Good news is most teams have a full schedule this coming week. Great news is I’m gonna gain 10 pounds and love it on Thursday. Greatest news is all the deals at Best Buy on Black Friday.
Ok, back to basketball:
Four games: Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Indiana, LA Clippers, Memphis, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, Seattle, Toronto, Utah, Washington.
Three Games: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, LA Lakers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Sacramento.
Plug ‘em in, Plug ‘em in:
Danny Granger, F: The second-year forward out of New Mexico is starting (30 mpg) and contributing across the board (13/5/2 w/ 2 treys and about 1 block/steal over his last five games). With four games next week you probably want to start Granger over guys like Childress or Ricky Davis.
Andris Biedrins, F/C: Latvian sensation and FBB fave, Andris Biedrins, has been a welcome addition to many fantasy teams lately. Averaging 12 and 12 with 2.3 blocks and 74%FG this week, Andris logged a whopping 43 minutes last night (w/ Murphy out). Biedrins is Don Nelson’s unquestioned starting center right now and should definitely be in your fantasy lineup for four games next week.
Tyronn Lue, PG: It took no time at all for Speedy to hurt himself again. The high-priced offseason acquisition is looking more and more like a mistake. Meanwhile, former Wizard Tyronn Lue is stepping up - averaging 35 mpg over his last four and should be a nice source of points, threes, and assists while Claxton is out.
Reggie Evans, PF: In what seemed inevitable, K-Mart has gone under… the knife that is. Primary backup, Nene, is still day-to-day with a bruised knee, but won’t be fully recovered until 2007. This leaves the big and boring Reggie Evans to clean the glass in Denver, and that’s about all he’ll do for you. He won’t score more than 7 points a night (Carmelo and Andre Miller are more likely to combine for 70), but if you need rebounds you should embrace him. If/when Camby goes down, Evans will probably haul in 18 boards a game for some time.
Sit ‘em down:
Zaza Pachulia, F/C: Zaza may be my favorite European Center (next to that hostel I stayed at in Amsterdam), but he has his limits. After a strong start, Za-Pa has slowed down a bit recently. He’s still got plenty of value as a #2 center, but with the Hawks only playing three games you may want to look elsewhere this week… perhaps a Wilcox or Frye would be better.
Ben Wallace, F/C: Obviously on the downside of his career, Big Ben’s clock is ticking. These days, instead of dominating his strong categories (boards, steals, blocks) and not hurting you elsewhere, Wallace is merely getting by in those cats while hurting you with just 5 ppg and hitting only 40% of his shots from the floor this season. One block per game already has his owners frustrated this year. I hate to say it, but someone like Biedrins would be a better guy to plug in your lineup this week.
Celtics Point Guards: Why do these guys (Telfair, Rondo, West) remind me of the NY Jets backfield? Maybe because the coach has decided to use three different players to do one man’s job. Sure one of them may hit paydirt any given Sunday (or weeknight), but they are not worth your time until someone earns Doc Rivers’ trust (and consistently get 30+ minutes). Hopefully the situation will work itself out soon, giving fantasy owners at least one player with some value. Until then, they all should be riding some fantasy pine.
Also: Props (so far) to those owners who took a chance on injury-risks Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, and Emeka Okafor. Those guys are playing out of their minds and are good sell high candidates; or perhaps just great picks that you should be happy with. What you think?
Enjoy the turkey and the games.