- The JBL trade deadline came and went. No last minute deals. Nothing. As we predicted, most of the fireworks had already happened and the big moves were done 10-15 days ahead of schedule. We didn't see Seoul move Lebron as he's suddenly a contender. In just 2 short weeks Philly Woo has become a Fantasy factor again
- The NBA trade deadline brought us some action. Jamison became a Cavalier (and killed his Fantasy appeal)
- Salmons became a Buck (and he's relevant again)
- Stoudamire stayed put and keeps his Fantasy value for one more year
- Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood are Mavs (making them contenders). I watched them up close on Feb 19th when they were in town to play the Magic. Haywood and Butler are just the defensive-minded players that team needed.
- Josh Howard becomes a Wizard and hopes to rebuild with them and then promptly blows a knee (his fantasy glory days are over)
- Camby becomes a Blazer (too little too late for the injury depleted Blazers in my opinion); the Clippers are idiots for the deals they did - they got nothing for Camby
- Tyrus Thomas (at long last), finally gets moved to a team that has limited big men and is averaging 13 and 7 with 3+ blocks per game. Now, finally, I can see why Tim held on to him all year
- McGrady becomes a Knick, has a monster game, then injures his knee (come on, we all should have seen that one coming)
- Kevin Martin becomes a Houston Rocket. This move is more about next year when Yao comes back. Having Yao and K-Mart as an inside-out threat could be huge. Cause so far, K-Mart is chucking bricks.
- Carl Landry becomes a King. The trade of Martin officially gives the keys to Sac-town to Tyreke Evans. The kid is a star in the making and Landry is just another bargain big man for them to use. He's averaged 15 and 6 (same as Houston) since his arrival.
- The Grizzlies traded a 1st rounder to get Ronnie Brewer out of Utah. I thought this was a high-price to pay for a role player. Of course, Brewer quickly tears a hammy (done it, it hurts) and is gone for the season.
- Al Thornton becomes a Wizard and gets a chance to revive what's left of his career. Once a blossoming Fantasy star he now has to "revive" his career?? He's been in the league for what? 3 years? Not a good sign when you are at this stage already.
- Yes, there were other deals...and other players Fantasy values have been affected...I'll get to those if I can....
- As I look at the Standings this morning I see 7 teams within 100 points of 1st place. Looks like all 7 teams have a chance to win it. Heck, you could be 1st one day and 5th the next. Just quickly looking at some of the top teams it appears that most teams could move up (on average) about 100 points and they could also lose about 100 points (this is trying to look at about a 2 week period). Looking at my team, I think I could move up 150 points but I could also lose 106 points. So, we have lots of jockeying still to do.
- I looked at our 7th place team - of course - the Bangkok Fighters to see what his potential point total is. I see the Bangkok squad as a +91/-33 squad in the next couple of weeks (he could move up 91 points or lose 33 points). So, that puts hims up to 858 or down to 734. Well, you know what? 858 would be 1st place right now so he's a definite contender.
- I see Juan de Fuca as a +78/-93 team so he could be 926/755. The potential swings are huge for all the top teams.
- A huge factor moving forward will be injuries. I look at my team and I see medical signs beside Bosh, Deng, Shaq, and CJ Watson and these are all guys who could be factors moving for my team moving forward. I am only 28 rebounds ahead of French Lick and I am starting the injured Bosh last week and this week. He's missed 3 games so far (that's 33 rebounds) so every little injury hurts.
- While I was away in Orlando I had limited Internet access. Our condo at Reunion Resort was wi-fi friendly, it's just the people we rented it off didn't leave the log in or password for us. However, near the end of the 2nd week I did find a little corner of the main hotel (a short 5 minute drive away) where I could log into the site and see some box scores. One of the things I noticed was the numbers of Darren Collison. He's been outstanding in NO since Paul got hurt. In his last 10 games he's averaged 21ppg, 8ast, 4reb, shot 49%, and had 20 steals. The problem - the Hornets are just 4-6 in those 10 games. But is it all Collison's fault? Or could it be that they play guys like the 46 year old Morris Peterson on a regular basis? Let me throw this idea out there....what if the Hornets traded Chris Paul? What on earth could they receive in a deal for him? Paul is set to make 15 million next season while Collison will make a little over 1 million dollars. Couldn't they get a monster deal for him? Wouldn't he be worth the world to another franchise? What if you could get Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Corey Brewer and 3 future 1st rounders from the T-Wolves? Is that enough? I don't know. The Hornets have made deals to get under the salary cap so this isn't altogether a completely stupid idea (yet I know it would never happen - I just like to think of things you know)
- As you know, I took Ryan to the Magic vs. Mavericks game. It was an 8 o'clock start which I found a little strange. We got there late as we were at the water park all day. We arrived at 7:45 only to get stuck in the world's most secure NBA building. It took us 40 minutes to get through the security check points. We missed almost the entire 1st quarter as we were body scanned, felt up, cavity searched, and x-rayed from all angles. The good news? My colonoscopy came back clean (surprising, I know). Anyways, we had really good seats and Ryan really enjoyed the game. But the part he enjoyed the most? The ice cream with sprinkles of course. I have created a 6 year old basketball fiend who now owns 16 NBA jerseys but he is after all still 6 and nothing beats a big bowl of ice cream. The game was pretty good despite some off-shooting nights (Dirk was poor). Howard was a monster and Ryan was pretty happy with that as he was wearing his D12 jersey loud and proud. A pretty cool arena overall but it obviously doesn't have the history that the United Centre has. Also, the crowd was more 'social' than I anticipated. It seemed like there were a lot of people there who were just there for a night out or something to do. Of course, it did have the die-hards as well but it just seemed that there were lots of people there because they had the tickets or they had nothing else going on. In the 4 seats to Ryan's left were a family of 4. The Dad, late 40's, had his 3 daughters with him. The youngest was probably 8, then 10, then 14 maybe. Those 3 girls could have cared less to be there. The 14 year old spent the entire game texting. Anyways, just my observations....
- Thought I would quickly have a look at the last 14 days (my time away) from each team to see what's been going on.
- Arctic - Did you know that Dwight Howard has gone 29/16 with 4 blocks per game over the last couple of weeks? Studly. On the other end, Ben Gordon has averaged just 8ppg over that time. He's had a really disappointing season in Detroit and I know that Crikker has thoughts of him as a potential keeper (or at least he was selling him as that)- but I would disagree - I don't think he's worth much at all. He's been absolutely terrible this season.
- Bangkok - do yourselves a favor. Go to the JBL site, go to stats, click on Bangkok, click on last 14 days, Fantasy, for this team. You'll find team averages of 18ppg, 7.4 rebs, 48% shooting, over 1.20 steals. This team is on fire and on a role. I've already discussed their potential above. Rick did the right thing and cashed in his Tyreke chip. If Bangkok gets to the promised land (anywhere above 7th) then he will need to send thank you cards to Yuma and Brussels.
- Belgrade - you look at his team averages (14ppg, 6.8reb, 49% FG) and he's actually done OK. The problem has been the hole he dug. This season has been a really learning experience for our rookie owner and I know he'll come back with the knowledge and fire to improve on his likely basement finish.
- Boston - limping to the line. Wade now hurt. Iverson mailing it in again. I can bet that Trev won't say $2 dollars when Iverson is brought up for a buck next season. This train wreck season will get a cherry on top though when Trev gets married in Maui at the end of April. And the silver-ling? From 1995 to 2000 you didn't find the Golden team on the gold medal podium. However, I got married in 1999 and have captured 5 titles in the 10 years since I got married. So, maybe Trev can start the same type of streak.
- Brussels - As I sit here typing I am wearing my "Oden - The Legacy Continues..." t-shirt I bought when I was in Portland a couple of years ago. Little did I know that "The Legacy Continues..." referenced the constant reminder that they chose Bowie over Jordan and now they chosen Oden over Durant. Long segway to say KD has been awesome. He may be the 2nd best Fantasy player out there right now. And when the Wizards blew it up Andray Blatche finally became relevant. He's been a stud over the last couple of weeks (25 and 10). Tim's team is putting up decent numbers - it's just too little too late.
- Chilliwack - the team is climbing in the standings despite averaging just over 12ppg over the last 14 days. In fact, most of the teams' numbers are quite average, but Benny is hanging in there and is currently in a money spot. Benny's draft prep and calculating moves throughout the season always keep him a contender. While I was a away he pulled off a couple of deals - landing T-Mac and Hibbert - while trading away Lewis and Biedrins. Benny's also brought in Eddie House and Sergio Gonzalez so he's got a Knicks love affair going on.
- French Lick - another team struggling to score (12.62ppg) but still in the hunt. Chris could sure use a healthy Paul Pierce back in his lineup. Rondo continues to be a stud Fantasy guard and should be a top target for all teams in next years JBL Vegas Draft. The JBL Celtics will have to get healthy and hot to make a run for the money. Dalembert, and his 2 Martin's both need to get hot again.
- Golden - injuries are mounting and without a healthy Bosh I don't think I can win it all. Numerous players are hot right now including Collison, Brooks, Rose, Josh, and Dirk. The tightest categories for the Showers are 3PT%, ATO, BLKS, and STL's.
- Idaho - Brook Lopez will be this team's only keeper. The rest of this team is like a kick in the nuts. Unwanted but funny to see as long as it doesn't happen to you.
- Juan de Fuca - our current 1st place squad. He's riding the hotness of Anthony Morrow's 3pt shooting right now and has really climbed in that category. The last couple of weeks for Juan has produced really average numbers actually. Gerald Wallace has been on fire. He's a sure-bet keeper for this team next season.
- Seoul - Lebron, Lebron, and Lebron. The 3 reasons this team is now a contender. 35.1 and 40.4. What are those? Tendex numbers for Lebron on the season and in his last 10 games. He is the best Fantasy player on the planet right now and could actually improve his numbers with Shaq out of the paint. I have to mention Andrew Bogut as well. He's been amazing in Seoul. His last couple of weeks - 17ppg, 12+reb, and over 3 blocks per game.
- Yuma - our 8th place team. Really good numbers over the last couple of weeks. Rip, Lee, and S-Jax have all been hot. Super role players Haywood, Taj, and Captain Kirk have also stepped up their games. I'm still curious to see how many points Yuma will finish the season with.
Well, that's all for me for right now...glad to be back in the land of the Internet and the JBL groupies.
