I hope everyone in Razzball Nation had a fantastic Christmas! Hopefully Santa brought you many-a-counting-stats presents and stuffed your stocking with the same vigor as John Henson.
So I’m not too big into that Facebook thing, but a lot of the fam seemed to mention their “Year in Review” and the weird shizz it pulled in over the Holidays. Mine was two pictures other people put up and tagged me in, with a message reading “you have no life!” But if the magical minions put together a Razzball Year in Review, it would be peppered with more #OccupyDraymondGreen than you could throw a stick at! It’s hard to believe that the #OccupyDraymondGreen movement started on February 13th this year, and he was at 0% owned only a few games before the name was bequeathed. The #Occupy culture became a viral movement here at Razzball, with only us alternative lifestyle hipsters ranking him top-100 coming into the season. Boo-yah! Season made right there, screw any of that Victor Oladipo nonsense… While I had little-to-no concern David Lee would sap anything from the #Occupiers, Draymond Green had a coincidental teeny-tiny lull before some unreal rainbows on Christmas and last Saturday, going 10/10/3/2/2 on JC’s Bday and the biggie 4/8/6/6/3 against the Wolves in 32 scrappy minutes. Late entry to that comment! As we head into 2015, be sure to reflect on the highs-and-lows and whenever possible – #OccupyDraymondGreen! Here’s what else Santa has brought to us fantasy owners since Christmas:
The Pistons without Josh Smith – 2-0 baby! And a commanding 2-0… Greg Monroe was nice and moosey for 19/15/1/3/1 last Friday night against the Pacers, but went to being the defenseless Monroe we’re used to for 10/6/4/1/0 on 4-18 shooting yesterday. His Ast/Stl/Blk are still pretty atrocious, so even a handful more of Pts/Reb here and there with Smith gone isn’t enough for me to go herding for him.
J Smoove – Is a beast off the bench! The only reason I ranked him decently in the 70s coming in the year… Hoping StanVan would play him against second units… 21/8/3 in his Houston debut off the bench in 32 minutes, but 5/8/1/3/0 and 4 TO in 26 starting minutes yesterday. SHOCKER! 0-3 from deep as well. Detroit couldn’t figure out to bring him off the bench either… He’s a big baby when he’s not starting! Glen Davis just popped his head up…
Donatas Motiejunas – No mo D-Mo. Still had a decent game yesterday for 11/5/2/1/0 and hitting a trey off the bench, but meh. Josh Smith – ruining fantasy one player at a time!
Carmelo Anthony – Yikes, more knees mo problems. Took himself out yesterday after only 19 minutes, and this isn’t looking fun at all. His numbers had been solid enough too! Next hot run that he has a few 30ish Pt games strung together, price yourself out and sell. I maintain you shouldn’t just give him away, but this is kinda like The Matrix franchise – going downhill quick.
Jose Calderon – I guess a few extra shots could come to the Spaniard down the road, but he’s been brutal. Shuffled in a 10 and 9 dime game the past 4, but 6/6/1/0/0 on 2-11 shooting yesterday is no bueno! Sticking with him being a glorified ThrAGNOF with a little diming upside.
Cole Aldrich – The best Aldrich in the NBA! Well, the past couple games… LaMarcus Aldridge has been out with upper respiratory phlegm attacks, and Cole is off a monster 12/19/2/1/4 line yesterday in 34 minutes. 18/7/1/1/2 the night before on Saturday. Amar’e Stoudemire is still dealing with being old, and it’s all but certain he’s not getting the run we saw a few weeks ago. In a full rebuild/season-punt, the Knickerbockers should run Cole into the ground down the stretch.
Manu Ginobili – Had back-to-back dimebags. What in the world?!?! 19/2/10 then 11/7/13 right before and on Christmas Day, respectively, but his numbers have fallen out just like a stray hair or two. “One day you’re combing and you’re like, ‘ay dios mio!'”
Tristan Thompson – The Conundrum! Want to hear something funny? Slim and I’s struggling Yahoo Friends and Family team needed some big man stats, and SLIM HIMSELF recommended Tristan Thompson as a pickup! How does it feel, Slim?! Next week we pick up… Richard Jefferson? Anyway, Anderson Varejao is out of the year with a torn Achilles and TT has been decent enough. Only offers Pts/Reb, but if those fit needs, there ya go!
Kyrie Irving – Uncle Drew is dealing with a sore knee. Drunk Uncle is dealing with a soreness from his pee…
Birdman – Take flight! 12/8/2/1/2 on Christmas. Who doesn’t love a little bird during the Holidays?! 13/4/0/0/1 against the Grizz Saturday; while standard leagues can ignore, deeper leaguers could use his ink.
Luol Deng – One of the bigger games on X-mas. 25/8/8 on 11-16 shooting beating LeBron James and his comeback to Miami, and kept it up decently enough for 16/6/3/3/0 in 40 minutes against Memphis. This little outburst could be aided by no Chris Bosh, who is right around the corner from returning from his bad calf. Sell Deng high! Ferry him away!
Ed Davis – Hah, right before last night I was thinking about today’s recap and going to mention how he’d finally turned a corner with the nice FT% of late… Then he goes 1-5 at the stripe last night… Still, multi-blocks now in 3 of 4, double-digit scoring in 6 straight, and deserving of a big man spot on a lot of needy 12ers.
Jordan Hill – Last night sure made him look undeserving! 9/1/2/1/0 with 3 TO, but had a couple decent games before this turd sandwich. Still keeping Hill over Davis, but it’s a struggle.
Mason Plumlee – Can’t stop me now! Even with Brook Lopez back, May-Plum is producing as the starter albeit off a rough one of 9/8/0/0/1 Saturday. Brolo was so much worse off the bench, going scoreless on 0-5 shooting in 15 minutes. Yeesh.
Jarrett Jack – “Wahhhhhhh, I’m Jarrett Jack! I need to be owned in all leagues, wahhhhhh!” The Nets are trying to dump Deron Williams faster than a breakfast burrito, and Jack is just flat-out outplaying him as the starter. Four straight big games… When did I become the Jarrett Jack guy?!?!?
Sergey Karasev – I know when I became the Karasev guy! After that night in Brooklyn at that Russian bar over shots of vodkie… It’s fairly low-rent ThrAGNOF production, but even 14ers needing treys and steals with low TO could do worse.
Jared Sullinger – To quote myself, “As soon as you cut him, he goes 20/10 with 5 treys, kinda like a lull then re-breakout stretch we saw last year.” Well, only had 2 treys but immediately after I wrote that he goes 19/8 in 32 minutes. Nostra-JB! I still recommended he could be dropped for a lot of situations in the comments, so it’s not like I’m waving a Sully flag…
Marcus Smart – Yuck. Not waving a Smart flag either… My jersey is of Rod Smart! The better of the Smarts… 3/2/2/0/0 with 4 TO in 14 horrific minutes against the Wizards. Hit a Wall! A John Wall.
Victor Oladipo – So yeah, as I hinted in the open there, I was wrong-a-roosky on RainbOladipo this year… I just traded him away in the REL (cost and roster construction were big factors) after watching Orlando intently this past week, and I am not excited at all. Playing a ton off the ball, 3-point shot looks flat, and Elfrid Payton back into the starting line-up is killing him. The O runs through Payton then Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic, rather than through the two combo guards working together. Had an 8-assist game last Friday that was very misleading – a lot of kickouts and dimes-by-definition-only kinda AST. I’d sell if you can get anything remotely close to draft day value.
Kyle O’Quinn – Had an atrocious weekend, playing only 16 then 14 minutes. But both Cleveland and Charlotte like to go small, and it made sense to play a lot of Evan Fournier as the 6th man and move Tobias to the 4. “I always end up on all fours! Like a cat…” KOQ’s minutes will erect back up.
Jared Dudley – I bet no one expected to hear “NBA history” next to Dudley’s name any time this year… First guy to make at least 10 shots and 3 treys without missing, going 10-10 FG and 4-4 3PTM Friday night. Then went back to being a milk dud Saturday. That said, multi-steals in 3 of 4 and ThrAGNOFfable while this hot.
John Henson – Did you know the Muppet man…? Was still alive?! Returned after a month out for a rainbow line and a 5 block game! Pretty impressive with both games under 19 minutes played. Still nothing to trust, but looking back towards him as a stash/upside gamble in deepers.
George Hill – Solid three-game start to his 14-15, hitting 2+ treys in every game and looking plenty usable. The Pacers need his O.
Steven Adams – Fear the Kiwi! Especially in your FT%! But has been really picking it up as of late, even though he’s off a yawn of 11/6/2/0/1 last night. If you can handle a poor freebie shooter, I’d be sure Adams is scooped up in your league.
Kobe Bryant – Welcome back Mr. Inefficiency! Sat a couple due to being old, and nearly trip-dubbed last night! 10/8/7/2/0 on only 10 shots?! Amanda Bynes hasn’t even had a night with under 10 shots in the past decade!
Kenneth Faried – UNLEASH THE MANIMAL! FINALLY! Three straight monster games, including a Goromotaro 26/25 gargantuan performance against the Wolves last Friday night. Seems like this whole high school popularity grudge-match is over and he’s getting the run he deserves (and is paid for).
Rajon Rondo – Still astounded by how many shots he’s taking! 17 in each of the past two games, and even though the dimes are expectedly down, he’s gelling well on the Mavs. Except on the FT line, how is he so bad there?!?! 1-6 the past two, and now missing more than 2 out of every 3.
Chandler Parsons – You can halt the panic! 26/5/3/2/0 with no TO and 5 treys last night.
Zach LaVine – The Flash! Got outplayed by Mo Williams on Friday (Mo had 13 dimes), but Flip gave The Flash the keys Saturday night and LaVine notched a 12/4/14 line against the Warriors. OK, so check this out – as a starter LaVine is 10.1/3.2/5.2 with 3.1 TO and shooting 37.9%. Another player was 15.3/4.9/5.3 with 3.3 TO and 39.8% shooting his rookie year. Feel free to throw things at me or yell some stuff in the comments – that’s Russell Westbrook‘s rookie year. I’m not saying LaVine will ever turn into an MVP-caliber player, but LaVine slightly reminds me of Westbrook in that rookie year – both left UCLA early and are lightning-fast to keep the parallel going. Of course, LaVine will cede minutes to Ricky Rubio fairly soon, but just a thought to throw out there. I’m really big on LaVine’s future.
Gorgui Dieng – Choo Choo! Hop on board the Dieng Train! Back-to-back rainbows of 20/11/2/3/4 then 14/13/2/2/4 before 8/6/2/0/2 on Saturday night. I’m glad the Dieng Train is running, because he was in a lot of pain after seemingly spraining his ankle, but was able to return and end up with 26 minutes.
Tony Wroten – Don’t look now, but Wroten’s FT% in December is 74%! That’s a passing grade for once! Back-to-back 20 Pt games and the TOs are slightly declining as well. Erstwhile, Michael Carter-Williams had the worst %-killing night in the history of the universe last Saturday, going 8/4/6/0/0 on an absurd 2-20 shooting and 6 TO! The suffocating defense of… Trey Burke?!?! Burke shot 5-18 too. Man that game was rough…
Joel Freeland – The Brits are invading! The Brits are invading! Wait, he’s from not Free-land though… This is going nowhere! 6/17/1/0/1 Friday night then 10/10/2/0/2 last night. Nothing too special – getting a little extra run since Aldridge is out – but there’s still another 4ish weeks of a Robin Lopez void he can stick his fish & chips in.
Alex Len – She’s a Len-bot! 2+ blocks in 4 of 5, and even though he flashes a mid-range jumper, is shooting a great % from the field. All in mid-20s minutes, which you’ll take given his injury history.
Kris Humphries – Better off the bench! Two straight games tearing up second unis for 14 and 18 Pts on a combined 16-23 shooting. With Nene back in the starting lineup, Humphries is still waiver wire/tabloid-fodder.
Kemba Walker – “Is the tea HOT HOT HOT! or cold. HOT HOT HOT! or cold.” Shoots 2-13 in an awful game Friday, then goes out for a career-high 42 against the Magic the next game. “Is it, iced tea?”
Jimmy Butler – Whewwwww, he’s good! Award-winning analysis right there! 33/5/2/2/1 Saturday night, with no TO on 12-18 FG and 9-10 FT. And with Derrick Rose playing! Really tough not to take him over Kawhi Leonard right now… Who is still in search of a new hand…
Rodney Stuckey – Left early on Friday after getting poked in the eye, but was able to gut out yet another injury and rack up 20/6/8/4/0 against the Nets Saturday. Wowzer! Brooklyn feeling yucky of Stuckey.
Derrick Favors – Jazz bigs loving when it’s the Sixers! Favors for a monster 17/15/3/3/5 line, and not to be out-done, Rudy Gobert also rainbowed for 4/6/2/2/3. I’d love to play a 5-6 minutes rotation against the Sixers second unit, I bet I could rack up a couple stats!
DeMarcus Cousins – Speaking of racking up stats, got over another illness after catching a stomach bug for 39/11/4/0/2 against the Knicks. Gimme a shot against them too!
Lou Williams – Didn’t want to be left out and followed Kyle Lowry‘s lead to put up 31 points last night. The Lou is so Sweet! Especially with 4 treys and a bathroom mint guy.
Streamers/Cheap DraftKings Picks:
Jerryd Bayless (6% owned) – I think this is the third time I’ve dipped my JB pen in the JB ink, but digging Bayless as a streamer tonight. The Hornets love going small, and Bayless is consistently getting mid-to-high 20 minutes a night. Off a 9/4/6/2/1 game and a trey, he could help you get started in all cats this week.
Luis Scola (8% owned) – A little bit of a hail mary, Scola just seems like a perfect body to throw around on Taj Gibson and give the starting bigs on the Bulls a few extra minutes of the push around. Roy Hibbert isn’t ideally suited to D up on either Pau Gasol or Joakim Noah, plus there’s likely some garbage minutes down the stretch for the Pacers second unit.
It’s good to be back! I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Holiday, and good luck in Week 10!
