Friday, December 28, 2007

NBA Hot Shots - week 9

Are you needing some help at PG or maybe in the trenches at PF or Center? Usually finding gems at these positions at this time of year is difficult. But there may just be a couple lurking in your fantasy league's pool.

Players such as Charlotte Bobcat Center Nazr Mohammed, Cleveland Cavalier Anderson Varejao, Milwaukee's Yi Jian, and Houston Rocket Luther Head were some of the players I highlighted on Screaming Sports this past Monday as players to grab if available. See Screaming Sports Post

A couple to add to the list are Washington Wizard Roger Mason who has been exceptional the past 3 games and Josh Boone of the New Jersey Nets. Boone has been in double figures the past 3 games and had no fewer than 8 rebounds. Not bad for a waiver wire grab here at the end of the year. He seems to have found favor in New Jersey and is getting the minutes.

Roger Mason has replaced Antonio Daniels who in turn replaced Gilbert Arenas. The past 2 games has seen him score 20 and 24 points respectively. He also has averaged 4.5 assists and 5 rebounds while playing over 40 minutes a game. He is 16 of 27 from the field and 7 of 14 from behind the arc (he was just 1 of 5 against Indiana but bounced back with 6 of 9 against Charlotte). He is also an excellent free throw shooter 90.9% on the season. As he gets the minutes, I expect his assists to increase.

I dropped Boone from my NBA Rotisserie league because someone dropped Yi this week after he had a poor outing. I say I dropped Boone. Actually I conditionally dropped him while making a waiver claim on Yi. I hope I am successful. I chose to drop Boone rather than Varejao because Josh has not proven to be a good free throw shooter and that is an area my NBA team is doing well. I consider Boone and Varejao to be similar in ability to give you 7 to 10 rebounds a night and about 10 to 15 points. I am holding onto Bargnani hoping he turns his season back around. The report is that he is tired from playing all summer.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

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.

Friday, November 30, 2007

A time to give

This past week saw the unfortunate death of an NFL player in his prime.  Redskin safety Sean Williams died after being rushed to the hospital after being shot in his leg.  The bullet cut his femoral artery, and blood loss caused his ultimate death.  At the age of just 24.  

His death served as a reminder to me of the importance of donating blood.  No, lack of blood supply at the hospital was not a cause of Sean's death.  But he needed blood just for a chance at life.  Everyday, people are in need of blood to stay alive.  The local Red Cross calls me regularly to donate.  The need is great, but so few take the time to donate.

Last month the call was different.  They wanted me to consider giving platelets rather than blood.  The process is similar but takes longer as your blood is cycled through the machine to remove platelets while the rest of your blood returns to your body.   For me the process took about 85 minutes.  I watched a DVD while the blood cycled.  Platelets are needed for Cancer victims (my grandfather was one) and other conditions.  Fewer people give platelets than give blood so the need is great.

While one can give blood only every 54 days, one can give platelets every 2 weeks.

I am undecided on when I will give platelets versus blood.  Perhaps I will alternate.  Both are needed.  My blood is CMV negative.  I don't know exactly what the CMV stands for other than it is a common virus that most people have encountered and developed antibodies in the their system against.  Only blood that is CMV negative (doesn't have the antibodies) can be used with New Born infants or people having an organ transplant.  So my blood is needed.  But so is yours if you are healthy.  

Please consider giving blood or platelets.  For the little time it takes you to give, you could give years of life to another.  And you never know when it will be you or your loved one that is needing the blood or platelets.  If you can give, please do so.  This is a gift that keeps on giving.

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.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

It's not too Late - you can be a sportsaholic too!

This is my first year at playing fantasy sports and I am loving it!

Maybe your interest is piqued over fantasy sports but you haven't yet made the move to actually play. It isn't too late! Or maybe you have been playing fantasy baseball or fantasy football but haven't joined any fantasy league on basketball or hockey or Nascar. It isn't too late!

And don't feel that you have to be an expert to play fantasy sports. If that was a requirement I would not be having the fun I am now having. I certainly was no expert in fantasy football when I made the decision to play this year. The Pastor of our church is a sports fan and he wanted to start a league this year in our church. I knew nothing about fantasy sports. Nada. I didn't even watch a lot of NFL football on television. When I historically watched football on television it was usually college football or it was playoff games in the NFL. But I decided to play. And I have been having a lot of fun ever since I did.

Beginning a couple of weeks ago I joined in 3 NBA drafts and 1 hockey draft. If I didn't know much about NFL football, my knowledge of the NBA was no better. Again I tended to watch college games rather than professional games when I watched basketball. As for hockey, I live in the southern US. Hockey is not a well known sport here although there are teams in some of the larger cities such as Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Dallas, St Louis and Nashville. I had been to a couple of Calgary Flames matches several years ago but I really knew very little about the sport. And that is why I joined a fantasy hockey league.

If you want to know more about a sport, join a fantasy league for that sport. You will learn more about the sport than you ever though possible. It provides a perfect learning atmosphere. You will be motivated to learn because you will not want to lose. You will be safe learning because the other team owners probably are strangers and you won't fear appearing foolish. You are somewhat anonymous so can relax and ask those questions you are afraid to ask because others might think them stupid (by the way the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked). You will learn by seeing what the better teams are doing.

And you will be surprised how fun it all can be. The more you participate, the more fun you have.

If you have questions on a fantasy sport, ask. I'll be happy to try and address your question in a blog or email if you prefer.

Some places to play fantasy basketball are NBA.com and Yahoo Sports. Yahoo Sports also has fantasy Hockey and Nascar and Golf ....