Daily Dose: Wednesday Recap - 03/01/2012
BY Aaron Bruski It’s busy times around these parts so let’s get right to it. Let us know if you like the new format. NEWS OF THE DAY #1 Rodney Stuckey scored 29 points and is back on the right track. Marco Bellinelli scored 20 points and added seven boards, but don’t get used to the boards. Carlos Delfino is getting his minutes, and posted eight points with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks. If he ever starts hitting his shot he’ll look pretty good now, heh? Jarrett Jack and Greivis Vasquez did the same thing they did last night, with Jack outplaying Greivis off the bench. Rajon Rondo made up for yesterday’s scoreless game with 15 points, 11 boards, and 10 assists. Kevin Garnett was not so bad himself with 25 points and 10 boards. Ersan Ilyasova scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and he is pretty hot right now. NEWS OF THE DAY #2 Jerryd Bayless was an afterthought last night, scoring just five points in 15 minutes of action. He did have five assists, and I’m probably going to down on the ship with him. The trade deadline is right around the corner and as far as his short-term value goes I was giving him this week to get things ironed out, anyway. Brandon Jennings hit 2-of-11 shots and is too good to cut in most cases. Drew Gooden started after a scary fall to his back and had 23 points and eight rebounds and all things considered he’s had a great week. He’ll have wrist concerns for the rest of the year, but for now things are heading in the right direction. Leandro Barbosa scored 15 points and since he’s on the trade block it wouldn’t be surprising to see him keep it up. NEWS OF THE DAY #3 Greg Monroe just missed a 20/20 line as the good times roll on. Kemba Walker had a disaster night and I’m staying patient with him unless I am in a win-now situation. The Bobcats are a mess but Rick Bonnell wrote an extensive piece last night about Paul Silas not being held responsible for the mess. We’ll see. The Bobcats are going to be in a short-term funk at a minimum. Linas Kleiza scored 21 points and is becoming one of the more consistent borderline guys when his knee is healthy. Devin Harris left last night’s game with nausea and did not return. JaVale McGee played 16 minutes and had nine points, six boards, and one block. As one famous quote goes, ‘you can’t fire the players.’ McGee may be the stupidest player in the NBA, but he’ll need to top himself before he gets thrown off a fantasy cliff. Just hold and hope for the best. NEWS OF THE DAY #4 Nick Young came off the bench and scored five points. Just bench him for now. Jordan Crawford is a must-own player in 8-cat, 12-team formats and is worth a long look in 9-cat formats. Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 points with seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks, and Jameer Nelson had 12 points, five boards, and four assists. Ryan Anderson had 23 points and 15 boards, and owners have to be happy with that. Dirk left last night’s game with lower back tightness and did not return, but says he’ll play Friday. Bismack Biyombo left last night’s game with a shoulder injury and did not return. Hopefully he’s okay because he was set to have a nice second half. Chris Wilcox came off the bench and had seven points, 13 boards, two steals, and a block. Brandon Bass had a nice night too, and both are worth a look. NEWS OF THE DAY #5 Joe Johnson returned from knee tendinitis and did pretty good, with 18 points and a full stat line. Jeff Teague had a nice night with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals, a block, and two threes, and might have had more assists if the Hawks didn’t shoot so badly. Zaza Pachulia played through a calf injury and scored 13 points with 16 rebounds and two blocks. Give him a look if you need a big man. Stephen Curry was used as a decoy but is on the same timetable. That Mark Jackson is a tricky guy. Nate Robinson had 10 points and five assists. Ekpe Udoh had 12 points, eight boards, three steals, and three blocks, and I hope owners took to heart the comments I made about waiting until now to evaluate him. This isn’t his breakout moment, but one more successive good game probably will be. Dorell Wright is a maddening fantasy player, and had seven points, five rebounds, a block, and a three. | 
