1. Rodney Stuckey - No need to comment on this one, if for some odd reason he’s still around in your league, go and get now. He’s a baller and he’s starting.
2. Andray Blatche - Although he tires easily and needs some improvements, he should be picked up based upon potential alone and the fact that he earned a starting post with the new coach.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/21 | Dal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 12/19 | Phi | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 12/17 | @Det | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 12/15 | Ind | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
3. Eric Gordon - He’s still around in many leagues, and I say grab him. He’s just about to start taking off and I would watch out if he does. He has both offensive and defensive skills and will grow under Baron. He’s getting over 40 minutes a game right now, so he’s learning quickly. Here are some recent stats on the road mostly:
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/22 | Tor | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 12/20 | @Mil | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 12/19 | @Ind | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 12/17 | @Chi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| 12/16 | @OKC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| 12/13 | Hou | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 12/12 | @Por | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
Rodney Stuckey - Pick him up, he’s starting. He had 11 assists tonight in 36 minutes. He’ll be a league leader in assists if he continues to start and should have some good scoring nights while getting steals and a few three’s. Good value at this point based purely on potential.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/9 | @Was | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 12/7 | @NY | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 12/5 | Phi | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 12/2 | @SA | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
Kevin Love - With the injury to Corey Brewer, minutes are available in Minnesota. Expect Love to continue to capitalize on them. He’s grabbed 15 rebounds in his last 2 games and should continue to clean up around the basket.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/9 | Uta | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 12/6 | LAC | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 12/5 | @NJ | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 12/3 | @Orl | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
Jose Juan Barea - I know, he’s the backup point guard. I know he’s only filling in for Josh Howard in the minutes department and Jason Kidd is there. But, if you look at his numbers closely, you’ll see he is tearing it up. He’s getting 29 minutes a game right now and should continue to play well. Apparently Carlisle is impressed with his ability to get to the rack and pass. Check out the last four games.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/9 | SA | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 12/6 | Atl | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| 12/4 | Pho | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| 12/2 | LAC | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Brandan Wright - With recent injuries to Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette, coupled with the complete lack of Warriors defense, Don Nelson will be forced to play Wright. He’s one of the only decent defenders on the Warriors. He’s long, blocks shots well and is learning the offensive game. Expect his minutes to grow as the Warriors will look to develop young talent as the season dies.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/8 | @OKC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 12/6 | @SA | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Kelenna Azibuike - Another Warriors bench guy who should see minutes the next few weeks. With the recent injuries, he should see 30 + minutes a game. You can expect a steal, a three, a few points an boards from Kelenna.
| DATE | OPP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/8 | @OKC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 12/6 | @SA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Eric Gordon - Two words: Eric Gordon. Get him now. If he gets minutes, he’ll be a great asset for your squad on going. Just look at the numbers, they don’t lie:
| Date | Opponent | Result | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Nov 26 | vs. DEN | L 105 - 106 | 42 | 8 - 14 | 4 - 9 | 4 - 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| Nov 24 | vs. NOH | L 87 - 99 | 36 | 9 - 18 | 4 - 8 | 3 - 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 25 |
Larry Hughes - I know, it’s Larry Hughes. The man, the legend. The guy with the worst shot selection in NBA history and about as erratic as anyone…but he’s getting 35 minutes a game recently. He’s costing the Bulls $12,827,676 this season and they are going to run him into the ground until captain Kirk comes back. He’ll hurt your FG% for sure, but he might get some good points and he seems to be shooting 3’s better somehow. Obviously that won’t last, I’m not even sure why I wrote that. Anyways, if you’re hurting at SG and need points and assists, he’ll be a good addition until February when Kirk comes back.
| Date | Opponent | Result | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Nov 26 | @ SAS | L 88 - 98 | 40 | 4 - 14 | 0 - 6 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Nov 24 | @ UTA | W 101 - 100 | 29 | 5 - 10 | 2 - 3 | 4 - 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| Nov 23 | @ DEN | L 101 - 114 | 31 | 6 - 15 | 1 - 6 | 0 - 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
Luis Scola - He’s only 25% owned in ESPN leagues at the moment, but he’s a rebounding beast. With constant injuries to the ever fragile Mcgrady and Yao, expect Luis to continue to crash the boards and hit a good FG%. He’s a scrappy guy and you should grab him if you have an extra spot or need rebounds. He should continue to get decent #s even if Tracy Mcgrady and Yao are somehow healthy in the future.
| ate | Opponent | Result | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Nov 26 | vs. IND | L 90 - 91 | 35 | 6 - 17 | 0 - 0 | 3 - 4 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Nov 24 | @ MIA | W 107 - 98 | 30 | 2 - 9 | 0 - 0 | 7 - 9 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Nov 22 | @ ORL | W 100 - 95 | 18 | 4 - 7 | 0 - 1 | 1 - 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Trevor Ariza - Trevor is on the verge of becoming a stat stuffing machine. If he gets 25 or 30 minutes a night somehow, I would consider him a hot pick-up and would grab him immediately. His past 3 games, he is seeing increased minutes as he shows Phil Jackson, Kobe and all the Lakers fans how good he can be. He’s not so much a scorer, but a lock-down defensive player, which is what the Lakers have been looking for. He’s quicker than Odom and much harder to play against. Just look at his lines the past 3 games. He’s filling the assists, steals and rebounds categories nicely and you should grab him now or at least look at him closely (especially his minutes).
| Date | Opponent | Result | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Nov 25 | vs. NJN | W 120 - 93 | 20 | 3 - 5 | 0 - 1 | 1 - 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Nov 23 | vs. SAC | W 118 - 108 | 25 | 4 - 9 | 0 - 1 | 3 - 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Nov 21 | vs. DEN | W 104 - 90 | 32 | 3 - 6 | 1 - 2 | 4 - 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
*Update 11/28 - Ariza scored 15 on 7-12 shooting in 30 minutes. Add a block, steal, three and 3 assists to that. 30 minutes is the key stat here, as he played in a very competitive game.
Russell Westbrook - Grab this guy now if you can. He’s just starting to bud, and should be a stater soon. You can see it coming, as the Thunder are 1-9 and Earl Watson really isn’t the guy they need at PG. They are going to want to get the young starting 5 playing together now, while they are in a rebuilding mode. The ceiling is very high for Westbrook, as he could be a triple double threat and get a 15-6-6 type line nightly. He also showed his ability to get steals by grabbing 5 in his last game. He’s still available in many Yahoo leagues.
D Cook - The Heat are fishing for offensive fire power off the bench, and Cook could be that guy for them. He’s hitting around 2.5 3’s a game and getting about 25 minutes. In his last game he took 9 3-pointers, so obviously they expect him to take a log of 3’s and be a good scoring punch off the bench. If you’re in need of 3’s, this guy is your man.
Anthony Morrow - If he’s somehow still around in your league, grab him asap. He’s getting 30+ minutes right now and can’t seem to miss anything. He’s a combined 23-32 in his last 2 games, tallying 62 points. The more we hear about Don Nelson’s opinion of him, the more it seems he’s going to get the needed rookie slack and be able to play in the free-wheeling Warriors offense. He could maintain a very high FG and FT% while grabbing some boards and hitting a lot of 3’s. There’s little else he offers at this point, but still worth a ‘potential’ pick-up sheerly on what he could do.
CJ Watson - He’s turning out to be the main point guard option in Golden State until Monta Ellis comes back from his injury. He’s a good all around player, not going crazy in any one category, but instead filling multiples. He seems to jump lanes and get a lot of steals, also dropping a three and getting 5 assists. He’s a good guy to grab if you own Tony Parker or Gilbert Arenas, because Monta will come back around the same time both these players get off IR.
Here are my weekly pick-ups:
1. Brandan Wright - I don’t foresee his minutes dropping, he played 33 tonight. He’s a great source of blocks, rebounds and he is shooting 53.6% and getting 2 blocks a game. These #s should improve as Don Nelson becomes more comfortable with him and he relaxes and gets into the zone.
2. Darrell Arthur - He’s getting more and more minutes in Memphis as they realize he’s better than Hakim Warrick. He’s a beast on the glass and gets blocks. His sheer strength is starting to get noticed down low by other players and the coaches. Expect 25 minutes, 10-12 points, 6-8 rebounds, 2 blocks and some steals from him nightly.
3. Nick Young - If you need scoring, he’s your man. He’s been averaging 16.6 on the season and that should continue until agent Zero gets back. He’s only really there for scoring and 3’s, but does both efficiently. Pick him up if you can and are in need of points.
4. Tyrus Thomas - He’s being dropped in many leagues, but I would not sleep on him quite yet. He’s gone through an earth shattering shooting slump, including a 2-17 night, so his FG% is freakishly low at .306. I expect him to continue to get minutes and gel with Derrick Rose. He’s too talented and gets too many blocks, rebounds and steals to ignore. If he’s there, get him now before he’s back for good.
