“Dude, you can’t make a title caps to make the pun work, or else it’s a stupid lazy joke!” Well, ya know I’m pretty effin’ rusty out here catching back up with Summer Ball and this final batch of free agency moves! I’m as old and as rusty as Deron Williams, who completed his buyout with the Nets, turned it into piles of gold he buried in his backyard, and will be eating Mulligan’s steak with Mark Cuban. The rich stay rich, just with the richer! Wait, did that make any sense? While D-Will has just as much risk as an active Claymore mine sitting on your desk (and giving it a fourth grade girl), I think I might actually buy in a bit. He’s in a steady decline, but when looking at his numbers last year, it’s easy to forget he came off the bench for a bit – and his bench numbers were horrific. As a starter he was 14.3/3.6/7.1 with a steal per and only 2.4 TO. And interestingly enough – nearly 33 minutes a game while staying [mostly] healthy! Must be the new bacon and eggs diet. He shot pretty horrible – sub 40% as a starter – but it was 39.6% vs. 32.3% as a sub. Couldn’t figure out how to get it done off the pine! Sounds like a merit badge the Pawnee Rangers would give out. Moving to Dallas, he’s surrounded by SO MUCH better talent that he should have no problem falling into comparable numbers as his starting days in Brooklyn, maybe even with a few more dimes, a few less TO, and playing as the starter all year (if he stays glued together). This is likely D-Will’s final chance to be on a winner, and after a very sub-par 14-15 I think he could be a draft day value. Either that or he’ll be a hot spinning cone of meat! Here’s what else has gone on in the past week of fantasy basketball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Perry Jones
Fantasy Basketball Infirmary: Week 9 Injury Analysis
December 26, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 5 Commentsby: Peter Kap
Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, Christmas has always a great day for basketball fans. We got a great slate of games, including some pretty amazing performances from John Wall, Russell Westbrook, and Dwayne Wade. We even got to see the Knicks’ teammates come to Qunicy Acy’s aid for a fight with John Wall.
Unfortunately, a few stars were missing from the Christmas games. The Thunder beat the Spurs in San Antonio, despite having superstar Kevin Durant on the sideline. He missed his fourth game in a row due to an ankle sprain. Durant was quoted as saying, “I can’t play basketball. I can’t run. I can’t jump. I’m not just sitting out just because. If I could play I would play. But I can’t play.”
Based on his comments, owners should expect to see him out another week or so. The injury is not related to his surgically repaired foot, but is similar to an injury he had in 2009, when he missed nine games. While Perry Jones will replace KD in the starting lineup, Durant is impossible to replace in real life and in fantasy. Owners will have to just wait for his return.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Mo Injuries Mo Problems
November 9, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 121 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Ay dios mio!
Friday was a cryday for me. Then Saturday was a sadderday. Muy triste! Ricky Rubio severely sprained his ankle in the second quarter against the Magic Friday night, effectively crushing several of my teams and ruining my DraftKings squad! Seems like every year there’s several bad ankle sprains with players rolling their foot on their own, get these guys better footwear! Rubio’s gonna miss at least a month, with a widely circulated update it “could” be 7-8 weeks. All I want for Christmas is Rubio back on the court! I’m holding in virtually all leagues, as he was finally banking on the high expectations I’ve set for him with my high ranks the past two years. Because we all know the Razzball Ranks are bulletin board material for NBA locker rooms…
Everything seemed to point towards a massive workload for Mo Williams, who through the first four games (with Rubio in there full time as the starter), Mo was averaging 21.4 minutes and 3 dimes per. But surprisingly, Flip Saunders went sushi on us with the raw Zach Lavine getting the start and going 5/6/4 in 26 minutes (only 2 TO) while Mo’s 2/4/5 in 22 minutes (3 TO) doesn’t inspire any sort of confidence Williams will get more rock. Add into the stew the Wolves were actually in that game against the Heat until the end, and it’s a stew I don’t think I want any part of anymore. I mean, who puts sushi in a mother f stew?! Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy basketball action:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Basketball Infirmary: Week 2 Injury Analysis
November 7, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 55 Commentsby: Peter Kap
It feels like each time I have to submit the weekly injury report, someone big gets a last minute injury. The first week it was Victor Oladipo and his facial fracture. Last week, it was Russell Westbrook. Let’s hope that this week no one gets hurt after I hit submit.
Speaking of Russell Westbrook, he will be out 4+ weeks after surgery to repair his broken right hand. This is a huge blow to the Thunder who are already hurting with injuries. They are so desperate for a living, breathing player that they signed Ish Smith as part of their hardship exception. He is definitely not the Ish and should not be anywhere close to fantasy rosters.
Fortunately for the Thunder, and fantasy owners, Reggie Jackson is back from his ankle injury. He already has 36 points and 19 assists in just two games back. Jackson should continue to be a fantasy beast, but expect his field goal percentage to dip with the added pressure as the lead scorer.
Since Jackson is definitely already owned, Perry Jones is the next best Thunder option to pick up. Averaging 15 points and 4 rebounds, Jones should continue to see playing time, while knocking down threes. He’s day-to-day with a bruised knee, but shouldn’t be out for long.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Early Booms That Spell Doom, And Busts That Should Evoke… Lust??
November 7, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Buy/Sell | 69 Commentsby: Dan A
Ok. I’m never beating Rabbit in a freestyle battle with rhyming skills like in my title, I know. Maybe my Dad was right, it’s time to hang up the mic for good, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, but Parents just don’t understand. My hip-hop name was MC Ice Trey. Booking the YMCA rec room on seniors discount day to perform my edgy, in-yo-face raps was a disaster, and yet it was the height of my career. Who knew the Canasta league would be filled with so much rage? Still, I like to think I spit the truth to that old white group.
So, maybe I don’t know how to flow, but I do know how to dribble and dime, amirite? That’s not true, either. I’m a 2 dribble max, pick and pop player, at best. What you CAN take to the bank is that there is fantasy fools gold glittering in them thar hills, and you gotta know when you have itI was never on the Caron Butler bus, which appears to have been a very quick bus route, so I’m not exactly revealing any nuggets here. That said, I’m still high on Jonas Valanciunas, as I said in my “bold predicitions” article, despite his minor injury currently. What I’m saying here, gentle reader, is that some players who look dope early on are the fantasy equivalent of “good from far, far from good” types (Butler), while others are starting slow, but have much more to offer you, the type you bring home to your Nonna/Bubby/Gram Grams (JV). What’s our mantra here? Buy low, sell high, chikka chikka, what?? (my written imagery of record scratches right there). So throw yo hands in the air, and wave ’em like you just don’t care, and if you wanna learn who to buy and sell, somebody say: “Oh yeah!!” Sorry. I’ll cut that out.
Please, blog, may I have some more? This Is Just Plain Ridiculous
November 5, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 122 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
You might as well set up a Civil War style triage on the Thunder bench, because somebody has the team set of Thunder voodoo dolls and isn’t wasting any time! Adding to this virtually unprecedented injury wave to hit an NBA team through only week one of the season, Perry Jones knocked knees for the second game in a row; this time in a ton of pain and had to exit. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out the Thunder depth chart on Rotoworld, where the red S means sidelined:
Oklahoma City Red S-es! And while a “knee contusion” usually wouldn’t worry me too much, George Hill had the same deal and he’s going to be out until late-November is sounds…
On the plus side, Serge Ibaka is absolutely en fuego out there. 25/11/2/0/1 and forced to take contested jumpers the whole night, but hit 11-14 including three treys. And played 46 minutes out of desperation! The blocks will come, so if you got Serge late round 1 (like we had him) or round 2, you’ve got something of your own surging in your pants.
On the negative side, Reggie Jackson is playing with some ill-advised reckless abandon. I mean, give the kid some props for playing through numerous injuries last night, but he ended up with his butt on the hardwood more often then Paris Hilton. Had a fantastic slash of 13/4/14 but hurt his wrist limiting him to 4-14 FG (0-6 3PTM). Plus the ankle still looks gimpy. I know the upside is immense the next month, but I might try to sell RJax high after watching this game. It was like watching Denard Robinson at Michigan. I’m not a huge college football fan, but my dad went there and I watch parts of most games, and Shoelace is still the most dynamic player I’ve ever seen in Maize & Blue. But he seemed to leave early almost every game, getting battered and beaten up.
The Thunder need to do everything and anything to get healthy, with three straight off days until Friday. My recommendations include – every player eating a live octopus chasing it with raw eggs, hiring the Wolverine (Jackman, not Denard) for some mutant healing blood, and calling Mrs. Cleo to figure out which guy will be hurt on Friday and benching him. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy action:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Welcome To The Band, Perry
November 3, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 90 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t listen to country music… I don’t listen to that emo we talked about last Friday anymore either… This is quickly turning into JB’s music blog (I’ll always shoot anyone some recommendations if you want rock/shoegaze/ambient stuff! Flip side to Grey’s rapcoin!)…
Anyway, I googled The Band Perry, because well, I know that they’re something popular, and the first image looks like some hot chick standing in front of two of the Stark ninnies from Game of Thrones. Which would be a pretty apt way to think about the Thunder a mere month ago. Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook standing in front of some ninnies. Don’t get me wrong, RJax and Lurch are some exciting young talent, but I preach da truff! Then the injury bug swept the Thunder locker room more aggressively than Ebola media coverage (I would say just Ebola, but even THAT isn’t spreading as fast…), and everyone is hurt. With all that offense recovering and enjoying painkiller prescriptions, somebody was bound to step up. And why not the talented Perry Jones, who I compared in his first mention last year to James Johnson – multi-cat with 3s. I knew the tags would help me! Click on a player name on the bottom of the article there and you get every article that dude was mentioned… Focus! After that huge 32/7/3 breakout last Thursday night, encored it with 23/4/2/2/0 Saturday shooting 9-18 with three treys in a whopping 41 minutes. While his rest of season outlook remains a little murky when the rest of Perry’s cast of Friends return, he’s an obvious must-add for the short term. Another big week, and you can sell him faster than a Courtney Cox sitcom about boning cougars. Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy basketball action:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Thursday: An Apt Day For An Emo Cryfest
October 31, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 212 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Ugh…
So any readers out there grow up in that emo scene or get into any of that stuff at the turn of the century? I was all about the band Thursday’s CD Full Collapse, and man, listening back to it now is ridiculous! Even in high school I could make fun of the music that was going on then, talking about how emo bands had a crier. But Paris in Flames legit sounds like there’s some dude in the corner cry-yelling! Hey, it beats the Slipnkot dude who’s one job is to bang the trashcan lid…
Where to start with the cryfest? I think we gotta go with Russell Westbrook, and well, hold a seance for all Thunder fans right now. Sustained a fracture in his hand last night, and will likely miss about a month. We’ll know more by later today, but I think OKC should change their uniforms to the Bubble Boy outfits. Look where that movie took Jake Gyllenhaall! Kinda hard not to think about picking up Sebastian Telfair, but he’s still behind the Donald Sloan-types. Shooting up with some medium-term value is Reggie Jackson if his ankle heals up. I’d look to see if he was dropped in your league, as now he’s a dynamite hold until healthy, as long as it’s not another month for him as well… We still don’t really have a clear picture, so I think Telfair can make a couple starts.
Then the other biggie… My Panthers… I was actually at the game, and man, the amount of angst and frustration in the stands really could’ve been an emo wah-party. Pop quiz, who had more TOs – Cam or the main Cav?! Well, it was the main Cav, but we’ll start there and then get into everything else that went down last night in fantasy hoops:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Prep Your Giant Horn, Because Niiiiiiikola Is Back
January 30, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 55 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Man, that title seems all sorts of wrong… But what is right is Nikola Vucevic returned to action last night For a solid 16/10 dub-dub in only 20 minutes. Efficiency! Shot 6-12, 4-4 from the stripe and added a few steals. Very encouraging return for a guy people were dismissing since he had no timetable from the concussion. Concussions can really jack ya up, but hopefully you stayed true on your course to the playoffs and have a dynamic top-20ish big man. Of course the Magic now have lost value in other places, with Big Baby going 5/4/4 in 32 minutes, Arron Afflalo looking like the scrub I’ve said he was all year (still think his 20+ PPG is one of the most preposterous stats this year) and Tobias Harris temporarily moving to the bench. Although T Dawg isn’t Walking Dead (going 9/11/3/1/1 in 37 minutes), he shot like a stiff going 2-8. Afflalo is still a sell as soon as you can, Davis a drop, and hope you bought low on Vuc while there was a window open. Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy hoops:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Ohhhh man, the mile run. Nothing establishes popularity in middle school more than the mile run. You have the athletes who can just jog but have to semi-try, the dorks who are OK at sports that do pretty well (me!), the cool kids that just walk, the unhealthy people who saunter, and then the coolest dudes who hide behind the scoreboard on the other side of the track as the teachers and smoke cigs. True story! But the real run to talk about this morning is C.J. Miles‘ run, who’s capped off three straight great games. Hit a ridiculous 10 treys last night, for a 34/5/2/2 line shooting 11-18 and 10-14 from deep. If only someone called it yesterday! And proof to the theory of ThrAGNOF. Got you 10 treys for just one spot start. Great night for Miles and shows us yet again that if you need to stream guys, play anyone facing the Sixers. As I mentioned yesterday, their D is league worst in points allowed by nearly 7 points more a game given up than the second-worst. It’s a fast-paced team with bad D no matter how you slice it. Unfortunately for Miles, the acquisition of Luol Deng is really going to hurt his minutes, making him a guy you’re probably not picking up in standard leagues or solid 12-teamers. Just won’t have the minutes or upside. But luckily he had one last game to show his range and should stay in the mix for deeper leaguers. Here’s what else I saw last night in a big slate of games:
Please, blog, may I have some more?PGs depth suddenly overfloweth from the wire, with a lot of guys on their choppers… chopping(?) their way onto fantasy squads. Listen, I would make some sort of better parallel with that show, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Takes a lot of effort to plow through a show! I friggin’ had to stop the new Arrested Development in season 4. Yikes. And speaking of arrested development, the Clips sure got a buster when Chris Paul went down with a separated shoulder Friday night, and through a series of updates will be out “up to six weeks.” The trainer asked Paul if he was filing for divorce with his shoulder, but nah, just separated. Huge blow to the Clippers, but it was a “rush to your nearest internet device” moment for fantasy owners to add Darren Collison. On Friday night, in JB’s RCL 2 I missed out, then when deciding who to drop for him in RCL 1, I missed him by about 10 seconds. Thank’s a lot Your Mom Says Hi! A Hill ‘O Beans bout to be refried! Yeah, terrible smack talk, I know… If you’re not checking out the comments every night, all sorts of updates get fantasy spins throughout the evening, like El Burro breaking the news while watching his Clips’ title hopes get separated. I like Collison a lot, and unless you singularly need assists, I like him over the other big breakout PG from the weekend. I think he gives you 16/3/6/2 a game until Paul is done with marriage counseling. The 35 minutes he’ll play a night should make those numbers pretty realistic. Here’s what else I saw over the weekend in hoops action:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Anderson Varejao: They Call Me Mr. Glass
January 3, 2014 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 171 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Well, Andrew Bynum is Mr. Glass too… But the other way! And he’s also Mr. Franchise Killer, as the Cavs had to suspend him just to get him to stay out of the stadium. “Hey Andrew, leave the HurryCane at home today, we don’t wanna keep paying the stadium workers to put down the handicap ramps!” Just saves money across the board. Once Bynum gets waived, I think even Obama will be shaking his head at Bynum’s healthcare bills. Anyway, the obvious benefactor to that whole mess is Anderson Varejao, who after his dominating 18/25 game last night has double-digit boards in 4 of the last 5. Varejao was cleaning up the glass like he was the Unbreakable one! The leading rebounder in the NBA last year before he got hurt (at a ridiculous 14.4 a game), Varejao should be a monster in 2014. Although it does help when Nikola Vucevic is hurt and the starting center against you is Jason Maxiell. Hell, I coulda had a double double against them last night! And I don’t even have Jerry Curls! Here’s what else I saw last night across the NBA:
Please, blog, may I have some more?A little birdie told me our 2024 Fantasy Baseball subscriptions are live. The little birdie also said it includes our Draft War Room. You really wanna lose in a fantasy baseball league to a little birdie? Would be kinda embarrassing, tbhhttps://t.co/1ag7IFSYS0
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