Tip-In Points: Blair’s DeJuan That I Want
Anyone can suggest adds and drops for the NBA fantasy fans out there, but few make those suggestions from the gut. We’ve also sprinkled in tons of helpful stats for all fantasy formats too. Because that’s the kind of fantasy help you deserve.
_______________________
DeJuan Blair, SA DeJuan’s got some growin’ to do. He’s going to need to learn not to score buckets for the other team like he did against the Celtics last night. He’s going to need to shoot better than .450 from the free throw line (open your eyes, son) and he’s going to need a nickname, because there’s only room enough for one big man with a girl-ish moniker and Nene Hilario already done took it.
It’s games like Thursday that show how capable he is of doing damage. In just 21:33 He was the Spurs’ top scorer with 18 points. He also added 11 boards (5 offensive, which was three more than the entire Celtics roster had), two blocks and only one turnover. He’s posted double-doubles in each of his last two games despite never clearing 24 minutes in either. Give this rookie time, then give him minutes if you’re pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down.
In which case, put it back down. It’s there for a reason. And don’t pick up any of the rest of these players. Unless you want your fantasy team to improve, that is.
Tim Duncan, SA Timmy B. Duncan double-doubled (16/15) against the Celtics but turned the ball over six times. Six! It seems pretty clear from such shoddy ballhandlesmanship that passing Terry Cummings on the all-time scorers list to become No. 39 has gotten to his head. I always knew Duncan was cocky. It was just a matter of time before he showed the world.
Rajon Rondo, BOS Da-Doo-Ron-Rondo dished out 12 assists, the second most of the season. He also had his eighth double-double of the season. After the game he grabbed a bite to eat, which was his third meal of the day.
Paul Pierce, BOS You want the Truth? The Spurs totally handled the Truth. In over 37 minutes, Pierce went 2-for-9 with eight points. And assuming the steal and block he earned cancels out his three turnovers, you’re still left with two rebounds and no assists. That’s Scalabrine territory.
Quentin Richardson, MIA After playing 370 minutes over 12 starts without shooting a free throw, Q was asked to take the shot after a technical foul. He missed it.
Dwyane Wade, MIA Wade was colder than a witch’s well-digger in the first half (2-for-10) and because of that, he’s still never won a professional match inside the great fair mile-high state of Colorado. The 34:50 of action he saw was the least time he’s spent on the court all season.
Chris Andersen, DEN The lopsided amount of blocks Andersen had at home last year versus on the road seems to have disappeared (2.0 blk at home, 1.6 blk away), but he nevertheless seems to be heating up. He averaged 1.71 blocks in November in 14 games and has averaged 4.0 blocks in two December games.
Carmelo Anthony, DEN ‘Melo caught a case of Wade’s “can’tshoots” in the first half (3-for-11, 11 points) and it turned into a nasty case of the “won’tshoots” in the second half (3-for-6, 11 points). Meanwhile his one assist suggests he’s coming down with mild “won’tpass” bug that hopefully won’t linger long. He had at least two assists in the every game since November 4.
Arron Afflalo, DEN If there’s one thing I hate about “Spellcheck Afflalo”, it’s that I never know how many “a’s” or “r’s” or “f’s” or “l’s” there are in his name. The answer? Tons, but fewer than you think. Confusing? Yes, but so was his 17-point performance with 3 threes and 7-for-9 shooting.
Shane Battier, HOU Six blocks in 1st half (great) + 0 blocks in 2nd half (suck) = 6 blocks in game (still great). How does that work out? This is why I hate math.
Carl Landry, HOU Landrymat sank 8-of-10 from the field and all six of his free throws. He’s scored 20+ points in four of the last six games, but never played more than 28 minutes in any of them. Anytime you can manage 22 points on 10 shots you know you’re doing something right, although not too right. He’s still coming off the bench, right?
Monta Ellis, GSW Ellis was ill enough that he didn’t attend the pregame shootaround. “Ohh, so that explains why they let him sit out a whole 32 seconds of Thursday’s game. I thought there must be a reason. Illness. I suppose you’re going to blame ‘illness’ for his nine turnovers and .333 FG% too, huh? Are we calling Shane Battier’s stifling defense ‘illness’ now?” Uh, I’m not sure how you got past security, but since you’re here … no. We’re not calling Battier’s defense “the illness” but we should start. “Or we could start calling Ellis ‘Monta Illness.’ How d’you like that?”
You’ve got moxie, kid. I like that.
LINE OF THE NIGHT
Vladimir Radmanovic, GSW RadVlad had perhaps the raddest, most Vlad-est game of his career. 20 pts / 8 reebs / a career-high tying 6 assists / 3 stls / 1 TO / 4 threes / .615 FG% / 35 min. He had 29/8/3/ 2 stl once on January 25, 2003, which I’ve always thought of as his previous best game … y’know, ’cause I’m always thinking about Radmanovic’s all-time best games. January 8, 2006 is also a good one. Prove me wrong.
_______________________
Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
Comments are closed
