Archive for October, 2012

Fantasy Basketball Daily News and Notes 10/31/12

Oct 31, 2012 Blog

There were only three games on the NBA schedule last night, but it was great to have some real basketball to watch and daily fantasy games to cheer for over on Fanduel.  Here’s the fantasy highlights:

Washington 84 @ Cleveland 94

Anderson Varejao was the star of the game for Cleveland with 9pt/23reb/9ast.
Kyrie Irving looked more like a scorer than distributor going for 29pts/6reb, but just three assists.  Only four turnovers.
Dion Waiters looks like he’s going to be a big part of the offense going for 14 shot attempts and hitting 6 of them for 17 points.  3 steals.
Tristan Thompson had a nice double-double with 12pts/10reb.  No blocks though, but he did add 5 assists.

A. J. Price got the start for John Wall but had a bad shooting night going 2 for 13.  His 6 assists were decent.
Bradley Beal got the start at SG but was quiet going for 8pts/3reb/3ast.
Trevor Ariza had a tough preseason and seemed to actually get things going tonight by helping fantasy owners across the board with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  I’ll take that any day from Ariza.
Trevor Booker got a start and was disappointing going for 4pts/1reb.  He also had 4 turnovers.  He better pick it up or he’ll find himself on the bench when Nene and Kevin Seraphin return.
Earl Barron was a surprise with 8pt/8reb/1stl/1blk.

 

Boston 107 @ Miami 120
For two teams who played great defense last year, there wasn’t much D going on in this one.  On the night when Miami recieved their chamipionship rings, they just looked dominant, but the Celtics looked solid too and should win a lot of games.

Rajon Rondo had the best fantasy night of any Celtic going for 20pt/7reb/13ast.  No steals though.
Courtney Lee and Jason Terry might kill each other’s fantasy value.  Lee got 24 minutes, Terry 25.  Lee had 11pt/1reb/1ast, Terry went for 8pt/0reb/1ast.  Lee needs to get his fouling under control.
Kevin Garnett should have had a better game but Chris Bosh limited him to just 9 points and 12 rebounds.  5 turnovers hurt too.
Brandon Bass still looks to be in control of the power forward minutes getting 28 compared to 23 for Jeff Green and 8 for Jared Sullinger.  He definitely outplayed both of them going for 15pt/11reb.  Green had just 3pt/3reb.

LeBron James had a big game, but unfortunately got cramps and missed most of the fourth quarter.
Dwyane Wade looked like his old self with great cutting and explosiveness.  Drafters who managed to pick him up late first round/early second round may have gotten a steal.
Chris Bosh was terrific at center going for 19pt/10reb/3blk.
Joel Anthony was inactive.
Ray Allen still has plenty of value, 19 points in 31 minutes.
Mario Chalmers was excellent with 11 assists and 3 steals.

 

Dallas 99 @ LA Lakers 91
The Lakers got just what they should have expected from Dwight Howard – and it cost them this game.  Howard went 3 of 14 from the line and Dallas made no secret that their strategy was to hack him with Dirk and Kaman both out.  For everything that Howard has over Bynum, his free throw shooting may cancel it all out.

Pau Gasol was an absolute beast going for 23pt/13reb/6ast/3blk, just keep in mind that it was against Brandan Wright and Elton Brand.
Kobe was limited with the foot injury and didn’t really try to do much except score.  He finished with 22 points, but just 1 rebound, 1 steal and zero assists.
Steve Nash was disappointing with 7pt/4ast and this may be a typical kind of night for Nash.  He’s looked a lot like Jason Kidd did the last couple of years in Dallas.
Steve Blake had 6 assists in 14 minutes.
Jodie Meeks only got three shots, all three were 3 pointers.

Brandan Wright and Elton Brand got the start for Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman.
Darren Collison was the leading scorer for Dallas with 17 points.  He added 4 assists and 3 steals.
Vince Carter has taken over the sixth man role.  He got 28 minutes, going for 11pt/4reb.  He could be fantasy help for your bench.
Jae Crowder is worth a flier if you have an open bench spot.  He got 20 minutes and put up 8pt/3reb/2ast and a steal.  He had two 3 pointers.
O.J. Mayo led the Mavericks in shot attempts with 13, unfortunately he only hit 4 of them.

Tags:

Amare Stoudemire Injury Outlook Getting Worse

Oct 28, 2012 Power Forward Updates

Amare Stoudemire will be getting a second opinion on his left knee injury, which reports are now speculating could keep him out 15-20 games.  That’s a far cry from the initial diagnosis of 2-3 weeks for a simple ruptured cyst.  At this point, it really seems that there could be more to his knee injury than is being reported.

Fantasy Outlook – If Stoudemire is required to miss extended time, the Knicks playoff hopes really take a huge hit.  They’ll probably move Carmelo Anthony to power forward and maybe try to run with Steve Novak and Ronnie Brewer at Small Forward.  If the Knicks decide to move Melo to power forward, his stats could be better than what he could do at small forward, especially his rebounding numbers.

Tyson Chandler would also probably see a little bump up in rebounding numbers.

With Anthony at power forward, New York would also likely lean a little more heavily on the perimeter offense provided by J. R. Smith, which would really help his fantasy value.

I got stuck with Stoudemire a couple of weeks ago in one keeper league when he just fell a ridiculously long way down the draft board, but this just goes to show that sometimes what you think is a bargain is simply a piece of trash that will never get any better.  I’d avoid Stoudemire, let someone else deal with that headache.

Tags: ,

Danny Granger Continues To Have Knee Issues

Oct 28, 2012 Small Forward Updates

Danny Granger missed the first five preseason games and has been extremely limited in the remainder of preseason and things don’t look to be getting much better as the regular season is just days away.  Granger’s left knee, the same one he suffered through last season, is just not healing as expected and he could miss games throughout the season.  Reports seem to suggest that the knee can’t get any worse physically, but rather it’s the pain that is limiting Granger.  His draft rank and fantasy value is really sinking right now.

Fantasy Analysis – If Granger is forced to miss games, owners will need to pickup Gerald Green.  Green has seen just about all the action at Small Forward this season and makes a great late round gamble and a definite must grab handcuff for Granger.

Paul George also stands to benefit if Granger is shut down.  George is the next best perimeter scoring option for the Pacers and would see a bunch of extra looks that would normally go to Granger.

Tags:

Kobe Bryant Could Miss Opener

Oct 28, 2012 Shooting Guard Updates

Kobe Bryant is suffering from what is being referred to as a right foot strain’.  He’s been sitting out practice and getting treatment, but still remains questionable for the opener.

Fantasy Analysis – Owners with weekly roster settings face a tough decision on Kobe, especially head to head league owners in a short opening week.  If Kobe can’t go, Jodie Meeks could get the call.  Meeks can score and put up threes to help you, but he’s definitely no Kobe.

Dwight Howard should be a go and could benefit greatly with Kobe out.  The Lakers would likely look to feed the ball inside to Howard and Pau Gasol, with Steve Nash taking some extra scoring chances from outside.  Metta World Peace is also dealing with a hand injury and could be limited.

Tags: ,

Deron Williams Having Minor Ankle Problems

Oct 28, 2012 Point Guard Updates

Deron Williams is having some ankle problems and fantasy owners might want to take notice if they are using a high draft pick on him.  Williams has missed the last two practices with left ankle inflammation that has been termed ‘left ankle synovitis’.  He had a cortisone shot in the ankle Thursday, but hasn’t been back on the court.

There are also some reports that forecast Williams needing surgery to clean the ankle up sometime in the future, possibly in the offseason.  It appears to be something that isn’t going away anytime soon.

Fantasy Analysis – This is definitely going to knock Williams’ fantasy value down a little bit and be especially annoying for daily fantasy roster moves.  If you own Williams, it might be a great idea to handcuff  C. J. Watson on the bench.  Watson did a great job filling in for Derrick Rose last season when he went down with the ACL injury and would likely do just as well in Brooklyn.

Joe Johnson would also see a bump up in value with Williams out.  Johnson has some playmaking ability and can definitely pick up his scoring when needed.  If Johnson takes on some point guard responsibility, then Marshon Brooks could slide into the starting SG spot, but that scenario probably wouldn’t be too likely if Watson is available.

Keep an eye on Williams and if he starts missing games it might be a good idea to explore trade possibilities.

Tags: ,