One thing I absolutely hate, I mean really despise, is when teams relocate. I think it’s a giant middle finger to fans and a blemish on the legacy of the team. That also leads to bizarre team names, like the Lakers in L.A. and the Jazz in Utah. Speaking of the Jazz, the NBA finally returned a team to New Orleans ten years ago, but they did so by taking the team away from Charlotte. The NBA then immediately promised that Charlotte would get an expansion team within 2 years. Why not just give the expansion team to New Orleans in the first place? The answer is because it has nothing to do with the fans, or the city, or anything else but what the owners want. The owners that lock the players out, that charge exorbitant prices for everything from nose bleed seats to watered down beer, that tell you scalping is illegal but then join up with sites like Stub Hub, that make tax payers build them new arenas/stadiums/etc…no one should like owners. None of this has to do with fantasy basketball, but if I was a Charlotte fan and saw my team losing by 57 points at one point, I would continue to take my frustration out at New Orleans owner George Shinn, the Art Modell of the NBA.
Anyway, the Bobcats were awful last night. Jeff Taylor led the team with 10 points and 4 steals. Cory Higgins lead the team in assists with 3. Desagana Diop led the team with 9 rebounds. Who? Exactly. The problem with a blowout is neither team is able to take advantage, generally, as the starters from both teams sit and the bench players no one has eat up points. Well, fear not, Jeremy Lamb didn’t take advantage of a single thing, finishing with 3 points (missing all 5 of his field goals) and tallying 2 rebounds and an assist. At least Russell Westbrook, who didn’t even see 22 minutes, still earned a double double with 12 points and 11 assists.
Eric Gordon – Surprised everyone by providing information about his condition on Monday. He said his knee pain is going away, but didn’t offer anything else. My guess is we won’t see him until January, if we’re lucky.
Carmelo Anthony – Had an outstanding game with 35 points (3-5 from deep), 13 rebounds, and an assist, steal and block. However, he only hit 10-16 from the free throw line, and if you watched the game (which had a playoff vibe), he once again came up short where it counted, including missing the shot that could have won the game in the 4th quarter. Come on, Melo, get it together.
Kurt Thomas – Earned the starting job last night (Jason Kidd was out with back problems, he will be evaluated today) and saw his usual piddly minutes, finishing with 2 points and 2 rebounds.
Ronnie Brewer – Dislocated his finger, which adds to his knee swelling. This should hopefully give the Knicks (and any crazy fantasy owners) reason enough to stop starting him.
Raymond Felton – Shot 3 of 19 from the field and could not stop taking shots, even when the Knicks actually needed points. He at least had 5 assists and 3 steals.
Tyson Chandler – He hit 12 of 13 to finish with 28 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and even 2 steals. He was the Knicks best player throughout the game.
Brook Lopez – In the subway series or battle of the boroughs or the Jets/Mets/Nets will always be the inferior team series, whatever you want to call it, Lopez was an animal, putting up a team high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Deron Williams – Williams had a Rondo-esque night with 14 assists, 16 points and 3 steals. Unfortunately, he missed 5 of 6 from behind the arc.
Reggie Evans – Didn’t score (only 4 points) but still grabbed 14 rebounds, including 6 offensive. He’s useless for anything else, but if you are in a deep league, he will at least give you rebounds.
Tiago Splitter – Sp(l)it take! Tiago finished the night with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.
Manu Ginobili – Oh come, oh come Emanuel. He had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Another game with 5 dimes, and he’s is inching his per game average up from 4 to, you guessed it, 5.
Emeka Okafor – In 23 minutes as a starter, he had 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and zero blocks. He is barely rosterable in even deep leagues.
Kevin Seraphin – Meanwhile, the celestial horde went for 18 points, 7 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Jordan Crawford – I keep him around for assists, but he only had 2. However, he also shot 9-16 from the field for 19 points.
Nene Hilario – Did not play because he played too much time the last game and re-hurt his foot. Don’t be alarmed, it was just sore, not “I’m out for another 4 weeks” hurt.
LaMarcus Aldridge – I don’t talk about him much, because, you know, he’s good and stuff, but I figured I’d let you know he scored 32 and grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 2, stole 3 and blocked 3.
Kyle Singler – He’s the hot name of late, finishing another game on top, going for 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. He also went 3 for 3 from downtown. He’s already owned in my ridiculously deep league, and basically should be rostered in 14+ team leagues at this point.
Ersan Ilyasova – Off the bench, he scored 18 points and 6 rebounds, both good enough to lead the Bucks (next highest point total was 11). He also threw in a block, a steal and 2 assists
Samuel Dalembert – He finished with 2 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Epke Udoh, meanwhile, had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks. Dalembert started.
Richard Hamilton – Only 8 Bulls played last night, so Hamilton took advatange with 30 points, shooting 12 for 24 including making 2 of 2 from downtown.
Joakim Noah – Grabbed 10 rebounds (6 offensive), stole and swatted away 4 balls each. He only shot 2-8, but I’ll take 4 steals and 4 blocks. He’s good for about 2 blocks per game.
Anderson Varejao – Before last night’s game, he was averaging 17 (!) rebounds per game over the past 7 games. Last night, he hauled down 22 (8 offensive) to go with his 15 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.
Dion Waiters – When you need Waiters to give you quality service: 15 points, 3 assists and 4 steals.
Jerryd Bayless – Played heavy starter’s minutes (34) but only hit 3 of 11 from the field, yet also had 6 assists and 2 blocks.
Zach Randolph – The Grizzlies didn’t grab many rebounds, but Randolph led the team with 8 of them. He also had 19 points, tied for the team high.
Kenneth Faried – He wasn’t tired, going for 36 1/2 minutes, during which time he had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
Ty Lawson – He is averaging about 7 1/2 assists per game and gifted owners with 9 last night, along with with 16 points (0-4 from deep) and 2 steals.
Derrick Favors – From the bench, 19 points 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Jamaal Tinsley – He led the team in minutes (35:18) and finished with 15 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. I love these guards who throw in random blocks. He’s averaging 6 assists per game but only 0.1 blocks.
Grievis Vasquez – Came roaring back with 25 points (5 threes), 10 assists, 6 rebounds and an unfortunate 8 turnovers.
Robin Lopez – Medicore night with 4 points, 2 boards, and 1 block.
Blake Griffin – Blake is one of the major reasons the Clippers lost to the Hornets. He had dreadful shooting, missing 8 of 9 to finish with 4 poitns. He also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
DeAndre Jordan – Started at Center and accumulated a whopping 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block. He’s been on a downward slide (as opposed to upwards slide?) over the past week.
