Hey whaddya know! This blog has an anniversary too! Ok, so it's a little belated. It's Feb. 26th, and the "official kickoff blog" was posted on Feb. 3rd, 2007..........so it's really been more than a year! Yay!
Just to update the latest news, Yao Ming is now out for the year. AGAIN! And this one really hurts. Not only have the rockets won 12 straight games, but they were right back in the Western Conference chase and could have been right in the thick of an ultra-competitive playoff scene. Unfortunately, I don't think they have enough pieces to pick it up after Yao's injury, and Dikembe "Not in my house" Mutombo won't be able to summon up enough strength to be an adequate replacement. With Golden State and Denver nipping on their heels, I see bad things in the Rockets' future.
As for Yao, I REALLY REALLY hope he comes back for the 2008 summer olympics. It's gonna be in his home country of China, and basketball just really needs him back. The first ever Olympic games in China would be bittersweet for the country if their primary sports icon is absent and Yi Jianlian is the best player on the team. Not good. In the broad scheme of things, also, I hope that Yao really puts together a full season one of these years. It's disturbing how many long-term injuries he suffers that put him out for long stretches at a time, and his career really needs to have a fully healthy year.
Is what I think.
I've been looking over my past blogs, and it's really refreshing to see what I've written but also painfully obvious what I need to improve on to make better readership ( or just overall quality of the blog). So new things will be surfacing within the next few weeks.
However, for now, I know everyone loves lists during New Year's and such, so the one-year anniversary needs a list of major fantasy events within the last 12-month period, Feb. 2007-Feb. 2008 ( These focus on just the 3 major sports of NBA, MLB, NFL, and well, also life):
10.) LeBron James, the King, supplements his path to realizing his destiny as NBA champion by rising to fantasy championship levels, improving his defensive numbers tremendously to 2+ stls and 1+ blks as well as increasing his points and assists to meteoric levels.
9.) Adrian Peterson is drafted out of Oklahoma University in the 1st round with the 7th pick by the Minnesota Vikings and promptly steps on the path toward becoming the best fantasy back ever
if not THE best RB of all time, putting up a massive 1341 rush yards and 13 total TD's.
8.) Chris Paul vaults himself past simply elite status in fantasy NBA to the top stop in most Fantasy rankings, mainly through sick play but also by increasing his numbers in EVERY SINGLE STAT CATEGORY besides rebounds. Season not yet over in NBA.
7.) A frenetic February 2008 in the NBA sees a plethora of trades with massive fantasy implications including Pau Gasol giving up some points and rebounds in exchange for the purple and gold and a lot more victories in L.A., Jason Kidd perhaps giving up some triple-doubles and contribution on Vince Carter massive dunks to go to Dallas, Shaq giving up on South Beach Diets ( actually, who are we kidding, Shaq and diets) to go to Phoenix, and Ben Wallace giving up his tumultuous time of downward-spiraling defensive numbers in Chicago to go to Cleveland, where the defensive numbers could possibly fall into further nothing.
6.) As many established and injury-prone pitchers in baseball are sidelined with ( what else?) injuries, a new crop of young pitchers comes up and shines in the limelight in a transitional fantasy MLB 2007 season, with the arrival of future studs Tim Lincecum, Yovani Gallardo, Daisuke Matzusaka, and James Shields.
5.) Three elite shortstops separate themselves from the rest of the field ( Incredibly, Derek Jeter not on this list) in the form of NL East studs Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and Jimmy Rollins. Rollins won the NL MVP, but Hanley probably the fantasy MVP for many fantasy teams as the slightly better SS for fantasy purposes, and Jose Reyes won the hearts of many speed-happy fantasy owners w/ 46 swipes in the first half. These 3 will headline Fantasy MLB drafts for awhile.
4.) Tom Brady and Randy Moss cross into Peyton Manning/ Jerry Rice territory in fantasy terms by having ridiculous seasons and carry many a team to the NFL playoffs. Wes Welker, a.k.a White Lightning, finished off the 3-pronged threat by being probably the best bargain to be had in 2007 drafts.
3.) Just as Brady and Moss stepped into Fantasy NFL elite, old elite members took a step down including last season's all-world performer LaDanian Tomlinson essentially halving the number of touchdowns he produced. None could have fallen as dramatically and to the delight of many of his haters as Shaun Alexander, who went from an all-time rushing TD holder to being toted as "Shaun of the Dead" by the end of 2007.
2.) Homers were not flying out of the ballpark in 2007, but some significant numbers for certain players: # 756 by Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez hit 54 ( one shy of yours truly's preseason prediction) on his way to breaking #756, and young Prince Fielder punctuated his breakout season by hitting 50 HR's at age 23. Keep on chugging, kiddo.
1.) In early February of the year 2007, a talented, handsome, ambitious, and all-knowing fantasy expert by the name of Robert Yan established his own blog to distribute his omniscient fantasy intelligence to the rest of the fantasy community. The blog, called Fantasy Sports Guru, would eventually become one of the most-read fantasy publications both online and print and allow Robert Yan to become the fantasy icon of his time, the most trusted name in fantasy analysis for years to come.
( Yea right)
Haha,
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Underrated players
Just like it says in da title:
Underrated fantasy players who for whatever reason don't get their cred for being great fantasy forces:
1.) Jose Calderon: He's having a breakout season, yet i could understand if you didn't think his #'s are that stellar. The 1.1 stls, 13.0 points, 1.2 three's, those don't look that sexy. However, this is your prototypical all-category contributor, and i stress contributor because he doesn't hurt u in any category. His 55% FG% is so sick for a PG, and the 92% free throw clip isn't bad neither although he doesn't shoot that many of them. He only turns it over 1.6 times.............that's ridiculous. Compared to steve nash or dwayne wade's 4 turnovers a night, that's just stingy. And i guarantee you wade and nash are ranked better than calderon, if only in peep's minds. Here's the biggest thing: 8.9 assts. With only 1.6 turnovers with that? Nobody in the NBA can offer that ratio, NOBODY. Sick.
2.) Rudy Gay: I dunno if you've heard about him yet, but he's good. He's the #1 option in memphis now and is gonna get even better, and i just can't see anybody overvaluing him right now cuz he can only get better. Points, for me, are an overrated stat category in fantasy hoops, if not THE overrated category. However, whenever a player tops 20 points a game, u start to take notice, and rudy's got that, making a substantial impact on that category. He shoots 1.8 3's which is really good for a forward and is at 46% FG with a tolerable 2.3 turnovers a night, not hurting you in any of those cats. And the defensive numbers is just cake: 1.5 Stl's and .8Blks? Anytime anybody goes over 2 on the combined stls and blks, it's good.
3.) Chauncey Billups- This guys seems to be perennially underrated, and especially this year detroit as a team has been the quiet, blue-collar team that's kept all its players together and is just taking care of business. That's what chauncey's doing a nutshell. This might be an even more new and improved model, though, cuz chauncey this year his increased his FT%, increased his FG%, increased his stls per game, and cut his turnovers a smidge. Assts are a little down, but how can u complain about 7 dimes a game vs. less than 2 turnovers? You want him on ur team.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Underrated fantasy players who for whatever reason don't get their cred for being great fantasy forces:
1.) Jose Calderon: He's having a breakout season, yet i could understand if you didn't think his #'s are that stellar. The 1.1 stls, 13.0 points, 1.2 three's, those don't look that sexy. However, this is your prototypical all-category contributor, and i stress contributor because he doesn't hurt u in any category. His 55% FG% is so sick for a PG, and the 92% free throw clip isn't bad neither although he doesn't shoot that many of them. He only turns it over 1.6 times.............that's ridiculous. Compared to steve nash or dwayne wade's 4 turnovers a night, that's just stingy. And i guarantee you wade and nash are ranked better than calderon, if only in peep's minds. Here's the biggest thing: 8.9 assts. With only 1.6 turnovers with that? Nobody in the NBA can offer that ratio, NOBODY. Sick.
2.) Rudy Gay: I dunno if you've heard about him yet, but he's good. He's the #1 option in memphis now and is gonna get even better, and i just can't see anybody overvaluing him right now cuz he can only get better. Points, for me, are an overrated stat category in fantasy hoops, if not THE overrated category. However, whenever a player tops 20 points a game, u start to take notice, and rudy's got that, making a substantial impact on that category. He shoots 1.8 3's which is really good for a forward and is at 46% FG with a tolerable 2.3 turnovers a night, not hurting you in any of those cats. And the defensive numbers is just cake: 1.5 Stl's and .8Blks? Anytime anybody goes over 2 on the combined stls and blks, it's good.
3.) Chauncey Billups- This guys seems to be perennially underrated, and especially this year detroit as a team has been the quiet, blue-collar team that's kept all its players together and is just taking care of business. That's what chauncey's doing a nutshell. This might be an even more new and improved model, though, cuz chauncey this year his increased his FT%, increased his FG%, increased his stls per game, and cut his turnovers a smidge. Assts are a little down, but how can u complain about 7 dimes a game vs. less than 2 turnovers? You want him on ur team.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Big game in PHX, aka Shaq vs. Kobe Round 4
Hope you guys enjoyed my post about NIU last time, I realize I might have been personalizing it a bit too much, that was my egocentric side coming out, perhaps. I personally was not affected, but I made the post about myself. I'm gonna try to improve on that, both in my personal life and in this post by making these posts for YOU, not about MY fantasy teams so much. ( Although I'm still gonna have a bit of bias toward some players just because of my ownership of them).
As I alluded to, big game in Phoenix tonight between the revamped suns vs. the revamped Lakers. I say revamped cuz i'm not so sure the suns are IMPROVED. That shaq deal, as you may guess from my previous post, I am not such a big fan of. Watching ESPN, and the suns really have a pretty awesome intro for the starting lineups. They got that gorilla of a mascot jumping up and down and a nice video montage running along with flames bursting out, basically a more elaborate version of a WWE entrance.
Haha, they introduced Shaq as "the Big Venetian." That as opposed to "the big aristotle, diesel,", etc. Btw, speaking of shaq, u might all remember kazaam, that movie about shaq being a genie that is widely heralded as one of the worst movies of all time, but a good movie that he was actually in is the lesser-known "Blue Chips," about college basketball recruiting with Nick Nolte. Penny Hardaway and some old NBA stars are also in it. Spend some time watching it, especially with these recruiting violations going on at Indiana University.
This Suns vs. Lakers matchup isn't just big cuz of Kobe and Shaq ( btw, it's his debut with the suns). The Lakers and Suns have had a rich history in the playoffs the last few years, all their games seem pretty interesting, and it's a BIG western conference matchup. Although, most Western Conference games seem like big matchups right now cuz of how stacked it is at the top. Heck, jason kidd is making his debut for dallas vs. chris paul and the hornets right now too. That might be an even bigger matchup. It might also be for all you non-lakers fans out there the first chance you see pau gasol, who's guarding shaq first.
Notes from tonight's action: Philadelphia absolutely CRUSHED the knicks at home. The game's 121-82 right now, and i'm pretty sure that's not the biggest lead. Wow. This is after the knicks won a come-from-behind OT game in washington last night. Philly's actually playing pretty well, they're an improving young team with a budding star in AI2, andre iguodala, and a veteran point guard andre miller, and a bunch of young guys. They need to develop, though, but in the meantime they have an outside chance at the playoffs despite being 10 games below .500, as crazy as the east is.
Back-to-back triple doubles for lebron james in 2 straight games after the all-star game. And he's not done yet tonight.
Nice win at home for the dinosaurs over the magic. Big game for chris bosh w/ 37 points. I think he's pretty much hit his peak after a few years w/ "budding" status, but his peak is pretty darn good, especially when he's healthy. He seems to be healthy now, although jose calderon's passing skills can make anybody's offensive game seem healthy. Speaking of the spanish flea, he had a very pesky line tonight w/ 1
Kobe BIG STUFF on Diaw! Wow! that's going on sportscenter. This game is going along awesome, should be a thriller. Turn on that TV and flip it on, peeps.
First game in New Jersey w/o their main man jason kidd. Seems like it's been a "taking-up-the slack-by-committee," as nobody has more than 16 points. That's actually a big game to determine the last spots in the Eastern Conference, sad as it is. Bulls have their normal lineup, finally, as gordon, deng, and others were out for a while. Watch luol's production the rest of the way: This was supposed to be another breakout year, but hasn't proved so yet. He might step it up the rest of the way w/o such high pressures, but the bulls as a team might hold him back. Not to say he's been that great by himself, but we're still only at the first game of the all-star game, so there's time.
Fantasize on, and Wach that Laker game,
Robert Yan
As I alluded to, big game in Phoenix tonight between the revamped suns vs. the revamped Lakers. I say revamped cuz i'm not so sure the suns are IMPROVED. That shaq deal, as you may guess from my previous post, I am not such a big fan of. Watching ESPN, and the suns really have a pretty awesome intro for the starting lineups. They got that gorilla of a mascot jumping up and down and a nice video montage running along with flames bursting out, basically a more elaborate version of a WWE entrance.
Haha, they introduced Shaq as "the Big Venetian." That as opposed to "the big aristotle, diesel,", etc. Btw, speaking of shaq, u might all remember kazaam, that movie about shaq being a genie that is widely heralded as one of the worst movies of all time, but a good movie that he was actually in is the lesser-known "Blue Chips," about college basketball recruiting with Nick Nolte. Penny Hardaway and some old NBA stars are also in it. Spend some time watching it, especially with these recruiting violations going on at Indiana University.
This Suns vs. Lakers matchup isn't just big cuz of Kobe and Shaq ( btw, it's his debut with the suns). The Lakers and Suns have had a rich history in the playoffs the last few years, all their games seem pretty interesting, and it's a BIG western conference matchup. Although, most Western Conference games seem like big matchups right now cuz of how stacked it is at the top. Heck, jason kidd is making his debut for dallas vs. chris paul and the hornets right now too. That might be an even bigger matchup. It might also be for all you non-lakers fans out there the first chance you see pau gasol, who's guarding shaq first.
Notes from tonight's action: Philadelphia absolutely CRUSHED the knicks at home. The game's 121-82 right now, and i'm pretty sure that's not the biggest lead. Wow. This is after the knicks won a come-from-behind OT game in washington last night. Philly's actually playing pretty well, they're an improving young team with a budding star in AI2, andre iguodala, and a veteran point guard andre miller, and a bunch of young guys. They need to develop, though, but in the meantime they have an outside chance at the playoffs despite being 10 games below .500, as crazy as the east is.
Back-to-back triple doubles for lebron james in 2 straight games after the all-star game. And he's not done yet tonight.
Nice win at home for the dinosaurs over the magic. Big game for chris bosh w/ 37 points. I think he's pretty much hit his peak after a few years w/ "budding" status, but his peak is pretty darn good, especially when he's healthy. He seems to be healthy now, although jose calderon's passing skills can make anybody's offensive game seem healthy. Speaking of the spanish flea, he had a very pesky line tonight w/ 1
Kobe BIG STUFF on Diaw! Wow! that's going on sportscenter. This game is going along awesome, should be a thriller. Turn on that TV and flip it on, peeps.
First game in New Jersey w/o their main man jason kidd. Seems like it's been a "taking-up-the slack-by-committee," as nobody has more than 16 points. That's actually a big game to determine the last spots in the Eastern Conference, sad as it is. Bulls have their normal lineup, finally, as gordon, deng, and others were out for a while. Watch luol's production the rest of the way: This was supposed to be another breakout year, but hasn't proved so yet. He might step it up the rest of the way w/o such high pressures, but the bulls as a team might hold him back. Not to say he's been that great by himself, but we're still only at the first game of the all-star game, so there's time.
Fantasize on, and Wach that Laker game,
Robert Yan
Monday, February 18, 2008
Tragedy at NIU
I just realized today that I didn't blog about the Nothern Illinois shooting on Thursday, which was a terrible shock to the community around here and i imagine having an even bigger effect in DeKalb. I didn't hear about the news until Thursday night, but I definitely should have said something earlier about it cuz it hits very close to home and for those who have passed tragically from that incident, it is just one of those unexplainable things.
These things just goes to show the fraility of life. On this board I talk about fantasy sports, and in life I have a wide variety of eclectic interests like wrestling, law, big brother, spelling bees, and whatnot, but all of those are nothin compared to the most precious thing, life. They do not exist without life. Life is the ultimate gift, and not to sound too preachy or anything but almost every day I wake up I am thankful to be alive, that I can move my body, that I can process thoughts. It is quite a pleasure.
Anyway, the Nothern Illinois University recently got to be more of a disturbing incident for me personally ( and I imagine those in the UIUC college area) upon hearing the news that the gunmen was a grad student here at University of Illinois. Now, what possessed him to go to Northern Illinois to do what he did I have no answer for, but I do know that at 3:00 Thursday afternoon I was in class here, and who knows, given a wide range of different circumstances, I could have been among those killed. I know, obviously there are so many variabilities, a lot of classrooms at UIUC, and a world of possiblities away, and heck, more people probably died last thursday of traffic accidents than school shootings, but the NIU shooting just gives a very disturbing feeling, a feeling of vulnerability unmatched by anything else: that I can die without controlling it at all. It's a very threatening idea, and I just can't brush it out of my mind.
To be less morbid, my take on the NIU shooting is that the shooter had a complex personality in that his girlfriend didn't even have a clue that he was gonna do this. Obviously the guy had to figure he was gonna die afterwards, take his own life at the end of the episode, but from what I've seen reported he really had no motive, unlike the Virginia Tech killer. CNN basically was delving into external causes like him going off of medications, facilitating recurring mental deficiencies or something like that. The whole thing of going to NIU is really what makes it all the more bizarre: there was really no reason to, he had no personal vendetta, sort of a mystery. And that's what's most troubling: The Virginia Tech victims were random killings, they died without even knowing the killer, but the killer himself actually had a reason, he felt he was wronged in some way. In this case, it seemed like the gunman didn't even know himself why he was doing this, to the extent that it seems like a random act of violence, without really any premeditation, caused just by mental problems. That's almost more scary. ( CNN has said going off the meds can't make someone go and shoot up a room full of people, so somethin else was going on), but it's stuff like this that makes me at least wonder how frail I am. So many things are out of my control, it's scary. All I can do is make the best of what I can be and hope to be alive to enjoy it.
Moment of silence for Northern Illinois,
Robert Yan
These things just goes to show the fraility of life. On this board I talk about fantasy sports, and in life I have a wide variety of eclectic interests like wrestling, law, big brother, spelling bees, and whatnot, but all of those are nothin compared to the most precious thing, life. They do not exist without life. Life is the ultimate gift, and not to sound too preachy or anything but almost every day I wake up I am thankful to be alive, that I can move my body, that I can process thoughts. It is quite a pleasure.
Anyway, the Nothern Illinois University recently got to be more of a disturbing incident for me personally ( and I imagine those in the UIUC college area) upon hearing the news that the gunmen was a grad student here at University of Illinois. Now, what possessed him to go to Northern Illinois to do what he did I have no answer for, but I do know that at 3:00 Thursday afternoon I was in class here, and who knows, given a wide range of different circumstances, I could have been among those killed. I know, obviously there are so many variabilities, a lot of classrooms at UIUC, and a world of possiblities away, and heck, more people probably died last thursday of traffic accidents than school shootings, but the NIU shooting just gives a very disturbing feeling, a feeling of vulnerability unmatched by anything else: that I can die without controlling it at all. It's a very threatening idea, and I just can't brush it out of my mind.
To be less morbid, my take on the NIU shooting is that the shooter had a complex personality in that his girlfriend didn't even have a clue that he was gonna do this. Obviously the guy had to figure he was gonna die afterwards, take his own life at the end of the episode, but from what I've seen reported he really had no motive, unlike the Virginia Tech killer. CNN basically was delving into external causes like him going off of medications, facilitating recurring mental deficiencies or something like that. The whole thing of going to NIU is really what makes it all the more bizarre: there was really no reason to, he had no personal vendetta, sort of a mystery. And that's what's most troubling: The Virginia Tech victims were random killings, they died without even knowing the killer, but the killer himself actually had a reason, he felt he was wronged in some way. In this case, it seemed like the gunman didn't even know himself why he was doing this, to the extent that it seems like a random act of violence, without really any premeditation, caused just by mental problems. That's almost more scary. ( CNN has said going off the meds can't make someone go and shoot up a room full of people, so somethin else was going on), but it's stuff like this that makes me at least wonder how frail I am. So many things are out of my control, it's scary. All I can do is make the best of what I can be and hope to be alive to enjoy it.
Moment of silence for Northern Illinois,
Robert Yan
Saturday, February 16, 2008
NBA All-Star weekend
Got some good news on law schools, and on friday went in to teach two 6th-grade classes about recycling, as well as leading them in a fun recycling-related activity ( just like camp!). I'm refreshed. I might be heading out to the West Coast for law school after all.
Anyway, no real fantasy information to report this weekend, as the NBA is focused on the all-star game and all the other festivities in new orleans, and baseball is just around the corner but a little too soon to worry about yet, with pitchers and catchers barely reported to spring training and the fields not very green yet. We'll get to that, my friends, in due time, in due time.
The big thing right after my post on wednesday was that Jason Kidd had reportedly been traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a multi-player deal that would again shift the balance of power in the western conference as well as shift my perception of jkidd's fantasy value ( not to mention vince carter's, richard jefferson's, josh howard's, dirk's, etc.). However, if you've ever had any doubts about the media's credibility, wednesday afternoon we got an excellent example of questionable information flow: one site apparently reported it, then it got around to a bunch of news reels, and by the time 3 PM rolled around yahoo sports had an article analyzing the "implications" of the jason kidd deal. Of course, the deal had not yet been finalized. And therein lays the catch. As of this point on SATURDAY, the deal is pretty much stalled to a standstill, as devean george has refused to be traded and exercised his no-trade clause ( how he got that being the quality of player he is is anybody's guess), so after all those reports saying jkidd's going to dallas, he might not be going there after all. They got the whole weekend to work it out, but good luck, fellas, cuz jerry stackhouse doesn't want to be traded neither.
Another personal pet peeve of mine ( besides bad journalism, as you might have gathered) is when people in sports say, "well, we'll just have to wait and see." Every time i hear this, i cringe, and then i go, "Well, no duh, we're gonna see." No kidding, man. Seriously, if you think about it, or if you've thought about it previously, u'll agree as to how trite, dull, and just absurd this statement is. I make a point never to say it cuz it's SO OBVIOUS and the easy way out. OF COURSE we're gonna wait and see. What else can we do? It's not like we have a time machine or a sports almanac for the next 5 years telling us what's gonna happen. I especially hate it when sports analysts say it. Dude, you're getting paid to analyze what's GONNA HAPPEN. You make PREDICTIONS. That's what you do. There's no room to say, "let's wait and see."
As a fantasy player/ fantasy league commissioner/ fantasy sport guru, my job is to make a good decision on the future for myself as well as use that analysis to let you know what's gonna happen. If I told you that Ricky Davis had a good game for the heat last night, but "we'll just have to wait and see" what he's gonna do the rest of the season, that'd be no use for you as a fantasy owner. What can you do with that information? That's ALREADY HAPPENED. Fantasy has no use for past information other than to predict what's gonna happen in the future. So by the time you "wait" to see what's happened, it's already happened and the train has left the station. And you're standing on the platform in last place wondering what happened. Oh yea, you "waited" to see what happened.
So to back up my little rant right there, i'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen based on my own knowledge so you don't have to wait to see it. Haha, these might be right or they might be totally off, but at least i'm not being passive about it.
3-point contest: Daniel Gibson- conventional wisdom says to go with Steve Nash or Jason Kapono, last year's champion, or Peja Stojakovic, who's won it 3 times before, but these contests are unpredictable and Gibson has been one of the most accurate from long range all year.
Slam Dunk: After being challenged by Gerald Green, RUDY GAY is gonna continue his ascension in the NBA and beat Dwight Howard in the finals. His last game for memphis offered a little preview of what he's gonna do tonight.
Skills Challenge: The key to this challenge are two things: The skip pass into the hoop and the midrange jumper. Those require the most skill and seem to be the ones that hold up players in past years. Dwayne wade has the experience of winning the last 2 skills challenges and his midrange jumper from the top of the key is unparalleled. He takes it.
Shooting Stars: Don't really know, don't really think you care.
Alright, Fantasize on with those predictions,
And remember, never "wait" and see in fantasy
-Robert yan
Anyway, no real fantasy information to report this weekend, as the NBA is focused on the all-star game and all the other festivities in new orleans, and baseball is just around the corner but a little too soon to worry about yet, with pitchers and catchers barely reported to spring training and the fields not very green yet. We'll get to that, my friends, in due time, in due time.
The big thing right after my post on wednesday was that Jason Kidd had reportedly been traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a multi-player deal that would again shift the balance of power in the western conference as well as shift my perception of jkidd's fantasy value ( not to mention vince carter's, richard jefferson's, josh howard's, dirk's, etc.). However, if you've ever had any doubts about the media's credibility, wednesday afternoon we got an excellent example of questionable information flow: one site apparently reported it, then it got around to a bunch of news reels, and by the time 3 PM rolled around yahoo sports had an article analyzing the "implications" of the jason kidd deal. Of course, the deal had not yet been finalized. And therein lays the catch. As of this point on SATURDAY, the deal is pretty much stalled to a standstill, as devean george has refused to be traded and exercised his no-trade clause ( how he got that being the quality of player he is is anybody's guess), so after all those reports saying jkidd's going to dallas, he might not be going there after all. They got the whole weekend to work it out, but good luck, fellas, cuz jerry stackhouse doesn't want to be traded neither.
Another personal pet peeve of mine ( besides bad journalism, as you might have gathered) is when people in sports say, "well, we'll just have to wait and see." Every time i hear this, i cringe, and then i go, "Well, no duh, we're gonna see." No kidding, man. Seriously, if you think about it, or if you've thought about it previously, u'll agree as to how trite, dull, and just absurd this statement is. I make a point never to say it cuz it's SO OBVIOUS and the easy way out. OF COURSE we're gonna wait and see. What else can we do? It's not like we have a time machine or a sports almanac for the next 5 years telling us what's gonna happen. I especially hate it when sports analysts say it. Dude, you're getting paid to analyze what's GONNA HAPPEN. You make PREDICTIONS. That's what you do. There's no room to say, "let's wait and see."
As a fantasy player/ fantasy league commissioner/ fantasy sport guru, my job is to make a good decision on the future for myself as well as use that analysis to let you know what's gonna happen. If I told you that Ricky Davis had a good game for the heat last night, but "we'll just have to wait and see" what he's gonna do the rest of the season, that'd be no use for you as a fantasy owner. What can you do with that information? That's ALREADY HAPPENED. Fantasy has no use for past information other than to predict what's gonna happen in the future. So by the time you "wait" to see what's happened, it's already happened and the train has left the station. And you're standing on the platform in last place wondering what happened. Oh yea, you "waited" to see what happened.
So to back up my little rant right there, i'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen based on my own knowledge so you don't have to wait to see it. Haha, these might be right or they might be totally off, but at least i'm not being passive about it.
3-point contest: Daniel Gibson- conventional wisdom says to go with Steve Nash or Jason Kapono, last year's champion, or Peja Stojakovic, who's won it 3 times before, but these contests are unpredictable and Gibson has been one of the most accurate from long range all year.
Slam Dunk: After being challenged by Gerald Green, RUDY GAY is gonna continue his ascension in the NBA and beat Dwight Howard in the finals. His last game for memphis offered a little preview of what he's gonna do tonight.
Skills Challenge: The key to this challenge are two things: The skip pass into the hoop and the midrange jumper. Those require the most skill and seem to be the ones that hold up players in past years. Dwayne wade has the experience of winning the last 2 skills challenges and his midrange jumper from the top of the key is unparalleled. He takes it.
Shooting Stars: Don't really know, don't really think you care.
Alright, Fantasize on with those predictions,
And remember, never "wait" and see in fantasy
-Robert yan
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Half-man, half-amazing
If you haven't seen NBA top 10 on NBA TV, i highly recommend it. It's a daily composition of the best plays in the NBA on that that night, although i'm not sure what they do when there's just 2 games or whatever. But it's on youtube too, all you gotta do is type in NBA top 10 and whatever date it was on the day the game was played to see the best plays of that night.
It's crazy. Every night you see the best dunks, blocks, and game-winning plays of the night. There are some frequent visitors on the list, and the one that I've been seeing A LOT recently is one vince carter, a.k.a Vin-sanity, Air Canada, "The Solution," "Half-man, Half-amazing." Last night, for example, he checked in at #1 on the top 10 list for a helicopter-like, 360-dunk in new jersey. It was pretty sick and got the crowd pumped up.
That's the thing about VC, though: He's a terrific player, amazingly talented, but he uses it mainly for dunks. Back in 2001, he led the raptors to the playoffs and within range of the finals, but lost to the sixers in an awesome seven games. Since then, he just really hasn't had the tenacity, the desire to win, and it shows in some lax defensive plays and jackin up 3's sometimes when he doesn't want to. His production on offense is still very prolific w/ the ever-facilitating JKidd leading the point, but he's just not the same player, whether because of age, health, or other issues, as he was before, NBA-wise.
Just wanted to check in on that issue. Otherwise, go check out NBA top 10 TV and they'll be some references from time to time here for you to confirm with too.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
It's crazy. Every night you see the best dunks, blocks, and game-winning plays of the night. There are some frequent visitors on the list, and the one that I've been seeing A LOT recently is one vince carter, a.k.a Vin-sanity, Air Canada, "The Solution," "Half-man, Half-amazing." Last night, for example, he checked in at #1 on the top 10 list for a helicopter-like, 360-dunk in new jersey. It was pretty sick and got the crowd pumped up.
That's the thing about VC, though: He's a terrific player, amazingly talented, but he uses it mainly for dunks. Back in 2001, he led the raptors to the playoffs and within range of the finals, but lost to the sixers in an awesome seven games. Since then, he just really hasn't had the tenacity, the desire to win, and it shows in some lax defensive plays and jackin up 3's sometimes when he doesn't want to. His production on offense is still very prolific w/ the ever-facilitating JKidd leading the point, but he's just not the same player, whether because of age, health, or other issues, as he was before, NBA-wise.
Just wanted to check in on that issue. Otherwise, go check out NBA top 10 TV and they'll be some references from time to time here for you to confirm with too.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Monday, February 11, 2008
Is it Playboy or Santino?
Haha. Watching Monday Night Raw, one of my other pet projects that I keep track of. I have a Fin final tomorrow morning, so maybe I should be cutting down a bit, but just can't miss the drama, the intensity, the divas! Anyway, the remark above is what one of the heels, one Santino Marella, asked his on-screen girlfriend, Maria, cuz Maria is "considering" posing for playboy. Great storyline with this ultimatum, i bet maria chooses playboy and solidifies her crowdpleasing status while cementing Santino's heel status, but who knos. This is the WWE.
Back to individual commentary on players.
Where has josh howard been this season? I'm pretty sure he's putting up decent #'s, but not as good as past seasons and definitely not as good as he's capable of, in my opinion. Basically, it's a product of dallas taking it a little easier in the reg. season, methinks. 17 pts in just 26 mins? That's not that great. Especially in a loss vs. the sixers. I think the mavs, my postseason break, might have something to lose in not picking it up yet, losing to inferior teams. Might catch up to 'em in the elimination rounds. What's most disturbing is they only put up 76 points tonight against an Eastern Conference team. A mediocre one, at that.
Andre Miller, meanwhile, is back to his productive ways. After being named the Eastern Conference player of the week last week, he put up a solid 26 pts, 8 rebs, and 7 asts tonight on 8 of 15 shooting, just 1 turnover in 44 mins and 3 stls. Solid line. He's kind of a streaky player in which he'll have some stretches of nothingness ( like 2 or 3 weeks), but ever since leading Utah to Elite 8 a while back he's possessed a lot of talent.
Lakers looking pretty good with their new lineup now, albeit vs. the Bobcats. Tonight kobe put up 31 pts, gasol with 26 pts and 2 blks, lamar odom grabbin double digit boards and 5 asts, and 2 guys in double figures off the bench, farmar and turiaf with 10 each. That's probably what they envision doin in the playoffs in order to be successful, along with the added production of andrew bynum. They gotta translate this performance vs. bobcats into vs. western conference teams.
Sam I am Cassell looks like he might be pickin it up, putting up 21 pts and 8 asts along with 3 stls in just 23 minutes tonight. It seems like he is auditioning for the celtics PG job, in that he is very likely to be traded over there where he gets an opportunity to finally win a title. Hmmmmm very interesting, especially for the value of rajon rondo, as well as other guys on the C's.
In the same game, mo williams and michael redd switched roles in that redd put up the PG line while williams the scorer line, redd getting 11 pts and 11 asts while mo put up 31 pts w/ limited helpers. Redd has seemed to be getting more assists this season, and Williams isn't among the league leaders in assists, but don't look for this trend to continue. Mo really broke out last season on a depleted milwaukee team, and we know he can score. I just don't think the bucks do well when he's trying to score more than redd.
An exceptional night by Manu Ginobili, who put up 34 points, 15 rebs, and 6 asts, 2 stls and SIX 3-pointers thrown in there. He really benefits from being the definite second option after parker injured himself, and he's really been a force all seaosn long. He averages 19 pts a game and more than 2 three's a game, all well above career averages. It's just that San antonio is too boring to notice these individual contributions.
With the pistons enjoying a great reg. season, they might increasingly rest their starters and let them heal for a stretch run/ playoffs, so watch for reserves on their teams to get more minutes. None of them u really need for yahoo! leagues, but in like a fantasy point per minute league or something these guys can help. Amir Johnson in particular is a guy who is all-hustle and can really get some production with more #'s. Keep an eye on that as well as other teams ( like C's) who don't really need to win every single game.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Back to individual commentary on players.
Where has josh howard been this season? I'm pretty sure he's putting up decent #'s, but not as good as past seasons and definitely not as good as he's capable of, in my opinion. Basically, it's a product of dallas taking it a little easier in the reg. season, methinks. 17 pts in just 26 mins? That's not that great. Especially in a loss vs. the sixers. I think the mavs, my postseason break, might have something to lose in not picking it up yet, losing to inferior teams. Might catch up to 'em in the elimination rounds. What's most disturbing is they only put up 76 points tonight against an Eastern Conference team. A mediocre one, at that.
Andre Miller, meanwhile, is back to his productive ways. After being named the Eastern Conference player of the week last week, he put up a solid 26 pts, 8 rebs, and 7 asts tonight on 8 of 15 shooting, just 1 turnover in 44 mins and 3 stls. Solid line. He's kind of a streaky player in which he'll have some stretches of nothingness ( like 2 or 3 weeks), but ever since leading Utah to Elite 8 a while back he's possessed a lot of talent.
Lakers looking pretty good with their new lineup now, albeit vs. the Bobcats. Tonight kobe put up 31 pts, gasol with 26 pts and 2 blks, lamar odom grabbin double digit boards and 5 asts, and 2 guys in double figures off the bench, farmar and turiaf with 10 each. That's probably what they envision doin in the playoffs in order to be successful, along with the added production of andrew bynum. They gotta translate this performance vs. bobcats into vs. western conference teams.
Sam I am Cassell looks like he might be pickin it up, putting up 21 pts and 8 asts along with 3 stls in just 23 minutes tonight. It seems like he is auditioning for the celtics PG job, in that he is very likely to be traded over there where he gets an opportunity to finally win a title. Hmmmmm very interesting, especially for the value of rajon rondo, as well as other guys on the C's.
In the same game, mo williams and michael redd switched roles in that redd put up the PG line while williams the scorer line, redd getting 11 pts and 11 asts while mo put up 31 pts w/ limited helpers. Redd has seemed to be getting more assists this season, and Williams isn't among the league leaders in assists, but don't look for this trend to continue. Mo really broke out last season on a depleted milwaukee team, and we know he can score. I just don't think the bucks do well when he's trying to score more than redd.
An exceptional night by Manu Ginobili, who put up 34 points, 15 rebs, and 6 asts, 2 stls and SIX 3-pointers thrown in there. He really benefits from being the definite second option after parker injured himself, and he's really been a force all seaosn long. He averages 19 pts a game and more than 2 three's a game, all well above career averages. It's just that San antonio is too boring to notice these individual contributions.
With the pistons enjoying a great reg. season, they might increasingly rest their starters and let them heal for a stretch run/ playoffs, so watch for reserves on their teams to get more minutes. None of them u really need for yahoo! leagues, but in like a fantasy point per minute league or something these guys can help. Amir Johnson in particular is a guy who is all-hustle and can really get some production with more #'s. Keep an eye on that as well as other teams ( like C's) who don't really need to win every single game.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Super Tuesday
Yup, after Super Bowl Sunday, we got another super one today, folks: one of the biggest days in the presidential election season, a day where almost half the country votes on delegates in their respective primaries. It's McCain vs. Romney, Hillary vs. Obama............or at least we thought the populist Mike Huckabee won West Virginia tonight. I still think McCain will grab the Republican nomination, but "I like Mike" made it interesting.
Didn't think I had it in me, didya? Haha, I only developed my political interests starting junior year of high school, but I attended JSA summer school in '04 and got really interested in all the political campaigns and the art of polticking, so it's stuck with me. I'm actually going the opposite way than most think in that I think Hillary will make a big comeback starting tonight and ultimately take the Democratic nom, going on to a long presidency. ( I'm 85% confident that the democratic candidate WILL be elected in November).
Politics is much like fantasy sports because..............Well, no, it's not really like fantasy sports. I guess if you wanna see some frontrunners in the NBA race for a title, you should watch the L.A. Lakers tonight in New Jersey who have gained new momentum w/ the addition of Pau Gasol, but I already told you about that. I wanna focus your attention on the King who looks to dethrone, at least momentarily, the Boston Celtics tonight, and LeBron sure looks like he might have a legendary game. The game is already 62-60 in the 2nd, and LeBron has 19 points, 3 rebs, and 7 asts in just 18 mins. Remarkable. The game is playing like a all-time huge game for him. To be sure, the Celtics are without their main man KG but a win for cleveland would be nice.
If you look at the Lakers' box score right now you can see how the pau gasol trade will affect Lamar Odom's numbers: He has 4 rebounds and 3 asts through 1 period and just 2 points. Well, actually that's his style anyway in that he gets more of the peripheral numbers in proporation to his actual points, but gasol will allow him to do that even more. I also expect more defensive numbers from lamar as he's free to swat some shots on the weak side. Stay tuned.
Indiana's putting up a pretty good fight at home vs. the spurs ( is san antonio not accustomed to the rain? Oh yea i forgot it's been pouring all day here in champaign and apparently all over the midwest). The Pacers might be without jermaine o'neal for the rest of the season and their playoff hopes are dim, but they can put up good performances once in a while and today's one of them. They really have no fantasy stars on this team, which is good for an active manager because it's a dynamic situation: Someone's probably gonna step up and put up big #'s, and soon. Looks like it's prolly gonna be danny granger, who was a breakout candidate anyway, but he looks like the #1 option definitively. Pick him up or trade for him, he'll be good the rest of the season. Other guys might be troy murphy, jeff foster, mike dunleavy, i know all white guys ( lol, not to be racist or anything) but they might actually make a difference; i doubt jamaal tinsley goes back to his early-season success.
Memphis is another dynamic situation worth keeping an eye on. Obvious guys to get a boost are mike miller and rudy gay, as they can jack up shots ad nauseum now, but we might finally see a darko milicic sighting once in a while, but with the youth movement in place we might see kyle lowry or mike conley getting majority PG minutes and becoming really good. However, I'm always skeptical of memphis players because it doesn't matter what coach is there or what system, nobody ever seems to rise up to become a fantasy star there, it's not a happy place for big-city lovers nor fantasy goldseekers, i'm afraid.
Alrighty then, stay dry today if you're around where i live.
Fantasize on
-Robert Yan
Didn't think I had it in me, didya? Haha, I only developed my political interests starting junior year of high school, but I attended JSA summer school in '04 and got really interested in all the political campaigns and the art of polticking, so it's stuck with me. I'm actually going the opposite way than most think in that I think Hillary will make a big comeback starting tonight and ultimately take the Democratic nom, going on to a long presidency. ( I'm 85% confident that the democratic candidate WILL be elected in November).
Politics is much like fantasy sports because..............Well, no, it's not really like fantasy sports. I guess if you wanna see some frontrunners in the NBA race for a title, you should watch the L.A. Lakers tonight in New Jersey who have gained new momentum w/ the addition of Pau Gasol, but I already told you about that. I wanna focus your attention on the King who looks to dethrone, at least momentarily, the Boston Celtics tonight, and LeBron sure looks like he might have a legendary game. The game is already 62-60 in the 2nd, and LeBron has 19 points, 3 rebs, and 7 asts in just 18 mins. Remarkable. The game is playing like a all-time huge game for him. To be sure, the Celtics are without their main man KG but a win for cleveland would be nice.
If you look at the Lakers' box score right now you can see how the pau gasol trade will affect Lamar Odom's numbers: He has 4 rebounds and 3 asts through 1 period and just 2 points. Well, actually that's his style anyway in that he gets more of the peripheral numbers in proporation to his actual points, but gasol will allow him to do that even more. I also expect more defensive numbers from lamar as he's free to swat some shots on the weak side. Stay tuned.
Indiana's putting up a pretty good fight at home vs. the spurs ( is san antonio not accustomed to the rain? Oh yea i forgot it's been pouring all day here in champaign and apparently all over the midwest). The Pacers might be without jermaine o'neal for the rest of the season and their playoff hopes are dim, but they can put up good performances once in a while and today's one of them. They really have no fantasy stars on this team, which is good for an active manager because it's a dynamic situation: Someone's probably gonna step up and put up big #'s, and soon. Looks like it's prolly gonna be danny granger, who was a breakout candidate anyway, but he looks like the #1 option definitively. Pick him up or trade for him, he'll be good the rest of the season. Other guys might be troy murphy, jeff foster, mike dunleavy, i know all white guys ( lol, not to be racist or anything) but they might actually make a difference; i doubt jamaal tinsley goes back to his early-season success.
Memphis is another dynamic situation worth keeping an eye on. Obvious guys to get a boost are mike miller and rudy gay, as they can jack up shots ad nauseum now, but we might finally see a darko milicic sighting once in a while, but with the youth movement in place we might see kyle lowry or mike conley getting majority PG minutes and becoming really good. However, I'm always skeptical of memphis players because it doesn't matter what coach is there or what system, nobody ever seems to rise up to become a fantasy star there, it's not a happy place for big-city lovers nor fantasy goldseekers, i'm afraid.
Alrighty then, stay dry today if you're around where i live.
Fantasize on
-Robert Yan
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Super Bowl Sunday
Here we go, boys and girls, a day many have waited for: Super Bowl Sunday, Patriots vs. Giants. The difference between this and your ordinary Super Bowl though: the stakes are higher. If the patriots win, they go down in history, defy history and put themselves in exclusive territory w/ a 19-0 season, a place in the recordbooks that will never be broken, only tied. Oh, and as a bonus, they win the Super Bowl as well. For the G-men, stakes are also higher: they'll always be remembered as the team that STOPPED the Patriots from the perfect season, the guys that were better than one of the all-time teams of all time, at least for one game. Oh, and they also win a super bowl, just as a bonus. That's what i mean for this super bowl: It's not the usual battle for the yearly grand prize in the NFL, but a battle for a chapter in history.
Just as a side note, since millions and millions are gonna be watching this game, here's waht u should watch out for fom a fantasy perspective, maybe for preparation in advance for next year?
Tom Brady: Awesome season this year, and he will still be very good next year w/ randy moss and his receiving corps intact. However, he will not be as good as this year. Do not draft him as your #1 overall pick next year, no matter what people tell u. Brady will never be as good as this year's regular season.
On the other side of the field, Eli Manning might just be beginning his climb towards the top: He really seemed to figure it out towards the end of the season and into playoff time, and although his regular season #'s weren't spectacular, watch his super bowl performance for a preview of what will happen next year: Upward trend?
Plaxico Burress: Will put up decent #'s as a WR the next few years, a solid #2 wide receiver, but injuries and age will catch up to him and he will be declining soon .Still draft him high next year cuz eli needs a big WR to throw to as he evolves.
Randy Moss: Straight cash, homey. He's gonna be as good as cash for fantasy owners the next few years, but i wonder what happens if he gets in trouble, or he and brady clash for some reason .Hmmmm..... However, that seems far from the case right now, so i still expect 18-TD seasons the next few years.
Laurence Maroney: probably an underrated piece of the N.E. puzzle, he didn't have the best of seasons, to say the least, especially since he was supposed to be a breakout candidate. I say he gets a lot better next year and as people focus on the WR's of N.E., he picks up big runs in the gaps that are created. And he's a bruiser near the goal line. He'll be good.
Well, good luck. My prediction is that the pats are too good to be denied. 35-17, N.E. But i hope we get some good football at least for 2.5 quarters .
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Just as a side note, since millions and millions are gonna be watching this game, here's waht u should watch out for fom a fantasy perspective, maybe for preparation in advance for next year?
Tom Brady: Awesome season this year, and he will still be very good next year w/ randy moss and his receiving corps intact. However, he will not be as good as this year. Do not draft him as your #1 overall pick next year, no matter what people tell u. Brady will never be as good as this year's regular season.
On the other side of the field, Eli Manning might just be beginning his climb towards the top: He really seemed to figure it out towards the end of the season and into playoff time, and although his regular season #'s weren't spectacular, watch his super bowl performance for a preview of what will happen next year: Upward trend?
Plaxico Burress: Will put up decent #'s as a WR the next few years, a solid #2 wide receiver, but injuries and age will catch up to him and he will be declining soon .Still draft him high next year cuz eli needs a big WR to throw to as he evolves.
Randy Moss: Straight cash, homey. He's gonna be as good as cash for fantasy owners the next few years, but i wonder what happens if he gets in trouble, or he and brady clash for some reason .Hmmmm..... However, that seems far from the case right now, so i still expect 18-TD seasons the next few years.
Laurence Maroney: probably an underrated piece of the N.E. puzzle, he didn't have the best of seasons, to say the least, especially since he was supposed to be a breakout candidate. I say he gets a lot better next year and as people focus on the WR's of N.E., he picks up big runs in the gaps that are created. And he's a bruiser near the goal line. He'll be good.
Well, good luck. My prediction is that the pats are too good to be denied. 35-17, N.E. But i hope we get some good football at least for 2.5 quarters .
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Friday, February 1, 2008
Pau Gasol trade fallout
Big news in NBA today w/ a major trade happening ( all that "chatter" had amounted to nothing until today), but first, a movie review from critic Robert Yan: Hot Rod. Do NOT see this movie. At all costs, avoid it. I don't care if you're at the video store and ur bored out of ur mind and u've seen "Bambi" five thousand times and u have nothing better to see and the packaging on the DVD is so groovy and u've always had a closet obsession of daredevils, DO NOT watch this movie. In fact, if possible, remove any trace of the title of the movie i talked about from your mind. See how easy that was?
Seriously though, the movie is just a laugh-squeezer with dozens of attempts at slapstick, also comedic efforts through just being ridiculously stupid.........not workin for me.
Ok, well, the aforementioned "huge deal" in the NBA today was pau gasol goin to the lakers for literally peanuts in real players ( actually, maybe even less than peanuts, cuz peanuts don't necessarily hurt ur team like kwame brown does) and a couple of first round draft picks in later years for PAU GASOL! Wow, the lakers just got tremendously better, cuz in the NBA there's a natural lack of "pieces of the puzzle" given the fact there's only 5 of your guys on the court at a time. Given the fact that they already had one superstar, this deal is just awesome, brings in another bona fide star ( not really a superstar, but definite stud) at a position that they just coincidentally need help in w/ bynum out. I'm just looking at the lakers potential playoff lineup and lickin my chops. You got the young emerging star in bynum at center, gasol the rock at PF, lamar odom who for a long time has been the supposed 2nd option but can now relax at SF, KOBE the best player in the game but for argument's sake at least a top 3 player, and playoff vet derek fisher. Plus OFF the BENCH you have guys like farmar and turiaf, high-energy guys who can come in and really be a plus factor, and now they're fresh for the whole game. Oh man am i loving the lakers right now. All cuz of one, long-time-comin deal. Kobe should have no reason to complain about managerial decisions now. He needs to lead this team to another championship.
Fantasy fallout? I would think this might have somewhat of a detrimental effect on all players still on the lakers and especially gasol cuz he's no longer the #1 option and will really only get the ball seldomly, probably very little in crunch time. Same applies for all the other lakers, there's only enough possessions to go around for everybody. Hold on, though, there might be upsides tho as pau and bynum now are two beasts on the boards and can block guys coming into the lane without fear of lettin easy rebs go by, so i dunno. This team should really flow together and open up some offensive opportunities for each other just by the sheer number of threats they have, and i think that'll lead to at least a few points higher per game.
For memphis, this is another step in the maturation of rudy gay, as he is now the #1 option, and his scoring opportunities increase like none another, although other guys will get more run like juan carlos navarro, kyle lowery, hakeem warrick, darko milicic and hypothetically stromile swift...............except stromile swfit got traded today ALSO to the nets, so HE GONE! Kwame will still be kwame and the grizz will realize that, so DON'T pick him up plz. If you've ever seen any lakers games, chances are u've seen kwame suck. That's the real kwame. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Just wanted to note also that Brad Miller is becoming a beast this season and that was especially evident tonight against a tough hornets defense..........he picked up 22 points, 14 rebs, 4 asts, 1 three, 1 stl, and 1 blk, and just 1 turnover. See brad? This is what happens when u try. Watch out for the kings, they got a legit lineup now w/ all their starters back and miller actually makin white basketball players look good. They could be someone's problem come time the eighth seed has to be decided. Bibby, Martin, Artest, Miller, and a solid bench w/ guys like salmons and garcia developing this season cuz they got starters' roles early could equate to a late-season run. Too bad they're in the west.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Seriously though, the movie is just a laugh-squeezer with dozens of attempts at slapstick, also comedic efforts through just being ridiculously stupid.........not workin for me.
Ok, well, the aforementioned "huge deal" in the NBA today was pau gasol goin to the lakers for literally peanuts in real players ( actually, maybe even less than peanuts, cuz peanuts don't necessarily hurt ur team like kwame brown does) and a couple of first round draft picks in later years for PAU GASOL! Wow, the lakers just got tremendously better, cuz in the NBA there's a natural lack of "pieces of the puzzle" given the fact there's only 5 of your guys on the court at a time. Given the fact that they already had one superstar, this deal is just awesome, brings in another bona fide star ( not really a superstar, but definite stud) at a position that they just coincidentally need help in w/ bynum out. I'm just looking at the lakers potential playoff lineup and lickin my chops. You got the young emerging star in bynum at center, gasol the rock at PF, lamar odom who for a long time has been the supposed 2nd option but can now relax at SF, KOBE the best player in the game but for argument's sake at least a top 3 player, and playoff vet derek fisher. Plus OFF the BENCH you have guys like farmar and turiaf, high-energy guys who can come in and really be a plus factor, and now they're fresh for the whole game. Oh man am i loving the lakers right now. All cuz of one, long-time-comin deal. Kobe should have no reason to complain about managerial decisions now. He needs to lead this team to another championship.
Fantasy fallout? I would think this might have somewhat of a detrimental effect on all players still on the lakers and especially gasol cuz he's no longer the #1 option and will really only get the ball seldomly, probably very little in crunch time. Same applies for all the other lakers, there's only enough possessions to go around for everybody. Hold on, though, there might be upsides tho as pau and bynum now are two beasts on the boards and can block guys coming into the lane without fear of lettin easy rebs go by, so i dunno. This team should really flow together and open up some offensive opportunities for each other just by the sheer number of threats they have, and i think that'll lead to at least a few points higher per game.
For memphis, this is another step in the maturation of rudy gay, as he is now the #1 option, and his scoring opportunities increase like none another, although other guys will get more run like juan carlos navarro, kyle lowery, hakeem warrick, darko milicic and hypothetically stromile swift...............except stromile swfit got traded today ALSO to the nets, so HE GONE! Kwame will still be kwame and the grizz will realize that, so DON'T pick him up plz. If you've ever seen any lakers games, chances are u've seen kwame suck. That's the real kwame. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Just wanted to note also that Brad Miller is becoming a beast this season and that was especially evident tonight against a tough hornets defense..........he picked up 22 points, 14 rebs, 4 asts, 1 three, 1 stl, and 1 blk, and just 1 turnover. See brad? This is what happens when u try. Watch out for the kings, they got a legit lineup now w/ all their starters back and miller actually makin white basketball players look good. They could be someone's problem come time the eighth seed has to be decided. Bibby, Martin, Artest, Miller, and a solid bench w/ guys like salmons and garcia developing this season cuz they got starters' roles early could equate to a late-season run. Too bad they're in the west.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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