Game Notes: 11/21

Writing this while NFL Network is playing the Cowboys/49ers 1992 NFC title game. This was before the Cowboy’s depth was ravaged by free agency, before all the uniforms were shiny… and before flat tops were deemed unbecoming of the major American athlete. Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Ricky Watters… all of them are rockin flot tops. Is so cool.

Orlando – 100 at Indiana – 98 (OT)

Jameer Nelson had a very strong line, and Dwight and Rashard followed suit with nice lines of their own. Turkey leg capped off an absolutely terrible line with a toxic 1/13 from the field. Mickael Pietrus returned from injury to log 30 minutes and pair 2 threes with his 7 boards. TJ Ford, Marquis Daniels, and Danny Granger each had strong offensive nights for the Pacers, but perhaps the most notable stat of the game (and the night?) is Rasho collecting 8 assists. I was going to post something on the forum to the extent of “LOLZ how did this happen!?!” but then I looked at his recent games, and he has been collecting dimes like mad! I don’t know where this aspect of his game came from, but it definitely makes owning him more interesting. Jeff Foster was the only bench player on either side to do anything significant.

*Houston – 103 at Washington – 91

This game was a lot closer than the final score would lead you to believe. Multiple lead changes throughout the game as the Wizards young centers were playing out of their minds, and the Rockets were just playing sloppy ball. Then T-Mac caught fire in the fourth (I think all 4 of his threes came in the fourth?), and it was over. Overall, the majority of Houston’s players didn’t really fulfill their fantasy expectations. Aaron Brooks looked really good, and continues to surprise me with his shooting range (not so much that he can knock down 26 foot shots, but that he has the sack to take them in a close game). It’s a toss up between Landry’s 18-6-3-0-1 with pretty %’s and Ron Artest’s 14-9-6-1-0 with 2 threes and ugly %’s for the best Rocket line, however, Yao did return to play 33 minutes and T-Mac played 31 minutes… so I am guessing the injury alert level can go back down to yellow? Deshawn Stevenson had a nice, quiet line, but ruined it shooting 3/12 from the field. Other than him, Caron and Antawn were the only Wizards to play more than 20 minutes. Caron had decent volume on a poor FG% number, and Antawn played seriously inspired ball while getting to the line for 16 FTA’s.

Things to watch: Javale McGee will put up serious rebound and block numbers in games when he doesn’t have to man up a well disciplined giant such as Yao. His activity level in this game was insane, almost too much for his own good honestly as a handful of his fouls came as a result of “over the back” when he was jumping over people for put back jams, or just throwing himself through people lunging across the lane for a block.

LA Clippers – 88 at Philadelphia – 89

Baron Davis protested the trade of Cuttino Mobley by turning the ball over seven times, but finished with a line that was otherwise acceptable. Kaman was plagued with TO’s as well, but if not for foul trouble he would have turned in another strong performance. Thornton was strong all around outside of %’s, and Marcus Camby scored more than usual, but failed to register a block. Similar story with the 76er starters, as Iggy put up a killer line only to tarnish it with 5 TO’s and poor %’s, and Elton Brand doing very much the same. Thad Young scored on decent efficiency, but once again didn’t really produce outside of points and threes.

Roster update: Ricky Davis started tonight and played terrible in 20 minutes. Eric “Gordo” Gordon logged 28 minutes off the bench but also failed to really distinguish himself. My guess for LA’s immediate post trade roster is Baron/Ricky/Thornton/Z-Bo/Kaman. I would be shocked if Kaman or Camby are not traded in the near future… and I would put my money on Kaman as the guy to go. I don’t really understand what the Clips are trying to do, mixing players who are in/at the end of their prime now with players who are still a year or two away from even being reliable… just seems like a mess. And not an exciting mess like the Warriors, just a disgusting mess, like the room mate who clips his toe nails in the front of the TV and then doesn’t pick up the clippings.

New Jersey – 129 at Toronto – 127 (OT)

Tons of huge lines in this one. Vince has the sort of game that he usually saves for weeks that he plays against me, with 39-9-6-1-0 with 3 threes, on a single TO, 17/28 FG and 2/2 FT. Devin Harris continued his run of sweet games with absurd FT volume, hitting 30 points (10/12 from the line). Brook Lopez registered a serviceable center line in 30 minutes, and Bobby Simmons and Jarvis Hayes both had useful supporting lines… although I would be surprised if anyone owns either of them (esp Simmons). Bargnani posted an old school Dirk line, 29-10-2-0-1 and 5 threes on 1 TO and hot %’s, but Chris Bosh one upped him with 42-9-4-0-0 with 1 three on 2 TO’s and even better %’s!!! (actually, I think I like Barg’s line more, 5 threes from a C is just indescribably sexy) Jose Calderon had a strong night as well, making me forgive the 5 TO’s by knocking down 4 threes and providing godly %’s. Anthony Parker was overshadowed by the aforementioned, but managed a very nice line of 8-6-6-2-0.

Injury Note: Jermaine O’Neal left the game in the fourth after irritating his surgically repaired left knee thanks to a Sean Williams flagrant foul. No word on how serious this is (he left the court under his own power), but Kris Humphries could pick up some short term value if JON misses time. When he got minutes last year Humphries provided very workman like, no frills double doubles. Another possibility is that Bargnani plays C, and JaMario Moon returns to the starting lineup.

Charlotte – 83 at Atlanta – 88

It finally happened. DJ Augustin started and showed the entire Bobcats nation how awful Raymond Felton is. Side by side, Augustin’s line crushes Felton’s to such an extent it is comical (one has to wonder where this 3pt stroke came from though, not only did DJ make more tonight than he had in all games combined to this point, but he was 2 attempts shy of trying half the number of his season total to this point). Gerald Wallace had a strong performance with healthy %’s, and 17-10-5-2-0, and Okafor… is kind of a bust this year? Joe Johnson feasted on Charlotte’s munchkin backcourt, getting to the line for 11FT’s on his way to 30 points. Marvin Williams posted a double double with nice %’s and 2 threes, perhaps more surprisingly Mo Evans posted a double double and 2 threes as well. Al Horford returned tonight, but collected few stats in 30 minutes. Larry Brown didn’t start Sean May tonight due to an unsubstantiated rumor that while camping out for tickets to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Sean May abducted and nearly devoured a halfling. Given the slight stature of DJ Augustin, Larry Brown (perhaps wisely) deemed it necessary to not allow Sean May on the court at the same time as DJ. Since Augustin is a much better player, this resulted in May receiving 3 minutes off the bench.

Wouldn’t it be cool if: DJ replaced Felton? I mean once J-Rich gets back, one of these PG’s will go to the bench… and it will probably be DJ because Larry Brown is more of a curmudgeonly old dude, than a “cool uncle” old dude (see: Don Nelson), but a few more games like this, and I don’t know how Larry Brown could stick with Felton.

Boston – 95 at Atlanta – 78

The Celtics starters played short minutes, and outside of Pierce and Rondo, did not put together stimulating stats at all. Tony Allen scored 14 off the bench, but didn’t surround it with enough to make it worth anything. Leon Powe had a double double, but considering 2/4 from the line, 3 TO’s, and nothing else… I would not like to own this. Randy Foye impressively had his worst line of the year, and it resonated throughout the wolves roster. Really, the T-wolves lines are just too grotesque to bring up. Thanks for ruining a game by being so effing good Celtics!

Utah – 94 at San Antonio – 119

SPEAKING of grotesque… Utah was butt ugly awful outside of Ronnie Brewer and CJ Miles (if you can stomach the FG%). Judging by the PT distribution, I am guessing Sloan threw in the towel early… which you can’t really fault him for, Boozer was out, Deron was out, Memo is still rusty, why risk Millsap and AK? Roger Mason on the other hand… WOW, 7 threes, 10/17 from the field, 29 points… and virtually nothing else!!! Duncan had a solid but unspectacular game in 27 minutes, Bruce Bowen replaced George Hill in the starting lineup, but Hill was unphased, tossing in one of his better lines of the season. I actually kind of want to watch this Spurs team a lot, because the idea of surrounding Timmy with up and comers, defensive specialists and various other no-name players seems like it could be cool to watch.

Matt Bonner Update: 18 minutes, 5/8 from the field, 2 threes, 12-4-2-0-0 with 1 TO. This is pretty much exactly what I wanted when I picked up Bonner. I mean, I still wish I hadn’t dropped Bargnani for Jason Thompson… but I am pleased with Matt Bonner.

Memphis – 76 at Dallas – 91

Rudy Gay… is it your mission to destroy your poor owner’s FG% every week? 5/19 is just silly. Granted, the rest of the Grizzlies were pretty cold as well, but 5/19 is just flat out sick man. Mayo had decent volume with poor efficiency, Gasol had a solid line for a late round/FA C, and the rest of the Grizzlies were unmentionable. Kidd now has 5+ TO’s in 7 of his last 9 games, obviously under pressure to adjust for the string of 1 TO games at the beginning of the season. Apart from the TO’s, he did have a strong outing tonight. Dirk came dangerously close to his MVP line, and Jason Terry had a nice spread of cats on a low FG%. I have a feeling Gerald Green’s starting days may be numbered, as he picked up two fouls in the first today and did not return to the game. Josh Howard was absent and replaced by James Singleton in the starting lineup once again, but I would attribute the Mavs struggling with the Griz in the first half to Deavan George making his season debut. The Mavs re-sign him time after time, even now that Avery is not around to pollute their former cunning with derivative Spurs geezer logic, even though he always does nothing but alternate between playing terrible and missing time with injury. Bleh.

New York – 87 at Milwaukee – 104

The Knick starters collected some OK lines despite being grossly undersized and underskilled. Chris Duhon led the team in points which should be enough to tell you that they lost (in case you missed that thing I typed above this?). D-Lee had a strong double double, Nate had one as well but his FG% was disgusting, Wilson Chandler had a great line if you ignore his 5/21 from the field, and despite the absence of Jamal and Z-Bo, Q STILL couldn’t manage a decent scoring line. The Buck starters played short minutes, but their bigs had plenty of time to feast on missed Knick shots with Bogut and Mbama both posting huge rebound totals. Sessions had a strong overall game, and Charlie V returned to score 20 points in 13 minutes off the bench.

The Knicks and their trades: ok… I am not going to try and guess what their frontcourt rotation will be. However, I am curious about whether or not Al will be happy here. I mean wasn’t his complaint with GS that they only used him as a 3pt gunner? Isn’t that essentially what he will be for D’Antoni? I mean, I know that despite the small players and high paced schema, that a D’Antoni offence and Nellie offence are quite different (Nellie much more iso in half court, D’Antoni excels when all players can handle and pass), but won’t his role be relatively unchanged?

Irrelevant Note: Stephon Marbury actually dressed for this game.

*New Orleans – 105 at Oklahoma City – 80

I realize that ESPN thought it was so cute to put this game on their Friday night broadcast, the team that plays in OKC now and the team that played there after their home town was destroyed by a hurricane OMGOMGOMG so cool!!!! But really… why was this game on TV? Not just ESPN, why was it on TV anywhere? I have watched half a dozen or so Thunder games this season and it is enough to make me never want to watch them again. I mean… the least they could have done was make a cool uniform, or chosen colors from something other than a laundry detergent commercial, or even just get a hilariously misplaced mascot like that giant bear that is always bouncing around at Rockets games. All New Orleans starters left the game about halfway through the fourth and didn’t return, same thing with OKC… even though I don’t know why, because their starters would be any other team’s bench. CP3, Peja, West, and Tyson all collected decent numbers considering their PT… and not to over simplify things, but the only Thunder line worth mentioning is Nick Collison’s double double. Oh, and Chris Wilcox returned from injury (try not to party too hard past, present, and future Wilcox owners).

Portland – 117 at Sacramento – 96

OOOH BOY! Another blowout! Non-Przybilla Portland starters did not play in the fourth. Roy and Aldridge had the lines you would expect given their minutes. Steve Blake was cookin though, hitting 6 threes on his way to 20 points. Travis Outlaw posted a very Thad Young-esque line, Rudy continues to be a guy to own as he salvaged his line with 4 threes tonight, and despite fouls and short PT Greg Oden has future beast written all over him (and I will admit right now that I was wrong about him). The best way to sum up the King’s starters is that they were all awful, whether through short minutes or poor play, with the lone exception of Jason Thomspon. Dare I say this team misses Mikki Moore? Spencer Hawes had a nice line in 34 minutes, and everything else from this game should be ignored, as it was a blow out.

Denver – 90 at LA Lakers – 104

This game is not as close as it looks, as the Lakers were up by 20 at the half and 21 after 3. Kobe dropped 29 on very nice %’s, but was lacking in peripherals. Gasol laid an Odom, while Bynum somehow managed 5 assists to go with his 13ea of boards and points. Ariza saw slightly extended minutes (32), and collected a slick 11-7-4-3-0 with a three, on lovely %’s. Melo had 10 boards and 5 assists, but in homage to his playground days of facing off with Rudy Gay on DC area blacktops, Melo cloned Rudy’s FG number. Nene didn’t rebound much but was stellar everywhere else, and despite the team performance, Chauncey had a brilliant statistical game. JR Smith had a nice night, and Kleiza got a lot of minutes, but I would attribute both of these things to the blow out and not to any change in their roles. The slowed down Denver offense (aka first effort at defense in at least 4 years) seems to have killed all of the value and potential these two had in the pre-season.

Chicago – 115 at Golden State – 110

Mourners could be found nation wide tonight, as it became clear that Anthony Morrow is in fact HUMAN. A paltry 2/9 from the field, left his line completely bare aside from three steals. Biedrins, Captain Jack, and Maggette all had big scoring nights however (although Stephen Jackson did secure the golden butter gloves tonight, but registering 8 turnovers). Anthony Randolph had a sick line off the bench, but I have a bad feeling he will be taking turns with Brandan Wright in this capacity. Drew Gooden had a monster double double for the Bulls, while Derrick Rose had solid numbers before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury to the side of his torso, and Larry Hughes saw heavy minutes in a game where the Bulls used an inexplicably short bench to knock down 5 threes and shoot 50% from the field.

About Larry Hughes: He will have tons of opportunity in the immediate future, especially if the injury to Derrick Rose is anything mildly serious. But for those of you who may not be familiar with him, this is a total buyer beware situation. While he is capable of games like the one tonight, he is more likely to devastate your FG% and turn it over a lot while not really contributing much of anything (especially considering the dearth of supporting talent on the Bull’s roster).

Injury/trade report: Azubuike missed the tonight’s game with injury, and could very well be droppable once Jamal Crawford gets in the fold. The lineup I have read will be put out is Crawford/Morrow/Jackson/Maggette/Biedrins. While Azubuike can back up three of those positions, Jackson and Maggette are likely to log close to 40 minutes each on most nights. Assuming Crawford never plays SG, there are a glut of young bigs on the GS roster who will be vying for the backup 4/5 minutes. What I am saying is that Azubuike will be lucky to come out of it with 15mpg.

Game Notes: 11/20

Tonight was a Chuckster delight! Two blowouts!!!

Detroit – 80 at Boston – 98

Not a lot to report here as the game got out of hand in the third quarter and both benches saw a lot of minutes. Ivy and Sheed still managed decent lines for the Pistons, although Iverson’s string of 1:1 A/TO games is starting to get kind of annoying. More impressive than that though, was (and I hesitate to say this) Kwame Brown. Now my previous experience watching him had almost exclusively been the D’Antoni Suns turning tricks on him and Erick Dampier mauling him, but tonight he actually made a few competent moves to the rim. TO’s continued to be Rodney Stuckey’s most prominent cat, and Leon Powe busted my boy Walter Herrmann in the chops late in the game… but other than that there is no news on the Piston’s side. All of Boston’s starters saw short minutes, and all except Rondo had slow nights. Tony Allen and Eddie House had nice lines off the bench, and Leon Powe would have as well had he not gone 3/7 from the line.

LA Lakers – 105 at Phoenix – 92

All of the Lakers starters played short minutes, and they all showed it in different ways. Gasol had 9 rebounds and 9 assists but only 4 points. Kobe actually finished pretty close to “normal”, but his %’s were kind of low tonight. Vlad Rad had a hot shooting night, canning 5 threes, and the bench support was phenomenal as Lamar Odom played 32 minutes and almost hit his average line from last season! The Phoenix starters logged their normal minutes, they just didn’t play very well. Nash was very “Jason Kidd sans rebounds”, Bell and Barnes split similar stats with both coming up kind of lame but decent overall, Amare had a decent line but didn’t get to the line enough, and Shaq was tolerable from a volume perspective but ruined this matchup that ESPN will still froth over after he and Kobe retire by going halvsies on his FT’s and logging 4 TO’s. Boris Diaw had a nice line off the bench, and slung this slick pass with tons of english on it at the end of the fourth quarter that the commentators made fun of because Louie Amundson apparently didn’t know Boris could do this and thus didn’t cut hard enough to get in position for the pass, making Boris look like a fool, and Terry Porter make a frowny face that screamed “no style allowed”.

Injury note: Tuning into the game in the third quarter, seeing Matt Barnes playing with his entire mid-section wrapped (on the outside of his uni!?), I just assumed that he had joined Michael Redd in the ranks of "NBA Players who suffer from menstruation" and that ibuprofen hindered his abilities on the court. This curiosity was lifted though, when he left the game at the end of the third with back spasms. No news yet on his status for upcoming games.

Irrelevant note: In his new Yahoo! profile picture, Amare has a moustache (ok, he has some on his chin too, but it’s not connected. That means he has a moustache)... Hello my new favorite player?

Game Notes: 11/19

My school schedule caught up with me yesterday. But now that my exams are behind me (until December 5th anyway... but Friday exams are perfect since there are only 2 or 3 games on Thursday nights!), I should be good to go for that rest of the season!

Tell you what, just to make it up to you I will write an article on strategic streaming and post it this weekend. How does that sound?

Washington – 87 at Atlanta – 91

Caron Butler finally had a big night, and Antawn Jamison and Deshawn Stevenson followed suit with nice lines of their own (considering the source of each). However, like the majority of the remaining Wizards, Nick Young struggled with his shot. If he starts hitting threes or getting to the line more consistently he will be worth considering for a roster spot. Atlanta played without Josh Smith and Al Horford (no word on how serious Horford’s sprained ankle is, rotoworld says he tested it during warm ups though), and saw four of their starters explode. Joe Johnson’s TO’s and FG% were catastrophic, but he nearly had a triple double, Mike Bibby scored 25 on 12/22 from the field, Marvin Williams put in a sparkling 21-14-4-2-1, and Zaza had 18 rebounds (I wouldn’t pick him up though, as he won’t be relevant for long).

Things to watch: JaVale McGee started at center. He has provided nice standard big numbers recently, so if this move is permanent it could mean good things.

Toronto – 101 at Miami – 95

Jose Calderon returned to a quiet line, but facilitated some awesome performances by other Raptors. Bargnani was on fire and canned 3 threes on his way to 25 points. Anthony Parker was shooting sharp as well, hitting 5 threes on his way to 19. Chris Bosh’ shooting numbers were disappointing but he still managed a double double, and Jermaine O’Neal played 39 minutes for the second time this season and returned a line of 16-17-3-0-1 on 8/17 from the field and 4 TO’s. Michael Beasley picked up 3 early fouls and never really got back into it for Miami. Shawn Marion took advantage and had one of his best lines of the season. Dwyane Wade was the only other guy who met or exceeded expectations, going off for 40-3-11-1-5 with 2 threes and 3 TO’s on 16/30 from the field and 6/9 from the line.

Cleveland – 89 at Detroit – 96

LeBron had a nice overall line, but the bottom fell out of his FG% late in the game, and Mo Williams canned 5 threes on his way to 25 points (the only significant peripheral being 4 TO’s). Other than that the only relevant Cavs were Andy and Z, who both had quietly productive nights. Sheed had a big night, finishing with 21-15-0-0-0 and 5 threes on flawless efficiency numbers. The remaining Pistons starters were decent but struggled with a few cats, as they can be expected to on occasion. Kwame started and played 18 minutes but was terrible. Rodney Stuckey came off the bench for 22 minutes and while he was not as bad as Kwame, was still pretty bad.

Philadelphia – 96 at Minnesota – 102

Iggy had nice volume numbers but truly heinous %’s. Andre Miller put up a strong Tony Paker-ish line. Brand had a solid night ruined by a poor FT% and 4 TO’s. Thad Young kept doing his thing by scoring a decent amount on strong FG%, but doing essentially nothing else, and Sammy put up a respectable line with 11 boards and 4 blocks. Randy Foye started and played 35 minutes, but was out assisted by Sebastian Telfair who played 14 minutes off the bench 6 to 8. Al Jefferson had a somewhat hollow 25-8, but didn’t turn it over all night and did assist Mike Miller’s game sealing three. Miller had a strong line of 10-10-6 with 2 threes and 2 steals… which is actually pretty amazing considering that he only took 7 shots.

Weird line of the night: Craig Smith with 21-0-5. I don’t know if it is weirder that this 250 pound PF had only 1 fewer assist than Foye, or that he had 1 fewer rebound than Telfair… I wouldn’t expect him to repeat any part of this line with any regularity. Smith has a big scoring night from time to time when he gets to the line a lot and knocks them down, when he doesn’t do that he is not a viable fantasy option.

LA Clippers – 108 at Oklahoma City – 88

Chris Kaman absolutely killed tonight, impeccable efficiency, 4 blocks, and an unthinkable 6 assists. Cuttino Mobley gave himself value for a night by adding 7 steals to his hollow 23 points. Baron was 5/15 from the field, but made up for it with 4 steals and a block in addition to his 8 assists. Al Thornton dropped 20-7 with a few threes on a nice 7/12 from the field. Marcus Camby was quiet but decent, and the Clips bench didn’t do anything. The Thunder… wow, where to start. Well Damian Wilkins had 17-5-1-2-1, which was by far their best line, but there is no way to predict the next time he will repeat that since he has been seeing very few minutes all year. Everyone else on OKC was pretty terrible. Hopefully the thin spread minutes were due to blow out and not a new coaching philosophy.

Sacramento – 105 at New Orleans – 96

John Salmons dropped 29 points on a splendid 13/18 from the field; he even added 6 assists just for good measure! Beno turned it over 5 times, but at least now when he has a TO happy night he is putting up useful numbers in the process. Brad Miller had TO issues as well, but lacked assist and FT% numbers to balance it. Spencer Hawes was kind of quiet in 29 minutes off the bench, but still posted a useful line of 9-6-2-0-1 with a three and no TO’s… which is only useful because he has a C, but still… I wouldn’t drop him yet. Chris Paul had a lovely game, and Tyson hit his averages, but other than that all of the Hornets were seriously lacking somewhere. David West only had 1 rebound, Peja just didn’t do much of anything, Rasual Butler started for injured Mo-Pete (expected to be out 2 more games) but didn’t put up fantasy worthy numbers, and their bench didn’t do anything at all.

Things to watch: Donte Green started for the injured Mikki Moore (sprained ankle). He has the ability to pop off a lot of points, but I would be hesitant to pick him up (same goes for Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes if they were previously FA’s in your league), as Moore’s injury is a short term deal.

*Dallas – 96 at Houston – 86

Don’t you love it when a guy proclaims he is “shutting it down” and then plays two days later? Isn’t that just WACKY!?! Well, of the injured Rockets stars, Yao was the only one not to play. Artest played 43 minutes and while his FG% was stinky, he showed no ill-effects, and overall had a nice line. T-Mac played 29 minutes, and outside of the handful of possessions when he was isolated on Jason Kidd, had serious trouble scoring, or really doing much of anything useful. Chuck Hayes started for Yao and didn’t provide useful numbers. Scola had a strong, but unspectacular game. Skip had a beautiful line, collecting 8 assists on zero turnovers and matching it with nice %’s to finish the game with 16-5-8. Outside of some hot shooting in the fourth quarter, Aaron Brooks didn’t do very much. Josh Howard missed the game with an ankle injury, and was replaced in the starting lineup by James Singleton who has been known to collect tons of boards in short periods of time, but didn’t really do much of anything in 17 minutes tonight. Oddly enough, the bulk of Howard’s minutes didn’t go to Gerald Green, but to Shawne Williams, who exchanged periods of high activity and defensive poise, with periods of offensive malaise and generally poor decision making. Kidd approached a triple double, but had 5 TO’s, Dirk seemed to take pleasure in finding the most difficult awkward looking shots on the floor and taking them but at the end of the night he had a strong line, Jason Terry was on fire for much of the game and scored a season high 31 with 2 threes, and Erick Dampier blocked 9 shots, but 8 of those blocks occurred after the whistle (I love watching him do this, he just gets this ultra-silly sense of accomplishment look on his face).

Injury note: I would be surprised if anyone owns Brandon Bass, but he knocked knees with Artest in the fourth quarter. It was the first time I had ever seen this happen when both players are air born, but Bass was on the floor and looked to be in serious pain for a little while. He returned to play almost immediately, so it’s probably not a big deal.

Denver – 91 at San Antonio – 81

Carmelo struggled from the field and had 5 turnovers, but nearly had a triple double. Chauncey registered 6 TO’s of his own, but outside of that his line was very strong highlighted by 9/9 from the line. K-Mart and Nene both managed to do nice things despite playing slightly shortened minutes due to the blowout (San Antonio caught up when the benches were in the game, but this game ended in the third), while the rest of the Nugget players failed to do anything noteworthy. Duncan had a very impressive line of 12-11-6-0-1 considering he only played 29 minutes, but both of his %’s hurt. George Hill didn’t collect the assists he has been picking up recently, but scored 20 points with the help of 8/8 from the line. The rest of the San Antonio’s roster had their PT significantly effected by the blow out, and other than Hill, Matt Bonner was the only guy to turn the extra opportunity into a positive (everything is relative here, 8-8-2-1-1 is a positive for Bonner).

Milwaukee – 94 at Utah – 105

Bogut stayed out of foul trouble and enjoyed a huge double double with 16-20. Richard Jefferson hit 4 threes on his way to 25 points, but failed to do much of anything else, and none of the other Bucks excelled in more than one cat. Meanwhile, AK47 is back in full swing as his old fantasy self, being 2 assists and 1 block shy of a 5x5. Memo returned, which is a good sign, but he struggled in 20 minutes. Boozer got to 20-11 before leaving in the fourth quarter with a strained quad (no word on how serious the injury is). Ronnie Price, CJ Miles, and Paul Millsap all had lines that were sexy in ways particular to their owner.

Things to watch: It is time to pick up CJ Miles. He is averaging 16ppg over his last 5, and more importantly he was getting plenty of shots and minutes in the couple of game Deron played. If you need 3ptm or points on low TO’s he is your guy.

Chicago – 74 at Portland – 116

This game was essentially over after the first quarter. So much of this game was garbage time there isn’t really any sense in looking at it any closer. Luol Deng missed the game with an injured groin. Greg Oden is having minor foul issues, but kills things so bad while he is in that it doesn’t really matter. In fact, it is actually kind of nice because it gives the Vanilla Gorilla enough time to be a useful fantasy C! I wish Ike Diogu would catch on somewhere and get regular minutes, the guy has strong post moves and good sense around the basket.

Game Notes: 11/17

*Houston – 100 at Oklahoma City – 89

Kevin Durant had a hot shooting night, taking the same awful shots he has been taking all year but making a lot of them, finishing with a nice 29-7-4-4-0, with a three, four TO’s, 13/23 FG and 2/3 FT. Jeff Green started the game well, but missed a lot of easy lay ups in the second half to ruin his FG%. He was more impressive than I was expecting him to be though, handling the ball and dishing in transition and overall having a game that was more like a biggie sized guard than an undersized power forward (I would totally buy his jersey if the OKC logo/colors/etc. wasn’t so UGLY, they need a super slick 3^rd jersey to spice things up, right now they are just super generic with their New York Liberty rip off logo etc.). Robert Swift started again and put up a decent line for an FA center in 25 minutes. Russell Westbrook goes back and forth between absolutely amazing, and just too athletic for his own good, he needs a coach to help him focus his athleticism, or just more time to mature, until then he will struggle with TO’s and FG%. Luis Scola played more minutes than Landry and Hayes combined, and delivered a very nice line of 23-9-2 on strong %’s. Ron Artest and Yao Ming each had strong lines held back slightly by injury (which I will cover in a moment). T-Mac finally turned in a clunker performance because of an injury, instead of just evaporating to the bench at some point in the game. Rafer Alston returned from suspension, and neither he nor Aaron Brooks did much of anything.

Rockets Injuries: Artest seems to be in the best shape of the Rockets injured stars; although the status of his ankle is unknown, he said it wasn’t bad… and while he looked pretty gimpy leaving the floor, I have seen Dirk and Josh Howard return from much gloomier ankle injuries in short time, and Ronny is a tough dude. Just speculation, but I would be surprised if he missed more than 2 games. Yao injured the same foot he broke last season, but returned to the game after the injury, hopefully this means he will be well enough to play in the next game. T-Mac injured the same knee he had off season surgery on. He is having an MRI tomorrow, but has proclaimed “until further notice, I am going to have to shut it down.”. On the other side of the coin, Shane Battier is expected to return to practice on Tuesday, and although it is not know when he will return to game action (I would assume that it would be this week?), he would be a nice pick up option. Carl Landry and Luther Head are also guys to look into. Skip rarely shares the floor with Aaron Brooks, and I don’t see that changing now since the size of an Alston/Brooks backcourt would get crushed by just about everyone (size and defensive matchup problems), however in T-Mac outages of the past Head has filled in reasonably well.

Phoenix – 97 at Utah – 109

Amare had a nice line, and Nash turned in solid numbers that were probably a little short of what his owners expected on draft day. Matt Barnes returned from suspension to give a solid line, and Shaq finally stopped living in the past and put up a line indicative of the out of an out of shape cry baby who no one really likes. Boozer had a strong line but missed a few FT’s, Paul Millsap nearly had a double double but his %’s were awful, CJ Miles had a hot shooting night but didn’t fill out his line with anything beyond pts and FG%, and Brevin Knight continued his string of 6 assist games that have occurred while Deron has been out. AK47 returned to post a sick line, punctuating it by blocking 2 of fatty Shaq’s shots. Jarron Collins started and played 12 minutes, but when interviewed after the game, both players and commentators could not recall even whether or not he actually dressed tonight.

The Collins Line: From now on I am going to start recording the longest someone is on the floor without producing a point, rebound, assist, steal, block, or turnover. Jarron Collins set the bar high tonight… But his brother plays on Wednesday, so competition is on the horizon.

*San Antonio – 86 at LA Clippers – 83

I tried to watch this game, it was on NBATV for some reason… but JESUS, the Clippers announcers are AWFUL. I immediately remembered that NBATV carried a Mavs/Clippers game last season where they used the Clippers guys instead of the Mavs guys once I heard the bell end color commentator screaming about how the Spurs committed 3 fouls in a 2 second span. Maybe this is just the attitude long term Clipper fans are forced to take, that they are constantly being victimized by everyone, but WOW it is annoying. Tim Duncan had a devastating line with 20-15-4-0-6, on 2 TO’s and nearly perfect %’s. Roger Mason had another sharp shooting game striking for 3 threes and a nice FG% but little else. George Hill had an impressive 5 boards and 8 assists in 8 minutes, but failed to score. Cuttino essentially cloned Mason’s line, Kaman finally had a night where both %’s and his TO’s were in order, Baron had 8 assists but struggled shooting, Al Thornton’s scoring woes continued but he collected 5 assists, and Camby started and put up 7-9 with 6 blocks.

Matt Bonner update: played 17 minutes, posted 7-4-1-0-1 with a three and 2 TO’s on 3/7FG and 0/0FT. I was glad to see him get enough time to do something against such a big team. I am not advocating picking him up… I am just saying that as the second center on my Fanball/Cuda A-League team, I was not disappointed.

Game Notes: 11/16

Miami – 96 at Toronto – 107

Calderon dressed but did not play (hamstring injury, expected back soon), and Will Solomon made the most of his start by putting up a strong line. Jermaine O’Neal’s monster rebound total puts a pleasant veneer over an otherwise painful line, Chris Bosh put in big FT volume and point totals, and JaMario Moon had one of his best games this season coming off the bench. Dwyane Wade had a poor efficiency night but I don’t think anyone will complain about getting four steals and two blocks from a guard, The Matrix (who will need a new nickname if this keeps up, as he is not filling out the entire stat matrix) had four blocks but very little else, Haslem had a quiet double double, and Daequon Cook knocked down 4 threes in 31 minutes off the bench.

Toronto’s new rotation: Bargnani made his first start of the season, and returned solid offensive numbers, and Kris Humphries had a very strong line off the bench in his first significant action of the season. Mitchell had also talked about starting Kapono in place of Moon, so it will take a few more games to see if Bargnani is the permanent choice. It will also take a few games to decide whether or not Moon can provide consistent stats from a bench role. Bargnani is worth a pick up if you need a C, but I wouldn’t dump Moon just yet.

Orlando – 90 at Charlotte – 85

Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus carried an otherwise average set of Magic lines to victory with unspectacular but undeniably decent production of their own. Dwight and Okafor apparently agreed that the best way to determine who “the right pick” was way back in 2004 was to have a chicken fight and foul each other with great frequency. Dwight’s line (in 25 minutes before fouling out) was salvaged to an extent by the 5 blocks and 2 steals… but in a game where he somehow managed to not make a single field goal, there just isn’t a lot else to look at. Turk had 20 points and a nice FT% on good volume but did very little else, Rashard got a handful of 3’s and three blocks, but also turned it over 3 times and shot 6/16 from the field. Tony Battie posted competent stats in relief of Dwight, but considering how good Dwight has been about avoiding foul trouble this year the fact that Battie played decent isn’t worth a whole lot. Crash had 19-9 on good %’s but lacked his usual steals/blocks. Adam Morrison scored 14 with 2 threes on nice %’s but turned it over 4 times. Raymond Felton had decent volume but awful efficiency. Sean May started again, but only played 12 minutes as Larry Brown took a page from the Zen Master’s handbook and sent May home early to derive meaning and influence from alternative media, in this case the special back to back episodes of “half ton wife” and “half ton husband” on The Learning Channel (these shows are real, my best friend called me during the Cowboy game to say "CHECK OUT TLC, HOLY SHIT THIS IS GROSS", and then we had fun reciting Ricky Gervais' bit about the 1000 lb lady who ate 10 cheeseburgers+fries a day from his HBO special last night).

Dallas – 124 at New York – 112 (OT)

After a slow first quarter, the Mavs realized that they needed to start winning some games if they wanted to make the playoffs and show everyone that Jason Kidd really does make them a contender (?). Dirk and Josh Howard both had monster nights, Dirk in particular was virtually flawless with 39-15-4-1-1 with 1 three, zero TO’s, 13/27 FG and 12/12 FT. J-Kidd kept his line respectable with 4 steals. Jason Terry had a hot shooting game to put 20 points with 4 steals of his own. Brandon Bass and James Singleton both saw increased PT due to New York’s small line up (Dampier on the other hand, only saw 4 minutes for the same reason). Zach Randolph had a monster line of his own going, but just sort of ran out of gas down the stretch (17 of his 18 boards were had before the end of the third quarter). Chris Duhon picked up his scoring to turn in a strong 16-4-12. Q finally did something good with his PT, and David Lee had a double double in 36 minutes off the bench.

Pointless note: Gerald Green started but only received 4 minutes, I only bring this up because I don’t understand rotoworld’s fallacious claim that he has poor court awareness… he has done fine finding team mates in half court sets, and has done a great job defensively in the games I have watched. His turnovers come when he tries to do too much with the ball (ie too many jab steps and pump fakes, or he tries to get too fancy with his dribble), not from getting himself tied up by defenders vis a vis poor court awareness.

Detroit – 86 at Phoenix – 104

Shaq was ejected with a flagrant 2 after 13 minutes, and failed to “leave the court in a timely manner” so a suspension is definitely a possibility. Nash returned from suspension to… block 2 shots!?! Amare had a strong night with 29 points on a single turnover and hawt %’s, and Grant Hill and Boris Diaw put up quiet but useful lines of their own. RIP was the only Piston player to have a decent game. AI was awful, Prince and Sheed were invisible, Kwame finally returned to form and put up 10-3 and nothing else. None of the Pistons bench players did anything helpful (especially Stuckey, whose otherwise nice line was ruined by 4 TO’s… not a big thing for say, Dwight Howard or Kobe when they rock the house, but for an end of the fantasy roster guard that doesn’t get high assists? No thanks).

Minnesota – 94 at Denver – 90

Fear the worst, Jason Collins STARTED for the Timberwolves tonight. Their entire roster reeked because of this decision. Sebastian Telfair started but only played 5 minutes, as Randy Foye came off the bench to play 39 minutes. While Foye had a nice line himself, his real impact on the game is realized when you look through the Wolves roster and see that the only players who managed more than 4 FGA’s are those who are known for creating their own shot (obviously, very few of them are actually good at this, but the few who are silly enough to think that they are chucked like mad tonight thanks to Foye’s sub-par distribution skills). Jefferson had a nice line, but the rest of the wolves were awful. The Collins effect spilled over to Denver’s side as well, seeing as Chauncey Billups took an absurd 23 shots (and only made 7!!! He knows that he isn’t expected to play like Ivy… right?). Melo was 4/17, JR Smith was 4/12. Ugly shooting nights all around allowed guys like Linas Kleiza to post competent lines by inflating their boards. The Nuggets overall were just disgusting.

Wolves new line up: Telfair/Miller/Gomes/Jefferson/Collins. This line up would be decent if Telfair was left in the game, but with Foye playing the bulk of the PG minutes, it gives you 4 guys who are incompetent playmakers and one guy who is a decent playmaker… but more so thrives OFF OF playmakers. Mike Miller is going to waste. Hopefully they will get blown out a few times and at least go back to Telfair/Miller/Brewer/Love/Jefferson.

Nuggets Rotation: Kleiza and JR Smith were back to their expected PT levels tonight. This is still a situation to keep an eye on though.

San Antonio – 90 at Sacramento – 88

Greg Popovich is the best coach in the league. The Spurs have a marginally talented roster right now, essentially surrounding Duncan with 3pt and defensive specialists, and little else. Yet they are winning, knocking down Houston last night and a Sacramento team which is better than their record indicates tonight. Duncan had a strong line if you discount the 5 TO’s. Michael Finley and Roger Mason provided strong perimeter support, while George Hill started but struggled in 19 minutes. John Salmons had supreme scoring stats and little else outside of 3 steals. Udrih had another strong outing outside of 5 TO’s. Brad Miller was solid, while Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes struggled to make shots (Hawes again though, salvaging a decent line by blocking two shots).

Things to watch: Matt Bonner has now logged 20+ minutes in two straight games, bringing the total of such games on the season to 4, 3 of which he has given ownable stats. It makes sense that he is getting more time given the Spurs current lack of scorers. His shot may be a little inconsistent, but he takes so few of them that even if he misses them all it shouldn’t hurt too much. Definitely a guy to consider grabbing if you are in need of a C and run a small ball team, or a % and TO conscious team that tries to win threes.

Game Notes: 11/15

Few players have logged as many minutes, yet been as utterly useless in terms of fantasy as the acclaimed Collins twins of Stanford University. Their presence has long been proclaimed upon (at some length too, I might add) by people who track invisible statistics, such as the one that says the Collins twins are two of the best defenders in the game whose name I can’t remember. However this is most often the only sign that they are in the league, as the only stats they log are minutes played, and the only highlights they appear in are the ones where they are made to look a fool and aloof (anagram?). Now, in a frightening tale, please follow me through the evening of November 15^th, for this sacred day saw the return of not one, but TWO Collins twins… FG%’s around the league fell through the floor, dozens of generally competent and reliable players were forced into “below average production”, even coaches fell victim as many of them made very odd decisions.

Golden State – 121 at LA Clippers – 103

Anthony Morrow gets his own section and it is below the summary. On the polar opposite end of the spectrum, Brandan Wright was the recipient of a DNP-CD! Seriously… a fantasy player much have wronged one of Don Nelson’s daughters or something, because this line up morphing (although expected) is just random and ridiculous. Azubuike’s line barely extended beyond 15 points and a nice FG% with 2 steals and 2 threes, Stephen Jackson and Biedrins did what has become the norm for them, and Corey Maggatte managed a decent FG% which is nice to see (since he failed to do that in pretty much every game before he sat down to let his injury heal). CJ Watson was the only player to log significant time off the bench, and contributed 10 points and 8 assists. Baron Davis mirrored Captain Jack’s line, Kaman is finally beginning to return to his former glory, and Cuttino Mobley scored 19 but in an unspectacular fashion failing to fill out his line in all areas. Ricky Davis received 30 minutes off the bench but did nothing. Tim Thomas started for Marcus Camby because Mike Dunleavy is a terrible coach (or perhaps to make some ill thought out attempt to counter the Warriors small lineup?), and then only received 11 minutes… in part because of foul trouble, and in part because he is just not very good. Camby put up 12-11 with no blocks in 24 minutes off the bench.

Anthony Morrow: An undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech; he played 4 years of college ball, shot ~87% from the line during his college career, and by his senior season was one of the leading three point shooters in the country at 44.8% (on 5.7 attempts per game, which is a ton for college). Nellie loved him in camp, proclaiming that he was “the best shooter on the team”. However, from what I have read, it sounds like shooting (and the things that go into being a great shooter, such as moving without the ball to create space) is pretty much his only skill. His ball-handling and passing are so weak that he actually signed a contract in a low level league in the Ukraine before he came to the Warriors. As long as he gets minutes he should at least be a good source of threes. He won’t get to the line much, and won’t give assists, since Nellie will probably bench him for a week if he puts the ball on the floor more than once after receiving it. If the scouting reports I have read on him are accurate, the rebounds today were an aberration, and he will not provide above average blocks or steals for his position, but low TO scoring with nice %’s and some threes? That is his game!

Oklahoma City – 85 at Philadelphia – 110

Jeff Green had another great line (LeBron light with PF eligibility), this time bringing FG% along for the ride! Kevin Durant was ugly all over. Robert Swift was in the game for 14 minutes… which coincidentally is the same amount of time it took head coach PJ Carlesimo to realize that he did not show up for basketball, but to debut a performance art piece titled “Jason Collins: embodiment of a mortal”. Johan Petro had a nice line off the bench, but given that it is only his second “nice line” in 10 tries (and that it came against super slow Philly), I would wait to see him repeat it before making a move for him. Thad Young had another big scoring night with great %’s and a three, but failed to fill it out with significant boards, dimes or steals. Iggy had a decent line, but nothing that would indicate a player of second round value. Andre Miller only did well in the categories that would help his owners in leagues where I am currently pitted against him. Sammy is apparently such a simpleton that benching is an effective motivation tool (I have never understood why this works for professional athletes. If you were content to loaf, play awful on a national broadcast, and still pick up your check… wouldn’t a benching mean success for you?) and flipped out Biedrins style with 13-16 and three blocks. I am going to ignore all the bench stats because this game was over early and OKC couldn’t buy a shot even when it was close (ie inflated rebounds for everyone).

New Jersey – 119 at Atlanta – 107

Devin Harris had ANOTHER huge game, and this one was nearly perfect. PHAT FT volume, great FG%, and 10 assists on a single TO. OH and a pair of 3’s to go with his pair of steals! Vince Carter had a very nice game outside of missing a couple of FT’s. Brook Lopez took a step back from his last game, but he was in the game for 28 minutes, and is manning the post Jason Collins occupied only a year ago... I cannot even fathom the pain experienced every time he tried to make an athletic play that was in some way quantifiable. Ryan Anderson and Jarvis Hayes provided a scoring punch off the bench while the rest of the team did little of note. Joe Johnson was cooking from outside, knocking down 5 threes, but tarnished his line with 6 TO’s (4 steals though… so it works out?). The rest of the Hawks paid homage to the most notorious Collins brother former team by putting up useless, or self defeating stats. I want to say Marvin Williams had a nice game, but I am afraid I only think that because I own him in a number of leagues and if you take away the TO’s this game is exactly what I want from him (although he can go back to hitting 100% of his threes, I would be totally fine with that).

Hawks starting lineup: Al Horford returned to the C spot tonight, Marvin Williams shifted up to PF, and Mo Evans got the start at SF. This is the result of Zaza missing the game with injury (minor shoulder injury, could return in the next game), which must mean that Mike Woodson is significantly more comfortable with Zaza than he is with Solomon Jones… which is odd to me, but I have never seen Jones play in real life.

Something to watch: Ryan Anderson makes me nervous, because in the games where his line has been ownable he has hit an absurd percentage of his shots… which is awesome, but he never gets many shots, even when he plays over 25 minutes. Even if he continues to get this much playing time, I would be uncomfortable owning him until he gets 10+ FGA’s with some regularity.

Utah – 93 at Cleveland – 105

LeBron had a monster night, killing both %’s and adding handfuls of threes, steals and blocks to the mix. Z had his usual numbers with an extra helping of turnovers. Mo Williams had a very SG-ish line, and Delonte matched him step for step save a handful of points. Ben Wallace had a nice night with 10 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks, but is too inconsistent to warrant a pick up. Boozer put up the only Utah line of consequence and even he had a bit of an off night. Paul Millsap’s numbers were nice but the 4 TO’s are a major pain for a guy most likely used as a hustle stat streamer. The injured Jazz players are slowly making their way back though, as the incurable fantasy plague that is Jarron Collins made his debut tonight.

Portland – 88 at Minnesota – 83

As though it were written in stone many ages ago, Jason Collins (the second half of the prodigal Collins twins) followed his brother’s foot steps to align their much anticipated 08-09 season debuts. Tremors were felt around the world, but seemed to be particularly strong in Minneapolis, as the events which took place in the Target Center tonight mirrored the Collins legend to perfection. The viewer may have been led to believe that time actually sped up during this game, as the stats that came about in no way indicate a full 48 minutes were played… But nay, this is merely the Collins way. In perhaps the least eventful fantasy game of the season, Brandon Roy posted a perfectly clean but somewhat shallow 24-3-6 (no threes, no steals, no blocks, no TO’s, 9/18FG, 6/7FT), and was followed (in terms of fantasy relevance in this game) by Oden (13-8-1-2-3) and Przybilla (10-8-1-1-1) who each did well from the field but missed a few FT’s. Aldridge had some foul trouble and judging by his overall lack of stats I would guess that he was just bullied to death by Minnesota’s bulky front court (and nightmares due to rumors of a Jason Collins return). Al Jefferson’s FG% and point total were lovely, but outside of the three blocks the rest of his line was kind of lame. The remainder of Minnesota’s roster felt the wrath of the Collins twins worst of all, as only the valiant Mike Miller and his flowing mane escaped to salvage any decent statistics. Even head coach Randy Whitman succumbed to the Collins plague, first by PLAYING Jason Collins, and second by playing Randy Foye the wretched 22 minutes longer than Sebastian Telfair for no discernable reason (although Foye’s skill at poisoning of the fantasy well in Minnesota is documented well enough to make loose associations between him and the Collins curse… perhaps the Collins twins are not two… but three? Only the third one is kind of stupid and went to Villanova instead of Stanford?)

Indiana – 91 at Chicago – 104

TJ and Marquis had quiet nights compared to their recent work. Rasho and Troy Murphy received full servings of PT which resulted in two very serviceable lines (and Jeff Foster being dropped in all leagues around the world… although he had a handful of blocks again, which is just weird, as he is only 4 shy of halfway to the total accrued in 77 games last season). Danny Granger had a rough shooting night, but made out ok with 10 boards and two blocks. Meanwhile, Derrick Rose continues to thrill, Ben Gordon finally cooled off a little, and Luol Deng fell off of the pleasant plateau he had enjoyed recently shooting 4/16 from the field and outside of 9/10 from the line doing essentially nothing but wasting 36 minutes. Drew Gooden returned to start alongside Joakim Noah, but each of them saw less time than Andres Nocioni who enjoyed a decent line if you ignore the 5 TO’s. Larry Hughes was 4/5 from the line and had 3 steals and a block in 22 minutes, but was otherwise un-notable.

New Orleans – 82 at Houston – 91

A late surge by the Hornet bench makes the score look respectable, but the Hornets struggled most of the night. Trying to outdo himself from the night before, CP3 had another off night… but still wasn’t that bad. Tyson Chandler gave the FG% oomph everyone has been waiting for but only collected 4 boards in 33 minutes. David West did an extremely boring 18-10, and Peja must have done something to irritate Byron Scott as he only played 24 minutes (no report of injury). Aaron Brooks started for the Rockets again, and was very bad… really, outside of T-Mac the Rockets did not put up fantasy friendly numbers. Yao didn’t rebound or block, Artest had 7 assists but virtually nothing else, Scola put up a double double but turned it over 3 times, and the bench… well they didn’t really do anything. The Collins effect strikes again.

Boston – 102 at Milwaukee – 97

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce both went OFF in their respective ways, and KG salvaged an otherwise underwhelming line with 2 steals and 4 blocks. Unfortunately, these were the only three Celtics strong enough to withstand the fantasy ragnarok induced by the return of the Collins twins. Thankfully for Milwaukee, Richard Jefferson treats every day like “return of the Collins twins day”, and contributed another line to show his devotion to such a great cause! Andrew Bogut was like most of the other players who were active tonight though and had his regular performance inverted, playing the entire game free of foul trouble and scoring 20 points for the first time this season. Sessions and Ridnour were each ugly in their own way, and Mbama ruined a nice line with a horrid FG% as he replaced the wise (and injured) Charlie Villanueva, who must have foreseen this plague coming, and in true Milwaukee Buck form (as passed down by sage pussy Michael Redd), conveniently acquired an injury so as to be on the inactive list the day Collins twins Jarron and Jason returned.