LOGIN

Bol Bol has the coolest name in the NBA.  He is 7-foot-2 and having a breakout season in year four of his career.  He can also do this:
 
He’s an actual unicorn, but that’s not my main point.  I had forgotten Bol Bol was even playing Bol in the league until this season!  I’d given up on him, and clearly was wrong to do so.

With the NBA for some reason deciding they want to draft teenagers and make them a part of the league, development has to be viewed differently.  Obviously, some kids like Ja Morant come in and are obvious supernovas of basketball talent, but others take years, and even multiple teams to make their mark.  Just this year, Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen are infuriating Bulls fans with their breakouts in their mid 20s.  I went back to the drafts since 2018 and picked one late developer to keep an eye on, similar to Bol Bol.  Who will be the next guys to surprisingly break out?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

I almost never know what I’m going to be writing about week to week. Not exactly a planner, my process – if it can even be called that – consists of watching a lot of basketball and tapping notes into my phone. When the weekend comes, I look back through the scribblings and begin to flesh things out. 

The San Antonio Spurs, with their top-10 offense, a surprising 4-2 (now 5-2) record, and six top-150 fantasy players were well-represented in my collection of stray thoughts. The fact that I’m rostering Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, and Jeremy Sochan across a variety of leagues this season also didn’t hurt. As of last Thursday, I was prepared to do a write-up about the goings on in Alamo City. Then the bomb dropped on Friday night. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week Two!  In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup.  If this is your first brush with midweek guidance, check out the intro to last week’s post to get some insight on my groundbreaking methodology (it’s not groundbreaking).  The dust is settling on the initial rush to grab surprise successes like Santi Aldama, but there is still a lot of rotation churn in the NBA as teams try to find the best way to win (or lose).  Unsurprisingly, we’ve already seen multi-game injuries and/or load management issues with big names on the Pelicans, Cavaliers, Clippers, Thunder, and Hornets, so there are potential opportunities on those teams as we look for streaming candidates to cycle through with that final roster spot.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Milwaukee’s Big Three showed up to play last night: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Bobby Portis. What? Portis has been an amazing role player and crucial to the Bucks this season. He put up 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds in last night’s loss to the Cavaliers. Who would have thought that this match would determine the 3rd seed in the East for the time being? Who expected the Cavaliers at all this season? A deep team highlighted by Darius Garland’s breakout, Kevin Love’s positive influence off the bench and an early season trade for Rajon Rondo. Speaking of which, man that trade looks like highway robbery, as he’s playing like everyone thought he would in Atlanta last season. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Remember that scene in Jurassic Park when the SUVs are rolling along the track and the people inside are looking out the windows to get a glimpse of the dinosaurs? Except there are no dinosaurs. This is Jurassic Park, not some bootleg zoo where wild animals are confined to what amounts to a jail cell for humans. The dinosaurs are not beholden to the whims of us silly humans. They will appear, eat, and do their dinosaur things when they so desire. The same thing goes for volcanoes. They do not erupt when the 1:00 pm tour guide gets to the base of the mountain. They do their thing when they are ready to do their thing. Which brings me to Hassan Whiteside of the Utah Jazz. Every once in a while, Mt. Whiteside will erupt for a huge game, like he did back in mid-December: 18 points, 14 boards, and four blocks in 20 minutes of action. Over the past two games with Rudy Gobert out of commission, the tour guides to Mt. Whiteside were selling tickets like hotcakes because he was set to start and crush. If you don’t know where this story is going, then you have a serious reading comprehension issue. He started the last two games, played 30 and 26 minutes, and disappointed. Granted, he endured some foul problems but he only blocked two shots and did not reach double-digit in points or rebounds. As the visitors returned to the safety of their homes, hopes dashed, money wasted, Mt. Whiteside exploded again last night.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Evidently, TNT is taking the week off from their NBA Tuesdays to start the new year, a development that suits me just fine. Don’t get me wrong, I like their broadcasts as much as any other, but because they’re always looking to showcase teams with national appeal, I end up seeing a lot of the same teams and players for these Tuesday night recaps. The network extending their vacation time means that instead of talking about the Nets or the Warriors, I got a chance to take in some smaller market teams (and also, once again, the Knicks). Diversifying the diet is good — variety is the spice of life — and I’m especially excited because this batch of games had a heavy dose of My Guys that I haven’t been able to talk about much this year. And as much as I would love to kick this off by highlighting a huge night from one of my most drafted players, the first lede player honors of 2022 instead go to someone I have exactly zero shares of.

Please, blog, may I have some more?