Sleepers. Breakouts. Busts. Bargains. Overrated. Underrated. That’s about all we think about in the weeks (months, for many of us) leading up to the fantasy NBA season. Even if your methods are sound, you’re not going to be right about all of them. Of course, that’s mainly due to injuries that directly affected the number of games played or indirectly affected a player’s role. But despite that, I thought it would be fun to review the season’s biggest overachievers and underachievers. Pat yourself on the back for good ones. Know that we feel your pain caused by the bad ones.
Please, blog, may I have some more?JaVale McGee
Fantasy Basketball: Get Smart
March 27, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 43 Commentsby: Son
I used to enjoy watching Get Smart, a satirical secret agent show. Agent Maxwell Smart is a fumbling, bumbling, stumbling secret agent who always saves the day somehow. One of the catch phrases of the show is “Missed it by that much!” Which would’ve been appropriate to say whenever Marcus Smart jacked up a shot, as he could barely hit the side of a barn in past seasons. This season, though, he’s vastly improved the shooting and is therefore able to put up lines like this:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2/5 | 8/14 | 3/3 |
The 21 points tied a season high! Smart is shooting 42% from the field and 36% from downtown this season. Over his first four seasons in the league, he had never posted a mark better than 37% from the field and 33% from downtown. As a result, while he always provided boards, dimes, and stocks, he was never able to crack the top 100 for fantasy on a per-game basis. This season, he’s a top 85 player and has had streaks where he’s been a top 60 player. Get Smart y’all!
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: DeAndre the Giant
March 25, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 14 Commentsby: Son
DeAndre Jordan is 6′ 11″ 265 pounds. He is a literal giant, but when thinking about giants, DeAndre rarely enters the consciousness. Michael? Maybe. Andre? Definitely. San Francisco and New York? For sure. But we need a #Movement to educate the haters and short people in the world. Did you know that there are 2800 people who are seven feet or taller in the world? There are 7.4 billion people on Earth. If my handy dandy abacus hasn’t failed me, that’s 0.000038% of the population. There are 43 seven-footers in the NBA. He’s a giant. End of story. For you smart asses, 1 inch doesn’t make that much of a difference when it’s 6′ 11″ versus 7′. Now, 6″ compared to 7″ is huge. Anyways, if that doesn’t do it for you, then check out his line from yesterday:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7/10 | 6/7 |
In 34 minutes! He had played 20, 18, and 22 minutes the prior three games, so the Fizdale risk always has to be factored in. With that said, when DJ plays, the music is bumping, as he provides boards, some dimes, stocks, and excellent field goal percentage. The most eye-opening statistic has been the 82% free throw shooting on 3.3 attempts over the past six games. A GIANT improvement from the 70% he’s been posting on the season and 46.5% career number.
Here’s what else I saw yesterday:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Fantasy Basketball: The Pot Has Been Stirred
March 23, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes |by: Kevin
Not that anyone is keeping score, but I made James Harden the highlighted player last week, so it feels kind of weak to be back here raving about the bearded one in back-to-back weeks. That said, there’s absolutely nothing weak about this ridiculous scoring effort. He actually posted an absurd 27 points in the first quarter alone, so anyone watching it live knew it could be a special night.
| FG | FT | 3PT | Points | Reb | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TO |
| 19/34 | 14/17 | 9/13 | 61 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Shooting 55.9% from the field and 14-for-17 from the line is massive for any fantasy team. He didn’t put up his usual assist numbers, but we can’t really complain about a 60-point game. While a 61-point game is huge (this was actually Harden’s 2nd 61-point game of the season), he’s deep in the MVP race and should continue to bolster fantasy squads that are making their championship runs.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: Redick Was Ridic
March 20, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 24 Commentsby: Son
J. J. Redick has never been the lede for this world famous site. In fact, I don’t recall ever writing a blurb for him. I’m sure I have, but now that I think about it, I’m not so sure anymore. Whether I have or not is irrelevant, though, because he’s been Mehdick for most of the season. That’s not to say he hasn’t been good. He’s been useful for what you drafted him for; treys with a handful of boards and dimes, good for around top 90 value. Last night, all the parallel universes must have intersected because Redick was ridic and produced a stat line that was, frankly, out of this world.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7/14 | 8/19 | 4/5 |
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost messed around. The 10 boards were a career high! The 8 dimes were a season high. He’s never posted a trip-dub and last night was the first dub-dub of his career! See, some funky stuff was going on in the universe last night. Anyways, it was a ceiling game for Redick, one that we will likely never see again. Enjoy the Redickulousness for a day, then go prepare for the return of Mehdick.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: Fear the Beard
March 16, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 2 Commentsby: Kevin
What else is there to say about James Harden? He’s been so consistently amazing that it’s easy to lose sight of just how good he is playing. Fantasy GMs that roster him have held a serious advantage all season. Every way you slice this line, it’s amazing. On one hand, he was one board away from a 40 point triple-double. If you look even closer, he was just 2 blocks away from a 5×5. That’s just ridiculous.
| FG | FT | 3PT | Points | Reb | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TO |
| 12/25 | 14/17 | 3/11 | 41 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
Everything about this line is massive. The turnovers are tough, but we all knew that going in. He continues to be the top play and should keep it going through the rest of the fantasy playoffs. Any team facing Harden better come correct.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Domantas Sabonis missed five games due to an ankle injury. His first game back, he played 20 minutes and shot 1-for-7 from the field and scored 9 points. In the second game, Sabonis only played 18 minutes but shot 4-of-12 from the field and scored 10 points. Since we all live on Planet Earth, we have all experienced a storm. They don’t magically appear out of nowhere. A combination of low and high pressure systems merge, form clouds, and often produce high-speed winds. You can see the clouds approaching or feel the wind picking up. In its most severe form, a storm brings a deluge of rain, crackling thunder, and a light show that would make the greatest of deejays jealous. That’s what occurred in Indiana last night, as Sabonis made it rain and lit up the Thunder:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7/12 | 12/13 |
In 28 minutes. When Sabonis is right, he provides points, boards, some dimes, and a smattering of stocks. He also shoots close to 60% from the field and over 70% from the line. The main issue for Sabonis is the minutes, though, as Nate McMillan likes to go with Thaddeus Young at power forward alongside Myles Turner. As a result, he only averages around 24-25 minutes per game. Last night against the Thunder, Sabonis was abusing Jerami Grant, so McMillan stayed big, but outside of obvious matchups or injury, I wouldn’t consider last night to be the norm going forward. Storms don’t happen often, and ones with both lightning and thunder are rare.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: Tons of B. S. in Philly
March 13, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 8 Commentsby: Son
Speaking in generalities, I’d say people on the East Coast are more straight up. In New York, time is money so people don’t want to dilly dally. In Los Angeles, there’s the whole Hollywood vibe. I will say, though, that driving in rush hour may show the true colors of an individual. In Philly, they just don’t give a F. Santa Claus? Here are some batteries for your noggin. With that said, there’s been plenty of B. S. in Philly these days:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10/16 | 6/8 |
Ben Simmons aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallmost messed around. If my handy dandy abacus didn’t fail me, he has 10 trip-dubs on the season. There have been many other games where he’s been so close. Anyways, the turnover are plentiful and you won’t get any treys (the ultimate stay-in-yo-lane), but the points, boards, dimes, and steals are plentiful. He had been languishing in the top 60 area for much of the season, but over the past seven games, he’s been a top 25 player because he’s increased his free throw percentage from 60% to 72% on 5.1 attempts. Hopefully that ain’t no B. S.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
It must be hard to be the second fiddle night in and night out. Constantly being ignored and written off while your teammate garners all the praise. I think the most obvious dynamic duo of this kind in the NBA is Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. A slightly less obvious one is the front court duo of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. Gobert almost always has a better fantasy line and puts up the gaudier defensive numbers and Favors’ stats would easily benefit if Rudy were to go down with an injury or if he was on another team. Well, for one glorious night, Robin saved Batman and got the villain. Favors went off for the line of 23-18-0-1-3-2 on 10-of-12 shooting and 3-of-4 from the line and led the Jazz to a victory over the Bucks. Derrick Favors is a man who has enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular NBA career. He’s one of the few remaining players who have played for the New Jersey Nets, a team I remember fondly. He’s actually been with Utah for nine years and has been a staple in the starting lineup for pretty much all of that time. He’s shooting a career best 57.8% FGs and is having his best blocks season since 2016. So today, take a second to think about the sous-chef, the vice president, the Derrick Favors’ of the world and how important they really are.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball: Al B Sure
February 22, 2019 | 2018 Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 51 Commentsby: Son
If you want a guaranteed chuckle, watch this Al B. Sure! video. Ha! Gotta love the late-80s and early-90s. As much as we clown now, though, Al B. Sure! was a star back then. The above song was No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and he was nominated for Grammy and AMA awards. There’s another Al that gets clowned on as well: Al Horford. Why? Click HERE. Ha! Too funny. He also seems to be underrated and underappreciated in the fantasy community. Well, last night he reminded us all why he’s so damn good…
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2/6 | 8/21 | 3/4 |
Over the past four games, Horford has been the #6 player in fantasy. On the season, he’s top 25. Many view him as a better real-life player than fantasy asset, yet since 2010, Horford has ended as a top 20 player five times and has never finished below #43 on a per-game basis. Al B Good for Sure!
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Please, blog, may I have some more?