Week 3 -- A look back

odensque vs. Les Digits

In our Week 3 Forecast, we predicted an 8-6 Digits victory - in the event a hefty number of Sunday odensque PFs made it 9-6 Digits. One category we were quite mistaken about was assists. We thought that Les Digits would carry assists easily, and one would further think that the injury to Calderon (which we had not anticipated) would lead to even further AST dominance. However, somehow odensque prevailed, and Les Digits came in dead last in the league in assists (ignoring the non-lineup-setting speakers). What happened? It's hard to say - B-Roy, Chauncey had splendid weeks, but were at the same time well below their usual assist totals - BRoy was under 4APG, Chauncey under 6; Chalmers was not good at all (3APG), and Rose only had 3 games. For perspective, B-Miller's 25 Assists led both squads! In related news, Les Digits had the fewest TOs of any (lineup-setting) team, with a mere 82.

  (Les Digts' Rose)

For odensque --

The Good: Brad came back from suspension and his 13/10/7 led the team in Rebounds and Assists.

The Bad: Rashard only averaged 15/6 on 37% shooting -  2.5 TO and 3.3 PFs is atypically poor for a usually low-neg stud.

The Ugly: In 3 games, Darko didn't block a shot (and his 4/3/1 wasn't attractive in other respects either).

For Les Digits --

The Good: Derrick Rose is a beast - 22/8/7 avgs with a total of 1 PF and 4 TO  in games? Go Bulls!

The Bad: Amare, after dominating last week, slipped to  17.5/8/1.5 w/1.5 BPG and only 4.5 FTM/G. Still quite good, but his 29/11 Sunday line salvaged a very disappointing week.

The Ugly: Chalmers was very bad - 7/2/3 - with more TOs than Rebs and more PFs than AST. Plus a DISQ.

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The Later Hosens vs. play my$hkin flute

We thought this would be a 9-6 Hosen victory, with my$hkin winning the bigManCats, and the Hosen winning elsewhere. We were dead wrong. As it happened, my$hkin won 9-5, but lost OREB, BLK, and nearly lost DREB. How could we have been so wrong?

For PMP, basically, the backcourt continued the improvements that started in Week 2. DuDu, RayRay, and OJ were again sensational, and A-Ig began to put forth his expected multi-cat production. On the other hand, their bigs, T-Chand, Przyzzyyzylla, injured 'Cox, and even Pau struggled for most of the week.

Oden's return sparked a block party in HosenTown, He alone had 9 BLK in 3 games (the Hosen only used 3), as did KG. Newly acquired Paul Millsap blocked 6, somewhat offsetting his disturbing 20 PFs. On the other hand, the Hosen were hurt by the Barnes/Alston fight, losing 4 manGames. Despite excellence from Pierce and KG, and more goodness from J-Salm and the Grange, the Hosen couldn't come up with enough in the counting categories. T-Mac, K-Love, Peja, and even D-West were somewhat disappointing in various ways.

(my$hkin's Iggy Hop)

For the Hosens --

The Good: The old PP was back this week, averaging 29 PTS, 7 REBs, and 4 AST, on 47%/91% shooting, with 12.5 FTM and 3 3s/G. Vintage 'Truth'.

The Bad: Peja (now shipped off to odensque) shot 27% from the field (ouch!), averaging only 7 PTS and 2.5 REBs and less than 1 AST. I'm sure the Hosen are happy to be rid of him

The Ugly: Kevin Love, though apparently inserted into the starting lineup, shot 29% (!) for 6/6 - no blocks.

For my$hkin --

The Good: A-Ig still isn't shooting well (38%), but still filled the stat line (14.5/8.5/5.5) with most of a 3, a STL, and a BLK per. He's coming on.

The Bad: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was both good and bad. On the one hand, he pulled down a tremendous 21 OREBs (MBAH!), on the other, he shot 32% and averaged 4 PFs (MOUTE!).

The Ugly: T-Chand's 8/7 with a block and 3 PFs isn't good enough. Also, DJ's struggling (6/2/3, 31% FG%)

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Nor'Easter vs. garbage speakers

Well, no surprises here - we suspected the speakers would continue to fail to set their lineup, and that's how it happened - a 10-5 Nor'easter victory, catapulting them into first place. Perhaps the commish will step in? In any event, Nor'easter had another fine week, and they had enough of a cushion that they stopped setting their lineup as well. It's thus somewhat difficult to get a sense of how these teams might have matched up at full strength.

Nor'easter is really quite good - Harris and Nash at PG, along with Jameer, T-Park, and even a resurgent Foye. Duncan and Howard up front, supported by Bogut and Gooden. Maggette, Joe Johnson, Al-Thornt, and RudyFer pouring in points. Very well rounded indeed, especially when Monta returns. Everyone on the team (except D-Gooden) scored over 10 PPG last week. That's depth!

We also think the speakers are well composed, but suffering under poor management. The speakers' 'second-tier' players are performing well (Terry, J-Green, Noc, Sessions), and there have been some pleasant surprises like AK-47, Hawes, and Biedrins. Questions linger about Odom, Camby, and Artest, it's true, but cutting out some dead weight (and lineup setting) would make the speakers quite competitive.

  (Nor'Easter's Harris)

For Nor'Easter --

The Good: Devin Harris came back, and in his 2 Week 3 games was truly astonishing - 31.5 PPG, 4.5 REB, 9 AST, 2 STL, 53%/96% shooting, 12.5 FTM, 2 3s, and only 1 TO. Totally unstainable...or is it?

The Bad: Maggette wasn't very good (also coming back from injury). 15 PTS on 41% shooting - and 4.5 PFs.

The Ugly: 13 PTS, 42% FG%, 3 REBs, 5 AST is only ugly when it's from Steve Nash. He wasn't much better tonight. Is the decline here?

For the garbage speakers --

The Good: 19/7/2 from J-Green is quite exciting. 1.5 steals and 3s, too.

The Bad: Odom's 8/5/2 averages with 4.3 PF/G were extremely disappointing. The 6th man role doesn't seem to agree with him.

The Ugly: Kyle Korver's 6/2/1 is really poor, even with 1.8 3s/G

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tsaogrip 0002 vs. Mongoose

This was as lopsided as it gets. We foresaw a significant games deficit for Mongoose, and predicted a drubbing by tsaogrip. It has come to pass. While the final score was tsaogrip 10- Mongoose 4, it could have been a bit worse, as they tied in steals and Mongoose managed to eke out BLK by just 2. Impressively, tsaogrip managed to win PTS by almost 400(!), DREBs by over 100, more than double the 'Goose in 3s, and yet win TOs. If they could have reined in the Tech's and DISQs, they would have really vaulted up the leaderboard.

Tsaogrip was impressive across the board, and indeed, had Michael Redd been healthy (as he reportedly will be soon, they likely would have reached the 1000 point plateau (they ended the week with a league leading 943). They were first in the league in FG%, AST, and FGM, and second in DREB. They still struggle a bit with STL and BLK, but are clearly a force with which to be reckoned going forward. Scintillating play from Al-Jeff, VC, J-How, and CP, along with (good) surprises from W-Chand, Finley, and Tayshaun have carried them so far. Will they package some of their excess points for a specialist like AK-47 or J-Smoove?

Mongoose, on the other hand, was terrible: last (or second to last to the non-lineup-setting speakers) in FGM, FG%, FTM, 3s, PTS, and DREB. Deron Williams' injury has been devastating, but also atfault are Rudy Gay's non-stelar play, a banged up or bad frontcourt featuring benched C-Vill, Tyrrible Thomas, Absent Mem-O, and disappointing Kaman. We had high hopes in the pre-season, but those hopes have faded greatly. There are bright spots - the youngsters: Bynum, Beasley, Scola, and Thaddeus have all played quite well. It's an open question whether they should be moved for veteran leadership.

(Wilson Chandler, we think)

For tsaogrip --

The Good: W-Chand had a great week - 58% from the field, 85% from the line - 15/5/2 with 1.5 STL and a BLK. The high-speed Knicks look terrific for stats.

The Bad: K-Perk is a beast, but 5/6 with only 1.3 BLK doesn't offset the 2 TECHs and a DISQ.

The Ugly: The Al Harrington situation is ugly. It's hard to know what to do about it. Luckily, tsaogrip can afford to be patient.

For Mongoose --

The Good: We're loving Bynum - only 11 PTS, but 9 REBs, 3 AST and 3 BLK, with good %s and very low negs for a big man.

The Bad: I just don't think Farmar's worth owning right now: 5/3/2?

The Ugly: Brandon Bass - 5.5 and 2: no job, no prospects...

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Thenopp vs. the Lovin' Spoonful

Historically, thenopp and the Spoonful have played in the first week of the season, and hence played 3 times (excluding the playoffs). Last year, thenopp won all three matchups, 9-6, 11-3, and, horrifyingly, 12-2 (the worst defeat in Spoonful history). In 2006-7, thenopp won 8-7, 10-5, then lost 7-8, and of course, lost the championship to the Spoonful. All in all, it's been a heated rivalry, and given the recent history, the Spoonful feel that hanging on to a 7-7-1 tie is a success.

It was extremely close in the end - 6 PTs, 1 AST, 6 TOs, 5 BLK, and 8 FTM separated the teams. Z-Bo (22/15, and now he shoots 3s?) and JamsCraw (24.5 PPG, 6 APG) were dominant in 4 games for thenopp. Thenopp also got terrific performances from previously struggling Hedo (20 and 6) and Jermaine O'Neal (18 and 13). On the other hand, Boobie, McCants, Noah, Kleiza, and A-Cart all struggled.

The Spoonful really suffered from K-Mart's absence. K-Dur missing a game unexpectedly also hurt a great deal. LaMarcus's production is slipping with Oden back, and trade acquisitions Lou Williams and Emeka have both, to put it mildly, sucked (the trade would appear disgracefully lopsided had not Parker and Gooden both gotten injured). On the other hand, B-Gord is putting up great numbers, T-Ariz and D-Lee are getting more minutes, and even Bargnani is starting all of a sudden.

(thenopp's M-Gas)

For thenopp --

The Good: Marc Gasol is still playing well, if a bit inconsistently: 56%/94%, 16 and 5. We'd like to see more REBs and BLK, but the PCTs are remarkable.

The Bad: Aside from those mentioned above, Carmelo was surprisingly ineffective: 19/9/3 is good, but on 40%/71% shooting, with 2.8 TO and 3.3.PF.

The Ugly: Thenopp picked up E-Damp in time for Sundays game, and BLK were a closely contested category - but he played 4 minutes, missing 1 shot and grabbing one reb. Ugly!

For the Spoonful --

The Good: Aside from the obvious (Wade & Bosh), Beno Udrih finally showed up this week. He averaged 20/5/4.5, with 1.5 SPG, on 54% shooting. The Spoonful needed it!

The Bad: Ronnie Brewer hasn't gotten it going yet - he avg'd 11/2/5 with 3 STL, but only shot 33%/71%. He'll improve when D-Will returns (we hope).

The Ugly: Lou Williams is losing minutes (though it's not clear to whom, exactly), and is doing nothing with the minutes he's getting. Last week he shot just 27%, for a very ugly 5/1.3/1.5 line.