HOOPLOG: Speedy Claxton

A whole new look NBA

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:01:57 -0800

Just to recap, here's the moves made in the past 24 hours or so:

The Bulls signed Ben Wallace (and acquired P.J. Brown and one year of his contract for Tyson Chandler's enormously long/overpriced deal)
The Hornets went insane and signed Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, and traded for Tyson Chandler.
The Lakers signed Vlad Radmanovic.
The Clippers signed Tim Thomas.
The Hawks signed Speedy Claxton.

Like I said...a whole new NBA. And the free agent signing period hasn't even officially began.

Claxton Just Doesn't Want January to End

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:41:19 -0800

"Backup point guard Speedy Claxton is having a fabulous January, averaging five more points and two more assists than he did last month," writes John Reid of The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. "Since Jan. 2, Claxton has averaged 16.6 points and 5.6 assists in five games. Claxton played his best against the Atlanta Hawks last week, scoring a career-high 29 points in the Hornets' 101-93 loss. For December, Claxton averaged 11.5 points and 3.6 assists. "

Weekend Preview: 12/9-12/11

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 08:15:04 -0800

With all of the snow and cold making it’s way across the country the past couple days, there’s no better way to spend your weekend holed up at home watching basketball. So for today’s weekend preview we’re gonna give you not one but THREE games of the week, one for each day of the weekend.

New Orleans/OKC Hornets at Portland Trailblazers, Friday, 10 pm EST

How about the Hornets as the most pleasant surprise over the first month of the NBA season? A team led by Chris Paul, PJ Brown and David West was 8-7 with wins over decent teams like Sacramento, Denver and Minnesota before dropping their last three. Now that they’re coming back to earth, you’ve got to wonder if the lineup might shuffle a bit – right now, Desmond Mason, JR Smith, and Speedy Claxton are all just short of playing 30-33 mpg – which is what the all need to have value. See if any of them are staking claim to those minutes.

For the Blazers, we discussed Darius Miles during the mailbag this week, and here’s a good chance to check out that rag-tag bunch of reserves who are going to be clamoring for his minutes. My money is still on Ruben Patterson to stand out above the crowd.

Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks, Saturday, 8:30 pm EST

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been loving watching the Celtics this year. The Paul Pierce/Ricky Davis combo is pretty exciting, and the frontcourt jumble has kept things interesting from a fantasy perspective. Right now the hot hand to be seems to be Al Jefferson, at least according to Sports Troopers, but that could always change in a week. Still, for those of you looking for big man help, keeping on top of this situation and guessing correctly could see some nice dividends.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, I’ll personally be looking for Jason Terry to come back to the court after I traded for him the day before he went down with a quad injury (thanks, Jason!). But I’ll also be watching Adonal Foyle part II, DeSagana Diop. 2.1 blocks and 4.8 boards in just 17 mpg? If he manages to start scoring, he’ll have a shot at taking away some time from Erick Dampier, and might actually have fantasy value this year. Repeat, MIGHT.

Detroit Pistons at LA Clippers, Sunday, 9 pm EST

We also talked about the Pistons in this week’s mailbag, and right now they’re playing some great basketball. They’re really a different team under Flip Saunders, much more offensive-minded. Plus, from a fantasy perspective, they’re pure gold – with all 5 starters getting between 33 and 38 mpg. But I’ll be watching the three top reserves – Maurice Evans, Antonio McDyess, and Carlos Arroyo. They’ve all got fantasy potential should any of the big 5 go down for an extended period of time, so it’ll be nice to know what to expect.

As for the Clippers, just enjoy it. Everything is clicking right now for them – Elton Brand is my pick for MVP right now, Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley are doing everything the could have hoped, and Chris Kaman is the ugliest man to play basketball in a long time, and is hilarious to watch.

So there you have it. Enjoy the weekend!

Hornets put Claxton on injured list (Reg Req'd)

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 12:47:50 -0800

The New Orleans Hornets put guard Speedy Claxton on the injured list Friday because of a strained right groin and activated forward-center Marciej Lampe.

The Final Stretch

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:29:54 -0800

We’re about two weeks away from the end of the season. Most teams have about 7 or 8 games left … which means that’s how many games your top players have left. Here are a couple of general pointers for how to close out the season successfully.

1. Do NOT leave yourself with leftover games.
This couldn’t be more important. There’s a reason we’ve been posting almost-daily one-day wonders, and it’s because even if you get a 5-point, 2-board night out of some random shooting guard, if it was making up an extra game, that’s 5 more points and 2 more boards than you would have had without him. And now, with so many players sitting out random games, it’s time to make sure you’ve gotten all your games covered. Don’t wait until the last day or two of the season to try and make up games, get it done now.

2. Watch the categories.
We’re going to cover this a little more extensively next week, but if you haven’t been dissecting the standings in your league just yet, you’d better start. Now. Know what categories you’re able to move up in, know what’s out of reach, and know where you’re pretty much stuck in a spot in the standings. This could (and should) have an affect on who you pick up to play your random missing games.

3. Constant news surveillance.
Now more than at any other point in the season, guys appear to be shutting it down. Even minor guys like Speedy Claxton possibly going out for the season opens up doors for guys like Dan Dickau. We’ve been preaching it all year – the most important statistic in fantasy basketball is MINUTES. Minutes are more in flux now than at any other point in the season. Heck, even Aaron McKie saw 30 minutes last night for just the second time all year. Manu Ginobili likely won’t play in back-to-backs again this year, so somebody’s gotta take those minutes - maybe even new Spur Glenn Robinson. These are the sort of things you need to stay on top of.

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

G – Gordan Giricek, UTH
With Raja Bell not even joining the Jazz on their road trip this weekend, Giricek is a great play. He put up 14/6/4 last night against Minnesota and should be good for something like that again Friday vs. New Orleans.

F – Othella Harrington, CHI
Othella was a mini-beast in three starts filling in for Eddy Curry last week, averaging 16.6/6.3, albeit with almost no blocks or steals or anything else. Now that he’s likely back from the birth of his child, and Curry is likely still out with his irregular heartbeat, he’s likely – yeah, likely – a good play Friday vs. the Knicks.

C – Clifford Robinson, NJN
Hey, he’s been at least useful in 2 of the last 3 games, and he should at least be good for a three pointer or two.

As the Point Guard Turns

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:05:54 -0800

Ah, the frustrations of fantasy basketball. Two players who I ve been begging to get more playing time finally get put into situations where they are going to see that time and I miss out on both of them. Bah. Lots and lots of post-deadline PG situations to look at today, so let s get to it. With most fantasy trading deadlines fast approaching, this could be the last real chance to improve your team for the stretch run.

The Celtics situation is far from resolved. After Gary Payton was shipped to Atlanta, Delonte West who played a total of 120 minutes in the NBA prior to the trade stepped directly into the starting lineup the past two games and in 37 mpg put up 17.5/5.0/2.5 with 2.5 3s, 1.5 steals and 1 block on 64% shooting. Wow. The assists are low, which isn t surprising, and he should be looked at as more of a SG than a PG. But the 3s and steals are very welcome, and he s obviously a hot pickup. That said, Payton could be back in the fold very shortly. The Celtics will probably welcome him back if he wants to come back, but you have to wonder, should they? In their two games without him, with their new lineup featuring the rejuvenated Antoine Walker and West, they ve won tough road games at Utah and (an admittedly Steve Nash-less) Phoenix. It could be that this lineup of fresh legs is the way to go. Grab, West, hold on to Payton, but if The Glove comes back, I wouldn t be surprised to see them both have middling value at best. In his first game with C-Webb, Allen Iverson racked up 14 assists. The guy s just having a phenomenal year. If the 76ers can get past the Celtics for the Atlantic Division crown, it will be hard to deny him the MVP. Jason Kidd is #7 on the 30-Day Rater. He ll be one of the more interesting draft choices next year. He s obviously still worthy of a first-round pick, but how many people will be scared by his knee? A quiet week for Rafer Alston, both production-wise and blowup-wise. I m sure his owners will take it, though. Only 29.7 mpg in his last three isn t reason for concern, but it s a slightly interesting trend to watch. If you can buy low on Stephon Marbury right now, I d do it. The Knicks only have three guards on their active roster and one of those is the always-fragile Penny Hardaway. Expect Steph to see close to 40 mpg from here on out and to put up big numbers.

The Pistons are clicking on all cylinders. Wait, I didn t even mean for it to come out that way. Even if Shaq is completely healthy come conference finals time, the Pistons are looking like the team to beat in the East. Chauncey Billups continues his strong play and Carlos Arroyo is thriving in his backup role. The Pistons will have one of the best PG duos in the league over the next three years should they hold onto both of them. I suppose that technically Jeff McInnis is the PG in Cleveland, even though I talk about LeBron here all the time. But I mean, there s no news to report and it sure is a lot more fun to talk about LBJ than Jeff McInnis. Random LeBron thought of the day: I have one of these. I was thinking it d be going for more. Oh well. It was bittersweet seeing Kirk Hinrich lay it on my beloved Wiz on Friday night. Check out his mpg in the last six 42.8. Expect this to continue as the Bulls push not only for a playoff spot, but first round home-court advantage. He s still not getting as many assists as you d like, but he s going to be a stud from here on out. As for Chris Duhon, well he s seen 29.8 mpg in his last four, including three games of 30+. He s hitting open 3s, getting assists and a few steals. That said, he s #119 on the 15-Day Rater. Still, if you have PG games to make up, he s not a bad option. I do other things besides obsess fantasy basketball. In fact, I m in a band. (We both are, actually.) One thing I always have problems with is writing lyrics. Always drawing a blank. Maybe I ll write a song about how much I hate Jamaal Tinsley. The chorus could go, Day-to-day, why don t you just go away? Does that sound like a hit to you? Hmm, oh well. In any case, Tinsley is on the short list for most frustrating player in the league this year. Great numbers when he s out there, but he s absolutely killing his owners right now by being on the bench (not the IL), at a time in the season where most owners are cycling through all of their players in order to use their games in hand. It s really starting to look like he won t be a contributor the rest of the year. (Yes, I m trying reverse psychology. Yes, I realize that actually saying that means it won t work.) Anthony Johnson is still not an option he needs to play basically a perfect game just to be an average fantasy contributor. We re past the point of saying Mo Williams should be picked up. The question is who are his comparables as far as value for the rest of the season. BV pointed out his numbers earlier today, and they are tasty. Here s his deal: plenty of assists, very few 3s, average steals and scoring. Think normal Andre Miller for a good comp. If you need assists more than 3s, he s your man.

The Damon Jones binge continues. I like him better than Quentin Richardson for 3s from here on out. Gilbert Arenas got in one last monster game before Larry Hughes returns, going for 43/7/3 with 7 3s and 2 steals. Watching him and Mike Bibby duel was really a treat. There was also a Steve Blake sighting, which I couldn t let pass. In 34 minutes he went for 17/5/5 with 2 3s and a steal. It s all about opportunity, people. There s just not that much separating Blake from Dan Dickau. Remember when the Magic were one of the year s better stories? When they finish 37-45, four games out of the playoffs, those memories will be even more distant than they are now. Still, at least they re getting Jameer Nelson in there. I was clamoring for it, and in his first two starts he was good for 13.5/8.0/6.5 with 1 steal on 50% shooting. Now there s some talk that he creates bad defensive matchups and that his spot in the starting lineup isn t completely secure. Eh. I d still take my chances. I maintain he ll be a Jamaal Tinsley type, although it looks like he ll be more valuable on the boards and he might not his as many 3s as of yet (it took Tinsley a few years). Hopefully he won t inspire me to write hateful songs about him. Oh right, I didn t get him, so he won t. As for how this affects Steve Francis he s still the same incredibly overrated player he s always been. And now he ll have fewer assists. Brevin Knight has seen 30+ in two straight. You know what you re getting. He s like a rich man s Rick Brunson. Or something like that. Tyronn Lue alert! In his four games since returning from injury, he s received 36 minutes, and put up 15.3/2.8/7.0 with 0.5 steals and 1.0 3s. Solid, but a few things to notice: The assists are a bit high, expect him to be closer to 5. The 3s and steals are about right. He should be closer to 1.5 3s, but he s never been a top thief. He s seeing plenty of PT now, and should for the near future. But I ll echo the rest in thinking that those 13 year-old kids at the end of the Hawks bench might start taking his time as we get closer to April.

There s an emerging trend in San Antonio, and that s of Tony Parker being the secondary scoring option behind Tim Duncan. He averaged 20.4 ppg in February compared to Manu Ginobili s 16.5. Man is that PG situation in Dallas frustrating. After scoring 18 points in three games, Jason Terry goes off for 27 on Saturday. Don Nelson needs to keep him in the lineup, although it should be said that in Terry s two best games in February, the Mavs lost both times. That probably doesn t mean much. You have to stick with him and hope that maybe Brad Miller lays another one into Devin Harris, and Darrell Armstrong too, while he s at it. Although that would certainly upset this guy. It s just wrong, I tell you. Who s the one who s been yapping endlessly about Mike James all year? Me. Who snagged him the moment he got traded to Houston. BV. That stands for Bastard Verymuch. Hmm, I could have probably done better. Oh well. So out of all of the newly valuable PGs, it should come as no shock that I like James the best. Bob Sura s on the IL, Rod Strickland was given the boot, Andre Barrett s on the IL yeah, Moochie Norris and his hair are around, but this is James s show, and that was very evident as they put him in the starting lineup in his first game and he was good for 19/2/3 with 3 steals and 3 3s in 34 minutes. This is an especially good game, but he will be solid. Don t expect tons of assists, but the 3 and steals will be there. Until Sura gets back, he s got every chance to be as good as, say, Chucky Atkins. Remember, Atkins is the 62nd best player in the league this year, fantasy-wise. That s good. Ho-hum in Memphis. Jason Williams is the man, but you ll have to deal with games like Saturday when Earl Watson is the better player and J-Will gets only 23 minutes. I like Mike James more as long as Sura s out, unless you really need assists. We got our first look at post-trade deadline New Orleans and it wasn t pretty at all. That s a very Hubie-esque looking box score, with 10 guys seeing at least 14 minutes and no one logging more than 35. Dan Dickau stepped up with 22 points, 3 assists and 3 3s, but if you can sell high right now, you might want to try. He s playing for a contract, so you know he ll look to put up numbers, but his PT is in the hands of Byron Scott. As for Speedy Claxton, he might be able to salvage some value, but if they keep sharing time like that in the Big Easy, it will be tough for anyone to really distinguish themselves.

We re approaching 2,000 words. Sports Guy would be proud. My employer wouldn t be. Luke Ridnour is on the verge of uselessness. I guess you can throw out yesterday s game because it was a blowout early on, but that s still one decent game out of his last four. He s lucky Antonio Daniels has hit a rough patch as well. It s unlikely Ridnour will be removed from the starting lineup all season, but he s no Mike James. Sam Cassell has been every bit as frustrating as Jamaal Tinsley this year. Even more so. Sammy owners, I feel for ya. He s slowly working his way to the point where he can re-enter the starting lineup. With Latrell Sprewell looking like he might have finally turned it around (someone should fine me for saying that), if Sammy can come back the Wolves can make that push to get swept by the Spurs in the first round. Continue to be patient. But then again, what else can you do? You think Andre Miller was glad to see Earl Boykins banished to the bench. Maybe it s a mental thing. Boykins still saw almost 30 mpg off the bench, just slightly below what he was getting as a starter, but it still made all the difference in the world for Miller. Hopefully George Karl makes this a permanent change. It s best for everyone; even Boykins might hold his value. But probably not. He won t make it to the line 16 times every game. Yesterday was the first time Damon Stoudamire was held to single digits since Jan. 2. He s been over 20 only once in the past five games. Is his run over, or should you buy low? The minutes are still there, so I m buying (relatively) low. Keith McLeod should be a top point guard option from here on out. Ha, just making sure you re still paying attention this far in. You should be, I mean, is your job really any more exciting? Well, it s gotta be more exciting than the Jazz PG situation, at least.

Leandro Barbosa got plenty of PT with Steve Nash out (36.3 mpg), but didn t light it up, all things considered: 15.3/4.7/3.7 with 1.7 steals and 1 3. Very solid, but on the Suns it s easy to have high expectations. Since Nash is likely to miss a couple more games as we wind down, he s a good guy to have around for single game fill-ins. I always say how much I love Mike Bibby. No, not that like that. Not entirely like that, at least. He s always been better in real life than fantasy, but this is the year that s changed, and with Chris Webber taking his Monistat 7 to Philly, Bibby will be a total stud the rest of this year and next year and the year after, etc. He s #13 on the Rater, #4 in the last 30 Days and just might be a late-first rounder next year. Maybe. Chucky Atkins will be up and down with Kobe Bryant back, but his 3s will keep him valuable. Rick Brunson is fine for those of you who need assists, but he just doesn t shoot/score. He was getting a lot more 3s last time he saw lots of PT. Not this time. Poor man s Brevin Knight, right? And finally, the Warriors. Good to see Baron Davis out there. Hard to see him coming off the bench too much longer, and the Warriors probably want to keep his minutes down so as not to risk an injury in a meaningless season (insert Warriors meaningless season joke here), but he might want to show his new home crowd that he s still got it. Derek Fisher owners should get ready for the letdown. After averaging 43 mpg in his last four, he was back down to 33 last night. Still put up an awesome 19/4/2 with 3 steals and 3 3s, once his minutes slip into the 20s, his time will be up. That said, it s not like he isn t signed for another 5 years, so the Warriors might as well keep running him out there because like it or not, he s a part of their future.

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.

Mid Season: Pacific Division / Golden State

Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:11:36 -0800

The Warriors have always confused me a little bit. It s a team that always seems to stay the same year after year. Always under .500, but with some exciting players on their roster, who you would expect would bring the team some success.

The management in Golden State has some questions to answer though. Why would you sign Adonal Foyle to a 6 year $51 million dollar contract? A player who has only averaged 5.1 RPG and 4.5 PPG throughout his career. I though Foyle was going to be a decent free agent pickup for any team this season, but to give him that kind of money means someone must have spiked the punch in the office party.

The one bright spot for the Warriors is that they will have plenty of money to spend in the off season, although they may have to give Atlanta a call and set up a help group, because Atlanta has had all kinds of trouble getting free agents to sign there, despite all the money they have available. Well, maybe Golden State won t be quite as bad. It is the west coast.

The Warriors have some strength at the point guard with Speedy Claxton and Derek Fisher running the team and their small forwards are quick and play well on the fast break, but there is too much inconsistency for them to get anywhere in the west. Their best hope is that youngsters like Mickael Pietrus and Mike Dunleavy start taking on a bit of the weight, and show the rest of the west something.

Count On: Jason Richardson
Best Addition: Derek Fisher
Rookie To Watch: I rather not
Spark Plug: Troy Murphy

Perimeter Defense

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 13:39:12 -0800

I kept asking it, poster gatinho asked it, I think everyone was asking it where was Sasha in the second half of the Golden State game? Rudy T. gave him the start, and then never played our favorite rookie in the second half, opting instead for Tierre Brown.

I think the answer is defense. Where I think Rudy T. missed the boat is the problem is bigger than just Sahsa without Kobe the Lakers could be in trouble on the perimeter.

Saturday night the Lakers faced (and beat) a Golden State team that is one of the worst shooting teams in the league, an eFG% of 44.8%. But against the Kobeless Lakers, their shooting improved to 48.9% and they really hurt the Lakers from the outside. The question is: Was that a one-night problem because Fisher was hot, or are we going to see the already-bad Laker perimeter defense get worse until Kobe returns? I think we start to find that out tonight.

But lets talk about Sasha, and Rudy s rationale. For those that missed it, Sasha was given the start in Kobe s two-guard spot, played 18 minutes in the first half but never saw the floor in the second half. His time went to Tierre.

Sasha was better for the Lakers on offense. Tierre hit just 5 of 13 shots (eFG% of just 38.5%) while Sasha hit three of four (2 of 2 from beyond the arc). Using +/- for the game, the Lakers were -1 when Sasha was on the floor (or -2.6 if he played the full 48), while Tierre was -5 (-8 for the full game). A few more details: Sasha was taking one shot every 4.5 minutes, had an assist every nine minutes and a rebound every 6. Tierre was taking a shot every 2.3 minutes, had an assist every 10 minutes and a rebound every 5 minutes. Since Sasha was shooting so much better and the team played better with him on the floor, I think we can safely say Sasha outplayed Tierre on offense.

I think Rudy T. thought Sasha s defense, particularly on Fisher, was inadequate. It was I counted 14 of Fish s points coming while Sasha was on him (Fish outmuscled Sasha a couple of times, the kid needs to put on a little weight). Also, Speedy Claxton would be too fast for Sasha, so a switch was not in order.

The problem with this line of logic is, Atkins didn t slow down Fish either. Heck, everyone had trouble with Fish he s always been a streaky shooter and when he s on he can hit anything. Just as San Antonio.

Without Kobe the Lakers are without a stopper on the defensive perimeter, the problem in Oakland was not just Sasha. There are times Rudy T. frustrates me to no end this was one of those cases. Sasha deserved more time on the floor.

On Tap: The Golden State Warriors

Sat, 15 Jan 2005 14:01:07 -0800

Bill Simmons calls it the Ewing Theory, and we'll see if it applies to the Lakers starting tonight. The idea is simple when a team's superstar goes down everyone else steps up, without him to rely on they aren't lazy and are more relaxed and creative. (Sorry about that link being subscription, but talk to the bean counters at ESPN).

Tonight should be interesting, with plenty of questions. The Laker offense is going to run through Lamar Odom, but will he get the ball down on the block like he prefers or out on the wing? How will Golden State defend him (and the Lakers)? Double Odom? Deny him the ball? Will the Laker offense keep the spacing and motion it had for much of the game against Cleveland? Will guys like Luke, Sasha and Slava get playing time? How bad is the Laker defense on the perimeter going to be without Kobe? Without Kobe playing, will any fans besides gatinho show up?

The good news for the Lakers is Warriors are in the second game of a back-to-back, having lost to Seattle last night. That makes it eight losses in a row for the Bay Area squad.

The bad news for the Lakers is the Warriors expect to get their best player and scorer, Jason Richardson (17.7 PER), back tonight. In a preview of what the Lakers may have to face, he missed the last eight games with a sprained left ankle. He was a big part of their offense. To use a crude stat: In a four-game win streak before Richardson went down the Warriors averaged 105.5 points per game, in the next seven they averaged 87.1. Last game against the Lakers, Richardson had 22.

The other guy the Lakers need to worry about is Speedy Claxton (16.27 PER). Last time they played he had just 9 points, but we know he s better than that and we ve seen our defense against point guards. That is especially true without Kobe being there to take him on key trips down the floor.

That said, the Warrior offense is the 26th most efficient in league, scoring 95.8 points per 100 possessions, and their shooting percentage is 28th at 44.8% eFG. What holds them back is the Warriors take a lot of jump shots, 71% of their shots (64% for Lakers, for comparison) and Golden State has an eFG% of just 39% on those jumpers.

(As a side not only I may find interesting, median eFG% for an entire team in league right now is 48%, with the Lakers shooting 48.4%. To provide some context, the median was 47% last year. I wonder if the new hand checking enforcement is the reason for the increase teams are getting better penetration.)

The Warrior defense is solid, allowing 101.3 per 100 possessions, 11th in league. Teams shoot fairly well against them, 49% eFG%, but they are ninth in league in creating turnovers. This will be a key for the Lakers tonight (again) taking care of the ball.

The last time these two hooked up, Dec. 3, Kobe was barely a factor in a Laker win. Butler led the way with 27, Kobe had just 10. This also could be big night for Odom, oPER of 17.1 against the four (but they can focus on him, so we shall see).

The Lakers luck out with a stretch of easier games Utah, Clippers, Golden State coming up while Kobe is out. If they can play .500 ball, the team will make a big step forward. That starts tonight.

The Temporary Point Guard Strategy

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 15:35:13 -0800

Now that we can put football in the rearview (nobody actually cares about football once fantasy is done, right?), we can concentrate on the only fantasy game in town. Assuming you aren t in some ECHL fantasy league, that is. But let s take a small bit of strategy from football before we kick it to the curb for eight months. In fantasy football, any time a running back becomes a starter, he automatically becomes a hot pick up. It doesn t matter if it s some guy who started the season as the fourth-stringer, if he has the ball in his hands, and is the unquestioned #1 guy, there is a good chance of something good happening. We can transfer this bit of strategy to fantasy basketball and point guards. While we often harp on the fact that anyone who sees serious time on the court can have at least a little fantasy value, this is especially true for point guards. Good things happen when the ball is in your hands. And point guards are usually in control of the ball more than anyone else.

This is why when a situation like the one Rick Brunson finds himself in right now pops up, you have to act quickly and decisively. By now you missed your chance to pick up Brunson, and if you haven t, you play in a league that you should have no problem winning. The second I saw that Marko Jaric s foot injury proved to be a stress fracture, I picked Brunson up. Why? Well, first off, if you remember last month when we looked at little-known players who put up impressive per-48 minute stats, Brunson was heavily featured, near the top at assists and steals. Combine this with the fact that the Clippers have absolutely no one else on the roster capable of playing more than a handful of minutes at the point, and you ve got a great situation. Over the past three games Brunson has averaged an astounding 40 minutes per game. I don t care who you are, it is impossible to consistently play 40 minutes a game and not have value. Over those three games Brunson s averages look like this: 15 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1.7 3s, 47% from the field, 83% from the line. That s basically Kirk Hinrich right there. Well, Kirk Hinrich has about as much chance at shooting 47% as Patricia Arquette has at winning an Emmy for her new psychic crime solver drama, but you get the point. The Clippers may sign some lifelong scrub (sort of like Brunson) to take a bit of the load off, but for the next month, he should be seeing at least 35 minutes per game, leaving him with plenty of value.

This sort of situation happens more than you might expect, and for owners that can stay on top of things it s one of the best ways to keep your team sharp. When Derek Fisher went down a few weeks ago leaving Speedy Claxton as the only real point guard on the roster, he should have been scooped up immediately. In the seven games where Fisher was out, Claxton s averages were as follows: 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7 assists, 2.7 steals, .7 3s, 46% from the field, 82% from the line; very much in line with Brunson s numbers above. When Jason Williams was out for six games last month Earl Watson did the following: 12.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.2 3s. Remember, these aren t perennial all-stars. We re talking about Rick Brunson, Speedy Claxton and Earl Watson one late-first rounder, one second rounder and one guy who didn t even get drafted. But because of the opportunity and position they play, they found themselves, as fantasy stars.

When Jaric went down right around the time Fisher came back, it was time to dump Claxton for Brunson. (Jason Richardson s injury seems to be leaving Claxton with value since Fisher can step in at the 2, but let s not worry about that for now.) In a month or so when Jaric comes back, find the next similar situation, and don t be afraid to act quickly. It s very possible to piece together a whole season of 3rd or 4th-round quality point guard play just by keeping on top of team s PG situations and acting quickly and decisively. So do it.

Golden State of Mind

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 17:08:08 -0800

Don t look now, but the Golden State Warriors are starting to play some good ball. They ve won four of their past six games, coach Montgomery seems to finally be settling on a rotation, and most important to fantasy players, they are scoring some serious points. The team is averaging just over 93 ppg on the season, but in the past six contest they are just over 106 ppg. When there s that much scoring going on, there are going to be plenty of players with value. And the best thing with the Warriors is that their recent success has come by shortening their bench. Derek Fisher is on the IL for the time being, Dale Davis and Adonal Foyle have become non-entities, and Calbert Cheaney is basically an afterthought. So that leaves only six players seeing serious time. Let s take a look.

Speedy Claxton
He merits mentioning two days in a row, but if he s still available in your league, you certainly don t need this Web site to help you out. In the two games since Fisher went down, Speedy has gone off for 18 ppg, 5 rpg, 8 apg, 1 3pg, 3.5 spg and .5 bpg. But it s also important to note that in the three games before Fisher went to the IL, Speedy was seeing more time and doing more with it. After four games in which he never saw 30 minutes, the three games prior to Fisher s injury saw Speedy average about 32 mpg. And in those games he was good for 13.3/3.8/6. Basically, this is Speedy s chance to take the starting PG gig and run with it. If he continues to be as effective as he s been, there will be no reason for Fisher to cut into his PT as much when he comes back. Claxton won t get 40 mpg, but he could stay around 32-33, which would be enough to make him a solid #3 PG for most teams.

Jason Richardson
There s not much to say about Richardson. He s the clear #1 option on this team and is a very solid fantasy contributor. But he s not a stud. Studs help you dominate a category. The category Richardson is most helpful in is 3-pointers and there are 20 people better than him there. He won t kill you anywhere (although his FT% sure is frustrating), but he s a definite complementary piece, not someone to lead you to a championship.

Cliff Robinson
Don t ask how, just enjoy it. Every year we want to write Uncle Cliffy off, but every year he manages to contribute. After four consecutive years of decreased scoring and no real role on the team, it looked like this would finally be the year that Cliff was worthless. But then Mike Montgomery realized that Dale Davis sucks and Adonal Foyle really sucks, and gave C-Rob the starting center job. Realize that if you start him at center, you will need to make up for the rebounds elsewhere. He s never in his career averaged even 7 boards a game, and Richardson, Murphy and Dunleavy are all exceptionally good rebounders, so don t except much more than 5-6 even with heavy minutes. He will get you blocks, though, as he s racked up a very impressive 9 in his last 5 as a starter. And he will get you 3s, although not always 7 every two games. Over the past 15 days he s 35th best player in the league. It s a common refrain with a hot player on a hot team, but ride him while you can.

Troy Murphy
Murphy was a popular sleeper this year, based on the fact that he missed/was ineffective most of last season, but astute observers remembered his double-double average in 2002. And he hasn t disappointed those people, as he s back in double-double land, averaging 16 and 10. Still, if you have him on your team, he s probably killing you. Besides marginal value in FT% (now that he s past his early season yips) and points and negligible value in 3s, Murphy slaughters you everywhere else. He gets no steals, no assists and has his 41% from the field and .5 bpg are just unacceptable from the PF position. And this is all while he s playing just about the best ball of his life. Find a team desperate for boards and ship him out.

Mike Dunleavy
We mentioned Dunleavy a while back as someone with just too much promise to give up on, and suggested grabbing him and stashing him away. We like it when we re right. His last two games haven t seen him scoring too much, but the most important thing is that he s seen 38 and 41 minutes. In the last four he s averaging 15.5/9.5/2.8 with 1.3 3s and 2.3 steals on 47% shooting. Now that s more like it. Those are the kind of well-rounded numbers that people have been hoping for since he was drafted. Will he keep it up? It s no sure thing, but in his third year, with his team hitting its stride, his chances are better than ever.

Michael Pietrus
Last night was the game that should make people really take notice of Pietrus. In just 20 minutes of play, he was good for 20 points, 6 boards, 2 3s, an assist and two blocks. That is good stuff. It seems that the Golden State front office is enamored with him, and if you were to believe Chad Ford, the Warriors would like to get rid of Dunleavy and give his minutes to Pietrus. Then again, if you were to believe Chad Ford, there would be 16 blockbuster trades made every day, with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett the only players not changing teams. Pietrus is still raw, but at 10 points and 1.1 3pg in 17 mpg, he s shown he can score. He certainly needs to improve on his meager two steals the entire season, but since he averaged .6 in only 14 mpg last year, there s reason to think that will happen. Even he gets a starting job, he ll the team s fifth option and of borderline value.