Give Me The Rock » NBA Teams

Day 124 of 124: Anybody Home?

Nels — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:18:06 +0000

When it’s the morning after the last day of regular season basketball, and the stats aren’t loading, and everyone’s rested their main guys last night anyway, and I haven’t gotten together with Patrick and Erik for our End of Year Awards yet… all I’m left with is a playoff preview… If it’s interesting to me, hopefully it’ll be interesting to you too.

I’m going to these cutesy/clever nicknames for the conferences even though I don’t think they’re really applicable. Though I do believe that if the Bulls somehow make it to the Finals, they are capable of beating whoever comes out of the West. Perhaps more so than I think the East will still win if Miami makes it. That said, I still think Miami will make it. Oops… Spoiler Alert!

Beastern Conference

Bulls vs. 76ers

Yeah, I’m going to start with my home team, but they do have the overall best record (after the tie-break with San Antonio). Even with Derrick Rose still rounding back into form, the Bulls will take this one. I’m glad that Evan Turner wanted to play the Bulls instead of the Heat. If I were a lower seed, I’d probably rather play the Bulls too, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Of course, as a Bulls fan, I was also hoping that they’d get to play Philly, because they’re an easier matchup than the Knicks. So, take that Evan Turner.

Bulls in 5.

Heat vs. Knicks

I’m really not sure if the Knicks even take one in this series. I’ll give it to them just based on Miami’s lack of mental toughness and their Center position. Tyson Chandler should dominate, but it won’t be enough.

Heat in 5

Pacers vs. Magic

Poor Magic. I feel bad for the rest of the guys on the team to have to deal with Dwight’s drama all season and then lose him two weeks before the playoffs. Glen Davis says he’s going to play, and who would have ever thought that saying something like that would carry such weight? Still…

Pacers in 5.

Celtics vs. Hawks

This is probably the closest matchup in the East (which makes sense because it’s the middle seeds), but with Garnett and Rondo rested and Pierce seeming to be the same player he always is, the Hawks just don’t have enough to take it. They’re still very undisciplined (if Josh Smith had an Indian name it would be “Settles For Jumpers”) and they are still stuck with Joe Johnson’s contract (which basically formed a straight-line cause-and-effect to the lockout) and they aren’t supposed to get Al Horford back unless they make it to the second round (see you next year Al).

Celtics in 5.

Lesstern Conference

Spurs vs. Jazz

The Jazz are good, and the Spurs have a history recently of being vulnerable in the first round. But Utah just doesn’t quite have all the pieces yet. Their front court of Jefferson, Millsap, and Favors is pretty intimidating, though, and even Gordon Hayward seems like he might have more of an impact than I think anyone really thought he could. Perhaps with another year or two of playoff experience (and playing together experience) and a better Point Guard they could beat this Spurs team.

Spurs in 6.

Thunder vs. Mavericks

Too bad for the Mavs their attempt at a repeat ends here. I’m sure Mark Cuban did his fancy analysis and determined that the guys he has should have played better than they did, but losing Tyson Chandler left them with a much bigger hole than I’d ever thought Tyson Chandler would leave. And of course, the Thunder just continued to get better.

Thunder in 5.

Lakers vs. Nuggets

Maybe the second most interesting series of the whole playoffs. The Lakers are good… but very vulnerable. The Nuggets aren’t as good as they maybe could have been, but they’re still pretty good. Their team is finally all there, and while they don’t have anyone on the level of Kobe, Pau, or Bynum, they do have one of the deeper teams in the league. And the Lakers will be without Ron Artest for most (if not all) of the series. It’s one of only two real toss-ups in my mind, but I feel like if the Nuggets can get up 2-1 then they’ll take it in 6. If they get down 2-1, then Lakers in 6. Which is more likely? I’ll put my money down on Denver.

Nuggets in 6.

Grizzlies vs. Clippers

This is certainly going to be the most closely contested first round match-up. Each team won its home games, so the fact that it went 2-1 LA probably just means it would have been 2-2 if they’d played one more in Memphis. Since Memphis earned home court advantage with their win over the starter-less Magic last night, I’m going to say the trend continues. Both teams are still young and will probably not have the strength or discipline to stand up to the other team’s home crowd.

Grizzlies in 7.

And now that the stats are updated, here’s our regularly scheduled program called This Is Why Your Leagues Should End Before The Last Two Weeks of the Season (in which the stars of your regularly scheduled program have been replaced by a bunch of no-name actors; e.g., if Billy Baldwin replaced Alec on 30 Rock’s LIVE episode, or if Parks & Rec replaced Amy Poehler with Kristin Wiig… no, wait, that would be equally good… How about if Person of Interest replaced Michael Emerson with someone who wasn’t from LOST… no, the old people watching CBS wouldn’t know the difference… How about if the Secret Circle replaced… no… that won’t work at all…).

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Line of the Night/Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Patrick Mills (2.70) scored 34 points (4 threes), with 5 rebounds, and 12 assists. I mean, come on. I’m not even going to comment on this…

Honorable Mentions: Only two guys out of the Top 10 lines last night were from guys over 50% ownership: Josh Smith (1.67), whose Hawks were still trying for home court advantage, had 23 points (10-14 from the field), 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Marc Gasol (1.62) had 22 points (8-13 from the field, 6-6 from the line), 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Then we get to The Replacements.

Pick Up Lines: Ben Gordon (2.58) exploded as Detroit rocked the 76ers. Gordon had 26 points (8 threes, 9-13 from the field), and 5 assists (44% owned), and while I didn’t see the game and I’m not going to bother to look at the box score, I’m going to say that Philly basically threw this one so they could play the Bulls instead of the Heat. And the Bulls will make them pay.

Speaking of the Bulls, how about that John Lucas (2.03) guy? He had another 25 points (3 threes, 10-16 from the field), 4 assists, and 2 steals (2% owned). While the Bulls need a Shooting Guard from the draft this year, I kind of hope they take a Point Guard just so they can get rid of Lucas. He’s a decent basketball player, I just have to cringe way too much when I watch them and he’s in.

Jason Thompson (1.85) finished out a strong season with 17 points (7-11 from the field), 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks (40% owned). I think he’ll probably be rated high enough going in to next season that he’ll start off at higher than 40%.

And I think this might be a first… 3 guys with 0% ownership make the list: Jeremy Evans (1.83) with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks (0% owned); Chris Wright (1.71) with 25 points (11-14 from the field), 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks (0% owned); and Ben Uzoh (1.68) with a triple-fucking-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, and 4 steals (0% owned).

Biggest Loser: Yeah, it seems appropriate that Michael Beasley (-1.06) makes it down here with 13 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assists, and 4 turnovers. It’s not his first time and it probably won’t be his last.

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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 122 of 124: Chris Paul Makes a Run At Fantasy MVP

Nels — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:37:11 +0000

or: The Heat hand over home court advantage to the Bulls and Celtics

Line of the Night: Chris Paul (2.87) is trailing LeBron and Kevin Durant by a lot in the race for Fantasy MVP – according to the Give Me The Rock Player Rater, but his 34 points (4 threes, 10-11 from the line), 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals solidify his Bronze Medal spot ahead of that fresh-faced kid from Minnesota.

Honorable Mentions: Of course, Kevin Durant (2.28) held Paul and LeBron with his 32 points (3 threes, 15-16 from the line), 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. Of course (x2), LeBron sat out the Heat’s second-to-last game along with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, so he had no chance to get 30+ points, 3-4 threes, above average (for him) free throw shooting, nor 2 steals. DeMarcus Cousins (1.33), going against Durant and the Thunder, showed that he wanted a place in last night’s 30 Points and 2 Steals Club with 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Al Jefferson (1.87), meanwhile, shored up his 5th place finish with a nice double-double of 18 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. I’m pretty sure I can see the Top 5 draft picks for next year… Paul Millsap (1.64) isn’t one of them, but his Top 10 finish (most likely) after another 26 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals makes him an intriguing candidate for next year… Will he be first round material again? Hard to say…

Joe Johnson (1.66) had 28 points (6 threes), and 7 rebounds while teammate Jeff Teague (1.58) scored 21 points (6-6 from the line) with 2 blocks. Blake Griffin (1.42) (and the aforementiond Paul) fought hard against the Hawks with 36 points (17-23 from the field) and 8 rebounds, but with Miami laying down for the Celtics (the Heat scored 66 points without their Big 3), the Hawks had little chance of gaining on Boston for home court advantage in the first round. The Clippers remain tied with Memphis for the 4 and 5 spots, and I’d certainly want home court against a dangerous team like the Grizzlies.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Here’s a name I haven’t heard in a while: Travis Outlaw (2.16). With Marcus Thornton and John Salmons still out for the Kings (yes, Outlaw plays for the Kings), Travis started at SF and went for 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks (1% owned). It’s easily his best line of the year and his most minutes of the year. The Kings have one more game tonight, and if you’re still looking for someone to throw in there, Outlaw seems like a good play with Metta World Peace and games of 28 and 33 minutes in his last two.

Pick Up Lines: Marco Belinelli (2.16) showed up again with 23 points (9-14 from the field), 4 assists, and 3 steals (22% owned). Yeeeeeeee-hoo… cares?

We’ve been pushing Jason Thompson (1.38) for a while and I’m sure that’s why he’s up to 39% owned… Again, the Kings have another game tonight, so you could add something like 22 points (9-11 from the field), and 6 rebounds to your totals if he’s still available.

Gustavo Ayon (1.32) had another nice line with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks (5% owned), but let’s keep in mind that the Hornets are sitting on Emeka Okafor, Chris Kaman, and Jason Smith. The first two have histories of injury, but I’m mentioning it so that we can all be cautious about drafting Ayon next year since he’ll probably have more competition for the starting job than he’s had this year.

Derrick Favors (1.16) had a double-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks (33% owned). It’s kind of crazy how Utah can have 3 big men who all put up pretty awesome numbers. I suppose it helps that Paul Millsap can play Small Forward, and I have no idea what their chemistry is really like, but the numbers are pretty nice, and they managed to make the playoffs with the win last night. Utah is definitely a very interesting team going into next season.

Biggest Loser: Paul Pierce (-1.10) only played 18 minutes against the Heat B-team, but he managed to turn the ball over 6 times while only scoring 8 points and adding 2 rebounds and 1 assist. I know it’s the end of the season, and it was a smart move to limit his minutes, but there are guys who can do a lot more (or in the case of turnovers, a lot less) in 18 minutes on the floor, so I’m sticking with Pierce as the Biggest Loser.

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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.

***

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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Day 117 of 124: Danny Granger Lines It Up

Nels — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:57:38 +0000

Line of the Night: Danny Granger (2.01) is no stranger to the Line of the Night. It’s hard to say what his preferred line was last night. Was it the three-point line, behind which he made 4 threes for 12 of his 29 points? Or was it the free throw line, from behind which he made 11-11 shots for (obviously) 11 points. Granger also had 5 rebounds. His relatively weak WARP score for a LotN is due to the fact that he only shot 7-20 from the field.

Honorable Mentions: Granger’s teammate David West (1.82) has not done as well as most had hoped, moving up to only #94 on the season with 21 points (9-14 from the field), 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. Too little, too late, as my friend JoJo once said.

LeBron James (1.76) and the Miami Heat kind of had their way with the Bulls, LeBron ending with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Of course, the Bulls sat Derrick Rose, a wily veteran move by Tom Thibodeau, not letting the Heat play against the full Bulls team in their last meeting before (theoretically) the playoffs. Rose also got to rest, which was good, but it’s also nice to let the Heat get a little overconfident and not let them game plan for a (hopefully) ECF matchup.

Those who waited so long for Eric Gordon (1.76) have been rewarded with 6 games, 4.5 of which have looked like this: 27 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Gordon is definitely a guy to keep if you’re in the sort of league that lets you keep players… but other than that, well, I’m sure you probably just want to forget about it. See also: my friend JoJo. (Who, by the way, has a new album coming out which has one of the longest Wikipedia entries I’ve ever seen for an album. I guess maybe I shouldn’t consider her a punchline because clearly there are some rapid JoJo fans out there)

Injury of the Night (sort of): Dwight Howard is shutting it down for the season. I think Kelly Dwyer summarizes quite nicely. Of course, I can only hope that either the Magic hang on to 6th place so the Heat don’t get the luxury of playing them, or that they drop down to either 7th or 8th and the Bulls end up either 2nd or 1st, respectively. Of course, playing New York or Philadelphia isn’t a bad reward for winning so many games without Derrick Rose either.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: It seems like neither the Bucks nor the Pacers were real focused on defense last night, as the end score was 118-109. George Hill (1.39) played 38 minutes and went for 22 points (8-12 from the field), 5 rebounds, and 8 assists (36% owned). We’ve seen him enough on here that I’m sure you’re familiar with his game, but he’s on a streak over these last two weeks that I would say makes him a must own player for anyone still trying to battle it out for whatever place they hope to achieve in their league. The Pacers have 3 games left, which is the lowest of anybody, but since 5 games is the best you can do, Hill is still a good option the way he’s playing. Especially with Indiana at home against Philadelphia, Detroit, and even Chicago (since they always seem to get psyched to playing my boys).

Pick Up Lines: Chase Budinger (1.29) continues to play pretty well, and even though his WARP is exactly 0.00 for the season, he might end up on the positive side with a couple more games like 22 points (4 threes), and 6 rebounds (32% owned). Over the last 2 weeks, he’s at 0.26.

When Mike Dunleavy (1.28) plays, he is highly unlikely to give you anything great, but he is also highly likely to give you something. It’s a bit annoying, and probably what leads to his 38% ownership rate, but sometimes you have to take what you can get and when he’s at #98 on the Player Rater because of games like 23 points (3 threes), and 8 rebounds, then somebody’s got to play him. Milwaukee’s got 4 games left, so definitely think about it.

Milwaukee may have 4 games left, but don’t expect 4 more games like this from Luc Mbah a Moute (1.10)L 16 points (7-11 from the field), 11 rebounds (3% owned).

Gustavo Ayon (1.07) tried to right his ship with the winds of overtime in his sails. He managed 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists, but it came in only 22 minutes, so don’t be fooled (5% owned). His time may come again, but it won’t be this season.

Not even sure if I should mention Jose Barea (1.00) since he’s 43% owned, and I’m sure he’s been picked in any league where people are still competing at this point, but he did have a double-double with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists, and I suppose that deserves mention just because.

Biggest Loser: Luol Deng (-0.89) takes it for his lackluster 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, including 5-15 from the field, and 1-4 from the line. Carlos Boozer (-0.47) wasn’t far behind, though with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists on 4-11 from the field. It’s a tough matchup for those two going against LeBron and Chris Bosh, I’ll give them that.

Rodney Stuckey (-0.77) is definitely a nominee for the Most Inconsistent award. Last night he did manage to score, racking up 4 points, with 1 rebounds, and 3 assists, on 2-8 from the field.

***

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Day 116 of 124: Fear the Beard

Patrick — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:59:01 +0000

No, not that beard, the other one.

Line of the Night: James Harden (3.81 WARP) went off for 40 points (on 12-17 from the field and 11-11 from the line), adding 5 threes, 7 rebounds and 4 steals in a win over the Phoenix Suns. This is by far Harden’s best game of the season – it’s a career high in points, and ties his season high in threes and steals. It also comes after two not so great games, so if you were worried about Harden’s mediocre performance coming into the home stretch, this is a statement game which basically says “everything’s cool”.

Honorable Mentions: In addition to Harden, Kevin Durant (2.06) had another strong game for the Thunder with 29 points (shooting 8-8 from the line), 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks while playing a game high 41 minutes. Make sure to save some of that for the playoffs, Kevin.

Carmelo Anthony (2.73) had an even better game last night than he did against the Celtics on Tuesday and yet again fell just short of the LotN with 33 points, 5 threes, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in a win over the Nets. Not quite good enough… I think that’s the working title of Melo’s book about his time with the Knicks. Boom, roasted.

Still no Kobe Bryant for the Lakers, but L.A.’s big men were able to take advantage of a Warriors’ team starting Mickell Gladness at center and Jeremy Tyler at PF. That frontcourt isn’t going to fly against a normal NBA team, never mind one with Gasol and Bynum. So, it’s no surprise that Pau Gasol (2.72) had a huge triple-double in the game, finishing with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He also 3 blocked shots for good measure. Andrew Bynum (1.91) had 31 points (on 12-14 from the field) with 9 rebounds. Kobe missed his 7th straight game, but is supposedly targeting a return to the court on Friday against the Spurs. If you’ve been hanging on to Kobe all this time, keep an eye on situation and be ready to get him back in your lineups for Friday.

Dirk Nowitzki (2.60) dropped 35 points on the Rockets, hitting all 12 of his free throw attempts and adding 3 threes and 5 rebounds, while playing a team high 39 minutes. Vince Carter (1.05) was the team’s second leading scorer with 23, although he’s been decidedly more man than amazing this season (I think Nels or Erik might have used that line before).

Rudy Gay (2.60) had his fourth straight 24+ point game against the Hornets with 26 points, 3 threes, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Over the past two weeks, Gay has played himself up to #12 on the GMTR player rater and has averaged nearly 24 points and 6 boards a game during the run. Better late than never, I guess. More on the Hornets’ top performance below.

Paul Pierce (2.37) continued his run of strong games with 29 points (on 9-14 from the field), with 5 rebounds and 14 assists! Speaking of strong finishes to the season, Pierce is #7 overall on our rater over the past two weeks – not bad for an old guy during a crazy season where players are going down left and right. Glen Davis (1.17) returned to the court for the Magic after missing a game with a knee injury and exploded again for 27 points and 7 boards. It’s time to get him back in your lineup to ride out the rest of the season.

31 points, 6 assists and 3 steals last night for Monta Ellis (2.31) in a tough loss to the Wizards. He’s also on a tear as the season comes to an end and looks to be fitting in well with the Bucks’ rotation, which is a good thing to note for draft day next season.

***

Two guys who made their return to the court last night were Kyrie Irving (-0.01) and Nene Hilario (0.46). Irving jumped right back into the starting lineup despite missing the past 9 games, played 20 minutes and wasn’t all that great, scoring 9 points with 4 assists. Still, at this point in the season get him back in your lineups and hope for the best. This also means it’s time to say goodbye to Lester Hudson and Donald Sloan.

Nene’s return was slightly more productive as he finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 18 minutes off the bench. Not surprisingly, he also had a negative impact on Kevin Seraphin (-0.03), who only played 29 minutes and finished with an empty 14 points and 5 boards. I’d be hesitant to start either player at this point as the rotation shakes itself out.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: No Derrick Rose or Luol Deng for the Bulls, but they did have Richard Hamilton (1.66) – woo-hoo! – who scored 22 points on 9-13 from the field, adding 4 threes and 6 assists as the Bulls completely destroyed the Bobcats by a score of 100-68. Hamilton’s season has been derailed by injuries (which have held him to 24 games so far) but if you are in need of a scorer, he does have three 20+ scoring games out of his last five and the Bulls still play two more games this week. He’ll continue to get plenty of shots for the Bulls, especially if Rose and Deng continue to miss games (and it sounds like they will).

No word if Bobcats’ Coach Paul Silas beat up anymore of his players after the loss.

Pick Up Lines: As somewhat expected, Sundiata Gaines (1.60) stepped up in Deron Williams’ absence with a huge game – 18 points. 4 threes, 6 rebounds and 6 assists against Mike Bibby and the Knicks. Yes, I’d be a little skeptical about this game since it came against the 53 year old Mike Bibby. Still, the good news if you are looking to grab a PG like Gaines is that Williams is more likely than not done for the season (although not officially yet), so Gains should remain in the starting lineup. The bad news is that the Nets only have one more game this week and three on the season, so he really only makes sense in a spot start or streaming situation.

James Johnson (1.50) had his first multi-steal game in about a month (which is not good if you are a defensive specialist), finishing with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for Toronto. He’s now put up three decent games in a row as the Raptors are down both Bargnani and Calderon, and would be worth a look in deeper leagues if the Raptors didn’t also only have only one more game this week. Given their bad schedule, he’s also a guy to stay away from.

Two guys loving the Kobe injury? Matt Barnes (1.42), who got his the hard way with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in a win over the Warriors, as well as Metta World Peace (1.27) who scored 18 points and added 9 assists. With Kobe’s return on the horizon, both Barnes and Peace will likely see their fantasy values take a hit, so the party is over if you’ve been riding either guy while Kobe has been out.

Mike Miller (1.25) went 3-4 from three and finished with 13 points and 6 assists in 22 minutes against the Raptors. Miller primarily gets his fantasy value from threes, but if your team is looking for threes, there are probably better options on your wire (Steve Novak maybe?)

Jerome Dyson (1.21). No, he doesn’t make vacuum cleaners; Dyson is a 24 year old rookie PG for New Orleans who has played all of 5 games this year. But with the Hornets currently playing for nothing this season, they apparently want to get a look at some of their younger guys (both Xavier Henry and Darryl Watkins also saw 25+ minutes, with much, much less success on the court). As a result, Dyson saw 27 minutes off the bench and scored 24 points, hitting 14 of 16 from the line and adding 3 steals. As a result of his extra playing time Greivis Vasquez only saw 26 minutes and nearly triple-doubled the wrong way – 9 points, 9 assists and 7 turnovers. It’s tough to say whether Dyson will continue to get enough minutes off the bench to be fantasy worthy, but I imagine he’ll be more of a thorn in the side the Vasquez the rest of the season than a legit fantasy player himself.

Nicolas Batum started the game for the Blazers, but sat out the second half after possibly aggravating his knee injury. So Luke Babbitt (1.01) got the start in his place in the second half of the game and responded with 16 points, 2 threes and 5 rebounds while getting 35 minutes of run. It makes sense for the Blazers to simply shut Batum down at this point, making Babbitt worth a look for the Blazers remaining three games.

Biggest Loser: I’ve never had the “pleasure” of owning Tyreke Evans (-1.30) in any leagues, but I can imagine the feeling is sort of like those experiments where scientists make chimps push a button and they either get a banana or they get shocked with electricity. Last night was definitely a shock from Evans, as he followed up a 20 point game against the Blazers with 5 points on 2-8 shooting, with 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 38 minutes on the court. 38 minutes! Imagine what a guy like Derrick Favors could do with all those minutes?

Detroit lost to Atlanta by a score of 116-84 and one reason why was Rodney Stuckey (-0.88), who shot 0-3 from the floor for the Pistons, finishing with 0 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 21 minutes.

Danilo Gallinari (-0.64) missed all 7 shots from the floor and had 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.

***

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Day 115 of 124: Paul Pierce can score 43 points too, Carmelo

Nels — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:00:04 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but over the last 2 weeks, Carmelo Anthony (2.55) has increased his scoring from a season average of 22 points to over 31 points including games with 39, 42, and 43 (and last night’s triple-double that seems like it should have won Line of the Night: 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals). Well, the Celtics played the Knicks last night and evidently Paul Pierce (2.84) decided he’d had enough and he was going to show Carmelo that he could score 43 points too.

Line of the Night: Paul Pierce (2.84) scored the aforementioned 43 points on 4 threes, 11-19 from the field and a huge 17-18 from the line. He also had 2 steals and only 3 turnovers compared to Anthony’s 5. If you originally drafted Pierce as a Small Ball SF, then that kind of game is exactly what you’re looking for. Not sure that it’s exactly what the Celtics are looking for, though, as they ended up losing to New York. (Anthony, by the way, is #2 on the Player Rater over the last 2 weeks)

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Honorable Mentions: Greg Monroe (2.32) only had 12 points, but he led the Pistons in what might be the biggest ass-whooping I’ve ever seen. The Pistons won by 39 points, but if you look at the box score, the Cavs outscored them by 11 in the 4th quarter. Yes, that means they had a 50 points lead (100-50 as a matter of fact) at the end of the 3rd quarter. How bad is Luke Walton feeling right now? Going from clinching a playoff spot to losing by 39… ouch. Anyway, in only 27 minutes, Monroe was 4-4 from the line and added 13 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Teammate Brandon Knight (2.20) played almost 30 minutes, ending up with 28 points, including 4 threes, and 11-12 from the field while adding 7 assists.

Paul George (1.97) only had 9 points (on 3 threes) but added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals to make the Player Rater like him. Danny Granger (1.46) was the one who took on the scoring load for the Pacers with 24 points (6 threes), and 6 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Tim Duncan (1.51) scored 19 points (9-14 from the field), with 8 rebounds, and 2 steals in the second game of a back-to-back (SEGABABA) but the Spurs play again tonight, (and it’s against the Kings) so if you’ve got daily changes, keep an eye out for any word that he might be sitting. Seems like a very good time for it. In fact, with one more game against the Lakers and then two sets of back-to-backs against the Cavaliers, Blazers, Suns, and Warriors, I wouldn’t expect more than 3 games out of Duncan for the rest of the year. Who knows, though, maybe Poppovich will get worried that they’ll be rusty going into the playoffs…

Finally, Mike Conley (1.49) led the Grizzlies to a win with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals.

Injury of the Night: Rajon Rondo (1.30) played 38 minutes to end up with 13 and 13 with 2 threes and 6 rebounds, but evidently he took a hard fall and was down on the ground for about 3 minutes and then getting treatment after the game. Since the Celtics play again tonight, check for news on his status if you’re in a daily changes league. If he doesn’t play tonight, I would think he could rest up and play again on Friday.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Speaking of guys who are playing well over the last 2 weeks: J.R. Smith (2.38) added another 25 points (7 threes), and 6 assists to push himself to #12 over that time span (45% owned). With that high of an ownership rate, though, he’s probably not available in the super competitive leagues that the elite readers of GMTR play in.

Pick Up Lines: When I was looking through last night’s game photos for that picture of Carmelo and Pierce, I kind of wondered why there were so many shots of Steve Novak (2.19) looking like he just farted while the captions said that he actually just made a three pointer. Well, Steve made 8 threes going 8-10 from the field en route to 25 points (19% owned). There are certainly guys I could recommend less highly, so I guess the fact that Novak seems all but guaranteed to make at least 2 threes a game is worth something if you need threes and points and not much else.

I’m going to cut out any flowery prose and just say, here’s three guys who should be owned: Jose Barea (1.63): 28 points (5 threes), 5 rebounds, and 8 assists (42% owned, so, he’s probably already taken, but definitely worth checking on); Avery Bradley (1.07): 17 points (5 threes, 6-9 from the field) – #67 on the Player Rater over the last week, but only 14% owned; Matt Barnes (0.69): 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists – #18 on the Player Rater over the last week, but only 18% owned. Barnes obviously is only good until Kobe comes back, but he should be out at least one more game, and if you’re micromanaging enough to still be paying attention at this point, take a look at Barnes.

Biggest Loser: Antawn Jamison (-1.63) was a huge part of the 50 point loss (sorry, it should be classified as a 50-point loss; there should be some kind of mercy rule in the NBA where if you’re down by 50 at the end of the 3rd quarter then you don’t have to finish the game). Jamison had 3 points on 0-10 from the field along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers. The team as a whole shot 34%, so Jamsion wasn’t the only one having an off-night, but everyone else who took a shot at least made one.

***

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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.

***

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 111 of 124: DHHD, Dwight Howard Herniated Disc

Nels — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:30:11 +0000

Injury Confirmation of the Night: Dwight Howard is out at least 10 days with a herniated disc. Not to brag, but it’s not the first time I’ve shared an injury/illness with an All Star. I’m sure the Magic medical staff has a lot of techniques, but when suggests that training in symptom and pain management are the first treatment options along with physical therapy, you can see why I’ve been dealing with my bulging (not quite fully herniated) disc for 5 years. Evidently there’s a treatment that can be done in 30 minutes, and while the name “discectomy” is not only hard to pronounce and makes it sound like they’re removing the disc (which would seem like a very bad idea for a man with as much weight on his spine as DH, it actually only takes out enough of the disk to remove the swelling. And it’s kind of making me wonder if I should get that (the wikipedia page was only created in 2008, so I don’t think they had that readily available when I was first diagnosed).

Anyway – Howard probably won’t have any surgery until after the season since he should be able to basically rest a bit, get some physical therapy and just tough it out during the playoffs. Meanwhile, though Glen Davis (0.00 last night) is a must add for pretty much everyone. The dude has been Ballin’ Outta Control lately, adding 16 points (on 61% shooting), 9 rebounds, and 1 steal last night. He did have 4 turnovers, but you can’t quibble too much knowing that he should have another monster game going against the Cavs on Sunday. If your league goes into the next week, then you’ve got at least 4 more games from him even if Dwight comes back for the last 2 games of the season.

Line of the Night: As Greg pointed out Marcus Camby (2.28) started off with a strong first quarter and while he only added 6 points and 8 rebounds in the subsequent 3 quarters, he ended up with 14 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks, and the Line of the Night. If Houston can keep him around next year, Camby could be back to his old (risk-laden) fantasy stud form. He’s at #85 on the year right now.

Honorable Mentions: I dropped Drew Gooden (2.00) in one league this week thinking that Channing Frye was a better fit for my small ball team. Well, Gooden is proving me wrong because even with only 5 minutes against the Knicks, after last night’s 26 points (12-18 from the field), 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, he is definitely better than Frye this week, and right ahead of Camby at #84 on the Player Rater.

I’m just going to leave these next few guys as a list, because honestly, what good is it to you that guys who are owned the majority of leagues are playing well at this poing?

Brandon Knight (1.87) 25 points (5-5 from the line), 5 rebounds, 8 assists
Chris Bosh (1.82) 18 points (8-11 from the field), 7 rebounds, 3 steals
Marcin Gortat (1.80) 20 points (10-15 from the field), 15 rebounds, 2 blocks
Dirk Nowitzki (1.79) 24 points (4 threes, 4-4 from the line), 9 rebounds
Kris Humphries (1.76) 18 points (4-4 from the line), 13 rebounds, 2 steals
Nicolas Batum (1.75) 20 points (3 threes), 8 rebounds, 2 steals

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: If you need some small ball stats for Sunday, J.R. Smith (1.98) seems like a good pickup after his 23 points (4 threes, 9-15 from the field), 6 assists, and 2 steals (35% owned).

Pick Up Lines: MarShon Brooks (1.83) is evidently not going to let New Jersey tank fully as his 22 points (9-15 from the field), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists (33% owned) demonstrates. Hard to say how he’ll do on the SEGABABA today against Boston, though… and NJ only has 5 games in the last week+ of the season…

ATL blew out ORL so Jannero Pargo (1.77) got a bunch of extra playing time and ended up with 17 points (5 threes, 6-10 from the field), and 3 steals (0% owned). Yeah, you read that right 0%. Let’s keep it that way.

Baron Davis (1.24) finally had a pretty decent game for the Knicks with 18 points (4 threes, 7-9 from the field), and 2 steals (18% owned). I think it’s too little, too late from him for fantasy owners at this point. Same for Gerald Green (1.22), who had 23 points (4 threes, 8-13 from the field), and 2 steals (25% owned) and is in the same position as MarShon Brooks with the back-to-back against Boston and only 5 more games after that.

A real pick-up option would be Brandan Wright (1.14) who had 13 points (60% FG), 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He’s averaging 13 and 7 with 2 blocks and 1 steal over the past 4 games, and Dallas plays on Sunday.

Sorry this is so short, but unless you want to trust Linas Kleiza or have another go with Bismack Biyombo, there’s not much out there from last night.

Biggest Loser: Tyreke Evans (-1.14) got himself into foul trouble and scored a career-low 2 points in 13 minutes, adding only 1 rebound, 1 assist, and going 1-5 from the field. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook threw down some beastly dunks. I think Isaiah Thomas (if that’s him) got a piece of Durant’s alley-oop to Westbrook and Westy still reached back to get it and throw it down. Ouch.

***

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Day 110 of 124: You’ve Got To Be (Jason) Kidding!

Nels — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:55:46 +0000

or: The Bizzaro NBA

Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (2.75) took advantage of Charles Jenkins to the tune of 9 points (3 threes), 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. It was Kidd’s first Line of the Night, and really, I wasn’t sure that he was going to play again after his 4-game absence. I don’t think anyone missed him except maybe the Mavericks. He is still ranked #74 on the Player Rater for the season, though, so I guess for the team that can stomach his 35% shooting, you’ve gotten some decent assists, steals, and threes. I honestly didn’t think I’d see him up this high again, though. Ever.

Honorable Mentions: And of course, as soon as we tell people to drop Klay Thompson (2.58) because all he does is score, KT goes for 24 points (3 threes, 5-5 from the line), 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. So, now I don’t know what to do. Logic says that he won’t do that again, and even if he does it won’t be consistent. Still hurts though (except that I had him in my weekly-set lineup for this week and thank the fantasy basketball gods for that because I’ve also got Bargnani and Rose in my lineup in that league, so I’m hoping I can eek out an efficiency win with percentages, threes, steals, and TOs; I’m actually only down by .004% in FG% despite the way Rose shot last night [see also: The Biggest Loser]).

Greg Monroe (2.24) returned to form after a bit of turbulence with 25 points (11-14 from the field), 11 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Brandon Knight (2.06) is hanging on to his Honorable Mention spot with 55% ownership, but it’s hard to want to increase that number because of his every-other-game style of playing, even when he does go for 21 points (3 threes, 8-12 from the field), 7 assists, and 3 steals. Not quite Bizzaro World territory, but still… out of the ordinary.

Speaking of out of the ordinary! Manu Ginobili (1.81) and Tim Duncan (1.60) both played, and both played well! Ginobili had 20 points (11-11 from the line), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists while Duncan scored 28 points (10-15 from the field) to go with 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

I’ll mention two of the Big 3 now, even though their lines are not as strong as the Waiver Wire man who defeated them (see below): Chris Bosh (1.51) had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks while LeBron James (1.39) scored 30 points (3 threes) with 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Heat still lost to the Bulls, but I know that doesn’t mean anything since it was in Chicago and it was not the playoffs.

Finally, Marc Gasol (1.33) rounds things out with a nice 14 points (5-8 from the field), 10 rebounds, and an interesting 4 steals.

Injury Report: It was announced yesterday that LaMarcus Aldridge will have season-ending surgery. Obviously this makes J.J. Hickson a must add (maybe not if you’re punting rebounds, FG%, and blocks; that said, Hickson will still give you a solid contribution in Points without many turnovers and won’t totally kill your FT% because his attempts are fairly low).

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: C.J. Watson (1.63) took the reigns of the Bulls after Derrick Rose looked like he’d been run ragged by a Matador. Watson filled in for 16 points (6-10 from the field), 9 assists, and 3 steals (7% owned). The Bulls don’t play again until Sunday, so Rose should have time to rest and I wouldn’t count on C.J. for much more fantasy-relevant action this season.

Pick Up Lines: It seems like Brandan Wright (1.55) has been threatening to become fantasy-relevant for a while with Mavericks now. This is actually the first time we at GMTR have ever tagged him in a post, though. Wright is at 0.45 on the Player Rater over the past 4 games, which would be close to Top 50 if he could do it for the whole season. If you need Big Ball categories with some bonus Steals thrown in, I’d say Wright is worth a play since he’s averaged 30 minutes per game over the last 4 and last night put up 16 points (6-8 from the field, 4-4 from the line), 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks (4% owned).

We know this cannot continue, but as a Bulls fan, I’m happy to see that Kyle Korver (1.26) is getting hot right in time for the playoffs. After hitting 3 threes on Monday, Korver went for 17 points with 5 threes, on 6-8 from the field) (18% owned). He’s a pure three-point shooter, and for that reason, I wouldn’t recommend him unless absolutely the only category you need is threes.

With Kevin Love out after his concussion, Anthony Randolph (1.09) put up another big line with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks (3% owned). Keep a very close eye on Love’s status, because it’s clear that if he doesn’t play, Randolph will get big numbers.

I’m going to file the next three guys under “Too Little, Too Late” and if this doesn’t make you a little sad, then you have missed out on the dreams and aspirations of a generation: Kenyon Martin (1.05) had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals (4% owned); Mo Williams (0.61) scored 14 points with 5 assists (44% owned); Vince Carter (0.60) scored 12 points, remarkable only because he was 5-7 from the field (33% owned). Makes you think of those bygone days of yore.

Biggest Loser: I’m tempted to do some stupid pun like “D+D Music Factory” but maybe I’ll just stick in a picture of Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger and call it good. (Also, I think I spelled Schwarzenegger right on the first time because my browser spell-checker didn’t underline it with a red squiggle. It did for DeVito, though. Sorry Danny.) Anyway…

Derrick Rose (-0.78) took the prize with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 turnovers, and the ultimate killer: 1-13 from the field (7.7%). His brother from another mother (or just another player who has the same name: Derrick Williams (-0.71) showed why he cannot be trusted even with the whole Timberwolves team injured with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 turnovers, and 1-7 from the field.

And actually, I’m going to let that ride for the picture for this post, because I think it kind of works with the Bizzaro theme that I tried to pull through…

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Day 108 of 124: DeMarcus Cousins Leads The Losers

Nels — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:30:02 +0000

Last night’s game provided a very nice example of the difference between fantasy basketball and real NBA basketball. Not because someone with 8 blocks ran away with the Line of the Night, but because the 5 of the top 7 Honorable Mentions came from guys on the losing end of their games. Yet if you have them on your fantasy team, then they’re helping you to win whatever match-up you’re embroiled in.

Line of the Night: DeMarcus Cousins (2.76) couldn’t beat Dallas by himself despite 25 points, 18 rebounds, 6 steals, and 2 blocks. Marcus Thornton (-0.38) returned for the Kings, but put up a Biggest Loser-worthy line, going 7-16 from the field, which was good enough to net him 16 points, but combined with 1 rebounds, 0 assists, and 4 turnovers, it wasn’t doing the Kings a whole lot of favors.

Honorable Mentions:
Then there was LeBron James (2.35), who scored 36 points (13-14 from the line), with 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in the Heat’s second loss to the Celtics in as many tries. Mario Chalmers (1.56) added 18 points (3 threes, 6-9 from the field), and 3 steals, but when your team is starting Ronny Turiaf at Center, your GM is probably looking at your team’s salary information and hoping that Steve Nash will take a 67% pay cut to come play with your three handsomely paid All Stars. On the other end of the floor, Paul Pierce (1.47) put up 27 points (3 threes), with 7 rebounds.

Our other Honorable winner was Louis Williams (1.73), who had 20 points (5-8 from the field, 8-8 from the line), 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in the win for the 76ers. Granted, they were playing New Jersey, so it’s not like they weren’t the odds-on favorite in that one.

Rounding things out for the guys with high ownership rates… One game after beating Chicago and Derrick Rose in overtime, Tyson Chandler (1.48) and Carmelo Anthony (1.46) couldn’t stop the Bulls without D-Rose. Chandler had 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks while Carmelo put up 29 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals, but at home, the Bulls were able to pull away from the Knicks and push to a 3 game lead in the Eastern Conference while pushing the Knicks down to 8th, where they would face the Bulls in the first round. I don’t think they’d be looking forward to that one.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Last Night Kenneth Faried ran away with the LotN and the WWLotN. I consider Kevin Seraphin (2.35) his fantasy basketball twin because they are both young guys on teams that swapped PF/Cs at the trade deadline but ended up letting the back-up PF/Cs play through and shine. Seraphin had 24 points (11-16 from the field), 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks (30% owned) and is a must add for anyone who needs Big Ball categories (FG%, PTS, REB, BLK).

Pick Up Lines: Kyle Korver (1.75) lit it up for the Bulls last night, coming off the bench behind Richard Hamilton to score 14 points (3 threes, 5-8 from the field), with 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks (17% owned). Korver is still good for just threes, though, and the rest of those stats are pretty much a fluke. Even with Derrick Rose out, Korver’s position with the team is pretty much the same as it ever was.

Here come the Cavs!

Am I dating myself again if I say “Does anyone else remember Troy Hudson’s magical 2-year fantasy tour?” Probably.* Anyway, that’s kind of all I can think when I think of Lester Hudson (1.64) and his 25 points (5-5 from the line), 8 rebounds, and 6 assists (24% owned). That performance came off the bench, but Hudson still got 36 minutes of PT backing up Donald Sloan (0.09) and Anthony Parker (1.61), the latter of whom had 19 points (4 threes, 7-11 from the field), and 2 steals (3% owned). Finally, there was Alonzo Gee (0.96) and his 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals (34% owned). Grain of salt time: All of these performances came against the Bobcats. With Anthony Parker back and Hudson and Gee continuing to light it up (as much as one can light it up for the Cavs), it looks like Sloan is probably the odd man out.

Understandably, Spencer Hawes (1.40) now appears in the Waiver Wire section of the GMTR Daily Post… He’s been injured practically the whole season and his comeback thus far hasn’t exactly been a Spencer Hawes Blues Explosion of basketball skills. Yet, after 19 points (7-11 from the field), 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Hawes is now averaging 9.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks over the last 4 games (45% owned). Okay, not exactly must add material, but definitely worth looking into.

Biggest Loser: There were quite a few candidates for Biggest Loser, but since the first lot of them aren’t that high up on the ownership ladder, and Ryan Anderson (-0.49) (7 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 2-10 from the field) and the aforementioned Marcus Thornton are just coming back from injuries, I decided to give them a break and go one deeper to… Chris Bosh (-0.36) whose relative run of on-fireness (for him at least) comes to a close not with a roaring howl of pain, but a whimpering 5-13 (38%) from the field, 3-5 from the line, 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 turnover. Sure, you’ll take the 13 points and 9 rebounds if you’re a fantasy owner, but the 38% is going to hurt whether you’re playing fantasy, or trying to show that you’ll be able to beat the Celtics in a playoff match-up.

* Nels Dating Himself – A Play In 7 Lines
Hi Nels.
Hi.
So, where do you want to go to dinner tonight?
Some place nice.
Nice? We just went some place nice last night! What do you think I am, made of money?
And what do you think I am? Some slut who’s going to put out after one dinner at a fancy restaurant? This is over.
Good riddance.

And, scene.

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