Game Notes: 10/29

Toronto – 95 at Philadelphia – 84

Thad Young got into foul trouble early in the first half, and for most of the game it seemed that Philly just couldn’t buy a shot (and led to poor offensive numbers for pretty much everyone on their roster). Sammy did a nice job of cleaning it up (17 boards, 9 offensive) but ran into a touch of foul trouble himself at the end of the third and fourth quarters. Whether this general inefficiency is a product of early season rough edges, tough Raptor defense, or merely the result of having too many guys who need the ball in their hands remains to be seen, but for now I wouldn’t make too much of it. JaMario Moon started for Toronto but didn’t do much but pick up his 1 3ptm, 2stl and 1 blk. I was surprised that Kris Humphries did not see any court time though, as the Raptors bench is pretty short and he was effective last season.

Things to watch: Jason Kapono’s minutes and Andrea Bargnani’s shooting. If Kapono gets a regular 20+mpg he immediately becomes a top 10 (at least) 3ptm guy. If Andrea can ever put the pieces together he will be a monster… but his inability to consistently knock down shots in regular season games just frustrates me to no end. If this inconsistency continues I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Toronto rotation shaken up.

Atlanta – 99 at Orlando – 85

In a match up of Georia prep school rivals, Dwight Howard was 4 assists shy of a 5x5 while shooting better from the field than the stripe, and aside from Pietrus was really the only member of the Magic who performed up to par. Again, too early to read anything into it, most likely early season rust. Atlanta’s shooters on the whole were cold as ice, but Joe Johnson and Josh Smith each had very nice games (Josh Smith in particular, running off 17-10-1-4-5 without a single turnover). Showing flashes of last season, Rashard Lewis did not attempt a shot until nearly 7 minutes had passed in the first quarter, and finished the game with a weaker line than Mickael Pietrus (ok, the two steals are nice, but comparing a 2^nd rounder to a ~10^th rounder should never happen… and I wouldn’t bring this up if it was new, but it seemed like at least once a week last year he would be outperformed by Keith Bogans (and more regularly than that by Hedo “The Turkish Delight” Turkoglu). The point I am trying to make is that I do not understand why he is rated so high… and this is coming from a guy who freaks out over efficient 3ptm guys). To top it off, he fouled out early in the fourth quarter!

Don’t read too much into: Mo Evans. He will get minutes this year, but tonight was an aberration. Marvin Williams will be back from suspension in their next game and should take at least 35 min for himself, dropping Mo down to 20ish mpg.

New Jersey – 95 at Washington – 85

In a move sure to frustrate fantasy GM’s everywhere, New Jersey ran their guys in platoons for most of the night with 10 guys getting 14+ minutes apiece (Vince, at 34min, was the only one over 31). What is even worse though… is that this tactic worked. Looking at the box it appears that Caron Butler had one of his games where his shot doesn’t go early so he begins to defer… or maybe Washington was just following suit with a dozen or so other teams tonight who just had ABYSMAL offensive outings. Andray Blatche got a lot of minutes, but his “Curry line” is about the opposite of what most expected. Yi had a nice line, and seemed to be the most significant of the New Jersey bigs… but this one is still too early to call. Grab him if you are in a deep league, otherwise I would wait another game or two on this situation.

Things to watch: Jarvis Hayes was the first guy off the Nets bench, and in the past he has produced fantasy friendly lines on occasion. If they stick to this deep rotation, and he sticks around 30mpg he will be worth picking up. And by that I mean if he has a nice game the next time out, you should grab him if his line fits with your team.

Miami – 115 at New York – 120

David Lee is giving me hawt flashes of 04-05 Brad Miller, Jamal Crawford has finally found a coach who understands him… and I’m still trying to figure out how Chris Duhon came out of this deal with paltry 3 assists. The Knicks were blowing the doors off the Heat until they let their foot off the gas in the fourth. Essentially, if you drafted any Knick other than Duhon, you should have nothing but warm fuzzies for this game. Dwyane Wade put up a vintage Wade line (26/7/9 with 5 TO’s). Haslem had a vintage Zach Randolph line (24/10 and nothing else), but more importantly… STARTED AT C. Beasley was crummy, but I can’t comment on him too much without watching him (if someone whose market broadcast this game could chime in on how he looked it would be much appreciated).

Don’t read too much into: Any of the Heat players stats. The Knicks are essentially last year’s Suns… only worse defensively. It’s hard to resist Chalmers near triple double on 1 TO… but remember 2 years ago when Nick Collison nearly averaged 20-20 in 3 games against Phoenix? Lets just say that the only time a team will get 92 FGA’s and 33 FTA’s in the same game, it is against a team such as the Knicks.

Important note: Chris Quinn got a DNP-CD. If you bought what Funston or whoever was cooking about him being a sleeper stud… you probably won’t regret dropping him.

I am afraid I will always regret: dropping Q-Rich for Kelenna Azuibuke

*Milwaukee – 98 at Oklahoma City – 87

I tried to watch this game… I really did (it is given to my television market… as though my cable provider thinks I want it… when honestly I would prefer my fox sports affiliate go back to showing rodeos and the other crap they do when denying me Mavs games). It was just ugly. All of it. Russell Westbrook looked sharp (he was everywhere on defense), but the rest of OKC just seemed to be sleep walking. If I wasn’t so convinced of Larry Brown’s intent to pound Charlotte into the ground, and Kevin Durant’s impending mega stardom (ie his return to that SICK post all-star break line from last year), I would call OKC the worst team in the league. I mean they lost to MILWAUKEE!!! (for summary of the Bucks, read the one from yesterday and reverse everything. ie Charlie V played a lot and collected nice stats, Richard Jefferson was nice and efficient while Michael Redd didn’t make a shot until the third quarter, Andrew Bogut… well he was in foul trouble all game again)

I never thought I would see…: a team with zero viable fantasy options. That is what OKC is looking at if they keep this rotation. Even KD is a stretch if he doesn’t get over 30 mpg (and play in an offense that is willing to acknowledge that he is the best player on the floor).

Indiana – 94 at Detroit – 100

Indiana put up nice stats as a team (Granger in particular, absolute boss), it looks like they just did themselves in with TO’s. My Marquis Daniels prediction blew up in my face, as he got 30 min and did pretty much nothing with it (12-3-3 on 4 TO’s?! you can keep that to yourself good sir!). Troy Murphy slayed as much as he knows how, and I can’t imagine his minutes dropping too much from the 37 he received tonight… so congrats those of you who drafted him. Rodney Stuckey received a disappointing 19 min, but still posted a decent line (8-3-4 with a steal… just a handful of points/FTA’s off of what most were expecting). Amir had 3 blocks, but the PT division between him, Maxiell and McDyess was non-existent, so he will probably remain as inconsistent as he was last year... For now

Nothing to watch here… really the only surprise was seeing my mann Walter Hermann get 15 minutes. I wish he would get traded to New York…

Sacramento – 96 at Minnesota – 98

I hesitate to put too much stock into this game, because both of these teams should be very weak defensively, and in most efficiency cats this year… but ignoring that, OMG WOW this game was the most surprising one of the night. I mean, where to start!? Kevin Love putting up 12-9 with a steal and two blocks in 19 minutes? Jason Thompson putting up 18-10 on sick %’s in 22 minutes? Corey Brewer going for 8-7-4-3 and no TO’s!!? Spencer Hawes doing 12-14 with a three and SIX BLOCKS!!?!!??! Kevin Martin threw in a clunker, and Beno Udrih got a good start on his 1:1 ast/to ratio, Rashad McCants reminded us once again what volume scorers are all about, Al Jefferson was business as usual, and Mike Miller was kind of disappointing… but the fringe fantasy guys blowing up were the theme of this game.

I need to take my own advice…: and un-pick up Jason Thompson in all of my leagues. Sure, his killer %’s tonight are exactly what he did in the summer league… and I am totally into that. But somehow I forgot that Brad Miller will be back soon, and Thompson’s already scant minutes will evaporate. I’m not trying to say picking him up is a bad move… just that there is risk involved I guess?

*Phoenix – 103 at San Antonio – 98

If you guys haven’t seen Popovich’s prank at the beginning of this game… youtube it, or just watch ESPN at some point in the next month or so, as I am sure they will be re-playing it ad nauseam until at LEAST Thanksgiving. The Spurs got off to a slow start (seemed to forget that Parker owns Nash?), and never really made up that difference. Matt Barnes makes a great Sun, he might make better whiny cry baby faces than the rest of the team combined. I LOVE the Spurs line up of Parker/Mason/Finley/Udoka/Duncan, Roger Mason fits in great with what they want him to do. Really… the only fantasy noteworthy things here are that slowing things down had the effect one should expect, and that Terry Porter has no qualms about playing rookies, as Robin Lopez was made into a fool by Timmy/TP at least 1239087 times, and still got 4^th quarter minutes.

Thing to watch: Matt Bonner got 30 minutes…? It’s true! I don’t know if this is a temporary thing until Oberto gets back, or if it is more of a permanent thing that represents an evolution in the way the Spurs do things. Worth looking into if you are running a small ball H2H team, an all white team, or… just want a C that will can 3’s without wrecking your FG% (due to low volume, not his actual FG%).

Memphis – 71 at Houston – 82

This game was a lot closer than it looks. Memphis was within 4 until there were ~45 seconds left. OJ Mayo played as expected (5/20 FG, 10-5-2 with 3 TO’s), Marc Gasol did an impressive job of avoiding fouls, especially considering that he (I am assuming) was matched with Yao for most of the game. In the end posting 12-12 with 2 blocks, not bad at all! Darrell Arthur, and Luis Scola got huge boards as well, but this can be attributed to the teams combining to shoot 59/157 (or 37.6%), the overall offensive production of both teams reflects this horrific % (really, the only guys who lived up to/surpassed expectations were these surprise monster rebounders).

Things to watch: Arthur got so many boards in part because he logged ~twice as much PT as Hakim Warrick. Hakim may be worth holding for another game, to see if he plays more against a smaller team… but he was #1 on my chopping block in the rush to grab Jason Thompson.

Denver – 94 at Utah – 98

Deron Williams didn’t play (says he is targeting November 4^th to return), Linas Kleiza picked up quick fouls in the first quarter and never really got into the flow after that, Carmelo is serving a 2 game suspension… these things make it difficult to read a lot into this game. Boozer put up a classic Booz line (25-14 on 11/18 FG). Ronnie Brewer and CJ Miles both disappointed me, as I was hoping CJ in particular would shine and become consistent enough to be a dependable fantasy option. Denver has no depth beyond JR Smith. The Birdman and Balkman are alright… I guess… but really, JR Smith, Kleiza, and Anthony Carter are all going to get huge (for them) PT this year, even once Carmelo gets back. If Kenyon Martin can stay healthy and continue putting together lines like the one tonight he will be one of the better draft day deals.

Things to watch: I know Deron Williams is a PG… but I would have thought his absence would have opened “general PT” not just “guard PT” since Utah’s backup PG’s aren’t too impressive and AK can run the offense. AK got some extra, but I am interpreting the fact that Millsap did not as Millsap being no more fantasy worthy than Amir Johnson.

New Orleans – 108 at Golden State – 103

CP3 mysteriously vanished halfway through the first quarter and did not return until midway into the second… had this not happened I don’t think this game would have been this close, because New Orleans was rolling from the get go. Once I got over the shock of seeing “D. Nelson” in the starting lineup and thinking Don Nelson had grown so frustrated with his PG’s that he was taking on a temporary role as player/coach (I wish I was joking about this…), I settled in and found nice lines all around. Corey Maggette did wonderful things (now to see if he can keep up 28ppg…), Azuibuke didn’t quite do what I thought he would but managed a nice line none the less (I was expecting more threes, less steals). All of the Hornets starters pretty much hit their averages from last year (Tyson had 3 blocks… but we’ll have to wait before declaring this a thing), and much like last year their bench did nothing that belongs on a fantasy roster. Why can’t all NBA teams be this straightforward!?!

Things to watch: Ronny Turiaf. He had four blocks tonight… and given GS’s lack of bigs, I think it is safe to put him in the same category as Amir… in that he could be a hot pick up very soon if he collects a regular 25-30 min. ESPECIALLY if GS moves Harrington for a PG who can set up their bigs with shots that are total cake.

LA Lakers – 117 at LA Clippers – 79

Why was this game on ESPN? Seriously… I mean the Lakers are fun to watch, but just seeing teams get reamed isn’t really what I dig. Thornton scored (on nice %’s which was a surprise) but didn’t support it with peripherals, Kaman turned it over a lot and couldn’t manage much else… Judging by Steve Novak getting 14 minutes I am going to guess that the benches were brought in early on this one? It is nice to see though, that even in a blow out the Laker studs can still manage nice lines (Gasol in particular, I don’t dig the FG%, but on such low volume, and with a full line of 13-9-6, 7/7 FT and no TO’s, who cares!?). Tough to gather much of anything here because it was so lopsided.

Things to watch: Lamar Odom. I want to see what happens in a game that is actually close, if they put him in Bynum’s place with Kobe and Gasol… but right now it looks like his stats will be all over the place (as most of you predicted I believe?), and most likely on kind of terrible considering his ADP.