Oh man. Am I sorry if anyone had to watch Battle: Los Angeles last night. I hated that movie and actually would rather have watched that again than the atrocity in Staples. Reggie Miller was having so much fun dogging that game. I was saying that it was like watching an All-Star game at the office, then either Miller or Kerr then said the same thing! Followed by, “well, except all the All-Stars are on one team!” Lakers burn! El Burro, I hope you’re around, because I’d love a rant from this game from a true Lakers fan. Sure there have been worse NBA blowouts, but man, that was straight up Cornell going on the road to Wichita State. Even that would be a lot better to watch! I’m not taking much to heart fantasy-wise in the 48-point romp of blue/red over yellow/purple, but my main takeaway was that Kendall Marshall still got a 7/4/7 line in 24 minutes and Jordan Farmar was awful in his 21 minutes. I’m a big Farmar hater, and think Marshall is actually a little underrated right now. Marshall as we all know was playing well in big minutes earlier in the year, and I think can get back to the 30ish range. And even if he falls short of that, the dimebags will afloweth like a Denver dispensary. Cash cow business for the Girl Scout cookie industry as well! Probably should’ve had a few Girl Scouts paroling the Staples Center last night. “Eat your pities away, Lakers fans!” “A peanut butter delight won’t disappoint you at all!” Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy hoops:
Boris Diaw – Playing exceeding well lately. 16/8/5/1/0 shooting 5-5 including 2-2 from deep. The 4 TOs were a croissant on his otherwise creme brulee, but love the 37 minutes. You can’t trust that kind of run every game from Pop, but dude is now 12-12 the past two games and 4-4 from deep while able to hit all cats.
Danny Green – It’s the multi-cat of old! 6/3/3/1/3 in a near-rainbow with 2 treys. But I’m still not too big on him, the Blks are obviously a bit of an anomaly (still, 1.0 a game is pretty good looking at his season stats, but still not enough everywhere else) and only 21 minutes is just meh in standard leagues.
Kawhi Leonard – Racked up 5 steals in a down game. Another 7 and we could have a Kawhi’s Eleven heist ensemble film reboot.
Marco Belinelli – Like Marko Ramius, is defecting to the waiver wire. “Wait, did JB just compare the US to the waiver wire! Commie!” Easy there, McCarthy. The metaphor is no good, but you’re a crazy Ivan if you’re still holding onto Belinelli even in 14ers. Hunt for a better October.
Patty Mills – Got 10 boards. “Wtf, mate!?” 9/10/4 for a saucy line with two treys. Obviously needs minutes, but about as good a 17 minute line you could ask for.
Mario Chalmers – Still a little cold, but nearly rainbowed for 5/2/3/2/1 with a trey. A minor step up against a good defensive team, so the leash is still pretty long.
Russell Westbrook – Um, wow. 36/9/9/4/0 with four treys in a loss. No defense allowed in this game!
Caron Butler – 14/1/1/0/0 with four treys. The Pts and treys seem high, the rest about right. “Ouch, JB!” Yeah, he’s not fantasy relevant.
Gerald Green – Um, louder wow. 8-13 from deep to throw up a redonk 41/5/2/3/1. “This game was for some lame fantasy site called ‘Razzball’ mocking me!” Well, sure, but both treys and Pts were career-highs and the Thunder don’t have their best perimeter defender in Thabo Sefolosha. So I’m not ready to unroll the carpet and say, “Sorry yo, you’re the king of everything!” Could easily shoot 2-14 Sunday. Be happy if you got him, I’m not sad I don’t.
Markieff Morris – I am a little sad I don’t have the Kieff in more leagues, which in a few I did but yo-yoed him back out. 22/6/3/1/0 shooting 8-13 and 8-10 FT. Now, I’m not saying I’d rather Kieff over Green or anything, but just part of the fun little biases we all have.
Alex Len – Played 11 minutes, got 5 fouls, did virtually nothing. He’s useless.
P.J. Tucker – Crazy that you could play 43 minutes of a 128-point team effort and only take 3 shots! 2-3 (1-2 3PTM 2-2 FT) 7/9/4/2/0 in a very efficient outing. P.J. is not a project!
Ish Smith – 8 dimes in 20 bench minutes. Playing really well when given time. Not much to take away in most leagues right now, but interested to see where his career takes him.
Purple Baze – Kent B looked really out of control in this, well, out of control game for 14/2/6/1/1 and 5 TOs. Shot 5-10 FT and while I still think I’m fine with him in 12ers, just seems a little less dank than others see him. I’m not as high. Trying to figure out why. It’s because I got – – well you see where that was going…
Chris Kaman – Was sitting on the end of the bench talking to the injured Nick Young, who was in a ridiculous blue suit with no socks on. I mean, if that’s not an insult to where you are in terms of your role, I don’t know what is…
Xavier Henry – I keep mentioning him and he keeps improving. 5-10 (3-3 3PTM 2-2 FT) for 15/5/3/1/0. 19 minutes of run in his third game back as minutes increase, and I dunno, I just have a weird feeling he is going to be fantasy-relevant even in shallower leagues in a few weeks because D’Antoni likes him. And why not give him minutes again on this team? Maybe worth a spec add in even 14ers right now.
Wesley Johnson – 1-9 going 0-7 from deep. Wait, was this Gerald Green or Wesley J?
Jodie Meeks – Bust of the night. 7/0/1/0/0 shooting 3-11. Still think Meeks shall be forever in your favor.
DeAndre Jordan – If alley-oop slams are a stat cat in your league, hopefully DeAndre went first round. The Clippers looked like they were on NBA Jam last night…
Matt Barnes – Needs to be owned virtually everywhere right now. 17/12/5/3/0 hitting three treys, and just killing it in the starting 5.
Darren Collison – Another start at the 2 with Jamal Crawford out (but JC should be close), and actually led the Clips in scoring. 24/4/3/2/0 shooting 9-16. Might give ya one more big start Saturday at the Hawks.
I hope everyone is owning their matchups so far this week, and have a great weekend! The playoffs are just around the corner, and I’m getting pumped to have the RCL winner’s team name shaved in my head in just over a month. The champ will be branded! Peace!
