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.

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.