Week 4 Wrap Up....

Well, it's Sunday night and Week 4 is in the books. What's going on? What's happening? Let me take you around the JBL.

We have a new 13th place team tonight. The Maui Ribs completed a solid week by moving up to 11th place. I'll say it again, this Maui team is not as bad as it appears in the Standings. They have the best scoring team in the JBL and are still missing Nash and Nowitzki. The new doormat is Idaho now and Tuna has started to remake his roster already.

Idaho traded Andrew Bynum to Bangkok for Andrea Bargnani. I think Idaho actually did OK in this deal as he needs healthy bodies now. He couldn't afford to wait for Rubio, Bynum and Derrick Rose to come back - he needs horses now. Bargnani, while a soft white big man, is able to come in and score some points for Tuna. The Kok on the other hand lands one of the best Centers in the NBA - when he's healthy. And that, of course, is the 64 million dollar question. When will Bynum get healthy? The word is he's scheduled for a MRI on December 10th and will be re-evaluated after that. If Bynum returns to his old self then the Kok will have a game changer in the middle. If he doesn't, then the Kok will still have the return of John Wall to hang his hopes on.

French's injury woes continue. After acquiring Mo Williams last week Mo only last a game and half before turning an ankle. Then Aldridge misses Sunday's game with a bad back. Now I see Stuckey sprained his ankle Sunday too. Hildy can't catch a break. He's already missed games with Nene, Okafor, Gordon, Wallace, Kaman, and others. There are some positive as Nene appears to be regaining his form and Teague and Lawson both had good weeks.

David Lee had a big week for Yuma. Also, Chubby gets to put Kyle Lowry back into the lineup next week as he's returned better than ever from an ankle injury. There are questions around the health of Brandon Jennings when he tweaked his ankle vs the Bulls the other night. Pau Gasol continues to struggle in the new Lakers lineup.

Seoul will have Kobe in his lineup next week and can sure use his scoring. MKG has been better than advertised and has caught the eye of a few trade offers around the JBL I'm hearing. The top 6 players on the this team are very good while Phil is still searching for the right combination with his role players. K-Mart cooled off this week after starting out on a tear.

Montreal remains in 4th place and is 4th to 8th in all 7 categories. Consistency is the name of the game and Marko & David are hanging in there. Dwight and Big Al continue to man the middle and I would say have actually under performed so far this season. I think they both will have much better weeks (Dwight averaged 13ppg this week). Jason Thompson continues to be a very serviceable forward while Jeremy Lin continues to struggle.

As previously mentioned the Maui Ribs have climbed out of the basement on the strength of strong weeks from Carmelo, Chandler Parsons (20ppg, 9reb, 56/50 %'s), Varejao and Pierce. This team is coming together and still have Nash and Nowitzki to add to the roster in a couple of weeks. Dwyane Wade is flying under the radar in all of this too. Yes, it's an old team and has major injury concerns. But if they can stay healthy for awhile they may be able to move up the Standings.

The Beach Ballers will get a boost next week when Kevin Love and the new starting PF in PHX Markieff Morris hit the active lineup. I'm wondering if Meyers Leonard might even get a crack next week. The MBB are relying on Lebron, Paul, Love and Lopez as a big 4 to lead them while hopefully getting support from Crawford, Manu, Markieff, and others. MBB needs Love's return as they are a long way back in rebounding.

Juan has to be disappointed with Cousins' season so far. He's been OK but I'm sure, like me, Juan expected him to become a monster this year. Josh's debut this week was so-so as he only averaged 5 rebs but did average over 1 steal and over 2 blocks for the week. Juan sits in 10th and is struggling in the %'s right now. Having a guy like Kemba Walker can sometimes hurt although it's tough to ignore his 18ppg and 28 steals. David West had a monster week averaging 23 and 8. Must be a contract year :)

The Wack had another monster week led by Kevin Durant who poured in 33ppg and added 3.3 steals and over 1 block per game. Griffin, Mathews, Mayo and George also had big weeks and that's why the Wack is over 1000 points. Benny is 1st to 4th in all categories except for ATO (13th). Benny continues to get production from his role guys (Drummond, Wright, McGee, and Aminu) as all had decent weeks filling the stat sheet.

The Muscles squad got a monster week from Roy Hibbert (13ppg, 11reb, and 6 bpg). He also saw fine performances from ROY leader Lillard; All-Star Rajon Rondo, and breakout stars Mullens and Patterson. Brussels has to be disappointed with Beasley's week (despite Sunday's good effort) as well as the demotion of Luis Scola to the PHX bench. John Henson came in as a $27 dollar free agent but didn't last the weekend. The Muscles remain in 3rd place and look to build on a good stretch in week 5.

The Kok is in 6th and will have some new blood in the lineup next week. Kobe and Bargnani have been shipped out and Al Horford comes to town. The Kok had a great week 4 led by Bosh, Kobe, Holiday, Turner and Sessions. The Kok is right in the 'hunt pack' and will be counting on a Wall/Bynum return in the coming weeks to help in a number of categories. Bangkok has been the #1 scoring team so far this year but the loss of Kobe and Bargnani should see him come back to the pack in the coming weeks. That being said, I like the moves he made provided Wall and Bynum return sooner rather than later. Golden's man crush on JJ Hickson continues but I just can't find the right piece(s) to offer up for his services.

Arctic is in 5th and had strong weeks from Tony Parker, Steph Curry, Tyreke Evans, and Raymond Felton. The guards led the way while his bigs Lopez (13ppg, 7reb, 3blks), Faried and Ibaka also had very strong weeks. Arctic is another team in the mix and is hoping for improved FG% and rebounding to move him up in the standings. 6 man games on Sunday night saw Arctic drop 124 points, 35 rebounds, 10 steals, 3.000ATO while shooting 51%. It's night's like tonight that can sure help.

And I've saved my Showers to last. However, because of my respect for the JBL Gods. I will say nothing other than I am very pleased with how the boys played this week.

I'm wondering if Beno Udrih gets a look tonight off the waiver wire. He's put up decent numbers with Jennings healthy so I'm wondering if he gets snagged with Jennings availability in question?

I hope no one falls for the Charlie V game today. That won't be a common occurrence. The Pistons are a mess. Why don't they just decide to go young and get Drummond into the lineup at Center and let him learn to play beside Monroe. Keep Knight and Singler in there too with Prince and see what kind of a run you can go on. No point in running Maxiell out there night after night. He's not the long term solution.

I wonder if any Wizards get picked up tonight after their double overtime loss. Guys like Chris Singleton, Martell Webster and Shaun Livingston could all get a sniff tonight. I'm staying away as I still haven't figure out the time share yet.

I was disappointed to let Alexey Shved go again. I like the kid's game, talent, and opportunity in Minnesota. I just don't like that he's taken 50 3-pointers already this season and only made 12. I still think he could be the long term answer at SG in Minny but he'll have to develop a better outside shot to stick.

I'm intrigued by Jeffrey Taylor in Charlotte. He's another 2nd round draft pick this past season and has been starting for the Bobcats ever since Gerald Henderson went down. He could be a one week answer in the Golden lineup but it's heavy minutes (30+ in 4 straight games) that has me curious about what he can do.

I feel bad for Isaiah Thomas in Sacramento. He played really well as a rookie last season and I don't think he deserved to be dropped out of the rotation. I hate to admit it but I did see this coming. Remember I was going to protect Thomas for $6 bucks but instead traded him to Idaho for the #11 rookie pick. Yes, I know, Thomas Robinson ($1) has not panned out but I'm looking at that trade like I saved $5 bucks. Small victories. That being said, I don't believe Thomas will get his starter's job back anytime soon and therefore I am not interested in acquiring him for anyone on my roster. (Hoping Idaho reads this darn thing and gets the hint)

I am hanging onto Ilyasova still. Mostly because I didn't land Larry Sanders with my $1 dollar bid the other night and because I will kick myself if I drop him and then he figures it out. I watched him play the other night against the Bulls when he had one of his best games of the season (6pts, 6rebs, 3/0 ATO, 1stl, 2blks). Yes, it's sad to say that's one of his best games this year. Ugh. I just can't let him go because of what he did last year. A number of websites talk about his slow start last season so I will have to try and stick it out with him because his trade value (Isaiah Thomas) is currently so low it's not even worth trying to deal him.

That's all for now...wishing everyone health and happiness for Week 5....