Happy New Year, Razzball Nation! It’s great to be back, a new year in front of us, and back to the beck and call of the Fantasy Basketball regular season. We’re halfway through the standard league season, a 2013 that brought us Larry Drew spite, Brandon Knight love, Andre Drummond being a nuisance and Larry Sanders being a… well nuisance, but more like just a moron. I love how three of the first four things that came to mind were Bucks. Man the Bucks have been a ridiculous team, and shows us why Fantasy Basketball saves lives. We’re talking about the worst team in the NBA here! And they’re the middle of a lot of drama. Sure there have been a ridiculous amount of other big name injuries and movers-and-shakers, but my new year couldn’t have started better than Knight going 15-25 37/8/2/4 with three treys on New Year’s Eve. Watching that going on while Miley Cyrus was being a wrecking ball was quite entertaining. And while the ball dropped, Knight only dropped two balls himself! Wow, that sounds like a horrible puberty joke. Only 2 TOs from Knight, who only has 10 TOs over his last six games after his 8 TO coming out game when he put up 36. He’s got a 14 Ast-dimebag in there, two 36/8+ games, just some redonk numbers the past 8 games. Hopefully he keeps it up all year. Happy 2014 for Knight owners! It’s great to be back on daily. Here’s what else I caught since we last checked in:
Mike Scott – My boy! Got a start on New Year’s Eve and didn’t do too much going 8/7/1 in 28 minutes, but I like he was in there on the opening tip. DeMarre Carroll‘s hitchhiking injury had him out of the lineup, but it’s three straight games of Scott playing 17+ minutes and had a 18/6 game with three treys on the 28th. Getting into the 14-team mix, and a commenter dropped Kevin Garnett for him. I endorse that decision. KG is so 2013… Well, actually, he’s so 2002, but you get the point.
Jordan Farmar – Another torn hammy. Well it’s the same hammy. But another tear. Or tear. Homonyms! Another blow to the Lakers and their doomed PGs. The plague of Nash! Isn’t “gnashing” some sort of Dante’s Inferno thing? The Lakers PGs are in the fourth circle!
Kendall Marshall – Hoping to avoid the hellish fate of all the other Lakers’ points. 10/1/7 on New Year’s Eve, and deserves a look becoming the Lakers’ starting PG.
Khris Middleton – Got benched for Luke Ridnour on New Year’s Eve. Not the greatest end of the year for K Middleton! Still got 18 minutes, and the matchup made sense with the Lakers playing Farmar, Jodie Meeks, Nick Young, and Kendall Marshall as the primary 1-3 guys. Plus…
Giannis Antetokounmpo – … When you have the big G playing the 2 (like he had been here and there), it has to be against a pretty big line-up. So Giannis moved to the three for a solid 8/11/1 line as he continues to develop. Had a rainbow worthy of the letters in his name of 6/5/4/4/2 on the 28th. Great multi-cat upside, probably want Giannis over Middleton. Giannis appears to have locked down a starting role playing 32+ minutes the past 5. Still can’t believe I ranked him, was just a dart at the wall and looking great. I just wanted to learn his name ahead of time…
Kyrie Irving – When you see the brittle Kyrie and MRI in the same sentence, you turn on the oven to see if you need to put your head in. Fortunately our heads stayed un-melted unlike the poor sap from Raiders, and it’s only a knee bruise. Might miss tonight, so stay tuned.
Kyle Lowry – Playing unreal. Still think he’s a sell high with all the injury history, but as the Raptors got to .500 in a shocking win against the Pacers last night, trade likelihood is looking slimmer.
Amir Johnson – After a hot run, it appears the big Amir is fading. I’m not throwing out all hope, he’s locked into his starting role, but in shallower leagues you can move on.
Terrence Ross – “Ross can! Rosssss can! Ross can get me the tickets!” 18/4/2/3/0 with two treys last night in a tough matchup. Turning into a ThrAGNOF! Nice multi-cat here, but not doing much beyond the points and treys. Which if you need ’em, he got ’em.
Trevor Booker – 10/19 last night. Could he work his way into a Goromotaro?! Tis possible! But unlikley… Still, great boarding upside if you’re getting taken to boarding school most weeks…
Ricky Rubio – Rainbow line! 14/8/9/3/2. Ricky has been tricky this year. As in, annoying. Hah. But I still like him and will still defend his honor. I imagine his voice is like the Spaniard from A Princess Bride. All I remember past that is it had Andre the Giant in it and the guy who had to off his foot in Saw. I wish IMDB worked like my brain. Would be much funnier.
Jamal Crawford – Rainbow line?! From Crawford?! What is going on this year?! 11/2/4/2/2 in a shocker line. Wichita State! Shot 1-8 from deep though. Still, interesting to see from one of fantasy’s biggest score-only guys.
Jordan Hill – It’s getting to be pretty laughable. El Burro had a pretty nice rant on the 30th, and then D’Antoni really grinded his gears by giving Hill under 12 minutes the next day. D’Antoni is like, “El Burro isn’t getting away with calling me out like that! I’m gonna treat Hill like my polyp and pretend it’s not there!” Love Hill’s game, hate the yo-yo.
Ersan Ilyasova – 15/12. Maybe turning a corner, and worth a pickup in deeper 12 teamers if you have a spot, but I am not putting much stock into him right now. Good to see the 33+ minutes and the fact he can shoot better than sub-20% he’s shot the past six games, but I need to see another nice game or two.
Next Game: I’ve got Knicks at Spurs. Blowout alert! Despite the game looking awful, I’m excited to be back talking about the highlights. And be back daily and more in-depth whence I am not recovering from New Years celebrations. It’s going to be a great year! I’m sure I didn’t hit on a million things, so throw your comments below and let’s bring in the new year!
