Wow, that was pretty garbage by the Suns. I don't know it would have done to their confidence/chemistry (and the fans' sanity) if the Suns had lost to the Thunder. A "contender" can't just drop a game to the Thunder, Shaq playing or not, the Thunder are basically just a bunch of d-leaguers and Durant. Glad to see them pull it out, down 16 and all, still waaayyy too close for comfort though.
If Porter insists on emphasising the half court Shaq offense, he needs to stop giving the Big Fella the nights off on b2bs. Maybe play him less minutes, but he still needs to start. If not, it throws our WHOLE team out of rhythm. Offensively, Nash and Co. still don't run & gun and we still cough up our season avg. 17 TOs. And on defense, our paint is just wide open and we get killed on the boards (gave up 15 offensive boards tonight). Last time we got blasted by the Bulls and tonight we barely scrape by a 1-14 Thunder. The next time it's b2b against NO and DAL, if Shaq sits either, I can guarantee a loss there.
Interesting note... Dragic has now had consecutive DNP-CD, after only getting 3 min. in the Laker game behind Singletary. Can we officially call this the end of the Slovenian experiment? Else maybe send him to the d-league first and get some experience. What are the odds the Suns go Spanoulis on Dragic and send him back to Slovenia after the season?
Anyhoo... enough about the Suns. I missed my fantasy update yesterday. I went 2-1 in Yahoo h2hs and 1-2 in my CBS points leagues. CBS is still as dull as ever. No trades, no chatter, nothing good on the FA wire. Even playing for money isn't exciting, since it does't really feel like I'm playing.
Yahoo wise... I did some trades. I gave up Bogut for Terry in one league and Paul/Salmons for Deron/A. Miller in another. The Bogut trade was offered to me and I took it. Was pretty stacked in bigs and needed the 3s. The Paul trade, I offered and was accepted. Remember my original strategy... load up on Jazz and 76ers... they'll pay off when it matters.
Pickup wise... Mobley is a good gamble if he's available. I think he'll be the starting SG in NY and there's always stats to go around in the D'A system. Also DJ Augustin is starting and dropping nice lines in CHA. Eric Gordon also got a starting nod and posted an excellent performance and can be worth a try. Morrow as expected has dropped in production quite a bit and could be a safe drop.
No funnies today... I need to work harder on that. Sorries.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Humble Pie
Ah humble pie, how I hate thee. Guess I got too ahead of myself with my prediction and the Lakers are really that good. God damn it hurts to type that.
There's really nothing much to rant about. They're just better right now. We played crappy (esp. Amare) and to beat this Lakers team, you need to play a near perfect game and we didn't do it. I have a lot of thoughts about the game, but everything is jumbled and its hard to make it flow so I'm just going to do it in bullet form. It's probably easier to read anyways.
There's really nothing much to rant about. They're just better right now. We played crappy (esp. Amare) and to beat this Lakers team, you need to play a near perfect game and we didn't do it. I have a lot of thoughts about the game, but everything is jumbled and its hard to make it flow so I'm just going to do it in bullet form. It's probably easier to read anyways.
- Amare had a horrible game. Worst +/- at -19. By my unofficial count he missed at least 3 easy layup/dunks that he should always make. Gasol's only 4 pts were off of him too and Amare just played miserable D in general.
- Amare needs to take more midrange shots in general. His midrange game is excellent. With Shaq clogging up the paint, when Amare drives it's just too crowded in there.
- When Shaq gets doubled in the post, Suns need to create more movement and make a better effort of getting a shot for the open man.
- Complain about the Shaq half court ball all you want, the Suns bench aren't really running either when Shaq's out. Why not? I don't know.
- Stop hammering it into Shaq on every possession. That's TOO predictable. Mix it up. Suns fans wanted PLAYS (as in plural). Not just one play.
- The whole offense is just messed up. Even the Nash/Amare pick and roll doesn't look crisp. Half the time, either Amare bumbles it and looses his momentum/positioning, or else it gets deflected/stolen. How the hell that happened, I don't know. They've been doing this for 4 years, even in a half court set with Shaq in the paint and Porter on the sidelines, they shouldn't forget how to do it.
- Diaw... great start, lousy end... typical jekyll and hyde performance. Damnit all we want is CONSISTENCY!
- Singletary got the nod off the bench over Dragic. First time it's happened. Can we call Dragic a bust now? Singletary is still very raw and he looks hesistant/scared when he shoots. But at least he's quicker than Dragic and I think his bball iq and passing are marginally better too.
- Lakers bench, just too friggin strong. Ariza for Bench MVP?
- Lakers defense, just too friggin strong. That double team on the post and 2 man zone for the weakside that was diagrammed by TNT... it's DEVASTATINGLY affective.
- City of Phoenix fans: PATHETIC. It's embarassing that the cheers for the Lakers were almost as loud as the cheers for the Suns. And the fact that they started a MVP chant for Kobe and it was loud enough you can hear it from the TNT broadcast, just sad, sad, sad, sad. It was like a Clipper game, that's how bad it was. I can only assume that Phoenix fans are bandwagoners because those cheers weren't there 1-2 years ago. And I really doubt THAT many LA fans from LA made the trip to make that big of an impact.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Lakers... 8-2... probably, hopefully
Big game tonight, Suns vs. Lakers, in Phoenix. Overall, I'm feeling good about this matchup. We've been off since Monday and we're at home... so both of that favors very favorably for the Suns. It's really amazing how much a couple days off means to Shaq. Admittingly, it's been a small sample size so far, but so far on the 2nd game of a back-to-back, Shaq has averaged a paltry 6.7 pts/5 rebs on 41% shooting over 3 games. But with 2 days rest he's averaging 23.5 pts / 8.5 rebs on 79% over 2 games. So I'm expecting a big game from The Diesel tonight. Overall, I think our starters can really hang against the Lakers starters. The real trap for the Suns will be our bench, which is pathetically weak. If Porter rolls out the all bench lineup for anymore than 2-3 minutes max, we're gonna get killed by the Lakers. We have a day off tomorow and host Portland at home on Friday. This is a big enough statement game that I really hope Porter plays our starters as many minutes as necessary to pull out the win. IMHO, that means 40+ for Raja and Amare and ~35 for Nash and Shaq. Anything less is gonna be tough.
On the fantasy front... not much to report. I picked up Rasho in a league. He's starting and has quietly put up 14/8/3 and 2 blks over his last 3 games. If he's still available, I'd definately make the pickup. On a related note, McGee got the starting job last night, but he still had the same amount of minutes and actually a worse line (5 pts, 5 rebs). Morrow also had another good game on Tuesday, but his FG% is still ridiculously through the roof, so I have to think that his numbers will drop to normal (i.e. low teens) soon, cuz nobody shoots 70+% for long. The amazing thing is that he's actually primarily a jumpshooter and actually attacks the basket very rarely, which makes the FG% just that much more incredulous.
And now some funnies. Apparently Shaq has a twitter account now. Most bloggers are reporting that this "THE_REAL_SHAQ" is really the real Shaq. So, here's some good excerpts. Surprisingly (or not), a lot of his posts has to do with food, "um um um". =)
--------------------
Subway it is turkey n cheese um um um lol about
--------------------
I need help subway or schlotsskys for lunch, big game tonite
--------------------
Im at dinner wit the wifey deluxe burger in phoenix, um um um
--------------------
ABOUT TO EAT DINNER, I PASSED UP 20 MCDONALDS TODAY. I COULDNT DO IT I'M ON A DIET,BUT MCDONALDS FRIES R THE BEST UM UM UM
--------------------
At the barber shop, gotta b sexy for the game tomorro. Us supermodels always have to stay fine, lol
--------------------
About to sit in the cold tub for about 20 min, then i'm a shoot some free throws
--------------------
SHAQ
--------------------
Im at a italian restaraunt, the fettucini was fabuloso
--------------------
And finally, i say things to make you earthlings think. For example, How many legs would a sheep have if you called its tail a leg? A smarty arty would say 5 but the super intelligent specimen, such as my self would say calling its tail a leg doesn't make it a leg..... A ha got you
--------------------
Alright, that's all I got for now. Will probably be posting a gloating/ranting post later, depending on how the game goes tonight. Let me leave ya with a hot clip... Denver cheerleader makes their announcers speechless, courtesy of FanIQ.
On the fantasy front... not much to report. I picked up Rasho in a league. He's starting and has quietly put up 14/8/3 and 2 blks over his last 3 games. If he's still available, I'd definately make the pickup. On a related note, McGee got the starting job last night, but he still had the same amount of minutes and actually a worse line (5 pts, 5 rebs). Morrow also had another good game on Tuesday, but his FG% is still ridiculously through the roof, so I have to think that his numbers will drop to normal (i.e. low teens) soon, cuz nobody shoots 70+% for long. The amazing thing is that he's actually primarily a jumpshooter and actually attacks the basket very rarely, which makes the FG% just that much more incredulous.
And now some funnies. Apparently Shaq has a twitter account now. Most bloggers are reporting that this "THE_REAL_SHAQ" is really the real Shaq. So, here's some good excerpts. Surprisingly (or not), a lot of his posts has to do with food, "um um um". =)
--------------------
Subway it is turkey n cheese um um um lol about
--------------------
I need help subway or schlotsskys for lunch, big game tonite
--------------------
Im at dinner wit the wifey deluxe burger in phoenix, um um um
--------------------
ABOUT TO EAT DINNER, I PASSED UP 20 MCDONALDS TODAY. I COULDNT DO IT I'M ON A DIET,BUT MCDONALDS FRIES R THE BEST UM UM UM
--------------------
At the barber shop, gotta b sexy for the game tomorro. Us supermodels always have to stay fine, lol
--------------------
About to sit in the cold tub for about 20 min, then i'm a shoot some free throws
--------------------
SHAQ
--------------------
Im at a italian restaraunt, the fettucini was fabuloso
--------------------
And finally, i say things to make you earthlings think. For example, How many legs would a sheep have if you called its tail a leg? A smarty arty would say 5 but the super intelligent specimen, such as my self would say calling its tail a leg doesn't make it a leg..... A ha got you
--------------------
Alright, that's all I got for now. Will probably be posting a gloating/ranting post later, depending on how the game goes tonight. Let me leave ya with a hot clip... Denver cheerleader makes their announcers speechless, courtesy of FanIQ.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Rookies
So, Dragic was given extended minutes last Friday because of Nash's suspension and I was hoping for a breakout game... so of course Drgaic had to disappoint. He had an unspectacular line of 5-4-4 on 28% shooting in 30 minutes against the Kings. I know it's early in the season, but I'm ready to declare him a bust. Physically, he's rather pedestrian, lacking speed, strength, and hops. His passing is unimaginative and his judgement is questionable. A lot of times he'll drive into the lane, only to get caught in the air, and try to dump a bad pass off in traffic. His shooting has been bad too, averaging 36.1% for the season. Shaq gave him TONS of open looks in the Sacto game when the Kings' defense collapsed into the paint and more often than not, Dragic would give up the shot and pass the ball around, burning both clock and excellent scoring opportunities. Though I don't really believe in PER (Player Efficiency Rating), it's never good to be last in anything, and according to ESPN's Hollinger, Dragic has the WORST PER of all NBA players per 100 minutes. That's just sad. At this point, Dragic's ceiling seems to be career backup at best, and most likely 3rd stringer/back to Europe when his rookie contract is up. It's amazing that Porter has played him so much thus far. If it was D'Antoni, Popovich, or Larry Brown, he'd be probably be permanently glued to the bench by now.
Of course Dragic's disappointing performance so far is only magnified by all the other excellent rookies around the league. Seriously, this is one of the strongest overall rookie classes (not necessarily draft class since some rooks are holdovers from previous drafts) I can remember. Rookie performances are naturally erratic, but promising rookies should at least show some flashes of brilliance every few games. So here's a compilation of some of the best single game rookie lines thus far this year.
That's quite a list, 19 players altogether. Honorable mentions also go out to Kosta Koufos (UTH), Bobby Brown (SAC), Nicholas Batum (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), and DJ Augustin (CHA) for earning minutes and playing good games, though none of their lines were notable enough to include in the above table.
Speaking of rookies, Oden has looked great in his last two games. He's only playing ~24 minutes a game, but he's avg. 12/9, 3.5 blks over his last two and is making a big difference on the defensive end. Once he gets up to 32-35 minutes and assuming he stays healthy, I think he will be making a legitimate run for ROY honors. So if you haven't yet, now's a good time to jump on the Greg Oden bandwagon. Image courtesy of Bust a Bucket.
And since it's Monday, it's time for more fantasy updates. In Yahoo, I went 1-2 for the week, though the two losses were 4-5 and 6-7, so at least I kept it competitive for the most part. Need to know info... Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Wright, and Kevin Love have all lost their starting jobs in the past week. I've dropped Thomas and Wright already and I'd suggest you to do the same if you have them. Their team's rotations are just too fickle to leave things up to chance. Love you might want to hang on to in deeper leagues if your bench can afford it, but in shallow leagues, go ahead and drop him.
Pickup wise, I don't have much new to report except to re-recommend Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and JaVale McGee. I've picked them up in 1 league each. Anthony Morrow also had a spectacular game this weekend (37 pts, 11 reb) in his first start for the Warriors. If he's still available, you can give him a try too. However, keep in mind A) he's a rookie, and B) he's playing for Nelson (notoriously fickle with his rotations). Morrow is not going to get 20 shots and shoot 75% every game, so don't feel too bad if you missed out on him. FWIW, he's been picked up in all of my fantasy leagues already though I fully expect him to be dropped from 4/6 of my leagues by next weekend ;-)
On the CBS front, I'm happy to report that I went 3-0 in my CBS leagues last week. Remember the scoring system at CBS is point based. You don't have to try and balance points and fg% or assists and blocks. All statistical categorical contributions are boiled down to just one number (fantasy points), so all player value decisions are fairly cut & dry. Either the new player has a higher fpts/game or he doesn't. Even schedule or games played doesn't really matter since fpts are averaged over the week so stats remain *fairly* even. Post draft, it almost feels like your team is running itself. While this is very easy and hassle free, IMHO, it also eliminates a lot of the skill/strategy and ongoing upkeep of fantasy basketball that makes fantasy fun and engaging. I don't know... regardless of how I do at CBS this year, I don't think I'll be reupping next season. I know my readership is small ;-), but if anybody knows of any money leagues with a more Yahoo like h2h setup, please let me know!
Of course Dragic's disappointing performance so far is only magnified by all the other excellent rookies around the league. Seriously, this is one of the strongest overall rookie classes (not necessarily draft class since some rooks are holdovers from previous drafts) I can remember. Rookie performances are naturally erratic, but promising rookies should at least show some flashes of brilliance every few games. So here's a compilation of some of the best single game rookie lines thus far this year.
| Player | Team | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blks |
| Derrick Rose | CHI | 42:29 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Morrow | GSW | 41:54 | 37 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| OJ Mayo | MEM | 44:16 | 33 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Marc Gasol | MEM | 35:42 | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Darrell Arthur | MEM | 27:10 | 11 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Michael Beasley | MIA | 30:46 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Mario Chalmers | MIA | 30:32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Luc Richard Mbah a Moute | MIL | 44:12 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin Love | MIN | 30:13 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Anderson | NJ | 26:57 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brook Lopez | NJ | 34:11 | 25 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Russell Westbrook | OKC | 27:37 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Marreese Speights | PHI | 20:00 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Robin Lopez | PHX | 30:19 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rudy Fernandez | POR | 29:22 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Greg Oden | POR | 24:10 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| George Hill | SA | 35:47 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Thompson | SAC | 22:05 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| JaVale McGee | WAS | 27:05 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
That's quite a list, 19 players altogether. Honorable mentions also go out to Kosta Koufos (UTH), Bobby Brown (SAC), Nicholas Batum (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), and DJ Augustin (CHA) for earning minutes and playing good games, though none of their lines were notable enough to include in the above table.
Speaking of rookies, Oden has looked great in his last two games. He's only playing ~24 minutes a game, but he's avg. 12/9, 3.5 blks over his last two and is making a big difference on the defensive end. Once he gets up to 32-35 minutes and assuming he stays healthy, I think he will be making a legitimate run for ROY honors. So if you haven't yet, now's a good time to jump on the Greg Oden bandwagon. Image courtesy of Bust a Bucket.
And since it's Monday, it's time for more fantasy updates. In Yahoo, I went 1-2 for the week, though the two losses were 4-5 and 6-7, so at least I kept it competitive for the most part. Need to know info... Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Wright, and Kevin Love have all lost their starting jobs in the past week. I've dropped Thomas and Wright already and I'd suggest you to do the same if you have them. Their team's rotations are just too fickle to leave things up to chance. Love you might want to hang on to in deeper leagues if your bench can afford it, but in shallow leagues, go ahead and drop him.
Pickup wise, I don't have much new to report except to re-recommend Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and JaVale McGee. I've picked them up in 1 league each. Anthony Morrow also had a spectacular game this weekend (37 pts, 11 reb) in his first start for the Warriors. If he's still available, you can give him a try too. However, keep in mind A) he's a rookie, and B) he's playing for Nelson (notoriously fickle with his rotations). Morrow is not going to get 20 shots and shoot 75% every game, so don't feel too bad if you missed out on him. FWIW, he's been picked up in all of my fantasy leagues already though I fully expect him to be dropped from 4/6 of my leagues by next weekend ;-)
On the CBS front, I'm happy to report that I went 3-0 in my CBS leagues last week. Remember the scoring system at CBS is point based. You don't have to try and balance points and fg% or assists and blocks. All statistical categorical contributions are boiled down to just one number (fantasy points), so all player value decisions are fairly cut & dry. Either the new player has a higher fpts/game or he doesn't. Even schedule or games played doesn't really matter since fpts are averaged over the week so stats remain *fairly* even. Post draft, it almost feels like your team is running itself. While this is very easy and hassle free, IMHO, it also eliminates a lot of the skill/strategy and ongoing upkeep of fantasy basketball that makes fantasy fun and engaging. I don't know... regardless of how I do at CBS this year, I don't think I'll be reupping next season. I know my readership is small ;-), but if anybody knows of any money leagues with a more Yahoo like h2h setup, please let me know!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Suspension Time
So, the NBA finally acted on the altercation between the Suns and Rockets on Tuesday. Took them long enough. Anyway, end result. Alston and Barnes suspended 2 games each, presumably because they're the ones that started it in the first place. Nash is suspended 1 game, presumably for escalating the conflict. Shaq and T-Mac just got fines.
Overall, I think it was a bit harsh. IMHO, it should just be Alston and Barnes 1 game each, rest just fines. And if Nash got 1 game, I think T-Mac should have gotten 1 game as well. T-Mac's shove of Nash escalated the situation as much as Nash entering in the first place. But ah wells, it's not like the Suns aren't used to BS suspensions from the NBA front office.
And on a related, but sad front, Barbosa will also be missing some games due to the death of his mother. So tonight we'll really get to see what Dragic is all about. He's been pretty disappointing for most of the season so far, but he's looked a bit better in his last two games (at least shooting wise), so I'm tentatively hopeful for a breakout game.
On the fantasy front... Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has taken over Charlie V's starting job in Milwaukee and I'd strongly consider him a pickup in deeper leagues. Also JaVale McGee is popping up on my radar. He's quietly had 3 solid outings, posting avgs. of 11.3 pts, 9 rebs, and 1.67 blks over his last 3, on excellent percentages. With how weak WAS's front is, keep an eye on McGee. He's definitely worth a play if he can keep getting his minutes. If he can maintain it, a 12/9, 2 blk guy is definitely worth playing.
I don't have any funnies to close this post, but here's a little trivia game. We can all probably name lots of coaches and players in the league, but what about owners? How many can you name off the top of your head? To make it easier, I've listed all 30 teams in the league for you. Highlight the blank space to see the owner's name. FWIW, I got 10/30 before I gave up (~5 min.) The ones that I got right are in bold italicized.
Overall, I think it was a bit harsh. IMHO, it should just be Alston and Barnes 1 game each, rest just fines. And if Nash got 1 game, I think T-Mac should have gotten 1 game as well. T-Mac's shove of Nash escalated the situation as much as Nash entering in the first place. But ah wells, it's not like the Suns aren't used to BS suspensions from the NBA front office.
And on a related, but sad front, Barbosa will also be missing some games due to the death of his mother. So tonight we'll really get to see what Dragic is all about. He's been pretty disappointing for most of the season so far, but he's looked a bit better in his last two games (at least shooting wise), so I'm tentatively hopeful for a breakout game.
On the fantasy front... Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has taken over Charlie V's starting job in Milwaukee and I'd strongly consider him a pickup in deeper leagues. Also JaVale McGee is popping up on my radar. He's quietly had 3 solid outings, posting avgs. of 11.3 pts, 9 rebs, and 1.67 blks over his last 3, on excellent percentages. With how weak WAS's front is, keep an eye on McGee. He's definitely worth a play if he can keep getting his minutes. If he can maintain it, a 12/9, 2 blk guy is definitely worth playing.
I don't have any funnies to close this post, but here's a little trivia game. We can all probably name lots of coaches and players in the league, but what about owners? How many can you name off the top of your head? To make it easier, I've listed all 30 teams in the league for you. Highlight the blank space to see the owner's name. FWIW, I got 10/30 before I gave up (~5 min.) The ones that I got right are in bold italicized.
| Franchise | Owner |
| Atlanta Hawks | Michael Gearon Jr. |
| Boston Celtics | Wyc Grousbeck |
| Charlotte Bobcats | Robert L. Johnson |
| Chicago Bulls | Jerry Reinsdorf |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Dan Gilbert |
| Dallas Mavericks | Mark Cuban |
| Denver Nuggets | Stan Kroenke |
| Detroit Pistons | William Davidson |
| Golden State Warriors | Chris Cohan |
| Houston Rockets | Leslie Alexander |
| Indiana Pacers | Herb Simon |
| Los Angeles Clippers | Donald Sterling |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jerry Buss |
| Memphis Grizzlies | Michael Heisley |
| Miami Heat | Micky Arison |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Herb Kohl |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Glen Taylor |
| New Jersey Nets | Bruce Ratner |
| New Orleans Hornets | George Shinn |
| New York Knicks | James Dolan |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Clayton Bennett |
| Orlando Magic | Richard DeVos |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Ed Snider |
| Phoenix Suns | Robert Sarver |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Paul Allen |
| Sacramento Kings | Maloof family |
| San Antonio Spurs | Peter Holt |
| Toronto Raptors | Tanenbaum Peddie |
| Utah Jazz | Larry H. Miller |
| Washington Wizards | Abe Pollin |
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Return of G-Od.
So, last night was another big NBA night. Dwight Howard had a monster line in their win over the Durant-less Thunder, posting 30-19-3-10, that last 10 being a ridiculous 10 blocks. The Lakers (sadly) also won their 7th straight, and was nearly a 20+ pt road blowout for most of it before the Hornets made a push and a game of it in the 4th.
The biggest news items though were probably the return of Greg Oden and the "fight" between the Rockets and Suns.
Oden only played 16 minutes and looked very rusty. He had a measly 3 pts, 2 rebs, 2 blks, 2 TOs, and sadly the ONLY negative +/- for the whole Blazers team at -6. His first stint was in the 2nd quarter and defensively he looked fine. Blocked a shot, altered a few more, generally okay. On offensive though, it was just plain bad. The Blazers kept trying to force feed him, even when he clearly was not in post position or did NOT have his guy pinned. The good news is that when he did catch the ball, Oden almost always drew a double/triple team from the heat, the bad news is that Oden passed very poorly out of coverage. Anyway, all of that led to a lot of TOs, deflections, and poor/rushed attempts after bumbling away most of the shot clock. He and the Blazers offense clearly looked uncomfortable out there and I don't understand why McMillan is rushing him in his first game back. Why not just let him get into the flow of the game, play D, rebound, MAYBE get a put back or two (if he can snag those o. boards). Wait until he's in shape and comfortable before calling plays for Oden. His second stint, Oden just looked tired/winded on both offense and defense, at that was that. Still though, I have high hopes and expectations for Oden and I'm sure his best days are still and will come. For any doubters/haters out there, Oden is not Bowie, Kwame, or Kandi at all. He's legit and he's gonna be a force in this league.
While Oden underwhelmed last night, Rudy Fernandez was AMAZING! 25-3-2, 2 stls, on excellent percentages. He's gonna make the Rookie team this year for sure, though probably below Rose and Mayo for guards. Though imho, if Rudy was on the Grizzlies and was getting 35-40 minutes and a green light to shoot, he'd probably be putting up as good or maybe even better numbers than Mayo.
Rudy is a baller and each Blazers game I watch this year, I am constantly saddened and reminded about the completely ineptitude of the Phoenix front office. For those that don't know, Phoenix actually had the draft rights to Rudy in the '07 draft. Except cheapskate Suns owner Robert Sarver, who's always worring more about the lux tax than winning games, decided to sell Rudy's rights to Portland for $3 mil cash and a dump of James Jones' $3 mil expiring contract. So basically, they sold Rudy for $6 mil. Right now, I'd rather have Rudy than Barbosa on the Suns. Rudy is a bigger and more natural SG guard, just as good of a shooter, arguably a better passer, younger, and so much more clutch. Bah, if I was going to rant about the PHX front office and their draft/trade decisions, I'd go on forever so I'll just stop now.
The biggest news items though were probably the return of Greg Oden and the "fight" between the Rockets and Suns.
Oden only played 16 minutes and looked very rusty. He had a measly 3 pts, 2 rebs, 2 blks, 2 TOs, and sadly the ONLY negative +/- for the whole Blazers team at -6. His first stint was in the 2nd quarter and defensively he looked fine. Blocked a shot, altered a few more, generally okay. On offensive though, it was just plain bad. The Blazers kept trying to force feed him, even when he clearly was not in post position or did NOT have his guy pinned. The good news is that when he did catch the ball, Oden almost always drew a double/triple team from the heat, the bad news is that Oden passed very poorly out of coverage. Anyway, all of that led to a lot of TOs, deflections, and poor/rushed attempts after bumbling away most of the shot clock. He and the Blazers offense clearly looked uncomfortable out there and I don't understand why McMillan is rushing him in his first game back. Why not just let him get into the flow of the game, play D, rebound, MAYBE get a put back or two (if he can snag those o. boards). Wait until he's in shape and comfortable before calling plays for Oden. His second stint, Oden just looked tired/winded on both offense and defense, at that was that. Still though, I have high hopes and expectations for Oden and I'm sure his best days are still and will come. For any doubters/haters out there, Oden is not Bowie, Kwame, or Kandi at all. He's legit and he's gonna be a force in this league.
While Oden underwhelmed last night, Rudy Fernandez was AMAZING! 25-3-2, 2 stls, on excellent percentages. He's gonna make the Rookie team this year for sure, though probably below Rose and Mayo for guards. Though imho, if Rudy was on the Grizzlies and was getting 35-40 minutes and a green light to shoot, he'd probably be putting up as good or maybe even better numbers than Mayo.
Rudy is a baller and each Blazers game I watch this year, I am constantly saddened and reminded about the completely ineptitude of the Phoenix front office. For those that don't know, Phoenix actually had the draft rights to Rudy in the '07 draft. Except cheapskate Suns owner Robert Sarver, who's always worring more about the lux tax than winning games, decided to sell Rudy's rights to Portland for $3 mil cash and a dump of James Jones' $3 mil expiring contract. So basically, they sold Rudy for $6 mil. Right now, I'd rather have Rudy than Barbosa on the Suns. Rudy is a bigger and more natural SG guard, just as good of a shooter, arguably a better passer, younger, and so much more clutch. Bah, if I was going to rant about the PHX front office and their draft/trade decisions, I'd go on forever so I'll just stop now.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Hatorade
Alright, I have to admit, the Lakers are looking pretty good *so far* this year. They're 1st in the league in points scored (106.8), 1st in opponent's score (84.4), 1st in differential (22.4), and 2nd in opposing FG% (39%).
Last night in particular, they were very impressive. Or else the Rockets were just very pathetic. HOU started off on a roll and went up 16 points early in the second. They then proceeded to suck it up for the rest of the game and ended up being routed by 29 pts. Here's some important notes I took away from the play-by-play:
2Q, 11:00 - HOU up 32-16, Aaron Brooks layup. Everything is still good.
2Q, 7:35 - HOU up 41-31, Vujacic made 3 (LAL already cut the lead by 6, HOU should've called timeout to reinsert some starters)
2Q, 6:54 - HOU up 43-33, Odom off. reb, layup (lead is still 10, but obvious that the HOU bench isn't making anymore gains, and 5 minutes have already elapsed. That should be enough rest for the starters, again, should've called a timeout)
2Q, 5:31 - HOU up 45-38, Bynum layup (FINALLY, HOU calls a timeout to reinsert Yao and McGrady, but not Artest?!? After coughing up 9 pts of their lead and over half of the second quarter over. LA counters with reinserting Kobe & Gasol)
2Q, 4:54 - HOU up 45-40, Kobe jumpshot (HOU calls another timeout, NOW puts in Artest)
By this point, what was looking like a rout of LAL is suddenly anyone's game. Why waste this timeout, when all three Houston stars should have been put in 2-3 minutes ago, when the lead was 10? Now all the momentum is on LAL's side and they're at home! By halftime, the score is 48-50, Lakers, and the Lakers never look back. Their bench (random 4+ Bynum and random 4+ Gasol) blow it wide open at the beginning of the fourth, turning a 9 pt lead to a 19 pt lead in the first 6 minutes, all while Kobe is on the bench. By the time Kobe enters at 5:54, the rout was on and the game was essentially over.
It's important to note that the HOU stars didn't exactly play big minutes. Yao (27), T-Mac (32), Artest (32). What the hell was Adelman saving them for. You're up 16 on the road against LA, you should be going for the knock out blow. They didn't play Saturday night and their next game isn't until Wed, why are they resting? If it's a real blowout, they can rest in the 4th, but don't let the opponent get back in the game in the 2nd quarter! Bah, it was just so frustrating to watch. Attention NBA: LA now officially have a "big four". Whether it's Bynum, Gasol, or Odom... odds are their bench lineup will have 1-2 better players than your bench. Opposing teams, you can beat LA. Just play your starters 35-40 minutes, else that LA bench will kill you. Saving your stars is gonna get you blown out.
Still though, I'd like to temper overly excited LA fans that their schedule hasn't exactly been tough. POR, LAC twice, DEN, and HOU. 4 of which were at home at Staples (including one of those @ LAC games). Their upcoming schedule will be a bit tougher, their next 6 games include 3 real road games (none of that Clippers @ Staples crap) against 3 (arguably 4) tougher opponents in DAL, NO, DET, and PHX. Gimmes against CHI and DEN round out the next 6 games. If the Lakers come out of that 4-2 or better, then maybe I'll admit they're really the team to beat.
All that LA ranting aside, it's also Monday, so it's time for another fantasy update. For the week, I went 2-1 in my Yahoo leagues and 2-1 in my CBS leagues. In the Yahoo format, I'm sure my initial 76ers/Jazz strategy doesn't look so great right now considering the slow start by all the 76ers and the continuing injury to Deron Williams. All I can say is stay postive. For the 76ers, it's all about team chemistry. There's nothing physically wrong with any of them (as far as I've read), so just hope that the team will "click" sooner or later. As for the Jazz, hopefully you picked up Boozer or AK too because both of them are putting up great numbers and should continue to do so. And if you got Okur too... oops, well, sorry to inform you that he's been given permission to return to Turkey today to attend to "personal matters". Not exactly sure what's going on, but it's probably serious for him to leave the team. And considering it's out of country and all, I wouldn't expect Okur to be back for at least a week or two. In the meantime, expect Millsap to pick up most of Okur's minutes, so give him a whirl if you're in need of some traditional big man numbers.
Other fantasy notes to be aware of....
Last night in particular, they were very impressive. Or else the Rockets were just very pathetic. HOU started off on a roll and went up 16 points early in the second. They then proceeded to suck it up for the rest of the game and ended up being routed by 29 pts. Here's some important notes I took away from the play-by-play:
2Q, 11:00 - HOU up 32-16, Aaron Brooks layup. Everything is still good.
2Q, 7:35 - HOU up 41-31, Vujacic made 3 (LAL already cut the lead by 6, HOU should've called timeout to reinsert some starters)
2Q, 6:54 - HOU up 43-33, Odom off. reb, layup (lead is still 10, but obvious that the HOU bench isn't making anymore gains, and 5 minutes have already elapsed. That should be enough rest for the starters, again, should've called a timeout)
2Q, 5:31 - HOU up 45-38, Bynum layup (FINALLY, HOU calls a timeout to reinsert Yao and McGrady, but not Artest?!? After coughing up 9 pts of their lead and over half of the second quarter over. LA counters with reinserting Kobe & Gasol)
2Q, 4:54 - HOU up 45-40, Kobe jumpshot (HOU calls another timeout, NOW puts in Artest)
By this point, what was looking like a rout of LAL is suddenly anyone's game. Why waste this timeout, when all three Houston stars should have been put in 2-3 minutes ago, when the lead was 10? Now all the momentum is on LAL's side and they're at home! By halftime, the score is 48-50, Lakers, and the Lakers never look back. Their bench (random 4+ Bynum and random 4+ Gasol) blow it wide open at the beginning of the fourth, turning a 9 pt lead to a 19 pt lead in the first 6 minutes, all while Kobe is on the bench. By the time Kobe enters at 5:54, the rout was on and the game was essentially over.
It's important to note that the HOU stars didn't exactly play big minutes. Yao (27), T-Mac (32), Artest (32). What the hell was Adelman saving them for. You're up 16 on the road against LA, you should be going for the knock out blow. They didn't play Saturday night and their next game isn't until Wed, why are they resting? If it's a real blowout, they can rest in the 4th, but don't let the opponent get back in the game in the 2nd quarter! Bah, it was just so frustrating to watch. Attention NBA: LA now officially have a "big four". Whether it's Bynum, Gasol, or Odom... odds are their bench lineup will have 1-2 better players than your bench. Opposing teams, you can beat LA. Just play your starters 35-40 minutes, else that LA bench will kill you. Saving your stars is gonna get you blown out.
Still though, I'd like to temper overly excited LA fans that their schedule hasn't exactly been tough. POR, LAC twice, DEN, and HOU. 4 of which were at home at Staples (including one of those @ LAC games). Their upcoming schedule will be a bit tougher, their next 6 games include 3 real road games (none of that Clippers @ Staples crap) against 3 (arguably 4) tougher opponents in DAL, NO, DET, and PHX. Gimmes against CHI and DEN round out the next 6 games. If the Lakers come out of that 4-2 or better, then maybe I'll admit they're really the team to beat.
All that LA ranting aside, it's also Monday, so it's time for another fantasy update. For the week, I went 2-1 in my Yahoo leagues and 2-1 in my CBS leagues. In the Yahoo format, I'm sure my initial 76ers/Jazz strategy doesn't look so great right now considering the slow start by all the 76ers and the continuing injury to Deron Williams. All I can say is stay postive. For the 76ers, it's all about team chemistry. There's nothing physically wrong with any of them (as far as I've read), so just hope that the team will "click" sooner or later. As for the Jazz, hopefully you picked up Boozer or AK too because both of them are putting up great numbers and should continue to do so. And if you got Okur too... oops, well, sorry to inform you that he's been given permission to return to Turkey today to attend to "personal matters". Not exactly sure what's going on, but it's probably serious for him to leave the team. And considering it's out of country and all, I wouldn't expect Okur to be back for at least a week or two. In the meantime, expect Millsap to pick up most of Okur's minutes, so give him a whirl if you're in need of some traditional big man numbers.
Other fantasy notes to be aware of....
- Hinrich is out for 3 months. I don't see any real pickups available though. Maybe a flyer on Hughes, but I think it just means more minutes for Ben Gordon. So if you have Gordon already, be happy.
- Parker is out a month. If he's still available, Roger Mason should see a bump in minutes and stats for the Spurs.
- Telfair and Love have both begun starting for the Wolves and are posting decent numbers. Both are worth a pickup if they're available in your league.
- Chandler has taken the starting job from David Lee. Despite his excellent preseason performance, it's long been known to Suns fans that D'A has never been a big fan of Lee's game. I'm still not convinced about Chandler, but if you have Lee, you can think about trading him or cutting him depending on your league's depth
- Sessions has been sent back to the bench by Skiles in favor of Ridnour. In 3 games off the bench though, Sessions has still managed to produce some very serviceable stats with avgs of 18.6 pts, 3 rebs, and 4.6 asts. Skiles is reportedly not happy with Session's defense and he's notoriously fickle with his rotation from his CHI days. Still though, Sessions remains a strong play. In fact, if you can manage to trade FOR Sessions without giving up too much, I'd definately do it.
- Brandon Wright and CJ Watson are both starting in GS.
- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is putting up some steady stats in MIL.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Doing lines
So last night was a pretty crazy night for fantasy geeks. 26 teams playing, the usual assortment of double doubles and 30 point outbursts, along with absolutely RIDICULOUS lines from Amare (49/11/6, 5 stls, 2blks), Parker(55/7/10, 2 threes), and Lebron(41/9/6, 4 stls).
Of course with good performances, there's bound to be clunkers last night as well. Those included Igudala (2/3/1, 4 TOs, 14% fg), Hinrich (2/1/2, 0 for 5 shooting), and QRich (3/6/0, 6 TOs, 11.1% fg).
I'd just like to note that with 6 fantasy teams, I only have Amare on one, and I have Iggy, Hinrich, and Qrich on multiple teams, YAY! Though seriously, if you're an owner of Iggy or Qrich, I wouldn't worry about it. They're just in a slump and they'll bounce back quick enough. As far as I know and have read, Iggy isn't physically hurt at all. So right now it's all just mental and team chemistry. Don't trade Iggy cheap just yet (esp. remember about fantasy playoffs) and don't drop Qrich. Qrich still played 25+ minutes and kept jacking up the 3s (and D'Antoni let him). In fact, you might want to try and trade for Iggy cheap now if you can. I already own Iggy in 2/3 yahoo leagues and I just made an offer of Bogut for Iggy in my 3rd. The other owner hasn't rejected or accepted yet, so we'll see.
Hinrich on the otherhand though, I'm ready to give up on. This goes for his fellow Bull, Tyrus Thomas, as well. For h2hs, that means dropping him in shallow leagues or trying to trade him cheap in deep leagues. If you're roto or have injured-reserve spots, then bench him for now. The Bull's rotation is a mess and neither player can be reasonably expected to contribute consistently unless they're getting ~30 minutes. Hinrich in particular can also expect to be further impacted when Hughes returns from injury in a couple of weeks. Hinrich *might* be able to give you a good game once a week and he might hold some more value if there's a major Bulls roster shakeup (trade, injury), but for now, he is not a safe play at all imho.
Also I'd like to give major props to Ramon Sessions. Despite not starting (Ridnour returned), he still managed to put up 22/3/8, 1 stl, 1 blk, on solid percentages. He should be gone in all leagues, but maybe you can try and trade for him cheap. Watchout, if he comes off the bench in the next few games and have a bad game, float a middle of the road, top 80ish offer to his owner, like a Rondo, Barbosa, or Bibby and see what happens.
Now for some funnies...
Amare's flop last night against Travis Diener of the Pacers. He even got a technical ft out of it! LOL.
And if you thought Shaq's free throws were ugly, here's Chuck Hayes.
Seriously, everybody always does the Hack-a-Shaq, but I don't see nearly enough Hack-A-(insert player name here), despite the proliferation of numerous other sub 50% free throw shooters. Why is that?
And I don't mean late game fouling (when it's super close) or when they catch it way too deep in the paint already (i.e. Dwight) and it's better than giving up the automatic dunk. I mean, as an actual strategy during the course of the game (2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, away from the ball, etc.) Off the top of my head, I can only recall Shaq and Ben Wallace as actual hack targets.
Of course with good performances, there's bound to be clunkers last night as well. Those included Igudala (2/3/1, 4 TOs, 14% fg), Hinrich (2/1/2, 0 for 5 shooting), and QRich (3/6/0, 6 TOs, 11.1% fg).
I'd just like to note that with 6 fantasy teams, I only have Amare on one, and I have Iggy, Hinrich, and Qrich on multiple teams, YAY! Though seriously, if you're an owner of Iggy or Qrich, I wouldn't worry about it. They're just in a slump and they'll bounce back quick enough. As far as I know and have read, Iggy isn't physically hurt at all. So right now it's all just mental and team chemistry. Don't trade Iggy cheap just yet (esp. remember about fantasy playoffs) and don't drop Qrich. Qrich still played 25+ minutes and kept jacking up the 3s (and D'Antoni let him). In fact, you might want to try and trade for Iggy cheap now if you can. I already own Iggy in 2/3 yahoo leagues and I just made an offer of Bogut for Iggy in my 3rd. The other owner hasn't rejected or accepted yet, so we'll see.
Hinrich on the otherhand though, I'm ready to give up on. This goes for his fellow Bull, Tyrus Thomas, as well. For h2hs, that means dropping him in shallow leagues or trying to trade him cheap in deep leagues. If you're roto or have injured-reserve spots, then bench him for now. The Bull's rotation is a mess and neither player can be reasonably expected to contribute consistently unless they're getting ~30 minutes. Hinrich in particular can also expect to be further impacted when Hughes returns from injury in a couple of weeks. Hinrich *might* be able to give you a good game once a week and he might hold some more value if there's a major Bulls roster shakeup (trade, injury), but for now, he is not a safe play at all imho.
Also I'd like to give major props to Ramon Sessions. Despite not starting (Ridnour returned), he still managed to put up 22/3/8, 1 stl, 1 blk, on solid percentages. He should be gone in all leagues, but maybe you can try and trade for him cheap. Watchout, if he comes off the bench in the next few games and have a bad game, float a middle of the road, top 80ish offer to his owner, like a Rondo, Barbosa, or Bibby and see what happens.
Now for some funnies...
Amare's flop last night against Travis Diener of the Pacers. He even got a technical ft out of it! LOL.
And if you thought Shaq's free throws were ugly, here's Chuck Hayes.
Seriously, everybody always does the Hack-a-Shaq, but I don't see nearly enough Hack-A-(insert player name here), despite the proliferation of numerous other sub 50% free throw shooters. Why is that?
And I don't mean late game fouling (when it's super close) or when they catch it way too deep in the paint already (i.e. Dwight) and it's better than giving up the automatic dunk. I mean, as an actual strategy during the course of the game (2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, away from the ball, etc.) Off the top of my head, I can only recall Shaq and Ben Wallace as actual hack targets.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Getting ahead of ourselves...
So, yeah... I know it's still way early in the season and it's only been 2 games since my last PHX commentary, but still, the Suns have looked good so far. I know they were *only* against Portland and New Jersey, but PHX has shot .551 and .632 in their last two games. I guess all those concerns about the death of run & gun and where we'll find our offense were greatly exaggerated. Shaq and Amare in a half court can put up just as many points (and at higher %s) than taking quick 3s.
We've also held both opposing teams to under 100 points and played Nash 30 minutes or less. I think htat's pretty good.
I think our early schedule is also very favorable and will allow us to pad our wins while building some team chemistry and momentum. We got 3 more road games coming up, Indiana tonight, then a back-to-back against Chicago and Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday. Then we return home to host Memphis on Monday. I think it's very possible for us to go 4-0 in that stretch, which means our 1st real challenge will be next Wednesday home against Houston and you know Shaq always brings his A game against Yao.
Including Houston, we have 10 more games in Novemeber. The only potential playoff bound (i.e good) teams are HOU, DET, UTH, LAL, and POR again. Let's take the pessimists view and say we go 2-3 against those 5, then drop a random 1 again a scrub team. That'll give us a record of 13-5 (.722) for Nov. I'll take that any year. And that's being pretty conservative imho. We can just as likely run the field against the sub .500 teams and go 3-2 against the elites for a record of 15-3 (.833). I'm going to be conservative and predict 13-5 though. Just so I don't seem too homerish.
On the fantasy front, I'm really not feeling the CBS leagues. The amount of activity in all three of my leagues is annoyingly low. No chatter on the message boards and no trades either. I sent a bunch of offers out this weekend, most of which I thought were fair. They were all promptly denied. I understand being denied, they didn't like my deal/players, that's understandable. But not a single counteroffer? They can't all be happy with their rosters. At least try to rip me off with a low ball or something.
Anyway, I finally get one done on Monday morning, with me trading AI and Big Z for Kidd and Brad Miller, and the trade gets rejected within 48 hours. Mind boggling. We'll see how it goes. I can only imagine the tentativeness to make/allow a trade in fear of making a mistake is only exaggerated even more in the higher $ pay levels. Kinda like how most "expert" leagues you see involving journalists/pundits almost alway have zero trade transactions over the season.
In Yahoo leagues, keep an eye out for Nicolas Batum. He's supposed to be starting for the Blazers tonight. If he can get you 10 pts, 1.5 stls, 1.5 blks... he might just be worth a look in deeper leagues. Also Roger Mason has been playing well off the bench for the Spurs, avg. 12/3/3 with 2 threes. He could be a short term play until Manu comes back or Pop messes with his rotation.
And you've probably seen it in like every other blog by now, but if not, here's Iverson's talking about practice at his intro press conference for Detroit.
We've also held both opposing teams to under 100 points and played Nash 30 minutes or less. I think htat's pretty good.
I think our early schedule is also very favorable and will allow us to pad our wins while building some team chemistry and momentum. We got 3 more road games coming up, Indiana tonight, then a back-to-back against Chicago and Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday. Then we return home to host Memphis on Monday. I think it's very possible for us to go 4-0 in that stretch, which means our 1st real challenge will be next Wednesday home against Houston and you know Shaq always brings his A game against Yao.
Including Houston, we have 10 more games in Novemeber. The only potential playoff bound (i.e good) teams are HOU, DET, UTH, LAL, and POR again. Let's take the pessimists view and say we go 2-3 against those 5, then drop a random 1 again a scrub team. That'll give us a record of 13-5 (.722) for Nov. I'll take that any year. And that's being pretty conservative imho. We can just as likely run the field against the sub .500 teams and go 3-2 against the elites for a record of 15-3 (.833). I'm going to be conservative and predict 13-5 though. Just so I don't seem too homerish.
On the fantasy front, I'm really not feeling the CBS leagues. The amount of activity in all three of my leagues is annoyingly low. No chatter on the message boards and no trades either. I sent a bunch of offers out this weekend, most of which I thought were fair. They were all promptly denied. I understand being denied, they didn't like my deal/players, that's understandable. But not a single counteroffer? They can't all be happy with their rosters. At least try to rip me off with a low ball or something.
Anyway, I finally get one done on Monday morning, with me trading AI and Big Z for Kidd and Brad Miller, and the trade gets rejected within 48 hours. Mind boggling. We'll see how it goes. I can only imagine the tentativeness to make/allow a trade in fear of making a mistake is only exaggerated even more in the higher $ pay levels. Kinda like how most "expert" leagues you see involving journalists/pundits almost alway have zero trade transactions over the season.
In Yahoo leagues, keep an eye out for Nicolas Batum. He's supposed to be starting for the Blazers tonight. If he can get you 10 pts, 1.5 stls, 1.5 blks... he might just be worth a look in deeper leagues. Also Roger Mason has been playing well off the bench for the Spurs, avg. 12/3/3 with 2 threes. He could be a short term play until Manu comes back or Pop messes with his rotation.
And you've probably seen it in like every other blog by now, but if not, here's Iverson's talking about practice at his intro press conference for Detroit.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Fantasy Update... the 1st week
Okay, so the first week of fantasy is officially in the books. I went 3-0 in my three Yahoo leagues and 1-2 in my CBS leagues. Not to make excuses (except I am), but I really should be 2-1. In one of my leagues I started Camby who didn't play a single game and I lost by 11 fantasy points. Pretty much if I had started anybody else, I would have won, ah wells. My fantasy total of 275 was also 2nd best in the WHOLE league, so the only person that did better, I played against and lost to (figures).
CBS really is a whole different animal. The weekly rosters means there's not much you can do during the week to help/adjust your team, so all you can do is to sit back and watch and hope your players don't screw up. Here are my lessons learned... For injured players, don't just take and hope on rumors. Wait until they've actually played a game before inserting them in your lineups. A zero can really wreck you when there's only 10 starters and stats are averaged over the week. Also, guards are the most important position when drafting. I already explained in an earlier post why Cs aren't as valuable at CBS due to roster restrictions. Well, the inverse applies to Gs. You have to start 4 Gs and you can only draft 5 Gs (vs. 6 Fs), which means you have less room to gamble on prospects/injured stars during the draft. For whatever reason, there also seems to be a real lack of starting quality guards (those that can average ~20+ fantasy points) for your 4th spot. Meanwhile, 20-25 fpts forwards are plentiful. This probllem is probably also exacerbated by the fact that the 3 big name injured stars (Ellis, Ginobili, Arenas) are all Gs so that just pushes the ovealll G depth chart down 3 spots. Anyway, for anybody that will be drafting CBS in the future, I'd highly recommend going after the Gs first. In retrospect, ideally you'll want to lockup your 4G rotation by round 7-8 of drafting. Cheap Cs and decent forwards just seem so much more plentiful in the late rounds.
As for good pickups... one name, Ramon Sessions. Odds are he's already gone in your league or will be soon. If he's still on the FA list by the next Milwaukee game, then your league is fradulant. This guy is insane. He wasn't even active for the first 2 games of the season. Then Ridnour goes down and he starts and puts up 15 pts, 8.5 asts, 4.5 rebs, 2 stls over the next two games. Seriously, the only thing in his way is Scott Skiles' crazy rotations. Remember lastyear, he started 13 games for the Bucks and averaged 13 pts, 13 asts, 5.6 rebs, 1.7 stls. This guy can seriously ball. I'm kicking myself for not taking a flyer on him during the draft. I only managed to snag him in one out of six leagues. I even offered Aldridge and G. Wallace for him in two of my CBS leagues and were promptly denied... that's how high I (and other owners) are on him.
Other more likely available pickups...
JR Smith (pending AI trade might make him a starter in DEN)
Jason Maxiell (pending AI trade should give him more of Dice's minutes)
Rodney Stuckey (pending AI trade might give him more minutes to play next to AI since he's a point guard big enough to defend opposing 2s)
Cutino Mobley (FGA and minutes played all up with Baron out. Good short term play)
Darrell Arthur/Hakim Warrick (battling for PF minutes in Memphis. Both have had good/bad games, take a gamble on one)
CBS really is a whole different animal. The weekly rosters means there's not much you can do during the week to help/adjust your team, so all you can do is to sit back and watch and hope your players don't screw up. Here are my lessons learned... For injured players, don't just take and hope on rumors. Wait until they've actually played a game before inserting them in your lineups. A zero can really wreck you when there's only 10 starters and stats are averaged over the week. Also, guards are the most important position when drafting. I already explained in an earlier post why Cs aren't as valuable at CBS due to roster restrictions. Well, the inverse applies to Gs. You have to start 4 Gs and you can only draft 5 Gs (vs. 6 Fs), which means you have less room to gamble on prospects/injured stars during the draft. For whatever reason, there also seems to be a real lack of starting quality guards (those that can average ~20+ fantasy points) for your 4th spot. Meanwhile, 20-25 fpts forwards are plentiful. This probllem is probably also exacerbated by the fact that the 3 big name injured stars (Ellis, Ginobili, Arenas) are all Gs so that just pushes the ovealll G depth chart down 3 spots. Anyway, for anybody that will be drafting CBS in the future, I'd highly recommend going after the Gs first. In retrospect, ideally you'll want to lockup your 4G rotation by round 7-8 of drafting. Cheap Cs and decent forwards just seem so much more plentiful in the late rounds.
As for good pickups... one name, Ramon Sessions. Odds are he's already gone in your league or will be soon. If he's still on the FA list by the next Milwaukee game, then your league is fradulant. This guy is insane. He wasn't even active for the first 2 games of the season. Then Ridnour goes down and he starts and puts up 15 pts, 8.5 asts, 4.5 rebs, 2 stls over the next two games. Seriously, the only thing in his way is Scott Skiles' crazy rotations. Remember lastyear, he started 13 games for the Bucks and averaged 13 pts, 13 asts, 5.6 rebs, 1.7 stls. This guy can seriously ball. I'm kicking myself for not taking a flyer on him during the draft. I only managed to snag him in one out of six leagues. I even offered Aldridge and G. Wallace for him in two of my CBS leagues and were promptly denied... that's how high I (and other owners) are on him.
Other more likely available pickups...
JR Smith (pending AI trade might make him a starter in DEN)
Jason Maxiell (pending AI trade should give him more of Dice's minutes)
Rodney Stuckey (pending AI trade might give him more minutes to play next to AI since he's a point guard big enough to defend opposing 2s)
Cutino Mobley (FGA and minutes played all up with Baron out. Good short term play)
Darrell Arthur/Hakim Warrick (battling for PF minutes in Memphis. Both have had good/bad games, take a gamble on one)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Suns Thoughts
One of my main teams that I'm rooting for is the Suns (cuz of Shaq). The other being Portland (cuz of Oden). I tend to have an affinity for centers and post play.
Anyway... I think the Suns will be as good this year as they've been in previous seasons, which is more credit than most are giving them. I'm not delusional. I don't think they'll win the championship or anything, but they'll still end the season playoff bound and one of the top teams in the West. Maybe last 1-2 rounds before exiting.
The early season will be rough as they integrate their new defense/plays/rotations. But they'll get through it and be better for it. Remember after the Shaq trade, they were 3-6 as they worked him into their sets. After 9 games, the Suns clicked and they went on a 10-2 streak to finish the season 13-8 (.619). I say give the Suns 10-15 games then judge.
Early returns so far, I like the new rotations for the Suns. Bench players are actually playing. Production is erratic, but they're playing and learning. This will pay dividends later in the season. There was a point in the Hornets/Suns game on Thursday that rookie Robin Lopez picked up 3 quick fouls in less than 2 minutes. Under the old D'A coaching, Amare would be running down the sidelines. But instead, Porter sends in Louis Amundson (I know, who? LOL). He's also played streches with all 5 guys off the bench and no starters on the court. That's unheard of in the D'A system.
Set play wise, I'm not noticing that much except that the offense looks a LOT more like a traditionally Shaq led offense in the early going. Lots of post ups for Shaq on either side of the block with entry passes coming in from the corner or lower elbows (vs. from the top that always got picked off). It's kind of working. But even as a huge Shaq fan and Amare critic, I have to admit that maybe there should be more touches for Amare in the early going. It almost seems that Amare is only getting points early on off offensive boards and broken plays. Plays don't start getting called for him until the 4th. Maybe play either Shaq or Amare with the 2nd unit more and balance out our firepower.
Anyhoo, let me end this post with some Youtube goodies. New vitamin water commerical campagin featuring Steve Nash as "The Spokesman".
Anyway... I think the Suns will be as good this year as they've been in previous seasons, which is more credit than most are giving them. I'm not delusional. I don't think they'll win the championship or anything, but they'll still end the season playoff bound and one of the top teams in the West. Maybe last 1-2 rounds before exiting.
The early season will be rough as they integrate their new defense/plays/rotations. But they'll get through it and be better for it. Remember after the Shaq trade, they were 3-6 as they worked him into their sets. After 9 games, the Suns clicked and they went on a 10-2 streak to finish the season 13-8 (.619). I say give the Suns 10-15 games then judge.
Early returns so far, I like the new rotations for the Suns. Bench players are actually playing. Production is erratic, but they're playing and learning. This will pay dividends later in the season. There was a point in the Hornets/Suns game on Thursday that rookie Robin Lopez picked up 3 quick fouls in less than 2 minutes. Under the old D'A coaching, Amare would be running down the sidelines. But instead, Porter sends in Louis Amundson (I know, who? LOL). He's also played streches with all 5 guys off the bench and no starters on the court. That's unheard of in the D'A system.
Set play wise, I'm not noticing that much except that the offense looks a LOT more like a traditionally Shaq led offense in the early going. Lots of post ups for Shaq on either side of the block with entry passes coming in from the corner or lower elbows (vs. from the top that always got picked off). It's kind of working. But even as a huge Shaq fan and Amare critic, I have to admit that maybe there should be more touches for Amare in the early going. It almost seems that Amare is only getting points early on off offensive boards and broken plays. Plays don't start getting called for him until the 4th. Maybe play either Shaq or Amare with the 2nd unit more and balance out our firepower.
Anyhoo, let me end this post with some Youtube goodies. New vitamin water commerical campagin featuring Steve Nash as "The Spokesman".
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