First of all, I’d like to wish a speedy holiday recovery to Mr. Light, who is ill.  In the spirit of the season, I will refrain from mentioning Jason Terry until later in the post.

• Measley Beasley Watch. After a respectable game in the absence of Udonis Haslem, Beasley returned to form in his last game, putting up 13 pts, 1 board, a dime and 1 block, a typical performance for the formerly prized number 1 waiver priority pickup (now ranked 173 by Yahoo).
• Quinn’s Debt of Gratitude. Since his public chastisement by yours truly,  David Lee has bounced back with big-time double-doubles in 13 of his last 14 games.
• L’il Nate= Big Man. Nate Robinson was injured during the early days of the post-Jamal Crawford-era in New York.  In the two gamesc since regaining his health, he has put up 4 treys, 60 points, 11 boards, 10 dimes and 4 steals, on 49% FG shooting and 100% FT shooting.
• Black Fraze is putting up very solid numbers for the second week in a row.  Unfortunately, it looks as if he’ll get an L for the second time in two weeks.
• Jason Terry went off in his most recent game for 4 treys, 27 pts., 10-16 FG, 3-4 FT, 7 boards and 8 dimes-  the third time in 4 games Terry has scored 26 or more.  Mr. Terry has jumped back into the Yahoo top-20, currently ranked #17.

• Parity in the TT League?  A glance at the standings in the TTL might suggest that there’s a gulf between the haves and have-nots, with my Flambuoyant squad and the two newcomers counterposed with the wretched Hamertime, Dark Night, and Show organizations.  I maintain that this gulf is not nearly as wide as it might appear, with injuries, and matchup vagaries playing a large role in the standings to this point.  It’s only mid-week, but Lights Out is getting throttled by the perennially hapless Blountman, Mclovin is getting handled by the witless Fraze, and Yes We Can is behind the woodshed getting spanked by the suddenly resurgent Hamer.  I’m in a tightly fought 4-4 battle with the now healthy (aside from  T-Mac’s predictably sore vagina) TME squad.
• Pink Slips issued.  My free advice was a one-time feature, as many of the slackers have been kicked to the curb.
• My favorite stat of the week.   Kelly Dwyer, writing for Yahoo notes: “Chicago’s coaching staff is brand new, and though they’ve had all summer and a month into the season to find out that Richard Jefferson abuses Andres Nocioni every time he sees him, it’s still early. Those game tapes cost money, you know. And they’re soooo bor-ing.How Nocioni could end up a -18 on the game in only 12 minutes of play seems pretty shocking, but that’s how bad it was. Combine his one-point, one-rebound, three-foul, two-turnover performance with Drew Gooden needing 11 shots to score two points (Drew has missed all but one of his last 17 shots), and you can see why Chicago fell a little short.”
• Jason Terry has fallen to #20 in the Yahoo rankings.  I’m not complaining.  Meanwhile, Measley Beasley has fallen to #121.  While we all know that these rankings are far from gospel, they give a rough estimate of a player’s fantasy worth in most formats.  Will Beasley’s numbers go up, even while coming off the bench?  They very well could.  Will I regret issuing him a pink slip? Possibly.  Beasley is a scorer, and occasionally a rebounder; he’ll hit a three or block a shot every once in a while.  Right now, he looks like a poor-man’s Glenn Robinson with uncertain playing time on the horizon.  Dropping him was a gamble, and I might come to regret it-  meanwhile, TME is at the back of the waiver line….

I’m sure many of you have looked at box scores and thought to yourselves “Man, I wish i had drafted that guy”.  Right now, I wish I had drafted Chris Bosh and Danny Granger at picks #10 and #11 instead of Shawn Marion and Deron Williams.   Below are some players that are playing above their draft position.

1.  Dwyane Wade (drafted #5) - Simply put, Wade is the best player in fantasy right now.  The numbers are staggering - 28 points, 8 assists, 5 boards, 2.4 steals, 1.7 blocks and good %’;s.   The only thing he doesn’t do is make threes.

2.  Dwight Howard (drafted #8) - I know that D12 went in the first round in our draft, but he is currently playing like a top 4 pick.  He’s better than Kobe, Dirk and Amare right now.  Sure, the FT% sucks (58% on 11.7 attempts a night), but you can punt a category in a H2H league and still win.  His points and boards are about the same from last year (21 and 14) but the blocks really stand out.  Howard’s averaging a mind-boggling 4.0 a game and could reach his goal of leading the league in blocks AND boards.

3.  Chris Bosh (drafted #16) - I was one of many that thought a healthy Jermaine O’Neal would take away from Bosh’s production.  What I should’ve done is looked at what happened when the Suns acquired Shaquille O’Neal.  Amare Stoudemire went off after the trade.  A true big man allows Amare and Bosh to play their true position of PF (not center) and thrive.  Bosh is averaging 27 and 10 with great %.’s and is playing like a first rounder.

4.  Danny Granger (drafted #15) - Granger was build as the “next Matrix”, but he is head and shoulders about the original Matrix right now.  Granger’s averaging 24 points, 5 boards, almost three 3’s a game, 1.6 blocks with good %’s.  The only thing is doesn’t do is get steals (0.8 steals per game). He’s a six category contributor that looks to be a sure-fire first rounder next year.

5.  Devin Harris (drafted #56) -  Lights Out!! mentioned Harris in his blog.  What in the world has gotten into Devin Harris?  Five 30+ point games and one 47 point game?  His mid-range jumper is much approved so opposing defenders must honor it.  With his speed and quickness, he’s now almost impossible to guard.  He’s averaging 25 points and 6 assists, but the most impressive stat is his 9.2 free throws made per game.

NOTE - 3 of the 5 players I have mentioned are wearing a McLovin uniform.  I might have criitized his lineup decisions but I can’t criticize his draft.

6.  Andris Biedrins (drafted #72) - The Big Latvian has made the jump from solid center to double-double machine.   He averaged close to a double-double last year in only 29 minutes per game, but has been so effective this year that opposing teams have to actual game plan for him.  His recent numbers are down a bit as a result, but you can’t argue with getting a guy averaging 15.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the 8th round.

Honorable mention:  Derrick Rose (#84), O.J. Mayo (#93), Rajon Rondo (#87), Jameer Nelson (#117), John Salmons (#96), Nene Hilario (undrafted).

After an extremely hectic period at work and great relaxing Thanksgiving weekend with The Main Event (the cornbread sausage stuffing was straight dope), I’m back with a new (temporary) picture from The Show’s fabulous wedding in Playa del Carmen. Whaddya think? Anyways, it certainly feels like a long way to the playa right now, and it’s just getting colder every day here in Prague. That has me thinking of heat, and who’s hot in the NBA right now.

Biggest news I’ve seen today is the emergence of none other than Flambo’s pre-season sleeper, Mr. Enigmatic Dan Gadzuric. He busted out last night with a whopper of 11 pts (4-5 shooting), 14 rebs, 3 blks and a steal in just 21 minutes. Is this the beginning of an all-star season for this unheralded beast?

Speaking of hot hands, where did Devin Harris come from? Last week he played four games with an average of 33pts (60.7% FG%), 84.8 FT% (11 attempts per game), 4.3 rebs, 5.3 asts, 1.3 stls and 1.0 3FGM. Damn! I guess he’s trying to prove that the YouTube video of him getting punked on the streets of London was a fluke. Whatever, that’s some serious heat.

Another guy playing well of late is Rajon Rondo. Unfortunately, my nemesis of the week, Dark Knight, has Rondo and is taking advantage of my injuries to serve me something fierce this week. Last night Rondo had his first career triple-double with 16pts (50% FG%), 13 rebs, 17 asts and 3 stls. Damn, Blount-man, you should be the one writing about this.

On another note, I came across another basketball blog, not fantasy, that had some really interesting articles. It’s called The Painted Area, and I particularly like this one talking about the Cav’s offense with LeBron in the post. Check it out, there aren’t too many places on the web where you get an interesting read and learn about the game, as well.

That’s it for me today. Got my first Christmas party of the season tomorrow night, then another week before leaving freezing Prague for warm California for a nice extended break with the family. Meanwhile, I’m hoping Josh Howard plays tonight, and plays well, damn it!

It makes me feel bad, in a way (maybe), to keep hammering on Mr. Light’s ineptitude.  Circumstances, however, have forced me to provide an update on Mr. Jason Terry, the player who was drafted with the 81st pick (for a league in which 130 players are rostered at all times),  and then was contemptuously thrown under the bus by Mr. Ray Light before he had played a single game.

Terry’s Wednesday night performance alone could have prompted this posting:  31 points, on 62% FG-shooting, 75% FT-shooting, 2 three-pointers made, 2 boards, 4 dimes, and 3 steals.  But Terry followed it up tonight with this performance, marred only by his FG shooting:  20 points, on 40% FG-shooting, 100%  FT-shooting, 3 three-pointers made, 6 boards, 5 dimes, 3 steals and 1 block.

I believe Lights Out! may have cited Terry’s lack of a starting spot as the reason for dropping him.  Anyone, however, who has done a minimum amount of homework over the years would know that Terry has often come off the bench, and sometimes started, during his productive tenure (fantasy-wise) with Dallas.  He has filled both roles this year as well.  Finally, I should mention that I was chastised by some (including Mr. Light I believe?) for using a #2 waiver priority request on Mr. Terry.  The #1 priority holder (TME) is still out there waiting….. waiting……. waiting…….  Maybe a player like a Bogut, Cuttino Mobley, or Thaddeus Young will fall from the sky in early March.  Will it have been worth it?

Matchup Note: Aerial Flambuoyance is currently hanging on to a 4-4 tie with the insurgent Yes We Can! organization.  The upstart had a big games-played advantage (front-loaded no less) going into the week, and had seemingly locked up boards and dimes by the close of business on Wednesday.  A 5-3 Flambo victory appears to be a remote possibility, but I would count my blessings if I walk out of this one with a 4-4.  The GP advantage notwithstanding, the YWC (Yes We Can!) squad is a very formidable newcomer, and has to be considered, along with my Flambuoyant squad, as one of the two elite teams at this juncture of the season.

Draft Redux: Of my first 8 selections in the draft, only B-15, A. Biedrins (8th round), has exceeded expectations.  Rashard Lewis has basically met expectations (below his standards in most categories, but his newfound theft-mastery balances these out).  The other 6 have fallen short, or well short (Garnett, Okafor).  This apparent shortcoming in the draft (at this juncture), combined with success in head-to-head play, illustrates the importance of the later rounds of the draft (Nate Robinson), as well as the importance of early season waiver and free-agent acquisitions (J. Terry, Nene, and R. Sessions)

Fantasy sports afficionados, as well as sports fans generally, are always looking for the catchy nickname to reference their favorite players.  Names like C-Webb, D-Wade, and T-Mac seem to roll off the tongue.  And they’re also easier and quicker to type- whether in a column, blog-post, message board, or even in a taunting e-mail to a buddy.  With the ascendance of Dwight Howard to stardom, in a real sense, and fantasy stardom, in a slightly-lesser sense (FT%), the First Initial-Syllable From Last Name paradigm was challenged.  I think many fans, and perhaps some writers, played with the “D-How” designation, but it just didn’t roll of the tongue (or even off the keyboard?) as smoothly as the monikers listed above.  Instead, Dwight Howard is now known almost uiversally, as D-12.  Now I will introduce you to B-15:

B-15: Andris Biedrins

Yup.  Andris Biedrins appears to have made the leap this year.  He officially became fantasy-worthy two seasons ago, and last season became almost universally recognized as a player who must be rostered in any self-respecting fantasy hoops league.  Over those two seasons, he averaged right around 10p and 10r, with 1.5-2 blocks.  He also had stellar FG%, and lackluster FT%- around 60% in both categories.  He was a respectable second center on a fantasy squad, though your team was certainly suspect if he was the main guy in the middle.

B-15 has stepped it up through the first 3 weeks of this season, averaging close to 17p, 15r, 1s, and 1.7b.  He hasn’t missed on a double-double since March.  His percentages are becoming more significant, since he shoots more of both.  His FG% is down a bit, but still a net-plus on any roster- and it should rise from its current 53%, though probably not up to the 60% of previous years (his involvement in the offense has expanded from the days when all he did was throw down put-back jams.)  His FT% is a bit more of an anchor than previously, due to more attempts, but is nothing like the anchor of D-12 or Shaq in his prime.

In any case, folks,  B-15 has arrived.

Stud of the Week

Lebron James (Yes We Can)
LBJ had a monster week, dropping 41 PTS on da Bulls not once, but twice in one week. In between these performances was a monster 27-8-9 performance. Undoubtedly the Stud of the Week.

Runners up:
Tony Parker (Cash Money) - Recipient of the Flambo “Gold Standard,” TP was on fire before he got hurt.
Amare Stoudemire (The Mighty) - Another co-recipient of the “Gold Standard” with a line that could possibly be the best of the year.

Scrub of the Week

Yao Ming (Cash Money) - Certainly not playing like a first rounder. Maybe he’s tired after a long summer. Maybe he’s playing hurt. Serious underperformance from Yao in Week 2.

Runners up:
JR Smith (Aerial Flambuoyance) - only 1 3FGM in the last three games (sans Iverson)
Shawn Marion (TME) - EJ went so far as to compare him to Udonis Haslem

Rookie of the Week

Marc Gasol (Lights Out!) - Gasol’s a BEAST. 27 PTS, 16REBS, 3 BLKS, 9-11 from both the field and the stripe against Golden State. Sleeper of the year candidate. Inconsistent, but not bad for a C off the waiver wire.

Runners up:
Michael Beasley (Aerial Flambuoyance)
Derrick Rose (The Mighty)

Matchup of the Week

TME vs McLovin - Despite admonishments to set his lineup, McLovin served up a Big n’ Tasty 6-2 to TME. Will EJ be able to overcome his squad’s myriad injuries?

It had seemed as though the financial crisis had bitten the tongue of TTL team The Mighty, a multiple ring holder who in the past has often talked too much. But having traded emails with him recently, I want to congratulate him on the birth of yet another little Mighty. I don’t know the name, or even if it is a boy or a girl, but it seems like this happens at the start of every hoops season. In honor of this occasion, I’ve taken it upon myself to put together a review of The Mighty squad.

For some historical reference, The Mighty was the first to win the league in back-to-back seasons, winning the title back in 2001 and 2002. Both titles occurred when we still used the rotisserie format, with Mighty staples such as John Stockton, Brevin Knight and Speedy Claxton. Since then, small ball has continued to be the defining strategy for Quinn, and this year is no exception.

Round 1, Pick 4: Amare Stoudemire
No surprises here. Amare has already set this year’s “gold standard” with a huge line a few nights ago. One of the elite four of this year’s draft.

Round 2, Pick 17: Josh Smith
The defensive stud of fantasy hoops. Smith alone can sometimes win the BLK category in a given week. No big scoring games this early in the season, but has been amazing in STL and BLK. Unfortunately, a high-ankle sprain has sent him to the bench for a few weeks. A solid pick, but some bad luck early on for Quinn.

Round 3, Pick 24: Jose Calderon
Showing his proclivity for PGs, Quinn went with Calderon in round 3. Though a little bit unproven, he has shown that when on the floor, he is a serious fantasy stud.

Round 4, Pick 37: Vince Carter
Playing out of Quinn’s native New Jersey, Vince gets the call in round 4. All alone now on the Nets, Vince could have a big year. Or he could sulk like he did in Toronto. Looking like the former in week 2.

Round 5, Pick 44: Chanucey Billups
What? Round 5 and only two PGs? But all things considered, a steal for Quinn at this point. Now playing for his hometown Nuggets, Billups could be even more of a steal.

Round 6, Pick 57: Mo Williams
Small ball lives. Mo played great last year until he got hurt. Now on the Cavs and getting to play with Lebron James as a SG, Mo should get a lot of looks from behind the arc. Assists may go down a little bit, but a good pick at 6.

Round 7, Pick 64: Greg Oden
This was a bit of a gamble, but with a base of Amare and Stoudemire, Quinn probably felt this year he could have some solid bigs to go with his guards. Unfortunately already injured, it still remains to be seen how good Oden really is.

Round 8, Pick 77: David Lee
I’m a big fan of David Lee, and I would have loved to get him around here. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20, and it looks like Lee is having trouble in D’Anotoni’s system, and has lost his starting spot and is back as sixth man. Regardless, I think Lee is a double-double machine with good percentages, and he’ll eventually come around.

Round 9, Pick 84: Derrick Rose
Gambling on a rooking with tremendous upside. Potential Rooking of the Year winner on a Chicago squad that seems to have lost its identity. Kirk Hinrich already getting injured probably won’t help Rose much, as he was already getting loads of PT. So far, looking like a good pick at 9.

Round 10, Pick 97: Chris Duhon
Another PG, now from his former hometown of New York. I don’t know much about Duhon, and would never draft him personally but a starting PG on a D’Antoni team should get stats. Moot point, however, as he has already been dropped.

Round 11, Pick 104: Thaddeus Young
Had a solid end of the season last year, and showing a lot of promise. I like this pick at 11, and there’s definitely upside here. Quinn was a little impatient and already dropped him, so now Young is wearing a Lights Out! uniform. Thanks, Quinn.

Round 12, Pick 117: Jameer Nelson
Another PG. Someone’s gotta throw the ball to Dwight, right? That was my logic two years ago, and I found that Nelson is extremely frustrating to own on a fantasy team. I don’t like him, and don’t like this pick, but it’s Round 12. He should have been dropped before Thaddeus Young.

Round 13, Pick 124: Jamario Moon
Skywalker Moon adds more blocks to this squad. Not much to say here for a last rounder other than he’s already been dropped.

Overall, I think Quinn really had a slightly different strategy this year. Securing a solid pick in Amare with the number 4 pick allowed Quinn to have a firm base in the big categories (REBS, BLK) and backing it up with Josh Smith means this squad won’t be a pushover in big categories, and Amare’s great FT% fits in with the other Gs. TME recently ranked this squad at the top of his Week 1 Power Rankings. Unfortunately, some players have already been hit with injury, but as long as nothing major happens, this is a team that should be competing in the playoffs.

What do you think?

On a night when Amare scored 49, Tony Parker established the early-season gold standard in box scores, with his .611 FG%, .900 FT%, 2 Three-pointers, 55 pts., 7 boards, 10 dimes- line for the night. His goose-eggs in steals and blocks can be forgiven, due to his sheer six-category dominance. The categories that have relegated him to second-tier PG status in the past: no 3-point shooting (3 in last two games), and mediocre FT shooting, were overcome on this night. It’s obviously way too early to state that Parker’s overall shooting has jumped to the next level, but, damnit, what a performance!

Update: Amare’s .810 FG%, 1.00 FT%, 49 pts, 11 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, line from tonight, is probably the actual “gold standard” so far. Damn! But I chose to talk about Parker instead. So deal with it, Quinn.

Although I own Parker in another league, the often-bungling Black Fraze is this league’s owner, sporting the sheepish grin after this performance. Incidentally, Fraze has improbably assembled a decent-looking squad, maybe even a #4 or a #5 seed, the presence of Hinrich notwithstanding.

Other observations:

• the usually move-judicious Show squad is tied for the lead, with the judicious-to-the-point-of-lunacy Lights Out squad, with 5 roster moves after 8 days. I predict that Anthony Carter will be the next Lights Out roster casualty. While the Show may not have any obvious future roster casualties, he appears to have 6 or 7 players competing for the last 3 spots on the bench.
• TME injury update. Injury-prone Ginobli and Maggette are out. Camby has returned with limited effectiveness. D. Williams could return Friday. The Uber-Man of injury, Tracy McGrady, remains “healthy”, for now. TME’s amazing, near-miraculous run with injury-prone players two years ago, may have induced him to abandon logic, and conclude that “once you have one injury-prone player, might as well snatch up as many as you can”. We shall see how this plays out.
• L’il Nate went off tonight, doing almost all of his damage in the second quarter. 5 3’s, .75 FG%, 1.00 FT%, 24 pts., 3 boards, 5 dimes, 2 steals.

10. The Dark Knight - With Louis’ computer on the fritz, I had the honor and pleasure of informing him of his swept status. Boy, I miss making those calls. Louis always gets off to a slow start in TT and blames it on his focus being on fantasy football. The real story is that he is a poor evaluator of talent so his drafts suck. Either he drafts injury prone guys or guys that are already injured. Louis better hope that his fantasy football winnings offset his fantasy basketball losses this year.

9. The Show - I’m just not feelin’ the defending champs squad this year. 7 of the 13 guys on his roster are questionable. Odom is the sixth man and his numbers are down. Brewer is a fringe waiver wire guy. He picked up Sessions after his weekend explosion, but Ridnour is back on Wednesday. Miller is going to walk into a timeshare with Hawes. Arenas is out until 2009 and Okur is struggling out of the gate. Parker is solid but will be inconsistent as option #4 on the Raptors. Thibault has some work to do.

8. Hamertime - Missing the draft can be a killer and Hamer is officially punting assists every week. Shaq was a nice pick up but this squad is missing the typical balance of a Hamermesh-led organization.

7. Lights Out! - how many times this year will Q-Rich and Ryan Gomes outscore Mike Miller and Jamal Crawford by more than 16 points? It happened on Sunday, giving Ray a 4-4 tie, but will probably never happen again. The fact that Ray only got a 4-4 against a TME!!! team down 2 of its first 3 picks is not a good sign.

6. McLovin - I like McLovin’s squad on paper, but he has to get better guard play from Foye (0-for-10 yesterday) and Harris. He has a nice collection of bigs and should be in the mix for a playoff spot his first year in. Bosh is a monster.

5. TME!!! - middle of the pack only because there are still a lot of question marks surrounding this squad. Will Camby come back and play like last year? Can Deron Williams elevate his game to an all-star level? Hawes could be a nice sleeper, but can T-Mac and Maggette stay healthy?

4. Cash Money - Fraze is notoriously slow at making moves during the week and re-working his roster so this will probably be his squad thru XMAS. He’s soft at PG, strong at center, but needs AI2 to play better. Yao’s health could be an issue and he might have reached for Dunleavy a little in the draft considering his knee is still a problem.

3. Yes We Can!! - don’t be fooled by his Week 1 victory because The Show is ranked #9 in my power rankings for a reason. With that said, Lamont has some nice balance and the best player on the planet.

2. Aerial Flambouyance - Gerard’s squad has two players that should benefit from today’s trade. Iverson should score more in Detroit and J.R. Smith should be elevated to starter in Denver. Shy Guy is soft on assists since Terry and Robinson get none, but he has some nice pieces.

1. The Mighty!- Quinn’s sweep might be deceptive because his numbers weren’t that impressive, but a sweep is a sweep. Quinn got a steal with Billups in the 5th and should be competitive in blocks with Oden hurt if Thomas and Josh Smith keep playing well. Overloaded at point guard with Billups, Calderon, Nelson, Rose and Williams.

For those that don’t know me, again I’m Lamont Johnson. Born and raised in Alexandria VA and now reside in HOTLANTA. I decided to go ahead and post my first blog. Since everyone is writing about their draft results I figured I’d follow suit. I’m going to try and post something every week but we’ll see how that works out. Here’s my take…..

I wanted to build a team that (at least with my first 4 picks), each night I knew what I would get with them. I believe this is the order I picked them in. If not, the logic behind the pick still stands.

Round 1 – LEBRON JAMES
I mean, I don’t know what else to say about this pick except solid. 30PTS, 8REB, 7AST, 2STL, 1BLK….RIDICULOUS. I kind of wanted CP3 with this pick because I already had Lebron in another league but believe me, I’m cool with it!

Round 2 – CARLOS BOOZER
The way the board was going, I decided to go big with my next two picks and solidify my F/C spots. Boozer is a notoriously fast starter. Last season he was the player of the month during November. Great FG% shooter and 20/11 are almost as guaranteed as a drop in the bucket.

Round 3 –TIM DUNCAN
The Big Fundamental. My rebounding/FG% are officially solidified. Another 20/11 guy..similar FG% and probably going to give me 1.5-2.0 BLKS. His FT% is an achilles along with Lebron, but I believe to build a winner, at least one category can be sacrificed. Oh and no Ginobili for at least 2 months will help his points tremendously.

Round 4 – RON ARTEST
So with my first 3 I went big and I was ecstatic to get my transition man in Artest. Not terrible from the field, obviously this puts my steals in another stratosphere and he gives me a nice boost in 3s and I also think that his FT% will get better this year on a contender. In a money year for him, I suspect all of his vitals to improve.

Round 5 – STEPHEN JACKSON
This guy is going to go ape shyt this year. That’s why I drafted him in two leagues and may have jumped here to get him. This dude will have the ball in his hands like 70% of the time. I think the only guys on this squad that Don Nelson trusts are Jackson and Beidrens. Maggette will probably fill in nicely and that’s another reason to think his AST will go up because their PG situation is a mess. GS is going to suck, but that doesn’t mean SJax wont average like 24-25PTS and 5 dimes. Not to mention 3-4 3PTS a game.

Round 6 – JASON KIDD
Yes I realize the guy is old BUT he is still Jason Kidd. The only place he hurts me are points and FG% and I’ve clearly addressed that early in the draft. He and LBJ alone are enough to put most ppl away each week in dimes. He compliments Lebron in most categories. He was the last top tier PG on the board and I had to grab him. New system, Olympic boost, I think he will at the very least have a comeback first half of the season. BTW…the dude has 8 steals in his first two games.

Round 7 – RAY ALLEN
This was the first pick where I really wasn’t completely focused and ill prepared. I can’t remember who was on the board when this pick came but I’m sure I took this one down to the wire. I mean, Ray production declined a bunch when he came east but I thought to myself, can it get worse? Excellent 3PT and FT shooter who most nights won’t hurt me. The guy needs shoot better and I’ll feel much better with this pick. As of now I look really solid in 3s, assists, points, rebounds, steals.

Round 8 – BIG Z
I needed a center. What else can I say. Doesn’t do anything great except he is an excellent FT shooter for a 7 footer. Probably will never hurt me and certainly help me with boards and block (where I’m really lacking).

Round 9 – MIKE BIBBY
I like this dude and I needed another PG. All of his numbers were down last year but obviously a lot of that had to do with the wrist issue and switching teams. I think Atlanta will be good this year and he’ll get his moments. Clearly a shell of himself but will help my with dimes, 3s, FT,stls most weeks. I felt good not stretching to get him in round 9.

Round 10 – CHARLIE VILLANUEVA
CV was an upside pick for me. Who knows how Skiles will handle this guy but if all works well I think he can have a breakout year. He’s bound to get hurt at some point but I’ll ride him while I can.

Round 11 – MATT BARNES (who I’ve since dropped)
I don’t really feel taking rookies so I went with a guy who is going to be on the floor and will have opportunities to shoot. May be an up year for him if he hits his open looks.

Round 12 – RUDY FERNANDEZ
Um, did anyone see this guy in the Olympics?? He will be starting by week 5 and he’s clearly not a rookie as he is tagged with all of his overseas experience.

Well there you have it, the DNA of a champion. Stay healthy and YES WE CAN! will be there fighting at the end. BARACK! GO SKINS!

Comments welcome!

A fan favorite in the TTL, unnamed sources have reported that a deal has been reached sending Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Overall, I’d have to say I’m pretty pleased with this trade.

I think Iverson really liked playing in Denver, and he had one of his best overall years last year. But now he is going to a really solid team. Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace have played together forever and have great chemistry. But though they perenially have a great regular season, I don’t think too many people outside of Detroit really believed they could win a championship. Clearly they had to shake things up, and I’m sure this decision was a tough one.

Can Iverson fit in with this squad? For sure, I think a trade so early in the season is better than a last-minute trade like the one that landed him in Denver. But I don’t think it will be that hard for him to fit in. This will be a better team than any he’s ever played on, including the scrappy team that went to the Finals in 2001. I think they’ll find a way to make it work.

From a fantasy perspective, I don’t think this will really affect Iverson’s performance. He’s a stud, and there’s no changing that. I think Billups will have a harder time adjusting in Denver. Carmelo Anthony will likely see an increase in scoring. This could boost him to close to 30 PPG. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I don’t really see Denver as that much better off.

What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments.

Special shout out to PennyCCW over at YouTube. He’s put together an amazing collection of Iverson videos. Here’s one of them from Iverson’s second game as a Nugget…

I don’t know what the hell Mr. Light thought he was doing, bestowing his “awards” for the week, before the week was over.  Nor do I know why he’s entitled to his self-appointed role as a bestower of awards, given his perennial status as a chump-tax candidate.  I will not venture to make grandiose proclamations after one week (abbreviated) of play.  I do have a few observations to make:

1)  After a very disappointing start Tuesday and Wednesday,  my Flambuoyant squad bounced back to score more points than any other, and to record more rebounds and steals than 8/9 of the competition.  My 1-2 risk/reward punch of Durant and Beasley started slowly, but finished a bit stronger.

2) Quinn was able to register a somewhat deceptive sweep of the perennially bungling Mr. Blount. FG% was close, and Quinn won by one 3, 14 points and 1 rebound.  Quinn’s numbers were only slightly above pedestrian.  The roster spot that Blount annually reserves for an injury gamble is occupied this year by Monta Ellis- he of the 30-game suspension.  I like Rajon Rondo, but it must be tough to hang on to him when your roster also features the aforementioned Ellis,  Luis Scola, and the as-yet-undeciphered Mario Chalmers.

3) New participant Lamont, aka Yes We Can, appears to have assembled a pretty solid squad, knocking off defending champion The Show.

4) The perennially boastful and egocentric TME franchise managed to hold on for a tie against Lights Out, despite the absence of TME’s 2nd-round pick D. Williams.  Lights Out was able to pull even, thanks to some feverish remaking of his roster, and equally feverish efforts to justify his moves in this forum.

That’s all for now.  On to Week 2.

Stud of the Week

Chris Paul (Lights Out!)
CP3 has almost single-handedly kept me in it this week. Three games averaging 21.7 PTS, 5.3 REBS, 12.0 AST, 50% FG, 87% FT, 7 ST. There’s really nothing to add. He was drafted first, and played like it.

Runners up:
Kobe Bryant (The Show) - 24.0 PTS, 7.7 REBS, 3.7 AST, 5 ST, 47.2% FG, 83.3% FTM
Amare Stoudemire (The Mighty) - 22 PTS, 11 REBS, 64.1% FG
Josh Smith (The Mighty) - Steals and blocks machine

Scrub of the Week

Ray Allen (Yes We Can) - He’s supposed to have game, but started the season slow. Serious underperformance for him, but he should come around sooner or later. 10.7 PTS, 3.7 REBS, 0.7 AST, only three 3FGM.

Runners up:
Stephon Marbury (Lights Out!) - spectacular bust
Jermaine O’Neal (McLovin) - started the season slow, should improve
Ricky Davis (The Show) - 3-of-16 from the field in 3 games. Now on waivers.

Rookie of the Week

Michael Beasley (Aerial Flambuoyance) - Debut wasn’t great, but has improved every game, and is also getting more PT. 25 PTS, 4 REBS, 10/16 FG, 4/4 FT, 2 BLKS against Charlotte.

Runners up:
Mario Chalmers (Dark Knight)
Derrick Rose (The Mighty)

Matchup of the Week

The Mighty vs Dark Knight - Quinn looks poised to pull off an opening week sweep against the Blount-man. Ouch!

Just a few days into the season, the waiver wire has seen plenty of action in our league as teams try to fine tune their rosters.  My draft didn’t quite go as I would have liked, so I’ve made a few adjustments.

In general, I agree with what Mr. Flambo was saying in his most recent post: sometimes it’s folly to be rash in the beginning of the season. Some players just start slow, while others start smoking hot. These things usually balance out over the course of the season, so don’t be disappointed with a bad game here or there (like Ray Allen).

Here are the adjustments I’ve made to my team in Week 1:

Drops
Jason Terry - I didn’t really want to pick him in the draft, so he was the first to go. Mr. Flambo disagreed with my drop here, and promptly used his #2 waiver wire priority to pick him up. Maybe this was a little bit rash, but it is still a question if Terry can produce quality numbers now that Jason Kidd is running the show in Dallas.

Stephon Marbury - This gamble clearly didn’t work out. I cut my losses quickly here, but will still keep an eye on him in case he ends up on another team. I think if he gets playing time somewhere in the league, he will put up good numbers, and I think you gotta gamble with late round picks on some players that could end up playing like a mid-rounder. If he busts, then it’s usually not that hard to pick someone up who gets numbers similar to most other 11th- to 13th-round picks.

Andrea Bargnani - I didn’t really want him on my team, but took him in the last round as another big man (C) who could give me some 3s. At this point, it doesn’t look like I have a chance in 3s, so there’s no point in having Bargnani on the squad.

Adds
Andres Nocioni - Not much to say here. Picked him up because he was playing the next night and wanted to use that game to evaluate him. Will probably be the next to go.

Quentin Richardson - Dropped one Knick for another. I figure he could be a good source for 3s and STEALS in D’Antoni’s system. I figure he could possibly have some upside. Don’t know if he’s a good fit for the team overall, though. We’ll see.

Marc Gasol - I like this pickup. I’m not a big fan of rookies, but this guy has a lot of overseas experience. He’s a big body and a banger, and cold be a good source for BLKS and REBS. Also, he looks to get the bulk of minutes for the Grizz at C and had a double-double in his first game. Not bad. Definitely some upside here.

Moving forward, I’m bummed to see Baron Davis already struggling with injury. I didn’t particularly want him for that reason, but felt that I had to get him as the best available with my second pick. Hopefully it’s nothing that will persist throughout the season. I’m definitely keeping my eye on a few sleeper candidates, but can’t throw out any names now.

One lesson that fantasy hoops owners learn, or should learn, as the years of experience accumulate, is that rash or hasty judgments should not be made at the start of the season. Some players will stumble out of the blocks, and it is often unwise to give up on them prematurely.

Some players will be jettisoned prematurely after a bad outing or two. But as predictably as the setting sun, we can count on Lights Out do so something even more shocking- kicking Jason Terry to the curb before he has played a single game. Make no mistake, Terry is no fantasy superstar, his 15p, 4a 1-three debut attests to this. But his stellar percentages, combined with his workmanlike production in other areas, make him a bankable commodity on the back end of one’s roster. Why does Ray repeatedly make rash moves like this?

To be fair, I will briefly analyze the players I have jettisoned thus far:

Joakim Noah- the unveiling of the new season (and new starting lineup) made clear that Noah will be coming off the bench for now. If he tallied 30-35 minutes a game, he would likely be a serviceable, but not great, fantasy center. That does not appear to be in the cards at present. I am sure Noah will make future appearances on rosters in this league, perhaps mine included, but won’t stick around long anywhere until he gets a starting gig under Coach Del Negro.

Rafer Alston- his numbers have been serviceable in the past, but mostly when there have been injuries on the Rockets squad. His fg% is usually atrocious. Now the Rockets are healthy and have added another star who needs his touches. Alston’s numbers have been sub-par. If, or more probably when, Houston gets hit by injury, Alston’s numbers should jump and he may find a semi-permanent home. Nevertheless, I hesitated in making this selection, and jumped at the chance to trade Mr. Alston for Ray’s castoff.

I will briefly mention that Ray also dropped his boy Marbury. I might have done the same; although Ray knew there was uncertainty in drafting Marbury (minutes from D’Antoni?, a trade?), and maybe should have waited a little longer to see how this would play out.

Who will go #1? I don’t really know yet who I will take, but it will most likely be one of these three…