Week 2 -- A look back

Thenopp vs. Les Digits

(Les Digits' Amare)

In our Week 2 Forecast, we predicted an 11-4 Digits triumph. As we noted in our Saturday Thoughts, however, things didn't work out according to plan - partly due to injury (and the Billups absence) and partly due to some strategic choices. As we suspected then, thenopp's weekend game advantage allowed them to wrest an 8-7 victory from the jaws of defeat.

We did think it would get worse for the Digits, but thanks to some heroic efforts, they just held on to FTM (thanks to 18 from Amare on Sat), STL (Chalmers had 9 on Wed), and OREBs (an all around effort).

Amazingly, Jason Kidd and JamsCraw both shot over .500. That may never happen again.

For thenopp --

The Good: Kidd has been amazing (#2 Y!Rank, so far), but Mike Miller was almost as good this week - 18/6/4 on 55% from the field.

The Bad: Hedo avg'd 14PPG, but only shot 31% (he dropped 35 on the Spoonful tonight, though).

The Ugly: Jermaine - 10 and 5 ain't gonna cut it (again, he had a great night tonight, however).

For Les Digits --

The Good: Amare put up the line of the year (perhaps one of the best ever) on Friday - 17 for 21 for 49 points (15/15 FTs!) with 11 REBs, 6 AST, 5 STL, and 2 BLK. Phenomenal.

The Bad: Al-Horf - 8/9/3 w/2 BLK isn't bad, but I suspect Les Digits wants more. Perhaps withJ-Smoove sidelined, he'll step it up.

The Ugly: Nick Collison has been terrible thus far - 2/5 last week - but has a chance to pick it up with Wilcox out for a bit.

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odensque vs. Mongoose

('goose's Scola)

We predicted an 8-7 Mongoose triumph, and it turned out 8-6-1, and played out along the lines we suggested. Indeed, had odensque not been whistled for an unseemly 3 Techs, our prediction would have have been spot on.

For odensque --

The Good: Brad Miller is back! He double-doubled in both of his first two games, with good PCTs, 4.5APG and 2BPG. This bodes quite well.

The Bad: Shawn 'The Matrix' Marion isn't getting it done: 8 PPG, 7 REB. He's still got 1.7 SPG and a block, but is headed the way of Ben Wallace?

The Ugly: I congratulate Owen on setting his lineup for 2 weeks, but I have to mention that Jerryd Bayless and Marko Jaric haven't played yet, and they aren't injured. Oh wait - Marko played 4 minutes on Sunday. With no stats.

For Mongoose --

The Good: Luis Scola was the unsung hero (15/7/1.5 STL), and other youngsters (Thaddeus/Farmar/Beasley) are playing quite well.

The Bad: C-Vill's 6.3/7.7 avgs last week weren't good enough, especially coupled with his 28% FG%

The Ugly: Why is Ronny Turiaf owned? Is it the 2.8 points or the 2 rebounds?

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The Later Hosens vs. Garbage Speakers

(the Hosen's Nate-Rob)

This was odd - we thought this would be close if the speakers set their lineup, but a 10-4 Hosen blowout if they did not. In the event, the speakers' lineup was not set, yet it was close nonetheless! The Hosen won 8-7, but that they lost not only the 4 negatives, but 3 counting cats against a non-lineup-setter points to some problems on their roster. It's a good thing the Hosen prevailed in both %s, or heads would roll in Later.

The Garbage Speakers, as mentioned, failed to set their lineup for the second week in a row, but managed to win FTM, OREB, and BLK. How did this happen? Well, the Hosen shouldn't feel too bad, as the speakers, remarkably, led the league in BLK, and were 2nd in OREB, and were 4th in FTM. LeBron's 4 games were crucial, as he hit 43 FTs (2nd only to Amare) along with an astonishing 138 points. Biedrins led the league in OREBs with 24, and he had 9 blocks to complement Camby's 10.

For the Hosen --

The Good: Little Nate was terrific - 17/3/4 with 3 SPG. J-Salm was fantastic as well (17/4/3) and should step up (even more) with Little K-Mart out for a couple weeks.

The Bad: I hate to say it, but KG's 14/10, with only 1 APG, 1 SPG and 1 BPG isn't really good enough from a 1st rounder. It's worrisome that he only got to the line 5 times in 4 games. Of course, several of these games were blowouts, but still...

The Ugly: Russell Westbrook 11 points look nice, but on 31% shooting, and with only 2 REB and 1 AST (from a PG, supposedly) doesn't impress.

For the Speakers --

The Good: Aside from the aforementioned LBJ and Biedy (who were awesome), AK-47 continues to yield great results. 16/7/2.5APG, with 1.5 steals and blocks.

The Bad: J-Rich has been poor thus far, and last week, 13/5/3 on 31% shooting isn't enough for the supposed 'go to guy' on his team.

The Ugly: Antonio Daniels seems to be losing ground to SweetNickyY - 3.5/2/4.5 - and is now apparently hurt.

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Nor'Easter vs. tsaogrip 0002

(tsaogrip's Prince)

We thought tsaogrip would pull this one out, but they failed to set their lineup on Saturday and some of Sunday, and let Nor'Easter win 7-6. They tied in AST, and Tsaogrip lost OREB only by 4; had lineups been set, it seems tsaogrip would have won 8-6.

Nor'Easter had a bit of a PG rollercoaster, as both Tony Parker (55PTS!) and Devin Harris (38!) erupted for career games, then both got injured the next day (Parker for a month, Harris more or less day to day). The loss of Maggette looms large as well, as he's a terrific source of PTS and FTM when healthy.

Tsaogrip missed Michael Redd, and now J-How is banged up, and the Harrington situation is a bit of a disaster. K-Perk led the league in blocks last week (he had 17, the Later Hosen had 21), though his negatives are significant.

For Nor'Easter --

The Good: Jameer Nelson woke up, and 12/3/6 with significantly fewer TOs and PFs than usual is promising.

The Bad: Bogut's still not putting up the numbers we expected (8/10/2 with 1.3 blocks, at .385 FG%). Also, Nash's 10/3/7 in Week 2 looked more like Rondo than Paul.

The Ugly: Blatche looks bad. We love his upside, but 29% shooting, 6/5/1 isn't winning him the minutes he needs to blossom.

For Tsaogrip --

The Good: Tayshaun was amazing in Week 2 - 20/8 w/2.5 APG and a BPG and very low negatives and great %s. We don't know if he'll keep it up with AI in town.

The Bad: Actually, 'The Bad Ass' - Delonte West is quietly producing - he shot 55%, 11/3/3, with 2 3s, and over a SPG.

The Ugly: Normally, I'll reserve this space for Raymond Felton, but he was pretty good this week! Michael Finley, however, was not. 2 Points, 5 Rebs, and 2 Ast, on .087 FG%. That's 2 for 23. Ouch!

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The Lovin' Spoonful vs. play my$hkin flute

(LaMarcus - artist unknown)

Despite our bias toward the Spoonful, we're trying to be objective, and predicted a 9-6 victory for the Spoons in Week 2; our optimism was justified by the events of the week, and our prediction nearly borne out (it was 9-5).

What surprised us was an impressive number of 3s - the Spoonful was 2nd only to thenopp in the longball, on the strength of newly acquired Roger Mason (18/3/3 with 3 3's) and Ben Gordon (25/3/4 with 3 3's). Also surprising was a lack of Steals, though Ronnie Brewer made it close on Sunday with an impressive 7. Hopefully that means more to come. Good %s (1st in FG%, 2nd in FT%) bode well for the future as well (or were a fluke!)

my$hkin dominated the defensive glass, winning DREBs by 90 (and were 1st in the league by 45), but only battled to a tie in OREB. Pau, Nene, G-Wall, and the 'Thrila' were all over 10 RPG, and many others were close. They were in the top half of the league in most categories, and looks well balanced, other than a glut of DREBers (and thus PFs)

For the Spoonful --

The Good: Mason and Gordon have been huge, and D-Wade was the best, by AVG, player last week in !hoo, but perhaps underappreciated has been LaMarcus, whose 23/8/2, with 2 blocks have been quite impressive. What will Oden's return mean?

The Bad: Kevin Durant has been just OK. 20/4/3 doesn't sound bad, but it's not enough all-round production, and the 4 TOs hurt. (He poured in 37 tonight, so I'll stop whining).

The Ugly: According to Yahoo!, again by averages, David Lee was the Spoonful's worst player - 10/4/1 on 41% shooting, and now he's lost his job. Very sad. Beno, Stuckey, A-John, Warrick, and L-Will have all been inconsistent at best, and ugly at worst...

For the $hkin flute --

The Good: Nene's a beast, RayRay woke up, and DuDu is playing very well, but OJ Mayo was a revelation this week - 23/5/2.5 (and he didn't stop tonight) - and may make the RoY race a three man contest.(Note - 33 points tonight!)

The Bad: A-Ig is not geting it done: shooting 37% - 9/6/4 - not 4th round production. All the Sixers have been a mess, actually (except perhaps Thaddeus).

The Ugly: Absolutely nothing is not 5th round production, and that's all the M-Dunl has provided. His injury is still lingering, it seems, and must be a concern. Also, Leandrinho Barrrbosa, 8/4/3 - and that was with Matt Barnes out of town...(Note: I just saw he scored 27 tonight)