Blowing Up
Here are a few players whose situations are changing. If they're available on your waiver wire, pick them up: they shouldn't be there much longer.
Nick Collison: Dude is the man. Even before he missed his entire rookie season due to a shoulder injury, he had the talent to put up a near double-double every night and shoot an outstanding percentage from the field. Now, after the Sonics' 41 point beatdown at the hands of the Wiz last week caused new coach Bob Weiss to shuffle his starting lineup, Collison is getting the minutes to do so. After putting up 20 and 12 (1 turnover) in his first start of the season, Nick put up 19, 13, and 3 tonight--with no turnovers. Add now.
Mike Sweetney: He's knocking on the door of the starting lineup in Chicago and went for 24 points and 14 rebounds tonight in only 26 minutes. At that rate, he won't even need to start. If he does, he could be a scoring/rebounding monster.
Leandro Barbosa: James Jones and Boris Diaw have been relegated to bench duty, and Barbosa is putting up some serious digits in the starting lineup. Tonight it was 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 threes. Last game it was 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Um, find a spot for him if you can. He should add steals, too.
Jarrett Jack or Juan Dixon: Starter Sebastian Telfair sustained what looked like a pretty vicious sprained ankle tonight, and if he misses any time, one of these guys will replace him. Regular readers know I like Dixon's fantasy game; if Jack is the one who steps in instead, he could put up some major-league assist numbers.
Mike James: Don't do what I did, kids: don't drop Mike James. Pick him up. I dropped him for Barbosa, then dropped Barbosa for Collison--and Mike James got picked up in my league in the meantime. He scored a career-high 38 points tonight after scoring a then-career high 36 points two games ago. Consistency is not his strong point, but games like this are hard to ignore. Expect Jose Calderon to play less--a lot less--as long as James keeps balling out like this.
As always, please read my new blog--and leave comments on it!--at http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/.
posted by Michael Deuser @ 12:22 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Congrats on the TSN gig. Living the dream...
By the way, do know if you have to be registered to leave comments on that site. I was loooking for somewhere to post the other day, but didn't see anything.
A few more names worth considering:
CHARLIE VILLANUEVA: Another Donyell Marshall in the making?
Has the rare ability to hit the three, crash the boards and block a shot. In Toronto's last game, Mitchell moved Bosh to center and started CV at the 4 so a full-time starter's role may be in the cards.
Plus, he seems motivated to quiet the draft day critics who tabbed him as a bust.
BORIS DIAW: Was a hot pick-up last week when Suns' coach D'Antoni named him as starter; was dropped by many just as quickly when his starting gig lasted all of one game.
He's still getting about 25 mpg, and is averaging six boards and six dimes along a smattering of points, blocks and steals. His eligibility at SG makes him valuable for those who need to pick up extra dimes and boards in that slot. If he gets more PT, it's possible that he could come close to averaging a rare rebound-assist double-double.
CHANNING FRYE: (Disclaimer: I'm a Knick fan, so my objectivity on this one might be suspect) Has shown great productivity in limited minutes. Displays a great shooting touch from outside, and a nose for the ball, averaging 5.5 reb, .7 steal & 1 block in 20 mpg.
Most importantly, he seems to be winning over the notoriously rookie-averse Larry Brown, who has publicly praised his hustle and smarts. Giddy Knick fans are already comparing his game to Kevin McHale's (I'm not ready to go that far just yet) Center-eligible but could wind up starting at PF alongside Curry fairly soon.
Biggs... Thanks. You do have to register, and the process is pretty quick and easy. They didn't have comment functionality up and running for my stuff until sometime this morning--now it should be good to go. Unfortunately, the editors who write the headlines must not be basketball fans--it's Christie, not Christy.
I like Channing Frye a lot, too. I watched him terrorize my Cardinal a few times while he played at AZ. I had him pegged for a shot blocker and not a scorer though; he's been the opposite since turning pro.
Don't get too many chances to brag on myself in this often thankless game so I'll avail myself of this opportunity to point out the most recent perfomamces of the players I touted the other night.
From Friday's games:
Villanueva (28 mins)
18 pts, 3 3pt, 6 reb, 4 stls, 1 blk
Diaw (29 mins)
12 pts, 1 3 pt, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk
Frye (29 mins)
22 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk
Pretty sweet lines, although I should also mention that each player's games were marred by foul trouble (Villanueva fouled out, Diaw had 4 and Frye had 5) and turnovers (Frye had 5, Diaw 3, but Villanueva only 1)
All told, I'm pretty pleased that I was able to get all these guys on my roster before they went big time.
i find that Villanueva is closer to an Antoine Walker type of player than a Donyell Marshall
while Collison and Croshere could be twins...
Sweetney on the other hand is a keeper and gives the Bulls some options
Yeah, I can definitely see the similarities between Charlie V's game and Walker's... especially in their horrible FT%.
Yet, the statistical similarities between Villanueva and Donyell are downright eerie right now. Check it out:
Villanueva:
PPG 12.7
RPG 6.6
APG .8
SPG .75
BPG .83
FG% .475
FT% .389
3P% .394
MPG 27.5
Marshall:
PPG 10.9
RPG 7.5
APG .7
SPG .80
BPG .80
FG% .432
FT% .762
3P% .340
MPG 27.1
When you consider that Villanueva is probably still on the waiver wire in several leagues while Marshall most likely is not, Charlie becomes that much more appealing. Plus, given their relative team situations, Villanueva is likely to see an eventual increase in minutes whereas Donyell's figure to remain roughly the same.
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