To Dennis Green and the Arizona Cardinals, the 2006 Chicago Bears were who they thought they were.
To Caitlyn Jenner, Bruce Jenner pre-2015 wasn’t who she thought he was.
And to fantasy basketball owners, Derrick Favors hopefully isn’t who he’s looking like he is. Or was. Or could be.
What is it about Favors that makes us ignore his inconsistent ways and clamor for him to be on our teams year after year?
Maybe it’s the allure of a rebounding power forward who could easily average a 20-10 with at least a block a game. Maybe it’s his name, which just sounds stud-ish.
But if you have Favors on your team, he probably frustrates you, right? He’ll go on a run, mixing double-doubles with mid-20s scoring nights, and then he’ll plop one or two turdburgers in the middle – like his five-point, seven-rebound Friday the 13th horror show – which might have cost you in a head-to-head matchup.
It’s tempting to say ah, he’s 24, he’ll become more consistent. But if you go back and look at his season-long game logs, you’ll start to hear the ghost of 2006 Dennis Green again … he just might be what we thought he was.
Favors’ 2014-2015 game log is a veritable roller coaster of numbers. All season long, he strung together three, four really good games in a row, and then phhhfffft, one or two stinkers that are completely out of character.
Most infuriating of all is his inability to stay above 10 boards a game for any length of time – he’s only averaging 9.1 rpg to go along with 15.8 ppg and 1.7 bpg.
As a Favors’ owner, I’m thinking I might wait until he goes full-on beast mode – a nice double-double run with a 30-point game mixed in – and then push hard on a sell high.
Makes me sad to even think about. So let’s see what else is shaking in the world of Boards-N-Blocks.
Paul George – One of my former crushes starting to get to my heart again by grabbing a career high 8.8 rpg to go along with a career high 24.3 ppg (both pre-last night). He’s not a fan of analytics, and as far as my fantasy team is concerned, neither am I. Just keep scarfing up those bricks!
Terrence Jones – Has “found his offense,” as Kevin McHale put it, which has surely made J.B. as happy as a little girl. And yeah, I liked the three and four blocks he posted in his last two games, both 23-point outings, but when will Jones “find his rebounding”? With nothing else to hang his hat on other than the ability to score double-digits, Jones is a little cream puffy.
Steven Adams – Are your opponents having your guts for garters in the rejection department? Is your roster choc-a-block with dodgy big men? The Kid Kiwi, as he’s called in OKC, might be your bloke, despite the facts that he doesn’t really rebound well for a 7-footer and that the now-defunct Grantland once had a “Who Will Punch Steven Adams in the Face” power rankings. Still, I like that he’ll get you some swats and also keep that FG percentage up (he’s shooting 61% from the floor). Brilliant!
Mason Plumlee – Finally returned to double-digits in boards after a five-game absence. There’s a long list of things going on in Portland right now that I really don’t like, and Plumlee is right at the top.
Kristaps Porzingis – The Latvian Nightmare has brought Knicks fans out of the woodwork; people whose most recent NBA memory was Charles Oakley throwing someone to the floor are suddenly talking New Yawk hoops. But I’m not really sure why. At this point, is he that much better than Plumlee? Is he that much different? From a B-N-B perspective, I say no.
Joakim Noah – Two really good, classic Noah games – 3-11-1 and 3-18-1 – followed by what was looking like a bit of a stinker, even by his standards, last night against the Pacers. It’s looking like he could end up getting back into the starting lineup in ChiTown, so I’d pick him up if he’s out on your wire for whatever reason (he actually was in one of my leagues).
Jahlil Okafor – There have been some mediocre players with great stats on bad teams (think everyone on the Sixers not named Jahlil Okafor) and then there are great players with great stats on bad teams, and that my friends is Jah. He’s a double-double threat every night, and his instincts are quick enough that he should get you at least a block a game. In last night’s loss (what else) to the Mavs, he put up 19-11-1 and looked like he was playing Nerf hoops against Dwight Powell on the offensive end.
Dwight Howard – Putting up some pretty eye-popping numbers of late: 18.7 ppg, 15.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg over his last four heading into last night’s game against Boston.
Kyle O’Quinn – It’s Garbage Day! O’Quinn had one semi-decent game to start the season (10 points, 10 boards) and somehow earned a spot on way too many fantasy rosters. After getting less than 10 minutes of court time over his last two, it’s time to grab the “Remote Control” and change the channel from Colin O’Quinn to someone else.
