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On Tuesday, the Pistons kept their hot streak going, as Chauncey Billups returned to The Palace, dropped 34, and still lost.  Don’t look now…

Tuesday’s best:  Not a whole lot of overly-impressive lines Tuesday night, but Troy Murphy takes home today’s award.  His line: 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 threes, 2 steals, 2 blocks as he led the Pacers to a win over the Kings.

Tuesday’s worst:  John Salmons.  Dude, Luol Deng is hurt.  You’re supposed to go back to being that fantasy stud you used to be.  This scrub played 33 minutes in the Bulls’ loss to Charlotte and scored 9 points on 4-13 shooting.  SCRUB!!

Keep an eye on:  The East playoff race.  The 15th team (Toronto) is only 5.5 games back, and two teams (Indiana and Charlotte) look awfully good right now and keep climbing the standings.  It’s gonna be a fun month.

What to watch for Wednesday: Cleveland hosts Milwaukee (remember what LeBron James did to the Deer the last time they played), Dwyane Wade lights up Phoenix (like every other team, just bigger), San Antonio plays Dallas on ESPN (and probably runs them out of the arena), and last but NOT least… the Grizzlies play the Clippers!


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Another Thursday, another crappy couple games.  The first game put me to sleep, and well, even my own team couldn’t wake me up in the second game.  With two games, there’s pretty slim pickens for the day’s best, but here it is…

Thursday’s best: Lamar Odom.  He had 23 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists with 3 blocks, but the impressive part was him going 11-12 from the field.  The Lakers shot 54%, the Suns played without Steve Nash, and the Lakers won by 26.  Go figure.

Thursday’s worst: You know what, this isn’t exactly a horrible line, but it’s a bad game for this guy.  And with two games on Thursday, he wins (or loses).  LeBron James.  Why?  I mean the guy had 21 points.  Well, he had zero assists and one rebound.  No wonder the Cavs looked awful.

Keep an eye on: Anderson Varejao.  Pretty nasty injury tonight to Ben Wallace, and he could miss some time.  Andy V will get those minutes and produce.  He might be worth a gamble in deep leagues.  Grab him now before people start to wake up.

What to watch for Friday: A few really good games worth watching if you can.  The Cavs take on the Spurs in Texas, and the Lakers travel to Denver for the second game of a back-to-back.  And… wait for it… a little bit longer… it’s coming… THE CLIPPERS AND THE KINGS!!  I mean, it’s an even matchup…


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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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Three games on national TV today was nice.  Delonte West was back and torched the Pistons, the Celtics figured out maybe Kevin Garnett isn’t all that important, and the Raptors got even with the Knicks.  But without further adieu…

Sunday’s best: No disrespect to Dwyane Wade’s 50 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, but I’m giving this to Rajon Rondo.  What a player.  He went for 32 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 dimes, on top of 3 steals, a three, and some stellar shooting in a road win against the streaking Suns.  It’s pretty scary when someone outside the Big Three is playing this well.  Oh yeah, and Steve Blake had 14 assists in one quarter.  He only finished with 17 though.  Only.

Sunday’s worst: Grant Hill.  In 30 minutes, just 8 points on 2-7 shooting, and here’s the real dagger: 4-7 from the line.  He’s shooting 82% on the season, and this probably lost somebody in fantasyland a win for the week.  Extremely unimpressive line for that many minutes, and we have to wonder if that injury he suffered Friday is kind of a big deal.

Keep an eye on:DeAndre Jordan.  Dude went for 15 and 12 with 3 blocks.  He’s worth grabbing in deep leagues for sure.

What to watch for Monday: Monday is a fairly bland day around the league.  Carlos Boozer is expected to play Monday, so plug him in for sure, just don’t expect too much.  Keep your eyes peeled to that Clippers/Warriors box score to see if Jordan gets some minutes and continues to break out. 


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What a day Tuesday was.  Let me tell you, there were some crazy lines.  One stood above the rest.  Way above.  One could say it was… super.  And there was no green substance anywhere to be found…

Tuesday’s best: Let me start off saying there was a triple-double Tuesday.  It was Pau Gasol (12 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists).  However, it was CLEARLY the second-best line.  The winner?  Superman himself, Dwight Howard.  All he did was score a career-best 45 points to go along with 19 boards and 8 blocks.  Two blocks short of one of the more impressive triple-doubles I’ve ever seen in my life.  Not only that, he was an uncharacteristic 13-18 from the line (72%) and 16-23 (70%) from the field.  Sorry Pau, Dwight just blew your triple-double out of the water.

Tuesday’s worst: Zach Randolph.  The former Jail Blazer played under 12 minutes because he felt it necessary to throw a punch at Louis Amundson.  I mean seriously, I was there, and we went to a boxing match and a basketball game broke out.  The plus side for Zach?  His +/- was only -13, compared to Eric Gordon’s -45 and Ricky Davis’ -42.

Keep an eye on: Amundson.  Sure, it was a blowout.  But Lou was the first guy off the bench under new coach Alvin Gentry and played 20 solid minutes, scoring 13 and pulling down 8 boards with the team’s lone block.  If he gets 20 minutes a game, which he could easily under a new coach, he’s worth a look in 12-16 team leagues where you need a big.

What to watch for tomorrow: Shawn Marion plays his first game as the Cavaliers travel to take on the Raptors.  Keep an eye on how many points the Raptors score, especially if Chris Bosh plays.  Dwight could go off again against New Orleans, who traded their best defensive big today.  And Devin Harris comes back to Dallas, where Vince Carter trade rumors are abound.  Could be semi-interesting.


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


Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki

This team needs a center. Dirk Nowitzki remains a very safe and reliable first round pick, but he lost his center eligibility years ago, his defensive stats have been in decline. Plus, although he picked it up at the end of the year, overall his three-point shooting is not enough of an impact to negate the lack of blocks and relative lack of rebounds. Baron Davis and Paul Pierce represent an exciting and formidable fantasy back-court. That next level tier of guards comes up in the fifth and sixth rounds, so it is a green light to go big here.

Currently this guy has an average draft position of 49.0 on Yahoo, so we tab him a bit earlier than that here at 42nd overall.

Round 4, Pick 6: Chris Kaman, C, Los Angeles Clippers

The Fig Cap: Hey Dirk, we get to roll together on this team just like Team Germany!

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 6 - Chris Kaman


Chris Kaman and Baron Davis

The Fig Cap: “Hey, B-Diddy, you’re wearing your old uniform, bro.”
“WhatyoutalkingaboutChris?!?!?!?”

Baron Davis will be taking the Boom Dizzle down from NorCal to SoCal as he will no longer sport his beard in the Yay Area, but instead in the City of Angels where no doubt his ability to drain buckets (and miss them like he was Stevie Wonder), drop the rock (bathroom humor not intended), and be a threat on the floor will no doubt thrill the fans at the Clip Joint!  Yes… I’m talking about the Los Angeles Clippers and, believe it or not, it’s totally possible for their fans to be thrilled.  Seriously.  Why are you laughing?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 6 - Baron Davis


Marcus Camby

The Fig Cap: Upon hearing news of his trade from the Nuggs to the Clips, Camby replied, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Yeah, Marcus Camby is no longer a Denver Nugget, which absolutely makes no sense considering he was traded for an OPTION of a second round draft pick from the Los Angeles Clippers.  Yes, Camby will be in the Clip Joint, but how happy will he be going from a playoff-caliber team that has the presence of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony to a team that historically “messes it up.”  Okay, so the signing of Baron Davis could work out very well for the Clips, but still… it’s the Clippers!  Which is why I don’t understand how they got Camby for NOTHING!  Yeah, I know… the Nuggs were shedding salary and clearing up cap space.  Ugh… still ugly.

What WON’T be ugly, however, is getting the Camby Man on your fantasy squad. 

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 5 - Marcus Camby


Corey MaggetteI don’t know who I even thought I was kidding yesterday when I mentioned Corey Maggette taking less money to play with a contender.  Who did I think he was?  Gilbert Arenas? 

But with the dust settling, it looks like Maggette will suit up this season in Oakland where he will be running along side Monta Ellis, Captain Jack and the rest of the Warriors.  Baron Davis and Mickael Pietrus will be elsewhere, freeing up plenty of touches for the former Blue Devil.  We’ve already laid out his weaknesses, but with the swingman playing on a team that could not care less about stopping another team from scoring, he will fit right in. 

Expect plenty of points with the ever-solid percentages.  Mid-round selection, here we come…


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