Tip-In Points: Mac ‘N’ Knees
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.
________________________
Tracy McGrady, HOU When aliens have eradicated the human race – and don’t worry dear readers, I’m talking a ways into the future. Like in April or something – and they discover my collection of time capsules I bury in the backyard each day and they read about Tuesday December 15, 2009, what they should remember most is that it was a day that saw Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez, Kobe Bryant, Joakim Noah and Amar’e Stoudemire all score a game’s worth of stats in the first half, only to see most of them go absolutely cold in the second half. But no, they’ll read about Tracy McGrady returning to the floor for the first time since February. What can I say? I write for a mass audience and it doesn’t get mass-ier than creatures from other planets. Also, Canadiens. T-Mac played 7:44, sank a three and clanged two free throws. Really, it was a blip. Rick Adelman’s trying to get this contraband across the border, so he’s not gonna do anything nuts. He’s being cool. Until they trade McGrady or decide to play him at least 20 minutes a game, expect a series of inconsistent blips.
The following players are more classifiable as consistent bleeps.
Gerald Wallace, CHA Crash had 17 pts / 4 stls in the game’s first 16:30. He went on to score four points and steal nothin’ throughout the remaining 31:30.
Brook Lopez, NJ Went applejacks all over Cleveland, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the first half. He didn’t score a basket in the second half (he tried though. Oh Lord, how he tried) and ended the game with 22 pts / 15 rbds.
Kobe Bryant, LAL Kobe Bean scored 20 of team’s first 26 points (all first quarter) against the Bulls. And although he didn’t disappear in the second half like Wallace and Lopez (Bryant ended the game with 42), his frctured finger must be hurting somewhat because he also had a season-high eight turnovers.
Joakim Noah, CHI How do you make a baby fall asleep? You Joakim to death! Kidding. Kidding. I’m just Joakim with you. A little levity before I tell you that although Noah cleaned 21 rebounds and scored 11 points for his 11th dub-dub of the year, he also shot 4-of-16 (.250) from the floor and scored 10 of those points before halftime. After averaging 11.9 pts / 12.3 rbds in his first dozen games, he’s drooped to 8.4 pts / 12 rbds in his last 11. Oh, he also had a season-high six blocks, two of which came against Pau Gasol on the same play. It was fun to watch Gasol get pouty.
Brad Miller, CHI Nearly 50 percent of you fantasy hoopsters simply cannot be convinced that owning Miller is a bad thing. Especially now that he’s a starter and had the best game of his season last night (15 pts / 8 rbd / 6 ast / 2 stl / 2 blk). So fine. If you must know, in 2.5 additional minutes per game as a starter he’s shooting .442 (.019 points better than when he comes off the bench), he’s scoring 1.3 more points, grabbing 2.4 more rebounds and 0.4 fewer assists. Now considering that his reserve stats are terrible, do these increases seem worth it to you?
Chris Duhon, NY After scoring at least 18 points only once in his first 19 games of the season, Duhon has dropped 18 in three of his last five. Coincidentally, the Knicks have won four of their last five. Also coincidentally, Duhon has shot a solid .483 from te field over that time. Also, I don’t have a strong grasp on what the word “coincidentally” means.
Jared Jeffries, NY Had a career-high six steals. Don’t expect this from Jeffries again anytime soon. In the previous 462 games of his career, he’d never had more than three steals in a game. Also, I’m 75 percent sure that Jared Jeffries was neither aware of the amount of steals he had last night nor that it doubled his previous career-high.
Wilson Chandler, NY It’s no shocker that Chandler filled the box score last night. I mean, c’mon. He’s been doing that all season. It’s just that last night was notable because for once he didn’t fill it with garbage. 16 pts / 1 3pt / 7 rbds / 2 asts / 2 stls / 2 blks.
Michael Beasley, MIA 28 points, 11 rebounds for Super Cool Beas, who double-doubled for the fifth time this season and second time in three days.
Chris Bosh, TOR The NBA leader in rebounds was on the floor 31 minutes, scored 28 points and somehow grabbed only two boards. That’s it. It’s a miracle. Or a freak occurrence in nature. Or laziness. Perhaps it was laziness.
Mario Chalmers, MIA Bench-slapped! I’m not sure why, he was moved to a reserve position. I mean, he’s averaging 9.3 points and 4 assists this season … Oh, wait … Do you suppose his reserve-like numbers are the reason?
Jason Richardson, PHO Back in the lineup, but not really “back.” He had 3 pts / 7 rbd / 3 ast in 22 minutes. He’s averaging 9 pts / 5 rbds / 1.7 ast in his last three starts.
Amar’e Stoudemire, PHO He dunked his way to 18 pts / 8 rbds at the half. Fantasy owners must have ben relieved considering STAT’s only crossed those levels in an entire game six times this season. He ended with 28 and 14.
Steve Nash, PHO Have you ever noticed Nash’s shoes? He wears lo-tops. Nike lo-tops. I’m sure they’re not called Nike Lo-Tops. They’re probably called Nike Ground Assault Lo-Flex Omega. But still … they’re lo-tops. They look like shoes my grandpap wears when he visits the pharmacy. And yet … grandpap never dropped 13 dimes in his lo-tops like Nash did last night. Wait … that’s not true. I forgot that my grandpap always brings his baggie full of dimes to the pharmacy and quite often spills them everywhere. So nevermind.
Richard Hamilton, DET He’s averaging 19.5 points in his return and has annonced his presence with authority. Or as much authority as any man can while being muffled by a plastic face mask. Also, after Rip and Charlie Villanueva double-team a ballhandler, has the sight of those two masked freaks replaced the clown in anyone’s nightmare, yet? Let me know. I’m curious.
Jonas Jerebko, DET In the last week, the Rock City Rookie has averaged 12.5 pts / 7.3 rbds including last night’s 15 / 6 / 2 performance. He’s only owned in 7 percent of leagues. Brad Miller? He’s owned in 47 percent. Really people? Do you see why I get upset? Jerebko’s got three double-doubles this year. Geez!
Chase Budinger, HOU First career start. First career double-double (16 pts / 12 rbd). He’s hoping Ariza takes another swing at someone’s head. But until he does, Budinger’s back to the bench.
Aaron Brooks, HOU Brooks earned his tird double-double of the season (23 pts / 10 asts). He’s also dropped 20 points in six of his last eight games. On a sad note, he’s starting to forget what Yao Ming looks like in uniform. Oh, how he loved Yao in his dress reds. There’s nothing more bitter than fading memories.
Beno Udrih, SAC Udrih hit 7-of-15 shots (.467) and had 17 points against Portland. It was the first time in 10 games that he shot less than 50 percent from the field. He’s shooting a career-high 54.8 percent for the season.
Jason Thompson, SAC Jompson is averaging 21 / 10 this week along with 38 minutes-per-game. As long as this keeps up, keep him in your lineup because he’s only fouled out of two games this season. He’s had five fouls in 10 other games, but still. When his minutes are up, so are his stats. Shocker!
Brandon Roy, POR Double-doubled last night (25/10). His first of the year. Because of Portland’s slow pace, Roy hadn’t dished out 10 assists in any games yet this season. Weird.
L I N E O F T H E N I G H T
Tim Duncan, SAS .636 FG% / .857 FT% / 34 pts (season-high)/ 14 rbds / 1 ast / 3 blk. The scary thing about this season for Duncan is that he’s only off his career points average by 1.6 and rebounds by 1.3 and he’s mostly right at his career numbers for all other major stats, despite playing 4.6 fewer minutes per game. The secret? He’s learning. Adapting. Becoming part-cyborg. He’s shooting 5 percent better from the floor than his 50 percent career average and he’s improved 7 percent from his 69 percent career free throw average.
___________________
Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
Comments are closed
