Start, Drop & Roll: Week 6 advice

"I'm the Notre Damus of the NBA"

As we head into Week 6 of the fantasy basketball season, I took the liberty of looking up the word fantasy. It is defined as a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. It also states that many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common.

As I languish in last place in the Damn Lies league, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that this season has been far from a fantasy. And with my newfound definition of the term, I am now on the hunt for a magician to turn my season around. With that said, ladies and gentlemen, to offer this week’s selections, allow me introduce the amazing Melodini. This is the only man, in the history of American basketball, who has singlehandedly shattered the hopes and dreams of an entire city, and will get none of the blame. Truly amazing.

Daily Lies & Statistics: It’s April, fools

It’s Thursday, April 1st, 2010, otherwise known as April Fool’s Day. As a fantasy basketball junkie, this is usually the time of year where I’m in no mood for jokes or surprises. It’s bad enough just looking at box scores and yelping “You gotta be kidding me!” with each click. So we’re handling today’s post with the utmost seriousness. Among last night’s stat lines, I’m not kidding about any of them.They really happened. And during the fantasy playoff season, no less.

The following are not, I repeat NOT April Fool’s jokes:

Do NOT anger the fantasy gods.

*After Brandon Jennings dropped a 29-8-7 Sunday followed by a 17-6-5 Tuesday, the fantasy gods (yes, Scott Skiles is one of them) decided that the fun was fin. Jennings played just 19 minutes last night at Cleveland and finished with five points on 2-of-9 shooting, one rebound, one assist and 2,396 ruined fantasy playoff matchups.

*Drew Gooden has five straight double-doubles after his 17-points, 10-board performance last night. He averaged a 15 and 10 in March in 30 minutes per game. On second thought, maybe this is a joke. Let me double-check and get back to you.

*The Celtics had the worst record in the NBA three years ago yet ended up with the fifth pick in the draft. Had Boston gotten the first or second pick their lineup right now would be Rajon Rondo, Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, and Kendrick Perkins. And they wouldn’t be overpaying Rasheed Wallace to hoist awful threes. Yes, I was at the game last night and saw Durant pour in 37 without breaking much of a sweat, and yes, I’m a little bitter right now. But we did win a title, no? (I’m telling myself ‘yes’ over and over and over).

*The Lakers lost at Atlanta, 109-92, which is nothing to be ashamed of, but L.A. has now dropped three of four. Chinks in the armor? They are still the best team on paper but looking a little vulnerable right now. Andrew Bynum returning would solve some things, perhaps, but I get the feeling the one guy the Lakers would love to have is Trevor Ariza.

*Dwyane Wade had 10 points, 3 rebounds and one assist – and Miami won by 17 at Detroit. Huh? Well, for one: Detroit is an abomination and was missing Richard Hamilton (hamstring) and Charlie Villanueva (DNP CD LOL). But Miami played minus Jermaine O’Neal (knee), who was at the courthouse having his name legally changed to Jermaine O’Neal (knee). Luckily Michael Beasley went off for 28 and nine, and Dorell Wright added 17 in 22 minutes off the bench. A weird game, for sure.

*Now that the Nets won’t be the worst team ever in the record books, they can get back to tanking for John Wall. Jersey actually led Phoenix at halftime, but the Suns pulled away for their ninth-straight win. Steve Nash was magical, finishing with a 24-7-14 on 9-16 shooting (3-4 threes). Despite scoring 116 points, Amare’ Stoudemire finished with a sorry 15 and 4, and his owners have to be swearing under their breath this morning at him.

*If I had told you at the beginning of the season that the Wizards would be led by Mike Miller, Andray Blatche and Shaun Livingston in late March/April, you would have looked at me funny before thinking that Gilbert Arenas must have gotten hurt or done something crazy. So this isn’t that weird at all. The Livingston part is kind of a curveball, as the guy has lived the last few years without working knees. He’s the starting point guard now in Washington with Randy Foye out for the year, and he had 18 points and eight dimes as the Wiz snapped a 16-game losing streak with a 96-91 win at New Orleans. Miller had 27 and seven and Blatche had 23 and three steals (but just one rebound? Really?).

*Al Jefferson and Darko Milicic combined for 10 blocks last night in a 108-99 Minny (mini?) win over Sacramento. Both guys also double-doubled, as did Kevin Love (12 & 11). Sacramento was led by Tyreke Evans (20-7-13, 3 steals), who is playing really well despite coming off a concussion last week and subsequently claiming to have owned a penguin.

*George Hill offered up a candidate for Stat Line of the Year last night against Houston. Hill, who has been a fantasy savior this second half, finished with 30 points, seven assists, five steals and two threes and shot 11-15 from the floor and 6-6 from the line. Does anyone want to play San Antonio in the West this postseason? I didn’t think so.

*Speaking of teams in the West playing well, Dallas nipped Memphis in overtime last night, 106-102, improving to 50-25. That’s good for the No. 2 seed right now if the season ended today. Dallas has weapons, and when Jason Terry (29 points, six assists, four steals) is doing his thing they are formidable.

*Al Harrington took Greg’s post hinting that Al is selfish to heart, taking just six shots last night as the Knicks lost big at Portland, 118-90. Did anyone out there start Tracy McGrady (2-0-1) last night? You can type with a straightjacket on? Cool.

*The West’s current #3 seed, Utah, is performing at a really high level these days. Who knows if winning big over the Warriors of the National Rec League will help or hurt them, but they rolled last night, 128-104. Carlos Boozer was beastly with 25 & 13 on 12-14 shooting. Deron Williams had 19 assists. I wouldn’t want to play them, either.

Luckily I’m not on an NBA team, so I don’t have to. Although the Warriors have been calling.

Daily Lies & Statistics: Flipping Out

Anyone playing in head-to-head leagues is likely in the playoffs, and likely surly as hell this morning if they are relying on Andray Blatche to lead them to a title. With one bone-headed show of immaturity, Blatche is going to go from the year’s waiver wire darling to saboteur of fantasy seasons from coast to coast.

Flip Saunders leaves the premises before a horde of angry fantasy owners can overtake him.

Taken out of the Wizards’ game vs. Charlotte Tuesday night seven-and-a-half minutes in by Flip Saunders, Blatche refused to listen to Flip’s defensive criticisms and then refused to go back into the game. He sat the rest of the way, and could be benched for the foreseeable future.

Saunders was not happy:

“Yeah I guess, just because of everything,” Saunders said when asked if this incident was the low point in a season filled with forgettable moments. “This team, we’ve lost a lot of close games, you know, and you’ve got a chance, and when you have coaches go up and ask a player that’s supposedly your quote-unquote key player to play, and he just says he doesn’t want to play. I don’t care. You can be upset with me, but don’t leave your teammates hanging out to dry like that. You don’t do that…”

Blatche’s magical run might be over, and if he is permanently moved to the doghouse then JaVale McGee and James Singleton will be the beneficiaries. McGee played 46 minutes last night and finished with 14 points, 12 boards and two blocks. Singleton saw 37 minutes of action and totaled a 9 & 7 with no blocks, but he has shown he can amass those. A Blatche demotion will almost certainly mean more plays run for Al Thornton and Mike Miller as well. Regardless, this is a big mess at a time of the year when fantasy owners can least afford it.

There were several other noteworthy performances in last night’s four-game slate, some of which can make or break a playoff week. Let’s take a look at some.

Drew Gooden (26 pts, 20 reb, 10-10 ft, 2 stl, 1 blk): Wow. Raise your hand if you started Gooden this week. Congrats. He went off against the Mavs, one of his many former teams, in a 106-96 loss. He remains a strong play Thursday at Houston and Sunday vs. Golden State.

Danny Granger (32 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 5 threes): For all the grief Granger has caused his owners this season, a game like this when it matters can go a long way towards healing past wounds. While we’d hesitate to take him in the first round again next year, he is one of the more high-ceiling fantasy guys out there when healthy.

Danilo Gallinari (28 pts, 5 reb, 5 threes, 9-10 FT): The Knicks upended a scuffling Denver team in New York last night, and Gallinari is regaining his fantasy awesomeness just in time. He is averaging 26.3 points over his last three games.

Dirk Nowitzki (18 pts, 2 reb in 19 minutes): Ejected after picking up two technicals, Nowitzki’s night could have been a lot worse. This is little solace to his owners who need him to produce a monster week.

Gerald Wallace (17 pts, 19 reb, 3 stl, 1 three, 5-17 FG): All hail Crash’s ’09-10 season, but this line could actually come back to bite you if you end up losing the FG% category and winning rebounds or steals handily.

J.R. Smith (11 pts, 4-16 FG, 2 threes): Since Smith’s owners were probably salivating at a game against the Knicks, this 23-minute dud of a game can only be labeled a disappointment.

Jason Kidd (26 pts, 6 reb, 12 ast, 6 threes): Kidd carried Dallas to the win sans-Dirk with a virtuoso fantasy performance that will put his owners in the driver’s seat in any playoff battle.

Of course, we’re still very early in the week. I expect crazy things happening to everyone out there, especially if I own them. Good luck to everyone who is still in contention.