So the Daily Notes usually focuses on a short-term look at the past (i.e. the games yesterday!), but we’re going to do something a little different today in the open.
With week 20 abreast (so underused!), in standard H2H scheduling it’s the final week of the regular season. In other leagues it’s the first week of the playoffs or nearing the end in Roto, so any way you slice it, it’s the most important week so far, OK?!
And in this most important week, those ridiculous New York Poppycockers have five games. Five! So all of their not-must-ownable schlubs suddenly have the appeal of Elisabeth Shue in The Saint. Mmmmmmm!
A quick comparison – Langston Galloway since the break (aka Carmelo Anthony shutdown) is 10.8/5.0/2.5/1.3/0.4 with 1.3 3PTM and 1.4 TO. So lets compare that, with say, Bradley Beal. His 14.9/3.8/3.0/1.3/0.3 is a smidge stronger with 1.7 3PTM and 1.9 TO, and Beal is a much, much better player. But his 3 game week you’d get roughly 45/11/9/4/1 with 5 3s and 6 TO, compared to The Harlem Renaissance for 54/25/20/7/2 with 7 treys and 7 TO. In weekly leagues, these horrible Knicks deserve a long hard look.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Louis Amundson are both questionable with back spasms tonight, so a little risky there. Shane Larkin, Alexey Shved, and Cole Aldrich make interesting streamer options though. And there’s of course Il Diva still out there in 68% of leagues. Andrea Bargnani is tough to ignore, even in the shallowers. Plus I can link this for the third time in the past week or two. “I’m a peacock, Captain, you gotta let me fly!” Here’s what went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action:
Doug McDermott – Whoa, did his dad suddenly get a promotion and take Tibs’ job?! Tied Pau Gasol for the team high in shots on Friday hitting 8-17 for 16/3/1. Then went back to nothing yesterday…
Rudy Gay – Had a monster weekend with a rainbow Friday for 39/8/3/3/2 and 27/8/5/1/2 Saturday. Too bad the Kings can’t win any games… I still think this team is blown away sometime soon… Call Jeff Bridges!
Victor Oladipo – Remember the open? Let’s hope so, it was only 50 words ago! If 5 games to 3 games can make Langston Galloway be better than Bradley Beal, imagine who Noladipo will compare to with 2 games in week 22! Monster Friday night for 32/3/10/5/0, but I still feel good about pinning him a sell high!
Elfrid Payton – Tripdub alert! 19/10/7 last night, after back-to-back dimebags the two games prior. I said after he got benched before this 3 game run to try and hold true, so hopefully you kept the Elfrid on your Shelfrid!
Dewayne Dedmon – Struggled with fouls on Friday night, but was full DEAD-MAN(!) yesterday for 11/16/0/0/2. Nikola Vucevic sat with an ouchievic to his ankle for the second straight, but doesn’t sound too serious. That said, the Magic are still awful. Dedmon is certainly worth adding for Vuc insurance.
Isaiah Canaan – After Friday’s game (16/2/4 with 4 3PTM) I was going to call him a ThrAGNOF, but proved that fleeting thought wrong with a 12/5/8 line against the Hawks Saturday. Jeff Teague played, but the Hawks benched a lot of other guys which makes it less impressive… However, I like that Canaan was ice cold at 2-13 FG and still found a way to contribute. Oh yea, and played 37 minutes in a rare Sixers W! The ups and downs will be annoying, but I am warming up to the possibility of a Canaanball Run.
Hassan Whiteside – Ugh. Looks like my concern over fatiguing were a week or two early, and after really struggling Friday night against the Wiz, got sat yesterday with an ankle. I’m leaning more this was a DNP-rest than a concern this ankle lingers for multiple games. Crossing our fingers.
Tyler Johnson – Whoa, Ty-Jo not delivering as the starter, but 6th man ham! Wasn’t huge Friday but 24/6/6/1/1 yesterday. Gave em a swift kick to the SAC! And this was in a game with Dwyane Wade playing, just took over a lot of Shabazz Napier‘s minutes and played a whopping OT-aided 44. It’s still a little murky for G minutes, but deeper than 12ers should give Ty-Jo a long hard look.
Dennis Schroder – Herr Schroder ist Ein… Ein…! Ein Panzer! I dunno, I am already out of German vocab… Been nuts the past 4 games, with at least 15 Pts and 6 Ast in each. Of course the last game (16/2/6/0/1 with 5 TO) was a loss against the Sixers. Worth a spec look in 12ers, but about all I can do.
Kelly Olynyk – Oh geez, he needs to spend 40 days in the desert to work on his shot! He’s 2-17 in his three games back, with only 6 total boards. Get this guy out of his sandals and into some sneaks!
James Harden – What a monster! 38/12/12 on Friday, and I know I’ve said I think I’ll have Anthony Davis #1 again next year, but this is looking mad tricky! Which I think is a skateboard move, I’m not really sure… I’m closer to the “Get off the sidewalk you dumbass kids!” side of the spectrum.
Alex Len – Tweaked his ankle Friday night and missed Sunday, but tried it out pregame and seems close. Brandan Wright filled in admirably (even though he came off the bench Saturday for Earl Barron, which I thought was the name of some kind of frozen pizza), with 14/8/0/2/1 and 7/7/1/2/3 lines over the weekend, but nothing much to rely on unless Len has some unforeseen setback.
Jeremy Lin – I’m keeping the brothers Li[e]n together! Although that looks like lien. Which I think is a loan. And I’m a business major! Yikes. Anyway, if you look at just points it looks like the Linsanity is over, but still got a rainbow line Friday night! 4/4/3/2/3, but then the party REALLY was over for 7/2/5/1/0 with 3 TO battling foul trouble last night…
Chandler Parsons – Returned from a good while out with a kankle for 11/6/2/0/1. Hit 5-11, made a trey and played 35 minutes. I mostly like the end of that last sentence. Even with 6 steals and 3 blocks off the bench, makes it tough to rely on Al-Farouq Aminu for anything.
Shaun Livingston – I mentioned last week he was on a nice little run, and went bonkers over the weekend with 10/10/4/0/3 and 21/8/3/3/0 lines. Yeah, I think he’s up to the Schroder class! Or should I say, Klass! No idea… Anyway, Livingston doesn’t offer any 3s or the dimes upside, but other than that he’s the pick between the two.
Gary Neal – He’s like a graceful, fundamental Nick Young. Comes off the bench, and every touch is a shot. I (fortunately or unfortunately, it’s a toss up) watch a lot of Timberwolves as I’m Ricky Rubio‘s #1 lover (mi amor!), and while that sounds like Neal praise it’s actually really annoying. 27/4/1/0/0 Saturday night with a trey and 10-13 FT. He’s like a ThrAGNOF that doesn’t hit enough threes… Makes a lot of FT though! Lou Williams without the treys… He’s Splenda Lou!
Arron Afflalo – Struggled in his first start with the Blazers for 14/0/1/0/0 on 5-12 shooting. Well, it did come with 3 treys so there’s that. Obviously a strong hold.
Khris Middleton – The Duchess! Or as SNL last night called her, “Kate Middletit”! Career-high 30 points for Khris Middletit, hitting 11-20 FG (6-9 3PTM 2-3 FT) for a 30/9/1/2/0 line Saturday night against the Wiz. He’s been unreal this year, with the step up not as easily apparent since he played so little early on – skewing his minutes to 2 fewer than last year. Per-36s tell the story! Nude alert! Which is what I always thought he said in Austin Powers. It’s apparently nerd alert.
Randy Foye – Better late than never! I said after the Trade Deadline I thought he would be in line for a big role, and it only took like 4 more weeks or whenever the hell it was. 20/2/7/2/1 with 3 treys. Did all that in only 27 minutes, but still doesn’t bode well for Will Barton, who played under 20 Saturday night.
Aaron Brooks – Man, was absolutely dreadful until yesterday afternoon, posting a 22/2/3 line against the Spurs. But no steals, no blocks (duh), and only one trey. He’s more consistent than Canaan and I worry if you ride out the young Sixer you could get killed in %s and TO. Then again, Brooks usually kills your %s. Down to a coin flip for playoff scheduling.
Tony Parker – Neither PG played D! 32/4/2/2/0 in his best game of the year. Strike that, since 2009!
Austin Rivers – Probably should’ve put his blurb under McDermott! Excelling under daddy! Team-high 22 points last night for 22/3/2/2/0. Hit 8-14 FG (lucky) and 5-5 FT (also not his strong suit). Maybe he knows next Thanksgiving will go really bad if he sucks like he did in NO.
Gerald Henderson – If only he could facilitate some hair growth! 13/6/9 against the Pistons last night, one dime away from the dimebag but a career best. Meh, schwatev.
Thaddeus Young – Finally, the Nets came to their senses! I thought it’d never happen… Got the starting nod, his first in Brooklyn, for 19/3/2/4/0 on 9-17 shooting with a trey. I imagine a lot of people dropped the Impaler since it looked like Brooklyn would be stubborn and keep him on the pine, but he’s back to top 50-75ish now.
Russell Westbrook – Man, if Kevin Durant for some reason left, Westbrook is looking like the #1 fantasy player next year! Another tripdub for 30/11/17/4/1. Another OKC win. Need another pair of pants.
Enes Kanter – Was really getting into a rut, but bounced back yesterday for 21/12/4/0/1. Standard leagues’ trade deadlines have passed, but double-digit shots will be rare when Durant is back if you can sell high in any league.
Terrence Ross – Ross can! Ross can be the starter! Started both games over the weekend, struggled on Friday but hit 6 threes yesterday in a solid 20/4/2/2/1 line with no TO. James Johnson came off the bench and hit only 2-10 in 15 minutes. Got 4 steals, but yeah, time to move on from JJ.
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Dennis Schroder (12% owned) – After a loss and 5 TO to the Sixers, I think the German might get woken up. Mach schnell! Should be some junk time hosting the Kings, and a hungry bounce back game (and as mentioned above, he’s still 15/6 every game the past 4).
Will Barton (9% owned) – I’m not fully buying into Foye just yet, but it looks like he’s going to take a big role going forward. That said, it’s a dream matchup against the Poppycockers tonight, and the bench should get good run.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, and good luck in week 20, Razzball Nation!
