So my lead on Tuesday morning about Derrick Rose disappearing on his team (Gone Girl 2 – Gone Rose!) I thought would be a pretty bad low point for the Poppycockers. But I dunno, I think they may have hit it last night! Rose was surprisingly vintage Rose – considering all the rumors he wanted a buy out or the Knicks should suspend him for a while – for 25/2/4/1/0 on 11-16 shooting. That said, he was -21 in a 1-point loss, while the bench kept the Knicks in it. In the end though, the Poppycockers just didn’t have an answer for this new, upstart PG who is taking his offensive game in the league by storm! And of course I’m talking about T.J. McConnell!
Melo, you just got skeeted on! “What is that in your hair?! Is that hair gel?!” “No, Melo, it’s Dapper Dan!” Yup, hit the buzzer-beater to beat the Knicks 98-97, for NY’s 9th loss of their last 10. To quote the immortal Friends like I love to do, “There’s rock bottom, then 50-feet of crap, then” the Knicks! But hat’s off (because it would mess up the gel) to T.J. running away with the Sixers PG job, playing a team-high 34 minutes of 8/6/7/2/0 on 4-6 shooting with 2 TO. Pretty solid, efficient line. On the flip side, Sergio Rodriguez is turning into melted White Chocolate, going 14 minutes of 2/1/4/0/0 on 1-7 shooting with 3 TO. The two could still flip flop, but T.J. has always been a Brett Brown guy, and this was a pretty big moment. Dapper D should probably be owned in all 12ers, although if you have AST locked down, I’m not sure what else you’ll be happy with. 2 steals in 4 straight is nice I guess, but no 3s, low scoring, bad FG%… Wait, why do I hate on this guy but love Ricky Rubio?! I guess it’s all in the spiciness, baby! Here’s what else went down in fantasy hoops action last night:
Joel EMBIIIIIIID – Got to face off against KOQ! 21/14/1/1/1 for EMBIIIIIIID, hitting a trey and 6-7 FT. Awesome line, AND only 1 TO! This is only his third game on the SEASON with less than 2 TO. Yeesh. Apparently had a kankle scare, but all ended well.
Nerlens Noel – 13/8/1/2/0 in 21 minutes. Although, the TO for this big reared its ugly head again – 2 TO after being a lot less butterfingery thus far in 16-17, compared to his career norms.
Carmelo Anthony – Despite being possibly pushed off at the buzzer there, had a decent game, going 28/2/1/0/3 with 2 treys. Had to get played 37 minutes with his balky knees in what ended up being a loss to Philly… Panic at the disco!
Kyle O’Quinn – Even though he’s been a dirty KOQ lately after that flagrant II against Brow the other night, had a big game, going 10/15/3/2/2 in 24 minutes. We all know what happens when you trust KOQ though, the minutes go flaccid.
Brandon Jennings – As expected with Rose somehow avoiding a team sanction and starting, got only 24 minutes for 9/3/2. Back to the streaming class until Rose is MIA again…
John Wall – Getting an MRI on his finger and wrist. He shot 4-21, so OF COURSE he complained it was something to do with an injured hand. Hah! Or maybe he injured his hand when he tried to fight The Boston Clam Crowdah, I dunno…
9/7/10/3/1 with only 1 TO will still get you through though…
Bradley Beal – Tried to be the All-Star Wall wanted to keep the Wiz in this one at BOS, but 6 treys and 35 points wasn’t quite enough. He’s playing well though!
Otto Porter – RotoSkeet! I thought about asking Grey to change Razzball to that name, but he wasn’t buying in… 20/6/5/3/0 on 9-12 shooting with no TO for the Roto god.
Jae Crowder – Speaking of the Boston Clam Crowder, 20/5/1/1/1 in his own Roto god showing, on 7-10 shooting with 4 treys and no TO. The Crowder is hot in wintah! Which is nice to see after it was cold Crowder for the previous few games…
Jordan Mickey – Wait, he was on the Celtics active roster still?! Got a start with Amir Johnson out with a kankle, but only got 14 minutes (4/2/1/0/1). Bleh.
Al Horford – Doin’ his thang! Just wanted to mention his rainbow – 16/9/3/2/2 with 2 treys.
Marcus Smart – Was on quite the upswing until last night, going only 3-11 FG for 9/4/4/0/0. I’m still going to be staying at a Holiday Inn Express with one of my last roster spots in a 12er…
Montrezl Harrell – Only 20 minutes with Nene only getting 15?! Wow, Rockets going small against KAT?! Yeah, no wonder they got upset here – weird… Trezl did have some foul trouble, but I would expect a bounce back.
Patrick Beverley – Not much else to mention for the Rockets here – they shot only 41.4%, James Harden has his usual line, and PBev is still ailing with a bad wrist. 0-5 FG, but still racks up a 0/3/4/3/1 line. They need Eric Gordon back, who is out with a big toe injury?! Just saw that toe off, let’s go!
Karl-Anthony Towns – Since the Rockets decided to put small guys on him, KAT went ham for 23/18/5/1/3 on 10-17 shooting. As I mentioned on this morning’s Pod, the TO are really annoying though, considering he vastly improved his AST:TO last year (1.4:2.1 pre-ASB, 3.0:2.5 post-ASB, 3.0:2.7 in 16-17). I was hoping it would keep trending up!
Andrew Wiggins – Nice bounce back off a dreadful game, going 28/4/2/0/1 with 3 TO. Bathed in some maple syrup after the last one…
Ricky Rubio – As mentioned in the open, a very T.J. McConnell-esque line of 10/3/17/1/0 with only 1 TO on 1-5 shooting. Gotta love the 8-8 FT!
Brandon Rush – Got 36 minutes as the starting SG with Zach LaVine missing his first game on the year with a bruised hip. Gotta keep those hips fresh for the dunk contest! I almost just wrote this blurb in passing, not expecting Rush to have done anything bit hit treys, but what in the rainbow?! 12/3/3/3/2 with no TO and 4 treys. Whoa. Might be an interesting stream tomorrow if LaVine is still out, but it doesn’t seem like too serious an injury…
Shabazz Muhammad – Maybe your biggest #D’Antoni benefactor! 20/7/1 on 7-11 shooting in 30 bench minutes. Instant O!
Chandler Parsons – Well, slightly looking up?! 14 points and a steal in 18 minutes on 7-12 shooting – pretty empty since he was 0-3 from deep – but looked pretty good out there to me! All we need is slow improvements…
Marc Gasol – Man, the OKC bigs freight-trained him inside, but he had his rainbow for 9/7/7/2/2 with no TO. That said, 4-12 shooting and 1-3 FT. Needs that shot back!
Russell Westbrook – Tripdub. Yawn. Although I kinda go ballistic every time he shoots 3s. 0-7 again last night, shooting 6-19 overall. That’s 6-12 inside the arc, and 50% is plenty efficient and useful, ya bum!
Enes Kanter/Steven Adams – Turning into the best twin towers in the league. 39 minutes for Adams for 12/8/1/1/2, and 30 for Kanter (as they’re getting more and more run next to each other), going 19/13/3/2/0. They’re both men amongst boys inside. To get into their paint, you have to pay the troll toll to get inside this boy’s soul!
DeAndre Jordan – Oh man, he turned his awesome hair into corn rows! Boooooo! Looks less menacing to me with that extra 4 inches of hair braided down… Anyway, 10/20/1/2/3 for his typical outing.
Austin Rivers – Returned to daddy’s team from illness, going 9/4/5/0/0 on 3-7 shooting. Tough to find his game with everyone healthy! And that doesn’t include Blake Griffin still out! I think you can move on, 2-4 FT again is mad annoying.
Aaron Gordon – Speaking of mad annoying, why can’t A-Gor play like this every night?! And why can’t he get D stats as an athletic freak?! 28/3/3/0/0, but hit 11-17 FG and 4 treys. He’s turned into KCP’s version of a SF/PF… Although with a bad FT% and REB instead of STL… Yeah, it’s not as good.
Elfrid Payton – Put him back on the Shelfrid and off the bench, ahhhhhh! Not playing nearly as well when he comes out as the starter, going 6/2/3/0/0 with 2 TO in 23 minutes. Given this was against CP3 and the Clippers though, so I’m not losing ALL hope.
Nikola Vucevic – Also starting again, as Vogel is reverting back to the old starting 5… But maybe it was a tactical move since Serge Ibaka sat with a shoulder injury. He was a game-time decision and hopes to play tomorrow, so Serge should be back for ya.
LeBron James – What is happening to the Cavs?! Lost by 16 in Portland on a snowy night, with BronBron going 20/11/4/1/1. Kevin Love had to leave for a hot minute due to a leg injury, but returned and was his usual boring 5-15 FG 17/8/1 self. Remember when he broke a record for scoring in the first quarter or some crap?! He’s struggled mightily the last 5…
Kyle Korver – 25 minutes, no treys, 2 points. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
Kyrie Irving – Speaking of struggling, 4-16 FG for only 11/3/1/2/0 with 3 TO against a team not really known for their defense… Get the kinks out now, Cleveland!
Al-Farouq Aminu – 11/12/2/0/1. Woo. Hoo. He’s like MKG! Except he can’t shoot at all! 5-16 FG, lowering his season FG% to 34.5%. Who green lit this guy to shoot 16 shots last night?!
C.J. McCollum – Was guard 1A to Damian Lillard‘s 1B in the win, going 27/4/2/1/4 on 11-20 shooting. Man, he’s good…
Allen Crabbe – CrabNOF! 24/4/1/1/0 on 9-11 shooting. Stream the Crabby while hot! Have a crab pot! Add him to your team, and temporarily call it “Joe’s Crabbe Shack”! Do it! Do it!
Thanks for dropping by today, and I hope everyone has had a strong first half to their week 12! Throw me some comments to keep up over the weekend, and I’ll catch you again bright-n-early on Monday morning. Have a great weekend, Razzball Nation!
