Giant Killer

How about them Pacers, huh? The just beat the Lakers 118-117 and earlier in the season blew out the Celts 95-79. For a "bad" team that's just 7-10, they sure have beaten their share of "good" teams. Of their 7 wins, they've beaten LAL, BOS, HOU, ATL, NJ twice, and OKC. That's 6 winning .500+ teams. How they've managed to lose to the likes of CHA and CHI, I don't know. But props to the Pacers, esp. considering they're missing one of their top 3 players in Mike Dunleavy.

Speaking of Dunleavy... he's really killing me in my fantasy leagues. I've got him rotting on the bench in one of my Yahoo and one of my CBS leagues, and I really need the games played in both. Still, though, I'm reluctant to drop him considering he could be a top 60ish player if he ever comes back. I just wish there was some definative news so I can drop him now before I lose too many more weeks.

On the fantasy front... trade vetoes are really wrecking my season. I already mentioned that in CBS I had managed to get a Kidd/B.Miller for AI/Kaman deal worked out, only to be vetoed by the league. With AI's erratic performance and now Kaman's injury... that trade would have REALLY helped me. I know that trade is a bit lopsided now, but at the time A.I. was still on his way to Detroit and Miller hadn't played a game yet. On paper that was as fair as it gets. If every trade was perfectly even at the time AND in the future, then what's the point of trading in the first place? I'd like to throw in the fact that 3/12 managers (not including the traders) explained why they thought the trade WAS fair. But nobody that vetoed gave an explanation.

In my Yahoo leagues, I just worked out a Paul/Salmons for Deron/A.Miller deal, with me giving up Paul. I was the one who offered Paul and my reasoning was to keep stacking my team with Jazz/76ers players in anticipation of fantasy playoffs. That deal got vetoed too. Why? I don't know. It seems pretty damn fair on paper to me. An elite PG for an elite PG and a top 70ish player for another top 70ish player. And of course nobody bothered to post an explanation of why they vetoed as well.

That kind of league attitude really ruins the fun of fantasy imho. Now when I see a trade, I feel like vetoing just for the hell of it too. At least the Yahoo league is my keeper league and I'm the commish. I think I'll implement a new policy where vetoes must come with an explanation post. That's how it works in my "experts" league and it works out well.

Pickup wise, I'd keep any eye out for any Knicks on the FA list. Just look at the box scores of the NY/GS game to see what playing under D'Antoni can do to inflate a player's numbers. That means almost any Knick such as Chandler, Q-Rich, or even Tim Thomas are worth a look. And call me crazy, but keep an eye out for Jared Jeffries as well. Jared Jeffries is currently hurt, but he's supposed to be making his debut either this or next week. Rumor has it that D'A had him in mind for the "Marion" role before the season started. Don't pick him up right now, but keep an eye on him and be prepared to snatch him up quick if he's suddenly getting starters minutes.