Tip-In Points: Top 20 Centers, 2009-10 Fantasy Hoops
We’ve got a bit of a Good News / Bad News situation. The Bad News is that the NBA regular season is finished, and with it, your fantasy team – rendering all your strategery as useless as a neck full of Mardi Gras beads in March. The Good News is that it’s never too early to plan for next season. So we’ll be here all summer scrapin’ and scrappin’ and eatin’ scrapple in order to bring you the best fantasy basketball advice this side of the Mason/Dixon Line. But Adam, I don’t know which side of the Mason/Dixon Line you’re on. Doesn’t matter. I’m everywhere.
We’ve already gone over PG, SG, SF and PF. Today, let’s go out with a blowout: the league’s best centers.
You know the deal, there were no preseason projections, as there was no Tip-In Points during the preseason. You’ll just have to trust my preseason ranks. We’re still new. Give us time. Ponies don’t come out prancin’. They come out wobbly, then they get to prancin’.
Note: Each player’s season averages use the following pattern:
FG% / FT% / 3PTM / PTM / RBD / AST / STL / BLK / TOV
_______________________
1. Chris Bosh, TOR This might be as good as it gets. This season, Bosh.0 was playing for a payday on a team that had very few pieces capable of hindering his offensive production. Bosh.1 would be crazy to stay in Toronto, take less money than he could get elsewhere to still not get respect or a spot in the playoffs. This means that Bosh.1 is headed to a larger market after a big payday, surrounded by players capable of competing. So I’ll pose the question to you, does that sound like a recipe for better future stats or worse?
Preseason Rank: #1
Final Numbers: 70 games, .518 / .797 / 0.1 / 24.0 / 10.8 / 2.4 / 0.6 / 1.0 / 2.4
2. Brook Lopez, NJ If Present Day Adam told the 2007 Adam that a girlie-named Net with a twin brother in Phoenix would be among this season’s best centers, I bet 2007 Adam would have been horrified – mostly because seeing a slightly older version of oneself would make anyone go nutzoid. I’m sure I would have had so many questions, like do I get married in the next three years? If so, is my future wife pretty? Does she nag me a lot? Am I still the type of person that needs to be nagged all the time? And if so, why haven’t I gotten my shizz together and started becoming more of a man? What am I doing monkeying around with the space-time continuum, warning future versions of me about who will be good and bad in future seasons? Doesn’t that seem like an incredible waste of resources? And couldn’t I have at least taken out the trash on my way to the time machine? Don’t I realize what my future wife does for me day-after-day? And also, what the hell are the Nets still doing in New Jersey?
Preseason Rank: #2
Final Numbers: 82 games, .499 / .817 / 0.0 / 18.8 / 8.6 / 2.3 / 0.7 / 1.7 / 2.5
3. Al Horford, ATL Horford took big leaps in points and percentages this year – his third year. Expect to hear a lot about him in the offseason on this website. I know, I know, we’re here to talk about 2009, not 2010. Sorry. There’s no way this guy won’t improve in his fourth season with perhaps one fewer Joe Johnson on the roster. Shoot, we’re talking about 2009. Um, okay. Horford’s dip in rebounds was likely due to Josh Smith’s huge rise in rebounds. If anything, another year of Horford and Smith doing what they do should result in better numbers for the both of them next seas– oh, dammit.
Preseason Rank: #8
Final Numbers: 81 games, .551 / .789 / 0.0 / 14.2 / 9.9 / 2.3 / 0.7 / 1.1 / 1.5
4. Amar’e Stoudemire, PHO Mark my words, if there’s ever a time Amar’e finds himself playing on a team that does not also roster Steve Nash, that’s when people will realize how overrated this 6-foot-10 pogo stick is. His stats are like your devlish good looks – enjoy ‘em now, ’cause it’s only a matter of time before everything starts drooping.
Preseason Rank: #4
Final Numbers: 82 games, .557 / .771 / 0.0 / 23.1 / 8.9 / 1.0 / 0.6 / 1.0 / 2.6
5. Nene Hilario, DEN Nene had 40 more steals than anyone else on this list and played an otherwise sturdy, reliable season. Don’t knock sturdy, you’re likely to hurt your knuckles. …Because of the sturdiness, you see.
Preseason Rank: #12
Final Numbers: 82 games, .587 / .704 / 0.0 / 13.8 / 7.6 / 2.5 / 1.4 / 1.0 / 1.5
6. Dwight Howard, ORL What was with the, “he’s-been-practicing-his-free-throws-all-summer” talk? You’d need Nash, Durant and Allen on your team to offset Howard’s free throw shooting. And if you’ve got all four of those players on your team, you probably don’t need my advice.
Preseason Rank: #3
Final Numbers: 82 games, .612 / .592 / 0.0 / 18.3 / 13.2 / 1.8 / 0.9 / 2.8 / 3.3
7. Luis Scola, HOU You really couldn’t ask much more from the guy than what he gave you this season. I suppose you could have asked for more blocks. Maybe a PS3. That would have been nice of him. I don’t see his numbers dipping next season with Yao’s (hopefully) healthy return. Call me crazy, but I also don’t see a PS3 in your future.
Preseason Rank: #10
Final Numbers: 82 games, .514 / .779 / 0.0 / 16.2 / 8.6 / 2.1 / 0.8 / 0.3 / 2.0
8. Al Jefferson, MIN He averaged 19/10 in December, January and March, but somewhere along the line, he took a tour of the Land O’ Lakes factory, did a couple laps at the Mall of America and realized Minnesota just doesn’t offer him the right vibe. What’s the right vibe? Not sucking.
Preseason Rank: #5
Final Numbers: 76 games, .498 / .680 / 0.0 / 17.1 / 9.3 / 1.8 / 0.8 / 1.3 / 1.8
9. Marc Gasol, MEM Yeah, maybe Baby Gasol’s stat bump should be attributed to his normal second-year development, but I’m not going to attribute it to that. I’m going to attribute it to the Valerie Bertinelli- like weight loss he went through over the offseason. And like Ms. Bertinelli, I look forward to reading his inspiring autobiography on the matter.
Preseason Rank: #10
Final Numbers: 69 games, .581 / .670 / 0.0 / 14.6 / 9.3 / 2.4 / 1.0 / 1.6 / 2.0
10. Andrew Bogut, MIL If Bogut had manged to shoot .700 percent on his 237 free throws this season, he would have made an additional 16 freebies and averaged 16.1 points per game because of it. What I’m trying to say is, his awful free throw shooting isn’t all that awful when you only get to the line thrice a game.
Preseason Rank: #13
Final Numbers: 69 games, .520 / .629 / 0.0 / 15.9 / 10.2 / 1.8 / 0.6 / 2.5 / 1.9
11. Chris Kaman, LAC He lasted 75+ games for the first time in three seasons and did exactly what I knew he could do, but feared he’d be too injured to actually do. Look for the great tug-o-war with the cosmos to deliver us a healthy Blake Griffin next season and a 50-game Caveman.
Preseason Rank: #14
Final Numbers: 76 games, .490 / .749 / 0.0 / 18.5 / 9.3 / 1.6 / 0.5 / 1.2 / 2.9
12. Mehmet Okur, UTA He averaged four fewer minutes per game this season than last and his stats were altered appropriately. To recap, Okur performed worse than last year, yet finished the season ranked higher than I had him in my preseason tally? Whaa? Y’see, I think what happened was that I subconsciously manifested my disgust with okra by disrespecting Okur.
Preseason Rank: #18
Final Numbers: 73 games, .458 / .820 / 1.1 / 13.5 / 7.1 / 1.6 / 0.5 / 1.1 / 1.7
13. Roy Hibbert, IND Dr. Hibbert made the expected sophomore increases to his stats, but there’s still trouble in Circle City. That starts with T and rhymes with P and that stands for Per 36. As in, Hibbert actually dipped in his Per 36 averages from his rookie year. He improved steadily each month though and ended strongly in April with a 15 / 6 / 3 average, so let’s just take that into the deep summer and ignore the rest.
Preseason Rank: #19
Final Numbers: 81 games, .495 / .754 / 0.2 / 11.7 / 5.7 / 2.0 / 0.4 / 1.6 / 1.8
14. Al Harrington, NY Harrington attempted 246 threes in his first seven seasons in the league. This season, he attempted his 246th three on February 6, his 46th game of the season. By that point, he’d been removed from the starting lineup (twice) and would only return to the starting five for seven of the team’s 38 remaining games, mostly because between Harrington and Gallinari, Mike D’Antoni wanted to strangle himself with his own $700 necktie.
Preseason Rank: #7
Final Numbers: 72 games, .435 / .757 / 1.9 / 17.7 / 5.6 / 1.5 / 0.9 / 0.4 / 1.8
15. Samuel Dalembert, PHI Sammy Davis Dalembert never missed a game despite traveling to and from Haiti on his off days to assist in the disaster relief efforts there. Go ahead and hang your head, everyone who missed a game this season.
Preseason Rank: #8
Final Numbers: 82 games, .545 / .729 / 0.0 / 8.1 / 9.6 / 0.8 / 0.5 / 1.8 / 1.5
16. Joakim Noah, CHI I anticipated a huge leap in production from Joakim and that’s what I got. Why did I get that and you didn’t? That’s weird. Are you using that thing correctly? If this trend continues, expect his value to continue arcing upward next season. Who’s arc? I think you see where I’m headed.
Preseason Rank: #16
Final Numbers: 64 games, .504 / .744 / 0.0 / 10.7 / 11.0 / 2.1 / 0.5 / 1.6 / 1.8
17. Andrew Bynum, LAL Pop quiz, hot shot: What is the significance of the numbers 46, 35, 50 and 65? No, it’s not the combination to the lock on my diary (you wish), it’s Bynum’s game totals for four of his first five seasons in the league. He’s only 22 so time is still on his side, but one has to worry about the development of someone so consistantly injured. Actually, not just one, many. Many should worry about his development.
Preseason Rank: #11
Final Numbers: 65 games, .570 / .739 / 0.0 / 15.0 / 8.3 / 1.0 / 0.5 / 1.4 / 1.8
18. Brendan Haywood, DAL Haywood committed the fewest turnovers among these 20 centers and was tied for the seventh-most rebounds. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned that he yielded the third-highest number of blocks yet. I mean, I guess I just mentioned it. But before I mentioned it, I hadn’t mentioned it.
Preseason Rank: NR
Final Numbers: 77 games, .562 / .620 / 0.0 / 9.1 / 9.3 / 0.6 / 0.3 / 2.1 / 1.3
19. Emeka Okafor, NO Big ‘Mek never delivered on that special sauce he had his rookie year when he averaged 15 / 11. He’s offered only declining returns ever since. Can’t blame injuries – he hasn’t missed a game in three years. Can’t blame an overly-talented roster – the Hornets missed the playoffs and relied on two rookies to carry them through half a season. Can’t blame the coaches – he’s been through three in the last two seasons, all coaxing the same results: yawns.
Preseason Rank: #17
Final Numbers: 82 games, .530 / .562 / 0.0 / 10.4 / 9.0 / 0.7 / 0.7 / 1.5 / 1.4
20. Brad Miller, CHI Brad’s the guy you placed on your team after you auto-drafted Yao Ming and traded for Rasheed Wallace thinking it’s “only a matter of time before ‘Sheed starts really playing.” In other words, Brad’s the guy you got after you had already given up.
Preseason Rank: NR
Final Numbers: 82 games, .430 / .827 / 0.5 / 8.8 / 4.9 / 1.9 / 0.5 / 0.4 / 1.3
_______________________
Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
1 Response for “Tip-In Points: Top 20 Centers, 2009-10 Fantasy Hoops”
Leave a Reply
If you’re interested, you’re linked to Fantasy League Fix.