Manu Ginobili broke his shooting hand and may be out as many as six weeks. Groin punch! If you drafted him, his penchant for injury is why you hesitated before doing so. And don’t act like you didn’t hesitate. You were well warned. Here’s what I told you three weeks ago, “When healthy, he’s a great asset. But you’ve got to factor in his past health issues and you gotta factor in his age. That’s what’s called Manufactoring. It’s a troubled industry here in the States.” And here’s what I said a week before that, “I’ll draft him across all leagues, he’ll miss three months and I’ll be right. My teams will all sink into the pooper, but I’ll be right. Huzzah! For the rest of you, don’t assume he’ll play 80 games again …” And here’s what I said seven months ago, “Turns out Manu’s health wasn’t a factor at all. Or it was a total factor. I guess it depends on whether you owned him or not. I’m still gonna sell high on him next season.” I don’t own him anywhere. He kept getting drafted a round or two before I was willing to grab him. Did you listen to me? If you didn’t then, do it now and grab James Anderson, whose per36 average this season has been 14/5/2.5. If Ginobili’s out, I expect him to average somewhere near that. Or for the Spurs to be very, very bad until mid-February. Or both. Here’s some more fantasy basketball junk for your brain.
Dorell Wright – If going 0-4 against the defenseless Suns is wrong, I don’t want to be Wright. He’s shooting .308 on the season, but he’s a .441 career shooter. Buy low on him now, ’cause it can’t get worse than this.
Dominic McGuire – 14/9/2, with a steal as he stepped in for the hospitalized David Lee. I don’t think Lee will miss any more time and I really don’t think McGuire is worth an add, but if you’re in a deep league with an open spot in your roster and Lee misses another game, then, maybe you should kind of start to consider it. I heart caveats.
Markieff Morris – 16/9/2, with a three in 32 minutes. One the one hand, it was against the Warriors. On the other hand, he went 15/6, with 3 3ptm two nights ago, as well. On the third hand that you borrowed from a friend without telling him what he was getting into, Channing Frye double-doubled and hit a three of his own last night, so this looks to be as good as it gets for Markieff right now.
Amir Johnson – Ended with 5/3/1, despite the solid shooting percentages (.500 last night, .667 this season). He’s not playing poorly, so much as he’s just not part of the team’s offense. He blocked four shots last night, and four in the previous four, so you can’t drop him. But dude better bring the rest of his teammates some donuts or something to get on their good side.
Rasual Butler – 13/10, with 3 3ptm in 37 minutes. “It was against the Knicks! Without Amar’e! And New York doesn’t play defense anyway! The Raps needed all the gunners they could muster! That won’t happen often! Please believe me!” – Desperate James Johnson, who lost some minutes to Butler last night, to his legion of fantasy owners. Geez. Chill out Desperate James Johnson.
Ed Davis – In his last four games, Big Ed has scored no more than four points and grabbed no more than six rebounds. In his last four he’s averaging 17 mpg / 2.3 pts / 3.5 rbds. Having said all that, I’d hang onto him. His USG% is less than 13, meaning he’s just not a part of this team’s offense. I’d give it another week or two to see if Toronto figures out a way to incorporate him. When he’s on the floor, he’s playing solidly. This is an adjustment period and a disappointment period, not an abandonment period.
Toney Douglas – Douglas: “How many more weeks ’til Baron’s healthy? Four? Oh, word? Bet.” 22/4/4, with 4 3ptm. Bibby: “Yeah, how many more weeks ’til Baron’s healthy? Four? Oh, word. Bet.” 0/3/0. Bibby: “Wait, what were we talking about?”
Greg Stiemsma – After stuffing two more shots starting for the Celtics last night, the Boston rookie is tied for fourth in the league in blocked shots (12 total / 3.0 per game average). He’s a 26-year-old rookie who came from the D-League, so you’ll excuse me after I a) burp, b) fart and c) suggest that this type of production won’t continue. That said, riding such production until it collapses like the horse at the end of “True Grit,” won’t cost you anything if you’ve got a deep league and an open spot. Ultimately, he’s not multifaceted enough to realistically remain in this lineup, even if the only better option is an oft-injured Jermaine O’Neal. I will suggest you at least stream Stiemsma for Wednesday’s game against the Humphries-less Nets.
Tracy McGrady – The Houston Rockets version of T-Mac hopped into the DeLorean and scored 16 points on eight shots, including three treys. He also grabbed a sports almanac and forced Biff into a dump truck full of manure before heading back to 2005.
Marvin Williams – 8/3/1. Marvin doin’ Marvin, again.
Jason Richardson – He’s scored fewer than five points in half his games. With the exception of last night’s contest, he’s always taken somewhere between 8-14 shots. He only took four Monday. I’m worried. I’m calling his mother and we’re meeting for tea and biscotti tomorrow to figure out what’s gotten into him.
Danny Granger – Shooting .341 on the season (30-for-88). This is why I hate owning Danny Granger. I mean he had 3 3ptm, 2 stl and 2 blk to even things out last night and if this were Jason Kidd, you’d have no problem with this line. Then again, if this were Jason Kidd, you’d have drafted him four rounds later than you did.
Kris Humphries – His sore left shoulder kept him out last night and will probably keep him out Wednesday. Sheldon Williams‘ forehead is the add, but he really won’t be much of a factor even if you do.
Lamar Odom – 8/5/2, in 20 minutes. That beeping sound you hear is either a faint trace of a pulse from Odom’s heart monitor or the grocery store cashier ringing out his Sunday-Wednesday candy supply.
Carlos Delfino – 14/9/3, with 3 3ptm, 3 stl and 2 blk. Who told him he could do that. Skiles? Did Skiles tell him he could do that? Mike Dunleavy certainly didn’t.
Trevor Ariza – Left with a groin strain, which almost sounds fun. Considering Ariza didn’t return, for all we know, it was. Screw it. I’m just going to assume it was. We won’t really know the extent of the strain until either later today or tomorrow. Al-Farouq Aminu is the add, but you won’t want to do that until you know the extent of Ariza’s, um, groin fun.
DeMarcus Cousins – Playing tonight, but not starting. I’d be equally bummed if I owned J.J. Hickson or Cousins.
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