Just Give Me The Stats!!

FOR ALL YOU KOBE FANS!!!!

2008-06-13T12:55:00.004-05:00

This is for all the Lakers fans that wrote me on my old blog at wordpress.com. Gee, I guess you guys were the ones who are wrong, not me. Kobe is averaging under 40% shooting in his last TWO finals appearances! Oh yeah, he lost both of those!!!!!

I said Celtics in 6 games and it looks like I might be wrong, because the Celtics should win in 5!!!

The most joy I get out of this finals series is the fact that NO ONE CAN ARGUE THAT KOBE IS AS GOOD AS MICHAEL JORDAN!!!! Kobe will have lost 2 finals series, and there's no way Jordan lets the Celtics come back from a 24-point decifit at home in a critical game 4.

Kobe...you suck!

Limited Posting for a While

2008-01-10T21:07:00.000-06:00

It appears that I decided to start this blog a year too soon. I am simply too busy with my new daughter and job to post every day and break down the NBA like I originally planned. Plus, this is an EXTREMELY critical year in our great Nation!

I will be devoting the majority of my free time to following the 2008 Presidential campaign, which will greatly decrease the number of NBA games I watch. I'm actually watching the GOP debate on Fox News as I write this.

I'll still post from time to time, when something sparks my nerve, but I'll be largely dormant until next season.

I hope everyone researches the presidential candidates, watches the debates and makes the most informed decision you possibly can. The future of our economy and security of the USA is at stake, along with so much more!

The Nuggets Are For Real

2008-01-03T22:30:00.001-06:00

The Nuggets took out the mighty Spurs tonight and proved they are for real.

Iverson and Melo look good together. Anthony Carter is doing very well as their point guard. Camby is having another all-star type season and the combo of him and a healthy Kenyon Martin make the best defensive front line in the West. Their bench is as strong as any in the league with Kleiza, Atkins, Najera, Nene and JR Smith.

In fact, they are now my dark horse to win the West this year. They can score with the best. Defend bigs like Tim Duncan, and they are very good defensively, as they illustrated tonight.

Go Nuggets.

My All-Star Picks

2008-01-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

Here are my picks for the All-Star Game:

Eastern Conference

Starters:

Jason Kidd

Dwyane Wade

LeBron James

Kevin Garnett

Dwight Howard

Reserves:

Chris Bosh

Caron Butler

Paul Pierce

Chauncey Billups

Michael Redd

Joe Johnson

Shaquille O'Neal (by name and respect only)

People I would like to see selected:

Josh Smith

Hedo Turkoglu

Andre Iguodala

Ray Allen

Western Conference

Starters:

Kobe Bryant

Tracy McGrady

Tim Duncan

Dirk Nowitzki

Yao Ming

Reserves:

Chris Paul

Steve Nash

Allen Iverson

Carlos Boozer

Carmelo Anthony

Josh Howard

Amare Stoudemire

People I would like to see selected:

Deron Williams

Al Jefferson

Chris Kaman

Baron Davis

Marcus Camby

Brandon Roy

Perception is Reality

2008-01-03T09:26:00.000-06:00

I’ve figured out the key to happiness, and I’ve done it by using Isiah Thomas as my model. I’ve decided that Isiah is the happiest person on the planet. Most of you might think otherwise, being that he is one of the most hated GM’s in the NBA.

He is the only GM in the NBA who had an informal press conference outside his arena, where the Knick fans issued him a pink slip. He had his starting point guard blackmail him for playing time. He lost a sexual harassment suit that cost his company 11.5 million dollars. The Knicks haven’t even sniffed .500 since Isiah took over (39 wins is the most wins they achieved in a season under his tutelage), they currently stand at 8-22. The once proud Madison Square Garden is filled with Boos and “Fire Isiah” chants, instead of the applause and roars of the crowd that used to be heard when the team was of a championship caliber.

All these reasons might lead you to believe that President/Coach Thomas is one click of the trigger away from ending his professional career, and going to live with the Amish in Pennsylvania never to be heard from again. But you would be wrong, my friend. Instead, Isiah is as confident and optimistic as ever. Read this sports illustrated article:

Delusional Isiah says he will lead the Knicks to a Championship

Here are the quotes I want to focus on:

"I believe that one day we will win a championship here," Thomas said. "And I believe a couple of these guys will be a part of that. And I believe I'll be a part of that."

"I don't necessarily just want to win a championship. I want to leave something that's going to stand for a long time. I want to leave a legacy, I want to leave tradition," Thomas said. "I want to leave an imprint, a blueprint in terms of how people play, and how they coach and how they respond when they put on the Knick uniform.

“De Plane! De Plane!”

Yes, that was Tatto from Fantasy Island. The plane has just arrived and its guest of honor is Isiah Thomas. His hallucination gets even worse when you hear him make these comments:

"I like the direction we're headed," Thomas said Friday, before his team lost to the Bobcats. "I've said this before: our future is definitely much brighter than it was when I got here four years ago. Cost-wise we're down. Talent-wise we're up. We did a good job of putting people in the seats. I think we're pretty close this year to getting back on track again."

"The victories will start to come," Thomas said. "From where we were to where we are this is the time you start taking steps forward. Last year I thought we had a chance to make the playoffs. I think this year we'll have a chance to make the playoffs. The way the East is now, there are five or six teams searching to find themselves and we're one of them. I think there'll be three or four of those teams that will find themselves, head into the playoffs and I think we'll be one of them."

If Isiah can be happy and confident in the wake of what he has done to the marquee franchise of the NBA, than sign me up! Perception is reality, and Isiah has created an alternate reality that rivals Narnia; a universe where he is successful. It must be a beautiful place for him to be able to forget about not only his current failures and short comings, but also his past (destroying the CBA and the Pacers).

I imagine there are no talking lions, dwarfs or Centaurs. Just Isiah sitting on his throne, casting out the non-believers, and granting the Knicks a championship year after year; in spite of the fact that the team is poorly contrived, selfish and inept. Isiah is not only the Knicks President and Coach, but the NBA commissioner and President of the whole world! He is so beloved and revered that everyone talks in a soft high voice to emulate His Greatness. He can call women bitches and invite them to meet him “off-site” with no repercussions of any kind. In fact, these women accept his invitation and make him a very happy man. His players can’t blackmail him because his indiscretions are known and accepted, much like Bill Clinton.

Isiah, I’m going to follow your lead. I vow to be successful, happy and optimistic regardless of the miserable failure I may be at any given time. I will also continue to tell the world about how victorious I have become and will continue to be. Perception is reality.

I Hate You, Shane Battier!

2008-01-02T11:24:00.000-06:00

People say Shane Battier is a great guy. They say he's a model citizen and a true role model. Word is that he's the perfect teammate and a coaches dream. He's willing to do all the dirty work on the court, like taking charges. Damn, he can take a hit and flop on the ground like no one else.... except for Chuck Hayes, he's also supremely effective at taking a charge. I guess, he is just the guy that anyone would want on their team. Anyone, except for me.

I hate Shane Battier!

I hate him because Jeff Van Gundy and Carol Dawson thought he was the missing piece to a Rocket's championship, and they traded a super athletic supremely talented 19 year old, Rudy Gay, for him.

I hate him because he is so limited in his offensive repertoire that he is only capable of hitting a jump hook or a spot up three.

I hate him because he is shooting a phenomenal 41% from the field and 39% from three.

I hate him because he is the worst third scoring option on any team in the league.

I hate him because he is averaging a tremendous 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this season.

I hate him because he is starting along side Chuck Hayes, who is amazingly even more offensively defective.

I hate him every time he takes a charge the announcers talk about how great Shane is at doing the little things.

I hate him because T-Mac is going to miss at least a month of the season with another injury, and the Rockets could really use a gifted scoring guard like... Rudy Gay.

I hate him because I was so thrilled and excited when I saw Rudy Gay slip to the Rockets at number 8 in the 2006 draft, and minutes later I find out they traded him away to the Grizzlies (along with Stromile Swift).

I hate him because Rudy Gay is averaging 19.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, while shooting 47% from the field, in his second year.

I hate Shane Battier because of the fact that the Rockets mortgaged their future for him, thinking he would bring a Championship back to Houston, and they still have not won a first round playoff series.

Shane, I hated you the night of the draft day trade in 2006 when you came to Houston and my hatred only increases each time that I watch Rudy Gay put 25 plus points on any given team in the league.

My anger increases when I watch you face Rudy in a head to head match-up, only to see Rudy throw down a vicious dunk on your nonathletic ass!

I hate you because you are such a nice guy and it makes people blind as to how worthless you really are on the basketball court.

Simply put, I hate you Shane Battier and I always will.

Hiatus is Over

2008-01-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

Alright, it's the new year and my daughter is getting better. She still gets fussy quite a bit, but she's gotten a lot better, or we've just become accustom to dealing with her. Therefore, I am back on the wagon and will be posting again starting tonight. Let the good times roll!

No Time for Posting

2007-12-26T11:51:00.000-06:00

I apologize for not posting anything in the last couple of weeks, but my newborn baby is very colicy, and she requires my full attention when I am home. I am still watching NBA games while trying my best to soothe her, but by the time she finally goes to sleep I'm completely exhausted and need to go to bed. She is almost 3 months old, so hopefully I only have another 2 weeks of this!

I'll be posting soon. Thank you for your patience.

Younger is Better

2007-12-11T14:37:00.001-06:00

This weekend I watched a number of games which featured very young players as their go to guys; namely the Hawks, Magic, Grizzlies, Trailblazers, Timberwolves and Sonics. Each of those teams has a player who is 22 years old or younger that is having big time success! It made me think about how many other players that same age are making a name for themselves, so I decided to compile a list. I’ll rank them based on their performance this year, as well as give commentary on what type of player they will become. The list is pretty eye opening, once you put them all together.

We’ll count down to number one. I have included John Hollinger’s PER stats. Statistical Averages will follow this format:

Points – Rebounds – Assists – Steals – Blocks – FG% - Minutes per Game

Let’s get started!

Greg Oden
You can’t have a list of ulta-talented young players without having Greg Oden on it. I believe he will be a very good center, who will rebound and guard the paint for the Blazers, just like they need. I saw him on TNT last week and he look much better with the additional 30 lbs of muscle! However, I’m not sure that is the smartest thing with the upcoming rehab on his knee. Is it wise to add so much weight up top before the knee is healthy?? I hope he is just fine, because I love his personality and I’m rooting for him to succeed.

JR Smith (22 yrs)
10.9 – 2.3 – 2.2 – 1.11 – 0.11 – 40% - 21 min
PER – 13.88
JR has more pure talent than most players in the League, but his desire and discipline hurt him tremendously. He has a great shooting touch and is as athletic as they come. My only hope is that he’ll put it all together in the next year or two and show the world what he can do! Melo and JR could be a deadly duo (as long as they still have Camby to play a little defense).

Corey Brewer (21 yrs)
4.7 – 4.3 – 1.5 – 0.76 – 0.35 – 31% - 21 min
PER – 7.64
I wasn’t high on Brewer coming into this season. I think his shot is way too streaky and he doesn’t handle the ball well enough to be effective off the dribble. That being said, he has shown a lot of heart and hustle the past few games. He’s rebounding at an alarming rate. He’s averaging 8.3 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists with a steal and a block in the month of December. That’s pretty nice for a rookie. Granted he’s shooting 33%, but hopefully that comes around with time. Brewer could be a very good small forward for the next 10 years, if he keeps developing his raw skills and keeps this motor going.

Linas Kleiza (22 yrs)
10.7 – 3.5 – 1 – 0.63 – 0.05 – 49% - 22 min
PER – 13.91
Linas has a great shooting stroke and a knack for scoring. His tends to be a little streaky at times, but that comes with youth. The Nuggets are looking good as long as Kleiza and Smith continue to develop.

Daniel Gibson (21 yrs)
12.8 – 2.8 – 3.3 – 0.90 – 0.29 – 47% - 34 min
PER – 13.60
Daniel is a two guard in a point guard’s body. That’s the only reason he is not ranked higher. That being said, I love his confidence! He thrives when taking big shots and has a great stroke. He can dribble penetrate and get in the lane with ease, but he needs to continue to work on finishing in traffic and dishing out to open men on the perimeter. Basically, he needs to work on his point guard skills.

Kyle Lowry (21 yrs)
9.6 – 4.4 – 4 – 1.05 – 0.40 – 39% - 26 min
PER – 14.48
Kyle will blow up this year, if they would just give him the starting job over Damon Stoudamire. He is only 6’ point guard, but he plays like he is at least 6’5”! He loves to mix it up in the paint and rebound! He is a very good scorer when ask to do so and understands how to find his teammates in scoring position. The Grizzlies are doing themselves a disservice by playing Damon so many minutes. Let Kyle Free!

Rajon Rondo (21yrs)
8.3 – 3.8 – 5.2 – 1.78 – 0.17 – 53% - 32 min
PER – 14.08
A lot was said about Rajon’s ability to run the point with three great players on the court with him. Those concerns were absurd! Rajon is the perfect compliment to the current Big Three. He’s super athletic, unselfish, quick with the ball and plays good defense. I expect him to continue to grow and get even better as the year progresses. He’ll never average a lot of assists with KG, Pierce and Allen on the floor, because so much of the offense runs through them and they are gifted passers themselves, but he’s doing enough to help them win ball games. That’s all that can be expected.

Sean William (21 yrs)
6.7 – 4.7 – 0.3 – 0.53 – 1.94 – 56% - 19 min
PER – 17.10
Why is Sean Williams not starting!!!!!! This is ridiculous! The Nets are losing and Coach Frank is still trotting out scrubs like Malik Allen and Jason Collins to run with Kidd, Jefferson and Carter. I simply don’t understand it. Williams is a superior offensive player (even as a rookie), defender, runner and shot blocker than either of those two! I mean, he’s averaging just under 2 blocks per game in only 19 minutes of play!! He’ll learn to stay out of foul trouble. Just send him out there and baptize him by fire! I love his potential and think he’ll be a beast in the future. Hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.

Dorell Wright (22 yrs)
6.4 – 5.2 – 1.2 – 0.58 – 0.42 – 46% - 22 min
PER – 14.82
I’ve been following Dorell Wright for a couple of years now. I love his pure talent and ability. He just needs to put it together between the ears. Well, it looks like he’s starting to do just that. He was named the starter three games ago and he’s exploded on the scene! He’s averaging 13 points, 10 boards and 2.3 assists in those three games, plus the Heat have won 2 out of the 3! He’ll have his ups and downs, but I believe there will be much more ups as the season progresses. Pat Riley said he could see the Heat being lead by Wade and Wright in the future… who I am to not believe Riley?

Yi Jianlian (20 yrs)
9.4 – 5.4 – 0.8 – 0.53 – 1 – 43% - 26 min
PER – 12.85
Yi has been a pleasant surprise for the Bucks this year. He has a nice shot and is ok on the boards. He is much more athletic than most people expected. If he really is just 20 years old, then he has the skill set to become a very very good player both inside and out!

Tyrus Thomas (21 yrs)
6.4 – 4.9 – 1 – 0.69 – 0.69 – 41% - 19 min
PER – 11.24
Incredible athleticism mixed with a high motor, usually means success in the NBA. I believe it will for Tyrus, but he still has a ways to go. He had a few nice games this year, but the consistency is still lacking in a major way. He has the heart and desire, so I believe he will continue to work on his skills and he’ll turn into a very dominant force on the defensive end with enough offensive skills to help his team win; however, that’s still a couple of years away, in my opinion.

Jeff Green (21 yrs)
9.1 – 5.3 – 0.7 – 0.38 – 0.33 – 44% - 22 min
PER – 10.89
Jeff Green has really impressed me this year. When he gets at least 30 minutes in a game, he is a force on the glass! He has a very nice shot and is an above average slasher. It’s a shame he’s not getting more minutes for the Sonics, but I hope PJ changes that very soon. He excels where Durant struggles, which is why they will be such a great team for years to come!

Darko Milicic (22 yrs)
7.7 – 6.7 – 1.2 – 0.5 – 1.92 – 43% - 29 min
PER – 9.82
I’ve been a long time believer in Darko, and have gotten countless crap for it. This year, the Grizzlies are giving him an opportunity and he’s doing an adequate job, when healthy. I still see more in him. I believe he will average around 12, 8 & 2 blocks by the end of the year, but again, that might just be my unfounded bias.

Ronnie Brewer (22 yrs)
13.7 – 2.8 – 2.5 – 2.19 – 0.14 – 52% - 31 min
PER – 19.04
Dynamite in a bottle! Ronnie has given the Jazz great production in the one area that was most lacking last year! I love his athleticism and defense. He’s the perfect player for Jerry Sloan! It would be nice if he improved his jump shot, but he is extremely effective even with out it. He’ll be a mainstay in the Jazz starting lineup for years to come.

Andrea Bargnani (22 yrs)
11.9 – 4.5 – 1.3 – 0.18 – 0.47 – 40% - 25 min
PER – 12.46
Bargnani has a beautiful shot and is decent when he puts the ball on the floor and goes to the rim. I also love his confidence. His major weaknesses are his defense and rebounding. One he puts his effort and attention to that aspect of his game, he’ll be extremely good. I don’t believe he’ll ever be as good as Dirk, but he can be a step under that level.

Al Horford (21 yrs)
8.8 – 10.8 – 1.1 – 1 – 1.16 – 49% - 33 min
PER – 13.73
Al had been a beast on the glass! He also has a very nice offensive game; he just doesn’t get many opportunities right now. He’ll be an 18 point and 12 rebound guy in the league for years to come! Absolutely love his talent. This was the best draft pick the Hawks have made in years!

Andris Biedrins (21 yrs)
11 – 10 – 1.5 – 0.60 – 1.45 – 63% - 29 min
PER – 19.34
Andris has the ugliest free throw shot in the league, but he’s a big time hustler and finisher around the basket, which is why he’s on this list. Truly, the Warriors are the perfect team for him. He is athletic enough to run up and down the floor and he is active enough to grab all the missed shots his teammates throw up! I don’t think he’ll do much more than what he’s doing now, but that’s really not needed. He’s a very good player in his own right.

Marvin Williams (21 yrs)
15.6 – 5.9 – 1.9 – 1.22 – 0.44 – 48% - 35 min
PER - 16.83
Marvin is finally starting to show his talent! We say that, but the truth is he’s only 21 years old, so he is progressing quite nicely. He has a knack for scoring the basketball and is decent on the glass and in passing lanes. I would still like to see him kick it up a few notches in the consistency department, but he seems to be growing with each game, so I’m sure that will be coming. I see a 20 ppg, 7 rebound, 3 assists per game player in Marvin.

Monta Ellis (22 yrs)
16.5 – 4 – 3.3 – 1.5 – 0.55 – 48% - 34 min
PER – 17.12
Monta came storming on the scene last year and proved that he is an offensive force. Every time Baron misses a game, Monta comes up BIG! That goes to show he only needs more opportunities. He’ll easily average 20 points per game, and can be a 5 rebound, 5 assist guy, if he continues to develop.

Andrew Bynum (20 yrs)
10.9 – 9.7 – 1.5 – 0.53 – 2 – 59% - 26 min
PER – 20.58
I have not been a big fan of Bynum, until this year. I’ve already written about him on my blog, so I’ll make this short, but he’ll eaily average a double double this year and has the potential to be a 20 point – 10 rebound guy in the next 3 years. He has a lot to learn still, but he’s coming around nicely.

LaMarcus Aldridge (22 yrs)
18.7 – 7.7 – 0.8 – 0.7 – 1.25 – 53% - 34 min
PER – 19.81
I actually expected a bigger year from LaMarcus! I thought he could be a 20 point – 10 rebound guy this year! Look who they have on the Blazers…. NOBODY!! However, he is scoring 18 points per game. He just needs to apply himself a little more on the glass. He is the perfect compliment to Oden, so I look for big things in his future!

Rudy Gay (21 yrs)
18.7 – 5.5 – 1.7 – 1.35 – 0.95 – 47% - 36 min
PER – 18.36
I love Rudy Gay! I’ve already wrote about how stupid the Rockets were to trade him. I see him being a 24 ppg – 7 rebound – 4 assists per game guy with good steals and blocks! The Grizzlies have their franchise player of the future in Rudy!

Luol Deng (22 yrs)
17.5 – 6.8 – 1.7 – 1.2 – 0.53 – 47% - 36 min
PER – 16.36
Luol has not met the loft expectations that were put on him. However, the whole team is struggling mightily to this point, so it could easily turn around. Deng has a phenomenal midrange shot and is a very craft offensive player. I’d like to see him rebound more, but that should come with time.

Kevin Durant (19 yrs)
20.3 – 4.6 – 1.9 – 0.95 – 1.33 – 39% - 34 min
PER – 14.82
Durant is living up to expectations so far. I know he’s not shooting a great percentage and he’s doing a poor job on the glass, but that will come with time. He’s only 19 years old. He has one of the purest shots I’ve even seen. He is fluid with the ball and he thrives to have the ball when the game is on the line. His competitiveness will push him to stay in the weight room and turn his weaknesses into strengths. He’ll average 28, 9 & 3 in a few years. Write it down!

Al Jefferson (22 yrs)
20.1 – 11.3 – 1.4 – 1.06 – 1.33 – 49% - 36 min
PER – 21.48
I’ve loved Al Jefferson since his rookie year. I’ve had him on my team since then too! He is already one of the most gifted lowpost scorers in the League, and he has a nose for the basketball. He’ll be a 20-10 guy for the next 10 years.

Josh Smith (22 yrs)
18 – 7.2 – 3.5 – 1.94 – 3.56 – 42% - 36 min
PER - 21.24
I can’t say enough about the season Josh Smith is having. Yes, he is not shooting great percentages, but he’s doing EVERYTHING else, so who cares! He’ll be a 20 ppg player by the end of the year while increasing his rebounds to 8 per game with the same assists, steals and blocks! Simply a monster. The sky’s the limit with Josh. If he gets a consistent midrange or outside shot, he’ll be unstoppable!

Chris Paul (22 yrs)
21 – 4 – 9.8 – 2.89 – 0.05 – 49% - 37 min
PER – 27.99
Chris Paul is reminding everyone that last year was not indicative of his ability. He is one of the five best point guards in the league, and he’s only 22. His future is bright.

Dwight Howard (22 yrs)
23.5 – 15 – 1.4 – 0.81 – 2.90 – 61% - 38 min
PER – 25.09
I have written more about Dwight than anyone else on my blog. DWIGHT FOR MVP!!! Therefore, I’ll just post David Thorpe’s (ESPN) scouting report on Dwight. Check it out, it's great reading:

Scouting Report: What Makes Dwight Howard so Dominant? by David Thorpe

LeBron James (22 yrs)
30.7 – 7.6 – 8.1 – 1.94 – 1.50 – 49% - 40 min
PER – 32.61
LeBron is LeBron. He is the only player who has even the slightest shot at over taking Jordan as the greatest player of all time (that’s a HUGE compliment from a guy who named his son, Jordan Michael). LeBron still has a ways to go before he can even think about surpassing Jordan (like win a championship or 6), but he is well on his way. He is the best player in the league!

If I expand the list to 23 years old you get players like Andre Iguodala, Chris Bosh, Andrew Bogut, Raymond Felton, Travis Outlaw, and Carmelo Anthony! The future of the NBA is extremely bright!!

LaMarcus Aldridge Out at Least a Week

2007-12-11T00:28:00.000-06:00

LaMarcus Aldridge will miss at least a week with Plantar Fasciitis. This means you need to pick up Travis Outlaw, IF he's actually still available! Travis is averaging 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 blocks with 49% shooting in 29 minutes off the bench during the month of December. What's more impressive is that he's coming off the bench, but finishing games! He's not only on the court at the end, but he's making game winning shots and getting final shot plays called for him! Nate McMillan really trusts this guy and he's going to continue to get minutes and build on these numbers in Dec.

I'm not sure if he'll start with LaMarcus out (although I suspect he will), but he will get more minutes and more scoring opportunities. The Trailblazers thought Travis had the potential to be a special player when they drafted him out of high school, we could be seeing that potential coming out. Go get him!!

Failure to Launch

2007-12-10T21:07:00.000-06:00

The Rockets had one of the best off-seasons in the NBA (second only the the Celtics). They addressed their specific areas of weakness: Francis and James for PG help, Luis Scola for PF, and bench scoring in a fit and happy Bonzi Wells. Granted, I didn't like their draft at all; taking two undersized players that were not very coveted, instead of more proven players in Glen Davis (doing well off the bench for the Celtics) or Josh McRoberts (not getting much run in Portland, but has the attributes and skills the Rockets desperately need). After all, they took a 5'11" shooting guard n Aaron Brooks, who's in the D-League right now (he's not a point guard, at least not the type the Rockets are in need of), and a 6'7" power forward with Carl Landry (getting minutes and looks over matched). Of course, this is par for the course. The Rockets are HORRIBLE at drafting!

Last year they traded Rudy Gay AND Stromile Swift for Shane Battier. That was a simply awful trade!! I was furious when it happened and my anger only increases as Gay continues to develop. Rudy is averaging 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds while shooting 47% from the field and 37% from three. Shane Battier... 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds with 40% from the field and 37% from three. Hmmmm, isn't one of the Rockets major weaknesses this season the lack of a legitimate third scorer?? Could Rudy Gay fill that role?? Don't give me the "Shane is a great defender and does more for the team than what shows up in the box scores" CRAP! Rudy is averaging more steals and more blocks per game than Shane, AND Rudy is only in his SECOND YEAR!!! Basically, the only thing Shane does better than Rudy is.. taking charges. WOW, that makes the trade totally worth it. I'm so glad they did it! (Can you feel the sarcasm??)

Anyways, I'm getting away from my point. So with this great free agent off-season and hiring a proven coach in Rick Adelman, why are the Rockets only 11-11 through the first 22 games? That is horrible! I know they have played the toughest schedule in the League so far, but PLEASE! They are losing to teams that are not nearly as talented: Memphis, Lakers, Miami, Golden State, Sacramento, Toronto and Philadelphia. Granted, we cannot match up against The Warriors and The Lakers are playing pretty good ball right now, but we still should not have lost to them with our new squad.

The fact is, this is the same team I watched all of last year. It's T-Mac and Yao, and nothing else. I don't quite understand it, either. They have plenty of offensive fire power with the new additions, but you can't see that when they play. The reason... they are not giving the bulk of the minutes to their best players. Rafer is horrible and should not be starting. I'm tired of watching Chuck Hayes miss layup after layup! With those two and Shane in the starting lineup, the offense must rely on T-Mac and Yao! Yes they won over 50 games last year with that lineup, but that was with Van Gundy's defensive schemes. We were the best defensive team in the regular season last year! We have Adelman now, who's a gifted offensive coach. So logically, we need offensive players to compliment his scheme? Right?

Why not start Scola and Francis or even Mike James, if you're not a Francis fan? That would space the floor for Yao and give T-Mac people to pass too, who can actually make a shot. Bonzi should be the first person off the bench, where he can score at free will in the post when Yao is out. Use Hayes and Rafer for 20 mins or less a night. That would greatly help this team! The Rockets need to start relying on their other playmakers and give T-Mac a rest. Also, Yao looks a little uncomfortable in this new system, which is another reason to put other offensive players out there with him, so he can get familiar with what he's doing.

Granted, I'm not in the practices. I'm not an NBA general manager. I'm not an NBA coach. Not an assistant coach. Hell, I'm not even a damn ball boy!! But if I can see these problems and simple solutions from my couch at home, then why can't Adelman!! Mark my words, the Rockets will not launch and reach their potential, as long as Rafer Alston AND Chuck Hayes are in the starting lineup! They need to change or the count down will never even begin.

On a side note, T-Mac left the game with a hurt ankle. Lets hope it's not too serious.

Great Article about Dwight Howard

2007-12-07T12:49:00.000-06:00

By now you know that I am somewhat infatuated with Dwight Howard! I believe he will be one of the top 5 centers of all time, once his career is finished. Well, I'm not the only one who's enamored with his talent, read the article below from Henry Abbott at True Hoop.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-28-363/It-s-Getting-Hard-to-Describe-Dwight-Howard.html

Somethin's A Brewin'

2007-12-06T20:58:00.000-06:00

Corey Brewer had a breakout game tonight with this line:

6 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 1 block

The bad side… he shot 3 of 15.

What a great night for the rook! The funny thing is, it was the most akward defensive performance I think I’ve ever seen. He was actually quite clumsy when he had the ball in his hands. It looked like his mind was moving faster than his body, so his body was constantly trying to keep up! That’s the only way I can explain it. Yet, he had 4 steals and 5 assists! Amazing really.

The obvious question is… do you pick him up? I say not yet, unless you are in a very deep league. This was against the Hawks, who play small, up-tempo and miss a lot of shots; a good formula for defensive rebounding. Plus, he’s a rookie and not in the class of Durant or Al Horford, therefore he will have some major ups and downs. His shot is not where it needs to be, as he is very streaking, so you can expect a lot of single digit scoring nights.

That being said, he is the starting small forward for the wolves now, as they care more about developing their young talent than winning ball games at this stage of the franchise. Corey is also a very active player. He runs up and down the court with a lot of energy. You should have seen how winded he was at the end of the game! He is very long and quite athletic, which helps greatly in the defensive categories. Therefore, if you are a fan and believe he could do something this year, go ahead and pick him up. Just expect a lot of inconsistency.

Even When He's Bad, He's OH SOO GOOD!

2007-12-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

The Warriors did a nice job keeping Dwight in check last night, well for most of the game (he had 9 turnovers). Yet, he still had this line:

18 pointes, 23 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 blocks, 9 turnovers with shooting 50% from the field

Damn, it's nice to be that bad! Oh, and the Magic won in overtime on the road! Dwight Howard MVP!

Duncan Down, Parker Up.

2007-12-02T22:24:00.000-06:00

Duncan went down with a knee and ankle injury today. They don’t know how serious it is yet, as he will have an MRI tomorrow. That means Tony Parker is about to start balling. Wait, he already has been! Let’s discuss what he has done.

Please understand how hard it is for me to admit that Parker is playing well. I am a huge San Antonio Spurs, specifically Tony Parker, hater. Why? Because I have two guys in my office who are the biggest Spurs fans I have ever met and I believe the world needs balance; therefore, they love…. I hate. That being said, I cannot deny what Parker is doing anymore. I don’t feel like he deserved his previous allstar bids (Deron Williams got screwed last year), but if he keeps this up (with Duncan down he certainly will) then he will most definitely earn his third consecutive appearance.

First, let’s discuss Tony’s weaknesses, as I have to get these out in the universe before I share the love. He is arguably the quickest man in the league with the ball, but his lack of an outside shot has really hurt him. Also, for a point guard who spends his life driving to the basket and dishing to Duncan or outside shooters, you think he would average more than 5.5 assists per game. His assist to turn over ratio is a pathetic 2 to 1. For a two-time allstar, he has never averaged over 18.6 points or 6.1 assists or 3.7 boards per game (those were not even in the same year), which is very sad for an “allstar point guard.” All right, I’ll stop here, because this article is about what a great season he is having so far. Here are his averages for this year:

20.3 ppg, 3.7 rb, 7 ast. 0.8 stl, 2.2 t/o with 52% shooting

Those are very nice stats, but they get even better when you look at what he has done over the last 8 games:

23.9 ppg, 4.4 rb, 8.5 ast, 0.4 stl, 2.1 t/o with 56% shooting

Impressive! His points are up, rebounds up, assists WAY UP, shooting percentage up and turnovers down! That is one very nice 8-game stretch. The question is, can he keep it up all year? He has the talent, always has, so is it out of the question to say it just took him 6 years in the League to figure it out completely? I mean, he’s still only 25, so there’s plenty of room to grow, right? In fact, it appears that during the short off-season and marrying Eva Longoria, he had time to work on is shooting, as he is getting a midrange game. It’s not where it needs to be yet, but getting better.

Maybe, just maybe, after 6 years and 3 championships, Popovich finally trusts Parker completely to run the offense? That’s just speculation, but it’s one of the few reasons I can come up with to explain why Tony’s assists are up so much. Although, you have the fact that Duncan is getting older and they are leaning on Parker to be more of the playmaker for the team.

I guess, whatever the reasons are, if you are a Spurs fan or have Tony Parker on your fantasy team, you are loving him right now. If Duncan is out for an extended period of time, you will be loving him even more, because those stats I listed above should increase if the Spurs expect to win games without Duncan.

On a side note about Duncan’s injury… Do you think the Spurs could use Luis Scola right about now?? Thanks for the gift. NOW WILL ADELMAN PLEASE PLAY HIM!!! Go Rockets!

Changing of the Guards

2007-12-01T20:49:00.000-06:00

There are two NBA teams that have backup point guards who are better than the starters. Those are the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets. I’m calling out Rick Adelman and Sam Mitchell and telling them to start Jose Calderon and Steve Francis for the remainder of the year. I’ll explain why:

First, let’s look at the Raptors, as this is the more clear cut obvious case. TJ Ford is a wonderfully talented player, and it’s apparent that he’s worked hard on his shot to increase his field goal percentage to 46.5% (career high). TJ is also one of the quickest players in the league with the ball, which is why he is so effective at getting into the lane. Those are the reasons why the Raptors traded for him. His weaknesses are that he shoots too much, especially in key situations. He is a horrible three-point shooter (25%), and although he is great at dribble penetration and dishing out to the open man, he is not great at running this offense. That’s where Jose Calderon comes in.

Jose is also very quick with the ball, albeit not as fast as TJ. He has a great shooting stroke with 49% from the field and 36% from three. He is also much better and more experienced in running an up-tempo style of play with him playing for his national team, Spain. Jose is an extremely smart basketball player and much more unselfish. Yet, he is more effective when his scoring is needed, as you can see from his percentages. This unselfishness is key, because they are not utilizing their best player, Chris Bosh, to the fullest when TJ is on the court.

Chris is a multi-dimensional extremely talented player who started the season in a slump. Some say it is because of his lingering injuries, which may be true; however, it is more than that. Sam Mitchell is not allowing Chris to run this team from start to finish. He is giving that opportunity to TJ Ford and Andrea Bargnani (to some degree), which is a big mistake. Chris can do everything on the court and Mitchell must use those skills to run this team more efficiently. The point guard that enables Chris to do this… Calderon.

Look at the last 6 games, where Jose has started and played the majority of the game because of TJ’s injury. They are 4-2 (they were 5-6 before this stretch of games). Bosh came out of his slump completely and was having some very nice games, while they were winning. Calderon is averaging 11 assists per game and the offense is running much smoother. In fact, let’s look at what TJ is averaging as a starter as compared to Jose as a starter:

PPG RB AST STL TO FG% 3P% Min
TJ: 13.9 2.2 7.7 1.2 2.25 .47 .25 27
Jose: 11.8 3.3 11 0.7 1.5 .45 .58 37

With starters minutes (37 per game) Jose is averaging 11 assists, granted it’s a small sample of 6 games, but the Raptors have looked better and more complete as a team, and they are winning!

I will give Sam Mitchell credit. Ford has been back for 2 games now, and Calderon is still starting and getting big minutes. I’m hoping it’s because Mitchell has realized his team is much better with Jose running the point, but I fear it’s because TJ is still coming back from the injury and he’s being worked in slowly. I’m not saying relegate TJ to the bench and only play him 10 minutes a night, but please keep Jose as the starter and give him 30 minutes per game! You’ll thank me for it later, Sam.

Now onto my home team, The Rockets! I picked the Rockets to be the best team in the West this year and I did it because they got a new coach, and improved in their two biggest weaknesses; point guard and power forward. Well, we are 18 games into the season and the Rockets are a .500 team. Yes, they played the toughest schedule in the league up to this point, playing San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix twice each, and they dealt with T-Mac already missing time due to an injury. Even with those caveats, I do not believe the Rockets will win the West, if Aldelman continues to start Rafer Alston and Chuck Hayes! They improved so greatly, why do I still see the same team I watched last year? I will likely discuss Luis Scola at a later date, but today we will talk about Rafer.

First you need to understand that few people were happier to see Steve Francis get traded than me. He was a ball pounder (he took too damn long to get the offense running and make decisions), he couldn’t make an entry pass to save his life and had a TON of turnovers. That was 4 years ago. Now Steve is older, wiser and less selfish. He still has his issues, but he is an upgrade over Rafer Alston!

This is Rafer’s third year with the team, and we are still pulling our hair out! He is a horrible shooter. He lacks the basketball IQ of most starting PG in the League. He is not athletic enough to make up for his lack of shooting ability and his court vision is average at best. The only thing that Rafer excels at is his ball handling ability.

While Steve has a lot of the same flaws (poor shooter from long range and lack of basketball IQ, when compared to above average point guards), he makes up for it in his athleticism and playmaking abilities. Steve is still able to make that “special play” in the course of a game. He can take more a scoring role when T-Mac or Yao are not playing their best, or at the very least be that consistent third scorer this team is in desperate need of. He brings experience and maturity (believe it or not) that Rafer lacks. Most of you who are up on the situation are probably saying, “Maturity? He came into camp out of shape and overweight! He was the likely starter until he did that. How does that show maturity!?” And you would be correct. I didn’t say he was the constant professional like Shane Battier. I merely compared his maturity to Rafer’s. How was Alston’s offseason???? Exactly. Plus, the Steve Francis of old would have caused a scene or too over not starting or even playing for that matter. The new Steve… Nothing but support and understanding. It’s starting to pay off, as he is getting minutes, and he should continue to get more. Hopefully, take over the starting role soon.

I wish I could give you some statistical analysis to backup my opinion, but Steve has only played in 5 games, and in a limited role at that. However, he has looked good in that limited role. He is passing the ball very well and making quick decisions. He is still able to get into the key, even after his surgeries. He simply brings the intangibles that Rafer has never and will never possess. Also, there’s the fact that I just watched the Rockets lose to the Kings, who suck. Rafer was pathetic, making no impact. In fact, the whole team was pathetic, making no impact, except for T-Mac and Yao. Just like last year. Steve was out with a sore back. Which again, is why he hasn’t gotten much burn this year. I just hope he gets in shape quickly and Adelman puts him in there! We are in desperate need of his talents!

Proof that Danny Ferry Sucks, as if you needed more....

2007-11-30T14:15:00.000-06:00

Anderson Varejao spoke with Chad Ford at ESPN for the first time (the article is linked here) and his comments are very telling! Telling in that Danny Ferry is a HORRIBLE GM, like I've been saying all season! Check out this clip from Chad's article, then read the whole thing. It's great.

"On each side, the frustration level has been rising the past few weeks, as Varejao is left in limbo in Brazil, and as the Cavs have struggled coming out of the gate in training camp and the regular season.

In October, Ferry made a surprise visit to see Varejao at his parents' home in Brazil in an attempt to convince him to sign.

The move backfired. Ferry showed up without telling Fegan, and working around an agent is a no-no in the NBA. While GMs are allowed to talk with players without an agent present, it is customary that all contract talk goes through an agent.

'I was shocked,' Varejao said. 'He showed up and wanted me to sign a contract. I told him he's got to talk to my agent. He didn't even up his offer. I guess he thought if he just showed up, I would just sign whatever he gave me.'

Ferry walked away with no deal and with an angry free agent on his hands.

He defends his decision to appeal directly to Varejao.

'From the start of free agency, we told Anderson and his agent that the ability to communicate with him directly was going to be very important to the process,' Ferry said. 'The trip was done because our communication with Anderson was no longer available to us.'

Since that incident, there hasn't been much trust or movement on either side."

Personally, I don't think Varejao is worth anything near $10 million per year, so I would side with Ferry on that he's closer to a $6 million per year player, but this demontrates that Ferry simply does not understand how to negotiate or deal with people on the level that a NBA GM needs too. In fact, according to Anderson's own comments here, the reason he is demanding so much money is because of the fact that Ferry gave players like Larry Hughes, Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall (Varejao did not name them specifically) a ton of money, when they are far less valuable for this team!

Well Danny, it's the mess you've created! Good luck cleaning it up. Meanwhile, poor LeBron is doing everything humanly possible to keep your franchise's head above water!

LeBron is King!

2007-11-30T14:09:00.000-06:00

While I am on my Dwight Howard for MVP kick, I can’t deny the fact that LeBron James is doing something that hasn’t been done since the 1988-89 season; average at least 30, 8 & 8, when Michael Jordan averaged 32.5 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. LeBron is averaging:

31.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8 assists with 1.92 steals and 1.62 blocks while shooting 49%

Those are absolutely astonishing stats! He has a VERY long way to go to keep these averages up, but he has had a triple double in his last two games and looks simply unstoppable right now.

I mentioned in my Cavaliers Preview that LeBron worked on his shot mechanics during the summer and the hard work has really paid off! He is leading the league in scoring (as I predicted he would all season), his percentages are up as well; from 47.6% to 49.2% field goal and the biggest jump has been his three point percentage from 31.9% last year to 36.8% this year. The only reason the Cavs are respectable this year, is because of LeBron’s improved play. In fact, if Danny Ferry wasn’t so inept in building a team around LeBron, they would likely be the favorite to win the East again. Unfortunately the Cavs got worse this summer, while so many other eastern conference teams greatly improved.

Last year LeBron took it easy during the regular season, so he would have enough in his tank for the playoffs. Why has he turned it on so much this year? Maybe it’s because he realized how important home court advantage is (if they would have won 8 more games they would have had home court against the Spurs in the finals). It could be because he feels like he has something to prove after getting swept by the Spurs in his first finals appearance. The likely answer is that he knows he must play his best in order for his team to be competitive. It is a shame that the Cavs cannot put acceptable role players around the best, most unselfish superstar in the League. Imagine if LeBron had Jason Kapono to pass out too, or Jose Calderon manning the point? (I used two Toronto Raptors players because Bryan Colangelo has done a phenomenal job building a team around Chris Bosh) Nothing against Drew Gooden or Ilgauskas; I like both of them, but every other player on that team, aside from LeBron, should be coming off the bench in limited roles.

If LeBron can get this team in the top four of the Eastern Conference again, then he should and will get his first MVP! We’ll just have to watch and see if he can keep up this pace for 68 more games!

All that being said, I’m still pulling for Dwight! D12 for MVP!

Lakers - Celtics Rivalry Renewed????

2007-11-30T14:03:00.000-06:00

I'm watching ESPN and they are discussing the renewal of the Celtics - Lakers rivalry and all I can think is...... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! STOP SEARCHING FOR A DAMN STORY AND JUST REPORT THE FREAKING SPORTS NEWS!!!!! Here are the reasons they are NOT a rivalry.

For a rivalry to be there, both teams must be on the same level, or at the very least, the lesser team win a good percentage when they face each other. They have played once this year and the Celtics beat them in convincing fashion! Don't just look at the final score. The Lakers were never really a threat to win!

The Celtics are the class of the league. The Lakers have started out hot, but they'll fizzle, like they always do in the "Kobe Against the World" era.

When Kendrick Perkins posts 21 points and 9 rebounds on you... you are not a good team.

When Bruce Bown scores 23 points on you... you are not a good team (No, I am not letting that one go. It was pathetic).

Boston is great and a true title contender this year, while the Lakers will be fighting for the bottom of the playoffs in the West.

No rivalry here.

Dwight Howard for MVP

2007-11-30T14:00:00.000-06:00

I’m officially starting my Dwight Howard for MVP campaign! Yes, I know it’s only 14 games into an 82 game schedule, so any MVP talk is premature, but I don’t care. Dwight has been incredible and deserves all the credit and MVP talk he can get.

A number of people picked Dwight to be the most improved player this year, and I thought that was an interesting pick. I mean, how much more does a player need to improve to the point that he wins that award when he averaged 17.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks last year? The answer….24.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks! WOW! Those numbers are ridiculous! Now, I don’t think he is the MVP because of those numbers alone. His team is 11-3 with wins over Toronto, Cleveland, New Jersey, New Orleans and Boston (the only team to beat them so far). The Magic are winning because they are running the offense through Dwight! For example, tonight the Magic played the Bobcats. Dwight matched up against fellow draft buddy, Emeka Okafor and he abused him! Howard had 34 points, 17 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks!! Hmmmm, you think those people who had him ranked as a 3rd or 4th round pick in fantasy drafts regret that prediction?? Who gives a damn that he only made 12 or his 21 free throws attempted, when he's putting up numbers like this! In fact, I took him in the 4th round in one of my leagues, because they were using yahoo's ranking system and he was ranked as the 44th player on that list, so I knew I could sit on him, and that pick may save my season; since I took Gilbert Arenas in the first round!

Last year, many people questioned whether you could run an offense strictly though him because of his tendency to turn the ball over, and I blamed their coach, Brian Hill! The offense was horrible. They would give the ball to Howard down low, then everyone would just stand there are watch him! No movement to create passing lanes. No cutting to the basket when your man double teamed Dwight! It was absolutely amazing and pathetic that Brian Hill was an NBA coach! This year Stan Van Gundy is in charge and they look like a completely different team. Yes, they have Rashard Lewis, and Dwight and Jameer are older and wiser, but the drastic improvements those two players have made should be largely credited to Stan and his coaching staff! Their offensive sets are seamless and fluid. Jameer and Dwight’s turnovers are down while their scoring and other production (Jameer’s assists) are way up! Hell, even Hedo Turkoglu is having a career year! The best thing Stan Van Gundy has done is realizing that you can and should run everything through his big man! Dwight is rewarding his coach for his confidence in him.

The crazy thing to think about is that Dwight could and SHOULD build on those numbers as the season goes on, because his confidence in his midrange game and new post moves are starting to grow! Can you imagine? Howard is only 21 years old, and will only get better!! He’s one of the most dedicated and hard working players in the league and is just now getting an offensive repertoire. During the game against Boston, Dwight took an 18-foot baseline jump shot, and MADE IT! It was so beautiful and surprising that I screamed with excitement and scared my 1-month-old daughter! He just caught the ball, turned and shot it without even thinking. He will be absolutely unstoppable once he has a 15’ to 18’ consistent jumper! He actually has good shot mechanics; he just needs to work on his confidence. Stan Van Gundy and Patrick Ewing are doing a great job working with him on that.

Now the reality check. I understand it will be extremely difficult for Dwight to average over 14 rebounds per game for a whole season…. But he should do it! That’s the only reality check I have. His scoring numbers are legit and could increase. His field goal percentage will increase as his confidence does as well. His free throw shooting is getting better, and he should increase his blocks to 2.5 to 3 per game.

Dwight Howard for MVP.

Gilbert's Out for 3 Months

2007-11-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

I'm saddened by this news, because he's on one of my teams. I hope he takes the time to get healthy. By now most of you have picked up Antonio Daniels, as I have, to make up for the lost. Daniels should have a good season. He will be very good for you in the assists column and will score enough points.

Andray Blatche is an interesting player. Most people are recommending you pick him up because of his last two games, and on a pure talent standpoint, I agree. However, Brendan Haywood is expected to be back next game, which should send Andray back to the bench. Although, with Gilbert out, the Wizards will need help in scoring and Andray can definitely do that. Also, if the Wizards continue to lose, they may decide to just start planning for the future and give Blatche more playing time so he can develop, if that happens Nick Young might also get a boost in his minutes and could be effective. Keep an eye on how this plays out.

Stock Watch - Andrew Bynum

2007-11-30T13:54:00.000-06:00

Andrew Bynum has had a pretty good season so far, averaging 10.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Well, the injury to Kwame Brown should only help Bynum's fantasy value. In fact, he started tonight against the Pacers, here's his line:

17 pts, 10 rb, 1 stl, 4 blk, 100% FG Shooting 5 of 6 from the line in 29 mins

Granted, he played against a horrible defensive team in the Pacers with the likes of Troy Murphy and a hobbled Jermaine O'Neal guarding him, but he still impressed me. What I like the most is how BIG Bynum is playing. Yes, he's 7' and 275 lbs, but for the first time in his young career he is utilizing that size. If Andrew is within 5 feet of the basket, he's dunking it. He simply reaches over his defender or extends around him and throws it down. He also has a very soft touch around the rim and a nice midrange jumper to compliment it. He has the ability to be a force on the defensive end with his super long arms, but still has a lot of work to do there; the 4 blocks tonight are a sign of that promise. That was the reason Kwame was starting; he's the best lowpost defender the Lakers have.

We are starting to see his potential and why The Lakers have refused to trade him. I would expect Andrew to average 12 points and 10 rebounds with 1.5 blocks and good percentages with the increased role. I know that's not too far off what he's currently averaging, but I simply don't expect him to take that leap yet because he is so young and still has a lot to learn. That being said, he's improving and could be setup for a big second half, especially if Kobe gets traded.

Waiver Wire Pickup - Jeff Green

2007-11-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

Jeff Green got the starting nod tonight against the Grizzlies, and it was just a matter of time. I mean, Seattle was going to make this move, once they realized how uncompetitive they really are this year. I figure they just didn't think it would be this early. What did Jeff do in his starting role?]

11 points, 14 rebounds (8 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal on 4-12 shooting

Those are not great numbers, except for the rebounding, so why I am recommending you pick him up? Because he's a very talented rookie who is going to get 30 minutes per night. Set you expectations accordingly, though. He will be up and down most of the year, just like Sean Williams. They will have good to great games followed by lousy ones. It's just the way most rookies go. Even Kevin Durant is up and down; look at his stats for tonight.

That being said, I am a big fan of young guys with potential, especially if you are in a keeper league. You never know who will blow up, and this early on.... why not take the risk. Last time there was a super talented draft (2003) we saw players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all have good to great rookie years. I'm not saying 2007 is as good as that draft, not yet at least, but why can't we have some special rookie performances from any other guys not named Kevin Durant? Look at how many rookies are already starting for their teams:

Kevin Durant
Al Horford
Jeff Green
Yi Jianlian
Acie Law
Sean Williams

That's a pretty high number of rookie starters. Most of whom are probably already owned in your league, so I am just adding one more to the list; Jeff Green. Green is a great hustle guy who is willing to get his hands dirty and do what his team needs of him, without the glory. On a personal note, The Supersonics are my favorite team, so I hope he goes on to have a great rookie year, and I can enjoy watching him and KD develop!

A-Town Dancer

2007-11-30T13:45:00.000-06:00

Waiver Wire Pickup - Sean Williams

2007-11-30T13:41:00.000-06:00

I discussed the potential of Sean Williams yesterday, and it didn't take long for him to get the opportunity I was looking for. Here's his stats from last night:

22 pts - 8 rb (3 off) - 2 stl - 2 blk - 64% FG Shooting, 8 of 10 from the line with 36 min

That is why The Nets drafted him. Reality is that Sean has the talent to have gone in the top 5 of last years ultra-talented draft, but he smoked weed and was suspended from his college team. I don't advocate smoking pot, but there are far more serious crimes that one could commit. Besides, he's in The League now, and his talent will dictate his future, not what happened in College. His talent is what should keep him in the starting lineup.

Coach Lawrence Frank has removed Nenad Krstic from the starting lineup, in an effort to shake things up for the struggling 4-6 Nets. Personally, I do think Nenad should be and will be starting soon; however, he is not without his weaknesses. Namely, his inability to hit the boards. His career high for avg rebounds per game in a season is 6.8! That is horrible for a starting forward/center who's getting at least 30 minutes per game! Maybe this is the leason Coach Frank is trying to send him? I'm not quite sure, but the combo of Nenad and Sean Williams is perfect for this team. Krstic can space the floor and give Kidd another shooter to play with, while Sean can be the beast on the boards while manning the paint on the defensive end. Plus, Sean has a nice offensive repertoire as well! I've been saying it since they signed him, and I'll say it some more, Jamaal Magloire is not a fit for this team! He's one of the slowest players in the NBA. He gets the ball on the low block and sits there for a minimum of 5 seconds, while deciding what move he wants to make, allowing the defense to adjust. That is not what a fast paced, quick reaction team like the Nets want. But who am I? What do I know?

Truthfully, Lawrence Frank is the only one who knows what he has planned for this team. I'm just providing you with my thoughts on the situation. I truly hope and expect Sean to continue to start and get big minutes, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Fetching Hilarious!!!

2007-11-30T13:37:00.000-06:00

I saw this on the web and I had to post it!

Friday Night Basketball

2007-11-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

Tonight I want to look at some players who had stellar games and lead their team to a win. I also want to talk about a few players who have been playing well all season, but may still be under the radar a bit. Lastly, we will discuss some very young guys with HUGE upside and how they performed once given a chance to shine.

First the Stellar Performers:

Chris Paul
28 pts – 2 rb – 13 ast – 5 stl – 48% shooting

Tyson Chandler
12 pts – 17 rb (6 offensive) – 5 ast – 4 blocks – 71% shooting

David West
40 pts – 6 rb – 1 st – 1 blk – 59% shooting

Paul, West and Chandler all led the Hornets to an overtime victory over Memphis tonight. Look at those stats! WOW, they each had phenomenal games, which is obviously why they won. Chris Paul continues to show the world that Deron Williams may be getting the love because of his playoff run last year, but that was last year. This year, Chris has arguably been the best PG in the league. In fact, I’m going to say he HAS been the best in this young season. I’ll show you. Let’s compare CP3 to the best of the best, Steve Nash, this year.

Steve Nash
19.4 pts – 3.8 rb – 9.9 ast – 0.89 stl – 0 blk – 55% FG & 100% FT

Chris Paul
18.6 pts – 4.7 rb – 10.6 ast – 3 stl – 0 blk – 51% FG & 89% FT

You see what I mean? Paul has Nash beat in rebounds, assists and steals. He’s close to him the other categories, but let’s not just talk about the stats. Look at the accomplishments of the teams they lead. The Hornets are 8 – 2 with wins over the Nuggets, Lakers and Nets. They lost to the Spurs and Portland. The Suns are 7-2 and have quality wins over Cleveland, and Orlando, while getting beat by the Lakers and Hawks. The expectations for the Hornets were FAR below the Sun’s expectations, so I will say the Hornets have been more impressive and I naturally give the large part of the credit for their early season success to Paul. Chris Paul has really picked up the play of his teammates. Just look above at what Chandler and West did tonight! Obviously, it’s not all CP3, but he is the motor that keeps this engine running. Plus, Peja is actually a respectable NBA player again.

I’m not saying Chris Paul will surpass Steve Nash this year. I am merely stating that through 9 or 10 games, CP3 has been the best point guard. No Doubt.

Since we are on the topic of great point guards, did you see Jason Kidd posting a triple double tonight! It was in a losing effort to the Magic, but you have to take notice every time Kidd posts a triple. His line was 11 pts, 19 rb, 10 ast and 2 steals! There are a ton of forwards and centers in this league that have not grabbed 19 rebounds in one game, and Jason Kidd did it from the PG position! He’s just getting better with age.

We will stay with the PG theme and look at:

Baron Davis
21 pts – 4 rb – 12 ast – 3 stl – 5 blk (baron always has poor shooting percentages)

Andris Biedrins
23 pts – 18 rb – 1 ast – 1 stl – 2 blk – 75% FG – 83% FT

The Warriors came in to play the Clippers as a winless team, and came out a one-win team! It was a much much needed win, at that. It’s a special night when you get 5 blocks from your point guard and Andris shoots 83% from the line, he might have the ugliest free throw shot in the league. Congrats to the Warriors!

Kevin Martin
43 pts – 10 rb – 2 ast – 52% FG and 16 – 19 from the line

Kevin is a budding star in The League. He showed tonight that his combination of skill and speed makes him a very tough match-up for anyone.

Now let’s talk about the guys who have had solid seasons, but are going under the radar still:

Damien Wilkens
41 pts – 9 rb – 2 ast – 2 stl – 75% FG Shooting

Kevin Durant may get the publicity on Sports Center for his game winning three, but it was Damien that led them to a double overtime victory over the Hawks. Damien has been averaging 14.2 – 5.1 – 2.6. He’s a great energy guy and will continue to get plenty of opportunities to shine on this young Seattle team.

Marvin Williams
18 pts – 7 rb – 4 ast – 4 stl – 2 blk – 46% FG Shooting

I have already discussed Marvin on this blog, so I wont go into details. I just want to mention that he’s continuing to tap into that enormous talent that he has.

Finally, we’ll look at three young players that have tremendous upside, if given the opportunity. We’ll start with a Rookie who’s making the most of his opportunity.

Al Horford
7 pts – 14 rb – 2 ast – 1 stl – 5 blks

Horford is averaging 9.1 points and 10.4 rebounds to start his rookie year. That’s pretty nice! He was touted as the most NBA ready person in the draft and he’s proving that to be the case. I expect his scoring to increase as he becomes more familiar with the NBA game.

Sean Williams
9 pts – 3 rb – 3 blks in 18 mins

The last three games he has averaged 9.7 points, 6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks in 22 minutes per game. I know, those aren’t great numbers, BUT the Nets are desperate for the energy and defense that Sean can give them. Watch him closely, because if he continues to get more minutes, you could cash in on his potential before you think.

Amir Johnson
1 pt – 7 rb – 2 ast – 1 stl – 4 blk in 18 mins

There has been much talk in Detroit about Amir after he blew up in the D-League and even had some very nice games in the NBA the last few weeks of the season last year, and he showed us some of his potential tonight. He is super athletic and has a great motor. I would love it if the Pistons would give Maxiell and Amir more minutes, but as long as their winning with their veteran guys, they will only give them a few minutes when available. Amir will be Damn Good, but not for a while still.

Selfish Kobe Says "No" to Pistons.

2007-11-30T13:31:00.000-06:00

A TV Station in LA, CBS 2, is reporting (article is linked here) that the Lakers completed a trade with the Pistons that would have sent Kobe to Detroit for Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Amir Johnson and a first round pick, BUT Kobe vetoed the trade. ARE YOU KIDDING ME, KOBE!!!!! You seriously don't think that YOU (self proclaimed greatest basketball player ever) cannot win a championship with Chauney Billups, Jarvis Hayes, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stucky, Flip Murray, Arron Afflalo and Nazr Mohammed as your supporting cast? REALLY? That is a much better team than You, Deng, Ben Wallace and leftovers in Chicago! So what does this tell me about you, Mr. Bryant....

Winning is not the end all be all for you, or else you would take that trade in a heartbeat. I'm not saying that a starting lineup of Chauncey, You, Hayes, Rasheed and McDyess is a lock to beat Boston this year, but it would be a coin flip at best when you look at the full team! I think you care more about what Big City you go to, or who's legacy you can defeat, Mr. 24, than you do about winning another title. I always assumed that was the case, after watching you selfishly give up in the finals against Detroit in 2004, or giving up against the Suns in the first round of the playoffs in 2006, or forcing Shaq out of LA so you can be The Man! Now, you are choosing to stay in LA or go to a team that is likely not nearly as good as this Detroit team would have been with you on it.

You shall forever be known as Kobe the Selfish, not Kobe the Champion!

UPDATE -----11/16/07

I'd like to thank jumperitis@gmail.com for reminding me to update this posting. It's been a busy day at work, so I forgot all about it. It is being said that this trade was just a rumor, and there wasn't more to it than the Pistons inquiring on what it would take to get Kobe. Dumars specifically said he is not willing to give up on his core group of guys yet, so he would not give up 2 starters for Kobe. Do you believe that? I guess you have too.

However, it is also being said that Kobe will not go to Detroit regardless. That is not one of the cities he is interested in. Therefore, this posting is still valid, in that Kobe cares more about Kobe, than he does about winning, but most people already know that.

Dwight's Dominance and Hidden Gems of the Night

2007-11-30T13:20:00.000-06:00

Today most fantasy basketball sites will be discussing LeBron James, Joe Johnson or Dwight Howard. All three of them are compelling topics, especially LeBron and Dwight, since they faced off against each other in an overtime game that came down to those two superstars making plays at the end of the game for their teams. LeBron had a truly sick triple double with 39 pts, 13 boards, 14 assists and 2 blocks, but Dwight was clutch down the stretch and lead his team to victory. In fact, I wasn’t going to do this yet, but since Dwight is my favorite player in the NBA and has been since his sophomore season (I’ve owned him in my keeper league since then), I’ll finally take the time to breakdown his game and fantasy impact.

(You got robbed, Dwight. Simply robbed.)

At the inception of this blog, I discussed how many fantasy experts rank Dwight Howard much lower than his actual worth because he has always had a horrible free throw percentage. I said it was a bunch of crap! Dwight was a budding superstar who only needed to work on his offensive footwork and shooting ability. Every offseason he worked on his offensive game and got better. He went from 12 ppg his rookie year to 15.8 the next and 17.6 last season. Following that pattern, you can assume that Dwight would improve at the ripe old age of 21, and he would average 20 ppg. Plus he is in the hunt for League’s leading rebounder every year and he’s starting to understand how dominant he can be on the defensive end too!!! Well, here’s what he’s averaging so far this season:

20.3 pts, 14.4 rb (3.3 offensive), 1.8 ast, 2.4 blk while shooting 52% from the field and 63% from the line.

Those are monster numbers in points, rebounds and blocks, plus his shooting is improving. Good shooting is about confidence, especially from the free throw line. He worked hard over the summer to improve, and his confidence in his newfound shot is growing every game. Look at his shooting mechanics. They are good. It’s all mental for him and it’s coming together nicely.

What’s scary for the rest of the league is that his season averages do not show his real potential. His game tonight, show’s Dwight’s potential:

35 pts, 16 rb (6 offensive), 2 ast, 4 blk, shooting 11 of 17 from the field AND 13 of 16 from the line!!

13 of 16 from the line! The best part about his performance from the charity stripe… he hit 2 free throws to win the game with 5 seconds left in overtime! Yes, he missed one in regulation that would have put them up by 4 with five seconds left, but he came back and made up for it here in OT. Stan Van Gundy had enough confidence in his young big man with 6 seconds left in OT and down by one, to run a play for Dwight off the inbounds, which forced a foul and sent him to the line. Has that ever happened to Shaq??? HELL NO! That demonstrates that Van Gundy knows Dwight is gaining confidence in his shot and is ready to put this team on his back to get them some victories! Well, Stan was right! Dwight sank both free throws and they won! LeBron posted a sick triple double, along with very good games from Drew Gooden and Ilgauskas, but they still won! To celebrate Dwight’s HUGE game, here’s a picture of Gemma Atkinson:

Personally, I love the fact that people in the world of fantasy discount Dwight so much (the real world of NBA basketball understands how truly great he is and will be), because I drafted him in the 4th round in a yahoo head to head league! 4th ROUND!! Now if Gilbert will just continue to get healthy, I’ll be sitting pretty.

All right, enough about Dwight. I actually wanted to discuss the players that most people will not be talking about. The hidden gems, if you will, from last night. Let’s get started:

Josh Smith – I know he’s not a hidden gem, but I wanted to mention him because he was on his way to another GREAT all-around game when he strained his quad and was forced to leave early in the third quarter. In 18 minutes of play he scored 15 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 5 blocks. 5 BLOCKS in 18 minutes!! Word is the stain was minor. I watched him walk off without even a limp, so let’s hope that’s true and he’s back in the lineup next game.

Andrei Kirilenko – Yes, he’s not a hidden gem either, but he’s the last player of this calibur that I'll discuss here. I have to talk about AK47 because I have been hating on him for a long while now, so I made a point to watch a lot of the Jazz vs Raptors game to see how he does against a decent team. He really impressed me. My biggest question about him was his ability to be a defensive and offensive force without getting many opportunities within the offense (since that was what he was bitching about all summer), but he proved me wrong tonight. He was 1 of 6 from the field, so Andrei said forget about shooting, I’ll just do everything else! He had 8 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks! Simply incredible. He also put the lock down on Chris Bosh and kept him to 14 points with only 7 boards. Jerry Sloan must be doing a great job keeping his confidence high. I still have my doubts about him, but he’s winning me over with every game like this. If he can play with this type of redkless abandon and not care about his scoring, then Utah will be scary good and I will be the most wrong about a player that I have ever been.

Delonte West – I told you to pick up Delonte earlier today and I stand by that statement. He came off the bench tonight against the Heat, who they beat to get their first win!! Welcome back Dwayne Wade… your team sucks! Anyways, he played 29 minutes and had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Nice line. Why did Earl Watson start??

Darko Milicic – I have liked Darko for a long time, and this year he's showing everyone why. Tonight he posted 10 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 bocks. This is the second consecutive good game from Darko! He went for 20, 6 and 2 blocks the night before. We have a prediction board in my office, where you make a prediction and The Panel (a group of 2 or 3 coworkers) decide how much money you will owe or receive from the company pot, if you are right or wrong. I said Darko would average 12 points, 8 boards and 2.5 blocks per game. His average after 7 games:

12 points, 7.8 boards and 1.6 blocks

Damn, it’s too bad I got pissed off after the Grizzlies played the Rockets in the preseason, where Darko didn’t even start and he played like crap. I thought if he couldn't secure a starting gig over Stromile Swift, then he really does suck! I went to the office the next day and paid the $12 I would have owed, if I was wrong! Damn, I can’t get my money back, but if Darko keeps up this performance and increases his blocks (as he is with each game), then at least I’ll have the moral victory of being right. That means more to me than $12 anyways! Long Live Darko!!

Jason Maxiell – McDyess was hurt for their game against Golden State tonight, so Maxiell got the start and he made the most of it. He had 14 points, 14 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks! That is an incredible line! Why is this guy not starting? Maybe because Flip Saunders is a horrible coach? That’s my vote, if Max isn’t starting or getting at least 33 minutes per game from here on out!

Alright, it’s 1:30 am and my baby girl needs to eat, so I’ll stop writing. San Antonio vs Dallas tomorrow night. I hate the Spurs, but they get the win.

Gilbert Thanks You for Your Prayers

2007-11-30T13:17:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I made a plea for Gilbert. I asked everyone to say a prayer for him and his knee, and said that I believed things would start looking up in a week, if we did that. Well, God does hear and answer our prayers! The Wizards played the Pacers and won, thanks in large part to Gilbert! Here’s his stat line for the game:

30 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 50% shooting and 9 of 11 from the line in 36 minutes

THAT’S THE GILBERT I DRAFTED IN THE FIRST ROUND!!!! I’m sure there will be a let down in his next game, as he is obviously still getting healthy, but it’s just great to see him do it for a game!

Gilbert we will continue to pray for you and simply ask that you give us more nights like this!!!

Waiver Wire Pickup - Delonte West

2007-11-29T23:21:00.000-06:00

Luke Ridnour strained his left quadricep last night against the Magic. Word is that he could be out for an extended period of time. The man to step up... Delonte West. I've actually been waiting all year for him to take the starting job away from the other two, Watson and Ridnour. I just didn't think it would take an injury.

Delonte is deceptively good. He has a knack for doing something in most categories. Last year with a young Boston team he averaged 12.2 points, 3.1 boards, 4.4 assists, and 1 steal a game. I would expect about the same, maybe a little more from Delonte, if he gets the full-time gig in Seattle and plays at least 32 minutes. In fact, last night he played 32 minutes and he had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. The scoring was down because he had a horrible night shooting, just 2 of 11.

If he's out there, go get him.

Almost a Career Night For Bruce Bowen. His Thought...

2007-11-29T23:14:00.000-06:00

What’s a sign of a simply awful team? Allowing Bruce Freaking Bowen to score 23 points on you!! I mean, the ONLY thing he can do on the offensive end is hit a baseline 3-point shot. Seriously, that’s the ONLY THING and he hasn’t even done that very well this season. He’s shooting 33% from three; which of course means he’s shooting 35% from the field, since he only shoots three’s…. FROM THE BASELINE! Really, he doesn’t even mix up where he spots up. He’s averaging a measly 2.9 points per game in 28 minutes this season. Do you know what his career high is? 24 POINTS! Also put on the Lakers on January 4, 2005! I guess Bruce has their number.

Tonight, against the Lakers, he went 6 of 6 from three, and ALL OF THEM WERE FROM THE BASELINE!! Is that getting redundant? Well, I haven't said "FROM THE BASELINE" six times yet, so its not redundant enough for the Lakers. At what point do you say to yourself, “Wow, Bruce is making his shots, and I know he’s only going to take a stationary baseline three. Maybe I should try guarding him, or at the very least run in his general direction.” I guess, that thought process never occurred with any of the Lakers.

Speaking of thought processes. Let’s delve into Bruce’s mind and see what he’s thinking during a defense to offensive sequence, since he is apparently a deadly sniper from long range….at least against the Lakers.

Bruce Thinking to Himself:

“Alright, time to play defense. It’s what I do. I’m Bruce “The Glove” Bowen. Yeah, I said it. The Glove! Gary Payton has nothing on me, baby! Actually, I don’t have a nickname? Why is that?

Crap, get your head in the game, Bruce! Where’s Kobe? There you are, Black Mamba! The Glove is about to get a hold of you and squeeze tight. Actually, I don’t like that name. Makes me think of OJ. Mmmmm. OJ sounds good right now. I love that citrusy goodness. I wonder if they have orange gatorade on the bench, cause that will do just fine. Wait, Kobe just got the ball. Gotta go to work!

Eyes on his hips, Brucy. Don’t watch his head or the ball. Watch the hips, that’s what will tell you where he’s going.

OK, his head moved left, but his hips stayed put, so I’ll stay put. HA HA, thought you could get me moving with a simple head fake, Kobe! Wait, he is going left, dammit! It’s OK, move you feet, move your feet! Get in front of him. Damn, I can’t! He’s too fast, and I’m too old! Timmy, watch out, Kobe’s going to the rim! Oh, he’s going to dunk on Tim and it’ll all be my fault!

YES! Tim blocked him! Ah ha! I followed the defensive strategy to a tee! Funnel Kobe into Duncan! Funnel him to the Big Fundamental! Funnel Funnel Funnel. Pops is a phenomenal defensive coach and I’m an even better defender! That’s why I’m out here. Damn, I’m good.

Hey, Kobe has a nickname. Even Tim and Popovich have one! Hmmm, how ‘bout The Blanket, cause I can cover anyone! I kinda like it. I’ll have to ask my fan club. Do I even have a fan club? Hell, I could ask Ginobili's club. He always has a bunch of hot chicks yelling his name or retards dressed up like Obe One Kenobi. Yeah, I'll ask them.

Anyways, time to play offense. Let’s see, Pop told me just to run to the corner baseline and stand there. If Parker, Ginobili or Duncan pass to me, shoot it. You have a great three point shot, Brucy. Just believe in yourself.

Alright, I’m here on the baseline. Eva’s Play Toy is coming down the court and just passed to Manu. By the way, I need to tell Ginobili just to shave it. The whole male pattern baldness is cool thing just isn't working for him. Obe One Ginobili is making his move. Man, it huts my back just watching him drive to the basket with those herky-jerky moves. I think Manu just traveled…

Yes, he’s passing me the ball and I'm wide open because my man just went to help out! Got it Manu, don’t worry, it’s good as gold now.

Catch the ball.
Bend the Elbow.
Line up my forearm with the basket.
Bend the knees.
Jump and release.
Flick the wrist.
My hand is right in line with the basket.
Beautiful arch......
SWISH!!!!

Purest baseline shot in the league! It’s what they pay me for! I’ll go give Timmy a slap on the butt, so he’ll tell me “Good Shot.” Time to put The Blanket on Kobe!!!"

This representation of Bruce Bowen’s thoughts is completely fictional. Any actual thoughts that occur in Bruce Bowen’s head that resemble those described here is purely a coincidence.

Lakers Suck, as does Kobe.

Jaime Eason

2007-11-29T23:10:00.000-06:00

Where Oh Where Did Mehmo Go?

2007-11-29T23:08:00.000-06:00

Where oh where has my little Mehmo gone?

Where oh where could he be?

With his 3 points shot

And wannabe phohawk.

Where oh where could he be?

I spent all of last season and this one telling the world that Andrei Kirilenko is not a fit for the Utah Jazz with Mehmet Okur and Boozer on the team; offensively that is. I was more than right last year, but things have changed now. What happened to Mehmo???? Him and Andrei have changed places. Last season Andrei was averaging less than 30 minutes, while Mehmet was at 34 minutes per game. Things have flipped, which means their stats have too. Andrei is averaging 35 minutes per game; leaving Mehmo on the bench, only getting 29 min.

Mehmet is averaging 12.5 points and 6 rebounds per game so far. His lowest output since he was in Detroit, coming off the bench in 2003. Meanwhile, Andrei is having a nice bounce back year with 10.9 ponts, 7 boards, 6.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.3 blocks. Why the change and has it actually made the Jazz better?

Let me be clear, Andrei is a great talent. Few people can fill up the stat sheet in every category like he can. He is most effective when playing the power forward position, because that puts him closer to the basket and he's a tough matchup for other power forwards. That's exactly what the Jazz are doing early on. Although AK47 starts at the three, he spends a lot of time at the four with Boozer manning the five. Giving Mehmo a decreased role. The question is, does this make the Jazz better?

The Jazz are a much different team this year. Yes, they have the same guys, but their young guys like Millsap and Brewer have really come on strong, which changes things. That is one reason that I am so surprised by the decrease in Mehmet's minutes. Brewer is your starting shooting guard, and although he's a wonderful young player, his biggest weakness is his outside shot, or lack there of. You would think Utah would need Mehmet to space the floor a little, but that has not been the case so far. I guess the real question is... What do they need more? Okur's shooting or Andrei's defense and hustle? I think they need both, which is why Sloan is catering to Kirilenko here in the beginning. I'll explain.

Sloan is a hall of fame coach and he knows Andrei wants more of an offensive role on the team, as we all due due to his excessive crying and bitching during the offseason. Andrei is an emotional player who needs a pat on the back to know he's doing well. Whereas Mehmet will just go out and do what he's told and help the team the best he knows how. Jerry is capitalizing on the easiness of their early schedule to give Andrei the confidence he requires. Look at who the Jazz have played. Only 2 of the first 6 teams they have played have a winning record, and they lost both of those games (Houston and LA Lakers). The other four teams have a combined 4 wins (Cleveland - 3 wins and Memphis - 1 win). That means they have played two teams with NO WINS (Seattle and Golden State - who they have played twice). Which by the way, they only beat Cleveland and Seattle by 2 points each. All of the other wins have been blowouts, which allows Sloan to play Kirilenko heavy minutes and let him do his thing. Andrei has been sub-par in their two losses against actual good teams. Averaging 9.5 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 0.5 steals and 1 block in those two games. One can argue that the Jazz need Andrei to play well in order to win, and I would agree, but they don't need him to be a focal part of their offense. That's just it, by the way. AK47 can post these numbers without being a focal part of the offense, but that's not good enough for him. He needs to feel like he is getting plays called for him or that he has an active role in the offense to be the defensive force that we all know he can be. Sloan is just giving him his pat on the back here early and I fully expect him to tighten the reins a bit as they get into the season and give Mehmo more minutes.

So yes, I am STILL NOT A KIRILENKO BELIEVER! Not yet anyways. He has played extremely well against very bad teams. Plus, Matt Harpring is coming back from injury and playing very limited minutes, if at all some games. I'll give Andrei some credit, since he needs it to feel good about himself, and say that he has had some incredible games, almost getting a few triple doubles. I'll also tell all of his owners out there in fantasy land, that you should trade him, if you can get something good. He won't continue to have these incredible games on a regular basis once the Jazz start playing tougher competition. Again, don't misunderstand me. He will be better than last year, but he won't be the Mr. Almost Triple Double that we have seen so far. Call me a hater, or whatever you want, but I only call it as I see it. He'll need to sustain this level of play for a least a few more weeks, before I start to believe.

Big Day for Rebounder!!

2007-11-29T23:06:00.000-06:00

Friday was the day of rebounding. We had 26 players who grabbed at least 10 rebounds. 7 of them pulled down at least 15 rebounds, while 3 of those were absolute animals on the glass and nabbed 20 or more!!! Those Monsters of the Glass were:

Dwight Howard - 22 points and 20 boards
Emeka Okafor - 25 points and 23 boards
Shawn Marion - 17 points and 24 boards

The runner-up to this group is Kevin Garnett, who missed the 20 rebound club by one board, but did so much more in the other categories:

Kevin Garnett - 27 points, 19 boards with 6 assists one steal and 3 blocks

That is why KG is The Man of Fantasy!

However, with all of these great performances the person I want to discuss today is LaMarcus Aldridge. He is my pick for Most Improved Player and he showed everyone why on Friday. He posted 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks while shooting 60% from the field. He did this while leading his young team to a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, who are much improved this year.

LaMarcus has been somewhat inconsistent in the first few games, but games like this show that he can begin to fulfill his potential this year. The thing that concerns me the most with Aldridge is his rebounding. He has a beautiful midrange shot with a very high release point, which makes it difficult to block, but he's relying too much on that shot, which has brought some of the inconsitency so far. He simply is not spending enough time on the block and crashing the boards. He did say prior to being drafted that he is more comfortable facing the basket, but that doesn't mean he needs to spend most of his time 15 feet away from the rim. Maybe he's still young and doesn't have the strength required to "bang" down low in The Association; I'll give him that, but I would still like to see him giving it more of an effort. He only has one game this year where he grabbed at least 10 rebounds, and it was this last game that we are discussing.

Alright, enough on his weaknesses. I'm just being critical because I see big things for him this year! He is a very talented shot blocker and we have already discussed his shooting ability. He's the primary scorer on the Blazers this year, so he will get every opportunity to shine. In fact, watching LaMarcus play gives credence to the Greg Oden pick. Greg can man the low post and Aldridge can rome and hit midrange shots. Plus Oden won't demand a lot of shots, which will gives Brandon Roy and LaMarcus the opportunities they need to help the team be successful. That being said, they still should have taken Kevin Durant! I won't go into details on that other than have you seen him play this year??? He's by far the best prospect to come into the league since LeBron James. Period.

On anthoer note, I'm watching the Magic vs Suns right now. It's half time and the Suns are up 59 - 43, but Dwight Howard is a BEAST!! He has 21 & 11 at the half with 6 offensive rebounds. Now, part of that is by design because Pheonix isn't double teaming him, much the same way they did to Duncan in the playoffs. They are letting him get his, as long as the rest of the team doesn't do much, and that's just what's happening. Dwight is shooting 56% while the rest of the Magic are shooting a pathetic 34%. COME ON RASHARD, HEDO AND JAMEER!! MAKE A DAMN SHOT!!!

Well, even if the rest of the Magic fail to show up tonight and they lose to the Suns, at least we are looking at another possible 20 plus point 20 rebound effort by D12. Hey, we might get a 30 plus point 20 rebound effort, if the Suns continue to let Dwight get his!

Also, I don't care what people say, Dwight is better than Amare! He bigger, stronger, more athletic, has a bigger heart, and a much better attitude! The only area in which Amare excels past Howard is his shooting ability. I'll take everything Dwight gives you plus his shot blocking and defense over Amare ANY DAY!! OH, plus Dwight hasn't missed a game in his entire career! Nuff Said.

Simply Beautiful

2007-11-29T23:04:00.000-06:00

2007-11-29T23:03:00.000-06:00

The Wizards lost to the Nets last night 87 to 85. Arenas played 43 minutes with 21, 4, & 6. He shot 7-17 from the field and 2-7 from three (missed all of the three point attempts he took in the second half). In fact, he only shot 2 of 9 in the second half, including a HORRIBLE three point shot that came up 6 feet short to win the game. This is not a good sign!

Gilbert came out just fine shooting 4 of 8 in the first half, and crashed in the second half, as just mentioned. What's this tell you boys and girls?? YES, Gilbert's knee is NOT OK!! To confirm that fact, word is that Gilbert will be undergoing an MRI on his knee and may be asking Eddie Jordan to reduce his playing time. OUCH!!! This really sucks for all Gilbert owners..... ME INCLUDED!!

Shame on me for trusting him when he told everyone on his blog to draft him in our fantasy leagues because his knee was just fine. Plus, he's in a contract year. I mean, GILBERT IN A CONTRACT YEAR!!! What's not to love about that! He's the ultimate "contract year guy" that you want on your team, right? A pure scorer who's selfish enough to put up 30 points per game, yet unselfish enough to get 6-8 assists per game as well. I honestly expected Gilbert to compete for the scoring title this year. Well, not if his knee is jacked! Damn!

Here's what we can do; if everyone who has Gilbert Arenas on their team (fantasy owners and Wizards fans alike) just kneel down every night for a week and say a little prayer to heal his knee, I believe he will come out of this just fine. Look, I don't care if you don't believe in God, just do it! Kneel down and talk to the damn ceiling for all I care, but Gilbert needs all the help we can give him and from my desk here in Texas, a prayer is the only thing I can offer.

Gilbert, we'll be praying for you and your knee! Get well soon, buddy!

Great Night of Basketball

2007-11-29T23:00:00.000-06:00

What an entertaining night in the Association! Atlanta beat the Phoenix Suns. They’ve beaten the Mavs and Suns and barely lost to the Nets and Pistons in their first four games. It’s early, but they are looking really good. Plus, they are starting and playing two rookies 25 minutes per game! The reason they are winning? Pure hustle! Look at last night’s game.

They outrebounded the Suns by 16 (7 more offensive boards), they had 6 more steals and actually beat them in assists as well. They had 4 players with double doubles (Marvin, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, and Joe Johnson with 10 assists). The Hawks are young, hungry and talented.

Horford looks like a beast on the boards and a legit NBA allstar in the making, grabbing 15 boards last night. He’s averaging 10.8 rebounds through his FIRST four games. That’s incredible. Zaza is expected to come back Friday, but I hope they keep Horford in the starting lineup and give him his minutes, he’s earned it. Acie still has some work to do, but I do like his confidence.

Marvin is having a nice start going under most people’s radar. He had 20, 12 and 3 assists last night. The question is can he bring that effort every night? Childress also had a very nice night, posting 19, 10, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Joe is Joe. He is really demonstrating his leadership early on by allowing the young guys in Marvin and Josh Smith shine.

All this is nice, but the guy i really want to discuss is JOSH FREAKING SMITH!!!! Here’s his line from last night:

22 points, 10 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 4 steals, 5 blocks with 47% shooting

AMAZING! He’s currently averaging 3.5 steals and 4 blocks per game! He was guarding Steve Nash down the stretch and stole the ball from in twice in the final minutes of the game! Yes, 6’9” Josh Smith straight up ripped the ball from 6’3” Steve “2-time MVP” Nash. It was sweet, unless you’re a Suns fan. Now yes, it’s only 4 games and we shouldn’t get too excited, BUT he has always started slow and still ended up as a top 25 fantasy player (higher depending on your league), so imagine where he will end up this year with a start like this!

To celebrate his most spectacular night, I’ll post the following picture of Lucy Pinder!

Other notable performances from last night:

Chris Kaman continues to dominate on the glass by pulling down 22 rebounds against the Pacers. He chipped in 15 points with 3 assits, one steal and 2 blocks.

Hedio Turkoglu grabbed 15 boards with 6 assits, 24 points a steal and block while shooting 50% from three! He’s been on fire! Don’t expect these totals, but he should be nice play all year in Orlando’s new system.

Chris Bosh finally showed up last night posting 26 & 10. Nice to see. We’ll get more and more of these. I would like his assists to rise more, though. He’s an excellent passer. I wish Sam Mitchell would utilize that more.

You love having KG, Pierce or Ray Allen on you team, but you also hate it, because if this trend keeps up, they’ll only average 30 – 35 minutes per game becaue they are killing everyone they see! KG would have had a triple double if he played the 38-40 minutes, no doubt. Still, he’s the best in the land.

Two of my favorite young players balled last night.... Rudy Gay and Darko Milicic (yes, I’m back onthe Milicic bandwagon. I rode it for 4 years and jumped off for two weeks, so I think he’ll allow me to drag my sorry ass back on to enjoy the ride). Gay had 25 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks! He has all the talent in the world and was born to play the Game. I’m betting on him having a very nice breakout year! Darko had 15 points, 10 boards (4 offensive) with an assist, steal and 2 blocks. The most impressive stat is only 2 turnovers, as he has been a TO machine in his career. Keep it up Darko!

We’ll end with the Cavs vs Jazz game last night! What a game!!! LeBron had a triple double in the third quarter and ended up with 32, 15, 13, 3 steals and 2 blocks! He’s averaged 2 blocks per game so far, incredible! Yet, his heroic three point shot with seconds left in the game was not enough to win, as Utah quickly inbounded the ball without calling a timeout (more teams need to do this) and Deron raced down the court and hit the game winning layup! Yes, he went baseline to baseline and hit a layup with 6 seconds left on the clock when the game was tied! STOP CELEBRATING CLEVELAND AND PLAY SOME FREAKING DEFENSE!!!!!!!!

Paul Millsap had another very good game with 24 points (7-8 shooting) 5 boards and 5 steals. I love me some Millsap! He’s a beast! All he needs is close to 30 minutes a night and he is this year’s version of David Lee.

AK47 put up 8 points, 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. This is the performance you should expect out of Andrei on a night in night out basis. Don’t get caught up in the AK47 is back hype! Nice stat line, but nothing like the Kirilenko of old.

Boozer and Deron will give you double doubles all year. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tonight we have Mavs vs Warriors, which should be entertaining. I expect the Mavs to get some pretty good revenge since the Warriors are without Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson.

Washington vs New Jersey. Is Gilbert healthy???? Damn, I hope so. He’s killing one of my teams right now!

Detroit vs Chicago. Chicago is 0-4 and I think they’ll get their first win tonight.

Enjoy the games.

First Week Review

2007-11-29T22:57:00.000-06:00

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a few days, but with a 3-week old beautiful baby girl and my 2 year old son…. Spare time is hard to come by. That being said, my daughter is finally sleeping at night between feedings, so I am ready to go again!!! Let’s get started.

We’ve had a full week of NBA basketball pass us by and as expected, there are players who have exceeded, disappointed and fulfilled expectations. Before we dissect the players at the top of my list, let me put insert the customary disclaimer… IT’S ONLY BEEN A WEEK!!!! Things will likely even out and go back to normal, but every year there are players that fall into one of the categories above and stay there. The trick is finding out which is true.

Exceeding Expectations

Chris Paul
4 games: 18.8 ppg – 5.5 rb– 12.5 aast– 3 stl– 0 blk– 48% shooting

I know we all expected big things from CP3 so putting him on this list is somewhat questionable, but DAMN he came out firing. 12.5 assists through 4 games!! You think he was pissed about all the attention Deron Williams got last year? I don’t expect him to continue to average over 12 assists, but I honestly don’t think it’s unrealistic for him to average 9.5 – 10 assists per this year. He’s that good, and his team needs him to facilitate everything for them. The steals are also nice and he should continue to dominate in that category with 2 per game.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas
4 games: 17.3 ppg – 14 rb – 0.5 ast – 0.50 stl – 1 blk – 50% shooting

After averaging a dismal 11 points and 7 boards last year, Big Z is back! He looks like he’s in better shape (maybe it’s just because he’s clean shaven, though) and moving extremely well. The Cavs need him and Drew Gooden, who is also starting out nicely, so I expect him to continue to post good numbers. The great thing about Big Z is that he may have been on the waiver wire when the season started, if you are the lucky guy that got him, you should enjoy his production all year. Obviously don’t expect 14 boards per, but 17 points with 9 rebounds is something to hope for.

Chris Kaman
3 games: 17.3 ppg – 14.7 rb – 1.3 ast – 0.67 stl – 2 blk – 55% shooting

Everyone knew the two players that would benefit the most from Elton Brand’s injury was Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman, but BOY OH BOY has Dom Woganowski steeped up (if you don’t know the Woganowski reference – see There’s Something About Mary).

He came out the gate with 26 points and 18 boards in the first game! He’ll be a great play at center as long as Brand is out and I hope he keeps up the progress even when he comes back. The clips really need him.

Brendan Haywood
3 games: 10 ppg – 13.7 rb - .067 stl – 3 bls – 52% shooting

Staying with the Center theme, we move to Haywood. Haywood has always been a guy with talent, but he’s never put it together for a full season. This is a great start, but I’m not buying. I just don’t think he has the heart and motivation to keep it up all year. However, it’s a great start, so IF you’re a believer, go get him.

Andrei Kirilenko
4 games: 10.8 ppg – 6.8 rb – 5 ast – 0.50 stl – 2.5 blk – 44% shooting

Those who have read this blog know that I am NOT a fan of AK47, at least not on the Jazz. His stats look like he’s primed for a bounce back year, UNTIL you look break down his game by game performance. He posted a combined 17 boards, 14 assists and 8 blocks in his two games against the Golden State Warriors, who by the way he also dominated in the playoffs last year. In the other two games against Houston and the Lakers he posted 10 boards, 6 assists and 2 blocks. The fact is; he’ll do well against the warriors because of their style of play and size. Plus, the Jazz own them, so they don’t mind giving Andrei more opportunites to shine because they usually have the game in hand from the get go. Don’t buy into this hype. He’ll be better than last year, but only marginally.

Mike Dunleavy
3 games: 22.3 ppg – 9 rb – 3.7 ast – 0.67 stl – 0.33 – 49% shooting

WOW, what a start for Dunleavy! Granted, JO was out the first game and Troy Murphy is still out, so I expect his numbers to decrease quite a bit, but 17 ppg, 6 boards and 3 assists is what I see him doing this year. That being said, he is a perfect fit for O’Brien’s up-tempo 3-point happy system, so he might surprise me. A friend of mine who’s in love with him says I’m dead wrong.

Fulfilling Expectations

Kevin Garnett
2 games: 22.5 ppg – 16.5 rb – 5.5 ast – 3 stl – 1.5 blk – 51% shooting

KG is hands down the best fantasy player and in this blogger’s humble opinion, the best player in the entire LEAGUE. For those who doubted his fantasy dominance after the trade to Boston… SHAME ON YOU! I know it’s only been two games, but I will not put a cap on what KG will achieve this year. He’s incredible.

Josh Smith
3 games: 16.3 ppg – 9.3 rb – 4 ast – 3.33 stl – 3.67 blk – 32% shooting

J-Smooth started out very slow the last two years…. NOT THIS YEAR! He is doing EVERYTHING through 3 games. Yes, his scoring is down a bit from expectations and his shooting average is abysmal at 32%, but both of those will increase as the season goes on. He should average 20 ppg with 45% shooting (he’s a career 44% shooter) and his steals will likely be around 2 per, but I believe he will lead the league in blocks, so that should stay above 3 per game. Love the assists!!! KEEP IT UP JOSH!!! I actually bought an Atlanta Hawks sweatshirt this week because of you! In fact, I’m wearing it now, as I’m writing this.

Deron Williams
4 games: 24.5 ppg – 3 rb – 9.3 ast – 1.25 stl – 0.25 blk – 55% shooting

Deron is cashing in on the expectations everyone put on him after his playoff run last season. However, I think he’s shooting too much for Sloan’s taste, so I can see his scoring decrease to around 20 per and his assists to get closer to, if not slightly over 10 per game, in an effort to get everyone involved. He is a great talent, and one of the top 4 points guards in the league! He’ll be an allstar this year!

Zach Randolph
3 games: 19.3 ppg – 13.7 rb – 1 ast – 0.67 stl – 0.33 blk – 45% shooting

You were looking for points and rebounds when you drafted him, and that’s just what you got. Nothing else, but that doesn’t matter because he has never done anything more. He’ll be 19 & 10 when the season is done.

Disappointing Expectations

Gilbert Arenas
3 games: 21.7 ppg – 5.3 rb – 4 ast – 1.67 stl – 0 blks – 33% shooting

He is also shooting 6% from the 3-point line!!! OUCH! He’s already had his knee drained this week! I hope he’s fine and he comes out of this, because I drafted him in my office league (I MUST win that league because of this damn blog). I have nothing more to say other than….. PLEASE GOD, HEAL GILBERT’S KNEE AND ALLOW HIM TO BE THE GILBERT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE!!!!

Vince Carter
4 games: 15.3 ppg – 6 rb – 4.8 ast – 1 stl – 0.5 blk – 33% shooting

Here’s another superstar who’s shooting a wonderful percentage from three – 20%. I’m not sure what to make of VC’s horrible start other than the health of Richard Jefferson. I already stated that I expected Vince’s averages to take a hit this year with RJ and Nenad back, but I didn’t see this, so I would think he’ll be just fine. He will likely average 20 ppg with 5 boards and 5 assists. His percentages have to go up.

Chris Bosh
4 games – 12.8 ppg – 5.3 rb – 1.5 ast – 0.75 stl – 2.25 blk – 40% shooting

One more elite player with an awful start! I’m not buying this one either. He has started slow, but his numbers are skewed a bit because they got killed by the Bucks last night, and Mitchell played all of his starters less than 20 minutes. Bosh will be fine. Don’t worry about him. He’ll be 20-10 by the end of the year.

Luol Deng
4 games: 15.5 ppg – 7.3 rb – 1.5 ast – 2.25 stl – 1 blk – 46%

His stats are not horrible, but the expectations surrounding him are ENORMOUS! I mean, Chicago refuses to trade for Kobe without Deng in the package and Kobe refuses to go to Chicago unless he remains a Bull. I would guess that Chicago’s 0-4 start has a lot to do with Luol’s slow start, as well as everyone else on that team! In fact, add Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace to this list too!! I think Luol and the Bulls will be fine. The Kobe trade rumors must have been a lot for this young team to handle.

David Lee
3 games: 10 ppg – 7.3 rb – 1 ast – 0.33 stl – 0.67 blk – 58% shooting

It’s a big mistake for Isiah to be playing Lee less than 30 minutes a night (he’s getting 25 right now), but as long as the Knicks keep winning, I doubt it will change. There’s your hope, Lee owners! The Knicks will start losing and Isiah will be forced to play him more, or trade him.

Mo Williams
3 games: 12 ppg – 2.7 rb – 3 ast – 1 stl – 0 blk – 43% shooting

Last year was a contract year for him, and they had quite a few injuries, so is this what we should expect from Mo from here on out??? I hope not, I also own him in one of my leagues! This better not be the classic, “player plays well in contract year and sucks once he gets paid.” I say he’ll go back to last year’s form, but that might only be because I own him.

There you go. I hope this makes up for a week of absence. I’ll be back again tomorrow to give you more of my unsolicited thoughts. Enjoy the games tonight.

Kobe is to Blame...Is not to Blame. You decide.

2007-11-29T22:52:00.000-06:00

It was always believed that Shaq was traded as a result of Kobe’s wishes, but this summer we were lead to believe Kobe had nothing to do with it. We were told Jerry Buss didn’t want to pay Shaq the money he required. Jerry believed he could build a contender around Kobe, without Shaq. I mean, that’s why Kobe went on the Stephen A. Smith show during the summer to request a trade. The Lakers organization was blaming him for the Shaq trade, and that made Kobe very upset, because it just wasn’t true (at least that’s what Kobe and now Jerry Buss are saying).

Hmmmm

Did you watch halftime of the Spurs vs Blazers game on TNT?? I wonder how Kobe feels now, after watching Magic Johnson, Lakers Vice President, say it was Kobe’s fault. Read the transcript below:

Kenny Smith

“The Lakers thought it would be easy… when you allow the Shaquille O’Neal trade and other things to happen, you’re under the assumption that your going to get back. You don’t get back. It’s not written in stone that teams get there. There are great players in the league that have never played at a high level and there’s a reason for that, because it’s a difficult league and a talent driven league and when you have talent you cannot let that just go and walk away.”

Magic Johnson

“Kobe didn’t understand that. See, if Kobe had been smart, he would have mended those fences with Shaquille. Let Shaquille be the man and we wouldn’t be in this position. And Kobe now after four years later understands he can’t do it by himself so now he’s blaming the organization. Part of that blame should be on him, as well as the organization.”

I’ll give Magic credit, because in mid sentence he realized what he was doing – reacting emotionally and raw to Kenny coming right at the Lakers organization – and he made sure he added that last statement “Part of that blame should be on him, as well as the organization,” but even with that caveat, he still said Shaq was traded because of Kobe. Magic said Kobe was to blame for this situation. Personally, I agree with him. Kobe is to blame.

Kobe wanted to be the man. Kobe wanted to control the offense and the team. Kobe wanted to be the alpha male. Kobe wanted to lead the team AND league in scoring; he knew he would never do that with Shaq on the team. Kobe thought he was so good, that he didn’t need Shaq to win. Kobe wanted to be Jordan.

This selfishness is Kobe’s biggest flaw and the sole reason he will never win another championship, let alone NBA MVP, unless he does have another dominant player on his team. He simply can’t lead and direct a team. Kobe truly believes his team is better off when he’s shooting the ball. He doesn’t trust anyone else.

It’s because of this selfishness and supreme cockiness that Kobe needs to have another alpha male on his team who will put him in his place. Kobe is arguably the best pure talent in the league, arguably; but he is best served as a scorer. He is fundamentally not capable of setting up his teammates and making them better night in and night out. That’s why the Laker’s biggest mistake is not trading Bynum for Jason Kidd. Kidd is the leader and playmaker that would allow Kobe to be Kobe. Kidd picks up his teammates and makes them better. Kobe scores. Kobe would also trust Kidd to lead, which might be the biggest reason to do the trade, because as stated above, Kobe doesn’t trust anyone.

Magic is right; Kobe didn’t understand how tough it is to win in the NBA. It all came to easy for him in the beginning. What’s sad, is when you look at the current circus Kobe has created, he still doesn’t understand. I will admit the Lakers have not managed their team well, but it’s not like Kobe has been put with a bunch of no-talent misfits. He simply doesn’t have the ability to lead and inspire people to be more than what they are.

Preseason Predictions

2007-11-29T22:51:00.000-06:00

Before we get into my preseason rankings, I want to give the Kobe caveat. He will be traded, I have no doubts about that, and I’m sure he’s going to the east, unless the Mavericks grow a brain and trade Dirk for him (I hate Kobe and even I know they should do that). Obviously whatever team he goes to in the east becomes an instant contender and these rankings are pointless, to a degree. If he goes to the Bulls, I still think Boston will be better because of what they will give up to get Kobe (Three is better than one - unless the one is Michael Jordan, which Kobe IS NOT), so it may not change at all.

Let’s look at the East first:

1) Boston Celtics - The combo of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen is too potent for any team in the East. They are three unselfish, yet dominant superstars in the prime of their careers (Allen is the only one on the older side), so how can you pick against them. Also, the bench is not that bad.

2) Chicago Bulls – With or without Kobe, they are number two in the East in regular season play. However, they need Kobe to get over the hump in the playoffs and truly be a contender this year.

3) Detroit Pistons – I hate this pick, but the starting five is still intact and more motivated than ever. They have good young players coming off the bench, but Flip is not the coach for them, which is why they will not win the East this year.

4) Toronto Raptors – Everyone is discounting this team, AGAIN! They like it that way. The Raps are extremely good and fearless. Bosh will be an MVP candidate.

5) Cleveland Cavaliers – LeBron has improved his shot, which means trouble for the rest of the league, but Varejao and Pavlovic were just that important to them. Even LeBron himself sees that, see his comments this preseason. Danny Ferry better get this resolved and those two guys with the team.

6) Orlando Magic – The loss of Grant Hill, Darko and Tony Battie will hurt, but they got Rashard and Dwight supposedly has a jump shot (I haven’t seen it yet, but that’s the rumor). Plus Stan van Gundy will get this team playing better than last year.

7) Washington Wizards – Same as last year, they’ll make the playoffs, but won’t contend. Kobe might be going here for Arenas, if that happens the Wizards move up substantially in my rankings.

8) New Jersey Nets – I know they have Nenad and Richard Jefferson back and healthy, but I hate the Magloire signing and the east got much much better, specifically their division.

9) Miami Heat – Wade will come back in January, and fight like hell to get them in the playoffs, but he’ll come up short because Shaq will probably be hurt when Wade comes back and they won’t have enough time to get the job done after they are both healthy. They’ll get close, though.

10) Atlanta Hawks – I wanted to put them in the playoffs more than any other lottery team, but I just can’t believe they will over take any of the top 8 teams. That being said, they will surprise a lot of people this year.

11) Milwaukee Bucks – Yi is starting? That’s all you need to know to realize they won’t be making the playoffs.

12) Indiana Pacers – Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy will have productive years, but the Pacers need more than those two, Jermaine O’Neal and Granger to get it done.

13) Charlotte Bobcats – The injuries of May, Morrison and future injuries of Okafor and Gerald Wallace really hurt this team.

14) New York Knicks – Does Isiah finally get fired this year??

15) Philadelphia 76ers – I love Iguodala and Andre Miller, but they are just too young everywhere else.

Now the West:

1) Houston Rockets – I know T-Mac and Yao have never been out of the first round, but it’s not just up to them this year. They are the most talented team in the league from top to bottom. Kudos to Daryl Morey.

2) Phoenix Suns – Grant Hill was a huge signing for them and they still have the best PG in the league.

3) Dallas Mavericks – They needed to do more than just send Terry to the bench in place of Stackhouse.

4) San Antonio Spurs – They always start off slow after winning a championship, but this year the Rockets and Suns are too good to let them make up all the lost ground.

5) Denver Nuggets – It’s a coin flip between them and Utah, but Denver has more talent with Kenyon Martin back (if he’s truly healthy), so they get the nod.

6) Utah Jazz – They are actually better, just not enough to improve on last year’s success.

7) Golden State Warriors – Nellie has this group of renegades playing with more confidence than anyone else in the league, that alone will carry them into the playoffs again.

8) Memphis Grizzlies – This is my surprise team of the league. They are a very very talented and well rounded team. Rudy Gay will breakout this season. I have high hopes for their future.

9) Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe is gone, and unless they get Gilbert Arenas or Dirk in return, they aren’t making the playoffs this year. They should be better off in the long run for trading Kobe, unless it really is a fire sale. We’ll have to wait and see.

10) New Orleans Hornets – Chris Paul is everything he’s advertised to be, but they just don’t have enough around him.

11) Sacramento Kings – They weren’t making the playoffs before Bibby got hurt and they certainly aren’t now.

12) Los Angeles Clippers – This starts the list of teams with no hope in the West. Brand might not be coming back until March. OUCH!

13) Portland Trailblazers – The only playmakers they have are Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, who are both sophomores in the league. Another high draft pick is in their future.

14) Seattle Supersonics – The only thing that matters this year is the development of Durant, Jeff Green and at least one of the 3 centers they have taken in the first round 3 of the last 4 years.

15) Minnesota Timberwolves – Al Jefferson will have a MONSTER season, but everyone else is still learning to play in the NBA.

The West was much easier to predict than the East, because so many western conference teams have mailed it in this year and declaring “rebuilding” while the East got stronger. Here are my picks for individual awards:

MVP – Kevin Garnett

Scoring Title – LeBron James

Rebounding Title – Dwight Howard

Defensive Player of the year – Josh Smith

Sixth Man of the year – Leandro Barbosa

Most Improved Player - LaMarcus Aldridge

Supersonic Dancers

2007-11-29T22:49:00.000-06:00

Seattle Supersonics Preview

2007-11-29T22:48:00.000-06:00

This won't by the normal preview, because they have changed so much. The projected starting lineup is:

Luke Ridnour
Kevin Durant
Damien Wilkins
Chris Wilcox
Robert Swift

This lineup isn't even in stone yet. I think they are better served with Nick Collison starting at center, and Delonte West starting at PG. This team will revolve around Kevin Durant and Jeff Green's development.

I think Chris Wilcox is a huge sleeper this year. He will be asked to handle more of the scoring load than ever before and he is a good rebounder. Stay away from the point guards, because no one knows what is going to happen there. The Centers are even worse.

It's all KD all the time in Seattle!!!!

Utah Jazz Dancers

2007-11-29T22:40:00.000-06:00

Since my number one keyword search that people use to find my blog is "Utah Jazz Dancers," I decided to give you something beautiful to look at, because the pictures of your dancers are not that good. I present to you.....Gemma Atkinson:

Utah Jazz Preview

2007-11-29T07:51:00.000-06:00

Here's what the Utah Jazz gave us last year:

A surprise team in the Western Conference finals
Proof that the Jazz did not make a mistake by taking Deron over Chris Paul last year
A healthy and DOMINANT Carlos Boozer
The first NBA player to come out of the closet

The first NBA player to cry on national tv because his "feelings" were hurt by his coach

A Hall of Fame coach confused about when he started coaching in the WNBA and must keep track of the positive to negative critisism ratio

One of the best dunks of the year

They gave obsessed crazed Jazz fans something to scream about for the first time in 7 years

Quick - count the black people...........................................

Let's look at the Starting lineup with last's years stats:

PG - Deron Williams
16.2 - 3.3 - 9.3 - 0.98 - 0.16 - 46% - 37 min

SG - Ronnie Brewer
4.6 - 1.3 - 0.4 - 0.66 - 0.11 - 53% - 12 min

SF - Andrei Kirilenko
8.3 - 4.7 - 2.9 - 1.06 - 2.06 - 47% - 29 min

PF - Carlos Boozer
20.9 - 11.7 - 3 - 0.95 - 0.28 - 56% - 35 min

C - Mehmet Okur
17.6 - 7.2 - 2 - 0.45 - 0.48 - 46% - 33 min

Key Bench Players

Matt Harpring
Paul Millsap
Gordon Giricek
Morris Almond
Jason Hart
Jarron Collins

PG
There is a serious debate about who's the better PG - Deron or Chris Paul. Paul has the lead right now, but it is slight, and if Deron can average 19 points and 10 assists per game with 3 boards and a good 3-point percentage, then I'll give Deron the nod.

SG
Ronnie Brewer is a great hustle man, and gives the Jazz the athletisism they have been missing. I'm excited to see what he can do, but my expectations are tempered a bit. I expect 10 ppg with a few boards and assits.

SF
Will Kirilenko's balls finally drop and just accept his role on this team as a defensive specialist. I can't believe he actually told his coach he needs to make sure he gives him an equal amount of praise to the critisism he hands out. What a puss. People think he'll bounce back, but I think he'll have a marginally better year than last. There just isn't enough room on this team for his horrible offense. Ignore the preseason stats, Boozer didn't play. If Ak47 could just borrow one of Matt Harpring's testicles for a day, he would understand what it means to be a man.

PF
Boozer is one of my favorite power forwards in the game. He can finish with his right and left hand, and is extremely smart with the ball. His rebounding rate is astounding for a man his size, especially when playing in the west. I love him. You'll get more of the same. I also love Millsap, which is also why I think AK47 should just move on.

C
Memo is Memo. He'll do what he did last year again. I just hope he doesn't disappear in the playoffs again.

They will compete for the Nuggets to win their division and finish in the top 6 of the West.

Trailblazer Dancer

2007-11-29T07:49:00.000-06:00

Portland Trailblazers Preview

2007-11-29T07:48:00.000-06:00

Greg Oden is hurt, which opens the door for LaMarcus Aldridge. He’ll be very good this year. I expect averages of close to 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Brandon Roy will build on his rookie campaign and do quite well leading this team. Jarret Jack should do about the same that he did last year. If you need rebounds, Joel Przbilla is your man.

I’ll be watching Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw to see if they ever cash in on their potential.

This is so short, because I only have three teams left and with the birth of my daughter

Minnesota Timberwolves Preview

2007-11-29T07:47:00.000-06:00

They traded KG and got a lot in return. Al Jefferson is every bit as good as advertised and he’ll show it this year. Then they traded Ricky Davis and got nothing in return, but that opened up room for the young guys like Rashad McCants and Gerald Green, so it was worth it.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Randy Foye
10.1 – 2.7 – 2.8 – 0.65 – 0.26 – 43% - 23 min

SG – Rashad McCants
5 – 1.3 – 1 – 0.70 – 0.19 – 35% - 15 min

SF – Corey Brewer
Rookie

PF – Al Jefferson
16 – 11 – 1.3 – 0.7 – 1.54 – 51% - 34 min

C – Theo Ratliff
2.5 – 3.5 – 0 – 0.5 – 1.5 – 33% - 22 min

Key Bench Players

Gerald Green
Sebastian Telfair
Ryan Gomes
Craig Smith

Al Jefferson is the only sure thing on this team, but it will be fun to see which young players step up and contribute. Grab them quick when they show promise, they are all very talented.

Nuggets Dancer

2007-11-29T07:43:00.000-06:00

Denver Nuggets Preview

2007-11-29T07:39:00.000-06:00

Melo and AI have a full year to see what they can do, and I think they’ll do very well. Camby will give you incredible stats when healthy, but that’s the biggest question, will he stay healthy. Kenyon Martin is back and starting which should help the team quite a bit, although he’ll be splitting minutes with Nene, as he should be.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Allen Iverson
26.3 – 3 – 7.2 – 1.89 – 0.20 – 44% - 42 min

SG – JR Smith
13 – 2.3 – 1.4 – 0.78 – 0.14 – 44% - 23 min

SF – Carmelo Anthony
28.9 – 6 – 3.8 – 1.18 – 0.34 – 48% - 38 min

PF – Kenyon Martin
9.5 – 10 – 0.5 – 0 – 0 – 50% - 31 min

C – Marcus Camby
11.2 – 11.7 – 3.2 – 1.24 – 3.3 – 47% - 34 min

Key Bench Players

Yakhouba Diawara
Eduardo Najera
Nene Hilario
Linas Kleiza

Memphis Grizzlies Preview

2007-11-29T07:26:00.000-06:00

Memphis is a very good young team anchored by one of the best power forwards in the game, Pau Gasol. They got over on Houston last year by trading Shane Battier for Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift, both are starting for the Griz this year. I think they’ll surprise a lot of teams and they have a shot making the playoffs. The main reason I’ll say they are out of the playoffs is because of the division they are in.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Kyle Lowry
5.6 – 3.1 – 3.2 – 1.4 – 0.10 – 37% - 17 min

SG – Mike Miller
18.5 – 5.4 – 4.3 – 0.77 – 0.29 – 46% - 39 min

SF – Rudy Gay
10.8 – 4.5 – 1.3 – 0.91 – 0.95 – 42% - 27 min

PF – Pau Gasol
20.8 – 9.8 – 3.4 – 0.49 – 2.14 – 54% - 36 min

C – Stromile Swift
7.8 – 4.6 – 0.3 – 0.56 – 1.15 – 47% - 19 min

Key Bench Players

Darko Milicic
Hakim Warrick
Juan Carlos Nacarro
Mike Conley Jr.
Damon Stoudamire

I’ve loved Darko and defended him, even lost money on him, since he came into the league, well if he can’t beat out Stromile Swift for a starting spot, then the love stops here. He’s a scrub, don’t draft him. Period.

Rudy Gay is poised for a breakout year and he’ll do it. Mike Miller won’t average 18.5 points this year because Pau Gasol is healthy and Rudy Gay is emerging.

San Antonio Spurs Preview

2007-11-29T00:07:00.001-06:00

I don't like the Spurs. They didn't make any changes this summer, so expect the same thing as last year, only draft Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They won't win the championship this year. That's all I'll say about the Spurs.

Oh yea, Tony Parker Sucks, but I love Eva!

San Antonio Spurs Preview

2007-11-29T00:07:00.000-06:00

Rockets Power Dancers

2007-11-29T00:05:00.001-06:00

Houston Rockets Preview

2007-11-29T00:03:00.000-06:00

I am EXTREMELY excited about the Rockets this year! They are my pick to get out of the west and go to the finals. They has an incredible offseason by adding Francis, James, Bonzi (he’s in shape and happy under Adelman) and Scola. Rick Adelman is 10 times the coach Van Gundy was.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Rafer Alston
13.3 – 3.4 – 5.4 – 1.57 – 0.12 – 38% - 37 min

SG – Tracy McGrady
24.6 - 5.3 – 6.5 – 1.3 – 0.51 – 43% - 36 min

SF – Shane Battier
10.1 – 4.1 – 2.1 – 0.96 – 0.73 – 45% - 37 min

PF – Luis Scola
Rookie

C – Yao Ming
25 – 9.4 – 2 – 0.35 – 1.96 – 52% - 34 min

Key Bench Players

Mike James
Steve Francis
Bonzi Wells
Chuck Hayes

Rick needs to figure out how he is going to handle the PG situation, which I believe Steve Francis should be starting, but Rafer has had a very good preseason, so I think Rafer keeps the job for now.

Luis Scola is perfect for this team. I’d like to thank the Spurs for this gift. He’ll average close to double double with 2-3 assists.

Bonzi will have a bounce back year, but not like he was in Sacramento, so he has little fantasy value.

Dallas Mavericks Preview

2007-11-29T00:02:00.000-06:00

Dallas was the victim of the biggest upset in NBA playoff history, and they did nothing to improve their team during the offseason. Oh wait, they named Jerry Stackhouse the starting SG and Jason Terry is coming off the bench. I don’t think that’s an improvement. Terry still needs to get his minutes to help this team win.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Devin Harris
10.2 – 2.5 – 3.7 – 1.2 – 0.26 – 49% - 26 min

SG – Jerry Stackhouse
12 – 2.2 – 2.8 – 0.76 – 0.15 – 43% - 24 min

SF – Josh Howard
18.9 – 6.8 – 1.8 – 1.17 – 0.80 – 46% - 35 min

PF – Dirk Nowitzki
24.6 – 8.9 – 3.4 – 0.67 – 0.79 – 50% - 36 min

C – Eric Dampier
7.1 – 7.4 – 0.6 – 0.32 – 1.08 – 63% - 25 min

Key Bench Players

Eddie Jones
Jason Terry
Maurice Ager
DeSagana Diop
Devean George

I like Ager and wonder what he could do with good minutes, but I don’t think we’ll see it this year. Josh Howard is very good, but he still doesn’t do enough outside of scoring and rebounding for me. Dirk is great.

Honeybees

2007-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

New Orleans Hornets Preview

2007-11-28T23:59:00.000-06:00

The Hornets will be much improved this year simply because they are healthy. The tough thing is they the play in the toughest division, BY FAR!! Let’s look at the team:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Chris Paul
17.3 – 4.4 – 8.9 – 1.84 – 0.05 – 44% - 37 minutes

SG – Morris Peterson
8.9 – 3.3 – 0.7 – 0.63 – 0.17 – 43% - 21 min

SF – Peja Stojakovic
17.8 – 4.2 – 0.8 – 0.62 – 0.31 – 42% - 33 min

PF – David West
18.3 – 8.1 – 2.2 – 0.81 – 0.73 – 48% - 37 min

C – Tyson Chandler
9.5 – 12.4 – 0.9 – 0.51 – 1.77 – 62% - 34 min

Key Bench Players

Rasual Butler
Bobby Jackson
Julian Wright
Cedric Simmons
Hilton Armstrong

Chris Paul should duplicate the numbers from last season. Morris Peterson and Peja are strictly scorers, so don’t expect much more from them. David West is a very underrated player because he scores and rebounds well, but not great, so he gets over looked on draft day.

Tyson Chandler will average a double double for the first time in his career and fight with Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett for the rebounding title again. Big Big year for him.

Phoenix Suns Preview

2007-11-28T23:58:00.000-06:00

They almost got to the finals last year, so they decided to bring in Grant Hill and say goodbye to Kurt Thomas and they believe they can win it all now. I think the loss of Thomas will hurt more than they think when it comes playoff time, but that’s just me. This team will largely remain the same as far as fantasy goes. Grant Hill’s production will increase as he is in this system playing along side Nash.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Steve Nash
18.6 – 3.5 – 11.6 – 0.75 – 0.08 – 53% - 35 min

SG – Raja Bell
14.7 – 3.2 – 2.5 – 0.64 – 0.28 – 43% - 37 min

SF – Grant Hill
14.4 – 3.6 – 2.1 – 0.94 – 0.38 – 52% - 31 min

PF – Shawn Marion
17.5 – 9.8 – 1.7 – 1.95 – 1.53 – 52% - 38 min

C – Amare Stoudemire
20.4 – 9.6 – 1 – 0.95 – 1.34 – 58% - 33 min

Key Bench Players

Leandro Barbosa
Boris Diaw
Alando Tucker
Sean Marks

This team is a fantasy gold mine with three players who will go in the first round of almost every draft. Raja Bell is overrated and honestly should not be drafted unless you are in desperate need to three pointers, and I see his value decreasing even more with Grant Hill on the team.

Sacramento Kings Preview

2007-11-28T23:57:00.000-06:00

Bibby is out for 6-8 weeks, but don’t worry about it Sacramento fans because you weren’t making the playoffs anyways. In fact, Bibby being out is a good thing for Kevin Martin. Miller has lost 25 pounds, but he’ll never put up the numbers he used to without Rick Adleman.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Mike Bibby
17.1 – 3.2 – 4.7 – 1.07 – 0.07 – 40% - 34 min

SG – Kevin Martin
20.2 – 4.3 – 2.2 – 1.23 – 0.14 – 47% - 35 min

SF – Ron Artest
18.8 – 6.5 – 3.4 – 2.13 – 0.61 – 44% - 37 min

PF – Kenny Thomas
5.3 – 6.1 – 1.2 – 0.69 – 0.26 – 48% - 23 min

C – Brad Miller
9 – 6.4 – 3.6 – 0.60 – 0.62 – 45% - 28 min

Key Bench Players

John Salmons
Quincy Douby
Fransisco Garcia
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Mikki Moore

Reggie Theus has implemented an uptempo offense, so everyone’s stats should rise by default. This is the year Kevin Martin makes this his team. Outside of Kevin Martin, Ron Artest and Mike Bibby (once he comes back) are the only players worth owning as the others will be sharing time with their bench players. Some like Brad Miller for a bounce back year, but I do not. They drafted Spencer Hawes for a reason, and he’ll be healthy soon.

Los Angeles Girls

2007-11-28T23:54:00.001-06:00

I couldn't find any good pictures of Laker girls, so I'm posting my three favorite actresses!

LA Lakers Preview

2007-11-28T23:52:00.000-06:00

It is looking more imminent that Kobe will be traded, and soon. The will obviously make this preview null and void, which is why it will be so short. Well, that and the fact that I can’t stand Kobe and the Lakers. I do like Lamar Odom and I think the Lakers as a team are better off when he is running the offense instead of Kobe, but that’s just my biased opinion.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG - Derek Fisher
10.1 – 1.8 – 3.3 – 1.01 – 0.07 – 38% - 28 min

SG – Kobe Bryant
31.6 – 5.7 – 5.4 – 1.44 – 0.47 – 46 5 – 41 min

SF – Luke Walton
11.4 – 5 – 4.3 – 1 – 0.35 – 47% - 33 min

PF – Lamar Odom
15.9 – 9.8 – 4.8 – 0.95 – 0.57 – 47% - 39 min

C – Chris Mihm
Missed all of last year, what’s that say about Bynum’s offseason progress?

Key Bench Players

Jordan Farmar
Maurice Evans
Vladimir Radmonovic
Ronny Turiaf
Brian Cook
Andrew Bynum
Kwame Brown

Truly, there is not much hope for this team. I don’t like Kobe at all, but he is right about the Lakers not being able to put any talent around him to make them contenders. I mean, Lamar Odom is great at what he does, and he would do better if Kobe understood team play a little better, but after Odom the rest of the team sucks ass. There is no way they make the playoffs this year as currently constructed, which is why Kobe is definitely getting traded.

LA Clippers Preview

2007-11-28T23:50:00.000-06:00

Elton Brand is out until at least Jan, but likely Feb. That means Corey Maggette is the MAN on this team. The question is, who else will step up on a team that basically has not hope to make the playoffs in the west without Brand? They have a very talented rookie in Al Thorton, but he’s just a rookie, so you can’t count on him.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Sam Cassell
12.3 – 2.9 – 4.7 – 0.48 – 0.14 – 42% - 24 min

SG – Cuttino Mobley
13.8 – 3.4 – 2.5 – 1.18 – 0.31 – 44% - 36 min

SF – Corey Maggette
16.9 – 5.9 – 2.8 – 0.87 – 0.19 – 45% - 30 min

PF – Paul Davis
1.6 – 1.4 – 0.2 – 0.19 – 0.16 – 42% - 5.8 min

C – Chris Kaman
10.1 – 7.8 – 1.1 – 0.55 – 1.55 – 45% - 29 min

Key Bench Players

Tim Thomas
Quinton Ross
Brevin Knight
Al Thorton
Ruben Patterson

Sam is the starter, but Brevin will be getting a lot of minutes, just like what he got in Charlotte last year. Cuttino will give you what he did last year as well.

Corey Maggette is the exciting play here. Without Brand, he is the go to player on this team. He goes to the line at an alarming rate and hits over 80%. His scoring average will be over 20, no doubt and I expect his rebounds to be between 7-8. Last year he was giving out assists at about 3 per game the last month of so of the season, so I hope that trend continues.

Are you surprised to see Paul Davis here? I am as well and I’m not sure he’ll keep the job, but he is the starter. He has a nice midrange game and he rebounds ok, but I imagine they will need Tim Thomas as their starter before long. We’ll see how this develops.

They need Chris Kaman to step up in a big way this season. He should average a low double double, but I have big doubts about him. I just don’t trust him, I guess.

It will be fun to watch Al Thorton play this year, since he is a gifted scorer and ready to contribute now. If he gets close to 30 minutes a game, he could do some damage in scoring and on the boards. I really like his potential. They are ready to replace Maggette when he leaves next summer.

Warriors Dancer

2007-11-28T23:49:00.000-06:00

Golden State Warriors Preview

2007-11-28T23:44:00.000-06:00

The Warriors were the surprise team of the year last season, well not to me, but most everyone else. I had them as the 8th team in the west in my preseason rankings and I had them upsetting Dallas in the first round. During the offseason they traded Jason Richardson and got Brandan Wright, who is a nice prospect, but he won’t contribute this year. The trade opens up opportunities for other players. The tough thing about predicting what Nellie is going to do with his lineup is just that… predicting it. Nellie is as unpredictable as they come. To illustrate my point, he just named Mickael Pietrus as his starting power forward. I like Pietrus, but really?? Power Forward??? REALLY???? So I’ll give my best guess on what will happen with this team this year:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Baron Davis
20.1 – 8.1 – 4.4 – 2.14 – 0.46 – 43% - 35 min

SG – Stephen Jackson
15.5 – 3 – 3.8 – 1.12 – 0.45 – 43% - 33 min

SF – Kelenna Azubuike
7.1 – 2.3 – 0.7 – 0.54 – 0.24 – 45% - 16 min

PF – Mickael Pietrus
11.1 – 4.5 – 0.9 – 0.67 – 0.76 – 49% - 27 min

C – Andris Biedrins
9.5 – 9.3 – 1.1 – 0.82 – 1.66 – 60% - 29 min

Key Bench Players

Monta Ellis
Marco Belinelli
Matt Barnes
Al Harrington
Patrick O’Bryant

Baron Davis is one of the best point guards in the league, when healthy, which is the main question with him. Even with his health issues, he’s still an excellent PG to have on your team, so I always recommend to draft him; just pick up Mona Ellis as well, because he’ll pick up the slack when Baron goes down.

Stephen Jackson is suspended to start the season, but he’ll be consistent once he returns to the court. Expect the same numbers this year, as last year.

Kelenna Azubuike is he surprise here. He is a D-League talent that really knows how to score. I imagine Nellie has fallen in love with his hustle and toughness. I’m not sure if he’ll pan out as a starter, but again, it’s Nellie, so Kelenna could very well get starters minutes all season and be in the running for most improved player. It just depends on Nelson’s mood.

I prefer to have Mickael Pietrus start at SF and Harrington at PF, but Harrington is coming off the bench and Pietrus is the man at PF. Pietrus can score and he is a great defender who will grab rebounds and do what is needed, so I peg him as a huge sleeper this year, assuming he keeps the starting gig here.

Biedrins was having a huge season until he hit a wall. I expect him to be ready and more prepared for the long season and I see him averaging 10, 10 & 1.8 blocks this season, but have you seen him shoot free throws?????? Enough said on that one. I’ll be curious to see how much run Patrick O’Bryant gets this year.

Indiana Pacers Preview

2007-11-28T23:42:00.000-06:00

Indiana has a new coach in Jim O’Brien who likes to get the ball up the court and shoot the three, which is a good fit for the players on this team. Last year guys like Tinsley, Murphy, Granger and Murphy really disappointed fantasy owners. What will happen this year?

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jamaal Tinsley
12.8 – 3.3 – 6.9 – 1.63 – 0.35 – 39% - 31 min

SG – Mike Duneavy
12.8 – 5.3 – 2.8 – 1.02 – 0.27 – 45% - 32 min

SF – Danny Granger
13.9 – 4.6 – 1.4 – 0.80 – 0.74 – 46% - 34 min

PF – Jermaine O’Neal
19.4 – 9.6 – 2.4 – 0.72 – 2.64 – 44% - 36 min

C – Troy Murphy
10.3 – 6.1 – 1.9 – 0.68 – 0.62 – 46% - 27 min

Key Bench Players

Travis Diener
Marquis Daniels
Ike Diogu
Jeff Foster
Shawne Williams
Kareem Rush

The players I want to discuss here are Granger, Dunleavu and Murphy. Granger is being touted as a Matrix Light, but I just don’t see it. Yes, he has all the physical tools, but he stays on the perimeter way too much and simply doesn’t do anything that Marion does, not even on the light side. Look at his stats above! Until he shows me some of his talent on a consistent basis, I’m not believing in him. Dunleavy has been a huge disappointment for fantasy owners every year, but this is the year I think he starts to contribute. He won’t ever be a star, but he should be good as a third guard this year. Murphy was horrible last year, but under Jim O’Brien I expect him to be back averaging 15 & 10 again. Murphy can space the floor with his three and give Jermaine room to operate down low, which is just what O’Brien wants.

Ike Diogu is a great sleeper, because when Jermaine or Murphy get hurt (which one of them definitely will), Ike steps in and contributes right away. Is a 20/10 guy just waiting for the opportunity down the road. I love his game.

Luvabull

2007-11-28T23:33:00.001-06:00

Chicago Bulls Preview

2007-11-28T23:31:00.000-06:00

The Bulls have a lot of young talent that is starting to get the experience necessary to win the east, but now there are these Kobe trade rumors going around and Chicago is the most likely destination. We’ll worry about that if and when it happens. Let’s look at this team as it stands now:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Kirk Hinrich
16.6 – 3.4 – 6.3 – 1.25 – 0.29 – 42% - 36 min

SG – Ben Gordon
21.4 – 3.1 – 3.6 – 0.78 – 0.21 – 46% - 33 min

SF – Luol Deng
18.8 – 7.1 – 2.5 – 1.18 – 0.59 – 52% - 37 min

PF – Tyrus Thomas
5.2 – 3.7 – 0.6 – 0.64 – 1.06 – 48% - 13.4 min

C – Ben Wallace
6.4 – 10.7 – 2.4 – 1.44 – 2.03 – 45% - 35 min

Key Bench Players

Chris Duhon
Andres Nocioni
Joakim Noah
Joe Smith
Aaron Gray
Thabo Sefolosha

Kirk Hinrich will give you the same stats as last year. He’s a quality middle of the pack PG. Ben Gordon has improved every year, but I see his scoring average of 21 ppg remaining the same. I hope his assists and rebounds will increase, which would do wonders for him.

Luol Deng is set for a big year. I see 20 ppg, 8 boards with over 50% shooting this year. Tyrus Thomas gets the start, but he will see limited minutes, as he is still learning the NBA. He’ll be good for blocks, steals and boards. Ben Wallace is definitely on the decline, but he will still give you 10 boars per game with over 2 blocks. Much like last year.

Joakim Noah is worth a late flyer, if you’re in a deep league and Andres Nocioni will be getting around 30 minutes a game, so he is valuable as well.

Honestly, this team will remain much the same, unless a shakeup happens via trade or injury.

Milwaukee Bucks Preview

2007-11-28T23:30:00.000-06:00

This team will be in the lottery again, but there is plenty of fantasy goodness here. Michael Redd is one of the best shooters/scorers in the league. His biggest down fall is the other stats. You only know who Mo Williams is if, you are a Bucks fan, you owned him on your fantasy team last year, or your obsessed with the NBA (as I am). If you are none of these, then please understand he is a very good point guard you can nab later than his actual value. The biggest questions are can the big men on this team put it all together finally?

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Mo Williams
17.3 – 4.8 – 6.1 – 1.25 – 0.09 – 45% & 36 min

SG – Michael Redd
26.7 – 3.7 – 2.3 – 1.19 – 017 – 47% & 39 min

SF – Desmond Mason
13.7 – 4.6 – 1.5 – 0.69 – 0.29 – 45% & 34 min

PF – Charlie Villanueva
11.8 – 5.8 – 0.9 – 0.62 – 0.31 – 47% & 25 min

C – Andrew Bogut
12.3 – 8.8 – 3 – 0.74 – 0.53 – 55% & 34 min

Key Bench Players

Yi Jianlian
Charlie Bell
Bobby Simmons
Dan Gadzuric
Royal Ivey

I’ve have been a big fan of Bogut since he was in college, and I thought he would do extremely well in The League, but it hasn’t looked that way yet. His numbers aren’t horrible, but they are not worthy of his number one overall pick. Good news is this is his third year, and that is the magical year that many players figure it out and breakout. I’m pegging Bogut as being that breakout player. He will average a double double and give you at least 3 assists.

Charlie has more raw talent then anyone on this team, but he is lazy and unmotivated on most nights. He can shoot the three with ease and he is athletic enough to be a monster on the boards and defense, IF he ever wants to. The second problem he has this year is the fact that the Bucks committed to te Chinese they would play Yi and minimum of 20 minutes, which will likely cut into Charlie’s time, unless they play Yi at the three, which they could do. He’s got the game, even if he is raw. Speaking of Yi, I will be watching closely to see if he lives up to all the hype.

Desomong Mason can score, but he wont do anything else, plus Bobby Simmons is healthy again, so I imagine he’ll get some quality minutes as well.

Basically, the only players worth owning here are Redd, Williams, Bogut, Villanueva and Yi (if you’re Chinese).

Cleveland Cavaliers Dancers

2007-11-28T23:27:00.000-06:00

Cleveland Cavaliers Preview

2007-11-28T23:25:00.000-06:00

Cleveland has had a frustrating offseason in their stare down with Pavlovic and Varejao. I agree with Danny Ferry on principal, BUT this team did nothing to improve this summer, while so many other eastern teams improved dramatically. They cannot afford to lose those two guys, if winning is their biggest concern. The were the first people off the bench for this team and did so much that doesn’t show up on the stats. Look, the fact is that Danny Ferry has not done a very good job putting this team together. LeBron is one of the top 4 players in the league, but he can’t do all by himself. He’ll get tired an falter at some point, like in the NBA finals!!! Anyways, the loss of those two players opens things up for other guys. Here’s the starting lineup:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Daniel Gibson
4.6 – 1.5 – 1.2 – 0.4 – 0.1 – 42% & 16.5 min

SG – Larry Hughes
14.9 – 3.8 – 3.7 – 1.3 – 0.4 – 40% & 37 min

SF – LeBron James
27.3 – 6.7 – 6 – 1.6 – 0.7 – 48% & 41 min

PF – Drew Gooden
11.1 – 8.5 – 1.1 – 0.9 – 0.3 – 47% & 28 min

C – Zydrunas Ilgauskas
11.9 – 7.7 – 1.6 – 0.6 – 1.3 – 49% & 27 min

Key Bench Players

Eric Snow
Donyell Marshall
Shannon Brown
Ira Newble
Devin Brown
Dwayne Jones

LeBron is LeBron. I look for his scoring average to go up this year because it appears that he has really worked on his shooting mechanics. He is doing a much better job squaring up and keeping his body in-line when jumping. His percentages have been up all summer and in the preseason. If he shoots more consistently from the outside, he’ll easily average over 30 ppg and he’ll lead the league in scoring this year. The skies the limit with him.

Daniel Gibson is interesting. He’s fearless and has a great shot, but can he run the team for 30 plus minutes per game? They need him, so they’ll give him every chance to prove he can.

Larry Hughes is healthy and he’s looked good during the preseason. He’ll get more minutes with Pavlovic gone, so I expect all of his numbers to increase, though be it slightly.

Drew Good gets the biggest increase of fantasy value with the absence of Varejao. He almost averaged a double double with only 28 minutes. He’ll easily average that double double with 32 – 35 minutes per. He is great offensive rebounder, so I expect a big year from him.

Big Z will do the same he did last year. He simply cannot handle big minutes, so he will always be somewhat limited.

I really like Shannon Brown, but he’s still young, so give him some time. Donyell Marshall will have value with his three point shooting and rebounding ability. He should also see an increase in minutes.

The Cavs won’t get back to the finals, but they will still be one of the best teams in the east, as long as LeBron is on the court.

Pistons Dancers

2007-11-28T23:23:00.001-06:00

Detroit Pistons Preview

2007-11-28T23:21:00.000-06:00

I have way behind my preseason previews due to my daughter’s birth, so I’ll have to shorten this up. I’ll just pick and choose which teams I get detailed on. The Pistons will be on of these quick reviews, because although I really like their young guys, Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Rodney Stuckey, they won’t be effective until they get minutes and as long as the starting five are healthy, they won’t get many. Actually, Maxiell should get decent minutes because he’s backing up McDyess, who is better served off the bench, so we’ll see how that develops. So here is the starting five:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Chauncey Billups
17 – 3.4 – 7.2 – 1.2 – 0.24 – 43% & 36 min

SG – Richard Hamilton
19.8 – 3.8 – 3.8 – 0.79 – 0.2 – 47% & 37 min

SF – Tayshaun Prince
14.3 – 5.2 – 2.8 – 0.62 – 0.67 – 46% & 37 min

PF – Rasheed Wallace
12.3 – 7.2 – 1.7 – 1 – 1.57 – 42% & 32 min

C – Antonio McDyess
8.1 – 6 – 0.9 – 0.74 – 0.79 – 53% & 21 min

They have 4 guys who average 32 minutes or more, that’s why you wont see anything from the young guys, but Maxiell. I actually really like Amir and I hope he gets a chance, because he could help this team out a ton. Back to the starters. I expect the same numbers from the 4 main guys again this year. Nothing has changed with any of them. People are taking a flyer on McDyess, and I like him a lot, but he’s not worth the risk. Maxiell is a better player at this stage, so he should slowly get the minutes and I hope he takes over the starting role sometime this year.

New Jersey Nets Preview

2007-11-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

New Jersey loves to run, and with Kidd steering the ship, that’s the best option. Every year I think Kidd is going to start declining and every year he proves me wrong. He was incredible last year; ranked number 8 over all in our scoring system. I’m not a big Vince Carter fan, but that’s primarily because of the way he left Toronto, although he has become too much of a jump shooter. Richard Jefferson is healthy this year, so what will he mean to the team and what kind of stats can he put up with Vince dominating the shots? They got Jamaal Magloire, which people are praising, so we’ll discuss that.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jason Kidd
13 – 8.2 – 9.2 – 1.59 – 0.29 – 41% & 37 min

SG – Vince Carter
25.2 – 6 – 4.8 – 1 – 0.37 – 45% & 38 min

SF – Richard Jefferson
16.3 – 4.4 – 2.7 – 0.62 – 0.15 -46% & 36 min

PF – Nenad Krstic
16.4 – 6.8 – 1.8 – 0.38 – 0.92 – 53% & 33 min

C – Jamaal Magloire
6.5 – 6.1 – 0.40 – 0.26 – 0.81 – 50% & 21 min

Key Bench Players

Marcus Williams
Antoine Wright
Bostjan Nachbar
Josh Boone
Sean Williams
Jason Collins

PG
I have already discussed Kidd briefly. My main concern about him right now is his age and the fact that he is suffering from back pains already. It might just be that he doesn’t need to play in the last two preseason games, or it could be serious. I would find out for sure before you draft him too high, but when healthy he is great. Marcus Williams will be backing him up, who is also banged up. Marcus will be a very nice pickup if Kidd goes down with an injury.

SG
Vince is on a downward climb in his career, but he’s still incredibly skilled and can fill up the stat sheet. I actually see his scoring total decrease this year, with a healthy RJ and Nenad back in the fold. Antoine Wright is his backup, but he won’t get any burn.

SF
I like Richard Jefferson a lot this year. He is healthy and I look for him to build on last year’s stats. I see 18 points, 6 boards and 3 assists this year. Bostjan is his backup and he’ll be a decent play if you are in a deep league and only care about points. He won’t do much more than just score.

PF
Nenad is healthy and apparently he has stretched out his range to the three this year. That will help his scoring, but he still doesn’t rebound at a high rate for a PF and he won’t get you assists or block, so I would stay away. Josh Boone is still a project, but he’s the superior rebounder, if he can ever stay on the floor. I actually like him for the Center spot long term. Sean Williams is very gifted player but I don’t think he’ll get the opportunity to showcase it this year. He is by far the best talent of the bigs on this team, but he’s a rookie, so don’t expect much of anything.

C
They got Jamaal Magloire, and I don’t understand why. I know they are in desperate need of a rebounding defensive big, which Jamaal is, BUT he’s one of the slowest Centers in the league. He can get up and down ok, but as soon as he gets the ball on the low block, he stands there and thinks for about 3-5 seconds before he does ANYTHING! That just won’t work on this team or in the system. Maybe he’ll figure out how to make quick moves and decisions, but I doubt it. That may be why Jason Collins still has the starting gig, though he’s horrible too, which is why I put Jamaal as the starter.

This team will make the playoffs, but they are not contenders. In the fantasy world, there are some options in Kidd, Carter, Jefferson and Krstic, but the list ends there, unless your in a very deep league.

New York Knicks Preview

2007-11-28T23:17:00.000-06:00

Will Randolph and Curry coexist AND succeed? Will Stephon Marbury retain his elite PG status? Will David Lee repeat his waiver wire hall of fame status of last year? These and more are all the questions that surround the Knicks this year. They believe in themselves, but should you believe in them?? Isiah loves redundancy. The last major trade he did was getting Steve Francis, when he already had Marbury. How did that work out? Oh, he traded Francis for Randolph when he already has Eddy Curry!! I don’t understand it, but maybe this one will work better. Actually, Curry had a bum shoulder and he’s never been the type of player to play through injuries, which would actually work out great for the Knicks. That would give Randolph the low block, where he’s much better than Curry at scoring AND rebounding, and it would force David Lee into the starting lineup. The Knicks would be a much better team if they had those two starting and playing the bulk of the minutes. Bring Curry off the bench for crying out loud, but Isiah won’t do that. He gave up too much for him (two top 10 draft picks). Enough about my thoughts, let’s look at it:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Stephon Marbury
16.4 – 2.9 – 5.4 – 0.96 – 0.14 – 42% & 37 min

SG – Jamal Crawford
17.6 – 3.2 – 4.4 – 0.97 – 0.14 – 40% & 37 min

SF – Quentin Richardson
13 – 7.2 – 2.2 – 0.73 – 0.14 – 42% & 33 min

PF – Zach Randolph
23.6 – 10.1 – 2.2 – 0.78 – 0.22 – 47% & 36 min

C – Eddy Curry
19.5 – 7 – 0.8 – 0.42 – 0.49 – 58% - 35 min

Key Bench Players

David Lee
Jared Jefferies
Ranaldo Balkman
Nate Robinson
Mardy Collins

They can score, but can they stop anyone?? Their system is not exactly set up to “outscore” their opponent, so I have my doubts.

PG
Stephon was once one of the best PG in all of fantasy basketball, averaging 20 points, 8 assists and 3 boards per game, but he has been 16 points, 6 assists and 3 boards the last two years. Granted, he has been battling some injuries, and sharing duties with Steve Franchise (though he was barely on the court as well). I don’t expect him to go up to 20 ppg, because they have two very good low post scorers, so he won’t be asked to score as much, and I don’t see his assits going up to either because he’ll be passing into the post a lot, which isn’t condusive to dimes. Basically, he should have about the same year, maybe marginally better. Nate Robinson is the backup and I love his confidence and atheltic ability, but he’s another scoring point guard. In fact, when he’s on the court he dominates the ball and takes away from the game plan of feeding the bigs down low, so I think his minutes will be limited, unless he can learn to pass first and not worry about proving that he belongs in the league by scoring every chance he gets.

SG
Jamal Crawford is a very underrated guard in fantasy. You can get him late and he’ll give you 17, 3 & 4. That’s pretty good for a number two guard. The bad thing with Crawford is his consistency. He’ll give you a great game, followed by a HORRIBLE game. You never know what you’re going to get. Mardy Collins will be backing him up, but there’s not much value there.

SF
Quentin Richardson has the talent to be a very good fantasy player, and he is in spurts with his scoring and rebounding, but on this team, this year... he won’t be. He’ll have a few good games, but not enough to make it worth owning. Jared Jefferies and Ranaldo Balkman are backing him up, but the same goes for them. Don’t draft any of these players.

PF
Zach was dominant in Portland averaging 23 & 10, but he needed 19 shots per game to do that, AND he camped out on the low block to pick up a lot of easy rebounds. He won’t get either of those two luxuries this year, unless Curry goes down with an injury (which is likely). I see 18 points and 8 or 9 boards per game, which isn’t bad, except that he won’t give you ANYTHING else in the other categories. No assits, no steals and no blocks. He’s an average forward at best. UNLESS Curry goes down with an injury, then he’ll be the same Zach he’s always been. That’s why I’m saying draft him. He is by far the best Knick to own this year, just don’t spend a high pick on him.

C
Eddy Curry will score around 16 – 19 points, but he won’t grab more than 7 boards, and he won’t pass the damn ball and he won’t block a freaking shot and he won’t steal a ball, so... stay away!!! I actually want to talk about David Lee here. He’s damn good, no doubt about it. He shoots 60%. Hustles and grabs boards at a phenominal rate. He averaged 10 points and 10 boards last year with only 30 minutes per game. How many minutes will he get this year? I imagine less. Probably around 25 or so, which is a shame. He should be on the court more than any other player on this damn team. Which is why the Knicks will go nowhere this year.

So the Knicks are thinking playoffs and I’m saying, HELL NO!! Zach Randolph, Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford are the only players worth owning (oh, and David Lee if Isiah gets smart). However, like I have said more than a few times here, if someone goes down (Curry) with an injury, then Zach and David will BALL!

76ers Dancers

2007-11-28T23:11:00.000-06:00

Philadelphia 76ers Preview

2007-11-28T23:09:00.000-06:00

We all know the 76ers traded away the most popular and arguably the best player in francise history, Allen Iverson. Remarkably, they won more games without him last year, thanks to AI Jr, Andre Iguodala. He’s a stud, plain and simple. They also got Andre Miller in the deal, which is tremendous. Andre is one of the most underrated point guards in the league. The problem with the 76ers is that after Iggy and Miller, they don’t have another player that would start on a majority of NBA teams, well that’s not true. Dalembert would start for a majority of teams, but after being in the league for 5 years he’s never lived up to his promise. Maybe this is the year. Still, once you get past those three, not another player on this team would even crack the starting lineup of another NBA team. They are all good role players, which would be nice, if you had 2 or three superstars to lead them, which the 76ers do not. Let’s look the team:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Andre Miller
13.4 – 4.4 – 7.8 – 1.38 – 0.13 – 47% & 37 min

SG – Willie Green
11.3 – 2.1 – 1.5 – 0.76 – 0.05 – 41% & 25 min

SF – Andre Iguodala
18.2 - 5.7 – 5.7 – 2 – 0.43 – 45% & 40 min

PF – Reggie Evans
4.9 – 7 – 0.70 – 0.64 – 0.24 – 54% & 17 min

C – Samuel Dalembert
10.7 – 8.9 – 0.80 – 0.57 – 1.94 – 54% & 31 min

Key Bench Players

Rodney Carney
Kyle Korver
Louis Williams
Thaddeus Young
Jason Smith
Calvin Booth

PG
Andre Miller is a very good point guard. In fact, he’s at his best when he’s one of the best playmakers on his team, because he has excellent court vision and is stupendous at dripple penetration and dishing out to the open man. His best years were when he was in Cleveland, because they needed him to truly run the offense. He made guys like Lamond Murray, Wesley Person and Ricky Davis (before anyone knew who the hell Ricky was) matter. Andre averaged 16.5 ppg, 10.9 assits with 4.7 boards that year (01-02 season). I expect something simliar this year. The assists won’t be above 10, but they will likely be around 9, and Andre is an excellent rebounding point guard, so he’ll be over 4 boards per game. His scoring will also be needed this year, so he’ll average 15 – 16 points. Using this logic, I wonder who will be the “Lamond Murray or Wesley Person” of this year??? That’s what makes this team so interesting from a fantasy perspective. I see Louis Williams as the backup PG because he had an excellent summer and they need to develop young talent this year, and Kevin Ollie.... really??

SG
This is the mystery position. Who will start? I think Willie Green has the upper hand because of his experience, but he didn’t really do much last year to warrant another shot at it. I would have Rodney Carney starting here, becuase he’s their best young talent behind Iggy. He has a nice three point shot and it super athletic. Carney and Iggy could really lead this team, if Carney is able to develop into what a lot of people see. Maybe that’s why Willie will end up starting. Maybe Carney needs more time before he’s thrown into the fire??? This is only his second year, so he’s got time. He’ll be very very good. Kyle Korver is the third man here, but he’ll also play some three (as will Carney). Korver has a gorgeous shot, but he doesn’t bring much else to the table, and he tends to force his shot at times.

SF
I could write a disertation about Andre Iguodala, he’s that good. What surprised most people (not me or anyone else who followed his first two years in the league) was his scoring ability. Experts like to focus on his passing, his hustle stats, or his defense; which are all great, but his scoring gets lost in the fray. Well, not anymore. He can flat out light it up. He was only one of 4 players to average at least 18 points, 5 boards and 5 assists per game (Kobe, LeBron and T-Mac were the other three). The last 29 games he averaged 20, 6.7 & 6.1. He scored 20+ points 33 times and 30+ four times. He also recorded three triple doubles and was only one of just four players to have multiple triple doubles last year. So why not expect 20, 6 & 6 this year with 2 steals!!! That is incredible, and he’s only 23 years old. Thaddeus Young will back him up, who is also a good young prospect.

PF
Reggie Evans is a great hustle guy, who loves to rebound, but he won’t give you anything more than that. He is best served as a role player off the bench, so it will be interesting to see how he handles a full time role. He has the ablility to be one of the top rebounders in the league; we’ll have to wait and see. Jason Smith is his backup and the player they drafted for the future. He has a great shot, and is a good rebounder. It will be fun to watch him as he progresses.

C
Samuel Dalembert is a mystery. He has the talent to be one of the leading rebounders in the league, much like Tyson Chandler was last year, but Dalembert’s offensive game is much better than Chandler’s, so the question is.... when will it all click with Sam? This is his 6th year, so I hope he it all comes together now. Sam is routinely injured, although he did play all 82 games last year, but he is bothered by a stress fracture in his foot right now and is missing preseason games. He’s actually one of my favorite sleepers, so I pray he gets it done. Plus his team REALLY needs him.

Although this team is young, they have a good coach in Maurice Cheeks and they have a lot of heart. It wouldn’t surprise me if they built on their win totals from last year and won close to 40 games, BUT it also wouldn’t surprise me if they only won 25-30 games. From a fantasy perspective, I would only draft Iguodala, Miller and Dalembert and take a flyer on Carney or Jason Smith in very deep leagues. Reggie has value as well, if all you care about are rebounds.

Raptors Dance Team

2007-11-28T23:07:00.000-06:00

Toronto Raptors Preview

2007-11-28T23:05:00.000-06:00

Toronto is being touted as the Suns of the east, and that is very true. Everyone is writing, “They won’t sneak up on anyone.” That’s right, but they didn’t win 47 games by sneaking up on people, they won because the are good, and they will be even better this year. That’s not to say they will be 3rd in the east like last year, because the east has gotten much better, but they will be very good. Bargnani is developing nicely, and Kapono only helps their cause. The points guards are the best combination in the league and Anthony Parker is a great role player for this team.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – TJ Ford
14 – 3.1 – 7.9 – 1.35 – 0.11 – 44% & 30 min

SG – Anthony Parker
12.4 – 3.9 – 2.1 – 1 – 0.15 – 48% & 33 min

SF – Jason Kapono
10.9 – 2.7 – 1.2 – 0.57 – 0.03 – 50% & 26 min

PF – Chris Bosh
22.6 – 10.7 – 2.5 – 0.57 – 1.3 – 50% & 39 min

C – Andrea Bargnani
11.6 – 3.9 – 0.8 – 0.49 – 0.82 – 43% & 25 min

Key Bench Players

Jose Calderon
Juan Dixon
Carlos Delfino
Joey Graham
Jorge Garbajosa
Rasho Nesterovic

PG
TJ Ford is extremely talented and his stats woud be better, if he got more minutes, but that’s not going to happen because he has the best backup point guard in the league behind him, Jose Calderon. They are both extremely effective at running this offense, and their strengths are each other’s weaknesses, which is why they work so well together. Even still TJ is a good point guard to have on your team. You can see above that he’ll give you decent points with good assists and decent rebounds for a guard.

SG
Anthony Parker won’t give you much in the way of fantasy, but he’s great for this team in real life. He shoots a great percentage for a 2 guard and does whatever the team needs him to do on any given night. Juan Dixon will be the primary backup here, and he was well worth the trade for him. He can score and run the offense, but he won’t have much value in fantasy leagues. Carlos Delfino is the third man off the bench at SG because he hasn’t proven that he can be consistent in the NBA, so I have little hope for him, although he has the talent.

SF
Kapono was their big free agent this summer, so he will be starting, which is good, this was their weakest postion last year. He has an excellent 3 point shot, and he can score in other ways as well, but that’s about all he’ll give you… scoring. Joey Graham is the backup, and a good one at that. He is much more athletic and will crash the boards more than Kapono, but he doesn’t have the shot or the scoring ability of Kapono.

PF
Chris Bosh is the man! He’s one of the few 20/10 guys in the league, and he’s extremely versitile. I always hope for more assists, but I can’t complain since he’s blocking shots now. He is a true allstar and the heart of this team. Jorge Garbajosa will be coming off the bench and he’s a perfect fit for this team. He does a little bit of everything, but he won’t get the minutes, so he’s not worth a draft pick.

C
I’ve been impressed with Andrea Bargnani’s development. He’s a deadeye from three with a quick release. He can also take you off the dribble and finish at the rim as well. I would like to see more boards, but that may take a little more time. People are labeling him as a breakout candidate this year, and I agree somewhat. He’ll improve dramatically, but he won’t give you the boards you need from this position, no assists, blocks or steals. Basically, he’ll only give you scoring and threes this year, so if that’s what you need, then he’ll be great.

Celtics Dancers

2007-11-28T23:03:00.000-06:00

Boston Celtics Preview

2007-11-28T23:00:00.000-06:00

The Celtics are one of my favorite teams to watch this year and my pick to win the east. They will be good to fantasy teams as well, at least the big three will. Look at other teams in the league that have three superstars, Spurs and Wizards and to a lesser extent the Utah Jazz (I’m not including the Suns because they have a unique system and a certain player named NASH who is able to get everyone involved). Think, on the Spurs who was valuable for Fantasy outside of Parker, Duncan and Ginobili.... No one! The Wizards outside of Arenas, Jamison and Butler... NO ONE! The Jazz outside of Boozer, Williams and Memo... NO ONE! When you have three players dominating the minutes, shots and play calls there isn’t much room for anyone else. This is the case with Boston. Pierce, KG and Allen will do very well, whereas Rondo will not do much as Perkins will also do very little.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Rajon Rondo
6.4 – 3.7 – 3.8 – 1.64 – 0.10 – 42% & 24 min

SG – Ray Allen
26.4 – 4.5 – 4.1 – 1.49 – 0.20 – 40% & 40 min

SF – Paul Pierce
25 – 5.9 – 4.1 – 1.02 – 0.28 – 44% & 37 min

PF – Kevin Garnett
22.4 – 12.8 – 4.1 – 1.17 – 1.66 – 48% & 40 min

C – Kendrick Perkins
4.5 – 5.2 – 1.3 – 0.32 – 1.33 – 49% & 22 min

Key Bench Players

Tony Allen
Eddie House
James Posey
Leon Powe
Brian Scalabrine

People say their biggest weakness is their bench, which is true, but honestly it’s not very weak at all. Tony Allen is a very good young player and Eddie Houst and Posey are great role players. They are week at the PF & C position, but the guards look good.

PG
Everyone is touting Rondo as a sleeper this year and although I like him a lot as a player, there just won’t be enough for him to do. The big three are all very good at scoring, rebounding and dishing dimes, which means the only real stat that he can excel at is steals, which i believe he will do great in. I mean, he’ll average close to double digits, and get some assists and rebounds, but just not enough with those three on the court with him. Ray Allen will be playing some PG duties as well, which will be interesting.

SG
I LOVE JESUS!!!

Ray Ray is extremely good, but he is the one who takes the biggest hit with this trade. He is older and has had a few sugeries to go with that, but the truth is that he won’t be called upon to make as many plays like he was in Seattle. He’ll score 17 – 19 points with 3 boards and 4 assists a game, which is still pretty good. I just don’t see him in the 20’s anymore. Now some of you are saying, “But Barry, when Ray was with Glen Robinson and Sam Cassell he averaged over 20 points, why can’t he do it with KG and Pierce.” That is a simple answer. In Milwaukee Ray was the younger, more athletic and skilled player. Now he is the older, less athletic and less skilled player. He has one of the purest, if not THE purest, shot in the league, but he is not and never has been on the same skill level as KG and Pierce. The most he ever averaged with in Milwaukee with Big Dog and Sam I Am is 22 points in a season. That was 2000 – 01. 7 years later, do you really think he’ll do the same thing with MUCH MUCH better talent on his team??? The other reason I think he's on a downward turn is because of the other Allen – Tony. Tony is a very good young player. Look at what he was doing last year before he got hurt. He won’t get a ton of minues, but it will be enough to affect Ray. Eddie House is just a scorer that will get minutes, but he won’t do anything else but score, and he won’t do a lot of that.

SF
I don’t understand why everyone is so down on Paul Pierce this year. This trade only helps him! Yes, his rebounds will take a slight dip to around 5 per game, but his assists will likely be up. His percentages have gone up every year, he is more motivated than ever and he’s a very unselfish player that will thrive with two elite stars like KG and Jesus Shuttlesworth. Pierce will lead this team in scoring, because very few people can guard him one on one, which is what they will have to do this year. Plus, he goes to the line 9 times a game and shoots 80%. He’ll be great. Tony Allen will minutes here as well.

PF
KG is the best fantasy player in the land, what else can I say. I’m trying to decide between him and LeBron for my MVP pick this season. He’ll score around 22 per game, his boards will still be fighting Dwight Howard for leading rebounder, and his assists will actually go up! He’s the man, and will carry Boston to the finals. His backup is where you get into problems. He’ll play center as well as PF, and although Leon Powe and Scalbrine are good guys and hustle like crazy, this is their weakest spot, once KG is on the bench.

C
Perkins will get some boards and a few points, much like Mark Blount did when he played next to KG last year, but you won’t get much else. Don’t draft him. KG is the backup center.

Boston will win the east and get to the finals, but the only players worth owning, unless you are in a very deep league, is KG, Ray Ray and The Truth.

Charlotte Bobcats Dancers

2007-11-28T22:58:00.000-06:00

Charlotte Bobcats Preview

2007-11-28T22:56:00.000-06:00

Charlotte has a new coach, a legit scorer in Jason Richardson and they have hopes of their first playoff appearance. In the fantasy world, there are plenty of things to like about this team. Gerald Wallace is fantastic, but will the presence of JR hurt his fantasy value? Let’s look at it:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Raymond Felton
14 – 3.4 – 7 – 1.51 – 0.13 – 38% & 36 min

SG – Jason Richardson
16 – 5.1 – 3.4 – 1.06 – 0.63 – 42% & 33 min

SF – Gerald Wallace
18.1 – 7.2 – 2.6 – 2 - 0.96 – 50% & 37 min

PF – Emeka Okafor
14.4 – 11.3 – 1.2 – 0.85 – 2.57 – 53% & 35 min

C – Ryan Hollins
2.4 – 1.1 – 0 – 0.15 – 0.26 – 56% & 7 min

Key Bench Players

Walter Hermann
Matt Carroll
Jeff McInnis
Primoz Brezec

The Bobcats have gotten much thinner this preseason with the loss of Sean May and Adam Morrison. That will give more value to certain starting players and give some good opportunities for some great sleepers.

PG
Felton was tagged as a breakout candidate last season, but failed to meet expectations. That was because he was asked to share duties with Brevin Knight. Yes, he played 36 minutes per game last year, but he played a lot of those minutes at the SG position, which he is undersized at and his percentages are not good enough to be effective at that spot. Knight is gone, so the PG is all his, which is good. I expect good things from him this year. He scoring will likely stay the same, maybe even dip a little, with JR on the team and Emeka and Gerald blossoming into their offensive game, but his assists will definitely be up, as will his percentages. Jeff McInns is only on the list, because someone has to back up Raymond and he’s all they really have.

SG
They traded for Richardson and I think it was a very good trade. The Bobcats cannot afford to wait and develop young talent anymore (although they need to learn to draft better, Morrison was and will always remain to be a horrible pick). JR will average in the 20’s again. In fact, I expect the same type of year he had two seasons ago, 23, 5 & 3. He is very good and a special scorer, just what Charlotte needed. Matt Carroll will back him up, but don’t expect the same numbers he had last year. Carroll was good, he won’t do much more than a hired sniper from the three this year.

SF
I love Gerald Wallace, although he tends to be overrated in fantasy drafts. Last year, he had a slow start, but it was because of the presence of Okafor and May. Once May went down, Wallace’s stats started to pickup. Once Okafor went down, he exploded!! He is great from the PF spot, where he is much quicker and explosive than the other forwards guarding him, but he struggled to score when May and Okafor were manning the middle. This year, May is hurt, which is good for Gerald, but they have Richardson and we’ll have to see what offensive game Okafor brings. Plus they have JR, who will be the primary go to guy in Charlotte. So I do not expect the same offensive numbers as this year, unless someone gets hurt, then he’ll explode again. Don’t get me wrong, he will be good regardless, but I just think he’s overrated. PLUS, he goes by Crash for a reason. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I would draft him. Okafor has never played a full season and Richardson is also very injury prone. If either of those guys goes down, he’s the man. Take him and don’t look back.

PF
Emeka has never been healthy, he has never been a dominant force on the offensive end, but he’s a blocking machine and will get you a ton of boards. He showed great promise in his offense the first month of last year, but he fell of as the year went on. Let’s hope he worked just as hard on it this off-season and comes out blazing again. Walter Hermann is the backup here, and I actually think he should be the starting PF and put Emeka at center, but that’s just me. Hermann is your typical Argentinean. He’s a hustler, gritty and has not fear. He is very effective at scoring the basketball, though not one of his strengths and he is a very good rebounder. Charlotte is starting Ryan Hollins at center right now, but I don’t think it will be long before they realize they need Hermann on the court as much as possible. Draft him late and you’ll be very happy.

C
Ryan Hollins is slated as the starter. He’s very raw offensively but he is pretty athletic for his size, at least when compared to Primoz, and he is a good hustler, thus the coach likes him, but he’s not the answer, at least not this season. See my comments above about Hermann. Primoz is his backup and he’s obviously not the answer either. Stay away from both.

I’ll be watching the Bobcats all year, and hopefully will have one of them on my team, because they’ll be pretty good this year. They will likely make the playoffs, IF everyone can stay healthy, which is proving to be a very BIG IF so far in the preseason.

Washington Wizards Preview

2007-11-28T22:55:00.000-06:00

Washington had the big three in the east last year, but Gilbert went down and that was the end of their hopes. They come back this year with the same team, because they believe they have the right guys to get the job done, while I disagree. Gilbert is amazing, although selfish at times, and he misses more clutch free throws and shots than most superstars (people just remember the ones that he makes because ESPN really highlights those). Caron Butler is extremely good, as is Jamison, but is that enough? It’s obviously not. They need other players to really step up, so let’s see who might be capable.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Gilbert Arenas
28.4 – 4.6 – 6 – 1.88 – 0.18 – 42% & 40

SG – DeShaw Stevenson
11.2 – 2.6 – 2.7 – 0.79 – 0.23 – 46% & 30

SF – Caron Butler
19.1 – 7.4 – 3.7 -2.13 – 0.27 – 46% & 39

PF – Antawn Jamison
19.8 – 8 – 1.9 – 1.14 – 0.51 – 45% - 38

C – Brendan Haywood
6.6 – 6.2 – 0.6 – 0.44 – 1.14 – 56% & 22

Key Bench Players
Antonio Daniels
Darius Songaila
Andray Blatche

Yes, I only put 3 players hat will get decent minutes off the bench. When you have three players averaging close to 40 minutes per game, there isn’t much room for anyone else.

PG
We have already discussed Gilbert. He’s the best PG out there in the fantasy world, though I would take quite a few ahead of him in real life. Daniels will get minutes, as Gilbert plays SG as well, but Daniels wont have much value.

SG
I like DeShawn Stevenson as a player, but he wont do much for your team. Avoid him.

SF
Caron Butler is fantastic. He does it all, except for blocks (which you don’t expect at that position anyways).

PF
Jamison will score and he loves the three, but he’ll also give you decent rebounds, though I usually want more out of a PF. Songailia will back him up here, but again, no value unless there is an injury to Jamison or Haywood.

C
Brendan has the job, but he’s not the answer on this team. Look at his minutes per game last year and you will see. He is very raw offensively, and if you say he’s out there for his defense, then you and the Wizards are wrong. He simply is not a good defender. 1.14 blocks per game is pathetic for a 7 footer who’s been in the league as long as he has. I like Blatche here and think he has the talent to over take the starting job, but the question there is his dedication, desire and mental makeup. If he can put it all together, then he’s possibly the answer the Wiz have been looking for. Keep an eye on him.

This team will score a lot, because they can’t stop my ANYONE, but all the love will go to the big three. This is an easy team to preview. Look at last year. It’s more of the same.

Miami Heat Dancers

2007-11-28T22:53:00.000-06:00

Miami Heat Preview

2007-11-28T22:51:00.000-06:00

While the East was growing and getting better this off-season, the Heat slept. They actually got a little worse. They lost Kapono and Posey. Antoine Walker is out of shape, Wade is out for at least 3-4 more weeks and Shaq is one more year older and fatter, I’m sure. Things look grim, and they should, unless Shaq is actually in good enough shape to be dominant and Wade is only out for two weeks AND he’s completely healthy when he comes back. Yeah, I’m not counting on either of those happening.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jason Williams
10.9 – 2.3 – 5.3 – 0.95 – 0.02 – 41% & 30

SG – Dwayne Wade
27.4 – 4.7 – 7.5 – 2.1 – 1.22 – 49% & 37

SF – Dorell Wright
6 – 4.1 – 1.4 – 0.62 – 0.70 – 45% & 19

PF – Udonis Haslem
10.7 – 8.3 – 1.2 – 0.62 – 0.33 – 49% & 31

C – Shaquille O’Neal
17.3 – 7.4 – 2 – 0.20 – 1.38 – 42% & 28

Key Bench Players

Smush Parker
Anfernee Hardaway
Daequan Cook
Antoine Walker
Wayne Simien
Earl Barron
Alonza Mourning
Alenxander Johnson

You would think with this many “key bench players” they would be good, but that’s not the case. I had to put almost the whole team down because I have no clue who’s going to get minutes and contribute. Let’s look at it more closely.

PG
They brought in Smush to compete with Jason, but Smush is Smush, so Jason Williams remains the starter. Pat Reilly spent all summer looking for a PG and he failed to find one that can make a difference. Jason will be asked to score more in the beginning of the season with Wade out, and he might actually put up decent stats by default, but they will quickly go back to his norm of the last few years, once Wade is back on the court.

SG
They are lost at this position until Wade is back and healthy. I like Daequan Cook’s potential, but they are kidding themselves if they think he is ready to contribute now. PENNY???? Wow, they dug deep for that one. Wade is this whole team, they will be awful without him.

SF
Dorell Wright is super-athletic and has a TON of talent, but will it ever “click” between the ears?? The Heat are praying it does and they need it NOW. Pat Reilly said last year that he envisioned the Heat being lead by Wade and Dorell Wright. Is he ready? We’ll find out, since he was given the starting job from the first day of camp. However, he has not had a good preseason and I don’t think he is capitalizing on the opportunity. Walker is becoming discontent (what else is new) and the older he gets, the more threes he jacks up with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. I’m actually planning on drafting Dorell in the last round of my draft, and hoping he taps into his potential, but from what I’ve seen in the preseason, I’m not really betting on it.

PF
Udonis is one of the most underrated players in the league. He very effective on the glass, has a nice midrange jumper and is a good defender. The problem is that he will be asked to be more than a role player this season, and I question whether he’s up the task. I really like Earl Barron and Alexander Johnson, but we wont see them until Shaq goes down.

C
Shaq is older, slower and more out of shape, but he’s still Shaq so by default he could get 20 & 10 if he really wanted to. Now, he will be bored with the regular season and will get very frustrated, if the Heat suck as much as I expect them too, which means, he will get hurt. I say he plays around 55 games this year. Mourning is incredible for his age, but he is older and not nearly as effective as he used to be. I expect the heat to get to the point where they will need to start developing their young talent instead of thinking playoffs, which will open the door for Earl Barron and Alexander Johnson.

I am very down on Miami this year, as you can tell. It wouldn’t surprise me if Pat Reilly also had a health problem, which causes him to miss some time, once he sees that his team is going nowhere. Dwyane Wade is the best shooting guard in the league, but he needs to take his time and make sure he’s healthy before he comes back.

Orlando Magic Dancer

2007-11-28T22:50:00.000-06:00

Orlando Magic Preview

2007-11-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

The Magic were the last team to make the playoffs last year, and the question is… did they improve?? A good question, quite frankly. They lost Grant Hill and Darko Milicic, but added Rashard Lewis and Adonal Foyle. Yes, they WAY OVERSPENT on Rashard, but he is a very good player and should do even better in the east with Dwight Howard on his team.

Losing Grant hurts a lot from a leadership perspective, so we’ll have to see if Jameer is ready to be the leader they need. My best wishes go out to his family, by the way. They brought on Stan Van Gundy, who I really like. He’s not an offensive moron like his brother and I think he will do good things with this young emerging team. Their starting lineup is still influx because they don’t know what they are going to do with the power forward or shooting guard positions, but I’ll give you what I think is their best lineup:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jameer Nelson
14.3 – 3 – 3.3 – 0.8 – 0 – 42% & 32

SG – JJ Redick
3 – 0 – 2 – 0 – 0 – 50% & 11

SF – Rashard Lewis
22.4 – 6.6 – 2.4 – 1.1 – 0.6 – 46% & 39

PF – Hedo Turkoglu
13.3 – 4 – 3.2 - 0.96 - 0.22 – 42% & 31

C – Dwight Howard
17.6 – 12.3 – 1.9 – 0.85 – 1.9 – 60% & 37

Key Bench Players

Trevor Ariza
Carlos Arroyo
Keith Bogans
Keyon Dooling
Adonal Foyle
Bo Outlaw

PG
Jameer failed to meet the “breakout” expectations that everyone had for him last season, but he has looked good during the preseason this year. He has totaled 20 assists with only 3 turnovers in three games he has played this preseason, and with limited minutes, of course. Carlos Arroyo will be his primary backup, and if you think Jameer is a shoot first point guard, then Carlos Arroyo makes him look like Brevin Knight. Carlos looks to score as the first, second and third option, and if he REALLY can’t get his shot off, then he’ll look to pass. Keyon Dooling is the third PG, although he’ll be playing a lot of SG this season, because he too is a scorer.

SG
This is the position with the biggest question marks. I don’t think SVG knows who he is going to start here. The hope is that Redick wont be a complete disaster on defense, because they really need his shooting to space the floor for Howard. That being said, it does make a lot of sense to start Trevor Ariza or Keith Bogans here, if they decide to start Hedo and Rashard at the 3 & 4 spots. Hedo and Rashard will provide PLENTY of spacing, and Ariza and Bogans are very good defenders and will do well in the “hustle” categories. Personally, I like Ariza as the starter here. He’s a young super athletic player that could really excel if given the opportunity.

SF
Will Rashard live up to his paycheck? Does he really even need to, as long as the Magic win? I don’t think so. The Magic know they overpaid, and they’re fine with it, because they had to get someone to team up with Dwight so he would sign his extension. Rashard will see an increase in points, and I hope he should do more on the boards, especially if he plays a lot of PF, but people have been saying that about Rashard for the last few years, and we haven’t seen more than 7 boards per game, so maybe those expectations are unrealistic. Hedo will play SF a lot as well, and Ariza will back up this position when needed. I doubt Pat Garrity will get any burn at all.

PF
Another question mark. Do they go small and let Rashard and Hedo man this spot, or do they go big and put Dwight here with Foyle at center? I’m sure they’ll mix it up quite a bit during the season, and I imagine They’ll start Hedo or Rashard (interchangeable between 3 & 4 spot) here.

C
D12 a BEAST!! He’ll average 20 points per game, 12 plus boards and 2 plus blocks this season. I’m hoping he gets close to 3 assists because SVG will actually be able to teach people to move without the damn ball when Dwight has it, and he’ll pick up some easy dimes when he passes out of double teams. The loss of Tony Battie and Darko will really hurt them here, becase Foyle is not that good. He’s serviceable at best.

I see the Magic being in the top 5 of the east purely on Dwight’s development, Stan Van Gundy, Rashard Lewis and Jameer’s growth. I really think Jameer is in for a big year.

Atlanta Night Life

2007-11-28T22:46:00.000-06:00

I tried to find a good picture of one of the A-Town Dancers (the Hawks dance team), but I was not able to find one that I could use. Truthfully, they only have 3 or 4 attractive dancers on their team. Actual dancing talent must be really important to them, because looks IS NOT!! So I had to find an alternate picture to use, which got me thinking about the two times I went to Atlanta on business.... OH WHAT A CITY!! The bars and clubs don't even get going until 1:00am!! I was there for Fat Tuesday one year, and let me tell you.... wait, I won't tell you. Just know that I am a good boy, so I didn't participate in anything that I saw, but seeing was enough. Do you know what a spider swing is? You do if you've been to Buckhead.

Anyways, as I was saying, I had to find another picture to represent the women of Atlanta, and this is the best clean picture I could find. These girls are representing a club in Buckhead at a local convention (not that type of club, well I guess one could argue that almost every club in Atlanta is "that type of club" after 3:00am).

Atlanta Hawks Preview

2007-11-28T22:28:00.000-06:00

The Atlanta Hawks are an interesting team. Joe Johnson is healthy and able to lead a group of players who are maturing and ready to compete. They are employing a new up-tempo offense this year, which should elevate the player’s stats, although I’m sure they’ll take their lumps early. Toronto did this last year with Sam Mitchell and it took him a few weeks to figure out what “up-tempo” meant for his team. Woodson will need the same learning curve once the season starts and he sees how his players react in this new system. Everyone is talking about their rookies, Horford and Law, but the key to their success is Josh Smith and Marvin Williams. I’ll explain.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Speedy Claxton
5.3 - 1.9 - 4.4 - 1.7 - .10 - 33% & 25
SG – Joe Johnson
25 – 4.2 – 4.4 – 1.05 - .19 – 38% & 41

SF – Marvin Williams
13.1 – 5.3 – 1.9 - .81 - .47 – 43% & 34

PF – Josh Smith16.4 – 8.6 – 3.3 – 1.4 – 2.9 – 44% & 37

C – Zaza Pachulia
12.2 – 6.9 – 1.5 – 1.07 - .5 – 47% & 28

Key Bench Players:

Josh Childress
Al Horford
Tyronn LueSheldon Williams
Acie Law IV
Salim Stoudamire

As you can see, that is a lot of players on the bench that Coach Woodson needs to manage. Let’s look at each position.

PG
They got Speedy last year, but he was never healthy, so I look for him to rebound and have a decent year. Word is the Hawks really like Acie Law, but he’s a rookie and I’m not personally sold on him. I think he’ll be a hired gun at the end of the game, because that is when he’s at his best. Lue is still on the team, which baffles me. He shoots the ball way too damn much and isn’t very effective in getting other players going (which is what a PG is supposed to do), but he will get minutes and frustrate everyone who has anther Hawks player on his fantasy team, because your player’s shot attempts will automatically decrease the minute Lue steps on the court. Therefore, I still mark this down as their weakest position, and could be the cause of their ultimate demise this year.

SG
Joe Johnson is one of the best guards in the league. He has excellent vision and is as accurate as they come. I do expect his scoring totals to slightly decrease with the emergence of Josh Smith and Marvin Williams; however, you might see an increase in his assists as well. Josh Childress will be the first person off the bench and could play PG to SF. He’s extremely effective in whatever they need him to do, and he’ll have another solid year. Stoudamire is the odd man out in this group. His only real asset is his shooting, and he’s streaky at that.

SF
Marvin is the man, or so they say. This is the year we start to see his potential. He’ll never be a 20-10 guy, but he can score at ease in a number of different ways. He’ll also give you some assists, 2-3 a game, but not much after that. I basically expect him to be 17 ppg, 7 boards and 2 assists guy this year. His scoring may be higher, but that will depend on Josh Smith’s offensive improvement. SF will be manned by either Marvin, Josh S. or Josh C at all times.

PF
I LOVE JOSH SMITH!!! He spent his summer in Houston learning from Hakeem “The Dream” and Calvin Murphy. Emeka Okafor worked out with Hakeem the summer before last season and he came out the gate averaging 16.9 points per game in the month of November (career high for a month average). I look for the same results from Josh, but better. I’m hoping Josh will average 20 plus points per game this season. That will put him in the elite status in terms of fantasy, and I’m freaking stoked about it! Sheldon Williams will be the primary backup here, and he’ll do a fine job. He showed what he could do the last few weeks of the season, but that was garbage time in the NBA, and those stats only mean so much.

C
Zaza is not the answer here. He’ll get the start because of the experience, but I wonder how long it will take for Al Horford to take over the starting job, assuming he can play center, like everyone is saying. Horford has all the tools you want in a big man so they’ll be anxious to get him on the court and see how long it takes for him to contribute. Solomon Jones is another player who will get burn as center. He’s a very big lanky athletic young man, who has a knack for blocking shots. He has a poor offensive game, but can mix it up defensively.

I think the Hawks have a very good shot at making the playoffs this year. The PG is their biggest issue, but if they can overcome that and get decent play there, then they will definitely make some noise. From a fantasy perspective, Josh Smith is the best player, followed closely by Joe Johnson. There’s a big drop from there, but Marvin will make big strides, as will Josh Childress. Don’t take Law in any draft (unless you’re a Texas A&M alum, then I thank you for wasting a draft pick), as Speedy has that locked up for at least this year, but taking a flyer on Horford in the last round, might not be a bad idea, if you can be patient.

Seattle or Oklahoma???

2007-11-28T22:12:00.000-06:00

Do they have girls that look like this in Oklahoma??

Total Player Rankings

2007-11-28T22:09:00.000-06:00

Here is my total player rankings list. These rankings are based on our customized scoring system as detailed on this blog. I have linked last years season totals as a reference point:

all-players-2006-nba-standard-stats.doc

Kevin Garnett
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
Dirk Nowitzki
Shawn Marion
Tim Duncan
Gilbert Arenas
Jason Kidd
Chris Bosh
Pau Gasol
Yao Ming
Amare Stoudemire
Steve Nash
Allen Iverson
Dwayne Wade (he's missing at least a month - otherwise he's ahead of Kobe)
Josh Smith
Al Jefferson
Andre Iguodala
Carlos Boozer
Tracy McGrady
Carmelo Anthony
Paul Pierce
Lamar Odom
Jermaine O'Neal
Marcus Camby
Vince Carter
Chris Paul
Baron Davis
Emeka Okafor
Zack Randolph
Rashard Lewis
Deron Williams
Antawn Jamison
Caron Butler
Ron Artest
Cory Maggette
Andre Miller
Chauncey Billups
Stephon Marbury
Michael Redd
Joe Johnson
Josh Howard
Luol Deng
Kevin Martin
Kevin Durant
Brandon Roy
Tyson Chandler
LaMarcus Aldridge
Ben Wallace
TJ Ford
Randy Foye
Raymond Felton
Ray Allen
Andrew Bogut
David West
Gerald Wallace
Richard Jefferson
Mike Miller
David Lee
Mehmet Okur
Shaquille O'Neal
Nenad Krstic
Charlie Villanueva
Rudy Gay
Jamal Crawford
Elton Brand
Mo Williams
Tony Parker
Chris Kaman
Manu Ginobili
Ben Gordon
Ricky Davis
Jason Richardson
Kirk Hinrich
Mike Bibby
Richard Hamilton
Rasheed Wallace
Chris Wilcox
Drew Gooden
Nene
Luis Scola
Larry Hughes
Steve Francis
Darko Milicic
Samuel Dalembert
Andris Biedrins
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Andrew Bynum
Tayshaun Prince
Al Harrington
Andrea Bargnani
Antonio McDyess
Channing Frye
Kenyon Martin
Joakim Noah
Danny Granger
Marvin Williams
Andrei Kirilenko
Wally Szczerbiak
Quentin Richardson
Monta Ellis
Josh Childress
Mike Dunleavy
Stephen Jackson
Delonte West
Jamaal Tinsley
Jason Terry
Leandro Barbosa
Jameer Nelson
Peja Stojakovic
Grant Hill
Anthony Parker
Devin Harris
Marco Belinelli
Bonzi Wells
Trevor Ariza
Boris Diaw
Hedo Turkoglu
Luke Walton
Travis Outlaw
Jason Kapono
Dorell Wright
Jeff Green
Al Thorton
Walter Hermann
Rajon Rondo
Daniel Gibson
Mike Conley
Jarrett Jack
Speedy Claxton
Jamaal Magloire
Kendrick Perkins
Robert Swift
Nick Collison
Troy Murphy
Mark Blount
Brad Miller
Eddy Curry
Ryan Hollins
Ryan Gomes
Tyrus Thomas
Jared Jefferies
Gerald Green
Martell Webster
Morris Peterson
Marquis Daniels
Ronnie Brewer
Rashard McCants
Justin Williams
Ike Diogu
Jason Maxiell
Sean Williams
Al Horford
Ti Jianlian
Amir Johnson
Al Thorton
JJ Redick
So that is my list.

Tier Player Rankings

2007-11-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

One of the most important things to have going into a draft is a tier ranking. I love the flexibility it provides during a draft. You can make quick decisions based on which position has the highest tiered players still available. I will give my rankings below.

Please understand something, ever since the 6th grade I do not double dip. It was the beginning of the 6th grade and I was in social studies. You remember 6th grade. First time you move to new classrooms and new teachers for each class, you have your own locker, and its time to decide which “group” you will sit with at lunch, because that is what defined you in middle school. It’s the biggest step you’ve taken in your social progression at this stage in life. Well, mine was marred because of DOUBLE DIPPING! Again, I was in social studies and we were learning about dehydrated foods. The teacher hydrated some ketchup and little weenies for us to try. I dipped my little weenie in the ketchup that was being passed down each isle by a student. It was so good; I quickly turned around and dipped my little weenie in the ketchup again! Well, the girl passing the damn ketchup around yelled (and I mean yelled), “HE DOUBLE DIPPED!!!!!” Please understand I had never even heard of “double dipping” at that point in my life. My family dipped anything and everything as much and as many times, as we wanted too. I was so confused, but the teacher quickly “educated” me on why we do not double dip, and of course she did this in front of the whole class. The story does have a happy ending though…..

That was in the first 6 weeks and I scored a perfect 100 on my report card, so I was moved up to Honors Social Studies and left all those non-double dipping bastards behind! I may not have known what double dipping was, but I sure as hell knew the damn continents!!

I know you are wondering what the hell this has to do with my tier rankings, well; I hate it when people put the same players under multiple positions in their rankings. I understand that Josh Smith can be a SG, SF and PF, but I don’t want to see him three times in a tier ranking. That’s double dipping. That is what a total player ranking sheet is for. I have assigned each player to the position at which they will likely be starting at. So here are my rakings by position and I will have the total player rankings out later this week.

Point Guard

TIER ONE
Gilbert Arenas, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash

They are the best of the best. No need to elaborate there.

TIER TWO
Chris Paul, Baron Davis and Deron Williams

Baron would easily be in the top tier, if he could ever stay healthy. I hope this is the year he does it. I could debate who’s better between CP3 and DWill all day. They are both spectacular and I look forward to seeing them improve once more. CP3 definitely has more to prove than Deron, so it should be interesting.

TIER THREE
Andre Miller, Chauncey Billups, TJ Ford, Stephon Marbury, Randy Foye, Raymond Felton, Mo Williams and Tony Parker

This group has A LOT TO PROVE!! Andre Miller is the safest pick of the group, but the real questions are whether Billups can rebound from a down year and a Horrible playoff appearance? Will Steph return to his dominating days of 20 plus points and 8 plus assists of a couple of years ago? Are Randy Foye and Raymond Felton ready to take over and lead their teams? I actually think that Raymond is poised for a very nice year and I think Steph does rebound, but only time will tell.

TIER FOUR
Steve Francis, Kirk Hinrich, Mike Bibby, Jamaal Tinsley, Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa and Jameer Nelson

I really like Steve Francis out of this group! I think he has matured as a person and player and I believe he will do very well in Houston. Bibby is the biggest question mark because he was so disappointing last year. I don’t really know what to think of him right now. Honestly, I try to avoid point guards in this tier and below because I would prefer to take a chance on a young forward, but these players deserve spots on a team, they will be effective.

THE REST
Rajon Rondo, Daniel Gibson, Mike Conley, Jarrett Jack and Speedy Claxton

I think Rajon will do just fine in Boston. I’m the most curious about how Boobie and Conley Jr. will be used. Both teams REALLY need their playmaking abilities on the court, I hope they are starting or get a lot of minutes at the very least.

Shooting Guards

TIER ONE
Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade

Wade really shouldn’t be here since he is likely to miss at least a month of the season with injuries, but I just love his game. He is the best two guard in the game, so I had to put him in. KOBE – I HATE YOU!

TIER TWO
Allen Iverson, Andre Iguodala, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter

Iggy is simply sick. He does everything and does it well, plus Andre Miller is a great compliment to him. T-Mac’s back will be great this year because he won’t have to carry his whole team on it anymore! Daryl Morey, you are a freaking saint!! Tracy will love Adelman’s system and flourish in it.

TIER THREE
Michael Redd, Joe Johnson, Kevin Martin, Kevin Durant, Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford, and Brandon Roy

Redd and Johnson and obvious studs and if they just did a little more in the other categories, they would be in the second tier. Kevin Martin will continue to progress, but he really needs Artest to be traded if he is going to reach his potential. I LOVE KD!! He is the next great superstar in the league, but his time will not be this year because he is playing the 2 guard spot. I expect him to be 20 plus points but only 5-7 boards and few assists. He’ll become THE MAN, as he grows into his body! Durant is freaking awesome. I think Ray Allen will take the biggest fantasy hit out of the big three in Boston. His scoring will be down and so will his other stats because he just wont be asked to do as much every night as he has been. Brandon Roy was a nice rookie and I expect him to continue to grow.

TIER FOUR
Ben Gordon, Ricky Davis, Jason Richardson, Richard Hamilton and Larry Hughes

Ricky Davis is the typical high risk, high reward player, because we don’t know how Minnesota is going to use him, if they don’t trade him. He could be the Ricky that scores and does everything, or he could be a cancer to the young players and they will exile him to the bench of a new team. Please Ricky, behave and freaking BALL!!!! Is Larry Hughes healthy this year?? He’s got the talent, and Cleveland really needs him, but he’ll break if you breathe on him, so don’t sneeze in his direction.

TIER FIVE
Peja Stojakovic, Grant Hill, Anthony Parker, Devin Harris, Marco Belinelli, and Bonzi Wells

My money is on Marco Belinelli in this group. Don Nelson is as unpredictable as they come and I can see Belinelli starting and doing very well, because he’s just the cocky shoot-fist high-energy guy Nellie loves! Bonzi reported to camp 15lbs lighter… didn’t he need to lose at least 30lbs???

THE REST
Gerald Green, Martell Webster, Morris Peterson, Marquis Daniels, JJ Redick, Ronnie Brewer, Rashad McCants and Trevor Ariza.

I’ll take Ariza out of this group. Orlando doesn’t have a shooting guard (JJ is NOT the answer) and Ariza does everything. He’s a very nice sleeper.

Small Forward

TIER ONE
LeBron James

He’s King. Did you see him shoot the ball during the FIBA America’s tournament???? If he does anything close to that this season, he’ll average 35 points per game and will truly be unstoppable!

TIER TWO
Josh Smith, Paul Pierce

Josh spent the whole summer with Hakeem Olajuwon and Calvin Murphy. I expect him to average 20 points this season and he’ll continue to do EVERYTHING!!!! Pierce’s rebounds will go down, but everything else will stay the same. His shooting percentages go up every year, so he’ll still succeed with fewer shots.

TIER THREE
Rashard Lewis, Carmelo Anthony, Caron Butler, Ron Artest and Corey Maggette

Rashard was GROSSLY overpaid, but he is damn good and will do great in Orlando. Will Melo ever rebound or pass the ball consistently enough to be anything more than an elite scorer? Butler will pick up where he left off and hopefully Ron Ron keeps his head on straight. The player I like the most is Maggette! Brand is out for about half the season, and they’ll be asking him to carry the scoring load. Maggette is also in a contract year as he can opt out at the end of the season.

TIER FOUR
Josh Howard, Luol Deng, David West, Gerald Wallace, Richard Jefferson, Tayshaun Prince, Manu Ginobili and Rudy Gay

I’m not as high on Gerald Wallace as everyone else is. Look at his stats the first half of last season. They were very average. Why? Because Okafor and Sean May were balling. Now he has J Rich in the mix along with an improved Felton and Walter Hermann. He’ll be average this year, unless Okafor goes down again (he does every year so it might be a good bet). Rudy Gay is my player of choice here. I think he breaks out in his sophomore campaign, and shows what he can do.

TIER FIVE
Danny Granger, Marvin Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Wally Szczerbiak, and Quentin Richardson

Danny got way comfortable with the three last season. He needs to go to the rack more this year, if he is going to do what other people think he will, that is be a Matrix light. I just don’t see it, though. This is Marvin’s put up or shut up season. What will he do? AK47 is still crying in the bathroom stall because Jerry Sloan told him he missed that back door pass, but didn’t follow it up with “But you caught the ball and got in your three point stance beautifully, Andrei!” He will never be the AK47 of old in Utah as long as Boozer and Okur are there.

THE REST
Boris Diaw, Hedo Turkoglu, Luke Walton, Amir Johnson, Travis Outlaw, Jason Kapono, Dorell Wright, Jeff Green, Al Thorton and Walter Hermann

Will the Pistons ever give Amir a chance? He’s stud, just needs the time and experience. I love Dorell’s talent, but I’m not sure he has the brain. Hermann will make his mark on this team like every Argentinean not named Delfino does.

Power Forward

TIER ONE
Kevin Garnett

He’s the best player on the planet (fantasy and real life). He’s the 2007-08 MVP. Go ahead and put Boston in the NBA Finals!

TIER TWO
Chris Bosh, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Al Jefferson

I keep expecting Duncan to get old and slow down, but I’m not sure it’s coming anymore. I’m starting to think he’ll be this good well into his 50’s. He just doesn’t need to jump or be athletic to totally dominate. I love Al Jefferson this year! Look at what he did without Pierce last year. He’s the best player on the Timberwolves and will be given every opportunity to average 20 & 10 with good blocks and great percentages. He might even throw in some assists, if he improved on passing out of double teams (which I hope he has, cause he’ll see them a lot).

TIER THREE
Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom, Jermaine O’Neal, Zach Randolph and Antawn Jamison

Odom and the Lakers will do much better if they run the ball through Lamar and just let Kobe score, but they won’t so Odom finds himself in tier three. I’m not worried about Zach. Eddy Curry sucks.

TIER FOUR
LaMarcus Aldridge, Charlie Villanueva, David Lee and Elton Brand

Aldridge will freaking ball this year with Oden out. He’s the man down low on that team and I think he’ll make the most of it. I’ve always like Charlie and I hope he stays healthy this year. David Lee is too good for even Coach “Hey pretty lady, will you meet me of site” Thomas to keep him on the bench. I put Elton Brand here because I couldn’t have him past tier four, no matter how many games he misses.

TIER FIVE
Rasheed Wallace, Chris Wilcox, Drew Gooden, Nene, Luis Scola and Al Harrington

Wilcox has all the talent and I think he turns that into production this year. Gooden is talking about being a MLB pitcher???? I love Nene, but the presence of K-Mart concerns me, although Nene should be the primary PF no matter what. I love Scola and I think he’s perfect for Aldelman’s system.

TIER SIX
Anrea Bargnani, Antonio McDyess, Channing Frye, Kenyon Martin and Joakim Noah

Bargnani is incredible! He’ll be phenomenal if he would learn the rebound and continue to take people off his dribble. Channing will bounce back and start to reach early expectations of last year, unless he can’t fend off Joel Pryzbilla, in which case he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned on this list. Kenyon scares the hell out of me and I’m not going anywhere near him. The Bulls need a lowpost presence so bad that they will start Noah, even though he’s a younger Ben Wallace and NOT a lowpost presence.

THE REST
Ryan Gomes, Tyrus Thomas, Jaren Jefferies, Justin Williams, Ike Diogu, Jason Maxiell, Sean Williams, Al Horford, Yi Jianlian

Tyrus Thomas has everything a team could want, but not what the Bulls need. Apparently Jefferies can shoot now… we’ll see. Justin Williams should be starting over every big man Sacto has, but I doubt he will. Sean Williams fills a HUGE need for the Nets; I have a hard time believing he won’t get a chance to prove he can play. I’m not high on either rookie here, but they might do something. I’d favor Horford, if I must.

Center

TIER ONE
Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol

D12 is the MAN!! He’ll average over 20 points this season and he’ll inarguably be the best center in the league! Gasol does EVERYTHING. He’s amazing and I think he’ll, dare I say it, IMPROVE under Iavaroni.

TIER TWO
Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Marcus Camby and Emeka Okafor

This is right wing of the hospital tier. IF any of they players can stay healthy, THEY WILL BE GREAT!!!!!

TIER THREE
Tyson Chandler, Ben Wallace, Mehmet Okur, Andrew Bogut, Shaquille O’Neal, Nenad Krstic, and Darko Milicic

Tyson finally broke out last season. Will he actually average double digit points this year?? Big Ben is on the decline, and I don’t see it stopping. I have always loved Bogut and I hope he puts it together this year. He should average 15, 10 & 3, we’ll see if he does it. Speaking of declining…. Shaq is his name. DARKO!!! THIS IS THE YEAR! Buy stock in Darko and you won’t regret it! He’s not Melo, Bosh or Wade, but he’ll give you 12, 8 & over 2 blocks this year. Not bad for a late round center.

TIER FOUR
Samuel Dalembert, Andris Biedrins, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Chris Kaman and Andrew Bynum

Kaman should step it up with Brand out. Biedrins can play, but I wish the NBA had a “pinch free throw shooter” every time I watch him at the line. Kobe and Phil are not gushing over Bynum in training camp, so we’ll see what happens when he takes the court.

THE REST
Jamaal Magloire, Kendrick Perkins, Robert Swift, Nick Collison, Troy Murphy, Mark Blount, Brad Miller, Eddy Curry and Ryan Hollins

I’m not sold that slow-ass Magloire will work in New Jersey. Perk will get a good share boards and put backs with KG next to him. Word is Ryan Hollins is the starting center. He’s got talent, but I just don’t see them playing him more minutes than Walter Hermann. By the way, Eddy Curry sucks.

There’s my list. Enjoy.

Last Night's Highlights

2007-11-28T19:02:00.001-06:00