The Best of the Best

Well, I thought I would look at who is the cream of the crop so far this NBA season. As usual, there have been lots of injuries across the league and some notable players have missed some games. The biggest superstar to be injured? I think it's Chris Paul. He's only managed 10 games so far this season, but what a 10 games. Look at those numbers.
http://www.dougstats.com/09-10/NOrleansHornets.html

So, who are the top 10 Fantasy studs as we near the 1/4 poll of the 09/10 season???
Well, it's impossible to say that one player is clearly better than the other based on individual game plans on building a squad...so, I decided I would break it down into 2 tiers. The first 10 guys are super studs in the Fantasy world and can be the cornerstone to any team. The second tier are also very good Fantasy stars but fall just a notch short of being elite. And yes, I know it's early in the season...but I'm basing it on what's happened to date. I also threw a couple of other categories in there just for fun...

Here we go....

The top 10:

1) Lebron James - the King
2) Chris Paul - impossible to perform at his 10 game level all season...isn't it?
3) Dirk Nowitzki - look, the steals and blocks are back!
4) Carmelo Anthony - holy cow, he's good.
5) Dwyane Wade - slow start and yet look at those cats
6) Kobe Bryant - 37 steals in 16 games. wow.
7) Dwight Howard - 18ppg, 12reb, 64%, and 36 blocks.
8) Steve Nash - no steals, no problem...look at those %'s and ATO
9) Chris Bosh - 25 & 12 and looking for a BIG contract
10) Kevin Durant - 27 & 7 but his %'s are down slightly. Great scorer.

The Honorable Mention Studs:

• Josh Smith (27 steals + 46 blocks already and he no longer jacks ill-advised 3's)
• Marcus Camby (healthy and a defensive monster again)
• Tim Duncan (18/11 and some blocks - yawn, boring, same every year)
• Monta Ellis (scoring machine does it all with 36 steals and good %'s)
• Carlos Boozer (20/11 and 55% and now some steals - wow, big year)
• Deron Williams (another All-Star type season)
• Marc Gasol (surprise Fantasy baller of the season - 16ppg, 10reb, 21stl, 29blks)
• Rajon Rondo (4:1 ATO, 43 steals, 54% FG, sure he could score more)
• David Lee (18/10, 20 stls, 54% shooting)
• Andrew Bynum (18/10, 27blks, 57% shooting)

The I Wanted More from You Fantasy Group:

• Al Jefferson (16 & 8 for $50+ bucks??)
• Amare Stoudamire (20 & 7 is all you got? And your 18/48 ATO is terrible)
• Anthony Randolph (everyone's favorite sleeper hasn't lived up to the hype....yet)
• David West (just 15 & 7 so far this season)
• LaMarcus Aldridge (15 & 7 and steals and blocks are down)
• Andre Miller (Portland spent big FA money to get 10ppg and 5ast???)
• Elton Brand (11 and 6 so far)
• Chris Duhon (you are the PG on the run-and-gun Knicks and you shoot 28% and 22%?)
• Paul Millsap (curse you Carlos Boozer!)

The Surprising Fantasy Players:

• Marc Gasol (see above)
• Ben Wallace (22stl, 21blk, 10rpg - come on - no one saw that one coming)
• Brandon Jennings (bet the Knicks regret passing on him)
• Channing Frye ( could he lead the league in 3-pointers made?)
• Danilo Gallinari (D'Antoni did say he was the best shooter he's ever seen)
• Chris Douglas-Roberts (16ppg?? Really?)
• Mareese Speights (Brand will lose his job to ____? This guy)
• Joakim Noah and Greg Oden (these 2 young centers are having great seasons)
• Andrei Kirilenko (having a resurgent AK47-type season)
• Trevor Ariza (leading the Rockets in scoring, steals, 3-pointers made)
• Tyreke Evans (19-5-5 and he's getting better)
• Chris Kaman (almost 20 & 9 - he can't keep it up)

I know there are lots of guys who could have made each of those lists but it's late and I ran outta steam. That's all for now...I will try to get some comments on the French & Yuma trade that went down today in the near future too...