Steve "Can't Say" Novak!!!

Holy crap! He hit 5 3's again tonight! That's 3 of his last 4 games with 5 3's! He's the hottest thing since George "King of the" Hill!!!!!!!

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.

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.

'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.

Saturday Thoughts

 

Due to a disturbingly widespread lack of lineup-setting, we have 3 total blowouts, and only two close matchups to look at.

Les Digits are very close to the Later Hosens, but the Hosen have decisive 7-2 Sunday games advantage, including their INDs, BOSs, and DETs - thus it seems the Hosen could win big, if they keep the Negatives down and the PCTs up, as those cats are all fairly close. We think the Hosens will prevail 11-3, though we've underestimated the heart of Les Digits before.

Tsaogrip 0002 trails thenopp at present, but they have a significant 10-3 games advantage tomorrow (including a bevy of Knicks and Bucks). It looks to us that tsaogrip will retake the REB cats and FTM, but lose TO, and win by at least 8-6 (FT% could go either way, as could a DISQ).

Other notes:

Kyle Lowry has started 2 straight in place of Ray Parker Jr.. He hasn't done much with the time, unfortunately, but it might be time to pick him up. Also, Darko seems to be starting over M-Gas all of a sudden, though Marcasol had a great night off the bench. MEM is desperate, clearly. Thenopp owns both Conley and Gasol, and can't be happy about this.

Hakim Warrick has 3 straight 10 point games. I'm not impressed...yet!

Donyell Marshall is alive! After sitting on his pearshaped butt for most of the first quarter of the season, but has played in both of the last two games (with Brand out). 13/5 in 16 minutes tonight, with 3 3s. Not bad!

Mike Beastly only got 13 minutes tonight. Is Joel Anthony really that terrific? (answer: no) It's nice to see Jamaal Magliore and S. Livingston on the floor.

Earl Watson and Good Golly Miss Colly came off the bench tonight and both played well - E-Wat with 12 AST and SNC had 14/8 (Cox was in Foul Trouble).

Marcus Camby! 12/19/7 BLK - pretty impressive. In the fourth Quarter, the Clips had Mardy Collins, Jason Hart, Paul Davis, DeAndre Jordan, and Steve Novak on the floor. Quite a bench.

Another injury to Al Horford = another double double for ZaZa.

The Warriors are a big fat Nellie-shaped mess right now. The Spurs, of all teams, score 100 on them in less than 3 quarters, and were up by 40. S-Jax only played 14 minutes, and C-Maggs shot 1-10 from the field. They both scored 6.

Bye Bye BaBoone

Les Digits cuts Huskie Boone, snaps up L. Head

 

Josh Boone - a fine UConn Huskie, discussed here - has been dropped. This looked like a potential breakout year for J-Boo, but injuries and the emergence of Brook Lopez as a quite reliable post option in NJ have dimmed his prospects. He should be back in a week or two, and will be a good source of REBs, FG%, and even a few BLK when he does. He's a terrible FT shooter, and is fouly. He's certainly worth keeping an eye on when he returns. Or just enjoy his myspace page! By the way, what ever happened to Nenad Krstic?

 

Luther Head, in his 4th year out of Illinois, is nothing more than a 3pt shooter. He's mostly been just DNP'ing on the Houston bench this year, as the Rockets had plenty of 3pt shooters on the roster, including new additions Ron Artest and Brent Barry. However, Barry and T-Mac are injured, which appeared to give L-Head the SG job, almost by default. And Head responded - playing 41 minutes, he put up and impressive 21/4/5 line. He shot terribly in his second game as a starter (1 for 7), and Shane Battier's return moved Artest to SG and put Head back on the bench. He may get a few more matchup-based starts while the Rockets are shorthanded, but we don't see any lasting value here. Fun fact: Both Boone and Head wear #2.

Judgment: We don't think this helps Les Digits much in the short term - and Boone has significantly more long-term upside. It was a reasonable add when it appeared Luther was going to start regularly in T-Mac's absence, but already looks less promising. 

Curse You, Amare!!!

Amare "Turdknocker" Stoudemire managed to collect two quick T's at the end of the Suns' loss to the New Suckworthy Nets, giving the Spoonful an edge in Techs and depriving me, Monsieur Digits, of a much-deserved upset win. I am now officially accepting trade offers.

Marreeeeeesse

Les digits drop Varejao, pick up Speights

In Part Deux of Les Digits frontcourt retooling, they have dropped 18th round pick Anderson 'Sideshow Bob' Varejao, the 6'11" Brazilian backup PF for the Cavs. Varejao is a high energy PF, and while he can score around the basket, he's more of a lunch-pail rebounder and defender than offensive beast off the bench - i.e., more Najera than Millsap. He's still behind Big Ben at PF in CLE, and his offense has been limited this year to cleanup work. He's averaging 8 and 6 (and not much else). He may improve (and may even surpass Wallace at some point), but he's not providing a lot of value at present.

We discussed Marreesse a while back when the Hosens dropped him - he's getting a fair bit of 'buzz' lately, as The Big Cheese and the Sixers struggle and Mo Cheeks panics. He scored 12 on Wednesday and Friday both (all in garbage time on Friday, however), but still is getting well under 20 MPG. He's supposed to be a shotblocker, but I haven't seen it yet.

Judgment: There's quite a run on high-upside big men right now (Maxy, Blatche, McGee, Speights). We like Speights' future, and see him gaining Coach Cheeks' confidence, but doubt he'll be a fantasy force this year. However, he's a good gamble, as Varejao's situation seems distressingly stable at this point.

SweetNickyC cut adrift

Les Digits drop Collison, pick up 'the Rhino'

Nick Collison, Les Digits 13th round pick, has recently lost his starting job (for now) in OKC. The new Thunder coach is experimenting with the lineup and rotation, first with Collywobbles at C and a 'smallball' lineup, and then with 'Cox at C; Collison only got 7 minutes last night. He's had two double-doubles this year, but has otherwise been quite disappointing - neither rebounding nor scoring (averaging 6/6), and getting into foul trouble regularly, despite heavy minutes. Fun fact - he and 'Cox are the two highest paid Thunder

We discussed Craig 'The Rhino' Smith quite a bit lately, when the Hosens picked him up and dropped him rather quickly. Smith put up a monster line on Friday (23/8), prompting Les Digits to snap him up, in part one of a retooling of their frontcourt. Unfortunately, the Rhino laid an egg on Saturday (4/4 with 5 PFs), and K-Love, manboobs and all, played terrifically. The Rhino should continue to be a part of the rotation in MIN, however.

Judgment: We're fans of Collison's game - last year he averaged a very useful, if limited, 10/9, but he sure looks bad this year. We suspect there will be a fair bit of change in OKC, but SweetNickyC may not be a big part of the picture for a while. Smith will be inconsistent, but provide enough to be a modest upgrade for Les Digits.

Trade Winds Blow East-Nor'East

Murphy swapped for Thornton

Troy Murphy 8th year PF (C-eligible) out of Notre Dame, is a very consistent double-double treat, and a premier rebounder. He also can hit an occasional 3. Unfortunately, he's prone to shoot a great number of outside shots in order to demonstrate this, and his PCTs tend to be quite low. He doesn't block many shots, and he's a notoriously injury prone. This year, he's averaging 10 rebounds, but is only shooting 40% from the field (and only 41% from the line). He's fouling less and passing more (also more TO) than he has in past years, and taking and missing more outside shots (4 3PA/G). We take this to indicate that he's playing more of a perimeter game in general, and indeed, despite the gaudy REB totals, his 1.1 OREB/G are a career low.

Al Thornton, second year SF out of Florida State, has been having a nice season thus far. 16/5 with a block in 35 mpg is a solid line. His shot selection seems better, and his %s have improved (perhaps thanks to Baron Davis). The big question mark for Al is what impact Z-Bo's arrival will have - it's hard to see Thornton continuing to get 14 FGA/G with Selfish Neck Rolls demanding the rock. We'll see!

Judgment: Les Digits continues to offload REBs in order to bolster other categories - in this case, he should gain 5 PPG and a blk, and lose 5 rpg and perhaps some 3s. We like the move from their point of view, as PTS/FGM are definite weaknesses. Nor'Easter doesn't need the points (or the DREBs, frankly), but a slight boost in 3s could make a difference, and T-Murph is, when healthy, the better fantasy option. Overall, a good deal for both sides.

JaVale of Tears?

McGee out, c.j. Watson in for Les Digits

We've talked about C.J. Watson and JaVale 'The Big Secret' McGee before. McGee has started the last two games for WAS, but hasn't been terrific (5/5, 8/4). Whether he keeps the starting gig or not (and why wouldn't he? E.T has been quite poor, and the Blatche-dog has, despite a good game yesterday, has not impressed), he'll likely to continue to get 20-25 minutes. Like any young C, he'll get into foul trouble and be inconsistent.

GSW's C.J. Watson, not to be confused with UTA's C.J. Miles, or 'sexy Filipina model' C.J. Miles, has been getting quite a few minutes, and sometimes starting, for the Warriors. He's been quietly producing 10/5/5 lines of late, which is nothing to sneeze at. What's less clear is his role going forward, given the arrival of Jamal 'The Ranch' Crawford via trade, and the emergence of 'two game wonder' Anthony Morrow. We suspect we'll see a lineup of AB, Maggette, S-Jax, JamsCraw, and one of Kelenna/Morrow/Watson going forward.

Judgment: The uncertainty about Watson's role makes this tricky to evaluate. We likely would have stuck with McGee for a while, but, given Les Digits strength in the BigManCats, JaVale isn't really doing much good - assists and points are more needful. JaVale will be snapped up, no doubt, but Les Digits won't miss him.

They're both better than Mo-Peet

Digits drop t. Allen, pick up g. Hill

 

Tony Allen was discussed here and here. Nothing has changed fundamentally, as far as we can tell, but in the 4 games since his 23 point outburst, he has only 5 total points - 1 for 11 from the field. His minutes have been slashed to about 13 minutes (only 10 tonight in an OT game). For whatever reason (perhaps because he's actually hitting his shots), Eddie House has been getting more play.

George 'Benny' Hill is the new PG for the Spurs. He's a shoot-first PG, type, in his rookie year out of IUPUI. IUPUI is the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, for what it's worth. He averaged 36 PPG in High School, which is pretty impressive. Hill went to IUPUI (rather than Florida or Temple) because his grandfather was quite ill, and he wanted to be close to him. At IUPUI, Hill played only 3 of his 4 years, missing his Junior year with a foot injury. He shot over 50% in each season, and in his senior season averaged 21/4/7 with 2 SPG. This was Summit league competition, but the Spurs thought enough of him to draft him 23rd overall. Hill has a giant 6'9" wingspan (which helps his rebounding numbers). He's scored 17, 4, and 12 in his 3 starts for Tony Parker (he was in foul trouble in the middle one), with 5 RPG and 3 APG. He should keep scoring, though it's too soon to tell if his PCTs will be any good, or if he'll hit many 3s.

Judgment: Allen just was begging to be dropped after one of the worst weeks of his career. Hill is going to get 30 MPG for a few weeks, and produce at least something, which is, on the whole, better than nothing. We're surprised that Hill lasted this long, frankly. Excellent move for the Digits.

Saturday Thoughts -- Week 3

More close matchups this week - thenopp and Spoonful are tied at 6, Les Digits lead odensque 8-7, and the Hosens lead my$hkin 8-6. As we predicted, tsaogrip is crushing Mongoose 10-5 (including an almost 300 PT lead), and Nor'Easter is comfortably ahead of the non-lineup-setting speakers, 9-5.

Sunday games:

Team	Games
Spoonful	8
thenopp	12
odensque	8
Digits	5
Hosens	6
flute	8
Nor'easter	7
speakers	1
tsaogrip	8
Mongoose	3

 

The biggest game advantages in competitive matchupes belong to thenopp (4) and to odensque (3). This could be trouble for odensque, as he might lose PFs (currently ahead by 5), and only has an outside shot at STL (down by 6). It's likely, though, that it will end 8-7 Digits.

Things look much better for thenopp, with all 12 players in action, including Kidd, Carmelo, JamsCraw, and Z-Bo. PTS are currently tied, but we'd have to give the edge to thenopp, based on the games. Thenopp's ahead by 8 FTs, 2 3s, and 9 OREB, and is only behind in FGM by 5, AST by 11, and BLK by 3. The Spoonful might lose all of these and be shamefully bested 9-5. The loss of little K-Mart and games deficits on both Thursday and Sunday have been difficult to overcome.

The Hosen's/my$hkin matchup.is quite interesting: the Hosen lead FGM by 15, AST by 14, and BLK by 11, and trail in PTS by only 6, and OREBs by 3. But the Hosen lead both %s by razor-thin margins (.004 in FG%, .001 in FT%). While it's only an 8-6 games advantage for my$hkin, it seems my$hkin has higher quality games: AI, Dirk, G-Wallace, Nene, versus the Hosens' Salmons, Haslem, Telfair, Love, Kwame, and Nate. We think this gives my$hkin the edge, though PCTs are, in particular, tricky to predict.(Note: we're assuming that Barnes and Barbosa are both out for PHX.)

Paper, meet Anus

Digits drop Radmanovic, snap up J. McGee

 

Radmanovic was discussed and tellingly compared to recalcitrant toilet paper here, and he remains marginal at best. Les Digits was optimistic in his post that Vladman was getting good minutes, but he appears to be losing some minutes to T-Ariz and others, and has shot just 5 -22 in his last 4 games, totaling 14 points in that impressive span. Good riddance!

 

On the other hand, JaVale McGee, discussed a bit in the Hosen's latest missive, has been much ballyhooed of late. The rookie 7 footer out of Nevada suddenly looks like a possibility to contribute in the wafer-thin Wizards frontcourt. On Nov 7th, he played 30 minutes, putting up 12 and 10, with two blocks (note - this was against the uptempo Knicks, and heart-troubled, out of shape poet Etan Thomas couldn't keep up).  He double-doubled again two games later and put up a pretty good 13/4 line last night. He's certainly surpassed Blatche on the depth chart, and, while he's no Greg Oden, he's also no Vladimir Radmanovic. He should be good for 9/6/1.5 BPG at a minimum, assuming he stays in the rotation.

Judgment: An excellent and well-timed move. RadMan was doing nothing, and McGee sure looks like he's worth a flier - he's got talent, size, and opportunity. We're still at the stage in the season where one has to jump on upside when it arises. While he may be too raw (and probably is), he'll be easy to drop when the time comes.

Digits Feeling Bullish

After much soul-searching, the Digits were forced to drop favorite Mike Conley. Man, he was really good in college. That one year he played. With Greg Oden. Okay, maybe the Digits were too ready to be impressed, and as the Hosens have recently noted, the Digits have a tendency to become attached to their players. But until next year's draft, the Digits bid Mr. Conley (and his 0-for-6 shooting) good-bye.

Rumor has it Larry Hughes will be back with the Bulls on Thursday and that the Negromancer plans to have him start sometime soon thereafter. Seems like Mr. Hughes should be in for some scoring opportunities as long as DRose continues to throw himself mercilessly at the basket. The move does violate the 'Don't have more than 2 players on the same team' rule (which the Digits would be in violation of already if not for Josh Smith and Marvin Williams playing musical chairs on the injured list), so anyone interested in, say, Luollapolooza should feel free to send their offers to the Digits trade hotline.

Note: Yes, Mr. Hughes does appear to be wearing a "I Love Strippers" t-shirt.

No Mo Peet

Les Digits drops Peterson, snaps up Tony Allen

Mo-Peet was amazing in 2005-6 in TOR 17/5, with 2 3s, but regressed in each of the past two years, and now looks to be more or less Keith Bogans. On a per minute basis, he's been only a bit worse, but his minutes have been cut in half. There's no reason to think he'll 'explode' anytime soon, though he's a moderately consistent, low-negative guy, and he still seems to have a starting job, fending off Posey and Rasual Butler.

It's looking like the Celtics are going to blow a lot of teams out this year, and Tony Allen may be the beneficiary. Now that he's two years removed from his knee surgery, he looks a lot faster than last year, and has provided quite a bit of offense off the bench (11PPG), including a 23/5 outing on Sunday. He doesn't shoot 3s (that's Eddie House's job), but he is a good thief and even blocks a shot here and there. He's like a poor, blind man's D-Wade, and like D-Wizzle, is prone to a lot of TOs.

Judgment: Like any 6th man, there will be inconsistency here, but for a point starved Digits squad, TAllen is a recipe for success. We speak from experience, however, when we note that those 20 point lines make him hard to drop, even when he's not producing.

The Shawn is Gone

The Digits will admit he only drafted TheShawn Stevenson because he's a really likeable guy. He doesn't do much on the court, but he's very funny and he generally makes the sports section more interesting. As the season goes on, however, his already limited production is likely to get eaten into by the emergence of Nick Young and the return of Gilberte Arenas (or supposed return; your correspondent is not completely convinced the artist formerly known as Agent Zero will return in any meaningful way this season). Swept up by the spirit of the times, the Digits decided it was time for a change.

Vlad the Rod is a known quantity; known mainly as a guy that hangs out near the top of the free agent pool like that piece of toilet paper in your anus hair until some sucker like the Digits picks him up again, believing that his uneven production and 2.5 fouls/game are the price one has to pay for not stocking up on three-point shooting during the draft.

Analysis: Probably not a huge improvement, but the VladRad isn't a huge downer in any category either. True, his FG pct isn't great, but then again he doesn't take that many shots. And he seems to be getting some decent minutes this year.