I know, I know. Much bigger headlines on the injury front, but it’s Injury Friday with Pete’s Fantasy Basketball Infirmary coming out in a few hours, so I’m not gonna steal his spotlight!
With LaMarcus Aldridge out 6-8 weeks with a hitchhiking injury, on top of Robin Lopez still a few weeks out, there’s a ton of PF/C minutes to fill your Blazing hole. After Dorell Wright had a very solid 15/3/5/2/0 line with three treys on Wednesday, it kinda felt like Wright could’ve run away with the gig. But Stotts was like “I want someone else with Ciroc!” and put Thomas Robinson in the PF spot for 28 minutes last night. Almost rainbowed too! I’ve always thought T-Rob could turn into something, and 9/12/1/2/2 was mighty solid. Can’t hit a FT, but who can these days?! By tomorrow night, Stotts could pound a few more Jamesons and be like “F it, we’ve lost two in a row, it’s Meyers Leonard time!” All that said, Nicolas Batum also hopped into the Fantasy Basketball Infirmary leaving early with a wrist injury, so maybe Wright will HAVE to play some starting F. Stotts will take another 5-6 shots of, I dunno, something so low shelf it’s ridiculous – let’s go Popov – to get over last night’s crushing loss and start Steve Blake at PF tomorrow night. At pressers tomorrow he’s going to be lit like Drunk Uncle! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:
Kawhi Leonard – Ugh, a Pop “wave the white flag” game. And I’m not talking about his body hair! Ew. 16/4/0/0/0 with a trey. Really nothing that fun to talk about for the Spurs… Except maybe…
Cory Joseph – …the Dojo in Chi-ca-jo belongs to Cojo! Well, not really, but dude looked awesome in 14 minutes for 11/2/2 on 4-7 shooting. Had some nifty drives. Can’t wait until the day it looks like he’s starting…
JaMychal Green – Flashed why he was killin’ it in the D League! 8/3/0/0/2. One block was on a 3PTA, and he had 4 fouls in 15 minutes. Eh, he’s on the worst team to be excited…
Taj Gibson – It’s like a geometric proof! A thereom! A… Big Bang Theory! I’m no good with the science… Anyway, you play your bigs against the Spurs, and Gibby was likely a cheap daily league play and delivered for 15/9/1/1/4. Joakim Noah is still out with a kankle, but sounds like he’ll be out a few more. I still wouldn’t sell Gibby like he’s not longer shibby (did I use that right? Hippie-ism was before my time…), as Noah and Pau Gasol are no stallions of health.
Derrick Rose – Told the press his team was lazy, and came out and played strong for 22/2/5/2/0 and a couple of treys. At least he’s backing up his words!
Aaron Brooks – Providing some solid value lately with a 15/4/3/1/0 line last night with a couple of treys. There will be some brutal lows, but for now a babbling Brooks is worth a gentle Stream.
Tony Snell – “Ohhhhhh, what’s that Snell?!” 34 starting minutes for 12/3/2, hitting 4-11 but missed all 6 from deep. Know your range! Had a couple nice plays and had 4-5 FT, I really hope he’s not back to DNPs when Mike Dunleavy is back…
Enes Kanter – You’ll never stop the Enes! See, all he needed was a slight push from someone on the bench to get rolling. 23/16/0/2/1, shocking with those steals and blocks, but also chipped in a 3PTM. Definitely needs to be owned, but I’m still not a huge Kanter guy.
Rudy Gobert – Woooo, starting line-up baby! Wish it was under better circumstances… Derrick Favors was out for personal reasons, but alas a 35 minute 14/10/1/1/1 line from the Goby Desert with 4-6 FT. That’ll work! Wish a few more blocks, but Monsieur Elbow brought the escargot!
Dante Exum – Starting 5 baby! And brought the Thundah from down undah! Well, not really, but a serviceable 15/0/5/0/0 game with 3 TO in 35 minutes. All points coming on 3PTM (5 – look at dem math skills!). Trey Burke stayed in the rotation for 10/2/2 in 24 minutes, but he’s droppable if he’s your last guy. Snyder could switch this up again, maybe they liked Exum on Brandon Knight for the D, and hey the jazz ended up winning! Doesn’t mean it’s a solidified ROS move though…
Joe Ingles – Exum isn’t a great facilitator, so another game where Ingles leads the Jazz in AST. So many Australians! It’s like Mad Max on this team! 6/4/7/2/0 with a couple of treys, and the out-of-position steals and dimes might be worth a look in deepers.
Giannis Antetokoumpo – Keeps stealing back our hearts! 5 swipes in a 13/6/3/5/0 line. Only 28 minutes though… You’ve got to be Kidd-ing me!
Ersan Ilyasova – Moved up from Kidd-ing to F-ing with me! Starts, but the six-foot Turkey only gets 17 minutes in a tough matchup against the much bigger Jazz. Kanter can’t gaurd though! I guess it was a bad fit… Still gave you something everywhere for 7/1/1/2/1 and a trey.
Zaza Pachulia – This is gonna keep up! Larry Sanders has a 10-game suspension on top of personal issues, so as many C minutes Zaza can handle are there. Only shot 4-14 yesterday, but 10/10/3 and a handful more of those C-dimes.
Jerryd Bayless – Anotherteam with a surprise main source of assists! 6/2/9/0/1. As much as I like the JBs of the world, yeah major fluke. Unlike me!
C.J. McCollum – With Paul Pierce the SF for the Wizards for tomorrow night’s game, it would be really tough to see McCollum play big minutes pushing Wesley Matthews to the 3, but CJMc could push for a little extra run if Batum is out a while.
Evan Turner – Ello Poppet! Miss Turner for 10/6/8/1/0 including the game-winning 3-pointer. But it’s no reason to go add him just because he’s on Sportscenter and flashed a sexy tripdub flirt. He’s awful!
Marcus Smart – Another game off the bench, and my anti-Smart crusade continues on. 0/3/2/2/0 on 0-5 FG in 27 minutes. It’s so weird being the anti-Smart guy! Since I’m… wearing a Smart jersey in my Avatar! And I liked him so much in college…
Kelly Olynyk – Rolled his ankle… Olynyk of Nazareth should stop playing in flip flops! He left under his own power, but looks like he could miss a few. I’m not that big on any Celtics Cs so you may drop with ease.
Brandon Bass – I lied! Kinda like Bass… Always thought he was a little underrated, and got the start last night for 13/10/5/1/1. Even if this was a matchup move and Stevens goes back to Tyler Zeller, Bass should be in line for some decent run with Olynyk likely out a little.
Mason Plumlee – What a terrible game between the Nets and Clips! At least Prof. Plum showed up. 16/3/1/2/0, but with a horrific day at the stripe for 4-11. Be ready to FT punt!
Brook Lopez – Manhandled by DeAndre Jordan. Man hands!
Jarrett Jack – 7/3/4/3/0 with a trey isn’t the worst thing in the world, but 4 TO makes it a toughie. Hey, at least he did a little in an epic blowout loss.
Markel Brown – I don’t know who this is. He got 26 minutes though! And I still don’t know… Every single player for both the Nets and Clips played except Kevin Garnett (rest) & Deron Williams (hospice).
Chris Paul – 17 dimes in 24 minutes. Would’ve been 34 if he played the whole game! Flashin’ dem math skillz!
Austin Rivers – Must pay to play for daddy! Led the junk time charge for 9/4/6. I don’t even think Steve Ballmer watched this whole game…
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Wayne Ellington (3% owned) – With Kobe Bryant out for – who knows, a while – Wayne is going to get some run, and a hungry Spurs team off that loss against the Bulls last night on national TV I think blow the Lakers out of the Alamo. Which means Nick Young will likely sit some, and Ellington will be chuckin’ up some treys in junk time. ThrAGNOF!
Patrick Patterson (19% owned) – Gotta go to your Sixers matchups! Pit-Pat was only 6/4/3 against them 5 games ago, but took 11 shots and got 28 minutes, both near-highs for him this year. Wreck that junk time, Pit-Pat!
I hope everyone had a fantastic week, enjoy your weekend with better adult beverages than Terry Stotts, and catch ya next Monday!
