If only for one game–but what a game! Larry Sanders, a.k.a. the Sand Man, a.k.a. that bench player on the Bucks, brought himself the game of his dreams last night with his first career triple double, 10 points, 12 rebounds and an incredible 10 blocks. He added an assist and a steal. The 10 blocks tied the team single game record set by the one and only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I don’t care who you are, or what team you play for, Kareem is an impressive name to be in the company of, and 10 blocks is no small feat. Although he started the season strong, as the season progressed, Sanders’ stats started to flounder with his minutes (7.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.6 bpg). Just under 15% owned, there’s no telling if coach Scott Skiles will play Larry consistently enough for him to post stats close to this every night, but any player who can block 10 shots in a single game is worth keeping your eye on, and deeper leaguers who need blocks might want to give the Sand Man a look.
Here’s what else happened last night in fantasy basketball:
Jeremy Pargo – 22 pts, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 3pm. Pargo is still under 20% owned and has been averaging 13.8 ppg, 4.3 apg, 1.5 3pg, and 1.3 spg over the past four games. While Kyrie is out, Pargo should be a more than serviceable for for your team.
Tristan Thompson – 6 pts, 15 rebounds and a block in 33 minutes. The 15 rebounds were a career high, but Thompson will have to do better than that to help your fantasy team on a nightly basis. Moving on…
Tyler Zeller – 10 pts, 3 reb, 2 blk in 25 minutes. Uh-oh. Three Cavaliers in the recap tonight, that can’t be a good sign. But the Cavs got a tough road win last night and I was feeling generous. Zell is not quite there yet, but as his minutes increase, his stats should increase, too. Definitely worth keep on eye-ler on Tyler.
Devin Harris – 13 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl. Actually a pretty solid game for Harris in the start, but I’m not sure his ceiling is much higher than what we saw last night. If you can handle his ceiling of mediocrity, Harris could be worth a flier.
Nikola Pekovic – 14 pts, 16 reb, 2 stl, 3 blk. The 16 boards tied a career high, and he’s surprisingly under 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues. We’re talking Russian mobsters here, folks. Pick him up or he vill crush you.
Jose Juan Barea – 15 pts, 5 ast. I like J.J. a whole lot, but all season he’ll be battling for minutes with Luke Ridnour (16 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast) and Alexey Shved (16 pts, 5 ast, 2 stl, 4 3pm). Oh, and let us not forget the true starting point guard, Ricky Rubio, is set to return in the next few weeks. Lot of talent in that Minnesota back court, good for the T’Wolves, bad for your fantasy team.
Enes Kanter – 18 pts, 7 rebounds in 15 min. Probably the best game we’ve seen from the young prospect to date. I like his upside a lot, unfortunately, with that crowded Utah front court, I just Kant-er recommend an add outside of 20-team dynasty format.
Russell Westbrook – 23 pts, 13 reb, 8 ast, 7 stl, 8 to, 3 3pm. Westy filled up the stats sheet tonight. Hoo boy. And not to discriminate, he made sure he put up 8 TOs as well. Do’h.
Kevin Martin – 19 pts, 3 rebs, 2 ast. The Kevins strike again and the Thunder win! (The other Kevin, a.k.a. Kevin Durant (yeah, that guy). had 19 pts, 4 reb, 4 blk).
Kevin Love – 15 pts, 14 reb, The other other Kevin had a double-double despite illness, and, oh yeah going 1-7 from three point land.
Rodney Stuckey – 28 minutes, 6 pts (3-11 FG) after coming off an 18 point game. More like Rodney Suckey? Right? No, but seriously, he sucks.
Andre Drummond – 19 minutes, 4 pts, 8 rebounds. I mention him not because you should add him, but because his minutes have steadily risen lately and Andre, the former top ten pick, is definitely a guy to watch.
Kyle Singler – 9 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl in 39 minutes. Not that much about this stat line jumps out at you except the 39 minutes. Wow. In other words, he’s not really good (fantasy-wise) at anything, but hey, he plays a lot. And that’s something.
Jason Maxiell – 5 pts, 9 reb, 3 blk. Yaaaaaaaawn.
Zach Randolph – 8 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast. Even Z-Bo’s have off days, only the second time this season he’s had under 10 rebounds. Maybe he took a note from the Spurs and sat this one out, I mean, it was the Pistons. Grizz won easily.
Kevin Seraphin – 13 pts, 10 rebs, 1 ast. The Kevins will run this league soon enough!
J.R. Smith – 20 pts, 6 ast, 2 3pm in 38 minutes. (9-14 FG) Who shot J.R.? I believe you have that confused. It was J.R. who shot, and quite well last night (9-14 FG). And that, my friends, is Dallas.
Nene – 18 min, 9 pts, 7 reb. Could be a good buy low candidate while the Wiz are monitoring his minutes. Nene should be eased back into things, but should be back to contributing like a top forward in no time.
Jeff Green – 19 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk. Green seems to produce a week’s worth of fantasy stats in a single game, then go MIA for the rest of the week. Let’s hope we see more of last night’s Jeff Green.
Jared Sullinger – 9 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl. Sully put up some nice stats in garbage minutes as the Celtics blew out Portland. Jared flirted with the starting lineup earlier in the season, and we could see him there again before the season ends. But until, then he’s just not quite there yet. I’ll let you know when he is.
Gerald Wallace – 20 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 5 3pm. I love Crash. He does it all. Consider this your last chance to buy low.
Andray Blatche – 14 pts, 9 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk. I was surprised that Blodge was just under 15% owned. Sure, he is wildly inconsistent, and can put up some real shizzy games fantasy-wise. Well, umm, yeah I guess that explains it. But with Brook Lopez sidelined for a short time, Andray is a great play right now, and he should see plenty of minutes regardless of whether he starts or not.
J.J. Redick – 27 minutes, 2 pts, 4 ast, 2 reb. Woof. More like J.J. Pathredick. He’s been struggling as of late, but honesty, the Magic don’t have anyone else to score, so I wouldn’t cut Redick loose just yet.
Moe Harkless – 8 reb, 7 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk in 28 minutes. Taking some time off from receiving prank phone calls, Moe has found more and more time in the Magi lineup lately. Orlando’s big prize in the Dwight Howard trade, things haven’t quite clicked for Moe yet, but when they do he’ll be a huge add.
Kemba Walker – 13 pts, 9 ast, 4 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk. Walker? I hardly know her!
Bismack Biyombo – 14 pts (5-6 FG), 7 reb, 3 blk in 24 minutes. The Bismack-daddy wack! Give a dog a bone? Besides having the greatest name in the league, Bismack also had the greatest game of his young season last night with a season-high 14 points. He’s been a decent source of blocks (1.8 bpg) so far, but not much outside that. However, the B-Cats don’t have a whole lot of other options so if we see another game like this from Bis-Biy soon, he definitely could be worth an add.
Ben Gordon – 19 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb, 3 3pm. The general rule with Gordon is, add him while he’s hot, drop him when he’s not. Well, if that 18.3 ppg over the last 4 games is any indication, he is a hot little schmotato right now.
Mickael Pietrus – 6 pts, 2 3pm, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk. Meanwhile, Linas Kleiza scored just 5 points in 15 minutes and got the start. Don’t be surprised to see the French Michael Jordan starting for Toronto at SF sometime soon. Sacre Bleu!
David West – 31 pts, 11 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk. If you say you thought D-West would be the Pacers leading scorer this season, you are a liar.
DeMarcus Cousins – 19 pts, 16 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl. DeMarcus’ shot an oogly 5-17 FG, but hey, we’ll take it. Looks like someone could use some help. What, is Aaron Brooks not good enough for you? Pause. Take a second and imagine he was on your team and not the Kings, imagine how good he could be. Go ahead, imagine. I’ll wait here.
Jrue Holiday – 13 pts, 15 ast. The 15 assists was a career high. In the words of Frank the Tank, “You my boy, Jrue!”
Dwight Howard – 28 pts, 20 reb, 3 blk, 1 3pm. Ah-ha, now I see why the Lakers wanted him so much. He is good at basketball. Just like Buster Bluth, he’s a monster!
Jodie Meeks – 21 pts, 7 3pm. I think someone likes playing for Coach D’Antoni…
Antawn Jamison – 33 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk. Here it is, (*fantasy pro tip!) your pickup of the night! Antawn played 33 minutes last night and is just under 40% owned in Yahoo leagues, but that number will rise dramatically over the weekend. Over the past four games, Antawn is averaging just over 17 ppg and 9.2 rpg. Dan Tony is even considering (just considering, don’t panic yet Pau owners) replacing struggling Pau Gasol in the starting line up. Clearly, Jamison showed coach he’s ready for a big role in the offense, and the minutes he’s been getting are hear to stay. If anyone on that Lakers team this year “deserves” a championship it’s Antawn , (oh yeah and Steve Nash, too I guess, he’s cool), and right now Jamison’s playing with a spark to carry LA and your fantasy team to the top of the standings.
