward if Dragic and Lowry continue to get big minutes. Based on this game, I would also get Lowry back into fantasy lineups. He might not be the Lowry we got at the beginning of the season, but it appears that he’s at least going to produce some decent value in limited minutes, if not more.

The Blazers lost to Houston, but LaMarcus Aldridge (1.58) had a game with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Jamal Crawford (1.57) got the start for the injured Nicolas Batum and played well, scoring 18 points and racking up 3 steals. Batum is day-to-day with the injury, but that doesn’t mean a thing this season, and Crawford is worth starting in all fantasy leagues while Batum is out. Definitely watch the situation.

Al Jefferson (1.74) took advantage of the Spurs giving the night off to Duncan, Parker and Ginobili to score 12 points, with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks in 36 minutes. Honestly, going against DeJuan Blair and Boris Diaw, I’m surprised that’s all he got. Devin Harris (1.05) contributed 25, 6 and 6 in the game and now has scored at least 18 points in each of his last 3 games. Did he finally wake up and realize there is an NBA season going on?

Despite missing their big three, none of the lesser Spurs really took advantage of the situation. Tiago Splitter (0.79) had the team’s best fantasy line all the way down at #51 with 14 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Stephen Jackson, Gary Neal and Danny Green combined to shoot 11-39 in the game.

Jason Richardson (1.74) has pretty much been an afterthought this season thanks to various injuries and some really mediocre play for the Magic (who knew things would actually get worse compared to last year’s low point). But against the Pistons, Richardson hit 6-7 from three on his way to 22 points in 28 minutes. That is now three positive WARP games in a row for Richardson, who is starting to hit threes again after a weeks long lull.

Mandatory Kevin Love mention: Love (1.21) had 25 and 13 last night for his 48th double-double of the year by my count.

Danilo Gallinari (0.84) didn’t miss a beat in his return for the Nuggets last night, scoring 15 points with 5 boards, 6 assists and 2 threes in 30 minutes. With Wilson Chandler sidelined at the moment, Gallinari should continue to play at the level he showed earlier in the season provided he can actually stay healthy.

***

Injury Report: As we anticipated on the podcast, Kobe did not play last night because of his shin injury. The Lakers play in San Antonio on Wednesday, so the question is will Kobe travel with the team for that game, or simply wait it out until Friday when the Lakers play at home? He is currently questionable for Wednesday.

Just what Derrick Rose owners wanted – another injury! Rose suffered an ankle injury in Sunday’s game and appeared in a walking boot on Monday. The severity of the injury is unknown and Rose will likely be a game time call against the Knicks tonight. Given the Bulls propensity for babying Rose, I would not hesitate to drop him if it looks like he’s going to miss any time with the injury.

Al Harrington left last night’s Nuggets game with a torn meniscus. The team is currently exploring options, but Harrington is likely to miss at least a little time to rest the injury, if not more. Keep an eye on the situation, but I’d expect Harrington will have to be dropped if you are fighting it out in playoffs this week.

Those hoping for a Kyrie Irving return this week are going to be disappointed. According to the News Herald, he’s going to be held out for the week with that sprained shoulder injury. As will Anderson Varejao.

Pick Up Lines: At least once a season, Thabo Sefolosha (2.43) will show up with something like this: 14 points, 5 rebounds and 7 steals in a win over the Bucks. Prior to this 7 steal night, Sefolosha had 6 steals total over the last month. Just like every season, he can be safely ignored in fantasy leagues, despite starting for the Thunder.

James “Don’t Call Me Chris” Singleton (2.10) played in his third game on a 10-day contract for the Wizards, and scored 18 points, adding 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 38 minutes off the bench as the Wizards beat the Bobcats handily 113-85. It’ll be interesting to see what he does against a real basketball team, but with Andray Blatche and Trevor Booker currently out, Singleton should continue to get big minutes for the Wizards and be a guy who can score and board a good amount. I might not add him quite yet, but he is someone I’d definitely keep an eye on in the Wizards’ next game and be ready to jump on if he repeats this performance.

Speaking of Wizards that are on no one’s radar – well other than the entire team (boom, roasted) – Cartier Martin (1.36) saw 30 minutes off the bench against the Bobcats and finished with 19 points and 6 assists, while hitting 4-8 from three. However, it’s his first double-digit scoring game in his past six games, so leave him on waivers considering this performance came in a blowout.

Jump on Greivis Vasquez (2.07) immediately if he’s still available in your league and you could use a PG. With Jarrett Jack done for the season with a stress fracture in his foot, General Greivis will continue to get big minutes the rest of the season put up lines like this one against the Lakers: 18 points, 5 threes and 11 assists. He’s basically a must add in all leagues.

I can no longer ignore Sebastian Telfair (1.76), who has a 0.44 WARP over the last week with games like this: 14 points (on 6-7 from the field), with 7 assists and 2 steals. The Suns won big over the Wolves 114-90, which is why Telfair saw 22 minutes instead of the 14 he’s been averaging this season. As long as Nash is out there, Telfair just won’t see the minutes on most nights.

Last night George Hill (1.62) bounced back from a brutal four game stretch where he shot 24% from the field to score 18 points, grab 7 rebounds and dish out 4 assists in 36 minutes against the Raptors. Darren Collison sat in this one with a sore groin (giving Hill the start). Hill will remain a solid fantasy add in nearly all leagues as long as Collison is out – which if I know my groin injuries – will be at least a few games.

On the podcast, Erik and I recommended that people pick up J.J. Redick (1.56) with Hedo Turkoglu out for the rest of the season with a facial fracture. Redick did not disappoint, as he scored 20 points in 28 minutes on 4-7 from three and 7-10 from the field. Consider him a nice – if a little unexciting – play in leagues for the rest of the season.

The Hornets are basically a mobile hospital at this point and Trevor Ariza isn’t playing because Coach Monty Williams “wants to give more playing time to Al-Farouq Aminu and Lance Thomas”. The side effect of that mess is that Carl Landry (1.47) is getting some extra run off the Hornets’ bench. Landry finished with 20 and 11 against the Lakers and should continue to see decent minutes as long as he can stay healthy. He’s worth a look if you need points and boards, although he won’t do too much else on the court.

Glen Davis (1.31) – with 16 points and 16 rebounds against the Pistons – continued his magical mystery run with Dwight Howard sitting due to back problems. With the Magic playing again tonight in Washington, Howard will likely miss this game too, which means that Davis will continue to be a must play in all fantasy leagues. Ride out the hot streak if you own Davis.

Biggest Loser: Usually we leave injured players out of the biggest loser section, but when your as injury prone as Rodney Stuckey (-0.91) is, then all bets are off. Stuckey only played 17 minutes in the Pistons loss to the Magic before leaving the game with a knee injury. He finished with 2 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 1-5 from the field. If he were to miss any time, Ben Gordon again becomes a viable, if somewhat risky, play in most leagues as a guy who has a chance to blow up in any given game – both in a good or bad way.

***

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GMTR Podcast #35: Limping to the Finish

Patrick — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:36:56 +0000

Erik and Patrick discuss all the latest fantasy basketball news, which mainly just consists of injuries. But we fill 45 minutes talking about whether to start or sit certain players for the upcoming week. Specifically, we discuss what to do this week with Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Ryan Anderson, Kyle Lowry, Jarrett Jack, Marcus Thornton, Gerlad Wallace, Andrea Bargnani and Nene Hilario.

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

Spoiler Alert Ahead!

***

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

Greg Stiemsma (5 games this week)
Avery Bradley (5 games)
Greivis Vasquez
J.J.. Reddick
Kemba Walker
Byron Mullens (5 games)
Lester Hudson (5 games)
Donald Sloan (5 games)
Deeeeeeeep League special: Jeremy Tyler

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Day 102 of 124: the Return of Eric Gordon

Patrick — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:29:11 +0000

Alternative Title: Dealing With It Like a Man

Line of the Night: LeBron James (3.37 WARP) came out on top of Kevin Durant both in real life (where the Heat won 98-93) and fantasy, where LeBron nearly triple-doubled with 34 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists. He was also 3-7 from three and added 4 steals while playing nearly 42 minutes. Durant still holds the small lead over LeBron for the year on our player rater, so while LeBron just won the battle, Durant is winning the war.

Honorable Mentions: Andrew Bynum (2.73) didn’t hit any threes last night (although he did take one according to the box score), but led the Lakers to a win over the Clippers with 36 points (shooting 13-20 from the field), adding 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Kobe Bryant (1.67) added 31 points on 13-19 from the field (trying to make amends for his recent 3-21 shooting game, no doubt), with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Poor Pau Gasol (0.15) was mostly an afterthought in this one, but Ramon Sessions (0.86) – 16 points, 8 assists and 2 steals – continues to play well in a starting role.

Although Chris Paul (1.12) finished with 22 points and 16 assists for the Clippers, the team’s best fantasy line came from an unexpected place: Caron Butler (1.41). Butler was 4-8 from three and scored 28 points and appears to be back after some mid-season shooting struggles derailed his fantasy game.

The Jazz lost a close one to the Suns, but Paul Millsap (2.08) was the beastlist beast on the court with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in the game. Derrick Favors (0.08) only saw 15 minutes off the bench and yet somehow finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in the game. Get that man some more minutes. Gordon Hayward (1.10) chipped in a 20 and 10 for his second straight 20 point game.

The on again-off again dynamic duo of Raymond Felton (1.78) – 14 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists – and Nicolas Batum (1.76) – 20 points, 4 threes and 10 rebounds helped Portland to a 101-88 win over the Nets. You know, the Nets team currently starting Johan Petro at center and Sundiata Gaines at PG because Deron Williams didn’t feel well. Yeah, that Nets team. You go for that top-3 lottery pick NJ!

With the Nets team as it currently stands, Kris Humphries (1.18) continues to put up solid lines and has been one of their only consistent pieces this season. He had a 21 and 11 last night for his third double-double in a row.

A night after putting up a biggest loser type game, Jrue Holiday (1.52) bounced back against the Raptors with 20 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. While it’s probably not the start of something great for Holiday, it at least means he’s out of his horrible three game slump. And despite losing to the Raptors by nearly 20 points, Elton Brand (1.89) had one of two Sixers top-10 fantasy lines last night, finishing with 20 points (on 9-15 from the field) with 4 blocks. Spencer Hawes was the only other Sixer to score in double-digits and he had 10.

Jose Calderon (1.29) led the Raptors with 12 points and 13 assists, while Andrea Bargnani (1.15) dropped 24, hitting 3-7 from three.

Chris Kaman (1.51) got the start at center against the Nuggets (pushing Jason Smith to PF and Gustavo Ayon to the bench) and was better than good, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in 33 minutes. If you were sitting on Kaman while he was out of the Hornets lineup, it’s definitely time to get him back in there.

Speaking of Hornets returns, the much anticipated return of Eric Gordon (-0.08) happened last night. It wasn’t quite an unqualified success as Gordon showed some rust – shooting 3-11 from the floor and turning the ball over 4 times. But he finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in a surprisingly high 34 minutes. Gordon is still a risky play for the rest of the week, but those in H2H playoffs probably don’t have the luxury of sitting him. The counting stats will be there for Gordon as long as he’s healthy, just hope he doesn’t kill your FG% and TOs along the way.

And then there is Kevin Love (1.27), who simply put up 29 points, 12 boards and 5 assists against the Warriors. It’s notable in that Love was coming off two straight games where he didn’t double-double (gasp).

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Anthony Parker (2.87) – yes the Cavs Anthony Parker – finished second on the night in terms of WARP with a 27 point game in which he went 4-7 from three and 11-14 overall. He added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. To show you what kind of game this was for Parker, 27 points is by far a season high, 4 threes is a season high, the 3 steals is a season high, and the 7 boards is one off his season high. The only explanation is that Parker is secretly a Nerdluck who recently stole the powers of a real basketball player… like Shawn Bradley. While Parker is not going to repeat this line anytime soon, he has actually been playing better over the past couple of weeks and is worth a look in 14+ team leagues if you could use a guy who does a little bit of everything.

Pick Up Lines: J.J. Hickson (1.46) also bounced back from a biggest loser type outing on Monday to score 18 points, with 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in 26 minutes off the bench against the Nets. He’s owned in 45% of Yahoo leagues, so he’s probably gone in competitive leagues at this point, but just check to make sure.

Sebastian Telfair (1.30) managed to put up 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in only 16 minutes off the bench behind Steve Nash last night. Unless Nash were to get hurt, Telfair has little to no fantasy value. Or to put it another way, I actually owned Telfair in my 30 man league and I still didn’t play him.

Wayne Ellington (1.20) dropped 17 points, 3 threes and 7 rebounds on the Warriors last night. With Ridnour out, Ellington is going to be the first Wolves guard off the bench in most games, but he simply doesn’t do enough on the court consistently to have much fantasy value.

Speaking of Wolves with marginal fantasy value, it’s easy to forget that Wes Johnson (1.16) is still the starting SF for the Wolves, a position he’s held most of the year. Johnson put up 12 points, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 38 minutes against the Warriors. He’s likely to see his minutes drop back down to the mid-20′s in his next game, so stay away unless you are looking for the occasional blocked shot from your SF.

Richard Jefferson (1.09) went 3-3 from three in 27 minutes off the Warriors’ bench to finish with 13 points and 2 steals. Just like when he was on the Spurs, if you are in need of threes, Jefferson is worth a look, if not, he doesn’t really do much of anything else to be worth owning.

We are starting to go deep here. The Warriors new starting center, Jeremy Tyler (0.97), finished with 6 points, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 25 minutes against the Wolves. He might have a little board/block/steal potential if he starts getting 25+ minutes a game consistently, but it’s something I’d want to see him do a couple more times before I trusted him.

Greivis Vasquez (0.90) got the start at PG for the Hornets with Jarrett Jack out because of a sore ankle. He responded with an 11 point, 10 assist double-double in 37 minutes. Like earlier in the season, Vasquez is definitely worth an add if Jack were to miss time. Considering the team is not commenting on Jack’s injury yet, that is a good bet to happen.

Drew Gooden sat in last night’s game due to a sore back, so Ekpe Udoh (0.50) got the start at center and did his thing with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 32 minutes. Gooden is day-to-day with the injury and Udoh is only worth owning if he’s starting, but keep an eye on the situation and jump on it if it looks like Gooden is going to miss more time.

A guy to keep an eye on is Alan Anderson (0.50), who was recently signed to a 10-day contract by the Raptors. He got the start at SF for James Johnson (DNP) and responded with 13 points and 4 boards in 31 minutes. Here is what Yahoo says about the James Johnson situation:

Coach Dwane Casey tried to explain Johnson’s benching in part as a way for the Raptors to get a good, long look at Alan Anderson; Johnson hinted at there being a bit more to it. There was no more elaboration. “It’s internal,” said Johnson, who would not speculate if he would be back in the lineup Friday against Cleveland. “I don’t know, it’s internal and whatever he thinks I deserve — I’m just going to have to deal with it like a man.”

As expected, J.J. Barea (-0.35) made his return to the court last night for the Wolves, just in time to fill in at PG for the injured Luke Ridnour. Barea had an interesting game, finishing with 15 points, 6 boards and 8 assists, but also turning the ball over 7 times and shooting 6-15 from the floor. Still, Barea got 37 minutes of run and with Ridnour expected to miss some time with that sprained ankle, I’d consider Barea a must add if you could use a PG while Ridnour remains sidelined.

With Kyrie Irving out with a sprained shoulder for at least the next week and possibly more, Donald Sloan (-0.04) becomes a player to add if you need some PG help. Sloan got the start at PG for the Cavs and had a decent game with 12 points and 8 assists in 36 minutes. Sloan is not a three point shooter (in fact, he’s shot 7% from three this season), doesn’t steal the ball and he’s not a great shooter from either the floor or the line. But other than that, he’s a superstar. In seriousness, you are basically going to get assists out of Sloan with the occasional steal, but assists are one of the tougher stats to find off the wire. Add him if you need help there.

The Charles Jenkins (0.10) and Nate Robinson (-0.75) battle might be heading towards a place where no one wins. After two solid games in a row, Robinson was limited to 14 minutes off the bench and finished with 2 points and 4 assists against the Wolves. Jenkins, who has coming off a pretty bad game, bounced back with 19 points and 7 assists in 33 minutes. Jenkins still has the upper hand being the starter and the only one of the two with any type of long term future with the Warriors, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable starting either guy if I were in a H2H playoff battle this week.

Injury of the Night: D.J. Augustin’s demotion only lasted one game, as he was back in the Bobcats’ starting lineup over Kemba Walker last night against the Hawks. However, Augustin left the game after only 10 minutes with a knee injury, giving Walker (21 points) plenty of run off the bench. Augustin I’d assume will be day-to-day going forward, but if you recently picked up Walker, hold onto him as he will have some good fantasy value if Augustin misses time.

Biggest Loser: John Wall (-1.52) had the 239th best line of last night out of 239 players. He did score 13 points against the Pacers, but also contributed 1 rebound, 3 assists and 5 turnovers while shooting 4-15 from the field. Wall actually has a negative WARP over the past couple of weeks – the result of him killing your FG% and killing you in TOs while providing 6.8 assists and not much else. Ouch.

As a Zach Randolph (-1.24) owner, it’s been rough watching him struggle ever since his return from that MCL injury. Last night was no exception, as he scored 4 points on 2-6 from the floor, adding 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 23 minutes off the bench. At this point in the season, I think I’m committed to Randolph for the rest of the season, but he’s definitely not making it any easier to hold onto him.

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Day 100 of 124: You Stay Classy Sacramento

Patrick — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:40:03 +0000

Alternative Title: The Century Mark

Line of the Night: Wesley Matthews (2.52 WARP) has come a long way since losing his starting job earlier in the year. Post Gerald Wallace trade, Matthews has been better than good, averaging a 0.97 WARP over the past two weeks, which is #13 on the GMTR player rater over that span. He’s also scored in double-digits in 11 straight games. Last night against the Jazz, Matthews was even better than that, scoring a season-high 33 points on 5-6 from three and 10-12 overall. It’s was a rough ride for Matthews for most of the season, but with fantasy playoffs in full swing, now Is a pretty good time for him to get red hot.

Honorable Mentions: It took most of the season, but Luis Scola (2.20) finally has shown up to the party, posting a 0.6 WARP over the past couple of weeks – which is top 50 player material. Against the Bulls he finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 40 minutes on the court. The steals and blocks both tie a season high for Scola and it’s nice to see him putting up some peripheral numbers in addition to the points. Goran Dragic (1.73) chipped in 21 points with 5 assists and 4 steals for the Rockets.

The Bulls were led by Joakim Noah (1.64), who scored 15 points (on 7-11 from the field), with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Luol Deng (1.46) chipped in 24 points (on 9-14 from the field), with 7 rebounds.

But the big news for the Bulls is that Derrick Rose missed his 11th straight game and now appears to be targeting the end of the season as a goal for his return, stating that his groin injury was worse than he originally thought. Thanks for that update captain obvious. He also still has no timetable for return – so I think at this point if you are still holding onto Rose and are in a playoff situation, it is time to drop him. Rose will likely be on the court sometime before the end of the regular season, but I doubt most teams have the luxury of waiting for that to possibly, maybe happen sometime before the end of the season. [UPDATE: there is this report that says Rose could be cleared for contact as soon as today, so maybe you don't want to drop him after all if you can survive without him this week. The question is how long do you let the Bulls play mind games with you?]

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Nicolas Batum (2.03) also filled up the box score for the Blazers with 16 points, 4 threes, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. But he had a costly turnover at the end of the game to help the Jazz seal the win. Also helping the Jazz was Paul Millsap (1.37), who scored 31 points (on 14-20 from the field) and had 11 rebounds.

The Wizards lost to the Bucks, but Jordan Crawford (1.84) was the best fantasy performer in the game, scoring 23 points, with 3 threes, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Crawford has been averaging about 20 points per game since Nick Young was shipped away, including four straight games where he scored exactly 20 points. He’s a must play in all leagues at this point.

The Bucks were led by the three headed monster of Ersan Ilyasova (1.10) – 16 points and 11 rebounds – Brandon Jennings (0.97) – 19 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists – and Monta Ellis (0.84) – 17 points, 5 boards and 6 assists. The Bucks also moved within two games of New York for the final playoff spot in the East. Time to break up this juggernaut.

An injury to Marcus Thornton probably boosted Tyreke Evans (1.72) a bit – as he scored 24 points, with 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in a win over the Wolves.

Finally, the Thunder’s best fantasy performance didn’t come from Durant or Westbrook, but rather Serge Ibaka (1.62), who scored 12 points with 5 rebounds, and more importantly blocked 6 shots on the night.

Injury Notes: In addition to the Thornton injury (discussed in more detail below) Luke Ridnour sprained his ankle in the third quarter of last night’s game against the Kings. He had to be carried off the court and left the arena on crutches. That is not a good sign for his availability in the short term, but fortunately for the Wolves, J.J Barea is expected to make his return for their next game on Wednesday. Even if you don’t own Ridnour, Barea becomes a must add as long as Ridnour is out.

Devin Harris also sprained his ankle and left the Jazz game after playing 13 minutes. His injury doesn’t appear to be as serious as Ridnour’s, but it could still force him to miss some time. Jamaal Tinsley actually got the call after Harris left the game, although he’ll probably split time with Earl Watson if Harris missed any time. Neither would have too much fantasy value.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: The Mo Williams injury has been a boon to Randy Foye’s (2.14) fantasy value. Not only is Foye getting a lot of Williams’ old minutes, but he’s apparently inherited all of his three point attempts as well – as Foye went 8-15 from three against the Mavs to finish with a season high 28 points in 35 minutes. Foye is still likely to be maddeningly inconsistent, but it’s now three straight games where Foye has scored 17+ points and he deserves a look if you are in need of a guy who isn’t afraid to launch it from three.

Pick Up Lines: Wow, we just had a Brad Miller (1.02) sighting in Sacramento. The Wolves allowed Miller to start at center against the Kings as a way to say goodbye to the city that he spent a number of years in. Miller responded like this was an actual promotion, hitting 3-4 from three and finishing with 11 points and 6 assists in 22 minutes. But with Nikola Pekovic back on the court, Miller is likely going to back to getting DNPs for the Wolves after this one.

Speaking of Pekovic, his much welcomed returned to the court was productive as he scored 17 points in 19 minutes, hitting 7-8 of his shots Overall though, he admitted he was playing in pain and his conditioning needs a little more work after basically not doing any running for the past two weeks. But as long as his ankles hold together, his fantasy owners will be happy.

Thanks to a Marcus Thornton calf bruise that forced him to leave last night’s game in the first quarter, Terrence Williams (0.96) played a season high 32 minutes and finished with an impressive 12 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals. Thornton’s injury is not serious, but since the Kings play 5 times this week, the team may keep him out a game or so just to play it safe. In the meantime, Williams is a nice spot start as long as Thornton is out.

It’s Jimmer Time! Jimmer Fredette (0.69) also benefitted from the Thornton injury, as he saw 25 minutes off the bench for the Kings (the most in about 2 months) and scored 19 points on 3-7 from three. Again, if Thornton were to miss a game, Fredette might have some brief deep league value, but Jimmer is down on the Kings depth chart as long as everyone is healthy.

Chase Budinger (0.82) scored 13 points in 26 minutes off the bench for the Rockets, going 3-4 from three. Budinger is sort of hanging around the edges of fantasy relevance, putting up some decent lines every second or third game while getting 20ish minutes off the bench. But given the Rockets bad schedule this week (they only play 3 games) I’d stay away unless it’s a spot start in a deep league.

Ekpe Udoh’s (0.65) trade to Milwaukee hasn’t exactly done his fantasy value any favors. But against the Wizards, Udoh was his old self, scoring 15 points and adding 8 rebounds and a career-high 5 assists in only 21 minutes off the bench. However, this came after a game in which he played 10 minutes and didn’t do anything on the court, so overall, Udoh’s minutes aren’t consistent enough on a (dare I say) deep Bucks team.

I did not see the Jazz game last night, but somehow Derrick Favors (0.62) got 35 minutes off the bench with both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap playing and he responded with a double-double – 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Jazz must have went big for a lot of the game with Millsap at SF and Favors at PF would be my guess. It’s an interesting development for Favors, as he’s demonstrated all season he should be getting more time on the court. I’d personally want to see the Jazz do this at least one more time before I trusted Favors in my lineup – he could just as easily go back to getting 20 minutes a game if the Jazz decide that the matchups aren’t right to go big. Definitely keep an eye on the situation, or possibly stash Favors on your team if you have that ability.

Jan Vesely (0.59) has been a black hole most of the season for fantasy purposes. But he’s starting again for the Wizards with Trevor Booker out and has put up three decent games in a row (we’re digging deep here). Last night against the Bucks, he played 39 minutes and finished with 14 points and 7 boards. Not exactly world class production, but it does play in deep leagues at least while Booker is out.

Biggest Loser: You didn’t think the J.J. Hickson (-0.73) bandwagon was going to make it to happy town without any problems, right? Coming off the bench against the Jazz, Hickson finished with 4 points and 5 rebounds on 2-8 from the field. It isn’t the worst biggest loser line we’ve seen this year, but Hickson doesn’t do much on the court other than score and board, so when he’s not doing those things his fantasy game really pays the price. I still think Hickson is worth owning long term, but we do need to temper our expectations about what he is. I mean, the Kings might not be the smartest organization in the world, but there is a reason they released Hickson less than a year after giving up a first rounder to get him.

The shortened season is still too long for DeAndre Jordan (-0.69), who is basically mailing it in at this point. His latest uninspired game included 4 points, 6 rebounds and no blocks against the Mavs. The way Jordan has played over the past couple of weeks he’s not even been worth owning in a 12-team league. And if he’s not blocking shots, then he really has no fantasy value at all.

It is time to drop Samuel Dalembert (-0.51) if you haven’t done so already. Kevin McHale has been looking for a reason not to play Sammy D and he finally found one in Marcus Camby. With Camby inserted as the Rockets new starter, Dalembert got 5 minutes off the bench last night and had 2 points and a board.

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Day 98 of 124: The End of Linsanity

Patrick — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:25:41 +0000

Let’s start with the…

Injury of the Night: Looks like Jeremy Lin’s sore knee is a little more than that. Lin will have season ending surgery after a MRI revealed a partially torn meniscus in his knee. The surgery is expected to keep him out six weeks, which effectively ends his season. Baron Davis has been starting in his place over the Knicks last few games and has been… shaky. This includes last night’s 6 point, 5 assists game against the Cavs in 29 minutes. Davis is dealing with his own hamstring injury – one that he’s acknowledged is not getting any better – and he might not be out on the court if not for the Knicks’ pressing need at PG.

Based on the Lin news, should you pick Davis up? Maybe in a deep league he’s worth a shot if he’s the only PG available on waivers, but in a 12 team league I’d stay away. Davis just does not look right and his nagging injury likely means he’s not going to get much better, starter or no.

Instead Iman Shumpert (0.71) appears to the guy to pick up since he has benefited the most from the Lin injury. Shumpert’s game last night wasn’t anything special – he shot 3-12 from the floor to finish with 10 points, 2 boards and 2 assists, but he did add 5 steals in 39 minutes. And this comes after two straight games where he put up 25 points. He’s likely to be closer to the 10 points a game than the 25, but the steals are legit and he’s been getting 35 minutes a game as a starter. Grab him if he’s available, especially if your team could use steals.

Line of the Night: Josh Smith (2.41) has been racking up some insane fantasy lines over the last month and last night against the Sixers was no exception. Smith finished with 34 points (on 12-18 shooting from the field), and added 9 rebounds and 5 assists in only 36 minutes. For the month of March, Smith has averaged 24 points, 10 boards, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, good for #5 on the GMTR Player Rater over that span. Now that is value that will help you win a championship.

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Honorable Mentions: Elton Brand (2.40) jumped in the way back machine to score a season high 25 points (shooting 10-12 from the field), with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in a win over the Hawks. It’s his best fantasy game of the season by far and comes after two straight games where Brand scored 8 points, but at this point in his career you’ll gladly take what you can get with Brand.

Hopefully, you didn’t give up on Ersan Ilyasova (1.97) when he missed a game earlier in the week with back spasms. His back must be feeling fine, because Ilyasova saw a near season high 43 minutes on the court and finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks against the Grizzlies.

Marc Gasol (0.90) led the Grizzlies with 13 points, 15 rebounds and a couple blocks.

A night after taking home the line of the night, Gerald Wallace (1.77) had another strong game (although not nearly as impressive as Friday night’s performance) with 18 points (on 8-12 shooting), with 6 rebounds in 111-99 win over the Kings. He’s doing just about everything he can to convince Deron Williams to stick around with the Nets long term. Anthony Morrow (1.55) also more or less returned for reals last night, going 6-11 from three to finish with 24 points in 31 minutes. When Morrow’s three is falling he looks great, but on most nights things aren’t so pretty. His arrival also pushes Gerald Green (-0.09) – 6 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes – down the depth chart and spoils any fantasy value he might have.

Speaking of the way back machine, Tim Duncan (1.61) looked like his old self against the Pacers, scoring 23 points, with 11 rebounds and a couple blocks. It’s his second double-double in three games after getting a DNP – Old from Gregg Popovich. But expect more random games of rest for Duncan down the stretch (as well as other Spurs’ starters), which will make him an annoying play if you are trying to compete in an H2H playoff matchup.

For the Pacers, Roy Hibbert (1.69) led the way with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in 36 minutes.

Andrew Bynum (1.28) had 19 points and 10 boards for the Lakers as they took down the Hornets 88-85. Pau Gasol (0.95) chipped in 21 and 11, while Kobe Bryant (-0.02) shot an insanely bad 3-21, but managed to salvage some fantasy value by finishing with 5 assists and 3 steals (he also hit a go ahead three with 20 seconds left). Over the last two weeks, Kobe has shot 33% from the field. The question is what’s up with Kobe? Is it fatigue like he’s been saying… or possible something injury related?

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Charlotte and Detroit went onto overtime, so we got a little extra Byron Mullens (2.00), and who doesn’t want that? Mullens got his first start for the Bobcats at PF (it only took 75% of the season for Paul Silas to realize Tyrus Thomas isn’t the answer) and he played over 40 minutes, finishing with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the game. Despite being 7 feet tall, Silas had said that Mullens plays more like a PF than a center (I think he meant to say shooting guard) and he put his money where is mouth is by playing Mullens at that spot. It worked against Jason Maxiell and the Pistons, so I assume he’ll continue to get the start there at least until he starts getting burned by athletic PFs. Mullens has shown that his scoring numbers are legit, so grab him if you are in need of a big man, especially in deeper leagues.

Pick Up Lines: J.R. Smith (1.96) is only owned in 25% of Yahoo leagues, probably because his numbers haven’t been very good since joining the team. Thanks in part to the Lin injury however, his minutes have been getting better, capped off by last night’s 20 point, 3 three, 9 rebound and 5 steal game against the Cavs in 35 minutes. The Knicks only play 3 games next week, so while Smith may be a decent pickup for the rest of the season, there are likely better options available if you are in a tight playoff race next week.

Reggie Williams (1.78) got the start at SF for the Bobcats, filling in for the injured Corey Maggette, and he brought it, scoring 17 points on 4-6 from three with 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Maggette is expected to miss at least the next week with a strained Achilles, giving Williams some short-term deeper league value if you need a guy who can hit threes and score, with a chance that he completely falls apart and kills your FG%.

Jonas Jerebko (1.24) was yet another marginal fantasy player who was helped by the Pistons/Bobcats overtime game. Jerebko saw 26 minutes off the bench, scoring 18 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. It’s his first double-digit scoring performance in 6 games and he often sees less than 20 minutes on the court, so there are probably better options available on your wire.

Brook Lopez is out. Now Shelden Williams is out for at least a week with an eye injury. That means Johan Petro (1.21) is New Jersey’s new starting center! He did bring his “A” game against the Kings, which consisted of 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 19 minutes. Petro has been a limited player his entire career, but if you’re looking for a Zaza Pachulia-lite and happen to play in incredibly deep league, Petro will block some shots while Williams is out. For the rest of us, Petro can be safely ignored.

Randy Foye (1.00) saw the most minutes on the court than he has in the past two weeks and made the most of it, scoring 17 points, with 3 threes and 6 assists against the Jazz. With Mo Williams out at least a couple more weeks with a toe injury and Nick Young not doing much off the bench, Foye should continue to get decent minutes as the starter. What he’ll do with them is entirely different matter; one look at his game log tells me not to trust him heading into a playoff week.

Jason Smith (0.73) had another good game against the Lakers, double-doubling with 17 points and 10 assists. Both Kaman (illness) and Carl Landry (ankle) missed the game, giving Smith full run of the frontcourt. Still, he’s definitely worth a pickup based on his recent performance, even if the Hornets only play three times next week.

With Kyrie Irving sitting with a strained right shoulder and Ramon Sessions now with the Lakers, little-known Donald Sloan (0.33) got the start for the Cavs at PG and finished with 10 points and 7 assists in 35 minutes. Sloan only has value as long as Irving is out and probably only in deep leagues, but it appears that Irving could miss at least a few games with this injury, giving Sloan some sneaky value if you’re in desperate need of a PG.

Biggest Loser: No, it’s not Kobe Bryant and his horrific shooting night. Instead it’s Antawn Jamison (-1.01) and his bad shooting night against the Knicks. Jamison did have a respectable 13 points and 7 rebounds in the game. But that wasn’t enough to cover up the suck of a 5-15 shooting night from the floor and 2-5 from the line, with 4 turnovers in a 91-75 loss to New York.

Jeff Teague (-0.80) should get some t-shirts made. I played 32 minutes and all I got was a lousy 8 points and 4 assists. Teague shot 2-8 from the field and if he’s not careful, could be heading down the Darren Collison route of young PGs who are not going to make the jump into something better.

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