 | Injury Woes? Just Blame Nellie - 01/06/2009
BY Steve Alexander Up until Monday night, I had been able to laugh off my own bad luck and injuries with my fantasy hoops teams this season. But when I saw that my two high-risk gambles didn't pay off in my main league, which I am winning, something inside of me snapped and I went into some sort of silent roto-rage. I didn't throw any remote controls or kick any dogs, but I simply wasn't pleasant to talk to or deal with, and the littlest thing could set me off.
In a weekly lineup league, I struggled with whether to put Devin Harris (3 games) and Kelenna Azubuike (4 games) in my lineup for about seven hours on Monday. The alternatives were not very attractive - as in Will Solomon, Keyon Dooling or Bobby Simmons, but I had a really, really bad feeling about Harris and 'Buike. Harris was coming off a groin injury and was listed as a game-time decision for Monday, which is the ultimate test of a fantasy owner's mettle in a weekly league. And 'Buike got just 16 minutes in his last game (after scoring a career-high 24 in his previous one) and missed Sunday's practice with the flu. I finally decided that both players were worth the risk and reluctantly threw them into the lineup around 6:45 p.m.
I then posted the following cryptic note on our league message board at 6:51 p.m. "I have not felt this bad about starting two dudes in a long time...I have the worst feeling ever about 'Buike and I'm not convinced Devin is even gonna play." But when 7:15 rolled around, Harris was in the starting lineup and I actually had a private celebration, or moment, if you will, for mak! ing the right call.
I'm sure you all know by now that Harris ended up sitting out the second half after aggravating the injury, while 'Buike wasn't even on the active list, leaving my sad team in an 0-8 hole to start the week. Fantastic.
I'm not sure of what lesson can be learned from this, but I'll tell you what made me feel a little better. I simply blocked out the fact that Azubuike was sick, and that I had made a couple bad decisions, and just blamed the whole thing on Don Nelson. I got three months of pent-up frustration with Nellie off my chest in about 10 minutes by doing a few simple exercises and felt much better when I was done. First, I changed the name of our league to something completely rude and inappropriate that blasted Nellie. Then I posted some random messages on the board ripping him a new one for no apparent reason. And I finished things up by responding to some emails by taking cheap shots at Nellie even though he wasn't even part of the author's subject. So if you're fantasy hoops team is struggling, y! ou own Stephen Jackson or Carmelo Anthony, your wife won't let you go out with the boys to watch bowl games, or if you're simply having a bad day at the office, just blame Nellie. It worked for me.
Injury Fest '09 - Jackson and Melo
In addition to Harris and Azubuike going down last night, there is even more concerning news coming out of Oakland and Denver. Stephen Jackson heard a 'pop' in his hamstring and sat out the second half, while Carmelo Anthony suffered a hand injury that could be very serious. Melo was somehow able to finish the game, but had trouble tying his shoes afterwa! rds because of a possible broken bone in the hand.
Jackson's injury doesn't sound good, especially if you listen to Corey Maggette. Maggette, who has as much experience with hamstring injuries as anyone, predicted last night that Jackson will miss three weeks. But the first thing that crossed my mind was "Wait a minute. Isn't Maggette known for missing games and taking longer to recover than the "book" says he should? How is that guy going to tell me when Jackson is coming back?"
There are two reasonable explanations for Maggette's prediction.
1. Maggette still doesn't understand that Jackson is the ultimate warrior who constantly plays through intense pain and injuries. We've seen him out there this season playing with one hand and on one foot in the same game.
2. Maggette has done the math and realized that if he had suffered the same injury that Jackson did last night, he would miss about seven weeks of action. ! Then he used the fact that Jackson is twice as tough as he is as the multiplier, added in Jackson's pain threshold, divided by the Nellie factor, and came up with the three-week timetable.
So if you own Jackson and he really is going to miss significant time with the hamstring injury, you have to think Maggette and (dare I say) Azubuike, along with Marco Belinelli and a host of other characters are going to see a boost in value.
And a side note on Maggette - He finally returned from his hamstring injury and scored 23 off the bench last night. He looked good, and those of you who rolled the dice on him this week are looking pretty smart right now (good job, Clams). He's having his right knee checked out today after landing awkwardly last night, but I'm guessing it's not serious. Hopefully Jackson will have an update on Maggette's knee injury for us shortly.
!
As for Melo's hand, it sure sounds like it's broken, although the re is no early timetable for how long he might be out. My guess is that it will be measured in weeks instead of days. Linas Kleiza should be picked up in all leagues until we find out more on Melo's status. And if J.R. Smith is still available in your league, he makes sense as well.
Luckily, I had last night off and went to bed early after the Harris/'Buike meltdown, meaning I didn't find out about these two injuries until this morning, when I was nice and calm. I own both Jackson and Melo in Malkmus' league, along with Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion. That team was actually in first place a few wee! ks ago, but has been on a steady decline since. Now that my Top 4 picks are essentially useless, I'm going to lower my expectations for that league and just pray I get into the playoffs.
Cooking with T.J. and Marquis
Raise your hand if you played Daequan Cook or Marquis Daniels with four games this week? Both of them played last night, but Daniels left with a groin injury, while Cook played just five minutes before leaving with a leg injury. Meanwhile, T.J. Ford didn't even try due to several issues, including his back and groin. If you played Jarrett Jack again this week! , congratulations.
Oh, the Drama
Tracy McGrady says he's frustrated that he's become average and people are writing him off, while his teammates have nearly gotten to the point where it sounds like they'd like to see him shut down long term as much as his fantasy owners would. Meanwhile, Ron Artest didn't practice Monday and is questionable tonight with his bum ankle. If the fantasy community is fed up with these two, think about how Rick Adelman and the Rockets must feel.
Glorified G and the Rest of the Injury Round Up
Andrei Kirilenko suffered a bruised left knee but should be fine for his next game. Spencer Hawes could be bac! k tonight after missing several games with an abdominal strain. Oh, and Gilbert Arenas played some 2-on-2 yesterday causing the Wizards to verify that he is very likely to play again this season, although no one can say when. And my guess is that by the time he's ready to finally play there will be no point in putting him out there for the worst team in the league. Andrew Bogut missed last night's game with a back injury, and was another guy in a few of my lineups. He remains day-to-day.
The Heat have released Shaun Livingston. Hopefully he takes the summer to continue to work his way back into basketball shape and the knee allows him to play again. The fact he's made it back this far from! that devastating injury is admirable and you have to be pulling for t he guy.
Good Things, Proud Man
Did anything good happen last night? Yes! I picked up and started Andrea Bargnani in Kamla's League Freak, and he blew up for 21 points, eight boards, five 3-pointers and a block! I'm still not sure why he was sitting out there with four games after the big week he posted previously, but I was happy to get him.
And just when everyone had written Ramon Sessions off, he comes out of nowhere for 11 points and eight assists, while Luke Ridnour played terribly last night. Charlie Villanueva also blew up for 25 points and Michael Redd stayed hot with 35. About the only thing I can figure out about Scott Skiles is that he must hate fantasy owners. I'm not even kidding.
Danny Granger had another big night for the Pacers, Troy Murphy has become a double-double machine, Michael Beasley, whose minutes have been on the rise, had a nice double-double with 15 points and 12 boards, and Shawn Marion even showed up with 15 points, seven boards and four assists. Yes, that's how bad things have gotten. Marion's owners click their heels and do cartwheels when h! e gives them 15-7-4.
Matt Bonner had 11 points, five boards and three 3-pointers and could be ready to become relevant again, while Dwyane Wade was stellar, as usual.
Kevin Martin came off the bench for 36 points, four boards, four assists and four threes, while John Salmons had three points on 1-of-8 shooting in 28 minutes. Salmons went off after the game, complaining about the coaching staff running too many plays for Martin and ignoring Salmons, which should make things interesting going forward. But when Martin scores 36 and the next highest scorers have 12 and 10, you have to think things aren't exactly balanced in Sacramento. And Salmons is famous for! pouting when things don't go his way, so if you own him, you have to hope the squeaky wheel gets the grease, if you know what I mean.
Yi Jianlian had 22 points, 13 boards, two blocks and a three, but good luck figuring out when he might do that again. My guess is about five games from now.
Deron Williams is back to form and looks 100 percent, while the entire Jazz team looked like an All-Star unit out there against the Warriors last night.
BoH
A few of you have asked how Band of Horses was on New Year's. Wehad a great time as the entire family enjoyed sound check and then my son and I caught the show. The new songs were solid and the buzz from the folks I spoke with who have actually heard them on tape is very promising. The band is definitely c! licking on all cylinders and I have a feeling the days of seeing them in smaller venues are about gone. They played two nights and while I didn't get my favorite song, Monsters, at my show, they did play it the next night. I also got to meet Parker Gispert, lead singer of opener The Whigs, face to face after playing in a fantasy hoops league with him this year. The Whigs are great, too. A three-piece that reminds me of a "southern Nirvana," although I'm pretty sure they're tired of hearing that one. | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
