December 2010 NBA Fantasy Waiver Steals

One month of the 2009-2010 NBA season is nearing an end and the rabid excitement of many fantasy basketball team owners has calmed a bit, which is why now is the perfect time to grab those waiver wire steals. There are several factors that can suddenly change the stripes of a fantasy player, including injuries to other players, trades, and other changes in circumstances. Here are players to nab if they’re still available in your league’s waiver wire or free agent listings:

Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans Hornets
Need three-point shooting? Peja’s sunk 15 treys in the last three games. With Chris Paul out for a month, Peja’s trying to be more of a leader and is getting more shots as a result. He barely gets any turnovers and usually shoots solid percentages, so go ahead and grab him if he’s available.

Dahntay Jones, Indiana Pacers
Jones has earned a spot in the starting rotation and the return of Troy Murphy shouldn’t hurt his minutes at all. Murphy’s return will probably have more of a negative effect on center Roy Hibbert’s minutes. Jones is a do-it-all forward, almost like a poor man’s Danny Granger. In the last four games, he’s averaged 19.5 ppg, 4.5 rbpg, 2.0 spg, and 1.8 bspg, while shooting 51% from the field.

Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets
Collison is a rookie and he hasn’t collected as many threes or steals as one might want in a point guard, but in Chris Paul’s absence, he’s been solid, averaging 15.0 ppg and 7.0 apg with low turnovers, while shooting 94% from the line in four games. He should only get better as he gains more and more confidence as the team’s starting point guard.

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How to Fix the Golden State Warriors

Coach Don Nelson might have success in his NBA career. Heck, he might even be considered by some to be a future Hall of Fame coach. He is, afterall, only one of four active NBA coaches with more than 1,000 victories under his belt. However, whatever he’s doing in Golden State—whatever he’s been doing in Golden State—isn’t working, and it may be time for a change.

Nelson’s “small-ball” approach, where the roster is filled with numerous versatile guards and small forwards instead of larger post players, hasn’t proven itself much in past playoffs. The problem with this approach is that, while it may work for the regular season, teams tend to slow down the pace of games in order to better execute in the half-court once the playoffs start. Since the small-ball style isn’t very effective at playing half-court defense, since there isn’t much size to combat the opposition’s post players, regular season success with the small-ball style seems a moot point.

Then there’s the next big question:  What happens when the small-ball style isn’t even working in the regular season?

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