 | Man Down - Z-Bo's Knee - 12/29/2008
BY Steve Alexander I Would Hurt A Fly
The Monday Injury Report
Kendrick Perkins - shoulder - Solid in return on Sunday. Play him.
Raja Bell - groin - Left Saturday's game, questionable - bench him.
Sean May - conditioning - Useless once again.
Luol Deng - ankle - Iffy for the week, bench him.
Drew Gooden - ankle - Doubtful for Monday, could play after that.
Kirk Hinrich - thumb - St! ill not close.
Wally Szczerbiak - knee - Out at least a week.
Carmelo Anthony - elbow - Sure looked good on Sunday.
Richard Hamilton - groin - Iffy for Monday. Look for alternatives.
Corey Maggette - hamstring - Who knows.Maybe this week?
Monta Ellis - ankle - Who knows.Maybe by the end of February?
Tracy McGrady - knee - Missed Saturday, due back tonight. Good luck.
Ron Artest< /a> - ankle - Iffy, as usual. Start at own risk.
Shane Battier - ankle - Iffy for tonight. Good thing Rockets have 6 starters.
T.J. Ford - groin - Missed Sunday, start at own risk.
Mike Dunleavy - knee - 20 min. of practice, now flu-ridden.
Zach Randolph - knee - Suddenly a week to 10 days now? Brutal.
Chris Kaman - foot - Now talking mid-January. Time to cut bait?
Ricky Davis - knee - Now talking mid-! January. No reason to hold him.
Jordan Farmar - knee - Out until late February.
Darko Milicic - hand - Out at least a month. Hello, Marc Gasol.
Dorell Wright - knee - Getting closer, but no value.
James Jones - wrist - Probably replaced by Daequan Cook, but getting close.
Charlie Bell - ankle - No value after f! alling out of rotation.
Mike Miller - ankle - Day-to-day, but not a lock to play this week.
Stromile Swift - personal - No value when playing.
Peja Stojakovic - back - Finally returned Sunday. Should be safe.
Hilton Armstrong - thumb - Ditto.
Quentin Richardson - ankle - Returned Sunday but now off bench.
Danilo Gallinari - back - Supposedly closer, but I'm still not expecting much.
Eddy Curry - knee - We may actually see him soon, but it doesn't matter.
Nick Collison - thumb - Listed as day-to-day, but injury more serious than that.
Rashard Lewis - ankle - X-rays negative, expected to play.
Jameer Nelson - toe - Finished Saturday's game, hopefully ready for Monday.
Brian Cook - personal - Due back Weds. from death in family.
Elton Brand - shoulder - Hoping to return in two weeks or so.
Brandon Roy - hamstring - Doesn't sound like anything to worry about. Play him.
Martell Webster - foot - Could return soon, but has lost spot in rotation.
Francisco Garcia - calf - Left Sunday's game, iffy for the week.
Kevin Martin - ankle - Practiced a little Saturday, bench until further notice.
Fabricio Oberto - foot - Might be close to return w/ Matt Bonner struggling.
Paul Millsap - knee - Don't play him this week.
Carlos Boozer - quad/knee - Jury still out on - 3rd MRI coming today.
Mehmet Okur - back - Iffy for Tuesday, but says he'll play. Careful.
Caron Butler - ankle - Practiced yesterday, sounds like he'll play.
Gilbert Arenas - knee - 5-23 Wiz say he'll play this year. Not holding my breath.
Oleksiy Pecherov - flu - No value when healthy.
Injury Notes
It's a good thing the Rockets have six or seven legitimate starters. Is it just me or do they seem content to just let T-Mac, Artest and possibly Battier rotate! nights off for the rest of the season? Sure feels that way and I stil l think all three are guys you'd be happier with if they were off your team - except for those nights that T-Mac gets in your head with those huge numbers. But really, how many times has he done that in the last two years? Not enough to make him worth the huge fantasy headache he's become, in my opinion.
Zach Randolph is the latest big-named casualty and will probably be sidelined 1-2 weeks. Ouch. Brian Skinner certainly is not the answer and DeAndre Jordan really doesn't look ready to handle a heavy load. That means that the only bigs who should be making an impact in L.A. are Marcus Camby and Al Thornton, and they should be in all lineups with four games. Just look at their guard-heavy roster and you'll see what I mean.
If you own Chris Kaman you have to think about cutting bait. I'm going to hold on for now, but the thought of cutting him has crossed my mind.
The Jazz bigs are still banged up and with just two games this week, should probably all be benched. Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer look playable, but that's about it. Okur says he'll play Tuesday, so giv! e him a look if your options are limited.
Luol Deng and Drew Gooden wouldn't be in my lineup if I owned them this week. But Tyrus Thomas is!
I would not put Mike Miller in your lineup until you see him play a game. Rashad McCants is a sneaky play as long as Miller's out.
Brandon Roy sounds good to go, as does Caron Butler.
Weekend Notes
We posted som! ething Monday about Stephen Jackson recruiting Baron Davis to come back to the Warriors, which seems laughable to me. The Clippers and Warriors have firmly returned to old form this season, with both franchises flirting with becoming laughing stocks. And why would the Clips want Maggette back anyway?
It looks like my "sell-high" call on Spencer Hawes a month ago was right on, although I traded for him around that time. Unless Brad Miller gets traded, which is still a real possibility, Hawes looks like he'll struggle. He's definitely hit a wall and is back on the bench. Keep him on yours for now.
I have the honor of playing Stephen Malkmus in our H2H league th is week and he doesn't sound too scared of my team. He probably shouldn't be considering one of my top picks was Shawn Marion, who had four points, 10 boards and four turnovers yesterday. Malk's take on Marion? "I haven't looked at yr team but know Marion sux except for boards. Sugar pizza indeed." Maybe that's my new nickname for Marion - Sugar Pizza - It tastes kinda sweet, but is just wrong in so many different ways. I hope to conduct a hoops-oriented interview with Malkmus and some other rockers in the near future. We'll see if we can put something together.
Fred Jones scored eight points and hit a three on Sunday, the same day he was signed by the Clips. I doubt he hurts Eric Gordon to! o much, especially since it sounds like there are no immediate plans for the return of Ricky Davis. Gordon still looks like a good guy to own.
Josh Howard exploded for 29-9-7 yesterday in a start at small forward. It will be interesting to see what Rick Carlisle does with Dirk Nowitzki's return from a suspension this week. Howard should be playing small forward, so maybe Carlisle will go with Jason Terry or J.J. Barea at shooting guard and leave Howard at SF. In any case, yesterday's line looks like a good opportunity for frustrated Jo-Ho owners to try to move him.
Nate R obinson, Al Harrington and Quentin Richardson were all benched yesterday in place of Jared Jeffries, Tim Thomas and Wilson Chandler. I doubt Harrington will come off the bench for long and Nate is still a big part of what they're doing. Meanwhile, Thomas and Chandler look good again. With so few players, it probably doesn't really matter who starts anyway.
Jermaine O'Neal scored 36 on Friday - trust me when I say that's your sign to "sell high."
Josh Smith has scored back-to-back season highs, so hopefully he's ready to put his ankle injury behind him and start rolling.
Good luck with your games this week. I'll be out of commission for most of Tuesday and Wednesday while seeing Band of Horses. Have a great New Year and be safe! | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
