Game Notes: 11/1

I was afraid that my local programming was going to ruin my first NBA weekend of the season… but the free trial of league pass came to the rescue! Watching 3 games at once on my PC while I had Texas/Texas Tech going on the television… Actually made me feel kind of pathetic, but broadband league pass is a pretty slick service.



Boston – 79 at Indiana – 95

There we go Marquis! I knew you could do this! Danny Granger had a mediocre outing, but the rest of the Pacers picked up the slack (Marquis was the only standout, although Jarret Jack had more rebounds and fewer assists than Jeff Foster… which was just strange), and they ran away from the Celtics early and never really gave anything back. KG had a nice line but stunted it with 6 TO’s. Tony Allen continues to make good use of his 6th man role, but due to his FG% and TO’s is still a fringe fantasy option in standard size leagues. There really weren’t many bright spots for the C’s.

Trendspotting: Even in victory, Indiana only shot 40.7% from the field as a team. Which is worth noting only because it hints that the C’s defense is so strong that even in a losing effort (which was the result of turnovers, some through pressure from Indy, others from sloppy play?), they really don’t give up much of anything.



Sacramento – 103 at Orlando – 121

Hawes/Moore/Thompson had 2 fouls each in the first quarter, and Hawes continued to find himself in foul trouble throughout the game. I had the chance to watch a little of this game on League Pass, and Mikki Moore… he is just awful. Any time a Magic player would get the ball anywhere near him he would immediately abandon all attempts at defense and just foul, usually in such a weak manner as to allow the Magic player (usually Dwight) to finish the play. Beno Udrih redeemed his play in the first two games slightly, and Kevin Martin had a nice game, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of available talent on Sac’s roster right now. All of the Magic starters turned in strong performances (especially Dwight, who posted a crushing big man line of 29-14 with 5 blocks on 11/14 from the field and only 1 TO). Pietrus really hit the spot with his “5th wheel/offensive clean up” sort of role, converting all of 7 of his FT’s and adding a three and a steal.

Trendspotting: This may change a bit once Sacto gets Miller and Garcia back, but through three games they have allowed opponents to shoot 49.7% from the field… which is ridiculous. Making things worse, is that they are sending opponent’s to the line ~29 times per game. In short, what I am saying is that if you need some points from a streamer, look to guys who can get to the line and are playing the Kings.



Miami – 87 at Charlotte – 100

Mario Chalmers split the difference of his first two games, Michael Beasley put up nice points and %’s but not much else, and Udonis Haslem continued to be a model of efficiency in his third start at Center. Wade put up good volume numbers, but not much else. And as usual, the Heat’s bench was worthless in fantasy land. Gerald Wallace put himself in the mix for best line of the night with 34-9-3-2-3 with 2 threes on a tasty FG%. The 4 TO’s and 10/16 from the stripe weigh him down, but this was still a very nice line. J-Rich and Emeka put up nice lines, and Raymond Felton almost snuck in a triple double with 6-6-8.

Things to watch: DJ Augustin is getting decent PT. And while he has not done a lot with it other than foul guys, it is worth keeping an eye on. As unlikely as it would be for a rookie to turn into an efficient source of assists… well he has potential to do something if he keeps getting 20-25 mpg.



Philadelphia – 88 at Atlanta – 95

I thought Philly was going to run away with this one early. Thad Young opened the game with 17 points in the first quarter, and Philly seemed to be rolling. Then Joe Johnson got hot and dropped in 35 points, and with a little help from Mike Bibby, led the way to a Hawk victory. The remainder of Atlanta’s lineup was mediocre statistically, Marvin Williams in particular seemed to be out of synch (his low minutes are not the result of injury or foul trouble, merely crappy play). Philly’s starters on the other hand all posted nice stats… but aside from Thad Young and Andre Miller (who combined for 1 TO) each turned it over 4+ times.

Things to watch: Philly hardly used their bench in this game. Disappointing because Louis Williams is right on the edge of ownable… but if Mo Cheeks doesn’t trust his bench in close games, I don’t think I would be comfortable making Lou a regular member of my fantasy team.



Golden State – 105 at New Jersey – 97

New Jersey committed an astonishing 39 FOULS in this game. I have no clue how this game was as close as it was with that considered. Corey Maggette took advantage though, by going 13/15 from the line (but for the second straight night, being a total mess in the FG% and TO departments). Andris Biedrins and Stephen Jackson had nice nights as well. The New Jersey frontcourt situation seemed to go backwards, as Josh Boone dominated the PT tonight, while first night favorite Yi hardly saw the floor, and perhaps for matchup purposes but morel likely for no discernable reason at all, Keyon Dooling and Jarvis Hayes seemed to reverse roles from opening night.

Things to watch: Muddying the frontcourt situation further, both rookies had VERY nice games considering their PT. Brook Lopez was a bit TO happy, but the rest of his line was rock solid. Ryan Anderson offered a slick 12-4 +2 threes on 50/100. This is perhaps the most frustrating thing about this situation, it seems like all four of the major players (Boone, Yi, Anderson, Lopez) could put up consistently sweet numbers in starters minutes… but in the mean time they will each get 15-25 min which means their production will be totally random.



Washington – 109 at Detroit – 117

Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison each had nice games, hitting their averages from last season in most cats. The surprise here was Nick Young cooking it off the bench! 23 points in 28 minutes, and a perfect 11/11 from the line! Now he did virtually nothing else, old school Rip Hamilton style, but if he gets another game with 25+min (ideally the next one), he is definitely ownable. Amir Johnson picked up 3 fouls in the first 5 minutes of the game, and while Jason Maxiell was the initial sub for him, it was brochacho Walter Harmann who logged the most PT off the bench (and posted a pretty nice, multi-cat line in the process). I am sure that this happened because Washington was running a very small line up for most of the game, but still interesting to note. Stuckey was disappointing in most areas (PT, production in the PT he did receive…) again. Rasheed had a fantasy feast against Washington’s midget squad, registering 6 blocks and going 7/9 from the field.

Things to watch: Andray Blatche only played 4 minutes in this game, which is frustrating sense he seemed like a sure thing with Haywood out. I wouldn’t hesitate to drop him right now if there is anything decent out there.



*Cleveland – 92 at New Orleans – 104

Chris Paul is amazing. I watched most of this game, and that is how I would sum it up. Seeing him side by side with LeBron… it just hits home the whole “LeBron is an athlete who became a basketball player, instead of a basketball player who became an athlete (ie Kobe, CP3, etc.)” argument. Everything LeBron does seems rigid and forced next to the plays CP3 makes. LeBron put up nice volume (15-7-13-3), but a miserable FG%. The rest of Cleveland’s roster was underwhelming from a fantasy perspective, although it should be noted that Boobie Gibson gave a strong scoring spark from the bench for the second straight game. CP3 was stellar on the other side, and David West had nice scoring numbers but underwhelming peripherals. Those of you who grabbed James Posey should be more than pleased with his production tonight, and I am sure the teams you are playing against found his late game production just as annoying as Cleveland did.

Things to watch: Julian Wright played tonight. Once he gets his legs back, he will enter a battle with Posey for the 6th man role. He is a hyper athletic guy with a strong basketball IQ, and in limited opportunities last season showed some pretty serious stuff. This is looking a ways out, but if Chandler and Peja were to go down at the same time again in January, I would take a serious look at Julian Wright.



*Dallas – 95 at Minnesota – 85

Watching this game, the thing that stuck out to me the most was how BAD the Timberwolves are at hitting Mike Miller when he is open. By the end of the game the Mavs were hardly even paying attention to him because Randy Foye would have his tunnel vision on while he plowed his way to the hoop. As a HUGE Mike Miller fan, and a Mike Miller owner, this worries me. The idea of Sebastian Telfair’s return being the only thing in the near future which may improve this also worries me. Kidd’s lone TO was a BS traveling call, and the only other thing holding his line back was his affinity for shooting for 2 point field goals from half a shoe inside the 3pt line (has he always done this? He did it in every game as a Mav I watched last year and it was as perplexing as it was infuriating). The starters minutes were kind of low because of how well the Mav’s bench managed the game. Gerald Green in particular, looked very strong (and mature!) while he was on the floor. Aside from McCants and Jefferson, none of the Wolves had noteworthy stats, but Kevin Love looked VERY good in limited PT. If this team could get a real PG they could go places.

Weirdest stat of the week: DeSagana Diop had four assists. aka one less than he had in the month of February last season. Dallas offense has a new flow to it this year, but I would not read into Diop’s dimes.



*Oklahoma City – 77 at Houston – 94

Kevin Durant kept the Thunder and their ugly uniforms in this game essentially on his own until halfway through the third quarter. Jeff Green and Earl Watson enjoyed bounce back performances as their bench was shortened from the atrocity that was their first game rotation. The rockets had a rough night from the field, but a big night from Carl Landry, combined with a foul disparity of 10-23 in their favor helped them pull this game out. T-Mac had a nice game if you don’t count TO’s or FG%, while the remainder of Houston’s starting lineup was disappointing.

Things to watch: Johan Petro had a nice night (10-9-0-2-3). Hopefully he will continue getting minutes, as I think he garnered so much PT tonight due to Wilcox’ foul trouble.

Things to watch 2: Game 1 it was Scola, game 2 it was Hayes, game 3 it was Landry… Hopefully there will be a pattern to the Rocket’s PF rotation at some point in the near future. Until then I would be hesitant to touch any of these guys.



*Memphis – 86 at Chicago – 96

This game was a lot closer than it looks, and Derrick Rose is putting up WAY better stats than I ever would have imagined. Marc Gasol found foul trouble for the second straight game, Rudy Gay found ugly %’s for the second straight game, Darko found 9 rebounds mainly due to luck (anything that didn’t fall right on him went to someone else)… and Hakim Warrick collected 18 points on a handful of post moves passed down by sage Antione Walker (which surprised me, because this kid is a flyer, not a back you down for half an hour, keel over, and throw up a prayer, guy). Gooden is on the front half of that thing he does sometimes, where he has a huge game or two, and then averages 5rpg for a week, and Luol Deng is beginning to make his opening night efficiency look like a fluke.

Things to watch: Mike Conley struggled again, while Kyle Lowry did quite well. It is tough to argue upside for Lowry since his line tonight was assembled in 30 minutes, but if he starts getting consistent minutes without posting FG% wrecking numbers, he will be a nice FT% streamer option.



Toronto – 91 at Milwaukee – 87

RAMON SESSIONS, filling in for an injured Ridnour (targeting next Wednesday according to rotoworld), turned in the type of line many figured he could coming into the season. What Skiles will do once Ridnour is healthy remains to be seen (my guess is that he goes back to Ridnour, because he doesn’t want Session breaking his single game assist record… and by that I mean he will probably stick with Ridnour because that sort of illogical assertion of dominance was pretty much the theme of his tenure in Chicago). JaMario Moon had his finest game of the season, but still is not rebounding at a rate anywhere NEAR the rate he collected them last year. I figured JON would play into this to degree… but not to this extreme. Can anyone comment on his role this year vs. last year? Calderon was buzzing along great until he turned it over 5 times in the fourth quarter… but it is hard to complain when he gives 25-5-9 and 3 threes on those sick %’s (career high 25!!! Thank you Ramon! This is the real reason Ridnour will be the starter when he is healthy).

Things to watch: Charlie V put up a nice Charlie V line for the second straight game. I have no clue what he did to annoy Skiles on opening night (maybe he reacted poorly to a joke about baldness that Skiles made in an ill-fated attempt to bond?)… but it appears that was an aberration and he will be a safe play… at least for now.



LA Lakers – 104 at Denver – 97

Melo returned and had an all around ugly line. Iverson only played 25 minutes… and I can’t find any info on an injury, or an ejection, and he had zero fouls… so all I can say right now is “that was weird”. JR Smith continued with the well rounded lines he has been posting this season, but struggled shooting tonight. K-Mart had a nice line going, but left with ~5 minutes left due to a hamstring injury that is not thought to be serious (rotoworld)… and oddly enough, on the night all Nuggets struggle, Anthony Carter shined putting up 20-6-6 on nice %’s. Kobe and Gasol each had nice games, and Bynum was once again foul ridden and underwhelming. In my opinion, Ariza is officially a guy to own if steals and 3’s help you. He played 16 minutes in this game and still collected helpful numbers in those cats.

Things to watch: I am afraid tonight may be as good as it gets for Lamar Odom. He played 25 minutes, and barring an injury to Bynum or Gasol I have trouble seeing him get much more than that. He put up 10-6-3 tonight, and will definitely have nights where he tops that, but as of now appears to be a fantasy let down this year.



LA Clippers – 79 at Utah – 101

Al Thornton showed his youth and followed a career night with a clunker (perhaps thanks to Utah’s defense is due?), and with the exception of Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, the rest of the Clippers looked just as bad. It is hard to find a Jazz player who did not do something any owner could love. AK47 provided strong volume in 5 cats, Boozer gave a dominating FG% without turning it over once, Paul Millsap joined DeSagana Diop and Jeff Foster by participating in what was apparently “Boris Diaw appreciation day”, Ronnie Brewer managed some relatively efficient scoring while collecting defensive stats, Brevin Knight pitched in a painless 6 assists… All of this and Deron Williams is still out!

Things to watch: Chris Kaman has been AWFUL this year. I would love to expand on this, but I can’t explain it… I just hope it corrects itself soon.



Portland – 96 at Phoenix – 107

Phoenix shot 55% from the field, and took good care of the ball en route to victory over a Portland club that can be summed up as “inconsistent” after three games. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each struggled from the field, but Rudy Fernandez did not and lit things up with 20 points on 8/13. Aside from Matt Barnes, the performance of Phoenix starters was nothing noteworthy (they played as they are expected, but with the aforementioned inflated FG% and lower than average TO's). Barnes was hot early, and got some transition lay-ups/dunks late, to turn in a nice line.

Things to watch: If you need boards from a guy who won’t hurt you, Joel Przybilla is your man. At least until Oden gets back, the vanilla gorilla can be counted on for at least 7 boards, a block, and a stare down of the opposing team’s best player, every night.