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