Give Me The Rock » Golden State Warriors

Day 102 of 124: the Return of Eric Gordon

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

Alternative Title: Dealing With It Like a Man

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We are so social!

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

GMTR Podcast #33: Breaking Down the Deadline Deals

Patrick — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:36:47 +0000

Erik and Patrick discuss all of the trades that went down before the deadline and what effect they have on fantasy value – especially for guys potentially on a lot of waiver wires like Kenneth Faried, Ekpe Udoh and Steve Blake. Also we talk about what to do with Stephen Curry and what to expect from Wilson Chandler now that he signed with the Nuggets. And finally, we throw out our weekly waiver wire recommendations.

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

Spoiler Alert Ahead!

***

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

Shallow Leagues:

Nate Robinson
Klay Thompson
Jerryd Bayless
Wilson Chandler

Deeper Leagues:

Kenneth Faried
J.R. Smith
C.J. Watson
Tristan Thompson
Kirk Hinrich
Samardo Samuels

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Day 81 of 124: Where Mike D’Antoni Hits the Emergency Eject Button

Patrick — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:05:23 +0000

Alternative Title: Where Dwight Howard Will Definitely Consider Possibly Staying with the Magic, Maybe.
Alternative to the Alternative Title: Will Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson Really be the Big Deadline Deal?
Alternative to the Alternative, Alternative Title: Trade Deadline Chaos!

A lot of news going down yesterday, although it wasn’t necessarily trade related. In a surprise move, we had Mike D’Antoni resigning as head coach of the Knicks after coaching them to a disappointing 18-24 record this season. According to reports, he asked management to trade Carmelo before this season’s trade deadline and when they said they would not, he offered his resignation. The players were so saddened with the news last night that they destroyed the Blazers by a score 121-79. Good old Mike Woodson has been named interim head coach by the team. Normally you’d think that be a downgrade for fantasy purposes, but the truth is that D’Antoni’s Knicks were in the bottom half of the league in terms of offense and pace, so it’s not like they were the D’Antoni teams that we were used to.

We also had Dwight Howard possibly telling the Magic that he would not opt out of his player option for 2012-13 and would stay with the team for next season, which would mean that the team would not be trading him. Except that he then reportedly changed his mind later in the day. Then he changed his mind again in an interview with RealGM, saying he was staying with the team. It’s impossible to tell exactly what’s going on in Howard’s head at this point, but I think this flowchart explains it pretty well.

Ok, enough of that. On to actually games yesterday.

Line of the Night: Channing Frye (2.88 WARP) has gone from being dropped in a lot of leagues after a truly horrible start to the season to lines like this: 26 points, 5 threes, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks as the Suns took down the Jazz 120-111. Over his past month, Frye has played like a top-25 fantasy player (averaging 0.78 WARP), after playing so badly in December and January that he temporarily lost his starting job to Markieff Morris.

So the award for the world’s slowest starter goes to Frye… well unless Dorell Wright continues to turn things around.

***

Honorable Mentions: LeBron James (2.55) scored 35 points, with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals as the Heat ~~took down~~ got taken down by the Derrick Rose-less Bulls. Dwyane Wade (1.81) added 36 points and 7 rebounds, which means that LeBron and Wade accounted for 70% of their team’s 102 points. Chris Bosh (-1.08) was the third leading scorer with 12, but took the long and hard way there by shooting 3-15 from the floor.

The Magic have more important issues at hand (like the future of the franchise), but all a single player can do is focus on the task at hand. And for Jameer Nelson (2.54), that task is to score 25 points, hitting 5 threes, and adding 5 rebounds and 7 assists in a 122-111 loss to the Spurs. Dwight Howard (0.70) did his usual thing in the game, going for 22 and 12 and then destroying his overall fantasy value by shooting 4-10 from the line. J.J. Redick (-0.70) got another start for the ailing Jason Richardson and bombed (in an American Idol audition show sort of way) missing all his three point attempts and finishing with 6 points, 2 boards and an assist.

The Spurs were led by Tony Parker’s (1.85) 31 points and 12 assists. With Manu Ginobili (0.70) still getting limited minutes (he saw 23 in the game) and feeling tightness in his hip flexor muscle during Monday’s game, Kawhi Leonard (1.23) continues to see a lot of run off the Spurs’ bench. Leonard played 31 minutes against the Magic and finished with 12 points, 6 boards, 2 threes and a couple steals. We’re not in the waiver wire section yet, but with Manu’s minutes likely to be limited in the near future, Leonard is worth a look, especially in deeper leagues.

The Detroit Pistons, an offensive juggernaut? The Pistons took down the Kings 124-112, led by Rodney Stuckey’s (2.44) 35 points, 4 threes, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Greg Monroe (1.45) added 32 and 11 on 15-20 shooting. And Tayshaun Prince (2.20) scored 28 points, adding 5 rebounds and 7 assists. It’s sort of the bizzaro Big 3. For Price, it’s his best fantasy performance all season, so I wouldn’t necessarily run out and grab him if he’s available in your league. According to his game log, he has about 1 of these types of performance every month.

The Kings got a surprise best fantasy performance, but more on that below.

Evan Turner (2.12) is not just breaking out over the second half of the season, I think he’s just blown up the building. Turner continues to roll like he was a second overall pick in the draft with 21 points (on 9-11 from the field). He must have overheard me bashing his lack peripheral numbers on the podcast (which I’m sure he listens to) as Turner also filled up the box score with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

Kris Humphries (2.03) continues to do his best impression of Brook Lopez if Lopez could actually rebound. Against the Raptors, Humphries scored 16 points, adding 21 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Who needs Dwight Howard when you have Humphries, right? Right? The Raptors got 16 and 10 out of Jerryd Bayless (1.02), who again got the start at PG with Calderon out. Keep riding him until Jose returns, at least.

Drew Gooden (1.70) recorded his second career triple-double with 15 points, 10 boards and 13 assists against the Cavs, giving him the third highest assist total on the night behind Nash and Rondo. The Bucks played a little shorthanded in this one with Ellis and Udoh not yet with the team, so going forward don’t expect the ball in Gooden’s hands quite as much.

And Andrew Bynum (1.93) paced the Lakers in a 107-101 overtime win against the Hornets. He finished with 25 points, 18 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 46 minutes. Kobe Bryant (1.66) scored 33 and played 49 minutes. The Hornets were led by Jarrett Jack’s (2.25) 30 points and 6 assists, but it might be time to drop Gustavo Ayon if you haven’t done already. He had 4 points and 2 rebounds in 32 minutes and has not been doing much of anything on the court lately.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: George Hill (1.76) is back for the Pacers and doing off the bench what Darren Collison can’t do in the starting lineup. Hill scored 17 points, with 3 threes, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 29 minutes off the bench against the Sixers. Collison meanwhile had 4 points and 2 assists in 21 minutes. Which one of these guys would you rather own? Hill may or may not take over for Collison in the starting lineup (the team likes him leading the second unit), but his minutes have been trending up and he’s been a 0.5 WARP player over his last 5 games, which would make him a 50ish fantasy player overall if he can keep it up.

Pick Up Lines: So how did the post-trade Warriors look last night? Nate Robinson (1.76) got the start at PG and exploded for 20 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals in 37 minutes on the court. With news that Stephen Curry might more or less shut it down for the year, Robinson becomes an immediate must add in all leagues. His scoring/assist/steal/three numbers led themselves nicely to most fantasy leagues.

Klay Thompson (0.89) got the start at SG and also played well, scoring 26 points and hitting 3 threes in 41 minutes. He’s been playing well enough that the team might just forget that Stephen Jackson exists, but for now pick him up and hope that Jackson doesn’t mess too much with his minutes going forward. Unlike Robinson, Thompson is pretty much a scorer/three-point guy only, which is fine in a points-based league, but it means he’s a little less valuable in category-based leagues than someone like Robinson provided they both stick in the starting lineup.

As far as the rest of the Warriors’ rotation goes, when the choice is between you and nothing and nothing wins, you have a problem. And that’s the situation that Andris Biedrins (-0.69) finds himself in. With Udoh traded to the Bucks, Biedrins retook the starting center position because, well, he’s the team’s only real center. Against the Celtics, Biedrins played only 18 minutes and finished with 0 points and 3 rebounds. Sadly, he isn’t worth owning in all but the deepest leagues based on even his brightest outlook.

The Warriors’ bench last night consisted pretty much of two guys: Brandon Rush (-0.22) and Dominic McGuire (0.69). Neither of them did anything that worthy (McGuire’s 3 steals was the one bright spot) despite the fact that they both saw 28+ minutes. Rush potentially has some low end value, but I’d only look to him if Robinson, Thompson and Jackson are all gone from your league’s wire.

If you read GMTR, you need no introduction to Alonzo Gee (1.62), who scored another 19 points, adding 5 rebounds and 4 steals against the Bucks. Expect to hear from him a lot in this space over the last month of the season as he’s still available in 75% of Yahoo leagues. Considering he’s been playing like a top 75 player over the past couple of weeks, his ownership levels should actually be more like 100%.

The departure of D’Antoni might just be what J.R. Smith (1.27) needs to get back on track. Smith got 23 minutes off the bench and was not afraid to start launching – hitting 7-14 from three. Smith finished with 23 points in the game and is at least worth putting on your watch list.

If we know one thing about the Knicks, it’s that they’d be no where without Steve Novak (1.58). I’m joking, of course, but Novak is capable of some great lines in limited minutes as long as that three is falling. Against the Blazers, Novak scored 20 points, going 6-10 from three, in only 20 minutes. He makes a great three point specialist for teams that need that, but the minutes aren’t there for him to be anything more than that.

If you asked me to name the streakiest player in the league, I’d probably go with Jason Thompson (1.54). After scoring 10 points total in his last three games, Thompson exploded for 21 points on 10-12 from the field, with 15 rebounds and 4 assists in 40 minutes. Coach Keith Smart seems to go with the matchups and the hot hand at PF, so Thompson’s minutes bounce all over the place from game to game. As a result, he’s way too inconsistent to be worth picking up just for the occasional game like this.

With Deron Williams still out of the lineup for the Nets, Jordan Farmar (-0.75) got the start again at PG and crapped all over it, scoring 10 points on 3-9 shooting with 3 assists in 27 minutes. On the other hand, Gerald Green (1.44) saw 25 minutes off the bench, and hit 9 of 11 shots to finish with 26 points and 3 steals. Ride him as long as Williams is out, but once Deron gets back, he’s going to get squeezed for minutes.

And with Rose out for the Bulls with a groin injury, C.J. Watson (-0.06) got the start at PG, but John Lucas (0.82) had the much better game, scoring 24 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Both of these guys only have value as long as Rose is out, although his injury does not appear to be serious.

Biggest Loser: Chris Bosh (-1.08). As mentioned above, Bosh finished with 12 points on 3-15 shooting against the Bulls, turning the ball over 4 times. Bosh has seen his FG% continue to decline as the year rolls on and he’s now shooting 44% from the floor over the last month and 38% over the last week.

Darren Collison (-1.10) isn’t doing much to warrant keeping his starting job over George Hill. Against the Sixers, Collison finished with 4 points, 0 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 2-7 from the field.

***

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Warriors Trade Ellis, Udoh, Brown for Bogut and S-Jax

Erik — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 02:09:42 +0000

Finally! A trade. Not the one I was hoping to see and analyze, but it’s interesting enough

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke it first. Here are the deets of the deal.

Now let’s break down the fantasy impact of this transaction.

Improves Value, Loses Value, No Change, Slight Drop in Value

Andrew Bogut - This is a lateral move for Bogut. His talent is undeniable and is likely to remain a good center on almost any team. His health has been his only true Waterloo. Playing alongside David Lee next season might lead to his rebounding to dip slightly at most. This ends up a wash as far as his value is concerned.

Stephen Jackson - He’s worth a quick add if you need points and threes and don’t particularly care about your FG%. After this deal goes through, S-Jax will likely make an almost miraculous recovery from his current ailments. He may be coming off the bench for the next few of games a Warrior (again) as Klay Thompson is projected to slide into the SG role vacated by Ellis. Any value Captain Jack can bring to the table is still a net improvement when compared to his recent DNPs with the Bucks.

Monta Ellis - This hurts his value as the Bucks mistakenly think that he’s capable of productively playing alongside Brandon Jennings. Here’s ESPN Chris Palmer’s knee-jerk tweet reaction to the deal. He will be more of a scoring SG and less of a combo-guard. The only way for this scenario to work is for Ellis to fully allow Jennings to orchestrate the offense… Riiiight! I’ll believe that just before this move will allow Kwame Brown to suddenly sprout fantasy basketball value.

Ekpe Udoh – While he won’t be a starter in Milwaukee, but he should still see solid minutes off the bench as he’s now the team’s best shot blocker. This consequently sets his value back a bit as he will wind being more of a shot blocking specialist, while the development of his offensive game will take a back seat.

Brandon Jennings – His scoring will take a slight hit, but this move will hopefully free him up to do more ball distribution duties and thus improve his AST and FG%. This transition won’t happen overnight or even be evident this season, but that is how I see his numbers to trend in the longer term. He’s made a big leap in value this season. The trade slows it at best, his value will still continue to rise.

Carlos Delfino – This move sends the already slumping Delfino to the bench. He is a drop candidate even in deep leagues at this point.

Both Mike Dunleavy and Beno Udrih get some downgrades in value as Ellis clogs the Bucks’ back court even further. Dunleavy may retain some value in deeper leagues, but Udrih’s recent improvement in production is now officially quashed.

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

No Related Post

Day 56 of 124: Manu Ginobili’s Lost Season

Patrick — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:20:12 +0000

The big news of the day concerns Manu Ginobili, who left last night’s game with a strained left oblique in the first half and did not return to the game. The ominous quote from Gregg Popovich… I think we lost him again. Fantasy owners should wait for definitive update on his status and how long it will keep him out of action before deciding what to do, but depending on the severity of the injury, we could be measuring his recovery time in weeks, not days.

Line of the Night: There were a total of four games last night; and Stephen Curry’s (3.10) 36 points, 6 threes, 6 assists and 2 steals in a 104-103 loss to the Grizzlies (thanks to a Tony Allen last second tip in) was the best of the lot. For all of the pain that Curry owners went through at the beginning of the year, Curry has quietly climbed to #8 overall on a per game basis on the GMTR player rater. So I can honesty say that Curry has been worth the wait.

Honorable Mentions: Monta Ellis (1.86) chipped in 33 points, 4 threes and 6 assists in the game. The Grizzlies best fantasy line came from Marc Gasol (1.28), who double-doubled with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It was the most rebounds that Gasol has hauled in since… well, yesterday, when he had 14 against Denver. That’s why he’s an all-star.

A rare decisive victory for the Nets against one of the league’s best teams as they beatdown the Bulls 97-85. The team was powered by Kris Humphries (2.28), who scored 24 points (on 10-15 from the field), with 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Deron Williams (2.12) also had 29 points, 5 threes and 8 assists. With Brook Lopez expected to make his return to the court tonight against the Bucks, it’s a very exciting time to be a Nets fan! And I’m only half joking about that.

Nicolas Batum (1.54) led the Blazers to a 20-point win over the Hawks with 22 points, 3 threes, and 8 rebounds while getting the start at SG over Wesley Matthews. Matthews (0.36) had a decent enough game of his own, scoring 13 points off the bench, but it’s going to be tough for him to win his starting job back when Batum is going off like this. LaMarcus Aldridge (0.62) returned to the court after missing 2 games and didn’t miss a beat, going for 19 and 10.

The Hawks bright spot came from Josh Smith (1.45), who just missed a triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. I’m not sure why Smith played 41 minutes in a 20 point loss, but I guess fantasy owners will reap the benefits.

Tony Parker (0.89) had 30 points and 10 assists in the Spurs 103-100 overtime win against the Clippers. Looks like with the Manu news, he’s a good bet to keep the scoring and assists flowing for his owners. Blake Griffin (1.13) exploded for 22 points and 20 rebounds in the game. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the first 20 rebound game of his career.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Matt Bonner (1.33). As I’ve mentioned in the past, want to feel what it’s like to own Ryan Anderson, but can’t afford the hefty price tag? May I interest you in a little Bonner? Thanks to that overtime game against the Clippers and a Tiago Splitter calf injury, Bonner saw 36 minutes on the court and scored 13 points, going 3-6 from three, with 6 rebounds and a couple steals. Bonner has a nice little double-digit scoring run going on and he will consistently hit threes, but that’s about all he does consistently. Unless Splitter is going to miss an extended period of time, he’s better left for plug and play purposes when you’re looking to squeeze out some threes for your team.

Pick Up Lines: Randy Foye (1.30) is still hanging out there in over 80% of leagues. I know he’s not the sexiest add, but did score 21 points, adding 4 threes and 4 assists against the Spurs. Of course, it’s the first time he’s shot over 30% from the floor in his last four games, so I understand why people aren’t running out to grab him even though he’s likely going to be the Clippers’ likely starter at SG for the rest of the season.

A big game for Shelden Williams (1.18), who scored 8 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and added 3 steals in a win over the Bulls. He also shut down Joakim Noah (more on that below). With Brook Lopez expected to start at center on Sunday (but play in limit capacity I’m sure), it’s the beginning of the end of any fantasy value that Williams had this year, which was not much.

Gary Neal (0.98) hit 5 threes on his way to 17 points and 3 steals. With the Ginobili injury, Neal remains that guy who is doing just enough to make you think about picking him up (especially if you are looking for threes), but not enough to own long term.

It’s not so much about what Brandon Rush (0.93) is doing on the court (8 points, 2 threes and 2 blocks) but more about what Dorell Wright isn’t doing (and that is much of anything). Rush actually saw more run last night than Wright (27 minutes vs. 26) and looks like he might benefit minutes-wise if Wright keeps falling on his face (more on that below).

Return of the Diddy: Word is that Baron Davis could play his first game for the Knicks as soon as today. Linsanity has severely cooled off the excitement that Knicks’ fans had about Davis and he will likely come off the bench behind Lin as he works his way back after that long layoff. I wouldn’t necessarily run out and pick up Davis unless you play in a huge league (he’s more likely to play spoiler for Lin) since he’s as good as bet as anyone to get injured again. Long-term though, anything is possible, especially if D’Antoni gets tired of Lin’s turnovers.

Biggest Loser: For a little while, it looked like Dorell Wright (-1.00) might have turned things around after his fugly start to the season. Maybe we called that one a little early. Wright was 0-7 from the floor against the Grizzlies and finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds and 0 assists in 26 minutes. I’m not saying he should be dropped at this point, but Brandon Rush is standing in wait ready to jump all over Wright’s minutes if he continues to stumble.

Joakim Noah (-0.69) finished with 0 points on 0-3 shooting, 6 rebounds and 0 assists against Shelden Williams and the Nets. Let me repeat that, Shelden Williams and the Nets…

***

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Day 47 of 124: Chasing Budinger

Nels — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:19 +0000

or: I should never give up on Channing Frye

Line of the Night: Stephen Curry (3.19) 36 points (6 threes, 13-17 from the field), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks

Honorable Mentions: Channing Frye (2.07) is back as the Suns starting PF and loved every one of his 41 minutes to the tune of 21 points (4 threes), 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Thank goodness I added him back to my team yesterday.

Just another day at the office for Pau Gasol (1.73), who had 25 points (12-20 from the field), 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Okay, it was a good game for Pau in a tightly contested battle against the Celtics. Sorry Patrick, I think the C’s are finally over the hill. That won’t stop me from riding Paul Pierce (1.02) and his 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, though. Also in that game, Andrew Bynum (1.25) put up 16 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks. And I’ve got him in the GMTR keeper league. So if nothing else, there’s that.

You don’t need to do much more than score 6 points and get 9 rebounds when you block 10. And that is what Serge Ibaka (1.62) did to land himself at #4 for the night.

Kevin Durant (1.33) did his thing with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals.

And just when we’d all given up on Arron Afflalo (1.33), he busts out for 26 points (5 threes, 5-5 from the line). Justin Kendall blogged it last night and picked him up in our Experts’ League at 4:31 am this morning after I suffered through his cold streak with daily changes before finally jettisoning him last week. I hope he goes back to shooting horribly and scoring in the barely single digits (yes, I know that doesn’t really make sense, so what?)

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Chase Budinger (1.35) continued his now 3-game long run of double-digit scoring with rebounds and threes with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. He even added 2 steals for good measure, leading to 37% ownership. I’ve picked him up in one of my leagues (if that means anything to you).

Pick Up Lines: Kyle Lowry started and played 25 minutes after injuring his elbow in the Rockets last game, but he was clearly showing some ill effects, going just 5-13 from the floor (2 threes, though). Goran Dragic (1.15) ended up playing almost 32 minutes (thanks also to Kevin Martin – more on that below) and scored 11 points matching his 11 assists while getting 2 steals (7% owned). The 32 minutes was his 3rd highest total of the season, so don’t expect to see that sort of thing from Dragic unless Lowry or Martin get injured (for real injured, not just hyperextended elbow injured).

Klay Thompson (1.01) came off the bench for the Warriors and in only 17 minutes he put up 19 points (3 threes, 8-11 from the field) (3% owned). I’m invoking the 70% rule here, which says that if a guy shows up out of nowhere (or pretty much nowhere) and has a well-rated game but shoots more than 70%, it doesn’t really count. Klay has had some pretty good games earlier, but until he breaks through the 17 minute barrier, he won’t be redeeming his Golden Ticket for any Everlasting Gobstoppers. If that doesn’t happen this season, remember him when the time comes for your draft next year.

Donte Greene (0.70) is probably worth a look in deep leagues. After returning from a spate of missed games, he played 23 and then 16 minutes, scoring 10 points with 2 steals in the latter. The Kings starter, John Salmons played 36 minutes but went 2-10 for 5 points. If Salmons plays a few more games like that, you can bet Green is going to see more time and his 1% ownership will look a bit snarky in hindsight.

The Player Rater loves defense. Ekpe Udoh (0.65) had 0 points, but got 2 steals and 5 blocks (3% owned). He’s up to 21 minutes per game in the 4 games so far in February, despite only scoring 3.8 points per game. Evidently coaches love defense too. Udoh has 0.6 steals and 1.6 blocks for the season, but 0.8 and 2.5 so far in February. Is he a poor man’s Bismack Biyombo? Or a rich man’s Bismack Biyombo?

Grant Hill (0.62) is the opposite of a Bad Girlfriend… Maybe cause he seems like such a nice guy, but mainly because he’s done me right in the past and I feel like I owe him another chance. I know it’s misguided, but look at the 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists (19% owned). What’s not to love? Sure, it’s not big ~~boobs~~ blocks, or a lot of steals, but I think we all know he stole my heart.

With Luis Scola continuing to do little beyond putting the ball in the hole with a modicum of efficiency, the Rockets are searching for a big man, any big man, who can play basketball. Chandler Parsons had a horrible game and we’ve seen that Chase Budinger can take advantage of that. Samuel Dalembert also had a terrible game (2-7 with 1 block) and so Patrick Patterson (0.60) played 25 minutes, taking the opportunity to score 14 points (6-8 from the field), and grab 6 rebounds (3% owned). If Dalembert continues to play like crap after his brief run of decent games, Patterson is looking like a pretty good Points, Rebounds, FG% guy. He’s not a great shot blocker, but he doesn’t turn it over much either nor does he shoot many free throws, so don’t let the 54% fool you.

Daequan Cook (0.58) had another pretty decent game for the Thunder in place of the still injured Thabo Sefolosha. Cook scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting, including 3 threes to go with 3 rebounds and a block.

Biggest Loser: Half the Rockets are struggling and none more so than Kevin Martin (-0.82). I have to think Martin must be injured after playing only 15 and 13 minutes in the last two games. Last night he had only 2 points and 1 assist with 2 turnovers. Can we get some sort of doctor’s note to excuse his absence?

***

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Day 45 of 124: The Return of the Golden Ticket Question Mark

Nels — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:18 +0000

Line of the Night: There were 6 games last night, but 5 of the top 10 lines came from only 1 game. 50% versus 16% seems like it has to have some sort of statistical significance. The game that produced those 5 lines was the Golden State Warriors versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Is the Golden Ticket back? Monta Ellis (3.15) seems to think so. He scored 48 points (3 threes, 18-29 from the field, 9-10 from the line), with 7 rebounds, and 2 steals to win the night. If you’re willing to put money on it, NBA Betting is the best place to find odds.

Honorable Mentions: James Harden (2.27) had the next best line with 19 of OKC’s 116 points (3 threes, 4-4 from the line). Harden also had 7 assists, and 4 steals. Kevin Durant (2.26) took advantage with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Back on Monta’s side of the ball, David Lee (1.66) has a triple double for the dubs with 25 points (7-7 from the line), 11 rebounds, and 10 assists while Stephen Curry (1.51) scored 16 points (7-9 from the field), with 7 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals. Seems like a lot of good passing from both teams. I suppose it helps that they all seemed to shooting the lights out.

Dwyane Wade (1.76) led the Heat over Cleveland with 26 points (8-8 from the line), 6 assists, and 3 steals.

The Pacers won a close one over Utah thanks to Roy Hibbert‘s (1.68) 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and Darren Collison‘s (1.66) 25 points (10-14 from the field, 4-4 from the line), and 5 assists.

And finally, Jared Dudley (1.47) tried to make up for lost stat lines with 19 points on 3 threes, and 7-9 from the field.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Nikola Pekovic (1.92) has been talked about a lot on GMTR, but he had yet to actually win the Waiver Wire Line of the Night. Well, last night’s 23 points (9-12 from the field, 5-5 from the line), 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (32% owned) was more than enough to do it. In fact, it was the 4th best line overall (right after Kevin Durant, and before Dwyane Wade. Not bad company to keep). Still only owned in a third of leagues, but I’m sure he’s been picked up in all the competitive leagues out there.

Pick Up Lines: Ersan Ilyasova (1.59) came off the bench for the Bucks to play a season-high 33 minutes. He was part of a furious comeback that fell just short as the Bucks ralled from down 17 at half time to lost by only 3. Coincidentally, Ilyasova had 17 points (8-8 from the line) to go with 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks (22% owned). He’s been a pretty consistent source of Rebounds and Blocks since Bogut got injured, but his minutes have not been as consistent and his shooting has been horrible. He should probably be on a roster in 12-team and larger leagues, but his inconsistency will probably burn owners in daily leagues.

Mike Dunleavy (1.28) had 17 points with 4 threes going 5-7 from the field, but he’s only a consideration in deep leagues right now (8% owned). If you need a three-point specialist, though, put him on your watch list and see if his minutes stabilize around 25 and his threes at 2 per game. If that happens, then he’s probably worth owning in standard leagues.

Daequan Cook (1.23) has started the last 5 games for the Thunder, and with the aid of The New Golden Ticket, he scored 17 points (5 threes, 6-8 from the field) (3% owned). If you need Threes, Cook is worth a look (rhyming!) – he’s averaging almost 3 a game in the last 6 games. Thabo Sefolosha is supposed to be back “any day now” but I’ve heard that too much this season for it to mean a whole lot. If you have a daily changes league, I’d add Cook and ride him for the threes until Sefolosha is back.

C.J. Miles (0.80) had another pretty good game (12 points, 2 threes, 1 steal, 1 block) and is only owned in 43% of leagues. I’m not sure yet if that’s the cutoff for the percentage of leagues that are large enough and competitive enough to have someone like C.J. Miles on a team, but it’s starting to seem like it’s right around there.

J.J. Hickson (0.80) has 8 points and 11 rebounds with 1 steal and 1 block. Jason Thompson started at PF for the Kings, but Hickson played a minute and a half more since it looked like Sacramento’s Forwards were struggling a bit. DeMarcus Cousins was not struggling though. He only hit 3-13 from the field, but that’s about par for him. Boom, Roasted.

Biggest Loser: Luke Ridnour (-0.75) has fallen on hard times these past few games, and despite 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist he tops the list because he’s owned in 48% of leagues and only hit 4-12 shots from the field.

Tyrus Thomas (-0.64) continued to reward the 52% of owners who manage to somehow put up with his maddening inconsistency with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, and 1-6 shooting from the field. That comes after 8 points and 13 rebounds in the Bobcats last game (though he did shoot 3-14 in that one, so it wasn’t all roses and sunshine).

And last, but probably the true Biggest Loser because of his 92% ownership, the aforementioned DeMarcus Cousins (-0.64). Cousins had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but did it the hard way, going 3-13 (23%) from the field and 4-6 from the line. He also had 1 steal and 2 turnovers.

***

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Day 40 of 124: Sleeping Giants

Nels — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:37:19 +0000

and not just the players

Line of the Night: It took a little while for Stephen Curry (2.90) to get past the whole Fragile Ankle Syndrome (which could of course reoccur at any time), but he’s finally playing like a second round pick (or first round last night) with 29 points (10-14 from the field, 2 threes), 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 3 steals. Curry’s teammate Monta Ellis (1.99) had 33 points (3 threes, 13-21 from the field), and 3 steals.

Honorable Mentions: Sleeping Giant #2: The Denver Nuggets. With Danilo Gallinari (1.99) leading the way, the whole season, but also last night with 21 points (5 threes, 7-10 from the field), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, the Nuggets have the second best record in the West.

Tim Duncan (1.85) is definitely a giant, and from his play earlier this season, it sure seemed like he was sleeping, but last night her woke up to score 19 points (6-8 from the field, 7-7 from the line(!)), to go with 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Amare Stoudemire (1.68) scored 34 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds, but fell prey to Derrick Rose (1.66) who was just pretending to sleep against Philadelphia in order to give more false hope to the 76ers. Rose scored 32 points (2 threes) against the Knicks to go with 13 assists (2 turnovers).

Since he’s been called out a couple times in The Biggest Loser, I felt it only right to mention that Raymond Felton (1.41) had 15 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals last night (pun intended).

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Randy Foye (1.83) got some extra time because Chauncey Billups was struggling with his shot. Foye scored 17 points (7-11 from the field), with 3 steals (3% owned). He passes the 70% rule, but 63% shooting is still pretty hard to keep for any period of time. And so is 27 minutes a game when you’re on a team with Chris Paul, Billups, and Mo Williams.

Pick Up Lines: Having just picked him up before writing this sentence, I am going to declare Gordon Hayward (1.75) an official Good Pick Up. Hayward scored 21 points (8-8 from the line), with 4 assists, and 2 steals (22% owned) for his 4th good-for-a-free-agent game in a row. With all the injuries going around, you might need someone who can play SG or SF (perhaps to replace Gerald Henderson who strained his hamstring and will be out at least 2 weeks).

I have to admit, I did not know which team Jamaal Tinsley (1.22) was playing for. Turns out, it’s Gordon Hayward’s Utah Jazz (yes, that was intended to be some mix of ironic and sarcastic). Tinsley got the start as the Jazz finally decided that Devin Harris had injured his brain (though they claim it’s his hamstring). JT played 34 minutes even in a lopsided loss to Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis (I don’t think anyone else on the Warriors really needs to play when those two are healthy) and he ended up with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists, and 2 steals (1% owned). If you’re in a deep league or a competitive league (or heaven forbid, both) then you probably want to snap him up on the off-chance that he continues getting those kind of minutes even when Harris returns.

(Image: Dustin Curtis)

Swimming upstream once again is John Salmons (1.21) with 19 points (3 threes), and 8 rebounds (31% owned) (pun intended). I would err on the side of “he’s already owned in every league where he should be” (and probably more than that) on this one.

Kyle Korver (1.20) did that thing he does wherein he makes threes and then you think about picking him up. To get to 16 points (3 threes) he added 5-5 from the line (13% owned), and it probably doesn’t bear repeating, but Results Not Typical.

Besides Hayward and the riskier Tinsley, I’d say a couple guys worth taking a look at are: Dante Cunningham (1.03), who had 8 points, and 12 rebounds (1% owned), and Josh Howard (0.92), who I even picked up and dropped at one point so far this year. Howard had 19 points (7-10 from the field), and 4 assists (7% owned), so while he doesn’t actually qualify as a legit pick up due to the 70% rule, I still say take a look just because when he gets the time, he can put up numbers. If anything, at least click the little flag button (or whatever you do in your league to add someone to your watch list) and keep him on your radar. Cunningham is more inconsistent with a much lower upside, but for deep league managers who need some blocks and boards, he might still have value for another month or more until Zach Randolph returns.

Biggest Loser: Of course… I/We have been telling people to keep C.J. Miles, so it would stand to reason that he go and shit a brick on the court. C.J. Miles (-1.62) had 3 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, and was 1-6 from the field last night.

I think it’s time to call it quits on the DeJuan Blair Experiment (-0.89). Blair managed just 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist, going 1-6 from the field. He’s already a pretty bad FT shooter, so when he shoots like that from the field, you have to worry.

For anyone (because there was at least one person) thinking about picking up Trevor Ariza (-0.62), you have been warned: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, and 2-10 from the field. It better be a deep league.

***

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Day 34 of 124: Friday Night Basketball is like Monday Night Football

Nels — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:01:29 +0000

Because everyone played like they were on national TV last night. (Okay, not everyone, but look at the numbers below)

Line of the Night: I tried to tell people (probably a bit too gently) to hang on to Dorell Wright (3.18). Wright lit it up with 23 points (6 threes), 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Warriors have a back loaded schedule. Anyone who hung on to Wright will have 4 game weeks one after the other right when they count the most.

Honorable Mentions: Dwyane Wade (2.96) returned to help the Heat beat New York, scoring 28 points (6-6 from the line), with 4 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks in his first game back. Save it for the playoffs DWyane!

Paul Pierce (2.92) continued to carry the Celtics like it was 2005 (or 2006). Pierce scored 28 points (4 threes, 4-4 from the line), along with a near triple-double of 10 rebounds and 8 assists, adding 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Anything else you want from a stat line?

Joakim Noah (2.46) seems to have finally gotten his head screwed on straight, scoring 15 points (6-10 from the field), with 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Granted, that came against a Bucks team who is now starting Drew Gooden (see below for Gooden’s monster offensive, but not defensive, line).

Russell Westbrook (2.39) probably won you the steals category last night with 7 of them, and also put up 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists (and somehow the Player Rater was okay with his 7 turnovers).

I know someone who is counting on Deron Williams (2.24) to carry his team now that Andrew Bogut is out at least 8 weeks with his fractured ankle. Deron didn’t disappoint with 27 points (5 threes), 10 assists, and 2 steals. Not going to make up for the blocks, but it’ll help with #winning the other cats.

Josh Smith (2.22) continued to take advantage of Al Horford’s absence with a near triple-double: 19 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 blocks.

I dropped Kyrie Irving (2.09) for Drew Gooden yesterday and Irving felt so disrespected that he put up 32 points (12-20 from the field), 6 rebounds, and 2 steals just to show me what I’ll be missing. I know, Kyrie. But I had to. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up by drafting you in every league I’m in next year.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: I know you want it to be Drew Gooden, but you’ll have to wait because Rodrigue Beaubois (3.06) score 22 points (3 threes, 9-15 from the field), with 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks (11% owned). I’m not sure what’s more confusing: That the Give Me The Rock Fantasy Basketball Player Rater gave him the second highest score of the night despite the 2 turnovers and only 1-1 from the line, or that Rodrigue Beaubois got 4 blocks… Come on, how tall is that guy? He’s listed at 6′ 2″ which probably means he’s like 5′ 11″. The only guys on the Jazz with Blocked Attempts were Earl Watson (1), Devin Harris (2), and Al Jefferson (2), which means that at least one of Beaubois’s blocks was on Big Al. Ouch.

Pick Up Lines: Rudy Fernandez (2.35) returned from a strained achilles tendon to play 33 minutes and score 23 points (5 threes, 9-11 from the field), getting 3 steals as well (18% owned). If he gets back to averaging his 28 minutes game like earlier in the season, then he’ll be worth owning.

And now, the moment everyone who picked up Drew Gooden (2.04) has been waiting for: 23 points (10-10 from the line), 15 rebounds, and 6 assists (36% owned). If that ownership number doesn’t shoot up in the next couple of days, then we’ll have a very good idea of how many dead leagues there are out there. Probably more than 20,000 of them under the sea. Anyway… consider yourself lucky if you managed to snag Gooden, because while no one wants to start him and playing him for 33 minutes a game, he has shown that when he starts and plays 33 minutes a game, he can put up double-doubles like that consistently. He averaged 14 and 9 for Chicago in 2007-08, but I think he just missed out on Scott Skiles… Well, now Scotty gets to beam him up to fantasy superstardom! (Sorry, that was just stupid)

Bill Walker (1.76) came off the bench to light it up for he Knicks with his 21 points coming off of 7-10 three-pointers. He also had 7 rebounds (1% owned). Carmelo Anthony sat that one out, so I wouldn’t count on that kind of thing happening too often.

Someone you might want to consider picking up, though, is Klay Thompson (1.70), who had 14 points (6-8 from the field, 2 threes), and 3 blocks (3% owned). He’s getting 17 minutes per game and has shown flashes of some three-point shooting ability. He’s a GF in Yahoo leagues, so that might be worth something… Deep league owners should take a look, and he could have value in some smaller leagues (but probably still bigger than 12 teams) if he starts getting 20+ minutes per game. Also, he’s on Golden State, which as I mentioned has a very nice back end schedule.

Speaking of backend schedule…

Josh Smith hasn’t been the only one stepping up since Al Horford’s injury. Marvin Williams (1.55) has played 20+ minutes in the last 7 games and last night he connected on 5 threes for 22 points (6-9 from the field), to go with 8 rebounds (24% owned). He’s not really consistent in any categories, but he can contribute across several and if his playing time keeps going up, he’ll probably continue to get picked up in leagues of increasingly smaller size.

Biggest Loser: Dwight Howard (1.24) had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and his 10-17 free throw shooting was actually pretty decent for him, so obviously he was not the Biggest Loser. But when you know that he scored 42% of his teams points, then you might start thinking that one or more of his teammates is going to be gain the dubious distinction. You can see where this is going: Hedo Turkoglu (-1.10) had 3 points (1-7 from the field), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 6 turnovers while Jameer Nelson (-0.88) scored only 2 points (1-4 from the field) with 0 rebounds, and 0 assists. The Hornets (4-15) beat the Magic by 26 points. Dwight Howard may not be asking for a trade anymore, but you know he’s not going to stick around with teammates like that.

In The Bonus: Erik debates Is Kyle Lowry better than Derrick Rose over at Pippen Ain’t Easy. I think he did that just to rile up Bulls fans over on a Bulls-centric blog. And he got in a bunch of links back to GMTR, so Bravo!

***

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com

Other Stuff Like This:

Stephen Curry Owners Can Breathe A Sigh Of Relief

Nels — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:17:14 +0000

Because now you don’t have to worry all season about when he’s going to re-injure his ankle. It’s all ready happened. Just after listening to how Tom over at Damn Lies and Stats took Curry 7th overall in the vaunted Friends and Family League, I saw the news about Curry.

So, now that your team is injured… how about some insult for dessert?

According to the SF Chronicle:

Curry was trying to defend Jimmer Fredette’s crossover at the top of the key when his ankle gave way. He crawled toward the sidline at midcourt in agony and put little pressure on the troublesome ankle as teammates Charles Jenkins and Tommy Mitchell acted as his crutches to the locker room.

(Emphasis mine)

Holy shit. Sorry for the swearing, but Jimmer Fredette’s has yet to play a regular season game and he has already broken someone’s ankles! (Okay, just “sprained” they say, but still!)

Fantasy Impact
We had Curry at #9 on our most recent projections, but that was with him playing 35 minutes per game. In H2H leagues, his injury shouldn’t hurt quite as much since he’ll still be able to put up numbers in all the games he does end up playing. But if you haven’t already drafted and especially if you’re in a Roto league, move Curry down your rankings until we can ascertain the extent of the damage. If Curry does end up missing time, Monta Ellis will probably be the main benefactor. Might not hurt to move him up a draft board (though as a high second round pick, there’s not a lot of room to push him up). Ellis played a few extra minutes and saw a corresponding bump in his stats in December 2010 which was when Curry missed the bulk of his time last year.

In the mean time, don’t worry, Steph. You’re in good company.

Want to see your ad in the GMTR RSS feed? Contact: givemetherock@gmail.com