Bangkok Talking...

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and a load of NBA games have already been played. D-Wade's Heat lost to Phillly and the 76ers held my man to just 18 points (including 0/6 from downtown). Oh well, I guess his 45.2 tendex is finally going to take a hit.

Now, this mornings JBL standings were 916-907-883 (Woo-Ben-JE)...holy cow that's close. Rebounding is soooo tight. The top 5 teams are separated by 50 rebounds!!

As I look at the standings this afternoon, Woo has climbed back into the 950's...while Benny remains at 907. The interesting part is that I am now at 909 points. I've passed Benny in blocks and passed Bangkok in FG% (finally). Big thanks to Pau Gasol who shot 12/13 today. Man, he's been good. He's also top 10 in Tendex for the year.

I noticed too that Bangkok is talking a little trash on the live chat. He's thrown a shot at Juan de Fuca for a futile late season charge and has boldly predicted that he will be on Idaho's ass by the end of the season. Now, Bangkok sits at 629pts and Idaho is at 775pts. That's a big gap to make up. It could be Rick just pulling a little Tuna-like trash talking...you know the kind where you say it -- but you can't possibly think it could happen.

Let's have a look at this Bangkok franchise...one of my favorite by the way. Rick's been around the JBL since 1996 (I'm pretty sure that's the 1st year for Woo and Rick). Bangkok has been middle of the pack all season. That's a pretty common statement about a Bangkok team. One of the greatest things about Rick, when discussing possible trades, is that I know it's serious when I get a phone call from him. And it's really serious, if it's a 3-way call with Woo on the line as well (trying to broker the deal).

So why is this Bangkok team in 6th place??? Well, let's start with the good things. Rick has a knack (or the balls) to draft rookies. It was Bangkok who drafted OJ Mayo and Russell Westbrook this year. Both of those guys have turned to be really good. And Westy will be a one of the Bangkok keepers for sure. At $10 bucks, he's a real bargain.

Rick also paired Chris Bosh with Kevin Garnett this season - hoping for glory. Instead, he got a KG who is more interested about winning than putting up Fantasy stats. And then, the toughest thing to realize is that your prize possession, the one you paid over 60 bucks for, is really only worth about $40! It`s tough to make that realization. That`s the reason that KG is still in Bangkok.

Also, guys like Scola, Miller, and TJ Ford have been solid. Plus, Bangkok has got the best of me this year in the trades department. I gave up Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, and Kevin Love for Elton Brand. Whoops. Brand played 5 games for me before he was out for the year.

Now, unfortunately, Bangkok made a trade with Chilliwack early in the season. He traded away Kevin Durant for Matt Barnes and Al Horford. Both those guys are solid pieces, but KD turned out to be a superstar!! Sometimes you have to make these deals and hope for the best -sometimes it works out, and then sometimes it doesn`t. This one didn`t work out for Bangkok.

This team didn`t have enough ATO or blocks to compete for the title either. He waited too long on the ATO and never addressed the blocks. If Bangkok could hold on to 6th place I`d be really surprised, but the way the JBL standings are changing on a daily basis you just don`t know. I really think Bangkok is destined for a 7th place finish - which means its just 2 keepers for next season. That`s easy in my books. Westbrook and David Lee. End of story.

Today is the trade deadline...a few deals have happened over the last couple of days. I`d like to add some blocks because I think this is a key category versus Benny. It`s a 26 point swing. However, I look at the rebounds and I think that Benny could drop some here - especially if Biedrins is going to be out for any length of time. I have Leon Powe for 4 games next week - but I`m now thinking I should try to get someone else...maybe the dude from Toronto - Pops Mensah-Bonsu - he had 21pts and 8rebs today - but NO blocks. Meanwhile, Powe had 5-6-2 (but fouled out)...so, I`m not sure what to do. I may go after AK47 from Boston - but what would be Trev`s motivation to move AK at this point in the season.

I`d like to maybe grab a guy like Antonio McDyess. He`s starting, he`s averaging 14-15ppg and close to 10rebs as a starter, gets some steals, and some blocks. It might be worth a try. Besides, Tim has been trying forever to get a deal done with me.

Just a quick peak at this afternoon`s games - I notice that Francisco Garcia started today`s game for Sac-town - but is not playing in the 2nd half. Not another injury!! We`ll see. If he was hurt, then I would seriously have to start thinking about dropping Greg Oden or Kenyon Martin to get some healthy bodies. I`ll have to see what`s up. Go Golden Go!