JD Fantasy Basketball 06-07

[Rob]

Great idea.  I'll get to it at some point before the holiday is over.

[Scott]

Where would Kevho be if he took LT like he should have instead of Tiki ******* Barber, taking Shaun and LJ were both reasonable picks at the time, LT faltered mightly down the stretch last year and had a new unknown QB...but Tiki Barber?  Come on

[Dressel Rebel]

Just an ankle sprain for Chris Paul, missing 2-4 games (which I interpret to be 4-6 games) but he's mostly fine anyway. 

Make it 1 month, so say the Hornets.

Hey if 1 or 2 more superstars go down to injury, you will have achieved the state of being completely crippled like my baseball squad this year.

[JayDouble]

Add Billups to the injury bug.  He went down with a strained right calf in the final minute of the game.  Status is unknown for Sunday.

[Morgbug]

10 days to two weeks is the more recent report.   

Somebody just shoot me now.

Running tally:

David West: forearm surgery - out after playing only 7 games, could miss up to 2 months more
Chris Paul: sprained ankle - out for a month
Rashard Lewis: hand surgery - out two months, possibly more
Monta Ellis: bum shoulder, been out a week, probably a week more
Sean May: sprained ankle, not ready to return yet, been out two weeks
Wally Szcerbiak: sprained ankle, not ready yet, been out three weeks
Chauncey Billups: calf strain, out two weeks.

J.R. Smith: not hurt (nobody gets hurt in basketball fights) but suspended for 10 games, should be back in January, or about 10 days to two weeks. 

No, really.  Shoot me. 

[Morgbug]

Player      FG%   FT%    3PT   PTS   REB   AST   ST   BLK   TO
Szczerbiak   45.3   90.5   1.4   17.6   3.6   2.1   0.6   0.1   2.0
Billups      43.3   88.1   1.8   17.9   3.0   8.3   1.3   0.3   2.2
May      50.9   83.1   0.0   12.4   6.5   1.8   0.4   0.8   1.7
Ellis      47.5   74.8   0.8   17.1   2.7   4.1   1.2   0.3   3.5
Smith      45.7   84.2   2.8   16.7   2.6   1.7   1.0   0.1   1.9
Lewis      48.8   90.1   2.3   21.9   6.8   2.4   1.3   0.7   2.0
Paul      46.3   78.9   0.3   18.4   4.4   9.0   1.8   0.0   3.1
West      47.1   74.3   0.0   17.4   8.3   1.3   0.4   1.0   1.9

That's just nuts.  I had Ellis and Smith to replace Wallace, each could back up the other or Raja Bell and play utility depending on what I needed.

Billups and Paul were awesome backups for each other and surreal as a utility filler.

West was a steal, IMO, in the draft with 17.7/8.3 that late.  I grabbed May to replace him.  Either was a nice backup to Brand and good size in the utility slot.

Lewis was arguably in the top three for small forwards and yahoo had him ranked 4th overall this season.  He was on fire.

Szczerbiak was just filler for that SG slot too, but jeez, he was having a career year.


Ouch.

[JayDouble]

You didn't piss of any locals in Hawaii, did you Brent?  Maybe they put a hex on your fantasy teams.   

[Morgbug]

 

I don't think so?  I was only there for a couple of hours when things started going south and I lost Jones and Jackson in football.  It's been a continuous slide since then.  I think I used all the good luck in baseball where I had nearly zero injuries. 

I'm just so bummed though, my team was seriously cruising and I never even really had West for any period of time.  I'd figured once he'd come back I'd be untouchable.  Whoops.

[Dressel Rebel]

Well, you're not the only one suffering from the injury bug, Bug    I just lost Gerald Wallace who was really pouring it on lately to a separated shoulder.  Rasheed Wallace has been down with "sore ankles."  Same with Artest though we know it's really cuz he's raising his yearly hell and doesn't want to play.  Also I had lost Josh Howard for 8 games and Nash for a few with various injuries.

Your situation is worse, but my squad hasn't exactly been a portrait of health.

[Dressel Rebel]

Ooooh Bug you fiend.  I was going to pick up Josh Childress last night but couldn't decide if I wanted to drop Tayshaun Prince or Alonzo Mourning to do it.  Dropping either didn't seem right.

Picking up free agents in fantasy sports is a lot like collecting Star Wars figures.  If you don't grab someone you want when you see them, chances are they won't be there when you come back.

Makes me feel glad I grabbed Al Jefferson, Deron Williams, and Gerald Wallace when I did.

But I wouldn't have minded Childress either.

Nice pickup.

[Morgbug]

Thanks.  I was sitting back shortly after the raft of injuries thinking I'll just wait it out until my guys come back.  Might work for some of them, but it ain't going to work having 15 games to spare at small forward when Lewis finally does return (and probably not like he did when he left).  So I filled up the player moves sheet pretty much all by myself over the last couple of days going back and forth.  He ain't no Lewis, but he'll do for now. 

Wishing I'd picked up Jefferson at one point too.  Can't say I ever had my eye on Deron Williams though.  And Wallace I'll regret all year; there were other bodies I could have dumped and held him.  But I'm good for at least one stupid move in every league, if not more. 

[JayDouble]

Even with all the injuries I still wish we had more active spots.  I have no clue who I will bench when my team is healthy. 

[Morgbug]

I long for that to happen, but I do know what you mean.  At the start of the season I was running the obvious choices:

PG Paul
SG Wallace then Monta Ellis or JR Smith
SF Lewis
PF Brand
C Boozer

Utility was supposed to be Billups and West, but West never lasted long.  So I was going small ball and running either Smith or Raja Bell in there and things were going great.  I should never have dropped Wallace but Bell's been a nice surprise. 

Small league makes for interesting problems.  I'd prefer 12 teams in the league. 

I miss Lewis.

[Dressel Rebel]

Even with all the injuries I still wish we had more active spots.  I have no clue who I will bench when my team is healthy. 

I like this format that we've been using since we started a few years ago, because each spot is so critical, and the format really emphasizes the importance of balance.  There is more strategy involved with fewer spots, and it really forces you to pay attention to who is most valuable to your team.  It makes for tougher decisions and more crafty tactics and management.

You can take solace in the fact that you have a strong bench, and a nice insurance policy.

[Morgbug]

Getting healthier by the day   And I brought most of my games used totals back in line without falling too far behind.

J.R. Smith's suspension is over, but now with AI and Melo, plus the stellar play of Boykins in Smith's absence it's no guarantee he'll return to his former playing time or scoring.  He and Melo were tearing it up, but AI and Boykins could put a big stop to that.

Billups could play this weekend and he seems to have been very smart about when he's coming back, not rushing and healing properly.

Monta Ellis is back and doing alright, though the 9 turnovers in one game was ugly. 

West has been cleared to shoot but most impressively he was keeping his fitness up the whole time he was out.  He'll have rust, no doubt, but it shouldn't last too long.

Childress might get a bit of a bump too, with Claxton hurting his knee tonight. 

Not much word on Paul and that's a bit of a concern.  Lewis is breaking my heart not being there.

Nice pickup Jay with Mutumbo.  I didn't even go look because I figured someone had him, he's been an animal of late.  Whoops, big error on my part.  I've been watching his stats because I've been playing Juwan Howard who's been doing well in his own right, but Mutumbo has been outplaying him regularly.  Sweet pickup for you until Yao returns. 

Here's the funny line of the night though:

Elton Brand - 21 points on 10/17 and 1/2 shooting, 6 rebounds, 0 steals, 1 block.

Mark Blount - 21 points on 10/15 and 1-3 pointer, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 0 blocks.

Yep, Mark Blount, Celtics refugee to the T'Wolves matches Brand in fantasy output tonight.   What do you think someone would have told you if you said to them at the start of the season that Blount would match Brand in even a single game?  The good news/bad news thing is I have Blount, which is good, the bad is I think for the time being I might rather have Mutumbo.  Once Yao is back that might change though, as Blount is fitting really well with the Wolves and may last the season as a starter alongside Garnett, if the latter isn't traded.  But I could see Houston going with Ming/Mutumbo and Howard taking the big minutes hit down the road.  I just hope West is back before Yao so I don't miss anything with a decrease in Howard's production.