Shot Heard Rondo the World - 12/04/2008
BY Matt Stroup It's funny how quickly perceptions can change in the world of fantasy hoops. Just a few weeks ago, some exacerbated owners were wondering what to do with Rajon Rondo and his repeated single-digit scoring outings, even using "The D Word" (drop) in some instances.
On Wednesday, Rondo dropped the hammer of Thor on the Pacers with a line of 16 points, 13 boards, 17 assists and three steals, highlighting a tremendous recent run (13.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 9.0 apg and 2.3 spg on 56.8 percent shooting over his past nine games) and squelching any talk about what to do with the Celtics point guard. (In case it's still unclear, what you should do with Rondo is get him in your lineup, and leave him there.)
Now, a look at all the key happenings from an 11-game Wednesday in the NBA:
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The Good News
Kevin Garnett: A season-high 26 points with 14 boards and four blocks. The man clearly has no shortage of intensity, so is it really too much to ask for him to take over on offense more often?
Ray Allen: A scoring and threes specialist these days, but no complaints about 22.7 ppg and 3.8 treys per game over his last six.
Kendrick Perkins: Having a career year and should be universally owned. Last six games: 11.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 1.7 bpg.
Josh Smith: He's back after 12 games, and posted 14 points , six boards, five assists, two steals and a block in his return. Big numbers coming soon.
Marvin Williams: Some concern about what he'd do after Smith's return, but so far, no complaints: 16 points, four rebounds, five assists and two threes.
Kevin Love: Second double-double (16 points, 12 boards) in his last three, and he played just 27 minutes. Note to Randy Wittman: Turn him loose.
Rashard Lewis: Has now hit 28 treys over his past seven games.
Dwight Howard: 23 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, six blocks, five turnovers. And if you're shocked by that, you are an eas! ily excitable person.
Courtney Lee: 19 points, four boards, three assists, three treys, three steals. A breakout line, but remember that Mickael Pietrus is out and Keith Bogans is due back soon. Nevertheless, Lee is an intriguing short-term prospect, especially in deep leagues.
Steve Blake: You look up from your bowl of Meuslix and suddenly he's having a career year: 11.5 ppg, 4.2 apg and 2.0 threes per game. The definition of a serviceable PG option.
Greg Oden: 13 points, 10 boards and a ! block. His wildly inconsistent scoring of late has something to do wit h the fact that his primary weapon is the "dunk shot" (don't you love it when the play-by-play reads, "so and so makes dunk shot"? That's always enjoyable). In any case, we can't count on regular scoring from Oden until he hones his low post game, but at least he's averaging 9.6 boards and 1.6 blocks in his last five.
Rudy Fernandez: 13 points, two threes, three steals and a block. The slump is over.
Kevin Durant: 24 points, but more importantly, solid production in threes (three), steals (two) and blocks (one). He's now averaging 24.7 ppg over his last six.
Jeff Green: Quietly solid numbers that should become commonplace: 18 points, six boards, three assists, two treys, ! a steal and a block. He's averaged 20.7 ppg in the last three games.
Emeka Okafor: 25 points and 13 boards, giving him 17.6 ppg and 12.8 rpg over his last five. Thank you for your patience.
Gerald Wallace: 21 points, four assists, three steals and a block, giving him 20+ points in three of his last five. Scoring touch has been the only thing missing; now all he has to do is keep it up.
Sean May: Season-highs in minutes (27), points (10) and rebounds (11). A small but encouraging sign that early-season conditioning woes are behind him.
David Lee: Meet Andris Biedrins, sans blocks. After 16 and 16 night on Wednesday, Lee is now averaging 19.4 ppg, 14.4 rpg (and 0.3 bpg) in seven straight double-doubles.
Al Harrington: Five games as a Knick: 22.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 2.4 threes.
LeBron James: 21 points, five rebounds, six assists, five steals and a block in just 28 minutes of a blowout win, but more importantly, a 10-for-10 night from the line puts him at a career-best 78.7 percent. So much for that Achilles' heel.
Daniel Gibson: 13 points, five assists, three steals, a block and a three. His season stats aren''t much (8.7 ppg, 1.1 treys), but he's getting plenty of run and is worth a look in deeper leagues.
Kobe Bryant: After dropping 32 points on Philly, is now averaging 29.5 ppg over his last four. That looks more like first-round pick Kobe. As for the threes? He's cold right now (26 percent on the season), but they're coming.
Pau Gasol: 22 points, 13 boards, three blocks (emphasis on the three blocks). Owners have to hope that six blocks in the past four games isn't an isolated blip - Pau's averaging just 0.9 rejections on the year.
Andre Iguodala: 19 points, five boards, five assists, two steals. The threes still aren't there, but he could finally be ready to go on a tear.
More Good News
Samuel Dalembert: 11 points and eight boards in 30 minutes. You may now step off the ledge.
Thaddeus Young: 17 points, eight boards, two threes. You, sir, may now step off the ledge as well.
Andre Miller: 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists. It's never quite clear how he gets it done, but he does.
Luol Deng: See that ledge right there? Could you kindly step away from it? 21 points, six boards, two steals, two blocks and a three.
Luke Ridnour: 12 points, 10 assists and four steals in 41 minutes. Because it would just be too simple if Ramon Sessions (two points, nine assists in 22 minutes) out-produced Ridnour every night. For the record, Sessions still looks like the better long-term option.
Charlie Villanueva: 23 points, 10 boards, two steals and a three in 30 minutes. Yes, he's hard to trust, but he still belongs on your roster. Despite his trouble finding a groove, he's still averaging 12.7 ppg and 7.1 ppg on the year.
Grant Hill: 17 points, six boards, six assists, two steals and a block in a starting role. Time to rouse the old man off waivers.
Matt Barnes: Productive in his new bench role (13 points, seven boards, three treys), but remember that Nash and Shaq were out.
Leandro Barbosa: 19 points, four boards and three assists in 39 minutes filling in for Nash. Maybe this will convince Terry Porter to increase his minutes - he's at just 22 per game on the year.
Chris Paul: 24 points, 15 assists, three steals. You've probably seen something like this before.
Tyson Chandler: 14 points, nine boards, three blocks. You haven't seen something like this in a while.
Peja Stojakovic: 24 points, six boards, five threes. He slumpeth no more.
David West: First double-double (23 points, 14 boards) since November 15. More rebounds, please.
Zach Randolph (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Marcus Camby (11 points, 11 boards, six blocks): Frontcourt is rolling with Chris Kaman out.
Al Thornton: 24 points, nine rebounds, two steals, two blocks. He's not hitting threes, but all-around production looks great.
Rafer Alston: 21 points, eight boards, seven assists, five threes. Early-season struggles seem like an increasingly dista! nt nightmare.
Yao Ming: 24 points, 10 boards and two blocks is good, but eight field goal attempts is not. Yao needs more if he's going to top 20 ppg consistently.
Paul Millsap: 20 points, 13 rebounds and three steals in 44 minutes. This man is greatly enjoying Carlos Boozer's absence.
The Bad News
Mike Miller: Hurt his knee, and is due for an MRI on Thursday.
Elton Brand: Strained his hamstring just when he was starting to heat up. More news should be available later today.
Chris Duhon: His first useless game in a long time (six points, four assists, six turnovers on 1-of-9 shooting) serves as an important reminder that while Mike D'Antoni's offense has made him a great fantasy option, it still hasn't turned him into the Green Lantern. Try to forget this line and move on.
Lamar Odom: Nine points and three boards in 30 minutes. Phil Jackson is giving him enough minutes to produce off the bench. Now it's on Odom to start asserting himself.
Rasho Nesterovic: Eight ponts and two boards in 15 minutes. Yes, it was the Celtics, but the early-season sensation is on the brink of waiver wire banishment.
Andrew Bogu! t: His return from a knee injury wasn't pretty (five points, four rebounds in 27 minutes before leaving with a migraine), but he was heating up before the injury and should get going again in short order.
Drew Gooden: Two points and nine boards on 1-of-11 shooting. That's two gruesome games in a row, but he had been on fire so we'll cut him some slack for the moment.
Luther Head: Scored just seven off the bench in 20 minutes, and may not be the answer Tracy McGrady owners were looking for.
Tyrus Thomas: Seven points and two boards in 22 minutes one night after a double-double. Don't waste your time.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute: Four points and five rebounds in just 16 minutes off the bench. Time to start considering other options.
C.J. Miles: Just when he convinced you to put him into your lineup for a four-game week, he goes and makes a pair of stinkies back-to-back. You have two games left this week, C.J. There is still time for redemption. Now, if you would, please GET IT TOGETHER.
Tonight
Phoenix is taking on Dallas, and the people of Planet Fantasy Hoops are eagerly waiting to see if Steve Nash can post his fourth straight 20-plus point game (against his old team, no less). And in the late game, the Spurs are in Denver, where we could see the first big game from Manu Ginobili s ince his return from ankle surgery. I'll also be performing my nightly ritual of praying to the merciful basketball gods that the wildly productive chandelier known as Nene does not suffer a tendon strain, ligament tear or troublesome ouchie of any kind. As a way of saying thanks for their protection of Nene, I offer the basketball gods a Donyell Marshall T-Wolves jersey circa 1994, purchased at a thrift store in Santa Cruz, California for seven dollars. It's the best I could do on short notice. |
