Preview: Week 20
It’s the final countdown! Before I get into this week’s list, I’ve got to keep harping over these guys whose ownership is just over 40%: Carlos Delfino, George Hill, Taj Gibson and Drew Gooden. Hill looks to be primed to finish the year like a beast thanks to Tony Parker’s broken hand. Gibson has excellent prospects as well as Joakim Noah isn’t even close to being a force in the paint anytime soon. Lastly, Gooden and Delfino seem they’ll be able to continue their multi-cat ways.
Week Twenty Schedules
Four Games: BOS, CHA, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIN, NJN, NOH, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA
Three Games: CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, IND, MIL, OKC, WAS
Two Games: ATL, HOU, LAL, PHX
ADD LIST (players owned in 40% or less in standard Yahoo! leagues)
Rodrigue Beaubois (PG, SG – 8%) – Need a short term pick up? Then rod-REEG bow-BWAH is your man! Jason Terry is expected to miss a total of 10-14 days so he’ll likely be quite serviceable to owners around the next 2 weeks. Since he’s a rookie, I still expect a dud or two but when he’s on, those points, 3’s and excellent shooting percentages are just money.
DeJuan Blair (SF, PF, C – 20%) – Despite Antonio McDyess starting the Spurs’ last game, I still like owners holding onto/picking up Mr. Blair. As I stated last week, he doesn’t need much time to put up serviceable numbers (last week averages: 24.5 minutes, 10.5 points (on 56 FG%), 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks and .8 turnovers.) Plus, don’t forget the Spurs have the friendliest remaining schedule.
Will Bynum (PG, SG – 10%) – With Rodney Stuckey’s recent scary collapse, it’s prudent to at least own him in the short term again. Kuester says Bynum will get extended run again despite how quickly Rodney comes back so go ahead and ride this little spark plug. His November splits are pretty apt in which he averaged just a hair under 30 minutes: 15.0 points (on 47.4 FG% and 82.4 FT%), 3.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steals a game.
Anthony Tolliver (PF, C – 15%) – I admit I’ve got a man crush on this guy. He’s a solid D-League graduate, puts up nice multi-category numbers and plays the same position spot as everyone’s once upon a time fantasy fetish – Anthony Randolph. Over his last 5 games, he’s averaged 13.2 points, 2.2 3ptm, 7.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 blocks.
CUT LIST (No need to shed a tear)
Spencer Hawes (PF, C – 70%) – With Jason Thompson possibly slated to be back even as early as tonight, I fear the worst for Hawes. Over the last 3 games, he’s only averaged a little over 26 minutes with meager production. Also, Paul Westphal has stated he wants Carl Landry to become a force throughout an entire game so his minutes and touches aren’t likely to drop. Consequently, it would appear Spencer has a chance to disappear into fantasy irrelevance in standard sized leagues.
Tony Parker (PG – 79%) – In case you’ve missed it, Eva Longoria’s husband broke a bone in his shooting hand and could miss up to 6 weeks. Despite this news being released last night, I’m still a little worried not enough owners are quickly scrambling to replace him as he’s still got a remarkably high ownership percentage.
WATCH LIST (Deep Leagues pounce, but standard leagues first weigh the options)
Jonas Jerebko (SF, PF – 16%) – This Swede has been borderline worth owning in standard leagues all season, but it appears he should now not be on any waiver wires. There are rumors out of Detroit that Ben Wallace may miss a significant amount of time. If so, Jonas should be rebounding machine. Just check out what he’s done in 3 games thus far this month: 10.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and .7 steals/blocks.
JaVale McGee (PF, C – 19%)/James Singleton (SF, PF – 3%) – Last week’s analysis still applies:
Even though McGee emerged as a starter after the NBA trade deadline, I commented that he’d be at least as maddening to own as Roy Hibbert over at Fantasy Basketball Cafe. True enough, his minutes have been held in check and he even lost his starting gig to James in their last game. However, James happened to twist an ankle and JaVale ended up seeing the biggest minutes (and best line) he has all year. Going forward, I’d imagine Singleton gets more run as he’s simply able to better carry out Flip’s gameplan. McGee still has a lot of growing up to do, but he’ll definitely have his moments thanks to his freakish athleticism.
Quentin Richardson (SG, SF – 17%) – Yeah, I’m going here. Over the last month, Q has got a solid Yahoo ranking (64th) in putting up 10.4 points (on 46.6 FG%), 1.9 3ptm, 6.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals with only .7 TO’s. However, now that I’ve advocated him, I fully expect several dud performances similar to what Luc Richard Mbah a Moute did after a similar mention.
Terrence Williams (SG, SF, PF -8%)/Kris Humphries (SF, PF – 3%) – These two New Jersey Nets players are worth a look. So far this month, Terrence has averaged 30 minutes a game putting up 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists. Meanwhile, Kris might see a similar boost in time if Yi Jianlian is forced to miss any time over a recent sprained ankle.
STAY THE COURSE (Don’t jump ship just yet)
Al Thornton (SF, PF – 55%) – His last few games have been absolutely putrid: 4.0 points (on 37.5 FG%), 2.0 rebounds and literally nothing else. However, it’s most likely this has been an anomaly as the Wizards don’t have any reason to limit his minutes. Expect him to bounce back nicely any game now.
DEEP LEAGUE SPECIALS (Name(s) that could be flying under the radar in your deep league)
Carlos Arroyo (PG – 2%) – It would appear Rafer Alston’s run in Miami is over. Consequently, Carlos and Mario Chalmers could be relevant again. Currently, Arroyo appears to have the edge despite last night’s bomb as in two games prior he put up a total of 31 points (on fantastic shooting), 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 0 turnovers. As long as the Heat keeping winning, he’s likely to get the bulk of the minutes at PG.
Chris Hunter (SF, PF, C – 1%) – Another Golden State D-Leaguer makes this week’s list. With Andris Biedrins and now Ronny Turiaf ailing, he looks likely to see over 30 minutes a game until one of them return. As evidenced by his line in the Warriors last game, Chris is at least capable of putting up some points, rebounds and blocks.
SECRET PLAYOFF WEAPON
Zydrunas Ilgauskaus (C – 24%) – Since we here at BFFA have solved all the NBA mysteries, it’s time for a new category. As most of you are aware, Shaquille O’Neal is probably going to be out of action till the NBA playoffs. Despite having J.J. Hickson and Anderson Varejao, I fully believe the Cavaliers are itching to re-sign Big Z and insert him right into the starting lineup. J.J. simply isn’t ready to start at center at a team looking to win it all while Anderson makes a ton of sense of coming off the bench. Consequently, deep H2H leagues who are playoff bound should strongly consider putting him on the end of their bench. Meanwhile, standard leagues should be ready to pounce on him as his return date nears for solid points, boards, blocks and shooting percentages.
March 7th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
QRich, yeah I’m going here – ROFL
He did look very good the last game I saw him play (vs the Lakers). Perhaps he suddenly realised he needs to prove he’s worth signing next year
Great preview as always Oleh, thanks.
March 8th, 2010 at 3:43 am
Another reason to get Taj is the fact the Bulls play a lot of games on “light” schedule days during the H2H Fantasy Playoffs. Basically, Bulls become super-valuable in daily lineup H2H leagues since they’ll provide production when few players are available to be started.
The Clippers are in the same boat – which makes guys like Blake (the non-injured one) and Smith sneaky plays to buy in a trade.
March 8th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
With the news that Yi has a high ankle sprain and won’t even accompany the team on their 4 game road trip, I’m really liking Humphries. Most fantasy guys are all over Terrence Williams (like Stephen Alexander of rotoworld) but are failing to mention Kris. Well, the Nets DO need to play a PF against almost every team (reason why he’s flying under radar is because their last game was against NYK). Terrence should definitely still be useful but Lee is back again and he’ll compete with Hayes for minutes at SF too. Meanwhile, who does Humphries have?
March 8th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Josh Boone
March 9th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Please don’t tell me Boone is going to be semi-relevant again! I still like what humphries did with boards/stls/blks last game. I’m curious if his shooting % improves, he’ll see more consistent time than Josh.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Humphries takes a lot of ill advised, out of control jumpshots. Occasionally he’ll get hot, often not.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
TWill does seem to be worth watching at least … as does Reggie Williams @ GSW. Massive game from him today, have to wait & see though whether he gets continued PT. He’s certainly got the skills to flourish in the dubs system.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Reggie Williams needs to hope he’ll land at a min another 10 day contract…
March 8th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Blair just got benched after less than 2 minutes of PT, basically for his lack of D making Varejao look like Dirk. Pops … rookies … this has potential for Blair to be thrown in the doghouse & kill his fantasy value. Its not like they don’t have other bigs to play – Tim, Bonner, Dice, Mahinmi.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:28 am
JJ Hickson defended very well against Tim, and put in a decent offensive game without LeBron feeding him (would have been better if he’d made more layups).
March 9th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Foul trouble later in the game didn’t help either. I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt as the other bigs you’ve mentioned aren’t exciting either. Pop knows what Blair is capable of so I expect some really good numbers in games coming up.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Wish I had your faith in Pops
It looks to me like Blair has gone from starting a couple of games ago to dropping behind both Bonner and Dice in the rotation.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
True, but he’ll definitely still have his moments. It’s the number of games remaining that give me hope he’ll be valuable often enough…
March 10th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Watched a bit of the Philly-Indy matchup and Jrue Holiday looked good. Not sure if it was simply something like he was feeling it, but he might definitely help owners down the stretch. Needing 3’s/steals, I replaced Peja with him in a standard league last night.
March 10th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Hey fellas, just wanted to chime in and say thanks for all the tips. I haven’t had much time to follow basketball as closely as I’ve wanted to (work) so your insight is much appreciated.
Keep it coming!
March 10th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Hey Phil, good to know you’re still around. I’m less likely to contribute much after next week, as due to untimely injuries (Bosh!!) and a bunch of bad luck I’ve fallen from 1st to 7th over the last 3 weeks & am now unlikely to make the playoffs. Such is life, and there’s always next season
March 10th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
I’m barely hanging on here — working CRAZY hours.
The offseason is one of my favorite times. That’s when we can get more philosophical and also when we get to see how good we are at spotting sleepers!
Just keep a spot open for the official BFFA league next season. Details this summer.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I’ve got a spot open, don’t worry! Hope your work eases up sometime soon
March 10th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
The Bulls announced Wednesday that forward Luol Deng (strained right calf) will be out “a while” and figures to miss at least two games after an MRI this morning confirmed the injury.
and…
“I don’t know yet,” Del Negro said when asked if Gibson would play against the Magic. “His plantar fasciitis was really acting up and he was sore and I sat him today.”
Brad Miller & Hakim Warrick suddenly look worthwhile. Who else is going to rebound and score in the paint?
March 10th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Nice heads up on Warrick and B-Miller. I’m going to have to check my waiver wires.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:57 am
The ghost of Aaron Gray? Seriously, the Bulls look like their playoff chances are about done now? From a fantasy aspect this is really a disaster. Gibson/Noah will have good/bad days. Brad Miller is hanging in there but for how long? Warrick!?!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Wow, the Bulls are woeful tonight. They’d given up after just 10 minutes.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I noticed the boxscore. Yikes! W/o Rose, they look like they’re worse than the Nets! Thankfully, the MRI didn’t report anything signficant. He should be back on the court hopefully in a few days.
March 11th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Monta took part in the last practice, and said if his back feels ok he’ll play vs Portland. If he does, that will of course reduce the fantasy impact of CJ Watson, Morrow and Tolliver.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Haha – you should have just said the whole team.
March 11th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Curry doesn’t drop too much when Ellis plays, neither does Maggette … but yeah, everyone else takes a hit
March 11th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Has anyone seen any of Detroit’s games lately? Just wondering how Maxiell’s looked, as his Ben Wallace-like stat lines are starting to make him interesting, especially with four games next week.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Sorry captain, just can’t bring myself to do it.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Lol!!