Game Notes: 11/3

Oh baby... lots of blow outs tonight.

Detroit – 101 at Charlotte – 83

In their first game without Chauncey Billups, and Antonio McDyess, the Pistons hardly missed a beat (after getting in synch in the second half). Detroit started Stuckey/Rip/Prince/Amir/Rasheed, but all of the starters played on short minutes because of how quickly the game was put away in the second half. Even taking this into consideration though… Stuckey had a decent line, but I was hoping for something a little more inspired in his first game of the season as a starter. Sean May did not dress for the second night in a row, apparently as the first male victim of Larry Brown’s “no cankles” policy. Gerald Wallace put up 15-12 on efficiency cats that are roughly typical for him, but the remainder of the Bobcat team was awful. Emeka Okafor still managed to distinguish himself though, playing 38 minutes and collecting a paltry 5 rebounds. Shannon Brown (SG – CHA… I am guessing that I am not the only one who did not know he played for Charlotte now?) had a notable game because of the 4 steals, but I am guessing that had the game been closer, the majority of his minutes would have gone to DJ Augustin, and the starting back court.

Things to watch: Look at the thread on the Iverson/Billups trade.

Sacramento – 91 at Philadelphia – 125

Wow… this one was over before it started. The Kings only held Philly under 30 points in one of the three quarters, and allowed them to shoot nearly 60% from the field, and 80% from beyond the arc. I mean… even Kareem Rush and Donyell Marshall were getting in on the action before all was said and done. John Salmons savaged a mediocre line by collecting 3 steals, and Spencer Hawes turned in another strong performance despite a touch of first quarter foul trouble. Jason Thompson did alright with the extended minutes, shooting 8/12 from the field, but his usual efficiency in FT% and TO’s didn’t show up tonight. Thad Young poured in 18 points, and finally got a steal, but otherwise had a hollow line that leaves the discerning fantasy baler wanting more. The remaining Philadelphia starters played less than 30 minutes (Brand 29, the rest ~23). Lou Williams scored 17, and Willie Green put in 16… but I wouldn’t read too much into this game. I am pretty surprised at how many teams Philadelphia is just flat out throttling though. Even in the loss to Atlanta, they opened up a 17 point lead or something before half time.

Sign of the apocalypse: Philly has an exciting team with a chance to go places. Their players, while not oozing with personality, seem to be genuinely likable guys. So why was the reported attendance of this game 10,100? I only bring this up because the Thunder drew 18,000 last night… and they are terrible.

Chicago – 93 at Orlando – 96

Derrick Rose and Drew Gooden had down games, but Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni kept Chicago close. Aaron Gray (perhaps the creepiest looking guy in the NBA not named Robert Swift (who is really more "ugly" than "creepy" to be entirely fair) ?) got more PT than Joakim Noah once again… which makes no sense to me. Dwight rung up 22-15 with 5 blocks, but had his worst night at the stripe so far this season, going 4/11. Rashard Lewis turned in one of his rare "Orlando double doubles". Turkoglu salvaged an otherwise disgusting game by collecting 7 boards and 7 dimes. Pietrus was in foul trouble most of the night, hence extended minutes for Keith Bogans.

What is going on with: Luol Deng. His stats have been miserable since opening night. If he puts a few nice games together at any point in the near future I would look to trade him (and I say this assuming you are in a league with very silly people). If he keeps this up much longer, you will have to sit him down and have a serious “state of the relationship” discussion with him, since it doesn’t matter what he did two years ago, a guy whose jump shot doesn’t show up when it says it will just can’t be relied upon… and if he lied about that, OMG how many other things has he lied about!!?! Is this kind of person, who intentionally misleads others, REALLY "long term relationship material"!?!??? I wish I had never met you Luol Deng!

Golden State – 79 at Memphis – 90

I hate what Marc Gasol is doing, because it makes the Pau Gasol trade look kind of worth it for the Griz, when really… that trade was ridiculous, and just very mean of the Grizzlies, all taking a “well WE won’t be winning the west any time soon, so we’re going to make sure that none of you other guys can either! Happy Birthday Lakers!”. But WOW… he killed the small ball Warriors, posting 27-16-1 with 3 blocks, shooting 9/11 from the stripe and the field… the lone blemish being the 6 TO’s. It was nice to see Mike Conley finally get more than 3 assists in a single game, and OJ Mayo put up a quiet but efficient and useful line, but other than that none of the Griz played up to expectations. Rudy Gay put up a line more like the ones Thad Young has been doing recently than anything he (Rudy) did last year. Similar story with the Warriors, as nothing outside of Biedrins’ 16-22-1 (this line is even better because he didn’t even ATTEMPT an FT, and he didn’t turn it over at all!!!), is even on the edge of acceptable. Bad %’s, bad volume, bad TO’s all around.

Things to watch: Darrell Arthur has been starting at PF, but the last few games Hakim Warrick has been receiving the lion’s share of the PT there. Warrick can be useful if your team can handle the occasional horrendous shooting (both FG and FT are prone to this), and/or high TO night, but is really only worth this risk if you play to win points and boards.

Injury watch: Corey Maggette left the game early because of limitations due to the hamstring injury he had coming into the season. Unfortunately, this means he may miss some time (pick up Azuibuke), but on the bright side, maybe getting this injury taken care of will allow him to get his FG% out of the gutter, as it undoubtedly has something to do with him holding back, and not plowing into people with the grotesque frequency that makes him such an FBB asset.

*Cleveland – 100 at Dallas – 81

This wasn’t a bad game until the last 90 seconds or so of the third quarter. Dallas was keeping LeBron under control, but would have occasional difficulties securing defensive rebounds. They came out of the gate cold and sort of lackadaisical, but tied things up at 63 with a minute or two left in the third. Then LeBron got a block called in his favor that could have gone either way *2 FT’s*, Josh Howard went ½ at the stripe on the other end after this, then Cleveland missed a shot and hit it out of bounds and it was called for Dallas, but LeBron threw a fit and the official from half court said that LeBron was right… and it was pretty much down hill from there. The starters stayed on the bench too long at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Jason Terry, Brandon Bass etc. were completely flat. Mo Williams got hot, and within about 4 minutes of game time things had gone from tied to Cleveland being up by 20 something. LeBron had a nice game and shot well from the line, Zydrunas Ilgauskas put up a crispy clean 17-11-2 with 2 blocks, and Delonte West spun together a nice little roto number (14-4-5, 3 steals, 3 threes, 4/5 from the field, ¾ from the line, 1 TO). Dallas never really got their offense in synch (they did that thing where they kick out for a 3ptA on every possession… but then miss all of them, and don’t get back in transition etc.), and it shows in the awful stats. Josh Howard is the only guy who had a decent game at all.

Things to watch: Gerald Green has looked good in the games I have watched; making simple moves and smart decisions to find better shots, rotating well on defense etc. If he plays into a situation where he gets 25mpg, the majority of it spent with Kidd on the floor, he will be fantasy relevant. I only bring this up as a potential thing because Antione Wright is not very good, and Jerry Stackhouse is starting to show his age, and SURPRISE Deavon George is already hurt, after logging zero minutes. What a shocker!

Utah – 89 at LA Clippers – 73

Utah’s starters didn’t really produce much in this game, but they didn’t have to considering how the bench played. Paul Millsap put up 24-9 with really nice %’s and defensive stats to boot, and AK47 continued to thrive coming off the bench. Baron Davis and *DRUM ROLL* Marcus Camby came off the bench for the Clippers, and each put up nice stats considering the circumstances. Kaman continued his trend of only doing well in one of the three efficiency cats per night (tonight was the first time FG% got a turn though, so I guess that was nice? No… he had 5 TO’s, so that is still not nice). Al Thornton put up 11-7, but for some reason only had 9 shot attempts in 40 minutes (and zero FTs? Against Utah?! How did he manage this?)

Things to watch: Deron Williams is rumored to make his debut on Wednesday against Portland. While I own Deron on more teams than I own AK, I can’t help but hope he spent the first week of this season reflecting on his past behavior, and making room for some personal growth. By which I mean I am curious to see if AK gets to touch the ball at all once Deron returns, or if Deron is going to keep acting like the kid you always beat at horse in fifth grade who got so upset over this circumstance that he not only refused to play horse with you ever again, but started showing up with a soccer ball instead of a basketball...