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Dr. A said to me, "if I see Kurt Rambis, I might…," and that might be the best way to sum up what is going on in Minnesota. The team had lost 36 of their last 39 games entering last night. They're the laughing stock of the NBA. GM David Kahn gets more street-cred for the (unintentionally) hilarious things he says than he does for, well, just about anything. So where do you think they go from there?
They bench their best player, religiously. After 23 points, 24 rebounds, five assists, two 3-pointers, and who knows, two Lakers girls the night before,
Kevin Love found himself on the bench. Nevermind the fact that he almost single-handedly delivered Rambis a win at Staples Center. Nevermind that the Wolves were in a dogfight for their first road win in six tries, after winning just five road contests the year before. Kurt Rambis has a point to make.
For 12 straight minutes from the middle of the third quarter to the middle of the fourth,
Kevin Love sat the bench. Perhaps
Nikola Pekovic was playing extraordinary defense.
And so yes,
John Wall made history last night with a triple-double that put him in elite company, and
Michael Beasley scored a career-high 42 points. We expect to see that from Wall and we don't expect to see it from Beasley. But that's where the story ends. Within 24 hours, Love and Rambis went all the way in a full circle and the end is nowhere in sight. Owners – they have no choice but to stick him in their lineups and hope for the best – and frankly he's doing fine. The real losers in this are the fans in Minnesota, who have to put up with a bar so low that the GM and coach can keep their jobs after losing 90% of their games, while their best player gets reduced to being a symbol of Rambis' stubbornness.
www.miamiheat.ws
Of course, Love entered the game with seven minutes to go in the fourth, hit a big shot immediately and then drew a foul on a 3-point shot attempt. His key rebound late helped secure the Wolves' fourth win since Valentine's Day. He finished with eight points and nine boards. And now that I got that off my chest, onward to a jam-packed Dose!
[SIZE=+1]The 6 Things We Learned Last Night[/SIZE]
1. John Wall is really, really good
Okay, we already knew that. But last night's 19-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist triple-double put him in some elite company. He became the fifth rookie to go 2x3 in his first six games, joining Oscar Robertson, Hambone Williams, Connie Hawkins, and none other than
Magic Johnson. He also joined Magic in becoming just the second NBA player to have a triple-double in their first six games AND have a game with six or more steals. If you're not gonna hambone after that, then you never will.
2. Michael Beasley may be worth a couple of second round picks after all
Michael Beasley played through a sore left hip and went off for a career-high 42 points on 17-of-31 shooting (including a three) with nine rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 41 minutes of action. In shades of
Rudy Gay earlier in the week, the Kings tried to defend him with everybody on their roster and a zone. They're having trouble defending the forward positions, but make no mistake, Beasley was on fire.
Now I don't own
Michael Beasley in any of my 10 leagues, but if I did, I would be on the horn all morning long offloading him. Not to beat a dead horse, but I don't trust a thing in Minnesota right now. And if Love, with no real record of issues on or off the court, can't win Rambis' trust how the heck is the Beez going to? Maybe he does, but I'd rather see what I can get in return at this high-water mark.
3. Just a couple of months without Nellie and the Warriors grew a pair
Where to start? Let the jury see Exhibit 'A,' one
Monta Ellis. He returned to action after doing the limbo in Toronto on Monday, staying overnight in the hospital on Tuesday, and went to New York on Wednesday and scored 22 points with two rebounds, six assists, and four steals in 40 minutes. This comes from a guy who missed two weeks at the end of last year with the flu.
Not impressed? Exhibit 'B,'
Stephen Curry, had to have play stopped twice because he was bleeding all over the place, once for a bloody nose and once for a bloody elbow. And despite all of that, and the ankle he has tweaked just about every game he has played this year, he still cranked out 25 points, eight assists, and six rebounds.
Not enough blood? I give you Exhibit 'C,' one David Jebediah Lee (I have no idea what his middle name is, maybe Jake Stephens the fantasy guy does). Going back to his old stomping grounds, video tribute and all, he out-beasted
Amare Stoudemire with 28 points, 10 boards, four assists, and took two of
Wilson Chandler's teeth in his elbow a la Dirk. With blood soaking through his bandage he got the final rebound, hit the key foul shots, and won the game. To quote
Anchorman, he was the balls.
Keep reading for the next three things we learned, and the Four Quarters of Fury…
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[SIZE=+1]The 6 Things We Learned Last Night[/SIZE]
4. Houston has a problem
Reports coming out of Houston yesterday said that
Yao Ming wanted to play more minutes, and that the Rockets were actually considering it. They've got to feel cursed waking up this morning, as Yao quickly went out and strained a tendon in his left leg during the first half of Wednesday's game. He didn't look too happy in the locker room after the game, and maybe he sees the writing on the wall. You should.
In his place
Brad Miller started the second half, but him and
Jordan Hill split time going forward. I had high hopes for Miller coming into the year, but it just isn't working out. Neither are good options until one of them can prove themselves.
The good news for owners of other Rockets is that the less Yao there is – the more of everything else there will be. The pace of play will pick up, and guys like
Kevin Martin,
Aaron Brooks (when he returns), and
Luis Scola will all benefit. Martin (ankle) scored 31 points with seven boards with six assists after being held from Tuesday's practice, and with his injury history that's about as good of a sell-high line as there is.
And as for the PG situation in the wake of the
Aaron Brooks injury, we saw
Kyle Lowry (back) return for a predetermined, shortened workload. He struggled and shot just 2-of-11 from the field for four points, three boards, and four assists in 21 minutes. Rookie
Ishmael Smith started and was better than Lowry on this night, scoring 12 points with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and in the short-term could hold onto the job while Lowry gets up to speed. There's no doubt he'll be on a short leash, though, as Rick Adelman sounded rather desperate in his pleas to see Lowry healthy and running the team the other day. For my money, I'd rather have Lowry long-term but Ish will also do over the next week or so.
5. Something is up with the twins
The Lopez brothers both entered the league and were known for their tough, bruising style of play. Fast forward to this year and both have been accused of being timid, and lacking aggression. So maybe there's something to the twins thing, and while I can see why Robin would be hesitant to assert himself with less polish to his game, Brook's step back is a bit of a mystery. Big Z had his number in Miami earlier in the week and so has
Anderson Varejao in back-to-back games against the Cavs. He's now shooting 39% on the year after his 1-for-5 effort last night, which saw him get two quick, lazy fouls followed by a benching so career backup
Kris Humphries could man the paint throughout much of the second half.
For his part Humphries, who started at PF for
Troy Murphy (foot), was solid with 13 points, 18 rebounds, a steal, and two blocks. If Murphy, who could be an injury-risk all year long, misses any time then Humphries will probably start so they can keep rookie
Derrick Favors coming off the bench where they can monitor his minutes. Add it up and the Humpty-Humph is worth a long look if you're in the market for a big man.
But back to Lopez, it's a bit concerning that toughness issues are popping up after a year of not having any. The only real difference in New Jersey is at coach, and as we know, the little general is a my-way-or-the-highway type of guy. Maybe he's in Brook's head. Brook is either going to respond, or owners are going to be in for a long year. For my money I'm betting on the former and I'll be floating the buy-low offers out all week.
In other Jersey news,
Terrence Williams (ab strain) missed Wednesday's game and a few different guys were there to fill the vacuum.
Jordan Farmar scored 12 points with six rebounds, six assists, and two steals, and while he will go back to mostly irrelevant when T-Willie returns, the fact that he did it while
Devin Harris scored 31 points with nine assists is encouraging. Speaking of Harris, he appears over his shoulder injury and owners can resume trying to dump the injury risk onto somebody else.
Anthony Morrow had another nice night with 21 points including five 3-pointers, but one look at his game log will tell you that he can't be trusted. And what about
Travis Outlaw, who scored 27 points on Tuesday? He scored five on Wednesday, without Williams around no less, and is about as erratic as anybody in the league. And yes, we're still holding Williams for his massive breakout potential.
6. The Knicks are a nice set of New York Boobs
Dave Chappelle does an awesome skit where he interviews a bunch of women and tells them that they
"have a nice pair of New York boooooobs.". My girlfriend who watches nothing that I watch on T.V. and still thinks that it is literally
always sunny in Philadelphia, saw this and now runs around telling her friends that they have great, well you get the point. And if she ever watched the Knicks, there's no doubt that she'd run around calling them the New York Boobs.
So why compare the Knicks to mammary glands? At 3-5 the Knicks aren't quite
reeling, but they're pretty darn close. They make dumb plays. They lack effort and leadership. Amare talked trash to Scott Skiles the other night when he should have been worrying about
Andrew Bogut.
Wilson Chandler nearly shut down a 4-on-1 fastbreak last night with under a minute left in a one-point game, and nobody ran back to help him. All of this will largely get masked due to the numbers some of them put up against the Warriors last night, but for all of the improvement the W's have shown on defense, they are still a plus-matchup for fantasy purposes.
Stoudemire scored 33 points with 10 boards, three steals, a block, and a three, but hasn't been near the late-first, early-second round draft pick owners thought they were getting.
Raymond Felton scored 20 points with six boards and six assists. That's good, right? Yes, but he can't get the Knicks' offense working the way it needs to be, and after the game writers posed the question of whether or not
Landry Fields or
Danilo Gallinari would be better executing the pick-and-roll because, frankly, Felton can't do it right now. So if you're wondering why Gallo and Amare have struggled, and why everybody is mostly inconsistent, there you go. Once Felton and Amare can get on the same page, guys will start getting open shots (hello Italian Stallion, hello Toney), and until then they're going to be hard to watch at times.
One positive note was
Wilson Chandler's move into the starting lineup at PF, moving Amare to center and Timofoul Mozgov to the bench. Chandler went off for 27 points and played through getting two of his teeth knocked out. If he's available in your league you need to run and pick him up, even though Mike D'Antoni could change his mind a few more times. As for Mozgov, he simply hasn't adjusted from European refereeing, and racked up three fouls in two minutes. Jumanji!
Last but not least
Anthony Randolph, who teased owners with a near double-double on Tuesday over 27 minutes, played just seven minutes on Wednesday despite
Ronny Turiaf (knee) being out and Mozgov being a non-factor. Randolph took a shot at Nellie before the game, saying he wished he was on the sideline so he could stick it to him, which is just sort of funny knowing that D'Antoni probably has his plane ticket to Denver already purchased. One N.Y. beat writer said after the game, "thanks for the 6-foot-11 guy who can't play," and he wasn't referring to Turiaf. Others have experienced the last straw sooner, and some will part ways later, but I'm done with him.
Keep reading to see the Four Quarters of Fury…
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[SIZE=+1]Four Quarters of Fury[/SIZE]
Wednesday's are usually jam-packed with news, and this one was no different. Here we go.
First Quarter:
Mo Williams left Wednesday's game with the same type of groin injury he suffered over the preseason, but on the other leg, and sounded pessimistic about his chances to play Saturday.
Daniel Gibson is probably already owned, but him and
Ramon Sessions should be picked up.
Dirk Nowitzki tweaked his ankle but played through it to finish with 12 points and 10 boards, and always bounces back from these sorts of injuries.
Eric Gordon (shoulder) missed Wednesday's game but sounds confident that he'll play Friday. We'll see. The reports have been erratic out of Los Angeles, and it may be due to his optimism.
Baron Davis did not play Wednesday, and could be held out of back-to-backs or could have had a setback.
Eric Bledsoe sported a nice line for a guy off the wire with 11 points, seven assists, a steal, a block, and a three, and should be held until Baron proves he can stay on the court.
Rasual Butler scored 18 points with five boards and three treys. Give him a look if Gordon can't go Friday.
Jeff Green sat out Wednesday's game with his ankle injury, but it's not believed to be serious and he should play Friday.
Serge Ibaka had another solid start in his absence with 12 points, seven boards, and four blocks, but will head back to the bench when Green returns.
Russell Westbrook and
Kevin Durant played like a couple of guys that just won a world championship. Westy went for 31 points, five rebounds, and 12 assists, and when that kind of line gets buried this low in the Dose it's a sign that he has arrived. Durant scored 31 points and everybody is all up in arms about his 39.4 percent field goal shooting. After shooting 47% the last two years I'd be willing to bet my kid (if I had one) that he'll improve. Now's the time to float a guy like
Dwyane Wade or
Kobe Bryant to a frustrated owner.
www.miamiheat.ws
Second Quarter:
Andre Iguodala (Achilles) is iffy for Friday's game, and
Evan Turner continues to post serviceable lines in his place. He had 15 points and eight boards on Wednesday, and Doug Collins said he could stick in the lineup when Iggy returns.
Lou Williams left Wednesday's game with a shoulder injury, and
Jodie Meeks had 17 points in his place. Watch him if Williams misses any time. There was no update on
Brandon Roy's knee, other than to tell us that the update could take a up to a week to come, and that he will play reduced minutes in the meantime. I'm still bullish on guys like
Rudy Fernandez,
Nicolas Batum, and
Wesley Matthews, but admittedly the two guys not named Batum are a bit harder to pull the trigger on until we learn more.
Amir Johnson probably deserved more pub in this column, but consider this our gift to you, the owner that reads until the end. He scored 16 points with nine rebounds, a steal, and two blocks, and with
Reggie Evans leaving during the fourth quarter with a hip injury, he's a must-add in all formats. He's playing 25+ minutes per game right now as is.
Deron Williams had another spectacular outing with 30 points, five rebounds, and 14 assists. This just in – he's good.
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Third Quarter:
Gilbert Arenas hasn't had a game since Saturday, but was just 1-for-7 from the field with five points in 23 minutes off the bench. He was a game-time decision with his ankle injury, so it's nice that he played, but it's a stark reminder that he's still a work in progress.
Al Thornton had a nice night with 20 points and six boards, and outside of trying to offload him owners should just ride him until the wheels fall off.
Carlos Delfino (neck) didn't travel with the team for Wednesday's game against the Hawks, and the good news is that it's a long time between now and the next game on Saturday. On the flip side, that's bad news for
Corey Maggette, who finally made some noise with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting on Wednesday, and
Ersan Ilyasova, who had 17 points and 10 boards last night for his second strong outing in a row. They're all about to cancel each other out.
Sebastian Telfair started again at PG for the Wolves and played 40 minutes, but had just one assist to go with his 16 points. He probably has a few good starts left in him before
Luke Ridnour (hamstring) returns, and he's a pretty good desperation option.
Wesley Johnson looks locked into the starting SG spot, for whatever that's worth under Kurt Rambis. He scored 12 points with seven boards, two threes, and two assists in 31 minutes. Those type of numbers will start to get him into some starting lineups.
4th Quarter Crunch Time:
Ryan Anderson started Wednesday's game at PF but lasted under two minutes before
Brandon Bass subbed him out. It's strange, but frankly I don't care. Bass' 14-point, four-rebound line doesn't even raise an eyebrow for me. There's too much stress in the open spot in Stan Van Gundy's lineup.
Jameer Nelson (ankle) returned to action and had a nice night with 19 points, five boards, and seven assists. Get him back into your lineup.
Antawn Jamison had another good night with 14 points and nine boards. Grab him if he's available.
Shawn Marion started for injured
Caron Butler (back), and turned back the clock with 20 points, seven boards, and two blocks, but he'll be a pumpkin in no time.
DeAndre Jordan had six points with six rebounds and two blocks, which is what owners should count on while
Chris Kaman (ankle) is out. If he does more, then great, but these numbers make him a must-add in many leagues. The late game saw
Tyreke Evans have one of the worst nights he'll have all year, as he finished with just five points, three boards, but did have nine assists. He made dumb mistakes and fouled out early.
Beno Udrih picked up the slack for 16 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, which looks great considering where he was drafted.
Samuel Dalembert is a must pickup and looks like he has a pretty good grip on the center position in Sacto, at least for now. He scored 14 points with nine boards and two blocks, while
De[URL="http://fantasyfootball.usatoday.com/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=NBA&id=1794"]Marcus Cousins[/URL] struggled and was frustrated in his 14 minutes, scoring just seven points with six rebounds, a steal, and two blocks. Cousins is the definition of roster stash right now.
Carl Landry looks hopeless right now, and had just four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes last night. Feel free to drop him, but do so knowing he may turn it around at some point.
Thursday Night Lights
Tonight's slate looks pretty enticing, and I'm putting the over/under on Slim Chin ads at about 46, but I'm cool with that for at least another week. Then his ad needs to go where LeBron's ad should have gone after the first two days. And speaking of the devil, him and his buddies square off with the Celtics at home. A few people might watch that one. Off to the side is a tasty matchup between the Bulls and Warriors, and the late TNT game is the Lakers and the Nuggets. The O'Neals are questionable to play for the C's, and Nene's groin injury are the only major question marks. That, and the over/under on Slim Chin. I'll be counting.
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Davis admits setback with troublesome knee </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Baron Davis - G - LAC - Nov. 11 - 11:16 a.m. ET</B> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Baron Davis admitted that he suffered a setback in his left knee when he played 10 minutes against the Hornets on Tuesday.
