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Day 143 of 170: The Rich Get Richer

Nels — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:42:19 +0000

Line of the Night: While Dwyane Wade (1.40) had an outstanding Line of the Night, his poor Heat still lost to the talent rich Magic (they did get into overtime, though, which certainly helped Wade’s stats). D-Dub finished with 36 points (3 threes), 10 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal and block.

Honorable Mentions: Nene Hilario’s (0.95) defense was a catalyst for the Nuggets win last night – he had 5 steals and 3 blocks to go along with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Rashard Lewis (0.87) took advantage of the overtime game, making 4 threes and to get up to 24 points with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Don’t call it a comeback – he’s been playing 18 minutes a game all season! Darius Songaila (0.22) took advantage of his 28 minutes in what seemed to be a blowout against the Nuggets (Songaila is playing for the Hornets). I’m not sure why Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony played 36 and 42 minutes respectively, when the Nuggets were up by 25 points at half time. Nevertheless, Songaila led a furious comeback to get the Hornets back within 13. (Yeah, I made up that part about the furious comeback – I didn’t see the game and I didn’t even read the recap or anything)

From a fantasy perspective, Songaila is very perplexing. When he gets the minutes, he puts up decent numbers, like his 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block last night. But his minutes have been inconsistent all season, so who knows… If you’ve got daily lineup changes, he might be worth the risk if you need a big man and have someone who is not making the kind of contribution you need in your playoff run.

The Biggest Loser: Michael Beasley (-0.46) was doing his best to sabotage the Heat… or maybe just making Dwyane Wade look good? He shot 27% from the field, ending with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 turnovers.

All Eyez On Me: Some competition for all those so-called March Madness games tonight with potential playoff match-ups: Atlanta hosting Charlotte, Phoenix welcoming Utah, and (maybe?) Cleveland in Chicago. Boston @ Houston is important for the Rockets (as is every game at this point), but who knows, maybe they’re better off getting a lottery pick to pick up a little extra help for K-Mart Jr., Aaron Brooks, and Luis Scola.

The Golden Ticket: I’m going to count Cleveland @ Chicago since the Bulls are still starting what is essentially a 1 + 6-9 lineup (if Derrick Rose returns).

Golden State will crash their train into San Antonio’s Alamo. Who knows which players are going to survive that wreck…

And Philadelphia @ New York might yield some big stat lines.

Friday’s Tiny Dancer: Since Quentin Richardson just won a Tiny Dancer Friday for the Heat 2 weeks ago, I’m going to award this one to the Magic instead, since they ended up winning the game against the Heat.

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Day 142 of 170: It’s March and it’s Madness

Patrick — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:37:39 +0000

Line of the Night/Waiver Wire Line of the Night : Anthony Tolliver (1.41) is currently owned in 21% of fantasy leagues. That number should get a boost as Tolliver finished with 30 points for the Warriors, going 4-8 from three with 6 rebounds and 4 steals. If you’re looking for consistency, Tolliver ain’t your guy, but he can shoot the three as good as any center this side of Channing Frye if you happen swing that way with your center.

Honorable Mentions: Monta Ellis (1.15) had 28 points, 13 assists, and 4 steals while playing all 48 minutes against New Orleans; David Lee (1.12) had an impressive 29/9/7 against the Celtics in a loss; Aaron Brooks (1.02) was a perfect 7-7 from three on the night, finishing with 31 points in a win over the Grizzlies; and Lebron James (1.00) celebrated the Cavs’ clinching the Central Division with 32 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists.

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Former D-Leaguer and current Warriors guard Reggie Williams (0.99) scored 22 points on 8-11 shooting (4-6 from three). He’s currently on his second 10-day contract with the team and has put up some impressive scoring numbers in limited play. Unfortunately, his minutes are all over the place from game-to-game, which makes sense given the team he plays for. Still, the Warriors play 4 games next week, so Williams could make a decent (although super risky) short-term plug and play guy if your team is in need of a shooting guard.

Acie Law (0.56) had a season-high 22 points off the bench for the Bulls, but his value is likely to be short-lived as the team expects Derrick Rose to return from a wrist injury on Friday.

The Biggest Loser: Jason Kidd (-0.69) sat out the 4th quarter of the Mavs/Bulls matchup after the Mavs built up a big lead in this game. However, the problem we have is with the other three quarters, where Kidd was 0-5 from the floor and 0-4 from three, scoring 0 points with 4 assists and 3 turnovers.

The Weekly GMTR FreeRoll: Congrats to ayel who took home the bacon in this week’s fantasy game on 365 Fantasy Sports. As far as the picks go, West and Collison seemed like givens to me since the Hornets were playing the Warriors, but the Troy Murphy pick was ballsy since the Pacers were facing off against LeBron and the Cavs… well, almost as ballsy as starting an injured player. If you can gleam any strategy from this week’s results it is that starting a player who is injured is a bad strategy (Nels knows what I’m talking about).

All Eyez on Me: Two games tonight:

Orlando (48-21) at Miami (35-33) – So if the Magic are the new Spurs, who gets to play the role of Richard Jefferson?

New Orleans (33-36) at Denver (46-22) – Hey Chris Paul owners – the long and depressing wait for his return might soon be over. Not in this game (silly), but maybe by the weekend. And as long as we are talking about injuries, Kenyon Martin is out indefinitely with knee tendonitis. That would mean good things for Chris Andersen, but he is currently out with a sprained ankle. So that starting center gig for the Nuggets currently belongs to Johan Petro. In six starts, Petro had pulled down double-digit boards in three of those games, which unfortunately is the only good part of his game.

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Day 141 of 170: Flip This Player

Nels — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:12:16 +0000

Don’t Forget: Today is the day to play! GMTR’s Weekly Fantasy Game @ 365 Fantasy Sports. You can find more details about taking on me, Patrick, and Erik every week right here.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Okay, so when Kirk Hinrich returns from his one game suspension, the Benchabulls won’t be giving Flip Murray (0.96) another 38 minutes. That said, they’re taking it slow with Derrick Rose’s wrist injury, so if you’ve got daily lineup changes, consider putting Murray in there for one more game. Then flip him.

Line of the Night: Jason Richardson (1.23) had 27 points including 6 threes as part of the Suns 152 points barrage. The Timberwolves couldn’t deal with the heat.

Honorable Mentions: Mike Conley (1.04) has been heating up and putting it together just in time for the fantasy playoffs. Just hope he’s not the 10th round pick you’re playing against.

Pau Gasol (0.98) had 28 and 12 in the win for the Lakers; Spencer Hawes (0.92) jumped LeBron James for the 5th best line of the night with his 5 blocks; I’d rather have James’ line though with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists; Troy Murphy put together a double-double with 16 and 13.

The Biggest Loser: Kevin Love (-0.40) may have singlehandedly crushed the playoff hopes of many fantasy owners with his 0-7 shooting last night. He had 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and managed only 3 points on 3-4 free throws.

All Eyez On Me: Oklahoma City @ Charlotte find both teams fighting for a playoff spot that isn’t the 8th seed! Didn’t expect that one!

Toronto hosts Atlanta in a bid to hang on to the 8th seed; Orlando has clinched a spot, but San Antonio hasn’t, so, I guess, hooray for Tim Duncan owners; Memphis and Houston will duke it out for the 9th playoff spot… oh… wait…

The Golden Ticket: New Orleans @ Golden State will probably yield some nice fantasy performances. I mean, we can pencil in Stephen Curry for 30+ points with some nice assists and rebounds, right?

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Day 139 of 170: If You’re Lucky, You Can Stop Caring Now

Nels — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:09:53 +0000

I say that because this season’s playoff race is already re-diggity-donkulous. I also say that because in my leagues – where I’m the commissioner – the playoffs start this week, and thus end on April 4th, thereby avoiding that annoying last Week-And-A-Couple-Days at the end of the season. This is also good for the people in those leagues (those being mine) who own LeBron James because the LeBron Jameses clinched a playoff spot yesterday with a big win over Patrick’s non-one-name-team, the Boston Celtics. James was not the best fantasy player yesterday, though.

Line of the Night: Dwyane Wade (1.30) scored 38 points in a win over Philadelphia. I think Wade is going to be huge for the next couple weeks at the Dwyane Wades try to keep their lead over the Raptors and beat out the Bobcats so they don’t have to play the LeBron Jameses. Of course, watching those two go at it for a 7-game first round match-up would be nothing short Legend… wait for it…

Honorable Mentions: Tyreke Evans (1.20) continued to give Stephen Curry a real race for the ROY trophy with 29 points (2 threes), 9 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals. Amare Stoudemire (0.93) had an eye-bulging 36 and 12, while Deron Williams (0.87) had 27 and 14 of the other kind. And I bet he’s a lot happier with a loss to Oklahoma City than he would be if he were back at Illinois. Ouch.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Nicholas Batum (0.99) goes the dynamite! Batum was #3 on the night with 22 points (5 threes!), a steal, and 2 blocks. Okay, fine, he shot 78%, so technically he’s not eligible, but seriously, at this point, what have you got? Wesley Matthews (0.73) was impressive with 29 points, but he shot 82%. I suppose Donte Greene (0.62) gives you a 50/50 shot at double-digit points and a bunch of rebounds. You’re taking your chances wherever you go. You can probably tolerate the risk in daily changes leagues, but I wouldn’t be so sure about any of these guys in a weekly league.

The Biggest Loser: Jameer Nelson (-0.52) certainly didn’t help Orlando’s chances against the surging Bobcats with his 2-10 shooting, nor did he help them with much of anything else.

All Eyez On Me: Beware the Ides of March… A day after the so-called Sunday Showcase, there’s not much going on, but the Nuggets will try to push the Lakers for the top spot in the West when they take on the now-always-dangerous Houston Rockets.

The Golden Ticket: The Lakers try to hold off the Nuggets, and they have a good chance since they’re going against Golden State. Perhaps that will give Pau Gasol a few extra shot attempts. At what point do we start wondering what team he’ll be playing for next year?

New York at Philadelphia should be a good one for fantasy lines… except there’s not a whole lot of talent going on there…

Still Waiting? … ary.

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Day 137 of 170: Jeff Green and the Franchise Kid

Patrick — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:52:21 +0000

Line of the Night: Jeff Green (1.16). On a night when Kevin Durant (0.99) scored 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and set a franchise record with his 36th 30 point game this season (I’m going to assume the franchise lineage extends back to Seattle, which seems wrong in my opinion), Green actually had a even better game against the Nets with a season-high 27 points on 11-16 shooting. He added 6 boards, 3 threes and 3 steals as OKC squeaked out a win 104-102. OKC is currently battling Utah for the 4th seed in the West. Drink that in for a minute.

There future’s so bright, Russell Westbrook has to wear shades

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Honorable Mentions: Baron Davis (1.08) has never been afraid to lose with style. He had 24 points on 10-15 shooting, with 7 assists and 5 steals in the Clippers loss to the Bobcats; and in a surprising turn of events, Richard Jefferson (0.97) makes a non-biggest loser appearance on GMTR with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in a start against the Wolves. This game comes after a 0 point, 17 minute performance for Jefferson against the Knicks, so I wouldn’t cash out my 401k to buy Richard Jefferson futures; David West (0.87) scored 30 in a loss to Denver for the struggling Hornets.

And I can’t NOT mention Will Bynum (0.73), who had 20 assists for the Pistons in a win over the Wizards. It was the most for Detroit since Isiah Thomas had 21 in 1985. Way to distribute the shit out of the ball Bynum.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: I love me some Quentin Richardson (1.11). In his second waiver wire appearance this week, Q-Rich knocked down 7 threes for the Heat on his way to 23 points and 7 rebounds. I will admit that Richardson is a good source of threes if you need that kind of thing, just be prepared for games like the 10th (3-8 shooting, 8 points) or the 9th (2-8 shooting, 7 points).

Louis Amundson (0.83) had a nice 11 point, 10 rebound double-double for the Suns, but it came in a game where Channing Frye didn’t play. Frye was serving a one-game suspension from the NBA for getting all up in Danny Granger’s face. So it basically means don’t pick up Amundson.

The Biggest Loser: Courtney Lee (-0.51). Lee had been playing really well for the Nets recently, but yesterday he came crashing down to earth with a 2-9 shooting performance, scoring 6 points with 2 rebounds in 30 minutes.

All Eyez on Me: Plenty of NBA action today. Toronto heads to Oakland to face the Warriors, which should provide a boost to their struggling offense. Monta Ellis is back, which should eat into Stephen Curry’s offense a little. Raptors HQ previews the game like a confused parent who has given up on their troubled child.

Denver (44-21) at Memphis (35-31) – Time to check in with everyone’s favorite second-pick-in-the-draft-and-former-D-Leaguer Hasheem Thabeet, who is back with the team with mixed results.

New York (22-43) at Dallas (45-21) – The Mavs have won 13 straight games and some of that success (2% of it? 5%?) belongs to Rodrigue Beaubois, who has filled in admirably for the injury Jason Terry. How is Terry? Well, he’s already returned to practice, which should mean he’s on schedule for a return in about a week, maybe even less.

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Day 136 of 170: Brandon Roy and the Chocolate Factory

Nels — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:04:19 +0000

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Line of the Night: Brandon Roy (0.84) scored 41 points in 42 minutes against the Warriors of Golden State. Even better for Portland, they won the game. Roy shot 63% on 22 field goal attempts while grabbing 8 rebounds, along with 2 steals and a block.

Honorable Mentions: Andray Blatche (0.62) blew it up with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and – oops, he did it again – 7 turnovers. The Big Blee-atche is averaging over 4 turnovers a game in his last 9 games. So, the question becomes, where do you draft a potential double-double machine who could probably average 3 turnovers for a whole season?

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: You know your team is in trouble when James Johnson has suddenly become a potential fantasy player. Derrick Rose had an Oops, I Did It Again of his own as he continued to bring the pain against Dwight Howard. And, of course, by “bring the pain” I mean to himself. Rose sprained his wrist – no results yet – and with Luol Deng and Joakim Noah already out (and Taj Gibson playing when he probably shouldn’t be) you have James Johnson starting, playing 28 minutes, and getting me to talk way too much about him for the 13 points (1 three), 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block that he got in that time.

You’ll probably also want to snag Acie Law or Jannero Pargo, one of whom will be the starting PG for the Bulls now. Hard to say who’s going to get the most minutes since they were pretty even last night after Rose left the game. The whole Bulls player rotation is probably going to look like some sort of Circus with VDN as the ringmaster.

The Biggest Loser: Brad Miller just sneaks out of the doghouse with his 49% ownership rate, but that’s good because, really, LaMarcus Aldridge (-0.49) is the more deserving anyway. Aldridge had 14 points mostly thanks to some good free throw shooting, but his field goal percentage was a Toxic 28.6% on 14 attempts. Aldridge also had 8 rebounds, but then went ahead and canceled that out with his 6 turnovers.

All Eyez On Me: For record-vs-record tonight, there’s the Lakers in Phoenix. Fun times with the purple on purple!

LeBron James is supposed to return tonight against Philadelphia if we’re Lucky. He’s a star. I’m hoping he does for so I can stop cry, cry, crying in my lonely heart. Perhaps he’ll even be Stronger than yesterday.

The Golden Ticket: Denver @ New Orleans is loaded with fantasy potential. Unpredictable fantasy potential, though. And the Knicks visit Memphis, so you gotta think Zebo or OJ or Rudy Gay is going to go off. And are the Bulls now a Golden Ticket team since they are basically starting an entire second string of NBA players?

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Friday’s Tiny Dancers: Congrats, Brandon. Here’s your new harem.

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Day 135 of 170: I win for me! FOR ME!

Patrick — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:08:24 +0000

Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (1.31). Playing his former team in the Nets, Kidd finished with 20 points, 9 assists and 4 steals in 44 minutes on the court. He was also 5-8 from three in the game as the Mavs won 96-87. This brings up the interesting question, after being left for dead in a lot of drafts this season, where do you think Kidd gets drafted next year?

Dear Jason Kidd, try not to look so old…

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Honorable Mentions: Rasheed Wallace (1.01) is owned in an insane 76% of leagues. Really, that’s crazy based on his 9 points and 4 rebounds this year. Wallace didn’t exactly help the Celtics offensively last night as they got embarrassed against the Grizzlies – he only scored 11 points in 22 minutes on the court – but he did boost his fantasy line with 6 steals and 3 blocks. Believe it or not, that is good enough for the third best line of the night; Dwyane Wade (0.95) had 27 points and 8 assists and he was also 15-17 from the line; and Rudy Gay (0.92) scored 28 points with 8 rebounds in a win over the Celtics, but more importantly, he turned the Boston crowd against the C’s like Rocky against Ivan Drago.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Rasual Butler (1.21) has been starting for the Clippers for most of the season and is still only owned in 45% of leagues, which is an indication of just how mediocre a player he has been this season. But Butler has been known to bust out every once in a while and last night he was 12-19 from the field to finish with 31 points and 6 threes against the Heat. He’s a decent addition in deep leagues, but a little too inconsistent for the average fantasy league.

Carlos Arroyo (-0.32) still started for the Heat last night, but Mario Chalmers (0.65) got the bulk of the minutes, finishing with 12 points, 6 assists and 4 threes. Keep an eye on the playing time situation there.

The Biggest Loser: As tempted as I am to nominate Kendrick Perkins (-0.54) for the second straight day (or the Celtics in general), I’ve got to go with Dirk Nowitzki (-0.51) and his 3-16 shooting night. Dirk did power his way to 12 points, 5 boards and 4 assists, but also turned the ball over 5 times. Bad shooting + turnovers is a quick recipe for failure when you’re talking fantasy basketball.

The Weekly GMTR FreeRoll (where Roger Mason can suck it): Congrats to long-time GMTR friend doneycat for his win in this week’s GMTR fantasy game on 365 Fantasy Sports. It was a close one this week as only 7 points separated first from fourth. In a week where there was slim pickings at a lot of positions, doneycat had solid picks from start to finish, especially at the very tough flex spots, where both Kris Humphries (13 points, 8 boards) and Wes Matthews (14 points) came through for him.

All Eyez on Me:

Three games tonight and all are fairly decent fantasy ones. Portland (38-28) at Golden State (17-46) is your golden ticket game. In case you are still holding onto him, Andris Biedrins is mercifully done for the year after getting abdominal surgery earlier this week. That means Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter are guys who are going to get a lot of play the rest of the season. And some rookie named Reggie Williams got 34 minutes off the bench in the Warriors last game.

Chicago (31-32) at Orlando (45-20) – Means great things for the Magic’s offense, but especially Dwight Howard.

Atlanta (40-23) at Washington (21-40) – Something we like to call a leading indicator… Andray Blatche has been playing like a beast since the trade deadline, but there are some troubling signs to his game. First, he’s turning the ball over at an insane rate; he’s had games of 5, 4, 6, and 8 turnovers in the past couple weeks. Second, because of the turnovers, coach Flip Saunders can’t actually trust Blatche to be on the court when it matters. Blatche was on the bench at the end of the Wizards/Rockets game on the 9th because he had been a turnover machine in the game prior to that.

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Day 134 of 170: Jarrett Jack will show you efficiency; Kobe Bryant will show you a W

Nels — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:32:28 +0000

Don’t Forget: Wednesday means it’s time for GMTR’s Weekly Fantasy Game. 5 people have already signed up! What are you waiting for?

Line of the Night: Jarrett Jack (1.45) shot 4-8 from the field and 8-8 from the line to end with 18 points (2 threes) and 0 turnovers. He also grabbed 7 rebounds, had 7 assists, adding 3 steals and a block. Finally makes it worth my drafting him in 3 out of 4 leagues.

Honorable Mentions: You have to go down to #15 before you get to Kobe Bryant, so we won’t be honoring him beyond his game winner. Andrew Bogut (1.44) on the other hand, was #2 on the night and his team won. Bogut had 25 and 17 with 4 blocks. Deron Williams (1.33) had 28 and 17 – assists, in his case – with 3 threes. CJ Miles (1.01) tossed in 6 three pointers en route to 26 points. Normally, that would be good enough for Waiver Wire Line of the Night, but he shot 75% which is over the fluke threshold. And if you look at his game log, it was definitely a fluke.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Unfortunately, after Miles comes fellow Utah guard Wesley Matthews (0.95) who passes the FG% fluke threshold test, but only barely. Matthews main value comes from the 5 steals he had, but considering he’s averaging 0.6 steals per game for the season, I’d say there’s a fluke threshold that’s been passed there. He’s been scoring in double digits for a few games, and if you’re in a very deep league with a need for some PG skills on your team, then give Matthews a look.

Now since that was kind of a crap ass WWLotN, here’s some recent transactions from the GMTR Readers Leagues to look over:

Add: Jason Thompson (Sac – SF,PF,C)
Drop: Randy Foye (Was – PG,SG)

Add: Charlie Villanueva (Det – SF,PF)
Drop: Sergio Rodriguez (NY – PG)

Add: Jrue Holiday (Phi – PG,SG)
Drop: Eddie House (NY – PG,SG)

The Biggest Loser: He’s only owned in 63% of leagues, and based on recent performance, he’s probably started in a much lower percent than that, but [update]Kendrick Perkins’[/update] (-0.59) 3-9 from the field is going to hurt the Big Ball type teams he was probably drafted for. The 0-2 from the line probably doesn’t hurt as much, and the 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block at least pay lip service to offsetting the FG%. It’s also quite a ways up the list before we find another decent TBL candidate (which I’d say is Tyrus Thomas who appears to have already fallen out of favor with Larry Brown).

The Golden Ticket: Who to look at for the GMTR FreeRoll tonight? Hmmmm… Well, New York is in San Antonio, so someone on the Spurs is probably going to exceed their usual level of statistical output. Other than that? Honestly, it’s tough to say.

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Day 133 of 170: Where Shots are Falling and Manu is Smiling

Patrick — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:22:11 +0000

Line of the Night: Despite the season high 38 points for Manu Ginobili (1.39), the hurting Spurs lost a close game to the more hurting Cavs, 97-95. In additional to the great scoring game, Ginobili had 7 rebounds, 5 assists and was 7-11 from three. With Tony Parker expected to miss the next 6 weeks with a broken finger, the Spurs are going to lean heavy on Ginobili to make sure they can get into the playoffs. And I’m sure that Ginobili is willing to take on that burden as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

Honorable Mentions: Al Jefferson (1.14) pulled down a 36 and 13 against Dallas after returning from a two-game suspension for pulling a Vin Baker; Anthony Morrow (0.93) scored 28 points for the Warriors on a Jimmy Chitwood-like 11-13 shooting from the field; David West (0.80) wasn’t so bad himself with a 28 and 13 on 11-16 shooting; and Shawn Marion (0.70) partied like it was 2003 with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 3 steals in a win over the Wolves.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: You have to go way down the list today before you find Devean George (0.39), he of the Warriors of Golden State. George was 7-11 from the floor (including 4-7 from three) scoring 18 points in 30 minutes of run. Considering that in the two games prior to this one George racked up a DNP in one game and 9 minutes in the other, and I think you can safely stay away from him for now.

If you really want to pick up a Warrior (and who doesn’t really), you’re better off going with CJ Watson (0.34), who only scored 12 points yesterday, but complemented that with 7 assists and 3 steals in 38 minutes on the court.

And with Zach Randolph sitting due to a stiff back, DeMarre Carroll (0.35) and his fine mane of hair got 25 minutes of run and finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Randolph is currently day-to-day, so Carroll’s run will be short lived.

Best Possible Injury Ramification of the Night: With Erick Dampier out due to Skeletor fingers and Brendan Haywood basically unable to play with old man back, Dirk Nowitzki (0.50) started at center for the Mavs. A week or two more of this and Dirk will likely have that all important C eligibility back next season.

The Biggest Loser: Well, the Sergio Rodriguez (-0.74) as a viable fantasy player project was dead on arrival. Yesterday, Rodriguez’s 4 assists were overshadowed by his 6 turnovers. He’ll continue to get run out there because the Knicks have no other options (with the exception of the glorious return of Chris Duhon) but the same does not have to happen to your fantasy team.

Kevin Love (-0.46) only got 12 minutes for the Wolves last night. I thought he might have been hurt, but no, I guess they were just too busy playing Sasha Pavlovic and Darko Milicic to worry about Love.

All Eyez on Me:

Toronto (32-29) at Los Angeles (46-18) – Toronto heads to LA to take on the Lakers, who are in full panic mode as they try to avoid four straight losses for the first time in three years.

Miami (32-31) at Charlotte (30-31) – This is what passes for a game with playoff implications in the Eastern Conference. Carlos Arroyo becomes a player to add after the team suspended Rafer Alston indefinitely after he pulled a Peter Gibbons and decided he’s not going to go to work anymore.

Office Space- not going to work

diddley | MySpace Video

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Day 132 of 170: I dropped Thaddeus Young. You are welcome.

Nels — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:34:59 +0000

Line of the Night: Maybe I think this is just something that happens to me because I pay closest attention to my own transactions, but, I mean, really? The day I drop Thaddeus Young (1.29) he outplays Kobe Bryant (not in an actual game, just fantasy) for the Line of the Night. Of course, looking at my other leagues now (as I’m wont to do on Mondays), I see that Patrick also dropped Thaddeus Young yesterday. He for Rodrigue Beaubois. At least I got Channing Frye to replace Young. (Of course, now I read that Frye may be suspended for throwing a punch, which, according to one post I read, probably didn’t actually happen)

I can’t hate on Thaddeus too much though, because his 3 three-pointers did win me that category. His 32 points didn’t do much since I had already lost that category, but I’m sure it was good for some people. Same thing for the 4 steals.

Honorable Mentions: Kobe Bryant (1.12) was the second best line with 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, but he missed a few too many shots late for the Lakers to overcome the Magic.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Jrue Holiday (0.89) was another 76er to put up some nice numbers, and even better, he’s only owned in 10% of leagues. He’s not consistent by any unit of measurement, but with Iverson finally officially out, he’s got the opportunity to get into a groove and put up lines like 21 points (3 threes), 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks on a more regular basis. Don’t forget to check the GMTR Fantasy Basketball Schedule Grid when making your free agent selections.

The Biggest Loser: I’m not sure if it’s irony (who knows how to use that word correctly?), but we just posted about this guy as one of the biggest free agent busts: Ben Gordon (-0.53) got another 26 minutes to try to do something for the Pistons. Gordon managed 6 points on 1-7 from the field, adding 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers. He was 4 of 4 from the line, so there’s that.

This brings me (sort of) to something I wanted to talk about it bit, so I’ll slide it in here. That’s what she said.

Now, this has more to do with being a basketball fan than it does with fantasy basketball, really, but let’s just get into it: Anyone can play for 30 games. It’s a similar axiom to People will play harder in contract years. This new one though, I’ve created because, well, trades. Look at John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas. Traded from the Bulls (thus why they are close to my heart and this example), they have really stepped it up with their new teams. I believe this especially applies to a player like Tyrus with the fiery emotions. When a player gets traded right before the deadline, they get a built in chip on their shoulder. But how long can a player play with a chip on their shoulder? The best players can do it their entire careers. Those kinds of players don’t usually get traded right before the trade deadline, though. So, how long is that chip going to stay there for an average or even above average player? Will it stand the test of a lazy off-season, the same old boring training camp, and the lethargy that is the 82 of the NBA season? I doubt it. Which is to say, as a fan, don’t despair if your team traded someone who’s blowing up.

I’m pretty sure this can apply to Houston Rockets fans as well as Bulls fans. Trust me, there Rocketeers, you’ve been burned by Tracy McGrady too many times. Don’t think that just because he’s playing well for the Knicks means you should have maybe kept him around. Not only is he playing off a trade, but he’s also playing for a new contract. How’s that for double dipping?

Just remember, the best players in the league are the best because they play well for more than 30 games a season.

All Eyez On Me: San Antonio will test their potential as a Championship contender against Cleveland.

The Golden Ticket: Atlanta is at New York. Atlanta is a pretty slow team (which always surprises me considering the young, athletic players they have), but I’m sure NY can bring some spring to their step.

Golden State is still just basically running up and down the court with no regard for the actual game of basketball. Tonight, they see how many times they can cross half court against New Orleans.

Don’t Forget: Play GMTR’s Weekly Fantasy Game. No, really. It’s fun!

And now, since I’ve been fairly limited in my range of Tiny Dancer presentations, I’m going to give you some Philadelphia 76ers Dancers action right now:

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