Game Notes: 10/30

School prevented me from watching anything tonight, and I am going to declare this as the only reason the Mavs lost tonight (although the Hornets leveled Phoenix, so at least some things went as I would have them go if I were master of the universe and all it surrounds).

Charlotte – 79 at Cleveland – 96

Everyone rotation Cav got low minutes, and from the box score it looks like they had this game in hand easily… pretty much from the get go. Ben Wallace had 5 blocks, but it appears that most of them came against ground bound Sean May (who lived up to his bill as “out of shape” by registering only 16 minutes, and not doing anything productive while he was on the court). I’m not sure if the blowout can be held responsible for the low starters minutes on the Bobcat’s side, or if it is just a Larry Brown trick to play their two best players under 30 minutes?

Things to watch: if Boobie Gibson is given a permanent green light, as he was tonight he could be a nice guy to own. It would be a total “rags or riches” sort of situation though, in the same vein as Nate Robinson (so sort of like a homeless man’s Gilbert Arenas?)

Just happy to see your face: -=Tarence Kinsey=-!!! I am sure several of us have nice memories of this guy from his hot streak in Memphis two years ago. Rest assured, if every swing man on Cleveland’s roster gets hurt at the same time their team will be in good hands.

Houston – 112 at Dallas – 102

Yao Ming put in his annual early season slaughter of whatever defense the Mavs pester him with that never works. In general, the rockets just look as though they were on fire… or Dallas just played ultra passive/terrible defense, like they did much of last season after acquiring Kidd. Chuck Hayes got more PT than Luis Scola (Scola may have been in early foul trouble? I can never tell with 3 PF's when I don't watch the boxes live)… and I don’t really know what to make of this because Dallas usually kills Hayes (but maybe Carl Landry has taken on that role, as he picked up a Perkins-esque 5 fouls in 7 minutes). The Dallas big 3 killed it (although Dirk registering zero assists is weird… I figured he would average ~4 this year… judging by the # of FGA’s though, I am guessing that this was a relatively slow game?), but the supporting cast fell flat. Jason Terry and Erick Dampier specifically were kind of disappointing, because they each turned in superb numbers with Kidd running things last year. Of course... maybe Houston is just a great defensive team (which seems more than likely. It was nice to see their rebound totals come down to earth playing against a decent team (as opposed to Rudy Gay and the chuckers))

Things to watch: Brandon Bass got 25 minutes. He is better than he showed tonight, and could turn into a nice PF option if he can average 4-5 FTA’s and knock them down like he did at the beginning of last season.

New Orleans – 108 at Phoenix – 95

Perhaps proving just how magical the Hornet’s season was last year, Peja Stojacovic and Tyson Chandler each missed part (or all) of this game with sprained right ankles and are not expected back within the week. At least we aren’t talking about knees or backs. The box score tells me that Phoenix was never really in this game, and that Phoenix’ only consistent fantasy options may be Nash and Amare, as all of their wing players sort of negated each by eating other’s minutes. I need a couple of games against average competition to really make a judgment on them, their team FG% has been very good through two games, but the 24 TO’s (10 via steals) and inability to force any on the other end tonight is kind of disconcerting… not to mention the foul disparity in the Hornets favor (and the game was in PHX… so who knows). Overall, all the studs on both sides did what we expect, and none of the role players did anything out of character.

New Orleans injuries and who to pick up: Peja and Tyson's injuries are both considered short term (~5-10 days), but James Posey will be worth a pick up if all of the high upside guys are gone from your FA pool and you need 3ptm. I would LOVE to recommend Julian Wright (and normally would, given the positions of the injured players), but he is recovering from an ankle injury of his own… so Posey it is. Hilton Armstrong has shown Amir Johnson-esque potential at times during his career, but displayed time after time last year, and once again tonight, that in the absence of Chandler… he still sucks.