When the Obamacare website launched, it was a lot like the Nuggets. Load errors, mental mistakes, and only 6 people actually showed up because George Karl got fired. But after JaVale McGee went down (I bet the Nuggets wish their healthcare bills were free!), the 1-3 Nuggets are now 11-6. Coinky-dink? I think not! J.J. Hickson has been great at the 5 fillin’ in for Shaqtin-a-McGee, but it was Timofey Mozgov who has stolen the show the past two games, with 15+/15+ back-to-back including 17/20 against the hapless Nets last night. But a trend is a-surfacing as Hickson has been under 18 minutes in those games while Mozgov was over 30. Hickson is still starting, but Mozgov is just being a straight Godzilla out there against opposing B-teams. I’m not ready to completely hand over the torch – I think Mozzy Bear getting in there was just matchup-based and Hickson gets back to the 30 minute range and Mozgov to the low-to-mid 20s. But if you need boarding and scoring help, Mozgov is available in a lot of leagues and can still be valuable with that sort of run. Pete even put him on the radar! Now he’s in full view. Even 12-teamers needing the big man help need to take the flyer while they can. Here’s what else went down last night in the hoops-o-sphere:
Michael Carter-Williams – Trip-dub! Dub-step! Is dub-step still in? I dunno, but MCW sure is! 27/12/10 with 3 steals for a triple double in the 2OT game vs. the Magic. If he hadn’t have missed that time with the foot injury, we’d be hailing him as the king of fantasy sports. Crazy he’s up to 3.1 spg right now. Still will be inconsistent, but the upside is uber-elite. Also remain worried about the foot flaring up. I’d field ridiculous offers, but not shopping.
Victor Oladipo – Trip-dub times two! Sextuplet-double! Or something like that… 26/10/10 with 3 steals and only 3 TOs. Mr Multi Cat! I think that’s his official nickname. I don’t think people will give you fair offers for him, hold steady.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Broke his hand. How many hands can be broken within a week? NBA players need to chew on some Caltrate or something! After the plantar fascitis flared up over the holiday, I said he was droppable virtually everywhere, and I guess he got mad and punched the well. Well not really, he got hurt trying to drive. What is he Paul Walker?! Too soon, man… Too soon… I’ve seen reports it’s his ring finger so I guess that means his knuckle or something, but either way, he’ll be out a while. Jeffery Taylor gets a slight boost, but as I talked about with El Burro yesterday, I think Anthony Tolliver will get starts as a vet presence with Taylor getting more minutes as the first forward off the bench. Tolliver should get a look as well in the deepest of deep leagues (REL, cough, REL), especially considering Taylor only had 3 minutes last night.
Nate Robinson – Banged his shooting wrist so hard it needed X-Rays. They came back negative. I wonder if they had to use the kid’s X-Ray. “Why is that really bad basketball player getting his arm X-Rayed mommy? He get a boo-boo too?”
DeMarcus Cousins – Had a precautionary DNP with a sore ankle. “My kankle is all kankly!” Joked after the game he would sit out all year for a comeback commercial. Burn Derrick Rose! Deep burn!
Arron Afflalo – 43 points. Yes you read that correctly. No, that’s not his player rating on NBA 2K14. Is it in 100 intervals? I can’t remember after the NBA Live days… I used to go nuts on that with the Lakers on Super Nintendo! 43/6/5 slash shooting 14-27 and aided by the overtime to get 53 minutes. Not much I’m going to do about it, you hold em if ya got em, I’m not trading anything for him.
Glen Davis – 33 points. Another non-typo. Man the Sixers can’t play D! Another guy who got 51 minutes for a 33/3/3 line. How can a PF in 51 minutes only get 3 boards?! Sheesh. Nikola Vucevic was out as well, but the Magic had 34 boards in a 2OT game without him…. Unreal. Mozgov had 20 himself!
Evan Turner – 24/6/5 but 8 TOs and shot only 7-16 with no threes. I just hate Evan Turner. Nice production but, meh.
Khris Middleton – I still like him, got a start, got 33 minutes, a decent 14/4/3 line with three treys. Nice deep league option that’s being passed on.
Brandon Knight – Started 1-9, but ended 5-15 for 15/4/6 with three threes and remarkably no turnovers. Who were the Bucks playing, some scrub guards like, I dunno, the Celtics? Ding ding ding! I still like Knight a lot though, 30+ minutes again, he boards a little, bangs treys a little, should be owned everywhere.
John Henson – A little disappointing in another start, going only 29 minutes for 11/5/2 with a block. I still like him more than Big Baby. Narrowly over Mozzy Bear, but it’s damn close. Still like the Bucks to develop more and more as the season wears on.
Jared Sullinger – Neared a rainbow! 12/8/2/2/1 in 35 minutes. Kelly Olynyk is out with a bum ankle. God was like, “Son, I told you to wear the outdoor sandals when you’re wandering the desert!” Sully is fine as a dub-dub threat, but I don’t buy season-long production at his level the past few weeks. Brad Stevens scares the hell outta me. Maybe his long-time girlfriend is getting a clue about an upcoming proposal. “Brad is playing Jared a lot, I wonder… If he… Did he… Yes, he went to Jared!” Stevens could be married, I dunno, I ain’t fact-checkin’ that one!
Andre Drummond – Becoming the very typical line for him. 10/18, no assists because he doesn’t know how to pass, 2 steals because, well, let’s be honest he lives in Detroit, only one block – they’re down a little than was expected – and 2-6 at the FT line which actually RAISED his FT% to 32. Hah! Such an interesting player for fantasy – elite in Rebs/Stls, fine in Pts, FG% (the % is elite but he doesn’t shoot much) and Blks, then destroys you in Asts and FT%. He’s the rainbow of fantasy players! But don’t say that to his face, ruins his street cred.
Greg Monroe – May be a little undervalued. I love Monroe. 16/6/5/1/2 and taking a page from J Smoove‘s book learning how to multi-cat. Like in whatever-the-hell that Dougie song is about, “Lemme teach ya how to multi-cat!” Smoove was a block away from his rainbow as well. But Smoove can’t shoot going 7-21 (0-4 3PTM) while Monroe killed it at 8-10.
Michael Beasley – Dwayne Wade sat out with bad knees, giving Beasley 31 minutes for 23/4 ball. The minutes will only be there with injuries and late scratches, but I have a feeling down the stretch he’s gonna get a lot of run with those factors thrown in. Keep your eye out late in the 2nd half.
Andray Blatche – After calling him an own in most leagues, was decent with 15/6/1 last night in only 24:04. But it’s…
Alan Anderson – … A little surprising Blatche didn’t get more run with AA getting 30 minutes. Anderson has been in the 20s most games, but I think he’s a bit undersized as a 3, where he started last night. Although against Wilson Chandler/Jordan Hamilton it makes sense. I remember loving Anderson on my teams as a Raptor last year, but besides Blatche, the fringe guys horrify me on this team. Still, a near rainbow effort of 8/4/3/3/1 is encouraging. Maybe AA is in a 12-step program to become the fantasy asset he was in stretches last year.
Ed Davis – Of course would have a career game against me in the REL. Just been unreal for me in that league. 21/12 with 2 blocks in 33 minutes getting the start. Zach Randolph was a scratch with a bad toe giving the Grizz bigs some minutes. But Davis is filtering into the rotation after the Marc Gasol knee injury with 10+/7+ in the past 3 with multi blocks in 3 of the last 4. Worth a deeper league look.
Jon Leuer – Was riiiiiiiddddddiiiicccuulllooouusss! 10-13 23/9 with three blocks in 30 minutes. Got the PT with all the injuries, but man… Ran with it! The Suns bigs could not play worse defense. Not too much of a takeaway as Z-Bo should be back by their next game, but if more injuries go down, Leuer would be a guy to look for in deeper leagues.
Kosta Koufos – Somehow got overshadowed even though he’s the big to own, flirting with a beautiful rainbow himself of 14/12/2/1/2. I like KK a lot. Maybe a good nickname would be “The Double Strikeout!” At least it’s not three strikeouts…
Gerald Green – Only 24 minutes off the bench for 6/0/3/0/0/0 shooting 1-8. Worth a stash in the deepest of leagues as Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe haven’t been able to stay healthy, but I’ve been saying he’ll be cuttable as soon as he’s back on da pine.
Morris Brothers – This time Marcus was better, usually it’s been Markieff, let’s throw the whole thing off! Suns bigs were brutal in this game… Moving on.
Al Jefferson – If only someone said he was a great buy low! 19/12 with 3 blocks shooting 6-10. I love you big Al. Perfect big to usher the terrible Bobcats into the 2014 awesome Hornets.
Gerald Henderson – I think gets the smallest of boosts with MKG out. Means he could move to the 3 at times. A very boring 16/3/0/1/0 last night but shot 7-11 and could step up. Gus Ayonin’!
IT2 – Crazy line of 24/0/3/4/0. Usually you just fall into a rebound! Also had no TOs. In the box score it just looked funny. Love what he’s doing and think he keeps it up. You never are hoping for it, but I think a Greivis Vasquez injury (or, more optimistically, a trade) would make IT2 a dynamite fantasy option.
Derrick Williams – Yaaaawwwwwnnnnn. What is it, “yawnstipating” I think Grey calls it? 5-10 13/0/0/1/0 in 27 minutes. A PF without a board in 27 minutes? Big Baby musta taught him how to box out! Just never been a fan.
Golden State Warriors – Came back from 27 down, including a 42-15 4th quarter, to beat the terrible Raptors. The shooters got hot at the right time and the rest is history!
Jonas Valanciunas – 8/6 with a block getting 27 minutes. So effing annoying. I think Rob Ford is running this team and calling the rotations while cracking out in his den.
Amir Johnson – Got benched to “motivate” and it “worked”. 16/10/1/1/1. Worth looking at your wire and seeing if what he did last year helps you now – think he’ll be close to that.
Marquis Teague – Hold the phone D-League, he’s staying up! Mike James has an injury and my ridiculously, terribly, horribly conceived FAAB buy of Teague in REL might pay off a little. It was more for the future, but whatever! This literally has no merit for virtually any other league, but Kirk Hinrich always gets hurt so someone will have to play when that happens…
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Has already grown an inch this year and might pull a David Robinson and be a 7-footer after being drafted as a 6’9 guy. People grow while in the NBA?! Hilarious! Not much of a takeaway right now, but think that’s as good a place to sign off…
Next Game: I’m back with the Yahoo highlights! I’ve got Pacers @ Jazz in what should be an utter beat down. The biggest thing will be looking at how Trey Burke can keep improving on his ascent into the starting role and the good stats he’s been putting up. Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the full Wednesday slate of games!
