Who knew that Kevin Martin would drain 34 points and sink a perfect 18-for-18 from the line and he wouldn’t even have the most impressive line on his own team? Kyle Lowry triple-doubled in his first career game last night (28/10/11, with three treys and three steals) and has come on this season like gangbusters. Kinda reminds me of Aaron Brooks in the way he came out of relative obscurity from the season before to go off. Obviously, Brooks took several steps back this season, but I like KyLow for next season more than I liked Brooks for this one. Why? Because Brooks’ strength was in his scoring alone. Lowry is a more traditional point guard. Averaging 2.1 fewer mpg this season than Brooks last season, Lowry’s 2010 compares favorably to Brooks’ 2009 in that he has proven to be a better passer, a better rebounder, turns the ball over less, steals more, blocks slightly more, shoots the same percentage as Brooks (both around .431, but Brooks shot the ball nearly six more times a game than Lowry). Coming into the season, Brooks was ranked anywhere between 50th and 70th (ranked 59th at this site). Lowry’s averaging 17.8/4.6/7.1 since the All-Star Break, ranked 19th in ESPN’s Player Rater over the last 30 days, and he’s doing it without just scoring. So what does that mean for next year? It means I’m ranking Lowry high and assuming Goran Dragic is going to average a double-double all season!
Here’s what else went down in fantasy basketball over the weekend.
Maurice Evans – 15/6, with three steals and a block Friday against the Raptors. 15/2, with a steal on Sunday against D.C. He’s scored in double-digits in four of his last fives games against teams with poor defenses. I can give you that information, I can’t tell you what to do with it.
Jordan Crawford – In March, Crawford’s averaged 30 mpg/15.8 pts/2.7 rbd/2.7 ast. Compare that to the five games Nick Young played this month (35.5 mpg/17.6 pts/2.4 rbd/1.2 ast) and you’ve got yourself a decent little replacement. I tend to think that speaks more for Young’s replaceability than it does to Crawford’s value.
Jordan Farmar – Ended with 10/4/17 on .357 shooting from the field. Sticking with the Jordan theme, it looks like Deron will miss at least three games, maybe more. That leaves room for Farmar to do this and other nice performances for you in the second round of your playoffs. He won’t shoot this poorly, nor will he assist this plentifully every game out. Put them both together and whaddya get? A nice pickup.
Brook Lopez – Double-doubled (21/10) for the seventh time this season in New Jersey’s 68th game. Last year, he earned his seventh dub-dub in the 16th game on November 27. Then again, Humphries was largely being ignored last year.
Greg Monroe – The Pistons TV crew discussed Monroe’s ability to play with both hands. He’s a righty who naturally shoots left. So even though shooting with his right is technically his off hand, he has the muscle familiarity to make it comfortable doing so. In other news, he’s averaging 14/9/2 this month. I’m hoping his play has been lost in Detroit so he won’t be overhyped for next season.
Chris Wilcox – In a game where the Detroit reserves outscored its starters 57-39, Wilcox played 18 minutes, shot 9-for-10 from the floor, ended with 18 points and blocked two shots. He’s scored 13+ points in three of his last four and looks like Cutty from ‘The Wire.’
Zaza Pachulia – He’s averaging 13/7 in his last three. So there’s that. I’d leave him, unless one of the Hawks’ starters gets hurt or tells the press that he’s literally going on vacation even before the first round of the playoffs. I give either about a 28 percent chance of happening.
John Salmons – 22/3/3 in 41 minutes. This is, of course, only happening because I officially gave up on him last week after defending his last-season surges all winter.
Brandon Jennings – 14/11/9 for his sixth double-double of the season; his second in as many games. Jrue story.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute – 19/8/1, with three steals and three blocks in 46 minutes.Now that’s three Bucks with good games. One more and I’m calling shenanigans …
Carlos Delfino – … 30/11, with six treys as the Knicks never bothered to cross the half court line to play defense. Clearly. He dropped 26 in his previous game. If he does this a third time in a row, don’t be the guy who didn’t grab him off waivers in late March.
Blake Griffin – Foul trouble means stat trouble. Also Gortat trouble means stat trouble (17/2/3, with two blocks in 34 minutes).
Channing Frye – 19 points on the shoulders of five treys.He’s been dropped in a lot of leagues that should have dropped him. Was yours one?
DeMarcus Cousins – 3/4 in 21 minutes before he got shove-y with Luke Ridnour and Nikolai Pekovic and ejected. What beef can all these Western Conference teams have with the Timberwolves? They’re the Timberwolves. Like, of Minnesota. Anyway, Cousins might miss a game because of this, which is exactly what your team needs in the last leg of the year.In other news, I’m now convinced Cousins is our next Rasheed Wallace. Crazy and destructive, but still controlled. He never carries on and on, like Ron Artest in his glory days or Latrell Sprewell, but bonkers enough to look at Pekovic and think, “Yeah, this is the kind of guy I should be pushing.”
Kevin Love – Groin injury, which helps explain Samuel Dalembert‘s 26/17/2 blk. Anthony Randolph (14/4/3, with 7 tov) should be your pickup, but he won’t cover 1/3 of what Love does.
Jose Calderon – Shot 1-for-7 (.143) against the Thunder last night. In his last dozen games Joe Kettle’s either shot above .500 (eight times) or below .300 (four times). That’s good enough for me to begin calling him Jose Cold-or-on.
Amir Johnson – In the two games back since his nine-day furlough, Johnson’s combined to go 9/7/2. With Reggie Evans healthy and Ed Davis doin’ his thang, I’d lay off Johnson until something in the Great White North changes.
Leandro Barbosa – He’s been weirdly hot lately. Weird-hot like how you can’t explain your attraction to Tina Fey, but it’s there and you can’t ignore it. There’s Leandro, averaging 19.2 pts/2.2 3ptm in the last five games despite playing anywhere between 14 and 26 minutes off the bench – you can’t ignore that. He’s been playing against weak defenses, but he’s also got the Nuggs, Suns and Warriors coming up next, so let’s hope it’s those weak defenses that are doing it.
Patrick Patterson – Double-doubled for the fourth time all season and the third time in as many games. Not sure why dude just started suckin’ down the rocket sauce this week, but – with less than a month until the end of the season – now’s not the time to wonder why, now’s the time to do or die. NOTE: Neither do, no die if you need a lot of games this week, as Houston only plays twice between today and Sunday. NOTE2: Chase Budinger left last night’s game with a sprained ankle, which could translate to a starting gig for PaPa Rocket.
Paul Millsap – Returned after missing five games to drop 35/10/4/ 3 blk line. That’s a nice try Paul, but we still noticed you were gone those five previous games.
Lamar Odom – Odom did like he do when he starts, 16/11/6. Started last night’s game and likely L.A.’s next game in place of Andrew Bynum, who punked Michael Beasley Friday night and caught a two-game suspension. Nice timing AnB.
Andris Biedrins – Speaking of AnB’s, Biedrins and his perfectly parted hair are likely done for the season. Go ahead and back-date that to October 2009.
Rodrigue Beaubois – Come gather ’round people wherever you roam: Robo Beaubo is averaging .537 FG%/1.5 3pt/14.3 pts/2.3 rbd/3.3 ast/1.8 stl/2.8 tov and 22+ mpg in the last four games. Jasons Kidd and Terry in those same four games? Kidd: 5/4.3/10. Terry: 15.3 pts/3.5/4.5. There’s a movement in Dallas, brother. The loser now will be later to win, the first ones now will later be last and I’d bet next season that Beaubois will shake your windows and rattle you walls.
