HOOPLOG: Al Harrington

Head-to-Head's Up (2/20-2/26): Trade Deadline Edition

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 09:54:14 -0800

Well I’m glad the NBA (David Stern) came to its senses and invited Gilbert Arenas to play in Houston this weekend after all. Too bad Gil had to go and finish the first half of the season with a 4-for-22 effort and 6 turnovers at Dallas. Ouch.
So we have All-Star festivities to get through this weekend and then we’re back to the real games and hopefully an exciting week full of blockbuster trades. Here’s looking at you, week 2/20-2/26.

Four Games: Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, LAL, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland, Seattle.
Three Games: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Golden State, Houston, LAC, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Utah, Washington.
Two Games: Denver, Miami, Phoenix, Sacramento, Toronto.

Season-long trade rumors are finally coming to fruition this week. Darko is moving to Disney World, former Terrapin Chris Wilcox swapped area codes with Vlad Rad, and Stevie Franchise just may get another ‘change of scenery’ if Isaiah Thomas continues his quest to bury the Knicks six-feet-under. Keep a close eye on pending trades as several players are sure to find themselves in new situations that could really boost their second half value.

Plug ‘em in, Plug ‘em in:
Josh Smith/Childress, G/F – The reigning Slam-Dunk champ just put up career-highs of 21 points and 15 boards, while fellow swingman Josh Childress also scored a season-high 21 in a win over the Lakers Wednesday. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Al Harrington will be asked to pack his bags before the Feb. 23rd deadline. Josh & Josh would immediately reap the benefits should Harrington (and his 37 mpg) depart. Smith averages an incredible 2.3 blks in only 27.5 mpg, and Childress contributes across the board but especially in steals with 1.2 spg in 28.4 minutes. Hopefully both will see 30-35 minutes a night the rest of the way and improve on their already respectable numbers. The youngsters have four games next week so get them in your lineups.

Delonte West, PG – LeBron (43/12/11) and Paul Pierce (50/7/8) may have stolen the show in an overtime thriller the other night, but Delonte also filled his stat line with 15/10/8 and 3 blocks. One of the best waiver wire pickups of the year, the versatile guard just keeps on truckin’. Jefferson, Perkins, and Wally are banged up, so West should have plenty of scoring chances in four contests next week.

Anthony Johnson, PG – Jamaal Tinsley is starting to make Marcus Camby and Fred Taylor look like iron men. He’s only appeared in 23 games this season and hasn’t been healthy for a full year since his rookie campaign. Veteran point guard Anthony Johnson has been handed the reins and asked to do what he can to help salvage Indiana’s season. A.J. has been a member of the Pacers’ starting five since the end of December and averages nearly 30 mpg as a starter. Usually just a borderline fantasy starter in deep leagues, Johnson’s hot hand (19/4/5 with 2 threes and 1.3spg in last 3 outings) makes a decent plug-and-play for four games next week.

Darko Milicic, F/C – If there ever was an ideal situation for the young 7-footer, Orlando is it. Darko’s playing time was so limited in Detroit that analyzing his stats does not really give you an indication of his potential. He’s shooting an impressive 51.5% from the floor, yet a miserable 37.5% from the charity stripe this season. But of course, his 17-of-33 FGs and 3-of-8 from the line are such small samples that they are essentially rendered meaningless. If one were to ascertain anything from his stats it would have to be his impressive 15 blocks in only 140 minutes of play this season. He’s sure to see plenty of playing time on his new team, and starting alongside league-leading rebounder Dwight Howard (12.6 rpg) seems to be a perfect fit for the Serbian big man. If you’re feelin’ Darko, get him in your lineups right away. Let's just hope for the best.

Chris Wilcox, F/C – Assuming Evans/Fortson get shipped out of town sometime before next Thursday, Wilcox will have a great opportunity to excel as the new starting PF in Seattle. Now that he lives in Starbucks capital, USA, maybe some grande caramel macchiatos can help Chris wake up and get his head in the game. The former Terp has immense talent and this appears to be a good situation for him. The Sonics frontcourt has lacked athleticism and been clogged up with the likes of Evans/Swift/Collison/Petro/Fortson for too long. Wilcox brings much needed explosiveness up front and could average 15 and 10 if he's focused and motivated. Think of him as a younger/healthier Kenyon Martin, with center eligibility to boot.

Stash ‘em or at least keep on your radar:
Antoine Walker – He was back in the SLU for a couple games before the break (scored 26 pts and hit six treys on 2/15). Employee #8 needs a starting gig to be a consistent fantasy contributor, and he may just land one if traded to the right team.
Shaun Livingston – Prep-to-pro point guard struggling in his second season, "the next Magic Johnson" has started three of the Clips last five games, averaging 6.7 assists in those contests. The potential is there for a monster second half if 36-year-old Cassell were to go down with an injury.
Earl Watson – Incessant trade rumors surrounding Denver’s reserve PG are making me nauseous. He could have some value if given a starting job somewhere (New York?)
Nazr Mohammed – The big man averaged 11 pts and 8 rebounds for the Knicks last season. He has been stuck on the Spurs’ bench all year, but exploded for 18 pts and 20 boards Wednesday night at Philly. He could make some noise if he were to take the starting spot from Rasho, or perhaps filling in for an injured Duncan.

Forget about ‘em and move on:
Larry Hughes – just went under the knife again and will be lucky to return for the playoffs.
Emeka Okafor – they’ve been saying he’ll be back in 3-5 weeks for over a month now. Word out of Charlotte is that he’ll likely sit for the rest of the season.
Jameer Nelson – Specialists can’t figure out what is wrong with his foot, and he is out for at least another three weeks. Even if he returns, he’ll have to fight for playing time with a crowded Orlando backcourt.
Sebastian Telfair – Stephon Marbury’s little cousin was benched in favor of the Blake/Dixon combo. Bassy needs to learn the pro game and improve on his "Dick Cheney-esque" shooting (36.6%FG) before he can be a reliable fantasy force. Maybe next year.
Marko Jaric – Yes, he may be traded, but he is just stinkin’ it up this season.
Deron Williams – Did they really draft him ahead of Chris Paul? Williams is simply not a good fit for the Jazz and Jerry Sloan is not a good fit for fantasy owners.

Also… the Knicks/Magic exchanging Jamal Crawford and Steve Francis would help all parties involved (especially their fantasy owners).
Enjoy the All-Star festivities and be ready to pounce once those trades are announced.

Iverson goes for 53 in loss to Hawks

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 21:18:10 -0800

Allen Iverson scored 53 points, the fifth-highest total of his career, but Joe Johnson had 24 to lead the Atlanta Hawks over the Philadelphia 76ers 111-108 on Friday night. Zaza Pachulia added 23 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and Al Harrington scored 22 for Atlanta, which won for the fifth time in six games. Iverson, who entered with a league-best 33.5 scoring average, had 21 points and six rebounds in the first half.

Hawks finally get a win at Celtics' expense 120-117

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:52:50 -0800

The Atlanta Hawks became the last NBA team to win a game, outlasting the Boston Celtics 120-117 Wednesday night as Al Harrington scored 34 points.

Head On

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:53:10 -0800

So the popular pickup in leagues across the country last night was surely Luther Head. I must give credit to the guy in my league who snagged him a few hours before last night’s tip off. Good thinking. Head started, played 43 minutes and poured in 28 points, grabbed 7 boards, hit 5 3s, made 9-of-17 from the field, all 5 free throws, and added 3 assists. Quite a game. Still, color me skeptical that Head will be able to keep this up, or even come close. First off, the Rockets just don’t score enough so that anyone but Yao will have consistent value when Tracy McGrady is out. Yao is clearly the team’s first option, and they slow the game down to a crawl to get him involved. Usually there’s one player that manages to have a fantasy-worthy game in addition to Yao (who it should be noted is shooting 36-for-89 – 40% -- with T-Mac out compared to 44-for-76 – 58% with him in there). Maybe it will be David Wesley, maybe Derek Anderson, maybe Head. It’s risky to be counting on any of them. The more intriguing development is that if Head does manage to have a few more games close to this level, Rafer Alston might have a really, really hard time finding those 35 mpg he needs when he comes back. It’s looking worse and worse for Rafer everyday.

Some other recently won starting jobs and thoughts on them…

Jarvis Hayes – It’s well known that we’re Wizards fanatics around here, so it’s quite rare that I’ll miss a minute of any Wizards game. Over the past week this has caused me much frustration. In an effort to shake things up, Eddie Jordan replaced the struggling (putting it quite mildly) Antonio Daniels in the starting lineup with Jarvis Hayes. I’ll say this about Hayes – he is clearly the most improved player on the Wizards this year. He was drafted as a jump shooting specialist, but the thing was, over this first two years he could not shoot. He hit 40% and 39% of his shots in his first two seasons, and also had trouble staying healthy. But something has clicked this year. His jumper has always looked smooth and now it’s actually starting to fall, as Jarvis is connecting on 46% of his shots. His ideal range is out to 20 feet or so, he’s not a great three-point shooter, but he’s taking more than ever this year, and could connect on just over 1 per game if he keeps his starting job. He’s a good rebounder when he wants to, and the Wizards could really use him crashing the boards more, but he’ll never be much of a plus there. And that’s the rub with Jarvis’s fantasy game. He’ll never hit a ton of 3s, get many steals or blocks or score all that much. He got 31 minutes in his first start last night, and if he stays around that number he’ll be a very borderline fantasy play, because he’ll need to shoot a high percentage to have much value. Also, he’s no better than the fourth option on this team. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler will all get their production. Butler didn’t play as much last night, but it’s hard to see Eddie Jordan leaving him on the bench in favor of Jared Jeffries for too much longer. Hayes is worth a look if you have a roster spot to play with, but it’s hard to see him helping you out too much.

Jim Jackson – It’s hard to imagine anyone picked up JJ after his 0-for-7 stinker last night. Jackson entered the starting lineup with Leandro Barbosa out of action for a couple of weeks, but didn’t take advantage of the opportunity at all. But take a look at the minutes column – in his first game as a starter, JJ saw 35 minutes of action. Only Steve Nash and Shawn Marion, who played 42 minutes each, saw more time on the court. So if Mike D’Antoni was willing to keep JJ out there for 35 when he couldn’t hit a shot to save his life, it will be interesting to see what happens when the shot does start to fall. But that might be wishful thinking. JJ is shooting an almost impossibly bad 27% on the season, which is why he hadn’t seen more than 18 minute since the season opener before last night. Still, he’s a proven vet, and he did connect on 3 or more 3s in 18 games last season. He’s likely completely off most people’s radar right now, but there’s a slight chance he could erupt for a boat load of 3s in the next game or two. He’s worth keeping an eye on at least.

Josh Smith – So he’s making his way back into the starting lineup tonight, mercifully putting Josh Childress on the bench. Young guys coming off a strong second half, never trust ‘em. Wait, so that means Smith too, right? Eh, maybe. Anyway, Smith will move back into the starting lineup, but will that mean a big boost in his value? He played 27 and 28 minutes as a starter in the first two games of the season. Since he moved to the bench his PT has been very inconsistent, but he’s still managed to at least 30 minutes in four of those games. In those four contests that he’s seen at least 30 minutes his numbers are 11.3/5/1.8 with 1.3 steals and – here it is – 3 blocks. OK, the dude has a worse looking jump shot than your sister, as his 34% FG will attest, and every time I see him launch a jumper I cringe. If there is anyone who ¾ of his FGA should be dunks, layups, follows, alley-oops, it’s Smith. The point is, moving into the starting lineup is always a good thing. Even if he doesn’t see much more than the 30 minutes he was often getting off the bench, there is a much better chance he won’t see those killer 15 minute outings. Everything’s obviously up in the air in Atlanta, but Smith still has the potential to slot as the team’s #3 option on offense, behind Joe Johnson and Al Harrington. Smith’s blocks make him and obvious fantasy dream, but he’s a borderline play until he gets his rebounds and FG% back to where they were last year. If he can manage consistent time as a starter, I’d bet on both of those happening. I might still wait a game or two before plugging him back in there, but soon it will be time.

We’ll try to have something up on Friday, but we make no promises. Happy Thanksgiving.

Clippers/Hawks

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 18:19:00 -0800

Joining the action with 1:34 left in the first and the score tied at 23. Somehow, this is the only NBA game on tonight. Which is, of course, the only reason I'm watching it. Heck, it was either this or the end of "Superman II." And I know what happens in that.

It's just too bad that Shaun Livingtson is out (again), because he is really fun to watch—and he was looking even better this summer. But still, can't complain too much. Instead we've got Sam Cassell, Elton "Perennial All-Star Except He's A Clipper" Brand, Corey Maggette Cat Mobley and Chris Wilcox. Then, on the other side, Marvin Williams, Al Harrington, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson, who should have found a way to wear No. 70,000,000 this year.

Steve Smith is announcing, which is rad. Always liked Smitty, he was gracious to a fault as a player and was always a class act. Still is.

Zeljko Rebraca? Daniel Ewing? Quinton Ross? These are your Los Angeles Clippers. Bummer that Daniel Ewing isn't wearing No. 33. Or Ewings, for that matter. Hell, if he came out in Ewings, he'd be my favorite player in the L, Blue Devil or not.

Is Tyronn Lue on the Hawks because of his championship experience?

The Hawks animated/live action promo spot is good, I guess, but "Rise Up"? What other choice do they have?

There's someone named "Edwards" playing center for the Hawks—No. 54—and I have absolutely no idea who he is. None. He's replaced by Zaza Pachulia, who really should have signed with a playoff team. Or at least an NBA one.

If I played in the NBA, I'd rock everything. Headband, tall socks, wristbands, fingerwraps, calf sleeve, elbow sleeve, ankle braces, compression shorts, knee straps. Everything.

The Hawks announcer who's not Steve Smith goes on an extended riff about Corey Maggette's body, and I don't blame him. He ever goes to Greece, the damn statues are gonna start working out. It's ridiculous. He dives to save a ball, the seats'll move out of the way.

The Clippers are up 10, and I'm not sure how. The stands are half-empty, but that's no mystery.

It's good to see that Josh Childress is letting his afro come back. Wouldn't be right without it.

I know he's been gone for a while now, but it's a shame that Jeff McInnis isn't a Clipper anymore. I don't mean it in a bad way, but he just seemed like a Clipper. Ditto for Q and D Miles.

Four-point game.

Cassell and Cat is a pretty decent backcourt, actually. Sam I Am needs to rehab his rep, Cat needs to show he can thrive without his partner in, uh, crime, Franchise. And with Wilcox, Brand and Maggette, there are plenty of assists to be had. Can't see the Clips cracking the playoffs, but they're gonna ruin a lot of people's nights. The Hawks, of course, are quite capable of ruining their own nights, thank you.

Can't remember whether the Stoudamire on the Hawks is Damon or Salim. I could look it up, but why? I assume he'll score at some point.

Chris Kaman's hair is impressively awful. (And it's Salim—just got a good look at him. I guess I'll have to look up where Damon is.) Al Harrington tries to draw a charge on Maggette, which is basically like trying to draw a charge on an 18-wheeler. Adding insult to injury, he gets whistled for the block.

The Hawks guys seem surprised that Maggette has started quickly after missing a month, but then again they didn't see him balling this summer. I did, and I can safely say he would have been ready had the season started in July. He doesn't take time off.

Someone on the Hawks has some ILL adidas. The team might be bad, but they've got a great arena and good colors. So there's that.

You can't help but admire Mike Dunleavy's commitment to the Rileyesque slicked-back do despite his obvious deficiencies.

Halftime. 50-47, Clips. And ha ha, I totally forgot that there was a doubleheader on TNT. Right now it's Heat/Rockets without Shaq or T-Mac, which honestly may be less compelling than the Hawks/Clips. OK, so maybe not, but I'm committed to this game. I think. Then again, it IS halftime. Guess I could change over for a while.

OK, this is bad. I haven't watched the new-look Heat yet, and the first possession I see has Antoine Walker and Jason Williams dribbling out the shot clock, with J Will losing it on a travel. Dwyane Wade, off in the corner, doesn't touch the ball. This is not good.

Yao Ming gets swatted by Zo, which is just plain embarassing. Not sure what he has to do, but Yao has to get MEAN. He hits layups on the next two possessions, but he needs to be dunking on people.

Can't say I ever thought Jeff Van Gundy would be coaching Rafer Alston. Is there a weirder coach/player combination in the League? Well, except Larry Brown and all of the Knicks, of course.

Antoine Walker, 3; Antoine Walker, airball 3. That's my Toine.

Yao's neck beard is quite disturbing. Two fouls in four minutes though, and who wants to sex Mutombo?

Pretty cool that Juwan Howard and Alonzo Mourning are on the court at the same time—two of the first $100 million men. It's hard to believe that anyone ever thought Juwan Howard was worth $100 million, but hey, these things happen.

Jeez, with those two, Deke and now Gary Payton on the court at the same time—what years is this?

The chances of my watching any of the rest of the Hawks/Clips game are somewhere between slim and none.

You know what would be shocking, Craig Sager? Come out one night in a grey pinstriped suit and a solid tie. Plain white shirt. Wingtips.

Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and Reggie Miller in the booth. Either team would probably take Reggie right now. Actually, there's no probably about it.

Derek Anderson's cornrows look familiar—did AI have that pattern once? Someone did. Guess you can't patent hair designs. Although Anthony Mason should have.

What the hell? The Heineken sports update looks like it's coming FROM hell. What's with the red mist?

Whoops, lost some time there. It doesn't really look like that Zo's lost much. I still think he's a loser for bailing out on New Jersey, but he's definitely still got some game. Going after shots like it was 1993, snuffing Stromile Swift like he was some high school kid.

Yao's hair is...commie. Or something. Also, he's really, really, really tall.

It's still amazingly hard to believe that Jeff and Stan Van Gundy share the same parents.

I'm going to post this at halftime so if Safari crashes I won't have a nervous breakdown. Not that anyone will really care (or notice) one way or the other.

Soooo many new guys on both of these teams, it's actually confusing. Also, David Wesley looks like Marco Pantani.

Mourning goes after EVERY SHOT inside. It would be funny if he wasn't catching a bunch of them. Actually, he's only got three blocks, but it seems like more.

Reggie Miller just murked a Run-DMC lyric. It's "kill my dog, I'ma SLAY your cat." I think.

Yao misses a dunk, which is just plain absurd.

48-44 Miami at the half.

Weekend Preview: 11/4-11/6

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 10:08:58 -0800

Here comes the first weekend of regular season basketball action in … well … in a long time. And here at FBB we couldn’t be more excited. 25 games, three days, and we’ll start to see some separation in the fantasy basketball standings. Coming out of the gate strong is important for sure, but making that key pickup is even more important. This weekend is going to be where statistical anomalies turn into real trends, and here’s what we’re going to be looking for:

How are those rookies doing?
Now, odds are you won’t be finding Chris Paul or Andrew Bogut on your waiver wire right now. And if you are, we’d like to join your league. But there are plenty of other rookies who are fighting for playing time and establishing themselves in rotations. Mid-first-rounders like Nate Robinson, Hakim Warrick, Johan Petro, Danny Granger and Joey Graham will either be high-risk pickups or complete waiver-wire fodder after this weekend.

We’ll also see a couple of rookies who were drafted in a lot of leagues prove to be worthless. For example, Channing Frye, who is having trouble finding the court with Larry Brown standing in his way. Raymond Felton is caught fighting for minutes with Brevin Knight – which was expected, but still.

Minutes, Minutes, Minutes
If you’re new to FBB, you might want to brace yourself, because if there’s one this we love to talk about (other than point guards), it’s minutes. And you’re gonna hear a LOT about minutes this year from us. Early surprises are Antoine Walker’s 42.5 mpg for the Heat, and Ron Artest seeing 40 mpg so far for the Pacers considering the depth of both teams.

Injury Reports
Shaq (surprise!), Baron (double surprise!) … does “I told you so” mean anything to you guys? These next few days will be pivotal to both these guys and their backups.

Free Agents Fitting In
Here in Washington, we’re quietly chuckling at the Lakers and their big offseason acquisition, Kwame Brown. But we’re also watching Raja Bell and James Jones in Phoenix, Bonzi Wells in Sacramento, and all the new faces in Cleveland.

Game of the Week(end)
Atlanta Hawks at Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, 10:30 PM.
Now, don’t laugh. The FBB version of Game of the Week has absolutely nothing to do with high-profile match-ups, future playoff teams, or anything like that. We’re looking for games that will be of interest strictly from a fantasy standpoint. Here are two teams with a bunch of question marks in terms of PT and the value of some of their big-name players.

For the Hawks, Joe Johnson found out pretty quickly that you pick up a lot more assists dishing to Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire than you do dishing to Josh Childress and Zaza Pachulia. Meanwhile, Al Harrington’s ankle injury throws another wrench in the ongoing Childress/Josh Smith/Marvin Williams

For the Clippers, the big question is if Chris Kaman will be able to recover from his 5-TO, 19-minute performance Wednesday night. Plus, who is this James Singleton guy who went for 14 and 10? Also we’ll be watching to see if Corey Maggette is back in the lineup, and if so, how effective he is.

Overall Rankings: 91 to 120

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 17:00:35 -0800

1 to 30
31 to 60
61 to 90

91. Jamaal Tinsley – The ultimate tease; few can match his 3s/steals/assists combo, but he plain cannot shoot or stay healthy.
92. Eddie Jones – Certainly on the downside of his career, but can handle lots of minutes and hit 3s with the best.
93. Al Harrington – Won’t ever have a huge breakout like some had hoped, but should be solid as long as minutes are there.
94. Morris Peterson – See above.
95. Gerald Wallace – His big numbers (for his position) in steals and blocks will do a lot to offset his seriously lackluster shooting.
96. Ricky Davis – He’ll start, yes, but averaged 33 mpg last year and wasn’t anything all that special.
97. Sam Cassell – Could be a disaster, but Livingston is young and injury-prone; can’t forget how consistently awesome Sam was the three years before last.
98. Mike James – As long as he’s starting, he’ll be well worth using.
99. Mike Sweetney – Needs to lock down starting job, but will be a rebound/FG% monster if he does.
100. Sebastian Telfair – If he could shoot the 3 he’d be better, but 6.7 apg and 1.4 spg in April make him an OK option.
101. Mehmet Okur – As always, potential is there, but he’s usually frustrating to own with Sloan getting much of the blame.
102. Joel Przybilla – Ask the folks who drafted Mark Blount and Samuel Dalembert last year how reliable big men who finish strong are.
103. J.R. Smith – Hasn’t shown he can do anything but shoot a bunch of 3s; don’t go crazy with the kids.
104. Troy Murphy – We’re never too high on non-hustle stat guys, but if the Warriors run enough he should have some value.
105. Ben Gordon – Have to think he’ll break into the starting lineup eventually; still is a pretty one-dimensional player.
106. Raja Bell – Someone will probably jump the gun thinking he’ll replicate JoeJohn’s numbers from last year; that’s quite unlikely, but he should be solid.
107. Al Jefferson – Pick him up in January after the guy who drafted him too early gets frustrated and drops him.
108. P.J. Brown – Keeps on plugging away; needs to get that FG% back up to around 47%, but will be underrated as usual.
109. Wally Szczerbiak – His strong percentages make him worth having around, especially if he can get back up to 15 shots per game.
110. Nenad Krstic – Another one of those strong-finish big men to be wary of, especially since he doesn’t block many shots.
111. Brendan Haywood – OK, a bit of a homer pick, but it’s not unreasonably to expect 2 bpg with very nice boards and FG%.
112. Erick Dampier – He might be interested, he might not. His 12/12 with 2 blocks from a couple years is hard to ignore, but honestly, you probably should.
113. Eddy Curry – All of the big men in this batch have major questions, so just pick one you like. Could be an offensive force, but don’t expect any rebounds or blocks all of a sudden.
114. Jameer Nelson – He seems to be buried right now, just can’t understand why; 14.9/4.0/4.6 with 1.5 spg and 1.2 3pg after the break shows he’s more than ready.
115. Bonzi Wells – Is slated for lots of PT, but doesn’t have the greatest game and can get on coaches’ bad sides quickly.
116. Theo Ratliff – Even in a very off year averaged 2.5 bpg; if Przybilla isn’t for real should get a chance to reclaim his starting job.
117. Darius Miles – Perennial tease, but Portland is very thin this year and he does get a decent number of steals and blocks for his position.
118. Eddie Griffin – Yet another perennial tease, but he can be very effective with only 25-28 mpg.
119. Raymond Felton – We think he’ll get there eventually…
120. Brevin Knight – But until then, these two are going to hurt each other’s value.

2005 Fantasy Tiers by Position: Small Forwards

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 09:42:59 -0800

It’s nearly impossible to define the “typical” small forward. Some are long-range bombers, some excel at crashing the boards. Others are defensive whizzes. Taken early, your small forward will determine how some of your late picks turn out. Taken late, a small forward can really fill a need – or make a small one even more glaring. Let’s sort through the variety:

Tier One
LeBron James, Shawn Marion, Andrei Kirilenko.

The cream of the crop. James is either the first or second pick in any draft. Marion is a top-5 pick, and if he stays healthy, AK-47 has top-5 talent as well. The health is certainly a risk, but we’re huge fans of AK, so we’re putting him in the top tier.

Tier Two
Peja Stojakovic, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Rashard Lewis, Richard Jefferson, Corey Maggette.

These are some of the most valuable players in fantasy basketball. Some are like shooting guards who can rebound. Others are power forwards who can step outside. Each really has unique skill set. You’ll notice we’ve got Ron Artest up here. That’s not a mistake. He’s lined up for a comeback fantasy player of the year award, if such an award existed.

Tier Three
Bobby Simmons, Antoine Walker, Quentin Richardson, Caron Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Jalen Rose, Al Harrington, Tayshaun Prince, Luol Deng, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith.

All of these guys could end up as top-25 players by the end of the year. All of them could also end up being one of the worst players on your team that you just can’t drop. I’m a personal fan of Carmelo this year if you can get him late enough that the risk is low. Meanwhile, Bobby Simmons might end up being overvalued this year in some drafts. He’s just not a 4th round pick – none of these guys are. But by the end of the fifth round, you have to start thinking about this tier.

Tier Four
Grant Hill, Mike Miller, Josh Howard, Darius Miles, Mike Dunleavy, Michael Finley, Gerald Wallace, Marvin Williams, Andres Nocioni, Wally Szczerbiak.

One of the problems with tiering the small forwards is that they have such different strengths, it’s tough to differentiate on an overall level. None of these guys will be fantasy studs this year. However, each has a chance to be a solid contributer to your teams, whether it’s in 3’s (Miller or Finley), boards (Nocioni), or head cases (Miles). These are important players to research for the mid-late rounds of your draft. While they’re never great picks, they’re generally pretty safe in the 10th round of so. Don’t target them necessarily, but if a player you were going to take goes right before you pick, these guys are nice second options.

Tomorrow: Power Forwards.

Pistons dealing Darko?

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 09:32:35 -0800

One week after Larry Brown and the Pistons parted ways, Brown's former club offered Darko Milicic to the Atlanta Hawks for Al Harrington....

Weekend Review

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 13:16:43 -0800

Down Goes Kobe!
Well, probably. One night after shooting 6-of-19 from the field and 1-6 from 3, and missing a game-winner at the end of the game against the Spurs, Kobe mailed it in for 14 minutes against the Grizzlies before leaving with a "bruised shin." Apparently "shin" is secret code for "ego." I mean, things haven’t really gone too well for Kobe this year, and after losing 9 out of 10 games, and then starting Sunday’s game with a 32-14 deficit after the 4th, that might have been all he could take.

Anyhow, this isn’t an editorial about how lame Kobe is. It’s about trying to figure out who’s going to get all the minutes and points now that he and Lamar Odom and Chris Mihm are ALL out for the Lakers. Of course Chucky Atkins and Caron Butler are the big 2 (read that again), and you’re going to see a host of role players – Brian Cook, Jumaine Jones, Devean George – all getting about 20-25 minutes a game. None of them are going to be great, but you can find category help for sure. Cook becomes an obvious pickup if you’re looking for 3’s, and Jones is now someone you have to think about if you’re looking for rebounds.

Standings Watch
So far, our standings watches have mostly cover folks who are falling so far back or so far ahead that their stars will be unreliable over the rest of the year. But there are some races developing that could make some stars MORE valuable. For example, last night the Bulls pulled into a tie with the Wizards for 4th place in the East, and it’s no coincidence that now, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan is talking about Antawn Jamison returning to the court either tomorrow or Wednesday. Look for the Wiz to not worry about bringing him back slowly, but rather throw him right into the fire.

Meanwhile, just below Washington and Chicago in the standings, Indiana and Cleveland are tied right now for 6th in the conference. The difference between 6th and 7th is huge – 6th place will be the favorite against the winner of the Atlantic Division (most likely Boston), whereas the 7th place team will be first-round fodder for the Pistons. Now that Cleveland is slipping, and somehow the Pacers are 7-3 in their last 10, it’s anyone’s spot to have. Because of this, the Pacers are starting to think that perhaps Jermaine O’Neal will be returning to the court before the playoffs. He might be on the waiver wire, and if so, he’ll be worth grabbing in case he plays a few games at the end of the year.

One-Day Wonders
Pick ‘em up today, so you can play ‘em tomorrow!

F – Damien Wilkins, SEA
The surprise starter while Rashard Lewis is out, Wilkins had a great first start on Friday night against Portland – 17 points and 3 3’s in 35 minutes. His next start, Sunday vs. the Warriors, went much worse, as he only got 6 points in 28 minutes. Nonetheless, he will continue to start at least one more game, and is worth a shot tomorrow against the Kings.

C – Pedrag Drobnjak, ATL
Hawks coach Mike Woodson is apparently unhappy with the way things are going with his team, which is surprising since they’ve lost 25 of 26 games. He’s particularly unhappy with Obinna Ekezie and Al Harrington, who were benched much of the second half yesterday against the Clippers. That opened the doors for Drobnjak, who put in a nice 13/4 with 3 blocks and a 3 in just 17 minutes. He’s a nice bet to see at least that many minutes against New Orleans Tuesday.

Weekend Review

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:05:47 -0800

Trade Fallout

Chris Webber, Antoine Walker, Baron Davis, and all the other trade pieces made their debuts this weekend, while other teams featured moderately changed lineups as a result of certain players being traded away. How did everyone do?

Chris Webber He only had one game this weekend, but it was a deliciously ironic matchup against his old squad, the Kings. His game was surprisingly lackluster he stuck to the outside most of the time on offense, settling for a lot of jumpers, which explained his 7-20 shooting performance. His 11 boards were nice, but as expected he didn t handle the ball as much with AI on the floor he had only 1 assist, down from his average of 5.5. However, the fact that he took 20 shots right in line with his season average was a good sign.

Antoine Walker Walker has come out of the gates swinging in Boston. He led the team in scoring in both of their games this weekend, averaging 28.5 points to go along with 11.5 boards and 4 assists. Of course, with Toine, those numbers come at a price. He also averaged 4 turnovers, and the fifty (yes, fifty) shots he took over the weekend were nearly double anyone else s on the team (Paul Pierce took 27 shots over the same 2 games). Also worrying was the fact that he only hit one 3 all weekend, but that should change. If you re not concerned with percentages, Walker will be a great player over the rest of the season.

Baron Davis He came off the bench yesterday to huge applause in Oakland, and played his first significant minutes in over a month. The rust showed, as he only hit 3 of 11 shots, but he dished out 8 assists in his 29 minutes. He ll be worked back slowly, according to head coach Mike Montgomery, particularly due to the 12-day, 8-game road trip the team is facing. Temper your expectations for Baron, and just hope that there are no setbacks with his injuries.

The Atlanta Hawks Things are still settling in Atlanta, but as predicted the Big Four are going to be Al Harrington, Josh Childress, Tyronn Lue, and Josh Smith. Not exactly Murderer s Row, but you gotta work with what you got. The most interesting development over the weekend, though, was Predrag Drobnjak, who averaged 30 minutes, 17 points, 4 boards and a 3 on 55% shooting. Those of you who are thin at center should jump on him while you have the chance.

The New York Knicks As the saying goes, one man s trash is another man s well trash. And no one loves trash more than Isiah Thomas does. New Knicks Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor combined for 14 minutes and 4 points on Saturday against the Pacers, and shouldn t have any more value now than they did before (i.e. none).

The Milwaukee Bucks Minus Keith Van Horn and Mike James, the Bucks are turning into fantasy heaven for a number of owners. Now, Mo Williams is a startable option each and every night this weekend he averaged 14.5/8.5 with 2 steals. Desmod Mason actually contributed in something other than scoring last night, grabbing 11 rebounds, a season high. And don t look now, but former #1 overall pick Joe Smith put up 18/11.5 this weekend, with admittedly little else.

Hawks lose 18th straight road game (AP)

Sat, 26 Feb 2005 13:25:50 -0800

Zach Randolph's return to form helped the Portland Trail Blazers find victory and maybe some hope for the rest of the season. Randolph had 31 points, including the go-ahead basket with 9 seconds left, and 12 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers over the Atlanta Hawks 102-101 on Friday night. Al Harrington had 25 points for the Hawks, who, one day after trading away top scorer and rebounder Antoine...

Small is the New Big

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 14:35:52 -0800

The Suns were the trendsetters. The Warriors followed suit. And now it looks like the Hawks are the latest. (You could even argue that by playing P.J. Brown at center when Jamaal Magloire went out, the Hornets were the second team to do it.) Yes, we soon might have a small ball craze sweeping the NBA, and I for one, couldn t be happier. Who needs lumbering 7 footers clogging up the lane and doing nothing for fantasy owners? There are very few teams that offer five legit fantasy starters, but if this small ball craze takes hold, we might see more of it. All five Suns are obviously starters and they are all studs. If the lowly Warriors go with a Speedy Claxton/Derek Fisher/Jason Richardson/Mike Dunleavy/Troy Murphy lineup when Troy gets back, all five of them could be well worth using. And even the Hawks, who make the Warriors look like well, last year s Warriors might have close to give fantasy relevant players if they stay small. Antoine Walker and Al Harrington were obviously usable to begin with, and you know my feelings on dunking/blocking machine Josh Smith . But if small ball means Josh Childress keeps getting PT and gets a chance to work on his well-rounded (at least for fantasy purposes) game, all the better. So who are some other teams that might benefit from going small ball?

Dallas Mavericks
It wouldn t have made sense a week ago, but now that Erick Dampier s out, do the Mavs really want to run Alan Henderson out there? Don t they just want to try and put up 120 points a game and see if their opponents can match them? It s too bad that Jerry Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels are both banged up right now, because it would have been very tempting to give the idea a go with their full squad. Even so, a lineup of Devin Harris/Jason Terry/Michael Finley/Josh Howard/Dirk Nowitzki would score a whole lot of points. If Shawn Marion (6 7 , 228) can play the 4, why not Howard (6 7 , 210)?

New York Knicks
The Nazr Mohammed era is over. It was fun while it lasted (wasn t it?), but, just like Mark Blount realized he was Mark Blount this year, Nazr realized he was Nazr. The Knicks have little reason to keep running him out there as long as he s ineffective an injured. I d love to see them go with a Stephon Marbury/Jamal Crawford/Trevor Ariza/Mike Sweetney/Kurt Thomas lineup, which isn t really that bad in terms of size, as that frontline goes 6 8 , 6 8 , 6 9 . Tim Thomas, Penny Hardaway and Jerome Williams could work well in this scheme as reserves. What do the Knicks have to lose by doing this? They re already as low as they re going to get in the standings, why not try and do something fun?

Milwaukee Bucks
Both Dan Gadzuric and Zaza Pachulia have shown flashes, but both are terribly inconsistent. Toni Kukoc may be old, but he s shown lately that he can still play if given the chance. How about running out a lineup of Mo Williams (although you know who I d have in there)/Michael Redd/Desmond Mason/Keith Van Horn/Toni Kukoc? In Williams and Kukoc you have two great passers, in Redd and Van Horn you have two great shooters, and Mason is the athlete of the bunch. That s a team that could score some points, and could bring Mike James off the bench along with some muscle (relatively speaking) in the form of Joe Smith and Gadzuric.

San Antonio Spurs
These are Rasho Nesterovic s January numbers: 4.5/7.7/0.6 with 1.7 blocks, 43% shooting in 24.8 minutes. That s ugly. Sure, the rebounds and blocks aren t bad, but otherwise Rasho s making Mark Blount look like last year s Mark Blount. Brent Barry is a deceptively tall 6 7 , while Manu Ginobili is no slouch himself at 6 6 . Fantasy players who know what Barry can offer would love to see a situation where he s out there with Manu and Tony Parker. If they played those three with Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen it would be an especially small lineup, with Duncan the only one over 6 7 . And it s unlikely that the NBA s best team will tinker with what has been working so well so far. But fantasy players can always hope.

As the Point Guard Turns

Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:42:34 -0800

Not too much to cover with the short week, but here s the rundown nonetheless.

The entire Atlantic division is pretty ho-hum when it comes to point guards. You know what to expect from Gary Payton, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Rafer Alston and Stephon Marbury. I can t see Kidd getting traded this week, but that s just me. Both him and Iverson are injury concerns the rest of the way, but with their teams fighting for playoff spots, expect them to tough it out.

The Pistons are really clicking right now, having won each of their past four games by at least 18 points. That s why Chauncey Billups PT is slightly down. He s hit 15 3s in those four games and is really on fire. He s above Ray Allen on the Player Rater. The only people higher than LeBron in assists on the Rater are Steve Nash and Marbury. Damn. It was good to see Kirk Hinrich participate in the Rookie/Soph game. The fact that he played far outweighs the fact that he missed all of his shots. He always misses all of his shots. He should be good to go for the stretch run, and I wouldn t be surprised to see him average 40 mpg. I d still avoid Chris Duhon, just like I d avoid most other players getting 25 mpg. Will Jamaal Tinsley be back tomorrow night? Who the hell knows? He s definitely at the point of believe it when I see it. It would be nice to think he ll be back to his productive self for the final 31 games, but there s just not much to support it. That said, I d avoid selling low. The Milwaukee situation looks like it won t change this year. If you grabbed Mike James during his hot stretch, it s probably safe to let go now.

Damon Jones owners sure hope the all-star break didn t cool him down. You have to think that his being snubbed for the 3-point contest helped contribute to the 23 3s he put in during the team s last four games. Keep an eye on Gilbert Arenas once Larry Hughes comes back. It was when Hughes went down that Gilbert really turned things on, so it will be interesting to see how Hughes s return affects his numbers. I would expect a slight hit, but he s still a top-15 player. Steve Francis finds himself at #17 on the Player Rater now, but at #23 when taking it by averages. He s clearly not a first-rounder anymore. Jason Hart got the start, but Brevin Knight got the minutes and the production on Wednesday. It looks like he s fine and will probably be back starting and worth using. Keep Hart on speed dial, though. The Hawks will be a team to watch. Whoa, that looks weird in print. Just for fantasy purposes of course, although now that everyone not just NBA Fastbreak regulars know about Josh Smith, they probably have more buzz than in many years. J-Smooth was seeing some time at the point earlier this year, and since Josh Childress certainly doesn t deserve to lose any PT with Al Harrington coming back, it will be interesting to see if the Hawks go back to that with Tyronn Lue still out. Nobody will be racking up too many assists, either way.

Tony Parker is at #47 on the Player Rater. It s looking like he ll be a top-4 round pick for many years. Just when we all thought Jason Terry was safe, Don Nelson strikes again. Terry saw just 24 and 25 minutes in the last two games, while Darrell Armstrong saw 23 and 20 and Devin Harris saw 31 and 18, just for good measure. Ugh. Stick with Terry and hope for the best. Might be a decent time to sell high on Bob Sura. It looks he s past his injury problems, which is good for his trade value, and if you need the help in 3s and steals you might be able to get a PG that will help more in those categories. Jason Williams was healthy enough to play in the last game of the break, so he s fine. Earl Watson still saw 30 minutes, but he has no value right now. Who the hell knows with Baron Davis? Same as Tinsley, we ll believe it when we see it. It goes without saying that I m stuck with both of these guys. It certainly doesn t seem like the Hornets or Davis are in any rush for him to return. As long as he's out, Dan Dickau is more than solid.

Luke Ridnour owners hated seeing him put up 2/2/3 in 24 minutes while Antonio Daniels went for 19/4/4 Wednesday. No more than 31 minutes for Ridnour in his last four. Prior to that he saw at least 33 minuets in 11 straight. Interesting. OK, so Troy Hudson s got nothing. Sam Cassell and his hamstring better be back in there soon. I maintain he ll be solid from here on out. Don t ask me why I feel that way. Andre Miller is in a major, major funk right now, hitting rock bottom with a 2/1/1 in the last game before the break. He just doesn t play as well with Earl Boykins in the lineup. Damon Stoudamire looks to be on his way to a second consecutive top 40 Player Rater finish. He might even sneak into the top 30. It ll be interesting to see where he ends up this offseason and it what type of role. Supposedly Raul Lopez will be ready to go after the break. We ll see. Keith McLeod should be back soon, too. We ll see. I d rather use Chris Duhon than any of the Jazz PGs.

Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas are exactly tied on the Player Rater. I say Gilbert edges him out. But then again, Gilbert is my hero. Mike Bibby is just below AI and right above Steve Francis on the Rater. I say good things about him all the time and he deserves them. What s with his 75% free throw shooting this year, though? He was at 82, 86 and 80 the last three years. Chucky Atkins has averaged 41 minutes in the two games since Kobe Bryant has been back. This is fantastic news for his owners, as he s attempted 19 3s in those two games. Ah, Rick Brunson, back in effect. He s surely been grabbed by now, and with good reason, as the Clippers have no one to even back him up. They ll sign someone, and even if (when) it s no one you ve heard of, remember that when Darrick Martin came aboard earlier when Marko Jaric and Shaun Livingston were out, he took some time away from Brunson. Brunson will get plenty of assists, and you just have to hope he throws in some 3s and steals. The Warriors would be silly to take either Derek Fisher or Speedy Claxton out of the lineup when Troy Murphy returns. Silly, I tell you. Hopefully Mike Montgomery will do the right thing.

Defensive Stat

Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:00:43 -0800

One of the statistics I have been looking at a lot lately has been the on court off court defensive stats at the 82 games site. Many believe figuring out who are good defenders and who are not is almost impossible. I think its difficult, but not impossible. I believe the following on court off court defensive statistic is one of the best barrometers I have found to giving a fairly accurate account as to who can play defense and who can't. What the following stat shows is who gave up more points against the other team when they were on the court as compared to their own teamates when they were off the court. I have calculated the top 100 or so players in the NBA plus anyone who recieved more then two votes in the ALL NBA defensive team voting in any of the last 3 seasons. I think its a complete list of the best players and defenders. The list is for the last 3 years starting with 3 years ago and finishing with their average for the last 3 seasons combined.

1-Tim Duncan-------///-9.0///-5.5///-8.2=-7.6
2-Theo Ratliff--------///-7.6///-6.9///-5.4=-6.6
3-Jeff Foster---------///-2.3///-8.8///-8.3=-6.5
4-Rasheed Wallace---///-6.8///-4.3///-8.0=-6.4
5-Bruce Bowen-------///-6.6///-4.5///-5.4=-5.5
6-Kevin Garnett------///-9.6///-6.5///+0.1=-5.3
7-Dirk Nowitzki-------///-5.7///-1.4///-6.0=-4.4
8-Kelvin Cato---------///-3.3///-4.8///-4.8=-4.3
9-Andre Kirilenko-----///+3.1///-2.5//-12.7=-4.0
10-Ron Artest---------///-1.6///-4.0///-5.6=-3.7
11-Antonio Davis------///-2.8///-2.0///-5.3=-3.4
12-Ben Wallace--------///-3.1///-3.0///-3.9=-3.3
13-Dikembe Mutumbo-///-0.4///-1.2///-8.3=-3.3
14-Shane Battier-------///-1.5///-1.4///-6.0=-3.0
15-Bobby Simmons----///****///-4.2///-1.7=-3.0
16-Brad Miller---------///+0.8///-5.5///-2.9=-2.5
17-Ray Allen-----------///-3.7///+1.0///-4.5=-2.4
18-Kirk Hinrich--------///****///-3.7///-0.9=-2.3
19-Larry Hughes-------///+1.5///-2.9///-5.5=-2.3
20-Reggie Miller-------///+1.2///-6.7///-1.3=-2.3
21-Roberty Horry------///-5.1///-0.8///-0.6=-2.2
22-Jason Kidd----------///+5.0///-6.1///-4.5=-1.9
23-Baron Davis---------///-3.3///-4.6///+2.3=-1.9
24-Bobby Jackson------///-2.4///-1.3///-1.5=-1.7
25-Jermaine Oneal-----///-0.5///-3.7///+1.6=-1.5
26-Tyson Chandler-----///+0.7///-3.8///-0.9=-1.3
27-Michael Finley------///-5.9///-2.2///+4.7=-1.3
28-Kenyon Martin-----///-0.6///-5.2///+2.1=-1.2
29-Eddie Jones---------///-1.3///-0.3///-2.0=-1.2
30-Shaq Oneal---------///+0.8///-3.9///-0.6=-1.2
31-Kobe Bryant--------///-0.6///+0.7///-3.3=-1.1
32-Elton Brand---------///-0.9///+3.9///-4.7=-0.8
33-Doug Christie-------///+1.0///+1.9///-5.2=-0.8
34-Andre Igoudala-----///****///****///-0.8=-0.8
35-Chris Bosh----------///****///+3.4///-4.7=-0.7
36-Josh Howard--------///****///+1.2///-2.3=-0.6
37-Emeka Okafor-------///****///****///-0.6=-0.6
38-Brian Grant----------///+2.6///-0.3///-4.1=-0.6
39-Vince Carter---------///-2.0///+1.8///-1.7=-0.6
40-Nazr Mohammed----///+1.5///-0.7///-2.6=-0.6
41-Manu Ginobili--------///+2.5///+3.4///-7.5=-0.5
42-Rchard Jefferson-----///+0.8///-0.9///-1.0=-0.4
43-Paul Pierce-----------///-0.4///-0.1///-0.8=-0.4
44-Darrell Armstrong---///+2.5///-1.8///-2.0=-0.4
45-Q Richardson--------///-2.5///+0.8///+0.5=-0.4
46-Steve Francis--------///+0.9///-1.9///+0.2=-0.3
47-Eric Snow------------///-1.1///-0.6///+0.7=-0.3
48-Hydayet Turkoglu---///+1.1///-2.5///+2.2=-0.3
49-Jamal MaGloire------///+1.0///+1.3///-2.6=-0.1
50-Raef Lafrentz--------///+3.0///-4.8///+1.6=-0.1
51-Zyd Ilgauskas--------///-4.0///+4.0///-0.1=-0.0
52-Jamal Tinsley--------///+4.6///-5.3///+0.7=-0.0
53-Tony Parker---------///-2.5///+4.1///-1.2=+0.1
54-Latrell Sprewell------///+4.5///-0.8///-3.3=+0.1
55-Tayshawn Prince----///+4.3///+0.9///-4.6=+0.2
56-Keith Van Horn------///+0.2///+0.8///-0.1=+0.3
57-Rueben Patterson----///+1.2///-1.3///+1.2=+0.4
58-Alonzo Morning------///****///+2.9///-2.1=+0.4
59-Mehmet Okur--------///-0.4///-1.7///+3.2=+0.4
60-Grant Hill------------///+1.7///****///-0.8=+0.5
61-Chauncey Billups-----///+3.5///+1.0///-2.7=+0.6
62-Dwight Howard------///****///****///+0.7=+0.7
63-Antawn Jamison-----///+4.8///+0.4///-2.4=+0.9
64-Jason Terry----------///+0.1///+4.1///-1.6=+0.9
65-James Posey----------///+1.2///-0.1///+1.9=+1.0
66-PJ Brown--------------///+5.7///-4.5///+2.7=+1.3
67-Kurt Thomas----------///-0.9///+2.1///+2.9=+1.4
68-Rip Hamilton----------///+3.3///+3.7///-2.7=+1.4
69-Carlos Boozer----------///+6.6///-0.6///-1.9=+1.4
70-Yao Ming--------------///+2.6///-1.6///+3.4=+1.5
71-Troy Murphy----------///+1.4///-0.1///+3.8=+1.7
72-Dewayne Wade--------///****///-1.4///+4.9=+1.8
73-Al Harrington----------///-2.5///+9.2///-1.4=+1.8
74-Lebron James---------///****///+5.2///-1.4=+1.9
75-Wally Z----------------///+3.1///-3.9///+6.4=+1.9
76-Cutino Mobley---------///+1.4///+1.9///+3.5=+2.3
77-Zach Randolph---------///+5.8///+2.0///-2.3=+2.3
78-Sam Cassell------------///+10.0//-1.7///-0.9=+2.5
79-Shawn Marion---------///+5.2///+1.2///+1.5=+2.6
80-Gilbert Arenas---------///+5.8///+4.2///-1.9=+2.7
81-Allen Iverson----------///+5.1///+0.9///+2.5=+2.8
82-Chris Webber----------///+3.6///-0.4///+5.3=+2.8
83-Mike Miller------------///+3.2///+3.9///+1.3=+2.8
84-Joe Johnson------------///+2.3///+1.4///+4.7=+2.8
85-Drew Gooden----------///+0.7///+6.6///+1.0=+2.8
86-Lamar Odom-----------///+4.6///+2.1///+2.2=+3.0
87-Antonio Daniels---------///+2.7///+2.3///+4.4=+3.1
88-Amare Stoudemire-----///+3.5///+2.2///+4.0=+3.2
89-Mike Bibby-------------///+5.7///+5.8///-1.9=+3.2
90-Steve Nash------------///+4.3///+3.1///+2.3=+3.2
91-Marcus Camby---------///+6.3///+1.4///+2.4=+3.4
92-Peja Stojacovic---------///+7.1///+2.5///+0.6=+3.4
93-Stephon Marbury------///+7.8///+1.9///+0.9=+3.5
94-Cliff Robinson----------///+3.1///+2.0///+5.6=+3.6
95-Desmond Mason--------///+5.4///-2.6///+8.1=+3.6
96-Jason Richardson-------///+7.3///-1.1///+5.0=+3.7
97-Carmelo Anthony------///****///+5.9///+1.4=+3.7
98-Andre Miller-----------///+8.2///+0.5///+2.8=+3.8
99-Gary Payton-----------///+5.2///+1.8///+4.7=+3.9
100-Rashard Lewis--------///+6.4///+2.1///+3.2=+3.9
101-Tracy McGrady-------///+6.4///+2.4///+3.4=+4.1
102-Matt Harpring--------///+3.1///+1.4///+8.5=+4.3
103-Corey Maggette-------///+6.2///+1.2///+5.7=+4.4
104-Jeff McCinnis----------///+8.4///+2.2///+4.7=+5.1
105-Michael Redd----------///+3.3///+9.1///+5.6=+6.0
106-Antoine Walker--------///+0.6///+4.6//+13.8=+6.3
107-Pau Gasol--------------///+10.8//+8.2///-0.4=+6.5

I am not saying this statistic is perfect or totally accurate. One common sense flaw is a team that has great starting defenders and a bench of bad defenders would skew any player on the team depending on whether they are a starter or backup. A great example of this is Manu Ginobili with the Spurs. He came off the bench his first two seasons so didn't play that much with Duncan or Bowen and his numbers were a weak +2.5 and +3.4. This year he starts with those two and he gets a -7.5. So who a player plays with can effect this stat. However, most players play with their teamates quite a bit eventually and 3 seasons is ussually going to have every player play with tons of different players and lineups so it will even out to some degree.

The 4 Mav players are interesting. Of course its great to see Dirk ranked in the top 10 of this stat. Eventually the media will have to start to accept the gathering evidence. Some may take issue with Fin ranked 27th. However, if you look closer you will see that Fin has a bad +- this season. Most of his points were gained 3 seasons ago. Remember, this stat is saying who were good for the last 3 seasons combined. I think Fins numbers show the accuracy of this stat more then anything. Josh is in nice shape at 36 and improving. And Jason Terry is a poor but not horrible 64th. A little below average.

Of the top 38 players on the list, I would call only Brad Miller, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Michael Finley, and Chris Bosh less then "very good" defenders. To have 33 of the top 38 players be "very good" or better defenders is very impressive IMO. And I would have called Fin very good 3 seasons ago. Reggie Millers numbers are skewed by his season two years ago when he was injured and played very little, so his -6.7 that season is probably very misleading. As for Brad Miller, Ray Allen, and Chris Bosh, maybe they are a little better then I thought.

As for those ranked in the bottom 25, only Gary Payton, Cliff Robinson, and Marcus Camby I would have called even "good" defenders. And Payton and Robinson are getting extremely old. Maybe they are more cooked then we think. So the only player that really surprised me was Camby. And his numbers are skewed by his +6.3 3 seasons ago when he played very little and so that stat and his ranking might be misleading.

Let me simply ask why Dirk is ranked so high in this stat? Where is the flaw in his ranking? I can't find any. He ussually starts with some real lousy defenders, which should hurt his stat. This year he is starting with Damp and Howard and occasionally he has started with Bradley in the past. However, he hasn't had much help starting with him the last 3 seasons. Bradley, Najera, Bell, and Josh Howard mostly came off the bench. And shouldn't the Mav tempo be higher when Dirk is on the court? So the other team should score more because of that shouldn't they?

All I know is when Duncan and Ratliff are ranked 1-2 and Gasol and Walker are dead last, I think its probably a solid defensive rating system. And Dirk is ranked 7th for the last 3 seasons combined.