Happy New Year, What Did We Miss?

The holidays are now past, and if you’re like me you kinda let some things slide. I mean, it’s hard to watch basketball in Mexico when the Hulu Live doesn’t work and the replay websites don’t load. Box score watching and injury report reading was the way for a week.

Let’s catch up on some major storylines from the week as we enter the deep depths of winter. With the cold and nothing to do, let’s win some leagues. If you want a more detailed minutes report, here’s a great link.

Nikola Jokic Injured

In a shocking turn of events, an NBA player was injured and it wasn’t a soft tissue injury. The all-time great center hurt his knee and will miss around a month. They’re getting healthy otherwise (Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon are playing again), but there’s one obvious benefactor. Tim Hardaway, Jr. is getting all the shots he can handle. On Sunday, he drained 5 threes en route to 26 points. The guy will get between 2-8 three pointers per game and carried me to a head to head win against Rotoworld’s Zac Henshew this week. I thought Bruce Brown would do more, but with the health coming back he’s still just under 20 minutes, so I’m ignoring. It’s Hardaway or bust with the Nuggets.

Bulls Backcourt Goes Down

Triple double specialist Josh Giddey (hammy) and his backcourt mate Coby White (calf, yes again) both are missing time with injuries. Tre Jones and Ayo Dosunmu are reasonable facsimiles of the starters, just less consistent and with flaws. Jones will give you steals, assists, and low turnovers but you won’t get rebounds at the same volume, and he can’t really shoot. Ayo is streaky, but productive. He’s capable of going for over 20 any given night depending on his shot, and will chip in everywhere else.

Yes, I realize nobody is watching the Bulls. You don’t have to watch them, though. I do that for ya. Just add the guys, okay?

Jay Huff

Oh, no! Huff daddy is only playing 17 per game his last three, and 21 his last ten. The guy can still get you a three and 2 blocks in that time, but obviously the volume isn’t going to be there for the rest of the stats. I’m holding, hoping it’s a blip, but ten games is a larger sample.

Looking at Dunks and Threes

Estimated Plus/Minus -2.4. In other words, they’re worse with him on the court.

As a center, his shooting efficiency is 30th percentile. His threes have cratered and he’s in the bottom tenth percentile.

Block rate is top of the league, as we all thought.

The rebounding is 60th percentile for it’s rate.

So Huff may just not be a good all around player. Keep an eye on the minutes, it’s getting close to drop city. 10 team probably drop, 12 team and up you have to hold him.

Grizzlies

They’re a frustrating group, ever changing lineups and availability.

Ja Morant: Ankle, calf contusion, etc. He’s in and out of the lineup, and I’m not in on him, I’m out.

Cedric Coward: Good talent, but did sprain his ankle just when he was getting bigger minutes. Watch and see

Christian Koloko: Not long for the rotation with a terrible -5 EPM, so just ignore the guy.

If you’re up for the nightly drama of Ja Morant’s availability, go ahead and make an offer. Actually, now that I think about it, he’s a good buy low if you’re struggling. If you have him and are doing well, cash him in for a more stable asset.

That’s all for now. I should be able to pump out two newsy things per week going forward here. Thanks for reading, have a great week, and don’t get me started on Mexican airports!