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I’m back from a two-week hiatus in which I was driving a minivan around Cleveland hunting for Bucks. No, wait, that was Georges Niang Wednesday night.  Niang picked up the Minivan nickname during his college days in Utah. Shouldn’t it be the Suburban? Well, his Cleveland teammates have given him a less-soft moniker – G-Wagon. […]

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After spending a few days in the woods, the Razzpod returns with Joel and Ossie breaking down the rest of their rosters for Racco’s Mid-Season draft. Together they tease out how to navigate a slow draft after previously healthy players go down while you’re still drafting (looking at you Evan Mobley and Darius Garland), how […]

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I started writing a movie plotline starring Damian Lillard in Canada as a male counterpoint to Stella in the Bahamas, but decided to spare you fine readers that pending trainwreck (and possible violation for racial insensitivity from the Razzball board of directors) and get right down to basketball.  With Giannis taking the night off, Lillard […]

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Hello Razzball Nation! I am the self-proclaimed BBall Oracle (results may vary) here to provide you with my picks and insights for NBA DFS this season. We’re kicking off this year with a massive post-election day 14 game slate. On a slate this large there are so many viable plays that you don’t need to intentionally get different with ownership. Play the guys you think will score the most points even if you think that guy might be chalky.

My number one piece of advice for NBA DFS in general, but especially on a slate this large, is to be on top of injury updates. Contests are won and lost on backups becoming starters and starters getting increased usage from injuries. In the NBA random injuries happen every night, players get rested for no reason despite the NBA’s best efforts to deter it, and tank-itis is a horrible disease that will luckily not rear its ugly head for another few months. You need to be on top of your lineups up until lock and to give yourself the best chance to win even after lock to monitor late scratches and lingering questionable designations. There will be injury plays that open up with news tomorrow that we just don’t know yet.

That being said, with our current knowledge of injury news (Tuesday night) let’s get down to it. Pricing is always (Fanduel/DraftKings). I play tournaments and my picks will always bias towards volatility and upside.

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Last night we saw the transition from Shaedon Sharpe the cool shiny gadget that’s just for show, to the I Gotta Have This In My Daily Life type of tool. 

With Anfernee Simons out 6 weeks [sad face] and Scoot Henderson injured mid-game, Sharpe took over with 25 points in the second half, scoring on all three levels and finishing with a 27-7-5-1-2 stat line (9-16 FG, 3-6 3PT, 8-10 FT). 

Sharpe has been hitting the glass early on this season, averaging nearly 6 per game (including several smooth offensive putbacks) and has 9 stocks in five games. I still need to see him continue to be aggressive, as the youngster tends to stand around and wait for his turn. If he can, this could be one of the better breakouts of the first couple months of the fantasy season. 

Here’s what else was noteworthy to me on another packed Wednesday slate, with some boring blowouts and a couple nail biters. 

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Well look, I don’t come here with a set agenda in mind for titles, if anything, I blame the redundant title pun on Damian Lillard‘s roller coaster opening two games thus far, going for 39 points in his debut (with the aforementioned title post) and then just scoring 6 points (on 2-12 FG, 2-8 3pT), which was spoiled with today’s post title. While I ponder the ethics of not using a spoiler alert tag, last night’s game against the Hawks (the most mid team ever?) was truly a question mark. While I’d probably not blow things up if I were the Bucks (if only to stave off more “here’s how the Heat can still trade for Dame!” articles), clearly it was only a matter of time before Wisconsin discovered “Lame time”. But don’t fret, we’re literally in the first week of the season still, so weird sh*t gonna happen folks. I mean, SGA scored seven last night, Steph struggled a lot until the end and Nikola Jokic called Chet fat. The last one doesn’t really matter, but everyone should enjoy Jokic thin-shaming someone…

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Look, I was very satisfied with the last episode of “As the Harden Turns…” (the actual turning speed depends on the girth of his fat suit) but no one can argue that actually watching the 76ers play is probably just as entertaining as watching the 76ers not play, so let’s consider last night a wash. And despite Harden not being allowed to get on the team plane (is “No U!” a legitimate DNP reason?), the debut of the newly unstoppable pic n’ pop duo of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo definitely lived up to expectations, with Dame finishing the night with 39 points with 4 assists and 8 rebounds, 12 of those points coming in the fourth quarter (with two free throws that iced the game) and there’s this below:

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NUGGETS GET RINGS AND SOP UP THE LAKERS!

Last night, I got to have the unique experience of watching Nikola Jokic with someone who’d never watched him before, having it on my TV with my wife and 14 year old daughter.   I loved every comment.  It makes you appreciate the Joker’s greatness from a different lens.  A sampling of the comments:

Why are they starting the slow white guy?

How does an NBA player run like that?

He looks so tired.

Wait, that was a really nice move.

How come he’s dribbling up the court if he’s so slow?  Wait, wasn’t that a great pass?

He can shoot 3s too?

They went from laughing to all out appreciation.  I finally told them at halftime that he’s the best player in the world and they should stop besmirching his name.

Oh yeah, he had a 29-13-11 triple double.  Even chipped in a steal and a block to go with 3 treys.  Of course you drafted him number one and he’s a cheat code.

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