Chris Paul sat out his fifth game yesterday. That, along with Caron Butler‘s recent tweak, paved the way for Mo Williams to get his minutes up. It’s all I can do not to mention Williams’ 77 points and eight three-pointers in his last three games, except that I just mentioned it. So now we’re in a pickle. If you happened to add Mo to your roster, you’re fat ‘n’ happy, jack. But don’t get used to it. It’s 10:15 for Cinderella and the carriage horses are freaking out about turning back into mice. Butler returned yesterday, Paul is likely back for Wednesday’s game and you’ve got no mo’ chances for Williams to go off like he did this weekend. He’ll see a minutes bump until he cools down. My guess is, the heat will decline along with his minutes. Here’s what else happened over the weekend in fantasy basketball.
Francisco Garcia – Likely to start Monday in place of the recently hospitalized John Salmons. He had three steals and a block in his last start, which was equal to the combined total of his points, assists and rebounds. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have … the Francs of life.
Kemba Walker – 16/6/4, with a steal, a three and three turnovers in relief of D.J. Augustin‘s inflamed big toe. Ding-dong. Who’s there? Big minutes and cheap assists. Oh well, then come on in. Wonderful. I can’t stay long. Augustin isn’t likely to miss a lot of time. I’ll leave when he gets here. So sad. Would you like a wine cooler while you wait? That would be splendid.
Shaun Livingston – 10/5/5, with 2 steals, starting in place of the benched Stephen Jackson (10/4/1). Livingston is a hot pickup. Mostly because he’s very likely to burn his owners.
Ersan Ilyasova – 16/6, with a steal in 21 reserve minutes. Just like last year, with the exception of maybe Bogut, I avoid owning all Bucks because all Bucks avoid giving consistent performances from game to game. He’s had 11 and nine rebounds in the two games leading up to this one, but only three and nine points, to go along with it.
Jerryd Bayless – Made his second debut of the season after failing to make a solid debut in early December. This debut felt more like a real debut as he assisted on five buckets and stole the ball twice. He also messed with Joe Kettle’s mojo (3/2/4, in 24 minutes). We won’t know how successful this debut is until we compare it to all the other debuts he’ll have later this season.
Amir Johnson – Benched after three quarters, one point, one board and seven minutes on the court. Mix it all together and what do ya got? A sloppy bucket of yuck. He’s been having a fair amount of yuck buckets lately.
Leandro Barbosa – When DroBo finds 21 mpg a game, he’s doing a lot with it. The problem with Toronto is that he’s not always finding 21 mpg. I don’t like his usefulness in any league with fewer than a dozen teams. Anything more than that, I love ‘im.
Ray Allen – Sprained ankle and missed the rest of the game. He said he’d try to make tonight’s matchup. “Anything you can do, I can do two weeks longer.” – Dwyane Wade. Mickael Pietrus is the add if Allen’s optimism turns out to be unfounded.
Avery Bradley – Six turnovers and 1-for-8 shooting. He is not the Rondoid you seek.
Deron Williams – Came one rebound shy of a triple-double. Hey, remember triple-doubles. Those were fun, back when players earned those, huh?
Tiago Splitter – He’s found his way into 20 mpg in four of his last seven games, including Saturday’s 25/10/4 performance. This won’t become the norm, but he’s worth an add in deep leagues and a stash in shallower ones as both Duncan and Blair will see more time off as the season continues. The takeaway here is that Popp is starting to trust the guy. Popp’s trust is never a bad thing.
Spencer Hawes – Doug Collins said he hopes Hawes is ready to go tonight after missing the last three games with an Achilles injury. The Sixers are only playing the lowly Wiz, and there’s rarely a reason to rush a player back just to watch JaVale McGee do something stupid. That said, Vucevic is listed as doubtful, and the Sixers are thin in the frontcourt without either bigs.
JaVale McGee – 13/3, with 3 blocks in 31 minutes. How does a guy who can jump over three midgets stacked on one another’s shoulders only grab three rebounds? What a schmoo. (Hey, if the pill’s too bitter, D.C., stop getting sick.)
Bismack Biyombo – 11/7, with 2 steals and 4 blocks last night. The Bismack Guarantee™: If he sees at least 11:30 minutes of playing time, he WILL earn you a block. I just give you the information. I don’t tell you what to do with it.
Tyler Hansbrough – The good news is that PsychoT grabbed 7+ rebounds for the first time in 10 games. The bad news is he shot 0-for-5 and scored 0 points. Also, that 7 rebounds thing was really just bad news dressed up as good news. I’m a glass-1/10-full kind of guy.
Mike Miller – 0-for-1 in 19 minutes. Pop quiz, hotshot: What’s a hot shooter if not someone who shoots the ball? Answer: Why, any of the Miami Heat wings, of course.
Chris Bosh – Career high, for Bosh! … in turnovers. With eight. Fooled you!
