NBA Fantasy News 2009-2010

HacheMan · Dec 4, 2009

Trade Rumors Flying

Trade Bait

Elton Brand, Tyrus Thomas, Al Harrington, Tracy McGrady, Monta Ellis, Andre Miller and Nate Robinson are all in trade rumors right now.

Brand is probably ready to get the heck out Philadelphia, where he simply doesn't fit in. I just watched Rudolph on Wednesday with the kids, and while Brand doesn't offer the same characteristics Herbie the elf, nor does he want to be a dentist, he would probably just assume head to the Island Of Misfit Toys with Nate Robinson. There doesn't appear to be a lot of interest out there for Brand, but I find it hard to believe there aren't 10 teams who would love to add him to the mix. He just needs a half-court setting to work in. Chances of being traded: 50 percent.

Nate has played six minutes in the last two games and there's no guarantee he will play on Friday against the Hawks. Then again, Mike D'Antoni could put him back in play after trying to teach him a lesson over the last couple, but I'm certainly not counting on that happening. Out of all these players, I think Nate is the one closest to being moved. I just think D'Antoni has lost all interest in trying to deal with his bravado and swagger as the Knicks continue to be one of the worst teams in the league. I love Lil' Nate's energy, as well as his fantasy game, but D'Antoni feels the exact opposite way about him. Just bench him until further notice. Chances of being traded: 70 percent.

Tyrus Thomas could be going to New York for Al Harrington, although I don't expect it to happen. Once trade talks/rumors like this get out into the media, it's usually days after initial discussions take place. Maybe I'm wrong on this one, and I would love to see Tyrus running for the Knicks, along with a front line in Chicago of Harrington, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, to go with Derrick Rose and John Salmons in the backcourt. Go ahead and pull the trigger on this one, boys. The deal seems to make perfect sense for both teams. Chances of this deal happening: 35 percent.

Tracy McGrady would probably be traded for a 30-pack of Miller Lite by the Rockets, but I doubt anyone is willing to give up 30 cold beers for him right now. Along those same lines, the Rockets seem unwilling to let T-Mac come back in and disrupt their chemistry right now, as the Rockets are kind of rolling along at 11-8 (and three straight wins).

Monta Ellis had a weird line last night – 9-of-27 shooting, nine turnovers and a brain-fart traveling violation to ruin GSW's chances late, but added 24 points, six boards, eight dimes and two steals. He didn't speak to reporters after the game, either because he was upset at his turnover/s and the loss, or peeved because Don Nelson was back on the bench. Either way, I'm pretty sure every team in the league has called the GSW to check on his availability, and I think he's a trade candidate if someone wants to step up with a strong offer.

As for Nellie, he's been told to take Friday's practice off, and possibly Saturday's game and even an upcoming road trip. But it remains to be seen whether or not he'll coach the team the rest of the way. A few of us called his two-week vacation, but didn't know it would come due to pneumonia.

And another note on Monta. He's averaging over 39 minutes per game this season and the Warriors may be running him ragged. I still think he's going to have a big year, but am growing concerned about his body breaking down if they don't start giving him a break. And keep in mind it wasn't that long ago (Nov. 17) he said "I'm not going to put any more on my back. Somebody else is going to have to step up and take on the role." And then he promptly started going off and playing 40-plus minutes a night. The bottom line is that he's still not thrilled to be a Warrior.

Andre Miller's name is now coming up in trade rumors and I'm guessing he cannot wait to get out of Portland, if possible. I have no idea where he might end up, and he may still work out with the Blazers, so just hang onto him for now and see what happens. Chances of being moved: 55 percent.

Additionally, there is some news out there that Vinny Del Negro has put his home up for sale, and while we haven't heard anything about him losing his job, it makes me wonder.

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Thursday Game Notes

Nuggets Spank Heat

Denver crushed the Heat despite an off night for Carmelo Anthony, who hit just 6-of-17 shots, but drained a late three for his 22nd point, keeping his 20-plus scoring streak alive, hitting the mark in all 19 games this season. Chris Andersen's strong play continued with nine points, 10 boards and three blocks, and he should be scooped up in most leagues. Arron Afflalo had 17 points and three 3-pointers on 7-of-9 shooting, but is probably too inconsistent to be used in most leagues.

The Heat got 1-of-4 shooting from Quentin Richardson, who finished with just three points after his big line of 20 points and four treys on Tuesday. As I said earlier this week, he is 'that guy,' and will almost certainly be ready to let you down once you finally build up the guts to put him in your lineup. Jermaine O'Neal had nine points, four boards and two blocks last night. He'd scored in double figures in nine straight coming in, but has five or less rebounds in four of his last seven. Yuck. Michael Beasley had 17 & 7 last night, as he continues to stay hot, while Dwyane Wade had 25 points and 10 boards in the loss.

Keep reading for the Warriors-Rockets, Celtics-Spurs, and Injury Report.

Warriors Fall To Hot Rockets

The Rockets have won three straight games and pulled out a thriller over the Warriors last night. Carl Landry had 22 & 9 and has hit 20 points in four of his last six, Aaron Brooks hit 8-of-15 shots and five threes on his way to 25 points, seven assists and two steals, while Shane Battier finally broke out with 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a career-high six blocks. Ironically, he didn't hit a 3-pointer after doing so in all but one game this season. Battier leads the Rockets in blocks with 18, which should tell you something about how Landry and Luis Scola are doing in that department. Battier's line was more in tune with what I was expecting this season on a regular basis, but at this point, it looks more like a fluke than anything else. Keep an eye on him. They were, after all, playing the Warriors.

Vladimir Radmanovic stayed hot with 20 points, eight boards, six assists, three steals and four threes, and should be grabbed in most leagues. I said when he was traded that he was a good fit for GSW, and he's getting hot after a slow start with his new team. However, he was inexplicably benched for most of the fourth quarter, or his night would have been even better (presumably). Anthony Morrow is now a must-play after a slow start and had 21 points in the loss. C.J. Watson's big week continued with 12 points, six boards, two steals and two threes.

Celtics Drop Spurs

Kevin Garnett, who Stephen Malkmus is playing against me this week, hit 9-of-15 shots for 20 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals as the Celtics beat the Spurs. Every player Malkmus has going this week is on fire, as he continues to crush me 7-1. Melo and LeBron are off to slow starts this week, but I still have time to come back. I'm faring a little better against Mr. Bob Nastanovich in a different league, but that game is far from over. In other words, there's a very good chance I'll be driven into the Pavement this week – twice. Rajon Rondo was solid with 12 points, six boards, 12 assists, three steals and a block in the win. My apologies in advance for the name-dropping.

The Spurs got 16 & 15 along with two blocks from Tim Duncan, while DeJuan Blair hit 9-of-11 shots for 18 points, 11 boards and two blocks last night. Of course, I traded Blair in my 30-team league for Mickael Pietrus on Tuesday, as I was desperate for a shooting guard, so it makes sense that Blair will start going off. That's two straight double-doubles after going 10 straight games without hitting double digits in points or rebounds. Thanks.

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Injury Report

Courtney Lee continues to work his way back from a groin injury and appears to be ready to replace Trenton Hassell in the starting five for Kiki Vandeweghe. That is great news for both Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts, and both players should be owned right now. Kiki gets a gift-wrapped home game against the Bobcats to try to stop the 18-game losing streak. If it doesn't happen tonight, the Knicks, Bulls, Warriors and Pacers are next on the list, and you have to think they'll win at least one of those games. My guess is they go to 1-18 tonight.

Anthony Randolph (ankle) was supposed to play last night after the team released a statement saying he was a go. However, that never happened. It turns out he's in uniform and is available on an "emergency basis," meaning that he's slated for garbage time, at best, for now. Why I put him in my lineup this week is beyond me. Oh well.

Kevin Love should play some tonight, but if he doesn't, he sounds like a lock to go on Saturday in his return from a broken hand. He's going to help the Wolves a lot with his scoring and rebounding, and should be owned in all leagues.

Eric Gordon is hoping to practice today and play through a hamstring injury on Saturday. We should have an update this afternoon. Speaking of Gordon, Chris Kaman's numbers are much better when Gordon plays. I'm not sure if it's relevant, or if Kaman has simply hit a wall, but anything that will help Kaman right now is OK in my book.

Leandro Barbosa is likely out until Christmas with his sprained ankle.

Matt Harpring's career is likely over due to ankle and knee problems.

Josh Howard is inching closer to a return from an ankle injury, but no one knows what that means. "He's getting closer," Rick Carlisle said Thursday, but added "How close, I can't tell you." He failed to humor me by adding an 'or I'd have to kill ya' to the end of the quote, but I'm just going to pretend like he said it.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute may return from a prolonged absence with a foot injury on Friday, and might eat some of the minutes Ersan Ilyasova, Carlos Delfino and Hakim Warrick have been getting. This is one of the reasons I'm not sold on Ilyasova being a long-term fantasy option, but I'm still holding onto him until we see how this plays out.

Glen Davis had the pins removed from his hand and should be back sometime around Christmas.

Raja Bell had wrist surgery yesterday and will miss a minimum of three months.

Chris Paul (ankle) could play tonight, which is fantastic news. How he managed to get injured during back-to-back two-game weeks is beyond me, but it saved owners in weekly leagues from making some hard decisions about whether or not to play him.

Andrei Kirilenko (back) practiced some on Thursday and hopes to play tonight against the Pacers. Consider him a game-time decision for now.

Charlie Villanueva should play tonight against the Bucks through a broken/surgically-repaired nose.

Ben Gordon missed Thursday's practice due to his gimpy ankle, but should play tonight.

Tayshaun Prince (back) and Richard Hamilton (ankle) appear to be close to a return and could go against the Bucks. I'm not a big fan of either of them, but they're worth a look if you're in a deep league and need some help.

Jannero Pargo has a hip injury and will see a specialist, but could also play tonight – not that it really matters in fantasyland.

Pacers

Lastly, it sounds like the Pacers plan on continuing to start Roy Hibbert, as Jeff Foster will take over as soon as he struggles or gets into foul trouble, but Hibbert still has enough upside to hang onto, even though he's been terrible. And while we're still not sure what T.J. Ford's problem was in the last one, he's not injured and should start again tonight.

Answer Man - Trail of Tears
Allen Iverson's press conference yesterday was a highly emotional affair and I am fully on board with him after watching it. It appears that he was truly humbled by not getting much interest around the league and is just thankful to be in Philly and the NBA. He's going to be an emotional mess when he's introduced on Monday, but I bet he scores more than 20 points against the Nuggets. I'm psyched to have picked him up in a few leagues and plan on running him out there for three games next week. Get him if he's somehow still available in your league.

HacheMan · Dec 5, 2009

Wired - Landry Heating Up
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[SIZE=+1]Normal Sized Leagues[/SIZE]

I guess the definition of a normal-sized league, at least in my mind, is one consisting of 10 to 12 teams with rosters somewhere around 12-15 players. That should cover a majority of the fantasy hoops leagues in existence. If your league is any smaller than that, the waiver options are endless and it's just too difficult to try to figure out whether you should pick up Kevin Garnett, Luol Deng or Jason Richardson. While it's nice to have those kinds of options available, it can drive you nuts on a daily basis trying to figure out if you should change your roster, so I'd suggest adding a few teams to your league next year.

Obviously, Allen Iverson and Kevin Love should have already been picked up in all leagues, but if they haven't been in yours, stop what you're doing and go get 'em.

Carl Landry F/C Rockets

Landry has scored at least 20 points in four of his last six games, but has benefited from a gimpy Luis Scola. Nonetheless, he's still got a ton of upside, but hasn't been blocking the ball as much as I'd hoped. I picked him up in several leagues and use him a spot starter based on matchups.

Tyrus Thomas F Bulls

Thomas is nearing a return, but probably still 10 days to two weeks away with a broken arm. He'll be a solid source of boards, blocks, steals and points if he gets his starting job back for the Bulls, and hopefully that will happen. In addition, a potential trade to the Knicks would probably increase his value. In other words, he's worth a grab-and-stash right now.

Chris Andersen F/C Nuggets

Andersen is playing much better and had nine points, 10 boards and three blocks on Thursday. He also had 14 points, eight boards and five swats in his previous game, but had been pretty quiet before that. If you need boards and blocks, he's probably worth a flier, just expect some scoring problems and the occasional off night.

Courtney Lee G/F Nets

Lee has struggled to come back from a groin injury but it sounds like he'll start on Friday, in place of Trenton Hassell. Lee has a ton of upside, including threes and steals, and now is a great time to grab him.

Vladimir Radmanovic F Warriors

Vlad-Rad is averaging 18.5 points, seven boards, three assists, two steals and 2.5 threes over his last two games. No telling how long it will last, but he's starting for a potent GSW offense, making him worth a look in nearly any league.

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Follow me on Twitter (click on the link to follow me, where you can see me defend Anthony Randolph, among other things). If I'm around and on my Twitter game, you can usually learn some nice fantasy hoops tidbits before they post to Rotoworld, or anywhere else. At other times, I just post stuff that I find interesting, funny or stupid.

[SIZE=+1]Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Deeper leagues are generally going to have 14 to 16 teams and go deep enough that most starters are not available on waivers. These players may not even be available in all deep leagues, but are generally available in many normal-sized leagues.

DeJuan Blair F Spurs

Blair has double-doubled in two straight games and might be coming on. He played 17 and 21 minutes in those two games after lingering around just 10 minutes prior to the explosion. He'll need 20 mpg to have value, but it appears that it could be ready to happen.

Mike Conley PG Grizzlies

Conley was all but left for dead before exploding for 20 points and four threes in his last game. Despite the presence of Jamaal Tinsley, he's still the starter and could be on the verge of starting to play better. His shoulder is still bothering him, but if you're holding Jrue Holiday, it makes sense to dump him for Conley.

Roy Hibbert C Pacers

Hibbert is still starting for the Pacers, who might finally be realizing they can't win without his defensive presence. He had 7 & 7 in his last game, which isn't great, but the hope is that his slump is about to end. If you're thin at center, grab him and see what happens over the next week or so. And if you already own him, just keep him on your bench until the Pacers figure out how they're going to use him.

Mickael Pietrus G/F Magic

Pietrus is quietly producing for the Magic, despite some ups and downs. He hit five treys and had 17 points in his last one, but was 0-for-5 and failed to score on Nov. 28 against the Bucks. The bottom line is that he's scored in double figures in nine of his 17 games and might be able to help an owner in a very deep league, especially since he has the potential to contribute in eight categories. Maybe he should have been in the 'Extremely Deep' section, but either way, he's worth keeping an eye on.

Toney Douglas G Knicks

With Nate Robinson in the doghouse again, maybe for good, Douglas is probably going to get some run again. He had 17 points and two threes in his last game, and will be worth a pickup if Nate-Rob continues to sit.

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[SIZE=+1]Extremely Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

C.J. Miles F Jazz

Miles is finally set to return from thumb surgery and could eventually start at small forward once he gets fully healthy (over Wes Matthews). He averaged nine points and a 3-pointer per game last year, but probably only has value if he does regain a starting role.
He's yet to play this season.

Nick Collison F/C Thunder

Nenad Krstic is uninspiring and injured right now (ankle), while Collison returned from a four-game absence with a knee injury on Wednesday and hit 8-of-9 shots for 18 points and seven boards in just 21 minutes. There's no telling if he keeps this up, but if you're in a real deep league he looks like a decent add right now.

Glen Davis F/C Celtics

Davis had the pins removed from his hand and is a couple weeks away from a return. We all know how well he played last year and he could have some real value if Kevin Garnett's knee acts up again. His value this year will be somewhat limited by the presence of Rasheed Wallace, but Davis should get some run once healthy.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute F Bucks

The Prince has been out for about 10 games with a foot injury but is finally ready to return. I'm kind of bummed about that, as he'll probably limit minutes for Ersan Ilyasova, but if you're in a deep league where rotation guys are nonexistent on the wire, he is probably worth grabbing.

Chris Hunter F/C Warriors

This truly is a really deep-league recommendation, as Hunter is barely putting up enough numbers to even get noticed. But he's played 21 and 26 minutes in his last two games, blocking three shots on Thursday. Once Anthony Randolph (ankle, day-to-day) and Ronny Turiaf (knee, day-to-day) return, Hunter won't see those kind of minutes. But if you're looking for a short-term stopgap player, he could help a very deep league owner out.

HacheMan · Dec 7, 2009

Man Down - Again
Man Down

Greg Oden's season ended after he fractured his kneecap on Saturday night. I hope you were able to snag Joel Przybilla off the wire, as he is the obvious benefactor in Oden's loss. I'm not going to say much here, other than the whole thing makes me pretty sad. Oden's a good guy, I owned him in at least eight leagues, and he was playing very well, but his body probably wasn't built for the NBA. There was really no way to know that three years ago, and it's hard to blame the Blazers for taking him over Kevin Durant, as that's what almost every other team would have done (outside of the Celtics). Anyway, grab Przybilla if you can and look for things to get better for guys like Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Miller. Part of their collective problem was trying to figure out how to share the ball with Oden. Guess what? Problem solved.

The Ant-Rand saga

You knew it was coming, right? Just as Anthony Randolph had been cut by many owners, he miraculously returned from his sprained ankle and went off for a career high of 28 points and a bunch of other goodies. His new owners are celebrating, while those of us who actually had him in lineups last week simply laughed. You never know what you're going to get from Randolph and the Warriors, but they play four games this week, meaning owners will be throwing caution to the wind and rolling the dice on all of them: Stephen Curry, Vladimir Radmanovic, Randolph, Corey Maggette and even C.J. Watson. Anthony Morrow and Monta Ellis look like very safe plays right now, but almost any healthy Warrior is probably worth a roll of the dice this week.

People Get Ready

I'm pretty fired up about the return of Allen Iverson tonight. I was fairly skeptical about him in Detroit last year, and was not surprised at all when things didn't work out in Memphis. However, this time just feels different. I can't wait to watch him be introduced to the Philly crowd tonight, and love the fact they're playing Denver, which gives it the "former team" angle. I'll have Iverson active in three or four leagues this week, and am simply hoping my expectations aren't too high.

Mess On Wheels

The Pacers continue to be one of the most frustrating fantasy teams around. T. J. Ford looks like he doesn't care, Danny Granger has been hurt all year and is now iffy after aggravating his heel injury, Mike Dunleavy is limited to 20 minutes, and Troy Murphy is clearly giving us evidence that last year's incredible numbers were a miracle. Dunleavy's return is making Dahntay Jones owners nervous, and for good reason, as DJ has scored six or less in two straight, and three of his last five games. And Roy Hibbert is waiting until he's finally cut by every one of his owners so that he can flip the switch and start playing like a double-double beast again. It's hard to believe, but you cannot start a single Pacer with confidence in fantasy right now, which should give Jim O'Brien a clue as to why his team stinks in reality. The entire team is a buy-low candidate right now.

Was Gerald Wallace the steal of your draft?

Gerald Wallace was taken on the turn (pick 13) in my main league this year, prompting some snickers. It sure doesn't look like a bad pick today, and his owner made the move because he knew Wallace wouldn't be there when it was his turn to pick in Round 3. While GW's 42% shooting is kind of a bummer, the fact he's leading the league in rebounding, scoring about 16 ppg and averaging nearly two steals and a block makes him a fantasy stud. He might not have been worth the No. 13 pick, but he's been very fun to own this year and I think his shooting will improve as we move on.

Don't Sleep On J.R.

J.R. Smith has quietly scored in double figures in 10 of his last 12 games and has hit 23 3-pointers in his last 11. Keep in mind that he missed the first seven games due to a suspension, so he should just now be hitting his stride. And with four games this week, Smith should help his owners easily win the week in 3-pointers.

Pleasant Surprises

Other tidbits from the weekend included Kobe Bryant's ridiculous 3-point bank shot to win at the buzzer. Tyreke Evans scored 30 points on Sunday (go ahead and pencil him in for ROY). Gilbert Arenas was getting hot before Sunday's eight-point showing. He'd scored 22, 22 and 34 in his previous three games. The problem is those three were sandwiched by 8, 6 and 9-point games. Mike Conley still has a job and is playing better, Carl Landry is averaging 18 points, seven boards and a block over his last five games, Ryan Gomes is averaging 17 points, five boards, one steal and one three over his last five, and Kevin Love double-doubled in his first two games of the season. Nate Robinson didn't play over the weekend, but something's got to give soon, and Danilo Gallinari is playing through an arm injury.

Keep reading for the Monday Morning Injury Report


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Monday Morning Injury Report

Marquis Daniels – wrist – Out Tuesday, not much value to begin with.
Glen Davis – thumb – In good shape, but not likely to play this week.
Tony Allen – ankle – Constant setbacks from injuries.
Boris Diaw – ankle – Finally played well Saturday (28 points, 5 treys).
Kirk Hinrich – thumb – Missed Saturday, not likely for Tuesday.
Tyrus Thomas – arm – Nearing return, but not quite there yet.
Jamario Moon – groin – Missed Sunday with groin, iffy for week.
Quinton Ross – back – No fantasy value here.
Josh Howard – ankle – "Getting closer" is all we know.
Chris Andersen – ankle – Playing through it, but makes me nervous.
Ben Gordon – ankle – Lasted just 11 minutes in last one, gimpy.
Tayshaun Prince – back – Practicing, could play this week.
Richard Hamilton – ankle – Should play this week, but very risky.
Mikki Moore - foot - Having MRI, his injury helps Anthony Randolph.
Anthony Morrow – personal – Missed Saturday, but back for this week.
Ronny Turiaf – knee – He's just not healthy, but could play again soon.
Raja Bell – wrist surgery – Out until end of season.
Kelenna Azubuike – Knee surgery – Out for the year.
Andris Biedrins – back – Traveling this week, but that's all we know.
Tracy McGrady – knee – On same page w/ team, but no target date.
Danny Granger – heel – MRI results coming today. Doesn't sound great.
Blake Griffin – Not likely to play until January.
Luke Walton – back – No target date for return.
Daequan Cook – eye – Missed Sunday, should be back soon.
Jermaine O'Neal – personal – Could return for Friday, two-game week.
Michael Redd – knee – Practicing, but too risky to use in most.
Eduardo Najera – back – Still out with back problems.
Yi Jianlian – knee/mouth – 50 stitches in lip ruin comeback attempt.
Morris Peterson – knee – No value when healthy.
Ike Diogu – knee – Constant setbacks, wonder if career is in jeopardy.
Danilo Gallinari – arm – Played through it Sunday, should be OK.
Nate Robinson – healthy – Doghouse, but will eventually play again.
Eddy Curry – knee – Could play Friday, but why bother?
Nenad Krstic – ankle – Could play on Monday, start at own risk.
Jameer Nelson – knee – Hopefully he's getting closer, but weeks away.
Allen Iverson – new team – Will start on Monday.
Andre Iguodala – ankle – Went through shootaround, ready to go Monday.
Willie Green – hand – Probable Monday, but takes a hit with AI in town.
Jrue Holiday – shoulder – Missed Saturday, loses value with Iverson.
Lou Williams – jaw – Out until late-January.
Marreese Speights – knee – A few weeks away still.
Louis Amundson – flu – Hopes to play Tuesday.
Leandro Barbosa – ankle – Likely out until Christmas with injury.
Rudy Fernandez – back – Missed Saturday with back, MRI coming.
Greg Oden – knee surgery – Out for the season.
Travis Outlaw – foot – Will return very late in year.
Nicolas Batum – shoulder – Ditto.
Kevin Martin – wrist – Targeting late January.
Francisco Garcia – wrist – Targeting All-Star break.
Michael Finley – ankle – Will miss a few games, helps RJ.
Jose Calderon – groin – Hoping he plays on Tuesday.
Andrei Kirilenko – back – Too risky to play right now.
Ronnie Price – toe – Close to return, but no value.
Kyle Korver – knee – Close, but not playable yet.
Matt Harpring – ankle – Career likely over.
Mike Miller – calf – Probably out at least one more week.

HacheMan · Dec 7, 2009

The Art of Fortune Telling
While hunting for an inspired way to begin this week's basketball discourse, I sought the sage advice of a majestic, and in some cases legendary creature.

Specifically, I'm talking about a panda. More specifically, a panda that happens to be in something of a hurry.

Actually, what I'm talking about is a little Chinese food outfit known to you and me as Panda Express.

Though the individuals serving my food there did not hand out any basketball-related wisdom, they did hand me not one, but two fortune cookies, which I shall open and consult now:

Fortune #1: Be daring, try something new.

Hmm… not the most exciting or original advice, but the suggestion is noted and I'll see what I can do about it. But first, let me crack open…

Fortune #2: Be quicker of mind than of tongue.

After pondering this slightly jarring phrase for a few moments, I decided that this must be the Panda's way of telling me not to shovel this particular platter of food down my gullet too quickly – advice it goes without saying that I wholeheartedly ignored.

So what did we learn from these fortunes? Well, not a lot, actually. And since they undoubtedly left something to be desired, the only clear course of action I can think of is to follow Fortune #1 and try something new. I shall now gaze deep into the pool of brown sauce sitting in the bottom of the platter next to the keyboard on my desk, and conjure some fantasy basketball-related fortunes of my own:

Be patient with he who returns to Philadelphia.

If you're anything like me, your expectations for Allen Iverson's second debut with the Sixers are at least a little bit elevated. In addition to having him in multiple fantasy lineups, I'm simply excited about the spectacle of it all – so much so that I actually declined an invitation to go skeet shooting Monday night so that I could watch (that's actually not true, but even if I had been invited to go skeet shooting, I would have said no).

With regard to our expectations for Iverson's second Sixers debut and for the few games that immediately follow, I do think it's important not to get too disappointed if he doesn't come in and post huge numbers. Though A.I. averaged 26.4 ppg and 7.2 apg as recently as 2007-08, he was very much a 17 and five guy last season for Detroit, and I think 18 and six with the Sixers is probably where our realistic expectations should lie.

However, even reaching those marks could take a little bit of time. On Sunday, A.I. told the Philadelphia Daily News, "It's going to take a while. I think it's important for my coaching staff, my teammates and the fans to be a little patient with me because my rhythm's not there and the conditioning is definitely not there. It's going to take a little bit of steps to get where I want to be, but eventually I'll get there."

The bottom line: Iverson is going to help fantasy teams, and I see no reason not to activate him right away. Just keep your expectations in check and be prepared for some erratic shooting early on as he gets back in shape. Actually, you should be prepared for some erratic shooting throughout – this is Allen Iverson we're talking about.

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Be wary of accidentally cursing those you mean to bless.

I got an email from a fantasy owner over the weekend politely asking me to lift the curse I had placed on Marc Gasol in last week's edition of Roundball Stew.

For the record, I actually attempted to jinx Gasol back on Nov. 9, but it took a second positive write-up for the hex to take hold. And in his last three games (as I'm sure you're aware if he's on your fantasy team), Gasol has averaged a Tyson Chandler-esque 6.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 1.0 bpg.

The positive news it that A) Gasol remains a way better offensive player than Chandler and B) has still averaged 33 minutes per game during his miniature slump. What are the Grizzlies gonna do – start giving Hasheem Thabeet 30 minutes a game? Not happening. In other words, don't panic – Gasol will be out of this brutal stretch soon.

Do not underestimate the individual's ability to mature.

If I had any reservations about Kevin Love heading into this season, it was that I didn't see him doing enough aside from scoring, rebounding and shooting well in limited attempts from the field to make him a standout fantasy forward (the ailment is commonly referred to as Udonis Haslem Syndrome).

And though Love still doesn't look like a standout shot-blocker, another category has emerged to bolster his repertoire: the three-ball. Through two games, Love has averaged 2.0 treys, going 2-for-3 from downtown in two consecutive outings.

So are the threes for real, and can Love really win the coveted Troy Murphy Impersonator award for 2009-10? The answer is yes and no. Having watched Love on Saturday night, I can say that he looks very comfortable shooting from downtown, which makes sense given that outside shooting was one of his strengths as a rookie. And while I think a Murphy-esque 2.0 per game is definitely too much to expect, Love could average close to 1.0 per game, giving his already notable fantasy value a significant boost.



Do not pursue statistics that live in the past.

It has been a glorious run for Willie Green over the past eight days. In his last four games, he has posted 20.0 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.3 bpg and 1.0 threes in an average of 39 minutes a night. But that fun, my friends, is abruptly coming to an end with the arrival of a small but dynamic parcel known as Allen Iverson. Green may get in one or two more parting shots, but his chances at long-term value are disturbingly close to nil.

While we're on the topic of recent hot streaks, there are two other players I'd like to discuss:

Player #1: Ryan Gomes
Recent stats: 21.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg and 1.3 threes in his last four games

Don't get me wrong, I'm reasonably excited about Ryan Gomes' prospects this week and am hopeful he can continue his current hot streak a bit longer, but I'm not counting on him for prolonged exciting production. Why? Let's take a look at his stats over the last three seasons (and through 20 games of this season):

2006-07: 12.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.2 threes
2007-08: 12.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.7 threes
2008-09: 13.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.8 spg, 1.3 threes
2009-10: 12.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.9 threes

Gomes runs hot and cold, but overall he has been locked in on the 12-13 points, 5-6 rebounds, one three and one steal range since The Departed was in theaters, and owners in 10-team leagues should feel free to make Gomes "The Waivered" after his current run of elevated play comes to a halt.

Player #2: Mickael Pietrus
Recent stats: 19.5 ppg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg and 4.5 threes on 54.5 percent shooting in his last two games

I see nothing wrong with having Pietrus on your roster in deeper leagues, but chances are that he'll be hit and miss all season – in the three games leading up to his current hot streak, the streaky forward averaged 4.0 points.

On other occasions, you may feel free to believe what you see.

After a dreadful slump that saw him averaging 10.5 ppg on 36.3 percent shooting through his first 12 games, Raymond Felton has averaged 15.0 ppg, 5.5 apg and 2.3 spg on 53.7 percent shooting in his last six.

To be clear, there's no way he keeps up that shooting percentage, as Felton has consistently hovered around the 41 percent mark the last three seasons. The good news is that he has also shown a Gomes-esque consistency in hovering around the 14.0 ppg, 7.0 apg and 1.5 spg marks the last three years, meaning that field goal percentage aside, his recent stats are very much sustainable. If you held onto Felton through an infuriating month of November, well done.

ONE-LINE THOUGHTS THAT WOULD SOUND AWKWARD AS FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGES

After a relatively slow start in the playmaking department, Dwyane Wade was averaging 8.8 apg in his last four games entering Monday, drawing his current average (6.0) closer to last season's average of 7.5… C.J. Watson is theoretically looking like a nice pickup after averaging 15.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 steals and 1.5 threes in his last four, but I'd be surprised if he's consistently getting 30 minutes a game two weeks from now… Anderson Varejao is averaging 8.3 boards, 2.0 steals and 2.3 blocks in his last three, pushing his averages in those categories to 8.2, 1.3 and 1.2 on the season. If you can live with a lack of scoring (7.3 ppg), those other numbers are quite useful… I know Wesley Matthews has averaged 15.3 ppg, 1.7 threes and 1.3 steals in his last three games, but I'm taking a pass. We already saw him fool fantasy owners by averaging 14.5 ppg and 3.0 threes during a two-game stretch in mid-November only to disappear right when everyone was considering adding him. And as the fortune would say if this multiple-sentence discourse on Matthews were actually a fortune, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and you have angered me."

HacheMan · Dec 9, 2009

Good Night, Howards

I'll be hosting a live chat for Season Pass subscribers at 3 p.m. Wednesday. See you there.
Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Stop Sniffing Glue

I posted something on Twitter last night about picking the wrong week to bench Derrick Rose, Jason Richardson, and to stop sniffing glue. The Airplane reference got a couple chuckles from people and was then re-Tweeted by "@WrongWeek." Which I found kind of hysterical. They simply track down cases when "I guess I picked the wrong week to…" was used on Twitter and post it.

Good Night, Howard

A year ago, Dwight Howard visited the Clippers on his 23rd birthday and blistered them for 23 points, 22 rebounds and six blocked shots. And in a weird coincidence, the Magic were back in L.A. last night for his 24th birthday, when he torched them for 25 points, 11 boards and seven blocks. I'm still amazed how quickly people get down on Howard, as it only takes him a big game or two to make up for a few bad ones.

Josh Howard returned from a 13-game absence after rehabbing his ankle to go off for 20 points, six rebounds, three steals, a block and two 3-pointers in a tough win over the Suns. Howard was scooped up quickly yesterday in most leagues once news broke that he would play, but you might as well make sure he's not still available in your league. I am not convinced his injury woes are behind him, nor do I trust him, as he always seems to be gimpy, but he'll be a nice guy to hold onto for as long as he is healthy.

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Year To Draft Danny Granger

The results are in for Danny Granger's heel injury and the news is not good. He'll be out four to six weeks, but will not require surgery for a torn fascia. If he's out for six weeks, a target date for his return will be Jan. 19 or 20, at Miami or Orlando. And by then, you have to think the Pacers' playoff dreams will be a distant memory. I'm not saying he won't play out the rest of the season once he's healthy enough to return, but I am saying that even minor injuries could cause the Pacers to shut him down at some point if there's nothing to play for other than pride.

I think Dahntay Jones is a big winner here, and this could finally be the thing Brandon Rush needed to get it going. Both players should be owned in most leagues, but don't cut a really good player to get them. Additionally, Roy Hibbert, Troy Murphy and T.J. Ford could finally get going now that Granger's gone.

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Bench…

Derrick Rose, who was on my bench in a league where I'm punting assists for the week, went off for his best game of the season with 27 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block last night. He hit 13-of-23 shots, but just 1-of-4 free throws. It's clear he's finally getting healthy after a slow start due to an ankle injury, and I probably won't be benching him many more times going forward.

Jason Richardson, who is also on the same bench in a small league, bounced back from a quiet stretch of games to score 25 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a 3-pointer. He's having a big year and remains a must-start player in most leagues, and any time the Suns have a four-game week.

Raymond Felton had 14 points, two 3-pointers and six steals, and is averaging 16 points, five boards and three steals over his last four games. It looks like the arrival of Stephen Jackson is helping Felton. Gerald Wallace, the league's leading rebounder, had 25 points, 16 boards, a steal and a block.

Luol Deng's strong season continued on Tuesday with 27 points, nine boards and two 3-pointers. Deng was actually in my lineup in the aforementioned league, which is nice.

Rajon Rondo just missed a triple-double with 11 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists as the Celtics won again on Tuesday. Kevin Garnett was also solid with 25 points, nine boards and two steals. The nine boards were a season high for Rondo, while he also swiped five steals on the night. Garnett has been fantastic and appears to be fully over his knee injury.

Tyreke Evans continued his assault on the Rookie of the Year race with 25 points, five boards, nine assists, one steal and one turnover last night. Brandon Jennings was hot early, but Evans has scored 20 or more points in 13 of his 19 games, and is averaging 25 points, 5 boards, 6.5 assists, 1.5 steals and just 1.8 turnovers in December. Wow.

Andrew Bogut bounced back from three crappy games in a row to score 25 points to go along with 14 rebounds, five assists, a steal and two blocks – against the Celtics. Why Bogut chose this game to break out is beyond me, but it would be tough to blame yourself if he was on your bench last night (or this week).

Ersan Ilyasova bounced back from three straight games in foul trouble to score 19 points, grab eight rebounds and grab three steals last night. I benched him in some leagues this week, but he's also been dropped in many. The Bucks still have a bunch of three-game weeks coming up, but Ilyasova is worth a look as long as he's starting.

Taj Gibson came off the Bulls' bench to score a career-high 20 points. Brad Miller started in his place, but both guys will take a big hit once Tyrus Thomas comes back, which should be in the next 10 days or so (hopefully).

Draft a new fantasy team at SnapDraft

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Start…

Jose Calderon sat out Tuesday's game with a hip injury and didn't travel with the Raptors to Milwaukee for tonight's game. This is awful news for Calderon's owners, although I don't think he's officially been ruled out yet. It's also a little surprising since it sounded like he was close to playing on Tuesday night. Jarrett Jack started and was great with 17 points, seven boards, eight assists, two steals and excellent free throw shooting, but has been very inconsistent this year. If Calderon were ever to go down long-term, Jack would be a must-own. Now let's just hope Calderon's injury won't keep him out of more than just these two games.

Erick Dampier played just seven minutes last night but it doesn't look like he's injured. The Suns start Channing Frye at center, and he rarely comes into the paint. Drew Gooden got all of the minutes in order to keep up with Frye, but Dampier is still the starting center for Dallas (as far as I know).

Luke Ridnour had just three points last night before leaving with an arm injury and has been useless in two straight games. He may bounce back at some point, but it appears his hot streak has finally come to an end. It was nice while it lasted, but it feels like it's about time for Brandon Jennings to start going off again, anyway.

Anthony Randolph struggled on Monday and has now left the team for personal reasons, leaving him doubtful for tonight against the Knicks, and even a little iffy for the week. Actually, Randolph falls under the "I picked the wrong year to draft him" category.

Kenyon Martin dislocated his left pinky finger on Monday and played through it, but then sat out Tuesday's game. My guess is he'll play the rest of the way, but we just don't know yet.

Tyson Chandler had 13 points, 12 boards and four blocks in Friday's loss to the Nets, prompting him to be picked up in almost every league. He then had seven points and 10 boards on Saturday before last night's one-point, two-rebound performance in 13 foul-plagued minutes. He still has three games to get it turned around, but confidence is waning. And it doesn't help that Nazr Mohammed keeps outplaying him whenever he struggles. Nazr had 15 points and five boards last night.

Boris Diaw exploded for 28 points, five 3-pointers and a full stat line on Saturday, but fell back to earth with seven points and two boards on 3-of-10 shooting last night. He's had a terrible year and the arrival of Stephen Jackson in Charlotte is not helping matters.

Keep reading for News and Notes and Injury Updates.

News and Notes

Andrea Bargnani played through a sprained ankle and had 15 points, although he didn't play very well. He did hit a late three though, which kept the Raptors streak of 800-something straight games with a 3-pointer alive, a record that has been going strong for more than 10 years. Chris Bosh also played through a bad cold and had 21 points, 16 boards and three blocks.

Attack of the Stars

LeBron James had 43 points, four 3-pointers, 13 boards and six assists, but the Cavs lost in OT to the Grizzlies. Carmelo Anthony broke out of a funk with 34 points and seven boards on 12-of-22 shooting, and Dirk Nowitzki stayed hot with 33 points and eight boards.

Grizzly Bears

The Grizzlies are now officially hot, winning eight of their last 12 games and taking out the Cavs in overtime last night. O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay both posted solid lines, while Zach Randolph was the star with 34 points and 14 rebounds. But what may have been lost in the shuffle was the fact Mike Conley played 39 minutes and juked Shaquille O'Neal badly for the game-winning layup. Conley finished with 12 points and five assists, but the fact he played 39 minutes is telling. If he was dumped in your league when the 'Jamaal Tinsley false alarm' went off, think about grabbing him.

Marc Gasol had 11 points and eight rebounds, which has suddenly become a good line for him. It's the first time in three games he's hit double digits in either points or rebounds. In fact, he's had double figures in rebounding in just four of his last 16 games, and has blocked exactly seven shots over his last seven games. He started off quickly last season too, but faded with time. Unfortunately, it looks like it's happening again.

Nets Worth

Chris Douglas-Roberts stayed hot last night with 20 points and three blocks, while Josh Boone added six points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Boone has some value in deep leagues, at least until we see Yi Jianlian back on the court for the Nets. Courtney Lee has been disappointing in his last couple games, but keep in mind he is starting and played 34 minutes again last night. Yeah, he hit just 3-of-13 shots, but his time is going to come.

More Goodies

John Salmons hit just 4-of-12 shots for 12 points, but added six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Jason Thompson had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Kings.

Chris Paul had 15 points, five boards, 12 assists, three steals and two 3-pointers. Welcome back.

Chris Andersen had eight points, eight boards, two steals and three blocks.

Stephen Jackson had 25 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals.

Johnny Flynn had 17 points, eight assists, two 3-pointers and three steals. I must admit, I'm starting to come around on him.

Mr. Big Shot?

Chauncey Billups backed up his best game of the year with 14 points, one assist and five turnovers. While his numbers are down slightly, they're pretty close to where they ought to be. It just seems like he has one really bad game every week. And the fact that Ty Lawson is chasing him doesn't make me feel any better.

Wednesday Morning Injury Report

Anthony Morrow should be back tonight after missing a couple games for personal (and travel) reasons.

As for Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf? Biedrins, who has been out (for what seems like forever) with a back/abdominal injury, is traveling with the team, but is astonishingly still two weeks away from playing. Turiaf is in the same boat and is a couple weeks away from returning from his knee injury. Just another reason to think about banning all Warriors from your league next year.

Deron Williams missed Tuesday's practice for personal reasons but is expected to start tonight against the Lakers.

Andrei Kirilenko's MRI didn't reveal any significant damage, but he is out for tonight's game against the Lakers.

Kirk Hinrich is hoping to play against the Hawks tonight despite a sprained thumb. My guess is he sits.

Ben Gordon is iffy for tonight with a sprained ankle, but has been playing through it, while it sounds like Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back) are expected to get another night off.

Joel Przybilla is dealing with a back and ankle injury, but should play through it.

Rudy Fernandez will miss four to six weeks after having back surgery on Tuesday.

Leandro Barbosa is probably still at least a week away from returning from his ankle injury.

Omri Casspi missed Tuesday's game with a sore back and is day-to-day.

Jamario Moon missed Tuesday with a groin injury and is day-to-day.

HacheMan · Dec 10, 2009

Good Evening, Mr. Jennings
A relatively light nine games on the docket Wednesday night, but fortunately for those of us who enjoy digesting basketball-related material, there was still no shortage of said material to digest. Let us commence:

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY: ABSENT

They don't have the worst record in the NBA, but there is absolutely no team in the league more lifeless right now than the Bulls. Sure they were playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road, but they lost by 35 and got absolutely annihilated after the first quarter. The Bulls have now lost nine of 10, and if Vinny Del Negro doesn't get fired soon, I don't know what getting fired is.

No point in reading into the stats too much in this one, though it was nice to see Derrick Rose still get 19 points and seven assists in a blowout loss.

As for the Hawks, Jamal Crawford led the way with 29 as no single starter had to play 30 minutes. Jeff Teague had a career-high eight assists, but again: blowout. Meanwhile, Mike Bibby did almost nothing in 19 minutes and has averaged 3.3 ppg in his last three. The ESPN TV crew noted that Bibby hadn't been able to practice lately due to his sprained ankle, which appears to still be hindering him. For the time being I would advise benching rather than dropping him.

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MILWAUKEE'S BEST, HALF FULL

The big takeaway from an easy Milwaukee win over Toronto is that Brandon Jennings hit more than half his shots for the first time since Nov. 20, finishing with 22 points (8-for-14 shooting), six assists, four threes, two steals, two blocks and one hyperextended knee. With regard to the knee, the good news is that Jennings told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "If it ain't broken, I'm out there playing. I'll be out there ready to go."

Other positive Bucks news: Ersan Ilyasova (17 points, nine rebounds) is far from finished and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 16 points in 40 minutes, though I'm still not that intrigued outside of deep leagues. Luke Ridnour had 15 points and six assists in just 15 minutes, with his playing time limited in part because Scott Skiles gave Roko Ukic (17 points, four assists) 25 minutes in a small revenge opportunity against his former squad.

Speaking of the Raptors, Andrea Bargnani (ankle) and Jose Calderon (hip) didn't play on Wednesday and will hopefully be ready on Friday. Jarrett Jack had 12 points, seven assists and three steals with Calderon out.

MOTOWN-PHILLY BACK AGAIN

The good news for Philly: Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand are currently showing no signs of struggling with Allen Iverson being integrated into the offense.

The bad news for Philly: The Sixers lost their 11th straight, Iverson shot just 3-for-10 with six turnovers and Thaddeus Young shot just 4-for-14, tweaking his ankle late but returning to play through it. I expected rust from Iverson initially, and we're seeing it, but he'll get it going sooner rather than later.

The bad news for everyone, myself included: I used a Boyz II Men reference a minute ago.

The short-handed Pistons, meanwhile, were sans Ben Gordon (ankle), but got 27 and eight from Rodney Stuckey and 17 and 10 from Jonas Jerebko, who is emerging as a nice deep league add (though his numbers could take a hit from Tayshaun Prince's eventual return). Richard Hamilton said Wednesday that he's hoping to return before Jan. 1, and fantasy owners can only hope he means way before Jan. 1. Either way, it looks like more patience is going to be required on that front.

FUN WHILE IT LASTED

The Nets' win streak ended at one, but at least they can say they're winners of two out of their last four. And though they lost by 16, the notable starters (Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Brook Lopez and Chris Douglas-Roberts) all played heavy minutes and posted solid lines, with the worst of the bunch being CDR's 10 points and seven rebounds.

But the Nets line I'm most intrigued by was Lee's 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. There's never been reason to doubt Lee's ability to score, but it's good to see him hitting the glass – he has averaged 5.4 rpg in his last five games, and Wednesday's eight rebounds were a career high.

The most pleasant surprise for Golden State was Anthony Randolph, who returned from a family emergency to post 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, a steal and three blocks in just 20 minutes. Anthony Morrow also returned but had just six points in 41 minutes (he'll do that occasionally). Meanwhile, C.J. Watson (18 points, five steals) hit double figures for a sixth straight game and is averaging 14.8 ppg and 2.3 spg during that stretch. I still don't trust the Warriors to keep playing him consistently, but he's worth using for as long as it lasts.



TO THE WOLVES

Minnesota lost to drop its record to 3-19, but from a fantasy perspective there are plenty of positive things happening in T'Wolves country. Al Jefferson (17 points, 16 boards) looked a lot more like the Al of old, Jonny Flynn (14 points, nine assists) is becoming a reliable fantasy starter before our eyes, Kevin Love (12 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks, one three) looks tremendous despite coming off the bench and Ryan Gomes (21 points) proved that his hot streak isn't done yet.

For the Hornets, Peja Stojakovic had 21 points and five threes (he'll do that from time-to-time) and rookie Marcus Thornton broke out of a recent slump to drop 20 points in just 24 minutes (Thornton remains just a deep-league option for now).

INDIANA STATUS QUO

Let's see… Dahntay Jones was servicable, Mike Dunleavy was limited, Troy Murphy was underwhelming, Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush struggled. Does any of that sound familiar? The only slight outliers were T.J. Ford, who had a decent eight points, six rebounds and five assists with backup Earl Watson (hamstring) sidelined, and Tyler Hansbrough, who shot just 4-of-14 but had 13 points, and 11 rebounds, making him worth a look in deeper leagues.

Meanwhile, the Blazers got 29 from Brandon Roy, who's now averaging 27.3 ppg in his last four. And LaMarcus Aldridge has averaged 19.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 1.5 bpg in two games since Greg Oden went down, numbers he probably won't sustain but an encouraging sign nonetheless. Andre Miller played just 25 minutes, but posted 15 points and four steals and has hit for 15.3 ppg in his last four games.

OUR CITIES BEGIN WITH "S," END WITH "O"

I was worried about Sacramento struggling in San Antonio on the second night of a back-to-back on the road, but the Kings stayed with the Spurs, leading to 19-point efforts from Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson and solid work from Omri Casspi (a career-high 20 points) and Beno Udrih (15 points, six assists) off the bench. Casspi, averaging 13.9 ppg and 1.4 threes in his last nine games, is an intriguing option in 14-team leagues, and while I'll admit that I've been trying to unload Udrih like he's a rancid wheel of cheese, he has quietly been very efficient, averaging 12.8 ppg, 4.0 apg and 1.3 threes in his last four games.

On the Spurs side of things, I did notice that Richard Jefferson scored 23, but I still don't trust him to produce consistently with the team at full strength. Frankly, I'm much more intrigued by what I saw out of Manu Ginobili, who not only scored 20 points in 26 minutes, but also appeared to rediscover his mojo on a crowd-thrilling drive to the bucket in the 4th quarter. If the price remains cheap, I'm advising a last-ditch effort to buy low on Manu right now.

HELLO, CLEVELAND

This write-up is actually going to be more about the Rockets than it is about the Cavs, but "Hello, Houston" doesn't quite have the same cinematic resonance. While we're on the topic of Cleveland, multiple starters struggled for the Cavs playing the second of a back-to-back, and the main thing to note in deeper leagues is that Delonte West (14 points, three assists, two steals) has now averaged 29 minutes in his last three games. If that continues, solid numbers should follow.

The Rockets got big lines from Aaron Brooks (27 points, 12-for-13 from the line) and Trevor Ariza (26 points, four threes, 11-for-19 shooting) and a rotisserie delight from Shane Battier, who posted 14 points, four threes, three steals and two blocks. Battier won't score that much every night, but his production is on the rise now that early-season ankle troubles are largely behind him.

NOT A MISPRINT

The final game of Wednesday night (Jazz at Lakers) was actually pretty compelling until the Lakers flipped a slightly unfair switch in the fourth quarter, turning on some positively vicious defense and outscoring the Jazz 28-6 in the final frame. This just in: the Lakers are good. Also, I think they have about 75 games at home this year.

Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur all salvaged decent lines despite Utah only scoring 77 points (though Boozer did shoot a disappointing 5-for-16). Meanwhile, Paul Millsap (five points, five rebounds) remains maddeningly inconsistent, while C.J. Miles (14 points, two threes) is worth considering in deeper leagues while understanding that he's benefiting from the absence of Andrei Kirilenko.

The Lakers got typical production from the usual suspects, with the exception that Andrew Bynum (14 points) had just four rebounds and no blocks. Look for him to bounce back in both departments against Minnesota Friday night.

TONIGHT

Three games on the schedule this evening: Denver at Detroit (it strikes me that we're overdue for a "J.R. Smith buries eight threes" sort of game), Boston at Washington (hoping to see Agent Zero bounce back from an eight-point night in a big way) and Orlando at Utah, where we'll see if Dwight Howard can translate his big birthday performance from Tuesday into a prolonged dominant run. Be on the lookout for Dr. A with all the answers on the other side.

HacheMan · Dec 14, 2009

Put the Finger On You

Weekend Wrap Up

I Put The Finger On You

Kobe Bryant broke his right index finger on Friday and played the rest of the game with it heavily taped. He also played on Saturday, but hit just 7-of-24 shots and 1-of-9 3-pointers for 16 points. It's actually kind of fun to watch Kobe play with his left hand right now, but probably not so much for his owners. He's borderline ambidextrous and there's almost no way you can sit him, even if he's playing with one hand.

AI Iffy

Allen Iverson had his best game as a reborn Sixer on Friday when he scored 20 points. But a lack of threes and steals, a stress reaction in his right leg and the fact he had his knee drained over the weekend are all red flags. It does sound like he'll play on Monday, but I'm going to recommend benching him in weekly leagues, as he could easily be held out for an upcoming game if his leg doesn't start feeling better soon.

Trevor Ariza was awful on Sunday and then threw a punch at DeMar DeRozan, earning an ejection. All fingers are pointing toward a one-game suspension, but Ariza is still usable in weekly leagues, as he'd still be good for three games. However, if your team has been struggling with field goal shooting, giving Ariza a week off could help.
The Anthony Randolph Saga…Continued

Randolph is still balling when he gets minutes. But he played less than 20 minutes in his last two and bottomed out with zero points and one rebound on Saturday, meaning he's being dropped (again) in most leagues. I'm just going to continue to hang onto him, but he will be back on my bench for the week. And that means he'll probably start getting run again.

Will The Real Dampier Please Stand Up?

Erick Dampier had 20 points, 17 boards and two blocks on Friday, and then backed it up with 14 points, 18 boards and three blocks on Saturday. I am pretty shocked that he's still putting up lines like this after a hot start, but you simply can't ignore him. I seriously doubt he's still posting massive lines like this a month from now, so this is probably the perfect time to try to sell high on Dampier.

Durantula

Kevin Durant has scored 25 or more points in eight straight games, has turned his +/- numbers around and is leading fantasy teams to easy wins. I'm still not sure why owners were down on him early again this year, but trading him would likely have been a mistake, regardless of what you got in return.

Bad Point Guard Revival

Mike Conley had 20 points, eight assists and two 3-pointers on Friday, which marked the fourth game in a row he had hit double figures in scoring. He cooled off on Sunday with eight points and four assists in 24 minutes, but had gotten 30-plus minutes in his previous four games. The Grizzlies won big on Sunday and have now won three of their last four, and Conley has been a big part of that successful run. I say pick him up and roll him out there.

Chris Duhon appears to have his confidence back and exploded for 22 points, nine assists and six 3-pointers on Friday, which was the last time the Knicks played. He's had either nine or 10 assists in three of his last four games and should be a safe play going forward, as the Knicks still don't have many other options.

Beno Udrih is quietly getting it done off the bench for the Kings. Despite losing his job eight games ago, he's hit double figures in scoring seven times, has made 11 threes, has hit over 50 percent of his shots in all eight games. He's also averaging 6.5 dimes over his last two.

C.J. Watson has been hot for eight games, scoring in double digits in seven of those, hitting 10 threes, shooting lights out and grabbing two steals per game. He's been dropped in a few of my leagues, but looks like a pretty solid play right now.

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Landry On Cruise Control

Carl Landry is clearly feeling it for the Rockets, averaging nearly 21 points, eight rebounds and 1.6 blocks over his last five games. He got off to a slow start, but has clearly come into his own recently. Shane Battier, despite declaring himself fully healthy and ready to go, has hit just two of his last 11 shots to score seven total points in his last two games. I think he'll get it going again this week, but it takes a strong stomach to put him in a weekly lineup right now.

Who Shot J.R.?

J.R. Smith was 0-for-8 and scored just two points in his last game, prompting some frustrated owners to pull the plug. But the fact of the matter is that he has hit double figures in scoring in 13 of his 17 games played, has hit 30 3-pointers and is averaging 14 points per game. The bad news is that he's shooting just 40 percent from the floor, and has been cold, draining just 34 of his last 100 shots over an eight-game stretch. I bet he ends his shooting slump, starting tonight against the Thunder.

Gomes Going, Going, Gone?

Ryan Gomes shifted to small forward on Friday to make way for Kevin Love in the starting five and hit just 2-of-6 shots for four points and one rebound in 29 minutes. He was then injured on Saturday, lasting just eight minutes before leaving with a left knee and ankle injury. Gomes will heat up again at some point this season, but given the fact he's got a double injury (X-rays were negative) and a new position, there's no way I'd risk playing him this week.

Keep reading to see Who's Hot, Who's Not and the Injury Report.

Who's Hot

Pau Gasol has hauled in 20 rebounds in each of his last two games, which has hurt Andrew Bynum's numbers. Bynum will be fine, but Pau is as hot right now as he's ever been in his career, meaning it's a good time to sell high.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 11 boards on Saturday, and looks like a new player now that Greg Oden is done for the year.

Joel Przybilla, while not flashy, had eight points, 10 boards and four blocks in that game, and is averaging six points, 10 boards and two blocks over his last five. Nenad Krstic, for the Thunder, is another low-end center playing pretty well, so give him a look for four games this week.

Troy Murphy had 28 points, 12 boards, four assists, four steals and two 3-pointers on Saturday, and might finally be ready to start producing. Roy Hibbert had 20 points, nine boards and three blocks on Friday, but then hit just 1-of-9 shots on Saturday for four points, eight boards and one block. I'm going to roll him out there with four games this week, as it feels like he's about to get back into the groove.

Richard Jefferson has scored 23, 17 and 17 points in his last three games and looks like he's starting to figure it out for the Spurs. Manu Ginobili has scored between 17 and 22 points in his last three, and also looks like a strong play again for the unpredictable Spurs.

Rodney Stuckey, Rajon Rondo, Al Jefferson, Chris Bosh, Rudy Gay (career-high 41 Sunday), LeBron James (season-high 44 Sunday), Andrew Bogut, Dirk Nowitzki, Jarrett Jack and Deron Williams are some other very hot players right now.

Who's Not

Jason Williams has hit just one of his last nine shots and scored two points in two games. As much as it may feel like the sky is falling, he's still the starting point guard and will break out of the funk soon.

Andre Miller and Steve Blake are both a mess right now for the Blazers. You couldn't pay me to use Blake right now, and Miller appears to simply be going through the motions, just waiting to get his starting job back. It could happen this week, so just hang onto Miller (and start him if you have limited options).

Jose Calderon (groin/hip) didn't travel with the Raptors for their two-game Florida swing and should be benched in all leagues right now. Jarrett Jack is starting at point guard and playing very well. We still don't know how long Calderon will be out, but if there was ever a time to get Jack in your lineup, it's now.

Chris Douglas-Roberts hurt his knee over the weekend and missed Sunday's game. He says the injury isn't serious and hopes to play in four games this week, but he's a risky play in weekly leagues. Ditto for Dahntay Jones of the Pacers. He suffered a shoulder injury, but says he's good to go for the week. Jermaine O'Neal is back from his personal leave and played Sunday, so go ahead and play him if you want to.

Kevin Love is putting up strong numbers, but can't find his shot right now, hitting just 8-of-28 shots since moving into the starting five. He'll find his shot soon enough, so get him active.

DeJuan Blair had 14 points and nine boards in 17 minutes Sunday, but played just three minutes in his previous game, and 14 or less in the previous three. Start him if you must, but Gregg Popovich's refusal to give him consistent run makes him a very dangerous fantasy starter.

John Salmons is averaging 13.8 points on 38.5% shooting this season. "Everything is down," Salmons said. "It's not just 3-pointers. Even my free throws are down. I don't know. I just can't get it going." Part of the problem is the Bulls don't have many 3-point shooters, so opposing defenses can focus on Salmons on the perimeter even while crowding the paint. The Bulls have three games this week, making Salmons a tough play in weekly leagues.

Monday Morning Injury Report

Marvin Williams – flu – Missed Sunday, risky fantasy start.
Joe Smith – thumb – Day-to-day, but not a great option when healthy.
Marquis Daniels – wrist – Out 6-8 weeks.
Glen Davis – thumb – In good shape, but targeting January.
Boris Diaw – ankle – Playing, but very inconsistent.
Tyrus Thomas – arm – Nearing return, but not quite there yet.
Daniel Gibson – finger – In a lot of pain, Delonte West a safer play.
Josh Howard – ankle – Missed Saturday, but no back-to-back this week.
Kenyon Martin – finger – Playing through it right now.
Ben Gordon – ankle – Missed his last couple but hoping for Tuesday.
Tayshaun Prince – back – Practicing, could play this week.
Will Bynum – ankle – Missed two straight, trending downward.
Richard Hamilton – ankle – Back, but still not at full strength.
Anthony Morrow – personal – He's back, but had an awful week.
Ronny Turiaf – knee – He's just not healthy, not likely this week.
Raja Bell – wrist surgery – Out until end of season.
Kelenna Azubuike – Knee surgery – Out for the year.
Andris Biedrins – back – Traveling, but doesn't sound likely for week.
Tracy McGrady – knee – On same page w/ team, but no target date.
Danny Granger – heel – No hope for this week.
Dahntay Jones – shoulder – Cooled off, but should play this week.
Blake Griffin – knee - Not likely to play until mid-January.
Baron Davis – flu – Off bench Sunday, but played well.
Kobe Bryant – finger – Playing through it, albeit with one hand.
Luke Walton – back – No target date for return.
Quentin Richardson – hamstring – Too risky for this week.
Michael Redd – knee – Back in action, start at own risk.
Ryan Gomes – knee/ankle – X-rays negative, but too risky to start.
Chris Douglas-Roberts – knee – Risky play this week, but could show up.
Yi Jianlian – knee/mouth – Could return this week, but too risky.
Tony Battie – knee – Still not fully healthy.
Keyon Dooling – hip – Missed Sunday, Rafer Alston playing well.
Jarvis Hayes – hamstring – Targeting after Christmas.
Morris Peterson – knee – No value when healthy.
Ike Diogu – knee surgery– Season over.
Nate Robinson – healthy – Doghouse, but will eventually play again?
Eddy Curry – knee – Showcasing for trade, if you want to call it that.
Jameer Nelson – knee – Hopefully he's getting closer, but weeks away.
Vince Carter – flue/knee – Says he'll play on Monday.
Allen Iverson – leg/knee – Should play, but risky fantasy starter.
Willie Green – knee – Missed Saturday's practice. Bench/drop him.
Lou Williams – jaw – Out until late-January.
Marreese Speights – knee – Could play this week, but I wouldn't start him.
Leandro Barbosa – ankle – Likely out until Christmas with injury.
Rudy Fernandez – back – Out 4-6 weeks. Martell Webster worth a look.
Greg Oden – knee surgery – Out for the season.
Travis Outlaw – foot – Will return very late in year.
Nicolas Batum – shoulder – Ditto.
Kevin Martin – wrist – Targeting late January.
Francisco Garcia – wrist – Targeting All-Star break.
Michael Finley – ankle – Will miss another week, helps RJ.
Jose Calderon – groin – Out for next two, hello, Jarrett Jack.
Andrei Kirilenko – back – Hoping for Monday, start at own risk.
Kyrylo Fesenko – flu – Should play, but not much value.
Ronnie Price – toe – Close to return, but no value.
Kyle Korver – knee – Close, but not playable yet.
Matt Harpring – ankle – Career likely over.
Mike Miller – calf – Could return this week, but not worth using yet.

HacheMan · Dec 15, 2009

Brand New Heavy

There were seven games on the slate for Monday night, with many memorable performances.

Happy Holidays

Jrue Holiday made a surprise start for the Sixers, sending Elton Brand to the bench, and went off for 15 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals on 7-of-14 shooting. Eddie Jordan said later that he loves Holiday and Allen Iverson (20 points, 7-of-10 shooting in a start at SG) in the backcourt with Thaddeus Young (26 & 14) at power forward. I have no idea what Jordan will do from here on out, and it's important to remember that Lou Williams now says he'll be ready to go the day after Christmas. But given the fact the Sixers crushed the Warriors and got such strong play out of all the aforementioned players except Brand (17 minutes, 11 & 7), EB could be ready to return to the bench full time. As for Holiday, I think he's worth a pickup and could have a nice couple weeks. But once Lou-Will is back, he should regain his starting job alongside Iverson.

It's important to remember the Sixers were playing the Warriors, who looked awful, and played their best game of the year. Jordan may put EB on the bench going forward, but he might also change his mind and leave him in the lineup after giving it some thought. Brand is starting to tire of the head games and if he does move back to the bench, expect him to possibly demand a trade. "When you look around at other teams, yeah," Brand said to start the quote of the night. "It's like, no disrespect, but (Golden State's) Mikki Moore gets the start and I don't." Ouch. Marreese Speights hopes to return for the Sixers by Christmas, meaning more tough luck for Brand's owners.

20-20 Vision

Dwight Howard torched the Pacers for 21 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks, which was his 26th game of 20 & 20. We're still waiting for that first 30 & 30. Pacers coach Jim O'Brien was talking smack after the game, saying that Howard threw a punch at Troy Murphy, but it really wasn't a punch and a suspension isn't likely. O'Brien probably didn't do himself any favors when he said the Pacers plan was based on "fouling the hell out of Dwight Howard." As expected, Roy Hibbert really struggled against Howard, failing to block a shot, picking up five quick fouls and finishing with just eight points and five boards. Owners should have fully expected this from Hibbert last night, and things look better with Charlotte and Memphis next up on the schedule. Vince Carter also was able to go in this one despite knee and flu concerns, and scored 28 points in the win.

Not Dun Yet

Mike Dunleavy started over a gimpy Dahntay Jones and had season highs of 26 points and 33 minutes last night, and looked very good. I'm really surprised at how good he looks on that surgically repaired knee and his return was timed perfectly with Danny Granger's departure. Get him in your lineup. T.J. Ford was also solid, hitting his first trey of the year and finishing with 13 points, six boards, seven dimes and a steal. I still haven't given up on him, and you shouldn't either as long as he remains the starter. Dahntay Jones played through his shoulder/hip injury and scored five points in the Pacers' loss last night.

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Other Strong Performances

Jose Juan Barea hit 10-of-23 shots for a season high of 23 points, but had just one assist. He's been starting at shooting guard, but Josh Howard is back, although shaky, and could be on the verge of reclaiming the job. But Barea has been solid, averaging 15 points and 5.5 assists over his last four. He's probably worth a pickup, but don't expect it to last for long if Howard can stay healthy, despite the nine points and four dimes JJB is averaging on the season.

Chris Kaman had 23 points and 11 boards and has double-doubled in three of his last four games.

Eric Gordon had 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting, hit three treys and had five steals. Finally!

Caron Butler bounced back from a sprained ankle with 20 points, seven boards, five assists and five steals. I saw his injury happen live in his last game and immediately thought he'd miss a few games as it looked pretty bad. Oops.

Deron Williams had 38 points and 13 assists in a loss to the Wolves, while Chris Paul tossed in 20 points, four boards, 16 dimes and five more steals. He also had just one turnover in the loss to Dallas. As a Hawks fan, it hurt to write this. Jonny Flynn had 28 points, five assists and four treys on 11-of-19 shooting, including the game-winner against the Jazz. He's on fire after a slow start to the season. Ramon who?
Corey Brewer tied a season high with 22 points to go along with five boards, four assists and two steals for the Wolves, but it was probably because Ryan Gomes was out with an ankle injury.

Chris Andersen had 15 points, 11 boards, three steals and three blocks as Nene fouled out in just 20 minutes. Andersen is averaging 12 points, 10.5 boards, two steals and two blocks over his last couple games.

Continue reading for more Who's Hot, Who's Not and League Notes.

Kevin Durant had 32 points and 10 rebounds as his scoring assault continues. His turnovers are a bit of a pain, but he has now scored at least 25 in nine straight. Carmelo Anthony had 31 against him in the win.

Samuel Dalembert had 12 points, 13 boards and four blocks in the Sixers' cakewalk over the Warriors and is averaging close to 10 points, 11 boards and three blocks over his last five games. Shhh…don't jinx him.

Corey Maggette had 24 points and six turnovers, scoring at least 20 in two straight after failing to do so in his previous 10.

Willie Green returned from injury for 14 points and two threes, and like most other Sixers' guards, is worth keeping an eye on.

Hasheem Thabeet had eight rebounds and four blocks for Memphis, and is also worth a look in deep leagues.

Not So Great

Al Thornton had just two points in 25 minutes, while Rasual Butler scored 15 for the Clips. Thornton just wasn't feeling it, but had scored at least 15 points in his last six games.

Dirk Nowitzki finally cooled off, taking just 11 shots to finish with 10 points, seven boards, three assists, two steals and a block against the Hornets. This just wasn't his night.

Andre Iguodala is battling through a rib injury and hit just 4-of-20 shots for 14 points and eight boards. This is a tough one, as he could have easily torched the Warriors for 40 points had he been feeling it.

Monta Ellis hit just 3-of-14 shots for eight points last night. He too just had an off night as he had scored 31, 18, 27 and 29 in his previous four.

News, Notes and Injuries

Mike Miller is "close" to returning from his calf injury, but no target date has been set.

Trevor Ariza will miss Tuesday's game due to a one-game suspension for throwing a punch, but there are no plans to bring Tracy McGrady back to fill in.

Rip Hamilton is sore and could see a cut in minutes, but plans on playing through his ankle injury. Ben Gordon and Will Bynum both hope to play through their sprained ankles tonight against the Rockets, but are a little iffy.

Don Nelson will be back on the bench on Tuesday for the Warriors and has had plenty of time to dream up new lineups and rotations. Brace yourselves.

DeJuan Blair injured his shoulder near the end of his last game leaving him questionable for tonight against the Suns.

The Heat cut Shavlik Randolph, which doesn't mean much, but could indicate they're on the verge of making a move or trade.

Jason Richardson missed practice with a right hand injury, which is bad news. He had some swelling and is iffy for tonight vs. the Spurs.

The Knicks may play Jonathan Bender tonight against the Bobcats, so heads up if you're in a 30-team league.

C.J. Miles missed last night's loss to Minnesota (that's right) with the flu, while Andrei Kirilenko returned for eight points from his back injury. Kyle Korver (knee) also made his season debut for the Jazz, but failed to score.

There's talk in Portland (again) of Andre Miller returning to the starting lineup and replacing a struggling Steve Blake. Why this move wasn't made on opening night, I'll never understand. Grab Miller if he's available.

HacheMan · Dec 16, 2009

Just Duhon It

Nice Pickup

Chris Duhon had 18 points, three more 3-pointers, six assists and a steal on 7-of-12 shooting in Tuesday's loss to the Bobcats. If you picked up Duhon and threw him in your lineup this week, congratulations, as he's on fire. Yes, he ridiculously kissed his bicep in the loss, but I don't even care. I'm not the biggest Duhon fan around, but I played him over Derrick Rose in a small league this week for the extra game, and so far, so good.
His teammate, Danilo Gallinari, wasn't so fortunate, playing just 18 minutes and scoring five points. I'm not sure what happened to his consistent minutes, but he's no longer a must start until he heats up again. Jared Jeffries had a "Shane Battier-like" line last night, except it was better than the mediocrity Battier's been delivering this year. I'm not saying you should pick him up, but give Jeffries a look in real deep leagues. Al Harrington played through the flu, and while he wasn't huge, he at least toughed it out.

Gerald Wallace had 21 points, eight boards, five dimes and four steals in the win, while Tyson Chandler added an acceptable eight points, 12 boards and a block. Is it just me, or does Chandler bomb when he's in your lineup and then put up lines like this on your bench or waivers? Yeah, I thought so.

One Hand Band

Kobe Bryant hit 15-of-26 shots for 42 points despite playing with a broken right index finger. The rest of his numbers were nothing to write home about, especially the eight turnovers, but given how poorly he shot in his previous game, this line has to look 'all good' to his owners. The Lakers beat the Bulls on Tuesday, as Pau Gasol stayed hot with 10 points, 16 boards and two blocks, but hit just 3-of-14 shots. Andrew Bynum was awful again, posting 11 points, a measly three rebounds and one block in 25 minutes. Over his last five games Bynum is averaging 12 points, five rebounds and a block. I doubt Gasol stays this hot, or that Bynum will stay this cold, but Bynum probably deserves a spot on the bench right now. If you are like me and owned both Bynum and Oden on most teams, Bynum's sharp decline couldn't have come at a worse time.

For the losing Bulls, Brad Miller stepped up with 15 points, eight boards, six dimes, two steals and two blocks, and looks like a solid short-term pick up until Tyrus Thomas finally returns from his broken arm. Joakim Noah was a beast with 20 boards and six blocks (nice job, Bynum) and Derrick Rose scored 21 despite leaving briefly with a rib injury. John Salmons was simply awful again, hitting 1-of-5 shots for two points. He's scored a total of six in his last two and owners are surely getting an itchy trigger finger on Salmons. I'm fine with you finally letting go, but he should be picked up immediately off waivers. And if he ever gets hot, it's going to sting. But I do agree that it's been almost unbearable owning him this year and it might be cathartic to set him free.

Such An Angry Young Man

Devin Harris got ejected Tuesday after taking out Jamario Moon and could possibly face a suspension. He did the same thing, although not quite as 'made-for-TV,' last week against Corey Maggette and the Warriors, and they were livid after the game. His reputation as a 'dirty player' may be in its early stages, but after the last seven days, teams are going to be on the lookout for him. He's had a tumultuous year, dealing with a groin and finger injury, calling out strife in his team's locker room, and playing for a team that can't win games. And given Harris' constantly fragile state, owners are probably walking on eggshells while waiting for the next injury.

Brook Lopez had a huge first half in the loss, but cooled off later, finishing with 22 points, 15 boards and a block, while Rafer Alston somehow was able to rack up 20 points and four 3-pointers on 7-of-14 shots in just 19 minutes. He's been playing well, but needs more run than that to be usable by fantasy owners. Daniel Gibson returned from a hand injury to score eight points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored a season-high 16 in the win for the Cavs.

Thanks For Nothin'

Jarrett Jack looked like a stone-cold lock to go off this week and there's still time, but last night's six points, three boards, one assist and five turnovers were simply devastating with Jose Calderon in street clothes. And despite racking up 28 points, Chris Bosh had just two rebounds, which I still can't get my head around.

For the Heat, Carlos Arroyo started over Mario Chalmers, marking the first time in his career that MC came off the bench. Arroyo had 12 points, three assists and a steal, making him worth a look in a deep league, while Chalmers had six points, eight assists and two steals. The move could have been made to light a fire under Chalmers, or the Heat could be on the verge of trading for a new starting point guard (Ramon Sessions, Andre Miller?), and want to get him used to coming off the bench before it happens. Michael Beasley was a beast, tying a career high with 28 points and adding 11 boards on 11-of-19 shooting, while Dorell Wright came off the bench again for 16 points, eight boards, a steal and a block. Wright is hot, scoring 16 twice, and 19 points in three of his last four games, so give him a look in deep leagues.

Welcome Back?

Tracy McGrady made a surprising return for the Rockets last night and racked up three points and three boards in eight minutes. Trevor Ariza was out due to suspension, and T-Mac looked decent in his short run, hitting a 3-pointer. The Rockets want him to focus on moving the ball, hustling, rebounding and staying healthy. He also might be going to the Knicks in a trade. But as long as he plays for the Rockets, I expect him to be nothing more than a glorified role player, and I would not cut a solid fantasy performer for him. Chase Budinger, who Steve Smith is now calling 'Air Bud,' started and had 16 points, 12 boards, five assists and a 3-pointer, but will go back to the bench tonight in the return of Ariza. Aaron Brooks' fine play continues after his 23 points and 10 dimes last night.

Rip Hamilton had 21 points, four boards, four assists and a 3-pointer on 10-of-22 shooting, but injured his hamstring during the game. He said he had no idea of the severity of the injury, but he has to be considered day-to-day again for now.

Continue reading for more Game News and Injury Updates.


A Novel Idea

Steve Smith said on NBA TV last night that he thinks Richard Jefferson should come off the bench behind Manu Ginobili, and I'm on board with that plan. RJ has been playing better lately, but had just six points on 3-of-11 shooting last night, and Smitty thinks he'd function better being 'the man' on the second unit. Additionally, Manu certainly knows how to play with the starters, and I suspect the move would benefit everyone involved. Of course, it would probably take a miracle to convince Gregg Popovich to go there, although I suspect he's growing just as sick and tired of RJ's game as his owners are after reading this John Hollinger post-game tweet. Popovich: "We got pathetic games from too many people." Hollinger: "Is it fair to say RJ was one of those people?" Pop: " [crickets]."

Tim Duncan's big year continued with 34 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, while Tony Parker was quiet with 15 points and just three assists. As predicted, his numbers are down with Manu back in the mix. He's still worth owning, obviously, but his last three games of 15 & 3, 10 & 7 and 9 & 10 are a little less than what owners were expecting. DeJuan Blair was solid again with 12 points, six boards and two steals, but you never know when that next back-to-back black hole is around the corner. Roger Mason Jr. was nice too, with 19 points and five 3-pointers, but I need to see him post a similar line with some consistency before moving on him.

The Suns beat the Spurs behind big lines from Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, while Goran Dragic chipped in with 18 points and four 3-pointers in 25 minutes. He saw extended run with Jason Richardson's hand injury, which clearly bothered him last night. JRich was just 1-for-7 for three points, but at least he gave it a shot. Amare was awesome with 28 points, 14 rebounds and three steals, and this is a good reminder that the dude can rebound when he wants to. His numbers are up lately as he's averaging 21 points, nine boards, 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks over his last five.

Nice Pickup, Part 2

Beno Udrih came off the bench again with 17 points, five assists, two steals and two 3-pointers. With four games this week, my guess is Beno is in a lot of lineups, and the hot start has to feel good. But the real news from this Portland win was that Andre Miller returned to the starting lineup over Steve Blake. Miller was awful, but I don't care. He's going to start the rest of the way, or at least until he's traded, and should be owned in all leagues either way. Blake's run was a good one, as he had started a ridiculous 172 straight games. As far as I'm concerned, Blake now looks like a third-stringer after splitting minute with Jerryd Bayless, who got run down the stretch last night to finish with 14 points, two boards, and two assists. He's a guy worth keeping a very close eye on, as he's been knocking at the door in Portland all year. LaMarcus Aldridge (25-9-5) and Brandon Roy (25-5-10) continue to excel in the absence of Greg Oden.

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Injury News and Notes

Chris Douglas-Roberts is doubtful for tonight's game with his sprained knee, and missed Tuesday's game as well. Hopefully you benched him this week.

Yi Jianlian is having a million stitches removed from his mouth (OK, it's only 50) and should return to practice on Monday. He could play next week so it's probably time to think about grabbing him if you have someone to cut.

Allen Iverson missed Tuesday's practice, which isn't surprising given his age, the fact he has two leg injuries, and had his knee drained over the weekend. My guess is he plays tonight against he Cavs.
Mickael Pietrus missed Wednesday's shootaround with the flu and is iffy for tonight. As if owners who started him this week don't feel bad enough already.

Brandon Jennings is practicing fully and showing no signs of his knee acting up after last week's injury.

Delonte West was inactive again last night and is simply unreliable.

Ryan Gomes could miss up to two weeks with a high ankle sprain, and it could be even longer. I zeroed him out stats-wise in the Season Pass, which looks like the right move in hindsight.

Ben Gordon and Will Bynum were both out last night with ankle injuries, leaving them iffy for tonight at New Orleans.

Pacers center Jeff Foster will miss Wednesday's game against Charlotte because of a sore back. Foster says he sustained the injury while battling Orlando's Dwight Howard on Monday. Roy Hibbert gets extra minutes against Ty-Chan tonight and if he can't breakout now, it may never happen.

LaMarcus Aldridge twisted his ankle twice during Tuesday night's win over the Kings but took pain medication to relieve the soreness. Aldridge left briefly in the second quarter due to the injury, but played through it.

Magic guard Jameer Nelson has been participating in shoot around before games and wants to practice this weekend in hopes of a Monday return against Utah. Yes, it's time to pick him up if you need a point guard.

Marreese Speights should play tonight against the Cavaliers, but I'm not expecting huge numbers initially. Especially since Elton Brand is back in the mix, despite coming off the bench. I am slightly concerned about him hurting both Brand and Samuel Dalembert's numbers though.

Rick Kamla and Kevin McHale were talking about Blake Griffin's knee last night and McHale said Randy Foye had a similar injury a couple years ago in Minnesota. And the bad news is that every time Foye was ready to return, he'd suffer a setback and miss several more weeks. There's no guarantee that Griffin suffers the same fate, but it would not be surprising to see his target date pushed back again at some point.

Love For Sale

Apparently, every team in the league is interested in Anthony Randolph, except for the Warriors. The same can be said about the whole team, so don't be surprised to see the Warriors make some moves at the trade deadline. Anthony Morrow has been awful since returning from a personal leave, but will probably get hot again soon.

HacheMan · Dec 17, 2009

Boom Boom Pau
After a couple slightly quieter Wednesday nights in a row, full-scale, 12-game mayhem was back last night. We begin in a place I like to call…

INJURY TOWN, POPULATION: MANY

Chauncey Billups suffered a strained groin and is headed for an MRI, the results of which should be known sometime Thursday. The good news is that it doesn't sound too serious, but it's a very good idea to add Ty Lawson if you have an open roster spot – regardless of whether or not Billups is on your team.

Allen Iverson had 16 points, six boards and five assists on Wednesday, but had fluid drained from his knee again before the game and is on course for an MRI as well. This is not good news, but hopefully the MRI won't show damage.

Rudy Gay sprained his ankle and returned to the game, which is a good sign but not one that necessarily guarantees he'll be ready for the Grizzlies' matchup with Indiana on Friday. Consider Rudy day-to-day for now.

In an unexpected piece of injury news, ESPN announcer Kevin Calabro cited Kings coach Paul Westphal as having said that Kevin Martin will be back playing "in late January." I incredulously rewound this multiple times on the DVR, and if I had to guess I would say that Calabro misspoke and meant to say late December. But the man did say late January and it's his job to speak for a living, so he may very well have meant it. Hopefully we'll get some written confirmation on Martin's timetable in the coming days.

A reminder: For exclusive stat projections, rankings and more, check out Rotoworld's Season Pass.

LET'S PLAY THREE

A few games were essentially over after three quarters on Wednesday. Minnesota simply did not have it working and got annihilated by the Clippers, which led to notable struggles for the recently hot backcourt of Corey Brewer (4-for-13) and Jonny Flynn (3-for-12). Al Jefferson had 18 and eight, but shot just 5-for-15 and failed to block a shot. On a positive note, Kevin Love had 19 points, 12 boards, a three, a steal and a block, the sort of line that could very easily become a recurring sight.

Also getting blown out was Toronto, which got an ugly line (12 points and very little else) from Andrea Bargnani (keep in mind this sort of thing happens against Dwight Howard). At least Jarrett Jack (13 points, five assists) bounced back decently after an awful outing on Tuesday.

Memphis got crushed by the Hawks as well, but aside from Rudy Gay's injury the news wasn't all that bad, as all five starters managed to hit double figures.

OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED, TEAM-BY-TEAM STYLE

I won't be hitting every team here because not every team had a newsworthy night, but below is a team-by-team breakdown of the box score occurrences that stood out Wednesday evening (originally listed in alphabetical order, then accidentally dropped in the blender):

SIXERS: Jrue Holiday had nine points and nine assists, but Lou Williams reportedly has a chance to practice Thursday. Then again, if that Iverson MRI brings bad news, Holiday is going to look like a very good pickup in most leagues… A.I. doesn't have much trade value at the moment, so if you own him your best choice is to gut it out and hope he does the same… Speaking of the other A.I., Andre Iguodala played through his rib injury and dropped 26 points… Meanwhile, Marreese Speights came back looking very sharp with 14 points and four boards in 22 minutes. No coincidence that Samuel Dalembert (zero points, eight rebounds, two blocks) played just 14 minutes as Speights is a far more active and dynamic offensive player… Elton Brand got 33 minutes off the bench and had 11 points, seven boards, a steal and a block.

LAKERS: Kobe Bryant had 39 points (the finger is feeling just fine, thank you)… Pau Gasol dropped an obscene line of 26 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, a steal and four blocks and is providing first-round value right now. That may not keep up in the long run, but he's a second-round value at the very least… In the meantime, Pau's dominance continues to shred Andrew Bynum's value. The drifting big man had eight points, three boards, two steals and two blocks in 24 minutes. Stay patient if you can.

PACERS: T.J. Ford took a page out of Finding My Groove: The Chris Duhon Story to post 15 points, a season-high 13 assists and two steals… Troy Murphy (26 points, 15 boards, five threes) continued his 2008-09 cloning effort… Meanwhile, Roy Hibbert was just flat-out bad again, while Brandon Rush played 34 minutes but scored a hollow 11 points… Mike Dunleavy had 15 points while navigating foul trouble, but will reportedly have his minutes reduced somewhat over the next four games, so owners should temper expectations for now.

ROCKETS: I said a few weeks ago that I was in sell mode on Aaron Brooks, but it has become apparent that Brooks is probably going to keep this up all season. The absurdly quick, surprisingly crafty and decidedly undersized PG – who I have just now on a whim decided to nickname "Pocket Terminator" – has hit for 20 or more points in seven of his last nine games… Trevor Ariza returned after a one-game suspension to drop 18… Tracy McGrady played eight scoreless minutes off the bench as he is reportedly being showcased for a trade.



MAVS: Dirk Nowitzki bounced back from an off night with 35 points and 11 boards, and no one else on Dallas had an exciting line whatsoever… Josh Howard played a season-high 29 minutes and had 15 points, but is not a good bet to stay healthy in the long run… Recently struggling Jason Terry shot just 2-for-12 but will bounce back… Recently hot J.J. Barea had just nine points in 27 minutes (clearly that hot streak was not going to last forever)… And recently formidable Erick Dampier had 10 points, six boards and two blocks (don't complain too much – the highly inconsistent Dampier is capable of far uglier things than this).

MAGIC: Dwight Howard posted a monstrous 18 points, 14 boards and eight blocks… Jason Williams showed signs of life (13 points, seven assists), though Jameer Nelson is showing signs of potentially coming back next week… Matt Barnes scored 20 with Mickael Pietrus (two points in 17 minutes) under the weather.

BUCKS: Ersan Ilyasova had a season-high 24 to go along with five boards, four assists and three treys. I believe… Michael Redd broke out with 25 points, seven boards, four assists, two steals and two threes off the bench. Excellent news, but I still don't trust him to stay healthy in the long run.

HORNETS: – All five starters hit double figures, but the big story here was David West, who went for a season-high 32 points and tied a season-high with 12 rebounds on 15-for-22 shooting. It's still not too late to turn this disappointing season around, but for the love of Jeff Bower we need to see some consistency.

CLIPPERS:– Eric Gordon scored 25 points, but has gone an uncharacteristic 13-for-22 from the free throw line his last two games, a minor issue he will hopefully/presumably get sorted out soon… Chris Kaman was large again with 23 and 10… Marcus Camby continued his box score assault with 10 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocks… Sebastian Telfair has frighteningly skinny calf muscles that make him vaguely resemble a character in a Tim Burton film.

THUNDER: Kevin Durant had a wretched night (4-for-18 shooting), but I expect him to bounce back in a big way against Detroit on Friday… James Harden had a modest 12 points and six boards off the bench, but played an encouraging 29 minutes.

PISTONS: Rodney Stuckey continues to get a ton of looks with Ben Gordon (ankle) still sidelined – and on Wednesday it translated to 26 points on 11-for-26 shooting. Unfortunately his value is being hindered by a lack of three-point range (he has hit just 6-for-30 on the season)… Will Bynum (four points, nine assists) returned from his ankle injury, while Richard Hamilton (hamstring) sat out and is considered day-to-day.

NETS: Devin Harris struggled to nine points on 1-for-7 shooting, but had been hot lately and should get it going again this weekend… Terrence Williams had 17 points in just 20 minutes off the bench, but remains just a player to watch unless you're playing in a deeper league… Chris Douglas-Roberts (knee) sat again, but will hopefully be back on Friday.

BOBCATS: Gerald Wallace continued to play like a maniac (29 points, 10 rebounds, please stay healthy) while Boris Diaw had eight points and zero rebounds in 36 minutes. I expect we'll be seeing Diaw pop up on some waiver wires, but I still think the wiser move is to plant him on your bench.

NUGGETS: Nene struggled to nine points and four rebounds, but at least contributed with three steals and a block… J.R. Smith played one of his better games of the season with 21 points, two threes and two steals… Chris Andersen continued his recent strong run with 11 rebounds and three blocks… Carmelo Anthony had 38 points and went 19-for-20 from the free throw line, which is outstanding but not really newsworthy.

WIZARDS: Gilbert Arenas scored 33 and Antawn Jamison had 30, but in the bigger picture the Wizards had just 13 assists as a team and dropped to 7-16. The stats from Arenas and Jamison are nice, but things are not all that functional in Wizardsville… Speaking of not functional, Caron Butler (16 points, seven rebounds, one assist) regressed to his season averages after an encouraging game on Monday.

WARRIORS: Don Nelson returned to coach the team and immediately went absurdly small, starting C.J. Watson (11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals) at small forward and Vladimir Radmanovic (0-for-8, one point) at center… Monta Ellis went off for 35 points in – surprise! – 45 minutes… Anthony Randolph got just 25 minutes off the bench despite the absence of Mikki Moore, but at least still had 11 points (on 3-of-10 shooting) with four rebounds, a steal and three blocks… Anthony Morrow has averaged just 3.0 ppg in his last three games, but still got 32 minutes on Wednesday and should bounce back soon.

KINGS: Jason Thompson got the start in place of Spencer Hawes (motivational doghouse visit) and had 17 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, his first multi-block game since Nov. 27… Omri Casspi got the start in place of Hawes and had 22 points, five boards, three assists, two threes, a steal and a block on 6-for-16 shooting. No guarantee he sticks in the starting five, but it's time to add him and find out.

HacheMan · Dec 19, 2009

Time to grab Sweet Lou
I wasn't thrilled with my effort in last week's column, but this one looks better to me. Check it out.

[SIZE=+1]Normal Sized Leagues[/SIZE]

I guess the definition of a normal-sized league, at least in my mind, is one consisting of 10 to 12 teams with rosters somewhere around 12-15 players. That should cover a majority of the fantasy hoops leagues in existence.

Lou Williams G Sixers - Williams was having a great season until he was shut down with a broken jaw, but is close to a return. He's a little dicey right now, as a lot has changed since he went down. Allen Iverson is on board, but may be sidelined for Lou's return with a knee injury. Jrue Holiday has been playing well (and also deserves consideration in deeper leagues), while Willie Green has also had some good games recently. But as far as I can tell, Williams should return to his starting point guard job, with or without AI around. He was averaging 17 points, five assists, nearly two steals and a three per game when he went down, and should at least flirt with those numbers the rest of the way.

Ersan Ilyasova F Bucks - I've been pimping Ilyasova for some time now and he's probably been scooped up in most leagues. That said, he's still probably available in 25 percent of them and is playing well enough to be owned in all of them. Especially given the fact that the Bucks have a five-game week coming up in Week 18. Ilyasova is averaging 18 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and more than two 3-pointers per game over his last five, and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Omri Casspi F Kings - Casspi has moved into the starting lineup for the Kings recently and the move has suited him well. In his last two games he's scored 22 and 21 points, and has hit the 20-point mark in three of his last five. Spencer Hawes looks planted on the bench for now, meaning Casspi may start for the foreseeable future. Like Ilyasova, Casspi is hot right now. Unlike Ilyasova, he's not owned in very many leagues yet.

Marreese Speights F/C Sixers - Speights has been a hot pick up over the last week since he's back from a knee injury, and is averaging 15 points and seven boards in his two games since returning, but had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double on Friday. It's crowded up front in Philly with Speights, Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand, but Speights can run the floor much better than the other two, making him a good bet for success.

Tyrus Thomas F Bulls - Thomas is nearing a return from a broken arm and has always been popular in fantasy leagues because of his ability to score, rebound, steal, block shots and hit free throws. But he's also been a bit of a mess, going in and out of coach's doghouses and battling constant inconsistency throughout his career. But his upside is unlimited and there's still a pretty good chance he'll make an impact upon his return. If you're in need of boards, blocks and steals, he's worth a flier, and probably is a better guy to pick up/hold than Yi Jianlian.

Others to consider

Chris Duhon, Mike Conley, Beno Udrih - These three point guards, who were once misfits and likely cut in most leagues, are all hot and deserve to be owned in most leagues. I've ranked them in the order I like them currently, and while Udrih is not a must-own, the other two are.

Charlie Villanueva, Jameer Nelson, Michael Redd, Nate Robinson, Roy Hibbert, Yi Jianlian, Jamal Crawford, Boris Diaw, Anthony Randolph, Carl Landry, Dahntay Jones, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Michael Redd, Quentin Richardson, Courtney Lee, Peja Stojakovic, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Willie Green, Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Jarrett Jack and Andrei Kirilenko.

Follow Me On Twitter

Follow me on Twitter (click on the link to follow me, where you can see me defend Anthony Randolph, who has now been dubbed "He who shall remain nameless," among other things).

[SIZE=+1]Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Deeper leagues are generally going to have 14 to 16 teams and go deep enough that most starters are not available on waivers. These players may not even be available in all deep leagues, but are generally available in many normal-sized leagues.

Jerryd Bayless G Blazers - Bayless has shown signs of breaking out all season and it finally happened on Thursday night when he took over late for a career-high 29 points. He scored 14 and 9 in his previous two games, another sign that he is coming on, but the fact of the matter is he's hit double figures in scoring just six times on the season. Andre Miller and Steve Blake still don't seem to have a grasp on what their role is under Nate McMillan, meaning Bayless is going to get an opportunity to play. He's not a must-own player, nor a guy you want to cut a solid producer for. But if you're sitting on Jason Williams or Dorell Wright, I'd rather own Bayless until we see how this plays out.

Mike Miller G/F Wizards - Miller was starting to play pretty well before going down with a calf injury and is due back sometime in the next week. Keep in mind he's played in just nine games this year and had only scored well in two of those. But he averaged 18.5 points, 5.5 boards, 4.0 assists and 3.0 3-pointers in a two-game run shortly before going down. I'm not convinced he's going to be consistent enough to be a must-own player the rest of the way, but he's worth grabbing until we find out.

Chris Andersen F/C Nuggets - Birdman had been hot before struggling on Friday, but had hit double figures in rebounding in three straight prior to that one. Even with Friday's dud, he's at eight points, eight boards, two blocks and a steal over his last five, and that's probably enough to help most fantasy teams.

Rasual Butler G/F Clippers - Butler's a tricky one, as he tends to be streaky and a lot of his success depends on what Al Thornton does in front of him. But the Clips are one of a few teams with four games this week (the others being the Cavs, Rockets, Pacers, Suns and Spurs. Additionally, the Bobcats, Grizzlies, Nets, Hornets, Sixers and Raptors play just twice). Butler has a chance to hit a ton of threes, draining nine of them over his last five games, and he has scored 9, 10, 15 and 21 points in four of those. The problem is the 2-point game he had sandwiched in there, as well as the 3-of-10 shooting line in his last game. I think he's worth a look this week, and possibly worth a gamble, but it also depends on who else is available.

Carlos Arroyo PG Heat - Arroyo is now surprisingly the starting point guard for the Heat, replacing Mario Chalmers in the starting five. The numbers haven't been great, but the Heat's offense is flowing much better with him in charge and he could be on the verge of playing better soon. He's averaged about eight points, four assists and two rebounds over his last three games, but I suspect he could be better in his three games this week. Pick him up if point guards have dried up on your wire.

Draft a new fantasy team at SnapDraft!

Others to consider in deeper leagues

Kyle Lowry, Josh Boone, Ty Lawson, Jose Juan Barea, Will Bynum, Allen Iverson, Shane Battier, David Andersen, Goran Dragic, C.J. Watson, DeJuan Blair, Serge Ibaka and Nenad Krstic.

[SIZE=+1]Extremely Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Maurice Evans G/F Hawks - I traded Evans and DeJuan Blair for Mickael Pietrus in my 30-team league a couple weeks ago, just in time to see Pietrus struggle with illness and inconsistency, and for Evans and Blair to get hot. Evans has benefited by the fact the Hawks have been red-hot, blowing teams out in five straight games. That has given Evans more run off the bench and he went on a brilliant run in four straight games, scoring 18, 15, 22 and 13 points before hitting a wall on Friday with just two points. He hit 14 threes during the hot streak and the Hawks are at Minnesota, Denver and Indiana this week. There should be one big win there, but Evans' run could be over. He's still worth a look though, as his confidence is high and his coach isn't afraid to use him right now. Just don't expect any miracles, as last week was probably the best time to pick him up and play him.

Matt Barnes G/F Magic - With Pietrus struggling, Barnes has been playing better, scoring 17, 8, 6 and 20 points before going 0-for-8 on Friday and failing to score. It's always tough to predict when he or Pietrus are going to play well, but if you're in a very deep league and need someone who can score and contribute in most categories, Barnes might be worth a three-game flier.

Jared Dudley F Suns - The Suns' 3-point specialist continues to have a surprisingly effective season, averaging 11 points, four boards and two 3-pointers over his last five games. He's hit 43 3-pointers in 26 games this season and might be the best option on deep leagues waiver wires.

Jeff Teague G Hawks - Like Evans, Teague has benefited by blowout wins by the Hawks, averaging nearly eight points, five dimes, two steals and a block over his last five games. The Hawks' upcoming schedule isn't great, but Teague's confidence is growing. If you're in a deep keeper league, he's not a bad guy to grab-and-stash for the future, as those blocks are nice from a backup point guard.

Earl Watson G Pacers - T.J. Ford has finally righted the ship, but that didn't stop Watson from going off for 10 points, eight boards and two dimes on Friday. He's averaging more than six points, three boards, four assists and a three per game over his last five, and should have some serious value the next time Ford goes down with an injury.

HacheMan · Dec 20, 2009

Time to grab Sweet Lou
I wasn't thrilled with my effort in last week's column, but this one looks better to me. Check it out.

[SIZE=+1]Normal Sized Leagues[/SIZE]

I guess the definition of a normal-sized league, at least in my mind, is one consisting of 10 to 12 teams with rosters somewhere around 12-15 players. That should cover a majority of the fantasy hoops leagues in existence.

Lou Williams G Sixers - Williams was having a great season until he was shut down with a broken jaw, but is close to a return. He's a little dicey right now, as a lot has changed since he went down. Allen Iverson is on board, but may be sidelined for Lou's return with a knee injury. Jrue Holiday has been playing well (and also deserves consideration in deeper leagues), while Willie Green has also had some good games recently. But as far as I can tell, Williams should return to his starting point guard job, with or without AI around. He was averaging 17 points, five assists, nearly two steals and a three per game when he went down, and should at least flirt with those numbers the rest of the way.

Ersan Ilyasova F Bucks - I've been pimping Ilyasova for some time now and he's probably been scooped up in most leagues. That said, he's still probably available in 25 percent of them and is playing well enough to be owned in all of them. Especially given the fact that the Bucks have a five-game week coming up in Week 18. Ilyasova is averaging 18 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and more than two 3-pointers per game over his last five, and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Omri Casspi F Kings - Casspi has moved into the starting lineup for the Kings recently and the move has suited him well. In his last two games he's scored 22 and 21 points, and has hit the 20-point mark in three of his last five. Spencer Hawes looks planted on the bench for now, meaning Casspi may start for the foreseeable future. Like Ilyasova, Casspi is hot right now. Unlike Ilyasova, he's not owned in very many leagues yet.

Marreese Speights F/C Sixers - Speights has been a hot pick up over the last week since he's back from a knee injury, and is averaging 15 points and seven boards in his two games since returning, but had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double on Friday. It's crowded up front in Philly with Speights, Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand, but Speights can run the floor much better than the other two, making him a good bet for success.

Tyrus Thomas F Bulls - Thomas is nearing a return from a broken arm and has always been popular in fantasy leagues because of his ability to score, rebound, steal, block shots and hit free throws. But he's also been a bit of a mess, going in and out of coach's doghouses and battling constant inconsistency throughout his career. But his upside is unlimited and there's still a pretty good chance he'll make an impact upon his return. If you're in need of boards, blocks and steals, he's worth a flier, and probably is a better guy to pick up/hold than Yi Jianlian.

Others to consider

Chris Duhon, Mike Conley, Beno Udrih - These three point guards, who were once misfits and likely cut in most leagues, are all hot and deserve to be owned in most leagues. I've ranked them in the order I like them currently, and while Udrih is not a must-own, the other two are.

Charlie Villanueva, Jameer Nelson, Michael Redd, Nate Robinson, Roy Hibbert, Yi Jianlian, Jamal Crawford, Boris Diaw, Anthony Randolph, Carl Landry, Dahntay Jones, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Michael Redd, Quentin Richardson, Courtney Lee, Peja Stojakovic, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Willie Green, Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Jarrett Jack and Andrei Kirilenko.

Follow Me On Twitter

Follow me on Twitter (click on the link to follow me, where you can see me defend Anthony Randolph, who has now been dubbed "He who shall remain nameless," among other things).

[SIZE=+1]Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Deeper leagues are generally going to have 14 to 16 teams and go deep enough that most starters are not available on waivers. These players may not even be available in all deep leagues, but are generally available in many normal-sized leagues.

Jerryd Bayless G Blazers - Bayless has shown signs of breaking out all season and it finally happened on Thursday night when he took over late for a career-high 29 points. He scored 14 and 9 in his previous two games, another sign that he is coming on, but the fact of the matter is he's hit double figures in scoring just six times on the season. Andre Miller and Steve Blake still don't seem to have a grasp on what their role is under Nate McMillan, meaning Bayless is going to get an opportunity to play. He's not a must-own player, nor a guy you want to cut a solid producer for. But if you're sitting on Jason Williams or Dorell Wright, I'd rather own Bayless until we see how this plays out.

Mike Miller G/F Wizards - Miller was starting to play pretty well before going down with a calf injury and is due back sometime in the next week. Keep in mind he's played in just nine games this year and had only scored well in two of those. But he averaged 18.5 points, 5.5 boards, 4.0 assists and 3.0 3-pointers in a two-game run shortly before going down. I'm not convinced he's going to be consistent enough to be a must-own player the rest of the way, but he's worth grabbing until we find out.

Chris Andersen F/C Nuggets - Birdman had been hot before struggling on Friday, but had hit double figures in rebounding in three straight prior to that one. Even with Friday's dud, he's at eight points, eight boards, two blocks and a steal over his last five, and that's probably enough to help most fantasy teams.

Rasual Butler G/F Clippers - Butler's a tricky one, as he tends to be streaky and a lot of his success depends on what Al Thornton does in front of him. But the Clips are one of a few teams with four games this week (the others being the Cavs, Rockets, Pacers, Suns and Spurs. Additionally, the Bobcats, Grizzlies, Nets, Hornets, Sixers and Raptors play just twice). Butler has a chance to hit a ton of threes, draining nine of them over his last five games, and he has scored 9, 10, 15 and 21 points in four of those. The problem is the 2-point game he had sandwiched in there, as well as the 3-of-10 shooting line in his last game. I think he's worth a look this week, and possibly worth a gamble, but it also depends on who else is available.

Carlos Arroyo PG Heat - Arroyo is now surprisingly the starting point guard for the Heat, replacing Mario Chalmers in the starting five. The numbers haven't been great, but the Heat's offense is flowing much better with him in charge and he could be on the verge of playing better soon. He's averaged about eight points, four assists and two rebounds over his last three games, but I suspect he could be better in his three games this week. Pick him up if point guards have dried up on your wire.

Draft a new fantasy team at SnapDraft!

Others to consider in deeper leagues

Kyle Lowry, Josh Boone, Ty Lawson, Jose Juan Barea, Will Bynum, Allen Iverson, Shane Battier, David Andersen, Goran Dragic, C.J. Watson, DeJuan Blair, Serge Ibaka and Nenad Krstic.

[SIZE=+1]Extremely Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Maurice Evans G/F Hawks - I traded Evans and DeJuan Blair for Mickael Pietrus in my 30-team league a couple weeks ago, just in time to see Pietrus struggle with illness and inconsistency, and for Evans and Blair to get hot. Evans has benefited by the fact the Hawks have been red-hot, blowing teams out in five straight games. That has given Evans more run off the bench and he went on a brilliant run in four straight games, scoring 18, 15, 22 and 13 points before hitting a wall on Friday with just two points. He hit 14 threes during the hot streak and the Hawks are at Minnesota, Denver and Indiana this week. There should be one big win there, but Evans' run could be over. He's still worth a look though, as his confidence is high and his coach isn't afraid to use him right now. Just don't expect any miracles, as last week was probably the best time to pick him up and play him.

Matt Barnes G/F Magic - With Pietrus struggling, Barnes has been playing better, scoring 17, 8, 6 and 20 points before going 0-for-8 on Friday and failing to score. It's always tough to predict when he or Pietrus are going to play well, but if you're in a very deep league and need someone who can score and contribute in most categories, Barnes might be worth a three-game flier.

Jared Dudley F Suns - The Suns' 3-point specialist continues to have a surprisingly effective season, averaging 11 points, four boards and two 3-pointers over his last five games. He's hit 43 3-pointers in 26 games this season and might be the best option on deep leagues waiver wires.

Jeff Teague G Hawks - Like Evans, Teague has benefited by blowout wins by the Hawks, averaging nearly eight points, five dimes, two steals and a block over his last five games. The Hawks' upcoming schedule isn't great, but Teague's confidence is growing. If you're in a deep keeper league, he's not a bad guy to grab-and-stash for the future, as those blocks are nice from a backup point guard.

Earl Watson G Pacers - T.J. Ford has finally righted the ship, but that didn't stop Watson from going off for 10 points, eight boards and two dimes on Friday. He's averaging more than six points, three boards, four assists and a three per game over his last five, and should have some serious value the next time Ford goes down with an injury.

HacheMan · Dec 21, 2009

We Had Joy, We Had Fun...
Week 9 should be pretty interesting, with plenty of injuries to big names, and most teams playing just two or three games. The Cavaliers, Rockets, Pacers, Clippers, Suns and Spurs are the only teams with four games, while the Bobcats, Grizzlies, Nets, Hornets, Sixers and Raptors all play just two times.

No full injury report this week, but you can click this link for everything you need to know on the injury front.

Team News and Notes

Atlanta Hawks - The Hawks have won six of seven and lost a tough one at Chicago on Saturday night. Josh Smith is having an All-Star season, as is Joe Johnson, and the Hawks are at Minnesota, Denver and Indy this week. There might be a potential blowout or two there, which would be good news for Jeff Teague and Mo Evans in very deep leagues.

Boston Celtics - Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen all played very well in Sunday's win over the Wolves, while Kevin Garnett just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight boards. Rasheed Wallace avoided a suspension after his most recent outburst but is just six more technical fouls away from a one-game penalty.

Charlotte Bobcats - Gerald Wallace sat out on Sunday with severe headaches, leaving him a little iffy for Tuesday, although he's expected to play. Stephen Jackson struggled through a back injury as well, and is a shaky play right now because of it. Raymond Felton had a big night with 27 points, nine boards and seven assists, while Tyson Chandler double-doubled. Boris Diaw continued his skid with four points in the loss to the Knicks.

Chicago Bulls - Tyrus Thomas is targeting Saturday for his return from a broken arm. John Salmons has hit 12-of-27 shots in his last two games to score 36 points after totaling six in his previous two games, so maybe the slump is about to end. Derrick Rose scored a season-high 32 on Saturday, while Joakim Noah and Luol Deng have also been hot for Chicago.

Cleveland Cavaliers - Delonte West had 18 points, seven boards and four dimes on Sunday, so give him a look if you need a guard. I don't trust him, but he will be worth owning if he stays in the rotation. The Cavs are 20-8 after Sunday's loss to Dallas, but it sure feels like they've lost more games than that. I guess they're winning the ones they're supposed to but aren't really pulling off any surprises thus far. Jamario Moon missed Sunday's game with an abdominal strain and is day-to-day.

Dallas Mavericks - The Mavs play back-to-back games this coming weekend, so be careful with Josh Howard on Saturday and Sunday, as he sat out one game of the last back-to-back for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki's gruesome elbow injury kept him out Sunday and is making him iffy for Tuesday. Owners have a very tough call to make on Dirk in weekly leagues, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to start him or not. If Dirk is out, Tim Thomas should produce, as he had 22 points, seven boards and two threes in a start for Dirk on Sunday.

Denver Nuggets - Ty Lawson hasn't lived up to the hype with Chauncey Billups out with a groin injury, and Billups is hoping to be back for Denver's next game, Wednesday against the Hawks in Denver. Chris Andersen and Nene have been playing pretty well, while Carmelo Anthony went off for 41 on Sunday.

Detroit Pistons - Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince are all currently out for the Pistons, but all are listed as day-to-day. Charlie Villanueva is bothered by plantar fasciitis, but has played through it, while Rodney Stuckey is averaging 24 points and four assists over his last five games. Will Bynum is also dealing with a sprained ankle, but playing through it.

Golden State Warriors - Anthony Morrow's mired in a terrible shooting slump, hitting just 11-of-41 shots since returning from a personal absence. He'll bounce back at some point, but the bottom line is that no Warriors' player is reliable outside of Monta Ellis. Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf should play again at some point this season, and might even be ready by the upcoming weekend. One would think that Anthony Randolph would have played well in their absence, but he's just as shaky as the rest of the GSW, given his inconsistent playing time and role in the rotation. Ellis is leading the league in turnovers at 4.3 per game, and had eight in his last one, but had totaled just eight of them in his previous four games.

Houston Rockets - Carl Landry damaged five teeth on Dirk's elbow on Friday and remains iffy for Tuesday's game after five hours of surgery. It does sound like he'll try to play though, and looks like a reasonable four-game starter this week. Rookie Chase Budinger will miss a few weeks with an ankle injury, while Tracy McGrady should continue to play less than 10 minutes per game. Trevor Ariza has been shooting it better, hitting 23 of his last 48 shots over three games, while Aaron Brooks has not. Brooks is just 33-of-90 over his last five, but has scored 20 or more in four of them.

Indiana Pacers - Mike Dunleavy has been playing well in limited minutes, while Roy Hibbert showed signs of life by going for 20 points, seven boards and six blocks on Saturday. Hibbert has been highly frustrating to own this season, but I still think there's enough upside there that he should be held in most situations. Earl Watson started the last one at point guard, while Dahntay Jones replaced Brandon Rush, which makes all four players a little iffy right now. But I still think Jones and Ford are the way to go. Danny Granger remains out, while Jeff Foster continues to deal with a back injury, making him unplayable.

L.A. Clippers - Blake Griffin remains out with a knee injury, with no target date set in stone, although it would still make sense for him to play some time in January. Meanwhile, Marcus Camby, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon have all been playing very well for the Clips. Rasual Butler is an interesting option this week with four games and has scored 15, 21, 9 and 18 points with 10 3-pointers over his last four. If he were to somehow do that again this week, he'll be a great sleeper pick.

L.A. Lakers - Andrew Bynum has really been struggling lately, but finally bounced back with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks on Sunday. Despite that decent line, he's averaging 10 points, four boards and 1.5 blocks over his last five, making him a borderline start for Week 9. Pau Gasol, on the other hand, has been crazy lately, grabbing 20 or more rebounds in three of his last six games. Kobe Bryant has also been on a bit of a tear despite a broken finger on his shooting hand.

Memphis Grizzlies - Zach Randolph has been on fire lately, going for 32 points and 24 rebounds Sunday, and averaging 20 points, 12 boards, one steal and one block over his last five games. Rudy Gay is playing on a tender ankle, while Mike Conley is suddenly relevant again, averaging 12 points, five dimes, a steal and a 3-pointer over his last five.

Miami Heat - Dwyane Wade is playing through a sore back but something just doesn't seem right with him this season. The numbers are down slightly, but he's still a top producer and should continue to be all year. But he doesn't look happy and the Heat are just 13-12 on the season. Quentin Richardson blew up for 22 points, four boards and seven 3-pointers on Sunday, but is one of those guys who tends to disappear once you put him into your fantasy lineup. Hopefully that won't be the case this time. Mario Chalmers has lost his starting job to Carlos Arroyo, but Arroyo failed to score in just 14 minutes on Sunday, making both players nearly useless.

Milwaukee Bucks - Ersan Ilyasova continues to play well and should be owned in all leagues, while Brandon Jennings struggles with his shot for the Bucks. Michael Redd could be on the verge of replacing Carlos Delfino as the starting shooting guard, and Redd should be a solid fantasy play for as long as he's healthy. Andrew Bogut had a bad night on Friday, but bounced back on Saturday and is averaging 15 points, 10 boards and two blocks over his last five.

Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Love has double-doubled in eight of his 10 games this season and is averaging 14.5 points and 12.3 boards on the year. Ryan Gomes is closer to returning from his high ankle sprain, but Damien Wilkins is a nice deep-league sleeper option for as long as he's out. Al Jefferson and Jonny Flynn are both playing well right not, and are fantasy must-starts.

New Jersey Nets - The Nets were finally getting healthy as Chris Douglas-Roberts returned from a sprained ankle and scored 20 on Saturday, but then left the game after aggravating it. He's iffy for Wednesday and the Nets only play twice this week, so it's best to bench him. Yi Jianlian is expected to return to action this week, possibly as early as Wednesday. He can be picked up if you have room, but don't expect any miracles until he gets a week or two under his belt. His return should render Josh Boone useless.

New Orleans Hornets - Chris Paul has been brilliant since returning from a sprained ankle, averaging 18 points, 6 boards, 13 assists and two steals in his last five games. However, he's hit just one of his last 10 3-point attempts after hitting 22 of them in his first 10 games. Peja Stojakovic is a nice play for threes right now, hitting 64 of them on the year and 13 over his last five games.

New York Knicks - Nate Robinson remains exiled from the lineup, while Chris Duhon has finally gotten it turned around, averaging nearly 18 points, eight assists and four 3-pointers per game over his last five. Wow. Larry Hughes has been out with a groin injury and remains day-to-day. Wilson Chandler had a season-high 26 on Sunday, while Al Harrington is struggling after being moved back to the bench in favor of Danilo Gallinari, scoring 11 or less in three of his last four games.

Oklahoma City Thunder - James Harden has scored 12, 15 and 14 points in his last three games, which could mean he's heating up. He's a borderline fantasy play at this point. Nenad Krstic had a decent week and is averaging six points, five boards and a block over his last five. Kevin Durant saw his streak of 25 or more points broken at nine games, but has scored 13 or less in two of his last three. Owners should not panic about his recent struggles, but should keep him in all lineups.

Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard had a big week and isn't too far from averaging 16 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks over his last five games. Jameer Nelson should come off the bench on Monday night after shutting it down in mid-November with a knee injury, although I wouldn't start him just yet. But that also means that there's no reason to play Jason Williams any longer. Matt Barnes missed his last one with a hand injury, but expects to play tonight.

Philadelphia 76ers - Lou Williams is back in action and can be put back into starting lineups, although don't expect him to pick up right where he left off. He should be back in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game, along with Jrue Holiday. Allen Iverson could take a week off and should not be started until further notice. Elton Brand is finally hot despite the return of Marreese Speights, but it's possible that Brand could cool off this week while coming off the bench. He's still averaging almost 16 points, seven boards, a steal and a block over his last five games despite coming off the bench for most of them. Samuel Dalembert has scored a total of seven points in his last three games, but still averaged seven boards and nearly two blocks over that stretch.

Phoenix Suns - Leandro Barbosa (ankle) is nearing a return, but should not be played this week. Channing Frye is hot again, hitting double figures in scoring four straight games, and is averaging about six boards and three 3-pointers over that stretch. Jason Richardson is back from his hand injury and scored 22 on Saturday, which is good news with the Suns' four-game slate this week. And Amare Stoudemire has also been playing better recently, averaging nearly 24 points, 11 boards and two steals over his last five. But remarkably, he has only blocked one shot over that stretch.

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Portland Trail Blazers - The Blazers continue to get strong performances from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, while guys like Martell Webster and Andre Miller keep flirting with having nice value, but remain inconsistent. Jerryd Bayless deserves to be watched closely after Thursday's 29-point performance, but has scored 16 total points in his last two. Joel Przybilla is a nice sleeper at center, averaging six points, 10 boards and two blocks over his last five games.

Sacramento Kings - Tyreke Evans remains the favorite for ROY, averaging 20-5-5, while Omri Casspi is hot, averaging about 15 points, four boards and more than a 3-pointer over his last five. Andres Nocioni is worth a look, but scored just three points in his last one, while Spencer Hawes is back in the starting five after a brief benching. He had 13 points and a three in his last one, but just four boards. Beno Udrih remains a sneaky play in deep leagues, averaging 15 points, four assists, a steal and 3-pointer over his last five games.

San Antonio Spurs - Tim Duncan is having another stellar season, Tony Parker has been quiet and Manu Ginobili is starting to look better. Richard Jefferson has been inconsistent all year, but is still averaging 13 points, four boards and 2.5 assists on the season. DeJuan Blair continues to get inconsistent minutes and had just two points in his last one. He's worth a look as well, but you never know if he's going to double-double in 25 minutes or get 12 minutes and score two points. Matt Bonner will miss about a month with a broken hand.

Toronto Raptors - Jose Calderon (hip) may be out until the end of the month, meaning Jarrett Jack is nearly a must-start player right now. I ripped on Andrea Bargnani on Twitter during Sunday's game and he responded with 13 points, 11 boards, a three and two blocks. He had just three total rebounds in his previous two games, but is hopefully back on track and ready to produce again.

Utah Jazz - C.J. Miles, who scored 20 on Saturday, will move back into the starting five this week, replacing Wesley Matthews. Pick him up if you're in a deep league. Deron Williams was awful against the Hawks on Friday, scoring just two points, but bounced back, along with the Jazz, to beat the Bobcats on Saturday. NBA players love the Atlanta nightlife, and while I don't know if Williams and his mates were out late the night before the game, but it's a possibility.

Washington Wizards - Mike Miller (calf) is probably a couple weeks away still, while Antawn Jamison is now struggling with a shoulder and neck problem. He's playing through it, so go ahead and keep him active for now. Nick Young scored 20 in his last one, but was struggling prior to that, making him a risky play. Gilbert Arenas (dealing with a hip injury), Caron Butler (playing through ankle injury) and Brendan Haywood remain must-starts, although none of them played particularly well in their last one.

HacheMan · Dec 21, 2009

Some People Call Him Marreese
It's getaway week in the real world, as most of us will be packing into various jetliners, automobiles, locomotives, hand-made rafts and horse-drawn carriages as we head for our respective homes come mid-week.

But in the fantasy world, this is no time for a vacation. The fact of the matter is that your other primary fantasy diversion at this time of year (football) is either over already or very nearly over (if you're like me, you're living a charmed enough existence to have survived to reach the championship match in one league despite having left a streaking 47-point comet named Jerome Harrison on your bench).

Either way, with football getting closer and closer to exiting the frame, it's time to stop putting off the inevitable and take a long, honest look at that fantasy hoops team of yours. You may have been short-circuited by injuries thus far, or perhaps you've been extremely lucky with cupcake opponents in a head-to-head league. It's also possible that your team is doing well simply because it's a well-constructed squad. But even in that rare and fortunate case, there are still improvements that can be made.

People say that the holiday season is a time for giving and sharing, but when it comes to fantasy basketball, that sunny line of thinking could not be further from the truth. Sure, you will probably spend part of your time during the upcoming holidays playing the role of Affable Member of Family, but once you have sufficiently satiated the family's thirst for interaction you must fire up the laptop, put on a makeshift suit of body armor a la Rod Kimble and hunker down in your fantasy hoops bunker, where you will proceed to evaluate your own players through a decidedly unsentimental eye and ruthlessly attempt to heist the other guy's most productive assets.

So put down the candy canes and peanut brittle and spike that eggnog with a shot of kerosene – it's time to up the intensity for the holidays.

Sorry Samuel Dalembert – it's over.

As up and down as he has been, it's time to realize that the arrow is now very decisively pointing down for Sammy D. Why? Two words for you: Marreese Speights. Though still coming off the bench, Speights is one of the clear focal points of the Sixers' offense when he's in the game. He has a reliable mid-range j, runs the floor well and will have no shortage of touches even if he plays less than 30 minutes some nights.

Meanwhile, Dalembert is still the starter in name, but has averaged just 15 minutes a game since Speights returned to action. Quite simply, I don't see any way he's going to consistently get 30 minutes with Speights healthy and Elton Brand playing well off the bench. Speights has averaged 19.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg in three games since returning from his knee injury, and I would undoubtedly rather have him than Dalembert both now and down the road.

(On an additional note, I would like to see more blocks from Speights, but I still think he'll be good for close to one per game going forward.)

A reminder: For exclusive stat projections, rankings and more, check out Rotoworld's Season Pass.

Jerryd Bayless is not ready for prime time.

Don't get me wrong – I like Bayless, am a big fan of his upside and added him in multiple leagues after his 29-point breakout game on Thursday. I could then be spotted sporting a very smug grin while watching him seemingly en route to another big game during a 10-point second quarter on Saturday.

The only problem was that those ended up being the only 10 points Bayless scored the entire game, and he spent much of the second half either A) missing open jumpers or contested lay-ups en route to a 3-for-13 night or B) getting posted-up repeatedly by the Magic, with notable success. Bayless then followed up that disappointing second half on Saturday with just six points in 16 minutes on Sunday.

Taking a broader view, I can't help but look at his minutes the last five games (18, 24, 29, 30, 16) and catch a distinct whiff of Rudy Fernandez. After all, that's essentially the role that Bayless has taken over in the Blazers' rotation, and Fernandez – though exciting and sometimes very productive – was prone to inconsistent minutes and production when healthy earlier this season.

Am I still holding Bayless in multiple leagues? Yes I am, largely because I can still remember precisely how smug and proud I was feeling after scooping him up Thursday night and watching him score 10 in the second quarter on Saturday. Sometimes when you make a free agent claim you've got to be willing to give the player a few chances to prove himself, even if he throws down a dud or two. This is one of those instances, so Jerryd – you've got two games in Texas this week (vs. Dallas on Tuesday and San Antonio on Wednesday). Get to work.

If you want to buy low on Lou Williams, this looks like your last chance.

Before we talk about the situation right now, let's turn back the clock for a second. In his last three games leading up to that unfortunate elbow to the jaw in Late November, Sweet Lou had averaged 26.3 ppg, 5.0 apg, 2.7 spg and 3.3 threes to solidify his status as a legitimate top-25 fantasy player.

Now fast forward to today, and the Spirit of Williams, Louis is back after a 12-game layoff, having scored a quiet six points with four assists in his return to action on Saturday. Not only are his current owners likely envisioning a few games of rust, but more importantly, they're probably concerned about what will happen to Lou's fantasy production once Allen Iverson is back in action from his current injuries.

Frankly, I'm not all that concerned about A.I.'s return adversely affecting Williams' stats. The Iverson we've seen so far this season has not been looking to dominate, topping 12 field goal attempts for Philly only once in five games. Furthermore, there's no guarantee he stays healthy over the remainder of the season once he does come back.

The bottom line: There are still going to be enough touches and shot attempts for Williams to continue averaging 17-plus points with five assists and close to 1.5 steals and threes per game. I'll take that kind of production on any fantasy team, especially since at this precise moment it might just come at a discount.



Jameer Nelson and Andris Biedrins won't outright save you – but they will help.

If your team has either Nelson (scheduled to return Monday) or Biedrins (targeting Saturday) or both (as my squad does in the 30-team league I play in with Dr. A), you are probably not overtly thrilled with your position in the standings. Those two players have missed 36 games between them so far (16 for Nelson, 20 for Biedrins) and neither came all that cheap in your draft. That's significant.

However, while both are good enough to give your team a boost in the standings, neither is going to suddenly come back and reshape your squad into a contender. So yes, you should be happy that your favorite St. Joe's alum and your favorite spiky-haired Latvian are set to take the court this week, but don't assume that means your work is done in mending a struggling squad.

With your permission, I will now shift gears to share:

THREE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PAST WEEK

1. The recent move from power forward to center seems to have rejuvenated Jason Thompson's shot-blocking mojo. In three games starting at center, Thompson is averaging 18.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg and 2.3 bpg. Feel free to keep that up, J.T. (and feel free to keep starting him at center, Paul Westphal).

2. Dirk Nowitzki having Carl Landry's teeth lodged in his elbow reminds me of the Stephen King novel The Dark Half, which – if memory serves correctly – involved one twin absorbing the other in the womb and ending up with the other twin's eyes, teeth and I believe part of a nose implanted in his brain. Fortunately for Dirk in this instance, Carl Landry is not his twin and he does not have any teeth lodged in his brain (that we know of).

3. I don't trust Don Nelson any further than I can punt kick a mini fridge, but I'd be lying if I said that this Nellie quote regarding Anthony Randolph (from the San Francisco Chronicle) doesn't intrigue me:

"He's going to be a blessed guy if he can mentally prepare himself and handle what I'm going to give him, because he has the ability to handle the ball and make it difficult for defenses. As long he grows, matures and understands what we're doing, the sky is the limit in how I can use him."

Randolph showcased some of his passing ability out of the high post and flashed some ball-handling skills on the fast break en route to 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Friday. And assuming that the twin brother partially lodged in Nellie's brain doesn't pop up and short circuit his better judgment, it looks like Randolph has a legitimate chance to continue being featured in the Warriors' attack even with Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf targeting returns this week.

And yes, I realize that there's just as good of a chance that Nellie ends up using Turiaf to heavily cut into Randolph's minutes in another strange motivational ploy, but the most recent quote is a reminder of the fact that Randolph's upside remains more potent than his perceived trade value at the moment. In other words, I would still advise holding onto Randolph through any frustration that lies ahead, because the potential payout later in the season could be tremendous.

OTHER BRIEF BASKETBALL-RELATED THOUGHTS

Yes, I have noticed that C.J. Miles is headed to the starting five coming off a 20-point, three-steal, two-block, three-trey outing on Saturday, but I'm only headed to the wire to pick him up in deeper leagues. He looks to be a more confident player than he was last season, but in the long run I still think he'll be inconsistent… Though Richard Jefferson made Tyler Hansbrough look very silly on a crossover/dunk combo on Saturday, it looks like his run of strong games a little over a week ago was more or less a pump fake. He's still not a reliable option with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan healthy… Chris Andersen's last seven games: 7.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.1 bpg and 2.0 bpg. He's still going to be a bit erratic given the fact that he only gets 20 minutes some nights, but make no mistake – after a slow start to the season, the occasionally explosive entity known as the Birdman, who is always good for an intriguing, high-upside, boom-or-bust box score, is back.

HacheMan · Dec 22, 2009

Are You Kidding, Bulls?
Shocker In Gloomtown

The Bulls blew a 35-point lead at home against the Kings on Monday, losing 102-98 after being up 33 in the second half. Tyreke Evans hit a beautiful rainbow shot to give the Kings the win and then declared "This is my house!" during the ensuing celebration. Evans finished with 23 points, eight boards, three assists, a steal and 3-pointer on 8-of-19 shooting, while Beno Udrih chipped in with 16 points and three 3-pointers. Ime Udoka got hot out of nowhere and added 17 points and three 3-pointers in the unthinkable win. Many folks are scared of what will happen to Evans once Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia come back, but I'm not. He's a superstar.

Luol Deng (who has a small fracture in his left thumb) scored 26 points and filled the entire stat sheet on 11-of-18 shooting, Derrick Rose added 24 points and six assists, while Joakim Noah double-doubled in the embarrassing loss. John Salmons scored 14, but also had four boards, four assists, a season-high six steals, a block and a three on 4-of-12 shooting. If he was dropped in your league, pick him up. Kirk Hinrich had 14 points, eight boards, two assists and two threes, and also deserves a look in most leagues, while Brad Miller failed to score on 0-for-4 shooting. This wasn't the biggest collapse in league history, as the Jazz blew a 36-point lead in 1996, but it was pretty close. And given the Bulls history of firing coaches on Christmas Eve (Scott Skiles, Tim Floyd), Vinny Del Negro could be the next one to have a bad holiday.

Australian For Beer

Andrew Bogut blew up for 31 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks Monday, and is heating up after hitting 14-of-19 shots against Roy Hibbert and the Pacers. Michael Redd started and scored 14 points with two steals and two threes, while Brandon Jennings had 16 points and six assists, struggling with his shot again on 7-of-19 shooting. Ersan Ilyasova was awful, hitting just 1-of-9 shots for three points and six boards, but should bounce back in the next one. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute lost his starting job to Redd and had six points, but Carlos Delfino (zero points in 12 minutes) could trade places with the Prince soon.

For the Pacers, T.J. Ford came off the bench and missed a pair of late threes that would have tied the game. Ford has hit just one 3-pointer this season after hitting 35 of them in 74 games last year. Bogut missed a couple late free throws, but the Pacers couldn't walk through the open door. Mike Dunleavy was just 2-of-17 for four points, but should bounce back (and should have stopped shooting), while Ford added eight points, six boards and five assists off the bench. Starter Earl Watson had just four points and four assists, but also recorded three steals. Just keep your eye on him if he continues to start over Ford. Dahntay Jones filled the stat sheet with seven points, five boards, a steal and two blocks, but hit just 2-of-8 shots. I expect his scoring drought to end soon, while Troy Murphy double-doubled, adding two steals, a block and two threes in the loss. Roy Hibbert was solid again with 16 points, seven boards and a block after going for 20 points, seven boards and six blocks in his last one. I think he's worth owning in all leagues and might be on the verge of getting hot again – and the fact he committed just one foul on Monday was nothing short of a miracle.

Magic Marker

The Magic beat the Jazz behind Dwight Howard's 21 points, nine boards and five blocks, and even hit 11-of-16 free throws. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis each scored 18 and hit a combined five treys, while J.J. Redick added 20 points and two threes. Redick is averaging 13 points and two threes over his last five, so give him a look if you need threes. Jameer Nelson returned from his knee injury but missed all six of his shots to finish with two points. He'll be worth using in a week or so, but should be benched until he gets it going.

The Jazz got 20 points and four boards from Paul Millsap, a double-double from Deron Williams and a solid game from Carlos Boozer, but didn't have it tonight. C.J. Miles started for the first time this year and had 13 points and three 3-pointers, and is worth a look in most leagues. And if you still own Wesley Matthews, drop him ASAP.

Clipped

The Clippers were blown out by Tim Duncan and the Spurs, as San Antonio saw seven players score in double digits. No one was spectacular, and Manu Ginobili struggled, but the Spurs were able to rest the marquee players quite a bit in this one. DeJuan Blair started and had eight points and six boards, and is worth a hard look in deeper leagues. His strong lines this season have come when he's played between 17 and 22 minutes, so a starting job, or a solid 20 minutes off the bench, would do wonders for his fantasy value.

The Clips were led by Chris Kaman's 23 points and 15 boards, while Rasual Butler had 18 points and two 3-pointers. He's blocked four shots over his last five games, and has hit 12 treys in that stretch. He's worth a pickup, and we recommended him for four games this week, but remember the Clips play just twice next week. Marcus Camby was quiet last night with six points, four boards and a block, but got an early rest in the blowout. As far as we know, he's healthy.

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LeBron's Fun In the Sun

LeBron James had 29 points and some big dunks in an easy win over the Suns, handing Phoenix their first home loss of the year. Mo Williams was huge with 24 points, six boards, five assists, three steals, a block and a 3-pointer on 7-of-14 shooting, but he has been inconsistent. Delonte West is getting hot, going for 12 points, six boards, three steals and a block, and has played well in three straight games. Give him a look. Shaquille O'Neal didn't do much against his former team, other than three points, five boards and four turnovers.

Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire double-doubled for the Suns, but Amare had six turnovers, no blocks and five fouls in the loss.

Tuesday's Game Notes

Philly @ Washington - Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday are expected to start in the backcourt with Allen Iverson out until Dec. 28 with a knee injury, while Elton Brand will likely continue to come off the bench. Williams should have a nice game, as he recently returned from a broken jaw. The Wiz have benched DeShawn Stevenson, so Nick Young or Randy Foye should start at shooting guard, while Antawn Jamison will try to play through a shoulder and neck injury.

Detroit @ Charlotte - The Pistons will once again be without Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back), but Ben Gordon could return from an ankle injury. Additionally, Charlie Villanueva is playing through a very painful bout with plantar fasciitis, making him a little risky. The Bobcats are hoping that Gerald Wallace (head) and Stephen Jackson (back) can play, but both are probably going to be game-time decisions. Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton have been hot, while Will Bynum (Detroit) and Flip Murray (Cats) are iffy with sprained ankles.

Indiana @ Boston - Hibbert will try to stay hot for a third straight game, while the Celtics will look for a balanced attack from the starters and bench. Dunleavy simply has to shoot it better, while Jeff Foster was out Monday with his back injury.

Chicago @ Knicks - The Bulls will be looking to bounce back from Monday's disaster, while Al Harrington will try to break out of a slump against the Bulls. Chris Duhon has been money for about 10 days, while David Lee is also playing very well. It sounds like Nate Robinson has played his last game for the Knicks. Larry Hughes has missed three straight with a groin injury and is questionable. Additionally, Jonathan Bender is actually playing well and deserves a look from owners in very deep leagues.

Atlanta @ Minnesota - Ryan Gomes doesn't sound likely with a sprained ankle, but could play this week. Damien Wilkins has played well in his stead, while Kevin Love, Al Jefferson and Jonny Flynn are now must-starts. The 19-7 Hawks have won seven of their last nine, as Joe Johnson and Josh Smith continue to lead the way. Maurice Evans has been pretty hot off the bench, but normally only plays well in blowouts. And given how well the Hawks are playing, it could happen again on Tuesday.

Golden State @ Memphis - Zach Randolph is averaging 29 points, 20 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks on 58.5 percent shooting in his last two games and is at 22 points and 11 boards in the 12 Grizzlies' wins. Memphis has won 11 of their last 18 games after a 1-8 start, and have been getting solid contributions from Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley.

The Warriors will supposedly give a bigger role to Anthony Randolph in the near future, while Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette continue to play well. Stephen Curry is hot and will try to keep it going in Memphis, while Anthony Morrow will be trying to snap out of an 11-for-41 shooting funk. Andris Biedrins (groin) and Ronny Turiaf (knee) are expected back on Saturday, when Randolph will finally move back to his power forward spot.

Portland @ Dallas - The Mavs are anxiously awaiting shootaround to find out if Dirk Nowitzki can play through his elbow injury, but he was feeling better on Monday and my gut says he'll go. The Blazers are still trying to figure out their point guard rotation, but LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy have been great as of late.

Clippers @ Houston - Like the Mavs, the Rockets are awaiting news on whether Carl Landry will be able to play after losing parts of five of his teeth in Dirk's elbow. I also think he'll try to play, but we just don't know yet. Chase Budinger is out for a couple weeks, meaning the Rockets are going to need some help off the bench. I'm still not counting on much from Tracy McGrady, but guys like Shane Battier, David Andersen and Kyle Lowry should all make solid contributions in this one. The Clippers will be trying to regroup from Monday's disaster, but back-to-backs are tough in the NBA.

Oklahoma City @ Lakers - Kevin Durant will be trying to break out of his scoring/shooting funk after going for just 13 and 12 in two of his last three games, hitting just 10-of-36 shots in the two bad ones. Kobe Bryant will do his one-handed thing again, while we'll have to see if Andrew Bynum can play well in a second straight game. Pau Gasol should have a nice night against Nenad Krstic and company. James Harden has scored in double figures in three straight and will try to keep his hot streak going.

Tidbits

Yi Jianlian is expected to play for the Nets on Wednesday after missing time with a knee injury and 50 stitches in his mouth.

Chauncey Billups was limited in Monday's practice by his groin injury and is still pretty iffy for Wednesday's game.

Chris Paul's sore ankle is not a big deal and he should be good to go on Wednesday.

HacheMan · Dec 23, 2009

Welcome Back!
This is a doozy of a Dose, as some of the big stories include the triumphant returns of Dirk Nowitzki and Carl Landry, Joel Przybilla's season-ender, the Pistons' injury mess, the Kevin Garnett DNP mystery and the losing ways of the Bulls.

Dirk's Back, Przybilla's Done, Blazers Win

The Blazers likely lost Joel Przybilla to a season-ending knee injury last night, as disastrous knee injuries seem to be all the rage in Portland, at least for guys who are 7 feet tall. Say hello to Juwan Howard, at least in the short term. He got 34 minutes last night and had 10 points, 10 boards and a steal, and while his numbers aren't likely to be great, the Blazers have few other options at center. If you're in a deep league and need a player sure to get minutes and a few double-doubles, give grandpa Juwan a look. LaMarcus Aldridge will certainly get plenty more minutes there going forward, and could even be moved semi-permanently, while the Blazers are going to have to sign a big man soon. Brandon Roy suffered a left shoulder injury, but is hoping to play tonight against the Spurs. Consider him a game-time decision, although it sounds like he should play.

For the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki was back from his famous elbow injury and went off, hitting 10-of-13 shots for 27 points, nine boards, two steals and a block. As a Dirk owner who took a risk on him in a weekly league, he just moved up another notch or two on my list. He's having a fantastic season and always plays if he can. Always. Shawn Marion, on the other hand, was 0-for-7 and failed to score, as his season of disappointing mystery continues. Jason Kidd was also too quiet for my liking, while Jose Juan Barea scored 22 and Erick Dampier grabbed 15 boards. Both guys are probably worth owning in most leagues. I keep waiting for JJB to disappear, but he just keeps starting and producing whether Josh Howard (eight points, 21 minutes) is out there or not.

Rockets Clip Clippers

Like Dirk, Carl Landry bounced back from the mouth surgery to explode for a season-high 27 points to go along with five boards and two blocks on 7-of-10 shooting. He hit 13-of-15 free throws and is the true definition of an NBA warrior. My buddy Steve told me yesterday that Landry is now his favorite NBA player, and while I wouldn't go that far, I must admit I've got some man love going for Landry right now. Trevor Ariza and Aaron Brooks were both "off' with seven points, while Tracy McGrady somehow managed to score 10 in just eight minutes. Again, as long as T-Mac is playing less than 25 minutes a night, he should be ignored. Brooks has struggled in two straight so I look for him to bounce back in the next one, while Ariza just had one of those 2-for-11 nights he's required to throw up every 10 days or so. Kyle Lowry is a model of inconsistency for the Rockets and scored 16 points last night. But his scoring over his last five looks like 7, 2, 26, 3 and 16. If you can figure out the right nights to use him, go for it.

The Clips got solid performances from the entire starting five, including a season high of 29 points from Chris Kaman, while Rasual Butler came back to earth with five points and one 3-pointer. He was a decent pick-and-play for this week in weekly leagues, but it's time to move on.

Where's KG?

Rasheed Wallace got a mysterious start in place of Kevin Garnett on Tuesday, who was a surprise DNP due to a thigh injury. KG is day-to-day, but you have to think he'll be ready for Christmas Day's date with Dwight Howard and the Magic, right? It is odd though, as the injury appeared to come out of nowhere and the Celtics had only played three games since last Monday, with no back-to-backs. Hopefully it was just "precautionary" and all is well with Garnett. If it's not, Sheed is definitely worth a look, as he'll start and put up numbers similar to last night's near double-double with some threes, steals and blocks thrown in. The C's are rolling right now with their gaudy 22-5 record and with KG out, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins all had big games.

Earl Watson started again for the Pacers and looks to have a lock on the job for the foreseeable future after going for 18 points, seven boards, six assists and three 3-pointers last night. T.J. Ford played just 12 minutes off the bench and scored six points. Ouch. Hopefully for Ford's owners, he'll embrace his bench role, but this doesn't look too good right now. Don't drop Ford yet, but keep a close eye on the situation going forward. Roy Hibbert had just six points and three rebounds last night, but played 33 minutes and added six blocks in the loss to Boston. That makes 13 blocks over his last three games, and as long as the minutes are back, the production should follow. Mike Dunleavy played just 19 minutes and struggled again for six points. He's hit just 4-of-22 shots over his last two games and has taken a minutes reduction. But, we knew the minutes would be cut back for three games or so, and he's simply in a slump. If his knee really is still healthy (and my guess is that it is), now's a great time to buy-low on Dunleavy. Brandon Rush hit four treys and scored 15 points last night, and as usual, should be watched closely.

Bulls Lose Again, But Vinny Still Has A Job

The Bulls got another strong performance from Derrick Rose last night, and Joakim Noah double-doubled with 10 points and 21 boards, but the Bulls lost again, this time at New York. Luol Deng was also solid, as usual, while John Salmons fell back into a hole with 2-of-9 shooting and not much else after a solid line in Monday's embarrassing loss. In fact, he was actually benched for the start of the second half last night, and wasn't thrilled about it. Salmons has simply been awful this season, but with the chances of Vinny Del Negro being fired soon trending up like a silver bullet, relief could be in sight for Salmons. Two Bulls coaches have been fired on Christmas Eve (Scott Skiles, Tim Floyd). Can Vinny make it three?

Wilson Chandler is quietly playing much better for the Knicks, averaging 17 points, five boards, three assists, a steal and nearly a three per game over his last five, while David Lee's nice season continued with 18 points and a season-high 21 boards. Chris Duhon had seven points and just four assists on 3-of-10 shooting, and while it was just one game, owners have to hope this isn't the start of a slide for the red-hot point guard. Al Harrington broke out of a funk with 20 points and a couple threes, but he was more fun to own when he was starting in front of Danilo Gallinari. Meanwhile, Larry Hughes returned from a weeklong absence from a groin injury and scored four points in 18 minutes, while Jonathan Bender suffered a hip injury, lasting just eight minutes. He's day-to-day for now.

Bobcats Beat Pistons

Will Bynum played and had 12 points and four assists, as his once steady value has taken a hit due to his injuries and the strong play of Rodney Stuckey. Jonas Jerebko hit just 3-of-10 shots for six points, meaning he's scored that number in three of his last six games. But when he hasn't scored six, he's had 15, 12 and 15 points. He's not a must-own or must-start player, but serves a purpose in some leagues, averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Charlie Villanueva was ineffective due to his plantar fasciitis issues, while Ben Gordon (ankle), Richard Hamilton (hamstring) and Tayshaun Prince (back) were all out again with their incredibly annoying and drawn out injuries. Each should be considered day-to-day, but Gordon sounds like he's the closest to playing again after coming back too early from his ankle injury the first time.

The Bobcats welcomed the return of Stephen Jackson (back) and Gerald Wallace (head) in last night's win. Wallace was outstanding, as usual, with 29 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and four blocks, while Jackson struggled on a 5-of-15 shooting night. Tyson Chandler, not surprisingly, went down with a (not surprisingly) sprained left foot, but says he'll be fine. Uh huh, right. But at least X-rays were negative. Boris Diaw continues to struggle and is being dropped faster than my kids are eating cookies out of tins we put together for the neighbors, while Nazr Mohammed (12 points, nine boards, one block on Tuesday) is relevant again with Chandler's injury.

Continue reading for more game recaps and quick hits.

Sixers Lose Another One

The Sixers lost yet another game, falling to the Wizards in Washington. While the fact Philly has only won seven games is pretty surprising, the Wizards got just their ninth win of the season, improving to 9-17. Willie Green got the start over Lou Williams and scored 16 points to go along with six assists, while Sweet Lou came off the bench for 12 points, four boards, four assists, a steal, a block and a 3-pointer. He will eventually be back in the starting lineup, but as long as Allen Iverson is gimpy (earliest return date Dec. 28), it looks like Green and Williams are the guards to be using for the Sixers. Jrue Holiday also started last night, but had just five points in 18 minutes. I'd rather own Green. Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young were mysteriously quiet last night, Samuel Dalembert was decent with 10 points, six boards and a couple blocks, while Elton Brand had 18 points, 12 boards and three blocks off the bench. The fact EB is still coming off the bench is annoying, but he's getting solid minutes, playing in crunch time and putting up fairly consistent numbers. Marreese Speights is still a hot pickup after playing well in his previous three games, but had just nine points in 20 minutes last night.

For the Wiz, Randy Foye started at shooting guard and should continue to do so for the next couple weeks, until Mike Miller is back from a calf injury. Foye had just eight points in 18 minutes, so I don't think that calls for rushing out to sign him. Earl Boykins scored 18 but had totaled 11 points in his previous four, while Nick Young added 13 off the bench. Cluster. Brendan Haywood suddenly doesn't look so great, hitting single digits in scoring in four of his last six games, and totaling just five points over his last two. Andray Blatche's minutes have been on the rise, but I feel like this is more a slump for Haywood than it is a sign that he's losing his job. Antawn Jamison's shoulder and neck are probably bothering him, as he hit just 1-of-6 shots for seven points, but at least he's playing through it and not sitting out games.

Hawks Win Again

The Hawks got a surprising 26 points and four treys from Jamal Crawford off the bench, easily crushing the Wolves in Minnesota to win for the seventh time in eight games. Crawford is worth owning in most leagues, but his inconsistency is a problem. He had scored between 12 and 15 points in his previous five games, but is also capable of scoring 30 or six on any given night. He might be ready to get hot again after last night's big game, so give him a look if he was dropped in your league. The nice thing about Crawford right now is that his minutes have been pretty predictable lately, and he's averaging 32 per game in December.

Ryan Gomes is still out and day-to-day for the Wolves, while Kevin Love, Al Jefferson and Jonny Flynn continue to play well. Corey Brewer had 15 points, four boards, three assists, a steal and a 3-pointer last night, but is up and down from night to night like a yo-yo.

Grizzlies Stay Hot, Take Out GSW

Zach Randolph's amazing hot streak continued on Tuesday with a season-high 33 points and 18 rebounds on 14-of-21 shooting. He's on fire, the Grizzlies have won 12 of their last 19 and are starting to show signs of confidence. Marc Gasol's (22 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks) slump is long over, Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo are having big seasons and Mike Conley is once again a serviceable point guard in both fantasy and reality.

Chris Hunter started at center for the Warriors to hit 6-of-9 shots for 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks, but wasn't in anyone's lineup. Jerome Harrison's huge day for the Browns at least saw a few takers, but this line from Hunter helped no one, including me, as he was benched in my 30-team league. Yes, my name is Steve, and I am a Chris Hunter owner. And with Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf coming back soon, I'm not going to be one for much longer. Anthony Morrow's shooting slump continued as he hit just 4-of-9, but he did hit a couple threes and scored 11 points in 29 minutes. I think he's close to a return to form. C.J. Watson played just 15 minutes last night and is losing his luster as the team turns Stephen Curry loose, but this may have been a one-game problem. Watson played 28, 44, 30 and 36 minutes in his previous four games. Speaking of Curry, he played 41 minutes, flirted with a triple-double and should be owned in all leagues right now. Anthony Randolph came off the bench for 20 minutes and a few nuggets of production, but won't be fully ready to rock until he starts at power forward once Biedrins is back on Saturday. And even then, we just have to hope that Nellie wasn't lying over the weekend when he was gushing all over Randolph.

Lakers Hang On To Beat Thunder

The Thunder did everything they could to take out Kobe Bryant and the Lakers last night, but just didn't have enough gas in the tank. Russell Westbrook was great, hitting 9-of-21 shots (a good shooting night for him, actually) for 21 points, seven boards, 13 assists and a steal. That is the type of stat line I was expecting more often from him this year, and my hope is this is the start of a hot streak. His owners are still not going to be happy with the shooting or constant turnovers, so he should still probably be considered a buy-low target, as he has struggled for much of the season. And oddly enough, his owners are probably looking at this line as a sell-high opportunity. Thabo Sefolosha scored a season-high 16 with plenty of goodies thrown in, Kevin Durant scored 30 and center Serge Ibaka's hot streak continued with a season-high 14 rebounds. He added eight points, a steal and a block, and is averaging close to 10 points, nine boards, a steal and a block over his last three games. He's not a must-own center, but if you lost Przybilla in a deep league, go for it. James Harden stayed hot last night with 16 points and two threes, and is averaging 14 points, three boards and a 3-pointer over his last four, but hasn't recorded an assist in two games.

For the Lakers, Kobe scored 40, Pau Gasol double-doubled (15 & 11, proving that he is human), Derek Fisher scored a season-high 15 and Andrew Bynum showed up for 11 points, seven boards and four blocks.

Quick Hits

Chris Douglas-Roberts is very iffy tonight with a sprained ankle.
Jameer Nelson will start at PG for the Magic.
Andrew Bynum's been playing through an illness recently, partially explaining his struggles.
Deron Williams should play through a thumb injury.
Thunder expected to waive Shaun Livingston after minor (or should I say Maynor?) trade with Jazz.
Chauncey Billups very iffy tonight with groin injury, I doubt he plays.
Kevin Martin is targeting early January to return from a broken wrist. Beno Udrih's value will be shot, but I still like Tyreke Evans.

Get ready for Wednesday's 10-game slate before we all get a one-day break from the NBA on Christmas Eve.

HacheMan · Dec 25, 2009

Bayless Point Source
Christmas Eve: a holiday for many humans, but business as usual for The Daily Dose. Let us begin.

HE DID WHAT?

J.R. Smith torched the Hawks for 41 points and 10 threes one game after going for seven points on 2-for-12 shooting. And if that surprises you – meet J.R. Smith. He did go just 1-for-6 from the free throw line, but obviously if you have Smith on your squad you have to keep him active through the rough games just because of the possibility of nights like this.

Also of note for Denver, Ty Lawson had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists in a start, but his run will presumably be over relatively soon, though there's not currently a definitive word as to when Chauncey Billups will be back from his groin injury.

HE DID WHAT? (PART II)

Another double-take-inducing line came from Jerryd Bayless, who got the start for Brandon Roy (shoulder) and responded with his second huge game in the span of a week (31 points, seven assists, two threes, 9-of-10 FTs).

Obviously I can't argue with adding Bayless (particularly in a 12- or 14-team league where there are less options on the wire), but I don't really think this changes his outlook dramatically unless Roy's shoulder injury proves to be serious (Roy is headed for an MRI on Thursday, which will hopefully show no significant damage).

Bayless stole the headlines for Portland, but it's also worth noting that Juwan Howard got the start at center and finished with 12 points and 12 boards. Then again, chances are that the Blazers will trade for a center, so Howard's reign will likely be short-lived.

A reminder: For exclusive stat projections, rankings and more, check out Rotoworld's Season Pass.

YI DID WHAT?

Yi Jianlian returned from a 24-game absence and promptly unloaded 22 points, eight rebounds and four threes in a loss to Minnesota. Don't expect this every night, but he's worth adding in most leagues. Even though the Nets dropped to 2-27, it was also a statistically encouraging night for Devin Harris (23 points, eight assists) and Courtney Lee (20 points, three treys).

Minnesota got 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Al Jefferson, who also tied his season-high with three blocks. The blocks have really been the only thing missing from Big Al's stats lately, so hopefully this is the beginning of a longer shot-blocking run. Jonny Flynn was also large with 22 points, five assists and four steals.

THIGH + KNEE = CONCERN

Though the Celtics could get Kevin Garnett back from a thigh injury for a Christmas Day matchup with Orlando, they will most definitely not have Paul Pierce, who is out for two weeks due to an infected knee. Time to add Tony Allen if you own Pierce or if you're the type of owner who likes to capitalize on knee infections (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Other recent injury news of note:

Tyson Chandler – Will miss at least a week with a foot injury, making Nazr Mohammed a worthwhile pickup.

Jermaine O'Neal – Lasted just three minutes before leaving with a groin injury on Wednesday, making Joel Anthony (eight points, nine boards, five blocks) worth a look in deeper leagues.

Paul Millsap – Suffered a mild concussion on Wednesday (no word yet on his availability for Saturday).

Chris Douglas-Roberts – Didn't play on Wednesday but tweeted that his ankle felt good after hitting the treadmill.

Ben Gordon/Richard Hamilton – Both are currently expected to return on Sunday according to the Pistons broadcast team, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that there will be a Tayshaun Prince sighting that day as well.

Mike Miller – Now expected to miss another one and a half to two weeks. Frustrating, but stay patient.

Gilbert Arenas – Left in the fourth quarter with a thigh bruise, but was seen laughing on the bench so he'll hopefully be ready for Saturday.

Kobe Bryant – Not expected to miss any games after his knee scare on Tuesday, and even told the L.A. Times, "I'm Bruce Willis, man. I'll be fine." That's good to hear, but please don't go running barefoot on any broken glass, Kobe.

THE USUAL AMOUNT, RANDOLPH?

Anthony Randolph got the start at center and busted out for 12 points, eight boards, two steals and eight blocks, a profound reminder of why you hopefully have stuck with him through his maddening stretches this season. Not to say that we've seen his last frustrating performance, but there's more where this came from.

Also of note for the Warriors, who only used seven players: Monta Ellis played every single second of the game and finished with 35 points (word on the street is that filming is underway on a buddy cop movie starring Ellis and either Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte or Gary Busey (if Nolte isn't available) entitled Another 48 Minutes). His backcourt sidekick, Stephen Curry, was incredibly lazy on Wednesday and rested for an entire minute, finishing with 17 points, 10 boards, seven dimes, two steals and three treys.



DURANTULAS ARE DANGEROUS

Kevin Durant hit for 38 points, giving him 30 or more in back-to-back games on the road. No small feat, and a surefire sign that the brief slump he endured last week is over.

In other Thunder-related news, James Harden (14 points, two steals, one three) has now averaged 28 minutes in his last five games, posting 14.2 ppg during that span. And Serge Ibaka (12 points, seven boards and a block) has averaged 10.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 1.3 bpg in his last four.

Though the Suns lost to the Thunder at home, the positive news was that Amare Stoudemire went for a season-high 35 points with 14 rebounds (sorry, no blocks), while Channing Frye had 24 points, four threes, two steals and two blocks. Frye is inconsistent, but his big games largely outweigh his bad ones.

I SMELL A SKUNK

The Kings and the Cavs played a rather entertaining game until overtime, when the Cavs outscored the Kings 13-0. In a recreational game of table tennis, that would count as a skunk, but for the Cavs it's simply a win. LeBron James messed around for 34, 16 and 10 while Mo Williams played through a knee contusion and hit for 27. Also coming up big was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who scored a season-high 25 points with a career-best three treys, a good reminder that he would be a legitimate starting center in fantasy leagues if Shaq gets hurt.

For the Kings, Tyreke Evans came up short in his effort to upstage LeBron, but still finished with 28 points, five assists, two threes and three blocks. The inconsistent Spencer Hawes had one of his good games with 17 points, 12 boards and three blocks and Omri Casspi had 18 points and three threes in 44 minutes.

A WELL-REDD INDIVIDUAL

In just his third start of the season, Michael Redd dropped 32 points in a loss to the Wizards, going 15-for-15 from the free throw line. He should keep producing as long as he's healthy, but keep in mind that health is far from a guarantee.

In less happy Bucks news, Brandon Jennings had just seven points in 16 minutes after getting into early foul trouble. This is obviously disconcerting, but there's no need to panic yet and hopefully this will only motivate the rookie. Also struggling mightily was Ersan Ilyasova, who had just four points on 1-for-8 shooting. If you're thinking about dropping him after two straight bad games, just remember that he had a couple ugly games at the beginning of the month before recovering very nicely, so chances are he'll come out of this before long.

On the Wizards side, Caron Butler only had one assist, but no one is going to complain about 23 points, 10 rebounds and two steals at this point. Butler was no doubt extra motivated playing in his home state, but has shown signs of life this month. Now we just need to see some consistency. Randy Foye also had 12 points and six assists in a start at shooting guard and has a little bit of value in deeper leagues until Mike Miller returns.

UNFRIENDLY RAPTORS

Toronto absolutely annihilated Detroit on Wednesday, winning by 30 points and crushing most Pistons' stats in the process. I won't dwell much on the Detroit side except to say that I'm rather concerned about Charlie Villanueva, who has shot just 4-for-24 in his last three games as he deals with plantar fasciitis. I wouldn't recommend selling him short in a trade, though it's very possible that he misses some time in the near future to get this injury healed.

In more positive developments, Andrea Bargnani scored 21 (his highest point total of the month) and has now averaged 2.0 blocks and 1.7 threes his last three games. Hedo Turkoglu had his first double-double as a Raptor (11 points, 11 assists), and for a deep league alert, Amir Johnson (nine points, six boards, four blocks) has averaged 11.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 2.0 bpg in his last three games.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Aaron Brooks scored 17 points (including 15 in the first half) to break a recent slump, but Trevor Ariza continued to look like a complete mess en route to a 1-for-10 night. Now is the time to buy low if you can stomach bad percentages… Jameer Nelson (15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals, two threes) rejoined the Magic starting lineup and should rejoin your fantasy squad's starting lineup as well… Jazz starting small forward C.J. Miles shot just 1-for-9, but at least contributed four rebounds, four assists and a block… Dwyane Wade posted a vintage line with 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks, at least temporarily allaying concerns about his nagging injuries.

HacheMan · Dec 25, 2009

Holiday Hoopfest
Here's a quick Christmas Day edition of the Daily Dose, simply because I can't stay away. There are five games today and you can watch hoops from noon Eastern until 2 a.m. if you choose to.

Noon – Heat @ Knicks – I'm still waiting to find out if Jermaine O'Neal's going to play through his groin injury or not. If I had to bet on it, I'd put all my money on a DNP after JO failed to make it through four minutes of Wednesday's contest. If he's out, Joel Anthony could be solid. I'm also expecting big things out of Michael Beasley and Dwyane Wade today. And when I say big things out of Wade, I mean one of those huge nights in the Garden, where he loves to play.

For the Knicks, here's hoping that Al Harrington can post another solid line, but he's been inconsistent since losing his job to Danilo Gallinari. David Lee's been on a tear, while Chris Duhon finally cooled off in his last game. If Duhon struggles again today, consider it a serious red flag. Wilson Chandler has been much more consistent lately after some early struggles and I'm glad the "should I dump this bum?" emails have stopped.

2:30 – Celtics @ Magic – Paul Pierce will be out anywhere from 10 days (optimistic) to three weeks (worst case) after a minor procedure on his infected knee, while Kevin Garnett is expected to return from his thigh injury on Friday. Glen Davis is also expected to return from his broken thumb, while Tony Allen is suddenly a hot fantasy pickup while he fills in for Pierce. With Pierce out and KG possibly gimpy, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, along with Tony Allen, should all be solid.

The Magic welcomed back Jameer Nelson to the starting lineup in the last one and he'll have his hands full with Rondo. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis seem to be stepping on each other's toes a bit. Not so much in reality, but it's going to be tough for either to return to fantasy form when they spend so much time on the floor together. The "should I trade Dwight Howard because he's not very good" emails have stopped, as the big man is averaging nearly 16 points, 15 boards and five blocks over his last five games.

5:00 – Cavaliers @ Lakers – This one should be fun, as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will try to outscore each other. Delonte West has been playing well for the Cavaliers and he gives them a much-needed boost off the bench, although he was quiet in his last game when Mo Williams, who will play through his knee injury today, got hot. Zydrunas Ilgauskas got hot in the last one and had his best game of the season, draining three 3-pointers in overtime to help the Cavs beat the Kings. Shaquille O'Neal hasn't done much this season and wasn't great against the Suns when he recently went against his former team. That leads me to believe today might not be much different, although he and Andrew Bynum do have a little history between them. That said, I'm not expecting any miracles from Bynum, either. There are no real injury concerns here outside of Jamario Moon, who shouldn't be relevant in fantasy leagues anyway. Well, Kobe does have the broken finger and pain in the knee problems, but it will take a lot more than that to slow him down.

8:00 – Clippers @ Suns – Leandro Barbosa is finally expected back for the Suns tonight, as Amare Stoudemire will try to stay hot. Amare's averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds and a steal over his last five games, but has blocked just one shot over that stretch. Barbosa remains an interesting fantasy prospect, but with so many 3-point shooters residing in Phoenix, his role with the team has been compromised. Grant Hill was quiet in his last game and will likely start showing up on waivers in many leagues if he struggles again, while Channing Frye is suddenly rejuvenated again and tearing it up for the Suns. And the Suns have a point guard in Steve Nash who is having another MVP-type season.

Marcus Camby (knee) and Al Thornton (toe) are true game-time decisions today. Any time Camby's injured, his owners instinctively start freaking out – and this time should be no different. Hopefully he just puts the uniform on today and plays through it, but if he doesn't, we've seen these things linger for a painfully long time. Craig Smith, DeAndre Jordan and Rasual Butler would all see extra minutes (and a lot of them) if Camby and Thornton are out.

10:30 – Nuggets @ Trail Blazers – Still no word on whether Chauncey Billups (groin) will play in this one, but I kind of sense that he will. J.R. Smith is coming off a massive 41 points and 10 3-pointers Wednesday, but has the potential to disappear and score seven points tonight. But that's OK since he already did a week's worth of work/damage in one game. Melo should in the Christmas spirit tonight on national TV, while Chris Andersen and Nene have also been playing well lately.

Brandon Roy is questionable for this one with his shoulder injury and while there is no tear, he is in considerable pain, leaving him very iffy. If he can't go, Jerryd Bayless should get another opportunity to shine, while LaMarcus Aldridge is now the only must-start player in Portland. Actually, new starting "center" Juwan Howard should have another nice line against his former team, especially since they don't employ a true center.

News & Notes, Quick Hits

John Salmons has been benched by Vinny Del Negro. While it is a short-term concern, I still see no way Vinny hangs onto his job and there's a pretty decent chance that Salmons returns to the starting five at some point in the next few weeks. Especially if he can keep his head together and start making shots with the second unit. Kirk Hinrich now deserves a look in most leagues and the Bulls play three games next week. Taj Gibson will start over Brad Miller after the two traded spots for the last nine games, while Tyrus Thomas is set to return from his broken arm. He'll come off the bench on Saturday, but not for long once he's back in the flow.

Gilbert Arenas reportedly had a gun and ammunition in a box in his locker recently, but the Wizards and Arenas are cooperating with the league in its investigation. Firearms are not permitted on team property, etc., so it's possible Arenas could get a game or two off for his indiscretion, although it doesn't sound like there was any ill intent here. That said, with all of this business going on between Agent 0 and Shaq, you never know.

Jason Kidd missed a practice with an undisclosed injury after taking a hard fall on Wednesday, leaving him a little questionable for Saturday.

Have a great holiday, sit back, enjoy your family and watch some hoops for about 13 straight hours. No one will even notice. Oh, and don't forget to set your football lineups and get your picks in, as the Chargers are at Tennessee tonight.

HacheMan · Dec 26, 2009

It's elementary, dear Watson
[SIZE=+1]Normal Sized Leagues[/SIZE]

These are 10-12 team leagues, and while all of these guys won't be available in all of these leagues, they remain unowned in many of them.

Earl Watson PG Pacers - Some other websites may not agree here, but we are of the opinion that Watson should be owned in every league. Yes, T.J. Ford is still lingering and will probably win the starting job back from Watson at some point this season, but for now, Watson sure looks like the guy. He has started in three straight games, and while the first two were forgettable, he had 18 points, six boards, seven assists and three 3-pointers in his last game. And while you can't expect that kind of production every night, it does show you what he's capable of. And with four games this week, it's tough not to love Watson right now.

John Salmons/Kirk Hinrich G Bulls - Salmons has lost his job to Hinrich, at least for the time being. Whereas a guy like Earl Watson could potentially keep the starting job all year, I don't think the same is true for Hinrich, although it depends on who coaches the team once Vinny Del Negro is finally let go. And that's a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' I am still recommending that owners in relatively deep leagues hang onto Salmons, but in most leagues where there are solid waiver options available, Salmons is going to be dropped by frustrated owners. He's really struggled all year and very well may not get it going until he gets a new coach. Hinrich should be solid as a starter, as he was already averaging 10 points, three boards, three assists and a 3-pointer over his last five games off the bench. That could go up to 15-4-5-1.5 with extra minutes, so he looks like a solid grab right now.

Anthony Randolph F/C Warriors - I'll keep this short, since you guys are sick of reading about him. With the centers (Turiaf, Biedrins) coming back, Randolph should get 30 minutes or so a game at power forward. He had 12 points, eight boards and eight blocks in 36 minutes in his last game and is averaging more than 12 points, six boards and two assists, with three blocks and nearly a steal per game over his last five. Yes, he still plays for Don Nelson, and yes, he's still going to be inconsistent. But you simply can't argue with those numbers and I think the minutes are coming.

Jose Juan Barea G Mavericks - Barea simply won't go away, averaging nearly 14 points, three boards, two assists and two 3-pointers over his last five, even with Josh Howard back in action. He's still starting (at least he has been) and went off for 22 and 23 points in two of his last four. I still think he'll cool off and that Howard will probably start again at some point, but for now, JJB looks like a solid pick-and-play.

Rasual Butler G/F Clippers - Butler is having a nice week for owners who picked him up for four games in weekly leagues, scoring between 18 and 22 points in three of his last four games, and averaging 14 points, four boards, nearly two threes and a block per game over his last five. He started over Al Thornton on Friday, and while I don't know if he'll hang onto the job, he's worth using even when coming off the bench for the Clips. Just beware that LAC only plays two times in the upcoming week.

Others To Consider

Must-Owns: Carl Landry, Tyrus Thomas, Yi Jianlian, Mike Conley and Roy Hibbert

Should Be Owned: Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights, Omri Casspi, Ersan Ilyasova, Chris Duhon, Erick Dampier, Beno Udrih, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Andre Miller, Kenyon Martin and Jared Dudley.

Could Be Owned: Chris Andersen, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Steve Blake, Willie Green and C.J. Miles.

Follow Me On Twitter

Follow me on Twitter (click on the link to follow me, where you can see me defend Anthony Randolph, among other things).

[SIZE=+1]Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Deeper leagues are generally going to have 14 to 16 teams and go deep enough that most starters are not available on waivers. These players may not even be available in all deep leagues, but are generally available in many normal-sized leagues.

Juwan Howard F/C Blazers - Howard is now the starting center for the Blazers and is averaging about nine points and 10 rebounds over his last three games, all starts because Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are done for the year. He won't do much else, but his potential for double-doubles and 30-plus minutes per game make him worth grabbing in many leagues.

Tony Allen G/F Celtics - Paul Pierce will miss a couple weeks with a knee injury, meaning Allen should start as long as he's healthy. He's scored between 10 and 16 points in three of his last four games and is averaging 10 points, four boards and a steal over his last five. He's not going to win your league for you, but should be a viable fill-in for a couple weeks while Pierce is out.

Jerryd Bayless G Blazers - Bayless played well down the stretch for Portland on Friday, finishing with eight points and seven dimes in 29 minutes, but hit just 2-of-10 shots. He has scored 29 and 31 points in a couple games recently and with the Blazers so beat up, is worth a look in almost any league. Just beware that he will have plenty of low-scoring nights to go along with the outbursts of production. And if Andre Miller is ever traded, Bayless could eventually become a mini-stud in Portland this year.

Delonte West G Cavaliers - West is quietly getting minutes again and has big-game potential. He finally hit a 3-pointer on Friday and is averaging 10 points, three boards, four assists and 1.6 steals over his last five games. Now is a good time to grab him, as his personal problems may finally be behind him, and the Cavaliers simply need what he offers in their rotation.

Quentin Richardson G/F Heat - Q-Rich has been up and down all season with injuries, but is starting for the Heat again. He's averaging 13 points, four rebounds and three 3-pointers over his last four games, along with 29 minutes. If you need threes, he should be worth a look right now.

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[SIZE=+1]Extremely Deep Leagues[/SIZE]

Serge Ibaka F/C Thunder - Ibaka has been a very pleasant surprise, but is still only owned in eight percent of CBS leagues. He's averaging a respectable 10 points, eight boards and 1.6 blocks per game over his last five, and could eventually even move into the starting lineup.

Nazr Mohammed C Bobcats - Tyson Chandler will miss at least a week with another foot injury, making Mohammed worth a pick-and-play for the upcoming week. He had 12 points, nine boards and a block in 18 minutes of his last game and should start for the next four or so games with Chandler out, making him a decent center option in deep leagues.

David Andersen F/C Rockets - The Rockets are thin up front, and with Chase Budinger out for a couple weeks with a foot injury, Andersen should continue to get some run. Opportunities may be limited with Luis Scola and Carl Landry around, but he's averaging about 10 points, four boards and a 3-pointer per game over his last five.

Julian Wright F Hornets - Wright finally got off the bench in his last game and had eight points, six boards, two steals and a block, earning praise from his coach. He has likely earned more minutes and looks like a solid grab in leagues where the waiver wire is bare.

Jeff Pendergraph F Blazers - Pendergraph should only be considered in extremely deep leagues, but he is starting to get limited minutes for the severely undermanned Blazers. He's backing up LaMarcus Aldridge and is averaging three points and three boards over his last three games. Again, not worth owning in most leagues, but if you're in a league where it's tough to find guys who are even getting minutes, Pendergraph's low stock appears to be on the rise.

HacheMan · Dec 28, 2009

So Sad About Us

So Sad About Us

Yesterday was kind of a tough one for Colts fans, but the fact the starters, including Peyton Manning, were pulled wasn't a complete surprise. In fact, Gregg Rosenthal wrote this last week, pretty much nailing the prevailing thoughts by Indy's brass, which turned out to be a very unpopular decision in Indy. It's tough to complain when your team has won a Super Bowl and has been one of the most consistent teams ever in the past decade, but 'we' wanted to see the Colts try to go undefeated and put up a perfect season. I'd much rather hear about Peyton every season than the champagne corks in Miami. Need some time to rest? That's what you do with the bye week you earned. Afraid of getting hurt? Yeah, it's a risk, but you won your Super Bowl. The rest is gravy for Peyton. If he wanted to play, and you know he did, he should have played. Oh well.

But while the Indianapolis faithful all seem to be calling for the head of Jim Caldwell this morning, I'm wondering why there isn't more ire being directed at another guy name Jim, who also happens to be a professional head coach. The Pacers were blown off the court by the Heat yesterday and basically look like a word I can't print here. The box scores have been fantasy nightmares and it really looks to me like Obie has lost the team. Larry Bird is probably a lame duck GM, but doesn't appear to be in any hurry to axe O'Brien, and to answer my own earlier question about the fans, they simply no longer care about the Pacers. They got rid of the guys causing the 'thug life' image, but now, with or without Danny Granger, they are simply having trouble competing on the court. Indianapolis fans should be calling for O'Brien to go, but no one cares enough to pick up the phone.

I had Earl Watson featured in Waiver Wired and kind of feel like an idiot for it right now. It may pan out, but he has been terrible in his last two games (while still somehow starting over T.J. Ford), but then again, all of the Pacers have been terrible over the last two, and most of the last six games, which were all losses for the Blue and Gold. Four of the five starters combined to score 10 points on Sunday (yes – 7, 3, 0 & 0), while Luther Head and Tyler Hansbrough (and Troy Murphy) led the team with 19 points in an ugly loss to the Hawks on Saturday. When Luther Head is leading your team, or when your starting unit is dropping 26 of your 80 points in an embarrassing loss, it's time for a change. The only person who appears to like O'Brien is Bird, as it's become clear that neither the players nor fans would have any love loss if he were sent packing. And with a stud coach like Lawrence Frank still available, now is the time to make the move. As for Mike Dunleavy? He's scored a total of 15 points in his last four games, making him a very tough four-game start this week. But he has to get it turned around, right?

On a side note, I need just nine points from Adrian Peterson to win my football league. Thanks, Jets D.

Return of the Fab Four

The Pistons saw the return of Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Charlie Villanueva on Sunday afternoon, finally getting a full view of their team. Of course, that view wasn't pretty with a loss in Toronto, and it could take some time for them to figure out how all the pieces of this puzzle are going to fit together. Hamilton and Prince started, scoring 15 and nine points respectively, while Gordon had 15 and CV scored eight off the bench. Will Bynum has probably become useless now that everyone is healthy, Villanueva will not be reliable again until his foot is fully healed (and who knows when that will be?), while everyone else should be good for a decent stat line every other game or so. Bottom line – outside of Rodney Stuckey, it's tough to trust anyone playing for the Pistons right now.

One-Armed Bandit

Kobe Bryant is now playing through a broken right index finger, a badly damaged right pinkie finger, a sore knee and a sore right arm, which was numb for much of the second half of Saturday's dramatic double-OT win against the Kings. He was still able to hit a pair of threes in the extra sessions and it's going to take a much more serious injury than the ones listed above to shut him down. Two of his four games this week are against Golden State and Sacramento, and you have to wonder if he'll be given some rest if the Lakers get a big lead in either game. No need to even consider not using him this week, but just something to think about. On the flip side, going against Phoenix, GSW and the Kings should all provide monster stat lines out of Black Mamba this week.

Roll On You Mighty Clippers

The Clippers shocked the world on Sunday night, knocking off the Celtics and ending their nine-game road winning streak. Baron Davis drained a cool, fadeaway J to give the Clips their first lead of the game, and the win. Rajon Rondo opened the door by missing two free throws just before, which allowed the Clippers to end their three-game losing streak. Maybe this will save Mike Dunleavy's job, but I doubt it.

What's the Deal, TP?

In his last seven games, Tony Parker's assist numbers have been: 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 8, 3. I'm not a rocket scientist, but it's hard to believe that the point guard playing alongside Tim Duncan can do no better than three or four dimes per game right now. I predicted a downturn for Parker this year with Manu Ginobili back, but didn't foresee him being this bad. He's playing no better than a 10th-round pick this season and my guess is that he's now on many owners' "never again" lists. I think he's on mine, but then again, don't you have to have owned a guy in the past to put him on that list?

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I Love L.A.

While most of the Christmas Day games just weren't that exciting to watch (Clips – Suns, anyone?), the Lakers getting drilled at home by the Cavs was fairly entertaining. Especially when fans cut loose with foam fingers to show their displeasure with the officiating, although the officials had very little to do with why the Lakers got crushed at home that day. The Cavs haven't been too impressive this season, but I'm pretty sure this game was a turning point in their season. They looked like a team capable of winning it all and they'll work to develop more chemistry now that Delonte West is back in the rotation. The Lakers are at Cleveland on Jan. 21, and you might want to put that one on your calendar. This may not have been a rivalry going into Friday's game, but it is now.

Hello, Goodbye

Tracy McGrady, according to a Yahoo! Sports report, will not play another game for the Rockets. Is anyone really surprised? His career is probably not over, but it's anyone's guess where or when he'll play again, and I'm not sure it even matters.

Keep reading for Notable Lines and the Monday Morning Injury Report

Notable Weekend Lines

Tyrus Thomas returned from his broken arm with 21 points, nine boards, a steal and two blocks Saturday, while Joakim Noah's strong play continued with 17 points, 18 boards and four blocks. Kirk Hinrich had 14 points, six boards, seven assists and three 3-pointers in a start over John Salmons, while Salmons was useless with three points on 1-of-5 shooting. Hinrich is a solid pick-and-play right now.

Al Horford hit 11-of-14 shots for 25 points, 19 boards and five blocks in Saturday's win over the Pacers, while Josh Smith had 22 points, six boards, five assists, four steals and five blocks, just missing a coveted 5x5 game.

Steve Nash blew up for 36 points, nine assists, two steals and six 3-pointers in Saturday's loss to the Warriors, while Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette each scored 33 points in the win.

Corey Brewer had 27 points and seven rebounds as the Wolves beat the Wizards for their second straight win on Saturday. Despite having one of the worst shooting strokes in the league, Brewer's been playing very well and deserves to start in most fantasy leagues.

Ersan Ilyasova fell off a cliff over the last few games, scoring a total of 13 points over the last week. Hakim Warrick and Jodie Meeks came out of nowhere on Saturday with 23 and 15 points respectively. Neither player had done much of anything coming into that one, so don't do anything crazy. Just keep an eye on them.

Drew Gooden blew up for 19 points and 10 boards off the Dallas bench on Sunday, hitting all eight of his shots, while Kenyon Martin added 18 points and 11 boards in the loss to Dallas. It was a good night for old guys, apparently, but I need to see Gooden do this again before thinking about grabbing him.

Trevor Ariza injured his shin on Sunday but X-rays were negative. Owners probably wouldn't mind if he were shut down for a week or two, as those 2-for-whatever shooting lines are really starting to become painful. His last four shooting lines – 2-of-11, 1-of-10, 5-of-17 and 2-of-10. For those of you scoring at home, that's 10-of-48 in his last four games. The Rockets play three times this week, and I still haven't decided on whether I'm playing Ariza or not (I'm leaning toward 'not').
Monday Morning Injury Report

Joe Smith – thumb – Day-to-day, but not much fantasy value.
Paul Pierce – knee – Not likely to play this week, bench him. Hello, Tony Allen.
Marquis Daniels – wrist – Out until All-Star break.
Tyson Chandler – foot – Could play this week, but way too risky.
Chauncey Billups – groin – Will miss at least one more, leaves two games this week.
Charlie Villanueva – foot – Playing, but seems bound to miss some games.
Rip Hamilton – hamstring – Played Sunday, should be OK.
Ben Gordon – ankle – Played Sunday, start at your own risk.
Tayshaun Prince – back – Started Sunday, hopefully is good to go, but still risky.
Andris Biedrins – abdomen – Supposedly will play on Monday. Start at own risk.
Trevor Ariza – shin – Iffy for Tuesday with deep tissue bruise. Very risky start.
Tracy McGrady – personal – Not likely to play for Rockets again.
Chase Budinger – ankle – Out another week with injury.
Jeff Foster – back – No rush to bring him back, should mean minutes for Hibbert.
Danny Granger – heel – Still two-to-three weeks away.
Marcus Camby – knee – Sat out Sunday, making him risky for two-game week.
Blake Griffin – knee – Should be back in about three weeks.
Kobe Bryant – finger/elbow/knee – Says he's playing Monday despite stinger.
Ron Artest – concussion – Not cleared for Monday, still very risky.
Luke Walton – back – Still no target date for return.
Josh Boone – knee – No value with Yi Jianlian back in action.
Rafer Alston – back – Missed Saturday, still day-to-day.
Chris Douglas-Roberts – ankle – Ruled out for Monday, keep him benched.
Eddy Curry – healthy – Not playing, not happy, no value.
Jonathan Bender – knee – Playing, but not in great shape, could sit.
Etan Thomas – flu – Not worth using when healthy.
Allen Iverson – knee – Probable for Monday. I may or may not play him.
Rudy Fernandez – back – Still not likely for the week.
Tyreke Evans – ankle – Doubtful for Monday, very risky, more Beno.
Kevin Martin – wrist – Should be getting closer, but not likely for week.
Francisco Garcia – wrist – Still not due back until around AS Break.
Matt Bonner – hand – Still not ready.
Michael Finley – ankle – Traveling with team, but still not playing.
Jose Calderon – hip – Still no target date, play Jarrett Jack instead.
JaVale McGee – knee – Hasn't been playing enough when healthy.
Mike Miller – calf – Still not likely for this week. Foye is decent alt.