Ya know, Brandon Knight and The Dark Knight metaphor work pretty well as a parallel to my time here on Razzball Hoops. In 13-14, Knight was one of my first bolder calls that panned out (hey, it’s easier for me to forget the bad ones OK! …cough, MCW, cough…), exploding onto the scene as the Bucks PG like Batman Begins. I guess that implies I exploded onto the scene, let’s just say I feel like I was better than Batman & Robin, so that’s a plus… Then he was somehow even better for most of 14-15; the rare sequel that’s better than the original in The Dark Knight. In my second season, I was the only ‘pert to have #OccupyDraymondGreen top 100! Take that, Christopher Nolan! Then he was traded to the Suns, and thus far this season, we’ve only seen flashes of the former brilliance. Exactly like The Dark Knight Rises. He got a bigger budget with his max deal, and also got a longer run time. And while Anne Hathaway is hot and all, there’s a lot of things that just didn’t make sense. Only time will tell if Knight can break this analogy, because the next stop for Batman is this horrific looking dawn of justice movie hooblah. Whatever the hell it’s called… Why in the hell is Affleck going from Oscar-winning director to star of a CGI clusterF$*#?!?!?! Not like he needs the money! Knight returned last night (hah!) for 10/2/5/0/1 in 25 minutes off the bench after nearly 2 months out due to a groin. He looked pretty good out there, even though he shot only 2-9. Was cutting hard and ran into a mess of big men to scuffle for a board, so he’s not just coasting until the end of the season. Good timing before the fantasy playoffs! Hopefully you were able to hold; while I think he’s gonna be ho-hum compared to his numbers pre-injury with the Suns tanking, I do think he’ll be must-own. So here’s to hoping he’s finally healthy, and buck the trend of both the Batman franchise, or movies by Christopher Nolan. I have to buck the trend of this analogy too! Now THERE’S some pressure for 16-17 ranks! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy hoops action:
DeMar DeRozan – Led the Raps to a V over ATL, going 30/5/0/0/0 with 4 TO. An empty statline except if you took him for 30! Uggghhhh, stupid Paul Millsap…
Luis Scola – After getting a DNP-ugly (I mean rest), put up a double-double at 10/12 in 22 minutes, but didn’t do much else. His last two games have been OK, but it followed a long stretch of blah, a barren wasteland as empty as Interstellar‘s fleshed out ideas. Our brief Jason Thompson sighting disappeared again, maybe HE’S the real abominable snowman!
Jeff Teague – The disappointing season for Teague – and well, the Hawks in general – continued last night, as he was off back-to-back nice games to only go 10/4/7/2/0 in 25 minutes. Dennis Schroder played 25 minutes as well for 11/2/5 as Coach Butthole continues to market cannibalize the PG position…
Kent Bazemore – Had a couple bumps, but 13/8/1/1/2 with no TO last night and quickly got through hitting the “first year starting” wall. I just made up that term, but it seems appropriate! Speaking of college players from the CAA, GO UNCW!!!!!!!
Pau Gasol – 20/12/4, but 7 TO?!?!?! He had 8 TO a couple games ago too, although overall it hasn’t been an issue… Looks like he’s gonna keep on truckin’ through the fantasy playoffs; if you invested in the Bulls 4/4/5 playoff sched for H2H, you’re lovin’ life!
E’Twaun Moore – Moore is less! Well, this might’ve been his best fantasy game of his career, going 20/6/4/1/1 on 8-12 shooting with 4 treys. I guess there’s not that much “less” in there! Well, except my 12er teams and shallower will certainly be less Moore… This got so confusing!
Nikola Mirotic – As with Moore, Miro got some additional run with Jimmy Butler still having soreness in his knee. He saw Dr. Death – I mean Dr. Andrews – but Death giveth Life! Or something like that… Andrews said there’s no issues, so I don’t see much long-term sustainability for Niko and Moore, even though Threekola went 8/10/2/2/1 last night…
Justin Holiday – 12/2/1/1/1 for a surprisingly multi-cat 21 minutes off the bench. When Butler is off his holiday, we’ll stop seeing Holiday.
Kawhi Leonard – Rainbow me timbers! 29/7/2/2/2, hitting 10-15 FG with 4 treys and 5-5 FT. The god of ratios!
LaMarcus Aldridge – His strong second half play continues, going 26/10/1/1/1 and killing the Bulls in the post. He was like a matador with a red cape out there!
Tim Duncan – Broke some kind of record for points, but we don’t care! We’re year-to-year fantasy, records are for old farts!
Tony Parker – Speaking of old farts, 20/4/12 for ol’ Frenchy. I could totally see him being an old crusty homeless Frenchman in a movie in 20 years… What would be a good movie for that…? The 800 Blows!
Jon Leuer – Might be worth a spec add in deeper leagues again, as I’ve always been impressed with his 2-man game with Knight. 19/7 on 8-10 shooting last night, with P.J. Tucker feeling some of the heat dropping down to 19 minutes. It’s a mess, but one to capitalize on in deepers.
Devin Booker – Yeah, yeah, yeah another point for Slim which was the nail in the coffin… 35/3/5/1/1 and after a pretty sizable rookie bump, is taking off again. Out of protest, I’m not even linking the board or updating it… I’ll get around to it…
Emmanuel Mudiay – Look at the rook taking off! 30/2/5/0/1 hitting an absurd 13-20 from the field, including 4 treys. He missed his only freebie and had 4 TO, but not enough to be a complain-face, Mudiay owners!
Gary Harris – Slim’s Latin lover had only a 12/4/2/0/0 line, but still played 32 minutes. Had to get a little less aggressive with foul trouble, and I saw a few of them. Ticky tacky. Like the theme song from Weeds says…
Nikola Jokic – Dude is awesome. 18/10/4/2/3 with a trey, 5-5 FT, and absolutely no TO. And with that sizzling line, gets rewarded with…! 27 minutes… Given it was a blowout though. After playing really well lately, Kenneth Faried only got 15 minutes, so Malone is pulling a Skiles Jr. right now. I tried to figure out why! It’s because he is high!
Kobe Bryant – Continuing our look-in at old farts, Kobe got his last game against LeBron James last night in an epic “just blow him already!” love fest. I mean, we all knew the Cavs were gonna win, we all knew Kobe would give it the last few drops he had in the tank, and we all know he’s gonna get like 3 DNPs in a row now. This felt like a final exhibition match more than a real NBA game… Oh I guess this is still fantasy – 26/5/2/1/1, with some shocking ratio play, hitting 11-16 FG and not turning it over once. If your league doesn’t have a trade deadline, I would be shocked if Kobe plays more than, let’s say, 60% of the Lakers games ROS.
D’Angelo Russell – Having a huge second half that is going to propel him to some really buzzy ranks next year. 24/4/5 with 4 treys, and it was Jordan Clarkson who really struggled last night… It’s nothing to worry about, he’s gonna eschew Kelly Clarkson here on out. “Since Kobe’s been gone!!!! I feel alive, for the first time!!! YEAH YEAH!!! (I don’t really know the lyrics, and I ain’t looking that up)
Channing Frye – Ew. Kevin Love doesn’t play (leg ouchie) and Frye goes 21/7/1/1/0 with 5 treys on 8-10 shooting to the ire of Magic fans everywhere… That is, if there are any left…
Uncle Drew – 26/2/9, and even if he did have the Uncle Drew outfit on, Kyrie Irving would probably look younger than Kobe Bryant…
Whew, the playoffs are almost here in standard leagues! If you’re battling it out for a final spot this weekend, best of luck to your squads! Catch you Monday morning for the postseason, Razzball Nation!
