If Looks Could Kill
If you haven’t seen Kobe glare at Mike Brown, check it out at one of my favorite sites Larry Brown Sports. It’s kind of a catch-all for all sports that keeps it light but is at the same time insightful. Anyway, the Lakers lost in Utah and Mike Brown is in all sorts of trouble with the fans, and one has to think he’ll be gone as soon as the Lakers can find a suitable replacement, which is easier said than done. If he can turn it around before then, he can keep his job. It’s that simple.
Kobe, when he wasn’t giving looks that could kill, scored 29 points on 7-of-17 shooting (no threes) with 15-of-17 free throws made, six turnovers, five boards, four assists, and three steals. Right now he’s a top-3 play in 8-cat leagues and the No. 11 play in 9-cat leagues, making guys like me look dumb for ranking him so low on draft day. But then again, we haven’t seen the Steve Nash show yet. Metta World Peace scored 15 points with seven boards and a full line, aided by a 7-of-8 mark from the line and offset by a 3-of-12 mark from the field. If he keeps seeing backup minutes at shooting guard he could be an interesting pickup. He played 37 minutes last night and Antawn Jamison, who looks like a bust, played just 14.
The Jazz played well up and down the card, with Mo Williams (16 points, seven assists), Al Jefferson (18 points, 10 boards, four steals), and Randy Foye (17 points, five threes) putting up the numbers. Gordon Hayward (seven points, 2-of-11 FGs, two steals, three blocks) and Paul Millsap (seven points, nine boards, five assists, steal, block) were commended for their defense, which all culminated in the Jazz’s win. I’m not worried at all about Hayward’s low scoring night as he probably got a ‘plus’ from his coaches tonight, and Foye is the same streaky animal he has always been. The rest of these guys are must-starts and Hayward is close to being one with early late-round value. Derrick Favors (eight points, six boards, steal, two blocks) played just 18 minutes and probably had his minutes clipped because the Jazz were on the cusp of a big win, which tells you how the coaches feel about his ability to impact ballgames. I’ll probably still hold in weekly 12-team formats because this is still a serviceable line in a pinch, but not at the expense of a sure-fire free agent.
Dallas Domination
The score (109-104) was closer than the game suggested, as the Mavs pretty much had their way with the Raptors, who were without Kyle Lowry (ankle). News broke that he has shed the walking boot and it looks like my pure speculation prediction of a return next Sunday might be a bit late. DeMar DeRozan was D’d up by Jae Crowder in the first half and had a slow start, but turned it on in the second half and finished with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting (no threes, 8-of-10 FTs), six rebounds, and seven assists. He didn’t have a steal or block, and Lowry wasn’t there, but the intermittent eruptions have me at least open to the idea of forward progress this season. We’ll see. Jose Calderon was a decent pick-and-play with 11 points, six assists, and three treys, and Andrea Bargnani went big with 25 points, nine boards, and an otherwise mixed line. Amir Johnson took advantage of foul trouble for Jonas Valanciunas (four points, two boards, 10 minutes) and put up a big 18 and 11 night that included a steal or block. If he can get rolling, he has a fantasy friendly game, particularly in 9-cat formats. I’m still riding the JV train, but in a daily league without games played limits owners might not want to hang on through the early inconsistency. The talent is there, but he’ll disappear from time to time in between solid outings.
O.J. Mayo did his thing with 22 points, five boards, six assists, a steal, and three treys, and there is no end in sight for his fantasy domination. Even when Dirk returns, he may decide to let the younger Mayo carry the load as he saves his legs for the playoffs. Chris Kaman scored 22 points with eight boards and a block, and as long as he’s in the game he should be in fantasy lineups. Jae Crowder started and put up eight points with four boards and two threes in 27 minutes. I think we’ve seen enough by now to know what he is, as he’s returning borderline value in 9-cat leagues and 16-team value in 8-cat formats. If that works for you, pick him up. Brandan Wright has been my dark horse candidate for pickup for a few days now, and he put up numbers again last night with 12 points, seven boards, and two blocks. It looks like he’ll be posting mid-round value when he’s ‘on,’ and he has been ‘on’ to start the year. Playing behind injury risks Kaman and Elton Brand (DNP-Baby), not to mention Durable Dirk and his new knee nuisance -- Wright could end up being a steal at this rate. Just realize the fun could end, too.
Basket, anybody?
The Sixers and Hornets combined to score 139 points, so as you can imagine there were some pretty bad lines, but not as bad as one would think. Jrue Holiday went for 14 points, five boards, 12 assists, a steal, a block, and seven turnovers, Evan Turner scored 14 points with eight boards, three assists, and a steal, Thad Young put up 12 and 10, Spencer Hawes scored 11 points with six boards and three blocks, and Dorell Wright hit just 2-of-10 shots for seven points, six boards, and an otherwise full line. Jason Richardson (ankle) is still in a walking boot so the rotation may continue to be eased through the rest of the week or more. As for the aforementioned plays, all owners can ask for on off-nights is that their guys deliver something, and in this case they did.
On the New Orleans side, they’re going to have these nights as they suffer from a lack of talent and a lack of depth, a dangerous mixture. Greivis Vasquez scored seven points with seven assists and five turnovers, and I have absolutely no concern about his outlook. Robin Lopez was held to six points and four boards, but did have two steals and four blocks and I call that a win in his book. Al-Farouq Aminu didn't close the doors on his coming out party with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, a career-high 16 rebounds, three assists, and two boards. He might ride the bench on other teams, but in New Orleans he is going to be a fixture, and while I like his outlook don’t be surprised if we see some inconsistency at some point. Ryan Anderson hit just 3-of-10 shots for nine points to go with 10 boards and a three, and he'll be better on most nights, too. Eventually Anthony Davis (concussion) and Austin Rivers (finger, ankle) will return and it shouldn’t hurt anybody too much. Hell, it’ll probably help everybody be more effective and efficient.
Memphis Barbequed Buck
Scott Skiles is at it again and it’s comical that even the beat writers don’t know why he does what he does. Upon noticing that Ersan Ilyasova had barely played in the second half, long-time beat writer Gery Woelfel called it strange but had no explanation to give. Nor did the MSJ or any of the team blogs. Just Skiles being Skiles. Now maybe Zach Randolph’s 18 and 13 or Marc Gasol’s 14 and nine caused Skiles to want to beef up his core with Larry Sanders (10 points, 11 boards, three assists, one steal, three blocks, 26 minutes) and John Henson (three points, three boards, one steal, two blocks, 17 minutes). That’s fine, but Bucks fans might want to know why the team signed Ilyasova (seven points, four rebounds, one three) to a five-year, $40 million contract to play 21 minutes like he did last night. And because it’s not Packer football, we won’t hear anything out of Milwaukee to help explain the phenomena, and owners will simply have to be patient for the time-being.
As for Sanders, he has long been a stat stuffer whenever he has gotten the minutes, and he still makes plenty of mistakes (four turnovers), but he has enough upside after posting top-30 value to be owned in all formats. And if you can trade him based on the premise that he can produce top-half of the draft value, I think you do it. See the paragraph above if you have any question as to why that makes sense. The Tobias Harris (sight points, six boards, one block) hype train has officially taken a stop at timeshare station, as he and Mike Dunleavy (10 points, two threes) both played 24 minutes. While both guys have their own unique type of upside, owners will never truly feel good about starting them and that might be a bigger ding on their value than the middling numbers they put out.
The Grizzlies had a fairly normal night. Tony Allen (six points, five boards, steal, two blocks, 17 minutes) dealt with some foul trouble chasing around Brandon Jennings (19 points, 6-of-20 FGs) and Monta Ellis (15 points, 5-of-18 FGs). Mike Conley went for 13 and 12 but did not hit a three, and Rudy Gay hit 7-of-20 shots for 17 points. Marreese Speights showed up with 18 points and nine boards, but that’s a fluky line if I’ve seen one.
Disappearing Act
Right after I wax poetic about how great the Magic look and how exciting they’ll be, they turned around and laid an egg against the Wolves, who by most reports played good defense while Orlando hit on no cylinders. The box was passable for fill-in PG E’Twaun Moore, who scored 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting with five rebounds, four assists, and a steal, but didn’t hit a three and had four turnovers. Big Baby might have tired his shooting arm out on Tuesday, and hit just 2-of-9 shots for four points to go with six boards and four assists. Arron Afflalo scored an empty 12 points, and J.J. Redick saw just 20 minutes after turning the ball over five times and starting 0-for-6 from the field, but he did finish with 16 points on 5-of-12 overall shooting.
The most interesting thing on the Magic side was the benching of Redick, Davis (19 minutes) and Nicola Vucevic (two points, four rebounds, 18 minutes). We’ll have to learn more about why that happened as the news is quiet in Orlando, but Jacque Vaughn was clearly not happy. It’s a buzz-kill for Vucevic after his big night on Tuesday, and something that owners need to remember next time he goes off. The consistency just might not be there for a while. Moe Harkless (seven points, five boards, two assists, three steals, and two blocks) is a name owners should watch as the Magic like him a lot and his 22 minutes last night were a bit of a surprise as he returns from hernia surgery. He’s the only true SF on the roster and is already putting up numbers. He’s in stash territory for 14-16 team leagues at the moment. The rest of the aforementioned will turn it around, and Moore is looking like a ‘hold’ until we get some sort of clarification regarding Jameer Nelson’s status. Nelson doesn’t sound like he’s ready to play anytime soon, but that could change on a moment’s notice.
Luke Ridnour got back on track for owners last night with 19 points and a nicely stocked line, and with J.J. Barea suffering an ankle injury his outlook looks a lot better than it did 24 hours ago. Derrick Williams had 14 points, six boards, two steals, and two threes, but we need to see him do it twice in a row before we’re hopping on that ride. Brandon Roy hit just 1-of-6 shots for three points, five rebounds, and nine assists. I wonder how long before teams realize that he’s a distributor now, only to clog passing lanes while not playing him to shoot or score. I see no reason to hang onto the injury risk when the early returns aren’t any good.
Last night was just one of those ho-hum 13-game Wednesday nights, so we’re going to get right into it. You may want to check our player news page for any tidbits that are not a part of the game action, and also check out my live chat later tonight.
For fantasy news and information in real-time, click here to follow me on Twitter.
Mullen It Over
If I had a dollar for every Byron Mullens drop question I got this past week, I’d have $53 exactly. The Bobcats hadn’t played that much and Mullens was sort of a mixed bag, so I understood the questions, but it was soooo early for a guy that had shown solid upside during the preseason. Well, we saw it all come together in that breakout game I predicted in yesterday’s Dose, as Mullens put up 24 points with six 3-pointers, eight rebounds, and a steal. That makes him a top-25 play in 9-cat formats and a top-40 play in 8-cat formats at this early stage. Hold tight for a little while longer, will ya?
Ramon Sessions (17 points, nine assists, one trey, 2-of-10 FGs, 12-of-14 FTs) was also the preferred play over Ben Gordon (12 points, five assists, two treys, 5-of-14 FGs, steal, two blocks), but it wasn’t by much. Jeff Taylor started but played just 10 minutes and wasn’t a factor, as expected. Kemba Walker (17 points, eight assists, 6-of-14 FGs, one steal) is still hot, but his shooting could easily drop by five points on the FGs and 10 points on the FTs to his marks from last season. Who knows, maybe it won’t, but I'm moving him on the upswing if it all makes sense.
Of course, the Bobcats and their opponent from last night, the Suns, are both shaping up to be fantasy matchups to target. The Suns had a field day with the exception of Jared Dudley, who was merely 'serviceable' with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two treys as he tries to pull himself back up to respectability. I mentioned his slow start last season, and yes, Shannon Brown did go nuts for 24 points and six threes last night, but I tend to look at the long view and note that the Suns are a shallow team. Add in the fact that Brown is a streaky player and I’d probably hold Dudley after an effort like that, especially given last year’s history. As for Brown, you almost have to pick him up after an outing like that, but realize that even with that solid effort he is barely on the cusp of 12-team value on the year. I had him just outside of 150 on my draft board entering the year, and taking the excitement away from the big night it looks like he might go just north of that – which was where I had him before a tepid preseason knocked him down.
Marcin Gortat is a machine right now, posting 23 points with 10 boards, a steal, and seven blocks. It’s early, but it sure looks like owners can light a cigar for that pick. Goran Dragic isn’t shooting as well as he is capable of, but he’s still putting up solid numbers otherwise and had another 16 points, eight assists, and three treys last night. Michael Beasley went off for 21 points, 15 boards, seven assists, one steal, and three blocks, though a 7-of-21 mark from the field and just one three kept it from being a truly epic night.
Blown Out
The Spurs have been a part of two blowouts in a row now, once on each side of the line, and it has cooled everybody off. Kawhi Leonard had four points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals last night, and Danny Green scored 12 points with three treys. No starter played more than 24 minutes, so even guys like Tony Parker (four points, six assists, CP3) and Tim Duncan (10 points, six boards, no blocks) struggled. The Clippers, for their part, did not struggle and played their starters well into the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin’s neck and elbow didn’t hurt his production last night, as he went for 22 points, 10 boards, three assists, and a block. The book on him is pretty simple – capable of this on any night and hampered by a decidedly unfriendly fantasy game. The elbow issue continues to gain traction but with each passing report we’re told there’s nothing to worry about. At this time, I have no reason to distrust the reports. DeAndre Jordan had a breakout night with season-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds, and also chipped in with two steals and four blocks.
Doc is convinced that Chauncey Billups (Achilles) is done and/or not going to be able to cut into Jamal Crawford’s (10 points, two threes, no FGA until late in Q3) minutes whenever he returns, and he’s generally right about these things so I’m moving toward that camp. Of course, the news that Billups has pushed his return date from Thanksgiving to December emboldened him and he was already all in. Still, that may only be adding a week or two to a hazy-to-begin-with return date, and late last night a report trickled in that said Billups was dealing with calf, back, and general conditioning issues and that his Achilles’ was fine. Billups said he wants to come back and be healthy, instead of having setbacks. When presenting that info to Doc, his response? “Toast.”
I’ll probably hedge my bets and predict an incremental decrease in JC’s production when Billups returns.
Golden State’s Flu Game
The entire Warriors squad appears to have the flu, but the Cavs were the ones that looked like an underdog that won in L.A. on Monday. Stephen Curry (21 points, 8-of-14 FGs, full line) sniffled through his postgame interviews, and during the game he glided effortlessly into open spaces created by a lax Cavs defense. Regardless of the D, Curry is moving into healthier territory and now just needs to keep it up. Owners taking the plunge are officially winning as of right now, but it’s a long season.
David Lee and Jarrett Jack were somewhat questionable with that same flu, but both played, and Lee destroyed a banged up Cavs frontcourt with 22 points, 14 boards, six assists, and three steals. It’s safe to say there won’t be a large scale drop-off this year but he’s still a guy to watch in case the local pressure mounts on Mark Jackson to play Lee less and Carl Landry more. Landry was back to being productive with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with nine boards and a block in 26 minutes. He’s being held back by Jackson, but the good looks like it’s going to outweigh the bad at this time. He should be owned in 12-team formats. I’m holding off on Harrison Barnes’ 14-point outing and need to see more. Andrew Bogut continues to gimp around on his 20-minute limit, and after zero points and two shot attempts I’m cool with dropping him unless you have a real deep bench or can otherwise afford it.
You win some and you lose some
The Cavs, coming off a big win against the Clippers at Staples, looked flat against the Warriors and were also without Anderson Varejao (knee) and Tyler Zeller (broken cheek). Varejao bumped knees with Ryan Hollins in that game and the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, nor does Zeller’s face injury according to beat writer Jason Lloyd. Lloyd said that the return home was more so the Cavs’ staff could get a look at him and fit him for a mask. Tristan Thompson, who I’m not fully convinced can take the next step, put up 11 points and 10 boards without a block. His penchant for disappearing and low shooting percentages have me less bullish than others, though he certainly has breakout potential.
Samardo Samuels was a beat writer favorite this preseason, but he hasn’t been a favorite of Byron Scott’s so far this season. When pressed into the starting job last night he surfaced with 11 points, seven boards, and a block. Give him a look for spot duty if the aforementioned continue to stay out. Dion Waiters came back to Earth with 12 points, two threes, and five assists, and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg after sustaining a bruised thigh. Nobody seems to be overly concerned about it, though, so for now I’m not projecting an absence. And yes, he should still be owned in all formats. Kyrie Irving didn’t break Steph Curry’s ankles but did break the box score with 28 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and four treys. Cha-ching.
Writer’s Note: Last night’s Pickup of the Day article in our Season Pass included reviews of 39 players posted just minutes after the last game ended. If your league has a first-come, first-serve waiver system and in general, this is your one-stop shop for add information the night of the game. That’s one small part of what we do there, so click the link to find out more.
If Looks Could Kill
If you haven’t seen Kobe glare at Mike Brown, check it out at one of my favorite sites Larry Brown Sports. It’s kind of a catch-all for all sports that keeps it light but is at the same time insightful. Anyway, the Lakers lost in Utah and Mike Brown is in all sorts of trouble with the fans, and one has to think he’ll be gone as soon as the Lakers can find a suitable replacement, which is easier said than done. If he can turn it around before then, he can keep his job. It’s that simple.
Kobe, when he wasn’t giving looks that could kill, scored 29 points on 7-of-17 shooting (no threes) with 15-of-17 free throws made, six turnovers, five boards, four assists, and three steals. Right now he’s a top-3 play in 8-cat leagues and the No. 11 play in 9-cat leagues, making guys like me look dumb for ranking him so low on draft day. But then again, we haven’t seen the Steve Nash show yet. Metta World Peace scored 15 points with seven boards and a full line, aided by a 7-of-8 mark from the line and offset by a 3-of-12 mark from the field. If he keeps seeing backup minutes at shooting guard he could be an interesting pickup. He played 37 minutes last night and Antawn Jamison, who looks like a bust, played just 14.
The Jazz played well up and down the card, with Mo Williams (16 points, seven assists), Al Jefferson (18 points, 10 boards, four steals), and Randy Foye (17 points, five threes) putting up the numbers. Gordon Hayward (seven points, 2-of-11 FGs, two steals, three blocks) and Paul Millsap (seven points, nine boards, five assists, steal, block) were commended for their defense, which all culminated in the Jazz’s win. I’m not worried at all about Hayward’s low scoring night as he probably got a ‘plus’ from his coaches tonight, and Foye is the same streaky animal he has always been. The rest of these guys are must-starts and Hayward is close to being one with early late-round value. Derrick Favors (eight points, six boards, steal, two blocks) played just 18 minutes and probably had his minutes clipped because the Jazz were on the cusp of a big win, which tells you how the coaches feel about his ability to impact ballgames. I’ll probably still hold in weekly 12-team formats because this is still a serviceable line in a pinch, but not at the expense of a sure-fire free agent.
Dallas Domination
The score (109-104) was closer than the game suggested, as the Mavs pretty much had their way with the Raptors, who were without Kyle Lowry (ankle). News broke that he has shed the walking boot and it looks like my pure speculation prediction of a return next Sunday might be a bit late. DeMar DeRozan was D’d up by Jae Crowder in the first half and had a slow start, but turned it on in the second half and finished with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting (no threes, 8-of-10 FTs), six rebounds, and seven assists. He didn’t have a steal or block, and Lowry wasn’t there, but the intermittent eruptions have me at least open to the idea of forward progress this season. We’ll see. Jose Calderon was a decent pick-and-play with 11 points, six assists, and three treys, and Andrea Bargnani went big with 25 points, nine boards, and an otherwise mixed line. Amir Johnson took advantage of foul trouble for Jonas Valanciunas (four points, two boards, 10 minutes) and put up a big 18 and 11 night that included a steal or block. If he can get rolling, he has a fantasy friendly game, particularly in 9-cat formats. I’m still riding the JV train, but in a daily league without games played limits owners might not want to hang on through the early inconsistency. The talent is there, but he’ll disappear from time to time in between solid outings.
O.J. Mayo did his thing with 22 points, five boards, six assists, a steal, and three treys, and there is no end in sight for his fantasy domination. Even when Dirk returns, he may decide to let the younger Mayo carry the load as he saves his legs for the playoffs. Chris Kaman scored 22 points with eight boards and a block, and as long as he’s in the game he should be in fantasy lineups. Jae Crowder started and put up eight points with four boards and two threes in 27 minutes. I think we’ve seen enough by now to know what he is, as he’s returning borderline value in 9-cat leagues and 16-team value in 8-cat formats. If that works for you, pick him up. Brandan Wright has been my dark horse candidate for pickup for a few days now, and he put up numbers again last night with 12 points, seven boards, and two blocks. It looks like he’ll be posting mid-round value when he’s ‘on,’ and he has been ‘on’ to start the year. Playing behind injury risks Kaman and Elton Brand (DNP-Baby), not to mention Durable Dirk and his new knee nuisance -- Wright could end up being a steal at this rate. Just realize the fun could end, too.
Basket, anybody?
The Sixers and Hornets combined to score 139 points, so as you can imagine there were some pretty bad lines, but not as bad as one would think. Jrue Holiday went for 14 points, five boards, 12 assists, a steal, a block, and seven turnovers, Evan Turner scored 14 points with eight boards, three assists, and a steal, Thad Young put up 12 and 10, Spencer Hawes scored 11 points with six boards and three blocks, and Dorell Wright hit just 2-of-10 shots for seven points, six boards, and an otherwise full line. Jason Richardson (ankle) is still in a walking boot so the rotation may continue to be eased through the rest of the week or more. As for the aforementioned plays, all owners can ask for on off-nights is that their guys deliver something, and in this case they did.
On the New Orleans side, they’re going to have these nights as they suffer from a lack of talent and a lack of depth, a dangerous mixture. Greivis Vasquez scored seven points with seven assists and five turnovers, and I have absolutely no concern about his outlook. Robin Lopez was held to six points and four boards, but did have two steals and four blocks and I call that a win in his book. Al-Farouq Aminu didn't close the doors on his coming out party with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, a career-high 16 rebounds, three assists, and two boards. He might ride the bench on other teams, but in New Orleans he is going to be a fixture, and while I like his outlook don’t be surprised if we see some inconsistency at some point. Ryan Anderson hit just 3-of-10 shots for nine points to go with 10 boards and a three, and he'll be better on most nights, too. Eventually Anthony Davis (concussion) and Austin Rivers (finger, ankle) will return and it shouldn’t hurt anybody too much. Hell, it’ll probably help everybody be more effective and efficient.
Memphis Barbequed Buck
Scott Skiles is at it again and it’s comical that even the beat writers don’t know why he does what he does. Upon noticing that Ersan Ilyasova had barely played in the second half, long-time beat writer Gery Woelfel called it strange but had no explanation to give. Nor did the MSJ or any of the team blogs. Just Skiles being Skiles. Now maybe Zach Randolph’s 18 and 13 or Marc Gasol’s 14 and nine caused Skiles to want to beef up his core with Larry Sanders (10 points, 11 boards, three assists, one steal, three blocks, 26 minutes) and John Henson (three points, three boards, one steal, two blocks, 17 minutes). That’s fine, but Bucks fans might want to know why the team signed Ilyasova (seven points, four rebounds, one three) to a five-year, $40 million contract to play 21 minutes like he did last night. And because it’s not Packer football, we won’t hear anything out of Milwaukee to help explain the phenomena, and owners will simply have to be patient for the time-being.
As for Sanders, he has long been a stat stuffer whenever he has gotten the minutes, and he still makes plenty of mistakes (four turnovers), but he has enough upside after posting top-30 value to be owned in all formats. And if you can trade him based on the premise that he can produce top-half of the draft value, I think you do it. See the paragraph above if you have any question as to why that makes sense. The Tobias Harris (sight points, six boards, one block) hype train has officially taken a stop at timeshare station, as he and Mike Dunleavy (10 points, two threes) both played 24 minutes. While both guys have their own unique type of upside, owners will never truly feel good about starting them and that might be a bigger ding on their value than the middling numbers they put out.
The Grizzlies had a fairly normal night. Tony Allen (six points, five boards, steal, two blocks, 17 minutes) dealt with some foul trouble chasing around Brandon Jennings (19 points, 6-of-20 FGs) and Monta Ellis (15 points, 5-of-18 FGs). Mike Conley went for 13 and 12 but did not hit a three, and Rudy Gay hit 7-of-20 shots for 17 points. Marreese Speights showed up with 18 points and nine boards, but that’s a fluky line if I’ve seen one.
Disappearing Act
Right after I wax poetic about how great the Magic look and how exciting they’ll be, they turned around and laid an egg against the Wolves, who by most reports played good defense while Orlando hit on no cylinders. The box was passable for fill-in PG E’Twaun Moore, who scored 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting with five rebounds, four assists, and a steal, but didn’t hit a three and had four turnovers. Big Baby might have tired his shooting arm out on Tuesday, and hit just 2-of-9 shots for four points to go with six boards and four assists. Arron Afflalo scored an empty 12 points, and J.J. Redick saw just 20 minutes after turning the ball over five times and starting 0-for-6 from the field, but he did finish with 16 points on 5-of-12 overall shooting.
The most interesting thing on the Magic side was the benching of Redick, Davis (19 minutes) and Nicola Vucevic (two points, four rebounds, 18 minutes). We’ll have to learn more about why that happened as the news is quiet in Orlando, but Jacque Vaughn was clearly not happy. It’s a buzz-kill for Vucevic after his big night on Tuesday, and something that owners need to remember next time he goes off. The consistency just might not be there for a while. Moe Harkless (seven points, five boards, two assists, three steals, and two blocks) is a name owners should watch as the Magic like him a lot and his 22 minutes last night were a bit of a surprise as he returns from hernia surgery. He’s the only true SF on the roster and is already putting up numbers. He’s in stash territory for 14-16 team leagues at the moment. The rest of the aforementioned will turn it around, and Moore is looking like a ‘hold’ until we get some sort of clarification regarding Jameer Nelson’s status. Nelson doesn’t sound like he’s ready to play anytime soon, but that could change on a moment’s notice.
Luke Ridnour got back on track for owners last night with 19 points and a nicely stocked line, and with J.J. Barea suffering an ankle injury his outlook looks a lot better than it did 24 hours ago. Derrick Williams had 14 points, six boards, two steals, and two threes, but we need to see him do it twice in a row before we’re hopping on that ride. Brandon Roy hit just 1-of-6 shots for three points, five rebounds, and nine assists. I wonder how long before teams realize that he’s a distributor now, only to clog passing lanes while not playing him to shoot or score. I see no reason to hang onto the injury risk when the early returns aren’t any good.
What Goes Up
Alert everybody, James Harden (15 points, 5-of-15 FGs, six TOs, five steals) isn’t going to score 40 points every night. He’s in the midst of a small shooting slump and goes through a particularly tough group of wing defenders (Iggy last night, then Tony Allen, and after Detroit he gets the Heat). Assuming he doesn’t get back on track despite the obvious challenges there, this is a buy low window that could end up getting a bit bigger this week. The Rockets struggled as a team, too, with Jeremy Lin hitting just 2-of-9 shots for six points, though he did manage five boards, six assists, and six steals in the loss. Once again, serviceable outings on bad nights are the mark of a solid fantasy player.
Chandler Parsons has a better MPG (38.8) than he does FGP (32.4), and that has him on the outside of 12-team value looking in. He’ll get that straightened out, but shooting percentages have been his bugaboo dating back to last year. Patrick Patterson, on the other hand, is blossoming before our eyes as he posted 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with two threes, five boards, and a block. The threes are going to stabilize his late round value as long as he can stay on Kevin McHale’s good side, and it appears that he’s doing a good job of that so far. Carlos Delfino is going to be a roller coaster all year unless folks get injured, and even then that still might be true, but he hit another four 3-pointers last night and as a result he’s posting mid-round value on the year. I almost cut him in a few places and I’m glad I didn’t, though I’m not banking on him staying above the cut line (more like hoping).
Faried, Freed
Kenneth Faried showed up on Sportscenter’s Top 10 twice last night for alley-oop dunks, and posted a 16 and 16 double-double that included a steal and block in 35 minutes. What more can you ask for, right? Ty Lawson starred with 21 points, eight assists, three steals, and three treys, while Iggy was Iggy with 13 points and a full line. Danilo Gallinari is still in his shooting slump after a 6-of-15 night, but his 13 and 10 double-double was also a good look. He’s still in buy low territory as we know he will turn that crooked shooting number around. JaVale McGee scored 12 points with six boards but did not have a block in his 20 minutes. Baby steps. Until I start hearing phrases like ‘that’s so JaVale,’ I’m not going to worry.
The Price is Right
A.J. Price will have a shelf life that extends only as long as John Wall (knee) is out, and in an 8-cat league he is providing late-round value right now. He posted 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and three treys last night in an overtime loss to the Celtics, so give him a look if you need a point guard. Bradley Beal showed up with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, three treys, and a fairly stocked line, but it’s worth noting that Jordan Crawford (ankle) only played 15 minutes. Kevin Seraphin was a guy I ranked in the 100-115 range in my Top 150, so needless to say I’ve had him as a must-own player before and after his emergence. He put up 16 points, nine boards, three assists, and a block, but did have six turnovers last night. I don’t see the Wizards taking him off the floor if/when Nene comes back. Trevor Ariza is “lost” in the offense and a 19-minute outing with a bottom barrel box score should be enough to send the low-upside player to the scrap heap.
The Celtics are not going to surprise fantasy owners much this year, and last night was not going to be one of those nights. Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 14 assists, and three steals, Kevin Garnett went for 20 and 13, and Paul Pierce hit just 2-of-12 shots but managed to go for 15 and 10 with four steals on the strength of 10-of-12 makes from the charity stripe. Jared Sullinger (four points, four boards, 24 minutes) got the start but Brandon Bass did the finishing, playing big in overtime and finishing with 11 points and seven boards in 33 minutes. I’m not excited about Bass at all this season, but this was a win for him in the position battle. Jason Terry slowly improved like I thought he might, scoring 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting with two threes. That’s where he’ll be this year if things go well. Jeff Green (six points, 22 minutes) is still on the side of a milk carton right next to Courtney Lee (two points, 19 minutes).
Humphin Around
I pretty much laid the hammer down on Kris Humphries in yesterday’s Dose, so naturally he played pretty well with 11 points and 11 boards against the Heat last night. He did his damage in 24 minutes and the Nets got blown out, and I need to see way more before I change the optics on my outlook.
You can write off the entire Brooklyn side of the box score.
For the Heat, Dwyane Wade (22 points, full line, no threes) is probably one more big night from outperforming his falling ADP and the trick will be to stay healthy, obviously. Anybody doubting his ability or explosion got that part of the equation wrong. Mario Chalmers put up eight points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a three in 27 minutes, and while I don’t think we can rule out consistency issues I think he has shown enough to be worth an add in all 8- and 9-cat formats. He’s on the cusp of mid-round value right now. Otherwise, it’s hard to get too down on some of the pedestrian lines we saw on the Heat’s side given the blowout.
Failure to Launch
The Pacers are a mess, and so is Bruski wunderkind Gerald Green, whom I own everywhere and proudly touted first as a solid flier and then as a solid late-round pick in general. As I said on Twitter, he can’t buy a bucket and along with the Pacers’ struggles it’s creating a nasty situation where he doesn’t hold anything close to 12-team value. There is light at the end of this tunnel, and it includes both Green shooting well again and the Pacers finding a way to straighten out their rudderless offense. George Hill (20 points, three rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block) has been getting his, as has David West (20 points, six boards) and Paul George (13 points, seven boards, four steals, block, two threes). But collectively they’re not making each other better. It’s not a selfish thing, either, they just don’t press the defense all that aggressively and Hill isn’t getting them into offensive sets with any efficiency. You can drop Green and I will definitely be open to it on my end, but it’s hard to give up on a player that stands a very good chance of stepping into the gaping hole left by Danny Granger’s multi-month knee injury.
The Hawks held on to beat the Pacers last night by the score of 89-86 and saw the return of Josh Smith (ankle), who was fairly productive with 11 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. He’s another guy to consider floating a buy low offer for as he has had just about as bad a start as anybody taken in the first round. Zaza Pachulia (six points, 14 boards) is a guy to watch if you need a big man and in general, as he can hold this type of value if the Hawks go to him as their starting center. I don’t know that they will, and I’m not sure I understand why they don’t. For now this has the look of a one-game arrangement because Pachulia does a good job on Roy Hibbert. Lou Williams (nine points, 21 minutes) played through a migraine with predictable results, and Jeff Teague kept his foot on the gas with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
King Me
I spent a lot of time on the Kings yesterday and not a whole lot changed except a team that is worse than them came into town on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Kings eked out a close win. Tyreke Evans (15 points, seven boards) was good in the box score and bad on the court, DeMarcus Cousins went for 21 and 11 and played a bit better, Jason Thompson (13 points, four boards) is still the owner of only play the Kings know how to run, Marcus Thornton (11 points) hit another huge shot and continues to be underutilized, while Isaiah Thomas is the king in that department with 15 points and three treys in 21 minutes.
Thomas was benched after carrying the team through the first and third quarters, while Keith Smart goes with a good-news, bad-news backcourt of Aaron Brooks and Jimmer Fredette for much of the night. The good news is that they scored 23 combined points, and the bad news is that they gave up nearly as much on the other end. The Kings walked up and down the floor and gave up bucket after bucket due to lack of effort, but according to Kings writers it’s always sunny in Sacramento.
Nothing is changing for owners of Kings that are struggling until the team goes a prolonged losing streak and the locals can’t find any more silver linings. I’m putting a ‘hold’ recommendation on Cousins after two games of efficient numbers, Evans will probably finish more or less where we thought he would in the middle rounds despite the inconsistency and ugly play, Thornton will come around to his max potential but it might be a bumpy ride and he might blow his cool, Thompson is probably going to stay on the waiver wire, and Thomas can be dropped for less frustrating players. Just be ready to move on IT2 if Smart ever leaves the keys to his brand new Porsche lying around Sleep Apnea Arena.
Messed around and got a triple double
One writer opined that Greg Monroe’s triple double was the quietest he had ever seen, and that’s because most of the plays he made were easy chances against the Kings’ lax defense. Monroe had 21 points, 12 rebounds, and a career-high 11 assists. It took a few big games but he’s closing in on his lofty ADP with top-60 value thus far. Brandon Knight had one of his good nights with 21 points, four assists, and five 3-pointers, and it goes without saying that you should fire your players up against the Kings no matter what erroneous reports you see come out of Sacramento telling you they have a good defense. (Writer's Note: I had erroneously followed our blurb for the stat information, and I apologize for the misinformation).
Kyle Singler got into the act with 12 points, four rebounds, one steal, and two blocks, and leading the second unit in minutes with 25 he could be worth a look in deeper formats. He was a busy body on the court tonight. Andre Drummond played six minutes. He’s not ready for fantasy leagues just yet, obviously. Rodney Stuckey was another guy Kings writers cavorted about the team stopping, ignoring his 6-of-40 mark coming into the game while bragging about holding him to five points on 2-of-6 shooting. I don’t know what’s wrong with Stuckey, but he’s broken right now. I’m still holding him but he has about a week or so before I’ll start to run out of patience in 12-team formats. I think he’ll get it together but somebody will invariably come along that I can’t pass up in the mold of Kevin Seraphin and the like.