Price drops!

My$hkin drops Price for mo evans

We discussed Jazz PG Ronnie Price here, when My$hkin picked him up. He was playing fairly well, but the retun of Deron Wiliams has limited Price's PT (though he's still getting 20 MPG) and stats significantly.

Maurice Evans has been high on the Yahoo! availability lists for most of the season. The thought was that he'd take on the 6th man role in ATL vacated by Josh Childress. He'd been languishing on the Laker bench for a couple years, then was traded to ORL (for T-Ariz) and played well for them. He's a solid 3PT shooter, and this year, he has been notably inconsistent, even with a minutes increase due to Josh Smith's absence. In his last two games, he's been quite productive (17/5 and 19/9).

Judgment: We like Mo, but are inclined to think J-Smoove's return will relegate him to the status of 'pretty useless'. Ironically, that's just what's happened to Price in recent days. Let's see how Evans's minutes and performance are affected...and if we're writing about him being dropped next week. Either way, he's a better player than Price, and his 3s will be useful.

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.

Newsflash: Nellie is a gouty sack of poo

Spoonful drop Wright, pick up Posey

Don Nelson's inexplicable and ineffective lineup changes are, of course, extremely frustrating, and that his gimmicky bullshit passes for 'good coaching' explains a lot about why NBA basketball is so terribly unpleasant to watch. We realize he's won 1200 games in his 'illustrious career', and that he 'revolutionized the game' (meaning endless barrages of ill-considered 3 pointers, and lugubrious intentional fouling techniques), but, at least since his heyday in Milwaukee (in the mid 80s), his record is unimpressive, getting to the Conference finals just once in the last twenty years, with an underperforming Dallas team that featured two MVPs (Dirk and Nash) and Finley in his prime. After running his best players out of town (again), and getting 'his ass handed to him' by a terrible Knicks team last night, who knows what crap he'll pull out of his addled brain next? Unfortunately for Warriors fans and Anthony Morrow owners, because he went to the same rehab clinic as Warriors GM Chris Mullin, Nellie's job is apparently quite safe.

 

In any event, as his ego outstrips his will to win, and his gout flares up with more frequency, he continues to squander an abundance of talent in Golden State, and Brandan Wright, previously discussed here, is, unfortunately, one of the many victims, like Chris Webber and Terry Cummings before him.

James Posey was also discussed recently, and his circumstances have not changed much.

Judgment: The Spoonful are hoping that Posey is closer to 11/5 than 9/3, but are not terribly optimistic. Nonetheless, Posey offers more consistent production, if fewer BLK and less upside, than Wright at this point, and we commend the Spoonful for not dropping Carl Landry.

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.

Kleiza Dropped!

Thenopp drops Kleiza, picks up J. Maxiell

We discussed Maxiell here. He's had 10+ PTS in 4 straight (until today), including an eye-opening 13/8/6 BLK line. We know he had that kind of potential, and could put up 13 & 8 with decent block numbers easily if given the minutes, and if he can stay out of foul trouble. But a crowded frontcourt and the imminent return of McDyess give us pause. Also, those 4 games were either blowouts, or against teams with poor frontcourts (the Bogut-less Bucks, for example).

Linas Kleiza, Denver's Lithuanian backup SF/PF, was thenopp's 15th round pick. Since he gets few minutes as Carmelo's backup, the Nugs sometimes try to play him at PF (he's started there twice this year), where, gets some rebounds, but isn't much of a defender. On the other hand, he's a good shooter, and shoots a fair number of 3s. We saw toward the end of last year that he can put up big PTS numbers when his 3s are falling, but doesn't provide much else. He's averaging 10/4 this year (basically the same as last year)., and unless he gets significantly more minutes as Big K-Mart gets banged up, probably won't get much higher than that. Still, his 3's/DREB combination will make him useful for some team.

Judgment: Though we suspect Kleiza will put up better overall numbers this year, Maxiell makes sense for thenopp. As an addition to their relatively thin frontcourt (Yao, Hurt Jermaine, B-Lop, and M-Gas), Maxy should provide, though inconsistently, enough blocks and OREB to be useful. Watch the minutes when McDyess returns, however, or if one of the other Piston frontcourters (Herrmann, A-Johnson) gets hot.

Stuckey on Repeat?

Spoonful drop Warrick, pick up Stuckey

Just for variety, the Spoonful dropped Warrick rather than Landry this time, to pick up formerly dropped Rodney Stuckey. Though consumed with regret after dropping Warrick last time (for Nicolas Batum), Warrick has frankly done nothing to justify that regret, or his roster spot. He had one really good 21/10 game, but is averaging only 9 and 5 on the season. We're honestly not sure why, as rookie Darrell Arthur hasn't been 'all that' either. It seems with Gasol and (in one game) Darko up front to rebound, and prolific scorers in Mayo and Gay, Warrick (generally offensive minded) just isn't useful. He may turn it around, but we doubt there will be (consistent) cause for regret.

Stuckey, the dropping of whom was not regretted at all, has also been poor, but he has improved his play (if not his shooting), of late, recording a 13/5/11 double double on Wednesday, showing a bit of what 'they say' he can do. He may start on Friday (since AI decided to skip practice), so that will give him a chance to earn his keep. If he reverts to his 5/2 with 4 TO form, he'll be back in the FAP by next week. With no regrets!

Judgment: This looks to us like a move-for-move's sake, though it would be a shame to miss out on Stuckey. It looks to us as if the Spoonful missed out on Blatche and on re-claiming E-Gord, and needed to shake things up in the locker room. The Spoonful still need rebounds, but neither player is providing much there. It might be Melvin Ely time sooner than we think...

Gordon joins the 3-team club!

Nor'easter drops Jack, picks up E-Gordon

We discussed Jack a while back, and, since Nor'Easter picked him up, he's been predictably, doing his 8/3/3 thing with extraordinary consistency. He's one T.J. Ford injury away from doing his 11/4/4 thing with starter's minutes.

E-Gord, discussed often, was impetuously dropped by the Spoonful, and was certainly (after his two breakout games) going to be picked up on waivers. He looks more or less locked into a starting gig, given the terrible-ness that is Ricky Buckets v.2008, and will be quite useful if his shot falls.

Judgment: The rich get richer! An excellent pickup for Nor'Easter - if E-Gord turns into a pumpkin, Jack or the equivalent will surely be available (and, honestly, and E-Gord-O-Lantern may be more productive than J.Jack anyway).

Fantasy Quidditch?

Hosens acquire young wizards, drop marbury, rhino

The Hosen picked up JaVale McGee and Andray Homunculus Blatche, dropping Marbury and Craig 'Rhino' Smith. The Wizards fired their coach on Sunday night, and the very next evening, Andray Blatche went crazy: 11-18 for 25 PTS, 12 REB, 5 AST, and 5 BLK - he even hit a 3. 'The Big Secret' also had his best game since his Nov. 12 breakout, posting a solid 14/5 line. With the Wiz at 2-13, and a new coach, the youngster's should get some play. The Hosen boldly pulled the trigger on both.

Marbury remains on the bench, despite being asked to play by his coach, and the Rhino put up a goose-egg last night (presumably he's just way too short to guard Shaq or Amare), portending some inconsistency.

Judgment: This was certainly a high upside move, and if one or the other Wiz emerges solidly, the other can be dropped. The problem is, as with almost all young big men, that there will be several nights like tonight, they'll rack up 11 PTs and 11 PFs combined - perilously close to the dreaded double DISQ. On the other hand, Marbury's situation isn't getting any better (or clearer - though he might get released soon?), and Smith is eminently replacable -- overall, a coup for the Hosen!

Whoops!

Spoonful drops e. gordon, picks up landry...again

But this is the last time. We discussed E-Gord here, and Lando many times. Despite rushing to drop Landry for Gordon in the aftermath of the trade. Landry again demonstrated the power of the 'Brooks/Landry effect' - instant production from a recently dropped player, by having some fine games. This time, though, he's had 4 solid games in a row - bumping Hakim Warrick into the Spoonful's 'about-to-drop' doghouse. Gordon, however, went off, in his second game as the Clips SG (25 PTS! 4 3s!) and again in his third (24 PTS! 4 3s!). We're still skeptical - the kid's 19 and couldn't shoot in college - or in his first 13 games. He doesn't produce much outside of PTS and 3s, and will surely make a lot of rookie mistakes. Plus, when Z-Bo gets in the flow, no one else will be allowed to shoot. We predict 11 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, and 1.5 3s the rest of the way - but that's not bad!

Judgment: Clearly a mistake and a lack of patience on the Spoonful's part - the only saving grace is that Landry's REBs are more in line with team needs. But to negate a timely, if hastily managed, acquisition such as this, will haunt the Spoonful for some time.

My$hkin acquires 'Can't Jam'

My$hkin drops Posey for C j Miles

James 'HighSocks' Posey, despite his (real NBA) post-season heroics, has never quite been an elite fantasy producer (though he has the skills). In some ways, he's morphing from 'Little Lamar Odom' into 'Big Bruce Bowen' before our eyes. His 9 PTS/2 3's and sterling defensive reputation sure seem Bowen-esque. He gets 4 rebounds (all DREBs), and maybe an assist or steal per game. His 'veteran leadership' and good D does mean that, unlike most bench players, his minutes (28, at present) are consistent. He's oddly unable to garner a starting gig, even with MoPeet hurt and The Juices in the doghouse, and is now playing behind Roswell 'The New Alien' Butler, for some reason. If Posey were still 14/5 with 2 3's, he'd be a clear 'add', but at 9 PPG, he's only super useful in 3s.

C.J. "Can't Jam" Miles (again - not to be confused with the 'sexy filipina model of the same name - especially when seeking pictures of the former) was discussed here; and remains the starting SF in Utah. That may continue, as it seems like J-Sloan is happier having AK-47 relieve at PF. He's continues to be fairly productive - mostly points - it will be interesting to see if his touches decrease when the Jazz get back to full strength (if).

Judgment: When we saw this on the wire, we were frankly a bit surprised, as Posey has an 'all-round contributor' reputation, and Miles has no reputation at all. The numbers, though, are less clear. My$hkin will gain in PTS, FGM, FG%, FTM, AST, but lose in STL, DREB, and 3s. My$hkin is relatively strong in 3s and DREB, so we approve, tentatively.

Mr. 'Dropping his Thunder'-pants

THe Later Hosens drop Wilkins, pick up C. Smith

All right - time to get back on the posting - there's a lot of catching up to do, so these may be a bit short...

We discussed D.Wilk quite recently here. The Hosens did not show a great deal of patience with him, but it looks like he has a starting gig in OKC (CJK's latest FAP Post explains in detail). He didn't look very good in Wednesday action (3/2/2, in 33 minutes), but the OKCs were blown out so badly by the CLEs it's a bit hard to draw conclusions. Then again, the 'small-ball' lineup is now 0-2, which might draw a reconsideration from the new coach. On the other hand, the Thunda are now 1-15, so 0-2 might look good.

Craig 'The Rhino' Smith has yet to be discussed...until now! That said, there's not much to say. In his 3rd year out of BC (go Eagles!), the T-Wolf F-C has gotten some run lately, due in part to Kevin Love's disappearance, and a lack of production from any of the other frontcourt options in town (one of the J-Collinses, Mark Madsen, and 'The Custodian'). If K-Love doesn't step it up, the Wolves are really weak up front. Smith is not tall (well, he's 6'7", but he's not tall for an NBA PF), but he is fat, and clogs up the lane like nobody's business. I watched his game against Boston, and he's just a bit too slow to play good defense. He gets a lot of layups, but surprisingly few rebounds, and will presumably get 20 minutes a night against halfcourt oriented teams (note his good games have been against PHI and DET). His role may increase if Love continues to disappoint.

Judgment: The Hosen need big men, but Wilkins' current opportunity is intriguing; moreover, there are higher upside bigs available. Well, there were. As we'll see, the Hosen dropped the Rhino in his quest to corner the WAS frontcourt.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Throw 'em right back.

Well, I should say right from the start that given the high degree of inaccuracy of my last FAP review, managers would be well served to completely disregard or even contradict the advice which follows. I’m also a little drunk and have to get up way too soon. . . That said, here’s another delightful installment of the FAP 411.

The overall FAP outlook is pretty bleak, having been fairly exhausted at this point. Notably, Mike Conley and Carl Landry have been logging some serious frequent flyer miles of late. Nobody wants them, and yet there’s nobody better, it would seem.

I think there’s several guys worth a look and a few that really should be owned instead of, say, Ronnie Turiaf:

James Posey: Somebody better claim him off waivers. His line of 9/4/1 isn’t thrilling, but he helps in all categories: Decent percentages, good in negatives, 2 threes and a steal per game. Plus he’s getting starters minutes so you know his numbers are reliable.

Bobby Simmons: Seems to be starting to ball. Last week in three games he went 9/7/3 with a three and a steal/game. If he keeps it up he definitely should be owned.

Deshwan Stevenson: Is suddenly an assist machine, dealing out 27 in the last four games and only turning over the ball twice in that span. 8/3/7 with two 3’s and a steal, 0.5 TO’s and 0.3 PFs. Duh.

Antoine Wright: Blew up tonight (24/4/1 with a block and a DISQ) after hardly playing at all this season. He got the start over Gerald Green who sucks yet has been starting over Jerry Stackhouse and Jason Terry who are good. So who knows if this is the start of something good or just a one night hoot.

Acie Law 4: Creamed his wheat with a 20/6/7 performance on Saturday. It was garbage time and the Atlanta starters are locked in, but golly it makes me drool.

Craig Smith: has been stringing together some nice games for hapless Minnesota, and it looks like coach is rewarding him. His numbers are certainly erratic, but he’s gotten at least 20 minutes a night for the last six games. And as delicious as Kevin Love’s manboobs are, Smith is clearly the better player.

Antonio Mcdyess: Will resign with the Pistons within the week and be his usual ownable if not awesome self for the now completely retarded Pistons. The worse trade ever will lead to more O-Rebs for Mcdyess when he returns. But wait, he’ s been owned all this time. Ben’s patience will be rewarded.

Tony Allen: is more awesome than you think. But more on that later.

The Rest: Ronald Murray, Jarvis Hayes, Eddie House, Maurice Evans, VladRad, and Leon Powe are all better than someone on your team. (Maybe. I took a look, and there wasn’t as much dead weight on the teams in our league as I thought, and most of it is on Ben’s team.)

New Coaches
News that OKC and Washington have fired their coaches, PJ "I deserve to be choked" Carlisemo and Eddie Jordan, should have all of us looking closely at those teams’ next few games. In Washington the Etan Thomas, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee merry-go-round may stop spinning and one ownable, highly sought after big man may emerge. Ditto for the guards. In OKC the changes are already starting to happen. Durant has been moved his natural position of SF, bringing Damien Wilkins at least temporarily into the spotlight while Desmond Mason heals up. The abominations playing center seem to have been relegated to poo-gatory, giving Nick Collison his due. However, it turns out that it was at the insistence of OKC management, not PJ, that Swift and Petro have been given so many minutes so far. Their lumbering ineptness will be back soon, I’m sure. Note: Since writing this, the author has picked up several of the afore-mentioned Washington big men for which he apologizes. But after tonight’s OKC game, it would seem that Swift and Petro are no longer in the rotation and that the Wilkins/Mason combo deserves a look.

Addressing Needs
In the absence of super exciting, breakout players there is one great strategy for working the FAP, and that is to address your team’s specific needs. Is there a category or categories that you could dramatically bolster with a mediocre player? Percentages and negatives are cats that are easy to overlook, but are worth just as much at the end of the day as points and rebounds. Keyon Dooling, Wally Szerbiak, and Mikki Moore don’t take a ton of shots, but are solid in percentages, and can help counterbalance players who hoist up tons of shots or miss lots of free throws. Jarvis Hayes, Eddie House, and Tony Allen (all of whom should be owned) commit very few fouls and TO’s. This is obviously related to limited playing time, but it means that they will help out in other categories and hurt you very little. On the flip side, my man Paul Millsap started and logged serious minutes last night, helping in several categories, but also got 6 fouls. That one disastrous DISQ may well cost me a category whereas his points and rebounds probably won’t make a difference.


The most obvious categories for impactful improvement are 3’s, steals, and blocks, where one awesome guy can make the difference between winning and losing. Right now there’s not a ton of steals and blocks out there. Joel Anthony and Anthony Randolf are b-ball-blocking-beasts, both averaging 2.7 per game last week, but erratic playing time makes them risky pick-ups. Eric Gordon and Sergio Rodriguez have been getting steals aplenty, but ditto on their playing time. So, blocks and steals are tough. However, Three’s are there for the taking, and could almost certainly win you a category. Last week, the three-point totals for our teams were: 67 vs. 30, 49 vs. 50, 36 vs. 31, 38 vs. 27, and 59 vs. 41. Some of these battles could have swung the other way with the addition of one three-point shooter. For the season James Posey, Vlad Rad, and Maurice Evans are averaging 1.9, 1.8, and 1.7 threes/game respectively. Last week DeShawn Stevenson, Damien Wilkins, Yakhouba “I can’t believe I’m not Japanese” Diawara, and Eddie House were all above 1.5 threes/game. One of these unsexy guys could have won the category for you. And what if you jettisoned all of the crappy guys from the bottom of your roster and added Posey, Radman, and Evans? That’s 5.4 threes/game or 15-20 more threes a week. Something about lemons and lemonade, I think.

I’m going out of town for the long weekend, but I expect to find that lots of waiver action has transpired when I get back.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Lack of Posts

 

My apologies for the lack of posts this week. The dropping of Kwame Brown sent me into a depressive tailspin, or something.

I should be able to catch up tomorrow with the moves, including CJK's cornering of the Wizards' frontcourt. There will, however, be no recap of last week or forecast for this week.

Brownout!

Hosen drop Kwame, pick up D. Wilkins

CJK must love the OKC Thunder! In what cannot qualify as a surprise, Kwame Brown is back in the FAP, after a few mediocre games for DET.

Damien Wilkins, fifth year swingman out of Georgia, has been filling in adequately for an injured DesMase. Interestingly, in the Thunder's first game under their new non-Carlissemo coach, they went small - i.e., no Swift or Petro clogging up the paint. Instead they played a recently productive SweetNickyC at C, moving Jeff Green to PF, and inserting D-Wilk as the starter at SF. Wilk ended up with only 11 pts, and nothing else, but he did log 27 minutes. Indeed, neither Sene, Petro, nor Swift even played tonight. If this continues, D-Wilk could see a quite nice boost in minutes (depending on how and when DesMase returns). Many of us have fond memories of some D-Wilk runs in previous years when he consistently contributed double digit points, a couple 3's and 4 or 5 rebs and ast. We'll have to see if the smallball continues.

Judgment: Kwame remains a cake-throwing sack of poo, and D-Wilk can produce, if he stays on the good side of the new coach. Verdict - a good risk for the Hosens.

Elegy for a Moustache

my$hkin drops Morrison, picks up Price

Head Officer Chief Babu was a very peaceful man--
And then he turned mental--who knew how it began?
He sat drowsing in his chair, smiling a happy smile
When suddenly, it seemed, something drove him wild.

He leapt up and flung his arms about, his eyes red as brick,
He shouted out, “I’m lost, I’m lost, do save me quick!”
Some ran for a doctor, some yelled “Police!” with all their might,
Some advised restraint: “Careful, he could bite!”

Everyone was rushing frantic, leaving letters untyped--
Then the Babu cried, “Oh help, my mustache has been swiped.”
Lost his mustache? Incredible! How could it be?
But his handlebars were just the same, plain for all to see.

They tried to explain things, held a mirror to his face:
His whiskers weren’t stolen, that couldn’t be the case.
But angry as fire, an eggplant in hot oil, he sputtered and shook:
“I don’t believe a single man, I know each of you crooks.

Dirty and ragged, an over-used broom--an obvious pretender!--
This kind of mustache was kept by Shyambabu’s milk vendor.
I’ll shoot the whole lot! if you say this mustache is mine.”
And right away he proclaimed for all a rather hefty fine.

Getting hotter by the minute, he wrote and underlined in red:
“Give anyone an inch of rope, they’ll climb up on your head.
These monkeys at the office, with brains of dung and hay--
Where my perfect mustache went, not one of them can say.

I should grab their whiskers and dance them up and down
Or shave their sorry heads with a spade upon their crown.
They claim the mustache is mine--as though it’s something you can own!
The mustache owns the man, my friend--that’s how we all are known.”

We've discussed Morrison previously; he's had 2 2pt games in a row, and the move of Felton to SG and promotion of Augustin is severely limiting his minutes.

Ronnie Price, in his 4th year out of Utah Valley State, is getting a lot of time at PG while D-Will recovers from his ailments and Brevin Knight remains banged up. He's been largely unspectacular, but is finding his offensive groove, scoring in double-digits in 3 of his last 5 games, and hovering around 5 assists. He doesn't have much more upside - he's neither a good shooter or a good playmaker, and is mostly a defensive specialist. Word is that D-Will will not be playing in back-to-back's for a while (and may have his minutes somewhat limited), so Price could be useful even after Deron returns (next Wednesday, purportedly).

Judgment: A good, if short-term pickup for my$hkin. Sad to see Morrison go, of course.

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.

Playmy$kinflute hires a new coach

the press conference is at:

here the password is moustachio

this really has nothing to do with basketball but it does fit in with the moustache loving that is part of our collective core values.  

Flip this House!

Nor'Easter drops House, reclaims A. Brooks

Eddie House, recently picked up, is now back on the FAP. Indeed, his tenure with Nor'Easter lasted fewer than 15 hours, and Aaron Brooks, master of the 'Brooks/Landry effect' had nice 15 and 19 point games after being dropped earlier in the week for Fat May. Both players' situations appear the same as ever.

Judgment: We disapproved of dropping Brooks for May, and it's clear that Brooks is outproducing House in points and 3s, which are the only cats in which Eddie contributes. Moreover, Brooks is getting more minutes, and is likely to have plenty of opportunity with the perpetually struggling Rafer Alston ahead of him on the depth chart.

Buckets-a-go-go

NBA trade causes Spoonful panic - landry for gordon

In moves involving three of the handsomest men in the NBA (see above), the Spoonful, reading about the exciting NBA trades between the Knicks, Clippers, and Warriors (more to come), flew, ill-considered, into action, dropping (for the 2nd time) semi-promising, gap-toothed HOU forward Carl Landry, profiled here, for Ricky Buckets, discussed previously, who may garner more minutes in LAC with Mobley gone. Then, realizing that Ricky Davis isn't good, dropped Davis for the higher upside of rookie Eric Gordon, dropped a while back by thenopp, as detailed here. The Spoonful are hoping that reuniting the brothers Gordon will help young Eric take advantage of the opportunity that may be coming his way.

Judgment: As was the case last time, Landry, upon being dropped, had a terrific game tonight - his first in weeks. We're entitling this widespread phenomenon 'the Brooks/Landry effect' in honor of Houston's two 7th men who have been prone to blowing up after being dropped. Gordon may prove useless, but one has to try to capitalize on NBA upheaval. Still, given the Spoonful's need for rebounds, patience with Landry might have been more prudent.

House in the Hizzay!!!

Nor'Easter drops C.J. Miles, picks up Eddie House

Well, the Can't Jam era didn't last long for Nor'Easter. He was discussed earlier.

Eddie House is, of course the non-Ray-Allen 3pt specialist for the world champion Boston Celtics. Can he bring some of his magic to Nor'Easter? Eddie's doing his thing again this year - 17mpg, 7.5pts, and 1.2 3pg, but his %s are down, and he gets most of his opportunities in blowouts.

Judgment: Eh. Nor'Easter's already dropped House. That about sums it up. Meanwhile CJ had a great game, but figures to lose time when the UTA stars return to action.

A Shot in the Darko

odensque drops Milicic, acquires Chris Quinn

Darko rivals Kwame for super-bust status, and while occasionally it seems like he might put it all together, the sudden emergence of Marc Gasol makes it look like this won't be his year. Odensque's dropping him on the heels of dropping Jaric means the end of the Marko-Darko era. A shame, really. This is Darko's sixth year, and he's really not improving much - 4/4 in 15 minutes a night, and he's not even blocking shots (only 3 so far). He has more PFs than FGs, which is never a good sign.

We've discussed Quinn a number of times - he's still good for about 10 points and 2 3s with low negatives and an AST/STL or two.

Judgment: A fine move - Quinn gets good minutes and is quietly productive. Darko's tall.

McCants Hoot

Thenopp drops McCants, picks up Mike Conley Jr.

 

The 2004-5 UNC Tarheels won the NCAA tournament, and had 4 of its players selected in the first round of the NBA draft. All 4 have thus far been disappointing (Marvin Williams #2, Felton #5, May #13, McCants #14). McCants missed a great deal of time due to injury but is finally healthy. However, he has not shown himself to be 'good'. He's averaging only 18 mpg, shooting 37%, with 10 PPG/1.3 RPG/1.3 APG, and that's been decreasing of late. In his last three games he's only gotten 10 minutes and 6 points per. Moreover, he's suffering from back spasms, and did not play tonight. He too, is something of a poet.

Well, we were wrong; we thought Aaron Brooks would be the first '3-Team' player this season, but it is instead highly touted Mike Conley Jr. Drafted by Les Digits, then waived, picked up by the Later Hosens, then dropped, and now on thenopp's roster. We confess we still don't see the appeal, though his production has increased ever so slightly in the last few games.

Judgment: We're no fans of Conley, but he certainly provides more than an injured McCants. Even when Conley isn't producing on offense, he contributes in REBs and ASTs, which McCants does not. A good move for thenopp.

Miles from Good

Nor'easter drops May, picks up C.J. Miles

We looked at May quite recently, and perhaps Nor'Easter took a closer look as well, as they immediately dropped him. May is out of shape, and seems to have lost his starting gig to Alexis Ajinca(?!).

C.J. 'Can't Jam' Miles, the starting something (SF?) for Utah, has really taken advantage of the various injuries and absences in UTA, and logged significant minutes so far this year (18MPG, but over 25 in 3 of his last 4). He's a perimeter player and can hit 3s, but isn't much of a rebounder or playmaker. He scored 21 and 25 in his last 2 games (explaining the pickup), and with D-Will and now Boozer out, he'll keep putting up points for a while. He's only 21, and is probably a year or two away from being a consistent contributor. Warning - "C J Miles" is the name of a popular 'Sexy Filipina Model', in case you're looking for pictures of C J Miles while illegitimately blogging at work!

Judgment: A solid move - May is not going to get a great deal of run from Larry 'No Fatties' Brown in the short term, and Miles is useful, though by no means spectacular (the player, that is, not the model).