 | Houston, We Have a Freak Scene - 01/07/2009
BY Steve Alexander If your fantasy hoops team has avoided major injuries this season, congratulations. I'm pretty sure we say this every single year, but have you ever seen so many big names missing games? Sure you have - each and every year since you've been playing. But it always seems like the current year is more ridiculous than the one before. It's never fun to see your team decimated by injuries and for those of you/us who own Carmelo Anthony and Stephen Jackson, I'm sure the phrase "my team was just turning the corner, too" has been said more than once. Anyway, there's a ton of news to talk about so let's dive right into the good, the bad and the injured.
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The Good
Do any of us even have time to worry about the good? I mean, you know if your guys played well or not last night, but maybe there's something to be discovered here.
Scorers
Kobe Bryant scored 39, David West matched a career high with 40, Chris ! Paul went off for 32 points, 15 dimes, three steals and zero turno vers (wow) and Eric Gordon (possibly my favorite player right now) scored a career-best 32. Dirk Nowitzki had a game-saving block and game-winning shot on his way to 34 points and four 3-pointers and Kevin Martin stayed hot for the Kings, finishing with 29 points. Russell Westbrook (who should be owned in all leagues, as I've been saying all year) had 22 points and nine dimes, while Kevin Durant and Jeff Green each scored ! 27 for the Thunder. Green is officially back, but I'm guessing he's rarely still held by his original owner after his super-slow start to the season. Nothing any of us can do about those lines - you either own them or wish you did.
Sleepers
Here are some of the sleepy guys who also had a big night.
Mardy Collins started and had 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two 3-pointers for the injury-depleted Clippers. Not to toot my own horn, but I actually had Collins listed in the guards in this week's Waiver Wired column. Of course, that wasn't that hard to predict since the Clips only have about six healthy guys and I wasn't smart enough to actually pick him up and use him. I have no idea if he'll still have value next week, but! if you're carrying dead weight, he might be worth a look.
Drew Gooden returned from his ankle injury and had 18 points and 10 boards. Not bad after missing a couple weeks with the injury.
Derek Fisher blew up for 19 points, six 3-pointers and six assists last night. That's the type of line I was expecting over the last two weeks with Jordan Farmar gone, but better late than never.
Raymond Felton hit 9-of-17 shots for 25 points and eight assists in last nights, gulp, OT win over the Celtics. That's the most points he's scored since November and he hadn't gone for more than 13 in his previous four, so don't expect this to be a nightly occurrence. Wai! t, the Bobcats beat the Celtics? Wait, the Celtics have lost five of their last seven games? Better get Stephon Marbury in there quick - He'll fix everything.
D.J. Augustin came out of nowhere for 20 points and two 3-pointers, hitting 12-of-12 free throws and scoring 11 points in the extra session. I get the feeling D.J.'s been dropped in a lot of leagues, but did you know he's scored 20, 12 and 15 points in three of his last four games? He's still not getting enough run to be relied upon, but at some point the Cats need to give him the keys. I'm just going to keep holding him for now.
Luis Scola had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the dysfunctional Rockets last night. If you could k! now in advance when Scola's good games were coming, he might be your b est player. But he's playing very well right now, hitting double figures in scoring in nine of his last 11 games and hitting double digits in rebounds in four straight, and five of his last six.
Tyson Chandler returned from his one-game "thug-life suspension" and had 12 points, eight boards and, of course, no blocks. How tall is he again? And check this out - Joel Przybilla's 83-year-old grandmother-in-law even wants a piece of TC and David Stern.
The Bad
Here's where this job gets tough. Do I really want to tell you to ddrop guys like Samuel Dal! embert, Mike Miller and Marquis Daniels? No. Should I? Maybe.
Mike Miller hit 1-of-4 shots last night for two points, leaving briefly after tweaking his tender ankle, but returning to finish. Talk about a wasted roster spot this year. But he's still Mike Miller and if he ever gets healthy, he could start posting some numbers. But unless he's traded I just don't see him blowing up in Minnesota, who has to be thinking youth movement at this point. If you want to hang onto him and hope for the trade, do it. But if you want to cut him, you might sleep better at night.
Samu el Dalembert - I mean, what can I even say? He's terrible this year. Awful. Sucks. The only reason any of us are even holding him is for boards and blocks right? He had five boards and zero blocks (again) last night. The Sixers play four games this week and I didn't even consider getting him off my bench. Marreese Speights had 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks last night and I think it's finally time for the Sixers just to turn the kid loose. Dalembert isn't even helping much in boards and blocks, which would be the only sane reason we'd still be hanging on. I'm not prepared to cut him just yet in my league, but if you want to make the move in yours, no one would argue with you.
Marquis Daniels had an MRI on his injured groin and is questionable tonight after leaving h! is last game with the injury. With the return of Mike Dunleavy and a nasty groin injury, it might be time to cut bait on Daniels. Then again, if he recovers quickly from it and Dunleavy only lasts a couple games or so, you're going to wish you still had MD. Play this one by ear, but if you want to cut him, it won't be the end of the world either way.
Spencer Hawes returned from his abdominal strain last night and had three points and two rebounds. I still think he's going to be an effective second-half player, but again, if you feel like you need to move on, then do so.
Nate Robinson hit just 4-of-18 shots and missed all seven of his 3-point attempts on his way to a 12-point nigh! t. You can be as mad as you want to at Nate but you can't cut him. We have not heard the last from him.
Andray Blatche came off the bench last night for (reportedly) disciplinary reasons and had eight points, seven boards and a block. Darius Songaila started in the middle and had eight points and five boards. I find it hard to believe that this move is permanent, so I am not all that anxious to cut Blatche just yet. Of course, given his minutes and performance over his last three games, it might be warranted. Again, it depends on your team and your situation, but you can feel free to cut or keep Blatche at this point.
Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmanovic have! n't exactly lived up to the hype with Luke Walton out, but now that Lamar Odom is also down, they almost have to start producing.
Marvin Williams is expected to play for the Hawks despite a shoulder injury tonight.
Mike Dunleavy is expected to make his season debut for the Pacers tonight. It's going to be a very interesting story to keep an eye on.
The Injured
Here we go.
Carmelo Anthony is out 3-4 weeks with a broken shooting hand but won't need su! rgery. As if he wasn't shooting it poorly enough to begin with, right? Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith should be "the guys" in his absence.
Stephen Jackson is out for at least a couple weeks with a strained hamstring. That sound you hear is bubbles surfacing as a couple of my teams sink to the bottom of the ocean - glub, glub.
Monta Ellis is "close to being able to practice" according to Don Nelson. Then again, Monta Ellis is also not a fan of being a Warrior right now, nor is management all that happy with him (check out our news blurbs for both stories). I'm not rush! ing out to see if he's available in any of my leagues, but I'm sure many of you will. That's probably the smart approach to take, but I'm sticking to my guns for now.
Lamar Odom suffered a hyperextended knee last night and will have an MRI today. Again, if he's out, Ariza and Radmanovic have to produce.
Elton Brand is a couple weeks away from returning from his shoulder injury. There's a pretty decent chance he'll re-injure it when he returns so I'm not getting too excited. Plus, if you forget about his name and look at the numbrs he was putting up, they weren't all that great before the injury.
Jamario Moon will miss tonight's game due to the birth of a child whil! e Jermaine O'Neal (knee) and Jose Calderon (hamstring) are out again tonight. Aren't you glad you drafted JO? And I read somewhere yesterday that the Raps are trying to trade him now, which is pretty comical. I'm still trying to figure out why they traded for him in the first place, although T.J. Ford's pretty banged up as well.
Devin Harris (groin) is out tonight but is hoping to play this weekend.
J.R. Smith is not injured, but has a court date set for Tuesday in New Jersey. The problem with that? The Nuggets have a game in Denver that night. If you're in a weekly lineup league and he misses that game, it's a two-game week for Smith. File that one away.
Luol Deng remains out with his sprained ankle but would like to play Friday.
O.J. Mayo had 25 points, eight boards and five assists last night but suffered a shoulder injury. It's not thought to be serious though, so keep him active unless we get more news on him.
Corey Maggette practiced on Tuesday but wore a brace on his gimpy right knee. It sounds like he should be fine to keep active for now.
Keith Bogans missed last night's game with an ankle injury allowing Courtney Lee (8 ! points) to start. Lee could emerge as the shooting guard to own in Orl ando, so keep your eye on him.
Eddy Curry is very close to a return for the Knicks and we should see him on the court this week. I just realized I had a dream about him last night and he weighed about 250 and scored like 37 points in his season debut. I think he also had 9 turnovers, zero blocks, zero assists, two rebounds and missed 17 free throws. Maybe it wasn't a dream, although if he weighs 250 I'll send Nellie a box of chocolate for Valentine's Day. On a serious note, do not kid yourself into thinking that Curry will be worth owning this year. I just don't see how it's possible unless your league is ridiculously deep and you are alternating Erick Dampier and Matt Bonner at center. And e! ven then it might be a stretch.
Houston, We've Got A Freak Scene
Tracy McGrady hit 5-of-15 shots for 14 points last night. Awesome! Can you cut T-Mac? Maybe. Can you trade him for Mike Dunleavy or anyone else who's breathing? Sure! NBA sources have told me some stories in the last day of the mindset of the teammates of T-Mac and Ron Artest and it's not very pretty. All I have to say is that I'm thankful I didn't draft either one of these guys this year so I don't have to deal with them. Artest missed his second straight game last night and is questionable for tonight's game. I'm not sure if he or T-Mac realizes it or not, but the Rockets have one of the most talented teams in! the league and these two jokers are treating this season as some kind of bad joke. I can't even imagine how their teammates must feel. Well, actually I can, but it's getting ridiculous. Add in the money they're getting paid and the whole scene is pretty pathetic. As J Mascis once sang, "So beeped I can't believe, if there's a way I wish we'd see it, how could it work just cant conceive it, oh what a mess." | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
