Which top-35 player (in Yahoo! season Rank as of 2/9) has been the biggest surprise thus far?
• Danny Granger (3) – plenty of people thought he’d be really good, but he’s been better
25.6 pts, .441 FG%, .886 FT%, 2.7 3ptm, 5 reb, 3.3 ast, 2.5 to, 1 stl, 1.5 blk
• Kevin Durant (8) – it’s like a switch was flipped when he was moved to SF
25.5 pts, .481 FG%, .858 FT%, 1.4 3ptm, 6.6 reb, 2.8 ast, 3.1 to, 1.1 stl, 0.8 blk
• Ray Allen (9) – near-flawless roto line includes career highs in both percentages
18.2 pts, .494 FG%, .943 FT%, 2.4 3ptm, 3.3 reb, 2.9 ast, 1.7 to, 1 stl, 0.1 blk
• Jason Terry (14) – roto juggernaut was posting career-best numbers prior to injury
19.9 pts, .467 FG%, .877 FT%, 2.1 3ptm, 2.5 reb, 3.7 ast, 1.9 to, 1.4 stl, 0.3 blk
• Nene Hilario (19) – his freakish combination of size/athleticism is finally on display
14.9 pts, .609 FG%, .730 FT%, 0 3ptm, 8.2 reb, 1.4 ast, 1.9 to, 1.3 stl, 1.4 blk
• Troy Murphy (24) – the Pacers’ system has created yet another fantasy force
12.6 pts, .453 FG%, .802 FT%, 2 3ptm, 11.4 reb, 2.3 ast, 1.4 to, 0.9 stl, 0.4 blk
• Mike Bibby (25) – he’s returned to his former place among fantasy’s elite PG
16.1 pts, .443 FG%, .780 FT%, 2.4 3ptm, 3.6 reb, 5.4 ast, 1.8 to, 1.5 stl, 0.1 blk
• David Lee (27) – it doesn’t get much better in terms of a player-system match
16.2 pts, .566 FG%, .776 FT%, 0 3ptm, 11.8 reb, 1.9 ast, 2.2 to, 0.9 stl, 0.3 blk
• Jameer Nelson (30) – unfortunate shoulder injury derailed a monster campaign
16.7 pts, .503 FG%, .887 FT%, 2 3ptm, 3.5 reb, 5.4 ast, 2 to, 1.2 stl, 0.1 blk
• John Salmons (32) – the one constant bright spot for the Kings this season
18.7 pts, .476 FG%, .825 FT%, 1.5 3ptm, 4.2 reb, 3.7 ast, 2.3 to, 1.1 stl, 0.2 blk
• Brook Lopez (34) – more boards than Amar’e, more blocks than Yao, better FT% than Bosh
12.2 pts, .505 FG%, .821 FT%, 0 3ptm, 8.2 reb, 0.8 ast, 1.9 to, 0.5 stl, 1.9 blk
i voted for jameer – as much as i like the guy, i had a hard time seeing him turn things around, let alone to this level
Troy Murphy. Double double machine and hits threes. I’m not sure what he averaged last year but he is a machine this year.
brook lopez, nene, jameer, troy, in that order.
never thought that brook would be this good, especially on draft day.
surprised that nene is still playing at this point in the season.
half-expected that jameer and troy will thrive in their current environments, though they have done so well beyond expectation.
I went with Bibby — He came out of nowhere this year! It was a close pick though, Lopez and Nelson would have been my next choices.
From a numbers standpoint, the only acceptable answers IMO are Murphy and Lopez. Everyone else was at least on the radar to have productive seasons.
Granger and Durant have both made the improvements in their game that many people anticipated.
Ray Ray’s numbers are pretty similar to last year, with the uptick in percentages. Plus he hasn’t missed a game yet (knock on wood, he’s on my fantasy team) so that boosts his Y! ranking some (although he’s 15 in per-game rank, so maybe not that much).
The Jet has been great, but his minutes are up from last year and that accounts for most of the stat line improvements.
Bibby showed major improvement last season after being dealt to the Hawks, and his production this year is hardly a surprise.
Lee’s production given D’Antoni’s system and finally getting starter’s minutes is nothing surprising at all.
Nelson has been a pleasant surprise, and is somewhat debatable, but people have been waiting for him to break out for a couple years now, and in my mind it was only a matter of time.
Salmons is another guy who produced at about the same level last year as he has this year on a per-minute basis. He’s just seen a lot more minutes this year.
Nene might be debatable, but he averaged 12 points/7 boards with steals and blocks a couple seasons ago. When Camby left many people suspected that if Nene would be healthy he would produce big-time for the Nuggets this year. 15/8 with more stls/blks is not that surprising.
you forgot about nene’s %’s
Nene shot 57% from the field and 69% from the line two years ago, versus 61% and 73% this year, respectively.
I went with Brook Lopez. He’s that good, and it’s just his rookie year! What’s going to happen when he actually matures into an elite player!? Watch out, Tim Duncan.
I voted for Durant, because I truly didn’t expect him to become elite. He’s #2 over the last month… Ahead of Lebron.
And the other day I was scrolling through Yahoo! blogs and I found this from Buser.. November 27th, 2008.
The Thunder were back to being terrible tonight, shooting 35 percent against the Cavaliers en route to a 35-point loss. This is going to be a roller-coaster ride all season, so be prepared for peaks and valleys from every one of their players. That includes Kevin Durant, who has quite the uphill battle to justify his ADP of 47.5.
I think it’s safe to say Durant has justified his ADP of 47.5. I’m thinking he’ll be a top 5 overall pick next year.
My 2nd pick would’ve been Murphy.
And my Bosh for Lopez/1st rd pick isn’t looking so bad anymore, it it? =)
I’d be really surprised if Bosh and Calderon don’t end up shutting it down in the 2nd half.
yep durant’s rise basically started two days after that post…
as for calderon/bosh, the odds continue to increase
Yeah I don’t blame you for writing that. Back then I thought nothing of Durant. I figured he’d put up Melo-type numbers in his prime.
But now it seems like he’s scoring 30+ ppg effortlessly, I’m really impressed. Especially with his %’s over the last month.
That’s why I picked Durant high in my autodrafts. I knew he was going to do great things. I’ve been following him since Austin (Longhorn fan, native Austinite here) and I liked what I saw then. Still like it now. That’s why he wasn’t a surprise to me: I already had some high expectations.
I like Salmons this year, ’cause he’s on my team
Seriously though I watched him play vs Utah this weekend at ARCO and I was blown away by his unselfish play. His attitude was awesome during the breaks too, which was saying a lot given the Kings play this year… I just always saw him as a hardcore prima donna Rasheed Wallace type. He really has been team minded this year and he has been able to keep his numbers up now that Kmart is back.
I would have to place Lopez, Durant, Nelson. Brook was pretty much out of the radar, and was getting placed on waivers early in the season. Josh Boone pulled a Wally Pipp, and the rest is history. I was able to trade for Lopez soon after the Boone injury, and am obviously quite content. Durant is now a top five fantasy player; although much was expected, his pre-season yahoo rank was 52. I was also lucky enough to draft him with the 36th pick in the draft. Jameer Nelson was ranked 104 preseason, and #30 when he went down with his unfortunate injury.