Recent Moves

Spoonful drop Landry for Brooks

With Alston out, and the gap-toothed, oft-picked-up-and-dropped Landry not turning into Paul Millsap, the Spoonful elected to get on the Aaron Brooks train for the second time. Brooks will again provide some points, 3s and AST. Expect 18 and 10 in Landry's next game

Judgment Haiku:

Bricks clang, whistles blow

Fouls and TOs aplenty;

Rockets never launch

My$hkin cuts DeShawn for Belinelli

Marco Belinelli is the next Rob Kurz - he started and scored 21 points, after two nice games off the bench. Remarkably, if I'm not mistaken, 11 Warriors are owned right now, and none of them are Wright or Randolph. DeShawn is still doing his thing, but remains upside-free.

Judgment Limerick:

A guard, Belinelli, a Warri-

-or has become a great I-talian story,

Once allowed on the floor,

He went off for 21, 4, and 4,

And Nellie exclaimed: "That's Amore!"

My$hkin drops Miles for Walton

Luke Walton is suddenly starting, sending VladRad to the bench - it seems to be working, as the Lakers have won 4 straight, and LukeLuke himself had a nice 14/5/2 line in his last outing. Miles and his fellow black starter, Ronnie Brewer were benched for most of the last Utah game by J-Slo, and some think his run as a starter may be close to an end. We think C.J. will be somewhat useful going forward

Judgment, in Prose: We like this move - Walton's always been intriguing, and, when healthy, can be a nice all-round contributor. He does have some competitiion (T-Ariz and VladRad) at SF, so keep an eye on his minutes going forward. For your poetry fix - check out C.J. Miles (the nba player, not the sexy filipina model) rapping...

Spoonful releases Rasho, picks up Marreese

This was another quick, though perhaps ill-advised, pickup by the Spoonful. E-Brizzle is out for a month with a separated shoulder, and Speights, discussed originally here, should see an uptick in PT. That might just mean more fouls and missed FTs, but Marreese is intriguing as a young, athletic big-man. Perhaps the Hosens would be interested in a Bonner/Speights package deal. Rasho's been OK, though annoyingly inconsistent and foul-prone, but has lost his starting gig to an unholy combination of Roy Hibbert and Jeff Foster. Fun fact - originally, the Hosen dropped Speights for Rasho back in October.

Judgment Haiku:

Rasho, piece of poop

Similarities abound.

Can Marreese be worse?

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.

Da Juices!

Spoonful drop Mason jr. for Mike 'the juices' james

Again, in response to breaking trade news (James/Crittenton to WAS - A-Dan to NO), the Spoonful felt it was necessary to run out and make a move.

Roger Mason has been quite a productive waiver wire pickup for the Spoonful, but his production has slowed with the returns of Parker and Ginobili, the rejuvenation of Finley, the inclusion of George Hill in the rotation, and the sharpshooting of BonBon. He's still probably good for 10 pts and 1.5 3s per game, but very little in AST or REB to put flesh on those bones.

We, of course, love the Juices (as do the ladies), and fondly recall his glorious spring of '06 (25/3/7 with 3 3s). Those days are long gone, of course, and he's been useless for the last two years. This year, he's been basically 6th on the G depth chart in NO, behind Paul, Devin Brown, Posey, Mo Peet, and Roswell Butler. In fact, he hasn't played more than 12 minutes all season, and has DNP'ed 9 of the last 10 games. Some say young Crittenton is the future PG in WAS, but the Spoonful suspect he's not yet ready, and James will be the immediate beneficiary of the trade. He'll surely get more minutes, and we'll see if his 33 year old legs still have Juice.

Judgment: Looking more closely at the stats, in particular at James' poor record for the last two years, this may be quite a foolish move. If the Juices don't pan out, though, other folks are available, and Mason is quite replaceable at this point.

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.

Mevans won't be missed

My$hkin drops Mo evans for hot Hakim Warrick

Mo Evans, discussed here, got a bit more PT than expected due to a number of Hawks injuries, mainly to Josh Smith. Indeed he's averaging over 25 MPG at this point, though that's been declining of late. He's played pretty well at times, but is prone to some terrible shooting nights (0 for 6 yesterday, 0 for 7 last Wednesday). He's strange in that he's sometimes quite a sound rebounder, and sometimes doesn't seem to bother. He never passes or blocks. We suspect he'll be picked up again at some juncture, though he's really just a contributor in PTS and (sometimes) 3s.

Hakim, already dropped twice by the Spoonful, finally appears to be getting his offense together: he's strung together 4 straight double-digit games, and got a season-high 35 miniutes on Monday, putting up an 18/8 line. (Tonight, we note, he managed only 9/6 in 15 minutes). It's been frustrating for him and his owners. We know Hakim is capable of 18/8 on a regular basis and can block a shot here and there, but his lack of defensive effort and the emergence of OJ Mayo as an offensive option seem to make Warrick ess useful.

Judgment: This is a strong move by my$hkin. We love Warrick's offensive talent, though it looks like he will continue to frustrate. MEvans is no Josh Childress, however, and is no great loss.

He still McCants shoot

Nor'easter drops McCants for Kyle Lowry

We've discussed McCants here, and Lowry here.

Both McCants and Lowry have been promoted to the starting lineups of their terrible teams lately. McCants had a couple double-digit games last week, but it's hard to get excited about 12/3. Lowry hasn't exactly been super-hot, but had nice 17/2/4 line (which got him into the lineup) and his minutes are in the mid-twenties.

Judgment: We like this move - Lowry, when effective, is an all-round player - he'll get 4 to 6 REBs and AST and some STL, while McCants is really just a scorer.

'Nilla Gorilla

Odensque claims Thrilla, drops anderson

my$hkin dropped Joel Przyzbilla recently, and he continues to play quite well, even in a bench role (11/11 with 2 BLK last night).

Rookie Ryan Anderson, discussed here, just hasn't done much - he's getting maybe 18 minutes a night, and does hit the occasional 3, but isn't scoring or rebounding enough to justify a roster spot.

Judgment: This is a move we can get behind - we were somewhat shocked that the Vanilla Gorilla was shown the door so unceremoniously by P.M.P., and Joel's BLK/OREB combo should fit well with odensque's team style.

'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.

Next up, Uncle Cliffy

odensque drops Joe Smith, picks up Donyell

Well, there's no question that dropping Joe Smith is the right call. We've discussed him before, and he's gotten no younger, or better, since. Nor has he gotten much in the way of opportunity of late, as both 'Cox and Colly have been productiv-ish of late. Odensque picked him up after his 2 double-digit games on the 10th and 12th of November. He's hit 10 pts just twice since then. He's was still getting minutes until OKC's last two games, where he's been DNP-CD'ed.

Somehow, in replacing #1 Joe, odensque found someone older - pear-shaped stalwart Donyell Marshall. Donyell was drafted out of UConn the year before Smith (1994). For a while in the early years of the century, he was like a Squat Shawn Marion: averaging a 3, a steal, and a block per game. In 2003-04, he put up an impressive 16/10 with 2 3s and a steal and a block. Very impressive fantasy stuff. He's only played in 4 games this year - but he has played 14 minutes in the last two games, thanks to Elton Brand's injury, scoring 13, with 3 3s and 5 rebounds on Saturday. Elton looks like he'll be back soon, and Donyell should revert to having no value.

Judgment: Frankly, this is a bit of a disaster. We love Donyell (and even remember his brother Donny fondly), but we just don't see him being productive for long (though he may be the 5th best player on the 76ers) - though we wouldn't put anything past a desperate-to-save-his-job Mo Cheeks. Dropping Joe Smith is a no brainer, but there are many better options available in the FAP. Fun fact: these two were sort of traded for each other in the 3-team Ben Wallace/Larry Hughes deal last year.

The Kleiz is Right

Nor'Easter drops Brooks, picks up Kleiza

U of O standout Aaron Brooks, discussed many times, has continued to produce, but is fairly one-dimensional, and has benefitted less than most from the Rockets' injury woes due to the strong recent play of Skip-to-my-lou. Surprisingly good bench production from L-Head and Von Wafer(!) have cut into Brooks 'microwave' role off the bench. Brooks is a three-teamer thus far - will he join his fourth?

The Spoonful recently dropped Kleiza, who now joins his third team, and Nor'Easter was looking to improve his rebounding without giving up 3s. Kleiza is a perfect fit! He gets his 22 minutes, 10 pts, a couple 3s, and a few DREBs. He's not rebounding, as mentioned in a previous post, at the rate he did in the past (partly because he's not being asked to play PF...yet),

Judgment: We think this is a strong move for Nor'Easter. They're both consistent 6th-7th men and provide strong 3-shooting. The shift to (supposedly) better rebounding is a smart one, and we believe Kleiza has more upside in general.

Rasho-mine!

Spoonful drops Posey for Rasho

 

Not much to say here: Posey (recently discussed here), performed as advertised in a week of games for the Spoonful, some 3s, some DREBs, that's about it.

Rasho, just dropped by the Hosens, had a nice game (despite a DISQ) on Sunday (14/4/3) against the Celtics. Despite rumors that Hibbert might get some starts going forward, Rasho is still a decent, if inconsistent, source of REBs, FG%, and maybe even BLK.

Judgment: Just a trade of 3s/STL for some OREBs/AST/BLK, along with some extra PFs and some DISQ-risk. With the decline of Mason and the disappearance of Morrow, competing in 3s seems unlikely, so this kind of fine-tuning to shore up some weaknesses is a wise, if unexciting, move.

Gorilla in the Mist

My$hkin drops the Thrilla, picks up Varejao

In a shocking move, My$hkin, lover of all gorillas vanilla, dropped the Thrilla, previously discussed here. to pick up Anderson Varejao. With Oden sliding into the starting 5, Przyzbilla's minutes have been even more inconsistent, complementing the natural inconsistency of a foul prone big man. He had a terrific 8/14/2 BLK night last Tuesday, but has gone 4/4, 7/8, and 5/5 in 3 games since. He'll continue to be a useful source of BLK, and this year, his FT% is above 50%! Fun fact - the Thrilla is DISQ-free so far this year.

Varejao had a monster 17/7 (in 23 minutes!) night on Friday, and followed up with an OK 8/5 on Saturday. His prospects haven't changed much since we discussed him here, but we love his talent, good looks, and hustle.

Judgment: Overall, we think perhaps my$hkin should have kept the Vanilla Gorilla, and dropped 'Captain Jean' Luc-Richard for Varejao, leaving DeShawn in the Misty FAP.

In other Vanilla news, we would like to take this space to note that (in a ridiculous blowout), Joe 'Vanilla Sky' Alexander had 15 points, including this sweet putback:

Mby$hkin no Mbore

My$hkin cuts Mbah a Moute, picks up DeShawn

We discussed Mbah a Moute here; the return of Redd and the improved play of Villanueva have made him expendable. His minutes had declined (a low of 4 on Friday), though he had a nice 31 minute, 14/6 line on Sunday, but that was in a complete blowout. By the way, what is up with Malik Allen starting at PF for the Bucks?

DeShawn, discussed in the semi-famous 'paper in your anus hair' post, has been surfing the FAP for nearly a full month. He's started every game for the Wiz and has averaged 30 minutes. That's the good news. The Rest of the Story includes the fact that he's shooting 33% (and 61% from the field). He's averaging 8/2/4, and not really producing much at all. He had his best game of the season last Tuesday (21/3/5), so maybe things are looking up? Fun fact: The Lovin' Spoonful picked DeShawn in the second to last round of the 2002 draft...

Judgment: Luc Richard may work his way back into the lineup/rotation soon, as he does seem like a 'Scott Skiles guy', despite his skintone and rumored heterosexuality. So keep an eye on him. We think my$hkin could do better than DeShawn, but if his shot were to fall a little more often, he's at least getting minutes.