With Kyle Lowry and Andrea Bargnani out of the line-up due to injury concerns, Jose Calderon started for the Raptors and finished with a triple double (18 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists), plus a block and a steal. Eventually, Lowry and Bargnani will come back and there will likely be no place left for Calderon besides the bench, but for me, Jose will always have some value. He still remains in the top 12 in APG, while he won’t be having double digit assists every night (who is he, Rajon Rondo?), if he produces half of what he did on Sunday, that’s still excellent value for where you got him (probably waivers, given how many people dropped him). Besides Jose Calderon, there were some other highlights from Sunday evening, including the following:
Omer Asik – I was not aware that the proper way to spell Omer’s name is Ömer Aşık. It reminds me a bit of a underground metal band, or Homer Simpson’s name translated into Turkish. Anyway, the Omersexual grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 7 points and a steal. It’s his third game in a row with double digit rebounds, which, given his ups and downs the past month, means he will have 3 games of 7, 6 and 8 rebounds, followed by 11, 13 and 10 rebounds.
James Harden – I don’t need to discuss this guy, really, but I was impressed by his 14-15 free throws. He seems to get more fouls than a Tyson Chicken plant. For the season, he’s gone to the free throw line at least 9 times in 13 of 22 games. On November 23, he took 16 free throws, making all 16. He also took 16 on December 8, missing but one. Roughly 2/3 of his 25 PPG come from the free throw line, where he has a .850 shooting percentage. I find this fascinating. Guys I like, such as Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin, should really be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t just sloppy, but they hurt their teams by their inability to hit a bloody free throw (real teams or fantasy teams, that’s your preference). Anyway, Harden finished with 28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
Carlos Delfino – With 10 points, 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal, Delfino will comfortably stay on people’s watch lists. He’s 6-20 from the three point line over the past 4 games, including 2-7 last night.
Alan Anderson – With Mickael Pietrus and Jonas Valancuiunas both scoring 2 points each, Alan Anderson stepped up for 24 points to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 of 7 from downtown. Before you pop the champagne bottle, AA should be approached sober. I don’t see him approaching his points total again, even with the injuries hurting Toronto. Still, if you are hurting or looking for a streamer, he could have some minor short term value, maybe 10 PPG with a handful of peripheral stats.
Metta World Peace – The Lakers put together a nice game (for a change), and the player formerly known as Ron Artest was a big part of that, finishing with 19 points (including 3 from deep), 16 rebounds (5 offensive), an assist, 4 steals and 2 blocks. I’m surprised he’s still under 70% owned. Even inC a 10 team league, he’s worth owning.
Chris Duhon – He will be starting for the next week or two, at which point Steve Nash will return. As mentioned a few days ago, Duho will have short term value. Last night, he hit 4 (of 10) three pointers to wrap up the night with 14 points, 4 assists and a steal. Given the Lakers offensive performance, I would hope to see more than 4 points, but, you know, don’t drop anyone of value to carry Duhon.
Antawn Jamison – Saw 13 minutes of court time and finished with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 points.
Nick Young – With Jrue Holiday resting his sore foot, Young took over with 30 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. The highlight was Young swishing 6 of 12 from behind the arc.
Spencer Hawes – He had an explosive night by his standards, going for 16 points, 6 rebounds, an assist and 2 threes. He’s averaging 11/6.5/1 over the past 2 weeks, not counting this game. That’s…curious. I don’t trust Hawes, but he’s certainly making a case for himself.
Tyreke Evans – He left the game early after aggravating his sore knee. All you were able to get out of him were 2 points and a rebound.
Isaiah Thomas – He didn’t shoot well (3-10), but, as discussed earlier, if you make your free throws (in this case, 13 of 15), you can still contribute. Thomas had 20 points, which led the Kings, despite his 30% shooting from the floor. He also had 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
Jason Thompson – He and DeMarcus Cousins (19/11/1) had double doubles for Sacramento, with JT putting up 16 points, 10 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and a block. He’s been good for about 12 points and 10 rebounds all month.
Kosta Koufos – Despite only one block, Koufos had a fine game with 12 points, 7 boards (4 offensive) and an assist.
Andre Iguodala – Iggy wrecked some balls last week after James touted him, and last night, Andre finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and a steal. If I had to guess, this will probably be the last time we ever discuss Andre Iguodala, ever, ever, ever again. I mean, what could we possibly need to talk about, right? Yeah, right.
Ryan Anderson – Say what you want about Ryan Anderson, but if they aren’t nice things, you’re wrong. On the night, Anderson accumulated 26 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 7 three pointers. Anderson, he’s your Forward.
Austin Rivers – With 33 minutes, and given his past few games, we’re hoping for a big show. Drum roll, please…8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and a three. Hm. I really do need to own a paddle going down this Rivers.
Greivis Vasquez – I wonder if General Greivis will be in any of the new Disney produced Star Wars movies, or if Disney will even acknowledge the prequels much at all. As we ponder that, Vasquez dished out 11 dimes and hit 9 of 20 shots to finish with 23 points. In fact, he nearly had the triple double with 8 rebounds. When you get that kind of production, you have to ignore the 6 turnovers.
Nicolas Batum – Hell of a night for the string bean, with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks and 3 threes. If you just looked at Batum, Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alridge highlights, you’d think the Blazers were actually good.
Damian Lillard – Speaking of my choice for rookie of the year without being halfway through the season, He hit 4 three pointers, including the game winner, and concluded the festivities with 16 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, aa steal and a block.
This is a keep 11 of 14 league, H2H, daily matchups:
FG% FT% 3PTM PTS REB AST ST BLK TO
PG Ty Lawson
SG Kevin Martin
G C.J. Miles
SF Rudy Gay
PF Andre Drummond
F Al Horford
C Anderson Varejao
C Brook Lopez
Util Marcus Thornton
Util Pau Gasol
BN Josh Smith
BN Bismack Biyombo
BN Amar’e Stoudemire
BN Derrick Rose
I have to confess, as much as I hate giving 1 player for 2, especially when I will have real trouble finding people on this list not to keep as it is, I do like the deal for me.
Galli is a nice buy low, and Faried is a good big. Both are only 24.
Is it reasonable to do this?
@JT: What is the deal? I don’t see it but I could just be blind.
@James Redacted:
I’m dumb: My Gay for his Gallinari and Manimal.
Teague, Kidd, Shved, Kawhi, Richardson, Lin, Korver, Jack, Favors, Hickson, Seraphin, Nene? Pick two the best 2 as a stash?
Line up:
PG:Westbrook, Conley, Jennings
SG/SF: Durant, Gerald Wallace, JR Smith, Afflalo
PF/C: Love, Monroe, Hibbert, A. Davis
Bench:
Lin
J Rich.
I usually leave 2 spots for waiver wire and spot starts. I’m looking to stash one now. I’m weak in FG%, FT% and assists now. So far, I’m looking at Shved/JKidd/Kawhi as a stash.
Also, Any possible PG thats the equivalent value of Jennings? I’m thinking Jrue/Dragic/Rondo. Am I selling myself short? I only value Jennings for the steals. I have Westbrook and Conley it it wont pan out. The reason I’m trading Jennings away is because of the horrible FG%. With that in mind, I might also be open to dropping JR Smith unless you tell me not to.
TYIA 🙂
@Mike: In a league this shallow it’s best to roll with guys who are hot unless we’re talking a top 50 player or something. I think I’d hold onto Lin for now but Afflalo, Smith, and J-Rich aredroppable in this league. Rotate them out for the hot hand (Kidd would be my #1 option there). Smith would be my first option to drop.
Jennings for Dragic would be fairly even although you may be underselling slightly. If you want to take the hit in 3’s and FT% then Rondo would be pretty even too.
Should I pick up Waiters and drop one of these guys: Kidd/Belinelli/Hayward/Crawford/Stuckey?
Thanks.
@Randall: Drop Belini.
12 team, yahoo h2h 9-cat league. my record is 29-34. recently picked up splitter, drummond
i have been doing bad in fg%, ft%, and turnovers. what should i be looking to do? who to trade?
start PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, C, Util, Util, BN, BN, BN
Goran Dragic (Pho – PG)
Russell Westbrook(OKC – PG)
Damian Lillard (Por – PG)
Rodney Stuckey (Det- PG, SG)
Marcus Thornton(Sac – SG)
Kawhi Leonard (SA – SG,SF)INJ
Josh Smith (Atl – SF,PF)
Rudy Gay (Mem – SF,PF)
Chandler Parsons (Hou – SF,PF)
Al Horford (Atl – PF,C)
Splitter (SA – C)
Ed Davis(Tor- PF,C)
Andre Drummond (Det – PF)
thanks
@tomhimself: Drummond isn’t going to help your FT%. I would love to move Thornton, but that would leave you sparse at SG. You have some top tier point guards. Maybe you bite the bullet and move Dragic for a guy like, say, Mayo or Martin.
Hi Chris,
10 team H2H
PG: CP3, Dragic, Lowry, Rubio
SG/SF: George, Manu, Kawhi, MKG
PF/C: Pau, DMC, BroLo, Vucevic, Ed Davis
Thinking about trading Lowry, George, and DMC for KD, Ellis & Sanders. Should I go for it?
@Neel: I personally would do that. Then try to flip Ellis and Rubio for Rondo and a scoring big man. That said Ellis’s FG% could return to career levels and then you should hold him. The 40% is just painful right now. I’m an amateur and no expert so take it with a grain of salt
@Zandy: Lowry is the monkey wrench here. When healthy he’s great, but that’s the problem. That being said… you will be getting the #1 player in fantasy so I think I would do the deal. Chris may disagree because of his Cousins’ love.
@James Redacted: It seems like an okay trade, it’s not like Cousins has been hot, but it’s a bad time to move Lowry.
Would you start Klay ‘Nucky’ Thompson or Kevin ‘The Manimal’ Faried this week?
AST – Assists 2 points
BK – Blocks 1 point
PTS – Points 1 point
ST – Steals 1 point
TO – Turnovers -1 point
TRB – Total Rebounds 1 point
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY Scoring based on average per game for each stat each period- so amount of games is irrelevant pretty much.
@Jon:
Like the Nucky Thompson reference, but who is Kevin Faried?
@Hotrod: Just picked up Kevin Faried. He’s currently unowned in all leagues everywhere but as Kenneth’s first cousin (on his dadd’y side) I think he has a lot of upside and is worthy of a stash.
@Zandy: I meant Kenneth ya fantasy bullies!
@Jon: I’d go with Klay, and not just because Faried stunk last night.
@Jon: Tough call… just about a coin flip. I think I’d lean Thompson though because he’s been on an assist kick with at least 4 in 4 out of the last 5 games.
Will Jordan Crawford wake up one morning and decide “I am going to start shooting 50%+ from the field thus winning the hearts of fantasy owners everywhere and becoming the #1 selling jersey in the NBA where finally people will stop referring to me as Jamal’s younger, more handsome brother”? Seriously, will he?
@Zandy: The short answer is, no. The long answer is, nooooooo.
If we’re lucky, he’ll shoot .425 the rest of the season, but I doubt it.
@ChrisV: What type of player should I be looking for in a Crawford trade or is he more of a drop candidate? 10 team H2h
Looking at Vucevic, J Thompson, Stuckey, Ed Davis and Kidd on the wire currently
@Zandy: In a 10 team, you can probably drop him for Kidd or Vucevic, depending on what you need. He’s still a pretty solid source for threes, rebs and assists for his dual position eligibility.
@ChrisV: Would you rather hold Crawford or Wall at this point? Or does that answer the drop question in itself that I should hold both? I have 4 bench slots but Rubio is already occupying one for now
@Zandy: Crawford is a stud right now as Kevin Love is destroying my fg% single-handedly – no pun intended
@Zandy: I’d have to take a look at your team roster.
Since the season has passed the 25% completion mark, I want to see who I should shop for certain players like Bosh, Affalo, Calderon, MWP, Lowry, B. Knight, J. Crawford, Bargnani, A. Miller, S. Nash. They are players on different teams.
ESPN 16 team 8 cat; 13 roster 2 IR
My team
PG: Irving, Vasquez, Bayless
SG: P. George, Danny Green
SF: Batum, Miles, Aminu
PF: R. Anderson, Garnett
C: Jefferson, Hibbert, Kanter
IR: Kawhi Leonard
Did plenty of buy lows. And the best one was batum since I eventually lost both Lowry and Parsons from my draft.
@Yumi: You won’t get Nash when he’s so close to returning, but Bargs is a good buy low since he will be out about 2-4 weeks. Maybe you can swap Green or Aminu for Andrea, keeping in mind Aminu might be too little.
@ChrisV: Thank you!
beans beans beans! what what in the …
Nicolas Batum recorded the league’s first 5×5 line since 2006 on Sunday with 11 points, five rebounds, a career-high 10 assists, five steals and five blocks vs. the Hornets.
Batum delivered an early Christmas gift for his fantasy owners, winning untold head-to-head matchups, and in the process he became the first player to have at least 10 assists, five steals and five blocks in a game since Jamaal Tinsley in 2001. This game is the summation of all of our talk about his upside, and it’s safe to say his recent back injury is no longer a problem. Since the 1985-86 season, only seven other players have recorded 5×5 stat lines — take a guess who they were, then follow the link.
@Moez: and unfortunately he came up just short with only three 3pm, as i wanted him to get 5 of those as well.