Fantasy Players to Watch Feb. 13 – 19

Sorry, busy for a minute. Will finish this by monday night.

Gary Neal – Has played excellent ball recently. Shooting a ridiculous percentage, which is bound to drop some, but ride him while he’s hot.

Nicola Pekovic – Has definitely displaced Darko by now. Putting up great rebounding and scoring numbers.

Tiago Splitter – Very efficient. Comes off the bench and scores and rebounds very well.

J.J. Barea – Has played excellent coming back from injury. Has gotten a lot of minutes recently with Rubio struggling at times.

Ersan Ilyasova – Excellent rebounder, good scorer off the bench. Has been contributing for a few weeks now.

Gordon Hayward – Young, athletic small forward. Finishes excellent at the rim. Very good shooter.

Greivis Vasquez – Jarrett Jack and Eric Gordon both out. Greivis will get plenty of time this week to contribute.

Linas Kleiza – Other than DeMar DeRozen and Jose Calderon (who looks to pass more), Toronto doesn’t have many offensive weapons. Kleiza should continue to get a chance to show what he can do.

Klay Thompson – One of the best shooters of the draft. Has hit a lot of 3 pointers the last few games. Hopefully he’ll get some minutes.

Jonas Jerebko – Has off nights, but contribute consistently.

Marreese Speights – Excellent rebounder off the bench. Gets a lot of chances to score.

Oh Lord, This Racism is Killing Me Inside (C) Chappelle

The sudden emergence of New York Knicks’ PG Jeremy Lin has been an amazing story of perseverance and triump over adversity. He has a contract that became guaranteed Friday night. As the 4th string PG, he was one week from likely being cut from the Knicks roster. The timing of his break out could not have been more perfect. Lin has galvanized the Knicks’ fanbase, temporarily saved Mike D’Antoni’s job, and answered criticism that his jump shot was sketchy. Lin’s humility, on par with Derrick Rose, has endeared him with fans, and more importantly, with his team mates.

Unfortunately, as he continues to play at an All-Star level, Lin is bombarded with blatant racism at every turn. Friday night at Madison Square Garden against the Los Angeles Lakers, signs stating “Yellow Mamba” were shown on ESPN. Besides being racist, it’s tacky and classless. Black Mamba’s actually exist, and let’s not forget that Kobe Bryant gave himself that nickname. The same night, after the game, Fox columnist Jason Whitlock tweeted “Some Lucky Lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight.” I would expect that from the comments section of a Yahoo Sports article, but not a Professional Sportswriter. Imagine if Skip Bayless made a fried chicken joke about Kyrie Irving.

Of course, racism is nothing new for Jeremy Lin. It played a part in him not getting any Division I scholarship offers. He’s heard people during games use jeers such as “Open your eyes!”, “sweet and sour pork”, and suedo-Chinese gibberish. Racism even helped keep him from getting drafted into the NBA. But now the racism is coming from people who are, or should be, cheering for him. Fans in the stands with ignorant, stereotypical signs. “He drives better than any Asian I’ve ever seen” read a sign during a recent Knicks’ game. Some of the time it’s just bad attempts at being funny, but remember, there is a thin line between being racist and having “jokes.”

The 10 Worst Starters in the NBA

1. Darko Milicic – Absolute trash. Darko doesn’t rebound well, and doesn’t shoot good for his size either. In 4 of the games Darko has started, he didn’t even score. With Darko injuring his thigh, Nikola Pekovic has gotten some starts, and played well enough that if he keeps it up might keep Darko out of the starting line-up.

2. Andray Blatche – Andray is the most cancerous player on the worst team in the league. He could be good….if he cared. The fact that he gets booed at home games says all you need to know.

3. Metta World Peace – Just a few years removed from being the focal point of Sacramento’s offense, and averaging 18PPG. Probably the worst 3 point shooter in the league at 17%. 31% FG shooter, and 51% from the line. Still has some of the best hands in basketball. That and his strength on defense are all he has left.

4. Corey Maggette – Most selfish player in the league. Complete black hole on offense. Still taking 11 shots a game, even though he’s only shooting 30%. Gets most of his points at the FT line, where he’s always been very good. Averages 1 assist a game.

5. Derek Fisher – Derek is basically a corpse at this point. He couldn’t stay in front of his man in a wheelchair league. His FG percentage is down (and it was never great to begin with), his 3 point shooting is wretched, and he still thinks he can take it to the lane and make lay-ups (He can’t).

6. Anthony Parker – Kyrie Irving would be top 10 in assists if he wasn’t passing the ball to Casspi and Parker. AP just can’t shoot at all, doesn’t matter where he shoots from. With Candace Parker on Cleveland, they’d have a .500 record and be a #6-8 seed in the playoffs.

7. Devin Harris – What happened to Devin? When he got traded to New Jersey he was averaging 20PPG, and even dropped 40+ a few times. This year he looks lost. He’s getting to the FT line half as much as he has the last several years, and when he does get to the line, he’s only shooting 69%.

8. Tyrus Thomas – Shooting 35%, and so inconsistent that he’s losing minutes to Derrick Brown. Will lure you in with one amazing game, followed by absolute mediocrity. Good shot blocker, but that’s about it.

9. Shelden Williams – Plankton has started every game for the Nets, brings a lunch pail mentality to every game, and he’s married to Candace Parker. That’s it.

10. Andris Biedrins – Golden State thought they had found their center for the next few years. Unfortunately, Andris hasn’t panned out. He’s only attempted 5 FT’s this whole year along with 2 shots per game. He’s completely invisible on offense. He’s currently playing 1 minute less than Ekpe Udoh, and really only because Udoh is a rookie and a few inches shorter.

Jeremy Lin…..Linsanity has begun.

I first started paying attention to Jeremy Lin when he was at Harvard, after a game against Boston College where Lin went off. Lin being Asian and making a name for himself in basketball while playing for Harvard obviously helped him stand out, but it’s his skill at getting to the rim and getting other team mates open looks that makes you want to keep watching him play. After he failed to get drafted, I didn’t pay attention to him until he was coming off the bench in Golden State. He had a definite spark you could see, but being an unproven rookie, the Warriors played Lin sparsely. After being waived by the Warriors, then signing with Houston and being waived by them (I was looking forward to Lowry and possibly Lin playing together at some point), Lin was signed by the Knicks. I’ve always felt if Lin got a chance and some extended minutes, he’d flourish. Let’s not forget that he’s excelled in the NCAA, and the NBA D-League, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watches NBA basketball. I was curious how Lin would shoot, seeing how his jumper has at times looked horrible, and sometimes he has trouble finishing at the rim, but so far it hasn’t been a serious problem. Lin can get into the lane almost at will, has a good first step and a good crossover, knows how to use a pick-and-roll, and plays excellent defense. He also has tons of confidence, but at the same time, enough humility to match Derrick Rose. He’s playing a lot of minutes right now with Melo and Amare out, so it will be interesting to see how his stamina holds up. I’d expect his points to drop a tad when Amare comes back, though he could average more assists.

Fantasy Players to Watch Feb. 5th-12th

1. Jeremy Lin – New York Knick’s starting PG – Already the most added player in the L. No Amare, no Melo, a constantly inconsistent Landy Fields and Shump shooting 36% FG. Lins’ jumper can be sketchy, and he will be TO prone, but he can get into the lane at will, has a ton of confidence, and will put up BIG point and assist numbers for at least a few games.

2. Nikola Pekovic – Minnesota Wolves starting C – After breaking out against New Jersey recently, and doing a good job scoring/rebounding, Pekovic SHOULD get starting minutes over Darko Milicic, who is/was definitely one of the worst starters in NBA basketball this season. Absolutely a must add for this week, especially with Love out one more game.

3. Anthony Morrow – New Jersey Nets starting SG – Exploded the other night against Minnesota for a career high 43 points. An excellent 3 point shooter at 45%. With MarShon Brooks and Brook Lopez out, and Deron as his PG, Anthony should get plenty of shots.

4. Greivis Vasquez – New Orleans starting PG – With Eric Gordon out indefinitely, and Jarett Jack slightly injured, Greivis will get a lot of minutes for a short period of time. N.O. doesn’t have many offensive options, other than Trevor Ariza and to a lesser extent, Marco Belinelli.

5. Mo Willaims – Clippers back-up PG/SG – Looks like Randy Foye will get the start at SG against the Cavaliers, but Mo was already putting up amazing numbers when CP3 went down. Look for him to do ALMOST the same.

6. Ersan Ilyasova – Milwaukee Bucks back-up Center – Averaging just about a double-double with Bogut injured. Needs to improve on his FG%, but for fantasy owners, will be a nice pick up.

7. Tiago Splitter – San Antonio Spurs back-up PF/C – VERY efficient, with a RIDICULOUS FG% (63%). Best bench player the Spurs have, and will get about as many minutes as DeJuan Blair. Can also fill in for Timmy if needed.

8. Gordon Hayward – Utah Jazz starting SF – Plays with A LOT of energy. Decent in the open court. Averaging about 10PPG. Too many options offensively on Utah for Gordon to consistently have huge games, but he should be good for about 10PPG, and 3-4 rebounds.

9. Alonzo Gee – Cleveland Cavaliers starting SG – Candidate for Most Improved Player this year. First career start on Tuesday against Miami resulted in 17 points on 6-11 shooting. Starting should only add to his fantasy value. As will playing with Kyrie Irving.

10. Reggie Williams – Charlotte Bobcats starting SG – Since starting for injured SG Gerald Henderson, Williams is averaging 21PPG

11. Randy Foye – Clippers starting SG – With the Clippers having so many scoring options, Foye should get a lot of good looks.

2012 NBA All Star Reserves

Last week, the starting 10 for the All Star game was announced. Now, it’s time to pick the All Star Reserves. The following list are the players I would like to see get a nod, along with a reason why I believe said player should get picked.

West Reserves:

Marc Gasol – IF it weren’t for Love and Alridge, I’d choose Pau Gasol as a reserve, but there’s no way Pau gets a nod over those two. And while Pau CAN play center, he’s really a PF. Marc is a true center, and he is having a career year in minutes, rebounds, points, blocks, etc.

Kevin Love – Averages more points, rebounds, and shoots a better FT% than LMA, and is one of the best passing big men in the game (MVPau and Marc Gasol up there too). Also has more range than any PF in the game. Blake got the start not because he’s better than Love or LMA, but because he’s more popular than both.

LaMarcus Alridge – Spaces the floor really well, has great hands, and has a length advantage over both Love and Griffin. Unfortunately, LMA seems to be okay with Marcus Camby getting more rebounds than him.

Kyle Lowry – Had a bad two week shooting slump, though he still put up nice rebounding and assists numbers. Recently, Lowry has returned to form shooting wise. I know Nash is the more popular choice here, but Lowry has his team above .500% and plays much better defense than Nash does. Plus, you have to love a feel good story.

Russell Westbrook – CP3 is the only PG in the west who can take over and control a game like Russy can. He’s also the only PG that can match the excitement Russy brings. Westbrook started the season slow and TO prone, but has rebounded nicely since. Both his FG% and scoring are up.

Paul Milsap – Averaging 16 points, 9 rebounds, and shooting 53% from the field.

Rudy Gay – Shooting a better FG% than Monta, and averaging more rebounds. Either one can be argued, but Gay has Memphis in the hunt for a playoff spot with no Z-Bo, while Monta and Golden State are lottery bound again.

 

East Reserves:

Chris Bosh – Chris Bosh is the pussy in the Miami threesome. But he’s also playing better than every other forward not named Lebron James. Should have been picked as a starter over Melo. Averaging 20PPG as a third option.

Andre Iguodala – The best defensive player on the #1 defensive team in the league. While his offensive stats aren’t eye catching, Iggy can still dunk with the best of them.

Kyrie Irving – Will he and Rubio hit the wall, as most rookies do? Neither has yet, and while Rubio is playing excellent and has his team 1 game above .500% right now, Kyrie is shooting far better, would average about the same assists with better shooters, and as I’ve been saying all year, has Cleveland winnings games no one would have thought possible before the season started. Cleveland is actually respectable…..and after the season they had last year, that’s amazing to think about.

Deron Williams – Started the season off shooting well below his FG%, and playing on a team with D-League talent, it wasn’t very shocking. Deron’s assists are down, and his TO’s are up slightly, but that should be expected as he has very little talent to pass to, and must carry more of the scoring burden, especially with both Brook Lopez AND MarShon Brooks out. He has gotten his FG% over 40% recently, and is one of the strongest PG’s in the NBA.

Paul Pierce – A month ago, I’d have replaced Pierce with Luol Deng, but Deng is injured, and The Truth has been on a tear since returning from his own injury.

Greg Monroe – Monroe or Roy Hibbert. The reason I go with Monroe is because Hibbert isn’t as important to Indiana as Monroe is to Detroit. Monroe’s averaging 16 & 10 while leading Detroit in points, rebounding, and steals. Monroe is also the only real bright spot on that Detroit roster right now (Brandon Knight to an extent too, but Monroe way more so).

Rajon Rondo – Only played in 13 games due to his injury, but when he is playing, he’s definitely better than every east coast PG with the exception of Derrick Rose.

 

10 Best In Game Dunks Ever

Blake Griffin’s recent dunk on Kendrick Perkins made me think of all the great in game dunks I’ve seen over the years, so I decided to compile a list of my personal top 10 Yams. For those wondering why “The Human Highlight Film” isn’t on this list (Dominique Wilkins’ dunk over 3 Miami Heat players would have made my list), there isn’t a youtube.com video of just it alone.

1. Vince Carter over Frederic Weis. Weis had been signed by the Knicks. After this dunk during the Olympics though, he never even played NBA ball.

2. Shawn Kemp over Alton Lister. Kemp steals Listers’ soul; not only with the dunk, but more so with the finger pointing by Kemp. Might be the most vicious, but still hilarious dunk I’ve ever seen.

3. Scottie Pippen over Patrick Ewing. The physicality of the dunk, then the walk over taunt. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he talks trash to Spike Lee as well. WOW.

4. Vince Carter over Alonzo Mourning. Vince takes the blow from Alonzo, and still yams on him.

5. Kobe over Yao Ming. Granted Yao isn’t the greatest shot blocker of all-time, but he actually gets his hand on the ball as Kobe dunks, but Kobe just went THROUGH Yao’s hand.

6. Kevin Johnson over Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem was the premier shot blocker in the league.

7. Baron Davis over Andrei Kiralinko: The Warriors were the 8th seed in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. They had just beaten #1 seeded Dallas. Down 0-2 in the series, the Warriors were at home looking to get back in the series. Baron’s dunk was the icing on the cake.

8. Michael Jordan over Patrick Ewing. Not only is the dunk ridiculous, but the move to get to the rim is JUST AS RIDICULOUS:

9. Blake Griffin over Timofey Mozgov. If it weren’t for the fact that Blake kind of throws the ball into the rim, this would be higher on my list:

10. Lebron James over John Lucas. Only player I know of to ever jump over someone and dunk on them in an NBA game. The fact that it was an alley oop only adds to it.

Over-Hyping Blake Griffin’s Dunk on Kendrick Perkins

I was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Clippers game the other night when Blake Griffin mistook Kendrick Perkins for a Kia Optima. Perk stopped Blake about 3 feet short, and Blake said “Okay, I’m STILL dunking on you!” Excellent masculinity deflating dunk for sure, but it’s already become so over-hyped that i don’t want to see it anymore. There’s been talk of it being the Greatest Dunk of All Time. Wait, what? Blake Griffin’s “How’s my crotch taste?” dunk over Timofey Mosgov last year was better, and even that wasn’t the greatest dunk ever. I feel that Lebron’s dunk over John Lucas is still a better dunk, but that’s arguable. By the way, I have to give credit to Perkins for attempting to block the dunk instead of running away from it (ala Kevin Durant in the same game)! Also, as for Perkins deleting his Twitter account, supposedly he did that weeks ago.

 

Lakers Looking to Add Pieces

It’s being reported that the Lakers are currently interested in using the trade exception they got from Dallas on Clevelands’ PG Ramon Sessions. Sessions would definitely be an improvement over Derek Fisher and a carousel of Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris. A combination of Ramon Sessions, Steve Blake and Derek Fisher is still not a great front court, but it’s not exactly a stop gap either. While it’s good to see the Lakers actually trying to USE the trade exception (they let the trade exception they got for Sasha Vujacic expire without using it) they got from Dallas for Lamar Odom, it still makes me scratch my head. Odom just won the 6th Man of the Year award. His value was as high as it’s ever been. I can’t believe that only Dallas was interested in him. Unhappy or not, the Lakers should have told Lamar to “kick rocks” and play hard until they could get a decent trade.

Speaking of head scratching moves, I’m still wondering why the Lakers chose not to re-sign DJ Mbenga as a back up two years ago. Instead they brought in old, washed up Theo Ratliff, then traded Sasha Vujacic and a 1st round pick for old, washed up Joe Smith, two 2nd round picks, and a trade exception. Then proceeded to barely play either, while paying them more money than Mbenga would have made. This year, the Lakers are looking into bum kneed, possibly washed up locker room cancer Gilbert Arenas, as well as old, retired Rasheed Wallace. Now, who knows if Gilbert’s knee is 100%, and even if it is, what kind of attitude he’ll bring to the locker room. It’s nice to think he’d return to excellence playing with Kobe Bryant on the Lakers, about 30 minutes away from San Fernando where he grew up and played high school ball, but if that was all it took, Baron Davis would have had a great year last season with the Clippers.

Fantasy Basketball Players To Watch

1. Drew Gooden – Milwaukee PF – Scoring in bunches recently, and adding a few rebounds.

2. Luke Ridnour – Minnesota PG – Rubio is getting all the attention, but Ridnour has been knocking down shots all year. Excellent back up PG.

3. Tiago Splitter – San Antonio C – Back up, but playing a lot of minutes behind DeJuan Blair or Timmy. Plus, the Spurs will sit Timmy a few games here and there, and Tiago will start. Good for 13-18 fantasy points off the bench.

4. Marreese Speights – Memphis PF – Good rebounder off the bench, very smooth with the ball.

5. Byron Mullens – Charlotte C – Coming off the bench recently, but still put up career numbers in points.

6. Ersan Ilyasova – Milwaukee SF/PF – Recently averaging 10 PPG off the bench, though he did start early this year. Bucks playing well right now.

7. Marvin Williams – Atlanta SG – Averaging 10 PPG for the season, Marvin is a very good 3 point shooter.

8. Iman Shumpert – New York PG – Not a very good shooter, so pass if you’re in need of FG%, but Iman will put up 8-15 points, and about 3-5 assists. Can be TO prone though.

9. DeAndre Jordan – Clippers C – DeAndre and CP3 have a better feel for each other than Blake and CP3 do. DeAndre will benefit a lot from a healthy CP3 running the team. He’s already leading the league in blocks. Expect more and more double doubles, or close to it.

10. Kawhi Leonard – San Antonio SG/SF – Decent scorer/rebounder. Will have a few double doubles here and there, but still a rookie, so expect ups and downs.

11. MarShon Brooks – New Jersey SG – Injured right now with a broken toe, but he’ll be back soon. Very good scorer, and with Deron as his PG, he’ll get good passes and good looks.

12. Michael Beasley – Minnesota SF – Recently injured, a lot of people dropped him thinking he’d be out a while. Came back earlier than expected.