Well, yet another example of why a starting nod doesn’t equate to production, even for seemingly good players…
The Bulls got embarrassed last night in LA, with Nikola Mirotic getting the start at SF. It was disastrous before, and twas disastrous again! Only got 12 minutes and did nothing other than get a steal and a turnover, and it looks like old Tibs wasn’t too happy. The ghost of Carlos Boozer shoved Mirotic around on a layup and he just isn’t a good defender – why we saw another healthy dose of Tony Snell. Even in a 2OT game, Tibs didn’t let Mirotic off the bench! Went small instead with Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks picking up more PT late and in the OTs. And ultimate insult to injury – the Bulls still lost. But it was really Derrick Rose‘s fault as he continues to lay brickhouses on top of batches and batches of turnovers. He’s like a Martha Stewart version of The Big Bad Wolf! And the Bulls should’ve pulled this one out since the Lakers continually refuse to play their best player… Tarik Black! Outrageous! Egregious! Opprobrious! (thank you Thesaurus) Black is an MVP waiting to happen… Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:
Louis Amundson – Wooo, the other Sweet Lou delivering on my stream call! 17/3/1/0/1, keeps his streak of at least a block every game on the Poppycockers alive, and hit 8-10 FG. Only 1-3 FT, but hey, for a guy 0% owned to be a good stream, he can be Sweet Lou 2! New nickname!
Langston Galloway – Ugh, The Harlem Renaissance looking more like The Harlem I-Got-The-Trotters last night… 4/2/2/0/0 on 2-10 shooting with no treys. He’s an undrafted D-League rook, so you’d imagine some ups and downs, but good to see he didn’t press it – no TO in 35 minutes. Jose Calderon is still worse…
Cleanthony Early – A Mr. Clean sighting! 2/4/0/1/2 in 18 minutes. Meh, I get liking him in dynasty and I do think he gets a run of minutes at some point, but who knows when…
Rodney Stuckey – Yup, told ya it’s time to get lucky with Stuckey! 22/4/5/1/0 on 8-13 FG (1-2 3PTM 5-5 FT). Stuckey making Galloway feel yucky! Rod-Stuck is very low end, but I still think is worth holding onto in 12ers if you lucked out on this little streak while streaming.
George Hill – I didn’t see any of this game (“JB didn’t watch the Pacers blow out the Poppycokers?!” For shame!”), but Hill reportedly looked slow and played his 12 minutes in junk time. Hmmmm. Weird because he had been playing well too. I don’t know if this ever blossoms into that 30 minutes per game this year…
Ian Mahinmi – Does his Mahinmi things! 8/10/0/1/1 in 24 minutes, with that awful 0-5 FT. The 3 TO are an eyesore too, 1.0 TO a game in 19 minutes is too much for a big, but for deepers? Mahin-Me!
Zach Randolph – T-Dog hitting the glass! 15/17/2/1/0 in a very Z-Bo game. In NBA terms, sure looks like Z-Bo is still > Manimal.
Nick Calathes and his twin Beno Udrih – Another split of minutes with Mike Conley ending up sitting out, and Calathes (11/1/5/1/0) and Udrih (11/2/3/0/0) are carbon copies of each other. Conley was a game-time call, so he should be back soon and you can disregard these Twins like that old Arnold movie… Just kidding, that movie was aight.
Jeff Green – So, so terrible. 13/2/0/0/0 with a couple of treys. So many goose eggs that he might end up working for Willy Wonka.
Jusuf Nurkic – The Nugs were all sorts of awful last night in a tough matchup against the Grizz, so not overreacting to Jamba Jus’s 0/6/1/1/0 line with 3 TO.
Arron Afflalo – Denver was blown out the minute Memphis arrived in Colorado, so no one got any minutes. 7/1/1/0/0, but a big grain of salt.
JaVale McGee – Even McGee got minutes! 15 of em! 2/5/1/0/1, and that’s sorta the high end…
Tobias Harris – Hurt his knee last night, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. A lot of news is floating around that Jacque Vaughn is about out of Orlando, which would almost assuredly get Tobias back into the starting line-up if he’s healthy. Plus it would probably help…
Kyle O’Quinn – …the big KOQ get more load in the rotation! Got some junk time last night for 7/9/2/1/1 with a trey in 27 minutes, and an expanded role would certainly make him relevant again.
Victor Oladipo – What I warned about when saying to sell that VO! Sure the 21 points are nice, but no treys (0-4), shot only 6-17, and a fairly empty 21/5/1/1/0 line. After that ridiculous steals binge he’s back to 1.4 SPG the last 10 games with a 34:24 AST:TO ratio in that span. 3.4 dimes a game ain’t gonna cut it, and only 3 treys the past 5. Even if the points are there, it ain’t enough! I’ve been in the South too long dropping all these ain’ts… Maybe a new coach will help, but I’m feeling much better with my sell-high no-RainbOladipo rants these days after he had a hot stretch during them.
Brandon Knight – He could have my children. 16/5/9/4/1 with a couple of treys, 5 TO is still too many, but he’s been a huge call for me in back-to-back years. How high will I have to rank him next year to be stay well above the consensus?! First rounder!
Jerryd Bayless – It seems like a distant memory just how cold he was last year for the Grizz (shot 37.7%). Another big game from my fellow JB going 19/2/1/3/0 with a couple of treys and 5-5 FT. Didn’t get the assists last night, and he’s tough to rely on for consistency, but worth a look in maybe even 14ers.
Khris Middleton – The Duchess on a tear! Worth a look in all leagues at this point! 17/2/1/2/0 with 3 treys and looks entrenched in that starting 2 role.
Wayne Ellington – Well that turned around! Was at something like 13/4/2 late in the 4th, but the 2OT got him up to 46 minutes and a 23/5/3/1/0 line. Shot well at 9-19, but only 1-6 from deep. I think the extended run neither proves or disproves he should be a hold.
Jordan Clarkson – Whoa, rainbow alert! 18/4/4/2/2 on 6-15 FG (1-1 3PTM 5-5 FT). Really, really impressive. A little bit of the same caveat as Ellington with the 43 double-OT aided minutes, but he’s certainly in the 12er discussion. Still behind, ya know, the D.J. Augustin and Jarrett Jacks of the world, but not too far from that mix.
Jordan Hill – Putting the purp & gold on his back! Although missed a game-winner. Fail! Kidding of course, as his 26/12/3/1/2 and strong play late helped get a rare Lakers W. I still don’t see the FG% coming back up, 11-22 last night and taking more jumpers, but a nice bounce back to stay must-own worthy in most leagues.
Jimmy Butler – Look at all dem FT buckets! 16-18 from the stripe in a 35/4/7/3/0 line. REALLY good night for the JBs out there! Stats wise that is… Because afterwards he said he hurt his knee during the game… Hold your breath everyone!
Pau Gasol – Ends up losing on his old stomping ground after learning he’s an All-Star Game starter. Womp womp. “I think I’m getting dizzy.” 20/10/6/0/4, and as we’ve mentioned a few times on the Pod this week, been a revelation.
Joakim Noah – Tripdub flirt! 9/17/9/0/1 with no TO, and the Joakim Loah-ers (another Pod reference!) are basking in the gold! What a sick dime on this one. “Leeloo Dallas, Multi-Pass!”
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Zach LaVine (5% owned) – I’m going back-to-back LaVine games! Mo Williams is meeting up with the team today in Philly, but is no lock to play after a personal issue and a sore hip. Sure Lorenzo Brown might pop up for a few minutes too, but this should be a fun streetball game and LaVine should rack em up.
Alan Anderson (2% owned) – AA going against his former Raps! Looking like a big minute SG starter, Mr. Anderson went 15/2/6 with 2 treys in 36 minutes the last time out and should be relied on for some O to try and keep up with Toront-O.
I hope everyone is killin’ it in their matchups so far this week, and have a great weekend Razzball Nation! See ya on Monday!
