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Happy St. Patty’s Day!  I really wish I was a Thunder fan.  They really impress me.  They played really well without Kevin Durant, showing great ball movement and some of the best teamwork we’ve seen in the NBA this year.  Then tonight, they beat the Spurs.  They’ve now beat San Antonio, Dallas, Utah, Portland, and Detroit this year.  That’s not too shabby when early on, some people though they might break the all-time loss record.

Monday’s best:  It was a pretty slow night, and our award goes to Chris Paul.  His Hornets lost at home, but he ended up with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists, and 6 steals.  His 11-11 from the line wasn’t to bad either.

Monday’s worst:  Tyson Chandler. He played 38 minutes!  How you play that many minutes as the second best player on your team and score 4 points is beyond me.  Only 7 boards too.  I didn’t watch the game or anything, but maybe this is why they lost?

Keep an eye on:  The Hornets and a possible bad end-of-season scenario.  They’re clearly playing bad ball, losing 3 of 5, including losses at Atlanta and Chicago.  The rest of March is a cakewalk for them besides Denver, but in April they get Utah, Phoenix, and Dallas at home, and Miami, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio on the road.  They’re only a game and a half ahead of the 8 seed, and while I don’t think they’ll miss the playoffs at all, a couple more losses in March could severely hurt their seed and put them dangerously close to the lottery…

What to watch for Tuesday: Magic at Cavaliers is a good game on NBATV.  Pistons at Mavs should be a good one too, and is a big game for Dallas as things suddenly got interesting again at the bottom of the Western playoff picture this weekend.


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Wednesday saw Shaquille O’Neal’s return to Miami, a battle of streaking Western playoff teams, a battle for Texas, and two teams clinch playoff spots.  Yep, it’s March, and it’s exciting.

Wednesday’s best:  Of course it was Dwyane Wade.  I think his name is permanently in this spot now.  Seriously, dude is unreal.  It seems every team with a star guard torches the Suns like this.  Wade had 35 points, 6 rebounds, 16 dimes, a steal, a block, and a couple threes.  Nice.  Oh yeah, the Heat won too.

Wednesday’s worst:  Luke Ridnour.  0-7 from the field?  That’s enough to land you in this section.  No wonder the Bucks lost by 18.

Keep an eye on:  Daequan Cook.  He erupted for 27 points on 6 threes.  Performances like this might earn him more minutes.  He randomly got 36 in this game, and with more minutes, he might be worth looking at for some threes in deep leagues.  Just not yet though.

What to watch for Thursday:  It’s the worst day of the week for basketball, but at least it’s two decent games.  The Hornets take on Dallas in Big D, and the Blazers travel to the Mile High City to face Denver.  Of course, the best part of Thursday nights is the TNT show, we all know that.


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Looking over the box scores, something jumped out and screamed “HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL, IS THAT A TYPO?”  Those Celtics who looked even better without Kevin Garnett lost to… the Clippers.  Wow.  The Clipper that lost by 40 a week ago.  They beat the defending champs.  Wow.  Maybe Brian Scalabrine is the MVP of that team?

Wednesday’s best: Very tough to pick one, so we’ll pick two.  Tony Parker had another great game, with 39 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists, with just one turnover. Devin Harris also had a great game (seriously, dude is on fire right now) with 42 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.  He also was 11-11 from the line and had 3 threes made.  It would be unfair to also not to mention Dwight Howard’s 24 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Wednesday’s worst: Jared Jeffries.  I’m a big D’Antoni guy, but seriously, why is he starting?  What do the Knicks benefit by having him in there?  I saw some of the Pacers game Tuesday, and this guy is a waste of a roster spot.  Tonight he went off to the tune of… zero points, zero rebounds, zero ANYTHING besides his one block and five fouls.  In 17 minutes.

Keep an eye on: Goran Dragic.  Steve Nash is a game-time decision tomorrow, and if he misses some time, Dragic is your guy.  He’s played well under new coach Alvin Gentry, and even if Nash does play, he should see increased minutes while Nash gets a little more rest than usual for that bum ankle.

What to watch for Thursday:  It’s a TNT Thursday, which honestly kind of sucks.  Cleveland and Houston might be a good game.  Might be.  The Lakers will likely stomp all over the Suns, especially if Nash doesn’t play.  Oh well, what can we really expect from a two-game Thursday schedule?


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Not much surprising Monday in terms of box score, but before you read on, please go watch this.  You’ll see why in a second.

Monday’s best: Did you watch it?  Wow.  The line Devin Harris put up tonight: 39 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 threes, 2 steals, a block, 11-22 from the field, and 12-14 from the line.  Also worth mentioning was the line Nate Robinson was putting up at the same time across town.  KryptoNate went off for 41 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 threes, 2 steals, 11-18 FG, and 15-19 from the line.  Couple more points, rebounds instead of assists, one fewer three and block, but better FG%.  Pretty close, but not much tops that shot from Harris.

Monday’s worst: Chauncey Billups.  No wonder the Nuggets got bulldozed by the defending champs.  In 34 minutes, Billups had 3 points, 5 assists, and 4 turnovers.  He was 1-8 from the field and ended up a team low -38 at the end of it all.

Keep an eye on: The Utah Jazz.  They got Carlos Boozer back tonight, and they’re playing good ball.  Now they have a purpose, and with the West so tight, they could really climb that ladder.  They are a scary team for sure.

What to watch for Tuesday:  Two good games will be Mavericks/Spurs and Portland/Houston.  No Greg Oden vs. Yao Ming, but oh well.  Also, word has it that Mikki Moore is signing with the Celtics tomorrow.  He’d be worth a pickup probably, at least if you have the spot to spare.  Interestingly, Mike D’Antoni will miss practice Tuesday to attend an arbitration hearing for Stephon Marbury.  Might the Celtics be interested in him as well if the meeting spurs a buyout?  Hm…


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Only four games last night, and to be honest, four pretty crappy games. Not too surprising to see New Orleans fall without David West or Chris Paul in the lineup and the same goes for Phoenix losing to Philadelphia, because well… Terry Porter is still coaching the Suns.  But let’s jump into it.

Monday’s best: OJ Mayo: 22 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, one three, 7-17 FG, 6 TO.  Yeah the turnovers suck for sure, but wow, who knew he had 16 boards in him?  He also went 7-8 from the line.  Honorable mention goes to Emeka Okafor and his 19 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks in a win over the Clippers.

Monday’s worst: Tracy McGrady: 3 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, on 1-9 shooting from the field and 1-3 from the line.  Yuck.  Good thing Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks stepped up, even though the Rockets still managed to lose to the Bucks.  Really?  Don’t you just pound it into Yao every trip down without Andrew Bogut down there?  Guess not.  (He had 7 points.)

Keep an eye on: Marreese Speights.  I saw this game live and Amare Stoudemire probably played his worst defensive game all year.  Spieghts went off for 24 and 7, including 2 blocks.  He looks like the real deal.  Reggie Evans got the minutes in Elton Brand’s first game out, but Speights has now pieced together two nice games.  He’s worth some consideration at least.


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Happy belated new year! Yours truly is way overdue for a post. Drive safely if you leave in a snowy region today.

I took a peak at the standings in the paper today. The season has just passed the one-third mark and there are some intriguing playoff scenarios. Obviously a lot of ball still needs to be played, but check out the match-ups if the playoffs started today. Like last year, on paper the match-ups in the West sizzle, while the East still looks top-heavy.

Click to continue reading Current Playoff Scenarios


Dropping Dimes is trying out a new feature. Fantasy 30 intends to rank all of the NBA teams in terms of fantasy power. A list like this tends to lead to a lot of disagreement and discussion, but the hope is that these rankings will be fluid and updated as the year goes on. Thanks to Ron Chow for the assist. In addition to publishing updates on the Fantasy 30, once in a while we hope to produce sister articles that focus on a specific team and its roster.

#1: Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant ranks as a top four fantasy player this year. The Lakers employ two fantasy-worthy starters for center in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Lamar Odom has played well coming off the bench. Jordan Farmar has sleeper point guard potential, and the team also employs three-point threats like Derek Fisher and Vlad Radmanovic. All of this adds up to the Lakers being top dog early in the year.

Click to continue reading Fantasy 30, Version 1


Yao Ming
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the make-or-break pick of the year. Once worthy of a first round pick, he has crushed fantasy GMs across the land. Or rather, the injury bugs that keep biting him have led to many crying themselves to sleep over a lost fantasy season.

Yahoo still has him ranked in the top 25 and he is getting drafted pretty early. Can you really risk Yao Ming breaking your heart again?

Round 4, Pick 8: Yao Ming, C, Houston Rockets

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 8 - Yao Ming


Ron Artest King
I know he will play for the Houston Rockets this year, but I had not come across this picture before prepping for this article and just had to use it. It was a long time ago, but my hometown Raptors passed on you twice in the draft for two dudes named Jonathan Bender (used in a trade for Antonio Davis) and some guy named Alek Redojevic (?spelling). Chicago drafted Artest with the 16th pick in the draft in 1999.

The Houston Rockets need to rid themselves of the monkey on their back that is exiting the first round of the playoffs. If, and it’s a big if, the team can stay healthy enough to become a cohesive unit, they can certainly earn a high seed in the West. This guy would stand to be the difference maker.

Round 4, Pick 2: Ron Artest, SF/PF, Houston Rockets

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 2 - Ron Artest


Luis Scola Luis Scola was quite a hot commodity in the later rounds of last year’s fantasy hoops drafts.  After a roller coaster season that saw several 20-point nights followed up by single-digit disasters, Scola showed the world once and for all that Rick Adelman simply needs to run a few plays through his power forward (with center-eligibility, mind you).

In the Olympic game versus the United States, Scola lit up the scorers table with 28 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.  And while the Olympics makes players like Carlos Delfino look like All-Stars, remember that this was against an American team that featured Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh down low. 

Sure, the addition of Ron Artest will not help matters much, but if the Rockets plan on flourishing in the crowded West, the road to success may be through a guy who averaged under 25 minutes per game last season. 


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