Week 5 -- A Look Back

odensque vs. The Later Hosens

Odensque pulled off a surprising 8-7 victory over the Later Hosens in Week 5, thanks to some unsuspected rebounding strength and the Hosens' typically high negatives. Odensque won all 4 negatives, split the Pcts, and won the REB cats handily (1st in the league in OREB, 3rd in DREB). They eked out a win in 3s (48-46) for the decisive 8th cat. It appears that Odensque had a slight games advantage, but that was somewhat offset by the uselessness of Brevin Knight and Chris Quinn.

The Hosens were in the bottom half of the league in every category except FT% (2nd), BLK (also 2nd), and TO (3rd). Partly this is a matter of games - 3 apiece for his numerous Celtics and Pistons, and for David West. Also, indeterminately long injuries for T-Mac and NateNate proved difficult to overcome. The good news is that Millsap is starting, and producing, for Boozer, and that Westbrook is starting for good in OKC.

(the Hosens' Wounded 'RocketMan': T-Mac)

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For odensque --

The Good: It was the 18/9 play of the Big Z that led odensque's board-crashing success, in pretty limited minutes. He shot 64% from the field and even 88 from the line.

The Bad: The Haitian Sensation was not good - 4/5 with 1 BPG, shooting 33%. And he may start to lose minutes to young Marreesse.

The Ugly: Chris 'Doctor' Quinn, Medicine Woman, has seen his minutes slashed in half (from around 25 to around 12), due in part to the resurgence (or just surgence) of Superintendent Chalmers. He averaged just 7 points in 4 games (he hit 2 3s and one FT); he had 7 PFs in the same span.

For The Hosens --

The Good: Millsap has been dominant - 19/12 with a steal and a block, was really the only bright spot on the glass. Also, Matt Barnes and Mannboubes are showing signs of life

The Bad: 'Sheed was very quiet in his 3 games - 10/4 with 2 3PG and less than 1 BPG, along with poor %s (40/67) and not a single OREB. Did the Hosens buy high?

The Ugly: Rasho's fallen to earth as well: 6/4/3 with half a block on 39% shooting, with 3 PF/G.

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tsaogrip 0002 vs. play my$hkin flute

This was another squeaker - tsaogrip prevailed 8-7 by winning FGM by 2 and AST by 9, along with larger margins in the negatives, 3s, and OREB; Tsaogrip's smallballing squad was (tied for) 1st in the league in 3s (Q-Rich, VC, and Baby Al in NYC), and was 2nd in AST (Chris Paul, mostly). Ray-Felt has been playing well, and M-Redd has at last returned. They won OREBs this week, but mostly due to my$hkin's lack of hustle - with only Al-Jeff and K-Perk doing dirty work on the glass, the frontcourt is a definite tsaogrip weakness.

My$hkin should have won this week handily - they were tops in FTM (Iverson, Dirk, and G-Wall all averaged 8 FTM), STL, and DREB, and 2nd in FG%. They were even 3rd in FT% and PTS, and 4th in 3s, AST, FGM, and BLK - all in all, a fine and heartening all around week. But they were blown out in the negs, and somehow they were 9th in OREB (T-Chand missed a couple games and both the Thrilla and 'Jean' Luc-Richard's have seen their roles diminish).

(the 'heart' of play my$hkin flute - AI)

For tsaogrip --

The Good: Harrington's first 3 games in NYC seem to be a success -25/9 with 3 3s. Only 40% shooting, but it beats sitting on the end of the bench in GSW getting drinks for Nellie's mistresses. His arrival seems not to have had much of a negative impact on Q-Rich or W-Chand, though we'll see how that develops.

The Bad: After a dominant start to the season: TayTay's been significantly less effective lately - even getting benched for part of Sunday's game. 12/2/3 with no 3s, steals, or blocks (and only one OREB) is very disappointing after his All-Star start.

The Ugly: Boris Diaw's been basically a disaster this year (8/4/2), but it got worse last week (6/4/1). He's getting his 25 MPG, but not getting much in the way of stats.

For my$hkin --

The Good: O.J, Mayo continues to be spectacular: 27.5 points on 57% shooting. And Pau shot 63%! Mayo only got 4 REB and 2 AST, but that can be forgiven. We have to mention DuDu's 22 Assist game, which vaulted my$hkin into contention for AST this week.

The Bad: Luc-Richard Mbah a Moute only averaged 6/6 this week. He may still be useful with Bogut ailing, but C-Vill's emergence and Redd's return puts his role in some Mdoubt.

The Ugly: It's somewhat blasphemous to mention, but AI has not been good. 14/3/5? That's a Trevor Ariza line, except that AI shot 34%. He still gets his steals (2/G), and gets to the line (6 FTM/G), but he is not justifying his 2nd round paycheck.

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Mongoose vs. garbage speakers

We thought for much of the week that the last place Mongoose were on the road to a decisive victory over the non lineup-setting speakers (actually, it seems like the speakers are sometimes setting their lineup? or at least changing it occasionally? It's hard to say - and how long will we let this travesty stand?); instead, the speakers battled back and forced a surprising 7-7 tie. The speakers won 3 of the negatives with their intermittent lineuppery, and somehow won FTM, 3s, and BLK against a disappointing and disappointed Mongoose. The goose were last in FTM, 3s, and BLK, and 2nd to last (to the undermanned speakers) in 3 other categories. Disastrous %s and somewhat high negatives make this team strength-free. And Just when D-Will returned to the lineup, Chris Kaman and S-Jax have gone down with injury.

The speakers continue to do pretty well without lineup setting - We're half inclined to think there's a master strategy at work. It's hard to know how good they could be at full strength. F-Garcia and J-Rich are back, Artest looks to benefit from T-Mac's absence, Hawes is starting, C-But, Biedrins, and LBJ are rock solid, and youngsters Sessions and Green have been excellent. But there's some dead-ish weight (Korver) and some underperformers (Odom). Still we think they could contend if managed well (or at all).

 

(the speakers' Caron Butler)

For Mongoose --

The Good: There's almost nothing good, except MemO's 19/11/2 with 1.5 3s and 58% shooting.

The Bad: Thaddeus had a bad week: 10/3/6 is not as good as we've come to expect.

The Ugly: The dead weight stops here: Darrell Arthur, Tyroo, Turiaf, Bass, Watson and maybe even Farmar should perhaps be consigned to the FAP.

For the Speakers --

The Good:  C-But is fantastic - 27/6/6 with 3 STL and 2 3s, with 50/80 Pcts? Sign me up!

The Bad: Lamar has struggled mightily: 6/8/3 wth 41/40 Pcts in only 22 MPG. Not 6th round value.

The Ugly: Nocioni was quite good for a week or two, but not in Week 5 -- 5/0/1 with 3.3 PF and 1.7 TO in 13 MPG? That's ugly.

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thenopp vs. Nor'Easter

Thenopp upset Nor'Easter this week, largely by winning the two REB cats and BLK (along with 3 negs and FT%). How did thenopp's notoriously thin frontcourt (Yao, B-Lopez, Z-Bo, M-Gasol), with an injured J-O'Neal beat out the Biggest Team in the East (D-How, T-Dunc,T-Murph, Gooden)? Partly, of course, the injury to Nor'Easter's Bogut is to blame (and the REB margins were close enough that his presence would have been decisive). Other injuries have plagued Nor'Easter - the Walloon is back, but Pietrus and Jameer are out for  a while. We also think that having PGs who don't rebound at all (Brooks,Nash,Foye) has an impact that is often overlooked. Nor'Easter was last in the league in FT% (as expected), but ony 5th in the REB cats and 7th in BLK. On the brighter side, they were 2nd in FGM, FTM, and PTS, and 3rd in AST, thanks to Nash, J-John, and Devin Harris.

Thenopp was sad to see Z-Bo and JamsCraw leave the high octane Knicks offense, and will only now realy get a sense of how they fit in with their new teams. So far, Z-Bo hasn't looked great in LA (though Kaman's injury may help), and Crawford's only played one game in GS. Another large Sunday game advantage helped a lot this week, though it would have had more impact had Carmelo not gotten hurt, and had Noah, Carter, Maxiell or Hill played at all well.

(thenopp's Carmelo)

For thenopp--

The Good: Brook Lopez continues to be the frontcourt hero for thenopp, leading the team with 11 BLK and 12 OREB.

The Bad: Grant Hill's minutes have been cut and his production has declined sharply. 2/2/2 on Sunday was bad indeed, and his 6/8/4, 8/4/1, and 4/0/1 lines that preceded it do not inspire confidence.

The Ugly: Joakim Noah - the worst Bulls draft pick since Stacey King? - is getting even worse. 12/16/0 -- total - in his 3 games, with 1 steal and just 2 blocks. Darko and Kwame are both more rosterable at this point.

For Nor'Easter --

The Good: Devin Harris continues to be terrific - 30/4/7 on the week, including an amazing 47/7/8 outburst on Sunday. Nor'Easter may have paid Steve Nash extra to play even less defense than usual.

The Bad: We love RudyFer - he seems to always hit the big 3 pointer, but looking at his numbers...well, there just aren't enough of them: 7.3 PTS / 1.8 REBs / 1.5 AST really isn't that good. The 1.8 3s are nice, but unless he gets more minutes, he's more Barry than Barbosa.

The Ugly:  The injuries to Pietrus, Bogut, and Nelson are the really ugly things, but Jason Thompson isn't getting it done anymore. The return of Moore (and now Garcia, and soon Martin), and the emergence of Hawes have really cut into his minutes, and his production has dropped off. 5/4/1 for the week.

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Les Digits vs. The Lovin' Spoonful

LesDigits digits posted here aboot this matchup - another squeaker. The Spoonful prevailed 8-7, but only due to Amare's embarrassing 2 Techs in the final minutes of his game on Sunday. Les Digits won 3 of the Negatives, both %s, AST, and FTM.

Les Digits had one of their best weeks, shooting a league leading .516 from the field and yet still 1st in AST and 3rd in 3s (which is difficult, as perimeter play is usually associated with lower FG%). They were also 4th in PTS, which is quite an improvement for them, and remained #2 in PFs (second only to the speakers). Rose, Roy, and Can't Jam Watson all shot the lights out (over 50%, as were the big men: Amare, Shaq, Horford). TimThom looked more than comfortable in NYC, Thornton played well with his new teammate, and Manu is back - things may be looking up for Les D's, especially with J-Smoove's imminent return.

The Spoonful, however, pulled off the impressive feat of leading the league in both BLK and 3s, along with PTS (a season high 946) and FGM. Surprisingly good rebounding (2nd and 4th in the league) from a team that is usually somewhat weak in the BigManCats confirms that the Spoonful had quite a few games this week. And that David 'The Wight Dwight' Lee, whose 37/21 game on Sunday brought his weekly averages to 22/15, is pretty good, if given the minutes. It's possible he may have worked his way into he starting lineup for good.

(Les Digits' J-Smoove)

For Les Digits --

The Good: C.J.Watson was a pleasant surprise - 14/3/3 at 66% from the field and hitting all his FTs. B-Roy, Chauncey, and Jamison were stellar as well.

The Bad:  The George Hill era may be over in San Antonio now that Manu and T-Park are back (the Roger Mason era may be over as well). Hill was actually pretty productive in his first two games, but really fell off - leading to a 24 minute 3 point performance on Saturday.

The Ugly: Luol 'The Girls I've Loved Before' Deng is really struggling - 9/3/1 with his usual no 3s and no blocks is not definitely ugly.

For The Spoonful --

The Good: Beno, at 14/4/8 is playing quite well, as is Mike Bibby (21/4/4, with 3.5 3s/G). Kevin Martin should return this week (though we've said that before).

The Bad: Luke Ridnour had a nice Sunday (15/6/1 with 4 3s), but often is closer to 8/3/4, with poor FG%. Hopefully Redd's return will increase his AST numbers.

The Ugly: Morrow and Wright have played perfectly well, when given the chance (Wright has 15/3 tonight), but D-Nels makes them very difficult to own. With the decline of Morrow and presumably Mason, the Spoonful's brief appearance at the top of the 3's leaderboard likely be short lived.