I told you so ....

It's been a while since I blogged - I seem to twitter more these days. But I'll try to make an honest effort to get back to blogging about Fantasy Sports.

This season I have 2 roto teams on FoxSports whose lineups Include SP and RP and whose lineups are set daily. I also have 1 "Ultimate" team on Sporting News which includes SP and RP also and whose lineups are set daily. The difference is in the number of scoring categories and how scoring is kept. The FoxSports leagues are standard 5x5 roto, the ultimate has more scoring categories and has negatives for outs, strike outs, CS, and for pitchers for walks, hit by pitch, runs allowed, and hits allowed.

My other 3 regular fantasy teams are "once a week" leagues where you set your lineups prior to the first game being played on Monday. My CBS Sports team includes 5 SP and 2 RP while the MLB.com teams only include "team" pitching - you get points based on how well or poorly that team's pitching staff does in the game. I grabbed Boston in 1 league and was left with the Marlins in another. The first weeks the Marlins were the better staff to own but Boston has been looking much better of late. I added Seattle as an alternate in my league with Boston but have Boston going this week.

ALWAYS EVALUATE your team. Where are your weaknesses? Who is under performing? Who is on the Free Agent list in your league that can help you win now?

One of the keys to winning Fantasy Sports is making the right moves during the season as to who you have on your roster, and who you play versus sit on your bench. Don't get trapped by "names". It is stats that matter in Fantasy Sports and only stats. Adam Jones should be starting in your league above much more established "names". Chances are Adam wasn't even drafted or if it was it was a late inning "flier". He has been great. Detroits' Inge is another unheralded player who has been burning it up. I have no idea how long he will stay this hot but he has been one of the better players to own especially if you have him filling in your Catching position.

But both of these players should now be owned. Who is out there available? Look at your Free Agent list. Sort it by points if your league offers that option. If not, sort by RBIs and see who is at the top. Are they outperforming your player(s) at that position? Sort next by Runs and then SB. If your team is power Short you can also sort by Home Runs BUT the RBI sort should have given you those HR hitters also.

In Pitching I always sort by Strikeouts. And I then look at the pitchers who are striking out a lot of batters AND have either a good WHIP or good ERA - preferably both. Eventually a pitcher who strikes out a lot of batters and has a good (low) WHIP and ERA will get their share of wins or saves. If I am choosing between two similar pitchers, I choose the one that has the better offense behind them. This year that has been Toronto. One Pitcher who is worth a look (I grabbed him) is the Blue Jays Scott Richmond. His 2 Wins are nice but what entices me is his K/9 ratio and his low WHIP and ERA. He plays for a team that currently is hitting and scoring as well as any team. So he is a "pick up". Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros also has a great k/9 and a great WHIP and ERA but the Astros are not giving him any runs. If he pitched for the Blue Jays this year he'd be undefeated probably. I still like Wandy but right now I'd expect Scott to get more wins of the 2. Also Justin Masterson should be owned. Washington's Jordon Zimmermann should be owned or watched closely. He has already given me 2 wins and I expect him to only get better.

SP I like who haven't performed well yet are Liriano, Verlander and Kershaw. Ok Kershaw has had the 1 spectacular game that he followed by 2 duds. Liriano and Verlander have been victims of too many walks and too many home runs. I am holding both and looking for a turn around as they get "into the groove".

RP to watch - Marmol in Chicago and R. Soriano in Atlanta. IF they are ever given the closer role they will be worth owning. Until then I would watch them. IF Toronto's Scott Downs is still available in your league, he shouldn't be. Grab Him!

Kiss of death?

Kiss of death?

I recommend them, and the next game they fall apart. What kind of fate is that? I recommended Marko Jaric and he had a good start last night. He had 4 points and 4 assists in the opening minutes. Then he sprained his ankle. I haven't heard how serious the sprain is but he didn't play anymore yesterday.

Louis Williams from Philadelphia saw a total of 9 minutes of PT. I haven't heard if that was injury related or not but 9 minutes isn't going to make anyone a fantasy play.

NHL

On happier news, Havlat is back in Chicago. In his first game back he scored 2 goals for the Blackhawks and yesterday had an assist on their first score against Phoenix. After that Byfuglien took over. Basically an unknown in fantasy hockey circles before last night, Byfuglien scored 3 goals and had an assist as the Blackhawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over the Coyotes.

To place that into perspective, before Friday he had 3 G, 1 Assist, -1, 11 PIM, 1 PPP and 20 SOG for 24.5 fan Pts. Friday he was a Plus 2 and had 5 shots on Goal and added 4 Penalty Minutes for good measure in addition to the 3 Goals (2 on PP) and assist. In my league that totals 19 fantasy points. Not a bad coming out party. I added him to my watch list since this was his first game skating with a new line. Maybe it is a foretaste of things to come. But I'm not going to grab him until I see more.

Parise gets the hat trick

Devils forward Zach Parise had his first hat trick on Friday night in a 4-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens. Parise scored a goal in each period and assisted on Brian Gionta's third period goal.

Atlanta recalls Goalie Kari Lehtonen Saturday from an AHL reconditioning assignment after missing 16 games with a groin injury. Kari started the season awful before the injury. However not only did teh Thrashers recall Lehtonen but he is starting at Goalie tonight for them. Needing a Starting Goalie, I added him by dropping Mike Smith. I won't get the benefit (or detriment) of Lehtonen until tomorrow. I now have him, Coyotes' Bryzgalov who had an awful game last night against Chicago and Montreal plattooner Huet as my 3 Goalies. Other than Goalie, I have a strong fantasy team with:

C Mike Ribeiro (Dal - C)
C Martin Straka (NYR - C,LW)
C Jason Williams (Chi - C,RW)
C Zach Parise (NJ - C,LW)

LW Evgeni Malkin (Pit - C,LW)
LW Ilya Kovalchuk (Atl - LW)

RW Martin Havlat (Chi - RW)
RW Justin Williams (Car - RW)
RW Martin Erat (Nsh - LW,RW)

D Bryan McCabe (Tor - D)
D Nicklas Lidstrom (Det - D)
D Brent Burns (Min - D)
D Shea Weber (Nsh - D)

We can play 2 Centers, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 Defensemen and 2 Goalies daily. Having players like Erat and all of my Centers other than Ribeiro able to play multiple positions helps. I am currently 4th out of 12 in my Yahoo Point league. With a little consistentcy at Goalie, I could get to #1.

NBA Assists

Looking for help with your NBA Fantasy team?  here are some players who may be sitting on your Free Agent list that could be a great pick-up:

Grab:

Minnesota's Marko Jaric qualifies as both a guard and a forward in most leagues.  In NBA.com leagues he qualifies as a PG and a SF.  On the season he is averaging just 9.5 PPG, 2.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists.  BUT in the past 3 or 4 games he has been great!  He has scored 14, 20, 21, and 12 while doling out 6 assists in the first 3 and 7 assists in his last outing along with 7 rebounds.  He is shooting 48.5% from the field and over 40% from 3 PT land.  If you need help with assists, he could be a good addition while also giving points and rebounds.  At 6' 7" he is an odd combination of PG and SF and he has Al Jefferson to throw the ball to on the inside.

Philadelpia's Louis Williams (PG, SG) - he has come off the bench to ignite the 76'ers when Korver was out.  He is averaging 11.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 3.6 APG.  He had a career game when he played Washington on Nov. 20 hitting 10 of 13 from the field including 4 of 4 from beyond the arc for 25 Pts.  Korver is back but Williams impressed enough while he was out that Williams is still getting minutes (about 22 a game).  He has scored in double digits 5 of his last 6 games and since Korver returned (last 2 games) has 6 assists in each game.  Again he is an assist play that can also give you points.

Memphis' PG Juan Carlos Navarro.  He finally signed with an NBA team after his rights were traded to the Grizzlies where his friend Gasol plays.  From Spain, this 6' 3" PG has been playing very well of late.  A 3 PT threat, he can also rebound and dish the ball.  One night he will give you 8 rebounds, the next maybe 7 assists plus double digit scoring.  If the Grizzlies start playing more consistent, he could be a 15 PPG, 6 or 7 Rebounds a game and 6 or 7 assist per game PG, SG.  He has done well for me since I added him last week.  He is shooting over 40% from beyond the arc and over 88% from the charity stripe on the season while averaging 10.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2 APG.  All 3 are higher of late as he has assumed the starting PG role.

New Jersey's Sean Williams -  I recommended him in a post I made on http://www.screamingsports.com back when he had back to back games of over 30 minutes.  He immediately quit seeing the PT, and as a result his stats have dropped.  But if you need someone to add block shots to your lineup, he is a good play still.  As soon as they start giving 25 minutes or more a game, he will be worth double digit points, 6 or more rebounds and 2 to4 blocks a game.  Worth having on your bench in leagues with limits on games played.  You can play him now for block shots and hope it is a game where the Nets let him play 25 minutes or more so you also get the points and rebounds.  Even in limited play he is good for about 7 PPG, 4 Reb and a block shot or 2.  Sooner or later the Nets will let him play.  You will want him then.

DROP:

Azubuike.  He was a great play early but has not been producing in the past 2 weeks.  Currently he is not a player you want.  Maybe he will turn it around.  I dropped him for Marko Jaric.

On the Bubble

Seattle's Damien Wilkins.  He has not performed well since his great game against Atlanta.  Of late he has been a player you'd rather have on your bench.  He has potential but is struggling of late to score and hasn't been getting rebounds or assists sufficient for a fantasy play at SG, SF.  I still have him in 1 league hoping he regains his early season play.