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.

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.

Week 2 -- A look back

Thenopp vs. Les Digits

(Les Digits' Amare)

In our Week 2 Forecast, we predicted an 11-4 Digits triumph. As we noted in our Saturday Thoughts, however, things didn't work out according to plan - partly due to injury (and the Billups absence) and partly due to some strategic choices. As we suspected then, thenopp's weekend game advantage allowed them to wrest an 8-7 victory from the jaws of defeat.

We did think it would get worse for the Digits, but thanks to some heroic efforts, they just held on to FTM (thanks to 18 from Amare on Sat), STL (Chalmers had 9 on Wed), and OREBs (an all around effort).

Amazingly, Jason Kidd and JamsCraw both shot over .500. That may never happen again.

For thenopp --

The Good: Kidd has been amazing (#2 Y!Rank, so far), but Mike Miller was almost as good this week - 18/6/4 on 55% from the field.

The Bad: Hedo avg'd 14PPG, but only shot 31% (he dropped 35 on the Spoonful tonight, though).

The Ugly: Jermaine - 10 and 5 ain't gonna cut it (again, he had a great night tonight, however).

For Les Digits --

The Good: Amare put up the line of the year (perhaps one of the best ever) on Friday - 17 for 21 for 49 points (15/15 FTs!) with 11 REBs, 6 AST, 5 STL, and 2 BLK. Phenomenal.

The Bad: Al-Horf - 8/9/3 w/2 BLK isn't bad, but I suspect Les Digits wants more. Perhaps withJ-Smoove sidelined, he'll step it up.

The Ugly: Nick Collison has been terrible thus far - 2/5 last week - but has a chance to pick it up with Wilcox out for a bit.

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odensque vs. Mongoose

('goose's Scola)

We predicted an 8-7 Mongoose triumph, and it turned out 8-6-1, and played out along the lines we suggested. Indeed, had odensque not been whistled for an unseemly 3 Techs, our prediction would have have been spot on.

For odensque --

The Good: Brad Miller is back! He double-doubled in both of his first two games, with good PCTs, 4.5APG and 2BPG. This bodes quite well.

The Bad: Shawn 'The Matrix' Marion isn't getting it done: 8 PPG, 7 REB. He's still got 1.7 SPG and a block, but is headed the way of Ben Wallace?

The Ugly: I congratulate Owen on setting his lineup for 2 weeks, but I have to mention that Jerryd Bayless and Marko Jaric haven't played yet, and they aren't injured. Oh wait - Marko played 4 minutes on Sunday. With no stats.

For Mongoose --

The Good: Luis Scola was the unsung hero (15/7/1.5 STL), and other youngsters (Thaddeus/Farmar/Beasley) are playing quite well.

The Bad: C-Vill's 6.3/7.7 avgs last week weren't good enough, especially coupled with his 28% FG%

The Ugly: Why is Ronny Turiaf owned? Is it the 2.8 points or the 2 rebounds?

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The Later Hosens vs. Garbage Speakers

(the Hosen's Nate-Rob)

This was odd - we thought this would be close if the speakers set their lineup, but a 10-4 Hosen blowout if they did not. In the event, the speakers' lineup was not set, yet it was close nonetheless! The Hosen won 8-7, but that they lost not only the 4 negatives, but 3 counting cats against a non-lineup-setter points to some problems on their roster. It's a good thing the Hosen prevailed in both %s, or heads would roll in Later.

The Garbage Speakers, as mentioned, failed to set their lineup for the second week in a row, but managed to win FTM, OREB, and BLK. How did this happen? Well, the Hosen shouldn't feel too bad, as the speakers, remarkably, led the league in BLK, and were 2nd in OREB, and were 4th in FTM. LeBron's 4 games were crucial, as he hit 43 FTs (2nd only to Amare) along with an astonishing 138 points. Biedrins led the league in OREBs with 24, and he had 9 blocks to complement Camby's 10.

For the Hosen --

The Good: Little Nate was terrific - 17/3/4 with 3 SPG. J-Salm was fantastic as well (17/4/3) and should step up (even more) with Little K-Mart out for a couple weeks.

The Bad: I hate to say it, but KG's 14/10, with only 1 APG, 1 SPG and 1 BPG isn't really good enough from a 1st rounder. It's worrisome that he only got to the line 5 times in 4 games. Of course, several of these games were blowouts, but still...

The Ugly: Russell Westbrook 11 points look nice, but on 31% shooting, and with only 2 REB and 1 AST (from a PG, supposedly) doesn't impress.

For the Speakers --

The Good: Aside from the aforementioned LBJ and Biedy (who were awesome), AK-47 continues to yield great results. 16/7/2.5APG, with 1.5 steals and blocks.

The Bad: J-Rich has been poor thus far, and last week, 13/5/3 on 31% shooting isn't enough for the supposed 'go to guy' on his team.

The Ugly: Antonio Daniels seems to be losing ground to SweetNickyY - 3.5/2/4.5 - and is now apparently hurt.

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Nor'Easter vs. tsaogrip 0002

(tsaogrip's Prince)

We thought tsaogrip would pull this one out, but they failed to set their lineup on Saturday and some of Sunday, and let Nor'Easter win 7-6. They tied in AST, and Tsaogrip lost OREB only by 4; had lineups been set, it seems tsaogrip would have won 8-6.

Nor'Easter had a bit of a PG rollercoaster, as both Tony Parker (55PTS!) and Devin Harris (38!) erupted for career games, then both got injured the next day (Parker for a month, Harris more or less day to day). The loss of Maggette looms large as well, as he's a terrific source of PTS and FTM when healthy.

Tsaogrip missed Michael Redd, and now J-How is banged up, and the Harrington situation is a bit of a disaster. K-Perk led the league in blocks last week (he had 17, the Later Hosen had 21), though his negatives are significant.

For Nor'Easter --

The Good: Jameer Nelson woke up, and 12/3/6 with significantly fewer TOs and PFs than usual is promising.

The Bad: Bogut's still not putting up the numbers we expected (8/10/2 with 1.3 blocks, at .385 FG%). Also, Nash's 10/3/7 in Week 2 looked more like Rondo than Paul.

The Ugly: Blatche looks bad. We love his upside, but 29% shooting, 6/5/1 isn't winning him the minutes he needs to blossom.

For Tsaogrip --

The Good: Tayshaun was amazing in Week 2 - 20/8 w/2.5 APG and a BPG and very low negatives and great %s. We don't know if he'll keep it up with AI in town.

The Bad: Actually, 'The Bad Ass' - Delonte West is quietly producing - he shot 55%, 11/3/3, with 2 3s, and over a SPG.

The Ugly: Normally, I'll reserve this space for Raymond Felton, but he was pretty good this week! Michael Finley, however, was not. 2 Points, 5 Rebs, and 2 Ast, on .087 FG%. That's 2 for 23. Ouch!

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The Lovin' Spoonful vs. play my$hkin flute

(LaMarcus - artist unknown)

Despite our bias toward the Spoonful, we're trying to be objective, and predicted a 9-6 victory for the Spoons in Week 2; our optimism was justified by the events of the week, and our prediction nearly borne out (it was 9-5).

What surprised us was an impressive number of 3s - the Spoonful was 2nd only to thenopp in the longball, on the strength of newly acquired Roger Mason (18/3/3 with 3 3's) and Ben Gordon (25/3/4 with 3 3's). Also surprising was a lack of Steals, though Ronnie Brewer made it close on Sunday with an impressive 7. Hopefully that means more to come. Good %s (1st in FG%, 2nd in FT%) bode well for the future as well (or were a fluke!)

my$hkin dominated the defensive glass, winning DREBs by 90 (and were 1st in the league by 45), but only battled to a tie in OREB. Pau, Nene, G-Wall, and the 'Thrila' were all over 10 RPG, and many others were close. They were in the top half of the league in most categories, and looks well balanced, other than a glut of DREBers (and thus PFs)

For the Spoonful --

The Good: Mason and Gordon have been huge, and D-Wade was the best, by AVG, player last week in !hoo, but perhaps underappreciated has been LaMarcus, whose 23/8/2, with 2 blocks have been quite impressive. What will Oden's return mean?

The Bad: Kevin Durant has been just OK. 20/4/3 doesn't sound bad, but it's not enough all-round production, and the 4 TOs hurt. (He poured in 37 tonight, so I'll stop whining).

The Ugly: According to Yahoo!, again by averages, David Lee was the Spoonful's worst player - 10/4/1 on 41% shooting, and now he's lost his job. Very sad. Beno, Stuckey, A-John, Warrick, and L-Will have all been inconsistent at best, and ugly at worst...

For the $hkin flute --

The Good: Nene's a beast, RayRay woke up, and DuDu is playing very well, but OJ Mayo was a revelation this week - 23/5/2.5 (and he didn't stop tonight) - and may make the RoY race a three man contest.(Note - 33 points tonight!)

The Bad: A-Ig is not geting it done: shooting 37% - 9/6/4 - not 4th round production. All the Sixers have been a mess, actually (except perhaps Thaddeus).

The Ugly: Absolutely nothing is not 5th round production, and that's all the M-Dunl has provided. His injury is still lingering, it seems, and must be a concern. Also, Leandrinho Barrrbosa, 8/4/3 - and that was with Matt Barnes out of town...(Note: I just saw he scored 27 tonight)

Week 1 - A look back

The Later Hosens vs. tsaogrip 0002

(Hosen's Paul Pierce, and friend)

In the Week 1 Forecast we predicted an 8-6 tsaogrip victory. It ended up 7-7-1, but not entirely for the reasons we suspected. While we were quite correct that 4 games from Redd and R-Jeff would give tsaogrip a boost (tops in the league in FGM, 3s, and PTS). We thought the Hosen would win 3's and DREB, and that tsaogrip would take FTM and FT%. What went wrong?

In 3's, Redd (11), Harrington (11), and Q-Rich (9) had excellent weeks, while for the Hosen, no one had more than 5 (Little Nate). Dismal weeks from Rafer and Barnes contributed to the Hosens lack of the long ball.

With respect to DREBs, we thought with only 2 Boozer games, tsaogrip would suffer. But Al-Jeff came through with 28 DREBs, and of course Oden was limited to 2 (significantly fewer than expected). Indeed tsaogrip led the league in DREBs as well (and AST, too!)

We were quite surprised by the excellence of the Hosen's percentages (2nd best in the league in both FG% - 47.3 and FT% - 78.3). David West shot 94% from the line, Granger 89%, T-Mac 83%, and T.J. Ford hit all 10 of his attempts from the stripe. That seems a bit flukey to us. The win in FTM is directly related. If they'd shot 72% rather than 78%, FTM would have been lost as well.

For the Hosen --

The Good: David West was a beast - 67/19

The Bad: PP shot 42% from the field and 63% from the line

The Ugly: Noah was not good - only 14MPG, 3PTs and not enough else to make up for it.

For tsaogrip --

The Good: Q-Rich is back! 3 games, 9 3s 52 PTS and 15 REBs

The Bad: Felton - 5.5PPG, 6.5APG, 2.5TO, 4PF - 21% FG%

The Ugly: K-Perk - .385 FG%, 3PPG, 7RPG, 4.7PF/G, and a crucial DISQ.

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Nor'easter vs. Mongoose

(Nor'Easter's Corey Maggette)

Our forecast was for a 9-6 Nor'easter victory, primarily due to the absence of the Mongoose's top 2 draft picks, D-Williams and B-Davis. The final score was 10-5 Nor'easter, Our category predictions were generally close, though we wrongly thought the Goose would win PFs and FT%. Instead, Mongoose had the worst FT% - 72% (and, it should be noted, the worst FG% - 41%) and the most PFs (132).

We were focussed on the Nor'easter bigs and their FT% woes (D-Howard, Duncan), and they were poor (51 and 64%, respectively), but a remarkable 28 FTM from C-Maggs made up for a lot. It turns out the culprit for the Mongoose was surprising: Rajon Rondo went 12-24 from the stripe. We'll be keeping a close eye to see if PCTs are a continuing issue for Mongoose in the weeks ahead.

For Nor'Easter--

The Good: A lot of good news - but overlooked amidst the excitement of RudyFern, Al-Thornt, and Pietrus is the amazing Joe Johnson, who averaged 30/5/3.5 with a steal and 2 3PG - 58% from the field!

The Bad: Jeff Foster, with only Rasho ahead of him, averaged 3PPG and 5RPG, shooting 16% from the field

The Ugly: Randy Foye - 7/3/5 - 22% shooting and 3.3.TO/G.

For Mongoose --

The Good: Beasley! Though it may not be good that his best player is a rookie, M-Beast debuted at 17/6 with a block and most of a 3 with few PFs or TOs

The Bad: Bynum  with 8/7 has to be a disappointment despite the 2 blocks.

The Ugly: Earl Watson was a bundle of bad - 6/4/5 with a steal, but 27% from the field and no 3s. Westbrook looks to overtake him sooner rather than later.

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Les Digits vs. play my$hkin flute

(J-Smoove of Les Digits)

We predicted something of a my$hkin blowout, as we just didn't see enough PT for Les Digits. Instead, the young Digits had just enough to win many of the specialty categories (AST by 5, BLK by 2, OREB by 2, DREB by 11) while winning all 4 negatives en route to a 10-5 victory. They did lose points by 100 (and were 200 behind the league leader), but it was an impressive all-round performance given the lack of games.

My$hkin should perhaps worry that they couldn't put the shorthanded Digits away, though it should be noted that if T-Chand hadn't missed 2 games, My$hkin would have easily won BLK, OREB, DREB, and perhaps even FG%. Dunleavy also missed 2 games, which would have put AST in my$hkin's column. This matchup was a lot closer than the final score indicates.

For Les Digits --

The Good: Rookies Rose and Chalmers stole the headlines, buy J-Smoove averaged 15.5/10.5, with 1.5 3s, and 3.5 blocks AND steals. Very impressive.

The Bad: Mike Conley - 7/3/2 in 3 games doesn't look so hot.

The Ugly: Marvin Williams, in his 1 game, had 2 points. He'll surely improve, but still...

For my$hkin --

The Good: Pau has really become quite a player. While he's not going to score 20/G in LA, his 14/10/3, with a block and good PCTs bodes well.

The Bad: RayRay averaged only 11/4/1, with 1 3pg. Is he done?

The Ugly: Leandro only had 7PPG (and nothing much else). Disturbing.

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thenopp vs. odensque

(odensque's Calderon)

We predicted an odensque 8-7 upset over thenopp, and were exactly right! We thought that Odensque would win DREB and STL, in which categories thenopp prevailed, but with 4 negatives, BLK, 3s, and splits in the %s and REBS, odensque won the battle.

Marc Gasol's emergence for thenopp is largely responsible for their surprisingly good REB numbers. Recall that their frontcourt is Yao, Z-Bo, J O'Neal, and the rookies M. Gasol and B-Lopez. Impressively Turkoglu averaged 6.7 RPG. Gasol averaged 8 and 8 in week 1 (and went off for 27 and 16 tonight).

Odensque got a bit less than expected from the Matrix and will need even more steals from him, Big Ben, and Moon in order to run the Doggers strategy successfully. Jose Calderon looks like he's going to average 10 assists, but it's shamefully going to waste on a team with no other PGs.

For thenopp --

The Good: Z-Bo! 16 and 10 with a surprising 2APG and 1SPG, with low negatives is very exciting in the new uptempo offense.

The Bad: Jermaine looks bad - 11/7/3, with 2 BPG doesn't sound terrible, but poor %s and 5.3 PF/G will hurt every week.

The Ugly: Wally - 6.5/1/0, with 3 fouls and half a 3PG ain't pretty.

For odensque --

The Good: Calderon shot 50% from the field, hit 14 of 14 FTs, and had 29 assists (only 8 TOs) and 6 3s in 3 games. Looks a lot like Steve Nash to me.

The Bad: Raja Bell - 10PPG, 1.3 3s, 1SPG, and absolutely nothing else. Can still be a cog in a Dogger-type team, but it's pretty hard to get .3 rebounds per game in 30 minutes - you have to run away from the ball, it seems to me

The Ugly: Darko at 5/5 with only .5 BPG isn't helping, at this point. Gasol's emergence in MEM makes him even less appealing.

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garbage speakers vs. The Lovin' Spoonful

(Spoonful's Udrih)

We conservatively predicted an 8-6 Spoonful victory. If we had known about the extent of Camby's injury, we might have bumped that up to 10-5 (assuming the Spoonful would then win OREB and DREB). As it turned out, the Speakers did not set their lineup, and it's hard to know how things would have gone had he done so. The Spoonful, in the event cruised to a 10-4 victory - losing FG%, TO, PF, and, embarrassingly, 3s.

The Spoonful expected to be quite competitive in FG% - but trading Gooden and Parker hurt that somewhat. Moreover, K-Durant and K-Mart are hurting the FG% right now. The Spoonful made a number of moves to be more competitive in 3s, adding Roger Mason and Lou Williams, but still are quite lacking in the category.

For the Speakers --

The Good: AK-47 - 14/7.5/3.5, 1.5 STL, 2 .5BLK - is he back? If so, quite a steal in the 8th round

The Bad: Odom - 8/6/2 isn't good enough.

The Ugly: Antonio Daniels - 7.5/1.5/4.5, and losing his job to Nick Young?

For the Spoonful --

The Good: Bosh was amazing 26/10/4 with a steal and a block - fine %s too, and only 1.7 PF/G

The Bad: If K-Mart only scores 18PPG, and shoots 38%, and doesn't rebound at all, the Spoonful is in trouble.

The Ugly: Beno - 8/3/4 is poor; his job may be in jeopardy at some point too.