If you’re a Harry Potter fan, then you’re in the wrong place. Gave me a punny title! All you’re good for, Rowling… Some friends tried to get me into that noise and there’s like these whore-cruxes hidden around the world or some crap?! Made no sense at all. Get enough whore-cruxes in half the reality shows out there…
Through a few comments over the last couple weeks, I feel like I’ve had to fight for Donald Sloan as a guy to hold onto and not give up for a peanut shell and ABC gum. The sell-high label still applies, but sometimes you gotta just ride the broom like a whore-crux! No idea what that means. Huge night from Sloan in a shocking win at Dallas going 10-14 FG (3-5 3PTM 6-9 FT) 29/2/5/1/0 all with only one turnover. It’s been a little under the radar since he’s not a huge dimer, but has 2 TO or fewer in 9 straight games. Somebody get Michael Carter-Williams some Sloan tape for the film room! Despite a little bit of a struggle at the stripe last night, is well over 80% on freebies this year. Really his only knocks are low steals and FG%, but if I’m getting mad at MCW (which is tough to do after last night!), all the sudden Sloan’s numbers are looking mighty tasty. I still think whatever you get in a trade won’t be worth just riding Sloan another month, as George Hill‘s knee is rumored to keep him out until the latter part of December now. And Sloan’s big play should have him above C.J. Watson, who is also lingering into December with trench foot. Who knows, maybe the Pacers go crazy and start Hill and Sloan when Hill is back anyway, and play Stuckey as a 6th man. Sloan’s been a big part of any success the Pacers have had, so he’ll certainly remain in the rotation. I’ve written Sloan’s name enough for the open here, let’s start gushing over some more of JB’s favs who did well last night:
Michael Carter-Williams – Wooooo! Efficiency-ish. A welcome sight for sore eyes. Sore as in, I’m guessing most MCW owners have gouged theirs out! 10-24 FG (4-5 FT and didn’t take a 3-point shot!) for 24/7/2/2/0 and only 2 TO. First time under 3 TO this year and only the second game to shoot over 33%. Patience is a virtue in the marathon that is fantasy hoops!
Tony Wroten – Looked like the most explosive player on the floor in the bits and pieces I watched of this game against the Blazers. 7-18 FG (0-3 3PTM 6-9 FT) 20/2/9/3/1 with 3 TO. Just really needs to stop chucking up the treys and needs to pull a Jason and keep slashing. Was gashing the Blazers in transition.
Henry Sims – Had the shot falling putting up 22 points, but continues to be a low boarder and doesn’t block shots. Nice to see 34 minutes, but 18 and 21 the past two games respectively, and just not a reliable big for 12ers as he really is a scorer-only and only when he gets the minutes. A lot of onlys in there.
Nerlens Noel – His only only is he only needs more minutes! That’s a weird, probably grammtically incorrect sentence, but ya get my drift! 33 minutes off the bench for 12/5/3/3/2. We call that a rainbow line! And so mother f efficient too, no TO and shot 6-7 for Captain N’s best fantasy line. Helm to 108!
LaMarcus Aldridge – His mid-range is that Mel Gibson, 80s-mullet in Lethal Weapon. Lengthy, flowy and awesome! While lethal indeed… 33/11/3 with some unreal %s (13-20 FG, 1-1 3PTM, 6-7 FT) but wish he coulda chipped in some swats! But to be fair, in the first few minutes he looked to get a small piece of two layups that missed bad, so easily could’ve gotten credited with two. Still, hilarious that nearly half his blocks (6 of his 15) came in that one game a couple weeks ago against the Nugs….
Steve Blake – Near dimebag! 8 assists even though he was colder than those moronic college kids stuck in the ski lift in Frozen. And I’m not talking about the Disney movie, but if a parent ever got those mixed up, it would be a hilarious coming-of-age film for a toddler! 0-6 from the field, 0-5 from deep, but still the main bench guy and going to rack up the dimes to stay bottom-end 12er worthy.
Victor Oladipo – He and Nikola Vucevic were the only Magic to show up (Tobias Harris out with a minor calf issue – almost was able to play so should be back soon), with RainbOladipo living up to his name with a 22/9/2/2/1. I guess technically missed the rainbow, but was awesome to see.
LeBron James – Don’t shake the Cavs! “Just something the body does!” Thanks, Uncle Jack! 29/4/11/3/0 hitting a couple treys and only 1 TO. Man, no Tobias and Orlando doesn’t have a clue!
Kevin Love – As someone astutely pointed out yesterday, that certainly isn’t hair gel on his ear! 12/8/5/2/0 is nice and all, but again no treys – now three of four games he didn’t hit one and a total of 6 treys in his last 7 games. Slim helped push me into full and utter avoidance, but sheesh, even Slim didn’t see this!
Lance Stephenson – Early on I said he was a huge sell high, and the window slammed shut last night! Got Clifford’d! Came out in the 3rd and didn’t return, even though Gary Neal got hurt (shoulder injury that didn’t seem too serious) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is on the shelf. When you’re getting sat for a schlub like Brian Roberts in a tandem-PG backcourt, something is plum wrong. Shot only 1-8 for 3/3/6/0/0. Averaging barely over 4 boards the last 7 after that ridiculous start, and while the TOs have improved, he continues to be even worse than Josh Smith shooting 3s. Sorta in that Josh Smith mold and like that saying with women… “Can’t live with him, can’t drop em for hot options on the waiver wire.”
Blake Griffin – Another solid game, but again no steals or blocks. Nearly tripdubbed for 22/16/9, but this is the sort of game you need to sell high with. Shot 10-23 and it continues to look like he’ll be a sub-50% shooter in big volume this year. Not a help in FT, 3s, Stl, Blk, or TO and a marginal FG% that is no bueno for an elite big. Last year it was the high-volume 52.8 FG% that kept his value high, and as his overall game extends into deeper jumpers and a little less wear and tear inside, it’s going to sink him in overall value. Sell time.
The Luminescent Lithuanian – So luminescent last night! 27/11/0/0/1 on an unreal 10-11 FG and 7-8 FT. If only he stayed this luminescent all the time! We wouldn’t have lost the last year+month in our relationship.
Lou Williams – Another big game for 17/2/1/2/1 hitting all the cats and a couple treys. The Lou is gettin oh so Sweet! Yeah I’m def grabbing him if available in any leagues, even if it’s only a hold when hot. It can be super slippery when wet.
Patrick Patterson – Maybe the best 24 minutes anyone could play without taking a shot… 2/5/4/0/0 hitting both FT and no TO with a +14 +/-. Probably not usable in most 12ers, but seems to always contribute something.
Isaiah Canaan – Well after Patrick Beverley said he would be ready for last night’s game, all the sudden Kevin McHale comes out and says this latest hammy strain will cost him longer than the last stint of 4 games. Yikes. Can’t ever trust what players say! First there’s the hold or drop PBev conundrum. I think I’m still holding and hoping it’s just barely over a week. Then to Canaan, who might be the worst NBA starting PG right now, going 7/0/3/1/0 in 26 minutes shooting 2-8. But hey, hit a trey, got another steal, and he’s a temporary PBev-light minus the real life defense. So like, really light.
Kostas Papanikolaou – Stuffed the stat sheet, but unfortunately also stuffed the TO! Dr. Pap does a lot of stuffing… For Thanksgiving! 4/5/3/1/2 with 5 TO. At least the smear came up with a near-rainbow!
New York Knicks – Yikes, look at their box score last night! Carmelo Anthony goes for 14, and no one else in double-digits even though they were in it until the end. Very odd. Tis an ugly team. And even uglier with Melo having some bad back spasms. Still traveling with the team, but a DNP could be on the horizon.
J.R. Smith – A usable 8/3/1/2/0 in 19 bench minutes hitting a couple treys, and would be a huge streaming play if Melo is out and he’s available on your wire. Might take a Kobe Bryant amount of shots out there if he starts sans Melo.
Ian Mahinmi – The ugliest stat of the night, I guess I should’ve been more forthcoming with his FT woes when recommending him as a stream this week! Probably lost your FT%… 0-6 FT, but otherwise was what a typical Mahinmi-an start would be for 10/7 with a swat. I really hate that offensive fouls are TO, as 2 of his 3 TO were on early illegal screens, which always seem marginal when called. Bitter Mahinmi! I still think you hold onto him for tomorrow against the Spurs and that ugly defensive C rotation.
Rodney Stuckey – Surprisingly played after being in a lot of pain with that wrist sprain last game out, and went 12/3/5/1/0 with a couple of treys. Shot 2-9 overall, but it was useful and he started next to Sloan. I’m ready to grab him in my 12ers now, where I can.
Chris Copeland – I was surprised to see he only played 14 minutes watching some good chunks of this game and he always seemed out there. But alas, only 14 it was for 11/1/0/0/0 and three treys. Adios minutos, a-Stuckey is now ahead of you!
Luis Scola – Had a good line, but camon, it’s Luis Scola.
Jameer Nelson – As much as I hate to admit it, very quietly doing what I expected him to do out of the gate after I said he was droppable everywhere. 29 minutes for 10/3/5/1/0 with no TO last night, hitting two treys. Heading into last night, was in a 7-game stretch of hitting 1.6 treys/dishing 5.9 dimes/losing only 1.6 TOs. Shift down the steals and up the dimes, and it’s PBev. Worth a grab again in 12ers, and my rank might end up turning right.
Seal’s Kiss From A Rose – Da Bulls! Got Da Healthy! 18/3/5 hitting three treys and 5-8 from the stripe. Aggressive, the 4 TO aren’t good, but overall awesome to see in 25 minutes.
Nikola Mirotic – The line wasn’t overly compelling at 10/5/1/0/0, but shot 4-9, hit a couple treys, and just at the eye level looked really effing good in a close game. Taj Gibson is probably out the rest of the week, so he’s certainly a solid short-term add in 14ers or deeper if you have an itch from Mirotic (at least, that’s a popular phrase from the girls in Yugoslavia. His home town is Tit-ograd for god’s sake!).
Pau Gasol – Rainbow alert! 23/9/4/3/2 but should be negated with 1-3 FT! A big miss late too, that didn’t salt it away.
Trey Burke – I swear, Razzball is bulletin board material for him! I write how he sucks and he goes on a run, then I write about how his awesome AST:TO ratio got crushed over the weekend, now back to being good for 18/3/10/2/0, making over 50% of his shots at 8-14, and only 2 TO. Pick a Trey Burke for us to analyze, no more flip flopping!
Streamers/Cheap DraftKings Picks:
Ben McLemore (23% owned) – A big test for Austin Rivers who is likely to play the starting 2 for NO, as the bigger McLemore should get all the opportunity in the world for O and D stats. OD on some McLemore!
Nikola Mirotic (14% owned) – Ya know, I still have that itch for Mirotic! Just have a feeling on a back-to-back and in a game the Bulls should win at Denver (high altidue though, you never know…), Mirotic will get a lot of run for Gasol who played 37:28 last night off the calf injury. Maybe they rest him a little more if the Bulls get a lead tonight, and give the rook, who isn’t really a rook at 23-years-old and with years of European experience, some extended play.
Here’s to hoping a big night on Tuesday for your squads to lead into the full slate on Wednesday. See you tomorrow, Razzball Nation!
