I know Hibbert will get most of the press from last night, after his immediate statsplosion following Jim O’Brien’s firing. For my money though, Paul George is your Indiana pickup here. Either him or the chubby girl with the mall perm. Oh wait, that’s every Indianapolis pickup. Hi-o! What did you do to deserve such treatment, Indianapolis? Reggie Miller. That’s what. Anyway, while everyone heaped on Obie for playing Mommy Dearest with Hibbert, much less press focused on the absence of Indy’s first-round draft pick. The dude didn’t play for most of December. And it wasn’t until these last 10 days that he’s been on the court for more than an eye-blink or two. In his last five games – all of which George played more than 24 minutes – he’s averaged a line of .535/.727/0.8 3pt/13.2 pts/3.4 rbd/1.2 ast/1.2 stl/0.8 blk/1.4 tov in 27 mpg. Don’t drop Granger for him, but George can do a little bit of everything and should continue to get the minutes to prove it. I’d say any leagues with more than 14 teams should be more curious about George than any other man in yellow.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy basketball yesterday:
Roy Hibbert – 24/11 with two steals and two blocks. More miraculous is that he managed to hit the 30 minute-mark for just the second time all month. O’Brien may be gone, but those fouls are still a problem. In October, Hibbs averaged a foul every 9.5 minutes. In November, he averaged a foul every 8.2 minutes. December it was back to 9.5 and in January it was 9.3.
Mike Conley – 26/2/11, as it was Conley’s first ever 20/10 double-double. It was also his second double-double in as many games.
Yi Jianlian – 14/10, 4 steals. “Yeah, son. That’s what I been sayin’ to you. Gotta get that rock, gotta dip for them balls, kid. Knaw’ mean? Work them rips. Work them rips.” – Nick Young confusing the hell out of Yi during a timeout
Brandon Bass – Was helped off the court last night and didn’t return. His MRI came back negative (a positive!) but more tests are on their way, which could lead to a negative (an actual negative this time). I don’t need to tell you what this means.
J.J. Redick – Redick missed Monday’s game with a minor shoulder injury that shouldn’t keep him out more than a game or two. To clarify, the team said it was minor, not Redick. Hedo had to apply product to Redick’s hair before the game because Redick couldn’t fully lift his arm to properly spike and tousle it himself. If that’s a minor emergency than this world isn’t ready for a major one.
Hedo Turkoglu – Hedo’s shot .265 (9-for-34) in the last week, as clearly his back continues to bother him.
Manny Harris – 20/5 on Monday to go with his 20/6 on Sunday. He’s had three 20+ point games in the last three weeks and the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame is strongly considering moving its ass to Cincinnati.
Mike Miller – For the next month, the role of Udonis Haslem will be played by Mike Miller. M&M has dub-dubbed in three of his last five games. The other two games in that span? Mike Miller played the role of Juwan Howard.
Kenyon Martin – 5/6/2 as his sore knee has kept K-Mart from getting much lift from his jumps or being anything but whiny on long team flights. Oh, that knee!
Brook Lopez – The new 7 ‘n’ 7 poster boy hasn’t grabbed eight rebounds in a game since January 12. Kris Humphries really never thought Lopez would go for his plan to grab all the high ones by jumping while Lopez would grab all the low ones by watching the ground for any loose balls.
Anthony Morrow – He sank four treys on his way to 18 points. He’s scored at least 16 in four of his last five. He’ll do it to you if you let him.
Travis Outlaw – Scored 21 for the first time since December 3. I keep thinking Travis Outlaw is Bo Outlaw. I’m not sure Bo Outlaw scoring 21 would be any less surprising.
Andrea Bargnani – He shot 3-of-15 and ended with a 12/5/1 line. I think everyone on the Raptors had this exact same line last night.
Paul Millsap – Skillsap, already bugged by an injured thumb, dislocated his left pinkie but double-doubled anyway (14/12, with a block). Tomorrow: the index fingers. And he’ll keep messing up digits until he finds one that makes him the 18/10 player he knows he can be!
C.J. Miles – 20/2/2. Now watch. Dollars to donuts says he tanks in his next game against Houston.
Andrei Kirilenko – Filled up the stat sheet (13/11/3/2/3). Unfortunately, that sheet included turnovers (7), personal fouls (4) and an injury (ankle sprain, left in a walking boot, is day-to-day).
D.J. Augustin – 20/8/7 last night. He’s averaging 18/3/7 under Paul Silas after averaging 14/3/6 with Larry Brown. Jrue story.
Ersan Ilyasova – Quietly playing like someone who isn’t ignored by the majority of fantasy leagues. He’s averaging 18/7, with a three and two steals in his last three games. Worth a pick-up in most leagues while he’s hot.
Keyon Dooling – 11/2/8, with a trio of steals in what may be his last start before Brandon Jennings returns. It was weird while it lasted, Keyon.
Randy Foye -20/5, and has averaged 19/3.5, with 2.3 3ppg since babysitting Eric Gordon‘s starting role. It’s true that he’s doing a heckuva impression of Gordon. It’s the 2009 Gordon (17/3, 2 3ppg), but whatever.
DeAndre Jordan – The Highlander scored a season-high 16 points along with seven boards and five blocks. That sensation you are feeling is the quickening.
Emeka Okafor – A strained oblique muscle will not only end his consecutive games played streak at 306, but it will lay him low for 7-21 days. “Wussy.” – Derek Fisher, who hasn’t missed a game since February 2005. His secret? Do very little while on the court. No impact, means no injury.
