SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
Week 22 five-game teams: CHI and PHO
Week 22 four-game teams: ATL, BOS, DEN, DET, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIN, NYK, PHI, SAS, and WAS
Week 22 three-game teams: CHA, CLE, DAL, GSW, IND, MEM, MIL, NJN, NOR, OKC, ORL, POR, TOR, and UTH
Week 22 two-game teams: HOU and SAC
elsewhere on the web: NBA Schedule Analysis (RotoWire) and Basketball Monster ease rankings
14 games remaining: PHI
13 games remaining: DET, LAL, MEM, MIA, NOR, NYK, ORL, PHO, SAS, and UTH
12 games remaining: ATL, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, GSW, LAC, MIN, NYN, OKC, POR, SAC, and TOR
11 games remaining: BOS, IND, MIL, and WAS
10 games remaining: HOU
PICKUPS/PLUG-INS
• Keyon Dooling – there’s nothing to suggest that Devin Harris is coming back soon, and Dooling has averaged 14.7 points on 56 percent shooting, 1.3 threes, 3.3 boards, 7.3 assists, and 1 steal in three games since replacing him as the starter. (@CLE, LAL, @MIN)
• Brandan Wright – he’s getting the starts right now and the Warriors have a number of injured bigs, so it’s at least slightly more likely that Don Nelson won’t flip-flop with his minutes. Over the past two games, Wright has totaled 36 points, 16 boards, two steals, and one block with 61 minutes of playing time. (@SAS, @DAL, @DEN)
• Renaldo Balkman – he should stay fairly active as the Nuggets limit Kenyon Martin‘s minutes down the stretch and the Nuggets have a nice four-game slate on tap. Over his past seven games, he’s averaged 10.7 points on 55 percent shooting, 10.7 boards, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 25 minutes. (@PHO, @NOR, @DAL, @GSW)
• Brandon Rush – Rush started at shooting guard on Saturday, with T.J. Ford moving to the bench, a move that is likely to stick for the time being. Rush had 15 points, five boards, one steal, and two blocks versus the Bobcats and has averaged 12.7 points, 1.5 threes, 5.1 boards, 0.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks in the 13 games where he’s seen at least 30 minutes of playing time. (MIA, @CHI, WAS)
• James Singleton – He’s seeing steady minutes and has three double-doubles in the past five games, averaging 10.6 points on 58 percent shooting, 0.4 threes, 7.8 boards, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks over that span. (GSW, DEN, @CLE)
• Chris Douglas-Roberts – CDR has inherited the lion’s share of the reserve guard minutes since Devin Harris hurt his shoulder. In two games, he’s averaged 16 points on 73 percent shooting, 0.5 threes, 3 boards, 4.5 assists, 2 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 27 minutes. (@CLA, LAL, @MIN)
• Andray Blatche – Blatche continues to do some things while Caron Butler‘s status remains up in the air. In five games since rejoining the starting lineup, Blatche has averaged 12.6 points on 49 percent shooting, 6.8 boards, 0.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 27 minutes. (CHI, CHA, DET, @IND)
• Jared Dudley – he’s someone to consider in deep leagues during the Suns’ five-game week. He’s averaged 10 points on 61 percent shooting, 0.8 threes, 4.8 boards, and 1.8 steals in 23 minutes over the past four games, and should stay active with Leandro Barbosa sidelined. (DEN, UTH, @POR, @UTH, @SAC))
INJURY/STATUS UPDATES
• Caron Butler – all fantasy owners can hope for is that a concrete update emerges after he is re-evaluated on Sunday.
• Manu Ginobili – Manu practiced for the first time on Thursday and is anxious to return to the lineup, but Gregg Popovich is going to take the cautious approach. “Hopefully, within the next week or so, we’ll see him,” said Pop.
• David Lee – Lee missed his first game of the season Saturday with tendinitis in his knees but is hopeful that he’ll be able to return to the lineup on Monday. Chris Wilcox and/or Quentin Richardson would benefit if his situation were to further deteriorate.
• Andres Nocioni – Noc is questionable for Sunday, meaning Francisco Garcia is likely to get another start. The Kings are then off until Friday, so it’s likely we’ll see him back by then.
• Mehmet Okur – his eye injury appears minor enough that he was slated to return to practice on Sunday, so there’s a reasonable chance that we’ll see him back in the lineup on Tuesday.
• Hornets news: Neither Tyson Chandler nor Peja Stojakovic are expected back before Wednesday, at the earliest. Byron Scott said his “gut feeling” is that both players will play on Wednesday.
• Pistons news: Rodney Stuckey was back in the lineup on Sunday; Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton, out again Sunday, are both close to a return.
elsewhere on the web: The Week Ahead (Rotoworld) and NBA Injuries (Rotoworld)
Is D.J Augustine dropable for rush at this point?
rush > Dj for sure
as long as raja and felton are there, DJ is gonna get limited min….
might as well gamble on rush to hope he stays on the starter
yes rush should be starting for the rest of the season. look for him to post numbers around 14 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk in about 35-40 min per game. these numbers are obvious upgrades from dj.
he may not get quite that many minutes but he’ll be solid nonetheless. augustin is droppable – larry brown has learned to like felton
From my team, i only see Thabo and Blatche as the droppables….
however, i am interested in Rush and CDR to increase my steals and blocks and 3s, as they are more of the up in the air cats… i feel i have reb and pts solidified, but am not sure should i drop or even consider dropping anyone on my roster for someone like Rush (who is great if he does start to get some 3s/stls/blks) and CDR (who gets to the line and gets 3s)…. i missed out on dooling already since i was forced to drop him to increase on other cats, should i consider wright as well? but nellie’s fluctuation of roster change is CRAZY and i do not want any part in that
what do u recommend to get some more 3s/blks/steals?
i might keep thabo since he’s a thief
Dirk Nowitzki
(Dal – PF)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 5 5 100% 69 .474 .888 53 1757 576 170 51 57 139
Rudy Gay
(Mem – SF,PF)
Drop player Add to Watch List @Mia VinX 29 80 98% 66 .443 .784 68 1240 372 113 85 45 174
Joe Johnson
(Atl – PG,SG)
Drop player Add to Watch List Min VinX 33 26 99% 68 .437 .818 128 1471 296 407 73 17 171
Antawn Jamison
(Was – SF,PF)
Drop player Add to Watch List Chi VinX 36 15 99% 71 .465 .756 94 1566 643 139 86 22 111
Kevin Durant
(OKC – SG,SF)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 52 11 99% 61 .482 .866 83 1579 403 172 76 46 195
Troy Murphy
(Ind – PF,C)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 80 10 93% 65 .473 .827 143 915 765 152 52 31 96
O.J. Mayo
(Mem – PG,SG)
Drop player Add to Watch List @Mia VinX 98 59 92% 69 .434 .875 122 1270 272 207 76 13 189
Ramon Sessions
(Mil – PG,SG)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 130 143 67% 68 .443 .785 6 819 218 352 72 7 126
Paul Millsap
(Uta – SF,PF,C)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 133 56 82% 63 .537 .707 0 889 568 121 61 63 116
Boris Diaw
(Cha – SF,PF,C)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 138 88 76% 69 .515 .669 59 890 363 271 53 47 186
Shaquille O’Neal
(Pho – C)
Drop player Add to Watch List Den VinX 165 103 88% 62 .612 .613 0 1125 532 99 31 90 140
Andray Blatche
(Was – PF,C)
Drop player Remove from Watch List Chi VinX 175 153 19% 62 .477 .709 5 620 329 106 47 66 104
Thabo Sefolosha
(OKC – SG,SF)
Drop player Add to Watch List VinX 190 169 26% 56 .434 .844 19 331 195 93 65 35 53
i’m assuming this is h2h? if so, i’m assuming you are doing poorly in AST? sessions might be expendable, given that roster – blatche will have some value for as long as caron stays out
yeh, assist is what im putting off atm, and yes its h2h
i dunno, should i just give up totally on assists or just keep a few good assist players just in case i can win a few assist….
but as u mentioned, session along with jojo are the only source of my assists…
i tanked assists in order to get 3s, pts, reb, and ft going…. im just thinking what i should really do…. drop session in order to get rush/CDR?
it’s not exactly a massive upgrade overall but i can see making the sessions/rush swap to get a bit more help where you want it
oh yeh, OJ mayo has really been stinking it up…
whats happening..?
and diaw’s been up THEN DOWN after a good burst of good games
i think mayo is just wearing down. he’s 9th in the league in total minutes played and still playing 38/night
What annoys me the most about Diaw is that he gets an incredible amount of turnovers. With him and Westbrook, I wind up punting T.O. weekly.
yeah they are way up with the bobcats. unless you really plan carefully, it’s hard to win that category consistently, but obviously you are on the opposite end of the spectrum
hey buser, I have devin harris. Should I drop him? He still has no time table. I have stucky on waivers and dooling, nocioni, singleton, kirk hinrich, and chris andersen still in free agents. What do you think?
my roster is:
alston
b. roy
j. kidd,
rashard lewis,
spencer hawes,
antawn jamison,
r. wallace
zydrunas ilgauskas
chris kaman,
devin harris,
russell westbrook,
monta ellis,
troy murphy
harris could be back at the end of the current week
http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2009/03/before_game_against_new_jersey.html
i might think about dropping kaman for dooling, hinrich, or andersen
y hinrich?
5 games this week, although 4 after today
he’s doing well already in today’s game
should have picked him up earlier on sunday and fully use his 5 games
i dropped session for hinrich, since session has only games and is under performing
smart move?
drop devin harris NOW
jk
hey buser, love this site. simple and informative.
i’m in a h2h playoffs now, with 10-stat (regular + off rebounds).
next week, i’m up against some serious stacked competition and wonder if there’s any strategy i can utilize to stand a chance.
my roster: nash, m.miller, j.rich, j.smoove, nowitzki, ariza, turiaf, mcdyess, korver, dooling, rose, randolph and j.green
opp roster: calderon, a.miller, b.roy, lebron, sheed, b.lopez, yao, bargnani, nate, thornton, a.parker and biedrins.
the only thing really going my way is injuries. also, should i play korver/dooling for their 5/4 game week over rose/randolph/green in their 2/3/3 week?
have you checked out basketball monster? you can enter your custom league settings and then do team analysis for both of those squads to find out strengths/weaknesses
http://basketballmonster.com/
if there are cats where you are going to get steamrolled no matter what – like ast? – then you need to play off of that
hey buser, great site i have a couple waiver wire questions. I am thinking of dropping mike miller and dooling, rush are available. Should I go for it? Also, do you think Hughes and Sessions are going to go back to their producing ways? thanks
i’d probably stick with miller – his points aren’t great but 8 reb, 5 ast, and 1+ 3pt aren’t anything to scoff at. with harris eventually coming back, dooling is going to take a hit; and i’m not sure rush is much of an upgrade in general, and miller’s schedule looks better
Hey buse, is there any status update on Al Thorton and his shoulder? Plus what is the likely hood of Agnet 0 coming back for the last 2 weeks of the season? If so do you think he’ll get 15-20 min and will he actually be productive? What does that mean for Nick Young?
there was nothing on thornton before being scratched sunday and nothing yet today
i dont think arenas is going to amount to much this season, but we should wait for this before we do anything drastic — “I’ll talk to Tapscott before tonight’s game for more on how he plans on using Arenas. Whether he’ll start, how many minutes etc.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2009/03/arenas_update_3.html?wprss=wizardsinsider
buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuser! thanks to your sagelike advice i have the #1 seed. the monster is telling me that in our Oreb/TO league i need to pick up the vanilla gorilla, but his sched next week (UTA, @OKC, @HOU) doesn’t look very appealing to me. den and gsw both have four that week, three at home, and balkman, birdman and azubuike are all available. sac gets four with thompson.
roster (again)
mo williams, JET, monta, granger, j smoov, lee, harrington, jamison, mcdyess, memo.
i finally did drop marion (who responded with a double double) and cisco, and they cleared waivers. winning swats is my priority for week 23, as neither of my potential opponents are very strong there.
AK is available too, with five games that week, but only has one multi blk game in a month.
i think you have to go andersen if blocks are what you are after, and the schedule looks pretty good for denver
Matt,
Can you give me an update on Brendan Haywood’s status? I have a bye this week in the playoffs and ive heard rumblings that he may be back before the end of this month.
It’s looking like he’ll be out at least this entire week, maybe longer….
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/23/haywoods-timetable-unclear/
i don’t see him having an impact after all this time. it makes more sense for them to give blatche/mcgee run than anything
Thanks buse for the info, I have a general question for everyone on here. What is your guys feelings on adding for adding sake in order to get the most starters possible? The reason I ask is b/c the guy I’m going against is doing it this week in particular for 3/26. There is a part of me that is tempted to match but the other part of me looks at those pickups as 3rd tier pickups at best but you know every little point counts.
My team as constructed has players that I just can’t drop like Pierce, D.Howard, B.Roye
then I also have players who are solid starters:
A.Iguadola, M.Ellis, A.Horford, R.Rondo, T.Prince, R.Gomes, L.Odom
then i have my buble players:
A.Varejao, R.Mason, T.Chandeler, L.Hughes(though trying to pick up T.Ariza on waivers)
What does everyone think about that and do you think i should play into this or stick with quality over quantity?
Streaming is fine as a concept, if your league settings allow it (mine doesn’t – we’re limited to two changes a week, plus injury replacements if necessary). If your league allows for daily transactions, streaming could potentially be a very good idea, especially with so many attractive options available this week because of the heavy schedule. This assumes you are in a public-settings league, which makes your bench OK but not much more. You could swing in some GSWs today (play Tue, Wed), someone like Przybilla for Thursday’s game, and then mix and match for the game-heavy weekend.
agreed. look at what the bonuses are. maybe spreadsheet it out. take your team and throw in the averages for the players you want to stream, and deduct the ones you’ll be dropping and pencil it out. rough but you should be able to see the average net gain… or loss. Another idea would be to wait it out a couple days and see what ya need for the weekend and then do whatever is necessary to get the stats. if you have two expendables then just start rotating them out to fill in every slot for the weekend. If you lose this week you go home.
I am also forced to stream this week, due to schedule anomalies. My opponent has three Suns, who play a five game week, and I have several players on Houston (including Yao) and Sacramento, both of which play only two games. I added up the games lost, and it was eight, which is significant. I have three bubble players, and will stream them throughout, deciding on the needed players according to the cat scores.
I prefer a weak stream against someone who’s going Flomax on you. You have some roster slots that could clearly benefit from rotating people in, but make sure you target specific areas you need to win. I’m guessing you’re not a big threat in ast, so getting a few games from Dooling isn’t high on your priority list.
The way to stream properly is to bring in utility guys who can get you big results in either *steals or blocks*. These are small, quantifiable gains that can make the difference. Replacing scoring/percentages/boards by playing extra games will yield results, but you’ll drive yourself nuts trying to calculate the advantages.
Look at who he’s trying to go after and see if there is a pattern. If he’s down on assists in the matchup tomorrow and picks up two guards, it’s clear a strategy has emerged. If the next day they’re losing blocks and grab Birdman, it’s more erratic and you can go for strength in your own categories.
Winning in the playoffs means not treating your team like a static roto entity anymore, which people have a tendency to do in H2H. Oh, I may be good at these things, bad at these others, but that’s what my team is. No. Look at what their strengths and weaknesses have been over the past weeks and make incremental gains in the categories you can win.
nice post. and love the flomax reference
Agreed. This post is classic. I blew wine through my nose, and then analyzed some damn fine insight. Since I’m currently quite pleased with the both of you, I offer a quick query.
I’ve got a bye this week, but have rapidly gone from stud to scud with injuries to Rip, Harris, and Emmanuel G. Compounded by the worries of Duncangate, and Camby (though I saw he is contract motivated to finish with no more than 2 more hangnails). What’s the gut feeling on the former 3 and with J Thompson, M Gasol, and Dooling as lowpoints how many would you guys hold or stream. Thompson and Gasol play tons of games through the end, and above that I’m looking at dropping Rondoesque caliber to maintain.
Also Buse, if Harris remains inactive is Yahoo going to take him off the can’t cut list?
Thanks for your kind words. That’s a classic case of marathon shorts you have there, where everything is falling apart at the end and it’s not pretty. You can still pull it off in style, though.
Duncan and Manu could both get Pop’d, with Timmay! already posting one DNP CD in the past week. You’re looking at three games in the semis and a possible 3/1 over the last two weeks if he’s held out of back to backs. I think after watching Ginobli limp through the playoffs last year, Pop is going to really ease him back in. Bottom line, I can’t recommend him going forward if he’s not miraculously playing by this weekend. You can get more production by streaming this spot.
Harris and Hamilton should both have at least a game under their respective belts, though, so don’t worry too much about them. My primary concern with Devin is that with a bum shoulder he may be taking it to the hoop less, and that great FT% and volume is tied heavily to his value. You must hate Camby. Oh, I see you know him! Marcus isn’t playing for a contract until next year and I don’t see him gutting it out and going hard for the woeful Clips. His March splits are downright ugly.
I don’t see Dooling having any value left next week. Thompson has put up a double double over the past week and seems like a no brainer this point, especially with the two games vs GS. I like Lil Gasol, too, with their toughest game at home vs Dallas. I don’t see streaming either of them unless you’re being streamed all over, at which point you have to look at Manu and Dooling first in my opinion.
I’m on a bye week in my H2H league playoffs (1st seed baby!). However, Devin Harris has got me sweating over here because if he doesn’t come back next week, I’ll be in trouble when I actually have to play somebody.
I’ve got a couple guys who are underperforming and thinking about dropping them for some of your picks this week. What do you think of dropping AK47 and/or Dominic McGwire for any combination of Dooling and/or Balkman? Are Dooling (assuming Harris will still be out) and Balkman more likely to stay hot than Kirilenko and McGwire are to heat up?
For the record, I’m never drafting Kirilenko again, no matter how late the round. He is a waste of human flesh.
I disagree with Buser on Balkman. He’s shown flashes, but Martin/Anderson will still get the lions share of the minutes. I could see him being decent during the stretch with GS, as they’ll need fresh bodies on the floor and someone to come in with energy. He’s been wildly inconsistent and gets himself into foul trouble regularly.
balkman has been a little nicked up himself and got into foul trouble tonight, but overall has been getting it done with 25ish minutes. if k-mart minutes restrictions have been lifted, then obviously its a whole different story
I sent in that buser tweet from halftime, but obviously should have been paying better attention… what a game. Seemed like everyone on the Nugs were fouling last night, a big reason they had to keep K-Mart in. The local buzz is all about Birdman, not Balkman, though.
you could drop mcguire for dooling to hedge your bets with harris. if he does come back this weekend, you can make another add/drop. i’d keep AK for his 5-game week
Hey I have a team in as 16 team league…. start of playoffs should i bother holding on to Josh Howard? Larry Huges? Loul Deng? Kenyon came back tonight and played well, so im keeping him….
the likes on the wire are Rodney Carney, Jared Dudely, Arron Affallo, Brandon Wright
I also have Greg oden on my team and i just picked up Keyon Dooling…. I have a 50/50 chance of winning… depending on how D-wade plays for me and Durrant plays for him
drop j-ho and deng for dudley and wright..
I don’t get owning Oden still in a non-keeper league. Erick Dampier could be giving you better production. His atrocious FT%, foul trouble, high TO rate and injury risk alone would make me weary.
Oden is a mess, but in a 16 team league I say he is worth waiting on unless you only have 10 players per team or something equivalent.
i think memo’s advice on add/drops is good
i give up guessing on oden – a solid game tonight
is caron butler ever going to be able to be dropped? i’m in an 8 team league that’s stacked and he’s expendable.
my roster:
G: Wade, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Terry, Salmons, Ginobili
F: Melo, Butler, Maggette, Ariza, Tyrus Thomas
F/C: Duncan, Nene, Brad Miller, Zach Randolph
I’m pretty loaded at all spots, but so are all the other playoff teams, so I was thinking of picking up a one cat stud like Chalmers or Turiaf just for that little extra boost. Anything is better than Butler’s zeros…
and Manu’s zeroes.. you should be droppin them for someone who’s producing fantasy numbers.
yeah, manu adds to the problem, but i’m holding out on him for at least another week. he seems to be close to a return.