Look, I’m only human. I have urges. I can’t help the way my brain chemistry works. I try my best to fight it, to stay logical, to be sure and stay wrapped up… But I can get caught in the rookie nookie like anyone!
After a DNP-CD on opening night, of course I was a little worried about Myles Turner‘s role with the Pacers moving forward, especially after being so high in the green with his rank that Ruby Rhod was even speechless…. He did have a little bit of a bum ankle Wednesday night, but dressed for the game and didn’t get off the bench. And last night, I had this huge emission of relief when I saw Turner get into the game in the first wave of subs in the 1st quarter. It felt like a sneeze only better! Then that feeling of a sneeze turned into an epic euphoric trip that was slightly reminiscent of a KCP-high. Turner looked absolutely unbelievable, well beyond the numbers on the stat sheet. His line ended up 4-6 FG (0-2 FT) 8/4/0/2/1 in 18 minutes with 4 fouls, so it wasn’t exactly a flashy debut on paper. But he’s a better FT shooter, a few fouls were ticky-tacky as the refs were calling it tight all night, and he is his own offense. Was hitting jumpers from deep mid-range in isolation, had no hesitation, looked 100% confident and in control, and had a second monster block called off due to a baby nudge right before it went up. He was the #1 option with the second unit, and while Ian Mahinmi is playing well (11/9 with a block last night – maintaining usability), I think Turner could easily fit with the starters. They want to push the NBA lead for pace, he can hit quick jumpers, and is big and fundamental enough to man the paint, both on O and D. Dude is biggggggg. Listed at 240, but ain’t no way! I’m 240 and 6’7, and he looks way bigger than me with 4 inches! Jordan Hill started last night for the matchup against the big Grizzlies, but didn’t look special at all. There will still be some easing in, but Turner should leap frog Hill sooner than later, and play C minutes down the stretch if there’s worries about Mahinmi’s FT shooting. The line didn’t jump off the page unlike his play that jumped off the screen, so now is the time to shoot the buy lows and hope Turner’s owners didn’t see the debut. Here’s what else happened last night in fantasy basketball action:
Rodney Stuckey – Looked solid out there in 25:31 bench minutes, edging out Monta Ellis to end the first half. Brought some energy and had a 9/4/5/1/1 line. Interesting to see the Pacers run only 3 gaurds. Joe Young gets a DNP. Not Mighty.
Paul George – Tied Stuckey for a team-lead 5 assists. Twice now he’s led the Pacers in dimes to start the year. And yet again he shot an awful 5-15 FG. Everything else is looking nice though!
Monta Ellis – Officially a tad worried. Just doesn’t seem to have the involvement in the offense as he has the past decade on his other stops. Still looks fast and hit a trey towards the end off a bad shooting night, but very blah. It’ll get better, but I don’t know if it’s to vintage-Ellis better.
C.J. Miles – Didn’t start as the Pacers wanted to play bigger for the matchup, but still played 21 minutes and scored 18 with 4 treys. ThrAGNOF!
Marc Gasol – 20/8/3/0/1 with no TO and hit some pivotal jumpers late. This just in! The Grizzlies are a lot better than that 30-point shellacking by the Cavs…
Tony Allen – StealNOF! Hah, if you started weak in steals hopefully you pondered an Allen stream, as he had 4 swipes.
Jeff Green – Bumped from the starting 5 for Allen, because the Grizz knew guarding PG13 would be too hard. Hit 5-6 shots and had a nice multi-cat (12/3/3/1/1 with 2 3PTM), but it’s still pretty yawnstipating.
Mike Conley – Somebody just got back from Amsterdam, because Conley got a dimebag! 13/4/10/2/0 with 4 TO, for a nice bounceback night for a guy I was a little worried about heading into the year.
Jeff Teague – Quieted the “Dennis Schroder outplayed him” narrative. 23/4/8/1/0 on 7-12 shooting with 9-10 FT. Schrodes still looked good too, going 12/1/2 on 6-11 shooting in 18 minutes. Hit another trey as well, which is a great addition to his game. Teague looks fine where you got him, Schrodes still looks good as a last roster guy in 12ers.
Paul Millsap – Rough night from the field and at the stripe (3-11 FG 4-8 FT), but made up with it with 5 steals on a 11/11/5/5/0 line. That’s what elite guys do – they struggle shooting, they chip in somewhere else!
Al Horford – Big Al going Big Deep! 21/9/1/2/3 in a near rainbow, and hit another 2 treys giving him 3 on the year. He’s averaging 1.5 in obviously a small sample, but he’s hit 21 treys IN HIS CAREER up until this season. If he adds more than 0.5 a game to his line, it’s going to be mad dangerous. I saw a comment saying they thought I was a little low on Horford, but luckily I barely made it in the grey… I have a feeling we see a top-20 season pretty easily if the treys keep up.
Kyle Korver – After gloating I thought he’d start slow, had a nice 15/7/2/1/0 line on 6-8 FG (3-5 3PTM). When I said in my ranks I thought he’d start slow, I meant only in the opener!
Carmelo Anthony – Like my clowning of Rodney Hood yesterday, after missing 6 treys, what made you think the 7th was going in?! 25/7/3/3/0 in a nice showing, but 0-7 from deep sunk his FG to 10-27.
Robin Lopez – He’s so baddddddddd!!!! 5 TO?! What is he doing even touching the ball 5 times?!??!?! But seriously, had a pretty good game. 18/4/1/0/1/ on 8-11 FG with the black eye of those 5 TO. Wait, 11 FGA?! That was second on the Knicks to Melo?!?!?!? What in the hell are they doing?!?!?!
Kristaps Porzingis – Up to 26 minutes already! Also had the TO bug (4), but otherwise pretty solid again for 10/8/0/3/1.
Jose Calderon – Ay dios mio! I though it would be unsexy but usable, but it turned out to be unsexy and so unusable the he might get Nate Robinson treatment. At least for any of your 12/14 team leagues, give him the ol’ waive!
Jerian Grant – I dunno if he gets the “starting” job any time soon, but back-to-back games with a lot more minutes, and I’ll take a flier on the rook over Jose Pooperon. 5/6/7/0/0, but love those dimes! Both are still outside of 12er must-own.
Kyle O’Quinn – If Rolo is going to keep turning it over like a center version of Emmanuel Mudiay, maybe he will get enough mins! 10/10/3/1/1 on 5-9 shooting in a solid 22 minutes. I dunno if this pace keeps up, especially in bench minutes, but he’s right on the periphery of 12ers.
Derrick Williams – Yeah, 9 Pts and not much else, I imagine he’s leading the most dropped list today…
Dirk Nowitzki – Another solid performance in another low-minutes game, although it’s been two blowouts for the Mavs – one for and one against. 16/7/2/1/0 with a trey. If he stays healthy all year and sticks at this pace, he’ll end up a discount!
J.J. Barea – Ended up the better stream over Raymond Felton, and luckily I used more Barea in some RCLs. 12/1/9 with two treys, while Felton battled TO and a cold stroke for 4/1/4/1/0. Felton thought I said cold stone, and is rushing for ice cream before finishing the article… It doesn’t sound like Deron Williams‘ injury is too serious, but it is Deron Williams. That’d be like saying for any other player, “his leg amputation isn’t serious.” (Dude – I wrote that, then at 3:14 AM we get news they’re calling it a true “knee sprain” and he doesn’t have a timetable. Way to make my joke right before people could read it!)
John Jenkins – After playing 3:39 in the opener, Wesley Matthews sat on the back-to-back and Jenkins got stretched out for 35:18. 8-16 FG for 17/6/3/0/0 but missed all of his treys (0-4). ThrAGNOF that kinda worked even without the Thrag!
Justin Anderson – Had some early preseason buzz, but looked pretty rookie-ish out there. 2-8 FG, but filled out some junk time with OK multi-cat stats and a 5/6/1/1/1 line. 2 TO as well in 18 minutes though, and had a couple straight bricks. Pretty blah.
Blake Griffin – Way to shit the bed, Mavs! Was killing it, but ended up at only 26 Pts due to only playing 27 minutes! I thought I had the first point on the Slim vs. JB 30-Point Challenge board, but alas, it remains scoreless. 26/10/2/1/1 for Griffin, as the Clips continue to do Clip things.
DeAndre Jordan – It’s tough to know if the minutes would’ve been cut had this game stayed close, but only 26 last night. Averaging right at 26:30 through two games, after back-to-back 34+ minute seasons. Given the stats have been just fine (6/15 with 4 blocks last night), but they hacked-a-DeAndre at the end of the first half and he did his normal 2-8 FT. Looks phenomenal in every other aspect, but those minutes are going to go way down, and the FT volume way up!
Josh Smith – Also had a few hack-a-Smoove trips, hitting 3-6 of his FT. 5/6/1/0/2, no treys… the blocks are nice but it’s not worth the FT drain.
Chris Paul – Only 5 dimes, but only 24 minutes. Mavs got killed in a monster 3rd quarter. I wish Paul had less cache and I could annoy people with some buy lows…
Andrew Wiggins – I hope it’s not a skapegoat injury, but apparently played through upper back spasms in the opener, “explaining” his lethargy. Yo Wiggy, I have a lot invested in you, I’ll massage that shizz right out!
Festus Ezeli – As I mentioned yesterday and on the Pod, Andrew Bogut got stitches in his head and is expected to miss two games, which could be a Festivus. Friday is a pretty full slate, but for some stream blocking, Ezeli and the Warriors play the awful-and-injured-everywhere Pelicans Saturday in what could be a very saucy matchup. A remoulade sauce!
I hope everyone is having a nice start to their 15-16 campaign, and I’ll be back Monday morning with the weekend daily notes and a weekly planner pointing out good streamers who play on light schedule days. Hopefully it will be a helpful new addition! I’m going for polar opposite of Nate Robinson for the Pelicans… Oh man, I’m gonna clown that/myself all year! Stupid Nate Robinson…
