 | Guards Letting Us Down - 01/25/2010
BY Steve Alexander Marching Into Miami
Congratulations to the Colts and Saints. If you are a long-lost Manning uncle and have some old family footage of the boys running around in the driveway/yard/street from 1975, I'm sure you can sell it for a ton of cash. Even if you only have video of two-year old Cooper stumbling down the street in his diaper, that will be good enough. The networks are going to go on an all-out Manning blitz, given Archie's ties to NO and Peyton on his way to another SB ring (I hope). I'm really happy for the Manning family though, as they might finally get a chance for some air time.
Letting Your Guard Down - Injuries to guards seem to be all the rage right now. Devin Harris, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless, Derrick Rose, Delonte West, Mo Williams, Jason Kidd, Ben Gordon, Will Bynum, Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Sebastian Telfair, Eric Gordon and Nate Robinson are all on the injury report heading into Week 14. Big man Joakim Noah has a foot problem that will give owners a headache this week as well. The latest report is that he doesn't sound too optimistic about playing on Monday. If you own any of these players, be sure to check out the latest news blurbs about them on Rotoworld.
Devin's Gonna Be All Right - Devin Harris' MRI on his wrist was negative and he remains day-to-day. This is good news, as nothing is broken, but he's probabl! y too risky to use this week.
Half Monta? - Monta Ellis' ankle injury remains mysterious, although we're suppoed to get an update this afternoon. With four games, I think you go ahead and start him, but owners looking for some field goal percentage relief might want to give him a week off.
Melo Yello - Carmelo Anthony has already been ruled out for Monday's game due to a sprained ankle. That leaves him with three more games this week and my gut says he'll play in those. But he's an extremely risky start in weekly leagues and owners have to weigh their options carefully. I own him in several weekly leagues and have still not made up my mind on him yet.
West of the Fields - David West is iffy for Monday with his spraine d ankle, although it's only considered to be "mild." He's another very tough call for the week
Delonte West is not likely to play on Monday with his fractured ring finger, but it does sound like he plans on playing with the injury at some point. With Mo Williams out for until March with a shoulder injury, I think Delonte is still worth hanging onto, but I wouldn't start him this week. Daniel Gibson will continue to start until West is ready to play, but LeBron will be the guy doing most of the dishing in Cleveland. Gibson's worth a look in very deep leagues, but I don't trust him enough to start him in most of mine.
I was asked why LeBron's not considered a guard since he basica! lly is the point guard in Cleveland. While it's true that LeBron basically runs the offense in Cleveland, he starts at small forward and logs 90 percent of his minutes at forward. He's also roughly the size of a cement mixer and is the truest definition of a forward in the entire league. Of course, he runs like a gazelle and passes like a point guard, but that's not going to be enough to get him guard eligibility in our lifetime.
Where You Ben? - Ben Gordon is finally expected to come back from his groin injury on Wednesday. I'll believe it when I see it, but it does sound like he should play. Gordon is actually being dumped in many leagues and regardless of how useless he's been this season, he's still Ben Gordon, and should be owned in most leagues.
Skin Trad! e - Amare Stoudemire is being heavily shopped by the Suns and he could literally end up anywhere. Cleveland, Detroit, Golden State and Minnesota have all been mentioned, while we're guessing that just about every team in the league has talked to the Suns about Stoudemire in the past week. There's no sense in worrying about where he's going or what it will do to his value, as there is no way of knowing what will happen. His game shouldn't change much regardless of where he lands, although you'd have to think his numbers would go up in Detroit or Golden State, and down in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers are also said to be interested in acquiring Troy Murphy or Antawn Jamison, as they continue to try to add pieces in order to win LeBron James a championship. The Blazer said recently that they have no intentions of trading Andre Miller, but I bet they wouldn't hesitate moving him for the right offer. Speaking of Miller, it's hard to believe how useless he was earlier in the season, but Nate McMillan has finally gotten on the same page as the rest of the world and is using Miller properly these days.
About Last Night
The Knicks got housed at home by 50 points to a Dallas Mavericks team who got 15 minutes from Josh Howard, and zero minutes from Jason Kidd a! nd Erick Dampier. Kidd was out for personal reasons and Damp with a knee injury, but both players are expected back for the next one. The fact they were beaten by 50 at home to that team is just shocking, even for the Knicks. Dallas' leading scorers were Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry with 20 a piece, while seven players were in double figures. Kidd and Damp took the right day off. As for the Knicks? They were led by Jared Jeffries' 14 points, which should tell you everything you need to know. Nate Robinson and his hamstring are a pretty tough call again in weekly leagues, and I just do! n't know what I'm going to do there, either.
Kobe Bryant's near triple-double wasn't enough against the Raptors, who won on some last-second free throws from Hedo Turkoglu. He still stunk it up with nine points on 1-of-6 shooting, as he simply can't figure out how to play for his new team. Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol all put up incredibly similar lines on the day, which carried several of my teams to late wins. Each player scored 21 or 22 points, had 8 or 9 rebounds and 1 or 2 blocks. Bynum! has been a solid player since the second return of Pau Gasol and is a must-start player again. Jose Calderon played just 15 minutes for five points and five dimes, as his miserable season continues.
The Clippers easily handled the Wizards on Sunday getting double-doubles from Baron Davis and Marcus Camby, and 20 points from Chris Kaman. The Wiz got 18 points, 12 boards and three blocks from Brendan Haywood, which was a huge relief for us Haywood owners after he did almost nothing in hi! s previous game. Randy Foye finally came back to earth from a hot run and had just six points and three dimes on 3-of-9 shooting. Antawn Jamison had 20 & 10, while Mike Miller came off the bench to score eight points, with a rather full stat line in limited minutes. If DeShawn Stevenson is still starting over him by the end of the week it would be a travesty. Eric Gordon was out again for the Clippers with a toe injury, and while it doesn't seem to be a serious injury, the lack of information about it is a little di! sturbing. The Clips play four games this week but I'm not sure I'd fee l too secure about starting Gordon.
Monday Morning Injury Report
Brian Scalabrine - shoulder - No reason to use him if healthy.
Kevin Garnett - knee - Seems to be good to go for now.
Marquis Daniels - wrist - Out until All-Star break.
Tyson Chandler - foot - Iffy for week again, I'd bench him.
Raymond Felton - ankle - Played through it on Saturday, should be safe.
Joak! im Noah - foot - Surprise scratch Sat., not sounding likely for Monday.
Derrick Rose - flu - Not feeling well, sounds like GTD.
Brad Miller - knee - Doesn't sound serious, could be nice if Noah sits.
Delonte West - finger - Broken finger, iffy for the week. Bench him.
Mo Williams - shoulder - Out 4-6 weeks, West, Gibson benefit.
Jamario Moon - abdomen - Could play Monday, but not much value.
Leon ! Powe - knee - Getting closer, but not this month.
Erick Dampier - knee - Sounds likely for Tuesday.
Jason Kidd - personal - Should be back for Tuesday, as far as we know.
Carmelo Anthony - ankle - Ruled out for Monday, very risky in weeklies.
Ben Gordon - groin - Targeting Weds, but Pistons play just 3 games.
Will Bynum - ankles - Could play this week, but very risky.
Monta Ellis - ankle - More info coming today, very risky.
Anthony Randolph - ankle - Will miss extended time. Bench or cut him.
Anthony Morrow - knee - Could miss another week. Hello, Cartier Martin.
Vladimir Radmanovic - Achilles - Day-to-day, but still Vlad-Rad. Avoid.
Chuck Hayes - knee - Sound like he'll continue to play through soreness.
Tracy McGrady - personal - Won't play for Rockets while they try for trade.
Tyler Hansbrough - ear - Will play again, but no reaso n to risk him now.
Jeff Foster - back - Ditto. No hurry to rush him back.
T.J. Ford - healthy - Fourth-string point guard, inexplicably.
Sebastian Telfair - groin - 4-6 weeks means more P/T for Baron.
Eric Gordon - toe - Day-to-day, but pretty risky fantasy start.
Blake Griffin - knee - Season over.
Michael Redd - knee surgery - Season over.
Joe Alexander - hamstring - Chillin' in the D-League.
David West - ankle - Iffy for Monday, but sprain is "mild."
Morris Peterson - back - No value when healthy, Thornton looking good.
Devin Harris - wrist - MRI negative, remains day-to-day after missing Sat.
Nate Robinson - hamstring - Iffy for week, I'm benching him.
Vince Carter - shoulder - Playing, but really struggling.
Allen Iverson - knee - Still playing through it, risky , as usual.
Leandro Barbosa - hand - Out until Feb., good news for J-Rich.
Brandon Roy - hamstring - Out another week, hello Webster.
Jerryd Bayless - ankle - GTD Monday, but should have decent week.
Travis Outlaw - foot - Not due back til late in year.
Nicolas Batum - shoulder - Could play on Monday.
Greg Oden - knee - Could possibly play late in year?
Francisco Garcia - wrist - Targeting return at All-Star break?
Michael Finley - ankle - Still out with injury, not much value healthy.
Reggie Evans - foot - Could play soon, but not much value.
Andrei Kirilenko - finger - Sounds like he'll play, locked in starting 5.
Gilbert Arenas - suspended - Suspension news coming this week? | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
