4 More Moves

Though 'the bear awoke' only briefly, and he and both WozBros are back to their non-lineup-setting ways, other, more active teams have been making what we call 'Moves'. We promise some exciting analysis soon, as the dawn of Week 9 means we're nearing the end of the first Cycle, and are over 1/3 of the way through the regular season.

LES DIGITS DROP HILL FOR DezMase

George 'the Animal' Hill, IUPUI legend, was productive in his time filling in for T-Park, but since his return, his minutes and production have dwindled. He might be good for 8 (points) and 2 (other things) going forward.

It's remarkable, we think, that this is the first time we've had a Desmond Mason pickup this year, as, for many years previous, Mase has been the very definition of a marginally rosterable player. We were particularly amused that, in the year we expanded to 12 teams, DezMase was still dropped and picked up several times. In his good years, he was good for 12/4/2, with a steal and mediocre FG%. He's never been a 3pt shooter, and he often just loses his job suddenly. He's clawed his way into the murderer's row that is the OKC starting 5, displacing a similarly mediocre Damien Wilkins. In his 3 starts, he's managed only 2, 7, and 2 points, though he's pulling down some rebounds and getting plenty of minutes.

Judgment: Mason's shooting looks terrible, but he'll be given the opportunity to turn it around, and he just might. A good speculative pickup.

Hosens spurn the Birdman, pick up Joel Anthony

Chris 'The Birdman' Andersen is a delight to watch, and a remarkable 'energy' player. He's been OK on the boards and a monster shotblocker - he had 6 against POR on Sunday. He doesn't score many points, and we assume the Hosens wanted more line-filling production than the Birdman provides.

Enter Joel Anthony, the 2nd year C out of UNLV, who's recently been inserted into the MIA starting 5. He too has been impressive on the boards, averaging about 2 per game in his 11 games as a starter. He's not scoring much more than the Birdman (a mere 4 per game in those same 11 games), but he is getting good minutes, and his rebounding numbers are good. He's a bit more fouly than Birdz. Fun fact: he's from Quebec!

Judgment: This is close to a wash, but Anthony has more of an opportunity right now. Andersen is far more handsome.

Maxy Out; Mbah a Moute In for thenopp

Jason Maxiell has been rendered (even more) useless by the return of McDyess to DET. The promotion of R-Stuck to the starting lineup means fewer minutes for the other bench folk, especially Amir and Maxy. Also, because the Pistons aren't blowing people out this year, we're not seeing the 'garbage time' specials that he used to pad his stat line much of last year. Maxiell had 4 double digit games around Thanksgiving, but hasn't reached that plateau in December. More tellingly, he's only gotten 20 minutes once in that stretch.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has, somewhat surprisingly, returned to the MIL starting 5 and has started in 7 straight. He's played pretty well, too, putting up nice 15/9 type lines with fine PCTs on nights when C-Vill can't find the rim. He's probably destined to alternate good stretches with Charlie going forward, but that's not really such a bad place to be.

Judgment: A fine move for thenopp - we hadn't noticed Luc Richard's return to relevance, and Maxiell is not worth owning at all at this point.

Jack snapped up by thenopp, Dixon back in the FAP

We're certain we were not the only ones surprised by Jack's two game outburst (24/6/2 and 27/4/7) when he filled in for T.J. Ford last week. Of course, in the first game they were up against the Warriors, and in the second, he was also filling in for Granger, Dunleavy, and T-Murph, as the flu bug (and whatever is ailing Dunleavy) hit the Pacers hard. T.J. is back and Jack will surely go back to his 8/3/3 ways.

Which is still better than what Juan Dixon is putting up, as 'The Juices' has filled WAS's terrible outside shooting, non-passing PG role to perfection. (Also, 'The Juices' was on a very special episode of 'Supernanny' - I can't find the Ruben episode).

Judgment: Jack is no prize (we would recommend taking a look a Brandon Rush, Hibbert, or Rasho, if one needs a marginal Pacer), though his performances were eye-opening. Either way, getting rid of Dixon is clearly the right call.

Recent Moves

Spoonful drop Landry for Brooks

With Alston out, and the gap-toothed, oft-picked-up-and-dropped Landry not turning into Paul Millsap, the Spoonful elected to get on the Aaron Brooks train for the second time. Brooks will again provide some points, 3s and AST. Expect 18 and 10 in Landry's next game

Judgment Haiku:

Bricks clang, whistles blow

Fouls and TOs aplenty;

Rockets never launch

My$hkin cuts DeShawn for Belinelli

Marco Belinelli is the next Rob Kurz - he started and scored 21 points, after two nice games off the bench. Remarkably, if I'm not mistaken, 11 Warriors are owned right now, and none of them are Wright or Randolph. DeShawn is still doing his thing, but remains upside-free.

Judgment Limerick:

A guard, Belinelli, a Warri-

-or has become a great I-talian story,

Once allowed on the floor,

He went off for 21, 4, and 4,

And Nellie exclaimed: "That's Amore!"

My$hkin drops Miles for Walton

Luke Walton is suddenly starting, sending VladRad to the bench - it seems to be working, as the Lakers have won 4 straight, and LukeLuke himself had a nice 14/5/2 line in his last outing. Miles and his fellow black starter, Ronnie Brewer were benched for most of the last Utah game by J-Slo, and some think his run as a starter may be close to an end. We think C.J. will be somewhat useful going forward

Judgment, in Prose: We like this move - Walton's always been intriguing, and, when healthy, can be a nice all-round contributor. He does have some competitiion (T-Ariz and VladRad) at SF, so keep an eye on his minutes going forward. For your poetry fix - check out C.J. Miles (the nba player, not the sexy filipina model) rapping...

Spoonful releases Rasho, picks up Marreese

This was another quick, though perhaps ill-advised, pickup by the Spoonful. E-Brizzle is out for a month with a separated shoulder, and Speights, discussed originally here, should see an uptick in PT. That might just mean more fouls and missed FTs, but Marreese is intriguing as a young, athletic big-man. Perhaps the Hosens would be interested in a Bonner/Speights package deal. Rasho's been OK, though annoyingly inconsistent and foul-prone, but has lost his starting gig to an unholy combination of Roy Hibbert and Jeff Foster. Fun fact - originally, the Hosen dropped Speights for Rasho back in October.

Judgment Haiku:

Rasho, piece of poop

Similarities abound.

Can Marreese be worse?

Catching Up

Weekend Move Update

In an effort to save time and effort, I'm going to look at the moves made since last Thursday in a sole post. We've seen nearly all the players before, so extensive explanations seem unnecessary.

Mongoose replaces Watson with Posey

E-Wat's been supplanted in the OKC starting 5 by up and coming rookie Russell Westbrook (though R-West was apparently benched last night for sucking). He's reached 10 points just once since November 12, and though he's had a few 10 AST games, he shoots terribly, and almost never rebounds or gets to the line. If 'Brook goes into a slump or hits the 'Rookie Wall', E-Wat's worth a look. Posey was playing rather poorly, but his acquisition by Mongoose led to a Sunday explosion - 20/10 with 6 3 pointers. These were season-highs in PTs and REBs, so we won't expect a repeat, but it's good to see.

Judgment: We like the move - Posey's 3/Reb combo is a nice one, and he shoots good Pcts.

Thenopp retires Mobley, acquires Dixon

Cuttino Mobley retired due to a heart condition, and thenopp (finally) dropped him, picking up Juan Dixon, who's starting again since A-Dan was shipped to NO. Dixon has hit double digit points in 3 straight, and has averaged almost 2 3s and 6 AST in that stretch.

Judgment: Obviously the Cat is not going to contribute, and Juan's a nice source of 3s, if he continues to get minutes. Nice move, though a little late in coming.

Les Digits drops Speights for McGee

The Hosens and Les Digits have been seeking out young big men like Tim Gunn on a trip to Norway. Marreese has been particularly inconsistent, with MPG anywhere from 22 to 2 in the his last 5 games. Monitor his PT with a new coach going forward, however - word is REvans and Donyell will not be in the new rotation. He's not producing much in the minutes he gets - he's blocked just 1 shot in December, and has only exceeded 5 rebounds twice.

JaVale is still starting, but disturbingly, he's gotten pulled before playing 10 minutes in 3 of his last 5 games. On the other hand, in the one game in which he played 25+ minutes, he put up a nice 11/6 line with 3 BLK. It should be noted that this was a complete blowout against BOS, which might explain why he was left in the game.

Judgment: We suspect that neither McGee or Speights are ready to contribute at the NBA level, at least consistently, against starters. Les Digits (below) dropped McGee rather quickly, which we think was wise.

Mongoose drops M. Webster for R. Mason JR.

Webster briefly returned from injury, then went down 'indefinitely' with an injury to the same foot that's kept him out all season. His role upon return (4 weeks) is unclear, due to the depth of the Blazers.

Mason, dropped by the Spoonful, has retained his place in the starting lineup, though his role in the offense has diminished slightly with the returns of Manu/T-Park. He's still getting double digit points, and a couple 3s per game.

Judgment: We're thrilled to see Mongoose making moves, and think this is a strong acquisition. Keep an eye on Martell in January, as he's quite talented.

Digits cut McGee, pick up DarKO

After recently cutting Speights for the almost equally unproductive McGee, Les Digits realized that Darko was actually getting more minutes (and stats) than the two of them combined.

Judgment: Excellent work - Les D. was rewarded w/Darko's 13 PT, 5 BLK line on Sunday.

Digits swap Wafer for Kapono

Kapono's moved into the TOR starting lineup, and, while his shot hasn't been dropping, he can be a deadly 3-point force. With T-Mac back (for now), Von Wafer returns to obscurity.

Judgment: We love this move for Les Digits. There's no reason to think Kapono can't hold off Anthony Parker indefinitely.

Odensque acquires Simmons for Quinn

In a flurry of moves, odensque began to cut the dead weight out of their lineup - Chris Quinn was the first to go. B-Simm's been playing well lately (5 straight double digit games, with good 3s and REBs). Quinn, on the other hand, has been marginalized.

Judgment: Great move - B-Simm's a quiet, low-neg multi-cat threat, and may at last be (a) recovered from injury, (b) in shape, (c) comfortable in the NJ offense. Quinn's not useful.

Odensque drops Marshall for Rob Kurz

In an attempt to rectify the misguided Donyell pickup, odensque has thrown his hat in with Nellie's latest 'find', 3-Ballin' white big man Rob Kurz. Is Kurz the next T-Murph?  His 20/7, 3 3, 2 STL, 2 BLK perfromance on Sunday was certainly eye-opening. However, Kurz is subject to Nellie's whims, and Turiaf and B-Wright were sidelined. Donyell is reportedly out of the post-Cheeks rotation in PHI.

Judgment: We don't love Kurz, but he's a decent speculative gamble, especially as losing Donyell is not going to hurt.

Odensque cuts Knight, signs Morrow

Anthony Morrow has benefited some from the injury to C-Maggs (and nagging injuries to Captain Jack and JamsCraw). He's actually gotten 23+ minutes in 5 straight games. His shot hasn't been falling, but he's gotten to double digits in 3 of those games. He doesn't do much except score, but Brevin Knight doesn't do much, period.

Judgment: We like this move - C-Maggs' 'strings are quite a source of trouble, and S-Jax's finger is really giving him shooting trouble. The double dose of Nellie will be hard to handle, but if A-Mor gets starts shooting straight, he can put up points on an odensque team that needs them.

Nick

I'm using Firefox 3.0.4. The weird thing is at the top of the page it doesn't say that I'm signed in, but if i click 'Sign In' it takes me to my blogger page, i.e., it realizes that I am signed in to Google.

Thanks for attending to my privacy. I am dum.

Waddup, yo?

Nick

I can't seem to make comments on the blog. I suspect this is not a function of my computer/browser/etc., because yesterday I put in a new hard drive and installed an entirely new OS and it still doesn't work.

CJK

My home address?

**REDACTED**

P.S. Yes, Don Nelson is a gouty poohole.


Some other J. Francis

Da Juices!

Spoonful drop Mason jr. for Mike 'the juices' james

Again, in response to breaking trade news (James/Crittenton to WAS - A-Dan to NO), the Spoonful felt it was necessary to run out and make a move.

Roger Mason has been quite a productive waiver wire pickup for the Spoonful, but his production has slowed with the returns of Parker and Ginobili, the rejuvenation of Finley, the inclusion of George Hill in the rotation, and the sharpshooting of BonBon. He's still probably good for 10 pts and 1.5 3s per game, but very little in AST or REB to put flesh on those bones.

We, of course, love the Juices (as do the ladies), and fondly recall his glorious spring of '06 (25/3/7 with 3 3s). Those days are long gone, of course, and he's been useless for the last two years. This year, he's been basically 6th on the G depth chart in NO, behind Paul, Devin Brown, Posey, Mo Peet, and Roswell Butler. In fact, he hasn't played more than 12 minutes all season, and has DNP'ed 9 of the last 10 games. Some say young Crittenton is the future PG in WAS, but the Spoonful suspect he's not yet ready, and James will be the immediate beneficiary of the trade. He'll surely get more minutes, and we'll see if his 33 year old legs still have Juice.

Judgment: Looking more closely at the stats, in particular at James' poor record for the last two years, this may be quite a foolish move. If the Juices don't pan out, though, other folks are available, and Mason is quite replaceable at this point.

The Whitening

Hosens overhauls frontcourt - May, McGee Out - Birdman, Collison in

To save space, we're consolidating these two Later Hosens frontcourt moves.

In the first, former hot commodity JaVale McGee was dropped for dazzling and delicious, high-flying, tat-mongering, shotblocking specialst Chris 'The Birdman' Andersen. McGee's been unproductive at best. Though he's still hanging on to his starting job, he's managed a total of 23 minutes and 2 rebounds in his last 3 games, which is simply not acceptable. He's only reached double figure points once since his 'good' game on 11/14, and it's now clear that Blatche is the stronger play this season. JaVale does block some shots, but not like the Birdman!

 

The Birdman, back from his mysterious drug suspension, has 20 blocks in his last 7 games, in very limited minutes. He's not going to score a bunch, but he is averaging 5 rebs and 2.3 BLK in only 16 MPG. He's now getting more time with K-Mart out, and only the Nene stands between Andersen and huge PT.

We've discussed May I have Seconds many times now, but this might be the last for a while, as the big J-Rich trade appears gives Fat some competition from the versatile Boris Diaw. After his double-double on 12/1, Fat has managed just 20 and 12 total in his last 4 games.

The Hosens have replaced him with the hitherto underperforming Nick Collison. And Good Golly, Colly has woken up in his last few games - 14/8, 15/10, and 10/8 in his last 3. He's even blocked a few shots - though he's had 5 fouls in 2 of those games. 'Cox is injured, so SNC should get plenty of PT in the near term; if he can stay out of foul trouble, he can be a consistent double-double threat.

Judgment: We love both of these moves. Combined with Mr. Manboubben, this Frontcourt of Pallor is second to none in Hustle. This puts the Hosens in great shape in REBs and BLKs. Once the Hosens acquire Matt Bonner and pick up Walter Herrmann, they'll be unstoppable.

Mevans won't be missed

My$hkin drops Mo evans for hot Hakim Warrick

Mo Evans, discussed here, got a bit more PT than expected due to a number of Hawks injuries, mainly to Josh Smith. Indeed he's averaging over 25 MPG at this point, though that's been declining of late. He's played pretty well at times, but is prone to some terrible shooting nights (0 for 6 yesterday, 0 for 7 last Wednesday). He's strange in that he's sometimes quite a sound rebounder, and sometimes doesn't seem to bother. He never passes or blocks. We suspect he'll be picked up again at some juncture, though he's really just a contributor in PTS and (sometimes) 3s.

Hakim, already dropped twice by the Spoonful, finally appears to be getting his offense together: he's strung together 4 straight double-digit games, and got a season-high 35 miniutes on Monday, putting up an 18/8 line. (Tonight, we note, he managed only 9/6 in 15 minutes). It's been frustrating for him and his owners. We know Hakim is capable of 18/8 on a regular basis and can block a shot here and there, but his lack of defensive effort and the emergence of OJ Mayo as an offensive option seem to make Warrick ess useful.

Judgment: This is a strong move by my$hkin. We love Warrick's offensive talent, though it looks like he will continue to frustrate. MEvans is no Josh Childress, however, and is no great loss.

Ravings From Hoseville

It turns out you guys were right.

Sean May IS fat.

And he is now in the FAP. And my squad is down two manboobs.

No longer in the FAP is Nick Collywobbleson. Nick will tell you all about it, and include some cretinous judgement, I am sure. I was shocked to discover that the other Sweet Nick is in his fifth year as a pro. I keep thinking Seattle just drafted him, and he's about to break out into a star player. I guess I'll work on getting used to the idea that he'll only ever be mediocre.

Nick, I am a little put out that you should snarf up Matt Bonner and not even give me a nod. I seem to remember you sniggering at me when I mentioned Bon-Bon a few weeks ago. Hmmf.

Would that Stupid-Kenyon-Martin-garbage-Face would hurry up and commit the flagrant foul that gets him banned from the NBA. My new white hope, Chris "The Birdman" Anderson would start logging ten blocks a night, and Ronaldo Balkman and his nose would both be dominant-- He was great last night, and I bet he does it again tonight. (Oh, never mind, he sucked tonight.)

If the new manager in Toronto could figure out what he was doing, Joey Graham might be worth snapping up. He's had some nice games of late, but I notice Jamario Moon is back in the starting lineup tonight. Oh well.

Spanish Chocolate was great last night (14 pts and 7 ast), and more importantly logged a season high 25 minutes in a tight game (not garbage time). His time may be just around the corner.

I think someone may have said this before, but Don Nelson is a gouty sack of poo. Brandan Wright, Anthony Morrow, and Anthony Randolph all give me a boner. Three boners. And there doesn't seem to be any logic to how they are played. One night they start, the next they come off the bench, and the one after that they get a DNP. Injuries to S-Jax and Maggette account for some of these fluctiuations, but not nearly enough. Phooey.

Okay, I think I'm done.

Josh, I need your address.

He still McCants shoot

Nor'easter drops McCants for Kyle Lowry

We've discussed McCants here, and Lowry here.

Both McCants and Lowry have been promoted to the starting lineups of their terrible teams lately. McCants had a couple double-digit games last week, but it's hard to get excited about 12/3. Lowry hasn't exactly been super-hot, but had nice 17/2/4 line (which got him into the lineup) and his minutes are in the mid-twenties.

Judgment: We like this move - Lowry, when effective, is an all-round player - he'll get 4 to 6 REBs and AST and some STL, while McCants is really just a scorer.

'Nilla Gorilla

Odensque claims Thrilla, drops anderson

my$hkin dropped Joel Przyzbilla recently, and he continues to play quite well, even in a bench role (11/11 with 2 BLK last night).

Rookie Ryan Anderson, discussed here, just hasn't done much - he's getting maybe 18 minutes a night, and does hit the occasional 3, but isn't scoring or rebounding enough to justify a roster spot.

Judgment: This is a move we can get behind - we were somewhat shocked that the Vanilla Gorilla was shown the door so unceremoniously by P.M.P., and Joel's BLK/OREB combo should fit well with odensque's team style.

'Nilla Wafer

Les Digits drop Head for Wafer

We've discussed Luther Head before - it turns out that the real beneficiary of McGrady's injury may not be Head, who's been on the bench, or shooting 1 for 8 as he did on Monday, but rather the enigmatic Von Wafer (not to be confused with Hosens favorite Vin Baker).

Vakeaton Quamar 'Von' Wafer, affectionately known as 'Nilla, is a 4th year SG out of Florida State; He's been on 5 teams in that time, including Portland last year (who knew?). He's barely played as a pro, but has regularly lit up the summer league with his sweet stroke. He scored 18 and 15 on the 5th and 8th, the 18 point outburst being (by far) a career high. He had a monster pre-season to make the Rockets, and seems to be getting minutes for now. That's about all we know!

Judgment: Wafer's certainly playing better than Head, so for the short term, he seems like an OK gamble. We think there are more reliable options, however.