I’ve seen enough. Injury prone label be damned, Stephen Curry rises to the second tier of the point guard rankings. I’ve always loved the talent but that ankle injury is frightening (I drafted him in the 2nd round last year…sigh). Through 25 games this year Curry has stayed healthy and hasn’t missed a start. He’s also averaging 19.4 points (career high), 4.1 boards, 6.4 assists (career high), 1.6 steals, 2.6 three’s (career high), 89.7% FT, and 42.2% FG (career low). Yeah that’s right, 19.4 points on a career low FG… and it’s not even close to his second lowest percent of 46.2% his rookie season. The guy is a stud and COULD be better if his FG% rises some. Did I also mention his 3P% is a career low 41.7%? These percentages will keep rising, especially since Klay Thompson has regained some of his shooting touch. If you have Curry, you’re probably sitting in a good place because of the draft value you got for him.
Please, blog, may I have some more?I don’t care who you are, if you are able to get a triple double then you deserve some praise. Well, unless it’s one of those triple doubles with 10 turnovers. Jordan Crawford has been inserted into the starting lineup and has been a plus player in just about every category (not FG%). Last night he went for 27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and a scorching 5 of 10 from behind the arc. Last week I wrote that you should pick him up if you can handle the FG% hit. If he’s still on your wire, stop reading and go pick him up. Even if you can’t take the hit, just pick him up and trade him to someone else. He will be a valuable player this year. Here’s what else happened around the NBA last night:
Devin Harris – Got the start, yay! Played only 14 minutes, boo! 8 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, yuck!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Andre Iguodala has been a source of contention in the comments recently. Some people just want to cast him aside and leave him for dead (I may be exaggerating slightly). Not me. No man left behind is my motto (unless your name is Andrew Bynum, to hell with that guy). Especially a man that was a top 50 player last year. A man who once only hurt you in FT% and contributed across the board everywhere else. This year he is not the same man. A career low in FG%, REB, STL, and a nearly career high in TO’s (not to mention his lowest AST since ’05-’06). Perhaps it is the high altitude, or maybe he is declining at the old age of 28 years. I say that’s hogwash and I’m not sure why I say it like that, because I sound like my 80 year old grandmother. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that he will figure out his role on the Nuggets and you should own him before he does. Well, unless you can’t take that FT% hit.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Pau Gasol and the Lakers have had a train wreck of a season so far. Pau is seeing nearly all his numbers being below career average (12.6/8.9/3.5/0.5/1.2 with 42% FG and 76% FT) and having “knee tendinitis” to boot. As such, I had to move him down in the tiers because you can’t be a Victoria’s Secret model with those type of numbers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?In Kyrie Irving’s first game back from injury, he helped the Cavs beat the Lakers. Surprised? You shouldn’t be, because the Lakers stink right now. Now a confession… the headline was lying. Now are you surprised? Irving punished the Lakers going 28/6/11/1 with four 3PM and shooting 11-21 from the field. Now that he has shaken off the rust, we should expect him to score 100 points in his next game. Sorry that’s irrational me. Rational me says if you own Irving then be very happy, and if you traded for him, then make fun of the owner that traded him to you immediately. Like right now. DO IT NOW. Yikes!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Paul George came into the season with some massive hype, including some by yours truly. Then Danny Granger got injured and the hype ballooned even more. The only problem was that the balloon was filled with carbon dioxide (CO2 for you nerds) and not helium. So if you learned anything from Bill Nye the Science Guy (not Mr.
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s been the Kobe Bryant show over in LA and will remain that way until Steve Nash comes back. This is an extremely small sample size but Pau Gasol arguably had his best game this year when Nash was handling the ball (the first game of the year!). He had 19 shots that first game and has only topped 15 shots twice since then. Is Pau getting old?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Now that the rust is coming off the season (except for you Steve Nash), we’ll be splitting the Wednesday posts into morning (for recaps) and afternoon (for the tiers). Check out the previous Centers, Forwards, and Guards tiers. This week we’ll jump right into the guards.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Last night, Kobe Bryant scored over half his team’s points (40) and reached a triple double. No, not the good kind of triple double…the kind where you also have 10 turnovers. An absurd line of 40/10/3/3 with 5 3PM, 12-28 FG, 11-13 FT, and the aforementioned 10 turnovers. You’ll live with the high TO’s but the Lakers can’t. In a night of high profile college basketball, the game turned out to be very similar. I didn’t watch, but George Hill (19/5/5/1) hit the game winning shot to win 79-77 over Kobe Bryant. Not to mention that the teams combined for 57 personal fouls (that’s an actual number, not some sarcastic number). Did anybody enjoy watching that? Glad I watched the ACC/Big 10 challenge instead. Anyway, here’s what else happened in the NBA last night:
Darren Collison – Sometimes a coach likes to put a slumping player on the bench and see how he responds.
Please, blog, may I have some more?As I mentioned the past couple weeks, every Wednesday I will release tiers for G/F/C in rotating fashion. Here’s the original tiers, updated Guard tiers, and last week’s Forward tiers. Starting next week, I’ll split this into a morning and afternoon post (morning for recap and afternoon for tiers) to better explain the movement taking place. As always, if you disagree with the tiers then go f*ck yourself. BUT FIRST, the recap of last night’s games:
Nene Hilario – Nope, the Wizards did not play last night but he will return TONIGHT! We’ll see how much playing time he gets, but he is the most offensively-talented big man on the Wizards’ roster. If you own Kevin Seraphin, this is probably the time to drop him if you haven’t already.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
